They knocked at the door, and it didn't take long before Gaster opened it, worry evident on his face. It soon turned into relief at the sight of Cross and Reaper visibly unharmed, before his gaze stopped on Torment and Drako. He took a deep breath before asking. "I... Is the blood yours or not?"
Drako and Torment only smiled innocently in response. "Obviously not yours, alright... I guess it's okay then...? As long as no one knows you did it..." Gaster never thought that he would one day say that a murder was alright... But what else did he expect when he chose to adopt those children?
"About that... The baby dragons might talk about it, no?" Cross asked, looking partially worried. He didn't want them to be in more trouble, even if he knew they could all handle it. "Nah, and even if they did, they are children, people will probably think they are exaggerating the thing and we made sure they didn't look. It should be all right. Plus I doubt they will remember our faces."
Gaster sighed and let them enter. "Go wash yourselves." Drako and Torment nodded, entering the house and directly going toward the bathroom while trying to not make the house look like a murder scene. Reaper and Cross soon followed, Gaster closing the door behind them. "If anyone ask, it's paint on them." Gaster nodded at Cross. He wasn't going to say that his new kids went on a murder spree anyway, nor that they rolled around in tomato sauce. Paint was the most believable excuse, even if only his Babybones would need explanations. It obviously wasn't the most logic, but this was good enough.
They all went toward the living room and Gaster swore that he heard the two new dragons talk about setting a shed in fire. Cross seemed quite excited at the idea of committing arson, and Gaster wasn't sure how to feel about it. He ended up brushing it off. As long as the arson wasn't committed within his house, he could live with it. Plus, it seemed oddly normal for them so he better not start to question their weird habits. Even Reaper, who was still quite new in their little group, seemed to find it normal. He probably didn't need to question everything they did anyway, it wouldn't be good for his sanity. And he liked being sane, thank you very much.
Papyrus and Sans immediately went toward the two dragons, bombarding them with questions, all at the same time. Some were impossible to understand, while some were more understandable; one of them being 'Where were you all?' Cross, knowing they wouldn't stop asking questions until their curiosity was satisfied, was the first to answer. "In the jungle."
"Why are Torment and Drako all dirty?" Reaper was the next to answer. "We ran into someone carrying pots of paint. Didn't end well." Sans frowned a little, finding this explanation weird, but didn't question it. "Are you-" Gaster decided to abridge their suffering by intervening. "Now, now, calm down Papy. They were outside during all the morning; they must be hungry, right boys?" Cross and Reaper nodded, hoping that it would save them from the Babybone's questions. It seemed to work, because Papyrus nodded and took Sans in his arms. "Okay daddy! I'm hungry too!"
The Babybone then followed the three of them into the kitchen, taking back what seemed to be his appointed seat and keeping his brother in his arms. The two dragons chose to go back at the place where they had breakfast the morning. Gaster started to prepare food for all his sons.
During this time, Torment finished to wash himself, his goop now gone for a few minutes. The water wasn't really the cause of its disappearance, he did it himself since it was easier to clean like this. The problem was that in return, he needed to wait a little before taking back his octopus form. Which could be annoying; mostly when Ink and Dream decided to find and attack their base when he was stuck like this. It wasn't a funny experience, as he was forced to wait while his boys were fighting in the room just under him.
He was waiting for Drako in their room, hoping that his goop would be back by the time the glitchy skeleton would be done. Drako didn't have much blood on him per say, since he mostly used his bones and strings, but he took the time to clean Blue's hammer, since he didn't want to leave it bloody, thinking it would be disrespectful toward his dear friend. And Torment ordered him to take a shower and to change anyway, since there was still some blood on him. Less than on Torment, but still. Drako was quite happy that he copied their clothes' codes before that incident. He felt way too lazy to create new clothes at the moment.
Once he was done, he came into the room to find Torment being slowly covered by his goop. Once done, the King of Negativity smiled a little, his tentacles swaying gently behind his back. He always preferred this form; he felt more powerful in it. In the other, he always felt weak and unable to defend himself. He hated it.
"You're done?" Drako nodded, gently caressing the dagger attached to his waist. Perhaps he should have used it on the Humans... Oh well, it was too late to think about it anyway. "Great, let's go see the others." Torment and Drako left the room, going downstairs. They examined the living room, quite proud to not see too much blood on the floor. Only a few droplets were present, and it would be easy to either hide them or clean them. Torment made a mental note to ask Gaster for household product to clean all that. It wasn't the first time that they had to clean blood either way, so they didn't mind. It was his and Drako's mess, they would clean it.
Well Torment will, Drako will probably have to be forced again if he decide to be lazy. Torment couldn't even reproach him it since he couldn't laze around with his job as a Destroyer... But that didn't mean he needed to catch up on his laziness! Granted, he was a Sans, but not every Sanses were lazy!... Just most of them.
They soon entered the kitchen, where they saw Gaster placing plates in front of everyone. "Oh, you're just on time, we were going to have dinner. Care to join us?" Torment nodded, catching Drako before he could try to run away and forcing him on a chair before sitting next to him. "Do you have something we could clean the 'paint' on the floor with?"
Gaster paused for a second, seeming to think before nodding. "I... Think so? I don't usually clean that type of stains so it might not be exactly appropriate but it should do the trick." Drako snickered at that answer. Another proof of how 'normal' he was. In the mansion, they had everything needed to clean blood, bodies and much more. Torment nudged him gently with a smile, knowing exactly what he was thinking about. "We'll manage with whatever you have, don't worry. Could you give it to us after dinner?"
Gaster frowned a little. "I can clean it, you know." Torment just laughed and shook his head. "Oh I don't doubt so, but it is our mess, it's only natural for us to clean it... Plus I can't really imagine someone as... 'Normal' as you cleaning that type of stain." Drako and the two dragons giggled after that. It wasn't a reproach, quite the opposite, it was more of a sort of praise; he wasn't as twisted as them, yay! But it only showed more how different they were of him and his family.
Gaster didn't seem to be hurt by that comment, knowing it wasn't mean to hurt him and that Torment was just saying the truth. He is just a normal father and respected scientist; people don't expect him to clean after a murder. He never expected that he actually would be involved in one, honestly, even if it was only indirectly. He was still helping murderers get away with their crime. But did he care? No, he didn't. Those Humans deserved it anyway, based on what he saw through Drako and Torment's crystals. He sighed in resignation. "Alright then."
They then started to eat, and Gaster was surprised to see Drako munching on a chocolate bar. Without the wrapper this time, he didn't want the children to imitate his bad habits. What couldn't hurt him could hurt them, after all. "Where did you get that?" Drako paused, looking at Gaster, then at his chocolate. "ThIS MUlTIvErSe'S cRoSs' StASh Of cHoCOlATe." He answered simply. Gaster raised a brow. "You... Stole chocolate?"
Drako offered him an innocent smile while Cross was rolling his eyes in exasperation. "WhY Of CouRse! StOlEn ChOCoLAtE aLwAys TaSTEs BeTtER!" Cross groaned a little. "You mean stolen chocolate from UnderFell or me..." Drako shrugged with a smile, not seeing the point in denying the truth.
"At least he didn't eat the wrapper this time..." This made Gaster choke on the water that he was drinking. "W-What do you mean by 'this time'?! He usually eats the wrapper?! And you don't stop him?!" Torment shrugged, not really seeing the problem anymore. "I already told you, he can eat anything. If he wanted, he could totally eat that table, for example. I'm watching you Drako, don't you dare even try because I said that. And I stopped trying. After eons of trying to convince him without any success, you can understand that I gave up." Gaster could only gap at him in response.
'What type of demons did I adopt...?' Was the only thought in his mind at the moment. What happened for Drako to think the wrapper was comestible?! Gaster understood that his life was clearly horrible, and he knew how long he was stuck in the Anti-Void, but damn it! What made him think that it was comestible?! And why doesn't he stop if people already told him that it wasn't actually comestible?!
Seeing Gaster's shock, Drako giggled before answering the unspoken questions. "As I ToLD YoU, DuRiNG My TiME IN tHE aNti-VoID, I fOrGoT EvEN ThE MOst BaSIc ThINGs. ThEN mY FamIlY ExPlAIneD tHiNGs To Me, BuT It'S AlWaYS FuNnY tO sEE ThEIR rEaCtIOnS wHeN I eAT SoMeThINg I sHouLdN'T. PlUS, It CaN't KiLl ME. NoT EvEN PoIsON CaN, We WoULD kNoW."
Gaster frowned at the comment on the poison. "You... Would know?" Drako shrugged. "I aM iMmuNe To PoISON." Torment was the next one to talk. "Before we truly became allies, I used to test poisons on him. If it could kill him, it could kill anyone after all! After a while, when I noticed I only increased his protection toward poisons, the objective changed. I wanted to make him totally immune to it, in case Ink tried something. And even if this was a terrible thing to do, it helped as Ink really did try to poison him afterward. I had grown fond of this idiot, and only wanted to protect him. He always knew when I gave him poison and was strangely willing to experiment with me. Didn't expect the God of Destruction to be so willing to risk his life like this, nor to curse at failed attempts. Now, he can consume poison without any problem. His body will just reject it, and if it is really strong, he might be sick for a few hours."
Gaster was shocked after hearing that, but who wouldn't? He just learned that one of his new son was poisoned so much he is now immune to any poison! This was not normal! Not that anything was normal with them, but still! His sons weren't doing any better, and even Reaper seemed surprise by the poison part. Not much by the wrapper since Drako ate a fork the previous day, but he didn't know that Drako was immune to poison, nor why he would even be.
The dinner continued in silence, with Drako stealing another chocolate bar and offering it to Cross, who almost jumped at the sugary treat. Until Gaster evoked the topic of Torment and Drako's 'paint' covered clothes. "You can leave your dirty clothes in the bathroom by the way, I'll clean them."
Drako raised a brow, seeming surprised. "YoU wAnT To ClEan THeM?" Gaster hesitantly nodded, not seeing why Drako seemed confused by that. "Why, yes? You didn't plan on wearing them again like this, right?" Gaster saw Torment and Cross shaking their heads and grew even more confused. "I pLaNnEd oN tHroWiNG ThEM In UndErFeLl's lAvA tO DeStRoY ThEM? Or SimpLY dEsTrOY tHem MySeLF, EvEN If It'S lEsS FUn."
Gaster sighed, trying to not question Drako, as he seemed to be too... Special to be understood. He raised a brow, coming up with a question that, he hoped, wouldn't ruin his sanity with its answer. "No, I'll take care of them... But I noticed you often mention this 'UnderFell' universe. Is there any specific reason?"
Drako smirked while Cross and Torment just shook their heads in desperation, while Reaper raised a brow. He, himself, didn't know why UnderFell came back so much in their discussions. He would have expected UnderSwap, since it was one of Drako's allies' home AU, but not UnderFell. "ThIS UnIVeRSE Is My PeRSOnAL cHoCoLAtE BaNk, ANd My MuLTiVErSaL DuMP."
Now, Gaster and Reaper expected a lot of things. Reaper even thought about improbable things like Drako trying to summon the 'Chocolate God' or something stupid like this. Maybe even a demon, or maybe he could take care of ponies for all the reaper cared! But none of them expected that. Reaper had some troubles holding back his laugh. "W-What do you mean by 'M-Multiversal dump'? Pfft-"
Drako offered him a bright smile, seeming strangely proud of himself. "It'S tHe AU I tHrOw My TrAsH In, DuH!" Gaster didn't know whether to be scared or amused by that. Reaper had no problem to choose however; bursting into laughter after hearing this answer. "Wai-Wait wait wait! It was you who traumatized Red by throwing trash in his AU?! Which, most of the time, fell on him, by the way?!"
Drako smirked, laughing a little. "WeLl DuH, WhO ElsE?" Reaper only laughed more. "O-Oh my... Oh Toby Fox this is gold! Pfft-!" Cross and Torment, even though they tried to seem annoyed, had a small smile on their face. "And sometimes he throws stuff in UnderFell just for the heck of it... Like that damn piano. I still don't know where he found it, but the first thing he said after bringing it back to the mansion was 'Hey, wanna watch me throw it into the Fell bros' house?'."
"I have to admit that their reaction was priceless. I don't think I ever heard Edge scream that loud. And he screams loudly all the time. It was worth it just for the smile Drako had on his face after this. It was almost one of the moments when he was the most positive, surprisingly." Torment snickered, as if remembering the scene. And he was.
"Oh YeAH! ANd AftER THaT tHEy StARtED tO EnCouRaGe ME To tHrOw ThINGS In UnDerFeLl JuST To mAkE Me HaPpY, Or BeCaUse tHey NoTIcEd I WaS A lITtLe DOwN!" Reaper seemed to be dying of laughter, hitting his paw on the table repeatedly. Tears were in his eyes because of his laughing fit. "Holy shi-" He saw the children, that he honestly had almost forgotten. "-p! Holy ship! You are a genius! We had an entire meeting on this flipping piano that came out of nowhere!"
"WhY, ThANK YoU." Drako seemed extremely proud of his 'Multiversal dump', and after hearing about that piano, Gaster was quite happy he wasn't an UnferFell native Monster. But he had to admit, it sounded pretty funny. "I hope the other you don't trash UnderFell as much as you, otherwise they really are going to go crazy."
Drako turned to look at Cross straight in the eyes, his smile seeming to become bigger by the second. "AnD I HoPE He IS lIkE Me JuST FoR tHat!" It reminded him of the conversation he had with Psyche after stealing this Cross' chocolate. Cross sighed. He had expected this type of answer from Drako, he wasn't surprised at all.
They then continued to eat and soon finished their dinner. This time, Gaster didn't let Torment and Drako do the dishes, doing it instead. Both of them shrugged. "So... Where are the products? Y'know, to clean the 'paint'?" Gaster nod toward a cabinet higher, out of the children's reach. Or rather, out of Papyrus' reach, as Sans could fly up there if he wanted to. "There."
Drako and Nightmare thanked him, easily grabbing the products and a mop before going into the living room to clean the blood on the floor. They did so at a surprising pace, showing that they were used to clean blood and that they already done it multiple times. Once done, they put the products and the mop back in place after making sure that everything was clean.
An excited Cross soon joined them, followed by a clearly amused Reaper. "I propose that we set that shed on fire!" The proposition didn't surprise the two Gods at all, it was typically the type of Cross to suggest that type of thing. "I guess that it would be for the best, no need for people to discover the bodies. They would panic and possibly try to trace back our magic to find us... Alright, we're going to do that." Cross jumped happily on Torment's shoulder. "Yaay! Thank you Torment!" Drako smiled and gently grabbed Reaper, placing him on his shoulder. The black dragon immediately curled up around his neck, acting like a fluffy scarf, which made the ex-Destroyer giggle. They then went toward Gaster.
"Do you have things like... Matches maybe? And alcohol perhaps? Y'know, something flammable." Gaster turned to look at them in disbelief. So he heard right about that fire? He sighed, knowing that even if he didn't help, they would find a way to put things in fire; they were Gods after all! What were the limits of three Gods planning to do mischief?! "Wait a second..."
He went to another room and brought back a box of matches and alcohol. "Please, don't set the jungle in fire, that's all I ask." Drako shrugged. "DoN'T wOrRy, wE KnOW WhAt We'Re DoiNG." They all smiled after hearing Gaster mutter 'That's exactly why I'm worried...' under his breath.
"Welp, we'll be back soon, bye." And after those last words from Reaper, Torment and Drako teleported back in front of the shed, where the odor of death was already quite present. The two teenagers quickly spread alcohol around and inside of the shed before throwing a match inside and letting the flames burst to life.
Cross sighed sadly at the spectacle. "It would have been better with a flamethrower..." Reaper laughed before responding. "I don't think Gaster has a flamethrower in his house, sorry."
"And that's the problem! We all need a flamethrower in our house! At the mansion, there was multiple flamethrowers!" Drako snorted, seeming to remember something. "YeAh, UnTil YoU aLmOsT buRNEd tHE bAsE DoWN ..." Cross cut him off quickly. "Oh it was a one-time thing, shut u-"
"FiVE TiMEs In ThE SaMe MonTH." Cross only huffed in annoyance, trying and failing to cross his arms in front of his chest. The white dragon was definitively pouting. Reaper was laughing, observing the flames devour the shed while Drako and Torment used their magic to stop the fire from spreading to the surrounding vegetation. This was oddly beautiful considering the reason this fire existed in the first place.
They stayed in front of the burning shed for quite a while before deeming the thing burned enough. Drako then opened a portal from Oceantale, dropping enough water to stop the flames before closing the portal. There were only ashes to testify of the previous murder scene. "Well let's go back now, I guess."
After Torment said that, Drako and himself teleported in front the house and entered, finding an anxious Gaster. "ArE YoU ALRiGhT?" His head snapped up toward them before sighing in what seemed to be relief. "Oh thanks Toby Fox, you're okay..." The part dragon skeleton tilted his head to the left, visibly confused. "Of CouRse, WhAT Did YoU ExPECT? FoR Us To GeT CaUgHT? To ReAlLY SeT ThE JunGLE On fIRE?"
"I don't know, you were taking a long time!" Reaper only laughed at the demonstration of Gaster's worry. He really did act like a father. Reaper could get used to that, it was a nice change compared to their Multiverse. No one ever cared for Reaper; they only feared him. "Of course, we needed to make sure that everything was burned correctly. We wouldn't want someone to somehow track our magic back to us. Not that it would be a problem, but it would be annoying." Torment then handed back the box of matches and the alcohol –or what was left of it– to Gaster, who nodded as a thank before putting them back in their proper place, as if they had never been moved in the first place. If anybody asked, this never happened.
The rest of day went by quite rapidly, with Drako going back into the Anti-Void to practice his crystallization magic while Cross continued to learn how to fly with Reaper. This time, they were supervised by Torment, just in case. At the end of the day, Torment had to go search for Drako since this idiot had absolutely no idea how long he was training for. Thankfully, the past Destroyer had opened the access to the Anti-Void for Torment and the two dragons, otherwise it could have been complicated. Torment didn't think that Drako would have had his phone on him while in his dragon form. While they were eating, Drako took the time to create pajamas for Torment and himself and copied them the same way he did for their clothes. It wasn't anything special; both had a shirt and a pant.
Torment's shirt was black with a light purple moon on the chest and his pants were black fading to a teal blue. Drako's shirt was dark blue and his pants were black fading to a galaxy-like color.
When they were done eating, they all went in the bathroom to wash their teeth one after the other. They then all wished each others a good night and went to sleep. Of course, Torment and Drako didn't sleep and instead stayed up, discussing about some random topics varying from preparations to their Multiversal introduction to when Drako would be forced to eat again. At some point, they talked about Drako creating dresses for the two of them and how fabulous they would be in them. They had no idea of how the discussion went to that, but it did, somehow. Of course, Torment had too much ego to wear a dress unless Drako did too. Not like Drako cared, and it was worth it just to see an embarrassed Torment. Perhaps he should think about making some dresses in the future... They also talked about their alternates versions in this Multiverse, both curious about how they could be.
That's how the night ended with them watching their counterparts through a one-way portal. It wasn't very interesting; Nightmare seemed to be doing paperwork before going to bed and Error was already asleep. Of course, both used that against the other brother to try to force him to sleep. It didn't work. How surprising.
When their counterparts went to bed, they closed the portal –it wasn't interesting and they didn't want to see people sleeping– and went back to their respective beds, from which Torment had fun poking Drako with his tentacles while Drako was thinking about how their new lives would play out. They ended up sharing theories of how their first real interaction with the other AUs would happen. Both were quite nervous, but they knew they had time before it happened, which appeased them a little.
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And this is done-
Nothing much happened in this chapter, sorry for that, the next one should be more interesting-
Speaking about it, in the next chapter, Cross and Reaper's new names will be revealed-
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! ^^
Lunar's out!~