Sharp

Sharp

With Horror

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“Ow!”

You pulled your hands away from the cutting board and the strawberries you were slicing. That stings!

Horror looked up from the cupcake batter at your exclamation. His eye focused on the hand you held to your chest.

You moved to the sink and started cleaning the small cut in your hand.

“Bleeding.” Came Horror’s gruff voice behind you.

“Yeah, but not much.” You responded, gently drying your hands. You turned around, intending to go get a bandage or something, when you jumped at Horror’s proximity to you. “Geez! Horror! You gotta stop that!”

“Human blood…” He growled.

Confused, you looked into his eye and stopped. This wasn’t the Horror you knew. Something was wrong with the way he was staring at you. As if he didn’t recognize you. “Uh… Horror? You there, bud?” You ask, suddenly noting the strawberry knife in his hand.

Horror towered over you, his smile void of sanity as he grabbed at your arm.

You pulled back, narrowly avoiding his grab, and bumped into the sink. “Horror. It’s me, Y/N. We’re in the castle.” No response. “Can you hear me?”

The knife rose above his head.

“Horror?? Listen! You’re okay! You aren’t there anymore!” You weren’t sure what you were saying but you had to do something. “Horror!”

Horror growled as his arm was grabbed by a black tentacle. He spun towards Nightmare, drooling and snarling like a wolf. Nightmare didn’t react as his tentacle slowly pulsed on Horror’s arm. Horror grabbed the appendage and chomped down on it. You flinched as Nightmare hissed but didn’t stop him.

“Leave, Y/N.” Nightmare said. “I’ll take care of this.”

You hesitated, watching how Horror tried to tear apart Nightmare’s tentacle, his blown eye light crazed, and drool pooling from his mouth. When you moved towards the door, he immediately noticed and tried to charge at you. He was yanked back.

“Now. Y/N.” Nightmare growled.

“Hold on! I have an idea!” You opened the fridge and reached in.

“Y/N!” He grunted at a particularly viscous bite. “I’ve done this before! LEAVE!”

“Just let me try something!” You yank out the sliced turkey, ignoring Nightmare’s protest. “Hey, Horror!” He looked back at you and his eye locked on the food in your hands. “Catch!”

You tossed it at him and he snatched it out of the air with his free hand. He ripped the bag open and devoured the turkey inside. His eye dilated as he looked up at you again, this time hopefully. You tossed him another bag, this time chicken. He did the same thing as before but slightly slower.

As he finish the last bit of chicken he slowed to a stop and went still. Nightmare let out a relieved sigh and loosened his grip on Horror’s arm. Horror looked at Nightmare’s damaged tentacle and shrank into himself.

“Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry” He started mumbling, dropped the bag and held his head.

You stepped forward, earning a pointed glared from Nightmare as Horror noticed you. He looked at you through his fingers as if searching you. His eye settled on your finger that bled slightly during the commotion. “I . . . hurt you?”

“No.” You said, moving closer. He recoiled. “You didn’t hurt me, Horror. I didn’t realize how sharp the knife was while I was slicing the strawberries. It wasn’t your fault.” Despite Nightmare’s warning looks, you stepped even closer to Horror who seemed like he wanted to run from you.

“No. Y/N.” Horror stressed. “I can’t…” He stepped back. “You’re not… safe here.”

You stopped within arms reach and held out your hand, moving the cut hand behind your back. “How about this, I’ll wash that knife off and visit with Dust real quick, and then we finish making cupcakes for everyone? Sound good?”

Horror looked down at the knife in his hand as if he hadn’t noticed that it was there. He looked at the ingredients on the counter. “Cupcakes…” Nightmare and you shared a look over Horror’s shoulder. Nightmare was definitely going to talk to you after this. Horror looked back to you, setting the knife gently into your hand, trying not to touch you. “Deal.”

You nodded, smiling at him. “Cool. Now, would you mind working on the batter?” He nodded and went back to the counter, picking up where he left off. You quickly washed the knife before setting it to dry and leaving with Nightmare.

As soon as you were out of earshot from the kitchen, Nightmare broke the silence. “What happened.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a command for a report.

You sighed. “I cut my finger while slicing strawberries and went to wash my hands. When I turned around, Horror was in my face with the knife from the strawberries in hand. I tried to calm him down after noticing that something was wrong when he lifted his arm and you showed up.” You said, letting him fill the blanks from there.

“What were you thinking?”

You rolled your eyes. “That I had to get my friend back.”

“No.” Nightmare stopped you with a tentacle. “I told you to leave! Yet you stayed and even approached Horror, like an idiot!”

“I don’t see how helping was being ‘an idiot!’” You snapped. “It’s not like he would actually mean to hurt me!”

“But he would!” Nightmare snapped back. “You’re a human! He would have torn you apart and served you to the gang if I hadn’t stepped in! Do you not know the amount of real danger you were in just then? You are insanely lucky that I noticed your proximity to him in his fit! He. Would. Have. EATEN. YOU.” He jabbed a finger into your chest at the end of his rant.

You froze, searching Nightmare eye as if he would lie to you. “But… Horror wouldn’t…”

“Horror wouldn’t. But trauma makes people do insane things they would never do.” Nightmare rubbed the bridge of his nose. “And he’s not the only one. If any of the boys don’t look like themselves, get away or hide. I’ll need to react sooner than I used to since you live here now. But-” He glared at you. “You need to learn to obey in a situation like that. If I tell you to leave, you LEAVE.”

You held his glare. “It worked tho.”

“What?”

“Feeding him. He calmed down with food.” You hesitated, breaking eye contact for a second. “What happened to him?”

Nightmare sighed. “That is not my story to tell. But you’re avoiding the subject.” He waved the topic away. “Can I trust you to obey in the next crisis? Or will you continue to contradict me?”

You shrug, a smirk appearing on your face. “Depends on if I can keep you from hurting more or not.”

His eye narrowed. “That was stupid luck.”

“That was deductive reasoning.” You shot back.

You held each other’s glare until Nightmare pulled his injured tentacle away from you. You broke eye contact first, turning down the hall.

“It seems we both need to see Dust.”

Nightmare walked with you.

Romance

With Horror

Masterlist

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You heard sounds coming from the kitchen as you rounded the corner, letting you know that Horror had started lunch. Rounding the corner, you found him making sandwiches.

“Hey, Horror.” You greeted, coming up beside him.

He nodded back, “Hey.” keeping his eyes on his work. You leaned in, obviously not leaving anytime soon. Horror noticed and sighed. “Like . . . Killer.”

You gasp in mock offense, slapping a hand to your chest. “How could you??” He chuckled, pushing you away from the food. “Wait! I’m sorry! I want to help!”

Horror hummed at you and relented, pulling out a cutting board for you. “. . . Tomatoes.”

“Yessir.” You mock salute before grabbing a tomato and a knife.

“Hmm. . . Killer.”

“Oh my God!”

Horror chuckled.

You sliced tomatoes and cucumbers while Horror set up a snack tray to go with lunch. When you finished slicing, you reached into the fridge and pulled out turkey and cheese. Unfortunately, due to you being allergic to pork, the gang had supplemented ham for turkey. You insisted that it wasn’t necessary but everyone agreed that it was the safest option.

Handing Horror the turkey, you looked down at the cheese slices and had an idea.

“Hey, Horror?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I have a slice of cheese?” You said, before correcting. “Without eating it?”

Horror froze. His eye light shrank and slowly looked at you. You heard him start growling.

“I can explain!!” You said quickly. “I can explain!!”

He stopped growling and squinted suspiciously. “. . . Explain.”

You looked around before leaning in to whisper to him your idea.

His face slowly relaxed as he listened. When you finished, Horror huffed in amusement and turned back to making sandwiches.

“. . . Yes.”

You let off a sigh of relief and a nervous laugh. “For a second I thought-”

“But…”

You froze as Horror spoke, tensing back up.

A grin split across his face as he looked over his shoulder at you. There was no mirth in the expression. “No waste.” He growled lowly, pinning you with that one eye light. “Understood.”

Though he didn’t ask it like a question, you nodded quickly. Best not to anger him, even if it meant eating dirty cheese. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Suddenly, as if someone had turned on the lights, the room seemed infinitely brighter when Horror turned back to the food. He held out his hand. “Cheese.”

You quickly handed him the cheese and helped finish making lunch. Your idea could wait until later.

———

“I’m telling you! There is something in there! Every time I go in there, it’s different!” Killer exclaimed at Dust who huffed.

“Please.” He said, exasperated. “You rarely enter the library. Of course it’s different every time. Me and Boss rearrange the seating.”

Killer narrowed his eyes and pointed at an unaffected Dust. “That’s just what you’d want me to think if there was something going on in there!”

Nightmare sighed into his tea. “Must you be so loud?”

“Yes!” Killer said with a smirk on his face and his hands on the table.

Nightmare pinched the bridge of his nose from where he sat at the head of the table. You chuckled at the chaos Killer was already making as you helped Horror set the table. Supper was lasagna which you’d been craving for weeks before letting it slip to Horror who immediately made some. Turns out, Horror is exceptionally good at learning new recipes. He looked over the recipe once and you didn’t see him look at it again. You smiled, your skeleton friends are so cool.

“KILLER!!!!!!”

You and Killer jumped at the sound as Cross burst in the doorway. He locked eyes with Killer and shook a book at him. “WHAT IS THIS?!?” He snapped.

Everyone looked down at the book and you barely held back a snort at the cheese stuck to the cover. Horror’s mouth twitched upwards as he turned back to the food. Nightmare’s eye snapped between you and Horror as you composed yourself.

“I told you that was a cheesy romance, Cross.” You managed to say without breaking face. Nightmare’s face twisted into a mix between amusement and disgust.

Cross’s attention switched to you as he stared in disbelief. Killer broke the silence by laughing himself out of his own chair with a crash. Dust finally laughed, pointing at Killer’s vacant seat as Horror started chuckling. You even thought you heard Nightmare let out a small laugh at the whole situation.

You confidently held Cross’s betrayed look.

“Wh-What??” His face turned slightly purple as he tried to piece together what just happened. “Did you just… what???”

You took the book from his hands and pat his skull. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up.” He swatted you away with a glare. You laughed again and headed towards the doorway when suddenly Horror was in front of you. You stopped short of hitting him and looked up at him, confused.

He pointed at the cheesed book. “Here.”

You froze, realizing what he wanted. “Horror,” You lowered your voice. “In front of everyone? Can’t I eat it outside?”

Horror grinned widely, both in amusement and anger. “No.”

“What’s up, H?” Killer said, having recovered and noticed the conversation in the door. His comment brought everyone’s attention to you and Horror.

Horror’s grin got slightly more sinister and he pushed you towards the table. “Y/N has something… they need… to show you.”

Your face went red.

Killer noticed and the grin on his face spread. “Whatcha need to show us, kiddo?~” You glared at him, making him giggle.

Sighing, and seeing no way of escape with Horror towering over you, you resigned yourself to your fate and lifted the book. Most in the dining room watched in horror as you ate the cheese off the romance novel. Killer’s eyes widened before propping his chin on his hands with a smug grin on his face. The cheese wasn’t actually that bad, but it was very stuck to the book, making you spend more time than you intended in front of everyone. By the time you finished, the lasagna was much colder than you’d like. Horror nodded at you and moved back to serving everyone. You quickly left the room to put the book back in the library as laughter erupted behind you, making your face flash red again.

Maybe that wasn’t worth the prank…

Hot Drinks

With Horror

Masterlist

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You sat between Horror and Dust with your arms resting over the back of the couch. Everyone but Nightmare was there as they watched a cheesy action movie. Cross sat on the bean bag on your right, occasionally throwing his hands in the air as he berated the actor’s form in battle. Killer, being Killer, kept playing devil’s advocate and driving Cross insane from the floor.

“Woooooow” Killer exaggerated, smirking at Cross’s exasperated expression. “You see that perfect form, Horror?” You held in your laughter at the look of pure mischief of Killer’s face.

Ignoring Cross’s offended gasp, Horror grunted assent at Killer. You started shaking slightly as you tried not to break the moment with your laughter. Dust shook so subtly that you almost missed it.

“No!” Cross snapped, jumping out of the bean bag. “That. Is. The. WORST. FORM. I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT LOOKS GOOD????” He thrust his hands forward at the offending screen.

Your laughter finally forced its way out, startling an offended skele. Cross flushed slightly as he noticed everyone’s eyes on him. He glared at Killer.

Killer chuckled while propping his chin on his hands. “You’re looking at me like it’s my fault Y/N laughed at you.”

“IT IS!” Cross said, throwing his hands in the air.

“Girls, you’re both pretty.” You said, standing up as Dust shifted at the lack of weight on the couch. You turned back to Horror. “Mind if I grab a drink from the kitchen?”

Horror stared at you, processing. You waited patiently. Horror had a hard time voicing his thoughts. No one told you why but you figured it had to do with the gaping hole in the side of his head. Honestly though, with a wound like that, he really shouldn’t be alive let alone able to speak. But despite logic, Horror managed. You respected him for that. Whatever happened to him to get that scar, he pushed through and made it. He might be slower to talk than anyone else but stars he was light on his feet. You’ve been startled multiple times by him just appearing behind you.

“I… help.” Horror finally said. You nodded. He practically owned the kitchen. Whatever happened there was his business. Besides, he really seems to enjoy keeping everyone well nourished. He was also much quicker to speak while cooking for some reason.

You both left Dust with the commotion and entered the kitchen. You opened the fridge with Horror at your side. There were a few varieties of drinks but nothing gained you attention. Much to Horror’s confusion, you closed the fridge without grabbing anything. The calendar on the door caught your attention. It had a picture of some humans huddled together on a couch with steaming mugs in their hands. Following the idea you suddenly had at the sight, you walked into the pantry. Horror didn’t follow you, mostly confused as to why you didn’t grab what you came for when you had the chance. Your voice carried out of the pantry.

“Horror, do we have any cocoa powder?”

“. . . What?”

“Cocoa powder- Oh! Found some!”

A moment later, you came out of the pantry victorious. A box of cocoa powder packets in your hands as you passed an even more confused Horror. You set the box by the electric kettle and reach into the cabinet for a couple mugs, knowing Horror will want some if you’re having any.

“What…”

You heard Horror start behind you. You paused and turned to him, waiting for him to continue.

He worked through his words a moment longer. “Came for… drink?” You nodded at him which seemed to puzzle him more. He gestured at the box. “. . . Powder?”

You tipped your head at him. “Yeah. For hot chocolate.” You gently shook the mugs in your hands.

His brow bones scrunched together. “. . . Hot chocolate . . ?” He asked.

Something clicked in your head as you pieced together his reaction. “Have you not had hot chocolate before? The recipe is on the box.” You handed him the box.

He took it. “Didn’t get . . . good look.” He paused, reading the instructions. “Had to hide . . . from Cross.”

You snorted at that. “Yeah! He might literally inhale it!”

Horror chuckled at that, handing you the box. He pointed at a part of the recipe and you leaned in to see what it was. He was pointing at a single word.

“Marshmallows!! Oh my gosh, I forgot!” You started towards the pantry again. “Can’t have hot chocolate without marshmallows!”

Horror chuckled again as you moved past him.

By the time you came back with marshmallows, Horror had already made a cup and was gently stirring it with a spoon.

“So.” You said, opening the bag of mellows. “You haven’t had hot chocolate before? Like ever?”

He shook his head, tapping the spoon on the mug. His eye light didn’t leave the swirling drink as you handed him six marshmallows.

Horror watched them bob as he dropped them in before slowly sliding it across the counter to you. You shook your head and pushed it back.

“You made this one. And you haven’t had one before. So you get it. I can wait.” You assured him.

Normally, he’d take rejecting his gift harshly but he was too focused on the drink to mind. Horror stirred the drink again before taking a tentative sip. His eye dilated and suddenly he was pulling four more mugs from the cabinet, including Nightmare’s.

You laughed as he refilled the kettle and shooed you out of the kitchen mumbling that he’d get you your drink. You went back to the drama that was still happening in the living room even though the movie was paused.

“He left himself WIDE OPEN!!!”

“That’s your opinion, C.”

“NO, IT’S FACT!!!!”

You greeted Dust as you took your previous seat. He didn’t seem to hear you for a second before his eye lights lit up, looked at you, at the doorway, then back at you.

“Horror?” He asked quietly.

You smirked. “He’s making everyone drinks~” That caught Killer’s attention.

“Drinks, huh?” He asked raising his brows and leaning forward. “What kinda drinks?”

You grinned at him. “Non-alcoholic.”

Killer sighed and let his head fall to the ground. “That was one time.”

“One time too many if you ask me.” Cross said, crossing his arms.

“No one did, C.” Killer mumbled.

Cross froze and stared directly at the open doorway to that hallway.

“Y/N.”

“Hmm?” You looked up innocently.

“What exactly is Horror making?”

“Ohh~” You said playfully. “Something us humans enjoy in the winter~”

Killer looked up in time to see Cross sniffing the air. The scent hit him, too, widening his eyes. He pounced on Cross who yelped at the sudden attack.

“Wh- Killer!” Cross fought back. “Get off!”

“Not happening, Crossy! Horror made everyone some and I’m getting my fair share!!” Killer yelled as he tried to pin the guards arms and legs.

“But it’s CHOCOLATE!!!!” Cross growled, getting an arm loose.

“I don’t give a damn if it’s holy water and you’re dying! YOU. ARE. NOT. GETTING. MINE!!!”

Horror entered at that moment with his arms full of mugs. How he managed to carry them all without spilling, no one questioned anymore. Horror grinned at Cross’s whine as he turned to hand you and Dust your drinks. Dust peered at his suspiciously as you sipped yours. Wow, it was better than you remembered.

Killer started struggling. “Horror?” He pleaded.

Horror chuckled softly as he held one of the mugs in front of Cross’s face. The skeleton’s eye lights never left the steaming mug as he finally broke away from a panicked Killer. Horror moved the mug to the side and let Cross snatch it from him before handing Killer his. Killer calmed down but kept Cross in his line of sight just in case. Still chuckling, Horror gestured at Dust with Nightmare’s mug and left after Dust nodded acknowledgment.

You sipped on the hot drink slowly but watched as Cross didn’t hesitate to down his, eyeing Killer’s hungrily.

Killer’s sockets narrowed. “Nooooo.” He growled.

Cross seemed to deflate rather than pursue the chocolate at the moment as he started fishing the remaining marshmallows out of his mug. Killer moved to stand behind the couch, effectively using you and Dust as a blockade.

Horror came back soon after and playfully shoved Cross’s head as he passed.

“Hey!”

Horror smiled as he sat, turning to Y/N. You could tell he wanted to speak so you gave him your full attention even as Dust started the movie back up. “. . . Was good . . . drink.” He said. “Thanks for . . . sharing.”

You smiled back. “Any time, Horror.”

You all then finished the movie while occasionally swatting Cross away from your drinks.

HE LOOKS SO COOL!!!!!! I LOVE HOW YOU DREW HIM!!!!! OH MY GOSHCGFHFDNGFDHGRSHGFCJGFDHGRS?!?!!?!?!!>!!! ,

Can you draw my boy Matrix?

You can do whatever you want with him!

Sure! I think he's cool

Boxed In

With Dust

Masterlist

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“Y/N.”

You looked up from the couch to see Dust standing in the doorway. He ignored Killer egging Cross on again and gestured for you to follow. Excusing yourself, you hurried to catch up to his determined pace, mostly out of curiosity. Dust never asked you for anything let alone to follow him.

“What’s up, Dust?” You questioned as you fell in step next to him.

His pace didn’t slow for a second. “Training.” Was his blunt answer.

When he didn’t continue, you pressed on. “Foooor?”

“Any situation where you get stuck or caught.” His eyelight flicked at you for a second, leaving an unspoken ‘again.’ “Break away techniques, distractions, dodging, deflection. How to deal with a magic wielder without magic.”

You fell a pace behind and subconsciously tugged at your makeshift sling. “Oh.” You frowned.

“We won’t be going over all that today.” He gave a pointed look at your arm. “Today will mostly be dodging and deflection.”

“Okay.”

Dust didn’t continue until you reached the training hall. He led you to the weapons rack that you don’t remember being there when you first joined the gang. “Pick a weapon. You won’t end up using it today but you should get familiar with carrying something around.”

You observed the options. The rack contained axes, quarter staffs, swords, short swords, daggers, and a few other miscellaneous weapons like nunchucks and morning stars. A portion of the rack was just giant hammers and anime style swords that looked far too heavy to lift but your eyes went after the smaller weapons. You prided yourself on your speed and dexterity so you didn’t want anything big enough to slow you down or hinder your movement. Your eyes caught on a glint of metal as you approached the rack. It was a dagger no longer than your hand. The hilt and sheath had no decor and it was just the right colour to blend in with your outfit. After checking how easily it moved in and out of the sheath, you chose it.

When you turned around the show Dust your choice, you couldn’t see his eyelights.

“Dust?” You asked, concerned.

His lights came back and he walked into the fighting arena. “Strap it on and let’s get started.”

It took you a minute and some pointers from Dust before the sheath was properly secured at your hip and you hopped into the arena. It wasn’t like a boxing arena. More like if you took a chunk of terrain and dropped it in a building. There were rocks to climb on, hide behind, and trip over. The floor was mostly dirt and gravel that could kick up clouds of dust if moved too quickly. You knew from when you watched Cross and Killer spar before that there were hidden sprinklers that would clear out the dust clouds after a fight.

“Ready?” Dust said. You stood across from him and readied your stance before nodding. There was a charging sound as a blaster appeared beside him.

He was starting with the big guns first?!?!

You leapt behind the closest boulder just in time as it blasted the wall behind you. “WHY’D YOU HAVE TO START WITH THAT?!?!?!!?” You shouted, dodging a few bones that came after you.

“You said you were ready.” There was a smile in his voice.

The bones brought you into Dust’s line of sight again and you saw his eyelights blazing a piercing red with blue in his left. He summoned more bones that flew at you. You kept dodging. That was all you could do. That was all you were supposed to do. You were smacked in the knee with a blunt bone. Your health fell a few points and the attacks stopped.

“Keep your knees bent.” Dust said, standing over you as you huffed. He stared with his hands in his pockets. “Look, listen, feel. Your opponent will almost always repeat the same action for an attack. Blasters make a sound before they’re even summoned. Bones shake the ground before appearing. Rest up and try again.”

Much to Dust’s disappointment, you flopped on the floor outside the arena. He quickly directed you to walk around and stretch to keep you from getting sore and handed you a monster candy to regain the health you’d lost.

By the time you caught your breath, Dust was beckoning you back into the arena. You sighed but followed him anyways. Each round you learned different cues to keep in mind. The ground did in fact rumble before bones would shoot out. There was a subtle crackling sound before a blaster would appear and as soon as it started charging, the blaster wouldn’t change direction even if you moved. Dust, while he rarely moved or generally reacted, did give away when he was about to attack with an almost unnoticeable pulse of light from his eyes like a heartbeat. You learned how to react and dodge quickly as you used the terrain to your advantage, darting in and out of sight. Despite this knowledge, you still couldn’t dodge him forever and each round ended if he so much as hit you once.

Four hp lost and the sixth round ended.

“Alright, that’s all for dodging.”

You gave a tired yet enthusiastic; “Yes!”

“Time for deflection.”

“Ugh!” You groaned as you stumbled out of the arena.

Dust chuckled at you. “You can use your weapon next time. I’ll teach you how to use it to shield yourself first.”

You looked down at the dagger that was barely bigger than your hand. “Uhh…”

“Any weapon can be used. The smaller it is the faster you can react.” Dust assured you. After a quick break he showed you how to knock an attack away instead of blocking like you tried to do. He sent single, slow bones at you, gradually increasing the speed. “It’s not a shield, it’s a weapon. Attack the threats. Don’t block them.” When he was satisfied with your stance and aim, he entered the arena again.

As soon as you reached your normal starting position, Dust attacked. Multiple bones came flying at you and you knock away a few with a swing of your knife while dodging what you missed. “Again??” You complained at the surprise attack.

“Gotta learn to stay on your toes somehow, kiddo.” A subtle crackle.

You leapt away from the blaster and launched yourself over a rock as bones came out of the ground. More bones were deflected and dodged as you tried not to strain your burnt arm. It wouldn’t help if you hurt yourself again. You decided to try to mix things up this time now that you had a better chance with the knife. What if you tried to get close to Dust instead of just waiting for him to hit you? A smirk pulled at your cheek. You turned toward your opponent and pressed forward. His lights flickered at you and more attacks came flying. You ducked, dodged, and knocked attacks away as you (very) slowly made progress in his direction.

When you got within three yards of Dust, a wall of bones sprung up between you. You slashed it away with your knife and immediately felt like something was wrong. As if the air had changed. You looked into Dust’s empty sockets and realized what was wrong as a manic grin split his face. He laughed a heartless laugh as his eyelights blazed back to life, piercing into you, not showing the faintest recognition.

His eyes flashed brightly.

You dove under a barrage of attacks and rolled before jumping off the rumbling ground. Five separate crackling noises had you scrambling for cover. Miraculously, you avoided an additional five burn marks before hurrying away from Dust. You had to hide. Or get Nightmare. Or literally anything!

You stumbled back with a yelp as Dust appeared between you and the door. “Dust! It’s me! Y/N! Please calm down!”

He tipped his head to the side, grin spreading, and red sliding behind his shoulder.

Wait, red-?

His eyes flashed and the ground rumbled.

Despite your best efforts, a bone nicked your leg taking much more health than his controlled training attacks. You yelped and hurried into the only cover in the room. The arena with burn marks on the walls. Only the walls. With a burst of inspiration and a crackle of energy, you turned to the summoned blaster and lowered yourself to the ground. Blaster charging and ground rumbling, you rolled away fled again. As you’d hoped, the blast hit the ground and sent up a huge cloud of dust and debris. You weaved through the arena by memory and touch to a hidden nook you’d found earlier and held your breath.

There was tense silence.

No blasters. No bones.

Then footsteps.

“C’mon, kiddo!” Came Dust’s mocking voice. “You should have seen this coming! After all, you started this route.” There was hatred in those words. “Are you really hiding from me?”

You really hoped Nightmare would notice the fear pouring out of you as you tried not to move further into your hiding place. The knife was held in front of you just in case.

“Coward.” Dust laughed. “Come on! I’ll only kill you a lot!” A longer, creepier laugh, the footsteps getting closer.

Desperate for air, you tried to take a calming breath which came out more like a breathless squeak. You froze as the footsteps stopped. You prayed that he hadn’t just heard you when he appeared in the opening of your cubby.

“Hey.” The walls rumbled.

Against your better judgment, you dove and rolled into Dust’s reach as bones stabbed where you’d just been. He grabbed your wrist and twisted making you drop the knife. “Gotten a little stabby, huh?” He yanked you closer and there was a sharp pain in your shoulder. “Mind if I return a favor?” He chuckled as he pushed the bone further into your arm.

You cried out.

Suddenly, Dust was much further away from you as his back slammed into the wall. A tentacle wrapped around your waist and up your arm to keep you from grabbing at the bone still in your shoulder.

“Nightmare!” You gasped.

Nightmare grunted at you as he confronted the still manic skeleton. “Stay still and he won’t hit you again.” Before you could respond, the tentacle around you pulled you to hover right behind him, hiding you from Dust.

Dust lashed out at the tentacles that slowly closed in on him. Bones and blasters went flying across the entire training hall. As soon as his attention focused on one tentacle, the other shot forward and wrapped around his arms. Dust yelled and thrashed as Nightmare sighed in relief. While his captive continued to thrash, the goopy skeleton turned to you. His gaze settled on your shoulder. “Don’t move. Don’t touch it. Removing the obstruction could make you bleed out. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

You shook your head. “Not anything too major. Dust taught me to dodge most of his attacks.” You glanced at the respective skeleton.

“Good.” The noise from Dust slowed. “I’m glad. You need to know all you can.” Nightmare carefully reached for your shoulder, hesitant. “What have you learned?” He glanced between you and the wound you barely felt.

You knew he was trying to distract you but went for it anyway, refraining from looking at the wound yourself in case it made you feel more pain if you saw it. You shrugged and winced. “Look, listen, feel. He taught me the listen for the- AAGGHH!!!!”

Nightmare yanked the bone out and pressed his hands against your shoulder. Your teeth grinded together angrily as he nodded at you. “Continue.” He said calmly.

“You pulled a Fucking BONE OUT OF MY ARM!!!!!” You snapped.

“Yes, you’d disturbed and opened the wound when you shrugged.” He gave you a very pointed look. “I told you not to move. Now please continue.”

You growled, mostly at the pain now flooding your body.

“Y/N?”

A tentacle brought Dust into view over Nightmare’s shoulder. “Mind telling me what happened here, Dust?”

Dust stared at you. Then at your bleeding shoulder. Then back at you. His eyelights went out.

“Dust?”

“Uh, yes.” Dust looked away from you. “We were training. I guess Y/N got confident because, after I taught her to deflect attacks, she came at me.” He stopped for a moment before Nightmare gently shook him out of his thoughts. “I saw Frisk.”

Nightmare nodded thoughtfully. “So you responded like you were back there?” Nod. “Well, whatever you taught Y/N worked. She survived.”

Dust’s eyelights flicked up to look at you. You gave him a pained yet genuine smile. He looked down.

“Do you know what exactly set you off?”

Dust grunted. “The knife.”

Your heart fell. You really kept messing everything up didn’t you? “I’m s-”

“No.” Nightmare warned you. “Don’t you go apologizing for something you knew nothing about. It’s not your fault. Never was.” Dust nodded.

You hissed as Nightmare shifted to hold your shoulder with one hand as he reached into his pocket. “Could you not?” You growled.

“Nope. Stop moving.” Nightmare responded unapologetically. He pulled the salve you remember Horror using from his pocket. “This will help. Don’t move.”

“I’m not- AH!!!!” You clamped your mouth shut as he applied the salve directly to the wound. You somehow managed not to move as you hissed out a breath. “Little warning?”

Nightmare chuckled at your anger. “Next time. That should keep it from bleeding more and fight off any potential infection.” He noted aloud. “You are the highest maintenance human I have ever met.”

A smirk tugged at Dust’s teeth. “How many humans have you actually met?”

Nightmare waved his hand dismissively. “Like, five.” Smirk.

Dust let a smile cross his face for a moment. You chose to speak up. “I’m sorry for causing an episode, Dust. I wish there had been some way I could have avoided it.” Nightmare squinted his eye at you. “I know.” You added at him.

Dust shook his head at you. “Nah. It was my fault. I should’ve asked you to pick something else or at the very least warned you. I thought it’d be fine.” Nightmare gently set him down. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.”

“Woah! What’d I miss out on?!?”

You looked over to see Killer in the doorway to the training hall. His blipped over to you all. He peered around Nightmare’s tentacles. “What’d you stab your shoulder for? Do you just hate that arm? If you really want it gone, I can help.” His brows bounced across his forehead.

“No!” You shoved his face away with your good arm, a smirk on your face. “It was an accident. We were training.”

“I stabbed her.” Dust said bluntly. You sputtered.

Killer leaned over Nightmare towards Dust. “Gettin’ tired of her already, huh?”

Dust scoffed. “She swung a knife at me.”

“I did not swing it at you!”

“And I reacted out of habit.” Dust finished.

Killer’s sockets widened. “You went back?” At Dust’s nod, Killer looked over at you. “How did you survive that? No offense, but you’re not exactly sturdy.”

“Killer.”

“What?? I’m being honest!! I can’t be honest anymore??” Killer faked offense.

“To answer your question, Killer.” You pointed at Dust. “He taught me a lot beforehand.”

Killer deflated over the tentacle he was leaned over. “I’m always missing the cool stuff…” He looked back up at you hopefully. “Could you do it again?”

“NO!”

And once those amalgam universes form they cause a magnet effect and start pulling in other au’s, meshing both terrain and people until you can’t even tell what the creatures were before the collision. The world itself is covered in glitches as the codes fight for dominance. There are rarely survivors from events like collisions but Error does what he can.

Unfortunately, the amalgams can’t be saved after merging as they are deeply imbedded in the codes of the worlds. As soon as one person is anchored to two worlds, they can’t leave without dusting. The only place they could theoretically survive in would be the save screen but it’s harder to get there than it is to get the amalgams out of their universes. That doesn’t stop Error from trying though.

POV: You started thinking what if Error was almost the exact opposite. As in, he loves touch and is happy all the time. And all of a sudden there's a destroyer running around in your head giving people hugs and buttons. Like, he somehow has a collection of buttons that he just gives to people he thinks needs it! And if he gets too excited he crashes.

And now there are two gremlins in your head because if Error crashes when he's happy then Ink pukes when he's stressed.

Now there's an Ink with anger issues that hates how loud Error is. Ink is lazy and tired all the time but can still hold himself up in a fight if need be. He still creates but now he creates so much in one space that the au’s start running into each other and tearing each other apart. Error comes in, saves who he can and destroys the merging au’s before they form an amalgam universe.

Error and Core Frisk have their own secret alliance because everyone still sees him as the destroyer but Core knows why he has to.

Core has many gift buttons.

I woke up thinking this.