That one time I woke up in prison

Chapter 14

"Sorry to just spring this on you, Puffy," the creeper hybrid apologised, "have you ever heard of Dreamons?"

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She waited in the living room, feeling her patience slip away as the clock ticked by. She allowed her mind to wander once again. How long? Just how long had she been blissfully unaware of her son's suffering? How had she just passed up the strange mask he'd found one day and allowed him to wear it? How hadn't she noticed the duckling she'd raised slowly being overwritten by a Dreamon?

She had failed as a parent. She'd failed him, so so badly. There was so much she could've done; if only she'd noticed, she could've saved the server so much pain - saved her duckling so much pain. What could she ever do to make it up to him?

Eventually, the sheep perked up as footsteps padded down the hallway. She let her eyes rake over the boy, who'd spent all morning cleaning up - she had insisted he'd feel a lot better once he did.

His skin was freshly washed of all grime and dirt, light freckles dotting the space between scars. He'd brushed out his long hair, dirty blonde and shiny in a low ponytail. His torn prison jumpsuit had been abandoned for a black football undershirt, with a lime green crop top jumper over it, long sleeves ending in black fingerless gloves. One of his fingers was only a nub, and bandaged accordingly. He wore dark jeans, with fluro green stripes down the side, and dark green sneakers with white accents.

His mint eyes were young and relieved, content to finally be getting somewhere with taking back his life. It was a comfort for the sheep. There was a long way to go, but they had a start. They had a start and that was good enough. Apologies would be the first step.

Silently, wearing a bleary smile, the unmasked boy padded over from the doorway, pausing just in front of her. His smile dropped as he took in a deep breath. "Pa," he waited for that slight nod of encouragement, telling him she was open to hearing, "I'm really sorry for everything that's happened, for everything I did. I'm sorry for everything I put you through, and for everyone I hurt."

There it was. That's what she had been waiting for. Her face split with a soft smile, eyes shining. She simply opened her arms, and without hesitation, he stepped right into her, being wrapped in a tight embrace instantly. "My sweet duckling, I love you so much." She whispered on a soft exhale, "I'm sorry for failing you before, but I swear I'll make it up to you." He simply hugged her tighter.

Eventually, she pulled back, looking down at him as he wiped his eyes. With a small smile, she planted a gentle kiss on her son's forehead, "I know you're scared; this isn't a fair situation, but I know you're prepared to work hard to fix it. I'm so proud of you already." She ran a hand through his long hair carefully, as it used to help when he was younger.

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He trekked through the snow, being helped along by Puffy and Sam, with Foolish joking along next to him. After everything he'd heard about the time he was MIA, he knew exactly who one of the biggest people that he needed to apologise to were. Actually, the trio that he needed to apologise to the most.

Eventually, they entered the gates of Snowchester. They'd messaged Tubbo ahead of time multiple times, just to be sure it was okay with him, Tommy, and Ranboo, receiving the green light each time. Dream knocked on the door hesitantly, the others standing closely behind him.

...

A light knock on the door tore him from his nap. What bitch decided to come by on a lazy day? For fuck's sake, didn't they know not to bother them? He dragged himself out of bed and carefully slipped away from the other two, who were still snoozing away without a care. The golden haired boy stalked to the door blearily, throwing it open to begin tiredly cussing out whoever it was.

And then the words stuck in his throat, his heart turning to ice. It took him a second to recognise the face staring back at him, but when he did, the breath fled from his lungs. It was Dream. Once again, he thought he'd closed the book, only to find the masked lunatic right there to wiggle his way back into his life.

The prisoner in question wasn't wearing his trademark mask, but what did that matter? He stepped back, quickly scowling through his terror. Then a friendly voice piped up beside the intruder, the sheep quickly stepping in to separate Dream from the boy.

"Tommy, Tommy look at me, okay?" She looked straight into his eyes, keeping his attention on her while careful not to touch him, "He can't hurt you, we won't let him. Can I touch you?" Hesitating, the boy finally nodded, and she carefully wrapped him in a hug.

After a few moments, footsteps raided the hallway behind them, Tubbo eventually poking his head out to spot the cause of the commotion. Realisation struck as he took in the scene, "Ah fuck. I totally forgot to tell Tommy, didn't I?"

"Tubbo!" The prison warden exclaimed in exasperation, sighing in irritation. Dream stood behind with Foolish, awkwardly shitting his weight between legs as Puffy comforted the golden haired boy. "What part of 'make sure the others are also okay with Dream coming by' did you not understand?"

He smiled sheepishly, hurrying over to Tommy to help calm him. He entwined their fingers, using his thumb to rub circles on his best friend's palm.

...

"So, you're saying this evil bitch isn't actually evil, he got possessed?" He threw an accusatory finger in the ex-prisoner's direction, even as he directed his gaze at the sheep. "That sounds like a load of shit, you realise that, yeah?"

Ranboo and Tubbo looked at each other, before the enderman hybrid sighed, deciding to be the one to say it, "They're not lying. I got possessed too for a bit." Upon the widening of the golden haired boy's eyes, they added, "Did Tubbo ever tell you about the Dreamon Hunters? Yeah, that."

"But didn't Tubbo and Fundy get rid of that Dreamon or whatever?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"It was attached to the mask, not him. They found that out only a bit ago, but uh, while they were studying the mask, I kind of got left alone with it for a minute and oopsies."

"Oh," the golden haired boy let his eyes widen, "Well the mask's locked away somewhere, right? There's no risk of anything like this happening again?"

"Of course," the warden assured, "never again."

Silence settled, until finally the ex-prisoner spoke up, "So, Tommy..." The golden haired boy flinched but did face him, hesitantly. "I think it's about time I apologise." He waited for the stone-cold boy to give a sign that he was open to hearing, but it didn't come, so he added, "You don't have to forgive me anytime soon, it just needs to be said."

Eventually the golden haired boy gave in, but kept his arms crossed. "Fine, go ahead."

The ex-prisoner took in a deep breath, before facing him. "Tommy, I've been told of the things I did to you. I read 'my' own recount of everything as well, and I'm sure there were so many other things I did that are lost to me currently. I want to make it up to you, even though I know that's probably impossible. However I'm still willing to do my best to try, and I'll go at whatever pace you want."

The child kept his gaze lowered, cogs turning at a thousand miles per second. Finally, he simply gave a guarded response, "Okay." And that was it, which Dream decided was fair enough.

He was sure to apologise to both Tubbo and Ranboo too, before moving on to the next apologies. There were a lot of apologies to offer, with reactions ranging from a simple hug to screaming and crying at the ex-prisoner - oh, and a murder attempt or two upon the first sightings. He couldn't say he was surprised.

There was so much more to do, it was hard to make a proper list. He had to manage it, though, he owed that much to everyone.

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Las Nevadas was quiet today. He'd never liked the silence, at least not this type of silence.

As much as he hated to admit it, he was lonely. Only one visitor had come by lately, and he hadn't even said a word - he'd just run off to look around without Quackity's permission. He wasn't even welcome here and Q had made it known.

He wasn't quite sure when the boy had left; Q hadn't seen the trespasser leave the casino, but he hadn't exactly been looking out for him either. He hadn't been happy with the intruder visiting, but maybe it had been better than nothing. Now he just wished there was someone coming by, even if it was someone he hated.

As if on cue, he spotted a couple of familiar faces breaching the hill to enter Las Nevadas. He squinted, trying to make out their identities. A creeper hybrid, an anthropomorphic fox, a boy wearing a white bandana, and a scarred boy decked with green. Instantly, his breath hitched.

Why the fuck were Sam and Fundy with them ? And how was everyone so fucking calm when Dream was out of prison ? Netherite axe in hand, he stalked over to intercept them, blocking their path into his nation- city- whatever. "What the fuck is going on here?"

No one spoke for a second, words quickly exchanged through glances, before the warden stepped forward. "Quackity, a couple of important things happened recently - including finding Dream."

"Yeah, I can see that," the beanie-wearing boy scowled, ignoring the others to force the ex-prisoner backwards with his axe, swinging it dangerously close to the boy. Sapnap stepped between them, intervening before the situation escalated. "Oh, fuck off, Sap! Get the hell out of my way."

"Q, chill out and we'll explain," the bandana-wearing boy pleaded as the casino worker turned the axe on him.

The warden quickly pushed down the axe with his own netherite blade, "No one else is going to die on my watch, not this time."

The beanie-wearing boy paused for a moment, raising a skeptical eyebrow, "No one else ? Who's dead then, huh?" As soon as the words left his mouth, all eyes diverted to the floor. He felt his shoulders tense with anxiety as the silence thickened. He repeated himself, more firmly this time. "Who's dead?"

Eventually, Sapnap stepped forward, resting his hand on his ex's arm as he muttered, "Let's take a walk, Q." Hesitating a moment, eventually the two stepped aside together, Sap guiding the boy with his hand until Q pulled away, though they kept walking. "So..."

"So?" The infliction was half questioning, half suspicion. What was Sap playing at?

"I'm not sure how to say this," he admitted, biting his lip harshly, "what do you know about Dreamons?"

He thought back to what Fundy had told him, "Not much. I know they can possess people - also there was one latched to Dream's mask."

Sapnap nodded in confirmation, "So, recently, Ranboo got their hands on the mask by accident, and the Dreamon took the opportunity to latch onto them." He paused for a minute, before Q gestured for him to continue. "With the Dreamon's lead, Ranboo ended up in Dream's old vault with Dream and Karl."

"Okay?" The beanie-wearing boy raised an eyebrow, "So Dream beat Ranboo in PVP and they lost a life? Big deal."

After a few moments of silence so thick it could be cut with a sword, the bandana-wearing boy sighed, "No, Q. Dream ended up fighting the Dreamon - apparently it got itself a physical form - which left Karl to fight Ranboo..." Sap looked back up at his ex fiance with a watery smile, "We both know how horrible Karl is in a fight."

He stared back with wide eyes. He'd heard that incorrectly, right? Please tell him he'd heard incorrectly. Please please please- "When-" he struggled to take in a breath, "When did this happen?"

"About a week ago."

And then it clicked. The beanie-wearing boy felt the rage shift into gear behind his eyes, his heart aching with betrayal. "You're just a lying son of a bitch, aren't you?" He managed a humouring laugh, clapping in facetious delight. "This is all just some game to you - screwing with me like that! I know exactly what you're playing at, and I'm not gonna fall for that shit, Sap."

The bandana-wearing boy stepped back, his jaw slack and his eyes wide with concern. Was Q really that far in denial? Didn't Q trust him? "Quackity, I'm telling the truth..."

"Bullshit!" He snapped back, shoving an accusatory finger in the boy's face as he scowled, "And you know how I know that?" He didn't give time for a response, he simply spat out, " Because he visited Las Nevadas two days ago! "