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The last thing he remembered is Bad setting off the end crystal. He died, he knows that. He lost the manhunt. But something was wrong. He had been in the dark space between death and respawning for far too long. Normally, respawning was nearly instantaneous, with just a moment or two of darkness. But that moment of darkness stretched on, much longer than it should’ve.
He blinked. And blinked again. Where was he? It was still dark around him, but he found he could move. He wasn’t stuck in the strange paralysis that possessed him in between death and respawn. He knelt on the ground and felt the cool touch of stone. Was he in a cave? He tried to look around, but it was still too dark to see anything. That made sense, there’s no natural light in caves. He felt around some more, finding that he was in a small tunnel. His eyes strained, trying to see into the dark. But he knew it was a fruitless endeavor. He took a few careful steps forwards, arms outstretched to prevent him from going into anything face first. He felt the ground slope upwards, so he continued, hoping to get out of this cave. He’d rather not run into any mobs.
He kept one hand on the right wall, and one stretched out in front of him, going slowly as to not trip. How did he get underground? He didn’t remember spawn being in a cave. He thought for a moment. Bad and the others should be back at spawn by now, they’ll probably be wondering where he is. He could probably just teleport to them. He stopped his ascent and summoned his transponder. He typed in the command and… nothing. He frowned. Maybe he typed it wrong? He tried again and got an error message. Okay so that was a bust. He was an admin, so why weren’t his admin powers working? He reached out with his mind, trying to find the others, but he got no response. It was as if he was offline. Well, guess there’s only one thing he can do. He put his transponder away and continued up the cave.
——-
He couldn’t tell how much time had passed. The impossible dark seemed to rob him of that ability. All he knew was that his feet ached from the long hike up. His endurance is usually pretty good, what with all the manhunts and stuff, but when you are stumbling slightly ever other step, it takes a toll. He tripped over a rock and fell face first, unable to catch himself as he could not see. A crack and a pain throbbed on his face and he was sure he had broken his nose. He sat up.
“Dammit,” he whispered to himself.
He could feel blood start to pour from his nose, and he fumbled trying to pull up his sleeve enough to stop the flow. He needed to keep moving, for fear of a mob killing him, but he also needed a moment to recover. That’s when his ears began to pick up the soft sound of feet against dusty stone. His head perked up and his muscles tensed, ready to run from a zombie when he heard a voice.
He focused on the voice, ears straining to figure out which direction it came from.
Up.
It came from up.
Still not fully recovered, Dream began to crawl, feeling his way up the tunnel.
“Hey!” He shouted, “I need some help!”
The sound of footsteps stopped, and Dream could see the soft flicker of a torch ahead, barely illuminating the top of the tunnel.
“… Dream?” The voice said.
“Yes! It’s me!” Dream began to crawl faster towards the light. “Can you tell me where I am?”
Finally, he reached the top of the tunnel to see… a blonde kid in iron armor. And he looked terrified.
“Woah, man, are you okay?” Dream asked.
He remembered his bloody nose.
“Oh, sorry about the blood, I fell and broke my nose,” he used his sleeve to wipe the clotted blood from his lips.
“Y-you’re not supposed to be here,” the boy stuttered.
Dream paused.
“I’m sorry, but, have we met?” He asked.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” The kid spat, the terror that had gripped him subsiding. “Oh fucking course we’ve met. You’ve made my life a fucking nightmare!”
Dream stared at him, a puzzle look rested on his face as he tried to comprehend the boy’s words.
“I…” he began, but what could he say. He had never met this kid before! “I think you have the wrong guy, I’ve never met you before.”
The boy stared at him, seemingly scanning his appearance.
“You look different,” he said.
“Probably because I’m not who you’re thinking of,” Dream said.
Suddenly, they heard the clacking of bones. Dream whipped around just in time to see a skeleton aim an arrow at the boy.
“Look out!” He yelled, pushing the boy over.
“What the fu-“ the boy yelled, but stopped as he saw an arrow zip over his head.
“Do you mind if we get out of here?” Dream asked as the skeleton notched another arrow. “I’d rather not have to respawn back at the bottom of that tunnel.”
“What-“ the boy started again, but was cut off by an arrow barely missing his head.
“Give me your sword!” Dream yelled, dodging another arrow. The skeleton was blocking the only exit, so they had to get rid of it.
“What? No!” The boy yelled.
“Well then you kill it!” Dream said.
The boy huffed and stood up, holding up his shield and sword. Arrows hit the shield with loud thunks, but the boy pushed forward, and struck down the skeleton with his iron sword. Dream ran over and snatched up its bow and arrows, but found the bow was about to break. It probably only had about two shots left in it; definitely not enough to kill anything. He sighed and tucked the 3 arrows into his quiver, but held the bow ready. He looked over and saw the boy raising his sword at him.
“Give me the bow,” he said.
“What? No!” Dream said, “listen, I don’t know what your problem is with me considering we have never even met, but I’m not going to continue going down this cave without any protection. Besides,” Dream lifted the bow, “this baby only has maybe, two? Three? Shots left in it. And I’m going to make sure they count. Now can we please get out of here?”
The boy narrowed his eyes at him before slowly lowering his sword.
“Okay, but if you try anything, I won’t hesitate to take your last life,” he said.
“My last life?” Dream asked.
What was this kid talking about?
“Yeah, then you’ll be dead dead and stuck in limbo,” he said before turning around and starting down the tunnel.
Limbo? Dead dead?
“Wait up!” Dream said, jogging to catch up with the kid.
The kid didn’t look back at him and continued, not even acknowledging him when he had caught up.
“I don’t think you’ve told me your name,” Dream said, trying to get some information out of this kid. Who, actually, shouldn’t even be here in the first place. Callahan chose this private seed, so there shouldn’t be anyone except him and the hunters.
“You already know it,” the kid said.
“Well, pretend that I don’t, and I’ve never met you in my life before,” Dream said, starting to get a little annoyed, “because I haven’t.”
The kid glanced back at him.
“Tommy.”
“Okay, Tommy. I’m Dream,” he tried to extend a hand to Tommy, but he didn’t take it.
Tommy looked at the hand before looking up at Dream.
“I know,” he said.
“Oh!” Dream said, a realization coming to him. “Are you a fan of my Manhunts?”
Tommy looked at him, confused, “you’re what?”
Dream sighed.
“I guess not then.”
A silence fell between the two, with the only sound breaking it being their feet against the stone below them. Dream stared at the back of the kids head, not even knowing what to think. He respawned deep underground, was found by a kid that apparently despised him, and said kid threatened to kill him, as if that meant something. This kid, who was scared of him, hated him, and shouldn’t even be here in the first place. Dream was too curious, he had to know more.
“So where are we?” He asked.
Tommy looked back at him, his brow furrowed.
“Did you get amnesia or something?” He asked.
“Considering I’m still wearing the clothes I was wearing when I got blown up and killed by Bad, no I don’t think so,” Dream said.
“Oh, so you know Bad, but you don’t know me?“ Tommy scoffed.
Dream looked at him a little puzzled.
“Of course I know Bad, he helps me with my Manhunts. That thing I was talking about earlier. He’s one of the Hunters. But it’s just for the game. We are friends outside of it,” he explained.
Tommy chuckled slightly, “Well he’s not anyone’s friend right now, he’s a little too possessed for that.” He paused, “I shouldn’t laugh, it actually sucks.”
Dream fell a cold pit grow in his stomach. Last time he saw Bad, merely minutes ago, he was blowing him up with a crystal! What the hell happened?
“That can’t be right,“ Dream said, “I was just with him.”
They turned the corner and Dream saw the bright light of daylight shining from the mouth of the cave. Compared to the dim lighting from the torch, the light outside was almost blinding, and Dream had to put a hand over his eyes to shield them.
“That’s impossible,” Tommy said, “considering you’ve been in prison for, about a year now.“
“I’ve been what?” Dream asked.
Suddenly, he was being tackled to the ground. He yelled in shock as his right arm was twisted behind his back.
“Move and you’re dead,” he heard a familiar voice growl.
“Sapnap?” Dream said, trying to look behind him.
“I said move and you’re dead!“ The voice shouted.
“Sapnap! The hunt is over! Cut it out!” Dream said.
“No, I’m not listening to you. So don’t try anything, I’m taking you back to prison. I already called Sam,” Sapnap said, as if the name of Sam was supposed to strike fear into him.
“What is wrong with you? Why do you guys keep talking about a prison?!” Dream struggled, but Sapnap just twisted his arm more.
“Don’t try anything. I’m warning you,” Sapnap growled again.
Dream groaned in pain and stopped struggling, his mind jumping hurdles trying to figure out what was going on.
“Okay, okay, can you at least tell me what happened? After Bad blew me up?” Dream asked.
There was silence for a moment.
“What are you talking about?” Sapnap said.
“This is what I mean!” Tommy cut in, “he talked about how he and Bad are friends, and then said how Bad killed him! I don’t even know how he’s still alive if Bad apparently blew him up.”
Sapnap’s grip loosened.
“Bad did what?”
“He blew me up with an End Crystal! I was chasing him and he blew me up! Smart move, it won you guys the Manhunt, but for some goddamn reason I didn’t respawn back at spawn. I respawned in that cave and was found by-“ he looked to Tommy, “sorry man, I’m bad with names, what’s ur name again?”
Tommy stared at Sapnap and gestured with both hands towards Dream, “See what I mean?”
Sapnap looked between the two.
“I don’t understand…” he muttered.
Dream huffed, “Welcome to the club.”
“And look,” Tommy pointed at Dream’s face, “he looks different. His hair is shorter, not as many scars, and he’s not wearing his mask.”
Sapnap looked at Dream’s face, studying the things Tommy pointed out.
“Of course im not wearing my mask, I was just underground, I can’t see with that thing, it’s mainly just a gimmick. Sure, I’ll play with it on, but that’s just to show off,” Dream said.
Tommy and Sapnap exchanged a look that Dream didn’t understand.
“Are you… Dream?” Sapnap asked.
“Well, yeah. But I’m starting to think that I’m not the guy you’re thinking of,” Dream said.
Sapnap narrowed his eyes at him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked.
“Well,” Dream started, “you guys both act like I’m this big scary monster, but I, one, don’t know who you are-“ he looked at Tommy, “and last time I checked, you and me were childhood best friends that have no beef. We only compete against each other.” He paused, “WITH Bad, George, Ant, and Sam. You guys hunt me down while I try to free The End. If you kill me, you win. If I free The End, I win. But then after that, we all go home as friends.”
Silence fell for a few moments after Dream finished, and he looked between the two to try to read their expressions.
“Oh my good you’re not Dream,” Sapnap said.
“Thank you! Now, can you please get off of me? My arm is going numb,” Dream tried to pull his arm from Sapnap’s grip.
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Sapnap quickly got off of him and stood up, watching as Dream stood up himself and brushed the dirt off of his hoodie.
“Now,” Dream said, looking at the two other men… well, boy and man. “Can someone PLEASE explain where the hell I am?”
“Um-“ Sapnap looked towards Tommy then back at Dream. “So we are on the Dream SMP, named because the owner of the server is, well, Dream. A bunch of stuff has happened and Dream became a monster. Now he’s in prison.”
Dream blinked.
“So, this Dream guy, he looks like me?” He asked.
“Yeah-“ Tommy said, “but you look more like a younger version of him… before everything.”
“A younger version…” Dream thought for a moment. “Do you guys know about other servers? Like, multiplayer ones?”
Tommy and Sapnap looked at each other, then back at Dream.
“We’ll, yeah-“ Sapnap said, “you, me, and George all came from our home server to this one. And Tommy-“
“-I left my home to find a new place to stay bc home was boooring, and found this place,” Tommy cut in.
“Do you guys know about servers system?” Dream asked.
They both shook their head.
Dream looked between the two before talking, “How The End, Overworld, and Nether are all one server, a server system is basically that, but with a bunch of different servers. There are stories and theories about alternate server systems, where the people on those servers are alternate versions of people on our servers. They share the same face, name, and sometimes personalities! But they have different memories, life experience, or even are different kinds of hybrids.”
Dream stopped to give them a second to take everything in before continuing.
“There’s even a myth about a server that isn’t a server at all. And is almost completely disconnected from everything. They can interact with servers, but nothing can interact with them back. A server that completely defies the laws of magic.”
“So, you think this is an alternative server?” Tommy asked.
“How else would you explain it? There is a different me on this server, and you’re definitely not the Sapnap I know-“ Dream pointed at Tommy, “and I have no clue who you are.”
“Hey!” Tommy frowned.
Dream shrugged, “it’s true! This server is in an alternate server system, which would explain why my admin powers aren’t working”
Dream began to bounce on his heels, excitement flowing through him.
“I’m a big believer in alternate server systems, and was even helping some researchers. Since my manhunts happen on a new server every time, I’ve always kept an eye out for ways to access other server systems.” Dream raised his hands in the air. “Now here I am!”
“Okay,” Sapnap started, “but how do you get back?”
Dream thought for a moment.
“Not sure,” he hummed, “but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I have to. Bad and the others are probably worried sick by now,” he said.
Just then, they all heard a rustling in the brush behind Dream.
“Don’t move!” A voice yelled.
Dream froze, but quickly turned around when he recognized the voice.
“Sam?” He asked.
“I said don’t move Dream!”
“Sam, he’s not Dream,” Sapnap said, walking over to Sam and putting a hand on his trident.
“But, you said-“
“I know what I said,” Sapnap said, cutting him off. “But he’s not our Dream. He’s someone else.”
“What do you mean, not our Dream?” Sam asked.
Dream cleared his throat, catching their attention.
“Hi, uh, have you heard of the alternate server system theory?” Dream asked.
“Vaguely,” Sam raised his trident, holding it upright, “Why?”
“Well it seems that it’s true,” Dream raised his arms, “I’m from an alternate server system.”
“No way,” Sam said, “that’s impossible,”
“Sam,” Tommy cut in, “he doesn’t look, act, or sound like how our Dream is now. He’s practically a completely different person!”
Sapnap nodded, agreeing with Tommy.
“So what now?” Sam asked.
“I’m not sure,” Dream said, “but, I guess until we figure that out, I could check out the server? I’m pretty curious to see what an alternative server in an alternate server system looks like,”
The three exchanged a worried glance.
“What?” Dream asked.
“Well,” Tommy spoke, “you see, on this server, you’re-“
“Public enemy number one,” Sam finished.
“Yeah, that,” Tommy nodded.
“If anyone saw you, they’d either run and sound the alarms, or try to kill you,” Sapnap said, grimacing.
“So?” Dream asked.
“So? You’ll die!” Tommy said, throwing his hands up in the air for added effect.
“And? Where I’m from, those kind of deaths don’t ‘count.’ The only way to actually pass on is from old age,” Dream explained, “so basically, I can’t die from any player or mob kills.”
“Maybe where you’re from,” Sam said, “But here, everyone has only three lives. When you lose that last one-“
“That’s it. You’re done. You go to your designated afterlife. You’re limbo. And you stay there, for gods knows how long,” Tommy sighed, “I went there. It was not a fun place to be.”
“How did you get back?” Dream asked.
“Our Dream, he-“ Tommy paused, trying to find his words, “he can bring people back from limbo. He got this book that lets him do that.”
“Why don’t you guys take the book?” Dream asked.
“We’ve tried,” Sam sighed, “he hid the physical copy. He was able to bring Tommy back using his memory of the book.”
“That begs the question,” Sapnap stepped closer to Dream, “do you only have three lives now?”
“I-“
Dream eyes widened. He never considered that this would ever happen. Why would he? Infinity lives were a law of magic in his server system. But now… now he has to be careful. He doesn’t have the luxury to be careless. He’s pretty good at not dying, he plays a game surrounded by that concept, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen sometimes. And here, that sometimes could mean a eternity in a limbo not meant for him. He took a breath to calm himself. No, he would be fine, he knows how to survive. Wasn’t that the whole point of his manhunts?
“I don’t know. But for my sake, let’s run under the assumption that I do,” Dream said.
“So we hide you,” Sam said, “and there’s no better place to hide you than the prison.”
“But-“ Sapnap started, but Sam cut him off.
“No one goes into the prison without me knowing. He won’t be locked up, but it’s a good place to lay low,” Sam said, attaching the trident to the holster on his back.
Silence fell over the group as anxieties ran high. This was all so confusing.
“Lets do it,” Dream said, “I’d rather find a place to hide out and think. I’m quick on my toes, but I don’t know this place. I don’t know how this server system works. And I’d rather not find out the hard way.”
“Here,” Sam flourished his hand and a cloak appeared in it. “Put this on. It should cover your face and clothes well enough to get you to the prison.”
Dream nodded and reached out for the cloak.
Suddenly, time seemed to freeze, and the color leeched out of the world around him.
“Well, you look interesting,” a voice spoke from all around him.
The blood drained from Dreams face. He heard stories of gods, but he never believed them. As far as he knew, servers were run by admins, and no one else. But, this was a different server system. Here, things were different. Here, gods might be real.
“What do you want? Who are you?” He asked the air.
A low rumble echoed all around him.
“That’s for me to know, and you to find out,” the voice said, a twisted glee in it’s voice.
Suddenly time sped up and color returned to the world around him as his hand made contact with the cloak. He stared at the cloak, gripping it in his hands. And for just a moment, he paused and stared at it. But that moment passed and he took the cloak ask if nothing had ever happened. He smiled at Sam.
“Thank you,” he said, throwing the cloak over his shoulders and fastening it.
Sam laughed, “Yeah, you’re definitely not our Dream. He would never so ‘thank you.’”
Dream raised an eyebrow, “So what exactly did you’re Dream do?”