How the world works

8

So. As always, no progress was made. Purpled disappeared and everyone began to panic. They searched the Badlands, where he had been, and found a book at the sight of what looks like the remnants of a build battle. Bad was the one to find it and couldn't even read it outloud.

Finally, Jack took it from bads hand and began to read aloud.

"Please, by TommyInnit. To anyone listening. My name is Tommy and I am of sound mind when I say this. Please.... do not come." He stops and stares at it.

"What did Dream do to them?" Bad whispers. No one wants to guess.

"Is there anything else?" Quackity asks rather bluntly. Jack nods and looks at techno, who is fiddling with an ax.

"Technoblade, please don't come after us." Jack reads aloud. Technoblade looks up.

"Heh?" He questions.

"There's more." Jack says and looks around.

"Philza Minecraft, please don't try to rescue me. Niki, please stay away. Ghostbur, don't come. Big Q, just don't. Drista, it was fun and I doubt you'd consider it, but either way, don't come. Bad, I will swear if you come. Everyone else, fuck you. Don't come after us. Leave us and Dream alone...... It's better this way." Jack finishes. Everyone is silent. Tommy has never said anything like this before. What could Dream even be doing to him?

"Now i'm not sayin tommy is a dramatic teenager who can't decide if he's playin hero or victim but I don't think we've ever seen him in a right state of mind." Techno speaks up.

"So what are you saying? This is his handwriting. He wrote this verbatim. Except a few rather apparent spelling edits, Tommy wrote this. You know he'd rather die than let Dream flaunt this." Fundy huffs. A few murmurs of agreement rise.

"Maybe. But would he rather write this or watch Tubbo be tortured? Starved? Hurt? Even killed?" Eret points out and everyone falls silent. They're right.

"So we're back to square one." Ranboo sighs. He's been staying out of things mostly because that's just who he is. But even he is having a hard time staying neutral.

"The real question here is what can we hold over Dream?" Foolish ponders. To this, Philza merely laughs.

"Isn't it obvious, mate? Who has been protected through every war, every conflict? Hell, he's Dreams literal one weakness." Phil brings to light.

"That's no better than what he's doing. " Hannah objects.

"He's evil, Hannah. I'd imprison an innocent to keep that maniac safe. Think of the greater good." Sam solemnly injects and no one can think of a real counter to fight his point.

"So the real question is where's George gettin his beauty sleep?" Techno says. No one knows.

"I might have an idea." Sapnap finally puts forth.

"BUT you guys can NOT hurt him." He concludes.

And so the vast party heads out to find sleeping beauty. Dreams words, not mine.

Dream receives another raven and this time he panics. He knows exactly where Gogy is. Right where he left him, asleep but safe. But safe is a relative term when it comes to a posse hunting you down. He's thousands of blocks away. Dream frantically takes out a boat and quickly sails for George's coordinates. But in the time it takes him to reach his sole weakness, it's too late.

The posse has surrounded the very much intentionally designed platform in the woods. A white bed with gold trim and a glass casing protects George from simple things like monsters. But this is only seen by the others as a very clear portrayal of snow white, awaiting her prince. So all the chats are spammed quickly with blue and green hearts.

Dream is forced to watch from the shadows. The numbers are against him. And with technoblade there, he knows he could never beat them.

Sapnap is the one to pull back the thorns and mushrooms growing on the case and lift George out gently. In response to this, George begins snoring loudly, prompting giggles.

Infuriated, Dream merely has to watch as they begin to take his George away. He decides to play a risky card.

Dream loads his bow with ender pearls and shoots two towards his boat, hoping one will hit. He jumps down from his perch and throws Tubbos book at the biggest threat, which is Technoblade of course. With the superior reflexes of, well, Techno, he catches it one handed but it slows him down enough. Dream leaps forward and grabs George's ankle. Sapnap holds fast to George though and in a half second, all three disappear.

To say they disappeared is simply false. They teleported. And no one knows where. Meanwhile, Sapnap pulls himself out of the water and onto the edge of the boat where Dream is putting George safely on board. He tackles Dream and they struggle for a brief moment. Then Dream catches a small object heading towards them. Perfect.

He tackles Sapnap off the boat and deep underwater, holding the fire born in his least comfortable element. At the last second, Dream pushes himself away and without anything to hold onto, Sapnap watches Dream teleport away and leave Sapnap stranded in the water.

Frantically, he swims for the surface as his vision blurs and sounds muffle. The surface looks like it's right there but it simultaneously getting further away and never closer. His lungs prepared to burst and his brain shutting down, Sapnap reaches desperately for the surface as if he can grab it, and his hand touches air. Moments later his head breaks the surface and he gulps air and weakly grabs for something, anything at all. His hand grasps wood and before he can even register what it could be, he feels a blow to the back of his head from a paddle and his vision fades completely.

Dream luggs his other friend into the boat and checks his pulse. Maybe George isn't the only one he cares about. He has other friends. He cares for Sapnap. But even that only can go so far as mercy.