we ender chest them. Otherwise..." He squints his eyes when a flash of Netherite appears in the fog.

"You — What? What?" Tubbo asked, following his gaze to the top. But there's nothing there.

Tommy shudders. "We gotta go up."

"Okay."

"Be smart. Be careful... and be slow," Tommy said, grabbing onto a rock.

"Slow and steady wins the race."

"Slow and steady wins the race other than when it's war..."

"And yeah, and then - then they-"

"Okay, be careful!" Tommy cuts him off. They continue the rest of the way in concentrated silence. Tommy's body feels so much heavier than usual (it's probably his armor and weapons), but he pushes through. He spots the next rock just out of his reach. He leans for it, extending a hand and leaving his left foot on the last rock. As he latches on, his foot slips. "Tubbo—!"

The brunet turns toward the sound of his voice and watches as Tommy slides down the mountain. "Tommy? Tommy? Tommy!"

Tommy's hands are grabbing in every direction, trying to slow the fall and prevent death. His hands latched onto jagged rocks, slicing his palms open but stopping right before the ledge. If he had hit it, he would've broken his legs. He lets go, cursing at his bloody hands, but at least he was alive.

"I'm okay!" He shouts. "Keep going!"

"We're not prepared! We're not prepared!" Tubbo cried.

Tommy shakes his head, trying to reassure Tubbo. "I just took a little tumble!"

Tubbo climbs onto another ledge. "Get up here!"

He uses the time waiting for Tommy to grab an apple from his bag and take a swig of water. The sun was now set in the sky. It was bright and blue, reflecting in Tommy's armor as he pulls himself up.

Tommy doesn't give himself time to rest. "We're still going up."

Tubbo nods. There was a crack in the mountain, where one of them exceeded the height of the other. Tubbo makes the first move, grabbing onto the mountainside and shuffling to the right towards it. When he reaches the crack, he realizes there's a small stream there. The rocks were slippery.

"Tommy, be careful! The rocks are wet!"

"Okay!"

Tubbo's moves are calculated, reaching for the driest rock or most secure looking rock. There was nothing to catch them below. He can feel the deep ache in his limbs as he pulls himself higher and higher. There's a strain in his lungs as they beg for more air, but all Tubbo can do is give them the oxygen-depleted mountain air. His hands land on something soft, and he realizes it's grass. This was the top. He hauls himself up, rolling over and taking deep breaths.

After a few moments, Tommy follows. He swallows whatever fear he has and offers Tubbo a hand, pulling him to his feet. "We should leave our backpacks here. Only take what we need, we can come back."

Tubbo nods. He grabs as many potions that'll fit in their hip belts and golden apples. Tommy does the same before tucking their stuff behinds some rocks.

"There." Tommy points, looking at his compass. They round the mountain where a single tree and Enderchest awaits them. At the sound of footsteps, Dream's head perks up. He turns toward them, the same smiling mask. He sits on the Enderchest with an axe and shield leaning against it. His helmet is in his lap, exposing his dirty blond hair. 

"Do we - do we pot now or do we wait?" Tubbo whispered.

Tommy gulps. "Okay, here's what we do, here's what we do—"

Dream steps on the edge of his shield, flipping it into his hands. He uses a hand to sweep the hair out of his face — mask. Not that it does anything.

"Heyy!" Tommy greets, smiling awkwardly.

Tubbo waves at Dream. "Hey!"

Dream bows his head. "Long time no see."

Tommy nudges Tubbo, grabbing the potions attached to his hip. Tubbo nods, doing the same.

"So, we have a lot to talk about," Dream said, fingers reaching for the handle of his axe. The end of it is jagged, signifying how often it's used. It's beginning to break, and the obsidian it was forged with had cracked, purple tears filling the space. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Nightmare was the ominous green glow it gave off.

Tommy looks to Tubbo. "We do."

"Yes, we do."

Tommy drinks one of his potions, the sour yet sweet liquid flowing down his throat as Tubbo chucks a few at the ground. The glass shatters at his feet, and pink fumes rise from it.

Dream tilts his head to the side.

"Have you got the discs on you, Dream?"

"I may... or may not."

"Do you have them on you right now?"

Dream shrugs. "I might."

That's good enough for Tommy. "Tubbo?"

Dream stands up. "Hey. Let's have a - let's have a conversation."

Tommy grabs the axe of peace from his side, twirling it in his hands so the head is facing upwards. He points it at Dream. "Don't give him time to think, Tubbo! We have good axes! Go!"

Tubbo grabs his own axe. "Get him!"

Tommy runs at Dream, his axe missing the top of his head as Dream steps to the side. He slips his own axe into the holster on his back, easily blocking their attacks. He almost sounds bored as Tommy takes swing after swing, only to be blocked each time. He's playing defensive.

Tubbo exhales loudly, stepping back. "Stop!"

"Come on! Let's talk," Dream taunts. Tommy's face hardens, and he swings at Dream again. Tubbo grabs the back of Tommy's chestplate, dragging him back.

"Stop!"

Tommy struggles against his pull the entire time. "What? What, what?"

Dream folds his hand in front of him, dropping his shield. "Let's talk."

"He might not even have them on him!" Tubbo hisses.

"Don't get him fricking time to think! Don't give him time to think!"

"He might not even have them."

Tommy looks from Dream back to Tubbo and sighs. "Okay, okay, okay."

Dream smiles behind his mask, sitting back down on the enderchest. "How was your journey here?"

"It was - it was..." Tubbo begins to answer before his partner in crime cuts him off.

"Why did you need us here, Dream?"

"Well, I mean," Dream chuckles. "I have what you want. And you've come to take it, right?"

"You told me—!"

"Yeah, but why would you even let us know you're here?" Tubbo sought.

"It's better than being in an area where everyone else is. You know, it's private, it's secluded...," Dream's voice becomes deep and ominous. "We have time to ourselves."

"Dream," Tommy takes a deep breath. "You left me a note saying that you'd be here. And that only us two could come. Why?"

Dream stands up in front of the chest. "Well, I mean, it's been you and Tubbo since the beginning, right?"

"Yeah?"

Dream makes a flicking motion with his hand, and his enderchest opens. "You and Tubbo versus me...? For the disc, right...?" He grabs a disc from it, tracing his finger around the edge.

Tommy purses his lips, resisting the urge to yank it out of his gloved hands. "Yeah."

"So, that's why you're here!" He looks to Tommy, then Tubbo. "Right?"

"Why did you call us here? You said, 'Come here. Meet me... at this mountain. Bring no one. The discs will be here.' That's what you said, Dream! Why?"

"I did say that," Dream said as he pressed a button on the enderchest. It shrinks in size, small enough that Dream can tuck it safely in his pocket.

"Why?" Tommy asked.

"Because... I wanted you to come here," Dream drawled. An obsidian block hovers in his hand. Tommy watches as he flicks two fingers, and the block materializes before their eyes. He does it multiple times, towering up.

"What are you doing...?" Tommy said, gripping his axe.

Tubbo's shocked at the speed he's working at. Towering — blocking. It was experimental technology. Well, it had been. It appears to be perfected now. It came in a pair of gloves — gloves that allowed you to materialize the block of your choice and place it right before your eyes. But it wasn't that easy. You'd have to first gather the desired material and program its elemental makeup into the gloves so they could duplicate it. Then, of course, you'd have to learn how to block. Blocking was simple enough. It requires precision aim and swift hand movements. But towering? Towering was about perfect timing, agility, and balance. That was a skill only few could master, but it seemed Dream was one of them. "What are you...?"

"One second," Dream said.

Tommy walks toward the base of the tower. "You have something to say or what?"

"I do."

Dream places a Jukebox down, slipping Mellohi into it and covering it with obsidian. Its soft melody fills the space between them, but now it sounds grim. Dream looks down at them from his tower.

Tubbo gasps, his hand covering his mouth. "No..."

Tommy glares at Dream. He tucks his axe away.

"Let's just listen to some tunes, you know? While we—"

Tubbo leans over to Tommy. "Do we take the pots?"

Tommy nods, hand feeling his hip for them. "Yeah, take them."

"—While we talk."

"What is it you've got to say, Dream?" Tommy asked. His hand goes to the sword resting on his right, grabbing the hilt of it.

Dream hums in thought. "Hm, the music... the music can speak for me."

"What is it you want to say?" Tommy demands as Tubbo drinks a dark red liquid — strength pot.

Dream thinks about it for a moment. "I wanna say... You know... Good luck. That's what I wanna say."

And like that, in two words, the fights for the discs begin.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
wc; 8.2K
song inspo: brother by kodaline
originally published: July 29th, 2021 9:35am
a/n: HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY L'MANBERG! :,) one year already
WEAPON DESIGN inspired by @/alishmii on Twitter!! check out their stuff :)