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Sam ran his fingers over the single diamond block resting before him, admiring its cruel shimmers.
His gaze lifted to the masked man standing opposite of it, his hands clasped behind his back.
The offer from Dream lingered heavy in the air: one inescapable prison built in exchange for sixty-three more diamond blocks.
The gleam in Sam’s eyes was surely interpreted as greed by Dream.
Well, it was greed, Sam supposed—just a unique kind.
His heart hopefully thudded in his chest. Then, he said, “It’s a deal.”
Dream chuckled, a seemingly friendly noise, and extended a hand.
They shook once.
His payment was received, and as soon as Dream was out of sight, Sam slumped to the ground and pressed his back against the diamond’s ridges. Cool fingertips pressed against his temples.
Sam knew Dream had ill intent; when did he not?
Plus, Sam would never wish a lifetime of imprisonment on anyone.
A smile tugged on his lips. Anyone but Dream, that is—the one person that’d caused indescribable pain to innocent people, to his dear friends.
The plan that’d hastily formed while Dream stared him down began to flesh out as he sat, watching his twisting hands and running calculations through his mind.
When the plan was ready, he approached Tommy and his lonely campsite. They sat over pumpkin pie as he explained, patiently letting Tommy’s outbursts and Ghostbur’s quips pass until it was all laid out.
(The plan? Build the prison with absolutely no way to escape(once inside, attempts from the outside to release the prisoner would be impossible), and when the time comes, force Dream into it.)
In the end, both agreed with shining eyes.
Obviously, there were more intricacies to it, including gaining support from the L’manberg cabinet and the Badlands.
It took a long talk with Tubbo to do so. His reluctance was pacified by the condition that he and Sam would meticulously review the plan and complete the redstone mechanics together.
Over a month and a lot of work with bedrock later, Dream walked through the Nether with Sam to “see the prison’s process”. Sam bent his head to watch Dream quicken his pace just the slightest, all so he could remain one step ahead of him.
With every tense step and brief conversation exchanged, Sam reassured himself with the fact that the others were nearby, hiding for the right time.
(In retrospect, Tommy and Tubbo shouldn’t have been among the group, despite the puppy eyes they pulled to convince them they just had to see Dream meet his demise.)
Their footsteps halted in front of the hideous prison.
Then, bodies and weapons rushed by, smeared in glowing purple.
Too fast, Dream broke free of many hands and gripped Tommy’s shirt.
Dream shoved.
Tommy stumbled past the entrance. His face awfully contorted as he slipped; he landed on the pressure plates.
The doors slid shut with its one and only thud.
Tubbo blurred forward, rawly screaming and uselessly pounding at the impenetrable walls.
A terrible laugh wheezed through the chaos.
Sam dropped to his knees, silently unbelieving. His trembling hands filled his vision, lined with redstone.
The scarlet might as well have been blood; Sam was quite a monster now, after all.