"Dream, I swear it'll be just like old times- you, me, and Philza against the world."

Dream huffed, watching his breath form a small cloud of fog in the cold, winter air. "This is nothing like L'Manberg," the ex-dictator muttered.

The rhythmic crunching of Techno's boots against the freshly fallen snow came to a stop. "Oh, yeah?" the piglin challenged, his back to his ally. "Let me see if I got this right: Dream, Philza, and Technoblade are planning to overthrow the government of Wilbur Soot- the megalomaniac." The mighty warrior finally turned to face the ex-con, his expression solemn and full of dread. "It's not like L'Manberg. It is L'Manberg."

Dream sighed, rubbing his hands up and down his arms as they continued their journey. "I just don't understand why this keeps happening," he protested. "All these wars. They're endless."

Techno shrugged. "That's how it is with history," he explained. "These things come in cycles, with the fools in power repeating the world's tragedies 'til the end of time." The piglin paused for a moment, then added, "But I'm sure that dreamon has something to do with it, too."

Dream let out a laugh, and shook his head with a smile. "I guess you're right," he said. "You know, if history keeps repeating itself, then I could just call-"

"Shh!"

Techno suddenly stopped at the edge of the pine wood forest, his senses alert to his surroundings. "Do you hear that?"

The ex-convict was puzzled. Not a sound could be heard across the plains of The Syndicate. "No. I don't hear anything."

"Exactly."

Something wasn't right- Techno could feel it in his blood. Usually at this time of day, he'd hear animals grazing nearby, or the playful squeals of a certain baby piglin. If there was no activity, neither humanoid nor animal, then something had to be amiss. Something or someone had scared them off; he would have to investigate.

Like a predator chasing after its prey, Techno bolted out from the shelter of the woods, his eyes set on Philza's cabin.

"Techno!"

Dark thoughts formed in the piglin's mind as he neared his destination. What had happened while he was in prison? Had an unknown being entered the compound? Attacked his family? Techno silently cursed whoever had tampered with the order of things. If any harm had come to his family, blood would be spilt.

The Blood God plowed through the front door with a fearsome Sparta kick, and charged forward. "Philza!! Michael!! Where are you?!" The piglin tore through the house like a violent tornado, hell-bent on finding his father and nephew.

Meanwhile, Dream had finally caught up to his ally. He leaned heavily against the front doorway as he attempted to catch his breath. Maybe he should have stuck to that prison workout routine after all-

A raw, throaty yell boomed throughout the house, echoing down from the second floor: "PHILZA!!" The ex-convict flinched. Dear, gods, he thought, what had Techno found?

Dream raced up the stairs and down the hall to the source of the cries. There, he found the warrior piglin on his knees, desperately trying to shake his father awake. "PHIL?! PHIL, WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?! PHIL!!"

The slight graying of the old man's skin and his muted mumbles all pointed to one thing: "They nightmared him."

Techno snapped his head in Dream's direction. "They WHAT?!"

"Nightmared," the ex-con repeated. "A dreamon trapped him in an unholy nightmare. It's..." He sighed. "You can't wake him up because he's being possessed."

"HEH?!"

The Blood God turned back to his father, and, with a new sense of vigor, shook the man's limp and frail body. "Philza! Philza, listen to me! You have to wake up!"

Using what little strength he had left, Dream yanked the mighty warrior away from the elder, letting the unconscious human drop down to his bed. "Techno, stop it! It's no use!" Dream yelled. "He can't hear you!"

The piglin wrenched himself free from the ex-con's hold, and gave him a resentful glare. "Then how are we supposed to save him, huh?! Wait until he's an abomination from hell?!"

"Yes," the other monotoned. "Yes, that is the only way to free Philza. We have to wait for him to turn so we can cleanse his spirit. That is the only way!"

Techno scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't particularly like the idea of waiting out a demonic possession, but if that's the way it had to be, then wait he would.

A tense silence lingered in the room before Dream's quiet question broke the ice: "You mentioned a kid, right? Where is it?"

The piglin seethed with rage, releasing a powerful exhale through his nose. "Gone," he snarled. Techno raised his fist to the ceiling, and roared, "I swear to all the gods who hear me that I will have justice!! I will avenge my family like the hero I never was!! Just give me a sign-"

"Oh, hi, there!"

The two allies whirled around to find a viscous, green goo oozing out the far wall. They watched in horror and disgust as the slippery substance coagulated into a semi-solid, complete with human clothes and a pair of glasses. The being smiled. "My name is Charlie. Who are-"

The warrior piglin took a menacing step forward, murder in his gaze. "I swear to everything that's holy that if you're one of those dreamons, I'll-"

Dream leaped into the fray, holding the hybrid back by grabbing his bicep. "Techno, no! It's fine. He's a slime!"

The Blood God's blood-thirsty demeanor instantly gave way to one of suspect. "Alright...What are you doing here, then? Spying on us?"

Unaware of the blatant threat, the slime lightly bounced on the balls of his feet, happy to have their attention. "I was just scooting on by down below, and I thought I heard something about dreamons. Am I right?" The two allies nodded. "Well, I've seen a lot of dreamons recently, and they're pretty scary. One time, at a morning meeting, Quackity said-"

Techno's vision went red, his focus fixating on the one name in the slime's sentence. "Quackity? Quackity's behind this?!"

Dream's face fell. He knew that tone of voice, the one that stood so close to the edge of sanity and chaos- the warrior piglin was about to explode. "Techno, wait. That's not what he meant."

"Of course!" the warrior ranted, now pacing the length of the room. "It has to be him! He's doing this to get even with me. I give him that ugly scar, and he goes after my father. An eye for an eye. I should've known."

A look of sudden epiphany flashed over the piglin's face, just before he dashed out of the room. "Come on, Dream! We gotta go!"

The ex-con ran to the doorway of the bedroom, sticking his head into the empty hall. He could hear the piglin causing a ruckus in one of the other rooms. "Where?!"

"Las Nevadas! Let's go!"

"But we don't have any weapons!" 

"We'll use Phil's!"

Loyalty to his ally drove the man out of the room, leaving Charlie alone with an unconscious Philza. The slime hummed. "I was just wondering if they knew about that secret dreamon lair I'd found. Oh, well! Back to helping Quackity!" The gelatin-based humanoid reduced itself down to a syrupy sludge, and seeped back into the walls.

As the two men prepared for battle, the slime unknowingly prepared for war.

TECHNO'S GOING ON A RAMPAGE!!

Vote to help Dream keep up Lol XD

As always, thank you so much for the support!! Starting now, chapters will be 500-1000 words or more in length, so yayyy longer chapters!! Stay tuned for updates!! <333

[Image Credits] "Green Slime" (Cropped Slightly) by Justin Ennis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/averain/6709246017/)