#The whole getting more frantic and dripping more goop out of his sockets until he either goes up a stage or somebody agrees with him

[somegrumpynerd]

GDIUVFKSJBVLJBJLSBNKS DREAM'S FACE ARE YOU OKAY DUDE???

Actually it turns out I had more thoughts about that post that I forgot about lol

Would Nightmare actually give up his boys? Yes and no

If it was just a black and white situation of they're miserable, they don't wanna be here, they have somewhere better to be, then yes. He would leave them out to wherever they needed to be despite his own feelings and very quickly realise afterwards just how much he'd gotten used to the noise and company. I think he would get a little clingy with Dream about it, which I'm sure Dream would find very weird after everything but not unwelcome, he did miss his brother after all.

(If he couldn't attach himself to Dream's side for whatever reason, I think he might just sit in his castle and go insane. Or maybe he'd just spend all day at Ccino's trying really hard to project that he just likes the atmosphere and isn't lonely as hell)

But the thing is, most of them don't have somewhere better to be. Horror has his au, and Nightmare would keep up the supply of food even if Horror said he wanted to quit at this point, so he would understandably let him return home. Killer, Dust and Cross effectively don't have aus anymore though, and they tend to get into self-destructive habits when they're left to their own devices. (Obviously bringing Color and Epic into the mix to make sure Killer and Cross are taken care of eases matters, but Dust doesn't really have any friends outside their group he could go stay with - that Nightmare knows about at least).

The flipside of this is that his boys may not necessarily want to be given up. I think if Nightmare got really in his head about this he could easily end up convinced this is the right thing to do without ever asking them if it's what they want, with potentially terrible results. He's established such a pattern of always returning to find Killer when they get seperated, that if he never showed up Killer might just keep sitting there and waiting for him greyfriar's bobby style, refusing to leave because he's certain his boss is coming back.

[lover-of-skellies]

And Then There Was One

a blurb I wrote for adult!Mal, inspired by this epic cover version of “The Final Countdown” that I found on youtube :P

Her eye lights scanned the area around her once more, taking in the cracked earth, toppled buildings, and destruction. The smoke. The blood. The monster dust. The smell of death hung in the air around her, and she made a face, disgusted. From the other side of the makeshift battle field, the guardian of negativity watched her, visibly amused at the position she’d been left in. To her right, Necro’s body laid broken on the ground, his eye lights extinguished as Zerif clutched him to his chest, ignoring his own injuries as he frantically tried to heal those of his partner, lime green tears dripping down his face. To her left, Lucky was on the ground as well, lying on his side. He wasn’t moving and there were no signs of his eye lights returning anytime soon, but at least he hadn’t begun turning to dust yet.

Ink’s body was also lying nearby, beaten down and broken into multiple pieces in a puddle of black ink. Dream laid near him, just barely conscious and unable to move. Template was nowhere in sight, though his pen had been broken in half and was carelessly tossed aside. His glasses were also broken, their lenses cracked horribly as they rested not far from the broken pen. 

Nightmare’s side had also sustained casualties though as well; Axe had been knocked aside, hitting his head in the process and falling limp. Asy was also lying on the ground, his straitjacket coated by a thin layer of dust and clear stains from both grass and blood. Dust had also been taken out; he was still conscious, but much like Dream, he couldn’t move. Not a single inch. Killer was still very much present and able to fight, minus the fact that he’d managed to lose an arm, and half of his skull was cracked. While Error casually perched on a tree branch to watch the battle until it was deemed necessary for him to get involved, Nightmare himself stood, his hands in his jacket pockets as he narrowed his one visible socket and arched a single brow bone, silently challenging Mal to continue fighting. He’d known her since she was just a mere child, so of course he was confident that there was nothing she could do to surprise him.

The female skeleton in question stood, her body rigid as she curled her hands down into fists by her sides, narrowing her sockets and sporting a look of sheer hatred and resentment as she gazed back and the goop covered guardian, his eye lights also briefly flickering back and forth between Error and Killer as well. A bead of blue tinted sweat slowly rolled down the side of her face as she let out a deep breath, her chest feeling heavy as she called out to her last remaining companion, “...Fresh. I’ve got one last thing I need your help with.”

A portal opened behind her and the nineties nightmare peered through it. He was immediately aware of the numerous bodies scattered along the field, but chose to ignore them in favor of responding to his friend, “Yeah, Sparky? Whatcha need?” Mal felt a pang of regret course through her and she frowned, “I need you to take them to Geno. Then from there, I want them taken to ReaperTale. They should be safe there, right?” Fresh tilted his head, also frowning once the realization dawned on him, “For a while, yeah. Don’t tell me you’re gonna do what I think you are though. Please. You have them ta think about too, ya know? I’m not good w’kids or anythin’ either, an’ I don’t wanna have ta explain ta them where their ma is when ya don’t come back from this.” Mal scoffed, glancing over her shoulder to shoot a glare in his direction, “If you really think I plan on dying here, you’re an idiot.”

From within the portal, two small voices could be heard, “Mom?” “Mommy, is that you?” Mal’s expression softened as she looked back at the portal, a human child with golden blonde hair peeking at her from behind Fresh while a second child, a small, rather fragile skeleton, darted through the portal to cling to her. Immediately kneeling on the ground and wrapping her arm around the child, she pressed a kiss to the top of their skull before looking to the second child and offering him a sad smile, extending a hand to him, “Come here, Avalon. I need to tell you something.” Though he was nervous, the child did as he was asked, stepping through the portal and going to his mother, now also clinging to her. 

Mal pressed another kiss to the second child’s head, sighing softly as she began speaking softly to both of them, “Things… might not look too good right now. For anyone. But I promise you, everything will be ok again soon. I’ll come get you, then we can all go home. For now though, I need you to go with Fresh. He’s going to take you to see Geno, then the four of you are gonna go on a trip together. Somewhere new that you haven’t been before.” Avalon tightened his grip on her shirt ever so slightly, his voice cracking, “You promise you’re gonna be ok, mama?” She offered him a reassuring smile, gently ruffling his hair, “Yes, Lonnie, I promise. Here,” she paused, holding up a fist with only her pinky still held straight, “should we make it a pinky promise? Would that be better?” Smiling slightly, Avalon lifted a hand, wrapping his pinky around hers to complete the promise, “Uh huh.” 

She laughed softly, hugging him a hair bit tighter before sighing, “You’re a good kid, you know that? Always so strong and brave, always such a big helper.” The child smiled at the praises, trying to snuggle even closer to her, and with a heavy heart, she continued after a brief moment of silence, “I love you, ok? So, so much… with my whole soul. I will come for you once this is over.” Feeling him tighten his grip on her again, she hummed, gently pulling back from him just enough to delicately cup his face as she met his gaze, giving him another smile in hopes of offering even a little reassurance, “Hey, everything will be ok, I promise. Have I ever lied to you before?” Avalon shook his head, his voice soft, “No, I don’t think so.” Mal chuckled, leaning slightly closer to whisper to him, “Exactly. Now, go back to Fresh. If you get scared, him and Geno will be there for you, ok?”

The child nodded, leaning closer to kiss his adoptive mother’s cheekbone, “Ok… I love you, mama.” The skeleton felt tears prick at the edge of her sockets, but in fear of upsetting her child, she blinked them back, forcing out another smile as she sighed, “I love you too, Avalon. And I always will.” Avalon, though very clearly reluctant to part from her, slipped from her grasp, and she watched him as he slipped back through the portal and clung to Fresh’s jacket.

She turned her attention back to the first child, offering them a soft smile and mumbling, “And then there was one.” The skeleton child smiled weakly, one of their eye lights shifting into the shape of a tear drop. Seeing the familiar shape, Mal’s smile became a frown and she gently touched their face, stroking their cheekbone with her thumb and whispering, “Baby, hey… don’t look at me like that. Everything will be ok, I promise. I swear on my soul, even, that things’ll go back to normal soon. We just have to be patient.” The child frowned, their gaze flickering over to where the three remaining enemies stood, before looking back at their mother, “Mom?... How do you know it’ll be ok?... Everything… Everything here doesn’t look like it’ll ever get better.” Mal hummed, smiling weakly, “I just do, I guess. You could even say I feel it in my bones.”

The child snorted, trying to hide a small smile, and Mal tilted her head, feeling a tad bit more at ease now. The magic shifted in the air and she froze, looking up to see Killer beginning to approach her and her child, his knife drawn. She was immediately on her feet at that, one arm protectively nudging her child behind herself as she glared at Killer, her sockets narrows as she frowned, “Killer, back the hell off right now. You are not to get any closer to my kid and I.” The skeleton arched a brow bone and chuckled, a black tar-like substance dripping down his face as he smirked, “Yeah? And just what are you gonna do to stop me?” Scoffing at the arrogance in his tone, she used her free hand, touching her fingertips to the edge of one of her sockets and producing blue threads. 

With a flick of her wrist, the threads were quick to shoot toward Killer. Despite only having one arm, he sliced through them and continued on toward her, and she hissed, “Last chance, shit for brains. Back off, and maybe I’ll be nice about how I kill you.” He continued on toward her, his head tilting again in interest as the child peeked out from behind Mal, their sockets widened in fear. Seeing the look they wore, Killer grinned widely, “That’s a cute kid you got there, Mal. I’m a little hurt that you haven’t introduced me to them yet.” Mal took a single step back, her child following her movements. As red magic surrounded the child’s soul, one of their eye lights shifted into an exclamation mark and they called out, their tone soaked with alarm, “Mom?! Mom, what’s going on?” 

Glancing back and seeing Killer’s magic enveloping her child’s soul, Mal’s eyes briefly widened in fear before they narrowed and her eye lights extinguished. Whirling around to face Killer again, her blue threads gradually became a vibrant shade of crimson and shot toward him, and she roared, “DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY CHILD, YOU BASTARD.” Not expecting to see her threads become crimson, Killer momentarily froze, giving the threads just enough time to wrap around his neck vertebrae. And then he was soaring through the air, the threads searing hot as they cut into his neck. Mal’s child hid their face in her shirt as her threads released Killer, causing him to fly directly at Error, successfully knocking the black skeleton off his perch.

The crimson threads faded from view and Mal took a deep breath to calm herself before turning to face her child, removing her black and white striped scarf and draping it over their shoulders, offering them a sad smile, “You need to go, baby, it’s not safe here. I’ll come get you after this is over, I promise.” The child touched her scarf, pastel rainbow tinted tears pricking at their sockets as they whimpered, “Mom… you promise you’ll come back? You won’t die, right?...” As the tears began to roll down their cheekbones, Mal frowned, dark blue tears beginning to drip from hers before they transformed into more threads. She let out a shaky breath and hugged her child tightly, “I swear to you, Pastel, I won’t die. Not here, not to losers like these guys. As long as I have you waiting for me, I’ll always come back. I mean… that’s what moms do, right?” Pastel sniffled, their one eye light becoming the shape of a broken heart as they whimpered again, “Uh huh… I guess so.” 

She smiled weakly, kissing Pastel’s face and mumbling to them, “I love you so much, ok?... You and your brother are my whole world.” Pastel nodded, rubbing at their sockets with the back of their hand, “I love you too, mom… You’re so strong and cool. If you come back, can you show me how to be like you?” Mal sighed, chuckling softly, “Love, there’s no need for that. You’re already as strong and cool as me. Maybe even more. Now, you gotta get going. When you see Geno, give him a hug for me, ok? And if it makes you feel any better, you can tell Reaper that your mom’s gonna come kick his butt later, too.” Unable to help it, Pastel pressed a hand over their mouth and giggled, earning an affectionate smile from Mal. Though she really didn’t want to, she parted from her child and gently nudged them toward the portal. Fortunately, they went without any sort of argument or hesitation, and as the portal closed behind them, she let out a sigh of relief.

Now that her children were gone, she could finally focus her attention on Error and Nightmare. Judging by Killer’s position on the ground, she guessed that he wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon… or ever again, for that matter.

Nightmare and Error looked at each other, seeming to communicate in silence, and Mal watched them intently, her threads at the ready. Whatever they planned to throw at her, she’d be ready. 

Error’s body glitched and he vanished from sight, reappearing only a matter of feet away from her, his own blue threads drawn. Mal instinctively took a step back and used her threads to block an attack, and Error raised a single brow bone, deciding to question her, “You’re really gonna entrust your disgusting little glitches to that parasite? Geez, and here I thought you were smarter than that. You know, Nightmare’s good with kids. You would’ve been better off handing them over to us.” Mal let out a low growl, blocking another attack, “Like hell I’d ever do that. Fresh might be a parasite, but he’s still a better choice than two dudes with a massive little dick complex.” 

Error flinched, suddenly scowling at her, “Yeah? And just what does that mean?” Seeing that she’d provoked a reaction from the black skeleton, Mal smirked, “Come on, do I really have to spell it out for you? It means exactly what you think it does.” The elder of the two frowned, letting out a startled yelp as a row of scarlet bones whizzed past him, grazing the side of his skull. In the split second that his attention had shifted to the scarlet bones, Mal’s body glitched heavily as her threads grasped the tree he’d just been resting at, and proceeded to uproot it. The tree toppled over, and seeing the it was heading right for him, Error’s frown shifted into an amused grin, his threads slicing through its trunk with ease. He turned and shot more thread at Mal, and remembering how he’d essentially threatened her children, she narrowed her sockets at him

Her blue threads intercepted his attack, wrapping around his to form a large knot. Seeing that his threads had been caught, Error froze, unsure what to do. Mal’s gaze darkened as she offered him an almost manic looking grin, “Oh yeah, that’s right… You’re haphephobic, aren’t you?” His sockets widened for a brief moment before narrowing as he scowled at her again, “Don’t you dare.” Eye lights constricted into the size of mere pin pricks, Mal’s smile widened further and she suddenly jerked Error forward. She focused the majority of her magic on one of her hands, clenching it into a fist, and once the black skeleton was close enough, she hissed, “Gotcha, glitch bitch.” Her fist struck the underside of his jaw, and even though it’d lasted no longer than a couple seconds, his sockets filled with errors and he fell backward, his body glitching heavily as he began to reboot. 

Riding the pleasant high she’d gotten from her small victory over Error, she failed to notice the goop covered guardian lash out with one of his tentacles. As it wound around one of her arms, she was suddenly flung to the side. Just when she thought she was able to right herself before she’d had the chance to take any damage, Nightmare appeared much closer to her, one hand snagging one of her wrists while two tendrils wrapped around her arm again. There was a loud crack and she screamed, crying out in pain, all of the magic she’d been using almost instantly vanishing from view. 

Nightmare released her, a sickening, malicious grin on his face as he carelessly tossed her arm aside. Her body trembling as she winced and began trying to get up again, she let out a broken sob, yelping as the corrupted guardian stood beside her and roughly shoved her back down, a tendril pinning her in place. As a second tendril began wrapping around her good arm, Nightmare tilted his head and purred, “Even after all these years, it looks like you haven’t gotten any stronger… What a damn shame that is. Since you seem to need your hands for all those fancy string tricks of yours, I think I’ll be ridding you of them now.” Mal released another choked out sob, her mind flickering back to her children. She cycled through more memories of them, and all of a sudden, Nightmare recoiled, his tentacle immediately releasing her. 

She was momentarily confused by this, but then the reason for his change in behavior became clear as day; her memories were positive, and had evoked positive feelings from her in turn. She’d hurt Nightmare without even doing anything. 

Sitting on and clutching her bare shoulder joint, she closed her eyes, a small smile settling on her face as she began cycling through more happy memories. Nightmare hissed, very rapidly becoming enraged as he shouted, “STOP THAT. WHATEVER YOU’RE DOING, STOP IT NOW.” She chose to ignore him, focusing on her memories again; back when she’d visited the human world and found Avalon, wrapped in dirty bath towels and alone, abandoned on the doorsteps of an orphanage. She remembered how eagerly he’d accepted her help despite their obvious differences, and how quickly he’d become attached to her. She recalled all the things they’d done together, her smile slowly widening. As her memories slowly wandered to Pastel, Nightmare roared, a tendril lashing out at her again. She felt the rush of air, but the hit never actually came, and she opened her eyes, shocked to see Dream now standing up, completely healed.

Mal stared at him in disbelief, and he offered her a small smile, explaining softly, “Your positivity… was a lot more abundant that you thought, huh? It was enough to completely restore my HP and give me a bit of a boost.” She blinked, worry flickering in her gaze as she glanced back toward Error. Correcting her before she had the chance to panic and experience any negative feelings again, Dream cut in, continuing to speak, “Don’t worry. Error will be out for a while still, and as long as you think you could talk some sense into Zerif, the two of you could start healing the others. I already sent out a distress signal, and until our backup arrives, all we have to do is keep Nightmare busy. I can handle him on my own though, so you have nothing to worry about, I promise.” Mal let out a shaky breath, smiling up at him, “God, you’re so awesome sometimes, y’know that? If I was in better shape, I might actually kiss you.” 

A yellow blush dusted across Dream’s cheekbones and he laughed softly, smiling at her, “Yeah, there’s no need for that, I assure you. Just go to Zerif and get his head back in the game, and I’ll deal with Night, ok? You think you can do that?” Mal nodded, taking Dream’s hand as it was offered to her, and pulling herself up, “Yeah, I can do that, don’t even worry about it.” Dream made a soft sound of acknowledgement, watching to make sure she reached Zerif without any sort of difficulties before he returned his attention to Nightmare, who was very visibly feeling less than happy at the revelation that his brother was up and functioning again. Though Nightmare was tense and completely rigid with stress, Dream was almost completely relaxed; from here on out, it’d be pretty much the same old song and dance they’d had going throughout the years. Nothing new, and entirely too predictable. 

As soon as the backup arrived and all the casualties were dealt with, Mal would be able to return to her children. Dream was almost disappointed that he wouldn’t be there to see the reunion, because he already knew it’d be beautiful. More than likely full of tears, but still beautiful nonetheless.