Switcheroo, Who? - A Dream SMP Fanfiction

Ch. 24: .....Just.....

DSMP!Dream POV:

Pounding.

Dream's heart was pounding.

Scott had just officially started the game. The buzz of overhead cameras filled his ears, his muscles tensing themselves for an oncoming release. The eyes of invisible billions bored into Dream, the gazes of his five hunters stronger still as they waited to strike.

Waited to kill.

The silence was weighing heavy on his chest. Dream's sneakers ground themselves into the dirt and grass, his peripheral vision working overtime. Surveying each person was helping him calculate the likelihood of their next moves, and there was already a possible opening in their restrictive circle. He just wanted to be sure of everything before acting on his hunch and trying to escape the hunters./p>

Dream could feel George's stare drilling a hole into the back of his head, but when he moved to match his gaze, a plaintive expression seemed to overtake whatever was there before. The brunette even broke Dream's attempted eye contact by pulling his goggles over his face. The quiet message was clear, the lowering George's famous shades sending one lone signal: ''You're on your own now.''

He can't help you here.

Dream clenched his teeth and fought against showing any sort of reaction. That was fine. That was fine. This was all fine. He knew this would happen. He knew George would do this. Dream could still succeed here, alone. He always had.

The masked man's eyes darted over to Antfrost a second later. The cat's sharp claws protruded from his paws, his tail twitching with excitement. Dream hadn't really fought Antfrost much before now, as the two had been very cordial in prior interactions in another life, and he had no idea what to expect from the hybrid now. A simple cat hardly seemed like a major threat, however.

Dream momentarily looked at Sam before forcing himself to move on. His mouth had gone dry merely at the thought of ever having to face off against the alternate version of his captor. It didn't matter that this Sam might have looked nervous; a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth showed that he was not too scared of what might come next. Dream couldn't bear to look at Sam without feeling the urge to lunge at his throat and rip it out. Or maybe Dream just felt like throwing up.

He'd likely lose this game in an instant if he performed either option.

The next person Dream saw was no better than the last. A pang in his heart was coupled by a forming lump in his throat. Sapnap cracked his knuckles, a mischievous smile showing all of his teeth. The familiarity made Dream's nausea so much worse. Sapnap was going to kill him. He was going to kill Dream. He promised he would.

I don't want this. I don't want this.

Some continuous movement in the corner of his eye caught Dream's attention then. A small part of him was grateful for the excuse to tear his eyes away from his former best friend, focusing instead on the alternate version of Bad, who was switching his weight from foot to foot in an eager dance. Bad's antsiness here was actually a key aspect of Dream's possible breakaway from the group. Bad probably intended his dance to appear taunting, but it left too much of an opening for Dream to not consider rushing him.

It was still unnerving how normal this version of Bad looked. The changed appearance at least helped Dream feel like Bad was less of a threat than the others. An average guy who was 5 feet smaller than normal wasn't as daunting as he could've been. In fact, this guy looked so unassuming and unfortunately sweet that Dream almost felt bad for having to treat him like a lethal competitor.