The Stage is Set

Angles Fall, Warriors take their place pt7

Angels - Vicetone

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"Boys!" All of them look at Nightmare, seeing him clutch his staff in a manner that makes him battle-ready. "Back to back! NOW!" The four of them move to create a square, slowly turning to make sure that they can see from all angles.

Cross looks up before yelling, "Shield!" His attacks build the basic shape of a cage around them.

"On it!" Error strings a shield as fast as he can before covering the four of them. Cross sinks a little in relief after the resounding boom echoes from where the attack hit the string shield. Killer twirls his knives as a way to calm himself before nodding at Error.

"Drop the shield on my count. We need to make sure that Dream has a shot at ending this. Okay?" Error nods, and his hands grasp the strings tightly. Killer times it in line with his soul beat. "3...2...1-"

Error pulls his arms back as fast as possible, willing that the strings don't knot together. The threads unravel as the others run out from the cover. Cross bolts, grabbing Nightmare and throwing him on his shoulder before running. Despite wanting to help Dream, they must either get to higher ground or make room for the two to fight. They also need to make sure that Hallucination is dead for good. Sure, he disappeared, but does that mean he's gone for good? They need to make sure of it. Killer runs ahead, throwing attacks at different pillars, rigging them to slow down Shattered enough to let Dream have the advantage. Porting would be faster, but it takes too much magic and concentration to use now. Before long, he's joined by Error, who is moving by his strings. The four of them go in opposite directions, making sure to keep an eye out for Dream and Shattered.

Meanwhile, Dream dodges attacks from Shattered. Twirling around, using his wings as if he's always had them. Maybe he's had them in a different rewrite? He doesn't know, but he likes to think he did. He flaps his smaller wings, and the gust of wind blows the arrow Shattered shoots at him off course. Dream shoots an arrow down towards Shattered. He watches in wonder as the arrow splits into ten, all piercing Shattered's tentacles. Half of them push through the tentacles, while the others stay in the corruption, slowly poisoning Shattered over time. Dream briefly wonders if this was an ability that Ghost could do before Shattered took his body. Shattered pulls his bow apart, the glint of his swords is the only warning Dream gets before he rushes Dream. Dream throws his swords up to block Shattered. Sparks fly as their swords meet, and a shrill cry comes from the four blades.

Shattered grits his teeth before smiling at Dream. "You're losing your strength. Are you worried? Do you need those other wastes of food to save you?"

Dream rolls his eye pips before smirking. With a twist of his foot, his stance changes. Allowing him to push more weight onto Shattered's swords before swinging them out of his grasp. Shattered gapes at the move, he's never been taught that. How does Dream know how to do that?! He shouldn't have any training on how to fight! Just like all the others! Dream snickers before slicing off Shattered's skull. Watching it regrow with morbid fascination before sighing.

"Did you really think I would be that weak?" Shattered growls as he jumps away from Dream, putting not enough distance between the two of them. Dream twirls his blade, throwing off all the corruption on it. He levels a glare at Shattered as he walks closer. "Did you really think that Ink would let me go without training? Without knowing how to defend myself against parasites like you?" Shattered's growl grows into a shriek as he runs away, fear now dictating all his movements. Dream watches as he runs, "If anything, I would assume that you're the weak one here."

Dream flaps his wings, shooting off into the air to catch up to Shattered out of sight. Silently, he flies above Shattered, bow pulled tight and ready. He shoots out two arrows, willing them to be silent. He watches as the one splits into ten arrows while the other blows up when it comes in contact with Shattered. Dream huffs to himself when he hears Shattered scream. It's the least he deserves after pulling him apart. Shattered screeches out as he moves towards Cross and Nightmare. Dream shoots an arrow to get Killer and Error's attention. The two of them see the arrow before nodding. Something is wrong and they need to check it out.

Killer jumps onto Error's back, holding on tightly as Error uses his strings to pull them high enough to land on top of one of the pillars. Error moves to let Killer off his back, before porting over to the next pillar. The two of them hop from pillar to pillar before landing on one just as the ground shakes. Killer braces himself against Error as they ride out the shaking before looking down. Catching their attention, Shattered attacks Nightmare, who is spinning his staff fast enough to mimic a shield. Cross slices through the tentacles chasing after him. Killer points over to something off to the side. Error follows his gaze before scowling. They should've known that Hallucination wouldn't stay dead.

Error throws himself off the pillar towards Hallucination, Strings weaving into something like a shield. He throws the large wall of woven strings at Hallucination, pinning him to the floor as Killer sends two blue attacks to pin Hallucination to the ground. He keeps the attacks moving in a circle. Cross looks back at the two of them.

"Glad to see you join the party!" Cross flips over another attack, putting distance between Shattered and him. He glances over at Killer. "What took you two so long?! Wait-Scratch that, what happened to you two?! You were only supposed to set traps and come back!"

Killer shrugs, creating two orange attacks in between the layers of blue attacks, causing more damage to Hallucination. "Nothing much just got caught up in- STAY DOWN. You will not move until we allow you to." Killer's tone causes Cross to shiver before looking down at the blob under Error's strings.

"What exactly is under there?"

Error sighs, watching Dream sky bomb Shattered. "Hallucination wasn't as dead as we hoped, he's under it." Error kicks the blob with a look of disgust.

Nightmare grunts as he slides back toward the others. He glares at the lump. "I thought that was the case! I saw him disappear earlier, but I wasn't sure if he dusted for good or not." He comes closer, placing a quick kiss on Error and Killer's cheekbones before looking back to where Shattered and Dream are fighting. He sighs before collapsing onto the floor. He looks at the others. "Anyone need healing while we wait for something to happen? As much as I want to help," he shakes his skull, "I'm low on HP. I also twisted my ankle back there."

Error frowns. "Don't waste too much magic on us, Night. We'll be fine, okay?"

Killer nods in agreement as Cross raises his hand. "I'm down half, at least."

Nightmare nods before standing up. He goes to walk over to Cross, stopping when he realizes that his feet are stuck in the ink. "Huh?"

All four of them look at each other before looking down at each other's feet. Cross smiles as he feels his wounds start to mend, watching as the ink travels to cover his torn and scuffed shoes. The others smile as they realize that Ink is slowly healing them. He's still somewhere there looking out for all of them. Not all hope is lost. Cross smiles, whispering a small thank you to the floor, hoping that his brother can hear him. Nightmare sighs as the pain in his ankle fades away, allowing him to stand with more weight on his foot than before. The four of them look around, trying to figure out where the battle has gone. It's quiet, too quiet. Nightmare looks up, noticing a dark figure in the sky. In pure instinct, He throws the whip part of his staff towards it. He watches as it wraps around the figure, feeling it struggle against his weapon, he pulls it taught.

"I could use some help over here!"