A Tiny Error

Chapter 7

Dream and Ink were back in ScienceTale. They readied their weapons, then basically kicked the door down. Nightmare jolted from the sound, but quickly regained his composure, sending a chilling glare at the two guardians.

"Whatever you plan on doing to him, Nightmare," Ink declared. "We will not allow it to happen!"

Nightmare rolled his eyelight. He should've guessed that tiny speck of positivity he felt earlier was cause for concern.
"Heh heh, nice of you to join the party, brother."
A smile playing on his lips, he turned fully to face his opponents. Dream tensed at Nightmare's nonchalant use of the term brother. Could he still regard Dream as family?

"Brother, please don't hurt Sci. He's done nothing to you."
He readied an arrow just in case, but felt suddenly off about this whole situation. Nightmare never needs Sci for anything, so why now? What could be planning?

"How would you know?" Nightmare's smile widened smugly.
"He could've stolen something from me, or done something to my gang that I need him to fix. Face it, Dream. You know nothing!"

Dream was very close to letting his arrow fly. Nightmare laughed at the positive guardian's anger, then turned back to Sci. The nerdy skeleton shifted uncomfortably, looking from the king of nightmares, to the creator, and finally, to Dream.

"Dream, it's fine. I-I think you should leave-"

"But he and Error could destroy this AU!" Ink exclaimed.
"Everyone could die, and there is no coming back!"

Sci looked down at his hands folded in his lap. Oh, if only they knew...

Nightmare growled. They still didn't get it, did they? Error was probably out in the multiverse somewhere, taking a well-deserved break from keeping up with Ink's shenanigans. That, or trying to commit suicide, again. He's always hoping something out there is deadly enough to kill him.
"At least he would know why I'd do it. Destroying this AU would be easy, and Sci couldn't object because he knows what he did."

Sci winced at the reminder. If Nightmare was correct, Error was still out there. Plus, he was the original ScienceTale Sans. Nightmare couldn't possibly be serious. Then again, he has threatened to destroy this AU as well as Blueberry's quite a few times. Sci mentally shrugged, feeling desensitized to Nightmare's threats.

Ink, however, would not see it that way. He raised his paintbrush, eyelights burning, intending to slam it onto Nightmare's head. Then, all of a sudden-

"STOP!!!"

Everybody froze. Papyrus walked in between the two sides, facing the two guardians, first.
"I AM DONE LISTENING TO YOU ARGUING LIKE CHILDREN. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT IT ONLY MAKES THINGS WORSE! SANS TELLS ME THAT YOU GUYS HOLD MEETINGS ALL THE TIME TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO IF A UNIVERSE IS DESTROYED. HOW DO YOU GUYS GET ANYTHING DONE IF YOU ARE CONSTANTLY AT EACH OTHERS' THROATS? AND YOU!"
He turned to face Nightmare, who ducked his head into his shoulders in alarm.
"YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO ANTAGONIZE THEM. IT ALSO MAKES THINGS WORSE, AND YOU, AS THE LEADER OF YOUR GROUP, SHOULD ALSO KNOW ARGUING IS POINTLESS. AND IF FIGHTING IS INEVITABLE, THEN DO IT OUTSIDE, NOT IN MY HOUSE!"

All three gods nodded in understanding as Papyrus shot a glare to each of them. Even Nightmare was a bit unsettled by Papyrus' audacity. He was right, though. Arguing with his naive brother wasn't getting him any closer to finding Error. He scoffed, then opened a portal and left. Dream sighed in relief, finally able to think clearly without the negativity draining his energy.

"That was close. Sci, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah..." He said, nodding slowly. He looked up at Ink, but the creator was staring off into space.
"Uh, Ink?