I don't think Nightmare or Shattered actually have the powers mentioned in this story - including future chapters - but I need them to have them for plot :3

Enjoy!

~~~~~

Nightmare had left about thirty minutes ago, and I was being absolutely destroyed in backgammon..Killer was too good for me to even try to win against. Now that I thought about it, Killer was good at just about every board game, from backgammon to checkers. Once upon a time, I could actually beat him in something like checkers, but that time had long since passed. As a result, I hadn't won a board game against him in decades, and that was saying something. I was getting a bit worried about Nightmare; he usually didn't stay out this long on a simple negativity check..those took ten minutes, at the most. Killer picked up on my worry halfway through a game of backgammon.

"Somethin' wrong, Dusty?" Killer made his move.

"Just worried about Dad.." I made a move that I probably shouldn't have. "He's been gone for longer than usual.."

"I'm sure he's fine."

"Yeah..I'm probably just overworried."

"There he is now!" Killer noticed a goopy portal.

"Guess you were right."

I turned my attention to the portal, seeing a goopy figure walk through..but I didn't know that goopy figure. That was not Nightmare, and I knew that immediately, drawing a dagger; I wasn't sure if whoever it was was a threat, but I wasn't going to risk it. The figure stood there, not moving; he had somewhat of a yellowish tint to his goop..this was certainly not Nightmare. Everything was quiet for about thirty seconds, giving us enough time to examine the goopy figure. When the thirty seconds had passed, the figure opened his right eyesocket, revealing a sharp yellow eyelight. We had no time to react. In what felt like a split second, we were each grabbed by a slimy tendril around the neck, and we were lifted up into the air. Error was the only one of us who might have been able to break free, but he wasn't present; as a result, we were forced over to the figure, who eyed us up curiously. We were struggling in his grip, having no time to wonder why he looked so much like Nightmare; we needed to fight off this invader, but he didn't exactly seem like the type that would go down, even with a battle. After a couple minutes of struggling, he spoke.

"Pitiful." He scoffed. "I thought you would have been harder to take than that. Have you no strength? Ah, well, I can change that."

"Who are you?!" I tried to kick the invader, only succeeding in being pushed farther away and hurting my hip again, but I couldn't think about that. "Where is Nightmare?!"

"Nightmare is dead."

At this, we stopped struggling; no, he couldn't have..

"You're so sensitive..I really didn't expect that. I will be your leader from now on, and you will obey every order I give to you."

"Wh-what if we d-don't?" Cross questioned. 

"If you don't.."

The invader tightened his grip with his tentacles; we didn't have to breathe, but we at least wanted our spines intact! After a minute, he loosened his grip back.

"You would be surprised how many ways I can hurt you with these.." The invader chuckled darkly. "But that's only if you disobey.."

"Wh-who a-are ya?" Killer stuttered.

"My name is Shattered. Of course, you aren't going to be allowed to call me that; as my new minions, you will refer to me as..master."

"Never!" I wasn't having it. "You aren't going to control us!"

"Feisty, are we?" Shattered chuckled. "I guess I'll have to deal with you first..but not now.."

I tried to plunge a dagger into the other's goop, but he just..absorbed it? I couldn't do anything else as he began to walk off, bringing us along. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, since his first stop was the control room. Unlike Horrortale, Nightmare couldn't take control of this universe, since it was corrupted; as a result, he designed the control room to have the same effects. From there, we could control who was allowed to enter via portal - except, apparently, those who found it by accident (those events were awkward for all parties) or Ink - and various other things, such as locating where certain individuals were; we weren't allowed to use that in hide and seek. When we reached the room, Shattered immediately went for the portal controls and..blocked off Nightmare and Error; it seemed as if he wasn't sure if Nightmare was truly dead..that was hope. After performing that action, he turned and carried us toward the training room, which he apparently knew the location of. When we reached our second destination, he began to tie us to the back wall before sitting in Nightmare's chair - only Nightmare was allowed to sit there! He didn't seem to care, taking me from my strained position on the wall with a tentacle and forcing me to face him.

"Tell me, Dust." He started. "Are you afraid of me?"

"No." I glared at him.

"I think that's about to change. Has Nightmare ever used his powers on any of you?"

"What powers?" I wasn't aware of any powers other than his attacks..

Shattered cackled. "Oh, that's rich! You mean you actually followed that idiot, and he didn't have to control you?"

"He's not an idiot!"

"Don't raise your tone with me."

"You're insane if you think we're just going to obey you!"

"It's not as crazy as you may think; in fact, by the end of the hour, you'll all be more than willing to obey my commands."

"And how do you intend on keeping that claim?"

"Negativity, of course. You wouldn't know it, but Nightmare may have hidden some things from you, such as his ability to control negativity; I also have this power, and I'm going to use it."

"How..do you do that?"

"With these appendages, of course. They are here for a reason, you know." Shattered rolled his eyelight. "You thought these were just decorations? Be a good minion and stay still."

I did the complete opposite of that, struggling intently to escape the tentacle I had been wrapped in; as a result, it only got tighter, but I didn't stop. It appeared as if he couldn't do anything unless I stopped moving, which meant that I was moving. After a minute or so, he expressed his displeasure with that, sending most of his other appendages to hold me in place; I couldn't move anymore, and he knew it. With a malevolent grin, he brought out his last tentacle, which was..glowing. The dark glow around it was almost trance-inducing; the negativity raditated off of it clearly. Shattered proceeded to bring out my soul, looking curiously at the magic restorer before waving it off and continuing with his mission. The last tentacle began to wrap around my soul tightly, injecting..something into me; I started shaking uncontrollably when I realized that it was negativity. I felt my positivity..fading..I couldn't find hope; how could I have found hope when there was none?! I grew to feel fear for the one holding me; I started crying in his grasp..he scared me! When he released me, I began to back away from him; I didn't want to be near him..he was too scary..

"What didjya do to him?!" Killer stood up to the frightening figure.

"I took away his positive feelings.." Shattered answered. "And I made them negative." 

"Yer sick!" Horror growled.

"D-Dust, it's okay!" Cross tried to comfort me, but it didn't work..

"Who wants to go next?" Shattered laughed. 

Over the next few minutes, the others were put throught the same torturous treatment that I had been subjected to, and we were now huddled in a corner, crying as Shattered came closer to us. He picked us up in the same style as before, around the neck, and carried us to Nightmare's chair, placing us before it; we decided not to move..he might have hurt us if we had.

"Now that you're all going to be obedient.." Shattered paused. "Actually, tell me: are you going to obey me?"

We nodded; we didn't want him to hurt us..

"Perfect." He chuckled. "Then listen up: you're all going to have a specific place under my rule, and you're not going to argue. At the moment, however, I have but three roles; I have yet to think of one that would suit Dust. As for the rest of you, Killer, you will be my executioner, and you will kill whoever I order you to. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes.." Killer was too afraid to argue.

"Yes what?"

"Y-yes..m-master.."

"Good. Horror, you will act as chef; it comes to my attention that you might know how to actually prepare food in a manner that will render it edible. Can you?"

"Y-yeah-" Horror was cut off.

"You will say, 'Yes, master'! Not, 'Yeah'!" Shattered snapped.

"Y-y-yes, m-master!"

"Better. I can't stand that rustic vocabulary. Cross, you will act as my foremost warrior, and you will accomany me on any trips that I decide to go on, whether for spreading negativity, or something else. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes, m-m-master." Cross replied.

"Good. Dust, until I think of a specific role for you to play, you will simply do what I say when I say it, am I understood?"

"Y-yes, master.." I was too frightened to fight back. 

"Good. Now that you know your roles, I would like the three of you to begin them. Killer and Cross, you train with your weapons; Horror, get in a kitchen and stay there - cook something, I don't know. Dust, you are going to show me around this place; I don't know everything, unfortunately."

"Y-yes, master.." We responded, going about what he had told us to.

I wanted Nightmare back..

~~~~~

Nightmare.

~~~~~

Ever since I had remembered what Dream had said about my boys, I had been in a state of panic. What if he had hurt them?! What was he planning to do with them?! How was I going to save them from him?! What if he killed them?!

"Nightmare!" Ink yelled, forcing me out of my thoughts. "We need a plan."

"A plan?" I chuckled hopelessly. "You think we can make a plan? Why would you trust me? Why would I trust you?"

"Nightmare, I know you still care for him; you can't even bring yourself to say you hate him."

"So?"

"So you'll help us."

"Ink, he does have a point.." The Underswap Papyrus admitted. "We can't expect to get along with our worst enemies just because Dream has been corrupted."

Ink sighed. "So how are we supposed to get Dream back?"

"You mean how are you going to get Dream back." I corrected.

"What are you saying?"

"I may still harbor feelings for him, but that's outweighed by my boys infinitely. I'd only help you if it would be beneficial for them, not Dream."

"What's so special about a group of murderers?" The Underswap Papyrus was so uncivilized.

"They're my group of murderers, and I happen to love them like children."

"That's ridiculous."

"I have the adoption papers..it's going slow, but it's working!"

"What relevance does that have?" Ink wasn't sure.

"They're in danger!"

"Then why don't you just go home, then?!"

"It would be a pleasure to get as far away as possible from you." I tried to open a portal home; it didn't work. "But it appears that I am stuck here."

"Ugh.."

"On the bright side, Dream is most likely in my house..with my children.." I was ready to go back into panic mode before Ink stopped me.

"What about others? Is there anyone else who could help us?"

"Error might be willing.." The Underswap Sans looked at me expectantly.

"You do realize that we're only allies, right?" I asked.

"You must have some way of calling him, right?" Ink hoped.

"I did, a few hours ago, but if it isn't broken, it's in Dreamtale..somewhere.."

"Anybody else have any ideas?" The Underswap Sans questioned.

"I might have a way.." Ink giggled; I knew what he was planning, and I knew that Error hated it, but this was an emergency.

Half an hour later, our unwilling quartet was gathered in Underfell, and Ink was holding chocolate bars in the air.

"Are you sure this will work?" The Underswap Papyrus was skeptical.

"Definitely." Ink confirmed. 

After only three minutes, a glitchy portal opened above Ink, and a hand descended from it. Unfortunately for the glitchy skeleton, he was grabbed by the artist and forced through the portal, landing on the ground with a groan.

"Great to see you again, Error!" Ink grinned happily.

"Do you have to do that to me every week?!" Error crossed his arms in defiance.

"This time, it isn't for fun, Glitchy."

"Then why, pray tell, did you have to do that?"

"I think Nightmare would be able to explain it better."

"Umm.." Error looked around. "Are you overdosing on your vials again? Nightmare isn't here, idiot."

"I'm afraid I am, albeit not by choice." I sighed.

"Um..Night? Why are you..smaller?"

"I'm not telling this tale again." I groaned. "Long story short, Dream is corrupted, I'm not, and he's in the house, possibly doing who knows what to the boys, and I've had three mental breakdowns in the past few hours."

"..." Error needed to process that. "Oh."

"We need your help to get him away from them.."

"Can't you just portal there?"

"I've been blocked, and if I'm right, you have, too."

"Hm." Error failed at opening a portal. "This is a difficult situation.."

"So, will you help us?" Ink needed an answer.

"I suppose I have to."

"Then the only question is.."

"What do we do now?"

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Bean gang noooo!

Thanks for reading my unfortunate writing!

Bye!