Worst Case Scenario

Bound Together (Cold Metal)

---That night---

Ranboo had gone back to his home in the arctic after helping Tubbo take down the outpost all day. Questions ran through his head at record pace as he sat in his bed, staring out his window, not seeing out into the night.

'Why did Tubbo reactivate the nukes? What danger is there? Why didn't he tell me? Did he tell me and I just didn't write it down? Did he tell me not to write it down? Why would he do that? Does he not trust me? Does he have a reason to?'

The voice in his head cut through their thoughts. "Will you shut up?" Ranboo was startled by the voice, so clearly in his head but as crisp as if they were right next to him. "You know why Tubbo doesn't trust you. No one would if they knew what you did."

"What did I do?" The enderman hybrid muttered out, getting this strong sense of deja vu.

"You helped me."

"What? N-no, I didn't" Ranboo's eyes finally focused as he turned his head. He had searched the room to see if anyone was there, and indeed there was.

Dream stood in the very corner of his room, his wrists scarred from the handcuffs that clattered to the ground, metal against tile. He was in the prison uniform, tears and holes in the fabric. Underneath lay more healing scars, ones caused by something that was not a simple pair of handcuffs. His porcelain mask was broken in places, one of his vivid green eyes glowing in the dark. His messy dirty blonde hair lay against his shoulders, strands thrown about like it was a crow's nest. A chunk of white hair stuck out like a sore thumb.

Ranboo stood up quickly, startled. Fear gripped his heart but he pushed it down, knowing what would happen if it got out of control. Dream started off with a slight frown that slowly twisted into a big grin. It was genuine and terrifying.

"You helped me, Ranboo. And I know, like a good friend, if you've helped me before, you'll help me again." The prisoner hummed as he kicked the pair of handcuffs over to the enderman hybrid.

"I'm not going to help you escape. You don't have control over me." Ranboo said in a hushed voice as he picked up the handcuffs.

"Oh, don't I?" Dream murmured. One end of the handcuffs snapped shut around Ranboo's wrist. It dug into his black skin painfully. The other end closed around Dream's wrist. The hybrid snapped his head up to be met by a green eye and painted smile staring him down.

Ranboo immediately started trying to pull away, the metal digging into his skin even more. He started bleeding green as the prisoner started bleeding red. Dream didn't say anything, only stared and smiled, the two things Ranboo hated.

Behind them, he could hear a guitar start to be strummed. The enderman hybrid whipped his head around to stare out the glass. Wilbur was on the balcony, sat on the wooden railings, playing his guitar. It was an unnerving song, one Ranboo hadn't heard before.

"You're going to help me escape this god damned prison, even if you'll sacrifice your life for me." Dream whispered.

Ranboo turned back to face Dream. Looking down at the handcuffs that attached the two together, their blood ran down to the middle to meet the other, creating black ooze. "No I won't" Ranboo said back in hopes of deterring the prisoner.

"You don't have a choice."

That was the last thing Ranboo heard before slipping into enderwalk, the sheer terror finally taking over. Dream had control again, right when Ranboo thought he had broken free of the strings. He was still a puppet, eyes glowing purple.

When Ranboo came to, it was late morning, the sun just about to rise high in the sky. They were in the snowy forest right outside the arctic, laying down in the cold. They didn't know where he was specifically, but he could feel the comforting energy of the enchanted woods.