How the world works

10

But Purpled and Punz knew. The post, Tommy, the stage, the insensitive to watch. Something bad was about to happen. They knew this when they watched Dream construct the stage.

"Now Tommy, I want you to say, loudly, what you're asking me to do." Dream asks. Tommy freezes. He opens his mouth but chokes on his words. He can't do it.

"You've never been shy before. It's just a few words." Dream encourages menacingly. So Tommy tries to speak.

"I didn't w-want you to ki-" 

"Not what you don't want. Just what you asked me for. If you changed your mind, there's still other options." Dream interrupts. The blonde teen gulps and nods.

"Dream, I want you to thrash me." He says, his eyes attempting to stare with deviance but his voice betrays him with its waverley pitch and tone. Dream nods.

"You quite literally asked for it. Remember to smile, it's not every day I grant a request like this." Dream remarks. So tommys arms are wrapped around the pole and tied at the wrist, facing directly towards Tubbo. 

Dream paces in front of the windows as everyone looks on, appalled. Dream begins to pull things from his pocket, most of which shouldn't fit in said pocket. 

"Tubbo. Pick one." Dream says, holding a few items forward. A netherite ax, a bucket of lava and a stone hoe.

"No!" The goat child exclaims.

"Pick one or this turns into an execution." Dream threatens. Tubbo shakily points to the stone hoe. Dream sets it down on the stage. Everyone chooses what they think to be the least of three evils, but it is still sickening to them to play a part in this. 

In the end, Tubbo chooses a stone hoe, Skeepy picks out a potion of weakness, purpled selects a torch, punz decides on a block of ice, and Sapnap on a pair of shears. Tommy is forced to watch and listen as his friends choose his torture devices, so nervous he thinks he'll throw up but he hasn't eaten enough recently to do so. 

With everything picked out, Dream begins. He breaks the block under Tommy's bare feet and replaces it with ice. Now that doesn't sound too bad but packed ice can give bare skin frostbite in about 5 minutes time. Then Dream holds up the bottle and reads it.

"Potion of weakness,  4 minutes." He says. He pops the cork off and holds it to the raccoon stan's mouth. The smell of fermented spider eye permeates the room.

"You don't want to test me right now." Dream whispers. Tears in his eyes, and hands tied around the pole, Tommy obliges and drinks the disgusting brew. Instantly, he feels his strength leak away and his mind a bit fuzzy. He finds himself grateful for that. At least it will take the edge off. The entire array before him looks daunting. The glistening of the sheers, the rugged hoe, and the glowing embers of the torch.

"Tommy, a number between 1 and 3, please." Dream asks. Tommy's shaking now as he answers with a gulp.

"Th-three?" He murmurs and Dream shrugs. Our resident sociopath carefully picks up the stone hoe. Suddenly its end looks so sharp, and so painful. Dream swings. The rugged edge digs into Tommy's side and he screams in pain. Again, and again, Dream sinks the stone into Tommy's flesh and the little muscle and fat beneath. 

Tubbo screams and pleads with Dream but it all falls on deaf ears. Sapnap yells angry profanities and threats but to no avail. The only break Tommy got was when Dream would force feed him a golden apple or a regen potion. 19 hits and then heal until the hoe finally breaks.

Unable to stand and hanging by his bound wrists, Tommy pants and swears at Dream. It hurt, but the hoe didn't go too deeply and it wasn't quite as bad as it looks. But still, without the regen, he could have died 6 times over. Dream wipes his hands on Tommy's blood-stained shirt and looks down at his tools.

"Ok tommy, 1 or 2?" He asks, holding up the sheers and the torch. Tommy just shakes his head. Dream sighs and pulls out an ax. 

"Pick one or this becomes an execution." Dream threatens. Tears streaming, Tommy answers. 

"Just kill me! End it, please! Please Dream!" He begs. The audience looks on, mortified. 

"What kind of friend would I be if I killed you? No, it wouldn't be your execution." Dream soothingly says. Tommy's heart stops as he looks up and locks eyes with Tubbo. Both are terrified for the other. 

"1." Tommy softly says. Dream nods.

"This won't hurt too much." Dream assures. No one believes him. Dream lifts the torch and walks around Tommy, as if scouting out his next move. The potion is about to wear off and Tommy is holding back sobs as the masked man circles. 

"Do you know what's special about today?" Dream asks. Tommy shakes his head. 

"It's your birthday." Dream responds. Tommy just looks confused. 

"It's april. You've been here for 3 and a half months. Time flies, right?" Dream asks. Tommy stares ahead, shocked at what doesn't feel like too big of a deal and yet it's a huge deal. He's 18. Suddenly he cries out as a burning sensation spreads across his face as Dream holds the torch to his cheek.

"Happy birthday to you," Dream sings, and pulls the torch off.

"Happy birthday to you," Dream continues and presses the embers to Tommy's hand.

"Happy birthday Tommy inniiiiit" Dream pulls it away again.

"Happy birthday to you!" Dream puts the torch in front of tommys face.

"Make a wish." He smiles down and Tommy weakly blows at the torch. Dream crushes said torch in his hand. Then goes to the sheers. 

"I saved the best for last." Dream announces. By now, most of the audience has turned away, unable to watch, and Tommy? Tommy has phased out almost completely, oblivious to the world as his body shuts down to protect himself from reality. 

Dream holds up the shears which glisten in the harsh light of the hall. Punz has been steeling himself for this since Sapnap had chosen them from his pick. His was the worst of all. A wither rose that could slowly poison him till he withered away, a pair of shears for who knows what but certainly nothing good, and a flint n steel. 

Dream grabs Tommy by his thick blonde hair and pulls his head back, exposing his neck. Even punz has to look away.

Snip

No screams. Just snippets of snipping noises going snip snip snip. Dream is trimming Tommy's hair,cutting it back. He carefully cuts through his hair until it's back to its normal length. Leaving Tommy where he is, he then turns to face everyone else, one at a time.

"If anyone else wants a haircut, just ask." Dream says almost caringly. Without another word, he fires and lifts Tommy over his shoulder, going back to Tommy's cell.

Once inside, Dream drops Tommy on his bed. Tommy's eyes are rolling in his head and he is practically dead to the world. Dream frowns. Did he take it too far? He really had just meant it as a threat and warning not to cross him.  Then Tommy begins to fade.

"Shit" Dream murmurs. Tommy is starting to shed small orbs of light, a sign of Death. When the lights stop and his breath will as well. Dream quickly revives him using the revival book that no one else has known about. He spends no time waiting, for there is none to waste. If Tommy passes through, he will know. He'll know Dream's greatest leverage, and Dream can't afford that. The light shedding stops but not from death but life renewed. 

"Dream, if Tommy dies I will kill you myself." Punz threatens from outside.  Fairly sure that Tommy is stable, Dream leaves the cell, his hands covered in Tommy's blood.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Dream smiles. Punz stands up and gets close to the glass.

"I watched the whole thing. You are a man of your word, aren't you?" Punz challenges.

"I really am not. Not that it matters, No one clapped. And of course,  because I saw you look away. For just a second. But you looked away." Dream grins. Punz says nothing, he knows Dreams right. Why had he even played that demented game?

"Maybe next time you'll do better." Dream offers, and returns to the cell at the end of the hall.