"Isn't it weird that this collapsed?" Sapnap asked, kicking a rock down into the gaping hole. Karl knelt over the edge, his brown eyes peering into the sinkhole as he hummed in agreement. "It's Pogtopia, I think."
"Well, it had been abandoned for a while. Maybe some support beams finally gave in?" George said, crossing his arms as he himself looked down at the hole. He sighed out of annoyance. "It's gonna be annoying to fill in."
"Foolish will be annoyed, he just finished this place. Do you think it's wise to call him in for repairs?" Karl asked. George hummed, scratching his neck. "I mean, he's proud of his work, but not very patient."
"To think, Pogtopia was right under our kingdom, the whole time!" Sapnap muttered.
"Should we explore it?" Karl asked, tilting his head. He'd heard about Pogtopia, he never got to actually see the place though. He was curious now.
"Well, we could... but what if it collapses more?" George said. "It's dangerous, in my opinion."
"George is right, it could still be unstable. Maybe we should just leave it alone for right now." Sapnap added, a nervous smile forming on his lips. Karl pouted.
"But it could be fun!"
"But it's also dangerous." Sapnap shot back. He looked serious, meaning he was not going to reconsider Karl's proposition. "Please, Karl, give it a night. If there is anything still unstable, it'll collapse by then. In the morning I promise I'll help you explore."
His fiance sighed and nodded reluctantly. Sapnap bent down, pecking Karl on the cheek and leaving.
In truth, Karl didn't want to explore for the fun of it. He had been building a historical section in his library and this sinkhole had more historical books and documents than he could imagine, he guessed.
He sat down on the smooth stone that paved Kinoko Kingdom, staring at the abyss that was Pogtopia. Sapnap was right. Karl sighed, looking up. The stars above him shone, flickering softly and barely, like a billion candles. He smiled. He had always loved astronomy. He remembered sitting on the balcony of his house, listening to Quackity mutter the names of each constellation.
Karl shook his head of any thoughts of Quackity and looked back down at the sinkhole.
And he saw a piece of red cloth.
Ripped, barely soiled, snagged on a sharp piece of rock. He looked closer, reaching down and freeing it from its sharp prison. He immediately recognized it as cloth from a T-shirt.
"Tommy?" Karl mumbled. Was Tommy down there?
He looked back at Sapnap's house, biting his lip nervously. The lights inside it were off. If he were to go against his fiance's decision, now was the time to do it.
He inched toward the ravine, carefully finding his footing and lowering himself down, lower and lower until he reached the bottom. It was dark, the starry night above not reaching inside the ravine.
Taking a torch from his inventory, he thrust it forward, checking his surroundings.
A flash of gold beneath a pile of rocks, hidden in a large alcove that was once a room.
Karl got lucky.
⏳️
Settling Tommy on the mattress, Karl immediately got to work, examining the boy's limbs for any large injuries. Besides a few bruises and scratches, he found nothing.
He rolled up the right sleeve, the last limb he needed to check. A large cut ran up the boy's arm, starting at the palm and ending at Tommy's elbow. Karl sighed and reached down, tracing the cut-
And stopped.
His fingers slowly slid back to the wrist, his heart quickening-
There was no pulse.
"T-Tommy?" Karl backed away, his eyes widening and his hands gripping his arms. He took a deep breath and approached the boy, timidly reaching forward and opening one eyelid.
Tommy's eyes glowed yellow.
⏳️
Tommy walked into L'Manburg and took in the nation he remembered. It looked just like it had back before Wilbur decided to bomb it to kingdom come, which also brought back many memories he didn't even remember. It brought a smile to his face though, something he seemed to struggle with nowadays. He was snapped out of his nostalgic mindset by someone yelling his name. Fundy was sprinting over towards him, his coal-brown eyes holding some type of fear and his tail swaying nervously, orange ears pressed against his head. "Wilbur is looking for you, and he is NOT happy." Tommy blinked. Wil was looking for him? Why?
"TOMMY!" Both Tommy and Fundy jumped, looking behind themselves to see a frowning Wilbur storming towards them. He wore the L'Manburg uniform, something he now realized Fundy was wearing too.
"Uh, hi?" Wilbur rolled his eyes, an over exaggerated sigh leaving his lungs.
"Where were you?" The blond paled at that question. It wasn't something he thought he needed to prepare for. What was he going to say? 'I was in the ravine where your sworn enemy is, giving them information and plotting their attack on the festival. You know, the usual.' Yeah, Tommy was not saying that.
"Uhhhhh-"
"You know what? Whatever, just make sure the preparations for the festival are going according to plan, yeah?" Tommy quickly nodded in agreement. "Good." With that the president turned sharply towards Fundy, who jumped at the quick movement. "Now, we have some... papers to fill out, don't we?" A very forced smile crawled onto his lips. Fundy glanced over towards Tommy for a split second, his eyes dark with something the teen couldn't place- pity, perhaps? But what for?
"Right..."
"Good. Come along then." Wilbur paused, turning to Tommy and giving a curt nod.
And he left, the fox following at the heels of his polished black boots. Tommy shuddered. Is this what Wilbur would've been like had he won the election?
Shaking thoughts from his head, he searched his confused brain for the directions to middle-L'Manburg.
Once there, he scanned the platform where the election had taken place. The festival decor- it looked exactly the same as he had remembered. Magma on the walls of the platform, a buffet to one side piled with food and pastries from various restaurants, including Niki's bakery. Near him, a boxing ring and a few carnival games, empty and waiting to be set up. Some people were here too, Niki being one of them. She looked like she did before the first fall of L'Manburg, her black hair pulled back into a hair tie, leaving the blond strands to frame her face. Along with her was Technoblade of all people. He was next to her talking as he pushed one of the sitting tables where she wanted them. He blinked at the scene before him, thinking it had to be a trick his eyes were playing on him. He wasn't wearing his cape, the red accessory draped over one of the nearby chairs. Other than that he looked the same, neutral expression on his face as he chatted with Niki. "Uh, hi guys!" Tommy chuckled as he neared the two. They looked over, Niki smiling brightly towards the other as Techno stopped pushing the table in front of him to look at Tommy himself.
"Hi Tommy!" Niki piped, waving the teen over to them. Tommy walked over with no hesitation. "We started without you, sorry! But you kinda disappeared, both Fundy and Wilbur were looking for you. Where'd you go anyways?" Tommy gulped as he was asked the question.
"Um, I went out in the mines last night! I guess I lost track of time!" He laughed at the end, nervously scratching at his neck. Technoblade eyed him for a moment before turning away to continue moving the tables.
"Oh! Are you sure you shouldn't be sleeping then?" Niki's blue eyes filled with concern as she spoke.
"No! I'm fine, I promise!" Tommy rushed out. "Plus, I can't leave you guys to set up all by yourselves!"
"Tommy, we'd be ok setting up by ourselves. By the way, have you memorized your speech yet?" The teen paused at the question.
"Huh? Speech?" Niki smiled, letting a few giggles leave her throat before answering Tommy's question.
"You know, the speech that you'll be giving at the festival?" Tommy froze, blinking at the other before the information Niki just gave him registered.
"Wha-? Me? But Tu-" He snapped his mouth shut, his blue eyes widening as he finally understood.
Schlatt and Wilbur were switched.
He and Tubbo were switched.
He was the one giving the speech...
He was going to die.
Ok guys so me and Timeskip were discussing this book while writing and BRO THIS BOOK- guys this book is way bigger than we thought.