"You let me sleep in here. Who knew you were so cuddly, huh?"
Horror Doesn't remember doing that. But you know what, sure. Why not. Maybe he did do that. But that still leaves the other question he had.
"…okay, don't tell anyone that. anyways, where's your SOUL?"
"Over there."
Frankly, he should have questioned how it was over there, and not in front of Killer. But instead he looked, and…
"why is it in a jar?"
"Oh, that's simple. See the stage it's in? I want to see if leaving it disconnected from me will keep it in this stage."
Honestly? Horror didn't really understand that. He wishes he did, the countless books he's tried to read attest to that. But he struggles to even read a simple list, let alone a full science textbook. Maybe he should see someone to help with this. But that's for later.
"…and you're gonna just. leave it in my room?"
"If you don't mind."
"…yeah. ok, go ahead."
And Killer was out of the room. Leaving Horror Alone with his soul. Either he didn't catch the sarcasm, or didn't care. Hell if He knew.
"…it's so… small. this is what makes up killer, huh? always looked… larger, next to him."
It really would just take one wrong move to cause so much damage now, wouldn't it? But… For some reason, every bone in his body is telling him to keep his distance from it. To be careful with it. He'd say part of him wants to see what'd happen if he did hit it, but… that's a lie. Damn, he's grown soft.
"it's… honestly a little nervewracking, being so close to it. knowing all it's take is to accidentally knock this jar over, and killer could…"
He needed to get ready for the day. Finish getting changed, everything like that. He doesn't want to think about if this has anything to do with Killer's whole "Home is where the Heart is" Thing he was ramble about last night.
"you know, killer? even in this short time we've known each other, you've taught me something."
Dust Spoke, diving to the side to avoid the blasts fired by his opponent. It was one of those "Star sanses", think his name was Blue? Not that he cared.
"Oh? Now what's that, Dust?"
"this can't go well..."
"you've taught me a lot about LOVE. thought i knew everything, really. How you gain it, what the maximum is, but..."
Dust sent a few bones to keep the opponent busy. He could hear Horror Groaning as he spoke again.
"...just look at yours. it's so far above what i thought the maximum was."
"I... don't think that's a good thing."
"didn't say it was. but it's interesting, isn't it?"
"I guess? Still, don't going trying to get up to my level, probably not a good idea."
He was about to throw some bones foward, but stopped when he saw Horror Charging foward, throwing a punch at Blue's armor, hard enough to crack. Dust could tell from the sound peices of it went inward and landed some cuts on him. Probably around the spine, if he had to guess. Horror might not have been all that strong in comparison, but he knew where to hit to cause the most damage, dust will give him that. And as if on sync with Horror doing that, Ink arrived. Was that his name? Not that it mattered anyways.
"i've got this guy for the moment, you two take the backup."
"Yeah, ok. Why not."
"…there's no way you started at the same stats as me. Not at that level."
Dust teleported Behind Ink, Killer appearing in front. Killer swung at Ink, Dust fired blasters to catch his Dodge. Simple. Always gets someone at least once, though there are ways around it, but hey, If it works it works, or… whatever.
"Excuse me? The hell's that supposed to mean?"
"what do you think? you have 10 ATK and DEF, there's no way you started at 1, look at my stats. either you just didn't gain stats for most of those, or maybe they got so high they overflowed? wonder how that would work."
Killer looked… pretty damn pissed.
"what's that look for? am i wrong?"
"…Just go focus on the mission, Dust. I got this guy. Need to take my anger out on something, after all. So stay out of my way."
Dust really didn't like the smile Killer just gave him.
"alright, alright, i'll go."
And so, he walked off to go do what they were here to do. Easy enough, given both of the people trying to stop him were distracted.
"now I wonder… is it possible to go past a LOVE of 20? Or is Killer's home Universe just… different, somehow?"
He checked his stats. Same as always. These monsters put up no real fight, getting where he needed to go was easy enough. Or, it was, until he turned and noticed the portal behind him, with the one member of those stars he's not to try and fight coming out of it.
"…i'm fucked, aren't i?"
To his suprise, Dream didn't seem to notice him. He took off towards… No. That can't happen. Not even all three of them could handle Dream by himself, let alone Horror and Killer, who are already fighting Ink and Blue, he had to do something…
Wait. there it was. Just like he took out Undyne, he's near the same spot in this timeline, the same thing should work, right? Well, Now or never.
"hey. where do you think you're going?"
He summoned Bones, sending the flying at dream, hoping to provoke a chase. He has to get further into waterfall. As soon as he saw dream start to run at him, he turned tail and ran further in. Dream's faster than him, but he knows waterfall better. Home field advantage.
"you know, i wonder how much EXP you're worth. think i'll gain LOVE if i kill you?"
Dust knew dream said something, but he couldn't tell what. Not that he cared. He focused as he ran, making a bone sprout up in front of Dream, making him trip.
"heh, just in time. see you."
His magic flared up, Grabbing dream by the soul with blue magic, throwing him towards a sharp rock formation, just as he did undyne many times by now. He knew it wouldn't Kill him, but should at least keep him out of the fight for the moment. He could Hear the scream as he got impaled on it. He had a job to do, but a quick picture wouldn't hurt. Just to prove he did it, right?. Just pull the phone out, switch to selfie mode, and… click!
"You have fun there. I gotta get going."
He needs to pass through the lab to get where he has to be. Maybe he'll grab those old research papers on LOVE, while he's there. Wonder what the real limits at...
Horror knelt down at the pair of graves. Selfish. That's what he was.
"…hell, i'm so sorry, guys."
He could remember the whole week it happened so clearly. He's spent months replaying it in his mind, analyzing every mistake he made over that week. It was supposed to be a regular mission. Go to some random timeline, create negativity, get out. But that couldn't have gone worse. First, the stars showed up, then he had to go and miss all his attacks and they all had to retreat back to the castle.
"…if i hadn't-"
He couldn't find it in him to finish. When they got back, Nightmare was furious. He dropped them in a timeline, telling them they had to stay there for a week, and if word got out they were there he'd kill them all himself. If he had just taken the blame for it all, maybe nightmare would have let them off the hook…
Who was he kidding? None of them would have let him. Either out of whatever respect for him they had, or because Nightmare would insist one of them failing meant they all did. Or whatever that pile of ashes would say. His death is the only good thing to come out of any of this.
He set up traps to make sure no one would get close enough to find them. If only he had just agreed to sleeping in shifts. Then, it happened. While he was clearing one of the traps, Killer and Dust got into a fight. He has no idea what they said, he wasn't there for it. But it got physical. dust must have shoved Killer into one of his traps, or… something. Hell if he knows, past that the end result is that Killer…
"if i wasn't so selfish, i should have just- shit, im so, so sorry to both of you."
He couldn't tell if that all too familiar voice of "It's not your fault." Was real or not. He didn't want to look at the source. He knew it wasn't. It couldn't be. It's not like both of them saw ghosts or… whatever. Who's to say he couldn't too? It's common sense. They were just hallucinating. Maybe he is too. Probably wasn't the first time.
Dust sort of… broke after that. He couldn't handle what happened, his mind had already been through so much and this was the straw that broke it. At least, that's what Horror Assumes happened. Dust teleported to him, muttering something about how "it's your fault, you killed him, you did this" and then launched at him. He tried to talk him down. But he didn't try hard enough, did he? Otherwise dust might still be here. He kept attacking, constantly, he never let up. Even though Horror was technically immortal, the damage to his body was mounting. He had to do something. And he did. He threw his axe at Dust and killed him. He killed Dust. He can't make any excuses for that. At least with Killer there's an argument that they should have been more aware of their surroundings. But with dust? That dust and blood is directly on his hands.
The hours after were a blur. All he knew was by the end of it Nightmare was dead and he had burns running all along his body. A reminder of what transpired that day. Of what he did. Of his mistake. That was their problem. Their Dust was on his hands. All because he was too selfish to take the blame, or to sleep in shifts.
It's all his fault. It couldn't have been anyone else's. If anyone else had been in his spot none of this would have happened. He tried to ignore the voice saying "we forgive you." It wasn't. Fucking. Real. It can't be. It's not.
should he even bother going back to his timeline? None of it matters anyway. Maybe see about Getting Papyrus and Grillby a spot in that "Omega timeline" people talk so much about. Everyone else though? They can rot.
…but that's just it, isn't it? He's so selfish. He left his whole timeline to eternal damnation over what Undyne did. He could have just killed her and Alphys, then called it even. He's so, incredibly, selfish.
"…heh. wonder when i ended up caring about you guys."
He left flowers at the graves, then left. He couldn't be around them much longer right now. The consequences of his failure.
Killer yawned as he pulled himself out of bed. He could feel tiredness nagging at him still, his body heavy as if he had never slept.
"Huh. Guess I didn't sleep well?"
Eh, whatever. He got out of bed, threw on a pair of clothes, opened the door, and…
"The hell?"
Was the floor always covered with blood? Maybe he should clean it up, it is in front of his room after all. Plus, better he cleans it up off the floor than out of his cats fur.
…where was this, again? Right, that goopy guy's castle. Or it was, but then he just kinda vanished. And so did his Brother, apparently. Whatever, that's not important right now. He Could probably use the same stuff he uses to clean up cat messes for this, right?
"Good thing I'm not wearing white, at least?"
This was supposed to be easy. He used to be able to clean blood easily. Now, he can't get this damn bloodstain out the floor?
"you're doing it wrong."
Killer heard a voice, looking up to see it, and… How'd he get in here?
"Insanity? How'd you get in here?"
"the back garden gate."
Oh, right. No one ever locked that. Heh, that reminds him of All the times Insanity would sneak in and there'd be some kinda chase throughout the castle as what's-his-name tried to get him out, kinda like those old cartoons that sometimes come on the TV.
"anyways, heard the news. looks like that octopus screwed off, eh?"
Right, that's why he hadn't been staying here. Nightmare (Finally remembered the thing's name) never let him stay.
"Yep. Guess that makes this Place ours now."
"nice. you think you guys would mind if i crashed here for a day?"
Killer was almost offended that Insanity thought any of them might mind.
"Dude, you could live here and we wouldn't mind."
Insanity looked at him funny. That's probably not a good look.
"…right. anyways, what you need is hydrogen peroxide, not… whatever that is."
"In my defense, this works for most messes."
"i doubt you clean blood out the carpet that often, if that's the case."
Well, he wasn't exactly wrong. Where'd this blood come from anyways?
"I mean, sure. Whatever, since you know what to use, you got any?"
"are you seriously going to try and convince me you don't have any in a former base of what was effectively a multiversal terrorist? surely you have some in a first aid cabinet or something."
He could tell from the facial expression he's not actually irritated. Well, he is right. He could tease him more, but… probably best to just be honest with him.
"Yeah, I'll go get some, there's a first aid kit in the bathroom."
The bathroom is only a little bit away, and killer knew where the first aid kit in here was. Dust's days where his magic gets too high can end with both of them needing the first aid kit. He never got why he started to care about these guys. Or when he did, for that matter. But whatever, he's does now. That reminds him, it's been a bit since he's called up color, maybe he should-
"You get lost in there?"
Oh, right, he's supposed to be getting the peroxide. Grab it and go.
"As if. Amazingly, don't need this stuff often so don't know where it is."
That's not a full lie, actually. They've gone a full month without any injuries. First, wipe up the stuff already there. Then, pour the peroxide on. Oh, it's bulbbing. Huh, that doesn't happen often, right? Then again, when's the last time they used it?
"You know, humans don't actually use this stuff for wound cleaning anymore."
Wait, really? That's new to him, at least. Might see if there's some kinda monster safe equivalent.
"Huh, neat. You know, I'm always suprised how well put together you are, given your name."
"i wasn't always like this, remeber? think to a few years back."
"Suppose you're right."
What a time that was. The peroxide had stopped bubbling. Maybe he should wipe it up now. Well, here goes nothing, and… oh. That actually worked. Neat. Before he could say anything, he could hear someone approaching. That seemed like Dust's footsteps.
"what's going on- no fucking way."
"hey, dust."
"Hey, look who finally woke up! About time."
"i've been up, not my fault you never left this hallway."
"Sure you have, bud."
"whatever. Anyways, good thing i came this way when i did. i'm gonna order something, you guys want anything?"
"if you don't mind."
"Sure. Just get me a pizza."
"how did you-"
"Cause you're predictable."
"not this again."
And another pair of footsteps. Horror this time. He poked his head around the corner.
"how does it take you this long to see if killer wants food- oh shit."
Well. This'll be fun, at least. Maybe see if Insanity will stick around. If not, well, that's his choice. But maybe this castle will be a bit more full.
