Chapter 19 – Death and Starvation

Dusttale: Dusty (Sans), Spectre (Dead Papyrus)

Horrortale: Axe (Sans), Crooks (Papyrus)

Dreamtale: Nightmare (Sans)

Alchemytale: Blaster (Sans), Daedarath (Undyne)

They were finally dead. The human had finally fallen for the last time. He was positive he had found all of their save stars and destroyed every last chance of them returning. He had finally won.

A specter that only he could see began to materialize behind him. "What shall you do now brother?" it wheezed.

"I'm not too sure. Can't exactly go to Grillby's anymore, now can I?" he laughed.

"Why don't we go home? Maybe you can finally get some sleep?" Spectre suggested.

"Guess I should. You have already shown me that I won't get rest when I'm dead. Heh." He huffed a few choked laughs, which dislodged a bit of Dust in his jacket, causing it to lightly powder the bloody floor under his feet.

A little ways away lay the slain child, their blood quickly being soaked up and staining the piles of Dust that covered the floor of the room. He could name every pile if he chose to. He didn't, it would only further his madness. This madness that made his success possible. Made the survival of his brother's specter possible. Made it all possible.

He stood there just watching the blood slowly stop draining from the human and then watched as it all dried on the floor. It was done, finally done. He took a step, then another. His next step placed him on a Dust laden snowscape. The scent of smoke hung in the air, still remaining from the great fire cause by his battle with the bartender. In front of him stood his house, a shell of the once happy place.

Spectre floated past him and waited on the porch. "Come on brother. You must get inside before you get sick. It is cold out here!"

"Sure thing bro." his deep voice was the only sound that broke the still silence. After a few moments, he started moving, his light weight cracking and breaking the thin crisp layer of ice that topped the snow.

It crunched, much like the flesh of Undyne or Alphys had when his bones had pierced them. With each step, he saw again the look of astonishment, the pain, the fear that he had generated as he had taken down every single monster. The breaking of the ice under his feet mimicked the sound of his bones breaking theirs. As his feet put pressure down on the wooden steps leading up to his porch, the creak of the wood reminded him of their whimpers and screams. Every. Last. One. He remembered them all. Their screams, their whimpers, their begging faces pleading for mercy, they all spun viciously, deliciously around inside his skull.

Once inside, he looked around the house. Once upon a time, it had been bright, cheery, even welcoming. Now though, it was empty and seemed drained of color. He moved to the kitchen and found a pack on instant noodles left on the counter where he had left them. Going through motions that had become second nature and required little to no thought, he made himself a sparse supper.

"WHAT WILL WE DO NOW THAT EVERYONE IS GONE?" Spectre asked as he floated above the fridge.

Dusty shrugged. "Don't know. Nobody will hurt you now though and that is what matters."

"NOBODY COULD HURT ME ONCE YOU KNOCKED ME BROTHER." Spectre pointed out.

"It had to be done. It was the only way." Dusty shook his head.

"OF COURSE. I SUPPORT YOU EITHER WAY." Spectre put a comforting hand on his sibling's shoulder.

"I'm gonna take a nap. Stay near the house, okay bud?" Dusty looked to what remained of his brother. He was the only thing really left in the Underground other than himself.

"SURE DUSTY. I'M GOING TO TRY TO MOVE SOME SNOW AROUND OUT BACK." Since being Dusted, Spectre had made it his goal to be able to physically affect anything in the world again. If Blook the ghost and the dummy monsters could do stuff, then he should be able to as well.

"Have fun." Dusty waved him off and flopped over an arm of the couch and inhaled the mildewed scent of the furniture as he fell face first into it.

Phasing through the walls into the backyard, Spectre immediately noticed the strange portal that floated there. Looking over his shoulder at their rundown house, he decided to investigate. Nobody else could see him but his brother anyway, what was the harm? Everything else down here was dead anyway. What could have created it anyway?

Drifting through, he immediately noticed so many differences he couldn't keep track. The snow was completely white, unmarred by Dust. The sound of a generator shook the air around him. The chill of death and depression didn't emanate from the woods beyond the yard, which was not fenced in like he knew his to be. Emerging from the tunnel like structure he had come into when passing through the anomaly, he looked toward the house and was blown away by the carnage. Broken stone ruins of what looked to be a rather large addition to the back of a house he sort of remembered as what his used to look like took up a large part of the yard.

Looking around and seeing nobody else, he made his way closer to inspect. It looked like a lot of damage had been cause here by a huge explosion. This wasn't the same as Dummy's rocket explosions or Dusty's blaster abilities, though signs of blasters being used were noticeable in some areas, they were not the cause of the majority of this. After surveying the area for a while and realizing he wasn't going to get any more information from the ruins, he phased into the house.

It was dark, but not in a scary way, more like whoever lived here just wasn't in or didn't care to turn the lights on. The place was clean, little to no dust, rugs covering polished hardwood floors. When he came to the living room and saw the recliner and couch, he was touched with a bit of confusion. He had already realized he wasn't home anymore but had somehow expected there to be some similarities inside as the outside had had some miniscule similarity to how his home had looked at one point. Floating closer to look, he noticed a portion of the couch had been rotted away, but the rest looked in relatively good shape. The recliner was also in great condition. On the table between them were papers scattered about. Looking over the ones on top, he couldn't understand most of it, but some of the diagrams seems to be similar to what he had seen outside when he had first come through. He tried to move some of them to look through more, but his hand just phased through it all. Shaking his head, he explored more of the home, curious.

Hours later, coming to the conclusion that nobody was here and with Dusty likely to wake up from his nap soon, Spectre decided it was time to head home and made his way back outside and to the portal. Now that he was out here, he wasn't quite sure how to get back, but figured he could try going through and see what happened. Not like he could die, right? With thoughts of his brother in his mind, he floated through and once more found himself in his own backyard. The tall wooden fence marking its boundary let him know he really was home, as well as the thick layer of Dust that permeated everything and turned the snow almost black.

Looking back at the portal, he smiled. Maybe he could meet some new people this way, even if they couldn't meet him. He hoped his brother wouldn't want to kill all of them too. He floated into the house and watched as his brother snored and snorted into the rotting couch they had in the center of the living room, exactly as he had left him. As if sensing his presence though, the snores and snorts died off and after a few minutes, Dusty turned over and looked up to Spectre.

"How was training?" He asked, as if Spectre had just gone out to spar with Undyne again like he used to.

"I STILL CAN'T TOUCH ANYTHING, BUT I WILL EVENTUALLY. I JUST HAVE TO KEEP TRYING." Spectre informed him.

"I'm sure you'll get it Spec, you're the best, you always get your stuff done." Dusty assured. "I'm going to check on the ruins. Want to come?"

Spectre shrugged and fell in behind his brother as they headed out for another round of walking the empty underground. There was absolutely nobody here and they both knew it, but it beat sitting around and pretending that his brother wasn't going mad.

After checking the door and in the ruins themselves, they were certain no new human had fallen and started making their way back to the house. On the way back and after some serious thought, Spectre decided to tell Dusty of what he had found.

Dusty wasn't too happy, but he listened. "So you saw nobody there?" He asked once Spectre was done detailing everything he had seen.

"THERE WAS NOBODY, NOBODY AT ALL. I ONLY LOOKED IN THE ONE HOUSE THOUGH." Spectre studied the face Dusty was making, trying to figure out if he had done the right thing by telling him about the portal.

"Well, guess there is nothing for it. Let's go check it out. I don't need you getting in trouble. I'll do anything necessary to keep you safe." his blue and red eyes flared slightly before returning to normal, but he looked more determined than he had since before his fight with the human child.

"DUSTY, PLEASE DON'T KILL ANY MORE. IF WE DO FIND OTHERS, PLEASE DON'T KILL THEM. NOT UNTIL WE KNOW THEY MEAN US HARM ANYWAY." Spectre fell behind slightly. He didn't want to see anymore Dust on his brother's hands and the snow in that other place had been so pristine.

Dusty looked over to his brother, about to tell him off for not understanding when he realized how far he had fallen behind and how sad and lonely he looked. He stopped and thought about what his brother was asking before nodding. "Deal. I won't kill them until they become a threat to us. Okay?"

Spectre looked up surprised. "REALLY? THANK YOU SO MUCH. I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET NEW MONSTERS!" He flew in circles around trees and branches with elation making Dusty laugh for the first time in a long while.

His brother was the only one who could do that anymore. The only one who could make him laugh. Grim thoughts still dominated the back of his mind though. In another place that he didn't know, anything could happen. He would not be separated from his brother again. He absolutely refused.

When they got back to the house, instead of going around to the front, Dusty made his way around back. Now that he and his brother were the only ones in the underground, he walked everywhere he went so that his brother was never alone. He paused when he saw the portal floating there like some kaleidoscopic disk. "That is sick looking." He stated to nobody in particular.

"PERHAPS, BUT WALK THROUGH IT. IT IS SO COOL!" Spectre hovered right behind him, anxiously waiting and knowing he would only annoy his brother if he went first.

Looking up to his brother, Dusty shrugged and began walking toward it. He really didn't know what to expect and so didn't expect much better than what he was looking at now. They crossed through at the same time, so Dusty was completely disoriented to find his brother wasn't with him, but a set of figures were. One of which looked a bit like Undyne did; a guy who had a chunk taken out of his skull with a rusty axe dangling from one hand, looking even more insane than himself. Two smaller skeletons accompanied the one that looked like Undyne. Dusty's first thought was with bewilderment, "Does that one have tentacles?!" He could immediately tell without even checking the one missing a part of his skull was trouble and after a brief check, the black one had some EXP and LOV. He glanced around worriedly, not seeing his brother anywhere.

"Ooh, another playmate for me." The skeleton with the broken skull grinned. Only one of his eyes was visible, his fingers gripped his other socket.

Daedarath looked up over her shoulder and didn't know which way she should run. Both these monsters had a ton of LOV and EXP. She had been uncertain about Nightmare with his small levels, but next to these guys, he was as innocent as she was. Blaster looked to be in the same state, but Nightmare pushed himself up until he was standing with his tentacles curling around him, prepared to attack or defend as necessary.

"Why don't we all calm down and talk this out rationally?" Nightmare offered, trying to break the hostile air generated by the two powerhouses on either side of them.

They both flinched, eyelights shrinking.

Behind Nightmare, Blaster pushed himself carefully to his feet. While he could walk around, after something like that, he was a bit unsteady. Daedarath had already reached her feet and helped steady him. Unwavering focus between the three squaring off forced a stalemate and left each one knowing that they wouldn't be getting out of this without dealing with the other two.

"Where is my brother?" Dusty demanded, anger rising, purple magic starting to streak from his left eye.

The one with the axe pulled his hand away from his socket and properly surveyed the strangers that had appeared in his butchery yard. One who resembled how he looked before food became scarce and one who looked like a much weaker version of the Queen. "Who are all you?" He checked them all and could just make out that Blaster was a judge, and weird as it was, the one with the tentacles seemed to be a half judge. The one that looked like a younger him has also clearly a judge and one who had gone through hell. Why were there so many judges here?

Not sure how to answer the one getting out of hand, Nightmare's eyes flicked between them both. Taking a breath, he attempted to answer the one with the axe. "We are-"

"Where is my brother? I won't ask again." Dusty warned.

The one with the axe started to sweat slightly. He hadn't eaten this week and knew he didn't have the stamina for even a small battle. "Answer him first." He told Nightmare. His eyes couldn't help follow the supple line of Nightmare's tentacles though. They would provide a few meals for him and his brother.

Nightmare nodded, but he didn't like the way he looked at him. Looking to Dusty, he held out his hands in a placating gesture. "I don't know where your brother i- wait a minute. Your the guy who wiped out your underground! You killed your brother, what do you mean where is he?" Nightmare couldn't help taking a step back.

"Night, calm down or you're gonna drive us all mad." Daedarath warned behind him, doing her best to keep her mind under control and consol Blaster who had broken down when Nightmare's miasma had hit him."

Axe had felt his fear increase tenfold seconds before the black skeleton stepped back. When the Queen-looking lady yelled at him and it started to decrease, he reigned in his thoughts of taking a tentacle for lunch. This guy was wack.

"He never died. My brother was always by my side. I only did what I had to so I could protect him." Snarled Dusty, raising a bone attack in preparation.

"Alright, alright! We'll help you find him! We don't want to fight." Nightmare called out, taking another step back, flinching when something snapped under his foot. Glancing down, he felt sick as he saw old bones barely covered in snow. He knew he'd recognized the one with the axe. They were the ones that murdered the human children and ate their carcases with his brother.

Dusty wasn't sure he wanted to believe the black skeleton, but remembered his promise to his brother and he had said he didn't want to fight. "Fine, how are you going to help me find him. Only I can see him."

Nightmare threw a glance at Axe, who just shrugged and held up his hands in a gesture saying he had and wanted no part in this. "No chopping any of us up, okay?"

"Don't ignore me." growled Dusty even as Axe nodded.

"I'm not, but he," Nightmare tilted his head at Axe, "has a habit of chopping up others for lunch, whether they are monster or human and I don't feel like being lunch."

Dusty looked at Axe menacingly.

"I didn't touch your brother!" Axe assured him quickly.

Nightmare broke in before they could start a fight. It wouldn't be pretty. "When did you last see your brother. I told you we would help, right?"

Dusty looked back at him annoyed. "Don't patronize me. He was with me when I walked through this thing." He gestured at the portal behind him.

Nightmare nodded. "I figured as much. Chances are your brother went to a different universe, and you came here for some reason."

"Another universe. You actually expect me to believe that crap?" Dusty asked with disbelief.

"Well, how else do you explain there being three and a half judges here?" Nightmare asked.

Dusty just glared at him. "So how do I find my brother?"

"Think about him, as he is now, and try going through again. It should take you to the universe he is in." Nightmare explained.

Looking back at the portal, then at Nightmare, he wanted to ask more questions, but he needed to find his brother more. Turning, he ran through the portal again. When he came out in a stone tunnel, he nearly blew it apart before seeing that it ended mere feet in front of him and carefully moved out of it, wary of any possible threats. Looking around, he found his brother floating not too far away. "Hey, what the hell was that?" He called out.

Turning Spectre's face lit up. "DUSTY! I WAS WORRIED WHEN YOU DID NOT COME OUT OF THE PORTAL. ARE YOU OKAY?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but why didn't you follow me?" He snapped.

"I DID. I THOUGHT WE WERE COMING HERE BECAUSE THIS IS THE PLACE I WAS TELLING YOU ABOUT." Spectre gestured around them. "IS IT NOT SO PRETTY AND CLEAR?" He asked.

Dusty finally took a moment to look at their surroundings and had to admit that the landscape was really beautiful and reminded him of how their town had looked once. Then he realized what all the stone ruin was behind. "Hey, is that our house?"

"NO, I HAVE ALREADY CHECKED IT. OUTSIDE IT LOOKS SIMILAR, BUT INSIDE IT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. IT IS NOT OURS." Spectre shook his head sadly.

"Huh, looks pretty similar, minus all this rubble. Wonder what happened here.

Nightmare watched the portal for a second more before turning back to Axe. He was wary, but the crazy monster obviously had some sense if he had backed down from the psychopath that came through after them. "So, I've seen what you do, and while I understand it, that doesn't mean I am going to let my friends or myself end up on the other end of your blade. Maybe we can make a truce?" He offered, watching every move the other made as he swayed where he stood.

"How do you know so much about me?" Axe asked, his eyes flicking back and forth between them all. Stars he was hungry and they looked pretty healthy.

"It's a long story. One I wouldn't mind telling you over a proper lunch, one not made of other monsters?" He offered, almost positive it would work.

Instantly Axe's hand tightened on his axe and his eyes met Nightmare's mismatched ones with a ferocious intensity. "You providing? Food isn't exactly plentiful enough to just go bandying around picnics you know."

Nightmare glanced back apologetically, but it was the only way he saw them getting out of this alive. Blaster looked back, terrified, but under control now that Nightmare's miasma was controlled. Daedarath wasn't much better, but thanks to him looking back he was able to react just in time. "Dae, duck!"

She dropped instantly, just avoiding getting decapitated by Crooks, Axe's brother. "What the hell!" She grabbed Blaster and ran for the portal, stopping short when Axe jumped between her and it.

"Leaving so soon?" He cooed.

She looked back to Nightmare, "Night, do something."

He looked at Axe, "I swear on my life that we will give you food for safe passage out of here and for information. You can't harm us or the deal is off, understood." His voice shook a little. He didn't like confrontations after what happened with his last two.

Axe held his gaze for several long moments before he called out to his brother. "Crooks, we ain't eating these ones. They say they have food to buy their safety." He swung his axe up onto his shoulder. "My name is Axe and if it isn't obvious, that is also my weapon of choice." He offered a hand to shake.

"I'm Nightmare, and I'm not so stupid as to step in range of you weapon. I've seen you work." Nightmare told him, refusing the proffered hand.

Axe laughed and dropped it. "Fair enough. I assume you want me and my brother to follow you through that thing then?" He waved to the portal.

Nightmare nodded, listening as Crooks moved closer, ready to teleport if he got too close.

"And how do we know that you ain't planning on killing us for yourselves? Eh?" His eye looked over to Daedarath, looking her over again. Lots of meat there.

"I think you can tell that we have been eating more than other monsters. There is plenty of food where we are going." Nightmare told him, not missing how he eyed his companion.

"Fine. I'll go with them, and Crooks will go with you. If you are tricking us, you will pay with your lives, and it won't be quick, I assure you." Axe threatened.

"Remember, they get hurt, and you get nothing." Nightmare warned in return. He heard Crooks stop right behind him. When they go through, make sure you think of stepping out again with them or you may get lost somewhere else like that other guy did." He instructed. To Daedarath and Blaster he said "Don't do anything rash or move too fast." He looked at Axe, "He's dangerous, but I'm sure you know that."

"I don't like this Nightmare, but if this is our only way then so be it. We better live." She looked at Axe and shivered. Blaster could feel the sins of this other judge crawling all over him.

Axe stepped out of her way and bowed, letting her go ahead of him with Blaster. One more glance back at Nightmare warned not to try anything and he stepped through the portal after them.

Nightmare gave them a few moments to get free of the portal and turned to look at Crooks. The younger brother of Axe could have easily been twelve feet tall if he stood straight up, but as he was, he hunched and looked rough. Let's go bud, we are going to get you some real food." He took a few steps forward and Crooks began shambling forward as well. Nightmare knew that Crooks wasn't as slow as he looked, Out of the two, Axe was certainly the deadlier of the two, but Crooks was the real brains between them and had killed his fair share of monsters and humans for survival. "Do you want to go first or would you like me to go first?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at the giant.

Crooks looked at him, "You really have watched us. I will go first. Nobody ever talks to me." As he passed, the smell of rot hit Nightmare in the face. It was then that he realized that Crooks's clothes were made of skins, human skins. They were untreated and falling apart, but they kept him covered. Nightmare would have to see about getting him some real clothes as well.

He gave Crooks some time to get clear of the tunnel so air could pass through it and then went through the portal himself, landing back in the Alchemytale Universe and walking into a mess as Dusty got into it with Daedarath and Blaster about something.

"He is right there you idiot. Just because you can't see him, doesn't mean he isn't alive and here." Dusty whirled in place looking at an empty patch of air just above his head. "Yes you are. If you were dead, you wouldn't be here. I saved you. I did what I did to save you, it was all for you."

"There is nothing there, you are insane." Daedarath snapped, standing tall, snarky, and confident now that she was back on her home turf.

"I know I'm insane!" Snapped Dusty, spinning to look at her again, purple magic beginning to leak out his eye.

Blaster cut in. "Dae, that is not nice. Shouldn't you at least run some tests before just stating that?"

She looked at him. "I think it quite obvious. He is holding a conversation with nothing but air! Is that not a primary sign of insanity, speaking to air and pulling answers from it?"

"Not necessarily." Blaster shook his head. "Most of the scientists, myself included, do the same."

"That's not the same!" She yelled, exasperated.

Nightmare rushed past Crooks and Axe, who were watching with mild amusement. "Woah, guys, what's the problem?" He looked between them and Dusty and Spectre, who he actually could see.

"This guy who nearly killed us back there says his brother is here, but there is nobody here and he keeps talking to air!" Daedarath explained irritatedly.

Dusty looked to Nightmare, "My brother is right here. She is giving me trouble just because she is blind." He was equally aggravated, but kept his head a bit better.

Nightmare looked between them all. "So you guys can't see him?" He asked Daedarath and Blaster confused. When even Axe and Crooks shook their heads, he was surprised.

"Wait, you can see him?" Dusty asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, he's right there." Nightmare pointed directly at him with a tentacle.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"I'm done!" Daedarath threw her hands up in the air.

Blaster just looked around lost. Deadly people were everywhere, and they were arguing over who was or wasn't sane and if something that wasn't there actually was. What was happening to his life?

"Uh, guys, how about we order some pizza, get Axe and Crooks fed, and see where we go from there, okay? Stuff like this is going to be a bit more par for course now that the gate is open." Nightmare explained, worried. "Also, can we get something for Crooks to wear? I don't think you want, uh, his clothes in your place."

Blaster looked over before blanching.

Axe just shrugged. "It's all we could get and we made it work.

Daedarath bolted, yelling over her shoulder "I'm gonna go get pizza. Good luck!"

Nightmare laughed, causing everyone but Blaster to look over concerned and horrified. The sound of someone drowning never sounded good.

"What the actual fuck?" Dusty asked, taking a step back.

Blaster answered as Nightmare was still getting himself under control. "He's just laughing. You get used to the odd sounds. Let me see if I have anything for, ah, Crooks you said?" He looked over to Axe, not wanting to actually look at Crooks. The messed up face, bent spine, and of course, human pelt skirt were not very attractive.

Axe nodded.

Looking to Nightmare, Blaster told him, "Try to keep these guys from killing each other or our universe, okay? You sort of brought them here." and began hobbling away as fast as he could.

"Okay, so the Queen went to get food, he's going to get my brother clothes, and you are supposed to keep us here. Explain how that works?" Axe leaned against the outside wall of the barrier and looked at Nightmare. Dusty copied him on a piece of the ruins that were laying around.

Looking back and forth, Nightmare realized he had been delegated by all parties as the spokesperson once again. Behind him was a half-wall that was pretty week and even though it was chilly out, nobody was rushing inside. They all wanted some space between each other as they were all dangerous in their own right. Figuring to make himself a seat, Nightmare lashed out with two of his tentacles, bringing down the wall. It made the others jump, making him laugh as he found a niche in the newly crumbled stone and sat down.

Shivering again from his twisted laughter, they made themselves comfortable again.

Nightmare started from the very beginning, and told them the entire tale, from him being originally from Dreamtale, to being outcast into the void between worlds, to coming into this one and creating the portal and finally where they were now. During that time, Blaster came out with shorts for Crooks. They barely covered anything, but it was something for now and helped clear the air of the fetid stick of rotting skin.

Eventually Daedarath came back with ten pies of pizza, not knowing how many were staying to eat or how much each would eat, considering their guests. At first, Axe and Crooks were unsure of the food, but once they saw everyone else digging in, they stole three boxes each and got to business. Blaster never ate his crusts, so Axe nabbed them and Crooks took the toppings that Dusty didn't want. By the time everyone was done, nobody was hungry.

"Damn, if food like this can be found through that thing, we might be able to save our underground by having it shipped in." Axe hummed in contentment.

"What about other undergrounds though?" Dusty asked. "If you take from another, it could lead to a similar situation there."

"Not my problem." Axe waved him off.

"Actually there is one underground that broke the barrier. You might be able to ship in from there." Nightmare volunteered.

Instantly he had Dusty's attention, as well as everyone else's.

"They broke the barrier? What happened?" Dusty asked, expecting the worst.

"Well…" Nightmare explained the universe of Underlust and how they had been received due to their particular quirk.

"And you expect us to ship in food from a place like that?" Axe asked horrified. He had gone through starvation, but rape was another matter.

"There are people who know how to manage that verse. Have them deliver to your universe and you never have to step over to that one. I'm sure we can set something up. There is no reason for you to starve when food is readily available. We could probably even get a few other universes to help. That was the original reason, beyond trying to get out of the underground and push the limits of science, that the portal was built; so that we would be able to better able to help each other.

"I don't like the idea of humans being able to get to my brother.." Dusty started before everyone spoke over him.

As the designated peacekeeper, Nightmare got them quiet and assured Dusty that only very few humans would be able to see his brother, much like very few monsters would be able to, and he doubted that anybody could touch him, physically or magically as he was now.

Dusty still grumbled and eventually said that he would stick to his universe for the time being. Getting up, he tossed Daedarath a few gold pieces and walked past Axe and Crooks, not flinching once before going back through the portal.

Axe and Crooks had a few questions about the differences between words and were mildly surprised to find out that Daedarath was not in fact the queen. Once the basic universe dynamic was explained to them, they decided to go home and would decide on their own whether they wanted to try to set up a trade route to get food to their underground and stop the genocide of their own people.

With everyone finally gone, Nightmare, Blaster and Daedarath looked at each other before the broke down simultaneously in hysterics, laughing and crying at the same time. They recounted to each other as they made their way into Blaster's home the different parts of the day that had scared them shitless; what had them bowling over laughing inside that they couldn't remark on, and eventually when they calmed down, they began to talk about what they would have to do next.