Karma is not seeing any positives to this new multiverse

——

Shattered Dream Multiverse

Why did he get into these sorts of situations. Looking around he was sure this was a Dreamtale. Each AU had its own 'flavour' in a way but especially places where powerful monsters originated from. Karma was unsure what he was even supposed to do here. He idly kicked a rock and watched as it rolled down the hill he was atop of.

He spun around and spotted the tree that started the whole mess, with the guardians in the first place. Well, more the stump of it but it still counted in his mind. Sitting next to it he easily sensed the small amount of life in it. As long as the Guardians lived so would at least a small part of the Tree of Feelings.

Looking around he looked at the remains of the village. He had overheard from the Creator what had occured in this AU and wished he was more surprised at the greed of others. It was the same story that created the 'villains' in the end. He never understood why others were so surprised at the outcome. He could see few ways it could have otherwise gone and few were favourable.

He closed his sockets and let his frame fully relax. The lack of SOULS, begging for his attention was enjoyable. All beings would die eventually and would always feel the pull towards the great beyond on some level. It was only the fragile link to their body that truly kept them here. He had to learn early on to block out the whispers of their voices. He didn't practically want to never hear his thoughts again. It had been the most useful skill Reaper had ever taught him.

He idly played with the beads on his scarf, enjoying having something physical of his last guardian. He tilted his head when a SOUL suddenly appeared in his senses. It was pulsing erratically and didn't seem the most stable, but it was strong magically.

He was happy to stay silent but his curiosity won over. Looking in the direction, he was curious about the goopy monster near him. They looked like a corrupted Nightmare but the golden hue to their covered skeleton disputed this fact. Where had Pale sent him?

He passively watched as they walked closer, with their tentacles raised behind them. He didn't move when they crouched down or when their hand touched his cheek. They looked to be searching for something on his face but he had no idea what.

" Who are you? Far away from your flock aren't you, little one? ".

"I'm called Karma. What's your name?".

The hand on his face tightened but not enough to hurt. Their other hand went to his cheek and his skull was tilted to look directly at them.

" I'm called Shattered. Have you not heard of the big bad bogeyman? ".

He shook his head and felt their body stiffen, before they roughly pulled back. He watched in confusion as a dark gold portal was created, with Shattered not looking at him.

" Come, this place is not suitable for living in, anymore ".

He could have easily argued that he would survive just fine but this AU wasn't the most stimulating area. He stood up and followed Shattered through the portal, surprised where he had ended up. It looked like the Doodle Sphere but there were some odd changes. The strange gold liquid flowing out of Shattered, was scattered across the area.

He stopped rolling Shattered and walked over to the hanging AU's. While the majority were pure white he saw a few dripping the golden substance. He curiously reached out to touch but was pulled back by a tendril wrapped around his waist.

" Come along, litte birdy. You can look around later ".

They seemed to be heading towards Inks house, if it was still the same here. When they got in he house he saw how the walls were painted gold and black. He saw no traces of anyone else living here but it did look comfortable. It was confirmed when he was dropped and he lightly bounced on the couch. Looking up he was greeted with Shattereds unblinking stare. Nothing was being said and he started twitching in boredom.

When he saw their head snap to the left, their countenance changed from neutral to highly hostile.

" Stay here. I have pests to deal with ".

They teleported away leaving him alone.....well, better go explore his new home? He first looked downstairs and saw nothing particularly exciting. Everything seemed to be sorted very methodically with hardly any personal touches. Maybe upstairs would be different?

Walking up the stairs he looked around the upper floor. His eyelight easily spotted the two dusty door handles, compared to the rest. Wiping the handles with his sleeve he opened the closet door and saw a multitude of art supplies, strewn everywhere. There were even paint vials scattered on the ground. This must be an Inks room, they were all chaotic in some ways.

Leaving the room he moved to the other door that had peeked his attention. It was much more organised but more importantly there were photos on the walls. Getting closer he observed three very familiar monsters in the frames. It was the Star sans but why were the rooms practically untouched?

He searched the rest of upstairs but didn't spot a clear room that could belong to Dream. Maybe the other had never lived here?

The most important question he currently had was who exactly was Shattered? Were they another multiverser traveller? They had to at least be powerful, in order to have taken over the Doodle Sphere.

He went downstairs, sitting on the couch and waited for the other to return. The clock ticked on and no one appeared. He was ready to leave the house when Shattered appeared but much less composed then before. Their eyes light was wide and unfocused. Their tendrils swished erratically behind them and he could hear how loud their breathing was.

"Shattered? Are you ok?".

He almost felt like he was being watched by a predator when they turned to him, but he felt no fear. The intent of their magic was all wrong for that. Even when the tendrils snapped towards him and dragged him towards the others arms, he only sighed at being used as a toy...again.

" I'm here now, it's ok i won't leave you. You don't need to be useful, it 's ok. Don't leave me. I'll be good, big brother ".

Their voice was quiet but their words made no sense to him. Did they even know where they were? He leaned into the arms pinning him and sighed. Before he could even try to understand their reaction, it suddenly changed and he was pulled back to look at them.

" Let's go have some fun! You must have been so lonely being here for days".

Great, he was with a monster with memory issues. He should probably treat them like an Ink, just to be safe. Who knew where he would be left, if they forgot him. He hung limp as the tendrils circled around him, carrying him behind the golden monster, as they teleported.

The sunlight on his bones was a nice feeling but he could do without the screams near him. It looked like this AU was on the surface, as he spotted a monster among the multitude of humans. It looked odd seeing what species he used to be, humans were so much more delicate than monsters in some ways.

"RUN! The Golden demon is back!"

"He has a hostage!"

"Call the Protector! He will save us!'

-

Nightmare was exhausted and hated how things had gone so wrong.

He knew he wasn't the best brother but he never meant to turn Dream to stone. The apples had blinded his mind and he hardly knew what had happened that day. His form had changed, to having negativity constantly flowing over him. He had initially been disgusted at this change but the following centuries made it the new normal.

He slowly remade his life and found monsters he would eventually call family. They were known as the Bad sans and he thrived off the negativity they caused. He admits he went a bit too far to begin with but without his counterpart, his powers seemed to encourage him to spread more negativity.

He felt the moment Dream broke free, as a weight finally left his shoulders allowing him to take a breath of relief. He still did his job but now he was able to restrain himself, from the darker urges the apples wished of him. When he saw his brother siding with the idiotic Creator, he was reluctantly pleased. While he may dislike Ink, they were a powerful monster who would be able to keep Dream safe.

He made sure to push Dream away, not wanting him to be seen as a villain by the multiverse as well. His twin had such a sensitive SOUL, he doubted they would survive all the scorn. While watching the hurt pass over their face was painful, he pushed through with his plan. That is how the years passed, with Nightmare expecting nothing to truly ever change.

It seemed he had made a grave mistake, as one day Dream started to fight him alone. He saw no other of his group and was confused what this could mean. When Dream stepped back and took out a Corrupted apple, he froze.

He watched in disbelief as Dream apologised to him, saying he never meant to be a failure but hopefully this would show his care. When Dream ate the apple, Nightmare sensed the corruption slowly creeping into the other. He had been too slow to stop it and watched in horror as his own goop drained off of him.

The scream from Dream caught his attention and he saw a golden black substance burst from the others bones. Their cries slowly turned to laughter, making his SOUL drop in disbelief.

"Dream? Brother? Are you ok?".

It was weird hearing his old voice but the reaction was unexpected. He was pinned with a hateful gaze before the other fully stood up. He watched as Dream admired their new appendages before cooley looking back at him.

" I'm not Dream, idiot. Call me Shattered. I'm going to go have some fun. See you later, brother ".

Nightmare thankfully still had his power, as this new being did not understand holding back. The chaos they caused was massive and sometimes worse than his early days. He knew this was all his fault, as he never knew Dream had felt this way. The fights were violent, with his gang still faithfully helping him.

It was unexpected when one day Ink and Blue came to him, begging for his aid to help their friend. He saw their ripped clothes and injuries and allowed them to stay with him. It seems Shattered did not hold much affection for his past friends.

Had something overtaken Dream or was his mind truly gone? Either way he didn't give up hope of one day saving Dream. He was sure if he infused his power in their SOUL, it would naturalise the corruption. The main issue was being able to get close enough to do this.

The fighting continued, with the added support helping to slow down the number of AU's Dream took over. He was unsure why they were doing this but each infected AU they visited, the monster's behaviour was erratic. He could sense how often their moods fluctuated and it usually took most of his magic to help stabilise the whole AU.

He grew weary as the battles continued, until he felt hope at a change. He had been neutralising Shattereds magic, in an Underfell copy, when he saw Shattered appear.

" Didn't mommy teach you not to play with others toys? Oh wait, you killed her didn't you? ".

He kept in the wince, as these sorts of comments were not rare. All his failures were laid out to him each battle and he had no excuses to give. Even Dream's past friends were not spared judgement.

" Is little Inky tired? You had plenty of energy to cause many messes for me before ".

He saw as Blue tripped and watched Shattered strike at the weakness. The small monster was pinned down with the tendrils sharpening, ready to strike. He was too far to help but this time he didn't have to.

" No....i wont do that. He deserves better than that "

He had no idea who they were talking about but the mercy was unexpected.

"Brother, please. Let us help"

"I'M NOT YOUR BROTHER! You made sure to remind me of that many times before. You aren't growing senile like Ink, are you?".

He watched in silence as Shattered left, unsure what he was even doing anymore. He seemed to fail no matter what he tried. He leaned into Killer and appreciated the silent support.

"Head back, I'll finish things here with Ink and Blue".

"DON'T GIVE UP NIGHTMARE! I BELIEVE WE CAN DO IT".

He smiled at the positivity coming off the other. Now that they had spent more time together, he appreciated their personality. The support from the remaining Star sans helped him get through most days. He started finishing off draining his brother's influence, when Inks phone alerted him to Shattered being spotted in another AU.

"How odd, he usually waits longer between attacks. What is he up to?".

Nightmare would have liked to know too but pushed that back. He instead opened a portal and pulled the other two, to where Ink coordinates led. He appeared in the middle of a road, watching beings run away from an amused Shattered. They weren't wasn't doing anything bad and even seemed to be talking to someone behind them.

Getting closer his eyelights widened at the monster in their clutches.

" Now birdy. You can have all sorts of fun with others. I enjoy playing with their emotions and sometimes driving them insane "

"I don't really like crowds. Can we get some books instead?"

" Of course! I can tell how happy that thought makes you "

The emotions were calm coming off the two but sadly Blues voice ruined the peace.

"IS THAT A BABYBONES? WHAT DID YOU DO DREAM?"

The snarl on Shattereds face was terrifying. He could hardly see Dream in these moments. He shivered and took a cautious step back, preparing to summon his magic, when the unknown spoke up.

"Shattered? I can't see Dream anywhere. Is he hiding?"

Shattered cursed his brother for ruining everything. If he had just been left alone he would have been happy, but noooo. The idiot had to drag everyone to deal with Nightmare personal issues. He just wanted a moment with the babybones and now he was stuck. He would have been happy to never say this, but it seems the multiverse hated him.

" You see I was called Dream but then...something happed and then I became Shattered. No one accepted me after that "

"THAT WASNT QUITE I-"

" Shut up, Blue "

Karma wasn't impressed by the lack of explanation but he thinks he got it. People change their names all the time, no need to make a big deal out of it.

"Ok...what now?"

Karma wasn't sure why the others were looking at him weirdly but he didnt like it.

He fiddled with his scarf, glad there were few monsters around. He supposed the peace was nice while it lasted. He could feel attack magic being summoned and braced himself. It hadn't even been a day yet.....he should have stayed with Pale.

~~~~~~~

Shattered: Want to come with me? I have candy?

Karma: *zero self preservation* Sure!
-
Shattered: *acting erratic and mumbling*

Karma: Do you need your meds, old man?