Chapter Text
Another day, another corpse.
Purpled sighs and stretches his arms above his head, and the joint on his back and shoulders make a satisfying crack sound. He eventually makes his way downstairs and passes by the kitchen to grab the leftover coffee that he brewed yesterday, releasing a long yawn as he goes down to the basement.
He beelines to a metallic door and opens it with ease, entering through with a scratch on his unkempt blonde hair while closing the door behind him until he hears a familiar tone playing. He drags a sigh and ignores it, heading towards a table with a clipboard of a list of people he’s going to take care of for the day.
Darn it.
The familiar tone chimes again and with a click of his tongue, he digs his free hand towards the pocket of his purple hoodie and grabs his ringing phone.
Who the hell is calling him this early in the morning?
He checks the time at the uppermost left part of the screen, which currently displays 3:24 a.m . He lowers his gaze to see the name of the caller being shown as a huge text in the middle of the screen.
Huh, well this is an unusual sight.
“Hello? What brings you to call me this early in the morning?” Purpled greets after he presses the green button.
“Purpled? I need to talk to you about something.” The raspy voice of the caller replies, indicating that he also just woke up.
“Sure. What do you wanna talk about, Tommy?” Purpled smiles and sits down on his swivel chair.
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Clashing blades reverberate through the venue alongside with the loud cheering of the audience and stumping of feet against the piste . Technoblade launches himself forward with his feet against the cold metallic surface and in a blink of an eye, the light illuminates a green color on his side as his sabre hits his opponent’s neck, rendering the audience silent for a few seconds before roaring once again, albeit louder.
“This is his twentieth win and opponent in a row!”
“I can’t believe it! Is he a monster?”
“Technoblade!”
“He’s the living Fiore dei Liberi!”
“Blade! Blade! Blade!”
“It’s Miyamoto Musashi in the flesh!”
“Blood! Blood! Blood for the Blood God!”
The cheers go on and on as Technoblade removes his mask and wipes the sweat off his forehead with his jacket sleeve, huffing and puffing to catch his breath as his heart beats like a drum inside his chest.
He doubts it’s only because of the adrenaline.
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He wheezes desperately for air as he runs, rendering the surrounding area into a blur as he passes by them quickly without looking back. If he turns around now, they will surely catch and kill him. His body is screaming from all the bruises and cuts that litter his limbs, torso, neck, and head but ignores them despite being stabbed with all sorts of pain that causes his mind to be stuffed with cotton.
It’s getting harder to focus on the task at hand, especially when he can see black spots within his dancing vision and his consciousness slips in and out when he least expects it.
It’s always been like this.
He’s never given time to rest or let down his guard.
All he’s been doing in his life is to run away from everything.
When will he get to have his peace?
When will he be set free from this hell?
Is he destined to suffer for the rest of his life until his body finally gives in and rots till the end?
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Air has been knocked off Technoblade’s lungs as he gasps himself awake, staring widely towards the silhouette in front of him. Air has been knocked off Technoblade’s lungs as he gasps himself awake, staring widely towards the silhouette in front of him. Based on the general blurry shape, it looks like a huge gremlin with its lack of gaze causing him to shudder despite it staring directly at him. He tries to move his body, but for unknown reason he can't muster the strength to do so.
Is this his sleep paralysis or something completely different?
Regardless, his hands claw their way towards the perpetrator’s own, albeit very slowly and try to pull them away but for some reason, their hold is incredibly strong and tight around his neck and his swimming vision and lack of strength is making it harder for him to break free.
At least he’s actually awake.
But…
What should he do? What should he do?
He can’t call for help when he is being choked like this. He darts his gaze all around him, but it’s a futile effort when he literally can see nothing with the lights off. He can’t find anything to help him get out of this predicament with all the darkness engulfing them. If only he can just quickly grab something within proximity, even if it’s just his glasses, it will surely help him in more ways than one.
Technoblade’s hand slowly makes its way to his side, patting it against a wooden surface and moves it around until he can feel an object. When his fingers touch the frame of his glasses, he feels slightly relieved about the good news despite still being in huge trouble. He extends his arm a bit further until his hand is fully on top of the glasses and grabs it without hesitation, pulling it back towards him and finally wears them.
If it’s possible for air to leave his lungs further than it already has, it certainly did when he notices those golden curls and eyebags beneath those crystal blue eyes from somewhere.
Why?
His heartbeat is getting faster and faster along with the ringing inside his ears getting louder as he tries to open his mouth to speak, but instead of coherent words, he can only produce choking sounds after all the effort.
“T-Tom…my… w-w-wha…at… a-are… y-yo…ou… do…d-do…ing…? W-Why…”
Technoblade’s trembling hand reaches its way back to Tommy’s own to try and claw them out while the other is wrapping around the teen’s wrist, trying to pull the arm away at the same time. But instead of losing it, the grip is gradually getting tighter and makes him lose all the remaining strength and fight in his body.
So… this is how it ends, huh?
Not at the hands of his opponents, not withering because of an ailment, not fading away naturally with time, but at the hands of his own brother.
He’s not sure if it’s pathetic or deserving on his part, but if that’s how it is, he’ll let it be.
If this is Tommy’s way of showing his hatred after all the things he had to endure due to Technoblade, it’s truly fine with him.
He closes his heavy eyelids, finally resting them once and for all.
He’s not strong like everyone else believes him to be, but he sure likes to look the part to deceive both of his allies and enemies alike.
Even himself.
It’s tiring to be the strongest. It’s tiring having to fight for his life against an enemy that does not even exist.
He opens his eyes one last time and looks at Tommy’s eyes filled with burning rage, but his own widens like saucers in surprise.
Instead of what he’s expecting to see, it’s the exact opposite.
The tears that he has been pushing all this time finally breaks the dam with its pressure, flowing out from the corner of his eyes like waterfall as he stares directly at those blue eyes as transparent as glass, blank like paper but still vivid like the rustling wind in desperation.
Desperation to survive, he thinks.
Desperation to live, he realizes.
Tommy…
Remind him to punch himself later when all of this is over.
Technoblade grits his teeth as the last bit of strength resurface within his body, slowly but surely moving his head forward and slams it towards Tommy’s forehead, producing a loud thud in the process as the grip around his neck finally loosens while Tommy falls back and lies on Technoblade’s legs.
He coughs vigorously to try and clear his throat, giving way of the fresh cool air to enter his lungs to finally breathe again. He gasps and wheezes like a screaming boiling kettle while caressing his bruising neck with a hand as the other combs his hair away from his eyes to see better.
Despite his attempt earlier, Tommy was simply sleepwalking, struggling to do anything to survive.
He’s trying to defend himself, but from what?
Is his brother the same as him?
Struggling against an opponent no one will understand?
Or is it something completely different?
Kill! Kill the child!
Don't kill the child! He's still a gremlin but we all love him
He protecc
Technosimp
Blood for the Blood God
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
L's in the chat
He should've spilled the gremlin child's blood while he had the chance
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Guys guys look! He's waking up!
Technoblade moves his gaze towards a grunting Tommy, who slowly rises up from his awkward position and rubs off the sleep from his eyes with a hand. He swallows the lump in his throat as the teen makes eye contact with him and starts to comprehend the current situation.
He rubs his heavy eyelids to clear his vision and once Tommy is satisfied with the result, he notices the man with unkempt pink hair like a typhoon just passed by it is staring back at him. His heart drops in an instant, and his body scrambles away from obviously-not-his-bed before he realizes as he darts to the door without looking back, finally reaching his own bedroom and slams it shut and locks it for good measure.
He gasps for air as he holds his hand to his drumming chest, leaning his back towards the door and slides down after his wobbling legs finally give up on him, embracing them towards his chest as he reminisces the event that occurred literally a few seconds ago. Multiple emotions are swirling in his stomach but the first thing that pops in his mind is…
That fucking surprised him.
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Tommy tiptoes his way towards Phil and Trixtin’s room, meeting the seemingly large door ahead of him and takes a silent deep breath in and out to calm himself, or else this heart of his will come to life and get out of his body at this rate. His convulsing sweaty hand slowly approaches the doorknob and stops halfway, looking left to right repeatedly to make sure no one is around to see him do this.
With another silent inhaling and exhaling, he twists the knob at a snail’s pace and pushes the door open to see both of his parents are sound asleep.
Thank the fuck he’s not screwed yet.
Yet.
He ignores the lump beginning to form in his throat as he sees the peaceful looks on his parents’ faces to focus on the mission.
He puts one foot forward and flinches violently, anticipating what’s about to happen to him, but…
Nothing happened.
Yet.
Whew!
Minutes that feel like hours have passed and Tommy has finally made his way to the key holders on the other side of the master bedroom, moving his gaze from one key to another and try to figure out which is the right key to take. Shit, if only he remembers what that place’s key looks like.
It all comes to this, huh? His ultimate trump card. He really doesn’t want to use this unless it’s an emergency.
Well… like they say, it’s now or never, right?
He huffs silently of how proud he is of himself for being this smart. He should really buy a trophy for this and brag the hell out of this with Tubbo and Boob Boy when school starts again next week.
Ugh, school.
But on the other hand, bragging rights.
Anyway, back on track. He’s getting distracted.
His ultimate trump card is none other than…
Process of elimination!
Oh, gosh!
If he can literally pat himself on the back, he will do it in a heartbeat.
Anyway!
The key on the leftmost part is out of the question since he has a copy of that himself, which is obviously the key for this house. The key to its right is also not it since the logo brand of Phil’s car is right there. The middlemost one is also a miss since there’s a paper taped onto it with a label that says ‘shed’. He has no fucking clue why that is here. As for the fourth competitor, it’s out for this round considering it looks so old, it can’t open anything apart from a pirate’s treasure chest.
So, it all comes down to the last one.
All of a sudden, his heart is drumming again, making it a perfect suspenseful music in this situation.
When he glances at the slightly rusted key, all the adrenaline in his body that helps him along the way slips away all at once as he reads the taped label ‘amogus’.
.
.
.
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The stars twinkle brightly against the black backdrop of the sky as the gentle breeze ruffles Tommy’s already messy hair, leaning his elbows to the metal railings as he gazes into the distance, seeing every building, cars, and streetlights clearly from this angle. They all look so small from up here, making his problems seem unimportant now that he thinks about it.
It’s funny, isn’t it?
He fusses over his issues like the world is about to end when people all around him have more things on their plates, that they don’t have any time to fuss about them at all. He glances down to see the street and feels slightly dizzy by the feeling of being pushed off, so he glances up just as quickly back to the million blinking stars.
Despite being a thing from the past, the stars sure look beautiful like they’re jewels being scattered throughout outer space. Compared to them, he’s the exact opposite of beautiful. He’s ugly in every possible way. People may say he’s attractive, but that’s not the kind of beauty he’s talking about. When he sees someone, like Niki for instance, when he sees her happily serving customers at a café, working hard to excel in college at the same time, and enjoying her time with her friends despite the busy schedule makes Tommy’s heart sink into the depths.
Regardless of her seemingly bright life, she’s been struggling with a mountain of issues, more than Tommy ever has yet she still works hard to fight and makes her way to the top. Compared to her, all he has ever done is run away. If he tries to fight, all he ever gets are cuts and bruises. He hates the pain that is inflicted all throughout his body, so he gives in to the flow of the river to let it bring him to wherever it wants.
A translucent mist escapes his mouth as he exhales a cool breath, finally feeling the cold temperature biting against his skin as time approaches to autumn. He should’ve worn something with more covering apart from his shirt and shorts.
Nah, it’s too late now that he’s here and he can’t bother to get back inside to bore himself to death.
For those of you out there somewhere…
“Did you know that stars that everyone sees in the sky are already dead?” Tommy thinks aloud to no one in particular. “I know… wild, right?” He smirks as he huffs. “I only know this when that prick Wilbur kept me up all night just to help him with his fucking science report a few years back. Well, at least because of that, I don’t have to fucking do my homework for the next ten years.”
A yawn escapes his mouth and wipes away stray tears with the back of his hand, sighing deeply as he lies his arms in a horizontal position and uses them as a makeshift pillow for his cheek to lie on whilst closing his eyes.
An exploding noise from behind causes Tommy to jump violently and pushes himself forward, hearing a creak sound alongside his body leaning forward so much for his liking. Before he realizes, he’s about to fall off the rooftop of the abandoned building as the railing gives in to his weight and drops first.
“Tommy!”
A dark voice screams from beneath the noisy drums from inside his chest and ears as his body goes along with gravity, but his hand barely manages to grab the ledge. When he’s supposed to sigh in relief, all he can do is breathe as hard as he can to get back the air that’s been knocked out of his lungs. Before he’s given the chance, the rush of falling comes back after he notices the tip where his fingers are coming off.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Tommy shrieks as his life flashes before his eyes, seeing glimpses of all the memories in his life all at once like a poorly made clip video.
The rush stops abruptly as he feels something warm holding his hand and when he glances up, he gasps in surprise to see Techno.
“Wh— Techno?! What the hell are you doing here?” Tommy exclaims.
“Right back at you.” Techno grunts as he tries to keep a tight hold on Tommy without being dragged down with him.
Techno tries to raise his hand upward despite his lying position, but it’s shaking so much due to the struggle of only using a nondominant hand to carry a heavy load that is Tommy, with the other keeping his position in place as still as it can possibly get.
“We’re gonna fall at this fucking rate.” Tommy mumbles as his heart is beating a few hundred miles per hour. With a swallow of the lump in his throat, he steels his resolve and takes a breath in and out. “Techno, let go.”
“What? Are you crazy?!” Techno retorts too quickly.
“Wh-What am I g-g-gonna supposed t-to do if you—i-in this situation, then?” Tommy stutters whilst pushing back the tears that are about to escape. “S-Surely, you’re a-a-aware t-that there’s no getting o-out…” He bites his lower lip to focus on the pain instead of his welling emotions. Fuck. “…we’re gonna d-die if you won’t l-let go, alright?”
“No! I am not letting go of you no matter what. Do you understand?” Techno says firmly whilst still trying to pull Tommy up with a grunt.’
“B-But… I-I-I’m too heavy, e-even for y-you.” Tommy whimpers.
“Wh-What are you t-talking about?” Techno strains a smile. “You are t-too much of a child to be heavy. I mean, you’re built like a twig.”
“Oi!” Tommy blurts and huffs shortly after as the tension leaves a bit out his body.
“I’m gonna be honest. Would it hurt for you to help a guy out here, dude?” Techno says lively as if to help lighten the mood.
“No can do, my man.” Tommy presses his lips as the lump forms in his throat. “Why?”
“What? If it’s not obvious enough for you, you’re literally hanging in there and—”
“Why w-would you s-s-save me when you a-almost—when I just—back then, I almost k-k-killed you?” Tommy asks with almost a whisper as tears finally fall against his will.
“Is that all?” Techno smiles genuinely as he squeezes Tommy’s hand tighter despite all the sweat. “We’re brothers. It’s not okay for you to do anything but still can get away with it.”
With that last statement, more tears are pouring out of Tommy’s eyes, making everything blurry and distorted as his heart constricts from all sorts of emotions he can’t explain.
“I’m… I’m sorry… Techie…” Tommy gasps as he apologizes, wiping the tears off his face with his free hand but more still flow down effortlessly.
“I forgive you, Theseus.”
Tommy finally lets go of Techno’s hand and with a small smile, “Goodbye.”
Everything turns into a blur and once it becomes vivid again, Tommy is lying safely on the rooftop whilst Techno is the one who’s falling instead.
“Techno!” Tommy screams and launches himself forward to quickly grab his brother’s hand with both of his in desperation. “Why the fuck did you do that? You can’t just jump off to your death only to save me!”
“Tommy, let go.” Techno says in a dark tone as he tries to shake off Tommy’s hold, but the teen musters every strength he has to tighten his hold.
All Tommy can do is scream on top of his lungs as he tries to carry a man almost twice as heavy as him, heaving for breath like a bull whilst pulling Techno up as much as he can.
"I'm too heavy for your twig arms. You'll snap in half if you won't let—"
"Shut t-the f-fuck up!" Tommy intercepts as he continues to grunt. "I-If you won't l-let g-go of me e-earlier... there's n-no way in h-hell I'm doing it either."
The gravity just has to fuck with him when he's being pulled down by Techno's weight and he's going to fall, fall, fall—
Warm arms embrace Tommy by the waist, only to see Trixtin trying to pull them back to safety.
"Mom?" Tommy calls.
"Hey, guys. How's it hanging?" Trixtin greets with a bright smile and tone despite the perilous situation.
"Two out of five, give or take. I wouldn't recommend this to the next guy, to be honest." Techno deadpans but strains a smile.
The ground produces a scraping sound, catching Tommy's attention but only to see Trixtin's shoes slide against the concrete floor when everyone's weight is pulling her with them.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Tommy screams.
The constant descent is stopped abruptly once more when he notices a person managing to grab hold both of Trixtin's ankles.
"Dad!" Tommy grins as his chest feels slightly lighter at the reassuring presence of both his parents.
"Come on, now. Don't you think you're making this a bit too hard for my poor little back, mate?" Phil greets in feigned annoyance as he smiles.
The wind passes by and brushes Tommy's hair as everything is brought to a standstill, starting to feel blood rushing up to his brain as he's being forced in an upside-down position for so long.
How much time has passed? He has no fucking clue whether it's seconds or hours.
Before he realizes, Tommy is being pulled up steadily, with Techno in tow and he can finally breathe freely again by the time he's landed safely on the dirty concrete floor of the building's rooftop, heaving for breath as much as he can whilst his numb body is sprawled out like a sea star.
"There was a party and no one bothered to fucking invite me?" Wilbur stands beside him as he pouts.
"Hello to you too, Wilby." Tommy sighs in relief as he furrows his brows in feign annoyance.
"Don't say that, I'll cry." Wil smiles, kneeling down to hold Tommy to his chest tightly wrapped within his long arms. "You scared the shit out of me. I thought I was gonna lose you." He adds in a whisper as he rubs Tommy's back in comforting circles.
"Uh, we're also here, y'know." Techno deadpans.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Wil retorts and casually waves a hand to shoo Techno away before rubbing Tommy's back again, causing the teen to smile from beneath his brother's shoulder.
There are still numerous issues he needs to take care of in the future, but for now, Tommy is finally back to his family.
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For the millionth time, Tommy jolts himself awake and rises from his lying position, gasping for air whilst wrinkling his shirt with a hand by the chest area. He should be getting used to the same dream by now, considering he's been seeing it everyday for the past few months. Despite it, he can still feel various emotions stirring in his stomach as the image of the blonde plays over and over.
"Is it because I'm me?" Tommy mutters.
There's no other explanation other than that, he supposes. It makes sense, after all.
His stomach growls and yawns, dragging out a sigh as he moves to the edge of the bed. Well, no time to dwell on that again.
He makes his way down the steps whilst cracking his joints with a stretch, feeling his tense muscles relax and walks into the kitchen to grab a box of cereal as well as fresh milk from the fridge. After preparing his quick breakfast, he sits down on his chair and takes a spoonful of food to his mouth whilst surfing through the Internet with his phone.
His gaze moves to the uppermost left and sees the time that reads 10:01 a.m.
Oh, yeah. Where is everyone?
As if on cue, the back door produces two click sounds indicating it's being locked twice and Techno walks into the dining room with an expression he can't quite read.
"Hello Techno, my friend!" Tommy greets with his usual high-spirited tone. "Do you have an idea where everyone went? I haven't seen them this morning."
Instead of giving a reply, Techno continues to beeline to Tommy's direction in radio silence, causing Tommy's heartbeat to increase apprehensively.
"T-Techno?" Tommy raises a brow as he sheepishly asks.
In a blur, a hard thing hits Tommy by the face and knocks him off the chair towards the floor, caressing the numb cheek with a hand as he stares at a looming Techno with eyes seemingly glowing red.
"Who are you and what the heck did you do to my brother?" Techno asks in gritted teeth.
The question makes Tommy's heart weigh more than it actually is and sinks, pressing his lips into a flat line before opening them to find his voice to speak.
"What the fuck are you talking about? That's what I wanna ask you, prick." Tommy scowls as he chides to mask his nervousness.
"Don't play dumb with me. Where's the real Tommy?"
"H—Wha—I'm the r-real Tommy. S-Seriously, what the hell's wrong with you, man? Did all that coffee make you all crazy and shit?" Tommy stammers and furrows his brows as he quickly stands.
"Cut the crap. I know you've been lying all this time, you fake. Where is the real Tommy?" Techno spats whilst grabbing Tommy's collar to raise him slightly mid-air with the teen's toes barely touching the floor.
"Do you hate me that badly, Techno? That you have to fucking pretend I'm not real to have a bullshit excuse to get rid of me?" Tommy grits his teeth as he reaches his hand to Techno's to try and pull it out. "Well, it ain't working, alright? I'm fucking staying." He adds as he sneers.
"So, this is how it's gonna be, huh?" Techno sighs and grins ear to ear, causing Tommy to flinch visibly. "You think that you've been playing the part of Tommy perfectly well, but too bad. You're starting to slip-up."
"Wh-Wha—"
"About the real Tommy... unlike your poor act, he always wore earpods to help drown out the sounds to avoid sensory overload since he developed an extreme sensory sensitivity after that day." Techno intercepts as he begins to explain.
The blood in Tommy's body has been drained out of his body in shock. Wait, what?
Is Techno lying to get on his nerves or something?
After all, he doesn't remember having sensory sensitivity and even having to use something to help him cope with it.
"Oh, you haven't heard about it?" Techno mocks. "Everyone knew how Tommy became more sensitive since he was kidnapped. He was apparently kept in a dark place for seven days for ransom, but we finally got a lead only when the kidnappers called during the sixth day he was missing." He adds in a frown as he bites his lower lip and tightens the hold of Tommy's collar.
Tommy's eyes are blown wide like a saucer as he clenches his fist tightly enough that his nails dig deep on his palms.
That's not true, right? Techno is just making stuff up.
Yeah, that's it.
"You're still gonna deny it? The evidence has been given to you in a silver platter, so just admit where the heck did you hide my real brother or I'll make you." Techno growls as he threatens, shaking Tommy back and forth easily for emphasis.
Is that why Wilbur was insistent for Tommy to listen to that music group's new song he couldn't remember the name of?
Fuck.
It's over.
"You might want to bring a couple of flowers next time. The funeral was long over, but at least you can still visit him." Tommy says and makes eye contact with the now wavering Techno as his eyes widen and brows shake in dread.
"Did you—No. It can't be. No, no, no, no, no. You can't —he's..." Techno stammers as he lets go of Tommy's collar and bites his nails.
"That's right." Tommy smiles.
"I—"
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