Chapter Text
“Let me get this straight…” Eret sighed as she put down her glasses, “….the toons attacked Hbomb. Also, it was to the point that he decided to take a weeklong sabbatical because he was afraid that if he were to tell any of us or Dream, we wouldn’t believe him?”
“Uhhh…” Aimsey looked away, “Yeah.”
“Pretty much.” Boomer said.
Eret leaned back against the chair and just sat there for a few seconds. The small group stood there awkwardly for a second before they walked up to the ruler.
“Eret, I know this is tough.” Tina said gently, “But, this proves that they are dangerous. If we don’t stop them, then they could hurt more people. I mean…. Imagine what they could do if you guys rejected their offer to stay in their cursed town!”
Eryn nodded frantically, “Yeah! We know that! What if they try to kill you!”
“ I don’t think they would…” Eret said thoughtfully.
“What?!” The half-demon gasped.
“Uh Eret, did you miss the part about them nearly killing Hbomb!?” Boomer demanded.
“Do you want us to get Ponk, see what they have to say about Hbomb’s wounds?” Eryn offered.
“No no, I don’t mean like that. I mean… I don’t think that they would react that way…. I think that, at least with us, they would be a bit more subtle.” The ruler replied, trying to keep her hands steady.
Eryn laughs at this, “Them? Subtle?”
“They managed to keep themselves relatively sane around us.” Eret points out, her eyes glowed intensely behind her glasses. “And even at worst, they always come across as somewhat reasonable…..”
Charlie hummed, “Eret does have a point… they were reasonable at times. Even with their eccentricity. How long did it take for any of us to realize how dangerous they are?”
“Oh, I don’t know. When they turned into giant eldritch monsters? That certainly clued me in.” Boomer deadpanned.
“Or when they kidnapped a bunch of people just to help them fight against the nightmares.” Aimsey added, “Or, maybe, the whole thing with ink! I get it. She's a goddess, or whatever. But, it was a major red flag.”
“So… what should we do now?” Eryn asked, “We can’t tell our friends without them getting suspicious, and considering what happened to Hbomb…. Fighting them would almost guarantee our deaths. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t feel like being eaten by a giant monster rabbit.”
Eret hummed, drumming her fingers against the desk. “Maybe we should report it to Dream, just in case. The rascals are going home soon.”
“That might be smart.” Aimsey agreed. “Might also want to warn the admin about them in case they show up at MCC or something.”
“Would it even be-” Eret paused, “You know what? It wouldn’t be out of character for them to do something that stupid. Yes, warn them. I’m gonna go see the others.”
Then, the ex-traitor walks away, she can already hear the others running to their communicators and other devices to send a message to at least one of the admins. She just merely focuses on taking out her ender pearl and throwing it across the field outside her castle, allowing her to teleport towards the general direction of the hotel. It takes her a few minutes, but she manages to arrive at the front door, and already she hears the sound of laughter and chatter.
“Man, poor girl couldn’t catch a break… imagine going through all of that.”
“Well it’s her fault for being a dumbass. She’s like oh a little rabbit! I should follow it into this hole! She’s lucky that it wasn’t a trap!”
“Well, Alice is only twelve years old. She’s like a year younger than Toby.”
“A kid who is dumber than Toby? I thought that was impossible.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“Wait, when does she visit the town?”
“I think she remembers it being 1950?”
“That would make her about eighty years old today. She would’ve been practically ancient!”
Eret rolled her eyes, not even taking a moment to listen to the response before knocking at the door. There was a brief shuffle before Sam Nook opened the door.
“HELLO! MX. ERET! CAN I HELP YOU?” The robot asked cheerfully.
“Yes, I’m looking for Dream, have you seen him?” The queen inquired gently.
“YES, HE’S TALKING TO PHIL AND CALLAHAN RIGHT NOW! DO YOU WANT TO COME IN?”
“Please.”
The robot stepped aside, allowing them to come in. When they entered the room, they couldn’t help but be surprised to see most of the servers surrounding a small laptop with the rascals in front. Eret frowned a little.
“Did I… Did I miss an invitation?” Eret asked.
“Oh Eret!” Niki blushed as she looked at the others, “Did anyone send them a message?”
“I thought you did.” Eret answered, looking a little puzzled.
“I did. I mentioned that they should come over to keep on the rascals.”
“You did?” Eret pulled out their communicator, pulling up their messages. They were correct about the message. Unfortunately, it was sent during their talk with Aimsey and others.
“Hm.” The ruler then mused softly.
“It's okay!” Toby quickly said, “You only missed the first thirty minutes. You can watch the rest with us and then we can put on a movie of your choice..”
As much as she wanted to join, Eret had to decline. “Actually, I need to talk to Dream. It’s rather important.”
Puffy got out of her seat, “I believe he’s in the back. I can take you to him.”
“It’s fine, just point me in the right direction. I’d rather this conversation be private.” The queen explained concisely.
The pirate king pointed to the right of the hotel. The ruler gave her a quiet nod, and she walked down the hallway. She looked back at the others who were watching her walk away with an odd look on their faces. If she was going to guess, it was likely that they wanted her to join the party. Despite her heart aching a little, she knew that she had to focus on the task at hand. She could join them once she finishes talking to Dream.
Dream and Phil were in one of the living quarters of the hotel. The admin was showing the older man a small leather book. Eret noted that the book looked a bit wrinkly, as if it had been in water for a while. Then, she shook her head to stay focused and coughed to get their attention.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to Dream.”
Phil and Dream looked up with a start.
“Oh, sure Eret, what’s up?” Dream asked, though Phil made no move to leave.
The ruler took a big breath, “Hbomb has been attacked by the toons.” Eret explained in a serious tone.
Dream sat there for a moment, his green eye staring at the ruler, for what felt like an eternity before the admin let out one giant “WHAT?!”
“Where the hell did you hear that, mate?” Phil asked, raising an eyebrow.
Eret let out a small breath before continuing. “Aimsey. From what I was told Hbomb was asked to go to ToonTown briefly, in order to pick up more admin journals that they found, only to be ambushed. I know Ponk stopped by to treat his wounds, If you want further clarification, I’d suggest we call them.”
“Give us the report.” Dream growled, “I want to see how many bones I need to break.”
“I only know what Aimsey told me.” Eret clarified. “Hbomb was hesitant to tell anyone due to believing no one would believe him.”
Phil was about to open his mouth to argue, but he stopped himself, considering how everyone reacted at even the idea that the Toons are a cult. He couldn’t say that Hbomb doesn’t have a reason to believe that. “Why did they attack him?…I know that he upset them, but to the point of killing him?”
“I’m not sure,” Eret said. “Aimsey didn’t mention, and neither did Hbomb in his messages.”
Dream took a deep breath and got up “Well… the rascals need to get home anyway…. I’ll ask them myself.”
“Just don’t get yourself killed.” Eret requested, looking worried.
Before the two older men could stop him, Dream stormed out of the room and out towards where everyone was watching the movie. It took him all of his strength to not break the laptop as he slammed the lid down, stopping their little movie.
“Hey!” Tommy cried out. “It was getting good!!”
Dream spared zero sympathy. “It’s time for them to go home. We need to prepare for…. You know what.”
“What’s got you in such a bad mood?” Scarlett asked, crossing her arms.
“How about you ask your father when you get home?” Dream replied, with an obviously fake grin.
Minerva and Toby jumped in surprise at his reaction, while Scarlett looked at him curiously. “I will.” She then whispered as she pulled the laptop from his hand and put it inside her backpack.
Dream’s false smile didn’t fall. It only became sharper. “Good. I may be willing to allow you guys to come back later, but your family will get particular restrictions if they ever decide to step foot here.”
Out of instinct, the server backed away a little, fearful of him. Dream took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. As angry as he was about what happened to Hbomb he didn’t want to take it out on the rest of the server.
“Just… just get your things and go. We’ve got plenty to be doing now that we’re back home and I need to go talk to Ponk about a couple things.”
The rascals nodded and quickly ran over to gather whatever supplies that they had. Meanwhile the server scatters into different places, as if an attempt to hopefully avoid any more tantrums.
Dream tried not to focus on that and just walked out from the hotel and to Ponk’s workshop. Egged or not, they always took what they were promised very seriously and even if they’re on the opposite side, they wouldn’t refuse a patient just because they’re not part of their cult.
Then, he turned his communicator on and whispered to him in the chat.
Dreamwastaken: Ponk, I need some information about what happened to HBomb. I get that normally you’re reluctant to pass out information about patients, but I need a summary.
Ponk: Uh… What do you even want to know?
Dreamwastaken: Injuries. Just… just tell me what happened. How bad was it? Do I need to start planning a murder spree? Do I need to go to the admin council for help planning a murder spree? Please. I need to know. You don’t have to go in detail, just tell me the summary.
At first, Ponk didn’t reply, giving Dream time to think about everything.
“I’m honestly surprised no one has visited you yet….” The masked man then muttered to himself.
Then, after a few minutes, the doctor texted again.
Ponk: I went to go see Sam but other than that, I’ve really only seen Hbomb, you, and the other members of the eggpire.
The admin couldn’t help but feel the bitterness seep from the screen, as if they didn’t approve of the fact. But, before he could think about it more, Ponk then sent another message.
Ponk: Are you near my office? If you are, come in.
Dream sighed and walked in front of the main entrance of a nearby small hut. Then, he knocked at the door.
Ponk opened the door, “That was quick.”
Dream just shrugged. “I was coming to find you when I first messaged you.”
The doctor nodded, “All right. Come in, I got some of the charts.”
The workshop was already blooming with life with different items in medical charts. On the table were not only several pieces of bandages and bottles of medicine, but also several charts and notebooks filled with different kinds of information.
Then, the ex-terrorist went straight to the point. “So… Hbomb? Is he okay?”
The lemon lover let out a small breath of exhaustion. “He’ll be okay with some rest.”
Dream sighed, “So he just got a concussion or something?”
“Bit more than just a concussion,” Ponk answered sadly. “The main thing was some pretty nasty scratch marks on his back and arms. It looked almost like an enderman mauled him but not quite the right shape.”
“Okay. In that case, I won’t kill them but I will beat the shit out of them.” Dream mused, already thinking about how he’d get back at the toons for this.
He doesn’t wanna declaw them since even he is against stuff like that, but he could make sure that they regretted it by stabbing them a few times or slapping them a bit. Either way when he’s through with them, he’s going to make sure they’re gonna regret even looking at Hbomb wrong-
“Uh…Dream?” Ponk then called out, pulling the admin from his thoughts.
The aforementioned admin shook his head. “Oh sorry, what were you saying?”
The doctor let out a huff. “I was asking if the others knew about what their ‘friends’ are doing?”
He shook his head. “No. Hbomb admitted that he was scared of telling anyone for fear they wouldn’t believe him. Which, if I’m being honest, I can’t entirely blame him. You remember how badly everyone reacted when Aimsey and them implied the Toons weren’t entirely trustworthy.”
Ponk groaned a little, “We should’ve gone after them. There’s no way outsiders like them would’ve had good intentions! The moment that Sam went overboard, trying to defend them!”
“This really is a fucked up situation we’ve found ourselves in.” Dream closed his eyes, leaning against the wall. “I’m almost afraid to do it, but I really think it might be best for me to go to the admin council for help. This is a bit much for one person to deal with.”
Ponk hummed, “Really?”
“Yeah. At minimum, I have to warn them about the Toons before MCC, in case they show up or something.” Dream sighed, feeling a small bit of his pride resigning itself as he thought about asking for help.
Ponk, meanwhile, just smiled. “And the server? Do you think they would believe you or something?”
Dream really wanted to say yes. He really did. But…he can’t.
“……I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
The rascals and server members were quiet as Scarlett texted her dad to open up the portal. It took almost a second before the portal opened.
“Did we do anything wrong?” Toby asked Jack.
Jack gripped Toby’s hand reassuringly. “You didn’t do anything, Toby. I’ll talk to Dream once he’s had a chance to calm down. Then, we’ll find out why he was being so fucking pissy.”
“He seemed fine until Eret went to speak to him.” Scarlett noted, looking up.
“Yeah…” Techno agreed, “I wonder what they told them that was so bad.”
“Same. Also, I want to know why was Dream telling us to ask Dad about it?” Scarlett added, a little confused. “Maybe, Dad was annoying him again? But, that’s a pretty big overreaction to someone being a nuisance.”
“Yeah…” Minerva grumbled.
Tommy gave her a sympathetic look, “Listen, once we figure out what’s going on, we’ll make sure that you won’t get into too much trouble. It’s probably like a misunderstanding or something.”
Minerva was about to reply, but then the portal opened behind them.
“Looks like our ride is here.” Scarlett sighed casually. “It's time for us to go.”
“WAIT- Wait.” Tommy breathed out. Then, he quickly searches around his pockets until he pulls out a small circular device. With a smile, he hands it to Minerva.
She raised an eyebrow, “What’s this?”
“Shh! It’s a surprise, don’t look at it until you get home.” He whispered with a wink. Then he, Tubbo, and Ranboo gave each other mischievous grins.
“Okay!” Minerva whispered back with an amused grin of her own.. “Anyway… I’ll see you soon, I hope. You have fun with… whatever it is you guys are planning but won’t tell us about.”
The rascals then left the server. Soon enough, they found themselves back in the lab. They look at one another before they quickly surround the device and look at it. Curiously, Minerva turned it on. As soon as the screen popped on, a collective gasp went through the rascals.
Tommy had given them a genuine server communicator.
Minerva let out a squeal, “Oh Tommy! That’s so sweet!”
Scarlett and Toby stared at the communicator with interest. The youngest of the trio then frowned a little as an odd feeling came up in his stomach.
“Awwww… I wish I had a communicator.” Toby whined.
“Toby. Let her celebrate.” Scarlett scolded.
“Ohhh and Tommy saved himself as a contact! I can message him so easily now!” Minerva giggled in joy.
There was a cough behind them, and the rascals finally noticed Gyro standing beside them, “I know it’s exciting and all, but your dad wants to check on you to see how you’re doing.”
Minerva and Toby froze in realization while Scarlett’s eyes merely narrowed at the announcement.
“Oh, he does, does he?” The teenage girl questioned, sounding strained.
“Yeah… what’s with the face?” Gyro questioned slowly.
“Where’s dad?” Scarlett ordered.
Gyro jumped at her tone, “Uh…at your house?”
Scarlett couldn’t help but smile. “Good.”
Before Minerva or Toby could stop her, Scarlet began to march out of the lab and towards their house. People had to move out of the way to keep themselves from being bulldozed by the teen. However, she didn’t care as she is on a mission to either talk to her father in a calm manner to figure out if this was a misunderstanding, or to beat her father to death for whatever stupid shit that he pulled this time.
Unfortunately, when she was halfway to getting to her house and having a nice conversation with her dad, she was blocked by Kai and the rest of the ninjas.
She stares at them for a moment before growling, “Move.”
They all take a moment to look at her.
“You ain't our sensei.” Jay then deadpanned.
Scarlett huffed. “I am not in the mood for your shenanigans. Now move.”
Kai raises his hands, “Listen, I know you’re not in the mood, but I got a gift for you as an apology for the whole fight.”
“Yeah, yeah. You can give it to me later. I need to go see my dad.” Scarlett then went around them to focus on her path home.
Then one of the ninjas, she didn’t care who, shouted, “WAIT. It’s a knife!”
Scarlett glanced back at him, vaugely interested, but then she turned her head back. “That’s sweet, but I need to do something first!”
Before he could say anything else, she just ran to the corner, leaving the ninjas surprised as Minerva and Toby ran by them to catch up.
“Hi Kai, Nya, Cole, Jay Lloyd and Zane!” Toby chirped as he ran past them.
“Scarlett, honey, you’re going fast!” Minerva huffed, finally catching up to Scarlett, who was just standing in front of the door. “I know you’re angry at Dad but-”
Scarlett smiled at her, although Minerva couldn’t help but notice that it was sharper like a knife, “Don’t worry, I'm fine, I'm just going to be calmly talking to him like a proper lady.”
She then slammed open the door, screaming out. “What the FUCK did you do, old man!”
“Scarlett?!” Bugs cried out. Then he quickly ran downstairs, with his eyes widened in surprise. “What's wrong?”
“What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Do!?” Scarlett repeated, slower this time.
“Dream sent us home suddenly and when we asked what he was upset about, he told us to ask you.” Minerva said, then she looked at Scarlett with concern. “Babe, this is not calm.”
Scarlett sighed, ignoring her sister, “Listen, what did you do? What did you tell him?”
Bugs was taken aback. Obviously, he did expect that there would be some consequences from the admin, but he didn't think the kids would hear about it… He already could hear the hive growling in the back of his mind, warning him against revealing anything that could imply their presence. But he didn’t want to lie….
“I might have gotten a bit pushy when I got Toby’s messages about the situation with the Eggpire,” Bugs said. “He also got pretty upset with me for ‘stealing his brand’ when I put his little smiley face in the messages. After he told me not to.”
“Oh….” Scarlett whispered. Then she shakes her head and walks up to him. “Dad….No…. Listen, I get that you’re protective and all, especially when a bunch of people try to murder us. But this is the server…. They don’t have the same views on people as you guys! We know this.”
Bugs crossed his arms. “I just want to make sure you’re safe!”
“OK! So, maybe just talk to them when you are concerned and not act pushy about it!” Minerva cried out, “Dream may be trying to be a better person, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to snap if you push him around enough.”
“And did you seriously have to piss him off on purpose?” Scarlett added. “He tells you not to do something and you just… do it again!”
Toby just sniffled, hugging himself as his sisters and dad fought.
Bugs quivered, hating seeing his kids like this. But, he has no choice but to keep moving forward. He has to make sure they believe his lie for their own safety.
Then, he nodded. “Don’t worry guys, I will try my best to smooth things over.”
Minerva pulled Toby into her arms, noticing his distress. “Please do. I don’t want us to be banned from seeing Tommy because you’re picking fights.”
Bugs nodded and walked upstairs, looking down to see if his kids would attempt to follow him. Thankfully, they are just holding each other close for comfort,
With a nod, he walked further into the hallway and mentally glared at the Hive.
“You don’t need to hide yourself!”
“ Would you prefer it if your kids despised you?”
“….…They don’t even like him.”
“And you think that means they would approve of his death?”
Bugs flinched at that. Ok, point taken.
“You see, that's the reason why you need me. I actually have more brains than you and I keep you from going too far. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t be disappointed. You better turn up the charm, little man. Or else, you won’t be able to keep your kids from hating you.”
Bugs didn’t even argue against it, and just took a moment to send Dream a text.
Bugs: Uh.. Hey, Dream.
Dreamwastaken: You think that you can just walk in here and say hey like you did nothing at all. Have to admit rabbit, I thought I had the audacity.
Bugs: Look, this is all a big misunderstanding, I’m sure we can work this out somehow.
Dreamwastaken: WORK THIS OUT?! You tried to kill one of my friends! And for what? because he was a bit mean to poor baby Minerva? He makes your precious little girl upset so you try to fucking murder him?
Bugs: It….It’s not….
Dreamwastaken: Well done. What the hell is the reason for you to try to kill Hbomb. And why shouldn’t I kill you right now?!
Bugs hummed nervously, not knowing what to text, but something took over his tongue, and suddenly he understood what he could do… even if it meant that he would get in trouble. At least that would keep everyone safe…..
Bugs: Dream… There's something I need to tell you-
Dreamwastaken: So, you're finally gonna admit it? Good. I need to figure out how many limbs I need to chop off of you.
Bugs: W-A̴̘͗H̷̛̻̜̺̾H̴͖̟͛̅̌H̸̟͗͆̓̈́Ȟ̴̞̍̈́̄H̶̗̺̓H̸͖͉̤̅H̶̛̤͖̥̿Ḣ̷͚H̷̫̎Ḩ̸͇̀̊Ḧ̷̻̻́̃̓̕H̶̪̻͍͐͐̓
Dreamwastaken: The Fuck?!
Bugs was breathing heavily, his hands clenched around his chest. It felt like his very heart was being ripped apart as his blood boiled violently. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a pillow and screamed in it as agony overtook his brain.
Then, in the middle of it all, the hive roared in his ears.
LIE! NOW!
Hurriedly, he grabbed his communicator and typed out his response to Dream, trying to ignore his heart being splintered into pieces from the inside.
Bugs: I’m super sorry! I accidentally pressed the button, but I will try my best to fix up everything. My friends were trying to pull a prank, just like at home, and they didn’t realize that you guys might be a bit more sensitive and could be hurt. I already talked to them about it and they will make it up to him!
As soon as he pressed send, the pain stopped, letting him breathe once more. Bugs thanked everything for that.
Then, he squinted at the screen to see how Dream would reply. It didn’t take long for him to get his answer.
Dreamwastaken: …You’re kidding me, right? His back was completely shredded! It looked like he got completely mauled!
Bugs: Uh-
Dreamwastaken: You know what, fine. We will discuss this further, but I won't punish your kids for it. But I will keep a close eye on you, okay… Try keeping your people in check.
Bugs: I will. Don’t worry.
Dreamwastaken: Good. You know, next time we visit… Could someone take me on a tour around town? I would find it very interesting.
Bugs: Of course. Glad that you’re not angry.
Dreamwastaken: Yeah don't worry about it. ;)
Bug smiled quietly as the last message went through, he skirted towards his bedroom and flopped onto his bed.
You see. It isn’t so bad.
“It’s not….” He said monotonously.
Will you rebel against us again? Because we can make it a lot harder than it needs to be, but if you obey, we’ll make it as easy as pie.
“I’ll obey.” He then sniffled, trying to keep it together.
Good. Now… go back to what you’re doing. It’s important for us to follow what needs to be done.
“Of course.”
Bugs got up from his bed and walked over to his desk. He took out a small box and opened what looked to be a bunch of chains mixed together. Next to him, there were several seating arrangements and a drop in the middle. It was perfect. As long as the doors were locked, and the drop was quick enough, there wouldn’t be any resistance. However, there is only one caveat to the plan that he was concerned about.
“How long will they be in there?” He questioned out loud.
“Considering how much stronger I am with the people that I already got, it will only take a couple of minutes to half an hour for them to submit~ And do you have a plan for those little rascals? I know you don’t want them to become like you, they're too delicate.”
“I’ll… I’ll figure something out. I’ll make sure they’re out of the way.”
“Excellent….”
Phil raises an eyebrow at the message Dream sends, “Uh… mate, you do realize that they literally attempted to kill Hbomb?”
“If I let them know I'm raging. They'll have their guards up.” Dream smirked a little at the last part, “I can't have that.”
Eret raisin eyebrow as she sip a bit of her tea, “Uh… what are you planning?
The admin then actually giggled. “I'm going to give them what they want. They want me to be a goody-two shoes. Well, I’m gonna be the best goody-two shoes out there!”
The admin and queen stare at him like he just grew a second head.
“I’m gonna play nice to try to gather more information without them suspecting anything.” Dream said, rolling his eyes.
“Oh.” Eret hummed, “Do you think they will be willing to tell you anything?”
“They will.” He chuckled menacingly. “They have to.”
“….Could you at least wait until MCC?” Phil sighed.
Dream couldn’t help but groan at that moment; he had forgotten about that, “Fine…”