Chapter Text
Tommy woke up to the sound of panicked yelling.
It wasn't the worst sound he'd ever woken up to. It probably wasn't even in the top 20, but it sounded uncomfortably similar to the screaming that he would wake up to while at war. That kind of screaming was usually accompanied by an explosion or blades clashing. There were no other sounds accompanying it, but still, before Tommy knew it, he was on his feet, a hand reaching for the hilt of his sword...
...just to touch nothing at all.
Tommy's eyes darted down at his sheath, which...was also gone.
How...?
And then it hit him. The prison. The lockdown. Dream.
He had gone to visit Dream in prison. He had left all of his stuff with Sam. And when he had gotten stuck in the dark, black, stifling cell with Dream, he had taunted him. And Dream had taken his last canon life for it.
Except...he hadn't. Tommy was alive. Probably. Maybe.
Had Sam saved him?
Tommy looked around. He didn't recognize the room he was in. It didn't look like anywhere on the server (that he'd been to): the dark walls, and the rows upon rows of fluffy white armchairs facing a large black object that covered the entirety of the wall.
And he wasn't alone either. The screaming had come from people he knew: some of which were friends, some of which probably wanted him dead.
Tubbo, Ranboo, Niki, Jack, Quackity, Karl, Sapnap, Puffy...
His blue eyes widened. Phil, Technoblade, and Wil- Ghostbur.
Fuck.
"Tubs, how did we get here?"
Tubbo turned around at him, surprise on his face. Ranboo was standing to Tubbo's right and turned as well.
"Tommy? Thank fuck...we don't know. We just kinda...woke up here. Though-" Tubbo hesitated, glancing at Tommy like he was scared for how Tommy would react. That...was a shit sign. "Big Q and Sapnap are trying to figure out how to get us out. It's... not looking that great."
"Meaning?"
"There's no doors, nor windows. And the walls have got to be like, obsidian or something. With enough TNT, we could probably break through them but we got nothing. All of our shit is just gone."
Oh. So he was trapped in a room with multiple people who wanted him dead, his dead brother, and his estranged family. Right after almost being beaten to death by that green bastard in the hellhole that was Pandora's Vault.
"Hello."
A feminine voice rang through the room (Tommy wasn't going to assume though). It wasn't a familiar voice, meaning it didn't belong to anyone in the room, unless they were hidden somewhere in the chaos of people banging on the walls and shouting at each other.
Though, they too had stopped in favor of listening to the loud voice that had just spoken.
"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here," The voice continued. "Well, you're here to watch and react."
What the fuck.
Everyone, even Phil and Techno, looked up at the ceiling in panic and disbelief. Ranboo grips Tubbo's arm, and Tubbo exchanges a concerned glance with Tommy. Jack and Niki step back in impressive unison, and Techno steps a little closer to Ghostbur, who, all things considered, seemed to be reacting (bad choice of words) to the news better than anyone else. Except maybe Karl, for some reason.
Quackity was the first one to talk. "So, you fucking kidnapped us, so we can...react. The fuck is that even supposed to mean?"
"Let me explain."
A figure...materializes out of thin air, and Tommy decides that logic is dead.
He says figure because it is just...a humanoid-looking statue made of probably iron. But, when the voice speaks again, it's coming out of it. And its mouth is moving. Great.
"You can call me Aili," The figure - Aili - says. "She/her pronouns, please. And you're here to react to things. Things from your universe, things from other universes... we live in a multiverse full of possibilities. And I would like to show you some."
Chaos erupted once more, and Tommy found himself joining in. It was just too much. He just wanted to leave. Not...whatever the hell this was.
"Quiet!" This time, the voice speaking wasn't Aili, but someone a lot more familiar. Puffy. It was amazing how she managed to silence everyone so quickly, but that was Puffy for you. Poggest woman alive. "Aili, you were the one who brought us here, correct?"
"Yep."
"And is this all you want from us?"
"Yeah."
"And can we leave without having to 'react' as you put it?"
"We're in something called a pocket dimension, so escaping without my say-so is impossible. And, excluding some special circumstances, you'll remain here until you've reacted to what I wish to show you."
Jack (still a bald bastard) glared at Aili. "Fuck, no."
Techno took a step forward. "I don't think you know just who you're dealing with here. Bring us back."
Aili's head turned to face Techno, which was absolutely terrifying, considering she was an expressionless human-shaped iron statue. Which...Tommy still hadn't figured out how that worked. Whatever. "No."
Niki's eyes flashed with anger, Phil and Techno narrowed their eyes, and Tubbo clenched his fist. Sapnap and Quackity marched forward, the latter harshly grabbing Aili's shoulder. "You heard the pig. Bring us back or I'll kill you!"
"Death isn't possible here, silly!" Aili's voice lightened, as if amused.
"What?" Tommy inhaled sharply, his words louder than they were meant to be.
"No way." Ranboo agreed.
This time, everyone was taken off guard. Even Ghostbur frowned in confusion.
"Bullshit." Quackity reacted, although his words held a tinge of uncertainty.
Aili's metallic fingers contorted into a finger snap, and before anyone realized what was happening, they were in the armchairs. Everyone, including Quackity.
Tommy tried to stand up, to argue that he couldn't do this, but he couldn't move. Fuck, he couldn't move-
Aili's fingers snapped again, and Tommy felt his muscles relax. He attempted getting up, but his legs just wouldn't cooperate. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friends doing the same. But, at least now, he could move. Adjust his position. He was still panicking, but whatever Aili had done the second time around had calmed him down. Thank fuck.
"So we...just have to react?" Niki asked hesitantly.
"Yes. The content you have to react to will consist of many different types of content, such as videos referred to as 'animatics', stories, and even videos made by alternate you's! Isn't that cool? Oh, and time works differently here, so you won't be missing much in your world."
Tommy eased up a bit more, although every bit of his body still wanted to leave. "How long is this little project of yours going to take?"
Aili shrugged. "You'll leave the room after reacting to a few things. We've got tons of stuff in this dimension that you'll enjoy, so don't worry. It's like a little vacation!"
And just then, Tommy registered how much power Aili must have to be able to make an entire dimension and take them from theirs.
Well, fuck, wasn't this turning out to be an interesting day.