I might need to know more about "Quackity has a change of heart"
BUT OF COURSE!! I started writing it almost two years ago now, before the torture plot came to a conclusion so I was having a lot of thoughts about how c!Quackity might have felt about everything he was doing and under what circumstances could be start to maybe, just possibly, regret what he's done.
I ended up editing it to fit some new developments that happened before the prison break but unfortunately never got around to the "change of heart" part of the story. I still think it's a neat idea nonetheless! ignore any typos 😌
cw for torture and graphic depictions of violence
"He turns around and raises an eyebrow at Dream, who's currently drowning on his own blood and vomit, and laughing like a goddamn demon. He looks nothing short of manic, with blood leaking down his chin and covered in whatever else has come out of his body within the last hour. He's clearly too high on pain to register the situation they're in or he wouldn't be dumb enough to laugh at Quackity.
"You're fucked. You're... so fucked, he's 'onna kill you. I knew he'd come back, you're dead." Dream's ramblings slur together, blood loss making him delirious. Still- no matter how hard they are to understand, his words never fail to make Quackity want to hit him.
He kneels down instead, knuckles clenched, as he bites back his frustration. "Who, Techno?"
Dream nods, eyes glassy. "You're fucked." A broken record it seems.
Quackity lets out a sigh under his breath and forces out a laugh that he hopes expresses confidence, "Oh no, it's not Techno. It's Tommy, actually, with half of the smp. Guess they finally had enough of your shit."
"It's not-" Dream's eyebrows dip close together as he takes a moment to process Quackity's words. "It's not Techno?" He says the last bit in a hushed whisper, almost entirely to himself.
If Quackity was any further away he wouldn't have been able to hear it at all.
"Which is why," Quackity says evenly, "you should be taking this more seriously. You don't have a Ghostbur to bargain for your life with this time around and Tommy has a lot more than an axe."
Dream shakes his head, apparently unfazed by Quackity's words. "Techno said-"
"Techno said whatever I told him to!" The lie comes easily and Quackity launches up in one quick, harsh motion as he thinks of his next plan. He savors with a sick type of glee as Dream flinches from the sudden movement. Sweat is now forming on his brow and Quackity is glad Dream is out of it as he is because he's not sure he could handle those all-too-knowing eyes focused on him right now.
This is fine, he can work with this. He can swing this. "Techno did exactly what I told him to Dream, and that included keeping you on his side."
Dream manages to look even more crestfallen than normal at that, and Quackity let's a grin spread across his face. "What? You didn't think he would spend months in this cage just for you, did you?"
With a heavy effort, Dream shakes his head again. "You're wrong. You're wrong, lying, Tech said he'd be back. He told me how'd he do it, just like this, you're wrong."
"Oh please! You're not this fucking stupid! Technoblade is the strongest person on this server, he could have saved your ass whenever he wanted to. But he didn't. Do you really think he'd fall for such an obvious trick and get stuck in here? How do you think he got out, huh?" Quackity gives an easy laugh, and rocks back on his heels. This is fine, this is working.
"His stasis chamber-" Quackity scoffs, so that's how he did it, "You really think I didn't know about it? I was the one who told Philza to get him out. Just like I was the one who told Techno to come here. I needed you to think you had a chance, a way out. Now, this-" he gestures to the walls with his hand, "-wasn't exactly what I was expecting. So I need you to pay attention. Tommy is going to kill you, he doesn't care about the revive book. No one does, okay? They've had enough. No one wants you here, Dream."
There's no imitate response from Dream as he mulls over the words. "And you do?"
Quackity revels in the defeated tone and says easily, "No, not really. But you're insurance and, well, what can I say? You're too much fun."
Dream shudders and Quackity smiles, "So, instead of lying on your ass why don't you help me think of a way out of this? What do you say?"
Again, he's met with silence as Dream just stares up at the ceiling with dead eyes. Quackity rolls his shoulder back, accessing his inventory, and slams Sam's axe down next to his head.
"What do you say, Dream?" There's a hard edge to his voice, one that Quackity recognizes in himself. One that comes from Dream pushing his limits too many times.
Dream is all taunt muscles, all fear. It colors his eyes and voice as he mumbles a weak "Yes, sir."
Quackity smiles, feels the expression stretch his skin, but he can't help it. He really does love that sound. "Atta boy."
He yanks Dream up into a sitting position. The quick movement must make Dream lose some of his focus because he suddenly lurches forward and leans his weight against Quackity. Quackity flinches back, disgust filling his expression as he holds Dream at arms length. "Don't touch me. Don't fucking do that."
He's only not letting him drop because he doesn't want to scrap Dream's ass off the obsidian again. Dream mumbles a weak, "Sorry, sir. Sorry, sorry." clearly on autopilot as he tries to get his bearings. Quackity pulls his arm away slowly and relaxes slightly when Dream stays upright. He looks so fucking pathetic like that, barely holding on and bleeding everywhere. It's infuriating.
Instead of staring at Dream's shaking form, he turns around and flicks out his communicator. Still no new messages and he gives a weak groan. Sam better thank his lucky stars Quackity can think quick on his feet or else their little operation would have been done and over with ages ago. He glances around the meager cell and tenses slightly at the sudden claustrophobic feeling that overtakes him. He's never been stuck in here before and the thought makes him uncomfortable in a way he can't really describe.
"Got any idea on how to get out of here?" He asks over his shoulder, only half serious. He hardly thinks Dream is going to actually be of any help. Dream predictably gives a shake of his head. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Just have Sam bring the bridge over." Dream says like that wouldn't have been the first thing Quackity tried.
"He's not responding." And, just because he likes seeing the absolute terror in Dream's expression, he adds, "Maybe he wants you gone just as much as everyone else."
Quackity pulls open his inventory and looks around. He's glad he finally convinced Sam to stop searching him before every visit but it's not like Quackity brings much with him anyway. Sheers, Sam's sword and axe, 3 fire res in case of emergency, about half a stack of steak, and about 20 cobblestone. Well, it's an emergency all right. Even so, he's still not crazy about the idea of swimming through lava. The cell gives an unsteady groan as another round of explosions fill the air. Quackity drags a hand down his face. He doesn't have another fucking choice it seems. Quackity pulls out a fire res, downs it, and turns around again.
He walks back over to where Dream is sitting and roughly grabs his chin, "Open up."Dream opens his lips obediently and Quackity dumps the glass bottle down his throat. Dream starts to choke on it and Quackity's grip tightens in response. "Swallow it, idiot." Dream does, after a second, and Quackity pulls away.
He leaves him sputtering for a second before grabbing his arm and pulling him upright. "Let's go."
Dream, suddenly, pulls back. "Wait, what did you give me? Quackity- wait, stop-"
As they near the lava, Dream starts fighting full force. "Stop, stop! No, no I'm not going in there, please, Quackity, please!"
They don't fucking have time for this. Anger makes his vision go red and before he even really knows what he's doing, Quackity is ramming the axe into Dream's left shoulder. Metal slices through skin and tendon with ease as the smell of iron floods Quackity's senses. A new, heavy stream of blood quickly drips down into the old, ratty jumpsuit. Dream cries out and his knees buckle under the weight, so now Quackity has to hold Dream up too.
"I'm trying to save your life, Dream, so get the fuck up." Dream frantically shakes his head as he doubles over, the arm still in Quackity's grip desperately pulling against him. "You swim in there all the time so I don't know what the problem is!"
Dream shudders and turns away. He uses his legs to push himself towards the corner he always hides in.
Quackity wants to scream, nearly does, as he yanks Dream back. "If you don't fucking stop I'm going to send this through your neck next."
He gestures with the axe for emphasis and Dream instantly stills. His hand reflexively goes to the scar there that Tommy left nearly a year ago. Quackity rolls his eyes and pulls Dream up, again. Dream goes easier this time, but that might be because he's hardly present. His gaze is far away as they reach the wall of lava.
