Locked After Midnight

Chapter 1

Dream was finishing off some admin work when he felt a normal timeline fill with negativity. He had been doing missions alone recently as Blue had gone back to his original timeline to visit his brother after years and Ink was still recovering from his chest infection.

He teleported to timeline 824 and he saw Nightmare and his group tearing down the timeline. Dream spawned his bow and arrow and shot at Horror and Cross; without a pause, he blasted at Killer and Dust. But before he could fight Nightmare, Nightmare was two steps ahead. A tentacle grabbed Dream firmly by the necks and knocked him into the floor. Dream tried getting the tentacle loose but it only became tighter.

* You never learn your lesson, do you.

* L-...et...-

* Blue won't save you, and that lovely chest infection Ink has will keep him in bed for a while.

Wait...Dream hadn't told the bad Sanses about Ink's illness...could he have-

* Negativity poisoning in his paint vials, don't ask.

Dream's eyes widened as he finally realised this was all a trap to get him on his own against the bad Sanses.

Not enough oxygen was going in and soon enough, Dream passed out...only Nightmare's evil face in sight. 

An hour before midnight...

Dream woke up to the sound of dripping and the smell of death. His hands were chained up so his magic was suppressed, and the negativity was practically drowning him up. He stood up and went up to the bars, nobody was there. The cell door had a code.

What numbers were important to Nightmare?

He put it Nightmare's birthday - which was also his own - and he stepped back when an alarm went off as it was wrong. Dream heard footsteps before Cross came into his sight. He turned off the alarm and glared over at Dream.

* Did you really think you could escape.

* I...I-

Cross teleported into the cell and spawned in a knife, holding it up to Dream's neck and pushing him against the wall. Dream was terrified..

* Give me one fucking reason why I shouldn't kill your right here and now.

* Because I gave you specific orders not to.

Cross quickly let go and teleported out of the cell, right by Nightmare.

* Boss I-

* Go. I want to talk to Dream.

Cross teleported away and Dream's eyes watered.

* B-Brother I-

* We will never be brothers. I want you to suffer so badly, after everything you put me through.

The negativity radiating off Dream increased, which was exactly what Nightmare craved for.

* I tried everything I could...the villagers w-wouldn't listen to me brother! I regret every day I might've been able to do more, I'm so s-

* Pathetic. You couldn't even save your own twin, and now you can't even save your own teammates.

Dream looked at Nightmare in confusion.

* ...What did you do to them?!

Nightmare smirked, snickering at the thought of the question.

* Well I'm sure Blue will never forgive you for ignoring his call as my team murdered his brother and he was forced to watch too~! And Ink...well, infections get worse and worse if left untreated, he would have to be incredibly lucky if someone found him in time. They will be so disappointed in you Dream~

Dream wiped his tears as he begged his brother to let him go and help his friends. But Nightmare just walked off, grinning.

Blue was let go by Killer as the job was done. He watched as his brother's dust piled on the ground.

Dust picked up Blue's phone to see all the emergency phone calls he had made to Dream, left unanswered.

* He really doesn't care about Blue, what a shame~

Dust mocked Blue.

They left him to cry, tears falling into his brother's dust.

Ink began to cough violently, and boy was it painful.

* D-DREAM..!

He coughed more and more, his chest tightening. Ink was exhausted and fatigued. Reaching for his phone, Cross grabbed it and smashed it on the floor. He grabbed Ink and took out the negativity injection Nightmare had ordered him to give Ink.

* N-No-

* Oh shut up.

Cross roughly injected him with the venomous negativity before teleporting back to Nightmare's castle, Ink falling to the floor...passing out.

Midnight passed unnoticed and before you knew it, a week had passed. Dream hasn't slept whatsoever and he rejected any food he was given, afraid of any poison that could be in it. He had no hope left, he blamed himself for the suffering his friend's had been through.

The guilt continued to dominate any sanity or feeling he had left. He tried yelling and begging to be let go but nobody listened. His throat became sore and he had surpassed his tipping point. Dream was starting at one of the cell walls when Cross came to see if Dream had eaten his food. Every time he didn't, he was punished. Beaten, whipped, tortured, spoken badly of right in front of him. But after a while, Dream grew numb to the pain.

* Fucking bitch, just eat your DAMN FOOD.

Dream didn't reply, continuing to stare at the wall.

* For fuck sake.

Cross went into the cell and pushed Dream onto the floor, angry.

Dream finally snapped out of his blank thoughts and seemed awfully confused. Cross grabbed the plate of chicken and forced it into Dream's mouth. He tried pushing Cross away but Cross was a lot stronger.

* SWALLOW THE FOOD THEN!

Dream began chocking over the chicken and tried spitting it out but his mouth was forced shut and he began to struggle again. Cross noticed his eyes shaking, and that concerned him.

Dream eventually swallowed the food and Cross left, leaving him in shock. He could tell that food was beyond expired, that's why he didn't want to eat it. Dream still hadn't slept either. He had no hope left.