𝕊𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕠! - Dreamtale vs. Dreamswap

Shattered

Ink emerged from a portal into the Anti-Void. The whiteness of the endless space made him only slightly nervous, indicating his fear vial was running out. Welp, he'll have to take care of that later. Right now, he was on a mission.

He looked around for the strings Error hung on the ceiling. They held some human souls he'd stolen from various AUs, as well as puppets he makes when he's bored. It always confused Ink why Error makes them if he likes destroying so much. And no, there is no "balance" for him to maintain; Ink should know, he's known Error the longest and there's never been any mention of a balance between creation and destruction. Besides, Ink can't create AUs, only protect them. Well, you could say he's the one who knows about the balance, and Error's the ignorant fool. Hah.

Speaking of puppets, why did he have one of almost everyone he knew? Like there was one of Ink, Dream, Killer, Dust, Fatal Error, Terror, even Classic. Was there one of Nightmare, too? If so, it wasn't visible, or perhaps, not there at all. Or it didn't exist, yet. Anyway, strangely enough, there were puppets that didn't resemble any Sans. They were representations of the five demons and their leader. Why would Error care enough to make them? It wasn't like he was close friends, or even friends in general with them. Maybe they were like voodoo dolls or something? Something to take his anger out on when he can't get to the real deal?

Ink looked up at the blue strings, deciding how he would get up there. He figured making a staircase would be good enough, and pulled out his paintbrush. The stairs reached the lowest string, so Ink went up to tug it. He waited a few seconds, then tugged on the string again. It was quite amusing when he managed to annoy the glitch by being obnoxious, which usually ended in a fight and one or both of them retreating with a few major injuries. It was fun, though, at least to Ink.

He giggled when he heard a portal open, followed by glitchy grumbling. He turned around just in time to dodge a red bone as it flew past his head. He skipped down the stairs, humming a familiar tune and allowing the stairs to dissolve back into ink. Error rolled his eyelights at the artist's childish behavior and crossed his arms.

"What the hell do you want this time, squid?"

"Hi, Error! So, I was wondering if you could give Nightmare a message fer me. Dream wants ta see 'im in Dreamtale. But, if tentacles doesn't wanna come-"

"DO NOT CALL HIM THAT!!!"

"Aww, did I insult ya boyfriend, glitchy?~"

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!!"

"That blush says otherwise~"

Error summoned a gaster blaster and aimed it at Ink. The artist simply smirked, knowing Error would be too curious about what Ink had to say to kill him, so he would allow him to stay alive just long enough to hear him out. The gaster blaster fired, but missed Ink by a hair.
Hah! Knew it.

"Ugh, just tell me what Dream wants."

"Mmm, I don't really know what he wants, he just told me to get Nightmare. Er, told me to tell you to get Nightmare. Anyway, if he doesn't wanna comply, well- I mean, would he really wanna pass up the opportunity ta kill Dream? Seems kinda dumb, if ya ask me."

"Nobody asked you, squid. Also, you're just going to let your 'friend' die?"

"Nah, of course not! But, I'm positive he can handle himself. Besides, I'm only here to deliver the message."

With that, Ink made a portal and turned to Error, his expression turning uncharacteristically blank as the last of his emotions ran out.
"Make sure he comes alone, Error."
He fell through the portal.

The glitchy skeleton stared at where Ink had disappeared. Why would Dream ask Nightmare to come alone? He shook his head and portaled back to Nightmare's castle. Said skeleton was in his library, poring over his collection of destructive spell books in hopes of finding one that kills or banishes demons.