Ink feels hope of his plan working but realises too late what his actions have caused.

Karma was happy but knowing the truth almost breaks them.

—————-

Fatal_Erro̸̠̔̑r̴͚̟̈́̋ Multiverse

Not many had been pleased by his idea to bring Fatals 'brother' into their group but Ink had witnessed the way the other was treated. There was no true connection between the two monster amalgamations, even if he could still see hope in Patch's face for that to change. Treating the other as their own being did wonders to gaining their trust and when he shared their plan, their instant agreement made him smile.

It had been devastating to morale for Reaper to be taken but thanks to Patch, they were able to gather information about what was going on. According to them the Death god had been mainly left alone, while most of the attention was spent on Goth. Ink had even noticed that the multiverse was no longer shrinking, due to Fatal no longer being obsessed with recreating their lost child.

While many in the group were happy to leave things as they were, Ink was not. He knew how unpredictable Fatal could become, so wasn't as confident as the others of this strange peaceful period. They needed more contingencies in place and the best idea they had was Goth.

They were central to keeping Fatal 'leashed' but he knew that Goth had no other connections in this multiverse. They needed to form bonds with the babybones, to hopefully stop Fatal from killing them all. Looking back he knew without Goths interference he would have been erased by Fatal, making him even more determined to make this plan work.

Having Reaper unable to use magic was annoying but with Patch as a messenger and able to create portals, there should be no issues.

-

He was sitting in Dreamtale next to Dream, fidgeting with his fingers. While Dream may have disliked staying here, it was the best AU to host these sessions at. It was one of the AU's vital to the multiverse, so they hoped if Fatal ever found out what they were doing, they would hold back their full strength allowing them to escape.

He was nervous about how this would go, as he wasn't used to others not liking him. He knew he could be annoying and over the top, but rarely did anyone truly dislike him. It was a perk of living thousands of years and learning how to act to make others happy in his presence.

Today was different as he had no base to work off. He could get along with most children but Goth seemed different to what he was used to. Even that first meeting he never thought he was looking at a mere child, but more an older being like him.

It was their eyelight that seemed to stare through him that truly made him feel unbalanced. It felt like all his secrets were out in the open and being openly judged. Strangely that feeling was not present the next time they met and instead he saw what Dream had, a scared child that didn't want to be there.

These clashing thoughts fled when he saw Reaper come closer, holding Goths hand.

"Hey, little bird. You still remember us, right? No need to be shy"

He was glad Dream started things off as he was unsure what to do. Just looking at Goth had caused them to stiffen up, making his SOUL feel heavy. He wished he knew why they feared him, as he got no joy in scaring children.

Dream nudged him, making him realise he had been getting lost in his thoughts. Pasting a small smile on his face he hunched over, trying to appear smaller to the scared child.

"Heya Goth. Want to hear more about AU's? Did you know there is one that has just animals?"

Their twitching wings encouraged him to continue and he was pleased when they eventually sat beside him, staring at him in awe. He adored it when others listened about his creations and felt his smile soften at the reaction he was getting.

"D-Did you make any with d-dragons?"

He smirked at finally getting them to reply and subtly encouraged them to ask more questions, never noticing them lean further into him till Dream spoke up.

"—and there are ten types of birds in that one! The colours were a pain to choose but-"

"Ink. They are asleep"

Ink stared at the babybones before raising his hand, slowly stroking their skull. They looked so much smaller when asleep, making him realise just who they were placing all their hopes on. It was unfair what they were doing and he was tempted to hide them from Fatal and try and send them where they belonged.

He was unsure how a Goth variant got here but knew they didn't belong. He was sure Fatal knew on some level, they weren't who they truly wanted but pain can make you ignore many things. Moving his hands to their wings he played with their feathers, admiring the small lights flashing in them. Such a unique monster, it was a shame they weren't somewhere safer.

He flinched when a jolt of magic jumped from their wings, making Dream look over in worry. That felt too familiar for his liking but he soon forgot about it, when he spotted a sinisterly familiar red. Pulling their sleeves back he spotted red bands that when he tried to touch, burned him. His gaze darkened, unsure if he was able to remove them safely and without alerting Fatal.

"It doesn't hurt him, unlike mine"

He twitched at Reaper's voice but looking closer at the small wrist, he saw no mark underneath, compared to Reaper's neck.

"Hhh-ee is coming bbb-bback! Time ttto ggooo"

He was glad he was not the only one that jumped but seeing it was only Patch they all calmed down. He watched as Reaper picked up the sleeping babybones, heading straight through the portal Patch had created.

"...their fear of us hasn't lowered Ink"

"I know.."

Goth might have enjoyed his stories but the way their eyes light flickered around the surroundings and the way they tensed, when his hands got too near, was hard to miss. He hoped they weren't setting themselves up for failure.

Weeks passed with this pattern continuing, all of them making sure Fatal never found out what they were doing. Goth looked him over each time they met and always gazed at his chest, as if bewildered by what they were seeing.

He tried to coax Goth out of their shell and was pleased at seeing them more relaxed around him.

"Remember Goth. You can tell me whatever is on your mind. I will not be angry no matter what it is"

He was unsure if they took it to heart but wanted to try and help them, even if in small ways. He was too much of a coward to take them away from the main source of danger after all.

When the next meet up was scheduled his SOUL felt heavy, when he noticed Fatal kneeling on the ground beside Goth. A shuffling next to him made him glance at Reaper, whose gaze was vacant with a lax body language.

This was too familiar for his liking, reminding him of all the 'puppets' Error used to make. He should have realised the other had this power and should have made sure to check others' SOULS, to see if they were under Fatal's control.

"I think it's time for me to leave, Fatal. Thanks for having me"

His skull snapped towards the babybones, horrified at how Fatal could react.

None of this was going to plan! He should have tried harder to keep Goth away from them. When the winged child looked at him, he could hardly muster a smile but he saw a flicker of sadness before it was soon hidden.

Straight after a sound reverberated in the clearing, terrifying the surrounding monsters in what it meant.

                                                                                         *CRACK*

-

Karma had enjoyed his stay, especially due to the items his brother had packed for him. He had found some chocolate chip cookies in the travel bag that were delicious and the teddy bear they had made had helped him sleep well.

He was sure he had been in this multiverse for a few months and thought it was best to head off. Nothing really excited him here anymore and he was kind of missing Oneiro and Nova.

He was unsurprised when Fatal took him to the next 'secret' meet up, knowing they had been following him for many of them.

They stood in the clearing, waiting for Ink and Dream, when Karma decided now was the best time to voice his thought.

"I'm going to leave soon. My guardians must be worried about me"

" WhAt? I Am YoUr gUaRdIan, chick "

"For here perhaps but i don't plan to stay"

" No.N̷͈̪͝Ò̷̫͉!̷̡̟͆̊ ̴̡͉̫͈̅̚Ḯ̶̡̱͚̀ͅ ̷̟͖̲͐̚ͅW̴̞̲̤̉Õ̸͈͋N̴͔͇͇̳̈́̉̈̈'̶̧̤̙̭͗̄̉T̶̘͉̟̝͛͒̉̽ ̶̧̩̱́L̷̬̤̟͒̄Ô̶̻̹͐͂͊S̶̼͙̣̎͗̏Ȩ̷̥̹̮͛̂͋͊ ̷̻̆Ý̷̢O̸̽̔̅͜͝U̷͇̻͖̍̈́̀̎ ̴̧̍̎͑Ḁ̸̈́́͛̕Ḡ̴͚͍͘A̷̻̙͌̂͒̍I̴̱̊͜N̷̫̱̜̾͜"̸̼̐

Karma stood still as Fatals eye sockets flashed between red and blue, as he was somewhat expecting this reaction. When they pulled out their red strings he didn't bother to dodge, as they simply connected to his wrists.

Soon after something started to shimmer next to him. Minutes later something was being formed and his curiosity grew when it took shape, as it looked somewhat like him.

His senses could tell it had no SOUL or even life, running through it. It felt even more lifeless than a soulless Ink, merely an empty doll. It soon dissolved, spreading dust to the surroundings but with another jolt of Fatal's magic, more soon appeared with the exact same result occuring.

"W̷̹͕̝̖̃̿̊̄̉͐͗h̴̬̰̞̺̘̼̝̾̉y̵̘̤̹̿͐̽ ̸̨̢̨̧̗̝̰̲̆̎̈́̿̆͘͘ï̴̬͔͇̇̀͘͝ͅs̶̰̼̙̓̑̆ṅ̵̠̩̗̙̖͒̏̌͆'̸̨̛͙͋̏̑̍̚̚t̴̩͕̱͔͍͒͆͐͠ ̸̢͍̲̯̗̀̂͛̋ĩ̴̙̼͖̦͜͠ͅt̸͈̖̳͎̽͒͐͜ ̵͙̟͝w̴̧̼͎̮̃̆̍̇̋̐̈́ò̷̢̝̻͖ŕ̴̢̰͙̺̦̯͖̯͐͋́̊̒̑k̶̲͔̤̙̝̝̍̔̾́̊̏͝ị̸̼̑̋̍̍̋̽n̵̡̧̟̞̗̲͎͙͆̈͛̕g̵̣̳͎̻̳͂̀?̵̫̝̠͈̫̉̐̓̄͘ͅ!̷̧͖͍̳̲̬̈́̄͛̀̓͋̂͘"

"My magic is not easy to copy, Fatal. No matter how hard you try, i doubt you will succeed"

He was somewhat confused why Fatal always seemed surprised he could understand them, when they got like this. It just sounded normal to him but by the look of others, it must be rather painful to listen to. Just how many issues were there when merging two beings together?

The red strings vanished, as did the wristbands but Fatal looked far from done. Their hand stretched towards his chest, clearing aiming for his SOUL. This scenario felt strangely familiar, reminding him of his birth multiverse. Was this one going to crush his SOUL?

They paused just as their hand touched his chest, making him chirp in confusion. The sound seemed to startle them as they looked into his sockets before collapsing onto their knees.

"I̷ ̵d̶o̴n̶'̷t̸ ̵w̷a̷n̸t̷ ̴t̴o̶ ̸b̶e̶ ̷a̵l̶o̶n̶e̸...̶"

Karma could see the grief and it felt too familiar. The face of a grieved parent, begging the world to give back their child that was cruelly ripped away from them. It was why he was so glad to be an eternal child, no expectations of starting a family and inevitably losing them. He reached for their hands, squeezing them in sympathy.

"I think it's time for me to leave, Fatal. Thanks for having me"

He saw Fatal's body twitch and finally looked over at the two SOULS that had appeared. They looked shocked but also expectant of Fatal appearance. It was when they subtly moved, to make sure he was in between Fatal and them, that his thoughts swirled and memories of their previous interactions flashed by. It made him rethink all that he thought he knew, making unwanted feelings rise up.

He thought they wanted to be friends but was he just a useful pawn in whatever they had planned?

....Did they plan all of this? Did they not like him?....Was it all a lie?

                                                                                    *CRACK*

He ignored the pain from his SOUL, unsure why that had just happened. Shouldn't he be used to others lying to him? He knew others couldn't be trusted, so why did he have such high hope for these beings?

He drew his attention back to Fatal, who seemed to have clear worry in their sockets....or was he mistaken again? He was so tired....

"I'm from another multiverse, Fatal. There must be another Goth who is all alone like you are. Why don't you find them? You don't seem that happy here"

He kept a smile on his face, fearing deep down he was just another replacement in a long line of others. At least his brother didn't think of him like that... did they?

"Can you open the Void for me? It's the easiest way for me to leave"

The Void was a useful way to travel and would hopefully give him time to sort his thoughts out. He trusted his brother's gift to lead him somewhere, even if he didn't know where Secretly hoping it failed.

Fatal lifted a hand and waved next to them, making a dark portal appear.

" Are You SuRe You WiLl Be Ok? "

"Of course. I've survived it before after all"

He dismissed the gasps coming from Ink and Dream, feeling too raw emotionally to look at them. He was pulled into a hug and hesitantly curled his arms around Fatal.

" Even if You are Not StAyIng i StIl cArE fOr You. I NeVeR LieD "

Karma smiled but inside was unsure what to believe. He nodded into their neck before pulling back. Standing in front of the portal he sent some emotions through the bond, needing some reassurance.

                                                                            CARE/AWAY/LOVE?

He hadn't meant to send the last one and quickly stepped through the portal, hoping to block any return messages. He was tired and just wanted to be alone. The darkness would do nicely and maybe it would even help clear his unwanted thoughts.

~~~~~~~

Karma: *Lowers his barriers around others* This place isn't too bad. Maybe i'll make some friends

*SOUL cracks from betrayal*

Karma:*Raises barriers to max* Never again!
-
*Fatal peacefully letting Karma go before staring at Ink*

Ink: *Chuckles* I'm in danger