Tw for death, swearing, injury, mention of abuse, implied mention of a suicide attempt, and blood
This is a long one. It's 2500 words I'm serious. Buckle in.
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A scream rang out through the darkening woods, and George turned to Dream with a detmined stare. The latter nodded, and grabbing George's hand he pulled the duo through the trees at a frightening speed.
Still, it seemed that the cries died down too soon, because the owner of them was nowhere to be found.
With deflated hope the two continued their search for Skeppy, silently toying with the prospect they were already too late.
George, more so than Dream, was cold.
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Sapnap stumbled through the undergowth while vines and roots clawed at his ankles. Greif teared through him over his words to Karl - who seemed so distraught at the mere thought of Sapnap going to look for Skeppy.
It didn't matter if what Karl said was true or not, it was so clearly real to him and caused him pain as clear as day. Sapnap could work out if Karl was just mad or not after he found everyone and brought them back home.
When the human heard the cry in the woods, he too tried to reach the source in a blind panic through the vegetation to no avail. But he did find someone else. Two someones.
"Wai- George? Hey guys over here!!" A grin stretched over the human's face as George and Dream spotted him. They ran over calling his name.
"Sapnap you're alive!! Oh thank god." George shouted with manic hope in his eyes.
Previous disagreement forgotten, the two friends wrapped one another in a hug so tight Dream swore they'd crush a rib or something.
"Hey, good to see you're not dead Sapnap." Dream said far too casually.
"Back at you guys." Sapnap smirked, then his face fell, "Did you hear that scream just now?"
"Yeah uh... It was probably Skeppy right? Who else would be out here..."
"Yeah. We should still try and find him though. He could still be alive-"
"Not if it was Halo that got him."
"It could've been a mob."
The three knew that they would still try and find Skeppy either way. And so they went into the woods united as a trio against the forces of evil-
Nah I'm kidding that's cringe. But they were united, and they were filled with determination. And they were so, so terribly unprepared.
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Niki, Ran, and Boo were far away - searching in the opposite direction.
Well Niki and Boo were anyway, because a hoard of zombies had separated the trio leaving Ran alone in the darkening woods.
"Raaan!!"
"Ran where are you?!"
Boo was shaking, not only from the chill of the cloudless night; he'd never been so far from his counterpart before and their fear of separation was almost palpable. Niki walked close to Boo with a comforting arm on his back as they walked.
"Raaan!!"
A faint "Guys?" was heard in the distance, and Boo immediately turned and sprinted towards the sound with Niki hot on his heels.
"Ran!!! Over here!"
"Boo! Niki!" Now Ran was in sight and running too, arms thrown out to the side in anticipation and joy.
Niki was just about able to keep up with Boo despite a few bruises and scrapes on her leg. She was surprised the other two were able to run so fast after seeing them both take as many hits from the zombies as her.
But something drew her gaze away from Ran and to the greenery behind him. Said greenery was a little too green, and suddenly it was moving.
"Wait- RAN WATCH OUT!"
There was a hiss, and the world exploded in a flurry of light and sound.
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Niki came to and the world was still spinning a little. The sky was practically the same colour as before, so not that much time could have passed.
Boo sat crumpled at the edge of a crater, practically tearing his throat to shreds with furious and indiscernible cries.
Dragging herself to his side, Niki couldn't see any heavy injuries on Boo and so she cast her eyes towards the crater before them.
Ran. Oh... Oh god. Boo I'm so sorry.
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The night curls in oh so menacingly now. The sky a black blanket speckled with twinkling stars. And the world turns in to sleep, blissfully unaware that everyone's lives are about to be put on the line.
Everyone is at peace but the ones in the woods.
The masked protector
The conflicted human
The girl with a iron will
The broken half
The lost watcher
The lonely journal keeper
The fallen angel
The last in the list is smiling a devilish and toothy grin as he approaches the trio.
"Hello little muffins. Let's end this now shall we?"
It begins to rain.
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Sapnap turned on his heel at the sound of Halo's taunt. The human immediately putting himself between the demon mutated and his best friends.
"Halo. Where's Skeppy?" George demanded, moving to Sapnap's side instead of hiding behind him. This prompted the human to cast George a worried glance, but he was reassured by the brunet giving him a small smile before returning to glaring at Halo.
"Who?" Halo tried to feign innocence - the Dream Team's anger was just too delicious to not provoke them. But unfortunately said trio was getting pretty sick of the demon's shit.
Dream stood by Sapnap's other side. "Stuff it Halo. We know you and Skeppy were friends. Tell us where he is. Now."
"Ugh fiiiiine. You muffins are being so boring! But if you really insist..." Halo reached into his cloak pocket and the Dream Team tensed. He drew out his closed hand, opening it to present a single, glittering diamond shard.
It couldn't be... Was that one of Skeppy's? There was a dribble of blood on the shard that was quickly washed away in the worsening rain.
"You'll pay for that-!" One of the Dream Team hissed. Halo couldn't care less which it was: he was excited to kill all of them anyway.
So excited, that he decided to do so right away, launching himself towards Dream who had begun to circle to demon mutated. He noticed George had started to circle on the other side but didn't worry about that for now.
Without having to control other consciousness and with no light to stop him teleporting, Halo's strength and skill were almost unbearable for the Dream team.
But they couldn't falter now. Not with their lives on the line and in more danger than they had ever been. This was it - one final confrontation to settle it all.
Only one side would be walking away intact tonight.
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Even with so much at stake, Halo's bloodlust was infectious, and soon even George found himself willing to draw blood. Halo had done so much wrong... death was the minimum price the demon mutated had to pay.
Heavy rain mixed with the earth, turning it into a slippery, muddy battlefield. Dream had the highest advantage here with his enhanced agility but George's inherant clumsiness was drawing him back.
He was still managing to hold his own though, successfully deflecting almost all of Halo's blows apart from the occasional hit. His sharp demon-esque tail was insufferable to deal with - sneaking in stinging cuts to George's legs. He knew Halo was trying to reduce his mobility, but there was little the brunet could do about it.
Dream and Sapnap were doing alright too. Sapnap still hadn't had the chance to use his bow because Halo kept teleporting out of the way, but luckily the human always kept a few knives handy before a fight.
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The rain made it difficult to see too clearly.
At this point Sapnap felt he was practically slashing at any dark or red shape in his vision and praying it would cause some damage. Luckily Halo had reduced visibility too, or else Sapnap would've been dead ten minutes ago.
Bouncing back from a blow from Dream, Halo made to turn back and slice the masked mutated with his claws before suddenly switching his trajectory to Sapnap. This achieved two things for Halo: it threw Dream off balance and tumbling into the mud; and it also gave Halo a clear swipe at Sapnap's thigh.
The human felt three claws dig deep into his muscle and cried out in pain. His head swam and Sapnap fell to one knee in front of Halo. George was out of range and couldn't do anything to stop Halo move in to kill his best friend.
Except said best friend was resourceful, namely in the aspect of a quiver of arrows. As Halo was about to slice Sapnap's throat he reached around and grabbed one of these arrows, plunging it deep into Halo's arm.
Halo stumbled back and hissed, ready to pounce back at the human when suddenly he stood to his full height, both his leg and the arrow in his hand slick with blood. Surprising everyone, when Sapnap spoke his voice was stern and unwavering.
"You're a piece of shit Halo. You watched me survive abusive parents my whole life, supported me through my toughest times and at my lowest you even saved my life. It's because of you I have survived so much for so long. And you have the audacity to do this?"
Sapnap's eyes blazing with fury but also loving passion and courage. There had to be a way to get through to Halo. He had to be there.
The mutated in question paused, and the trio thought that maybe he'd been taken aback by Sapnap's outburst. "I-" Halo's manic and somewhat positive demeanour from before darkened, "I'm not your Halo anymore you muffin. You left your Halo to die, and my purpose is to avenge him."
"We didn't mean to leave you Halo-"
"Stop it! I'm not him! Im not!"
George looked between the two former best friends as they argued. He was scared that any sudden movement or noise would set Halo off, yet he desperately wanted to warn Sapnap - George had a bad feeling about this, like a cold enveloping his chest.
"If you could just listen-"
"Just shut up!"
"You aren't like this Halo-"
"Oh? I'm not am I? WELL LET ME PROVE TO YOU JUST WHO I AM!!"
One second George was standing behind Halo with his sword raised and the next he was on the ground choking on his own blood. Halo stood over him, claws gleaming with red and sticky liquid.
Sapnap couldn't breathe he couldn't hear he couldn't think- he could only watch in slow motion as Dream leapt forward with his hands raised. He yelled and screamed as his fists connected with Halo's face.
"YOU FUCKING MONSTER!!"
He punched Halo again and again as Sapnap took the distraction to run to George's side, adrenaline turning the burning pain in his leg to a dull ache. Rain mixed with his friend's blood turning it a diluted pink-ish colour.
"G-George? Hey, hey man I'm so sorry I- listen you're gonna be okay alright? I promise you're gonna be fine," Sapnap lied.
The mud was soaking Sapnap's trousers, stealing the warmth from his legs, but he didn't care. It was his fault they were out here and his fault George was going to die.
Already George was so weak, barely lifting an arm to try to still the flow of blood from his throat. The brunet's hand fell uselessly to his chest and Sapnap quickly scooped it up and held it tight, hoping against hope he could help his best friend in the whole wide world but there was nothing... There was nothing he could do.
There was pain in George's eyes. A kind of emotional pain that Sapnap couldn't bear to face. In the glimpse that he dared to catch the human saw too many things. Guilt, regret, longing, and sadness. But most of all there was Fear.
"Sap-?" George managed to choke out, and that one broken syllable crushed all of Sapnap's defences as he broke down into tears. "I'm so sorry George I'm sorry I-" he stopped and shook his head.
These were not the last words George should hear - should not be the last memory he had of this world - but nothing that Sapnap could think of meant anything more. There were too many things to apologise for, yet there was too little time.
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Dream payed no attention as he watched George's last breath from the corner of his eye. The second Halo had inflicted the wound, Dream had known it was fatal.
"YOU BASTARD!" he screamed, flinging punch after punch at the demon's face. Blood as black as Halo's skin painted Dream's knuckles that were turning red from the cold and the force of his attack.
Halo only laughed, caught up in the thrill of a murder he'd wanted for so long. This thrill could only last so long though as he realised Dream was overpowering him, but the realisation came too late.
The demon mutated hit the floor hard. His head rang as Dream continued to inflict blow after blow. Finally, the masked mutated stopped - breathing heavily - and very slowly reached for the sheathed sword on his hip.
As strong as Halo was, Dream had knocked the energy from him and Halo found he couldn't move. Dream was going to kill him. He was actually going to kill him.
"This is for our little fight in the cave-" Dream said calmly - all the rage from before seemingly replaced with steel cruelty as he methodically cut a deep gash in Halo's arm. Halo let out an inhuman cry of pain but Dream seemed not to notice.
"This is for the raid, and everyone that died because of it-" the end of Dream's words were drowned out by another scream as he drew a line in Halo's other arm.
"This is for controlling Fundy and Ranboo-" a third gash in Halo's shoulder, even deeper than the last.
"And this-" Dream raised the sword above this head, "This is for killing George before I could tell him I loved him-"
Halo squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the sword to come down, to slice through his throat and end his life once and for all.
He did not expect to hear the sound of a bowstring being drawn and Sapnap to say, "Dream. Don't you dare kill him."
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Woaoaoh sorry to end it here folks but the chapter way getting waaay too long and this is a good place to stop for suspense right?
I think I went pretty heavy on the dramatics but oooh I'm a sucker for that kind of thing so you'll have to forgive me even if it's cringe, and fuck I suck at fight choreography still aaaaah!
Sincerely, the captain of a ship in a glass bottle