Inkwhumptobertale 2024

Day Thirty-One

To another year! - Asking for Help, Therapy, Making Amends, "I'm alive, I'm just not well."

This is not canon to my Fallen Stars series, btw.

Trigger warnings: threats of violence.

Well, this month has been fun! I really enjoyed writing all these stories, and I'm excited to continue the ones that will be turned into a proper chapter-based fic! I..still do not have a name. I've been thinking, and I'm stuck between a few. At the moment, though, I think I'm leaning most towards "Prince of Positivity," since it'll be Dream-centric. We'll see. I'm looking forward to it. (I changed my mind it's "The Price of Power" now and I have a whole new chapter already written ^v^)

Comments are welcome and appreciated! 

Without further ado, here is the final story of this year's Inkwhumptobertale!

Please enjoy!

~~~~~

Shattered Dream had spent the past twenty years terrorizing the multiverse, and although Ink and Blue had been recovered and helped, Shattered himself had not been. Over the years, he had terrorized countless AUs, murdered and maimed thousands of people, and ruined lives, friendships, and all other forms of relationships - except for negative ones, which he simply worsened immensely. Any good-willed attempts to help him had been met with growls, glares, and torture until the attempted do-gooders eventually died. Shattered had made it clear that he wouldn't change for anything or anyone, and things had gotten so bad that even Nightmare's gang had agreed to a truce until the undetermined time when Shattered would be defeated (they had even joined in on some of those attempts to stop him, revealing the true nature and danger of Shattered's rampages). At some point, Nightmare had become a rather familiar sight during the meetings to discuss how in the world the multiverse would stop Shattered, simply because his brother was "going too far." That was the day that the multiverse realized that Nightmare wasn't all bad..he had boundaries, at least. Shattered had none whatsoever. He had plunged the multiverse into a period of unparalleled negativity and struck fear into the souls of all who saw him. He took pride in the fact that he was the new source of the multiverse's fears.

That was why it was so confusing when Ink and Blue had found their former teammate crying in a dead AU.

"What do we do..?" Blue whispered, looking to his friend.

"Um..I'll approach him." Ink decided. "You call for backup, but keep it on an on-call basis..let's see what exactly this is."

It was no secret that Shattered was insane. He was severely mentally ill, and no one could deny that. Nightmare had recently admitted that he had been out of his own control for decades after the apple incident, but he had added that he'd regained the majority of his sanity at some point with help from those closest to him..which only made it more concerning that Shattered had no one. Once or twice before, something like this had happened, when someone had found Shattered in a self-contained emotional state, but it had never been Ink and Blue. Maybe..things would change this time? While Blue called for help, Ink slowly stepped toward Shattered, stopping a few feet away from the other.

"..Can you hear me?" Ink asked, alerting the other to the fact that he was here.

Shattered flinched, his eyesocket flying open as he took stock of the situation; he quickly prepared himself for a fight, but he didn't make any moves to start one yet.

"Go away." Shattered ordered, glaring as his body cruelly trembled.

"Shattered, I know we fight a lot, but.."

"Spare me your sentimental garbage." Shattered clenched his fists. "I don't want to hear it."

"Shattered?" Blue approached, slowly. "We just want to talk."