Horror is fairly confident that he will not be attacked on sight. He makes his steps heavy and loud on purpose. Both of the voices coming from around the corner pause. Horror doesn't let that scare him, and keeps going until he can see around the bend.
As expected, both Killer and Cross are staring daggers at the tunnel entrance. Cross looks surprised, but not upset at seeing Horror. Killer's reaction is far stranger. He looks disappointed and scowls when he sees someone that he shouldn't kill. Killer turns away with a huff and stalks off to explore the next cavern for targets. Cross looks annoyed when his teammate moves off on their own.
     "What doing?" Horror asks as he approaches the other.
"Well, Killer is ransacking this AU as if it's his own. Nightmare likes us to leave people alive since dead monsters don't feel pain, but Killer is not listening to me. He is acting so weird-" Cross cuts himself off when he realizes that he has said too much. Everyone he cares about has been acting off. Nightmare and Error were hesitantly optimistic about a peace treaty, but both of them changed their minds at the last minute. Ink is dead now. Cross didn't even realize that was possible, or a good idea, but who is he to argue against Nightmare? Killer, Dust, and Horror didn't seem to question it. Cross has been trying not to let anyone catch on about his doubts. He watches the other carefully for any reaction to the comment.
Horror knows exactly what Cross is looking for. Under Fate's influence, Horror was not acting quite like himself. His memories are a little foggy. Convinced that starvation was some how imminent, Horror gave in to his more predatory and feral personality. He hasn't been talking clearly for the last few days and didn't think for himself. Cross is analyzing Horror now and seems none of that.
"Yes. Killer's weird. I was weird," Horror says, trying to reassure the other. "Let me explain-"
The large monster is cut off by angry shouting. Cross hears Killer's voice and immediately rushes off to find whatever trouble his teammate has gotten themselves into. Horror has to follow. He is frustrated to lose the chance to explain things to Cross. Horror briefly checks his pocket and makes sure that Pinto is still safely tucked inside as he runs.
     Cross and Horror rush into a new cave where Killer is currently locked in combat. Horror is dismayed to see that Dream and Blue have been discovered. They tried to circle around and figure out Horror's talk with Cross was going, but they accidentally ran into Killer.
     "Come on, Horror! We outnumber them. We can't let Killer fight alone," Cross shouts. He quickly charges Dream to take the arguably better skilled enemy off of Killer.
Horror feels awful for what he has to do. He pulls Pinto out. "Get Killer. Me and Dream will hold off Cross."
"I can do it!" Pinto cheers. Horror gives the bitty a small smile before rearing back his arm. Pinto does not know what is going on until he is suddenly soaring through the air. Horror threw him. The large monster then reluctantly raises his axe and rushes after his friend.
Dream is struggling to keep Cross occupied without actually hurting him. Cross is attacking fiercely in defense of Killer. Dream has to continuously dodge the large blade. The positive Guardian fights with a pair of daggers rather than his bow. Dream uses his curved daggers to occasionally catch Cross's blade and throw the royal guard off balance.
"Why are you holding back?" Cross snaps with suspicion after only a short minute. Dream does not get the chance to come up with a believable lie. Cross gasps as large arms wrap arms wrap around him, pinning his arms to his sides.
"Sorry. Sorry. Understand soon," Horror apologies as he retrains Cross.
"What are you doing!?" Cross shouts. He struggles wildly to escape the hold. Horror drops them both to the ground, knocking the wind out of Cross when the smaller monster's chest hits the ground. Dream jumps in to help keep Cross pinned.
When Pinto was thrown, he careened through the air until he smacked into blue's back. The bitty clings to the fabric. Blue jolts and quickly realizes what must be dangling off his shirt, but he has no time to help. Blue raises a sturdy bone and blocks Killer's incoming knife. Pinto can't help from his current position. He bends his legs up and pushes off Blue's back. Magic bubbles to life within his small body, and Pinto reaches an arm out to the ground. An inky spout reaches up from the cave floor to catch the falling bitty. It delivers him safely to the ground. Killer has not yet noticed this second opponent, too busy trying to cut Blue to pieces.
Pinto urges his magic to grow. The black paint puddle that previously caught him begins to grow larger. It bubbles and creeps underneath the feet of the two larger monsters. Blue doesn't even notice because wherever he steps, the paint quickly recedes. Pinto doesn't want to make Blue lose his footing. Killer is not so lucky. When the paint seeps to feet, it rises up and latches onto his ankles. Killer loses his balance mid step and goes crashing down into the dark puddle. Hands immediately rise from the paint and clamp onto his body. Killer yells and tugs against their hold.
Blue is slightly unnerved by the bodiless appendages. That does not stop him from jumping onto Killer's back and further pinning the murder. "Now Pinto!" Blue shouts.
One of the inky hands bends down so that Pinto can race up it and onto Killer's back. Blue does his best to hold down Killer's head and shoulders. The murder is raving mad as he thrashes. Pinto slips down to the crook of Killer's neck and reaches past his collarbone. The red strings are always so easy for him to find. Pinto grabs a thread in both hands and yanks, stumbling backwards when it gives.
Killer immediately falls limp. Blue swipes Pinto up and jumps off the prone skeleton, backing off and putting distance between them. Pinto's magic releases Killer and recedes back into the ground.
"What was that? What did Blue do to him?" Cross hisses. He has been forced to watch the whole thing. Cross feels very betrayed that Horror is letting this happen.
"Not Blue. Pinto. It's okay." Horror's words have become more clipped with his distress. He hates the look that Cross is giving him.
"Fuuuuuuck....." Killer suddenly groans. He clutches at his head and looks around blearily. "...... What am I doing?" Like Horror, Killer has the same understanding that he has just been freed from something. It feels like he can think clearly for the first time in weeks. Killer is unnerved when he looks up and sees everyone. He sits up and scoots further away from Blue.
     "Hey, hey, it's okay now. No more fighting. We just wanted to help after finding out about Fate's strings. Error sent us to help." Dream is quick to spew out an explanation and get off Cross. Dream steps back to stand next to Blue.
     "Killer? Better?" Horror asks. He sits up and lets Cross free.
     "Y-Yeah, I'm better," Killer answers with some hesitation. It's not every day that your enemies come to save you.
Cross is utterly baffled. Killer's behavior has changed in seconds. He is untrusting of Blue and Dream, but Killer is not attacking with single-minded hate anymore.
      "What is happening?" Cross asks anxiously.
     "It's hard to explain," Killer says with frustration.
     "Strings," Horror growls.
     Dream and Blue step away to let the three talk amongst themselves without added pressure. Pinto is still being cradled in the later's hands. The bitty is lethargic despite all the activity happening around him. Breaking Fate's strings takes a lot out of him. Dream is concerned, but Blue knows what to do. He pulls out a cookie from his inventory and offers it to Pinto. The sugary treat isn't exactly healthy, but Blue figures that the bitty has more than earned it. Pinto sits up comedically quickly when he smells it. Blue and Dream watch with some disbelief as Pinto devours the entire cookie. He has easily eaten over two times his own body weight today. His magic burns through calories faster than a hummingbird in flight.
     Horror does his best to get his two family members up to speed. Killer already has a fuzzy idea of what is going on. He knows that his actions over the last day have not been borne of his own will. Killer doesn't like the fact that Blue and Dream had to come rescue his ass, but it is a relief to be rid of Fate's influence. Cross is more skeptic of the whole situation. Nightmare and Error are too formidable to have not noticed their minds being slowly influenced. However, Horror and Killer are suddenly acting much more like themselves. Cross has noticed Nightmare becoming more easily agitated over the last few months. The Guardian of Negativity is usually kinder to the ones that he calls his own. A truce with Ink meant no more long nights of Nightmare watching over his boys in the medical bay. Cross thoughts that they all wanted that, but Nightmare switched his views out of nowhere. Everyone else went along with it, so Cross never questioned it.
     Killer and Cross are even more caught off guard to hear about exactly who has taken up the God of Creation's mantle. An artificial, soulless monster the size of a baseball is leading the charge in fighting against Fate. What the hell was Ink smoking when he picked Pinto? Once Killer and Cross have been filled in on everything that has happened, Horror drags them both over to Dream and Blue.
     "I know everything is messy right now, but we have to set aside our differences until Fate's hold on my brother and Dust has been destroyed," Dream says, "Until then, we need to work together."
     Killer looks hesitant, but Cross ends up speaking for the both of them. "I will do whatever it takes to help them. If that means putting my trust in a god small enough to step on, so be it."