The next two hours passed way too quickly for the brothers' liking, but way too slowly at the same time. With each passing minute, they imagined new scenarios worse than the last one. What if it was all a big scheme to get them in a certain place and attack them? What if it was all just a big repeat from the Ambush and they had warned every Originals –or rather, everyone, as there wasn't any copy in this Multiverse– to come and beat them up? Or at least fight them? What if they tried to imprison them because they were afraid of their undeniable resemblance with Nightmare and Error? Granted, they learned that most of the AUs were Neutral, but would it really stop them from trying to attack them? Or would they all team up to get rid of the possible threat, uncaring of the fact that they were barely teenagers –or rather, had the appearance of teenagers, as they were still far older than the age that they seemed to be–.

The brothers hated this situation; they didn't know what to expect. They had no doubts that they could fight all of them off –with some trouble if they all allied against them, but it was still manageable– considering how easily they beat Nightmare's gang, but still. It didn't stop them from worrying. There were so many chances for this to go wrong... Oh Toby Fox, why weren't their lives ever easy?!

Torment ended up placing a few healing items in his belt's bags, along with little knives. Just by precaution. He needed to be prepared for anything. He noticed that his brothers also put healing food in their inventories, in case things really went badly, and saw that another knife that started floating around Drako. It was clearly Psyche's request, which wasn't really surprising. Torment had learned that this little Voice –should he also consider them as his sibling, since this was how Drako considered them?– was quite protective of his glitchy brother, which he was happy for. Drako also told him that they were protective of all the family, which wasn't really a surprise either; they were technically a part of Drako's SOUL, even if all the family considered them as more than just that. And Drako himself was extremely protective of his family, as he didn't want to lose them like he already lost so much. Drako smiled and grabbed the knife, putting it in his inventory and promising to Psyche that he would give it back if things really turned bad, like they all expected it. Or they could just take it themselves, the two didn't know if they could access Drako's inventory and they never really tried. Torment sighed, noticing how tense they all were –except Vibrant, who seemed pretty chill about the whole thing, but he could feel how worried the parasite really was–. Usually, he would have relished in the negativity, but not now; it was his brothers who were the source of it after all! And his father, even if a bit less, but he couldn't feel it now that Gaster went to the lab –he took the time to greet his youngest before going, of course, otherwise it would have nagged him all day–. The only bit of positivity was coming from Sans and Papyrus, who didn't really understand why their big brothers were so worried. Well Sans understood more than Papyrus, as he was aware that they were going to meet copies of people who hurt them in the past, which made him a bit scared, but not that much. His big brothers were strong! They could easily kick those person's nonexistent butts if they were being meanies! No worries! Plus, they weren't exactly the same persons so it was okay!

Torment smiled, feeling the two youngest's emotions and grabbing everyone with his tentacles in a hug. He internally thanked his appendages to be so useful to give affection and comfort to his dear family. They all happily returned the affection, making the goopy skeleton smile. They stayed like this for a few seconds before Torment spoke up. "I think it's time for you two to go to school, are you ready?"

The two youngest nodded rapidly and went in their room to grab their things –which mostly consisted of Papyrus' school bag– while Drako packed their lunches with Vibrant's help. Torment smiled, feeling his SOUL warm up at the sight of his family. He would never have guessed that he would one day find people so amazing to call his. He was happy that he had snapped back in his and his Dream's AU, otherwise he might have never met Drako or the gang. Or not like he did. Hell, he could possibly even have been with the Blind Judges! No, thanks, he was quite happy of what he became, even if life was complicated and painful in more ways than one. Long ago, he would have done anything for a better life, but since he met his family, he could proudly state that he would never trade it for anything it the whole Omniverse.

He was cut off in his thoughts when Papyrus came out of his bedroom with Sans flying behind him, running down the stairs. Of course, since he was going too fast, the little one stumbled and started falling down the stairs, only to get caught by one of the tentacles of a worried octopus, who ran to his side. "Are you alright Papy?"

The youngest of the family took a few seconds to register the question, being slightly dazed because of the fall, but smiled brightly at Torment, hugging his big brother happily. "Yes! Brother saved me! Brother is awesome!" A warm smile made its way on Torment's face while the goopy skeleton hugged his younger brother, relieved that Papyrus wasn't hurt.

Sans came flying toward them, gently nudging Papyrus. He was clearly worried for his little brother, who only giggled in response. "You need to be more careful Papy, you could have hurt yourself..." Papyrus shook his head while the rest of the brothers came out of the kitchen to see what was happening, as if summoned by the mention of a member of their family getting hurt. "Nah! I'll never get hurt! I have my super big bros to protect me! Nyeheh!" Papyrus answered back, giggling as he did so. His big bros were the best after all! There was truly no reason to worry!

This made all the brothers smile. Their family really was the best, wasn't it? Vibrant kneeled in front of Papyrus, smiling softly at the child. "'Course, ya tots awesome bros will always protect ya, but dat's not a reason ta not be careful, aiight?" Papyrus smiled and nodded, making the parasite's smile widen. "Now, let's go before you two are late." They all nodded at Blade's intervention, getting out of the house and walking toward the school. Drako took advantage of the distance they had to travel to place his brothers' lunches in Papyrus' bag quickly –because the Babybone was leaving without it otherwise–. They soon arrived in front of the school, where Undyne was already waiting, visibly annoyed, Alphys reading next to her while Chara teased the Fish Monster. Asriel just played with Buttercup. They noticed the little dragons flying above the little group, which didn't surprise them. It was normal after all, dragons were everywhere in Dragontale.

"Go have fun brothers, we'll see you later, alright?" Sans and Papyrus nodded happily, running toward their friends and going inside the school with them once the greetings were done. Torment sighed, his tentacles dropping to his sides as he took out his phone. "We have twenty minutes before the meeting... Should we go now, or would you rather stay home a bit more?"

They all shrugged except Drako, who shivered slightly at the idea of seeing this Ink already. Of course, his brothers noticed it and tried to comfort him. "Don't worry, we won't let Ink hurt you Drako." The ex-Destroyer smiled slightly at Demise, rubbing his arm anxiously before instinctively raising the hand that did so to scratch his cheek. "I GuEsS ThAT We CaN Go... BeFoRE I TrY To EScAPe..."

Torment chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah, we don't need more Multiversal chases than you already give us." A small smile appeared on Drako's face at this comment. The goopy skeleton then looked at his other brothers. "Ready?" Vibrant gave him a thumb up while Demise shrugged. They never really fought Ink, besides during the party he organized before they jumped, so they didn't really care about seeing them. They were mostly worried for their brothers. Blade sighed before answering. "As ready as can be, I guess."

The teenager version of the King of Negativity sighed and nodded, opening a portal toward UnderSwap. "Well, let's go then." That being said, they all went inside of the portal, staring at the skeleton brothers' house, as if hoping that Blue would burst through the door, yelling that it was all just a big prank and that they wouldn't have to meet Ink and Dream. Of course, that didn't happen.

What happened was that Stretch saw them staring intensely at their house through the window and opened the door. "'Sup pals, you're a bit early, Blue's still mentally preparing Ink for your arrival." They all had to hold back a scoff –Drako, Torment and Blade more than Demise and Vibrant– at that. They were the ones who needed to be prepared mentally, not that Squid!

Torment offered Stretch a polite smile anyway, his tentacles twitching in annoyance. "We know, we preferred to arrive early as to not make them wait. Is that a problem? We can always come back later, if it is." Stretch shrugged, gesturing for them to come inside. "Nah, dontcha worry, come inside to wait for my bro." They nodded, entering the little house while Stretch closed the door behind them, sighing tiredly.

"Friendly advice; try not to make harsh movements, from what Blue told me, Ink is super worried because of who you look like. Y'know, Nightmare and Error. He doesn't even know that a Fresh look-alike is coming too since Blue wanted to keep the 'surprise' or something. Wasn't really listening, honestly. But he's scared that you might create chaos or attack, so don't act aggressively and I think that everything should be alright." Once that he was done talking, he took a bottle of honey out of his inventory, drinking it as if it was water while sitting on the couch with the brothers, leaning against the armrest in a lazy position. Classic Stretch, really.

Torment rolled his eye at this. They needed to be careful?! Drako was ready to have a fucking panic attack at the mere sight of the Squid for Toby Fox's sake! They weren't the one who needed to be careful, Ink and Dream were!

Seeing Torment's growing irritation, Drako grabbed his hand with a small smile, making the goopy skeleton sigh and smile back. Vibrant, who was sitting on the armrest opposite of the one Stretch was leaning on, leaned against Drako's shoulder in a comforting way, smiling at him. "Thanks for da advice homeslice, we'll make sure not ta trigger our future new Inky buddy!" Stretch hummed in response, grabbing the remote with his magic and making it float toward him before turning the TV on, cringing slightly at the sight of Napstaton's show and how loud it was.

They stayed like this for a bit with Stretch pretending not to hear the brothers panicking over this encounter and how badly it would probably end. He didn't worry about those three; they clearly weren't bad kids after all. How could they be, they were stressing out just because of the thought of meeting the Star Sanses, there was no way they would do any of the things that Ink imagined them doing. Granted, they looked like some of the most dangerous Sanses –who weren't even that bad, as he had learned from Blue and all the times his brother kidnapped invited them to spend some time in UnderSwap–, but they clearly didn't represent a threat. He wasn't saying that they were weak; far from that, he knew how their adult versions were and if those kids were the slightest bit like them, they were anything but weak. But they didn't want to hurt anyone, which was quite obvious just by their attitude. They actually seemed more afraid that people might jump on them to attack them, for some reason, rather than being dangerous themselves, making Stretch ask himself what those poor SOULs had gone through to be so scared and on high alert. He was actually quite proud that they seemed to be comfortable with his brother –even if clearly less comfortable around him, for some reason?–; it was nice to see them happily talk to Blue, as if he was long time friend of theirs. Even if Stretch couldn't help but think they looked really sad and melancholic when they interacted with his brother. Probably just his imagination though. He was also quite happy that Blue forced offered them to be their uncle, indirectly making him their uncle too, as they clearly seemed happy of the idea, even if a bit confused.

Anyway, he didn't mind having those kids coming over to his and his brother's house, as they were good company, even if they seemed oddly cautious around him. It was barely noticeable, but he was a Judge; he was supposed to notice every little detail and hear everyone's story before judging them. Which is why he never truly hated Nightmare's gang; he simply couldn't after finally learning all the stuff that they all went through.

Fifteen minutes later, Blue came out of one of his portal, appearing right in front of them and smiling brightly with his eyes closed. "Ink is ready, Papy! We just need my adorable nephews!" He opened his eyes when he finished saying this, pausing at the sight of his brother smirking slightly while waving at him and the brothers looking at him with a deadpan expression. Why did everyone keep on calling them adorable, for Toby Fox's sake?! Papyrus –their Papyrus, even if most of them also were adorable, to some extent– was adorable –Sans too, of course–, not them! Damn it, they were supposed to be the most feared Monsters of their Multiverse, this Multiverse really needed to stop calling them adorable!

"Oh... Well then everything is ready, I guess. Good morning guys! Are you excited to meet my friends?" Drako chuckled weakly, scratching at his tear marks, making the UnderSwap native brothers cringe slightly as small chips teared off the bone, instantly turning into Monster Dust. By Toby Fox, how could Drako still be alive and not dusting? They asked themselves that question ever since the moment they saw how scarred he was, but seeing chips of bone fall off from his body like this was not normal, and far from reassuring. Drako offered them a small smile though, not seeming to notice their worried gazes, or if he did, easily ignoring them. "I wOUlDn'T SAy 'ExCiTeD', ReALlY. AnXIOuS MaYbE, ThOUgh..."

Blue frowned at that, concern evident in his blue eyelights. "Why would you be anxious? They are nice. Ink is a bit paranoid, alright, but other than that, they really are great persons!" Drako sighed, looking at Torment and nodding, letting him explain the same thing he told the gang. "Well, you see, in the past, we met... Someone... Who looked a lot like Ink and Dream. 'Dream' wasn't that bad, just extremely naïve and ignorant... But our Ink look-alike was horrible. He hurt Drako the most, if I'm being honest, but we all hated him to some extent. So, yeah, seeing their older look-alikes isn't really reassuring for us."

Blue's frown deepened, his fingers twitching in barely hidden rage while Stretch stared at them blankly. "I see. Do not worry, Ink and Dream won't hurt you, and I'll protect you if they as much as try... But those look-alikes... May you tell me where they are?" Blue offered them a sweet smile, but they knew better than to assume that it was an innocent one. No, far from it; it held the promise of torture for the ones who hurt his loved ones. Torment smirked. "Hopefully rotting in a ditch back in our old-..." He stopped himself. They made the same mistake with the gang; almost talking about their old Multiverse because they were comfortable with them. They corrected themselves awkwardly, but they were aware that the gang knew something was up. Firstly because they stalked them while they were talking about it, and secondly because they clearly weren't buying their excuse. Oh, and also because it contrasted with what they told the gang about not having a Dream or an Ink. Yeah, they really fucked up that day, but in a way, it was bound to happen. And it wasn't like they could change the past... Even if Drako could tweak their codes to make them forget, but they were not going to do that.

The brothers looked at each others while Blue and Stretch stared at them in confusion. Vibrant sighed. "Aiight, this is a bit complicated, and we don't want to explain all the unrad details. Later, maybe." They frowned but nodded either way. "ThIs Is VeRy PeRsOnaL, AnD We'D rAtHeR wAIt A bIt BeFoRe TeLlINg YoU EVeRyThING. JuST KnOW ThAT It'S PaRT Of wHaT HaPpENED bEFORE oUr FaThER aDOPtED Us." Blue and Stretch could understand that, and were already quite happy that the brothers indirectly promised to tell them more about their pasts on a later date. They had made the same promise to the gang after they asked to know what they were going to say when Vibrant made the mistake of mentioning their old Multiverse, which wasn't what they expected but it was good enough. It was hard for them to find a way to correct themselves when one of them talked about their 'old Multi-!... Sheep.'. Thankfully, this one slip-up was easy to correct, but they were tired of having to lie constantly. To copies of persons they trusted with their SOULs, furthermore. They would need to tell the truth eventually anyway. Not in their AU, as nobody was supposed to know about the Multiverse yet –they weren't even sure that it would ever change–, but their friends could know. If they judged them for their pasts –they knew that Blue and the gang wouldn't, it would be really ironic if they did–, then they didn't deserve their friendship. It was as easy as that. Still, it didn't stop them from worrying maybe more than necessary.

"Alright then, don't force yourself, we can wait until you all are ready to talk about your pasts... And I'm sure that Ink and Dream will understand if you don't feel comfortable enough to come! Dream was already hesitant after what he felt from you the first time." The brothers all looked at each others, as if in a silent conversation. They all shrugged and turned toward Drako. 'What do you think Psyche...?' He felt said Voice shrug in response. "I think you should meet them. It will help you get better if you meet good versions of Ink and Dream. Plus, as you already know, you won't be able to forever avoid them. Might as well start getting used to them now, while you're somewhat ready for it, rather than accidentally crossing paths with them later."

Drako sighed and nodded. "We'Ll MeET ThEM, BuT DoN'T bE SuRpRiSeD If WE ArE UNcOMfoRtABlE." The four other brothers nodded. "And if you see Drako start to panic, don't come closer... Well you can, but not them. It will only make it worse." Blue nodded. "Understood. Just wait a minute, I'll warn Dream and Ink and I'll come back for you, alright?" They all nodded, making Blue smile and open a portal back toward the Star Sanses' base to warn his friends.

"NoW, FoR tHe ExPlANaTioN, HoW Do WE dO? ThEre'S No CouNCiL So ExPlAInING tO EvErYoNE WOuLD Be HARd, AnD I dOn'T fEeL LiKE EXpLAIniNG It To EvEry SInGlE AU ExIstING." Drako whispered to his brothers, raising a brow in curiosity. Demise shrugged. "We could ask Ink to make a group chat and make a video explaining everything?" Blade cringed slightly, imagining all the notifications Drako, Toment and Vibrant's phones would receive. "Yeah, and their phones will die." Demise shrugged yet again while Vibrant played with his glasses, that were showing a few colored dots. "Can't ya make a portal in each AU ta show us telling our radical story?" Drako shook his head. "No, I CAn'T kNow FoR SuRE wHeRE tHe SKeLeTOn BrOtHERs WiIL Be, ThEY mIgHt NoT SeE It If ThEy'Re OUtSIdE." Torment sighed. "Perhaps, if everything goes well with Ink, we can ask him to reunite everyone in a big AU and explain in front of everyone?" They shrugged. It could work, and they knew that everyone should be able to come into a single AU –Ink did do that multiple times despite creating endless numbers of copies. Not for his meetings of course, it was only Originals, and the Originals then explained everything to their copies, but for the party for example, everyone was there; copies like Originals–, as there were no copies. Well there was; Ink sometime created some for Fresh to take a host without corrupting an Original, but other than that, there were only Originals. They would ask the Creator about it if everything goes well.

Stretch stared at the brothers with a raised brow as they discussed in a hushed tone. He barely heard a few words. Granted, he wasn't really trying to listen; if they didn't want him to hear, he wouldn't try to pry into their conversation. But even though, they were particularly quiet. As if they needed to talk like this often. Which wasn't far from the truth as they needed to be discreet when they were hiding from Ink when they were relaxing in an AU. This little detail only fueled Stretch's worries more.

Blue came back soon after, smiling brightly. "They're ready when you are!" Drako nodded while Vibrant smiled a little. The three skeleton brothers got up, Blade and Demise internally praying Toby Fox for everything to be alright. "Let's bounce then mah radical broseph!" Blue smiled and nodded, going in the portal first, soon followed by the brothers, even if a bit more hesitantly.

They froze at the sight of Dream and Ink –mostly Ink, as stated numerous time previously, they didn't really care about the Positive Guardian– waiting on the couch. The two turned their head toward them when they arrived, offering the small family a nervous smile while Drako quickly grabbed Torment and Vibrant's hands, holding them tightly for some comfort, his eyelights becoming sharper as he stared at Ink. Dream and Ink seemed surprised when they saw Vibrant, but didn't comment on it. Torment and Vibrant gently rubbed Drako's hands with their thumbs in a comforting way, not taking their gazes off the two Protectors. They stayed like this for a few seconds before Blue cleared his throat awkwardly, easily gaining their attention. They snapped their heads toward the blue clad skeleton in synchronization, making the Star Sanses wince when Drako's neck cracked loudly because of the sudden movement. "You should take a seat before we start...?"

It sounded more like a question than an actual suggestion, but they nodded either way, teleporting in front of the couch that was in front of the one on which Ink and Dream were, still staring at them. They both started sweating nervously at the unblinking stares, feeling how distrustful the five were, even if Dream couldn't feel anything from them at the moment. Blue sighed, going to sit next to the two other members of the Star Sanses. "Alright, I'm certain that you already know that, but this is Ink." He gestured to Ink, who smiled and waved, making Drako tense up slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by the three skeletons in front of him, nor by his brothers. "And this is Dream." Said skeleton smiled warmly, hoping to make the little ones a bit more comfortable by doing so, and nodded slowly as a greeting. His smile got bigger when he didn't get any reaction, unlike Ink –who won't even try to deny that he pouted at that–.

"On the left is Torment." Torment nodded, his tentacles twitching nervously behind him with the desire to just stab them and run away with his brothers to a safe place. He sighed, frowning slightly but still deciding to greet them, just to be polite. "Greetings." They just smiled in response as Blue continued the –slightly useless but still appreciated– introductions. "Next to him is Drako." Said skeleton stared blankly at Ink, jumping at the mention of his name. He seemed confused for a seconds, before silently thanking Psyche for explaining what was happening to him. "N̵͍͚̺͒̋̍̂̀͊̍͆̆̕̕-̴̨̢̦͉͓̱̙͙̳͚̻̥̅̇̇̈́͋̓͋̈́Ǹ̸̤̗͌̈́̂̈́́í̸̡͍̼͕͇̗̲̿̈́̐̽͜C̶̯͕̗̬͈̏̌ę̴̛͈͉̺̞͑͗̌̏̐̆̃̂̊͘͝͝͠ ̷̨̯̖͍̦̤̜̥̙͍͑̔͐͗̌̒̈͗̔͊͑̅̚͝ͅŢ̶̡̥̳̲̜̘͉̣͈̬̗̺͐ͅ-̷̢̛͇̳̮̯͈͇͈͎̥̱̩̖̊́͐̿̄̂͘̚t̴̢̛̖̮̭̘̞̥̟̊̆̋̈́͊͊Ò̸̰̮̞̫̗͗͋̆̋̓̾̚͘͝ ̴͚̳̣͚̹̖̼͚̼̓̌̂m̶̠̼͙̰̝̈̄̇̒̋̍͐͘E̴̛̗͔̼̥̱̞̪̥̟͉͂̍̚-̵̡̱̺̼̖͈̦͎͚̩̘̬̓̒͆̈́͊̽͊̔̄͋͛̈̈́̚E̸̡̧͓̣̙̝͔͖͚̞͉̪̞͇͐́̎͋̍͒̂ẹ̵͓̼̙̻͓̔̚T̶͚̐ ̵͙͉̠̜̣͕̑̃͌̏͌͆̀̂̕Ÿ̷͓͓͖̟́͛͐̓̓̊̒̔͝͝ỏ̴̡͍̫̋̔̌̆̋̀͝͝͝-̵̹̼͔̂̐̍̊̓̈́͝y̴̳͎̺̦̮̻͚̞͕̑̾͌Ṑ̵̲͕̎̓̓͒͆̓̏̕̕͝͝ù̶̬̖̳̗̖͐͐̔̚.̵̧͓͚̲̓̎̓̂͘͝.̸̧̧͇͈͎̠̣͕͓̭̙̌͋̀̈́̏̓̐͌͂̌̆́͘͝ͅ.̷͕͕̜̩͈̿̈̊̀͊" The three winced at how glitchy he sounded while Torment and Vibrant leaned against him in a comforting hug, that helped Drako calm down a bit. He took a deep breath before talking again. "So-SoRrY fOR ThA-thAT..." Blue and Dream smiled warmly in response while Ink tilted his head to the side in curiosity. His glitches were really worse than Error's... "You don't have to apologize dear." Drako almost wanted to laugh when Dream called him 'dear', but refrained from doing so. He could still feel that his brothers were amused. It wasn't something their Dream would call any of them. "And then there's Vibrant." Vibrant, being the calmest one, smirked and finger gunned them. "Nice ta finally meet y'all, broskies!" The two Protectors smiled when they realized that this one wasn't afraid of them. "And on Torment and Drako's shoulders are Blade and Demise!" The two dragons nodded at the mention of their names.

The introduction now done, they just stared at each others awkwardly. The brothers didn't have anything to say, and Dream and Ink were afraid of making them panic if they didn't chose their words very carefully.

Blue only sighed and face palmed from his spot on the couch. 'It's going to take some time...'

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

Aaaand they finally properly 'met' Ink and Dream! :D

They're panicking, they need help- x)

Drako is ready to commit a Papyrus and defenestrate himself to run away, his siblings following after him-

But fear not, for Vibrant is here to be the emotion support parasite of the family! :D

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!

Lunar's out!~