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Two years ago, oh how vivid the memory was. Easier, simpler times, when everyone seemed so much happier compared to now...
October 31st, the day was recognized as the holiday known as 'Halloween'. A day where you dress up scarily and knock on random stranger's doors to receive candy.
Funnily enough, they didn't even need to dress up considering they already look like horrifying monsters. Alas, they still did.
"If you guys aren't finished changing within, hmm, three seconds, then we aren't going." Nightmare said loudly, glancing at the non-existent watch on his wrist and tapping his foot impatiently.
Now, Nightmare isn't very fond of holidays because they're mostly all positive, especially Christmas. Yuck.
But with Halloween he was willing to give it a shot, scaring people into dropping their candy bags and then proceeding to steal them was indeed a pretty appealing concept.
Of course, he wouldn't be partaking in the 'costume-wearing', he found it particularly foolish and childish. Which makes sense seeing as his team members were doing it.
He heard the sound of quick, shuffling feet, and then the black closet door in front of him opened as each member, excluding Error, of his team staggered out of the closet, sporting different strange outfits.
They stood in a slightly less than straight line, admiring each other's attire as well as their own. The aroma of fresh, warm clothes spilled throughout the room, creating a pleasant smell.
Horror smiled, showing his sharp fangs and raising his arms leaving his large cape-sleeves to fall. His vampire costume was red and black and held a heavy scent of blood, though that was just Horror's natural scent.
Nightmare raised his bone brows, gazing at him impressed yet with disbelief. "This looks way to intricate for someone like you, Horror. Are you sure you made it?"
Horror rubbed the back of his skull, frowning and looking to the side. "Error made it for me, but I think that I'm good at making things too..."
Nightmare rolled his eyes, he wanted to ask why he didn't just make it himself if he had the ability but he knew that Horror would be upset by that, and high morale is important.
"How do I look?" Killer asked lustfully, approaching Nightmare with a sly smile. He put his hands behind his head, puffing out his chest as he wiggled his bone brows.
Killer was a natural flirt, even though he's in a pretty 'committed' relationship with Outer at the moment he frequently showed interest in Nightmare, even Cross at one point.
Sometimes he wondered whether Killer really had a fake rivalry with Cross for Nightmare as he claimed was the case, or if there was some truth in it. Seemed pretty genuine in his eyes.
Killer was dressed as a witch, hat and all. He held a cauldron Halloween candy container with a toy black cat inside. His robes were black with a dark blue fringe.
Nightmare stared at him blankly, backing into the large sofa behind him. "It's fine—"
Cross growled, pushing Killer to the side and flexing his little muscles with a cute smirk. "Get out of here, witch! How do I look, Nighty?"
He wore a thin, white blanket draped lazily over his head with holes for his eyes poked out. It was a really cheap and easy costume, but he did look kind of cute...
Nightmare turned away agitatedly, blushing at his intrusive thoughts and sighing before turning back around. Why did Cross have to be so adorable— and why did he have to keep thinking that?!
"So where's your costume, Nightmare?" Horror asked, voice muffled by the fake implanted teeth. "You need a costume to go trick or treating, or else people will look at you weird!"
"Oh, no! I wonder what it's like to be looked at weirdly seeing as I'm a goo-dripping tentacle monster!" Nightmare face-palmed, shaking his head disappointedly.
"Oh. Okay." Horror shrugged confusedly, the sarcasm going right over his head. The hole in his head really did affect him, didn't it?
"Oh, it's coming." Dust smirked, tilting his head down with a dark smirk. The devil horns on his head seemed to fit him even more, demon tail swaying to the side.
"What's coming...?" Nightmare spoke confusedly, voice drifting off as his eyes widened in realization. "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE—"
A long, blue vine-like string attached to the ceiling flung towards Nightmare carrying a large blue costume.
Before he had the chance to dodge, it hooked onto his body and zipped itself up, leaving him with his arms outstretched and a frozen expression.
"..."
Killer was the first to laugh, bending over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air with tears in the corners of his eyes.
"T-this is t-too good!" He laughed, wiping off his tears.
"You look way better like this!" Horror commenter, raising his finger and twirling it in circles with a grin.
Nightmare let out a low, intimidating growl, tentacles lashing as he turned around, facing the purple-tinted mirror behind the sofa.
He was wearing a cyan octopus costume made of a cheap, low-quality fabric with exaggerated eyes for kids.
"Those strings... Error..." Nightmare muttered, blushing in both anger and embarrassment as he flipped himself around, cutting the others off from their laughing.
"ERROR, GET YOUR FLAT ASS OVER HERE, NOW!" He ordered, stomping his foot in anger with fume coming out of his skull.
His tentacles were writhing, drooling at the thought of choking Error tightly with them as he would inevitably sobbed, begging for mercy that would never arrive.
"Yes?" Error smirked, walking out from the kitchen with his usual glitchy voice. It sounded smug, unbothered by Nightmare's obvious rage. "It really suits you."
Nightmare bristled, looking up and down at Error's black bat wings and fluffy ears with his mouth agape.
Error's power level matched Nightmare's, so if they were to ever engage in battle, either neither of them would leave or both would be near dusted. Neither of them believe in mercy, either. He frequently lets Error off the hook for that reason.
"I didn't take you for someone to participate in such foolish activities," Nightmare muttered in pettiness, crossing his arms and looking away childishly. "I thought you were the smart one."
"Foolish? What's foolish about taking advantage of a day where you can literally get free candy?" Error asked, folding his hands over his chest with his bone brows raised. "Sounds pretty smart to me."
Nightmare's face contorted in annoyance as the others snickered, giving Error thumbs-up at successfully shutting up Nightmare.
"A-anyways, guys, are we going or what?" Cross stepped in between the two of them, raising his arms over his short little body as his mismatched eyes poked from the seeing-holes.
Nightmare looked down at his adorable, small figure with his cyan eye, sighing and letting his arms fall. He's right to intervene, he shouldn't allow Error to bother him like this.
"...fine, everyone get into the portal before you're left behind." Nightmare said, pulling out his arm and sliding it down, revealing a now-opened portal.
He shoved Cross in first with his tentacle, Cross' terrified scream being cut off before he fell.
Everyone cheered, rushing into the portal with matching mischievous grins. This is gonna be a long night.
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"Undertale?" Killer asked, tilting his head to the side as he observed the snowy sky with conflicting orange leaves buried beneath the pure white snow. They were like thick clouds.
"Yep, the original Au, obviously." Nightmare answered, observing the area with distaste.
There was a crisp, cold scent of snow in the air combined with the delicious scent of roasting chestnuts and mulled wine, the welcome warmth and aroma of an open fire – these Christmassy aromas are bound to put anyone in a festive mood. Including him.
Everyone was so... happy, like they enjoyed being alive or something, they barely even acknowledged their existence for fuck's sake!
Well, that's probably because they assume they're in costume, so it makes sense. He'll be sure to wipe their smiles off their dumb little faces soon.
"I doubt that we'll encounter the Star Stupids here, they probably expect us either not to go out at all or to go to a more dangerous Au—"
"Brother, it's so nice to see you here!" A jolly, creamy voice said from behind them, along with the sound of quick foots.
The snow crunched from beneath his golden snow-boots, tiny footprints etched into fluffy snow beneath him while his golden cape flew behind him like a flag.
"Spoke too soon," Nightmare groaned, slouching forward, waiting for the leeching hug that was about to occur.
Dream launched himself onto Nightmare's back, climbing on him whilst wrapping his arms around his front and tightly squeezing him. He felt like his ribs were cracking, he almost heard his bone pop and dislocate.
"S....stop..." Nightmare gasped, clawing at his unrelenting fingers and prying them off. Dream only smiled, opening his eyes, quickly changing into a worried expression and letting go.
"I am extremely sorry, I did not intend to hold on so tightly!" Dream bowed slightly, frowning in concern. "Do you forgive me?"
"Oh my god, shut up," Nightmare was about to place his hands in his pockets before realizing that his octopus costume didn't have any. "Why do you have to be so damn nice..."
"I didn't know you celebrated Halloween, brother!" Dream commented, poking his costume's bobbing tentacles with humor. "You've always been one to, er, despise holidays."
"I do." Nightmare said, eye twitching in irritation as the frosty air continued to whistle, causing a nearby snowman's head to fall off and splat to the ground. He wish he could do that with Dream's head.
"We're here for a different reason. Evil, bad, terrible reasons. You wouldn't understand, goody two shoes."
Nightmare seemed smug at his attempt to be condescending and badass, rolling head around as if he was trying to do a hair flip, even if he didn't have any.
Dream stared at him, trying to hold in his giggled, but failing as he let a few slip by. As much as Nightmare glared at him, he knew that Nightmare was his brother and brothers tease each other.
It's not like he'd turn him to stone, or fight him, or make him feel guilty enough about his current state to the point where Dream ends up turning into a sadistic monster! As you can tell, he has a very vivid imagination.
"Hehe, okay, brother. Anyways— your costume is superb! Wasn't expecting you to ever find the octopus joke funny, but here you are! I'm impressed, Nightmare, you've greatly improved as a person— er, as an octopus!"
Error, along with the rest of his group wheezed, Cross attempting to cover it with his hands. The others weren't as considerate, though, some downright falling to the snowy ground.
"I don't know why I put up with you. Any of you." He complained, sneering with zero amusement present on his face, "is it possible for anyone to have an ounce of respect, or do I need to beat it into you?"
They all went silent at that, fidgeting uncomfortably. They didn't doubt that he was being serious. Killer, being the first member of the group to join, knew this especially well.
Did they resent Nightmare for it? A little, especially because Cross seems to get special treatment by Nightmare, constantly forgiven for his transgressions.
They all knew who the favorite was, but it was still better than from where they came from so they weren't completely miserable. They tried to think positively as much as possible.
Dream chuckled nervously, sweat dripping down his skull as he placed a gentle hand on Nightmare's shoulder.
He'd witnessed violence between his brother with his team members before, and he'd never wish his wrath on any of his worst enemies, even if he knew it'd never come to him specifically.
"D-don't worry, brother, we were just messing with you is all... do you want to trick or treat with me and my friends?"
"I don't, now get your crusty hand off of me."
"B-but we haven't hung out in a while, it'd be a fun activity to do together, where's your Halloween spirit? Please?"
Nightmare snapped, tearing Dream's hand away and squeezing his wrist painfully hard, ignoring his cry of pain.
"WHAT ISN'T CLICKING, WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!? I. DON'T. WANT. TO. GO WITH YOU—!"
"DREAM! GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Yelled The expressive voice of Ink, teleporting in front of Nightmare and shoving him away with his paintbrush.
He stumbled back, nearly falling into the snow before Cross and Killer simultaneously caught him. They gave each other death glare, challenging each other silently.
"W-why did you do that , Ink?" Dream stuttered, covering his mouth sadly. "We were just talking..."
"He's too dangerous to be trusted." Ink stated simply, expression blank and unremorseful before it brightened once more and his voice return to its usual chipper-ness.
"Anyways, let's stop by Classic's house! I heard he's giving out candy this year! Ain't that something?"
Geez, talk about mood swings. The Star Stupids as a whole seemed to have a problem with randomly changing emotions, but it was Ink specifically it was most apparent in.
Ink stood tally with good posture, hands on his hips confidently. Even if he was standing at his full height, he was still significantly shorter than most of the Bad Sanses.
He was wearing a pair of brown cat ears along with fluffy paw mittens, it seems like the Star Stupid's costume theme this year was animals.
Well, excluding Dream, he was dressed as an angel, hovering halo and all. Speaking of, how'd he even get it to float—?
Oh yeah, magic.
"You shoved me!" Nightmare said, raising his fist threateningly at Ink. "Do you have a death wish—?!"
"C'mon Nightmare, chill out, you're not supposed to kill on Holidays. It's a rule that we decided on when the group was formed," Error said, stepping in front of Ink protectively.
His hands were outstretched, ready to shoot out his strings if it was needed. Nightmare seethed, lowering his fist slightly, but maintaining his threatening posture.
"Since when do I care about abiding by the rules?" Nightmare sneered, angry at Error's apparent care for Ink's safety. "He started it, anyways—"
"You know that I can take you, and I know you know it," Error responded slowly, dragging each word out to imprint it in Nightmare's mind. "It doesn't matter who started it, anyone continuing it is at fault as well. Stop being a baby."
Nightmare was furious. He was furious that he was so disrespectful, but even more, he was furious that Error was right. If both Error and Ink were against him, he surely wouldn't prevail.
He turned away, making sure to send Error a hateful glare before walking back to his group. Cross pat him on the shoulder, leaning against his side comfortingly.
"I heard that Classic's giving out mega sized candy!" Blue added, hopping over to them with bunny ears resting on the top of his head along with a fluffy tail on his read end.
Apparently he'd been away the entire time, gathering candy from every house he could judging by his candy bag.
His candy bag was stuffed full with candy, whilst Dream and Ink's were practically empty. The conclusion Nightmare drew was that, knowing them, they forfeit all their candy to a Blue in an act of dumb generosity.
"That's a good costume..." he heard Dust whisper, his eyes fixated on his tail with a dazed expression.
Nightmare raised a brow, causing Dust to shyly look away and pretend like he wasn't just staring at Blue's non-existent ass.
"Well, bye, brother and brother's friends!" Dream said with twinkling eyes, waving goodbye as he skipped along with his friends arm-in-arm.
Nightmare dragged a hand down his face, why must Dream be so annoying and embarrassing? He wished that he would just disappear, maybe be more like him even. Then they might at least get along.
"Your brother's pretty cute, Nightmare," Killer said, wiggling his bone brows as he nudged Nightmare. "Don't know why you bash him so much."
"That's boss to you, subordinate." Nightmare hissed, looking at him with irritation. "And don't you dare get any ideas with Dream, if I see you even look at him then I'll actually clobber your ass. Don't think I'm bluffing, I'd never bluff to anyone."
"Woah, protective much! And you say you don't care about him..." Killer lifted his hands into the air yieldingly, backing away for his own safety. A smirk slowly broke out into his face, and Nightmare could already detect he was planning something.
"It's really weird that you say that actually, because bosses don't usually go trick or treating with their subordinates... or sleep with one of them."
Nightmare grabbed Killer by the collar, jaw sharp and ready to slice him open. "I. Cannot. Love. I'm incapable of loving, I'm fucking corrupted, so despite your weird fanfiction fantasies I do not feel any type of affections for anyone, let alone that bitch Cross."
He dropped him into the snow, stomping on his finger with a hard snap and walking off, his corrupted soul pounding in his chest so loud it was all he was able to hear. Not even his own thoughts could be heard.
"O-ow..." Killer cried dryly, staring at his crumpled hand with tears in his sockets. "How did he even know who I was talking about..."
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Word Count: 3065 words
Author's Note: Happy Halloween! This will be separated into multiple parts, most likely just two. Just to clear up any confusion, Fell and Razz had yet to join the group at this time, so that's why they aren't included.
Also, Positions is out! Are any of you Arianators ?