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my son.
“you let me die!” those eyes, they carry more rage and agony than he’s ever seen in his entire life. “you let me fucking die!”
my boy.
he hisses with creeper-like menace. the green on his skin glow into a white, but they come back down when he breathes in. “you’re supposed to be dead,” he grits out, claws tightening around his sword. “i should’ve killed you.”
but who would be my son? who would i cherish?
“i was– i was gonna kill him!” he lashes out. “i was finally gonna fucking do it. i was so close to doing it! i could’ve, i could’ve–!”
“you tried to break him out!” the warden yells. “i can’t fucking believe you, tommy. you actually tried to break him out!”
“i wasn’t gonna break him out!” tommy yells back. they’re both frustrated, understandably so, but while tommy wants to go back and kill that green bastard once and for all, the warden doesn’t know whether to slice the boy’s head off or drag him by neck outside. he should, that’s how the prison works. he’s cut off his valentine’s arm— why is this little one any different?
“tommy!” ghostbur yells from the other side of the lava pool. he’s flickering, the strands of the universe pulling and reassembling him as the admin gleefully makes work. “you– you said it’d be quick! you said i wasn’t going to be revived!”
then all of a sudden, tommy’s eyes aren’t on him, but on his ghost of a brother. “you’re okay, wil– ghostbur. you’re okay.” no one in the damned prison is okay and everyone is aware of that, but tommy refuses to let ghostbur pass alone. “one to ten, ghostbur, one to ten. count up to ten, okay? you’re going to be alright. we’re going to be alright.”
they count and it’s almost chilling how tommy is such a professional at this. while ghostbur sits on the other side with dream’s fingers on his neck, he flickers back and forth between universes to count with tommy. tears burn tracks across his cheeks, his eyes are blown wide with panic, but tommy refuses to let the sweet ghost see him shaking
stop it, the warden snarls. “stop it!”
tommy doesn’t acknowledge him, only shakily smiling at the ghost. “you’re– you’re doing fine, ghostbur. keep going.”
“tommy,” ghostbur sobs out. “he’s– he’s pulling at me!”
“don’t let the ritual work, ghostbur!” tommy yells at him. panic and fear fill his big blue eyes as he tries to scream out for his brother. “don’t–!”
in a burst of code and dust, ghostbur disappears into the void. dream smiles at him in faux sweetness as he feels the warden grab him by the neck,
“no… this– this can’t be.’
“you’ve done enough damage to the prison, tommy.”
“no, no, no way. he’s– he’s not revived, right?” he can’t bear it, can’t bear the thought of his maniac of a brother living and breathing on the overworld again. “i– i didn’t want this to happen.”
the warden throws him at the wall and looms over him, but tommy doesn’t kick and thrash around anymore, only staring up at him with those wide, broken eyes. “you!” the warden explodes, a painful hissing stemming from the heat of his anger. “you are the only fucking issue to this prison’s security! it was okay when it was just me and dream, but you came along and you destroyed it! if it weren’t for you, none of this would have happened!”
“i didn’t—” tommy sobs and curls into himself. “i didn’t mean of any of this to happen. i just wanted him gone, i wanted to kill him, i wanted to sleep. i couldn’t take it anymore.’
“oh, but it did happen, didn’t it?” he snarls. “you fucking child. you are the worst fucking thing to happen to this server.” he takes in a deep breath, calming himself down to avoid exploding himself. he glares down at tommy.”
“this is why i let you die in there,” he hisses. “this is why i let dream kill you.”
tommy doesn’t register anything anymore, but very faintly he hears the door of a prison cell creak shut.
and sam— just good old sam— sits on the other side, head burrowed into his head.
for his own good, the warden whispers.
“for his own good,” sam echoes back.
it is a father’s duty to protect their child, after all.