Reborn As A Dust Sans [Undertale Multiverse]

Ch37 - Inky

AN: A big thankyou to everybody who frequently comments on my stories, regardless of the platform c; I appreciate all of them, even if I don't always have the energy to respond. This chapter is a sneaky little thankyou to some I've noticed comment fairly regularly - I hope you enjoy!

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Dream's POV

Dream could not help the sigh of relief that had escaped from him the moment the shorter skeleton fell into a deep magic-induced sleep, mildly surprised that they had been so susceptible to it in the first place. He had thought that the other would have more of a resistance, especially as they had been hanging around his negative-inclined brother, but reflecting back, he did notice how Ashe had seemed more sensitive to his calming aura.

The failed CHECK that came directly after was not reassuring, especially as he did not know Ashe's name still, but he supposed that was a problem that could be solved easily enough once the other was awake again. Right now, it was more important to get them back to base before Nightmare and the others noticed their missing teammate.

Part of him wondered if Nightmare would even care about his missing crew member, but Dream tried to push that thought aside. He wanted to believe Nightmare wouldn't be so cruel to abandon the skeleton just because they got captured.

Since Ink was able to slip away from the battle unnoticed due to Killer's antics with the glitter bombs, the star trio were able to get home with relative ease. They had been fighting for a full two and a half hours, but time always flew by during those battles. They were in their homebase in the Doodlesphere in no time at all, bodies aching from how long the fight had gone for.

"STARS, ITS GOING TO TAKE FOREVER TO GET THIS GLITTER OUT OF MY BATTLE ARMOUR," Blue groaned loudly. When the chubby skeleton took off a boot and tipped it upside down, his point was proven rather comically by the pile of glitter that formed directly beneath it.

"At least you didn't get it all in your mouth like I did!" Ink exclaimed, his face almost as pink as Ashe's was. "I swear Killer was waiting for me to talk when he threw it! I swallowed so much!"

"WAS IT REALLY THAT BAD FOR YOU? YOU LITERALLY DRINK PAINT..." Blue asked with a curious expression.

"Well, no, it tasted surprisingly fine, but that's not the point! Killer was so smug about it!" he exclaimed dramatically. Blue snorted with laughter at that.

"At least we managed to grab the newer skeleton," Dream let out, always trying to keep positive. He had a warm cloth in his hands and was trying to carefully remove the glitter from Ashe's face and sockets, concerned it might have some adverse effects if it was left there too long.

"I'M SURPRISED YOU MANAGED TO KNOCK THEM OUT," Blue let out, looking over the unconscious skeleton curiously. "WHAT DID YOU EVEN DO?"

"Dreamboat used his fancy dreamy magic stuff!"

Dream rolled his eyes at that. "I'm honestly surprised it even worked. The rest of the gang have been around Nightmare so much that they're immune to it, but I guess this one is new enough that it doesn't apply to them. Speaking of, does anybody even know their name? It's getting exhausting calling them Not-Dust in my head..."

"Well, the creators are being weirdly quiet, but they did say their name is Ash!" he paused for a moment, eyelights shifting as though listening to some unseen force. "Wait, no, Asher? Ashy? Ohhhh! Ashe!" he exclaimed confidently.

Dream cringed a little. "I'm still not convinced these 'creators' you keep talking about aren't just hallucinations," he muttered.

"That's okay, Dreamy. You're not a vessel for creation like I am, so I don't expect you to understand," he hummed. "But also they're, like, wayyy protective of Ashe. More than normal. This one creator, ChocolateCoss133, literally just recommended arson? Actually, so did Springtrap10064... Now that I think of it, a lot of them seem keen on the whole arson-thing, we should probably hide anything flammable when Ashe wakes up–"

"Ink..." Dream tried, but it seemed Ink was too focused on his ramble at this stage to answer.

"--Then there's TheGalaxyDaycare, who called you a 'motherfucker'- wait, hey, that's rude! Don't be rude to my friends!" he interrupted himself, pouting at the sky as though it were the cause of his displeasure.

"JUST LET HIM RAMBLE, DREAM, YOU KNOW HE GETS LIKE THIS WHEN HE'S STRESSED. I THINK IT'S A COPING MECHANISM AT THIS POINT," blue whispered loudly.

"--HidingInSky has gone a bit quiet but I'm sure they'll pop back up. And then there's EmbraceTheDeep - oooh, I wanna visit their multiverse, that looks like fun, I wonder if that Quill guy exists here too—"

"He's going to be at that for ages, isn't he?" Dream let out with a mildly concerned frown.

"PROBABLY." Blue sighed. "ANYWAY, HOW LONG IS THIS SKELETON - ER, ASHE, IF INK WAS RIGHT - GOING TO BE ASLEEP FOR?"

"A few hours, I think? I... haven't really had to use it in forever, so I'm not entirely sure," he admitted sheepishly. "There's a good chance they'll just sleep through the night."

"DO YOU THINK WE'LL HAVE TO TIE THEM UP? OR CAN WE JUST PUT THEM IN A LOCKED ROOM?"

"I think using a magic suppressor should be enough. They wouldn't be able to fight against all three of us, and even if they did, its not like they can get out of the Doodlesphere unless Ink allows it."

"TRUE," Blue agreed easily. "INK? INNNK? WE NEED TO MOVE ASHE TO THAT LOCKED ROOM SO THEY DON'T WANDER OFF WHEN THEY WAKE UP, CAN YOU HELP?"

Ink, finally pulled away from his ramble - to Dream's utter confusion had somehow turned into a ramble about a car's extended warranty - turned to the others with a bright grin. "Sure can!" Waiting for no further encouragement or explanation, the painter lifted Ashe into his arms, guided to the spare room by his two friends. "Woah, this guy is super light. Do you think Nightmare starves them or something?"

"I would certainly hope not," Dream huffed. "If they haven't had proper access to food, we'll have to make sure they have it here."

"Oo, what if they're a cannibal like Horror–"

Dream deadpanned at Ink, arms folded over his chest. "Ink. What did I tell you about rumours?"

"Uhhh..." the artist trailed off. He put Ashe down onto the bed, then pulled down the scarf from around his neck. It was clear he did not remember the previous conversations on the topic, but the note on his scarf would serve as a reminder. He mumbled out loud as he read. "..'Don't spread or encourage rumours, or Dream will be upset due to something something ethics, something something emotion'."

"...DID YOU SERIOUSLY WRITE IT DOWN LIKE THAT?" Blue asked with an amused grin.

"Yep!" Ink exclaimed, almost seeming proud despite the judgement cast in his direction.

Dream sighed at that, face palming. "Ink, you're impossible," he grumbled unhappily.

"Huh?" he let out, tilting his head in confusion. "Whatdya mean, Dreamboat?"

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, INK," Blue reassured. "THE REASON WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT RUMOURS IS BECAUSE WE ARE ALL VERY IMPORTANT TO THE MULTIVERSE. IF SOMEBODY HEARS US SAY SOMETHING UNTRUE, THEY'LL PROBABLY BELIEVE IT. IT'S KIND OF LIKE WE HAVE UNINTENTIONALLY LIED TO THEM? IT'S NOT FAIR TO THEM, OR TO THE PERSON WHO HAS RUMOURS SPREAD ABOUT THEM," he tried to clarify.

"Ohhh..." Ink let out. "But, uh, how do we know Horror isn't a cannibal?"

"THAT'S SORT OF THE POINT. WE DON'T KNOW, SO WE SHOULDN'T MAKE GUESSES," the mortal continued.

"...Anyway, I'm going to go make sure that AU we fought in doesn't need some help with cleaning up the damage. Ink, please don't overwork yourself making new AUs. Blue, make sure you eat and do all that... mortal stuff... that you need to do."

"SURE," Blue agreed noncommittally. Dream didn't bother to point it out.