Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This is the chronological order of the chapters. You don’t have to read them in order, but some chapters allude to other chapters, so reading them in order might make the whole story flow better. Doesn’t really matter though, read how you want. I’ll update this each time I add a new chapter <3

Before the SMP

37. Voices

3. SBI

4. Two Families

6. Unknown Families

The Beginning of the SMP

2. Bad Timing, Drista

11. Baby Zombie

The Revolution for L’Manburg

7. Son

5. It Was Never- wait, Techno?

9. Viva La Revolution, Drista!

8. Manhunt

Pogtopia’s Rebellion

16. What We Use to Be

35. Power

10. Rivals

12. Dreamon

14. Best Friends

17. Corruption

22. Master

29. Death

L’Manburg’s Final Stand

21. Things I Remember

27. Duckling

13. The Flower Shop

44. Brothers

24. Manipulator

19. House Arrest

18. Execution

25. Be Quiet!

26. Homeless

28. Split

15. Broken

31. Boom

20. Memories

A New Journey

23. Sister

30. The Egg

33. Ranboo Protection Squad

34. Pain

39. Lessons

47. Revive

40. Happy Birthday

42. Roommates

Extra (X.)

32. It Can't be the Captain

38. Father

41. His Guardian

Sweet Fluffy Crack (C.)

36. Pesky Birds

43. Robin Hood

45. Dap Me Up

Some Rules (Explanation)

- There are multiple types of families, the main two being blood families and bond (found) families

-Bonds are the things that allow people to switch. When multiple people in a group can all switch it is called a family

-Families can switch bodies, and the person they switched with can either stay and watch or take over the body of the person they switched with

-The only way to stop a switch once its happened is to touch the body of the person you switched with

-Not all blood families can switch- you have to have a good relationship to be able to switch

-Families can break apart, but they cannot be corrupted

-Bonds, though, can be corrupted. They can also be healed

-There is no '3 deaths and you are out' thing, there is the respawn glitch, which means every time you die there is a very little chance that the respawn will glitch and they wont respawn, dying permanently. Due to this, people try not to die, but aren't super worried about it.

-Like there is a respawn glitch, there is a death glitch. That's basically the 3 canon live thing. All it is is that it hurts a lot more when they die and if it happens enough it can cause permanent damage (cough Ghostbur cough). Only admins know about it.

Chapter Text

“You stole, Tommy, that’s why you’re-”

Tommy blinked, staring at Dream. The masked man had frozen mid sentence, accusing finger (that was pointing at him) slowly lowering to the ground. “Uh, Dream?”

“No.” Dream murmured, handing coming up to take off his mask. Next to him, George yelped, grabbing his friend’s hand before he could take the mask off. “Come on! It’s so stuffy!”

Tommy watched the two argue in confusion, lost. What… what was going on? Dream's voice had changed, going higher and more feminine. How-? “Uh..?”

“Oh hey!” Dream turned towards him, and he could see him grin. “You’re Tommy, right? Dream’s said a lot about you! I never understood why he invited you here when I’m not even allowed here-”

“You know why.” George sighed, taking out his communicator, probably to whisper to Sapnap. “Tommy, this is Drista, Dream’s sister.”

...oh.

Oh!

That… that made a lot more sense.

As far as Tommy knows, there’s this weird thing that lets family members switch bodies with other family members. He doesn’t understand how or why, he just knows that it does and it can happen at any time. When a person wants to switch bodies, they kind of push that other person to the back of their mind. They can watch everything that happens and can talk to the person that took over their bodies, but can’t really control anything. That lasts for an hour at most, before the person is forced out of the body they took over and everything goes back to normal.

The funny thing is, Tommy didn’t know Dream had family. Sounds bad, but he didn’t have any blood family and he knows a good amount of people that didn’t either- stuff happens, you know?  So seeing… Drista was surprising. “Hey Drista.”

Drista’s smile widened, and she (she or he, Tommy didn’t know what to say) went to take off the mask again, but George stopped her again. “Come on George!”

“He doesn’t like his mask being taken off, Drista, you know that.” George sighed, like he was used to it. Tommy wondered if George had family that would do that- wondered if he had family at all. Well, of course he did, but family had to be close to be able to switch in the first place, and while he doesn’t really know George he didn’t really seem like the type to switch or get close enough to people to let them switch. “You’re in his body, respect his wishes.”

Drista pouted. “You’re no fun.” Her hand snaps out and grabs Tommy’s wrist, dragging him out of his cell and running away from George, ignoring his startled shouts. “Come on! I want a tour!”

Drista was… interesting, to say the least.

At first, Tommy loved her. She got him out of jail and she was surprisingly chill and funny. Then she started whacking him over the head with an axe and he started hating her.

"Ow, Drista, stop-" he winced when the handle of the axe hit his foot. On the next swing he grabbed the handle, pulling it out of her hands. "Alright, enough. I'm not letting some woman attack me when I've done nothing wrong."

Drista frowned, adjusting the mask on her face. She pushes it to the side, and Tommy got a glimpse of green eyes before she froze. "No I'm not taking it off- yeah yeah whatever." She scoffed and looked at him. "Dream says to give me back that axe."

Oh. Tommy forgot that Dream could still see everything that's happening. He knew if he wanted to he could take over Drista's body, but he also knew Dream would never allow that with someone like Tommy right next to him. If only- maybe he could steal all his stuff. Drista didn't seem like a fighter, with how she was wielding that axe earlier. 

Tommy grinned, the gremlin in him sneaking out. "Yeah? What are you gonna do about it, Dream? Besides, I'm talking to Drista here, not you."

Drista's mouth twisted, and when she next spoke it sounds like Dream. "Tommy-"

Tommy yelped and shoved the axe back into Drista- Dream- whoever's hands. "Okay okay! Spoilsport, you think you're so big and 'oh I'm Dream I do manhunts and beat dragons and cheat death' and all that bullshit you know someone outta put you in your place sometime-"

"Tommy, shut up." Drista was back, adjusting the mask once again. "He's gone, kinda, ugh I hate this thing, where were we? Oh yeah, your pickaxe."

Tommy sputtered. "But you already have one!"

"Well yeah, but I want yours."

Tommy glared, but then Drista was holding a sword and he knew it was easier to do real damage with that compared to an axe. He gave up rather quickly, handing it over. "I want Dream back."

"What? You literally just went on a rant about how annoying he is."

"He doesn't take my stuff for no reason." Tommy frowned. "I just got on this server a day ago you know."

"And you were being put on trial before I showed up." Drista paused. "Dream said you're going back once I'm gone."

Well great. Just his luck.

They run into Sapnap a few minutes later, who seems to have just woken up and hasn't noticed the obvious voice change that was Drista. Drista immediately took advantage of that and deepened her voice until it sounded like Dream's. It was a near perfect imitation, and that alone startled him.

Sapnap narrowed his eyes. "I know it's you, Drista."

Drista cursed, grabbed his wrist, and ran. Tommy laughed as he was dragged along, followed by the surprised squawking that was Sapnap's confusion. "I should've known, he knows me to well-"

Tommy just laughed and allowed himself to be dragged. Hey, he'll probably be imprisoned for a few days and have probation for a bit, but at least this happened beforehand. Maybe he can even get a few things off of Drista before that happens. "Hey Drista. How much attention is Dream paying us right now?"

"Not much." The girl hummed, ducking into a cave to hide from Sapnap. A skeleton appeared from a shadow, and she squeaked, stabbing it through it's eye on accident. "He's, like, daydreaming or something."

Probably about GeorgeNotFound. Tommy cackled at his own terrible mental joke. "Good, good. Give me something of his and see if he notices."

Drista frowns at him, before handing over a few ender pearls. "It's quiet."

Tommy's cackles were getting very close to becoming evil laughter. He'd rather have his sword or something, but at least Drista was willing to trade. "Okay, now try to op me."

Drista froze for a second, before tilting her head in disapproval. "I'm not stupid, Tommy."

"Oh come on!" Tommy tried to act chill. He doesn't know if he succeeded. "It'd be funny!"

"But then the next time I switch over here he'll be all mad and stuff." Drista frowned, and Tommy suddenly remembered that they were family, and she probably didn't want to do anything that would genuinely upset him. "And I rarely ever see him anymore so-"

"Look, Drista, he's not going to be upset." Tommy raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. "It'll be a fun joke. Comeon, you know you want to."

She whacked him with her axe. Tommy fell to the ground, the side of his head bleeding. It wasn't bad, but it was still surprising. It was probably because it was Dream's body doing the hitting, and the guy wasn't exactly weak, with all the fighting and parkour he does. Drista didn't seem to notice her power though, turning around. "No I wasn't gonna do it! Come on, trust me a bit more- I will go hug a zombie, don't make me-"

"Uh, Drista?" Tommy stood up, offering the hand held out to him. He looked up to thank the person when he saw that it was George and Sapnap, not looking very happy. "Oh, uh-" 

"It's not dangerous, you're stacked!" Drista was still arguing, unaware of the situation behind her. "Well, duh, of course the server is new- of course I switched somewhere safe- small server equals more respawn glitches, yeah yeah, I got it! Come on, I can handle myself- that was one time-" She finally turned to see the three of them behind her. "Oh."

The next time she spoke the voice was Dream's. "Finally! George!"

George winced. "It was so sudden and she was so fast…"

Drista crossed her arms and she smirked, adjusting the mask once more. "I've had years of practice, Gogy." She turned to Tommy. "Times almost up, my mom's gotta be wondering what I'm doing right now anyway. Maybe I'll op you next time."

Tommy said 'yes!' right when Dream said 'Drista!' and Tommy lost it again, uncaring of the consequences. When he had calmed himself enough he was surrounded by three angry people and he realized that he had just ran into the wilderness with a switched person (and not just any switched person, but the admin of the server, who was switched with his little sister, a child, some would say-). 

That's when he realized he had fucked up.

Chapter Text

He doesn't know why it hasn't happened yet.

It's been building up for months. It should've happened by now. Tommy's close with all of them, so why-?

It started with Techno and Minecraft Mondays. He made a name for himself by dominating the competition- the famous competition, no less. Then came Phil and Wilbur, teaming up with Techno and each other and forming a dynamic that the viewers of MCM loved to see. They got a name and everything- Sleepy Bois Inc. Tommy was one of those viewers at the time, not one of the ones begging for their dynamic, but he did watch the events closely.

Then during an event a malfunction happened. Some players were sucked into the void, and while the server was made to have the lowest respawn glitch possible it didn't account for void deaths. Wilbur was one of the ones falling in, hanging by a thread. 

Tommy could see the exact moment he switched, saw the exact moment his face changed. Saw how he almost effortlessly pulled himself up and dodged falling debris and jumped over void holes. He practically skipped over to Phil and Techno, the latter slumped over and being held up by the former.

It didn't take long for everyone, including the media, to realize.

Techno and Wilbur had switched.

It was in the news everywhere the next day, on every server. The actual catastrophe was overlooked due to the fact that they were family by bond, close enough to switch. Viewers' dreams came true and people started to wonder if Phil was included, which Tommy knew he was. It'd be insane for him not to be, from what he's seen.

And then MCM ended and SMP Earth started. He was actually a part of that one, and while he definitely wasn't geeking over celebrities, he wasn't expecting so much interaction. Sure, it was mostly in the form of wars and shouting, but he could tell that he was starting to grow on them. It showed in the little things- coming to talk to him of giving him something or little bouts of protectiveness. He won't pretend like he doesn't love it. Of course he does, he loves all attention!

Then came MCC, and over and over again Techno, Wilbur, and Phil were put together (because everyone loved that bond family shit-) and he was left out, each and every time. By that point he had switched his main server to the Dream SMP, and he was also pretty close to them all. He noticed, his friends noticed, viewers noticed when they were allowed to watch Earth's wars. It was very obvious, in his opinion, so when would he be able to switch with them?

He ignored the option where he would never become a part of the bond, never be able to switch. He didn't believe it, it would happen, eventually. He's never switched before, never really had close family to do so, so he may be a little excited.

Then came the next MCC. The championship where they were finally all paired up.

It went almost perfectly. Not only did they win, but Tommy did great, showing off to not just the fans but to his friends as well. He basked in the attention, fixing the crown on his head and laughing when he noticed that Techno couldn't see- the crown covering his mask's eyes.

It was after the event, when the server was closing and the fans had all left. Tommy was looking at an example coin that they give the winners, waiting for his own to be shipped to his main server, when something in the back of his head itched.

Suddenly, he was no longer in control.

'WHAT THE FU-'

"Ah ha! I had a hunch!" That was Wilbur's voice, coming out of his own mouth. Tommy gaped, beyond confused, when it finally clicked and he mentally gasped.

He… He had switched. With Wilbur!

'Finally!'

"Awe." Wilbur's hand came up to ruffle his hair, which was weird cause it was Tommy's hair. "I had a feeling you wanted part of the family, Tommy. I was wondering if this was the final push- it seems it was."

Wait. If Wilbur switched with Tommy, then that means…

Tommy focused, not too sure with what he was doing. He blinked and found himself in another body, next to the MCC bridge. Techno and Phil stood right besides him. Phil frowned. "It didn't work?"

Tommy looked at them, grinned, jumped, and ran. "My body now, bitches!"

"Stop him!" He heard Wilbur shout from a bit away, and he cackled, running away. He's bodynapping right now, but who cares? He's been waiting so long for this, and now it was here-

Techno tackled him to the ground and he screamed, more joyful then actually scared. Wilbur caught up to them and they touched, immediately switching back bodies. Tommy went from laughing in Wilbur's body to laughing in his own. The others joined soon after.

Fucking finally. He would've started stabbin' shit if he wasn’t added in soon. Took them long enough.

Chapter Text

For as much of a tyrant as he is, Dream's pretty lucky when it comes to family. Not only does he have family by blood, people he loves and cares for and would protect with his life, he also has family by bond. Friends he's met along the way that became something more. Something like family.

He didn't know it was possible, at first. Everything he knew about switching came from school books, and they never mentioned anything about non blood related families, (found families, as he liked to call it). He didn't know it was possible. Then he switched with Sapnap, one of his oldest friends, and impossible suddenly became possible. He had new people to switch with, new family. Family he could be himself around, family he didn't have to hide his true nature from.

Because his blood family didn't know about his true nature. They didn't know about his greed, his want of power, his psychopathic tendencies. Sapnap knew, though. He knew and didn't care and still wanted to be his friend. He was okay with it. Dream's never had someone be okay with it before.

Needless to say, he got a little possessive.

It was little things, things he's sure no one but him noticed, and if they did they'd think nothing of it. He also kept tabs on him, made sure he wasn't talking or seeing anyone Dream didn't like or thought would hurt him. Those people would disappear- would leave the server and never come back. 

It was hard when they were younger, teenagers still living with parents. Harder hiding it from everyone. Sapnap still knew though, he knew and still didn't care. Looking back on it, Dream can guess that that didn't help his problem. Not at all. He wasn't a fan of sharing, and even though Sapnap's family didn't share a bond he still had to share his time with them. He hated it- why should they get a say? They didn't have a bond, Dream did.

He started hating other people in general- he got paranoid, feeling like they knew too much about him. He started wearing a mask around that time, and took pleasure in the fact that only close friends knew what he looked like. Only family knew what he looked like. It was kind of freeing, after hiding who he really was for so long. When he was old enough he immediately moved away, taking admin classes to learn how to operate a server and dragging Sapnap with him.

That's around the time that he met George.

George was no better than Sapnap when it came to lessening his problems. Whereas the latter was okay with his faults, the former ignored them all together. He played clueless, staring blankly when he said something awful and pretending not to hear. Dream didn't know why he did it, but he wasn't about to pry, he knew that much. Even with the strange personality George quickly became a key part in both their lives, and Dream wasn't surprised when Sapnap came into his room in George's body one day. It was bound to happen at some point.

He had more family now. A new bond. A new friend. A new possession.

He never really learned the difference between a human and an object.

Both were things to play with- things to mess around with and manipulate until you got them exactly how you wanted them. That wasn't to say he didn't care- he cared a lot. He loved his blood family, would do anything for them. He'd protect Sapnap and George with his life if he had to. No doubt about that, no question at all. And there were others, too. People he was close to because he cared, whether it was genuine or twisted in some type of way. The bee loving boy on his server was someone he cared for, even when they were on different sides of a war. He also cared for his rival, in a twisted, power hungry way. It wasn't just bonds and family he cared for. He wasn't just using them, he really did enjoy their company.

Well, he's pretty sure he does. He enjoys their company like he enjoys playing with toy horses and swords. That's how it's meant to be, right? He's pretty sure that's how it's meant to be.

After hiding his true nature for multiple years, he's gotten good at hiding it from people on his server too. Of course he slips up from time to time- that's a given when you see these people all the time. He's also calmer here, more relaxed. More slip ups are bound to happen.

Then his sister switches with him and runs off with Tommy, in his body. He's forced to watch it all, unable to do anything as Tommy makes a fool out of him. A fool out of his family, for trying to trick his sister. Dream's gotten a migraine by the time George arrives, and he almost wrings the kid's neck when Drista is finally gone.

Sapnap stops him. He'd yell at him too before realizing he's probably right. Still, he doesn't want Tommy getting used to talking to his sister. His family is off limits, all of them. Bond and blood, just stay away.

They. Are. His.

And his alone.

It's one of the reasons why he's so obsessed with fighting, with being the best. Yes, Manhunts are fun and exhilarating and boy are they popular but he doesn't study up on combat for them. He knows every move there is to know because he has to, he has to be the best. He had to be able to protect his family. He needs to have the power to protect his family.

He needs power in general. It was one of the reasons why he became an admin.

He thinks most people can overlook most of his many flaws. Everyone had them, and everyone overlooked them. His flaws were worse than usual but most could be overlooked. Besides his need for power.

He's always had that craving, a lust for power that's evolved over the years into a need to manipulate and a yearning to shed blood. Even as the desire twists and molds itself into something new, the backbone always starts the same. He wants power, he needs power.

And he's going to get it, one way or another.

So yes, he is a tyrant (which is deserved, Wilbur came onto his server and took his land, he might've banned the man if he wasn't his server member, and if Tommy didn't give him his discs-) and yes he has problems. Even with those problems, though, he still had two families that love and care for him. It's more than he deserved, probably. Especially with the amount of times he's looked George in the eyes and imagined him bloody beneath his feet. When he looks at Sapnap and thinks of him like a puppet, held up by dancing strings on Dream's fingers.

He tries to forget those images, tries to ignore the fact that he always wants blood, always wants power. He thinks he does a pretty good job, all around. His friends don't seem to notice, so that's a plus.

He really doesn't deserve what he has. There are much better people who should get what Dream has instead of him. He'd never give it up, though. His family was his, his server was his, his friends were his.

And it'd stay that way. He'd make sure of it. 

He just needed a bit more power...

Chapter Text

Tommy was fucked.

Tommy was absolutely fucked. He's never been this fucked in his life. How dare Eret? How dare he betray them? Turn their back on L'Manburg, the country they built the walls for!?

The command room was quiet and still. Tommy's hands shaked from where they gripped his sword. Their armor was shabby compared to what Dream and his side had. They were either going to die or be taken prisoners.

From the smirk on Dream's face, he was scared for both options.

Tubbo was on one side, shaking so much that his sword quivered. Wilbur was on his other side, standing a few feet in front of him, just enough to take attention away from him and Fundy, who was on Wilbur's other side.

His general, his family, his brother, was doing what he always did. Using his words. "I never saw it coming." 

It was a praise, and Tommy wanted to cuss him out, cuss Eret out. He wanted out of this stuffy command room, with the oppressive and tense atmosphere. He didn't like the looks the other side had. The desire to draw blood, shown in their smiles. Dream was the worst out of all of them.

But they were in no place to argue right now. An army stood in between them and the only exit. They would die, painfully, if they tried to leave now.

They were trapped.

"I thought you wouldn't." Dream's smile was smug and self assured. "So, any last words?"

Tommy had plenty. He has a dictionary of cuss words he'd like to say before dying in battle, his first death on this server, if he remembers correctly. Many near misses, but this would be his first death. His first dance with the respawn glitch.

He hoped he gets skipped, this time around. He hopes the glitch takes one look at him and decides his time isn't up just yet.

"Take me instead." Wilbur blurted out, stopping Tommy in his tracks. "Kill me, imprison me, whatever you want. Just leave them alone."

He hated self sacrificing bullshit. He pretends not to feel the overwhelming sense of worry and protectiveness through his bond with Wilbur. He'll never admit that he sent love back, just to soothe the man minutely.

Dream isn't impressed. "I know you're the leader, Wilbur, and I respect the sacrifice, but why would I do that? Why let them go just so they can fight another day? I can squish this rebellion right here, right now."

Wilbur's voice cracked and broke the next time he spoke. "They're too young, Dream, I-"

Tommy looked at the rest of his group, but they were all following Dream's lead. Eret stood to the side, emotions hidden behind his sunglasses. Tommy wished he could stab him- he'd go for it if he wasn't so scared.

"You should've thought of that before you began this stupid crusade." Dream steps forward, something commanding in his posture, and Wilbur looks down on the ground. His sword comes up to catch Wilbur's chin, making him look up. Dream tisked. "You get in one sore spot and all the fight drains out of you. Pathetic."

Wilbur's head doesn't move, but his eyes harden and he glares, fire sparking deep within him. For a second, Tommy feels hope. And then- "I won't fight, if you let the others go."

"Well, maybe you should've thought of that before you brought family into a war you knew you couldn't win." Dream snaps his fingers and Punz and Sapnap step forward, each grabbing one of Wilbur's arms. George nocks an arrow and aims at the rest of them, as if expecting them to move. Before Tommy can blink Dream is in front of him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and throwing him towards the opposing team, away from Tubbo and Fundy and Wilbur. "Time for you to learn your lesson."

Tommy stumbles to the ground, almost dropping his sword before scrambling up. Wilbur is shouting, angry and frantic and Tommy can feel those emotions bubbling up in his own gut. Tubbo and Fundy are tense, the only thing holding them back is George's bow and Eret, who is still watching. Tommy readies his shield, but Dream takes one look at him and his arms go weak.

He… he is not a fighter. Not really. He can hold a sword and talk the talk, but he has a long way to go before he can hold his own against anything that isn't a mob. He stands no chance against Dream, and he knows it.

Maybe if he just lays down and lets Dream stab him it'll be quicker. Less painful, for both him and Wilbur. Tubbo was also there, he didn't want them to see him flail around as he died.

"Dream-" Wilbur's shouting had stopped, and while he had seen Tommy die before it was nothing like this. It's usually mobs, which results in a quick and painless death where he wakes up to Wilbur standing over his bed, berating his stupidity. It's never been a player before, not while Wilbur's been around. "Dream, please-"

He can see tears in the other man's eyes.

"Should've thought about that before you came onto my server and decided to take my land!" Dream stepped forward, raising his sword. Tommy's arms shook and wobbled as he brought his sword down in a fatal arc.

Tommy heard shouting right before the fatal blow. The fatal blow… that never came.

Tommy opened his eyes, having squeezed them shut while waiting for the inevitable. Wilbur stood in front of him, eyes narrowed and hard as he caught the blow with his own sword, arms still and steady like he was born holding a weapon. Punz and Sapnap were sprawled on the ground, confused. Wilbur exhaled harshly through his nose, something very familiar in this gesture, and-

Oh.

"Wilbur?" Dream grunted, obviously not expecting an actual challenge. Wilbur (that wasn't Wilbur-) twisted his sword wrist, pushing Dream back before spinning and slicing at George, cutting his bow in half. It snapped, the strings lashing out and hitting George's hands. "What-"

Tommy grinned, hope filling his stomach. "That's not Wilbur!"

"I don't know what you did to upset Dream." Wilbur's voice had changed, going deep and monotone. It was unmistakably Techno. "I'm not going to rule out the option that you may deserve it. I am, though, going to stop this little execution." Wilbur's arm moved, pointing his sword at Dream. Something that looked like possessiveness flashed through his eyes. Tommy wondered if Dream saw it too. "Do not mess with my family."

Dream looked more intrigued than irritated, which was worrying in itself. The others, though…

The others were amazed.

Whispers of the Blood God have been circulating for a while now, ever since MCM and even before that. People knew of the carnage he could bring. People knew he was family to Wilbur and Tommy. Even with this knowledge, he never expressed interest in joining the server, and no one thought he would switch to them when they were in trouble. This was the first time he's done this the entire war, so they aren't unjustified with their thoughts.

Him being here, though…

They could turn this whole thing around!

Dream chuckled, and while he couldn't see the man's face he didn't like the implications he got. He knew Dream was interested in his brother, for a reason he never figured out. It was one of the reasons he's happy Techno never joined the server. He does care about his safety, and keeping him away from the tyrant is always healthier then the other option. "Don't forget, we have numbers on our side. Plus, our weapons are better."

"You want to know how I'd kill you all?" Techno huffed, face set in a neverending glare. His free hand came out to grab Tommy, as if making sure no one touched him. "First I'll push you back, probably use the element of surprise and trip you. Then I'll stab George, cause he obviously can't defend himself too well. I'll check his armor and switch if need be, before going for Sapnap and killing him too. That'll be real painful to watch, I would think. You're the only person allowed to kill them, right?" Techno pouted for a second, doe eyes on Wilbur's face. "You'll get sloppy, of course, and you'll be a hindrance to Punz, who will fall shortly after. Then you'll be all alone, because Eret will have been frozen in fear. Then… then-" his eyes widened, as did his smile, and he looked insane with Wilbur's face. "-i'll show you what happens when you mess with my family."

Dream stood shock still for a moment, as if not expecting the normally monotone man to actually act like a Blood God. He's pretty sure his eyes widened behind the mask. "Why do I feel your-" He saw him pause and grit his teeth. "You just told us your entire plan."

"You think I can't still accomplish it, even with you knowin'?" Techno tilted his head, and Tommy was a bit scared, if he was honest. Techno was starting to remind him of Dream, in a way. The possessiveness he saw in his eyes was one major tell. "You really want to risk it?"

Even if Techno was fibbing, he had gotten into the other's heads. Punz and Sapnap were fidgeting, as was George. No one wanted to risk it.

Dream sighed, looking him straight in the eyes. He smiled slightly. "As I thought." He murmured. "You're just as I thought." He looked at the others and nodded. "Pack up and move out!"

They waited a few minutes after they had left before heading back to L'Manburg. Even though they had lost big time, hopes were still high. 

Besides, they had better things to focus on.

"Mr. Blade!" Tubbo bounced up to him, still in Wilbur's body. "Is it true that you're a god at bedwars?!"

Techno scoffed. "Don't call me Mr. I'm, like, five years older than you, kid. And yeah, of course." 

Tubbo beamed at him and continued asking questions, as if he hasn't met Techno before. Being Tommy's best friend, Tubbo's met all of Tommy's family before. He wondered if Tubbo was putting on a show, for some reason. As if he was scared of being watched. Fundy, on the other hand, was completely new to Techno and Techno paused when he called him 'Uncle Tech'.

"Alright." He looked at Tommy, before looking into the sky. "Who did Wilbur get pregnant?"

"A salmon." Tommy deadpanned as a joke, and Wilbur squawked, taking hold of the reins so fast that Techno never came back, pushed out of the body and back into his own. "Tommy!"

Tommy burst out laughing, falling to the floor. He didn't forget, though. He had been saved today, he was going to take advantage of it. L'Manburg would be free, no matter what.

Chapter Text

They met on his server, the first time. He was nice and kind and he took advantage of that fact, stealing away an operator title and griefing the entire server.

The other man was devastated. He might’ve seen tears go down his face.

He… he didn’t like that. Not at all.

So he sighed, undid everything he ruined and turned away before he could see the relief that would be obvious on the other's face. He walked over to spawn, getting ready to leave, when he heard a voice behind him.

“Thanks, Skeppy.”

He was… he was… thanking him? But Skeppy’s the one who caused all the damage, why would he-? “Uh, no problem?”

He left the server swearing to himself. He’d never go back- he had his own server and that admin was strange. He didn’t want to go back anyway. He’d never go back.

He went back.

He went back the next day, actually.

“I forgot something.” Was his terrible excuse, because items couldn’t switch between servers. The other man didn’t seem to notice, asking about what he lost and saying he’ll help him find it. Skeppy made something up off the top of his head and they went off.

Skeppy learned a few things about his new… friend, Bad. One, he was nice, but not naive. Two, he was not naive, but he was nice to the point where some people would be allowed to get away with too much. Three, he was not nice enough that people would be able to get away with anything big, like griefing his server.

Except for Skeppy, apparently.

They were only ten minutes in and Skeppy had already made up his mind- he’d be a bodyguard of sorts to Bad. Keep anyone (besides him) from taking advantage of the man’s generosity.

That decision changed his life.

He came onto Bad’s server almost every day, talking with him and causing minor damage while glaring at anyone who even looked at the other man wrong. He would've moved to the server if he didn't have his own to take care of. When he had things to do and couldn’t watch the man he invited Bad along with him, which is how he met some of Skeppy’s friends, like Mega and Techno. Bad would do the same, when he could, and that’s how he was introduced to the Dream Team.

He didn’t really like Dream. The man rubbed him the wrong way, but he was good around Bad so he let it slide. The others were okay- Sapnap seemed to be a griefer at heart so they’ll get along fine if they ever have to, at least. George… well… he’s pretty. And he screams, a lot. That’s all Skeppy really knew about the man.

He doesn’t care anyway. Back to Bad, that was a much more interesting topic.

So, apparently he was famous. They all were. Skeppy had never tuned into ‘Manhunt’ before but with Bad joining in as the third hunter he had to check it out. He wasn’t disappointed, to say the least.

Maybe Bad should be his bodyguard, not the other way around. He was pretty famous too, actually. He’s had fans jump onto his server and low-key harass him before, he could use a bodyguard.

(He’s ignoring the fact that Dream seems to be a conniving psychopath, because no normal person could kill their family over and over again in a manhunt like he did. He’s ignoring it because Bad and Dream are friends and he wants Bad to be happy. He’s watching the other man like a hawk, though.)

What was he thinking about again? Oh yes, Bad. Almost forgot.

Before he knew it, Bad and Skeppy were spending almost all their time together. They had become best friends in the blink of an eye and Skeppy doesn’t know what happened to cause it. Oh well, he’s not complaining. Not at all.

They joined a few survival servers- messed around and played with other friends. Skeppy started bringing Bad onto his own variety shows, and his fans seemed to love him. That’s because his fans have good taste.

It was during one of those shows that he started to recognize something different. It was a build battle- he can’t remember which one. It doesn't really matter, because that wasn't the focus of this story. The focus was what happened during the build battle.

Skeppy started having thoughts. Thoughts that, he's, like, 95% sure aren't his.

At first he thought Bad was just rubbing off on him too much. It'd make sense, considering the amount of muffin comments he makes off camera nowadays. But then he realized that no, that wasn't it, because his thoughts were about the build battle and when he finally took a look at Bad's build it had items in it that he remembered thinking.

So yes, he knew something was off.

Skeppy's had mixed feelings about bonds his entire life. He's had several in his times, bonds that never broke but faded over time. They were nice, but he was cool living without them.

Well, he used to be, at least. If he had a bond with Bad, though, then that was about to change. He definitely couldn't live without it now.

At first he just tested it. It was fun, plucking at it and seeing if Bad felt it. He could send warm emotions down the bond and watch Bad smile, even though he's sure Bad was in the dark about the bond completely. It didn't matter to him, it was nice. He's happy he has a normal, growing bond.

Normal, healthy bonds were fun to play with, since Skeppy could send emotions down it but not have to worry about manipulating Bad because of it. He knows that in corrupt bonds those emotions can sink in and change the emotions of the other person without their knowledge or consent, whereas normal bonds just show you they're there. It's like a little message in your head saying 'im happy' or 'im scared' or 'im hungry'. Most of the time it was just there, a comforting presence.

One day Bad unintentionally sent love through the bond. He was praising Skeppy on something good he did (he's a changed man, kinda, don't judge him-) and he almost jumped when he felt the unconditional love flowing through, little messages of 'love friendship happiness grateful to have met you-' flew through his body.

It was so sudden and strong that he turned and ran. He got five feet before tripping and falling on his face. When he got up he played it cool, hopeing his face wasn't burning up because how could someone be so wholesome?!

Answer was, no one could be that wholesome. No human could be that wholesome. Bad was an angel, he had to be. 

(Skeppy had figured that one out in the middle of the night, when he was tossing and turning and wide awake. He had shot up out of bed, eyes wide at his revelation that Bad was, in fact, not human, but an angelic being sent to earth to spread the goodness that was him across the land. He lasted five more minutes before he was out like a light.)

They started playing on the SMP run by Dream. Like the other survival servers they played on before, they both completely moved there, leaving the old servers behind. They had others to watch their main servers while they were gone, and they'd check in a couple times a week, but for the most part they stayed on the SMP.

Bad finding out about the bond was anticlimatic and every time Skeppy remembers it he wants to slap himself in the face.

Basically, he was thinking about how cool it would be to switch with Bad. Then he blinked and he suddenly had.

'What- Skeppy?' Bad begin Bad immediately knew that Skeppy had switched with him, somehow. 'We have a bond? Skeppy! How long have you known?'

'Uh…" Skeppy was freaking out because he had switched awesome- "A few months?"

'SKEPPY!'

"Sorry!" He apologized immediately, because it was Bad and he could never make him feel upset (unless he was specifically trolling him, that was fun-). His best friend huffed, as if already forgiving him. "I was going to tell you, I just wanted to make sure it was real and it's been awhile since I've had a bond and-"

Bad shushed him, tone fond. He knew that Bad was in the same boat as him, for the most part. He had a small bond with the Dream Team- they couldn't switch but Bad could get a whiff of their emotions from time to time. Besides that, though, they were both bondless before this.

It was nice to finally have a connection again.

So yes, they were bonded. They were family. How they became family, when their first interaction consisted of Skeppy destroying Bad's server, he doesn't know.

All he knows is that Bad will always need a bodyguard (and no, you can't convince him otherwise-) and he will always be one for him. If that means he has to do the oh so hard job of following the man around like a puppy then he will. Gladly. Eagerly. The man needed protection, even if he didn't think so himself. Skeppy had to explain why one day, when Bad brought it up.

He just laughed when he finished talking, face scrunching up and wrinkled with smile lines. "Whatever you say, Skeppy."

He likes to pretend like he doesn't understand why they're family, so that his friends can try to explain to him what is obvious. It means that it's not all in his head, and that his care is real. It proves that Bad is an angelic being that Skeppy wouldn't mind following for the rest of his life.

"You." Sapnap cut in, finished listening to Skeppy go off about how wholesome Bad is for the 50th time. "Are a grade A simp."

"Yeah." George chimed in, patting his shoulder and walking away, Sapnap in tow. "Have fun with that!"

Chapter Text

He found him next to a stream.

Wilbur's not completely sure why he was there or how he found him, but he did. Fundy just sat there, looking into the water as if it was just the most interesting thing he's ever seen.

"Are you new here?" He had asked.

"Yeah, first day." Fundy had replied, not looking up from the stream. "Spawned in here. Someone said they'd meet me at spawn but they never showed."

"Well, that's because this isn't spawn." Wilbur frowned. "We're in L'Manburg right now."

"L'Manburg?"

"Yep. Want a tour?"

"Sure."

That was the start of everything.

Fundy stuck to his side like glue after that, for the first few days. It was so strange that others even commented on it. A new person joins the server (how did Dream even know Fundy?) and follows Wilbur around like a lost puppy. Tommy thought it was hilarious.

"Have some respect." Wilbur finally snapped one day. "He's the first natural born L'Manburg citizen, you know."

"I spawned in at L'Manburg." He explained when he saw confused looks. It was kind of strange, but glitches happen. "It's like I was born here."

He shouldn't have said that last part.

For the next few days he was teased constantly, and it became a running gag that he was just a big newborn baby, growing up as L'Manburg grew. Wilbur got in on it, too. His uniform was even different- it looked like Tommy had used crayons to make it.

Then Wilbur started calling him his son and Fundy didn't know what to think anymore.

"What?" Tommy sputtered the first time he heard it. "But, I- I'm not ready to be an uncle!"

Fundy had laughed at that, but Wilbur hadn't. He looked serious, which was a bit strange. Fundy was practically a grown man- a grown man who knew who his family was, even if he wasn't close enough to them to have a bond.

Basically, he didn't need another family.

(Even though every time he saw Tommy and Wilbur switch he got a bit jelaous. It was interesting, what can he say-)

He didn't need another family, has never had a bond and didn't need one. Maybe that's why, when he first felt strong emotions that weren't his, he was confused.

It was during a battle. Wilbur had been shot, and Tommy had clutched the area of the wound on his own body, as if he had phantom pain for the shot. That wasn't surprising, considering how close they were to each other. What was surprising is that Fundy did the same thing. He was pretty sure that he had been shot, but when he looked at the origin of pain nothing was there. It still hurt, he still felt pain, but…

It wasn't his pain.

The battle ended and Wilbur downed a potion and went to rest. Fundy stayed by his side as he slept, afraid of the SMP conducting a night raid and taking Wilbur hostage or killing him. Nothing happened, of course. The SMP's never done that before (the night raids, not the killing or kidnapping. They've done the latter before), he doesn't know why he expected them to start now.

Maybe it's just because of what happened with Eret. Betrayal will make you paranoid.

During the next battle he was the one who got an arrow to the shoulder. The pain was so sharp and agonizing that he fell to his knees, legs jelly and body unwilling to get up and work. He saw footsteps in his vision, covered in netherite and probably not from his team. He heard someone scream his name.

Then, his body stopped moving.

'Move over for a second, will yah?'

Right before a sword hit him he raised his shield, barely blocking. The sword skidded off the wood in a move that reminded Fundy faintly of what happened in the control room. During the ambush.

The thing was, he wasn't controlling his body. 'W-who-?'

'Three guesses.'

He knew that voice.

Wilbur.

Another block from his shield- it was Sapnap who was about to kill him. Wilbur, for rarely wearing armor and not liking to fight, was holding his own impressively. He was surprised before remembering that Wilbur knew Technoblade, of course he was skilled in swordsmanship, even if he never showed it off.

The battle paused and Fundy heard Dream shout over the field. "Where'd you go, Wilbur?!"

Dream was holding Wilbur's limp body up by the collar, letting him dangle off the ground. He looked at Tommy, before deciding that he had not switched to the boy. "Very stupid of you, leaving yourself undefended."

Someone on their side shouted as Dream took his sword, angling it down towards Wilbur's body. Fundy watched in stunned silence- he was going to die because he had switched to protect Fundy.

He… he couldn't allow that.

Before he could convince himself not to he was suddenly in Wilbur's body, lanky arms flailing and hitting Dream straight in the face, his body twisting at the same time to barely avoid getting skewered. He punched the man straight in the mask, relishing in the sound of his knuckles connecting against the porcelain plate. Dream stumbled back, surprised and unprepared. Fundy took his chance, scooping up his fallen sword and sticking it into the unarmored area next to his stomach. "Don't mess with my dad!"

Whoops. He meant Wilbur, he's not calling the man his dad that was an accident it was not true ignore that-

Dream dropped back, falling and clutching his side. His voice was in shock. "Fundy?!"

Oh and now they know. Uh oh. An arrow grazed the side of his face and he jumped back. With the crack of a pearl Sapnap was next to Dream, eyes firey and animalistic, as if waiting for someone to try and attack them. He took a healing potion out of his pocket.

Dream would be okay. He wouldn't die. Damnit, Fundy knew it was wishful thinking. "Fall back!"

George appeared at his side, helping him with Dream, and Punz stood guard as they backed up, disappearing like they had arrived- silent and unknown. 

Fundy backed up, huffing in exhaustion. Someone patted his shoulder, and he was thrown back into his own body. He turned to look at Wilbur, who was smiling. "Dad?"

Fundy groaned, flushing. "I didn't mean dad."

"S'okay." Wilbur's smile was more of a smirk. "Son."

Fundy couldn't bring himself to glare. His shoulder ached in pain, but he and his friends were safe- they hadn't just survived either, they had won.

This war was looking up for them.

Chapter Text

Sapnap placed a hand on the furnace, enjoying the warmth it emitted while he stared at the fire. It was so pretty.

An arm wrapped around his own and he was suddenly on the ground. Immediately expecting the worst, he yelped and struggled. "Dream-!" Then he saw the goggles and froze, relaxing. "George, what are you doing?"

There was a laugh, a laugh not like George's, and he tensed again. "Not quite…"

Oh that motherfucker- "This is cheating!" He complained, looking up at his assulter. George's body stood up in front of him, a goofy smile gracing his face. His goggles covered his eyes. Everything about him screamed Dream.

"I'm not taking any of your stuff or killing you." He assured, hands on his hips. He was smirking now, releasing his hold on Sapnap. "I just wanted to check in- see how you were doing. It gets lonely, out there by myself."

Sapnap briefly wondered if he could call for Bad, if he should call for Bad. It didn't really matter- this wasn't a commercial manhunt, it was just for fun. Which was probably why he was acting like a little imp.

Sapnap enjoyed hunts like this, where they could just relax and goof and have fun. It let Dream show a side he rarely ever could anywhere else, and seeing him so free gave Sapnap a warm feeling, as if there was a fire in his tummy. He was happy that his friend was happy. 

He decided not to call on Bad. "I hope George is in your body right now, bringing your little green booty over here."

Dream frowned for a second before grinning again. "Nope. He's right here!" The man swiped a piece of his iron, throwing it into the nearby lava. Sapnap gaped, surprised. "See you later!"

His body twitched and then George was there, pulling his goggles to his forehead. "Seriously Dream!?"

The man in question was obviously gone, but Sapnap could still hear his laugh, echoing in his mind.

It happened again, of course.

George was hot on Dream's trail, he's sure of it, when Sapnap suddenly picked an apple up from the ground and threw it at George.

"Hey!" George rubbed his head, pausing in his run. Bad didn't notice, running after Dream without them. "Sapnap, what the hell-"

Sapnap laughed, hands on his stomach. He brought out his axe. "Oh George!"

George is a good speedrunner, he is. He's not shabby at fighting, either.

That does not mean, though, that he didn't scream like a baby when he realized that wasn't Sapnap.

"Not again!" He shouted, barely dodging Dream, who lunged at him. He was laughing, hard. "This isn't fair-"

"Hey! My body is out and unprotected right now, I say that's fair!" Dream was giggling, high off of the chase, and George couldn't bring himself to be that upset. None of them have been so happy in the last few days, so carefree. Not with what's happening on the SMP. "Come'ere!"

Arms wrapped around his waist and he screamed as he fell. Dream's laugh rang in his ears and he pouted. "I hope Bad finds you while you're over here. Actually, I hope Sapnap's bugging the hell out of you right now."

He grinned. "Nah, he's just telling me to go for your sides."

George was about to ask what Dream meant when he remembered that he was ticklish.

He's never gotten up so quickly before. He's never climbed a tree so quickly before, either.

His communicator went off. It was from Bad. 'I found him!'

Below him Dream laughed, grabbing the lowest branch of the tree. "You think-" he paused, eyes widening. "Uh oh."

He blinked and Sapnap looked around, dazed. "Dream?"

Moments later his communicator buzzed.

BadBoyHalo has been killed by Dream.

He couldn't bring himself to care- it was either death or him getting tickled. He'll take the former any day of the week.

Dream looked around, ears pricked and ready for even the slightest sound. It was dark, the moon bright in a semi-cloudy sky. He should be moving- he has blaze rods, he has enderpearls. This was the fourth day, the hunters always slept on the fourth day. This was precious time.

He couldn't bring himself to continue.

He was tired, very tired. The blazes had been a pain and so had the endermen- he had several new bruises and cuts to show for it. He had also twisted his ankle, and even though that had happened in the beginning chase it still ached and burned whenever he wasn't in immediate danger.

He loved the pain. He loved knowing he was in danger. It was a weird thing- having a desire for power while at the same time loving the adrenaline rush that came from being in danger. Maybe it wasn't the danger that intrigued him, but the feeling of victory he gets from overcoming it.

Yeah, definitely the latter. The adrenaline was fun, and he was okay with danger when it came from family, but it was the feeling of victory that really set him off. The harder the challenge, the better the reward.

But then… why was he shaking?

It wasn't cold, and even if it was he was bundled up. He was spending the night in a village house- Dream was as safe as he could be. He could sleep through the night on a comfortable bed, get up and keep going. So then… why was he…?

Why was he so scared?

He's done many manhunts in his time, and while he'd never get used to the pain and fear of death that wasn't what was bothering him. Maybe it wasn't his own death that he feared.

Were his… were his friends okay?

Before he could stop himself he jumped into bed, forgetting everything he was doing. His consciousness was shot out of his body, slamming into another and immediately taking the reins. 'Dream?!'

Dream looked around, bewildered. The hunters were sleeping in a shallow cave. They had built a campfire, and were gathered around it, eating and chatting. Safe.

They were safe.

He sighed, and Sapnap looked at him, suspicious. "Again, Dream?"

Dream opened his mouth to say something witty, but the words died in his throat. Sapnap must've seen his hesitance, as did Bad. "You okay there, Dream?"

Yeah, he was… was he?

"I'm fine." He murmured, sitting down. While he felt physically fine (George was perfectly healthy and when switched his own body was dull in his mind) he couldn't say he was mentally. "Just… tired, I guess."

"Then you should be sleeping, you muffin head." Bad patted his hand, face soft. "We said we'd take breaks every fourth night so you wouldn't overexert yourself."

"Yeah I know, it's just-" he paused, something tightening in his chest. It was a feeling of some type- an emotion he didn't really understand. He didn't want to tell them that he was worried, for some reason. Why was that?

'I think you're embarrassed, Dream.' George supplied in his head, sounding overly cautious. 'Like when I caught you hiding your face with coal dust when you couldn't find your mask. Remember that feeling?'

Bless his friends, they knew he had trouble identifying emotions. Mostly because he didn't have many types of emotions, besides the basics (happiness, anger, annoyance, desire, curiosity- you know, the normal ones). And he was cool not experiencing emotions like others do, to him, they looked like they mostly got in the way. Emotions stopped people from doing what was best for them. A prime example would be his friends- he would've gotten a lot farther faster if he didn't care about losing them in the process. So yeah, Dream wasn't really a fan of emotions, he tried to ignore all the ones he wasn't already used to.

His friends, though, found his lack of emotions strange and while they didn't hold it against him they did try to make it apparent that those emotions were helpful and he should learn what they are and how to use them. He found it irritating, but he never tried to stop them. Let them try and hope to fix him. He knew there was nothing to fix, he knew nothing was wrong. He was fine.

Embarrassed? There was no way he was embarrassed. What was that one again, actually? George brought up the coal dust mask thing, he didn't really want to tell George about that when he caught him, something made him feel weird about it-

Oh yeah, he is embarrassed.

But… why?

Sapnap seemed to realize that he was having trouble and decided to stop pushing, moving to him and snuggling into his side instead. Sapnap was always the affectionate one, he always tried to solve his problems with hugs and cuddles and Dream never tried to stop him. If that was what made him happy, if that's what sent love and warmth through their bond, then Dream would be stupid to stop him. "It's cool, Dream. It's break night anyway, and this is all just for fun. Relax with us, for a bit."

He couldn't turn that offer away, could he? Not when they were staying in such an open cave, where anything could spawn in and grab them. He had to stay, if only to protect them.

Mobs weren't allowed to kill them. Nothing was allowed to kill them, besides Dream himself. That included Bad, as well. This was his family, his manhunt, his game. They can stay out of it, or meet the sharp end of his axe.

He pushed the possessive thoughts away. That was the other side of him, the other Dream, the one he didn't want to be right now. Right now, he just wanted to relax.

Sapnap grinned, absolutely taking advantage of the fact that Dream was here because George was not a cuddler. Dream chuckled at the thought, shifting so that he could wrap an arm around the other man. Distantly, he could feel his own body fall asleep, making his own conscious mind tired. Maybe he shouldn't of switched on a bed when he was bone tired. Oh well.

A few minutes passed and he was almost fully asleep, barely keeping awareness. The night was quiet and the fire cackled warmly, popping at Bad whenever he added fuel. Sapnap was snoring, but Dream couldn't tell if he was faking it or not.

He felt a nudge in his head, and George took back control of his body. "I'm back." He whispered to Bad, who nodding silently. Sapnap grumbled under his breath. "Dream's still here, though. I think he's sleeping or something."

Mostly, at least. He's lucid enough to listen into their conversation. Maybe they'll give him a clue of what they're going to do this manhunt. That'd be helpful.

That is not what happened.

"Good, he needs the rest." Bad roasts food over the fire, wrapping the individual pieces in cloth and stowing them in his bag. "I'm worried, what with the revolution he's dealing with on the SMP."

"Yeah." George nodded, stealing a piece of food to eat. "He's getting worse- it's why I even brought up the idea of a manhunt. He needed a break."

"Especially after what happened last battle." Sapnap added in, awake but not moving from his spot. George, surprisingly, didn't move his arm. "He was bedridden for a week after that- I can't believe they used Drista switching against him."

"He's still here." George reminded quietly, and Dream thought about speaking up, taking control again, but he didn't even want to mentally speak, much alone physically. He was tired. "You should move to the SMP, Bad. It's hectic, yeah, but we miss you."

"Maybe." Bad chuckled. "I do visit a lot already, though. I'd also have to get Skeppy's opinion on it. Maybe after this war."

More of a reason to crush L'Manburg. Dream's not above using explosives. Not after what they did. They're allowed to use switchings to their advantage and yell about freedom but when Dream switches with his little sister, an obviously inexperienced fighter, it's fair game? Dream hated it. They deserved to be blown to high hell.

'Calm down.' George didn't know why he was upset, just that he was. Of course, he immediately went to soothe him. 'Whatever it is, it can wait. Rest up, cause we're killing you tomorrow.'

'As if.' He was still too out of it to say much more than that, but it got his point across well enough.

"I'm holding you to that." Sapnap grinned dopily, still half asleep. "Alright George, try to nudge Dream back into his own body. I doubt sleeping when switched is comfortable, considering we don't even have beds."

'Ha.' Dream was too tired to even realize what he was saying anymore. 'Says you. I got a bed in a whole village!'

George blinked, speaking aloud. "You're in a village? Didn't we just pass a village?"

'I did a loop.' He was radiating smugness, and he won't even realize his mistake until he wakes up tomorrow morning surrounded by hunters. 'Ha ha, a thousand IQ!'

George scoffed, and he felt the pull of his own body, calling him back. Had he already been gone for an hour? Switches can vary on time, only the average is an hour, so did he have a short switch? He has already switched twice in the last few days, so that makes since. Or maybe he just fell asleep at some point and didn't realize it?

"Goodnight Dream." Bad ruffled George's hair, and even though it wasn't his body Dream felt like Bad was doing that to him, not George. Sapnap hugged him tighter as well. "Sweet dreams."

He blinked and found himself in a dark room, curled up in a bed in the village. His side was still warm, as if Sapnap was still there, and he could still feel the traces of Bad's hand ghosting through his hair.

He smiled, tired eyes drooping closed. He really did need this break. It wasn't just a break from his server, either. It was a break from that other side of him. The side that won. 

'Sleep.' George whispered in his mind, the last traces of the switch vanishing in bits and pieces. Dream listened, falling into a deep sleep.

Chapter Text

Dream was winning. Of course he was.

When this entire thing started he knew it would only end in one way- him with clear victory. There was no way that would change.

Or so he thought.

He was in the middle of battle, fighting Wilbur with the intent to capture this time, and Wilbur knew it. He was still upset that he hadn't gotten his slaughter from Eret's betrayal, and even though that was Techno's fault Techno wasn't here and Wilbur was, so he was the next best option.

Dream already had a plan- he'd capture their leader and then make Wilbur watch as they slaughtered the rest of L'Manburg. Maybe he'll even make Wilbur kill Tommy. If that doesn't put him in line, he doesn't know what will.

Wilbur seemed to read him like a book, though, and was putting all his effort into not losing. While he wasn't winning, he was putting up a decent fight and Dream respected that. He could see Techno's skill in the way he held his blade.

There was a poking in the back of his head, like someone knocking on a mental door. His eyes widened in realization right before he was no longer in control of his body.

'Hey Dream- ah!'

Drista barely brought his sword up in time, blocking the blow and yelping. "What are you doing!?"

'Drista, leave.' this was a terrible time for her to switch, he needed someone to notice she was here. Needed George to get her out of here until they could switch back. 'Now!'

Drista didn't know how to switch back by herself, she always just waited for time to run up. She also wasn't good at fighting, at all.

She was going to get him killed.

Luckily, or unluckily, Wilbur understood what happened. "Drista?"

"Yeah." She huffed, and why wasn't she listening to him? 'Run!' "What's going on? Why is Dream so worried?"

Wilbur looked conflicted, before something hard set in his eyes and if he kills Drista then Dream will make him regret it. "Sorry about this."

With swiftness Dream didn't know Wilbur had he disarmed his sister, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards him. He felt a sword touch his neck and Drista stilled, terrified.

She's never died before. Wilbur would pay for this.

"Gentlemen!" Wilbur shouted, and the fighting screeched to a halt. Everyone from each side looked on, baffled at the scene. They thought Wilbur had bested him. Sapnap and George looked worried. He had to let them know, somehow.

He pushed his way forward, ignoring Drista's worry to take control for a second and shout. "It's Drista!"

It was like the world turned upside down on their heads. His team looked murderous, and when Drista looked around for Tommy she found him looking conflicted. "Tommy, what's going on?"

He clenched his jaw but didn't answer her. Dream would kill them all for this. "Drista isn't involved, don't hurt her."

"Of course not." Wilbur scoffed at the idea, and it calmed both siblings down, even though Dream was still wary. "Drista won't be here forever, though. When she's gone Dream will be back and he'll be our hostage." Wilbur grinned. "This might be the end of our war, Tommy."

Tommy gritted his teeth, as if thinking, but Dream knew it was over. Tommy wouldn't go against his superior when Wilbur's plan could win them freedom without hurting any innocents. The only thing he could hope for now was for his friends to somehow get him or for Drista to escape on her own. Right now, she was the only barrier between him and L'Manburg. For once, he didn't want to take the bet that he could beat them.

Wilbur yanked them away, Drista shouting scared nonsense the entire time. She was panicking, hard, and while Dream wanted to comfort her he had more important things to do. He needed to get them (him-) out of this, he needed a plan.

"You know you make the craziest first introductions." Drista spat as Wilbur kept the sword to her throat. She turned to look at Sapnap and George, who looked more wired up then he's ever seen them. He doesn't blame them. "All my brother said was that you were annoying and hot, which, ew, but he forgot to mention that you're just plain rude-"

She was obviously trying to lighten the mood, or maybe she was trying to distract them so that his team could sneak in. Neither one worked, besides on Tommy, who cracked a smile. He frowned immediately after. "Wilbur-"

"She'll be safe." Wilbur assured with a whisper, sounding genuine enough to let Dream relax a little bit more. At least his sister would be safe.

They said nothing about him, though. They were pulled back again. "Switches only last for an hour at most, anyway."

'He'll pay for this, if he hurts you.'

"Dream says you'll pay for this." Drista said calmly, and Dream blessed his luck that his sister had a bit of a psychopath in her as well. "So I think you should probably just let me go."

They were now in L'Manburg, and Dream could no longer see his allies. Something hard sunk in his chest. This was going to be painful, wasn't it?

"Dream's listening, ey? Well then-" Wilbur shuffled, moving his face in front of Drista's. Dream could see manic eyes. "-you deserve everything that's going to happen to you, you psychopathic shit. Also, I am hot, aren't I?"

Drista gagged, glaring. "He's really angry, I wouldn't make him madder."

Tommy shuffled from side to side. Tubbo stood next to him, holding rope. "We should make sure he doesn't have any weapons on 'em."

"Good idea Tubbo." Wilbur gestured at him. "Take off your armor, Drista, and don't bother refusing. I'm giving you the opportunity- either you do it or Tubbo and Tommy will do it for you."

Dream was going to kill Wilbur. He was going to maim him, torture him until all he could do was beg for an end he would never get.

'Woah, calm down there.'

'Calm down?! Calm down!? This isn't your body, Drista! You aren't going to have to deal with the reprocussions!'

'Chill, I think I got this. Tommy's been real quiet, hasn't he?'

'... I knew you were my favorite for a reason. He'll get us out?'

'With some convincing, yes.'

Well, in that lies a problem. 'There's no way you can do it before you switch back.' Dream pointed out, and he could feel Drista wilt.

'I could switch back and do it then.'

There was a problem with that too. Dream was just in a battle- his body is tired and back to back switching could damage it if they weren't careful. He needed some time to rest- but there's a chance that waiting longer could make it worse. Depending on what they do- Dream didn't have much hope.

'My body is a little too stressed to deal with back to back switching right now. You'll have to wait, and by the time you come back…'

'Don't think about it.'

Good advice for someone it won't actually affect. Dream tried to wrinkle his nose, frustrated.

This was his land. His server. His world. Why should Wilbur get some of his server? Wilbur might be a part of his server, but none of the land on it actually belonged to him. It all belonged to Dream. They need to get that through their thick skulls. Sapnap and George have been on the server for much longer then the others, and they were family- if anyone actually had a claim to this land it'd be them.

"So what exactly are you planning to do?" Drista asked casually, taking off the armor without complaint. Dream hated the feeling of being vunerable. Drista frowned when no one answered. "Can I at least get a tour of L'Manburg?"

Wilbur narrowed his eyes. "You do realize you're a prisoner, right?"

"Well, Dream is." Drista frowned, crossing her arms. "I'm a fourteen year old girl you are currently holding hostage for no other reason then the fact that I am Dream's sister. That doesn't look good for you, does it?"

'Have I ever told you that you are my favorite?'

'Not enough.'

Wilbur's eyes twitched, and Tubbo and Tommy shared looks. "This is a closed off server, Drista. We came here knowing that whatever happened here stays here, out of the eyes of everyone else."

"Well I never did. This is basically kidnapping." She retorts, face smug under the mask. She smiles, looking at Tommy. "So, how about that tour?"

She gets the tour. Her arms are bound and she can't leave Tommy's side but she does get the tour. 

It's not long, not by any means. They're too on edge, waiting for Dream to suddenly come back. She does, though, get to walk along the walls and she meets the rest of L'Manburg, who are kind enough (Dream would kill them if they weren't) but too wary to do much else.

He chuckled, proud of how much his image carries him. He's unarmed and untrained right now, open to attack, but they're all too scared to do anything.

Drista sits down at the walls, which they visit last, dangling her legs over the edge. "Your country is small."

Tommy sputters, offended. "Wha- wai- Drista, how dare- you… you bitch!"

"Woah!" Drista laughs, and if he didn't know Tommy he'd be a lot madder right now. "Aren't I a guest here?"

"Pretty sure you're a prisoner, Drista." Tommy seems to flinched at the word. Drista, ever the schemer she is, jumps on it.

"Yeah, that's not too fair, is it?" She frowns, sighing. "I know you guys are at war and everything, but attacking people when switched isn't good no matter what server you're on."

Of course Tommy knew that, it's why he flinched. "We aren't going to hurt you."

"But you're going to hurt Dream." Drista's voice went cold, and her covered stare cut off whatever excuse Tommy was about to give. "I'm not stupid, I know what's going to happen when I leave. My brother is going to get hurt because I switched with him during battle. It's my fault."

'Guilt trip, nice.'

'Learned from the best.'

'I know you did.'

Tommy looked torn. "Well, if he gives us our independence when he comes back then we won't have to-"

"Don't be ridiculous." Drista snorted. "I don't know what's going on on this server, but I do know Dream. He's not going to give you shit."

'Language.'

'You sound like mom and your muffin friend.'

She was obviously trying to cheer him up, and it was working, slightly. Dream was still very pissed off. He hopes when he comes back he can get the jump on them and beat some sense into Wilbur.

"Do you speak to your mother with that mouth?" Tommy grumbled, obviously wanting to get off of that topic. It didn't work, and he looked down at the ground. "How strong is your bond? With Dream?"

"Pretty strong." Drista turned, looking off into the distance, towards the rest of the SMP. "I'm always getting little bits and pieces of emotions and thoughts from my family- I can even get memories, sometimes. Dream's bond has always been quiet, though. He can actually control the bond. Can, like, switch back and forth by will, instead of waiting for the timer to run out."

Dream tried not to feel prideful. Most people couldn't control their bond, but he knew how. He could muffle both sides of the bond and could leave a switch whenever he wanted to. It was a rare talent, one he forced himself to learn at a very young age because it meant he had power that others didn't have.

"Really?" Tommy looked interested, if not a bit impressed. "One of my family, Technoblade, can do that too- switch whenever he wants and shit. I dunno about blocking the bonds though."

Techno could do that? Interesting…

"I know who Technoblade is." Drista said, amused. "I'm his biggest fan, you know."

"Oh really." Tommy arched an eyebrow. "Tell me, how do you summon the Blade?"

Then they got into a fan conversation about Techno and Dream lost interest. Drista was great but they were still siblings and they still had their spats- one being the fact that Drista was an actual fan of Techno. She cheered for the other man instead of Dream and when Dream said there might be a duel between them she actually said she wanted Dream to lose. That was a sore spot between them for all of five minutes before Drista threatened him with a spoon and Dream forgave her backwards apology.

The two joked and talked for a few more minutes before Wilbur appeared, eyes dull and kind of sad. "The hour's almost up, Tommy. Come on."

It was somber the way back. Drista upped the theatrics, making sure to play the part of the worried sister in front of Tommy and Tubbo, when he appeared. Dream was surprised with how good she was at it.

L'Manburg didn't have a dungeon or jail, so he was taken to a normal room where the door was replaced with iron bars. Tommy wasn't allowed inside the room, and Dream guessed the reason was for after Drista was gone.

Speaking of…

They were quiet when it happened, thankfully. Wilbur had his back to them, whispering to Tommy, when Drista was suddenly gone from his mind and he could move his limbs again.

He promptly ran up and punched Wilbur in the jaw. "You're pathetic!"

Wilbur wiped his mouth, surprised before realization ran through him. Dream really should run- should find his gear and bolt, but he was angry now. "We didn't harm her, Dream. You saw."

"You should've never taken her in the first place!" Dream hissed, going in for another hit. Wilbur had on armor but didn't bring out a weapon. Good move on his part, since Dream would most likely steal it. "Attacking a switched person, really?!"

"Oh, don't go acting like you're any better!" Wilbur shouted, fury lacing his tongue. "You dragged me around when I switched with Fundy a few battles back! You were going to kill me!"

"We were in the middle of battle." Dream glared. Wilbur shifted, grabbing something behind him. "And you were the one who decided to change- it wasn't like Techno or Phil had just randomly decided to drop by! It's not the same!"

"I doubt it would matter. You'd have done the same thing I did. At least Drista was safe." Wilbur pulled a lever, and the rope around his hands went taunt. He was pulled back against the wall by a mechanism of some type. He didn't even try to fight it. "So, now that your back, I have one question."

"No."

"It's that easy?" Wilbur pouted, anger clear in his eyes. "That easy of an answer? No to independence? You're at our mercy, Dream. Remember that."

Dream glanced at the door to see if Tommy and Tubbo were still out there. They were, just watching in. He raised his voice, making sure the others could hear. "I know where this is going. You might want to get them out of here."

Something broken broke across both kids' faces, but Tommy's had a bit of guilt in it. Dream smiled behind the mask- he didn't care if they were there or not, he just wanted to paint Wilbur in the worst light possible. Chaos and disorder in the ranks. Break them up from the inside out.

Wilbur's eyes hardened. "You two are dismissed."

Tommy gulped. "Uh-"

" You. Are. Dismissed."

There was the sound of footsteps running away, and Dream relaxed minutely. If he was honest, being himself around Wilbur was much easier than being himself around children. Maybe it's because Wilbur wasn't a good person either.

Wilbur's smile was much too amused when he stepped forward. Dream was kind of stuck, due to whatever system they had his rope stuck to. At least there was a chair for him to sit in. He doesn't know why he was worried, really. He's been through a lot of pain in his life (he became famous through being hunted, for crying out loud-) so there was nothing Wilbur could do that could really damage him. And Wilbur knew that too.

So why'd he look so fuckin' amused?

"So, Dream-" Wilbur stepped forward until he was right in front of the man, crouching down to get on his eye level. He ran a hand through his hair. His eyes traced the edges of his face. "I've always wondered what you looked like behind that mask."

Something in him froze. "Don't you dare-"

"You-" Wilbur cut him off, and something hard connected to his cheek and he promptly bit his tongue. "Have no say in any matter right now. The only way this will stop is if you give us our independence, Dream."

Ha, as if. All he had to do was wait a few hours- a day at most, and then Drista will be back and they can use Tommy to get out of here. "Not happening, Wilbur."

Wilbur's fingers brushed against the side of his face, gripping the edge of his mask. Dream isn't as affectionate as some people, but he enjoyed physical contact, so it took him a second to realize that no, he definitely did not want to deal with this. "Then you brought this on yourself, Dream."

The L'Manburg general ripped off his mask.

This was going to be a long few hours.

The pain in his body went dull right before he heard himself curse. "Ow, what- Dream!"

'I'm fine.' he obviously wasn't but he wasn't going to say that to Drista. He's been through worse, he can handle it. The worst thing about the entire encounter was that his mask had been taken off. Wilbur was gracious enough to put back on his mask after he beat him half to death, though.

Didn't he say he was going to send in some medical supplies soon? So that he wouldn't bleed to death? Because of course the general had some knives hidden up his sleeves. Dream really couldn't catch a break today.

He was tired. Very tired. And on top of that, Wilbur now knew what he looked like. That in particular sucked. He hated people knowing what he looked like, it had become a pet peeve, almost.

It was worse than the pain. And Wilbur knew it would be. That's why he did it in the first place.

He heard footsteps creak downstairs. Drista stilled. 'Can you cry on command, Drista?'

He felt his body frown. "Yeah, why- oh."

Dream would smile if he was in control. Drista laid flat on the bed in the room before sniffling. After a few moments she was full blown sobbing.

'Nice.'

'Thanks, it works wonders on the parents. Also, your body really hurts right now, so it's not too hard, actually.'

She felt his pain. It just made him madder.

"Alright big man, I got-" Tommy was at the door, coming in with supplies. "Drista?!"

"Tommy!" She sobbed, putting on a show. Dream loved his sister. "W-what happened? I… I came b-back to c-check on Dream and… and… it hurts so much-!"

Tommy almost dropped the supplies, running over to her side. He freaked as he tried to figure out how to comfort her with no solution. "Oh god, I w-wasn't here- can you ask Dream what happened?"

Drista shook her head. "He's un-unconscious. I can't reach him! What, what happened Tommy?! A-all I w-wanted was to s-see the server and my b-brother!"

She was borderline hysterical now. Dream couldn't be more proud. He sent that through their bond, and felt pride and smugness come back.

"Shit." Tommy cursed, hands shaking around the supplies. "Drista, I, I dunno how I can-?"

"I want to go home!" Drista yanked on the ropes before yelling in pain. "Dream's friends were always nice to me!" That was a lie, but if it got them out of here- "Where are they?!"

Tommy bit his lip, obviously torn. "Did… were you… did Wilbur do any of this stuff while you were switched?"

Drista opened her mouth, probably to say yes and gain even more support, but Dream stopped her. 'Say no.'

'What, why? We can turn them against each other. Wilbur deserves it.'

'Maybe he does, but I won't pretend like I didn't deserve what I got either. I've done things to him that makes what he did today justifiable, in the eyes of some. Besides, we don't have to wedge anymore of a thorn between them anyway.'

Drista was silent for a second, obviously upset with the idea of letting Wilbur get away with it (which he wouldn't, he assured her). She mentally sighed. "No, he was gone by the time I left."

Tommy exhaled harshly, as if relieved, and Drista glared behind the mask. "I'm going to get into a lot of trouble for this…"

'Tell him to untie us and then leave. Then he can say he went to help us when we jumped him and ran.'

"You don't have to help, just untie us." Drista replied. "You can pretend like Dream jumped you when you went to help and he knocked you out or something and ran."

Tommy blinked, smirking at the thought of helping and not getting in trouble. "Good idea."

Tommy untied the rope holding them. Dream took control just long enough to punch him hard in the temple. Tommy's eyes widened before they rolled up in the back of his head and he fell to the ground.

His body screamed in pain and he was shot back out of control. Drista stared at Tommy's unconscious body. "Why?!"

'Relax, it's for his benefit more than ours. Now his story is a lot more believable.'

"...you just wanted to punch him."

'That too.' When Drista snorted he sent a bit of anger through their bond. 'Do you not see me right now? I think I deserve a bit of revenge.'

"I thought you said Wilbur was justified in beating the crap out of you." Drista murmured, sneaking into the empty hallway. It was dark outside, night time but not the middle of the night. They could hear people moving around. "What did you do to deserve that?"

'None of your business.' He replied. 'Go out the window and scale the wall.'

"Forgot your body could do that." Drista was whispering now. She pouted. "I feel like it also is my business somewhat now. Wilbur didn't hurt me at all, but what's to say someone else you piss off won't do the same, Dream?"

The thought was so strong that Drista stopped moving. Dream felt almost frozen in place- if someone was so mad at him that they took it out on his family. No. He couldn't ever let that happen.

That's why he needs power. Power and status and anything else he needs to keep what is his safe.

'There are a few different occasions.' Dream admitted slowly, and Drista jerked as she could suddenly control his body again. 'Most of the time he leaves unharmed, physically, at least.'

Drista huffed. "You've always been one for mental control. I'd be scared of what you've been doing to me if I wasn't me."

Dream rolled his mental eyes. Drista wasn't impervious to manipulation, not in the slightest. She just knew how to do it herself, and learning the key points of manipulation makes it harder for others to turn it back on you. Besides, Dream doesn't mess with his blood family. He has an image to uphold- to his parents, at least.

Drista found a window pointing towards the L'Manburg wall. They were a few buildings away, though. She shrugged, opening the window and crawling out. Drista grabbed the roof of the house they were on, pulling herself up and onto the roof. She winced. "Ow."

'Watch out for that left wrist. Wilbur might've broken it.'

"If I see him I'm attacking." Drista muttered, holding the limb close to her chest. Dream laughed. "Not for you, this flippin' hurts."

He just laughed harder. 'Remember, watch your footing. Also, you're going to have to favor your right side due to that wrist. Also-'

"Yeah, I got it." Drista crouched, tensing and looking around for anyone. It's not like she's that visible anyway- he had been wearing armor, which meant he only had on a black sweater and jeans underneath it, his green hoodie at home. With the armor gone, he was almost invisible in the dark.

With the coast clear Drista shot forward, wind rushing past as she jumped off the rooftop. The next roof wasn't close enough to reach, so she had to grab onto a street light, using that swinging momentum to make it to the next roof. "Aren't I amazing?"

'Don't get ahead of yourself.' Dream warned, but sent pride through the bond as well. Distantly, he could hear shouting. 'They know we're gone.'

"Oh crap." Drista kept running, jumping to the next house before looking around. This was the last building, the next thing was the wall but she couldn't reach it. She'd probably hit the ground and break something if she did. "Uh…"

"Up there!"

She twisted around to see Fundy pointing at her, a torch in his other hand. Next to him stood Wilbur, who was glaring him down. 

Dream didn't have time to waste anymore. 'Use the tree.'

"The tree?" She turned back towards the wall, looking around. "What- oh."

There was a tree a little smaller than the building they stood on. Dream's pretty good at hopping from tree to tree, but he knows Drista's probably never done it before.

Well, time to learn how.

She ran, jumping off the house and landing on a tree branch. The branch creaked under her weight and she lunged forward, grabbing another branch and swinging forward. She landed on a third branch, coiling her legs so that she could jump off and grab the wall.

Dream felt the branch under her crack before she did. She had chosen a branch too weak for her weight. She gasped as the branch fell out underneath her.

Dream pushed forward, managing to grab control of one of his hands. He snatched a higher branch, barely keeping them from dropping to the ground. The bad thing was, this was his left hand.

Fire formed in his wrist, stabbingly hot pain, and he would grit his teeth if he had control of his body. 'Drista, hurry up!'

She seemed to get back control, grabbing the branch with his other hand and using it to swing to the wall. They hit it harder then he would've liked, and while he was dull to most of his body's pain he could still feel it faintly. Drista groaned. "How do I climb with only one hand?!"

Dream still had control of his left hand, somehow. 'Don't worry, I'll control it.' She wouldn't feel the pain from that hand, and Dream couldn't feel the full pain from the rest of his body. 

They started scaling the wall, making surprisingly good progress. "You know." Drista huffed, looking up. Still a quarter more to go. "You are not going to be able to walk tomorrow."

Due to overexerting his body while it's hurt? Yes, absolutely, he's going to be bedridden for a while after this. 'Don't remind me.'

An arrow slammed into the wall, right next to their face. Drista yelped and let go, and Dream had to hold them up for a second while she regained her wits.

"Dream." He heard, and Drista looked down to see Wilbur, Fundy, and Tubbo, the latter two holding bows. Neither of them looked surprised at how he looked, so either they had already known or they couldn't see him too well. Dream guessed the latter. Wilbur grinned. "You realize your spawn point has been set inside my country. It would be easier if we killed you, you're low on health already."

Drista hissed inside their head, angry, but Dream couldn't bring himself to really care either way. It's true, after Wilbur had finished beating him he had shoved him onto the nearest bed and his spawn point had been reset. He was also very low on health. If they killed him he would respawn in L'Manburg, good as new, and Wilbur would probably do the entire thing all over again.

'Let me have complete control, Drista.'

'What? How?'

'Just back up a bit.'

Dream felt her back up in their mind, and his entire body besides his left hand went slack. He pushed forward, taking full control again.

The pain.

He gritted his teeth, hearing his jaw click at the pressure. God, it hurt so much. He hoped Drista didn't feel all of the pain, since it wasn't her body.

"So you want me to come down?" He asked, just to see what his options were. Wilbur laughed.

"Doesn't matter to me." He gestured to Fundy and Tubbo- both who seemed ready to shoot him in the head. "They're ready to kill you at any moment."

Dream looked at the two, they had arrows notched but they weren't pulled back and they weren't aimed at him. Without moving his head he looked at the top of the wall. Just a few more feet.

'Do you know they play music over your manhunts?' Drista asked, and he could almost feel the grin. 'It makes it even better. It goes like Do Do Do DoDo!'

Was that a que or something? Dream took it as one, climbing up the wall as fast as he could. He heard shouts behind him, and right as he pulled himself up the wall an arrow hit the brick right next to his feet. He dove to the other side of the wall, keeping low so they couldn't see nor hit him.

An arrow whizzed past his face, and Drista held in a yelp. Dream looked down the wall, picking a sturdy tree before jumping down. Drista screamed in his ears as he landed in a crouch, sitting down in the tree. The movement made his achy legs sing in pain and he hissed, thrown out of control once more. 'Drista, run.'

"Don't gotta tell me twice." She murmured, scaling down the tree and looking around. "What way?"

'Just run. There's no way George and Sapnap aren't patrolling the area.'

Drista nodded, making it a few feet before she staggered. "Uh oh."

Dream felt it too. His body wasn't strong enough to support the amount of switches he's done today. It couldn't deal with how many times he's lost control and taken it back.

It was shutting down.

'Shit- go!'

Drista bolted, running as fast as she could. His left arm went first, followed by his right leg. Drista stumbled and fell, body shutting down completely. The only thing that still worked was his head, probably because Drista was still here. Even with that, though, she would lose control soon enough.

His body was rejecting her. She'd either be kicked out completely or they'd be in a limbo state where Dream had control but Drista couldn't leave, couldn't switch back.

Dream was pushed to the front once more, and when he could still feel Drista he realized the latter happened. "Fuck."

"Can't run anymore?"

He tensed, eyes looking around. He was basically paralyzed, until his body decided that it was strong enough to move again. He might be able to forcefully switch Drista out, but he'd need time and now was not the time.

He heard Wilbur before he saw him. Felt him before he saw him too. A boot landed on his back and he would've flinched if he could. 

"You look defeated." Wilbur hummed. "Or can you really not move? I'm guessing Sapnap or George tried to switch with you, not knowing the toll your body had taken. It'd be a mercy to kill you right now, wouldn't it?"

That couldn't happen, since Drista was still here and that might kill her too. He growled. "Don't-"

The boot pressed in harder, and he hissed. "You have no say in the matter." Wilbur grinned. "I don't have a bow on me, but I do still have my knives. I can slit your throat and by the time you respawn I'll be right there, waiting for you."

"Next time we meet, Wilbur." Dream promised. "I'm not going easy on you."

Wilbur kicked him, anger flashing in his eyes. "Like you ever did!" He spat. "The amount of times you've almost killed me, the amount of times you did. You always threaten me with family, Dream, have you realized that? Every time you fight you talk about killing Tommy or Fundy, when Eret betrayed us you were going to kill him! And then the one time I can do the same, do I? No! Maybe I'm a terrible person, for hurting an unarmed man, but at least I don't go after family, unlike you! So don't go easy next time, Dream. If you don't go easy, I won't either."

Dream never said that he didn't deserve what Wilbur did. He most likely did, if he thought about it. He was still angry, of course. He'd always be angry, but he also knew that karma was a bitch and this was karma.

'You go after family?'

'No, I-' Dream paused, because that was a lie. 'I don't go after uninvolved family.'

Drista didn't answer, and Dream glared at Wilbur. "I did switch with someone, like you thought. It's why my body's shut down, but they're still here, and if you kill me you'll kill both of us."

Wilbur didn't look impressed. "You wouldn't be telling me this if you didn't want them to die, so I'm guessing its blood family. Did Drista return?"

Dream didn't answer, because he probably already knew. Wilbur threw back his head and laughed. "Sorry, Drista, but he truly did deserve it. Has she died before?"

"No." Dream admitted, and he hated how powerless he felt. 

"Well then." Wilbur took out his knife, and Dream tensed, because no he wouldn't- "First time for everything-"

An arrow sliced through his hand. He dropped the knife with a scream.

"Dream!" He blinked as familiar boots appeared in his line of sight. Sapnap pulled him up until he was sitting back on him, staring at him with worry. George stood behind him, arrow notched and ready to fire. "What did you do to him?!"

Wilbur laughed, something insane, before breaking the arrow out of his hand. "You mean why he's dead on his feet?" Wilbur asked. "That's on him. He overworked himself."

"I wonder why." George muttered, face hard and bow just waiting to fire. "Leave, before I kill you."

Wilbur was still grinning, but his eyes showed something else. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, for now. I know when I can't win." He waved at Dream before turning away, putting his hands in his pockets. He paused. "Your eyes are very pretty, Dream."

It took his friends exactly two seconds to understand what that meant. George snapped, firing his arrow straight into Wilbur's shoulder. Wilbur fell, falling out of view of the rest of them. Dream didn't see a death message.

"Oh my god." Sapnap had been checking him over, trying to find a good way to pick him up. "He needs medical attention, now."

"Wait." He said, causing them to pause. "Drista is still here."

'Uh, I'm not really that important right now.'

The others understood though. If he died, he didn't want Drista here when it happened. He didn't want the chance of Drista dying too. "How long has she been here?"

"Half an hour, maybe." Dream looked at the moon, which shined overhead. So pretty. "Hopefully we'll switch back soon. Also, my spawn point is in L'Manburg."

George sighed, looking at Sapnap. "We need to go find him another bed."

Sapnap picked him up, and if his entire body wasn't numb he's sure he would scream. They started making their way back to the SMP.

"Oh, one more thing." Dream remembered, and they paused. "The next time you see Tommy, try not to kill him. I kinda owe him one."

Chapter Text

He won't say he hated the other man.

Wary was a much better word for it. He was wary of Dream, wary of what he could do and what he would do for power. Ever since the SMP, he's changed. Outside of his server he's normal- nice and friendly and charming. The fans who watch MCC and his Manhunts love him, and he could see why. From what they know, he's perfect.

They don't see him on his own server.

While Techno's never had to deal with the hard end of Dream's… psychopathy, he sees bits and pieces of it often. At first they were far and few between, but then again Techno never saw Dream a lot in the first place. All of their first meetings were broadcast to everyone at public events, and Dream never let his mask slip there. No, he was a perfect man there, a good player and a good rival for Techno. That's all he was.

And then they started training for the duel.

When Techno had first responded to the fans about a rivalry between them, it had been a joke. He played it up for the cameras and in the background made sure the other man was okay with it. He said it was fine, and told Techno he would do the same on his end. And that was it for a bit, just friendly competition.

The duel was never actually about the money- most of his friends knew that. While Mr. Beast had somehow made the money transferable between servers, Techno didn't really care, and neither did Dream. No, the duel became something else. A true test of strength, of skill.

Of power.

If Dream could beat the blood god, then no one would ever talk back to him again. No one would ever rebel again.

Techno didn't take it nearly as seriously until he got messages from Wilbur and Tommy. At first the notes were normal, just wishing him luck, but as time passes they started making Techno worry.

'He's gloating- he keeps walking up to L'Manburg saying that you won't be able to protect us from him much longer. You're not even ON the server I don't get it-'

'While I don't think he has any problems with you, Techno, he does know of the bond we share. He knows that if it gets really dire, we'll call on you. I think this is a power play for him, really. If he beats you, then it shows he is unstoppable, no matter who joins. It'll take hope right out of this server-'

'I mean you scared the shit out of him during that ambush when Eret betrayed us but other then that-'

There were many more like that, and while Techno wasn't the type to really care all that much about single servers, it did worry him slightly. He never planned to join Dream's server, but if it meant that much to them…

He started training, hard. Day and night, he trained and trained and his only break was to farm potatoes just in case the kid thought he was gone for good and tried to overtake him. He worked and practiced until he couldn't stand and then did it all over again.

He felt emotions, every now and then. That happened, when you were part of a family. Strong emotions would go through the bond and others in your family would be able to feel them. He felt fear and pain and worry and love, but there was something else, too.

Pride. Sadistic pleasure. Determination.

They aren't from his family.

He kept these emotions in the back of his head, tried to ignore them as he trained. The more he trained though, the more he felt them.

The more they influenced him.

He'd randomly get angry- would break a table or shout at the voices swarming around him. He'd lash out when moments before he had been happy and laughing. He grew an attraction to watching things burn and suffer, more so than he already did. The voices got louder and would sometimes shut off, like they did when he switched.

He… He didn't understand.

Dream came and visited him a few times, when he was practicing. He was always well mannered, even when they sparred to better learn each other's weaknesses. There were, though, times when his face would change. When Techno would see behind the mask enough to notice everything else. The fear, the envy, the anger.

Wilbur and Tommy's letters made much more sense, now.

The duel came and went. He won, barely, and it was the first time he thought Dream was genuine with his respect. He didn't know how he felt about the other guy, truly. He didn't like what he was doing to Wilbur and Tommy, but he also knew there were two sides to a story and he wasn't involved and he didn't want to be. On the other hand, it was so rare for Techno to actually get a real challenge. He loved it. On another hand, Techno knows when someone is planning to use him (he knows because he's done it to others) and it was obvious in Dream's case. So no, he felt no way towards the man besides overall wariness.

When he fell asleep that evening, the feeling of pride and fear mixed together in his chest, and while he was sure one was his own he didn't know which one.

After the duel he decided to chill a little bit. He went back to casually farming potatoes, enjoying it a lot more when it didn't deal with competitions. He was retiling some soil when he felt something strange from Wilbur and Tommy. Sadistic satisfaction and… fear. The latter had become normal over the past war but the former…

It reminded him of someone else so much that it startled him.

There was another emotion, hidden under all of it. Pain. Body shaking pain. When he finally uncovered it he staggered, because his entire body felt like it was burning from the inside.

What was going on over there? Who's pain was that?

He had an idea, a name that drifted through his head as the voices murmured softly to him. He ignored them, because no, it couldn't be. He wasn't ready to deal with the idea that it was him.

Nothing much happened afterwards. Time passed, and the letters from Wilbur and Tommy stopped. It was enough to worry him, but then Wilbur came to visit and explained that everything was fine. He took it at face value and sent him on his way, back to the SMP. He had an election to plan for, anyway.

And when he was up in the middle of the night, terrified and angry for no reason, he wasn't sure who caused it. It wasn't his family, he knew that for sure.

So… what? Who?

The voices crashed down on him, shouting in unison. They brought up Dream frequently, but this time Techno was inclined to believe them. But why? How? How would he… were they really…?

He knew he couldn't switch with Dream, knew they weren't close enough. So then… why did he feel his emotions?

Techno was not apathetic. He may act that way, but that's all it was- acting. He cared, he cared a lot. Maybe even too much. 

But he can't pretend like he's a good person. He can't say it's the voices that made him this way. He was the one who manipulated them, not the other way around. He was the mastermind behind the plans, the one who craved blood and laughed at other's pain. He was the one who wanted the world at his feet.

He and Dream were two sides of the same coin, in that aspect. They both wanted power, both wanted respect, both wanted fear. They just went about it in different ways. Still, their paths never deviated much from each other and maybe that's why…

Maybe that's why…

He joins the SMP against his better judgement and makes it a day before the man in question is asking for him. They meet up on the top of a mountain, too tall and sheer for any sane average man to try and climb. Techno stares at the mask, remembers the face he saw underneath it, the one time it came off, and nods. "Hello, Dream."

"Techno!" Dream grins, lugging a sack full of items behind him. "I was wonderin' when you'd join!"

He shifted side to side. Now, in front of him, it was very obvious that they were, indeed, Dream's emotions he was feeling. There was a layer of happiness there, covering up the paranoia and curiosity underneath it. He crossed his arms. "Being nice doesn't work on someone who can feel your emotions, Dream."

Something dark floated through the back of his head, and he frowned as Dream sighed, dropping the facade. "So you've noticed, too?"

"Kinda hard not to." Techno deadpans, "You aren't exactly a happy person, you know."

"I tried to switch to you." Dream ignores him, going on. "Imagine my mind in your body. My brain with your brawn. I'd be unstoppable- but nothing happened. I don't get it."

Techno would answer if not for what he's heard. "You tried to switch to me?" Anger boiled up in his stomach, boiling hot, and he felt a quick flash of surprise. He was going to have a headache later, after all these emotions.

He could feel more the closer they are. It was obvious now, that he didn't just feel the other's emotions, but had them himself as well. Which wasn't good. "Dream!"

He held his hand up in a passive move, but his emotions gave him away. "Think about it." He said after a moment. "If we teamed up, no one could take us on, but if we could switch, we'd be unstoppable."

Techno knew that the man already had at least two families he could switch to- a found one like his own and a blood one. He could also see the safety blanket in being able to switch with Techno- people are less likely to attack those that are considered family. And, of course, it stopped Dream from worrying about Techno going against him (as if he'd do that on this server, unless necessary. He knows the admin carries around gapples).

What Dream didn't know, though, was Techno didn't discriminate. It didn't matter if they were family or not, if someone does Techno wrong, if the voices demand blood, he will give them blood. He also knew Dream was the same way.

"Uh…" Dream seemed to catch on to the underlying current of bloodlust washing through his veins. "Techno?" His grip on his axe tightened, like he wanted to attack. Techno's had years to learn how to conquer his need of violence, but he doesn't think Dream has- he thinks Dream just goes for it, whenever he feels it. He feeds himself, instead of fighting against it. "You're very outmatched, trying to fight me now."

Tell that to the voices in his head. They hated the idea that Dream wanted to use him, but loved the idea of being able to switch anyway. He, like normal, ignored them. "I'm not going to attack you, but I'm also not going to switch with you- ever."

A spike of red hot anger shot through his body, but Dream was calm when he spoke. "Why? I mean, it's obvious that it can be possible-"

"But this isn't a family bond, Dream." Techno cut him off, feeding off his anger. "It's something crooked and twisted and I don't really want to grow it."

"So you'd discard the power it'd give you? We don't know what this thing could do if fully nurtured. No one could stand against us!" Dream's voice was low, and he felt disgust form within him. This time, he didn't know who it was coming from, but he could tell it was affecting both of them. "That doesn't sound like something the so-called 'Blood God' would do."

The emotions mixing in his head boosted the voices, which screamed and shouted and told him to shut Dream up. He glared. "I'm underpowered right now, but that will change, very soon. I suggest you think of another way to grab this so-called power, because if you come to me again about it… I might just kill you."

Something about his words or tone got through to the masked man, and he dropped the sack of items, walking past him. As he brushed by, he whispered in his ear. “I know you’re curious, I know how you really feel. This bond is a two way street, Techno, I can feel your emotions too.”

He pearled away. Techno sighed, picking it up and starting his way back to Pogtopia.

That's when he felt it. One last emotion fluttering through his chest. Determination.

This isn't over, it seemed to say. Techno tried not to feel nervous- it was over, it had to be.

Because, deep inside, Techno wanted that power too. He wanted it, and he doesn't know if he'll be able to say no a second time.

They skirted around each other for a bit. Well, Techno did- Dream just went about his day. Techno, on the other hand, spent more and more time in his secret base. More and more time gathering supplies for the rebellion. It was hard work and it left him exhausted, so when Dream came by and gave him some netherite and gunpowder he didn't have the power in him to say no.

"Hey." An old question formed in his mind, something he's been meaning to ask for a while. "A long time ago, I think during the election, you seemed really… angry. And scared, actually. Why's that?"

Dream froze, and Techno's almost positive that he crossed a line. Techno's gear was now the best of the best, though, he didn't have to worry. Well, he didn't have god apples but besides that-

"It was during the election." Dream conceded. "I had made a deal with Schlatt to endorse him."

That didn't explain the anger or fear. Techno frowned, tentively searching the normally ignored bond inside him. His eyes widened. "He threatened you? You?"

Dream gritted his teeth, and Techno could feel the frustration flow through him. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Techno would rather talk about it, because how would Schlatt be able to threaten Dream of all people? Techno knew Schlatt from past activities, and while the man was unpredictable at points he didn't know how he'd be able to pull that off on Dream's own server and still be walking around. "What?"

"He's a smart man, Techno." Dream gave in quite easily, but Techno didn't blame him. He's probably been keeping this to himself for a long time. "He knows every admin command to have ever existed- he hacked into this server. He's dangerous, so we made a deal. I'll be on his side, no matter what, and he won't mess with the server."

There were other things, other things underlying that. It made sense- Schlatt was not the best at anything besides talking, so of course he learned something to even the field. That would also explain the fear and anger, but…

Dream would never make a deal like that, when he could just kill the man and kick him when he's unconscious and vunerable, unless he could somehow unban himself. There must be something else-

"Ah." Techno said aloud, realization running through him. Dream paused by the water elevator, fist clenched as if already knowing what he had realized. "He threatened your bonds."

He had threatened Sapnap and George, in such a way that Dream wasn't sure he could protect them. That must really be messing with the man, not having the power in a situation. Techno knows it would mess with him too.

Well, Schlatt doesn't know about his bond with Dream, so he's in the clear there, at least. Hopefully he'll be able to get rid of it before anyone else finds out.

He was also curious about another time he felt emotions through their bond- the pain, but he didn't ask. It was easy to figure out, considering he could pull from Wilbur and Tommy. Wilbur had lost it (it happens, people get mad or want revenge, Techno didn't know why and didn't want to know-) and had somehow really hurt Dream. He didn't think that was possible for someone with Wilbur's skill. He kinda wanted to learn himself.

Just in case.

Dream leaves without answering him. He doesn't need to, Techno already knows. What he doesn't know is if his newfound hatred towards Schlatt is his own, or if it's Dream.

What had caused their bond? Techno didn't really have an answer to that, but he had a theory. Their bond wasn't familial, it was one between rivals. One that grew each time they met and battled, either together or against each other. The more they did, the stronger the bond would get.

Then, it happened.

The battle of the lake ( the tower, Techno wanted to remind them) was not one he suspected Dream to fight on his side. He was in Pogtopia when Tommy ran in, huffing and hurt and shouting about Henry and Sapnap and Dream and Techno would've left the kid to his demise, but they were family and the voices begged him to help. He gave the kid a healing potion before going off to his own base, getting a few items that might help him. When he came back on horse Tommy was surrounded.

"Are these guys bugging you?" Techno said, loud enough for them all to hear. Tommy's smile could outshine the sun, and Techno very much enjoyed the looks of fear on the others' faces. He enjoyed being feared, he enjoyed the power that came with it.

Even if it meant fighting 5 people while also protecting Tommy. He might not win by himself, but there would be blood.

Intrigue weaved through his mind and he frowned. It wasn't his emotion, and it didn't come from his family. That meant-

He was nearby, watching. Techno would rather take on 5 men alone than have another conversation with Dream. He didn't like the feeling of power he got from the thought of teaming up. It was like a drug, power was, and he knew Dream was already addicted but he doesn't want to be the same. He already was, once upon a time, and he didn't want to go back to it.

"Technoblade." Sapnap and Tommy said at the same time, the former continuing. "Don't get involved, this doesn't concern you."

"It concerned me after you hurt my family." Techno hopped off his horse, patting it's backside. The horse took the cue and ran off, back to his base. He took out his sword. "That was a mistake."

Tommy looked like someone had just blown up the moon for him. Sapnap just scoffed. "No matter how good you are, it's still 2 against 5."

There was a sound of a breaking pearl. The blade of a sword rested against Sapnap's throat. "Let's make it a bit more even, shall we?"

Techno stared, only slightly less baffled then the rest of them. Dream was… he was threatening… Sapnap? His family? Techno's caught them switched a few times, he knew they were. To most people, though, threatening family was completely out of the question. Some thought it was impossible- and it was.

Well, it was, for normal people.

He hated the similarities he and Dream had. The fact that they both could kill family if they wanted to made the dark pit in his chest grow. Not to mention the sadistic pleasure and bloodlust he felt practically emanating from the man, messing with his own emotions and heightening his own bloodlust. His hands clenched around his sword, wanting blood.

Sapnap's eyes were wide, as if realization struck him. "You really meant it, didn't you?" He said, frozen due to the sword around his neck. Dream's hand twitched, a sign of warning. "You're actually trying a bond… you really did give him Mars, didn't you?"

Techno narrowed his eyes at that- Sapnap had switched whatever he was saying and Techno had a feeling that he knew. He'd have to ask Dream, sadly, which he really didn't want to do.

Dream didn't answer, didn't have time, as Skeppy and Bad attacked in sync, causing Dream to jump back. He danced around their enemies, weaving through attacks and blocking the stray sword that came to close before ending up at Tommy's other side, grinning widely. 

He really was on their side. Tommy had told him what happened, but Techno still wasn't completely sure it wasn't planned. He's paranoid, but is there a possibility Dream knew this would happen, made sure it would happen? He wouldn't put it past the guy.

But would he fight against family, maybe even kill family, just to get on Tommy and Techno's good side? Would he do all that just for power? Leverage? Favors?

Would Techno do all that just for power? Would he be able to?

Yes. The answer was yes. And if he could do that, then Dream could too.

It was a massacre. The only person on the other side that survived was Bad, running away. Punz had switched sides before the battle even started, making each side even, even though Tommy wasn't really a help at all. Techno blocked and parried and swung and tasted blood on his lips and laughed. The voices chanted his name and he missed this, missed the carnage and the rush and the power.

He'll always miss the power.

Then there was a voice in his head, different from the rest, louder. It whispered a warning, 'behind you' , and he turned, blocking Sapnap's sword which would've cleaved him through. The younger man gritted his teeth as they were locked in battle, right before he was stabbed through with a sword from behind.

Dream. Of course it was Dream. He wouldn't allow anyone else to kill his family, only he could. It was a type of possessiveness that Techno hated and tried to pretend that he didn't have himself.

Dream lowered the dying man to the floor, whispering something in his ear. Sapnap was crying, and if Techno had to guess it wasn't from the pain. Being killed by family hurt, it hurt both sides (he wondered how Manhunts went, if there was a plugin or something they used that sent them back to spawn instead of actually killing them. It'd keep them safe from hurting bonds and the respawn glitch). Well, it was supposed to. He doesn't feel anything if he kills family, nothing at all. He wouldn't be surprised if it was the same for Dream.

'It is.'

Techno froze, dropping his sword. Tommy, who was busy chanting his victory, paused. The boy ran over, worried about a hidden wound and the fear that had probably just crashed through him from the bond. Niki was also there, kind eyes searching him to see what was wrong.

He ignored both of them, turning back to Dream. Sapnap was disintegrating before his eyes, turning to dust and disappearing, going back to his respawn point. Dream was watching, searching for the glitch, before he looked up and met Techno's eyes behind the mask.

'Hello.'

No. No!

He turned and ran.

He doesn't know why- he knew he couldn't run from the literal admin of the server. He wasn't even running from Dream, really. He was running from the idea- the idea that they were similar enough, twisted enough, to create a bond that could only be described as corrupted. This wasn't a good bond, wasn't a real one, wasn't family. It was formed from two psychopaths who wanted power, and Techno-

Techno…

'Techno…'

He somehow ended up back at the mountain, standing on top and looking down into the water below. There, he came to his conclusion.

He had a new bond. A broken, twisted bond- a bond that didn't allow switches, but a bond nonetheless. A bond that only let emotions and words through it, nothing more, nothing less.

"It could be more, though."

Dream was there, of course, and Techno was projecting. He projects frequently, and with his family he feels safe doing so, but now- "I don't want it to be more."

"Of course you do." Dream snorted. "This wouldn't be a thing if some part of you didn't want it. Admit it, you're hiding away a large part of yourself just to make your family happy."

Techno narrowed his eyes. "I like myself better like this."

"But that doesn't negate the fact that you're suppressing how you truly feel." Dream countered. "The part that you decided to hide has made a move, Techno. It sees me and realizes that it'd rather not worry about how people think of it. It doesn't care, all it wants is power and I can provide you with that. The bond doesn't have to end with only emotions and words."

It didn't. If he gave in, let the 'Blood God' fully come out, then the bond would allow switching, most likely. But it still wouldn't be family, it still wouldn't be pure. It'd be a nasty grab for power, and Techno- he couldn't allow that.

Because it wouldn't just be him getting that power.

"Who else knows about this?" He asks instead, trying to push his concern down so that the other man didn't feel it. He doesn't think it works.

"Sapnap is suspicious." Dream shrugged. "He overheard me talking about it and I don't kill family often outside of Manhunts where it's safer, so he knows something is wrong and will probably grill me about it later." He smiles, something light and warm, and Techno realizes that Dream has two sides too. A side lusting for power, and a side that just wants to protect his family. Unluckily, the wrong side won, in his case. "Besides that, no one. I want to keep it as a surprise, for now."

Techno never wanted it to get out. He'd rather solve it himself and never have to worry anybody. He can't imagine the look on Tommy's face if he learns about this. The man who destroyed his nation…

"Good, keep it a secret." He said after a moment, turning away. "I- I'll think about it."

"No you won't~" Dream sang, crossing his arms behind his back and laughing. "Don't lie to me, Techno. I know you too well. You won't win that battle, it's better to compromise instead."

He spoke from experience. Dream's good side didn't win against his bad side. His bad side took over and nothing had changed. Techno's good side was still in charge, but-

But for how long?

He pearled off the mountain, the sound of laughter in his head ringing his ears. He- he had some things to figure out. Some stuff to do.

The first thing on that list? Learning how to block off a bond.

Chapter Text

Phil loves his family. Loves them dearly. That's why when he says this, he says this with love.

They are a pain in the ass sometimes.

He was in his base in his own little hardcore world, humming a tune as he sorted through his shulkers, getting ready to go into the nether to work more on his project there.

That's when he heard it. A growling just outside the door.

He frowned, wondering how a mob spawned so close to his house. Picking up his sword, he walked over, opening the door.

A baby zombie ran through.

'A BABY ZOMBIE?!'

'OH NO!'

'PHIL WATCH OUT!'

'PROTECT DAD!'

'WE WON'T LET YOU DIE HERE!'

He was slammed into the back of his mind as three different people switched with him. An orchestra of noise attacked his brain as his sons collectively tried to kill the baby zombie currently gnawing on his leg. 

It isn't often that two people switch to the same person at the same time. Either one is kicked out or they have to share the body. If Phil is correct, then Techno is controlling his right arm, his left elbow, and seven of his fingers, Wilbur has the head, neck, and one leg, and Tommy has everything else. Phil's body flails around as Techno barely misses stabbing himself and instead skewers the baby zombie in the head.

'You're safe now, Phil.'

'We got it for you.'

'Be more careful, geez-'

The voices of his 'kids' stopped abruptly, and he was thrown back into control as they all switched back into their own bodies, promptly ejected since there were three of them. Phil fell to the ground, barely missing landing on his sword. The baby zombie's little shoes laid on the floor next to him, the only thing left of the monster.

Phil threw his head back and laughed. "Oh you fuckers! I'm getting you back for that you little shits!"

Pain in his ass, he tells you.

Chapter Text

They first realized something was wrong when Sapnap went mute.

It happened at a seemingly random time. He was talking with George and Punz when he suddenly… stopped. Just like that. At first he seemed worried, but then his eyes went dull and he didn't speak anymore. He didn't do much of anything anymore.

Suffice to say, George and Punz immediately panicked.

Manburg and the Dream SMP were on good terms at that point, so if it was a long lasting poison potion or something, it wasn't them. It had to be Pogtopia. Why they would attack Sapnap, no one knew.

Tubbo learned about Sapnap's sudden almost catatonic state when Schlatt learned about it, same as Fundy. He pulled the latter to the side, worried. "What if it's a disease of some type?" He asked. "What if it spreads?"

Fundy didn't know what to do either. They stuck with keeping an eye out and nothing else. There was nothing else they could do.

Then George started coughing up blood, screaming and crying about a breaking bond before he, too, went catatonic. Even though it was still confusing, Tubbo understood now.

Something was wrong with their bond.

Which meant Dream was next.

Tubbo, being the spy he was, and Fundy, being the other spy he was, both headed to Pogtopia. They knew Wilbur and Dream were scheming, knew Wilbur might be able to find Dream. They weren't expecting to enter to the scene they saw.

Techno was shouting, incoherent in his words. He was swinging his sword at Wilbur, about to cleave him in two.

Tubbo, of course, jumped him. Due to complete luck Techno fell, landing on his head and knocking himself out. Tubbo huffed, jumping up and off of him. "You are welcome, Wilbur Soot."

"What?!" Fundy screeched, running up to Wilbur. "What?! Is he, are you-?!"

"I don't know!" Wilbur gasped, gulping down air. "He's been acting weird for a few days, but he wouldn't say anything! I trapped him in a room to talk with him but he just broke the iron door and went crazy!"

"Huh?" Tubbo was confused. "Why would Techno- wait, did you say iron door?"

Wilbur blinked. "Uh, yeah?"

Okay, nevermind, Tubbo might be connecting the dots now. "Where's Tommy? Are you feeling okay, Wilbur?"

"He was out getting stuff, he should be back any minute." Wilbur still looked confused. "And I'm fine, why?"

Well, that checked that off. "Does Techno have any other bonds or families besides the one you're in?"

"Not… that I know of?" Wilbur sighed, leaning against a wall. He exhaled harshly. "One… one second."

"What are you getting at, Tubbo?" Fundy cut in, trying to give Wilbur a break. He could hear footsteps -probably Tommy's- coming down the stairway. He clenched his teeth, worried with what his mind came up with.

"If I'm correct, then Techno might be dealing with one of his bond's messing up. A bond that you guys didn't know about."

"What?" Fundy narrowed his eyes. Tubbo looked behind him to Tommy, who was next to Wilbur. Wilbur seemed to be filling him in, good. "What are you saying? Who?"

"Dream."

"Dream!?" Tommy screeched, an insulted and angry look on his face. "Techno would never- not him- why would you say that, Tubbo?"

"Because Sapnap and George aren't fine and George said there was something wrong with their bonds." Tubbo held Tommy's eyes. Of course he didn't want to put Techno in a bad light- having a bond with a psychopath was never a good thing to say. But… "And Wilbur said Techno went crazy and broke an iron door, which is very common when dealing with a certain problem when it comes to bonds. Not to mention, now that I think about it, Sapnap's and George's problem also connects. Dreamons are known to fuck with bonds."

"What?" Tommy was calmer now, but still confused. "A what?"

"A Dreamon." Tubbo repeated. "I learned about them on my old server. They possess someone and take over their body, mentally trapping whoever they possess. Doing that, though, puts a lot of stress on their bonds. Those bonds eventually snap, and it… it… it kills the people the possessed person is bonded with. Permanently."

It was quiet. Techno groaned and opened his eyes. "Please tell me I heard that wrong and Dream's not going to get me killed."

"T-techno?" Tommy looked both confused and hurt and Tubbo felt bad. He must feel so betrayed right now, but Tubbo also wanted to know what was going on between them. "You-? You have a-"

"No, Tommy, I didn't create a bond with Dream of my own free will and yes, I'd get rid of it if I could." Techno's voice was monotone but for some reason Tubbo felt like that was a partial lie. "He kinda just threw it on me. I've been looking into getting rid of it."

"But… but how?" Wilbur looked less hurt than Tommy, but still not okay. His eyes widened. "The rivalry?"

"Kinda, but yes." Techno looked a bit ashamed. "We can't switch, but we can do everything else. He can talk in my head, too. Didn't know that was possible."

Tubbo wasn't going to unpack that right now, because he was also taught about bonds like that and they were never good. But right now they had bigger things on their plate. "If Dream's been possessed then it's not just you three in trouble. He has blood family too, right?"

"Drista." Tommy's eyes widened. "Oh fuck."

"No matter how I feel about Dream-" Fundy looked conflicted. "I don't want anyone to permanently die, I- I couldn't have that on my conscience. Not if I could help."

"Me neither." Wilbur hadn't been the same, ever since the election, but he seemed solid right now. His bond brother was in trouble, so it'd make sense for him to pull it together.

He hoped they fixed it, hoped they didn't lose them all. He doesn't think Wilbur could take it.

"Good to know you care." Techno deadpanned. "Tommy?"

Tommy looked very conflicted, and that wasn't good, considering his family was on the line. "I- but Dream- the discs-"

"Tommy!" He snapped, anger finally hitting him. "You'd choose the discs over your brother?"

Tommy gulped, looking sheepish. Techno stared at him, face unreadable. "Well then. Now I know, I guess."

"Techno-"

"No, don't bother." Techno turned away. "I only joined the server for you, only protected you from Dream when Eret betrayed you. Only did dozens of other things for you. But I guess that's how it goes sometimes. It's good to know who I can trust."

Techno turned and walked away, stiff shoulders both hiding and revealing his emotions. Tommy watched him leave, mouth open in shock.

Wilbur hit him on the back of the head. "Go apologize, now."

Tommy muttered under his breath and was gone. Tubbo turned back to the others. They didn't have time for this, they needed a plan, fast.

How did Tubbo feel about bonds? They were alright- he had only one at the moment, a bond with his sister. His other family was great but for some reason they had never bonded. His dad said that just happened sometime. He never asked about it. Yeah, bonds were alright, kinda neat, too, but besides that, Tubbo didn't give them much thought. Not at all.

Something inside of him, something very small, seemed to cry out in pain. He barely noticed it.

Their warning system was Techno. At first the man was just going to find Dream himself, but after a terrible apology and an even worse show of forgiveness, he decided to stay with the group.

That was for the best, really. He knew nothing about Dreamons, no one did besides Tubbo. He could be making this all up, if it weren't so important.

The first thing he did was send Fundy off to Manburg and the SMP. While tensions were high everywhere on this server, he knew most people would throw that to the side if it meant saving innocent people, like Dream's blood family. Not to mention that everyone was friends with at least one of the three people that would permanently die on the server. Sapnap had connections all over the SMP, George was on Manburg's cabinet, and Techno practically kept Pogtopia running. Everyone had a reason to help out.

At least, Tubbo hoped so.

He and Tommy were creating special arrows when Techno staggered to a stop in front of them. "Oh no." He said.

He was on the ground moments later, cursing and clutching his neck, as if someone was strangling him. Tommy screamed as Wilbur jumped to his aid.

There was a long moment of fearful silence as Techno seized in front of them, coughing and hacking up nothing as he shook and spasmed. After what felt like hours he finally calmed, muscles relaxing as the full body shivers stopped. Tubbo crouched down next to the man, sighing in relief. "He'll be fine."

"He will?!" Tommy jumped on the good news, face still pale in what he can only assume was horror. "You sure?! How do you know?"

"There's a few different stages to stressing a bond, each with different symptoms.” They explained. “This was stage 4, if I had to guess. The good news is the bond doesn't break at stage 4."

Wilbur looked like he didn't want to ask. "And the bad news?"

"The bond breaks at stage 5." Tubbo sighed. "And with how fast this Dreamon is going, we probably have less than a day to break the possession before stage 5 hits."

Luckily it wasn't too hard to find the man in the first place.

Techno was coherent enough to tap into the bond and locate him (another thing regular bonds normally couldn't do, he was worried about that-) before being put on bedrest by Wilbur. Tommy was hopping about by the time they were ready to leave, clutching supplies and rushing them out to where Dream was.

Tubbo rarely goes over to the badlands- he has no reason to. He doesn't really know the people there, and Dream was practically in Bad and Skeppy's house. On their land at least. Tubbo doesn't know Skeppy real well but Bad seems pretty nice, at least.

He got within eyesight of the place and paused, shocked. Tommy gasped next to him, equally as surprised.

Well then.

It seems that everyone no t exiled at the moment got a memo that they didn't, because they all crowded around the white modern home. Just in front of it, floating in the sky, was Dream.

If you could even call him Dream anymore.

While he was still wearing his normal clothes, Dream's skin was pitch black and his mask had been removed. Tubbo's never seen his face, and he's pretty sure that he's still never seen it, because he doesn't think Dream has sharp white teeth and bright red eyes. After a second he realized that Dream was still wearing the mask, but it had turned black, the mouth turning white and the eyes turning red. It was like the mask had merged with his face, like it could talk and express as if it was a face. 

Like it had a mind of its own.

Realization hit him square in the face. "His mask."

"What?" Wilbur was next to him, hand covering his eyes. Dream was shining, giving off an almost blinding light. The wind was picking up as well, and Tubbo didn't know if that was the Dreamon or if Dream's admin powers were messing up.

"That's how the Dreamon got in." Tubbo explained. "Dreamons have to go through something of value to possess someone. This one got through his mask. That's why it's changed while the rest of his clothes are the same."

It didn't really matter much. The mask was no longer housing the Dreamon, Dream was. It was a door that let it in, nothing more than that. He had bigger things to deal with.

Tubbo ran forward, joining the other group of people by Dream, looking up and staring at the Dreamon. He noticed that Sapnap and George weren't in the group- probably bedridden or worse. Looking at how much control the Dreamon obviously had, he could tell it was almost at stage 5.

The small thing inside of him hummed, almost painful in a way. Tubbo rubbed his chest before shouting. "Everyone grab an arrow and start shooting!"

The members of the server did as he told, notching arrows and aiming. The Dreamon looked down at them, laughing. "So this is the defense you've mounted against me." His voice was deeper and more sophisticated than Dream's, for some odd reason. "I expected better from this server. I've been told it's for the elite."

Someone snorted. He thinks it was HBomb. "Hermitcraft is 5 servers over!"

"Ignore him." Tubbo shouted, aiming his own bow. "We don't have much time left! Fire!"

A volley of arrows pierced through the sky, but the Dreamon raised his hand and most of them vanished into dust. Two hit their marks, though, and Tubbo felt the thing inside of him sigh in relief.

What was that thing? He'd need to check it later.

The Dreamon laughed. "You are far too late for that." It chuckled. "I'm way too snug in this body for your arrows to do much more than barely inconvenience me."

That felt like a lie, but he didn't care either way. They had something else. "Aim again!"

Everyone followed his lead, and he dug into his pocket and pulled out a glass ball, filled with blue powder. Using all of his strength he threw it into the air. "Fire!"

He notched an arrow and let it loose, hitting the flying sphere directly and shattering it. The blue dust burst out, landing directly on the Dreamon. 

It was lapis.

It hissed as the powder burned it’s skin, something that would weaken it but not finish it off. Due to the distraction almost all of the arrows landed, causing the little thing inside of him to relax some more.

Then the Dreamon laughed again. It's body started to shine brighter  "Too late."

The light started to become too bright for Tubbo to see, and he suddenly realized what was happening.

He was starting stage 5. The bonds were going to break.

And there was nothing he could do.

He grinded his teeth, stomping his feet as he tried to think of something, anything, that could get rid of the Dreamon and save Dream's bonds. He couldn't give up, couldn’t stop until he had tried everything he could possibly think of.

The little thing inside of him squirmed, as if trying to catch his attention. It grew a little bigger. Distracted, Tubbo looked at it.

Oh…

Oh.

"Everyone, aim one more time!" He shouted over the commotion. It was too bright to even see the Dreamon anymore, they'd be blindly aiming now. "On my mark!"

He didn't load a new arrow. Instead he closed his eyes, gently prodding at the little thing inside of him. It responded immediately, seeming to almost hum at the attention, like a needy cat. Tubbo was surprised, he's never felt one of these act like this- but he's also never felt such a small bond before. He guessed it's been here for awhile, lying in wait to either be squashed or nurtured. Now that it was getting attention, it didn't look like it wanted to give it up so soon.

Tubbo wasn't a bond expert. He did, though, know how to grow one internally. The best thing to do was just accept it.

The tiny bond seemed to expand in size immediately, latching onto something inside of him and anchoring down. He pulled on it slightly, tried to see how strong it was, before sending his mind down the bond, following it to its other end.

The first thing he felt was pain. Pain on his bond. Since his bond was new, it had missed the stress of the first 4 stages, meaning it wouldn't snap. That didn't mean that it didn't still hurt.

The second thing he felt was confusion. It wasn't his own. 'Who?'

He didn't answer Dream, who sounded both confused and completely out of it. From what Tubbo knew about Dreamons, they take weeks if not months to corrupt their prey, so Dream's been having a bad time for a while now. He didn't blame how delirious he sounded.

So he ignored him, instead focusing on the other presence that resided inside this body. The Dreamon seemed to feel another person in there with them. It hissed. 'Leave now, human.'

'Surely you don't actually mean that.' Tubbo said cheekily, trying to distract it, for just a second. 'Surely not.'

'Tubbo?'

'Hmm, a new bond.' The Dreamon seemed intrigued, putting his attention on Tubbo. Bingo. 'Another thing to break and consume, I guess.'

'Surely not.' He said again, and he's pretty sure he made Dream's mouth smile on accident. 'How are you going to do that without a body?'

'What-'

But Tubbo was already bracing himself, using the fact that there were already two people in one body to help him push the Dreamon up and out of Dream's body. Through the light he could see a black, inky outline form in front of him. The Dreamon.

He opened Dream's mouth, speaking in his own voice. "Fire!"

There was a second of nothing before Tubbo could see the arrows coming forward. The Dreamon screamed as they cut through it on the way to Dream. Tubbo watched as they came closer, right before there was a tugging on the bond (usually that meant time was up, but it had only been a few minutes. Was the bond too fragile to hold up a long switch or something?) and he was back in his own body.

He looked up to see a dozen arrows littering Dream's body, the Dreamon nowhere to be seen. 

There was a small explosion- the light from before dimmed, and he slowly floated back to the ground. Dream's skin went back to it's normal tone, and his mask turned back to white. He stared at them all for a few moments before collapsing on the ground, completely out.

Tubbo turned to Tommy, who was by his side. He hadn't even noticed he was on the ground. "How's Techno?"

"He's-" Tommy looked panicked, but he closed his eyes for a second to check on their own bond before opening them. "-alive, but Tubbo- what happened? Where did you, did you switch?"

"Yeah." He nodded, barely noticing that everyone on the entire server was watching them. "I switched with Dream and pushed the Dreamon out, so that we could actually hit it."

Tommy looked behind surprised. "You… you can-? Switch? With Dream?"

"New development, I know." Tubbo stood up, letting Tommy help him. "I noticed this, like, sapling of a bond and I decided to give it steroids. It was the only way for me to get the Dreamon to go out so that we could kill it."

"It looks like it worked." Punz cut in from the back. He had picked up Dream, eyes checking him over before starting to shuffle through the crowd. "He's alive, I'm taking him over to the others."

George and Sapnap, most likely. Tubbo nodded, understanding. "He should be free now."

Punz nodded, making his way through the group. His eyes were piercing. "You'll have to talk about this, eventually."

Tubbo nodded, already knowing that. He understood what would happen when he solidified the bond. It was a sacrifice in the name of innocent people, Tubbo would do it again if he had to. He had already accepted that.

A hand rested on his head. Wilbur smiled. "Good job, Tubbo."

Nearby, Schlatt frowned, looking at the three of them in suspicion. Tubbo couldn't bring himself to care too much. Hopefully he'll forget about it, swept up in the preparations for the upcoming festival.

Tubbo closed his eyes, suddenly exhausted. Maybe they could postpone that for a few more days, he really could use a break.

Chapter Text

The entire thing started off as a joke off server.

Some dude became famous by creating a server and setting up a dating show, called Love or Host. He’d then get some well known people on to ‘fight’ for the affection of the date for that episode. The audience ate it up, and while it almost never actually went anywhere besides a single date (where they then parted ways) most of the contestants had fun and joined the show multiple times.

Puffy knew that Niki had been on the show before, though she isn’t sure how many times. She knows Wilbur was in one of them, knew he picked her and Niki chose love and it was adorable and the audience ate it up. She did too, at the time, because at that point she was completely unaware of the Dream SMP and what was happening on it.

(Puffy didn’t take sides back then, she wasn’t even invited on SMP. She did know, though, that during the first war Wilbur did something bad that cause Dream to get hurt. Back then she didn’t care as much but now Dream was her puppy duckling and she would not allow that anymore-)

Where was she? Oh yes, the dating show.

So she joined Niki’s new show and chose love because why not and wasn’t surprised when Niki threw her out in the middle. She’s surprised Wilbur didn’t win, but then she remembered everything that happened on the SMP (she had arrived after the rebellion, but she had seen the damage) and realized that maybe the other man didn’t deserve to win. Maybe he didn’t deserve Niki, in this fake love dating game show. Maybe he didn’t deserve her at all. She didn’t care if his last death to Phil messed up his brain, he deserved it.

Puffy shook her head, relaxing. Now’s not the time to work herself up.

She had a date to go on.

Ah, yes, this is what started off as a joke. During the love or host she scored a ‘date’ with the other girl on the SMP, and of course it was just for fun and the fans but she was genuinely excited for it either way. She even prepared stuff for them to do! Made a little picnic and everything!

Why was her heart pounding so fast? Ah yes, she’s going on a date.

A date?!?

A fake date, she reminded herself. She doesn’t want it to be really anyway, chill out… herself.

Anyway, it went wonderfully. Better than she would have expected. They had a picnic, went on a walk, and then built a whole fuckin’ flower shop, so she doesn’t think she could’ve asked for more.

Screw it, she’s asking for more.

Well, she got what she wished for. Kinda.

During their date Tommy kept appearing in the background like the little gremlin Puffy thinks he is. She has reasons to not like him- and it wasn’t just because he was annoying. She heard through the grapevine that he had bad mouthed her, and she wasn’t the type to let that slide.

But Niki found it hilarious and even gave Tommy a part of her armor, because she’s a goddess among mortals and Puffy cannot believe-

Fake date, Puffy, fake date.

Anyways, they went and checked out George’s new house after a not so subtle remark for Tommy and Ranboo, which led to them finding out about the absolute mess they caused. If Puffy knew that it would lead to what it did, she might’ve fixed the house before George ever found out.

She might dislike the child, but she wasn’t heartless.

By the time they finally left the flower shop was around half complete and Fundy appeared, as if trying to cause trouble by saying they couldn’t build the shop there.

Puffy wasn’t having that.

No one was ruining their date.

“Fundy, we either build it here.” She caught his eye, trying to convey that she was serious. “Or I tear down your house and build it there.”

Fundy was the type to always lose or break his armor. Puffy was not. So it was an armorless man versus a fully decked out Puffy with a grudge against anyone who dared disturb her date with Niki. Fundy backed off. “Okay, maybe you can build here.”

Niki laughed in the background, and Puffy shot her a smile. “See? You gotta stick up for yourself. Stand your ground.”

Niki watched as Fundy walked away, giggling to herself. “That was funny to watch…”

“Hit him where it hurts, Niki.” Puffy was on a warpath now, tunnel vision blocking everything else out. “Next time he messes with our shop tell him to fuck off. What’s he gonna do? I’m stacked and he’s not. He doesn’t even have parents anymore!”

Niki winced, and Puffy deflated. She went too far, obviously. Of course Fundy had blood parents but she was referring to Wilbur, who’s been acting off ever since she joined the server. It’s easy to forget that they were still friends, even after what happened.

Niki tried for a smile, before she saw something behind her and gasped, eyes widening in fear. Puffy spun around, expecting the worst, before relaxing. “Oh, hi Dream.”

“Hello.” Dream was apparently an odd individual, but Puffy’s never seen him act weird so she wrote it off as just rumors. From the day she joined the man had taken a liking to her- following her around like a lost puppy for hours at a time before vanishing. At first Puffy was confused, but then it became endearing. “I heard you were making a shop? I brought supplies.”

“Oh, thank you!” Puffy patted his shoulder, turning towards Niki. The girl was still, as if afraid to move. “You okay Niki?”

Niki gaped, as if she wanted to speak but didn’t know the words. “Uh, I-”

Dream turned towards her, masked face making Niki gulp and back up. He didn’t say anything, as if enjoying the waves of intimidation that rolled off of him.

Puffy, completely oblivious to those waves, smacked his shoulder. “Don’t be rude, say hi.”

She’s never heard Dream sound so sheepish. “Hi.”

“H-Hello.” Something about his tone seemed to calm Niki a little bit, and she smiled warily. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. Just came to drop this off.” He stalked over to the chest closest to Niki. Puffy missed how she jumped back, scared. Dream dumped some supplies in the chest and made his way outside, waving goodbye before pearling away.

Puffy smiled, happy for the short meeting, before turning towards Niki. She was frowning, why was she frowning? “Hey, are you okay?”

“Y-yes…” Niki looked at the ground. “It’s just… Dream is dangerous, Puffy.”

She knows Niki has been here for longer and probably knows the people on the server better than she does, but still, what has he done? Scary ideas started floating around in her head. “Did he ever hurt you?”

“Not me.” She admitted. “But my friends…”

Ah, Puffy knew where she was going with this. “You mean the annoying one and the one who blew up Manburg?” She knew their names, it just meant more saying it this way.

Niki went rigid. “It… wasn’t… like that…” She met Puffy’s eyes, her own shiny with unfallen tears. “It was because of Schlatt! Before him, everything was nice!”

“Schlatt didn’t make Wilbur blow up Manburg, though.” Puffy cut in tentatively, voice soft. “It was Wilbur’s choice, his decision. I know you know that.”

“I-” Niki’s breath caught. “I just want to go back. Back to before…”

Puffy stepped forward, catching her in a hug. The girl sobbed, clutching onto her and crying. Puffy rubbed her back and whispered soothing words and inwardly thought about knocking some sense into Wilbur just so he’d understand what she meant when she yelled at him for hurting Niki like this.

Fundy came back a few days later, talking about building an ice cream shop right next to theirs. He roped Ranboo and Punz into it before giving them a ridiculous deal where they had to help build their shop so they could keep the land the flower shop was on.

Puffy knows killing is bad and dangerous, but sometimes she really just wants to slaughter some idiots.

Then Niki stepped up. “We’ve thought about your deal and we’ve made a decision.” She said, the tiniest smirk gracing her face. “Fuck off.”

Puffy bursted out laughing.

Fundy sputtered, face getting red in what might be anger. Next to him, Ranboo fidgeted. “Come on, we can build it ourselves.”

“No!” Fundy snapped. “They took this land without permission! I’m not just letting them use it without any consequences!”

“What consequences are you talking about, Fundy?”

The room froze as Dream walked in, body tense and angry. Fundy and Ranboo froze, Punz backing away from the two of them to stay out of the way. Next to her, Niki shuffled closer. The place was now full of tension, thick enough to cut with a knife.

Puffy didn’t notice it at all. “Hi Dream!”

“Hi Puffy.” His voice was light and fond. He turned to the others, and Puffy just noticed that Fundy still didn’t have any armor- neither did Ranboo. “You say they took land without permission?”

Fundy looked like he was stuck between answering and running away. Puffy was too busy making a flower crown for Niki to notice. “U-uh, yeah?”

“That’s odd.” Dream murmured, taking a step closer. He radiated danger and malice. “Because as far as I know, all of this is my land, and I never said they couldn’t use it. In fact, I helped them make this shop, Fundy.”

“O-oh.” Fundy looked terrified. Puffy still didn’t notice. “Y-you did? My bad. I’ll- I’ll be leaving now.”

“Good idea.”

Fundy booked it, rushing past Puffy. She blinked, looking up. “Why’d he leave in such a hurry?”

Ranboo and Niki stared at her, as if baffled. Puffy took the now finished flower crown and placed it on Niki’s head (because she deserved a crown, the absolute queen she is-). “Oh, thank you! It's really nice.”

Dream hummed his agreement, and Punz complimented it as well. When Ranboo stayed silent Dream glared at him. “Ye-yeah! Very nice! Love it! It brings out your eyes!”

Niki giggled and Puffy smiled, happy she could make Niki happy. Every day she did that was a good day. She never wanted to see her cry again.

It was late one evening when it happened. She and Niki were putting the final touches on the shop. After days if not weeks of tireless work they finally finished, and Puffy couldn’t help the rush of pride she felt.

Next to her, Niki smiled warmly. “Does this mean the date is finally over? Now that the shop is done?” She joked lightly.

Oh yeah. This had all started with that date, hadn’t it? Did that mean they had been on a date this entire time? Well, fake date, of course, but still. That had to be a record, right?

“I guess so, yeah.” Puffy turned away from her. “Wait a second, I have something cool to give you.”

Niki clapped in excitement as Puffy dug into her inventory, pulling out a wither rose. Niki’s eyes widened. “Woah, I’ve never seen one of those before!”

“They’re pretty rare.” She confirmed, smiling. “I thought this could be our logo or mascot or something.”

Niki took the potted plant lightly, making sure not to touch it’s thorns. Wither magic wasn’t fatal in low doses, but it still hurt. “It’s beautiful.” She murmured, walking over to put it on the counter. “I love it!”

Puffy grinned, beyond happy. “I’m happy we did all of this.” She admitted. “It was nice spending time with you.”

Niki smiled back, coming in for a hug. Puffy felt something inside her shift. It felt like a cord of some type, anchored deep in her chest and leading somewhere else. She frowned in confusion, rubbing her chest.

“Puffy!” Niki, on the other hand, was ecstatic. “We bonded!”

“We… what?” Puffy’s never had a bond before, never knew what it felt like. Was this it? It felt… weird, in a good way. “We did?”

“Yeah!” The other girl nodded enthusiastically. “Here-!”

She closed her eyes and Puffy felt something like pure joy come through the cord, humming against her body so much that she vibrated. Puffy blinked, surprised and baffled. “Was that you?!”

“Yep!” Niki’s smile could rival the sun. Puffy loved it. “You’re my first bond here on the server!”

“You’re my first bond ever!” Puffy hugged the girl again, just because she could. “This is cool! Can we switch?!”

“Yeah.” Niki answered. “But maybe not right now, since it’s late and the bond lasts for a hour or so.”

Puffy snorted in her head. Niki sounded like she thought Puffy was going to go to sleep tonight. Maybe she would’ve, but not after learning about her new bond.

They both stayed up, talking the night away.

She was walking with Niki when she noticed walls in the distance.

Well, she noticed Dream putting them up more than she noticed the walls. She smiled, jogging over. “Hey Dream! Whatcha doin’?”

Dream paused to look at her. For the first time, his voice was rough when he spoke to her. “Not now, Puffy.”

Puffy frowned, glancing at Niki. While the girl was still wary of Dream, she was comfortable around him as long as Puffy was around. “You’re walling in L’Manburg?” Niki asked. “Why?”

“Maybe he’s protecting them or something.” Puffy shrugged. “Seriously, Dream, what are you doing?”

Dream groaned, as if annoyed, and Puffy narrowed her eyes at him. “Sorry.” He said almost immediately. “Basically, Tommy fucked up.”

Oh, so nothing new.

Chapter Text

Tubbo found him sitting at their old bench, looking out on the world while a music disc played softly in the jukebox.

He shouldn't still be here. Everyone ignored his political exile to help destroy the Dreamon but Schlatt could call for their deaths at any moment. They weren't safe here. "Tommy-"

"So, you and Dream, huh?" Tommy cut him off, sounding bitter, and Tubbo was confused. What was he talking about?

Oh, yeah.

He had a new bond. With Dream, their archenemy. The bond was new and fragile and Tubbo's sure that a gust of wind could blow it over. He also knows that Dream knows the same thing, he knows how easy it would be to break the bond. It wouldn't even hurt that much, being new.

So… why hasn't he?

Why hasn't Tubbo?

Tubbo's curious, most definitely. Bonds were neat and he liked poking at them whenever he could. This bond felt different from other bonds, wrong but also… not. Right but not in the right way.

It felt like even if Tubbo broke it it would come back. The new bond felt like a new beginning, and even though it was with Dream of all people he still had to give it a shot.

"Yeah." He answered, sitting down next to him. "I definitely wasn't expecting that."

"Yeah." Tommy muttered, obviously upset. "Me neither."

Tubbo blinked, wondering why Tommy was acting so strange. "What's wrong?"

The other boy sighed. "We're close, right?" He asked. "We're best friends! We're closer than you and Dream will ever be, right?!"

What? "Uh, yeah." Tubbo agreed slowly. "Of course, uh, why?"

"It's always been us, yeah?" Tommy pressed, something close to panic in his eyes. If Tubbo looked further, he could also see betrayal. "When this whole server was new, it was always us versus him."

Tubbo held back a sigh. Tommy had some mental block in his head that just wouldn't get over the past. Tubbo honestly didn't care about the discs- he cared about his friends and L'Manburg. Tommy, on the other hand, seemed obsessed and Tubbo didn't like it. He agreed with the other boy just to finish the conversation. "Of course."

Wilbur did say he was a yes man. Maybe he is.

"Then… then why-?" His breath caught, and maybe if Tubbo wasn't so tired he'd care more. "Why'd you… first Techno with a bond and now you?"

Something inside him (the bond, he thinks) snapped. "Excuse me?" His voice was soft but angry. "I'll remind you that the bond was forced on Techno and I did it to save innocent people. People, Tommy." He almost never raised his voice at Tommy, but he was being ridiculous and it felt like he was guilt tripping him. "More important than some grudge."

Tommy's eyes narrowed. "Don't hide the truth from me!" He hissed, tensing. "Bonds don't come from nowhere, I know that much! They come from both sides accepting it, which means both you and Techno not only accepted the bond, but had enough interactions with Dream to even allow the bond to form! I'm not stupid, Tubbo!"

"You appearently are!" Tubbo snapped, eyes tearing up due to anger and hurt. "If you think I'd choose him over you!"

"You did!" Tommy almost screamed. "You did, Tubbo! You two have a bond, and we have nothing!"

"We have memories, Tommy!" Tubbo was going to start crying soon. He was achy and tired and not ready for this conversation. "Building L'Manburg! Getting your discs back! My bunker let you escape execution from Schlatt! Some people…" he stopped, letting out a small sob. "Some people just… they don't bond, ever. They can be very close and it just never happens. That's just the way it is, Tommy. But that doesn't mean anything!"

Tommy sighed, backing off slightly. Tubbo could still see the anger and hurt and stubbornness swirling through his body. "Sorry, Tubbo. You saved people's lives today- you saved Drista and George and Sapnap and Techno…" He paused, glaring at the ground. "Sorry."

He didn't sound sorry. He sounded like he just lost an argument he felt like he should've won. Tubbo took the apology anyway- he knew he wouldn't get anything better. "Hey, maybe we could use this to get your discs back?"

Tommy perked up. "Who even has them right now?"

They shrugged. "Not sure." Tubbo looked out at the duck statue. "We'll figure it out."

"Yeah." Tommy smiled, something small. "It's always been about the discs, Tubbo. Before everything, it was always them, us, and Dream."

It was always about the discs with him…

He never asked about Tubbo. How Tubbo was, what he was doing, if he was okay. No, it was always about the discs and Dream and that would never change. He was like a broken record sometimes, Tubbo was tired of it.

Truthfully, he didn't give a single fuck about the discs. If he could he'd take both of them and burn them- for something so replaceable Tommy put such a priority on them. If Tubbo died he'd yell and shout but if the discs were involved then he got tunnel vision and didn't care about anything else.

Tubbo likes to play around with bonds. He liked poking and prodding and experimenting on them. They were very interesting and he learned a lot about them.

After a while he learned how to pull emotions through a bond- and not normal emotions, but emotions a person has about things. One of the first things he did when he could finally breathe after the Dreamon was check out his bond with Dream. The man was dead asleep, exhausted- it was the best time to try.

What he found wasn't too surprising. He wasn't able to get far before something blocked him (a subconscious thing from Dream, most likely) but he did get a read on how Dream felt about Tommy's discs.

He didn't care. He really didn't. He wanted them because of the power they held over Tommy, but other than that they were worthless to him. Tubbo knew that Dream understood how much power they held over the other boy-' how Tommy would give up almost anything for them. It was actually crazy, how obsessed he was with the things.

Tubbo felt like he was between an unmovable object and an unstoppable force. Dream would hold his ground forever, stronger and better than Tommy. Tommy would never give up, would keep getting up and trying again.

If Tubbo was being really truthful, he hopes Dream will get the discs. He hopes he'll get and keep the discs, and Tommy will realize that they mean nothing and get over them. Wishful thinking, but he could hope.

He never said any of this.

"Us and Dream." He confirmed softly, wiping his eyes. Tommy didn't even seem to notice. The boy was very obtuse sometimes, Tubbo didn't know if that was on purpose or if he didn't care. He never seemed to care. "That was before so many other people joined the SMP though, Tommy."

He snorted. "They don't matter." He waved it away and Tubbo frowned. What about the rest of L'Manburg? Wilbur and Niki and Fundy? Tommy's eyes took a sly glint. "Hey, I know you know a lot about bonds. What all can they do?"

"They're super cool!" His thoughts immediately shifted to his interest, and his mood changed instantly. "So, normal bonds can switch and share stuff like emotions and, if you're really good, memories. Those are healthy bonds, but there can be unhealthy bonds too! I don't know as much about those, but some can allow people to talk in each other's minds and-"

"Wait." Tommy cut him off. "You said that Dreamons stress bonds so much that it almost killed all of Dream's bonds, right?"

They tilted their head. "Uh, yeah? Why?"

"One moment." Tommy was in thinking mode, taking over the conversation like he always did. Tubbo was okay with sitting back and letting it happen. "Okay, what if we stress your bond with Dream and, like, mute him like Sapnap was or kill-"

Tubbo stood up. "I think we're done here."

"Sorry, too far." Tommy immediately apologized, which just made Tubbo angrier, because he wasn't actually sorry! "That's a stupid idea, wouldn't work anyway."

Tubbo rounded on him. "Why do you even care!?"

Tommy blinked, obviously confused. "W-what?"

"Why do you care, Tommy?" Tubbo was crying again, angry tears rolling down his face and he hated it. "Why do you care so much about those discs?! They mean nothing! They can be replaced! Bonds can't! You're asking me to break a bond and possibly permanently kill someone- my family!" 

The words were scathing, and Tommy flinched at the last word, once again hurt. "You… you think of him… as family?"

"He's my bond, Tommy." Tubbo's voice was hard. "That's the definition of the word. And that's not even the point! The point is you want to permanently kill someone over a fucking disc!" His voice went soft as sobs overtook him. He fell back onto the bench, head in his hands. "You'd make me lose a bond… you'd make me go through that pain… over a disc?"

Losing or breaking a bond hurt. It felt like falling into a pool lava and never respawning, you'd just be stuck there for anywhere between a day and a year. Your body would be on fire, you'd feel incomplete and empty for a long time as you tried to heal from something so sacred and special breaking. It all depended on why the bond broke- if you had a falling out then it'd last a few weeks, if they betrayed or hurt you it might last a month, if you had been slowly floating away from them, then it might only last a day.

If the other person permanently died, though…

Those could hurt for years.

Tommy didn't just want to put that pain on him, either. Dream had a ton of bonds, several different, separate families. The amount it would hurt them all…

(Tubbo briefly wondered if Dream did that on purpose somehow, if that was his plan. Honestly, the risk of Dream's families dying is the main reason so many people helped them kill the Dreamon. It was a strange but good defense- 'if you try to permanently kill me, you'll have many people going after you' kind of thing. Tubbo doesn't know if he did that on purpose, or if Dream actually had a soft heart and an affinity to bonds. Some people had a higher chance of forming a bond compared to others. 

While he didn't think Dream had a soft heart, he knew he was protective over what he thought were his. For example, if someone attacked the server he'd obliterate them, because this was his server and no one else was allowed to mess with it. If someone outside of the server messed with someone inside the server it'd be the same thing. He's seen how he acts when someone hurts his family, too. The aftermath wasn't pretty.

He wondered if he'd do the same thing if someone hurt him, now that they were family.)

"Wha-? No, I- no… I'm sorry." Tommy slumped against the bench, and this time the apology felt genuine. "I'd absolutely hate it if someone tried to use me against my family, I don't know why I even…" he sighed. "That's definitely off the plate. Look, I can't… with both you and Techno… I can't pretend like I'm okay with it… but-"

"But it's our bonds, not yours, and your opinion doesn't matter." Tubbo said it cheekily, but there was some bite there.

Tommy's laugh was wary. "Uh, yeah, basically. And besides, it doesn't matter. We're best friends, we'll take on the world together. Bond or not, we stick together, yeah?"

Tubbo nodded quietly, forcing a smile he didn't quite feel. He agreed, yes, but he was also tired and in the mood he was in right now, he didn't want to think about their future troubles. In his current mindset, all he could see was Tommy getting them into more and more trouble and Tubbo dealing with the backlash. He forced those thoughts out of his brain, trying to stay calm.

"We stick together."

"Good." Tommy shuffled closer, bringing him in for a side hug. Tubbo, exhausted, leaned against him instinctively. His eyes were closing when Tommy spoke again. "Uh, hey Tubbo?"

"Hm?" He hummed, half asleep. Tommy's tone was a bit worrying though- something between a wary laugh and seriousness. "What?"

"Uh, I promise I won't get mad, but-" Tommy shook him slightly as he leaned away. Tubbo sat up again, blinking blearily. "-we both know bonds take a while to form, and both people have to have some type of connection, yeah? So then, what's yours and Dream's?"

Oh, he was hoping Tommy wouldn't think about that.

"Uh." He rubbed the back of his neck, a little bit sheepish. "So, like, the day after the revolution he jumped me while I was at my jungle base. At first I thought he was gonna, you know, kill me, and I wasn't just going to let him do that without a fight, right? So, I fought him and dialed miserably, cause it's Dream, but instead of killing me he just gave me another chance."

Tommy looked confused. "What?"

"Yeah, confused me too." Tubbo agreed. "Like, every time he disarmed me or had his sword to my neck he'd either pull away or give me back my weapon. After a while he started commenting on my fighting style and was actually teaching me how to fight. After a few hours of that he just randomly disappeared. It wasn't just a one time thing, either- he would just show up places and teach me how to fight with weapons and weaponless. We started meeting up at my jungle base every day to do that- until the election."

"Huh." Tommy seemed less upset and more surprised than anything else. "I wonder why he did that…"

Tubbo looked into the sky, the sun setting on the horizon. He still remembered the conversation he had with Dream, the first time it had happened.

"Not that this isn't good practice and all." He huffed, sweating profusely and panting. "But why?"

Dream shrugged, still fluid and relaxed and not sweating like he had just run a marathon. "Hm, I was bored."

Tubbo frowned at the obvious lie, annoyed that Dream thought he'd fall for it. "You know I only pretend to be stupid for Tommy's sake, right?"

"Okay, okay." He laughed. "During the war you were an easy target, you know. The amount of times you died were getting dangerous- I had to tell my men not to kill you cause I was getting worried about the glitch. Not to mention how many times you died to mobs. So, I thought-" He raised his sword gracefully, spinning it with his wrist before pointing it at Tubbo. "If you actually knew how to defend yourself, maybe you wouldn't be in as much danger. So, I'm training you."

Tubbo was baffled for a second, before his mind caught up and he narrowed his eyes. "What's the catch?"

"Nothing." Dream sounded genuine. "No matter what you may think of me, I just want the server to stay safe."

Tubbo knows how to spot lies and half truths. Dream wasn't lying, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have other, much more nefarious goals in mind for the server.

He sighed, picking his sword back up and aiming at Dream. "I'll get you one of these times." He promised.

He saw Dream grin. "Well then, come on."

He charged.

"Yeah…" Tubbo murmured, a lie forming on his lips. "I wonder why…"

They watched the sun set in silence. Tommy got up at some point to play another one of his discs, and they listened to the music until other people started to appear and Tommy had to leave, because they couldn't pretend like his exile didn't happen forever.

"Remember Tubbo." He said right before he left, grinning as he pulled a hood over his head. It reminded him of Dream, for a second. "No matter what happens, it's me and you."

"Me and you." He repeated, smiling. Tommy ducked away and Schlatt's loud voice started carrying towards them. Tubbo fixed his suit cuffs, turning towards the upcoming man.

Just him and Tommy. No matter what. No matter the new friends they make along the way. No matter if they treat each other like shit sometimes. No matter if better people come along. In the end, Tubbo would drop everything for Tommy, just like he hopes Tommy would do the same.

He ignored the nagging feeling in his chest as he walked away. Of course Tommy would do the same. Of course he would.

Tubbo's smile was a bit more genuine this time. Yeah, of course he would. They were best friends, nothing else mattered.

Chapter Text

The first time it happened their bond shook.

Techno had felt it, the moment Tommy and Tubbo decided to rebuild L'Manburg by tearing down Manburg. They were building a government right in front of him… they had asked him for help, had pretended to want the same thing as him.

And then they betrayed him.

The others, he can understand. Niki he could never stay mad at, Fundy he didn't care about and Tubbo had his own agenda that he could somewhat respect, but Tommy…

Tommy was his bond, his family.

And he betrayed him.

He knew rage and pain were flowing through his bonds. He knew Tommy felt it, saw him glance at him before turning back, acting oblivious. He was ignoring him, after he betrayed him. Pretending like nothing was wrong, like Techno was going to roll over on his side and let all this happen.

He wouldn't.

Wilbur walked up to him, eyes calm but worried. He placed a hand on his shoulder, asking silently. Comfort came from his bond, which Techno took and tucked away for later. He let his anger consume him- it's what he needed right now. It's what the voices demanded.

He nodded, and Wilbur nodded back, something like relief flooding his face. The man he shared a bond with stepped back, shoving his hands into his pocket and disappearing behind the podium.

Techno loaded his crossbow, looking around. Tommy was still talking to Tubbo, acting like he was the only other one around. Ignoring Techno now that he had done his job.

He was useless now, in Tommy's eyes. Now that there was no one to maim or kill, he wasn't needed. Forget the fact that they're family, Tommy appearently didn't care about that.

It didn't used to be like this. What had happened?

He looked to Tubbo. He respected the other boy- he was smart and good and tried his best. They didn't agree on much but he could respect him. He's kind of sad it'd have to be like this.

But if Tommy wouldn't look at him, he'd make him look at him. They were the family, not him and Tubbo.

His voices shouted in outrage, anger and possessiveness swirling up inside of him.

He fired, and the bond inside of him wilted just a little bit more.

He was called a traitor for that. He was the bad guy, even though they had betrayed him.

Their bond had been strong when it happened, surprising everyone. They had spent weeks together, bonding and causing trouble and just having a good time. He had even saved the boy from Dream, someone else he was bonded with.

Tommy never admitted that he had betrayed Techno during the rebellion, even though he did. He still had the opposite stuck in his mind. Techno let it slide, because they were family.

For the first time in a long time, he felt like Tommy was his actual friend again. The SMP had strained their friendship, their family, but they had held strong through it all.

Maybe his shock is what snapped it.

He was reminded of the festival when it happened. Tommy, surrounded by dozens of people in a high pressure situation. Techno was shot back to the festival, when it happened to him, and decided that no, he wouldn't allow it.

Then Tommy chose Tubbo. Chose the boy who exiled him and tried to execute Techno. Chose Tubbo right in front of him. Right after he had jumped in to help him.

He had betrayed him. Again.

Their weeks in isolation, their bonding and time spent together… it meant nothing to him. He had protected him from Dream and kept him safe, all for him to leave him once he had gotten to a place he wanted.

He had… he had…

He had used him. Again.

The voices in his head screamed for vengance right before they all snapped out, a silence so still that he couldn't believe it. The voices were gone, why?

That's when his bond snapped.

He's never felt anything like it before. Hot, twisted agony shot through his veins, making him tense and clench his jaw. He fell to a knee, letting out one short pained gasp before keeping quiet.

Across from him, Tommy was screaming. The boy had hit the floor instantly, flailing and crying as the pain rolled through him. He, unlike Techno, wasn't used to pain this bad.

For a split second he was happy, happy that Tommy finally felt the consequences of using him like a tool. Then another harsher wave of pain came in and he shut his eyes, blinking back tears.

Against his best wishes, he fell to the ground.

"Their bond broke." Tubbo announced, looking horrified. They were surrounded and Techno was out for the count damn it all- "They're defintely incapacitated right now."

He was a war criminal, and everyone who wanted him dead was here and they all knew he was helpless right now. Quackity was staring at him, a vile smile on his face.

Shit.

He tried to raise his head, but his limbs wouldn't cooperate and it was all he could do to not scream and shout like Tommy was. He was stuck, how could he- there was nothing-

Wait.

Using the last of his mind not focused on the pain, he tapped into the gnarled bond he'd rather forget about. 'Dream?'

He thinks he saw Dream jump, but no one else noticed. There were a few people moving down to them now, but he didn't know if they were friends or foes. 'On a scale of one to ten-'

'Fifty, now shut up and get me out of here before they hang me on a pike.'

'Can I get a please?'

'You'll get a thank you and my cooperation on our bond.'

That defintely got his attention.

Someone behind him grabbed his hair, pulling him up using it. He'd protest if he could actually feel that pain compared to everything else. That's if he could even talk in the first place. He blinked and opened his eyes to see Quackity. "Sweet deserved justice against a traitor to our country. I hope it hurts."

He wanted to fight back, do anything, but it hurt so much and it was all he could do to stay conscious. Tommy had stilled on the ground, defintely unconscious from the pain. Tubbo stood next to him, frowning like he was in deep thought.

Then Quackity let out a pained shout and suddenly Dream was there, arm around his waist in support. "You'd go after a hurting man, Quackity?" Dream tisked, laughter full of confidence. Everyone stilled, tension thickening, because of course it would, it's Dream. "I expect better from L'Manburg."

Quackity glared. "He's a criminal, a terrorist, just like you!" He looked around. "It's all of us against Dream, guys! Don't let him push you around!"

Dream threw back his head and laughed, and whatever courage Quackity had just endowed was gone before they could even move. "I'd love to see you try."

'Can you tell that I'm bullshitting?'

'Yes, but I'm me.' Techno's head was killing him, making everything blurry and multiplied. 'Emotions give you away. Tubbo might be able to tell.'

'Tubbo wouldn't say anything.' Dream responded. 'Do you have anyone that could help you through this?'

'Phil's at my house.' He replied before pausing. 'Wait, I want you to tell them something.'

'Shoot.'

Techno explained, and after a second Dream laughed again. "Techno wants you all to know that he has dozens of withers." He said, and Techno took a second to capture the looks on all their faces. "And, coupled with my TNT, L'Manburg will be nothing more than a chunk error."

"That's if you can get out of here alive!" Quackity snarled, taking out a sword. Dream looked at him before shrugging, as if ready to fight him.

Quackity took that as an answer and charged. Dream used a single hand and the man's own momentum to shove him towards the others. He fell back and onto Tommy, causing the boy to wake up and start screaming again.

Dream took the distraction to jump in the water, pulling Techno with him. Before they even realized Dream had pearled over to the portal, leaving them all behind.

Phil was waiting for them, waiting for their arrival. He immediately took Techno from Dream, laying him down and getting out a few strength potions. "It's the only thing that helps." He explains softly, before shrugging. "It helped when my old bond broke apart."

Ah, he's heard about that. The potion did seem to dull the pain slightly. Enough that he wasn't in constant agony every time he even slightly twitched.

Nothing was physical. It was all emotional and he hated it. "He betrayed me, Phil… he used me again and then betrayed me when he got what he wanted."

Phil nodded solemnly. "Did you hurt the bond?"

"Yeah." Techno frowned, catching his words. "Wait, hurt? No, it's broken, Phil."

Phil sighed. "Take another look."

He did, and what he felt there was terrible. It felt like a half cut string, attached together by a few threads. Their bond wasn't broken, but it was very close.

If this was how it was hurt, he didn't want to experience it when it breaks.

It took a whole week before he could walk around like normal.

The pain was still terrible, but he could finally get up and do things and not weigh Phil down anymore. He knew Phil could feel the pain through the bond, from both Techno and Tommy. He knew Dream could feel the pain as well- Techno caught him around his house almost every day he was bedridden. Protecting him, probably, in that weird Dream way where he pretends not to. The man was sneaky, but Techno's very observative.

Once he could move around again he waited for Dream to make another appearance before grabbing him from his shadowy corner and demanding a fight. After a week of bedrest he needed to be ready.

He had a nation to take down.

After maybe half a week of training and preparing, Techno showed Dream some of his wither materials and was smug when the man almost screamed in surprise. "You are crazy."

"Why thank you." He paused, expecting the voices to chime in. They didn't- they had been silent ever since the bond had torn. It made him crazy, having his head so quiet. "I'm expecting you to have a plan, too."

"I do." Dream promised, before changing the subject. He took a skull in his hand, fiddling with it. "You know, Schlatt told me something very interesting you can do with a bond."

Oh shit, he had forgotten he said he'd cooperate with their bond now, fuck. That was a bad idea- he was in a high pressure situation, he wasn't thinking straight!

"Let's figure that out after we destroy L'Manburg." Techno said instead, pushing past him. "One thing at a time, Dream."

He can postpone that for now- at least until he talks to Phil and gets ideas of what to do from him.

They had more important things to do anyway.

The day of the battle came as a surprise for L'Manburg. They knew it was coming soon, but thanks to some false information they were prepared when it began early. Techno gave Phil a totem, whistled for his dogs, and stood in the middle of L'Manburg, waiting and ready.

He'd make them pay. He'd make them all pay!

The pain circling his body seemed to flare for a second, but he forced it down and shouted out to his enemies. It was time.

Even after Techno had explained his grievances to the boy, Tommy still didn't understand. He doesn't know why he tries.

Withers were flying about, TNT dropping from the sky courtesy of Dream. The wind whipped past him and he sighed, pausing when Tommy called out to him again. Told him to look at him.

The boy looked angry. Somehow he hadn't died yet, but his clothes were ripped and his armor was barely hanging on. He knew Tommy kept some of his potions, he wondered if that's why the boy was still living. He didn't know if that made him angry or happy yet.

"You're the one who did this! You were my friend, you were the Blade!" Tommy's voice is passionate and rough and it made Techno angry.

"You never thought of me as a friend, Tommy." He only thought of him as a weapon, something to use and get rid of.

Tommy ducked under a passing wither. "For once in your life, listen to me-"

"I listened to you for weeks, and what did you do?" Techno's shouting now, spitting. "You went back to Tubbo, the guy who exiled you!"

Tommy glared. "People are above the government-"

"I'm a person, Tommy!"

"The discs, Techno." Tommy replies, and Techno is done with these fucking discs- "This is all about the- they were taken from me, Techno, nothing was taken from you-"

"DISCS AREN'T PEOPLE!"

"YOU'RE SELFISH, TECHNO!"

Techno winced as the burning pain returned full force, the break in his bond widening ever so slowly. It was going to completely break soon- never to be healed again, and Techno just wished it would already because it hurt and he didn't want to be connected to this stranger anymore. This wasn't the Tommy he knew and thought of as family. This server had changed him, had broken him.

It had broken them all.

The pain shot into his eyes and he wobbled, looking around to make sure no one was going to attack him. A wither flew towards him and he threw himself out of the way, hissing at the pain.

Tommy was yelling again, not expecting the bond to act up so suddenly. There was a wither sneaking up behind him, aimed straight at him. Techno watched it come closer silently, waiting for it to shoot and kill the vunerable boy. He deserved it- deserved to feel the pain he did from his betrayal.

There was an explosion of color, knocking the wither back, away from Tommy. Techno blinked, lowering his crossbow. He had… he had shot the wither. He just protected Tommy. Why?

Then, after weeks of silence, the voices flooded back into his mind.

They shouted and raged and laughed at the blood staining his skin, and it was so loud that the pain dulled in his mind and all he could focus on was killing, was blood. While most voices shouted for violence, a few slightly louder voices reminded him who to go for, pointing out his enemies with soft words and nudging him away from his allies.

For the rest of the battle he slashed and stabbed and allowed himself to kill most people one time before stopping, the voices warning him about not chancing permanent death.

(Later, he realized he killed Tommy, even though something inside of him kept the wither from doing it itself. He wondered if that was because only he could kill his bonds, only he could kill family. Was Tommy even family anymore?)

And as his armor soaked up blood and he stood by the crator that was L'Manburg, he threw back his head and laughed. The voices swirled up in his head, screams overtaking the pain of his bond being on its last thread. He didn't care, he did his part. He saved the kid from Dream, gave him armor and tools and presents, and he was betrayed. He joined the man who exiled him and tried to execute Techno. Well, he thinks Tommy got what he deserved.

Fool him once, you'll regret it.

Fool him twice, you'll have nothing left to come back to.

As Phil helped him home, as he congratulated Dream on the good work and listened to his voices cheer, he pretended not to feel the bond inside of him slowly dying.

Chapter Text

Wilbur clenched his fists, glaring at the other man. He was soaked to the bone and he was way too annoyed to be dealing with this right now. The euphemisms and innuendos didn’t annoy him- it was the fact that Schlatt didn’t even seem to be trying. “You gonna come?”

“Wha- NO!” Schlatt had to strain his head up to look at him. He was sitting on top of a tree right now, barely staying out of the rising water. Wilbur, on the other hand, had made it to high ground and even built a little house. He was definitely winning this challenge, no doubt about it. “I’m not going to come!”

Ah, another innuendo. Wilbur would find it funny if Schlatt wasn’t so close to drowning. He had the admin of the server add a little plugin that a lot of the big servers like Hypixel use to avoid the respawn glitch- when about to die, the server will take that person’s items, replenish their health and food, and then teleport them to their spawn point. It gives the players the feeling of respawning, without actually doing so, negating the glitch. Sometimes it was too late and someone would die, but that was on big servers. It was just Wilbur and Schlatt right now, so no worries there.

The problem was the water had risen high enough that it’d be hard to swim all the way up before you drowned. And that was for Wilbur, who was a decent swimmer. Schlatt, on the other hand, could barely swim at all. If he got close to death and was teleported back to the spawn point, he wouldn’t be able to swim out. That would mean he’d just keep almost drowning over and over again until the admin came on in 30 or so minutes and cleared the water.

Wilbur didn’t really think this through. This was just a practice round too- they were going to do this in front of people in a few days, for fans. It’d be safer then, but the admin had to leave for some reason and this wasn’t actually safe now. Oh no.

Schlatt was still going off about things getting ‘unwarrently sexual’, but Wilbur was now more focused on the fact that the water would be rising again soon.

He cut him off. “If you’re not coming-”

“I’m not coming-”

“Then I’m going to make you come!”

“Don’t you dare-”

“Schlatt!” Wilbur cut him off, serious. He met the man’s eyes. “Seriously, the water’s about to rise! If you don’t come up here then I’m going to switch and make you!”

Schlatt clicked his jaw shut, the beginning of a glare starting on his face. Schlatt didn’t like switching- or, he didn’t like people switching to him. He never explained why and Wilbur never asked, but it was kind of annoying when Schlatt would switch to Wilbur and then forbid Wilbur from doing the same. The other man sighed. “Okay, I’m coming.”

Turns out he didn’t have enough blocks to make it over. They again devolved into the ‘come’ ‘no!’ argument as Wilbur tried to throw down some materials. As more time passed, Wilbur started to worry more and more. The water was going to rise soon, he knew it.

Then came the creeper.

They both watched it get closer, thinking it would get stuck under the tree and drown. What Wilbur didn’t know and what Schlatt didn’t notice was that there was a way for it to get up.

Jschlatt was blown up by Creeper

The death message filled him with anxiety, before he reminded himself that the plugin was installed and that he had been teleported back to the spawn point, full of health and safe.

Except for the fact that he was surrounded by water and couldn’t fucking swim!

He would be stuck down there, almost drowning over and over again for thirty whole minutes before the admin came and cleared the water. He wished he did switch with the man now, except that switching with the plugin active was dangerous. It saved the body that was getting hurt, but if a switched person dies the other person will probably die too, and the plugin doesn’t account for that. If Wilbur switched and Schlatt drowned, then Wilbur would be the only one to die.

He felt terror start to rise through their bond. He clenched his teeth, dumping his stuff on the ground and jumping off into the water below.

He made it to the bottom just as another death message appeared- Schlatt had drowned. The man appeared before him, eyes wide in either fear or pain. He thrashed, and Wilbur grabbed one of his arms, kicking with all his might and hoping that Schlatt worked with him here.

By the time they reached the surface his eyesight had gone and he was barely kicking up anymore. Wilbur inhaled harshly, gasping as he sucked up oxygen. Schlatt was doggy paddling next to him, not knowing how to float. His voice was tinged in panic. “Wilbur? You okay there?”

“Yeah.” He almost choked for a second, coughing. He knew how to float, luckily. “Come on.”

The next time the water rose they were both standing by Wilbur’s little house, watching the rising levels silently. They were still soaked in water, and Wilbur’s eyes stung.

“Thank you.”

He almost didn’t hear him. He scoffed anyway- Schlatt was one of his close friends (they had bonded for Christ sakes-), of course he’d go after him! He hoped Schlatt would do the same for him. “You're welcome.”

It was a week after election night when Wilbur finally got up the nerve to see the man. No, maybe nerve isn’t the right word. It was a week after election night when Wilbur was sure that he wouldn’t maim the man next time he saw him.

He found Schlatt in the white house, drinking alcohol and grinning. “Hey Wilbur!”

He snapped.

In seconds, he had the man around the throat, pushing him into the wall. “How dare you!”

Running. Running and screaming and shouting. Some were confused and some were angry. He could hear Schlatt’s laughter in the background as he grabbed Tommy and ran.

“How dare me?” Schlatt laughed, seemingly undisturbed. “I won fair and square, Wilbur. You decided to have an election, I decided to participate, and we can both see the end result.”

Wilbur growled, punching him in the jaw.

They ducked under a tree. Tommy shoved something into his hands and he drank it without hesitation, panic shooting through his body. An arrow landed right next to his foot, fire licking towards him. He shouted, and the two headed for sanctuary. L’Manburg.

“You know that's not what I’m talking about, Schlatt.” Wilbur hissed, pushing him away and backing up before he hurt him any farther. The next time he spoke, his voice sounded pained. “Why?”

They entered the country and dove into the pond, going under. When Wilbur looked at his hand he saw it was invisible- a smart idea on Tommy’s part. Muffled shouting started overhead, and he made his way to the bunker.

“Why?” Schlatt asked, and his smile held no regret. “You were running away, Wilbur. I couldn’t have you escape unscathed.”

Something came over him, then. He lost control of his body, standing up in the water. Everyone saw the waves from his movement, and he could do nothing but watch as Punz pulled back his bow and fired. The arrow sunk right into his shoulder.

Inside of him something snapped, and he was back in control. He dropped, body falling into the bunker below. 

“You switched with me!” Wilbur shouted, uncaring for how much his voice could carry. “You switched with me and let me get shot! You abused our bond, Schlatt!”

Tommy was quiet for once, hand over Wilbur’s mouth to keep him from giving their spot away with his cries. He was frantic, and Wilbur could do nothing, feeling a different type of pain from his own betrayal. It burned, like fire. He wondered if Schlatt felt it.

“Stop being so dramatic.” Schlatt grabbed another glass, pouring himself more to drink. “You were my opponent, Wilbur. Sometimes these things happen. You do what you have to do, right?”

“Fuck you.” Wilbur spits, clenching his teeth. “You know what, Schlatt? I’m fucking done. Done with your games, with your cruelty, with you. L’Manburg was mine! My symphony! I’m done.”

He was stuck in a ravine now, with only his family to keep him company. Schlatt used to count as family, too. Now…

Schlatt glared. “You can’t be done with me, Wilbur!” His grin was filled with malice. “We’re connected, you and I. You can’t get rid of me so easily!”

Wilbur scoffed- that answered his question. Schlatt didn’t know, he either didn’t feel it or didn’t know what it was. Wilbur can admit, it was surprisingly dull and quick for how much people speak about how bad it is. “I can, Schlatt. I already have. Goodbye.”

He turned, marching out of the whitehouse. Schlatt shouts behind him, angry, before it suddenly stops. The man comes barreling out after him. “W-what?” He looks baffled. “What happened? Why can’t I-?”

Wilbur glares, knowing what he was trying to do. “You can’t switch to me anymore Schlatt.” He murmured. “You can’t switch to someone you aren’t bonded to.”

Schlatt shouts something after him as he disappears into the forest. Inside of him, a broken bond cripples into nothing. Their bond had broken on election day, when he made him take an arrow to the shoulder. It had snapped immediately, while they were still switched, forcing Schlatt out of control. He doesn’t know what the other man would’ve done if the bond stayed, and he kept control. He doesn’t want to know.

His mind drifted back to before the SMP, before they were on opposite sides. Schlatt was always an... ambitious man, but never like this. What happened?

Techno’s earlier words appeared in his head. When he first joined the server, Wilbur and Tommy went to meet him. “What happened?” He had asked. “Your eyes… what has this server done to you?”

What has this server done to them all?

He sighed, making his way back to Pogtopia. That’s one part of his life closed forever. He could never get it back.

Rain started falling. He was grateful for that- because when he saw the others he could say his tears were raindrops.

Chapter Text

"YOU BROKE OUR DEAL!"

Schlatt screamed, ducking out of the way of a sword. Dream swung again, anger overtaking him as he tried to pummel the man into the ground.

"What?" The alcoholic snapped, looking around, frantic. Tubbo and Quackity were staring at Dream in shock, confused at why he was attacking the president. Seeing Tubbo just made him madder. Schlatt seemed to recognize that this needed to be private. "Tubbo, Quackity, you are dismissed."

Quackity startled. "But-"

"Dismissed. Fuckin' leave!"

Dream growled. "Don't talk to Tubbo like that, Schlatt."

Tubbo, who had been silent, finally started moving again. "Uh, Dream?"

Dream wanted to show him he wasn't mad at him, but that was hard to do holding a sword with a face mask on. "It's okay, Tubbo." He said instead, lying. "I'll speak to you later."

It had become common knowledge since the Dreamon that Tubbo and Dream had a bond, everyone knew. A few weeks had passed since then- the festival had been postponed and was starting tomorrow, actually. That's probably why they were meeting.

Well, it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. What did matter was what he was feeling.

See, Dream knows quite a bit about bonds. He's heard tales of certain types of bonds giving people special powers of some type. He doesn't know if it's true or how it works, he just knows he's interested and left it at that. In search of these powers, he's done a lot of research on bonds. He's particularly interested in corrupted bonds.

He knows how they work, how they grow, how they feel, everything except for how to make them more powerful. It was annoying, but it did let him catch a few signs when they started to appear in Tubbo.

The other two left, and Schlatt glared at Dream. He tightened his grip on his sword, holding it high. He expected the other man to do something sneaky- hack and cheat. He wasn't expecting the man to do nothing, just straightening and fixing his tie. "We made a deal, Dream." He said like he was explaining something to a child. "I told you I don't break my deals."

Ha, a businessman with character? Dream doesn't believe it one bit. "You did." He growled, not lowering his sword. "It was very simple, Schlatt. I help you, and you won't mess with the code or hurt my bonds."

"And I didn't." He shrugged. "What's the fuckin' problem here?"

"Oh, you didn't?!" Dream was pissed. "Then what's going on with Tubbo, Schlatt?!?"

Dream knows a corrupted bond when he feels one. When accepted, they're okay, but when they aren't accepted, they start to erode the other bonds a person has. It's a way to make a person dependant on said bond, by making it the only one.

That's what was happening to his bond with Tubbo. He's been feeling it slowly get worse and worse. And with such a fragile bond already, it couldn't take much more.

If he was honest with himself, before the bond he didn’t care much for the kid. Yeah, he was training him in swordfighting, but that’s mostly because he doesn’t want the kid to die. He’s just being nice. He guessed Tubbo didn’t feel the same way, because a bond had formed due to it. He can’t complain, it really saved him during the Dreamon thing. 

So yeah, before the bond he could care less about what Schlatt was doing, but now the bond was made and Dream wasn’t the type to let anyone mess with any of his bonds, no matter how little or how much he cared. The kid had grown on him, what could he say? Besides, Tubbo was close to Tommy, he’s pretty sure Tubbo has one of the discs. This bond could be helpful, if he was smart.

"Oh." Schlatt said simply, before laughing. "You bonded with that kid after our deal, though!"

"He still counts, Schlatt." Dream pulled him by the front of his collar, bringing him close. "If you don't get rid of that bond right now I will kill you over and over again until you wish the respawn glitch came and took you out of my hands. I don't care if you've hacked into this server, I can kill you faster than you can change commands."

Especially since he caught him in such a closed in space. Schlatt had nowhere to run.

He seemed to realize that too. Schlatt gulped. "Okay, okay, god damn Dream, chill out."

"Chill out?!" Dream pushed him, making him break his desk. "You are risking one of my bonds here! I don't care what you know about admin powers, I am still the admin of this server and I should've never let you have power over me in the first place!"

It was then Schlatt realized that Dream was very pissed. "Wait!" He shouted, raising his hands in surrender. "I'll do it! I'll do it and more, Dream, just-"

Dream cut him off with a glare. "What could you possibly have that I would want?"

"Information." Schlatt said, his telltale smirk slowly coming back. "I'm guessing you know quite a bit about bonds, since you could tell that I was growing one with Tubbo when even he couldn't tell. I'm guessing you have a bond like that that you're growing too, huh?"

Dream's mind immediately went to Techno, before throwing the thought away. The difference between his bond and what was happening here is that a part of Techno has accepted the bond. Even if it isn't the dominant part, some part of Techno (The Blood God, he called it-) had accepted the bond and wanted it. Tubbo, on the other hand, was completely clueless to it. Corrupted bonds like these happen a lot, unfortunately, especially when it comes to younger, more susceptible people. He should've been prepared for Schlatt doing something like this, should've known.

He scoffed. "What could you possibly know about corrupted bonds that I don't?"

"More than you would think." Schlatt's grin was nasty. "I've tried a few out in my time- depending on the type and person, you can do plenty of different things with them. I was even able to switch places with a bond before, not just switch bodies."

Dream paused in his rampage, eyes narrowing in interest. "Really?"

"Yep." Schlatt nodded. "Here, I'm going to do some guessing- I doubt it's anyone in your 'Dream Team', due to how publicized it is, and I can cross off Manburg and many neutral people because you'd want power from the bond -power over your enemies- so this bond is with either Tommy, Wilbur, or Technoblade, correct?"

Dream didn't answer, which obviously gave it away. He knew Schlatt was smart enough to figure that out, he's surprised more people didn't know due to the Dreamon ordeal. Techno wasn’t there when the entire rest of the server was, he thought it’d be obvious. Well, it didn't matter to him anyway.

Schlatt nodded, as if proud of his own deduction skills. "I'm going to cross off Tommy, because you wouldn't be able to get him to agree with a bond and if it ruined his other bonds those other guys would be on your ass in a second, which leaves Wilbur and Techno. Both would be good choices for different reasons, but based on those two… you can talk telepathically with your bond, I'm guessing?"

Okay… that was scarily accurate. Dream took a step back, trying not to show his surprise too much. Sometimes he really underestimates Schlatt, just because the man can't fight. It's a terrible thing to underestimate an opponent, especially a smart one. "You'd be right. What about it?"

Schlatt threw back his head and laughed, and when had Dream become the wary one in this conversation? "I can help you!" He promised. "I'll tell you not only how you can make that bond more powerful, but also what that bond can do if you make it stronger."

Dream thought about it for a second. "And you'll cut off this bond with Tubbo?"

Schlatt groaned. "Yeah yeah, I will. And you won't maim me?"

Dream's really surprised Schlatt didn't pull out any commands, but he might be saving them for later. A trap card. And Dream still has to help Schlatt too, so it didn't really matter there. He nodded. "I won't hurt you. Now cut off the bond, now."

Schlatt frowned but closed his eyes. After a second his bond with Tubbo seemed to relax minutely, breathing a sigh of relief. "It's done. I'm bondless again."

(He wished he thought more about the consequences of that. What Schlatt would do now that he couldn’t use Tubbo anymore. He’d regret letting his anger control him after what happens at the festival.)

He's a bit surprised to hear that that was his only bond, but he didn't really care anyway. "Good." He replied. "Now, about that information…"

Schlatt grinned and leaned in, whispering in his ear. The more he talked, the more Dream's smile grew.

Oh, this would be good.

Chapter Text

"I can't help but feel that the whole trial part of this thing was just a farce." Techno met each of the butcher's eyes, stopping on Ranboo for a second longer before looking to Phil, who was still stuck in his house. "And that you've already made your decision."

Phil gritted his teeth, watching the proceedings below him. No way, there was no way he was going to allow this to happen. They wanted to kill his son, they were going to risk the chance of him permanently dying. They thought it was justified- if he died then he deserved it (at least, Quackity felt that way, Ranboo was just going along for the ride, but Fundy was his nephew due to Wilbur’s bond and Tubbo was his brother's best friend. They knew him, and yes they were angry but it should never have come to this-)

He clenched his hands, disbelieving. He- he couldn't let this happen, not again. He had killed Wilbur and messed with his head, had let Tommy be exiled and had let Dream manipulate him. He couldn't fail all of his sons, he wouldn't. After he got Techno, he'd- he'd be better. He'd be the father they all thought he would be, in this found family of theirs.

If he couldn't even do that, then what's to say their family would even stay together? What's to say it won't just break apart?

This isn't Phil's first found family, but the last one broke and once it broke it never recovered. He can't let that happen again, won't let it happen again.

"When we press that lever down there." Quackity explained, a vicious self serving smile on his face. "It'll release the anvil over your head, crushing you."

Techno frowned, as if mildly inconvenienced, and while Phil knew he had something up his sleeve he wasn't just going to let it happen. He wasn't just going to watch and go along with it, like he's been doing.

Besides, death by being crushed… he's been hit with an anvil before and survived. Whatever happened, whatever Techno had up his sleeve, it wouldn't negate the fact that it'd be painful.

Phil sat down on his balcony, leaning against the door. His ankle monitor beeped in warning as his dangling feet brushed against the outside of his house. Screw it, screw L'Manburg, Wilbur's unfinished symphony really did die with him.

The boy in question sat near the execution site, petting 'friend' and looking on with confused eyes. He hasn't been the same since Phil killed him, and no one knew why. Another thing he messed up- another thing he has to fix.

"They're going to kill you, Techno." Wilbur frowned, tilting his head. "They don't like you. Why?"

Techno looked at him, and something sad crossed his face. Phil didn't blame him, ever since he killed him, no one could switch to Wilbur. It was like something was blocking them- and Wilbur never switched to them. He doesn't know if Wilbur can and won't or can't at all. Either way, it had become a sore point for the rest of them.

Phil's fault, again.

"Quiet, Wilbur." Quackity was on a warpath, and Phil was liking him less and less as the day passed. He met Fundy's eyes and glared, and saw the man wilt under his stare. He may be his grandson, ‘adopted’ by Wilbur, but there's a reason he and Phil couldn't switch- could never be able to. They had both severed that tie too much to be fixed, and they both knew it. No matter how much Fundy liked to pretend otherwise, no matter how much Phil ignored it. "Any last words, Technoblade?"

Phil leaned against the door, closed his eyes, and was gone.

There was a second of warped vision as he staggered, hands clutching iron bars in front of him. He blinked, shaking his head as he looked around, dizzy from the switch. 'Phil?' Techno asked in his head. 'What are you doing? Get out!'

He wouldn't, no way. Of course this was dangerous- if Techno died while he was here then Phil could die too, and if one of them got the respawn glitch then both would be permanently dead. That didn't matter though- it didn't, because he couldn't stand by anymore. 

"Let him out," Phil started, unsurprised when Quackity and Tubbo, the two closest, jumped back. Fundy immediately recognized what had happened, and Phil had to ignore the hurt on his face. He was upset that they could never do the same, and while he understood, he didn't care. "Before I climb out and kill all of you."

"Phil?" Tubbo asked, still in shock. "You can still switch? I thought Wilbur- but… I thought it broke."

He winced at the idea. It had come close at multiple times- the rebellion, when Tommy was exiled, Wilbur's last death, but it had never crossed the last line. While his relationship with Wilbur and Tommy had respectively plummeted and declined, he and Techno's friendship had grown stronger, helping keep the other two afloat.

'Phil…'

He was projecting too much, Techno could feel his emotions and hear his thoughts. Didn't matter, that's not what he's here for.

Quackity laughed. "I don't know if you've noticed, Phil, but we've taken everything from your so called son. So I'll have to ask, kill us with what, exactly?"

Phil narrowed his eyes. "I survived on a hardcore world for five years, Quackity." He tensed, and the people around him tensed with him. A bit back, Wilbur looked at him with a tilted head. "I've learned how to kill with everything and with nothing. Do you really want to try me?"

He'd be damned if he let this happen without fighting back.

That's when his chest started beating faster, to a point where it hurt. Phil recognized the feeling and looked up to see Fundy next to his slumped over body, holding a sword up to his neck. "Please return, Phil." His eyes were watery and his body trembled, but all Phil felt was rage. "I don't want to hurt yo-ck!"

He didn't get time to finish, as Phil's body shot up, grabbing him around the neck. Techno glared at Fundy, reaching down and pulling the ankle monitor off. In one clean move he had donned Phil's armor, taking out his sword. "Now." Techno said, sporting Phil's signature grin. "How about we rethink this entire execution?"

That's when Punz appeared, and everything exploded into chaos. Techno got to him and dug him out of the iron bars right before the anvil crushed him, saving them both from the pain and losing a totem. The moment they touched Phil was shot back into his own body, and by the time he regained his vision Techno was already gone, escaped.

Tubbo stood in front of him, angry but also resigned, as if he expected this. "Philza Minecraft, do you not understand the meaning of house arrest?!"

Phil, who was surrounded by angry men in netherite, laughed. "Sucks to lose, huh?"

Wilbur laughed quietly behind him- a laugh he hasn't heard from his son in a long time.

He had a family to fix, fuck everyone else.

Chapter Text

Techno felt the panic before he felt the fear.

Both confused him- he was just minding his business, waiting for Phil to come over so they could hang out. He wasn't panicking or fearful, so why-

Oh, yeah. Bonds can feel strong emotions between each other, especially when the emotions are about each other. Right.

So that meant someone in his family was fearful and panicking… for him? He almost scoffed at the idea- he had retired! Why would anyone worry about him, he's fine.

The emotions came back, stronger. A flash of pain ran through them.

You know what, nevermind. Whatever was happening, he would not allow it! He pulled out a chair, sitting on it backwards and resting his arms and head on the back rest. He closed his eyes and focused. There was a second of nothing before he felt pressure around his shoulders, pushing him down onto his knees as hands patted him down, looking for something.

"Look at what I found!" He was in Phil's house, in L'Manburg. The man was surrounded by four others, all of them (besides Ranboo, what was he doing there-) trashing the place. Techno glared at them all, wondering how long it would take them to notice. 'What's going on, Phil?'

'They wanted me to tell them where you were.' Phil explained, and Techno's arm stung when he moved too fast. He glanced down at it to see a gash leaking blood there. So that's where his pain came from. 'I said no. Apparently, that makes me a traitor.'

His glare hardened, and the others stepped back, finally noticing his aura. Tubbo frowned, the kid knew Phil well, from before this all due to Tommy, but he's never seen him look like this- "Phil?"

"You know you can't silence me, right?" Techno asked, tilting his head in an eerie mimic of a predator about to catch their prey. He changed his voice to match Phil's, something he's become very good at doing over the years. It was easy to steal the voice of the person you switched with, and he was very good at that. "Lock me up, do whatever, but you can't stop me from telling Techno. He'll know what you're planning, and he'll be prepared. He will kill you for this."

Fundy scoffed, disbelieving, as if Techno wouldn't kill his ‘nephew’ for threatening and hurting Phil. Like he wouldn't risk a respawn glitch for vengeance. No, nothing else mattered, nothing in this goddamn server…

Wilbur was broken, Tommy was exiled, he wasn't losing Phil too. 

"He's not lying." Tubbo finally spoke up, shifting from foot to foot. Out of all of them, he knew Techno the most. "It's always been him and Phil. Maybe… maybe we've gone too far."

Maybe Techno will let him live, for Tommy's sake. 

"He's killed you multiple times, Tubbo." Quackity cut in, eyes hard. "We deserve justice, you deserve justice. Don't let them walk all over you!"

"I- yeah." Tubbo deflated. "You're right. We deserve justice."

And they're getting it by bullying Phil, a member of L'Manburg? Scratch that, he's killing Tubbo. Yes, he's killed him twice before, and wounded him other times, and while one time he was pressured the other time he deserved it. They had betrayed him and everything he stood for. The only one that stayed on his side was Wilbur. Who's now-

And Dream, he guessed. Well, were they ever on the same side? It's hard to tell with him. While he's never gone looking to team up, he knows when he's being used for something bigger. That's Dream in a nutshell, basically- he's always going for a bigger picture. A picture that Techno, frankly, wants nothing to do with. He is similar enough to the man to know what lines Dream will and won't cross, and he knows that those lines aren't anywhere close enough to moral for him to feel safe. He didn't isolate himself in the tundra in fear of L'Manburg. He isolated himself to stay away from the man in the green hoodie and his plans.

'You've never trusted him?' Phil asks, listening in to his line of thought. He often gets lost in thought when switched, but Phil is always good natured about it and rarely ever pries. 'Even when you fight together?'

He can't say no, because there are times. Those are just far and few between, and while afterwards Dream is good natured and nice enough, he's not stupid enough to keep in touch. He knows how the man works, knows that he is one of if not the only person on the server that can beat him in a fair fight. He knows they both skirt around it each for that reason- which is why they've never had an actual fight against each other on the server yet. He also knows that everyone else on the server is hell-bent on making them enemies, on keeping them upset and wary of each other.

Because if they were allies, they'd be unstoppable. That's why when he first joined Dream gave him a sack filled with goodies, and why just yesterday he showed him where to find totems. He knew Dream wanted on his good side (he might be one of the only people on the server that Dream actively avoids aggravating) so he could call in favors when he needs him. He knew it was a dangerous path, being in dept to the man for all that stuff. Especially now with the bond.

But Techno didn't really care about that right now. Didn't care about violence and blood and everything the voices in his head screamed about. He cared about Phil and Wilbur and sometimes even Tommy. He wanted to keep them safe, and everyone else can die in hell, for all he cares.

Well, Niki's pretty nice, he cares about her a bit. The woman's kind and shy but she packs a mean left hook and while her sword fighting is abysmal every now and then she surprises even Techno and that gave her a lot for respect in his mind. So yeah, add Niki to that list. Maybe Ranboo, too. Maybe. He’ll have to think about that one.

"Have you ever tried looking at it from his point of view?" He asked calmly, using this moment to finally get his emotions out. "You guys contracted him to destroy Manburg. He was an anarchist, and he said from the beginning that he wanted the government gone. You guys pretended to agree with him, used him and his weapons and his armor until you had killed Schlatt and no longer needed him. Then, in front of his eyes, you formed the one thing he thought you wanted to destroy. You betrayed him, broke his trust between you all. Then, you had the nerve to call him the traitor. No wonder your nation is falling apart at the seams, you're built on lies and deception."

'...you need a hug.'

'Not now Phil… but yes, I probably do.'

What can he say? It's cold in the arctic and all of his companions are either cold or dead or both.

The others were put to silence by his words, before they did what they always did. Lie to save their own guilt. Techno tuned it out, having already said his own part. "He will know." Is all he said, once the chatter had calmed down. "And he won't be happy."

'I'll get you out of here soon.'

'Don't worry about me right now- protect yourself.'

He closed his eyes and focused, throwing himself back into his own body. He opened his eyes to find Wilbur sitting next to him, braiding blue dye into his hair. He doesn't know how the man gets around like he does, without hurting or killing himself. Maybe he wasn't as destroyed as they thought. "Wilbur?"

"You were tearing up." Wilbur's hand wiped across his cheek, going towards him to show off a single tear. "Have some blue, it soothes you."

Even like this, Wilbur knew that Techno never sheds tears over sorrow. If he ever cried, it was because he was pissed beyond belief.

And when the butchers came, he sat on his deck, axe out and ready. The butchers paused in their march, eyes widening in fear.

Techno's grin was more monster than man. " Never , ever, mess with Phil."

Chapter Text

Ranboo doesn't have the best memory. He has trouble remembering even simple things sometimes. Where he leaves things, who he knows, what he's doing. Sometimes, when he sees something it'll click in his head and he'll remember, but other times it's lost for good.

Which is why he keeps a book.

At first, the book was for everything. He wrote about his friends, his family, how his day was. The book became filled quite quickly, so he got a new book to write in instead.

Then he lost the first book. And everything that was in it.

So he decided to keep everything short and simple. As time passed he went from writing about everything to only about very important things. Soon, all he wrote in his book was who his friends were.

That’s all that really mattered, in the end.

What was written in that book changed quite a lot. Well, at least, he thinks it does. He’s not quite sure, he can’t really remember all that well. Something tells him that it did, so he’ll just say it did. He does remember that at one point an entire page was full, and he was happy about that, but then the names went down and down and down and down and down-

Hm? He lost his train of thought. His book? Yes, his book.

He had a lot of friends at some point. Right after he entered the SMP, he thinks. That was… not too long ago? He’s new, but not new enough that he remembers it too well. He built a shop, burnt a building, got one of his friends exiled-

Tommy

That's when things started getting worse, he remembers that much. His friends started getting hostile, one by one, before he only had a couple left. He lost his book at some point and that's when it really dropped. He searched for it, for days. He's never let it out of his sight, how did he lose it?!

Then the second festival arrived and the community house blew up and Dream told Tubbo he was a traitor (he was not, he just wanted to help his friends-) and Dream had his book and Tubbo looked so hurt but why? Ranboo is friends with whoever he wants to be friends with, he doesn't care about sides.

Tubbo

Because in the end, a side is going to crumble and break and a new side with new people will take its place. Nothing ever stays the same, so why fight for a side when you could fight for people? Picking a side will always lead to disaster, because that side will fall eventually, whether it be in 1 day or 10 years, it will fall. Ranboo would rather pick people.

Then Tommy, accused of blowing up the community house, showed himself and Techno was also there, and Tommy switched sides (or he chose Tubbo. Both are accurate but Ranboo thinks the sides part of it is more important) and then both were on the ground and Tubbo said something about a bond breaking and Ranboo frowned. He's never had a bond to break, so he doesn't know the feeling, but Tommy was screaming and crying and even Techno looked in pain, so it must be bad. Ranboo was waiting for someone from L'Manburg (a group of people, a side) to take Techno while he was weak, but then Dream (was he a friend, or was he a side?) stepped in and they were gone and Ranboo sighed in relief, even though the others obviously wanted blood.

Tubbo and Quackity argued for a long time. During that time he had a shouting match with several other people, about how he doesn't care about sides. He doesn't care about L'Manburg or the anarchy group, he cares about Tubbo and Fundy and Techno and Phil. That's what made a side important anyway, without people, a side was nothing.

Hours later, regretting his words (so many people were looking at him it made him uncomfortable it made him angry-) and hiding in a secret panic room on the coast, Ranboo  cried as he tried to remember if Tommy was the one who blew up the community house, or him.

Time passed. He got worse- people started avoiding him, thinking he was a traitor even though he just cared too much. The names in his book started dwindling down, and his memories started floating away in the wind faster than he could catch them.

When L’Manburg had its final, brutal stand, Ranboo didn’t participate. He was out when it started, and by the time he showed up he knew there was no reason to even try and help.

L’Manburg was a side, after all. It was better for everyone if it left, taking it’s grievances with it.

But then he heard something. A whisper on the wind, so quiet underneath the sounds of explosions and withers. Techno had taken a book off of Tubbo, he had taken a book-

A book!

He doesn’t know how he was able to get Techno’s attention, or how they were able to meet up during the bloodshed. Techno gave him his book and told him to run. They parted ways and Ranboo really did have to run, because there was a wither chasing him and he had more important things to do then fight it. Like look at his book.

He had it back.

Hours passed, and the victor was obvious. Ranboo clutched the book in his hands and looked at the wreckage of the country. A chunk error was what they wanted. It’s what they got, too.

Then Fundy appeared, and at first he seemed to understand but he still didn’t he still wanted sides and Ranboo snapped, because Ranboo didn’t want sides.

He just wanted friends.

Fundy

It was then, after erasing Fundy’s name from his book, that he realized it was empty once again. He had no friends left.

His communicator buzzed. “Did you make it out okay, Ranboo?”

Phil. Ranboo sighed, not really in the mood to talk but still craving attention. Craving comfort. “Yeah, I’m… I’m still alive.”

There was a second of nothing, and Ranboo made his way to his panic room. “Where are you right now?”

“By L’Manburg.”

There was barely any time in between the message, which made Ranboo suspect that Phil would’ve asked no matter what he said. “Do you need a place to stay?”

That… didn’t sound bad. Phil didn’t sound like he was making him choose a side or anything. Just asking him a question, just wanting to see how he was. Like a friend would.

While Ranboo won’t say he and Phil were super close, he could definitely say that he’d remember him, book or not. Even when on house arrest in L’Manburg, when he was irritated and snappy, Phil was always nice with him. Always had time to talk and would listen and help him through his problems. When he escaped and went with Techno it was harder to see him, but even though Techno acts like he doesn’t want him around, he never makes Ranboo leave. So while Ranboo doesn’t take advantage of that fact, he does visit every so often. They both seemed to enjoy that.

It was nice. They didn’t make him pick sides. They just hung out, like friends.

Friends…

Ranboo sealed the hole to his panic room. “Uh, yeah. Yeah I do.”

Phil never answered back directly to his last message, but he did keep the conversation going. He asked how he was, how he was doing. He asked about the book and what it meant to him and Ranboo, for once, felt cared for. Like someone wanted him to be okay because they cared for him, and not because they needed him for something.

It didn’t take long for Phil to appear. He leads Ranboo through the nether to Techno’s place, and while Ranboo has been there before he won't pretend like he didn’t appreciate the guidance. There was a second of awkwardness when Phil attacked an Enderman, but he had Ranboo look away and he remembered. He remembered that Ranboo didn’t like it and he tried to make it easier on him like a friend would-

He was shown the stasis chamber and Phil plotted out a space where he could build a house and it felt nice, to be cared for.

Phil was explaining how during the festival, he was building a farm while Techno and Tommy were gone when Ranboo opened his book again. He stared at the blank page for a moment before digging around for a pencil and writing.

Phil

Techno

“I didn’t get an invite to the festival so I felt like they could handle-” Phil paused, as if something had just hit him in the gut. Ranboo felt the same feeling, like something had just wiggled its way through his body and decided that it liked it there. It didn’t hurt, per se, but it startled him, no doubt. “Ranboo?”

“W-what was that?!” He stuttered, panic creeping into his voice. “W-What-?”

“Calm down.” Phil’s hands were on his shoulders, but he didn’t meet his eyes, as if worried that would make it worse and Ranboo appreciated it. “Ranboo, calm down. Do you know about bonds?”

B-bonds? Yeah, he knew about them. He’s never had one before, but he knew what they were. Why was that- oh. “Is this a…?”

“Yeah.” Phil’s smile was warm. “We have a bond. Is that okay with you?”

A bond. He’s always wanted one- to him, it’s the same as writing in his book. But if he loses his book, he won’t forget, because it’s a bond and every time it leaves his mind the bond will bring it back for him. It’s the ultimate forget-me-not, and Ranboo’s always wanted one but it’s never happened before.

Before now, at least.

He nodded. “Yeah, yeah it’s okay. I was just surprised.”

Phil tilted his head. “You’ve never had a bond before, have you?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“Well, they’re a lot of work, but they can also be very helpful.” Phil then went on to explain more about bonds, what they do and how they work, before telling him stories of different times he or his family used their bonds. Ranboo laughed when he heard the baby zombie story.

He slept in a makeshift bed on Techno’s ground floor, after getting the man’s approval. It’d take time to build his house, so he was happy that he wouldn’t have to sleep outside. While he congratulated both of them on their new bond it was obvious for Ranboo to see how much pain he was still in, from his own bond breaking (almost breaking, he was told later. Techno said it was on its last thread and that the pain never left, just dulled) and Ranboo felt bad. He had gotten a bond, but Techno, his friend, had lost one.

Ranboo fell asleep listening to the little bond inside of him hum. For once, he felt truly at peace. There was no worry of him forgetting everything in his sleep anymore, or waking up with no memories. The bond was now an anchor inside of him, pulling him out of the dark when he was scared of it swallowing him whole. A friend he didn’t need the book for.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Chapter Text

Things I Remember

By Ghostbur

He showed the book to Phil, eager to hear his response. To see him smile. Phil hadn’t done that in a while, Ghostbur thinks. He doesn’t like Ghostbur calling himself Ghostbur either- that makes him smile even less. Ghostbur wants Phil to know that he’s not upset with him- it’s why he’s showing him the book in the first place!

Phil did a strained half smile once he finished reading. “It’s nice W- Ghostbur.”

Ghostbur smiled, nodding enthusiastically. That was the most he’s gotten out of his dad since the day he last died! It worked better than the blue! He must be on the right track!

Clutching the book close to his chest, he waved the man goodbye and went to show some other people.

The smell of bread

Ghostbur hadn’t known where to start, so he just closed his eyes and thought. He remembered that it was warm and crispy but also soft, and he’s pretty sure Niki had made it for him. Why, he doesn’t remember.

He just remembers how grateful it made him feel.

L'Manburg

His unfinished symphony. He can’t wait for someone to finish it for him.

The Revolution

Eret sighed when he read this one, and Ghostbur didn’t really know why. Moments later, he closed the book, complimented him on writing it, and apologized, walking away.

Ghostbur didn’t even have time to give him some blue.

Bullying Tommy (He's a child)

Tubbo had laughed aloud at that one, something genuine and he’s been happier since Ghostbur became Ghostbur. They’re rebuilding, and Tubbo seems determined and Ghostbur’s happy Wilbur is gone. He really is.

Sparring with Techno as a kid

Ghostbur’s known Techno his whole life, and he knew Wilbur knew him for even longer! He remembers Wilbur’s first time joining a competition on Hypixel. He was so young and small, he barely even reached people’s shoulders! There was another kid there, though, and he seemed not to worry so Wilbur hadn’t either. They were even on the same team!

Ghostbur remembers that he lost quite quickly, but he also remembers that the other kid came up to him after, winning the game single handedly. He offered to help him, and Ghostbur knows Wilbur said yes, because that’s why he remembers sparring in the first place! The kid, Techno, took him to his little skyblock island and the days blurred together after that.

The wind

It was always very windy on the top of the walls. He knew Wilbur loved to sit on them when night fell, watching the stars and moon flutter through the sky. The wind would brush against his clothes and hair and he’d feel at peace, for just a few moments.

Maybe that's why, when Dream started building the walls, he felt at peace.

Being president

His presidency, after the revolution, was calm and peaceful and Ghostbur always looked back on it with a smile. No blue was needed there.

People cheering for me

They had won, and while Ghostbur knew there was a price he didn’t remember what that was so it didn’t matter! Suck it, green boy!

Fundy growing up

Someone, Ghostbur doesn’t remember who, told him that that never happened. That Fundy was already an adult when they met.

Ghostbur just smiled, gave them some blue, and walked away. 

Niki

He will never forget Niki. She deserved better, so much better.

The van

He wrote this one in the van, surrounded in the fumes of old potions. He knew this was the start of it all- he remembered the beginning quite vividly. The hope that they all had, the determination and motivation.

Then Dream appeared. He doesn’t remember anything for a long time, after that.

Tubbo building everything

There was much of Tubbo that he remembered, and a lot he knew he didn’t. Ghostbur always gave him extra blue when he saw him- a thank you for giving him so many happy memories.

Phil protecting me

Why was Phil protecting him? He… doesn’t quite remember.

Sally the Salmon

Fundy got a hold of the book at some point. Ghostbur watched as he read the pages and paused.

He started to cry.

Philza stabbing me to death with a sword

Tommy had paused at that one, staring at him with a kind of angry confusion. “You died, Ghostbur. Why is that a happy memory for you? Why do you remember that?”

Ghostbur didn’t have an answer for him.

A large explosion

He was so happy when it happened, but he remembered Phil who looked so distraught and it made something weird bubble up in Ghostbur’s stomach.

The taste of salt

L’Manburg was next to an ocean, and Ghostbur knew Wilbur liked to swim, every now and then. It was peaceful and nice and blue and Ghostbur liked blue.

He saw a salmon on the shore one day. It was red, not blue, but that was okay. Something made him smile at it anyway.

Air in my lungs

Ghostbur forgot to breathe a lot. He’s almost suffocated because of it on multiple occasions. He doesn’t know if he wrote that because he remembers it, or because he needed to tell himself not to forget.

Winning the election

Everyone frowned at this one, but no one would tell him why.

A ravine

He wished he didn’t even remember that much.

Techno's armory

He sleeps walk a lot, as Ghostbur. One day he woke up and found himself on the floor of Techno’s old base. Ghostbur didn’t even know how to get there, muh less how to get in.

Maybe an old part of Wilbur remembered?

The place was void of anything Ghostbur would want, but each time he looked at that last set of armor hanging up and collecting dust, something inside of him twisted in lost memories.

Books

He loved books, before and after he became Ghostbur. That’s why he’s writing this one now! It’s like what Wilbur would do, right? So it should cheer everyone up! 

(Especially Phil, who was missing Wilbur more and more as the days passed.)

Tunnels

Tommy loved tunnels, Ghostbur knew. Tunnels and travel paths and towers and Tubbo and everything that started with the letter t! His sewer was a tunnel, and there was a tunnel underneath L’Manburg. 

He went to see where it led one day. He didn’t make it far before turning around and running back. He didn’t like it.

Arrows

Ghostbur knows Wilbur likes bows more than swords. He liked archery and it was great when your country had walls and-

-An arrow, deep into his shoulder. He could do nothing but watch as Punz fired-

He loved shooting! Techno made firework arrows, which were pretty and he like them and-

-Arrows rained from the sky, and he screamed as they all ducked for cover-

He loves arrows, they make him happy! That’s why he remembers them, they make him happy...

./...

He was in the new L’Manburg when he felt something crack under his shoes. Frowning, he bent down and touched the floor. Little bits of sand stuck onto his fingers as he got back up.

The sand wasn’t yellow. Instead, it was a dark brown, and each second Ghostbur stared at it the more off he felt.

He turned around and sprinted for his sewer, washing the sand off and grabbing some blue while he was there. The sand… he didn’t like how it made him feel.

The blue kept him calm. The sand made him want destruction. 

Why would he want destruction?

He spent the rest of his day gathering up more blue to hand out to his friends. Phil caught him as he was heading home. “Hi Phil! Have some blue!”

Phil took it away and pocketed it quickly, as if he was moving on autopilot. “Hey Ghostbur, I have a quick question for you.”

“Oh?” That made him very happy! Phil’s been distant for a while now. “What is it?”

“Are you happy?”

Is he… what?

Wilbur froze, mouth gaping, but no he’s not Wilbur he’s Ghostbur and Ghostbur is happy and calm and Ghostbur makes things better not worst and-

Is he… is he happy?

I don't know

Chapter Text

This was all Fundy’s fault and Hbomb will never stop laughing about that.

H was just minding his own business, really. Walking around the SMP, saying hi to people, coming up with some ideas. He wanted something to do. Scratch that, he wanted something dumb to do.

Then Fundy came by. Thinking he was slick, he told Hbomb to be his maid for the day.

Worst. Idea. of. His. Life.

H, being the man he is, immediately got to work on a maid costume. He decided to go for a schoolgirl look, and yes he was going to wear the skirt, because when he went all in on something he went all in. He found out how to make hair extensions and let Niki do his makeup and Dream was the one who suggested adding a tail and ears, surprisingly enough. H didn’t understand the man, he didn’t even try to.

When it was all done he broke into Fundy’s house at the crack of dawn, screaming at the top of his lungs. “Master! I’m ready to help! What do you need? I’ll do anything, and I mean anything~”

Fundy, appropriately enough, screamed and fell out of bed.

That was the start of their beautiful bond.

H wasn’t the type to really care all that much about bonds.

Yeah, he’s had a few here and there. He had a few now too, with people not on the SMP. He was chill about it, it’s just how he was.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t think they weren’t the best things ever.

They had to be, they had to be a gift from god, because not even halfway through his day with Fundy he could tell there was a bond forming, even though Fundy absolutely hated him.

It made it all the funnier.

He kept it to himself, helping Fundy get his pets back to his new house. He had way too much fun annoying the other man, and he wondered if the bond was going to be made solely for the purpose of annoying Fundy. If there was a god of this world, or if bonds were sentient, he’d say they had the best sense of humor ever. Because, in less than a day, HBomb had a brand new bond, completely formed and ready. The first thing he did was switch with the man.

“What? W-Wilbur?’

“Nuh uh Master!” His perky voice sounded weird coming from Fundy’s body. “Now I know I said I’d never go in you but I just couldn’t resist!”

Fundy screamed. H had to hide his cackles.

It got worse.

It got so much worse.

Niki had been in on the joke since the beginning. She had helped him plan the outfit and did his makeup, after all. So when he came up with his new idea she was all for it. H even got Burren into it. Well, that made it sound like Burren had some doubts.

The man didn’t. No hesitation whatsoever. He heard Hbomb’s plan and dove headfirst into it.

Right before the 12th MCC the three met up, right when the server opened. It was a little tricky getting the extra clothes and cosmetics from server to server, but MCC was set up to allow for costumes and things of that nature, for when they want a themed competition. By the time other people started joining, all three of them were ready.

Fundy immediately knew something was up, he could tell by the way he tensed the moment he joined. While people can feel their bond’s emotions from anywhere, they’re stronger if both people are on the same server. He knew Fundy had just gotten a huge whiff of the devious amusement basically leaking out of him. He sighed, “What-”

His bond turned and caught his eyes. He stared, before seeing Niki. Then Burren. “Oh no.”

“Look Master!” H grinned, gesturing to the other two. “I got you two new maids! There’s four of us now, a foursome!”

Fundy stared, frozen. After a moment he turned and ran, like he could get away from his own teammates. Like if he ran enough he couldn’t hear them, even though the server had set up a voice feature on their communicators. H could hear him from anywhere.

“Master, come back.” None of them went after Fundy, the other two were too busy laughing. H, though, was in character. “When Master gets back we’ll have to give him a spanking.”

Fundy has left the game

Even he couldn’t stop himself from laughing then.

Chapter Text

Dream has died a lot in his time being alive. Strange to say, but true nonetheless. He was a man who excelled and enjoyed sports where to win you had to kill or you yourself would be killed. It wasn't new to him.

This, though… this felt different.

When he was studying to become an admin, he had heard about this little glitch that can sometimes happen on smaller servers. There was the respawn glitch, which permanently killed you, and then the death glitch. When someone dies it would feel different- it could effect the way someone acted after they respawned. If someone died enough and went through this glitched death multiple times, they might never be the same.

Dream's sure that's what happened to Wilbur.

He's sure that's what just happened to him. Twice.

He was trapped, surrounded by people who appearently hated him and he pretended that it didn't hurt, seeing Sapnap in the crowd along with Punz and Sam and Puffy. The latter three didn't matter as much as the former, Sapnap was family, and yet he let Tommy kill him. Twice.

He did draw a line when Tommy had him take off his armor, though. He wanted him to take off the mask, too. Sapnap stepped in there, along with a few others. He doesn't know if they did that for his benefit or if they were just trying to be respectful, take the higher road. Whatever the reason, he's glad for it.

He couldn't meet Tubbo's eyes at all. It was a weird feeling, having someone you're bonded to be so afraid and angry at you. Wanting only the worst while the bond was still going strong. He wondered if it was because the bond was created out of nessasity, not out of love. Only the need to break it would do it, not emotions, like other bonds. Whatever it was, he both hated it and clung to it, because dying…

Dying…

Dying never hurt so much before.

The first time Tommy killed him it was a shock, zapping through his whole body in agony, worst then an axe to the neck should've hurt. He immediately knew his death had glitched, and it scared him. This was what the teachers at the admin school had taught him about. It was terrifying.

Without permission his bonds cried out, and he sees both Sapnap and Tubbo flinch violently. George, wherever he is, gently pulls on the bond and Techno, off server for whatever reason, is silent. His blood family bond has been closed off for awhile now, so they wouldn't worry, but he knows someone felt something.

And then Tommy kills him again and he can barely move when he respawns. The pain is almost unbearable, and while the others notice most think he deserves it. He's almost sure that if another one of those glitched deaths happen he won't be the same. He'll be like Ghostbur, maybe, or like Schlatt, who disappeared and never came back. He… he… he doesn't want that. This was his server, his place where he could relax and not have to worry. He never should've invited so many people.

His own server's been taken from him… what else was left? Where else could he go? His bonds hated him and he was in pain and there was nothing anymore, he had nothing.

In a last ditched effort he opened up his bond with Techno, tried to call out. 'Techno, I need that favor, now.'

'Kinda busy right now.' The other man said, as if he couldn't feel the pain Dream was in. He couldn't even stand, and Tommy was above him, axe high and ready to do it again, eyes vicious and bloodthirsty and they reminded Dream of himself-

'Please.'

But the plea never reached Techno. It did, though, reach someone else.

The pain dulled as Dream's body shifted, rolling out of the way of the axe. Dream's body stood up, posture tense and angry and everyone froze, like they had forgotten that he was completely outmatched. "Tommy." It was Drista, her voice a low growl, and she sounded mad. "What did you do?"

"Drista?" Tommy was surprised for a second, before his eyes narrowed. "I'm not falling for this again. Dream's getting what he deserved, just like last time."

"I don't care!" Her voice was loud and it carried and Dream was terrified because what if they attacked Drista?! There were some in here he knew would defend her- Sapnap, most definitely. Sam, Punz, Niki, Puffy. But what about the others?! "I don't care what he did, Tommy! I don't give a single fuck about what he's done! He is my brother, and you just killed him while he's unarmed. Twice!" Her glare was smoldering, even through the mask. "He could be the worst person in the whole world and I wouldn't care because you're the one killing him over and over again! What, one time wasn't enough for you?!"

"Drista." Tommy's voice was sullen, like he was annoyed with the interuption. That just made Drista madder. "You don't understand what's going on."

"What about the sentence I don't care do you not understand, Tommy?!" Drista snapped. "I don't care what he's done, all I care about is the fact that you're killing him! And guess what? I'll be here for the next hour, so go ahead and kill him again! I bet everyone on my server would love to know that TommyInnit killed Dream's sister while they were switched. I bet the news would just eat that up, wouldn't they? So go ahead, try it!"

Tubbo groaned, and Dream couldn't tell who he was annoyed with. Their bond gave nothing away. "She'll be gone in an hour."

"Ha." Drista let out a sharp laugh. "I'll just come back. Again and again and again, no matter how many times it takes I'll just come back. You are not killing him again."

That's when Sam finally spoke up. "You had your fun, Tommy." He said, stepping forward. "You saw how much pain he was in. I think he had the same kind of death Wilbur had, when he turned into-" Sam trailed off and Tommy froze. "We can put Dream in my prison. It's inescapable, he won't be able to torment anyone else."

Drista glared at Sam. Since she had arrived she had been poking at Dream, trying to get him to say something. Dream had been quiet, the phantom pain from dying and the panic of Drista being here making it hard to think. Before, when Wilbur took Drista hostage, Dream still had power. Still had strength. Now, though…

He couldn't protect her anymore.

He was… powerless.

Well… not yet.

As they took Drista away Dream focused on his bond with Techno, gritting metaphorical teeth as he worked on it. 'What are you doing?'

'Remember how I saved you after your bond with Tommy got hurt, Techno?'

He could feel shock and hurt going through the bond, but it wasn't pointed at him. There was a sigh. 'Yes, and?'

'You said you'd help me make our bond stronger, correct?'

'I did say that, didn't I?'

Dream would grin if he could control his body. 'Well, time to get started.'

He wasn't powerless. Not yet. He wouldn't be powerless until this bond fell. He'll be able to recover, he can come back. 

All it required was a corrupted bond and a few tiny favors.

Chapter Text

Tommy’s never lost a bond before- he never had a bond to lose before the SBI one. He never had to deal with what most say is agonizing.

He wished he left George’s house alone. He wished he didn’t ‘go too far’. If he hadn’t then he wouldn’t ever have been exiled. He would’ve never had to deal with what happened.

Him messing with George’s house led to almost losing a bond with Techno. It wasn’t lost, but it was so very close. Him messing with George’s house did lead to the breaking of another bond. One that, for most of the time it existed, he didn’t even notice it.

When Tommy first noticed the start of a new bond, he was surprised. Tubbo had said a while ago that some people never bond. Later, when Tubbo was officially on Pogtopia's side, he asked for a better explanation. 

They went on to say that some people had an affinity to bonds, while some had the exact opposite. They brought up the example of Dream being someone with an affinity to bonds, and him being the opposite- before SBI, he had never had a bond before.

"There's nothing wrong with you, it's just the way it is." Tubbo shrugged when he explained it. He clapped his shoulder. "That just means you have to appreciate the bonds you do have more."

"Is that why we don't have a bond?" Tommy asked softly, heart hurting at the thought. "Because bonds, they don't like me or something?"

"Well, I don't have a particularly good affinity to bonds either." Tubbo admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with a grin. "I have a bond with my sister, who I think has an affinity, and Dream, who definitely has an affinity. They're kind of picking up the weight- it evens out."

It made him do a lot more thinking about bonds. Maybe that's why it took so long for him to bond with SBI in the first place, his lack of an affinity. Wilbur, on the other hand, probably has a moderate affinity to bonds, if SBI, Fundy, and the use to be Schlatt bond went off of anything. Maybe they evened out, and that's how Wilbur was able to bond with them all.

He ignored the fact that Dream had a very high affinity with bonds, and that affinity might affect him. He ignored it then, in Pogtopia, and he's ignoring it now, in exile.

It wouldn't be so bad anyway. Dream's his friend, isn't he? His so-called family abandoned him- Techno betrayed him, Phil is away, and Wilbur isn't the same anymore. Dream's the only one there for him. Who needs his family?

The little thing inside him snaked out, a small talon latching on. It was a little more secure now.

He didn’t understand what he had done wrong. “W-what?”

Dream took a menacing step forward, and Tommy gulped, fear shooting through him. He didn’t understand- he had thrown away his armor like Dream wanted, they had been talking normally just a few minutes ago, what-? “You’re hiding something from me, Tommy.”

Ghostbur turned towards them, head tilted. He had been sitting in the grass, messing with the bugs more than paying attention to them. Did he hear the anger in Dream’s voice, too?

“W-what? I’m not!” He was scared, because somehow Dream was able to make that mask look menacing even with the smiley face on it. It was even worse than that- he didn’t know how mad the other man was. He couldn’t tell because his face was covered. “I’m not hiding anything!”

Something inside of him disagreed- said he was in fact hiding something from Dream. What was it, though? He didn’t know he didn’t mean too he wasn’t trying to upset Dream Dream was his friend he can never keep friends no one liked him he was going to lose his friend and he didn’t even know why-

Wait a second. “I gave you my armor without fuss!” Tommy took a step forward, frowning in half confusion and half vindication. “What else am I supposed to give you?”

A hand wrapped around his throat. 

Tommy’s heart rammed into his ears, surprised and confused and scared and why was Dream so upset he didn’t mean to upset him! Something inside of him was saying he deserved this but why he didn’t understand. “Everything, Tommy.” Dream growled, and this time something else lit up inside of him. Dream squeezed, and Tommy started to choke. “This is your punishment, you deserve nothing anymore. No armor, no tools, no friends, no family.”

‘I’m going to have to stop you there.’

Tommy blinked, surprised. That voice… it wasn’t just one person. No, it felt like two different voices speaking in sync, in harmony, kind of. A moment later and his hand was moving, wrapping around Dream’s wrist and twisting it. His leg shot up and got Dream around the stomach, pushing him back and away. Tommy would’ve gasped if he had any control of his body- he didn’t want to hurt Dream, his friend. What was his family doing? Who was doing it?

It was then that he realized it wasn’t just one person who had switched to him, but two.

“I was keen on letting Tommy take whatever punishment you dished out, Dream.” Techno spoke through his mouth, and Tommy couldn’t help but feel anger and resentment at the sound of his voice. He had destroyed Tommy’s country because he felt like he had been betrayed-

(He ignored the sorrow and longing he felt to see him again.)

“I won’t pretend like Tommy and I are on the best of terms.” Techno continued, and Tommy’s pretty sure he felt his emotions, even though the man only sent a feeling of protection through the bond. There was also love, but it wasn’t from him. “But you’ve gone way too far.”

He could see Dream frown, underneath the edge of the mask. It occurred to Tommy then that Dream and Techno had a bond, one that at the time Tommy hated, because they were on opposite sides how dare Techno- but then Tubbo got one and he calmed down, he thought about it, and it wasn’t Techno’s fault. At least, he thinks so. He’s still mad though about it.

But then… he’s on Tommy’s side right now, even though his bond with Dream is probably much more stable than his bond with Tommy. He’s going against it, which means he does care, right?

He did visit Tommy, right at the beginning. He laughed and teased Tommy and that definitely didn’t help his bond, but before he left he pulled Tommy to the side, out of Dream’s view, and told him that he was just a message away. Tommy, of course, was never going to take up that offer, but it did leave him feeling a little bit better.

“This does not concern you.” Dream finally answered, and Tommy was thrown back to the revolution, when Eret betrayed them and Techno saved him. It was happening again, but why? Beforehand they didn’t have any bad history against each other, so it makes sense why Techno helped him. But now they were on opposite sides and Dream was his only friend so why?

They were family.

Something small and harmful inside of him screeched at that fact, as if it hated it. He ignored it, brain going a mile a minute. They were family, the bond was still here, still intact, Techno cared about him. No matter what he said or what he did, as long as the bond was there Tommy knew Techno cared.

“It most definitely does!” This time the voice that came out was Phil’s, and Phil was here? They were both here? They both cared?

‘Why are you guys here?’

‘Dude, the amount of fear you were pumping through the bond made even me scared.’ That was Techno, and Tommy could feel the worry he was smothering behind indifference in his voice. ‘We can’t just ignore that.’

The little thing inside him said that they might be family, but they weren’t friends. They were an obligation, set up by the bond. He can’t choose that, it’s already made. Friends, on the other hand, Tommy can choose. Tommy can dictate. And Dream was his friend.

But Dream was scaring him.

But they were friends.

“It seems, Dream, that we let you get away with too much when it comes to both Tommy and Wilbur.” Techno was speaking again, and even though Tommy had nothing he knew that wouldn’t stop the man. “I don’t care if Tommy deserves it, I don’t care if you’re the admin, I don’t care about any of it. The next time you lay a hand on him, I won’t stop until you’re dead.”

“And wouldn’t that suck.” Phil took over, shrugging. Both were very relaxed for being in such a vulnerable body. “Cause I bet that bond you’re creating with Techno won’t last for long if you make him that angry, no matter what the other side of him says. All that hard work, for nothing.”

A few feet back, Ghostbur laughed softly, as if remembering something nice. “It was never meant to be, Dream.” 

He looked at Dream, and for a single moment, a millisecond of time, Tommy could see the old Wilbur shining through. He could see stony, defiant eyes, he could see a small smirk and a confident pose. He could see Wilbur, for a single second, and something in his own mind clicked.

His family. They care.

Dream sighed, either knowing he was back into a corner or just not wanting to deal with the entirety of the SBI, half of which being stuck in a child’s (he just called himself a child, god bitch motherfucking damnit-) body. “Tommy’s my friend.” Dream finally said. “I would never hurt him.”

Exactly, the thing inside of him whispered. He would never hurt Tommy, they’re friends. His only friend, his best friend, he didn’t need anyone else. Nothing else, not even family.

Techno snorted. “That didn’t look like friendship.” He shrugged. “Eh, not my place anyways. As long as you don’t hurt him, we’re cool.”

Dream nodded slightly, taking another step back. Wilbur grabbed his sleeve, yanking him down to whisper something in his ear. Tommy wasn’t really paying attention to that, though.

‘The next time he does anything like that, leave.’

‘But-’ Tommy sputtered. ‘He’s my friend. You heard him, he won’t hurt me.’

‘He’s messing with you, Tommy.’ This was Phil. ‘He’s manipulating you.’

‘Shut up!’ Tommy was getting angry, and the little voice was feeding it. ‘He’s been here for me, unlike you two!’

‘Well last time I tried to help you out I got betrayed.’ Techno snarked, and that didn’t help. The man seemed to realize that and sighed. ‘Look, if he does anything like that again, leave, please.’

Please? He rarely ever gets a ‘please’ from the Blade. ‘I… I guess so. But he won’t hurt me. He’s my friend.’

‘Friends don’t scare each other like that, Tommy.’ Phil’s voice was soft, and Tommy faltered. ‘Look, Techno, you live close by, don’t you?’

‘Yeah, kind of.’

‘Good. Tell Tommy where. This switch probably won’t last much longer, since there are two of us here. Make sure Tommy knows how to get to your base, in case he needs to leave in a hurry.’

‘I know where he lives. Why would I have to leave in a hurry?’

‘I don’t trust Dream.’ Phil said after a moment, voice cold. ‘I don’t trust him around Techno, around Wilbur, and especially not around you. If he does anything you don’t like, go to Techno. He’ll protect you.’

‘Do I have-’

‘He’ll protect you.’

‘...yeah, I’ll protect you.’

He still didn’t understand. ‘Why are you guys helping me?’

‘Because we’re family, Tommy.’

‘There’s literally nothing you can do on this server to change that fact.’ Techno’s voice was amused, and Tommy could feel their bond stirring, as if pulling them back into their own bodies. ‘No matter how hard you try to upset me.’

Phil’s laughter was the last thing he heard before they switched back and Tommy could control his body again. When he looked around Dream was gone and Ghostbur was back to humming and playing with the bugs. Tommy’s eyes widened when he saw blood on his sleeve and fingers. “W-Ghostbur!” He ran over, crouching down next to him. Ghostbur could not take care of himself, which meant if this was a big cut he could die and Tommy was done with letting Wil die. “Are you okay?!”

“Hmm?” Ghostbur looked at him, confused, before looking at his sleeve. “Oh, I’m fine, Tommy! This isn’t my blood.”

Tommy frowned, confused. “What?”

Ghostbur smiled, a happy little thing, and took out a dagger from his pocket. “Dream was making everyone red so I thought I should give him some red too!”

That was… that was…

Tommy shivered. His words plus his happy smile was terrifying. “You c-cut him, Ghostbur? And he didn’t retaliate?”

“Hm, no.” Ghostbur tilted his head. “I made his cheek red and he jumped back and asked what I was doing. After I explained he asked me why I went for his face. I just said I wanted to see his eyes again- they’re such a pretty color.”

Tommy… really didn’t know what to do with that information. He knows Wilbur’s seen Dream’s face, one of the only people outside of a select few that have. He remembers when it happened as well- Wilbur boasted about it, he’s just surprised Ghostbur remembered. He wondered if the reason Dream didn’t fight back was because he was too surprised to.

“Stick to blue, Ghostbur.” Tommy murmured, sitting down. Everything was way too much right now. “Stick to blue.

It was silent as he built up into the sky.

He… he couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t meant to hide stuff from Dream, not really. He wasn’t trying to go behind Dream’s back, he wasn’t. His picture was just… Tubbo… he didn’t want to lose it. He didn’t expect Dream to get mad, he didn’t think he would leave.

He doesn’t know how long Dream would be gone. Wilbur’s little camp was destroyed, Dream was gone and Tommy was alone and the little thing inside of him hissed that it was his fault and he couldn’t take it anymore.

That thing inside of him. It wouldn’t stop talking.

Dream’s gone.

Go above the clouds.

Your only friend.

He was your friend.

Dream was your only friend.

This entire time.

He came and visited you every day.

You laughed and cried.

He cried a lot.

He took his things.

Then you’d laugh some more.

He’d throw them in a hole.

He had a friend. 

He’ll see you every week.

Now…

Every week.

He’ll come and watch you.

Every week… he’ll… what?

He stopped building, pulling out his picture of Tubbo. He stared at the picture, at his best friend, and wished his mind didn’t confuse him so much. But…

He’ll come and watch him?

That’s good. The voice said. He’ll protect you, he’s your friend.

He’ll come and watch him. Watch. Friends…

Friends don’t do that.

He looked down, at the ground far below. At everything he had done, everything he had built in exile. At the beach. His failed party. His blown up tent.

Friends… friends… friends don’t blow up your stuff.

Friends don’t watch each other. Friends don’t…

He was there to watch him. That’s why he was there. That’s why he...

His eyes widened in shock, and he sat down on top of his pillar, legs hanging off the side as he looked at the ground below. If he's right then…

Then…

Then Dream wasn't actually…? Was he not actually… his friend?

The thing inside of him hissed at that, whispering that no that wasn't true, Dream was his friend, his only friend, listen to Dream-

But… but… Dream was the reason he was out here! Dream kept destroying his stuff and while yes he's been nice and they're still friends (no Tommy not friends not friends not friends-) he couldn't keep doing this.

The thing whispered again, trying to soothe him and make him see sense.

That's where the thing messed up.

TommyInnit never sees sense.

It was then that he finally noticed the thing fully. It was weird- it felt like a bond but it also didn't. It was shriveled and dry and when he poked it it hissed back. This was what he felt before, wasn’t it? The bond he didn’t want to think about because it might’ve been with Dream. The bond also wasn't fully formed, he could tell. It wasn't fully formed because Tommy's never accepted it. He knows enough about bonds to know that to grow a bond it has to be accepted by both parties, and this one definitely wasn't. It was actually pretty weak because of it, Tommy smirked when the bond practically rolled over with little brute force on his part.

Then he realized who the bond was to and something snapped in the back of his head.

You bonded with Dream-

The discs, Tubbo-

Before everyone else, it was you and me against Dream-

He's the cause of all this-

Dream-

Dream.

Dream had been growing a bond between them, one that was undoubtedly corrupted. He shivered at the thought- no one ever made a corrupted bond for a good reason. It wasn't something you could defend. The only reason Dream would be making a corrupted bond between them would be-

You're the only one I can't control-

I don't fucking care about Spirit, Tommy! I care about those discs-

Because YOU care about them-

Dream was just trying to gain control over him. The bond hissed, as if in pain. 

Dream wasn't on his side. Dream wasn't his friend. He was being used.

He- they weren’t- they weren’t friends. He… he didn’t want a bond!

The bond hissed again, louder. It got louder and louder, before the bond crumpled into dust and the hissing stopped, as if it was never there in the first place. Tommy paused, shocked. He felt around for the bond, but never found it.

It was gone, he got rid of it. While he had never accepted the bond, he had never rejected it either. The moment rejection came into the picture, the bond crumbled. Like a table with only one leg, no bond could hold itself up with only one person feeding it.

Tommy cursed, cloudy mind kicking into action. He jumped off into the ocean, swimming onto shore and looking around for anything he might want to keep. Getting his supplies, he looked around, trying to think of where to go.

Dream would've felt the bond break- might've even felt some pain since he had accepted it, unlike Tommy. He'd be on his way in any minute, if he wasn't already.

Tommy needed to go.

Wasn't… didn't Techno live nearby?

He frowned, still upset at the man. Techno had done so much to help them fight Manburg, just to turn around at the last minute and show his true colors as the traitor. It hurt, and he'd never forgive him.

But he had stepped in when Dream had gone too far. He and Phil both did. His family.

Tommy took one final look at his base before running off. He thought he would look back, at least once. Maybe it was his resolve, or maybe he was free without the bond's influence, but he never turned his head away from his objective.

It's time to finally get around for this place, a place that has nothing left for him. It's time to get back his discs. It's time for him to be the best he could be.

It's time for him to be a raccoon.

Chapter Text

He was right outside their house.

Tommy shook, exhaling harshly and spazzing about. Dream was right there, he was coming he was almost here-

“Calm down.” Techno grabbed his shoulders, catching his eyes. “Calm down, he has no reason to think you’re here.” The other man broke a potion over his head, letting the contents of the bottle fall on Tommy. In a single second Tommy had disappeared. “That cupboard is empty, Tommy. Sit in there and be quiet.”

Tommy did as he was told, almost diving into it before shutting it just until there was only a crack left, so he could breath and see. He was shaking so badly and breathing so harshly that he had to place a hand over his mouth. He shivered, even though it was warm inside.

There was a knock on the door.

“Hello!”

Oh god he couldn’t do this-

“Hi Dream.”

There was a pause, and the sound of a zombie dying. “Ugh, these zombies are so annoying.” Another zombie, the sound of a slick sword going through flesh. “You know, I’ve never actually been here before.”

“Come in come in.” Techno moved out of the way. “Make yourself at home.”

The sound of moving floorboards, as Techno kept talking and Dream kept up the conversation. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He could do this, he could do this-

Through the crack in the cabinet, Dream became visible.

He couldn’t do this-

They disappeared downstairs and upstairs, and Tommy took the time they weren’t on his floor to relax himself. It was working, but then Dream spoke up. “Well, there’s a bit of a problem.”

Tommy saw Techno tense minutely, felt his anxiety through the bond. “What’s the problem?”

“....Tommy…. Left.”

He knew. Oh god. He knew.

He knew he knew he knew he knew he knew he knew he knew-

His breathing started to pick up, going so quick and shallow that he wasn’t getting enough oxygen. His face started going red and he gasped, the sound soft but clear as day.

Techno froze, obviously hearing it. Dream looked at him, as if noticing his new posture. Techno sniffled, rubbing his nose and coughing, as if the outside cold was getting to him. “Who? Oh yeah, Tommy-”

He didn’t hear anymore, because Dream knew he was here he had to he knew and everything was getting muffled there was a ringing in his ears he knew he knew he knew-

The start of a sob rumbled in his throat.

And suddenly… he wasn’t in control anymore.

‘Be quiet!’

A hand came up to his mouth, whoever had taken control forcing his body to calm. Tommy, now knowing he could mentally calm himself without having to worry about it showing, took gasping, deep mental breaths. His body breathed deeply too, the sound too quiet to hear.

After calming himself he paused, realizing something.

The person who had spoke. Who had switched with him.

It was Wilbur.

Wilbur. Not Ghostbur. Wilbur.

‘W-Wilbur?!’

‘Quiet.’ He hissed again, and he sounded like Wilbur and Tommy didn’t realize how much he missed him. ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know you need to shut the hell up, you child.’

‘B-But how? You’re… but-’

Wilbur was back. He was back! He had switched with Tommy- he hasn’t switched since Tommy killed him. He’s better!

Outside, Dream was looking outside the window. “Well, if you see him, message me.”

“As if I’d ever do that.” Techno snorted. His eyes were hard. “If I find him before you, I’m never letting him go back to that exile.”

Dream frowned, and if Tommy could move his body he would smile. “Techno-”

“You’re lucky I let you in my house, Dream.” Techno growled, taking a threatening step forward. Unlike the other times Tommy’s seen Techno and Dream get serious, this time Dream didn’t back down. “You almost broke him, Dream.”

“I thought you didn’t care, Techno.” Dream took a step forward, an amused grin gracing his face. Both of their hands twitched, as if wanting to grab their swords. “You might act like you do, but you left Tommy there, left him with me. That doesn’t sound like something someone who cared would do.”

Techno exhaled harshly, like a bull about to charge. He looked angry. “Don’t act like you understand family, Dream. The bonds you have are barely holding themselves together. When’s the last time you talked to George? The last time you helped Sapnap? The last time you did something with Tubbo to improve him and not manipulate him? Well, Dream?”

“Don’t act like you’re any better, Techno!” Dream hissed, and it made Tommy flinch, even though Wilbur was in control. There was a second of pause as Wilbur fished an invisibility potion out of Tommy’s pocket, getting ready to use it. “You let Tommy be exiled, you furthered Wilbur’s descent into madness! And while you might not have made the bond between us, you accepted it. You accepted a corrupted bond and you’re still accepting it, because it’s only gotten stronger, Techno. I couldn’t do that by myself.”

“Shut up.”

“No, admit it.” Dream took another step forward. “You’re making the bond stronger, just like I am. And no more good and bad sides, Techno. It’s just you. Both you and the bad side of you accepted it. You accepted it long ago- you accepted it the moment you disarmed me during our dual. You accepted it the moment you won, the moment my mask got knocked off and you saw my face. I felt it then, and I know you did too.”

Tommy would suck in a breath if he could. They had been bonded for that long? That was, wasn't that years ago? It felt like it, at least. Long before the SMP was this terrible. Tommy hadn’t been bonded with Techno for a super long time, still longer then Dream but not as much as he thought.

Was it really for that long?

‘Be quiet.’

“W-Wilbur, I wasn’t talking-’

‘Quiet.’

Why was Wilbur acting so weird?

“Because this isn’t actually Wilbur.’

This isn’t actually… what?!

Techno’s eyes flickered everywhere but his cabinet. “Our bond just proves my point, Dream. Your bonds are all slowly dying, because you’re a terrible person. Am I just as bad? Maybe. That doesn’t disprove my point. You’re terrible, and I’m not allowing you anywhere near Tommy again. He’s just a kid.”

Dream glared but didn’t do much else. “You don’t want me as an enemy.”

“I don’t.” He agreed. “But you don’t want me as an enemy either, Dream. Your admin status can only take you so far. We both know who would win in a fight.”

‘Wilbur, what do you mean?’

‘I meant what I said. This is the remnants of your bond with Willbur, using Ghostbur as a vessel to help you out. Don’t expect this to happen again.’

‘But-’ Tommy couldn’t explain the emotions he was feeling. ‘What happened to you.’

‘I died, Tommy.’ His voice was soft, as if he was disappearing from his mind. Tommy didn’t want him to go. ‘All that’s left is the bond- the bond Ghostbur can’t even access most of the time. Sorry Tommy, but I’m gone and I don’t think I can come back. At least, not on this server.’

Then he was gone and Tommy could control his body. He slapped his hand over his mouth again, tears springing in his eyes.

Gone. He was gone.

“When have I ever been your enemy?” Dream asked, voice soft. “Have I ever betrayed you? Have I ever broken your trust? All I’ve been is helpful since you joined the SMP. That’s more than you can say for Tommy and Wilbur.”

He was… right, there. Tommy hated to say it, but it was true. The moment he joined Tommy and Wilbur used his image to help their rebellion, and while Techno knew that and was okay with it Tommy never asked how he felt about it. He… he just never even thought about it.

“And yet I still trust them more than you.” Techno scoffed.

“Do you?”

He expected Techno to laugh and answer Dream in that blunt way he normally does. Techno stays silent. He rubs his fingers, a silent signal, and Tommy remembers to drink the potion resting in his hands, going invisible again.

Dream nodded, as if he expected that answer. “I understand why- how can you trust someone who betrayed you? How can you trust someone who’s insane?” He chuckled softly. “Ah, I miss Wilbur, the sadistic fuck he was.”

Techno glared. “You’re one of the reasons he’s gone, Dream. You gave him TNT.”

“And you gave him the go ahead.” Dream countered, posture relaxed and smug. He didn’t look worried anymore, he looked like he knew he had Techno cornered. Maybe he did. “Of course I didn’t think Wilbur would turn into that when I gave him the gunpowder- I know you didn’t think that either. Maybe it’s what he deserved. Did he ever tell you what he did during the revolution? What he did to Drista?”

Tommy froze, tensing at the memories. When Wilbur had held Drista hostage, when he tortured Dream. He thought about what happened just a week or two ago, when Ghostbur tried to unmask him again. While he cared about Drista, he never thought about how Dream felt about it. He didn’t care at the time, because Dream was his enemy- he still is.

“You brought this up before but never explained what happened.” Techno’s voice was low and apathetic. Tommy wondered if it was a defense mechanism. “He hurt you, I know that.”

“He used Drista against me, Techno.” Dream was angry now, but not at him. “He took her hostage while we were switched and when I came back he took off my mask and beat me until I could barely stand. Drista came back and helped me escape, but it caused my body to shut down. If my friends didn’t show up he would’ve killed me.”

Dream sounded almost indifferent when he spoke about what happened, besides the part when he brought up Drista. It was as if he didn’t care that he almost died- he was just telling Techno to get sympathy. Tommy wondered if Techno realized.

“He should’ve kept Drista out of it.” He couldn’t tell if Techno was just trying to placate him, or if he actually felt that way. “But that doesn’t mean he deserved this to happen to him.”

“You’d feel different if it was your sibling.” Dream muttered.

Techno’s… sibling? Tommy knew he had family, knew he had siblings, but he also knew they weren’t bonded and how did Dream know about them? Were they closer than Tommy thought?

“Well, not all of us have family bonds, Dream.” Techno walked to the door. “You should leave. Tommy isn’t here.”

Dream sighed but walked with him. “See you late, Techno.”

“Bye.”

Tommy heard the door close. He waited for a minute or two until Techno opened the cabinet door. “He’s gone.”

Tommy, overwhelmed and stressed, jumped out and hugged him. Techno froze, as if not prepared. “Tommy-?”

Tommy didn’t let go. He kept clutching him, and Techno didn’t make him let go. He had a lot to ask him, a lot to tell him. Wilbur had switched, and Techno deserved to know. But for now…

He just needed some comfort.

Chapter Text

He did not like Dream. At least, not at the moment. It always changed with him- he was either moments away from killing the man or he was trusting him to have his back, to protect him in battle. It was a broken seesaw and Techno felt nauseous every time he got on the ride.

There are sometimes, though, when the seesaw balances and he feels neutral towards the man. When Dream doesn't clearly want something from a visit with him and they can actually talk and Techno knows it strengthens the bond between them but it's also nice being able to talk with someone on your level. Phil is great, Tommy can be okay and Wilbur was fun before that happened, but none of them understood Techno's need to be the best. To be great. He had to be, because it was the only way to stop the-

Anyways, Dream understands, to a point. He understands feeding the bloodlust to satisfy the monster inside them. Techno might be a bit philosophical, calling a different part of himself a hidden monster, but it was so he'll call it that. It wanted blood and pain and death and power and it'll do anything to get it. As long as the person isn't bonded to him, they're free game, and that was terrifying, because what if it got out? What if he couldn't control it anymore? What if the next time he spawns withers the smell of blood is too much and he loses control?

Calm down, everything is fine. It's fine.

Well, Dream was here, at his house, the place where Tommy is… so maybe it's not all that fine.

But this visit wasn't for Tommy, surprisingly. Dream didn't explain why he showed up, and he couldn't tell from their bond, but Dream was relaxed and he had even taken his helmet off so it felt like this would be one of those balanced neutral seesaw days.

He'll pretend like he doesn't like those days. He likes being alone, but sometimes the quiet will get to him and the voices will get to loud and Dream had this special thing about him that made the voices speak in unison which while was louder than normal at least it was just one thing and it didn't crowd his brain and he could think normally and function like a normal person and it wouldn't take control-

Techno shook his head, trying to calm himself. Dream was still talking in front of him, not even realizing that something was wrong. 

(He had realized, in fact, it was the entire reason he was here.) 

The masked man had appeared and demanded that they go on a walk, out into the arctic tundra. Techno had looked at him, looked at what he was wearing, and scoffed. "You're going to freeze to death out there."

And that's what made the other go on a going into 10 minute rant about how he could deal with the cold easily and how he's been through worse in Manhunts.

"I know you've seen them-" He continued, pushing Techno towards the door. "I've swam through icy cold water on multiple occasions with just a hoodie and jeans on, no armor at all. I'll be fine."

"I also know that Bad gets on your case every time you do that cause you give yourself frostbite." Techno replied, wondering why he even cared that the other man would be cold. He chalked it up to his big brother instincts kicking in- with Tommy living with him he's become a lot more caring, in his own way. "Why would I even go out there with you? You'd just stab me in the back and leave me to die."

Dream pouted, barely seeable under the mask. "Ye of little faith, Techno. I want to go on a walk and I have no one else to do it with."

"Because you're pushing away all your friends, even your bonds." Techno noted, tone neutral. He had brought this up last time Dream was here, when Tommy was hiding in the cupboard (Tommy was in his underground base when Dream appeared this time, he was much safer), but the difference between then and now was that he had calmed down and he wasn't acting it up. Yes, he was still very pissed at what Dream did to the boy, but he had upped his anger when he talked to Dream because Tommy was there, and Tommy hates Techno's bond with Dream. He may have apologized, after he learned about it during the Dreamon incident, but it was obvious that he still didn't like it.

Techno didn't know if Tommy blamed him or Dream for that. The self conscious part of him said that Tommy blamed him.

So yes, Techno did play up his anger a bit when talking to Dream last time. It was a bit worrying- maybe Dream would realize that he was overly angry and he'd figure out that Techno would only do that if Tommy was there. There was little to no chance of that happening, but it still scared him. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice.

Now though, that they were mostly alone, he could sincerely ask about it. Instead of using it as a spike to hurt him, he could use it as something to open him up. Figure out why he was doing what he was doing.

Dream froze for a second, body tensing before he continued pushing Techno out of his house. "Nuh uh, today's not the day for talking about sad shit. I think we both need a break."

Need and deserve are two different things. Neither of them deserved a break, not with everything they've done. The question is, why did Dream need a break now, and why had he chosen Techno of all people to take the break with? The one person on the server who could kill him? Strange choice.

(It's not because they understood each other, or that they trusted each other on some level, not because of any of that stuff. Techno wouldn't believe it, couldn't believe it. He couldn't get close to him, because that meant more power and then it would get out-)

The voices converged, all chanting the same thing in his head. For once, it wasn't something stupid or something bloody. They were just worried about Dream being too cold.

Techno would find the voices cute if they didn't also tell him to punt babies on the regular.

"I'm getting you a jacket." He ducked under Dream's arms, walking over to the cabinet Tommy had hidden in. They had put some cloaks and scarves in there, so that if he had to hide again and his invis ran out he wouldn't be completely out in the open. Bad thing was Techno only had two cloaks- his blue and white arctic one that he was wearing, and his royal red one. 

He really didn't want to let Dream borrow the red one.

He also didn't want to deal with a man on the verge of hypothermia either.

Sighing, he pulled it out and threw it at him, glaring in a way that said 'not one word about it'. Dream cocked his head to the side but didn't speak on it, slinging it over his shoulder. Techno hoped that it didn't smell too much like Tommy- he was the one who's been wearing it a lot, every time he went outside. He hoped Dream didn't notice.

He followed the man out into the tundra, frown set squarely on his face because really why was he doing this again? He couldn't even leave if he wanted to now, because he was a good person and gave Dream the cloak for warmth, damnit. Why couldn’t Dream just leave him alone, really? Just- just not show up, just stay away, because quite frankly Techno’s having a hell of a time getting the loudest voice (the other part of him, the Blood God-) in his head to shut up and stop obsessing over power and Dream was not helping-

Or maybe he actually was.

Wait a second.

Dream was walking out into the icy tundra with no real direction, talking about everything and anything. He talked about the last MCC, which Techno wasn’t in, he talked about a few new ideas for his Manhunts, which Techno pretended not to watch, and he brainstormed about who he wanted to let on the server, which Techno acted like he didn’t care about. Techno didn’t say a word, just grunted at certain times and tried to show his obvious boredom. That didn’t stop Dream though- the admin just kept talking and talking. He was debating about whether to tame a wolf at the moment.

And while that shouldn’t be helpful to his ongoing crises with the Blood (no-) it was. The voices in his head have always had a weird obsession with Dream, and Techno couldn’t beat it out of them, no matter what he did (It was almost on par with the letter E and The Blo- him) . Due to that, whenever he was in Techno’s general vicinity the voices, as explained before, got really loud and sometimes they got loud enough that Techno couldn’t hear that particular voice anymore.

This was one of those times.

Dream was going on and on about wolves and cats and pets in general and one of the voices, so quiet he could barely hear it, said ‘name it Floof’.

So then, Techno, being the genius he was, spoke aloud. “I’ll help you catch a dog, but you gotta name it Floof.”

The voices quieted for a moment, and the one Techno didn’t want to hear pressed forward, telling him to go for the power, spill blood, kill everyone. He grimaced as it’s words echoed through his ears, over and over again. This wasn’t abnormal, but he really couldn’t deal with it today, he just wanted some peace-

And then the other voices swelled, all chanting ‘Floof’ in unison, so loudly that it rattled his eardrums and completely drowned out the other voice. His head was by no means quiet, but he’d take the voices yelling dog names any day over that one shouting about power.

“Oh, really?” Dream looked surprised, before grinning. “Good, cause I didn’t bring any bones.”

With an actual plan in mind (which meant when it was done Techno could leave-) they went out in search for a dog. Techno continued to stay quiet and Dream kept on talking, and Techno wondered why exactly he was doing this. The first excuse was lined with bullshit, so while it might be partially true he didn’t fully believe it. Sure, Dream may actually want a break but to go to Techno of all people is absurd.

“Stop thinking so hard.” Dream commented idly, still looking for a wolf. Techno startled- was he projecting by accident? “You’ll give me a migraine- wolf!”

A 50 meter run and 6 bones later, Dream had a new dog and Techno just wanted to go home. The walk wasn’t bad, per se, he just wanted to be done. There was only so long that the voices could hold him back, and he felt like he was testing it by hanging out with Dream for so long, for putting it so close to power.

He barely listened to Dream as they made their way back, too anxious of the idea of having to be alone with only his thoughts and voices but also too tense to want to hang around Dream any longer. Luckily, the voices were still stuck on Floof and Techno still had relative peace for now. But for how much longer-

“Here.” Dream picked up his new dog, dropping it into Techno’s arms. “Hold Floof, animals make you feel better.”

Without another word on that topic, he continued on, going back to whatever he was talking about before (George, he thinks- something about piss vision). Techno pretended to be annoyed. When he wasn’t looking, he buried his head into the dog’s fur, wishing it would muffle the noise in his head.

Floof licked his cheek.

The voices got louder, all of them cooing at the dog. One said to kill it. It was quickly drowned out by the others.

He still couldn’t hear him, in his head. It’s been almost an hour- one of the longest times it’s been drowned out by the others. 

He didn’t want it to end.

They made it back to Techno’s place, and luckily Tommy was still hidden underground, so there was no problem on that front. Dream was still talking- something about leaving Floof here because Sapnap really was a trigger happy pet killer, and Techno just grunted, trying to hide the fact that in the ten minutes he had known the dog Floof had already grown on him.

He had grown on the voices too. They were still chanting his name. Still drowning out the other voice. He felt more relaxed then he thought he would be.

“Well, that was surprisingly nice.” Dream shook off the cloak, putting it away and standing up. He pet Floof’s head before moving towards the door. “But duty calls. I have a whole SMP to take care of.”

He didn’t know if he meant that as in checking up on people, or if he meant admin work. Both sounded boring, so he didn’t comment on it.

“You know, it just seems so rude.” Techno, in a surprisingly much better mood then he was before, said with a small smirk. “Do I barge into your house and pull you out of whatever you were doing just to go on a walk?” He paused, frowning. “Actually, do you even have a house?”

And that was the start of it all.

“I do have a house.” Dream said after a moment, voice flat to hide the fact that he was obviously lying. “It’s just… very very far from here.”

“Do you like-” Techno paused, what he just learned finally catching up to him. He grinned, amusement running through him and he’s sure Dream felt it through the bond. “Are you homeless?”

There was something very fun and weirdly calming about this ‘homeless’ joke. Of course Dream had a home- a secret one or multiple homes hidden around the place that he doesn’t tell anyone about. Techno can respect that, he does too, but he doesn’t have a public home which means he’s homeless and will be treated accordingly.

The calming thing about the joke is that there wasn’t any malice behind it. Most jokes nowadays on the SMP hurt at least one or two people when they are said- they were jibes and insults and sarcasm hidden behind a thin layer of humor and while Techno excelled at that kind of comedy sometimes it was nice to just stay light. Not all jokes had to hurt someone.

It was good to remember that.

But that doesn’t mean Techno didn’t tease the hell out of Dream. It was marvelous, really- he embarrassed the man so much that he started building a house with the items he had on him. This was top tier bullying and the voices loved it. They had all started chanting about Dream’s homelessness, and while it was loud it was better then the things they normally said and that was all that mattered to Techno. 

It kept the other side of him quiet.

Dream, on the other hand, was having some very bad luck, which made it all the funnier.

‘No, Enderman, don’t take his dirt! Oh, the grass is growing chat, he’s gonna have a green roof!’

Dream frowned, eyes glancing over to where Techno was so obviously hiding. The other man had followed him to his home (he was not homeless-) and decided to comment on his renovations to his ‘chat’. Dream knows about the chat, he learned about them after they bonded because sometimes Techno can’t distinguish his voice from the other voices he hears and Dream figured it out pretty quickly after that. Why Techno calls them ‘chat’ Dream may never know- he doesn’t ask either.

He knows when to and when not to pry.

‘Is he making another room out of dirt?’ Dream saw the particles of a potion shift in the corner of his eye- Techno moving about. ‘He doesn’t even have wood!’

‘Shut up Techno.’

Techno ignored him. ‘He doesn’t even have wood, chat! Oh no, he’s so poor!’

Dream groaned, stopping his building to go cut down some trees. And maybe Techno’s neck while he’s at it.

‘I am watching respectfully, chat.’ Techno must’ve felt his anger. ‘I am watching respectfully, alright? No one is allowed to make fun of this man- he’s a hardworking man, alright? He’s building his house- he’s looking up a- he’s going to go off server to get a builder to show him a tutorial. Where’s Grian when you need him?’

Okay, if Techno wants a show, he’ll give him a show.

‘Oh, he’s finishing up the dirt room, is he gonna use world edit? Wait no, he’s plowing up the snow- this is so sad, this man is somehow more broke than TommyInnit-’

Dream snorted quietly, as if there was anyone else there besides him, Techno, and the voices in his head. Grabbing the wood he did have, he made some stairs. 

Time to make the ugly house even worse.

‘Oh, this poor man, this poor man- wait, he’s actually placin’ stairs?!’

The sun started to set as Dream finished the shoddy stair roof thing. He hid a hand behind him, tapping into his admin powers and inputting a command.

A creeper appeared right in front of him.

With his sword, he definitely could’ve killed it before it went off, but where’s the fun in that?

Long story short, his new room blew up, he was barely harmed, Techno laughed, and then he proceeded to start luring other creepers over. ‘Fuck off Techno!’

All he heard was Techno’s deep laugh coming back. The sound of another creeper hissing made him spin, slicing it in half just before it exploded.

He worked for half the night until Techno actually went to sleep, where Dream then took a break and wondered why him? before the sun broke through the night and Techno was back and ready to tease some more but this time Dream had a diary and some TNT and he was done with being teased.

It didn’t work. He was still teased.

Damnit.

Chapter Text

“Hey Dream!”

The man in question turned so fast that Puffy thought he got whiplash. His mask ended right above his mouth, so Puffy could see the wide grin he gave her. “Puffy!” There was the crack of an ender pearl and suddenly Dream was right next to her. “How are you? What’re you doing?”

Puffy had the urge to ruffle his hair. She doesn’t think he would appreciate it, given where they were at the moment.

L’Manburg had been rebuilt after the withers and Wilbur destroyed the place. Puffy had just been passing by when she saw Dream, talking with Tubbo and Tommy just outside the walls. It was obvious that they were wary. Puffy found it funny that they’d be wary of Dream, her duckling.

She won't pretend that she didn’t find their baffled faces funny. Dream had looked threatening a moment before she appeared, but now he was grinning like a child trying to impress their mother.

Screw it, she ruffled his hair. “Could be better, could be worse, but everything’s good for now, I was just walking around.”

They both heard Tommy squeak, eyes wide at the fact that she could do that without getting her hand chopped off (please, try her-). Dream nodded, smile softening but still there. “I’m happy you're settling into the server well.”

“Thanks for inviting me.” Puffy replied, before taking pity on the two boys still standing there. She grabbed Dream’s wrist. “Hey, can you take me to that jungle base through the nether?”

“Sure.” Her duckling said, beaming. Puffy thinks he completely forgot what he was doing before. The boys seemed to appreciate it, at least. “Come on.”

Dream led Puffy away, and Puffy turned back once to wave a goodbye to the very confused boys she left behind.

My duckling. Yesterday… was terrifying but really more than that it was sad. 

Dream had a weird habit of following her around randomly.

The first time it happened she was more confused than weirded out. She knew him from MCC, but after joining the server she realized that he’s much different in front of the public than in private. And that made sense- everyone put on a mask in public, everyone hid who they really were from people they didn’t know. She understood that.

She just didn’t think that the Dream underneath his public mask was actually just a puppy dog keen on following her around.

She called him her duckling straight to his face once. He just looked at her, quacked, and kept following her.

I’ve lost my duckling, maybe forever… but that may be the sacrifice that was needed to secure everyone else’s happiness. We need to think of the children that have had to endure much more than children should. 

“Puffy!”

Puffy, at said moment, was hanging out with Skeppy. Unlike a lot of the other people on the server, Skeppy never really showed fear towards Dream. If he had any, he hid it well. It may be because of Bad, or because of something else. Either way, all he did was glance at the man when he ran up. Puffy frowned, Dream sounded distressed. “What, duckling?”

“Bad wouldn’t let me have a third muffin, he said I’ve been eating too many!” Was Dream whining? The admin in question hugged her, hiding his face like a child. “And you know Bad when he gets into dad mode, I couldn’t convince him! So I went to Phil but Phil agreed with him so now I need you to tell him I can have more.”

Puffy blinked, cogs slowly turning as she figured out what he was saying. What he was implying. “I’m not your mom, Dream.”

“You’re the entire server’s mom.” Dream disagreed, and Puffy gave him a look.

“No no, I can see that.” Skeppy spoke up, apparently listening into the conversation. Puffy glared at him- he was not being helpful. “Big sister or mother, there’s no other option.”

“I’m not old enough to be a mother.” Puffy huffed, grabbing Dream and pushing him back. “But I’ll talk to Bad.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Needless to say, he got an extra muffin.

And when you really think about it, it-it’s over a disc. A stupid circular piece of vinyl meant more to my duckling than the life and happiness of others.

She was helping rebuild L’Manburg when he appeared.

Tubbo had been working for days on end, and Puffy was starting to get worried, so she decided to help out. Where the others had gone, she doesn’t know.

“Here’s some more supplies.” Dream came out of nowhere, dropping a sack of stuff on the floor. Tubbo yelped and jumped back, falling off the roof he was working on. Puffy caught him before he hurt himself. 

“Dream!” Tubbo sounded exasperated, breathing deeply. “Warn a man before you randomly appear.” Then his eyes narrowed. “You helped destroy this place, why are you giving us supplies to rebuild?”

Dream shrugged. “I wanted to help Puffy.” Was all he said on the matter. He turned to Tubbo. “And you haven’t been practicing what I’ve taught you- I saw that creeper blow you up yesterday.”

Tubbo paused, eyes widening. “Wait, you were the one who threw the regen on me?!?”

Dream snorted, nodding. “Take a break.” He took a stone sword out of his pocket, throwing it to him. In L’Manburg armor wasn’t allowed, but with how torn up it was all of them were wearing theirs. As if Dream ever listened to that rule before. He took out another stone sword. “Impromptu sparring session.”

Tubbo caught the sword, staring at it. With a scared shout he ran towards Dream, as if trying to surprise him. Dream laughed, blocking his swing easily.

Puffy continued to work on the roof of the house she was on, glancing over every now and then to check in. A few rounds past, each with Tubbo losing. Puffy was tempted to give it a go, but she also wasn’t in the mood to fight. She just took potshots at any mob that got close to them while fighting.

After half an hour or so Tubbo fell to the ground, panting and sweating heavily. “Alright, alright, red flag, I surrender.”

“It's a white flag, Tubbo.” Dream was sweating slightly, but other than that and the slightly deeper breathing he seemed completely fine. “You’ve gotten out of shape- your endurance was better than that before.”

Puffy jumped down from the roof, digging into her inventory and taking out a bottle of water. She handed it to the boy. “I could tell you were getting better, though.”

Tubbo took a greedy gulp of the drink. “Maybe I’ll go to Techno and get him to teach me his ways.” Something that looked a little like fear flashed in his eyes for a moment, before it was gone. “Then I can beat you.”

Dream just smirked. “You’ll never beat me with that endurance.”

“Oh come on!” Tubbo pouted, and Dream laughed, ruffling his hair. Tubbo, unlike Tommy, didn’t flinch whenever he came close. Puffy thinks it’s because of their bond.

“You’ll get it some day.” Puffy added in, feeling the same urge to ruffle his hair as well. She did, because she’s never been good at fighting those types of urges.

Tubbo blinked, eyes clouding with confusion. He murmured, so quietly that Puffy almost didn’t catch it. “When did they become my siblings?”

Puffy didn’t know how to feel about that, so she just pretended that she didn’t hear.

Even through all of the horrific actions he has done, I believe that one day he will be changed. 

“Erm, I don’t mean to alarm you.” Tommy’s voice had gone into a whisper, eyes flickering up to one of the black towers next to them. He looked confused and irritated, and a little afraid. “But I think you have a stalker.”

Puffy frowned and turned, looking at where Tommy was looking. Up on top of a tall tower, watching them, was-

“Get down here before you hurt yourself!” Puffy snapped, yelling up to Dream. Dream didn’t say a word, looking down with an almost blank face.

“Uh.” Tommy looked concerned. “I don’t know if you should-”

He couldn’t finish, since there was the sound of a pearl breaking and suddenly Dream was next to them. “Hey Puffy.” He greeted warmly before turning to the other. “Tommy.”

“Dream.” Tommy now looked more angry then wary, his emotions clouding over his judgement. Puffy knew he had problems with that, she wished she could help him out. “I’ll talk to you later, Puffy.”

She nodded, watching him walk away. Dream did the same. Once he was out of view Puffy turned and slapped his shoulder, scowled. “What’d I say about being overly intimidating for no reason?!”

Dream pouted. “Tommy’s different.” He protested. “I didn’t want him to scam you.”

Puffy gave him an unimpressed look. “I can handle a teenager, Dream.”

“Tommy is not an ordinary teenager.” Dream replied, and yeah he made a good point. “If I had let that continue he would’ve walked out of here with your entire set of armor.”

He might be telling the truth there, Puffy doesn’t know. She has a soft heart for people in need, she has a soft heart for most of the people on this server, and she hasn’t even been here for long. “I also said not to follow me from such high places.”

Dream snorted. “I never fall.”

“Except for the time you did.” Puffy countered. “And broke your leg.”

“I was late with the water bucket.” Dream argued. “That rarely ever happens.”

“I had to carry you back to my place.” Puffy continued, arms crossed. “No one would give me a health potion, I had to spend a diamond on one.”

“I paid you back.” He grumbled.

“I’d rather you not have to do that.” Puffy snapped. “I’d rather you not get hurt at all!”

Dream went quiet, frowning, and Puffy wished she knew his expression. “Okay, fine.”

She grinned, mood brightening. “It makes more sense for you to stay on the ground anyway.” She said, ruffling his hair cause she could. “Neither baby ducks nor puppies can fly.”

No matter what he has done, I will still visit my duckling in his prison. At least he will understand the loneliness that he made Tommy bear.

Puffy knows that Dream is not the type to like showing his face.

She doesn’t know why, doesn’t know how it started, she just knows that he doesn’t like to and she respects that, because it’s his decision. She also knows that out of the many people on the server, only a handful have seen his face.

On a starry night she had found him on top of a grassy hill, laying down and looking up at the stars. With the moon shining it was easy to see, so she made her way up there easily. They sat in silence for a while, just looking up at the stars.

Puffy doesn’t know why she asked- the question came up out of nowhere and she blurted it out, more curious than anything else.

“Not many.” Dream murmured, seemingly unbothered, and Puffy felt thankful for that. “Besides blood family, who knew me before I wore a mask, most of my bonds have seen my face. Sapnap knew me before I wore my mask, so he obviously knows. George knows, Bad knows, Ant might know, along with Tubbo, but I’m not completely sure. There have been times where they could’ve saw but they may not have. Techno knows- he saw my face during our duel. And, uh, Wilbur knows.”

Puffy sat up at that one. Wilbur? That was an odd one. Her duckling’s voice sounded strained, what had happened there? “Wilbur?”

“It’s a… long story.” Dream murmured, sounded like he wanted to tell her but also not.

“It’s okay.” Puffy smoothed out her voice, making it soothing. “You don’t have to say anything.”

“It’s just-” His voice cracked and his hands went to cover his eyes, even though he was wearing a mask. “With the others, I let them see my face, I let them know. I’m okay with them knowing. Even with Techno, who cut my mask off during the dual. I knew there was a chance of that happening and I was okay with it. I had control over it, but Wilbur just-”

His voice cracked again with something that sounded like a pushed down sob and he cut himself off. Puffy scooched over, pulling him up into a hug. She still doesn’t know what happened, but she can put together the context clues. Wilbur took off Dream’s mask, without his permission. She can’t imagine ever doing that- it was an invasion of privacy. “It was wrong of him to do that.” She murmured softly. “He has no control over anything you do, Dream. He’s gone.”

On this server, at least. On other servers Ghostbur acts much more like Wilbur than he does here- Puffy wondered if it was a server specific glitch. She should ask Dream about it, later.

“But he does.” Dream’s voice was shaky. “He might seem gone but he’s still there, Puffy. Every time he looks at me there’s this glint in his eye and it just brings me back-”

Puffy shushed him, holding him a bit tighter. “Dream, you are the one who decides how much power he holds over you. You are in control of that, you are in control of yourself. Don’t let him trick you into thinking otherwise. You decide.”

Dream sniffled slightly, going still. It was quiet for a few moments before Dream pulled back. Before Puffy even knew what was happening he was taking his mask off. “Thank you.”

His eyes were so green. It was shocking for a moment. Puffy nodded, smiling, hand instinctively reaching up for his hair, to ruffle it. “Somehow you look even more like a duckling, now.”

Dream laughed, and it was nice to see what he actually looked like when doing so. He tied the mask back on, and they went back to staring at the stars. Puffy started pointing out constellations, and they found and made their own for the rest of the night.

I’m numb, and the peaceful silence is making everyone on edge. What is peace?

And when Dream was put in prison, when they tried to take his mask off, Puffy was one of his loudest defenders. Her duckling might be a bad man, but she would not let them do what Wilbur did to him. Not again.

It was the least she could do.

Chapter Text

He shouldn’t be here.

It’s dark and cold and he’s tired why is he here he shouldn’t be here-

Where was here?

Ranboo blinked, looking around. Behind him stood a lit up SMP, everyone asleep for the night. In front of him stood a destroyed Community House.

A… a what?

His eyes were playing tricks on him- they liked to do that, every now and then. Why would they be showing him a blown up building, though? He didn’t really care about the Community House, why would it, why-

Water splashed in front of him as a dam of torn wood finally broke under the pressure, letting the water flow down a different path. He jerked back, staring at the destruction in front of him.

What… what...

How did he… how did he get here?

What happened here?

Ranboo (was he Ranboo? {yeah, he’s Ranboo [at least, he thinks he is] he totally is} yeah he’s Ranboo) narrowed his eyes at the masked man in front of him. The admin of the server was rummaging through the chests of the community house, looking for something. Ranboo didn’t know what. “You’d called me out for this?”

Dream ignored his tone, picking something important looking up and pocketing it. “Just wait a second.”

Ranboo huffed. “You can’t just keep doing this.” He protested. “The kid’s gonna notice eventually.”

“He already noticed.” Dream comments, opening another chest. “You’re not exactly subtle and he’s not stupid. And if you helped me, we could finish this a lot sooner.”

Ranboo groaned but walked over, helping Dream sort through the junk and find things that were actually important to people. He didn’t know why Dream wanted to blow up the Community House, but at least he was taking an extra step to grab anything valuable that might’ve been left behind. Those things will be found in their owner’s chests later, as if they’ve been there all the time. He scoffed at the thought.

Dream liked to act all indifferent, Ranboo knew, but it was all just an act. He didn’t need a bond with the guy to realize that.

He knew that because he’s what Dream pretends to be. Someone who didn’t care. Why would he? He has no reason to- he’s not the kid, he doesn’t care about any of these people.

Still, he knows where his place is on this server. He’s lower than low, no one even knows he exists. Dream, on the other hand, is at the figurative top, and he knows Dream won't hesitate to get rid of him if he does the wrong thing. He’s not a part of the server, the kid is, so Dream only cares about the kid, not him. He was standing on a pretty shaky platform, trying to appease the admin while continuing on with his own goals.

He has a feeling Dream knows about those goals. He has a feeling that Dream has a plan about those goals. He has a feeling that those plans don’t help him or the kid out. Well, maybe the kid some, but definitely not him.

So Ranboo helps Dream whenever he calls on him. He does what the man wants until the day he doesn’t have to anymore.

He can’t wait for that day. He gets a sadistic kind of pleasure, thinking about all the harm he’ll inflict on the man who keeps bossing him around.

They finish checking all the chests and once Dream’s found their lookover adequate enough he gives Ranboo 15 sticks of dynamite and levels him with a hard glare. “Use all of it.”

He rolls his eyes but does what he’s told. He knows Dream is going to count the amount he places, so it makes no sense to try and hide some to use for later. He’s never out for long enough to gather and hide a lot of materials from the kid, so it’s hard to really do anything. Usually he has to take over after the kid’s done some mining and hide portions of his materials so he could use them later. It was obvious that the kid noticed it, but there was nothing else Ranboo could do.

He had his own agenda he needed to follow.

The Community House is blown to smithereens, and Ranboo notices the tight look on Dream’s face when it happens. It feels like a turning point- a turning point that Ranboo doesn’t know if he likes or not. It feels like the kid’s life is about to change, drastically, and he doesn’t know if that’s going to help him or harm him.

He thinks it’s more on the harming side.

He glares at the admin, wondering if this was just an unexpected side effect or if Dream had this in mind since the beginning. Oh, he can’t wait till the day he can skewer him. It’ll feel like just deserts, really. Ranboo will take over this body, be in complete control, and he’ll do it then. Dream will be upset- the kid is his since they're on his server, and Ranboo will be taking that away from him. He’ll be able to take in the emotions that’ll flash across his face before he kills him.

Ah, a fantasy for another day.

He turned on his heel. “I’m going.” He announced. “Don’t call me again.”

“I’ll summon you when I want to.” Dream spat, features hard under his mask. The mask was actually very helpful to Ranboo- it kept him from attacking Dream whenever he looked at him. Lucky Dream, he guessed. “Either that, or I get rid of you.”

Ranboo clenched his fist, going to retort when he found the admin gone, teleported away via ender pearl. He sighed, gritting his teeth. Behind him, the Community House fell into ruin.

He shouldn’t be here.

It’s dark and cold and he’s tired why is he here he shouldn’t be here-

Where was here?

Ranboo blinked, looking around. Behind him stood a lit up SMP, everyone asleep for the night. In front of him stood a destroyed Community House.

A… a what?

His eyes were playing tricks on him- they liked to do that, every now and then. Why would they be showing him a blown up building, though? He didn’t really care about the Community House, why would it, why-

Water splashed in front of him as a dam of torn wood finally broke under the pressure, letting the water flow down a different path. He jerked back, staring at the destruction in front of him.

What… what...

How did he… how did he get here?

What happened here?

The Community House, it was completely gone. What happened, how, what… did-

Did…

Did… did he do this?

Chapter Text

Fundy screamed when it happened.

It was a loud, broken thing. He had clutched at his chest as if it had happened to him before falling to his knees, sobbing. A deep, heart wrenching pain bloomed from a bond that he could no longer feel.

It was gone.

Tommy acted much of the same way. He had stared at Wilbur, watched him smile and saw the tears fall, even from how far away he was. He saw Phil, wondered how he had gotten there so quickly. Then Wilbur was turning away from him, was saying something to Phil, was still smiling over the destruction he caused.

Then there was a sword in his stomach and Wilbur had been stabbed and Tommy screamed the moment he felt it, the moment his bond exploded into pain and surprise and sorrow and it was all too much.

He fainted.

Techno’s had a bond with Wilbur longer than any of his others. It was an anchor inside of him, keeping him steady in the tide of voices he heard every day. Even though Wilbur had been falling farther and farther off the deep end, his bond was still warm and strong inside of him and that was all Techno really needed. It let him know that Wilbur still cared, still wanted to be a part of the found family they had created.

His first thought wasn’t on Wilbur when it happened, it was on Phil. Killing family is painful for most people, he knows that’s true. That’s why his first thought immediately went to Phil, because Techno just expected Wilbur to respawn and be fine.

(He ignored the thought of the respawn glitch, even though he mentally prayed for it to stay away.)

But after that first thought the pain finally set in and he gasped, staggering to a stop. Someone tried to attack him, he knows, tried to use his vulnerable state to their advantage. Someone else, maybe Dream or Punz or Sapnap, blocked a blow that would’ve killed him. He didn’t care.

Death would’ve been nicer than what he felt now.

Inside of him, a voice roared in satisfied laughter. It was free.

Phil’s body felt like it was on fire.

The moment the thought crossed his mind- to actually kill Wilbur, his son, the fire started. It pierced his head and clouded his sight and ran down his arms and to his hands when he took out his sword. It made his legs stagger when he walked forward, and it made his stomach clench when he dug the weapon in. He didn’t stop, didn’t try to make it feel better.

He deserved it.

They’ve all felt Wilbur die before, but it’s never been this bad. It felt like his bond was torn away, like it had died, like Wilbur had died. If Phil didn’t know any better, he’d say he did die, permanently, but he knows what the respawn glitch looks like, he knows Wilbur’s death wasn’t that, but why-

There was screaming, he could hear that, but he didn’t care. Everything was painful and he was too busy searching inside himself for a bond he could no longer feel.

And Wilbur? Well, Wilbur didn’t feel anything at all.

Chapter Text

Bad’s been clearing this area for a while now. He doesn’t really remember when he started, it’s been that long. He cleared it out and then suddenly it was a little less clear.

“Is that…” He was talking to himself, he did that whenever he was in this place. It filled the silence with sound. “An egg?”

He stared at the red, gigantic egg, eyes widening the longer he looked at it.

It was…

It was…

It was…?

Was it talking?

Skeppy gave him an unimpressed look. "A talking egg?"

Bad nodded, looking both panicked and crazed. Inside of him, his bond prickled with worry and pain. Skeppy didn't like it. "Yes! There's an egg and it can talk and it's spreading, Skeppy, it's spreading but we encased it in obsidian and it stopped!"

Skeppy stared at him, reaching again for their bond. Each time he felt it he wanted to hiss in pain- the bond felt like it was dying.

Skeppy isn't a knowledgeable person when it comes to bonds, but he can say one thing- he's knowledgeable when it comes to Bad's bond. The moment it was formed he hit the books, making sure to know everything that could happen to it, how emotions might feel, what to do in every scenario, how to keep the bond healthy and strong, he knew it all. That also meant that he knew why his bond felt like it was dying, why it was dying.

Bad had another bond, a corrupted one. And it was killing their bond in the process.

But with this so called egg encased their bond had started to heal, which meant the egg was at fault. Why the egg would make or effect bonds Skeppy doesn't know and doesn't care. He just wants his bond to be okay.

Which was why, when the egg was let free again he didn't hesitate. Bad turned his back on him and he was gone, obsidian in hand and encasing the egg once more.

He never expected to fall in with it. Something had pushed him.

He thinks it was the egg itself.

He still encased it, still heard Bad shout his name and he put a hand up to the obsidian, smiling sadly. It felt bittersweet- Bad was safe but Skeppy-

Skeppy…

'Skeppy…'

The man jolted, turning towards the egg. Some invisible force pushed into his chest and he gasped, slamming against the wall holding him in. Pain started to flare all around him, digging into his chest and he screamed, hopeing that Bad was no longer there, could no longer hear him.

The pain settled into a dull ache and he collapsed, shaking violently. His chest felt torn out, and his bond-

His bond…

It was hurt.

The pain immediately turned to anger and he stood up, glaring. "Stay away from my bond!" He snapped.

The egg was quiet for a moment, before a new feeling bloomed in his chest. It was small, but it spread like vines through his entire body, wrapping around him inside and squeezing around his bond and it hurt, it hurt so much. He tried to push it back, tried to do anything, but then the thing pulsed and he was suddenly pushed forward, onto the egg.

It was then he realized what those vines inside of him were.

They were a bond. A corrupted bond.

Skeppy's next shout was more scared than angry. "Let me go!"

The new bond pulsed inside of him, and he's sure he heard a laugh. 'Who would I be, to let my possessions roam free?'

Skeppy jumped at the voice, he tried to push back, away from the egg and back towards the obsidian. He struggled and shouted and cried but he couldn't move anymore, he was useless. "How did you-?"

The new bond inside of him tightened and he cried out in pain. 'Bonds are lovely things, my pet, they have so many uses.' The bond inside of him seemed to hum, wrapping around his bond with Bad. A choked sound left his throat and he struggled some more. 'He won't leave you to starve in here, I hope you know. He'll come back for you, and you'll lead him back to me.'

The vines loosened and he was able to back up, dropping to the ground in between the egg and the obsidian. Curling up, he glared at it. "You can't have Bad, you can't. I won't let you."

'You don't have a choice, pet.' The egg hummed, and vines, real vines, started wrapping around his wrists and ankles, blood red against his bright blue clothes. 'You are already mine. Everyone here is already mine. It'll hurt less if you don't fight it.'

The corrupt bond curled completely around his bond with Bad. The thing squeezed.

He screamed.

When Bad, wearing protective gear and armed with plenty of obsidian, broke open the enclosure around the egg and saw Skeppy, he's never been happier.

"Skeppy!" Puffy cried out, relieved. "Come on, get out of there!"

Bad was even more frantic. His bond with Skeppy had been completely cut off, to the point where he didn't even know if the other man was alive. He was scared and worried and a ton of other emotions he couldn't bother to explain. But here he was, they found him.

Skeppy stepped out and Puffy gasped. Bad took a second to close up the encasement before turning to Skeppy and-

Skep… Skeppy?

His body was wrapped up in red vines, snaked across his skin and going under it, wrapped around his neck and arms and legs and everywhere. One of his eyes had gone a dull blue, the other a sharp red, and his once blue clothes were red, and they looked like they had been dyed using blood.

Skeppy…

Bad still hugged him, because he was Skeppy and he missed him so much. The bond was still completely quiet and Skeppy didn't hug back but Bad needed it so he didn't care. There was a second of silence between the three.

Then Skeppy pushed him back.

Bad faltered. "Skeppy…?"

Skeppy stared at him, eyes sharp but almost blank in a way. Without saying a word he walked away.

He's pretty sure his heart broke at that exact moment. "Skeppy?"

There was no answer.

Chapter Text

It hit him like a brick.

One moment everything was fine- he was in the mist of battle- knocking people away from his contraptions as Techno and Phil fought below. He had just set the last one off, had just crouched to get ready and jump down, when it hit him.

Blood, anger, violence, fear.

'Blood for the Blood God.'

Something was tearing into his head, fingers stretching out from his bond and latching to his mind, nails digging in and anchoring down. He's sure it would hurt if his mind wasn't immediately battered with the idea of blood and gore and death kill them all power kill them all blood for the blood-

'Hmmm, I've been waiting to meet you.'

Dream grins, letting out a full belly laugh and pulling out his axe. He wastes no time, finding the closest person and sinking the blade through their shoulder. He doesn't know who it is, friend or foe, but the person screams as they die and the blood is intoxicating he loves it he loves it loves it loves it.

'So you are the one who wanted to form a bond with me.'

Dream darts for another person, catching a lighted piece of tnt as he ran and throwing it at them. It explodes, taking their arm with it. The person screams and it's music to his ears but then the sound of metal cutting through flesh is somehow even better and he laughs, eyes wide in mania.

'You might be strong enough, but that's yet to truly be seen.'

The next person he sees is Techno, and just for fun he rushes him. Their blades clash for a moment and both of them smirk, before Techno is pushing him back and Dream lunges forward again, this time weaving around him. Something explodes behind him, propelling him forward and up, and he raises his hand, grabbing a wither as it flies by. It twists, snarling and screaming and Dream pulls one of its heads off, pointing it back at itself so the next time it fired it fires at itself. The thing gets knocked off balance and Dream chops another skull in half as it falls to the ground.

'Yes, I think you could be worthy.'

He turns and raises his sword before pausing. Sapnap is there, sword raised but surprised that it's him. He looks unsure, like he doesn't know why he's even there, and Dream knows he's been coherenced into it and while his body sings for blood his bonds scream to keep Sapnap away and safe and the voice inside of him quiets, as if letting him decide.

Dream pauses, licking his lips. "You haven't died yet?"

Sapnap stares at him, already knowing something is wrong, without even having to check the bond. He stares and he knows because he's Sapnap and he gets Dream just like George does. "What happened?"

Divine enlightenment happened.

He charges forward, and Sapnap flinches, hurt and pain already flashing through his eyes before Dream pushes him to the side, cutting the head off of someone who had tried to sneak up behind them. Blood splatters on his mask and gloves and he's happy their fingerless because now he can feel it and it feels divine-

He almost giggles. "Leave, Sap." His voice is high off the frenzy. "Leave, this isn't your fight. If George or Punz is here, take them too."

Sapnap stares at him for a long moment, mind brushing against their bond and sending something like love or acceptance through it before nodding and running off. Dream watched him go, bloody fingers raising up to smear the blood on his mask.

'Bonds are both an unmatchable strength and an uncalculable risk.'

He's moving again, dropping sticks of tnt as he goes because he wants to see bedrock and won't stop until he does. Someone is fighting Puffy, fifty yards away. They don't live much longer after that.

'But above that, a bond is yours.'

He sees Quackity and remembers the look he gave Techno when he was defenseless after his bond was hurt. Remembers his plots against the both of them, remembers how he wants to kill them.

He wants to kill what's his.

'A bond is yours, and spilling blood to keep it is a necessity.'

He chops off his sword arm, basks in the blood and hums along with the screams. A leg follows the arm, and then the other. He's dead before he can chop off the last arm, but Dream doesn't care. The smell of blood filled the air and made Dream almost loopy, the blood the power it was all his all his it was his blood blood he needs more more more more!

L'Manburg had fallen. There was no one left to fight. His contraption had ran out of tnt and everyone had retreated to safer places, especially after Dream joined the hunt. There were a few withers left, roaming the place and shooting everything in sight. Dream stared at them, wishing they had blood dripping through their veins for Dream to take.

Blood. He needs more blood.

He demands more blood!

'Blood for the Blood-'

'NO!'

Dream gasps, staggering to a stop. The claws around his mind just jerked, causing his head to pound in pain. His body moved with his permission, and suddenly he was further in the crater and there were two other people there too.

People. Blood. Spill blood.

He gripped his axe, stared at the man with his back turned to him. He stared and smiled and went to lunge when the man turned around to look at him.

It was Phil.

Phil.

'Phil.'

The man in question looked beyond worried. "He's got you too?" He murmured, glancing at the other man there, Techno. Phil shifted from side to side, sword held tensely in hand as he glanced at both of them. "I didn't know he could affect those you were bonded with."

Techno muttered something lowly from where he was crouched on the ground, clutching his head. Dream frowned at him, confused.

Then his mouth opened and he started to speak but it wasn't him. "You can never be rid of me for long, Techno."

Both men jumped at the voice, jerking towards Dream, who was forced into stillness. His eyes widened, wanting to ask what was that but not being able to move what's happening-

"Let him go." Techno's voice was calm and monotone, but much deeper than normal. "And come back here."

"I'm still there." Dream said, and wait a second… was this..? "I just wanted to explore my bond. He created it for me, you know. You were just an obstacle in between us."

He's not… wrong, per se, but he wasn't right either. If Dream understood correctly, this was The Blood God, which, wow, but Dream didn't bond with Techno to get this monster's power, he bonded with Techno because he was smart and strong and by figuring out why he does what he does he could get that power too. Not to mention that a corrupted bond between them might have more power than others- only time will tell with that one. Yes he'd love the Blood God's powers- his strength and intelligence and lust for blood would be a perfect ally in battle, but…

This isn't what he thought it'd be.

Techno snorted, and Dream felt the lightest tug on their bond. He tried to reach it, got one mental hand on the bond, just enough that his panic was sent through, before The Blood God pulled him back with a laugh. "Don't play with what's mine, Techno. This is for the better, hmm? You've always wanted me out of your head- now I have a suitable body to do just that."

Phil cared about Dream both less and more than he cared about other random people on the server. He hates some of the stuff he's done, but there are kind moments littered around between the two. He didn't like how his bond with Techno was formed, but he's grateful that Dream's protected the other man when he could, like after his bond with Tommy was hurt. He thinks that's the reason Phil looks upset, not because he actually really cares. "You can't just steal a switched body."

A switched body? A switched body? What-

Oh.

Oh.

That's what he's done. He hasn't taken over Dream, he switched with Dream. He used his bond with Techno to come over and switch, oh…

Well, shouldn't that mean the same rules apply from his other switches?

There's no way for him to fully take control without the other person's permission when switched, but he should be able to fight back. Talking, using a limb, forcing him to fall, things like that should work.

Ah, this is going to be very pathetic, but necessary. 

He takes all the power he has and forces it up to his head. He forces his mouth to open and gets out a single, strangled word. "Help…"

He's pushed back immediately after but he's done enough. Though he now sounds like a complete damsel Phil and Techno knew he was there and it sounded like he was in pain, which would get them mad and probably make them try harder. Hopefully.

Phil's eyes narrowed dangerously. "No matter what god you claim to be, you can't fight us two."

Dream's hand suddenly had pearls in it. "I can always make a strategic retreat."

"You mean run away." Techno snorted, stepping forward. "Come on, come back here before you make me do something you'll regret."

He laughed. "A pathetic excuse for a pathetic person- someone who is too scared to reach their full potential. You hide behind bonds that I could easily rip apart, but now you get upset when I use the one that I wanted?"

Dream should... probably apologize, when this is all over. This is kind of his fault, isn't it? With the whole 'the bad side of you wanted this bond Techno I created it with him' thing. In all fairness, he didn't know that the bad side of him was so weird when he first made the bond. Still, he probably owes Techno an apology.

In his scramble to speak the god had left his bond with Techno alone. It still pulsed inside of him, as if Techno was still trying to use it.

Idea forming, he darted towards it, tugging on it and letting it pull him out and towards Techno's body in a switch.

He was at a metaphorical half way point when something latched onto his consciousness and what the fuck how can he do that? The Blood God, he was pulling him back? What?! That's totally not fair what-

Then there was another jolt and he was let go. He blinked, opened his eyes, and found himself in Techno's body.

With his own kneeling on the floor. "You should know better than to take what's mine." It growled, and wow that was kind of terrifying.

"You say that about all my bonds." Techno spoke next, using Dream's mouth to do it, and he sounded a bit amused. "It gets boring after a while, dude."

"Hey." There was a face in front of him, and Phil looked concerned. "You okay?"

Dream stared at him for a minute before nodding. "Think so." He mumbled. "Kinda… kinda dizzy."

"Yep-" Phil caught him as he fell. "Side effect- happened to me last time he got out and switched. It's normal."

"Don'like it." He slurred, vision going blurry. "Didn't want a bond with him, Phil."

Phil nodded placently, but Dream didn't know if he got it. "He says that whenever he gets out, don't worry about it."

But he was because he knew through the bond that Techno was both pissed and sad and he felt… bad, for some reason. Someone's emotions must've been wearing off on him. Either way, if he doesn't say something the bond might get hurt so he should apologize for that at least. "No… tell Techno." He's never struggled with speaking like this before- what was wrong with The Blood God? "Sorry."

Phil looked confused, but he still nodded. "Close your eyes, Dream."

He did so.

Soon, all he could hear was the sounds of fire and rain and debris falling through the crater that was once L'Manburg. If he concentrated heard enough, he could still hear the old screams of those he killed.

He doesn't know if it was The Blood God or him that found them soothing.

Chapter Text

"You!" The boy in the yellow game suit pointed at him. He had a little name card on his chest, the writing hard to make out, but if he squinted he could see the name Tubbo written on it.

Jordan blinked, surprised. "Me?"

"Yes, you." Tubbo nodded, looking sure of himself. "You're my dad."

Jordan didn't question it- he didn't make a face, sound confused, even look at Tubbo in a strange way. He just nodded and went about with the game, the boy following after him.

He was a dad now.

The game was simple, kinda. With 6-10 players, 1-2 people are imposters and the rest are crewmates. Imposters can go special places and 'kill' crewmates by hitting them with a coded weapon. If the crewmates can figure out who they are and vote them out they win. If imposters kill enough crewmates, they win.

Jordan doesn't know who created the game, all he knows is that it is a feat of both code and plugins and it's some damn good fun, especially with the right crowd. He cycles through groups of close friends and distant acquaintances alike as he plays round after round on the game's server.

And then Tubbo comes along.

Jordan isn't anything special when it comes to bonds. He has some, but not many. The only one that's lasted for a while is his bond with Ianite, but that was for godly reasons so he didn't really count that. Either way, he's not super good with bonds, so he knows not to expect anything when he connects to someone new.

Except for Tubbo.

The moment the boy joins the server, joins their game, before Jordan's even got a chance to introduce himself, something inside of him twists and tightens, like a cord winding up. He stares for a moment before shaking his head and going back to finding the suit he wanted for the game. He always picks orange, so it wasn't too hard.

The game starts and he's crewmate and Tubbo is right next to him, bouncing on the balls of his feet and grinning happily, following him around. Jordan goes to each room, even the ones he doesn't have tasks in, just so Tubbo could do his tasks if he needed to. He never did, never commented on it either, so he had the sneaking suspicion that Tubbo was an imposter.

(When he gets closer to the boy he realizes that that was just Tubbo being Tubbo.)

"So," He finally says after a bit, tired of the quiet. "Is there a reason you're following me around and not someone else?"

Tubbo goes to answer when they're teleported to the table. A dead body had been found. Tubbo pauses for a second before speaking up. "It can't be the captain."

He's pretty sure that was the exact moment the bond became fully formed.

It was strange, because as he said before he's not special when it comes to bonding. With Tubbo, though, it felt as if the universe itself stepped in and pulled the strings. The moment they came into close proximity the universe said yes and the bond was created, without them lifting a finger. Maybe that's why Tubbo came up to him- because he felt it even more so than Jordan did.

The meeting ended with no one being voted off and Jordan steered Tubbo towards navigation, where they had ended. He gave Tubbo a look, hopeing he would answer Jordan's question from before.

He did not. "Hey Captain, d'you feel that?"

"Yes, I do." Jordan finished his wires, leaving the room. He walked a few feet before noticing that Tubbo was still working. The boy yelped when he saw he was gone, waddling towards him in the thick game suit like a duckling ran towards its mother. He hid a smile at the thought. "Let's finish O2."

They won, because one of the imposters got voted off and the other could do nothing to the Tubbo and Jordan combo, both vouching completely for each other. They played a few more rounds like that until one of the other players had an idea.

"Would you guys be up for an extended game?" The player, Scott, asked.

Jordan blinked, confused. "An extended game?"

Scott nodded. "It's basically the same, but there's a day and night cycle, and the game goes on for several days. There's food and beds and all that, and each day the crewmates get new tasks. It gives the imposters much more time to kill and do things, and it gives the crewmates a lot more of a murder mystery vibe, given the fact that someone could die while everyone's asleep."

"That sounds cool." Tubbo grinned. "I'll do it. What about you, Captain?"

Like he could ever say no to a face like that. He was a father now, apparently, he had to do his, uh, parenting job? Yeah, that.

"I'm down." He confirmed, nodding once. He couldn't keep the smile off his face when Tubbo cheered.

"Nice." Scott turns to the others. "Jordan and his duckling said yes!"

Jordan snorted at the term, and while Tubbo muttered something he didn't seem upset at all. The more he looked at the boy the more he was confident in his choice- he had a brand spanking new bond with this kid, it would be good to actually know him.