Chapter Text
Tommy wasn’t a fan of dying.
It wasn’t that he feared dying, after all he was the biggest man on the server, nothing scared him! However, Limbo wasn’t very much fun. The darker than black void-like tunnel always seemed cold. Not just a ‘oh I need to steal my older brother’s jacket’ type cold but more of an ‘I have become one with the polar bears’ type cold. He also couldn’t hear well, his vison seemed fuzzy, and he constantly felt like he was being pulled apart and put back together. It was almost like he was being stretched until he snapped, similar to what people do to putty.
To make matters worse, everyone had started ignoring him. Wilbur, his older brother (who seemed to be growing more and more unstable by the minute) always used to drag Tommy over to play a game of Solitaire with him and talk about useless/somewhat disturbing stuff. Recently though, he had started ignoring Tommy whenever he showed up, not even offering to play his stupid card game with him.
Schlatt just slept a lot. Like an unhealthy amount of sleep but he was already dead, so unhealthy habits didn’t matter that much. Anyways, he was ignoring the young blonde as well. Which was preferable in a way, the ram hybrid was annoying, a jerk and his breath smelled of cheap alcohol, so no real complaints there.
Surprisingly, even Mexican Dream, who normally was constantly talking about something or other was unnervingly quiet. Tommy had tried talking to him about things, asking about his life before the SMP, why he looked so similar to Big Q, etc., etc., but the man paid him little to no heed. It was almost like Tommy was invisible.
Although he couldn’t take that much offense from their silence, he was only there for around a month or so at a time. Besides, who’d want to talk to an annoying, childish brat like himself?
Being revived wasn’t much better though. Being revived meant he had to go back to the prison cell with Dream. Being revived meant the futile struggle of walking on eggshells to try and avoid the inevitable of being killed again. Being revived meant that the abuse, the gaslighting, the manipulation would all just start again.
Plus, GhostInnit had to die and contrary to popular belief that when your dead you feel no pain, Tommy was able to feel GhostInnit being killed. Now as one would probably image being killed hurt…it hurt a lot. Unsurprisingly, it had quickly gotten older than Philza.
This whole thing had gotten pretty old. Saying or doing something wrong and being to beat to death (sometimes with a potato and sometimes Dream’s fists) over it. Then being brought back to life a month or so later, only to have that same grinning face, those emerald green eyes, bright with sadistic enjoyment greeting him? It got old really quick. And although the blonde was quite aware of how much he deserved this, it didn’t stop it from getting old quick, which was kinda stupid. Dream was being nice by not killing him 24/7 or just leaving him dead and trapped in Limbo. Tommy really shouldn’t be complaining.
Yet here he was…complaining. Well, was it really complaining if Tommy was thinking about it instead of saying it? Complaining is the expression of dissatisfaction or annoyance about something, and Tommy wasn’t expressing his thoughts. At least, he didn’t think he was. Was he? No, he wasn’t making them known to anyone, which meant no expression. So that meant he wasn’t complaining, right? It shouldn’t be, aft-
“-mmy! Are you even listening to me?!”
Dream’s annoyed voice drew Tommy away from his thoughts. Startled, the teen looked, some of his, now white, hair falling into his eyes as he did so.
Had he really just let his thoughts wander again?! Why was he acting like such an idiot today?! First, he had overslept, then backtalked (several times) and now this?! It was like he was begging to be killed again.
“Uh, no-…no, my thoughts kinda, just wandered again, ‘m sorry...” Tommy muttered, quickly standing up. Dream didn’t like it when Tommy was being ‘lazy’ and just sitting in the cell for too long. The last thing Tommy needed was one more thing for Dream to be mad at him for.
“Again?” Dream asked, giving Tommy a slightly annoyed look. “I thought we were friends…friends listen to each other.”
Tommy moved the hair away from his face, glancing at Dream, who was standing beside him. “I know Dream an-and like I said, I’m really sorry I ju- “
“Saying sorry isn’t enough Tommy.” Dream said, wrapping an arm around Tommy’s shoulder, despite the teen’s hatred for any physical contact. He sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. “You keep saying sorry, over and over again but you never seem to learn. Well except for when you pay a visit to Limbo for a day or two, you always seem to behave much better right after I revive you.”
Tommy tensed up as he heard Dream say that. He was about to be killed again, wasn’t he? It certainly seemed that way. The blonde really didn’t want to be beat to death or drowned or strangled or anything like that. Although being beat to death (either with a potato or Dream’s fists) always hurt the most, so it would most likely be that. Then again, both men were both fairly weak, Tommy because Dream hardly shared any of his potatoes with him and Dream because he lived off raw potatoes, so it may not be that…
But no matter what Dream decided to do, it would not be a pleasant experience, that was for sure.
“I-…you don’t need to-…to kill me to get me to listen Dream…” Tommy said, hoping that maybe this once, Dream would be merciful. That the white-haired man would allow him to live, however as Tommy saw Dream smirk, the blonde knew he was done for.
“I’m pretty sure I do Tommy. It’s the only way I can seem to get you to listen…but you do understand that this is for your own good though, right? I would never kill you for no reason! I’m simply reminding you to listen to me, to your best friend, to the only person on this server who still cares about you.” Dream said as he wrapped his arm tighter around Tommy’s shoulder, ensuring that the boy wouldn’t be able to squirm away from him.
“I-I understand Dream…” Tommy muttered, feeling Dream’s grip tightening to the point where it was nearly painful. He knew better than to fight, Dream would always win, and the struggle, which had gotten weaker and weaker with each day that passed, would just result in him getting hurt all the more.
“Good.” Dream said, a (somewhat sadistic) grin now replacing his smirk, as he led his boy over to where the lava blocked the front of the cell.
Tommy’s heart dropped as he neared the lava, the heat emitting off of it being highly uncomfortable as it hit his skin. Dream wasn’t going to shove him into the lava…right? Yet any doubt that this wasn’t the way he would die today was wiped from his mind as Dream kept nudging the boy closer and closer to the lava. The closer Tommy got to the lava, the more he felt the all too familiar feeling of panic grow.
The teen tried to plant his feet, trying to stop Dream from pushing him any closer to the lava. However, this only served to annoy Dream, his small nudges becoming more and more forceful until Tommy was right up against the lava. He wasn’t in it yet, but if a flame decided to flick out it would most definitely burn him.
He stared at the lava, his breath picking up a considerable amount as the hot molten semifluid rock lazily poured down the front of the cell. Tommy could hear his heart pounding against his chest, so fast that he felt that it may just rip through the flesh and bone.
“Just remember Tommy, you deserve this. I wouldn't be forced to kill you if you just listened. Maybe next time I revive you, think about not being an insolent brat, m’kay?”
Before Tommy could even respond, Dream shoved the teen, with way more force than was necessary, into the lava.
Blinding, searing hot pain. It was all his mind could comprehend as he shifted in the lava, desperately trying to get out. Yet, it was far too late. The lava was already beginning to burn away his flesh. He was too far gone now. No one would help him. The teen closed his eyes, leaving him in darkness as he slowly felt his grasp on life slipping away…
Tommy wasn’t sure how long it had been until he finally realized that he wasn’t in extricating, white hot, burning pain anymore. He felt a small, cool breeze blow past him, a stark contrast to the burning hot lave he was in a moment before. This was certainly odd. If he was remembering right, Limbo didn’t have things like that. Or maybe it did, and the lava had just fried his brain as well.
Tommy opened his eyes and almost immediately after, wished he hadn’t. He was in a dark purple void and ever where he looked, eyes were staring at him. They didn’t look like proper eyes, more like the outline of eyes in a light purple and where all fixated on him. He turned around in a circle and sure enough, more eyes. Eyes just floating and staring at him.
“…what the actu- “
Before the teen even managed to finish his sentence, dozens upon dozens of voices flooded his mind. They weren’t quiet by any means, but rather loud, it was like they were all shouting at him. Yet despite the overwhelming volume, he could hardly make out what they were saying. He didn’t even think to take out his hearing aids, which would have probably stopped the voices.
“…not meant to be- “
“Child of- “
“…mistake- “
“What do we-…”
Despite the snippets of sentences he was able to pick up on, he failed to figure out what the actual Prime they were talking about. Was this what Techno dealt with on a regular basis?! It was awful- no it was something worse than awful.
Just when Tommy felt sure he would lose his hearing again, they stopped. As suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone. Just pure, uninterrupted silence once more. Tommy blinked, slightly confused. Why had the voices just stopped? It didn’t make sense.
Also why was he feeling completely exhausted all the sudden? He’d felt just fine a moment ago, but now the urge to just curl up on the-…on the invisible support structure of the void, was simply overwhelming.
Normally, he wouldn’t listen to what his mind was telling him. After all, who knew if he was safe here? What if this was all some trap? Something to lure him into a false sense of security, only to be pulled from whatever tranquility this was moments later? Yet, something told him he was safe here, that nothing would be able to hurt Tommy here.
So, he curled into a ball on the invisible support structure of the void, allowing his eyes to flutter close as the cold, yet comforting embrace of sleep soon enveloped him.
When Tommy finally awoke, he quickly scrambled to his feet. Tommy had no idea where he was. Well, he knew he was in a house, given the chests and furnaces and other house like stuff, but he didn’t know where where.
Tommy quickly checked his inventory for weapons or anything like that, then he remembered that he had been burned alive in lava…well this was great. He was alone in some weird house, with no weapons and no means to defend himself.
Although if this person had built their house out of what looked to be Warped Logs, they probably had weapons of some kind. Carefully, the teen made his way over to the nearest chest, looking around to see if anyone was there before he opened it.
The chest creaked, louder than a normal chest it seemed. Tommy tensed up, freezing. Had anyone heard that? He listened closely for a few moments and heard…nothing. Alright, it seemed that the person who owned this house was either deaf, an idiot who didn’t check weird creaking noises or just not home.
Then teen drew his attention away from his thoughts and started rummaging through the chest. It didn’t seem very organized and was filled with random stuff like…fish. Lots and lots of fish. Okay, that was extremely weird. Sighing, Tommy was about to close the chest when he noticed a glint of gold hidden beneath mass amounts of fish.
A sword maybe? Sure, golden swords couldn’t do much, but it would still be useful! Quickly, Tommy parted this fish around the glint revealing a few gapples. Although it wasn’t a weapon, the teen couldn’t help but feel a buzz of excitement.
He loved gapples, they gave him extra health, regeneration and they just tasted good overall. Probably his favorite food if he was being honest. He grabbed the gapples, there seemed to be around three, and stashed them away in his inventory for later. A part of his mind was telling him to put the gapples back, that he was stealing, that the owner of them would kill him when they found out, but he shoved that thought away.
Tommy genuinely didn’t remember the last time he had actually eaten something, and the gapples would help him stay alive longer. It would be fine. As the teen pushed himself up, he decided that the owner of the house probably wasn’t here at the moment. After all, Tommy hadn’t heard anyone sort of footsteps and clearly no one had heard him walking around, opening the chest, or rummaging around in said chest.
He was completely and utterly alone.
So, he decided to do what any reasonable person would do when alone in a random house, he began exploring. Tommy started to make a mental map of where everything was and paused to rummage through each and every chest he found, which did pay off as he found several more gapples and an iron sword.
Eventually though, he ended up back where he had been when he woke up. It seemed to be near the front door. The house seemed well built, better than anything he had lived in on Dream SMP and had a certain vibe to it. Like, the person who lived here was a good person, even if they did have a weird obsession with fish.
Honestly though, half the chests he checked were just filled with fish. Did this person have a weird obsession with fishing? Or were they just saving up food for a zombie apocalypse? Either way, the mass amounts of fish only severed to creep him out. Whatever, it didn’t matter. This person was slightly (very) weird, but they would never even know he was here! Tommy would find a separate room and just camp out there, only emerging when said person was gone. It was the perfect plan to stay invisible, no one would ever be able to find him!!
And at that exact moment, the door creaked open.