Chapter Text
They had been completely and thoroughly beaten. No weapons, no armor, no allies for what was likely over hundreds of miles away. Nothing. What's worse is that Tommy and Tubbo had seen just how far Dream was willing to go if it meant gaining control of the server in the form of his hall of attachments.
“So you are evil,” Tommy scowled, “You’re a monster, Dream. This isn’t fair.”
“I mean, evil is in the eye of the beholder, right?” Dream retorted, “You are evil to me. You came into the server thinking that you’re a hero, right? Tubbo–” The goat hybrid startled and turned to face Dream. “I’m gonna lock Tommy away forever. I mean, I need him alive - but that doesn’t mean he has to be free, right?”
He turned his attention back to Tommy. “When you were in exile, it was perfect - people could visit you, you know. The only problem was that you could escape. And you did - that was the problem. I was fine with you being exiled, but then you left, and you ruined it. It was gonna be perfect! But then- well, the prison… It wasn’t meant for you originally, but now it is.”
“Who was it meant for originally?” Tubbo asked from behind Tommy.
“Eh, you don’t need to know. But it's perfect. I mean, I need you alive-” Dream started as he turned his back to them.
Tommy had heard enough. Grasping onto Tubbo’s hand, he took that moment of distraction to rush past Dream. He was not going to get locked up, he was not going to be isolated from his friends again, fuck that . He dashed down the corridor and yanked the Axe of Peace from its frame, turning to face Dream, only to see that he was right behind them. His gloved hand reached out and grabbed Tubbo’s arm, tearing him from Tommy’s grasp and holding Nightmare to his throat.
“I’ll fucking kill you,” Tommy growled, his knuckles white with the force of his grip, the Axe of Peace held in front of him.
“Hey, hey maybe, we just-” Tubbo whimpered slightly as the blade of Nightmare bit into the skin of his neck, small drops of blood beading up from the wound and traveling down his collar. “Okay maybe we just, calm down. ”
Tommy panicked at seeing his friend hurt and immediately placed Techno’s axe back into its frame. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Fuck you, bitch! You can lock me up but I’ll- I’ll swear from the inside.”
“Tommy! I need you alive! I don’t need Tubbo!” Dream screamed at him, still holding onto his hostage. “Listen, Tubbo isn’t fun. Tubbo is a pawn, he’s a follower. I used him as much as I could, but now he’s a little... dried up.”
Tommy felt enraged at Dream’s description of his best friend. “Tubbo isn’t a follower! Tubbo is the president, the last president - he isn’t a fucking follower! ”
Dream scoffed, “Yeah, ‘president’. Second only to Quackity, and Ranboo, and Fundy, and everyone who told him what to do. Tubbo is a follower.”
“Tubbo isn’t a fucking FOLLOWER!” Tommy insisted, racking his mind desperately for a way to get out of this as his brain supplied him with a disturbing fact - this hallway had something for everyone…everyone except Tubbo. “You need Tubbo as much as you need me! Because without Tubbo, what am I, dickhead?”
“Awww,” Dream mocked, “Well, Tommy, you want to be a hero, right? You want to be the hero of the server. And every hero needs an origin story, right? I mean, Batman had his parents, Spiderman had Uncle Ben. And you?” Dream shoved Tubbo towards Tommy as the goat hybrid raised a hand to his bleeding throat. “You can have Tubbo.”
Tommy felt sick as the words left Dream’s mouth, grasping Tubbo’s hand and pulling him behind him. “No, absolutely fucking not. No.”
Tommy glanced around wildly once again, trying to find some kind of escape or exit he might have missed at first, but it was no use. There was only the slight glow coming from the portal which Tommy walked back towards, Dream’s mask following them carefully as they moved. “What’s through that portal?”
“Don’t go through it,” Dream warned, his grip on his axe tightening. “That’s my way home.”
“What would you do if we did?” Tommy tested.
“I mean, I could kill you before you go through.” Dream paused for a moment. “Well, Tubbo. You can go through, it's fine. But Tubbo can’t, I’ll kill him.”
Dream sighed - he was reaching the end of his patience for this little game. “Listen, Tommy, I want to give you a chance to say goodbye.”
“I’m not going to say goodbye! We’ll fucking get out of here!” Tommy said defiantly. “Every time! Everything! We’ve always gotten away alright!”
“You’ll get out of here,” Dream replied, a tone of finality coloring his words. “But it’s Tubbo’s time to go.”
Tommy’s heart felt like it had been iced over. He was running through all his options, taking a quick glance behind him at where Mellohi sat in its frame.
There was only one thing that stood out in his mind. “Dream, you know what? You can keep the discs for now. But me and Tubbo, we’ll go.”
Dream chuckled slightly. “Tommy, I don’t care about the discs. I already explained that I care about power. And like I said, Tubbo is a pawn.”
“I’m not a pawn…” Tubbo mumbled sadly behind Tommy, wrapping his arms around himself.
“He’s just a pawn,” Dream restated firmly. “So say your goodbyes.”
“No, fuck you! I want the worst- fuckin’ SHIT! ” Tommy raged against the masked man in front of him.
“TOMMY! You’re gonna miss out on your chance to say goodbye to your best friend!” Dream raised his voice to match Tommy. “I’m not kidding.”
“You’re not gonna!” Tommy said, desperation in his voice.
“Listen, you have to accept it. You can deny it all you want, but then you lose out. He’ll die, and you’ll regret forever that you didn’t say goodbye.” Dream stepped forward. “So, listen - I’m going to put you in this obsidian box, and you can say your goodbyes.”
Before Tommy could react, Dream had grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shoved him into a small enclosed room. He hadn’t noticed it before, the blackstone wall it was attached to blending with the interior obsidian. It closed it off, so he could only see Tubbo through a small gap. The claustrophobia set in immediately, and he cried out in anger and fear, cursing at Dream as he walked away and left Tubbo shaking in front of him.
“He’s not- he’s not going to fucking kill you. He needs me. You’ve seen him deceive everyone, Tubbo, you know he’s not gonna kill you.” Tommy’s heart was pounding as his voice wavered, eyes darting around in panic before locking onto the portal. “I’ll tell you what to do – you make a break for the portal, you can run all the way back to- there's a secret portal on the- on the exile base. If you run to that-”
Tubbo cut him off, an emptiness to his voice that Tommy had never heard from him before. “Ah, I would be dead before I got to the portal. Too much of a distance.”
Tubbo smiled sadly, the beginning of tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “It’s- it’s alright. We had some laughs. It was- it was… it was fun while it lasted, but–”
“Why have you just accepted it?!” Tommy asked him, hands scrabbling desperately to break the obsidian that trapped him. “Don’t just accept it now! Don’t- NO! ”
Tubbo sighed. “We’ve been backed up into a corner.”
“We don’t just, we- Tubbo, we never accept defeat, alright? WE NEVER DO!” Tommy shouted at him, hurt that his friend was just giving up when it was his life on the line.
“We are literally at bedrock - there’s no way to go under. We have no way to build up–”
“We never- no, we- we don’t accept- we don’t accept this shit, man. We never– ” Tommy’s voice got quieter, pleading.
“I would be dead before I get through the portal, so we can’t go that way. We don’t have tools… we have nothing.” There was a beat of silence before Tubbo looked back at Tommy, voice breaking as he spoke. “Yeah… it's over. We had some laughs, it was fun, you know? All good things must come to an end eventually. I just didn’t think this would- this would be my…”
“Tubbo, Tubbo no , but- what am I?! ” Tommy desperately reached out his hand through the small gap towards him, “Tubbo, what am I without you? ”
Tubbo took his hand, both of their grips shaking in terror and grief, giving him that same sad smile. “Yourself? ”
“Are you- are you really accepting this?” Tommy whispered, his heart aching at his best friend’s words.
“Yeah… It’s alright. It’s alright! Hey- it was fun. We said our goodbyes already at the start.” Tubbo shifted uncomfortably, the idea that this really was the end seemed to hit him. “Who knows what happens when I’m dead?”
“We were- we were optimistic . This isn’t- this isn’t what-” Tommy whimpered.
“Well, you know- you know how Dream described me as a pawn? This is checkmate . This is it! This is the end... I suggest you resign.” Tubbo’s voice shuddered.
There was more silence, and Tommy noticed that Dream had started to walk back over – time was quickly running out. “Tubbo- Tubbo . Even though, for this entire server, I’ve always regarded you as my- as my sidekick? Really Tubbo I was- I was your sidekick. Please don’t- please don’t go.”
“It’s- it’s fine. It’s about time anyway… it’s about time.” Tubbo let go of Tommy’s hand and he stepped back, arms wrapping around himself in a tight hug. His head hung down as Dream’s footsteps came closer, the sound of his axe scraping along the blackstone floor.
“No, no no no. NO! ” Tommy screamed as his hands beat against the obsidian walls, “Fucking- STAY AWAY FROM HIM, YOU MONSTER .”
“You knew the consequences Tommy. And now? Now you have to face them,” Dream said with an eerie calm as he reached out, turning Tubbo to face him.
Tubbo looked up at the cursed smiling mask. This was it – he was going to die, closed in once again, with no way to escape. There was terror and anguish, but at the same time, there was acceptance. A feeling of relief and just… emptiness . He took in one last deep breath and closed his eyes, right as the shimmering axe was brought down with a sickening crack to his sternum and he crumpled onto the floor.
[Tubbo_ was slain by Dream using [Nightmare ]]
Tommy’s pained wail echoed through the room as Dream pulled back his axe. “YOU FUCKING MONSTER! WHEN I GET OUT, I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU! THERE WON’T BE A PLACE THAT YOU GO THAT I WON’T FUCKING FIND YOU! ”
Dream took out a rag from one of his pockets and cleaned off the blood from his axe nonchalantly before willing it back into his inventory. “Say your goodbyes, Tommy.”
“Fucking- what for? ” Tommy cried out, “He’s already gone. YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM!”
“Well, in that case,” Dream leaned down and picked up Tubbo’s limp body. “Hope you didn’t have a funeral planned.”
“DREAM, PUT HIM DOWN- ” Tommy screamed as he desperately raged against his prison.
“Goodbye, Tommy.” Dream replied as he walked towards the lift at the back of the room.
Tommy continued to scream curses and broken threats as the gears squealed back to life and the elevator started to ascend. Dream looked at the portal expectantly. It was only when he was halfway to the top of the lift that the portal began to shimmer and Punz stepped out with the majority of the members of the SMP, armed to the teeth and looking ready for battle.
'A little late but there he is,' Dream thought with a quiet laugh.
Not that it mattered. He had gotten what he had come for. He wasn’t exactly telling the truth when he had said that Tubbo had fulfilled his use as a tool. He still had questions and concerns about the revival process as well as its limits. He couldn't bring back a mindless cow or sheep, and he'd grown tired of his... previous test subjects. If he was going to perfect the art of revival, he would need to have someone new to experiment on. Tubbo just came with added benefits.
Tommy’s furious, tearstained face glared up at the pair as he collapsed from within the small obsidian box, freshly released by Sam. Dream couldn’t help the smile that creeped onto his face behind his mask as the elevator blocked both him and his prize from their sight.
It was, after all, by design that he severed the most dangerous attachment on his server.
