Goretober 2023

17. Poison

**The poison
**The poison for Kuzco
**Kuzco's poison...

Error was visiting Nightmare for a break. Ink wasn't creating and Fate wasn't as active as she usually is on these days so he decided to visit his mutuals in an abandoned AU. Nightmare was a being of negativity, not really being friendly to most but tolerating others and being tolerable himself.

Error was initially hesitant to enter Nightmare's abode. He wasn't scared of the guardian or anything, more so the pain that the other could inflict, but it was his henchmen who were more of the wildcards. They weren't insane but they always attempted to look the part. Apparently Nightmare had a thing for murderous psychopaths. They were victims of unfortunate circumstances and he knew not to judge without knowing the full story, but fear is a big factor of his life. He was paranoid 24/7, it has disinterested many relationships and saved him from pain many times. He couldn't help but be fearful of the possibilities that could happen beyond this door.

He knocked, not only to be polite but also as a warning before he opened the door. For some reason they don't lock their entrances, as if encouraging outsiders to enter. Moving into the house he carefully looked around the entrance and main room. He couldn't see anyone and it looked completely vacant. Of course he didn't let his guard down and continued into the house. He hugged himself, defending his chest and continued walking to the kitchen. Most messes don't happen in the kitchen, that being the most organized place besides Nightmare's own room. He found Nightmare sitting with a coffee machine next to him. Killer was eating a nice cream while leaning against the counter.

Killer stared at Error's figure while Nightmare looked at a few papers. The two retained eye contact before Nightmare officially greeted Error, Killer averting his eyes and continued his munching on the dessert. One of Nightmare's extra apendages pat down a seat next to him as he lifted his head to look at Error.

The destroyer was a mess, ragged and ripped clothes, his coat barely hanging on by the seams. His shirt looked darker, possibly mixed with dried blood and dust from victims or from himself. He walked with bare and scared feet, somehow being worse than every other bone on his body. His scarf looked to be the only piece of clothing intact, still being as bright as the first day they met. His sockets were accompanied by heavy bags under his eyes, his repeated overnight workload has made him into a raging insomniac.

Error hesitantly took a seat and Nightmare reached for an already prepared cup that had a generous amount of coffee in it. The outcode looked hesitantly at the cup then to Nightmare. He doesn't digest anything well, not drinks, not food, and certainly not paints or foreign objects. So what was Nightmare expecting his reaction to be?

Nightmare enlightened Error in the art of coffee, how it helps insomniacs and obsessive workers like them to cope for the years ahead. He drank his own cup as an example, relishing in the taste of caffeine. Error held the cup, as if to temp the idea Nightmare was trying to sell. He wasn't buying it, it's not that he wasn't tired—he was beyond exhausted— he's just gotten over the whole lack of sleep problem. Error didn't look convinced and Nightmare noticed, he attempted to further persuade the dummy destroyer into taking a small sip, saying that 'what doesn't kill him makes him stronger'.

Error toyed with the idea, eventually deciding this caffeine wasn't worth his time or magic. So he declined.

(**Now this part is a bit rushed)

His skull was pushed into the coffee cup, breaking the ceramic cup and leaving the contents inside it to spill out onto the wooden table. Nightmare grabbed a clear vial behind the coffee machine that was hidden from view and with to the assistance of Killer, shoved the entire bottle to the recovering destroyer. A piece of cloth was placed over his face and he struggled to get the foreign liquid away from him. His Magic reacted to this and Nightmare's hand that held the vial began to erode. He pulled back in panic and Error grabbed the monster behind him, pulling Killer above his head and onto the table that broke with a terrifying crack.

He ripped the cloth off his eyes and fled to the Anti-Void. He was trying to steady his breaths. He couldn't breathe. It felt. Like. His Magic was... working against him.! He tried for Outertale, his hands were shaking and he gripped onto the portal as he made his way through.

His entire body spasmed and twitched and any breathing exercises he knew of weren't working as well as he thought. His glitches surrounded his person and he tried to keep his head straight as it began to spin. He cried to himself as a headache grew and his glitches didn't help. The bright flashing lights of code in his eyes had him fighting against a crash but he couldn't help it.

He knelt to the ground and his Magic was brought up and out his throat. It quickly became painful and burned his throat. He struggled to keep himself up, all his remaining strength gone and he only felt worse than before. He didn't know what to do, how to move forward, or how to process what exactly happened. He was at a loss, betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. Someone who he felt could maybe help him feel a bit normal.

He was tired. So he sat himself down, and looked towards the stars.

They burned brightly in the sky, with not a care in the world. Shooting falls fell as if the sky was trying to cry for his misunderstandings.

His eyes also fell, but he didn't relax. He forced them back open and moved to get his body back in order. Taking a more controlled breath he moved to stand, and promptly crashed afterwards.

His body had found a virus and finally took to getting rid of it, At the expense of any motor abilities or awareness of the outside world.

**then Ink came and pushed him off the edge
**the end