Chapter Text
Thunder roared as rain poured out from dark clouds overcasting the night sky. The Omega Timeline was usually warm and sunny, though unfortunately tonight the AU had other plans. A cold front swept in throughout the night causing a harsh thunderstorm.
Dream had always been scared of thunder. No matter if it be under a tree with someone or all alone in one of many small houses. The little tipity taps of the rain soothed Dream up until another strike seemingly shook the world.
Sleep was scarce for the thin, scar tattered skeleton, so when it was offered up he’d gladly take it. Though, most of the time the actual sleep the guardian would get was little due to the bad dreams of the past resulting in Dream just laying still in the dark half awake.
Unfortunately, tonight was one of the nights Dream got to sleep, which was unfortunate because of the thunder. He didn’t really know why it rattled his bones so bad, maybe that’s what sleeping under a tree for the beginning years of your life does to you, but who really knows.
All that mattered at this moment was sleep.. up until Ink barged in the room. Dream could tell it was Ink by the way the figures' emotions felt. Fast breaths of false excitement replaced the quieter taps of rain as the figure began to speak.
“Hey! Are you awake?? You’ll never believe what happened! Nightma— Nevermind! It doesn’t matter, we gotta go ‘cause I can’t find Swap anywhere and an AU is under attack!” Ink spoke hastily, false emotions practically radiating off of the protector.
Dream rolled over and up, groaning as he did. “What time is it? Who’s attacking an AU at this ungodly hour..”. The guardian slipped off of the bed, already wearing day clothes being too exhausted to change out.
“It’s only 3:30 AM. Now c’mon!” Ink fake yawned matching Dream, grabbing his comically large paint brush off his back and swishing it down in a smooth motion, therefore creating an inky portal on the ground which would most definitely stain the wooden floor below.
Dream rubbed around his eye sockets tiredly, slowly but surely waking himself up for the adventures ahead. “3:30? These attacks are getting out of hand. Don’t you think so?” He grumbled.
“I don’t think time matters, really. All that matters is that we are ready to fight for the AU’s at all times!” Ink mumbled back, abruptly grabbing on to one of Dreams' not-so-awake arms and jumping into the portal.
The two reconfigured up into what seemed like the outskirts of a small town in a dark, dusty AU full of roaring negativity. The only thing illuminating the surroundings was a blood tinted moon which dipped down in the sky. In the middle of the town seemed to be five familiar figures.
Nightmare and his gang, who were actively terrorizing the inhabitants of the AU, stood ready to attack. Ink and Dream quickly split up, silently agreeing to their own tasks. Ink would fight to the best of his abilities, (which was pretty damn good for the time) and Dream would evacuate survivors to the Omega Timeline. Easy enough.
Dream immediately started looking for possible survivors, the empaths abilities to sense emotion coming in handy. The guardian sensed around for any small emotion, making sure to stay hidden and away from the fight.
Finally he found someone, a sigh of relief slipping him as he was about to give up. A small freighted child who was curled up inside a bush looked up at Dream, almost accepting death with welcoming arms.
Dream hastily lifted the shaking child up and whispered a false promise that everything would be okay, teleporting the kid safely away to the Omega after to be found and treated.
The guardian sighed, reaching out for small emotions again as they regained some magic. Right as they began to feel a smidge of emotion emitting from somewhere, a large, goopy tendril snapped tightly around his thin waist.
Dream gasped as he was jerked back swiftly and turned to face his brother. A sharp pain crackled throughout him as he was squeezed impossibly tight. A few noises sounded around the yellow-clad twin, most likely the teleporting of Nightmares subordinates coming to watch the upcoming show.
The darker twin let out a twisted laugh at his enemy’s dilemma. The poor guardian of positivity all wrapped up in his tendrils. Dream frantically looked around for Ink only to be left with nothing. Nightmare had caught on to what Dream was looking for.
“Oh Dream, it seems your ‘friend’ forgot about you. He had mumbled something about the AU collapsing and a lost cause, then left. How disappointing he forgot about you. This isn’t the first time he’s forgotten about you either~ How unfortunate.” Nightmare continued degrading the other.
“And shall I mention how horrible you look? You look like you’ve been hit by a bus or two.” A few laughs rang out then silence again.
Attempts to wiggle out of the tentacle and teleport away were futile due to the tightness and being more or less exhausted. The only option left was to plead. Who knows, maybe Night.. mare, would have a change of heart.
Dream let out a quiet whine, “Brother, please! You don’t have to hurt people anymore, we can go back to how it used to be! We’ll find other ways to keep the balance! Just.. ple—“ The tendril squeezed impossibly tighter with a crack of bone.
“How many times have I told you? We are Not brothers. You, Dream, are anything but my brother. What have you ever done to earn such a title? Nothing.” Nightmare scoffed. “Having trouble getting it through your thick skull? Maybe this will help~”
Nightmare lifted the other higher off the ground in a uncomfortable motion then brung him down harshly into the dirt. A few sick snaps of bone crackled through the air again and again as Nightmare continued the motion like a broken record.
He eventually stopped once Dream went completely limp, which he wasn’t expecting since he’d done this many times before and the other Never passed out. Nightmare lifted Dream once again but this time brought him close to his working eyelight, examining the positivity freak.
“Huh. Well then. Err.” Nightmare retracted the tentacle used to hold Dream, dropping the other onto the ground in the process. “Horror, Cross, I have a task for you. The rest of you are excused.”
Killer and Dust teleported away together leaving Horror and Cross who walked up to Nightmare. “I can not have Dream dusting here in this AU once it collapses due to the balance and since I do not know where a good place would be to leave Dream, I order you two to take him to a cell in the dungeon.”
Nightmare carefully watched the couples reaction then continued. “Horror, you will carry him there and make sure he has food and water available. Cross will watch over him to make sure no escapes are attempted. Understood?”
The two nodded in unison and began performing what was asked of them, teleporting away together once Dream was secured. Nightmare stood in the AU alone for a while thinking things through before teleporting out of the rapidly collapsing AU.
What was he going to do?