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It didn’t take Sam long to realize that something was off once he went back to the security room, monitoring Puffy’s visit with her son, Dream. It had only been a few days since Dream killed Tommy in the cell. Sam was torn up, but the prisoner needed watching no matter how much grief the warden was experiencing. Normally, it would be against protocol for him to let a visitor see Dream so recently after an incident, but Puffy was insistent. She practically stormed into the prison lobby and demanded that Sam let her in. He only let her in because he was too tired and too upset to deal with Dream’s hysterical mother. Obviously, he should have waited until he was in a better mental state because he slipped up on the protocols, not checking Puffy’s inventory nearly as closely as he normally would have for a visitor.
Once Puffy started raising her voice, that’s when Sam decided to intervene. “Puffy, if you don’t calm down I’m going to have to ask you to get back on the bridge.” he said flatly into the intercom.
“Oh shut up for once in your life Sam!” Puffy yelled out to nowhere in particular before getting back to scolding Dream. “I can’t believe you would do that to him. He was a child. He-” She started, although her voice had much more resentment than one would expect to hear from a mother speaking to her child.
“Oh come on mom, are you serious? You really think Tommy didn’t have this coming?” Dream scoffed, rolling his eyes.
As the screaming match continued, Sam decided that it would probably be best to get ready to intervene in this interaction. This really could prove to be a security threat. But he couldn’t be the one to go in for her. That would be a breach of protocol and a security risk he couldn’t take. Plus, he didn’t think that Puffy would listen to him anyway. The two had already been at odds lately over the egg, and he didn’t think his guidance would be effective at all in this situation. So he grabbed his communicator and decided to call someone who he thought would be helpful.
“Hello?” The totem’s cheery voice rang from the device.
“Uh… hey Foolish. Is there anyway you could make your way up to the prison? Puffy is visiting Dream and she is making me... nervous.” he started, hesitating slightly on the word. He didn’t want Foolish to think that Sam wasn’t doing his job well, because he was. Puffy was just being difficult. “I just need you to be ready to talk to her if I need you to.”
“Yeah sure. We can have a little family reunion in the prison.” Foolish replied, a laugh behind his voice. The joke obviously didn’t land with the worn out warden. Sam let out a slightly annoyed sigh, causing Foolish to clear his throat to fill the silence. “I can be there in five minutes, is that okay? I’m at my summer home.”
Sam’s eyes flicked from the monitor to press the unmute button on the intercom, listening to their fighting for a moment before muting it again. “Just get here quick, okay?” Sam said, his voice maintaining its bland tone despite the worry he felt.
“Of course Sammy. Be there in a few.” The totem said, oblivious to Sam’s discomfort before ending the call and heading into the nether portal to L’Manberg.
Sam put the communicator on the desk, waiting a few moments before unmuting the intercom once again to hear their bickering once again.
“I don’t care how annoying Tommy was while you were trapped in here, that doesn’t give you the right to kill him.” Puffy yelled, seeming exasperated with her son. Heck, Sam would be too. Dream had opened up about what he did to Tommy during his exile, and not only did he open up, he seemed proud of it. The thought made Sam sick to his stomach.
“Listen, you have no idea what was going on in here so I don’t think you can tell me whether or not I am justified.” Dream spat back, crossing his arms. Then he looked like he realized something. “You know what, let’s ask Sam. He overheard some of it. Sam, was Tommy being a little-”
Sam cut Dream off before he could finish. “Don’t drag me into this.” He said sharply. He leaned back in his seat, nervously waiting for Foolish to show up.
“You do understand that you took a human life the other day, right? Tommy is never coming back, and his blood is on your hands.” Puffy said. She didn't even seem upset about Tommy anymore; she just seemed angry. She was just so angry.
Dream scoffed, rolling his eyes. “One: that’s not entirely true. Two: you do understand that I don’t care, right?” He mocked his mother’s tone with his final words, which only seemed to infuriate her further.
Sam was about to speak up and tell Puffy that he was coming to get her before he heard Foolish’s voice over the intercom. “Uh... Overworld to Sam?” He trailed. Apparently it wasn’t the first time Foolish tried to get his attention.
The warden flicked a switch on the control board. “You can go through the portal.” He said, his voice starting to display an edge of the anxiety that felt like lead in his veins.
“Roger dodger that.” The totem said, oblivious to Sam’s sudden change of tone. Sam quickly made his way to the lobby of the prison. This was breaking so many protocols but this was an emergency situation in his eyes, and Sapnap and Punz were unreachable. Sam entered the lobby just before Foolish did.
“I’m not going to lie; this is going to be very different than if you would visit the prison on a normal day, okay? Just don’t tell anyone.” He said, opening up locker two.
“Yeah, of course. Are you okay Sam?” Foolish asked, entering the locker to dump his items into the chest.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He said, putting a slight emphasis on the word ‘I.’ He handed Foolish the forms once he exited the locker.
“I hereby assume-” Foolish began reading off the form before being cut off by the other in the room. “Just sign the form.”
Foolish looked up at him with a confused look but complied anyway. After all, Sam was the sole authority on the prison grounds. He certainly was not going to question him. Sam led Foolish through the prison, skipping most of the safeguards put in place which only confused Foolish further.
“Uh… hey Sam aren’t you supposed to like, kill me a lot right now or something?” Foolish asked, partially to remedy his own confusion and partially to lighten the mood. Sam simply ignored his question, pressing the button to lower the wall of lava.
“Make sure you walk with the bridge.” Sam said firmly. Foolish definitely seemed a little on edge, but he tried not to show Sam. After all, he really did want to see his family together again, and if Sam were to doubt whether or not he was fit to visit the prison, he might not be able to go in.
As the lava receded, the yelling began to be unmuffled. The bridge started moving and Foolish took small steps to stay with it.
“Mom, you have no idea why I do the things I do, so I would suggest you mind your business!”
“Don’t call me that. Don’t call me your mother. You are no son of mine. You’re a monster”
“If you say I am then so be it. Have you ever thought that this is your fault that I’m this way? You did raise me after-” Dream started to retort, but clearly there was something about Puffy’s movement that made Dream lose his spunk.
That’s when Sam realized his mistake when he saw the notable glint of enchanted netherite.
“Mom, how did you get that in here?” Dream asked, his voice smaller now, realizing he went too far.
“You aren’t my son. You will never be my son again.” Puffy’s voice was eerily calm despite the circumstances, and she was completely oblivious to her second son’s arrival.
Foolish was frozen. The bridge had stopped and he was locked in place. He was watching the scene play out in front of him like it was a scene in a movie. He felt so incredibly helpless even though he had the ability to stop it.
Sam had run to the control board to lock the prison down. This was an extremely vulnerable situation, and the last thing that needed to happen was a serious security threat.
“You know what, Dream?” Puffy asked, running her finger along the flat side of the blade. “This is my fault. Something I did made you this way. I don’t know what it was, but I know what I have to do to stop it.” She said. Her voice was still calm, although it began to develop an edge as she continued.
Before Dream could protest, Puffy ran the blade cleanly through his stomach, clenching her teeth. Luckily, his mask hid the look of horror and pain from Foolish’s face as he watched hopelessly, but there was something much worse watching a blank smile as your brother died by your mother’s hand. Once her son went limp, she removed the blade and let his body fall to the floor. She stared down at her blood covered hands, a smile starting to grow before she heard a broken sob from behind her.
Foolish felt like he was going to be sick. His knees felt weak, but he made sure to stay upright to avoid falling into the lava around him. He covered his mouth, eyes nervously scanning his mother’s form.
“Foolish…” Puffy trailed, reaching out towards her surviving son, face falling as he flinched away from her touch. “Foolish it’s not what you-”
“Sam, call back the bridge!” He yelled, not breaking eye contact with her. He was scared what would happen if he took his eyes off of her.
Sam, too, was frozen. He cleared his throat, muttering a soft “you got it” into the intercom.
“Foolish, please.” Puffy said, tears biting at her eyes. The totem shook his head, taking small steps backwards with the bridge.
“I did the right thing! I was protecting you from that monster.” Puffy yelled. Foolish didn’t react. His emerald eyes just stared with fear at the person he used to consider his mother.
The bridge jolted to a stop but Foolish didn’t move. He was frozen listening to Puffy call out. “Come on Foolish. Don’t leave me here. You know Papa Puffy loves you!”
He didn’t move until the lava finally enclosed the cell. He fell to his knees and let himself cry for the loss of his family.