TW: Mentions panic attacks, swearing, mention of explosions and death

Techno's POV:

We only had a week to prepare for the tournament. In my opinion, it wasn't long enough. Even though I have only a few days to prepare for fights in the Pit, the tournament still felt very rushed. Naturally, my anxiety spiked and I started having episodes more frequently. It didn't help that Schlatt made us train extra hard, my body was practically giving out. How did he expect us to perform well when we were about to collapse?

Dream and I were expected to win. The strongest hybrid and the blood god? No one would stand a chance. That is, as long as I don't die of stress before the tourney even starts. Niki and Sapnap had pretty good partners. Niki was with some girl named Minx and Sapnap was with Fundy. I never knew they were roommates.

"Why do you always reaaaaaaaaad? Talk to meeeeee," Dream whined. I rolled my eyes, I would never stop reading 'The Art of War'. There was so much wisdom and knowledge, I just had to soak it all up. I knew every word from cover to cover.

"Even if I wanted to put this book down. I wouldn't be talking to you," I simply state. I tried to focus on the battle strategies scribbled on the thin pages of my book but Dream kept distracting me.

"But I'm more interesting than the boooook," Dream continued to whine. I sighed and dropped the book down.

"Do you even know the reason people write strategy books?"

"No?"

"So other people can benefit from the wisdom written in the pages," I sighed. This guy really is an idiot. I was currently looking over the chapters on combat and strategic measurements. We needed to win or else we may never escape.

"That sounds dumb," Dream huffed. He's acting like a complete child.

"It sounds dumb because you're listening to your own voice," I insult him. I didn't bother to see his reaction because I needed to focus. Unlike some people, I understand what's a stake here. I've tried to get my mind stable to some extent but all the efforts have been futile. I can hear the screams of the crowd echoing in my ears and that makes me scared. Cheers signal the end of a duel, they signal the start of my tedious journey back to the sector house, back to Schlatt, back to hell. Now that I think about it, I hate loud noises in general. 

Like an explosion.....

Just like when Schlatt did that to Tomm-

I cut the thought off right there. I don't want to venture into memories that I've tried so hard to bury in my sub consciousness. I need to focus on more important things. Like a plan that wasn't missing a bunch of steps. Our plan of escape was sketchy and for it to work we would need an unbelievably large supply of luck. Something I don't possess. All the 'what ifs' were driving me crazy. What if we get caught? What if someone dies? What if sector 5 never gets knocked out? What if this is all a ploy?

I was ripped from my thoughts by Dream's voice,

"-are you even listening? Tech?" Dream stares at me. I flinch and turn away from his gaze. His eyes were scary but beautiful at the same time. You could either be drawn towards them or backing away in fear. I experience the second one more often because Dream gets frustrated very easily. He has the attention span of a 5 year old.

"Since you obviously weren't, I was talking about how it's going to be difficult to escape with Niki and Sapnap when they'll be with their roommates the whole time," Dream informs me. He does raise a good point. I'm not willing to take two extra people so we'll have to figure out a way around it.

"We need to talk to Niki," I state. She probably has some good ideas, she has a very unique way of thinking. I'm not sure when we'll see her again since Schlatt banned us from leaving our rooms except for training. Something about 'There should be no distractions while you're hard at work'. Something dumb like that. 

"We need to focus. The tournament is in 3 days....well technically 2 because we leave a day early," I mumble. 2 days, such little time for such an elaborate plan. I sigh as I flop down on my bed, time is going to pass by quicker than I want it to.

Niki's POV:

After hearing Techno's plan I was quite skeptical. I've always dreamed of escaping but I've never thought about actually doing it. I'm quite scared though, because who knows what Schlatt would do if we get caught.

I've been in a one Pit fight. When I was 15 I was sent to fight some weird looking deer and lost. All the other hybrids live more in the Pit than the sector house so why am I still here? The hybrids Schlatt owns are very strong and win fights for him. I've never won a single fight or even look remotely strong. I'm a cat hybrid, they're known to be weak.

This is something that has always haunted me. Why would Schlatt keep me? He doesn't even pay attention to me, which I guess is a good thing considering what he's done to Techno. But still, I hope one day I'll understand.

"Hey Minx, I'm really sorry," I say. Minx and I were roommates and she's been slightly frustrated that I'm her teammate. Although Minx is nice to most people, she's never really enjoyed my company.

"It's fine. It's not your fault and I shouldn't be mad at you," Minx replied. She's a demon hybrid with long reddish-brown hair, beautiful dark brown eyes, black wings, and small red horns. We don't really talk much, we mostly ignore each other but I'm fine with that.

"I'm really sorry I'm so bad at fighting. Schlatt never made me train so I never learned," I buried my face in my hands, "Sorry."

"Why did he never make you fight?"

"I wish I could give you an answer for that."

Minx sighed and closed her eyes to sleep. It was a hard training day with lots of running, jumping, and swordplay. I failed at all of them, most miserably in sword play. All the other hybrids of both genders were so good, all except me. It seemed as if they were even confused why I was even there. Honestly, I would be too.

I should probably sleep, but I'm so worked up over the plan that Techno suggested. There are many flaws but I think I'll be able to work it out....hopefully, I just need more time. There has to be some time when I can talk to him. Schlatt isn't letting us see each other so we need to get creative. It'll have to wait, but first... I need some sleep.

-

I woke up to blinding lights. Huh, my room is always dark. Where am I? I bolt up, quickly realizing that I'm no longer in my room. I try to identify the room but I was in a completely empty room with white walls. I never knew a room like this existed in the mansion. I look around for an exit but there aren't any doors or windows.

"Don't freak out," I whisper to myself. This is probably some random room I walked into while I was asleep. Yeah, that's it! Before I can sit down I hear a creaking behind me. I whip around and see a boy much taller than me. He had black and white hair and the strangest eyes. One of them was red and the other green. I recognize him, I think he's the assistant to Schlatt's assistant. I think Techno knows him and I'm pretty sure he's an enderman hybrid.

"Um. Hello?" I ask the boy. He doesn't answer me, it's as if he's staring through me rather than at me. Should I get his attention? Can he even see me? I'm debating whether I should approach him or not. Not going to lie, he's scary. I think it's because of his height. I take a few cautious steps towards him but he still remains unmoving.

Within seconds he snaps out of his trance with wild eyes. I stumble back, his eyes frantically scan the room and then land on something. He's found what he'd been looking for.

Me

"YOU! PLEASE HELP ME! SAVE ME!" He screamed at me. His voice echoed off the walls of the small room making it 10 times louder.

"Me? Why me?" I said in a small voice. The boy glared at me like I just asked the stupidest question. 

"MY BLOOD!" His demeanor changes, "Please rescue me. It has to be you! SET ME FREE!"

I recoil at his words, why is he yelling at me like this? I don't know and I don't want to find out. He lets out a string of unidentifiable noises. If I had to guess, probably the enderman language.

In a blink of an eye I'm falling through an endless void. I wanted to scream but the darkness muffled my cries for help.

 That's the last thing I remember.

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Shorter chapter today but the next one will be interesting. I hope you're ready for some fights! Anyone worried about Niki? Annnnnyways, have a great day/night!!!

*Alex <3*

Word Count: 1,555