𝕊𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕠! - Dreamtale vs. Dreamswap

A Window of Opportunity

A blaster's beam rang out in the middle of the battlefield. Dream dodged the red beam, sending his own beam of light magic from his golden staff. It barely missed Cross, instead burning a hole in a ruined building behind him. A glitchy laugh echoed from somewhere to Dream's right, showing Error, the destroyer of worlds, fighting Ink, the protector of AUs. They fought each other with ferocity, neither backing down from the other, but they were too evenly matched. No matter how much ground Ink gained over Error, the glitch would fight back harder, regaining lost territory.

A black tendril shot out in Dream's direction, but he rolled to the side just in time. Out of the dust and smoke stepped his brother, Nightmare. Still dressed in his old attire, he looked like an evil prince, the gold crown atop his head glistening in the mid-afternoon's bright sunlight. He despised it, loathing it's seemingly positive, cheerful aura.

Dream shot a beam of light at Nightmare, but missed. Nightmare chuckled darkly.
"What's wrong, brother?~" he mocked.
"Losing your touch?"

Dream growled. Nightmare always seemed to know how to press his buttons. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering they spent the majority of their lives together as siblings. This made it all the more difficult to fight Nightmare. It saddened him that his brother, his only living relative, wished his death. He had tried to shrug off his feelings, knowing Nightmare didn't care and was only getting stronger from them, but Dream couldn't help it. He was willing to go great lengths to protect the multiverse, as it was his first priority, but he was going to do as much as he can to save him until Nightmare goes too far. Then, and only then, will Dream be willing to do what he must to protect the multiverse, despite his attachment to his brother.

Nightmare shot another tendril at him. Dream dodged, but didn't notice Cross' knife before it grazed his shoulder. He hissed, pulling his staff up to defend himself from another blow from Cross. A tendril tripped him up, causing him to fall to the ground. Cross lifted his knife up and stabbed it into Dream's left arm, earning a cry of pain from the positive guardian. Nightmare walked up to them, amused by how easily Dream had been taken down.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought," Nightmare said, gleefully absorbing the negativity around him.

"Hey tentacles!"
A splotch of red paint hit both Nightmare and Cross, earning pained shouts from them, as they staggered away out of Ink's line of fire.

Ink raced toward Dream, having knocked Error out by a convenient stroke of luck.

Me: Brushstroke!
Nights: Puns, puns everywhere!)

He held out a hand for Dream and helped the wounded guardian up.
"That wound looks bad, Dream," Ink said, studying the injury.

"I know."
Dream looked over at Nightmare and Cross, who were quickly recovering and preparing another attack. He debated whether or not it was a good idea to continue the fight. He looked back over at Ink, who didn't seem tired at all, and decided since it was two on two, he figured they stood a good chance at winning.

Dream picked up his staff and took a defensive stance, nodding to Ink. The artist nodded back, readying his paintbrush. They dodged to opposite sides as Cross sent a flurry of bone attacks at them. Dream swiped his staff in front of him, sending rays of light toward his opponents. One hit Cross, but Nightmare avoided them, sending his own destructive spells at Dream.

It's been three years since Dream and Ink lost their main defense against Nightmare's dark magic. This defense came in the forms if six powerful beings. Their leader had offered them aid in their fight against Nightmare to protect their own interests, but all of them went missing three years ago, along with Fatal Error. He had been their main threat for a few years, having... persuaded Nightmare and his group to work for him. But, one day, he and the six beings suddenly vanished without a trace.