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Blackstone walls hugged Dream on all sides, darkness swirled in the corners of his cell, the floor bitingly cold. Dream glanced down at the plain white mask that was clutched in his bruised and bloody fingers, the iconic smile smirking up at him. He tipped his head back leaning on the cool wall behind him, a small smile stretching across his face as strands of blonde hair fell into his eyes, obscuring his vision of the gloomy room.
Finally, they had learnt their lesson.
Tommy had managed to do what Dream had been pushing him to do for months. The whole server came together as one big family to defeat him. Dream had always been ten steps ahead of everyone, even when it seemed he wasn't, this prison has been his plan for months.
‘Why?’ a quiet voice filtered through the shadows. Dream dropped his head towards the voice, not bothering to cover his face. He knew the voice. He always had.
Sapnap’s dark brown eyes watched him carefully if it were anyone else he would have looked completely and utterly blank, but Dream knew his best friend. Molten dark brown swirled under the torchlight, the glow of fire that usually lit Sapnap’s eyes was dull, burning embers instead of the inferno that Dream was used to seeing. Dream remembered so clearly the fire dancing over Sapnap’s face when they had burnt Lamaberg for the first time, before independence, before the election, before he pushed everyone away to become the villain of the story.
Dream let his gaze trail over his friend, they were alone, Sam and Punz had left a while ago. Sapnap hadn’t moved, starting at Dream’s face as though he was searching for a light in a tunnel of darkness. The dark haired boy's eyes were wavering, desperate, grief fluttered behind his eyelashes.
‘It was never meant to be’
Sapnap flinched at Dream’s words, the embers caught fire again, he thumped his fist onto the bars, causing them to rattle harshly. ‘Don’t give me that Dream! Why did you push us away. Me and George stood by you through everything! We would have fought L’manberg for you a thousand times! So why?’ his voice cracked, eyes molten flames as a single tear wove its way down his face.
‘Why did you leave us?’
Dream closed his own eyes, a sharp sting forcing them shut, he remained hunched against the wall furthest from Sapnap. It couldn't have been more than a 7 block gap but Dream felt like an ocean separated them.
‘I needed them to learn...’
‘To learn hatred. To learn how to always be looking over their shoulders every day of their lives!’
Slowly Dream rose to his feet, Sapnap planted his feet obviously expecting Dream to rush at the bars but Dream didn't move he remained leaning against the opposite wall. His side still hurt from the axe would and the arrow Tommy had used on him.
‘To unite.’
Sapnap’s narrowed his eyes, confusion evident on his face.
‘Think Pandas.’ Sapnap flinched violently at the old nickname, ‘Since the first Disc War, since L’manberg was created, people picked sides, people chose conflict. I created this server to be happy, to have a family again. Tommy took that from me’. He rubbed his fingers over the white mask in his hands, the dried blood on his hands smearing the white porcelain.
‘After L’manberg’s independence I began to see that my family was tearing itself apart from the inside. Then the election came, I saw an opportunity to destroy L’manberg without getting involved. If L’manberg was gone there would once again be no sides just Dream SMP.’
He felt a smile cross his lips, George’s laughter echoed in his ears as in his memory he watch Sapnap and Karl playing around with fishing rods and building karaoke stands, Punz and Callahan watched from the Prime Path smiling and laughing at the two troublemakers. Dream remembered those days too well, George leant against him, peaceful without any type of conflict.
‘Why do you think George wasn’t at the hustings? You were there, everyone else was, apart from George. Quackity’s running mate, the one person he could turn to against Tommy and Wilbur’
Realisation flashed in Sapnap’s eyes, Dream ploughed on.
‘I was the only other person who knew Schlatt would be there. I knew if George wasn't there Quackuty would turn to others. Wilbur would never agree to share power so i endorsed Schlatt making him the only other person Quackity could turn to. I’ll admit I knew Quackity and George would never win but them and Schlatt with my endorsement may stand a chance. And so they did.’
‘They won and you watched from the shadows as they were exiled. You watched L’manberg crumble from the inside. You knew Schlatt had no one with him all along. That's why you let Techno here to cause chaos. To Destroy L’manberg’
The sweep of a red cape and pink locks flashed in Dreams memories, whispered conversations with the Blood God, feeding Pogtopia supplies.
‘Do you see now Sapnap. People were uniting against a Villain. The Badlands didn't care and the Dream SMP were only with Schallt because I said so. I let Wilbur blow up his own country. Hoping that it would end the conflict. They beat Schlatt, there was peace. Wilbur was gone, as was Techno, Tubbi was president.’
‘But there wasn't peace was there Dream?’ Sapanap stated quietly.
‘No. I realised that Schlatt wasn’t powerful enough to be a big enough threat for people to truly unite. Who was the only person on the server who had the power to threaten everything?’
‘You’ his friend breathed quietly, Dream could see the puzzle falling into place, the horror and pity bubbling to the surface of Sapnap’s face, his eyes now latched onto Dream’s face.
‘If I became the Villain. If I pushed everything and everyone away there would be no sides. Ranboo was always right. I am the root of all problems and conflict on this server.’
‘You pushed me and George away to protect us’
‘I never cared about power Pandas. I only ever cared about people about the family I had tried to create. The family I created by becoming the villain. One big family’ Dream smiled again, his vision blurred his voice clogged in his throat. He would not crack. Not now. Not after he had achieved everything.
‘I did everything I could to become the villain. I manipulated Tommy and Tubbo. I used Ranboo. I used Punz. I made sure that you and George couldn’t be used against me, that neither of you would be hurt by me’.
Footsteps echoed through the hallway, two pairs, one heavy one slightly softer. Sam’s and Tommy’s. Sapnap’s gaze flicked to the left down where Dream couldn’t see. He slipped on his mask. Sapnap furiously wiped the unfallen tears away from his eyes.
‘People unite against the thing they hate’
‘You willingly became the Villain’ Dream nodded, his voice was trapped in his throat, his next words sounded more desperate than they had been hours earlier when he stood surrounded with no armour and no weapons.
And for the first time Dream begged.
‘Look after them for me Sapanap. Tommy deserves the world. They all do. Look after my family for me please.’