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Crossed Unders in a Strip Club	By : Revharem Category: -Misc Video Games/RPGs > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 1461 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor make money off of Undertale, Underswap, Underfell, Dreamtale, Underlust, Creationtale, Alchemytale, Instincttale, or X-tale, nor any of the characters depicted. This is purely for entertainment.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Alchemytale – Sans (Blaster), Undyne (Daederath)
Dreamtale – Sans (Nightmare)

“Let’s see, add some of this, oh, and a sprinkiling of that! And one more drop of…” Squinting as he watched the droplet of liquid on the end of the pipet suspended over the beaker that he had been working with, Blaster unconsciously stuck his tongue between his teeth and held his breath. The bead grew incrementally until it could no longer hold its own against gravity and fell into the beaker totally anticlimactically. “Welp, that’s that. Now all it needs is the construct and a bit of magic and we should see why only a skull appears and my magic can’t bring you fully into this world.” Walking past a giant Gaster Blaster that he had anchored in the workshop and deactivated, he knocked a knuckle against it, making it release a hollow sound. Blaster walked back and forth a few more times trying to steady his nerves so that his magic would be completely stable during this experiment. If one thing was off, it could cause another blast that would leave him blackened and against a wall, again.
He was the laughing stock of the town due to the fact that everything he tried to test, create, or modify through chemical, physical, or magic means ended up blowing up in his face. That was actually how he had gotten his name. Everyone else managed to create something that either benefited them, or their neighbor, or the entire underground. But he couldn’t, he was good at nothing.
Taking one more deep breath, he spread his hands flat over the air in a soothing motion and looked up with a smile. “I can do this!” he said with enthusiasm and walked over to the beaker with an even stride of someone confident. Taking it to the counter on the other side of his workshop where he kept his stock of pipets, he set it down and selected a larger one and took up all the faintly luminous, clear material, more a thin gel then a liquid, and walked in front of the giant skull on the gurney. Facing it, looking up into its great sockets, he nodded and summoned his magic in his right hand, holding the pipet in his left. Slowly, with an air of ceremony, he lowered his arms and applied the magic and gel at the same time and spot to the skull.
And waited for a reaction.
There should have been a reaction.
Did he miscalculate something?
Why was nothing happening?
He must have done something incorrectly.
Turning his back on the project, convinced he had failed again, but grateful to have escaped an explosion, he went to start cleaning up. A step and a half later he was flying towards the wall rather than walking and an earth-shattering BOOM emanated out beyond his little lab, all the way into the depths of the woods, likely disrupting some other researcher’s work that was much more productive than his own. Slamming into the wall face first when you’re made of bone is exceptionally painful, and he fights the darkness that encroaches on the edges of his vision. He will not pass out this time! Something flickers in the darkness. Mentally jumping to look for it, he falls headlong into unconsciousness, cursing himself with his last aware thoughts for ten kinds of fool.
Surrounded by the darkness, he’s surprised when he finds he can see a mammoth sized monster curled up to his left. Looking around, there are actually seven of them all around and all about the same size. One has its head raised and a small scorch mark on its’ nose. It snorts and looks pointedly at him. He realizes this must be the one he had summoned to work on. He hadn’t even considered that the bodies connected to the heads might be just as conscious and aware as he himself was.
Uncurling, it stood and walked over to him, where it laid back down and looked at him with one eye. If he spread one hand completely he would only almost be able to touch any edge of the eye socket with a fingertip if his palm were situated in the center.
Clearing his voice, he abashedly looked at his feet, and wondered that he had no shoes on. Must have lost them in the blast a part of his mind muses. “I’m sorry about blasting your nose like that. I guess I messed up again.” He would have continued but the monster moved its head closer, distracting him and nudged at his hand.
He was very expressive with them when he talked, and when nervous like he was, he had been alternating between wringing them and pin-wheeling them in the air. Looking at his hand, all long metacarpals and small dull bits of bone that made up his phalanges, he looked then to the monster. After looking back and forth several times, he reached his hand out and laid it on a ridge of their face.
In a flash of light, he saw things through their eyes. There he was, a small, unsure, and scared child who had allowed them to see some of the world beyond this small cavern-like void space that was attached to his world. Occasionally the others would visit from their part of the cavern, never all of them at once as they didn’t want to leave their own summoner’s side unprotected for too long. They came from the other worlds, and if their rumors were to be believed, then the worlds were finally starting to interact, but with interaction their existence may fail or rise. They prayed that the need to summon them for fighting would not arise, but that would mean the end of their existence.
All these thoughts ran through Blaster’s mind, projected to him from the monster he held contact with. These creatures were much more intelligent than he had ever given them credit for. They weren’t weapons, but fellow creatures that were trapped. Looking around, he saw the other six had stirred and moved closer. They now lay in a circle surrounding him, nose to tail. He was able to feel their amusement at his wonder and sense of injustice at their lot. They were content. He also felt his scientific side wondering at their size and bone structures and behaviors. They looked sort of like the anatomy books pictured out dogs to look like, but acted more like cats. Their skulls were more like a horse’s skull, or a dragon’s perhaps. He had hidden somewhere a book on skeletal fantasy creatures. Reading fiction was not looked upon highly. Daydreaming wouldn’t break the barrier any sooner and never helped anyone anyhow. Fiction was just daydreams written on paper, wasting space for more useful scribbles and equations.
They seemed to like his comparison of them to dragons, dogs, and cats though, as they all started to hum in a way that was not all that different from a purr. Sitting down with his back to the one that had originally approached him, he ran a hand along their tibia and closed his eyes. The vibrations from their humming slowly putting him to sleep.
There was a roar and he startled awake, snapping his head up and trying to sit up all at once, failing as he lay prone on the floor of his laboratory with bits of stonework laying around him. Blinking a few times to try and clear his gaze of the dust that filled the air, he gave a cough and tried to push himself up. A sharp, pulling, stinging pain that seemed to come from beyond where he knew his toes to be, but he had nothing beyond his toes. Twisting speculatively, he looked over his hip and was horrified to find a long string of vertebral bones flowing out from under his lab coat and ending under a slab of heavy white stone. He tried pulling away again and as he felt the pain, he could also see the line of bones grow taunt and strain from under the slab. ‘How had he managed to grow such an amount of new bones?’ Was his only thought.
“Relax, before you hurt yourself.” Grumbled a voice he didn’t recognize and instantly had him cringing. Dripping and slimy, if words could be described with such terms, was what he would say it sounded like. It was a voice that made him want to get away without any reason. Fighting the instinct to try to flee and listening to reason as he had been taught though, he knew he could get nowhere with the string of bones that were now attached to him stuck under the slab, so he listened to it instead and forced himself to relax and wait.
He carefully looked himself over instead and was quite surprised to find even more changes had taken place. His hands, once similar to human ones, were now no longer connected at the base knuckle and much longer and sharper. Shifting back, he turned and sat up and found his feet to be in a similar situation. From the tugging earlier, he knew that the string of bones were directly connected to his spine, so likely a tail formation that had altered his original tailbone. Slipping out of his lab coat, carful to not pull on his new tail anymore, he checked his body for any other possible changes and was relieved to find none.
That done, he looked around, trying to find the source of the voice that he had heard earlier. He saw nobody at the moment, but a solid thump felt through the ground told him that the stranger was likely moving the larger debris out so that he could help whoever was trapped inside. It was likely to scare whoever was helping him, but Blaster figured it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission in this circumstance and attempted to summon one of his Gaster Blasters, planning to just pulverize the larger rocks so that they’d be easier to move and hopefully allow him to get out from under the one. When he felt no rush of magic though, he had a moment of terror, believing himself to have somehow robbed himself of his magic. That terror was quickly taken over by another wave of fear as a heavy beam of black energy with bright blue streaks roared through his shop, breaking large stones to rubble easily. It was not so different that what he had planned to do, but seeing another do it was completely different than doing it himself. Besides that, he didn’t know of anybody else that was capable of summoning a blaster like his and building machines of destruction was strictly forbidden so that mortality rates could be kept manageable. The beam stopped just short of him, pulverizing the piece of ceiling that had obscured his view to the door.
The light cast from outside left the figure as a silhouette, but not a recognizable one. At first he thought it may have been a few monsters since none had the shape this one did, but when it moved, it was obvious it was only one. Stepping inside, the figure walked toward Blaster. “You okay dude?” They asked.
Blaster shivered involuntarily and forced himself to swallow. He couldn’t understand why this figure was messing with him so much. He could handle talking to the head inventor and husband of the great machine, Papyrus, without stuttering, so why was he getting all gummed up with this stranger? Forcing himself to swallow once more, he managed to say, “I seem to be a bit stuck.” And gestured to his tail.
The stranger’s head turned to follow his gesture and went still. “You look different from before you blew this place to bits.” Under the initial sound of the stranger’s voice, Blaster thought he heard surprise and guarded concern.
Taking a breath and smiling sheepishly, though still unreasonably scared by the stranger, he nodded. “Yeah, I’m not sure where I went wrong in my calculations, but it must have really messed with my magic to do this. I’ve never even heard of body transmogrify like this.” He held up his hand, turning it this way and that, still a bit awed and worried about the change. It would certainly make finer motor control harder. The dull phalanges he’d had before had worked just fine.
“Whoa there, big word for a little guy.” The stranger made a noise like he was drowning. Blaster looked at him worried and unsure until he realized that he was laughing.
Moving over to the stone that kept his tail trapped, the dark figure looked over to him. This close, Blaster could make out his eyes and was slightly unnerved to find them two different colors. He was also able to discern that the other was a shorter skeleton like himself, but black, and had tentacles, an odd sight as he had never heard of skeletons having those particular kinds of appendages.
“I’m not pretty, I know, but once you’re done staring, I’m gonna lift this so pull that out quick.” He nodded at Blaster’s tail.
“Uh, right. Sorry.” Blaster quickly looked away, but then immediately looked back so he would know when the right time to pull his tail away was. The longer he talked to this strange skeleton, the easier it became he found.
The stranger was now looking at him, but in the darkness, he couldn’t read his expression. After a few seconds he thought out loud, “You’re a strange one, aren’t you?”
“Uh…” was all Blaster could articulate immediately. Seriously, who was this guy to ask that?
They gave a snarl-like sound that made him jump and turned to the rock. “I’m going to lift this now.” They said. Blaster watched as the tentacles on their back grew and reached around to wrap the large stone, then lifted it with seemingly little effort. “Do you want this outside with the other larger pieces?” They asked.
“Uh, sure. That will work. Thank you.” Blaster couldn’t believe they lifted it so easily. He watched as they lifted it until it was right above their head as they walked for the door. When they got there, they lowered it to fit through before them and followed it out. Then he checked out his new tail. The bones became smaller towards the end and the tip of it was a larger plate like bone a bit longer than his hand that was shaped like some sort of spade or arrow. The two back points went back along the last three vertebrae almost like a protection to keep from being severed. Carefully he rubbed along the tail, lifting it and running it through his hand. It was heavy, but he could feel the strength in it. He pushed himself to his feet and stood uncertainly for a second, the tail whipping around as he tried to find his balance before he fell to his hands and knees once more. With his feet shaped differently and the heavy tail at his back, his center of gravity seemed to be off as well.
He felt a thump through the ground again, signifying that the large slab had been put down outside and seconds later the stranger was back. “You able to walk?” They asked.
Again, the fear was back, but not nearly as bad this time. Blaster just shook his head.
“Would you like me to help you? I figure this house is yours seeing as you have this little lab set up connected to it.” He gestured at the wall that was indeed built up against the house.
“If you wouldn’t mind, that would be a great help.” Grimaced Blaster as he tried once more to get just one foot under himself and his now elongated toes scraped on the concrete floor gratingly. “By the way, my name’s Blaster.” He looked up to the stranger expectantly.
They gave another snarl-like sound and made their way toward him, tentacles settling around them. When he made it over to Blaster, he leaned down, sort of awkwardly as if he’d never been this close to another or helped another stand. Between the two of them, they managed to get Blaster on his feet, tail swiping in wide arcs to try and find his balance. “I’m Nightmare.” The introduction was quiet and Blaster almost missed it, but didn’t. They shuffled to a set of steps that connected the lab to the house via a door that was recessed up in the wall. Nightmare took one look at them and glanced at Blaster. “Do you mind if I use these to carry you? I don’t have the strength in my arms to and I don’t think you are making it up these.”
“It probably would have been easier for us to do that from the beginning, but yeah, I’m fine with that.” Laughed Blaster. He was curious as to the texture of the un-skeleton-like appendages and how they moved. Getting handled by them would definitely give him some insight on the matter.
Nodding, Nightmare turned and wrapped his lower set behind Blaster’s knees and back, allowing him to fall into a sort of bridal carry and used his own arms to better support the skeleton and keep his tail out from under his feet. Using another tentacle, he opened the door and let them into the house. Inside there was a mat and an area for shoes, Nightmare removed his own, but didn’t have to worry about Blaster, he wasn’t wearing any since the transformation. Blaster guided him to a living area and Nightmare deposited him carefully on a couch.
When the tentacles left him, Blaster was unsure of how to feel. They had felt a bit damp, but had been warm and fleshy. They were definitely comfy and very mobile. Looking over to Nightmare, who seemed at a loss as for what to do now, Blaster smiled. He knew he wasn’t going to be walking well any time soon and if the other wasn’t against the idea maybe he’d stick around and help him out until he could relearn the basics.
“Why don’t you turn on a light and we can talk. I’d like to know more about the one who saved my tail.” Blaster knew the joke was in poor taste, but anything to lighten a mood when the other seemed so tense.
“A-are you sure you want to do that?” Nightmare asked, sounding a bit worried.
Blaster was starting to feel confident in identifying feelings in his voice. “Yep, I want to see who saved me as well. I can’t very well go around saying I was saved by a shadow, now can I? Nobody would believe me! It’s just illogical.” Blaster joked.
“Hmm, logic does seem to be this universes axis I suppose.” Mumbled Nightmare as he moved toward the light switch. He hesitated, then forced himself to flick it on, waiting for the harsh catch of breath, but it never came. He looked carefully over his left shoulder and saw the other studying him with a critical eye. “What?” he asked self-consciously.
“It’s just that I’ve never heard of a skeleton having flesh limbs before and the way they branch out from your spine is quite intriguing.” Blaster’s eyes jumped up to meet Nightmare’s astonished blue one. “Would you mind letting me see it closer?” He asked hopefully.
“You mean you’re not afraid of me? You aren’t disgusted or anything?” Nightmare couldn’t believe it. It was just too good to be true.
“I won’t lie and say I’m not afraid of you. The moment I heard your voice I was struck with an unreasonable fright. Once I realized there was no reason to be afraid though, it got easier to force down. I’m getting used to it. My guess is you likely have some sort of faint miasma that induces fear in others. Likely some sort of defense mechanism.” Thought Blaster aloud.
“Huh, never thought of it as a defense. I just knew that people didn’t like me. I figured it was because I’m so ugly.” Deprecated Nightmare.
“Nonsense, you are highly anatomically interesting, and I’m willing to bet that in your soul, you’re interesting too.” Blaster was quick to reassure him. He wasn’t lying, but he also wanted Nightmare calm and relaxed so he’d let him look closer at the connection points and get a closer look at how he was built as well.
Surprised once more by the forwardness of the other, Nightmare finds himself relaxing more than he recalls ever being while in the presence of another. “Well, I guess if you really want to see them.” He acquiesces. Carefully, so as not to rip the fabric, he pulls off his sweatshirt that he wearing and pulls down the t-shirt underneath that hiked up in the process. He had cut slices in the back of it a while back so that he was able to move freely and Blaster would be able to move them around with ease if he wanted to truly get a close look.
As Nightmare glanced around for a place to set his black pullover, Blaster smiled to himself. One of the few things he was good at was getting others to feel comfortable around him. It was a useful trait at times, other times it was a pain though. “You can put it on the recliner.” He nodded to a brown leather beat up recliner just off the corner of the couch.
“Thanks.” After folding it in a neat square. He stood awkwardly again. “Uh, so, where do you want me?” He kept his eyes cast down.
If he were able to walk, Blaster would have walked up to him and lifted his chin, just to look in his eyes. The duality of them was mesmerizing as it was freaky from the colors. Since he wasn’t, he just patted the spot next to him. “Sit here, facing that way” He pointed away from him, toward a kitchenette, “and try to relax. You have nothing to worry about.” When Nightmare complied, folding a leg under him as he sat and letting the other hang off the edge of the couch, Blaster was practically buzzing with anticipation and fear.
Hesitantly, he reached out a hand toward the lower lumbar vertebrae and the base of where the tentacles no doubt grew from under the dark navy shirt. Even as he was watching the other though, he saw his own hand in enter his vision and instantly took a breath, remembering that his hands were different than before. He didn’t want to scare this stranger by being so forward as to touch him when he wasn’t comfortable, but also didn’t want to hurt him on the sharp tips and edges of his new hands.
Hearing the gasp from behind him, Nightmare could only assume that the other had finally realized just what he had been about to touch. Having never completely relaxed his bones, he tensed even more, his scapulae pulling closer together in expectation of the old dismissal he always heard back in his world.
“I’m sorry. I can’t do this right now. I don’t want to chance hurting you.” Choked Blaster behind him.
Hearing sounds of sniffling and scraping bone behind him along with that last statement, Nightmare’s eyes widened. He carefully turned, still expecting at some point for the other to shout at him and send him packing. What he saw completely floored him. Blaster had the heel of where his palms used to be pushed up to his eye sockets trying to hide the flow of blue tears with gold flecks. Blaster was afraid for him, not of him? Comfort was not something Nightmare had ever tried to give. He had never been put in a position where he would have to, so he just turned to face the other and watched, unsure, as Blaster slowly broke down in front of him.
“I’m a freak. How can I ever face anyone when I look like this? I’ll never be let into the University now!” he continued to bawl.
Grimacing uncomfortably, Nightmare offered, “You honestly don’t look that bad dude. At least you managed to keep to your own kind. You’re still a skeleton all around. Besides, monsters all look a bit strange in their own ways.” He snorted again (the snarling sound Blaster had heard twice before) at the irony that he was consoling another about cosmetic appearance considering his own disfigurement.
“What do you know about it?!” Shouted Blaster, dropping his hands. “Who are you to show up in my lab and tell me to not worry about this!” on the last word he spread his hands, indicating his entire body and the changes that had taken him.
“You’re right, I’m nobody. I’m not even from this universe. I stepped from nowhere to here, just to help myself. But I do know about what you’re going through. These limbs,” Nightmare shrugged and flicked his hands to indicated the tentacles that had moved to wrap tightly around his chest and waist, “I wasn’t born with these. I got these because I messed up. I realize now that I messed up and accept that. I accepted a long time ago that this is my lot and that I’ll likely never gain acceptance because of how I look. So don’t go bawling to me for sympathy ‘cause you got a frickin’ makeover when you added too much potassium to that damn concoction!” he snarled.
Blaster’s eyes went wide. The anger in Nightmare had increased the potency of his miasma and the way it distorted his voice only made the vision in front of the scientific skeleton that much more terrified. Then he registered part of what Nightmare had said. “Wait, hold up just a second. It was the potassium that caused this? I was just putting the explosion down to perhaps a milligram too much, figuring I may have forgotten to even out the measure, but it’s why I look like this now too? Being blown up never changed my appearance before. Might have broken bones, but never altered or added any.” His eyes were looking at something Nightmare couldn’t see, likely tracing the formula in the air as he tried to check his amounts by memory.
“I’m not sure why you’re appearance changed, all I know is I saw the back of your house blow up when I passed your world and decided to check up on you. I had been watching you for the last few weeks and you seemed the most likely to accept something as wrong as me.” Interrupted Nightmare. He didn’t want the scientist getting the idea that the potassium alone had changed his structure. That was obviously magic, and not his own either. Some other monster must have somehow had contact with him between the time of the explosion and when Nightmare had gotten to him. He had been covered in void residue and blue magic residue. Both had both been fading fast when he had reached him, but he had seen them. It was only when Blaster had cried that Nightmare had realized that the blue magic had been Blaster’s. “I think it was more a work of magic that changed your appearance than the chemicals. Did you find yourself anywhere between the time of the explosion and when I got to you? You had void residue on you and that is only found between worlds to my knowledge.”
“Passed my world, watching me, void residue, what are you talking about? You aren’t making any sense.” Blaster gave the dark skeleton a wary and concerned took. “You’re starting to sound like some sort of insane stalker. Not cool at all.”
Nightmare had gone back to looking at his hands as he talked, as if the answers lay somewhere within the darkness of his bones, but upon the accusation of being a stalker, he quickly looked up, wide eyed. “I wasn’t stalking! I was just trying to study the sciences of the different worlds. Everyone’s at different points and in the worlds that have become interconnected the jumps in science are really confusing people, but this universe by far is the most advanced when it comes to anatomic development with the incorporation of magic, even if you all are a bit short-sighted.” He quickly explained.
“Again with the worlds and universes!” Blaster threw up his hands, “Why don’t you start from the beginning? You are running me in circles trying to understand anything of what you’re saying. Start with where in the underground you’re from, and maybe I’ll be able to understand which field you’re studying that has scrambled you so bad.” He had been flailing his hands, pointing every which way and gestured for Nightmare to continue as he finished, just missing catching the other across the face.
Nightmare quickly lunged back to get out of range of the sharp digits as the irate skeleton brandished them around unthinkingly. He seemed to realize his mistake at the end of his tirade as he quickly pulled them back and forced them together in his lap after nearly scratching Nightmare. “Uh, right. Where I’m from. I haven’t looked at that universe in a few years. This may take a while. You want anything before we start? I don’t want to have to stop in the middle and end up missing something important.”
Giving Nightmare a quizzical look, he suddenly remembered the vision he’d had after the explosion. The monsters whose heads he could summon had also mentioned something about alternate universes and crossing between them. Maybe this was the same thing. Had Nightmare somehow come here from one of the worlds that the monsters he had talked to been speaking of? Sighing, he gestured, carefully this time, over toward the kitchenette. “There should be a recorder on the counter in there. Grab that and some tapes from that rack on your way back.”
With a determined look, Nightmare got up and went to grab the recorder. When he stopped by the rack of blank tapes next to the front door though, he almost dropped the device as heavy knocking sounded from the door.
“Yo, Blast, you in there? I heard the explosion all the way over in Waterfall and got a ride from the Riverperson to check on you. Can I come in?” an anxious voice called from outside.
Nightmare looked to Blaster, worried. “Let her in. Daederath is cool. She normally is the one who gets me out of trouble.” Blaster smiled sheepishly and nodded encouragingly.
Nodding, Nightmare grabbed three tapes and moved to open the door in such a way that he could stay behind it and not be seen immediately. The door was pushed from the other side quickly, forcing him to jump back to avoid being run over by it. In strode a monster that had to be this universe’s version of Undyne. Her red hair was hacked short and spiked, giving her a delinquent juvenile look. The brown leather duster and black leather pants did nothing to detract from the look either, but her posture and stride marked her as a proud professional. Every other step echoed strangely off the wooden floor and Nightmare quickly noticed the metal prosthetic leg that seamlessly connected somewhere within the pants. He could see no marks of where the joining would be and the pants were form fit.
She stopped once she got past the door, staring aghast at Blaster. All she could see was his head over the back of the couch, but that was enough.
He hadn’t checked a mirror yet, but the look in her face was enough to tell him that his skull hadn’t escaped the transformative effects of the blast any more than the rest of him. Blaster looked at Nightmare, eyes wide.
Nightmare quietly closed the door behind their latest visitor, and kept his gave averted. He was just waiting for the inevitable reaction to the miasma Blaster said he put off. He didn’t have to wait long.
Daederath paled. Then took a deep shaking breath. “What. The. Fuck?” the last word she yelled as the fear got to her. She saw the changes in Blaster, her close friend, and felt an overwhelming fear wash over her. Logically, it was due to worry about his state of being, so she accepted it.
She didn’t see Nightmare flinch behind her, thinking for sure she was talking about him even though she hadn’t looked at him yet.
“Um, it’s not as bad as you think Dae, I swear!” Blaster quickly tried to calm her. He had noticed Nightmare’s flinch and realized that while he had become accustomed to the fear inducing miasma, she had just stepped right into it and right next to the one producing it. That was likely making her reaction to it even worse.
“What did you do? You know you were never good at pure alchemy and that’s the only thing I know of that could work a change anywhere near this.” Her golden eye remained wide and staring, too terrified to move.
“Is it really that bad?” He asked her, looking up through bone brows. “Hey, Nightmare, would you mind grabbing the little mirror on that table as well please?” his voice was shaking again. Daederath was known for having a strong mind. She had to be severely shaken to reach this point and he wasn’t sure it was just the miasma.
Spinning quickly, her heavy black chunk-heeled boots nearly clipped Nightmare as he slipped past her, keeping his head down and bringing the items he had gathered over to his spot on the couch. Uncertainly, he offered the mirror, face down, to Blaster. “You honestly don’t look that bad man.” He tried to convince the other quietly enough that she wouldn’t hear him.
“And who are you?! I’ve never seen you around here before!” She yelled, slipping into hysterics as she slowly lost control of her mind and slipped in her terror.
“Dae, calm down. Think, what’s the atomic weight of Fluorine added to Helium?” yelled out Blaster as he realized just how bad she was being affected.
Taking a breath, she shot a glare at him. “Twenty-three point zero zero three numbskull. That wasn’t even hard.” She growled in her normal voice.
“Maybe not, but it got you thinking. Now, is my appearance, or the appearance of my guest worthy of the reactions you were exhibiting just now?” he raised a bone brow meaningfully and paused for a second. “I thought not. Now please, have a seat and I’ll catch you up to speed. At least to where I am at this point.” He nodded and gestured to the leather recliner at the same time.
She moved cautiously over to the chair and picked up the black hoodie, looking at it puzzled. Looking up at the two on the couch, she realized it must be the black skeleton’s. Letting it fall open, and taking off her own coat, she went to drape them over the back of the chair when her hand met wet fabric. She dropped the hoodie quickly, more out of reaction than really meaning to, then moved to grab it again.
“Here, I’ll take it.” A voice she assumed to be the stranger’s. Turning to offer it to him, she met his eyes and her one widened.
She reactively pulled it closer to her without thinking. “You’re heterochromatic.” She said with amazement. When he tilted his head slightly, she assumed he didn’t know the term. She didn’t know how he wouldn’t, but anything is possible. “You’re eyes, they’re two different colors. They’re beautiful.” She breathed, forgetting Blaster’s presence for a moment.
“I know what it means, but thank you.” He looked down and away and she realized she was still clutching his jacket.
“Um, here. Sorry.” She blushed red under her blue scales.
Blaster just kept looking between them disbelieving. He could see what was happening, but wasn’t sure if he should do anything about it considering how little everyone knew about each other.
Nightmare reached over with one of his upper tentacles and relieved her of his jacket, quickly slipping it back on and maneuvering himself through all the holes. Half-way through, two of his tentacles got caught in one of holes near the bottom. He was quick to try to pull the wrong one out, but it was caught against the fabric. He tried turning, but just couldn’t reach it. Having not really had taken the article off in a couple hundred years, he was out of practice to say the least.
Blaster quickly reached over, “Here, hold still a moment.” And caught the hem of the hoodie as Nightmare pulled again.
This time he got it out and pushed it through the correct hole, letting the article of clothing settle properly. “That was much more complicated than I remember it being.” He grumbled, blushing a blue that dusted his cheekbones like freshly powdered snow.
Blaster sniggered a little and Daederath blushed a bit deeper, and looked away to hide a smile. Nightmare just shrugged.
“So, how’d you blow up the lab this time?” Daederath asked, looking pointedly at Blaster and raising a thin red brow.
“Um, I was trying something out using magic and chemicals. It sort of you know, backfired.” He looked down embarrassed, but looked back up quickly when he heard a choking, gagging sound from the other skeleton and felt the couch shift slightly. Nightmare was holding his abdomen and appeared to be laughing. Looking over to Dae, Blaster raised his brows in disbelief. Daederath, for her part, looked horrified and astonished at the display of mirth. “You okay, Night?” Blaster asked, unsure. He didn’t think his pun was that good. He noticed faint sparks of blue appear and disappear around the sockets of Nightmare’s eyes.
Catching his breath, Nightmare nodded. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. It’s just been way too long since I’ve heard a pun and that was pulled amazingly. It’s good to be back amongst others. The void just doesn’t make up for a good audience.” He grinned at his own joke, knowing the others wouldn’t get it.
“Void? What’s that?” asked Daederath.
“Well, that’s what Nightmare was about to start telling me about when you knocked. You made it just in time for a new history lesson. That’s why I was having him grab the recorder and cassettes.” Blaster waved a hand, indicating the tapes that lay strewn over the couch.
It was then that he remembered the mirror. He reached forward and grabbed it, hesitating before he turned it over. He could see now why Daederath had reacted like she had. All his teeth were now pointed, and he had two spikes extending back past the back of his skull. He carefully ran his hand over one then the other, feeling the different contours of his skull. It reminded him a bit of the blasters he could summon. Looking over himself quickly, he realized that a lot of his features were similar to that of his blasters’ bodies had been in the vision he’d had. He filed that away to bring up later. He wanted to hear Nightmare’s story and the explanation of these other worlds and universes.
Daederath gave him a worried look, but he waved her off and settled more comfortably into the corner of the couch. “Whenever you’re ready Nightmare. The whole story, right from the very beginning. Where you started up to now. Leave out nothing. When it comes to documenting history and taking facts and notes, leaving something out can cause mistakes down the road. We won’t interrupt and we’ll save any questions until the end. Okay?” he smiled and nodded encouragingly, finding answers was one of his hobbies after all.
And so, Nightmare recounted his tale, from the beginning, back before the barrier in Dreamtale right on through until the present, and where he sat now. It had taken several hours, more tapes than either of his audience members had expected. They had ended up taking a break just to order food from the local bar and Dae had gone to get it, once she realized that her friend couldn’t walk and Nightmare’s miasma would make for quite a bit of trouble in a packed establishment. Now that he had finished, he waited for any questions these two monsters from a science based world may have for him, but they still seemed to be taking in everything. So he let them and grabbed another slice of olive pizza.
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Crossed Unders in a Strip Club