Reborn As A Dust Sans [Undertale Multiverse]

Ch24 - Battle

Ashe's POV

"Oh my stars, have we been misgendering you!?" Dream called out, looking slightly panicked.

"Dreamboat! Focus! They're the bad guys, remember!?" Ink interjected, clearly not as worried as Dream was. 

"But that doesn't mean we have to be rude an–" Dream was cut off by an attack by Killer, who was clearly much more eager to just get into the fight. Considering how freaked out he had seemed earlier, you suspected that fighting helped him to relieve his stress.

An axe flew through the air and almost beheaded Ink, to which the painter grinned and tried to swipe at the other. Well, it was clear where Horror was. He looked... rough.

There was so much magic and dust in the air.

You tugged at Dust's arm, grabbing his attention before he could head off. 'Where are Nightmare and Cross? Shouldn't they be here too?'

He frowned and spoke quietly, avoiding attacks as he did so. "Not sure, but Horror is 'ere, so we jus' need ta hold out fer now," he explained. "Boss was 'ere for the Chara, so he migh' still be busy with tha'. Just... stay out of th' way fer now. Don' figh' unless yer have ta, we got this."

You nodded, watching as he disappeared into the fight. Papy stayed with you, watching carefully, occasionally telling you move to go if the fight was getting too close to you. You were thankful to have him watching your back, though where he failed to, the others were careful not to let anything hit you.

The fight went on for a while and you were getting anxious. With a sudden idea, you turned to your sibling. 'Papy! Remember that movie we watched with Uncle Dusty?' you signed, and he gave a quick nod of confirmation. 'That scene where the ghost possessed the random human... Do you think you could try doing that?'

"I CAN CERTAINLY TRY! BUT WHICH ONE? I don't want to possess our family..." He shouted, voice trailing at the end.

You pointed directly towards the Fell Papyrus, of who scowled at you and attempted to skewer you with a barrage of bones. Killer quickly stepped in, pushing you out of the way and earning the attention of the edgier skeleton, though he was struggling a bit with the attention of both Fells.

"THE UGLY ME IT IS, THEN!" Papy announced, glaring at the variant. Although he didn't say it, you could tell he was pissed for having tried to hurt you.

You watched as he floated over to the Papyrus, then faded out from view. There was a long moment of silence, and you wondered if anything was happening. Did it work? Why wasn't the Fell Papyrus moving?

Killer withdrew a little at the strangeness, turning to you with a look as if to ask what was happening. 'Papy's trying to possess him so he can fight with us!' you explained. 'He hasn't tried that before though so, uhm, be careful?'

"Got it," he confirmed, and the both of you watched cautiously as the Fell's eyelights extinguished. A black liquid cascaded down his face, body making sickening cracks as it moved.

"WOWEE! I GET TO STAB PEOPLE MYSELF!" the distorted voice shouted excitedly, earning looks of horror and confusion from the people you were fighting against. The voice sounded all sorts of wrong, choked and garbled, black spilling from pointed teeth like drool. "THE STABBIEST PAPYRUS IS GOING ON A STABBING MARATHON! NYEH HEH HEH! PREPARE TO BE STABBED!"

Fell Papyrus - no, Ghost Papy whilst possessing Fell Papyrus - begun to summon magic and attack, seeming mostly preoccupied with the brother of his vessel. The Fell Sans completely abandoned the fight in favour of his brother, desperately trying to get through to his brother. He fought in a way that made it clear he was terrified to hurt the Papyrus, but Ghost Papy had no hesitation, fighting with full force. It was a losing battle for the Sans.

You had mostly blended into the background, trying to figure out what else to do. You already knew from experience that you were not experienced enough to battle these people, but you hated the feeling of being so helpless, of not knowing how to assist those you cared about. Nightmare and Cross still hadn't appeared, either, leaving you deeply concerned. Were they okay?

Nausea welled in your chest. It had been there since the teleport to this timeline, along with a dull pain in your soul that you were trying to ignore, but you were feeling worse and worse as the fight progressed. It was a good thing that nobody was paying you much attention, as you were pretty sure you would end up being dusted if somebody was more focused on trying to fight you.

Black began to stream down your face. You suddenly felt suffocated, bile rising in your throat. You threw up. It was black spoilt magic, and you were suddenly so much more aware of how low your magic felt. But... you weren't using your magic? Why did you feel so exhausted?

"How curious. You share sibling bonds with several of my subordinates," a dark voice called from beside you.

You turned to the voice with slightly hazy vision, prepared to try and stab him with the knife that Killer had given you, only for a black tendril to immediately catch your wrist, holding you but not disarming you. In all honesty, it had been entirely reactive - you wouldn't have tried had you not been startled.

"Tsk, there is no need for that," the blackened goop-covered skeleton scolded as several other tentacles quickly shot into the air. They seemed to be protecting you from stray attacks, though it was clear he was still in an ongoing fight against Dream since positivity arrows kept soaring in the air in your direction. He must have been quite attentive to fend off attacks whilst talking to you.

You took a moment to take in his appearance. Nightmare, the king of negativity, somebody far more powerful than you. You didn't struggle in his hold, didn't try to stab him a second time. You knew the others considered him a parental figure, but you couldn't help the terror that filled you at his cold and calculative gaze. You knew he could dust you if he wanted to, that you stood no chance against him.

His cyan orb narrowed at you. "Your brother needs to abandon his host. Pulling from a shared magic pool when it is already so depleted is straining you - you cannot maintain this any longer. Have him stop before it kills you," he commanded, finally removing his tendrils from you.

His tone was cold. Authoritative. It left no room for argument. Yet, logically, he must have cared at least somewhat. If he didn't, he wouldn't have wanted you at all.

'Can you... tell him? Can't...' You managed to sign out with shaky hands, only to throw up again. Signing was just too difficult whilst you were in this state.

The shadowed form of Nightmare disappeared. Moments later, Ghost Papy was floating over to you yelling apologies, hands on your arms to help steady you. "THE TERRIFYING SHADOW THING SAID THAT POSSESSING THAT UGLY VERSION OF ME FOR TOO LONG WAS HURTING YOU! ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?" he let out frantically.

'Am okay... need...' you paused, taking a moment to throw up. Papy was clearly very concerned about you, expression still panicked. "Ngh..." you choked out, almost collapsing as it all caught up to you. Why was there two of everything?

Before you could hit the ground, Horror was by your side, scooping you up. "Nightmare... Said you... needed some.. Help. Are you... okay?"

You couldn't respond. You were just so tired. His expression contorted to concern as you stayed silent.

"Horror! Is that Ashe? Are they okay?" Killer called out mid-fight against Ink. It... didn't look like it was going very well for Killer, he was dodging more than landing hits, but it seemed he was just meant as a temporary distraction.

"Boss said... We're retreating..." Horror let out. "He has... Cross so... We just need... Dust."

"On it!" Killer let out, immediately disappearing to grab Dust from their intense fight against Blue. The moment everybody was together, Nightmare appeared, formed a portal, and snatched everyone through, leaving none of his allies behind. Horror was still carrying you, grip protective and warm. You were safe now. At least, safe from the Star Sanses, who you were pretty sure were left in quite a rough position by the time you had all escaped.

Nightmare looked at his subordinates with a firm gaze. You couldn't tell if he was amused or pissed, and it was... a little bit terrifying. "So which one of you are going to tell me about the little extra you brought along?"