Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

XChara kicked a pile of snow as they walked through the heart of Snowdin, grumbling at the snow soaking into his scarf. Cross walked side by side with him, right behind their other two brothers, XFrisk and XPapryus.

Cross kept a keen eye on the crowd around them as they walked, glaring at anyone who stared at the mono-colored group for too long.

The AU they're currently in is notorious for being a shady part of the multiverse. An Underfell variant that was attacked by the destroyer, Error. Although the Star Sanses were able to fight him off, this place then became a hunting ground for Nightmare’s men. They often terrorize the people that come here, always starting fights with those unlucky enough to encounter one. Fortunately for them, the group of siblings never encountered Nightmare’s men. Unfortunately, considering how isolated Xtale is, that also means they don't know who to be cautious of. Hence Cross’s anxiety spiking with every glare sent their way. This place has become sort of a “loss cause” as far as AUs go. All the old residents have been either killed or evacuated to the Omega timeline, leaving it a prime spot for vendors and illegal sellers to set up shop.

“This place sucks.” XChara grumbled.

“Lets just focus on getting the job done and leaving,” Cross responded, glancing behind his back. They needed to keep an eye out for this skeleton that XGaster called “Ink”. Apparently, he has been trying to tamper with their timeline because he is “unsatisfied” with XGaster’s approach to world building. They were sent to gather supplies and information by XGaster, his father. XPapyrus and XFrisk were sent to engage with the locals, as they were the more approachable ones, while Cross and XChara stood as a look out. They were in the Snowdin of this AU, the prime business spot apart from the Hotlands. The stalls of vendors lined the worn pathway. The mix of normal items and horribly illegal items being sold always amused XChara. You could be looking to buy the most illegal magic enhancer you could find, but turn to your left and pick up some new clothing for your kid at the next stall. The place was truly random, with no coordination or anything. And it smelled like trash.

 

Their trip was almost complete, all they needed was more fabric for new clothes. XGaster would usually see this as frivolous and unnecessary, but XFrisk insisted on it, and who is Cross to question XFrisk?

XChara groaned loudly and turned away from Cross, watching their brothers walk into a nearby fabric store. Cross and XChara moved to stand more in front of the store when something caught their eye. A skeleton in a classic Sans attire was ducking around into shadows and snatching things off of people. Cross grumbled and turned to look away.

“Watch out, there's a pickpocketer…” XChara turned to Cross at the sound of his voice.

“No shit, there's gonna be thieves in places like this,” XChara grumbled. Cross turned away and continued to keep watch. He watched the figure jump around until he lost sight of him.

Cross shifted his weight on his one foot, feeling the snow under his feet crunch at the movement. This was the first trip outside of XTale in a while. The frequency of them often fluctuates, but this has been the longest “break” they have gotten in a while. XGaster seemed tense at the mention of the multiverse, probably due to the dispute with the “Ink” Sans character.

XChara glanced over at Cross, almost like he could hear his inner dialogue. He rolled his eyes at his brother's serious posture, and took to people-watching. Lately, the whole “family” has been distant. Frisk and him have been talking less, Cross and Papyrus are in the middle of a feud, but of course XGaster and Alphys were as buddy buddy as ever…

XChara groaned at the thought of XGaster and started pacing.

“This sucks.”

“You already said that.” Cross glanced at him from the corner of his eye socket for a second before going back to ignoring him.

XChara huffed and sat down on the steps outside the store. He took a nearby stick and started drawing in the snow.

“Stop messing around. We’re supposed to be keeping watch.” Cross huffed, turning to face XChara fully.

XChara glared at the snow when Cross said that. He reached down and scooped up some snow into his hand.

XChara ignored Cross’s attempts to get him to lock in. “Why do I even try…” Cross rolled his eye lights and turned back to face the crowd of people, but was hit by something cold and hard on the side of his skull.

“BAHAHHAHAHA!” XChara was rolling on the ground clutching his stomach from laughing as he watched the snow slide down Cross’s cheek.

Cross slowly turned towards him with a murderous expression on his face as XChara continued to laugh.

“You little-!!” He was cut off by his other two siblings exiting the shop and walking down the steps, making sure to step over XChara who was still on the ground laughing.

“BROTHER? WHY IS YOUR FACE COVERED IN SNOW?” XPapyrus questioned. Cross turned away from him, composing himself.

“Nothing.”

“I was teaching him how to have a snowball fight.” XChara laughed.

Cross grumbled and wiped the snow off his skull.

“Are we ready?” XFrisk signed.

“Yep, looks like we got everything.” XChara started walking ahead, closely followed by XFrisk and Papyrus. Cross lingered behind, but followed quickly after his siblings.

Cross glanced at his watch, they were about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. They started making their way back through Snowdin to the rendezvous point over in Ruins. XChara was looking forward to relaxing once they got back.

Keeping an ear out for new information, he heard some shady figures discussing prices on various outlawed materials. Too focused on what was happening around him, Cross didn't hear the fast moving footsteps from behind him and was knocked to the ground by a solid force.

“Sorry man, my bad.” Cross looked up to the source of the voice and saw the thief from earlier. The skeleton snickered before turning to jog away, pushing past Cross’s siblings.

“Watch it!” XChara stumbled trying not to fall as he was pushed to the side. Cross went to wipe the dust off his chest and realized his locket was missing. Quickly he turned around and caught sight of it in the stranger's hand. He lurched forward and grabbed the stranger's shoulder quickly in order to stop him from running off with his necklace.

“I think you have something of mine, buddy.” Cross glared at the thief as they stilled and slowly turned their smug expression towards him.

“Is that so?” The black-eyed thief smirked. Cross reached for his knives in case things went south.

DING

Cross’s soul lit up with blue magic and he was thrown into a nearby tree.

“CROSS!?” Papyrus yelled in surprise. His brothers got in a defensive position, ready to defend themselves from the thief, but it seems like they only had interest in fighting the older skeleton.

The thief stepped in front of Cross’s view of his siblings

“If you want it so badly, then come get it.”

XChara reached for his knife, going in for an attack on the thief while Frisk and Papyrus stayed on the defensive side. The thief blocked the attack, but was kicked backwards by Cross, who recovered from the initial blow. The locket fell as the thief skidded back in the snow, and XFrisk lunged for the locket before the thief realized he dropped it.

A knife was hurled towards XFrisk, but blocked by XPapyrus as he summoned a wall of bones between them.

“THATS ENOUGH! WE GOT IT BACK, LETS JUST GO ON OUR OWN WAYS, AND FORGET ABOUT THIS, OK?” XPapyrus shouted at the thief, trying to defuse the situation. There was a long pause on both sides of the group. XChara silently challenges the stranger. After a moment, the thief shrugged and turned to walk away. Cross stood, glaring at the thief as his siblings slowly turned to walk away. Cross watched as the thief disappeared into the trees, only turning to catch up with his siblings once he couldn't see the stranger anymore. Cross breathed out a sigh he didn't realize he was holding in, relieved that it didn't escalate into a full out fight.

As he turned around, he hit something solid and stumbled back. Before he could glance up, the thief grabbed his shirt again and pulled him face to face.

“You should really think twice before you challenge someone twice your LV.“ Cross paled, glancing behind the thief and seeing his brothers running towards them once again. Right before the thief was able to teleport him and Cross away, XChara grabbed onto the thief’s hoodie and was teleported with them. As soon as they landed in a secluded area in the woods, XChara tossed the thief off of Cross. He turned to Cross, only to see the thief appearing right behind his brother again.

Cross whipped around and pointed his knife at the thief while slowly backing up to XChara so he could get them out of here. The thief stood with his hands in his pocket as black goo bled out of his eye sockets.

“Does someone need their little brother to protect them? How cute.” Cross ignored the taunt and reached for XChara’s shoulder, just as the thief charged at them. Cross jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the knife thrown at them, but instead it lodged itself into XChara’s shoulder. XChara fell to the ground clutching his shoulder in pain.

“FUCK!” he yelled out in agony.

Cross charged at the thief and lurched his knives into his abdomen and twisted. The thief grabbed his arm and kneed him in the stomach before tossing him to the side.

Now clutching his waist, the thief summoned his gaster blaster and aimed it for XChara. Cross threw himself into the thief's side to knock him off balance as the blaster powered up and barely missed XChara. Cross ran towards XChara, determined to get the fuck out of there, but his soul lit up with blue magic once again and he was thrown into the ground.

XChara jumped over Cross’s body and attacked the thief with his knife, cutting him through his hoodie and into his forearm. Once Cross was released from the blue magic hold on his soul, he dashed over to where XChara was and grabbed onto his shoulder. Both exhausted and severely hurt from the ambush, Cross used the last of his fighting spirit to teleport them to the rendezvous point. XFrisk and XPapyrus were freaking out.

They fell to the ground panting, just in time for a portal to open up before them. XAlphys was waiting for them on the other side and gave little attention to the state XChara and Cross were in.

“Good, you're on time. Lord XGaster will be pleased to hear the results of your mission.” XAlphys turned to walk further into the portal. XFrisk and XPap helped the two up off the ground and through the portal. Once on the other side, XFrisk ran ahead to give a mission report to XGaster, while XPapyrus stayed behind to help patch them up.

“HERE… FRISK WAS ABLE TO GRAB IT…” XPapyrus handed Cross the locket, before turning to walk XChara to the infirmary. Cross lingered behind, and glanced down at the locket. He couldn't risk losing it, this locket was important to him. He followed his two siblings down the hall where they were patched up and sent to their rooms to retire for the night.

While laying in bed, Cross thought back to the encounter and shuddered. The dude gave him the creeps with his LV and his freaky eye goo. It felt almost uncanny. XChara shared the same thoughts from his own room. He was peeved at how off guard the thief was able to catch Cross. Silently cursing Cross and his stupidity at confronting the situation, he rolled over and watched his brother enter the room.

XFrisk has been on edge and more distant than usual, and it's been making XChara worried. He asked a few times if everything is alright, but his brother refuses to open up. Anxiety pooled in XChara’s gut, feeling like something bad was about to happen.

XChara mumbled a “Goodnight, king,” to his brother, and got a hum in response. He turned off his bed side lamp and pulled the covers over his shoulders, trying to sleep the anxiety away.

Chapter Text

Cross rolled out of bed the next day at the sound of his father yelling. This wasn't unusual for the XTale household, but it always caused him anxiety about starting the day. He gazed at himself in the mirror and sighed, he looked like a mess. The events from yesterday exhausted him, and he collapsed as soon as he could get away from XGaster long enough.

“SANS! GET YOUR LAZYBONES OUT OF BED!” His youngest brother, XPapyrus, banged on his door, causing the wood to creak and bend with each hit.

Cross grumbled at the use of that name and slipped into a black turtle neck and long white pants with black straps hanging from his waist band. With one final look in his mirror, he left his room and walked down the stairs. He entered the kitchen to get some breakfast, but found his father hunched over the counter seething.

“That damn brat…” XGaster mumbled. He grabbed a nearby plate and threw it in the direction of Cross, barely missing his head and smashing into the wall. “HOW DARE THEY???” Cross composed himself before daring to speak.

“What happened-” “THAT DAMN BRAT RAN AWAY.” XGaster yelled. He slammed his fist onto the counter and shook his head. Cross knew exactly what he was referring to. Last night, he caught XFrisk sneaking out the bathroom window with a backpack and some cash in hand. Cross wanted to go with them, but couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. XFrisk thought he was gonna snitch, but Cross gave them a spare knife to make sure they could protect themselves.

“Which one?” Cross dared. He couldn't let his father know what he had allowed to happen in his home.

XGaster whipped around and glared at Cross “The Frisk. It left.” He turned and kicked the trashcan nearby. “What shitty timing… Guess he’ll have to go to his place.” Cross was unsure of what his father meant, and he didn't like the sound of it.

XGaster pointed at Cross with a spork in a threatening way, “If I find out you had any part in this, not even they could protect you…” Before Cross could question his fathers words, XChara bursts into the room.

“XGaster! What have you done with my brother?! I swear if you-”

“Not now, child. My patience has worn thin this morning. Go pack your bags you two, they'll be here soon…” XGaster grumbled at the end of his declaration. Cross was caught off guard, but before he could speak, his sibling spoke up.

“What do you mean “they'll be here soon”?? Where is my brother?? Whats going on-” XGaster slapped XChara at his questions. XChara fell to the ground, clutching his cheek and fighting off tears.

 

“I will not be questioned by some lowly experiment. Go pack now” Cross didn't need to be told a third time, and ran out of the room with XChara in tow. Quickly, he grabbed his uniform and threw the rest on. He packed some of his clothing and weapons into a duffle bag, along with his heart necklace for safe keeping. He gazed at the room for a few more seconds before hearing a voice at the door.

“CROSS… WHAT'S GOING ON…?” XPapyrus asked. Cross grimaced at the confusion in his voice and glanced back into his room one last time. He walked past the door and stopped right next to Xpapyrus.

“Im not sure…“ he walked past Xpap and towards the staircase.

XChara was not far off with his emotions either. He woke up to an empty room. Where his brother would wait for him to awake, was an empty bed. No note. No sign. His white shawl almost mocking him as he threw it on. His bag was packed, and was ready to go wherever X-gaster sent him. He started out of his window, hoping to see his brother one last time, but saw nothing but an empty field. He walked out of his room and slammed the door, catching Xpapyrus’s attention, before looking away in guilt.

XChara stormed down the steps, standing side by side with his eldest brother. XGaster stared at them with disdain and disgust before speaking.

“You are not to embarrass or ruin the name of this house, got it?”

XChara glanced over at Cross and met his confused gaze. Cross turned to his father and opened his mouth to question what was going on, but was shut up by XGaster checking his watch.

“Tsk… they're late…” right as XGaster said that, a rift appeared right in front of the front door. The three of them turned to look at the glowing interdimensional gate way. The first thing to walk out was a large slouching skeleton with a massive hole in the right side of his head. He stood at about 6’0 and his only eyelight was glowing a haunting red color. He carried a bloody axe and was covered in what Cross could only assume was monster dust. XChara took a step back and glanced at his brother. Cross met his gaze and slowly shifted his body in front of XChara at the sight of the human blood.

The next skeleton to slither out was shorter than the first, but stood around the same height as Cross, about 5’5. He wore a classic sans attire, apart from the hood and dusty red scarf shrouding his face. His appearance had a chalky white look to it, but XChara hypothesized from the blood on his companion, it was from monster dust. His eye lights glowed from under his hood, the same red color as the last skeleton, but this skeleton had a mismatched blue center in the right eyelight. He stood very laid back with his hands in his pocket, but had a tense aura to him.

The third skeleton to emerge was shorter than the others but carried a familiar face. It was the thief from the other day. He was around his height, if anything a bit shorter, and wore a classic sans fit, which seemed to be a running theme, but the color of the shorts and shirt were inverted. A red target floated in front of his chest like it was his soul, and his eyes dripped that disgusting goo that creeped Cross out from their last encounter.

“Long time no see Crossy” The thief sneered
XChara tensed up beside him, and Cross looked at his fathers face. His gut dropped at what might be happening.

“You two are to work under Nightmares gang as an extension of our AU. Nightmare has offered protection over my au and information to me for the exchange of two workers. For the foreseeable future, you will be assigned to work under them.” XGaster declared, staring straight at Cross. Cross knew XGaster would try to get rid of him at some point, but he never thought selling him should be a fear.

XChara wasted no time in booking it back up the staircase, pulling Cross’s sleeve as a sign to get the frick out of there.

The thief was on them as soon as they turned, laughing manically as they bolted up the stairs. Once XChara reached the top of the stairs, he pushed a nearby vase down the stairs hoping to slow down their pursuer.

Cross narrowly jumped over the vase, cursing out XChara for his carelessness. The thief tumbled down the stairs with the vase, only to be caught by his companion. Cross hesitated for a moment, only to be startled by one of the thief's companions catching his gaze. XChara grabbed his arm yelling at him as they booked it through the hall towards the bathroom. They burst through the door, and Cross used his body to hold it shut while XChara opened the window.

“This is crazy!! What is he thinking??!” XChara yelled, frustrated with the window. It wasn't opening.

“Break the window already!!” Cross yelled. Just then, an axe broke through the wood right next to their head. Cross was sweating at the closeness of the attack. The axe was pulled out and he could see the tall one with the broken skull gazing in.

“Youre… just making this … harder for yourself….” the tall one groaned. Just then, the window glass shattered and XChara climbed through, cutting himself along the broken edges. Cross locked the door to give himself some extra time before bolting to the window and jumping out.

He landed on his left shoulder right next to XChara in a bush, and groaned out in pain. XChara wasted no time in standing up and heading for the field. Cross rolled over clutching his arm and saw the thief and the tall one looking at him from the window. Cross teleported next to XChara, grabbing their shoulder before teleporting further into the AU, out of sight.

They landed in the middle of a nearby forest, but far and hidden enough to give them time to think. Cross and XChara leaned against a tree, panting to catch their breath.

“Why didn't you do that sooner???” XChara yelled through his panting. Cross shifted his body and leaned against the tree on his back and slid down the trunk, clutching his shoulder. It was definitely broken from the fall, and with teleporting twice, back to back, he was exhausted. His magic was drained and they were being hunted by the notorious gang of San’s that killed and spread terror.

“I think I broke my arm…” Cross groaned out. He started taking off his scarf and wrapping his injured arm in a makeshift sling.

“Of course you did. Damit! How are we supposed to leave this place??? We’re trapped!” XChara yelled out. Cross took a few more seconds to gain his composure before standing back up. He glanced around where they were, and looked at the tree above him.

“Chara, climb that tree. See where we landed.” Cross ordered XChara. XChara glared at Cross, spitting insults before reluctantly scaling the tree. The house wasn't as far away as they hoped, they needed to get moving. From the tree gazing at the house, he could see 2 figures talking outside the front door. One could be confirmed to be XGaster, while the 2nd one was a figure he was unfamiliar with.

While XChara was surveying the land around them, Cross was fixing his sling and trying to gain back some stamina. He wasn't usually this quick to get exhausted, but from panicking and high emotions this morning, to teleporting twice and breaking his arm, he was beyond exhausted.

Cross wandered a bit from the tree, taking in the surroundings before he heard rustling. He grabbed his knife with his uninjured arm and was prepared to defend himself.

“Chara, I need you down here.” Cross shouted up to the kid in the tree. He was an easy target right now with his broken arm, and until he could get his hands on some healing candy, he was a liability.

XChara ignored Cross’s requests to get out of the tree, instead trying to study the figure in the distance he didn't recognize. “You got it. I'm busy” XChara yelled back.

Cross was getting increasingly anxious by the noise around him and his brother's unwillingness to help him. “Chara! I'm not kidding! Get down here!” Cross shouted. The rustling was all around him at this point. He felt like he was beginning from all directions. He felt terrified being this helpless. “Chara!”

XChara rolled their eyes at the urgency in his voice. If he kept yelling like that, the whole multiverse would know their location. He jumped down the tree, landing right next to Cross and crossing his arms.

“You need to calm down, they have no idea where we went”

“Yeah bud, we have no idea.”

Cross and XChara slowly turned their heads towards each other as the blood drained from them. Right behind them was the 3rd skeleton, the one with the hood and mismatched eyes.

.
.
.

“Boo”

“SHIT”

“FUCK”

Cross and XChara jumped back and turned to run, only to collide into a wall of bones. The big skeleton standing menacingly in front of them. The angsty one behind them pulled back on their shirts, causing them to fall backwards. The two skeletons towered over the siblings as the 3rd skeleton strolled over.

“Well well well…” a sickingly familiar voice called out dramatically

“Ugh, not you again” Xchara groaned at the sight of the thief

 

“How about a rematch, Cross,” the thief spoke. “Rock paper scissors”

.
.
.

Cross glanced over at XChara in confusion. Even the two other skeletons seemed confused and exasperated at the thief's playful attitude.

“You win, you can go free. We’ll even let you escape this AU.” The thief spoke, gathering everyone's attention. The angsty one tsked while the big one hummed at the deal. “I win, you come willingly and work under us, as per Nightmares orders. Deal?”

XChara looked at Cross and reached for his arm. If he could reach the skeleton, they could teleport away, gaining some more time. Cross noticed and subtly shifted closer, only to be kicked away from the child by the skeleton behind them. He twisted his body to land on his good arm, and was kicked again by the thief.

“Ah ah ah, no funny business. I don't have time to chase you again. Boss is getting antsy” The thief snickered at Cross’s groans. He pulled Cross up by his injured arm, earning a gasp of pain from Cross. “Hurry up.”

“D-deal!” Cross gasped out in pain. The thief dropped him back to the ground and sat in front of him “Cool. By the way, my name is Killer. This big guy next to me is Horror, he comes from Horrortale, and the grumpy one behind you is Dust.”

Cross stared at them while clutching his arm in pain. He dragged himself into a sitting position and shakily held out his hands for a rock paper scissor. This is crazy he kept repeating to himself.

“Not one for formalities? What a shame. Alrighty.” Killer held out his hands and began the round. Cross was sweating from the nerves and what was on the line.

“Rock, paper, scissors… SHOOT!” Cross threw a paper while Killer threw a scissor. Cross’s heart dropped and dragged his gaze to Killer's face. He wore a smile that only got longer and smugger.

“Hey, that's ok. Ya know what? Best two out of three…” Killer was playing with him, Cross knew it. There was no way. His nerves were shot and the only way out of this mess was winning a child's game. He could barely breathe. The others around him groaned at their team mates' antics. XChara bore eyes right through Cross’s skull, praying he wouldnt fuck up again.

“Rock, paper, scissors… SHOOT!”

Cross threw down a Rock and Killer threw down Scissors again. Cross breathed a sigh of relief and almost slumped backwards. 1-1. He could do this. He silently prayed to any being listening that he might win, that he could entertain the idea of freedom.

“Rock, paper, scissors… SHOOT!”

Cross threw down paper…

Killer threw down rock.

Cross nearly cried at the relief that washed over him. XChara slumped back with relief and dragged his hands over his face. Killer sat there still, smiling at them, creepily. Once Cross composed himself, he looked back at Killer.

“A deal's a deal… “ Cross started. XChara stood up and looked at the other two, but was thrown back by a tentacle. XChara slammed into a nearby tree, and fainted on the spot. Cross whipped his head over, startled, and went to go check on XChara, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder by the skeleton behind him, Dust.

“What are you three imbeciles doing?” Nightmare groans as he picks up XChara's limp body. Killer hops up from his spot, leaving cross, and his booty print on the ground.

“Scouting out the new meat!” Killer says with a big grin

Dust shifted his hold to grab Cross’s injured arm and pulls him up off the ground. Cross grunts and tries to shove Horror off his arm; his grip doesn't waiver. Nightmare glances over at the noise Cross makes for a second before focusing on Killer and the rest of the gang.

“Stop playing. We’ll be leaving as soon as we can, I don't want to deal with this mess.” Nightmare pinches the bridge of his nose, already forming a headache.

“I apologize for his behavior” XGaster walked up behind Nightmare, making his presence known. “He has a tendency to over react about situations”

Cross glared at XGaster while stumbling to get his feet underneath him. IM over reacting???? He wanted to yell out, but was cut off by his own groans of pain.

Nightmare doesn't spare XGaster a glance as he zeros in on Cross and smirks. “How pitiful… all that running, all that spirit, and look at you… maybe this trade isn't fair afterall…”

XGaster tensed at that “I promise you, he's efficient enough, and the Chara will be of use as well-”

“After what I've seen today, I don't believe this trade is as balanced as you said it would be…” Nightmare shot his tentacle out at XGaster, barely missing him and splitting a nearby tree. XGaster tried to keep a calm exterior, but Nightmare felt his panic and fear. It amused him.

“But I'm feeling generous today… I'll uphold my end of the deal for now.” XGaster sighed a breath of relief and regathered his composure.Nightmare dropped XChara, turning away from the group and facing XGaster with a smug grin.

“Well be out of your ‘hair’ soon, just give me a moment to gather my ‘men’. I'll send you the info soon, within a day at least.”

While Nightmare's back was turned, his men's focus slipped for just a moment long enough for Cross to find an opening. With his uninjured arm, he socked Dust in the abdomen, earning a groan from the skeleton.

“Fuckkkkk” Dust's grip disappeared for a split second as he clutched his waist, and Cross used that opening to book it.

He's a strong kid, he can protect himself fine, Cross said to himself, trying to convince himself XChara could survive alone with those psychos.

“Shit…” a collection of groans rang out among the trio of Nightmares men, ready to just go home already.

“Cross!” XGaster panicked. The deal is already on such thin ice, anything that went wrong now would put Xtale on a hit list.

“Ive got him.” Nightmare grabs him by his ankle, making him fall forward. Nightmare lifted Cross up by his leg, lifting him over to dangle him face to face with Nightmare “to train a dog, you need to first punish it for being bad”

“Fuck you” Cross spat out.

“Tsk, I hate dogs.” Nightmare raised Cross higher into the air, before slamming him back down onto the ground, knocking Cross out.

We are so fucked.

Chapter Text

XChara gasped awake, sitting up in a cold sweat. His head was pounding as he tried recalling the situation that caused him to pass out.

Glancing around the room, he blanched at the realization that this was not his room… it wasn't even his house.

“No.. no no no no no no” He stood up off the piece of furniture they were sleeping on and stumbled to the window nearby. Pulling back the curtain, they saw a very unfamiliar sight to their usual mono-colored world.

“Fuck!” XChara tried to keep his voice down as he swore. Looking around the room they were in, it seemed to be some sort of… spare room? An old bed was in the corner, yet he and Cross were thrown onto the floor of this room.

Speaking of Cross… XChara glanced over to the middle of the room where Cross was still unconscious. Damn, they really DID just toss us in here??? Cross seemed to be in bad condition, no doubt from the previous interaction with the group of skeletons.

His makeshift sling was basically torn apart, not really holding anything together at this point. His skull had a few hair line cracks, nothing that couldn't be healed. XChara rolled his eyes at the state Cross was in.

Bro can't even jump out of a window properly. XChara huffed. If he could have just LANDED ON HIS FEET, he wouldn't be so banged up. Chara felt no sympathy.

Considering Cross might be out cold for a while, XChara decided to make use of his time and explored the room. It was a small room, but a bit bigger than their rooms over in Xtale. A full sized bed facing the door in the far right corner of the room with curtains shrouding the bed. A set of doors on the right wall right in front of the bed stood menacingly, but when XChara opened the doors cautiously, it revealed a closet.

On the opposite side of the room was an old desk, none of the legs the same length. A wooden chair was thrown on its side nearby. Right next to the desk was another door that led to an old bathroom. At least they believe in privacy XChara grumbled out loud at the thought. A large window on the far wall casted an eerily moon light onto where XChara and Cross were thrown into the room. It's bare, but gets the job done. Everything was covered in a layer of dust, and XChara wasn't sure if that was regular dust or the remains of unfortunate monsters

XChara would say that this room has seen better days, but he has a feeling it was quite literally built to be this crummy.

XChara worked up his nerves to take a try at the door. Either it was locked or unlocked, no hurt in trying…

As quietly as he could manage, which was not as quiet as he hoped, he turned the handle and pulled open the door.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

XChara flinched at the sound like an abused child. So much for being quiet. He poked his head outside the room, looking up and down the hallway. It was dark, probably because it was night? XChara wasn't sure, this guy's whole theme seemed to be night themed… kinda tacky if you ask him.

XChara glanced back into the room at Cross’s sleeping figure. He's fineeeee. XChara left Cross in the room as he wandered down the dark hall. Portraits hung on the wall that he low key couldn't give a shit about.

With one hand on the wall, he used the wall to guide him in the dark before he bumped into a random end table with a vase on it.

“Shit shit shit shit” XChara lunged, barely catching the vase before it landed on the ground and altered the ops.

“Nice catch” XChara’s heart dropped as he turned around to see the thief- Killer leaning against the wall.

“Where do you think you're goin’, human?” Killer tilted his head, as if he was stalking his next prey. XChara gulped and slowly stood up. He was about to run when Killer summoned a wall of bones to block his path, causing XChara to jump back. Killer snatched the end of XChara’s hoodie and started dragging him back to the room.

“Hey-!”

“Yeah Yeah, boss wants BOTH of you awake before you start ‘Explorin’” Killer ripped open the door and tossed XChara inside.

“OW!” Xchara landed with a thud, right next to Cross's body. XChara sneered as he landed roughly and glared up Killer, who was standing in the door way

“Wait till your big bro wakes up can protect you” Killer quipped, sarcastic humor dripping from his voice. He stood there for a moment, staring at XChara before his eye lights shifted over to Cross’s sleeping form.

He stared for a moment before turning around and slamming the door.

“Fricken prick...” XChara muttered. Laying back on the floor, he stared at the dusty ceiling and the exposed rafters. Something dark was scurrying across the rafter beams and caught XCharas attention. Squinting in the dark, he saw a black silhouette of a feline and sighed. He directed his attention towards the sleeping skeleton out of annoyance. Freaking lazy bones. XChara got up and stood next to the sleeping body, and poked him with his boot.

“Hey,” He gave Cross a rather strong kick “stop sleeping on the job”

“eh-” Cross grunted at the kick, but didn't stir. Xchara huffed before bending down and grabbing his shoulders.

“Hey” XChara pulled Cross’s shoulders off the floor “We gotta lock in” and started shaking him.

“ugh… ! ow! OW! QUIT THAT!” Cross groggily woke up and pushed XChara away. XChara sat back as he watched the skeleton come around.

 

“What the fuck is wrong with you.” Cross grabbed his aching skull.

“We gotta get outta here. It's nasty.”

The feline silhouette Xchara was just staring at meowed from the rafters, catching their attention. The cat was playing with something, probably a dead bug Cross thought to himself.

“You shouldn't wake up an injured person like that- scratch that. You shouldn't wake ANYONE up like that.” Cross groaned, pulling himself into a sitting position, careful of his injuries. He glanced around the room as Xchara started complaining.

“Dude, you were out for HOURSSSSSS. I had a whole escape attempt while you were out.” Xchara whined like a child.

Cross huffed and rolled his eyes. He glanced around the room, it was simple enough, dusty, but not too bad.

“We need to heal up first, or find another way out. Are you able to access the overwrite in here?”

Xchara paused, then tried summoning his overwrite button, but only a few glitches of purple appeared before vanishing.

“... no” XChara sighed

“You didn't try that before I woke up?” Cross raised an eye brow at the implication.

“It doesn't matter, it doesn't work anyway”

Cross pulled himself up, stumbling as a dizzy spell washed over him from the sudden movement.

“Fuckkkkk” He groaned. He walked over to the discarded chair on the floor and picked it up to sit in it.

“CrossssssuhhhhHHHH” XChara was starting to get impatient.

“I can't do anything right now. I'm too weak. I need to heal, which could entirely depend on them.” Either the gang heals Cross right away to save time for the plans they have in store, or hes gonna have to heal the old fashion way.

“This wouldn't have happened if you could just fall out of a window properly…” XChara muttered

“What-” The cat that was roaming the rafters meowed, catching their attention once more. It pounded on the dead bug it had been tossing around, before swatting it off the rafters.

Slowly, the bug fell into Xcharas lap as if in slow motion, as he realized what kind of bug it was.

“AHHHHHHHH EW EWEWEWEWWEW EWWWWWWW” XChara jumped up at the realization it was a spider and started freaking out.

“Sh sh shhh shut up! You're gonna bring attention to us! AGAIN!” Cross whisper shouted, but XChara wasn't listening. He ran over in the direction Cross was siting in his chair and ran into him, tripping and falling to the ground.

“THIS PLACE IS FUCKING GROSS, SPIDERS??? WHAT IS THIS???? THE OLDEN DAYS??? BUG REPELLENT EXISTS IN ALMOST EVERY TIMELINE.” XChara was rolling on the floor desperate to get any lingering particles of the spider off of him.

“Dude its dead. Get over it.” Cross Groaned. “We cant be fooling around right now”

“Easy for you to say. I've been doing all the heavy lifting.” XChara groaned, turning his body towards Cross to glare at him.

“What are you talking about???-” Cross was cut off by the creak of the door opening.

“You awake?” Dust asked. He stood in the doorway, and obviously didn't wanna be the one to talk to us. He sounded more tired than either of them. XChara had a feeling he was just emo.

“Yeah, obvio-” before XChara could be rude and make their situation worse, Cross jumped down off the chair to cover XCharas mouth with his hand.

“Yeah, we're awake..” Cross tried sounding more serious but was still very exhausted.

XChara licked Cross's hand that was still covering his mouth, causing Cross to immediately pull his hand away and start yelling at XChara about how gross that is. While they were distracted with yet another sibling fight, Dust disappeared to go alert the others.

By the time Cross and XChara stopped bickering, Dust appeared back in the room, with the two other skeletons in tow. XChara stood up first, pulling Cross up by his non-broken arm.

“Whe-” XChara is quickly cut off by Cross.

“Where are we?” Cross says, clutching his left arm. XChara glared at his brother for cutting him off.

“Boss’s castle. Usually when we get new employees who like to run, we lock them up for a bit. Guess boss didn't feel like taking the extra step today. He must think little of you too” XChara rolled his eyes at Killers jab.

Cross watched as a dark figure then stepped into the doorway dramatically, as if waiting for the cue to enter. Following Cross’s gaze, Horror looks in the direction to the doorway.

“Speak….of the devil and…. he will appear, huh..” Horror comments as he acknowledges Nightmares presence, alerting the others.

“Well well well” Nightmare walked into the room with practiced ease, silencing any chatter. He stood right in front of the two siblings, blocking the exit to the door as his men gathered behind him to stare down at the two. “You gave me and my men some trouble back in Xtale, and from the sound of it, this isn't the first time.” Nightmare nodded his head towards where Killer was standing. “Seems you have a habit of picking fights you can't win” He accused

“What do you want?” Cross got straight to the point, shifting his body to shield his broken arm from view, as if Nightmare wasn't already aware of it.

“So straight to the point…” Nightmare rolled his eyes and stepped closer to the pair. XChara summoned his knife at the movement, pointing it towards the black skeleton. The gang's attention zeroed in on the kid, not tensing, but not dismissive of the action.

“... I would suggest you get that… thing… under control, before I have it put down.” XChara tensed at being called a thing but kept his mouth shut for once. Cross hesitated, before glancing back at XChara, pleading he’ll stand down. Begrudgingly, he lowered his weapon while grumbling to himself, but didn't dismiss it yet.

“Your Gaster has been so kind to allow us to make use of your pathetic lives, in exchange for information and… protection” Nightmare explained, taking the time to find the right words, almost to dumb down the situation for them.

“Protection from what?”

“From myself. Once I've defeated my pathetic brother and his gang of goodie two shoes, I'll hold power over most of the multiverse” Nightmare responded to XCharas question with a monologue. “He had something that I needed to make that happen, to get into the omega timeline, and ruin this multiverse from the inside out. In exchange for his cooperation, Xtale will be untouched… for the time being.”

Cross tensed at the last part of his speech. “What do you mean by that?” he demanded, but was ignored as Nightmare continued.

“You” He held his hand at Cross, “Will be tasked with posing as a new, public, figure of my team. That's all you need to be worried about for now.”

“What does that entail?” Cross questioned.

“Oh you know, just spreading terror and chaos over AU’s one at a time.” Nightmare spoke nonchalantly of the acts, as if they don't cause the death of thousands of beings.

Killer suddenly appeared besides Cross, slinging his arm over his shoulder and patting his chest.

“Dont worry Crossy, it's not as hard as it sounds! You'll be amazing” Killer taunted, sensing his hesitancy. XChara from behind him pulled his sleeve, locking eyes with Cross. Don't do anything hasty…

Play the long game. That's what XChara is trying to say. We are not in a position to make demands.

“What if I disagree with this?” Cross tested the waters of the deal. What point do they draw a line between conflict of interest and risk of sabotage?

The world around them went silent for a moment before Nightmare spoke up.

“Kill the kid.” He commanded his men without breaking eye contact with the mono colored skeleton.

“What.”

“WHAT”

Killer grabbed XChara and threw him to the floor. He tried to get up, but a foot belonging to Dust kept him on the floor. Cross lunged to push Dust off of him, but was held back by Killer twisting his injured arm and pushing him into a kneeling position.

“No! Stop! Stop this!”

“GUYS?? CROSS STOP THEM!!”

“Get off of him! He's just a kid!”

“CROSS JUST SAY OK! JUST GO WITH IT”
Horror raised his axe to hold it in both hands, preparing to lift it above his head to swing it down and decapitate the preteen currently freaking out. Cross turned his head to look away, but was dragged back into looking by Killers hands on either side of his skull.

Amidst the scene unfolding, in the middle of it stood Nightmare, unphased as he stared at XChara writhing on the floor.

“Stop, ill do it!” Cross yelled, hoping his cooperation would end the threat, but nothing happened. Cross’s anxiety spiked as he saw no stop.

“Stop! Stop it! I said I'll do it!” He cried out. Horror turned to Nightmare, waiting for the command. Nightmare nodded his head, with seemingly little interest in the screams around him.

“CROSS YOU IDIOT! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???” XChara sobbed, terrified.

“What do you want me to SAY?? I'll help! I'll do it! I'll cooperate! Whatever you want, just don't kill the kid!” Cross sobbed out of desperation.

Horror raised his axe over his head and brought it down. Cross flinched and closed his eyes while XChara screamed one more curse to the world around him.

“CRUNCH!”

Cross heard the sound of the axe cutting through the wooded floors before the world went silent.

He hesitantly opened his eyes to see XChara staring at the axe in horror as it barely missed his head, shaking from adrenaline.

Cross’s eyes darted to Nightmares.

“Any more questions?”

Cross lost his words, struggling to speak, so he shook his head. No, he pleaded mentally.

“Use your words. I don't have the patience for charades.” He mocked.

“No sir.” Cross stumbled over his words as they tumbled out of his mouth.

“Good.”

Killer released his hold on Cross with a little push. Dust and Horror stepped away from XChara as he slowly raised his head to meet Cross’s eyes. We are so fucked. They both thought.

“Dinner will be in 5 hours. We’ll leave the remaining time for you to sort out any issues between you two and get settled in.” Nightmare turned to Dust. “Dust, bring him some healing potions for his arm.”

Cross slowly stood up, still shaken up from the scene.

“If you have no more grievances, I'll be taking my leave.” At that, the rest of the gang left the room one by one. Nightmare leaving last, and lingering in the doorway.

“If I were you, I would figure out if your morals are worth that human’s life or not before tomorrow.” The door slammed and the two siblings were left in darkness once more. The only light coming from the moon outside the window.