THIS IS ONLY AN ASK BLOG! THE STORY WILL NOT BE INFLUENCED! Ink and Error are together with a few children. they were living happily, especially when a new arrival appeared. Watch the story unfold, and watch for when new people are available for asks. Profile picture by shinechermont!
This is a shared blog! Because of that, we are developing a proper schedule. That will be under our character list. This list will only include askable characters or character refs
Important:
As the story develops, it will progressively get darker. All will get tagged properly, and there will not be anything NSFW, but there will very much be topics ranging between depression and implied r***. If these things make you uncomfortable, or you are younger than 16, please do not read said posts.
All posts of such will have tws at the top, and the darker topics will be under a read more, so you can hide them if you do not want to read it.
We have been trying so hard to go all the way back in our storyline to find *everything* we've done, but of course, Tumblr is incompetent and we've lost our progress 3 times.
Please note that we are not giving up on this, it may simply be a but before we update again due to what we're trying to do. Consider this a hiatus and please have patience, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled program shortly ^-^
We have been trying so hard to go all the way back in our storyline to find *everything* we've done, but of course, Tumblr is incompetent and we've lost our progress 3 times.
Please note that we are not giving up on this, it may simply be a but before we update again due to what we're trying to do. Consider this a hiatus and please have patience, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled program shortly ^-^
Nightmare slammed his books down, eyes wide, “Holy shit! Killer!”
Killer was nearby, and looked at Night, a little bewildered.
“I think I’ve figured it out!”
"You did?" Killer was obviously surprised, but fairly excited.
“I did! Oh god, this could be it! I just need to-“ and then Night’s face twisted in horror. “Nononono! Killer, I need you to tell him the truth and hurt him. If he hurts people, run, please!”
"No, n-no, please don't go!" Killer moved to hug Nightmare, wanting him to stay.
“I'm fighting I swear. Kills I love you so much… I promise I’ll come back, I won’t let him hurt you anymore, or Dust or Horror! I won’t!”
Killer nodded, "I l-love you too-"
“When he comes back-“ Night crumbled more and took deep breaths, “Kills, warn everyone you can!”
Killer nodded, "I-I will, I will Night-"
Night's hands shook and he stumbled away from Killer.
“I don’t want him to come back-“ he sobbed, sounding so defeated.
"I know- I know-" Killer wished he could comfort Night, but knew that it could lead to himself getting hurt, or worse.
“I love you,” Night whispered before his body went limp, head rolling back as his knees buckled underneath him
"I love you too-" Killer let out a sob before quickly going to find Horror and Dust.
Malevolence just lay on the ground. Night had certainly tired him out enough to give Killer time to get away.
Killer was more focused on finding and warning Horror and Dust that Malevolence had returned, so neither of them slipped up.
Horror and Dust were both upset but it only got worse when Malevolence finally got up.
“I’m going out! We’ll continue our discussion from before once I’m back!”
"Where are you going?" Killer obviously wanted to make sure it wasn't to bother Ink and Error.
“I’ve been gone for what, a week? Two? I want to see how the little birdy is doing,”
"Why don't you just leave them alone for a bit-"
“Because I can! I can bother them and I will!”
Killer swallowed a bit, knowing that saying what he was about to *again* was a risk, "Even if I was pregnant? You'd rather fuck around with them?!"
“We’ll I can’t fuck around with you anymore! That little dog has made it obvious!”
"Then just fucking *stop* for a minute," At that point, Killer was getting more pissed than anything, which tended to be dangerous with how strong he could be normally.
“No. You have NO right to tell me what to do!” Malevolence lashed his tentacle out and it landed right beside Killer's head. It would have killed Killer if it had been any closer.
Killer barely flinched, still pissed as he watched Malevolence go.
“I’m leaving,” Malevolence opened a portal and stepped through
~~~~~
By the time Malevolence had come back, Killer had just decided to hide in his room, not wanting to look at Malevolence or anything with what he was doing.
Dust came running to him a while later.
“He took Error,” his voice cracked.
Killer sighed slightly from where he was curled up in bed, "Damn it-"
“Killer… he’s… he’s gonna really hurt him. He’s bragging downstairs… I don’t know what to do… it’s not just hitting him either, he’s gonna…”
Killer quickly stood up at that, "I'll see what I can do."
“Just umm… Errors old room isn’t soundproof… just a warning,” it was obvious Dust had heard something before he’d run to Killer.
Killer nodded, leaving his room to go confront Malevolence, even more pissed than earlier.
There was yelling the closer he’d get to Error’s room, alongside sobbing and threats. Malevolence, luckily, hadn’t seemed to have done anything yet.
Killer didn't seem to care, slamming the door open and looking straight at Malevolence.
Malevolence turned from Error and sighed. “I should have known you’d try to weasel your way into making a mess,”
"You're the one that started the mess. Leave him alone," Killer decided a smart thing to do was to summon a gaster blaster behind Malevolence, hopefully above Error.
Malevolence snarled.
“I’m not afraid to hurt you Killer, or your brat-“ he tensed up and sighed. “Okay so threatening the soul I apparently can’t do, but I WILL do what I need to to keep you out of the way,”
"Then let him go."
“No chance,” Malevolence sighed and left Errors side, wrapping Killer up in tentacles, squeezing tight enough to warn him
At that point, Killer set off the blaster, not caring much if he hurt himself in the process.
Malevolence, who had picked up Killer fully by then, stumbled and dropped Killer before catching him by his arm.
“Pesky little shit,” he hissed and began to march back down the hall
Killer tried to get away once he was let go, even with a fall, but it was obviously to no avail, and he instead tried to struggle against Malevolence's hold.
Malevolence grinned and kissed his head before throwing Killer into his room.
“I’ll have one of the other pests bring you food,” he said before slamming Killer’s door shut and locking it.
Killer didn't bother moving for a minute once the door was locked but ended up curling up.
It was obvious Malevolence left again, he didn’t pay Killer another thought
After quite a while, Killer decided to get up and tend to whatever injuries Malevolence had caused.
Malevolence had definitely caused a few although he left Killer’s abdomen and stomach untouched
Killer was glad about that, and afterward, curled up again, still on the floor, but in a different spot.
A few hours later there was a knock on the door and then it unlocked and a plate was slid in before it was locked again.
“He’s not letting us go in… but I brought you a book too… something to do,” Dust whispered
Killer nodded slightly, which Dust obviously couldn't hear or see, before letting out a soft sob.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Dust asked
"P-Painkillers..."
“I can get those,” and Dust did, coming back with them a little while later.
"Th-Thank you..."
“Of course,”
Killer managed to get himself over to the little pile of stuff, working on eating the food first.
At some point, Malevolence was heard in the hall but he never came too close to Killer's room
After eating, Killer pushed the plate more toward the door, taking the painkillers and the book to sit against the wall next to said door.
The hallway sounded busy, which mostly meant Horror and Dust were just walking around
Killer didn't mind them, their presence was just a little comforting, but he ended up opening the painkillers and dumping a few into his hand, which was too many for him.
No one outside knew that but they’d easily be alerted if he needed anything.
Killer decided to down what was in his hand, which wasn't a good idea, and closed the bottle before opening the book, hoping what he did would work how he wanted.
At some point Malevolence passed by the room, and by then, Killer could barely keep his eyes open, and Malevolence could sense that he wasn't holding up well after his overdose.
It caused Malevolence opened the door in a hurry
Killer was semi-responsive, though not as much as he should be. The souling was alright though, his body doing what it could to keep it alive.
Malevolence cursed and scooped Killer up, “Shit,”
The cause was easy to figure out, with the bottle of painKiller's on the floor next to him, and Killer couldn't really hold himself up in Malevolence's arms.
Malevolence stared at it and then at Killer, “Shit.”
He had no idea what to do
Of course, it was hard to know what to do, especially since Killer was the only person with enough medical knowledge to fix such a thing, and also the supplies...
Malevolence looked around for anything he might find to help solve this.
It wasn't hard to find a few notebooks, with a few different titles on the front, along with some medical supplies hidden in his nightstand. One of the notebooks was basically filled with all types of medications and what they did. The second page explained overdoses and how to fix them and gave a page number for what needed to be administered.
Malevolence flipped through all of that and then looked for what he needed to fix it.
Luckily, it wasn't hard to find. Everything was actually well labeled, and some syringes were in a little box for safekeeping.
Malevolence sighed in relief and moved to administer it to Killer.
It wasn't long after that Killer's breathing started to stabilize and get stronger, and he clenched his fists.
Malevolence sighed and hunched over.
“Damn it… stay down,” he hissed to himself.
Killer made a slight noise, starting to get more responsive.
Malevolence sat on the floor, holding his head
After a minute, Killer sat up... kind of. He wasn't exactly the most stable, with his magic now depleted, but he also didn't care.
Malevolence was arguing with himself, although it was actually with Night.
Killer ended up managing to dig through his nightstand, soon pulling out a bottle of magic boosters and squinting at the label.
“No…”
He looked at Nightmare/Malevolence, "Hmm...?"
“No… you can’t keep-“
“But I’m in control. You agreed to keep me in control if I let your three live their lives mostly fine. I let horror eat and dust sleep and you don’t fight me-“
“Hurting Error wasn’t part of the agreement-“ Night was breaking through with Malevolence.
Killer half listened, but went back to squinting at the label of the bottle he was holding, though slowly leaning to rest himself against the bed.
Eventually, Malevolence stood. “Are you better now, dear?”
Killer had started to shake a little, "I don't... r-remember... how many to t-take..."
He definitely needed the magic boosters, but he was struggling to see, or do anything other than lean against the bed.
“Let’s start with one while I read this okay? One to start and I’ll figure it out,”
Killer nodded, managing to open it and take one before offering Malevolence the bottle to look at.
Malevolence read it for how much and handed him whatever he still needed to take.
Killer took that too and let out a breath after.
Malevolence sighed.
“Don’t do that again or the dog will kill me,” he grumbled. “And not literally before you get fucking hopeful.”
"I w-won't... that fucking-" Killer suddenly gagged and moved to cover his mouth for a second. "S-Sucked..."
“Yea, that’s expected.”
Killer nodded before moving to lay on the ground, "J-Just gonna... stay here f-for a bit..."
“Sounds good dear,”
Killer nodded again, closing his eyes as he lay there.
Malevolence sighed. “If I let you wander, you can’t do shit or I will lock you up whenever I’m busy,”
Killer didn't respond, more tired than anything else after all that.
Malevolence scoffed and walked out of the room.
Killer didn't move for a few hours, which was probably a little concerning, but everything seemed alright with him otherwise.
Dust at some point has come to sit with him
For once, he was relatively peaceful, which was helped by his not quite being asleep, and didn't really notice Dust come in.
Dust just kinda sat at the foot of the bed.
After a while, Killer moved a bit, turning from his side to his back.
Dust stared at him and sighed, moving to help him onto the bed to be more comfortable
Killer quickly grabbed the front of his shirt to stop him, "Don't... d-don't..."
“Hey… hey what’s up?”
"I am n-not up... for being m-moved..."
“Okay. Do you wanna a pillow? Make you more comfortable?”
Killer nodded slightly.
Dust moved to pull down the pillow from his bed
Killer let him, lifting his head enough for the pillow to be tucked under.
Dust sighed and tucked it under before sitting next to him.
"Th-Thank you..."
“Of course…”
"I am... s-so tired... but I c-can't sleep..."
“That’s okay… I know…”
Killer nodded slightly, moving to rub at his face with his hands.
Dust just stayed beside him.
After a minute, he opened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling, still a little dazed.
Dust watched him quietly
Killer didn't say or really do anything, seeming lost in thought.
Dust didn’t mind, he felt safer here than he did in the halls.
"Maybe I should... k-keep looking over m-mental illnesses..." In his spare time, Killer liked to learn anything medical, and his recent thing had been mental illnesses and such, and ways to help treat them.
“I don’t know you’re good to be studying right now,”
"I'll c-close my eyes if I'm n-not... just... let m-me try..."
“Okay,”
"Grab me a... a book, p-please...?"
Dust moved to do just that.
Killer waited patiently, taking it once Dust offered it to him.
Dust sat beside him again once he did.
Killer opened the book to quietly look through it, pulling out a notebook from nearby to take notes in.
Dust still sat nearby.
Killer didn't seem to mind, preferring the company as he quickly read and wrote.
Eventually, Killer closed the book and his eyes.
Dust didn’t mind
Killer sighed softly afterward, "Maybe I should try to sleep..."
“Sleep if you want, I’m here and you’re safe
Killer nodded slightly, "Thank you again..."
“Of course,”
Killer set his book and notebook aside as he lay there, and after a while, he seemed to be asleep.
Dust smiled and pulled a blanket over him
Killer didn't seem to mind, surprisingly sound while he slept.
Dust smiled and sunk back to sleep where he sat too, almost guarding Killer
At some point Horror had walked in and fallen asleep near the door.
Killer woke up again a couple of hours later and glanced around.
Both were still asleep, and Killer didn't mind, picking up his book and notebook again to get back to it.
The boys were both sleepy but the second there were footsteps outside, they woke themselves up.
Killer turned to look at the source of the footsteps.
Malevolence stood in the doorway.
“I’m here for medical equipment,” he hissed.
“Oh no! What did you do to poor Error,” Dust hissed
"That's a good question, so I know what equipment..." Killer moved to set his stuff aside and sit up.
“It’s nothing big, it’s more for me, he ripped off a tentacle and scratched my arms,”
“And well deserved.”
"Do you need stitches...?"
“No, but he might if he’s not fucking careful.”
Killer sighed and pointed to his closet, "Grab yourself some bandages..."
Malevolence nodded and sighed, “Oh, and I probably injured some part of Error, but he wouldn’t let me see-“
“Probably because of what you did! He just got married you asshole, you sent me to clean him up after the first time and all he wants is to be with his husband and kids,” Horror snapped
"All of you shut it..." Killer rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "He doesn't trust you with any of his injuries..."
“I know but you took too many fucking drugs to be of any help didn’t you?” He sighed.
"I can try, at least... I just don't know what kind of injury it is..."
“Well, neither do fucking I-“
“Maybe it's because you, I don’t know, force yourself on him you fucking dick!” Dust snarled.
"What did I just say...?" Killer sighed.
“Sorry Kills it’s just… I hate this.”
Killer looked back at Malevolence, "Do you want me to try and do an examination...?"
“Sure, knock yourself out.”
Killer nodded, using the bed to help himself stand up, though he was a little wobbly.
They would have quietly watched him, Dust moving to help him if needed
Killer did need help, likely to fall otherwise, but managed to get to the room Error was in with said assistance.
Error was curled in the corner of his room, dressed, fortunately, although very shabby. “Killer?”
"Hey... you hurt...?"
“Killer he… he…” he started to sob and started to drag himself towards Killer, not really moving his legs
"I know, I know..." Killer quickly moved to kneel next to Error so Error didn't have to move. "Where are you hurt...?"
Error looked up and then looked down. He didn’t want to say where. “It hurts…”
“No! Nonononono!”
"I can't help if I don't know..." Killer offered a comforting hand.
Error started to cry.
“No… no you can’t… you can’t see it,” he whispered. “Just take me out of here, please.”
"I want to... I really do... I'm so sorry..."
“I need to get home… I have a toddler, Pic… please…” he was shaking and there was a fracture visible on his leg but it was likely that wasn’t his only injury.
"I know- I know, but he'd probably kill all of us- including you..."
Ink suddenly opened the door and yelled, “Ruru!”
Error looked up, “Inky?”
“Gotcha!” Ink was suddenly grabbed by Malevolence.
Two weeks later, Error adjusted his outfit before scooping up Pic, whom Stain had helped dress in a little suit. “Hi poof, are you excited?”
Pic looked up at him with a little nod.
Error grinned and kissed his son's head. “It’s not a lot today, but I get to marry your dad,”
Pic stayed quiet, resting his head against Error's chest.
Error rubbed his back.
“I'm gonna hand you to PJ now but you’ll see me soon,” Error gently handed his son to PJ.
In another room, Stain was currently adjusting his dad's bandages before pulling his coat on. “Ready?”
Ink nodded, "I am..."
Stain looped his arm through Inks and grinned
Ink smiled a bit. He was hyped up on painkillers but honestly didn't care.
Stain began to walk with his dad around the same time Gradient and Error were. There wasn’t much of a ceremony. Error had just wanted to do it as soon as they could because things weren’t safe and he wanted to go into the future with his husband.
Ink didn't mind either way, just excited to marry Error.
Error was as well and as soon as he saw Ink, he grinned wider
Ink smiled at him, rather excited, and it was a miracle he didn't decide to run over.
Error fidgeted with his hands and it was obvious he WOULD run over to ink if he could
Ink let Stain guide him over, knowing that he would probably get too excited if he didn't.
Gradient was leading Error too and the boys grinned at each other once they met up, handing Error and ink to each other.
Ink happily switched to hold Error's hands, very excited.
Error smiled at him. He listened faintly to whoever was marrying them, but he focused more on Ink.
Ink did, too, more focused on Error than anything else.
Soon, the I do’s came, and Error said it with speed.
Ink happily said it back, not even waiting for a cue.
Error pulled him into a kiss before pulling away and laughing as the children all echoed, ‘Ewww’
Ink chuckled a bit, tucking his head under Error's.
Error wrapped his arms around Ink.
”I love you,” Error whispered
"I love you too, Ruru," Ink was still smiling.
Error turned to face the kids. Cross was in the small crowd too, grinning at the couple.
”I’m going to let you two have your time, kids, inside!” Cross called.
Ink nodded, letting them go while he moved to squeeze Error in a hug.
Error took Ink's hand and led him just beyond the dome so they could have an uninterrupted view of the stars, just for a moment. He didn’t even see the portal that opened behind him.
Ink was content following Error and looking up with him. He was rather proud of the sky he'd made.
“Well, well, well. Look at the happy couple,” Malevolence hissed and Error turned, pulling Ink behind him
Ink was a little surprised, not expecting to see Malevolence, but also a little pissed.
“Oh calm yourselves. I’m not here to take another wing or your kid,” Malevolence huffed
"But you're still here for something-" Ink moved to stand next to Error. There was no way he'd just stay behind him.
Error still had an arm braced in front of Ink.
“Just your husband, since Nightmare has decided my play toys are now off limits,” Malevolence reached out and attempted to knock Ink out before reaching to wrap Error in his tentacles.
Ink wasn't exactly going to go down without a fight, however, and he didn't have a weapon, so he did the next best thing and summoned a gaster blaster.
Malevolence scowled and reached to attack Ink, leaving Error mostly unharmed although at some point he’d knocked Error out instead of Ink
Ink quickly fired his blaster at Malevolence before summoning another to set off too.
Malevolence dodged and dodged, getting a bit tired out but he wasn’t about to give in
Ink wasn't either, but he only had so much magic on hand, even for someone as strong as him
Malevolence took his time to keep attacking Ink, a tentacle wrapping around the unconscious Error in case he needed to just snatch him and run
And he might've, but that would leave a pissed Ink that would try to follow. Ink was, however, not really guarding his right side, or even paying attention to it.
Malevolence noticed that and attacked on his right side
Ink tried to guard it, but easily failed, and was knocked out pretty easily.
Malevolence grinned and scooped up Error before opening a portal back home, ignoring Ink's body behind him and the scream from Stain, who’d peaked out the door to check on his dads just to see this
~~~
By the time Ink would have woken up, was on the couch. Stain was panicking and yelling somewhere else while PJ sat beside Ink, curled around Pic.
Ink quickly sat up and looked around, trying to figure out if it was just a nightmare that Error had been taken.
“Cross is sending us to live with Uncle Geno…”
PJ whispered, “Stains pissed… papas gone and we aren’t even being allowed to do anything,”
Ink quickly buried his face in his hands, then pulled them away after a minute, "I need to save Ruru-"
“I knew you’d say that… Cross says he’s not letting you go until you’re healed more.” PJ sounded robotic, broken.
"PJ, I can't just leave him-" Ink stood up.
“I know but what help are you to Papa if you’re still really hurt… I don’t want to lose both my parents in one day!”
"I'm barely injured-" Ink seemed distressed, for obvious reasons.
“You lost your wing two weeks ago and you’re still not healed from that,”
"But still- I don't need my wing-"
“But you need just a bit more… I want to save Papa too but not at risk of you… I don’t want to be alone again,”
"PJ, please-"
“Dad. You have nine kids who need you right now… please… at least stay to see us off,” PJ whimpered
Ink took a breath and a moment to rub at his face then nodded, "Alright..."
PJ was crying softly. This was a lot on them, they were the third oldest, and with Stain pissed, and Gradient packing, they’d been left in charge of their six younger siblings.
Ink moved to pull PJ close, "I'm sorry..."
PJ buried their head against his shoulder, “I don’t wanna lose you too! We’re already being made to leave and I don’t wanna lose you!”
"I know, baby, I know..."
PJ just continued to cry as Cross came down the stairs and sighed.
“I’m sorry,” Cross whispered
Ink looked up at him, quietly rocking back and forth with PJ.
“I wish I could have gotten there on time… I’m… I'm coming up with a plan right now but when Error got taken, the dome fell… Geno’s is safer for the kids right now.”
Ink nodded, "I understand..."
“I swear, I will get Error back here,”
Ink nodded, still holding PJ, "I trust you..."
Cross nodded and sighed.
“PJ…” Cross whispered and PJ just shook their head
"If you need to go, baby... it's ok..."
“I don’t wanna leave you,” PJ whispered. “We aren’t leaving until tomorrow, but you need to pack,”
"Go pack, baby... I'll still be here..."
PJ softly nodded and got up, slowly trudging upstairs. Cross sighed and wiped away a few tears that had been constantly falling for a while now.
Ink let them go before quietly looking at the ground.
“I’m so sorry Ink, I should have been there… should have stopped him,” logically Cross couldn’t have been. He’d done amazing, taking control and getting the kids somewhere safe so they could go after Error without risking the kid's safety.
"You took care of the kids for us... that's all you needed to do..."
“But he’s my friend, you’re my friend, I should have saved him,”
"Cross..."
Cross put a hand over his mouth to keep from crying. “I told the council,”
"You did...? What did they say...?"
“I gave them cold damn proof of what Malevolence did but they need fucking witnesses before they’ll do shit… that shit includes a search party for Error,”
"A search party won't save him..."
“Their exact words over the phone were ‘a warned search party sent into suspicious territory’ which essentially would be them telling Malevolence they’re going and then searching his house… it’s all they’ll offer,”
"Which won't save Error... they're only trying to avoid it because Malevolence would kill them..."
“And by the rules, they have to do something so they’ll do the bare minimum,” Cross agreed
"Exactly..."
Cross sighed. “And the only protection the kids have is staying there so I’m taking matters into my own hands… once the kids are safe at Geno’s, I don’t care what you do as long as you stay safe,”
"I'll try, but... I want to get Error back."
“And I understand… just wait till tomorrow… except maybe not near the house since apparently, someone refused to leave claiming he’s old enough!”
“Cause I am!” Stain yelled down the stairs.
"You're 16, Stain, go with Geno."
“No,” Stain shook his head.
“He’s been like this since the Council made a dumb comment about Gradient taking Errors place on the council temporarily,” Cross whispered
"How about neither of them will do that because they're only 16."
Cross sighed, “For now we’ve denied that but you’re his dad and the only one who technically can tell the council no… but I’m just worried about everything because we know how they get.”
"What, do they need a handwritten note?"
“No clue… they’ve literally just fucking teleported people there for meetings before,”
Ink sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, "Miraculous that they can't just teleport Error out then."
“They give us the same bullshit every time,” he grumbled. “I just think they don’t care enough about Error,”
"They really don't, and that upsets me."
He nodded softly and sighed. “If you go after error. I won’t stop you… just try to come back for these kids. I can’t protect them from the council. Geno can try but if they make the boys take your place, all I can do is sit beside them during meetings…”
"I can try, but no promises, though I can go yell at the council to not make or let Stain and Gradient join."
“You can try but we both know they don’t listen,” he sighed and looked up to see Moku at the staircase. “Hi buddy,”
"I know they don't."
“We can’t find Scar… and usually Papa plays hide and seek to find her,” Moku whispered and Cross cursed
Ink moved to get up, "I can try to find her."
“Are you sure?” Cross asked
Ink nodded, heading upstairs.
Like always, Scarlet was hiding somewhere in her room.
Ink went up to her room, "Scarlet?"
There usually would be a little giggle in response but today there was just a tiny sniffle from under the bed.
Ink moved to get down on the floor to look for her, "Baby...?"
Scarlet whined a bit. “But there’s no stars at Uncle Geno’s.”
"I know, but it's only for a bit, baby."
“But…” Scarlet crawled back out from under the bed
"I know, I know, but it's for your safety..."
“But this is home… that’s not home, it’s uncle Geno’s home.’
"I know, but it's safer at Uncle Geno's."
“But…” Scarlet just hugged him.
Ink wrapped his arms around her, gently rubbing her back.
“We’ll come back right?”
"Of course..."
Scarlet nodded softly. “Gray packed my bag…”
"That's ok..."
Scarlet sighed and looked around as if checking that Gradient got everything
Ink let her, not minding that she did.
Scarlet moved when she spotted one thing he’d forgotten and held it up to show him. It was a puppet of Error that Error had made, “Here… cause you miss papa too,”
Ink very carefully took it, "Oh... thank you, baby..."
Scarlet nodded and gulped “I miss him too but I'm sure Moku can let me hug his plushie papa. You don’t have one,”
"I know, but it's your puppet. You keep it, baby."
Killer seemed more than bewildered when Malevolence pulled his shirt up, knowing it wasn’t something Night would do, before sniffling a bit, "N-Night...?"
“Kills… Kills, Kills…” It was Night now. Malevolence never called Killer Kills, only Dear.
Killer pushed his shirt down and quickly moved to hold onto Nightmare, "N-Nighty..."
Nightmare pushed himself to his feet.
“He was tricking you and then I just… oh god you’re pregnant!” He sobbed against Killer
"I-I am... and..."
Killer basically broke down sobbing in Night's arms, upset that Malevolence now knew what was up.
Nightmare held him as close as he could.
“He… he’s still here but he’s not getting out… I won’t let him, not for as long as I can help it,” Nightmare whispered as he kissed Killer's head. “I won’t let him do anything,”
Killer let out another sob, tightly holding onto Nightmare.
Nightmare clung to Killer as tight as he could. “I won’t let him hurt you or the soul. I swear,”
Killer nodded with another sob, burying his face in Night's chest.
Nightmare held him close and buried his face against Killer's shoulder, “He was so… proud… that you confused us… that he could trick you like that…”
"I'm s-sorry..."
“It’s not your fault… he tries to do it… trick you…”
"B-But I should b-be able t-to tell..."
“He mimics everything I do if he can… just thinks my nicknames for you are stupid so that’s the only thing he doesn’t do… he won’t call you Kills or Love…”
Killer nodded with a sob and a hiccup.
“I love you Kills,” Nightmare whispered as he kissed Killer before looking him up and down. “And I love this soul, no matter what…”
"I l-love you too... so much..."
“I don’t know how long I have… and I know I want to spend so much with you, but do you think I can go cook the boys breakfast? If I think I’m slipping at all, I’d tell you,”
"G-Go ahead..."
Nightmare kissed Killer again and went downstairs. A few minutes later Dust and Horror appeared outside Killer's door. “Is he really back?
Killer had curled up to keep crying, but he looked at them with a nod, "F-For a bit..."
“Oh good! Yes! Any time with him is better than none, and he’s making waffles!”
"Sounds g-good..."
“Are you okay?” Dust asked after Horror had run downstairs
"M-Malevolence knows..."
“Shit… is that why nights back?”
Killer nodded slowly.
“Okay… okay so we have night though and he’ll know what to do… right?”
"Hopefully... I d-don't know..."
Dust nodded and gulped. “Is it okay if we celebrate him being back? Even if it’s because Makevolence knows?”
"G-Go ahead..."
Dust nodded and ran downstairs to go get breakfast.
Killer let him but stayed in bed.
Nightmare came up a while later with some waffles for him.
Killer sat up when he came in, ready to eat, "Hi..."
“Hi love,” Night hummed, also subtly assuring Killer that it was still him. “So good news, I don’t think Malevolence is completely conscious like I am when he’s in control.”
"G-Good..."
Night nodded and offered Killer a plate, “Are you sure you don’t wanna go live with Ink and Error or something? It’ll be safer… even if Ink’s probably out of commission for a bit.”
"I'm sure, I a-always have been..."
Nightmare sighed and kissed Killer's head, “Okay… but please… if it gets too dangerous, run… at least just to give me the peace of mind that he can’t hurt you…”
Killer nodded, "I will..."
“Thank you… now let’s eat some waffles huh?” Night joked
Killer nodded, reaching for them, "Please..."
Nightmare sat down beside Killer and gave him his plate
Killer quietly started to eat, leaning against Night.
After he was done eating, Killer set his plate aside.
Nightmare took the plate, stacked his own on top of it, and moved to wrap his arms around Killer, “I’ve been thinking… Malevolence only came around what 16-17 years ago? I dealt with terrible negativity before… I’m trying to figure out how to get rid of him… for good,”
Killer nodded, "Maybe... I'm not sure if there is..."
“If he came out of nowhere… I can get rid of him… or I’ll figure out how to stop him for good…”
"Please do..."
“I won’t let him continue like this… not when other lives are involved… I can’t let this keep happening,”
Killer nodded, closing his eyes.
“I love you and… and whatever happens I always love you,”
When dinner was finished, Horror was instructed to bring a plate up to Killer, who was half asleep in bed, but looked up when Horror came in.
“Hi, Malevolence told me to bring you dinner… said I could eat up here too… he let me eat…”
"That's good..." Killer moved to sit up.
Horror nodded and handed Killer his plate of food
Killer took it to eat, "Th-Thank you..."
“Of course… he’s in a good mood right now.”
Killer nodded, "Good..."
“Yea…”
"Wish h-he was more often..." Killer ate quietly after that.
“I do too… I like being able to eat.”
Killer nodded, silently listening to Horror while he ate.
Horror was mostly silent while he ate, but he seemed content.
After a bit, Killer finished eating and set his plate aside.
Horror finished as well and stacked their plates
"He... also said we would sleep alright tonight..."
“Yessss!” Horror threw his hands up
Killer nodded a bit, "Hopefully my nightmares actually stay away..."
“I hope they do too.”
Killer nodded, moving to lie down.
Horror took the plates and went downstairs
At some point, Dust came to visit too
Killer was half asleep again but opened his eyes to look up at Dust.
Dust just sorta sat at the end of the bed, silently crying
"Is... something wrong...?"
“I don’t like when he’s nice, I hate it…” Dust whispered
"Why's that...?"
“Because he’s not Night!”
"But at least we get a break..."
“I know but it’s not… why does he get to be here and be nice when we could have Night back?”
"Because he's cruel... he wants us to struggle..."
“I just want Night back…” Dust whispered. He was tired and upset now
"We all do..."
Dust sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “Did I wake you up?”
Killer shook his head, "No... wasn't asleep yet..."
“Good… I’m sorry it’s just… you know how Night puts his hand on my head sometimes? He did that and it got to me…”
"It's ok... want to stay for a bit...?"
“Are you sure? He said you’re sick… shouldn’t you rest?”
"Doesn't mean you can't sit with me..."
“Okay…”
Killer pat a spot in the bed that was less at the foot.
Dust sat in that spot and smiled at Killer
Killer didn't smile, but it was basically impossible for him to, and he turned over so he could face Dust.
Dust yawned a bit, “I’m glad that I at least have you and Horror. I couldn’t get through this without you two.”
Killer nodded, "It'd be so much harder..."
“I think I would have died…”
Killer nodded, "With how much he seems to dislike you... ya..."
Dust sighed and closed his eyes tightly
"But you're alright... nothing should happen to you for a bit..."
“For now… but something bad had to happen to Ink for that…”
Killer nodded, "I know..."
“And I don’t want our safety to be at someone else’s hurt,”
"Neither do I..."
“I just hope we figure out how to get Night back,”
Killer nodded, closing his eyes.
Dust sighed and closed his eyes too. “Do you think night is conscious in there?”
Killer nodded, "He is..."
“Oh god,” Dust sat up then. He’d never realized that and it terrified him. “He’s conscious under there? He’s seen-“
"He has... that's the upsetting thing..."
“Killer… he’s seen so many horrible things… he’s seen what Malevolence has said-“ Dust shook his head. “And we still have no clue how to break him out?”
"Night isn't strong enough... he is if negativity is weak... but... Malevolence keeps it like this for that reason..."
“So we need to just… bite it down? And we can get him back?”
"We can try... but that also might not work... it might help, though..."
“It could help him… he’s also come back when he gets really upset, right?”
"He has..."
“We can help him, right? We know when he might do so…” Dust shrugged
"We can try... that's all I'll say..."
“Then I’m gonna try,” Dust knew it would probably get him hurt but he’d definitely do anything he could to get Night back. He faced the worst of the abuse and he’d keep facing it for Night.
"Just... be careful... please..."
“I will be… but I’ll start tomorrow,”
"Alright..."
Dust nodded and closed his eyes again
Killer was quiet, trying to fall back into that half-asleep state.
Dust would have felt bad if he wasn’t also half asleep.
Killer didn't mind, though ended up slipping into full sleep on accident after a bit. It wasn't as clear of nightmares as Malevolence had probably hoped it would be though.
At some point, Dust woke up from his own nightmare and just lay there instead of trying to sleep again.
It was harder for Killer, however, especially with his fever. He was exhausted, both physically and when it came to his magic, and while he couldn't stop the nightmares without mild help from Malevolence, he also couldn't wake up easily.
Dust noticed and stood. He knew he might get in trouble but for Killer, he’d take a beating, or worse. “Malevolence, sir? Killer’s having a nightmare and in his current state, sick and all-“
A tentacle hit right beside Dust’s head and Malevolence sighed as he headed upstairs. “I’ll aid him with that.”
Killer curled up tighter in his sleep, having ended up gripping the pillow. His corrupted magic and tears stained it, but he wouldn't have cared whether he was asleep or not.
Malevolence frowned slightly when he saw Killer and reached a hand out to calm Killer's nightmares.
It didn't work at first. His nightmare was actually fairly extensive, mostly about his own AU and him killing everyone there, but also about some of the AUS he'd helped destroy, mostly young faces that truly hadn't deserved it.
Malevolence sighed and closed his eyes, focusing on switching the dream towards moments on the couch with the house, when Error had made blankets for everyone, the moments with Night.
It seemed to help, Killer gradually relaxing, and his breathing getting more steady as it got better.
Malevolence smiled and pulled back. “There we go… Dust. Keep an eye on him,”
“If you leave, sir, he’ll have them again, we both know that,” Dust whispered.
Malevolence knew Dust was right. Dreams and nightmares were quick to switch, and there was no doubt that the nightmares would return if Malevolence left. So, he sighed and sat back down, gently touching Killer's head again.
Killer leaned into the touch a bit, even in his sleep.
Malevolence smiled and rubbed Killer's hand with his free one
Killer slept better than he had in a while with Malevolence there, and he was plenty grateful in the morning. Malevolence was half asleep by then, smiling at Killer
Killer opened his eyes a bit when he woke up, looking up at him, "Night...?"
“Hi, you had quite the night, my dear,” it was Malevolence but the look of love and care about him, and the very fact he wouldn’t usually do this, was more than good enough to confuse even Horror and Dust at times.
"You... stayed up for me...?"
“Of course… you need your rest when you’re sick, and if I can help with that, then I will,”
"You didn't have to..." Killer felt like he could cry again. "You should sleep..."
“I can sleep later,” Malevolence kissed Killer's hand, smiling so softly at him
"But you a-also need sleep..." Killer let out a soft hiccup as a tear managed to escape.
Malevolence reached to wipe at Killer's tears. “And I will, but I want to worry about you right now, dear,”
Killer let out a soft sob, "I've m-missed you, Night..."
“Well I’m right here, I’m here,”
"I-I have things t-to tell you... b-but I don't kn-know how much t-time w-we have..."
“Then tell me what you can, dear,” Malevolence whispered, rubbing Killer's hand.
"I l-love you..."
“I love you too,” Malevolence hummed. It didn’t sound exactly like when Noght usually said it but that could likely be brushed off as tired, at least if this was Night
Killer smiled weakly, tears still falling down his cheeks, and Malevolence just smiled back at Killer, rubbing his hand
"And... and I... I-I'm..." Killer definitely seemed a little nervous to say it. "P-Pregnant..."
Malevolence reeled back.
“What!?” He reached down and yanked up Killer's shirt to stare at the soul.
“No way!” He then laughed and stood, but immediately crumbled and began to cry. “Kills?”
Sometime, later that day, Killer finally decided to take a shower, and afterward, he went downstairs to the living room.
Horror was in the living room eating. Since Malevolence wasn’t there, he was working on something for his boys.
Killer moved to sit on the couch with a sigh.
Horror looked at him with a soft smile
Killer glanced at Horror, "Eat enough...?"
“Physically or mentally? Physically yes, but it never feels like enough,” Horror shrugged. The joys of being starved most of his life. “Did you get a good cry in?”
"As much of one as I can for now... gonna need to chug some water if I want to cry anymore."
“I think you should probably drink some water either way… hey, I know I gave you my burner but do you think I could call them a second? I haven’t since the whole, Malevolence got tied up by Error for attacking Dream thing,”
Killer nodded, taking out the phone to give Horror, "Go ahead..."
Horror smiled and pulled up his phone, sending a text before promptly getting a call.
Killer was quiet, leaning back into the couch.
“Hi- hi De! How are you, sweetheart? Yea? You start preschool tomorrow? No no, that must be too soon,” Horror sounded pained as he spoke but he was trying to mask it. He’d missed most of his kids' lives, he’d never even met his youngest.
“I know, I can’t talk long… oh yea?” He looked at Killer and smiled. The call only lasted a couple of minutes. “Yea? Thank you Lust… give the boys a big hug from me…”
Horror then hung up and sighed. “When we get Night back, I want him to meet the boys,”
"He'll love them, I'm sure..." Killer wrapped his jacket more around himself, sinking down a bit into the couch.
“Yea… hey Killer… I hate to ask but is it Nights? Or…”
"It's... a little complicated..."
“That’s understandable…” Horror seemed worried and sighed.
"I mean... technically... they are the same person... sharing the same soul... and I really do want it to be Night's... but it wasn't *with* Night, because of my stupid emotion thing..."
“Killer…” Horror whispered, cautiously.
"It's... weird... none of it was non-consensual... but I'm more in tune with emotions than other Sanses... if Malevolence fakes it enough, I'll think he's Night, usually until the next morning..."
“That’s…” Horror seemed a bit confused but it wasn’t meant to be harmful, it was just… confusion
"See...? Confusing..." Killer sighed softly. "And I'm afraid that that could also ruin hiding it... what if I think he's Night and I tell him...? But I don't want to leave Night..."
“Isn’t he hooked on the whole heir thing again? Like he was when Stain was born? When Cross was taken he decided he needed an heir again so I mean… he might not take it violently…” Horror was trying to find a solution where Killer would be at least slightly safe AND stay.
"Maybe... but he also might not find me suitable... he's a little strange like that..."
“That he is… but Night loves you and he’s broken out to protect people before…@
"I know... but still... if Night *does* appear... it could only be temporary, or he might not appear at all..."
“I know… I know… I’m just trying to think,”
Killer moved to lay on his side, "Thinking is hard... maybe I'll go steal an old sweatshirt that smells like Night and hide in it instead..."
“That sounds like a good idea,” Horror joked, although he was also serious
"It really does..." Killer got up and headed upstairs to steal a sweatshirt from Malevolence's room.
Horror just sighed and began to watch TV.
Killer came back down after a few minutes and sat with Horror, "I found one..."
“I’m glad,” Horror said, honestly. “I made some extra lunch if you want any.”
Killer shook his head, now wrapped in both Nightmare's and his own sweatshirt, "I'm alright..."
“Sounds good…” Horror sighed and yawned, leaning his head back. “Think he’ll actually be out all day?”
"Hopefully..." Killer moved to lie on his side again. "I might take a nap and I don't want him getting upset..."
“You have more leeway than us, you’d probably be able to get away with it,” technically Malevolence didn’t care how much Horror slept, he starved him instead. Horror could sleep all day but he could only eat once every few.
"Oh, but I'm supposed to be his ever-vigilant soldier..."
“And a vigilant soldier cannot be haunted by his demons and feeding the negativity pool if he doesn’t sleep,” Horror joked. “If Dust and Cross stay awake too long, they hallucinate their dead siblings again, and I go back to where I used to be when I’m hungry… but I only thought your nightmares are what he wanted from you…”
"My nightmares are basically everything under the sun... I lost *everyone* in my au, remember...?"
“Yes, but is that what he uses to build your negativity, or is it just… you looking at him and not being Night.”
"Both... he likes the look on my face, and he enjoys what I give off with my nightmares..."
“Well that’s fun for you,” Horror grumbled, crossing his arms
"Yup, real fun..." Killer pulled a hood over his head.
Horror sighed, “I know that if I eat too much more, I could make myself sick, but I feel like I NEED to…”
"Want to see if holding my hand would help at all...?"
“I… are you sure?”
"I'm sure... might even help me..." Killer offered Horror his hand.
Horror smiled and took his hand. It seemed to help him, ground him in the moment instead of his oast
Killer didn't mind, closing his eyes to try and rest while Malevolence was gone.
~~~~~
Malevolence didn’t return until it was dark out, and he looked pleased enough with himself that even if Killer had still been asleep, which he wasn’t, he would have let it pass. Instead, Killer was awake and still wearing Nightmare’s sweatshirt.
“Nice sweatshirt,” Malevolence hummed as he spotted it.
“Horror, would you be a dear and make us dinner? I want to celebrate,” he hummed and Horror just looked at Killer
Killer didn't even pay attention to the sweatshirt comment, "Celebrate... what, exactly?"
“Oh, just my victory,” Malevolence hummed and Horror just gave Killer a look, refusing to move until Killer nodded or something, signaling that it was okay
Killer nodded slightly, a signal to Horror, but Malevolence likely thought it was some sort of curiosity, "Want to tell me more about said victory?"
Horror backed away and Malevolence grinned, wrapping his arms loosely around Killer. “I broke off Ink's wing, Killer. I got Error to fire his blaster at me and while he was tired from that, I got Ink’s wing!”
"That sounds impressive... still no sign of Cross?" Killer made sure to hide his negativity over Ink being hurt, waiting until he was told that Cross still wasn't back.
“No, no sign of Cross. Error was there though and he made a pretty smart defense. He used his strings to make a dome,” Smart? Malevolence didn’t say anything anyone did was smart…
“Oh, I’m glad you and the others won’t leave me. It’d be a shame to have to get a new crew. They wouldn’t be as fun as you.”
"I'm sure they wouldn't..." Killer went pretty quiet, letting the negativity flow a bit. It was about Ink getting hurt, but Malevolence could assume it to be about the loss of Cross.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get him back, I just know it,” Malevolence kissed the side of Killer's head before moving away. “In honor of my victory, Horror gets to eat dinner and everyone gets to sleep well. A victory is worth celebrating, no?”
"I suppose it is..." Killer watched Malevolence. After his nap, he'd chugged more water, and at this point, he felt like he could start crying again, for many reasons, most of them bad.
Malevolence smiled at Killer, warmly. “What would I do without you, Killer?”
"I'm not sure, probably the same thing, but without someone to celebrate with..."
“There’d be more I missed too,” Malevolence hummed.
Killer could only nod, unable to stop tears from beginning to fall.
“Hey… hey… what’s wrong?” Malevolence sounded so much like Night then as he reached to cup Killer's face and wipe his tears.
"I d-don't know..." Killer leaned his head into Malevolence's hands.
“Shhh… shhh… I’ve got you,” Malevolence pulled Killer into a gentle hug
Killer rested his head against him, more tears falling, "I-I'm w-warm..."
Malevolence raised a hand to feel Killer's head, worried
Killer was running a fever, and he moved to hold onto Malevolence, seeming weaker than usual.
“Oh no,” Malevolence whispered. “No, Killer you have a fever… come on, we have to get you resting,”
Killer made a slight noise, hiding his face against Malevolence's shoulder.
“Shhh… shhh,” With ease, Malevolence picked Killer up and carried him upstairs
Killer let out a slight noise, which seemed more out of stress, "N-Night...?"
Malevolence adjusted his hold on Killer, “Hmm?”
"I-I-m sorry..." Killer didn't exactly know what for, but he felt like he had to stay it.
“It’s okay…” Malevolence didn’t know either, just guessing that it was because he was sick. He laid killer down in his bed. “I want you to rest okay?”
Killer nodded a bit, curling up once he was laid down.
Malevolence tucked him in and kissed his head. “I’ll bring you up some dinner…”
"Th-Thank you..."
“Of course. Is there anything you need before I go back downstairs?”
Killer shook his head, grabbing a pillow to cry into since he couldn't seem to stop.
“Okay…” Malevolence kissed Killer’s head again before walking back downstairs
Later that day, Ink and Error were curled up on the couch, watching a movie with the kids. They’d been loving on each other since that morning, which was a common occurrence, but right when Eeror went to kiss his head, his entire body tensed. “Without scaring the kids, we need to get outside. Someone’s messing with the dome.”
Ink opened his eyes, looking up at Error, before glancing over at Stain.
Stain was entranced in the movie, eyes focused purely on what was happening on the TV, Picmalaho in his lap.
Ink nodded, moving to stand and look at Gradient to see if either of them noticed.
Gradient hadn’t noticed either although he looked half asleep, cuddled between the blues.
He moved to leave the house, hopefully with Error following.
Error did follow, trying to be quiet and unnoticed.
Ink quickly closed the door behind them before looking for wherever the dome was being messed with.
It was Malevolence, tearing through the string in a blind rage.
Ink seemed upset at that, but moved to undo his sash, ready to fight Malevolence once again.
“Seriously? That took SO MUCH energy out of me to make!” Error complained
Ink shrugged a bit, giving a strong flap to land near where Malevolence was tearing through it.
“You’re tricky, aren’t you? Can’t just make things simple for me?” Malevolence snarled.
"Of course not, what idiot would do that?"
“An idiot who wants to make their time easy and painless,”
"And if they have a firm belief that you won't be able to beat them?"
“Then maybe they fix their mistakes,”
Ink scoffed a bit, pulling out his hatchet to fight.
Error sighed.
“Please don’t chop through the strings Inky. They’ll move for you,” he whispered
"I'm gonna chop him, not your strings, Ruru."
“Good… then chop away,” Destroying his strings like that just tended to hurt
Ink quickly dashed for Malevolence, aiming a slash for his ribcage.
Error worked on fixing the damage Malevolence had caused, knowing that if he tried to help Ink, he might get in the way at the moment.
Ink’s main goal was to knock Malevolence away from the dome, to a better spot to fight.
It was working, and Error worked on fixing the dome. He’d help Ink after that
"I told you to stay away-" Ink sliced his hatchet at Malevolence's chest.
“And I thought you were smart enough to know that that won’t work.”
"I don't care- why won't you?! Stain isn't yours!"
“If he isn’t then I’ll need a new heir,”
"Well, you won't find one here-" Ink threw his hatchet at Malevolence.
Malevolence sidestepped the hatchet and smirked. Error, who had just gotten to Ink's side, froze. “No,”
Ink gritted his teeth, seeming ready to just fist-fight Malevolence.
“Oh Error-“
“Absolutely not,” Error lashed out with his strings and summoned one of his blasters. “Leave,”
"You aren't welcome here-"
“Oh, I think Error would welcome me once I get my heir-“ A blaster went off, a string blast from Errors that Malevolence dodged.
"Just shut up already-" while Malevolence was distracted, Ink went to slam his shoulder into his chest.
Malevolence stumbled back, grabbing onto Ink's wing for stabilization before realizing what he had in his hands.
Ink quickly tried to tug his wing out of Malevolence's hold.
When Ink tugged, Malevolence got an idea and wrapped a few tentacles around his wing, giving it an experimental pull
his wing would've torn in two with some sickening cracks of bone. Malevolence easily broke it, though he wanted more than just a break. He wanted to destroy the wing and he did so before disappearing, knowing that it would be a lot easier battle next time.
Ink was left in pain, even without his paint, blood dripping from the remnants of his wing as he silently tried to handle the pain.
“Shit! Ink!” Error, who had stumbled back and partially crashed after he sent off the blaster, yelled
Error caught him and wrapped his arms around him, pulling Ink back into the dome and attempting to drag him into the house before giving up, just hoping Dream and Cross were awake in their room so it wouldn’t just be the kids, “HELP!”
Ink gritted his teeth against the pain, moving to unwrap his scarf to try and tie around what was left of his wing.
Cross heard them and came running outside, followed by Stain, who looked terrified
Ink held onto Error for support, his wing still dripping blood.
Error cradled Ink close as Cross cursed and ran back inside. “I’m getting materials-“
“Get Gradient too… he knows how to better tend to wounds,” Stain whispered, trembling
"F-Feeling lightheaded-"
Error had been trying to put pressure against Ink's back while he held him but it wasn’t doing much, “I know, I know… Cross is gonna come soon to help,”
Ink nodded a bit, leaning heavily against Error.
Error curled around him until Cross came running back out.
At some point, Error crashed out of worry for Ink, and Ink could only wait for Cross and Gradient to fix him up. He relaxed a bit when they finished.
“Finally,” Cross whispered as the bleeding finally stopped. Gradient began to cry, no longer pushed by adrenaline.
"Th-Thank you..."
“Of course,” Cross whispered as he wrapped an arm around Gradient to try and comfort him
Ink was waiting for Error to be ok again, more worried about him than himself.
Error was more worried about Ink and once he was back, he looked down at Ink. “Inky? Are you okay?”
"I a-am now..."
“Good, good,”
Ink leaned more against Error, "I'm sorry..."
“For what?”
"B-Being stupid..."
“You weren’t stupid, Inky,”
"You're s-sure...?"
“Of course.”
After a few minutes, Cross sighed, “We should move him inside but the bleeding stopped so he should be okay.”
Error didn’t exactly like letting Ink go but he did, watching as Cross carefully carried Ink inside.
“I got the kids up to the safe room, that’s what took me so long,” Gradient whispered.
“That’s ok, baby…” Ink curled up once he was in bed, trying to ignore the pain.
Error reached for and kissed the back of Ink's hand, “Do you want me to grab you something for the pain?”
"P-Please..."
Ink buried his face in his pillow as Error got up, but sat up a bit when Error came back with a cup of water and some painkillers. After taking them, Ink laid back down, ready to sleep.
Error sat beside him.
“I was gonna ask you to marry me tonight…” he whispered as he curled next to Ink. “I still want to obviously… but I can’t do it like I planned,”
"You just did... and I'd love to..."
“I’m glad… I love you Inky…” Error didn’t have a ring or anything, just a smile
"I love you too, Ruru..." Ink had his own soft smile as he looked at Error.
Error kissed his head and hugged him as close as he felt safe doing
At some point early in the morning, about a week later, Killer had woken up and was getting up to shower. The night before had been one of those where he'd confused Malevolence and Nightmare, and he ended up glancing back at Malevolence, making sure he didn't wake him up, and seeing that he wasn't bothered, Killer headed toward the nearest bathroom.
Dust and Horror were heard downstairs, having also confused the two and thought it was a good morning. They were being a bit noisy downstairs but as long as they didn’t get too loud, or bring it upstairs, Malevolence wasn’t likely to wake up and hurt them for it. That relaxed Killer a bit.
Killer stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, moving to undress, but pausing when he lifted his shirt enough to see his abdomen. Panic struck through him at the sight, and he decided to skip the shower, pulling his shirt back down and heading downstairs. When Horror and Dust saw him, it was a little obvious that something was fairly wrong.
“Killer? What’s wrong?” Dust whispered as he spotted his friend. Horror went silent
Killer didn't say anything at first, finding a spot to sit and hide his face in his hands for a few moments, but he mumbled something after.
“Hmm?” Dust crouched in front of Killer while Horror took his spot beside him, leaning against Killer sightly in an attempt to comfort him.
"I-I'm... I'm..." Killer took a breath. "P-Pregnant..."
He was distressed about it, for various reasons.
Dust fell backward at that with a shocked look on his face, which quickly turned into fear and then defeat. Horror didn’t move but he tensed up.
“Okay so this is bad,” Dust whispered. They didn’t mean exactly the idea of the child being bad, but the timing and the situation was bad, dangerous, deadly even.
Killer nodded, letting out a soft sob, "I d-don't know what t-to do..."
Dust moved again to hug him.
“If we were in a better situation, what would you want to do? Because Horror and I will be beside you no matter what and whatever you choose, we will protect you,” he whispered
"I d-don't really h-have a choice... t-terminating is d-dangerous..."
“Then what’s next… do you need us to…” Dust didn’t risk saying it out loud but he was trying to ask if Killer wanted them to get him out.
“Yea… we can handle him on our own for a while… and we know you wouldn’t leave us here forever,” Horror piped up although he sounded unsure, which was fair.
Killer shook his head, "No... n-no... I c-can j-just try t-to hide it..."
“And we want you to be safe, Killer. Hiding it isn’t safe for you or the soul,” Dust whispered
"I d-don't want t-to l-leave him..."
“But he’s not… him… half the time,”
"S-Still... I c-can't..."
Horror and Dust looked at each other before Dust sighed. “Then what do you want us to do first? We are behind you and with you every step of the way,”
"I d-don't kn-know... I've n-never been in th-this situation..."
“Let’s start simple. Food? Breakfast? Horror makes the best food,”
Killer nodded, "P-Please..."
“I’ll get started on that…” Horror gave Dust a look before he left. ‘Stay with him’ it said, and they’d be doing a lot more of that.
Killer ended up moving to lie down, having sat on the couch, to quietly cry.
Dust stayed beside him, likely holding one of his hands, “We’ll be with you the entire time, I promise…”
"Th-Thank you..."
“Of course… we’re family and we stick together… that’s what Night told us, remember? When Error was really having a hard time and he told us to go? Night told him he wasn’t alone and nothing changed that,”
Killer nodded with a hiccup.
Dust didn’t move, resting his head on the couch beside Killer.
Killer quietly cried for a bit, but soon seemed more calmed down.
Dust stayed beside him the entire time, not even moving when Horror came back with some food.
Killer moved to sit up to eat, quietly thanking Horror.
Horror nodded and moved to sit beside him, Dust taking up his other side.
Killer ate quietly, calming down more while he did.
Dust and Horror leaned against him, both eating until footsteps were heard upstairs. Dust immediately took Horror's plate and tucked it underneath his. Malevolence didn’t let horror eat much, aiming that hunger would continue to drive up negativity
Killer glanced up at Malevolence, having managed to get rid of his tears by then and revert to giving off his usual amount of negativity.
Malevolence smiled at them all and wandered over. “Last night was… fun. Can I expect a repeat or are you gonna shut yourself away until the dog wakes up and rolls over again?” He puffed and Dust bit back a snap at Malevolence calling Night a dog
"Not exactly in the mood today," Killer looked back down at his plate to shove a bite of food in his mouth.
“Such a shame,” Malevolence ran his hand over Killer's shoulder and Horror hissed at him. He raised a browbone and laughed at Horror's attempt to get him to leave Killer alone.
Killer didn't say anything about it, mimicking a sense of not caring.
“I hate you,” Horror whispered and Malevolence smiled.
“Good,”
Killer stood once he finished eating, heading to the kitchen to take care of his plate.
Dust and Horror followed although it didn’t build any suspicion as they did that all the time anyway. Killer was the only one who ever really risked being in a room alone with him.
“He called Night a dog… a fucking dog… I hate him,” Dust whispered.
“He thrives on pissing us off, Dust, negative emotions,” Horror whispered back
Killer simply nodded, taking the dishes to scrape and wash for them, but otherwise silent. It was how he usually was when Malevolence was awake and nearby.
“Think he’s gonna bother us or…”
“I’d rather us than go after the others again,” Dust whispered as he and Horror stood guard around Killer.
Killer dried and put the plates away before turning to leave the kitchen again.
The two continued to follow him.
“So, did any of you think to tell me that Error and Ink put up ‘defenses’ or was I expected to figure that out myself?” Malevolence was standing in the kitchen doorway. Of course, none of them had known that but it didn’t matter, not once he was mad.
Killer stayed silent, biting back a bit of a mocking question to respond with.
“Well?” He scoffed.
“You told us to stay away from their house sir, so we didn’t know-“Dust was cut off as Malevolence lashed out, cutting Dust's cheek and knocking him down.
“Not good enough,”
Killer spoke up, "Per your request, none of us have even left the mansion since they took Cross. How will we know if we aren't there?"
Malevolence attacked again and Dust nudged Killer so it hit him instead. Malevolence didn’t care who got hurt, he was just pissed and Dust would rather get hit twice rather than Horror or Killer.
Killer was quiet again after that, but kind of stared Malevolence down. He felt bad for Dust.
Malevolence stared at the trio before scoffing and leaving. “I won’t be back until late tonight. Don’t expect anything, if you’re lucky,”
Killer let out a sigh once Malevolence left, "Of all the times to want to tell him to shut up..."
“I hate him…” Dust whispered as Horror rushed to look him over.
“That’s a pretty deep gash,” Horror whispered.
Killer nodded, moving to look at the gash, "Let me see..."
It was pretty deep, definitely deep enough to leave a scar and would need stitches, not to mention that the second strike had hit his shoulder which he definitely wasn’t holding well.
“At least he left you two alone,”
“You’re an idiot,” Horror grumbled.
Killer guided him to sit down before going to get a few medical supplies.
“Listen, I’ve been his biggest target already so it’s fine,” Dust was the one Malevolence hit the most but that didn’t make it fine, no matter what he said
Killer came back and immediately started to work trying to fix up Dust, "It's never fine, he shouldn't be hurting you.”
“I don’t want Malevolence to hurt all of us and Night come back to that… one hurt person is better than three…”
“Then you’re just hurt enough for us all and that could get you killed,” Horror whispered
"But no hurt people is best," Killer made sure to work quickly, his hands as steady as ever.
“No hurt people is rare,” Dust mumbled
"But it's possible."
“Yea, it is,”
"So maybe we should aim more for that," Killer tightly secured the bandages around the gash after stitching it, before moving to his shoulder.
“Yea yea,” Dust sighed.
"I care about you, Dust, but it's not fun having to fix you every time."
“I don’t want to watch you fix Horror, or to have to try and fix you,” Dust said. “but I’ll try not to piss him off anymore,”
"I can fix myself, but we should be alright if no one ticks him off."
Dust nodded and sighed.
Killer pulled away once he'd fixed Dust's shoulder the best he could, sighing softly, "There..."
Dust couldn’t really move his shoulder but it hurt less and he has some movement in his arm so it’ll be good for now. “Thanks,”
"Of course, let me know if you need any painkillers, alright?"
“Sounds good,”
"But please try to rest while he's gone. Horror, don't forget to eat."
“Oh definitely… I’m gonna nap and Horror, eat,”
"Good, you guys need it."
Dust nodded and horror gulped, “Just stay near one of us, okay?”
"I will if he comes back. I'm probably going to go cry into a pillow until then."
Error went up to wake up the kids although appeared outside Ink’s door a bit later, holding Pic “Ink, have you seen Gradient? His phone is in the living room and he’s not in the house."
"I haven't," Ink turned to him. "That's... worrying. Should I try to go find him?"
“Stains texting an apparent friend of Gradients, who I had no idea about, but he doesn’t just… walk off,” Error whispered, worried
"I know, do you want me to go look for him?"
“I’ll look… just take care of Dream okay?” Error was stressed but didn’t want to pull Ink away from Dream, what he was doing.
“Shit! Dad! Papa! He was in outertale but Meteor said he woke up and said he was coming home over an hour ago!” Stain called, rushing in.
Ink started to worry a bit more, looking from Stain to Error, "Ruru, do you think..."
“I do not know…” Error looked frozen where he stood
"I can have Cross get Dream the painkillers if we go look..."
“Okay… okay…” Error whispered and Stain reached out to him.
“I’m sure he’s safe, he’s… he’s gotta be."
Ink nodded, "But there's no harm in checking..."
“Exactly,” Error still seemed slightly out of it as he wrapped an arm around Stain. Stain reached over and took Pic from error before leaning into his papa
"So I'll go check outertale? Or we both do?"
“Let’s go together,” Error whispered. In the rare chance something HAD happened, Error didn’t want either of them to discover that alone
Ink nodded, moving to leave the room, "I'll go tell Cross what to do for Dream..."
He spoke once he got downstairs, "Cross..."
Cross looked up from where he’d decided to help out and get most of the kids started with eating
"I need you to take care of Dream... when he wakes up, give him a couple of these..." Ink handed him a bottle of the painkillers PJ had brought. "Error and I have an issue and we need to go take care of it, but we'll be back soon..."
Cross took it and nodded.
“Okay. Is there anything else I can do to help?” He asked
"Get him some food once the painkillers kick in... he's gonna need the energy but it's gonna suck to eat with the pain..."
“Okay,” Cross nodded and Error and Stain walked over. Stain put Pic in his high chair and moved to sit down for breakfast.
Ink looked at Error, "Ready...?"
“Yes,” Error said with a certainty rarely heard
Ink nodded and opened a portal to Outertale.
Error walked through the portal, looking around immediately for his son who’d likely stick out
Ink quickly followed, closing the portal and searching for Gradient.
~~~~~
Gradient sat watching the stars from a cliff, curled up. They couldn’t see the stars at home, not easily, and he loved to watch them. After everything that happened, he didn’t feel okay going home yet. It was dumb but he’d gone to see the stars hoping it would comfort him more
Ink was fairly quick, basically looking the AU up and down, and it wasn't too long before Ink found Gradient, "Gray?"
Gradient looked over at him and smiled.
“I didn’t think you’d be awake yet…” he had no sense of time and probably didn’t realize he’d been out there for over an hour
Ink let out a sigh of relief as he walked over to him, "We thought something bad happened..."
“Oh…” Gradient gulped and looked back out at the stars, “I guess I forgot my phone at home, didn’t I?”
Ink nodded, "And it's been an hour... or longer... something like that..."
“OH… oh umm… that’s not what I meant to happen,” he laughed before gulping. “The stars are really pretty, aren’t they?”
Ink looked up at the sky before nodding slightly, "They are..."
“Do you think we could have stars at home?”
"We can, it just might take me a bit... it's not easy to adjust an entire sky..."
“Okay,” Gradient sighed and pulled himself to his feet
Ink offered to help him up, "Just remind me if I seem to forget... I promise I'll do it..."
“Thank you dad… I’m sorry that I just sorta disappeared."
"It's alright... you just worried us... but we're glad that you're safe..."
Gradient leaned forward to hug his dad, yelping and moving back when he realized the wings were there.
Ink was a little surprised before remembering said wings, "Oh- I forgot I have those now."
“Yea, how did those happen?” Gradient asked, smiling inquisitively
"The creators said I earned them, somehow. Not sure how but I think it's why they were so loud yesterday."
“Well that's… nice… isn’t it?” Gradient whispered, looking up when Error came running over, seeming relieved to see his son
"I... I think so?"
Gradient smiled weakly and was pulled into Error's arms.
Ink just seemed glad that Gradient was safe, smiling a bit as he watched him and Error.
“Don’t you dare do something like that, I thought-“ Error was cut off by his son who just shook his head. “I’m okay, papa."
"Ruru, all that matters right now is that he's safe..."
“You’re right… you’re right… let’s get back,” he sighed, keeping Gradient at his side
Ink nodded, opening a portal back home.
Error walked through, pulling Gradient with him
Ink followed, closing it behind them with a sigh, "But, really... please don't do something like that again, Gray... especially after yesterday..."
“I know… I didn’t mean to. I planned on just going to Meteor’s but I couldn’t go home this morning…”
"Meteor...?"
“Oh umm…” Gradient looked away as he realized that he’d never told his parents, not about Meteor
"It's alright, don't worry... just... maybe take your phone next time...?"
“I will,” Gradient nodded, looking down at his hands
Later that night, the mansion was quiet. Mostly everyone was asleep. Stain had gotten up at some point, or PJ or Gradient had come back, seeing as the kitchen light was on and only the eldest two were allowed in without Error. PJ wasn’t allowed in but they didn’t care.
Ink wasn’t upstairs like he usually would be. Instead, he was sitting against the wall opposite the stairs and taking off his sash, gently folding and laying it next to him on the floor.
There was noise from the kitchen and a soft humming. There was also a bag near the stairs which, if the humming hadn’t given it away, would confirm that PJ was currently breaking into the kitchen.
Ink didn't stop them. In fact, he'd been completely silent and startled PJ when they came back out.
PJ came out with a pile of food and nearly dropped all of it when they spotted him there, “Dad?”
Ink glanced at them, but stayed silent, though it wasn't the most obvious why.
“Dad…” PJ moved to set their food aside and find a spot beside him.
"Hmm...?" Ink kind of watched them, his emotions drained at that point.
“You’re emotionless, I see… are you okay? Do you know what put you to this point?”
"The creators are... loud..."
“Good loud or… gonna kidnap and torture you again loud?”
"Overwhelmingly loud..."
“Ahh,” PJ sighed and pulled their legs to their chest. “I don’t hear the creators, but my own head gets like that a lot…”
Ink nodded a bit, "Their discussion... is heated..."
PJ leaned against him.
“Mine gets bad sometimes too… I’m here if there’s anything I can do to help."
Ink nodded a bit, "Thank you..."
PJ leaned against him and closed their eyes, “Omni said they like me… like… like me; like me."
"You mean... love...? Or... are you still in middle school...?"
“About to start high school, I turn fifteen only a month or two after Stain. I start high school next fall… if we were in school,” PJ grumbled, knowing this story would draw something from their dad
"Do you want to go to school...?"
“Kinda… I mean, Stain and Gradient do online school, the Blues go to school in Underswap and I think Dream is teaching Pal… I know schooling, especially safe schooling, is hard but I want to know more people. I met Omni because I ran away one time."
"You just had to ask... Error and I can organize it... it shouldn't be hard..."
“A-are you sure?”PJ had tried to ask in the past, around the time they’d found Moku. Moku was no more than a year old when they found him and it had been a difficult adjustment but PJ had just focused on being denied and not the situation which led to them being told “Not now, not now, okay PJ?”
"I'm sure... everything might get hard sometimes... but... we do want to listen to you... and you're more than capable of getting yourself there and home... especially if something dangerous happens..."
“O-okay… thank you,” PJ smiled widely. They knew Ink couldn’t feel right now, but they didn’t care. He was their dad either way
Ink nodded, leaning back a bit to rest his head against the wall.
PJ did the same and yawned, their eyes falling closed. “I’m sorry I’ve been hiding from everyone.”
"It's alright... everyone needs to hide sometimes..."
“I’m still sorry, you guys could have really used my help with the kids…”
"You're 15, PJ... you should focus on being 15... not an adult..."
“Almost fifteen. Gray and Stain are fifteen and they get to do all the big important things…”
"My memory really is not working with me... but they aren't explicitly helping with the kids... only if we need help when something big happens... like today..."
“I know but they help with more too… I can’t be them but I want to help more…”
"You don't need to..."
“But I WANT to… I want to help more but I just don’t know how."
"I don't even think Stain and Gradient should be helping, actually... when did we agree to that...?"
“I don’t think you ever did, they just started helping out more around a year or two ago,” once they started listening in on council meetings, although PJ didn’t know that particular piece
Ink nodded a bit, "I'll probably tell them to do the same then... to focus on being kids..."
PJ pouted a bit and leaned against Ink more, yawning quietly.
"I know you want to help... but you're not even 15... and you're going to want to focus more on school when you go..."
“Yea…” PJ smiled a bit, their eyes dropping. “Imma go to bed… you should soon too… it’s been a crazy day.”
They stood and stretched before going up the stairs.
Ink nodded a bit, "Goodnight, PJ..."
“Night Dad!” PJ called as they went to bed, flopping onto their bed, all that food they’d grabbed, forgotten
~~~~~
In the morning, Ink was still sitting against the wall… except by then, a pair of beautiful, rainbow wings had burst through his back, but he didn’t have a care in the world. His paints were still next to him on the floor, the cause of his lack of care.
Error was the first one down that morning, which was probably really good, it was him and not one of the kids. “Inky?”
"Ruru...?" Ink looked from the floor up at Error.
Error looked shocked and a bit terrified as he stared at Ink and his wings.
“You’re bleeding,” his voice wobbled and he started to glitch more.
"It's alright... I'll be alright..."
“I know but you’re… What happened?”
"I... earned wings..."
“Earned? The way they came out looks more like a punishment,” Error grumbled
"But they don't hurt..."
“I’m certainly glad for that. Let’s get you cleaned up before the kids wake up,” Error whispered
Inknodded, "Ok..."
Error sighed and wrapped his arms around Ink and started to help him up
"I always will," Error kissed his head as he pulled Ink to be cleaned up.
Ink nodded a bit, following Error.
Error pulled him into the bathroom and used a washcloth to begin wiping down Ink's back and wings
Ink let him, still not wearing his sash of paints, but waiting patiently.
Error soon finished up and kissed Ink's forehead. "There, all cleaned up."
"Thank you, Ruru..."
"Of course."
"Let's go get my paints...?"
“Of course, I’ve gotta wake up the kids and get Pic out of bed for breakfast soon anyways,” Error hummed
Ink nodded, "I left them downstairs... so..."
“Sounds good, let’s go get those and I’ll start breakfast before waking the kids, okay?”
"Ok..." Ink moved to head out of the bathroom and downstairs.
Error followed him, content although still spooked about Ink’s wings. He, like most of his family, was good with Ink off his paints. They’d gotten especially good since Pic
“I’ll start to work on breakfast. You should probably check on Dream… looks like PJ left some things near the stairs for that,” Error did his best to remind Ink and put him on track
"Alright, thank you, Ruru..." Ink went to look at the things that PJ had brought, trying to decide which was best for Dream. Afterward, he headed up to Dream’s room. He was unsurprised to find Cross sitting beside the bed, worrying over Dream.
“Hi,” Cross whispered. He looked tired but it was rather obvious he still wasn’t used to sleeping.
"Hi... how's he doing...?" Ink walked over with the painkillers.
“If he’s woken up, it hasn’t been in the last twenty minutes or so…” Cross whispered.
Ink nodded, "That's good..."
Cross nodded and stared at Dream, watching quietly. “I hate seeing him like this.”
"We all do..."
Cross looked up at Ink and smiled weakly. “I know you probably hear it enough from him, but you mean so much to him."
He nodded, "I know..."
Cross looked back down at Dream and sighed. “I should go get Moku and leave you to this, shouldn’t I?”
He nodded, "You should... I'll let you know when he wakes up though..."
“Dream, he knows Cross is with you. He came here, came looking for Cross and then Stain. He knows.”
Dream sat up a bit, gripping the phone a bit harder, "Oh- oh dear. He's on his way here?"
”I believe so,” Error sighed
"Then- I'll get ready to intercept him. Thank you for warning me."
“Of course. We’ll get the kids settled and then be on our way to help,”
"Alright- thank you again," Dream looked at Cross with a look that said 'he's coming'.
Cross’s eyes went wide before narrowing.
“I thought we’d at least have a few more days,” he whispered, voice cracking
"We all did..." Dream got up.
Cross stood up as well, “Did you see where I left what little I had? I know I put it down somewhere when we came in…”
"It's by the door, but we can't leave... I don't have anywhere else to go..."
Cross nodded, “I know… but…”
he pulled out his weapon and smiled, “I know him well enough to not try escaping without at least some form of defense easily accessible.”
Then, there was a noise outside, similar to Dark approaching, and Cross tensed, “We’ll be found us rather quickly,”
"Just stay behind me, I don't want you fighting him unless you absolutely have to…”
“Oh…okay,” Cross gulped
"I promise to protect you the best I can..."
“And I can protect you too… you know that right?” Cross was still building back up his strength, since he’d been surviving off of pure adrenaline, but he could still fight
"I do... but you're in less of a condition to right now... so just trust me..." Dreammoved to summon his bow, which was definitely changed compared to the bow that he used to use.
Cross gaped at the bow before smiling.
“I like your new bow,” he whispered
"Thank you..." Dream summoned an arrow to hook into place, and when he did, he seemed a little more plush around the abdomen than he previously did.
Cross didn’t notice too much at the moment but didn’t have time to think either way, not as the front door was destroyed, much like Ink and Errors.
“Cross!” Nightmare roared and Cross shrunk back, immediately hyperventilating.
Dream quickly drew the arrow and pointed it at Nightmare, stepping in front of Cross, "Nightmare."
Nightmare snarled and attempted to use his tentacles to move Dream out of the way. “You can’t just take what’s mine and get away with it! Cross, you’re coming home.”
“That place hasn’t been my home since you stopped being Nightmare,” Cross whispered
"You would have never considered Cross yours before you lost yourself-" Dream quickly fired the arrow at one of Nightmare's soft spots, before seeming to snap his bow in half, which then turned into a pair of blades. He used said blades to slice at Nightmare's tentacles.
"And you'd have to get through me first-"
Nightmare snarled, attacking with as many tentacles as he could, not caring where they strike or how they might hurt Dream.
“He’s mine! My minion! My friend! My whatever I need him to be! You don’t get to have them! I can’t even get my damn heir!” He was pissed and Cross seemed to be shutting down with the negative energy circling around him.
Dream gritted his teeth a bit, trying to dodge the tentacles, but it was obviously a lot for him on his own, and he very much would've been struck at least once or twice.
“Just leave! I’m not going back!” Cross snapped.
“A traitor then?” Nightmares eyes narrowed as he pulled back his attack, focused back in on Cross, which is what Cross wanted as he was trying to keep dream from being hurt.
Dream quickly took the chance for a push at Nightmare, quickly running at him with an attempted slash for the chest.
Nightmare jumped back, through the door and, in a moment of panic while moving back through the clearing, pushed his tentacle through dreams chest.
Of course, it was the last thing Dream expected, but he barely let out a cry of pain at first, the adrenaline running quick and numbing him for at least a few moments, though his blades fell from his hands and disappeared. Ink, who had been waiting in the shadows for a good chance to strike, seemed to get really pissed and decide it was his chance, coming seemingly out of midair to give Nightmare a very firm kick to the skull, even using him to push off of to land.
Nightmare stumbled back just to find his legs now held together with familiar blue string. He let out a yell as he fell backwards, then unconsciou,s as his head hit the ground.
“Dream!” Cross yelled, finally able to fully move with Nightmare unconcious
Ink quickly moved to Dream's side, trying to assess the damage Nightmare had caused and of course, it was bad. His ribcage barely held itself together, and he was more than hurting, but had no idea what was really happening.
“Dream! Dream-“ Cross was stopped by Error who held him in place so he couldn’t rush to dream and Ink.
“Ink needs to check him okay? Just give him a second and then we’ll see,” Error looked worried too, obviously, but he took focus on both tying up Nightmare and keeping Cross in place
Ink looked up at them, "Cross, go find me any sort of fabric and bandages you can. Error, I'm going to need your help moving him somewhere better."
Cross nodded and turned back to the house, shaking. Error let him go and cut off the string that he’d used on Dark, moving quickly to Ink’s side
"We need to lift him without trying to move anything. He's barely held together and if we aren't careful, he may as well fall apart.”
“Would some string wrap help at all?” Error whispered, nodding along to what Ink said, “I have pretty good control and it might help keep some things together but I don’t know, this is more your department,”
"Yes, it'd be a good temporary solution until we can get things more connected. It's going to take ages for him to heal..."
“Okay,” he moved to use the strings to help add support, especially where Ink told him too.
“I have some fabric! I packed a lot of old stuff before I ran,” Cross announced as he ran up, although he slipped something small to Error, something that looked a bit like a blanket.
Ink nodded, moving to take what he could use to tear into strips and wrap like bandages. He did end up using a couple extra things he could summon to make them more like a cast, to prevent Dream's ribcage caving in on itself.
Cross was fidgeting in front of them as Error finished up and stuffed whatever Cross had given him into his jacket pocket.
“Okay, Inky, what next?”
"We have to get him upstairs into his bed, or into our mansion since that would be safer, but something that supports the entirety of him and not just one or two spots would make it easier."
“Okay… okay…” Error looked around before looking back at Cross who gulped. “I know that look-“
“How quickly can you break a table? If I can get one, how quickly can you help me get the legs off of it and turn it into a backboard?”
“For dream? I’d do it as fast as physically possible,” Cross whispered and Error nodded, opening a mini portal and sticking strings through. Yells of annoyance could be heard from the otherside but error seemed unfazed.
Ink waited for them to do what they needed, making sure that Dream had been put back together as well as possible, though Dream had blacked out by then.
As soon as the table, just a bit longer than dream was tall, was pulled into the clearing, cross went about slashing away the legs in record timing. “If we can get dream onto here, I can use my strings like straps to keep him in place and we can carry him… the mansion is safer right now, seeing as we can build wards to keep Nightmare out, we know how,”
Ink nodded, moving to help slide Dream onto the table without damaging him too much more.
Error helped however he could, considering his glitchiness made movement like that hard to do smoothly. After Dream was on the board, Error began to make straps. They would have to be rather tight, to keep him from moving, but he was still making sure it wouldn’t squeeze.
Ink waited patiently, trusting Error with Dream's safety and helping where he could.
Error soon was finished and stepped back. “It should work like a regular back board, or the best I can… we just owe underfell sans a new table… again,” they’d also taken his table to add to their house once.
"I can paint him one later," Ink moved to open a portal to the mansion.
“We can get him settled, but I'll come back here soon to make sure Nightmare doesn't bother us for a while."
“Sounds good. I tied Malevolence up tight enough that he’d need someone else for help, or be struggling for a good hour or so,” Error hummed as he walked though the portal, grabbing Cross’s arm and helping lead him ahead
Ink nodded, making sure they got Dream through the portal alright. When the got into the mansion, he quickly went to get a spare room set up with blankets and proper bedding and such.
Error disappeared upstairs and Gradient came in a moment later, a new blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he moved to offer to help his dad set things up.
“You should go to Moku, help dad keep the kids upstairs… just don’t wake Stain,” Gradient whispered.
"I know, I will... but I need to get Dream settled, and also fix the door, and then go check on Nightmare in a while..."
“I’ll go up for now… Gradient, you stay with your dad and help him…” Cross whispered and Gradient shook his head, wrapping the blanket, which was what Cross had given Error, tighter around himself.
“Moku will wake Stain up if you go in there… we gotta help get Dream settled and once everything’s right, we’ll seperate Moku…” Gradient moved to help his dad with Dream.
Ink nodded a bit, "Moku will get very excited to see you, so waiting will be better than not..."
“Flight risk,” Gradient mumbled as he worked on making up a bed, keeping the sheets very basic, ones that could be trashed.
“We’ll that sounds like a story, what can I do-“ suddenly the blanket was back in Cross’s hands.
“Hold that for me while I help dad… and thanks, I know going into papas room was probably a danger,”
Ink didn't mind, though would've moved Dream into the bed once it was made and ready.
Gradient had helped his dad. He’d started picking up on his dads medical expertise, which started just to help him patch up the kids while they ran around.
Which was good, but especially in situations like this, Ink would always mutter something about "Why couldn't killer still be around?" Which is what he did while looking for painkillers for Dream to take when he woke up.
“We only have child strength, dad,” Gradient whispered as he watched his father look.
“I can text PJ to pick up some adult strength when they come back, though,” he offered as consolation
"I know, which is exactly why I wish Killer was still around. He used to have, like, every type of painkiller you could think of on hand."
“And we only have child’s strength… I think it would be cool to have Killer around too… did you know, what I was very little, right after Papa found me, but when we were still staying with them, we got sick and Killer had to take care of us while papa stressed,” Gradient smiled, scanning for the child strength. “I know papa figured out the amount needed for an adult dosage when you got hurt, we can do that until PJ gets back,”
He nodded, "Killer's helped so many times- he always wanted to be a doctor, even went to college for it, but his mental state meant he couldn't really be hired as one. At least, I don’t remember him being one… but it has been a while.”
“Yea…” Gradient was glad Ink didn’t question the WE in it all.
“Oh, PJ said that Omni has some stronger ones from when they broke their leg that we can use, helps heal bones quickly and all that,” Gradient hummed, refusing to acknowledge the fact that they really shouldn’t be taking Omnis old prescription drugs because, laws.
"Oh, yes, that'll work," Ink ignored it too, but, he didn't really care about laws.
Gradient nodded and texted back to PJ. “They’ll get some over the counter pain meds too, incase you or dad have anything ever again… since we ran out after dads last crash,”
"Perfect," Ink moved to shove what was left of the table aside.
Weapons: Longbow, Dual Swords, Staff of Positivity
*Check: Secretly called the Warlord among the council
Dream is not considered a prince. He does not stand behind Nightmare as such. Rather, he stands next to Nightmare as a judge. Those who die by Dream's hand are killed for a reason, and those who are saved have a reason for redemption. This is why Dream is considered the Scales of Justice
There are a few important things about Dream, but the most important is that he will hunt you down if you have not met the justice you deserve. He's especially fond of killing abusers and the like, so make sure you watch your back if you're one of those...
When not using his weapons, Dream will use brute force. He may not look strong, but he can pick up Cross and Nightmare at the same time(plus a third person if he really tried). He trains both for strength and accuracy and feels that he can never be the best, but wants to be.
Ecto
Unfortunately, Dream has a condition where his ecto will summon neutral if he uses any form of magic. This can be summoning his bow, creating his arrows, or when he holds his staff.
It will only form neutral, but that does not stop the danger. Ecto can still be damaged, and it may hold together certain injuries, but damaging ecto can damage other things, from nerves to internal systems.
Weapons
Dream has multiple weapons, each with its own abilities.
The Staff of Positivity is a powerful weapon. It gets stronger as Dream does, and while it does have magical projections, these are only for show. Dream will make these disappear in battle and use the staff like a bo staff. It currents positivity through anyone that it hits, which can be a bad combination since it will daze someone with said positivity.
Dream's nickname for the original form of his staff is "that old stick".
Dream's Longbow is a work of art by itself. He has pinpoint accuracy with it, and there is nothing he can't strike. The type of arrow does not matter, but if someone else were to try and hold the bow without Dream's permission, they would seem clumsy with it, not hitting their target like they wish to. Even so, Dream is the only one that can split the bow into his dual short swords.
Arrows are an important pair with the bow. This is what his arrows of positivity look like, but Dream will often carve his own arrows out of wood in order to conserve magic and hope to prevent his condition kicking in.
Dream's dual short swords are very important in Dream's close-up combat. His bow splits into them, and he treats them more like daggers than swords, but they are still deadly. They have the ability to current positivity like the staff does, but Dream chooses to never do this due to his condition, and the much higher risk that close-up combat would prove.
A couple of days later, Error was knocking on the door where he thought Ink, and at least one of the kids, might have been. Despite how everything went down with rescuing Cross, he had pushed himself straight back into his daily routine. He was still stressed, especially about Malevolence finding out he was alive, but he pushed that away.
Ink had managed to bring himself out of hiding after the first day and a half, mostly because he missed the kids and he knew they missed him. He called for Error to come in and was currently lying on the floor of the room, drawing, with Palette and Pic.
Gradient was in the room with them, reading a book while Stain slept, curled against his brother. Error smiled at the crew, Moku peeking out from behind his legs.
“Daddy!” Moku called, waving from where he was still behind Error. He’d spent all day with Error, attempting to bake cookies for Cross.
Pic was sitting against Ink, as quiet as ever while watching him draw. Ink looked up when Error came in, "Hey Ruru, hey Moku. Come to join me?"
“Yea!” Moku giggled, running over and nearly tripping before Errors strings caught him. The boy froze for a second before giggling and crawling out of the safety net Error built.
“I would but I came to check in on you all. The blues might come in soon too… and PJ left for Omni’s again so…” Error shrugged a bit.
Ink nodded, "I'm alright with the Blues coming, and so long as PJ got there safe, it's alright.”
“Okay…” Error sighed and looked over to Gradient and Stain.
“They still don’t leave your side, do they?” He whispered, knowing that the blues would have run up there soon anyway. Stain shifted in his sleep at the new noises and Gradient leaned down to flick him in the forehead.
Ink shook his head, "It's rather sweet, and I don't mind their company... they are my children..." Ink looked down at his sketchbook as he picked up a new drawing tool, adjusting his position so Moku could climb into his lap. Palette was sitting on the other side of Pic, slapping paints onto a canvas.
“Oh, no doubt… it’s just kinda cute is all…” Error hummed, watching as Stain opened his eyes and shoved Gradient's book in retaliation for being awoken. Moku scrambled into Ink's lap, looking up at his dad with a big grin. “Pops and I made cookies for Papa today!”
"Oh did you?" Ink smiled down at Moku. "I'm sure he'll love them- he'll probably visit soon I imagine.”
He looked back up at Error for a moment, seeming to try and confirm so. He'd kept himself a bit in the dark, with his hiding and all.
Error shrugged a bit but then nodded. He’d been waiting for Ink to feel a bit more comfortable again before they made plans but all it would take would be a call. He then stumbled forward as Bluescreen ran into his legs. The younger of the blues was shaking and Error picked him up. “Someone’s outside!” Blueprint yelled as he followed his little brothers.
“Someone like who?” Error asked, suddenly focused in.
“Someone we didn’t know… just showed up,”
"What did they look like?" Ink set his sketchbook and tools aside, moving to pull Moku off his lap to stand. "Tall and dark?"
Print nodded, whimpering a bit as he clutched onto Errors pant leg.
“Shit. Moku, come here,” Gradient immediately ushered the second youngest over and then moved to take Blueprint away from Error, reaching to take Blueprint's hand.
“We’re already all up here so we’ll treat this like the safe room?” He asked, turning to Stain. The teen was just sort of standing there.
“I can feel him…” Stain whispered, sounding scared.
"The kids should stay up here. Error, go and make sure there are no other kiddos anywhere downstairs. I'll take care of the rest," Ink moved to head out of the room, working on getting his sash off.
“Dad…” Stain whispered. He didn’t know what he wanted to say. Maybe it was ‘don’t put yourself in danger again’ or ‘be safe’.
“Will do. I think this is everyone but I’ll do a headcount and a look around. Gradient, Stain. You know how to keep peace here. Pal, you’re twelve buddy, think you can help out?” Error hummed and Stain stepped towards him until he looked back at his siblings.
Palette nodded as he moved to stand, "I can help, Pa, what do I need to do?"
Ink moved to head downstairs, toward the door... and an inevitable battle. He'd already gotten his sash off, and his emotion was quickly draining from his eyelights.
“Can you help keep the younger kids entertained? Gradient will help too but we need everyone to stay in here and have fun,” Error smiled at his son. While he took inventory of the children around him, minus the oldest few, Stain took that moment to sneak past him and ran down the steps. He wasn't exactly following Ink as much as following the tug of negativity that he could feel.
“Damn…”
Palette nodded, knowing that helping entertain the kids would help his parents.
Ink had ended up grabbing a hatchet on the way down, and was approaching the front door, expecting Malevolence to crash through it at any moment.
Stain was nearby, staying out of view as the door exploded open, tearing off its hinges and flying into the living room nearby.
“Not it for cleaning that one,” he muttered.
There Malevolence stood. He was still out of Stain’s view but definitely in Inks and he looked formidable
Ink had his sash of paints in one hand and the hatchet in the other, though he moved to throw the sash at Malevolence as a sign that he wouldn't back down. He then stepped back into a fighting stance, basically laser-focused on Malevolence. It was obvious he wouldn't go down easy, if at all.
Malevolence glared at Ink, practically seething. “Where. Is. Cross?” He hissed and Stain gulped, trying to find a way to spot Malevolence without being heard by Ink or spotted by Malevolence.
"Sure as hell not here, and you shouldn't be either," Ink gritted his teeth a bit, waiting for Malevolence to try any sort of attack on him.
Malevolence’s tentacles lashed out, pushing through the doorframe and making the wall shake. The blues could be faintly heard crying out upstairs.
Stain yelped and stumbled backwards, into Malevolence’s view, to avoid a wood shard that went flying at his face. Malevolence turned to him and smirked a bit.
“Then I want my son,” he hissed and Stain scrambled farther away from the door
Ink glanced at Stain before taking a step toward Malevolence, "You know I won't give him to you, Malevolence. At least, I hope you would know."
“Malevolence? Oh! I like that! And I don’t care. I want him. If I can’t have Cross, who you shouldn’t have taken, then I’ll take the kid,” he didn’t even really know Stain's name. Stain whimpered a bit as one of his tentacles came for him.
Ink quickly threw his hatchet at the tentacle, with fairly accurate aim, to lop it off, before moving to stand in front of Stain. He wanted to protect his baby.
“Dad…” Stain scrambled to his feet and focused on Malevolence, who was looming in front of them.
“I want him, Ink. I gave you fifteen years with him and you took one of mine, that means I need repayment,”
"You. Don't. Need. Shit." Ink quickly moved to grab the hatchet again, "Stain, get upstairs!"
He quickly turned on Malevolence again, ready to pretty much jump at him.
“But… dad he’s really strong, I can feel it… what if you get hurt?” Stain whispered and then screamed as a tentacle made it past Ink and grabbed Stain's arm.
Ink rushed to, once again, slice the tentacle, "I'm not worried about me!"
“But I am!” Stain cried out, stumbling back from where he’d been grabbed, closer to the stairs.
Error hurried down the hall, spotting Stain just out of grabs from the top of the staircase. He could also see a little bit of ink and one of Malevolence’s tentacles but that meant if he moved too far down the stairs, or wrapped Stain in his strings, Malevolence might see him and that would ruin the effect of essentially faking his own death
Ink stood in front of Stain, hatchet still in hand, "You're going to have to go through me before you ever get him!"
“We both know I can, Ink. And I will if I need to,”
Error took a step or two down the stairs. He couldn’t speak, not when Malevolence was so close, but he needed to get close enough to grab Stain with his strings and pull him closer without hurting him.
"Then try it, see what happens," Ink gripped the hatchet tighter.
“You don’t have any right, to withhold my son from me,” Malevolence lashed out at Ink again, although he was watching Stain who was cowering just beyond the bottom of the stairs, crying. “Huh… I’ll have to fix that first then,” he grumbled to himself
"You have no right to try and call him your son after you abandoned him," Ink took half a step toward Malevolence to try and keep his attention off Stain.
Malevolence laughed and focused back in on Ink.
“Abandoned him? No, I simply let you do all the hard work of raising, and even then you failed. He’s over there crying. My son should be better than that,” he hissed and Error took that moment to run down the stairs and grab Stain, pulling him up the stairs while Malevolence was distracted.
"You kicked us out when he didn't look like you- he isn't your son, Malevolence!" He pointed the hatchet at Malevolence, a bit of a threat, and a challenge.
“Well, he certainly has my abilities!” Malevolence snapped, his eyes focused on the hatchet before going to look at Stain, who was gone.
“Ahh, it seems your pet destroyer found that he was missing a kid,” he snarled and stepped back. He could fight Ink by himself, maybe even defeat him, but with Error closer in the equation, it wasn’t as easy a battle.
"No one in my house is a pet," He took another step toward Malevolence, sensing his wariness. "But you're all bark and no bite, huh?"
Malevolence snarled at him but kept his eyes on the staircase, “No, I just don’t want to deal with a traitor and my traitorous son today,”
"You wouldn't have to if you'd just left us alone!" He took yet another step forward, even if Malevolence didn't move.
Malevolence took a step backward. “Just give me back Cross and things will be okay huh? I’ll leave if you just tell me where he is.”
He’d given up going after Stain and had returned to his main goal; Cross.
"You say that like I know everything about anything anywhere."
“He’s with my brother then? Of course,” he hissed, “if you wouldn’t keep him here, he’d be with someone close to you…”
Malevolence retreated then, leaving a destroyed front door and the quiet sobs of Stain upstairs
Ink gritted his teeth a bit as he watched Malevolence go, "Damn it-"
Error heard the quiet and carefully went down the stairs, an arm wrapped around Stain, just in case, “Are we clear?”
"We are, but Dream's not," Ink moved to sheath his hatchet at his side and go to pick up his sash.
“Shit,” Error hissed, letting Stain go as the boy ran to his dad, wrapping his arms around Ink as soon as he could. “I’ll call, give them a heads up…”
Ink nodded, "Good idea, but we'll need to get the kids settled and go help them."
He wrapped his arms tightly around Stain. "I've got you, baby..."
“Why does he only want me when I serve some purpose?”
“Because he’s an ass…” Error grumbled as he grabbed his phone to call and warn Dream.
"It's just how he is, and how it will be for a while..."
It wasn't long before Dream picked up.
Stain clung to his dad for a few moments until Gradient came bolting down the stairs, a mix of looking pissed and terrified.
Ink looked up when Gradient came down, "I need to go make sure Dream and Cross are alright."
Gradient nodded and moved to put a hand on his brother's shoulder, which easily shifted Stain's attention
Ink moved to let go of Stain and set his paints nearby, "Stain, you shouldn't follow me. Not again. I won't have you in danger again because of him."
“O-okay,” Stain nodded, hiccuping and wiping away flowing tears.
Ink looked at Error, "Do you want my help with the kids before I go?"
“I… maybe? Scarlet was in her room when it happened so she’s a bit shaken up but most of them don’t realize what happened… Palette has been playing a game with them so it’s just getting her settled and getting these two there and calm. It shouldn’t be long,” Error hummed.
Ink nodded, "I'll help where I can before I go, we at least have a little time before Malevolence actually gets there," Ink moved to head upstairs.
“Considering Dreams moved and this version of Malevolence can’t just track his positivity as easily, we should have time, yea,” Error moved to wrap his arm around Stain and Gradient, ushering them quietly upstairs to where the rest of the kids were. Moku and Scarlet were peeking out the doors but ducked in right after they spotted their parents, thinking they’d been sneaky enough not to be seen. Scarlet still looked like she’d been crying.
Ink moved to enter the room, "Hey, kiddos, how are we doing up here?"
He'd noticed and moved to pick up Scarlet.
Scarlet leaned against Ink.
“We’re playing a game, daddy!” Print hummed. He’d decided to help watch Pic and had moved to toddler to sit next to him.
“A game? What game?” Stain forced a smile and wiped his tears, moving to sit next to Print, scooping up the youngest into his arms and putting Pic in his lap. It seemed like Scarlet calmed down rather quickly once everyone was in the room.
Pic didn't seem to mind, usually comfortable wherever he was placed, and Ink walked over to the rest of the kids, "Do you mind playing the game for a bit longer? Downstairs is a little bit of a mess, and Daddy needs to clean it up."
“Okay!” The kids seemed mostly content, although Stain was still trying to not cry, and Scarlet squirmed to be let go, not also wanting to plan.
Ink moved to set Scarlet back down, "You go play with your siblings, ok? I'll be back soon."
Scarlet nodded and moved to join the game.
“Dad, papa… be safe!” Stain called as Error turned to leave the room.
"We will be," Ink waved and stepped out of the room.
Error sighed as he shut the door.
“Remind me how we ended up with 9 kids?” He grumbled, although meant no actual anger. “Ready to go help our family?”
