A few weeks later, Dream's POV

Hmmm...So that's where they're going again...Interesting....

I open my eyes, taking out two maps. One is a map of the multiverse that Ink made to explain how the doodlesphere connects everything, some AUs being closer than others like planets in a solar system. The other is a map made of a specific AU that I made after checking it enough times. I mark different spots on both maps, drawing circles in red.

They keep going to this one area each week and whenever they do, their feelings grow stronger...Growing happier with the thought of harming Obscuro....I have to find out what makes that change...

I glance around at the map and get an idea. But I should really think it over and wait before putting it into action.

Knock knock knock!

I answer the door to find Blip at the door.

"Hello, Blip. How are you doing?"

"GreEtInGs, DrEaM! I jUsT wAnTeD tO cHeCk In oN yOu aNd mAkE sUrE tHeRe aReN'T aNy bUgS iNtrUdInG oN yOuR pRoPeRtY."He says, pulling on his gloves with a grin.

And to think that he was once going to use that strength against me...

"Nothing has been disturbed the home lately. I've sensed plenty of desires though."I say, letting him step inside

"WhAt hAvE yOu bEeN uP tO?"

"Working on my ability to sense positivity. I've strengthened my ability to sort through and track them enough to know where they are at their strongest and weakest moments. I've been marking it on maps too."I say

He sees the marked maps on the table and glances at me. Luckily Obscuro took Palette to bond in OuterTale or this conversation would be a bit tougher.

"WhAt fEeLiNgS aRe bEiNg tRacKed hErE?"

"The desire to hurt Obscuro since it's the easiest one to focus on. I've been able to recognize the sense of his bullies' desires but it's a bit odd that there's over a dozen more people that share their desires....And enjoy thinking of it. It always increases at the same place each week from all of them as if they're focusing on the desire more. There's definitely something going on for that to happen. Oh! And there's an overlap with the desires to cause Error harm here but I put that on another copy of the map."I say, pulling out a third map that I marked so that he can see what I mean.

He chuckles and glances at me after copying the maps on a few code screens.

"YoU rEaLlY lOvE mY bRoThEr, dOn'T yOu?"

My face burns at his teasing tone.

"What friend would I be to let others scheme to harm him if I knew about it and could do something about it?"

"ThAt dOeSn'T aNsWeR mY qUeStiOn bUt I wiLl lEt iT sLiDe. WhAt dO yOu pLaN t0 d0 wiTh aLl tHiS iNfOrMaTiOn? WhAt iS tHe nExT sTeP?"He asks

I take out my necklace and smile.

"I'm going to investigate it and report back about it."

"By gOiNg iNtO tHe liOn's d3n? YoU dO rEaLiZe hOw h0StiLe tHey cAn gEt, r1gHt?"

"Well I am not going to wait for them to come knocking at the door or hurt Obscuro to find out what they're planning. It keeps increasing each week so there could be a plan. I will leave as soon as there are answers."

"I sHoUlD bE cAlLiNg y0u crAzY bUt i kNoW i'D dO tHe sAmE iF iT wErE eRrOr."He says

"I'd just say that you shouldn't trust a version of me with wings. I sense that he has gotten an obsession for Error."I say

He nods.

"GoLdEn wiNgS rIghT? SwAd?"

"Yep."

"Oh heLl nAh. He iS gEtTiNg n0wHeRe nEaR mY bRoThEr. I'm g0iNg t0 g0 cHeCk On hIm nOW!"

And with that, he disappears into glitches. I focus on another desire to harm Obscuro heading toward the assumed meeting place. I put my necklace on and teleport a short distance away from it, luckily appearing behind a building as the disguise takes shape. I step out, locating the person radiating such twisted desires with a grin on his face. I approach them and he smiles with a wave to me.

"Are you heading this way too?"I ask

"Yep! I have a meeting to get to!"

So there is a meeting each week...

"What kind of meeting?"I ask

"A meeting to improve the multiverse! Return it to the way it's meant to be! Do you love Dream?"

I don't think they know what that word means...

"Yes."I say

"Oh then you'll be perfect to help our cause! Wanna join us? We're trying to eliminate the obstacles to live a better life!"He says

I nod and he leads me away to a hidden alleyway between two buildings. At the end of the alleyway is a dark door that blends into the shadows. He knocks four times and the door swings open. He shuts the door behind me. I see the space filled with dozens of people and machines lining the walls. Then I feel a powerful sense of negativity overwhelm me as I walk past the machines. It almost felt like Nightmare's but there's something familiar about it that separates it from him...Connected but not him...Like something long-gone and not missed. I don't get a chance to process it before feeling like I just got drugged by a gallon of Ink's yellow vial, making my head suddenly ache worse than it ever has before. Something here has a toxically strong sense of positive while the rest are just Coder-Addicted creeps hooked on my aura that they can't currently sense. I see ten individuals looking nearly identical to each other with the design of chameleons laced in silver on their clothes. They look like snake monsters or reptiles of some sort with the only different being the color of their clothes, eye colors, and if they have dots on their faces like freckles under the eyes. These have to be Obscuro's remaining bullies. I glance around as the one that led me here joins the crowd looking up to the bullies standing on a small stage. They must've collected anyone they could to support them by using their unhealthy attachment to me.

Oh great....There has to be at least fifty people gathering in here...

I take out my phone as one of them taps on a mic, indicating that it's going to start. I open the app for voice recordings and hit start before slipping it into a pocket as everything quiets down.

"Welcome welcome everyone! It seems our group gets bigger each week! I see plenty of new faces around here so I'll give a recap to catch you up! As you all know, this meeting is to set things right and get that happy life we all deserve. You all had it so much easier before that dumb Obscuro came along, didn't you? You had pure joy and a perfectly accommodating guardian at your fingertips before he snatched that away from you and tormented you with that dumb game of his! Right?"

The crowd cheers their agreement with the claims.

"Well this is how that gets set right. All it takes is for our plan is to complete and use it to eliminate those obstacles and everything will be set right again. We've been working very carefully to consider the best methods to use. I'm sure everyone has seen how guarded he has been lately and how hard it is to catch him alone. Fortunately, we have eyes on his connections and their homes. Our connections report any movements they make and we've been keeping in touch in case an opportunity shows itself. Now, we need to be clear. Every obstacle has to be removed regardless on which side they stand in order to get to him. Nightmare, Ink, Obscuro, none of them matter unless it's removing them to get to him. Two of our siblings have gone missing after attempting to reach Dream. Our guess is that one of those glitches got to them and it's why we're being so careful on how we strike. We get the harder targets out so that we can pick the rest off one by one. Now, onto what we've done to prepare so far."The second bully says

"Leave Obscuro to us. He will be easy for us to handle. Dream is close to him so they need to separate them. The real challenge is eliminating the others near Dream. That destroyer is a serious one since he has his strings tightly tied around our guardian. But that can easily be handled with the help of our new ally Swad."The third bully says with a grin

I see Swad enter sight, overwhelming everyone with a greater sense of positivity. He grins as he flaps his golden wings, landing beside the bullies.

"We have been collecting info for him through our connections on Error's routine. We will give him the destroyer's routine movements and he agreed that he will keep that glitch out of our way."The second bully says as Swad grins wider

No....

"His brother could pose an issue though so we have to find a way to remove that glitch from the equation. We have also seen Nightmare getting closer to Dream so that throws a monkey wrench in our plans. But we've found a solution by watching the empty castle movements and taking inspiration from that lonely king. We made creatures that could destroy him with fear."Another bully says, pressing a button.

The machines open, releasing what at first appear to be more people. I step back as the negativity grows stronger from the machines. I recognize multiple faces of the freed individuals. They look like the villagers from my AU...Nightmare's bullies. Then in the blink of an eye and a screech, they transform into a twisted version of themselves triple their size with claws and tentacles swinging up. These clones quickly turned into beasts. I step back, horrified by the sight.

"As you can see, we made a version of Owl Demons for him. Given how he struggles to control those things, we plan to release these things either on his castle or when he's trying to fight those Owl Demons so that he is too overwhelmed by both beasts to do anything."

No...nononononono! That's far too cruel, even for him! Nobody deserves to suffer pain from a beast of their worst fear! He has been trying to start over and make a truce....That cannot be his downfall....

"After that it's a simple process of picking off the rest of his friends. Overpower Swap and give Ink too many distractions and they're done. Not even that gang will be able to prevent what's going to be done to that disgusting glitch. In the meantime, please keep bringing supporters to give our group more strength in numbers and so that more people can enjoy our end-goal."The first bully says with a hissing laugh.

A hand gets raised.

"Yes?"

"What about Dream? He certainly can put up a fight himself and won't like our plan."One of the listeners ask

"He won't see what's coming and that's why we need everyone to gather more people for the plan. More forces to overwhelm him. He can't stop all of us. Once he is caught, we'll put special restraints that we made for him that will block him from using his powers to teleport away. He won't connect with anything to escape. He will get a front-row seat to seeing his barriers fall and anyone close to him get torn down. He will have choice to return to the better way of things and give us all the happiness he has denied us."They say, lifting up some metal cuffs.

The uproar of cheering from the crowd terrifies me.

I have to get out of here and warn them all!

Swad and the bullies start putting the beasts into the machines again, and everyone cheers for them. Everyone is distracted so I take the chance to slip away, calmly walking out of the alley and trying to find positivity to focus on. I sense Killer's excitement and lock in on that. I teleport there, appearing outside their new base. I take out my phone, end the voice recording, and save it to my files. I glance around, sensing a few distant Apple-Addicts that indicate that they do have people watching their movements. I frown, knocking at the door and gripping my necklace tightly.

Killer opens the door and jolts, seeming surprised to find someone at the door. Then he grins.

"Daring one aren't you to knock at our door? What brings a brave soul here after I finished training?"He asks

"I have proof that you all have targets on your backs and an actual threat. Now let me in so that I can show it without a spy seeing."I say

"Spy?"He repeats

"There have been eyes on this place and your movements."I say

"And why should I believe you?"He asks

"Why should you ignore me and let your leader get into trouble that you could've prevented?"I ask

He frowns, stepping aside.

"You make a good argument."He says, letting me in.

He shuts the door behind me, leading me through the halls. I glance around, able to sense traces of Error's aura that's probably from his code that secures this place. I see a laptop on the couch and run over to it with an idea. I plug my phone into it with a wire, switching between the menus until it starts loading.

"What are you doing with my laptop?"Killer asks

"Uploading my evidence to it so that you have it in case something happens to me or my devices."I say

"You really have this story put together don't you?"He asks with a shake of his head as the computer completes the upload.

"Just take a listen and tell me if I was wrong to come here."I say, handing the laptop to him.

He hits play and hears everything I heard minutes ago as I put my phone away. I cross my arms when he glances at me.

"It says this recording was made today. You're bold to snitch on them after they spilled all this info. You didn't even disguise yourself when you came. Aren't you worried that they'll find you and make you pay?"He asks

"Not really. There's no record of me anywhere. Well, nothing that matches how I look right now. They won't find me like this easily. And I technically did come in disguise. Let's just say that his place would be overwhelmed by an aura if I took it off."I say

"...Nightmare?"He says hesitantly

"Good guess. Would you be able to point me to his castle?"I ask

"Horror!"

I hear running footsteps and grin.

"Killer you better not be making another mess in the kitchen! I promised Error that we'd keep the house in order!"Horror shouts

"Why is that your first assumption?"

"You know why!"Horror snaps, making him chuckle.

Horror enters the room, glancing around and looking relieved that nothing is broken. He glances at me and my necklace, then grins.

"Hello, Dream. I'm guessing he let you in? He lets anyone in these days and doesn't seem to get the point of a locked door."

"HEY!"Killer snaps

"What did you shout for?"Horror asks

"He snitched on a whole scheme. Listen to this."

Killer plays the file on his laptop and Horror's eye shrinks.

"He wants to go to the castle now. Do we still have that setting on the portal devices?"Killer asks

Horror nods, taking one out.

"Be careful, bud. We haven't been back there in months."He says, making a portal for me.

I nod, knowing that I am going somewhere I never considered going before.

"Dust! It's time for a perimeter check!"Horror shouts as I step through.

It shuts behind me and I glance up, seeing the rumored castle of Nightmare. I can already sense him inside it and eyes watching the castle from a distance. I sigh, knocking on the door. A tentacle waves as the door opens before Nightmare leans his head out. His gaze scans around with a spark of hope that quickly fades when he sees me. Now he seems disappointed.

"What kind of fool are you to come to my home?"He asks

"The kind with valuable information for you. Can I come in and report it to you?"I ask

He rolls his eye with a sigh.

"I have nothing better to do."

He lets me in and a tentacle shuts the door. He leads me through the halls and I take the chance to get a good look at the interior for the first time. He did really well at designing it but there's nothing that indicates security to me or some sort of barrier. All my mind can picture are those freaks crashing through the windows and pouncing on him, making me shudder. We reach a throne room and he sits on his throne with a bored expression. I glance around cautiously.

"Get on with it."He says

"I advise you to improve your security. There have been eyes on you, watching your movements and projects. A few locked doors won't keep the abominations out."I say

"And who are you to comment on my security? Just give me the information!"He growls

"Not until you tell me about the security here. Do you have any barriers or did Error remove them when he left this place?"I say, crossing my arms.

His tentacles swing across the room briefly and I duck to avoid them hitting me.

"There, now it's soundproof. Nothing gets in or out without my permission. Now who are you and what's so important?"He asks

"Just someone that doesn't want past demons to come to cause trouble. Especially an issue of bullies."I say

"And who are you to be concerned with me?"He asks

"Consider it a brotherly concern. Now do you have any devices I can save this evidence on?"I reply with a shrug.

"Let me know the quality of it and I'll decide if I want it."

"Fair enough."I say, hitting play on my phone.

He physically tenses up hearing the recording and his eye shrinks hearing what they have planned for us. The screech of those monsters makes him tremble for a moment.

"What made you act so boldly? To help me with this information? Haven't I terrorized your AU and isn't your AU a concern if you get caught by them?"

I smile, nervously rubbing the back of my head at what I'm about to say. He may not believe me in this disguise.

"I'm in the process of warning the parts of my universe after discovering all that. You are part of that universe, Nightmare. I know you may not believe it when I look like this but if I take this off, then our talk could be exposed and they may set the plan off. They'll certainly notice the wave of positivity filling your castle if they really are watching this place."I say

For a moment he looks confused. Then he glances at my necklace around my neck, then at me.

"Dream....? What are you..? Why did you...?"He says, struggling to complete his questions

"You don't deserve to have your own version of Owl Demons tearing you apart."I say

His fists clench tightly.

"How can you be so foolish to go in there? Take that risk? If that necklace got damaged or lost somehow, you would've been exposed to that scum! You would've endured the scheme and everything they intended to hurt you! You would've been trapped there and nobody would know!"He snaps at me, looking furious.

"Blip would. I'm not dumb enough to go there without telling someone. And I took measures to prepare. I've sensed a buildup in the same place over the last few weeks so something was happening there. It would've happened even if I didn't go there. And now we can prepare for it instead of being in the unknown. I didn't get caught but they plan to start soon. I have to warn Swap now before I get caught."I say

He groans, pinching the space between where his eyes would be.

"Ugggh, you're unbelievable. How can you be so careless with this plan without thinking for yourself?"He says

"Hey! That's what Swap would tell me whenever I tried another plan of protecting AUs! You can understand him now! I protect others because it's the right thing to do when they're trying to keep me safe. They are the few that show genuine care for me and I'd do all that I can to protect them than to be left with ingenuine creeps and strangers."I say with a shrug.

"I'll see what Error thinks about this. I doubt he will like it."He says

"I'm sure you will given how you tattled on me last time to him."I say with a roll of my eyes.

I teleport across AUs to warn any friend I can. Farmer, Swap, Blip, Ink, anyone I could find. Then my phone rings.

"Hello?"I say after warning Outer

"WhErE aRe y0u r1gHt n0w?"Error asks

"On my way home now, why?"

"My br0 sAyS tHaT y0u'r3 pLaNnInG s0m3tHiNg sTup1d. Y0u betTer n0t do iT."He says as I teleport home.

I chuckle a bit.

"I guess if you're saying that now that Nightmare didn't tattle on me to you yet."I say

"WhAt diD yOu dO?"He snaps

"Nobody got hurt! It's okay!"I say

"No, iT's n0t! I aM c0miNg n0w!"

I walk inside as he hangs up.  I take my necklace off, setting it on a table. It is only a moment or two before I feel an overwhelming presence loom over me. It felt so intense that it was suffocating yet I couldn't locate the source. I glance around, seeing nothing. Then I see a portal open and Error steps through it. But before he can knock at the door, or try to kick it open with how angry he looks, I feel a hand grab me and my vision quickly fades.

"Someone needs a reminder of their role and what's expected of you."

TBC