Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter Warnings:

Cursing [no Fresh to censor yet ;)]

Sparring, light injuries

Chapter One Start

The world came into awareness with an annoying buzzing sound. Killer paused, interrupted in his dreamless sleep, and tried to think of what that meant. It was probably his alarm, but he was confused. He didn’t have any work or assigned missions to do today, and he would be sleeping in, if it wasn’t for his still vibrating phone. What could he have to do today, on his day off? Laundry was taken care of last week, his room was clean enough, if it was a raid or an attack someone else would be waking him up… Probably wasn’t a text message either, this was too long, but who would text him anyway? He didn’t have too many friends aside from the gang, Color, Outer… wait a minute. He was forgetting… oH SHIT HE’S GONNA BE LATE FOR HIS MEETUP WITH OUTER!!

Killer swung upright with all the grace of a beached whale, grabbing for his jacket and sneakers. Struggling to slip his shoes on, he tumbled out of his door and started jogging to the kitchen. He would be running, but if he did one of the others or even ‘Mare might stop and ask him what’s wrong. As it was he knew he was going to have to dodge Horror a bit, since he was probably already making breakfast. He slowed once he got to the living/dining room. Dust and Cross were huddled on the couch planning for something, by the looks of the giggles and hushed back-and-forth. Walking into the kitchen, Killer grabbed a ketchup bottle and water bottle from the fridge and did a sort of half-twirl around Horror to grab one of the first two pancakes. Although Horror was a good cook and one of the best out of all of them, the first couple were always a little weird.

“Heya Killer, you’re a little early for your day off, huh? Sleep well?” Horror noticed his attempt at a pancake grab, and let him have it. Objective complete!

Killer responded easily, “Yeah, didn’t wake up in the middle of the night or anything. I assume yours went well too? Would stay to talk more, but I’m gonna have to head out soon.”

Starting on a third and fourth pancake in the pan, Horror tried for a little more info. “That’s alright. I am wondering where you’re going on pancake day though, you usually stay and sleep in.”

A little apprehensively, “Going on a walk, decided to enjoy the morning when it’s not for a mission.”

Horror narrowed his eye in slight suspicion, knowing this was odd for him, but decided to go with it. “Alright, just make sure you get back in time for lunch, or let Boss know if you’re not.”

Giving a nod, Killer started out of the living room into the front hall. Nightmare was busy catching up on paperwork on Kills’ days off, so he wouldn’t have to worry about that. Killer thinks he’s too stubborn for his own good, since it would usually take the entire team’s coordinated efforts just to get him to take a day off anyway. With a huff, Killer picked up the pace. He was cutting it a little close this time, but at least he’d remembered to set his alarm a little earlier. Once he was sure he was far enough away that the portal couldn’t be seen from the mansion, he lifted up his preferred knife and charged his magic through the blade. With a strong downswing, he ripped open a portal to a familiar stretch of space.

Grinning, Killer hopped through the portal and landed on one of the outer asteroids in OuterTale. He took a moment to get used to the diminished gravity and to take in the swirling galaxy in front of him. It was a magnificent sight, blues and purples mixing with stars to make a kaleidoscope in front of the little town scattered throughout the cliffs, Stardin. He could see the little lights off in the distance from here, but he hardly knew what it looked like up close. The only time he’d ever gotten to see it in person was during raids, but usually the town was already wrought with chaos and destruction by the time he got there, which was a shame. It was probably peaceful, but what can you do? 

Killer glanced off to the side to see his friend a little ways away, floating lazily in their agreed hangout spot. After making his way over to him, Killer gave Outer a light tug on the sleeve, unsure if he was napping or just closing his eyes for a moment. Outer blinked once or twice in Killer’s direction, before his grin tugged up his face. Seems he hadn’t been napping, for once. With an answering smile, Killer brought a start to their light banter.

“Sure you’re not gonna fall asleep on me in our spar, Star-boy?” Killer liked this kind of banter. It was fun, familiar, and usually helped Outer wake up a little if he was still tired. He was notorious for falling asleep in all kinds of situations.

“Only if you bore me enough,” was the cheeky reply, a mischievous grin on Outer’s skull. He faked a yawn, trying to hide his smile.

Killer gave him a dramatic groan and pretended to drag his feet, shuffling his way over to a longer expanse of the asteroid they were currently on. He was actually pretty excited for this match, but he didn’t want to be too eager. Outer was following behind him, indicated by the slight swish of his shorts and slippers in the light breeze. Stopping once he was five or six feet from his star-bedazzled friend, Killer turned to face his sparring opponent and got into a ready stance. Sparring was a relatively frequent practice for Killer, and it was one of the first ways Nightmare had inadvertently taught him how to socialize with others. 

Normally they would talk more before they started, but they both were a little too excited this time to wait. It was the first time they were going to be practicing sparring while Outer manipulated the gravity in the area around them. Once Outer had mentioned his skill in gravity magic a week or two ago, Killer had wanted to start practicing in lower gravity or even zero gravity. They’d started out by doing target practice, testing Killer’s magnificent skill with knives to see how well he could do if the level of gravity in his knives or targets was different. It had thrown him off a little, but with more practice he’d gotten the hang of it and could adjust well to the situation. Sparring with gravity affecting themselves was the next step, and could prove to be useful in battle.

Calming himself a bit, Outer closed his eye sockets and visualized the area around them. He spread out a thin coating of his magic, grasping onto the stardust that made up the ground and atmosphere inside their encounter, and connected his gravity magic to the area. Once he was sure he had a good hold of the space, he activated his magic and lessened the laws of gravity, starting to lightly float. Mission accomplished, Outer opened his eye sockets and gave a nod to Killer, ready to start their practice. 

Killer brought out one of his knives, and tossed it just off to the right of Outer’s shoulder. It was dodged with a lean to the side, and he flung his hand out to cast a wall of bones, pushing Killer back. Killer teleported behind Outer, reaching for his hood to tug him back, and narrowly missed as the change in position threw him off. Outer sidestepped in the air out of his reach, and a blaster began charging it’s maw, aiming for Killer. Killer jumped on top of the blaster, wobbling a little as he tried to gain his balance, before stabbing through the top of it to dissipate the attack.

Killer lunged for Outer again, lightly slashing his left arm before he could move away. With a grunt, Outer flexed his metacarpals and slung a few bones towards Killer, catching him in the ribs and his right shin as he struggled to twist out of the way in the air. Killer narrowed his eye sockets a bit and got close enough to grapple with him. They crashed into the ground, both trying to gain the upper hand, but Outer got him with a right hook and sprung out from under him. Killer held his skull in surprise and grumbled, but turned to face Outer and readied himself. There was a tense silence, waiting to see who would make the first move, and Killer dashed towards his opponent when he lifted his summoning arm. 

Determined to succeed and now more used to moving through the air, Killed wrapped an arm around Outer in a headlock. Outer started to wiggle to try and escape, but froze when he heard the high-pitched whine of a charging blaster. There was a tense minute or so as Outer assessed his situation. Stuck in a chokehold with a knife in Killer’s grasp, a charging blaster aiming towards him, Outer gave a sigh and relaxed in his friend’s hold. He knew Killer still had the HP to be able to take a blast, even with his cracked ribs and shin. Outer deactivated his gravity magic from the area, restoring the gravity to normal. Killer had won this time.

Killer gave him a smile and offered him a ketchup bottle from his inventory, still panting a bit from adrenaline but wanting to help fix up his arm. Outer accepted the bottle and took a swig, restoring the few decimals of damage he’d taken and his magic levels. Outer walked a few steps to their usual seating spot, and patted the area next to him in invitation. Killer plopped down next to him, pulling out a water bottle and drinking a good half of it. 

“Want me to heal those?” Outer pointed to his shin and abdomen, which Killer had been trying to avoid aggravating or breaking further.

“If you wouldn’t mind..” was the slightly sheepish reply.

Outer gave an easy smile “No trouble at all, I know you’re not really skilled in healing magic.” His hands lit up in a soft indigo, and he picked up Killer’s leg to trace the crack and heal it. 

Killer’s target soul gave a light pulse as Outer lightly gripped the hem of his sweater, glancing up to make sure he was okay to heal Killer’s ribs. Killer flushed a light red, but nodded regardless as Outer pulled up his sweater to expose his ribcage, reached out and focused on tracing the cracked ribs to heal them. Killer gave a small hum in response to the soothing magic, and pulled his sweater back down once his friend was done.

Killer took a moment to stretch, as Outer admired his form with a slight flush, as Killer closed his sockets tightly before settling back down. Outer glanced off to the side and made an effort to refocus himself on the conversation. ‘Don’t think about his ribs, don’t think about how flexible he is…’ Outer seemed to jump a bit, remembering what he forgot to do. “Hey Kills, look at me for a moment?”

Killer turned to look at his companion, and jolted the tiniest amount in shock when Outer reached out to cup his face. Killer’s face lit up in a ruby red as magic scattered across where his zygomatic bones would be. Outer took a few moments to gently smooth his hand over the right side of his face, and Killer relaxed into the comforting touch with a slight purr. Killer only realized what had happened when Outer pulled back a lightly glowing hand, and Killer could feel the right side of his face was tingling slightly.

“Almost forgot to heal your face, coulda left a bruise on ya.” Outer gave him an apologetic look, he hadn’t meant to hit him too hard.

“Not to worry, it was a pretty good spar after all. My teammates have given me more trouble before.” Killer tried to push away any lingering blush, and refocus back on the situation. He tried not to think about how nice that’d felt, or how he’d almost whined when Outer pulled away.

“You got the hang of it pretty quickly, not to mention you still beat me. Pretty impressive, bud!” Outer bumped shoulders with him a little, grinning. 

Killer beamed at the praise, proud of his progress, “Yeah, it was difficult because I couldn’t figure out how to move like I normally would. You got me good a few times there, but that just shows you can never get too comfortable.”

“Alright, alright I get it you’re too good for me, ya smug nerd.” Outer continued to ‘bemoan his loss,’ but he was smiling.

Killer settled back onto his hands with a smile, feeling satisfied with how the first few hours of his day had gone. Gazing up at the galaxy as it revolved around him in a lazy spin, he wondered what the others had been up to while he was gone. The world was at peace.

Words: 2,230

Pages on Docs: 5

Chapter Text

Chapter Warnings:

Discussion of situation in HorrorTale; i.e. starvation, famine, cannibalism (shouldn’t go into too too much detail)

Chapter Two Start

The slight swoosh of filtering air and the hum of the air system were the first things Horror became cognizant of. His eyelight fuzzy and flickering, he drew his gaze across the room in a slow crawl. He couldn’t hear Paps downstairs in the kitchen, and this wasn’t his home in Snowdin.. Where was he again? It took a long moment for him to recall where he was, safe in Nightmare’s castle. He had teammates and friends nearby, and food to cook with. The relief was nigh overwhelming, but more than welcome.

Making his way out of bed, Horror slid his feet into his slippers. Pulling on his jacket over his t-shirt, he snuggled into the fluffy hood for a moment. Shuffling his way over to his door, he decided his sweatpants were fine for pancake day. It was too early for his shorts anyway, he didn’t feel like giving up his leg warmth yet.

The light in the office was already on, but Horror would give Nightmare a seat at the table just in case. Pulling out flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, Horror began sifting the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Making a well in the center of the dry ingredients, he poured in a mixture of eggs, milk, and butter before mixing well. Preparing to make the various types of pancakes the crew liked, he pulled out all the necessary toppings and additives.

 He separated most of the batter into individual bowls, two parts to be stirred with chocolate chips, two parts plain, and one special spicier batch for Boss. He himself didn’t much care for whether or not they had chocolate, but he could admit he didn’t care for the spiced blend. Adding in the chocolate chips was easy, but he would have to add more for Nightmare’s mix.

Adding some cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, he roughly chopped some dark chocolate to keep off to the side of the stove with the rest of the batter. Setting up the table for five, Horror moved onto what was arguably the hardest part of the morning. Waking Dust and Cross may prove to be a challenge.

Horror decided to start with Cross first, as he usually woke up more agreeably. Nudging his way through Cross’ door, Horror made his way over to Cross, who was seemingly buried underneath a mountain of comforter and fluffy blankets. He had to dig a little before he managed to unearth Cross, who was face down until gently rolled over in his cocoon by the larger skeleton. Patting his face lightly and nudging his skull, Horror was able to pull some soft mumbling from the sleepy skeleton.

After a few more minutes of gentle prodding, Horror was able to wake Cross enough to pull him from his fluffy fortress, lightly slinging the smaller monochrome skele over his shoulder to be deposited on the living room couch. He mumbled and blinked a bit, but settled into the cushions without complaint. ‘One down, one more to go…’

Dust was one of the more unpredictable of the crew, and Horror has had to dodge more than a few attacks in his past attempts. A little apprehensively, Horror opened the door to the smaller skeletons room and closed it behind him gently. Dust rarely woke up loudly, but it was better if an attack pierced the door rather than the hallway.

Picking his way through the organized chaos of Dust’s room, Horror successfully made it to his teammate’s bed. Dust was curled up under a blanket, clutching onto his brother’s scarf. Gently, Horror reached out to pet Dust’s skull in a few light passes.

After a few moments passed, Dust leaned into his hand with a small questioning hum and loosened his grip on the scarf. Horror flared his magic a little more, brightening his eye for a moment, to let Dust feel his magic signature. Dust pulsed his own magic in response, and settled more into his hand. It took a few more minutes of attempting to rouse him, before Horror was finally able to move his friend into an upright position. Dust grumbled, but pulled out of Horror’s arms to half-heartedly shoo him away.

“Alright, alright ‘m up. Let me get dressed, I’ll be down in a minute.” Dust rubbed his eye socket tiredly, but began to move to grab his scarf and jacket. 

Horror grinned and gave him an affectionate head pat, already out the door before Dust could even try to swat at him. Making his way downstairs and towards the living room, Horror could see Cross had huddled himself into the couch more and had piled pillows around himself. Horror dropped his jacket on the makeshift fort in passing, before grabbing an apron in the kitchen to tie around himself. It was Pancake Time.

Already heating butter in a large pan on the stove, Horror began to pour and cook some of the plain pancake batter. He could hear Dust meander his way into the living room and plant himself next to Cross on the couch. Placing the first two pancakes on a plate next to the stove, Horror was surprised to hear hurried footsteps and the fridge opening and closing behind him. Turning to see Killer grab a pancake, Horror wondered why he was up earlier today. Usually he’d sleep in until Horror could bring his breakfast up to his room, and then he might sleep a little more after.

“Heya Killer, you’re a little early for your day off, huh? Sleep well?” He seemed the tiniest amount rushed, but Horror couldn’t think of anywhere Killer would need to be. Nightmare was adamant about his rule of allowing the gang one day off each week, even if he regularly broke it himself.

“Yeah, didn’t wake up in the middle of the night or anything. I assume yours went well too? Would stay to talk more, but I’m gonna have to head out soon.” Well that was vague.

“That’s alright. I am wondering where you’re going on pancake day though, you usually stay and sleep in.” Horror decided to try and address it directly, absentmindedly cooking more pancakes. 

“Going on a walk, decided to enjoy the morning when it’s not for a mission.” Honestly, this was really odd now. Killer was usually one of the crew to complain about physical exertion whenever it was asked of him - even if it was just moving two steps forward. 

Truthfully, Killer was probably lying, but so long as he came back in fine condition there was nothing Horror could do about it. Slowly, Horror replied, “Alright, just make sure you get back in time for lunch, or let Boss know if you’re not.”

Once Killer left the kitchen, Horror turned back to the stove and flipped his pancakes. As he cooked, genuinely on airplane mode at this point, Horror reminisced on how he’d ended up in a castle, flipping pancakes and working under the King of Negativity. It was a little difficult to recall, given the years and his less-than-stellar recollection.

Sans slumped at his wooden workstation with a feigned ease, tightening his grip on the cleaver below the wooden countertop. Skull rested idly in the crook of his arm, he tilted his head just so, consciously adjusting his position in order to hide his betraying eyelight. He looked restful, as still as the snow surrounding the rotting wood of his sentry post. Any predators would be allured by the feigned moment of vulnerability, soon to become prey. He would have to move on later if nothing came, as he did most days, roaming the barren forests surrounding Snowdin for anything edible.

Trap successfully in place, Sans took the time to conserve his energy and remained alert. It had been long enough since the last human fell that the residents of Snowdin were beginning to grow agitated and restless, weary of each other and the growing temptation of cannibalism. Most were scattered among their homes or the streets, Grillby’s growing quiet once more. The Empress’s guards hadn’t been seen much in the last months, busy guarding the dump and any resources that may come from it, among the castle and resource depots.

She had started seizing any and all resources she could not long after the CORE and Alphys had been downed permanently- SNAP! The loud splinter of a twig rang out in the quiet of the clearing, and Sans strained his hearing to listen for whomever may be approaching. The air was quiet, but tense with an anticipation of an encounter. Desperately, hunger began clawing at him, reawakened and impatient in the face of a potential meal. In a sort of jaded way, Sans pushed aside the gnawing hunger and focused on his opportunity. Paps would be happy to have another meal. A quiet, near imperceptible shuffle of snow to his right, and Sans pulled himself taut to lunge for the approaching creature.

Sans leapt for the figure that was off to the right of his station, the figure a mass of tar and shadows. Digging his claws into the snow, Sans pivoted to look at the figure again, largely undeterred by their sidestep. It was another skeleton, eerily similar to his own image, but many things were off. They almost resembled him before the final human fell during the reign of Asgore. They were shorter than he, but their cold gaze and strong posture was intimidating nonetheless. Eyelight akin to a chip of ice, they scanned his form, seeming to linger on his brittle and ashen bones.

The beginning of a snarl started low in his ribs, and he attempted to spring forward again, clawed fingertips glinting in the light, cleaver held high. Caught mid-leap by a strong tendril that sloped from behind the figure, he started thrashing, trying to escape their grip. 

“None of that. Rest now, I have a deal to offer you later.” A tendril swept over Sans’ skull, sleep magic a gentle pulse as their fading voice echoed through his skull. It was peaceful.

Hours later, he came to with a start, whirling around the room to find himself alone. He couldn’t feel the permeating cold of Snowdin, nor could he find his cleaver or spare axe. He didn’t have to wait long though, footsteps could be heard striding down the hall, coming to a stop before the door in front of him. The figure from earlier appeared in the doorway and spared him a small glance before gesturing for him to follow. Uneasily, Sans followed.

Upon reaching a smaller kitchen area, they waved him towards a barstool at an island in the middle, busying  themself with something else around the room. Warily, Sans sat and figured he may as well start asking questions.

Gruffly, “..what’s yu’r name?” They took a moment to answer, still prepping something, by the way they were pulling items from cabinets and drawers.

“I am known by a few things, but Nightmare is the most common. What shall I call you?” Their voice was strong, deep, and gruff in a light way. There was a faint reverb too, distinct. 

Taking in their similarities, Sans pondered his response. This odd, wrong doppelgänger was intimidating, if their name was any indication, and Sans wasn’t sure he wanted to tell them his actual name even if they were versions of the same person. He could remember the multiverse theory, at least. 

“..how about Horror?” He figured he looked the part, at least. 

They gave a chuckle, “Nice to make your acquaintance Horror. Now, how would you like to work for the King of Nightmares?”

Horror began plating the pancakes, setting them at his teammate’s respective spots. He’d never expected how much could change in just a few hours, how many lives would be saved in just one day. All it took was one word, yes. His deal with Nightmare was still standing steady, and he would always be grateful to his boss for it.

Their years of suffering were brought to an end, food and supplies going to their starvation ridden town. Nightmare would take small amounts of food and supplies from other timelines who he’d made deals with, a large amount of them some type of Fell-verse, and would distribute the resources to other universes that were in need. He wasn’t able to help all of them, not with the Empress squandering the available resources and keeping a tight hold of New Home and some parts of Waterfall. 

In return, Nightmare got ample amounts of suffering to feed off from the universe without having to remain discreet, and got healthy workers and helpers once their health was as recovered as it could be. HorrorTale residents were remarkably resourceful and more than eager to help their food supplier. Horror and his brother Trap were arguably his biggest assets though, Horror being a part of his personal gang and Trap was a wonderful healer. Trap tends to stay in their home AU, but they both cook astoundingly.

Horror popped his head out of the kitchen after he was done plating and setting up the table, trying to see where his teammates were. He couldn’t help but laugh a little at what he saw, Dust seemed to have spotted his coat where he had lain it atop of Cross earlier. Both of the smaller skeletons had squished themselves together and wrapped his larger coat around the both of them. ‘They were actually cuddling together in his coat, oh my stars this is too precious!’

Taking a moment to snap a quick picture of the scene, he made his way over and lifted up the hood to peek at the skulls underneath. Apparently they’d both been tired enough to fall asleep again, and Cross had tucked his skull under Dust’s just enough that they could easily nuzzle into each other. Horror gave them a sappy, affectionate look before he gave them both a little skeleton kiss to the skull, taking care to scoop them up and set them into their seats.

He felt a little bad for having to wake them up after such a cute moment, but food was important. Horror nudged them both awake before taking a seat at his own spot next to Dust, starting on his own pancakes. Cross started eating almost instantaneously, drawn by the smell of chocolate chips, but Dust took a few moments to blink dazedly and start on his food once he was aware enough. Their breakfast wasn’t all that loud, mostly small comments and compliments on the food among smiles. He made sure to rib them a little, he found their coat cuddling moment absolutely adorable. The purple tints were definitely worth it.

Horror took care to wrap up the leftovers and put them in the fridge, setting up a plate and prepping some coffee for Nightmare. He took Cross and Dust back to the little blanket nest on the couch, tucking his jacket around them and setting the remote within their reach. Grabbing Nightmare’s plate and coffee mug, he checked to see it was nearly 11:00 before making his way up the stairs. 

Trailing down the hall, Horror gave a soft rap of his knuckles on the door to Nightmare’s office, hearing a distracted “come in” before he opened the door with a soft click. Nightmare was resolutely hunched over a small scattering of paperwork on the desk, the slight scribbling of a pen the only other ambience. 

Horror set the plate and mug down on a clear section of the desk’s surface, giving one of Nightmare’s idling tendrils a little pat. Nightmare turned from his duties, thoughtful still on what seemed to be more legal paperwork, downing the coffee without a second thought. Horror huffed a little, but knew that Nightmare liked black coffee more than seemingly anything else. It cleared a little of the distant look from his eyelight, at least. 

Starting on the pancakes, Nightmare gained a small smile from his preferred variety. “Excellent as always Horror, thank you for keeping me in mind.”

With a grin, “No problem boss, I like cooking for all of ya.You’re gonna take a break for later today, right? Ya been pretty busy this week, the boys’ve missed ya.” Horror missing him as well went unsaid.

“No worries, I just need to finish up some legal work from one of the Fellswaps and one or two Surface timelines. Should be finalized by lunch, then I’m free for the remainder of the day.” Nightmare’s response was patient and resolute, but Horror knew he’d be glad for the break.

Horror grinned at him, collecting the plate after a little more listless chatter, giving him a little wave before he walked out. A tentacle lingering near his shoulder gave a little wag in return. The door was closed behind him with a quiet click, and Nightmare spared a small moment of quiet gratitude once more before he refocused his efforts on the paperwork before him.

Words: 2,835

Pages on Docs: 6

Chapter Text

Chapter Warnings:

Worldbuilding involving politics of Fellverse timelines [sorry if it’s a little boring, I like exploring Nm’s job :’)]

Weird conversation topics (courtesy of my cursed siblings)

Cursing [once again no Fresh censor ;(]

Chapter Three Start:

Honestly, this was one of the stupidest policies Nightmare had ever seen. It was coming from a Fellswap copy wherein this particular Toriel decided she was above modesty and reasonable concern, these policies filled with far too much hubris, something that would easily be seen even in a pacifistic timeline’s populous. She was ordering lavish gowns, furniture, and precious materials like gold and jade, claiming it was ‘to improve the homes of the general populous housing the Capital’, but really these funds were going only to the castle she’d inherited after the King left. If you read the fine print you could obviously see where it was really going, and he knew even the pricks in the Capital would be pissed when they found out, regardless of the fact it would be for their own selfish reasons they wanted the funding.

Nightmare supposed the Queen’s foolish decisions didn’t matter too much to him though, he would only be benefitting from her arrogance. He made smaller, subtler changes to the document, making it more obvious to the public eye what would really be happening with their tax funds and resources. He also denoted the payment to the laborers in a small section, showing how painfully underpaid the workers were, and their insufficient conditions. He made careful note to keep the changes small and mostly unnoticeable to the smug officials, but shifted the diction of the work to incite more anger in citizens than it would have previously. This paperwork would be a ticking time-bomb, causing a delightful level of outrage from the general populous in one of many Fellswap copies, and if he was lucky, would be one of the many small steps leading to revolution.

Most of Nightmare’s paperwork throughout the day went something similar to this, albeit with different settings, but all of them held a common goal of causing chaos and negativity. For some, this was a wake up call, a clear sign to the public eye that their governments were corrupt, and that changes needed to be enforced. For those timelines, the situation was usually a long, arduous road until the citizens were able to make the change they wanted happen, but they would inevitably become stronger for it in the end. For others, the warring decisions would become too much, crumbling entire societies and nations under the strain. It was usually the surface timelines that would wither and collapse, countries unable to come to an agreement and annihilating each other as they boiled in negativity.

It was usually Fellverses or the more negative oriented ones that he fed off of, a steady supply throughout the multiverse. They were easier to make deals with, people willing to work with him in return for protection, and most of the citizens there wished to usurp their tyrant. The ones who didn’t want to leave their dictator’s reign would have to face the followers of the revolution anyway. 

A more covert effort of his, that usually ended up helping, was writing anonymous articles. He hasn’t even told any of the boys about it, but he would adopt an anonymous name and point out the flaws of governments and policies, encouraging the populous to stand up to their rulers and make their changes happen. It was usually a fantastic motivator, a good first step to a societal improvement from the people, and stirred up a good amount of negativity from the media and government officials. Sometimes he would imply the author was under his service if people were a little suspicious of his deals and needed convincing. He’d seen many a face light up in light of that news, the works often a well kept secret within the rebellion's ranks, and they often looked to his words for hope. 

It warmed some part of him, long since buried under harsh, scornful words and eternal hopelessness. The village had always made their contempt for him clear, burning any writings of his they found, as well as any material he tried to teach to the little ones in town. Even if they would never know he was their paragon, being able to write for people who enjoyed his craft and inspiring others… it was freeing in a sense he hadn’t known until he’d seen that very first reaction to the implication he knew the author. He tried not to think about it.

WIth some last minor improvements added to the document, Nightmare read through the paperwork with a scrutiny he was well known for, albeit a little impatiently. One or two of his tentacles thumped in an irate manner, his magic already having endured the long stretches of document editing before, but never eager to do it again. With a huff, he picked up the pace in his check through. If he took too long they may try to break something again, or perhaps worse, try and grab a subordinate to entertain themselves with. Over 500 years old, and he still couldn’t figure out for the life of him how to make his magic pick up some patience. ‘ What a damn unfair life. I need more coffee.’

His final review done, Nightmare picked up the packet of headache-worthy material and set it on the stack of finished work, allowing himself a small smile. He was finally done. 

It was then that he heard the crash from downstairs.

With a deep, irritated sigh pulling itself from him, Nightmare got up from his desk and started towards the stairs, tendrils flicking in response to his agitation. Stomping down the stairs.  the beginning of a snarl started settling itself on his features. He headed towards the kitchen, given the time and metallic clanging he knew where to look for trouble. The boys obviously did something again, seeing as he could feel no battle readiness or hostile emotions or magic. He just hoped they hadn’t managed to set something on fire again. 

He came to an abrupt stop in the doorway. ‘There’s a lot to unpack here, literally what the hell.’

Horror was the first Nightmare saw, radiating adrenaline, panic, and a mild sheepishness at the stare he was getting. He had a plate balanced on his skull, avoiding the hole of course, and had balanced several more platters on his arms. He was stuck in an odd position due to the balancing act. Similarly, Cross had also assumed an awkward position, balancing three plates without magic, one for his head and each hand. He also was using ‘blue’ magic to levitate and hold three more plates above his shoulders. He hadn’t seemed to notice Nightmare yet, focus and adrenaline permeating his aura as he focused on balancing his items.

Killer was by far the oddest, and judging by the faint echo that was his state of panic, he most probably caused this. Nightmare would have to get the account from Horror later, who he knew could be truthful, whereas Killer or Dust may try to shift blame ‘to make things more fun’, as they put it. Killer was stuck in the chandelier in the kitchen, tangled in the metal and chains that made up the decorative lamp that came with the mansion. He radiated embarrassment at Nightmare’s slightly dumbfounded stare, a light blush coloring where his zygomatics would be.

Dust was.. Surprisingly normal, actually. He was sitting against the wall flicking through his phone, playing Sweets Smash most probably, and looking like the stereotypical highschooler. Wait, what was.. Nightmare squinted a little harder with his eye, and upon closer look, Dust was.. wearing makeup?? It actually looked pretty good on him, a deep ocean blue and violet making for a stunning smokey eye, and there was a lighter lavender colored blush applied to his contour lines, with the appropriate highlights added. ‘He should wear makeup more often, he looks good.’

Although a little perplexed upon seeing the current situation, Nightmare moved to help Horror, who looked like he was having trouble with balancing the plates. Once all the plates were set onto the counter, Horror moved around the room quickly, a motion blur as he took the plates from Cross and set them onto the counter before Nightmare had even moved halfway to the smaller subordinate. ‘For such a sizeable fellow, he sure could move fast. It’s a little surprising everytime I see it.’

As Cross moved past him to bring a plate to take to the table in the other room, Nightmare caught a glimpse of the makeup he was wearing as well. He went for a sort of sunset look, wearing an ombre eye makeup with a gradient transitioning from orange to pink. He also had lavender blush on each respective zygomatic, highlights completing the look. ‘Damn, they both look good.’

Nightmare turned to the plates still needing to be moved into the side dining room, busying himself and taking a moment to calm down once he felt his own skull start to heat up in the slightest amount. He considered himself lucky that the negativity covering him made his magic harder to spot, but would rather not let the boys see it anyway or they may ask about it. At least Killer wasn’t down from the chandelier yet to take the opportunity to tease him about it. For all his jokes and fooling around, Killer was arguably the most observant out of the group, and would have spotted the chance to tease his boss immediately. He’d done so before just as Nightmare had tried to ignore the affection radiating from Killer and the rest of them before .

Stubbornly pulling himself together, Nightmare huffed before swatting at one of his tentacles which had formed a little heart at both Dust and Cross’ looks as well as that memory . Dust was using his magic to pull Killer from the chandelier, and Nightmare headed into the other room just in time to see him plop Killer into his seat. Cross and Horror were eagerly chatting and continued to do so as Nightmare sat in his preferred spot.

Cross was talking about the makeup apparently, “Probably shouldn’t have expected being able to pull you away from cooking, but a guy can try. Horror you should really let me and Dust try it out on you next time, I just know you’ll look great!” Ah, that explained the precision in the makeup, Cross and Dust both having a steady hand and apparently practice.

“Yea, will do, you and Dust both look really nice. If anyone could take a crack at my skull, it’d be the both of ya.” Horror’s smile turned sly at the corners after his pun.

Dust cut in, ever the pun-opportunist. “Guess you’ll just have to make it up to us by letting us borrow your jacket. Letting us give you a new look next time as well, of course. I’m sure you’d look delightful like C said.”

Horror gave a nod and a grin, and Nightmare took the moment of pause to bring up his next point. “You both do look lovely, you should wear makeup more often. The makeup highlights your eyes well.” Oh wait, that wasn’t what he was going to talk about next. Shit. Cross and Dust’s surprised blushes and pride mixed with embarrassment affection , only served to distract him a little more. Nightmare could feel his face light up teal, and shifted his gaze to the wall as he tried to refocus himself. 

As he shifted to speak once more, he caught the tail end of Killer giving them a meaningful look and what he suspected may have been a gesture towards Nightmare’s flustered look. He cleared his voice, “As I was meaning to ask, what happened to make all that fuss in the kitchen? Horror and Cross both looked like they were training for a balancing act, and Killer.. Somehow managed to get stuck in the chandelier??” He could hear even his own puzzlement.

It was Killer’s turn to look embarrassed. “Well, you see.. I was, uh, messing around in the simulation room and wanted to practice in altered gravity? Thought it might be useful, since Ink sometimes likes to pick air battles ‘n stuff. Was pretty fun actually, and I got the hang of it well, but when I went to shortcut out I forgot about the change in gravity affecting the superposition. Ended up a little below the kitchen's ceiling, tossed up by the lingering effects of the anti gravity, and got tangled up in the chandelier like a doof.”

Dust gave him an affectionate swat on the arm, “Dumbass, you’re lucky you didn’t end up getting stuck in the wall.”

Nightmare was glad he didn’t get hurt at least, and hummed in thought before he continued. “Gravity training is interesting, you’re right on the fact it’s useful. We all remember how UnderSea went..”

There was a collective shudder from the group, and Horror fingers twitched and made an aborted motion to grab at his dead socket. Nightmare knew getting anything into the hole in his head was extremely uncomfortable for him, and water was arguably the worst, aside from living creatures. 

The group made a silent agreement to move on from the conversation topic, starting on the lunch Horror had made. It was an assortment of hamburgers, hotdogs, and other handheld foods as well as some macaroni and cheese. Honestly, Nightmare didn’t think he could ever get tired of pasta dishes, even something like macaroni. Pasta was a rare find in the village, and hardly anyone local knew how to make it, much less let him purchase it. One of the few times he had it was when Dream had bought it on one of their collective birthdays, the memory faded but homely nonetheless.. He shook the thought from his mind and continued to eat.

The others ate with a swell of content and complimented Horror on the food. The slight influx of emotion wasn’t too bad for Nightmare, the positivity wasn’t strong enough to weaken him much.

It was Dust to bring up the next conversation topic, radiating a chaotic energy that usually meant either bad or amusing events were to come. “So.. y’all ever think about milk?” He swirled his glass, watching his energy drink spin in the cup. “I mean, it’s a beverage, because it’s not water, but it’s also kind of in the same category as juice sometimes, right?”

Killer, Horror, and Nightmare stared in silent befuddlement, and Cross was the one to answer, his curiosity surging. “..Where are you going with this?” 

Wrong move, Cross, wrong move. Dust’s theories are usually not to be indulged, but it seemed Cross still had yet to learn. “I mean… what if milk had pulp like juice did? Do you think it would be any better, and people would enjoy it more with pulp like they enjoy juice more? Milk’s almost like juice, if you think about it, and I bet since humans are so fuckin’ weird there’d be at least some of ‘em who’d like it.”

Cross could only stare at him in an abject sort of horror, utter -ly disgusted by the thought of ‘pulpy milk’ tainting his favorite beverage. He was offended on behalf of his precious choccy milk. “Dude, what the actual fuck? What is wrong with you, my guy? Who the fuck taught you to do this??” Killer cackled, a faint echo of delight wavering from his hovering soul.

Dust grinned, “I mean, it wouldn’t be that bad right? Just give the milk a little texture, mix things up a little? A little crunch never hurt anyone. Isn’t that what people who like pulp buy it for anyway, right?”

Cross looked immensely disgruntled, Nightmare could feel it in his soul even with the visual confirmation. “No one, literally no one ever, describes pulp as ‘crunchy’. Milk and juice don’t even have the same texture. Not to mention-”

The makeup they were both wearing seemed to only add to the situation, making them look like two dramatic Karens in a Mooncash waiting for their coffee. Horror, who had been as vexed as Nightmare himself was at the start of Dust’s speculation, finally burst into a fit of laughter as the ridiculousness of the situation caught up to him. Nightmare’s facepalm created an audible smack in the room, but he smiled through the motion as playful banter and companionship resonated in the room.

Words: 2,728

Pages on Docs: 6

Chapter Text

Chapter Warnings:

Battle and injuries

Cursing, once again ;T

Chapter Four Start

“Nightmare! We’ve come to top your reign of terror, we won’t let you torment these innocents any longer!” Ink struck his typical heroic pose, oversized brush held like a lance.

Nightmare barely flickered his eyelight, unamused. “Ay Speckle, we’re in fuckin’ Underfell. No one ‘round here’s innocent, fuckin’ dumbass!” Dust glanced over to see that Killer was the one to try to correct the creator. 

Ink put a hand on his hip, his pose popping out a little, and he stood his brush back on the snow. “Well duh, everybody knows that. I mean it more like they’re innocent in uh.. Dream, what’d I mean?”

Dream answered before Ink could try to scan his scarf, as he’d done countlessly before. “More like they’re innocent in multiversal matters?” Dust could see even the positivity beacon sounded a little anticipatory.

Dust spoke up as Nightmare’s tentacles flicked in what he recognized to be aggravation, and he could see Paps getting restless as well. “Alright, alright, enough about the speech discussion. Let’s just get started already, yeah?”

There was but a moment of calm, both teams stilled, waiting to see who would attack first. The field erupted in a flurry of movement in the next moment, the whine of charging blasters and the hum of magic loud in the vast cavern.

An irritated grimace formed on Dust’s skull, having narrowly missed a swing to the shoulder from Blue’s warhammer. Dust shot a few bones his way in retaliation, his attacks strong in hungering malice. He could hear a crack, one of his attacks must’ve landed, and he could feel his eyes flare. Blue and Dust pivoted to face each other, surging forward with a clash. 

“Having trouble keeping up?” Dust poked at his opponent, hoping to make things more interesting. He earned a grunt in reply, Blue apparently uninterested in his taunt.

He couldn’t help but smirk a little as they both pushed for an advantage, seeing a smaller puncture wound to Blue’s left ribs, having missed the action, the fight of it all. He knew he always would, and his eyes flared a little sharper at his brother’s whispered encouragement. 

“Just make sure you can keep up.” Blue shoved him back, getting in a right hook to his skull and knocking him out of range.

Dust’s smile twitched wider, and he threw his weight upright and met Blue’s blank face. He was frowning a little, displeased with having to fight but set on trying his best. Dust took the moment to glance at his teammates, and saw they were toying with their opponents, but was only able to look for a moment before his attention was once again redirected.

“Don’t get distracted just yet, Dust.” Blue swung his hammer in from the right, aiming to knock him into a tree likely, and Dust grabbed onto the hammer to slingshot himself upwards.

 A blaster made for an easy platform, and he charged it for a small shot. “How’s this for distracted?” Blue darted to the side, the blast glancing his battle armor, and summoned a few bones to sling in his direction.

Dust didn’t bother to dodge, hopping off the oversized skull and letting the bones dissipate his attack. The pang to his mana was familiar, but not comfortable. He dashed towards his opponent, who swung his warhammer just enough to knock him into a tree. Blue responded with something Dust couldn’t hear over the ringing in his skull, but grumbled and pulled himself from the shattered bark. Something trickled unpleasantly from his spine, likely some shattered vertebrae if he had to guess, and he glanced to his right to meet his brother’s gaze.

The apparition gave a smile tinged with malice, and his brother’s pings towards his magic grew more insistent. Dust decided to give him a little control, he knew his brother was impatient too. Control lessened over his mana pool, he straightened a little as he felt his LV fill him further, and the blue of his eye was swallowed a little more in the red. Paps immediately urged him to summon more complex patterns, up the intricacy for his opponent. Dust complied.

Blue was getting more and more tired the more he threw at him, Dust could see it. He had him on the defensive, banter forgotten in their concentration. Blue had just started to really get the hang of the patterning and sling more attacks at him when something changed in the other half of the battlefield. 

They paused, turning to look at the commotion just as he could see his teammates had. Some of the citizens of Snowdin had begun to scream and cry out, and he could hear buildings groaning in the distance, seeming unstable. Dust smiled, and turned his gaze to his Boss in anticipation. Nightmare was grinning, wisps trailing from his eye as his power increased, the viscosity of his sludge churning faster. 

Dream was grim-faced, having been distracted by Killer and others long enough that he wasn’t able to get to his brother, who was able to kill citizens en masse and prepare for consumption of the universe. Dust could see the rising tides of negativity swallowing the edges of Snowdin, sucking in the snowy landscape and growing ever closer as it consumed the world. It took a lot of Nightmare’s focus to be sure, but Dreamcatcher hadn’t been able to get to him this time.

Ribs cracked and wounds bleeding, Dream called for a retreat before any of the crew could try to capture him. Blue and Ink retreated to the guardian, disappearing to another universe with a portal, defeated. Killer and Cross left to go ransack the shops for any healing items they might be able to snatch before the tar reached their area, and Dust grouped up with his leader again. The world grew darker as it was saturated with pure negativity, and Dust could see Nightmare was sweating as he grew closer, his healing and reforming temporarily on standby.

Dust didn’t say anything. Killer and Cross were back with a dash, healing items and food in their grasp and presumably in their inventory. Dust was the one to open the portal, and Horror stepped through first, Killer and Cross following a moment after. Dust was about to step through when he heard an odd noise, something close to that of a portal opening distantly. He stopped immediately, turning to look at Nights and wonder if the so-called Star Sanses really came back. 

He looked on edge, and they both glanced up to see a small, distinct white square among the black tainting the world. Tensing, they could only watch as something, no, some one , moved and the box closed. It was too far for Dust to see who or what it may have been, but he wondered if Nightmare’s sharper eyesight may have been able to pick it out.

With a shared glance, they agreed to discuss it after and moved through the portal. The world was swallowed up behind them, another universe extinguished in the expanse of the multiverse.

Dust closed the office door behind him with a quiet click. He turned to see Nightmare seating himself at the desk, and sat in the chair before the desk. “Alright, the fuck was that? You saw that too, right?”

“Yes, I saw it too. It looked to be a portal, but I don’t know of anywhere that looks so indistinguishable, just a pure white..” Nightmare’s expression furrowed in contemplation. 

“Yeah, there isn’t anywhere I know of that looks like that. Wasn’t even a shadow in the place. I couldn’t see whatever was on the other side, did you catch it?” Dust was a little frustrated at the elusiveness of the situation. 

Nightmare responded, “I could see it was another skeleton, apparently black boned like myself, which is rare enough as it is. They also seemed to fluctuate, like the entire thing didn’t look right. It may have been the effects of the portal, but it was odd nonetheless.”

Nightmare seemed to make up his mind, and straightened, looking to Dust. He knew he would be getting another assignment, but he was more intrigued with this one. “This will need to be watched for further development. We won’t need to mention it to the team yet, but I will keep looking for anything relating to the situation at hand.”

He continued, “Dust, I need you to keep an eye out for whomever may be watching us, in the meantime. I have a feeling this is not the first nor will it be the last time we may be observed on our excursions, if not our HQ.” 

“Understood. I assume we will be telling the others if the situation escalates, or if they see it themselves.” He knew they’d be made aware of this portal situation one way or another.

“Correct. You may be dismissed if you have no other inquiries, go make sure the others have healed themselves.” And make sure Cross and Killer haven’t eaten all of the sweets they took from the shop. Got it.

Dust exited the office and started towards the kitchen, a small smirk lifting his grin. Things were going to get interesting.

Word Count: 1,537 (oh look, a chapter that's not over 2k words :0)

Pages on Docs: 4

Chapter Text

Chapter Warnings:

Raids and battles

Minor/insignificant character death

Violence, (sort of) in perspective grapple between two characters

Chapter Five Start

Nightmare.. was frustrated, to say the least. It had been weeks since he first noticed what was now their unofficial stalker, and as he suspected, their ‘visits’ were a recurring event. From raids, to battles, and even just lower-priority meetings, he would hear a little buzz of static and the same little square of white would show up somewhere in the background. He’d never gotten a chance to get close, or get more than a glimpse once the observer noticed the attention they were drawing. 

The occurrence was undeniably sporadic. More than once he’d sent Dust ahead to remain on the lookout for their onlooker, only to see a lack of mysterious multidimensional windows anywhere nearby. They’d never managed to find out much more, despite their best efforts. Dust’s surveillance had revealed their viewer had black bones predominantly, but had a red interior, oddly enough. They also seemed to have disproportionate eyelights, but not much else was noticeable due to distance and the portal creating an odd effect.

The others of Nightmare’s group had, inevitably, noticed this, and were informed of the current situation when they had brought it up. Horror and Cross had been a little worried at the news, but Killer had laughed and made a dramatic rendition of ‘a highschool girl finding out she has a secret admirer’. Dust had played along too, like a friend at a sleepover, and it had lifted all their spirits enough to make them laugh. Nightmare wondered if their spectator had been there to see it.

He set aside what little notes he had on that enigma, and set out for the living room. They’d be having another raid today, and he knew his brother’s little group would show up at some point to try and stop them. The gang were ready in the living room, and Nightmare opened a portal to their target, a smaller copy of Swapfell.

Nightmare’s questing tendrils curled around the portal’s outer rim to hold it open, and the group stepped through and started on their path to a nearby store. The townsfolk of Swapfell, although fierce, retreated from their path, sensing the LV twined around their group. The door’s little jingle sounded feeble in wake of their entry, and both the store’s attendants wisely ducked under the counter.

The group gathered what supplies they may need, fabric for Cross, kitchenware for Horror, general healing and food items, and so on and so forth. Overall they weren’t loud, but there was still occasional chatter at gag items or stupid advertisements. Nightmare could see the streets growing emptier as word of the group spread, but what he wasn’t sure of was whether this timeline was in contact with the ‘beloved’ Star Sans group.

Nightmare called to the group, “Boys, wrap it up. We’re heading back.”

Killer whined a little, “Aw, so soon? C’mon Boss, can’t we have a little fun first?” Dust and Horror perked up at the prospect, and Nightmare leveled a sigh.

“Fine, fine, we can get rid of this one. The creator’s going to show up though, so keep an eye out.” He wasn’t really looking forward to having to deal with his brother so soon, but he knew the other’s were going to get restless sooner or later.

The murder trio lit up, and Killer continued, “Just means more fun for the rest of us!” He slung his arms around Horror and Dust, the taller skeleton having to crouch a little.

Given the go ahead, the group set out on their hunt of sorts. Killer and Dust headed outside to pick off citizens still in the streets, and Horror prowled towards the counter, cleaver in hand. He yanked the two employees out from underneath the counter, dusting them before they could even utter a cry. An attack clattered to the ground, the employees had been smart but not fast enough. 

Nightmare headed outside after Horror, Cross decidedly staying near for lookout reasons. He usually wasn’t up for these sorts of things anyway, leaning more towards stealth and recon assignments. 

He could see the other three were making good progress in purging life in the area, and only once they were a good amount done did he start his corruption. He knew it would only be a few minutes before Dream and Ink were alerted, and his crew were to keep on their current tasks until any sign of their forces were to show. 

Negativity flowed off of Nightmare’s frame, midnight seeping into the ground below, coiling tightly around the core of the world. His eyelight sparked the moment the world’s positivity gave, his darkness quickly filtering into what was left. His brother would be here any moment now, the extinguished light undoubtedly striking to the little guardian.

Right on queue, a portal opened in the foreground, the brighter trio moving through to assess the situation. Killer and Cross were the first to respond, the quicker twosome dashing forward to divert the creator and the positive one’s attention. Blue’s focus was stolen away by Dust and Horror only a few moments later, all of them diverting attention away from Nights.

Nightmare closed his eye and anchored himself further with his tentacles, seeking footholds using despair and discord scattered throughout the world. Negativity consumed the world further, stronger waves lapping at the extremities of the Underground, the rising tide eager to pull all into the depths. 

Nightmare could see the tall spires of New Home sinking in the distance, the upper class enveloped with the rest of their fallen kingdom. Hotland and Waterfall would be soon to follow, he knew. Marble and jade borderline with gold, gilded shine swallowed in eternal night… He could picture the palace’s fall.

Anguish pulled him from the picture, the subtleties of it unfamiliar, and he turned to see the source. The feeling was there and gone on Dream’s face, materializing and vanishing before Nightmare could truly taste it. He couldn’t help but frown at the state of the other’s aura, the ambiance pulled tight to the guardian’s tense frame. Killer was trying to keep Dream distracted, attacking from different sides and pulling his attention in different directions, but it seemed the strategy still had some loopholes.

Despite the sudden attack upon arriving, the older guardian had focused enough to get an understanding of the situation in those moments. Nightmare turned before he could even see Dream’s eyelights set. He wasn’t going to let the scene distract him, no matter how interesting the other guardian’s falters were. 

He grabbed ahold of the anchors he had in the world, using the attachments to pull on the remaining land. He needed to finish this up, even if it wasn’t going to be pretty. Dense lashings shot out from the sea consuming the walls and lower levels, the lengths stretching overhead onto buildings like thick cables. His hand turning shaky, Nightmare grit his teeth in a low growl at the sudden, artificial flare of positivity behind him. 

Distracted by his task and the sudden, blinding aura, Nightmare was struck by an arrow in the right scapula. Pain blossoming in the area, he almost didn’t catch the second arrow heading for his left side. The arrow pulsed a weak blue before he shattered it in his palm, and he turned to catch the positive guardian’s gaze. 

“Pulling that trick again, are we?” Nightmare’s tentacles lashed in rising agitation, the other’s overextended aura only serving to worsen his mood.

Dream flared his aura further, seemingly ignoring Nightmare’s upset. “Well how else should I get your attention? Last time I tried to tap you on the shoulder you punted me into a tree.” The positivity beacon’s smile was shaky at best, but still he pushed positivity outwards.

Nightmare snarled, “You’re looking at a repeat of the incident if you don’t stop harassing me with your aura!” The ground behind him groaned ominously.

Dream called out, “You haven’t faced me in a while yourself, tossing me around doesn’t count!” Another swell of positivity was the breaking point.

Vision hazing in his anger, Nightmare hardly noticed when the ground behind him split with a deafening crack, stone thrust upwards to form an impromptu wall. Negativity seeped from the cracks, and Dream’s eyes widened. He startled into a sprint before Nightmare could slam into him directly, but swerved into the surrounding pine forest.

Weaving through trunks and low hanging branches, Dream managed to twist out of his range every time he tried to grab for him. It was only a matter of time before they broke through the treeline into a clearing, the snow untouched. Dream was quick to grasp onto branches of the surrounding trees, pulling himself upward just as fast. Had Nightmare’s head been clearer, he may have found himself a touch impressed with Dream’s improvement. He wasn’t nearly so quick in their youth.

As it was, Nightmare’s expression twisted into a scowl. His tendrils struck at branches like a whip, determined to bring the positive guardian to him. Tree limbs fell and broke the snow around the base of the trees with a thunderous snap, rustling loud in the space. Still, Dream evaded. 

Their tumultuous game of tag continued for a time, Nightmare’s frustration growing in time with Dream’s tire. Finally, one of Nightmare’s tentacles snagged Dream’s ankle, and the other skeleton came crashing to the ground in a moment of indescribable satisfaction. A flare of blue from Nightmare’s eye socket, and he was on the other in an instant, snow leaping airborne in their scuffle.

This close, Nightmare could see the sweat glistening on the other’s skull, and knew this fight wouldn’t be much longer. They both were too tired. Their arms met in a desperate grapple, both fighting to gain the upper hand. Dream’s fist met with his ribs, wet snapping rippling in the space between them, but Nightmare only grew angrier. A tentacle tightened its hold on Dream’s right arm, his ulna creaking with a dull whine before it snapped in its iron grip. 

Dream drew in a gasping breath at the sharp pain, adrenaline pushing him to drive his fist into Nightmare’s side. The latter muffled a cough before he reared his skull back and crashed it into Dream’s with a crack, effectively knocking the other out. Panting, he flopped over face down next to the other guardian.

With a dull groan, Nightmare pulled himself into a sitting position before the snow could hurt his front too much, adrenaline wearing off quicker than he expected. His entire body ached, his magic burning at the contact with the snow, and his reformation was struggling. He felt over the large dent and resulting cracks in his skull, obviously that last move wasn’t the smartest. Nightmare shuffled his way over to Dream, ignoring the sensation of rough concrete on his lower legs, and checked him over roughly.

He could see his skull looked alright, at least, the bone strong enough to hold up to the blunt force. Other than his snapped ulna, the only obvious injuries were scrapes and several larger cuts from Killer, so overall not too bad. Nightmare began seeking out large concentrations of magic and the familiar auras he knew of. Meanwhile, he began brushing pieces of bark, leaves, twigs, and even small rocks off of Dream almost absentmindedly. 

Nightmare hauled himself to his feet, taking a few moments to make sure he was stable before huffing a sigh. He eyed the unconscious guardian in slight frustration, getting Dream situated would be a struggle he was not looking forward to. After several long minutes of adjusting the skeleton in a way that would not sabotage his precarious ribs, he felt okay enough to get moving. Nightmare began trudging his way through the snow, grimacing at the sting. It was going to be a long walk.

When he finally broke through the treeline, Nightmare could immediately see Killer and Cross still going at it with Ink and Blue. Dust was a little dizzy, apparently low on magic, and was also attempting to help pull Horror out of a tree. As he got closer to the latter two, he could also see and hear Dust mumbling to somewhere over his shoulder. 

Eyelight fuzzing a little, Nightmare shuffled over to Dust while hefting Dream further up. He was still unconscious, and Nightmare had ended up having to turn him a little so he could support Dream on his shoulder. A wandering tentacle grabbed hold of Horror and helped finally pull him out of the tree, the taller skeleton landing in the snow nearby before getting up.

Dust was the first to speak, “Thanks for the help Boss- Oh uh, why’re you carrying Dream..?” Dust had only noticed the guardian halfway through his sentence.

Horror contributed, “We gonna kidnap him this time?”

Nightmare’s response was gruff. His ribs felt like they were on fire after having to walk so far, his magic stretched too thin for teleporting. “No, just delivering my idiot brother so we can finally leave.” He still needed to finish corrupting the world.

“Yeah, Blue managed to open up a portal and get some of the remaining monsters out. Happened after he and Ink did some combo to knock me and Dust out of commission.”

“Alright, let me just get him over to Ink, then I’ll finish up here and we can be on our way.” Nightmare held up Dream a little for emphasis before turning toward the walking paint palette.

There was a muffled gasp from Horror before Nightmare felt Dust tug on his sleeve a little. He turned, “What is it?”

Horror looked away a little awkwardly, but Dust continued “Boss, you’ve got a little somethin’ on your shoulder. Right scapula, big blue arrow stickin’ outta you?” Nightmare could only sigh, giving his less-than-present skeleton passenger the side eye.

He pulled the arrow out with a hiss, crushing the arrow as it pulsed weakly. That explains why his back pain felt worse than usual, among other things. He’d assumed snow had fallen on him.

Sighing for the nth time, Nightmare picked up his slow shuffle towards the artist and his blue tag-along. Killer and Cross backed up a little when they noticed him, Ink and Blue turning his way too just in time for Nightmare to shove Dream into Ink’s hold. Ink hurried to steady him before turning to look up at the darker counterpart.

“Just take him and get out of here, I still have to corrupt what’s left of it even if the people are gone.” Nightmare barely waited for a response before he started walking away. Killer exchanged a shrug and a look with the rest of them before hurrying after Nightmare. He’d gotten  a decent heading despite the obvious injuries. 

“Wait wait, Boss you sure you don’t want to slow down a minute? Your skull isn’t looking too good, just take a break for a minute. We do have some of the healing food ‘n supplies with us.” Killer was worried, he didn’t want Nightmare to hurt himself further if he could just take a moment.

A low grumble was all he really got in response, the other set on working and getting this done. Nightmare began to focus again, raising his control hand to get a better grasp, magic in the area powering up further with a resounding hum. 

Killer would have to try a different approach, “Wait, Nightmare what if stalker guy sees any o’ this? This would be a pretty good time for an ambush, we’re a little off our game right now-” Nightmare was cut off before he could respond.

“Wait, someone's interested in you guys? Wait who is it? You have to tell me, who is it? No one’s ever interested in your group, we haven’t had anything exciting happen in forever- ” Ink popped up in front of Nightmare from out of nowhere, startling the negative king, who had to stifle a gasp.

Nightmare grumbled and shoved Ink out of his personal space bubble, irritated with his phenomenal ability for jumpscares. Even Nightmare and Dream had difficulty sensing him, the transparency of his fake emotions and lack of a soul letting him blend into the auras around him effortlessly. He was hard to miss otherwise though, his presence always loud and clear in both the visual and auditory sense.

Killer did not have the same restraint, eager to gossip even with his enemy. “Oh, I know right? It’s just so confusing, no one ever willingly seeks us out on their own. We hardly even know anything about them too, they just open up windows and the place is all white-!”

Nightmare went to facepalm before he remembered the pulsing wound on his skull. Ugh. He settled for a groan, both at Killer’s lack of restraint and at the pointlessness of it all. There was no way scatterbrained Ink would know anything, he didn’t even remember to wear shoes. Nightmare just wanted to get out of here and get done with the corruption.

“Oh wait, I think I remember who you’re talking about!” Ink’s cheerful statement was the perfect accompaniment to Nightmare’s astonished look. The artist smiled as he grabbed at his scarf to scan through the notes.

Nightmare’s jaw practically fell open, but only in that mildly sarcastic Nightmare sort of way. Definitely a rare occurrence, just like Ink remembering something, “Oh yeah, here it is. Black bones, blue lines on his face, right? His name’s-”

Words: 2,914

Pages on Docs: 6

Chapter Text

Chapter Warnings:

Mentions of food insecurities, doesn’t go into detail

Mention of Ink being the weirdo he is

Glitchy text, should be okay to read but let me know if translations are needed 

Chapter Six Start

It was a lazy day. Supplies had been stored away, wounds were bandaged and stable, and the gang was enjoying a slower afternoon with battles or raids a few days off. Horror was in the kitchen making some snacks, and the other four were scattered around the couch in the living room.

Nightmare slunk more unto Dust. Ideally, he would be able to have all of them to lazily drape some part of himself on, but he knew they could never sit still long. Killer and Cross were taking turns commenting about the movie on the TV, a slice of life movie that wouldn’t take much attention to follow. They were mostly commenting about the art style, he could hear, the animation one of a particular style. He listened in for a moment.

“..you know I think I’ve seen this other one like that too. You remember the one movie from Studio Ghibli with the cool dragon kid? I think it was called Spirited Away.”

Killer was quick to respond. “Yeah I remember, No Face was so cool in that one! Didn’t you draw him at some point?”

“Yeah, I also drew Haku’s dragon form. That movie was so pretty, we have to watch it again!”

They got sidetracked for only a little longer before they started talking about the movie again, and Nightmare turned to press into Dust’s side more. He was delightfully warm, much warmer than when he’d first met him in the bitter cold of his universe. It had been so cold there... Nightmare wrapped another tentacle around Dust’s side, the loose embrace as reassuring as the rhythmic click of bone against his phone screen.

 Dust’s magic had almost fully replenished itself after that last fight, Horror’s cooking and a good night’s rest were all he’d needed. Killer and Cross were also doing well, and Nightmare was pleased to see Horror’s skull hadn’t needed any reinforcing after he got knocked into that tree. Idly, Nightmare wondered how his brother was doing. Closing his eye again, he sought out his opposite's energy in the mass of the universe. It didn’t take a lot of sorting to pick out his brother’s bright aura from the muddled ones crowding it. 

Dream was in another universe it seemed, not uncommon for the hard-working guardian. His spirit was pulsing with hope, the bright orb cheerful in a way that he knew would be easily conveyed through Dream’s actions. Nightmare couldn’t help but wonder how he did it. How could Dream be so.. so bright, so hopeful, so kind even if people didn’t deserve it? He wondered if Dream was naive, but as he thought about it, he couldn’t be. Dream could never be naive, not after the shambles left in Nightmare’s wake each and every battle after that fateful day. 

No, he couldn’t be naive, but he had to be something else. Nightmare just couldn’t figure out what.

Regardless, he let the thought drift. If he hadn’t figured it out yet, it wouldn’t be today. Today he was going to relax, and he was going to enjoy the warmth drifting from Dust next to him. Nightmare pressed his face further into Dust’s side, his other three tendrils summoned in a loose coil around a pillow or two. He’d been thrown a rather nice blanket at some point, the heavy fabric managing to bring his cold form to room temperature. He was perhaps even a little warm for once, and he hadn’t needed to lay on a vent or sit next to the oven to achieve it.

If he was more awake, he’d be a little proud, but he was content to lay there and lightly doze off. 

When Nightmare woke up again a short time later, Horror was bringing some snacks into the living room. He was setting a few plates on the table, a few different types of sandwiches sliced into little triangles. There were also some cookies with a few drinks on the coffee table next to them. Horror went back to the kitchen before Cross and Killer leaned over to grab some sandwiches and cookies, and he came back a minute or two later to sit on the couch next to them. ‘He’d probably gone to check everything was turned off, he was really careful about that.’

Nightmare was glad to see him take a sandwich or two for himself before he grabbed two to hand to Nightmare. The second sandwich was passed to Dust, who took and ate it without looking up from Sweets Smash on his phone. Horror had been hesitant to eat when he’d first joined, which was a different problem altogether compared to the forgetfulness Dust and Killer were prone to. It had taken a lot of reminding on Nightmare’s part (read: picking them all up and sitting them at the table so they would eat), but eventually he’d been able to convince all of them that food was important and they were worthy of regular meals.

They all had been able to help Cross better with the practice, and he’d been caught up with regular foods and meals after a couple weeks. They had a few allies who may visit, but so far Cross was the last to move into the mansion with the rest of them full-time. They always had more rooms. 

Speaking of allies, Nightmare thought over the insight he’d gotten from Ink. Surprisingly, the scatter-brained artist had provided them with more useful information than he’d likely ever find. Their current ‘stalker’, the term loose since he wasn’t really aware of his intention, was called Error. Ink had said ‘he is THE Destroyer of Worlds, a glitch with a vengeance set on destroying alternate universes.’ He’d also spoken about his appearance a little more, the black bones something they’d already known about, but he was apparently very unique in more than just visuals. 

The glitching, he found out, had spread to his voice and his appearance in and of itself. The shifting they’d thought was a byproduct of the portal was just how he normally looked, parts of his code spiralling out of place before teleporting back and repeating the process. His very image was peculiar, and his voice was as anomalous as the rest of him. He was said to have a deep voice, but there were regular hiccups and glitches scattered throughout his speech.

The most he’d gotten out of the creator after that was that he used blasters and strings as his primary weapons, the strings usually sourced from facial markings. Ink had grown more excited as he talked gushed about his enemy and had leapt away after throwing up his namesake. Nightmare had only stared after him in mild bemusement, he was likely going to go draw the destroyer he had been talking about. Nightmare’s only choice was to wait after this, he had no way of reaching their aforementioned watcher, and he didn’t know of his intentions or his whereabouts.

Nightmare was pulled out of his thoughts by a suspicious knock on the door. He turned to the others, a frown making its way onto his face as he tried to think of who that could be. He was met with equally confused faces, and Horror picked up the empty plates after he started looking a little worried. Nightmare pulled himself up from the couch and made his way to the door after a moment, shifting his expression into one of cool indifference.

His eye was met with two mismatched ones upon opening the door, a thin skeleton just a little shorter than himself stood just at the bottom of the stoop. He was wearing the jacket typical of a sans, but the black coat and blue hood made for an interesting contrast against the red and yellow dotting his outfit. Nightmare only stared for a moment longer before the blue tear tracks and error messages jolting about his form made the dark guardian stiffen. The.. the destroyer of worlds was currently on their doorstep.

The destroyer of worlds was currently on their doorstep and Nightmare was staring at him. A rushed “Give me a moment, please.” was all he managed to choke out before he gently closed the door with a restrained panic otherwise unknown to him.

Nightmare collapsed against the door before turning to his 3 stunned, worried teammates. “Killer, do tell Horror we have a guest. The destroyer is currently outside the door.”

He could see the moment the words processed, Killer’s blank eye sockets widening in shock before an eye light flickered and died. He shot up to his feet and bolted into the kitchen, the hurried news followed by the clang of a pan hitting the floor. 

Nightmare started laughing when Cross practically fell over, both at seeing his youngest startle so bad and at the unexpectedness of it all. Cross looked like a fish out of water before he started laughing as well, and Killer piped up after he’d poked his head out of the kitchen. “Stars, that was worse than when you saw a cow!"

“Be quiet, you’re making me laugh..!” Nightmare gave them a light shove with one of his tentacles, trying poorly to muffle his own laughs and get them to stop. He looked over to see Dust smiling at their antics, but he was otherwise the only one unbothered by the new development and kept trying for a highscore on his phone. Nightmare took a second to breathe before he gestured a ‘settle down’ motion at the others and opened the door, his expression trying for indifferent. 

Error looked no different from the last time he opened the door, just looked up at Nightmare blankly. A clang sounded out from the kitchen, making Nightmare stifle a wince. He took a step back and opened the door wider, sweeping a hand wide. “Come in, come in, it’s a little cold out.”

Error stepped into the threshold and took a moment to look around before starting for an armchair by the couch. The others had quieted, but he knew even Dust was aware of what was happening because he looked up from his phone. ‘He can likely feel the LV…’

Nightmare and Dust were the only two to sit down, Dust in a feigned indifference, Cross and Killer leaned up against the wall, and Horror staying in the kitchen. Error didn’t seem to notice the tenseness of the room, and spoke first. “ɨ ǟֆֆʊʍɛ ʏօʊ աǟռȶ ȶօ ӄռօա աɦʏ ɨ ƈǟʍɛ ɦɛʀɛ?”

His voice was as deep as Ink had said, and there were some inconsistencies when he spoke, but otherwise he was.. Certainly different than what they’d been expecting. Nightmare was calm, “Yes, I wish to know your intentions toward my group. Do you seek to set up a deal of some sort?”

Error leaned forward a bit. “ɨ ɢʊɛֆֆ ʏօʊ ƈօʊʟɖ ֆǟʏ ɨ ǟʍ ʟօօӄɨռɢ ȶօ ɮɛ ǟռ.. ǟʟʟʏ-ʟʏ, օʄ ֆօʀȶֆ. ɖɛֆȶʀօʏɨռɢ ɨֆ ʍʏ ʝօɮ, ɮʊȶ ɨ աǟֆռ'ȶ ɛӼǟƈȶʟʏ ɛӼքɛƈȶɨռɢ ɦɛʟք. ɨȶ աǟֆ զʊɨȶɛ-ʊɨȶɛ ֆʊքʀɨֆɨռɢ ȶօ ֆɛɛ ʏօʊʀ ȶɛǟʍ ʄɨɢɦȶɨռɢ ȶɦɛ ƈʀɛǟȶօʀ.”

He continued, “աɦʏ ǟʀɛ ʏօʊ ɢɛȶȶɨռɢ ʀɨɖ օʄ ɢʟɨȶƈɦɛֆ?”

Nightmare took a second to think about his answer. “I assume you are aware of the rest of Ink’s team, and their proclaimed intent to protect AUs. The one with the bow and arrows in obnoxious amounts of yellow is my opposite." 

"I seek to weaken him and his influences of positivity throughout the multiverse, and destroying AUs is a useful approach." 

Error leaned back into the chair with a hum. "ɨ ֆɛɛ.. ɨ ɢʊɛֆֆ աɛ ɖօ ɦǟʋɛ ǟ ƈօʍʍօռ ɛռɛʍʏ-ʍʏ, ǟȶ ʟɛǟֆȶ, ɨʄ ռօȶ ֆɨʍɨʟǟʀ ɢօǟʟֆ. ɨȶ աօʊʟɖ ǟʟֆօ ɮɛ ɛǟֆɨɛʀ-ɛʀ-ɛʀ ȶօ ƈօօʀɖɨռǟȶɛ ɨʄ ɨ ɦǟɖ ɨռʄօ ʄʀօʍ օʊȶֆɨɖɛ ȶɦɛ ǟռȶɨ-ʋօɨɖ.." 

Nightmare stared at Error as he debated and muttered to himself, contemplative. He was thin, likely malnourished, and the void he'd come from had seemed rather cold and desolate… This sounded suspiciously similar to Cross's circumstances, albeit with Error being able to make a portal out and destroy universes. However, he almost certainly must have issues with his LV like Dust does. He's also likely hated, destroying much of anything was never looked up to, let alone worlds. 

Nightmare set his eyelight, and prepared to make his offer. "I agree to a proposal of allyship, but do you have anywhere to stay outside of the.. Anti-void, was it? It seems rather cold there and we have plenty of room and supplies here should you want them."

Nightmare could feel his team staring at him, he could feel some uncertainty from them but knew they trusted his judgement. He kept his eye on Error. The other seemed to contemplate Nightmare’s offer. "ֆǟʏ ɨ ɖօ ǟƈƈɛքȶ ʏօʊʀ օʄʄɛʀ, ƈօʊʟɖ աɛ ֆɛȶ ʊք ֆօʍɛ ȶɛʀʍֆ?"

“Of course, anything in particular from your side?”

“ռօȶ ʍʊƈɦ, ɮʊȶ ɖօռ’ȶ ȶօʊƈɦ-ƈɦ ʍɛ. օʀ ȶʀʏ ȶօ ʍǟӄɛ ֆʊʀɛ ɨ ӄռօա ʏօʊ’ʀɛ ɢօɨռɢ ȶօ ȶօʊƈɦ-ƈɦ ʍɛ-ɛ-ɛ, ɨʄ ʏօʊ ɦǟʋɛ ȶօ. ɨ ɖօռ’ȶ ȶɦɨռӄ ɨ’ʟʟ ɮɛ ֆքɛռɖɨռɢ ʍʊƈɦ ȶɨʍɛ ǟʀօʊռɖ ɦɛʀɛ, ֆօ ɨ աօռ’ȶ ʊֆɛ ʊք ʏօʊʀ ʄօօɖ օʀ ǟռʏȶɦɨռɢ-ɨռɢ, ɮʊȶ ɨ ɖօ աǟռȶ ֆօʍɛ աǟʏ ȶօ ƈօʍʍʊռɨƈǟȶɛ.” Error was trying to be non abrasive, it seemed. ‘Darn, it’s going to be hard to get close to him..’

Nightmare looked to his teammates and gave a nod, “We can do that, but don’t worry about food. We have plenty of supplies here, you won’t be bothering anyone. If anything just throw a pillow at us if we’re being too loud at unreasonable hours.”

Killer was the one to speak next. “You wouldn’t think that needed to be said, but you’d be surprised.” 

Error cracked a smile for the first time since they’d seen him. “աɛʟʟ, ǟȶ ʟɛǟֆȶ ɨ ӄռօա ɨȶ աօռ’ȶ ɢɛȶ ɮօʀɨռɢ ǟʀօʊռɖ ɦɛʀɛ.”

Nightmare smiled back at him, and he was glad to see his teammates do the same around him. He hadn’t expected this meeting to go this well, or for it to happen so soon, but it seems like it’d be okay, thankfully. Nightmare stood, and went to offer his hand instinctively but thankfully remembered and pulled back before Error could notice. 

He walked to the stairway, and turned to call for Error once he reached the banister. “You coming? The rooms are upstairs.” 

Error hurried to catch up, and subtly felt for the edge of the stairs. The first few steps were tentative, but he walked up the stairs confidently once he got the hang of it. Nightmare hadn’t noticed, preoccupied in trying to figure out which room Error should get. 

Once they reached the top of the stairs, Nightmare led him to a room a few doors down from the rest. He wouldn’t mind if he wanted to change rooms, but for now it was best to give him some space and get him out of Dust’s range. He was sometimes prone to sleepwalking, and although incapable of handling doors when he was in the zone, it was more than a little startling at first. He also wasn’t sure of how Error was with certain noises, and if he was going to open portals in his room, it may be best to keep portals away from the others. 

Nightmare opened the door to reveal a room with little furniture, a bed, a bedside table, and two shelves. It was backed with a neutral blue tone, and he looked to Error to see if he had any objections. 

“ʀօօʍ ʟօօӄֆ ʄɨռɛ, ȶɦɛ ɮʟʊɛ ɨֆռ’ȶ ȶօօ ʍʊƈɦ ȶɦǟռӄʄʊʟʟʏ-ʟʏ.”

“Alright, there are a few other things I wanted to mention. Dust can give you a phone, he’ll put our numbers in it, and he can help you out if you aren’t familiar with it. We also do go on raids, which I think you might know about, but that’s how we go ‘shopping’. I can update you on battles and such with the rest of the team. I’d also prefer if you opened portals outside the house, but it’s alright if you forget. Other than that, just let me know if you need anything.”

Error responded, his emotions tinged with caution, but he was curious. “ɨ’ʋɛ ֆɛɛռ քɛօքʟɛ ʊֆɛ քɦօռɛֆ, ɮʊȶ ɨ ռɛʋɛʀ-ɛʀ ɖɨɖ ɢɛȶ օռɛ ʄօʀ ʍʏֆɛʟʄ. ֆɛɛʍֆ ӄɨռɖ օʄ ʟɨӄɛ-ӄɛ ɦօա օռɛ-աǟʏ քօʀȶǟʟֆ աօʀӄ, ɦʊɦ?”

Nightmare wondered what his capabilities were like, portals weren’t easy to make even two-way. “Yes I suppose they could be a bit similar. Phones just take less mana, plus they can have inventory space.”

Nightmare observed for a few moments more before he continued. “Well, you’re free to go where you wish. The other rooms are a few doors down, along with my office, but feel free to join us in the living room.”

“ʍǟʏɮɛ ɨ’ʟʟ ȶǟӄɛ ʏօʊ ʊք օռ ȶɦǟȶ օʄʄɛʀ.”

Word Count: 2,789

Pages on Docs: 7