Operation F.U.N.

Chapter Five: Gangs and Coffee

Later, after an elaborate escape that involved toothpaste, a garden hose, and Death.

Nightmare silently stood in the background, arms crossed, leaning against a wall; His eyelights scanned the new environment. First of all, it was far more visually appealing than the Star Sanses' rainbow seizure hell. And not nearly as blindingly bright or claustrophobic. It was a rather large room. Almost Greek Revival-like in style, but still quite different in design- like someone mashed their favorite architecture types together. High walls stretched more than several feet above. A rich mocha colored them, accented by a cream white wall trim. The ceiling they led to had many decorative wooden roof supports. Brass/copper chains hung on the supports, holding lanterns crafted from the same metal. Each lighting fixture varied in size and held a candle burning with magical flames.

Coffee and tortilla shaded tiles checkered across the area of the floor. No rugs or carpet adorned the square/rectangle stones. Two curved staircases sat at the back of the room, leading up a small platform with a rounded balcony attached. Hung on the wall behind was an elaborate tapestry. Various things were embroidered into the fabric: Coffee plants, beans, a coffee cup with hot steam wafting off it- Just overall coffee related things.

The Lord of Darkness turned his attention to the inhabitants of the building. Many different monsters - primarily Sanses and the occasional Papyrus - were bustling about, standing in groups/chatting with each other, or sipping on a fresh cup of coffee. It was a sight to behold; A strange one, at that. Various powerful, intimidating monsters lurked amidst the crowd. He could recognize a few such as Color, Fresh, Death (for obvious reasons), and- Wait, was that Blue? Upon closer inspection, the skeleton did not appear to be the Star Sans; Rather, he was a casually dressed Underswap Sans with a pistol holstered on his side. Nightmare sputtered and did a double-take. Indeed, the Swap skeleton was armed and coolly talking to a Mafiafell Sans.

That... is unexpected.

Done staring at the spectacle, he directed his attention elsewhere. An intriguing group stood nearby; A few inches over to be exact. None of the members sparked a hint of recognition in his mind. However, one, in particular, was a dark glitching skeleton that looked similar to the missing destroyer, Error. Pitch black attire clothed the other. The hoodie's hood completely covered his skull and shrouded his face, making it impossible for Nightmare to check for tear marks. Error symbols glitched around him, but they were far more subtle than the real Error's. He quietly pondered whether or not his colleague knew of the doppelgänger's existence. Likely not. If Error did, then Nightmare and the gang would have gotten an earful about it.

A second oddity stood directly to the monster's left: Another male skeleton, who also had bones as dark as onyx and flickering symbols; Unlike his comrade in err, he did not hide a single aspect of his appearance. A wide grin stretched across the other's skull. His yellow/magenta eyelights randomly changed between dots and stars, and little yellow stars rested around his eye sockets (three on the right and one on the left). The color residing behind the nasal cavity and eye sockets was solid blue while the teeth took on a lighter shade. Sky blue, perhaps? Probably not, Nightmare could hardly differentiate white from eggshell white. The second glitch spoke very animatedly with the doppelgänger, waving arms and making hand gestures for emphasis. It was somewhat reminiscent of a Papyrus or Swap Sans. Given the short stature and signature grin, Swap Sans seemed more likely. Especially when factoring in the other's 'battle body.' A primarily black version of Blue's outfit with hints of blue, red, and yellow.

The error Swap glanced to the side and met his eyelights as if he knew Nightmare was staring in his direction. Then, grin widening a fraction further, he winked at the dark lord before taking a step to the side and returned to his conversation with the doppelgänger. A certain feeling of perturbment crept in the background. Unease settled in Nightmare's nonexistent stomach. Those actions could not be anything other than deliberate. No one suddenly decides to wink at a random person in the room. The silvery-boned skeleton shuddered at the realization that, although he was discreet, the monster recognized (perhaps from the very beginning) he had an audience.