The next day, you sit eating on a bench, gratefully eating a potato. Around you, Tubbo and Tommy are messing around with the potions they made. Fundy and Wilbur are nowhere to be seen and Eret left to go grind for supplies. Meaning you got stuck with babysitting.

"HAHA, TAKE THAT, YOU BI-" Tommy yells, throwing a snowball at Tubbo

"LANGUAGE!" you break in, glaring at him. Tommy grins back, then yelps as Tubbo stabs him with a wooden sword.

"TUBBO! NO! BAD TUBBO!" Tommy yelps, running away.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU ****-BAG!" Tubbo shouts, running after him. You sigh, stand, and slowly walk after them.

"NO BREAKING ANY BONES!" you call to them, "I'M NOT HAVING WILBUR BE DISAPPOINTED IN ME!" Their only reply is another squeal. You grin, shaking your head, and walk back to the cameravan. Digging open your backpack, you find a grindstone and sharpen your sword until it's whisker thin on the edges. (DON'T ASK ME HOW STONE CAN BREAK SOMETHING HARDER THAN DIAMOND) Satisfied, you stow both objects in your backpack and walk along the city walls, searching for the gate.

Finally, you find it and are about to go outside when you hear Wilbur yelling. You turn to see him and Fundy running towards you, screaming, "DREAM'S HERE!!!" Your eyes widen and you unsheathe Orphan Slayer.

"WHERE??!?!" you yell back. Wilbur points to the wall, and you scale it until you're on top of it. Outside, you see Dream, Sap, and George standing down there. You cursed under your breath, ducking your head back down. Slowly, the Dream Team walks towards the gate.

"WILBUR!" Dream shouts. Reluctantly, Wilbur heads out to meet him, and you can see them conversing too quietly for you to hear. Finally, Dream turns and leaves, George, Punz, and Sapnap following.

"What was that about?" you mutter as you climb down to meet Wilbur, who looks pale but determined. "What did he say?" you ask him curiously.

Wilbur meets your gaze, eyes a mix of fear, exhaustion, and will. "Dream wants white flags tomorrow," Wilbur said softly. "Either that or war." He raises his head a little bit more, looking more like the Wilbur you knew. "We're gonna give him war."

"YEAH! **** THE GREEN DOG!" Tommy crows, excited. You admire his enthusiasm, but you know from Wilbur that you're all severely outsupplied and outskilled. There's no way L'manburg is going to survive this.

->->->->O<-<-<-<-

You yawn and stretch your arms, slightly sore from the night spent sleeping outside the cameravan. Wilbur had forbidden you to sleep outside from now on, as it was 'too dangerous after the forest fire'. Rolling your shoulders, you stood, wondering where everyone was. After picking up your bow and Orphan Slayer, you remembered: today you would fight for supplies. Well, and for L'manburg's independence. But mostly supplies.

Finally, you find Eret coming out of a hole in the wall.

"Oh! Hey Shadow!" he says, nearly bumping into you.

"Hey Eret. Where is everyone?" you ask, gesturing to the quiet nation.

Eret shrugged. "We're supposed to meet in the cameravan soon, so I suggest you wait for them there."

You groan. "Oh joy, now I have to walk back." As you turn around to go back, you pause. "What's in the hole?" you ask curiously.

Eret looks flustered and nervous. "You'll see later today." He winks at you, barely visible through his sunglasses. "I want it to be a surprise."

You shrug and start walking back towards the cameravan, growing slightly nervous about the impending war.

->->->->O<-<-<-<-

"Alright men... and Shadow." Wilbur started his speech with that wonderful phrase, leaning against the cameravan table. "I don't know how to say this, so I'm going to be blunt: I'm not going to lead you into battle." You started to protest, shocked, but the L'manburg president waved you down. "It's better if I watch from above. You do, however, need a leader." Your stomach sank, already knowing what he was going to say.

"Tommy!" Wilbur said. "You'll lead this army into war."

Blond-Boy Tommy grinned. "ALRIGHT! I COMMAND MEN!" He giggled like a giddy schoolboy. "LET'S BEAT THOSE ****S!" He yelled, charging out of the van. You sighed, then reluctantly followed.

Outside, you squinted against the bright sunlight, focusing on the silhouette of a large blackstone tower. Inside, you could see four shapes moving around, enchanted bows pointed at the L'manburg army.

"HEY!" Tommy yelled, annoyed. "THAT'S MY POWERTOWER!" The lime-green blob in the tower stepped forward.

"Hey Tommy, hey Eret, hey Fundy, hey... Who are you?" Dream questioned, eyes landing on you. You didn't move or speak, other than to give him a vulgar gesture.

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Tommy shouted at him.

Dream shrugged. "Fine. Makes no difference to me." With that, he raised his bow, a single arrow nocked on the string.

"Shields!" Tommy cried, bringing his up to prepare for the arrow.

With a tiny snort, Dream released the arrow. You watched it fly down towards the ground, but it was nowhere near any of you. Instead, it flew off the cliff.

Tommy's brow furrowed. "Uh, Dream?" he shouted. "I think you missed."

Even from here, you could see the smile that crept onto Dream's face. "Tommy," you said softly, barely above a whisper. "I don't think he missed."

Suddenly, the ground rumbled as the cliff exploded in front of you.

"SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT!" Tommy cursed, stumbling back. Your arms flailed out as you tried to keep your balance, but you inevitably fell. Beside you, Fundy disappeared as the ground fell away beneath him.

"FUNDY!" you cried, trying to reach him, but a stone pinned you down and everything went black.

Hah.

YOU THOUGHT IT WAS DONE? NAH, IT'S ONLY LIKE 930 WORDS

WE CONTINUE!

You groaned, wondering why there was a crushing wait on your back, legs, and arms. Your head was stuck with an exciting view of the dirt and grass, but if you strained your eyes to the side, you could make out a massive crater.

"Oh," you whispered, remembering the explosion. Is everyone okay? Did Fundy survive? You started violently wriggling your torso, hoping to move the rock. Instead, you just pinched a nerve and fell into even more pain.

"TOMMY!" you tried yelling. "WILBUR? FUNDY? ERET? TUBBO?"

"SHE'S OVER HERE!" a familiar voice chirped. "Shadow?" Tubbo cried, "Are you okay?"

You glared at him. "Never better," you spat, "can you take the rock off now?"

Tubbo glanced to your left, waving someone over. "It's pretty big, so I'm gonna need help getting it off."

You sigh. It's impossible to stay mad at tiny adorable Tubbo. "Alright, fine."

A moment later, Wilbur and Tommy come over and heave the rock off. You stood, stretching. "INFINITELY BETTER." You looked around, finally taking in the destruction. "Oh, wow," you said.

Wilbur looks grim. "They retreated. Eret wants to show us something, but we waited for you."

You nod. "Thanks." After making sure all your supplies were undamaged, you followed Wilbur back to the hole in the wall. There, Eret stood, literally bouncing on his toes, Fundy looking exhausted and tired next to him.

In a single file line, you followed Eret through the corridor, not knowing what was about to happen.

Dream PoV

Six pairs of boots clacked along the floor inside the blackstone chamber. Dream gripped his sword tighter, listening as Tommy's childish voice exclaimed, "What does this button do?" There was a loud "NO" and the secret door slid open, revealing them. Dream surveyed the people gathered below for a moment. He grinned slightly, jumping down onto the floor and fighting Tommy, who looked horrified. He was beating the child soundly when Tommy yelled suddenly, "SHADOW!" Dream, confused, stumbled back for a moment before raising his sword for another strike. A sudden clang sounded as a Netherite sword slammed into his, sending him tumbling back.

As Sapnap's stupid smoke drifted around the room, Dream looked up in shock at the person, who wore all black save for a single gold crown on their hood. His mind flashbacked to the night of the fire and he realized who this was.

It's the person from the forest.

Your PoV, 5 minutes earlier

You followed the other citizens into the room as Eret claimed, "This room is the 'Final Control Room'." All around the walls were chests with L'manburgian names on them. Fundy happily scampered over to his, little fox ears perked. You watched from the doorway, knowing you didn't have a chest. Tommy, rather than going to his chest, cocked his head at a little button in the middle of the room.

"Ooh, what does this button do?" he asked Eret, slamming his hand on it. Fundy whirled around. "NO!" he cried, but it was too late. A piston door appeared and opened, revealing Dream, Sapnap, Punz, and George.

You immediately pulled out your crossbow, then thought better of it. In tight spaces with many allies, it was a bad idea. You might hit one of them. Instead, you pulled out Orphan Slayer and ran at Sapnap, who was holding a flint and steel. You cannonball into him, pointing your sword at his throat, but he only smiles and flicks his flint and steel with one hand, and fire erupts next to you. Surprised, you roll to the side and Sapnap stands back up. You slice your sword at the nearest fire, the wind from the sword making the fire disappear. Sapnap groans but pulls out what looks like a pulsing ball of lava.

What the honk is that? You wonder for a moment before the lava ball flies towards you. You do two back handsprings, narrowly missing the flying ball, which hits the blackstone wall with a hiss and erupts into flames. Sapnap curses and pulls out another one, but you leap forward and wrestle it out of his hands. It's not burning, surprisingly, but hot enough to be uncomfortable. It's a wonder Sapnap doesn't wear gloves.

Finally, you get the fire charge from Sap and chase him out of the room. Suddenly, you hear Tommy's voice crying, "SHADOW!!!" You glance over to see Dream, his Netherite sword raised high above Blond-Boy's head. Cursing under your breath, you run across the room, sliding under George's sword and coming up right when Dream's sword comes slicing down. Just in time, you slam Orphan Slayer against it, standing up and sending Dream staggering back. You summon your shield, eye's burning from Sapnap's stupid fire charges as Dream stares up at you for a second.

"So you're Shadow?" he asks, as if this was a tea party rather than a life-or-death battle. You nod, once, tilting your chin up slightly. Dream smirks. "I never knew L'ameburg recruited another fighter."

Breaking your silence, you snap, "They didn't recruit me, green bi-"

"Language," Tommy groans from the floor.

"-rch-face," you amend. "I'm not a L'manburgian, either."

Dream nods slowly, standing up. "Well, it's been lovely to chat, but Netherite sword or not, you're dying tonight."

You raise your chin in challenge. "I'd like to see that," say calmly, then swing your sword down.

Dream blocks, then drops his sword to slice your stomach. You dodge nimbly to the side, than swing down towards his head. There's a clang as Dream slams his shield against your sword, lodging it in. You swing your own shield, bashing Dream's face. He grins, steps back, and replaces his sword with a bow. Dream fires at your face, but you duck, rolling and coming up with your sword slicing. Dream hopped neatly over it, kicking you in the face. You curse as another arrow flies by, narrowly missing your forehead. Standing, you raise your sword again. Before you can attack, Dream's sword is suddenly smacking Orphan Slayer out of your hand.

Cursing under your breath, you charge Dream, who looks surprised. He raises his sword, but you jump over him, pushing off of his back. Your fingers narrowly grasp Orphan Slayer's hilt when you realize that you're about to crash into the wall. Muttering an oath, you stab the Netherite sword into the blackstone wall like it's butter, hanging on for dear life to the hilt. The blade bends but doesn't break, and you dig your toes into the wall for extra support. Below you, Dream stands, smirking, before waving George, Punz, and Eret to follow him out of the room.

Eret turns to look at you, hanging onto a Netherite sword in a wall, hands hurting and body sweating, and gives you a sad smile.

"Down with the revolution boys."

"It was never meant to be."

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Word count: 2,110 words :)

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I had zero motivation to write anything before the Final Control Room scene.

I've planned out the entire series tho, so I should update faster :)

TA TE CHILDREN