#matpat reference

Knife could be heard taunting Murder outside, only for another Gaster Blaster to fire for the seventh time today. Dream was exasperated, the lawn was a wreck, and this had been going on all week, not to mention what had happened last week... At first, Knife and Murder got along to an extent, with Murder tolerating Knife after they had some sort of conversation, but the peace was short-lived. When Sheath was around, Murder and him were... mostly alright, but when Knife came out, things got bad fast.

Murder was still struggling with the LV, and Dream had been trying to help him, but he still had violent impulses and urges. Dream knew in a way that Knife was giving him an outlet for that aggression, but this was not helping. They needed to work together, but all Knife was doing was causing problems between them that would cause more trouble than they were worth. Dream sighed, running a hand down his face as he heard Murder yelling at Knife again, only to receive laughs and taunts in response.

"maybe that timeline knows some tips that could help?" Color suggested.

"it has been a while since i've been there, so i could go back..." Dream mumbled thoughtfully, "do you want to come with me?"

"i'll stay here, keep an eyelight on them." Color responded.

"alright, i'll be back as soon as i can, bye color!" Dream waved, teleporting out.

"i still can't believe story chooses now to send us a damn grocery list." Murder muttered.

Story had gone out on a training exercise with Karma and Stretch, and they'd sent Murder a shopping list for when they got back. The notification sound had broken up his and Knife's argument, and once Knife found out what he'd been texted, Knife teleported them both a few blocks away from one of the supermarkets in the Omega Timeline.

"oh c'mon, it gives us something to do, doesn't it?~" Knife responded, a smirk on one side of his face, and Murder could feel his gaze on him despite his hollow eye sockets. 

"no, it just means i have to babysit you." Murder sighed, "again."

"such baseless accusations~ i never need to get babysat." Knife denied sarcastically.

"you're as much of a liar as you are annoying." Murder told him, crossing his arms.

"oh come on! we got along for a little while! what changed?" Knife asked.

"you're more annoying than ever and i want to curb stomp you." Murder grumbled.

"sounds like irritability and the lv talking. you haven't been sleeping either, haven't you?" Knife questioned, "i even let you sleep on the couch, you can't tell me you aren't comfortable!"

"the couch isn't the problem, you just sitting at the end of it watching me is." Murder glared.

"really? you can't just ignore me?" Knife asked.

"you can't just not watch me all damn night?" Murder countered.

"nope. i like watching you sleep." Knife refused.

". . . that just makes you creepy." Murder told him, and Knife shrugged.

"maybe, but at least i don't have the lv craving you do. you really went down one hell of a rabbit hole, y'know?" Knife mentioned, "you know i'm right, you can feel it."

". . . is that why you're doing this?" Murder questioned, "trying to rile me up so i explode on you?"

"you need an outlet, murder. if you think you can resist the way the lv is pulling at you, you're wrong." Knife said, the humor gone from his voice, "i know you feel it, i've felt it too. you're trying so hard to resist, but everything i do just drives you insane. well, further insane, anyways. your soul is craving the lv like a long-lost friend, and it's being deprived of it. so, it's trying to be a spoiled brat and get it's way by lashing out, which means it's making you upset until it gets what it wants."

"well it won't. it's not happening." Murder told him, glaring over at him.

"yet." Knife added, and the supermarket came into view around a corner.

The supermarket was a large, light gray brick building, rectangular in shape and having orange awnings over the automatic doors. There was several large windows at the front of the building, some stands outside with different plants and yard decorations on them, and through the window more of the shelves and customers were visible inside. Before they got any closer or even walked past the building, Murder pulled him into an alleyway, gripping the collar of his turtleneck to pull him close, and he glared daggers into his hollow eye sockets.

"no stealing anything. i don't care if it's only worth 1 G, you are not shoplifting. got it?" Murder hissed, voice firm and authoritative.

"oh relax, will you? i won't do anything..." Knife smirked, wrapping his arms around Murder's neck to pull himself closer, pressing his forehead against Murder's, "unless you want me to~"

Murder pushed Knife away and into the building across from them, his skull bright blue, and Knife was snickering, brushing himself off.

"i despise you." Murder hissed, and Knife chuckled.

"i wonder why~" Knife chuckled, and Murder used blue magic on him to fling him up into the air before slamming him down again as he walked out of the alleyway.

Murder heard Knife grunt a bit, but he didn't care. He neared the supermarket, and he heard Knife brushing himself off as he ran to catch up to him. Murder swung his arm out to elbow him, but Knife stopped walking, dodging, and Murder glared back at him. Knife smirked, walking again, and Murder's annoyance grew when he started talking again.

"no attacking me in the supermarket. i don't care if i really piss you off, you are not attacking me. got it?" Knife snarked.

"knife i swear to-!" Murder started to snap, only to be cut off as he saw a human child looking between them from inside the store windows.

She had pale skin and long, dark brown hair. She was really skinny, but she was putting on weight since the last time Murder had seen her, and she was wearing a dark purple dress, a black coat, and brown hiking boots. Wait, if she was here.... Uh oh.

"murder?" Knife asked, nudging his shoulder a bit, "what is it?"

"today just keeps getting frickin' better..." Murder grumbled, watching as she seemed to mumble something before she went out of sight.

Murder and Knife walked into the store, ignoring the looks monsters and humans alike were giving him. Murder was not in the mood for this, and he kept his skull down as he walked into the store, Knife an annoying presence next to him. Murder still got irritated at the sights of Sanses getting along with the Frisks or Charas of their AU, wanting to warn them but holding back since they weren't doing anything bad and he shouldn't just go up to someone and warn them about someone that might not have hurt anyone. Core had made it clear he couldn't just warn them about the human, as that was stereotyping and to imagine how it felt when others did it to him.

Granted it was deserved, and even though it hurt a bit sometimes, Murder knew he had it coming, and sure, Story and Karma had been wary of him and warning Blue about him, but they'd eventually gotten to know him... the thought of Blue was still a sore one. Murder never liked getting stared at, always wanting to hide from sight and not show himself, but anyone around him could sense his LV and would become on guard, and with stupid Knife around, that feeling was only growing. Monsters were pulling their children behind them, Sanses were getting in front of the humans from their worlds, and the gazes didn't stop.

Murder kept his hood pulled up, even though the light gray fur was getting in his eye sockets and overstimulating his skull everywhere it touched, and Murder found himself missing his other hoodie before forcing the thought away. Dust had ruined those clothes the night he tortured Dream, Murder wouldn't look anything like him again. Murder knew this was just the Clozapine was making him anxious again, everyone looking at him not helping in the slightest. His soul was getting tight, his breathing was a bit rushed, and he was looking around for any possible empty aisle to get to to just simply breathe. Knife pulled him into an aisle, teleporting them suddenly, and Murder found himself in a dark room, lit by nightlights plugged into the outlets and a dull light on the ceiling. There was relaxing music playing, and the walls were a light blue, the carpet light gray, and there was blankets and pillows.

This was part of the supermarket Murder wasn't in often, maybe once or twice given how little he came here, but Story needed the damn groceries, so he had no choice. Knife backed away from him and turned around, not seeming to know what to do here, so he just did nothing. Murder curled in on himself a bit, trying to stay quiet, his eyelights darting around the room, but there was no eyes, everything was fine. He was fine, everything was fine, he was fine, everything was fine, he was fine, everything was fine, he was fine, everything was fine, he was fine, everything was fine, he was fine, everything was fine. Murder had his knees pulled up to his chest, trying to get his breathing under control despite difficulties, and he was managing to take deep, shuddering breaths, but he was still filled with so much damn panic he couldn't take it. He heard Knife sigh, barely able to hear him over the sound of him breathing, and Knife turned around, walking back over to him and crouching down in front of him.

"i uh... i don't know what to do here." Knife told him.

"l-leave?" Murder suggested, glaring at him.

"hey, i'm just trying to help you, no need to stay pissy at me." Knife crossed his arms.

"y-yeah, and you can leave." Murder told him, bones rattling.

"yeah, see i don't wanna do that though. color wants me to 'help others' more." Knife did air quotes on the end, and one half of his face looked annoyed while the other looked calm. Murder didn't say anything, soul still twisting, and Knife observed, "damn, those meds are kicking your coccyx, aren't they?"

Wait... I didn't tell him about my medication, did I? . . . I didn't.

"h-how-" Murder started, but Knife cut him off.

"i uh... looked through your pockets. saw them in there. figured if anything would make you anxious, it'd be those things." Knife shrugged, ". . . hey, there's this breathing exercise sheath does. in for eight, hold for nine, out for ten. you tried that?"

"y-yes." Murder mumbled, even though he couldn't reach that amount of time.

"well, you failed, so why don't we try it again?" Knife suggested, and Murder sighed, "i'll count with you."

"go away." Murder muttered.

"no. now in for eight. c'mon, murder. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.... there you go." Knife counted Murder up to it, Murder slowly and shakily inhaling, "now hold it. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... good..." Knife patted his shoulders as he held his breath, uncrossing his arms and keeping his hands there, "now out for ten. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten..."

Murder exhaled slowly, and they continued this for a few minutes, and somehow, weirdly, Murder was somewhat able to calm down. Knife was helpful, though Murder would never admit that, and he still hated his nonexistent guts. At the end of the few minutes, the panic had subsided, and Murder was able to breathe easier now.

"you ok?" Knife questioned, and Murder nodded a bit, "good. now how about we keep this between us, yeah? sheath's out cold and i don't need color knowing about this."

"fine with me..." Murder mumbled.

"need help getting up?" Knife smirked.

"i'm not that pathetic." Murder glared, pulling himself up after brushing Knife off.

"damn, i'm really feeling the gratitude here, murder." Knife said as Murder walked past him, "a thank you would be nice!"

". . ." Murder went silent, his steps halting, and he muttered, ". . . thank you."

Murder walked out of the room, and Knife teleported next to him, and while Murder was annoyed, he didn't voice it. He pulled out his phone, looking over the list Story had sent him again before he sighed, walking through the hallway. There were several other rooms like the one he'd been in, a light next to the door handle in some cases, saying someone else was in there, and Murder could even hear faint hyperventilating within some of the rooms. The hallway was a light cream color, the floors a soft beige carpet, and there was different reassuring and uplifting messages written on the walls.

They walked through the hallway and out the door at the end, which opened up into the rest of the store, and the bright lights were almost blinding for a moment, conversations in the supermarket abruptly starting. Murder ignored it to the best of his ability, and he started walking through the store, keeping his skull low to avoid eye or eyelight contact as he got the items on Story's list. They'd wound up having to get a cart at the front of the store, and of course, Knife was picking out his own things and putting them in the cart as they walked. Granted he was a Star Sans, even on break, so he got a half off discount on everything they got, including sales on things, so something things were straight up free, which Murder wasn't opposed to.

The floors in the supermarket, something Murder looked at quite often, were white tile, the aisles gray or different other colors, stickers on them to indicate different products or items that were shelved there, and since Knife couldn't read the last time Murder checked, it seemed to be helpful. They'd gotten pretty much all of the food and other items, and Murder was rounding a corner, Knife back with the cart, and Murder was heading to grab one last thing when he skidded to a stop before he ran into someone. At first he went to apologize, but then he realized who it was, seeing a white torn shirt at his skull level, dark blue sleeves crossing in front of it.

Murder's eyelights flicked up, meeting a mildly annoyed glowing red eyelight that took up the left eye socket, the right eye socket empty, and there was a hole in the top left of the skeleton's skull. There was a frown on his face, and he was wearing what he and Horror usually did, a dark blue jacket with a dirty and bloodstained fluffy white hood, a stained and ripped white shirt, and black shorts with a white stripe on either side, tattered at the bottoms, and he was wearing his worn blue sneakers.

"murder." He frowned, and Murder crossed his own arms back at him as his eyelight narrowed in it's socket, his right eye socket mimicking his left's eyelight.

"famine." Murder responded, and he felt the tension growing between them again.

Him and Famine used to be close, with Famine occasionally doing house visits and Murder doing the same, Famine's brother hanging out, and when he wasn't around, they were more themselves than they were otherwise. They never really talked about their worlds that much, just mutual hatred for the humans of their worlds, and neither of them really took care of themselves when it came to meals, but they could always drink a bottle of ketchup or alcohol together, sometimes ketchup mixed with alcohol. Then Famine found out Murder had killed his own brother in his timeline, overhearing Murder being insulted at by a few monsters. Famine had broken it up at the time, but later that day when Murder stopped by his house Famine had confronted him on it, and Murder had made the mistake of telling him the truth.

That was the day Famine told him to get out and not to come back, and they'd had a fight. Murder left, and he didn't go back, and he waited for Famine to stop by, be it to apologize or fight again, but he never did. That was the most betrayed Murder had ever felt. They occasionally ran into each other, Famine usually sending a glare at him, and Murder overtime had grown to resent Famine for turning on him so fast when they were supposed to be friends, the skeleton he'd once enjoyed the company of now joining the crowd of skeletons that hated him. 

"BROTHER, I FOUND THAT RICE BRAND YOU LIKED-! OH, HELLO MURDER!" Famine's brother greeted, poking his skull over the top of the aisle.

"hey, starve..." Murder greeted, his glare towards Famine fading as his brother walked around the aisle to stand behind him.

Famine's brother never learned about what happened between them, and honestly Murder missed hanging out with him a bit. He was still wearing glasses like the last time Murder had seen him, the rims of them black, and he had braces to help his teeth, which had gotten... bad, due to his au. His scarf was short and tattered, and he was still wearing his battle body, despite how stained it was. The white material had turned a light tan with a few scuffs and dents in it, and his blue... not underwear but the other name for it, still had it's yellow belt, and while his red gloves were torn and dirtied, he still wore them.

"HELLO! IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE SEEN YOU! HOW'VE YOU BEEN?" Starve questioned, Famine glaring at Murder even more, telling him to leave.

"i've uh... i've been ok..." Murder responded, looking off to the side, "i've gotta get going though."

"yeah, you do." Famine glared, and Starve swatted him on the back of the skull.

"BROTHER! BE NICE! THAT'S NO WAY TO TREAT YOUR FRIEND THAT YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IN A LONG TIME!" Starve scolded.

"we're not friends anymore, i told ya that." Famine responded, looking up at him.

"ONE ARGUMENT DOESN'T END A FRIENDSHIP, SANS! REFUSING TO MOVE PAST DIFFERENCES AND CONTINUE TO COEXIST DOES! SOMETHING YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH!" Starve pointed out.

"i do not!" Famine snapped.

"UNDYNE!" Starve started to list, holding a finger of his left hand up.

"you know what that psycho did, ya can't blame me for that." Famine glared.

"ALPHYS." Starve held up a second finger.

"speakin' of, ya in the mood for roasted vegetables?" Famine smirked.

"NO, I'M NOT, AND THAT'S COMPLETELY UNRELATED! WHAT ABOUT OUR NEIGHBORS?" Starve asked.

"i told ya their dog crapped on our lawn, i saw it." Famine pointed out.

"SO YOU STABBED A BONE THROUGH IT'S PAW?!" Starve glared.

"shhhhh!" Famine shushed him, "and yes! i stepped in it!"

Murder went to back up, but Starve reached past Famine, grabbing his wrist tightly, "NOT SO FAST! DON'T LET MY BROTHER INTIMIDATE YOU! HE'S MERELY STUBBORN! YOU KNOW, I HEARD ALIZA WARNING MY BROTHER ABOUT YOU EARLIER, AND I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOUR FEUD! WE'RE SOLVING THIS, TODAY!"

"that's really not-" Murder went to protest, but Starve cut him off.

"NONSENSE!" Starve declined, and Murder heard a crash and a grunt behind him.... where he'd left Knife.

"what was that?" Famine asked.

". . . oh crap." Murder muttered, "hey, uh, starve? i promise i won't leave, i just need to check on someone real quick."

"NO WORRIES, I KNOW YOU WON'T LEAVE! I'LL GO WITH YOU!" Starve said, gripping Murder's wrist almost painfully tight, not seeming to know his own strength.

Murder sighed, and he started walking towards where he'd left Knife, Starve walking behind him, bent over to hold his wrist, and Murder heard Famine grumbling before following him. When he rounded the corner, he saw the cart on top of the aisle, and Knife was laying on the floor, the sign that went above the aisle broken and laying on top of him.

"what did you do?!" Murder demanded.

"i needed a better view!" Knife answered, "so i was on top of the sign trying to see you!"

"why is the cart up there?!" Murder asked, pointing on top of the aisle.

"so no one could take it!" Knife replied.

"why didn't you just get a better view from up by the cart, or just walk around the corner?!" Murder questioned.

". . . i didn't think of that." Knife said.

"obviously." Murder sighed.

"you're hangin' out with him?" Famine asked, surprised, and Knife lifted his skull up to look past Murder, seeing him, and Murder heard him muttering, "guess dirty brother killers stick together after all."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, BROTHER? DO YOU KNOW THIS SKELETON?" Starve questioned.

". . . nah. never seen 'im before." Famine denied.

"oh come on! that's a lie!" Knife glared, pushing the broken sign off of himself as it fixed itself, resecuring back to the ceiling.

"BROTHER, IS THIS ANOTHER SKELETON YOU'VE LET A MINOR ARGUMENT CAUSE THE END OF A FRIENDSHIP OF?!" Starve demanded.

"no, we were never-!" Famine started to protest, but Starve cut him off.

"NO! NO LIES! I'VE GOTTEN SICK AND TIRED OF THOSE!" Starve snapped, "YOU THREE ARE SORTING THINGS OUT, AND THAT IS FINAL! WE'RE CHECKING OUT, AND THEN WE'RE GOING HOME SO YOU CAN SOLVE THIS ISSUE! MURDER, WHERE DO YOU LIVE? I DON'T WANT YOU AT OUR HOUSE WITH ALL OF THE WEAPONS MY BROTHER HAS THERE. IT'S A VERY DANGEROUS PLACE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION!"

"i know where he lives." Famine sighed.

"i'm not staying there anymore." Murder informed.

"oh, ya finally got locked in the nut house where you belong?" Famine smirked.

"nope, he's staying with a storyshift chara and their brother. they've been letting him stay on the couch so he wasn't by himself." Knife spoke up.

"oh, you needed supervision that badly that ya had to stay with a human? ya actually end up trying to kill y-" Famine started, but Murder cut him off.

"don't you dare finish that sentence you-!" Murder was then cut off by Starve.

"NO! NO INSULT WARS! WE'RE NOT DOING THIS! KNIFE, YOU KNOW WHERE HE LIVES, TAKE US THERE ONCE WE PAY FOR OUR ITEMS! BROTHER, GO GET OUR CART SO WE CAN WALK WITH THEM!"

"i'm not-" Famine started, and Starve gave him a look.

"GET THE CART." Starve repeated firmly.

". . . fine...." Famine grumbled, going back into the other aisle, muttering curses under his breath the whole time.

"knife, you get the damn cart too." Murder told him.

"why do i have to?" Knife asked.

"because you got it stuck up there!" Murder snapped.

"i know, i was joking!" Knife snickered, teleporting up to it before teleporting back down with it.

From there, the four of them headed to the front of the store to check out, and Murder decided, for Starve's sake, to pay for their things with his. The cashier was a human with dark tan skin, black hair, dark brown eyes, and he was wearing the supermarket uniform, with a cream colored undershirt, an orange vest, blue jeans, and a nametag labeled, "Hi, my name is Ness!"

"how do ya plan on payin' for all this anyways?" Famine questioned Murder as the items were scanned.

"wait for it..." Knife smirked at him, Famine rolling his eyelight.

The cashier scanned Murder's card when he went to pay, and he smiled, pushing a button, and the prices went down over half. Murder heard Famine's and Starve's jaws dropping, and Murder smirked slightly.

"Thank you for your service, Murder! The Omega Timeline appreciates it! Have a great day!" Ness smiled, Murder nodding as Knife and Famine pushed their carts out of the supermarket.

"what the hell was that?" Famine questioned.

"oh, ya haven't heard? murder's been hangin' with the stars for a while now! hell, he's one of 'em! those purple stars by his eye socket mean something, ya know." Knife chuckled.

"you? playin' hero? color me impressed." Famine rolled his eyelight, his tone both teasing and dangerous.

"SANS, BE NICE!" Starve chastised, "THAT'S AMAZING NEWS, MURDER!"

"heh, thanks..." Murder replied, looking off to the side.

"y'know, you could help too, famine. it'd give ya something to do." Knife spoke up.

"nah, i'll pass. i kept everyone safe in my timeline, and the multiverse is none of my business. i'm here for my brother, that's it. you can fight nightmare and whoever else, but quite frankly, it's not my fight." Famine denied with a shrug.

Murder was about to make a remark, but something else happening prevented Murder from doing so.

"knife!! what the hell?!" Color snapped from ahead of them, walking over.

"heh heh, oh hell..." Knife muttered, Murder looking over to see a strained smile on his face.

The walk back had been... interesting, Color scolding Knife for not telling him where he'd gone and making him have to call around everywhere to see if anyone had seen him, before finally calling Story and finding out they'd send Murder a grocery list, and that had narrowed it down. Murder could feel Famine staring into the back of his skull the whole way back, but he stayed quiet, not saying a word. They finally got back to Story's house, Famine teleporting to his house briefly to put away groceries, teleporting back to the store, and then back here.

Color and Knife put the groceries away, Starve holding Murder's and Famine's wrists to keep them from leaving, and then Starve led them to the shed outside of the house. Starve put Famine and Murder in, reaching around the doorway to grab Knife, putting him in the shed before closing the door, and Murder heard the shortcut-proof lock click. The inside of the shed wasn't that bad, with dark oak floors and bright yellow walls, a few chairs stored inside, mainly those cheap plastic ones, and there was some rugs, but otherwise it was empty. Murder was on the right side of the room, and Famine on the left, Knife in between the two of them.

"are you sure this is a good idea?" Color asked from outside the shed, voice faint.

"ABSOLUTELY! MY BROTHER JUST NEEDS TO BE FORCED TO DISCUSS THINGS WITH THEM, AND EVERYTHING WILL BE OK!" Starve responded, also barely audible.

"story's gonna need a new shed..." Color sighed.

"so... what do we do here?" Knife questioned, looking between Famine and Murder.

"well, i have nothin' to talk about." Famine said, leaning against the wall across from Murder.

"of course, because you're never in the wrong. you're always right." Murder rolled his eyelights and crossed his arms.

"well i never killed my damn brother. the fact that ya have the audacity to play good guy now shows how much of a piece of crap you are." Famine growled, Knife moving away from them.

"oh i'm a piece of crap, am i?" Murder glared, his eyelights turning red and cyan, "i was trying to end the damn loop by beating the human at their own game. i told you that!"

"you still killed your brother." Famine scowled, "there will never be an excuse for that!"

"killing him was the only thing that would work! i couldn't lock him in his room, i couldn't lock him anywhere! i tried!" Murder defended himself.

"so break his damn legs so he can't go searching for you!" Famine snapped.

"no! i wasn't gonna put him through that!" Murder glared.

"oh, but killing him was fine instead?" Famine shot back.

"if i didn't do it, the human would've! it was better for him to be killed by me instead!" Murder pointed out.

"sounds like an excuse to me." Famine muttered.

"how the hell is that an excuse?!" Murder demanded, "an excuse for what?!"

"an excuse that you got power hungry like undyne, and he was just one more kill for you!" Famine answered.

. . . What.

"uh oh..." Knife muttered, leaning against the wall to Murder's left.

"how dare you?!" Murder yelled, "he wasn't one more kill! he's the one i regret the most! i hated killing him every time i had to!"

"and yet ya still did it." Famine scowled.

"i had to!" Murder snapped.

"you're so obsessed with free will and all that, and then you had to kill him because ya 'didn't have a choice'! right, perfect sense, murder!" Famine rolled his eyelights, shooting a glare at him.

"i couldn't just stay the human's toy! i had to do it in order to beat them! then i could try resetting and then everyone would be happy." Murder defended himself.

"and that plan worked sooooooooo great, didn't it?" Famine snarked.

"because error destroyed my damn au and core dragged me to the omega timeline while i was unconscious! otherwise i would've wanted to be left there!" Murder glared.

"well they should've just left ya there!" Famine hissed, "and you," Famine turned to Knife, "quit watchin' this like it's a damn tv show!"

"i can't just let you guys hash this out?" Knife questioned.

"no, because i hate you more than i hate him!" Famine glared.

"you think i don't hate him?!" Murder snapped, "after everything he did?!"

"well, you two ain't that different." Famine rolled his eyelight.

"excuse me?!" Murder asked incredulously, "he worked with the damn human to commit genocide! countless times!! me and you always agreed he was the worst!"

"yeah, and then ya stabbed me in the back by lyin' to my face about your past!" Famine snapped.

"how did i lie?! i told you about everything the human did!" Murder pointed out.

"you didn't tell me anything about what you did in your timeline, especially not about killin' your own brother! don't ya know how it felt knowin' that me and my own brother were hangin' around with someone who killed his entire frickin' timeline!!" Famine questioned.

"don't you know how it felt knowing my own damn friend turned on me the second he knew the hell i went through?! i have to deal with that crap every damn day, a star or not, and the one monster i thought i could count on turned on me!" Murder yelled, "do you know how damn much that hurt?!"

"i hope it hurt worse than the pain ya put your papyrus through!" Famine glared.

"i made it as quick and painless as possible!" Murder told him, "he suffered less than yours did by living in a starving timeline afraid of his own damn brother! i'm not the only one feared here, famine!"

"yeah well you sure as hell deserve it more than i do! at least i kept everyone i could alive!" Famine hissed, "you're both a buncha dirty brother killers and psychopaths!"

"alright, that's it!" Murder yelled, anger peaking as he jumped at Famine and punched him in the face, Famine throwing him into a wall in response.

Knife went to help Murder up, but Murder grabbed his hand and slammed him onto the ground, jumping over him and kicking Famine in the chest. Famine punched him in the sternum, sending him flying into a wall again, Murder gritting his teeth as he saw Famine punching at Knife, who drew his knife at him.

"i knew it would end like this..." Knife muttered, though there was a smirk on half of his face, the other half pulled down into a frown.

"bring it ya damn bipolar, brainwashed, tar leaking, murderous human's pet." Famine hissed.

". . ." Knife lunged at him, tackling him as the two punched each other in the face, Knife stabbing his knife at him, cutting through his right arm, and Famine grit his teeth.

Murder got up, watching Famine summon his axe, and he teleported over to the cheap plastic chairs, grabbing one and jumping up, slamming the chair into the back of Famine's skull, the chair splintering into pieces, one of the chair legs in the hole in the taller skeleton's skull. Famine stumbled, pulling the leg out and turning to glare at Murder with his glowing red eyelight, his pupil shrunken into a pinprick. Knife, who had his knife knocked away from him, grabbed a sharp shard of the chair in each hand, Famine tightly gripping his axe, and Murder summoning sharp bones into his hands. They jumped at each other, and the shed door slammed open.

"STOP IT YOU THREE, THAT'S ENOUGH!!!!"

Dream arrived in front of the cottage in the middle of the woods, seeing two cars parked out front. There was a red car, and a blue one was off to the side, a foot away from hitting a tree that had fallen over. Dream wasn't sure how well it would go over with him dropping by unannounced, but he was optimistic. He walked up to the door and knocked on it, the Sans of this AU, one that had gone by Lucky the last time, opening the door.

"dream?" Lucky asked.

"yeah, that's me... hi, sans. umm... can i come in?" Dream questioned.

"yeah, sure." Lucky nodded, opening the door wider for him, and Dream entered.

Lucky led Dream over to the living room, and Dream sat on one of the gray couches, Lucky sitting across from him. Dream noticed no one else was here, despite the cars he'd seen outside, and he was honestly curious on where the others were, as he could sense them nearby.

"where um... where is everyone?" Dream asked.

"well, killer's off with his cat in the backyard with undyne, papyrus, and alphys, dust is napping the last time i checked, and horror's off in his room." Lucky responded, "why?"

"well, umm.... another version of killer is working with us, and him and murder.... well..." Dream trailed off, looking off to the side.

"hate each other?" Lucky guessed, "yeah, these guys did too."

"how did you get them to stop?" Dream questioned, "sometimes they get along, but other times murder won't tolerate him for even a moment."

"well, it's not how i got them to get along, more so how they understood more about each other. in the beginning, i didn't exactly like killer either, me and him went at it a few times. when dust showed up, dust despised killer, i still don't know how the hell they ended up becoming so close. when horror showed up, he uh... well..." Lucky trailed off.

"held his axe to my throat." Dust said, walking around a corner, and Dream almost summoned his weapons on reflex before relaxing, knowing this wasn't the Dust working for Nightmare.

"how long were you there?" Lucky asked.

"after i heard the door knock. dream, you want murder and another version of killer to get along, right?" Dust questioned, teleporting to sit next to Lucky.

"yeah, that would be helpful... all of their fighting is not helping..." Dream sighed.

"the best thing you can do is get them to agree to some sort of understanding. like, i shared a mind with killer. we saw each others thoughts and memories, felt each others emotions, shared and split control over sans's body... we learned to live with each other, and attempted to get along so everyone else in there wasn't miserable, including us. there was still fights and arguments, but spending that time with each other, united for a common goal... it helped. this other version of killer been out in combat yet?" Dust asked.

"no, he hasn't." Dream answered.

"then make them work together on something, be it trust exercises or something else, and see what happens. don't throw them into combat, and don't lock them in a room. that's guaranteed to end in failure." Dust told him.

"yeah, no kiddin'." Horror said, teleporting to lean against the back of the couch Lucky and Dust were sitting on, arms crossed and leaning against the back of it. Dream had tensed slightly at the sudden appearance, before relaxing upon realizing he didn't have the insignia by his left eye socket. "especially with me. there's not another version of me on your team, right?"

"no, no. i'm not that reckless. horrortales mind their own business most of the time, and murder has an... unfortunate past with one there. it wouldn't end well at all." Dream sighed, "murder's still sad about it, even if he doesn't admit or show it... they used to be so close, and then they had a fight about murder's past from what i heard..."

"maybe i could talk to that guy?" Horror offered, "i mean, who's he gonna listen to besides himself?"

"not us." Dust muttered, and Horror snickered.

"probably not." Horror replied.

They talked for a while more, Killer, Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys coming in, and they joined in on the conversation, offering solutions.

"DREAM? ARE YOU HUNGRY FOR LUNCH?" Papyrus asked, "WE'RE MAKING SOME PIZZA IF YOU'RE INTERESTED."

"i don't want to intrude-" Dream started, and Dust held up his hand.

"dream, you're fine. really, you can stay as long as you want." Dust reassured.

"if you're sure..." Dream relented, figuring it would make them happy if he stayed and ate with them.

"Sweet!" Undyne grinned, and Dream smiled, seeing that he was right.

Dust put the frozen pizzas in the oven, and they talked for a bit longer as the food was heated up, and Dream heard a knock on the door.

"i'll get it." Lucky said, getting up from the couch and going over to the door, and Dream tensed up at the voice he heard and the aura he felt.

"hey, i brought more of those candles by. figured he was probably running low." Killer.

Dream tensed up in the couch, both surprised what he just heard and ready for a fight. Dream teleported next to Lucky defensively, summoning his bow and arrow, and Killer had a bag in one hand, and he was holding up his left hand in a fist, arm bent at an angle, like he was signaling off an attack. Dream couldn't sense anyone else here, so.... . . . Ink?.....

"woah woah woah, hold it!" Lucky said, putting himself between them, "you guys aren't wrecking my lawn again. consider this au a uh... i dunno, safe spot or something. no fighting each other here."

". . ." Dream and Killer looked between each other, and Dream sighed, letting his bow and arrow vanish, "alright... killer, what are you doing here?"

"i live here!" The Killer of this timeline spoke up.

"not you!" Dream told him, looking back at him before looking back at the Killer he often fought, "why are you bringing by candles?"

"they help horror sleep, and the horror here sleeps better from them too." Killer Two shrugged, "what are you doing here? visiting?"

"maybe." Dream replied, not telling him anything, "where is he? i know he's here."

"tell me why you're here first." Killer Two countered, leaning against the doorframe.

". . ." Dream sighed, "there's a version of you i'm trying to help get along with murder better."

"huh. you can't just have reality do the opposite of what he did to us?" Killer Two asked with a glare, and Dream sensed the anger burning in his soul.

"i had nothing to do with that." Dream sighed, "i'm actually still upset with them. you still have to answer my question though, where's ink?"

"Wait, the short guardian guy?" Undyne questioned from behind Dream, "Why would Killer know?"

"he switched sides." Killer Two shrugged, and Dream's fists clenched.

"where is he?" Dream demanded.

"watching from the trees." Killer Two told him, and an acorn was thrown at the back of his skull, causing him to look back at the source, exclaiming, "hey!"

"wait, really?" Horror asked from behind Dream.

"yeah. he's actually pretty pissed at you, dream." Killer Two mentioned, looking at Dream again.

"we both know he can't feel pissed right now because of him." Dream glared, crossing his arms.

"yeah, well he's been pretty damn surprising." Killer Two shrugged.

". . . can i try talking to him?" Dream requested.

"well when he broke us out of those damn cages he didn't wanna talk to you. why would he want to now?" Killer Two questioned, and Dream's jaw clenched in anger.

Dream was about to respond, but his phone rang, and he saw a rainbow emoji when he looked at it.

"one second." Dream glared, and he answered the phone, "color? what's wrong?"

"hey! dream, where are you?!" Color asked, and Dream heard shouting in the background.

"um... at the undertale timeline i told you about. i turned on my gps. why-" Dream got cut off as the phone hung up, a rainbow explosion happening across the yard, Dream's eye sockets widening at what he saw.

He saw Murder and Famine fighting each other, Knife trying to jump into the mix, only to be restrained by Color, and Famine's brother ran out of the portal, yelling, "YOU BOTH NEED TO STOP THIS, NOW!"

Dream sensed the ache that went through Horror One at the sight and sound of his brother from his timeline, and Dream ran past Killer Two to help Starve pry Murder and Famine apart. A few minutes later, composed of a lot of struggling, Starve had his arms tightly wrapped around a thrashing Famine, Dream holding Murder back, and Knife was off to the side, Killer One and Killer Two with him. The three were exchanging looks at each other, sharing some form of silent conversation before pointing at each other, standing in a triangle, looking between each other.

Color sighed, and Dream could feel his exasperation. Dream saw white eyelights watching him from the trees, boring into him, and his soul twisted. The others in the house were off to the side, having probably witnessed the whole thing, and while Dream wanted to reach out to Ink... he knew it wouldn't work right now... He sighed, and Killer Two spoke up.

"well, i think that's everything for right now. lucky, i left the candles by the front door. i got crap to do, so uh.. later." Killer Two did a two fingered wave, teleporting up into the tree with Ink, and Dream watched as a black swirl of paint shot into the sky, vanishing after a moment.

Dream's soul still ached.

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