"Put it right over here, guys! Yeeeahhh! That's the ticket! Love to see it! We love. to. see. it!" Schlatt smirked, a bit of a bleat in his laugh. The last of the food trucks had pulled up and parked. Over the course of the last few weeks, Foolish and a few other builders had put together the carnival rides and the stage and Eret was going to act as host. This looked like nothing but easy money. With Quackity holding the clipboard and making sure everyone else was on task, plus Karl running a first aide booth (just in case at Puffy's insistence), now seemed like the perfect time for the ram to sneak away and steal a sip from the flask he'd tucked into his suit jacket when Alex wasn't looking.

Schlatt unbuttoned his jacket, took a large, exaggerated step and slipped behind a tree before pulling the gold flask that he'd had wrapped in embroidered leather. The ram's head emblem was hidden in his palm as he hurried to unscrew the lid. Too late. Sapnap cleared his throat from behind the acting president and shook his head. "You promised Alex that you wouldn't drink today, Mr. President."

"Baaahaha! I wasn't gonna drink it! I was just gonna taste it!"

"Nice try. Gimme," Sapnap put one fist on his hip and held out the other hand for the flask. He gave a half glare until Schlatt finally gave in and passed him the flask with a pout.

"Rude... 's just vodka. Shouldn't even count..." the ram pouted, but Sapnap didn't seem to hear him. He finished unscrewing the top and turned the flask upside down, dumping the alcohol to the grass below. "What the hell are y' doin'?!"

"Making sure you keep a promise. If you make our boy cry again, I'll take your horns." Sapnap handed the empty flask back to the ram and turned to walk away, content to go back to his job and check on Karl and Quackity. The ram had agreed to share Alex's affections with the two men who'd kept him company while he was dead but didn't want to give Alex up completely. Schlatt didn't know how he'd come back, or why the people of Manburg... sorry... L'Manburg... let him continue being their president.

The only thing Schlatt remembered about it was being surrounded when he'd woken up on the floor of his bedroom. Phil, Technoblade, Ranboo, Tubbo, Tommy and Wilbur had told him that he was going to get to stay in power, if only to relieve Tubbo's stress, but he'd be doing things with a guiding hand from them and not running away with his own imagination. "Consider us a council," Wilbur had said.

"Not me. I'm not Government. I'm just the muscle," Techno added quickly. They'd left just as suddenly as they'd appeared. After that, Schlatt decided he'd have to rebuild his country if he wanted to be president of anything.

George was in charge of keeping Dream in line, which was the only reason the mushroom boy agreed to attend the event. Sapnap's heart ached whenever he thought of how close the three of them had once been, but he put it out of his mind and reminded himself that he was better off. Karl and Alex loved him and didn't make him feel like a third wheel.

Time to open the gates was drawing closer, and everyone who was going to be "auctioned off" was ready and waiting, except Eret. They had yet to even arrive, and it was starting to make Alex sweat. Sapnap found Quackity in time to hear him muttering a string of Spanish curses under his breath while he paced backstage. "Baby..." the panda took hold of Alex's shoulders and eased him into eye contact. Sapnap's chocolate brown panda eyes had a way of calming people, even if they didn't want to be calm. "Just breathe. They'll be here."

"But what if they won't?" Alex whimpered; a stressed sob caught in his throat. "What if they stand us up and just leave us to flounder and figure out how to do this? I... E-even Technoblade showed up on time!"

"Eh?" The Piglin man snorted, coming out of a daydream at the sound of his name.

"Nothin, big guy. You're good," Sapnap muttered, waving him off and earning a satisfied snort in reply. "Alex, sweetheart... They've changed. They'll be here... Just relax. If they don't show up, I'll do the show myself. We got a backup plan, and there's no more need to panic, right?"

"R-right..."

"Deep breath?"

Quackity inhaled deep, and exhaled slow, then gave a gentle, grateful smile.

"Feel better?"

"Si, mi amour... All better."

"Good... Cuz here they come. It's time to get started."