Chapter Text
Nightmare wasn’t sure how it happened. It had been a normal day, they had done a normal mission, a simple supply run. After the mission, his gang had gone to do whatever separate activities they wanted. They had regrouped for dinner. Usual banter had occurred just like any other day.
And then they had one to bed.
Nightmare stayed up reading a few new novels he found. Eventually, he had dosed off. Then Nightmare woke up to screaming and crying.
He had quickly located the source of negativity, it was coming from where his boy’s bedrooms were. Worried, Nightmare quickly liquidized into the floor, reappearing in the middle of the hallway.
Nightmare froze at what he saw.
Four small skeletons, no older than 10 years old. They were younger versions of his gang.
One was dressed in black and white, two large white eyelights staring up at him. He had fat purple tears rolling down his face. He was sobbing out something unintelligible, though it was clear to Nightmare he was speaking in Spanish. The young boy was clearly Cross.
The Murder Time Trio was harder to differentiate from each other.
One of the three, whom Nightmare assumed was Horror, was taller than the other two. He was panicked, trying to comfort the others. He had on a light jacket with a blue and white striped shirt. The boy wore black shorts and had a beanie over his skull. He tried to grab the arm of one of the other children, who flinched back and started to cry.
To Nightmare's slight horror, the now-crying boy was dressed in only a hospital gown. He had two bright eyelights, though the right one kept flickering in and out. He was trying to fight off Horror as he gave the boy his jacket. The smaller one instantly reacted, pulling the hood up and holding himself. As Nightmare watched them he couldn’t help but notice the metal plate drilled into his hand. Was this one Dust?
“يا!” (Hey!)
Nightmare turned to the fourth boy. He was speaking Arabic. So this one was Killer and the other boy was Dust.
“أين نحن ?من أنت?” (Where are we? Who are you?)
Nightmare looked at the frightened boy. He was wearing a black shirt and a dirty pair of dark pants. He only had one eyelight, it was a white ring.
Nightmare thought about what to do, he didn’t know a lot about the situation, but he did know that right now he had four terrified kids to look after.
Nightmare walked to Cross who was still crying. He kneeled down to be at eye level with him.
“Hey,” The child looked up fearfully at him. “¿Hablas inglés?” (Do you speak English?)
Cross looked at him, eyes that were once full of fear slowly changing into calm. “Um… Sí un, un poquito.” (Yes, a bit.)
Nightmare breathed out a sigh, at least Cross and Horror could communicate. He’d worry about Killer and Dust later. “Ok, do you see him?” Nightmare pointed at Horror, he was still with Dust, who had calmed down significantly. “I need to go talk with Killer for a minute, can you stay with Horror?”
Cross nodded and walked over to the other two.
“يا!” (Hey!) Nightmares' attention was once again drawn to Killer. “كنت أبدا الإجابة على سؤالي!” (You never answered my question!) Nightmares sighed, it was going to be a long few days.
He motioned for Killer to follow him. “آسف. تعال معي” (Sorry, come with me.)