Chapter Text
Ghostbur wasn’t used to the level of emotions that was coursing through his veins. His legs shook violently with the effort of keeping himself in a standing position, tears welling in his milky white eyes.
“Ghostbur!” Tommy shouted from across the lake of lava between them. “I-It’s gonna be okay, come on- come on, count with me-”
“Tommy shut up!” Sam snapped, but the boy didn’t stop trying to reassure his friend. Ghostbur didn’t dare look behind him, not with the way Sam had been screeching about Dream “disappearing” for the last five minutes. He didn’t want to see that monster, ever again. He regretted agreeing to Tommy’s plan.
No, he didn’t regret it. That was rude to think, he chided himself. He wanted- no, needed my help to make this work! Tommy’s always been nice to me. No need to be mean to him, even in my head! I’ll just breathe, it’ll be alright, it’ll be alright...
“Count with me,” Tommy was still yelling for him. Ghostbur let his fingers curl into his own sweater, his gaze fixing on the teen’s sweat-streaked face. “One! Yeah, yeah! One, two, three..”
“Four, five, six, seven,” Ghostbur chorused, gulping for air like a drowning man. “Eight, nine… ten.” He took a long, shaky breath, leaning back onto the netherite blockade separating him and the prisoner.
Tommy gave him a strained smile. “Good! Good, Ghostbur! Breathe, alright? Just-” he cut himself off with a panicked scream as a shuffling suddenly began behind Ghostbur.
He whirled around, only for a calloused hand to close around his wrist. The man he’d come face to face with was not at all looking at him. No, Dream’s only visible eye was following TommyInnit’s every move. Ghostbur felt a wave of fear roll through him as he desperately tried to yank his arm away, but- oh, gods, why couldn’t he couldn’t make himself disappear?
Dream forced Ghostbur’s back against the barrier, one hand clenched in the ghost’s frizzy hair and the other pressing against his captive’s throat.
“Let me out right now, or I’ll- I’ll revive him, right now!” Dream’s harsh voice made Ghostbur flinch as the man yelled across the lava ravine.
Tommy’s face contorted, though in fear, anger, or both, Ghostbur couldn’t tell.
And suddenly everyone was screaming at once, and he couldn’t breathe right. The heat rising from the lava was clinging to his pale skin under the sweater he wore, filling his lungs and suffocating him. He could hear Tommy desperately pleading with Sam to do anything, to send the platform over, to get Ghostbur back, but Sam wasn’t budging.
The ghost scratched ineffectively at Dream’s exposed forearm, but that only caused the man to snarl angrily in his ear to cut it out.
“Tommy-Tommy help me, HELP!” He cried, kicking out.
The boy lunged past Sam towards what Ghostbur knew was a wall of levers, but nothing happened. The warden simply hauled Tommy away, his booming voice filled with anger.
“NO, Tommy! It’s too dangerous!”
“I don’t give a fuck! Save him, you creeper loving bastard!”
“I’m going to do it, I swear!” Dream interrupted, his grip around Ghostbur’s neck tightening. The latter let out a pained noise, cracked by the pressure on his windpipe.
“I’m sorry-” he heard Sam saying, struggling to get to his controls as Tommy fought valiantly to get him to stop.
“HE KILLED ME, AND NOW HE’S GOING TO KILL GHOSTBUR!”
The protests were for nothing. A loud click echoed through the obsidian chamber, and suddenly more magma was beginning to fall from the ceiling.
Dream was threatening more, but neither Tommy or Sam was listening to him.
Ghostbur was still shaking. He just wanted to go home. He just wanted to see Friend again. He just wanted his blue.
“I warned you,” Dream hissed as he shoved the ghost to his knees, a hand on either side of his face.
Tears flowed freely down his face now. Tommy slammed his fist on the ground, his jaw clenched. Desperation was clear in his face.
Ghostbur’s dead heart beat frantically in his throat. I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go!
“You told me I’d be okay!” He sobbed out as the lava barrier began to obscure his view of Tommy. A scream tore from his lips, raw terror finally enveloping him, everything had gone so wrong. His skin was burning as he let his emotions go.
He heard Tommy pleading, crying, saw him on his knees, but his vision quickly became too blurred with tears to make out what was happening.
Dream’s grip seemed to be crushing his jaw now. That was definitely going to bruise.
No, it wouldn’t. He wasn’t going to get to see it bruise, because he knew now he’d never leave the prison.
The masked prisoner let out an almost animalistic sound of anger.
There was a terribly clear crack, and Ghostbur was gone.