TommyInnit paused, confused. What was going on?
Then his eyes widened. The other Dream had tricked them again.
He must have the discs on him now. Maybe they were in this chest before, when the other Dream had told them they were hidden. Unless someone else had taken them? TomyInnit decided to ask around.
And still, TommyInnit did not give up. What was it that made him so determined to win? Why was he this way? Was there a reason, or was he merely TommyInnit? Dream didn't know.
TommyInnit asked Punz if he had the discs, but he said he didn't.
Then the other Dream logged on.
As soon as he saw the message in the chat, TommyInnit turned around and ran out, closing up the hole after Tubbo got out.
Once more, they were left with no option. They couldn't defeat the other Dream.
They had to trade.
TommyInnit and Tubbo met the other Dream on the main path. Dream watched the negotiations with bated breath, just waiting for something to go wrong. This couldn't be it, could it?
It couldn't just be over like this.
All of that work, all of that fighting, and this was it? Dream didn't think so.
As TommyInnit tossed over the stack of diamonds that he had taken from the other Dream's chest, and then the chestplate, Dream waited. There would be some trick, wouldn't there?
No. The other Dream gave the discs back, just like he had said.
But he wouldn't really just give up such a powerful bargaining chip, would he?
TommyInnit and Tubbo sat on a bench on the path, looking out over a cliff as TommyInnit played one of the discs in a jukebox. Peace, finally. The war was over.
But... Was it? Was it really done just like that? A bargain struck, a deal made, and a war simply over?
Dream was left unsettled as TommyInnit and Tubbo logged off. Something was going on. There was a catch, there must be.
As Dream drifted, he pondered this problem. If the other Dream was anything like he was, then he wouldn't give up such a powerful advantage as controlling someone's connections. After all, connection was the greatest and most terrible weapon anyone could wield.
There was a flash of memory. A vault. A portal. A storm of iron. The final lesson.
Connection was powerful, but difficult. Intricate. It must be used as a precise needle, not a bludgeon.
And then it was gone. But something lingered in the back of his mind. An itch of pain and grief.
And he knew the truth now. It didn't matter that TommyInnit had the discs. Because the other Dream would never stop hunting them. The other Dream was fully committed now. And committed meant dangerous.
When TommyInnit logged back on with Tubbo, Dream buzzed urgently around them. They had to realize. There wasn't time. And as the two talked, discussing what to do with the discs in lighthearted tones, eventually they did. What use was having the discs if they could simply be stolen again?
Dream saw the moment a stab of darkness entered TommyInnit's aura of happiness.
He had realized now. And as their talk became more urgent, they realized the truth.
Nowhere was safe.
The last time TommyInnit had hidden the discs, the other Dream had dug out a mountainside to find them. Well, it was really more a small hill, but the conclusion had to be the same. The other Dream would stop at nothing to control TommyInnit.
So they needed someplace completely secure. And there was only one place like that.
An ender chest.
Both of them agreed, it was really the only thing that could truly make the discs able to be considered secure.
There was just one small problem with that.
There was no ender chest, not yet.
They would have to make one. Eight obsidian, one blaze powder, one ender pearl. An immense task by itself.
And while they did, the other Dream would be chasing them down, determined to get the discs back.
If they succeeded, the war would finally be brought to its end. Because TommyInnit, Tubbo, and Dream all knew one thing. That the other Dream wouldn't give up.
And so, TommyInnit wouldn't give up either.