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1

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Magic attacks flew about the air, whizzing past in fast-paced combat. In a flash, Dream had successfully moved a group of the battle-torn AU’s residents away from a blaster’s fire that could’ve vaporized them in a second.

“Is everyone alright? No one got hurt, did they?” Dream said, looking among the frightened faces in his arms. He let his gloved grip fall from around them for a moment, dropping his defenses before quickly having to summon a bubble around all of them. Screams echoed inside the golden shield of magic as Dust’s bones pelted his defenses. He’d hoped he’d be able to keep them all calm, but he had other things to focus on now; mainly not letting his bubble break before he or Ink could escort them out of this world before there were innocent, uninvolved lives lost.
“Just stay behind me, I’ll keep you all safe.” Dream reassured firmly, though it did nothing to stop their screaming, the fear emanating off of them making it hard for Dream to keep his shield around them strong. Ink had quickly appeared through an ink puddle behind him, hand behind his head nervously scratching the base of his skull. “Hey, Dream, we’re gonna need your backup real quick…” “I’m a little busy at the moment, Ink!” Dream said, trying his best not to lose focus on keeping his bubble up.  “Well, see we’ve got a bit of a problem-” That was exactly a moment when this problem showed its face, piercing through both his shield and his focus. The golden energy shattered like glass around them, before dissolving into the earth. In a moment's flash, Dream was sent flying back by a blow to his middle, following close behind it, its dealer.

He collided with a nearby tree, a gasp involuntarily leaving his mouth as he tried to 

regain the wind knocked out of him by the blow. At that same time, Killer teleported in front of him. His smile was wide with sadistic glee. “Hey there princy.” His voice was a shot to his senses, only adding to the fact his figurative lungs ached from the lack of air. He stared Killer in the eyes, gritting his teeth at the sharp feeling of his ribs being elbowed into. “Miss me?” Dream attempted to get a word in to Killer, but the attempt was cut short by a push into his ribs, making him gasp once more. Killer laughed at his feeble attempts of his body to claw and heave for air. 

“Killer!-”
Again, another pang of pain into his bones as Killer pushed his arm further into his chest. “Aw… What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” He asked condescendingly. His tone gave away how he knew exactly what was wrong. He began to laugh again, his voice grating on his figurative ears. How could one Sans be so annoying to listen to?! Dream's teeth grit against each other. He soon gained enough strength to push Killer back a few paces, before summoning his staff and splitting it into his dual daggers. Dream used the blunt end of said daggers to bash Killer in the shoulder, then quickly stab into his arm to kick him back further while he used the time to recover. His foe's breath also quickened, so they both sat there, silently, waiting for one to make a move. Killer, of course, made the first move, his knife raised as he made his advance toward Dream. He quickly reformed his staff, using it to parry Killer's swings and stabs. Of course, he was losing ground quickly, having to move back as Killer continued his onslaught. 

He barely had time to think, he just had to keep moving. Keep dodging. Keep himself 

from tripping over anything.

Dream felt himself almost slip on something, he soon realized as he looked down what it 

was: a patch of slimy moss. The plant was odd, unlike anything he'd known he'd caught a glimpse of before. A slightly greenish-blue lichen of some kind, with small pustules of yellow nestled in its branching nest of thin, wiry interwoven stalks that grew in loose spirals with small leaves. The earth groaned beneath his feet, and Dream felt the ground slightly shift as he put more weight on the spot, causing him to adjust forward to regain his bearings. As soon as he did however, Killer was on the advance, pushing him forward with his body. The way the earth moved beneath his feet made him uneasy as it seemed to waiver with his weight. Killer didn’t seem to notice, or care.

“Where are you running off to, princy? We’re only getting started!” Killer chuckled out, carelessly stepping on the unstable ground, his own slip on boots squishing into the patches of moss. Dream retreated nimbly, trying not to disturb the ground more. “Killer, stop! The ground here isn’t stable, you and I will both fall if you don’t back off!” Dream warned. Killer only scoffed, knife at the ready as he instantly forced Dream to continue moving back. “Yeah right. You’re just making excuses to try and get out of this. Oldest trick in the book.” His smile grew cocky, the inky tears flowing from his eyes dripping down his cheeks, like the tears of a woman crying off her mascara. 

“I’m serious Killer, if we don’t step carefully, there’s no telling what-!” The ground then shivered as Killer stomped his foot into the mossy patch. “Like that? Hah! See, nothing’s happening smart ass.” Killer continued his advance. “Now, even though Boss insists I can’t kill you, he hasn’t said anything about roughing you up, has he?” He chuckled, twirling his knife around his finger, the target-shaped soul that hovered away from his chest glowing ambiently. Dream had a rebuttal, but it died on his lips as a knife was thrown past his face, hitting a more centermost point of the ground, causing a mistimed step, and a slip on the slimy moss making the ground tremor, and his arm get misplaced in the trapping dirt beneath… 

He could feel the tangle of roots in the dirt, making a figurative net around his arm. How strong were these roots then, if they had the ability to hold the last remains of earth above whatever laid beneath the ground? More imperative to his adrenaline fueled state: how long until they let their hold go on their nesting grounds, and perhaps created a problem that Dream would rather avoid.

Dream then let out a small gasp, feeling a foot on his chest, pushing toward the bones of his neck. He could feel the dirt crumble slightly, falling against his fingers and then descending into what was beneath; humid and damp air. He grunted in pain, as Killer’s chuckles juxtaposed the noise. It was difficult to breathe, and even still, he kept his struggles contained. Killer did not give him the same grace, his foot pushing more firmly as he leaned over Dream. Cold steel ran over the bone of his cheek, and made him wince as it made a small slice in the calcium-created ivory, not quite enough to cut to the marrow, but enough to hurt.
“Killer-”

Then there was a groan from the earth, and the patch gave way.

…

Wind rushed past his bones and made his cape violently flutter as they both fell. They were tangled together, though Killer, after realizing that they were no longer sitting on a surface, attempted to push himself off Dream and reorient himself. 

He could tell Killer was speaking, yelling perhaps, but the wind tunnel drowned the noise from being anything discernible. Dream could feel himself tumbling in freefall, and through the blinding, stinging air, he looked down. Their velocity was quickly becoming faster, and the cavern floor, though hundreds of feet down, was rapidly approaching. 

He then saw Killer once more, grabbing hold onto one of his knives and trying to stab into something, to stop his fall. He was going to hurt himself badly if he succeeded, the sudden stop would be too much force on his arms. Instinctively, he grabbed Killer’s middle, and pulled his now squirming body closer. Protests echoed from the other skeleton, but Dream was unphased. “Hold still!” He yelled back, “Hold still, you’ll get hurt!” 

He heard yells back, but couldn’t discern them still. No matter, it wouldn’t take much for him to summon a bubble and get them to safety with neither being hurt. His hand went beneath his body and he closed his eyes. Hope. Peace. Joy. Happy thoughts; positive emotions and energy, yet he felt no twinge of magic running through his bones. He attempted again, and still nothing. He opened his eyes, and saw light above, his bones curling around a still struggling Killer as he tried once more.

There was a snap, and pain, a cry from his lungs, and then nothing…