Chapter Text
It was a stupid little mistake that almost cost Dream his life.
The sun was setting, the last rays of sunshine illuminating a group of heroes and villains fighting against each other. Helicopters were circling around the scene, broadcasting the intense fight between the two sides. The conflicts were more and more common for the past month, and the situation was getting intense. There was trouble brewing, and today it reached its peak.
This fight was going to be crucial, and both the heroes and the villains knew it.
Dream could see a crowd of people watching them fight, which, don't get him wrong, wasn't unusual, but this fight was possibly going to get really dangerous, and the last thing they needed was saving innocent citizens because they were stupid enough to come close and get hurt.
Dream scanned the group of villains in front of him, quickly going through all their powers. Most of their powers were pretty harmless, but Dream saw a few of the higher-ranked villains amongst them. Otherwise, the number of them was pretty similar to the heroes, and Dream already knew that this was going to be one of the longest fights he's ever fought in.
He blocked out the sounds of helicopters and cheers from the people surrounding them, focusing solely on the criminals right in front of him. He was nervous; who wouldn't be? But with Blaze and Error by his side, he felt significantly safer. Their trio was well-known in the city, mainly for their amazing dynamic and accomplishments “The Dream Team" as people liked to call them was extremely powerful when together, their powers perfectly harmonized. It took a lot to take them down one by one, and it was almost impossible to tear them apart. They were always with each other, ready to help if one of them got injured or needed help.
Dream could feel Blaze squeeze his hand and he smiled before taking a deep breath, preparing himself for what was coming. Then there was a red flash of light, and the fight began.
——
They've been fighting for at least an hour and Dream was starting to get tired. He was used to long fights, but the number of his enemies was always remarkably lower and the fight much less intense. Usually, when Dream got tired, he called Blaze or 404 to fill him in and rested until he was ready to continue. But resting wasn't an option right now. The villains were taking the heroes down one by one and they were slowly but surely getting outnumbered.
"Dream!" next to him Blaze shouted, alarming Dream of an approaching danger that he didn't know about. Turning around, Dream saw Doctor charging at him, and he quickly dodged, avoiding the hit. Doctor's powers were unpredictable and mostly unknown to heroes, so it was better not to be reckless, despite Dream's tendencies
It was actually surprising to see Doctor in a fight, as he usually watched from the sidelines, only willing to fight when things got really bad. Now though, the fight was going pretty well for the villains, so Dream didn't really see the reason for Doctor being there.
Screw his overthinking brain, Dream thought to himself upon realizing he zoned out, his body continuing to fight on autopilot. Luckily, hand-to-hand combat was like second nature to him. While other people blessed with powers preferred to fight with them, Dream actually hated it. If somebody asked him why, he would say it was because he wanted to fight fairly. But the true reason was that he was afraid of losing control.
"what the fuck did you do?!" Dream stared at the lifeless body of his baby brother, his father screaming in anguish right next to him.
Dream was terrified. He knew he was different; he knew he was blessed by the Gods. He knew what he was capable of. But he certainly didn't know that he could actually kill someone.
"I knew it was a mistake to take you in- I should've known it when I saw your eyes- I'm so stupid, so stupid." Dream could faintly register his father pacing around the room, talking to himself like Dream wasn't even there.
It was back then that Dream realized how dangerous he truly was. And it seemed like his father did too. The day after the incident, his dad told him to pack his things; supposedly for a trip. But Dream wasn't stupid. He dared to ask for the truth, but quickly realized his mistake.
"shut up!! Do you really think you're worth being around? Guess what ! You're not. Nobody would want to be around a murderer" his father spat out and Dream's eyes widened. Deep down, he knew . He knew he was practically a criminal . But hearing it fall from his father's lips felt like a stab to his heart.
It was back then that Dream realized he was worthless.
He forced the memories to the back of his mind. He was in a middle of an important fight; the last thing he needed was his emotions getting in the way. Focusing back on the fight, he registered that the Warden wasn't fighting anymore. That was weird, because the creeper hybrid was definitely one of the strongest villains in the city.
It was a little too late when he registered the sound of approaching footsteps and the alarmed shouts from other heroes. Somehow the Warden managed to get to Dream without the hero noticing until it was too late. The superhero tried to turn around last second, but before he could even try, strong gloved hands grabbed his wrist and squeezed, hard. Dream grimaced as he felt his bones crack before he blindly kicked the villain in the shins, hoping for a good and painful hit. However, the warden only grimaced under the mask, his knees buckling for a second until he quickly regained his as balance.
Fuck.
Dream was disoriented and hurting, unable to fight back with the broken or possibly shattered wrists, so he could only watch the hand swing in his direction before landing on the side of his neck. Pain exploded in his skull and he gasped for air before crumpling to the ground, vision fading to black.
——
He woke up to the sounds of heavy footsteps pacing back and forth, the sound accompanied by a distorted monotone voice coming from what sounded like a walkie-talkie. Huh, that was unfamiliar. He was used to waking up to Blaze and 404 arguing over the phone, but they were never that cold and emotionless. Instead, their fights had been filled with rather colourful words and phrases that would have left Bad speechless if he heard. Most of the time, Dream ended up being caught in the middle and more often than not, he was the one that ended their shenanigans. But now there wasn't any playful banter or angry shrieks when his best friends insulted each other; it was painfully quiet, only the buzzing static from the walkie-talkie cutting through the silence.
He didn’t realise he’d made a sound until the footsteps abruptly stopped before starting to rapidly approach him. Dream tensed, hoping that the person would think he was still asleep, but when a hand nudged at his shoulder, he couldn’t help but flinch.
“I know you’re awake” the person snorted and oh- the voice was very familiar, but Dream just couldn’t quite place it. He’s definitely heard it before; the deep, muffled monotone voice that sent shivers down even the most experienced heroes’ backs was well-known among all people.
Well, there was no point in trying to pretend he was sleeping anymore, was there?? So, with a shaky exhale, dream slowly blinked his eyes open. Bright light immediately invaded his vision and he found himself squeezing his eyes shut once again. There was a humourless chuckle above him before the light behind his closed eyes dimmed a bit.
When there was no movement he tried again. Opening his eyes bit by bit, he squinted into the now dimmed light source. It just happened to be a mistake, because as soon as he opened his eyes, there was a trident aimed at his throat. The tines shone with a subtle purple and blue gleam, meaning it was enchanted. And there was only one person that owned a trident, and that was-
Well shit.
He was kidnapped by the Warden.