Chapter Text
Technoblade was the longest of Phil's friend by far. They spent time together and apart but in the end fate always liked to put them back together. The thousands of years they'd spent together made them tightly knit brothers in arms.
The last time that Phil had seen Techno before the smp was when they had started a whole empire in Antarctica, like one does. Not to mention conquering the world together. Eventually the server became dormant and players no longer tread it's soil. He and Techno wordlessly parted ways, sure that they would meet again when the universe deemed it.
He heard rumors of a piglin warrior from the chatter of his flock of crows, but that was it before he received the invite for Dreamsmp.
Dream probably mentioned Techno's presence on the server and Wilbur must have mentioned it in his letters to home, but Phil didn't have time to really process that. After all Wilbur was doing the whole destructive spiral thing.
The first time Phil really noticed Techno was when he felt his gaze on him as he pushed the blade through Wilbur's heart. Of course everyone was watching, but in that moment it seemed that it was only him and Techno. Phil couldn't even bear to look him in the eyes in that moment. Phil doesn't know what he thought Techno would do in that moment, but he only solemnly nodded his head in acknowledgement of Phil and turned back to Tommy.
When Techno asked Phil if he would join him in the arctic, he didn't even take a moment to think it over. It's not like he would be accepted anywhere else, not really at least. Phil would always be remembered for the martyrdom of his son, no matter what people said.
He would just have to wait until the knowledge became lost to time or twisted into myth like everything else that was known about him.
"Hey Phil have you looked at the message log recently?"
Phil's eyes refocused on the book he'd be reading before his mind decided to tell it's own story.
Phil turned to face Techno, who was hefting his communicator in one hand and Orphan Obliterator in the other. "No? Why mate?"
"Surely you've felt it Phil," Techno droned on. "It feels like when you joined."
Phil took a moment to breathe in the warm and cozy air of Techno's cabin. It felt electric, as if it had been overcharged. There were only a few beings who could pull this off.
"Look I know chat I'm getting around to showing him," Techno muttered. "Look here Phil."
Techno showed Phil the screen of his communicator.
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̴͎̫̲̑͑C̷̯͇̎̌̇ơ̷̝̟̙͗̈́̎̅̋͊̈́̓̂̋̚͘͝n̷͎͓̳̺͎̝͔̞̋̓͋̈͂̉͜d̴̮̪̣͕͗͒̾̎̀̒͒̃͑̃́̒̎͝į̷̛̛̺̮̭͎͇͍͙̩͚̫̥̳͇̌͊͜f̸̮̕i̶̧̡͇̥̲͛̍̍͂ͅc̵̡̩̘̖̖̪̲͉̟̱͈̃̾͂̾̇̿̅̉̈́ṱ̵̡̡̝̖͎̠̩̮̙̲̻̦̔́̏̎̑̓̽̓͒͆̔͠ȋ̷̧̡̧̪̹͔̲̯͚̖̰̦̘̎̀͘ỗ̸̢̢̢͓̰̮̼̼͐n̴̯͍͕̈́̅͌͋̇̍̌̕ ̴̛̺̉̐̏j̷̼̦̳̺͎̗̪̝͎̠̃͗͌́͒̽̐̉͊̏͒̔̑ͅo̵̧̧͔̗̟̹̣͖̼̗̘̰̎̿̽̀̔͊͐̓͐̓͌͜͝ḯ̴̗̇͐̊̎̑̀̂̍͘͝n̵̨̲͔̪̝͚̫̱̯̫̱̉̑̽̾͆̄͝e̷̡͈̭̫̟̪͈͔̩͓̼͋̇͌͗͑̄̾͋͐̔͜͜͝ͅḑ̶̨̖̭̝̞̒͛͊ ̷̧̺͚̼͇̟̭̹̯̰͈̏̊͋̀̃͜͝ͅṫ̵̨̫͍̗͕͍͕͉̒h̵̪͙̼̖̩̘̤͉̲̋̋̀́̚͝é̸̛̛̻̞̺̮͖͔͔̘̙̲͓͇̩͎̎͗̓̈́̇̎̈͗́̕͜͠ ̴̧̢̡̞̫̱̩̼̅̍̇͑͂̿̊̍̚g̵̲̟̠̭̰̱͎̜͓̜̗̾͛̇̉̽̔a̷̡̢̜͚̹̜͈̠̟̓́ͅm̶̫̈́̋̈̊̓̽̓̾̓e̷̢̛̛͇̰͓̲͚͈̟̳͚̔͗̂͗̅͛̋̂̓́̓͝.̷̡̠͓̘̱̺̘͕̿̌̽̈̕͠͝
"Someone was trying to cover up their tracks..." Phil said.
"Yeah." Techno snorted, "not good enough to get past us though."
It was only natural that gods and immortals were good at picking each other out of a crowd. Mortals were usually left in the dark but many times for better rather than worse. The practices of the otherworldly weren't meant for mortal comprehension.
"So who is it?"
"Me and chat have been bouncing ideas off each other but we can't seem to figure anything out." Techno put his communicator back in his inventory. "We know they're here, but I hate to say they did a good job at masking their identities."
Phil chuckled at Techno's furrowed expression. "And you want to track them down?"
"What can I say Phil? I'm most comfortable when I know what's on the table." He gestures widely, "besides, with the nature of this server anything and everything could be a ticking time bomb."
"You're right about that one mate." Phil moved to his feet, which had been propped up on Techno's table. "It'll be interesting at least, that's for sure."
Techno pulled his cape around his shoulders. "I knew you'd be on board Phil. Might as well get started now."
"Aww but I was so comfortable! Not to mention close to finishing this book." He gestured to the leather bound pages in his hand.
"Oh get up old man," Techno said, flashing a grin. "I don't have your for you to get all grandpa on me."
"That's a low blow," Phil said in mock annoyance, upturning his nose. "I'm coming alright mate? Don't get too ahead of yourself."
"Whatever you say old man."
***
"Oh come on I said not to get in there!"
"But it's so moist Fundy from L'Manberg!" Slime said from the midst of the Las Nevadas fountain.
This was the last straw. Slime had the mannerisms of a toddler and if he called him Fundy from L'Manberg one more time-
He can't believe he's doing this. When Quackity said he had an important task for him babysitting was the last thing he thought it would be.
"Where is Quackity? He said he would teach me about something called gambling," Slime asked.
"I already told you he had to talk to Sam."
"Sam from Prison?"
"Ye- wait how do you know that?"
Slime shrugged. "He's in this prison a lot, just like Quackity is in Las Nevadas and you in L'Manberg before it went boom!"
Fundy was this close yo strangling the guy. "For the last time I'm not from L'Manberg! Not anymore at least."
"That's unfortunate, Fundy from L'Manberg."
"That-" Fundy pulls out his communicator in hasty and frustrated motions. "That's it, I'm calling Foolish. If Quackity thinks I'll just take this sick joke of his I won't do it."
You whisper to FoolishG: ayo r u frre?
FoolishG whispers to you: uh maybe, why do you ask?
You whisper to FoolishG: quackity wanted me to tel u he has something he needs u to do
FoolishG whispers to you: oh well I guess if Quackity said so...
FoolishG whispers to you: I'll be right over
Fundy both makes a sigh of relief and then grins to himself.
"Good news Slime, someone else is coming to entertain you."
Slime's eyes brighten, "another meat brother?"
"Yeah yeah meat and bones and everything," Fundy said dismissively.
Foolish made it over to Las Nevadas surprisingly fast. He guesses that mentioning Quackity's name is the reason. The man is to be feared after all, as little as Fundy wants to admit it.
"What did Quackity need me for?" Foolish asks.
"He wants you to watch his..." Fundy searched for a proper word. "His friend. Yeah, his friend right here."
Foolish turned to look at Slime who was still splashing around in the Las Nevadas fountain.
"That's his friend?"
"Yes. Quackity said that you must watch him and that his safety is of the upmost concern."
That was partially true. Quackity had expressed a large amount of concern for the well being of the slime. Fundy didn't even have the beginning of an answer as to why, but Quackity wasn't always right in the head so maybe this was just another one of those moments.
"Well..." Foolish obviously had better things to attend to than keeping Slime out of trouble but he hesitantly agreed. "Quackity's in charge after all," he said.
"Good," Fundy said, making his leave before Foolish could change his mind. "I'll leave you to it then."
Foolish nodded and gave a nervous smile.
***
Slime had lead Foolish into the nearby forest and much to Foolish's relief, had settled down in a flower patch.
"Look at all these flowers Foolish from a long time ago!"
Foolish would have to ask him about all the 'a long time ago' stuff later, because in the moment he was barely able to keep up with Slime's constant chatter.
"Oh yeah?" he said humorously. "What's your favorite flower?"
Slime seemed to ponder for a moment before pointing to a red flower.
"That one!"
Foolish tiled his head, "a poppy? What do you like about poppies?"
A poppy for you Slimecicle, so when you see death coming at you at high speeds you can think of me and I'll already be dead.
"Hmmm. I don't know!"