Book 2: The First Fallen Human

Rolling Thunder

Night nodded quietly. Ink scowled as Shattered Dream hissed violently. "Don't! Don't put me away again!!" He kept roaring. He shrieked as the cage became a bubble of ink and Night could hear his muffled screaming from inside. Ink sighed.

"I'm going to put him back in his room." Ink said, his voice solemn. Night nodded again, his staff still out. Glitch had passed out on the couch behind him, exhausted from holding the red creature back. Ink snapped his fingers and disappeared with the bubble.

Night jumped as he heard footsteps. He turned just in time to have Dream tackle him. "Stars!! Are you two alright?!" The other was wide-eyed as he fretted and worried. Night blinked in surprise before smiling.

"No, we're alright. Ink's taking Shattered Dream back to his area and the red human's effectively trapped." He gestured to the black lump on the floor. Dream sighed in relief. Night blinked and leaned past him to see X coming down the stairs, looking uneasy. "Cross?" The other jumped as Night spoke. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing in particular. Just... weirded out..." X answered, brow furrowed. He had his blade out, dragging along the floor. He looked both troubled and confused.  Like he felt something was wrong, but couldn't understand what it was. They all jumped at a loud hissing noise from the lump before it died down. Night growled. He hated the damn creature.

All of a sudden, there was a loud banging at the castle doors. They all stared at the doors with wide eyes. One door clicked and began to slowly slide open, the other following suit. Dream gulped and backed up. Black tentacles began to slide across the wood. "Brother... I'm home." A low, growling voice stated. Night felt his SOUL drop into his chest.

He stared at himself. Or, at least what this world's version of him was. A black, tar-coated skeleton with one, glowing ice-blue eye. Tentacles waved behind him. He met Night's eyes and seemed less than pleased before scoffing. "You've already met with my weaker self..." Night scowled and wielded his staff. This only seemed to amuse Nightmare. "How cute..."

He had others with him. Night backed up next to Dream and X. Nightmare had three other skeletons with him. A black-eyed skeleton with a glowing target hovering just in front of his chest. Rivers of black liquid ran down from empty eyesockets. A simple, shiny knife was gripped in one of his hands.

A skeleton with his hood up and his hands firmly in his hoodie pockets. He had a torn, dusty-looking red scarf wrapped around his neck. He twitched slightly and lifted his head to show glowing eyes. They were red, purple and blue. Three layers of color. He seemed cold and stared at them with an unpredictable expression.

The last skeleton had a ghastly, thin-toothed grin stretched across his skull. One eyesocket was dark while the other was wide open and had a glowing red circle with a tiny dot of a pupil. The most notable thing, however, was the large hole in the side of his skull. One of his skeletal hands gripped the side of his head, while the other held tight into the handle of an ax, its blade dragging along the floor.

Dream was shaking. "Wh-Why are they here?" He demanded, his weak voice trembling. Nightmare grinned and moved forward. There was another loud hiss from the lump on the floor, momentarily distracting Nightmare before he turned his attention back.

"This is your castle, but it is also technically mine. Why wouldn't I bring them? They're my bad guys..." Nightmare said, chuckling. He shrugged nonchalantly. He met X's gaze and blinked in surprise before a realization flitted across his face. "Ah... you're the OTHER Cross..." X furrowed his brow and gripped his blade a little tighter.

"You haven't met my team, have you?" Nightmare asked, smiling. He directed the question to Night, who warily responded that he hadn't. Nightmare chuckled. He gestured with his tentacles and the other skeletons came up to stand by his side. He beckoned to the black-stained one. "Killer." He moved on to the one with the broken skull. "Horror." Finally, he gestured to the twitchy one. "And Dust."

"What about Error?!" Dream demanded, seeming fearful and jumpy, like the other would drop from the ceiling. X and Night quickly glanced back at Glitch to make sure he was still there. He was. Nightmare scoffed and rolled his eye.

"Hell if I know!" He exclaimed. "But... that's besides the point." He growled. "Where is the red human?" Night stared at him before using his staff to beckon to the large black lump on the floor.

"Ink trapped it." He said carefully. Nightmare tipped his head. He moved towards it, the doors shutting behind him. His companions began to wander and spread out.

"Behave yourselves or I'll pluck the heartstrings from your SOULS one by one." Nightmare growled, glaring around at his followers. Dust scowled, twitching again. Horror didn't even seem to acknowledge that he'd spoken, leaning heavily against the wall. Killer nodded and stayed where he was, facing the small group. It was heard to tell who he was exactly looking at.

Nightmare knelt next to the lump, which was still letting out faint hissing noises. "This creature has caused me much trouble..." He muttered darkly. His tentacles reached out, the ends becoming needle sharp. He blinked at a noise and glanced back.

Dream had his bow out, an arrow aimed at the lump. His hands were shaking and his eyes were wide. Nightmare noted this and turned back to the lump. Why was his brother so wary? He focused and stabbed all of his tentacles into the lump at once, cracking it in.

Blood exploded out from it, spilling quickly across the floor, pooling more and more. Horror froze at the sight of it before beginning to choke and laugh, giggling manically. Dust was staring at the lump with an unpredictable look. Killer seemed tense. Finally, Nightmare withdrew his tentacles.

Despite all the blood, he hadn't actually hit anything solid. He swiped down, breaking the lump in and stopping as the broken pieces all fell down a large, deep hole that had been melted into the floor.

"Shit..." Nightmare breathed, staring down into the blood-soaked tunnel.