"Of course they'll come for me," Tommy snapped, but deep down couldn't help but think that Clay was right. He moved into a fighting stance. "I'm here, now what do you want from me, and Ranboo? Do we aid your plan to take over the world somehow?"

"The world is flawed," Bad said, "Corrupted, it takes what you want from you. Friends, dreams, family. The egg has promised us what we have lost and to bring balance to the world."

"And you would have gotten the same," Clay said, "We could have been brothers, but no, you had to rebel. So now we have to make sure you aren't a threat."

"So what," Tommy demanded, holding his head high, trying to keep his voice from shaking. He could feel vines slowly wrapping around his legs. "You're just going to kill me?"

"Of course not, the past has proven that never works," Bad gave him a soft smile. "So many have tried to kill the Avatar in the Avatar state. All have failed."

Tommy couldn't help but scoff, "Clearly. So there's nothing you can do." He could feel the vines tightening as he tried to pull his feet free.

"On the contrary," Clay said, "We don't have to kill you, we just need to take you out of the equation. Make you no longer a threat like I originally tried to do."

"So what does Ranboo have to do with any of this," Tommy said, the longer he could keep them talking the better.

"It's simple," Clay walked towards him, coming uncomfortably close to Tommy's face. "You're the bait, and he's the leverage."

Strange enough, Ranboo was the first to realize Tommy's disappearance as the night settled. He came running into the planning room where Technoblade, Jinora, Niki, Phil, and Schlatt were still trying to make a plan that didn't risk anyone's lives.

"Guys, Tommy's gone," Ranboo said, they all looked up at him. "I've looked all over the island with Jack. He's not here anymore."

Techno cursed, slamming his fist on the table. "We should have known. I should have known. He probably went to turn himself in."

"He wouldn't do that," Schlatt said, "Right?"

"If he thought it meant he could save Tubbo," Niki said, grimly, "He would."

"What do we do now," Phil looked at Jinora, the airbender rubbing her chin with her eyes closed.

"We have to turn Ranboo over," She said calmly, the entire room outraged.

"No!" Techno roared over everyone. "That's insane. You want to turn him over?! You might as well turn me in next!" The room went quiet, no one there, except Phil and Ranboo, had ever seen the man more outraged about anything.

"That's not going to happen," Jinora said, "You never let me finish. Unlike Tommy, he's not going alone. Techno will take him, and another group will be waiting for his signal as soon as they release everyone they've promised."

"If you think that will work," Ranboo said, "I'll do it."

"Niki, pick your team, organize everything with Technoblade. The success of this will fall on you two," Jinora said. "Leave as soon as you're ready."

"Tech, are you sure you want to-" Phil started.

"It's Ranboo, I have to be the one," Techno said, "I'm the only one here that stands a good chance against them by myself." He looked at Jinora in the last part, and she nodded. Phil just smiled and shook his head. "What?"

"You and Tommy sound the same," Phil said, "He always insists he has to be the one. And neither of you think you're anything special."

"We can discuss how wrong you are when I get back," Techno said, gesturing for Niki and Ranboo to follow as he left. "I have some ideas for who we should bring."

"So that's it," Schlatt said, "We have to trust that they'll be able to save everyone? We have no idea what they plan to do with the boys."

"I wish there was more we can do, but there's no one more trustworthy than Niki and Techno," Jinora said. "They will make sure nothing bad happens."

"Right," he muttered, then looking at Phil, "I thought you'd be more worried."

"Years of practice," Phil shook his head, "Others don't worry as much if you don't seem worried."

"Wise words," Jinora said, "But remember, we technically still have until tomorrow's sunset. A whole other day to plan if this fails."

"If this fails, they win," Schlatt said, "It's time we considered finally calling back up. You have contacts in the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, it might be time to use them. If their plan fails, and this so-called Eggpire gets what they want. Ranboo and Tommy."

"So a back up plan," Jinora said.

"No," Phil said, "We have children here, we can't do another attack after this. We need to evacuate the island, save as many as possible."

Jinora sighed, looking downcast. "I'll contact Fire Lord Iroh. Have him be prepared to send rescue ships."

"Mr. President," Phil said, resting his hand on the man's shoulder, "Schlatt?"

"Republic City has fallen, it's time I accepted that," He said, then looked up with a hardened expression. "But not until after tomorrow. We haven't lost the war yet."

The door swung open with a bang, pulling their attention to the panicked teen standing in the doorway. It was Tubbo. His green shirt was ripped, the color had faded from it, his blue cotton pants had turned red, sweat dripped from his brown hair, he held a glider staff in one hand. The same one Tommy had taken. "Where's Ranboo?!"

"Tubbo!" Schlatt exclaimed, running over to hug him. "No, this is a trick. You've been infected." He forced himself to stay back from Tubbo.

"No, no no no," Tubbo said frantically, "It's actually me. The past few days are fuzzy, but the last thing I remembered was Tommy, Phil, and Ranboo disappearing who knows where. But now the Eggpire-"

"Oh thank Ravaa it's you," Schlatt enveloped him in a hug. "We need a healer for you and fresh clothes."

"No, you need to listen to me," Tubbo pushed him away. "I have no idea why they let me go, but they had Tommy. He was frantically telling me not to let Ranboo come. I have no idea why he sounded so insistent about it, I didn't think he cared about Ranboo."

"Tommy turned himself in," Phil's eyes widened. "And they've sent you to prove that they can and will follow through with what they promised."

"Promised? What did they promise?" Tubbo said.

"Everyone they had captured and anyone who had unwillingly been infected," Phil said. "In exchange for Tommy and Ranboo."

"Then we have to get Tommy out of there," Tubbo said, looking around at them. "You're making a plan to save him, right?"

"Don't worry about that," Schlatt said, "We have things under control. We need to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, Dad," He snapped as Schlatt tried to take him out of the room. "I want to help save Tommy."

"And we're doing that," Phil said, "You can trust us Tubbo. But you need to understand where Shlatt is coming from. We just got you back, the last thing we want is to put you back in danger."

"And Tommy would say the same thing," Tubbo said, nodding. "He'd probably demand that I take care of myself and then worry about him."

"We need to control what we can, then help those who need it," Jinora said, "We can't help others if we cannot help ourselves."

"Okay," Tubbo said, looking back at Schlatt. "I'll see a healer. I promise." He left, Schlatt following after him.

"He's not going to be happy when he hears that Ranboo is a part of the rescue plan," Jinora said, folding her arms and looking at Phil. "You can't protect every kid here, Philza."

"I have to try, I have to keep them safe," Phil said, "I owe it to Wilbur to keep those he cared about out of danger."

"Phil," Jinora kept her voice soft, "If you need to take a break you need it. Let yourself grieve. I can't say I know what you're feeling but I do know what it's like to lose someone you care deeply about."

"But I don't, I can't tell that anything has changed," Phil said, "I don't feel anything about it. He had already distanced himself from me. I want to grieve but I had already lost him long before he died. He let me take care of Fundy but that was it. He would talk to me when the boys were around but that was it. And now I'm going to lose Tommy and I'm terrified."

"You feel guilty for caring more about him than Wilbur," Jinora said, "I think Wilbur would be happy that you're able to still care. About Tommy, about Fundy, about Kristen."

"I don't know," Phil sighed, "I'm just going to see how Techno and Niki are doing."

"We will get through this," Jinora stopped him as he started to leave. "I have faith that we will."

But faith can only get you so far. Updates are probably going to be more spaced out for personal reasons, but I am working on several wips for my one shot book so go check that out.

Thank you all for reading don't forget to vote and comment if you liked this. Peace out benders and Minecrafters from around the world.