Chapter Text
With this, our first story will conclude. Do not fret we will see them again, and they will return, but they will be going through something a lot more darker than before something that will change them forever, and if they want to survive it, they must not lose themselves
We are now going to open into something a bit more twisted something that is deep within a world where a woman with a heart of coal rules with an iron fist, where the trees are Twisted and rotten, and the sky is red, and filled with smog to the point that even in the brightest day, the sun struggles to come out of its shell, and now this is where our heroes are at while their friends are scrambling to save them. For now they must face their own demons, figuratively and literally.
Scarlett groaned as she sat up from the ground. God, it felt like her back was broken. She looked down to see Minerva curled up, her face bruised as she shifted slightly.
“Min!” Scarlett cried out as she scrambled towards her. She grabbed her shoulders, lifting her to her lap. “Are you okay!?
Minerva shook her head as she sniffled “Where are we…?”
Scarlett looked around, trying to figure that out, before freezing. “I… have no idea.”
“Girls?!” Puffy cried out from beyond the bushes, “Where are you!”
“Puffy!” Scarlett shouted. “We’re over here!”
There was a moment of shuffling as Puffy and some of the other server members walked toward the girls.
“I don’t think we’re in Toontown anymore.” Niki murmured as she shook her hand which was now covered in scrapes and cuts.
Phil sniffed the air before covering his nose “Prime, what is that smell?!”
Minerva sniffed the air as well with a similar grimace. “Smog?” She looked up to see that the dark blue night sky is now a reddish color, though, covered in deep black clouds. For the first time, she began to take stock of the forest around her, trees are now twisted into different directions with a few of them having ghastly faces. The bushes were covered in sharp needles, clearly showing how some of them managed to get cuts all over them.
“I don’t think we’re in the Toon world at all anymore,” Scarlett stated, looking around the area. “What is this place? Why did Madden bring us here?”
“Whatever her reason, I doubt it's a good one,” Sam muttered, flipping through his inventory. “I’ve lost my weapons somehow too.”
“Hello!” Tommy called out as he walked over with the rest of the members. Scarlett noticed that George was carrying Dream, who was now still in his arms. She didn’t know what happened. If the man was frozen out of fear or was simply knocked out.
“Looks like everyone is here, and considerin' my weapons are all gone I’m assumin’ everyone is unarmed,” Techno drawled.
Everyone else nodded as well as he grumbled something under his breath.
“How did she do that? Like what the hell?” Tommy exclaimed.
“Maybe she was the one who brought you to the Toon world. And she did the same thing to us to bring us here,” Scarlett suggested. “Would explain why no one knew.”
Everyone agreed remembering the events from what felt like a long time ago. After a moment of silence, Eret then spoke up.
“Where's Foolish?”
At that moment, everyone froze, realizing they were missing a tall golden totem hybrid.
“What?!” Puffy cried out as she looked around the area, “Where is he?!”
“Foolish?! Foolish, where are you?!” Sam called out.
Everyone began to call out for him. They didn’t know where he went or what happened, but what if he was hurt or worse? But Minerva shushed them as she tilted her head as if she was listening to something.
“What the- Minerva what are you doing?”
“We don’t wanna catch anyone’s attention,” Minerva hissed. “Somethings wrong!”
“Madden brought us here, wouldn’t she already know where we are?” Techno pointed out.
“We need to find Foolish!” Puffy hissed.
Minerva shook her head as she harshly whispered, “Have you not noticed how there’s not a single sound of animals or other wildlife?! That’s not a good sign!”
“What are you saying?” George asked.
Minerva held her hand up as she stared forward. Scarlett noticed that she was staring at a particular section of hedges. For a long moment, she thought she saw a piece of a red shirt through the branches shaking as if it were laughing. After a moment, she thought she saw it move deeper into the forest, an odd-looking creature with tentacles on its back before she heard a deep giggle as the trees forcefully began to move closer. She only had a moment to say one word “Run.”
At that moment everyone sprinted away from the scene as the forest around them began to shift.
“Scarlett, Minerva what’s going on?!” Tubbo cried out holding his backpack tightly in his arms.
“I don’t know,” Minerva cried out before she let out a yelp. She fell to the ground beneath her with God knows what wrapped around her legs. A rope tightened around her and she let out a gasp as she tried to untie it quickly.
“Let me help!” Sam yelled out rushing towards her. As he bent down to try to help her, George noticed the mechanical sound of a crossbow.
“Sam lookout!” George shouted but he was too late as an arrow hit the side of the creeper's back. He let out a yowl as he fell to the ground next to Minerva. They were then dragged away, their voices crying out for their friends, their struggling bodies dragged into the ever shifting forest.
“Bull’s-eyes!” A voice cried out, both familiar and unfamiliar. “It must be my lucky day, I got the creeper!”
“You did well, dear.” Another voice said this time there was no mistake of what kind of voice it was despite its almost robotic nature.
“Wait…” Jack murmured, looking back at the trees. “Is that…Sam?”
“Don’t know, don’t care,” Niki called out, shaking fearfully. “Just keep running!”
“But what about them?!” Scarlett yelled as she attempted to rush towards the trees to save her girlfriend. But Techno grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She turned around for a brief moment looking shocked at his decision.“Let me go!”
“They’re lost, just keep running!” Techno said. “We can’t help them if we all get captured!”
“No! I can’t lose her! Let it go! You coward! Coward!” Scarlett screamed as she struggled in his arms as he caught up with the others.
“Where are Minerva and Sam?!” Tommy cried out, his eyes widened in worry.
“Gone! Now unless you wanna get caught by those… whatever they are, get moving!” Techno ordered, “We’ll come back for them, but we need to move ”
There was another laugh, this time distinctly more childlike. “Wow, I thought that you cared about people! Or at the very least don’t want to die in the hands of that bunny!”
“Sparks, what are you talking about do you really think that these people are the type that has that honor?”
“What?!” Tubbo cried out. Since when did these creatures have his voice?! “Who-What are you?! And why the hell do you have my voice?!”
Just as he said that a rocket blast passed him, narrowly missing his face. Tubbo fell to the ground, eye wide in panic. He was breathing heavily as Ranboo held onto him tightly.
“EVERYONE SCATTER!” Phil shouted. “MAKE THEM SPLIT UP!”
Everyone rushed towards different directions hoping to get the entities away from them. Phil tried not to shake as he heard Niki, Fundy, and Jack cry out in the other direction. He then leaped up and spread out his wings; he hovered nervously in the air for a few moments before zooming upward. He tried to ignore the pain shooting through his back, forcing himself to zoom out of the forest and into safety of the cloud filled sky
“Oh, it’s a flight chase you want huh? You’re not the only one who can fly, little crow.”
Phil looked back in shock, as he saw a figure zooming toward him. Its wings were a lot bigger than his. It seemed to be surrounded by a mixture of magpies and eagles. But the thing that stuck out to him the most was the fact that there was a long cloth covering his face with the exception of two large antlers on top of his head with long, blonde hair. He also wore a long dark green robe, not unlike the one that he himself wears. But he had no time to analyze what was going on as the figure proceeded to punch him in the face.
“Come on, old sport, have you ever fought in the sky before?” He said mockingly. Phil tried not to screech as several birds swarmed around him, scratching and biting at his face and arms. He barely even noticed a pair of claws grabbing him and throwing him to the forest floor. His eyes widened when he realized what was happening before he hit the ground with a sickening smack, his hearts down to a single half heart. He looked up to see the figure flying above him, his pose clearly victorious as the wind pushed back the face covering. Phil's eyes widened at that moment, there’s no way… how was this…?
Before Phil fell down into that blissful darkness, he only could say one thing “What are you….”
The imposter Phil smiled at him cruelly as he looked down at the former Angel of Death, “You can call me Crowfather.”
Eret has to admit there are a lot of things that they didn’t expect to make their day a lot worse. Besides the obvious possessions from the evil god of the hunt. He now has to keep an eye on his small group along with Techno and Scarlett. They have been through a lot of difficult situations but this…
“I can’t believe that you made me leave my girlfriend behind!”
“Oh, I’m sorry for saving your life, if you had run back there you would’ve been dead too!”
This is something else.
“Listen. I’m not usually on Techno’s side,” Quackity chimed in, “But at this point, we should focus on trying to get out of here and then save them, preferably when we have weapons!”
Scarlett crossed her arms angrily, glaring at the Shapeshifter. “Well, I might point out that we could’ve saved them if we had run towards them rather than run away!”
Tommy nodded angrily as he glared at the pair.
“Sure, or we could have all gotten caught and Prime only knows what would’ve happened to us,” Techno said. “You know what? Fine. You wanna run back there and take on Prime only knows how many armed people with no actual weapons of your own, fine, be my guest, I won’t stop you this time. But I can’t promise I’ll work that hard to save you either when you inevitably get caught.”
“I can handle that shit myself, easily!” Scarlet growled, pushing into his space.
“And you think I can say that confidently?” Techno asked, poking her chest. “I’m a hell of a good fighter but I’m not a miracle worker. Especially since, again, I am completely unarmed. I know when it's time to fight and when it is time to retreat. We have no idea what their numbers are or their supplies. As far as we know, they have an army, we are only a small group. We needed to retreat.”
Eret shushed them, interrupting the argument “I get that you all are stressed but this isn’t a good time to argue!” they hissed, “We need to focus on what to do!”
“We could focus on saving our friends!” Tommy pointed out.
“And we will, but first we need to get somewhere safe, and try and find any others who escaped without attracting the attention of the enemy,” Eret stated, quickly trying to take charge.
“That’s what I was trying to say we should do,” Techno grumbled. “But of course, once again, no one wants to listen besides Phil.”
Scarlett merely muttered something as she leaned against something thick, “Fine… we just need to figure out how to get out of this woods.”
She opened her eyes only to notice that everyone seemed frozen. Their eyes widened as they waved at her silently to come to them, much to her confusion.
“Uh…. What?” She asked as she walked forward, only a hand to grab her arm.
“Awww, where are you going?” A voice sounding eerily similar to Techno whispered in her ear.
Scarlett froze before turning to look up to face the person behind her. The Techno copy smirked at her, his black eyes piercing her soul. She tensed at that moment before she attempted to take a deep breath and glare back at him. He was hoping to scare her. And she wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.
“Wow, I know that some people are huge fans of Techno but your cosplay is awful.” She said bluntly.
Techno, Eret, Tommy, and Quackity stared at her in shock. What the hell is she doing?!
“Wow, I know that mother mentioned that you were rude but I never knew that you were like this.”
“Get better at costuming and then I won’t be this ‘rude’” Scarlett snapped as she pulled her arm away, trying to look for a knife or something in her pocket. “And let me go, you lazy Techno copy!”
“Oh, do you really think-“ he let out a roar as Scarlet kicked him in the face. She grabbed the side of his armor and pulled out a sword. She jumped back towards the others and tossed the sword to Techno.
“You say that you have no weapon! I got one for you!” She cried out, as the Piglin grabbed it, holding it up in a defensive position, she then went to the front of her backpack and took out her knife. She let out a sigh of relief “Thank God, they haven’t taken it!” She felt the backpack squirm a bit but ignored it. She pointed at the imposter who was now kneeling on the floor covering his bleeding mouth. “Yeah, you definitely do not look like Techno! You’re just a cosplayer!”
Tommy nodded as he took the bag from Scarlett and looked around the place, before grabbing a large stick. “Yeah, you’re definitely not like the Blade!”
Quackity and Eret seem to have gained similar confidence as well as they hold up their fists ready to fight back against this version of Techno. A 1 v 4 had the favor in their odds, even against an opponent who looks like Techno.
But then much to her and everyone else’s shock the imposter began to giggle before letting out a harsh, terrifying laugh. He glanced upward, dark blood seeping out his dislodged jaw before with a sickening crunch it reattached itself and healed as if Scarlett didn't kick him in the face.
“You’re definitely the feisty one.” He cooed, “Although it is disappointing that Techno wasn’t the one who hit me. I thought that he would value his monetization enough to go against me.”
“If you wanna get hit I am more than willing to,” Techno said, tightening his grip on the stolen sword.
“Gladly. Although you got my second favorite sword.” He shrugged as he took out another sword, this time looking less like an average diamond sword and more like an object created by melted steel and diamonds. The group tries not to shudder at how it seems stained with dried blood. “Plus it would be rude of me to not invite my family.”
Scarlett stared at him hesitantly, “Family?”
“I’m not liking this,” Eret said, stepping back.
“Oh calm down, little traitor, it's not like you’re not gonna be going through anything more than what you deserve.” He snapped his fingers, causing the forest around him to go quiet.
Quackity shuddered as he grabbed Scarlett and Tommy's arms “We have to go now!”
He tried to pull them away from the scene only for two pairs of hands flashing multiple colors to wrap around him and pull him away from the two teens.
Quackity let out a yelp as he was held by a sharpened and crazed version of Karl wearing a torn-up suit. “ I thought you would love an opportunity to fight against him!”
Quackity tries to struggle against it as another hand pinches his cheek.
“Come on, bro, what do you expect from a guy like him!”
He froze at the voice realizing how similar he sounds to Schlatt. His fears were confirmed when Quackity looked up to see what seems to be a paler version of his former fiancé. He weakly shook his head “No… no please no.”
“Oh yes. It’s me.” He stated as he glanced at Scarlett and Tommy. “And I have to congratulate you too, it seems like you have got the attention of the big boss.”
Tommy stared at him in confusion, “Wait Madden?”
Scarlett just pointed her dagger at the pair. “Let. Him. Go,” She growled, getting ready to pounce on him. But then a voice called out to her, worming its way into her mind.
“ Oh no, I think you should stop now.”
Her hand suddenly pulled up like an invisible string pulled her up like a puppet.
“Now let go of the knife. A lady like you shouldn’t be playing with those dangerous weapons before you are fully trained.”
“What the fuck?” She cried out, as her hand let go of her dagger, allowing the Schlatt copy to grab it. He waved at her before pocketing it.
“Give it back!” She screeched as she noticed Eret, Techno, and Tommy are forced to march towards her, clearly struggling against the influence on them. Scarlett felt herself marching next to them, unable to free herself. Like their entire bodies were both in movement yet paralyzed simultaneously. Scarlett gasped for air as she croaked out to the ram hybrid clone. “You…bastard… what did you do to us?!”
“Oh, he did nothing wrong.” Not Techno laughed. “Big brother just wants to introduce himself!”
“Of course, I want to see our mother's gifts for us!”
At that moment, the trees shifted as a tall figure climbed out of it. He jumped to the ground and landed almost symmetrically as if trying not to disrupt the ground below. He was wearing a purple one-piece suit, something that shouldn’t be used for hunting. But the thing that surprised them the most was the fact that, for the most part, he looked like an exact copy of Dream-down to the freckles on his face. The only difference was that his eyes were black, with the only thing of light being his green piercing dots and how pale his face looked. But despite it, or maybe because of it, he looked terrifyingly beautiful. Eret heard a whimper and looked to see Tommy shaking as much as his frozen body allowed him to shake, scared of the copy of his abuser in front of him.
“I've been waiting to meet you all again,” He giggled before, pointedly, staring at Tommy. “Especially you blondie.” He took the opportunity to grab the boy's cheek and pull his face closer as if trying to study him. “Though… I recalled that you didn’t look like an animal.”
Tommy looked up in fear. He attempted to bite the creature, but the Not Dream pulled his hands back, laughing casually as he patted the boy's head. “You’re still feral, but with enough training, you would be a good little civilized pet.”
“What… the… hell are… you …talking… about?!” Techno croaked out, a subtle hint of panic shadowing his voice.
But the imposter Dream just smiled as he turned around to stand with the rest of his family. “ You'll find out soon enough. The rest of your friends have been captured and Mother demands that you come to her home to announce your sentence.” He then curled his finger towards the five. “Now follow us! I want to see which one of you my family could take back home. I got dibs on Tommy.”
Scarlett stared at the imposter and was shocked as she heard the sound of muffled crying. She turned around to see Tommy breathing heavily, his eyes filled with tears as if he understood the implication he heard. Quackity and Eret seem to have a similar look of horror on their faces, the Shapeshifter even fighting tears in his eyes as he murmured several no’s under his breath
“NO!”
Scarlett‘s eyes widened as she looked around to see what was happening. Techno was shaking, still fighting against the spell but still determined to stand tall. His hand quickly grabbed the sword on the floor, if not shakingly.
“Oh , you’ve got more fight in you than I expected,” The Dream imposter said, with a smirk. “It would be cute if it wasn’t so annoying.”
“I…DID NOT OVERTHROW HUNDREDS OF TYRANTS, DESTROY FIGHTING RINGS, AND KILL SO MANY PEOPLE JUST TO GO BACK TO THAT LIFE!” Scarlett shuddered as the Piglin she thought of as a fun guy trembled as if both filled with rage and fear, snarling. He lunged at the imposter and threw him against the tree, much to everyone’s surprise. The Not Dream groaned slightly as he rubbed his head. “I am not going back to that and I’m not letting you drag anyone I know into it! I’m not gonna let Tommy go through that dehumanizing hell, not again!”
The other Techno growled as he took out his sword. “And you think that I’m gonna let you hurt my brother and keep you from facing your crimes?” He smiled as his muscles bulged. “You’re more pathetic than I thought. Especially that little tantrum of yours.”
Techno merely roared as he rushed towards him, his sword swinging as he attacked his imposter. But the imposter simply avoided it as he blocked the blow with his sword. And with his free hand punched Techno in the stomach, causing him to stumble down.
“Come on Techno I thought that you’re better than that after all you are the ‘Blood God!’” Not Techno laughed mockingly.
Techno merely growled as he swung the sword wildly at him, trying to hit a vital organ or something. The small group stared at him in shock as Techno, and his impostor continued to rapidly attack each other while the copy was much smoother and casual in his moves. Techno was almost rabid, as if it was just the idea of going back to whatever his life had been that scared him more than anything else. After a few moments, the imposter Dream, Karl, and Schlatt stared at each other as if they already knew the outcome before the latter backed up and disappeared into the woods. Scarlet blinked a few times before noticing the ram standing behind their Techno now, holding an axe. Quackity and Tommy also notice, both yelling out in unison. “TEC-”
But they barely had time to warn him before Techno let out a scream, the blunt end of the axe roughly colliding with his leg, sinking into the flesh, seemingly shattering it in an instant, blood rushing from the wound. He only had a moment to stumble before he collapsed onto the floor. The sword used to protect himself clattered on the Forest ground uselessly.
There was a moment of silence, all of them too stunned even to react, before Tommy finally screamed,
“Techno!” Tommy cried out, tears streaming down his eyes as he attempted to struggle against the spell “ You bastards! How could you!? How could you do this?! How could you do this!? Fuck you bastards!!”
“He attacked first. He had it coming.”
Not Schlatt stated casually as he pulled the blunt side of the axe out of Techno‘s leg. He smirks at the young boy with a cruel smile.
“And I thought that you might be a bit happy to see your former brother injured.”
Tommy gasped angrily, “I never wanted this plus you’re the asshole who injured him!”
“Whatever.” The Dream imposter said. “Now let’s decide should I have Techno stand up?” Techno cried out in pain as he was yanked up from the ground, forced to stumble up on his broken leg, shaking in agony. Tommy tried not to go pale when he noticed the way his bone seems to be pressing against his skin, threatening to break it. “Or will you guys go quietly and I’ll have my brother, Benevolent god of Justice carry him? ”
The supposed god of justice smiled, “Oh stop it.”
“We’ll come quietly, just don’t make Techno walk,” Eret said quickly, raising her hands above her head. “Right guys?”
Tommy looked at the area for a moment before taking a glance at Scarlet who slowly nodded as she raised her hand up “Fine just don’t do anything shitty to him.” After a moment, Tommy reluctantly raises his hand along with Quackity.
“Fine,” Tommy whispered.
“You better keep your promise,” Quackity growled, trying not to panic when the ram hybrid placed a hand on his lower back and gave him a shit-eating grin.
“Good.” The imposter Dream said before turning over “ Now come along everyone!” He said as the God of Justice placed Techno on his back. And four began their March, following their captors to what they believed could be their last place of freedom. “We’re going to Mother’s house!”