Chapter Text
After all those apples he consumed, he was controlled by corruption. Once his own world was left in shambles, he turned his wrath to all the other worlds within his universe, reigning terror and all forms of negativity upon them. He was near unstoppable, but each act he did drained the excess power he had. With the excess gone, he tried ridding himself of the corruption. That was when he learned it was impossible. Instead, he found an equilibrium with the corruption. He turned it from a curse to a part of him. This was Nightmare now. He and the corruption were one.
With his own negativity under control, Nightmare no longer was rampaging over the multiverse. His rampage did win him some enemies, unfortunately. And not just from the previously peaceful AUs he left in turmoil. First, there was his brother, who was now free, bringing positivity everywhere he went while ignoring the needed balance of emotions. He never learns. Then there's the soulless wonder his brother stupidly formed an alliance with. Nightmare wouldn't trust Ink, even if Nightmare chose to be a "good guy." And then there was Error, a tragic figure who unknowingly fed Nightmare with his actions on plenty of occasions. But when Error destroys everything, that leaves little for Nightmare to feast on. The glitchy skeleton's goal to destroy the multiverse did not align with Nightmare's want to spread negativity to as many AUs as possible. Still, Ink and Dream were shared enemies. This led to tentative and short-lived alliances. These alliances involve watching their backs while expecting the other to betray them.
Lastly, there was Balance, a two toned Toriel from a fallen AU that no one remembers. He could both blame and thank her for the end of his corrupted rampage. She saw that his wrath was going too far and put a stop to his actions more times then he could count. That being said, her current inactivity while his brother spread positivity everywhere was annoying him. There is such a thing as too much positivity.
Nightmare needed peace from them and all the others that would cross the multiverse; they seemed set on just giving him a headache. So, he used his powers to rip the castle from a Renaissance-themed AU that Error had been destroying. He then hid it far on the outskirts of the multiverse, so far that it was hardly connected anymore. There he lived for a long time, venturing out to spread and feed on negativity, collect artifacts and furniture for his home, and… because it was honestly lonely.
Dream and Ink picked up a follower, Blue, and became an increasingly significant pain. Nightmare could hardly leave his castle before those three would show up. So, one night, he decided he needed a henchman. Someone to help him spread misery while also watching each other's backs for the… ugh… Star Sanses.
Honestly, his brother was terrible at naming things.
He chose Killer, a very unhinged Sans who was incredibly effective and enthusiastic. Too much so, Nightmare soon found out. The man had the energy of a child with a matching maturity level. If Nightmare didn't have daily missions, Killer came up when his own, and none of them left the negativity guardian without a headache.
One evening he heard this repeated thumping noise from the kitchen. Curious, he investigated to find Killer sitting at the island counter (which Nightmare painstakingly selected while refurbishing a room to a smaller, more convenient kitchen than the giant, archaic one in the basement). The skeleton was stabbing his knife repeatedly into the wooden surface. As terrible as that was, the part that made it worse was that his own hand was laying flat out on the surface, fingers spread, as he stabbed as quickly as he could between each finger. Cuts on the man's fingers showed he had not always been successful at missing those thin bones; and, that somehow didn't deter him from continuing.
Nightmare was not about to let a henchman of his lose his fingers out of BOREDOM!
A tentacle quickly grabbed the knife hand, holding it so high up that the Sans had to stand from his seat on the stool. Killer looked from the tentacle to the dark skeleton holding his hand up in the air. A grin grew across his face, "hey, boss!"
"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!" Nightmare finally exploded out in rage. His voice took on an echoing effect that was haunting as he yelled. It startled Killer as his grin faded while he stared with his empty sockets at the guardian of negativity.
"Well? I expect an answer! What were you doing?" Nightmare snapped, filling the silence that fell between them as his temper was still flared. It was not common for Killer to be left speechless. Had the Sans not been doing something so idiotic, Nightmare might have felt smug, shutting him up for once.
The look Killer gave him could only be explained as confusion. Killer turned his head upward, looking at the knife before looking back at Nightmare, "uh… playing a game?"
Nightmare let out a long, tired sigh. Truly, he had let a wild beast into his castle! That was the only explanation he could think of for all the damage and blatant disregard for personal safety. Still, he should calm himself down before continuing. As he spoke, his voice was calm and normal sounding, "I, your boss, do not approve of this game. Or any other game that has consequences that may result in maiming you. Is that understood?"
"ah, come on, boss, i'd only get hurt if i miss. it's like a target training game," Killer chuckled, and Nightmare was again seething with anger.
"Killer, let go of the knife," Nightmare said flatly.
Killer laughed and shook his head, "yeah, okay, boss, i get it. no more games like that." But he had too calm, too playful of an expression for Nightmare to believe he was being taken seriously.
"I said, let go of the knife."
Panic
Nightmare could feel the negative emotion seeping off the generally emotionless skeleton. Killer tightened his grip on the knife and offered a half-hearted grin. "boss, come on, this is my emotional support knife. if i don't have it-"
"NOW, KILLER! Let go of the knife, NOW!" Nightmare yelled, and the skeleton quickly let go.
"yes, boss." Killer replied as Nightmare pulled the knife to himself.
The Sans watched the knife carefully as if Nightmare might choose to destroy the weapon at any moment. But no, he knew the murderer had an attachment to this thing. When Nightmare took Killer in, he knew it would be abnormal conditions. He was a henchman… he worked for Nightmare for his room, food, and anything he might request of his boss that was within reason. Nightmare did not take lightly taking something away from Killer; his goal was for this to be a place for his followers to relax and be safe. But he can't be safe if what he does is unsafe. So, Nightmare turned to leave, taking the knife with him.
Within seconds, Killer was trailing behind like a puppy wanting his toy back. No sooner did Nightmare think of that analogy, Killer spoke up, his voice nearly whining, "uh, boss? can i have it back?"
"You can, when you prove to me you will only use it to harm my enemies and not yourself," Nightmare explained.
"what if i just promise to do that?" Killer asked, grinning away, hoping that he could right this wrong.
Nightmare paused and turned to the skeleton, his one eye narrowing, "Killer, listen to me very carefully." The Sans stopped and saluted playfully, but he seemed to be doing his best to pay close attention. The dark skeleton took a deep breath and spoke calmly, "actions will always say more than words. Remember that and prove to me that it is safe for you to have this."
He did, eventually, by keeping the trouble he got into safe for himself. The castle… not so much. But a castle is far easier to repair than a henchman. Still, the trouble Killer did get into was aggravating for the dark skeleton. Granted, Nightmare was impressed by his developing handyman skills from repairing the damages. Killer needed someone to help him keep his destructive energy under control. And that's when Nightmare talked Dust into joining him.
That didn't go over well at all.
The two immediately hated each other. Dust saw Killer's reasoning for killing everyone as selfish and despised him for killing in sometimes torturous ways. He didn't care if the situation was beyond Killer's choice. Dust was more… direct, to the point, when it came to killing, and didn't kill if he felt it wasn't needed. The skeleton was also very apathetic and self-loathing about what he did. Killer routinely poked at that, seeing it as a weakness to be exploited. Truth be told, Nightmare was sure the anger towards each other was fueled by their inner hatred. They simply saw themselves in the other. He could feel their internalized self-hatred flow out into disgust for one another.
He separated the two more times than he could count so they didn't kill each other. Does he dare try again by bringing in another? Nightmare did discover a need for someone else. Killer was too "busy" to remember to eat or eat well. Something that Nightmare, who doesn't need to eat food, failed to notice before. It was Dust who inadvertently brought it to his attention.
Dust, on his worst days, would just not eat. On one of those days, Nightmare was in his office, working on the schedule for the week. Dust was just sitting in the corner of the office. He had been mumbling to… technically himself, but he fully believed it was his brother. Hours ticked by before Nightmare realized it was ten at night, and Dust had shuffled in at eight in the morning. This meant 1) Killer had been unsupervised all day, and had likely broken something; and 2) Dust hadn't eaten anything all day, as he doubted the Sans bothered to eat breakfast before sulking in the corner.
"Dust," Nightmare looked up and saw his second henchman stiffen upon hearing his name. He didn't respond, though, which did annoy Nightmare. "Dust, as my subordinate, you will answer when I say your name," he said in a more firm tone.
The Sans didn't look at him but said, "ok."
Well… that was better than nothing. But Nightmare was going to have to work on this one. Killer was quick to fall into the role, though he likely thought of it as a game. Dust, though calmer and more serious, lacked etiquette skills.
"When did you last eat?"
There was a pause, followed by a shrug. Nightmare rubbed his temple with a tendril, trying to maintain some level of patience. "I am expecting an actual answer, Dust."
"ok, well, i dunno," the Sans shrugged again.
"You do not know? As if you do not remember how long it was since you last ate? Or you know it has been long enough that I would be mad if I found out?" Nightmare stood and moved closer to Dust, tendrils twitching in annoyance. He disliked that the skeleton's face was hidden from him by his hood and tried to move where he could see the skeleton's expression. Clearly wanting to remain hidden, Dust pulled the hood further down over his face. "I made it clear that you are to keep yourself strong and healthy. You never know when I will have a mission for you."
worry…
"…ok…" Dust replied, and Nightmare had it. A tentacle lashed forward, wrapping around the Sans' middle, and lifted him in the air with a startled yelp. He barely struggled, though… he didn't have the energy to, which angered Nightmare more.
FEAR!
"That was not an appropriate response to what I said. I want answers, and you will supply me with them. Is that clear? " The skeleton nodded. This was the first time he was using that voice on his second subordinate, and Dust the fear he had was unignorable. Still, Dust's lack of verbal communication got on the dark skeleton's nerves. Nightmare shook his skull. " Speak, you can talk! I hear you and Killer argue enough to know that you can string a sentence together. Even when feeling some form of distress! And you have seen how Killer responds when I am serious, so you know how to properly talk to me."
"yes, boss… it was clear," Dust finally said.
fear…
Dust was still scared, but not to the point of before. Good. Nightmare looked the other in the eye sockets and frowned as he spoke, "Your eye lights are dim, and you barely have any strength. If I sent you out now, I would be sending out a walking pile of dust." Nightmare closed his eye, took a deep breath, and started again. "Which was it? Do you honestly not remember when you last ate or were you fearing my wrath?"
Dust looked away, contemplation on his face. He then looked back and shrugged, "both, i guess… boss."
Nightmare sighed and set him down. "You got my wrath, regardless."
"heh… yeah, i did," Dust looked at the floor like a child being scolded.
"Here… I have some snack foods…," Nightmare said as he looked at the candy dish on his desk.
He had set it out to encourage Killer to come to talk to him over seeking destructive activities. Candy was not Killer's thing, though. He'd eaten one or two pieces because Nightmare insisted and was done with it. Once Nightmare added small chip bags and other snack foods, he started to get daily visits from the other skeleton… though strictly for the snacks. It looked like Killer had already grabbed them all. The candy was all still there; and, with some mental gymnastics, he could argue that the chocolate and peanut butter candies had some nutritional value. He grabbed one out and gave it to Dust. "Eat. I know it's not snack food, but it's at least something."
"ok," he said. Under Nightmare's glare, Dust did add, "boss."
The dark skeleton turned back to his work with a sigh, wondering just what he was supposed to do. An interesting increase of positive emotion caught his attention, and Nightmare looked at Dust from the corner of his eye. The candy perked him up. Noted: Killer likes salty snacks, and Dust is fond of sweet things. He reached into the bowl with one tentacle, grabbed a few more candies, and dropped them on Dust's skull. The act got a soft chuckle from the depressed lump, which was better than him sulking there.
Was it too much to ask for them to cause misery to others and not themselves?
Once done with his work, Nightmare slipped a tendril around Dust, cocooning him up so he won't have to expend energy to walk to the kitchen. As he made his way down the hall, carrying the other along, Nightmare sighed. "I can not believe I am making sure a grown man eats something."
"heh, sorry, boss," Dust replied. That's improved, at least.
Just as they were about to enter the kitchen, Killer approached, and… what did he get into. There was blood on the front of him, and he had that mischievous grin that told Nightmare he was not going to be happy with what he found. Nightmare took a deep breath as he glared at the target souled skeleton. "Killer… while I am curious about what you have been doing, I first want to know when you last ate."
"easy, boss, about 9 pm, or uh, 2100, since you want us using that way to tell time," Killer stood tall, showing a far different personality than the one he just dealt with.
"I see, and what did you eat?" Nightmare asked. At least one of his subordinates was eating.
"popcorn, boss!" He replied in a pleased tone.
"Ah…" So Killer had a snack after dinner. "What did you eat for your evening meal?"
There was a pause as Killer tilted his head, "that was my dinner, boss."
Nightmare felt his temper flare again, but he bit down his rage and pointed to the kitchen. "Now! I want you sitting at the table, and don't you dare try to slink off!"
"sure thing, boss," Killer shrugged and walked into the kitchen but glanced back at Dust. "geesh, dude, what'd you do to tick him off this bad?"
"nothing," Dust replied as Nightmare set him in a chair at the small table in the corner of the room.
Killer sat down as he continued to ask, "he doesn't get this short-tempered over nothing. i should know, so whatcha do?"
"Nothing, he did literally nothing all day. So, now I have to make sure he eats as if he were a young child. And you, Killer, should also know better by now and eat three healthy meals a day."
Nightmare dug out some ingredients to make something simple… sandwiches, perhaps? That's easy and requires no cooking and minor clean-up. He just wants to feed these two idiots and get them to bed. Now… side dishes with the sandwiches… Considering Killer has probably only eaten chips and basic snack foods all day, he should make them a salad…
"what were you doing?" The nearly silent Sans spoke. Naturally, it was to Killer. And, naturally, there was the 'i'm not going to like the answer at all' tone in his voice.
"redecorating," Killer replied with a chipper tone that could rival Nightmare's brother.
"And, pray tell, which room of my castle did you feel required redecoration?" Nightmare didn't even mask his annoyed tone, and he feared what he would find later.
"dust's room."
He didn't need to hear the scraping of chairs to know he had to react. When Killer finished saying Dust's name, Nightmare knew he had only seconds to do something to keep those two from trying to kill each other. If he had to put his money on one of them, he knew Killer would be the winner. Even though his food choices left much to be desired, he at least had something to eat. Dust might have had that candy Nightmare gave him, but he was still lacking greatly. The unevenness of any fight between them was no more evident by the struggle he felt as his tentacles wrapped around the both of them. Killer squirmed at first until he noticed who had him. Once he knew he was in Nightmare's grasp, he sighed and called Nightmare a "killjoy." Like in the office, Dust could barely put up a fight.
So… now what? Dust was staring down Killer with a maniacal 'i'm going to kill you' grin, and Killer's target soul was wiggling around far too erratically to be safe. He couldn't just put them down. With a sigh, he just held them in his tentacles as he made the sandwiches.
"hey, uh, boss?" Killer asked.
"Yes, Killer?" Nightmare replied as he started the salad.
"you going to put us down?" Killer asked.
Nightmare glanced at Killer, noticing his soul was still twitching. Not as much as before, but he was still dangerous at this point. "Now, why would I do that?" Nightmare said as he looked back at the salad. "I have not seen you all day. Did you not think I might have missed you and our oh-so-wonderful quality time we share?"
"you're still mad, aren't cha?" The grin on his face could be heard in his tone of voice.
Nightmare glared at his subordinate, pointing the knife he was using to cut up celery with at the ooze leaking Sans. "Of course, I am still mad. Look at you two! You are supposed to be my henchmen. Instead, you both are trying to kill each other daily while neglecting yourselves and destroying all I own! Why would I not be angry?!"
art provided by: Oddi
Killer was still grinning, but Nightmare could see something different about him. A silent compilation as if considering that maybe he went too far this time? Or perhaps he needed to burp. Nightmare never knew with that one. He was startled, though, as a calmer voice interrupted his anger.
"sorry, boss."
Nightmare blinked, looking at Dust, who stared at him with a calmer expression than what he was wearing earlier. To say the least, the dark skeleton was impressed. An actual apology. "I forgive you, now wait at the table; I am almost done." He lowered Dust down, so he was standing before letting him loose.
"h-hey! how come you let him go?" Killer argued, "i'm the one who asked!"
"Think about it," Nightmare stated flatly as he cut up some fruit.
If he did think about it, Killer never reached a conclusion or did not want to follow what the conclusion was. Whatever the case, by the time Nightmare had two plates ready, Killer had finally calmed down. He placed the more rambunctious of his henchmen in a chair before handing them both their plates. After sitting down, he pulled a book out of his inventory and started to read. Both ate ravenously, Killer right away, and Dust once he began to eat and noticed that he was, indeed, hungry.
But this was definitely a problem. One that will need to be fixed… along with what was Dust's room. Nightmare had investigated Killer's handiwork and opted to put Dust in a different room. Luckily, the more depressed skeleton was only fond of the red scarf he always wore. Dust didn't care that he had lost all his other possessions. This made the idea of bringing yet another unhinged person into this castle something Nightmare was not looking forward to. Still, he felt like he had no real choice at this point. So, he bit the preverbal bullet and went to a HorrorTale AU.
It wasn't too hard to convince Horror to join him. All he had to do was promise to supply the AU with food and allow him time off to visit his brother weekly. "I just have one main request. Though there will be missions that I will want you to join, you must make sure the other two idiots you will be working with eat… and eat healthy meals. Do you think you can handle that?"
"yeah, sure, sounds easy enough," Horror shrugged with the same relaxed grin he had grown used to seeing with these less than sane Sanses.
"Good."
That day he called Dust and Killer to his office. The two walked in… glaring at each other. Good timing; it looks like they were about to have another fight. Nightmare sat at his desk, arms crossed, tendrils shifting slowly behind him in a passive mode. One of the tentacles moved to indicate Horror, standing beside him. The two turned their attention to Horror. Killer looked like a cat who spotted a new mouse to play with. On the other hand, Dust looked as disinterested in Horror as he was in everything else in his life.
"This is your new partner, Horror. He is from an AU undergoing a tragic famine that had been a source of suffering for the residents of the AU for years." Nightmare looked at Horror and gestured for him to join the others in line in front of him. "As I was giving him the assignment to maintain everyone's diet and general well-being… I realized your misbehaviors may be the result of idleness. When you don't have missions, my instructions are vague. So, you two will also have your own responsibilities from here on out."
"aaawwww, you mean we have to do work?" Killer moaned, folding his arms and pouted as much as a skeleton without the usual physical requirements to pout could. He may be an adult, but at times like this, he was no different than a child. Needless to say, the look Nightmare gave him was anything but amused.
"seems fair," Dust shrugged, showing the same disinterest he had since he stopped glaring at Killer. Nightmare then noticed the hoodied Sans had, at some point, opted to put himself on the other side of Horror. This put the larger of the three between the two bickering ones. Clever, but annoying. It had been months now, and he had hoped the two would be able to at least stand next to each other.
Those two … Nightmare sighed. "Yes, you have to do work. You've always had work to do, but I left it up to the both of you to do it on your own. Clearly, you failed to understand that concept, so now your work will be assigned to ensure it does, indeed, get done. I am leaving Horror in charge of everyone's general physical well-being. That does not mean he needs to cook every meal. But ensuring there is a meal plan, knowing who is responsible for cooking, and who is responsible for cleaning. As well as making sure meals are well balanced, are all up to him."
He then looked at Killer and then Dust. "As for you two… Both of you will come to me weekly and get a list of chores I expect to be done by the end of the week. During that time, I also expect a report on the previous week's chores. Between the two of you, you will sort out which will be made into team-building activities and which will be individual training activities. Killer, you are in charge of team-building activities. There must be at least one each week. Again, I expect a full report on how these are going and the cohesiveness of the team."
"heh, that actually sounds fun," Killer said, rubbing his hands together as that black substance oozed from his sockets. "thanks, boss."
"Dust, I expect you to figure out who needs to do what. If you feel it is necessary to increase the training capability of the chore, assign rules on how it is to be done. I figure you can handle that. Just like with Killer, I expect a report on this progress."
"ok, boss." Dust nodded.
"aw, c'mon, boss! he's going to give me all the hard stuff!" Killer moaned.
Dust sighed and glared around Horror at Killer. "of course i am. just as i will assign what is hard for horror to do to him and what is hard for me, i will assign to myself. it's supposed to be training."
Nightmare smiled, pleased that Dust understood. "Exactly," He looked at Killer, "do not go easy on yourself or the others with the team-building exercises." Nightmare stood and walked around his desk; it was time to get serious. "Up until now, the missions have been easy. You have not encountered my brother, the insane artist, or, that do-gooder, Blue. Blue is the weakest of the three, but I have seen each of you fight well enough to know none of you could match him in combat at this time. He trains daily and has been keeping up with the likes of Ink and Dream for years. As for Error… none of you are ready to face him, and it is only a matter of time before you see him. At this point, I do not care how intrigued you are to test your skills. You are to flee if you see Error. Is that understood?"
"sure thing, boss," Horror stated.
"ok, boss," Dust seconded.
"not even a little bit of fun?" Killer asked, and Nightmare lashed out. A tendril smashed into the overly confident skeleton, pushing him back into the wall of the office with great force. Both Horror and Dust backed up, eye sockets wide, as they saw Killer struggling under the pressure he was being held with.
"Right now, I am not even trying, and I have faced Error on multiple occasions. He is stronger than me, but due to my wit, i have always ended each fight in a draw. Each and every time. IF YOU CAN NOT EVEN GET YOURSELF FREE FROM SUCH A BASIC ATTACK AS MINE, WHEN I AM SHOWING YOU MERCY, YOU WILL BE DEAD WITHIN SECONDS OF FACING ERROR! Or worse." Nightmare frowned before releasing Killer. That seemed to do the trick as the skeleton lost the cocky expression.
"i get it now, boss…," Killer responded.
"what do you mean by worse?" Dust asked, and Nightmare looked at him. He had been becoming more and more impressed with his thought process. While Killer has the leadership skills needed, Dust has his own qualities that could put him in charge when Killer was not there to lead.
"Error has a way of binding one's soul and manipulating them into doing as he wishes, including fighting for him. I witnessed him make another SwapSans fight his brother… tragic. Still, the misery they felt was rather… delicious in its own right." Nightmare then looked at the three, his tentacles back to idling waving in a calm way behind him. "The missions will soon be harder… I need you all prepared for that and to take this seriously. I will always do my best to keep you three safe, but you are to be my henchmen. That means I expect you to be able to hold your own and pull your own weight."
"yes, boss," Dust replied.
"all for that, boss," Horror agreed.
"sounds like things are about to get fun, boss," Killer grinned.