Ahahahahah this is oneshot 69 I am mature

But let's be real these aren't even oneshots anymore how did this happen

Brush your teeth before you cross the road

Nightmare stared up at the crying sky. He liked the rain.

'What are you doing?' The voice hissed. 'You know what you need to do, so get on with it.'

He sighed, trudging towards the Tree of Feelings. 

He felt empty- he couldn't feel anything anymore. He knew he should never have trusted the thing, never have shaken hands with it. He didn't know why he did it. It's been less than a week since the incident and already he's broken. He'd acted aggressive towards the villagers, his friends and most importantly Dream. The image of those watery golden-yellow eyes filled with fear kept on appearing whenever he blinked. Tormenting him. 

It's his own fault. He'd tried so hard to avoid the Tree of Feelings, ignore the voice and stay close to Dream and yet he'd still managed to screw that up. In fact he'd basically done the opposite- he'd pushed Dream away and lied to him, listened to whatever the voice had to say and he was heading towards the Tree of Feelings right now.

He let out a snicker, trudging up the grassy hill where the tree stood proud upon. The ground was damp and thick with mud that squelched beneath his feet with each step he took. Nightmare glanced down momentarily before lifting his head and briefly scanning the area.

The clouds were a deep grey and packed with rain, bundled together and looming over the land. There were no birds fluttering by or singing their usual cheerful song- it was almost completely silent. The only sound present was the nervous rattling of leaves as the cold, icy wind whooshed by. The whole land seemed to be blanketed by a thin layer of mist and there hung a heavy sadness and tension in the air. Everything seemed a lot more threatening Nightmare realised as he eventually reached the top of the hill and peered up at the towering tree before him.

Even the beloved Tree of Feelings had a sinister aura around it. The trunk seemed warped and the branches twisted and malformed beyond recognition. They arched down like claws trying to reach down and snatch the guardian from where he stood. His eyes trailed over the branches, stopping when they landed on the thing perched up on one of them with it's wide, unnerving grin. It held it's hand out and gestured for Nightmare to climb up to him.

The guardian of negativity twitched before turning away and beginning to clamber up the tree with a blank expression. Nothing mattered anymore. He didn't care about the consequences- he just wanted to escape this inner pain. The thing promised he wouldn't hurt Dream and his friends and Nightmare knew better than to trust it yet he still did. If the thing really was him then surely it wouldn't lay a hand on Dream. 

'Hurry up.' The thing called down to him with a slight sneer. 

Nightmare's empty gaze lingered on the thing for a moment before he continued is ascent into the tree. He suddenly became aware of the droplets of rain pelting him and his mind went back to the memory he'd had not too long ago. His non-existent stomach twisted into a knot and a wave of guilt crashed over him. What is he doing?

'What's taking so long?' The thing hissed, flinging a pointed stick at the guardian.

Nightmare winced when it made contact with his skull and turned to glare at his goopy counterpart. The thing glared back with equal distaste, watching intently as Nightmare climbed up to the branch he was perched upon and began to tread towards it. The thing grinned widely, heaving itself up and taking a few steps backwards along the branch where the dark apples hung low.

He could hear whispers now. The same ones he could hear in his nightmares- though this time they were encouraging instead of condescending. They urged him to grab one of the apples and take a bite out of it- to consume it. He realised he wanted to. Nightmare passed the thing and reached a trembling hand out towards one of the grotesque apples. He was so close, he was almost touching it-

"Nightmare?"

He froze, hand hovering over the apple. He remained still before slowly twisting his skull to glance at his brother. 

Dream stared at him with wide, watery eyes and outstretched his hand.

"Please, just take my hand." he choked out, taking a tentative step forwards. "It doesn't have to be this way- please, brother."

Nightmare swallowed, shifting his glance between Dream and the glossy dark apple. The rain had picked up and was now bombarding the two like a hail of bullets. Nightmare couldn't see the thing anymore but the whispers remained, tempting him with their lies.

"I have to do this." Nightmare whispered, turning away from his terrified brother and plucking the apple from the branch.

"No you don't!" Dream cried out, jumping towards his delusional brother and wrapping him in a warm embrace.

The guardian of positivity broke down into tears, clutching the fabric of Nightmare's shirt tightly and burying his face into his back. Nightmare stared down at the apple in his hand with no emotion, ignoring his sobbing brother that clung to him.

"Night, please I can't lose you." Dream wailed, breathing unevenly and hiccuping between words. "Please, I love you- I can't lose you, Nightmare!"

Nightmare remained quiet and unmoving. 

"Please just drop the apple, let's forget this and go back to how things were before- when we were happy." Dream pleaded, releasing his brother from the hug and taking a step back.

Nightmare twitched again, gripping the apple and turning around to face his brother.

"Happy?" He echoed. "Do you really think things can just go back to normal after this- that we can just forget this and move on with our lives and be happy?" 

Dream faltered and more tears built up in his eye-sockets.

"We- We can always try-!" He choked out however was silenced by the other guardian.

"No, Dream! We can't." He growled, stepping towards his pained brother. "We can't be happy. I can't be happy."

Dream wheezed, throwing himself at his brother and hugging him tightly once again.

"I can help you." He sobbed.

Nightmare trembled and shut his eyes tightly. A stray lilac tear slithered down his cheekbone.

"No you can't, Dream." He whispered, using his free arm to return the hug. "I can't be saved."

Dream shook his head, repeatedly mumbling "no" against the fabric of Nightmare's shirt. The guardian of negativity reopened his eyes and glanced down at the apple in his other hand. What is he doing? He shouldn't be doing this. He's going to hurt Dream. He focused back on his weeping brother and felt his non-existent heart ache at the pitiful sight. Dream was hysterical. 

"Dream, I-" Nightmare started, cutting himself off abruptly when his eyes flickered over the thing glowering at him from another branch.

Dream sniffled and glimpsed up at his troubled brother. 

"Yeah?" He asked almost inaudibly. 

Nightmare swallowed thickly, another lilac tear escaping from his eye-socket as his dull, lilac eyes met dull, golden-yellow eyes.

"I love you, please don't ever forget that."

Dream's breath hitched and he pulled away from the hug. He could only watch as his brother lifted the apple up and took a large bite out of it.

"Nightmare!" Dream cried out, thwacking the apple out of his brother's hand. The half eaten apple hit the branch and tumbled down out of the tree onto the ground beneath the two. 

Nightmare coughed and spat out some black gunk- the same gunk that smothered the thing. Dream panicked, yelling out "no" repeatedly and clutching Nightmare tightly.

"This isn't happening." Dream whispered.

Nightmare felt a searing pain all throughout his bones.

"Dream-" He choked out, pushing away his brother and taking a step back. 

The whispers were deafeningly loud now and his world was completely drained from colour- everything was monochrome and lifeless. His mind was in a frenzy wanting to do completely different things. He wanted to console Dream, he wanted to consume more of the dark apples, he wanted to wake up from a bad dream.

This was real.

Dream was having a panic-attack- he couldn't breath. He couldn't understand what was happening. This can't be real.

This was real.

The urge to eat more apples was suddenly overpowering and Nightmare used his telekinesis to grab more of the apples and bring them towards him. He began to chew into them like he hadn't eaten in years, thirsting for their power.

"Night, stop it!" Dream managed to exclaim.

Nightmare payed him no mind, completely overwhelmed with the need to consume the apples until there were no more left. He snarled and twisted back to look at the other side of the tree where the golden apples glittered tauntingly at him. Without a second thought, Nightmare rushed past his crying brother and hopped from tree branch to tree branch until he was at the other side. He reached up and grabbed one of the golden apples, infecting it instantly with the negativity. Nightmare ignored it, chewing into the apple hungrily and draining it's power. Once he finished he tossed the apple core aside and moved onto the next apple, tainting it and consuming it until only one pure golden apple remained.

"Stop!"

Nightmare halted, shifting slightly so he was facing Dream.

Dream stared at his brother with sorrow. This wasn't meant to happen. Nightmare had a gooey black liquid seeping out of his mouth, bones and eye-socket. He wasn't completely coated in the gunk however Dream knew that would change in a matter of seconds. He ran towards his corrupting brother and hugged him again, not caring for the black goo that stained his clothes.

Nightmare twitched, trying to understand what was happening. Everything was a mess- his mind couldn't focus anymore on anything except the dark apples. 

Though, he still had some sanity left in him. Nightmare shakily hugged his brother back for a second before whimpering and pushing him back.

"Dream- get away from me." He choked out, sounding strangled. 

"I can't leave you." Dream replied, sniffling and sobbing. 

Nightmare felt another surge of pain throughout his bones and released an ear-piercing screech, clutching his skull in pain. Dream tried to reach out for him however his hand was slapped away by a gooey tentacle that had suddenly sprouted out of Nightmare's back.

"Nightm-"

"Dream- get away!" Nightmare cried out, slowly losing himself. 

His vision was blurred and tainted- he could barely make out his brother before him with tears streaming out of his eye-sockets. Nightmare stared at the painful sight before cracking a broken smile and lifting his trembling hand up. Dream slowly began to back up on the branch until he was leaned against the tree trunk. He was paralysed with terror as Nightmare shambled towards him. 

"I will love you always." Nightmare whispered, flicking Dream's forehead.

Dream stared wide-eyed, watching as Nightmare became completely engulfed in the black liquid.

--End--

Cliffhanger cliffhanger clkiffghfdhgnr

So halfway through writing this I forgot the entire story of what actually happened to make him corrupted so this is a completely different take on Dreamtale oops

I hope you like this version lol