Champion ~ Book 1

Chapter 18

Dream was pushed into the armor room once more and he cursed under his breath at how rough the guards were. He turned and watched as they locked the door before sighing.

"Idiots," Dream muttered, turning around. He almost trampled the guy that was standing behind him and had to stop suddenly, gasping. Two wide amber eyes stared up at him before the green-clothed man leaped back with a yelp. Tubbo? Dream thought as Tubbo dropped a diamond ax he'd been holding. He quickly picked it up again and held it up shakily. Dream just stared at Tubbo for a while, not really sure what to do. The young man seemed pretty frightened. "Um..." He said after a moment, keeping an eye on Tubbo's ax and making his way to the armor that was meant for him. 

"S-stay back," Tubbo said, the diamond ax quivering in his grasp. Dream held his hands up to show he didn't want to hurt Tubbo and then took a diamond sword carefully from the weapon stand. Tubbo's eyes widened slightly and he stumbled backward, still holding the ax up in front of him.

"What are you even doing in here?" Dream asked after a moment. Tubbo hesitated, eyeing the diamond blade Dream held warily.

"I- I'm supposed to clean the weapons and stuff," He stammered, shifting slightly. "Please- please don't kill me,"

"I'm not going to hurt you," Dream assured him, glancing at the iron door that opened up to the arena. "To be fair, you attacked me first," Dream added. "So you can't blame me for almost killing you," Tubbo didn't say anything. "Why'd they send you to kill me?" Dream asked. "They know I'm a better fighter than you,"

"I- I dunno," Tubbo muttered. Dream wanted to ask where he and his friends had come from and why they were here but he heard cheering and realized the fight was about to start.

"On the left, we have Nightshade!" Dream heard MrBeast's voice echo through the stands and through the arena, causing the iron door to quiver slightly. "And on the right, Dream!" The iron door opened and Dream slowly made his way past Tubbo who still looked distrustful. It was particularly windy and Dream looked around, noticing that clouds covered the sun today. He headed out into the dusty battlefield with his sword in hand and sighed. There was a girl in black clothes and a black cape with a red inside. She also had a red thorny crown and Dream wondered where these people were getting their outfits. Maybe they actually just walk around like that and got captured with those clothes... I mean, I have this mask... Dream pushed the thought away. The woman was shorter than him, a lot shorter, and she didn't look particularly strong. Some wind blew her cape out behind her and she looked like a kid playing dress up. 

"Hi," Dream said. The woman nodded but said nothing and Dream twisted his blade slightly. Her leather armor was black with a single word, 'Nightshade,' painted in crimson. 

"Fight!" Dream had only just heard the signal for the fight to begin when something smacked him on the side, drawing a little blood. He gasped and spun around, trying to deflect another blow. His opponent was fast, she was dodging every time he swung at her and landing shallow blows all over him. Dream managed to block one particularly strong blow and fling Nightshade backward. She stumbled and at first Dream thought he could win when she twisted and got back onto her feet without a problem. 

Dream flinched backward as she struck the side of his head and gasped, feeling a bit dizzy. This was the first fight, besides fighting Technoblade, that he thought he might actually lose. All the same, he tried to fight his hardest even though this fight wasn't in his favor. He felt something slam into his chest and was flung to the ground, his sword skidding a few inches away from his hand. He tried to roll out of the way but before he could there was a foot on his chest, pinning him to the dusty earth. Dream gasped as the wind was knocked from his lungs and tried to struggle free. Before he could do anything, there was a sword pointed at his neck and he stopped fighting. 

Nightshade didn't say anything and she looked like in a matter of moments she'd move the blade just enough to end the fight. Dream took a deep breath and tried to struggle again when a heavy gust of wind blew from behind Nightshade and blew her cape over her shoulder. She moved her sword away and faltered as the red and black piece of clothing blocked her view. Dream didn't hesitate to use that to his advantage. He grabbed his opponent's ankle and yanked her to the side, causing her to stumble with a yelp and fall to the ground. Then he rolled and grabbed his own sword before bringing it down on her without hesitation, knowing if she got back up he'd probably lose the fight. 

Nightshade stopped struggling and fell still, the wind blowing her jet back hair across her face. If that wind hadn't made her falter, I'd be dead right now. Dream thought. That's insanely lucky... He took a few deep breaths and dropped his sword beside Nightshade's body and her own sword before heading shakily back to the iron door that he had come out of. He noticed after a moment Tubbo was still there, trying to open the door that led back inside. He stopped when he saw Dream and stiffened. 

"They locked me out," Tubbo explained nervously, eyeing the room for any other possible escape. There was only one door and Dream headed toward Tubbo. Tubbo stepped away quickly as Dream neared the door and watched as he tried to open it.

"Hey!" Dream yelled, knocking roughly on the door. He saw Tubbo flinch slightly and glanced at him before banging on the door a few more times. After a moment Tommy appeared and opened it once he saw Tubbo. 

"If you even touched him I'll-" Tommy started. Dream rolled his eyes and pushed Tommy out of the doorway, causing him to stumble and yelp with surprise. "You are so rude," He growled. Tubbo hurried toward Tommy and the two walked away, leaving Dream alone in the hallway. He sighed and looked around before heading to the training room. He didn't want to go back to his cell just yet, it was so dark and lonely in there. 

He opened the doors and spotted Wilbur leaning against the far wall and watching a group of guys fill some dummies full of arrows. He looked up when Dream came in but didn't say anything. Dream noticed one person with dual wooden swords, swinging them at a dummy and causing pieces of foam to fly down around the room. Dream grabbed an ax and came up beside him.

"Hey," He said when Technoblade looked up. "Whatcha doing?"

"Destroying a dummy," Techno said, swinging his blades once more and knocking the demolished dummy over. "Well, dummies," He added as Dream noticed the pieces of foam body parts littering the ground. 

"What did they do with Phil?" Dream asked hesitantly. Techno sighed and shrugged, his blue eyes glazing over with worry. "Do you think they killed him?"

"They wouldn't do that," Techno said grimly. "They'll likely force him to fight me and then make that Tubbo guy come in," He sighed. "I'm not as nice as you, that kid's dead if he comes near Phil," Dream sighed and swung at a dummy, knocking it over and leaving a long gash down its chest. Dream glanced at Wilbur who was watching them intently.

"Where did those guys come from," He asked quietly. "Tommy, Tubbo, and Wilbur," He clarified as Techno looked around. His eyes landed on Wilbur and he shrugged.

"They just showed up and suddenly became friends with MrBeast," He said. "Not really sure." Dream stole another glance at Wilbur before looking back at Techno. "It's weird they're suddenly such good friends... it took the last three two or so years to go from guards to friends," Techno added, digging his dual blades into another dummy and knocking it aside. Dream set down his ax and sat down on a bench, he didn't really feel like killing right now. Even foam dummies. Techno yanked his blades out of the dummy and set them down as well, sitting beside Dream. Weird. Dream thought. Something isn't right...