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Things had been going good for Tommy recently, well, as good as they could be that is. He had worked a lot of things out with Jack, since their conversation on top of the hotel, and the two had come to a proper agreement regarding the establishment. They co-owned it, though the name stayed as 'The Big Innit Hotel', mostly by Tommy's demand and instance that it just sounded better.
He had also been getting more help from Puffy; the sheep woman had really doubled down on her efforts ever since she found out about the books. She hadn't made him get rid of them, which he was thankful for, since they had become a sort of oddly comforting thing. However she gave him another book as well, with the instructions to write down why these things weren't his fault, which was difficult at first, but she helped him ease into it by asking him to write down things he knew he wasn't at fault for.
It was getting better. He was getting better. If only things could stay that way, but all good things must come to an end, that's one of the rules of life after all, is it not?
Tommy was out collecting resources for another hotel upgrade, when it happened. He was taking a small break from the work by resting against a tree, it was at a flower field a bit farther out, in a place that had remained untouched.
His communicator had been buzzing in his pocket, but he'd rather take in the peacefulness of where he currently was than look over what were probably unimportant messages.
He should have looked. Maybe then he'd have had time to flee to somewhere safe, to somewhere where other people were. But he looked all too late.
With a resigned sigh, Tommy pulled his communicator out of his pocket, many messages from both the general chat, and seemingly frantic DMs asking where he was. He didn't read very far up, he should have. He really, really should have. Then he'd have seen why everyone seemed to be in a panic, then he would have thought twice before sending his coords into the general chat and asking what the big deal was.
His communicator buzzed again, alerting him to a new DM, his eyes glanced over the name for only a second before his stomach dropped and his heart froze, a deep cold fear washing over his entire body.
Dream whispers to you: :)
No.
No no no no nonono nononono -
He had to move, to run, to get to anywhere that wasn't where he was, but his body wouldn't listen . He was frozen still.
Tommy had always been the fight type when it came to fight or flight. Of course, there were two other options that not many talked or knew about, fawn and freeze. Puffy had told him about these a while back, when he had questioned why he'd occasionally just stop, or give in to what felt almost programmed into him to do when he felt scared.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there, stuck in that petrifying fear. Unable to move, unable to escape, to run and be safe. Long enough to hear the rustles of approaching footsteps in the grass. He left himself hope, hope that it was one of the many who had sent him words of warning. But these steps felt too deliberate, though not in the way that people would try and alert him to their presence to prevent him from getting startled. (They'd claim that wasn't the case, but he knew better, and maybe he was secretly thankful for it.)
It was a foolish thing to hope though, he knew that. And every ounce of fear he felt was confirmed when the person spoke, he squeezed his eyes shut as that all too familiar voice spoke, a stray tear escaping, though he couldn't have stopped it if he tried.
"You know," Dream said from where he stood on the other side of the tree, "I honestly would've expected you to be long gone from here. Or to have sent a set of random coordinates, but you aren't smart enough for that, are you?"
The tone was condescending, so much so that it pulled a spark of anger from Tommy's chest. Then he came to a realization; Dream had just escaped, he'd have absolutely nothing on him. Meanwhile Tommy was decked out in netherite with maxed out enchantments, he could take Dream on in a fight easy. And he could kill him, who would be able to fault him for it? It would all be in self defense. The thought made him smile, and he let a smug grin fall over his face.
He pulled his sword out from his inventory, standing with a newfound energy, the only nervousness being that leftover from nerves. He stood up and spun around to face his weekend advisory, only to come to a stuttering halt at the feeling of sharpened blade burning with enchantments pressing in close to his throat.
Dream stood there, netherite armor gleaming bright into the afternoon sun. The masked man laughed as he watched Tommy's expression fall, "What? Did you really think I wouldn't have spare armor? I have bonkers filled with supplies all over, Tommy! Now," his voice fell to something low, and sneakingly sinister, "I'm sure you know what to do next, right?"
Tommy took a breath and closed his eyes, and dropped his weapon to the ground, the rest of his inventory and armor following close behind. He wasn't stupid, he knew if Dream had armor, he likely had potions and gapples and plenty of other things that could secure him a win in a fight, especially considering their different skill levels. It was better to just give the man what he wanted, maybe then it would hurt less.
Dreams stance changed to something more smug, "Good, glad to know you can actually commit to some critical thinking." That damned condescending tone again, "You know, after you left I actually realized something. See I've been going about the whole immortality thing entirely wrong. Well, the process was correct, but I never needed you to do anything. In fact, it all depends on our environment.
"Reviving someone takes energy, and sure, the minuscule amount I was able to get from myself and those potatoes was just enough to bring you back, but I need more ." Honestly, if this situation were any less nerve wracking, Tommy probably would have laughed about finding out that he was infused with the life force of potatoes . He wondered if the fact would make Technoblade like him, or declare war on his very existence.
Dream paid no mind to Tommy's internal conversation, instead choosing to continue with his monologue, "Out here though? There's so much. This entire field is just teeming with energy. So in theory, if I were to say…"
The next thing Tommy registered was the blade pressed through his chest. He felt himself choke and cough, the taste of copper filling his mouth and something warm drip from his lips and down his chin. The weapon was yanked out from his body and he fell to the ground, dark spots dancing in his eyes as he struggled to stay conscious.
"Don't worry," he heard a soft chuckle from up above him, "you'll be back very soon." Then the world faded to black, and he felt that feeling of his entire existence being ground down to a fine powder.
---
When he came to again, the field was dead. All the plants that were there were reduced to brown rotting mulch. There was a patch of green that sat under him, though. The world was so quiet, but it felt all too loud at the same time. Compared to the mere hours he had spent in the void, it looked as though years had passed by here.
"So," He stilled, right, Dream was there. "How do you feel?"
His breath shook as he tried to gather his thoughts, tried to figure out how to answer, "Like… Like it's too much, like I'm too much." It was as if every single ounce of exhaustion he'd ever felt was completely erased and in turn he decided to have an energy drink cocktail.
Dream hummed, "Right then, well, I guess I should make sure it worked then." Before Tommy could even think to question it, the world was already fading.
Then it came back in an instant. The feeling of being grounded down to nothing hadn't even had the chance to take hold before he was thrust back into consciousness. The air hadn't even left his lungs.
If he could see Dream's face, he's sure the man would've been elated, just judging by his voice as he celebrated this cruelly won't victory, "YES! It actually fucking worked! I can't believe it actually worked, this is phenomenal, its-"
He was cut off by a new voice, dripping with cold horror.
"What did you do ?!"
Dream froze, "Well, I wish I could tell you, but I think it's time we take our leave." Tommy felt himself get pulled up, only catching a small glimpse of who the newcomer was, they looked to be made of gold and stood tall, towering above the trees. Then he noticed the patches of greenery that sprouted beneath his feet as he was dragged along, only able to take in how odd that was before hearing the loud crackle of lightning striking right in front of him.
It was loud, terrifying, throwing his mind back to different places and times he'd rather not remember. He tried hard to force the memories aside as he crashed into another person- Dream, his mind supplied. Over the ringing in his ears, he could hear the person speaking again, but it was muffled and hard to pick out from how far they were.
"Dre… Away from him." They spoke with a sort of power, authority, like Phil, or Sam. They had what felt like a light bubbly energy, even from here he could feel it, still commanding, but comforting. Like Puffy. He silently wished the woman were there, she always seemed to know what to do, how to help. Even when he didn't ask.
"And why should I?" Dream sounded smug, cocky even. Honestly Tommy thought that was pretty stupid of him, both of them had almost been struck by lightning. It wasn't even raining, and Tommy was almost certain that the other person had somehow summoned it down.
"You know I can't let you do this, Dream. I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to." Tommy could hear them better now, the ringing having faded a slight bit.
"You can't kill me, unless you plan on killing Tommy too." Dream said it with such certainty, and Tommy questioned why. Was he bluffing? Trying to make it seem as though Tommy knew how to bring someone back? That he would do so for Dream of all people?
…
…Would he do that for Dream?
No. No, he certainly wouldn't. He was sure of it, he knew better. Dream wasn't his friend. Dream had killed him, multiple times.
But he said it was to help him- No. Dream hurt him, what he did was unforgivable and the masked man clearly felt no remorse.
Had he really not? What about all the times he stayed there to comfort him after he was revived-
"I think we both know that's not possible at this point, Dream." The person's voice cut through.
The man in front of him laughed, "Right, but it's just you and me here Foolish." Ah, that made sense, Tommy could recall Tubbo and Ranboo telling him about when they'd seen Foolish bring down bolts of lighting onto a group eggpire goons. "I mean, honestly, he might not stay dead, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. You wouldn’t want to hurt Tommy, would you?” The words seemed to pass right through his ears, barely registering.
“He can’t die, but you can.”
Tommy felt himself get pulled by the arm and into Dreams chest, then spun around so a blade could be pressed against his neck, “He can be used as a shield though.” Dream laughed, “I know you’re bluffing, Foolish. I know you’re a peaceful person. A pacifist. You wouldn’t actually let a kid get hurt while you were around, let alone cause them harm yourself. ”
Dying was painful now, even the tiny nick the blade was leaving in his throat sent shock-waves through his body, but just going off of how he was instantly thrown back into existence, without feeling like he was being shredded to nothing but molecules, he wondered if it would actually be that bad. Did it even count as dying? The air hadn’t even gotten the chance to leave his lungs before he was thrust back into reality. He really, really didn’t want to feel the pain of well, of anything. But he also didn’t want to ever go back to being anywhere near Dream. So Tommy silently weighed his options, and came to a decision.
He let his hand that wasn’t being restrained reach into his pocket, digging around for a moment until he found what he was looking for. He couldn’t see what he was writing, but he hoped that what he typed into the communicator was legible enough that Foolish would understand, then he hit send. When he heard Dream’s own communicator ping, he hoped the masked man was too busy trying to keep himself alive to attempt to check it.
He could see Foolish glance at the message, the totem god then turning back to look at him for just a moment, as if to ask if he was sure. Tommy gave a quick nod, then took a deep breath, trying to steel himself for something he was certain would likely be painful. He squeezed his eyes closed as he heard the air around him crackle and felt his hair stand on end. Lightning cracked and boomed loud in his ears, and there was pain, sharp and warm. It faded as quickly as it came, but with it left the hold on him, soon after he heard a dull thud through the ringing in his ears.
The world felt foggy, and for a moment he wondered if he had actually died, but he didn’t feel too much, or even numb. It was like his body was buzzing with energy, trying to escape. He heard Foolish hum, the god was now closer and much smaller. “Well,” Foolish had a surprised look on his face, “I’ve never seen anything like that before. Honestly I was worried that you would have died, I’m surprised you’re still standing upright.”
Tommy felt something brush against his hand and jumped away with a startled yelp, ducking behind Foolish then looking to see what had scared him. He was surprised to note that the plants where he was just standing had grown to nearly half his height. He looked at the god he hid behind, “Are they doing’ that ‘cause of me? I’ve never seen plants do that before.”
Foolish nodded, “I have, but only with Hannah, and never to that extent. I know she has some sort of limitation to things like roses. These seem to grow wherever you’re standing, see?” He pointed at the ground below Tommy, who quickly turned to look, then jump back again. He moved around, watching in wonder as the grass and small flowers sprouted up wherever he stepped.
“Cool… but also kinda creepy…”
“Yeah,” Foolish laughed a bit. “So… what happened ? I mean, everything around here is dead, and I don’t remember you having any kind of plant based powers before.”
Tommy sucked in a sharp breath, “I- I don’t really know. I know he… he killed me again. Then he brought me back again. Before that he was talkin’ about how he didn’t have enough energy before to do… something, I’m not actually quite sure what it was. I learned I’m technically part potato though. Thinking back on it, I always wondered why there'd be so many rotten ones whenever I got revived…” he quieted down as he looked out at the decade field that surrounded the both of them, realization slowly washing across his face. He let out a harsh, almost scared sounding laugh, “Guess I’m made of a lot more plants then potatoes now, huh?”
Foolish tilted his head, “What do you mean?”
“ All of this, the reason it’s all dead, is because he used it to bring me back. ” Tommy buried his face in his hands, “ Fuck. ”
Foolish’s hand awkwardly hovered over Tommy’s shoulder for moment, he wasn’t sure if touch was a good idea in this situation. Verbal comfort was probably a far better choice at this moment in time, “Hey, plants are cool… You can make a killer garden with these new powers or whatever. Uh, maybe you can learn how to control it. It might fade with time too, if that’s something you were worried about.” Yeah… He wasn’t that great at this.
“It’s not that. ” Tommy choked out, Foolish wondered when the boy started crying.
“What is it then?”
“You saw, right? He killed me again and I just came right back. I- when he brought me back, that first time in the prison, he- he said something about being immortal. About being immortal together. I don’t wanna live forever. But I especially don’t wanna live forever with him. How the hell am I supposed to avoid it now? Even if I kill him- can I even do that anymore? I don’t know what all this is supposed to do. It feels like there's energy seeping out of me constantly, but I’m not getting tired. What am I supposed to do?” The words couldn’t seem to stop pouring out, his mouth kept moving in his panic as each new thought hit him. He was scared, immortality sounded terrifying. Death was a scary place as well, but he had been there enough times that it had lost that initial heart pounding fear. Life, eternal life, was terrifying though. He knew what to expect in the void, but there was always something new in life, some new way to get hurt or to hurt someone else.
“Hey, it’s alright,” Foolish finally rested his hand on Tommy’s shoulder, deciding any sort of comfort was probably going to go a long way. “Like I said, it might not be permanent. And even if it is, I won’t let him get near you alright? Besides, I could stick around with you so you don’t get lonely instead. There’s a few other people around who are immortal too. I think Philza is one of them, Bad too. Oh! And Eret. We’ve helped each other out a lot in the past.”
Tommy sputtered, bafflement crossing over his face as he looked to Foolish, “ Eret ? I would’ve expected him to maybe say something about it. Or at least tell some stories if you two went on adventures and shit, they always seemed to like telling stories during the war. Well, the first one at least.” His tone seemed to dip into something more sad.
“What happened that they didn’t anymore?”
Tommy hummed, “You remember the button room yeah? Anybody tell you about that tragedy? They were the one who set it up, I know they regret it now, but it took a long time for anyone to start trusting them again. I don’t think Wilbur forgave them, not that he had the chance to.”
“Oh, that… sucks.”
“Yeah, but it’s in the past now anyways. I forgave them, and so did a lot of others, so don’t let it change your perspective on them all that much alright big man?”
“Of course.” Foolish nodded, “It’s probably about to get real crowded here in a minute, wanna chill out at my temple for a while, give things some time to calm down a bit?”
“What about him ?” Tommy jabbed a thumb to where the tall plants shrouded Dream’s figure, still collapsed and unmoving on the ground.
“The others should be able to take care of him, he’ll be out for a while. I’ll tell them where he’s at.” Foolish ruffled his hair, “Come on, you don’t have to worry about him anymore. My summer home is a long walk from here, so we should probably try and get a move on.”
Tommy nodded, “Lead the way then, big man.”
---
This was… An unexpected predicament. Though they really should have expected it. Tommy was running around the sand, cacti growing in trail behind him as Foolish attempted to catch up.
“Tommy, slow down !”
“I can’t!” The boy shrieked, “If I do they’ll poke me!”
“I’ll get to you before they do, don’t worry! But I can’t if you keep leaving this wall in the way!” The plants had been growing tall enough that it was difficult to get around, and Foolish had to switch into his much larger form to get around them, which was still hard because he had to try to avoid stepping on them.
“Promise?”
“I swear on my unending life!”
“Okay, but if I get poked in the ass I’m gonna kill you!” Tommy shouted as his run slowed to a jog. Foolish was able to move quickly enough to get to him, picking him up quickly in one hand.
“See? I got you, so you don’t have to worry.” The god looked out at the dessert, now covered in thorn coated greenery, “I’d ask you to help me clean all of this up but well…”
“Wow,” Tommy giggled as he stared at all the cacti, Foolish was glad that the kid was able to laugh so soon after what he’d just experienced, yet surprised at how fast he could bounce back, “that’s fuckin’ ugly.”
Foolish laughed, “Yeah, cactus looks good, but only in moderation.”
“I think it just looks ugly.”
“Well enough about the cactus, I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen my temple before?”
“Mmmm, probably would’ve broken it if I did.” Tommy mused.
Foolish laughed, “It’s pretty sturdy, I’m sure even Techno or Dream would have a hard time getting rid of it.”
“They are pretty good at blowing shit up. Especially Dream.” Venom laced with something that sounded like fear leaked into Tommy’ voice. Well, that was something they could unpack later. For now though, Foolish wanted to give a grand tour of the area he spent so long building.