UTMV Story Ideas!

Protect

Dream isn't perfect. He knows that. He can't always grant floods of positive emotions or stop Nightmare from disrupting the general aura of the whole AU and infusing it with suffering and despair. He can't. He knows he can't.

The AU's inhabitants don't always care, though. Sometimes they berate him, lecture him, shame him, and even go as far as physically harming him when he falls short. Ink and Blue can't count the number of times the inhabitants have made Dream cry (and he doesn't openly cry, ever), or the number of times they've had to patch him up after a beating.

As Nightmare finishes treating and healing himself and his subordinates, he feels a wave of negativity come from the world they'd just attacked. This was strange; he knew the original levels of negativity (those after he wreaked havoc, anyway) were at their peak, so why were there more? Curious, he returns to the world to find Dream surrounded by furious and/or grieving monsters. They're coming closer, and Nightmare catches a few phrases; he uses shadows to move closer.

"Why couldn't you save us?!"

"Your job is to make us happy!"

"Why did you let them do this? Do you even care?!"

"Please," Dream whimpers, shrinking back against the cold brick wall. He's cornered, and he's terrified. "I did all I could. I can't fix everything. I want to, but I can only do so much... Please..."

The Negative Prince feels something bitter rising inside him. Dream's fear is as palpable as his used to be; the tones of the voices matched...

Then, one of the inhabitants strikes, delivering a blow to the skeleton's stomach and another to his skull. Then everyone else follows suit. Dream isn't making any noise, he's just submitting to the attack.

Something snaps, and Nightmare bursts from the shadows in front of the skeleton. He doesn't hesitate to fling the initial attacker halfway across the town. His tentacles are thrashing and sharpened at the tip.

"You all," he rumbles with a manic grin and blazing eye, "should not have done that."