Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1. Twins, pt. 1

“Tommy!”

Dream burst into the room of Technoblade’s cabin where Tommy had been hiding. They had arrived towards the end of exile this time, and the pair of them had decided to wait for Techno to be gone, then broken into his house, figuring Dream could always use his favor when he got back. Dream had been in the basement, experimenting with potions again. The potion experiments could never end poorly when Tommy did them, but Dream had obviously done something. He turned to face the masked man, and noticed his hair was blonde now. That was new.

“What’s up, Big D?”

Dream flinched.

“Please, seriously, stop calling me that. Anyways, Tommy, were you going through my bag earlier?”

Tommy blinked.

“Yeah, why? I wanted to see if you had any harming pots, I had an idea for the next loop. What about it?”

Dream sighed.

“I had a feeling. I think you got your hair in one of my empty bottles.”

“Wait, what?”

“I was experimenting with the animal transformation potion base, and I wanted to see what drinking it without any animal parts in it would do. And, you know how we normally use animal hair in it? Well…”

Dream put a hand to his mask, and took it off to reveal not the face that Tommy had gotten used to seeing throughout the loops, but his own instead. Tommy took one look at Dream’s dejected expression and burst out laughing.

“Oh my… oh my god Dream, this is hilarious!”

“Shut up.”

“No no no, this is pig! At least you finally look good, Dream.”

Dream’s angry glare did nothing but send Tommy into a further fit of laughing.

“Do you think I’m seriously going to be stuck like this for the rest of the loop?”

Tommy paused, then an even larger grin split his face.

“Actually, I think you want to.”

Dream raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“And why would that be?”

“Think about this. We can use this. This could be so much fun for a prank.”

“Go on, I’m listening.”

“Well, we haven’t really deviated from the script at all, except for you being here. If you leave, and we follow the script for the rest of the time, we could end up doing something really funny.”

Dream nodded along, seeming to understand what Tommy was saying. He opened his mouth, about to say more when they heard the sound of heavy footsteps from outside. Technoblade was coming home. Dream quickly re-equipped his mask, pulling out an invisibility potion.

“I’ll see you later. Stick to the script, Tommy. This loop should be fun.”

Dream threw down the potion and Tommy could hear his footsteps move to just next to the door, right as it opened. Tommy made himself look as weak as possible.

“Hey, Technoblade… how are ya doing, mate?”

2. Swap, pt. 1

“We will take back the land that is rightfully ours! If you do not surrender…”

Dream paused for a moment, taking in his surroundings as he caught up to where he was in the loop. He sighed, and Sapnap looked at him worriedly.

“Dream, what’s wrong?” Sapnap hissed. “Why did you stop?”

“I’m tired of this.” Dream muttered. He looked straight up, locked eyes with Tommy, and spoke a single word.

“Swap.”

Tommy nodded silently, and they walked towards each other, grabbing gear in their hands as they did. Dream tossed his equipment at Tommy, and the younger looper did the same with a practiced ease. Finally, Dream took off his mask and threw it at Tommy, who traded him two discs and the hat from his revolutionary uniform. Dream then slid into the place where Tommy had been standing as both sides stared at him in shock, both from his behavior and from the fact that he had taken off his mask. Dream made sure not to show any emotion as he assumed Tommy’s place on the revolution’s side. Tommy had already equipped Dream’s iconic mask, and cleared his throat as he drew his weapon, the enchantments on Dream’s netherite sword matching Tommy’s new armor. Dream had already pulled the revolutionary uniform over his hoodie. Tommy spoke, exactly where Dream had left off,

“I want to see white flags! White flags, outside your base, by tomorrow, at dawn, or you are dead!”

Tommy turned to leave, gesturing the rest of the Greater Smp to follow him. They did, still looking incredibly confused. Everyone in L’manburg just stood there in shock until Fundy finally spoke.

“What… what just happened?”

Dream turned to Fundy, carefully keeping his face neutral.

“Why do you seem so shocked? Tommy and the rest of the Smp just finished delivering a threat, we’ve known this was coming since they made the giant walls.”

Wilbur spoke now.

“Dream. What are you doing?”

Dream tilted his head, acting confused.

“What do you mean, Wilbur? I’m just trying to make sure we're ready for when they attack tomorrow.”

“No. Why are you… helping us?”

“What else would I do? I’ve been on L’manburg’s side the entire time.”

Wilbur seemed to be battling some kind of internal demons, shaking his head repeatedly.

“No- that’s not- your not- that can’t be right!”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re American! You can’t be a member of L’manburg!”

Dream opened his mouth, speaking in a flawless British accent.

“Wilbur, are you feeling okay? You seem really confused right now.”

Wilbur did the human impression of a crashing computer, then just put his hands up and walked off. 

“Nope! Not dealing with this kind of gaslighting! Nope, nope, nope!”

Dream had to fight the urge to laugh now. He turned to Fundy and Tubbo.

“So, what are our plans for before the Smp attacks?”

Tubbo froze, shock still coloring his features. Fundy just shrugged and seemed to roll with it.

“So, I was thinking we could…”

— — —

Back at the community house, someone finally questioned what had just happened.

“Okay. Tommy?”

“Hmmm?”

He turned to face Sapnap. Dream’s mask actually fit his face quite well, which was a relief. They had agreed to try and make it for as long as they could stay in character before they would swap back. This loop seemed like it was going to be an incredibly interesting one.

“What just happened?”

“We just sent L’manburg a message. For their sake, hopefully they’ll heed the warning.”

“No, that’s… not what I’m talking about.”

Tommy took a step forward. 

“Then what are you saying, Sapnap? Or are you even saying anything at all.”

Sapnap took a step back. He looked nervous for a moment, then stepped back forward.

“Why did you switch sides?”

“What?”

Tommy asked with such an air of confusion that it catches Sapnap off guard.

“Sapnap, what do you mean I ‘switched sides’? The two of us have always been on the same side, against L’manburg.”

Sapnap looked confused.

“No, that’s- you didn’t. Dream was on our side, not you, because it’s Dream’s server and that’s why he’s mad at L’manburg!”

“Sapnap, I’m the server admin. I always have been. Are you feeling okay?”

He shook his head.

“No, you- guys, help?”

He looked at George and Punz hopefully, however that hope was crushed the moment the two finished exchanging looks.

“Sapnap, what are you talking about? Tommy’s the leader of the Smp.”

Spoke George. Punz continued,

“Yeah Sapnap, are you sure you’re okay? Tommy is your best friend, and you’re looking at him like you don’t even recognize him.”

“No, that’s impossible! I can’t just be- Dream can’t be in L’manburg, he’s not even British!”

Tommy looked at Sapnap with mock concern.

“Sapnap, are you okay? We are talking about Dream, the British man-child obsessed with music discs, right?”

Sapnap opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, before turning to exit.

“Nope, I’m out! You guys can… you can…” 

His voice trailed off as he left. With Sapnap gone, Punz dropped his grin.

“Alright, but seriously Tommy, what are you doing?”

“Absolutely no clue what you’re talking about. Bye Punz!”

3. 

“I think it’s time… for you all to be sacrificed to the Egg!”  There were gasped from the entire banquet hall.

“Bad… how could you? We trusted you!”

Bad chuckled.

“Well, that was your first mistake. Now, let’s see, who to sacrifice first… I think Er-”

“Bad, wait! Stop!”

Dream burst through a hole in the ceiling.

“You can’t sacrifice anyone to the Egg!”

Everyone turned to stare at the intruder.

“Dream?”

Said several very confused voices at once.

“How did you get out of prison?”

Sam asked, his tone cold. Dream was about to answer when another voice interrupted him.

“Nevermind that, Dream, what are you wearing? Am I asleep again?”

Asked a very confused sounding George. Dream looked down. Ahh, right. He had lost a bet.

“Do you have a problem with my dress, George?”

He asked, trying to sound serious. However, it was hard to sound serious while trying to stop one of your friends from sacrificing all of your other friends to his cult while wearing a maid dress, even if you were the most wanted criminal on the server. George flushed in response to Dream’s question. Dream just grinned under his mask. Everyone stared at him in shock. Eret nodded once.

“Respect.”

“Ahem…” Bad cleared his throat, trying to regain the crowd’s attention, but any serious feeling was long gone. Bad still tried to continue,

“Distractions aside, we need to get back to the important things! The egg… is hungry. So, first we’re going to sacrifice-”

“Nope!” Dream cheerfully cut Bad off. Bad blinked in confusion. Dream continued,

“There will be no sacrificing of any sort today. We are going to talk things out!”

Bad and Puffy spoke at the same time.

“You can’t just talk out being sacrificed to the Egg!”

“Dream, this is not a talking matter! And since when do you talk out conflict?”

Dream proceeded to ignore them both.

“We are talking today. Everyone, sit in a circle.”

Eret looked at George and shrugged, and they both sat down on the ground. Others joined them until the only ones left standing were Bad, Puffy, Antfrost, and Sam, who was refusing to do anything Dream said on principle. That’s fine, Dream didn’t really need him anyway. Dream walked over to Bad, and with the demon still frozen with confusion, managed to pull him and the anthropomorphic cat into the circle. Puffy hesitantly followed, and Dream proceeded to do his best therapist impression. 

“Now tell me Bad, why do you feel you have to sacrifice your friends to the Egg?”

“I- because it wants them!”

“And why do you care what it wants?”

“Because the Egg is my friend!”

Dream nodded.

“But, aren’t Puffy and Sam and Foolish also your friends?”

“It- it’s not the same.”

“And why is that?”

“Because they’re not the same!”

“Why?”

“Because they can’t give me what the Egg can give me!”

“And what can the Egg give you?”

Bad looked frozen for a moment, like he didn’t want to respond.

“…Skeppy.”

“What was that?”

“I said the Egg can give me Skeppy!”

Dream nodded. He was really channeling Puffy from the loop where Tommy had made him go to therapy.

“And why don’t you have Skeppy?”

Bad froze.

“Because… because…”

“Maybe you need to listen to your friends, and not the Egg.”

Bad looked too broken to reply. Dream instead turned to face Puffy.

“Puffy, how does Bad choosing the Egg over you make you feel? Please respond using ‘I’ messages.”

Puffy seemed to understand what Dream was trying to do, which makes sense considering that she was a licensed therapist.

“Bad, you know that I consider you my friend. However, I feel like you keep pushing me away for the Egg. That really hurts me, Bad.”

Dream nodded.

“Bad, do you have anything that you want to say to that?”

Bad seemed hesitant. His outfit flickered a bit, traces of its normal red showing for a moment, before he spoke.

“Puffy… everyone… I- I’m… Not sorry at all!”

Bad’s outfit changed back to pure white as he began to laugh maniacally.

“None of you are worth anything to me, you’re nothing more than food for the Egg! You… Ahhh!”

Bad screamed and collapsed, clutching his head, as did the other members of the Eggpire. From behind them, and inhuman screeching could be heard from the Egg, and as they watched, it shriveled up and died. From behind the Egg’s corpse, Tommy emerged, holding a bottle of holy water in one hand and dragging an unconscious Skeppy with the other. Dream snorted.

“Took you long enough.”

“Shut up.”

Tommy scowled at him. Dream mock gasped.

“Tommy, I’m so hurt! I put all that effort into distracting the Eggheads, and you can’t even be grateful? I thought we were friends!”

“I just became a priest of Prime killed the Egg in the last hour. I have a massive headache, and I want to go home and take a nap. Don’t talk to me.”

Dream sighed.

“Fine, do you want to head out now?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Dream stood up to leave, but was interrupted by a voice from behind him.

“Dream. I’m afraid that I can’t let you leave.”

He sighed again. Of course Sam wouldn’t let it be that easy. 

“Sam, I just worked with Tommy and killed the Egg. Does that not even kind of convince you that I can be trusted?”

Sam scowled.

“It doesn’t change the fact that you are a prisoner.”

Dream stared at Sam disinterestedly.

“Yeah, I don’t really want to deal with this right now. Technoblade!”

He turned to face the walls.

“I’m calling in my favor! Don’t kill anyone.”

“Wha- Technoblade? He’s not even here!”

“That’s what you think.”

Technoblade burst through the wall, looking incredibly annoyed. 

“Dream, how did you even know I was there.”

Dream smirked.

“ESP.”

“So you can see through walls, but you can’t build a house.”

“I HAVE A HOUSE!!!”

Tommy grabbed Dream’s arm.

“Come on Dream, we all know you’re in denial, but right now we need to go.”

“Fine. I’m leaving, to go to my house. Goodbye. Bad, Ant, other people, don’t join any more cults. Please.”

4.

“Dream! I challenge you to a duel, for L’manburg’s independence! Ten paces, quick draw, first blood wins. Do you accept these rules?”

Tommy yelled. Dream opened his mouth, and a voice that was most definitely not his sounded out.

“You know the rules, and so do I!”

Everyone stared at Dream, who had just Rick rolled them. Tommy nodded, as though it were a perfectly normal response. Him and Dream each pulled out their bows and stood expectantly in the middle of the bridge. Finally, Tommy looked at Wilbur.

“Wil, are you going to count us off?”

Wilbur shook his head like he was trying to clear something out of it.

“Right, sorry. One, two-”

“It’s the final countdown.”

“What?”

Tommy pointedly didn’t react.

“Wilbur, can you count properly?”

“R-right. Umm… ten paces, fire!”

This time, Tommy managed to get a solid hit into Dream’s shoulder, knocking him off the bridge. He grinned, and turned to face the rest of his nation.

“We won! We’re free!”

Tubbo was the first to move, running up to him to grab him in a tight hug. Wilbur then seemed to realize what had just happened, as tears dripped out his eyes as he ran to squeeze Tommy into his arms too. The moment, however, was ruined by Dream picking himself off the ground, having already healed from his wound.

“You held me down, but I got up. Already brushing off the dust.”

Everyone turned to Dream.

“How…”

Whispered Tubbo in horror.

“How did he just make a Katy Perry song come out of his mouth?”

Tommy shrugged.

“It’s Dream, y’know? He’s just always been like this.”

Everyone on both sides turned to stare at Tommy in shock.

“What do you mean, ‘Dream had always been like this’? He has not!”

“But I want it, that way.”

Everyone seemed to distracted at this point to care about the fact that L’manburg had just won their independence. And that was fine.

— — —

“Sorry Dream, but you should have paid me more.”

Punz stepped through the portal, followed by the rest of the Smp as Tommy and Tubbo laughed in relief. Dream appeared shocked.

“I put my trust, in you, pushed as far as I could go…”

Behind Punz, Sapnap groaned.

“Dream, we know you can talk! Stop abusing your music playing abilities and take this seriously! For your crimes against the server, you’re about to be arrested!”

“I’m a survivor, I’m not gonna give up!”

Dream yelled. Then, before anyone could react, he ran straight for the portal, pushing through all the people. As he escaped, he looked back once, and opened his mouth. However, rather than a mocking comment, familiar music poured out, and Dream disappeared, leaving nothing but speed run music echoing around his secret base.

Chapter Text

5.

“Nine, ten paces fire!”

Tommy turned and drew back his bow, but he wasn’t fast enough as Dream’s arrow hit him first. He flew back, groaning in pain as he heard the members of the greater Smp cheer. He growled low from his throat.

“maerD! retsnom uoY!”

He yelled, and everyone turned to stare at him.

“What?” Asked Tubbo in a genuinely confused tone. Dream, however, just laughed.

“retsnoM? retsnom a em gnillac er’uoY? hcir s’taht.”

Everyone turned to face Dream, also looking confused. Tommy ignored them. 

“scsid ym uoy evig I fi ecnednepedni grubnam’L evig uoy lliW?”

Dream seemed to consider this for a moment.

“eniF. revo meht dnaH.”

Tommy sighed, and retrieved the discs from his inventory. He then slowly, deliberately gave them to Dream. The masked man smiled, then turned to face the crowd.

“pu netsiL! ecnednepedni sti grubnam’L evig lliw I, ymmoT fo esuaceB. og s’tel, znuP, panpaS, egroeG.”

Dream turned to leave, gesturing to his friends to follow him. The rest of L’manburg just stared at Tommy. Finally, after everyone had left and they were the only ones remaining. Wilbur turned towards Tommy.

“Tommy, what the hell was that?”

Tommy shrugged.

“grubnam’L eerf ot scsid ym dedart I. won eerf er’eW.”

“I think he’s talking backwards.” 

said Fundy. Eret seemed to think for a moment, then he spoke.

“He said, ‘We’re free now. I traded my discs to free L’manburg’.”

Wilbur, Tubbo, and Fundy turned towards Eret in shock.

“eeS? em dnatsrednu nac terE. yllamron gniklat m’I!”

Eret just nodded.

“Checks out to me.”

“grubnam’L fo rebmem tselooc er’uoy, terE.”

“Aww, thanks Tommy.”

“What the hell is going on.”

— — —

“Okay, Dream, what is happening?”

“scsid eht rof ecnednepedni dedart I. laed doog a saw tI.”

“What?”

Sapnap seemed to be getting frustrated. Dream couldn’t possibly imagine why.

“em draeh uoY.”

Dream turned and left, leaving his very confused teammates behind. He was sure that they would figure it out eventually. Behind him, he could see George shaking his head out of the corner of his eye.

— — —

“I’m afraid… that after much consideration… the best decision for L’manburg… is to exile Tommyinnit.”

“obbuT! uoy dluoc woH? a fo nos uoy, uoy detsurt I…”

“ymmoT. hguone s’tahT. obbuT thgir, lanif si noisiced ruoY?”

Tubbo just blinked and looked at Eret, who sighed.

“Tommy. That’s enough. Your session is final, right Tubbo? And… you probably don’t want me to translate Tommy right now.”

“I’m sorry Tommy. But… you need to go.”

Tommy looked downcast.

“eniF. maerD, og s’teL.”

He turned and left, and as soon as they got away from the other people, he looked up at his fellow looper and grinned.

“Well, that was fun. What do you want to do now?”

Dream chuckled once.

“I don’t know. I can’t believe we managed to talk backwards without a break for the last several months, and no one caught on.”

Tommy snorted.

“Yeah, it was pretty funny. I think we should use exile as a break.”

“What.”

A low tone interrupted their conversation, and Tommy froze. He had heard that voice, but not usually that annoyed.

“He-hey, Eret…”

“Tommy. Dream.” They glared at the loopers.

“I have spent the last several months having to translate every thing that the pair of you have said. And I did it, out of the kindness of my heart, because you two acted like you had some kind of potion mishap and physically couldn’t speak normally. And you two were doing it… for a joke?”

Tommy felt a chill run down his spine, and he cleared his throat nervously.

“Eret, we can explain-”

“No. Tommy, Dream… I suppose I should just tell you what I mean. I’ll say it simply for you two. gninnur tratS.”

Tommy and Dream didn’t hesitate. They hadn’t ever faced Eret’s rage head on, and they no desire to start now.

6. Impressions pt. 1

“Are you sure that this is going to work?”

Dream didn’t even bother looking up before it replied.

“Of course it will. We’ve tested mob hybrid potions before, and your sewing skills are spot on. As long as no one looks too closely at our faces, the disguises will hold, and even if they do catch us, that will just make it funnier.”

“Yeah, I know. I just don’t want to-”

“Scared your acting skills aren’t good enough?”

“Wha- no! If anything, you’re the one with terrible acting skills!”

Dream snorted. Tommy replied,

“Well then, if you’re so confident in your acting skills, why not make it a bet? Whoever gets caught first has to do whatever the other says next loop.”

Dream didn’t even look up from where he was doing his hair in the mirror.

“Bet.”

“Prepare to lose, Dream!”

Dream put his crown on, chugged the hybrid potion, and smirked.

“Ok, nerd. Let’s see if you can really pull off Philza Minecraft as well as I can pull off Technoblade.”

Tommy chugged his potion and shuddered as he felt dark wings sprout from his back.

“You're on, mate.”

— — —

Dream strolled through the streets of L’manburg, noticing how everyone reacted. He saw Fundy visibly flinch, and Tubbo literally ran away when he saw him. Is this really what Technoblade had to deal with every day? No wonder he lived in the Arctic. People treated him terribly. Of course, that also could have something to do with the fact that he’d tried to destroy this country before, but was that really a valid thing to judge someone for? No, it wasn’t. Technoblade made his way towards Niki’s bakery. Niki was at least friendly with Techno, so it should be chill there. After definitely not getting lost twice, Dream arrived in front of a cute little shop with bright windows full of amazing looking pastries. He pushed open the door.

“Hey, Niki.”

“Hello there, how can I help- oh! Technoblade! It’s good to see you.”

How would Technoblade respond to that? Ehh, it didn’t matter.

“Hello Niki. So, I see that you have a bakery here.”

What was that? Well, Dream reached Technoblade’s level of social awkwardness pretty easily. Hopefully, the rest of the day will be easier than this. While he was lost in thought, Niki started talking again.

“So, are you going to get anything, or just stand in the doorway scaring my customers.”

She joked. Dream almost jumped. There were three people that they had learned throughout loops to never make truly angry, and those were Ponk, Niki, and Tubbo. Ranboo on a spaghetti slash god-killing arc and sleep-deprived Eret were honorable mentions. Dream realized that he had been standing in the doorway for too long, so he stepped up to Niki’s counter.

“I’ll have one of those cookies.”

He said. Cookies were a safe bet as he didn’t actually know Techno’s sweets preferences, and anything Niki made promised to be delicious. As Niki packaged his dessert for him, she continued making small talk.

“So, Technoblade, what are you doing back in town? Last I heard, you said that if you ever returned, it would be to dismantle the government, and so they branded you a criminal to the country.”

Dream almost dropped the gold ingot he had pulled out to pay with.

“Well, y’know, I don’t really care what the government says, so…”

Niki actually laughed at this. Dream remembered that Niki had also been an anarchist in loop zero. He could see that now. He paid and grabbed his cookies, and was about to leave when a very angry looking Quackity burst through the doors with a crossbow. Well, that couldn’t be good.

— — —

Tommy adjusted Phil’s anime-looking hat as he stretched his wings out. If he remembered correctly, Philza should not be friendly with the government right now, but not openly hostile. He shouldn’t be anywhere near as suspicious as Dream as Technoblade right now. All he had to do was walk around L’manburg for an entire day, without getting caught or arrested. Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious… his internal singing was interrupted, however, by someone coming up to him.

“Philza Minecraft! To what do we owe the… pleasure of having your presence in L’manburg?”

Quackity. He didn’t really like Philza, did he? Tommy masked his nerves with a huge smile, replying

“Hey mate! I just… wanted to check the nation out. It’s… it’s nice here. Yep!”

“Uh huh…”

Quackity stared at him suspiciously. 

“Well then, you won’t mind if I join you on your little walk?”

This is not good. However, Tommy just has to keep the act up. It would be suspicious for him to say no, and Quackity knows it. 

“No problem, mate. I just wanted to visit L’manburg, see if it’s changed since… y’know.”

He shouldn’t have referenced Wilbur’s death, he could see it in Quackity’s eyes. However, Quackity was quick to hide any emotions he had as he smiled.

“Well, L’manburg is doing quite well right now! I think you will enjoy a quick tour, then you can get right back to your home.”

Tommy nodded at Quackity’s thinly veiled attempt to get him out of L’manburg, and considering both Phil’s past here and his future actions, he couldn’t exactly blame him. By now, Tommy was actually kind of wishing that he and Dream hadn’t decided to cosplay Phil and Techno for fun, but it would be too suspicious to leave now, so he instead chose to follow where Quackity led. They began walking down the streets, Quackity acting as a sort of tour guide for who he thought was Philza. Eventually, he mentioned something about Technoblade. Tommy nodded.

“Yeah, Techno is doing well right now. I think he’s probably enjoying his trip here, too, although he was complaining about the weather while we came down.”

Quackity froze.

“Technoblade… is here?”

Oh, Tommy has just royally messed up. This is Butcher Army Big Q, isn’t it. He tried to correct it, saying,

“Well, y’know, he’s not really here, as it is, he’s just… y’know? Mate?”

Quackity’s face was glowing with a strange light, and he took a breath, seemingly to calm himself.

“Philza. Where is Technoblade?”

“I don’t know, Quackity please-”

“Fine. Fine, fine, fine. This… makes things easier! I’m sure he won’t be hard to find. I’ll locate him myself.”

Before Tommy could say anything else, Quackity took off. He saw the man sprint down the street, turn, and pull out a crossbow. Well, that couldn’t be good.

7. Five nights at Tommy’s pt.1

“Sam! My buddy, my friend, my pal! How are you doing today?”

Sam sighed as he put down the design in his hands.

“Hello Tommy. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Tommy grinned.

 “Sam, you’re good at redstone right?”

“Yeah?”

“How much would I have to pay you to build me five working animatronics?”

“...What?”

– – – 

“Hello there, Foolish.”

“Oh? Dream? Just one moment.’’

Foolish shrank from his giant form to a much more human height, then turned to face his visitor.

“What are you doing here?”

Dream smiled.

“Foolish, could I commission you to build something for me? I need it built overnight, and I’ll pay you extra to act like you don’t know where it came from.”

“What do you need me to build, Dream?”

“Nothing much, just a restaurant. I already have the designs in my inventory…”

– – –

“Fundy, have you seen Tommy around lately?”

“Tubbo? No, I haven’t. I haven’t seen Dream around, either. Do you know where either of them could be?”

“No, I haven’t seen either of them in a week. That’s what I’m worried about… hey, what's this?”

Tubbo hurried over to where a torn poster was pasted on a wall. He read it out loud.

“Innit’s Family Diner… now hiring for the position of… night guard? For job, report to **** St, Outskirts of L’manburg.”

The president turned to the fox hybrid.

“Do you want to check it out?” 

Fundy seemed to consider it, then nodded.

“Why not.”

– – – 

Tubbo and Fundy arrived to find an old building in the style of an old-school diner. Tubbo paused to read the sign on the door.

“No entry except for night guards. Warning: no one in or out from 12 to 6. Or else… Are you sure we want to go in here?”

Fundy shrugged.

“Might as well. Maybe we can find out what happened to Tommy.”

They pushed open the doors and stepped in to find the outside much like the inside: an old diner. As Fundy shut the door, they heard locking. The pair moved forward, taking in the room. There was something… off about the main hall. Tubbo spotted a button labeled ‘Showtime’ and pressed it cautiously. Nothing happened for a moment, then the curtains on the main stage opened as all the lights turned on. Tubbo jumped back as three figures moved forward, but quickly sighed as he realized they were just robots. Still though, the animatronics were impressive. There was a blue ram playing its guitar, an eagle with the Mexican flag on its chest, and a yellow bear wearing a hat that reminded him of Wilbur’s from when he was still alive.

“What… what are these for?”

“I think that they’re here to entertain anyone who comes to the restaurant.”

Still, something about them seemed… off. The animatronic’s eyes almost seemed to follow him. Tubbo shook his head to clear the thought.

“Let’s head to the security office. If it has cameras, we can see if anyone else is here.”

Fundy nodded, and Tubbo was glad to leave. No one noticed how as soon as they left, the animatronics turned to face the door, just as the clock struck midnight.

— — —

“So, you want us to help you play a prank on Tubbo…”

“And my son?”

“No one was talking to you, Soot. Anyways, so you want us to posses animatronics for one to five nights, and in return Dream will bring us back to life- with the book I gave him?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Glatt laughed.

“And what makes you think I’d believe you? The odds of you and Dream ever working together is… about the same size as Soot here’s mental capacity.”

Tommy snorted, while Ghostbur just looked moderately offended.

“Well, you don’t need to just listen to me…”

“He’s telling the truth.”

“Dreaxter! What took you so long?”

Dream sighed.

“I had some problems hiding my body. Did you do yours?”

“Why would I be here if I hadn’t? Don’t worry, my corpse is in the suit.”

Jschlatt looked between him and Dream, and seemed to consider his options.

“So, you just want us to help you for five nights, and you’ll bring us back?”

Dream nodded. Schlatt smiles, then woke up Mexican Dream’s ghost from where he was passed out.

“Alright. Only five nights. Should be no problem.”

Chapter Text

8.

“But you see Sapnap, I have one thing you’ll never have.”

“Oh? And what is that?”

Skeppy and Bad stepped forward, their crossbows trained in him along with Sapnap, who still held his sword. Dream wasn’t going to be able to make it in time, but that was okay. Tommy had a secret weapon, better than any weapon or ally Sapnap could possibly have.

“I have a gun.”

“Wha-”

Tommy grinned as he pulled the Glock out of his inventory, aiming it at Sapnap before the man could react.

“Wait, Tommy, we can talk about this…”

“You shouldn’t kill people’s pets, Sapnap.”

— — —

“So, how did your attempt to stop the pet war through gun violence go?”

Tommy grinned.

“I don’t think that Sapnap, Bad, or Skeppy ever want to join a war again.”

Dream snorted.

“So, you traumatized them into neutrality?”

“Pretty much. However… I was thinking something.”

“Oh Prime, you were thinking.”

“Shut up! Anyway, I’m pretty sure that this is the only gun on the server. And it worked really well at stopping this fight. So… why couldn’t it stop other fights?”

“…huh.”

Tommy turned to leave.

“I’m going to speedrun stopping every conflict on the server with my gun.”

— — —

“Wait, Tommy, we can talk about this, right? My… friend?”

Tommy only smiled.

“Step down as President, Schlatt. I won’t ask twice.”

“But, I…”

Tommy cocked the gun that he had pointed directly at Schlatt’s chest. Schlatt seemed to get the message as he sighed and nodded. Tommy smiled.

“Good, I’m glad that we can see eye to eye! Now then, where’s Wilbur? I need him to come and fix his nation.”

— — —

“Tommy, I’m going to kill Tubbo! Do you understand Tommy? How powerless you are right now?”

Tommy took a deep breath in.

“No.”

“Tommy, it’s okay.” Tubbo looked at him with calm eyes, seemingly having accepted his fate. Tommy’s hand shook. He knew Tubbo wasn’t really in danger, but he was still going to play his part.

“I said no.”

Tommy reached into his inventory and pulled out his gun. Dream took a step back.

“Dream, drop your weapon. I won’t ask again.”

Needless to say, when everyone burst through the portal, expecting to see the two teens fighting for their lives, they were shocked by the sight of Dream in the corner, trying to get away from Tommy while he yelled about people not being pawns. Tubbo just looked mildly traumatized.

9. Twins pt. 2

“Dream. Give us a reason, any reason, why we shouldn’t just kill you right now.”

Dream grinned beneath his mask. Tommy’s question was the thing he had been waiting for all loop.

“Because…”

He paused for dramatic effect, before bringing a hand to his mask and pulling it off.

“I am you! Tommy, you can’t kill me without killing yourself.”

Now was time for acting to come in handy. Tommy dropped his crossbow, faking a look of utter shock.

“Wh-what? You-you’re, that’s not possible. There’s no way.”

Dream’s smile grew, and he started laughing, but a laugh that was at odds with Tommy’s face.

“Oh Tommy, you have no idea what you’re even capable of, do you? It’s a shame… I remember being just as naive as you, just as trusting… but that was a long time ago.”

“Dream. What the hell do you mean, you’re Tommy. Are you his biological twin or something?”

“Oh Tubbo, you're never able to comprehend what you’re seeing, do you? No. I am Tommy, the original Tommy. The original timeline… was terrible. Everyone on the server fought constantly, there was never even hope for peace. After I got to the point where I couldn't even trust my friends to be on my side, I decided I needed to do something. So, I figured out how to go back, back to the start of the server. I decided that this time, I would wear a mask so no one could see who I was and how I felt, and after what felt like a long enough time at peace, I sent an invitation to my younger self, so that he could get to enjoy the server. That turned out to be a mistake.”

Dream paused and looked over his audience. The rest of the server either looked torn between attacking, traumatized, or were just looking at Tommy. Tubbo looked about ready to cry. Although Tommy maintained a concerned face, Dream knew him well enough to tell he was trying not to laugh. Dream cleared his throat before continuing,

“It turns out that I did make a mistake; having a strong, central leader on the Smp only encouraged Wilbur to start making sides. I knew that L’manburg couldn’t end well, and so I tried to stop it. I knew that even if I had to hurt my past self, my past friends, it would be worth it if we could all stay together in the end. However… I’m only a human. When I saw the opportunity to get the discs back, to get my discs back, I took it, and gave L’manburg its independence. From there, however, I made every effort to keep my other self away from the ticking time bomb that was L’manburg.”

“Exile…”

Tubbo’s voice was small as he realized what Dream was saying. Dream forced himself to chuckle.

“That’s right. Everything I’ve done has been either for myself, or my past self’s good. Exile was just an excuse to get him away from you.”

Tubbo looked like he was trying to make himself as small as possible, however Sam stepped forward.

“Dream, or Tommy, or whatever you want to go by, your reasoning doesn’t change anything. We’re here to bring you to justice for your crimes against the server. Even if we can’t kill you, we’re still going to stick you in prison for the rest of your life. Now, step away from Tubbo and Tommy. We won’t ask again.”

Oh. Well, that was unexpected. He would have thought Sam would be more caring towards any version of Tommy, even fake Tommy from another timeline. Well, even though he probably wouldn’t be tortured this time, Dream had no desire to go back to prison. Time for some serious script deviation.

“Ha, you really don’t learn, do you? I’m doing this for the good of the server, surely at least some of you can understand that!”

The rest of the server drew their weapons. Okay then. Dream looked at Tommy, hoping he would go along with it.

“Tommy? Do you understand now, what I’ve had to do, what I have to keep doing? Please…”

He held out a hand towards Tommy, and understanding flashed through his eyes. Tommy then faked a look of deep thought, then walked over to Dream and turned to face the rest of the server.

“I think that, if all Dream’s trying to do is help the server, with knowledge from the future, we should help him. I think… that that makes the most sense.”

Everyone looked shocked, and Dream had to resist the urge to laugh.

“Tommy… please, come back.”

Tubbo spoke, a small tremble in his voice, and Dream felt a bit guilty, but they could make it up to him next loop. Subtly, he pulled out two Ender pearls, and slipped one into Tommy’s hand.

“It’s a shame that none of you will listen to reason, but I can only do so much. If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll take my leave now.”

“No way we’re just going to let you walk out of here.”

Dream smirked.

“Too late.”

He threw his petal at the portal, and Tommy teleported just a moment later. By the time anyone else turned around, they were long gone.

“Soooo… cottagecore arc?”

“Cottagecore arc. But first, we need to acquire some milk.”  

“You know that you look better right now, though.”

“I. Want. Milk.”

“That’s fair.”

10.

Tommy opened his eyes to see Dream standing over him, a potato in hand. He flinched back out of habit, images of it coming down and him bleeding out slowly filling his head before he heard Dream drop the potato and mutter a curse under his breath. Dream squatted down to where he was huddled in the corner, and spoke.

“Hey, it’s okay Tommy. You know I’m not going to hurt you. Not again, not ever. You know I’m different now.”

Tommy took a breath in to stabilize himself.

“I know, big man. I just… saw you and…”

Slowly, deliberately, Dream pulled him into a hug.

“It’s alright Tommy, I’m here for you. I won’t hurt you.”

Tommy nodded again.

“Thanks Dream. I’m just… really tired right now.”

Dream sighed.

“Then we don’t have to do anything this loop. We can just chill in prison for a while. Hey, do you want to see how long it would have taken for Sam to get you out in the original loop?”

Dream asked. Tommy considered the idea for a moment.

“Sure, why not? We’ve never tried just staying in prison and seeing what would happen, and worst case scenario, we know at least twenty different ways to break in or out of Pandora’s Vault.”

Dream snorted.

“Remember the time where you decided that the best method would be to ‘out-glitter’ me by building some of those glitter cannons, and you ended up turning the entire prison sparkly pink before you got into my cell?”

Tommy laughed, the memory snapping him away from thinking about some of the things he went through in loop zero. Actually, the longer he sat here, next to Dream, his real friend, the less scared he felt.

“The glitter prison break was fun. I think I might do something similar again next time I have to break you out.”

Dream chuckled. 

“Okay, but this time don’t get it in our eyes. You got it under my mask!”

Tommy punched Dream lightly in the arm.

— — —

Sam was panicking, to put it lightly. It had been five days since the explosions had gone off in the prison, five days since his camera system had stopped working, and most importantly, five days since Tommy had been locked in a cell with Dream. Sam had no clue what the man had been doing to Tommy, but considering the boy’s mental state, it could not be good. Finally, after days of nonstop working on the prison system, he managed to get it so that he could unlock the cell. He then ran out of the control room as fast as he could, not wanting to leave Tommy trapped for any longer than he had to. Sam reached the room containing Dream’s cell. As the lava fell, he expected to see a variety of things, from Tommy next to the door to them both being hurt, or even worse. What he was not expecting to see was Tommy asleep, curled up on Dream, who… wasn’t wearing a mask? As Sam stepped off the platform, he opened his mouth to speak, though he wasn’t sure what he was about to say. Cautiously, he raised his trident. Dream opened his eyes and glared at him.

“Tommy is asleep. If you wake him up, I will make you regret it.”

Sam took a step back. Despite the fact that Dream had been in a prison for months and shouldn’t have been able to fight, something in his eyes suggested he had fought more than Sam could even comprehend. However, Sam couldn’t let himself be scared by Dream. He raised his trident and stepped towards the man, who made no move to escape while being used as a pillow. He took a deep breath in, then spoke.

“Dream, I’ll give you one chance. Move away from Tommy, now.”

Dream appeared unfazed by his threat, and Prime, how weird it was to be able to see Dream’s expression. He looked almost… human without the mask. Still, Sam couldn’t get distracted. He pointed his trident at Dream and advanced into the cell. He was still threatening the prisoner when Tommy shifted and rolled over in his sleep. Sam froze as he watched the boy stretch and slowly, groggily open his eyes.

“Dream? ‘S going on?” 

Sam watched in shock as Dream’s expression melted, and he gave a real smile as he replied.

“Sam came to get you Tommy. Are you ready to go? It’s day five, by the way.”

Tommy’s eyes shot open as he turned towards Sam.

“Hey, big man. So, getting out of the prison?”

Sam blinked, still confused. Tommy and Dream weren’t acting like enemies the way they had when Tommy had first gotten locked in the cell. Did Dream do something while Tommy was in there?

“Tommy. Of course. I… apologize. You were never supposed to be locked in the cell. If you want to come with me, I’ll have to ask you a couple of security questions, then you’ll be good to leave.”

Tommy stood up and turned to face him. The look on his face then changed into a grin.

“Okay, but you should let Dream out too.”

“What? Tommy, are you insane? Dream is evil, and by no means will I ever let him out!”

Tommy’s grin widened even further.

“Nah, I therapized the evil out of him. Sam, didn’t you know I’m a licensed therapist?”

There was actually no way that could possibly be true.

“Unfortunately, he’s telling the truth. The therapy is terrifying. Run while you can, Sam.”

Dream? He actually sounded concerned. Sam was so confused that he just nodded idly. Okay, Tommy was now a therapist, and Dream was scared of him. Sure, checked out. Sam left to go have a mental crisis. At this point, nothing could surprise him.