"I found him." Ink stated, placing his hands on his hips as he smirked up at Dream, his eyelights morphing back into the same red crosshairs that indicated his inner bloodlust.

Dream was taken aback, glancing to the side momentarily, before returning the focus of his gaze to the skeleton before him.

"Pardon? You found him? Like, you actually saw him walking around today?" Dream questioned, baffled, not quite knowing how to respond to such a statement.

Ink nodded.

"Correct. I saw a suspicious looking man walking along the road while I was out surveying one of Earth's towns, so I followed him for a while. He walked into a mall and looked like he was following some lady around, as if he were helping with shopping or something of the sort. They must've gotten into an argument or something, because he ended up storming off and talking to himself."

Dream laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared down at his teammate, an uneasy smile creeping its way across his face.

"Uh, how can you be sure that was him? Couldn't that just have been some random couple buying groceries?" Dream squeaked, trying not to come of as rude, so as not to irritate his ally.

Ink shook his skull, grinning wider and a slimmer of sadism could be seen in his eyelights, dark fantasies encroaching in on his thoughts.

"No. I heard his voice, Dream. He was quite loud, the distorted undertone obviously belonged to him; no human is capable of making noises like that." He beamed, his eyelights momentarily flashing.

Dream sighed softly, pondering the sanity of his comrade, as it clearly seemed to be deteriorating rapidly. The chances of him experiencing auditory hallucinations were much higher than spotting a man who was presumably dead, though he decided to go along with it.

"Alright, good job! Were you able to find his current spot of residence?" He questioned, remaining optimistic.

At this, Ink once again shook his head, though his excitement didn't waver, not even for a moment. If anything, his sinister happiness only grew, as he smirked yet wider.

He was planning something.

"Unfortunately, no. That'd make things much easier for us, but he spent so much time in the mall that by the time he left, it was already nightfall. But, . . . I did manage to get this . . . "

He trailed off, digging through one of his pockets before presenting a few pictures, with the focus of the pictures being on the face of an interesting looking human. Her features were rather pleasant, and most of the snapshots featured her standing or walking in close proximity to the figure they assumed was their target.

Dream's eyesockets widened, his pinpricks dilating as he looked between his so-called 'friend' and the images in his grasp, and for the first time in his life, he was truly afraid of the skeleton before him. Ink, however, remained unphased by Dream's visible terror, chuckling to himself as he tapped the portrait of the female with his index finger, alluding to something that is better left unsaid.

". . . W-what do you plan to do to her?"

* * *

Well.

This was certainly interesting.

The Murder Time Trio, Dust, Horror and Killer, looked up at their boss as if he were crazy, wondering if they heard him properly. At the moment, they had all gathered in the living room as Nightmare explained his plan, washed up in confusion.

"Uh, boss? Did you just say, 'we're taking a 'nap' ?" Killer questioned, his face falling in bewilderment.

Nightmare grinned and nodded, crossing his arms proudly across his chest, smiling as if he had just won the lottery. He snapped his fingers, causing the boys' pillows and comforters to appear in a neat stack in front of him, before kicking it over and toppling their things to the floor for no apparent reason.

He probably just liked being a pain.

"Correct. Genius, is it not? Hold your applause, please." Nightmare remarked, giving himself a non-literal pat on the back, feeling rather accomplished for thinking up such a totally-useful idea that would totally help them rescue their totally-endangered ally.

Totally.

Dust laughed, shaking his skull in disbelief and taking a seat on the nearby couch, sinking into the cushions as he made himself comfortable.

"Heh heh, v'ry funny, Boss. Could ya tell us th' real plan now?" He chuckled bitterly, not appreciating Nightmare making light of such a serious matter, scowling slightly.

Nightmare returned the glare, huffing softly as he smacked Dust upside the skull, while Horror and Killer suppressed some amused laughter.

"Hmph. That is the real plan. Vacuum cleaner over here does not seem impressed, does he, boys?" Nightmare added satirically, crossing his arms, as the two giggling males nodded.

The dark skeleton rolled his singular eyelight, quite literally kicking Dust off the couch as he settled down, laying on his back. Dust quickly caught himself, refraining from falling over as he sourly took a seat on the smaller sofa, gritting his teeth.

"Well, too bad. Our dearest Vacuum does not call the shots, I do. And I think our best course of action would be to take a nap." He hummed carelessly, intertwining his fingers and resting them on his chest, letting out a sigh as he relaxed.

Killer and Horror, who settled down from earlier, exchanged looks of equal confusion, tilting their heads in the direction of their Boss, before shaking their skulls, as if having a mental debate.

Horror then thrust out his balled-up first, his other hand being open underneath it, indicating that they play a quick round of Rock Paper Scissors to settle their quarrel. Killer nodded, holding out his fist as well, mentally attempting to assesss what move Horror would make. On three, they both choose their move.

Scissors vs. Rock.

Killer lost.

With an elongated sigh, he nodded and accepted his fate, sidling up beside the couch and lightly poking Nightmare's arm, trying to get his attention. They had been debating over whom should ask the question they all had, though none of them particularly wanted to, due to how intimidating their leader was.

"Hey, Boss? Not ta question your judgment or anything, but how exactly is taking a nap going to help? At all?" He asked, recieving an irrigated grunt from the mentioned.

"Must I explain everything? Fine. On the day that my ugly brother and his even uglier underlings threw our destroyer into an unknown AU, I caught a glimpse of the scenery behind him and committed it to memory. I then searched the dreams and nightmares of the residents in the multiverse, until I found matching results and attempted to locate them. Fortunately, some idiot by the name of 'Jared' had dreamt of using something called 'Google Maps,' which provided me with name AUs name."

"Earth."

Killer, along with the others, nodded along, following his process so far. Horror chimed in, a look of confusion written across his features as he spoke.

"Earth, huh? 'S funny, I n'ver heard of an AU like dat, do ya know where 't is? And God, that sounds pathetic, who dreams o' usin' a map?"

Nightmare shook his skull, deflating ever so slightly; answering so many obvious questions was tiring.

"Tis indeed pathetic, and no. Had I known where that was, we would have prepared for a raid, after some extensive research on the inhabitants, of course. They are surely quite deadly, seeing as they were the death sentence of the Destroyer of AUs."

"Regardless, I did, however, happen to track down Error's dreams, and obviously, that would be our method of communication. Perhaps he could give us some intel on where he is and how to rescue him. I just thought you would like to see him as well, t'was quite a while since last time, after all. But if you keep irritating me while I try to rest, I shall tear your faces off and throw you out until you learn to shut your traps." Nightmare growled, shutting his eyesocket and rolling onto his side, attempting to make himself as comfortable as possible so as to slumber faster.

The boys immediately fell silent, incredibly excited at the though of being able to see their missing comrade after so long, missing him immensely. They quickly set up their things on the floor, laying down their pillows and blankets before falling limp on top of them, screwing their eyesockets shut so as to fall asleep as soon as possible. Still yet, wide, excited grins had managed to creep across their faces, nearly causing Nightmare to gag.

"Ugh, stop doing that too, whilst you are at it. Your positivity is sickening for a creature comprised of negativity. Stop being happy and sleep already." The tall skeleton hissed, covering his skull with a nearby pillow in attempts to block out their happiness.

* * *