ALP - 6 - Wonder



We had been stuck in the kiddie prison for three months. We hated it. Killer had a pet knife back home waiting for him, Horror couldn't see his brother, I couldn't see my brother, Error wasn't able to destroy corruption in universes, Cross was bored, and Nightmare told us that the balance was on the verge of wavering again. We wanted to go home. We didn't outwardly show that we hated it, though; we didn't find it worthy enough of our attention to do that. Instead, we played; that was our main activity, and we did it well. Playing was always an option, especially when you were a child. We had to deal with Ink's chaos every third day instead of every day thanks to Dream's compassion, even if he didn't know what Ink did to us; we were very thankful for that. Most of our time was spent playing either by ourselves or with the swap brothers and Dream, who were frequent visitors. It didn't feel like they saw us as murderers anymore; it felt more like they saw us as children. We liked that. We actually liked being seen as children; we could play games and have fun, and nobody thought it was weird! That was the only good thing about it, but it was good nonetheless. We were happy. 


Today was, fortunately, not an Ink day, which meant we were allowed to sleep later and play more; we enjoyed that. Dream and the swap brothers claimed that they had something special to do with us today, which made it seem exciting. The entire idea of 'reforming' was pretty much dropped when the enemies started seeing us as children instead of killers; there were no more lessons on being good people when we just wanted to have fun like children. If I had to put it into the simplest phrases I could think of, I would say that we were basically adopted by our enemies, and Ink was the figurative "evil stepmother" - even if he wasn't a girl, he fit the description - while Dream and the swap brothers were the exciting sibling/parent figures. Nightmare was always going to be our dad, though; nobody could take that from him. The enemies didn't seem much like enemies anymore; they seemed more like..friends. We were currently playing in our room alone; the friends were doing something to prepare for the special event they had planned. We wondered what it was, but we weren't going to guess yet; we wanted to be surprised. We were currently playing I Spy, which was suggested by Papyrus; he's the best.


"I spy with my little eyesocket..something blue!" Killer exclaimed. 


"Th-the sky?" Cross guessed.


"Nope!"


"The wall?" Error assumed.


"No!"


"Yer jacke'?" Horror looked at Killer. 


"Close, but no!"


"Horror's jacket?" Nightmare questioned. 


"Super close! Dusty, you're the last guess!"


"Hmm.." I thought for a minute. "I got nothing."


"Come on!" Error pleaded. "You're the last hope!"


"Well, fine. Hmm..my jacket?"


"Nope!" Killer giggled. "It was my shoe!"


"Aw man!" Error looked sadly at Killer's shoe. "That was rigged!"


"No it wasn't!" Nightmare laughed. 


"Maybe not, but I still say it was!"


"Le's play somethin' else.." Horror suggested.


"O-okay!" Cross pondered the subject for a moment. "H-how about we p-play ship?"


"Yeah!" Killer jumped onto his feet. "I call bein' captain!"


"Scout!" I quickly claimed.


"Navigator!" Nightmare grinned.


"Cook." Horror had a toy pan.


"C-co-captain!" Cross smiled.


"What's left?" Error wasn't sure.


"Um..cabin boy?" Killer shrugged.


"Can I be captain of the rival ship?"


"Sure! Come, my crew!"


Killer hopped on a bed and helped the rest of us on, while Error took his own; we were now having sea warfare. Captain Killer spotted a rival ship coming up on the port side; we turned to see the infamous Captain Error ready for battle. We loaded the cannons with stuffed animals - cannonballs - and began to fire at the opposing ship. War raged on for about half an hour before we were clearly winning, and Captain Killer offered a deal to Captain Error. 


"So, Captain!" Killer used a pirate voice. "Are ye ready for surrender?"


"Argh!" Error giggled. "Never!" 


"Hmm..I'll bribe ya."


"With what?"


"Friendship?"


"Deal."


"Yay!"


"So, Captain!" Navigator Nightmare chuckled. "Where to?" 


"Argh! To the Isle of Seaweed!"


"Aye aye, Captain!"


We continued the rest of our game, eventually arriving at the Isle of Seaweed, where we bargained with Captain Lock-Key for his famed lock and key set, which could open anything. After this venture, we opened a treasure chest, finding the legendary teddy bear of Ligland! We were on our way to deliver the teddy bear to a trader who would pay a hefty price for it when the door was unlocked. Dream and the swap brothers entered the room and greeted us, to which we responded happily; they were nice to us, and we gave kindness to them in return. Anybody kinder than Ink was good enough for us, and they were much kinder than Ink; Ink was very cruel to us - not that Dream and the swap brothers knew that. 


"What are you doing now?" The swapped Papyrus looked around the room.


"We're pirates!" Killer jumped. "Teddy bear delivery service!"


"Pirates who deliver teddy bears?"


"Not just any teddy bear! The legendary teddy bear of Ligland! We shall sell it for a fortune!"


"Who's buying it?" The swapped Sans asked.


"Somebody!"


"We need somebody to be the trader.." Error confessed.


"I can do it!" The swapped Sans volunteered.


"Really?" Killer was excited.


"Sure!"


"Yay! Co-captain Crossy! Retrieve the teddy bear!"


"Aye a-aye!" Cross picked up the teddy bear and brought it forth. 


"As you may see, this teddy bear is worth a fortune." Nightmare used his selling techniques. "How much are you willing to pay?"


"Um..a sprinkle?" The swapped Sans pulled a sprinkle out of his pocket.


"Amazing!" Killer acted impressed. "Sold!"


The teddy bear was traded for the sprinkle.


"Well, it's time to show you the surprise we have!" Dream seemed excited. "Are you ready?"


"Ooh, what is it?" Killer was always the most ecstatic about these things.


"Close your eyes!"


We closed our eyesockets, ready for the surprise; it was obviously something special if we had to. We felt our tiny hands being grabbed, and we were led somewhere. We were excited about what the surprise could have been if we were actually leaving the room. It must have been something super important, which just made us more excited! While we were walking, we speculated about what it could have been silently; I hoped it was seeing Papyrus - I wanted to see him again. He's the best, and he needed somebody to listen to what he had to say; I wanted to hear what he had to say. We walked for quite a while, and Killer really wanted to look, but he would refrain for as long as he could; he wanted the surprise to be a real surprise. After about ten minutes of walking, we were finally allowed to open our eyesockets; we were in a different room, with lots of chairs. We admired the sheer amount of chairs that could be fit in the large room, and we wondered what the room was used for. Before we could ask any questions, the swapped Papyrus answered the first one without having to be asked.


"This is the meeting room." He enlightened. "It's pretty big, isn't it?"


"It's huge!" Killer was in awe.


"Nice." Horror liked the windows.


"What's the surprise?" Nightmare was curious.


"Well, we were going to let you meet some people!" The swapped Sans grinned. "Of course, if you don't want to, that's perfectly fine!"


"P-people?" Cross was timid. "Wh-what kind of p-people?"


"Oh, just a few friends. We wouldn't introduce you to the entire multiverse at the same time!"


"It could be fun!" Dream pointed out.


"Um..could we think about it?" Error hoped.


"Of course!"


We sat in a corner of the room and discussed the situation. We didn't know how the other people would react to us; we didn't even know how we would react to them! We didn't really want to meet anybody new, but we didn't want the surprise to be ruined because of it; we wanted the friends to be happy, and if that meant being uncomfortable for a while, we would do it. We also thought that it would be better to get it over with sooner, since we would eventually have to meet other people; we didn't want to stay in that room forever. We had made our decision; we just hoped it was the right one. After preparing ourselves, we returned to the friends and relayed our answer to them; they seemed happy that we were willing to take this step, and they promised that we didn't have to do anything that we didn't want to. This calmed us immensely. When we were ready, we were seated in some chairs and waited for the people - we hoped there weren't a lot - as the friends left us to retrieve them. After a few minutes, a blindfolded pair of skeleton brothers were brought into the room and seated in front of us; they seemed excited. From our universe studies, we deduced that this pair was from Outertale.


"Why do we need blindfolds to meet new friends?" The Outertale Papyrus, Starstruck, wondered.


"They're very shy, and they might not feel comfortable yet." Dream revealed. "We don't want to make them feel uncomfortable."


"Makes sense." The Outertale Sans, Outer,  shrugged. "So, are they new to the multiverse?"


"Not..really.."


"Just never been properly introduced?"


"Yep, we're really trying to help them make a great first impression."


"Cool. How many are they?"


"One..two..three..six!"


"Well, I'm sure you'll help them make a great first impression."


"Okay, are you ready to say hello?"


"Not..really?" Nightmare was a bit worried; the Outertale brothers were not happy when we worked in their universe.


"Well, we shall remedy that!" Starstruck was sure. "Hello, new friends! I am called Starstruck, and this is my lazy brother, Outer! We come from a land of stars! Where do you come from?"


"Um..all over?" Error honestly replied.


"So, different AUs?" Outer assumed. "That's interesting. Known eachother long?"


"Yep!" Killer smiled.


"You have tiny voices!" Starstruck noticed.


"They're children!" The swapped Sans enlightened.


"Oh, how nice!"


"Don't get many kiddie AUs.." Outer seemed pleased. "How'd you kids meet?"


"Chance." Horror responded.


"Interesting. Have you known eachother for long?"


"Y-yep." Cross fiddled with a loose string on his small jacket; he still wasn't used to not having his old clothes.


"Well, I'm sure you'll meet lots of new friends in the multiverse, while keeping your old ones, of course."


"Maybe." Nightmare shrugged.


"I don't..think so." Error wasn't convinced.


"Why do you say that?" Outer wondered. "Haven't you made any friends yet?"


"J-just a few.." Cross said.


"Well, we shall be your friends!" Starstruck was certain. "Who are your other friends?"


"Dream and the swap brothers..they're nice." Error looked at them, receiving kind smiles.


"That's great!"


"Have you met Ink yet?" Outer inquired. "Is he a friend?"


"N-no.." Cross probably knew Ink the best out of all of us, having known him for far too long.


"Haven't met him, or not a friend?"


"N-not a friend.."


"Interesting."


The friends noticed that we weren't too thrilled about the topic of Ink in general; the swapped Sans took it upon himself to change the line of discussion to something brighter. The conversation actually lasted for quite a while, and the Outertale brothers seemed to be really nice. They didn't seem at all like we had known them before; they were strong fighters. We stayed away from Outertale for the most part after the first visit, but there were some occasions when we had to: some original universes had their own balance that needed to be maintained, and Outertale just so happened to be one of them. After two hours of talking, there was actually a small line of trust forming, although it was very small. The Outertale brothers seemed to want to be our friends, but they didn't know our names or our faces; we feared that the moment they saw us, the growing friendship would shatter, and we didn't want that. We were actually interested in becoming friends with somebody new; we just didn't know if we could pull it off. If we ever had to go back to our old job - which was highly likely if we ever escaped that kiddie prison - we would have probably had to work in the universe of our new friends, and that wouldn't have been very friendly of us. That was most of the reason why we stayed to ourselves most of the time; why make friends if you had to hurt them?


"So you're saying that with the proper training, even a human could possess magic without having to be born with it?" Nightmare was intrigued.


"Essentially, but the chances of it happening are very low." Outer shrugged. "Over a hundred resets and Super's still trying, though; I'm honestly fine with it, as long as there are no ulterior motives."


"A human with magic could be really difficult in a genocide run.." Error contemplated. 


"Yeah, but I'm holding to the hope that if it does happen, it won't carry over through resets. A limited time would be fun, though."


"Mayhaps" Horror wasn't sure. "Be a lotta work."


"Probably."


"It would be exciting to see a human with magic!" Starstruck liked the idea. "Perhaps they could be as skilled as me!"


"That would be impressive. Starstruck's actually pretty skilled in theatrical magic."


"Interesting." Nightmare enjoyed this conversation. "What kind of theatrics?"


"I can create mini stars that fill up rooms!" Starstruck giggled. "It's quite fun!"


"W-wow!" Cross liked stars.


"Yep." Outer smiled. "He puts on shows all the time."


"Is there anything else you would like to talk about?" Starstruck asked.


"Um..what's your honest, unaltered opinion of Nightmare's gang?" I needed to know. 


"Uh..that was sudden." Outer seemed a bit unsettled. "How do you kids know about Nightmare's gang?" 


"It's common knowledge, right?" Error covered.


"I guess. They're just plain rude. This conversation we're having? They wouldn't have that with you. I'd just stay away from them if I were you."


"Do ya think there's even a little good in them?" Killer hoped.


"I don't know. They go around being rude and hurting others; what kind of people even do that?"


"Wh-what if..they h-had a reason?" Cross questioned. 


"Believe me, I wish I could believe that, but in every case I've ever thought of, there's always been a better way. You'd think that if they had a reason, they would have asked for help, or something, but they don't. They just..don't."


"What if they didn't want to hurt anybody with their reason, because it would cause pain?" Nightmare frowned.


"Maybe..if it was someone they truly cared about..then maybe I could believe it. Star's been trying to convince himself of the same thing ever since they first showed up. You know, I bet if Nightmare's gang met you kids, they'd probably give up being evil; children like you are just too precious."


We giggled at that statement; we had technically done that when we were captured. Dream and the swap brothers, on the other hand, were processing what we had just revealed. We decided to let it all come out; we probably weren't escaping anytime soon, which meant we were going to have to find another way to keep the balance - we couldn't do that if we were stuck in a room all day. We also didn't want Nightmare to become ill again; that was a bad experience. 


"Do you think..even the worst people can change?" Error quoted.


"Our personal opinions?" Outer contemplated. 


"Ye.'" Horror confirmed. 


"Yes, I do!" Starstruck nodded.


"Hm.." Outer thought. "Yeah. I'll believe it."


"In that case.." Nightmare stood up. "I guess we'll find out."


Dream and the swap brothers were either shocked or impressed - maybe a bit of both - as Nightmare walked toward the Outertale brothers. He stood on the tips of his phalanges and got his small hands to move the blindfolds out of the way; we hoped this was a good idea. When the Outertale brothers' eyelights were adjusted to the shift in light, they saw a tiny Nightmare's gang; that was probably a bit surprising, and their expressions showed it. They stared in silence for a minute before the conversation was continued; at least they didn't attack us, I guess.


"Wait..you..you're Nightmare's gang?" Outer seemed very shocked. "You're smaller.."


"We were turned into kids." Error sighed. "It isn't the best, but it isn't the worst either."


"Did we just..have a friendly conversation..with Nightmare's gang?" Starstruck tapped his jaw.


"I think we did.." Outer smiled a bit. "And I..liked it."


"Really?" Nightmare was hopeful.


"Of course! You're so much cooler when you're not doing..other things!"


"Wait.." Dream looked concerned. "You mentioned having a reason?"


"A reason for hurting?" The swapped Papyrus adopted Dream's expression.


"Oh, yes.." Nightmare chuckled nervously. "That."


"We've come this far.." Error shrugged. "Might as well."


"Right.." Nightmare thought of the easiest way to put it. "Um..if we don't do that...the world goes crazy and nobody can feel sad anymore? And I also die?"


That answer received a lot of mixed responses.


"You did better last time." Error snickered.


"I'd like to see you explain your livelihood in two sentences." Nightmare challenged.


"I destroy corruption so the original Undertale doesn't get corrupted and we all die. That was one sentence." 


"Huh. Yours is easier to sum up than mine."


"It's certainly more straightforward, but I think you did a pretty good job." I complimented.


"At least somebody understood it."


"It was more fun when ya made a story." Killer stated. "You're better at stories."


"Yep." Horror couldn't deny it.


"You want a story?" Nightmare couldn't help but laugh.


"Y-yeah!" Cross grinned.


"Once upon a time, I didn't tell a story."


"That's illegal." Killer gasped.


"Where does it say that?"


"In the rulebook I just made up!"


"Has it been notarized?"


"Yup!"


"Well, I guess I can't argue with that."


"Story?"


"Short."


"Yay!"


"Once upon a time, I ate some apples. It was the worst mistake of my life. Now I have to go around causing mayhem to spread negativity so negative emotions don't disappear; if they do, I also happen to die, which isn't the best case scenario. Was that an enjoyable short story?"


"I'll take it!"


"I think we broke them.." Error pointed out; the five listeners were very much in shock.


"Oh well." Horror laughed.


"Do we w-wait?" Cross tilted his skull.


"I suppose." Nightmare supposed.


We waited for a while in silence, sometimes waving our hands around to gain the others' attention, but it didn't seem to be working. After half an hour, we were getting a bit bored - and hungry - but we decided to wait a little longer; we didn't know our way around, anyway, and the door was probably locked. We decided to play a game for a while until the others finally snapped out of their state of shock. We played an assortment of games that we liked for another half hour before something happened. Dream rushed up behind his brother and hugged him tightly; that was adorable, and the others snapped out of their shock as well, which meant that it was a win for us. Nightmare liked having his brother so close; he still loved him, no matter what had happened in the past. There were a few questions that had to be answered before the day ended, but they were honestly answered, and it honestly felt good. The day continued happily, and the others received quite a lesson in our job, which was exciting; we definitely weren't escaping, but this option was actually comforting, and we were more or less totally honest! We made a big decision, and it turned out well.


There was still one problem, though.


~~~chapter end woot~~~


Dust bean family tell all.


Thanks for reading my revealing writing!


Bye!

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