Theo ground his teeth as he was led to the tall pillar looming ominously over their pathetic little country. The wooden deck creaked slightly as the sorry trail headed for the foreboding place. Veela's forgotten child Teal held the chains, carefully pulling him along, their tense grip betraying their nerves. CH lurked behind him, Theo's horse, Jason led along behind them. Theo smiled bitterly at the irony of being treated in the same way. And they think they're so good.

Theo rolled his eyes, distaste for this miserable place welling as CH ran off with his horse, to put them far away. As he did, his eyes caught on a balcony with a distraught face staring back at him, along with a faint whisper. "You actually got him." He jerked around in surprise, a short yelp sounding from Teal.

"Can?! Can what did they do to you!" He gasped, attempting to step in her direction, ignoring Dogge's yell of "Can, you're under arrest!" CH yelled too and Teal yanked the chain, pulling him away. Sapl and Dogge frantically raised their own weapons, pointing them in his vague direction. Pathetic. I could take them all down easily...if not for...He soared a glance behind him.

Jason.

Theo eyed the aprons of the butchers, covered in blood. Can...what did they do to you?

"They put this ankle monitor boot on me," Can called back, standing on the step of her house. "I-I can't leave my house."

"He's under house arrest Theoblade," Dogge declared from behind him. Theo didn't spare the child the full force of his glare.

"You guys leave Can alone!" He snarled, hands straining in the cuffs. The metal creaked but didn't give. "Leave Can alone, take me-!" He punched Sapl, the nearest person, and flinched back as the thorns enchantment kicked in. "Ow, that actually hurt-that must be how everyone else feels punching me." Theo chuckled awkwardly, ignoring Sapl's mutter of 'yeah, it's supposed to.'

CH took in an audible breath. "Can you stand next to this sign Theo?" They pointed to a life size poster of Theo and the real Theo stepped up to it, trying not to antagonize his enemy more.

Dogge nodded. "Yeah, we just need confirmation." He also headed over, though in a more...skipping manner. They made this child...President?

Whatever. He didn't judge. Verbally at least.

The group all moved in and Theo flattened himself to the parchment.

"I am the poster. You cannot see me right now. You cannot see me right now," Theo repeated. Dogge, Dogge, rolled his eyes and told Teal to move their head out of the way as they compared Theo to his image. In the brief moment of distraction, Theo made a run for it, muttering "I'm still at the poster."

"Ey, ey, ey, ey!" Teal squawked, raising their axe and charging after their...grandparent? Theo didn't quite know how that worked out. He dived into the water, but Dogge got to him right as he climbed out.

"Do you want your horse to die?" He said very non threateningly, holding his diamond axe. Theo sighed and began walking back.

"Alright, alright, that escape plan didn't work out."

"Fucking behave, fucking behave," CH snapped, popping out from behind one of the walls of their little execution tower. Theo looked across the river behind them at the pit and the horse head that looked just over the edge. Jason! He wanted to go over, but the slightly deranged person with an axe was probably not the easiest enemy to take on in his current no-potions, no-armor state.

As one, they began trying to herd him towards a...cage? You've got to be kidding.

"Put him in the cage," CH ordered. Dogge nodded, repeating the statement. Teal also got into it.

"Get in the cage." They growled the last words, beady black eyes inherited from their parent gleaming.

They pushed him to the edge on the iron bars and over the side. "Get in." As soon as he was in, Dogge placed more bars so he couldn't get out. Evil little shits.

"I, I can't help but feel like this whole trial thing here is kinda farce and you've already-" He spared a glance at the anvil high overhead, ignoring their little cries of excitement. He gulped slightly, tugging on the edge of his collar. "Already determined the outcome.."

"Theoblade," CH began. "Theoblade, this is not actually a trial. You that on top of the block up there?" That being the anvil. "When we press that lever down, what we're going to do is it's going to drop down on you, and it's going to fucking kill you."

Dogge smiled behind them, a dangerous light in his eyes. "This is an execution." Theo felt a slight chill go down his spine.

"Dogge, can you please do the honors of explains, to our whole entire team what's going in here please." CH stepped back, letting Dogge take center stage.

"Theoblade has robbed our country," he began. "Robbed it. Of everything that made it special. Of everything that defined what it was. Stepped in when he shouldn't have. He craves chaos. He ruined the government-" The boy flicked as snowballs came hurtling through the sky, holding up an arm to block his face from the snow. "Cloud is...throwing snowballs. Right-"

The mercenary threw a ender pearl and dropped down, landing on the wooden deck. Okay. Theo looked at them in confusion. They leaped into action, wielding their trident with deadly precision. Sapl, Teal, and CH in the audience screamed, struggling to their feet. Potion bottles smashed and Dogge screamed "what is Cloud doing?!"

Theo did not know, but he was enjoying this.

Cloud dived after Teal, them barely avoiding the first strike. Quickly, the teal-haired person shot up and over the seats, CH following as support. "What the fucks going on?!"

Cloud jumped into the air, placing TNT under their feet. The scream raised in pitch as the butchers quickly grabbed the TNT before the destructive mercenary set it off.

"HOLY SHIT-"

"OH MY GOD."

"AAAAAAAAAAH."

- - -

"Cloud, Cloud, Cloud, no no no no-" CH babbled, frantically setting his spawn nearby. A sliver of fear and wariness made his hands tremble as he did. "Don't do that-Cloud, Cloud-chill the fuck out-"

CH ran back over to find his fellow butchers engaging Cloud in combat. They were giving as good as they got and CH threw himself into it without anymore thought.

"What the fuck is he doing!" Teal yelled from the background. CH didn't bother trying to answer. Cloud placed more TNT and CH's voice went higher. "STOP. STOP."

- - -

"I'll just sit here," Theo deadpanned, heart lifting at the laugh of Can. She giggled slightly hysterically, wings shaking. Theo watched the chaos unfold outside his cage in utter disinterest.

"Theoblade!" A odd, echoing voice called. Theo turned, coming face to face with Ghostla, Veela's dead self. "Theoblade!"

"Hello Ghostla."

"I've named them, I've named them Ally," Ghostla beamed. Theo sighed.

"That's fantastic, Ghostla. That's fantastic, I'm about to die Ghostla." Can laughed again, slightly more nervous than before. Theo couldn't imagine why. Teal paused by the odd reunion, before turning away.

"PULL THE LEVER BIG Q, PULL THE LEVER."

"Heh?!" Theo startled, suddenly remembering that this was an execution for a reason. He wasn't here for socialization. A sudden idea gripped him and he reached into his pocket just as a soft click sounded.

There was a whistling noise as the anvil dropped, and a...honestly gross squelching noise as it landed on top of the feared warrior. CH cheered, before Sapl touched their shoulder. And CH suddenly realized that Theo was still standing there, unharmed.

"How did he not die?!" Fae yelled. CH didn't know but they would be damned if they let him get away with it.

- - -

Theo bolted, this time successfully using the confusion to escape. Progress. He ran along the fence that selected water towards the pit he had seen before. As he did, he saw it empty and looked around frantically.

A light blue poncho and mask with an ^w^ face looked back at him before turning away...with Jason. Theo ran after the figure, quickly entering a tunnel with the horse thief right in front of him.

As soon as he was in, Archie slid off the horse and blocked off the tunnel with cobblestone. Theo gently pet Jason's face and looked over at the masked menace with a cautious look. They pointed down the tunnel and left, leaving Theo to follow.

"Guess they're not talking, huh," he said slightly out of breath. He was not cut out for this. There was a reason he didn't get kidnapped.

Theo ran down the hall on Jason's back, entering a black stone room. He didn't waste time besides reading the sign-Final Control Room? What did that mean?-and digging through the chests. He grabbed everything, stilling at the sound of explosions.

"That was an explosion, that was an explosion-yoink," he said, grabbing a netherite pickaxe. Oooh, nice. He quickly suited up in iron armor and sorted his inventory, constantly on guard.

And for good reason. He could hear footsteps coming after him.

- - -

"What the fuck is this Theo?" CH demanded, weapon tight in their grip. "What the hell are you doing here? How the fuck-How the hell did that anvil not kill you?" The anger ran hot through their blood, clouding their thoughts. All they wanted to do was kill.

Theo awkwardly laughed, backing up. "Did you really think CH? That you could kill me that easily?" He took a step forward, almost tauntingly. No, not almost. "Do you think death can stop me CH? You know, you know what? I've got a lot to say, I was going to say it at the trial, but we got a little bit interrupted, CH." he sneered, raising his pickaxe to point at them. CH hefted their axe, narrowing their eyes. This won't end well.

"You know I tried convincing you guys, that government was not the answer. That government was actually the cause of all your problems, alright, I tried to convince you guys by fighting alongside you guys as brothers and you just cast me aside, you used me. I tried to use force but you still went and formed a government, and when I went into hiding, when I retired, when I swore off violence, you hunted me down, you hurt my friends."

CH stepped forward, feeling almost calm. "you don't understand Theo, you don't understand what we're trying to build here. This is not a simple anarchy thing, okay, this is what you don't understand. Theo, you really think I give a shit about the withers? No, no. You're on the hit list Theo, you're on the fucking hit list."

"What hit list?"

"I'm building a county here, and what we have over there is a county," CH said, flinging an arm out behind them. "And what we need here is organization and power." They squared their shoulders, looking the bastard dead in the eye. "And I don't care how long it fucking takes me, or what I have to do to get you Theo, I'm going to fucking kill you." They took a deep breath. "I'm going to kill you Theoblade."

"I just have one question CH."

"What do you have?" CH snarled. Did he think some dumb question would delay the inevitable?

"Do you think you're enough to kill me, even unarmed, with iron armor? Do you really think you can take me?" CH felt their anger flare.

"You know what? Let's find out you son of a bitch." CH raised their weapon but Theo slid by into the tunnel they'd come in from. Before they could follow, Theo blocked it off, CH groaning in anger.

"Oh fuck you," they spat out. "Fuck you."

"Sike," Theo laughed, throwing the potions he had been provided in the chests onto the floor. The liquid caught in his clothes, making him feel he could take the Kool-Aid man on.

CH dropped in from behind, having mined through and Theo swung his pickaxe in a wide arc to keep them back. As soon as they could, they lunged forward and the battle was on.

Trading insults and short quips back and forth, CH began to sweat.

They weren't enough to take Theo on, and they both knew it. Their strikes missed and their health dropped lower and lower. They ignored it, anger leading them on.

"Oh, now you have to use potions, motherfucker-"

"I have a pickaxe, and I'll put it through your TEETH." Theo swung the makeshift weapon just as he yelled, the sharp tip slicing upwards into CH's face, dropping them like a stone. The body dropped to the ground and disappeared right after. Theo spun to a halt, panting, hair out of place.

It was over.

For now.