Trigger Warnings: Murder (ment.), blood, someone almost dies
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It was fairly nice in the Underground that day. Not by weather standards, those would never change down there. On that day in particular, Killer had just finished dusting his fellow monsters in his most recent Reset with surprising ease, pleasing him greatly. This by itself wouldn't have been out of place for the skeleton - if anything it would be odd for him not to do a genocide route - but what was odd was that he was lacking a few Execution Points.
He blinked a few times, re-reading the screen in front of him. He hadn't done anything different, so how come something had changed? Sighing, he resigned himself to having to take a leisurely stroll throughout the Underground to find whichever Monsters had escaped his grasp.
"Why have you forsaken me today?!" He exclaimed dramatically to nobody in particular.
Turning around, the first thing he noticed was the peculiar, skeleton-shaped black mass standing in front of him. The second, more important thing he noticed was that his shoe was stuck in the puddle of blood that surrounded Asgore's now dusted body.
"Ergh, this stuff never gets easier to deal with! It's always “wah wah wah I'm gonna get all over your shoes and your clothes and your attacks for no reason” with this guy," he smiled, gesturing towards the blood before turning back to face the stranger who seemed awfully unamused by his joke.
It seemed to be studying the bloodied skeleton, looking him up and down, left to right. If it were anyone else he would've attacked by now, but the substance it seemed entirely made out of.. it reminded him of the Determination which leaked out of his eye sockets, a part of him which he'd grown rather fond of over time.
"Man, I thought that one was funny," he muttered, spinning his knife in his hand ready for a potential fight.
It wasn't scared of him, which made him slightly nervous. It wasn't everyday that someone came face to face with a guy capable of taking out the entirety of the Underground with ease, though it also wasn't everyday that Killer came face to face with something like.. well, whatever stood in front of him.
"Ain't you scared?" He questioned, taking a step forward before summoning a few bone attacks to his side.
In return, it took a step forward as if it were matching his movements. Out of its upper back came four long, sharpened tendrils, slightly bloodied and lined with specks of dust. Killer's eyes narrowed at the realisation that it was the reason he'd lost some EXP.
"Scared..? Of a Sans I could tear to shreds within two minutes? Humourous," it spoke, a cocky tone to its voice.
"Ha, you wish! Before I kick your ass and reclaim the EXP that you stole from me, mind telling me your name? I'll ask around about you during the next run, figure out what kinda Monster you are.." He threatened, muttering the end of the sentence as he began lightly bouncing up and down; preparing to fight his mysterious opponent.
"Nightmare, but you can call me.. well, I was going to say Master but that has some awful connotations nowadays.. how about Boss?" He retorted, placing a hand onto his hip.
Killer laughed, "Well, Nightmare, you're awfully calm for someone who's about to die!" He cheerfully answered, leaping towards Nightmare with his knife in hand.
Yet as he slashed at the Monster standing in front of him, nothing happened. It wasn't that he'd missed his attack, it had landed for sure, it's that absolutely nothing happened. As he stood there trying to figure out how anyone could withstand an attack from his knife, his opponent Checked him.
Undeterred, he tried again,
And again,
And again,
And again, until he was cut off by something piercing through his left shoulder; cracking the bone and tearing his arm off.
He stumbled backwards into the remains of the fallen King, one of the strongest Monsters who he'd murdered successfully countless times with no issue, before staring at the arm and knife that had landed nearby. He stood there, breath quickening as his mind raced for any logical reasoning for what was going on. It wasn't that he was scared of Nightmare or what he'd just done, it was more-so that he'd done it with the same amount of effort as Killer would use to kill just about anyone below the Surface.
He was forced back to reality as a black, sludged hand picked up his knife. His weapon. His-
"What is it that you Sanses always say? Something about flowers being in bloom and children burning in Hell, is it?" Nightmare hummed, examining the knife in his hands.
He could always continue the fight with his magic, but there was also a possibility that Nightmare's magic far surpassed his own. What did Nightmare want, anyway? To stop his genocide? To be the Underground's hero?
"Heh, it'll take a lot more.. than that.. if you wanna stop me from doin' these runs.. I got this thing called a Reset button-" he pulled up the button next to him "-it'll reset your memory of this happening at all.. and I'll.. I'll.. I'll find out more about you before our next fight," he declared through heavy breaths, trying not to show any signs that he was in pain.
Nightmare blinked slowly in response before walking over to the Reset button, spinning Killer's knife around in his hand mockingly.
He clicked it, and everything around them had reverted back to the regular state.
Killer looked around at all of the Monsters who were going about their own business. Some shopping, some talking, some sitting in silence doing nothing.. It was normal. Too normal.
Killer pulled out his knife.
..
Nothing happened.
He looked down at his hand where his knife was supposed to be, before realising that he didn't have it. A slight panic started to set in as he stood up and looked around for any sign of Nightmare, to no avail. This formidable opponent of his had seemingly passed the boundaries of a Reset and stolen his knife, though he was really only concerned about one of those things.
A hand touched his shoulder.
"Boo."
He internally jumped before turning around and punching whoever had managed to sneak up on him.. only to find Nightmare standing in front of him, Killer's hand in the left section of what could be seen as his skull.
"C'mon.. can't stab you, can't punch you.. what can I do to you?!" Killer yelled, obviously irritated by the whole ordeal.
"You could always sit down and, oh I'm not sure, listen to what I have to say. Or are you incapable of keeping your impulses in check?" Nightmare replied through gritted teeth, his tentacles flaring about aggressively as he grabbed Killer's wrist.
Killer thought about it for a few moments, but it truly was only a few. He teleported away into a nearby house to grab a knife, but before he could grab one he was intercepted by Nightmare latching onto his skull with a tentacle. There was a split second as Killer regretted his choice to teleport away, but he didn't have time to focus on it as Nightmare smashed his skull into the countertop repeatedly, yelling profanities at the skeleton who was slowly losing consciousness.
"You insufferable-"
bang
"-miserable-"
bang
"-replaceable-"
bang
"-disrespectful-"
crack
Killer's eyes widened slightly, not at the pain but at the sound and realisation of his fate.
"-piece of shit!" Nightmare yelled, smashing his skull into the countertop one last time.
And when he did, a large amount of the top portion of Killer's skull shattered into pieces, falling next to him and inside of him as he slumped to the floor. To any normal being it would've been a gruesome sight, two bloodied skeletons fighting each other in a stranger's house with one managing to tear off almost all of the top of the skull of the other, but considering the things they'd both seen over their lifespans.. it truly was nothing to them.
Killer managed to pull up the Reset button, trying to reach up to hit it with his hand. He was unsuccessful, the pain of what had actually happened catching up to him. He knew he'd be fine which provided a bit of comfort, but he didn't exactly enjoy being the weaker one in a fight.
Nightmare crouched down next to him, blankly staring at the hole in his skull.
"You're stronger than I thought," he said, though it sounded more like muttering to Killer.
"Okay, here's the deal. I press your lovely little button here-" he gestured towards the Reset button, "-and when it all fixes itself you sit there and you listen to what I came here to say. Got that?" He offered, waiting impatiently for Killer's response.
He couldn't say anything back, only capable of raising a shaky thumbs up to Nightmare.
Nightmare pressed the button, and everything reverted back to how it was before.
This time, the first thing Killer did upon waking up was sit there. He waited a few moments before the goopy Monster seemed to materialise in front of him, holding his knife.
"Well, I'm glad to know you're capable of following orders," he spoke, a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, yeah, you've made your point already. Soooo, before you start going into a villainous monologue about your plan to take over the world or.. whatever.. uh.. what kind of Monster are you? 'Cuz the overall appearance is saying skeleton but the fact that my hand phased through you is saying Gaster," Killer responded, trailing off near the end.
"Neither. I'm a being of negativity, I can take whatever form I wish to, it was simply a coincidence that I chose-"
"So you could be a Moldsmal if you wanted to?" Killer interrupted, leaning his face onto his hand curiously.
"Yes, if I wanted to, which I don't. We're getting off topic-"
"So, if you wanted to, could you split yourself into two and become two Moldsmals?" He, again, interrupted with a small grin on his face.
Nightmare breathed in and out a few times, likely trying to calm down and stop himself from harming the skeleton in front of him.
"Y'know I'm not so scared of you now that I'm imagining you as a Moldsm-"
He was cut off by a tentacle wrapping itself around his skull.
"A-alright, alright, chill.. I'm listening," he sputtered, letting out a nervous laugh as the tentacle drew back.
"I came here to offer you something. A change of sorts, we all know how much you adore change, right?"
"All? You say that like there's more than the two of us here," Killer confusedly responded, looking around to make sure there was truly only the two of them.
"Well, that can be left for a later date. Don't you want some change? Any sort of change? I imagine it's pretty tiring going through the exact same Monsters again and again," he gestured towards Snowdin as a whole "don't you want even the slightest bit of change?" Nightmare questioned, leaning towards the sentry station that was holding a bored looking Killer.
"Ehhh, not really. I'll hear you out anyway though," he lied, shrugging.
"Well, I've been doing some research as of late and it seems as if the easiest way forward for me to achieve my plans of revenge is to form alliances with those who are most capable of taking out anything that stands in their way. So I went around to a ton of genocide AUs, watched their routes, their tactics.. and then I came across you," Nightmare spoke, gently touching Killer's cheek with a tentacle.
"Riiight, and before we continue with the conversation you're definitely not crazy or anything.. right?" Killer questioned, leaning back slightly.
Nightmare was silent for a few moments before offering a response. "What makes you believe that?"
"Okay, no offence but you gotta see this from my point of view. Random Monster, who's somehow stronger than me, manages to survive not just one but two Resets, and is spouting stuff about revenge and trying to convince me to join his team. You gotta understand how.. uh.. implausible this sounds." Killer explained, hoping that Nightmare would understand.
More silence between the two. Killer swore that he could see Nightmare physically restrain himself from attacking, his singular blue eye twitching aggressively before finally coming to a stop.
"I get it. I am not crazy, a liar or whatever else you may be thinking I am. If you don't believe me it doesn't particularly matter, I am here to recruit you, not to convince you of my mental sanity," Nightmare stated, seemingly having given the same response to others before him.
"Good enough for me!" Killer cheerfully agreed, standing up and walking around to the front of his station to be closer to his new friend.
"..Seriously?"
Killer grinned, "Well, yeah. It's not like I have much to lose, and I've got my trusty Reset button to get me out of any situation where I could end up dead, so I don't have many worries about you or whatever you want me to do!"
Nightmare placed a hand onto Killer's left shoulder, causing him to tense up. He slowly trailed his hand to the side of Killer's face and grinned, tentacles raised and sharpened.
"Not how it works~!"
He turned and walked off, gesturing for Killer to follow along with him. Reluctantly, Killer followed to prevent any further injuries.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked, his previous grin being replaced by an expression filled with curiosity and nervousness.
"You die outside of your AU, there's no coming back. That's the main rule of Multiversal travel. If a Reset happens when you aren't there, you get replaced by an exact copy of yourself and become an Outcode," Nightmare stated blankly, walking through Snowdin.
"Right.. uh.. what's an AU? Guessing it's like timelines but not totally sure.." Killer muttered in response, rethinking his choice of trusting the skeleton he walked next to.
"Alternate Universe, it means a Universe where something - minor or drastic - causes a change to happen to one of the Monsters of the Underground. I've never looked into them that much, you'd have to ask Error for more information on them," Nightmare clarified.
"Error?"
Nightmare hesitated for a moment as if he were considering the topic, "He's a dangerous Outcode acquaintance of mine, nobody knows where he came from or how he exists but he seems set on destroying every AU that doesn't fit his ideal image of perfection. That's what I've gathered from our brief talks, anyway."
"Is he a part of your team?" Killer questioned.
"No."
"Who's on your team, then?"
Nightmare and Killer came to a stop outside of the Ruins as Nightmare smashed Alphys' hidden camera to pieces. He turned to face the shorter skeleton, staring blankly at him as an answer.
"Yeah, I am, but who else?"
No response apart from his stare.
"..Are you serious?"
"You wouldn't know this, but many who know of me fear me immensely. I don't work with people who blindly follow others out of fear. Finding Sans variants who'll work with me out of shared interests is a safer option, encourages them to stay for longer and discourages a betrayal," Nightmare explained.
"What are our shared interests?" Killer asked, crossing his arms.
Nightmare grinned, leaning against the door of the Ruins. "I want someone capable of keeping up with me, you need protection and change, I see absolutely no reason for you to stay here."
Killer scoffed, rolling his eyes at the suggestion, "Protection? You think I need to be protected?"
Nightmare sharpened a tentacle and pointed it towards him, a blatant warning of sorts.
"I see.. so if I go with you to an 'AU', you protect me?" Killer asked, skeptical of his intentions.
"If you follow my orders, yes."
"And.. these orders consist of?"
"Killing whoever irritates me, causing negative emotions left and right wherever I send you.. things I'm sure you're well equipped to handle by now," Nightmare spoke, growing more irritated by the second.
"And I'd be staying where, exactly?"
Nightmare rolled his eye, clearly tired of all the questions being asked by his new subordinate. He walked over to Killer and handed him his knife, yet when their hands touched for that brief moment it was as if a feeling ignited itself within Killer.
"Oh don't feel like that, it's pathetic," he snapped before teleporting himself and Killer to his Hideout.
It was as if Killer had blinked and ended up in an entirely new place. The prospect of teleportation wasn't new to him, but it no longer felt as if he were anywhere close to home. The large castle in front of him, the eerie nature of the entirety of the forest that surrounded him, the bug that was crawling on his shoe..
"Gah-!" He shrieked as he kicked the bug away from him and turned to face his new Boss, who was staring at him amusedly.
"C'mon Nightmare, you can't act like bugs aren't creepy!" Killer hissed, raising his voice as he turned back to look at the castle.
It looked like something he'd seen in the picture books which fell down into the Underground every so often, though they were typically portrayed as being centrepieces for large Kingdoms or Villages instead of barren forests seemingly only belonging to one Monster. He had a feeling that he knew exactly what had happened within this particular AU, but he wasn't about to ask Nightmare to confirm his suspicions.
Nightmare walked in front of him towards the castle, once again gesturing for Killer to follow. Although he wasn't absolutely sure he was safe with his new Boss, he was sure that things were going to be very, very interesting from then on.