We're gonna build a wall
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In which you see the fantastic Ranboob for the
 first time, and get run over by a train. Twice. 
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-OllycErb on twitter

   The country was turned into utter ruins and giants holes of mud and sand. The buildings that were still standing were on fire, and let out a dark, thick fog from their broken windows. A fog, which prevented you from seeing anything out of your 50-feet radius, and made the air harder to breathe. Those people, who weren't currently fighting the withers, were lying injured on the ground, desperately trying to stop several parts of their body from bleeding.

   Even though you hadn't been there, you knew exactly what had happened. But it still hurt when Karl confirmed it.

   "This is right after Manburg got blown up. Everyone was beside themselves in shock due to the explosion and the fact that Wilbur had died in it. No one but Tommy really understood why Techno suddenly spawned those withers, so they didn't really know how to react. They just knew they had to protect the remainings of the county they had just fought for. Techno tried his hardest to prevent them from exactly that, because he felt as if everyone had used him. Because Pogtopia had made Tubbo the new president, despite his warnings - and I'm pretty sure you know he's an anarchist." Karl explained sadly, as he viewed the scene once again. His old self and Quackity were firing arrows at one of the withers, while Skeppy, Bad, and Eret were attacking it with their swords. He had been slightly injured from the fight, but it wasn't anything compared to some of the others. Quackity, for example, had injured his leg very badly, and the old Karl had been struggling to support him while shielding them both from any further damage.

   "I tried to prevent it, I really did. I even broke the button Wilbur was going to use to blow everything up. But no matter what I did, he would always find another way to blow it up. This outcome was simply unavoidable."

   You didn't really hear what Karl said. Lost memories were too busy hitting you as if you had just gotten run over by a whole train with 500 passengers.

   Wilbur, Techno, Tubbo. Wilbur, Techno, Tubbo. Your mind kept saying those three names on repeat as if one of them would be the keyword to finally remember everything.

   And in some way, they were.

   Wilbur, Techno, Tubbo. Wilbur had died after blowing up Manburg. Something he had led you in on, something you had agreed to help him with. Techno had gone mad. Techno, who you adored so much. And Tubbo - Tubbo had just become the new president.

   Your eyes flickered through the fighting crowd. More and more faces seemed familiar. Eret, Niki, Tommy, Fundy. You let out a gasp once you recognized Quackity. Everyone was there, and you remembered. You remembered everything.

   And you hated yourself for forgetting in the first place.

   Karl stopped talking, giving you room to have your little breakdown.

   Thoughts were razing through your mind, but you were too numb to take a notice of them. You just silently watched the scene play out in front of you, as Karl stroked your back in a hopeless effort of making you feel better. Whenever you tried to look away, he would just calmly say your name. You knew you had to look - Karl hadn't taken you here just for you to close your eyes. But gosh, it hurt to see everything you had failed to prevent. 

   Dream made his entrance right after your friends had defeated the last one of Techno's withers. His presence confused you since you had just seen him disappear into the woods with you in his arms, but you didn't wanna ask Karl about it. You doubted your mouth would let a single word out, even if you tried.

   His head was hanging low in fake sorrow, and everyone stopped dead in their tracks when they saw him - this included Techno, who had been just about to flee, considering how the people of Manburg weren't very fond of him right now. He stepped aside, and let Dream join the circle that surrounded him.

   All of your friends completely forgot about Techno's crimes and directed all of their hatred towards the masked man. Tommy was the first one to speak up, scolding Dream and suspecting that he knew about all of this from the start. Quackity however, was more interested in you.

   "Where's (Y/n)?" You heard him say through gritted teeth. It wasn't because he was angry, it was because his leg was bleeding so badly that he had to concentrate in order not to faint. His eyes, on the contrary, showed nothing but concern. Concern for your wellbeing. And the sight broke your heart.

   All of your friends have had to go through all of this alone. The death of Wilbur, the destruction of their home, the disappearance of you. And you hadn't been there for them.

   All because Dream had prevented you from being so. 

   Everyone fell silent, waiting for Dream to answer his question. This included you, who was nervous to see what lie he would come up with this time.

   "I need to tell you guys something." He started slowly. Your heart dropped. "(Y/n) was trying to get to Wilbur. I think she was going to stop him, but she didn't make it in time. She blew up along with all of the TNT. I'm sorry, I couldn't save her."

   The person who took it the worst was probably yourself. You completely lost your balance, despite Karl's attempt to catch you. You landed on your butt and stared wide-eyed at Dream. You felt as if the train from earlier had just reversed and run over you again. 

   He didn't. You knew he didn't.

   Anything but that.

   Tubbo had the same reaction as you. The boy lost his balance and fell to the ground. Niki covered her mouth with a shaking pair of hands, suppressing a scream. Techno was just staring at Dream, face dull.

   The silence continued for a short moment. Then Quackity limped over to Dream and grabbed his collar aggressively. "You're lying! You're fucking lying! Where's her body then, huh? My best friend couldn't possibly-... I-, (Y/n) wouldn't..." his voice died out in sobs.

   You whispered Dream's name in horror as you watched him push Quackity harshly to the ground. Quackity, already being injured, couldn't come up again. You would've rushed to his side even if he couldn't see you, but Karl kept you in place.

   You wanted to close your eyes. You didn't want to see the looks on your friends' faces, once the lie that Dream had told them, fully sank in. Quackity's reaction was hurtful enough.

   But you couldn't look away. At that very moment, your body refused to move a muscle. Not because you knew Karl wanted you to look, but because you knew that you needed to. You needed to clarify, to witness first hand, that Dream wasn't the person you had thought he was. That he wasn't the same person you had grown up with anymore, the person you had searched for all this time, or the person you had fallen in love with. You needed to see what he was doing to people, behind your back. To your friends. But it sure didn't make the situation hurt any less.

   Fundy and Eret were frozen. Tubbo had started crying while Tommy was going absolute berserk. Niki screamed. Quackity kept lying on the ground, shaking, nearly drowning in his own tears. And Techno? The monotone guy was finally showing hints of emotions - hints of such sadness and devastation it was contagious. He took a faltering step backward and dropped his crossbow.

   Dream continued talking, trying to make his lie more believable, but nobody listened anymore. They were caught up in their own grief.

   Your body finally allowed yourself to move again, but it still wouldn't let you control its actions. Your feet slowly brought you closer to the crowd, walking in between your friends. This time, Karl let you.

   You kneeled down beside Quackity. You walked in front of Techno. You cupped Niki's cheek. You placed a hand on Tubbo and Tommy's shoulders, but no matter what you did, they didn't see you. Didn't feel you.

   You were dead to them. Quite literally.

   "No. No-no-no, I'm right here guys. I-I'm still alive, I'm-" you tried, voice cracking several times. You turned your head to look at Karl, who was still standing where you had left him. He was looking down at his shoes. "K-Karl, tell them that I'm still here-"

   He met your puffy eyes and shook his head. Finally made his way toward you. "I can't (Y/n), I'm sorry. That's not how it works."

   Karl wrapped his arms around you, and even though the two of you weren't that close, you sunk into the comfort his touch brought you. It managed to silence everything around you, and that was just what you needed. For some odd reason, Karl suddenly began lifting you up. You felt the ground disappear underneath you, and not being in the mood for being swung around, you tried to pull away. And when you did, you realized he wasn't lifting you - it was just the universe that had begun to crumble around you once again, snatching the earth away from underneath you. Just a typical afternoon.

   Another scenery soon appeared in front of you, leaving no trace of the last one. It was sunnier, and there were no traces of smoke left in the air. The forest around you was oak-brown and primitive, and the grass underneath you, crispy and dry. An orchestra of birdsongs could be heard in the distance, and so could two pairs of footsteps coming from behind you. You didn't want to see who it was just yet. You didn't know if your mental health could handle any more pain. You might just break.

   "It's okay," Karl assured you once he saw how your eyes were squeezed shut. He placed a warm hand on your shoulder, heating up the entirety of your body along with the sun rays. With his assistance, you found the courage to look at your surroundings.

   Your eyes were met with Tommy's fiery ones, looking right through you. He was walking toward you at a quick pace, and once he and his friend had passed you and Karl, you had a hard time keeping up.

   You would've looked for any major changes in Tommy's appearance, trying to figure out if anything had happened to him, but all you could do was looking at the boy, walking right next to him.

   A boy, who seemed familiar in so many ways, and yet you were absolutely certain that you've never seen him before. He was very tall, even taller than Tommy. He was wearing a crown and a nice suit, but what shocked you the most was his skin. Exactly the left side of his body was completely black, and the right side was white. It almost divided his body into two parts, one of them having many similarities with an enderman, and the white one with something else. His left eye was green, the other was red. You didn't even know such a human existed.

   "Who's that?" you asked, not taking your eyes off the boy. He had now his back turned to you, still walking alongside Tommy. 

   A crooked smile appeared on Karl's lips. "That's Ranboo. He came to Manburg almost right after you disappeared. Don't worry, he's a good guy."

   You played with his name on your tongue. "Ranboo," you repeated.

   "This is a week or so after the explosion of Manburg." Karl pointed out, as the two of you kept following the boys. They were walking right outside of Manburg, which was a shame since you would've really liked to see how the country had recovered from the explosion. You were pretty sure you recognize this part of the forest, but you weren't entirely sure.

   "Tommy didn't take Wilbur's death very well. Or yours, for that matter. He wanted to act out on everyone around him, and he began to prank others as a way to cope. But today, was special. he wanted to do something big, and so he convinced Ranboo to help him do so. They're about to burn George's new house down."

   You gasped, not believing what Karl had just told you. "Oh no, not his hobbit hole! What has George ever done to Tommy?"

   Karl smiled at the fact that you remembered the hobbit hole. This was working. "Personally, I don't think they meant any harm to George. I think it was an attempt to hurt Dream. Tommy still partly blames him for everything that has happened, and now that you're - well, dead - the person that's closest to Dream, is George. That, or it's just punishment for George's absence when everything went down."

   You wanted to ask more questions, but for now, you decided it would be best to just observe. You watched as Tommy and Ranboo found their way to George's house, and started placing harassing signs, stealing George's stuff, and burning the place down. It was a typical Tommy-thing to do, but you were still surprised at how far he went. Ranboo wasn't all that cruel  - in fact, he seemed a tiny bit uncomfortable throughout it all, but he still didn't do anything to stop Tommy. And that made him just as guilty. 

   The two boys continued until they were satisfied with their work. Grinning widely, they both disappeared into the forest again, careful not to be seen. They left you to stand confused next to Karl, who didn't show any intention of following them anymore. 

   "Why did you show me this, Karl?" You asked, looking at what was left of George's house. It had a sign placed right in front of it, saying "Bitches house", and the little bridge across his pong was completely destroyed. A part of his house was still on fire, and you had to stop yourself multiple times from stepping forward to try and take it out. You had to constantly remind yourself of the fact that you weren't able to touch anything.

   Karl took your hand again, and you knew that he would soon show you another scene. "This crime was the beginning of something huge." He simply said, gesturing for you to close your eyes. And so, for the fourth time, he traveled through time. 

-

   When Karl had said that, you did imagine something huge. You didn't feel like he was the type of guy to exaggerate in such a serious situation. You thought that maybe Tommy and Ranboo would be forced to rebuild George's house from the ground and pay him a small amount of money, but never in a million years would you have expected this.

   If Dream faking your death was bad, you didn't know how to describe the next couple of scenes Karl took you to.  It all started with you and him being taken into a courthouse where a lot of your friends were seated. Tubbo, who Karl had just explained to be the new president of Manburg, was apparently the jury. Since Tommy was imprisoned as the defendant, it wasn't hard to guess that he was in there because of the crime you had just watched him commit. 

   The lawyer was none other than your best friend in the whole world, Quackity. God, you missed Quackity. And then there was George as the plaintiff. 

   Many were watching the said people along with you and Karl - here included Ranboo, who didn't seem to be suspected for anything - and Tommy, who kept denying any involvement in the griefing of George's house, didn't rat him out either. 

   The reason why Ranboo wasn't suspected, was because of Dream. Karl said, that Dream had been onto Tommy the moment he had seen what had happened to George's house, and as a result, he had begun building obsidian walls around L'manburg to prove a point. Karl explained how Tubbo, as the president, couldn't ignore this. He confronted Dream about it, but the man had just said how he had full trust that the boy would do what was right for the country.
You recognized Dream's manipulation methods when you heard them, and so you were quite nervous about how all of this would turn out - the reason Tubbo had taken Tommy to court in the first place was to make a final decision, and you could tell he was sweating. 

   They were all arguing back and forth about whether Tommy did it or not. Tubbo was having a hard time keeping his cool. Obviously, he didn't want his best friend to get punished, regardless if he did it or not, but as the president, he simply had to stay neutral. You could tell from his body language, his tone of voice, and just his personality as you knew it, that he took his new title very seriously. You were happy to see Tubbo had grown more mature, but you didn't know if all of this seriousness suited him. 

   In the end, Tommy admitted his crime. As punishment, Tubbo put him on probation, stripping him from the powers he had as vice-president. You thought everything then was resolved, but that was when Dream stepped into the picture once again. You were standing right beside him, looking at him with fire and sadness in your eyes, as he told everyone that probation wasn't enough. He brought up the argument that Tubbo needed to keep Manburg peaceful, and that was simply unobtainable with Tommy around. 

   "You've seen what he's done Tubbo, you know him better than anyone! You know probation isn't gonna stop him! He's griefed and pranked people and their houses before, and he'll do it again!" Dream's voice was so stern that it made everyone freeze around him. Including Tommy, who was now standing behind his short best friend, as if Tubbo was a shield. "But George isn't just people, Tubbo. He's the king. And Tommy needs to be held accountable, now more than ever. Tubbo, you know first hand that L'manburg isn't in shape for another war, but I swear to god that I will start one if you don't do anything about this." 

   Dream's words were like a slap in the face. Every sentence he spoke was like another piece of your soul, leaving your body. You still hadn't accepted that this was his true self, rather than the person you had fallen in love with. "Start another war?" you repeated, voice nearly breaking. Then you blinked. "Wait, George is the king?!"

   Karl nodded. He too was affected by Dream's behavior, but he didn't take it as badly as you. "Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you don't know anything. Dream dethroned Eret and made George the new King a week after your disappearance." 

   You gulped. There were so many things you needed to keep up with. "Dream... Dream can do that?"

   Karl nodded, eyes distant. "Dream can do everything."

   You silently cursed Dream again, before letting out a shaky breath and return your gaze to Tubbo. Both of his hands were clenched into fists, his knuckles as white as snow, and his face as red as the tie around his neck. 

   "And what do you suggest I do, then?" He asked Dream carefully. He sounded like one who was on the verge of tears, much in contrast to his angry look.

   Dream didn't hesitate one bit. It was as if he had just waited for Tubbo to ask. "You need to exile him."

   Everyone gasped - including you. Tubbo and Karl were the only ones who didn't seem surprised. Tubbo was thinking so hard, you could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears.

   He was conflicted about what to do. He didn't know when it was best to listen to his brain rather than his heart. And so, he said the only thing that could postpone the decision.   

   "Look." He spoke up, crossing his arms. He pointed a finger between Dream and Tommy. "The second of December, we'll hold a meeting. We'll sign a treaty and solve this. I'm the president, and I decide that's how things are going to be." 

   Dream thought carefully about it. He didn't look satisfied, but he ended up nodding in the end. "See you then."

   Without another word, Dream walked off into the woods, climbing over the obsidian wall he had just built. Everyone had come to terms with Dream's daily disappearances - they didn't mind it, since no one really missed him when he was gone. They didn't know where he was going, but just thought he was either going out training or going to blackmail some other random kids in another village far away. 

   It was a shame none of them saw through his act, and discovered that he was now on his way back to you, ready to pretend that none of this had taken place. 

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Hello, my loves. I'm just here to tell you that the next couple of chapters will just be you observing everything that has happened in Manburg while you were... Well, dead. I hope it doesn't get too boring to read.  

Some of you may not realize just how much stuff, how many different storylines, character backgrounds, etc, that I have to include in order for this story to be just the slightest bit accurate. There's so much that needs to be covered. It's quite stressful to know that we're not even halfway through the storyline, despite the fact I've already left out some arguably huge side-plots (such as the pet-war), in order to get through things quickly, without rushing of course.

I feel like when it comes to DSMP reader inserts, the majority ends before Dream's prison arc, for example. I really, really want this book to be "not like the other girls" in that department. I promise I'm going to keep writing if you'll keep reading, so don't worry about this book ending anytime soon.  

That said, I may end up leaving yet another thing out because the storyline just keeps getting longer and longer, and I do want this book to have an end at some point, lol. If I do, I'll make sure to let you know. 

Anyways, this book is a pleasure writing. I'm not kidding when I say that I read every single one of your comments. I love you all - thanks for letting this little author-dream of mine come true. 

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Also, if you had trouble imagining a train that would run you over, don't worry, Avery's got you:

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