Ink emerged from a portal into the Anti-Void. The whiteness of the endless space made him only slightly nervous, indicating his fear vial was running out. Welp, he'll have to take care of that later. Right now, he was on a mission.

He looked around for the strings Error hung on the ceiling. They held some human souls he'd stolen from various AUs, as well as puppets he makes when he's bored. It always confused Ink why Error makes them if he likes destroying so much. And no, there is no "balance" for him to maintain; Ink should know, he's known Error the longest and there's never been any mention of a balance between creation and destruction. Besides, Ink can't create AUs, only protect them. Well, you could say he's the one who knows about the balance, and Error's the ignorant fool. Hah.

Speaking of puppets, why did he have one of almost everyone he knew? Like there was one of Ink, Dream, Killer, Dust, Fatal Error, Terror, even Classic. Was there one of Nightmare, too? If so, it wasn't visible, or perhaps, not there at all. Or it didn't exist, yet. Anyway, strangely enough, there were puppets that didn't resemble any Sans. They were representations of the five demons and their leader. Why would Error care enough to make them? It wasn't like he was close friends, or even friends in general with them. Maybe they were like voodoo dolls or something? Something to take his anger out on when he can't get to the real deal?

Ink looked up at the blue strings, deciding how he would get up there. He figured making a staircase would be good enough, and pulled out his paintbrush. The stairs reached the lowest string, so Ink went up to tug it. He waited a few seconds, then tugged on the string again. It was quite amusing when he managed to annoy the glitch by being obnoxious, which usually ended in a fight and one or both of them retreating with a few major injuries. It was fun, though, at least to Ink.

He giggled when he heard a portal open, followed by glitchy grumbling. He turned around just in time to dodge a red bone as it flew past his head. He skipped down the stairs, humming a familiar tune and allowing the stairs to dissolve back into ink. Error rolled his eyelights at the artist's childish behavior and crossed his arms.

"What the hell do you want this time, squid?"

"Hi, Error! So, I was wondering if you could give Nightmare a message fer me. Dream wants ta see 'im in Dreamtale. But, if tentacles doesn't wanna come-"

"DO NOT CALL HIM THAT!!!"

"Aww, did I insult ya boyfriend, glitchy?~"

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!!"

"That blush says otherwise~"

Error summoned a gaster blaster and aimed it at Ink. The artist simply smirked, knowing Error would be too curious about what Ink had to say to kill him, so he would allow him to stay alive just long enough to hear him out. The gaster blaster fired, but missed Ink by a hair.
Hah! Knew it.

"Ugh, just tell me what Dream wants."

"Mmm, I don't really know what he wants, he just told me to get Nightmare. Er, told me to tell you to get Nightmare. Anyway, if he doesn't wanna comply, well- I mean, would he really wanna pass up the opportunity ta kill Dream? Seems kinda dumb, if ya ask me."

"Nobody asked you, squid. Also, you're just going to let your 'friend' die?"

"Nah, of course not! But, I'm positive he can handle himself. Besides, I'm only here to deliver the message."

With that, Ink made a portal and turned to Error, his expression turning uncharacteristically blank as the last of his emotions ran out.
"Make sure he comes alone, Error."
He fell through the portal.

The glitchy skeleton stared at where Ink had disappeared. Why would Dream ask Nightmare to come alone? He shook his head and portaled back to Nightmare's castle. Said skeleton was in his library, poring over his collection of destructive spell books in hopes of finding one that kills or banishes demons.

Nights: Hah! Good luck with that, Goopmare!
Me: Is it even possible?
Nights: Nope! One does not simply kill a demon. I should know, trying to kill Baron is a pain in the ass-
Baron: Talking shit about me, again?~
Nights: GET BACK INSIDE THE FOURTH WALL, MORON!!!)

Nightmare looked up, feeling a familiar presence, and smiled a bit. Error was the only one loyal to him, now. Those other traitors were useless, anyway. Besides, he only needed Error to take down his brother and that pathetic artist. They didn't have the forces they used to, so it would be easier to beat them. Or so he had thought before a couple of days ago. If those demons have returned from their.... hibernation, for lack of a better word, they could easily kill Nightmare and Error if they wanted to. What's stopping them, might you ask? Who knows? After all, he was no match for that water demon, Caligo. The sadistic fucker could freeze his tar-like tendrils, as well as the rest of his body, into icicles with ease. He might never escape if Caligo decided to freeze him completely, forever. Hmph, he'd enjoy that, no doubt.

Error walked over and sat down in a chair. He looked lost in thought.

"What's up, Error?" Nightmare asked as he put one of his books back on a shelf.

"......Dream wants to see you in Dreamtale, alone," he said, bonebrows furrowing at the thought. It had to be a trap, he just knew it!

"Did he say why?"

"No."

"Huh."
Nightmare walked over and sat on a couch across from Error, resting his elbows on his knees.
"What do you think he's planning, Error?"

"I think it's a trap. Those demons could be back, and they could be planning to kill you."

"Heh, are you worried about me, again?~"

Error huffed and looked away, pouting. A dark blue blush settled on his cheekbones, and glowed brighter and more visible when he heard Nightmare chuckle.

"Y'know, Dream could've given up."

Error's eyes widened, and he looked back at Nightmare. He had to admit, the possibility never even crossed his mind. Dream had never seemed like the type to just... surrender.

"R-really?"

Nightmare nodded.
"It's possible, and I'm pretty curious to see what he wants in Dreamtale of all places. Come to think of it, it'd be almost destiny that we end this in the place where it all began. So, you're staying here, while I go see what he wants."

"B-but-"

"Do not argue with me, Error."
The goopy skeleton stood up and turned to leave, indicating he has made up his mind and there was no changing it.
"I need you here in case something goes wrong and I need your help. And so I don't have to go looking all over the multiverse for you when I celebrate my victory."

He smirked at Error, feeling confident that Dream will give up, and he will finally win, proving that he was better than him. While that may have been the main reason Nightmare was fighting Dream in the first place, it covered up the pain and heartache he felt from the neglect Dream gave him. They were supposed to be brothers, they were supposed to be there for each other, they were supposed to protect and love each other unconditionally. And how does Dream act? He abandons Nightmare to the bullies for the blissful and blind happiness of popularity. The naiveté and innocence to how cruel the world can really be. The unawareness of the suffering of someone he claimed to be close to. Funny how badly someone can be hurt by someone else's ignorance, is it not? Nevertheless, Nightmare wanted to win, but subconsciously, he was sabotaging himself by being cocky. Deep down, he had hoped one day, he and Dream would make up for the past, forgive each other and themselves, and forget it ever happened. He wanted to go back to the days when he and Dream were friends, and they spent hours on end playing and reading under the tree.

Their tree.

Their mother.

He may not have regretted what he did, but he wasn't happy with what he did, either. He could practically see the disappointment written all over his mother's face as she watched him go through life. He never wanted to go back to guarding the tree, though. He saw it as a prison, forcing him to stay in a place he hated, and he could never escape because if he did, the greed and lust for power would consume some unlucky soul, and they would end up in his or Dream's place. They would gain unimaginable power, becoming a sort of god, and no one would be able to stop them.

(Nights: I mean, Solar's already done that, so-
Me: *shrugs*)

Back to the present, Error sighed and looked up at Nightmare. This goopy skeleton meant the world to him, and he didn't want to see him hurt or upset.

"Ok, fine," Error said, standing up. His haphephobia normally forbade him from touching others, but maybe just this once, it would make an exception. For Nightmare.

He cautiously reached his hand out, flinching back as his phalanges softly brushed Nightmare's shoulder. Nightmare turned back towards the glitch, noticing the worried and somewhat shy look in his eyelights. He laughed gently, and held his arms out, inviting Error in for the hug he obviously wanted. Error gulped and slowly wrapped his arms around the slightly shorter skeleton.

(Nights: He's short?
Me: Mmmmmmmmaybe! *radio noises*
Nights: >:0 No! Get out of here! This is MY territory, go fuck that spider dude!
Me: jfxrbrsdgvrhhhdgbbdcuviojjpjjfydsrraeahelpivebeenpossessedggxhbojjohighydttsrrkkkjjhddg)

Surprisingly, Error wasn't glitching out. He really liked the feeling of hugging Nightmare, and didn't want it to end. He buried his head in Nightmare's shoulder, pulling him closer. Thanks to his lack of social etiquette, he had no idea what personal boundaries were. He may not like it when people touched him, but that doesn't mean he knew what personal space for other people is. Nightmare didn't mind, though. It was nice to feel wanted. All too soon, the two of them let go of each other.

"J-just be c-careful...." Error said, voice glitching a bit.

Nightmare nodded, then created a portal. He looked back at the glitch and smiled. He was very glad Error stuck with him through these years. It would've gotten boring and lonely with no one to share the castle with. And Error had always been the most tolerable in the gang. He always followed orders eagerly, and though the positive energy irked Nightmare, he found it difficult to even attempt to dampen Error's enthusiasm. Especially when Nightmare wanted an AU destroyed. Yep, they had a lot in common, what with being outcasts and all. But, they both hated the positive AUs for about the same reason, and that's what led to them establishing an alliance in the first place. Now, though, it felt like they shared something much, much deeper, a bond that may never break.

Frickin' Soul Mates!

Probably....

With one last glance at his most loyal friend, Nightmare went through the portal to Dreamtale. Time to see what the favorite child wants this time.

He emerged in a mostly barren field. He looked around, barely acknowledging the village of bullies he'd destroyed about a half a mile west of the tree of feelings. They deserved what they got. He had killed every man, woman, and child, human and monster alike, and didn't look back. If he did, perhaps he'd have regretted it. But, he didn't care enough. Now, it was kind of eerie in the silence where there would have been children's laughter or birds chattering in the trees behind him. He looked toward the tree of feelings, noting that his brother was already there, and that the wind was picking up. Probably a storm, if those dark clouds in the distance were anything to go by.

He approached the tree slowly, remembering how it once looked. He never truly understood why people didn't like his apples; it wasn't like anyone besides Dream and Nightmare could sense their negative aura, since the golden apples' aura used to cancel the black apples out. Now, people probably could, but that didn't negate their inherent beauty. A mini galaxy of purples, blues, and greens swirled in each one, giving them an ethereal appearance. Seriously, why didn't people stare at his apples all day long? Oh well, it was their own fault they couldn't learn to appreciate it before they died horrible deaths.

Nightmare reached the tree, and stood behind Solar, his tendrils sharpened and poised to strike. The positive guardian's back was turned, and it would be so easy to kill him here, right now, when his guard was down. But, Nightmare hesitated. He wanted to see the look of absolute terror on his dear brother's face as he killed him. That's why he was hesitating. Yep.

Not for any other reason.

... ... ...

None at all.

"Hello, Nightmare."
Solar didn't turn around as he spoke. The tone of voice he used was.... chilling. Disappointed. It surprised Nightmare that his brother could ever sound this distant and cold, even with him. This was very unlike him. Nightmare could feel unmoving resolve from his "brother," and wondered what was going on.

"Do you know the power these apples possess?"

Nightmare rolled his eyelight. Of course he knew. He had gained its power, after all.

"Tch, what of it?" he said nonchalantly, trying to hide his growing worry. What was Dream thinking?

"Their power can be used to defend against the same type of magic."
Solar turned around with a stern look in his eyelights, meeting Nightmare's nervous-looking ones. In his left hand was a black apple. Nightmare's eyesockets widened when he realized what this could mean.

No.

Dream wouldn't stoop this low.

... ... ...

Would he?

"It can be used to fight against the same type of magic," Solar said as he lifted the dark apple higher.

In a panic, Nightmare yelled out.
"D-Dream, don't. This is a bad idea, do not eat that apple! I-it won't fix anything!"

Solar ignored him and looked down at the apple in his hand. He was about to take a bite when Nightmare lunged for him. He summoned a golden orb around himself, hoping it would hold long enough for him to do what he needs to. The sky above them grew ever darker, and the wind shook the tree of feelings.

Nightmare banged his fists against the shield, momentarily forgetting he had the ability to break it with a spell he had been studying just before he came here. All he cared about was stopping Solar from making the same mistake he'd made so long ago, one that cost him his brother's friendship.

"It's time to fight fire with fire, brother."
Solar took a bite, ignoring Nightmare's yelling and pleading for him to stop. He took another. Then another. Then another. Soon, the apple was gone, leaving nothing but a darkened core.

Nightmare had not noticed, but the liquid that had covered him a few moments ago had melted off completely, rendering him defenseless. A crack edged it's way down his right eyesocket, showing where the tar-like liquid used to flow. His right eyelight was working again, and lavender tears rolled down his cheeks as his yelling turned to screaming.

Solar's shield had evaporated as he fell to the ground, coughing and choking on the dark liquid now dripping from his mouth and eyesockets. He held his chest and cried out in pain as the darkness consumed his soul, the last golden apple.

*𝐶𝑅𝐴𝐶𝐾*

The dark magic split open Solar's left eyesocket, tendrils of it lashing about and latching onto Solar's head. It covered him and his clothing, and with a few more sickening cracks, four restlessly thrashing tendrils sprouted from his back. His golden tears mixed with the liquid, giving his outline a hideous, revolting yellow. It was gruesome, but Nightmare was immobilized, unable to tear his eyes away.

After a few seconds, Solar stood up, an insane grin spread across his face. He giggled madly, his smile widening as Nightmare backed away, trembling in terror. Solar stepped toward him, tendrils twitching excitedly.

"Aww, what's wrong, brother?" His voice sounded like multiple voices were speaking, and while it was still reminiscent of Dream's higher-pitched voice, it had deepened dramatically, sending chills down Nightmare's spine.
"Are you s c a r e d?"

The negative guardian, realizing his "brother" had prob- no, definitely, gone insane, started running towards the village. His only thoughts were this was his fault, and he had now had to get away before Solar could kill him.

Solar watched in amusement as Nightmare fled.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha! Great idea, Nightmare! Let's play a game of cat and mouse~"

The storm rumbled overhead, as if signalling the start of Solar's twisted game.

Meanwhile, in Epictale....

Dream felt an overwhelming amount of negative energy being released in Dreamtale. For a moment, everything in his vision went black, and he collapsed to his knees. Lunar ran to him and helped him back up.

"Dream! What's wrong?"

"Ugh," Dream groaned and held a hand to his head. He hadn't felt this much negativity since...-!

"Can't you feel that? Something's very wrong in Dreamtale. We have to check it out!"

The small group of skeletons had been discussing nicknames to identify  each other, so now, Nightmare was Lunar, his Cross was now Switch, the other Cross was Criss, and Pale and Template kept their names. Lunar had decided to call his brother Solar so he could keep track of who was who. Dream hadn't decided on a nickname for himself yet, but he thought it was a good idea to give his own brother a nickname as well. He decided on Nightshade, since the flower had been Nightmare's favorite.

Lunar nodded, and Dream made a portal to Dreamtale, leading the others inside. When they arrived, the field around the tree was empty, and no one was in sight. Lunar stepped up to the tree in awe, marvelling at the black apples. It had been so long since he'd seen the tree of feelings in his own multiverse, he'd sort of forgotten what it looks like. Dream walked over and stood next to him, solemnly looking up at the blackened branches.

"Let me guess, you didn't turn the apples black, did you?"

Still gaping at the sight, Lunar answered.
"I-I didn't know it was even possible!"

"Neither did I, until Nightm- ah, Nightshade turned them all black. I don't know why he did it, but afterwards, he... he killed everyone we ever knew in the village west of here. I... thought we were all friends. Sure, some of them seemed a bit nervous around Nightshade, but they were always polite to him, and asked him to play with us. He almost always declined, and he would sit under these branches, reading his books. Never participating in anything that involved the other kids. It was strange, but I didn't question it. Maybe I should have. Maybe I could've gotten him to tell me what was bothering him."

Dream's wings sagged a little, but stiffened back up as the rest of his body jolted from a sudden burst of thunder. It hadn't started raining yet, but the sky was very dark, and the wind howled as it whipped through the nearby forest. Lunar noticed that Dream looked on edge, so he put a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. Dream looked down at the short skeleton, and kneeled down to his level. He engulfed Lunar in a hug, forgetting this wasn't his brother. Lunar patted his back awkwardly, unsure how to handle this. His brother had never shown such blatant affection to him, so this was new to him.

"It's ok, Dream. We'll find our brothers, get you back to normal, and we can get back to our normal lives. *sigh* Although, normal might not be the best ending...."

"What do you mean?" Dream asked as he pulled away.

"My friends and I are.... running from Solar. He wants to eliminate us because we are troublemakers for him. What we do, though, is help people he wants to get rid of."

"That's horrible!"

"Yeah, I know. But, he thinks he's doing it for a good cause. He believes that, by destroying all sources of negativity, the whole multiverse would be better off. People would be happy. But, I've tried convincing him to do something else to make the multiverse a better place, but he doesn't listen. He's too busy trying to figure out a way to kill me without killing himself."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't know what it is, but every time he wounds me, it hurts him, too. I don't know exactly, but it could have something to do with our connection to the tree of feelings, since that's the only thing that we have in common."

Dream hummed and stood up. A comfortable silence fell between them, broken occasionally by the rumbles of thunder. Soon, a portal appeared, and Dream turned to find none other than the destroyer. The rest of the group got into defensive stances, waiting for an attack.

Template whirled around to find a dark-boned skeleton walk through a glitching portal. On the glitch's face was an irritated scowl and blue streaks running down like tears. The skeleton wore a hoodie that seemed to fade from a dark blue to black with yellow trim, black shorts with a single blue stripe down each leg, and red slippers. The skeleton looked kinda funny to Template, and he cocked his head to the side. He couldn't help but feel like this guy looked familiar in some way. He brandished his pen, and took a defensive stance like the rest.

Error eyed the artist suspiciously, and looked to Dream. That's weird, when did he get wings? Eh, who cares.
"Hey, yellow douchebag! Where's Nightmare?"

"I have no idea, I thought he was- agh!"
Error's strings latched onto him, and pulled him towards the glitch.

"Don't lie to me, idiot! If I find out you dusted him, I swear-"

"N-no, I would never!"

In the span of a few seconds, Dream was cut free, and Error ended up the one struggling to get out of... ink?

The black liquid swirled around Error and tightened on his limbs and neck like chains, securing him in place. He stared in horror as he was pulled close to whom he thought was his most hated enemy. Pale's eyelights glowed a dead white as he tightened his grip on the inky "rope," never taking his eyes off his prisoner.

"G-get away from me, squid!"
Error struggled and thrashed about, trying desperately to escape who he thought was Ink.

"No."
Pale tightened the rope around Error's arms and legs to be almost painful, earning a groan from him. This glitch needed to learn not to mess with his boss while he was around.

Still thinking this was Ink, Error growled and glared at Pale.
"What do you mean 'no?!' Let me go, you stupid artist!"

Template burst out laughing, and Pale's expression never changed as he glanced over at his version of the artist.

"Hey you! What's so funny?"

Template had fallen on the ground from laughing so hard, but he sat up to answer the question.
"Pfft, Pale's no artist. He destroys AUs, while I protect them! But you thinking he's an artist is hilarious!"

Error glitched a bit at this information. This guy looked a lot like Ink, and that other guy looked like himself; even the glasses were similar! He was still set on finding Nightshade, though.
"Let. Me. Go."

Pale looked back to his prisoner, then to Dream. However, the positive guardian was looking out toward the village in the distance.
"Something up, boss?"

Dream didn't answer. He could feel a massive source of negativity coming from somewhere in the direction of the village. It tugged at his soul, crying for help. It sounded hurt and scared, like something was trying to kill it. He looked behind him at his wings, silently debating if this was a good idea.

"Dream?" Lunar tried to get his attention. "What are you doing?"

Dream tried spreading them, feeling the light magic shift and bend in rhythm. He had seen the fire demon, Derek, fly a few times before in battle, so he reasoned, how hard could it be? He breathed in and out, then flapped them once. That one flap must've been pretty powerful, because he soared into the air like a rocket, ignoring Lunar's protests to come back. He regained his balance, and took off in the direction of the village.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Angst and fluff are so hard to write separately. I need both of them to work together to truly bring out any semblance of actual storytelling.

Otherwise, it's all just crack from Nights-

I wanna write crack all day long-