Whumptober let's gooooo!

Welcome to 31 chapters of daily updating angst and hurt/comfort for my beloved Peer Pressure duo.

The specific method they had used to tie Technoblade up told him this wasn't new to them.

They had taken care to loop the rope around twice, tying it into a knot before pulling it through the small gap created between his wrist so it could run underneath its own coil. Then - making sure it was as tight as it could get - they had fastened it into a second knot near the bottom of his palms. All of it meant to lower any chance he had of being able to wrench his arms free by force, no matter how much excess strength he would manage to put into it.

And to add insult to injury there was a second rope with one end wound around the cuffs, effectively making a leash for them to lead him around on.

He had considered using that to his advantage. If he pulled back hard enough it would be easy to trip the guy holding the other end, make his own weight a counterbalance to knock them off their feet. But the risk was too high, he would probably catch an arrow bolt in the back before he'd have time to blink. Had he been by himself, it'd be a risk Techno might be willing to take in order to escape.

But he wasn't by himself.

From the corner of his eyes, Techno could see the man leading Ranboo in a similar manner to the person holding his own leash. They were careful to stay several paces behind, maybe to lower the odds of their two captives attempting any form of non-verbal communication. Techno had to grin at the thought. If it was Phil who had been captured alongside him, an escape plan would have already been relayed with a mere nod and wink. Phil's eyes darting to the right or Techno's chin inclining upwards being all the information they needed to exchange in order to work together. They rarely used words to understand each other, they had already crossed numerous battlefields in silence and perfect synchronicity.

Phil wasn't there though. Ranboo was the one who had come with him that morning, Techno grumbling about letting him tag along on his raid while secretly not minding the company in the slightest. Their previous trips had been fun, Techno (begrudgingly) had to admit he liked Ranboo and Chat clearly liked him too. Almost as much as they liked Phil. Even now they wouldn't stop driving that point home. They hadn't stopped echoing Protect Ranboo for a good ten minutes.

That was also why Techno kind of wished Ranboo hadn't joined him. He couldn't help but feel the seeds of guilt about their current predicament start to fester, knowing that Ranboo was in this situation only because they had been traveling together.

Not to mention it was Techno's fault he had been distracted in the first place, he could blame himself twice for also allowing these strangers to sneak up on them. No names had been given, so Techno had ever so imaginatively been calling them Blond and Redhead in his mind. Ranboo and he had been caught unaware in every sense of the word and it had ended with them disarmed and bound before they could react or even start to fight back, being led off to god knows where. A minor inconvenience.

Chat was making fun of him, having a grand old time berating him about the situation. Technostupid seemed to have fast become their new favorite word. He was used to them not being very helpful, but he'd prefer it if they went back to just spamming E at him.

He dropped his shoulders, subtly trying to reach for the communicator in his pocket. If he could be discreet about it, he might be able to send a message to Phil and make him aware of the situation. Glancing up to make sure neither of their captors would see what he was doing, Techno blindly searched for a button on the side of the device. Three quick presses, followed by a long one. He felt the communicator vibrate lightly in response, telling him it had worked and he had just sent their coordinates off to the entire server.

"Keep walking!" Redhead shoved him from behind, smacking his hand between Techno's shoulder blades for emphasis. Technoblade grunted in annoyance and nearly stumbled over his own feet. He fumbled to keep the communicator out of sight, shoving it back into his pocket.

"My bad, I didn't realize we were in a such hurry. Maybe you should provide some horses next time you want to take a field trip." He brought his arms up to gesture with bound wrists. "And it might also be easier to walk without these. Just some constructive criticism."

They didn't rise to his bait, squinting at their surroundings instead in search of some landmark. Blond's smile grew a little and he inclined his head to the other one. "Told you it'd be easy to find." He cut away the bushes in front of them with his sword, revealing the clearing that lay up ahead.

All hope Technoblade had of using their communicators to get out of this situation disappeared like snow under the sun when the portal dawned in front of them. Its hue was a near transparent white, reflectances of light bouncing off the edges framed with grey brickwork and redstone. Not a nether portal. A cross-world one.

They were being taken off the server.

Ranboo must have realized too and dug his heels into the ground instinctively, displaying all the outward reluctance Technoblade was internally feeling about allowing their kidnappers to whisk them to a different server. The man pulling Ranboo's rope clicked his tongue in disapproval and yanked on the length, making the enderman stagger forward and with his shoulder into Techno's before hitching a couple of panicked breathes.

Protect Ranboo
Technosoft?
He's panicking
Protect
E
This looks like a terrible idea lbr

"Ranboo?" Techno wanted to say something, concern biting at his throat, but a painful tug on his own leash interrupted him.

"No talking." Blond scowled, then directed himself to his companion. "You go through first, I'll deal with the supplies."

With a nod, Redhead took the lead from him. Barely a blink later they were both being pulled into the swirly mist of the portal's surface.

The typical wave of nausea so familiar to cross-world transportation washed over Technoblade, making him close his eyes if he didn't want to puke first thing upon arriving on solid ground again. Redhead clearly had no sympathy for his struggle, already trying to pull them along somewhere else as soon as they materialized again. The place they had spawned into was an assault on the senses, making Techno's head spin. Everything was too bright, too loud, too much. The air smelled heavy with spices and sweat, the noise of civilization was erupting all around them. A crescendo swelled on by the voices which rang with excited and curious thrumming from the change of scenery.

When Techno finally managed to pry his eyes open again it was to the sight of a bustling market square.

Fabric canopies spread out as far as the eye could see, merchants standing beneath them struggling to scream over each other and sell their wares to the lazily meandering crowd that passed by their stalls. Techno saw hybrids and humans both, which told him the server was a well-traveled one. Probably not a permanent residence to most, but frequented for specific purposes such as trade.

Children ran among the throng unaccompanied, weaving between people's legs while engrossed in games of tag. Every corner was occupied by some group of people talking to each other, animated conversation interlaced with boisterous laughter. Nobody turned or even batted an eye at the two men being led on, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Redhead was still yanking the leash, probably chafing Techno's wrists raw in the process, but he barely could get himself to think let alone move.

Blond - who had followed them through the portal – scoffed and took Techno's lead back to resume their trek. Stuck in a daze Technoblade trailed after him, thoughts of escape momentarily forgotten in favor of trying to cope with the abundance of stimuli.

He knew Ranboo wouldn't be doing any better than him – much worse probably. Techno could barely catch him mumbling to himself, turning to see Ranboo's hands fidgeting restlessly from between the ropes. Techno tried to concentrate instead, pull himself to the present and commit to memory anything that might help them escape later even if it was a thing much easier said than done.

The building they were being brought towards rose up above the rest, large round walls with narrow slits instead of windows and decorative banners that hung every few feet from the weathered stone to cover almost the entire front. The top was partly open, leaving no roof to protect the middle section of the building from where cries rose up to meet air. It formed a gaudy display, but to Technoblade it was at least a familiar one. He knew exactly why they were being taken there.

And it was far from a reassuring thought.

They were ushered into a side door far away from the main entrance, one that lead straight into the bowels of the arena. A mingle of handlers and fighters ran about, carrying equipment. Long series of doors lined the hallways, a couple with bars though more without them. Some fighters were here by force while others came voluntarily, Techno surmised.

Turning a corner brought them past the main backstage area, where they could catch a glimpse of the pitch. It was a circle of sand about thirty feet in diameter. Blond stopped to watch the ongoing match for a moment. A spearman was trying to overpower their opponent, who was wielding both a sword and shield.

The spear allowed for distance to be kept between the fighters, but that couldn't save the person wielding it when the other warrior ducked beneath its reach, slicing low to break their stance. The spearman tripped backward and in the next moment found the sword buried hilt-deep into their stomach, blood bubbling on their lips. They fell to the ground, body twitching.

The crowd cheered. It seemed this had been the outcome they had been hoping for. Gold exchanged hands as people paid out their debts, preparing to bet on the next round. Technoblade felt sick.

Blond only laughed to himself before he turned towards Techno and Ranboo with a grin more sharp than sincere. "Welcome to the coliseum. Or as you'll soon learn to call it: your new home."

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