Tommy sat, agitated and worried. He buried his face in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. His back was pressed against the cold, rough stone of the ravine.

"Tommy." Tubbo's voice was soft, and reached Tommy through the silence of the night. Tommy looked up and made out Tubbo's outline in the faint starlight.

"Hey." Tommy greeted Tubbo tiredly. "Why're you up so late?" He asked.

"I could ask you the same." Tubbo answered, sitting down next to Tommy. Tommy looked back down at his feet.

"I'm scared." Tommy admitted after a long silence. Tubbo placed a comforting hand on Tommy's shoulder.

"I know." Tubbo replied simply. "I am, too."

There was a moment of silence.

"What if we lose?" Tommy asked, his anxieties tumbling out of his mouth without control. "What if this fails, what if we don't get L'Manberg back, what if we die? What happens?"
Tubbo didn't answer for a long time, causing Tommy to look over to check that Tubbo was still there.

"I don't know." Tubbo finally confessed. "We have to think positive. We can't... we can't lose." He swallowed, then stood up.

"You should go get some rest before... before tomorrow." Tubbo advised Tommy.

"You too." Tommy told Tubbo, who nodded before padding off wearily. Tommy watched Tubbo disappear into the soft darkness of Pogtopia before retiring back to bed as well.

However, Tommy couldn't sleep. Instead, he stared up at the ceiling in the darkness of the night, watching as the shadows slowly shifted as the sun rose. Finally, upon hearing hustle and bustle from outside, he got out of bed, feeling sick and worried.

"Hey Techno." Tommy greeted his friend tiredly. He placed a hand on Techno's shoulder. "Thanks for helping us."

Techno grunted. "I support anarchy, not you." He clarified, but Tommy was too tired to respond, instead slouching off to where he could see Tubbo and Wilbur were conversing.

"It's today." Tommy stated, as though saying it aloud would make it feel more real to him.

"It is." Tubbo confirmed.

Wilbur smiled ominously at Tommy. "Now, now, don't look so upset, you've known this was coming for a while."

"I know. I'm not upset, I'm just..." Tommy trailed off, trying to find the right words to express what he was feeling.

"Worried? Anxious? Scared?" Tubbo supplied.

Tommy shook his head. "I just have a weird feeling, like... it shouldn't be this easy."

Wilbur laughed. "Don't start slacking off, now. Tommy, it's not easy, what are you talking about?"

"But, Schlatt only has Dream on his side!" Tommy protested. "We have Techno, and we have the power of numbers! There's no way he'll win."

Wilbur merely shook his head with an amused, condescending smile on his face. "You wouldn't understand, Tommy."

Tommy stared at Wilbur for a little longer, then gave up, turning to Tubbo.

"Come on, let's go get ready." Tommy told Tubbo, and they walked away from Wilbur, who stood there with an evil grin slowly spreading across his face.

On the other end of Pogtopia, Techno had the rest of the people gathered around him in a small crowd.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked, catching Techno's attention.

"Come with us, I have something to show you." Techno told him. Tommy halted, feeling a little suspicious of the wording.

"That sounds oddly familiar..." Tommy trailed off.

"It does," confirmed a familiar deep voice. Tommy whipped around, surprised to see Eret leaning against one of the walls of the cave. Eret seemed surprisingly small without the thick, heavy red robes and the large crown.

"What happened to you? What are you doing here?" Tommy questioned.

"Dream removed my crown." Eret informed Tommy with a calm smile. "I decided to ally with my friends, and Dream gave the kingship to George."

Tommy raised his eyebrows, studying Eret for a moment, then patted him on the back. "All the more for more allies. Now, Techno, what are you showing us?"

"Come with me. I've been working on a bunker, and it's full of gear and valuable stuff. Come on, everyone, let's go."

Tommy hesitated before agreeing, leaving him to be the last person in the emptiness of Pogtopia. He scanned the ceilings.

This is my last time here. I'll either die fighting for L'Manberg, or go home alive.

-

Tommy puffed as he crossed the hills and groaned when he saw another one.

"Are you trying to wear us out so we can't fight? Because if you are, it's working."

Techno rolled his eyes. "Shut up, child. It's not much further." He grunted.

Tommy huffed in indignation but didn't complain anymore. Everyone trudged to the base of another hill, and after Tommy did a head check, Techno led them down a tunnel and then they emerged into a small base. Everyone crowded around, spilling into the lighted area, and some people began looking curiously through the chests.

"Not these chests!" Techno told them. "I have more gear downstairs. Come on, everyone follow me."

They descended down another tunnel all the way down to bedrock level, and they emerged into a large chamber lined with blackstone. Tommy frowned and looked at Wilbur. It seemed awfully familiar, and Wilbur seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Trust him." Wilbur mouthed, and Tommy nodded uncertainly, his brows still furrowed as he craned his neck in order to see past Techno.

"What!?" Tommy exclaimed. There were rows of chests and five sets of fully enchanted netherite armor. A collective gasp spread through the crowd and everyone rushed past Techno.

"How did you do all of this?" Tommy asked incredulously.

Techno shrugged, privately satisfied. "I spent two weeks just grinding, and here we are."

"Wow." Tommy rushed to get some gear of his own before everyone took all of it. He gazed, wide-eyed, at the stacks and stacks of gear that was just laying there, ready to use. He immediately got himself a set of netherite armor and weapons, and after everyone had geared up to their heart's content, they all congregated back on the surface. Tommy pushed his way to the center, and everyone fell silent and looked upon him expectantly. He realized that they were expecting some sort of speech, some sort of pep talk, and felt a little out of place.

If the people want me to do it, I'll do it. He told himself, and cleared his throat.

"We can do this, guys." Tommy announced, turning around and looking everyone in the eye. "We literally can't fail. All of Pogtopia, we don't have to blow up anything today, alright? Dream isn't fighting with the passion and devotion we have, and he's just one man. We can do this together. We can reclaim it as our own."

Everyone cheered except for Wilbur and Techno. Tommy lowered his voice to speak to Wilbur.

"Look, we don't have to blow it up. We can win, we can get it back. It doesn't have to go down that way."

Wilbur smiled. "You know the rules. We fail, and I blow it all up."

"Yeah, but we won't fail. We can't fail." Tommy argued.

Wilbur merely smiled. Tommy swallowed and turned back to the crowd, who were all watching them both.

"Are we ready to take back L'Manberg?"

Everyone cheered, and Tommy slowly began to grin.

We can do this. We can do this. We can do this.

"Then let's go do it!" Tommy cheered.