Down with the King- Dream SMP

3- Tubbo

He emerged from the Nether portal, coughing as dust filled his lungs.

    "Here!" Niki said, appearing at his side and pressing a cloth to his mouth.

    "Thanks," he breathed, squinting into the darkness of the underworld. He had never been to the Nether before and wasn't familiar with his surroundings. Streams of lava flowed through the ground, pouring into an ocean of magma. Dust and ash fell like snow about them, seemingly blowing over from an area filled with large, dark pillars and pools of lava. Behind them lay an expanse of dark red material and, if he peered into the darkness, there was a dark fortress in the distance.

    "We need to move," Niki instructed him. "If we stay here much longer, the ash will infect our lungs."

    "R-right," Tubbo nodded. He looked around him, trying to gain a sense of what was going on. He'd heard Wilbur's call to retreat into the Nether and grabbed what remaining rebels he could before jumping through.

    "T-tubbo! Niki!" Fundy exclaimed, coughing as he staggered towards them. "What the hell happened back there?"

    "I don't- I don't know!" Tubbo said, shaking his head. "I think we were betrayed. By Eret."

    "Eret?" Niki and Fundy exclaimed and Tubbo nodded glumly.

    "Son of a bitch!" Fundy swore under his breath as Tubbo looked to the Nether portal, it's light giving the surrounding area a purple hue.

    "We have to wait for Tommy and Wilbur to come through," he said, gazing at the swirling purple particles. "I won't leave without them."

    "Oh...Tubbo..." Niki said softly. Tubbo turned to see her hand over her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

    "N-niki? They are coming, aren't they?"

    "Tubbo," Fundy said slowly. "Dream, he... He killed Wilbur."

    His world fell through. Hands clutching at his spinning head, Tubbo tried to make sense of the words he wasn't sure Fundy had just spoken.

    "No, you're wrong, Wilbur couldn't-"

    "I saw it happen," Niki cried softly. "I saw him kill Will..."

    "No," Tubbo shook his head. "No, there has to be a mistake!"

    He turned and marched back towards the portal.

    "Tommy is just grabbing Wilbur, they'll be here any second! We need to go back and help them-"

    "Tubbo, stop it!" Fundy said, grabbing his arms and holding him back. "We can't go back! It's suicide!"

    "But-"

    "Wilbur is dead!"

    The sound of Fundy's raised voice was finally enough to stop him. Tubbo stood still, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts. Eventually, he gave up and screamed at the sky, driving his fist into the pillar of obsidian that made up the portal. It hurt, but he didn't care.

    "Tubbo, he's gone," Fundy continued, choking back a cry of his own. "And I hate to say it, but I don't think Tommy is coming through that portal either. By the time we made it through, Dream was standing between them and the portal..."

    "You're right," Tubbo said softly, though his eyes remained fixated on the portal as if any moment now, Tommy and Wilbur would come through and join them. He didn't know when he started crying, but suddenly Niki was wrapping him in an embrace, sharing in his grief. He hugged her tightly as they mourned for the loss of their friends.