Okay..so, I need...a break. My inspiration for these stories has kinda yeeted itself out the door, and I can't write without inspiration. That isn't to say that I won't continue these, but I'm going to focus more on my other stories until I get my inspiration back. So yeah. Expect a Cross-themed oneshot soon, 'cause I have a wonderful idea for one ;3

I might swing another upload before I take a break, but it's highly unlikely..I hope y'all can understand.

With that said, I hope you enjoy this upload!

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Nightmare's gang was doing all right at the moment; we had been working our way out of a rough period, but it was finally ending. Although, it wasn't completely over. We still had to go out every couple days, but we didn't have to go out every day. Today was a day we had to go out, unfortunately, but Nightmare had decided to spice this trip up; we were bringing gasoline. What did gasoline have to do with anything, one might have asked? Explosions. We..really..liked explosions. They just looked so cool! When we reached the universe we were going to terrorize, Killer and I ran straight for Hotland, carrying a ridiculous amount of explosive petrol. It was an unhealthy obsession sometimes, but it was so much fun! When we reached the edge of a path, we set down our flammable gasoline and prepared.

"Wearin' protective gear?" Killer wondered, putting on some goggles.

"Definitely." I put on my own.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"Let's get a move on!"

Without another word, Killer tossed a barrel of gasoline off the edge, and what an explosion occurred! Papyrus thought my excitement was misplaced, but I couldn't help it! It was all..explodey! I found myself giggling uncontrollably as I pushed another barrel off the edge, producing another large chain of explosions; the residents of Hotland were..not pleased, but we were there to cause chaos! It took half an hour for us to get rid of all the gasoline, but we were happy with our results. When the final explosion ceased, we decided to go find the others and tell them what they had missed, taking off our protective gear. It turned out that we didn't have to look far, since they were right at the entrance to Hotland!

"Heya, Dad!" Killer waved happily, walking up to the others.

"Hello, Killer." Nightmare didn't say that..

"Huh?"

It only took a second before Killer was held down on the ground by Ink; how did he get here?! I rushed to help Killer, but a large wall of bones stopped me..Error's bones? Why would Error block me?! I needed to help Killer! Ink could have been killing him! I tried to attack the bones with my dagger, but that only proved to be ineffective; they weren't coming down. I couldn't get through; I couldn't help him..I should have been able to! I heard struggling from the other side..

"Let me go!" Killer yelled. 

"Stay still, Killer." Ink was doing something! What was he doing to my adopted brother?!

"Get off!" Killer sounded desperate; I had to help him! Why weren't the others doing anything?!

"One more touch, and..finished."

"..." Killer fell silent.

"Killer?!" I tried to get past the wall of bones, to no avail. 

"Don't worry, Dust." Ink's voice was close..as if he were right-

Ink grabbed me from behind and slammed me down on the hard ground; I tried to fight back, resulting in my weapons being thrown into the lava beneath us. Ink pulled out a paintbrush as he held me down, and he tipped it with..light pink? Without warning, he plunged it into my soul. It hurt worse than I would have expected, but I soon realized that he wasn't trying to kill me, if that meant anything. After a second of pain, I felt strangely..light? I found myself incapable of struggling; it wasn't worth it. There was no pain..I giggled a bit; I had never felt like that before. I..liked it. The feeling faded when Ink removed his brush; there was no more paint on it..had he put it in me? I didn't understand. All I knew was that I didn't want to fight anymore; that was fine, since Ink didn't seem like he wanted to fight, either. Everything was fine. Ink stood; I stood, too. Why was Papyrus telling me to do something? Didn't he see that Ink didn't want to fight? Why would I have wanted to fight when there was nobody to fight? That was silly; Papyrus was just being silly. Chara was being silly, too; they were silly ghosts. Ink opened a portal, gesturing for me to walk through; I did so, and the others followed after.

We were now in a different place; I had never been there before. Something in my body was screaming for me to run; I didn't. Nobody else ran, either. The room was large, and it felt like we were in a castle's throne room; we probably were, actually. The room gave off a royal feel, with large windows lining the walls, a multicolored carpet leading to a staircase, and a chair at the top of the staircase..no, it was a throne - definitely. I wondered why it was so high up; I couldn't ask. I couldn't open my mouth..I couldn't speak. Why was I just..standing there? My family stood with me, and they seemed like they were in the same situation I was in; I wanted to run away as fast as I could..but my legs just wouldn't obey me. I didn't know why I wanted to run; I was safe, wasn't I? Maybe I was just tired; that must have been the reason. We were standing in a line; had that been intentional? Ink stood in front of us, and we looked at him.

"I bet you're wondering what's going on." Ink stated; his bet was correct. "Well, I decided to experiment with new types of paint, and I found that one of my results produced a..compelling effect on its victims. Naturally, I linked it to me. Oh, don't worry; I'll take good care of you, and I'll even let you out from my sway sometimes..but most of the time, you'll be under my control. How does that work, you can't ask? Well, I'm not really sure! This will be exciting, though. You'll, uh, be staying here; I made it for our purposes. Huh?" Ink paused. "So what if I'm monologuing?" Was Ink talking to the sky? "It's no fun if they don't know what's going on! Thank you, Broomie." 

Ink hummed for a moment before resuming.

"Ah, where was I?" Ink soon remembered. "Oh, yes, you each get your own room here; of course, you won't be in them much..you'll be with me most of the time. Oh, another thing about the paint! You're pretty much forced to do whatever my will is, and I'll be kind and warn you now: if you try to fight my little control, you'll pay; if you surrender yourself, you'll be happy. The paint can transmit certain chemicals into your soul to produce those effects; you'll be good, now, won't you?"

I felt my skull nodding against my will; I didn't fight it, though..I wouldn't do that after what Ink had just said.

"Good." Ink grinned. "So, what will you be doing in my service, you may want to ask? Just what you do normally; we wouldn't want the balance to tip, would we? No. No, we wouldn't. Although, I've made multiple stories about how bad you guys are, and, well, you're not actually that bad; seriously, when's the last time you killed someone? I can't keep framing you for my murders, so I think I'll just make you commit them. That sounds good, right?" Another nod. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Now, we're going to play castle; I'm the king, and you're the servants slash knights..slash..everything else. At any rate, you'll be happily serving me, now."

Ink wasted no time in stepping up to his throne, which was at the top of the staircase. Actually, the staircase was huge; it must have had at least fifty steps to the top! When he sat down, he looked down at us.

"Okay." He started. "First rule of serving me: you stay in your position and don't break it until I allow you to. There will be three of you on each side of the carpet in this order from nearest to farthest: on my left, Nightmare, Killer, and Horror. On my right, Error, Dust, and Cross. Get in position."

I followed his instructions; it wasn't as if I had any reason not to. Actually, I felt good when I stood where Ink told me; following his orders was obviously the correct choice. My soul felt happy. Killer and Cross also immediately gained their positions, but Nightmare, Error, and Horror didn't; I wondered why..did they not trust Ink? 

"G-get out of my h-head!" Error was glitching more than usual; he fell to his knees, grasping his skull. 

"You shouldn't fight my control." Ink warned. "Look at your friends; they can follow simple orders..why can't you?" 

The trio fell onto the floor, and it seemed like they were in agony; I couldn't help them, though. I couldn't find the strength to move. I didn't know why I couldn't move; I wanted to help my family, but my body wouldn't respond. Ink was the source of their pain, apparently; he tortured them like that for four hours, and I stood by, doing nothing, for four hours. When the pain stopped, he repeated his order, and they obeyed it, joining us in the positions Ink had determined. Ink was pleased when they obeyed him.

"Let that serve as an example of what happens when you don't follow orders." Ink had a convincing example. "Now, when you're in position, I expect you to face forward at all times, and you aren't to move unless I order you to."

I was already facing forward; I noticed the others moving. Ink proceeded to state the rules of what we could and couldn't do, and we accepted them; we couldn't physically reject them. When Ink finished with the rules, he decided to show us around his castle, which was rather large. Each of us was granted a room, and each of our rooms contained everything one might have needed. They were even decorated according to our tastes; how did Ink know what colors we liked? I wasn't sure. My room was decorated with a dark grey and blue theme, with various furniture items. There was a small kitchen area in the corner to the right of the door, a couch, bookshelf, and television behind it. To the left, a bed sat in the back of the room, and there was a training area in front of it; Ink had really planned this out. When he finished showing us our rooms, he brought us back to the throne room, where he pulled out some weapons.

"All right." Ink examined a large sword. "Since I sorta destroyed your old weapons, I'm obliged to give you new ones. Cross likes knives and swords.." Ink handed Cross the sword. "Killer likes knives.." Ink tossed a couple knives to Killer. "Horror likes axes.." Ink threw an axe at Horror. "And Dust likes those tiny knife things.." Ink presented me with a couple daggers. "Error and Nightmare don't need such things. Now that that's done, I'm going to test you. Nothing too hard, really; it'll just ensure that you won't try to break free of my control. Now..I have six prisoners; they need to die. Each of you will act as executioner for one of them. Stay here while I get them."

Needless to say, I was unsettled. I hadn't killed anyone since before I joined Nightmare's gang! I didn't want to kill anyone..I couldn't! I tried to run, to no avail. Whatever Ink had done, it was strong, and I simply couldn't break free of his control. I continued to think thoughts of how I could break free until I found them being suppressed- 

Why would I have wanted to break free? Ink was being quite kind to me and the others; I shouldn't have wanted to run away. I mentally scolded myself for that type of thinking; it was bad. When Ink returned, he was leading six people from different universes; they seemed surprised when they saw us. The prisoners were forced to the ground in front of us, and Ink looked to us.

"Let's see..who should go first?" Ink looked at me. "Dust, would you do me the favor of killing one of these fine people?" 

I stepped forward, gripping a dagger. If Ink wanted it done, I supposed that I would have had to do it; after all, Ink only wanted the best. I stepped up to a human in the bunch and lifted my dagger; it would have been quick. When I brought the weapon down, I found that the human wasn't dead; I had frozen. I didn't want to kill anyone! I shakily dropped the dagger and fell to my knees; I had to fight it! I couldn't give in to Ink's control! I had to fight him! I believed that I was crying; the pain Ink had promised was setting in, and it hurt so much. I didn't know how long it lasted; all I knew was that it hurt, and that was all I needed to know. Ink picked up the dagger I had dropped and put it back into my hand before forcing me toward the victim. I could feel the tears streaming down my skull as the human went limp, but the good feeling came back? Why did I feel good after that? I didn't know. I was promptly placed back with my family, and each of them went through similar experiences; the prisoners were gone, but it took a while. It was at that point that I was starting to get tired, and the others seemed to be getting to that point, as well. Ink noticed.

"Oh, how long has it been?" Ink hummed. "Ah, it's been a day..I should probably let you guys rest..go to your rooms and get some sleep."

We did as instructed.

I couldn't help feeling controlled.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean family under Ink sausage's control? ;-;

Thanks for reading my brainwashing writing!

Bye!