Inky Path

1

It was a typical day for Ink, training, ensuring that Blue wasn't causing problems, and the usual stuff.
The only difference in this day is that his Boss called him. It wasn't rare but also not common.

"Greetings, Boss. How may I help?" Ink was kneeling, waiting for instructions.

"Ink." His voice was hoarse, like he didn't drink water for a long time. The tired tone didn't help, either. "Look up."

Doing what he was told to, Ink quickly noticed the circumstances. Dream was on the last strand of sanity he had.

"Boss. What can I do?" Even if his eyes were blank, his mind wasn't, and he was expecting the worse to come.

"We need Nightmare, as much as I hate that idea" Dream gave Ink a weak glare. The trembling hands of Dream didn't help keep the strong and proud facade.

"Understood, Boss. I'll get Nightmare. Please permit me to go." Ink gets up, looking directly at Dream's eyes.

He got the confirmation he wanted with the grunt Dream gave him.

After quietly leaving the room, he was welcomed by a smile.

"So, what happened to the old chicken?" Blue's presence wasn't appreciated by Ink.

Ink looked into the eyes of Blue, who was giving him a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Take care of Boss. I need to get someone. Also, take care of that smile. It looks faker than the ones I give. " Ink glared at Blue, who kept smiling.

"Sure, I can do that, and my smiles are perfect!" Blue crossed his arms, giving an even bigger smile to prove his point.

"Do your part, do not cause problems while I'm away."

Ink walked away, grabbing his brush in the way.

But what happened was surprising, the opening of an unknown portal under him.

"INK!" Blue saw Ink falling.

Blue tried to catch Ink, but he was too late. The portal had already closed.

'Whoever was that it was, their objective was Ink. But that guy isn't that interesting for someone to kidnap. I need Dream to localize him.' Blue quickly ran to Dream's office door.

He was knocking over and over again. "DREAM! OPEN THE DOOR! THIS IS SOMETHING IMPORTANT!" Blue decided to open the door. He saw a tired Dream who could go berserk at any moment if given the opportunity.

"What happened this time? Did one of your yoga students disappear again?" Dream looked him in the eyes.

"You seriously didn't hear me scream? Ok, fine, I can work with that. An unknown portal kidnapped Ink!"

"Are you sure it wasn't his portal? He went to get Nightmare for me." Dream was observing some papers of the justice reigns.

"OF COURSE, I'M DAMN SURE! I AM THE ONE WHO COMMUNICATES WITH INK THE MOST! Look, you might not care, but I do. Ink was kidnapped by someone unknown, with the clear objective of getting Ink." Blue was, well, as angry as he could be with Dream's aura, but as some type of respect towards Dream, he tried to look calm.

"Your act is getting better day by day. What was the appearance of the portal?"

"It was strange. The portal was more like a hole in the ground. Ink wasn't expecting it, nor did I... Wait, who is aware of this place and hates Ink?"

This finally caught Dream's attention. He looked Blue in the eyes, trying to notice any lie from him. When he determined that there were no lies this time, he got up.

"Ink probably can get out of there. He is a well-trained soldier who could fight with Cross and hold Nightmare at the same time." Dream got up from his seat. "Let's see who was the one who kidnapped Ink..."

Dream focused on trying to find Ink's signature magic. The soldier had a unique magic signature, so it should be easy.

"Huh..?" These words made Blue's eyes worry.

"What happened?"

"I can't find Ink's signature magic... in no part of the multiverse." Dream got worried. "Not even I can hide Ink's signature magic so fast."

"Dream, we might need those criminals to get Ink back. If even you can't find him, we need more people." Blue tried to sound smart. It worked for half a second.

"Stop talking like that. I will teleport us to where my brother is."

Dream quickly made a portal to wherever Nightmare was. Blue was the first to go through the same.

"What a pain in the ass..." with that said, Dream when through the portal.

"Dream!" It was Nightmare's voice. Confusion and fear were evident in his voice.

"Look, as much as I hate you and your little group of criminals. I need you all."

Nightmare noticed how tired Dream sounded but still took out his weapon.

"What do you need from us?" Nightmare had a bold tone, this made Cross take out his weapon too.

"A portal took ink, and Dream can't find Ink's signature magic anywhere." Blue's serious voice truly made them worried.

Error's eyes were filled with fear and panic just by looking at the seriousness of the usually childish and immature skeleton.

" Exactly. Ink has few to no emotions, but his negativity is always high to medium, so if someone could find him other than me, it would be you." Dream glared weakly at Nightmare, but his gaze didn't change.

"First of all, what could we gain from that? It's your subordinate, not mine. Second, what do you mean you can't feel his signature magic?! His magic is probably the easiest to localize!" Nightmare glared back at Dream.

"Nightmare, I believe we need to help. Wanting or not, Ink was a great friend of mine... I would feel bad if we left him to die or worse." Cross placed a hand on Nightmare's shoulder. He was surprised by what he said himself.

"But he caused you pain so many times! To me, to Error, and you especially!" Nightmare turned to Cross.

"I feel sorry for them, that's all. Now could we help them?" Cross gave Nightmare a sad smile.

"Ok, I will try." this sentence made Blue smile brightly.

"I'm so going to tell Ink this happened."

"Don't you dare, Blue." Dream glared at Blue.

"Fineee. Now find the paint bitch, so that I can go, the yoga class starts in 2 hours."

"How strange... I also can't find Ink's signature magic."