Karmas bad day just keeps getting worse and the Bitties worry over the babybones

——-

*^&$@ multiverse

Sunny nearly threw up at such an abrupt mode of travel, never having experienced something like that before. He felt dizzy and disoriented, even the air feeling heavy to his senses. What made it worse was that when his eyes finally focused, all he saw was a beautiful forest and clear blue skies, clearly contrasting with the almost suffocating feeling in the air.

He nearly burst into relieved tears when the uncomfortable feeling suddenly vanished, replaced with the cold yet comforting magic from Karma.

"W-What was that?!"

He squeaked out, shaky and not realising he was clinging to his friends in a vice grip and nearly choking Blot in the process.

"...Just a greeting. I will make sure to block it from you, Sunny"

Karma said distractedly, busy eyeing the new AU warily. His wings bristled when he felt the foreign magic surge again, using the tricks Eclipse taught him to muffle the far too enthusiastic 'greeting' for his liking. His gaze landed on the source, not pleased at how persistent this Tree of Feelings was.

He wasn't sure what would happen to a Dream Bitty if they were subjected to that type of magic for too long, so made sure to stay on guard to protect his friends.

He flinched when the odd numbers appeared in his vision again, shaking his head to try and get rid of them.

He had far larger things to worry about now, realising he was still in the same multiverse as before. He could tell due to the magic in the air having a distinct feeling far too familiar , very confused at what could have gone wrong.

He knew his portal capabilities weren't the best but this was far too unusual even for him, usually ending up somewhere far away from his original destination whenever he failed. He spiked his magic to form another portal, freezing when he sensed SOULS rushing to their location, his magic abruptly cutting out in his shock.

"We need to go, now . Hold on!'

He murmured a quick warning before using his wings to give him a boost while he ran, his invisibility being useless due to the nature of the two SOULS coming their way.

"Why are we in such a rush?!"

"WHERE ARE WE?!"

"I feel sick..."

He didn't have time to comfort the Bitties, his breath stuttering when he caught a glance of the two beings. He really wanted to stop and study them, it rather rare to encounter these two SOULS so early in the timeline but his common sense kicked in when Sunny whimpered.

He was sure he would have this chance in the future, for now he needed to hide and try to find out what was happening with his magic. He didn't stop running until he was far from any SOULS, needing a movement of quiet to try and gather his thoughts and figure out what was happening right now.

"...You should stop now, Karma. You can't keep this up"

Blot said in worry, unsure how long the babybones had been running for but considering the sun had gone down, he would assume it had been a long time.

He shared a look filled with worry with Sunny and Azure, purring to try and calm the frantic babybones. He knew Bitties were originally made as a companion for certain monsters, disgusted how it had changed over the years to them acting more like pets or worse simple toys to be used and discarded.

"..I still can't feel t-them. D-Did they leave? They p-promised they wouldn't.."

He grew alarmed at the tears Karma was shedding, still lost on what they were talking about but at least able to provide some comfort as he nuzzled into them.

With plenty of encouragement they managed to get Karma to sit down, the Bitties keeping up mindless chatter to distract the babybones, stopping when soft snores from Karma were heard.   

"...WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO, SUNNY?"

Azure asked in worry, knowing there was very little they could do, huddling into Karmas scarf to keep warm.

"We have options. Hopefully after a rest we can get more answers from Karma"

Sunny said reassuringly, hiding his fear from the other two about the possibility of being stuck here. He was sure after a good night's sleep things would become clearer, using his magic to help calm his two friends and getting ready to settle in for the night.

-

"I told you we shouldn't have left, Dream!"

"I said I was sorry, Nightmare! It's just the village elder want-"

"They always want something, Dream!"

"I know.."

Nightmare felt his frustration evaporate as his twins despondent look, knowing they were trying their best but knew it wouldn't change much in the end. Ever since those travellers settled down near their tree, things had been much harder for them both and it had only gotten worse when the newcomers had discovered the twins assigned roles.

He wasn't sure why being a Negativity Guardian meant he was 'evil' or that Dream now had to cater for everyone else's needs but he knew his twin was far too kind to deny someone. He might hate the travellers but it had brought a small spark of life to their usual routine, discovering a wonderful thing called 'books' while his twin enjoyed the pastries in the small bakery.

Of course he had to be sneaky to actually read anything, the majority of the villagers not even wanting him near them, easily sensing the fear and hatred that emanated off them in waves .

"I'm sure nothing bad has happened to mother or the apples. It will be fine, Night"

He hoped so, only letting out a breath of relief when he saw that Dream was right, their small 'home' just as they left it.

Did he imagine the presence then?

He was sure he felt a surge of fear just a moment ago...

"We should add more traps. I can see a few have been set off"

He was convinced that the traps were the main reason he didn't have even more wounds from the 'loving care' of the villagers, the majority of them far too cowardly to risk the traps after all.

He looked over at Dream in confusion when they began giggling, only managing to catch a few words form their breathless laughter but even that only managed to confuse him more. He startled at the weird chanting coming from mother, feeling so very lost. 

"..Dream? Why is she talking about 'grandbabies'?"

He said bewildered, sighing when his twin fell to the ground laughing, his own mouth twitching in mirth. He was glad they were feeling better, guessing that was mothers aim in the end.

"Lets get some rest, Dream"

He encouraged his twin to sit at the base of their tree once they began to calm down, curling up beside them as he felt their laughter slowly trail off.

He wished more days could be like this, enjoying the rare peace and quiet of the surrounding forest.

Soon. It won't be long now, LitTlE nIgHt~

He ignored the long familiar temptation coming from the apples, instead cuddling with his twin as he closed his eyes. He ignored how the voice was much louder lately, his dreams filled with apples and revenge . 

-

Karma stared at his phone blankly.

No matter what he tried he was unable to get in contact with anyone, unsure if it was even connected at all. He had tried everyone on his contacts lists, yet none of them went through and bizarrely a few of them said the number somehow didn't exist. This situation was only growing worse, shakily putting his phone back trying to ignore what this could all mean . 

"ANY LUCK?"

"Nope"

He said with a frown, fiddling with his scarf anxiously as he looked around.

He had felt much calmer when he woke up, having checked his Inventory again to make sure he had enough food to last him a while but it's when he once again tried to form a portal, that things went downhill.

He wasn't even able to summon the magic to even form it anymore, watching in disbelief as his own magic smothered itself and dissipated into the air. He had quickly checked to make sure that his other abilities weren't hindered, relieved they weren't but that still meant he was stuck here.

"..what about this? Would that help?"

Sunny cautiously asked the trembling babybones, gently poking the cookie pin that was bursting with magic on their scarf. Surely this could do something, pretty sure he had heard Karma talk about it when they were in the Void.

" No. We shall not be using that "

His eyelights shrunk at the cold delivery, wondering what had set them off as he could feel a deluge of emotions that greatly conflicted.

Grief/Love/Loneliness/Joy/HA TE -

He shuddered when it abruptly cut off, fearing for a moment that he was about to watch Karma dust that was usually why emotions cut off . It felt unnatural to not sense anything from then, especially when he could physically feel and see Karma in front of him.

"Can you contact your dad-"

" That is also not available, Sunny. Please drop it "

He flinched at how that was nearly hissed out, making a wounded noise when Karmas eyelight visibly dimmed, clearly trying not to cry.

Blot hated to be the one to interrupt the odd tension in the air but he was getting some unsettling feelings from dark clouds overhead. They looked weird and after dealing with the uniqueness unspeakable horror that was the Void, he would rather be safe than sorry. He nudged Sunny and pointed to the sky, which unfortunately caught the babybones attention who paled dramatically.

" Fuck"

"Language, Karma!"

Karma didn't seem to hear the admonishment, steeling himself as he made his way towards the source.

How had he ended up travelling here on this day?! His luck had to be absolutely abysmal for such a trail of bad luck to occur in such a short period of time.

He held in a gasp when his role screamed at him to move, cursing at how it was acting up at a time like this. It hadn't been this annoying in a while and he could usually push it down but of course he had to be stuck in this multiverse . 

He should have asked da- Oneiro to destroy this place years ago.

"KARMA?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

Whoops, guess he was talking out loud again. The perfect distraction did turn up though, carefully landing in a tree and curling his wings around his body to try and blend in. It was dark enough for it at least, using his hand to hide the Bitties view when the screaming started.

He looked on neutrally, sensing the mortals time had come and watching dispassionately as the main event that would affect this multiverse began.

"You won't want to see this. Stay in the scarf"

Azure huffed, determined to see what could be so bad, managing to peek through Karmas fingers and deeply regretting it afterwards. He shivered at the sheer destruction and monster dust on the ground, not putting up a fight when Karma gently used their scarf to completely cover them.

"I told you not to look"

Karma said calmly as he made sure to prevent the Bitties from witnessing the violent sight. The carnage was nothing new to him as he blankly watched the events transpiring, knowing he was unable to interfere without dire consequences he wasn't the only one at risk right now . 

He stiffened at the flutter of amusement he sensed in the air, trying to shake it off and kept his gaze on the main danger.

He had never witnessed this event in person before but now understood why most Guardians were so evasive when talking about it. The magic in the air was almost fighting itself and everything around it, watching as the newly corrupted Nightmare went on a rampage.

"B-Brother? What are you-"

"DrEam! Betrayer!"

"Did you eat the apples, brother?! What happened to mot-"

"Die! YoU arE nOt mY TwiN!"

*CRACK*

"Hmm, well that's not good"

Karma muttered to himself, which he knew was massively understating just how bad this actually was. The sound of a SOUL cracking was really bad in this situation, especially when it came from the Positivity Guardian, who was currently kind of vital for the delicate balance of this young multiverse.

He could feel his own SOUL respond, as if preparing to do the one thing it had originally been made to do one he hadn't thought of in years .

...Well, he had honestly lasted longer than he expected and was prepared to just let it happen they left, they LeFT mE aGaIn- if not for the reminder of the three Bitties that needed him for their survival. It's not like anyone else would be left alive once Nightmare was done here and no matter how he was feeling now, he didn't want to condemn his friends to certain death.

He sighed, feeling like he had aged a millennium, as he got ready to at least try and stay alive. The things he did for some people....

He narrowed his eyes on the golden apple that had 'lucky' rolled into the bush by the tree he was in, doubting it was mere coincidence.

What he was about to do was definitely going to attract Nightmares attention though but he had so little other options left. He glared at the apple like it was all its fault, then tried to use blue magic to move it, despite not having practised this magic type often.

Thankfully it did the job, the golden apple jerkily dropped at Dreams feet who seemed to instinctively know what to do but he just knew no good deed goes unpunished.

He watched as Dream shuddered as they took the apple into their SOUL, neither twin a spirit anymore and now in more solid bodies. He observed how Dreams body was slowly petrified and twitched in trepidation when Nightmares hateful gaze switched to his hiding place.

He didn't need Judgement magic to tell him that he needed to avoid them, jumping out the tree when a tentacle spiked and headed towards him.

"DrEaM?"

He grimaced at the mistake, not bothering to correct them as he flew away. He was hoping that their altered state would give him a head start, not planning to fight back as he was not risking dusting them.

He put too much effort into staying alive, no point in ruining it by a silly accident.

~~~~~

Sunny: *Nearly choking from the magic from the Tree of Feelings* What was that?!

Karma: *Rather blasé about the whole thing* Just a very pushy tree
-
Karma: *Having a downward spiral and blankly staring off into the distance* This is fine...

Bitties: *Freaking out at the Karmas apathetic expression and unsure what to do*
-
Karma:*Watching the apple incident with slight interest but mainly apathy* Huh, so thats how it happened..

Azure: *On the verge of a panic attack at what he saw*

Sunny: *Increasingly worried about Karmas declining mental state* We really need to talk about this at some point