Dragon of Destruction

Chapter 48

Blue didn't know how right he was when he thought that. It has already been ten minutes with none of them saying a single word and just staring at each others awkwardly. Dream and Ink took the time to observe the brothers, silently cringing at the number of scars on Drako, along with the ones that they could imagine being hidden under Torment's goop. Vibrant seemed pretty much okay, but Drako... Oh Toby Fox, he looked like he was ready to dust at any second. They wouldn't even be surprised if he actually did, honestly, even if it would be an horrifying sight to see. This only fueled their worry and curiosity. What happened for them to end up like this?!

The brothers didn't lose those minutes by doing nothing either; they stared at the Protectors very intensively, trying to find every differences, even the slightest, with the versions of them that they knew to calm themselves down. There was one in particular that Drako saw, which made him smile a little; Ink's vials. Unlike the Ink that they knew in their old Multiverse, this one had his red vial fully filled up. Their Ink's red vial was always almost empty, as he drank the red liquid during most of his fights with Drako, making him an even more dangerous opponent. Drako also knew that he conserved refills in his inventory, just in case he was to lack of some paint to drink during or after a fight. He already saw Ink drink three red vials straight up during a fight, that didn't end well at all for him. It was one of those that ended up with him being blind for a while, too, which was a really annoying and inconvenient thing. He didn't recommend it. So seeing this Ink's red vial completely full reassured him, even if only a little. It meant that he didn't drink it, or at least not as often as their Ink did. Which was nice, as an Ink under the effects of the red vial could be quite terrifying for those not used to the sight. Drako, even if it still scared him a bit because of all the time that he suffered after Ink drank the red liquid, was rather numb to the sight. He almost never directly met Ink under any other vial's effect anyway. It was either the red vial or his emotionless self –which was just as terrifying, if not worse, if he had to say–. The emptier one –and therefore the one Ink seemed to drink the most– was actually the yellow one, which he knew was supposed to symbolize happiness or something close enough.

Finally, Blue had enough of waiting for them to talk and sighed loudly, effectively gaining everyone's attention. "Are you going to stare at each others all day, or will you talk? Because if it's like this, I have the time to make my amazing tacos..." Dream and Ink sweat dropped, a nervous smile appearing on both of their faces. "N-No, it won't be necessary Blue..." The brothers only smirked, knowing fully well that Blue was purposely making terrible tacos to traumatize his friends, like the little demon that he was. Just like their Blue did.

Dream turned his gaze back toward them after sensing a very faint mix of amusement and melancholy coming from them, sighing softly. He could always try the question that had been on his mind since he had learned that Torment and Drako were brothers. Maybe it would make the conversation progress, even if only a little. "So, huh..." Dream felt slightly nervous as all the brothers suddenly turned their attention toward him. "I was curious... You don't have a younger version of me...? Not that I want to see one! But, huh... Torment looks a lot like my twin brother so... Hum..." Oh Toby Fox, this was so awkward!

Torment raised a brow in amusement while the others snickered quietly. "I..." He paused, knowing that he couldn't say that he didn't know a Dream with their slip-up from earlier. "I guess that we used to know one. Like we said to Blue, this is a bit of a touchy subject, that we're not ready to talk about just yet, but your younger self was an ignorant piece of sheep unable to think by himself. Globally. Hopefully, him and our version of Ink are suffering at the moment." Dream winced at the venom in Torment's tone while he mentioned his and Ink's younger selves –well, more Ink's, as he sounded just disappointed in his younger self, for some reason–. It seemed like Nightmares and Dreams really weren't made to get along with each others, sadly enough. Ink easily ignored the venom in Torment's words –perhaps he didn't even notice it– and gasped, his eyelights turning into stars. "You have a mini me in your AU?!" Drako winced at his outburst but nodded, making the Creator squeal in happiness. "YoU... CoUlD sAY ThAT... BuT He WaSN'T a GoOD PeRsON. At LEaST He ThoUghT ThAT hE WaS, BuT He BEaT Us Up FOr THiNGs We WeRE ForCeD tO Do In OrDEr To pRoTeCt EvErYOnE We KnEW... So YEaH, No GOoD MeMOrIES Of HiM." Ink stopped in his squealing when he heard that, his expression turning blank and his eyelights white for a second, making Drako shiver at the sight that he didn't miss. His eyelights then turned into red targets as he frowned in displeasure, making the brother tense up, which he didn't seem to notice but Blue and Dream surely did. "I promise you that if I meet this other me, I'll teach him a good lesson for hurting poor SOULs like you so bad."