Tommy and Tubbo walked to the ice portal gate, celebrating and laughing the whole way.

"We seriously did that man!" Tommy exclaimed, throwing his fists into the air.

"We did! I didn't think we could pull it off, but we did!" Tubbo laughed with him, "If they find out, I'm going to be in sooo much trouble after this." He realized as he spoke, laughing a little awkwardly.

"Oh right- you work there and all." Tommy said.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Once we find Dream and Eret and prove the sciency-theory-thingy we'll be famous!"

"They'll be too impressed to get mad!" Tommy agreed. He had no idea what the science thing Tubbo was talking about was, but also didn't feel like listening to a nerdy explanation about it so he didn't ask. There was a peaceful pause of silence between the two as they looked around their surroundings and made sure they were going in the right direction.

"What happened back there by the way?" Tommy asked, bringing Tubbo's focus back.

"Hmm?"

"With the window and Fundy getting trapped?"

"Oh uhm-... Fundy let go of the door, and I was holding it. It was way heavier than I thought it would be. And then his phone went off with a ton of notifications, so he took a second to turn them off. He handed me the crystals and I only had one hand on the window, so he had to shift to a fox to fit through the small opening and his hat fell on my face." Tubbo paused to remember it.

"I slipped up..."

"Oh it's not your fault man." Tommy reassured him. "That thing looked really fucking heavy when Wilbur lifted it with both hands, and he's an adult! Plus you had to hold it longer cause the furry screwed up notifications."

Tubbo gave him a halfhearted smile as a thank you, and Tommy grinned back.

They got to the ice portal and only saw the guards by it. They hung back a distance so they could continue to talk without annoying them too much.

"Guess we're early," Tubbo shrugged.

"Yeah, I still can't believe Techno's lending us armor for this. Must be pretty important huh?" Tommy said.

"Yeah," Tubbo sighed. "I guess you haven't been filled in on too much huh?" He chuckled.

"Nope!"

"Oh! I should add you to the group chat right now!" Tubbo realised, quickly typing in Tommy's contact info.

"Damn right you should. Tired of being fuckin' left out." Tommy crossed his arms and grinned.

"Well it's your fault for forcing yourself into this mess in the first place." Tubbo chuckled.

"What, you rather I stay out of it?"

"Nah, I'm glad you did. Nice to have a friend here."

Nobody in the chat mentioned Tommy in it, and they both figured they were all too busy preparing to notice.

"What were the notifications that screwed Fundy up anyway?" Tommy asked curiously.

Tubbo was about to answer, when he realized he didn't actually know.

"Not sure, if it's on the group chat we can scroll up and check?"

"Well it looks like there's lots of messages on here that could be the explanation." Tommy said, starting to look through them on his own phone. Tubbo didn't try to read them himself and instead waited for Tommy to do it instead.

"The blue guy said he was Skeppy right?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, he's friends with Badboyhalo."

"Interesting pair," Tommy muttered. "Either way he seems pretty pissed at Techno through these texts."

"Hmm, wonder what Tech said." Tubbo asked curiously, patiently waiting for Tommy to explain.

It didn't take Tommy long to find the text Techno sent.

"Uhm Tubbo?"

"Yeah?" Tubbo waited expectantly for Tommy to read the message for him.

"How many people are we trying to catch?" He asked cautiously.

"Two. Eret and Dream now, since he escaped prison."

"About that-..." Tommy flipped the screen towards Tubbo, zoomed in on Techno's message.

There was silence as Tubbo focused on the screen to read it, eyes going wide when he finished.

Tubbo snactched the phone away and opened up the photo attached. Tommy didn't argue, instead hovering behind him to see it as well.

"Punz?" Tommy looked closer, "He was at the prison as a guard; Why the fuck isn't he doing anything to stop Dream? He's right there!"

Tubbo was at a loss for words.

Dream, Eret, and Punz were easy to identify in the photo, but the last person in it caught his attention more than anything.

"Ranboo?" He whispered.

Tommy looked at it again and noticed Ranboo as well. He was confused and angry more than anything, and wanted to explain to Tubbo how he was right about his bad feelings about the guy from the start. That is, until he saw Tubbo's fallen face with his gaze glued to the ground.

"Hey, it's uhm ok?" Tommy said carefully, "You still got me, and Ranboo wasn't even that-"

"You don't understand." Tubbo whispered.

"What do I not understand?" Tommy asked defensively, "The picture shows pretty clearly whose side he's on. Which is ya know, not fucking our's."

"No no! He's-.... He doesn't know what he's doing!"

"Tubbo what are you-"

"He's- he's. He just needs help! A cure! Like the others, and I'm responsible, and if I can't-" His voice cracked.

"You're not making sense, Tubbo-"

Tommy was cut off by a voice behind him. He whipped around to see who it was, and Tubbo took the opportunity to remain quiet.

"Oh you guys are early! Great!" Philza walked over with Techno behind him, who just offered a quick wave. Tubbo was avoiding eye contact more than the plague and waved quickly to the others.

"Are the others here yet?" Philza asked, oblivious to the situation.

Before Tommy could respond or ask what if they knew what Tubbo was talking about, which he suspected they did, another two figures came up.

"Uh-" Tommy started.

"We're here!" Wilbur shouted, getting their attention. He was holding a cup of coffee and looked more awake then the last time Tommy and Tubbo saw him.

"Sorry we're a bit late. Coffee emergency." He explained, holding up the cup to emphasize.

"Guys-" Tommy tried again, getting ignored.

"Hello!" Niki smiled next to him. The height difference between them was slightly laughable.

"Good to see you, ready to get gear?" Philza smiled kindly. Techno looked a little less enthusiastic.

"Hey I have a question-" Tommy tried again. No one noticed him.

"Alright let's make this quick; We don't want to be late to the Earth portal." Philza said, walking past them towards the ice portal.

"Alright hold on a fucking second!" Tommy shouted. Philza stopped walking and turned around to raise an eyebrow at Tommy.

"Yes?" Techno asked bluntly.

"Can someone explain what the fuck that text on the groupchat was, and why Tubbo's acting all weird about it?" He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He was all fine until he saw what you said, and now he's gone all quiet."

They all looked at Tubbo who was staring at the ground, and looked a little guilty for not noticing his behavior more quickly. Then at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation without words in front of the two.

Philza nodded towards the portal and Techno nodded, Wilbur offering a shrug and Niki a slight smile with a nod.

"Well?" Tommy asked.

"We'll explain it when we get home, mate. It's not a great thing to talk about out here."

He gave them a confused look but they ignored it, all following the crow father to the portal without another word. Tubbo dragged behind a little bit.

"You're all annoying." Tommy muttered quiet enough so no one could hear him. He looked back at Tubbo to see him staring at his phone with the picture back on it, analyzing the heck out of it.

He sighed and picked up the pace to keep up with the adults in front of him.

The portal made the group a little dizzy stepping through, but the shock of the cold snapped them out of it pretty quickly. Philza and Techno were used to it and had relatively warmer clothes, but the other four weren't as lucky.

"Don't worry, it's not too long of a walk." Philza said. He took off his overcoat and handed it to Tommy with short sleeves, before fanning out his wings and wrapping them around himself.

Techno took off his cape and handed it to Tubbo and Niki who shared it, walking side by side.

"Nothing for me?" Wilbur said.

"Techno chucked, "You got that coffee, it'll probably last you the way."

The walk was actually pretty short, luckily for all of them, and it wasn't long before Philza opened the door and everyone flooded through.

"Steve!" Techno called out, getting tackled by a polar bear a few seconds after.

Tommy and Tubbo jumped backwards and Tommy put his hand out to protect Tubbo behind him.

"Aww don't worry mate, he's friendly." Philza chuckled.

Steve walked towards them next, once Techno managed to shove him off and nuzzled into their chests before going to lick their faces.

"Awww!" Niki chuckled. Handing back Techno's cape with a thank you. He simply nodded.

"Alright," Techno started, throwing the cape back over his shoulders. "Let's head to the bunker."

"You're not murdering us, right?" Wilbur joked, though it was always iffy when it was about Techno.

"Don't worry Wil, you're not the one getting murdered when we get to Earth." He looked at Philza who nodded with a smile.

Techno pulled a lever and a stone door opened in front of them, showing a large dark room behind it. It was lit up with torches that burst to life as the door stopped to a halt that showcased the sets of dark glinting armor and weapons set on armor stands near the obsidian walls. The dark stone floor echoed beneath their feet as the group wandered further into the room, oohing and awing at the place.

"Eh?" Techno said, waving his hand out to it.

"THIS IS SO COOL!" Tommy exclaimed in a high pitched voice.

"WOAH!!" Tubbo stared in awe at the sets of armor.

"I see where Fundy got the gear," Niki chuckled.

"Woah Techno, you've outdone yourself with this bunker!" Wilbur said.

"Heh, lots of free time I guess." Techno huffed.

"Well, go and pick out stuff kids!" Philza urged, letting them all scramble to get gear. Wilbur lagged behind, opting to go towards the weapons first instead.

Techno sighed, "So much gear.... Rest in peace."

"Oh shut up you." Philza punched him in the arm with a smile. "It's not like you need any of it anyway."

"True true. I am the best." Techno smiled.

"We should grab some of this for ourselves too though. Can't let them have all the fun of looking cool." Philza said, starting to make his way to the gear.

"You got bags of holding? I don't want to carry this the whole way." Techno asked, picking up a sword and testing the swing of it. "Last time it was 20 minutes through a forest just back to the hub with that colorblind british guy. This time it's probably going to be days of hiking."

"Yeah I got them upstairs. We can explain what's going on to Tommy up there too. And maybe clarify the text." Philza opened a chest and looked through the contents, getting a curvy dagger and hiding it in his sleeve in a secret hook.

"What's there to clarify? At least four people to hunt based on the cameras. That's what we saw, and that's all we know."

Philza sighed and closed the chest, "I know mate, but I think they need a bit of support. Tubbo's probably under too much pressure since he and Fundy need to find a cure for the void demons in just a few days." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Plus they have so little data, and very little is known about void demons. To the general public, including us a while ago, they're just myths."

Techno nodded. "It still seems far-fetched, but I guess it's the only answer we have."

Philza sighed. "Dream and Eret could be doing this on purpose; I'm still skeptical of them. But Ranboo? He wouldn't do something like this willingly."

Techno hummed in response.

"We'll get him back, Phil." He said quietly. Philza nodded.

After a few minutes, the others ran towards them fully kitted out with gear. Well mostly anyway. Wilbur had a crossbow and quiver, plus a single small dagger in one hand and a sword he rested on his shoulder.

"No armor, Wilbur?" Techno asked, looking back to see there were still a few sets of untouched armor that would fit Wilbur, so there wasn't a stock issue.

"I hate the stuff. This'll work better anyway." He explained. Techno was a little confused that Philza didn't question it, but brushed it off.

"Ok then? Well let's head upstairs, we can explain all we know about what we saw on the cameras and then you can split off to get anything from home before three." Techno said.

"Finally!" Tommy shouted, in glimmering gear, with an armful of weapons, that he did not previously own.

The living room was much cozier, with a fire started and a sleeping polar bear in the corner. Philza put on a pot of tea and lent the group extra bags of holding for all of their gear, which could also fit camping supplies and anything they needed from home.

"Alright, so explain what the fuck is going on." Tommy said, "All I know is that we need to catch or kill Dream or something, and that this seemed more interesting than guard duty."

"And Skeppy wants to know more about the text." Niki added, "We were talking about it while walking to our shops."

"And is Ranboo really- did he-" Tubbo spoke softly, "Is he like Dream now?"

"Like Dream?" Tommy repeated, confused.

"Ok Tommy, there's some things we need to explain."

------------

Sorry this took so long to get out and it's kinda short! I realized the chapters are getting really long which is harder for me, and now that I've started school again (It's hell. School is just fucking hell) it's going to take longer to get these out probably since I'll have way less time to work on them. Almost to the fun stuff I hope. Wish i could promise, but I have no idea how long it's going to take me to write it. Thanks if you're still reading this book, I hope you still like it. Have an amazing day or night! (please take care of yourself and sleep if it's night tho.)

(so close to the damn earth portal! just one after this i think! or maybe two depending on if i split it up or not! seriously thank you for reading this if you've gotten this far!)