Killer walked up to Dream and smiled. "It's good to see ya, Dreamy."

"The feeling's mutual, Killz." Dream smiled back.

"Now that we're sure who you are," Dust began as he walked up to the positive guardian, "how did you end up like this in the first place?"

Dream rubbed his forehead.
"I don't know, exactly. But I know that Baron has something to do with it."

"Ugh," Killer groaned. "Why can't that bastard just leave us alone?!"

"Killer," Dust's voice went quiet. "If he hadn't interfered, we'd still be under Fatal Error's influence, as well as Nightmare's. We would never have met-"

Dust stopped himself. Killer looked at him sadly.
"Yeah, I know. You're right. But, what does he want with us, this time?"

"Yeah," Lunar chimed in from the table.
"What does he want? Who is he and why did he switch my brother's body with your Dream?"

Killer and Dust turned to Lunar, curious.
"Wait. Who are you?"

"I'm Nightmare from a different multiverse, I guess."

Killer walked over to him. At that, Switch tensed. These seemed like dangerous characters, and that's not counting what Pale had remarked about them! As much as Switch hated Pale, he knew Pale doesn't say things without knowing what he's talking about. Switch resolved to himself that if they try anything with Lunar, those murderers will be murdered. He watched as Killer leaned over the top of the booth, studying the negative guardian.

"What are you looking at?" Lunar snapped. His glare hardened when Killer smirked.

"Heh, you don't much look like him, but you definitely act like him."

"Funny, I saw him, and he looked like my exact twin!"

"Hahahahahaha! What, can you turn into a black octopus, too?"

"Killer, that's enough!"
Dream crossed his arms.

Lunar had to take a second glance, reminding himself this wasn't his brother as he turned his harsh gaze to him. The look softened as Killer backed away to where Dust stood.

"What's with the black octopus thing?!" Lunar exclaimed in exasperation.

"It's what our Nightmare usually looks like," Dust explained. "He is covered in what looks and feels like tar, and he's got tendrils of the stuff protruding from his back. Does that answer your question?"

"Not really," Lunar frowned as he tried to imagine himself looking like that.

"Why are you guys here, anyway?"
Dream asked, sitting down at an empty booth.

"Ink sent us to find you," Killer stated, sitting across from Dream. "He said there was another version of you walking around. He also said this version of you is out for Nightmare's blood, and he's got Terror on his side."

"That's what we figured. This other Dream wants to destroy all negativity in the multiverse, and according to Switch, he will stop at nothing to do it. But, if he has Terror on his side, couldn't you guys bring him back to our side?"

Killer sighed. "It's... complicated. He doesn't trust anyone associated with Nightmare, and if this other Dream has gained his trust by some miracle..."

"It's going to take a lot to get him on our side, again." Dust finished. "And with the Kind One gone, we might have a slower start."

Dream hummed and leaned his head on his arms. So many problems. If Baron could just give them some direction, some idea what to do!

Back at Nightshade's castle....

Error had finally caught Template, who was still slightly high on chocolate. He giggled as the glitch tossed him into a chair in the living room where Nightshade was wrapped in a cocoon of blankets. Error had gone overprotective boyfriend mode and insisted he do everything for him. Nightshade was very grateful for this in the aftermath of what had happened, but he felt he didn't deserve it. He had tried to tell Error this, but his words fell on deaf ears. Error didn't care one way or another about how much Nightshade thought he didn't deserve any kindness; in fact, he was very close to just shoving chocolate in his mouth to get him to stop beating himself up. Nightshade eventually gave up, and was now snuggling into the blankets, watching Error interrogate his prisoner.

"Who exactly are you?" Error demanded.

Template grinned widely. "I am Template, protector of AUs!" He snorted and burst out laughing at Error's shocked expression.

"See, Nightmare? He looks like me, but acts like Ink."
Error glared at Template, then sent his strings to retrieve the artist's soul. An indigo, yellow, and light blue-streaked soul popped out of nowhere, causing Template to flinch. Nightshade sensed the growing panic from the artist as Error studied the soul. Template's eyelights shrunk as the glitch turned the soul from left to right, taking in all the details. He reached out to grab it, but Template freaked out.

"NO! DON'T!!! I WILL NOT BE YOUR PUPPET!!! NOT ANYMORE!!!" he yelled, jerking away and trying to break out of Error's grasp. Error smirked. A puppet, eh?

"You mean like... THIS!!!" Error forced Template to stand, his strings holding the soul firmly. Template was hyperventilating, tears flowing down his cheekbones as he struggled to move independently. Nightshade winced at the look in Template's eyelights. He silently begged for Nightshade to help him, to save him, something, anything! Nightshade got the impression that the artist had gone through something worse than just being lead by strings. It made him wonder what the equivalent of Error was like where Template was from. Nightshade sighed.

"Let him go, Error," he muttered. "There is no need to torture him."

Error looked over at him, confused. He was about to argue, but he met Nightshade's eyelights. There was a fire there that told him he was in no mood to deal with Error's bullshit. Error begrudgingly let the prisoner go, but tied him back up to prevent him from escaping.
"Urgh, fine. I'm still getting answers outta you, though!"

Template gulped as Error glared at him. He looked over at Nightshade.
"Th-thank you, Nightmare..." he said quietly. Nightshade nodded, then stood up. He felt more at peace  knowing he could prevent someone from facing their worst fear. He'd had enough of feeling fear for one day.

"Error, we're leaving." Nightshade strode to the library to search for a spell he thought he'd never have to use. Error followed with Template suspended in his strings.

"Where to?" Error asked.

"We need to find Dream," Nightshade replied as he searched for the spell. Unfortunately, it was on a shelf that he couldn't reach. He went up on his tiptoes, but still couldn't reach it. Error snickered as Nightshade jumped up and flailed his arms to grab onto a ledge to pull himself up. Nightshade glared at Error and huffed. Normally, his tendrils helped him reach the taller shelves, but at the moment, he didn't have them. Which is why he needed this spell. It allowed him to summon a weapon in case of an emergency. This definitely counts, but he had forgotten the spell.

"If you're not going to do anything useful, Error," Nightshade growled. "Then go find Dream, yourself. I'm sure you handle him on your own."

This shut Error up pretty quickly. The reminder that Nightshade couldn't handle his brother by himself and was nearly killed for thinking he could set a fire in Error's soul once again to murder the positive guardian slowly and painfully. That glowstick needed to pay, along with those demons. How he wished they would just show themselves already so he could kill them! Then, they would never be able to bother him or Nightshade ever again!

"O-ok, here, I'll help you." Error gently wrapped his strings around Nightshade and lifted him up to where the spell book was. Nightshade grabbed it and nodded to Error. The strings lowered him to the floor, and he set the book on his desk. He flipped through the pages, stopping at the one he needed.

"Here we go," Nightshade mumbled to himself. He reread the spell a couple of times to make sure he did it right, then stood in the middle of the room. He closed his eyesockets and concentrated. His arms outstretched, he took a defensive stance, allowing his magic to form into the weapon he had formed in his mind. He'd seen the leader of the demons use something similar, and he reasoned it wouldn't be too hard to master. Little did he know, the weapon he now wielded was one of the most difficult weapons to learn for the weapons master. It was only after three months in its use that Grim learned not to cut themselves on the blade.

"Whoa," Template gasped, marvelling at Nightshade's new weapon. "That's so cool! What kind of weapon is it?"

"Hmm," Nightshade thought a moment. "I believe they called it a lightsaber. Ever heard of it?"

"Nope! How does it work?" Template tilted his head in curiosity.

"I'm not entirely sure..." Nightshade waved the lightsaber around, feeling it crackle with energy. There were two blades, and they were a vibrant light blue, and hilt was a soft silver, the color of moonlight. He did a few more swipes and jabs, getting more used to the weapon and balancing it in his grip.

"You took inspiration from Grim, didn't you?" Error smirked as Nightshade lowered the lightsaber.

"So what if I did? It didn't look that hard to use, and I thought, what's the worst that could happen?"

"You could slice someone in half."

Nightshade winced. He'd forgotten how dangerous this weapon could be. He's never witnessed Grim do it, but he was willing to bet that they had done worse than simply cut people in half with their double-bladed lightsaber. Being a weapons specialist, they had a plethora of weapons at their disposal, including but not limited to, a bow, a spear, knives, and that lightsaber. He was fascinated by the fact that they had found, or maybe even made, a double-bladed lightsaber that could spin! He really hoped he'd see them again. He wanted to learn their techniques, how to hide one's emotional signature at will, how to keep fighting and living no matter how wounded one was, and how to anticipate attacks better than he ever could on his own. Whatever Grim did to learn these things, Nightshade wanted to know how to learn them, too.

Nightshade sighed and turned the lightsaber off. Luckily, he still had his old belt, so he hung his lightsaber there where it was easily accessible. He wasn't used to wielding a physical weapon, but if Grim could do it, so could he.

"So, where do we go, first?" Error asked.

Nightshade thought a moment. He couldn't sense a major difference in any AUs emotionally right now, so he couldn't pinpoint Solar's location.
"Don't know. Perhaps we could-"

"LOOK OUT!!!" Error screamed as a portal appeared behind Nightshade. Two hands made of ice materialized and grabbed onto him, pulling him into a portal to regions unknown.

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Hewewewewewew

I have been watching Sonic X all day, mwahahahahah! If y'all don't know what dat is, yer missing out. Shadow's a siMP-

Ok, getting off topic, here. So, sorry for the delay, but I've been busy. I hope you like this chapter, and if there are any questions, I may or may not answer them. Depends on whether or not they will reveal spoilerzzzzz. Anywho, cya next time! Bai