Work Text:
his head was throbbing.
he can't remember anything, only that his head was absolutely killing him. where the hell was he?
as he opened his eyes all he saw were netherite bars in front of him, he panicked slightly and looked around, he was locked in a cage. he turned himself around and looked at where he was, what was this?
wait.
he remembered.
"it's over, bad" a sinister voice stated harshly, dream.
"okay! okay..." he fell to his knees in surrender, tears streaming down his face, "i give up, please stop"
dream smiled and moved away from the other person laying in front of him, skeppy. bad's heart broke seeing the other in a heap on the ground, he was bleeding and hurt.
"good" he said while circling them both, "im glad you made the right choice"
bad wanted to get up and run to skeppy when the other picked himself up slowly and turned to look at him, his face was panicked and hopeless.
there was nothing they could do.
skeppy's face contorted to one of horror as he opened his mouth to scream something, bad never got to hear it though, everything just went black.
bad took deep breaths trying to calm himself, where the hell was he?
he froze when he heard shuffling from in front of him, he recoiled away from it in fear that dream was here but when he saw what it was he screamed out.
"skeppy!" bad screeched as he saw him, the other was pushing himself up as he just awoke. he turned towards the other and looked confused.
"where..?" he questioned touching the bars.
"i-i don't know" bad said shakily, "but ill get us out of here"
skeppy examined his cage, both of theirs were the same size, very cramped but luckily enough room to move around freely.
"fuck" skeppy hissed and held his stomach in pain, bad sat up and looked at him worried.
"what is it?" bad asked quickly.
skeppy moved his hand and it was coated red, in fact his hoodie had a bright red blood stain on the front. bad panicked and tried kicking at his cell and prying the bars open, nothing would work.
"skeppy" bad whimpered and reached his hand through the bars, it was a tight fit but he managed.
the other did the same, stretching his arm as far as he possibly could to reach bad, they couldn't. if they were one inch closer then he could hold his hand, tell him everything would be okay.
bad let out a choked sob and tried reaching further but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't reach him.
skeppy pulled back and looked at him defeated, it was almost as if whoever put them here did it on purpose. knowing they would seek any sort of touch or comfort from each other, they made it impossible, as if taunting them.
dream.
bad wiped his tears away and tried melting the bars with his hands, he desperately tried and tried and tried but nothing.
"bad" skeppy spoke up, "it's okay"
"no!" he yelled, "you're hurt and you need help, i have to get us out of here"
skeppy opened his mouth to say something but they both froze when footsteps were heard coming towards them.
"well hello" dream grinned once he was standing in front of them, "good morning"
"dream" bad looked up at him pleading, "please, whatever you want-"
"i have what i want" dream interrupted, "and what i wanted was you locked away in my possession"
bad shook his head, "no, dream we were friends"
"we were" dream nodded slowly, "friendship doesn't mean much to me anymore"
bad felt his eyes water, "just- just let him go, please"
"bad, no" skeppy hissed.
dream tilted his head in thought, "no, i don't think i will"
"im begging you please" bad cried, "im begging you"
dream laughed loudly making him flinch, "i like that, you should beg more... but my answer still remains"
"he's bleeding" bad looked up at him sadly, "he needs help"
dream shrugged and stood there between them. bad tried not to cry in front of him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, but a sob left his throat as he hung his head down.
dream huffed in amusement and walked away, bad gripped the cage in anger. when he gets out of here dream will pay.
"bad" skeppy spoke up, "it'll be okay"
he shook his head and tried burning the bars harder, flinching when he burnt his arm, "bad stop, you're hurting yourself"
"we have to get out of here, there has to be someway out" bad said quickly in a panic.
"it's netherite" skeppy snapped, "we're not getting out"
bad slumped over and gave up, they both sat in silence slowly accepting their fate. there had to be a way out, there had to be.
bad didn't realize when he slowly slipped into a deep sleep, his head still sore.
bad shrieked in pure horror when the blade went straight through.
skeppy looked down at where the blade stuck out and stumbled in confusion, dream pulled the blade out and flicked the blood off, not even phased when skeppy fell over in a pile of red.
bad sobbed and tried to run over to the other but dream held the blade up to his throat, "one more step and he's dead"
he stopped in place and held his hands up, his whole body shaking in fear. was he dead? he had to help him. but he couldn't. he couldn't.
there was nothing he could do.
dream smirked down at him, "it's over bad"
bad gasped awake and looked around in a panic, once he realized where he was he looked over at the cage in front of him.
he sat up quickly when he saw the other slumped over, unmoving, "skeppy" he called out in a panic.
no response.
"skeppy!" bad yelled out making the other jump awake, he groaned in pain and held his stomach.
"d-don't move, it'll bleed worse" bad said quickly, watching as the other leaned against the cage and tried to control his breathing.
skeppy coughed and hissed in pain, "fuck" he breathed.
bad gripped the bars tightly and watched him carefully, if he didn't get help...
"bad, it's okay" skeppy finally spoke up, comforting the other.
"no, we have to get you out of here" bad cried out.
skeppy shook his head and coughed again, holding his stomach in pain, "we're not getting out of here, bad"
bad squeezed his arm through the bar and reached out, if he could only hold his hand. skeppy moved forward and did the same, both trying their hardest to reach the other.
"i just need to-" bad struggled shakily, no matter how hard they both stretched, they couldn't reach. not even their fingertips were close enough to brush against each other.
they both sat back, giving up. bad leaned back against his cage and put his head in his hands, trying his best not to break down right now.
"bad" skeppy spoke softly making the other look up slowly, "i love you"
bad shook his head as a sob wrecked through him, "don't- don't do this, don't say goodbye"
"i just want you to know" skeppy smiled and bad couldn't return the gesture.
"no, we're getting out of here" he spoke sternly, "don't give up on me"
skeppy kneeled over and coughed harshly making the other try to pry the unbreakable bars. he wouldn't give up, he couldn't, not when there was so much to lose.
he could only watch as the other in front of him got worse.
skeppy's breathing began to rattle and he got weak, not moving around anymore. he was losing too much blood and bad knew it.
"i love you too" bad choked out, gripping the bars in front of him.
skeppy looked up at him slowly and smiled, he was weak, barely able to hold his head up anymore, "i love you so don't give up yet, please" bad begged.
the other didn't respond, only breathing heavily as he leaned back against the cage. bad sat back and felt tears stream down his face.
he was starting to give up hope.
the only sounds that could be heard were the unsteady breathing of the other and his cries, and he cried and cried until he couldn't cry before he fell asleep.
"fuck you" skeppy seethed at the person standing in front of him and the other punched him hard.
bad screamed out for him to stop, but the other only turned to him with a smile, a sinster evil smile.
"please stop" bad begged but the other person just shook his head with a chuckle.
"no" dream said.
bad ran up to him and pushed him over making the other tumble down the hill before trying to get skeppy on his feet, "im fine" he choked out, holding his cheek in pain.
skeppy got to his feet and brushed himself off, "let's just get the hell out of here"
bad nodded and grabbed his hand, leading them both to saftey, his brows furrowed in confusion when the other slipped away from him. he turned to see why he stopped and froze in place.
dream held him tightly and before anyone could react, a blade stabbed through him, "bad...?"
bad startled awake and looked over at the cage in front of him, skeppy was slumped over and bad sat up, "skeppy" he called out softly, trying to wake the other.
he would get them out of here no matter what.
"skeppy, wake up" bad spoke louder.
"skeppy!" bad screamed as loud as he could, no response.
no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no.
bad shook his cage in a blind panic, "skeppy this isn't funny" he tried in a last ditch effort.
he tensed when the other stayed unmoving, this can't be happening. it can't.
bad felt his breathing pick up and he shook the cage harder, "skeppy!" he shrieked.
he's dead.
bad screamed out in horror, screaming until his vocal chords were shredded, just mourning the other. when he couldn't scream, he sobbed, he cried and cried and cried until there were no possible tears left to cry.
the only thing he ever cared about was gone.
and he was forced to watch him fade away.
bad sat there numbly for days, refusing to go to sleep. if he hadn't gone to sleep then maybe...
weeks went by, dream hadn't come to visit him, he wondered if they had been abandoned here or if dream died, if he died and the secret of their whereabouts died with him.
bad hoped, no, prayed that dream had the cruelest death imaginable. he prayed that he was tortured, that his limbs were ripped apart one by one, that he was eaten alive by wild dogs. he wanted him to suffur.
anger consumed his entire being for a few months, he never slept, the only thing keeping him sane was the thought of dream dying in the worst ways.
and then he couldn't be angry anymore. he sat there unmoving, staring at a wall while vines grew over him. he never blinked, he never slept, he couldn't.
years passed by, he was covered in plants growing over him, in the same position still staring at the same stupid wall.
for the first time in years, he turned his head to look at the other cage, the plants breaking apart as he moved, in skeppy's place was nothing more than a pile of bones.
bad sobbed and curled around himself, just letting everything out. he stared at where the other used to be and cried.
"ill never forget you" bad said shakily, "you were the best thing that's ever happened to me"
he wished for an answer.
"i love you" his voice cracked, "so so much"
he said his final goodbye before closing his eyes, he fell into a deep sleep and he knew he wouldn't be waking up for thousands of years, not until someone found him a long time in the future finally waking him up.
in his dreams, skeppy was there, just as he remembered him, not dying and weak and sad but just skeppy.
"bad" he grinned when he saw him.
bad wonders if this is what mortals say heaven is, he guesses it's pretty close.
he doesn't respond and only holds his hand out, when skeppy presses his palm against his and intertwines their fingers he can't help but to smile for the first time in forever.
hand in hand, they walk.