"W0w..." (Wow.)

"Anyways!" Nightmare stands up, facing Error.

"Do you want to join my group?" The group suddenly begins clamoring over themselves.

"We have food!" Horror speaks first.

"Friends!" Dust, ironically enough,

"Murder!" Shouts Fell and Black in unison.

"Diabolical plans!" Razz shouts as a footnote.

"Fights with the Star Sluts." Killer 'enthusiastically' states in a monotone voice.

"We try our best to annihilate timelines." Cross speaks.

"We are the most hated and feared in the multiverse, so that won't change when you join us." Hate speaks, floating around.

"So, wadaya say? Will you join our crew?" Error looks at Nightmare's outstretched hand for a handshake, weighing the pros and cons of this group. Pros are that Error will have an easier time hitting more AUs, but cons are if and when Ink finds out...they'll have a way to hit Error where it hurts.

"I 54y..." (I say...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'11 j0in y0ur g4ng." (I'll join your gang.)

"Really?" Nightmare blinks, tilting his head in slight surprise and buried hope.

"5ur3, why n0t? It c0u1d b3 fun." (Sure, why not? It could be fun.) Hate, Fell, Razz, and Black wander off to other parts of the mansion. Cross silently vibrates, practically oozing the Berry Vibe™. This vibe was trademarked when Blue began the Shipping Council, the infamous meeting of neutral skeletons to discuss the latest multiverse ships. Cross isn't a direct member of the Shipping Council, but Razz is and Razz updates the gang regarding ships the Council has decided upon. Cross also gets some info from another direct member, Epic. Cross has become an avid member of the Shipping Council but he can't attend meetings cause there are some good or neutral leaning good Sanses and while Razz can get away with being called Neutral, Cross can not. Killer wanders to the kitchen, boredom being the main motivator, that and chores. Horror and Dust react with child glee, running over and repeatedly saying "You're our mama now!" and pointing at Nightmare and saying "And you're our dada!!!"

Nightmare and Error, suffice it to say, blush brightly at the children's implication of calling Error "mama" and Nightmare "dada". Cross continues vibrating, smiling happily. Looks like Horror and Dust are inadvertently on the Shipping Council too.

"Cross, it's your turn to cook!" Cross gasps.

"Well, Error, since you're the newest to join, what would you like to eat?"

"C00k? 34t?" (Cook? Eat?) This instantly catches the attention of everyone in the room.

"Error...how long has it been since you've last eaten food?" Error shrugs.

"I 5t0pp3d c0unting 4 f3w mi113nni4 4g0, why? I5 it b4d t0 n0t 34t?" (I stopped counting a few millennia ago, why? Is it bad to not eat?)

"YES! IT'S BAD TO NOT EAT! DID YOU NOT GRASP THAT FROM HORROR'S STORY?!" Error grabs his ears as Nightmare shouts and Nightmare sighs, slowly placing a tentacle on Error's shoulder.

"I-i'm 5-50rry...I-i'm i-imm0rt41 5-50 I r-r3411y c-c4n't di3...5-50 I ju5t 5t0pp3d f0cu5ing 0n 5tuff 0ut5id3 d0ing my j0b." (I-i'm s-sorry...I-i'm i-immortal s-so I r-really c-can't die...s-so I just stopped focusing on stuff outside doing my job.)

"Damn, and I thought I had unhealthy work-life balance." Nightmare mumbles to himself, sighing.

"Sorry for shouting...I just have personal experience with starving creatures." Error slowly focuses, his glitches that began when Nightmare was shouting fading into the normal amount he experiences.

"Cross cooks, Nightmare helps Error settle in, and I take the kids to find a new couch and a new rug." Killer speaks, dragging Horror and Dust off to shopping. Cross heads into the kitchen, and Nightmare focuses on Error.

"Let's get your stuff and get you set up in your room." Error nods, opening a portal to the anti-void, using strings already in there to bring out his knitting kit and one of his most prized chocolate bars. He closes the portal, and nods to Nightmare who leads Error to a room right next to the former's (Nightmare's) room.

"Well, here it is. Your room. Once you step inside, the nameplate will place your name, and the room and door will stylize based upon your preference." Error steps into the room. The theme instantly changes to match Outertale. Stars cover the ceiling and the walls. The floor has changed to look like a ledge in Outertale. All the decorum looks like it belongs in the AU.

"You like stars?"

"P34c3fu1 4nd 41w4y5 w4nt3d, un1ik3 m3." (Peaceful and always wanted, unlike me.) Nightmare frowns, before laughing.

"You know, for a destroyer, you seem to care a lot about the AUs." Error shrugs.

"I'm 0n1y 4 d35tr0y3r f0r th3 B414nc3, 0ut5id3 0f th4t, I 10v3 th3 4U5 4nd c0mp13t31y und3r5t4nd Ink'5 4ggr355i0n." (I'm only a destroyer for the Balance, outside of that, I love the AUs and completely understand Ink's aggression.)

"Whatever you say. Anyways. You should be aware, the gang, particularly Cross and Razz, will try to force feed you." At that moment, Cross runs in, followed by Razz, both skeletons carrying ungodly amounts of chocolate, Cross shoving a bar into Error's surprised face.

"NO SKELETONS WILL STARVE WHILE I'M AROUND!" Cross enthusiastically shouts, Error's hands going up to his ears while Cross shouts. Razz places down some chocolate bars, smiling at Error gently.

"You get used to the gang's louder members, eventually..." Error groans softly, and Nightmare practically pushes Cross out of the room, Razz waving and running off, simply saying "Shipping Council is IN SESSION" as his reason.

Nightmare and Error walk out of the room to find the living room in disarray. Horror is chewing on a table leg, while Dust is sitting on the table. Fell and Black are having a sparring session in the middle of the living room for no reason, Cross is in the kitchen trying to wave away Hate, who is just pestering the crap out of him. Killer is chilling on the couch, ignoring the chaos around him.

"What happened?" All the fighting/chaos skeletons open their mouths, but Nightmare continues.

"Someone reliable tell me what happened." Killer sighs.

"Horror began eating a table leg, Dust jumped onto the table for fun. Black said something about Horror being less than a monster and Fell didn't like that, so they started fighting over this. Cross began cooking, saying something under his breath that got Hate in the mood to pester the living crap out of Cross, and I just sat here in the middle of the action ignoring them all." Nightmare sighs, the comical anger vein appearing before he calms down, walking back towards the rooms.

"Too exhausted to deal with your shit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So how are we gonna kidnap him in order to get answers? The bonus of this plan is that when we discover things are exactly as we suspect, we can kill him!"

"The Destroyer seems to have a high amount of magic and the will to use it. Maybe we need to nullify his magic first in order to stand a chance of capturing him?"

"Then it's settled. We'll go to Sci first thing as soon as possible and get him started on magic inhibitors for the Destroyer. In the meantime, We'll make sure the Destroyer doesn't suspect a thing."

"SO YOUR PLAN IS TO CAPTURE ERROR AND QUESTION HIM ABOUT THE NATURE OF HIS DESTRUCTION AND OTHER INFORMATION YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND? WOULD IT NOT BE EASIER TO *CHECK HIS SOUL AND FIND OUT THAT WAY?"

"Blue...Blue. The Destroyer doesn't have a soul! We can't check something that isn't there!" Ink's voice and smile are clearly condescending, but Dream overlooks Ink's behaviors, thinking this normal.

"OH...OF COURSE! HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT LITTLE DETAIL?" Blue responds, getting up.

"WELL, IF I AM NO LONGER REQUIRED, I HAVE A SHIPPING COUNCIL TO LEAD, THANK YOU!"

(1294 words.

As has been made obvious, we are at the first of many shipping council and ask chapters.

Seven days.

One week.

One week from the day I post this.

That's how much time you have to ask questions or share opinions/thoughts/ideas with the characters.

You can also offer up ships.

I will state that UnderChoco_lover had DMed me a list of ships for the shipping council to decide upon.

YOU CAN VOTE ON MORE THAN ONE OR ALL THE OPTIONS IN THE STRAWPOLL SO PLEASE DO!

https://www.strawpoll.me/21145285

Feel free to vote for these ships or offer your own. (Do remember I have a desire to have more rare/uncommon ships in this book. ErrorMare/NightError is non-negotiable, but all others are free reign.)

Have a nice day, and I look forward to Chapter Nine.Five