Dream and Ink were back in ScienceTale. They readied their weapons, then basically kicked the door down. Nightmare jolted from the sound, but quickly regained his composure, sending a chilling glare at the two guardians.

"Whatever you plan on doing to him, Nightmare," Ink declared. "We will not allow it to happen!"

Nightmare rolled his eyelight. He should've guessed that tiny speck of positivity he felt earlier was cause for concern.
"Heh heh, nice of you to join the party, brother."
A smile playing on his lips, he turned fully to face his opponents. Dream tensed at Nightmare's nonchalant use of the term brother. Could he still regard Dream as family?

"Brother, please don't hurt Sci. He's done nothing to you."
He readied an arrow just in case, but felt suddenly off about this whole situation. Nightmare never needs Sci for anything, so why now? What could be planning?

"How would you know?" Nightmare's smile widened smugly.
"He could've stolen something from me, or done something to my gang that I need him to fix. Face it, Dream. You know nothing!"

Dream was very close to letting his arrow fly. Nightmare laughed at the positive guardian's anger, then turned back to Sci. The nerdy skeleton shifted uncomfortably, looking from the king of nightmares, to the creator, and finally, to Dream.

"Dream, it's fine. I-I think you should leave-"

"But he and Error could destroy this AU!" Ink exclaimed.
"Everyone could die, and there is no coming back!"

Sci looked down at his hands folded in his lap. Oh, if only they knew...

Nightmare growled. They still didn't get it, did they? Error was probably out in the multiverse somewhere, taking a well-deserved break from keeping up with Ink's shenanigans. That, or trying to commit suicide, again. He's always hoping something out there is deadly enough to kill him.
"At least he would know why I'd do it. Destroying this AU would be easy, and Sci couldn't object because he knows what he did."

Sci winced at the reminder. If Nightmare was correct, Error was still out there. Plus, he was the original ScienceTale Sans. Nightmare couldn't possibly be serious. Then again, he has threatened to destroy this AU as well as Blueberry's quite a few times. Sci mentally shrugged, feeling desensitized to Nightmare's threats.

Ink, however, would not see it that way. He raised his paintbrush, eyelights burning, intending to slam it onto Nightmare's head. Then, all of a sudden-

"STOP!!!"

Everybody froze. Papyrus walked in between the two sides, facing the two guardians, first.
"I AM DONE LISTENING TO YOU ARGUING LIKE CHILDREN. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT IT ONLY MAKES THINGS WORSE! SANS TELLS ME THAT YOU GUYS HOLD MEETINGS ALL THE TIME TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO IF A UNIVERSE IS DESTROYED. HOW DO YOU GUYS GET ANYTHING DONE IF YOU ARE CONSTANTLY AT EACH OTHERS' THROATS? AND YOU!"
He turned to face Nightmare, who ducked his head into his shoulders in alarm.
"YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO ANTAGONIZE THEM. IT ALSO MAKES THINGS WORSE, AND YOU, AS THE LEADER OF YOUR GROUP, SHOULD ALSO KNOW ARGUING IS POINTLESS. AND IF FIGHTING IS INEVITABLE, THEN DO IT OUTSIDE, NOT IN MY HOUSE!"

All three gods nodded in understanding as Papyrus shot a glare to each of them. Even Nightmare was a bit unsettled by Papyrus' audacity. He was right, though. Arguing with his naive brother wasn't getting him any closer to finding Error. He scoffed, then opened a portal and left. Dream sighed in relief, finally able to think clearly without the negativity draining his energy.

"That was close. Sci, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah..." He said, nodding slowly. He looked up at Ink, but the creator was staring off into space.
"Uh, Ink?

At the mention of his name, Ink snapped out of his trance with a shake of his head.
"H-huh? Oh, what is it, Sci?"

"You looked... a bit out of it for a sec, there."

"Oh, I was just thinking. Papyrus reminded me we haven't had a meeting with the other Sanses and Papyruses in awhile. Besides, Error's been quiet for a couple of days, so it should be safe."

Sci nodded. This is his chance to gather intel on whether or not Error is still alive. If he's been spotted somewhere else in the multiverse, then he can sleep easy tonight. If not...

"I'll get my notes. Might I suggest bringing Blueberry? He doesn't like being kept out the loop since he, too, is a Sans. Plus, he and I have... something to discuss."

Dream and Ink looked at each other, and Sci sweated a bit. Did that sound too suspicious? His fears were unfounded though, because Ink nodded with a smile on his face.
"Of course! We can bring Blueberry."

Sci smiled, then teleported to his lab. He twitched at the sight of Error's new coat just lying on the ground. He picked it up and laid it on a chair. There was no dust, so Error isn't dead. Where could he be, though? He usually has his hoodie with his phone, in this case his coat with his phone, on him at all times. Why would he leave it here?

Ink was getting impatient. Cinnamon is probably scared, being all alone. And he hasn't eaten or drank anything since they found him. Oh, the poor little guy must be starving, and lonely, and-

"Ink?"

The creator jumped when he heard his name.
"I can't believe I just left Cinnamon like that! He might be lonely without me, or worse! He could be starving to death!"

Dream sighed.
"How about this, Ink? You go check on him, and I'll get Sci and Blueberry to Dreamtale to prepare for our meeting."

"Oh, thank you, Dream! You might just be a literal lifesaver!"
Ink excitedly opened a portal and hopped through, leaving Dream with Papyrus.

"WHO'S CINNAMON?"

"Papyrus, has Sci experimented on animals ever?"

The taller skeleton looked down at Dream, confused.
"NOW, WHY WOULD HE DO THAT? HE HATES VIOLENCE, AND ACTIVELY AVOIDS IT. IRONIC, SINCE HE CAN BE LAZY, BUT I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING AT. THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS 'CINNAMON', CORRECT?"

Dream nodded.
"Yes. Ink and I found him right outside your door not even an hour ago, and I was wondering if you knew anything about it. Though, who am I kidding, he'd probably keep you in the dark about that, too."

"DREAM, MAY I TELL YOU A SECRET?"

The positive guardian perked up.
"O-of course!"

"SANS THINKS I DON'T SEE WHAT HE'S UP TO AT TIMES. BUT, I HAVE WAYS TO FIGURE IT OUT."
With that, he tapped a button on his watch, something Dream hadn't noticed until now. Out of the watch popped a tiny, metallic creature. It had six legs, a flat, oval body, and a single, orange eye. Papyrus pulled the goggles he always wore on his head down to his eyesockets, tapping a button on the side of them as well. The lenses of the goggles glowed a bright orange, as did the eye of the metal creature. A short beep sounded as they synced, and Dream watched in fascination as Papyrus placed the creature on the wall. Papyrus turned his watch, and a small joystick was revealed.

"I CALL THEM, INFO MITES!"
Papyrus chirped as he guided the mite up the wall.
"MAGNETS KEEP THE MITE ON THE CEILING AND WALLS, AND I'VE INSTALLED A ZOOMING MECHANISM TO SEE THINGS FROM A FARTHER DISTANCE. IF SANS HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE, THESE LITTLE BUDDIES OF MINE WILL FIND IT!"

Papyrus smiled proudly as he guided the mite back to his wrist. The joystick retracted, and the mite popped back into place in his watch. Dream's eyelights had turned to stars, watching as Papyrus unsynced his goggles and put them back where they were.

"That is so cool!" Dream said joyfully.
"Do you think you could make one for me?"

Papyrus chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.
"SURE! BUT YOU HAVE TO PROMISE NOT TO TELL ANYONE ABOUT THESE. THEY ARE MY ONLY FORM OF GATHERING INFORMATION THAT SANS REFUSES TO TELL ME. IT'S HOW I FIGURED OUT THAT... THE MULTIVERSE ISN'T... EXACTLY STABLE, ANYMORE."

Dream tilted his head in confusion.
"What do you mean?"

"I MEAN..."
Papyrus' expression turned sad.
"THINGS HAVE GOTTEN... COMPLICATED. YOU SEE, NIGHTMARE WAS HERE BECAUSE THE MULTIVERSE... IT CAN'T HANDLE INK CREATING SO MUCH. IF HE CREATES ANY MORE, IT WILL TRY TO FIX THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AUS WILL CRASH INTO EACH OTHER, CAUSING A CHAIN REACTION THAT DESTROYS MORE, UNTIL NOTHING IS LEFT. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. OF COURSE, THAT IS SANS' THEORY. DON'T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY, BUT SANS HAS BEEN TRYING TO FIND OUT WHY ERROR DESTROYS. HE FOUND OUT THAT THE MULTIVERSE IS TOO CROWDED, AND IF SOMETHING ISN'T DONE ABOUT IT, THERE WILL BE SERIOUS REPERCUSSIONS FOR ALL OF REALITY."

Dream looked down in thought. Does Error know about this? The positive guardian hasn't really interacted with him besides fighting, so he's never heard Error's side of things. This could be the reason why Error only destroys copies. He only caused damage in an original once. Dream's eyesockets went wide when he realized.

UnderSwap.

Blueberry could be in on it! And he tried to tell everyone, but they shot him down as delusional or brainwashed. Dream sighed guiltily, then looked back up at Papyrus.

"Thank you for telling me, Papyrus," The positive guardian smiled.

"NO PROBLEM! IT'S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE LEARN THE TRUTH-"

"Truth about what, Paps?"
Sci had a briefcase, probably chock full of notes and papers, and a confused frown on his face. Papyrus smirked, and turned to his brother.

"THE SECRET INGREDIENT IN THAT SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE I MADE! I DIDN'T ACTUALLY FOLLOW THE RECIPE TO THE LETTER."

Sci's eyesockets widened at the news.
"Whadja put in it?" He asked nervously.

Papyrus struck a heroic pose and answered.
"I PUT ROSEMARY INSTEAD OF THYME IN THE GROUND BEEF!"
A small, almost unnoticeable wink was directed at Dream, and he gasped softly.

Sci sighed in relief and smiled.
"So that's why it tasted different. Welp, Dream, I think it's thyme we headed out."
He winked and Papyrus facepalmed.

"OH MY GOD, SANS...."

The last thing he heard was the sound of laughter as his brother and Dream left through a portal.

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And done! Haven't updated in awhile cuz I've been working on something big nonstop for at least a week. But, this chapter deals with how much Papyrus actually knows. Is it any surprise, though, from ScienceTale Papyrus? You expect him to still be innocent and naive, but like Blueberry, he is playing them all for fools.

Muahahahahahahahaha!