Chapter Text
Chapter 2
You woke up in a bed. You blinked up at the unfamiliar ceiling with the large chandelier before your memory of a while ago flooded you. You sat up so quickly that you gave yourself a headache.
“Ow!” You rubbed the side of your head and looked down at where you were. You were on a massive king-sized bed. There might have been two of the mattresses stacked together.
Your feet were several feet in the air as you tried to get off, eyes wandering around the room. It was nothing too special; it was mahogany-gothic styled. Everything looked old-fashioned and rustic. There weren’t many personal things in here.
You saw a snow globe, a bright, red scarf on top of a dresser. And several socks were littered about. Mismatched.
You noticed your palm, it had been bandaged haphazardly, and when you unraveled it, some kind of antiseptic was slathered on it. Huh. You began to heal yourself, the scrapes disappearing completely.
You took a minute to get your bearings before hitting the floor. Oh, crap. Where were your crocs? Whatever, you can run barefoot.
First things first, you have to get out of here.
You didn’t bother looking around more. There were two doors in this room. One led to a bathroom with a massive tub, and the other, the exit!
You creaked it open slightly, looked around, and then booked it.
You were walking at first, then the next minute, you were running for your life, heart beating in your chest.
You ran down a pretty long and dark hallway, lit up only with sconces. You followed the long-ass rug that came along with it, your heavy footsteps echoing around. You believe your breathing was too loud.
There!
Gigantic doors were opened, the entrance to this… What is this place?
You were halfway to the exit, the light from it looked almost angelic compared to the rest of the gloomy hallway, when you heard something that sent a chill down your spine. There was a second set of footsteps right behind you.
You tried hard not to look back, but alas, your curiosity was a killer. Literally.
“Why are you chasing me?!” you almost screamed, fear taking over you.
“why are you running?” Killer asked. You think he’s going faster as he sped up. Oh no nononono. “you’re triggering my predator instincts.”
You tripped unceremoniously just as Killer leapt, his grin wide and manic and his knife pointed at you. He missed you slightly.
You were right in front of the exit. You could see a garden just outside the doors and a cloudy sky.
Killer lunged once again and you conjured a shield to counter him. Hoping a little bit that your magic will also eat up his weapon like you did with Horror’s.
As expected, his knife disappeared.
“It worked!” you said, a little too happy, with your murderer right in front of you.
Killer looked amused before he materialized another one of his knives and your smile dropped. “hehe, knife to meet you, human. now die.”
“W-what? I thought—” Killer swung down again, and you blocked with your shield. “Why can you conjure back a knife and the other guy can’t summon his axe?”
This made him pause, pressing the knife to his chin. “hm… you’re right.”
“It’s because Horror’s axe is not made of magic.” A new voice popped out of nowhere. Both of you turned to him, the monster who stepped in from outside. He closed both the doors with his tentacles, smushing your fire of hope. You wouldn’t have gotten out anyway if he had been outside this entire time. “Killer, get off our guest. I thought I told you that they’re off limits.”
Killer shrugged before rolling off you, his knife disappearing from his hand. “’m just havin’ fun. i wasn’t actually gonna kill them, boss.”
“What’s happening?” you asked, horrified by the new character and also Killer. He stopped attacking you so maybe that’s a plus.
“We will try to get my subordinate’s axe after breakfast,” the scary, goopy skeleton told you.
“Uhm… who are you again?”
“Ah, forgive my lapses. You can call me Nightmare.” He… talked like a respectable monster. “I am the master of the castle.” Castle?
You gulped. “And… you can order Killer not to kill me?” Killer huffed in indignation.
“Yes,” Nightmare sent him a pointed look. “He has orders not to kill you.”
“but—”
“—Or torment you,” Nightmare added.
He groaned, muttering, “no fun” as he walked off.
“Follow me, human. You must be starving.” Nightmare began to walk in the direction deeper into the castle. “We can exchange some words during breakfast.”
You looked towards the door, your gut telling you to run.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. We are not in your world. Exiting the grounds means you encounter other living… monsters that would not hesitate to eat you.”
“You mean I’m stuck here?” you asked blankly.
“Precisely.”
As much as you wanted to believe him to be lying, you also didn’t want to die horribly. And if this guy was able to pacify Killer, then maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to stick close to him.
You followed along, but your guard remained up as you observed around. You were starting to believe this really was a castle.
“You said we’re not in my world. What does that mean?”
“We are not in your universe. This is an alternate universe that is only accessible by specific individuals.”
“Alternate universe? Like… a different dimension?”
“Mayhaps.”
You think you get the gist of it. Somehow. “And you guys have that kind of superpower?”
“It’s the same with magic,” Nightmare responded.
“Okay. So, you guys are monsters. Like from the Underground.” You then remembered the question you’ve always wanted to ask. “You’re Sans, right?”
Nightmare hummed. “Perceptive, human. But it is not that simple. I am not from the usual Underground story, although my subordinates are alternate versions of Sans.”
“So, you’re different. But the others I’ve met are Sans.”
“Yes.”
You shook your head. “I’m going crazy.” You took a moment to process things, but honestly, at this point, with the emergence of monsters and you developing magic, this wasn’t too far off. And you’ve watched Spider-Man: No Way Home before. This was kinda like that, right?
You’ve been walking for several minutes, but you don’t think you'll stop any time soon.
“Am I going to be killed? I just want to know, since we’re on the topic of my many, many questions.”
“No.”
“Great. I should be relieved but I honestly do not feel relieved at all.” You tried to shake off your nerves. “Also, I really don’t know how I managed to make the axe disappear. I have yet to control my magic; all I really know how to do is heal. Maybe it’s not with me, maybe he left it at my world?”
Nightmare turned slightly to make eye contact with you. “It is with you, human. But you have sent it off to a pocket dimension that only you could reach.”
You opened your mouth to argue, only to then close it because you have no arguments whatsoever. “Oh.” You swallowed a thick lump in your throat. “There are only three of them, right? Killer, Horror, Dusty?”
“Dust,” he corrected. “Yes, only the three. I sometimes am able to recruit temporary members, but the three are the main core.”
You do not want to know who else. “And… what do they do?”
Nightmare tutted. “So many questions. It is irrelevant, human. It is better you do not know.”
You crossed your arms, hope flitting away. “Judging from their names, they’re likely killing. Monsters? Humans? …Yeah, you’re right, I don’t want to know. Maybe it’s better if I don’t know anything. Especially once you return me to my world.” You paused. “You are returning me, right…?”
“Of course, I am not uncivilized. I will see to it that you return home once you return Horror’s axe. He is deeply sentimental about it.”
After walking for what felt like miles, you were taken to a room with a huge dining table. Another chandelier was the only light source and there was a kitchen nearby, separated by a divider wall.
The three monsters were already sitting on their chairs; Horror was watching you expectantly, Killer had his feet up on the table and was picking his teeth with the knife, and Dust was turned away and hidden under his hood, but you could hear him muttering by himself.
You looked back at Nightmare.
Great team.
You weren’t judging.
Okay, only just a little bit.
Nightmare looked unbothered as he took his seat, pouring himself a mug of coffee with his tentacles. “Sit, human.”
“I have a name, y’know.”
“we don’t care,” Killer said.
You had to bite your own tongue so you wouldn’t snap at him. You instead looked around for available seats. There was one in between Nightmare and Horror. Or Dust and Killer. You don’t want to be anywhere near Killer right now or you’ll strangle him.
“Hey, big guy. Don’t kill me.” You tried not to flinch when you saw Horror’s big open crack again. “We’re on a truce, right?” you confirmed with Nightmare.
Nightmare was busy reading a book. “Yes.”
“sorry for… attacking you,” he apologized. He apologized?! “i was in a hurry.”
“And so you thought… killing me was the correct thing?”
“not correct, but fastest.” He didn’t seem remorseful at all. Chilling.
There was food already served on the table. As much as it looked appetizing, you didn’t have much of an appetite. Being surrounded by murder skeletons does that. Horror surprised you by pushing a plate of scrambled eggs to you. You didn’t want to be rude, so you scooped just a few on your plate.
“just be glad y’er still alive, pet,” Killer taunted.
You scrunched your eyebrows. “Pet? Really? I am not your pet.”
“definitely not the first one,” he sang. “but you are different. nobody has breakfast with us on the first day. congrats!”
“If you must remember, I did try to escape.” You looked down at your feet. “Anyone knows where my shoes are?”
“Horror, please get their shoes,” Nightmare ordered. Horror left the table without any complaints. The other two skeletons began to serve themselves, gorging on food.
“I heard you ran into Ink in your universe,” Nightmare started.
You fought a grimace, but you were pretty sure you couldn’t stop it. “Oh. Yeah. I had hoped never to run into him again but—wait, is he part of your crew?”
Killer spat his drink, comically wiping his tears. “ink? part of our crew? now, that’s somethin’ i would love to see.”
You squinted your eyes at him. “Given his overdramatic reaction, Ink is not a part of your crew.”
“No,” Nightmare answered simply.
“But he also does not come from the Underground. Or from my world.”
“Correct.” Nightmare tilted his head. “How did you figure that out?”
“Erm, maybe cause your ‘subordinates’ are all wearing the same jacket that my Sans- my world’s Sans, I mean- is wearing. Ink wasn’t. And you’re,” slimy? gooey? gloppy? “Actually, now that I look closer, you are wearing the same jacket.”
“we’re all from the same base code,” Killer provided.
“I don’t know what that means,” you pointed out. “But I may, possibly, probably understand just a teeny bit.”
“The three of them came from an ‘Underground,” Nightmare explained, “but I don’t.”
“Where’d you come from, then?”
Nightmare went back to reading. “Irrelevant, human.”
You rolled your eyes. “Okay. Not dropping the mysterious act. Sure. So why does it matter if Ink ‘ran’ into my universe? Never mind the ‘ran into’, he practically appeared in the middle of my apartment—ehem, anyway. Is it a bad thing? Why are you gathering intel on that?”
“so many questions!” Killer complained, which you ignored completely.
“We were supposed to—”
“—call dibs on it first!” Killer interrupted.
Nightmare shot him a glare. “Yes, call ‘dibs’. His appearance doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but… Ink’s crew might protect it from being raided.”
“by us,” Killer added once again, drinking his coffee in one gulp.
“Yeah, I got that,” you told Killer. “Okay, so you guys ‘raid’ universes. And Ink’s crew ‘protects’. Raid for what? Protect from whom?”
“Irrelevant,” Nightmare once again concluded.
You pinched the bridge of your nose and then went ahead to pour yourself a cup of coffee. Maybe you were just insane. Or going insane at this point.
Horror returned with pink slippers.
“Uh. These aren’t mine.”
“yeah, it’s from the human before you,” Killer said, mouth full of pancakes.
“How many humans exactly were here before… me?” You blinked at Horror, who laid the slippers in front of you. “And why were they here?”
“we wanted a playmate!” Killer answered gleefully. “it was getting boring, i wanted something new.”
“didn’t last long,” Horror added. “they were scared out of their wits.”
“i bet boss thinks their fear was delicious though, so at least one of us had fun,” Killer grunted. “they’re usually shit-scared. always crying to go home. not fun at all.”
You tried not to let Killer’s words get to you. The slippers were a little big on you. “Where did my shoes go?”
“you dropped it,” Horror said, “when we took you here.”
You sighed. “Okay. I’ll probably regret asking. But what happened to the other humans?”
“They’re dead,” Nightmare answered for you. “Nobody lasts that long in here.”
“Stupid question. How did they die?”
“weeeeeell…” Killer was about to answer very specific incidents in detail when Nightmare held a tentacle up over his face.
“It’s best if you don’t know, human. Nothing you have to worry over since you are not staying here for long.” He gestured to the outside. “But a few had been eaten once they escaped to the outside.”
“Right. Outside.” You could barely stomach a spoonful of eggs. Even if it was melty, buttery, and flavorful, you couldn’t enjoy it. “I can only get out of here with your permission.”
Nightmare finished his meal and closed his book. “I will meet you outside in the courtyard at 2 pm. Whoever’s in charge of dishes, clean up.”
“W-wait!” You stood up. “You’re leaving me alone with them?”
Nightmare’s grin curled upwards. “They won’t bite.” He left the room.
Killer shook his head, “i can’t believe you wanted to stay with him more than us.”
“he’s more dangerous,” Horror supplied as he started stacking up the pile of dirty dishes. Seeing the murder skeletons do chores was… a sight, and you went along since you wanted to feel normal. Even if it was weird.
“At least he’s polite!”
“right. you felt safe from the god of negativity because he’s polite.” Dust had finally joined the conversation.
Killer slung an arm over his shoulder and squeezed tight. “dusty, my friend! you’re back!”
Dust pushed him away in irritation. “i wasn’t anywhere else.”
“You don’t talk much, do you?” you asked him to which he completely ignored you.
“he’s insane. delusional. suffers from visual and auditory hallucinations,” Killer said too excitedly. He gestured to Horror. “guess what this guy suffers from?”
You looked at Horror, who was watching you. “Uhm… amnesia?”
“yeah! short-term memory loss, mood swings, ya know the drift.” He pointed to himself proudly. “thank the stars i'm the only normal one.”
You don’t agree.
“you can go back to my room and wait until 2 pm. we'll wrap up here,” Horror said. “i'll call you when it’s time.”
“I don’t know how to get back to your room. This place is ridiculously huge and I’m bad with directions.”
Horror had left for the kitchen sink to wash the dishes. You followed behind him because, out of all three, you felt safer with him. Funny because he tried to kill you first. And Killer unfortunately followed behind you. Geez, this guy was really interested in the new shiny thing.
You offered to help him with the dishes. Horror declined. “nightmare will get mad.”
“By me washing dishes?” you asked, confused.
“by a guest washing dishes,” Killer corrected. “he takes his hosting capabilities seriously.”
Priorities. “He’s not being a very good host if I’m left here with you guys,” you murmured.
Killer snapped his fingers. “it’s ink’s fault you got pulled into this shit. you should beat him up when you see him again.”
“I just said I never wanted to see him again. What makes you think he will?”
Horror was less scary with gloves on and soap suds while washing the dishes. “he will. come and get you. they’ve had enough humans die in this place already.”
“That asshole is the reason why I’m here. Why did he appear at my apartment anyway?”
“yeah, that’s the spirit!” Killer sounded pleased. “beat the shit out of him!”
“And for the record, Horror, I did not steal your axe. I have no control over my magic yet.”
“…i know.”
You gaped at him. “You know?! And you tried to kill me anyway?!”
“hey, there’s no reasoning for killin’, y’know,” Killer responded. “if you get the urge, ya just do it.”
Horror took all the plates and put them on a rack to dry. “i was hungry & you took too long comin’ back.”
“That’s why you wanted to kill me? Because you’re grumpy on an empty stomach?”
They both quieted, as if you said something wrong. You felt guilty, like you’ve offended him somehow, but also remembered he tried to kill you.
“all the more reason to just spill your guts,” Killer spoke up first, still with his playful grin. “not very many humans survive horror’s attack. so you get a point from me.”
“I don’t need your points,” you told him. “I’ll get your axe back, Horror. So, I can go home and sleep this off. Live the rest of my life as a normal person and pretend this was a bad dream.”
“yeah, a real nightmare,” Killer said, snickering.
“that’s a bad one,” Horror gave feedback. You nodded along to Horror, judging Killer’s bad pun.
Killer crossed his arms. “everyone’s a critic.”