The Finale: Part 2 of ?
I never knew Punz that well. I did remember distinctly him being a member of the Eggpire, but not one that made it an every day goal to sacrifice me to their plant.
Apart from that, the only memorable thing I knew about Punz is that he was the one to lead the attack that put Dream in prison.
So for the most part, we were on neutral ground with each other. He was against Dream from what I had seen.
"Punz?" I asked.
He had a neutral expression that matched his monotone response. If he had any motive for being here, I couldn't seem to see what that could be.
"Hi Y/N." He responded. "It's been a while."
He wore a plain white hoodie with a black undershirt and black pants. The only distinctive accenting feature he had on was a gold chain around his ankle. His blond hair stuck out from under his hood and I noticed from the saturation in his bangs that it had began to rain again, and he was outside standing in it.
"Hey. You can come in, if you want." I said, stepping aside to let him in. He smiled slightly and nodded, taking a couple steps inside. I closed the door behind him and faced him. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Punz responded first only with a small, nearly inaudible 'hm' as if he was contemplating what to say next. One hand rested on his chin as he thought about what he said next.
"Actually you can." He said. "There's a...project I've been working on. And I was wondering if you could help me get it running."
"Project?" I inquired for more information. I barely knew Punz. Why would he ask me of all people for help? It made me uneasy. After all, despite him not being as involved, he was and could still be a part of the eggpire. "This isn't something for the Egg, is it?"
I took a step backward, and that seemed to alarm Punz.
"No! No it's nothing like that, promise." He held his hands up in surrender. "I'm trying to trap some creepers so that when a storm comes, they'll be in place to become charged." Punz said. "Problem is I can't lure the creepers into the trap I've set while still dealing with all the other monsters."
I took a look at the clock, and Punz looked with me, as I could tell from my peripherals, and looked back.
"And this is something you needed help with at 1 in the morning?" I asked. I didn't plan on getting much sleep tonight in the first place, but the point still stood. I crossed my arms and shifted my gaze to one of suspicion. "And why do you want my help of all people anyway?"
Punz seemed to already have assumed I would've asked something like this, because his response was quick. Maybe he was just...nervous? I'm not sure, but his response was a little too fast. Almost automated. Like he had rehearsed. But that would be ridiculous.
"Well mobs like that don't exactly walk around in the daytime, last time I checked." He retorted. Fair point. I hadn't really thought about that. "And I didn't really know who to go to. Anyone would be fine, I suppose. But a member of the Blade family seemed like a pretty good choice for someone to go into combat with."
I thought to myself for a moment. I had plenty of supplies, and had done everything I really could to prepare for the plan later today. I still had around four or so hours before first daylight, which should be plenty of time to help Punz with this project of his. Although I still wasn't quite sure why he asked me of all people. Relative to the blood god or not, anyone with a little bit of experience would be just as good at helping him out. Whatever, I suppose I owed it to him for using his tower temporarily, even if he didn't know I was there.
"Sure. I'll help." I said. "If we don't finish by daybreak, I'll have to leave though. I've got plans of my own."
Punz nodded his 'okay' to my agreement.
"Don't worry." He reassured me. "We'll be done way before then."
I nodded back and turned towards my staircase to head upstairs, since that's where all my valuable stuff was now, other than the single potion of weakness in my pocket.
"Where are you going?" Punz asked suddenly, almost in a worried tone.
I looked back at him, with a confused face that must have said 'isn't it obvious?'.
"To get supplies." I said. "I'm unarmed."
I made another step up the short staircase and Punz interjected again.
"No!" He spoke sharply. Almost like a warning. Why he was acting this way I couldn't tell. Maybe that's just how he was. "No need." His tone calmed down just as quickly as I grew suspicious of it. "I've got some basic supplies, so there's no need to waste your stuff."
I stayed in my position on the stairwell at first. I was more than willing to use my weapons to help. Yet, it would be nice to save supplies for the upcoming battle with Dream. Knowing him, it wouldn't be easy, and we might need to retreat and re-arm ourselves.
"Okay..let's go then. We're wasting moonlight." I said, stepping back down off of the stairwell.
Punz nodded, and we both headed outside.
We went to a seemingly random location. We started off by heading around the side of my house and in the direction of the prison, before stopping in a seemingly plain plot of grass and a few scattered trees, which thickened into woods on all sides. But upon almost walking into the contraption, and Punz stopping me with 'I'd watch your step if I was you', I realized there was a massive man-made hole in the ground, covered by branches and leaves.
Punz handed me a stone sword, and he himself donned an un-enchanted bow. There wasn't much point in using anything better. And besides, Punz said he brought back ups in case these weapons broke.
"Alright, let's get to it." Punz said. I nodded and headed off into the woods around the open area that marked the creeper trap.
Punz didn't move far in the other direction, and we both kept an eye on each other. I didn't quite trust him, seeing as he still had a past history with the Eggpire. And he probably didn't trust me, because I was related to Technoblade. Which was a fair point, I had to admit.
I dodged incoming arrows from skeletons, feeling them zip by me, a mere inches from making contact with my unarmored flesh. Zombies lurched towards me as well and I made quick work beheading them, dis-assembling the skeletons, and getting rid of any mob that crossed my path other than creepers.
When a creeper would stumble out of the darkness or from behind a nearby tree, I would simply yell to get Punz's attention, and move far enough away so that he could lure it to his trap. I hadn't really stopped to think of what he could've used a bunch of electrocuted creepers for. But people do a lot of weird shit around here, so who was I to judge?
This same cycle went on for roughly an hour if I had to guess, and I was in the middle of chasing down a skeleton that had gotten past my defenses and threatened to set off all the creepers, and destroy all of our hard work.
I lunged at the skeleton from behind, not giving it a chance to point it's already knocked bow at me, and pinned it to the ground. I raised my sword up, one foot holding the arm of the skeleton down, so it couldn't shoot, and I swung. Turns out, bone is pretty hard to break through. Which is why I had been aiming for the rib cage each time, essentially collapsing the individual bones in on each other, rather than aiming to break them. But this time, my stone sword, which had already been going for a long time, shattered on the sternum bone.
The skeleton laid still for a moment, and I too paused in surprise, before finishing the job with the jagged edge of what remained of my weapon. The sword would serve me no more use, so I threw it down, and headed for the epicenter of the area we were using.
I came into the clearing of the woods, and saw that Punz wasn't in sight at the moment. Probably off on his own finding more creepers. Rain was beginning to pour down pretty hard now. A storm was coming. A distinct hissing noise came from the hole below, and I leaned over carefully to see around twenty creepers staring back up at me. How many more of these did he need? I looked up at the sky. Probably only an hour at most and I'd have to be going.
I walked over to a duffle bag on the ground where Punz told me he'd leave extra swords and arrows. I unzipped the black bag and peered inside. I pulled out a stone sword, just to see that it was shattered, and un-usable. I opened the bag all the way and pulled away the two sides, revealing a bag full of ruined swords and arrows snapped in half. Everything in here was useless.
"What the hell?" I thought out loud.
Suddenly I felt heat against my skin as a an arrow whipped past me and smacked into a tree behind me. My skin was hot, an intense burning sensation stronger than what results from a normal scrape from an arrow. I felt my cheek and examined my hand, fresh blood staining my fingers. I quickly stood up and grabbed the arrow out of the tree, going around the side to use the tree as cover. Years of experience had taught me what I had been scratched with before I looked at the arrow, but my examination just served to confirm my suspicion. The arrow's tip was soaked in a black tar-like substance that I knew immediately to be a material only obtainable in the nether: wither.
I leaned around the corner of the tree to see Punz, newly emerged from whatever shadows he was previously hiding in. He already had another arrow with that same substance, although it was barely visible in the dim moonlight. He held the bow next to his leg, arrow pointed to the ground as he spoke.
"I'm sorry it had to be this way, Y/N." Punz spoke.
What was going on? Punz had never showed any real interest in me. Unless he was working with someone who was against me. Otherwise, why would he attacked me? And with wither of all things.
Seeing that the ring that used to be bound to me was no more, wither wasn't the only thing that could take me down. But it was certainly one of the most full proof ways to do it. Sure, I'm immortal now. But the wither effect is strong enough to take anyone out, even if only temporarily. I couldn't let that happen.
"Why are you doing this Punz?!" I yelled from behind the tree. I heard the faint sound of wet grass being crushed beneath boots as Punz must have been edging forward. I would have to make a run for it soon.
"Listen, Y/N." Punz said. Like I had any other choice right now. "If you surrender, then nobody has to get hurt." He continued, his voice growing steadily closer. "I don't want to do this. Just— just step out from behind the tree slowly, and I promise I won't shoot. We can do this peacefully."
I think trying shooting me with an arrow before negotiation kind of drowned out the thought of doing things peacefully for me. But maybe I could work my way out of this. He seemed empathetic. Although it could be an act. No matter. I could act too.
I slowly stepped around the side of the tree, dropping the arrow on the ground, and putting my hands into surrender. I was quickly met with the sight of Punz, who showed no sign of the empathy in his voice as he kept his bow trained on me as I moved into view.
"As much as I would love to go with you Punz, mainly because I don't really favor getting shot, you haven't told me what the hell is going on." I said.
Punz sighed and lowered the bow slightly. Not far enough. He could fire and hit me if I made a run for it. I needed to distract him further if I was going to get out of this situation.
"If I told you, you would turn and run." Punz said. "And I really don't want to shoot you, but I will."
Judging by that statement, an arrow in my side was probably a lot more favorable than wherever I might end up if I went with Punz.
"Then why do all of this?" I asked, hoping to stall and cause Punz to lower his guard further. "Why not just attack as soon as I opened my door? It seems kind of pointless to set up this whole contraption in the middle of no where when I already live far enough away that no one would've seen anything at my house either."
Punz nodded in agreement, seemingly acknowledging that the whole creeper thing was overkill.
"Because I might have missed, like I did just a moment ago." Punz said. "And then you could've escaped out the back door, or made it upstairs and armed yourself-"
I felt the blood in my veins run cold at the last few words out of Punz mouth. My arms uncontrollably dropped lower than the normal surrender position they had been held in.
How did he know all of my valuables were in my upstairs room? Had he been watching? And for how long?
"How long?" I spoke the end of my thoughts out loud.
"Wha-" Punz began to ask.
"How long were you watching me to know my weapons were upstairs?" Punz seemed to notice my change from a tone of surrender to one of anger, because he was quick to respond, and I watched his grip on his bow tighten.
"I wasn't watching you Y/N." Punz said simply, matching my tone, almost angry at me for accusing him. "I only knew because Drea-"
Punz stopped talking. But it didn't matter. He knew I had heard what he was about to say. And he stood silent, waiting for my response, his bow still lowered, but probably not for long.
Somehow the air seemed to get colder as I put the pieces together. Punz was with Dream. Dream knew I was alive. He had known long enough to tell Punz I was storing my weapons upstairs. Had he been watching me? Did he know about Tommy's plan?
Just how long had Dream knew? Did Punz tell him, or had he known the instant I came back from limbo in the prison? It didn't matter now. Punz was working with Dream, and there was no way I would willingly walk with him if it meant I was also surrendering to Dream.
"Shit." I heard Punz mutter under his breath. He knew the second he revealed his companion that the act was over. Although it seemed despite his many 'I don't want to do this' statements, he was ready to shoot me down without hesitation. The last thing I saw was Punz's attitude change, as he grinned slightly.
"Well I guess you know where we're going now."
Punz raised his bow just as quickly as I turned and ran. I weaves through trees, raindrops stinging my face as I ran against their path to the ground. I could barely see through the storm that had picked up and the dense woods all around me. I glanced up to see the moon setting slowly. If I kept in this direction and made it to the clearing, I could make a run for the coast, and hopefully make it to Tubbo's place across the sea.
Arrows smacked into trees nearby, barely audible by the now loud crackling thunder. Suddenly, an intense stinging sensation came from my left arm, and I looked over as I continued running to see that one of Punz's arrows had made contact. It was barely imbedded but the tar-like substance was already spreading inside my arm. I couldn't stop though. Not now. I pulled the arrow out, grunting with the intense pain that followed, and continued running.
Just a little further.
I heard Punz shout something from behind me as he continued to chase after me, but I couldn't make it out. Nor did I care to. Nothing Punz could say now would make me turn back.
A little further.
I could make out the edge of the forest now. Not far ahead would be the coast, and the icy tunnel that lead to Tubbo's house. However, the prison was also nearby. And that, according to Tommy, also meant Dream. I couldn't worry about that now. I was so close.
Another arrow made contact with my right leg, throwing me onto the ground as my muscles gave out on that side. I rolled over in the wet grass and sat up. I yanked the arrow out without a second thought and stood up quickly, nearly falling over again. My arm was throbbing and my leg was threatening to give out all together. My hand was wet with my own blood, and I was loosing more by the second. I had to keep going.
Almost there.
I stumbled through the woods and put into the clearing, but despite my best efforts, I was barely going faster than a brisk walk. My leg could no longer keep up with the speed I needed to escape. My leg was no longer the central issue now, as I felt the third and what would likely be the final arrow strike my right side, causing me to follow its momentum to the ground. I yelled as I hit the ground, pain surging through every corner of my body. I needed to keep moving, but my muscles refused to budge.
Punz walked calmly out of the woods, at least from what I could tell. The pain in all corners of my body was immeasurable, and my vision was going dark.
I tried to use my arms and legs to push myself backward in the grass, in one last attempt to escape. But it was futile, my body was done fighting the poisonous effect from the wither, and my hands gave out from behind me, causing me to sprawl out on the ground, defenseless.
Punz stopped directed in front of me, blocking out the moon, causing a him to turn to nothing but a faint silhouette. My head was pounding from the pain and I could hear nothing more than the rain and my heartbeat in my ears.
I had lost.
This whole time, I thought I had finally gotten the upper hand on Dream, but no. He knew I was alive. And now I wouldn't be able to warn Tommy and Tubbo that Punz was working with him.
"I am sorry it had to be this way, Y/N," Punz said, his voice carrying little emotion to match his apology. "But unfortunately, you're a vital part of our plan."
And with that, an all-too-familiar feeling finally came, as the rain stopped and my vision went dark.
A/N
Well that can't be good.
I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be to this story, I'm thinking three as of now, but I'm not sure. The next chapter will cover part 2 of Tommy's lore finale.
As always, feel free to leave me ideas in the comments, and ideas for any future books!
Have a great day!