After Technoblade's most recent lore stream I had to go HAM-

trigger warning: gore and torture, hurt with no comfort

"We're taking bets, you know. On how long it will take for you to break." Quackity's steps made a hollow sound echoing against obsidian walls. Flicking his ear, Technoblade could easily tell where he was – how close he got – even if the restraints would keep him from turning around or looking over his shoulders properly. "In keeping with the Las Nevadas spirit."

"Great," Techno answered flatly. "Am I winning?"

A light chuckle. The sharp edge of the blade traced along his spine, starting from the nape of his neck and running down slowly. "I wouldn't say there's much of a possibility for that. The dealer always goes last."

And the dealer had to be Quackity, naturally. He decided when the doors opened or closed, when the wall of lava went up to allow a brief glimpse at the outside world. He decided when – no, if - they got to eat and what was served. He was the one who walked into a max security prison without a care in the world and with any tool he wanted strapped to his belt. If Techno hadn't felt so bad for Sam who was clearly being coerced on some level in this partnership, he might have pointed out the hypocrisy of it all to the warden. Surely Sam was supposed to keep his convicts safe and sound as much as he was supposed to keep them inside the cells.

Instead, he had enabled Quackity to convert Pandora's Vault into his own personal playground.

The first cut was small, not really anything. It broke his skin and Technoblade felt the cold of it more acutely than he did any pain. The voices were loud and angry, abhorring his position – abhorring the helplessness. The next time the blade sliced into him it went deeper and almost made him hiss, blood welling from the wound.

Quackity huffed at his tepid reaction, before rearing back and sinking the knife into the bottom of Techno's spine.

A smothered yell ripped from his throat, nearly swallowed up by Quackity's laughter. He wrenched the handle, Techno jerked against the feeling of having it scrape his spinal cords and hunched over, nearly falling flat on his face, with his arms still tied to his back he couldn't catch himself. The pain tingled down his legs until it reached the numb parts below his knees, where being forced to kneel for an extended period of time had cut off all circulation.

"Getting closer," Quackity said in a horrible sing-song voice and it made him want to puke. "How about here?"

It dug in again. Higher, closer to his shoulder blades. The knife was left there for a moment, allowing the anguish to fester and spread across his limbs. Quackity grabbed his hair and pulled it back, needing to see his face, waiting for his prize.

Technoblade grinned. "Kind of ironic you of all people would be the one literally backstabbing me."

With a displeased growl Quackity tightened his fingers, dug his nails into Techno's scalp. Sharp little pinpricks of hurt made him shudder but he barely had time to think about it before Quackity had used his hold to pull him across the room like a ragdoll. He slammed Techno's head into the wall as if it was nothing.

Techno collapsed onto the ground and curled into his side, too blinded by pain and nausea to do much else. Quackity kicked him to make him roll onto his stomach again and then a hand was curling around his tail. Feeling the knife press threateningly against its base made Techno scramble to get up, but it was an uphill battle against mining fatigue and malnutrition - made harder by Quackity pressing his knee into Techno's back to keep him still. He observed the panic that came over his victim with sadistic glee.

"I think we've hit the jackpot!"

When Quackity started sawing and hacking at the sensitive tissue where Technoblade's tail met his body, he screamed. His claws dug into stone uselessly, breath turned into ragged gasps that made him think he would choke. The blade got deep enough to meet the resistance of bone and Quackity just tore harder.

Still Technoblade refused to cry, refused to give that satisfaction. He didn't care if he would bite his tongue off in the process of keeping the tears at bay.

Something snapped then crunched and he must have blacked out because by the time Technoblade could think again he was on his back. Everything hurt, but the onset of blood loss was making the world fuzzy and dull. It was all Technoblade could do to blink and see Quackity hovering over him, the cut-off length of piglin tail in his hand.

But Techno's eyes were still dry.

Quackity loomed above him, face cast in shadow due to the lava's glow. He might have wanted to say something but then his communicator rung and he pulled it out tersely, staring at the screen like a toddler who had been interrupted while playing with their favorite toy. His eyebrows drew up a bit.

"I'm afraid we'll have to cut this one short, you know how it is." Techno couldn't have answered even if he wanted to, mind too muddled to come up with a response let alone get his mouth to articulate it. Quackity threw the tail into a corner of the room, careless. "I'll come by to visit you later. Oh, and a word of friendly advice Techno..."

His smirk revealed the gold that had to replace his ruined teeth, perfectly in line with the ugly scar across his fogged-up eye. Techno stared into it.

"The house always wins."

The promise behind those words lingered long after Quackity had already left.