It had been quite a while since Ink was overthrown, and the multiverse was thriving. Universes could get help for any problems they had in a short time, crime was low, and there was nobody threatening livelihoods anywhere that wasn't caught. Nightmare had been successful in his dream of opening a school to teach new universes about the multiverse and its many facets, Error had grown nicely into his role as Guardian of the Multiverse, and my family was happy. We were genuinely happy. I liked it, and it seemed that everybody else did too. The last three years had been the most dynamic time in the history of the multiverse, and it was just getting better. Ink had been all but forgotten, which meant I didn't have to think about him as often; he was simply known as 'that old tyrant,' and he would have stayed that way if the monsters affected had anything to say about it. The ones he had made into guards suffered the worst from it, having seen and done horrible things under his leadership; most of them were still recovering. I was regarded as the most unfortunate party, having been literally tortured, but I really didn't want to be seen as special; at the end of the night, I was just another skeleton.

Speaking of me, I was currently in the living room. I had, over a lot of time, regained a bit of movement, and today was going to be a big day. I could move my arms pretty well and maneuver my skull like I used to, although slower, and I was ready to attempt walking. I was determined to do this, and with my family by my side, I was more than prepared. I had been in a wheelchair since my arms were mobile enough to support it, and I was sick of having to be pushed long distances; I wanted to walk.

"Okay, Dust." Nightmare was next to me. "You just take your time; no need to rush it."

"I know! I'm ready!" I assured.

"Oh boy, ya got this, Dusty!" Killer cheered.

"One step at a time!" Error reminded.

I grasped Nightmare's goopy hand tightly and began to stand; I hoped those exercises I did to strengthen the bones in my legs worked. Nightmare walked with me for a few steps before letting go; I stumbled for a moment before gaining a relative balance, took a step, and another, slowly, steadily. I was walking. I laughed as I walked; I loved this!

"Ya got i'!" Horror encouraged.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you, brother!" Papyrus smiled.

"Y-yay!" Cross was happy for me.

"About time." The kid was...less than enthusiastic.

"Just ignore the small kid, Dust." Chara snickered. "You're doing fine."

After I had gained a good amount of ground, I was hugged tightly by my family; this was what I wanted: everything was good. Everything was bright now; I would focus on that rather than the dark spots that had no doubt lain ahead. I took a photo of the occasion to remember it forever; we were happy, and I wanted it to stay that way forever.

That was about two years ago, and I had gotten much better at walking since then; I smiled as I looked at the picture, though - I kept that. It had been about five years since Ink was overthrown, and we couldn't have been happier. After I regained my ability to walk, the rest came naturally; I could fight, run, and even attend Nightmare's school - just because we were older did not mean we got out of school. He actually turned his house into the school, since it was so big, but we didn't mind; it was the place we started, after all. When a universe was made aware of the multiverse, they sent a representative (or several) to the school to gather the necessary information about the multiverse and learn customs, history, and even make friends, since that was obviously necessary. Some of the representatives chose to take quarters in the house, while others lived in their universe and made portals in; either way, they were welcomed.

"Dust, are you paying attention?" Nightmare caught my attention.

"Nope, not at all." I replied.

"Well, at least you're honest about it. Would you please pay attention from this point on?"

"Sure thing, Dad!"

"Thank you. As I was saying, the rule of Ink lasted for about five years, until he was overthrown. His rule affected many universes in horrible ways, such as causing starvation, separating families, and even, unfortunately, corrupting a few. The corrupted universes were either destroyed or repaired, but, as we have learned, there isn't much you can do. Any questions?"

A Sans raised his hand, being called on.

"So if this Ink really existed, why don't we hear 'bout him more?" Sans asked. "Surely, in a school about the multiverse, you would hear more about a character like this, correct? I wouldn't want to find out that this character was some made up dictator."

"The reason you don't hear about him much is because our family was one of the ones affected." Nightmare responded. "To put it simply, I'll make an example. If your family was terrorized by a dictator, would you want to talk about it?"

"I guess not."

"Any other questions?"

A Papyrus this time raised his hand to be called on.

"How exactly was your family affected if you were dead during most of his rule?" Papyrus wondered.

"Well, somebody had to overthrow him." Nightmare was a bit unnerved by this topic, but I had let him know that I was okay with it. "You see, Error was held prisoner by Ink during the reign, while we were, unfortunately, not living. Dust was the first to come back, due to a reset in his universe. When he did, he created a device to revive the rest of us, which is now known throughout the multiverse as the 'Unduster.' Fun fact about this device: they originally coined the term 'Last Hope.'"

Nightmare took a breath before this part.

"After he created the device, he went on a rescue mission to save Error." Nightmare sighed. "He was unfortunately captured during this, although Error escaped to revive the rest of us. As we have learned..Ink was not the nicest dictator.."

Nightmare paused; he didn't want to talk about the subject, but he would.

"Ink was horrible.." Nightmare stated. "While Dust was imprisoned, Ink would..t-torture him mercilessly. When he was rescued two months later, most of his bones were broken, and he was covered with Ink's red paint, which we have already discussed. Before much could be done, Ink arrived at our door with a proposition that he would either take a prisoner or he would attack the refuge in Dreamtale; we had already formed our plan by this time to overthrow him. Dust volunteered to go back and wait for us to enact our plan, but that cost him dearly. He was..paralyzed for two years, and he had very limited movement for another. In the past two years, he has made quite a remarkable recovery, though. I suppose that was a rather long-winded answer, wasn't it?"

"Wait, so this took place only five years ago?" Papyrus was shocked.

"Indeed. Any other questions?" 

I raised my hand with a smirk on my face; Nightmare knew what I was up to, but he called on me anyway.

"Let's see.." I started. "If a train leaves the station at three o'clock on a Sunday evening, doesn't take any passengers, and never makes a stop until it loops around the track, and assuming the train is in fact a locomotive steam engine from the old times of the surface world, I believe I would be correct in assuming it simply wasn't a passenger train at all, or nobody was at the station. When are you going to finally give names to our meals?"

"Never. They're all dinner." Nightmare shook his skull playfully.

"Okay!"

"Any more questions?"

Another Sans was called on.

"Well, if there's a Dust in the book, and a Dust in the class, how are we supposed to tell the Dusts apart?" Sans was confused.

"Now that is a good question." Nightmare grinned. "You don't."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, as far as I know, there's only one Dust in the multiverse."

"Dad, you're gonna embarrass me again.." I pulled my hood over my skull in withdrawal.

"That's my job, Dust."

"Wait, they're the same Dust?" Sans was impressed. "Why is he in class, learning about himself?"

"It was either sit through this or sweep the basement; he didn't want to sweep the basement."

"The basement's scary! You know what's down there!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, and you do too. That's why we keep the door locked and make it off limits. Any other questions?"

A Toriel was called on this time.

"Where exactly is this Ink now?" Toriel asked. "If he cannot die, he must be somewhere."

"That information is strictly off limits to the public so no trouble is caused, I'm sorry." Nightmare apologized. "If anybody were to gain that information, they may inadvertantly plunge us into another dictatorship, or a war."

"I understand."

"I'm taking one more question, then moving on."

A Chara was called on last.

"What's in the basement?" Chara wondered.

"Something worse than my bedroom; I know about the dares you give." Nightmare enlightened. 

"Aw man!"

"Seriously, don't even think about it; there is a magical seal for a reason. Now we'll move on to our next time period; moving back in time, we have the assembly and reign of Nightmare's gang."

Every hand in the class went up, apart from mine. Nightmare wasn't answering questions yet.

"Keep your questions until the end." Nightmare chuckled. "It started in Dreamtale, when-" He was cut off.

"Brother, where did you put it?" Dream looked desperate.

"Put what?"

"The blue marker! I left it right on the desk!"

"I'll have you know I did no such thing as moving such a valuable possession."

"Brother.."

"..."

"Please?"

"...Behind the seats in the theater."

"I knew it! Thanks, brother!" Dream left to get his marker.

"As most of you know, that was my brother, Dream. As I was saying before, we used to live peacefully in our AU until the incident occurred, and, well, you've already heard that story a million times before. After I was linked with the balance, I found that I was faced with many challenges, such as my brother. He had been duped by Ink into believing that I was entirely corrupted, and that he simply needed to 'undo' the action; this was part of Ink's plan to gain the multiverse's trust. By fighting the villain - me - Ink successfully gained a reputation of goodness and was trusted by many. Eventually, I wasn't able to take on all of the opposition I was facing to hold the balance steady, and I looked for help."

Nigthmare took a sip of water here.

"The first help I found was with someone you all know very well: Killer." Nightmare smiled. "Killer did not have the most pleasant beginning, having been made completely emotionless in his time. Before any of you begin to judge us, since most of you are judges, take a moment to reflect on your past actions, and maybe you can understand ours. Killer eventually got sick of the repetitive cycle of resets, and when his Frisk offered for him to join a genocidal lifestyle, he accepted it without too much hesitation. He killed the inhabitants over and over, gaining and regaining LOVE. As we have since learned, this is very, very dangerous, as the LOVE going from one to whichever number over and over in a monster can cause any number of effects; Killer recieved total emotionlessness. When I offered him a place in my gang, he was willing to join me, if only to experience something new."

Nightmare looked at me for a second before continuing.

"The next one to join me is also someone you know very well: Dust." Nightmare smiled at me. "Now, we haven't gotten to that part in our books yet, as Dusttale is still a rather new AU, so pay close attention. Dust was also tired of the repetitive loop, except instead of being offered a chance at genocide like Killer, he simply went on and on. After seeing everyone die countless times, Dust instead snapped and started a genocide by himself in order to stop Frisk's senseless killing. In his insanity, he developed many forms of killing, and he even began to develop the ability to see ghosts, as his brother was one after he killed him. Yes, he sees all the ghosts in the room, and he complains about their antics; he also tells me they like to float around my skull, for some reason."

The ghosts left his vicinity when he said that.

"After a while, Dust's Frisk simply stopped resetting." Nightmare recieved a few mixed reactions. "For almost twelve years, Dust spent his time in complete isolation, with only his brother as a ghost for company; he was also starving to death. When I found him, it really was just in time. He joined me without hesitation as well. We will revisit him often, especially on the subject of magic deficiencies, which he will demonstrate. That reminds me; if any of you were interested in lessons in self defense, Killer may be a good skeleton to reference. Let's see.."

Nightmare flipped a page in his lesson book. 

"Ah, here we go. The third to join me, you also know him well: Horror." Nightmare continued. "His AU was starved and denied any help for fifteen years before he joined me. It was actually chance that brought him to us; we took a prisoner, and he happened to be the prisoner! After hearing his story, we were compelled to offer him a place in our group, which he readily accepted. Fun fact: Dust, Killer, and Horror have come to be known collectively as the 'Murder Time Trio': a spin off the 'Bad Time Trio,' which we will learn about in a while. Moving on.."

Nightmare scanned the page.

"Here he is: the fourth to join me was someone you may not know as well as you do the others: Error. Error used to be known as the 'Destroyer of Worlds' or something along those lines before he became the guardian. He was in a well-known conflict with Ink, whom we have discussed and will expound on more in the future. Ink had the power to create Alternate Universes, and Error had the power to destroy them; it was much different than it is now, when they are simply born into the multiverse. Often, universes would get corrupted because there was not enough room to support them, and if they weren't fixed or destroyed, they could corrupt neighboring universes, causing a chain reaction, and as we know, if the original Undertale were to be corrupted...it would not be good."

Nightmare took another sip of water.

"Error has the power to summon strings made of blue magic, either coming from his eyesockets or phalanges - hands, mind you - which he uses as his main weapon of choice. He also has the rather unique ability to edit code, which is why some corrupted universes can be salvaged. Ink also had this ability, but we will delve further into him when the time comes. Error has a love for chocolate- who wrote that?"

"He did." I answered.

"All right." Nightmare shrugged. "Last, but not least, the fith and final skeleton to join me was Cross, with his ghost companion Chara. Cross was created without an AU for the sole purpose of killing Nightmare's gang and ending everything. Ink created him, of course, but as we have since seen, he was rather unkind and didn't treat Cross properly, leading him to come to us for help. Error adjusted his code to free him from Ink's control, and he gladly joined us, completing the group. When the group was being formed and was fully formed as well, the main goal was to keep the balance of positivity and negativity, which is no longer needed today, for reasons we already know. Are there any questions?"

A Gaster that was a judge in his universe was called on first.

"What exactly does this 'Murder Time Trio' do?" Gaster inquired. 

"Not much of anything now, but it was really just a title they gave themselves while playing a game." Nightmare snickered; I covered my skull with my hood. "Any more questions?"

Another Sans was called on.

"Why exactly was this Ink so mean?" Sans wondered.

"We're not really sure; we attribute some of it to the fact that he doesn't actually have a soul." Nightmare was hesitant. "He is one of the very few soulless beings in the multiverse apart from the usuals for most universes, such as Flowey."

"What's it like being soulless?"

"Now that is a difficult question. While Dream and I were soulless until the incident, we had feelings because we were linked with the tree, but Ink does not have feelings without his magic paint, which is the only thing other than one with an aura that can actually create feelings within him. Any other questions?"

A Papyrus was called on.

"If you give off a negative aura and your brother gives off a positive one, how can you be near eachother?" Papyrus asked.

"That is simply because of the installations in the building." Nightmare returned. "You may have noticed the scattered panels on the walls; those can effectively cancel out an aura. Before this building was converted into a school, there was a very heavy negative atmosphere; of course, our auras wouldn't keep us apart anyway. Any more questions?"

I raised my hand, and was again called on.

"I believe you left something out." I grinned.

"What would that be?" Nightmare was unassuming.

"The fact that you kept bugging Error to join us for about a year."

"...Next question."

Another Chara had a question.

"Oh uhh.." Chara thought for a second. "How exactly did the resets stop for Dust?"

"Actually, I don't know.." Nightmare looked to me.

"No clue; ask Sabre!" I urged; after Killer used their name for a curse word too much, the kid changed their name in a rage and practically broke through a wall. We thought it best to use it.

"And a followup, what was it like when they stopped?" Chara wondered.

"There is actually an entire lesson about that in the Dusttale section, so I'd have to ask you to wait." Nightmare requested.

"All right."

"Any other questions?"

There were no more questions.

"In that case, I wish you all the best of luck in your next classes and dismiss you; Dust, please stay." Nightmare waited for the others to leave.

"Sure, Dad." I started fiddling with a dagger as the other students left.

When the classroom was empty, Nightmare pulled up a chair by my desk.

"So, have you decided on what you're going to do?" Nightmare sat down.

"Not really." I answered. "There're just so many possibilities.."

"Well, take your time; you've got forever ahead of you."

"Yeah..I think I'm probably going to do that side class you reserved; Paps is really excited about it."

"That's good to hear; you are the leading authority on monster dust in the multiverse, you know."

"Everything's so different now..I just feel..wrong.."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how sometimes you just get that feeling? I'm getting it..and I don't like it."

"That feeling, huh? I understand. Do you think it's something important?"

"I can't be sure..sometimes it's silent, and other times it feels like the worst thing ever is about to h-happen!" I coughed up a bit of paint; it was mostly gone at this point, but there was still a lot remaining.

"Well, I'll let the others know to be on guard; these feelings are usually right, unfortunately."

"Thanks, Dad."

"No problem; how about you go get some rest? You helped a lot today with the new schedules."

"Okay, Dad. Good night!"

"Good night, Dust."

As I walked back to my room, the feeling hit me once again; I didn't know what it was or why I was getting it, but I was, and I didn't like it. It felt like everything could have tumbled and collapsed on itself. I passed the door to the basement quickly, not wanting to stick around; Ink had been sentenced to prison for 'as long as necessary,' which really meant forever in nice terms, and our basement was his prison. It was apparently one of the safest places in the multiverse, complete with a magical seal that only let a select few enter - I was one of them, but I didn't want to go down there, ever - and plenty of protection in case of accidents. As I departed from the door, the feeling seemed to lessen; I quickly turned, and it increased again - was it just fear? I shook my skull and kept going to my room, figuring I was just tired; I was on guard, though. I was always on guard. As the students were released from their classes for a short respite, the hallways began to slightly crowd; it wasn't too bad, since it wasn't like the entire multiverse was in the school, but there were certainly at least two hundred representatives that had signed up in the past year, and anything could have happened. I entered my room, placed my camera on my dresser, and lay on my bed, ready to descend into a dusty nightmare. As I did, I felt the feeling increase once more, alerting me that something was going to happen soon, and from my previous observations, it had something to do with Ink; I knew it wasn't something that could have been prevented, but I prepared myself.

I was still forgetting something.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean walkity walk and feel.

Oh gosh I think this is the longest chapter hahaha.

Thanks for reading my absurdly long writing! 

Bye!