Dream SMP: The Bad Ending
A short "what if" AU. I wrote most of this back in January, so excuse if some parts aren't up to date with current lore. Also, this short fic is pretty heavy and, as the title suggest, has a bad ending.
After the height of the Disc War, when the entire server banded together for once to fight a common enemy, Dream is defeated.
They dragged him into the prison, where he'll spend the rest of his days or until they get what they want from him. He's done enough damage. The moment he stepped in that prison is the last time he'll see the light of day. Sam made sure of that.
Months pass. Conflicts come and go as it always has in the server.
To the outside world, news about Dream within his confines are sparce. The few people who has visited him talked about how his cell is placed in the heart of the prison â buried so deep within walls upon walls of obsidian that he might as well be in a coffin deep underground. Except he's alive in there, somewhere.
Because one day Sam went to check in and Dream... Dream is not in his cell.
The server erupted in chaos.
News that Dream is no longer in the prison stroke both fear and madness across the lands. Everyone scrambled to find him, searched every nook and crannies they could reach into, or scouted far and wide across all the known parts of the world.
Sam tore through every corner of the prison, in the slight chance that maybe Dream hasn't actually made it out, or at the very least find out how he escaped. He finds nothing. The only remains of Dream is the cold obsidian cell and the guilt ravaging Sam's mind.
In the following weeks, there wasn't an inch of the world that they didn't dig up and look around. They went to his old base, his hall of attachments, the crater of L'manberg, Snowchester. They even searched through the remains of every destroyed builds. The ruins of every burned down homes and every blown up locations.
(And there were a lot of them. Too much.)
Dream is nowhere to be found. No one in the server knows where he went. They grew paranoid. Then they grew untrusting. Then they pointed fingers at one another. They fight each other to the death over an empty cell.
A long time passes and still not a single sign of him. Eventually everyone thinks he's dead. A memorial was put up for him. People warily remember him. Some want to forget him. Few (a boy with a headband and a boy with goggles) still mourned him as a lost friend, but soon moved on.
Years pass, battles fought. They fought and fought until they're tired and sick of the wars. It came to the day that they stopped fighting and just...coexist. They've gone through everything, they've lost everything. Now there's nothing left to fight for and, in a bitterly funny way, that's how they found peace.
(Technoblade yells something about 'audience retention'. No one paid him any mind. He too, eventually, decided to settle down and farm potatoes)
With Dream gone, everyone began to snap out of the dark madness that seemed to have taken a hold of them like a curse. They started to remember what the world used to be, what the universe used to be. Memories came flooding back to the time they weren't at war. They remember about how their lives didn't use to be limited to just three. They used to have infinite chances, infinite worlds to visit, infinite things they could do. Oh the endlessness and freedom. How could they forget?
They realize how much of a prison the Dream SMP is. How no one really considers it home anymore. They want to leave the server - it's all just ruins anyways after being torn apart over and over again. They want to go back the outside - to reunite with long lost friends and families, to start again, to have another chance of life without the all the pain.
They try to leave, only to find out that they can't. They're unable to leave the server no matter what they try. Their best coders (mainly George and Fundy) searched through the world's codes. It turns out that sometime before entering prison, Dream has somehow permanently locked the server. No one gets in and no one gets out. And no matter what they try, they can't disable it.
Then Tubbo suggested The End. Maybe they can escape through there by defeating the Enderdragon and finishing the game? Everyone agreed with the idea. That can work, right? That must be their only way out.
So they started preparing. They put on their best gear, enchanted their strongest weapons. Making sure they can get rid of dragon as easily as possible. They said their goodbyes to the server.
Nobody wants to stay here any longer than they already have, but there's still a somber feeling in leaving it all behind. No matter how grim its history has been, it is still a long history spanning a lifetime of friends, enemies, love, loss. It's a terrible history, but it's their history.
Everyone said goodbyes in their own ways.
Sapnap took Beckerson and Mars and released them to the ocean for good. He walked through the remains of the Community House one last time, trying to come to terms with the weight in his heart.
Eret stood at the edge of the L'manberg crater, their dress billowing in the wind. They took off their crown, cradling them in their hands for a moment before throwing it far away to the depths of the great crater.
Jack, Niki, and Fundy decided to have a final tour. They went through the whole server, reminiscing their memories. They walked along Prime Path, stopping by all the remaining historical builds and spent a long while at Eret's museum. At the end of their tour, the trio found Quackity sitting by himself at the end of Prime Path, gazing at the stars. They decided to sit with him. Alex pulled out his guitar, and they sang the L'manberg anthem one final time - for old time's sake.
Techno and Phil sat near the fireplace at Techno's home in the tundra, and they talk and talk for a long time. On the roof, Ranboo sat with his memory book in his lap. His quill reached the end of the last page, and with a soft sighed he closed the book and signed it.
Sam threw all his wardens key into lava and destroyed the portal leading to the prison, closing it off for good. Bad said his farewell to the egg, before taking Skeppy by the hand and lead them both back to their mansion. Ponk, Punz, Purpled, and Antfrost took all the TNT they had and blew up all their builds - for fun, as well as for closure. Puffy took all the flowers in her and Niki's flower shop and spread them all around the server. At Church Prime, at Schlatt's grave, at Dream's memorial.
George remembers the day he and Dream first came to this server, both of them excited and brimming with enthusiasm. Now he's sitting on top of the cobblestone wall in a spruce forest, staring blankly at the spot that was their spawn point. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and slowly breathed out. He opened his eyes with hope for a new, brighter day.
Tommy asked Tubbo, "sit with me, one last time?"
Tubbo smiled, "one last time."
They listened to the disc, one by one, reflecting on everything that has happened to them since the very start. At the end of their last disc, Mellohi, they took all them and buried it in the ground, next to Henry's grave. Once they leave, there will be new music to find and listen to. New benches to build. New sunsets to see. They still have their lives ahead of them.
They keep their compasses.
Once everyone has set their goodbyes and did all the preparation, they gathered at the known Stronghold. While waiting for Techno and Phil, Tommy spoke up, "so, no one's going to pull off a villain arc last second, right?"
The statement was followed by some laughter, which led to them sharing stories of what they'll be doing once they leave this world for good. Niki and Puffy are planning to open a flower shop on a ship, so they both can sail the oceans like Captain Puffy used to do while also selling their flowers. Karl spoke up about wanting to travel through more worlds to find out where he'd want to stay, and Quackity said the same. Sam voiced his desire to construct more large scale redstone builds, preferably a lot less hostile than facilities like prisons. Antfrost teased him about joining Hermitcraft.
Techno and Phil finally arrived. Techno talked about how he wants to return to fighting competitively, like the Championships and Hypixel. Phil is planning on going back to his hardcore world. Nervously Ranboo asked if he could join Phil, since he's never known anything outside of the Dream SMP. Phil responded with eagerness to have Ranboo with him, and the half enderman beamed.
Someone asked what Tommy and Tubbo's plans are, and the truth is they don't know yet. But one thing for sure is that no matter what they'll stick together. They're the clingy duo, after all.
Now that everyone's here, they all gathered their courage and their will. Techno placed all the ender eyes in its place. The portal lit up, the portrait of a swirling endless void. They all stared at it with anticipation.
"Alright," said Tommy, "Let's start stabbin' shit."
They pull out their swords, shields, bows, and-
They all stared around in confusion. The End is quiet. Not a single sound in the suspended air. They bridged from their obsidian platform to the main island to find that it is completely empty. Not a single enderman in sight. No one knew it was even possible for the End to be more lifeless and empty than it already is, but here they were. At a barren wasteland.
Cautiously they traversed the eerie land.
"Wh- where's the dragon?" asked Jack shakily.
"Not just the dragon," Fundy said. "Where is anything?"
"Uh, guys?" They turned their attention to Tubbo, who was staring upwards. "Where's all the crystals?"
They all looked up and, to their horror, found that there wasn't a singe end crystal on top of the obsidian towers. It's all gone.
Niki felt something crunch under her feet and looked down to see something dark half buried in the end stone. She picked up what seemed to be a piece of it, and analyzed is closely. She gasped when she recognized the texture.
"I've been waiting for you."
Everyone's heads snapped towards the source of the new voice. They all held their breaths, recognizing that voice all too well.
It can't be. It can't be. It's can't be-
Sitting on top of what was supposed to be the end portal to their freedom was a man. Can it even be called a man?
The being that sat on top of the bedrock exudes pure power. A dark aura surrounded it, particles of the void swirled around it like a dark coat. Shadows corrupted every inch of its skin, so strong that the others could feel the darkness that has rooted into its core and absorbing the very void around it. They could sense the power - a corruption that has stirred and grew for so long it can barely be contained by its vessel. Looking at it is like staring down a god.
And somehow that's not worst part.
Somehow, the worst part isn't facing a corrupted god. It's facing a corrupted god and seeing a familiar face.
Green hoodie, blond hair. A cracked mask with a smile.
"You all really thought you could take back your freedom, didn't you? It was never yours to begin with."
His hands glowed. A sharp axe materialized in his grip.
"You all belong to me. Nobody leaves here."
In the distant future, a group of fishermen found a mysterious book that led them to a lost city under the sea. It was exciting for them, since all they've ever known in their lives are fishing. They sailed away in search of adventure.
The Lost City of Mizu is a place unlike anything they've ever seen. As they discovered the exhibit-like rooms, they all wondered about the people written in the books. Who were they really? What happened to them?
What was their fate? Did they find peace?
"Guess we'll never know," the fishermen concluded between them.
Eventually two of the remaining fishermen managed to break into a secret room. Inside was a large hall filled with precious gemstones and riches. The treasures lining the room made it look like they were offerings to a higher power.
At the end of it is a cracked mask with a smiley face, placed on a pedestal fit for a god - a worshipped deity.
Ranbob appeared behind them.
"Dream was my idol," he said.
