No Matter What (A Dreammare Fic)

Chapter 1: That Went Well

Will this be the way I die? All of my hard work for nothing, my hope ripped from me? Karma is a horrible thing, trying to take Blue down with me...

Blue! What am I thinking? I shouldn't be drowning in self-pity! Dream shakily reached out his hand. Every bone in his body screamed and burned, and every millimeter he moved felt like lava coursing through his skeleton. I have to get up! I have to teleport Blue back to Underswap! Dream ignored the searing pain to reach towards Blue. I can't let him down. I promised to protect him, to protect them. Just a little more...

I can't let him die with me. He doesn't deserve it. 

Blue collapsed onto the ground next to the guardian, the strain of the battle weighing down his bones. "D-Dream, Hold On, We Will Survive This!" Blue choked out, mustering his hope and reaching for his friend's outstretched hand.

I need to save him.

Dream chuckled before being interrupted by a wet, marrow-filled cough. "Yeah, you will." He tried to sit up to hug Blue goodbye, to pour apologies into a last embrace, but his legs failed him. He couldn't even feel them anymore, but Dream didn't care. He couldn't muster the positivity to save Blue, so what did his pain matter?

I'm so sorry I failed you.

"We Both Will, Right?" Blue questioned as he took Dream's gloved hand. His cerulean eyelights searched the dimming golden ones with fervor. "Have Faith, My Friend. I Believe In Us."

Dream managed a small smile. He knew he had to get Blue out now, he could feel Nightmare approaching. A small burst of energy surged through him in his desperation. With Blue's hope adding to his own leftover energy, Dream managed to get out, "say 'hi' to Stretch for me, okay?" Before dropping Blue into Underswap.

The portal collapsed as soon as it's traveler entered, as did the caster when the portal closed. Dream felt unconsciousness teeter at the edge of his vision as the ignored pain of many wounds surged through him like a burst dam. Despite this, he still managed to lift his gaze to his counterpart and smile.

"Congrats, Night," Dream coughed out as darkness' comforting hold swallowed his consciousness. "You did it."

Nightmare stared down at the now unconscious Guardian in front of him. It would be easy to let him suffer. Put a hole through his skull to incapacitate him and claim the multiverse for himself. Wasn't exactly a fair fight, the lingering conscious of his past self argued. Ink wasn't here.  So what? The corruption argued, that rainbow bastard has never been our target. He deserves to suffer.

"Hey, Boss?" Cross called tentatively from behind Nightmare, slamming reality back into his head. After turning around, the dark skeleton noticed his subordinate seemed on edge.

"What is it?" Nightmare growled out, attempting to cover over his inner conflict with anger.

Cross glanced at the trees behind him, then up to the cave ceiling of this AU's Snowdin. "Something is wrong--"

The concern Cross was going to offer got cut off by a string of expletives and the sound of people being thrown into the snow. "This place is failin' apart, Boss." Horror called as he walked over to where he threw Dust and Killer. After hefting each teammate onto one of his shoulders, Horror continued, "almost looks like Error started destroying the universe."

"Is it just this hellhole's code or should I care?" Nightmare asked as he glanced at Cross.

Although Cross was not as good with code as the aforementioned Destroyer, he shook his head. He was certain: "It's not a part of this universe." Nightmare gestured for him to continue, and Cross drew his blade to check the universe's code once more. "The cause of the deterioration, that is." He glanced at his Boss, checking that he was following, " If we don't leave soon, we  could risk--"