Karma thinks everything is going great! He got a new outfit and felt he was a closer to leaving this multiverse.
The Bitties do not agree and grow increasingly worried by Karmas words.

———

*^&$@ multiverse

Ink was enjoying spending time with his latest find and made sure to keep them close at all times. He didn't want to forget about them after all, not even daring to put them down for a single second so he could write on his scarf, worried they might suddenly vanish. It happened far too often for his liking, unsure why everyone left him .

He looked down at the quiet monster who wasnt even trying to get away, which was a large surprise frowning at the dull clothes they were wearing.

"So very boring. Not even a speck of colour, apart from that ugly scarf. I wonder what I was thinking when I created you...."

He abruptly stopped walking when he had a sudden idea, staring thoughtfully to the distance as he considered what to do next. His eyeshapes flickered in thought, resting his head on top of the babybones as he held them tight, quite enjoying how it felt to hold one of his Creations so close they felt so familiar but he still couldn't remember from where .

"I know! I can fix it"

He shouted out with little thought, not noticing how the child flinched or the wide eyed they gave him, twirling them around in his sudden excitement. He put them on the ground, crouching down and giving them a serious look, wagging his finger in front of them.

"Now, don't try to run away please. There is still much more I want to show you and it would be annoying to have to try to find you again"

He waited until they nodded before continuing, glad the boring stuff was now out the way. They were already way better than the last monster he grabbed and much more agreeable, not even having tried to attack him at all!

He last grabbed a grown skeleton monster but they had been so very boring, only whining and moaning about something or the other. He had tuned them out early on and had thrown them back to their AU a few hours later...at least, he thought he had but he hadn't been paying that much attention at the time....

He shrugged the useless thought off, knowing he could just make another monster if he truly needed to and it wasn't a great loss in the end If he accidentally misplaced a few boring creations, especially not when he had this one to play with now!

His grin widened at the amusing noise that came from his chest due to his thoughts, remembering that it was apparently called 'purring'. His new interest was truly fun and he hasn't even left the Doodle Sphere yet, betting they would be even more entertaining once they did.

But first to fix the dreadfully monochrome outfit the kid was wearing, the large sections of white rather disquieting to look at.

Sunny was unable to help the uneasy shiver that ran through him when he spotted the Ink, the empty grin and manic actions far too familiar to what he encountered in the past. Their luck had been terrible lately and it felt like the universe was trying to see how much they could endure before they broke.

He flinched when he saw Inks hand reach for the scarf, thankful when Karma smoothly intervened, too on edge to hear what exactly was said but it did get the Ink to look away in consideration.

"WHAT ARE THEY DOING? I CAN'T SEE"

"Shh! Be quiet, we don't want them to notice us"

He whispered sharply, recalling Karmas warnings to stay hidden, as this multiveres was not supposed to have a Bitty AU. He was admittedly unsure how Karma knew this or what the consequences would even be if this were to be spotted but going by the near haunted gaze of the babybones, he would assume it wasn't anything good.

Not that he had any issues following that rule, all three of them having zero urge to be near more Creators, not trusting them in the slightest.

"You are going to look so cute when I'm done!"

He grimaced at Inks enthusiasm, hiding himself further into the scarf, not wanting to deal with this at all.

-

"-my best work yet! Just look at you! Hmm, we need to sort a few things out but it will be perfect then. I truly do impress my-"

Karma was bewildered by the seemingly never ending praise and just how long Ink could go on about a single topic. He didn't realise how bad they used to be, chirping whenever he saw them blankly look off into the distance to snap them out of it, patiently waiting for them to start up their trail of thought again.

Creators could have such funny personalities, grabbing Inks wildly gesticulating hands to guide them to their paint vials, spotting their need for a top up. He was kind of impressed they had not somehow gone blank yet, Ink getting way too easily distracted on the topic of his clothes for some bizarre reason.

He knew this somewhat self-destructive habit Ink was showing would get better once they socialised more, knowing for sure that at least this Ink needed to be around people to learn better. They could be oddly dense to rather simple things..although, he admitted that might just be a Creator thing.

He shifted to get comfier in their arms, resting his head on their shoulder as they continued to gush over the outfit they made for him and then began showing off different places of their home.

He had to admit, he did prefer his new look to what he had been wearing before even if he missed the familiar safe magic , tugging his new scarf in curiosity. It was somewhat similar to his preferred one but Ink had insisted on making it a galaxy print, which he was more than fine with but he still missed having his trinkets nearby.

The mainly blue and purple shades of his new outfit was intriguing, surprised Ink hadnt tried to use every colour imaginable instead. He kind of liked the space theme they were going for, not saying anything when his wings were stretched out yet again . They had thankfully gotten much gentler when touching them and somehow helped to regrow his feathers, although his wings still ached a bit.

He knew he wouldn't be flying anytime soon though but with how Ink seemed to enjoy carrying him everywhere, he didnt see it as much of an issue.

"I knew you would like it, Goth! You look like a mini nebula. I really need to write this down. Oo, i could make an AU like this!"

He would still prefer if they didn't call him that though, the many nicknames not any better then his birth name but its not like he could complain right now. He was still stuck here but there was a small positive on stumbling into Ink. He would now get the chance to explore AU's easier, hoping to find a hint on how to leave this place for good and then ask Oneiro to burn it to the ground .

He chirped in surprise when Inks magic spiked, clinging on tight when Ink jumped through an ink portal without warning. He was glad he had made sure the Bitties were secured, unsurprised Ink had missed the three tiny monsters in his scarf.

They were, to put it bluntly, very forgetful.

Azure had sneezed earlier and he only had to ask about Inks Creations, for them to go on a long spiel and completely forget what the noise was. He had gotten the most detailed explanation in history on every detail on the colour they picked for a certain AU though, the amount of thought they put into their Creations kind of shocking.

He had found it very interesting, broth- Traveller having tried to explain what Creation meant exactly but he still got terribly confused at what certain terms meant. It was probably due to not being able to read Code, guessing that would make things easier.

00101101 01110011 01100001 01110100 01110101 01110010 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 00110001 00110000 00100101 00101110 00100000 01000011 01110010 01100101 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110011 01110000 01100001 01100011 01100101 00111010 00110110 00110110 00100101 00100000 01100110 01101001 01101100 01101100 01100101 01100100 00101101

He flinched as the numbers returned, hiding his face in Inks scarf and letting the Creators chatter ground him. The pulsing of Inks magic also helped, the familiarity nice even if it wasn't complete yet .

He looked up when Ink paused again, checking the area around him and wincing at how wrong it felt.

The AU, which he was guessing used to be a Swap one, looked washed out. The misery drifting off this place also wasn't subtle, tilting his head towards the loud noise.

" HehehehAHAhAHAHA! "

"What is that ? What are they doing to my precious AU?!"

His wings bristled at Inks tone, holding on tight when they began to run towards the source with clear anger.

Blot had been keeping his questions to himself so far, knowing he could be a bit too much sometimes but he felt he was reaching his limits. He whimpered when he peaked his head out of Karmas scarf, ignoring Sunny rebuke as his friends soon joined him when he let out a gasp.

Why were they heading towards the crazy monster, that they had barely managed to escape earlier?!

He yelped when he was suddenly jolted, realising they were now on the ground and the Ink was ruthlessly attacking the corrupted monster. He always knew Creators were insane but this only seemed to prove it, uneasy at the way Ink seemed to shrug off any attack as if they were nothing.

He paled when Ink lost an arm , with them looking more annoyed than anything as they painted it back , before rushing back into battle.

"Why aren't we leaving, Karma?"

"Ink has been around me too much. I think he might be forming memories of me. I doubt i can really escape them now"

He frowned at the bland, almost despondent way Karma put it but was also greatly puzzled at the news.

"..BUT WE HAVEN'T BEEN WITH THEM LONG?"

He couldn't blame the hesitant way Azure said it, none of them having a clear idea what the hell was going on. He really thought he had learned far more in the world than any other Bitty but he felt truly ignorant compared to the knowledge Karma seemed to casually spout every so often.

Come to think of it, how old was the babybones..?

How did they even know this stuff?!

"Of course we have. Probably been a few months. I'm sorry i cant give a more exact number but with my magic being the way it is-"

"What do you mean months?! "

He sharply interrupted, dearly hoping he misheard. The way Sunny shivered beside him and let out an almost hysterical laugh, did not help matters in the slightest.

Karma was mainly keeping an eye on the two dangerous combatants, making sure he would be ready to dodge if needed to but Ink was doing a decent job so far at keeping Nightmare at bay.

He distractedly answered, not noticing the way his friends only grew more ill at ease the longer he talked.

"The time in the Doodles Sphere doesn't usually run linearly. It would be cool to find out what exact magic or method, makes it run that way but sadly the magic is a bit too advance for me-"

"WHAT?! WHAT KIND OF WITCHCRAFT IS THAT?!"

"-for now. You shouldn't have any ill effects though, as i have been shielding you"

The three Bitties were speechless, wondering what else they had missed that was apparently 'obvious'.

"HOW COME WE AREN'T STARVING?"

Azure was growing more bewildered, his body still feeling in perfect order and not feeling anything odd for having supposedly spent months in a single place.

"I've been feeding you, of course"

"WHO IS FEEDING YOU ?"

If this was another 'I don't need to eat situation' he was going to throw a fit! He would even confront Ink to do it, feeling sick at the idea of the babybones going hungry.

Karma was very confused by these odd questions, briefly looking away from the fight that Ink was clearly winning to glance down at his friends.

"Inks been feeding me"

He doubted that Ink noticed, as it seeming more automatic then anything which was unsurprising considering the past link between them but he wasnt complaining. He didnt mention how his body was far handier and more resilient then the Bitties, as they always made odd expressions when he talked about such things.

He would rather avoid the topic to be honest but his friends could be weirdly persistent about the oddest things and now wasnt the best time to talk about such things.

" DrEaM? FoUnd aGain..SmaLl? "

He grimaced as he faced Nightmare, their words much more coherent then last time and he didnt expect it would be long before the 'story' advanced along. He really wasnt looking forward to that, hissing when Nightmare got closer to him.

"Oi! That's mine! Get your own cool thing!"

Sunny deadpanned as he watched the Ink drop kick Nightmare away from Karma, their actions greatly appreciated but their words, very much not.

Why did they keep bumping into weird monsters, much preferring tha Gasters in the Void to this.

..they were going to have to deal with this for a while, weren't they?

~~~~~~~

Ink: *Taking a million miles a second and dressing Karma up like a doll*

Bitties: *Annoyed they are stuck with yet another weird Creator*

Karma: *Unnaturally calm and suppressing another panic attack* Everything will be fine!

-

Bitties: *Asking a seemingly simple question*

Karma: *Casually giving a horrifying detailed answer and causing unintended trauma*

Sunny: *Deeply worried about Karmas increasingly depressing responses*..we are getting you so much therapy when we leave here