The air in the gray, desolate expanse Of the Underground—a twisted version of it, at least—was thick with the smell of dust and ozone. You stood there, your hands trembling slightly as you gripped your weapon. Before you lay a fallen Monster, breathing their last. You hesitated. The Thought of "Mercy" felt like it was glowing in your mind, even though it had been shattered long ago.

"kid, you're doin' that thing again," a raspy voice echoed.

Dust stepped out of the shadows, his mismatched eye-lights flickering—one red, one cyan. He floated a sharpened bone lazily in his hand. "the 'moral dilemma' face. we talked about this. dust is just... XP waiting to happen. and XP is just a shield against the pain."

Horror lumbered over, his massive axe dragging against the floor with a screeching metallic sound. He didn't look angry; he looked hungry, but also strangely protective. He patted your head with a hand that could easily crush a skull, but his touch was surprisingly light. "Eat... or be eaten," Horror grunted, his one red eye staring intensely at you. "If you don't... they hurt you."

"YEAH, BROTHER! OR, WELL, 'NEW' BROTHER!" Killer chirped, teleporting right next to you and slinging an arm over your shoulder. His soul—a target-shaped void—throbbed with a faint red glow. "Look, kid. We know it's weird. You’ve got that 'Papyrus' spark in you. That's why we like ya! But even Paps would want you to survive, right? And survival means making sure there’s nobody left to swing back." Killer handed you a cloth to wipe the sweat from your forehead. "Finish it. For us? For the trio? Make it a quartet."

You took a deep breath, looked at the three skeletons who had basically adopted you as their 'Second Papyrus,' and steeled your Bones. You then Delivered the final blow.

The moment the job was done, the temperature in the room plummeted. The shadows on the walls began to writhe and stretch, turning into oily, ink-like tentacles. Nightmare emerged from a pool of darkness. He didn't look impressed. In fact, he looked disgusted. "Pathetic," Nightmare hissed, his single teal eye narrowed at you. "I watched the whole thing. You wavered for three minutes and forty-two seconds. In a real war, you’d be a pile of ash before you even decided which foot to lead with."

"Boss, leave the kid alone," Dust muttered, stepping slightly in front of you. "They got it done."

Nightmare’s tentacle lashed out, slamming into a pillar next to Dust’s head, shattering the stone. "Silence! I am not interested in your sentimental delusions. You three treat this... child... like a replacement for the brother you failed. But to me? To the Multiverse? They are a weak link. A mistake."

He turned his gaze toward you, the sheer weight of his negativity making it hard to breathe. "You are a parasite, Little Skeleton. You soak up their pity and give nothing but hesitation in return. If you weren't somewhat useful as a distraction, I would have fed you to the hounds of the abyss weeks ago." He spent the next ten minutes deconstructing your every flaw, calling you a "burden" and a "waste of negative energy" before vanishing into a portal with a final, chilling warning: "Next time you hesitate, don't bother coming back to the castle."

The silence that followed was heavy. Nightmare was gone, but his words lingered like a bad taste.

"well," Dust said, breaking the silence as he sat down on the dusty floor, leaning against a pillar. "that was... unpleasant." "He's a jerk," Killer said, his usual manic energy replaced by a cold, sharp tone. He sat next to you and started sharpening his knife with unnecessary force. "He doesn't get it. He doesn't have a brother- he just has Whatever that 'Dream' Guy Is, He doesn't Understand The 'Papyrus' Vibe."

Horror sat on your other side, as he spoke. "Ignore the... gooey octopus. You're good."

Dust Then Looks away from the Wall, As he speaks up. "Let's Go Back to the Castle Now."