I woke up to the eager face of Papyrus, who looked pretty happy to see me.

"Brother, I have memorized every hall and room of the entire building and gathered a bunch of information for anything you need to ask about! Nightmare and Killer are in the living room at the moment." He stated.

"You're the best, Paps. Can you give me some general information?" I requested.

"Sure, brother! Nightmare is the Guardian of Negativity, opposite to his brother, Dream; they do not get along, unfortunately. You know most that is known about Killer, so I cannot help you there. I have found information about two important entities in the multiverse named Ink and Error; they fight a lot. Nightmare is attempting to get Error to join him. That is as general as I can make it." 

"Thanks, Paps."

"No problem, brother! How are you feeling?"

"A lot better, actually. I think I could walk if I tried."

"That is wonderful news, brother!"

Before we could continue, Nightmare and Killer entered the room.

"Ah, you're awake." Nightmare pointed out.

"I shall tell you more later, brother." Papyrus said, moving to float around Nightmare's head.

"How'd ya sleep?" Killer wondered.

"Pretty good." I replied. Nightmares didn't really affect me anymore.

"That's odd. Usually the first time people sleep within a hundred mile radius of Nightmare, they get a nightmare."

"I never said I didn't have a nightmare. I just slept pretty good."

"I don't understand ya."

"Killer, try to be more polite." Nightmare scolded.

"It's all right. I don't understand me either." I grinned.

"It's good to hear you slept well. How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good. I could probably walk if I tried."

"Are you sure? You haven't even been here for more than a day, how is that possible?"

"Magic deficiencies can be easily cured with magic intake. It doesn't take long for them to heal, usually."

"If you don't mind my asking, how exactly did you get a magic deficiency? Aren't they rare?"

"You're talking about the ones from birth. Anybody can get a magic deficiency if they don't replenish their magic frequently, either by eating or other ways."

"I see."

"So how long do ya think it'll take ya to be ready for a test to see if you're worthy of joining us?" Killer questioned.

"Hard to say; at most, a couple days, at least, an hour." I returned.

"Take your time. If you need anything, just call." Nightmare said, leaving the room.

"Heal fast, kid." Killer ordered, following Nightmare out the door.

"So Paps, what is this test?" I wondered.

"Trial by combat. You will be fighting Killer." Papyrus replied.

"Got any tips or weaknesses?"

"I can go find out. Shall I do some research on Nightmare as well?"

"Couldn't hurt."

"Very well, I shall begin immediately."

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

"I am the Great Papyrus!"

I watched as Papyrus left to go do some research. He really is the best brother ever. I doubted I would have been alive if it wasn't for him; he kept me determined, alive, and most importantly, he kept me aware. If I didn't have Papyrus, I'd have either been dead or dying; I owed him everything, and he still stayed by my side when things got rough. I wished there was some way to help him the way he helped me; maybe someday I could get that chance, but for now, I could only shower him in love and praise for everything he'd done. It wasn't even close to being enough, but it was really all I could do. I wished I could have given him the world, and so much more; I wished I could have made it so he wasn't dead anymore. I regreted killing him, but I couldn't take it back now. I wondered what the different versions of him were like; maybe they were alive. If he saw them, would he be jealous? He would have every right to be, but for some reason, I just couldn't imagine Papyrus being jealous; he was too good-hearted for that: another reason he's the best brother.

I wondered if Papyrus liked to do things as a ghost; maybe I could ask him sometime. I believed he probably had some favorite activities as a ghost, like maybe flying; sometimes, he would go all the way to the ceiling of the cavern and float back down while twirling his head like a twister. Sometimes I laughed so hard, multiple echoes could be heard. Papyrus was the only one who could make me laugh like that; the old lady stopped making me a laugh a long time ago, but I still did a fake one occasionally. Maybe these new skeletons could make me laugh; I didn't know much about them. Maybe I'd get to know them as well as I knew Papyrus. That might have been fun. Once Papyrus turned into a ghost, he started telling me all kinds of stuff I didn't know before, like how it was seeing people from above; mostly me, since he was around me alot, but still, he liked being taller than me: it gave him a sense of maturity. He is the best brother ever.

I decided that I should have slept now. I was going to need a lot of energy if I was going to fight. I laid my skull on the soft pillow and entered another dusty nightmare; I had grown numb to these. I would never dream about living beings, just their dust. Perhaps dust was living, and I just never noticed it? Dust could have a mind of its own sometimes. I felt like something was missing as I lay here in this bed; I had Papyrus, I was alive, and I was asleep. There was something missing. 

Dust.

I thought getting away from the dust would be nice, but it just felt missing. Maybe I was just insane; yeah, that was probably the case. I wasn't exactly what people would call 'okay in the skull.' It was kind of weird: all the resets I went through seemed so distant, like a memory, even though the total time passed must have been somewhere around thousands of years, while the time I was alone felt like an eternity. I guess it was because the resets were monotonous, and I just went through the motions; while when I was alone, there was no monotony; there was nothing. I had to constantly think of ways to keep myself occupied; Papyrus really helped with that factor. Paps is the best brother ever. Speaking of Papyrus, the first thing I saw when I woke up was his face.

"Heya Paps." I greeted.

"Hello, brother! Did you have a good rest?" Papyrus asked.

"Yep. How are you?"

"I unfortunately could not find any weaknesses of Killer, but I did memorize his battle form while he was practicing. He is quite skilled."

"You're the best, Paps."

"I am the Great Papyrus! I did find Nightmare's weakness, however. Positive emotions weaken him."

"Thanks Paps, you're the best."

"Nyeh heh heh!"

"Hey bro, what's it like being a ghost?"

"It is somewhat like being alive, except not."

I started laughing at his answer; he wondered why, but I was too busy laughing to answer him. Papyrus is the best. Over the next day or so, I slept a lot, regaining my energy quickly. By the time the next day came around, I was fully capable of walking, running, and most other physical activities. I couldn't do a backflip though; backflips were fun. I was fully prepared the next day to meet whatever trials faced me, which seemed to be only one: fighting Killer. I wasn't going to kill him or anything - I probably couldn't if I tried - just friendly combat, which I was pretty good at from fighting Papyrus as practice. If I messed up, he was a ghost, so it didn't hurt him. Ghosts couldn't be hurt from anything that I knew of; if they could be hurt by something, I would keep Papyrus far, far away from it. Nightmare and Killer weren't aware I could even walk yet, so they were a bit surprised when they walked into the room I was in and witnessed my doing pushups.

"Are ya sure ya should be doing that? Ya literally couldn't walk, like, a day ago." Killer reminded.

"Totally fine." I responded.

"If you say so..."

"You're a fast healer, I take it?" Nightmare questioned.

"Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. Depends on what I'm recovering from." I replied.

"Understandable."

"So, ya think you're ready for the test? I'm really lookin' forward to it." Killer chuckled.

"Sure." I said, hopping up to stand.

"You know, you can wait a few more days if you need more time. Nobody's rushing you." Nightmare assured.

"It's fine, really. If you're ready, I'm ready."

"You're a determined little skelly, aren'tcha?" Killer joked.

"I'm not that little."

"You're adorably little, brother." Papyrus confirmed. I didn't respond to him.

"Well, if you think you're ready, I won't stop you." Nightmare conceded.

I was led out of the room, heading to a rather nicely sized training area. There were various weapons lining the walls, most of which I was familiar with, but there were a few weapons I hadn't seen before. Nightmare sat down in a chair stationed in the back of the room, facing what looked to be a small sparring arena; it looked like that was where we were going. Killer and I stood in front of Nightmare, waiting for him to say something, I guess.

"So, you two are going to fight; there are only a few rules." Nightmare started. "Don't kill or seriously injure the other, please; I would prefer if you were both alive and breathing by the end of this. I honestly don't care if you use dirty tricks or foul play as long as you don't break the previous rule. If the other surrenders, the fight ends, no exceptions; if a bone breaks, the fight ends, no exceptions. I believe that is all. Any questions?" 

"I have a question." I stated.

"Yes?" 

"Is Papyrus allowed to help me?"

"Um...Killer, do you mind?" 

"Nah. Imaginary friends don't scare me." Killer scoffed.

"Papyrus isn't imaginary!" I crossed my arms.

"Whatever you say."

"I guess Papyrus can help you, then." Nightmare confirmed.

"This will be enjoyable, brother." Papyrus smiled. I returned the grin.

"Any other questions?"

"Nope." I replied.

"In that case, do you prefer magic or normal weapons?"

"It's all the same to me; I'll go even."

"Well, Killer has a preference for knives, is that acceptable?"

"Sure."

"In that case, take your positions. When I tell you to start, you will commence fighting."

I was handed a knife and placed at one end of the arena, facing Killer. Papyrus was refreshing me on Killer's practice strategy, but reminded me to expect anything, since he could battle differently than he practiced. I gripped the weapon in my hand, taking a few deep breaths to focus myself; when I was in tune, I waited for the signal to begin. Killer was sizing me up, which was not a bad tactic; I was sizing myself up, evaluating my strong and weak points, to minimize what I would allow to be exposed. After a short time of waiting, the battle was about to start.

"All right, go ahead." Nightmare ordered.

I allowed Killer to make the first move. He ran up to me, attempting a slash on the arm holding the knife; I dodged, making my own move on his side subtly as I stepped aside. At that point, he started a frenzy off attacks, which Papyrus led me through.

"Step left. Move back. Return. Duck, then attack. Spin right, don't let him hit you." Papyrus directed. He is the best.

With Papyrus's help, I managed to dodge every attack thrown at me, and landed a lot of mine, which only served to enrage my opponent; rage could either make a fighter more or less focused, depending on who it is. I could tell that Killer was the kind that became more focused. I continued quickly dodging his attacks and returning my own for quite a while, even dodging many magical attacks; I never stopped using the knife, though. I had depended quite a lot on magic in the past, which only served to hurt me, so I decided I wouldn't use magic unless it was absolutely necessary; it wasn't right now.

"Brother, there is a blaster behind you. Allow it to charge up, then dodge it directly before it goes off. Line him up with it." Papyrus ordered.

I followed his instructions to the letter, and Killer ended up firing a blaster at himself; not the smartest move in the book, but I've done some pretty stupid things too, like firing a slingshot straight up in the air and being hit in the head with a rock. I think I knocked myself out for an hour. I didn't lower my guard as Killer was weakened, but I did cease my attacking until I gained confirmation that the fight was continuing; it wasn't. Killer had effectively defeated himself, and was on the ground.

"That's a wrap, then." Nightmare said, walking over. "That was pretty impressive; I'd be happy to accept you into my gang."

"It's a pleasure." I replied, shaking his goopy hand. "So is he going to be okay?"

"Yeah, he's been beaten up worse than this before, probably. No worries. What I want to know is where you learned to fight like that; did he even hit you?"

"Maybe once or twice, nothing serious. As for where I learned, that's going to be my universe. Born and raised right there."

"I suppose I did word that a bit oddly."

"So do I get to live here or something?"

"Yes. The room you were in is the guest room; if you would rather stay in your AU, that's fine though."

"I'm not sure my universe is even habitable anymore.."

"In that case, I can give you a room here, or you can pick one for yourself. Pretty much every room is open except for my room and Killer's. Our rooms are specified by our names written on the doors. To claim one, just write your name, carve it, I don't care. You can go do that; I'm going to heal Killer."

"All right. Should I call you something?"

"Call me whatever you want, I really don't care."

"Okay, Dad."

"Okay, call me anything except that."

"Yes, Sir Goop."

I left the room before he could argue, chuckling at Papyrus's names for Nightmare. He is the best at thinking of names.

"Follow me, brother; I know the perfect room for you!" Papyrus exclaimed, floating down a hallway. I followed him, laughing at the names he was coming up with.

"Paps, you're the best." I complimented.

"I am the Great Papyrus! Perhaps you can call him 'Octopus' or 'Negative Goop Skeleton.'"

"You're too funny, Paps!"

I laughed all the way to the room Papyrus wanted to show me; when we arrived, I saw no name on the door, meaning it was not claimed. I had seen both Nightmare and Killer's rooms on the way here, but I didn't exclude the possibility. I opened the door to reveal a decently sized room with an empty dresser, bare closet, and a bed without any coverings; I assumed claiming a room meant I got to furnish it how I wished. There was a window in the room overlooking a large courtyard full of bushes and trees. There was even a seat by the window that allowed me to enjoy the view without having to stand; It was absolutely perfect. Papyrus is the best at picking rooms. I took the knife from earlier and delicately carved 'Dust' into the door; I had gotten pretty good with wood in my years of solitude, and the door looked like it was professionally crafted. When I finished the carving, I knelt at the foot of the door, and carved something at the bottom. 'Murder Sans.' I wouldn't forget my past life just because I have a new one; nobody would see it except me, as the carpeting of the hallway blocked it when the door was closed.

In a short time period of a few days, I had gone from the verge of death to part of a gang with the intent of spreading negativity to keep an unseen balance. I always expected everything, even when it appeared to be impossible. I did not wish my life upon others, not even my worst enemies, but while I did not wish it on others, I wouldn't change it for anything. My experiences were what made me myself, and I would not give that up for the world. I wondered what awaited me in the future. I guess I'd have to find out, wouldn't I?

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean has joined bean gang.

Thanks for reading my bad writing!

Bye!