Dreamcrash

Twenty: Blackout

It wasn't long before Patch woke up. He slowly opened his eyes to see me watching Seed and him.

"AAHHK!" He yells, jumping up. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"You guys were happy and I was drawing energy off of that," I say.

"Oh, okay... What about Pen? Is he alright?"

"Yes, he's fine. He got his ink," Seed says as I look away. Drawing power off of Patch's and Seed's emotions had distracted me from what Pen had told me earlier, but now it was back in my head.

"Patch?" I ask. "Is it true that Pen controls this Multiverse, and he could delete any AU at any time?"

Patch and Seed both freeze. I killed the mood. "Well... yes and no," Patch says carefully. "Yes, he controls the Multiverse. He controls the AUs that go in and out and all the bugs and glitched in them. Yes, he could delete any AU if he needs to. But he would never do that. Why are you asking?"

"Pen and I got in an argument before he got his ink. He asked why I decided to not corrupt and if I knew the consequences. The fact that he controls the AUs in here came up somewhere along the line."

"Before he got his ink?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well then don't worry about it. He tends to say things he doesn't mean when he doesn't have his ink. Try not to let it get to you." Patch gives me a reassuring smile and walks off with Seed to go do something. I watch him go and think of what Pen told me. I find it hard to believe he didn't mean at least some of it.

"HEY HEY HEY THREAD ALERT!" Pen hollers from the center of the Art Dome, shaking me out of my thoughts. 

"Crap," Patch responds, zipping over, Seed right behind him. "Where?"

"Well, it's technically not Thread."

"What do you mean?" Seed askes.

"Here. Look at this." Pen flies over to another paper and brings it back. Patch grabs it and reads it. "Whatever this is, it's not Thread."

"Three," I say without hesitation. "It's got to be him then."

There's a moment of quiet before Pen's eyelights go red. "Seed, I'm adjusting the protection spell. Three is in Comettale. You got two minutes to meet Night, Patch, and I there," He orders as he writes some signs on the big paper. Seed nods and teleports away, most likely to get into his flower form. Pen grabs my arm, then Patch's. "I'm shortcutting, hold tight."

I hear Patch mutter "Great," in a very sarcastic tone before I get the sensation of being pulled through a brick wall again as Pen shortcuts us to Comettale. 

Patch gasps beside me and collapses.

"Oh yeah, humans can't breathe in space. Forgot about that."

Patch gives Pen a glare as he wraps a red string around his arm, Codewriting himself. "That's better... PEN, HOW COULD YOU JUST FORGET THAT?!?" He hollers.

Pen shrugs. "Whoops." Patch gives him the most hateful glare I've ever seen.

We head further into the AU. From Patch and Pen's steady walk, I can tell they've been here a lot before. I, on the other hand, was captivated by the sky. I've never liked star gazing, that was more of Dream's thing, but the sky here was beautiful. Swirled with blacks, blues, and purples, dotted with glowing stars, it made the night sky at Star Village look normal. I doubted I'd ever find something more pretty. After a minute, Seed popped up next to us and stayed quiet. The three of them stayed close together, ready to attack, while I stayed back, eyes stuck on the stars. After a minute, I guessed the morning was coming, because the stars were fading. But that didn't seem right, since it looked like the sky was getting... darker?

"Night," Patch said harshly, knocking me to my senses. "That him?"

I walk forward to catch up with them. Patch has his knives out, Pen's eyelights are teardrop shapes and he's ready to attack, Seed's got some vines floating around him. I see there's a figure a few feet away, sitting on a platform of strings that seemed to be attached to the horizon. It's unmistakably Three.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here," He says, smiling maniacally, eyes locking on to me. "I'm so glad you came, Night."

"Cut the small talk," Patch snaps. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"Oh, who do we have here? Night, you brought friends? You shouldn't have." Three observes Patch, Pen, and Seed. "The name's Error 403, resident Code Master of the Crashverse and a destroyer. Truly a pleasure to meet you in person, Protectors."

"Code Master? You didn't mention he was a Code Master," Patch whispers to me.

"I didn't know. Is that bad?"

"Yes. Very."

"Good to meet you too," Pen says. "However, you're a destroyer. That makes us enemies." One moment he's by us, the next, Pen's right behind Three, a Gaster Blaster aimed for his skull. Three easily dodges and Pen teleports back to us, right in front.

"And you must be Pen, the Creator I've heard so much about from a certain friend." Three smiles, looking at Pen.

Creator? Isn't Pen a Protector? I think. I make a mental note to ask him about it later.

"You've heard about me? Excellent. So you know I'm here to kick your-" Pen finished the sentence with something I'd rather not repeat.

"Oh, calm down, there's no reason to fight. I just came here because I have a message. I wanted to thank you, Night."

I feel four pairs of eyes on me as I freeze. "What do you mean?"

Three's grin grows. He looks insane. I bet he is. "Ah, I forgot you don't remember. Maybe I'll just.. jog your memory." He smiles and snaps. I feel a sudden shock in my Soul and everything around me goes black. I can only see Pen, Patch, and Seed. I ready a silver arrow and aim it towards where Three was standing.

"Why is it so dark?" Patch mutters.

"Ahahaha... trying to attack me? How can you if you can't see me?" Three laughs, his voice coming from everywhere at once. 

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Pen roars. 

"Oh, I don't want anything. But he does."

It takes all of two seconds for me to feel there's another aura here that's coming towards us. I can sense slight confusion, followed by absolute anger, but it's too late because by the time that registers with me, Pen and Patch have been attacked and are separated from Seed and I. I can't see them anywhere, I can't hear them or feel their aura.

"Once again, thank you Night for helping me. This wouldn't be possible without your cooperation. Ciao!"

The mysterious aura leaps at me. I sense it's movements and go to block it, but something crashes into my head like a brick. My vision spins, I feel like I'm about to collapse.

"Night!" Seed yells. "Get up!"

I steady myself and latch on to the other person's aura, aiming an arrow at them. I launch the arrow, and by a noise of collision and the blackness disappearing, I can tell it hit. Comettale returns and Pen and Patch are nowhere in sight.

"Come on Night, let's get out of here!"

I nod and prepare to teleport. Seed disappears into the ground. Right before I move, I see it. A different figure. I caught a glimpse of a long teal jacket and black bones before I teleported.

I landed in the Art Dome and caught a glimpse of a mad Patch and Pen before my arm was grabbed and I was forwarded to somewhere else. I landed in a grassy field and figured out I was back in my home. Patch pulls out his knife and holds it at my neck.

"Care to explain what really happened when you met Three, Night?"