Chapter Text
"Oh Dreaaaaaammm~"
"Leave me alone!"
"Never! Stay on him!"
"OW! What the hell Sapnap!"
“Just shut up and catch him you dick!”
“Language!”
The constant screaming echoes through the tundra forest as six figures dash across the terrain, all swiftly weaving through the trees in the attempt to catch up to the one in front, the runner that they need to kill to win this round of manhunt.
It was night time already, groans of zombies and the clanking of skeleton bones can be heard as well as the six friends continued on with their little game throughout the night and into the next day where the runner have made it to the nether at long last, the dripping of the lava above him from the high cliffs above came in small globs.
drip
drip
drip
drip
The lava has finished draining and a faint click was heard before the platform started to move towards the obsidian cell in the middle of the draining lava with a familiar pinkette carefully walking as the platform continued to move above the bubbling lava below before abruptly stopping when it collided with the main cell. The taller male let out an unimpressed huff as he watched the prisoner slowly get up onto his feet the moment he noticed who entered the cell.
“You certainly decided to take your time” The prisoner said as he slowly stepped forward until he was face to face with the piglin hybrid
“Eh, it still took a while for me to convince Niki and Ranboo about this. Now shut up, drink this quickly, and let's get the hell out of here” Techno huffed, producing a healing potion from his inventory before handing it to the other.
Once the potion was empty the two made their way back to the platform, from there Dream could see that it was Phil that was manning the levers where Sam would usually be so he assumed that the other two members of the ‘Syndicate’ ,as he heard it was called from when Techno was stuck in prison with him, were probably keeping watch somewhere closer to the exit.
The three didn’t say another word to each other and just quietly made their way back towards the entrance of the prison where both Niki and Ranboo were in fact keeping an eye on, with both having heavily enchanted crossbows on their hands pointed towards the portal, and by the looks of the darker tips of the arrows it was dipped with some horrible potion effects.
The two crossbow wielding members went through first to make sure the other side was safe as well before the two blondes came through next with Dream slightly leaning against the older for support to which he didn’t really complain about.
A simple trigger of a temporary stasis chamber near the portal and everyone is now outside the prison. Well it surprisingly went flawlessly..
It took almost a whole month between the time Techno got the blueprints of the prison before getting teleported back to the Syndicate base, and the time they finally acted upon the plan.
Getting around the prison was surprisingly the least of their worries, the main issues instead came in the form of the prison guards, the Warden, and of course Quackity. But since Ranboo and Tubbo have apparently had a few run-ins with Quackity and his new little group in Las Nevadas and interactions between the new group with Tommy, started to give them the opening to learn about the small windows of time where they will be no one left to guard the prison, completely leaving the prisoner on his own in that window of time.
But the problem was that they had to plan it perfectly at the middle of the night when both Quackity and Sam leave for Las Nevadas for a few hours, and the day guards turn in for the night before getting replaced by the night guards.
The five stopped just beside the beach next to the mansion and overlooking Pandora’s Vault itself before saying simple farewells. The favor was fulfilled, they have anything to do with one another anymore and personally both would prefer it that way. Techno gave Dream two more healing potions, a regen potion, and a few ender pearls before catching up with the rest of the Syndicate who were already half-way back onto the path leading towards the community house.
Finally the prisoner, or was it former prisoner now? was alone to his thoughts again. He sat down under one of the beach umbrellas as he finished the other two health potions which helped heal all of the major wounds he had left over from Quackity’s last visit which was thankfully one of the lighter ones so he only suffered with a few deep cuts on his arms, back, head, and a couple of smaller cuts and a lot of bruises.
All of the major wounds and most of the other cuts were completely gone by the time he finished the second bottle, lifting up one of his hands towards his face as he noticed that the bruising around his wrist had also almost completely vanished. It was better than nothing.
He chose to keep the regeneration potion in his inventory just in case as he laid down onto the cold sand, dull green eyes wandering up towards the few stars visible through the giant umbrella and behind the Vault.
Before he could fully relax though he reminded himself of another task he still needed to do, get out of that stupid disgusting blood covered prison jumpsuit. He carefully got up to not accidentally reopen any freshly healed wounds, reaching out towards a bad Niki handed to him the moment he stepped through the portal.
Opening it he found replacement clothes similar to his old ones, a simple lime green hoodie, black pants, and black combat boots. His mask was still missing since the one he previously owned was thrown into the lava by Quackity by his third visit but it wasn’t any time to worry about any mask anymore.
He quickly got changed into the more comfortable and surprisingly nostalgically familiar clothing before laying back down to rest for a bit before he starts onto the next part of his escape, get the fuck away from the mainlands of the SMP as soon as possible before the find him missing.
As he laid there he thought of his options. He couldn’t head North since apparently Snowchester and Las Nevadas were through there, The South was where the L’manburg crater was along with the abandoned Pogtopia, East was towards Techno’s cabin and Logstedshire which was one of the last places he wanted to find himself in, so the only logical direction to go to was West but that would mean he still needs to get through the SMP lands unnoticed somehow.
His mind continued to drift across his options, only snapping out of it when he heard the unforgettable sound of someone using a riptide enchanted trident. Dream quickly sat up and turned his head towards the sound and there he was, Sam flew through the sky and landed smoothly just behind the mansion and if he looked to the right ever so slightly he can see Quackity’s signature beanie disappear behind the mansion where he probably decided to walk normally.
Panic coursed through the blonde as he hastily picked himself up from the sand and dashed towards the forest just behind the abandoned ‘Dreamon camp’ or whatever Tubbo and Fundy built so long ago.
As he ran through the forest a small sense of familiarity washed over him as he took in where he was, it was the same place he and Tommy fought Bad and Skeppy way back during the Manburg times just because Sapnap killed a cow whose name he couldn’t properly remember. It was a nice memory but not an appropriate one to his situation, he can reminisce on the past once he was safe.
All those months upon months locked up in a small space where he could barely run around caused his previously impressive stamina and speed to dwindle drastically so he went with a slow jog as he finally got passed the forest and somehow found himself looking up at Punz’s base walls. He winced at the reminder of his former ally before turning to the right where he knew the spawner room was but he was really praying to the Prime God that there was no one there at the moment.
He landed on the small pocket of water and quickly looked around, luckily the spider room was empty. Swiftly turning on his heels he opened the chest hidden below one of the floorboards of the enchanting station, grabbing himself an enchanted iron sword and a pickaxe. With how weak he has gotten from the prison it was not a good idea for him to carry something as heavy as diamond, let alone swing an axe.
Grabbing everything he may need, bandages, food, a bow and half a stack of arrows, and a few blocks he can use to cover up entrances, he stood back up from where he was kneeling to dig through the last chest and turning towards the exit.
He noticed the subtle red vines coming from where the strange plant egg thing he saw months ago was located but paid it no mind as he stepped onto the water pillar that boosted him all the way back to the surface.
Just in time to hear loud sirens blasting all over the server followed by a message that pinged on his communicator.
Awesamdude: The prisoner has escaped, be on guard!
Tommyinnit: HUH?
Sapnap: Me and Bad are on our way!
And a lot of other pings of frantic messages from the other members of the SMP woken up by the sirens.
Well fuck..
With a loud curse, the blonde booked it towards the closest nether portal, which was unfortunately the community portal. If he can just get to it he can lose them in the huge maze that is the SMP nether realm.
He emerged from the trees and saw that he was behind some sort of brick building, a quick check confirmed that he was in the old ice cream and flower shop, he ran to his right and ran further down the prime path barely registering the lack of the UFO that was supposed to be beside the two shops.
“There he is!” He heard the scream loud and clear but he couldn’t place the voice and it didn't matter and he kept running despite his legs begging him to slow down and rest.
ItsFundy: I found Dream! He’s going towards the Community House, guard the portal!
It was a ping that made his blood run cold as he ran, pretty much ripping the door of the community house open as he barged right in but was abruptly stopped when it felt like he hit a brick wall almost causing him to fall right on his ass but luckily he caught himself just on time.
He frantically looked at what he hit and saw red eyes staring back at him with surprise and worry causing him to notice the other familiar three faces looking at him. The Syndicate were still here?
“Stop at once Dream! Don’t make your punishment worse than it already is!” He heard Sam’s voice boom in his ears, causing another spike in panic and got him running towards the other door leading to the portal, he just needed to get through.
“Dream wait!” The man heard Phil call after him before hearing more footsteps coming towards him, he barely saw the flash of gold and green, Foolish and some sort of slime fella? before he crashed through the nether portal and stumbled to the other side.
Dream felt an arm grab him and started to thrash around before he heard the familiar monotone voice of his rival
“Stop it! Do you want to get out of here or not?” And that caused the blonde to freeze completely and whipped his head towards the taller
“..what?”
“The favor was to help you be free, so until you get away from that entire mob after you the favor is still in place” was all the piglin hybrid said before he felt himself being dragged back onto his feet and down one of the pathways, looking behind them to see the other three members following close behind all with worried expressions plastered on their faces.
All five stopped to catch their breath once they managed to scramble up to the tight hole to get to the nether roof, collapsing onto the bedrock below them which was somehow cooler than the rest of the nether.
“We need to keep moving, they will catch up eventually” Dream muttered through his heavy panting.
The enderman hybrid simply shook his head as he himself was heavily panting “No, I broke the other side of the portal so it should take them somewhere else close by and it should hopefully be enough to throw them off for a few minutes”
“And I covered up some of the staircase that leads up here. We got lost trying to find this place before so it should be enough” This time it was NIki that spoke.
Once everyone calmed down they all got back up and started to walk along the nether roof, choosing to avoid the ice path they have taken so many times in the past.
Eventually they stopped in front of one of the random nether portals they found once they thought they were far enough from the mainland when they went back through.
This time it was Phil and Techno that went first, sending a whisper ping to the other two as a sign it was safe...ish.
When all five have gone through, they found themselves in some sort of open cave base indicated by the rows of chests that lined the side of the nether portal they just went through, and by the swords and axes hanging off some of the weapon frames they can assume they were owned by someone capable.
With weapons drawn they slowly and quietly walked out of the portal room and was greeted by a house with a vast open field behind it, and to their surprise it was still untouched by all the chaos of the server.
Something was off, and Phil was one of the first to actually admit it to himself. He has been to pretty much everyone’s base at least once since he has always been a neutral person and this base was new even to him. But swept the thought to the back of his mind in the assumption that the place they were currently in was probably one of the ‘summer homes’ that a lot of the SMP members seem to keep secret often, unless you’re someone named Tommy or Foolish whose summer homes were for everyone to see.
All of them avoided the main house for now in fear that it may have been rigged with traps and alarms, knowing full well how paranoid everyone has become.
Dream wandered away from the group a bit when he saw a bunch of horses outside what he assumed were the stables, feeding on the grass around the pasture. But it was two of the horses that caught his attention more than the other three.
The two horses seemed to have read his mind as they spotted him and started to trot closer. One was a brown and even darker brown dappled horse with a light blonde mane, and the other was a gorgeous pure white horse. They were so familiar.
The Syndicate members were already approaching behind him when the familiarity finally clicked. This was Joffrey and Spirit.
But weren’t they dead?
“These horses… They look just like Joffrey and Spirit, these are them!” He exclaimed as he whipped his head towards his companions who all looked back at him with puzzled expressions.
“S-Spirit? But, we have their leather don’t we? I saw Tommy threaten you with it back in New L’manburg” Ranboo mentioned as he glanced towards the two equine, seeing Niki approaching the two and slowly petting them on the nose and neck.
“This, doesn’t make any sense at all” This time it was Phil that spoke followed by a sound of agreement from both Dream and Techno
All of their confusion doubled when both horses suddenly reared and ran off, they simultaneously turned behind them to see what spooked the horses only to see the members of the SMP that followed them standing right there, all weapons drawn and full enchanted netherite worn by everyone, everyone except Dream and Niki who still refuses to wear armor.
“How, how did you even find us?!” Techno’s voice boomed in both bewilderment and anxiety
“You all really think it would be hard to find you? The downside of running through a barren wasteland like the nether roof, you leave disruptions on the nether dusts that accumulate in places we don’t visit often” Was all Sam said as he replaced his sword with his trusty trident
“Now no need for violence though, just hand over the prisoner and we will forget any of this ever happened” This time it was Quackity, a netherite pickaxe resting on his shoulder and a cocky grin plastered on his face.
It was a standoff that no one dared to break.
That moment of silence gave Dream enough time to see which members decided to follow them through the entire chase. Obviously other than Quackity and his Las Nevadas crew to which he noticed that lacked Purpled and that slime guy he saw earlier.
Tommy and Tubbo were standing side-by-side with Tubbo looking more concerned as he stared more towards Ranboo than the other, the reason the blonde was unsure of. Sapnap and Bad were on the other side of the Warden, both wearing deathly glares on their faces. The only one he didn’t expect to see with them was a very familiar sheep hybrid, Puffy, who was somewhat hidden behind Foolish.
“Well? Tick-tock, tick-tock” Quackity once again barked with laughter as he gave his pickaxe an experimental swing. Sam sighed as a sign of impatience as he took a few steps forward towards the group now surrounding the prisoner, who in turn was pinned between a fence and the rest of them which gave him little to no escape paths in his current condition.
“We will not give him up” Phil surprisingly said with more confidence that he lets on.
“Alright then” Was the last thing Sapnap said before all hell broke loose.
Blades clashed with each other as the two sides finally clashed. Techno barked out an order for Dream to run away to which he followed almost immediately while the remaining members of the Syndicate tried to keep them at bay, hoping to at max just give the blonde enough time to run.
Dream only got a few feet away from the fighting before he felt a body slam into him, from the snarling sound he can assume that it was Fundy that was behind him keeping him pinned. From the corner of his vision he saw Ranboo coming over to help him before the sound of a splash potion went off somewhere blinding everyone.
A split second after the blindness another splash potion went off, and from the misty air they were currently inhaling it was some sort of smoke bomb, everyone got away from each other as they focused on being able to see again on instinct not long after.
Once the effects and the smoke cleared, Tommy was about to scream his head off in a barrage of questions on who did that before a glowing golden arrow landed just in front of Tubbo’s feet causing the teen to jump back in surprise and the rest of the group to turn towards where it came from.
And in front of them was Antfrost, holding an enchanted bow and another golden arrow ready to fire, the feline’s eyes slitted as he glared at them.
“Ant? What are you doing?” Bad asked, taking a step towards his friend before the cat snapped “Stay back!”
“Wha- what is going on with y-” Sam cut himself off as he saw another figure on the right of the group slightly hidden by the trees.
“George?” Sapnap asked in surprise to see his goggle wearing friend also aiming a bow right at them.
“W-” They were once again cut off when they finally see another figure that looked alot like Bad himself. They were surrounded by these three people all holding weapons ready to shoot an arrow into their brains.
“Drop all of your weapons and hands up!” Bad’s copy yelled, causing the others to flinch and slowly did as they were told.
“Ok, now that we dropped our weapons. Can we ask a few questions? Who are you? Since you look a lot like people we know, and you can see two of you look almost identical” Phil said trying to keep his voice calm, making a brief gesture between the two Badboyhalos as if to emphasize his question.
But once the others took a close look, they didn’t look identical at all. The Bad that was aiming at them was shorter than the one next to them but looked a lot more hardened and experienced in battle compared to the demon that rarely partook in battles back in the SMP.
“Who are we? We live here you jerks. We came back from a quick trip to find a bunch of muffinheads killing each other in front of our home” The other Bad replied.
“What the fuck?! This?! This is your house! No fucking way” Tommy screamed for the first time since they got there, causing pretty much everyone to jump slightly.
“Oh can that kid not shut the fuck up?” Ant hissed as his ears started to fold back against his head.
“OI! I AM NOT A KID!” And the screaming continued until Tubbo started to move to try and shut his best friend up.
But due to the high tension and heavy confusion, no one noticed the green clad man slowly scooting away before booking it into the forest close-by, he heard the shout of Sam and Quackity who noticed he ran off before once again slamming into something, or someone but this time causing both of them to fall over.
Dream rubbed his forehead for the second time that day and opened his eyes when he heard a bunch of loud gasps which was soon followed by his own gasp of surprise.
Standing in front of him was someone that looked exactly like Sam who was staring at him in surprise and on the corner of his vision he saw movement causing him to look down at who he bumped into only to see it was someone that looked like...himself?