Chapter Text
Tubbo woke up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. He sat up with a groan, putting his hand up to keep the sun out of his eyes.
"The fuck…?" He muttered to himself, blearily looking around the room. It was simple, with just a bed, small table, and a desk sat under a window in it. Torches were mounted against the walls, but they did little in the sunlight.
Tubbo got out of bed slowly, pausing when he passed the bedside table. His phone was on it, though when he turned it on it had no service. He tapped on discord anyways, to see if anything had happened, but it didn't load.
No, wait, it did! It was just… different. It reminded him of the minecraft comms popup, with the font and layout everything. The words Tubbo has joined the game were even there, right at the bottom. After a second a new message appeared
Nihachu: Hi!! Good morning
Tubbo blinked down at the screen. Experimentally, he typed out:
Tubbo: Hey! Goob moring to you to!
Nothing happened after that, so he pocketed his phone and went up to the window, trying to get a look outside.
And… wow. Ok.
It was L'manburg.
Like, actual L'manburg. Not in a computer screen, not in Minecraft, but right in front of him. The fictional country that he fictionally ruled in a fictional story he and his friends made. Right there. In front of him. All around him, even.
He backed up with a nervous laugh. Swaying with disbelief, he put a hand to his head. But when it landed it didn't touch his hair, no; it instead landed on a thick hard piece of what felt like bone. No not bone-- horn. He rubbed both hands over his head, breath catching as he started to hyperventilate. He felt as they curled down, almost reaching right behind his ears. He had horns. What the fuck he had horns he was in minecraft what the absolute shit was going on???
He barely felt as he fell back down on the bed, only feeling the tears running down his face and the damned horns as they knocked against his arms when he tried to curl up. He didn't hear the door open or the soft gasp that followed, he didn't know anyone else was there until he felt the cold hands of Ghostbur rest against his forearms.
Tubbo slowly looked up. "Wi- Wilbur? What are you--" Then he noticed the sad smile on his face. The translucency of his pale gray body. The way he softly bobbed up and down, as if floating. Tubbo choked out a loud sob.
"Hey, hey, Mr. President," Ghostbur soothed. "It's ok, you're ok. Probably just a nightmare. I get a lot of those, you know. 'S why I don't sleep." He smiled, reaching up to softly pull Tubbo's hands away from his arms, putting something in his hands.
Tubbo calmed down enough to sit up and look at what he was given.
"Some blue! You look like you needed it." Ghostbur smiled.
The dye smudged in his hand, leaving behind blue streaks. Some fell to the floor in clumps of blue dust.
"It's… it's real," Tubbo muttered. He rubbed his fingers together to spread the blue around.
"Yeah, of course it is."
Tubbo just hummed, to Ghostbur's visible confusion. After a minute, Tubbo stood, awkwardly straightening out his suit (his presidential suit, yeah, how he didnt notice he was wearing it when he first woke up was a mystery to him). "I think I'm gonna go take a walk for a bit. I need to clear my head."
"Yeah, yeah, that makes sense." Ghostbur trailed after him as they left the room. Tubbo could still barely believe he was even awake right now; he knows these halls, but only through the glare of a monitor. He ran his hand along the wall as he went.
"I actually want to be alone for a bit, I'm sorry." Tubbo smiled apologetically as they stepped out into the open. He got a good look at Ghostbur for the first time, and he was able to see the faintest tinge of red on his chest where blood started to seep through the sweater. He shuddered.
Ghostbur didn't seem to notice his gaze, however, and sighed. "No, it's fine. I need to check on Friend, anyways. Oh, but here! Have some blue for the road."
And with a few more handfuls of dye, Ghostbur was off and Tubbo was left alone.
His first plan of action, he decided, was to familiarize himself with the area. He already knew it all from Minecraft, but it was so much different in person, he was quickly realizing. He slowly started down the Prime Path, taking his time to admire the builds around him. He took a second to lean against a fence and look out over the land, finally allowing himself a second to calm down. Maybe (just maybe) this experience could be tolerable. If he ignored all the wars and conflict undoubtedly going on around him, he could almost believe this was some sort of vacation. Or maybe it was all a dream, and any minute now he'd wake up--
Suddenly, an enderman teleportation sound went off right beside his ear.
"Jesus fuck- what??!" Tubbo turned to see someone beside him. He had to take a step back and look up to see who it was, and he was met with the breathless black and while face of Ranboo. Or his minecraft avatar. Tubbo supposed they were both the same now.
"President Tubbo! Hey!" Ranboo smiled, then pulled a book out of his pocket and quickly skimmed over the words scribbled there. "Sorry about scaring you by the way, I still need to work on that." He looked up. "Sam was wondering if you were up to keep working on the Sea Monument today. You weren't responding to your communicator, so. Uh, yeah. That's all."
"Oh!" Tubbo blinked. He thought about it for a second. On one hand, their pit in the ocean would no doubt look incredibly cool, but on the other hand… everything else going on right now. "I can't, I'm sorry. I've just got a lot on my mind right now. Maybe tomorrow, though?" He felt bad about making a promise he wasn't sure he could keep, but Ranboo seemed to accept the excuse, hastily writing the words down in his notebook.
"Ok! I'll go tell him. Maybe Fundy's available today, I don't have anything written down that says he said he had something to do today."
"Yeah, that uh. That sounds good." Tubbo gazed at the notebook. "If you don't mind me asking, what's the book for?"
"Oh! Helps with my memory. Can't forget if the words are right here." He chuckled, putting the book back… who knows where, Tubbo didn't want to think about the possibility of inventories right then. "I think it was Ghostbur that gave me the idea. That's what the first page says, anyways." Ranboo looked up at him, then paused, seemingly taking the boy in for the first time. "Are you ok?"
"Hmm? Oh." Tubbo looked back over the fence. "Yeah, I'm… I'm fine, Ranboo, don't worry about it."
"Are you sure? Because it looks like I should maybe worry about it."
"It's nothing, dude, seriously. Just…" Tubbo sighed, trying to think of a good enough lie. "Had a bad dream, that's all. The stress of everything, you know, it's just- hgn. I wanted to take a walk for a bit, clear my senses and all that."
Ranboo nodded. "Yeah, I get that. You know, I can probably get some people to help with your duties today, see if you can have the day off if you need it. You look like you do."
Tubbo smiled appreciatively up at his friend. Or what took the form of a characterization of his friend, at least. "I would love that, thank you."
Ranboo nodded again and teleported off.
Tubbo sighed again, tears starting to form for the second time that morning. He was alone, wasn't he? Alone in a largely unfamiliar place with no idea of what the fuck to do and he just wanted to go home, dammit. Where his biggest worries were keeping up with script changes and college work.
After a minute, he started down the path again, this time keeping an eye out for any people. It wasn't that he didn't want to be disturbed, per se, but more than that; so far, every person he met wasn't from where he was from. Earth. Nobody had any idea what was happening to him, and Tubbo wasn't too keen on going around to every person on the server and asking if they knew what England was. He looked up, then stopped when he realized where he was.
Slower than he really needed to be, he walked over to the bench. His and Tommy's bench. It was still there, of course, as it was in his game at home, and Tommy's house was still stood behind him, even if it was a bit worse for wear. Tubbo ran his fingers over the grooves in the wood, thinking.
He needed to find someone who could help him. A god or something, maybe-- but there were only two canonically on the server, and one he (or at least, his character) wasn't on good terms with and the other he didn't want to ever see, knowing how canon goes on Tommy's side of things. Honestly if Tubbo ever saw his green face in whatever alternate reality this was, he'd kill him on sight, story be damned.
But the other, Techno… Tubbo could maybe convince him to figure something out. If Tommy was there then he'd probably help.
But then, Tubbo supported he wasn't on good terms with Tommy either, was he? Tommy's character was supposed to hate him. He groaned, rubbing his hands down his face and into his hair in frustration, stopping only when he brushes against his horns again.
Tubbo glanced over at the jukebox. If only he had a disk.
Oh but wait, he does, doesn't he? He jolted out of the bench and back to Tommy's house, opening the enderchest in there and taking out Cat.
This was perfect. He could go to Techno's, ask for help, and use the disk as incentive. He knew the way to the snowy base from watching Techno, Phil, and Tommy's streams enough times, and he felt pretty confident in his plan. Now to just put it into action.
Putting it into action was harder than he thought, apparently. He made it to the base no problem, it was only once he got there that he faced obstacles.
First off, he was shivering. The cold was making him miserable, and the snow falling down and melting into his hair wasn't doing much to help that fact. Neither was the crossbow aimed at his heart.
"I'll ask you one last time, kid, the hell you want?" Techno growled out. His bulky character and boar's head did nothing to soothe the threat, and Tubbo slowly put his hands up. Techno snarled, tusks glinting in the sunlight.
"I- I just- please, Techno. I need your help. I don't know what's going on-- well I do, but I'm not- I'm not supposed to be on this side of the story. You're the only one I could think of that could do something, besides Dream. But he's a bitch in canon, so like. No. You know?"
"I mean I don't, but--"
"WHAT'S HE SAYING, TECHNO?" A voice yelled from inside, dragging both men's attention to the figure hanging out the doorway. Techno sighed, relaxing his crossbow.
"Tommy, I told you to-"
"Tommy?" Tubbo's voice felt broken as he stared down his friend. Unlike everyone else Tubbo had met so far, Tommy looked a lot like his creator's counterpart, save for the holes in his red shirt and the scars and dirt scrubbed across his face. But the fear and worry and unbridled joy he found in Tommy's eyes were something he could latch onto.
"Tubbo?" Tommy stepped forward, completely ignoring Phil's attempts to stop him from within the house.
"Hey Big Man." Please let him be normal please let him be normal please let him be normal--
"Do you, uh." Tommy coughed to clear his throat as they finally faced each other. "I don't even know what to ask."
"Do you know what England is?"
"Do I- DO I KNOW WHAT ENGLAND IS, TOBY SMITH, YOU SERIOUSLY JUST ASKED--" Tommy cut himself off with a laugh, and Tubbo laughed back, until they were both crying laughing and hugging with actual tears in their eyes while a very confused Technoblade and Philza stood idly by.
Tommy woke up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. He caught the last second of a nightmare (the white of a mask, the blue of a trident, the red of an explosion, so many explosions) and woke up with a jolt, gasping for breath. The strangeness of the room did nothing to soothe him, and he jumped out of bed in a flash, feeling more awake than he'd ever been.
After a minute of deep breaths, he took a second to look around himself. The bed he slept in was shoved against one wall with chests against another, his phone resting atop of one of them. Yellow blocks stood out in the walls, along with a log propped awkwardly in a small cranny. He looked down the hall that branched out to his left, staring down the door attached in the middle of it. If he didn't know any better, he'd say this looked like his room in Techno's base on the SMP.
But that was impossible, of course.
But was it? He opened one of the chests to see an enderpearl sitting on the top, and he closed it with a snap.
Ohhh k. Ok. He could deal with this! He could deal with this. He was in minecraft, maybe. Probably. Who knows! In the middle of the Dream SMP. Probably not a good place to be given the storyline, but. He laughed nervously. Too late for that!
He started as the block at the top of his ladder was broken and someone slid down inside. Tommy screamed at the pig's head he was faced with.
"Oh my god-" Techno sighed, wincing at the loud noise. "Tommy? Tommy, calm down bud, it's just me."
"YOU ARE A PIG, MAN, WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"I mean… yes? This is common knowledge. I've always been a piglin." Techno put his hand on Tommy's shoulder, searching the boy's eyes for something. "Are you alright, man? Have another nightmare again?"
"I- No, I- I don't--" Tommy took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He thought back to the snippet of a dream he had before, but decided not to mention it. There were apparently many more pressing issues at hand.
"You sure you're alright?" Techno asked again. "Because you don't seem your usual chaotic self. Full offence."
"No, I- I don't know what's happening, to be honest." Tom rested himself against a wall with a deep sigh. Whatever was going on, he was apparently expected to act like his minecraft character all day, and he didn't want to have to have to do that, especially since he just woke up. It was draining, being that energetic. And yeah, it usually came naturally to him, but he was stressed, and he's in minecraft, and his friend who lives on the other side on the world just came into his(?) room as a literal fucking pig, so he felt like he deserved at least a bit of a break.
"Hey, hey, don't…" Techno's voice was unusually soft as he reached forward and pried Tommy's hands away from where they were absently picking at the bandages on his arms. "Don't pick at those, ok? They need to stay on for the time being." Tommy simply nodded numbly. Techno continued. "I was gonna come say Phil and I would be away for a bit to try and get new zombie villagers after you and Ghostbur fuckin' killed the last ones, but I think that can wait a bit. You wanna go check on the bees with Phil instead?"
Tommy nodded, trying and failing to put a big smile on his face like this Techno was no doubt used to. He pocketed his phone as they went upstairs, Techno automatically placing stone back over the entrance to Tommy's hideout. Phil was in the chest room, roasting some steak in one of the smelters, and he turned at the sound of the other two entering.
While Techno went up to whisper to Philza, Tommy was stuck in the door, dumbfounded at the look of his friend. Phil's face was rounder, softer, far different from that Tommy remembered from streams and the one time they'd met, and his hair was blond now, going down to his shoulders. He had a green bucket hat covering most of it, just like his avatar, and a blue, fluffy coat was covering his usual outfit.
He also had wings. Which. Uh. Yeah what the fuck.
"C'mon kid, let's go." Philza smiled as he addressed Tommy, shocking him out of his stupor. He handed the boy a few pieces of steak, which Tommy handled awkwardly in his bare hands. "Some breakfast."
Before Tommy knew it, they were both outside, looking up at beehives. A cloak that was way too big for the boy was resting on his shoulders; he assumed it was Techno's old New Arctic Empire cloak, since he's apparently gone back to his old red one (also it was similar to some fanart that the Techno of his world had proudly shown him a few weeks ago).
(He didn't want to think about the Techno of his world right then.)
Tommy heard the shuffling of feathers, and he looked up to see Phil holding his wing up to protect him from the snow. He smiled, finishing off the last of his steak.
"Want to talk about it?" Phil asked, not looking over at Tommy. Tommy turned his head back to the bees to do the same.
"It's honestly kinda hard to explain."
"Well I'm all ears. We've got plenty of time right now, since I assume you and Techno are taking a break from scheming for the day."
"... Yeah."
A bee finally moved out of its beehive, lazily buzzing around its singular flower. It was pretty cute (even if it was the size of his head), Tommy did admit to himself, though he'd never say it out loud. He hummed, leaning closer to Philza.
"You ever heard of Minecraft?" He finally asked.
"Like… my name? Philza Minecraft?"
Tommy snorted. "No, no, like the game. The game Minecraft."
Phil hummed. "Sounds familiar, but I can't really say I have."
"Ah." Tommy paused, then chuckled to himself. "It's… it's really hard to explain, now that I think about it."
"I told you, I've got all the time in the world."
Tommy watched as the bee flew back inside and two more flew out. He sighed, finally speaking again. "I'm not from here."
"How do you mean?"
"I mean that last night, I streamed some Minecraft, I went to bed in my house, my mum and dad in their room, and then I woke up… here. In the fucking survival multiplayer server my friends and I made." He hummed. "Well, I didn't make it, that was Dream I guess, but he whitelisted me and I'm helping write the story now so I guess it counts."
Phil was looking at him now. "... What?"
"It's harder than it looks, you know! Will made it look so easy. So does Techno but I guess that's because he's an english major or whatever the fuck. And Wilbur was obsessed with Hamilton and that's where most of his plot came from -- I say 'was' like he still isn't a fucking nerd -- and no, not most of his plot, actually. No clue where the idea to blow up Manburg or the whole Pogtopia arc came from but you've gotta admit it was fun as hell to act out--"
"No seriously Tommy, what??"
Tommy looked over at Phil's dumbfounded face and laughed. "I told you it was hard to explain!"
"Dumb it down for me, then."
Tommy tilted his head, thinking. "I think I'm from an alternate universe? If that's the term? One where this--" He gestured at the house and tundra around them. "Is all a made up story. My friends and I play the characters and it's all streamed live through a video game called Minecraft. Got it so far?"
"I- yeah?"
"And the current arc is being written by my world's Techno and Dream and kinda me? But also I have no fucking clue what's going on at any time, ha. And for the record, my Dream is a lot chiller than this world's Dream. Or at least I assume so. He's a dickhead in canon, inn' he?"
Phil sputtered.
"Also I was not expecting the wings, mate. I mean, now that I think about it, Techno's pig head makes sense, because that's his Minecraft skin, but you are startlingly different than I expected. I mean I guess you look like your minecraft skin too, but. Yeah."
Phil just blinked at him. "I-"
"Sorry, that was a lot, wasn't it?" Tommy smiled only somewhat sheepishly. "My mum tells me I ramble a bit much sometimes, sorry."
"It's- yeah, it's a lot." Phil paused. "But it's enough that I can almost believe you. Especially with how off you've been acting."
Tommy nodded, then suddenly jumped. "I can show you, actually! If you'd like."
"... Sure?"
Tommy excitedly pulled out his phone, turning it on. He frowned when he realized he had no service, but quickly went over his photo gallery anyways. He swiped through the pictures, mostly bad selfies or pictures of his dogs or homework answers his friends had sent, but he eventually found what he was looking for.
It was a picture from when he had met Wilbur for the first time. They had gotten someone on the street to take a picture of them together, the whole group that was there that day: him, Wilbur, Phil, Fundy, and Niki. He smiled at the memory, then handed the phone to Phil. "That's you," the boy said as he pointed out the man in question.
Phil squinted at the image, zooming in on different faces as he held the phone up to his face. Tommy laughed. "Old man."
"I see you, Wilbur, and Niki, but who's the other?"
"Oh, that's Fundy." Tommy paused. "Oh don't tell me he's actually a fox here!"
"He is, yes."
Tommy laughed, loud and boisterous. "HE'S ACTUALLY A FUCKING FURRY HERE?? OH MY GOD I CAN'T--!"
Philza laughed with him, glad that Tommy was happy again. Quietly, he swiped to the next picture, one of Tommy and Wilbur standing in front of a beach.
"Hey, didn't Ghostbur put that in the new house you're building?"
Tommy looked over at the phone, still breathless from laughing. "He-? Oh, yeah. Still think Will was drunk or something during that stream, he photoshopped the hell out of it, it was so fucking funny. Wait does that mean that pic is actually here?!" He looked up excitedly.
"Oh! I mean, yeah! You wanna go see it?"
"Fuck yes big man, I need to see that monstrosity in person."
The two made their way to the unfinished house, which Tommy looked at in awe.
"I made this, you know," he muttered. "On a computer and shit but I made it. With my own two hands."
Phil kept watch as Tommy continued to move around the area and excitedly talk about builds, his or not. They spent a good hour by the cobblestone tower because it looked "so much better in person!! Phil!!! Are you seeing this?!"
Around midday, Techno came up to them in a rush. "Get in the house," he said. "Someone's coming and its not Ghostbur, get in the fucking house."
Tommy took a step back, terrified. Of the situation and of the look on his friend's face. Philza ushered him into the house, Techno hot on their heels as he took out a crossbow and some bolts in a rush. Tommy looked out the window as the pig stood his ground in front of the house. In the distance, a figure could be seen sprinting in their direction.
It was Tubbo.
Tommy was at the door before Phil could blink.
He stopped with his hand on the handle, though, worries clouding his mind. What if it wasn't his Tubbo? The one who'd stay up way too late working on college assignments with him. The one who hacked into Minecraft so the both of them could have a dumb laugh before getting banned on whatever server they were on. The one who was his friend.
Was this the Tubbo who exiled him? Tommy took a deep breath.
And opened the door.
Phil's shouts of protest were ignored as Tommy leaned out the doorway. "WHAT'S HE SAYING, TECHNO?" he yelled, consequences be damned.
The two out in the snow turned to face him.
Techno relaxed his crossbow with a frustrated sigh. "Tommy, I told you to-"
"Tommy?" Tubbo's voice was quiet, too quiet, as he stared into his eyes. The hope and fear in them told Tommy all he needed to know.
"Tubbo?" Tommy stepped forward, ignoring Phil as he grabbed at his arm from within the house.
"Hey Big Man."
"Do you, uh." Tommy coughed to clear his throat. God, he hoped Tubbo was his Tubbo, he'd pray to any god he had to. Hell, he'd even give up Primes. He never gives up Primes. "I don't even know what to ask."
Tubbo's mouth tilted up in a lopsided smile. "Do you know what England is?"
"Do I- DO I KNOW WHAT ENGLAND IS, TOBY SMITH, YOU SERIOUSLY JUST ASKED--" Tommy laughed, then laughed harder, then started to cry as he grasped his best friend in his arms. He reached up to hold his head, awkwardly rubbing the horns there. Tubbo sobbed harder at the sensation.
"I was- I was so scared, Tommy, that I'd be all alone in this. I woke up and I didn't know what to do."
"Me too, big T, me too."
Tubbo snorted at the nickname but Tommy carried on.
"But you've got me now, alright? And I can get Techno and Phil to let you stay for the time being."
"Oh speaking of which--" Tubbo pulled back and wiped at his face. He then pulled something out of his back pocket, presenting it to Tommy. "I also brought this. In case you weren't from our world and I needed to win you over. Or something like that."
Tommy gazed in wonder at the disk in his hands, turning it over slowly. "I- Thank you, Tubbo. It's even cooler in real life." He smiled up at his friend.
"Of course, dude."
They stood in a comfortable silence for a minute before Techno coughed from behind them.
"Hey, you ruined the moment!" Tommy shouted. "You always get on to me for ruining moments but look whose fault it is now, huh?"
Techno just huffed.
"C'mon dude, we need to get you inside." Tommy pulled at Tubbo's arm, leading him back to the house despite Techno's glares. "You need to warm up."
"BUT HE'S IN YOUR BED, I'M IN YOUR TWITCH CHAT!"
Techno watched as Tommy and Tubbo laughed as they air guitared. He sighed, rubbing his temples. Phil sat beside him, watching the boys with an amused look on his face.
"I'VE GOT THE KEY, HE'S JUST A DOORMAT!"
The two continued through the rest of the song (they claimed it was by "their" Wilbur, and somehow Techno didn't doubt that), stumbling through the verses with lines they were less sure about. Phil laughed at their antics, humming along with them once he got the music down even though neither he nor Techno knew the words. Techno allowed himself a chance to calm down, too; it wasn't often he saw Tommy this rambunctious without also being dangerously destructive.
His Tommy. It's been a while since he saw his Tommy this carefree, he had to remember that.
It was the second night of the two boys staying in his house, both claiming they weren't from this world. Tubbo went back to L'manburg during the day, feeling too guilty to stay, even if he felt at home with Tommy.
They were both starkly different than their counterparts of Techno's world, though only if you knew where to look. Tommy was calmer while Tubbo was wilder, the aspects of themselves they had presumably heightened for their "characters" balancing out once their roles were dropped. It was clear they were both trying to act like their other selves, but there were certain times where they broke. Certain times where they were too tired to keep up the act, reverting back to their usual selves.
Techno hadn't seen either of them that comfortable with themselves in… forever. And he hadn't even known Tubbo for that long.
The boys finished their song, bowing to their small audience. Philza clapped proudly, but Tommy froze mid-bow, gaze fixed on someone behind Phil. Techno turned to be met with the curious eyes of Ghostbur, Friend following behind him.
"That was a really good song, Tommy and Tubbo!" The ghost smiled, floating forward. "Where did you learn it? It sounds familiar. Here, have some blue." The last sentence was murmured quieter as he put some blue dye in Tommy's hand. The boy just stared down at it dumbly.
"Um. Thanks, Ghostbur. Much appreciated."
"You're welcome! And Tubbo, I'm really glad to see you're doing better."
- And then uhh fuckin. Dream comes in. Shenanigans ensue. Tommy and Tubbo take invis pots
- I told you I'd summarize this, didn't I?
"I'm not… I'm not here for Tommy, Techno." Dream ran his hand over his mask. "I know you're not going to believe me, but I need your help. I don't know what's happening, exactly, and I don't know what I'm doing in this world too well, and you were the only one I could think of that might have some idea of what to do."
Techno nodded, not letting his guard down. "Well what's going on? Always glad to help an ally."
"It's… hard to explain, really. I'm not- I'm not from here. I'm not Dream. Or at least, the Dream you know."
"Oh god, don't tell us we've got another one," Phil said, and Techno shot him a glare.
"Another one?" Dream perked up. "What do you mean, another one? Someone else from my world is here? Where?"
"We don't--" Techno sighed. "Give us a second, ok? We have some things to think over." He moved to make his way down the ladder, Phil and the invisible forms of Tommy and Tubbo following him. Ghostbur watched as they went, staying behind beside Dream. "Don't move."
In the basement, the four circled together. Tommy and Tubbo both put on helmets so they could be seen, and when Tommy spoke, a grin was clear in his voice.
"I think he's our Dream. Me and Tubbo's Dream, that is, if his word's anything to go by."
"That's the thing, I dont think it is," Techno said. "We still don't know if we can trust him."
"Well," said Tubbo, "We could give him a test or something. About stuff only people from our world would know."
Philza nodded and hummed. "That… might actually work. You guys whisper me questions and if he answers them correctly, he's telling the truth. Techno or I can read them off."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Tommy clapped his hands, to Techno's annoyance. "We don't have much time to waste, Tubbs and I have only got… huh."
"What? " Tubbo's helmet turned as he looked at his friend.
"I just, like, thought about pressing 'E' and I opened the inventory menu. It's fuckin' floating in front of me, it's weird."
Tubbo paused, then went "oh!" as he opened his menu as well.
"The what?" Phil squinted at the two, but Techno pulled them all put of their stupor as he went back to the ladder.
"C'mon," he said. "Tommy's right, we've got no time to waste. Phil, you're in charge of questions, I'll keep an eye on him to make sure he doesnt they anything."
Before long, they were back up with Dream and Ghostbur, who were chatting amicably. It was clear even though the mask that Dream was pretty freaked out by the conversation at hand, or maybe just his conversation partner, and he seemed relieved when Phil and Techno appeared on the ladder.
"Ok so," Phil started once they were all settled, "We have some questions to ask to make sure you're telling the truth. They're all coming from the other person or people who are also claiming to be from this other world, so if your answers line up with the answers given, we'll believe you. Sound good?"
"Sounds great." Dream fidgeted nervously.
"First question: what is your real name?" Phil shot a glance over where Tommy and Tubbo were crouching in a corner. Tommy's communicator, or his phone, as he kept calling it, was the only thing visible, and luckily Dream hadn't noticed it yet.
"Clay. And nobody online knows my last name, so."
"... Correct. What country does Tommy live in?"
"England. I live in Florida, in the U.S."
"... Also right. On both accounts, apperently." Phill hummed. "Do you know what speedrunning is?"
"Yes? I do it sometimes. For minecraft."
"He says 'perfect!', I- I guess that means you're right, ok-- What's the name of Wilbur's new song?"
Ghostbur perked up and said "I wrote a new song?" right as Techno groaned and lamented "Oh god, please don't remind me of it."
Dream chuckled. "'Your New Boyfriend.' And it's actually pretty good Technoblade, you should give it a listen. I have it on my phone, actually, if you want to hear it--"
"So do I!" Tommy suddenly said, turning all heads in his direction.
Techno jumped. What kind of idiot… "Tommy, for fuck's sake, I told you to stay hidden for a reason--"
"No, I know, but he got all the questions right! So he was telling the truth, he's actually from my world!"
"I can second that!" Tubbo said. He opened a chest, muttering more to himself. "Now where's the milk…"
The milk was soon found and Tommy and Tubbo were visible once again, to Dream's surprise. "That looks a lot weirder in real life." He chuckled.
"Oh, man, tell me about it." Tubbo laughed. "It feels all… tingly, I don't like it."
"It feels good to see a familiar face again!" Tommy exclaimed. "Even if you are hiding behind a little bitch mask. Unlike literally everything else so far, you look so unimaginably less cool in person. Just saying."
Dream laughed out loud at that, in a way Techno had never seen. It was infectious, the way he leaned down to put his hand on his knee as he got unbalanced, the way he got so breathless he was gasping for air once he calmed down.
"Shut up! Shut up, oh my god, I get why Will calls you a gremlin child now."
Tubbo finally calmed down, too. "But I mean, Tommy isn't wrong! I was expecting more, Dream, not just a mask. Like, look at me! I've got horns! And I can't take off this fucking suit, trust me, I've tried!"
This just set the three into another laughing fit, the others in the room subconsciously following along.
"Oh you don't want to know about the mask."
Tommy snorted. "You can't say that, now I do!"
Dream stared him down, suddenly becoming deadly serious. "These-" he pointed at the eye dots on his mask. "Are my eyes. My actual eyes."
Tubbo laughed. "What?"
"When I take it off-" Dream removed the mask, revealing a swirling dark void where his face should be. "My eyes move with it. It's- I don't know! I genuinely dont fucking know!" He broke into laughter again while Tommy surged forward and grabbed the mask.
"Wait so you can see when I do this?" Tommy flung the mask out the window like a frisbee.
Dream surged forward, his shouts of protest fading as his mouth literally went out the window.
"TOMMY WHAT THE FUCK?"
"HA! NOW YOU DON'T HAVE A FACE!"
"Oh my god…"
- Banter bander pog pog pog
- Idk how they get to this point but they eventually make Ghostbur go to bed
As soon as his head hit the pillow, Ghostbur woke up with a gasp. His eyes flew around the room and he shot up, confusion growing on his face as he met the eyes of the equally confused people around him.
"Where the fuck am I?" He said, then he looked at Tommy and floated up through the sheets. "Tommy?!"
"Y- yes?"
"You've been missing for a fuckin' week and a half, mate, you, and- and Tubbo, and Dream, and we've all, we've all been worried fucking sick, you've never seen a drunk worried Technoblade but by god you do not want to see a drunk worried Technoblade--" Ghostbur looked around the room again, still panicky. "WHY THE FUCK IS HE A PIG??"
"What is it with everyone and the pig thing, seriously?" Techno asked exasperatedly.
"TECHNOBLADE?!"
"Ok, everyone!" Philza shouted, bringing everyone's attention to him. Ghostbur was still floating, but he seemed to notice once he was distracted from his panic and came down a few inches. "Let's take a second and figure out what's happening. First of all, Ghostbur, the hell you on about, mate?"
"You have wings."
"Yes, I know. They're mine."
"Philza Minecraft, you have wings. And you look like your- your fuckin' avatar and minecraft skin and everything, and, and Tubbo has horns--"
"Don't remind me."
"-- and is that Dream?? With the mask?"
"Yes."
"Ok!" Ghostbur laughed kind of hysterically. "Ok, yeah! This, uh. I think I had dreams like this, where it was all- minecraft but real, or whatever, and I felt like I was living through Ghostbur, but this? This is real real. And I don't-- I dont!" He looked like he was on the verge of tears. "Tommy, you've been gone for a week and a half."
Tommy raised his hands. "In my defense, I don't know how I got here, either."
Phil reached his hands out to Ghostbur- no, Wilbur, Tommy thought. This was his Wilbur, from his world, wasn't it? Phil smiled softly and Will finally floated down to the ground, taking in his calming presence. "Ghostbur, I think you should just start from the beginning."
"I mean," Wilbur started, "I really just went to bed last night, and was dreaming I was Ghostbur again, then he decided to go to bed too, and then I woke up here. Don't really remember much of that, though, you know how dreams are with how they leave you as soon as you wake up- yeah. I'm not Ghostbur, by the way. I'm--"
"You're Will," Dream said. "Our Will."
Wilbur smiled a bit, confused by the wording, but nodded anyways. "Yeah, your Will. But yeah, before that, 12 and a half days ago, Tommy and Tubbo and Dream, the ones in my world, not minecraft, went missing. No trace of them. Nobody's known where they've gone."
"But we're right here," Tubbo said.
Nobody knows that, though, Tommy thought. Wilbur shook his head. "What, in minecraft? Nobody would believe that. Or even start to think it."
They had Wilbur caught up with what was going on - or at least, what appeared to be going on on their side of things - by the end of breakfast. Tubbo had to leave early to get back to L'manburg, but the others spent the rest of the day in the house talking.
They theorized that Wilbur was there because he and Ghostbur were asleep at the same time; he would hopefully be back in the real world if he went back to bed as Ghostbur.
- Nothing after this is written lol
- Anyways yeah when Will sleeps he can see what Ghostbur sees and vice versa it's just that Ghostbur doesnt sleep
- Yeah the whole switching thing is connected to sleep. For some reason
- So they go out to find other people who dont get much sleep
- Quackity's one of them
- He switches at one point
- Phil teaches him to fly :)
- They find other people who can temporarily switch like Ghostbur, namely Techno
- Fundy manages to hack in at one point and he is just. In the game. And c!Fundy is there and he fuckin HATES cc!fundy
- ok remember how they can access settings? Yeah they can exit the server through that. Idk it was weird
- Actually I didn't say they could access settings did I? Huh. Anyways they can in a similar way they opened the inventory
- In the end they go to sam and find out that they can literally just. Switch the game off and back on again and they go back home. Pogchamp
- Yeah that's it