God of Ruin

Part Two

     "dOn'T ToUch mE!"

     Alloy snaps to attention with a screech. Nightmare catches sight of his eyes, and Ink's signature eye light has finally gone out. Error yanks back his foot before slamming it straight into Dream's face, knocking him away. The destroyer scrambles backwards on the bed until he's crammed himself into the corner.

     "Error, calm down. You're not in danger," Nightmare says this in a commanding tone, letting his aura grow stronger. The familiarity of it should snap the other out of fight or flight. The former is more common. The words do get Error's attention, and he locks eyes with Nightmare, but he doesn't calm down. In fact, Error doesn't seem to recognize any of them at all. Then, the god scrunched their eyes closed again. Both his eye lights are lit again when he opens them.

     "NiGhtMare? DrEam?" Alloy blinks a few times in confusion. His body relaxes against the corner. He then winces, noticing the intense pain that all his movement as caused. Dream is about to respond, but then Alloy lurches forward. He leans over the bed and vomits up a mixture of ink and magic. Dream's magic, mostly.

     "Damn. Alloy has Error's intolerance to healing magic. I thought he'd be more accepting given his personality," Nightmare comments. His mind keeps going back to that moment where Error showed through, but that's a puzzle for later. Alloy's injuries come first.

"Intolerance to healing magic?" Dream gapes, "How are we suppose to help him"

"It's oKay Dream, rEallY. I cAn do iT," Alloy smiles a little. He's calmed down a lot, to everyone's relief, though still clearly pained. Nightmare is having a hard time figuring out why Alloy was so listless when he first stumbled in, but now is talking calmly with the same injury. Alloy reaches up and pulls strings down from the marks on his cheek. They turn green, and he begins to wrap them in a thick layer over his ribs.

"What happened to you, Alloy? Who attacked you?" Dream asks in concern. Alloy already explained himself to nearly all the originals six months ago when he called a meeting. The whole Multiverse should know who he really is now.

"I dOn't knoW who theY were.......", Alloy trails off, but then his attention shifts, "BuT that cAn waIt! I hAve pResents fOr yOu all!"

"No, it can't wait! Who hurt you?," Nightmare growls, but he's promptly ignored. In the chaos, no one had noticed the new single-strap satchel that Allot has been wearing. He digs through it now in search of the various gifts.

"HorRor! I waS in cAndytale the other daY, and picked uP a few recipeS that i thought yOu might lIke to try. I also- uMm- dId not sTeal a few swEets," Alloy chuckles at the last bit. He pulls out several hand written dessert recipes and small candy bags, offering it to the Monster missing a chunk from their skull. Dream chokes when he hears that Alloy stole something. If he were capable, Horror's eyes would have shifted to stars when he happily accepted the gift. Error would often bring him new things to cook from far-off worlds. Horror has been missing him terribly, but it's nice to know that Alloy has kept some of the destroyer's subconscious memories.

Alloy goes on to explain that as he had been working so much over the last moths, he'd collect things that reminded him of the people he cared for. Cross received a strange music device with earbuds. He found that when he listened to it, Chara's voice in his head was drowned out completely. It's worth its weight in gold to Cross. Killer is given a handcrafted skinning knife forged from a metal that only exists in a few worlds. Most of the group see nothing remarkable about giving a murder a new knife, but Killer is no casual. His room is covered in display cases of rare weaponry that he loves to keep in mint condition. This knife is now one of the rarest in his collection. A few snickers are heard when Alloy hands Dust a hardcover book. Dust's mouth falls open in amazed shock. No one is suppose to know about his hobby. He's one of the only bad guys to use the library in the manor. Alloy somehow found the exact book he had been searching for year after year.

"I'lL havE to finD Blue later for hiS gift, bUt I do haVe youRs, Dream," Alloy hums. He reaches back into his quickly deflating bag. What come out next is an intricate arm band made of gold and lapis jewels. The bottom had adjustable straps so it can be tightened or loosened.

     "Oh! Alloy, it's beautiful," Dream gasps. He takes the stunning piece and immediately buckles it onto his left arm.

    "And....... sOmethIng for Nighty!" Alloy pulls out the last item and shoves it into the other Monster's hands.

     At first, the King of Negativity is  confused. It looks like a black jewelry box. Nightmare has never worn anything close to jewelry. The tar-like substance all over his body would just swallow it, for one. Then he notices a crank on the side of the box. Alloy's left eye shifts to a star as his friend curiously winds up the spring. The top of the black box pops open as a soft melody begins to play. It's a music box. The scene inside shows a simple depiction of the night sky. The only reason that Error ever found out about Nightmare's enjoyment of the simple machines is because the destroyer liked to snoop through people's codes. Alloy saw the small music box and immediately thought of him. Dream has to fight to keep his face perfectly neutral. For a moment, he could have sworn that he felt a burst of unfiltered joy come from his brother's muddled and drowned out soul. It disappeared just as fast as it came.

"I'm still mad at you for disappearing," Nightmare huffs when he comes to his senses, but his voice lacks conviction. To think, all this time as Alloy was off saving the Multiverse, he was thinking of them. It warms Nightmare's stone cold heart. No one notices the few drops of black icor that drip off his body and onto the floor.

"I knoW. And I'm sOrry. The MultiVerse haS been in diSarray for a long tIme," Alloy looks away guiltily.

"So who attacked you? They just moved themselves up on my hitlist," Dust's patience finally gives out. He's angry that anyone would dare to attack Alloy. The gang protects their own, and Error was one of them. All of the bad guys are eager to hear this answer.

"I have nO idea Who theY were, buT they tHoughT I waS DestrUction," Alloy shrugs helplessly. Groans of disappointment are heard. "WhoeVer they aEr, he knew Creation, toO. I think..... I thInk he trieD to riP me apart. Rip mY cOdeS aParT" Alloy's uneasiness comes back when he admits that. It was very scary to feel part of himself being yanked at. His godhood protected him for that brief moment before he had to run away. A lesser monster would have deteriorated very quickly. Alloy, much at odds with his normally cheery personality, curls in his legs and doesn't feel like saying much more.

That certainly gets a reaction.

"Rip you apart!?" Dream squeaks.

"I'm gonna kill that rat!" Horror roars in fury.

"What AU did you find them in? Mobtale can wait," Killer cracks his knuckles.

Alloy follows the speakers with his eyes for a while as they debate who his attacker could be and the best way to bring about their imminent demise. Despite the hostile environment, his eyelids start to droop. Alloy feels safe and content surrounded by these people. Sci, who's tried to remain quiet and unnoticeable, sees it first.

"Um, I'd hate to interrupt, but it might be best to continue this in a different room," Sci breaks his silence and gets the attention of the other skeletons before pointing at Alloy. The god is slumped over with his head resting against the wall, curled up in a ball. The green strings are glowing softly underneath his ruined shirt. He'll need a new one. Error pretty much never slept unless he was heavily injured or dead. Ink...... Dream's never seen Ink sleep at all. To think that Alloy might actually need it is new to all of them.

Not wanting to wake Alloy up after the day he's had, the group silently decides to head down to the living room to discuss matters. Nightmare is the last to leave the room. One of his tentacles pulls a blanket over Alloy before leaving.