Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A multiverse full of nothing. Is it even a multiverse at this point, if there isn't anything there?

And a void of white, a void of nothing… The only place they seem to be able to touch.

"Is this all we have?"

"It's empty."

"Empty…"

The voices of the gods unconnected mumble and chatter. It's true, they have nothing at all. Nothing to do, nothing to watch.

"What should we do?"

"Can we do anything?"

The gods question their state. 

"What are we, anyways?"

"What is the point of us being here?"

"Why do we exist?"

The gods question their being.

"Should we do something?"

"What can we do?"

The gods-

"Well, I would like to do something."

One of the gods has an idea.

"What is it, then?"

"I…"

"Say it."

"Well, if we have all this 'nothing'…"

"Then…?"

"We should make a 'something'!"

The gods chatter loudly. How then, would they make something exist out of nothing? Despite being things that just came into being, they know that such an idea is laughable.

"That's impossible!"

"How are we supposed to do that?"

"We have no way of making something out of thin air!"

They berate that one god out of the collective, with on idea bigger than they could ever be.

But they still try.

"I…"

"I don't want to live like this."

"With nothing."

Focusing, they feel something. Something trying to make its way into this empty multiverse.

"I want a world to be made."

"I want something to call my own."

"I want to create something."

That something they felt, it begins to sketch its way into the world. 

But just as this small god notices, it stops.

They made something, but it wasn't enough.

"That's…"

Another god bumps in. 

"It's not enough, is it?"

Still, they speak.

"I can keep trying. No, I will keep trying."

"Good luck."

"I…"

"Because you're going to need it."

Still, they try and try. One sketch of a world turns into ten. Then one hundred. Then a thousand.

Despite this, their universes refuse to be successful. They are still left as sketches without life, and what is the point of a world like that?

"Will anyone help me?"

They ask.

"Surely, if we did this together we could make something that is alive!"

They plead.

"No."

"I don't want to have false hope in nothing."

"This is the way things are, and they suck, but that is how it is."

It seems hopeless, for this one god. They have nobody on their side, but surely if someone gave them assistance…

And then…

"I want to help."

"Me too!"

"You're right! Maybe if we did this together, we would get some results."

More voices speak up, offering their help.

"I can help!"

"Tell us how you're making these sketches, maybe it'd help?"

"Yeah, it'd be easier if we all did it together!"

As the voices focus, something sketches itself into existence, a lone drawn universe with one inhabitant with one soul.

It is still a mess, though. An improper universe, and all of them know it.

"That's…"

"We failed…"

"Oh no…"

Meanwhile, while these gods sulk over their failure, the one sketch with a soul ponders their being…

Much like the gods before them.

He thinks to himself. "Surely there can't be all this is."

He wonders to himself. "Surely there's more than this."

It's suffocating to him, to have to live in an incomplete, mess of a universe. With no purpose or nobody to talk to, what is the point really of living that way?

There isn't, is there?

Taking out his soul, he decides. 

If there isn't a point, then he will just choose not to exist.

Before the gods notice, their beloved creation tears his soul into two.

Rip…

And their creation ends up in the white void of nothing, the only place they thought they could properly reach.

But what is the point if he can't feel a thing, do a thing?

"It's so frustrating!"

"When we finally get something to go our way, it ends up like this!"

"This isn't fair!"

Unknown to them, their frustration pours onto their creation in the form of paint.

Yelling out in anger, he gets up and storms around, thoughts floating in his head for the first time since he lost his soul.

"It's not fair! Why am I stuck this way!?" He shouts, getting the gods' attention. "I don't get it, why do I have to exist just for there to be nothing at all!?!?!"

"He's…"

"Oh my stars, how did we do that?"

"We got angry, that's what."

So, tons of the gods focus all their mixed emotion onto their creation, dumping the paint in a chaotic mix of rainbow onto their child.

His eyes swirl, mixed up by having all these emotions so intense at once. It's too much for him, so he vomits up ink and swiftly passes out after.

"Oh…"

"Well, we know not to do that."

"What should we do with him, though?"

The gods murmur over this question. They made something, but now what?

Then, it comes to them.

They do not have a good enough connection to their multiverse.

But he does.

So, they decide.

They will give him the power of creation, making him into a god of his own.

Surprisingly, nobody fights back against this idea, for all of them want a multiverse to exist, after all.

Their joy manifests into yellow paint, pouring directly onto their creation.

Upon hearing the voices of his creators, he shouts with happiness.

"Oh my stars! I'm not alone!" He exclaims. "I have someone to talk to!"

Shocked, the gods respond.

"You can hear us?"

He nods. "Yep! I was really lonely, but now I have people I can speak to!"

"Well, we have a question."

"Fire away!" He joyfully shouts.

"Would you like to become the god of creation?"

"Uh…" Their creation thinks… that's a lot to ask. But… "Sure! I don't know how you're going to do that, though."

"Well…"

"Let's try it."

The gods focus their energy into this one gift, focusing the similar power of making a universe, but into a person instead of a multiverse.

Suddenly, a burst of rainbow, a different kind of rainbow than the emotional paint, pours onto their creation. His eyes change into several shapes and colors, as his body processes his newfound power.

"I… woah…" He lies there, stunned. "That's a lot of stuff you just put in my little body, ahaha…"

"That's a sign it worked, isn't it?"

"Y- Yeah…" He sits up. "Anyways, what are you guys called? We didn't exactly exchange names and stuff before, huh?"

"Uh…"

"We don't have names."

"Or names in general."

"I mean, neither do you."

"Well…" He trails off. "How about we name each other! I will call you The Creators, since you made me and all."

"That's a stupid name. You're the god of creation, you know."

"But he's going to be making stuff for us, so…"

"Oh yeah, you do have a point."

"So it's settled?" He asks.

"Yep… Ink."

"That's really the name we're coming up with?"

"You know why we're choosing it."

"Why are you choosing it?" 'Ink' asks.

"Nevermind."

"Do you like your new name though?"

Ink nods excitedly. "Yep! But… I am kinda naked though, so I need to make some clothes."

"Oh right."

"Sorry about that."

Lifting up his hand and covering himself up in his namesake, he forms clothes around his body.

"Let's go, guys!"

Chapter Text

It’s been years since he was first created. Years since he met them, too.

And through those years he has learned how uptight they are.

Ink sighs to himself. He loves wandering through their creations, truly. Maybe even running for his life from time to time.

…Maybe even interfering sometimes. 

But that's the thing. They always yell at him after! So overdramatic!

Most things will just reset anyway. So what's the big deal!? He can mess around a little bit, right?

But, oh, it matters to them. For some reason.

And that adds some complications to what he wants to do, doesn't it?

They love their creations, probably more than they love him. It’s a shame, a bit lonely even, but it's fine.

What really matters is if they say yes.

He has his plan ready. To ask something really important. Something that's been bugging him for quite a bit!

Ink chews on his pencil, sketchbook in hand. Hundreds of ideas, all of his own, fill the pages messily.

But art is supposed to be messy! That's the beauty in it, right? 

Is it too messy for them, though?

“What's up, Ink?”

He sighs, and takes the pencil out of his mouth. Erasers always taste chewy… nice to nibble on and think. And the metal they lead to… they hurt his teeth, but they also taste interesting, too.

“Oh, it's nothing much.” He replies. “Just wondering a few things, that's all…”

Wondering, wondering.

“Wondering what?”

He stares at his sketchbook. Something that is his. 

Something, created, that he made with his own hands.

But that kind of creation isn't good enough.

He needs it to be on their level, the kind of existence that's the most real. The kind of existence he can go visit, and touch and feel for himself.

“I need to ask something…” He says.

He needs it to be real.

Will they let him?

“Sure, what is it?”

It’s not a hard ask. And no consequences will come of it, too.

But it's polite to request, isn't it? That's what he’s heard, anyways. Plus, they're the ones that own this place.

…He never was a really polite person. But he doesn't want to deal with their anger again. Even though that will eventually happen, anyways.

“I…” He frowns. “I want, uhm… more agency? Is that the word? In the multiverse.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Agency?”

“This is our multiverse, you know that. Right?”

Theirs. Not his.

But he still hasn't asked the question.

“I know.” He grips his sketchbook tightly. “But I feel like I deserve to have some input in the universes that are made, y’know?”

“Ink…”

He does deserve this. Plenty of his ideas are good, no, great even! 

Are they really going to just reject him like that? 

It seems like it, but they still haven't said. And neither has he, actually.

“I just want the power to create what I want to.” He stresses. “Nothing bad will come out of it, even if you guys don't want me to! S- So I don't-”

“The answer is no.”

No…

No.

No?!?!?

He taps his pencil on his red vial. Stars-

They're so uptight! And for what?

All that he does for them, just for this???

Him being polite, just this once, just for their approval. And him just… not getting it!

…This is why he's never polite. Because of things like this.

“I- I give you guys the ability to make universes, so…” He grits his teeth. “Why shouldn't I have the ability to do the same?!”

“Ink-”

“No, he needs to learn.”

“Your drawings suck.”

He flinches. They…

“No, they don't!” Red laces his tongue as he speaks. “T- They're perfectly fine! I think they're better than yours, actually!”

“Better than-”

“Ink!”

“Do you really think we would give you that ability, especially after you say something like that!?”

Really? They said the same thing about him!

So why can't he say the same thing about them?

It’s stupid, it’s unfair, it's just-

“Ugh!” He shouts. “I hate all of you, you know that? You guys are just so- argh!” 

“Just so what?”

Isn't it obvious?

Controlling.

“It doesn't matter!” He replies. “Just like how my ideas don't matter, right?!”

Ink looks down at his sketchbook. They don't understand his visions at all. They don't understand him at all.

“T- They do!”

They do, do they?

“Then just let me!” He shouts. “I don't see how hard it is, so-”

“We said no!”

They said no.

No, no, no, no, no!!! Why no!? Why is it always no!?

Don't wander off into that universe, don't disrupt that script, don't make friends with that person. Don't change anything, don't affect anything, just don't!

It’s like he can't be his own person, outside of the use he gives them. It’s like that's his whole purpose! To be a tool!

He’s just a tool for them, isn't he? Isn't he???

If that's the case, then…

“Fine!” He shouts, standing up. “I- If that's the case, then I’ll just make it on my own! I don't need your approval, anyways!”

Then he’ll just have to be a bad tool! Something broken, something dysfunctional, something-

It doesn't matter. It does not matter. Only good will come of this. 

What they think isn't important, if what he thinks isn't either.

“Ink, you can't-”

“Shut up!!!” He yells.

Ink holds onto his sketchbook, and storms away.

Creating, in whatever way he could, was always release.

He could just set his worries aside, and let his hands do the work. 

Tune out those voices, as they don't matter. They aren't even physically here, anyways. He can't touch them, feel them.

It’s just like how he couldn't touch or feel his universes until now. And those weren't important before, right?

So why would they be?

Ink flips through his sketchbook. The pages are littered with ideas and possibilities, filling him with excitement.

When he creates, the paper he draws on disappears and is made into a universe. But he doesn't want everything in his sketchbook to be gone, once he makes the worlds held inside of there.

So, he should probably redraw those universes. It would be nice, having both the original sketch and the living universe. Two different things, representing the same idea.

Well, one of the things he would like better, but…

Something like a sketch is an origin. It’s what he came from, right? They say he was one of their failures… but without that failure he wouldn't exist.

He wishes they treated him better. Gave him more agency! Maybe he’d actually like them more, then.

But things are as they are.

Though… what if they're right? What if their input actually matters?

If things go south, which they won't, but if they do…

What will he do?

He shouldn't think about that, or else it might come true. 

Ink grabs another one of his many sketchbooks, and gets to work.

How many universes will he create? He wants to create so many, enough to where his worlds outnumber their worlds. But, no, he can't do that. 

They have so many universes they've thought of. So many of them exist, after all. Not a single voice is the same, even when they continue off of each other.

If he tries to rival that, he’ll just end up making slop.

That's not what he wants. That’ll just prove them right.

He wants something to chew on, but his pencil is already in use. He could go and get his brush, Broomie, but…

He doesn't think that he would approve of being used like a chew toy. 

Oh, he could make a chew toy. But he's busy at the moment. And it's not the same as his pencil, is it?

…Broomie is the only friend he has. And they can't really hang out normally with each other, no matter how nice he is to him.

He… isn't exactly a person, after all.

Ink stares down at his paper.

This universe is looking nice, so far. He likes it.

Just a simple redesign AU was a good start. So if something fails it’ll be easy to remake it, but better.

He’ll move onto bigger things as he creates more. This is just a test to see if it would actually work.

As he’s never created without their permission before, he isn't sure if it would even be possible.

Sure, he created his own universe, but that was different. The Creators wanted him to have his own home, so they gave him the ability to make one.

This place, his home… It’s the only universe that's actually his . The only place he can actually affect and change, without repercussion.

Not for long, though.

There! The sketch is done!

Now he just has to make it real. 

Placing his pencil in his mouth, he grins as he places both hands on the paper. He’s almost done it! He’s so excited!!!

It’s almost real!

Ink, focus. He has to be paying attention for this to actually work. If he isn't…

Oh, then that won't end well. He knows that for a fact.

Details will get wrong, the world's inhabitants will become warped… He’ll have to get up and fix them himself!

And he doesn't want that to happen to his own universe!

He breathes in, and out. Ok, focus!

But he's so excited! If he had a soul, it’d be beating out of his chest right now.

Ink slaps himself in the face. Focus! Stop thinking about the soon to be, just think about the right now!

Okay. Easy does it.

He places his hand back on the paper. It glows with intent, the lines sketched onto it shining brightly with colors.

“Ink, are you sure you want to do this?”

Yeah, he’s sure.

Ink lifts his hands up. The paper levitates as well, page tearing from the sketchbook.

This is it, this is happening!

He can taste the yellow and purple on his tongue, replacing the pencil that was in it before. Yes, yes, yes!

The paper rolls up, and disappears.

And with that, The Creators feel a new universe being born.

“Did it work?” He asks them. “It worked, didn't it!?”

“If we say yes, will you make more?”

“He will. So no, it didn't.”

“But it did-”

“It did?!” Ink jumps up in the air in excitement. “Oh my stars, it did!”

“But you can't-”

“Yeah! I can!” He grins, clapping happily. “I can, I can, I can! And you guys can't do anything about it!”

He has to make more. He absolutely has to make more.

Ink can hear them shout about something being “uncomfortable” and “cramped”, but he doesn't care. There's more important things to do, after all!

Oh, he’s always wanted to make a kidcore AU! And now he can do it! He can also make worlds like…

Uh. Well, he’ll figure out a name for them as he goes on. Right now he doesn't have one.

He sits back down, pencil in hand.

Oh, this is going to be so much fun!

The Creators knew this was a bad idea from the start.

Ink… He was so stupid! So bad at listening, at doing his job!

Constantly, he’d interfere with their universes. Universes, they spent so much time working on!

And for what, for fun? Because it made him happy?

Stars, he had paints for that!

“What are we going to do?”

“I don't know, what are we going to do?”

“It’s so cramped there…”

That was true. Unexpectedly, Ink’s universes took up space in the multiverse that did not exist. Overlapping with other universes, his worlds were slowly destroying every place around it from the outside in.

That was strange, as Ink had made a world before. He was sitting in it right now! But…

But that was different, wasn't it? He actually had their consent that time, right?

…Right.

Those universes are cracking, breaking… And that destruction is only spreading more and more.

And Ink… is just sitting on his couch right now, lying with his dumb brush.

They need to get his attention, and fast. 

They need to get him to stop this, and now.

They need to-

“INK!!!”

Ink flinches, scrambling to sit upright at their call. 

“H- Huh- Whugh-” He falls off the couch, face planted onto the floor. His broom falls on top of him as well, hitting him with a nice clunk.

He shouts in pain, body most definitely bruised at least somewhere .

“Ink, it’s important! Get a grip!”

He says something in response, but it's muffled through the carpet.

“Ink, you-”

His head turns, facing upwards. “Shush! You just can't do that, calling my name as if there's an emergency! Jeez…”

“But there is an emergency!”

Ink pushes himself up off the ground, still looking up. An annoyed, annoying expression is on his face, his soul shaped eye glowing red as the same color fills his mouth.

“Oh, really now?” He growls. “I was hanging out with my brush, you know? Is this really that important!?”

“Ink, part of the multiverse is colliding because of you!”

His eye changes color from red to orange, the same hue touching his tongue. “H- Huh? It is?”

“Yes, it is!”

Orange mixes with red. “How the hell is that my fault!? What did I even do!?”

“You-”

“Ugh, just go to the doodlesphere! This is urgent!”

“Yeah, just go! Take your brush if you have to!”

Ink stares at his brush on the floor. A frown on his face, he picks it up and rolls his eyes. 

Why isn't he taking this seriously? Why isn't he taking any of this seriously? Why does it seem like this is all a joke to him?

It’s a joke to him. Of course it is. He probably doesn't believe them, does he?

He flicks his brush on the carpet, and jumps into the puddle it creates. 

Stars, how annoying.

Hopefully he can fix this. 

Ink can't believe them. They're worse than yesterday, treating something like the multiverse collapsing like it's his fault.

It’s nothing serious, surely. Nothing happened to cause this. They’re probably overreacting, just like they do every other time a universe goes off script.

Floating into a wide canvas, he breathes in the paint scented atmosphere of the doodlesphere. It feels nice. 

Eyes shut, he just takes it in.

…But something feels off. It feels toxic, even.

Not overwhelming, but still. It feels like his own deadly paints, whenever he uses them to harm.

That can't be right, can it? Those are entirely different from the paint that holds these worlds.

He opens his eyes, and…

Oh stars.

Black blotches of paint cover the canvas of the doodlesphere, bleeding into the colors of worlds he recognizes.

“Now do you see what you’ve done!”

Ink flinches. “M- Me?”

“Who else but you?”

What did he do? He didn't do anything! This is their place, so it has to be their fault! Not his!

“Is it the fact that the paint smells like mine?” He questions. “That's just a coincidence!”

“It does?”

“That would explain a lot, considering it's you who got us into this predicament in the first place!”

They didn't know that? Then what are they accusing him for!? 

Ugh, he can feel all of their fingers pointed at him. Even though they don't have any!

“How is this my fault!?” He growls. “You still haven't said a thing about that, so just spit it out already!”

“Do you seriously not know???”

Ink shakes his head. No, he doesn't! Why would he? He doesn't have a reason to! 

How would he know that this place was getting all messed up, if they were the ones that had to tell him in the first place!? He wouldn't!

“You really-”

“Fine! We don't have much time, and I don't want to spend it arguing.” 

“So we might as well!”

Finally! They're right about one thing, this situation is time sensitive. The paint is spreading too fast for them to just bicker like this, anywho.

“Okay…”

“When you created those universes, something happened.”

Ink furrows his brows, and frowns. 

“Don't give us that look.”

He’ll be giving them that look as much as he pleases. This isn't his fault, after all.

“Let's just get to the point, and stop bickering.”

“But-”

“Getting to the point.”

Didn't they already decide on that? But no, they love arguing, even among themselves.

Sheesh.

He rolls his eyelights. “Yeah, get to the point already.”

“Ugh.”

Ink can hear the annoyance in their voices. Great, he’s annoying them like always.

“When this happened, we realized something.”

What did they realize? Stars, can they just-

“You aren't supposed to create on your own, Ink.”

He growls. Says them. They're wrong, and he proved it himself! 

Those universes he made, they ended up being real! They said it themselves, after they were made!

And they got so, so upset afterwards.

“You-” Ink says.

“We mean in a literal sense.”

In a…

“What do you mean, a literal sense!?” He shouts, flailing his arms everywhere. “That doesn't make any sense at all!”

Broomie drops from his grip, floating in the air alongside him. Ink hopes he’s upset as he is right now, because this is uncalled for.

This is just… just some way to blame him for everything, and-

“We mean, that the multiverse didn't like it very much when you created without our approval.”

…What?

Ink stops.

“There!”

“Now will you listen?”

The mix of confusion and anger filling his body fully becomes confusion. Questions of whys, whats, and hows fill his mind.

The voices of The Creators become muted in his mind, as his thoughts strangle his brain.

Why did the multiverse deny his creations? That's what those black blots are, right? That's why they smell like him, and look like him.

“Ink?”

What did he do for it to feel that way about him? This… it isn't fair. He did nothing wrong, so what was the reason behind this happening?

He knows the reason now, but still. What did he do?

This means nearly everything to him, his drawings and his brush being the only thing he has to friends.

“Hey, are you listening? This is time sensitive, you do realize that.”

And how did this happen, anyways? What kind of power does the multiverse itself have over its inhabitants to just… deny them???

You can't just do that! Can't just kick out the things you don't like, and refuse to let them live!

“Is he okay…?”

It’s not fair! None of this is fair!

And what? What is he supposed to do about it? Did he just screw everyone over, just because he wanted something for once?

Did he just-

“Ink! It’s okay, you can still fix this!”

Ink’s breath hitches. 

H- How can…

“How can I fix it?” He asks. “Tell me!”

He needs to fix it, he needs to. But he wanted them to exist! Does he have to fight the multiverse itself, now, just for that to happen?

Will they give him the ability to fight back? 

Will they help him keep these universes alive? All of them?

Will they finally have a change of heart?

That has to be it, right? You can't undo what has been done, can't get rid of a creation that already exists!

You can't-

“Ink.”

H- Huh?

They sound so…

Serious.

“W- What?” He asks. “I said tell me, dang it!”

Why does he feel his stomach sink? The soul he doesn't have, on the verge of breaking?

What are they going to say?

It… It can't be that bad, can i-

“We need you to destroy those corrupted AUs.”

Ink’s eyelights go dark. 

Destroy… 

Destroy those AUs.

Those beautiful , wonderful worlds he made. The ones he cares so much about. The ones he put so much thought and love into!

They want him to destroy them?

They…  

He laughs, not being able to help but to bring yellow to his tongue.

“Haha…” He smiles. “You guys are joking, right? I can't destroy AUs, I create them. You know that, right?”

But…

The way they spoke. The way they're acting.

“We’re serious.”

No…

No!

“How, though?” He giggles, but still feeling all those colors and feelings he felt before. Anger, confusion, joy. “I told you, I can't destroy worlds. Nobody can! You should know that.”

There's better solutions than this! H- He knows it, if only they'd just-

Not do that. Not ask him of that, asking him to do the impossible.

He's a god, yes, but a god of creation. Asking him to do the opposite would be contradictory to his role.

It’s funny…

Funny how serious they sound.

Almost as if…

“We can give you that power, though.”

As if they could make him do that.

“Just for this once.”

They can, can’t they?

“We can give you the power to-”

“Destroy???” Ink butts in, laughing. “You really think I’d want to do that?”

Destruction. They’re asking him to take on another role, just to please them.

Again they're asking him to do something for them. Not the reverse, it's never the reverse. Why?

They probably think all of this is his fault, but no! It’s theirs, it’s always their fault! 

“You have to, or-”

“Or what?” He asks.

“Or all those worlds will die, or worse.”

Ink stares at the corrupting universes in front of him. Their mess. Not his.

Or worse, huh? 

They don't know anything about that. They don't know this feeling of your creations being denied by the multiverse itself. They never had to deal with that, because apparently they are better than him.

“Ink, you’re going to die if you don't fix this.”

He laughs. It’s not his fault.

It’s theirs.

Theirs, theirs, theirs, theirs theirs theirstheirstheirsth-

Wait.

They gave this power to him, right? The power of creation, the power that got them into this mess.

Back then, he was the only one who actually existed. Who was conscious.

Sure, there were other sketches, but none were as complete as him. And that was saying something.

But now…

“Why does it have to be me, specifically?” He asks. “This isn't like before. You have more options this time.”

“You’re saying…?”

“Pick someone else.” He states. “There’s plenty of people out there, right? Do it.”

Because stars know he wouldn't, even if he could.

“No.”

“This is your mess, so you need to clean it up yourself!”

“And besides…”

Besides what? It’s not like they c-

“We can't.”

They… They can't?

But they could before, could with him! So why is now different?!

Was he special or something? Sure, he was and still is different from everyone else out there, but that shouldn't make a difference!

“Why?” He asks. “Are you all really that incapable?”

Surely they are, if they can't do something as simple as this.

“No, we just-”

They just what?

“We can't reach anyone else, other than you.”

Boo hoo. Cry him a river. This is all their faults in the first place, so they should've thought about that before.

“Figure it out.” Ink smiles, shadow over his face. “Because I’m not doing it.”

He won't. That's like asking him to tear apart his sketchbook to pieces. It’s just not something he's capable of doing, even if he wanted to.

Their murmurs fill the air. How unlucky, that nobody else can hear them but him. Because stars , they’re annoying.

“I’m going back home.” He says. “Figure this out before things become worse, okay?”

“You-”

But before they can protest, Ink is gone.

And they're left wondering…

What are they to do?

Pain. 

He was used to it, really.

For a good chunk of his life, he had lived in it. On the brink of death, but never letting himself die.

He thought that was over. Oh stars, he really thought that was over. 

A world of black met with a world of color. Those shades healed his wounds, like magic.

It was magic. A miracle, really.

So why did he do it?

He looks up at the sky. Rather, the lack of it. 

It’s all white.

And that pain is back.

He never thought messing around like that would have such severe consequences as this. At worst, he’d be on the brink of death again.

Be in pain again.

He isn't on the brink of death now, but that pain is still there. Glitches, and errors course through his body.

It’s not like that slash left there before. Blood doesn't spill from an overly obvious injury. Crimson doesn't bleed from his mouth.

That was only on his chest. He could handle that. 

He learnt how to, after all.

His eye, too. Rather the lack of it.

It hurt before. Then it didn't. But now the pain is back again.

This is a different kind of pain, though. It’s all over, like his body itself was changing for the worse. 

Was he… No, he’s not becoming an amalgamate. If he was, then that pain in his eye would be the same as the past. That past pain would be all over his body, if that happened to him.

It’s more like… the feeling of being replaced. Body parts changing. 

He can see from his eye now. Blurry vision, but still. Vision.

That would normally be good. That would mean his eye was back, right?

But considering the circumstances, this pain…

It’s a bad sign for what’s to come.

He wants to scream.

Glasses fall to the floor, a different color than before.

They're red. They're supposed to be red .

Not blue. 

He looks at his hand. It’s a different color, too. Mismatched, and strange. 

His other hand, too.

His body, even.

It hurts.

He thought he was used to this.

His eye- no, eyes hurt. He has two of them now, he can tell. An unnatural light blue falls from them. But instead of tears… they're string.

He tries not to sob.

But it's not entirely silent. Nobody is here, but he hears something. 

Voices…?

Voices.

They're murmuring. He can hear so many of them, but they're faint. Faint, but growing louder at the second.

And the louder they get, the more it hurts. 

“Hel….o?”

“Ca… h…r …s?”

“I h…pe s…”

He whimpers, voice different and corrupt.

What do his family, his friends think? Are they thinking of him now? He told his brothers he’d be heading off to the lab, but that's it.

How long has it been since then? Do they think he's still there? Did they go look for him when he didn't come back? 

The voices are louder now. But somehow, it hurts less. 

Despite that, his body feels different. He isn't the same as before, and he can tell.

What happened to him? Why did it- No, he knows why it happened. At least… how he got here.

That's his fault, after all.

Where is here, anyways?

There's no temperature in this place. There's no color. There's no smell. 

Nothing. Just nothing at all.

“It seems like whatever happened to him is over…”

He furrows his brows. Those voices, that voice is clearer now. And the pain has stopped.

So…

“It… is?” He asks.

Oh. His voice… it’s worse than he thought. 

What happened to him?

“Oh! You… You can hear us?”

He nods, shifting to sitting upright. His body shifts, glitches surrounding it. It feels weird.

It feels… wrong.

“Who…” His voice cracks at the sound of his voice. It shouldn't sound like that. “Who are you…?”

“The Creators. Also known as the things that made you.”

“But didn't-”

“Don't let him take credit for that. Our friend right here will meet him soon, anywho.”

He sighs. Everything feels so different now.

Everything feels so wrong. Wrong. Terribly, awfully, undeniably wrong.

Don't think about it. Just… don't.

Or else. He doesn't want to think about what could happen if he did.

He bitterly laughs.

“Who are you, anyway? People normally can't get here on their own.”

Hysterical, even. Both parts of that statement would have him doubling over laughing, if he didn't have any semblance of self control.

Who… is he? That's… a hard question.

He’s been more than one person. Sans, Geno… Neither of those names fit him anymore.

Sans was already a name he denied. That belonged to someone else. And Geno… Well, calling himself that after ending up here seems like a joke! 

He looks down at his body. His appearance isn't even the same! Not just clothes, his bones too. Pitch black, with blocks like glitches surrounding them.

Error signs, like…

Oh. 

He isn't above doing things like this. Naming himself after things that hold meaning.

His body is one of those things, isn't it?

So…

“It’s Error.” He replies.

That's what he's chosen, he supposes. 

“Error, huh…”

“Well, Error…”

“We need to ask you a favor.”

A… favor? 

He tilts his head. “What kind of favor?”

“Uh… this is going to sound really bad when we say it, but don't worry!”

“The multiverse is in danger, because of a certain someone you’ll meet later.”

“He made a big mess, and… we need you to clean it up.”

Clean it… up?

What they're saying is already a lot, a headache in itself. But what they're implying…

Stars.

A big mess. His multiverse being in danger. The need for him to clean it up.

I- If the mess is what he thinks it is, then…

He covers his mouth. “I don't want to kill people.”

“Error, relax. You only need to do this once.”

“Then he'll hopefully learn.”

“We just need to give you the power to do so, and you’ll be good to go.”

Error breathes in and out. His breaths are shaky, similar to the glitching sound of his voice. But different, more recognizable, more normal.

It’s ironic. He wanted to destroy a universe, a timeline once. His very own. 

But that was in the past. He moved on from it.

Now though… That very same wish is being asked of him by someone else.

But this reason seems more just, doesn't it? The multiverse is dying, according to them.

“How… How did the multiverse start to die?” He breathes. “Shouldn't it be more stable than that?”

“Not if you have someone going against its very foundation.”

“Someone creating without our approval, something necessary for universes to function.”

“That's why we’re The Creators. We create ideas and make them go through him. He wasn't supposed to create on his own.”

That's… a weird way of doing things.

He looks to the side. “Can't you just-” 

“No, we unfortunately can't create on our own. This certain someone… Ink, he was our only successful creation.”

It’s like they expected that question. But this Ink person… He needs to stop him. 

But someone who creates universes can surely create more than just that. Create things to stop him, to fight back against his efforts. 

The Creators, though… didn't they say something about some kind of power? Specifically a power they wanted to give him?

It’s his karma, for wanting to end his timeline. His wish has been granted, in a way. 

He doesn't want to do it. But if the danger is immediate, then something is pretty obvious.

“I’m the only one who can stop him, aren't I?” Error asks.

“It’s unfortunate, but…”

“We tried giving it to him. He didn't accept.”

Of course… 

But a question remains in his mind. Why couldn't they approve of his universes? Or do something similar?

He can't sit around and wait, though. He knows what he has to do, even though the thought of doing it makes him sick to the stomach.

“I… I’ll accept it. That power.” Error says. “It’s our only option, after all.”

Error hated this. 

The corruption, the dust… Everything was worse than expected.

He tries not to think about it. The amount of lives he’s ending, just so this place would die.

Turns out, the corruption had spread enough that his destruction was needed in more places than one.

Destruction. That was the power they gave him.

He can't stand it.

Telling himself that it was for the greater good… No matter how many times he repeated that phrase to himself, he still felt sick.

Tune out the voices, the screams. The corruption had already reached here, its black cracks greedily consuming all. 

These people were already dead the moment it hit. Killing them now is a mercy. That's what he keeps trying to tell himself.

Kill them fast. It’s hard to do that when they run, but the strings running from his cheeks and fingers can stop them dead in their tracks.

From there…

He just has to ignore the sounds of their screams, as they fall by his hands.

Is dying because of corruption more painful than normal? He doesn't want to find out.

One thing he does want to find out, though…

“H- Hey! Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

Error looks from side to side. Is that…?

“I’m right here! Y- You better answer me, or-”

His eyes finally spot him, the person he can only assume is Ink. Ink, the monster blotched in his own namesake who he wants to find more about. Gigantic paintbrush at his side, nearly bigger than himself.

Error glares at him. “It’s Error. And what I’m doing here is cleaning up what I’ve been told is your mess.”

“M- My-” Ink frowns. “The Creators told you that, didn't they?”

He can hear the corruption crackle around him.

“Are they wrong about you?” He asks.

Ink looks from left to right. “It’s their mess. Not mine. I- I didn't want these universes to die!”

Error sighs. So, they blame each other. 

“I- I just wanted my creations to be real!” He continues, flinging his arms up. “That isn't asking for too much, right? Right?”

He rolls his eyelight. Rather, eyelights. He needs to get used to referring to both of them now, like before.

But… they made Ink look like this bad guy. Horrible, even.

Now though, seeing him for himself…

He’s rather childish.

“Are you going to create again?” Error asks.

Ink furrows his brows, like that's a hard question. “I mean, I’d like to, if they-”

A glare covers Error's face. He isn't doing this again.

He reaches his hand forward, sending strings towards Ink. Shock covers his face as the threads head in his direction. Before he can dodge, he finds himself tangled up in their embrace.

“Say that again.” Error commands.

Ink laughs nervously. “I- I mean, if they actually agree this time! That my worlds are good enough!”

He grumbles to himself.

“And what if they don't?” Error replies, glaring. “D o you even realize how bad this corruption is?”

Ink does what can only be assumed to be a gesture at their surroundings. It’s hard to tell, because his arms are also tied up alongside his body.

“Of course I do! Look at this place!” He shouts. “But thanks to you, it looked like everything was getting better from my view in the doodlesphere.”

When he refers to Error, he points at him with his tied up hand. 

He sighs. Thank the stars it's actually working. The destruction, he means.

But he still doesn't like it. The thought of it makes him want to dust, if he even can anymore. Who knows, his new body might operate by different rules.

That's not something he wants to find out, though.

“What about my first question, though?” He questions. “What if they don't agree? Will you keep creating?”

Ink doesn't reply.

He crosses his arms, waiting for a reply.

They can't stand here all day. This is a distraction from what he’s actually here to do.

The more they talk, the more chances the corruption has to spread. The less time he has to destroy, the more these people have to suffer. 

He coughs, dust reaching his throat. The thought of that alone reminds him of something. Something that wasn't his fault in the past, but is now in the present.

He can cry about this later. Be bothered about this later.

Scream, puke, sob, mourn. That's all things for another time. Not now. 

Not now.

Not. Now.

Ink opens his mouth, and finally responds. 

“Look glitchy… You can destroy, right?” He asks.

Isn’t that obvious? 

Error nods, slowly.

“So… I have an idea!” He jabs his pointed finger towards him. “I just, uh, need your help!”

An idea? What do they need an idea for?

It’s simple. Either two things happen. The Creators let him create, or Ink stops creating. 

He can think of a third option, but… He isn't sure if that's possible.

“What exactly do you need my help for?” He asks.

Not like he’ll agree. He’s just curious, always has been.

“Okay…” He spins his fingers in a circle, round and round. “It’s pretty clear The Creators aren't going to let me create what I want, you know?”

Where is he going with this?

“It’s really not fair!” Ink rambles on. “Even though I’m the one doing all the hard work in the first place! It’s almost like-”

Enough with this.

“Get to the point.” Error snaps.

The feeling of corruption in the air is overwhelming. A reminder of what he’s here to do, really.

He tries to ignore it, even though he should be tackling it head on. But like he thought, his curiosity is getting the better of him.

A feeling he really should’ve thrown away by now.

“I, uh, okay!” He clears his non-existent throat. “I know this is going to sound really bad, but it won't be permanent! I promise!”

What's going to sound really bad? Stars, they're already making him kill people. What's worse than that? What won't be permanent?

“I just want you to help my creations be alive, just for a little bit!” Ink says.

What?

“What do you mean by that?” He asks.

There's an answer to that. He doesn't want to make assumptions, but…

Stars, if he means what he thinks he means…

He feels ill at the very thought of it. Surely not though, right?

Ill, and very angry. Who does he think he is? Asking something like that to him.

Error glares deeper at Ink, tightening his strings. As if to ask him to choose his next words very, very carefully. Or else.

A nervous laugh escapes him. “I- I, uh, c- can you promise not to kill me? Please?”

The thought of what he’s doing at this very moment slaps him in the face. What the hell is he doing, threatening to kill this guy?

Kill him.

It isn't necessary like the others, isn't needed. 

He trembles. With this power… he can kill easier than before. These strings make it easy, and his other new ability…

That's not something he wants. It isn't.

It.

Isn’t something he wants.

It isn't. 

“J- Just tell me.” He repeats.

Stars.

“Since they aren't letting me create…” He says. “I think we should force them to change their minds.”

What?

Ink seems to notice Error’s confusion.

“By me still creating.”

Anger boils inside him, yet again. What is he saying?

“By you still destroying.”

He doesn't want to kill him. 

“At least until they finally give in.”

His breath hitches. He doesn't want to kill him.

Ink continues talking, over-explaining, but he doesn't hear him. He doesn't want to kill him.

But he can feel him forcing his strings to tighten. And Ink’s stopped speech, replaced with a sound of pain coming from his mouth instead.

How dare he?

It’s surprisingly easy to snap. Especially under stress.

But he doesn't want that. 

Does he, though?

Without a creator to overflow the multiverse, then…

Ink pleads. “G- Glitchy, please, i- it’ll only be until-”

Then it’ll stop. He won't have to destroy any more than this. And… that's one way to stop their arguing, isn't it?

And he does want that.

He can feel Ink’s squirming. Does he care?

In all honesty he should, but…

“I don't care!” He yells. “The destruction of this multiverse was never necessary, whatever you may think!!!”

Ink keeps repeating himself. How it won't be forever. He just wants to create, after all! How bad can that be?

He hears the breaking of bones. And the all too recognizable sound of fear.

Oh, what that third option was? If Ink is willing to go this far just to never think about it, then…

“You don't even want to try and compromise with them, don't you?!” Error barks out. “You’re too stuck in your own head to try and think of other solutions, a- and- STARS!!!”

He hears voices. They're from The Creators, he knows it. It’s hard to tell if they support what he’s doing, with all their chattering and all, but he doesn't care.

Only once. He’ll only do this once, then it’ll be over. 

Ink continues to squirm.

They wanted him to stop him, right?

He’ll stop him, alright.

“G- Glitchy, please-” Ink stutters, the same substance that makes up his namesake spilling from his mouth.

Quit it with that nickname.

Quit it, quit it, quit it with everything! Why does he have to do this in every life he lives, stopping these specific kinds of people? 

Every! Single! Time!

He’s never tolerated it before. That isn't who he is.

He knows who he is.

“IT’S ERROR!!!” He shouts, and the strings tighten one last time.

Ink screams, and he is shattered into bits.

AUUUUGHHHH! IT HURTS, HURTS, HURTS! 

Pain everywhere , his body shards of its former self. He can feel it, hear his own voice screaming. Pain.

Shutting his eyes closed, he tries to bear it. But no, that doesn't stop it. He can still feel it, it’s unbearable!

More and more and more and-

A- And-

He feels nothing.

After, everything.

Then it’s all the same once more.

He opens his eyes. The doodlesphere is right in front of him, the wonderful canvas it has always been and always will be.

And he’s… alive.

That wasn't a dream. It was too real to be a dream.

And the doodlesphere…

Some of the corrupted universes are gone.

…Along with his creations.

Glitchy- no, Error just killed him, he knows that. Along with those universes.

He reaches for the yellow on his sash, and giggles. 

Ha. He… He survived. 

He survived!!!

Stars, he just died, but now he's back! Uninjured and good as new!

HAHAHAHA!!!

THAT'S AMAZING!!!

But... his worlds… 

They're gone .

Of course, right? They had to die, after all! Because despite everything he does, they don't view him as a capable enough creator.

Not like he’d like to be bundled in with them, taking their title. But he’d still like his own!

“Ink?”

Oh, speaking of them.

He waves to nothing. “Hey guys! Guess what!!!”

“Oh boy.”

“What?”

“UGH.”

Ink flails his arms in the air happily. “I just survived someone killing me! You saw it, right? Right?”

“Uhm, technically you-”

“Shush. How did it feel, Ink?”

“Did it hurt?”

Huh? That's their first question? How it felt?

Did it hurt?

Why not ask anything else? 

“I- It did! But I lived!” He grins. “Do you know what that means?!”

It means a lot of things! But the most important thing is exciting. 

“...You can't die.”

Ink places his hands on his hips proudly. “Yep! Isn't that amazing!?”

They don't reply.

Ugh! Annoying much? They were mad at him, he knows that! He would be mad too, if he really wanted to.

But right now, he’s stuck in the euphoria of just finding out he’s immortal.

It’s great!!! That means he can die whenever he wants, with little to no consequences!

“Ink.”

Huh?

“Did you learn your lesson?”

He frowns as much as he can, hand moving to touch the blue on his belt. Moving from that color, to red. Back and forth.

“M- My lesson?” He asks. “W- Was this just a lesson to you guys?”

…

That's upsetting. His hand finally decides to pick the red, drinking just enough to overpower the yellow. 

Because what else should he feel, but anger? He doesn't owe them his sadness. They haven't given him their sadness.

It’s only fair that he feels this way in return. They’ve given him enough of their anger.

“Answer us.”

“Will you stop creating on your own now?”

“You saw what happened.”

Will he stop creating? He saw what happened, that's what they said.

But… he still wants to do what he said he wanted to do.

Still wants to create.

Even though they’ll be bound to die, he can't kill this desire in him.

Is he allowed to desire anything at all?

Error was stupid. Error didn't agree. Error killed him for even suggesting it.

But Error… Error doesn't get it. Nobody does, right?

Everyone he’s met has never understood him. And while that isn't a lot, the mass of what The Creators are, alongside Error…

That's enough for him to know. Know how everyone feels about him.

Despite all the work he does for them.

“What do you guys care?” He responds angrily. “Despite everything you say… you can't stop me if I still continue.”

“Ink-”

“No!” He shouts. “I’m still going to do it, even if they only exist for a little bit! Error can destroy them, right? Right?!”

So that's enough! It’s enough, it has to be enough, because they aren't going to let him do anything else with his creations!

“Ink, do you realize what will happen if you-”

“Shut up!” He yells. “You're always so condescending, acting like you're better than me! But you aren't!”

He does everything for them, and for what!? Nothing in return!? 

Is this what he gets, what he deserves for all his hard work?!

No!!!

“Ink, you know better than to do this!”

“This isn't right, and it's hurting more people than it's helping!”

“It’s helping only you!”

He balls his fists. What would they know about that? 

He’s seen it with his own two sockets, the worlds they create. The fate that they’ve given his own worlds if they exist is no better than the ones they think up themselves.

Suffering is still suffering, even if he doesn't really care about it. Death is still death. He can recognize hypocrisy when he sees it.

This! This is hypocritical!

“It’s not like this has to be forever!” Ink shouts. “If you would just let me, then-”

“No!!!”

All of them shouted that, he can tell.

Disgusting, disgusting, they’re all so disgusting! Hypocrites! All of them!

This was just a punishment for him. Or worse!

And the fact that they- they-

STARS!!!

“UGH!!!” He places his hands on his chest. “Do you even care about me? I was the first thing you all successfully made! Have you forgotten!?”

Have they forgotten!?

“That still doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!”

It doesn't-

“I’m not doing whatever I want!” He shouts back, and points at the sky. “You guys are!!!”

“W- We-”

“Shut up!!!”

“You should've stayed dead, Ink! It’s what we would've preferred over this !!!”

…

What?

What? Did they just say?

Did they really want him to die? Die and stay that way?

Sockets wide, he processes it. What they just said.

Of course. With him dead , they would be able to pick another creator! Someone who's actually obedient, and knows when to shut their mouth.

Hahaha!!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

“I’m going home.” Ink says, opening a portal. “I’m glad you hate me that much. Gives me a better reason to hate you all, too.”

Chapter Text

It's been several years since Ink and Error's first meeting. Both have just been by themselves throughout this time. Nothing much has changed, minus for Error growing more and more tired of being forced to destroy. 

Ink is hard at work creating a universe for The Creators when they inform him of a universe that is on its last legs, and it wasn't caused by anything that usually causes a collapse .

Dreamtale, it's called. This interests Ink. How could that happen?

He asks The Creators, "How does that even happen? A universe can't just… collapse like that. Its core would've had to gotten messed up."

Ink knew of that universe, sure, but he usually diverts his attention to newer universes after a few years or so. And Dreamtale was one of the older ones, being created soon after Undertale, Underswap, and Underfell. 

He does do a quick weekly check-up of every universe, but he hadn't done that today.

The happy creator responds. "Dreamtale's core is… different from other universes, to say the least. Are you gonna go there?"

"Absolutely." Ink says, pumped up and excited over this mystery presented to him.

He abandons the creation for now, and teleports to Dreamtale in an inky blob. He'll finish what he was doing later, it isn't gonna go anywhere.

Dreamtale is filled with a gloomy atmosphere. The sky is dark. Not with the kind of darkness that takes over at night, but instead its a dark and dank fog. The moon can't be seen, making it nearly impossible to see anything.

Ink creates a lantern, improving his sight a bit. This universe didn't look like this before, it had always had a cheerful and sunny atmosphere. The Creators were right when they said something had happened.

He walks around, finding the remains of a village. The buildings appear to have been destroyed, none appearing to be livable.

Ink can't seem to find anybody at all, making the universe even more eerie than before.

Eventually he comes to a stump of a huge tree, with a stone statue lying down next to it. Upon closer inspection, it's apparent that this is a statue of one of the sanses of this universe, Dream.

He stares at the tree. It’s the only tree that is around here for a while, so does that mean it’s… that tree? If it is, something serious happened to it. Obviously.

“Is this,” Ink gestures at the tree, “Why this universe is nearly dead?”

The happy creator lets out an affirmative sound. “Yep. That’s the core of this universe. The tree of feelings.”

Ink states the obvious. “It got all fucked up.” 

“Anyways,” he continues, “Two things I’m wondering. Firstly, where’s Nightmare. Secondly, what happened to Dream?”

The ruder creator responds, “Error might know. Unlike you, he constantly pays attention to the multiverse and its state.”

“H- Hey! I check up on it every week! I- I have other things to do, y'know!" Ink replies.

The happy creator scolds them, "C'mon, don't be rude! Both of you, stop."

Ink huffs. "Alright, fine." He stares at Dream. "Do you think that something bad would happen if I took him home with me?"

"How? How are you going to do that ???" The ruder creator replies, shocked. "He's a stone statue and much bigger than you!!!" 

Ink approaches the statue. "Here, watch!" He attempts to pick him up, but struggles. He keeps trying, to no avail. 

After thirty straight minutes of him trying to pick up the stone, he gives up. He lies on the foggy ground, and sighs.

"Oh Dream, why don'tcha just move for me! Become lighter, pleaseeee!" He moves the lamp in his direction, staring at him with puppy dog eyes. 

Dream does not move for him.

Dream is a statue.

Dream cannot move.

Ink thinks. And soon, he gets an idea.

He opens an inky portal to his universe right next to Dream, and pushes him into it. It takes a bit of effort, but he gets him in.

Back in Ink's universe, the ruder creator asks, "Why didn't you think of that sooner?" 

Ink grins. "Dunno! But we got him here, didn't we?"

"You just stole something probably important."

"Eh, it'll be fine. I'll take care of him, I prommy. P.S., 'prommy' is short for 'promise'."

"You would be a menace to society if you actually participated in it."

Ink ignores the creator. "I'm gonna paint 'em."

He moves Dream to the middle of his room, and sets up his canvas and paints. He has to adjust the statue a bit, but eventually he gets him into a good enough pose. Enough of a pose he can get, with him being a statue and all. Chugging some of his joy vial, he gets to work.

He paints and paints, not noticing that the statue is… cracking. And glowing, too. Glowing a soft yellow. 

The statue cracks from his waist to his legs and head, as Ink strokes and paints on his canvas. Soon, Ink actually notices that something is different about Dream. 

“Huh?” Ink sets down his paints, his art piece nearly finished. He approaches Dream. 

Ink pokes the statue, and it fully cracks, revealing… a now awakened skeleton. 

The skeleton, Dream, jolts up. He looks around frantically, confused and scared. 

“Night? Night?!” He shouts. He curls up, his surroundings unfamiliar and forgein. He breathes heavily, on the verge of a panic attack. Memories fill him, past events that he isn't sure are real or not.

Ink stares at Dream, nervous and also confused. "I… uh…" He looks around frantically for something to calm down the skeleton. 

"You better do something to calm him, Ink," The ruder creator strictly states.

"I'm working on it!" Shouts Ink back. This doesn't help Dream's mood. He becomes more confused, tears filling his eye-sockets.

"Good job, Ink."

"Hush."

Ink nervously sits next to Dream, and pats him on the back gently. "H- Hey now… shhh… it's alright…" He hushes.

Dream stares at Ink, shaking. "D- D- Do you know where my brother i- is?" Ink shakes his head, causing Dream to tremble more.

"H- Hey! Hey… d- don't worry. I'll try to find 'em for ya." Ink promises. This is hard for him. He doesn't know where his brother is. He might be dead for all that he knows.

But he can't tell Dream that.

Dream leans closer to Ink. He buries his head in the other's shirt. Ink rubs his back.

The two sit in the messy room, Ink trying his best to calm down Dream. His social skills are lacking, but he's seen enough of other people in other universes to catch on to some things.

Eventually, when Dream calms down more, Ink asks the question that he's been dying to know the answer to.

"What happened, Dream?"

Dream moves to stare at him. "I- I don't know…"

"You don't?"

"I- I mean I do , but… it all happened so fast… Night, he… and the villagers, too…"

"T- Take your time."

"I- I was gathering some flowers for mom, and w- when I came back… everybody was fighting! There was an axe… mom was dead… S- Somebody chopped her down. T- They… they… she… I-" Dream begins to hyperventilate. 

Ink looks at Dream, shocked. "Shh… shh…" He pats him on the back gently. "Dya, uh, are ya still okay to still talk about it?"

Dream shakily nods. 

"N- Night… he a- ate the apples. All of them . I- I don't know why! Night was so nice, the villagers were too, I just…" He curls up. Ink leans next to him. "It doesn't make sense!"

"H- Hey-" Ink attempts to comfort Dream.

"A- And I'm no better! I ate the last apple!!! I- I- I just wanted to help Night!!! But I didn't! I couldn't!"

Ink drags Dream into a hug. He sobs into his chest, leaning into Ink's smaller body.

"H- H- He came up to me… came up to me n' turned me to stone… I know he didn't mean it though! I- I could tell!"

Ink hugs Dream tighter. "W- Well, we'll find him, m'kay. He's gotta be out there, 'n guess what?"

"W- What…?"

"H- He probably misses ya. You seem nice, 'n ya tried to help him."

"B- But I-"

"It doesn't matter if ya failed, 'kay? You're here now, right?"

Dream nods.

"So me 'n you can find 'em, alright?"

"...A- Alright."

Ink and Dream sit there together, wrapped in a hug. Eventually, Dream lets go. 

"Can I ask you something?" Dream requests. Ink nods in response. "...W- Why did you take me here?"

Ink tilts his head.

"M- My home… is it that bad?" Dream asks. Fear fills his voice, as if he's afraid of a response.

Rubbing his head nervously, Ink says, "I… uh… It's better off if ya see it, I think," He gets up, and offers Dream a hand. "C'mon."

Dream takes his hand, and Ink teleports the both of them to Dreamtale.

Dreamtale is still alive, somehow. Reality hasn't started to break yet. There's a tension in the air, as if the very universe itself was barely holding itself together.

The fog is still thick, and it's still hard to see. Dream's grip on Ink's hand tightens as he takes in his surroundings.

"I- It's so dark… It's never been like this before," Dream shakily lets out.

Ink looks at him, but the other is hard to see. Ink creates another lamp, penetrating the fog by a bit. "Do you wanna go see her? Your mom, I mean."

Dream nods. Ink can hardly see it, but he gets the message. The two walk to the hill where the tree formerly stood. Dream's footsteps grow slower as his mother slowly comes into view.

Soon they are on the top of the hill, right next to the former tree. Dream lets go of Ink's hand, and sits next to the stump. 

"Mom…" Dream lets out, "...I'm so sorry I couldn't save you."

Ink moves to sit next to Dream. "Was your mom nice?" He asks.

"S- She was. She'd give us shade when it was too hot, and let us climb on her branches so we could see the stars better at night. She let us sleep on her roots, and it's like she would curl around us til' we fell asleep."

"That's nice. She seemed like she was nice," Ink laughs, "I- I never had a mom, so I wouldn't know what a good mom was. Maybe we can be momless together, huh?"

"I- I guess… But that doesn't keep me from wanting her back."

"'S not supposed to. But we have each other, yeah?"

"Yeah…"

Ink grabs Dream's hand. "How's about you start living with me? I can always make a new room for ya."

Dream blushes. "N- No, you don't have to!"

"But guess what? I want to," Ink looks to the side. "I've been a bit lonely as of late, 'n I'd really appreciate a roomie."

"I- I don't even know your name though!"

"It's Ink. Now dya want to?"

Dream looks from Ink, to his mom, and back to Ink. He nods.

“Alright.” Ink pushes himself up, and offers Dream his hand.

Dream looks at his mother one more time, and murmurs softly, “Sorry I couldn’t save you, mom.” He takes Ink’s hand, and he teleports them off.

In a universe that has just begun to die, Error is busy fighting its core. Not a human this time, there is no human as of current. A soulless being, a flower. The flower is putting up a fight, much to Error's surprise. 

But… Error feels watched. Which is normal most of the times when he does this, but he’s in a generally isolated area right now. Nobody but him and the flower are here. He doesn’t like being watched when he does… this . 

It just makes the unending guilt that he has worse.

He ties the flower up for a moment, and while they struggle in the web, Error looks around for anybody who could be watching him. 

He looks all around, and when he finally thinks that maybe it was his imagination, and nobody was really watching him, a dark liquidy figure appears behind him.

Error sighs. "Ink, please. I don't want to deal with you right now."

The figure materializes more. The figure is goopy all the way through, and tentacles flick on their back. "Ink? Oh, you've got the wrong guy. I don't know an 'Ink'."

Error stares at this new figure, shock filling him. "Y- You're…"

"Oh, you seem like you recognize me. Suprising, as I've never seen you before. Please, tell me who I am, if I'm familiar to you." The creature waits for a response, a smile visible on his face.

Error stutters out, "Y- You're one of the sanses from Dreamtale. Nightmare. You ate all the apples from the tree of feelings. What are you doing in this universe?"

"Ah, you know about… that. It was unfortunate, but it had to happen." Nightmare pauses. "What I am doing here, you ask? Just admiring your work. It's lovely, if I do say so myself."

"What do you mean?" Error demands.

Nightmare sighs. "Destruction follows you wherever you turn. It would make sense that you were the one causing it… Am I wrong?"

"I-" Error starts.

Nightmare interrupts him. "I was not done." He gestures at the flower Error still has tied up. It has stopped struggling, curious about this talk between two outcodes, but it still has some kind of fear within it. "See. You were attacking this flower before I arrived, weren't you? And look around you. This universe isn't stable. Would that be your doing?"

Error glares at him. "Can I explain myself?"

"Go ahead."

Error sighs, and starts talking. "I di-"

Before he can continue, an inky portal appears. Ink jumps out of it and quickly spots Error. "Hey glitchy! How are ya?" He cheerfully says.

"Who might you be?" Nightmare asks Ink, before Error can respond.

Ink turns to the goopy creature. "Oh, hi! Didn't notice ya here! I'm Ink. Are you one of Error's friends?"

Nightmare stares down Ink, observing his figure. "Ink, hm? You may call me Ni-"

"Oh!" Ink grabs at his scarf, and he looks for something on it. After a minute of searching and the other creatures staring at him, he appears to find something. "I think I might have somebody who's looking for you!" He exclaims. "You're Nightmare, right?"

"Yes, that is what I was going to say before you rudely interrupted me. Now who is it who you said was looking for me? Everybody used to know is dead." Nightmare rudely responds.

Ink's grin does not falter. Excitement fills his being. "Gimme a sec! I'll be right back." He teleports in an inky blob, leaving Nightmare and Error staring.

"It seems you are acquainted with an… interesting being."

"Trust me, if I had a choice I wouldn't be."

The two stand there, neither saying anything. They both wait for Ink to return. 

"Do you think he's going to come back? I'd like to continue our conversation." Nightmare asks.

Error sighs. "He wouldn't lie about that. Unfortunately, he wouldn't lie about that."

As if he heard the two doubting him, Ink comes back, holding a nervous somebody's hand. It's Dream.

"I'm back! And I brought a friend!!!" Ink smiles.

Dream looks around nervously. His gaze drifts from Ink. Then to Error. Then to the flower he has tied up. Dream flinches at the sight of it. Ink nudges him, and tilts his head towards Nightmare.

He meets Nightmare's eye. Fear goes from joy as he exclaims, "Brother?! Y- You're-"

Now his brother is the one to interrupt. "I thought you were dead."

"I wasn't though! Ink, h- he saved me! And now I can see you again!!!"

Nightmare pauses. It appears as if he is whispering to himself. He glares at Dream. "You weren't there, were you?"

"N- No, I wasn't. B- But-"

"You were out playing. Neglecting your duties as a guardian. You weren't there."

"B- Brother, I- I'm-"

"What? You're sorry? 'Sorry' doesn't fix it. Any of it. Don't worry though…" Nightmare grins. "...I'm better now. They're all dead now. I'm stronger now."

Error buts in. "He's your family, Nightmare. You shouldn't take that for granted."

This gets a laugh out of Nightmare. "And who are you to talk? You break up families all of the time. You kill people, glitch. I assumed you'd be on my side about this."

"It's not my choice. I don't want to do any of this." Error growls out.

Ink, getting a bit nervous about the change in topic, interrupts the both of them. "H- Hey guys. Let's all take a moment to chill out! Okay. Chill…"

"What do you think?"

"What…?"

"What do you think about what the glitch said? You seem to be acquainted with him, or know him at the very least. Are his statements truthful?" Nightmare asks.

Ink pauses. Reality grips him as he realizes what he's gotten himself into. Is what he's doing really so bad? Risking all these universes just so he can create what he wants?

No, that's not right. Is it? No. It's The Creator's faults. If they would just be understanding, none of this would have to happen. But…

But they would hate him if he told the truth. He's already hated by Error and The Creators. And… Dream has a good heart. Dream… his first real friend. Losing him would be… He can't even think of how that would feel. He would be better off lying to him than losing him.

This is all because The Creators are being unreasonable. They… they're such assholes , thinking that they're better than him. Stars…

Ink decides. He can't tell the truth. He's already in too deep.

"No. I don't understand what he means. This universe was perfectly fine before."

A shadow fills Error's face. "What do you mean? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!?! "

Error summons a sharp bone in his hand, and charges at Ink. The inky creature quickly teleports out of the way, causing Error to fall over

He quickly gets back up, and searches the surroundings for Ink. Nightmare watches Error angrily glitch out, looking around and around. He finds it… entertaining, to say the least.

Eventually Error finds Ink hiding behind a crumbled wall. He teleports behind him, ties him up, and holds the bone to his neck. 

"Tell me why." He demands.

Ink feigns ignorance. "W- Why what? I don't know what I'm doing wrong, bud."

"You know exactly what you're doing. I didn't think you could get worse, but here you fucking go I guess!!!" Error tightens the bone around his neck. Ink coughs up ink.

Dream's expression is fearful. "I- Ink! Please, let him go!!!

"No, keep him tied up. This is funny." Nightmare laughs.

Dream stares at Nightmare in horror. "N- Night…"

Nightmare laughs harder. "Go on, try to stop him. Or are you just as powerless as before? Ink didn't teach you any new tricks, didn't he?"

Dream starts to cry, teardrops filling his eye-sockets. He's useless right now, powerless to stop his new friend from getting killed. "G- Glitchy guy!" Dream shouts to Error. "Please!!! Don't kill him!!! Please…" 

Dream gets onto his knees. "...I'll do anything…" He sobs.

Error stares at Dream, then to Ink, then back to Dream. Eventually, he grumbles to Ink in a tone only the both of them can hear, "I'm only doing this because of your friend, got it?" Before Ink can even reply, he lets him go.

Ink immediately teleports back to Dream, and starts comforting him. "Hey, hey…" He pats the other on the back. "I'm okay, see. The scary guy doesn't have me anymore."

Dream looks back at Ink. "B- But I couldn't do anything…" 

"That doesn't matter. You can always learn."

"A- Alright…"

Ink gets back up, and points at Error. "How dare you make him cry! Along with destroying this universe? Shameful…"

Before Error can say anything at all, Dream starts berating him as well. "Y- Yeah! Destroying universes and attacking my friend isn't right!"

"I didn't-" Error lets out.

"You need to stop!" 

"I- "

"Yeah! Ink's right!"

Error buries his head in his hands, attempting to stop an incoming crash.

"I think you're insane."

"Universes deserve to exist! You need to stop killing them off!!!"

Stop… Error wants them to just stop . He doesn't want to do this. He doesn't. He doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't. He just… doesn't. 

But he has to, with the way things currently are. And that horrifies him.

With all of this going on, Nightmare in a fit of laughter and Dream and Ink dogpiling on him, Error finally crashes, his strings unraveling from above.

He can't shake the feeling that things will only get worse from here. And he's right.

Chapter Text

"Hey, Ink?" 

Dream rocks his feet against the couch. Ink sits next to him, sketching something up on his paper he holds.

It's an early? Late? Well, it's a colorful day out in Ink's unnamed home. The sky shines in rainbow hues. Its colors are constantly shifting like stirred up paint of different types, never truly combining into one flat shade. 

Ink tilts his head up from his page, staring directly at his new roommate. "Huh?"

"I was wondering…" Dream laughs. "Nevermind, it's a dumb question."

"A dumb… what?" The other skeleton drops his paper flat onto the floor, now intrigued.

He blushes in response. "I said, it's nothing!!!" 

"Hm… it's nothing, that's right?" Ink's body begins to move, rotating to a leaning position onto Dream. Before he knows it, Ink is laying his entire small body onto his legs, rendering him unable to move.

Dream stares at him, confused. "W- What are you doing?"

A giggle echoes from Ink's mouth. "It's nothing."

"I- Ink-" He struggles to get up, but his legs, which are essential for the process, are currently out of commission for the moment. "G- Get up!"

"Nah." His eyes shut closed. "Not until you tell me about your quote on quote 'dumb question'."

"Come on-"

"I'm going to sleep now." He smiles mischievously. "Goodnight, Dreams."

Dream squirms. "I- I can tell that you aren't asleep, Ink! Quit pretending to sleep and get off of me!!!"

The only response he gets back is a totally real, not fake, completely realistic snore. 

"W- Why do you care so much about this, anyways???" He exclaims.

Surprisingly, Ink responds, still not opening his eyes. "Because… snore… I care… snorfle… about… honk shoo… you…"

A sigh is let out from his mouth. "Fine… I'll tell you…"

As quick as a flash, Ink sits back up, bouncing excitedly in his seat as he waits in anticipation. "Tell me, tell me, tell me!!!"

Ink, who was currently directly in his face at the time, is pushed away a bit by him. "I- I want to see all those universes you care about… I've never really seen outside of my universe before."

Immediately, Ink is right back in his face, hand keeping him away pushed aside, a huge grin on the god's face. "OH MY STARS, REALLY???"

Dream squeaks, feeling so small in comparison to Ink's excitement. "Y- Yeah…?"

His wrists are grabbed by the other's charcoal-covered hands. "Why didn't you say anything sooner, Dreams? That's an amazing idea!!!"

"U- Uh…" Nervously, he tries to say something.

"Where do you wanna go first?" Ink asks. "There's Farmtale, Dancetale, Xtale, Slumbertale, Mafiatale… And that's not even accounting for the AUs that look similar!"

"I d- don't…" Still, Dream can't utter a reply.

"Oh yeah! About the similar AUs, there's the base Undertale, Underswap, Underfell, all the Fellswaps and Swapfells…" He trails on.

"I- I…" Too overwhelmed to say anything, he can only stutter.

Oblivious to this, Ink drags the both of them onto their feet, Dream stumbling in his grip. "I think it'd be best if I just showed you, don'tcha think?"

Without waiting for a response from Dream, Ink swirls the both away into a pitch-black blob.

A pacifist timeline of Undertale, run nearly completed by its resident human. 

Dream and Ink make their landing on the grounds of The Ruins, forming on a flower patch under the mountain's hole.

The former opens his eyes, and stares up around him. The purple hues of the ruined area mixing with the yellows of the sun shining through surprise him in their beauty. Ink sits beside him, letting him take it all in.

"Like it?" He asks. "Kinda sucks for them though, since they can't fully see the sun. Still pretty, despite that."

"I- It's different…" Dream whispers.

Ink laughs in response. "Ha ha, yeah. It gets more different in comparison to where you came from, shockingly enough."

The sunset colored skeleton picks a buttercup. "What do you mean by that?"

"What do I mean? Well…" He grins. "You've seen some of this area before, haven't you? Most universes have a place like this, albeit some more different than others."

Dream tilts his head. "So am I…?"

He gets a nod in response. "An outlier? Yep."

"I- I don't know how to feel about that…" He sighs.

"Hm…" Ink grabs Dream's wrist. "Wanna go somewhere else? There's different places than this one, y'know."

Dream shakily sighs, still trying to grip with the information that he just received. "Y- Yeah. Lead the way, ha ha…"

"Okay!" He gleefully cheers. "Let's go!"

Much to the sunset skeleton's surprise, instead of walking, Ink envelopes the both of them in paint and teleports them off.

As soon as they land in another area, Snowdin, he coughs up the excess paint that made its way into his mouth.

Looking over to his side, he spots Ink face planted in… is this snow ? He's heard of what it looks like, but…

Face first in whatever covers the ground, his partner immediately starts moving his arms up and down throughout the snow, for a reason unknown to him. It leaves marks where the (Snow? He still doesn't know what this stuff is.) stuff formerly was, swept away from his arms flailing.

"Ink?" No response.

The other skeleton continues to beat his arms like a bird.

He shakes him and repeats. "Ink?" 

Ink, hearing his name, moves one of his arms up into the air…

And forces Dream into the snow with him.

A wave of shock flashes through him, the coolness of the atmosphere increased tenfold by being in the ground of it all.

"Cold, cold, cold!!!" He shivers. "Wh- What? Why? It's freezing!!!"

The ink-blot of a monster tilts his head up, so he can speak. Around a pile of snow falls from his skull as he speaks. "C'mon Dreams, make a snow-angel with me!!!" He smiles.

"A w- what?" His teeth chatter. "I- I don't know what that is!"

"Step one." Ink raises a finger covered in his own paint, and uses that blot to force Dream flat onto the ground in a similar fashion as he is. "Lie down on the snow."

"I- I hate this…" Dream stutters, overwhelmed by the cool of it all.

Flailing his arms about like before, Ink continues. "Step two. Flap your arms like a bird."

He does just that, feeling awfully lucky that he actually has gloves on. "W- Why d- do this?"

"You'll see." Ink says with a smirk.

After a few minutes of messing around in the snow, Ink stands up. Dream does so as well, and looks down to see…

Well, they're markings in the snow. Of what, he doesn't know.

"Look Dream!" Ink points at the ground where they formerly lay. "We made snow angels!"

Dream looks at him questioningly. "I- Is that the reason you dragged me in?"

"Yep!" Ink giggles. 

He can't help but to giggle back. "You're ridiculous."

"This…" Ink gestures up at the air. "...is Waterfall!"

The two had made their way throughout Snowdin, Dream learning many things about this world's Underground. 

Like about how monsters celebrate certain holidays, some that he wasn't familiar with. And how apparently his universe's alternate had a brother that wasn't a twin? It's all so strange to him, how different his universe is to the quote on quote 'normal' ones. 

As always, Ink still drags him along. 

"So…" He starts, wading through the water with him, it nearly waist deep in his short body. "...Wanna learn about this place?"

Dream takes pace behind him, water up to his knees in comparison. "U- Uh… sure!"

Exiting the water, the two come across four flower seeds and a path that cuts off. "A very long time ago… Like a hundred years ago or so…"

Ink picks up a flower seed, as if he already knows what to do with it. "Monsters didn't live in the Underground like this… They're trapped under here, y'know?" Letting go of Dream's hand, he places it in the water.

"T- They are?" Dream stutters, and Ink nods in response.

As soon as the seed hits the water, it blooms into a flower big enough to walk on. "Humans were scared of them, cuz' they could use magic better than they could… So, after a long war that they caused, they trapped every single monster under a mountain."

The both of them pick up one seed each, Dream catching on to what he should do to get across. "The monsters lost, didn't they…" He shyly says.

"Yep!" Ink places his seed into the water, and moves to grab the final one. "Despite the monsters being stronger magically, the humans had more determination… So they won."

"O- Oh…" He sighs. "That's sad."

Dream watches him place the final seed, and it blooms as he walks away. He grabs his wrist, and the both of them walk on the flower path they've created. "Don't worry."

"Why not?" The two of them grab the other seeds for a new path.

"Well…" Ink grabs two seeds at once, and continues to solve the puzzle. "...They're gonna be free soon."

He places the seed he was holding in the path Ink has started to create. "How do you know that?"

The final seed needed is placed in the path, and the two cross. "Because they've almost collected all the souls they need to make it out. They're almost out, trust me."

"Mmm…" 

They make their way across the bridge, and come across a room with a cheese covered in rock and an oddly blue flower.

"Okay, this is the last thing I wanted to show you for this area. I know you don't like loud noises, so this is the alternative to another area I wanted to show you." Ink states.

"What is i-" Dream says, but is interrupted.

"... Alternative to another area…"

He looks around for the sound, but there's nobody there who could have made it. "I- Ink? Was that you?"

Ink shakes his head. "Nope! Keep your ears open, cuz' it's something around here that's making that noise."

"...Something around here…"

Dream looks around, but still doesn't find anything. He peeks through the mouse hole, looks under the table, all for naught. 

"Alright Dreams." Ink begins, seeing his partner's struggle. "How about I tell you how close you are to the cause of that sound. 'Hot' means you're close, 'cold' means you're far."

"...Hot…" "…Cold…"

He nods in response.

"Okay, you're by the table right now, which is kinda cold I would say. Try moving closer to another thing." Ink commands.

"...Closer to another thing…"

Dream scoots toward the mouse hole, and stares under it yet again.

The god shakes his head. "Ok, you're a biiit hotter, but what we're looking for isn't a mouse. Try scooching a bit to the right."

"...A bit to the right…"

A step is taken just in that direction, and Dream bumps into… the flower from before?

"Red hot, red hot, red hot!!!" Ink shouts, cupping his mouth to increase the noise.

He looks down at the flower, only to see it glowing as it repeats Ink's words. "...Red hot…"

"I- It's coming from the flower…?" Dream asks.

"...The flower…" It mimics.

Ink nods, hopping toward him. "Mhm! Isn't it cool? It's called an Echo Flower."

As if confirming the fact, the flower repeats. "...An Echo Flower…"

"So if I say something it'll…" He whispers, getting a nod from Ink in response and a gesture to go for it. "...Okay. Ink is really cool."

"...Ink is really cool…"

Ink bursts into laughter at the response. "Oh my stars, Dreams!" He wraps an arm around him. "Is that really what you're going to make it say?"

Dream blushes, now embarrassed, and grabs Ink's hand. "C- Come on. L- Let's go."

"But Dreams… you don't know where to go." He smiles, still giggling to himself.

He stops dead in his tracks. "I- I-"

The other skeleton takes the lead. "C'mon, I'll lead the way."

"I- It's getting kinda hot…" Dream huffs out, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Oh yeah, want me to bring your gloves and coat back home?" Ink asks. "It's only going to get hotter from here."

He continues to sweat as they walk further. "Huff… Are you sure? We don't have to go… huff… back…"

Ink shrugs. "Well, do you?"

Dream unravels his coat, takes off his gloves, and hands them to him. Ink opens a portal to his universe, and throws them in there. Along with that, he takes off his own scarf as well and tosses them into the mix.

"T- Thank you… That's much better…" He sighs, still hot but less so than before.

Ink waves his hand in a gesture to cool himself down. As he walks along the bridge with Dream, he spots a water fountain. 

Running toward it, he pours a cup instantly and offers it to him. "You want some water, Dream?"

Uncharacteristically, Dream snatches the water from him and chugs it down, receiving a humorous laugh from Ink.

"Haha, thirsty much?" He pours a cup of his own, and pours it all over his body. "Me too, bud."

Dream snorts, spitting the water in his mouth all over. "Cough, cough, Ink!!!" He says, trying to breathe from the water in his lungs (lungs?). "You're… cough cough… ridiculous!!!"

A smirk is given in response as Ink grabs another cup of water and pours it all over himself again , resulting in Dream doubling down in laughter.

"Ink!!! Cough… Oh my stars… Cough… It's too hot for this…" He shakily extends his hand over to him, gesturing for another cup. 

But instead of receiving it in his palm, Ink reaches up onto his tippy toes and pours the last cup of water all over his friend.

"Augh!!! I- Ink!!!" Soaking wet, Dream grabs his hand and starts dragging him along towards the path. "C- C'mon… haha… let's go. All the water's gone now, anyways."

"But you still don't know where to gooo~" Ink replies in a sing-song voice.

"You know what!" Instead of stopping like last time, Dream lifts Ink up into the air, onto his shoulder and continues walking. "I'll keep walking either way!!!"

"Lead the way, Dreams. Make sure not to fall in lava though, Hotland is pretty… uh… hot." Ink replies.

As Dream makes his way through the path, he is quickly stopped by a big door to a lab. Upon halting, his luggage smiles so wide he can basically hear it. "Something's stopping ya, isn't it~"

Dream looks to the ground, then to Ink, then to the ground again…

And promptly slips Ink out of his grasp, the god sliding off of his shoulder onto the ground.

"Ow, ow, ow…" He complains. "Y'know, there are better ways to ask for another way around."

His partner crosses his arms and fake-frowns. "Hmph!"

Getting to his feet, Ink grabs Dream's hand for the millionth time and teleports them away, right outside the exit to the lab they were just in front of.

Before Dream can stop and regain his composure, Ink drags him along throughout the path, the guardian wobbling through as he races forward.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!!! H- Hold on I need to-" Before he can finish, he bumps directly into Ink as the other stops. 

Falling onto the ground, he looks forward to see two paths moving forward on their own. It's…

It's a lot. He doesn't know why, but he just lies there staring at it. Taking it in.

He's seen all the things technology can do. This is probably one of them. He had some technology at home. But enough to literally make the ground move on its own?

It's stupid. Why is this the one thing that hits him?

"Dream?" Ink suddenly blocks his view, offering a hand to help him up. "Uh, did I give you a concussion or something? You're staring."

Taking his hand, he shakily gets to his feet. "S- Sorry. Everything's so different here, I- I just…"

Ink stares at him, confused. "Whaddya mean?"

Shyly, he walks forward onto the path that's moving forward. "...Let's keep moving. I'll explain it while we walk."

"Oookay?" He follows suit.

As the two of them stand next to each other, there's an odd tension between them. Dream opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

Upon being dropped off, Ink starts to speak. "It's because it's different, isn't it?" He says, glancing at Dream with a concerned look in his eyes.

Dream looks away, but looks back once he realizes Ink won't stop gazing at him. "Y- Yeah… How did you know?"

Reaching a pressure plate, Ink stops Dream before he can step on it. "It's about the thing you said earlier." Placing his feet down on the plate, it pushes him over toward the next path. "C'mon."

Nervously, Dream steps onto the machine, and it throws him over toward Ink. Somehow, he lands on his own two feet. "O- Oh… right."

As the two continue going forward, their conversation does the same. "You feel all weird being an outlier, right? Thought there'd be thousands of similar stories to yours?"

Dream nods. "Yeah… But thinking about it, that'd be more weird."

Exiting the puzzle, the two walk past another different, now solved one, past a kitchen, and towards an elevator.

Looking to the side, Dream can't help but notice a gigantic machine in the distance. 

Ink presses the button to open its doors, and walks in, holding his arm out so the door doesn't close shut. 

Following Ink, still nervous as he finds himself inside an unfamiliar machine-box thing, he leans onto him. "All this technology I've never known about is scary. It's scarier than when the villagers came with all their own stuff before."

He nods as the elevator starts moving. Dream jolts up, but Ink leans closer next to him. "Ah. It's like the whole world is advancing without you, isn't it?"

Dream shakes his head. "More like I was sheltered away from what everyone else knew. At least when I was a kid all their stuff came naturally."

"Hmm." The elevator beeps open, and the two exit.

"It's all so much… More than just the technology, it's the whole multiverse I didn't have a clue about."

Patting his back in a calming gesture, Ink faintly smiles at him. Dream has started to notice that Ink smiles a lot. It's comforting, to see someone happy when he's so down. 

"Wanna get outta this place? The elevator was pointless, we coulda teleported to where we need to go." Ink asks.

"Mhm." Dream confirms. "How many more places in this universe?"

Ink holds up a singular finger. "One more. Technically two, but whatever. Then we've got not much left I wanna show you. Undertale was by far the biggest place I wanted you to see."

"O- Okay…" This time, Dream is the one to grab his hand. "Let's go then." 

Dream has found it easier to exit teleporting the more he's done it. He doesn't know how to do it himself, Ink hasn't taught him yet, but once (or if, he doesn't know if he has the ability to) he learns how to, he thinks he'll have an easier time than most.

Needless to say, this time he finds himself landing easily onto the ground. Where he is, it seems like it's…

Actually, he's never seen this kind of place before. It's a building for sure, just one of bigger scale compared to what he's ever seen.

Before he can wonder more about this place, Ink runs up in front of him and presents the place. "Welcome to Mettaton Resort! MTT Resort for short."

On the building, he can see images of a robot plastered nearly everywhere. Pointing at one of them, he asks. "Is that 'Mettaton'?"

Ink nods. "Yep! We're gonna get dinner here. Dinner? Lunch? Breakfast? I don't think they serve breakfast food…"

As he trails on and on, Dream continues to stare at the building. It's big… really big. Heck, he doesn't even think big is a word to describe it.

Staring still, he doesn't even notice Ink moving on ahead through the door before he's dragged along by force. Entering, he sees the place is even more different than he first thought.

But he can't stay and take it all in, Ink continues to drag him through the room towards…

Another place he doesn't know the name of!

Ink's blabbering stops as he finally notices Dream's odd behavior. Looking back, he questions him. "What's up, Dreams? Is something up?"

"I- I just… I've never seen a place like this…" He stutters.

His partner makes a thinking expression, and then one of realization. "Oh right! Dreamtale didn't have any restaurants or hotels, yeah? You grew your own food and slept in your own houses. Lived near a village and all that, never seeing anyplace else."

"Mhm. It's all I knew, I guess." Dream takes his seat near the table. "Never had anywhere else."

"Well you're in luck, bud!" Ink exclaims, taking a seat of his own. "Never tried greasy modern food before, right. I'm so glad we didn't have any back home, otherwise this wouldn't be a surprise in the making."

"Huh?" He blinks. Before he knows it, Ink's already talking to a monster that's arrived at their table. Blabbing on, the monster quickly writes something down and walks away.

As Ink swings his legs in his chair, and Dream leans his head on his arm, the two sit and wait for their food to arrive.

"Sooo…" Ink leans back in his chair. "Pick a number on through two."

"Uh…" He thinks for a moment. What's this about? Numbers? Well… "Two is bigger than one, so two I guess?"

A grin is plastered on Ink's face. "Noted. Guess I know where we're going next, haha."

"Huh? Where?" He tries to ask, but a plate of food, along with a drink, is placed right in front of the both of them before his words can be processed.

In front of him is something like a sandwich? Not really a sandwich, as it has different types of bread on the top and bottom. Said bread is something akin to the loafs he'd see the bakers make back at Dreamtale, except said loafs are purple instead of tan. In between the bread, is some lettuce and a slab of beef. 

Ink grabs his own food, which is identical to his, and takes a huge bite out of it. So that answers one thing; it is eaten like a sandwich.

Nervously, Dream pokes his meal. 

"What's wrong, Dreams?" His partner asks between bites. "Don't want the burger?"

"Burger?" He questions, taking hold of it. "Is that what this is called?"

Ink nods. "Yep! A Glamburger is its actual name, though just calling it a burger, or hamburger fits. You grab it like this…" He holds his burger up for him to see. "...And take a bite out of it like so." 

With a 'nom', he takes a huge bite out of his burger. Dream copies him, doing the same.

The burger tastes… well, greasy is a word that fits.  Along with that, there's the mix of the beef, bread, and lettuce, even if said lettuce doesn't taste like anything. It's probably for texture, he thinks.

Does he like it…? He thinks he prefers the food at home, but this is different. Different in a good way, just not something he'd eat on the regular.

Looking up at Ink and… oh stars, he's already finished his. Moving onto his drink… drink? Wait, it's not a drink, it's just in a cup. Anyways, he grabs a spoon and starts eating it.

Copying Ink, he takes a spoonful of his own. The dessert, some yogurt mixed with fruit, is surprisingly good! Eating treats like this was rare, considering the amount of effort it took to make the yogurt back then.

Speaking of that… "How much time do you think it took to make this, Ink? Must've taken forever…" He asks.

Much to his surprise, Ink shakes is head in response. "Nah. Bet it was pretty easy. All this stuff, the Starfait and Glamburger are mostly made with the help of machines n' junk."

"O- Oh wow…" Dream takes another bite of his burger as Ink finishes up his Starfait.

Machines… they can do that? Sure, he's seen machines help heat up food, and people using things like a plow to help with farming, but those were usually run by fire or animals. And the way Ink's talking, it sounds like at least the latter wasn't the case.

Slowly, Dream finishes up his burger. Staring up at Ink, he's bouncing up and down in his seat like he's waiting for him to hurry up and finish.

"Uh- Uh…" He stares down at his Starfait, still unfinished for the most part. "Do you want me to bring this with me?"

"Sure!" Bouncing out of his seat, he jogs in place waiting for Dream to get ready to leave.

So, he picks up his dessert and gets up along with him. Moving on ahead, Ink walks toward the big double doors, with a big sign labeled 'CORE', specifically in all caps leading them to their next destination.

Holding the door open for him, Ink excitedly waits for him to continue on forward.

As he goes through the doors, Dream is quickly alerted to the sound of machinery moving, metal clanking, and gears turning. Despite that, he ignores it and continues.

Progressing, the area becomes a blueish color of metal, and the wood floors he was walking on becomes the same as the area surrounding. The sounds of metal working become louder and louder, not stopping.

It's a lot. More than Hotland, he can't take it. His head and body are reflecting that.

"Huff… puff…" Dream slows down, not being able to move as quickly anymore. A few paces in front of him, Ink notices.

"Huh?" The god walks back to Dream's place. "What's wrong, bud?"

He falls to his knees, completely overwhelmed. Along with that, he drops his Starfait with him, it shattering on the ground. "'S… 'S loud…"

"Oh…" Ink pats his head. "You know what? Maybe we should leave this universe now. We've seen about everything here I wanted to show you, alright?"

His head leans into Ink's hand. "Y- Yeah…"

Hugging him, Ink teleports them away, concluding their visit to Undertale.

Xtale was a peaceful universe. Ink liked it, even though it had a surprising lack of color.

But he knew that, along with… other things, when making the universe. The Creators wanted something different. He knew their intentions when making the universe, and he knew they'd fail, so he made it anyway.

Arriving in a field of purple, yellow, and white flowers, the three out of four colors that existed here, him and Dream stumble in their landing.

Specifically, stumble with Dream flat on top of Ink.

"Urgh… Dream… You're kinda burying me here… ergh…" Attempting to squeeze his way out, Ink squirms all over.

Dream rushes to get up, dusting himself off as he does so. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean too!!!"

Pushing himself up, he gets up onto his feet. "Nah, it's fine. Just squeezed me, that's all."

Despite him saying this, there is a very clear crack in his skull. Clear to Dream, ink runs off of it through thick drips. 

Ink tilts his head in confusion as he stares at him. "Huh? Do I have dirt on my face or something?" He asks.

Shaking his head out of his daze, Dream cups Ink's face. "You're bleeding!" 

"Huh?" 

"You have a crack on your forehead, Ink! We need to-"

Much to his surprise, Dream is pushed away from Ink as he summons a small paintbrush, like a tiny version of Broomie out. Along with that, he creates a mirror, seemingly to look at the scar.

Then, he starts painting over it.

"C'mon Dream, you freak out over everything. It's not a big deal, y'know? We totally gotta teach you healing magic sometime." As he brushes over the crack, it starts to disappear as he covers it in paint. 

"I- I-" Dream can only stutter out.

Interrupting him, he continues to blabber on. "It's just a little chip. Thinking about it, how would your healing magic work? Do you even have any? I mean, I've taught you attacks n' all but defensive stuff, nah. I really need to-"

"Ink!!!" Dream shouts, this time cutting him off. "Don't scare me like that!!!"

The god lowers his mirror. "I did wha?"

"I- I thought you had like… major brain damage or something!!! I thought… I thought…" He sighs, not ending his sentence.

Dream flops to the ground, sitting on the grass and flowers. Ink stares at him and follows suit.

"Ah. I scared you, didn't I?" Ink looks away. "Uh, sorry about that."

His voice small, Dream replies. "Just don't do it again, okay…?"

"Mhm." He nods.

Reaching for his coat but finding it absent from before, he wishes that he could hide in its comfort. But he can't.

"Uh…" Ink reaches for something of his own, his scarf. But just like Dream's coat, it's back at their house.

A flower is picked by Dream. "So… What is this place?" He asks, starting to weave it together with other blossoms in the area.

"Oh! It's uh…" Thinking, Ink tries to remember the universe's name. This always happens when he's stressed, forgetting important details like that.

Soon enough, he remembers. "Right! It's Xtale."

Dream continues weaving the flowers into place. "Ah… I thought it'd be something like, I dunno, Softtale? Dunno, because the only colors here are mainly soft?"

He shakes his head. "No, it's named this for some stupid reason that I forgot the reason for."

(That was a lie, it was named that because of him. )

"Oh." With his reply, Dream hands Ink a flower. "Wanna make a flower crown with me?"

"Mhm." He takes the flower, and starts to weave it along with Dream.

Ink never was good at traditional crafts like this. Knitting, sewing, woodworking, crafting things with clay, or this, making flower crowns, he never excelled at. Sure, he could do all of those things listed, but do it well? No.

The only good creative things he was good at were things like painting, drawing, coloring… stuff like that.

"So… does this universe have a story or anything? I mean, a story worth telling?" Dream asks.

"I…" Clumsily crafting his own crown, Ink trails off.

Telling him about this universe would be telling him too much. What he did here would make it clear that he made something he didn't like on his own accord, which would seem weird to Dream for sure. 

But then, what does he tell him?

"It's like Undertale, I guess?" Ink starts off. "But the monsters and humans never went to war, so both species are on the surface. That's it, I guess."

Dream nods. "Oh. That's nice, having a peaceful universe like this."

If only he knew.

Back then, he…

Ink knew what The Creators were planning as soon as he started making this universe.

They couldn't hide their intent, no matter how hard they tried. And they tried . 

A replacement for him. That's what they wanted, wasn't it? Because he wasn't their perfect little god anymore.

He could tell they wanted someone who would listen to orders, and only comply. Listen to them, and just them.

But hey, with the way the formation was going, it was clear that their plan wasn't going to work.

So, he didn't fight back. He allowed the universe to be made. Because his replacement, the one they wanted to be the new god of creation, wasn't going to be that.

They called the new universe Xtale. He could feel their sorrow, anger, and annoyance as Ink still lived and didn't get thrown to the side.

The person who they had wanted to be their new creator was called Xgaster. The power of creation they wanted him to have manifested in a less powerful form, Overwrite.

Overwrite was powerful, yes. Having the ability to make something out of nothing, even making life itself appear in an instant was more than most could manage, but…

That's the thing, it was too powerful for it to exist out there for others to grab.

Xgaster was curious. Ink knew that, and knew that well. Unlike other creations he had made, he had chosen to pay extra attention to Xgaster especially.

Nightmare had just exited Dreamtale back then. Dream had just become his friend back then.

He didn't want his friend's brother to get ahold of him.

He didn't want anyone to get ahold of him, come to think of it.

So he did the only thing he could think of doing.

He…

Ink doesn't like thinking about his actions that day. But he had to do it, so he did. 

This universe benefitted from that, he knows it.

His hands shake as he thinks of what had happened afterwards. The Creators yelling at him for ruining their perfect story.

It was loud. The noise he could usually handle, but all the berating and hate and-

"Ink?" Dream's voice jolts him back into reality. 

Looking at him with a concerned face, he holds a finished flower crown in his two hands. "Are you okay? You're shaking."

Oh. He didn't even realize…

Stars, he really has to hide things like this more. 

"I- I'm fine, Dreams." Ink feigns a smile towards him. "I was just having trouble with making my crown, that's all."

"Oh!" A look of realization hits Dream's face. "I didn't even ask if you knew how to make one, didn't I? Sorry!"

"No, no." Ink holds his project close. "I knew how, it's just… I'm not good at it."

"But you're…"

"The god of creation? Yeah, I know."

Holding up his own finished flower crown, Dream gently places it on Ink's head. A smile is on his face as Ink stares at him, shocked.

"You know, you could've just asked for help." He states. "Come here, I'll help you as best as I can."

As Dream scoots closer to him, Ink thinks to himself.

Dream is kind. Dream is wonderful. Dream is…

Dream is his friend.

His best friend in the entire multiverse.

And he doesn't want to lose him.

Ever.

That's why he has to keep some things secret. For the sake of their friendship, he will hold all the awful things he's done for the sake of the multiverse close. 

Close enough to where Dream could never even think of seeing them.

For the sake of him.

No, for the sake of them .

As he finishes guiding him through the process of finishing his flower crown, he softly places its messy figure onto Dream's head.

Thinking about it, he'd be lost without him.

So that's why he has to keep Dream close, no matter what.

Ink wanted to take Dream somewhere special, somewhere fun.

So he thought Dancetale would be the perfect fit.

What area, though…

Not this universe's Hotland, obviously. The Core is also a no-go.

Snowdin? No, they don't have anything to cover up in like last time.

So either the Ruins or Waterfall.

Waterfall looks nice, so how about there?

Stepping onto the damp ground out of thin air, Ink and Dream arrive in an area of glowing water, bridges surrounding them to take them any which way.

"Hey Dreams." Ink smiles at the guardian, who's currently dusting himself off. "I have the best idea to end off our little trip."

Dream's sloppy flower crown tilts off his head a little, but he adjusts it back. "What is it?"

Creating a CD player with his magic, he holds it up. "What's your favorite kinda music?"

"I… Uh… Well, I was always good at piano…" Dream softly says.

Ink squints at him. "But did you like it?"

"I guess so, I haven't really thought about it in awhile." He shrugs.

"Hmm…" Ink thinks to himself. Piano, piano, piano… What are good songs with piano to dance to? Well, there's some jazzy stuff with piano in it. How about that?

Forming a CD into his hands, and popping it into the player, he grins at Dream.

As the music begins to play, Ink gets up and takes Dream's hands. "You wanna dance?"

Blushing heavily (for a reason Ink doesn't know) he nods.

"Okaaaay… Let's dance!" Proudly, Ink states.

As the two take their steps, Dream's heart begins to thump in his chest.

They're dancing with each person holding each other's waist, and hands entwined with the other's.

Step with step, the twirl and spin and just…

Just dance, the two of them together.

With this Dream realizes…

Does he have feelings for Ink?

There can't be another explanation for this feeling, can there?

Ink's amazing. So headstrong, brave, but also kind. He wants to be like him so badly.

Should he tell him…?

It's bubbling in his heart, this emotion. All too much, he needs to say something.

And Ink smiles, dancing with him, unknowing to it all.

"Aren't you having fun, Dreams?" He asks with a smile.

Now, Dream has to make his move.

Dipping Ink with his hand, he finally says it.

"I- I think I'm in love with you."

Ink's smile turns into an expression of shock just then, as he lets go of Dream's hand. 

"W- What?" He says, still in his grasp.

Panic fills Dream's being. Oh my stars, did he say the wrong thing?

He shouldn't of confessed now, he should've waited, he should've-

Before he realizes it, he drops Ink to the ground.

Ink hits the ground harshly. "Oomf…"

"Oh my stars, Ink!" Rushing toward him, Dream tries to help out his friend.

There's no major damage, nothing that will kill him, but he still worries. Mostly about something else, but this too.

"F- Forget what I said!!! It's- I just- I didn't mean it!!!" Dream stutters out.

But Ink sees right through his facade, moving his hand to stop the music that was playing. "...You did mean it, didn't you?"

"No, I-" He tries to say, but Ink cuts him off.

"Don't be like that, okay?" His gaze pierces through him. "I want you to be honest. And I'm gonna be honest too, alright?"

With a sigh, Dream nods. "I did mean it… Do you feel the same way?"

Ink shakes his head. "No, but I still care about you."

Still, he can't help his heart from sinking deep in his chest. "Why?"

"I dunno why I don't feel the same way you feel about me too you. But I do know why I care about you." He states. 

"Why?" Dream asks again.

"Because you're important to me, love or not. Got that?" He says with a smile.

Suddenly, Dream grabs him in a hug. "You promise?"

Ink hugs him back. "I wouldn't break a promise, especially one for you."

Heading back, the two reflect on their adventure. It was fun, though they had some issues.

Maybe they'll go on one again, in due time?

Maybe.

Chapter Text

"Hey Ink?" Dream asks. The two of them have been hanging around Ink's universe ever since their last encounter with Error and Nightmare, not really doing anything significant. It's only been a week, to be fair, but Dream is still feeling antsy.

"Yeah?" Replies Ink.

"Can you teach me how to fight? Y- You said you would."

"Oh yeah! Yeah, c'mon Dreams. Let's go." Ink takes Dream's hand, and leads him outside.

The both of them walk into the field outside, Dream nervous and Ink cheerful. The sky is a rainbow of colors, as if somebody mixed a puddle of rainbow paint together. The field has multiple types of flowers, some unique to this universe, some just normal common flowers, some of extreme rarity, and some are… just weeds. Flowers that shouldn't coexist together do just that.

Ink takes Dream to the part of the field with less greenery, an area more fit for training. He lets go of Dream's hand, and gestures at him to stay put. After walking a few feet away, they begin.

"So, uh, from what I've read…" Ink glances at a note on his scarf, "'A monster's weapon and attacks come from a monster's being.' Well, I don't know if that applies to you, but it might be helpful."

Dream rubs the back of his head, nervous. 

"Don't worry though! It applied to me… I think, and I don't even have a soul!" Ink says cheerfully.

Dream stares at Ink in shock. "Y- You don't??? But I- I can still sense emotions coming from you!"

"Did I uh. Uhm. Not tell you?" He takes off his sash, walks over to Dream, and shows it off to him. "These vials held on here are what give me emotion. Each color represents one!"

"Is that why I see you drinking them sometimes?" The sunset-colored skeleton hovers his hand over the gray sash. Ink nods.

"...Can I touch them?" He asks politely.

Ink nods yet again. "Sure! Just… be careful to not break 'em. Also don't open any! I don't want you to spill 'em." 

Dream runs his hand over all of the vials. "How did you lose your soul?" He asks.

Ink nearly drops his sash in shock. He fumbles to not let it hit the ground, afraid of shattering his emotions' containers. Dream fumbles to help, but he doesn't really do much. Ink grabs the sash, and he lets out a sigh of relief.

"I- I'm sorry!" Dream exclaims. "I… didn't realize that would shock you that much. I- Is it a bad memory? If it is then I won't bring it up again, I promise!"

Ink holds his sash close. "'S alright, just… please don't bring it up again, 'kay?"

Dream nods in response. 

"Okay! Let's get back to what we were doing! …Wait." Ink pauses, a confused expression filling his face. "What were we doing?"

"T- Teaching me how to fight…?"

"Oh yeah!" Ink runs over to where he was formerly standing, and continues what he was talking about before.

"Okay, so, uh, right! Your weapons n' stuff are based off of your self. Uh, your 'being', if you will." He summons an inky puddle, and forms it into a bone. "I've read that it can be literal or metaphorical. For me, it's literal."

Dream raises his hand like a child in school waiting to be called on. "Can I ask another question?"

"Go for it."

"How come you're saying that it's literal for you? I get the bone, but you look like a normal skeleton monster. Why ink?" Dream looks to the side. "Y- You don't have to answer if that's too personal though…" 

Ink puts his hand to his chin, in a thinking pose. "Hmm… That's a biiiiit personal. But I guess you could say I'm actually made of ink. I can heal myself with it 'n make weapons outta it. A bone is just easier. If I got attacked, ink instead of dust would spill out." He looks back to Dream. "Is that simple enough?"

Dream meets Ink's gaze. "I- I guess so." 

"Now you try."

"H- Huh?"

Ink shrugs. "Didn't you wanna try this?"

Dream nods. "Y- Yeah, I guess. Can you guide me through it?"

“Alright, close your eyes.” Dream does just that. “Focus, and think of something that best suits you. If it works for you, then it’ll come naturally.”

“Okay…” Dream takes a breath, and focuses. Something to fight- no, defend with. But that could be anything. He hasn’t seen many weapons, so how would he know what’s wrong or right for him? But… something still comes to mind. It’s something he thinks wouldn’t be a good weapon, but despite that? It seems like it suits him.

He doesn’t realize it, but he’s slowly been forming a star speckled staff in his hand.

“Dreams, look!” Dream opens his eyes, and looks down at his newly formed weapon. “You did it!!!”

He stares in shock and joy. “I- I did!”

"Alright. Now let's get to training," Ink summons an inky blob, and forms it to look like a staff. "I'll try to mimic the kinda weapon you have, for now."

The other skeleton jolts up in surprise. "Wait! I- I can't fight you. You're my friend!"

"You can't?"

"I might hurt you! O- Or worse!!!"

Ink sighs. "Dreams, if things get too rough then I can always heal. Besides, you're just starting out. I don't think you could hurt me that bad… No offense, of course."

"A- Alright."

The inky skeleton holds up his staff, and commands, "Alright, now come at me. I'll teach you as we go along. I've read how to fight with this… and every other weapon… but never really done it before, so we'll learn together, 'kay?"

Dream approaches Ink at a speed walk, and attempts to bonk him with his staff. The other skeleton parries this with his own staff. 

"Two things; you gotta approach me quicker than that, or I'll attack you first. Second thing, you gotta be more confident. That bonk didn't feel like it was very hard." 

"H- How do I do better?"

"Follow what I do."

Ink guides Dream through training, teaching him various techniques he's read about. Some don't seem to work well with Dream, so they only focus on the ones that click with him. Sometime throughout this, Ink had summoned a training dummy for Dream to practice on. It seems to have helped him, as his skills had gotten a bit better bit by bit.

The two of them practice every other day… as much as they can, at least. Ink has to take some time to "deal" with Error, and a new threat, Nightmare. This tires him out, but with his energetic spirit they are still able to cover a good amount of days.

Eventually, Dream gets good enough to where he can fight without any guidance. 

It's nerve-wracking, knowing that he'd have to fight his brother out of all people to keep others safe. But… if he doesn't do it, he's a coward. A coward who's just letting his friend go out there and get hurt.

He wants to help his brother. Maybe going out there with Ink can help him learn just how.

Underswap. There is currently an attack on Underswap. Not from Error, he doesn't attack main universes like that, but from Nightmare. 

Nightmare is… odd, with how he attacks universes. He aims for universes with a high amount of positive energy, and goes on his own to terrorize its residents. He doesn't want any attention off of himself, as he is the one who plans these attacks out. But, he kills everybody minus the universe's core. It seems like he desires the universe still to be alive after he leaves. Can he even kill the core? 

No, he can't. Not in a way that will destroy the universe. There's only one God of Destruction, after all. And it's Error, not Nightmare. Nightmare wouldn't even want the universe to die… if it did, it wouldn't be able to suffer.

Ink and Dream are at a standstill with Nightmare. Multiple monsters are dead, and the universe is in a state of panic. Water falls from the caves ceiling, and a waterfall falls in the background.

Dream holds his staff, nervousness filling him. This is the first time he's defended a universe, and in all honesty… he wishes that it was Error instead. He doesn't want to fight his brother. 

But still, he keeps up his fighting stance. He would rather fight his brother than have more innocents die. Ink is at his side, holding his brush. He can rely on him if things get too rough.

"Night…" Dream starts, "Why are you doing this?"

His brother tilts his head. "Hm? I'm doing it because I enjoy it. But… you wouldn't understand. You've never been in pain before, have you?"

"I- It's paining me right now to see you like this…"

"So you would know. Know how good it feels to do something like…" Nightmare grabs a resident monster who was hiding, watching the scene, with one of his tentacles. "...This." He grips the monster tightly. Dust pours out of them, nearly killing them.

"N- NO!"

Before any of the outcodes can do anything, footsteps can be heard approaching. Blue bones surround Nightmare, trapping him. 

A scarfed skeleton appears, the resident Sans of this universe. His scarf flows in the wind, and he points a gloved finger at Nightmare.

"Stop, you goopy creature! As a almost-member of the royal guard, it is my responsibility to put your foul deeds to an end!!! Let go of that monster, or face the consequences of my… blue attack!!!" The Sans shouts.

Nightmare stares at Sans, his expression flat… before forming into a cruel smile. He breaks one of the bones with his tentacle, not paying any mind to the damage he takes. "You think this can stop me? A stupid, dumb, and simple group of bones?"

"Y- Yes! They… they are very strong!"

"Hm…" Nightmare tilts his head. "How about I test that, then?" 

Nightmare breaks all of the bones with a swift flick of a tentacle, then shoots one in Sans' direction. Before he can react, Dream quickly and swiftly moves to block the attack with his staff. 

"You've gotta get out of here!"

"B- But I can-"

"We'll stop him from killing anybody else, alright. Now, go!"

Before Sans can reply, Nightmare makes another move, attacking Dream from behind. Dream blocks the attack, and Sans runs to hide as the two brothers fight.

He watches in awe as the two exchange blows while Ink evacuates everybody. Light meets dark as tentacles meet staff. It's… it's so cool. 

It might even be better than the royal guard. No, it definitely is better than the royal guard. He wants to join. 

He's strong enough. At least, he thinks so. After how that creature took his attacks he isn't so sure. But there's always room for improvement. That's what Alphys always tells him, and that's what he always believes.

Before he knows it, Nightmare is left retreating as Dream lets out puffs of breath.

Sans looks around to make sure it's safe, then rushes out of his hiding spot towards Dream.

"T- That was amazing!!! So co-" 

Dream jolts up, his breaths heavy. "W- What are you s- still doing around h- here?! I thought I t- told you to go!"

The blue skeleton rocks his feet back and forth. "Y- You did, but you… you looked so cool I couldn't help but watch!"

"H- Huh?" Dream blushes at the compliment, "T- Thank you, but you really should get back to your home…"

"Actually… Can I-"

Before Sans can finish his request, Ink runs over to Dream. He seems excited, but also a bit tired from evacuating everybody. "Dreams! You did great!" He grabs his friend into a hug. "I'm sooo proud of you, it's like… it's like you really took our training to heart!"

Dream blushes even more from the praise. Ink… his praise is always so genuine. More than the villagers, anyways. No offense to them, though. But this… it makes his heart warm. 

Sans twiddles his fingers together, feeling a bit awkward. "I… uh… The magnificent Sans has a question actually!"

Ink lets go of Dream. "Whaddya need?"

"I want to join you two."

"Join what now?"

He bounces his feet, excitement and nervousness filling his soul. "Y'know… you defending places! I've always wanted to be a part of the royal guard, but what you two are doing is wayyy cooler!!!"

"Well-"

"I- I promise I can get stronger than before, if you can just teach me. I know that I failed you two, but please don't doubt me!!!"

Ink shrugs with a smile. "I don't see why not!"

Dream has a differing opinion, it seems. He leans to him and whispers, "Are you sure? He might get hurt, or die. I- I don't want that to happen…"

He whispers back to Dream, "It'll be fine, by the way, you wanted to fight with me too. What makes him so different?"

"He has a home, Ink."

"That doesn't make a difference. C'mon, it'll upset him if we say no."

"...Alright…"

"Okay!" Ink lends his hand out to Sans. "We've decided you'll be the third member of our currently unnamed team!" He opens a portal to his universe. "C'mon!"

Sans goes in to take his hand, then pauses. "Wait! I've gotta tell my brother first!" 

He runs off, and Ink and Dream look at each other.

Ink nudges the nervous Dream. "C'mon, Dreams. It'll be fine. Between the both of us, he won't get hurt, alright?"

"...Okay."

Chapter Text

It's been a day or two since Sans was added onto the team. Ink, him, and Dream are playing a board game in their hideout. Sans is currently winning by a long shot, and Ink and Dream are fighting for second place.

Ink appears deep in thought, and when his turn arrives, his attention isn't placed on the board. 

Sans attempts to get his attention. "Ink?"

Nothing.

"Ink?"

Still nothing.

Sans nudges him. "Ink, it's your turn."

"Oh! Oh yeah, it is, isn't it?"

"Yes! It is."

He begins to make his move on the board, but Dream asks him, "Is something on your mind?"

"Y- Yeah. It's just weird."

Both of the other skeleton's attention is on Ink. "What's weird?" They ask in unison.

Sans knocks over Ink's piece. "I guess the thing is, there's already multiple sanses in the multiverse. Why are we calling him just Sans?"

"Because that's his name?" Dream replies.

Ink sighs. "But it could get confusing! What if there's another sans around when we're in a fight!"

"I mean, if he wants to go by a different name with us…"

The blue scarfed skeleton looks between the both of them. "If you let me pick it out, then I'm ok with it!"

"Okay! So… whatcha gonna pick?" Ink asks.

Sans thinks. And thinks. And thinks. "I… uh… hm… This might seem silly, but how about 'Blue'?"

Dream makes his move on the board, knocking over Ink's final piece. "I think that's a fine name. If it were silly, then Ink's name would be silly too."

"Ye- Wait… hey! My piece!!!"

The two other skeletons erupt into laughter. 

"So…" Blue continues, taking some of Dream's money due to the other landing on his space, "If we're talking about serious stuff, then our team… does it have a name yet?"

Dream tilts his head at him. "A name?"

"Yeah! Every cool team needs an even cooler name. It's the rules."

Ink does the skeleton equivalent of raising an eyebrow. Bone-brow? Bone-brow. "The rules you made up now?" He teases. Dream nudges him playfully.

"No, it was in a rule book I read about how to make a good team."

"Ahhh…"

"Uh…" Dream starts, "How about… The Hopebringers!"

"That's too cheesy… I'd rather go with something like Bar Baneb!"

"What?"

"Bar Baneb."

"What???"

"Bar. Baneb."

Blue interrupts their exchange. "C'mon Ink, I'm being serious here!"

"I'm being serious. Bar Baneb should totally be our team name."

"No!" Dream and Blue exclaim in unison.

"B- But I lost, so…"

"Ink. Ink, we are not naming our super- awesome team something as nonsensical as Bar Baneb. "

"Fineee… You got any better ideas? Dream?"

Dream shakes his head.

"Blue?"

"How about… about… about… The Stars?"

Dream and Ink stare at each other, and then to Blue. 

"That's a good name!"

"I think mine's better…"

Dream glares at Ink. "Ink. I care about you a whole lot, even though we haven't lived together that long, but we aren't naming our team Bare Banana."

"Bar Baneb."

"...Sorry."

"It's fine, I'm not mad."

Blue butts in. "So it's decided then?"

The other two nod.

"Also…" He knocks over one of Dream's few remaining pieces. Nervousness fills his voice. He's already requested a lot today, and he just met these people a few days ago. And… he's beating them very hard at the board game they're currently in the middle of. But it's better asking than not. "Could we get cool costumes, too?"

Dream rubs the back of his head. "I would like that, but wouldn't that be a bit much work?" 

"Yeah… I guess i-"

"I could make em'." Ink interrupts.

"Really?!" The two of them exclaim. "But, that would be hard, wouldn't it?" Dream asks.

"Not reeallly? I mean, you'd haveta give me the designs, but I've made clothes before! …Even though I already made these," He fiddles at his pants leg, "a few years back…"

"You can always keep your current clothes!" Blue tells him.

"Nah… I'm never against trying somethin' new. Plus, no matter how sick my current threads are, doing somethin' with my new besties is always better."

Dream looks away, uncertainty filling him. "Now that I think of it… I- I don't think that I'd be able to make my own new clothes…"

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's just… I've had these clothes forever. I wouldn't be against changing them, but… I don't think I'd be capable of doing it."

"You're saying it'd be weird?"

"Yeah…"

"Well how about I do it then? A gift from me to you. I wouldn't make it ridiculous, I promise."

Dream looks at Ink, his eyes teary. "You sure?"

"Yeah? I don't see why not."

"Why are you doing all of this for me?"

Ink stares at Dream. He scoots over to him, and puts an arm around his shoulder. "Cuz we're friends. You, specifically, are my first ever actual friend. Y'know that, yeah?"

He nods, and leans closer to Ink. 

Blue stares at the two of them, feeling really like a third wheel right about now. Not taking it anymore, he speaks up. 

"Can you do mine too?"

"Huh? Wait, Blue, come over here! Didn't realize you were left out." Ink requests, gesturing him over.

He gets up from his spot on the couch, and sits right next to Ink. Ink wraps his other arm around him, and smiles. 

"Guess what? Both of you." 

"Huh?" 

"We're gonna make an amazing team. The Stars. I like it. And I like both of you guys, too."

Ink sits at his desk in his room, his floor a mess scattered with papers and his desk splattered with paint. He's currently sketching out the outfit designs for the team, because he can't just go in and blindly create these without base, can he?

No, because these are gifts. Duh.

He's currently drawing Dream's new outfit, something more chill compared to what he already has. Still using the same colors, of course. Dream's colors are perfect…

Pretty fitting, considering who's wearing em'.

"How long are you going to keep this up?" A voice asks, interrupting his sketching.

Ink sighs. Not now, please. "How long are you going to be stubborn, oh glorious creators above?"

" You are the stubborn one. We are only doing what we think is right." Of course, it's the ruder creator.

He pushes himself up from his seat. "We're going to talk somewhere else. I don't want them knowing about you guys." 

"Because you don't wan-"

Ink peeks out of his door and shouts out to the others, "Dream! Blue! I'm going out!"

"Alright! Come back soon though, I'm making dinner to celebrate our new team!"

"M'kay!"

Dream stirs the beef in the pan he's cooking for Ink and Blue. He would have Blue help, but he'd rather do this on his own right now.

He didn't have these kinds of electric ovens in his universe, but he's learnt how to use them. Mostly, that is. Sometimes he forgets how to do certain things.

Stuck in his own thoughts, he doesn't notice a greyscale child behind him.

"Greetings, Dream."

Dream jolts up and looks behind him, nearly knocking over his pan.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't see you cooking." They apologize.

He stares at the child. They seem not that threatening, so he doesn't try to attack them. "I- It's okay. Who are you, and uh… How and why are you here?"

"Sorry again, I didn't seem to introduce myself. My name is Frisk."

Dream nods.

"I'm here to show you something, if you'll let me."

He stares from the pan to Frisk, and back to the pan again. "Alright. Just- Just give me a sec." Dream tilts his head up and shouts, "Blue?!"

"Yeah?!" The other skeleton responds.

"Can you come watch the pan for me?!"

Blue rushes over to the kitchen. "Yes! I can." He replies. "Wait." He looks over at Frisk. "Who's that?"

"My name is Frisk. I'm here to show Dream something."

Dream looks back at Blue. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"...Alright."

Frisk begins leading Dream to a door, but before they can leave, Dream says back to Blue, "Oh yeah! Make sure not to add anything to it. I don't want anything to happen to it."

"I won't!"

They open the door up for Dream, and the both of them enter the unfamiliar area.

The area that the two enter is bright and colorful, but small nonetheless. Dream looks around at the grassy ground and the small houses covering it. Some houses are still being built by the few inhabitants of the area. 

But the main thing that Dream notices, is the white colorless sky.

"Welcome to the Omega Timeline, Dream. A safe haven for all."

"This is nice, Frisk. I love it. But… why not tell Ink? He seems… more fit than me, to say the least." Dream rubs the back of his head. "I mean, I'm not, y'know, unfit… I think. But Ink seems more suited to know about this place."

Frisk looks away from Dream. "I would, but something about him gives me unease. I'd rather you know, for now." 

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. But I don't want to risk anything." They look back at him. "I'm sorry, Dream." 

"...Can we tell him eventually, at least?"

"I can't say for certain, but we'll see."

"Alright. This place, it's for those who have been hurt, right?"

"Mostly. Others who just want to relax can enter, too. As long as they don't bring any harm, I'm okay with it."

Dream nods. "Thank you for showing me this place."

Frisk nods back to him.

Ink opens a portal to another universe, and finds a more private place to talk. Specifically, in the room past the piano in Waterfall. 

"There. Now, what are you gonna scold me about?"

"Ink…" The Creator starts, "...let's just get to the damn point. Why do all this?

Ink raises a bone-brow, "Hm?"

"You're creating this team to fight against an issue of your creation. Is this some kind of sick game to you?"

He looks up at the ceiling, contemplating things. This isn't a game. What this is, is something necessary. Soon they'll see and finally give him what he wants. The ability to create what he actually wants. He deserves it.

He's the main character in the story, being the first ever being created. The main character is important. Their opinions, are important. Their desires, are important. 

Those who are against them, are not as important.

"They don't even know your actual intentions, Ink."

That doesn't matter. They don't need to know. Besides, surely… surely they'd understand, would they not? 

Would they? Error didn't, The Creators didn't.

It's best kept hidden for now. He doesn't want them to disagree and leave him. He's realized throughout the time he's lived with Dream, and now Blue, that loneliness sucks. 

"It's not a game. Is it a game to you? Is it fun to hate me like this?"

"We don't hate you."

"Then let me."

"No, be reasonable. You aren't getting what you want. Besides, you have friends now. Isn't that enough of a distraction from your goals?"

Liquid black drips from Ink's eye sockets. Sockets, that are now hollow. "They aren't 'distractions'. Don't you dare call them 'distractions'." He laughs. "You just despise me, don't you. Despise them for being with me. At least I have people who actually like me."

"They don't know the true you, and you know it." 

"Shut up." Ink wipes the ink from his face. "This conversation is over. Go talk to Error, it's not like you've got anybody else but yourselves."

Saying this, Ink finishes cleaning off his face and opens a portal back to his universe.

Chapter Text

“Okay, now bring the meat to a simmer…”

Dream leans over Blue, the two of them working on the stove. Both of them were currently working on making tacos, as Blue…

Blue clearly needed cooking lessons. Badly.

The first time he had tried making his ‘magnificent’ tacos for the other Stars, Dream had found himself rushing to the trash to spit out his food after one bite.

Ink was fine with the tacos, but…

Ink is Ink. He can and will eat everything and anything he can, even if it's not even edible.

And stars know those tacos sure weren't.

“A simmer… Simmer… I’m assuming that means something other than lighting it on fire immediately?” Blue asks.

Dream moves his gloved hand over to the heat knob, and turns it slightly to the right. “Yeah, like this. Not completely off, but on enough to where it's still hot.”

“Why so?” He responds. “It's much faster just to heat it all right now, right?”

The other sighs. “Yes, but then you'll end up with everything burnt. The sauce, the meat, the spices, the everything.”

“Oh… right.” Blue replies. 

He remembers the last (and first) time he tried making food for the other two. After Dream ate a bit of his, he gave the rest to him with a very disgusted look on his face. Blue had taken a bite, and soon had the same exact expression.

Yes, it had tasted burnt. But it wasn't his fault! He just thought tacos were supposed to be made like that!

Well, here's his second chance.

Dream looks at Blue curiously. “So… Are we using soft or hard shells? I don't know how to make either, but we have both in the-”

“There's more than one type of shell?!?!?!” He interrupts, a shocked excitement plastered onto his face.

“What…?” He shakes his head, focusing. “Did you think hard shells were the only kind that were used?”

“That's besides the point! Get me the soft shells, we have to use them immediately!” Blue shouts.

“Ok watch the meat, and make sure to sir it from time to time.” Dream says, walking off to one of the many cabinets to go find what they need.

As he looks through the cabinets, Blue stares over the pan with curiosity. The food… it actually smells pretty good! He didn't realize it could smell so tasty!

Maybe he should…

He grabs a spoon from the counter, and scoops some meat out from the pan. Taking a bite, wonderful flavor fills his mouth as he smiles with happiness.

“Dream, Dream, come here!” Blue shouts to his friend. “You gotta taste this!”

Holding a bag of tortillas in his hand, he walks on over. “Blue… Did you eat some of the meat?”

Blue nods excitedly in response. “Yes, and you should too!”

“Blue…” Dream repeats, a disappointed tone in his voice.

The other looks from his spoon, to Dream, back to his spoon, and back to Dream again. “What do you… Oh. Was I not supposed to eat it?” 

Dream nods, and Blue places the spoon down. 

“What's the next step?” He asks.

Walking to the fridge, Dream grabs a handful of vegetables, hot sauce, sour cream, and cheese. He places them on the counter along with the tortillas. “Time to cut these up. Next step is to make the salsa.”

“I thought lettuce wasn't needed for salsa?” Blue questions, looking over at the veggie pile.

Dream opens a cabinet, picking out various spices. Instead of them being stored in brand-made bottles, they seem to be kept in labeled bottles with Dream’s handwriting scribbled onto them. 

“Oh, that's for the topping. I thought it'd be better to have it out now instead of later. Gets rid of more steps, you know?” He says nonchalantly.

As Dream places the bottles of spices onto the counter as well, Blue furrows his bone-brows at something odd he’s noticed. “I thought we were going to use more toppings than that?” 

“About that…” He says, getting out a cutting board. “I figured we’d just start out small, since you're still learning. Next time we might add some cooked things like black beans and such. Anyways, can you get a knife so we can cut this up?”

Blue sighs, discouraged. Picking up a knife, he walks toward the counter where Dream is placing the board. He grabs an onion, and stares at it.

“What's wrong, Blue?” He asks. “There isn't a reason to hesitate! Skeletons can't cry from chopping onions, after all.”

“...I just…” 

“Just what?”

“I have no clue how to cut this up, to be honest.” Blue admits blatantly, raising his hands.

Moving closer toward his friend, Dream offers his hand over. Recognizing the gesture, Blue hands him the knife.

“Watch what I do, okay Blue?” At his nod, he takes the knife by the handle, and starts to place the onion on its middle, top facing. After, he cuts it straight through.

As he watches, Dream peels off the layers off of the vegetable. Paying close attention to his friend’s work, Blue dares not move as he begins to dice the onion into pieces.

Dream makes sure he slows down on the process so he can watch. It’s something he wished the people would've done when he was taught.

Eventually, he has a bunch of diced onions on the board. Looking over to Blue, it seems as if he’s still staring in awe at what he just did.

“Hey, can you get me a bowl for this?” He asks, snapping Blue back into reality.

Shaking his head, he nods and goes to the cabinets. 

“Don't we need multiple, since we're going to have some for the toppings and all?” Blue questions.

“Oh, right! Nice thought, we do need that.” Dream confirms. “Get some for the salsa, lettuce, onion,  sour cream, and cheese.”

Reaching into the cabinet, Blue grabs five bowls total. All stacked onto each other, he places them on the counter.

“Woah, it's getting kind of crowded over here.” He comments. 

Dream giggles, grabbing a bowl from the pile and scraping the onions from the board to bowl. Taking a tomato as well, he gestures at Blue to watch yet again.

The two do a process for the tomato, garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro. Dream cuts them up, while Blue watches. Eventually, they finish cutting up everything for the salsa.

“Okay, now add the spices I put out to the bowl while I grab this, got it?” Dream leans below the counter to grab a blender while Blue does just that.

The blender gets placed onto the counter, and Dream dumps their mixture into it. Setting it to go, the two watch as it mixes.

“Do you want to have chips with this as well?!” Dream yells.

“What?!?!?!” Blue shouts back.

“I said-” He turns the blender off. “Do you want to have chips with this as well?”

Bursting into laughter, Blue can barely snort out a yes. 

Dream pours the freshly-made salsa into its bowl. “You know… Did I ever show you my garden? It’s in the house, but I don't think you’ve really properly seen its contents.”

He shakes his head. “No, but I’d be willing to see after we’re done!”

“Go stir the meat up, I’ll get the vegetables all ready while you do that.” He smiles. “After we're done eating we can check the garden out, ok?”

“Okay!” Blue grins back.

Dream cuts up the vegetables, Blue stirs the meat a bit, and before they know it they're done.

As the two gather everything, the food, the plates, all else, Ink peeks into the room. 

A grin fills their chaotic roommates face as he takes in the smell. “Dream, you didn't tell me you were making lunch. How's it going?”

He shakes his head. “No actually, me and Blue made this together.”

Ink tilts his head. “Really? It smells real different from what he made last time. Less burnt. What is it, tacos you're making?”

“ We made.” Dream corrects. “ We’re all done, we just need to set the table.”

“Okay!” He grins, and wipes the nearby table clean with some of his ink. Everything that was on said table is knocked onto the floor, which Ink opens a portal below and throws all of it into a nearby AU.

“INK!” Dream scolds, and receives a shrug back. Blue sighs and places the plates onto the now-empty table. 

As the two argue (Blue can mostly hear Dream yelling about how, “No Ink, AUs aren't your trash bin. Yes Ink, even if you’re specifically putting it in the Garbage Dump.”), he continues to set the table. Bowls are placed, food, napkins too.

It would smell better if those two would just… 

“DREAM, INK, STOP IT!!!” He shouts, catching the two's attention. They look at him with wide-eyed stares, gawking in place.

“Uhm, sorry, we just-”

“Huh? Wha?”

“Okay…” A breath in, a breath out. “Now that we’re done fighting like children , I think it's time for us to eat . Do you know what that is, children ? Eating ?”

Ink groans, getting to his seat. “Yeah, yeah, you don't have to get sassy with me. Geez, you would’ve thought that you were the lead of our trio considering…”

Blue tones him out as he continues to blabber on and on about how he's the boss, and they should treat him like it. Looking to Dream, he places a hand on his friend's shoulder as he guides him to the table.

“Sorry, Blue. I shouldn't have started yelling.” He apologizes, taking his seat as well.

“It’s fine.” Blue forgives. “Let's eat, shall we?”

“Okay…” Dream starts, shutting Ink up yet again. “Who wants to do the honors?”

Ink begins to raise his hand, but he receives a look from Dream. “I realized I misworded. Blue, would you like to do the honors, or should I?”

Blue gives him a thumbs up, and begins making his plate. He places every single topping onto his tortilla, and folds it up the best he can.

At least, the best he can with the amount of stuff tucked in. 

The other two watch him as he takes a huge bite of his freshly made taco. 

He pauses. Dream looks at him anxiously. Ink looks at him stupidly.

After a few seconds pass, he places the taco down. Pushing his chair out and standing up, the other two skeletons watch as his flat expression turns into…

A big old grin! Blue jumps into the air excitedly, waving his arms all over.

“THAT TASTED GREAT!” He shouts happily.

Dream lets out a sigh of relief, and starts making his own taco. “I’m glad you liked it… Means we did a good job.”

“So…” Blue happily sits back in his chair, and scoots into the table. “...You said we were gonna look at your garden after this? What kind of stuff is in it?”

“Oh my stars, whaaaat?!” Ink grins, reaching for a tortilla. “Dream’s showing you his garden?!”

“Yes, I am.” He nods in response. “To answer your question Blue, you’ll have to see when we get there.”

The ink-blotched skeleton shoves every single topping onto his taco… minus for the meat. At least, until Dream glares at him harshly. Getting the memo that he should try some of the cooked food, he sighs and tops the rest of it off with the beef.

“...I like it burnt better…” He mumbles between bites.

Frowning in disappointment, Blue takes another bite of his taco. It’s good to him, so why doesn't he…

A nudge. Right next to him, Dream sits.

“It’s nothing on you, Blue. Ink is just weird.” He whispers. “You did a good job, I-.”

Before he can finish, Ink gulps up his meal, now somehow finished. Loudly, he interrupts. “WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT???”

A groan echoes from the two. Smiling, Ink slams his hands onto the table.

“So! I was thinking, since you and Dream are having some bonding time, how about we have some too? Me and you, Blue. Together.” He says, swinging his feet as he speaks.

“Hm… What kind of stuff?” Blue asks.

“Well… You do need a weapon, don't you? Since you're gonna be fighting and stuff?” Ink comments.

Taking a bite of his taco, he chews. What does he mean about him needing a weapon? He already has his magic, isn't that enough?

“Oh, right…” Dream says, as if reading his mind. “You're bones… they barely made a dent in Nightmare. I- I was and still am fine with my magic, but you…”

“Not so much, right?” Ink finishes.

Blue sinks into his seat shyly. Is that why they hadn't taken him on any missions yet? Because he’s too weak…?

Noticing his mood shifting into the negatives, Dream nudges Blue on the shoulder kindly. “Hey, once you and Ink go out and get a new weapon, we can start your training. There's no rush to get stronger, and no need to feel bad about not being strong enough.”

Dream, he… how…

“How did you-” Blue utters out.

Before Dream can respond, Ink slams his hands on the table. “Oh my stars, that's right! Blue, you didn't know this, but Dream here…” He points both his fingers at him. “...Is an empath!”

An empath… 

“Y- You guys really are great… and strong…” And better than him, he thinks to himself.

Before he thought he was so great, but now… Maybe he’s getting his reality checked. 

“You know what…” Finishing up his taco, Dream takes Blue’s hand. “It seems like as good of a time as any to go look at my garden. Okay, Ink ?”

“Whahappen?” Ink tilts his head in confusion.

Dream drags Blue along with him out the door, but not before saying one last thing to Ink. “We’ll talk later, ok?”

That was a statement, not a question. Ink knows this, and sighs.

What did he do this time?

Shoving the door open, Dream drags Blue outside. Trees and bushes surround the yard, under a rainbow sky. 

Blue observes the flowers also growing alongside them as he tries to not stumble in Dream’s grip. Thinking about it, he’s never seen some of these plants before.

But he can't dwell on that thought, he has to keep on walking. 

Along the somewhat beaten path, he spots the aforementioned greenhouse. Bushes and flowers surround it, more grouped together than the ones in the yard.

As he glances at the greenhouse getting closer and closer, Dream suddenly stops. This causes Blue, who was moreso focusing on the greenhouse than his feet, to trip.

But before he can fall, Dream pulls him up. Blue stumbles back onto his feet, silently thanking him in the process.

Before him, is the greenhouse.

Oh… that's why he stopped.

Stars, he should really pay more attention.

“You ok, Blue?” Dream asks.

He nods. “So this is it?”

The greenhouse was located at the eastmost back corner of the house, mostly hidden from normal view. Trees blocked it from sight, the yard crowded with greenery as mentioned before.

It’s shaped like a hexagon, windows covering every side. Inside, multiple plants can be seen in bloom. He doesn't know the name of any of them, but they look pretty.

The beaten path that they were walking on seems to end in the middle of the house. Flowers and grass grow around it, but he can't make out what they look like.

Peeking to the side, he can see several trees growing in the back of the yard. They're arranged in multiple sizes, the smaller end being just a tad bit taller than him, and the taller end towering several feet above.

“I… I’ve never really gotten a good look at the yard, haven't I?” Blue wonders out loud.

Dream giggles to himself, his reaction lightening up his mood a bit. “Y- Yeah, haha… C’mon.”

Blue walks inside, a fresh scent filling the air. The rainbow sky above reflects light inside, covering all the plants in a colorful hue.

“Wow…” He breathes, awestruck by it all.

“Wow indeed.” The other skeleton affirms. “Wow indeed.”

He walks over to some flowers growing in bunches. Some are white, others are red, and a few are yellow. Their stems reach up to his waist, the flowers blooming at each of their ends.

Reaching his arm up to a yellow one, he brushes it against his hand. “Dream… these are beautiful!”

“Oh, those?” He asks. “I thiiink those are my freesias…?”

“Really? I’ve never heard of those before.” He squints. “Or seen them before, come to think of it.”

Dream walks over to another bundle of flowers, and picks a few. Offering them over to Blue, he smiles. “Well, now you have.”

“Woah…” Blue takes the offered flowers from him. The blooms are small, a little less tiny than the palm of his hand. “What kind are these?”

“These are called mayflowers. Do you like them?” He asks.

“Yes! I do!” He grins. “Are there any more you want to show me?”

“Show you? Blue, we're surrounded by so many.” Dream nudges him playfully. “What, do you need to get your eyes checked?”

Blue laughs. “No, I mean, any in particular you would like to show me.”

He points at a bush, white flowers growing in round-ish bunches on it. “I think you’d like those. Hydrangea, they're called.”

“Wow…” Blue breathes. “Is there any reason why you grow these? Or is it just because they look pretty?”

Kneeling over the aforementioned hydrangea, he sighs. “Well, there is a reason. One you just stated, but more than that fact alone.”

“What reason?” He questions.

“Hmm…” Nearby the hydrangea, he pokes at another group of flowers. “Do you really want to know?” 

Blue recognizes his teasing tone, so he strikes back. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to stop being friends with you if you don't tell me.”

Dream fake-gasps. “Oh my stars Blue, you don't really mean that? Do you?”

“Hmph.” He responds, smiling. “Tell me and I suppose I’ll stay.”

“You suppose, huh?” He shakes his head. “Fine, you got me. I guess I’ll let it slip.”

As Blue laughs, Dream strokes a small yellow flower connected by a thin stem. The said stem is divided off into branching paths, each hosting a flower of its own.

“C’mere Blue.” He commands. “You got to come over here to see what flower I’m talking about.”

Blue walks over, still awestruck at the beauty of it all. 

“Look at this one. It’s pretty, don't you think?” Dream asks.

“I think all of them are pretty, Dream.” He responds.

Dream giggles. “Well, I can’t argue with that. See, this one is called a dill. They represent passion.”

Blue gasps. “LIKE SEX???”

“No, no, I mean yes, but…” He shakes his head quickly, all flustered by his comment. “I personally like to think it represents a different kind of passion, like being headstrong in the face of adversity.”

The other’s face goes blank. “Oh.” 

“Hmm… what about another flower…” Dream trails off. Looking around, his attention is attracted by the freesias. “Ah!”

“What? Did you find one?” Blue asks.

He gives him a nod in confirmation. “Yes! About the freesias that you were looking at before… they represent sometimes innocence, and sometimes thoughtfulness.”

“Oh, oh!” A sudden thought reaches Blue, and he shows the flowers in his hands to Dream. “These are mayflowers, right? What do these represent?”

“Those?” He questions. “Those represent… Right, those represent welcome. Like telling a person ‘hello’.”

“Wait a second…” Blue mumbles to himself, starting to figure something out. Something about these flowers, they seem…

Dream waits, staring at him. What exactly was he trying to figure out?

“Wait a minute! These flowers, they… they remind me of me!” He yells, answering Dream’s internal question.

Oh, right. That's right, isn't it? He looks over at the white hydrangea. The symbolism behind those, boasting, bragging, purity…

Well, maybe not grace, but still. Most of the other meanings fit pretty well.

“You're right, I didn't even realize…” Dream giggles to himself. “I mean, I knew what the mayflowers meant, but…”

“But…?” Blue asks.

“It's kinda like you resonated with the flowers that suited you most, ahahaha…” He says.

“Woah! That's… so cool!” He shouts. “Thank you for showing me these, Dream.”

“You're welcome, Blue. Though I was wondering…” Dream furrows his bone-brows in curiosity. “What's so special about these flowers to you? I mean, you can find flowers anywhere you go, right?”

“What do you mean? Where I’m from, there aren't any flowers like this at all!” He yells. “The only flower I can think of that I’ve seen properly are either buttercups or echo flowers. These are way cooler than those!”

Echo flowers… Echo flowers… Oh right, that talking- uh- echoing flower that Ink had showed him once. 

Do they really not have any other flowers in the Underground? That's… 

“That's really sad.” Dream says with a frown. “I- I didn't know that…”

“I- I mean…” Blue stutters. “It's fine! I’m fine now that I’ve seen these! Maybe we can grow more in the future?”

He looks up at the rainbow hued sky, sighing. “Yeah… I just…”

Dream gets to his feet, Blue looking at him confused in response. “...Dream? What's wr-”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. You stay here, I- I’ll…” He starts to walk off, keeping his gaze away from Blue’s sight. He doesn't want him to see him upset like this. “I’ll be right back.”

“You- I- What-” He stutters.

What did he do? Did he say something? 

Blue is left to think as Dream disappears out of his sight.

“Ink, what the hell?!”

Dream slams Ink’s door open, snapping the latter out of his art-induced haze.

In front of him is a canvas, a painting almost nearly finished. Surrounded by a floor absolutely littered with papers, paint, and painted papers, Dream doesn't even try to go in. 

“Wuh?” Ink strokes his brush on said canvas. “Whappen?”

“Okay.” Dream breathes. “You know how me and Blue, we went out to my garden? Yes?”

“Huh…” He looks at his artwork, trying to figure out what to add next.

“Add a castle!”

“No, add a bridge!”

Shut up, guys… “Yeah, what about that? Whassat got to do with earlier?”

“So, we were in the garden, correct?” Ink nods at Dream's question. “Blue was all enamored with the flowers and everything, right?”

“I mean, they are pretty-” Ink says…

But is swiftly interrupted by Dream’s shout. “EXACTLY! So explain to me why he has so few flowers where he's from.”

Oh… That's what this is about. “Uh… I…”

“You what?” He asks.

How does he tell Dream that Blue’s Underswap was one of the universes that is The Creators’, not his own?

“S- Surely it isn't that big of an issue? I mean… he… uh…” Ink stutters through his sentence, trying to figure out what to say. 

“Ink! What do you mean it's not that big of an issue? It's a huge issue!” Dream strikes back.

He grumbles. Ugh, if he had it his way all the universes that have an underground would be absolutely blooming with flowers. But alas…

“Why is it such an issue?”

“Yeah, the universe literally takes place underground. Not gonna find many flowers there.”

Ink ignores the hypocrisy of placing some flowers but not all flowers in these sorts of universes, as he nervously dips his brush in paint.

“So… uh… what kind of flowers does our good ol’ Blue have? Surely it's more than like… uh… a couple.” He nods. “Yeah, more than a couple.”

“I don't know, maybe the one who made the universe would be able to tell me?” Dream snaps.

“I- I don't really see the issue here, bud. T- They’re just flowers… No big deal, right?” Ink stutters.

Ugh, he hates having to defend them. But it's not like there’s another option, is there?

“Ink, my mother was a plant. I grew up around nature.” He states. “It is a big deal, to me.”

Oh right. His mom. His tree mom. His dead tree mom.

He looks from left to right, trying to come up with a good excuse. His left eye-light rapidly changes color to match his anxiety.

“O- Okay, but changing a universe so majorly would be noticed, and uh, might have some negative side effects…” Ink says.

Dream sighs dramatically. “Okay, yeah. I guess you have a point. I’d rather his universe stay as it is instead of having it dead from interference.”

Oh my stars he can't believe that stupid excuse worked.

“Anyways.” He continues, placing a hand on his hip. “This leads into what I was wanting to talk about earlier.”

Ink quirks his bone-brow. “How so?”

“Ink, Blue has been feeling down as of late. It seems like he feels… weaker than us.” He snaps, and Ink looks directly at him. “Change that.”

“Okay, okay, stars…” He rolls his eye-lights. It’s not his fault Blue feels that way, but…

He can still help, because he's his friend.

“You’re taking Blue out soon, right?” Dream asks. “So, I have a very important task to give you.”

“Yes?” He wonders as he paints, what does he need to do? 

“Take Blue out to a universe not located in the Underground.” He instructs. “Got it?”

Ok, that's not all that bad. Ink stares at his canvas, finished, then looks back at Dream. “I can do that.”

“But will you?” He asks.

Ink nods. “Yes, I will.”

Doing a heel-turn, Dream begins to exit the room. But before he leaves, he glances back at Ink. 

“You promise?” He says.

“Mhm.” He confirms, swiping a hand over his canvas as it disappears with a glow.

…He hopes they're satisfied with that one. But for now, he’s gotta get ready for Blue.

“Blue!” Ink breaks into the greenhouse, waving his paintbrush, Broomie, around.

“D- Drea- uh, I mean Ink?” The aforementioned monster shakes his head. “What are you doing here?”

Blue didn't realize, but he had been dozing off before. He couldn't help it, it was just so peaceful here. Way more peaceful than the house.

“Did you almost call me…” He gasps dramatically. “...Dream!?”

“No, no!” Getting up from where he was sitting, he shakes his head one more time. “I think I just expected Dream to come back, not… you.”

“Ah, I see.” He says. “Anyways, you didn't answer my question.”

“Ohhh, right. I wanted to take you out, remember?” Ink asks. “You still wanna do that, right?”

Blue nods. “Yeah, yeah! Of course I do! Where are we going, exactly?”

Oh yeah… he hadn't decided on a universe to go to yet. Uh… Uhm… Hm…

Oh! Maybe an Underfell… Wait, no! Dream told him to go to a universe on The Surface! Dangit… 

Also, Underfell is too dangerous. Even if it was on the surface. 

He audibly sighs. Possibly Underspar? Hold on…

That one's in The Underground too!!!

Dang it. Hold on… Huh! He just had an epiphany!

“Ink? You've been standing there for five whole minutes. Are you ok?” Blue says.

Ink raises his brush in the air, and aims it directly at him. “Blue, my friend, my most important person tied with my bestie Dream… We’re going Surfacespar!”

With a flick of his brush, he splatters some paint onto the floor. Before Blue can even do much as blink, Ink grabs him by the wrist and jumps in the puddle…

Dragging him in as well.

Blue wasn't used to traveling between universes, he knew that for a fact. 

Especially Ink’s way of doing so. Dream’s way was fine. He could even argue that it was peaceful. 

Dream had said something along the lines of them becoming positive energy, traveling between each positive universe until they reached their goal.

…Though he also said something about it being harder to reach negative universes because of that fact. It would explain why traveling his way felt so… weird? Bad? A bad kind of weird, sometimes.

But Ink’s way, in comparison, was like melting into nothing, as if he was becoming the ink itself he was traveling through. 

It was clear that Ink was used to it. Stars knows how long he has been doing this for. 

For him, though…

It just sucked.

Blue can still feel the ink sticking to him as he solidifies. Ugh.

As he forms, bright light comes into his view. Below his feet is dirt, a beaten path surrounded by grass.

Huh. Not that many places he’s been to feel like this.

Wiping his eyes to get rid of the ink blotting his view, he’s met with…

Wait.

Holy shit.

Oh my stars.

It’s… He’s… All of this is…

He can't describe it. It’s so beautiful.

A forest surrounds him, Ink, and a store he finds himself in front of. Light can be shown shimmering through the trees leaves, spotting the dark dirt with its glow.

He’s never seen something like this before. Ink pats him on the back, smiling at his reaction. 

“Like it?” He asks.

Blue can't even nod. Rubbing his face, trying to stop the tears, he lets out a small “mhm”.

“Wanna see something cooler before we go in?” Ink says.

“Y- Yeah?” He says in return.

A smile. “Get on your blaster, Blue. It’s time for you to see the sun.”

Huh.

Wha…

“THE WHAT???” He shouts, surprised.

Before Blue can ask any more questions, Ink summons and gets on his very own blaster, zooming away upwards.

Summoning his own blaster, he hops on and rides up to the sky.

He zooms up, the tree leaves brush against his face as he gets up to their height. Figures, but it's going to be worth it.

He just knows it.

Shutting his eyes shut so nothing like a branch or a bundle of leaves gets stuck in there, he gets higher and higher until…

“Blue! You can stop now, you're already high enough!”

His soul beats, preparing himself for the view as he opens his sockets back up.

Next to him is Ink, with a bird's nest stuck atop his head and several twigs in his eyes. But that isn't what he came up here for.

The sun. It blinds him as he views it, but that doesn’t matter.

It’s beautiful. The clouds, as fluffy as cotton, litter the bright baby blue sky. A bird flies up to them, and sits on the nest resting on Ink’s head.

He can see a flock of said animals in the distance, their wings flapping in near-sync. They look almost like the paper airplanes he made when he was a kid.

Below them is the forest they flew up through before, the tree's leaves blowing in the wind. It’s wonderful.

All of this, it's amazing.

He can't help but…

“Ahhahahehehaheha!!!” Uneven laughter comes from the monster, him waving his arms through the open air. “Woo! Yeah! Ahahehehaaaha!!!”

“Like it?” Ink asks.

Blue only responds with more laughter.

“Hm. I guess that answers that.” He says.

Ink shakes his head quickly, scaring the bird off of it and scattering the twigs stuck in his eyes. The nest stays, however.

Looking at Blue now, it reminds him of Dream and how he first reacted on their little tour. He likes seeing him like this, he supposes.

A bird chirps in the nest. Specifically, a baby chick. 

There’s a correlation somewhere, maybe. Between Blue and the chick. They're both just seeing a world like this for the first time.

The sun and the sky were new to both of them. Ink wasn't really a poetic person, but he could tell when something was there.

It’s inspiring. Maybe if he made an AU based off of this, The Creators would actually let it exist for once. 

…Maybe it’d be good enough for them. 

Ink knows that this is better than enough for him.

“It’s pretty, isn't it?” He remarks.

Blue nods. 

The two take in the view for a bit. Minutes pass as they hover in the open air. Eventually, Blue sighs happily.

“Ready to go back down?” Ink asks.

He gives him a thumbs up. “Yeah!”

Grabbing the nest off his head, Ink starts to fly down through the trees. As Blue follows, he places it on a random bundle of branches. 

The two of them eventually reach the ground. They get off of their blasters and unsummon them both.

“So, ready to get your new weapon?” Ink asks, walking over to the door and holding it open for him.

Blue walks in. “Of course!”

Around him are multiple kinds of weapons suited for multiple kinds of monsters. There are spears, swords, tridents, staffs… You name it, it’s there.

Even things like scythes! And those are… Well, scary!

Standing at the shop’s counter, is a turtle monster he doesn't seem to recognize. He looks old, but not in a bad way. Old in the way that makes him seem to have lots of good stories to tell.

Ink closes the door and walks in as well. “So… Whaddya wanna try out? There's daggers, nunchucks, clubs…”

“Hmm…” Blue looks around, seeing if anything spots his eye. Wandering through the store, everything looks so cool.

Soon enough he spots a gun, specifically a shotgun.

That'd be cool, to use something like that. Imagine shooting his enemies down, as everyone looks in awe.

He picks it up from where it was mounted. 

“A shotgun???” Ink says, incredulous. “That's… ok, you got me. That'd be pretty cool.”

Yeah, Ink knows he shouldn't judge Blue for what he’s going to pick out. Dream said to be nicer to him, right?

Also, yes, a shotgun is pretty cool.

As Blue observes the weapon, Ink walks over to the counter. “I’ll go see if we can use a training dummy outside. For now, just sit tight. Maybe find a back-up option, or two.”

Uh… Right! If he can't fire a gun, he will need another option. Placing the shotgun back, he looks around some more.

There's crossbows, brass knuckles, maces, and… oh! He spots an axe. Specifically, an axe made for fighting.

It’d look silly if he went into battle with something that looked like it was made for cutting down trees, wouldn't it?

But it’d look really, really cool if he went into battle with something like this. 

He’s seen Alphys (his Alphys) use an axe, and she looks cool! It’s a good thing she doesn't see him now, though. Even though this one only has one side to it, she surely would comment on him ‘copying’ her.

Hmm… But if he can't handle an axe, what else should he look for? 

Options, options…

A machete is too… Well, it has too much of a blade for him to even think about using it. A sickle is off limits for the same reason. A boomerang is just plain silly.

A hammer… Oh, a hammer!

He excitedly walks over to where a hammer, about as long as his forearm, sits mounted on the wall. It’s clearly meant for close range combat, based on its size, which he can adjust to.

Sometimes he does attack up close, so switching to that full time is doable.

“Bluuueee!” Ink pops up behind him. “I got the owner of this place to let us use a training dummy outsideee!”

“Oh! Can you help me carry my, uh, options then?” Blue asks, unmounting the hammer from where it stands.

He nods. “Sure bud! What else have you picked out?” 

“Just the gun we looked at before and an axe. The axe is right over…” He points to where it hangs. “...there! I’ll grab the gun, don't worry.”

“Are you sure you won't shoot yourself in the face?” Ink jokes, heading for the said axe.

Blue laughs, going to pick up the shotgun. “No, I doubt it's loaded even.”

The shopkeeper shouts something about treating every gun as if it's loaded, but the two ignore him. Not out of malice, but out of their combined stupidity.

With all three weapons in tow, they walk out into the yard outdoors.

“So, which weapon do you want to try out first?” Ink asks, adjusting the training dummy to suit Blue’s needs.

“Hmm…” Blue looks through the weapons he’s picked out. Shotgun, axe, hammer…

How about he goes in the order he picked them out in?

He picks up the shotgun by its barrel. “This one first.”

“I think you’re holding in wrong, bud.” Ink comments, walking over to assist his friend.

“Huh? How do I hold it, then?” He asks.

Ink summons a mimic of Blue’s gun, made out of pure ink. “Do what I do.”

Moving his hand up to the back of the gun, Blue copies Ink’s movements. As he moves his other hand up to the gun’s fore-end, that is also copied as well.

“How do you know how to do this stuff, anyways?” He asks.

“Eh. I get curious sometimes and try other weapons out.” He responds.

Ink moves the whole of the gun up to his cheek, shouldering it. Like with all the other steps, this one is copied as well.

“Okay, now pull the trigger and-” Ink’s makeshift gun, unlike a real gun, doesn't make a sound as it fires into the dummy. It leaves an inky splat where the ‘bullet’ lands, due to him not having focused the more dangerous sides of his magic into it. 

“Bam!” Ink smiles at Blue. “Now you try. We don't need to worry about teaching you to load it, as we’re going to focus on getting whichever weapon you chose attuned with your magic.”

“But how am I going to shoot it if it isn't loaded right now?” He asks.

“Ohhh… Right.” Ink says.

One quick loading of the gun later, specifically with training bullets, Blue is finally prepared to shoot his first gun.

“Okay, so I’m pretty sure magic attuned guns like these don't have recoil, so if you experience that this time don't worry.” Ink states as Blue readies to fire.

He focuses. Okay, don't worry about the recoil. Got it. Counting down mentally, he gets ready to finally fire.

Alright, three…

Two…

One…

Bam! The bullet completely misses its aim, flying off into the trees somewhere.

“Ah.” Ink stares, shaking his head. “Wanna try again? You have a few more shots in there.”

Blue nods, shooting again and again. A few bullets get close to landing, nearly grazing the dummy, but none truly land.

He places the gun aside, discouraged.

“C’mon Blue!” Ink walks over, patting him on the back. “Not everyone has a good first aim. Trust me, I missed multiple of my ink splotches against Error before I truly got the hang of firing em’.

“Still… I want to help you guys out in battle sooner, rather than later.” He sighs. “Guess shooting a gun isn't cut out for me.

Ink picks up the axe. He has to keep Blue from feeling down on this trip. “Try this, then.”

He grabs it, adjusting it in his grip. It's a tad bit too heavy for his tastes, but surely they can adjust for his strength?

Either that or he can get stronger. That's something he needs to do sooner or later.

Train up in Ink’s house’s gym. That would be fun.

“Are you going to hit the dummy, Blue? It looks a bit insulted that you're taking your time.” 

“Oh, yeah!” Blue says, lifting the axe.

Okay… he just needs to hit the dummy a few times to test how it feels. He can't miss with something like this, right?

One…

He swings the axe, slashing the dummy.

Two…

Again, cotton falls out as he repeats the action.

Three!

He makes one final blow, the dummy ripping a bit more in the process.

Sweat falls from his brow. Geez… that was way too much work than it was worth.

“Huff… Puff… I don't think a weapon this heavy is cut out for me.” Blue admits, plopping himself down on the dirt. “I think I need a break.”

Ink sits down next to him. “Want a drink? I can get you something.”

“Y- Yeah, that’d be great.” He responds.

Opening a small portal, Ink sticks his hand through it and grabs a water bottle. He hands it to Blue, who gives him a weird look.

“Ink… Where did you get this from?” He says.

The god rolls his eye-lights. “I didn't take it from anywhere other than home, I promise. Geez, gimme a break.”

Blue unscrews the cap, and takes a few gulps.

Ah… Refreshing.

Still… He’s disappointed that the battle axe wasn't a good fit for him either.

“Hey, can I have some of that before you finish it all?” Ink asks.

He hands it over, his friend starting to gulp the drink down quicker than he ever could.

“Hey, hey, stop!!! I left some for you, so you should leave some for me as well!” Blue shouts.

He stops, and looks at how much water is left over. Realizing that there's only a quarter of the bottle left, he places it down in between them. “Oh. Sorry.”

“Anyways…” Ink looks at Blue. “I wanted to apologize about earlier, I guess.”

He furrows his brows. “Huh?”

“I mean, I was kinda rude I guess? Dream told me you felt a bit down because of some things I said.” He shakes his head. “I didn't mean to make you feel that way, I promise.”

Oh, right. Ink had made a few comments that made him feel… lesser. But looking at him now, he knows it wasn't on purpose.

“It's alright.” He forgives. “I’m not really worried about that anymore… I just want to focus on catching up with you guys. I need to get stronger.”

“You sure?” Ink asks. “We’re friends n’ all. Me and Dream would still let you visit, even if you didn't come fight with us.”

Blue looks at him, determination filling his face. “But I want to fight. That's the whole reason I’m here to pbegin with.”

The other monster looks to the hammer. “You know, we still have one more option to try out.”

“One more…?” His hand gravitates towards it, fingers wrapping around its handle.

Getting up onto his feet, he drags the hammer up alongside him. It’s heavy, but not too heavy. Small for a weapon of this type, but still seemingly strong enough to do some damage.

Surprisingly, he can use only one of his two hands to hold it. That gives him an idea, but first-

First he has to try it out.

Pointing his attention to the training dummy, he focuses. Ok, he has to get this right. Or else…

“Ink… What’ll I do if this doesn't work for me either?” Blue asks.

He just laughs at the thought. “We’ll try out other options, duh.”

Ah. That was kind of obvious, wasn't it?

Still… 

Blue readies the hammer…

Okay, focus.

Three…

Two…

Bam! He swings the hammer directly at the dummy once his mind reaches the ‘one’. It sways at the hit, recoiling back.

That… that felt good! But…

“Ink, can I ask you a favor?” He asks.

His friend looks back at him. “Sure, what's up?”

Blue presents the hammer to him, handing it over. “Can you make a copy of this? I have an idea.”

“Hmm…” Ink takes the hammer, running his finger along its edges. He takes note of its weight, size, and material. 

“Sure. I think I could.” He says.

Summoning some ink from thin air, he swirls it around until it reaches approximately the same shape as the hammer in his grip. Forming and solidifying it, he creates a practical clone of it, and gives both back to Blue.

“Great!” He readies both hammers this time, his hands perfectly full. It feels amazing, both sides weighing him down evenly.

Counting down like last time, he prepares himself with a three, two, one, and…

Bam! The dummy goes swinging off into the distance from the impact, the hammers’ force breaking it off from its pedestal.

“Wow… I guess it’s a fit, then?” Ink asks, amazed.

Blue nods. “Yep, though… do they accept G here?”

Getting up, Ink shakes his head. “No, but we aren't paying. I-”

“WE'RE STEALING THEM???” Blue exclaims, interrupting Ink mid-talk.

He laughs. “No, I’m making you your own. So we don't need to pay. But…”

“But…” Blue echoes.

He grabs the copy of the hammer. “I am taking this one home so I can actually make a good design. My memory… It really isn't the greatest.”

Oh. Right.

Blue grabs some of the other weaponry, and starts walking back toward the store. “I guess we got to return these, huh?”

“Yep.” Ink grabs the rest, and follows.

“Dreeeaaam!” Ink bursts through the door, yelling his friend’s name. “We’re baaaacccck!”

Blue follows in behind him, smiling.

In front of the two is Dream, who seemingly was in the middle of watching the TV. A kids show most likely, knowing the guardian and his tastes.

“Oh!” He pauses the TV, looking back at the both of them. “Hi! Did you guys have fun? You’ve been gone for a couple of hours.”

“Yeah! We had so much fun, right Blue?” Ink asks.

“Yep! We had a blast!” He confirms.

Dream gets up, smiling. “That's great! You guys went weapon shopping, yeah?”

Ink raises the hammer in his hand for Dream to see. “Yeah! Look what he picked out!”

“Uh, Ink, didn't you say that you were going to only use that one as a reference?” Blue asks. “You know, for the hammers you were going to make me?”

“Hammers? Plural?” Dream interrupts, curious.

The both of them nod. 

“Oh right! I gotta get to doing that!” Ink shouts, suddenly running away at the thought.

The other two remaining sigh. 

Dream rubs the back of his skull. “So… Are you feeling better than before? Like did he do anything insulting while you guys were gone?”

“Uh, no actually! He apologized, in fact.” He nods. “So yeah, I am feeling better!”

He sighs, relieved. “That's good. Are you tired, though? You’ve had kinda a long day.”

“Yeah, but I’ve gotta go back home soon, so-”

“You sure?” Dream interrupts. “We can take a break and watch TV before you go.”

“Hmm…” Blue thinks.

Walking over to the couch, he takes a seat. “Yeah, I think I’d like that. What’re we watching today?”

As Dream takes the seat next to him, the two sit down next to each other. With the click of a button, the show resumes playing as the both of them relax.

Soon enough, Dream catches Blue falling asleep next to him. Getting up and grabbing a blanket, he wraps it around him.

In another room, Ink sketches away with a brush. Working on the hammer’s design, he tries his hardest to make the best weapon ever for his teammate.

The two of them think about how much they care about him, care about Blue.

Dream cuddles close next to him. Ink works hard for him.

No matter what, they’ll take care of him.

No matter what.

Chapter Text

Error has always been a one to stargaze. Even in his past life when he was still underground, he loved staring at the shimmering shining stones. When he reached the surface, his brother even got him a telescope. 

He misses those days. The days where he could just relax and lie under thousands of thousands of stars. 

So of course he loves Outertale. The times when he’s not busy, he lies in this private place he’s chosen for himself. A private place where nobody can get involved with him.

He doesn’t want anybody in this universe to see him. They’d start asking questions. They might even get hurt being around him. Unlike Ink, he actually cares about that.

He recalls his last encounter with the ink stain.

“Error! Stop this destruction this instant!” 

The named skeleton looks back at Ink. Dust covers his slightly ratted coat. “I’ve already told you Ink, stop creating what’s not needed and I’ll stop destroying. I have to do this."

A blue scarfed skeleton, an Underswap Sans, steps up from behind him. "Hey, who is this we're fighting?"

"That's Error. He destroying this universe." Dream replies, stepping up beside Ink. "Unlike your universe, it won't reset after he leaves."

Error stares at the three. A regular mortal fighting with Ink? He's shocked. Doesn't he realize- no, don't all of them realize that he could die? Permanently?

"Well Error!" The Sans points a gloved finger at him. "We're The Stars, and we won't let you lay ruin to this innocent universe!"

"Ink?" He stares bewildered at him. "A team? You're… You're really doing this? Dragging a mortal into this, no less?"

"Blue is a good fighter! And a good friend, too. He can fight with us!"

Blue blushes at the conversation topic.

"He has a universe, Ink. He has a home, and his family'll lose him if he dies out here." He laughs. "You even got new outfits, too. You're really committing to this."

Dream shouts back at Error, "Y- You're one to talk! You destroy universes! Why would you care about him dying!?"

This clearly strikes a nerve within Error, causing the glitched destroyer to summon a bunch of bones and gaster blasters around him. "Leave. All of you!"

Instead of leaving, Blue aims to attack Error with his brand new hammers that Ink got him. Error dodges the attack, and fires a blaster at Ink. He doesn't want to attack Blue. He could die.

But Ink? Ink doesn't realize that apparently. And that pisses him off.

Ink… He's so infuriating. The fact that he ignores the possibility of Blue dying is so messed up. But of course, they won't listen to the destroyer's request. The destroyer wouldn't know what he was talking about.

But he does. And frankly, he's sick of Ink's shit.

Making a stupid team, and for what? For his ego? To feel better about his actions? He can't understand him. Is he stupid? Is he actually some kind of mastermind? 

How did he even get Blue on the team? Did he just pick a random universe's sans? It confuses him.

Maybe he should just rest for now. This is getting him too worked up. 

Error closes his eyes, and dozes off.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Error jolts up at the voice. "Wh- Wha…?"

A star speckled sans comes into his view. "S- Sorry, I-"

Before he can finish his apology, Error scoots away and begins to open a portal.

"Wait! Don't leave!"

He stops. "N- No. You need to forget you ever saw me. I'm not supposed to be here."

The sans grabs Error's sleeve. "Wait. Can you just tell me one thing before you go?"

"What is it?"

"Where did you come from? I haven't seen you around anywhere here."

Error sighs. "I can't tell you that. Sorry, but I don't want you getting involved in any of my business. Bye."

With that, he leaves through the portal.

Leaving the other skeleton alone.

Error's back at Outertale again. That skeleton hasn't come back to this area. At least, he doesn't think so. 

He might be watching him though. He feels watched. But he doesn't care, as long as he doesn't learn too much. 

Grabbing his knitting needles from right next to him, he begins to knit. It's a bit hard, considering he just fought Ink. His body still glitches more intensely than usual, fresh injuries healing under the errors.

It's never graphic. He can't bleed, but his bones can still break. And it still hurts like hell.

If it means the multiverse won't collapse, then he can take it. But it shouldn't be necessary. But it is.

The stars are pretty today. They're always pretty. Beautiful, even. He wishes on one of them for change, but he knows it probably won't come anytime soon.

The stars can't do anything, after all.

He's here again for the thousandth time. Thousandth? He's lost count.

But immediately upon opening the portal from his white void, he notices somebody.

It's that sans. And it seems as if he's finally come to talk to him.

"Can you leave? I need time to myself." 

"...Are you stargazing?"

"What's it to you?"

"I'd like to join. I, uh, won't bother you. Whatever you do here. I just want to sit with you."

Error sighs. "I guess you can. Just don't ask questions."

So the two sit, staring at the stars. Occasionally, Sans' gaze drifts to Error. 

"I know this is a question, bu-"

"Don't."

"It's nothing major! I just want to know your name."

"...It's Error."

"Thank you."

Error doesn't reply.

He's back here again. Staring at the stars. That skeleton is here too.

He grabs his knitting needles, and knits. He notices Sans' gaze on him, but he doesn't mind. 

"How do you do that?"

Error stops, and stares back at him. "Huh?"

"Knit. I can sew, but I've never understood knitting."

"I- I-" He freezes, a memory filling his head. Learning how to knit for his brother. Error signs fill his hazy eyes. Why did things have to be this way? He wants his past back.

This isn't fair. It's not. Why is it not? Because he went too far, took what he had for granted, and now he's dealing with more than he can handle.

His breaths are heavy. Sans notices.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Error doesn't hear, static filling his head.

"Error?"

Nothing. Sans places his hand on his shoulder.

"C- Can you breathe with me? I don't know what's up, but it's alright, okay?"

The static in his head lessens. He hears Sans' soft breaths, and tries to follow.

In and out, in and out.

Eventually Error calms down enough to where his breaths are slower and smoother. 

He stares at his project he dropped. Nothing happened to it, thankfully. He was making that for a reason.

A reason that he doesn't think should exist.

He grabs it and starts to continue knitting.

"Are you sure you should be doing that? I know it's not dangerous, but you don't seem okay." Sans asks.

"I- I'm fine. What just happened h- happens."

"Okay…"

"Answering your question, I know how to knit because I know how to knit. Don't worry about it."

"So, I know this might be odd to ask, but can you teach me how to knit?" 

It's their next meeting. Sans and Error sit under the stars, the latter noticeably more glitchy today.

Yeah, he got into a fight shortly before, but that's not important.

He doesn't want him to know about his injuries. He knows he doesn't know about them now because he hasn't brought it up. The glitches are covering them, after all.

It's only because he doesn't want him getting involved. Not because he's started to care about him more than others, or anything.

That can never and will never be the case.

"Error?"

Oh right, the question. "I guess I could… I'd need to get another pair of knitting needles, though. And some stuff to actually knit with."

"That's fine. I, uh, could teach you how to sow, too. No offense, but your clothes are… they look like they'll fall apart from a breeze."

Error sighs. His clothes are rags, to say the least. But he hasn't changed them for a reason. This is what little he has from back then. 

He hasn't changed them, even as multiple tears from multiple battles have appeared, as his scarf nearly splits into two. He hasn't even gotten rid of his glasses, which have multiple cracks in them. It's a wonder that the glasses still work. They should've broken by now.

"Yeah, I… I think I'd like that. But… can I ask something first?"

"Go ahead."

"Why do you want to knit? I'm curious."

"I just… I just want something new to do, I guess. Things haven't exactly been exciting around here."

Error looks away. "I- I get things being boring, I've been through that before. But… sometimes excitement isn't that great. Just, don't try to wish for too much, alright?"

"...Is something happening with you?" Sans stares at the others' torn clothes and more than average glitchiness. 

Error blushes, flustered. He knows he looks like shit, and he knows that Sans would eventually ask about it if he spent time with him, but it still feels… weird, to be asked that. In what kind of way, he doesn't know. 

"T- That's not important. You don't need to worry about me. Now, can we start knitting?"

Sans sighs. "Alright, I guess we can."

Error jumps out of the portal, same time as usual, same universe as usual, and meeting with the same person as usual. Time is odd in the anti-void, but he's noticed keeping an eye on Outertale's time helps.

This time, Sans has a sewing kit next to him. Multiple colored threads fill the box, each in their own little section. Needles are in a little tomato-plush looking thing that he doesn't recognize.

"Oh, hey Error. I, uh, brought my sewing stuff today. I thought we could work on patching up your clothes. If you want, at least."

Error brushes his coat, the edges of it frayed. Yeah, he… he probably should. "Yeah, I'd be fine with that."

He takes a spot next to him, and shimmies off his coat. 

"You wanna start with that?" Sans asks.

Error nods. "Yeah, it's pretty… rough."

"Alright. Watch what I do, then you can try." He looks through his threads, and picks out the blue one. The same color as his strings. "You don't mind this one, right?"

He can't tell him no. "Yeah, i- it's fine."

"Okay. Let's get started, then."

So they do, the thread going in and out of the fabric. Slowly, things start getting patched up, the sleeves becoming connected once more. The right pocket, which was beginning to fall off, is stitched back up. 

Error fiddles with his scarf, part of him wanting to work on it next. But he… he's still wary. He should probably work on it himself, after he fully learns how.

That's what this is for, teaching him. He watches Sans carefully, noticing his stitching.

"Are you understanding this? See how I go in, in certain places, and go out in others?"

Error nods.

Sans places the coat down, most of the stitching complete. "Do you want to try?"

"A- Alright…" He takes off his scarf from his neck, and Sans hands him a needle. 

As Error begins to work on patching up the scarf, he gets asked a question.

"What's it like out where you're from? You don't have to tell me where, I just want to know how it is."

He pauses, for a few moments before answering his question. "...For where I live? Not that great."

"...Oh."

"But for other places… they're lovely. For the most part, at least." Error sighs, part of him wishing that he could show Sans different parts of the multiverse.

Sans nods, and stares at Error's stitching. "You're doing a good job."

"Thank you…"

So the two sit there, slowly but surely patching his clothes up. It's peaceful. Error doesn't want it to end. 

This is the best he's felt in ages.

Error stumbles out of the portal, glitching intensely. It hurts. But he had to come here, he didn't want to abandon Sans.

When did he come to value him so much?

But it doesn't matter. He's here, visibly hurt and limping to the spot where they meet. 

Plus, he had made something just for the skeleton. And he wants to give it to him as soon as possible. To see the smile on his face as he's given it, would be something truly special to him.

With the gift in his grip, he shuffles to their meeting spot. 

"Error?"

"H- Hey Sans." He tries to hide the pain in his voice as he sits down. The gift is hidden under his coat as he waits for the right time to give it. His vision is hazy, but that doesn't matter. He can handle it.

Sans looks at him, concerned. He doesn't want to pry though, knowing that Error likes to keep his life mostly held secret.

But that doesn't stop him from being nervous. His friend's intense glitching, and shaky voice don't seem like a good thing.

"How are you?" He asks, wanting to know if he was at least okay.

Error sighs. So he didn't hide it that well, after all. "I- I'm fine. Y- You?"

That was a lie. He wasn't fine. His focus on reality is lessening, but it doesn't matter.

He just wants to stay here a little bit longer.

"You sure?"

No response. Error's eyelights are hazy.

"Error?"

"H- Huh?!"

"You okay?"

"...Yeah… H- How are you…?"

"Same as usual. The days just pass on by, but that's alright. Really it's… " 

Error's consciousness starts to fade. The words his friend speaks blur together. Maybe it was a bit too much coming here. His eye-sockets droop and his body starts to topple over. 

"E- Error?!" Sans notices him start to collapse, and tries to shake him awake. "H- Hey, are you alright?"

No response. What had happened with him to make him like this? 

"H- Hey! Wake up, please…" He shakes him harder. "Y- You need to get back to your home!"

Still no response. There's no other choice, then. With all of his effort, he grabs Error and tries his best to drag him back to his own home. 

A messy room inside a homely house. A glitchy skeleton jerks awake on a mattress too small.

"Error?"

He rubs his eye-sockets, and notices his glasses are gone. "H- Huh?"

"Oh, g- good. You're awake. I, uh, was kinda getting worried. You've been out for a day or so."

It's Sans, sitting right next to the mattress.

Error's still out of it. "Glasses?"

"Uh… oh! They're right next to you. On the floor. I couldn't find a better place for them, sorry."

He quickly grabs the glasses and puts them on.

Sans sighs. "C- Can I ask you something? For real, be honest. What's happening with you to be like this?"

"...It's fi-"

"No. No, it's not fine. Error, I- I'm worried about you."

Error sits up, keeping his gaze averted from him.

"Your clothes were in tatters when I first met you, you sometimes sound like you're in pain when we meet, you're secretive about everything involving yourself… I just can't take it. Something is up, and I can't be your friend if you don't tell me what that is!"

Tears fill both of the skeletons' sockets. Both upset for different reasons involving the same thing.

"Please, Error… I want to help…" Sans begs.

Error sighs, wiping his tears away. "If I told you- If I told you, you would hate me . I- I don't want that." Despite his attempts, more tears fall from his face. "Truth is, you're the only friend I've got, starshine. I can't bear you leaving me behind…"

"Starshine…" He ponders the nickname, and how much it means to him. "Well, firewall, I won't do that. Y- You've gotta be distant for a reason. And I want to know that reason."

He finally meets his gaze. "A- Alright. I trust you. T- Truth is, I- I destroy worlds. Universes."

"Y- You what…? But, you don't seem like the type."

"I don't do it because I want to. I do it because if I don't, the whole multiverse will collapse. I- If I had it my way, I wouldn't be doing this."

"D- Do you know why? Why it'll collapse?"

Error growls. "Because Ink and The Creators can't settle on an agreement . Ink makes what The Creators don't want him to, and it upsets the multiverse so bad that what he makes damages it."

Sans stares at him. He doesn't know what to think. But he understands why Error didn't want to tell him any of this. It's weird and strange. 

Error… He seems like he's dealing with so much right now.

"I- Is there any way I could help?"

"...No. You need to stay out of this." He places a hand to his forehead. "Stars… Why am I even telling you this ? You don't need to know."

Sans gets up, and sits on the mattress with him. "I- It's more than I could've thought, but… I'm finally happy that I can know more about you. Y- You'll tell me more if I ask, right? No more being so secretive?"

"I…" Error meets his eyes. He notices his freckles for the first time. They're kinda pretty. "Yeah. I will."

He takes out the gift he made for Sans. It's a doll of him, with button eyes and stars adorning his jacket's fluff. "S- Sorry , I passed out before I could give you this." He pushes it into the other's hands.

"You made this…?" He stares at it. 

"D- Does it look good enough? I make these regularly, but… I wanted to put more effort into this one. For you."

"I…" He looks back at Error. "Thank you. You didn't have to do this."

"Y'know… you didn't have to drag me to your house when I collapsed. And you didn't have to help stitch my clothes back together. I just figured I'd repay you for that… It's been a while since-" Error stutters. "Since somebody's been nice to me like that."

"Error… T- To be honest, at first I was just stargazing with you in hopes I'd learn more about places outside here. I knew they existed, but I didn't know much." He sighs. "But you were nice to be around. And I found myself enjoying myself for the first time in ages. Plus, it seemed like something was hurting you. And I wanted to know what, because you didn't seem like the type to deserve any of it. I don't care that you destroy worlds, you obviously don't have a choice. You obviously don't enjoy it. I want to help you now."

Error leans close to him. "You know how you can help me?"

"How?"

"Being here. By staying here, and not getting hurt, or worse, dying, you'd be helping me. Just… keep meeting with me, okay? That'd be enough. That'd stop me from going insane."

Sans leans back on him. "I guess I could do that. I- I don't like seeing you hurt, though. I want to do more, for once."

"You're doing enough, I promise. Alright , I promise."

"Alright, if you say so. Just don't die, okay?"

"I won't."

Chapter Text

Dream swings his legs through the air, him sitting on a sea-saw located in the Omega Timeline.

It was peaceful here. Peaceful, despite the amount of people victim to Error’s attacks.

He wants to do something about the destroyer. What he has been doing is uncalled for.

No, not uncalled for. More than that. It was downright horrific. Nobody should ever be put through what he did, and still does, to people like them.

Somehow, one way or another, a cool breeze passes him by. It’s odd, how does it get windy in a… void? 

Not void. From what he’s heard, the void is much different than this. He’ll just call it white, he supposes.

Error… Error…

What do they do about him?

They can't kill him. That’d be immoral, and more importantly, impossible.

Like his friend, Ink, Error is a god. The God of Destruction. 

Gods like them are some kind of powerful. More than powerful. Ink can literally create worlds if he has material to work with. Error can destroy an entire universe if he gets his hands on its core.

There might be a chance, like how Ink can create more than universes, Error can do the opposite in destroying more than universes.

That's a scary thought. It really begs the question, why doesn't Error use that power if he has it?

Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he’s just overthinking things. Error and Ink don't have to be a total yin and yang.

He doesn't like that comparison, actually. It implies that destruction is necessary, like how some negativity is.

Not all negativity, of course. He has some things he’d like to say to Ink about that, but he can't right now. Or tommorow. Or ever.

He just can't bring himself to talk to him about things like that…

Those are Ink’s creations, they're important to him! Plus, they all have Error and Nightmare to deal with.

And they don't know how they’re going to do that! Error, as he said before, is powerful. And Nightmare… They can't hurt him. He can't hurt him. 

If things were better, they could all get the both of them to see the errors of their ways, but no. No apologies, no hugging it out, no anything like that.

Dream sighs. 

“Having some issues?” A voice beside him asks.

“H- Huh?” Dream yelps, nearly falling off his swing.

On the seat next to him is Frisk. Not an ordinary Frisk, Core Frisk.

“It seems like something is on your mind.” They comment.

Dream quickly shakes his head, readjusting his focus. “I mean- Uh- Erm-”

“Take your time.” Frisk responds.

He nods. “Yeah, I was just thinking.”

“We all think. Most of us, at least.” They shake their head. “What specifically were you thinking about? As much as I wish I could, I can't read minds.”

Oh, right. Out of all the abilities he’s seen people express in this multiverse, not once has he seen anyone show off telepathy.

It’s weird, considering how much Ink mentions being influenced by stories and stuff. Surely it would exist somewhere on someone.

“I just was wondering about how we're going to solve all of…” He gestures at the space around him, people and monsters playing at the park they sit at. “...this.”

“What do you mean? They are happy, aren’t they?” Frisk responds.

Dream swings back and forth. “Yes, but some of them don't have homes to go back to anymore, right?”

Frisk’s expression sours. “Yes, that is true… Error is a threat we need to deal with.”

“But he can't die.” Dream bluntly states. “And he can teleport between universes, so it's not like we can trap him someplace until he stops.”

They look down. “That's exactly our issue, I know that. I am also struggling on what to do.”

The swing creaks as Dream moves. “Right…”

“Everyday I try to think of something. When I’m not busy I try to think of solutions.” Frisk shuts their hollow eyes. “But I can't come to any good conclusions.”

“How about Nightmare, then?” He asks. “Have you thought of what to do with him?”

“Dream, I understand you miss your brother, but-”

“No! I mean, he could help us a lot with Error!”

Frisk gives him a look, then sighs. “That is true, I suppose. His control over negativity could help us fight back against him. But…”

“But what? E- Error is so negative that Nightmare would be a huge help!” Dream exclaims.

“Nightmare wouldn't help us so easily.” They state. “I know you still think of him how he was, but the fact is he isn't like that anymore.”

Desperation fills his face. “But we can try-”

“No.” They interrupt. “Nightmare, whether you like it or not, has changed. He has changed into a person who only looks out for himself.”

“We can try to make it to where he’ll benefit from Error being defeated!” He argues.

“How? I am not very keen on causing more negativity, which is what he wants.” Frisk points at him. “I assumed you would feel the same way, considering you suffer from his desires.”

“B- But-” Dream stutters.

“We need a solution, one that will help us all.” They lower their hand. “We don't know what will happen if we try to get your brother on our side. He might turn on us once he gets what he wants, or worse.”

“Worse?” 

Frisk gestures at everything around them. “He could possibly hurt the people finding safety in here! We are fortunate that he doesn't know of this place yet. And I prefer that ‘yet’ to never come.”

“I…” Dream looks down. “I miss him. I miss it when we used to play together, not a care in the world. All this responsibility that comes with taking care of the multiverse is too much.”

“Hey.” Frisk offers a hand for him to hold. “I feel the same way. Every time Error attacks, I’m left to pick up the pieces. I don't like being responsible either.”

“Frisk…” He takes their hand. “H- How long have you been doing this for? Surely you must've had a home before this.”

“...”

Dream sits still, looking down. “I- I mean, Ink doesn't know about you, and he’s the god of creation! Something must've happened for him to not know you exist!”

“That is true. Something did happen, but…” They look away. “It’s not something I like remembering. I wasn't the best person back then. I was too selfish.”

“Selfish?” He asks, looking back at Frisk. “You don't seem selfish now.”

A look of shame covers their face. “That's because I’ve learned. I can't make up for past mistakes, but I can change for the better.”

“What happened, though? I promise I won't judge.” Dream says.

They look back to Dream. “Promise me something, and I will tell you.”

“O- Okay. What's the promise?” He asks, tilting his head.

“Promise not to tell anybody else. ” They command. “I don't like people knowing about my past flaws, as I would rather keep them secret.”

“I promise.” Dream says, confident in his words.

“Alright.” They take their hand away, and close their eyes. “It’s a short story, but it bothers me nonetheless. I hope you will not judge me for it.”

“It takes a lot for me to judge a person.” He states.

“Still…” Frisk trails off, trying to figure out how to start.

It’s a hard story for them to tell, and not one that they like sharing. How do they tell him?

As if reading their mind, Dream pats their head comfortingly. “Hey, it’s alright. Start from the beginning.”

“Don't-” They move his hand away with their hand. “Okay. You do know the story of the original Undertale universe, correct? Most universes are based off of it, after all.”

Dream thinks. Ink did show him that universe, didn't he? He knows some of its story. 

It’s a very different story compared to his old universe. His former world was one of the few exceptions that didn't follow its guidelines.

“I do, yes. I’m assuming your universe followed the same story?” He asks.

They nod. “More than that, but yes. My universe was one of the alternate timeline variants, being almost identical to the original.”

“Oh…” Dream says.

“I was the human of that AU .” Frisk states. “When I first fell, I did a pacifist run. It was nice, making all those friends. But, I did something unwise once we reached the surface.”

“Unwise?” He echoes.

“I reset, because I wanted to do it all over again. And I did…” Shame covers their face, even more than before. “So many times, I did.”

Dream stares at them. “Oh… What made you stop? Because you're different now. I- In more ways than one.”

A shadow covers their face, them tugging at their sweater. “I had to be forced to stop. My universe’s Sans… he pushed me into the Core. ”

“H- He what? I-”

“I deserved it.” They interrupt . “I- I go by Frisk nowadays, but I’m moreso a mix of a Frisk and Chara. That's because when I fell, both of us got pushed into one.”

“I…” He trails off. “I don't…”

Dream and Frisk sit in silence. Until Dream asks something.

“What happened to your universe then? A universe has to have a core, and the fallen human usually takes that role. Did it…” He covers his mouth, the implications reaching him.

“Die? Yes… It did shortly after.” Frisk sighs. “It died because of me. I feel horrible about it, so I can not understand why someone would destroy a universe on purpose. Let alone multiple!”

“I…” Dream kicks his legs through the dirt. “My universe died too, after mom died. I understand how you feel.”

“But that was not your fault. It was my fault that my universe died.” They state.

“But it wasn't.”

“It wa-”

“No.” He boldly says. “It’s not your fault your Sans did what he did. He could’ve talked to you, or anything else! But he chose to hurt you instead.”

Frisk looks down, thinking. His perspective of this…

They don't know. Sans wouldn't have been pushed to do what he did if they knew better. But Dream is right, in some regard.

They don't have control over others' actions.

If they did, that would help solve things easier.

But they don't, and that is fact.

“My universe is dead… Your universe is dead… We need to stop this.” They say. “But we’ve been talking, and haven't come to any conclusions.”

“...I know. I wish this was easier.” He says.

“Me too.” Frisk replies. “Maybe then we wouldn't have to worry so much. I am just… a bit scared, admittedly.”

“Me too.” Dream says. “We don't have many enemies, but the ones we do have are threatening beyond belief.”

“Yes… The thing that really scares me though, is the thought of either of them reaching this place.” They say.

He sucks in a breath. “Yeah… D- Do you have a plan in place if that ever happens?”

“I don't know. Anything I think of involves people here getting put in danger, and I don't want that.” They admit. “They deserve better.”

“You’re right.” Dream confirms. 

It’s a bit confusing, though. They could just ask Ink and Blue for help, but…

Do they really not like Ink that much? They said they only got a bad feeling from him, and that's it. Surely it isn't that intense?

“You're making a face.” Frisk comments. “Do you have any ideas?”

“I do, but…” He trails off.

They stare at him intently. “Anything can help.”

“You aren't going to like it, though…” He sighs. “But if you insist.”

“What do you mean?” They ask.

“Ink.” He says, and their expression immediately sours. “I know that you don't like him, but he can help defend this place! Blue can too!”

“Blue is mortal. And Ink…” They shake their head. “I just can't shake the feeling that something's off with him… And I trust my intuition more than anything.”

“What if your intuition is wrong, though? What if it’s just holding you back? Holding us back?” He asks.

Frisk looks down, tugging at their sweater. “No. It has never been wrong before, so it will never be wrong now.”

Dream furrows his brows. He really doesn't understand this kid’s mistrust for Ink. Not wanting Blue to get caught in the crossfire he understands, but…

Ink is more than capable of helping.

“Is it really worth it though?” He questions. “If the day ever comes where Error or Nightmare gain access to this place, we’ll only have me for back-up. I don't know how I feel about that.”

They are silent. From what Dream can see, they look conflicted. 

“I do not know if it is worth it. But… I don't want to end up doing something I regret.” They shake. “I don't want to make things worse than they already are.”

“So you're just going to do nothing?” He asserts.

They look offended. “No, not at all. I am strategizing, not doing nothing.”

“You're overthinking this, that's what.” He says, frustrated. “You don't need to ‘strategize’ about Ink. He’s safe, I promise.”

“Dream-”

“He saved me from my AU when it was collapsing, you know.” He shakes his head. “If it wasn't for him, I’d be dead.”

They look at him, head still down. “I do not want to put anybody in danger. Ink is reckless, and I don't know what would happen if I gave him access to this place.”

“Ink has more self control than you think.” He replies. “He wouldn't hurt this place or its people, I promise.”

“I’m worried about more than that.” Frisk looks away again.

Dream immediately picks up what they're hinting. “He wouldn't invite anyone here, either. Not Nightmare, not Error, not anybody. I don't get why you, of all people, are making these assumptions about him.”

“I have to keep this place safe.” They assert, tugging harder on their sweater.

Dream stands up. “And I have to stick up for my friend.”

“I’m sorry, but-” They try to say, but are interrupted.

“I don't want to hear it. Please…” He looks away, opening a portal in front of him. “...I just want to come to a conclusion. But the only options we have are being turned down, and I can't take it.

“Goodbye. I’ll… I’ll see you later, if you want to talk again.” The portal closes, and Dream is gone.

Chapter Text

Error's destroying a universe again, as per usual. Nightmare watches him, taking in all of the negativity, a smile on his face. 

Nightmare usually does this, before Ink and his team come to defend the universe he's destroying. Why, he doesn't know.

But he doesn't care that he’s being watched, as long as he doesn't interrupt him. Not because he likes doing this, but because that would make the progress much slower. Making the progress much slower, would cause much more pain. 

He's expressed enough that he doesn't want that.

So, Nightmare hangs from a tree, almost no effort being put into keeping from falling off. It's like he's done this millions of times before.

Knowing him and his… background, he probably has.

He twirls around effortlessly, becoming invisible as he moves into the shadows. Before Error knows it, Nightmare is right behind him. 

"Oh Error, how have you been? Enjoying your so-called duties?"

Error ignores him. He needs to focus and get this done.

"Hm, ignoring me? Well, I'm not one to judge. You're clearly wrapped up in what you're doing. But it's a bit rude, isn't it? I'd like to talk to my favorite destroyer."

He grumbles. "You just want to fuck with me . Like you do to everybody."

Nightmare twirls around him, nearly making Error miss one of his attacks. "What makes you say that? Maybe I just want to talk."

"That's because it's a trend with you, Nightmare. You take in people who you see are broken, then you break them more until they dust."

"Hm. Well, I still would like a chance. It'd be rude not to, wouldn't it? I'd hate to have to use force on my favorite glitch."

Error stabs a final bone through his opponent's chest, and breaks their soul into two. "You aren't going to leave me alone if I say no, aren't you? Fine. Take me to where you want to go, because you and I both know that we can't stay here."

"Glad we could agree on this." He swirls around him, and in a goopy blob, takes him to his universe.

A fancy table in a fancy castle. The vibes around the two skeletons are horrid, to say the least. 

Nightmare pulls a chair out for Error. "Take a seat. I promise you, nothing is going to hurt you here."

He cautiously takes a seat. Huh, nothing's booby trapped or anything. It makes a bit of sense, since it seems like Nightmare is trying to seem trustworthy. For now. He knows it's only for now, for this occasion specifically.

Whatever the occasion is, he doesn't know.

"So…" He starts, taking his seat.

Somebody Error doesn't recognize walks up to Nightmare, and is whispered to by him. To do what, another thing he doesn't know.

He's uncomfortable. But it's not like he would've stopped asking if he hadn't agreed to come.

"I'd like to make an offer with you, Error. We are both very powerful beings. And I hate to admit it, but I can tell you are more strong than me."

Error sighs. "What do you want ? I can tell that you're trying to flatter me, so please stop."

"I can say what I want, glitch. Besides, what's wrong with a little bit of praise?" He smiles at him.

"The fact that it's coming from you."

Nightmare jolts up, sharp tentacles pointed at Error. "Listen here, Error . We are in my domain, so I expect at least a little less of an attitude coming from you. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, fine." Error shrugs. "I'll be nice. You haven't hurt me yet, after all."

"Continuing our conversation…" He sits back down, and softens. "I'd like you to work with me."

"Wh-"

That person from before brings two drinks to the table. Nightmare takes a sip out of his cup.

"Now now, before you shout about me 'breaking' people, I can assure you that this will be different. As I already established, the two of us are on nearly equal ground. I could not kill you if I tried. I said 'with' not 'for', after all. You would be free to do whatever you need, as long as it does not negatively affect me. We would be partners." He asks. "Now, do you accept?"

Error pauses, and stares. Stares at him. He's shocked that he would ever, ever ask him of this. "Why?"

"Hm? Take your time."

He sighs, holding back his anger. Don't make a scene. Do not make a scene. "No. Fuck no."

"...Why not?"

"I don't want to hurt people. I've already established that, but it seems like you haven't gotten that through your head yet. I don't have a choice in what I do, despite what everybody believes."

He gets up from his seat. "I'm leaving. Don't ever think of asking me about this again."

Before he can leave, Nightmare swirls in front of him. "You really think you can refuse me?"

"Yes, and that's what I'm doing. I don't want to fight you right now." He tries to push him aside.

"I offer you my power, my assistance, and you say no?" Nightmare glares.

Opening a portal in front of him, he glares back at him. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing. Now go."

Swirling in front of him to block his way, Nightmare looms around Error. "Do you really wish to do this?"

"Yes means yes. Now let me go." 

Shadows start to loom around Error, unknown to him. Nightmare sighs. "I really do think that you will regret this."

The shadows surround him from all sides, but he is still too focused on leaving to notice. "And I really don't want to fight you. Now... Let. Me. Leave."

Taking a step to the side, Nightmare unblocks Error's path. "Go, then. Let's see how well off you do without my help."

Error begins to take a step forward, but a wave of drowsiness fills him. "I… will do… just… that…"

His glitches slowly begin to slow, like a computer booting down for the night. Legs shaking, he tries to take another step forward but…

He promptly collapses to the ground instead.

Nightmare looks down at him, smiling. 

"Oh my. That was easier than I expected."

Picking him up, he walks off to another place in his castle.

Aftertale. Geno is hanging out with his brother and Sans. He doesn't know what they're doing though, but the question of what doesn't come to mind. 

He's happy, and that's all that matters to him.

"Whxt'x xp, Gxnx?"

He rubs the back of his skull. Nothing, really. It's peaceful. The sun is shining above them, a bit blinding, but he wouldn't have it any other way. 

Geno is happy.

He blinks and is no longer home. 

The sun and sky and everything else have been replaced with a blinding white. His family is no longer with him. He is alone.

Where are they? Where is he? Why did he take the determination? Why was he so stupid? Why is he so stupid?

He wants to go home. He doesn't recognize himself anymore. 

Step by step, he walks and walks. Sometimes he thinks he sees somebody, but nobody is there. Static fills his brain, words partly being able to be made out within it.

Falling to his knees, tired from his long trek into nowhere, he curls up and sleeps. Sleeps and sleeps and sleeps…

Eventually he opens his eyes. He hears people shouting at him, calling him insane. Calling him a murderer. Calling him soulless.

He doesn't see who is making those assumptions, static filling his eyes. He isn't insane, he just…

He just is doing what he's forced to do. 

Why are things like this? It's not necessary, he knows that for a fact. But he still questions himself.

Is he sane? He lost his family and life long ago, because of his own choices. Because of his own stupidity. A sane person wouldn't do that. 

Is he even a person?

His body, as if responding to that question, gets up as if it had a mind of its own. He can feel his blasters and bones being summoned, not by his own command. 

He hears cries of innocents, begging not to be killed. Begging for mercy. He tries to stop, to unsummon his magic, but his body doesn't seem to agree to that request.

Weapons are fired, and the sound of death is heard. No, stop. Please stop. He doesn't, doesn't want to do this.

He isn't insane. He isn't a murderer because he wants to be. They'll all die if he… if he…

"Errxx, plxxsx! Xtop! I thxxght wx wxrx frxxndx!!!"

He recognizes that voice. A voice that sounds like many others, but one he cares about to know exactly what differs it from the others. Starshine… 

No. No, no, no. He can't be doing this to him. He's the only person he's got. He's… 

Oh stars, his body isn't stopping. It isn't stopping. 

He hears the sound of bones shattering, soul breaking, and he knows. Knows he's gone.

And then he's alone again. Like he always will be.

Forever.

Error jolts awake in a cold sweat. Where is he? It's cold. It's dark, but not enough to where he can't see. Still, it's dark enough to where he can still see a faint glow coming from himself. 

That dream… no, nightmare. 

Nightmare. 

He did… What did he do? 

Remembering what had happened before, Error realizes that Nightmare must've made him collapse into a nightmare of his own. 

How did he do it, though? He doesn't exactly know how his magic works.

It doesn't matter, anyways.

Now he's here in this stupid dark place. He looks around. His leg is chained to a wall, but with a hard yank he quickly breaks the chain. All around him are brick walls, minus for the bars in front of him. 

Nightmare put him in this stupid cell, gave him the worst nightmare he can remember, and for what? Not wanting to be a murderer like he is?

Stars, the universes. How are they doing? Hopefully none of them are dead. But he doesn't, can't know for certain right now. It might've been hours since he's been stuck here. Might've been days. Might've been weeks… Stars, please don't let it be either of the last two. That would be way too much destruction caused without him to keep it at bay.

He hears footsteps. Of course. Nightmare must've noticed he was awake. 

Well that's one thing that's good. He wasn't going to just let him off easy about what he did. What he'll do to Nightmare, he doesn't know yet.

But it'll be something.

Step, step, step. Nightmare's footsteps approach Error's cell. Soon he's right in front of him.

"Greetings, glitch. I assume you had a nice rest?" He asks him.

Error promptly responds with the kindest response he can think of. "Fuck off."

Nightmare sighs, annoyed but expecting disrespect towards him. "You do realize I could do what I just did a few days ago to you again , right?"

"Days???" Well shit, that confirms it. He fucking kept him in here for days . Bastard.

He laughs. "What? With your amount of negativity, I was honestly expecting it to be longer. You got lucky, you broken program. But that brings up something that got me very, very curious."

"Just get it over with. They died, didn't they? That's the only thing I could think of you bringing up that involves me, you disgusting fuck."

"If 'they' means 'the universes' then you'd be correct, yes. What intrigues me is that you, the only one in the multiverse I know of who has the power to destroy, were absent. And I have a feeling that you would know the reason why they died."

Error glares at Nightmare. "I do, and it's what I've been saying for years now. Will you listen if I tell you? Because every single other time, you've laughed it off like I was insane."

"Perhaps."

"I would be more content with a 'yes' but I guess that will do."

"Get to the point." Nightmare commands.

"Fine. To summarize it, this multiverse only has enough space for these gods called 'The Creators' to have what universes they want to be able to exist. Despite their name, they can't create anything stable. So Ink has to create for them, but he decided that he also wanted to create his shit too. And our multiverse can't take that, so it starts to collapse. So I have to destroy Ink's universes, along with the universes already collapsing, before our multiverse breaks completely." Error explains.

Silence, then… a laugh from Nightmare himself.

"That sounds like nonsense." He states.

"You and I both know that if it was nonsense, those universes wouldn't've died in my absence." Error growls.

Nightmare sighs. Error has some sort of point. But there's still something odd. "You're telling me Ink has been lying to everybody. Including me."

"He's an asshole, Nightmare. I guess you both have that in common."

"I guess there isn't any other explanation, is there?" He chuckles. "Alright, I'll believe you. What you're saying does line up with what has been happening. And I assume I don't have a choice. I will let you out, only because you seem vital to this multiverse's survival. If this were any other situation, I would undoubtedly keep you here until you rot."

He opens the bars, letting Error free.

"Before I leave, I need to ask you something. Which universes died, and how many?"

"Why do you need to ask me? You could just check yourself."

He glares at him. "Because I want you to say them with your own disgusting mouth."

"Fine then. Hmm… there's Glitchtale, Xtale, Endertale, a few redesign verses of Undertale, and let's see… Aftertale are all dead."

Error stares at Nightmare, his angry position turned into a shocked one. That last one, he must've misheard it. Yeah, that has to be the case.

That's his universe, it can't be dead.

"Hm? What's wrong? You seem upset."

"R- Repeat that last one."

He smiles at him. "Oh, that last one? Aftertale." He notices Error shake and glitch, the other's emotions intensifying into something beautifully awful. "Aftertale. Does that one mean anything to you?"

His breaths pick up, and Nightmare laughs in response.

"Oh, so it does. That's lovely. Maybe, since you care about that place so much, you'd learn some respect for me. You don't want any other place you care about collapsing, would y-"

Before he can finish, Error throws the hardest punch he can muster into his face. It's clearly a lot, as Nightmare stutters back and hisses in response. 

"Y- You dirty glitch!" Sharp tentacles point at him, ready for attack. "You think you can defy me? You think just because you're stronger, means you're above me in every single way, don't you?!"

Error does not respond. He summons several sharp bones, and strings his strings around Nightmare in a web only he knows how to move through.

He begins weaving through the pattern, stabbing at Nightmare as the other struggles to move through with as much efficiency as Error.

But despite his struggles, Nightmare can still dodge due to his goopy consistency. Still, he struggles to land attacks on him due to the unrecognizable web. 

He remains strong though, fueled by the other's negativity. Neither of the two concede, one too stubborn to lose, and the other too angry to give up. They keep fighting, dodge after dodge, miss after miss. 

Untill, Nightmare gets a hit on him. A hard one, at that. The web losens, struggling to keep standing due to the maker's weakening form. It's unstable enough to where he can slice the strings in half. 

He approaches Error, who is now on his knees. "I'd suggest you leave this place, before I kill you myself."  

He looks up, glaring daggers back at him.

"I assume that you don't want any more universes to die, yes? According to you, that won't happen unless you leave. So go. I'm sick of you."

Error, knowing that is true, teleports back to the anti-void.

"S- Stars dammit…" Error stumbles, breaths heavy. 

He grips his head, static filling his brain. "H- He was just fucking with me, right? That place- it isn't dead, yeah?" 

Unable to get his thoughts together, he collapses to the cold white floor. "How did he know, then? How? He couldn't've known. He wasn't around back then . W hy…?"

He tries to check if it's still there. He can't. He can't even focus enough to make a damn portal. "Did that ink stain tell him? No, no, he doesn't know either… does he? He… might. Fuck…" 

The Creators, their voices chattering, doesn't help. Doesn't help him focus. He still has stuff to do. He still has to destroy those universes so their corruption doesn't spread. Why… he just wants control. Control over his damn life.

He's always, since he became this, had to be doing something for them. "It's not our fault," they would say. "It's his fault," they would insist. And he would say the exact same things about them. 

Get him out of this hell.

His vision is going hazy, on the verge of a crash. Stars, he already was asleep for a few days. He has to deal with those universes…

Those universes. Why do they get to be happy when he doesn't. He fucked up once, and now all of the responsibility is on him.

"Why should I bother?" Error asks to nobody. "Why should I care? My home is dead, so why do the others get to be alive? I should just… just… just…"

Error lets out a laugh. He's really going through it, huh? He shouldn't be thinking these thoughts. But they're inescapable. 

The Creators shout at him that this isn't right. He can hear them. But they don't understand, do they? No, they've never understood anything. Neither has their dear child, Ink.

Neither has his friends, his dear team. He doesn't even think Nightmare is capable of understanding.

Starshine… he doesn't know what he'll think of him. But it's too late now. 

He's broken…

And he can't be fixed.  

He tries opening a portal to Aftertale. Maybe Nightmare was lying, maybe it is still alive. But he gets nothing. Nothing appears, no portal or anything. And this time, he knows it isn't his fault.

Fuck all of the universes that get to be happy. Fuck everybody living in ignorance of the fragility of this filthy multiverse.

It all should burn to the ground.

He should burn it to the ground.

Fuck what the oh so glorious creators say. Fuck what the oh so honest Ink says. Fuck their oh so beautiful creations. Fuck what anybody else says.

"I'm destroying this place, no matter what anybody says."

He's finally got the control he's asked for. He's finally making his own decision. He finally has taken a grip over his own life.

And it feels so great to finally do something that he wants to do. Things are only going to get better from here, he thinks.

Chapter Text

A single skeleton under a stump of a tree. His body is melting, but he doesn't notice. He's too busy sobbing over that one horrible moment.

All of the villagers are dead. But his mother is too. He couldn't stop them. His brother… he wasn't around. 

At least, not in time. He doesn't know how to feel. He doesn't even know if this moment is real. It all feels so… dreamlike.

No, not like a dream. Like a horrible nightmare. He's the horrible nightmare. 

That moment… it felt like something else had taken over him as soon as he had eaten that darkened apple. It was like he was watching his own body move on its own. 

Like it wasn't him moving. Like it wasn't him doing the killing.

"So, you're aware of my presence."

That wasn't his voice. Still, he doesn't raise his head from his knees.

"Come on, I know that you're stronger than that. I know that I'm stronger than that. You wouldn't want to put me to shame, would you?"

"H- Huh?" Nightmare raises his head. No, he doesn't want to shame anybody. 

A figure he sees, standing above him. Shadowy and goopy, but the same clothes and height as himself. It's like staring into a corrupt mirror.

The figure stares at him. "I didn't expect you to be so weak. I would have expected somebody that had eaten all the apples to be strong."

Nightmare looks away. He knows he's weak. If he was strong, his mother still would've been alive.

"So you don't deny it."

He shakes his head. "She's dead… I couldn't stop them. I don't even know how I managed to kill them all…"

The figure sighs, and takes a knee next to him. "You didn't."

"B- But I saw them-"

"That's because I did, little prince. I realize now that you aren't capable of doing all that I did on your own."

"Y- You did? But… But they didn't deserve to die…" He pauses, tears melting from his hollow eye-sockets. "I did."

Another sigh comes from the figure. "Thinking that way will get you nowhere. Do you think dying would have benefited you any?"

"I don't deserve any benefit… my brother does. I- I miss him… he's gone doing something else again I'm sure."

"Your dear brother never cared about you. He only cared about the villagers that hurt you so."

"I wish he cared more…"

"Well he isn't able to, because he's long gone by now. Dead."

Nightmare stares at the figure, shocked. "D- Dead?"

"Why do you care so much? Like I said, he never cared about you."

"B- Because h- he's my brother…"

"Family doesn't mean anything. It is only weak connections that only hurt you more."

He looks away from him. "I…"

"Do you think you'd even benefit from having control of your own self? You're only hurting yourself, and you'll continue to get hurt if you don't listen to me.

Things like 'care' are for the weak. Things like 'family' are for the weak. You have the possibility to become the strongest thing this world has to offer, and you're only holding yourself back with all these connections that you make."

"W- What am I supposed to do, then? I- I don't know how to be strong."

The figure smiles at him. "Give control over to me. I can guide you on how to become powerful. On how to become strong."

"C- Control? But how? Y- You're not me."

"Answer this question, little prince: Do you really think we are in reality right now?" The figure laughs, as if that claim is absurd.

"Where else would we be?"

"You're dreaming. We currently are in your mindscape right now. Funny how similar it looks to reality, don't you think?

Which despite me not being you, we share a body as of now. Neither of us are in control though, but if I suddenly took control you surely would resist."

Nightmare thinks on it. He… He doesn't feel fit to control his own body. But, can he really trust this person? 

It's not like he has anybody else, though. And he says that he can make himself stronger. Isn't that what he wants? To be able to stand up for himself?

Everybody he knows is dead. If they really were holding him back, they no longer can. The only person he knows that isn't dead, is this person inhabiting his body. 

He trusts him. He trusts him, because he has nobody else to trust, and he's offering him something he's always desired. 

Something he thought he couldn't do. He knows he can't do it on his own. He just can't.

He needs his help.

"A- Alright. I'll let you. Just… don't do anything bad. Please."

The figure nods back to him, and offers him a hand.

As soon as Nightmare takes it, everything fades to black.

Dream… he didn't realize he was alive. He saw him. He saw that he was stone.

And he seems happy to see him.

But neither can communicate with each other.

"S- Sir, my brother i- is… he's…" him, the lighter version of Nightmare stutters to his corrupted counterpart.

Nightmare responds with a growl. "Little prince, he doesn't care. Remember how he wasn't there. Remember how he was out frolicing in some flowers, leaving the duties to you. Remember how he let her die."

He responds with silence. He knows he's right. He's been teaching him how to be strong, so he has to be right.

Even if it hurts others, he's been told it's necessary. Necessary to become strong. Soon he'll learn to enjoy it, just like how his counterpart does.

So he watches them. Watches them argue, and watches the conversation be turned towards that weird glitchy guy. 

Dream and his new inky friend start to berate him, and he sees him just… break down.

It's familiar. He's been in that situation before. Ha ha… funny… 

He really doesn't care, does he?

Nightmare laughs at all of this. "You see little prince, this is what cruel people do. You recognize it, don't you?"

He nods.

"You have to become stronger so that doesn't happen to you. You realize that, correct?"

"...I do." He doesn't know how to feel. But maybe if he just keeps following Nightmare, he will figure it out.

Hopefully.

In all honesty, he didn't know what to think when he saw what happened to Horror.

Someone from a universe like that deserves better. But come to think of it…

He deserved better too, right?

Does that give him the right to hurt him in that way?

Nightmare was slowly depriving him of food. He could tell. But could he tell? 

Maybe? Should he bring it up?

As they pass Horror, he views him dusting the cupboards with one hand and clutching his stomach with another.

…He was bigger when he first arrived. At least, that's what he’s observed.

“Sir…?” He starts, floating from behind. The misery from everyone living here can be felt. But somehow, he especially feels Horror’s.

“Yes, little prince?” Nightmare replies.

“I- I know it's to gather negativity, and I know we’ve been hurt more than this, but…” Trailing off, he looks from Horror to Nightmare.

The other rolls his singular eye. “Spit it out.”

“Why are we treating everyone so cruelly?” He finishes.

“Questions, questions… I understand them, truly.” Nightmare pauses. “From your point of view, that is.”

He furrows his bone-brows. “From my…” 

“Oh, do I need to elaborate?” He asks.

A nod.

“Hm, very well. It’s simple, really.” Nightmare smiles. “Everyone here, they work under me. So therefore, I can do whatever I wish to them.”

“But-”

“Let me finish.” He interrupts. “Cruelty is something that is necessary in this vast multiverse, and it is something we both benefit from. Someone as weak-minded as you would not understand yet, but you will learn eventually.”

That last part was stated as fact. Looking at him, it seems dumb not to give in. He’s the stronger one, with a stronger mind and body.

He was weak before he came along. All of this may seem very wrong to him, but that's because he’s weak-minded.

Just like he said.

Weak-minded.

…Thinking of it, he might as well just be weak in general.

And he should be glad because he’s here to change that.

Shouldn't he?

Dust constantly got things wrong. That's how Nightmare saw it, and that's how he should see it too.

Trusting in Nightmare has made him stronger. The deaths he’s seen… they’ve seen less and less horrifying as their numbers go up.

And they’ll continue to go up, right? He shouldn't be doubting them at all. Thinking about it, he should be glad they're happening in the first place.

…But he isn't. Still weak-minded, as he said before.

At first, when he saw Horror’s dust on the floor, he felt as if he was going to puke. But he couldn't, as the one who was taking the back seat of his body.

Nightmare had waved him off, telling him it was bound to happen. That it was his fault that he had died.

If he had wanted food, then why not ask?

…That should have been obvious. According to him, he was too dumb. So he died.

Basic enough. Simple enough.

He doesn't want to be included under the definition of ‘dumb’, so he doesn't question it.

So he’s stopped asking questions in general. At least, no important ones. Rarely has he said a word.

That has led to him being a stuttering, nervous wreck when talking, but that's to be expected from a person like him.

Dust was behind them. Staring at them, as Nightmare inspected his meal. As if he expected something.

Well, saying he was staring at ‘them’ was a lie, wasn't it? There wasn't a ‘them’, there was a ‘him’.

That ‘him’ being Nightmare. Not including himself, of course.

Footsteps. Dust approaches their seat. What he’s doing, he doesn't know.

Until he pulls out an attack. 

Before he can warn Nightmare about the upcoming blow, Dust is already held up in the air. 

It happened so fast, he didn't notice.

Though… why did he do it? Simply put, Dust was the one doing everything wrong. Clothes were never neatly ironed enough. Food was never flavorful enough. Counters were never dusted off enough.

It was never enough, so why act out as if Nightmare was in the wrong?

…Doesn't matter.

Nightmare taunts Dust. Surprisingly, he’s giving him a chance to live. To explain himself.

But stupidly, Dust doesn't reply.

Not even a plead, like how most would respond. Just a glare. 

He’s stubborn. Stubborn and determined not to submit.

With a loud crush, Dust fades to dust.

He sighs, taking this as a lesson to himself. Listen to what Nightmare says, and you’ll stay out of trouble.

Do what he says.

Shaking off the sinking feeling he got after seeing that death, he goes on with his day.

Nightmare was testing Killer. He couldn't tell if Killer was passing or not.

Killer, he always did whatever Nightmare said. As he should.

But Nightmare never seemed satisfied.

At least, after a few months. He was bored of his obedience, he could tell.

There wasn't a place to ask why. Just a place to watch. Questions weren't needed.

It was funny, in a way. Everyone thought Killer and Nightmare were close, but that wasn't the case at all. If they were like that, then Killer would know about him.

Killer didn't even know where Nightmare came from. Killer didn't even know that Nightmare had someone else inside of him. Killer didn't even know how Nightmare came to be.

But that's good, in a way. If he knew that he existed, then he wouldn't respect Nightmare as much as he did.

Because he is weak.

Nightmare had summoned Killer into his room. Killer had obeyed.

This wasn't like usual, however. He could tell.

Nightmare never really complimented anyone. But he was doing it now, so something was off.

Of course it was.

What he made Killer do… It would be terrifying, horrifying even, to someone else. It would be like that to his past self.

But as he stares at his dust on the floor…

He can't help but feel apathetic to it.

He doesn't find himself trying to justify it, trying to find a reason why…

But he does find himself just looking, nothing felt.

Just used to all this violence he’s been surrounded in.

That's a good thing. The violence, the apathy towards it…

It shows he’s gotten stronger, after all.

He’s smarter. He’s stronger.

He needs to be more, though.

The destroyer, Error. Nightmare has shown a very strong interest in him. 

Not that type of interest where he wants him to grovel under his feet, but another new type of interest.

He wants to be partners with him, cause pain and terror by his side.

It's one sided, he can tell. But he doesn't dare bring it up. It wouldn't even be worth it, as his counterpart wouldn't listen.

He's the weaker one, so what would he know?

So he watches, watches Error deny Nightmare’s advances. He wants nothing to do with him. 

This results in anger. Because that's how he's dealing with the pain of being denied by somebody he actually showed some sort of care to. 

Crying would be weak, because it is for the weak. And he knows for a fact that Error outmatches him in strength alone. 

He admitted it himself, after all. 

All he can do is watch as Error gets up from his seat, and attempts to push Nightmare aside as he leaves. 

Attempting to avoid conflict after what he just did is futile, though. Nightmare won't allow him to leave. 

With glance, and a flow of magic into the destroyer, he causes Error to fall to the ground. Nightmare wants him to feel the same pain he just made him feel. 

He doesn't care if he's stronger, this is his domain. And he's the one in power here. The one in charge.

So Error passes out, and Nightmare drags him to the dungeon. 

He doesn't normally take people there himself. Be it being because the glitch is dangerous, or him still caring, Passive can't tell.

-

Several days pass. Several universes go down with time passing. 

Why? Error is the one destroying. Is there somebody else? 

Who knows.

Nightmare is curious, of course. He is confused, as always. 

"...Sir?" He starts, speaking up in forever knows how long.

This is important, surely? Maybe.

"What do you want?" Nightmare replies.

"Do you know why… why everything's dying?"

His counterpart sighs. "I have a few hunches, little prince. But I can't say for certain. And oh, how I hate that.

For now, I'll just keep myself entertained until that glitch wakes up."

"W- Why him?"

"You recall all those claims he has made? I am starting to wonder how much weight they hold. It'd be a bummer if he was actually sane though… I was planning on keeping him here for longer. I guess we will have to see when he awakens." Nightmare assumes.

"...Right." He replies.

Apathy. Only observing what happens, like always.

Error’s gone berserk. Destroying universes left and right, it's as if he doesn't care anymore. 

Just like him.

But there's a negative to that. It's not like he cares about him, no. Just that somebody that powerful should at least have a grip on themselves. 

He can feel it. Feel Error's insanity. 

Error should've taken the deal. He would've had an ally. A strong ally, at that. 

If he had, then maybe he wouldn't of lost it.

The destruction was fine before. But now? Now this is too much. 

His counterpart is currently facing the glitch. The two meet from time to time. "Meet" as in Nightmare visits him. He's always the one visiting.

He means he's easy to find nowadays when he's out of his void. It's hard not to spot him, in fact. He's always destroying some universe, fighting some monster.

He can't tell if he enjoys it. He doesn't even know if Error knows how his own self feels.

"Nightmare. What are you doing here?"

Nightmare responds with a smirk. "Watching you. You seem to be enjoying yourself."

"I'm finally in control. I finally get to do something I want."

"Interesting."

"They hate it, Nightmare. They yell at me to stop. But I won't stop. They never gave a shit about me, so why should I give a shit about them?"

"You're right, Error. You shouldn't. They gave you that role of "Destroyer", so I don't see why they're complaining.”

Nightmare pauses . “ Destroying anybody who comes in your way and then some, I can't help but be jealous."

He stays silent. He always does when Nightmare talks. It'd be rude to interrupt, after all. 

Besides, Error can't see him, can't hear him. If he spoke up, it'd just look like Nightmare was talking to himself. 

And that would be embarrassing for the both of them..

Inside of him, he feels something brewing. If only he could do something. If it was up to him, he would have Error locked up until he gets his act together.

Hurt him, kill him, whatever it takes for him to stop.

He sighs. This is fun to watch for Nightmare, he knows, but… 

This is too much for the multiverse. He doesn't want everything to die, as that would mean he would have nowhere to go.

If there's nothing, then there's nowhere to exist.

Hopefully Ink can keep up.

As he watches, apathy slowly changes towards hatred.

That feeling from before, it grows more and more.

Maybe he feels both, apathy and hatred. He doesn't know.

Maybe that’s a good thing. Nightmare says so, after all. Everything he says is right.

Maybe he should stop questioning… He was good at that before, but Error has him thinking.

He shouldn't think. He wasn't made to do that.

All the murder, the torture… That's what he was made to do. 

Even though he isn’t doing it himself, he can still see it. Like a ghost, he watches.

He’s always been like a ghost. Back at the village, now here. 

…

Part of him doesn’t like that.

But, this is what he’s meant to do. He isn’t a coward anymore. 

Someday he’ll impress him enough to show that he should be the one in control. To him, though, he still has to learn.

Hasn’t he already learnt enough on how to hurt? He feels his empathy for these people turn into apathy. That’s what’s supposed to happen, isn’t it?

He says so. And he’s stronger than him, so it must be right.

It is right.

Chapter Text

Error was angry. Error was happy. Error was sad.

Error could not tell which emotion he was, but it had to be one of those, right?

He wasn’t sad. If he was sad he would be crying. Wait, is he? His face is wet, but he can’t tell from what.

If he wasn’t sad, then was he angry? He feels something intense in his chest, like a burning, but he doesn’t know what that feeling is.

So he has to be happy. Right, happy. 

Or was it all three? Everything just blurs together at this point.

Like all the universes. The dead, dying universes by his own hands. 

Does he like it? Does he hate it? What he's doing, he means. He doesn't know.

He doesn't know many things about himself, nowadays. All of it just blurs together. Like the universes and his emotions, he can't tell even his left from his right anymore.

Right now, he's fighting Ink and his team right now. Right now, it looks like they're panicking. 

That's a good thing, right? One thing he does know is that he hates, hates Ink. 

It's his fault he has to destroy. It's his fault that he lost his home. It's his fault for everything. It's his fault that his head is such a scrambled mess like it is now.

It's his fault for everything.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Ink, I, uh, know you're busy in there, but Dream has sensed a spike of negativity in one AU. We think it's Error, so we'd like you to check it out."

Blue nervously rocks his heels as he waits by his partner's room. A crash can be heard, as well as some shuffling, and then the door swings open in his face.

In front of him, looking like he just got hit by a train, is Ink. Several splashes of paint are covered across his outfit, and bags are under his eyes as he stares.

"I'm ready. Which AU is it?" He asks, with a disassociated look on his face.

Blue tilts his head at him. How long has it been since Ink has slept? "Thinking about it, you should stay here and rest. You look terrible ."

Pushing him aside, Ink stumbles. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's an Underfell AU, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm hearing."

Watching him walk off, he tilts his head. He was right about that, but… "Are you sure? It doesn't seem like you're okay enough to."

"I'm fine, it's fine. If he's starting now he isn't going to stop anytime soon. We should get him while we can." He hazily says.

"Okay… If you're sure about that."

"Ink! To your left!"

Blue shouts at Ink, warning him of an incoming attack from Error. Error's attacks have become more violent and frequent for some reason for another, a reason that he could never begin to understand.

Ink dodges his attack in a black blur, but another one heads for him right after.

He dodges yet again, but several are aimed for him again and again.

A dodge, a dodge, and a dodge.

This time, several strings are aimed at Blue, but the skeleton hits all of them out of the way with his hammers. 

Occupied with him, Error doesn't realize that Dream is aiming a blast at him with his staff, and he is too slow to dodge it as it hits him right in his skull.

Staggering back, he growls, glitches growing intense on his forehead. "This is what you deserve. This is what you've always deserved."

Ink stares at him, reminded of something. As he tries to process, Blue shouts at him to finish the attack. "Ink! Now!"

Lifting his brush with his hands shaking, he aims a swab of paint at him…

Only to miss his mark completely.

Error gets up, and fires a row of strings at Ink, grappling onto his arm, spinning the skeleton around and promptly slamming him into a nearby cliff.

He feels several bones break, but still gets up. He has to fight back, he has to. It's his job.

His job…

The job that he had claimed for himself.

Stop it Ink, you're in the right for this, if they'd just listen -

"Ink! Look out!!!" A shout from Dream he doesn't process quickly enough. Before he knows it, a gaster blaster of Error's is beamed directly into his chest.

Paint that takes the place of his blood is splattered everywhere. Still, he has to keep going.

He's a god, he can take this. If he can't, who'd be out there for Dream and Blue? Specifically Blue. Even though he's the newest one on the team, he's been on it long enough (for how long, he doesn't know) for him to care as deeply about him as he cared about Dream.

Covered in several wounds, Ink grabs his paintbrush and gets up. 

"Ink, are you sure you're-" Before Blue can finish his question, his leg is grabbed by one of Error's strings and drags him through the grassy ground.

Ink flings some paint at Blue, and dissipates the strings covered around his friend but leaving him unharmed.

Gathering himself, Blue throws one of his hammers directly at Error, him blocking the attack with several of his strings. But from behind, he doesn't notice Dream aiming another magic blast at him.

His body covered in glitches, still Error doesn't seem to give up. Teleporting behind Dream, he tries to hit him, but is immediately blocked by a blot of ink coming from its namesake.

Lifting up his hand, he summons several bones in the air, all crashing down onto the ground. Ink rushes toward Blue, flinging his paint in the air from his brush to form a shield. 

But while Blue was protected from the attack, Dream wasn't so lucky. He tries to summon a shield made of positivity, but his powers aren't enough. A shield is formed, but it is much too weak at the moment to protect from all of the damage.

After several attacks, it breaks under the force and Dream screams as he is hit.

The attacks still fire from the air, but Ink jumps out from his shield into the open, running at his wounded partner to protect him from the damage.

Blue can only stare under his protection as he watches the god be wounded by the bones, their rain reaching its midpoint as he runs.

Jumping on top of Dream, Ink throws a painted shield above them both. But before Dream can even process what his friend just did, Ink runs out of the cover and toward Error.

The rain of bones slowly ends, but he is still damaged as he lifts his brush behind his back…

And whacks Error onto a mountain's edge, just like he did before to him.

Staggering back, Error looks from Blue, to Dream, and to Ink, as if trying to decide on something. Upon his gaze reaching the latter, he glares.

(He hurt me, this is his fault, he should suffer, why does he get to be happy with his friends, is his own self even happy, why is he so caught up over-)

Teleporting from place to place, glitching his way up to the god of creation, Ink doesn't notice until Error had grabbed his leg with string. Him lifting up him into the air, Ink hangs upside down face to face with Error.

"YOU RUINED IT FOR ME!!! EVERYTHING!!!" Hitting Ink like a piñata, he swings the skeleton around with a bone.

"INK!!! " Both Dream and Blue yell. 

Blue tries to run toward Ink, but his soul is grabbed by a bundle of Error's strings, stopping his movement. Dream runs also, but Error throws his bone in his hand directly at the guardian.

The attack seemingly was the final blow for Dream, and he staggers to the ground.

Rebounding back, Ink swings back and forth, struggling to escape. But to no avail, as he stays stuck in the air.

"I DON'T GET IT! YOU'RE HAPPY, WHY CAN'T I BE!? I DON'T…" Error swings Ink yet again. His ankle detaches from his leg as he does so, leading to him to fly a ways away. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!"

Glitching toward the falling Ink like before, Error chases him as he flies through the air. Dream tries to chase after him, but still he cannot move.

Ink lands on the ground with a huge thud, leaving an indent where he falls. He tries to summon a shield in front of him, but to no avail.

Right in front of him now, Error glares at him with his shaking and glitching body. "I HATE YOU."

He lifts up the god off of the ground. Him hovering up in Error's grip.

"SAY SOMETHING. SOMETHING AGAINST ME, LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO!!!" Words try to come out of Ink's mouth, but ink flows out instead.

Error shakes him. "COME ON , SAY SOMETHING!!!"

Still, Ink can't reply.

Throwing him to the ground, he growls. Ink can't move out of the way, his body too injured from the damage. He stares at Dream and Blue, desperate to tell them to GO. 

"G…ys…" Error furrows his eyebrows. "Drea… Bl… Ru… n…!"

Realizing what Ink is trying to say, Dream finally lifts himself up and runs toward Blue's direction. Error still staring, shakes his head and focuses on his real target.

"I WON'T HAVE YOU DISTRACT ME !!!" He shouts, kicking Ink in the chest. His power of destruction, one that came forth from his absolute anger, spreads throughout where he was hurt.

As Dream slashes the strings off of Blue, the two panickedly converse.

"What are you doing Dream, we can't just leave him!!!" Blue says, objecting. 

Dreams hands shake as he unties him. "I know, I know, but I can't just leave you either!!!"

"Leave me, I don't care!"

"And let you die!?"

"And let him die?"

Blue drops from his entanglement, and tries to run after Ink. But instead, he is stopped from Dream grabbing his hand.

Tears are in his partner's eyes as he sadly stares at him. "I know you don't want to leave him. I know . But trust me when I say that he'll be fine."

"But-" He objects.

" Please ."

As the two portal away, Ink lies in front of Error, his body dissipating around his new wound.

"I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, INK!!!" He kicks him yet again. And then again. And then again and again and again. "I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE ANYTHING BUT YOU STILL MANAGED TO TAKE SOME OF IT AWAY!!!"

Each wound leaves another mark for Error's power to destroy. Ink stares up at him. Mind hazy, but still able to wonder if Error could have used this power on him. Does he even realize that he's doing it?

Drifting out of consciousness, he feels every wound eat its way around his body. It feels like static. 

At least Dream and Blue are gone. At least Dream and Blue are safe.

(They would be more safe if you hadn't of-)

Stop. This isn't his fault.

It's scary, realizing that Error had never used this power on a person before. Was he holding back? 

Doesn't matter. He tries to say something, but nothing comes out. Not even the ink he pukes out, as he can tell that's becoming more and more absent by the moment.

He isn't a bad guy. He doesn't deserve this.

He isn't-

He isn't-

He-

Unable to finish his thoughts, Ink loses his consciousness. 

And with that, his own life.

"Oh my stars, oh my stars, Dream…" Lying on the couch in the living room, Blue shakily breathes as Dream applies healing gel to his wounds.

Still as horribly injured as before, and most likely running on pure adrenaline at the moment, Dream looks down at his injured friend. "He'll come back Blue, it's ok, it's ok…"

Dream is aware they've been injured like this before. Ever since something happened with Error (something he constantly wonders what), they've come back home more and more injured after every battle.

But they always came back together. They were a team, that's what teams do.

Even though Ink had told them to run, to go, guilt still gnaws at the apple that makes up his soul. He can feel Blue staring at him, the look on his face wondering why .

"Why isn't he back? He should be back by now. Why?" Blue vulnerably asks.

Hands shaking, Dream continues to heal his partner. "Please Blue, trust me. He's come back before. H- He'll come back again, I promise."

Despite seeing him come back from death himself, he still isn't sure about his words. It feels like he's trying to convince himself it's true, even though he knows it is.

He's seen Ink hurt like this, so why isn't he coming back?

Why?

Blue stares Dream down, analyzing him. Suddenly he jolts up, as if realizing something. "Oh my stars, Dream. Y- You're hurt. Give me the bottle, you need to be healed more than I do."

Dream moves the jar of gel away from Blue, shaking his head. "No, no, Blue. I'll be fine. You need help. I don't want you to die."

"No." Snatching the bottle from Dream anyways, he glares at him concerned. " You need help. I don't want you to die, either."

He tries to take the bottle away from him, but he falls onto the cushions of the couch as Blue moves it out of the way. 

"See?" Blue, still shaking, gets up and grabs a blob from the container. "Now lay down so I can help you."

With a grunt, Dream somehow adjusts himself on the couch in a position to where Blue can heal him.

"Okay… Starting from the top and working my way down…" As Blue rubs the gel on the guardian's bones, he tries to process all the emotions in his chest.

He doesn't really like Error, come to think of it. All the glitch has ever done is hurt those who are close to him. It's a miracle that he hasn't attacked his own universe yet.

The day that comes…

No. That day will never come if he has anything to say about it. Stars be damned, he will keep his home safe. 

Both of them.

It's best he stays here for now, anyways. He doesn't want anyone in his universe freaking out over him. It all could be healed with a reset, but the embarrassment of all those people fretting over him in the moment? Ugh.

Also, Dream needs him. And he needs to see Ink for himself when he comes back.

He better come back. I- If he doesn't, and if he's gone for good…

Stars, he doesn't know what he'd do with himself.

If he was stronger, if he hadn't of gotten caught, he could've taken all those blows instead. But instead, Ink was hurt. Hurt worse than Dream is right now, and that's saying something.

If he was stronger, Ink would be right here in this very room. 

He knew that Ink wasn't acting like himself, knew that Ink was out of it, but still was unable to protect him. What kind of person does that make him, not able to protect others on his own team!?

"Blue… Calm down." Dream softly says, breaking him out of his thoughts. 

Oh… right. "Sorry. I just- Stars, I should've protected him better."

Dream shakes his head. "Quit blaming yourself, 'Berry. I wasn't caught, I could've gotten him, but I-"

"Now you stop." Blue interrupts. "Ugh… I just don't get this. Error's been so awful as of late, I really do hate him and his whole act."

Dream's heart still beats, trying to calm down from the adrenaline rush. "You don't have to worry about him. It's not worth the time."

Deep down, he knew that saying that was hypocritical. He still thinks Error can be helped, despite it all. He is just refusing it.

His act, him claiming that he has to destroy to stop destruction, is probably just some form of insanity. How would destruction stop destruction? The logic just isn't there.

Talking it over with himself, he can't find a solution to heal him. His power is just too much, there's no way of keeping him put for a talk without a disaster occuring.

Back when he had first met him, he saw this firsthand. Ink almost died because of him when he refuted his lies. 

He's glad Blue wasn't there to see it. Stars knows he would've gotten involved. 

Blue is mortal. Blue can die. 

Dream knows he doesn't want that.

Back then, he was too scared to move. Ink taught him how to fight later on, but at that moment he had no idea what to do.

Even now, he still is ashamed of that.

Though he is trying to hide it from Blue, he is also ashamed that he ran. He's a guardian, for stars sake, he could've handled it!

But… Blue couldn't have. 

No matter how his friend puts on a strong act, trains himself harder and harder each day, he still is mortal. 

And mortals can die.

Dream, unlike Blue, lives off the positive energy of the multiverse. If at one moment he didn't have enough, he would be stuck in a basically dead state. 

He still can die, but if enough energy is gathered, he can come back to life.

At least, that's what he was taught by Ink. He's never let him die before, so he wouldn't know.

But he knows for certain that Blue's life isn't like that. If he dies once, he dies forever. Outside his universe, he means. 

"A- Alright 'Scape… I think… Think I'm gonna lie down." Blue sighs out, exhaustion clear on his face.

Dream rubs his gloved hand over his bones. Before he knew it, Blue had healed him the best he could. Though… Ink is probably going to have to give their outfits some repairs when he gets back. Stars know that they both need it.

Looking at him with tired eyes, Blue asks one more final question. "Wanna… huff… Wanna watch a movie?" 

At Dream's nod, Blue shifts through the various tapes and CDs in their collection under the TV. He picks out a film, and pushes it through the hybrid of a DVD and VCR player.

Lying down on the couch, he finally feels himself relax as Blue sits on the seat beside him.

Closing his eyes as the film plays, silently he wishes for Ink to come back soon.

He knows he will, so why hasn't he?

Ink was nothing. Then Ink was everything. 

Ink was dead. Then he was alive.

Opening his eyes, he is greeted by the canvas that makes up the doodlesphere. Blobs of paint that make up universes surround him.

There are two types of universe. Ones made for The Creators, full of color and life. And ones made by him, black like the ink he bleeds out.

Around him are universes left alone to breathe, universes being consumed and corrupted by his own creations, and universes being destroyed by Error's static.

Why does it have to be like this? If he just was allowed to create what he wanted, none of this would be happening.

Walking around the quote on quote 'floor', several voices scream in his head. 

"Ink!"

"You can't just keep doing this, you have to stop!!!"

"He isn't going to stop if you don't either!!!"

That was a lie. He could tell that Error was at the point where nothing would make him stop. All the creation he's been doing alone in his room has just been him attempting to patch up the damage.

…It would be easier if they let him do so, though.

Maybe he should take the long route home. Give himself the opportunity to breathe. He could just teleport there, but he'd be a wreck coming back.

Tiredly, he walks.

"You know he isn't going to stop either way, right?" Ink asks, eyelights straight on his path. His soul-eye, representative of the vial he has taken, glows green with disgust.

"Ink-"

"I don't care." He interrupts. "I'm trying to help you guys clean up after him, but you aren't cooperating."

"He was the one cleaning up after you to start with, right?"

Shaking his head as a 'no', he responds. "I could say the same about you. You guys are the ones at fault here."

"Oh, because you want to create sooo bad that you just have to ignore the consequences?"

Ink doesn't even bother to pause. "Consequences you put in place."

"You-"

"Shut up." Yet again, he cuts off their speech. He's already thought about this enough. The last thing he needs is their stupid input.

What they're doing is putting his partners in danger. No matter what they say, no matter how much they make him doubt himself, he knows he's right in the end.

He always is.

"You're just being stubborn, like you always are! Jeez Ink, listen to us for once!"

"Am I not listening to you guys enough?" Ink asks, sass filling his tone. "I make your worlds, act as your link to this place. I could stop doing that. Do you want that?"

"You're dodging the point."

"Like you always do."

Rolling his eyes, he continues on his way.

"Not going to respond?"

Dream, Blue. Stars, he needs to see them again. Needs to see them safe . Because no matter how much The Creators make him out to be the villain, at least he's a hero to them .

He is the hero in all of this, he knows it. Everyone else thinks it, even himself. 

Except them, who refuse his wishes no matter how much he gives in to theirs. Except Error, who just killed him right in front of his team.

"AUGH! IT'S SO IRRITATING!!!" Flinging his hands up in frustration, he yells.

If only he could have things be different! If only he could be the one in control! 

He's tired. But if he rested, who knows what would happen.

(Part of him wonders if this is how Error-)

SHUT UP!!!

"Huff… Puff…" Disgust fills his every being. It's all so much.

"You know, it's irritating for us too."

"Even more so than you, actually."

Ink shouldn't be reacting this way. He's the leader, the hero, he should be able to keep a hold of himself.

"Just- Just stop. Leave me alone, for once in your lives! If you even have any!" Ink shouts.

"..."

"We…"

"Should we?"

Don't talk it over. They always talk it over at the worst moments. He can hear their voices now, chatting and arguing and deciding.

It's always like this, and never like this.

He can't come back to them like this, so he keeps walking.

Blots of universes around him, he stares at what he can't have. Worlds full of color mixed with black spots of ink. 

Those colors he sees makes him so, so jealous.

It's obvious to anyone viewing that his worlds are just taking up space. But it's even more clear to him that there is a way for space to be made in this ever expanding canvas.

If they just let him, if they just-

He's back.

Stars… He's a wreck. But he can't keep them waiting forever. 

…They must be worried.

How didn't he think of that before?

Stepping into the color, the only universe he was allowed to make, he goes to comfort his partners.

Creak…

The front door of The Stars' house squeaks open as Ink enters. Blue sits on the couch, staring anxiously at the TV while Dream snoozes beside him.

"Ink!!!" The former jolts up from his seat, waking up the latter beside him suddenly. 

Before he can process what's about to happen, Blue tackles him into a hug, squeezing him tightly and lifting him up.

Ink can feel his body shake. Be it from nervousness or overexertion, he doesn't know. But he accepts the gesture, though unable to hug him back due to his partner wrapping his arms around his own.

"H… Huh…?" The third of the group blinks sleepily, staring up at the two.

As he realizes who's in front of him, he smiles wearily. "Ink… You're back…" 

Dream tries to push himself up, but his arms shake from the effort. Blue, noticing his struggle, drops Ink and rushes toward him.

"Y- You ok, Dream?" He asks, placing a hand on his forehead. Ink walks over to them, staring down at the guardian.

Voice hazy, Dream responds. "I was worried… Even though I knew, I…"

Ink summons a mini paintbrush. "Don't worry Dreams, I've got you covered."

"But what about Bl-" He tries to respond, but Blue interrupts him.

"No Dream, you need to get covered first and foremost. I- I can be healed later, ok? We went over this." Insistently, he responds back.

At his nod, Ink begins to paint over all the injuries that weren't covered by the gel. Blue leans beside him, watching the process unfold.

It's ok… It's alright…

Ink thinks to himself. He's doing a good thing, and people who do good things are good guys, right?

He hopes so.

He hopes for a lot of things.

Hopes that Dream will be ok.

Hopes that Error will finally get himself under control.

And mainly, hopes that The Creators will finally listen to him.

But it's all just hope, and isn't that just the most frustrating thing?

Chapter Text

Error was on a destruction spree.

What else would he be doing? This was all he ever did… sleep, eat, destroy.

Did he like this? Of course he did.

Of course.

“You know, don't you have anything better to do?” A voice asks.

A very, very familiar voice.

A voice he absolutely hates.

“Nightmare.” Error growls, swinging around to where he heard that person’s voice.

Right behind him, rather, right in front of him now, sits the self-proclaimed king of negativity himself. He smiles from the cliff’s edge he’s placed himself, but it isn't a kind smile.

“Yes, that’s-” Nightmare dodges an attack coming from Error. “-me.”

“What do you want?” Error breathes.

“Oh nothing bad. Honestly, I just needed someone like me to talk to. Though…” He sighs. “I wonder if that's the case anymore.”

“It isn't. And it never was.” He states, glaring.

“Hm, I suppose that's right. I wouldn't have lost my cool like you are, currently.” Nightmare comments.

Error can only laugh in response to this. “Really? Really?!?!?! That’s rich coming from you, you know.”

“How so? This control you have… It’s very different from mine.” He states. “People actually listen to me, but you on the other hand…”

“I don’t need people to listen to me.” Error snaps back. “I just need people to be affected by me.”

The universe crumbles around them. Nightmare sighs, disappointed that he has to go already.

“It’s a shame. I really wanted to talk to you some more, but I assume that I can wait for next time.” He says, then disappears.

“It’s a shame you're acting out like this, you know.”

Nightmare appears before Error again, this time earlier than before.

“Who are you to judge ? You're the one who helped me become this way.” Error replies, snapping this universe’s human’s soul in two.

Nightmare looks down at their dead body, the ground turning into static around where they lay. “You sound ungrateful. If you’re having so much fun, then a thank you is in order.” 

“I would never thank someone like you.” He snaps.

“Hm.” Nightmare steps away from the body, so as to not get hit by the destruction that surrounds it. “The entertainment is good enough, I suppose. It was getting rather boring around here before you became this way.”

“This way? You mean I became broken.” Error glitches with rage, the destruction tingling his legs and feet. “You and everyone else pushed me into this. I don't understand why the hell you're acting surprised.”

Nightmare stops for a moment, thinking. “I suppose you're right, yet again. This was inevitable, wasn't it?”

“It-”

Error is interrupted by another question. “But it feels good, doesn't it? So why would that matter in the first place?”

“It matters…” He glitches more intensely, the destruction growing more and more by his anger. “It matters because I lost something I cared about, you piece of shit!

Nightmare doesn't flinch at the outburst. “Well, does it feel good? I’m curious. Because when I lost something I cared about, I just moved on.”

That was a lie technically, but Error doesn't know that. And he shouldn't, lest he think of him as weak.

Error doesn't know the burden he’s housing in his soul.

“Wouldn't you know, you fucking empath? Or are you too stupid to see through me like you do everyone else?” He responds.

Too stupid? Barely, Nightmare refuses to lose his cool. He can't touch the destroyer when he’s destroying like this. 

“You idiotic-” He sighs. “No, I just want to hear it from you. I know how you feel already, obviously.”

Error furrows his brows, thinking. How does he feel? The options swirl in his mind.

He feels angry that everyone pushed him so far. He feels sad that his home is now dead. He feels happy that he’s finally giving everyone what they deserve.

“It’s not a hard question, you know.” Nightmare says. “Or… You feel more than one way, don't you?”

“Why do you want to know, anyways?” He snaps. “What about me is oh-so interesting to you? I thought you were sick of me.”

The world crumbles around them. Nightmare flees to a nearby tree so as to not get hit. 

“Hm. Oh yes, I did say that.” He sighs from a branch. “Well, you’ve shown yourself to be of interest again. If I wasn't stupid, I’d try to ask you to join me again. But… you’d no doubt cause more issues than it was worth.”

“Great to see that we’re on the same page, at least in your words.” Error says. “I hate you, you hate me.”

“More like I find you of lesser value. Hate is too strong of a word… I still find you quite fun to toy with.” Nightmare says.

He glares. “Is that what you’re doing right now? Toying with me?!”

“Hm… Perhaps.” He looks down, the destruction spreading through the roots and trunk of the tree. “But perhaps I must make my leave. Goodbye, Error.”

Before he can respond, Nightmare is gone.

“I can see right through you, Error.” Nightmare says, looking the destroyer down as he does what his title implies.

Error ignores him, static filling the air as he clears the world of its life.

He was having a great day, before he showed up. He was doing what he did best, and he doesn't want Nightmare to ruin it.

“I’m talking to you, yes?” He says. “I do appreciate a response.”

“I’m ignoring you. Leave me be.” Error responds.

Nightmare rolls his eye. “I’ve been taking notes, you know. Of the universes you’ve destroyed.”

“What of it?” He responds.

“You’ve destroyed so many, it's hard to keep count!” He exclaims. “But I do try.”

Error glares daggers at him, the destruction growing more rampant.

“In my notes, it says you’ve destroyed Undertale based universes, Underswap based universes, Underfell based universes… The basics. ” He says counting each AU mentioned on one hand.

“What of it?” Error repeats, harsher this time.

“There’s the Storyshifts, the Littletales, the crossover AUs… The Horrortales, Dustales, design changes…” He stops, putting his hand down. “Though I feel like there's one variant that hasn't been touched. Can you tell me which one?”

Error thinks. Which AU has he not touched? He’s been destroying all of them. 

But there are so many, he might've missed one type.

“The multiverse is big. I can't get every AU, smartass.” He says.

“Oh, don't play me for a fool. You’re familiar with someone from a place I haven't listed, aren't you?” Nightmare asks, taunting him.

Someone… Someone from a place he hasn't listed…

Oh.

“Shut up.” He growls. “What I destroy and don't destroy is none of your business.”

“But I can still bring it up, can't I?” He questions. “Bring up how you haven't touched a single Outertale variant, despite everything.”

“SHUT UP!!!” He repeats, yelling.

“Oh, did I strike a nerve?” Nightmare asks. “I am curious, though…”

Error glares, destruction reigning around him. “You're always fucking curious.”

“Maybe so.”

“It’s always me, though!” He shouts. “Always me you're curious about!!! WHY ME!?!?!?”

Nightmare swirls his form around Error, taunting him still. 

“Maybe because you're fun…” He says, shifting.

Error tries to fire an attack on him, but it's easily dodged. 

“Maybe because you're powerful…” He moves, like liquid through the air.

Nightmare’s form moves, too quick for him to keep up. But still, he tries his best to get a hit in on him.

Every attempted attack fails, solidified attacks barely grazing his liquefied presence.

“Maybe because you're interesting…” He states tauntingly.

Error raises his hand up, firing multiple bones from the air. Though, Nightmare melts into the ground before any can land.

Reforming as the attacks end, his form resembles someone Error knows all too well.

A friend, a shoulder to lean on, someone to trust… A mimicry of it, at least.

That star-studded fluff that makes up a jacket, those stripes showing off kindness…

He doesn't want to think of his name. But it's obvious who it is.

Error stares in horror at the one resembling his friend. 

It’s not him, though.

It can't be.

“Or maybe because you're all of the above!” That voice unbelonging says.

He tries to breathe, but ends up falling to his knees.

“Ha… ha… You … You aren't him.” He laughs.

“Oh, did I strike a nerve?” Sa- No, Nightmare says.

Error breaks out into unsteady, uneven laughter. He holds his head in his hands, barely keeping it together.

“HAHAHA! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!” He shouts, the ground barely holding steady around him.

“What's wrong? I thought you liked this person, didn't you?” He asks.

He does. But not when it's him.

“Leave.” Error says, between breaths. “LEAVE, LEAVE, LEAVE, LEAVE, LEAVE!!!”

He looks down at him. “No, I don't think I will.”

Destruction reigns around the god.

He needs Nightmare to go. Now.

As if following those commands, the static of destruction flickers and aims towards Nightmare. It follows him, destroying all in its wake to reach its goal.

Nightmare doesn't notice, too preoccupied with the ‘fun’ he’s having with Error. At least, not until it's too late.

He shrieks in pain as it flicks him. The parts touched fuzz like a TV with no signal. 

“YOU GLITCH! I- I-” Nightmare disconnects the goop that was touched from his body, and it fuzzes into non-existence. “YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!!!”

Error looks up, not realizing what he did.

“G- Go. Or I’ll do it AGAIN.” He threatens.

Nightmare, knowing when to quit, melts away.

Blood and dust covers Error’s coat as he lays ruin to a town. People run and hide as destruction reigns upon them.

He was having a bad day.

No, not a bad day. A worse day.

“Hello, Error.”

That fucking, snobbish voice. He fucking hates it.

He fucking hates him. 

Stabbing a bone as sharp as can be in the direction of it, Nightmare swiftly dodges his attack.

“GET OUT! I’M SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR SHIT!!!” Error shouts, firing attacks again and again, though none seeming to hit their goal.

“Don’t-” Dodge. “You-” Dodge. “Think-” Dodge. “You’re-” Dodge. “Going-” Dodge. “A-” Dodge. “Bit-” Dodge. “Overboard?” Dodge.

Frustration lowers accuracy, of course. Though, it doesn't help that Nightmare isn't made of the most solid of materials.

“SHUT UP!!!” Error screams, raising his strings in the air and attempting to whip Nightmare with them. “YOU’RE ONLY SAYING THAT TO MAKE ME STOP! I’M NEVER GOING TO STOP!!!”

Nightmare melts into a goopy pile, evading his attacks. Error huffs and puffs, trying to figure out where he’ll appear next, or if he’ll even appear at all.

He looks from side to side, trying to focus. Someone screams in the background, so he throws an attack in their direction to get them to stop.

“QUIT HIDING! EITHER THAT, OR LEAVE!!!” He shouts, still not able to find where he went.

“Who's to say I’m not already gone?” A voice asks, clearly Nightmare’s.

“You REALLY think I’m THAT stupid?!?!?!” He growls.

“I could just be in your head. You know, like those voices you told me about?” The voice- no- he says.

The Creators yell, voices he’s constantly heard mixing in his head.

Some say that he isn't a part of them. Some say they don't care. Some say that he is a part of them. Some disagree.

Is this voice theirs? He’s getting mixed signals. But they want his downfall, don't they? 

They all do.

But… he could be gone. They could be toying with him, using his tone and voice.

Like he said, they want his downfall. This is one way to do it.

They keep talking. They keep yelling. Those useless gods more powerful than gods shouting and screaming.

It all mixes together, more and more until-

Error didn't realize he had his guard down, until he feels something grabbing his waist and arms in one snatch. It lifts him up into the air, a puddle of darkness forming into…

Nightmare. He laughs, staring him down humorously.

“You really fell for that? You really are a broken, shattered mess.” He grins. “Really, I was just doing that too see how you’d react. I didn't expect it to work.”

Error squirms in his grip, trying to break free. He hates him. Absolutely hates him.

“You really were that stupid, weren’t you?” Nightmare smirks. “You're funny when you're angry, you know that? Rash, dumb, idiotic, and most of all…”

He laughs. “...Entertaining.”

He screams various curses as Nightmare sends a wave of negativity in his wake.

Pain.

It hurts- It hurts- It- It-

Everything is so painful. Even more so than before. It’s as if every single horrible thing he’s experiencing, all the pain and heartache, got multiplied tenfold.

Is everything he’s gone through not punishment enough? The Creators scream in his ears, not helping in the slightest.

Tears run down his face. He can barely focus on each thought that passes him by, but the ones he does see are painful.

He sees the ones he cares about looking down on him in shame. Wasn't everyone else hating him enough?

Someone he cares about dearly, dusting on the ground. Small stars sprinkle out from his injuries, those clearly coming from him.

A hand reaching out for him, pushed away.

This has happened before, but it was much more surreal. It doesn't feel like a dream this time. 

Every look, every touch, every scent, it’s like he’s experiencing it firsthand.

He tries to breathe, but it’s like his body is fighting against him.

Focusing is out of the question. It’ll only make everything feel more real.

Please stop.

Stop.

Stop!

Nightmare’s gaze can be felt, but not seen. Obscured from his sight with multiple error signs, he can only imagine his stupid, smiling face.

He says something. It can't be heard.

Maybe he’s right for hating everyone. No, it's not a maybe. It’s a surely. Because no matter what, he’ll either hurt or kill those who come near.

Everything hurts. 

It’s too much.

Too much.

Too…

Too…

He crashes.

Nightmare looks at him, satisfied.

“It’s funny. You still care about them, don't you?” He drops him to the ground. “You're a hypocrite. But… you have your reasons, I suppose. It’s odd, only caring about a select few people and leaving the rest to rot.”

“This all could've been avoided, but you're stubborn. Now nobody wants you.” Nightmare says, then disappears…

Leaving Error on the ground, all alone.

Like he believes himself deserving to be.

Error wakes up in the anti void, all alone.

Voices scream in his head, as per usual.

He’s angry. Lying down on the colorless floor, he tries not to recall what Nightmare showed him.

But the thoughts keep coming back, memories that seem oh so real. 

It’d be easier if he stopped caring. Why does he still care!?

He’s not good enough for them. Stealing away people’s happiness is what he’s decided to do, and nobody in their right mind would care about a person who does that.

Shit.

This feels good, doesn't it? Hurting others feels good, right!?!?!?

He imagines his enemies in pain, hurt by his own hands.

That feels…

How does that feel?

It feels good. 

They deserve it, deserve to be hurt. The pain they caused him should be reflected back, but harsher.

That's what he needs to do, isn't it?

Make them pay. Forget his past. 

Become the monster they deemed him to be.

No.

He needs to become worse than that.

Nightmare needs to shut up about how he still cares. He recalls how he hurt him, repeatedly again and again.

Who is he to talk about how he cares? He himself clearly doesn’t.

He shouldn’t let Nightmare bother him like that. 

Like he said, he should stop caring.

Stop… Caring…

Just stop…

Chapter Text

Ink had to create. He had to, he had to, he had to.

Every day and night, he'd lock himself in his room and create. It didn't matter if it was his own works or The Creators', he did it no matter what.

The only times he would go out were to eat, fight, and pee. That's it.

How much sleep does he get? He doesn’t know. Not like it matters, anyways. Gods like him, they don’t need sleep.

But he was still tired.

That doesn’t matter though, if he can go without it he will go without it.

He draws. And he draws. And he draws, draws, draws. Each piece its own world.

The Creators have wanted more recently. That makes sense. A good portion of their worlds have been destroyed because of Error.

Not because of him.

Never because of him.

He's tried to mix in some worlds of his own sometimes, with the hope that they won't notice and confirm them along with the rest.

It never worked.

Always, they'd yell at him after.

More than they usually would.

Ink doesn't know what made Error snap, but that doesn't matter. He can't keep at this forever, but Ink sure can.

He has to, after all.

Voices mix with voices, The Creators' yells piercing his ears and straight into his brain.

The things they say, like "You're only making this worse!" and "Why do you have to be this way?" hurt his skull.

Especially when they say stuff like "Why did it have to be you?!"

Why did it have to be him? Because he was the only one them, The Creators, made that was stable! The only one they could ask to give him his power!

They just have to deal with the fact that he isn't their perfect little puppet.

A knock is heard from his door. Not a bold one like Blue's, but a soft one like Dream's. 

Ink brushes off his clothes, charcoal and paint and all sorts of things covered and coated on. It's not like he minds, he just doesn't want to hear an earful from his friend beyond the door.

With a click of his lock, he opens the door shakily. Feeling Dream's stare looking him down, he can tell that his appearance isn't the greatest. So much for dusting himself off.

It's fine though, it doesn't matter, he'll live.

"Ink? I, uh, there's high negativity in this one AU." Dream starts, clearly hestaint. "But I get if you don't want to go, you look tired."

Yeah, true, he is tired. But why is he pointing that out? It's not nearly important as him being on the team when they go fight Error.  

(At least, he thinks it's Error. Most likely it is, but he can never be too sure.)

"No, no," Ink pushes Dream aside. "I'm already ready, we can head out now."

He can feel his partner's gaze strike through him as he walks into the living room, summoning his brush to fight. 

Dream has always been the one to detect an attack nowadays. It's not like Ink can't, it's just that he's busy.

What's this stirring in his chest, like his non-existent soul sinking?

Whatever, it doesn't matter. Blue is sitting wait on the couch, brow furrowing at the sight of him.

"Are you sure we want to take him, Dream?" Dream peaks out from behind Ink at the mention. "He looks… not the greatest."

"I'm fine." Ink strictly states before he can respond. "Now c'mon, let's go already."

Flicking his brush through the air and creating a portal from the ink that came off of it, he walks through without giving the other two a glance.

Dream and Blue exchange worried looks as they head out as well.

"INK!!!"

At Error's shout, several bones are run in Ink's direction. Shakily swinging his brush through the air, a good portion of the attack is dissipated via his Ink. Still, even more of the bones that were dodged are hit directly into his body.

Before Dream or Blue can shout in worry, Error fires a blaster in their direction. Blocking the attack from hitting his friend, Dream takes the brunt of the hit.

At the sight of his injured partners, Ink teleports behind Error and swings his brush to hit the back of his head. Swinging back, he crashes into a nearby wall.

Ink glares at Error as he readies his next move, the other recovering from the hit. His mind, still full of fog, struggles to think of what to do next.

A blaster? A bone? A swab of ink?

Why is he thinking, this needs to be done right- 

In his thoughts, he didn't notice Error nearing his direction. But before he can fire off his attack at him, Dream interrupts his endeavor with a blast from his staff.

Error hisses as, along with Dream, Blue swings his hammer right at him. Said hammer boomerangs right around back to him as its target gets hit in its path.

As Error tries to recover, Ink finally notices that now is his chance to do something. Firing a toxic blot of ink from his brush, the other is hit once again by a stinging blow.

"Hu ff… Huff … Huff…" Still, Error doesn't retreat as he glitches intensely. 

As Error errors, Blue looks toward his friend. "C'mon Dream, let's finish him off!" He yells.

The two lunge toward Error, but before they can land the final blow…

Error wraps the both of their souls in his blue strings.

Dream and Blue, unable to move, can only stare at Ink. Error doesn't even let them say anything as he smiles at the other god.

"Is this what they are to you, Ink?" His name is spoken with venom and hatred, as if the very word was an insult in itself. 

Error… he never uses that power on them. Not like this. Ink can immediately see what he is going to do as he just stares in horror, as if he is trapped in that web as well. 

He has to let them out. But…

What's going on?

Why is everything like this?

What made Error become so cruel?

Is this his punishment?

(No.)

Is this what he deserves?

(Stop.)

Did he push him too far?

(Please!)

He doesn't want to believe this. These thoughts just keep coming through, though.

"What…?" Ink can only whisper out.

Is this what Error and The Creators are doing? Are they finally convincing him that he's wrong?

But that can't be true, can it?

He's the hero, isn't he?

Yes.

He's right.

He's always right.

Just shut up.

"Puppets… They're just tools for you, aren't they?" He laughs, as he sends Blue to attack.

Fear on his puppets face, Error forces Blue to aim at Ink with his hammer, hit landing before he can process. 

Along with his partner, Dream raises his staff and attacks him as well. This time, Ink dodges, but barely. 

Error hangs from the air, commanding the trapped two, hammers thrown and blasts fired. 

Trying to keep the other two safe, Ink refuses to attack them as he defends himself. 

They aren't tools, they aren't puppets for him-

Not noticing in time, Ink is hit in the back of the skull by Dream. Glancing back, he can see the other's horrified face as ink bleeds from his head.

Caught off guard, Blue is now able to hit him with both of his hammers, right in the chest. 

Stuttering back, he sees himself getting cornered by them. They look so, so scared.

He has to do something.

But what?

A hit from a bone attack, sharp as can be.

He doesn't know what to do.

A blast from a staff, close range and personal.

What does he do?

Two hits, from the people he swore he'd protect.

He's at a loss. Why would Error do this?

An attack-

Ink blocks it. Error.

He has to get to Error.

Looking up at his smiling face, Ink lunges past his two controlled partners, swirling into the substance that makes up his namesake toward his enemy.

Error.

In the air, he stares down at him. Ink rides on a blaster toward him, Dream and Blue looking up.

Dodging attacks coming from all three of them, and barely making it past a good portion of them, he finds himself right in Error's face.

But just as he strikes him with his brush, Error grabs it with his strings before the blow can land.

"You're ignoring your friends… choosing me over them for once!?" He growls, a sound made of programs whirring. "I see how it is."

Throwing Ink's brush right back at him, it lands straight into his chest. Struggling to stay afoot on top of his blaster, he wobbles.

"That isn't… No." For the first time in this battle, Ink finally speaks.

"That is, isn't it!? Isn't it!?! ?!?" Error screams back. "You al ways choose them ! Lie to them, just so they stay in your favor!!!"

That isn't true, it isn't-

He continues, whipping his strings, sharp as can be, in Ink's direction. "They're going to learn one day, Ink! They're going to learn, and when they do, they'll never want to see your dumb little idiotic face ever again!!!"

Ink continues to dodge the attacks, but still barely. 

He doesn't have time to think- He doesn't-

He has to attack Error.

Now.

"You don't know anything!" With a shout, he fires an inky blast toward Error, knocking him off and flinging him through the air.

Error tries to catch himself, but is unable. The moment he makes impact, Blue and Dream are freed.

Moving his blaster to land quickly, he opens a portal and gestures at his team to go.

As the three run off, Error laughs. 

"They're going to leave you one day, Ink. They're going to learn."

Ink glances back, before rushing off in a hurry.

It didn't last long. They were only controlled for a few minutes at most.

So why does that image of them attacking him, hurting him so much, terrify him so much?

Ink runs into his room, slamming and locking his door shut before Dream and Blue can reach him.

"Ink?" Knock, knock, knock. Dream knocks on his door, but he doesn't reply. 

Breaths heavy, he heads over to his desk to draw. Yeah, yeah maybe that will calm him down.

He has to create, anyways, so…

"What's got you so worked up?"

Great. It's them. It's always them. Always. Them.

"It's nothing." He puffs out. "I'm fine, it's fine, we're fine."

"Maybe you'd feel better if you actually stopped for once."

Shut up.

"Maybe we should just leave him alone…" Blue's voice mixes with The Creators', barely heard.

He needs to create, that will make him feel better. It always does, right?

"You know what we're talking about, don't you?"

Ink grabs his paintbrush, but knocks over the cup it was lying in. Muddy water spills all over his desk, and onto his clothes.

Dream's voice can be heard. "I guess so… I think he just needs some space."

Leave- Don't go- Go away- Stay-

"He was right, you know. They're going to find out eventually."

Footsteps can be heard walking away, leaving him all, all alone. 

Stay- Go- Please-

Ink rummages through his drawers, looking for something. It's there- he knows it's there- it has to be there-

A photo of all three of them together. He's found it.

He tries to pick it up, but it slips out of his hands. Fumbling to get it back, he falls out of his chair and onto the ground.

"They aren't going to leave. They can't leave, right?" Leaning against the wall, he sits.

"They will."

Ink shakes his head violently. 

No, they won't go. Please, let them stay. He needs them now. 

Any other reason, any other reason than this. He doesn't want it to be his fault.

It's never his fault. If it was, he'd break. He doesn't want to break.

"They're going to leave, even if you tell them the truth."

The truth isn't even that bad, though! They'd understand, and they'd hate The Creators as much as he does. Surely they would!

Right?

If he tells them, he would have someone on his side, yeah?

"They wouldn't… They'd still stay…" Ink huffs out, breath faint. 

His injuries from before throb. The funny thing is, it doesn't hurt as much as his mind does right now.

"Quit lying to yourself."

Quit… Quit lying. He isn't lying!

Then why hasn't he told them yet?

…

He doesn't know.

Why didn't he tell Dream before, back when this all started? Right, because he was scared. 

Scared that his only friend would leave him. 

There's two major things Ink knows about himself, his biggest fatal flaws. 

He hates being hated.

And he hates being alone.

(There was another secret third thing, but that one he denies being a flaw in the first place.)

Why? He knows they aren't going to hate him for it. They aren't, he knows them!

Ink picks up the photo, staring at the three of them in it. They look so happy. He knows he sure was, back then.

So why can't he be happy now?

"Why…" His throat is hoarse.

"You know why."

He grips the photo in his hand. "It's all his fault."

"Maybe it's your fault."

No! It isn't! It's his fault for not getting a grip on himself!

He should be allowed to create! That's what he was going to do, right? 

But he can't. Why now? Why?

Why are so many things happening? Error was never like this before, so what set him off?! And why are The Creators acting like it's his fault?!

Ink tries to get up, but slips on a paper. His body bumps into a spare paint bucket lying about, and it spills all over the floor and onto himself.

Curling up into a ball, not even trying to get back on his feet, Ink can feel tears starting to come. Not from sadness, but from the overwhelming energy of it all.

He can't tell the difference between his inky blood, the paint that spilled onto his body, and his tears. It all joins together in a blotty mess. 

Just like the paint, his mind muddles into an unintelligible mess. He needs something to distract him, and now.

Ink looks down at his vials. Feelings… anything that will distract him from these thoughts will do. That's what he needs, isn't it?

How should he feel?

Ink has eight emotions total on his belt. Anger, surprise, happiness, disgust, confusion, sadness, anticipation, and passion.

Anger was red. Surprise was orange. Happiness was yellow. Disgust was green. Confusion was teal. Sadness was blue. Anticipation was purple. And finally, passion was pink.

Confusion was the first one he took. Why? He was wondering that for a long time now. 

Everything was so confusing. His soul-eye glows teal. But it does the opposite of distracting him, facing his full attention to the issue in front of him.

He should be disgusted, so that's the vial he takes next. 

His mind shifts to Error, who disgusts him so much. Why would he do such a cruel thing to hurt his partners like that? Did he legitimately think Ink would hurt them in return?

Did he think that he thought of them as puppets? The very thought makes him down the red, the anger vial.

He hates Error. If he agreed more with him, and actually did what he was told, none of them would be in this mess.

But the real problems are The Creators. They're just so- so- 

So stupid!

If they just let him do what he wanted to, then maybe they wouldn't be in this mess! But he's left waiting, and waiting, and waiting-

Ink downs the purple vial, and the world seems to slow. Everyone makes him wait. He waits for The Creators to finally give in. He waits for Error to finally agree with him. 

…And he waits for Dream and Blue to come for him. 

Ink drinks the blue vial. Why aren't they coming? A- Are they trying to give him some space? Yeah… That has to be it, right? Right? 

They still care, don't they? Error's words echo through his head. Did they hear what he had to say?

Are they even in this house at all?

Running his hand over the orange vial, he takes it. Surprise. That's what he feels after. The thought of the two leaving him, it shocks him. 

They aren't here anymore, but why? He didn't do anything. He didn't.

He cares about them! Cares about them so much! He downs the passion vial, and all those feelings start running toward him!

It wasn't the romantic type of love, nor sexual. But it was some kind of love, wasn't it? He's probably never going to see them again after this.

They've left him. He'll be all alone.

Ha ha… It's funny.

Happiness was the last one he took before he puked it all up.

His vision starts to fade, overwhelmed by it all. He's confused, disgusted, angry, anticipated, sad, surprised, passionate, and happy.

All his feelings overflow, and he passes out.

"Error."

One of The Creators' voices. Error paces around the anti void, having just ended his destruction spree.

Is he injured? Well, he can't really tell. Or remember. It always hurts somehow nowadays. 

What had happened before? Oh, right. He controlled those freaks who work under Ink. Maybe now they'll learn to leave that bastard for good. 

Preferably leave him for dead, but he knows Ink can't die. It's stupid. Idiot comes right back every single time he is killed.

How long have they been fighting for? How many times have either of them died?

Error knows the both of them are resilient, so it can't be that much, surely?

They've lived for so long, but died for way less. This is never going to end, is it?

"Error."

The same voice repeats. Snapping back, Error growls. "I heard you the first time."

"Then why didn't you respond?"

"It's rude not to."

He rolls his eyes, scowl still on his face. "You guys are ones to talk!"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm rude…" Error laughs. "...It's rude to allow things to be this way, you know ? YOU KNOW?!?!?"

"It's not our fault-"

"SHUT UP WITH THAT BULLSHIT!!!" He shouts, his voice echoing through the nothing. "NOBODY GETS IT ! NOT YOU, NOT INK, NOT NIGHTMARE, NOT ANYBODY!!! AND I CAN'T DO ANYTHING EVEN THOUGH I DO EVERYTHING!!!!!"

"Destroying everything won't help, you do realize that?"

"Says the ones who are part of the issue." His voice snaps back. "I don't need your help, your advice. I DON'T NEED ANYONE'S ADVICE!!!"

"You want to be happy again, so we're trying to help-"

"HELP???" Error looks confused, and angry by that thought. "YOU BROKE ME! ALL OF YOU DID! IS THAT HELP TO YOU?!?!?!"

"It's not our fault, though! It's his!"

"Yeah!"

"QUIT IT!!!" Grabbing his head, Error glitches with rage. "YOU ALL ARE SHIFTING THE BLAME, LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO! IT'S EVERYONE'S FAULT, INCLUDING YOURS!!!"

"That isn't-"

"Hush. Error, is it even that certain oth er person's fault?"

Pausing, Error stops to think. His glitches slow, like a buffering program. 

"Huff… Puff… Huff… Who the HELL are you talking about?" He asks.

"Yeah, who do you-"

"That Outertale Sans, Error. You're forgetting about him."

Error is silent…

Then breaks into a fit of laughter.

"HA HA… DO YOU REALLY THINK HE STILL CARES ABOUT ME AFTER EVERYTHING? THAT'S FUNNY, THAT'S FUNNY, THAT'S REAL FUNNY!" His laughter echoes still, glitches raging around his body.

"But you haven't-"

"TALKED TO HIM?" He completes. "WHY WOULD HE WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE LIKE ME?!"

"Error-"

"Yeah, you're right. You're acting deranged, Error. He wouldn't want to see you like this."

"Wait-"

"Nobody would."

"HA… Ha… ha…" Collapsing to his knees, he looks up at the strings hovering in the sky. Puppets hang from the web, victims made for remembrance. "I know that… I've always known that…"

"Then do something about it."

Error shakes his head. "I can 't… I can't… I don't want to be around him again… I don't want to end up hurting him…"

"Don't, then."

"DO YOU THINK I HAVE ANY CONTROL OVER THAT?!?!?!" He shouts in rage. 

"You do."

Over and over again, Error shakes his head. "No, no, NO!!!"

Kneeling over, he bangs his hands over and over again on the anti-void's 'floor'. He can't take it, if they want to fix him then they should actually put in the effort.

But they aren't, and that hurts him. Angers him.

It hurts.

They should just stop talking.

That would make it better a little bit, at least.

But that wouldn't happen, ever.

He wishes someone would come for him, but the only person he can call out for most likely never wants to see him again.

Not like that's a bad thing though… If he met up with him again he'd probably kill him and his world.

Maybe it's a good thing he's alone, after all.

Blue stands by the stovetop, mixing pancake batter together for dinner. He wants Ink to have a nice meal for dinner, even though he knows the god will eat anything at all.

…Even things that aren't edible.

But that's beside the point! Dream has commented on his food tasting better and better each time he cooks, so this time that better transfer over.

Stars knows Ink needs it.

They all need it, really. Desperately.

He pours some of the batter onto a greased pan, and waits for it to bake.

Humming to himself, he still can't help but wonder if Ink is okay. They decided on giving him some space, something that was admittedly Blue's idea, but…

Blue sighs. All of this stuff is so confusing. The batter sizzles on the pan. 

Ink was a wreck. Surely having to replace all those dead AUs, something that is completely Error's fault, is tiring. 

Why can't he just… not do that? Nobody is forcing him to create, he's said so himself. He creates on his own, with no help at all.

Blue flips the pancake.

He doesn't want to think about what happened earlier, so he tries to forget about it. It's all over, so why should he remember?

"Blue…?" Dream peeks into the kitchen. Blue looks behind, right at him.

"Oh, Dream!" He smiles at his presence, refusing to cover the thought of past events. "Actually, can you-"

"Can we talk before you ask whatever you were going to?" Uncharacteristically, Dream interrupts.

Sliding the pancake off the pan and onto a plate, Blue responds with a "mhm" and a nod as he pours the next batch of batter. 

Coming closer, Dream hovers above him. "It's about earlier."

Oh. He's trying not to think about that! Everything that had happened, with Error and all that, it's… "That… That's not important anymore. We're okay… okay and safe. And that's what matters."

"No it isn't." Dream looks Blue directly in his eye-lights, but the latter quickly looks away. "See, Blue? It's clearly bothering you, and I can tell. Please, I'm still trying to accept this myself but… It's not your fault. It's neither of-"

Without skipping a beat, expression unchanging, Blue strictly responds. "Yes, it is."

"No, it-" Dream tries to say, but is interrupted yet again by Blue's outburst.

"Then why? Why did it happen anyways if it wasn't my fault!?" The pancake burns against the pan as he shouts at him.

He didn't want to think of this, but Dream's forcing him? Why?

"Blue you're pan-" Still, he attempts to speak.

Looking down, Blue sighs. "S- Sorry. This one can be for Ink, he likes his burnt anyways." 

As the other flips the pancake, Dream stares at him in worry. "You saw how he looked earlier, didn't you? It's bothering you, isn't it?"

"I never wanted him to look that way because of me." He looks down at the pan, and then to Dream. "You feel that way too, right?"

"He was afraid. All those things Error said made it worse." He looks at him as he places the next pancake on the plate. "That's why you're making dinner for us, isn't it."

That last statement was stated less like a question and more like, well, a statement. The both of them know that's the reason Blue is making food.

For all of them.

"...Yeah. I hate him." He pours the batter yet again. "Error, I mean. I felt so powerless! I still feel so powerless! It's awful… I just…"

"Looking at you, I can tell-" 

"Yeah. I want him dead. I know that's horrible of me."

Dream shakes his head. "I- I'm not for murder, but… I can see why you feel that. I'm not going to stop you."

He laughs, flipping the pancake. "From what? Killing him?"

"No. Feeling that way." He corrects.

Blue groans. "Still, I just, I don't know! I want to fix this. A- And I don't want Ink to be left thinking that we're going to leave him."

"Maybe we can tell him during dinner." Dream says, grabbing Blue in a one-armed hug.

"Yeah… I guess." Closing his eyes, Blue takes a breath in and out. "You wouldn't leave him, right? I know I wouldn't."

"O- Of course not!" Surprised, Dream yelps. "W- What makes you say that?"

Leaning closer to him, Blue places the next pancake onto the plate yet again. "Just checking."

As he pours the batter, Dream looks to the side. "I can't believe Error said we're like puppets to him… It's hypocritical, considering that he was using us the same way."

"Yeah… I really don't get him." Blue sighs, as he and Dream watch the batter bake.

Dream sighs along with him, but for a different reason. Part of him still wants to help Error, not hurt him, but the amount of damage he's doing to the people he cares about is making it really hard to stick to that goal.

He can't go on reaching for a goal that might not even be obtainable in the first place. It's a shame that Error is much too powerful to be helped by normal means.

Maybe he should just…

"Do you think Ink is going to like dinner?" Breaking Dream out of his thoughts, Blue continues flipping the pancake.

"O- Oh! I think he's going to love it, 'Berry." He smiles kindly at him. "You're doing great, way better than when we first met. Though…"

"Though…?" Blue echoes.

"You should probably burn a few more, if you really want to surprise him." Half-joking, he chuckles.

"You know what, Dream…" Taking the spatula, he presses the pancake against the pan. "I think you're right!"

Laughing, Dream nudges Blue. "You're ridiculous. What did you want me to do, anyways?"

"Uh, hold on…" Blue places the pancake onto the plate yet again again, and starts making a new one. "Can you stop by the store and get some stuff to go with dinner? Like some whipped cream, fruits, cinnamon sugar, chocolate chips, stuff like that!"

He nods. "Can-do."

Opening up a portal and walking away, Dream makes one final glance at Blue as he steps in, waving him goodbye.

Blue waves back, and continues his job.

Finishing up making dinner, with several plates of pancakes baked, Blue and Dream go to set the table.

They had all sorts of toppings for the meal, multiple types of syrup, peanut butter and chocolate chips, blueberries, strawberries, and many more fruits, multiple types of jam and spread, and much, much more!

The pancakes seem kind of plain in comparison, but they still look tasty on their own!

Carefully, Blue places each plate on the table, one for each of the three. Along with that, he sets a fork and knife next to each.

"You think this is good?" He asks, hands on his hips looking proudly.

Dream smiles. "Yep! It looks amazing! I'll go get Ink."

Cheerfully walking across the living room, across the hallway, and over to his room, he sets a knock-knock-knock on the door.

No response.

He knocks again. "...Innnk? Dinner's ready!"

Silence still. He waits for the sound of shuffling, or his partner's voice, but neither are heard.

Jiggling the knob to the door, it refuses to open. 

"Ink!?" He cups his mouth to the door. "Are you okay?!"

Maybe he's just off somewhere, and he didn't tell them? But… he can still feel his emotions. He's still in there for sure, so-

Wait. His emotions. T- They're not supposed to be that intense, right?

Dream knocks again, harsher this time. "INK?! Answer me, you're really making me worried! I- I don't want to have to come in, b- but…"

"Dream?" Blue peeks through the hall. "The food's getting cold, what's taking you so long?"

The worry can be heard in his voice as Dream replies. “I- Ink. He’s not responding.”

“H- He’s…?” Walking over to the doorway, he knocks. “Hey, Ink. You ok in there?”

Still, no reply.

“Are you sure he's in there?” Blue asks. “I mean, he might just be-”

“Yes I’m sure!” Dream snaps. “S- Sorry, it’s just… I can feel his emotions there. A- And they're so… so...”

“Is that a ‘so’ as in ‘too much’ or ‘too little’?” Fiddling with the doorknob, it still refuses to open for even him. 

“Too much.” Voice strained, he responds.

Blue’s eye-lights widen as he processes that information. Too much… That can only mean…

“Move out of the way, Dreamscape.” He commands the other, face darkening.

“B- But-” 

“I said move out of the fucking way.”

Surprised by Blue's sudden change in tone, Dream moves out of the doorway, giving him room to do whatever he plans on doing.

Suddenly, to Dream at least, Blue charges at the door with his full might, slamming the door so hard that the lock breaks in an instant. The door slams open, revealing…

Oh.

Ink lies on the floor, unconscious. A pile of vomit made up of his ink lies in a puddle beside him. The puddle consists of many colors, all corresponding to an emotion on his sash.

Speaking of emotions, all eight of them sit in different positions on the floor. Each empty.

Oh no.

Blue rushes to Ink’s side, trying to shake him awake… But the other only convulses in response.

“No, no, no, no… Dream!?” He looks behind him at the guardian. Dream looks horrified, standing as still as stone in fear.

“Ink… he…” Tears start to form from his eyes. “I…”

“Come over here! We need to do something, and I think you're the only one who can help!!!” Blue commands, but Dream still doesn't move.

Seeing that Dream won’t move on his own, he grabs ahold of his hand and pulls him to the ground.

“Okay, Dream, look at me.” He stresses, forcing him to meet his gaze. “Do you have any magic that can help him right now?”

“I- I-”

“Anything, please!”

“I think… I think I…” Hands shaking, he finally moves his hands over to Ink, and focuses.

Dream was the guardian of positivity. He had certain powers, empathy and such. Usually he trained in his offensive abilities (to protect, not hurt). But… he did have passive abilities.

For one, if someone had enough positive emotions, then he could make them fall asleep in a good dream. But the one that is important here is emotion draining.

Ink shakes on the ground, full of every feeling he had available. 

Dream had to be careful. If he took all the emotions out of him, who knows if they’d ever be able to talk to him again. All of his vials are currently empty. They don't know how to refill them. They don't want to leave Ink emotionless.

So he has to drain some of the emotion. But that's hard when Ink isn't even fully conscious. 

He has to try, though.

Placing his hands on the god’s temple, he focuses all his energy to drain. But not fully drain, he reminds himself.

Slowly, he feels some of Ink’s emotion flow into him. It’s… sickening. All the different feelings taste disgusting put all together.

But he still has to do this.

Blue anticipatedly looks at him as he does so, nausea filling his system as Ink continues to convulse.

Eventually, he feels his partner start to calm down. So, he takes a final breath and stops.

His head pounds. He really, really needs something to wash this all down with.

But they need to handle Ink, first.

Dream picks up him, and carries him out the door. Both him and Blue know where to take him.

The couch, where they can watch over him more easily.

Walking off, with Blue following behind, the two exit the room.

Ink was conscious, but not fully. He could hear things happening around him, but not do anything about it.

He heard a bang, something slamming, but didn't know what. He heard two people’s voices, but didn't know whose. He felt hands being placed upon his temple, and everything going dark.

In a dreamless sleep, he faded in unconsciousness.

For how long, he didn't know.

But he did know when he woke up.

“Dream, Dream! He’s waking up!” A hazy figure sits next to and above him.

Is that…

No, it can't be…

But?

Ink focuses his eye-lights. 

It is him.

He jolts up. “B- Blue?”

“T- Thank the stars… I was starting to worry that I drained him too much.” He hears Dream, but doesn't see him.

Blue looks to the side, presumably where he is at. “He’s awake now, so clearly you didn't. You did good.”

“I- I did?” He hears him stutter.

“Yeah, come here. And you, Ink.” As Ink’s vision focuses, he comes to see Blue staring worriedly at him. “Are you okay? D- Do we need to talk? No, not ‘do we’. We need to talk, whether you like it or not.”

Dream comes into his view. “Yeah… I’m really worried. We’re really worried, both me and Blue. Just… tell us what happened.”

Should he…? Ink opens his mouth, but quickly shuts it. What should he say? Should he say anything at all?

But the pleading glances from both of them tells him he has to. “I…”

Blue grabs his hands. He can do this. 

“Error’s words really got to me. I was scared you guys would leave… Even though the thought seems silly.” Ink looks to the both of them. “It was stupid.”

Unexpectedly, he hears Blue shout. “Oh my stars! Dream, you know I have a reason to hate him, right? It’s because of this!”

“I- I… I never said you couldn't, Blue. I- It’s just…” 

“It’s just what?! Ink literally overdosed because of him!”

Dream sighs. “Why did you overdose anyways, Ink? Y- You don't have to say, but…”

“I wanted a distraction, but it backfired, ahaha…” He laughs, but is swiftly hit on the head by Blue.

Tears form at the edges of his face. “Don't laugh! It’s not funny! It’s not silly that you thought we would leave, i- it's…”

“We wouldn't leave just like that, is what I think he's trying to say. I- I think so, at least…” Dream finishes.

“I’m trying to say that you shouldn't think dumb things like that! Ever! It’s not your fault that Error was stupid and made us hurt you! We would never do that to you, okay?!” Blue shouts.

(But it is, isn't it-)

Stop.

Ink smiles shakily. “A- Alright. I believe you.”

With a small “hmph”, Blue stands up and offers Ink to do the same. “Come on, dummy. I made dinner, and it's gotten cold. Hopefully it's still good.”

“O- Okay. Thanks, guys.” He replies.

Dream nudges his head toward Blue. “Thank him, mainly. It was his idea.”

Blue pulls Ink off the couch, hand in hand. “You bought all the extra stuff, I didn't do the whole job.”

“Hmm… I guess so.” He softly smiles, walking over to the table with the other two following.

Ink’s smile solidifies, and he heads to eat.

Error is alone.

Error knows this. 

Error knows that he will always be alone.

That's not painful in itself. 

The pain comes from the fact that Ink isn't.

Ink has friends, people who he can trust. 

Error lost that.

And he hates it.

Error wants to hurt Ink.

But he will always come back, won't he?

And that hurts, doesn't it?

So what does he do?

An idea.

Ink can't be hurt. 

Ink’s universe is out of reach.

Dream’s universe is dead.

But Blue’s…

He knows what he is going to do.

No.

He knows what he has to do.

And the best part is…

None of them will see this coming.

Chapter Text

Ink has been… off, as of late. Both Dream and Blue notice it. Every interaction is laced with some tension coming from him.

They assume that it's from Error destroying more universes much more frequently, but it seems like there's more to it. What's more to it is unknown to the two skeletons.

Those interactions are few and far between though, due to him holeing himself up in his room for nearly 24/7. 

Doing what, they don't know. Creating, probably. It makes sense, due to the mass destruction currently taking place.

But it's worrying. Sometimes they'll hear a loud thud, as if something has been toppled over. Sometimes they'll hear yelling. 

But Ink has made it a rule to never go into his room. It would be a breach of privacy if they did. Plus, they'd probably have to kick the door down if they tried, due to the door constantly being locked.

There was that one time, but…

At least he gets out of his room for dinner. At least he eats. He can go without eating, they know, so he doesn't have to do it. 

But he's tense. It looks like something is always on his mind. He grips his head, as if he has a headache. 

He still defends the multiverse, which Dream has tried telling him that just he and Blue can deal with it. He insists, though. Insists that he has to. 

They've asked what's up, but he always shrugs it off. Never telling them what's truly going on. 

Dream and Blue both trust him, and look up to him immensely. So they just leave him be. 

Hopefully things get better soon. 

Destruction. Blue was having a completely normal evening, about to go visit the rest of his team, but then something happened he would've never expected.

One of his worst fears made real.

Error was attacking his universe, and he wasn't holding back. Dust spread everywhere, blue strings in the sky. 

It's horrifying. 

How does he go tell Ink, how does he get back to his partners' world- how-

Soon, he remembers. 

They had talked about this, all three of them. In case of an emergency, if Blue ever needed to get back to them when he was home, have this.

A vial of paint, held inside ink that would let him teleport to their world.

He opens the vial, and douses himself in it.

Suddenly, he feels himself shift realities, from his own universe to theirs.

Running forward, he slams open the door to their house, rushes around in a panic to try and find the two. Thoughts cloud his head, preventing him from thinking clearly. 

Tears start streaming down his face. He doesn't need tears right now. He needs to get them and fight him. Him. 

Him.

Stars, this isn't real. He doesn't have time to waste looking for them. He needs to find them now.

"B- Blue?!" 

"Dream! D- Dream, I need you to get Ink quickly."

He looks at Blue, confused, concerned and frankly, scared out of his mind. Blue doesn't tend to get like this, no matter the situation. He's never like this, even when it's horrible beyond words. "W- What's going on???"

"Just find him, okay???"

"A- Alright!"

Dream rushes to Ink's room, and shakes on the doorknob. It's locked, like always.

"Ink!!! Open the door, Blue's freaking out and he needs us!"

He hears a crash come from his room, and loud footsteps approach the door. 

It's swung right open, hitting Dream square in the skull.

"D- Dream??? Blue???" Ink jolts out of his room.

Dream rubs his face. That hurt. But he can't worry about that for now. He can't. 

So he grabs Ink's hand, and rushes him towards where Blue currently is.

When they get there, they can see him trembling. He has both of his hammers in hand, ready to fight. Teary-eyed, he looks so angry.

Ink stares at him. "B- Blue, what happened?" 

He opens his mouth to say something, to say what's currently happening, but he can't. Can't say the words.

So instead, he stares at Ink pleadingly. "We need to go to my universe. Please, right now."

All of the team grab their weapons, and head on out.

Error kills. And kills every monster he comes into contact with. Fuck their happiness, they didn't do anything to deserve that compared to him.

He knows that Ink will be coming soon, considering which universe this is. 

More like, "who's" universe this is.

He hears running coming towards him. Soon, Dream, Ink and Blue come into view. 

As if they could read his jumbled thoughts.

He expected them to come. And be angry. Of course they would be, this was specifically a personal "fuck you" to Ink for being so wreckless with a mortal.

Like a "see what happens" to him.

What he did not expect, was for Blue to be the angriest.

Before he can take time to think of dodging, he is immediately met with a double hammer to the face and a plummet to the ground.

Fuck. That hurt.

He laughs as he stumbles to get up. A very unhinged laugh.

"Error! Get the fuck out of here, before I tear you apart with my own two hands!!!"

That was Blue shouting at him. But he won't leave til this place is dead. 

He can almost feel his anger. But what he can actually feel for certain is his next attack hit him before he can even get up. Hit him hard.

He laughs louder. It's almost funny how much it hurts.

Error reaches out a hand, and wraps his strings around Blue and his soul. Wrap them tight.

"It won't be that easy." He laughs. "I've lasted this long and can count all of the times I've died on one of my hands."

He gets up and summons a blaster to hit him with. "You should've just stayed put in your little universe. Maybe then this wouldn't've happened."

Before Blue can respond, Error is decked in the face with a staff. 

"Blue, don't worry! I- I've got him!" He dodges the sharp red bones aimed at him, and attempts to hit him with his staff once again.

This time, Error dodges and counters it by tying it up with his strings. He's huffing and puffing, this fight and his crazed emotions taking a toll on him.

Of course, Ink comes and splatters a blob of paint onto his bones. It burns, badly. I mean, that was the point. He hisses in pain.

They're mad, he can tell. Usually their team splits up, two of them fighting and the last one evacuating everybody.

But not now. Oh creators above, they are pissed. Pissed.

Blue tries to struggle to free himself, but he cannot. He isn't even able to move, with Error having a grip on his soul.

"Now you care, Ink? After all this time, it's him who makes you care?" He laughs, tears starting to pour from his eyes. Of course he cares more about him than he does himself .

He was always a tool to Ink. And Blue was always a friend, a partner.

There's a difference between that. Why does it hurt so much, he already knew all of this. He thought he was at the point where he didn't care.

How would he feel if Blue was gone from his life? Gone. Not here anymore.

"Of course he cares about me! Why would he care about you when all you do is kill?!"

Fuck. Fuck him. He feels another attack hit him. It hurts.

Why is it always him who hurts? 

He knows the answer. It's because they always wanted to break him. But when he is eventually broken, they act surprised ? They act shocked ?

Everybody is his enemy. Everybody should burn. Ink, Dream, Blue, Nightmare, The Creators…

Is his Starshine even for him? Or was that all an act? Should he burn too? 

Has anybody ever cared since then?

No. They haven't.

He ties up Ink and Dream, and throws them away. Fuck it. 

Fuck it all.

Everything hurts, and they should hurt too. 

He teleports next to Blue. Blue, the one who wished for too much. 

"Blue!!!" Dream's voice.

"Let him go, Error!!!" Ink's voice.

Ha ha… It's funny, isn't it? Hilarious, even.

He's totally lost it.

He feels Blue try to attack. He doesn't let him. Why should he let him?

"You think you can control me? I have news for you, Ink. I'm done being your toy. Your little plaything." He shouts. "I'M DONE BEING CONTROLLED BY EVERYBODY BUT MYSELF!!!"

With that, he teleports away…

Taking Blue with him.

Dream and Ink pace around the house. Panic fills Dream. He doesn't know what to do. Stars… he couldn't stop his mom and the villagers from being killed, he can't change his brother back to how he used to be, and now? Now he was powerless to stop Blue from getting kidnapped.

They couldn't get him in time. And his universe… 

His universe died soon after.

"O- Oh my stars… Oh my stars… H- He's gone, Ink. Gone. Can you find him? Do you know where he's at???"

Ink doesn't respond, his eye-sockets hollow. He feels something. Something horrible. No matter what emotion he takes, he can't escape it. 

Is this guilt? Is he… guilty?

No. No, no, no. He didn't do anything. He didn't and never did anything wrong. 

Is that a lie? He's convinced himself he's right for so long, and he can't stop now. He can't say what's actually going on, especially now.

They'd hate his guts, and he'd be alone again. All alone.

"I- Ink…?" Dream glances at him. 

Ink is clearly not okay. Neither is he, but that's not important. He was already doing poorly before, so he must be doing terrible now.

How did he not think of him sooner? It should've been obvious that he would be the one taking this the worst.

He approaches him, and wraps his arms around him. Ink bumps his head into his chest. 

"Ink… I'm so sorry all this happened. We will find him, I promise. I- I promise."

They just stand there for a while, silent. Nobody says anything. 

After a few minutes pass, Ink mutters something. 

"T- This isn't my fault, is it, Dream?"

He knows it's his fault. Dream doesn't know everything, so what would his answer mean?

Nothing. His answer wouldn't mean anything.

"Ink, don't ask that. Please don't even think it was your fault. It was his. His fault, not yours.

You saw him, he did this specifically to spite us. Why, I don't know. But that's why he did it."

"...You wouldn't know…" He says, his voice nearly a whisper.

Dream pushes him away from the embrace, and grips his shoulders. "Yes Ink. I would know."

In actuality, he doesn't. And he won't ever know, with the way things are going.

"W- We can't get him, Dream. He's probably in the anti-void. T- The one place that I can't go to."

He lets out a shaky sigh. "That won't stop me from looking everywhere else. I have to look everywhere else, or I think I might lose it. 

We have to check, because there still might be a chance that he isn't there. You can stay here."

"But-"

"No buts. You need to lie down and take a break. Please, do this for me. Please." Dream grips him harder, pleading with him.

"...O- Okay… just. J- Just please come back. Do that for me, a- alright?"

"I will. Oh Ink, you know I would never leave you behind. You do know that, right?"

Ink doubts him. If he knew everything he surely would hate him. But despite that, he still responds. "I- I know."

When he finds Error, he will tear him to shreds. Both of them will. 

Even in Ink's mind what he did was too far. But the things he said… was he right? Is Error only a toy to him? 

Stars, he doesn't know. He doesn't know how he feels. Even though he knows what vials he's taken, his mind is still a mess.

Ink watches Dream leave, and he's all alone again. 

Alone. Forever and always, alone.

The strings are tight. All around him is white and cold. Above him are several dolls and the same tight strings. 

He's terrified, and he doesn't want to be here. 

Why didn't he just kill him? Wouldn't that have been easier? But he knows why. All of this was done to spite them. 

Spite them, for what? He doesn't know. 

"Heh … H eh… Heh…" He hears Error's heavy laughs. Shutting his eyes, he doesn't dare look at him. He doesn't want to. 

"All of you, shut up. Shut. Up.

I'm not going to stop. Why should I stop ? You all should stop."

He's talking to himself again. But even though he's curious, he doesn't dare open his eyes to look at him.

"If you don't shut up, then I might fucking kill him. I might. Don't doubt me."

He feels Error's gaze on him.

"You all need to stop. Stop and get your head out of your asses. Quit acting like this is just because my home is dead. Quit it. You know the bigger reason." He says, voice glitching out of control more than before.

Blue stares at him as he continues. "It's you and that dumb inky liar. Maybe if you could settle on something, all of this wouldn't be happening."

"Maybe I would still have some shred of happiness. Maybe I wouldn't've been broken. This is all your faults. Your faults." He breathes out.

This finally gets Blue to speak up. "Ink isn't a liar! You're just mad that he's right!!!"

"You!" Error tightens the strings around Blue, causing him to hiss in pain. "What the fuck do you know?! You weren't around back then! Around to see him ask me to play this dumb game with him! You weren't even in existence then!!! So tell me, WHAT DO YOU KNOW, BLUE?!?!?!"

"More than you, apparently!"

Error burst out into unbalanced laughter. "Why…? Why do you believe him over me? Why do all the wrong people believe him over me?!?! 

"It's not fair! It's not fucking fair!!! I just want all of this to end!!!!!!" He continues to shout, getting louder and louder by the moment.

Sobs break into his laughs, more and more. "You hate me so much that you can't even look at me. I've only had one person who's ever truly looked at me, and now they probably hate my guts!!!"

Blue can hear him start to cry. Why is Error crying, when he should be the one sobbing his eyes out?

"I can't look at you, because I hate you, Error! You terrify me, and you ask why I don't believe you!" He shouts, averting his gaze from the destroyer.

Error stares at him, he can feel it. Still, he keeps talking. "You cry about your home being dead, when you just attacked my home out of spite! I don't get you! Why are you doing all of this?!"

"Why did you trap me here!? Why didn't you just kill me?! That would've felt better than this !!! Are you really that cruel?!" His voice finishes.

How dare he say that. He's only being cruel because it's the only thing he can be! Cruel, just like everybody else in this damn multiverse.

But… 

But…

But…

Why? Why didn't he kill him? What is he even doing, trapping him here? Is there even a point?

He did it for spite. To spite Ink. But now what? Now what is he going to do?

And with that, he realizes. 

None of this is going to end if he keeps doing this. But none of this is going to end if he does anything else.

"Are you??? "

Is he? Is he? He can't do anything else. But maybe they were right. Right for once. 

He grips his head, and falls to his knees. Fuck. It hurts, and this time the pain isn't physical. 

He can't stand it. Can't stand fucking up as big as this. 

Blue says something. He can't understand it. 

So he runs. Runs and runs. He cannot see, and cannot hear. He can hardly feel. 

Runs away to the only place he knows he has a slight chance of being safe.

And Blue? Blue is left behind. 

Alone.

Chapter Text

Error runs and runs, his breaths heavy. The sky above him is beautiful, stars shining brighter than him. It’s more beautiful than him. 

That isn’t saying a lot, though.

Where is he running to? He doesn’t know. He doesn’t.

He can’t run forever, his breaths beginning to become heavy. 

Eventually, he collapses to his knees. He doesn't notice, can't notice he's at that spot. 

Their meeting spot.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He hates this. Hates himself. What did he do? Why did he do it? Why is he like this?

Why can't he just be normal? Be normal and have a normal life?

His head is filled with static. 

He can't crash, not now. Please, not now. He still needs to go back there.

But he can't face him. He can't . 

He grips his head. It's all so much. Tears stream down his face. Ha ha… Why is he the one crying? He shouldn't be crying.

This was supposed to make him happy. Supposed to give him control. 

And it did! But was that really a better alternative to what he had?

It wasn't. He knows it wasn't. 

It wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't.

"IT WASN'T!!!"

Error crashes, unable to come to terms with everything that happened.

It's quiet. Quiet to the point where it's deafening.

Weird, isn't it? Quiet is supposed to be nice. Nice and peaceful, like when he lies down to sleep for the night.

Dream has gotten him into the habit of sleeping every night. He insisted that it wasn't healthy to stay up for days on end and crash for hours after, like he was doing before they met.

So he started sleeping on a more balanced schedule. At first it was for only around three hours, but then that number grew to five, and then finally a normal eight.

Dream… Ink… Everybody back at home…

He misses them. He misses them dearly.

Unable to move, he can't even try to sleep even if he wanted to. 

He hates it here. He wants out.

Sans heard that yell. He recognized that yell. 

He thought he'd never hear that yell again.

So he runs. He never usually runs, he teleports more often. But he can't focus on doing that right now.

He has to get to where Error is. 

Thank the stars that he knows where Error is.

As he approaches that place, he notices footprints on the ground. Those are his, he can tell from their unevenness. 

He's getting closer.

He can hear the sound of a broken program. He can hear the sound of him.

Eventually, Error's brightly colored bones come into view. Brighter than usual. 

He's on his knees, unmoving. Minus for all of the glitching. Oh, the intense glitching.

Something's up. Something's wrong.

Something happened.

Dream teleports from universe to universe, searching for him. Searching for Blue.

He has to be somewhere, anywhere. 

Please, he has to find him. Please…

But he sees no sight of him. He asks everybody he sees if they've seen him. Pulling out a photo of him that they took, he begs for him to be found.

How many universes has he searched? How much time has he spent? 

It's felt like ages. Ages and ages… 

And still nothing.

Nothing.

Error doesn't notice him. At least, it doesn't look like he does. 

There's a sign above him. It says something about 'rebooting'. He's tried to wave it away, but to no avail.

Every time it looks like his rebooting is complete, he 'crashes'. 

This isn't good.

He sits in front of him, griping both of his hands. Gripping them so hard, as if that will pull him back into reality.

"Error… Firewall, please …"

Error flinches. He heard him.

But that seemed to make it worse, his breaths picking up at a quickening pace. 

His eyes are filled with static. How can he make this better? How ?

Both of them are crying. But only one of them knows. Knows about what happened.

Sans, unknown to this, is at least glad. Glad that Error is back, glad that he didn't abandon him forever.

Glad that he can see his face. 

"E- Error. Breathe with me. In and out, please. Follow my breaths, o- okay…?"

He inhales… and exhales… 

Inhales… and exhales…

Error follows his breaths, surprisingly. 

Inhale… exhale…

Inhale… exhale…

Inhale…

Exhale…

The static slowly disappears from his eyes, and he becomes more grounded in reality. 

But with that, Sans finally asks the question he hadn't've been aware that he'd been dreading.

"What happened?"

Stars… Stars…

STARS DAMMIT!!!

He can't get out. He can't get out. He. Can't. Get. Out.

Why can't he get out???

What did he do? Why? He didn't do anything. He always helped people. 

But he was always outcast , in his home universe and even with his team . He was always treated differently. 

Is that why it was him who was taken? Because he's different? Because he's-

A shift. He feels a shift in his body, as if it's detached. As if it's…

Oh.

Oh no, no, no.

No. This isn't happening.

Fuck. Why him?

He never did anything. But…

But he did. He did what he shouldn't've. 

What his brother worried about, and what he ignored. 

He decided to do stuff outside of his universe. Decided to do a job that was already being done, just because he thought it was 'cool'.

'Cool'.

Well this isn't 'cool'.

This is shitty.

Does he really deserve this? Should he have just stayed in his universe? 

Should he have?

"Fuck…" Error grips his head. "I need to go back. I need to go back! I need-"

"Error. Please, can you tell me what's going on so I can help?"

He looks away. "You can't help. You can't. I messed up because I couldn't keep myself together. Now somebody else is… dammit…"

Sans stares at him. Letting go of his grip on his hands, he embraces him in a hug.

Error is shaking, he can feel it. But so is he. He doesn't know what's fully going on, but is aware that he would've told him if he was capable.

Right now, he isn't capable.

He wants to help him so he doesn't make another mistake. Even though all he knows about the mistake is that it involved somebody else.

Error never wanted to get somebody else hurt. He's expressed that himself.

But right now it's clear that he isn't doing the greatest. He needs to be at his best to deal with whatever's going on, and if he doesn't help him…

Stars, he wouldn't know what he would do with himself.

Error wants to leave, but he also doesn't want to let go of this moment. He wants to stay like this, in a state where reality doesn't seem to matter.

But he can't. He knows he can't…

He has to face it eventually. And the longer he stays here, the worse it'll get. 

"I have to leave."

"...Can you promise me something?"

"Y - Yeah?"

"Come back once you've settled everything… Alright?"

"...Okay."

Ink paces in his room, trying to calm down. 

Why? Why did it have to be him? Why wasn't it him instead?

He's dead now. Error has probably killed him a long time ago. And he was able to do nothing.

Running his fingers through the sash on his waist, he tries to think of what emotion to take.

Happy? No, that'd just be running from his issues. 

Sad? He's more than sad right now.

Angry? Should he even be angry? Something tells him he should, but the feeling is more than that.

Disgusted? Yeah, sure, he does think he should feel like that, but it still isn't enough?

Empty?

No.

No, no, no.

Never again. Not even now. Not now.

That'd just be running farther away than the 'happy' option.

Something he's realized long ago is that emotions are complex. You can't be just 'happy', just 'sad', just 'angry', or just 'disgusted'. There's always a mix of each.

He's panicked right now, unable to think straight. 

How does he pick the right feeling when he can't even calm down properly?

He's a god, he should have a handle over this. 

Over everything.

But he doesn't, Blue is gone because of him, his mind is a mess, and he doesn't know how to deal with that.

An opened portal. 

Two who can't dare to look at each other. One, for the guilt of it all. The other, for the anger that dwells within.

Eventually, words are said by Blue. Oh, Blue…

He's still himself, but not.

An error, just like him.

Error can tell. He doesn't dare look. He can't look.

"ERROR!" 

The strings unravel around him, as if he's unaffected by their magic. 

Glowing brightly, he tries to summon a weapon. He can't. It's as if he's unfamiliar with his own magic, his own body.

But… When would that ever hold him back? It wouldn't. He's stronger than that. 

Even in this state, he's stronger than that.

So, he opens his eyes, balls his fists, and charges. 

Error doesn't notice him starting to attack. But even if he did, why would he stop him?

But he feels the first hit.

"You left me here!!!"

Punch.

"For what reason?! Pettiness?!"

Punch. Punch.

"Why me?! I didn't do anything!"

Punch. Punch. Punch.

"Was it for your own entertainment!? Did you think it was funny for me and everybody else to suffer?!?!?!"

Error doesn't respond, taking every single hit. It hurts, but that's the point. 

He wishes he could revert all of this.

"Answer me! Or is this just another joke too?!"

He wishes he could turn back time back before everything.

"Do you really hate every body that much?!"

He steps back with every hit. Tears fall from his eyes. Tears he wishes weren't there.

"Why are you crying?! I thought you enjoyed this!"

He needs to get him out.

"I should be the one sobbing! I should be the one on my knees, shaking!!!"

He opens a portal behind them. Blue doesn't notice.

Surprisingly,  that place is there. He thought… He thought it was-

"I thought you could get better! But I was wrong!!!"

He… He's right. Nevermind what he was thinking before, that's less important.

Being around him hurts. And it's all his own fault. He can't let him stay around him.

Before he can think of anything else, he gets decked in the face. 

Causing the both of them to tumble into the portal.

"I- Ink! I think- 

I think I know where Blue is!!!"

Ink jolts out from his seat, himself covered in paint. W- What was that he said? 

Blue?

Oh stars, he did it. At least, he thinks he did it.

Blue, he thought he was dead! Error didn't kill him, why-

Is Dream even right?

Still, he has to hold onto this hope, even if it is false. If Blue is gone, if Blue is dead, stars know the both of them would fall apart.

So, he grabs Broomie, and rushes out of his room towards Dream.

"Where is he?!" Ink shouts.

Dream stutters, nervous. "U- Uh… It's nowhere good… I mean, nowhere good for him."

"What do you mean???"

"It's nowhere dangerous! Just… I- I don't think he's there willingly."

Oh… there.

There, a place that he made because he thought-

Nevermind. He has to get Blue, if he's even there. Please, please let him be alive even if it's there.

"Then let's go."

The two of them fight. 'Fight' as in Blue pins him to the ground, firing hit after hit on him, without Error making a move.

"Why aren't you fighting back?! Are you trying to make me feel bad?!?!?!"

That's not it. He tries to shake his head, but he can't. He can't do anything.

It's cold and paralyzing.

He knows this AU's inhabitants are watching. Knows all too well how it feels to have somebody's eyes on you.

Snow covers the both of them in soft flakes, to a point where it's numbing. 

It was luck that he managed to get to this specific location. In this AU, he means. 

Coming to this AU was intentional.

How it's alive, he doesn't know. It should've been dead when he destroyed it.

He shouldn't of done that, that was terrible, why did he-

Somebody, maybe one of the guardians, will come. What happens from then on, he doesn't know.

He hears footsteps as he's hit and hit again. Footsteps approaching, footsteps running away.

That usually happens when he's around.

Somebody has to come soon. He can't bear taking any more of this. 

Any more of his first-degree fuck-up.

The footsteps get closer and closer. Blue doesn't notice. Error does.

"What's going on?! What are you doing?!"

That gets his attention. Blue shifts his gaze from Error…

To himself.

Blue stares at him. Him. That's no longer him. It was him, but no longer. 

He can't be around him. It's too much. 

So he scoots back, and back, and back. 

Forget Error. 

Wait, no. 

Error.

That asshole brought him here for a reason. That asshole brought him here just- just to fuck with him.

How is he here? Did his universe manage to reset without him? He thought he saw his universe collapsing.

Did Ink…?

He wouldn't've.

Would he?

He doesn't even notice Error escaping, too wound up in his own thoughts.

"H- Hey! Are you okay?"

Shut up. Stop talking like how he talks. Stop talking in that overly familiar voice. The voice that was his own. 

The voice that will never sound like his again.

He grips his head. Stop it. Please, just stop.

"He-"

"SHUT UP!!!"

This is driving him mad. Mad, insane, just like him . He doesn't want to be like him .

This is just some sick joke. And he doesn't think it's funny.

"...lue?!"

It's not funny.

"Is …at re…y h…m?"

It's not funny.

"Oh st…s… Stars, wh… …lse wou… it be!? …lue…"

IT'S NOT FUNNY!

Blue crashes before Ink and Dream can reach him.

Chapter Text

It’s been a few days since it happened. Blue is still unconscious, Dream is constantly keeping a close eye on him, and Ink? 

Ink hasn’t left his room since then.

Throughout the days that he's been out, they've been busy dealing with Error. It's hard… He thought it would be easier, thought he would be angrier, and more ready to fight than ever, but no. 

He just feels sad. Ink's angry, he knows for a fact, though. Heh… Maybe Ink's the one who's got all his anger in him. That's why he just feels like this.

Error's fleeing from their fights faster, seemingly afraid. Of course he is.

He should be. 

What he did was unforgivable. Dream usually finds it easy to forgive somebody, to let something go no matter how horrible, but he can't.

That's the only shred of anger he feels. Unforgiving anger.

Blue shuffles in his sleep. His face is making a pained expression, as if he's having a nightmare.

He's tried making him happier with his abilities! Lessen the negativity, like he's supposed to do! But… it's too high. 

And he doesn't think Blue would want him to do that, anyways.

So he's settled with just playing some music he has on some CDs on the radio they own. Most of the music he owns is loud, so Dream has been playing his discs instead. They're quiet and calm, seemingly made to help with anxieties just like this.

Hopefully that will help.

What happened with Blue, anyways? What did Error do to get him like this? Did it hurt? Was it painful? 

Is he okay?

So Dream just sits there, swinging his legs back and forth from the bed. Grumbling can be heard from Blue, but he doesn't awaken.

Days. It's been days and he still hasn't woken up. 

Will he ever wake up? Or will he be stuck like this forever? Error's up and he's like that, so surely Blue has to get up soon. But maybe that's because he's immortal! Blue isn't immortal! Will he ever-

"AAAAHHH!!!" Blue suddenly jolts out of bed, looking from left to right and back again at his surroundings. 

"B- Blue!"

"D - Dream… Dream!!!" His breaths are heavy, and bright yellow tears start pouring from his eyes.

Dream rushes over, trying to comfort him the best he can. 

"Shhh… Shhh…. Blue, it's okay. You're safe. We're safe. I'm here."

Blue grabs him into a hug, and sobs into his chest. "I- It's real… It's act- actually real. I wis h it was just a b- bad dream… It should- shouldn't be real."

He hugs him tightly. "I know… I know…"

"W- Why did it have to be me? I didn't- didn't do anything!"

"Hey, hey, we know you didn't. Nobody did. You didn't deserve any of it. But we can work through this, I- I promise."

"Can I e- even go b- back?"

Dream stares at the wall, tears welling up in his eye-sockets. Can he? He wants him to be able to return so bad, but…

There's doubt. Doubt that he'll be able to go back to normal. He can't tell him that, though. That'd break him even more.

"H- Hey! We'll figure it out. Okay? O- Okay…?" 

Blue shakily nods back at him.

“I d- don’t know what’ll happen. But I- I’m here for you. I’m here…”

So the two sit there in silence, embracing each other. It's comforting to be together. Comforting to be with somebody you worried so much that you lost.

After a while, Dream asks something.

"Is it okay if I let go? I- I’ve-”

"Don't. N- Not yet. Please. Please don't leave me. P- Please." Blue hugs him tighter, desperate for him not to go. Never wishing to be alone again.

He flinches at the squeeze. It's tight, but he understands. "A- Alright. Okay. I'll stay, I promise. I- I won't leave your side until you're ready."

"T- Thank you…"

"Y- You don't need to say that. I'll always be here for you, Blue. Whenever I can.

I'm so sorry I couldn't- couldn't save you in time. I should've stopped him. B- But I wasn't able to do anything. I'm sorry."

He snuggles his head closer into Dream. "I- It's not your fault. I wasn't-"

"No." He interrupts him, his tone turning stern. "You were strong enough. Don't say you weren't. Please, for me."

"But-"

"No 'but's, Blue. You're on this team for a reason. We care about you, and value you. Ink does too, he's just dealing with everything in his own way right now. 

All of us are partners, you know that? Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"A- Alright… " Blue lets go of Dream. "Can y- you go get him? I- Ink?"

"Of course, 'Berry." He scoots off of the bed. That’s what he was planning to do before, anyways. "I'll be right back. Shout if you need me."

He blushes at the nickname. "I- I will, 'Scape."

So with some shaky steps, he makes his way out of Blue's room, and over to Ink's.

He passes by the kitchen, where dust had gathered from lack of use. They should eat together tonight, since he's awake now. 

Hopefully that wouldn't be too much.

The wallpaper hasn't changed for awhile, which is abnormal. Usually they change it monthly. But… he knows why it hasn't been altered. Knows why all too much. 

Because by the time they usually changed it, everything with Blue had happened. And they usually change the wallpaper together.

It wouldn't feel the same without him.

Guess it's stuck as those dark and gloomy colors for now.

Stars, he wishes they had chosen another theme. Pastels would be nice. Anything other than this would do.

Before he notices, he arrives at that ever locked door belonging to Ink. He expects for him to be in there as has become usual.

But despite that, there's a sticky-note on his door. A sticky-note in the place of Ink.

It reads,

"Off somewhere!!! I'll be right back. Don't go searching for me, I can find my way back myself. Made this multiverse, after all ;).

~Lots of love, Ink."

Well that's… unfortunate. 

Wait.

He said not to search for him. That's odd, he never says that. Is- Is something up?

Did something happen?

Oh stars, what if Error takes him like he took Blue? He's out there alone, and Error hates him the most, so…

Is it a hostage situation? Did he make him write that note?

How long has that note been there? He's been in Blue's room for a long time now, even skipping out on sleep to look after him, so that note could've been there for ages!

Well, it's a good thing his emotional signature is different from everybody else's. Because he's going to go find him.

No, he doesn't care if he's overreacting. With everything that's happened, he has every right to be worried.

But before he goes, he rushes to Blue's room once again. Soft melodies can still be heard from there. Of course they can, why would he turn the radio off?

He can't leave him alone without telling him where he's going. But he can't tell him his worries, though. That'd be too much.

He doesn't want to leave Blue. He has too, though. At least he'll have the radio for company.

"Blue! Ink's off out, so I'm gonna go get him. Alright?" Dream tells him, hiding the worry in his voice.

"D- D on't be go ne too l on g." Blue responds, a small desperation in his glitchy voice. "Please."

"I'll be as quick as I can. I promise, once I get him we all can hang out. I'll make us dinner so we can eat together." 

"Thank you, t- that'd be nice. Great, actually."

"S- See you."

"Bye…"

Ink was angry. Out of every single one of his vials, red was the emptiest. 

That was something he decided to feel strongly. It just felt wrong not to, despite the happiness he desired to feel.

This is the closest to what one would call his 'real feelings'. Angry. But still, his thoughts were filled with some unsteadiness and doubt. 

Thoughts, not feelings. He can control his feelings.

It just wouldn't go away, no matter how hard he tried. Those things he'd rather do without.

He knows it's not because the anger he feels is wrong. It's there for a good reason, after all. It's because of something else he's been ignoring for years now.

So, of course, he had to do something about it. To make it go away. 

To get rid of that anger feeling oh-so correct.

To get rid of those nasty thoughts about his own self.

Error. It's Error's fault, isn't it?

He hurt him. Hurt Blue. And for what? Because he was angry at him? Big deal. If he can control his feelings, so can Error.

Of course, the next decision that comes to mind is revenge. Murder is out of the question, obviously. Even if he wanted to, which he doesn’t, he couldn’t kill him if he tried. He’d just come back.

That’d be too nice, too forgiving. He wants him to suffer.

But he can’t just do that without a plan. He isn’t that wreckless, despite what others would believe.

Step one: Bait him. 

He has to go to the universes he creates to destroy them. So, of course, he has to create one to get him there.

Alright, that's easy. He creates all the time. 

The universe has to be empty, though. People would interrupt their fight. 

Okay, that makes it easier than before.

Oh yeah, and small. He doesn't want that coward running away.

Even easier!

Step two: Actually do the ass-beating.

Ink stands in the middle of the universe, waiting. He can't predict where Error will come in, so a place where he can see anybody and everybody is good.

He made sure to have a fail-safe: the universe's core. It doesn't need to have a conscience, it just has to have enough determination to keep the place stable.

I mean, he couldn't make this place without one.

A flower. Not a Flowey. Just a normal flower. Plants have enough of a conscience to keep this place alive, so he figures that'd be the easiest option.

If his attack fails, then he'll shred the flower to bits. This place isn't stable enough to withstand a RESET, so it would crumble once it's gone.

He left a note for everybody else at his house, telling them he's out. Dream'll probably be busy watching over Blue, so he most likely won't see it anyways.

But just in case he worries about his absence. Just in case.

No last minute doubt. Push all the thoughts that tell him this is a bad idea away, push all the thoughts that say that he's the villain of this aside. He doesn't need doubt right now.

This is for Blue, not him. Right?

…Right.

Stop the doubt. Make it go away.

It's unnecessary.

Before he knows it, he hears a portal open. Saticy, but not loud. Like the sound of a radio turned to a nonexistent station.

Error's portal.

Chugging the rest of that bright red vial, and gripping Broomie, he readies himself to attack. His brush drips with acidic paint, dangerous enough to burn through skin and bone.

It's supposed to be that way. Supposed to be dangerous to anybody but himself. Wouldn't want him to get burnt.

He keeps his eyes on Error, waiting to be noticed. 

The message wouldn't be the same if he didn't know who it was from, after all.

Error looks confused, observing his empty surroundings. It's not long before he notices Ink. 

"I- Ink? Wh-"

Before Error can even ask what's going on, he teleports behind him in an inky blob, and hits him in the head with a toxic paint.

Error stumbles back, hissing in pain. Before he can fire off a counterattack, Ink stabs him in the chest with multiple liquid bones, which jab into him and melt soon after.

"You really think you can do what you did and get away with it?"

He coughs, his skull and chest burning in pain. Get away with…?

Oh.

"Are you happy?!"

"I- I'm surprised you-" He coughs, gripping his chest. "-Surprised you care. Y- You don't seem to care about anybody other than-" Another cough. "-Than yourself."

"Shut up!" He goes in for another attack, but Error blocks it by crafting a web of strings around his figure.

"Y- You don't know anything about me, Error. You're the one who doesn't care!"

Ink fires inky bones at him, which he dodges all of but a few. They sting, burning his clothes and bones.

Slowly, the web starts to become undone, the toxicity of the ink burning them away.

"You hurt him, Error! Turned him into whatever you are!"

Error dodges a few attacks, attempting to keep the web intact. But despite his efforts, he still gets hit with that toxic, burning paint.

"You're disgusting, you know that!"

He's right, for once. But… he's no worse than him. Even worse than him. 

"Y- Y- You're right, Ink. Right for once. But y- you did nothing. Y- You decided to create a- another vers ion of him, an exact c- copy of his dead and gone u- universe…"

Ink stops, those words shocking him to his very core. What he's saying… is it-

Before he can complete his thoughts, Error ties him up in his distraction, strings tied around bone.

Broomie falls out of his grip, thudding to the cold dark ground.

"I- It's cruel, isn't - isn't it? We're both d- despicable creatures. If I could, I- I'd kill us both." He laughs, a pained laugh. It hurts more than usual. Not even physically, mentally and emotionally too. "H- Have you ever thought t- to get out of that head of yours? Or are- are you unable to?"

Ink struggles to escape. But that only makes it hurt more. 

And… he knows there is some truth to his words, and he hates it. He's trapped in this situation, unable to do anything but struggle.

So he admits something, unable to do anything else.

"...Do you want me to stop? Do you really want me to stop?"

Ink is stared at with a bewildered face. The strings around him falter, but not enough to where he can be freed.

With unsteady breaths, he replies. "Yes Ink, I w- want you to stop. Have you- Have you not listened all these years?"

"I can't stop. I can't stop now, or ever. Error. I'd lose it all." Ink says.

That's the truth… the most genuine words he's uttered in stars knows how long.

What's the most truthful thing he's said? How he cares about his team?

Does he really…? Or was that a lie he convinced himself of too?

Error just smiles at him. "Haha… Funny . I- I didn't realize you knew how it felt. Knew the pain you're putting me through. I'd l- lose it all, too. Ink . I h- have somebody I care about, and I don't want to lose them. And even if I d- didn't have him , I wouldn't be able to take it if this place collapsed. I- I'd lose myself."

So he does know? Of course…

"So you-"

"No Ink. Y- You… You need to learn to be honest. C- Come to terms that you a- aren't g- good."

"I can't! I don't want to lose them, don't want to be hated. Don't want to lose my partners, don't want to be alone by myself! I can't stop. I can't!" Ink yells. "Besides, Error. Guess what? The worst-case scenario already happened! I won't let it get worse than this! I won't! "

Error turns around. "F- Fine. T- This was clearly never about him. It- It was always- always about you. You a- and your selfish fantasy."

He dissipates the web, and leaves. Leaves Ink all alone. 

Ink stares down at that lone flower he made, the only sign of life in this place. Walking over to it, he sighs.

"Nobody understands. I can't stop. Even if I could, I don't know if I would. I just don't know…"

The flower glows, their bright red petals giving off small light in this gloomy place. 

He sits right next to it, just staring.

It'll have to die soon, he didn't make this place to last. Nothing he makes for himself lasts, no matter how much he wishes or dreams.

It always has to please somebody else.

"I- Ink?!"

That voice. Why is he…?

"D- Dream?"

Looking up, he sees a very worried Dream before him.

"A- A- Are you okay? D- Did he hurt you? What happened???"

He gets up, and brushes himself off. "I- I'm okay. Just got into a little fight with Error. Not hurt that much, though.

W- Why're you here, though? I thought I left-"

"Ink! I- I was worried sick!!!" He grabs Ink's hand, and storms off into a portal to their home. "Why did you tell us not to find you? You never do that!"

He's dragged through the living room, and moving closer to Blue's room. 

Right… Blue…

"I- I wanted to be alone, o- okay? Out o- of my room for once."

Dream glances back at him. "Then why not tell us?! Physically! Y- You know what just happened! I was worried sick!"

"'M sorry…"

A sigh. "Be honest with me, Ink. I- Is there something else going on? You can tell us anything, a- alright?

What were you actually doing there? That place was barren, and I know for a fact you hate places like that. Were you there for a reason?"

They've arrived at Blue's door. 

"We can talk about this over dinner, okay? Alright? I think Blue wants to see you right now."

He can't tell them everything, but…

Dream isn't going to leave him alone if he doesn't tell him what he actually was doing there.

So fine, he'll tell him. 

Fine.

He gets to his feet, and knocks on the door. 

"K- Knock knock, Blue. Your two favorite people are here!"

"In k? Dream ? Y- You can com e in ."

The door is opened. Dream approaches him, while Ink just… he just stares. 

Blue is under his dark covers, with only his head peeking through. 

He hasn't changed back, body still glitching and full of errors. Of course… he isn't able to. But he wants him to. All of them do.

Loud music plays through the radio, some of Blue's old CDs.

"Sorry, I, uh, changed the disc. Yours is right next to it, Dream."

…He sounds like he's been crying a lot, under that glitched voice of his.

Dream takes a seat on the corner of the bed. "I'm just glad you're feeling better, even if it's a little bit. A- Are you well enough to get up for dinner?"

"I … Yeah , that'd be nice."

"What do you want? Tacos? That cereal that you always eat too much of?" As he asks this, he gestures at Ink to come and sit. "I'll make you anything you want, okay?"

Ink shakes himself back to reality, and rushes over to take a seat next to him on the bed. "Y- Yeah! I'll even he-"

"Ink, I love you, but we both know that you aren't to be trusted with preparing the food."

"Haha… I- I'd actually like that stew you make. I kinda need something less solid right now…" He sighs. "I think I'd puke up something too solid. And I like that stew you make, 'Scape."

"Alright! I- It takes a bit of time to make, so," He pushes himself off of the bed, "I'll start prepping it, if you're okay with just staying with Ink for now."

“O- Okay…”

With a few steps out of the door, Dream is gone.

The two skeletons sit in silence for a while, with only the less-than quiet sounds of the CD filling the room with noise.

Ink stares at the ceiling, stuck in a daze of his own thoughts. 

Stars, how mad is Dream gonna be when he finds out that he purposefully picked a fight with Error?

Hopefully not too much, but he knows that he doesn't like unnecessary battles being caused. 

Maybe he'll see why he did it. The reason he wanted to hurt him so badly.

It's not about him, it's about Blue. It's about Blue, not him.

…Then why is that so hard to believe?

How annoying.

"...Ink?" Blue asks, a nervous tone filling his corrupted voice.

Ink responds, snapped out of his daze. "Huh?" 

"C- Can you come closer…? I'm kinda, uh, I need positive physical touch or I might- I might explode. Haha…"

"I don't see why not." He scoots over towards Blue, lies down, and rests his head on his legs.

"C- Can we talk? It's… important. Important to me."

He sighs. What could be so important that he wanted to talk now? "...Go for it."

"You sure?"

"Yep. W- Wouldn't lie about that."

Lie. That's something he's stuck doing, but not for this. He doesn't want to lie to him while he's in this state.

Blue shakily takes a breath in… and then out… He's prepared to ask it now.

Whatever 'it' is, Ink doesn't know.

"W- Why…? Why did- Why did you recreate my universe?"

Ink stares down at the bed, curling into himself further. He thought… "I- I just t- thought you'd l- like to see your old home back?"

"No. N- No Ink… I just…"

"Y- You what?"

"...I- I just feel like- like you were trying to replace me."