Dream woke up slowly, the bright sunlight streaming in through the window. He lifted his to block it out, then realized.

His arm didn't hurt anymore.

That's weird. He could've sworn-
Wait.

He sat up quickly, taking in his surroundings. His unfamiliar surroundings. This wasn't his bedroom. The window was on the wrong end of the room, too close to the bed even, there seemed to be a walk-in closet where the bathroom door should be, and from where he was sitting, there seemed to be only one more door. Was that the exit? Where the hell was he?!

He slid to the edge of the bed and tried to stand up, but a weight of... something unbalanced him. It felt like a backpack, a very heavy one, was strapped to his back, so he reached up to pry the weight off. His phalanges brushed against something soft, so he looked behind him. His eyesockets widened in horror at what he saw.

He had wings.

FREAKING WINGS!!!

He cried out in alarm, and stumbled over his own feet, slightly panicked by the discovery. He had wings? How? What had that encounter with the tall skeleton done to him?

He slowly stood up, feeling unstable with the added weight on his back, and carefully made his way to the door he saw. Apparently, it was the wrong one, because it led to the bathroom. Did Ink decide to, like, rearrange everything in the house? It would be a first for him, but Dream was willing to bet Ink would do anything to distract himself from boredom. Or was this someone else's doing? Perhaps Baron and his demon buddies had done this for laughs. That... doesn't sound like him, though. He rarely wastes energy to mess with people unless it suits his purposes. So, what could he hope to gain by messing with Dream?

The positive guardian entered the bathroom, being mindful of the wings, and turned on the light. As soon as he looked into the mirror, he screamed and stumbled backward, hitting his back against the wall. The skeleton he'd met before was now staring back at him, a frightened expression on his face. He looked down at his hands, then put them on either side of his head.

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, this can't be happening! This isn't real! A-any moment I'll wake up in my own house, in my own body, a-and Ink will walk in and say I've been passed out for a week. Heh, yeah! That's gotta be it, right? I-I'm dreaming, right?!"

He ran some cold water in the sink and splashed a handful into his face. No change. He tried slapping himself. Still no change. Biting his hand? Nothing. Facepalming? Nada. Banging his head against the wall? Zip. Even pinching solid bone couldn't wake him from this bizarre...

Dream?

Nightmare?

What the hell was this?!

Not only was he in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar body, having no choice but to play this role, but that other guy could very well be in the same situation. And Nightmare! He'll kill him! He had to find a way to fix this, fast! Otherwise, the fate of the multiverse could be sealed in chaos.

Forever.

He ran out of the bathroom, his new wings almost catching on the door due to their size. Jeez, he really had to be more careful with those things. He didn't want to get used to them, but for now, he'd do his best to take care of this body. He noticed another door, and decided that one was the exit. He found himself in an office. It was spacious, and had a couple of windows overlooking a beautiful garden to his right. Behind the desk on the other side of the room was a portrait of Dream's reflection in a very regal position. It was serious, and held an aura of authority that Dream could only wish he could match. He also noticed the large sword. He looked down to his right and found the scabbard and the same sword.

'Hmm, this guy uses a sword, eh?'
Dream pulled out the heavy weapon, balancing it in his grip. It felt... strangely comfortable to wield, but he preferred his staff. He didn't like to think of what this sword could do. To him, a sword indicated aggression, something he'd tried to avoid. But, from his demon allies he learned that sometimes, aggression was the key to winning a battle.

At a price, of course.

He just hoped he didn't have to resort to such a violent tactic. He sheathed the sword and sighed. Nightmare probably didn't care about violence. He was only interested in winning the fight, much like those demons, as well as their leader. Their tactics consisted of using their opponents' own strengths against them, fighting more of a mental and emotional battle rather than a physical one. While Dream could understand that, he had given up on trying to intimidate or subdue his brother or his colleagues. They were simply immune to his pleas for them to stop.

Back to the present, Dream took one more glance at the portrait, then headed through what assumed to be a door leading to the rest of the building. He assumed correctly, because he was met with a hallway that stretched quite a ways to the right, but ended in a stairway to his left. He stopped at the top, wondering whether he could pass himself off as the other guy.
'What am I supposed to say? I don't know this guy's name, and I certainly don't know how he acts! People will suspect me for sure if I'm not careful...'

Before he could continue debating in his mind, someone walked up the stairs toward him. It was a skeleton, who was dressed in a faded, blue jacket, a plain white t-shirt, tan shorts, and white sneakers. A splotch of a black substance decorated his right cheekbone, reminding Dream of Ink's appearance; however, a cold, dead stare met Dream's eyelights, freaking him out and assured him this was not Ink.

"Good morning, boss. Sleep well?"
The skeleton spoke in a monotone voice, almost sounding bored and dead inside.

"U-uh, yeah, I'm fine, thanks."
Dream awkwardly stepped around the stranger, smiling nervously, and almost stumbled down the stairs. Before he could tumble down face first, a slimy substance grabbed him, earning a surprised yelp. He was set upright, then he looked down at the black substance that had grabbed him. He sighed in relief when he realized it wasn't Nightmare's tar-like tendrils.

"Watch where you're going, boss. You might hurt yourself," the skeleton said as the ink returned to his fingertips. In a way, it reminded Dream of someone, though he couldn't quite put a name to them.

"Heh, sorry, just... distracted, that's all."

"Worried about your brother, again?"

"My... brother?"

"Nightmare has been getting on your nerves for weeks now, so I thought-"

"Where is Nightmare?! I need to find him!"

The skeleton shrugged, his expression never changing.
"Dunno. We lost track of him yesterday. I thoroughly searched the negative AUs you sent me to destroy, but he wasn't in any of them. I made sure to get rid of those ones specifically, but if you wanted me to destroy more...."

"You.... destroy..... AUs....."

"Yes. Why?"

Dream didn't know what to say. Sure, Error destroys AUs, but Ink protects them. How did they not notice this guy? And why would the true owner of the body Dream is in order this guy to do that?!
"Oh, nothing. I just- I forgot, I guess."

"Whatever."

"A-anyway, I think we should go look for Nightmare. Any ideas where to start?"

Just as he spoke, a guard ran up to them. He was human, and wore tough looking armor. His hair was cinnamon brown with streaks of gray in it, indicating his age of about fifty-five.

"Sir! We've captured your brother and his troublesome friends. They are being detained downstairs. What would you like us to do with them?"

Dream's eyesockets widened. They captured Nightmare?!
"Th-that's great! Um, I'll go down and see them!"

He carefully made his way down, still feeling unbalanced by the wings. As he neared the bottom, he surveyed the room. It looked like a lobby, but the receptionist was missing. Hmm, must be out on break. He scanned the occupants, and his eyelights landed on none other than Nightmare himself.

Except, he was... back to normal?

"I told you this was a bad idea, Cross!"
Nightmare hissed, glaring at his companion.

"Me?! You were the one who said it'd be fun to prank the JR this morning, but we got caught thanks to you!"

"N-Nightmare?!"

Said skeleton's expression darkened more as he spotted Dream.
"Let us go, Dream! We haven't done anything!"

"You're one to talk," Cross muttered.

"Shut up! If Template hadn't sneezed-"

"I'm allergic to flowers!"

"Suuuuure you are. Next you'll be saying you're allergic to chickens and we can't keep Kevin!"

"That demon chicken deserves to be chopped into nuggets, anyway."

"*gasp* You take that back!"

"Never!"

"SILENCE!!!"
All the bickering skeletons flinched. Pale had come down the stairs to find the three prisoners arguing with each other and Dream just staring at them, wondering what to do. He looked from them to Dream, noticing the almost sad expression his boss's face showed. It intrigued him, so he tapped Dream's shoulder. The positive guardian looked down at Pale, then back at Nightmare. He walked down the remaining steps toward him, not really seeing the suspicious look in Pale's eyelights.

Nightmare stood still as Dream approached, wondering what he was gonna do to him. He'd never seen his brother so... sad before. A spark of hope ran through him. Maybe Dream has had a change of heart, and doesn't want to eliminate him anymore! Or....

He's found a way to kill him.

'Oh god, he's gonna kill me!' he thought, backing away as Dream came closer. His arms were tied behind his back with magical handcuffs, which were designed to be tracked if its victim were to escape. So, he was trapped, about to die, and his friends would have to watch. He always knew this day would come. His brother wanted to destroy every source of negativity in the multiverse, which would include Nightmare. Problem is, they cannot harm each other without harming themselves. So, Solar had been looking for ways to sever the link they shared, but so far, he'd been unsuccessful. Now, though...

Nightmare turned his head away and closed his eyes, knowing he shouldn't try to delay the inevitable. He held his breath and trembled in fear, waiting for Dream's sword to bury itself in his chest.

Dream felt unbearable guilt as Nightmare cowered before him. Nightmare was scared! Of him! The overwhelming fear was almost enough to make Dream sick, and the sadness he'd felt when he saw Nightmare doubled in intensity. He knelt down to the short skeleton's height, much to the shock to everyone else in the room, and gently pulled him into a hug.

Nightmare stiffened in shock, feeling large, strong arms engulfing him. He opened his eyes and looked at Dream, confused and scared.
"D-Dream?"

"I'm sorry, Nightmare. I-I didn't mean to scare you."
Dream's voice cracked, and Nightmare cringed from how painful it sounded.

"Are-are you crying?!"

Dream pulled away and wiped his eyesockets. He sniffed, smiling at Nightmare.
"I-I guess I am, heh."

"P-please don't cry, Dream. Cuz when you cry, I cry, and I don't like seeing you sad, and you should be happy, and-and..."

"It's alright, Nightmare."
Dream removed the handcuffs and hugged his now crying brother again. Nightmare hugged back, very relieved that he wasn't going to die. Still, he was suspicious about why Dream was acting like this. Normally, he kept a calm, dignified composure, and wouldn't let anything or anyone tarnish his public appearance. This was very unlike him.

Pulling away from Dream, Nightmare glared at him, sniffling and wiping the tears away.
"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?"

"....I'm just glad you're back, that's all."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh, well I-"

"Something's wrong, here. You aren't acting normal, Dream."

Dream sighed and stood up. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find the words to explain his situation.
"W-well, you see, um... uh...."

"Quick question, who am I?"

"You're my brother?"

"Who are they?"
He pointed to his friends.

"Cross and.... Template?"

"Who's Ani?"

"......Who?"

"AHA! WE HAVE AN IMPOSTER IN OUR MIDST! THERE IS NO WAY MY BROTHER WOULD EVER FORGET THE PERSON HE FELL IN LOVE WITH! SO WHO ARE YOU???!!!"
Nightmare summoned his staff and pointed it at Dream.

(Nights: We got a Code Simp, boys.
Me: Lock 'em up!)

Dream held his hands up in surrender.
"You're right, but I don't know how I got here, or how to get back to normal. If my hunch is right, your brother is in my body, because I am in his. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling a certain ally of mine is behind this. Baron's probably very amused by our situation, and he and the others are most likely laughing at us."

"Who's Baron?"

"He and his friends were allies of mine in our fight against-!"
He gasped, his eyesockets widening.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh stars, I have to find Ink! Even with your brother, he's outnumbered against Nightmare-"

"Waaaaaaait a second. If you also go by the name Dream, and your brother goes by the name Nightmare, does that mean he's a different version of me?!"

"I believe so, but I don't have time to explain. He could be doing something horrible by now, and Ink can't stop him on his own. I have to go find them."

"Can I come, too? If my brother is out there, I wanna bring him home."

"Of course! I need all the help I can get!"

Nightmare went over to Cross and Template to uncuff their hands.

"Are you sure about this, Nightmare? He could be tricking us," Cross whispered, glaring at Dream.

"Of course I'm sure!" Nightmare whispered back. "This is my brother we're talking about! He has never lied to me, not even to lure me into a trap. Besides, he had us right where he wanted us, so it doesn't make any sense to let us go. So don't question me!"

"But-"

"As your leader, I say we follow Dream! So, do as I say!"

"Ugh, fine! Ya don't have to be so bossy!" Cross glanced at Template, then back at Nightmare.
"If it will satisfy you, then let's get this over with."

"Yay!"
Nightmare jumped to hug Cross, but pulled away quickly, blushing the same hue of purple that Cross was. He cleared his throat and shyly looked towards Dream. The tall skeleton had such a bright smile on his face, you might've needed sunglasses to look at him. This caused Nightmare's blush to deepen, and he glared over at Template when he heard snickering. The artist cleared his throat and whistled, trying to divert attention away from himself. Nightmare rolled his eyelights and walked over to Dream. The positive guardian chuckled, then made a portal. He, Nightmare, Cross, Template, and Pale left through it, leaving the guards to process what just happened.

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BaRk! I'm So TiReD rIgHt NoW, yEt I sEeM tO sTiLl HaVe EnOuGh BrAiNcElLs To WrItE lIkE tHiS!
:P

HoPe YoU eNjOyEd ThE sHoW, gOoD mOrNiGhT!!!