Chapter Text
Sam had spent months planning and constructing Pandora's Vault. Every piece of it tested beforehand, a team of guards hired- he made constructing and guarding an inescapable prison his utmost priority. Meticulously written contracts, passwords, potions, platforms, redstone doors, a million different precautions had been taken to ensure that whoever was imprisoned would stay imprisoned regardless of what happened.
Which is why nobody expected the prison break sirens to suddenly reverberate through the streets one evening.
Tubbo had been telling a bedtime story to Michael when it happened. He had just reached an exciting point, where the sunglasses-wearing monarch betrayed their friends in return for a crown (perhaps not the wisest choice of story considering it was being told to a toddler, but Michael just giggled at Tubbo's colorful descriptions of the violence), when the sirens interrupted them and Tubbo grew very still.
Michael tugged at Tubbo's green shirt sleeve. "Are you okay, Daddy? What are those noises?"
The corners of Tubbo's mouth tugged down. "Sorry Michael, the end of the story is going to have to wait." He stood from his spot on Michael's bed and went to turn the bedside lamp off. "Daddy needs to go find your papa, okay? Try to get some sleep."
Tears clouded Michael's vision. "B-but where are you going?"
Tubbo turned to him and tried to give him his most reassuring smile. "Not far! I'll be back before you know it, big man." He lifted a hand to Michael's and used his thumb to wipe away the tiny tears. "Promise."
Michael sniffled and gripped his stuffed bee tightly. "Okay daddy."
Tubbo crossed the room to the trapdoor. He opened it and climbed down, giving Michael a final wave before shutting the hatch above his head. He'd remember that final image of Michael snuggled in his bed, looking at him innocently with his big, brown eyes.
Tubbo dropped to the floor and grabbed his communicator from his crafting table. Ranboo had been spending more nights at his home in the Arctic Empire lately than with him and Michael in Snowchester, but fortunately he was nearby enough that he could meet him at the prison. He shot him a message asking him to do so, then added that Michael was safe.
He paced the length of the room but with the sirens still wailing outside, it only made him more anxious. The more time he wasted, the more time Dream had to get away for good. Decidedly, he came to a halt and tugged on his wooly coat from the hook by the window. He opened the door to the brisk wind, took a deep breath, tugged his hood over his hair and horns. Without a backward glance, he stepped out into the snow.
His communicator dinged from his pocket not five paces from the steps of his home. A direct message from Tommy- apparently him and a few others found Dream before he could get out of range of Pandora's Vault. Tubbo shoved the device back into his coat and broke into a run.
The ocean between Snowchester and the Greater SMP was halfway frozen so he very well couldn't cross it, but thankfully the fast travel bridge him and Ranboo had built together was an option. He grabbed his trident from the strap on his back and used it to move swiftly across the bridge without getting a drop of water on him. He'd have to applaud himself later for thinking of building such a convenient thing.
The land on the other side of the bridge was significantly warmer. The Greater SMP had fully bloomed into spring, so everything was green and colorful flowers dotted every corner. A few bees buzzed near a hive in a nearby tree, and Tubbo would have stopped to say hi to them if it weren't for the urgent matter at hand.
He ran past the Dreamon camp he had created with Fundy and Sapnap months ago and as he got closer to the prison entrance, he saw a crowd of people standing in front of it. And they were all staring at... something? Tubbo followed their gazes and his own eyes widened in surprise. A giant hole had been blown in the front of Pandora's Vault, right at the entrance of the so-called perfect prison. He couldn't imagine how it happened, hell he had heard from Tommy all about how impossible it was to break out. No way could this have been done without any help.
He approached the spot where everyone stood together, staring at the gaping hole and whispering nervously amongst themselves. Skeppy, Hbomb, Purpled, Puffy, Eret, Foolish, Niki, Hannah, Quackity, Karl, Sapnap, even George- almost the entire server had gathered, and all of them wore armor and had their weapons with them. They were ready for confrontation.
Tommy was at the front with Sam, and they seemed to be waiting for something. Or someone.
Tubbo checked his communicator again for any word from Ranboo. He should've been here by now, what was the holdup? He scanned the crowd but couldn't see any sign of his husband's tall form.
At that moment, Tommy spotted Tubbo and gestured for him to join them.
"Hey, man. What is everyone standing around for? Where's Dream?"
"Still inside. Sam has Bad and Ant patrolling the other parts of the outside but there's been no sign of him." Tommy crossed his arms in frustration.
"And what about the hole? When did that happen?"
"A few minutes ago. It's what triggered the sirens."
Tubbo frowned. "What could break through the prison walls, though? You'd need one hell of an explosive to do that much damage." Right as he said it, he cringed. "Ah. A nuke..."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "That's what doesn't make sense though. Don't you only have two nukes left? And aren't they both safely stored in Snowchester under strict key card access?"
Tubbo bit his lip. "Yeah, about that. Uh-"
Sam swore. "Don't tell me someone managed to steal one or I swear to god, Tubbo."
Tommy put a hand on Tubbo's shoulder. "Sam, stop. There's no use arguing now. Don't be a prick." Sam scowled but said nothing.
"Jack and I had been keeping it a secret until we found the perpetrator, but we never did. We had only left the room for a moment... whoever did it was impossibly quick." Tubbo avoided Sam's eyes.
Tommy brought a hand to his chin to think for a few moments. "Well, the green bastard definitely has someone working with him. Question is, who?"
The three of them fell silent.
Tubbo checked his communicator again, but either Ranboo didn't have it on him or something was wrong. "Hey, have either of you guys heard from-"
But Tubbo didn't get to finish, because at that moment a familiar masked figure emerged from the hole. An upset went through the crowd.
Prison had taken a toll on him, that much could be said for certain. His greasy hair was long and scraggly, tied back in a messy ponytail, and his orange jumpsuit was bloodstained and burned in some areas. Tubbo didn't even want to know what the other stains were. His mask was cracked all over, enough to show one of his eyes. His emerald gaze pierced the crowd, and he nearly appeared to be amused. He held his axe, Nightmare, in his hands. It glinted dangerously in the moonlight. Overall... he was back, and worse than ever.
Dream took a few steps forward, and Tubbo took an automatic step back. Tommy and Sam remained in place before everyone. An unsteady silence settled.
Tommy was the first to speak. "Dream. You're not getting away this time."
Dream just laughed. "Okay, Tommy. Whatever you say."
"Oh you fu-!" Sam put an arm firmly in front of Tommy, blocking him from moving any closer to the masked menace.
"Stop provoking him, Dream. You know exactly what you're doing."
Dream cocked his head and regarded him curiously. "Do I?"
"Oi dickhead," Tommy butted in, "whatever you're about to try, forget it. You're surrounded. It's you versus us, and we won't be tricked by you again."
Dream placed the top of the blade end of Nightmare in the grass, causing Tommy to flinch, and cradled his head on the end of the handle. "Tell me, Tommy, how can you catch me when you can't even catch a traitor from right beneath your nose?"
"What does Eret have to do with any of this?" Tommy growled.
"Pfft, Tommy. I'm not talking about Eret."
"Then who the hell-?"
Another figure emerged from the shadows. Broad-shouldered, braided rosy hair, regal cape and crown, newly sharpened blade in hand. Technoblade.
"So you finally called in that favor, you son of a bitch." Quackity chuckled darkly. "How goddamn predictable."
"A deal is a deal, Quackity. I thought you understood that."
Quackity barked out a laugh. "You're crazy if you think I understand anything coming from someone standing with Dream."
"Quackity, you led an army and hunted me down. You hurt Phil. I don't owe you anythin'."
"That makes two of us." Quackity glared daggers at the blood god, who remained silent.
"Well, I can't say I didn't expect this," a voice interjected coldly. Sapnap made his way to the front of the crowd, not taking his eyes off of Dream for a moment. "Dream and Technoblade, working together yet again. He may as well be your best friend now."
Dream shrugged nonchalantly. "Not really. He's just backup. But you're right, Sapnap, I do have a new best friend."
Sapnap looked puzzled, but then a third figure stepped out of the darkness. The crowd drew in a collective breath.
Tommy's voice was low when he spoke. "Son of a bitch."
Tubbo's heart thudded in his chest. No. Not him. Anyone but him. He closed his eyes, opened them. Did it again. But no matter how many times he did it, there his husband stood. Right next to Dream, undeniably. Staring out at the horizon with violet eyes.
After all he'd been through, after all of the hurt and the lies and the tricks, he thought he'd had one thing in his life he could call real. And now? One word ran through his mind over and over. Traitor. Traitor. TRAITOR.
Dream was talking about something, but Tubbo didn't hear any of it. He tried to find the words to speak, to accuse, to yell something in the hopes that he'd get through to him, but what came out was stripped back, raw. "How could you do this? How could you tear our family apart?" Tears streamed down his face.
Ranboo was unfazed. He just continued to stare ahead, face a blank slate. It was as if he were in a trance. Dream had fallen silent at Tubbo's desperate shout. Then Ranboo's eyes met Tubbo's own, finally, and Tubbo thought he'd snap out of it. Hoped he'd reveal it was all a joke, then join the rest of them. But he just opened his mouth and spoke something in Ender. A short phrase, nothing more or less.
A while back, Ranboo had spent a few days teaching Tubbo how to speak Ender so they'd be able to use it and only they'd understand what the other person said. Like a secret language, he'd excitedly told him. Tubbo wasn't very good at it, had never been much of a language person, so they dropped it. But this brief sentence, at least, Tubbo understood.
Tubbo froze, and Tommy turned to look at him. "What did he say, Tubbo?"
Tubbo shook his head. He couldn't say it. He couldn't speak it into existence.
"Tubbo. Tell us what he said." Tommy's voice was firm.
"H-he-" Tubbo stopped and took a breath. He forced the words out. "He said, "Who are you?""