Trigger Warning: Blood, Gore, Hyperventilation
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29th November 20xx
21:49
Pandora's Vault
Purple bare walls, the hardened cold floor... the burning blinding lava wall that separated him from the outside world.
The creator of an extensive facility was trapped within his own creation, although at first it was intended for the incarceration of a particularly loud whiny British boy. Who would've foreseen that he himself would end up in the project he had drawn, the answer was everyone on the server.
A weak and battered body pressed against the floor, painted with crimson blood abstractly splattering over the dark cell. Tattered clothes, marred with purplish cuts, bruises, and burnt marks... some can say that death would be a blissful escape at this point.
Grunts and yells of pain, torment, and anger emitted from within the enclosed cube echoing through the long corridors of the prison, accompanied by commands for a certain knowledge book.
It was all a daily routine and music of Pandora's Vault, a living hell hole for the only prisoner, its warden, and the regular visitor within the huge complex.
"REVIVAL BOOK DREAM!"
Dream breathed heavily, scarlet trickling out of his mouth uncontrollably. He was yet again being tortured by Quackity, the president of Las Nevadas who wanted nothing more than a revival book, and the musical sounds of his screams.
Every time whenever Quackity pays a visit, which would be almost everyday, he has only his words and bare fists to defend himself with, although it was obviously pretty much futile and useless to the man's purple luminously enchanted netherite armor and weapons.
This time, however , it was significantly brutal than his other episodes of so-called 'correctional punishment'. Quackity was immensely livid at how one of his playthings had managed to escape from prison that was deemed impenetrable, and unfortunately for him, it was one of the most powerful and dangerous people on the server. That person was none other than the half piglin hybrid, the blood god worshipper: Technoblade.
Quackity blamed Dream and Sam for the escape of Techno, although he can only let all of his anger out on Dream for obvious reasons, he didn't wish to be thrown out of the prison by Sam.
Even though Dream claimed no responsibility for Techno's sudden dissipation from the cell, it wasn't going to stop Quackity from blindly slashing his fury, projecting it on Dream. After all, a villain like him deserved this kind of treatment, didn't he?
Quackity thwacks Dream's head with the handle of his enchanted diamond sword, knocking the poor blonde to the cold obsidian filled floor which was quickly followed by multiple kicks to the stomach. The torturer yelling something that Dream can't make out in between the beatings but it was something along the lines of the repetitive demands of his revival book, to of which he constantly denies authority over.
"I'm starting to get tired, Dream." Quackity said exhaustedly after his daily exercise of beating someone up, taking off his enchanted netherite helmet to wipe off the sweat that was dripping down his face from the sweltering environment of the exclusive isolation cell.
Dream, profusely bleeding and lying on the filth-covered grounds of his room, eyed out the helmet in his hand which was eventually plopped carelessly down to the floor. His bloodshot emerald eyes, shot up with a sparkle of intrigue as Quackity continued his dramatic verbal disposition
"I'm starting to get tired of torturing you and I'm definitely sure you are as well." Quackity ranted as he walks around the cell, turning his back against his victim as he quirks a pretentious cool expression, as if he was trying to win an Oscar award for best male "protagonist" of the year. All the whilst, Dream subtly crawled gradually across the floor with the little amounts of strength he harbored within him.
"You know this can end, if you hand me the fucking revival book..." The enraged armoured man punches the wall, before holstering his mighty purple axe into his right hand. A gasp escaped from prisoner's mouth, his eyes widened in slight concern at the lethal weapon held in Quackity's hand.
Dream silently crawls over to the dropped helmet, gripping it tightly in his hand. Blood dripping and oozing out of his stomach, getting up was nauseating enough but he can't fail now. As Quackity continued to blabbering on with his prestigious speech, toying with Dream's item frame and two pieces of furniture, Dream covertly and steadily gained his balance, his legs wobbled notoriously as he stood.
He drilled glares into the back of Quackity's skull; the man that has been taking advantage of his vulnerability, the man who had dared to set up his own faction on Dream's rightfully owned land, and the man who was no different from others on this server. His fingers dug into the netherite helmet he grasped, almost denting the headset as his teeth chattered and brows creased with his own righteous resentment.
This was his chance to escape on his own, it has been long enough with him and this damned cell. Techno is taking ages to get him out, and he couldn't wait any longer, judging by the axe in Quackity's hand. He can't depend on anyone... he had to depend on the aspect he was always known for... his survivalist instincts
With his mind fixated on a newly curated objective, he raised the helmet in his hand as he quietly approached his tormentor, who was currently still complaining about his stubbornness whilst cruising through books that Dream had inscribed in his intermissions of torture.
"How is this for a fucking revival book?!" Dream screamed as he charged full speed at the president of Las Nevadas. A sharp inhalation of air can be heard from the torturer before the victim victimizes his punisher as the gnashing impact of a blunt object reverberated.
With one powerful blow, Dream smacks Quackity's helmet into the man's head himself. How ironic when helmets are supposed to prevent head injuries... so much for their use, Dream darkly humorously thought as he turns the tables with Quackity collapsing onto the floor from the ambush.
Dream pins down Quackity to the floor, planting his right foot onto the maimed-tormentor's torso. The fervent armed man desperately retaliated back with frantic panicked swipes of his axe, fearing for his life although those attempts were quickly disputed by more beatings to the head delivered by Dream and newly acquired netherite helmet.
The thorns on the armor pricked at his scalp almost biting through Quackity's flesh as blood began gushing out from the dome of his brain, and with each strike impacting onto his round spherical head, increasing in force and rigor, geysers of blood sprouted wildly like a water fountain, grimly adorning the escalating scene of violence.
"SAM! SAM! GET ME OUT!! HELP!!" Quackity shouted in a fit of panic, but the blonde instantly silences his cries for help by crushing his mouth underneath the heel of his other foot.
Upon the abrupt collision, multiple pieces of incisors and molar teeth came sprawling out of his mouth, accompanied by red swirls of blood. It almost looked like a botched dentist job was applied to Quackity.
Dream gives Quackity one final punch with the helmet before stopping his much needed revenge. His breathing growling like an animal as he was blinded by the rage and the simmering vengeance that he wanted to get off his chest. The orange-clothed blonde looked deathly at the now wounded Quackity who went quickly from being powerful over Dream to pleading for his life on the cold floors of Pandora's vault.
"You fucked up Quackity... big time." Dream hissed bitterly, cold and dull emeralds tersely piercing into the dilating pupils of the physically and emotionally vulnerable Las Nevadas leader.
"Ph- fu-" The incapacitated Mexican sputtered unintelligibly with the few pieces of dental material he had remaining over that last stomp gifted personally by his own guinea pig, only resulting in the junior coughing up more blood, staining his already bloodied self.
"You really thought you could break me, and tear me apart? How foolish..." Dream chuckled in amusement, lightly nudging Quackity on the shoulder with his foot in order to topple his wounded captor onto his side. The armed man moaned uncomfortably, remainders of teeth grinding against each other, making up unintelligible words and noises whilst his expression winced painfully with anguish.
Quackity peered over his shoulder, peripheral vision gradually subsiding and faltering; he can barely articulate the imagery that bestowed his eyes. A blurry depiction of Dream, front side obscured by the blinding curtains of lava, hauntingly towering over him.
Once donned in unrivalled equipment, with various tools and weapons against a naked Dream, he felt invincible. The monster that had terrorized and plagued many lives with gloom, misery and dread stood no chance in inflicting any harm against him.
Yet all it took for the foundation to be undermined was a minute miscalculation, something so trivial but hauled major and now possibly fatal consequences. He could only shiver with fright at the prospect of what's to come, albeit he was aware of the rough possibilities, but even those were horrifically terrifying to him.
The tides had drastically turned; he was now at the unforgiving mercy of Dreamwastaken.
Through the blinding darkness only illuminated by the backdrop of pouring lava, a malicious grin spread across Dream's expression as if he had concocted another devastating plot of anarchy and chaos right on the spot. Quackity gulped harshly as the blonde haired administrator knelt down in order to be at the same somewhat level as him.
"Listen very carefully." Dream whispered ominously as his face inched closer towards Quackity's, transmitting goosebumps throughout his nervous system. "I've been hearing about your majestic empire, a good hand dealt from decks of gold and wealth."
The Las Nevadan stiffened, his stifled grunts nullified upon hearing the mere mention of his very own nation. Despite its official name left unspoken, Quackity could already envision the amount of bloodshed and warfare Dream was prepared to wage against him on his very doorstep
"I also heard you had a partner... Slimecicle yeah?" It was here where the final straw had been drawn and Quackity decided that he could not remain still. The name that rolled out of Dream's tongue shook him to the very core, he could not live if this devil incarnate did something awful to Slimecicle.
"Please..." Quackity suddenly... whimpered? Dream was taken aback by the abrupt change in tone, he had not expect such a monumental differentiation in the younger one's emotions. He mentally took note of the detail, just in case this particular scenario decided to be rerolled.
"Please don't do anything to him..." Quackity muttered darkly, as clusters of tears pooled at the sides of his eyes. Dream's expression instantly softened, and he could only pray to his sibling, XD, that Quackity did not witness the split second of sympathy he bore for the individual.
To say that he didn't have a heart was a complete and utter lie, he used to have one... until Tommy and his company began stabbing it relentlessly until it turned black and blue. Deep down inside, he still has some human decency but those elements were exclusively reserved to those who were valuable or important to him.
George and Sapnap would be prime examples, even if the relationship has been one-sided ever since his imprisonment and once again who was to blame for his shattered relations of his closest peers and friends?
'FUCKING TOMMY.' Dream reminded himself of the person who was the primary root and blossom of his multitude of issues. Listing off all his problems that required to be dealt with, almost every single one of them was due to Tommy's conflict and inability to stay under the rules of the server.
Nevertheless, the brief flash of sympathy vanquished almost immediately, pertaining to his previous demurs of being cold and numb to all cries and pleas originating from the heaping pile of garbage that lain before him.
Dream didn't continue raving on about his fantasies of the methods he would utilize in tearing Las Nevadas into smithereens, choosing that surprise could be a remunerating aspect for him and for Quackity currently, just to spare him the explicit details of certain parts of his plan.
He sprung back up, his balance teetering slightly due to the physical onslaught received prior. Considering the extremely battered state of his at the moment, Dream ought to indulge himself in some justified vengeance as he stumbles over to the corner where the lectern and the chest was propped, opening the lid of the box before rummaging through the messily kept pile of books.
"How about this you shithead? You want to see the power of the revival book yeah?" Dream teased as he pulls out the book from the chest, dangling it in front of Quackity's face. He tried to grasp it but Dream ensured that it won't be leaving him anytime soon or even better forever...
"You know what?" Dream spoke up as he grabs the fallen netherite axe up from the floor. Quackity soft whimpers and repeated cries of 'No' can be heard when Dream reached for the powerful weapon.
"Since you want to see the magic of this book so much... let's see if it works." Dream stated in the predicament's finality as he stares down Quackity for one last time, enchanted netherite axe firmly gripped in both his hands.
The reflection of Dream can be seen clearly in Quackity's tear-filled eyes as he snickers morbidly, fingers intertwined with the handle.
"Goodbye... Sir." Dream bid mockingly, using the name that Quackity had demanded him for reference before taking one inhalation of breath and ultimately... swinging down the axe unto Quackity's head.
Screams of fear was quickly silenced and followed by red liquid splattering everywhere upon the collision of the axe and a person's head, scarlet fireworks exploding against the chest and the single wooden lectern propped in the cell. The murky polluted water in his respawning corner was tinted a rosy red as blood diluted the already contaminated and germ infested liquid.
"DIE. YOU BASTARD." Dream growled inhumanely, wrath consuming him entirely with each swing increasing tempo and power.
As Dream drives the axe further in using his feet stepping on it for extra force, more blood oozed out coloring the darkened floor a crimson rose red.
Dream wails at Quackity endlessly until stopping after what felt like forever. He stares at the corpse of his punisher, his head was mushed like a destroyed watermelon with blood splashing from the cerebral cortex. The admin pants heavily, extremely out of breath from that alone, provided how he hadn't been able to spar or warm up his skills in this confined restricting cube.
Regardless, the deed was done and he had freed himself from one of many problems.
Quackity was slain by Dream [1 life remaining]
In moments, the nasty carnage was erased and disappeared into a cloud of smoke, leaving only Quackity's stuff behind such as armour and weapons. Now it was all Dream's to take, although unfortunately Quackity for whatever reason didn't have any regeneration or health potions nor any pieces of food in his inventory.
He was fucked if he gets into a fight with anyone, even the weakest person on this server can possibly kick his ass, providing the fact that he wouldn't be healing up on his physical and definitely mental health anytime soon, until he was actually given a break and a space to breathe.
That's only when he gets the chance to escape Pandora's Vault, but before that he had to maneuver pass Sam without the creeper hybrid suspecting anything that could be out of the ordinary.
"Quackity?" Dream flinches as he hears the warden's alarmed voice coming through from the other side of the lava. His head shot towards the direction of the voice, through the bright walls of lava that separated him from the other parts of the facility.
Instantly putting on Quackity's armour, he tries his best to act as normal as possible and not like he was being tortured and beaten up minutes ago. The pain inflicted was agonizing to put up but this was his escape so it was more than a fair exchange.
Dream looks at the corner of his eye, the lava slowly falling presumably because of Sam being concerned about Quackity's safety. Although in moments, it should be Sam who shall worry about his own safety rather than anyone else's.
"I'll draw the platform back since you sounded pretty disturbed about something!" Sam yelled before piston noises gradually gets louder and closer to Dream.
The prisoner put his back against the warden's face, if Sam saw his face even for a split second it was game over for him. He would evilly smirk as of the moment, but he had no energy to do so; killing Quackity had depleted and exhausted most of his stamina and strength away and now despite getting an opportunity to break out of prison, he had no clear strategy on how to deal with the warden, who was most likely armed to the teeth as well.
"Alright step on the platform Quackity!" Sam signaled and Dream obeyed the only command that he wholeheartedly would follow from the creeper hybrid. Stepping backwards onto the flying machine over the humongous auditorium of lava, he watches as the cell he lived in for the past several months was pulling itself away from him.
No more getting tortured, no more potatoes; he had tools and armor with most importantly, the revival book in his inventory. Now he only needs to take Awesamdude out somehow and then he will be free to go.
"Quackity are you okay? I heard you screaming and now you're not saying anything. Did Dream crush your vocal box?"
Dream gulped in anxiety, the saliva travelling painfully down his esophagus due to the fact that he hadn't been drinking water at all and he was not about to substitute pure mineral water that he once had the privilege to indulge daily with some unhygienic toilet water that was swimming with tapeworms and bacteria.
"Quackity! You're scaring me man, respond!" Sam demanded nervously, impatience rippling in his voice at the lack of answer he was receiving back by who he believes is Quackity, little does the creeper hybrid know that his oversight will plunge him and the SMP into panic
"Oh.. Sam. I couldn't ever be more fine." Dream spoke up bravely, as he spun around to meet his captor's face with minimal gap separating him and Sam; he was already wondering what his expression would be when he sees that the person he's been talking to was in fact not Quackity, but was actually the prisoner.
Sam's breath hitched in his throat suddenly as a sharp gasp overtook his diction and in the spur of his tumultuous emotions and logic, Dream immediately pulled himself into a defensive stance albeit sloppily, given the state of his physical body. Having been restrained in a cell of the size no more than four tightly packed office cubicles, it didn't really gave him the chance to stay actively fit and prepared for any shape or form of direct engagement. Needless to say, he was unquestionably bound to be severely out of practice.
"DREAM!?" Sam exclaimed incredulously, his roar of surprise roamed the prison halls bouncing off the black and indigo walls of the vault. The creeper hybrid wasn't able to fully register who was actually standing before his very own eyes. He had wholeheartedly invested his all, ensuring that the prisoner was in no luck of breaking out of the prison. With an elder guardian swimming around in the dome of scalding lava, Sam was confident that nobody, even with the brain of a prodigal genius, could ever figure out a flaw in his impeccable system of defense. Yet the evidence of debunking his theory was standing in front of him, packed out with gear and ready to rumble with him.
He had unwittingly let the prisoner out himself.
"Miss me, Sam?" Dream creepily grinned, the blinding light emanating from the lava reflecting from his set of visible teeth. Sam gulped harshly, the pressure exerted upon his shoulder was palpable and unbearable for him to possibly handle.
"Dre-Dream, okay shit-. We can negotiate this out without utilizing any force alright?" Sam defended himself right away, desperate in saving his three canon lives, despite never having lost one yet. Dream's demeanor remained stern and cold, contrasting the bubbling lava beside him. Raising his axe gradually in an act of intimidating and hoisting up fear in his enemy's eyes, Dream grinned maliciously as the prospect of revenge played out nicely in his head; after all, Sam still attained all of his canon lives. It can't possibly be that damaging if he were to lose one... today
"Dream." Sam warned sternly, keeping his authoritarian stance on display although deep within, he acknowledged the fact that Dream, being more skilled and experienced with tactical fighting, could easily overpower him and turn the tides quite simplistically. Reactionarily, the creeper hybrid mirrors Dream's actions as he raised up the Warden's Will in his right hand.
A brief standoff ensued between prisoner and warden in front of the empty exclusive solitary cell entrance. Dream and Sam steadily circling around the control room, their walking patterns rotating endlessly in a loop, each side awaiting for the opposition to strike first.
"Oh Sam... I can spare your life to be frank... but with the cost of the master's control to this whole prison." Dream dealt, subjecting the warden to an examination of whether or not does he value his mighty status as the sole warden of Pandora's or does he value his life more?
"As if I would agree to that Dream." Sam was hasty on dismissing the offer, even though he did value his life, it doesn't necessarily meant that he was going to throw in the towel without a worthy fight. Just maybe not a fight with brute force and perhaps a fight of words and gentle persuasion.
"Is that so?" Dream tilted his head to the side, his eyes narrowing and a menacing grin plastered over his expression. The visage sent goosebumps down Sam as the armed creeper hybrid backed up, visibly threatened and oppressed by Dream's domineering aura of adversity. Dream pointed his axe towards the direction of his own cell, leading Sam's eyes towards the scene of carnage that had went on inside.
The crime scene of Quackity's slaughter, orchestrated by Dream, made Sam realized that in spite of his lack of physicality in the past few months, the tyrannous monster was way far capable in snatching lives away.
"You see that? Persistence ends up with punishment, Sam. Last chance... give me the master's control of the prison, or you can end up on that pile of duck meat over there." Dream threatened, his voice calm and collected for his throat had no power left to shout after his explosive outlet upon Quackity, raising his voice slightly would make it itch and linger irritably.
Sam, having never faced what death felt like on this SMP, was fearful of the precedence. Therefore, without a single swing of an axe or sword, the warden hesitantly complied with the prisoner's commands. Despite having posed a considerable mark of authority over the prison, Sam was also showing his own selfish tendencies and cowardice, proving that, as a warden, he may be a good invigilator. But as an individual, he was weak and hopeless.
Handing over the master key to all of the redstone that laced the mechanical systems of the prison ward, Dream pocketed the prized utility into his netherite leggings.
"See? That wasn't so hard was it?" Dream said, lowering his shield down before creeping up to Sam with lackadaisical steps. The ex-warden gulped harshly, it was the feeling of dread and despair that built within him that indicated that Dream, despite having gotten what he had wanted, was not finished with him quite yet.
"Now... you see, you haven't been particularly been the most innocent of all people, Sam." Dream began his exposition, confirming Sam's suspicions that something was awry and about to go down. Dream's cold and glum pupils locked with Sam's; Sam was staring at Dream, and doom stared back at him.
The bloodstained axe in Dream's hand rose up again as he continued, "You let me be tortured whilst you turn a complete blind eye towards the commotion. I'm sure you are aware of what you were doing when you let him in." the blonde accused, the blade of his axe slightly grazing Sam's chin. The creeper hybrid sensed the tinging metallic surface of the weapon, it was freezing, despite the thermal levels in the prison, matching the sensation of the void that was rapidly pooling in his stomach.
"I-it was completely justified Dream. You've wrought much more devastation than what you have gone through in the course of those months. This is simply your sentence by law." Sam defended meekly, every word croaked out of his vocal box struck terror within him as he knew that whatever was bound to come was not going to be pretty.
"If that's so... then I'll consider this, my community service." Dream stated before striking Sam suddenly with the blunt handle of the enchanted netherite axe. The suddenness of the attack was enough for Sam's body to convulse in shock, his heart spiked with surges of adrenaline that caused his consciousness to short-circuit. With one strike to the head, the single warden of Pandora's Vault was out cold, rendered unconscious on the floor of the prison he was supposed to guard securely.
"Hmph." Dream snorted as he shook his head at the pathetic sight of his own captor, now lying on the ground, helplessly unable to do anything to prevent his inevitable escape. Dream marched passed Sam, as the warden's head dribbled with a stream of blood from the blow.
Having already taken the canon lives of one and left the another one for dead, Dream sauntered through towards the main sealing suction gate of the prison, which was only accessible via the master keycard that only Sam had on him. Swiping the card, the door expectedly worked out its mechanisms and the freedom was beginning to unveil itself to the deprived prisoner.
.
.
.
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
"Alert! To all members of the SMP, we have a Code 17. I repeat, we have a Code 17. The prisoner is now on the loose. Secure all perimeters, entrances and exits."
Only mere moments after opening one of the few gates, Dream was startled by the booming of alarms and an automation message in the voice of Sam. It seemed that Sam had also considered the possibility of him somehow feasibly escaping the cell on his own. According to what he had heard, everybody on the SMP was now apparently alerted to the unfolding revelation of his prison breach.
"Shit! Fucking bastard thought of everything didn't he?" Dream cursed underneath his breath, as his legs gave him its best in sprinting out of the prison before the supposed response team could arrive at the prison's exterior. If everybody was going to surround the facility, he was doubtlessly outnumbered and out of shape for any multi-confrontation with several people.
Dream bolted for the entrance, having miraculously memorized the layouts of the prison's labyrinth-like passageways. However, as he rounded the corner towards the main staircase to descend downwards, it seemed that Sam had installed one last surprise for him.
Dream rounded the corner, and throttled down the staircase, although unbeknownst to him, he had just stepped on some sort of mechanism trigger. The blonde-haired convict glanced back, and much to his horror, he had realized that he had just stepped on a stone pressure plate.
Knowing Sam, the creeper hybrid wouldn't have randomly set down pressure plates for seemingly no reason, there had to be something that Sam rigged within that sensitive trigger. What was it exactly though?
The answer to that question would cause Dream's heart to drop as the following sound made his blood run cold.
*Sizzle*
"WHAT THE F-"
Frantically reaching into his inventory, he fished out a bottle of Quackity's fire resistant potion before downing it instantly. Just as he was about to finish the entire bottle off, a fusillade of TNT bundles emerged from the glowstone lamps above...
*BOOM*
.
.
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The enormous blast had sent shockwaves in a nearby 200 meters radius. Torches were snuffed out by the gusts of the heavy wind, and lanterns that adorned the pathways of the SMP swayed from their suspending chains. Animals and livestock reacted instinctively, with herds of cows, pigs and sheep scrambling wildly into the nearby woods, adjacent to Pandora's vault.
Inside the prison was no better, for obvious reasons, from the catastrophic, and seemingly self-destructive explosion, the intricate decor of the prison was absolutely devastated. Glowstone lamps turned into fine rubble and powder, blackstone stairs and pillars crumbled and cracked.
The lava, however, was what's about to amplify the effects of the explosion from devastation to annihilation.
In the wake of the explosion, the air pressure had soared tremendously, rooted from the pressure wave of the blast, elicited a disastrous reaction from the lava. The lava grumbled, as if it was genuinely simulating itself in a real natural volcano, and its incinerating contents rose to the ceiling, completely drowning the solitary confinement cell that once was Dream's
Upon reaching the ceiling, and the extent of the volume, the lava persevered as the smoldering liquid pushed and sloshed against the walls, exerting additional pressure before finally...
*BOOM*
An eruption.
Awesamdude burnt to death (2 lives remaining)
Having responded to Sam's troubled call alert, the response team towards the unfolding drama was arriving at the scene when the prison exploded into a fire show of disaster. The response team: Sapnap, George, Ranboo, Tommy, Tubbo, Eret, Antfrost and BadBoyHalo, had all arrived at the scene, in desperate attempts to stop whatever the hell was wreaking havoc, only to be bestowed by a grisly scene of destruction.
The response team gathered and stood in awe at the horrific incendiary sight as the ominous obsidian complex facility is gradually being engulfed by the raging inferno. Their jaws hung wide agape, their tongues collectively failing them in the formation of expression. Only a deafening silence of bewilderment and the discordant cacklings of the dancing flames rang in their ears as they watched onward... Pandora's Vault slowly but surely disintegrating into rubble and ashes.
The fragrance of burnt wood emanated through the air, courtesy of the charred trees from the woods that had now caught ablaze from the growing fire, adjacent to the seared building. A thousand strings of blood-orange embers slithered from the visible outlines, and Sapnap, one of the many witnesses of Pandora's incinerating glow, felt his heart squeezing in broken agony as he distinctively recalls who was stationed inside the prison.
The warden and sole body of the jail's security, Sam, alongside the single convict apprehended away in the winding and puzzling corridors of the nauseating purple and black walls. Multiple spewing geysers of lava spat their scalding contents into the bodies of water to the left, the lake that had used to be crystal clear and thriving with aquatic life, was now polluted with the scent of soot and molten geothermal rocks. The glistening ripples of the water's surface gradually diminish with the solidification from physical contact of water and lava.
"Sam..." Sapnap murmured blankly, his voice croaking as strength rapidly depleted his usual energy-driven stature. Knees bent over onto the gentle natural cushions of grass and foliage as his vision of the confounding image began to divide into different angles.
The prospect of the warden, his friend, ironically being imprisoned in his own creation that he had built from scratch, unable to breathe properly as he inhaled generous amounts of carbon dioxide before succumbing to the numbing effects of asphyxiation before respawning and being forced to unwittingly go through the torturous process once more. He could mentally envision Sam's wretched screams of pain reverberating in his head, and he could only wish that his imagination couldn't be any more detailed in its respective glory.
"Uh, guys?" George suddenly blurted out amid a solemn and eerie silence, his British accent cutting through the tension that hovered in the heated atmosphere of the night. His voice quavered and his expression paused frozenly before all colors had seemingly drained from his face and plane of existence. His comedically large goggles were tinted orange from the developing wildfire, in contrast to his paling expression.
"What is it, George?" Eret questioned after George's provocation and drawing of silence, attempting to evoke another verbal response from the somewhat perturbed individual. George didn't particularly give them a verbose explanation as to what ignited his courage to speak, albeit instead, he resorted to pointing his finger in the direction of the burning prison facility.
It was then that all gazes fell upon the entrance of the deconstructing compound, and, from what they could inspect at first glance, they saw nothing that could possibly be what reeled George's interest and provoked his mortified-looking appearance.
"There's nothing there George, perhaps you should head down and book an appointment with an optometrist for a new pair of glasses?" Tommy cheekily answered, remarking the detail that George adorned the optic accessory at all times and that perhaps his eyesight was worsening.
However, George wasn't laughing and his trend of trembling limbs and widened eyes continued consistently.
"No, I swear I'm not hallucinating. There is something moving in there!" George insisted alarmingly, shooting his index finger in the same direction again, this time wavering it ferociously as if it was to add an element of credibility.
"Seriously? George, look at the colossal size of the fire. There's no feasible way that someone or something can withstand all of that-" Sapnap assured, putting a single hand on George's left shoulder before patting it several times, his tear-streaked expression feigning a gentle smile to alleviate all of George's concerns away. However, halting at the near end of his sentence as his gaze stared back towards the entrance, it seemed that perhaps George wasn't blabbering all nonsense and that he was starting to see what his best friend was seeing.
"Wait... is that a person? Shields up everybody!" Sapnap speedily ordered, his stern voice echoing into the nearby woodlands as the squirrels hurriedly scurried into their habitats as if they were aware of the fact that a disastrous warzone was about to be unleashed. Everybody on site quickly pulled up their shields with their eyes peering over the metallic edges as they cautiously observe who was the figure that George and Sapnap were referring to.
From the fiery entrance, in the dense dusky orange fog, housed a stumbling silhouette gradually trekking out of the prison and presumably advancing into their line of sight. George, Sapnap, Tommy, Tubbo, Eret, Ranboo, Antfrost and BadBoyHalo's stances tensed up as it was soon proven that George's testimony was nothing but horrifyingly true.
The unknown individual was donning illuminating enchanted netherite armor and in its right hand, wielding an axe of the same material. The wisping magical effects were further enhanced by the epic golden pillar of inferno. However, the recipient's face was obscured by the ambiguous darkness of the night, making the identification barely even possible.
"Who the fuck is that?!" Tommy whisperingly inquired, his mind already frazzled in a fit of panic, impulsively jumping to presumption without any clarity or concrete evidence. It was the nagging fear of his train of notions that was causing him to be agitated and detached from common sense and reality.
He looked around for a promising answer although, expectedly, he receives no clearance as to who they were staring at and dealing with.
A suffocating cough and an iconic whistle of a wheeze sounded loudly into the plain field, the figure was panting heavily almost as if he was deprived of stamina and energy, in addition to its unstable nature, it seems that it was bound to topple over from sheer exhaustion any minute now.
"Fucking hell-.." the person muttered as they continued to cough violently, most probably due to the excessive inhalation of smoke and remnants of burning glass. Regaining composure, the figure stared onward into the distance, and in their view, they were greeted with a tough brick wall that was guaranteed to be a chore in breaching through.
In his disoriented and cloudy field of view, he can estimate approximately six assailants all armed to teeth as if they were expecting the whole turn of events all along and that they knew beforehand that he was going to use the front entrance in breaking free from his caged environment.
"Oh my gosh..." the individual mumbled annoyingly, unseen expression audibly grimacing in the veil of darkening shadows. The notable voice and phrase delivered its way into Sapnap and George's ears, and once the sound was computed into their cerebral headquarters, they automatically knew who they were going up against. An old friend of theirs, somebody with whom they had constructed a healthy platonic bond before the relationship was fractured into millions of unrepairable pieces.
It was no happenstance nor any possible coincidence, they had inadvertently perfectly identified the arsonist behind the collapse of Pandora's Vault and the ominous armed figure standing upon them all. It was undoubtedly, the universally painted villain of the whole SMP, Dream.
"Oh my god, are you kidding me?" George blurted, stumbling back a step or two in disbelief. It was quite the sight to behold through his spectacles, a lone Dream emerging from the flames of a burning building and geared up to the teeth with armor and tools, ready for any sort of combat.
"Hey Dream... what are you doing out here unsupervised, may I ask?" Sapnap courageously took the role of initiation as the clenched grasp of his axe tightened in its grip, his voice endeavored to mask the notes of disappointment and seething anger.
Tommy, upon hearing the utterance of his worst nightmare, spiraled into a fit of hyperventilation, the golden-haired Brit's pace of breathing ascended sharply and escalated into uncontrollable whistles of frightened terror.
With Dream out of confinement, he was granted free access to the SMP and on the loose, Tommy couldn't imagine all of the horrific range of activity Dream would like to engage him with. He personally knew that Dream wouldn't be exfiltrating the prison and leaving everybody unscathed, he was here with a simmering vengeance, and that idea mostly applied to him, the person who had slain the mastermind manipulator twice.
"Tom calm down, it's going to be okay." Tubbo instantly knelt down to Tommy's crumpled level and pulled the traumatized boy into a thermal embrace as if the inferno in front of us hadn't done enough of that department. Rubbing circles around Tommy's back, it took the Brit a while before his breathing mandated back to somewhat of a relatively normal.
"Tubbo..." Tommy weakly squealed out, his voice trembling hastily as they made eye contact. "-please tell me that this is some fucked up nightmare." the blonde pleaded as tears flooded the brims of his blue ridged sky eyes, threatening to trickle down the sides of his cheeks. Tubbo shifted uncomfortably, he hadn't got a clue on what to say as Tommy's worst fears that he so adamantly wanted to deny acknowledgment was all the ugly truth.
Dream stood frozen still at the malicious intent in Sapnap's voice, a voice that he hadn't been able to hear ever since the Texan's only visit in prison as opposed to the old days when he was permitted in hearing his best friend's laughter and cheers without repercussions unfolding thereafter.
From what he had been accustomed to being usual had transformed into something so alienated and distant as if that voice, whilst the same tone and timbre, had lost all of its magical charm and wonder. Nevertheless, he had to bypass through the six operatives of resistance, if he wished to survive the night at the very minimum by any means that would promise his chances of living being in his favor.
"Well... Sapnap." Dream replied back after a pregnant pause of silence washed over his entire body, the mention of the name punctured his heart like a surgical incision gone horribly wrong. He detested fighting his friends, especially ones that he had been with throughout the majority of his years alive, making what he would be coerced into inflicting all the more upsetting.
"Considering the state of the prison currently, I doubt that my respiratory system would treat kindly to that abhorrent smell." Dream quipped snarkily, a light smirk curving on the bridge of his lips as he eyed Sapnap's distal expression converting into a mask of annoyance.
"Really? Never thought that monsters like you would care for minute matters such as good hygiene and practices." Sapnap retaliated ruthlessly, the care and platonic love he once basked for Dream dissipating along into the billowing smoke of the ever-growing flames that rested predominantly behind the dirty blonde-haired young adult.
That hurt. Even if he wanted to, Dream can't lie that the comment didn't affect him negatively. Being titled and regarded by such a name by one of his closest friends in his life was something that he wasn't able to comprehend and accept. Whilst Dream knew that it was inevitable, the encounter between him and Sapnap, eye for an eye and that brutal exchanges of words and swears were confirmed to happen. It hadn't particularly inferred that Dream by any means prepared for such devastating blows to his mentality if it wasn't on the rocks already from all the various punishments and tactics Quackity had experimented on him as his scientific test subject.
"Forget all of that. Do you perhaps remember what had I told you, if I saw you out of prison?" Sapnap inquired sweetly with an expression that translated anything but sweet and sound. Brows scrunched and lips wavering, anger and disappointment woven through Sapnap's existence as his knuckles whitened from its excessive clenching.
Dream was rendered motionless as troubled memories of the past rewinded itself right back at him. Sapnap personally promised him that, he would take his last life, no matter what.
The amount of surprise that swept him eliciting from such a grim statement, made and still causes Dream to slightly flinch although covertly masked by his stoic demur. Out of all instances in his lifetime, this was an occasion where he can't bear to display any sort of vulnerability as it would undermine his ability to comprehensively focus.
Forcefully suppressing the freezing sensation of panic that burned his throat, he bit down on his tongue as his grasp on Quackity's enchanted axe tightened, clanking of netherite rustles in correspondence of his mild fidgeting.
"Y-yeah. I do... what about it?" Dream stuttered although quickly and cooly recomposes himself, taking a much needed breath of fresh air. In order to not only vanquish the potency of smoke and soot willowing at his back, but in bulk for any oncoming mental breakdowns.
Let's just say that, despite appearing unhinged and still stable, his psyche wasn't always at its best when torture was suddenly being inserted into his pattern of routine.
The countless sessions... the utter pain... that maniacal disgusting laughter belted from Quackity... hearing his own raspy grunts and yelps... the crimson liquid... all for one damned powerful book; the trauma inflicted was, at the very least, substantial.
Dream's emeralds grew cloudy as their angered outcry transformed into distortion and pure static. The abuse his body and mind had taken was quite devastating, and he wasn't sure if he even was the same person as before. Nevertheless, it was now or never, he had to somehow plough through the line of defense that stood before him.
"-kill you no matter what." The acclaimed tyrant zoned back into the plane of reality only to tune in back to Sapnap giving a finalizing note to his dramatic ramblings. It wasn't the full picture, but Dream was confident that he got the general gist of the situation.
He was going to have to make it through and out alive... from a 1 vs 8 scenario somehow.
"Load your crossbows!" Sapnap roared, his order echoed through the charred woodlands and every member of the temporary pact of resistance complied without much hesitance, after all, this was their prime opportunity to banish the darkness and villain that was loomed over the server.
Immediately, Dream checked his inventory, not much was retrieved as most of the utility was fed to the sloshing searing lava once that astronomic explosion had gone off. The escapee swallowed harshly as his expression relatively soured down as he took a glance at his pathetic excuse of items for battle.
An axe, a diamond sword, a half-broken shield, some pieces of definitely stale dry bread and a singular unit of a harming potion. It wasn't by all margins suited to his preferences, but in dire predicaments like this, he was out of luck, but to make do with all he had.
And he wasn't about to go down or let them go without a fight, those who had wronged and betrayed him in the cataclysmic past of the SMP.
As the prison and nearby forests burnt to the ground in the smoldering heat, Dream stages his stand as his grasp locked intently with the axe handle, staring down his very own friends that had betrayed him.
"For all of the times that I gave you all chances at redemption, all I got was deviation, disobedience, and betrayal." "If the world's a stage, let's set it on fire. I won't let a single person that had wronged me... get away." Dream muttered silently as a horrifying aspiration grew in his twisted sense of vigilantism. It would be a severe understatement to say that the owner of the SMP had finally snapped
With two canon lives lost, and having already taken two lives in a span of one night, no one could predict just how far Dream was willing to go to enact his revenge on the very people he had generously invited onto the server, the very people he once loved and the very people that had turned against him.
A killing spree that would plunge the lands of Dream SMP into panic... had just begun.
8129 words
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Small Talk
Hey everybody!
Heh... it feels weird writing again, after what... almost 9 months and a half?
I hope you all enjoyed my own take of the prison escape. Truthfully, with the Dream SMP long over, I hesitated on releasing this book due to the dying down of the SMP craze, but screw it, I've already spent this much time and effort into Chapter 1, so I might as well publish it.
My studies honestly has thwarted my plans of continuous writing output, but I'll try my best to find available time slots for my presence on Wattpad. Before I became an online writer, I was really annoyed by how authors kept discontinuing stories or leaving them on hold.
I didn't understand back then, but now as I grow older and wiser, my perceptions have changed. Now I definitely understand why people are unable to keep up with their projects LOL-
Regardless, I hope this was entertaining and enjoyable for everybody to read!
As for Tears of a Shattered Dream, I currently have no plans of resuming that story in the present, but I can assure you that eventually, that story will be completely in one way or another.
Thank you for reading, dear readers! I'll see you all next time!
Sincerely,
Symphony Kingdom