I had been with Nightmare's gang for nine years and eleven months by this time. We hadn't done much out of the ordinary in the past half decade, mostly just more of the same. We were always a family, though; we only continued growing closer, and at the moment, we were 'thick as thieves,' if that phrase worked - I thought it worked. We were known by most of the universes, if not all of them, and they weren't exactly thrilled when we came to do our job in their universe; apparently it was funny when it was somebody else - at least, that was what the newspapers said. I wasn't sure why the multiverse had a newspaper, but I wasn't going to judge. We were closer than a lot of families in the multiverse, apparently; they might have had an argument that stood for years, while we just brushed ours off. Half the things we said regularly were the product of long-term insanity, anyway, so why would we stay mad at that? I didn't know, and we never did.

Killer's speed had improved greatly since he joined Nightmare, and I believed that he could push seventy miles per hour, which was honestly awe-inducing and life-threatening at the same time: awe-inducing because he could go that fast, and life-threatening because he took me with him! I had little to no fears in the world because of all I had been through, but if I had to pick something I truly feared, it would be Killer's sheer speed; having Killer coming towards me was sort of like a game: he could have asked me to play backgammon, or he could have grabbed my wrist and bolted. Papyrus had attempted to slow Killer down at times to try to save my life, but it didn't always work out like he hoped; Paps is still the best, though. He was probably the only one who didn't laugh when I was forced to surrender to Killer's speed, and although I didn't mind being laughed at, it would have been great if somebody actually cared that I risked my life every time I was in Killer's presence; I laughed at them sometimes too, so I guess it was fine. We had a lot of fun together. Killer was currently dragging me around the house as always, and I was letting him; I didn't exactly have a choice.

Killer zoomed around corners with his usual finesse and dodged the other residents of our house with pinpoint accuracy, as he always did; this was pretty much his workout routine, and I was his weight. I didn't enjoy being a weight, but I wouldn't ruin his fun; I found it exciting at points, too. Killer had been running for thirty minutes straight when he finally stopped in the living room to allow me my freedom. I collapsed on a couch and showed my tiredness; his workout routine also happened to be part of mine, but not by my choice. 

"That was fun!" Killer jumped. "Wanna do it again, Dusty?"

"How about.." I was panting. "No?"

"Okay! How fast were we goin'?" 

"Paps?"

"Seventy-five miles per hour, brother." Papyrus enlightened. "New record, too."

"Seventy..five..Thanks Paps.."

"Oh boy!" Killer beamed.

"Ya keep goin' that fas,' an' yer gonna break somethin' soon." Horror commented, stifiling a laugh at my unfortunate position.

"No way! We're super careful!"

"You had better be super careful." Nightmare reminded, lifting his eyelight from his book.

"Killer?" I coughed.

"Yeah, Dusty?" Killer bent over the back of the couch.

"Does this...job give..shore leave?"

"Nope."

"Darn.."

"Aw, you're just cranky because you didn't get a picture of that pumpkin before we left that AU." Nightmare patted my skull.

"It was a big pumpkin!" 

"There are b-bigger pumpkins i-in the world." Cross entered the room. "We-we'll find another."

"Nope, that was the biggest pumpkin." Error came out of nowhere. "Nothing bigger than that in all the multiverse."

I let out a groan of failure. I really wanted a picture of that pumpkin.

"Brother, someday there will be a bigger pumpkin." Paps grinned.

"Thanks, Paps." I yawned.

"Really tired 'im out, eh Killer?" Horror chuckled.

"I'm runnin' an hour next time, Dusty!" Killer claimed. "Endurance trainin'!"

"L-let him sleep!" Cross giggled. "Y-you almost ran i-into me twice!"

"Fine, but I'm still runnin'!"

"Then run!" Error urged sarcastically. "Run like the wind! Run, Killer! Run!"

"I will run!" Killer joined Error's sarcasm. "To the Anemone gates and through the kelp forests!"

"Now you're just being ridiculous." Nightmare was laughing too.

"What could be so ridiculous about the Anemones invading our fair lands? We must protect the candy lands!"

"Does th-that involve chocolate?" Cross was interested.

"Yes! Chocolate for the brave warriors who fight the Anemones!"

"You watch too many cartoons." Nightmare joked.

"No way! Cartoons are great!"

"Mayhaps he jus' needs a nap." Horror smirked.

"No! Never! I shall never take one of those accursed things called naps!"

"Maybe you do need a nap." I joined. "I need one, anyway."

"Then sleep! Crossy, Error! We must fight the Anemone army! Horror, you're the army!"

"Why do I gotta be the army?" Horror faked sadness.

"Because you never supported the candy cause! Come, fellow troops!"

"Yes, sir!" Cross and Error harmonized, following Killer out of the room.

"How'd I get pulled inta a war?" Horror questioned.

"You told Killer he needed a nap." Nightmare snickered.

"Welp." Horror left the room to arrange his invisible Anemone troops.

"Hey, Dad?" I inquired.

"Yes, Dust?" Nightmare looked away from his book.

"Do you think it'll always be like this?"

"Like what, Dust?" 

"Like, a real family. Forever?"

"As much as I'd like to say yes, I'm afraid nothing good lasts forever. We'll hold on for as long as we can, though, right?"

"Right. Thanks, Dad."

"Get some rest, Dust. I'll make sure the war doesn't disturb you."

"Thanks."

I rolled on my side and fell asleep, descending into another dusty nightmare that never bothered me. I felt warm as the dust swirled in its usual patterns, probably because the couch was more comfortable than my bed; I didn't know where Nightmare got his couches, but they were absolutely amazing to sleep on. He rarely let us sleep on the couches, but occasionally he would allow us the honor. When I awoke, it was to the sound of silence; that was one of my favorite sounds. Nightmare had left the couch, and it didn't sound like the war was going on; it sounded like it usually did when we were playing hardcore hide and seek, which was different from regular hide and seek only because Nightmare and Error somehow had advanced senses of hearing and could hear a mouse if it was in the next room. Needless to say, we hadn't won that yet. 

I sat up and stretched, then looked around for a minute before standing. I would no doubt run into somebody if I walked around for a few minutes, so I decided to do that. The long corridors were comforting to me, reminding me somewhat of the ruins, but of course, these hallways were not purple; a few were purple, but most were black or dark red, depending on where you were. Everybody in our family preferred darkness to light for their own reasons, mostly; I preferred darkness because I was used to it - I lived in darkness for almost twelve years during my solitude. Light just bothered me sometimes, since my sight wasn't attuned to it. Darkness felt warm and comforting, promising to keep you safe, while light showed everything, and felt cold. Maybe I was just crazy; I knew I was. Before I had walked for ten minutes, Paps found me.

"Hello, brother!" Papyrus greeted.

"Hey, bro." I responded. "Where's everybody else?"

"Well, Killer collapsed during their war after refusing to go to sleep, which means he is in bed; Horror and Error went to their homes, respectively; Cross and Chara are playing in their room; and Nightmare is sleeping in his room. You are the only one currently doing anything"

"Thanks, Paps. You're the best."

"I am the Great Papyrus!"

"What do you wanna do?"

"I am unsure."

"Okay, Paps. Wanna walk?"

"Good idea, brother!"

"Learned from the best!"

"Come, then, brother! Down the hall!"

"Coming, Paps."

Papyrus led me through the corridors, talking about random things as we went. Sometimes, it was fun to just walk without knowing exactly where you were going; if there were no adventures, life wouldn't be all that exciting, would it? After we walked for a while, Paps expressed his desire to have me sit, so I sat in the middle of a long black hallway, waiting for Papyrus to say something else.

"Brother, do you know that we have been here for almost ten years?" Paps questioned.

"Yeah, it's hard to fully believe it myself." I replied. 

"I love you, brother."

"I love you too, bro. I couldn't have survived without you, you know. You're the best."

"You would survive just well without me, brother, but I appreciate your thoughts."

"Nah, I'd be more insane than I already am."

"Nonsense."

"Paps, almost twelve years of isolation would have been literal hell without you. You kept me going, and that's the truth, Paps."

"You're determined about this, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"All right, brother. Have it your way. Let us continue our walk."

"Okay, Paps."

I got up off the floor and resumed following Papyrus through the hallways, talking about various things along the way, such as Killer's birthday; it would be his tenth, which was a huge milestone for the entire family, since that was also the date 'Nightmare's gang' was officially instated. I had been carving him a set of ten knives, each with a different design, to represent one year of his time here. They would be the most detailed knives I had ever carved, and each one took a lot of accuracy; I believed Killer would enjoy them either way, but I wanted to make them special for this event. My birthday was a day after, but I wasn't worrying about that; the others would have certainly worried about it more than they had to, so there was no cause for me to as well. Paps and I had walked for quite a while before finally stopping in my room, where we decided to take a few pictures together. Papyrus was skilled at becoming visible at this point, but he couldn't manage to get others to hear him, which discouraged him slightly, but I reminded him that he was the best either way. He was the Great Papyrus, after all! After a few pictures, Killer entered my room in a rush, noticing I was awake.

"Dusty!" Killer yelled happily. "Do you wanna hear about the war?"

"Sure, who won?" I got straight to the point.

"Uh, it was a tie! I think!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah! It started with the Battle of Bologna, which the evil anemones won, but the candy soldiers came through and won the Battle of Peppermint!"

"Sounds tasty."

"It was!"

"Did the candy soldiers taste good?"

"No! They weren't real candy, silly!"

"My mistake."

"Wanna go for a run?"

"Would it be wrong of me to say no?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess I'll hold on."

"Yay!"

Killer grabbed my wrist and dragged me out the door at what felt like thirty miles per hour before zooming up to sixty, and eventually reaching seventy. Killer certainly was one of the fastest skeletons in the multiverse, if not the fastest skeleton in the multiverse; we didn't know, though, and we just recorded his fastest speeds on a sheet of paper in his room. I probably held him back from his fastest speed, but for some reason, he made me come along with him. I guess it was fun accompanying a record breaker, but it was pretty tiring, too. When we finally stopped, it was only because Nightmare waved us down, which was one of the only things Killer would stop for.

"Heya, Dad!" Killer waved.

"Weren't you boys just running a few hours ago?" Nightmare wondered. 

"Very dizzy..." I commented. I was very dizzy.

"Oops." Killer chuckled nervously.

"I think you boys should take a break, wouldn't you say?" Nightmare suggested.

"Okay, Dad." 

"Good. We're going out in a few minutes, then. I just need to find Cross.."

"I think we passed him near the livin' room a while ago."

"Thanks, Killer."

"Sure, but why don't ya use the bells?"

"I figured it would be more peaceful to take a walk."

"Okay!"

When Cross was located, the four of us set out to a universe and began our work. We didn't always have a full team, for obvious reasons. Our work was less than savory, and we never really enjoyed it, but somebody had to do it, and that somebody was us. We were cliche supervillains, I suppose, when we were outside of our home, but when we were at home, we were a mostly completely normal insane family that wouldn't hurt a fly; actually, Nightmare wouldn't stand having a fly inside the house. When our adversaries arrived, we were nowhere near restoring the balance, which meant we would have to annoy them a lot to get it back to normal. Ink started off with his line, again.

"Nightmare and gang! Leave this AU or we will use force!" Ink demanded.

"And here we have the uncreative creator." Nightmare gestured. "Take a good look, kids."

"Oh, that's just cruel!"

"Am I not supposed to be cruel? Did I hurt your feelings?"

"As if you could ever hurt my feelings."

"Then why do you seem to be taking offense when I'm only stating the obvious?"

"I am so done with you."

"Nothing ever started in the first place."

"Are you looking for a fight? I can give you one, if you want!"

"If you want to fight, I see no problem with obliging you."

"That's it!"

Ink held up his paintbrush, ready to fight, while Nightmare gave the signal that the balance was restored successfully; Ink had a lot of anger issues which were easy to pick on. A battle soon broke out, and Ink was forced to fight me, no matter how much he wanted to get at Nightmare; when Horror wasn't with us, Cross would join Killer with the swap brothers, leaving me with the crazed artist. I used the term 'crazed' because I doubted Ink's sanity every time we fought, with all the dirty moves he would play during battle combined with his obvious hatred for anything that didn't go his way; sure, we got a bit upset when something turned out wrong, but we didn't take it out on eachother! Ink was also very strong when he was upset; he could have been even stronger than when he was in a good mood, which inevitably ended up with a few strong hits on me, but the balance had to be kept, so I didn't mind a few scratches. It wasn't always 'just a few scratches,' though; sometimes battles would end, and you'd realize you broke a bone afterwards, but you had no time to focus on it during battle, and it didn't even phase you. That happened to me on occasion, but not this occasion.

When the battling ended, we were unfortunately the ones who retreated, and I blamed myself when I woke up; Ink had hit me pretty hard, apparently. I wasn't badly injured, but I did have a few weak spots I wasn't proud of, one of them being the back of my skull, which was consequently the area Ink hit. We never dwelled on losses for long, since we technically still won by restoring the balance. When I awoke, Papyrus was next to me.

"Heya, Paps." I stretched.

"Hello, brother!" Papyrus noticed I was awake. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Just fine. How's everything going?"

"Nothing too special, really. I only learned how to do something great!"

"Really? What is it?" I was excited now.

"After years of hard work, I can finally create portals! Isn't that great, brother?"

"Oh boy, Paps! That's amazing! You're the best!"

"I am the Great Papyrus!"

"You know, I bet if the Royal Guard were still around, you'd be the best one there!"

"Oh, brother! You flatter me too much!"

"Nah, it's the truth, bro!"

"The others are asleep now; you should get some rest."

"Hmm. All right, Paps. Good night."

"Good night, brother!"

I lay back in my bed, where I just realized I was, and thought of how lucky I was to have the family I did. I guess I should have thanked the kid, since I wouldn't have met my family without the kid leaving me to die. In some weird twist of fate, I had gone from a murderer with a one-track mind to a skeleton in isolation to a multiversal criminal with a loving family. I didn't know how it happened, or even why it happened, but the fact remained that it did, and I was actually happy; I never thought I would have been happy when my brother died in front of me with no hope for change, but things did change, and I was glad for it. As the dust of my nightmare surrounded me and swirled in my vision, I could only feel the joy felt when surrounded in those you love; I guess that made me insane, but I already knew I was, so that wasn't new.

I was happy.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean happi.

Also where did my mind go with the war? I don't know.

Thanks for reading my talkative writing!

Bye!