George's POV
I fell down to the floor, my throat burning up as I coughed uncontrollably. My neck reddened with Skeppy's hand print clearly visible.
If I wasn't gonna die from the gun, I would've died from suffocation.
"Bad..." Skeppy hurtled towards Bad, his arms wide open, his eyes a little glossy with tears.
Skeppy collided with Bad, enfolding him in a tight hug. "I'm sorry." He said, his voice softening with melancholy.
"It's okay." Bad stroked Skeppy's back in comfort and understanding. He pulled back and gazed deeply into his eyes. "We've talked about this, Skeppy. No more hurting people."
Skeppy nodded, like a kid who just got scolded by their parents. "I understand. I will not hurt anymore. Especially you." He smiled timidly at Bad. "If that's what makes you happy, I'll happily do it."
"I know, Skeppy." Bad tilted Skeppy's head downwards and planted a gentle kiss on his head. "I know."
"Bad? You were with him all along?" Sapnap asked, staring at Bad, deceived and betrayed. "You knew ever since at the beginning?"
Bad winced at Sapnap's words, regret hitting him like a diamond sword with Knockback II. "I..."
"You were the one who blackmailed A6d and the twins, didn't you!?" Sapnap accused, pointing a trembling finger at him.
"No! I--"
"I..I'm not in the mood for this. No excuse is gonna mend our friendship back again. What did we ever do to you both?" Sapnap sighed deeply, his hurt-filled eyes replaced with empty ones. His grip on the flail tightened, his knuckles turning even more pale.
"Come on. Let's get out here." He gestured at us, leaving the assembly hall first. The flail scratched the floor behind him, producing an ear-splitting sound.
Dream followed Sapnap, his head hanging down low, preoccupied.
I stood up and headed towards them but before I could exit the room, I looked back at Skeppy and Bad, giving them a long look.
I tried to imagine and place myself in their shoes, attempting to understand them. Attempting to relate to them, attempting to share their pain.
But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't see the point of this betrayal.
For more money? More power? Is it really worth it? Skeppy's already rich, what more could they possibly want?
"I hope you both have a good reason for all of this madness." I said and left, not sparing another glance.
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We found ourselves trudging back to the village, our minds flooded and clouded by thoughts and questions.
I still can't believe Skeppy was the one behind all of this chaos and that Bad was with him and supporting his evil schemes.
I gave Bad my wholehearted trust, I considered him as a friend. A best friend, even. Now? We're back to strangers again.
Because of this, I don't know who to trust anymore. Even our best friend betrayed us. Is A6d with them too? Are the twins with them too? I don't know anymore.
I don't know if I could trust my own boyfriend now. He's been acting weird. At first, we were excited when we found the tunnel. The next thing I knew, he just started crying out of the blue and hugged me like we haven't seen each other in a while.
It was as if he lost me.
Sapnap was still fuming, aggressively kicking the rocks that he passed by, still dragging his flail on the ground. Luckily, it didn't produce a loud screech.
Bad's betrayal really hit him hard, harder than that flail could hit anyone.
Dream was zoning out, his eyes blank but you could feel that a bajillion thoughts were racing back and forth in his mind.
What's bothering him? Even though I don't know if I can trust him, doesn't mean that I don't care about his well-being. He's still my boyfriend after all.
As for Bad, I think the reason of his betrayal was that he just did it out of love. He loves Skeppy too much to abandon him. He loves Skeppy too much to leave him.
I can't blame him. If Dream told me that he's secretely a mafia boss, I can't do anything but support and understand him even though it's wrong. I love him too much to desert him.
Maybe that's the scenario with Bad's case. But for Skeppy's part, I still don't understand. What does he want from us? He went through all this effort for what?
Well, I think Dream knows the answer.
We reached the village. I looked up at the sky that was now pitch black, embellished with a lot of glittery stars that made the ether irradiate. I was too occupied with my thoughts that I didn't notice that it was like midnight now.
"Should we--" I asked but was suddenly cut off by a voice in the distance.
"Dream, Sapnap, George!" A6d called out to us in the darkness, holding an oil lamp, Jeb beside him. We ambled towards them.
"Did you find all the answers?" A6d asked eagerly.
"We did." Dream replied, confident.
"We did?" I turned to him, raising a brow in uncertainty.
He smiled at me reassuringly, draping his arm over my shoulder. "We did."
"You...have discovered it, didn't you?" Jeb asked Dream, a ghost of a proud smile on his lips.
"You can tell?" Dream queried, surprised.
"I can tell when someone's self-aware." Jeb replied. "Because I also have the gift."
A6d and Dream gasped at this.
"Gift?" Sapnap and I asked in utter confusion, completely in the dark of what they are talking about.
It's like that feeling when you are with a bunch of nerds and they're talking about chemistry and quantum physics. Then you're there just listening to them and not understanding a thing.
"It's time you should tell them, Dream." Jeb nodded at Dream encouragingly.
Dream took a deep breath and turned to us. "George, Sapnap, I discovered that I have time powers."
Sapnap stared at Dream like he's crazy. "Excuse me?"
Is this for real right now?
"I know it sounds crazy. When I first knew about it, I was flummoxed and I couldn't immediately believe it. But trust me, I'm not joking." He said.
Still, Sapnap didn't budge. "What?"
Time powers? Is that really a real life thing? Am I hallucinating all of this or am I just hearing things since it's past my bedtime?
He sighed and stared at us with a serious gaze. "You want me to prove it?"
I nodded. "I don't see why not--"
All of a sudden, the dark village we were in shifted and wobbled. In my vision, it was like I was staring at a reflection in the water, the surroudings rippling.
Sapnap was screaming his head off while I was frozen in place, too mind-boggled to do anything.
Before we knew it, we found ourselves back in the hidden falls, the sun straight over our heads.
Everything was frozen, the water was not flowing, the waterfall wasn't falling.
"Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious." Sapnap looked around, mind blown, frantically running a hand through his hair.
"So do you believe me now?" Dream smirked, watching both of us lose our braincells.
"I believe you, Dream. I'll always believe you." I said, smiling at him despite the confusion that still roamed around my mind.
I don't want to question him more, my brain is already fried. I'll ask him more soon.
"I'll need to wrap my head around this but I do believe you." Sapnap replied, sighing as he rubbed his forehead.
"Thanks." Dream smiled and in a split second, we were back in the village at midnight.
"Wait..." Jeb raised a hand up to the sky and we looked at him in worry.
"What is it?" A6d asked, concerned.
"Today's the day. The apocolypse and the launching of Project Dare."
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Author's POV
One more chapter and we'll reach the end. But don't fret yet, I won't forget about the backstory~
Any theories about the ending? Comment it here but if you are in our discord server, go brainstorm is there!
Love you lots and see you soon. ❤️