Nightmare's POV a few days later

"Do you have it?"I ask

Creak! CLICK!

"MhM. WhY dO yOu nEeD iT ExActLy? It iS nOt a VoOdOo dOlL."He says, shutting the door behind him

He being Error as meets me secretly in my room.

"I have my reasons. A deal's a deal after all."I say

Error hands me IT and I grin, giving him some more chocolate and knitting stuff in return. He leaves through a portal, pleased with this trade.

I smile wider now that I'm alone. I hold the puppet of Killer close. I know I could never get close like this to Killer. That shows weakness and the teasing would be endless. So a puppet will subdue my needs for now. I glance at the clock and smirk. Time to go to sleep. I hop in bed and cuddle the puppet like a kid with a doll. Their favorite doll. I doze off peacefully but feel a pointy beak press into my head. I wake up. And jump to see some kind of owl head coming in through my window and pressing against me.

"HI NEW NEIGHBOR HOOT HOOT! I'm HOOTY! WHO ARE YOU?"The owl says loudly

"Nightmare. What the hell are you doing in my house?"I say

"MEETING NEW NEIGHBORS HOOT HOOT! OOO! WHAT IS THIS?!"He says, taking the puppet

"HEY! That's mine!"I snap, snatching it back

He fled through the window but I could hear him intruding and scaring the rest of the gang through other windows. I groan. I tuck the puppet away in a safe under my bed and leave my room. I grab Killer and head outside. I see a completely different house that was not there before. I wrap my tentacles around him protectively. Hooty returned to that house, going in the physical door.

He's part of the house?!

I see a lady sitting in front of the house, sipping from a #1 Bad Girl mug. We go over to her.

"Excuse me. We have to talk."I say, trying to be peaceful

She looks at us and sighs.

"What did King and Luz do now?"She asks

"Who? We gotta talk about Hooty. Where did you and your house come from?!"I say

"And why does your house like sneaking up on people?"Killer asks

"We just appeared here. Weird magic is in the air it seems. I'm Eda the Owl Lady. Now,what did Hooty do?"She asks

"I'm Nightmare and this is Killer. We live in the castle there. Hooty kept intruding through windows and even steal."I say

"Wait what? What did he try to take from you Nightmare?"Killer asks me

"Something that belongs to me."I say

A puppet of you.

"Hooty!"Eda snaps

"I wanted to meet the neighbors, hoot! And the octopus guy had plenty of people to meet! Hoot hoot!"Hooty says

"YOU DO NOT INTRUDE ON NEIGHBORS AND STEAL THOUGH! Ugh....So sorry about him. He doesn't really think things through a lot."She says

"No kidding."Killer says

The three of us start chatting, actually intrigued about the other. Eda seemed very wise and observant, but wasn't a goody good person. She showed us her wanted posters, which was cool. She was very skilled at magic too. She was funny, able to make us laugh. The tension seemed to go away. She and I related on annoying siblings while Killer seemed to relate to her on causing trouble and just being chaotic as they please.

"That form of yours isn't your real one, is it?"She asks me

Killer glances at me.

"It is. He's had it as long as I have known him. Which is a long time."Killer says

"Thanks, Killer, but I was asking him. I know yours wasn't your original form either."She says

"How can you tell?"I ask

"There are certain vibes radiating from you both. And I have a more hostile form as well so I know the signs."She says

Killer noticed I didn't deny it.

"Nightmare, do you have another form?"He asks

"Ummm....."I say

"Here! Have a drink to make up for my intrusion! Hoot hoot!"Hooty says, bringing us two cups of what looked like orange juice on his neck

We both take a cup, not seeing anything wrong. I take a sip to avoid answering Killer. It tasted odd. Eda looks unsettled. She slaps it out of Killer's hand before he took a sip and out of mine before I drank too much.

"BAD HOOTY!"She snaps

"What's wrong with orange juice?"Killer asks

"That wasn't orange juice! That's an elixir I take so I don't turn to my other form! It turns whoever takes it to a passive form!"She says

My soul stopped beating. Yeah I have one.

Crap.

"Who took a sip?"She asks

"Not me."Killer says

"I did."I say

She looks at me in alarm.

"How long does it last?"I ask

"It keeps whoever uses it in a passive form for two months per bottle."She replies

TWO MONTHS?! Just great! Juussst grrreeeaat! TWO freaking months showing my weaker self! I'm their leader! I can't show weakness! What will they think?! What will they do?! I don't want them to leave me when they see what I really am....A nobody......

"Nightmare...Your tentacles are shrinking."Killer says

"Ah, the elixir is already quick to act."Eda says

I see my hand revealing itself, my goo shrinking away quickly. Eda takes us inside and she lets me go into a room belonging to Luz, whoever it is so the elixir could do it's thing privately. I curl up in a ball in the corner when it was done. I'm stuck like this for 2 months! What am I going to do?!

I hear a knock at the door.

"Nightmare? Are you okay?"I hear Killer ask

I frown. And of all people, HE is who I am stuck with first in this situation!

I didn't know how to respond. The door opens and Killer slips inside. He looks at me.

"Nightmare?"He says

I look away. I stay silent, part of me ready to cry.

He's going to hate me....How do I explain this?

I feel his hand on my shoulder. I look at him.

"K-Killer, I-"I begin, my voice shaking

He hugs me. He actually hugged me.

"Nightmare, you shouldn't be afraid to show yourself."He says

"W-What? You're not mad?"I ask

"Nope. I'll stand by your side no matter what you look like."He says

He scoops me up off of my feet. I squeak in surprise and grip onto him so I don't get dropped.

"That was adorable."He says

My face burns a bit. He called me cute!

He realizes what he said and his face turns a bit red.

"Sorry I-I said that out loud..."He says, then carries me back to the castle

I bury my face in his chest, new to this. Nobody ever accepted me in this form before.

Killer really is special....

I get placed in my room.

"Killer..."I say softly

"Hmm?"He says

"Thank you..."I say

He grins.

A few days later I have remained cooped up in my room, not wanting anyone else to find out. I would just mess with the puppet of Killer. Killer didn't know I had it. Nobody but Error does and he is sworn to secrecy. I get lost in my thoughts, flicking the little arms and legs of the puppet.

What makes him so loyal? No matter what has happened or anything I did he has stayed there for me...He is so nice......Why would he take the time and energy to be so good to me? Especially since he sees who I really am....What does he see in me?

I check my soul and sigh. Not even my soul is special. It's just an average monster soul. I feel the crown on my head, taking it off and looking at it.

Is he just going to use me? Like they did? Will he keep it secret? Or is he making fun of me behind my back? Is he just waiting for the right time to hurt me or use me? What is going on through that head of his? Is he just....

I get flashbacks to all the bullies.

NO! He isn't like that!

I toss it aside, hitting the wall before falling to the floor. 

He isn't like that....Whatever his motives are, he proved that he won't hurt me.

I look at the puppet and smile. I trail a finger along each of the puppet's sides, feeling the ribs beneath the clothes. Error really thought of everything. I smile.

He is unlike everyone else....

A portal opens in my room and a girl hops through. She looks lost.

"Who are you?"I ask

"I'm Luz! Have you seen a lady named Eda?"She says

"She is in a house next door."I say

"Oh! Thank you! And to make up for intruding, there!"She says, sticking a post-it to my head and marking something on it

I felt something change and her eyes go wide. She runs off. I look in a mirror and see a cat tail and pair of ears growing on me. Great! I'm in my passive form with this too!

I hide under the blankets, my ears low. I hug the puppet close. I hear the door open. I see Killer enter. I quickly try to hide the puppet. He comes over to me and places a hand on my cheek. I look at him.

"Killer....I feel weird...."I tell him

He notices my ears and tail.

"What the heck did you do, kid?"He asks

"I was doing a spell to show my thanks but it went wrong!"Luz says

I feel fur grow on me. I felt as if I was overheating with the clothes on, so I slipped out of them while under the blankets as he argued with Luz. I look at Killer and all these fluffy thoughts enter my head. I found myself imagining what I could do with Killer if I could put my walls down. I purr at the thoughts without realizing.

"N-Nightmare? You just purred."Killer says

I look at him and my ears twitch, tail flicking.

"Mhm..."I say

He pulls me out from under the blanket and I look at him. He hugs me close. I purr a bit, happy to be close to him. Luz left. I feel him put me in his lap. i sit in it and look at him.

"Why are you so nice to me, Killer? Nobody has been this kind to me....Not when I am....Well, not covered in goo."I say

"Because you do not deserve to be treated badly. And you didn't really change. You're still the same person."He tells me

I cuddle him happily, purring with glee.

"You're the best."I say

I slowly started to open up to  Killer, breaking down the walls between us. He learned things I have never told anyone else. We grew closer than we were before.

One night, I dozed off and woke up later with a bad dream reminding me of the bullies. Apparently I had screamed because SwapFell busted the door down and found me. He didn't recognize me of course but started cursing me out for screaming and being here. Without giving me a chance to speak, he took every bit that he could see about me and insulted it. He called me names that reminded me of the bullies that beat me and he came close to hurting me. He slams me into another wall of my room. I couldn't turn to my hostile form or defend myself in this one. I didn't know how. Luckily, he was too tired to give me a beating and dropped me, leaving me in the room as he returned to his, slamming the door behind him after called me a fucktard one last time. I slumped against the wall, being slammed into the wall alone caused me pains all over. But his words and the memories hurt as well, or even more even though he had no clue it was me. I broke down, keeping my voice low so he doesn't return.

A portal opens and Killer comes through it. Though he wore different clothes. I could see his spine. He looks at me and quickly darts over, the portal shutting.

"Nightmare, what happened to you?"He asks

I hug him, softly purring at the confort of holding him close.

"Killer.....What am I? What would you consider me?"I ask

He realizes what is going through my head.

"Another bad dream about them, huh?"He asks

I nod.

"But apparently I screamed and that ticked SwapFell off."I tell him

"What. The. Hell. Did. Swapfell. DO TO YOU?!"He growls

I explain what happened and he was NOT happy. He teleports to the living room where everyone was with me. I clung to him, extremely uneased. They all look at us.

"What the fuck are you wearing, Killer?"Fell asks

"Some weirdo changed me into this so shut it. Where the hell is SwapFell?"Killer snaps

SwapFell pops up from under a blanket.

"What."He says bluntly

"You've got some nerve, dude. Why the hell did you call him those things and try to beat him up?!"Killer snaps

"He was too noisy."SwapFell says

"So you decide to verbally and almost physically abuse him?! He had a bad dream! He can't help making noise! And you're one to talk about being noisy at night, Mr. Curse and yell in his sleep! If I had a dime for everytime you were too loud at night, I'd be a millionaire and I'm sure the others can agree. But we don't hurt you over that!"He growls

The others nod.

"What makes this guy so fucking special for you to defend?"SwapFell inquires

"First of all, he is the most caring, honest, helpful, brave, protective, funny, among other things that I know! He is secretive but protects us all. So I will be as defensive as I want when your stupidity gives him things he doesn't deserve. And second, you broke into NIGHTMARE's room and attacked him. He may not look like himself but that's because our new neighbors changed him. And you just so happened to hit sensitive nerves and things when you intruded his rrom. You could've wounded the very person that has saved our asses, especially yours, multiple times! So, SwapFell, I think he has countless reasons for me to defend him. You better start cleaning your act up and making up for it before I get my knives."He snaps

I feel my  cheeks burn, hearing his passion and compliments. Of all the people I have defended, he is the first to defend me in my passive form.

He looks at me and wipes my tears.

The crew surrounded us and Dust pulled me to him, hugging me. Luckily my ears and tail disappear. I don't open up to any of them yet like I did with Killer. Horror chases SwapFell around with his axe for overreacting. I soon found myself being shared among Horror, Dust, Cross, and Killer. Fell just watched us while sipping mustard and SwapFell was stuck in a corner with an axe pinning him by his scarf to the floor. My head was in Killer's lap, my torso in Dust's, my legs laid on Horror and Cross holding one of my arms as it dangled off the couch. They overwhelmed me with affectionate words and tones, placing a blanket over us to cover me. They had me doze back off, safe in their protective grip. I doze off, my left hand being held by Cross while my right was held by Killer. I smile, finding a place I could be accepted no matter my appearance.

I wake up the next morning to find myself laying across only Cross and Killer. They were just glaring at each other for whatever reason. I get up to get some food. Little did I know that this was the start of some kind of rivalry between the two. Killer grew very protective of me.

One day I heard them both yelling about something and they darted over to me. They looked at me, then at each other, silent. I look at them confusedly as they seemed to be silently communicating something to each other through glares. I turn away to try to make some pancakes, thinking they were fooling around again. But then two arms grabbed me from behind and I felt my back press against someone's chest. I get pulled back and see that it's Killer, holding me protectively. I place a hand on his skull to steady myself, especially when Cross started trying to pull me to him. Killer strangely places a hand by my mouth, but not in a way to keep me from talking.

"Umm...What's going on with you two?"I ask

"Cross wants to take you to check out other AUs. But it's dangerous and I won't allow you to get put in danger!"Killer snaps

"I won't let you get in trouble. I promise to protect you."Cross says, kissing my hand

Killer's grip tightened on me.

"Nightmare, you can trust me. Let's go explore."Cross says

"W-Where do you plan to go?"I ask, new to these affectionate actions

My face warms.

He lists off some AUs.

"I've seen those AUs recently, Nightmare. They are anything but safe to explore."Killer says

The two start bickering with me stuck in the middle. Horror and Dust walk in. They see me stuck in the middle of these two, smirk, and leave me trapped there.

Whyyyy?! OmO

"What do you say, Nightmare?"Cross says

"Ummm...I think I will stay here, Cross....I am not going to another world for no reason besides exploring if it's really that dangerous. Now, can I get my pancakes?"I say

They release me and I eat my pancakes. I feel something get placed on my head. I turn my head to see Cross behind me.

"W-What are you doing?"I ask

"Returning your stuff to you."He says

I feel what he placed on my head. It's my crown.

"Where'd you get this?"I ask

"A trash can."He says

I frown. I reach up but couldn't get it off for some reason.

"Does it usually glow?"He asks

"What no! What did you do, Cross?!"I snap

"I dunno!"He says

Killer runs over to me. I look at him but then my surroundings change. I look around, recognizing it. It's my former home AU.....Dreamtale. I froze up.

"That didn't seem to do anything."A voice says

I hear a gasp.

"Raven! Over there! Your spell did work!"Another says

The ground is lifted under me and I get carried on it to three strangers. The ground is lowered by a blonde girl who seemed to have earth powers.

"Look, Raven! You did bring the someone the here!"The second voice says, belonging to a girl with flaming red hair and sparkling green eyes

She seems to levitate off the ground, wearing shiny violet outfit.

I look to "Raven" to see a girl with pale skin, ruby diamond in the head, dazzling eyes, dark purple cloak and black clothes underneath.

"W-What's going on? Why was I taken back here?"I ask

"We wanted to ensure no damages came here because of us. My name is Terra, this is Starfire and this is Raven."The blonde girl says

"I'm Nightmare."I say

"Greetings, Nightmare. What is this place? Why weren't you here? What happened in this place?"Starfire says

"Ummm....This is Dreamtale but nothing good happened here. At least for me. It's complicated."I say

They look at me.

"Family issues?"Raven asks

I nod.

"Sibling troubles?"Starfire asks

I nod.

"Misjudgment? Jerks?"Terra asks

I nod.

"I can feel for that."The three say

They explain their experiences and then that put me at ease to explain everything that happened here. My past. They each seemed to be able to relate to me on some level.  They each chat with me and were so nice with me. 

I try to get my crown off.

"What is the matter Nightmare?"Starfire asks

"I don't like being here or wearing this. It reminds me of what happened here."I say

"Nonono, Nightmare. That won't help you at all. Trust me, I know. By doing that, you let your past and those who hurt you have some sort of control still over you. Your past makes part of you but it doesn't define you. Accept and embrace it. Wear it proudly. Because that shows everyone that they can't hold you down and couldn't stop you. Plus, you are one heck of a great person so you should rock it. After all, that was then and this is now. Now you are thriving with your friends like Killer, people that who don't judge. Those people matter. Your bullies are not thriving. So don't give them the pleasure of seeing you getting held back from true happiness."She says, patting me on the head

I smile, thanking her. I feel a buzz in my pocket. I take out my phone. It's a text from Killer:"Nightmare! WHERE ARE YOU?! ARE YOU OKAY?! I WILL KILL CROSS IF YOU GOT HURT BECAUSE OF HIM!"

I send a reply and tuck it away.

Then we hear footsteps and a voice. The voice of my brother.

"Hello, new folks! I am Dream and this is my AU! Wel-What are you doing with him?"Dream says, spotting us

Yeah, he was still not happy with me...

"Oh! Your brother already gave us a welcome here and explained everything! You must be his brother, Dream!"Starfire says

"Why are you with him? He's nothing! He's just a bad person!"Dream snaps

"I see he described you very accurately."Terra says

"Get away from Nightmare!"Dream snaps

"But what if we don't want to?"Raven asks

Dream starts throwing a fit, yelling and making up things.

"He reminds me of your sister, Star."Raven says

"Yeah, I see it too."She says

"Oo! How sweet!"Dream says

"That's not a compliment. Her sister is the worst person to be compared to...Well, besides my dad."Raven says

Dream frowns.

"Get away from him this instant!"Dream snaps

Starfire pulls me close, Raven grabbing my hand and Terra grab each of my hands.

"No thank you."Starfire says sweetly

"Make us, pipsqueak."Terra says

"We don't have to listen to you. What are you going to do about it?"Raven says, taunting my brother

Dream stomps his feet and throws a hissy fit but leaves the AU.

"Pfft, he is all talk and no bite."Terra says 

I hear a buzzing noise. It wasn't my phone. Starfire takes out a circular phone that was ringing. She answers it.

"How's the mission going, Star?"A voice asks

"It's going quite well! We met this really sweet person named Nightmare in a place called Dreamtale!"Starfire tells whoever was the caller

"Nightmare? Our intel says that he is a bad dude. Star, get out of there."The caller says

"Your intel is wrong. He is a sweet person that some would even call cute. He is just misjudged. And your sources are probably under the influence of his brother, who is not nice."Starfire says

I feel my face warm a bit, new to compliments.

"I gotta agree with her here, Robin. He is a pretty good person."Raven says

"Hmmm, bring him here. We should protect anyone good that we can."This caller named Robin says

"Okay! See you soon!"Starfire says, hanging up

"So...Where'd you leave that exit, Raven?"Terra asks

Raven smirks and the three start taking me away. I wasn't exactly scared of them, just nervous on where this is going. I knew they are good and are trying to do what's right and I'm a bit curious on where they'll take me, but uncertain on what may happen. They kept me too flustered to speak as they complimented me. I see a black portal coming closer.

"HEY!"A voice yells

We stop in our tracks, turning around. They take the same position as they did when Dream came. But this time it was Cross and Killer who were approaching.

"Unhand him!"Killer snaps

"Oh! You must be the bullies he had!"Starfire says

"You made a mistake. We're not unhanding him."Terra says

"You better or else!"Cross snaps

"Or else what? You'll throw a tantrum like the last guy to say that? You can't make us. Now, we'll be on our way."Raven says

They turn around, putting me in front of them so I "don't get hit by those two" and get taken to the portal.

"Silkie will love meeting you."Starfire whispers to me

I know that's her pet and I smile. Then a knife pierces my spine, knocking me away. It is huge and I recognize it. It's Cross' blade.

"Nightmare!"Starfire exclaims

"Guess that's the or else they spoke about."Terra says

The portal fizzes out. I try to sit up but was pinned down by the knife.

"WHAT THE HELL CROSS?!"Killer snaps

Starfire flies over to me and pulls the blade out. Raven comes over, trying to heal the wound but in our world her healing magic didn't seem to work yet. Starfire kees Cross's blade, breaking it in half.

"Oh you two royal zarbnarfs just made a big mistake!"She yells, her eyes glowing green as well as her hands

She starts firing and soaring at Cross, who despite all the time training, isn't used to fighting without his blade that she just broke. Terra starts attacking Killer while Raven figures out how to get out of here. 

"Azarath...Metreon....Zinthos!"She says, opening a portal

She scoops me up and puts a foot through it.

"Star! Terra! Time to go! Leave them here!"She says

The two look at her, dodging Killer and Cross as they continue to attack, and nod. Starfire flies over while Terra makes rocky walls to provide cover.

"Nightmare!"Killer yells as they carried me through the closing portal

I look around and see a giant tower shaped like a T floating on a piece of land in OuterTale. StarFire notices my gaze.

"We just seemed to drop in here. That's our tower. We're the Teen Titans."She tells me, then takes me from Raven

She flies up to the top of the tower and enters from the roof.

"The elevator takes so long."She says, taking me to her room

There she dealt with my wounds and I check my HP. It only went down to half luckily. Raven and Terra come in to check on me. They were relieved that I was ok. Raven was confused on why her powers didn't work back there. I explain how powers work here and they nod, understanding. Then we hear a loud blast.

"BOOYA!"I hear a voice yell

They look at each other and sigh.

"Cyborg...."Raven groans

I look out the window to see a cyborg chasing Geno around. I could tell Geno is wounded and the cyborg won't stop trying to fire at him.

"What is your mission exactly?"I ask

"We want to protect the good but clear out any evil in the area."Terra says

"Well then your team should know that a good amount of these worlds have skeletons that are living and are a range of good and bad. And can someone please tell that cyborg dude to chill on his blaster arm before he kills my friend? He isn't evil. Many come here just to enjoy the view and things won't go well for the cyborg if another friend learns that they killed him."I explain

Raven opens her pone, dialing a number. 

I hear another blast and anxiously look to see if it hit Geno. I smile, seeing a different sight. I focus on them and could sense their thoughts or speeches through their emotions. Geno was pinned to a wall, Reaper protecting him by taking the hit.

"What? Reaper what are you doing here? Why did you do that?"Geno asks

"I'm here to protect you. He may try to kill you but he can't."Reaper replies

"Why are you saving my life? Isn't it your job to reap lives?"Geno asks

"Yes, but it isn't your time. And it won't be your time for a long time as long as I'm here."Reaper tells him

"What friend is such a threat? His teammate with him named Beast Boy is wondering."Raven says while on the phone

"Oh, just the Grim Reaper. But it's kind of too late. Just look down there."I say

"What the-?!"The cyborg yells, taking a step back

"Now, YOU ON THE OTHER HAND HAVE MADE A GRAVE MISTAKE! ONE I INTEND TO MAKE YOU REGRET!"Reaper snaps, charging at the cyborg with his scythe

"Beast Boy, get them in here. There is a misunderstanding."Raven says

The three come in with a green boy and a masked boy with spiked hair. 

"Nightmare, this is Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Robin. Team, this is Nightmare."Raven says, gesturing to the cyborg, green boy and boy with the mask before gesturing to me

"Hi."Robin says

"Wassup."Beast Boy says while Cyborg waves

Reaper and Geno come over to me.

"What happened to you?!"They ask

"Cross threw his knife and got me..."I whisper

"What's this misunderstanding?"Robin asks

Raven explains things to them and they apologize to Geno. He forgives them but Reaper was literally giving them a death stare, his grip on the scythe tightening by the second. They left after a bit but the Teen Titans as they called themselves had me stay to keep an eye on me and help me recover. Killer hasn't reached out to me since that incident. I learned how long I was hear when I was able to turn back to my hostile form, meaning the two months were up. Raven, having a completely different form herself, taught me how to control each one and be able to change from one to the other at will or use pieces of one form like a tentacle while being in my passive one.

I sit in the room given to me, petting Silkie gently. Then some alert went off in every room. I see a security camera showing someone banging on the front door. I mean this tower isn't that hard to find after all. The person looks up at the camera and I see that it is Killer. At least it appears to be Killer. I see the camera get broken and then the doors lock, the power going out. Silkie hides in the closet. I try to get up but feel something grab me. It felt like clay. I see a clay monster rise from the vents, solidifying to hold me in place. I recognize them as a villain the Teen Titans call Clayface. I frown, trying to get free.

"You're coming with me."He says

I try to turn to my hostile form but it just mixes with his clay form. 

"LET GO OF ME!"I snap

"Nope. You're coming with me to Joker."He says

The clay climbs up until I am trapped inside it. I could move just barely but didn't have a way to get out or call for help.

Lovely....Just lovely.

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TBC