Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Error, you need to calm down.” 

Nightmare was crouched next to the glitching skeleton, careful to not touch him. Error was curled up, breathing heavily, and trying not to shut down.

Dust, Horror, Killer, and Cross watched from the background in worry.

“What happened?” Killer asked.

Nightmare shook his skull in frustration, “I don’t know! He won’t tell me, I’m just trying to get him to calm down.”

Cross nods, instantly going into mother mode. “Okay. Night, keep doing what you’re doing. Dust, get chocolate from the pantry. Horror, go get Error’s blanket from his room. Killer, find where Error put Ink’s hoodie and bring it back. I’ll go get some water.”

Instantly the skeletons all jumped into action, teleporting away. Nightmare stayed where he was, finally getting Error to calm down a little.

Just as he was finished, Killer teleported back into the room with a brown hoodie clenched in his hand. He walks over to Error and drops it onto his lap.

Error instantly picks it up and puts it on, nodding in mute thanks towards Killer. Horror comes back in at the same time as Dust. 

Horror drapes the blanket around Error’s shoulders and Dust drops a pile of chocolate on his lap.

Error busies himself with unwrapping the chocolate while Cross walks back into the room with a bottle of water.

“C-can….can we not talk about this?” Error finally speaks up after a few moments of tense silence.

“Of course,” Nightmare nods.

“But if you ever do need to talk, we will all listen!” Horror adds on with a smile.

Just as Error was about to answer, they all get teleported to an empty room with a T.V. and a couple couches in it. Darting up, they all instantly get into attack positions.

“Who brought us here!?” Dust yells.

Instead of answering, another group of skeletons fall into the room. 

“Brother!? What is happening?” Dream yells out after getting up.

“Why do you think I’d know?”

“Uh…why are all of us in this weird room?” Classic asks in confusion, observing the bad guys warily. (he doesn’t know that there’s peace)

Ink goes to answer, but is distracted by Error in the brown hoodie.

“RuRu! You’re wearing my hoodie!? That’s so cute!”

Error’s face turns a light yellow and he quickly avoids eye-contact with anyone. “Sh-shut up, Squid!”

Ink rushes over and throws his arms around Error, squealing about ‘how adorable’ he looked. Classic watched the scene in confusion, he thought they were still enemies.

Geno catches the confusion, “The bad guys and star sanses made peace a while ago, Classic.”

“Ohh, that makes so much sense!”

A letter falls from the ceiling, landing in front of Blue. The small skeleton picks it up, reading its contents out loud for the others.

Hello, Sanses!

I’ve teleported you guys here to watch some videos. Though you are all friendly with each other, there are some things that you guys have been keeping secret. Particularly, the ‘bad guys’ who aren’t so bad anymore! So, you guys are going to watch videos about each of the ‘bad sanses’ to learn more about why they were evil. Enjoy!

-Anonymous

“We never agreed to this!” Red shouts out in alarm.

“I’m sure it can’t be that bad,” Blue says, trying to calm the others down.

Geno rolls his eyes, why would they have to react to Error of all Sanses. Sure he knew everyone was living in peace now, but that didn’t mean he had to enjoy Error’s presence.

They’re all interrupted from their shouts of protest by the screen turning on. It had the words, UnderFell (Red), on it.

Red rolls his eyes, “Of course it’s me first.”

“Probably because you were the first one to voice your disgust about this,” Classic teases.

Everyone heads over to the T.V. sitting down and getting ready to watch. Ink, Dream, and Blue all share a couch. Nightmare, Cross, and Error sit on one couch as Dust, Killer, and Horror sit on the ground in front of it. Classic, Red, Fresh, and Geno all sit on the last couch. Reaper sits on the floor by Geno’s feet.

Chapter Text

Red shifted uncomfortably in his seat, he hoped this wouldn’t be about what had happened a couple days ago.

The screen lights up, showing Underfell's snowdin. The camera moves through the scenery quickly, making its way to UF Alphys lab. It then looks into one of her many cameras. The camera scene gets wider until it shows Fell’s house. The door opens, and Edge(UF Papy) stalks out. The camera zooms through the door and makes its way into Reds room, showing the skeleton still asleep under the covers. 

“Awwww, sleepy baby!” Geno teases Red.

He suddenly jerks away in alarm, glancing around quickly before breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Didya have a nightmare?” Classic asks softly. Red just nods, already knowing what this was going to be about.

Red: Relax, he’s not here anymore. It was just a dream.

“Who’s not here anymore?” Dust wonders quietly to the rest of the skeletons near him.

“Obviously someone who scares him,” Horror mumbles back, focusing on the screen.

Red gets out of his bed and the camera zooms back down to the kitchen as Red, fully dressed, comes down the stairs. He walks over to the fridge, opens it, and takes out a bottle of mustard. As he’s drinking the mustard, his surroundings go dark. He looks around, dropping his mustard.

Red: Uhh…hello?

“Woah, what happened!?” Blue yells out in alarm, looking over at Red in worry. Red doesn’t respond.

There’s no response. He cautiously walks forward, only to get blasted back by a Gaster Blaster. 

“Holy shit!”

A couple sanses jerk back in surprise at the blast, while the others look over at Red to make sure he was still there.

He lays on the ground for a few seconds, stunned, before he shakily gets up. He looks over at the area the blast came from and stops, a look of fear crossing his face. 

“Is whoever you saw, the monster you had a nightmare about?” Reaper asks.

Red nods his head, looking away from the screen.

The camera pans over to the area to show UF Gaster standing there.

“Your Gaster?” Classic asks in confusion. Why would he be afraid of his father? (MY AU)

Red looks down, “Not every AU is as nice as yours, Sweetheart. Remember?”

Classic gasps as he realizes what Red was saying. He wraps his arms around his boyfriend in comfort.

UF Gaster: You’ve gotten soft, Sans. I was able to hit you with the blast.

Red backs up in fear.

Red: I-i’m…you…ho-how are…

UF Gaster: What have I told you about your mumbling? It’s annoying, boy!

Red: I-i’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

All the sanses glared at the Gaster on the screen. They could tell that Red’s father had seriously scarred him when he was a child.

UF Gaster laughs, his eye sockets light up as more blasters appear. Red backs up, looking even more scared.

“He better not do anything or I swear,” Nightmare growls out.

All of a sudden, UF Gaster disappears with the blackness as Edge storms into the house.

Edge: Sans! You lazy idiot, you were supposed to be at your post an hour ago.

Red: B-boss! Uh..s-sorry.

Everyone turns their glaring towards the Papyrus.

Edge observes Red for a moment before turning and going upstairs.

Edge: Come one. You must be punished for being late.

“How dare he!” Blue shouts out. Classic just chuckles, already knowing the real relationship between the brothers.

Red nods his head and follows Edge upstairs. Edge goes into a room, Red following, and he shuts the door. He turns around after a few moments.

Edge: Are you okay, brother? You looked really shaken up when I walked in, and you had dropped your mustard.

“Wait, what!?”

Red smiles, “We just act like we hate each other so we aren’t used against each other.”

Red nods his head but Edge doesn’t believe him.

Edge: I know you’re not okay, Sans. We don’t have to act like we can’t stand each other in this room.

Red stays silent for a few moments, before he looks up at his brother, red, glowing tears making their way down his cheekbones.

Red: I-....I saw…. him …he-he attacked me…..and I didn’t know what…know what to do…I..

Everyone’s silent as they see Red being in an emotionally vulnerable state on the screen.

Edge brings his brother into a hug, calming him down.

Edge: It’s okay. He’s not here, he died. Remember?

Red nods and Edge leaves the room once he makes sure his brother is okay. Once Edge leaves, Red opens his stats.

Atk: 1

Df: 1

Health: 0.5

Red: If he’s dead…why did I take attack damage?

The screen goes dark.

“What!?”

“How the hell does that work!?”

“Are you okay!?”

Red covers his ear holes at all the yelling, waiting for it to die down. Eventually they stopped once they realized he was uncomfortable.

“Red,” Killer speaks up. “How….how did that happen?”

“I don’t know,” Red sighs.

They’re all interrupted by the screen lighting up again, words saying: HorrorTale (Horror)

“Great,” Horror groans in annoyance, leaning back into the couch. “I’m next.”

Chapter Text

Everyone falls silent as the screen starts.

The screen lights up, showing HorrorTale Snowdin. The camera pans down towards a snow pile to show HT Papyrus and Horror without the hole in his skull.

“Wait, you weren’t born with the hole in your skull?” Dream asks in confusion. Horror shakes his head.

HT Papy: Sans, I’m hungry.

Horror: I know, Paps…I’ll go talk to Undyne about our food situation, how about that!

HT Papy: Okay!

“Why would you talk to Undyne? Why not Asgore?” Classic wonders aloud.

Horror looks down, “Uh..you’ll see.”

Horror smiles at his younger brother before walking towards the castle. The screen goes dark before lighting up again to show Horror in the throne room in front of HT Undyne.

HT Undyne: What do you want?

Horror: Undyne, I’m not trying to speak out against your rule but…Paps and I are starving! We aren’t the only monsters with barely anything to eat either.

“Wait, Undyne is queen!?” Killer shouts in alarm. Horror nods, “It was after one of Frisk’s Neutral runs. They never reset.”

Undyne is silent for a moment, seeming to contemplate what Horror was saying. She then stands up and stares at him in fury.

HT Undyne: How dare you try to tell me how to rule!

Cross and Error flinch back in alarm, they weren't expecting that loud of a shout. Error took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

Cross feels himself slightly shaking, but ignores it. Nightmare notices and wraps a tentacle around the panicking skeleton in comfort.

Cross jolts in surprise but soon leans back into the goopy mess.

Horror takes a step back in alarm.

Horror: I wasn’t! I’m just telling you that Paps and I are starving! Along with every other monster in the Underground!

“That’s horrible! I’m so sorry,” Blue cries out.

Horror shrugs, “It’s whatever.”

Undyne glares at Horror, summoning her spears.

HT Undyne: Don’t. Question. My. Rule. Sans.

Everyone watches with worry. What was she going to do?

She sends the spears towards him, the screen goes black. When it turns back on, he’s laying on the ground, a spear through his skull coming out his eye and pinning him to the ground. He seems to be dead. Undyne turns around, as if expecting him to dust. 

“Oh my god,” Ink mutters, staring at the screen in alarm. The others are in similar states of shock.

“Don’t tell me that’s how your skull ended up like that!” Dust cries out, purple magic tears forming in his eyes.

Horror pulls him into a hug, “It’s okay.”

The camera pans to her and her eyes widen as she hears a clicking sound. She whips around and stares at something with horror. The camera pans around to show Horror clicking his finger bones on the floor as his eye light flickers on. He stumbles up off of the ground, the spear slipping through his ‘dead’ eye. Undyne watches with fear on her face. Horror looks up at Undyne with a sinister smile.

“How the hell are you still alive?” Reaper asks.

“I honestly don’t know.”

Horror: Don’t come near me or my brother, Undyne. I’m warning you.

Undyne doesn’t respond. She just stares as Horror walks out of the room with a gaping hole in his skull.

Ink breathes out a shaky breath. He hadn’t realized that the ‘bad guys’ had gone through all this stuff.

“I’m so sorry for not realizing that you guys had gone through so much!” He blurts out, confusing the others.

“What do you mean?” Killer tilts his head in confusion.

“I’m the protector of AUs but I never realized that you guys were suffering! And we’ve only watched two of your backstories!”

“I-it’s okay! We’re fine, really! We had each other when we were all enemies,” Horror responds with a soft smile.

“Yeah! We would’ve never let each other be sad,” Dust adds, pumping his fist in the air.

The screen lights before anyone else could say anything, the words: KillerTale (Killer) appeared on the screen.

Chapter Text

Killer groans, “Great! I’m up next to have all my secrets revealed.”

{Hurting for a very hurtful pain from youtube}

Oh, it hurts, it hurts so much. Why does it hurt so bad as this? [Killer holding his hand to his chest.]

“What hurts?” Geno wonders quietly.

“You’ll probably see,” Killer responds.

I want to tell you how it hurts, I want you to be the only one who knows [black screen-KT: characters flit by on it/smiling.]

Oh, the pain is awful, so very awful-why does it feel so bad as this? [Killer holding hand to chest]

For you, I ache because of you [black screen]

MY CHEST IS HURTING SO DAMN MUCH! [Killer clenching his fist in his sweatshirt near his chest-shaking screen]

The ‘bad sanses’ all look at Killer in worry. Dust shuffles over so he’s sitting right next to Killer and rests his head on Killer’s shoulder in comfort. Horror moves over, pulling both skeletons into his arms.

I’m the one who did it. [Killer smiling/looking normal-eyes closed.]

I’m the one who hurt myself [same position/red slash across his chest]

“That wasn’t you, Kills. It was your Chara,” Horror mutters softly.

The pain starts to fade when I leave it be [Killer smiling/looking normal-no eye light]

But it keeps crawling back up little by little [Killer looking normal-one eye lit up]

Nightmare nods, the pain never fully leaves unless you deal with it head on; and even then it might still be there.

When I close my eyes [close up of Killer’s face as he opens his eyes-]

All I know are the things I can’t see [Killer standing while KT: Mettaton/Papy/Toriel/Undyne/Muffet are standing in semi-circle facing away from him]

That’s so extremely irrational [Killer holding his head in pain]

Would someone just come and [black screen]

UNDERSTAND MY PAIN ALREADY! [holding head in pain/screen shaking]

Every skeleton flinches back in surprise, sending worried looks towards Killer.

Stay away, stay away! Don’t get so worked up [frisk crying/covering face with hands]

Don’t mind it, don’t mind it,don’t come crying to me with your every problem [chara smiling]

Go away, go away! Cause I’ll be gone eventually. [Killer/eye glowing/glaring at screen/hand outstretched threateningly]

“Screw your Chara,” Horror mutters under his breath.

Blue looked down, he was so glad that they had made peace with the ‘bad sanses’. He couldn’t imagine fighting them after seeing these videos and he guessed the others were just as bad, if not worse.

So just [black screen]

Play cool and put up with it [Killer/eye blank/not looking at anything/hand outstretched/chara behind him]

Yeah? [close up of Killer’s face-looking scared]

Dust frowns, snuggling closer to Killer. He didn’t like seeing him scared at all.

Oh it hurts, the pain’s so bad. Why does it hurt so bad as this? [Killer with tears streaming down his face]

I want to tell you how it hurts, I want you to be the only one who knows [black screen-characters flit by on it/smiling.]

Oh, the pain is awful, so very awful-why does it feel so bad as this? [Killer holding hand to chest]

Everyone frowns as they see Killer, before his soul had been changed, breaking down on the screen.

For you, I ache because of you [black screen]

THE PAIN’S RIGHT HERE IN MY CHEST! [Killer looking scared-small/blue eye light--shaking screen]

Well I did it again. [Killer holding a human heart in his hands-can only see his hands/arms/the heart

I can’t figure out why. [breaking the heart]

I’m being hit with a big one now [black screen]

THE PAIN’S AN ACHING, A THROBBING, A BUZZING! [switches between sans holding human soul to Chara holding his souls-screen glitching/shaking-chara rips his soul in half]

“NO!” 

The bad guys all look over at Killer in fear, expecting to see him dusting right in front of their eyes. Killer offers them a small smile.

“Guys, they had the power of RESET. Remember?”

“It’s still terrifying to see your soul breaking!” Error shouts out.

“At least you never saw me dusting,” Killer retorts.

“Thank god for that,” Nightmare mutters.

Cross looked down, staying silent. How would they react to his backstory? He didn’t want them to be worried about him. Then again, they might just not care. That’s probably what was going to happen, he concluded.

If I keep quiet, no one will ever know. [Killer looking at KT: Papyrus]

No one but me will have a clue. [Killer’s face]

So i won’t shout, I won’t cause chaos [black screen]

AND I WILL LEAD AN EMPTY LIFE![Killer smiling with tears streaming down his face]

“Not anymore,” Dust whispers, smiling as he feels Killer wrap and arm around him.

Yeah that’s right, you’ve got it! Everything will be jus fine if you put up with it. [Chara smiling]

Keep doing that, keep doing that! Keep on deluding yourself! [chara holding knife and Killer’s soul]

Fly away! Fly away! Well, I’ll send a sign from my side .[chara with smile-reaching out]

When you always bluff, it can get so damn tiring [black screen]

Yeah? [chara holding Killer’s face as he looks up at her with tears running down-screen slowly fades to black]

“They better let go of your face,” Horror growls.

Red nods in agreement, “I’m okay with killing a Chara if you guys are up to it.”

Every ‘bad sans’ voices their agreement.

[Killer on screen-staring at camera-dull/tired/lazy eyes-screen starts shaking and his smile grows wide]

I’m manipulating my brain to think that even pain is pleasure infinitely and greedily wanting to. [scared KT: Toriel-Undyne-Muffet-Mettaton-Papy] 

Complete the process [Killer holding a knife-reaching towards the camera-with crazy smile/eyes]

But, when I go through setback, I start to resist too fiercely, [Killer looking up]

Trying to rewind the time that has passed, [black screen]

Replaying only the good moments ,[Killer in front, looking up at screen. In background-papy/undyne/muffet/mettaton/toriel-faded looking away on semicircle]

But avoiding god is just impossible [sans is only thing in color-others are all gray]

Your pain, yes, your pain - what is hidden underneath it? If it can’t be done, if its impossible, [black screen]

Just ask for help. [black screen quickly flashing to chara smiling]

“Yes, ask for help. Just don’t ask that demon child,” Cross speaks up, sending a warm smile to Killer. Killer grins in response.

It’ll happen soon, It’ll happen soon my duties here will soon come to an end. Its finally happening, finally happening. I’ll be able to set you free. [Killer sitting up on couch-looking scared]

However, however, [shows his hand holding nothing]

I want you to think of me at times, [flashes from holding nothing/to holding knife]

For when you forget about me, I’ll reappear [Killer looking at his hand in fear]

So don’t get too full of yourself, and take good care of yourself, [chara appears behind him then disappears again]

Ink glares at the Chara on the screen. It was their fault that Killer had turned into a bad sans. He was so glad they had reached an agreement. He wouldn’t create anything else and they wouldn’t destroy anything.

Kay? [black screen]

Gone, its totally gone, I can’t find that guy anywhere. The pain is all gone now, to. The hardships are no more. [Killer smiling]

Nowhere, all gone now. I can’t find you guys anywhere. But I thought the pain and the [Killer in front, looking up at the screen. In background-papy/undyne/muffet/mettaton/toriel-faded looking away on semicircle-Killer’s is only thing in color-others are all gray with red lines through them/dusting]

HARDSHIPS SHOULD ALL BE GONE TOO! [flashing black screen/Killer crying with eyes closed while smiling]

Classic looks down, he couldn’t imagine killing his family and friends but he guessed Killer wasn’t that lucky in the long run. By the looks of it, he regretted it.

It still, still hurts, but why does it hurt? What’s so painful and why? [Killer’s eyes open/still crying/smiling]

This is just what I was waiting for, so what about it feels so unsatisfying? [[black screen-characters flit by on it/smiling.]

Oh it huts, the pain’s so bad. What hurts so much this time? It shouldn’t hurt anymore, [Killer holding his head in pain]

But {black screen]

MY CHEST IS HURTING SO MUCH! [Killer clenching his fist in his sweatshirt near his chest-shaking screen]

Everyone looks away from the screen, not wanting to see their friend in pain anymore. They just wanted this video to be done.

What’s hurting me? Why does it hurt? What’s hurting me? Why am I so hurting to hurt? [Killer’s soul flashing on the screen]

What’s hurting me? Why does it hurt? What is hurting me? Why am I so starting to [soul starts to be transformed into two red circles]

HURT [Killer with black goop dripping from his eyes-smiling-two red circles for a soul]

“So, Chara transformed your soul by making you join them?” Dream finally asked, ignoring the goop on the screen.

Killer nods his head, “Yep.”

Classic looks down with his head in his hands, he guessed that the more ‘settle’ backstories were being shown first while the worst one's were going last. He was not looking forward to this.

“Hey, Bro. Do ya think that our other bro will be shown on this wack video thingy?” Fresh asks Geno.

“Why would he show up? He isn’t a bad sans.”

Fresh shrugs, “I don’t know, dude. Everyone's secrets are getting spilled like beans all over the place, maybe our crazy one will too.”

“I highly doubt that,” Geno sighs, looking at the ground. “Besides, String died. So he won’t be shown.”

“If ya say so.”

Error watched Fresh and Geno getting along with jealousy. He wished he could tell them, but he had no proof. They would never believe him and Geno hated his guts.

Chapter Text

Dust sighs, Great. He was next.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. [shows Dust, still as Classic, hanging out with his Papyrus]

Dust smiles at the bittersweet memory. Horror and Killer notice and move closer to him to offer their comfort.

You make me happy, when skies are gray [DT Papyrus and Dust are joking around as it snows outside their house]

Classic, Geno, Reaper, Fresh, Blue, and Dream all smile at the sight. Ink looks down, dreading what would happen when the happy video showed its true nature.

You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you [Dust throwing a blanket over DT Papyrus]

Please don’t take my sunshine away [screen glitches to show Dust running forward towards DT Papy but being too late and falling near the dust and scarf on the ground as the human walks away]

Killer and Classic look away from the screen, the scene reminding them too much of their own AUs. Horror pulls Killer and Dust closer to him for comfort while Red wraps his arm around Classic’s shoulder bones.

The other night, dear as I lay sleeping [Dust is shown, asleep] I dreamed I held you, in my arms [the screen shimmers and shows a bright scene of the two skeletons hugging]

When I awoke, dear I was mistaken [Dust wakes up with a dart and looks around, only to see nothing. He places his skull in his hands and purple tears run down his cheekbones] So I hung my head and I cried

Nightmare uses his tentacles to reach out and comfort Dust. Dust looks up at his friend and gives him a smile. 

“Haha, you know he kinda reminds me of you,” X!Chara laughs. He startles Cross, who hadn’t heard his commentary at all so far.

Shut up.

X!Chara sticks his tongue out at the skeleton but doesn’t comment any further.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. [shows Dust, still as Classic, hanging out with his Papyrus]

You make me happy, when skies are gray [DT Papyrus and Dust are joking around as it snows outside their house]

You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you [Dust throwing a blanket over DT Papyrus]

Please don’t take my sunshine away [screen glitches to show Dust running forward towards DT Papy but being too late and falling near the dust and scarf on the ground as the human walks away]

I’ll always love you and make you happy [Dust is kneeled over with his hands over his ear holes, tears running down his skull. Behind him all of his friends dying over and over again flash across the screen] and nothing else could come between

Blue gasps and covers his mouth with his hands. No wonder Dust went crazy if the human only did genocide runs. 

Inks hands turn into fists. He could’ve helped them, but he was too selfish to notice that the ‘bad guys’ had a reason for being bad. If only he hadn’t cared about only himself back then, maybe things would’ve been different.

But if you leave me to allow another, you’ll have shattered all of my dreams [Dust picks up a knife, muttering, ‘It’s the only way to stop this,’ and walks out of his house in snowdin.]

Dust covers his face, choking back a sob. He didn’t want to see himself killing his family. Horror and Killer move closer and make a group hug, comforting Dust while also hiding his face so he doesn't have to watch the screen.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. [shows Dust stabbing DT Papy]

A couple of them flinched at the parallels between the first time this verse was sung and this time.

“Okay, do all the bad guys just go through a phase of killing all their friends and family? Cause that’s what it looks like to me.” Cross ignores his Chara’s comments. Instead he focuses on comforting Dust.

You make me happy, when skies are gray [Dust is shown killing the rest of the monsters]

You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you [he’s shown facing off against the human and killing them once and for all]

Please don’t take my sunshine away [once the human stops fighting, he falls on his knees and cries. In the background the ghostly form of his Papyrus’ head and hands are shown watching him]

Everyone but the bad guys look over at Dust in surprise, they hadn’t known he was haunted by his brother’s ghost.

“Ooh! A friend,” X!Chara exclaims in happiness. He looks over towards Dust to see if he could find the Phantom Papyrus.

“Hello, human. Are you haunting Cross?” Phantom asks when he notices the Chara looking at him.

X!Chara shakes his head, “No, it’s…..complicated. I bet these videos will explain.”

“Okay.”

Blue and Dream notice how Horror and Killer were comforting Dust and share a look. Those three were definitely dating.

Eventually, Dust calms down again and sits back up. He leans up against Horror’s chest. Horror wraps one arm around Dust’s waist, holding him close, and the other around Killer who rests his skull on Horror’s shoulder. Killers hand snakes down and grabs Dust’s.

Dream and Blue fanboy in the background, being the only one's, besides the bad sanses, who noticed.

Chapter Text

Nightmare avoids his brother's gaze. Soon Dream would know the real reason he ate the apple. The other bad sanses leaned forward slightly. They couldn’t wait to see Nightmare’s other form again!

The screen opens up to show a tall tree with black apples on one half and golden apples on the other half. The camera pans down to show two skeletons sitting by each other under the tree. Dream [blue undershirt-yellow cloak-yellow crown with blue gem-white pants-yellow boots] and Nightmare [light purple undershirt-dark purple cloak-yellow crown with purple gem-white pants-dark purple boots].

Dream smiles wistfully at the screen. Oh how he wished that he could have his younger brother back, but Nightmare wanted nothing to do with him. 

“Aww, boss! You looked so cute!” Killer coos.

Nightmare blushed a dark green and looked away.

‘He still is, ’ Cross thought, jolting in surprise at the thoughts that went through his head. Did he have a crush on the boss!?

“Hah. Gayyyyyyyy,” X!Chara exclaims, floating upside down in front of Cross. Cross glares at the Chara and ignores him.

Dream was talking excitedly, making animated movements with his hands while Nightmare stayed silent, reading and barely paying attention to his brother. The screen glitched and words appeared on the black screen.

This was the worst day of my life. This was the day I decided to do something about my problem, and it ended up being worse. If I could, I would go back and change it in a heartbeat.

Dream looked over at his brother in surprise, would he really go back and change it? Didn’t Nightmare eat the apple to kill him? Does that mean that Nightmare never wanted him dead?

The screen changes again to show Nightmare walking home, book in hand. He’s suddenly pushed into a corner by a group of monsters the same age as him.

Monster 1: Hey guys, look. It’s the evil prince!

Monster 2: Haha! I can’t even imagine why he would think that he’s special.

Nightmare: C-can you guys…jus-just leave me alone! Please! I-i haven’t done anything…t-to an-any of you.

Nightmare crouches back into the wall in fear as an attack is sent towards him, just barely missing.

Dream darts out of his seat in alarm and anger, “How. Dare. They.” He turns towards his brother, “Did they do this all the time!?”

Nightmare just nods, avoiding his brother's gaze. Dream feels tears make their way to his eyes and he wipes them away, instead opting to run over and pull his brother into a hug.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Nightmare, surprisingly, hugs back just as tightly. “I…I didn’t want to worry you.”

Monster 3: You being alive is enough for us. I mean, your brother has the golden apples and he is the prince of dreams! You, however, have black apples and you are the prince of nightmares.

Monster 4: How many times do we have to beat it into your thick skull. You. Are. Not. Important.

The monster kid emphasizes each word with a punch. Nightmare doesn’t do anything. He just stays still and takes it. Eventually the monsters finish what they wanted to do. And start leaving the alley.

Monster 1: Just do us all a favor and die!

“Oh how fucking dare they!”

Every skeleton in the room was glaring at the screen. 

“Okay, who wants to add DreamTale inhabitants to the list of creatures we need to kill?” Blue asks aloud with a scary grin.

Everyone nods in agreement.

Nightmare stays on the ground for a few more moments, assessing his injuries carefully, before hawling himself up. The screen glitches and turns black with words appearing again.

Maybe if I had just gone to Dream that day, I wouldn’t have done what I did.

Dream sighs, finally letting go of his brother. If only Nightmare had talked to him. Though he didn’t see how that would stop Nightmare from eating the apple to get strong enough to kill him.

Nightmare, glad Dream had finally let him go, sat back down next to Cross.

The screen changes again and Nightmare is back in front of the tree, staring up at the golden apples.

[Since I’m the prince of nightmares, maybe eating Dream’s apple would kill me. Because nightmares and dreams are opposites.]

Everyone grew silent as they realized what Nightmare was thinking of. Dream turned to his brother, “Y-you ate the apple…be-because…because you thought…” Nightmare doesn’t respond, instead opting to look at the ground.

“Oh my god,” Dream covers his mouth with his hand in shock. He had it all wrong! Nightmare never wanted to be his enemy.

He reaches up, taking the apple off of the tree. Once off, he stumbled backwards with a gasp, all the apples were slowly turning black. He heard yelling and turned around to see a group of monsters had formed with Dream in the front. They were all shouting at him. He feels purple tears start streaming down his face as he sees his brother looking at him with hatred.

[Just get over with it, Nightmare. Just eat the apple and die.]

He bites into the apple. Instantly, he drops it on the ground while screaming out in pain. Goopy, large, black and green, tentacles tear their way out of his back, his face and body slowly gets covered with the same goop. The only thing unaffected is his crown. He falls to the ground in pain, shaking. Dream steps forward, brandishing his staff. The two brothers were now mortal enemies.

Everyone flinches at Nightmare’s scream of pain. They had never heard him in pain before. Cross moves closer to Nightmare without realizing it.

Nightmare barely escapes with his life. The screen glitches once again.

Now it’s too late to go back. Dream believes that I did this so I could kill him. I never wanted to hurt him but he’s made us enemies. I….I don’t know what to do. I just want my big brother back.

The screen flips to show Nightmare sitting on the ground, holding his crown in his hands and crying.

Dream chokes on a sob as he, once again, pulls Nightmare into a tight hug. Nightmare relaxes into it. “Calm down, I’m okay. Aren’t I?”

Dream shakes his head, “But we were enemies for so long! I’m the worst big brother ever! I’m supposed to protect you and keep you safe.”

As he’s hugging Dream, Nightmare feels a rush of positive energy in his soul. Slowly, he starts shrinking as the goop and tentacles start disappearing. Soon, he’s only an inch shorter than his brother.

Dream steps back in shock, looking at his brother in surprise. The rest of the bad sanses laugh at Dreams' expression, they knew Nightmare sometimes changed his form.

Geno and Fresh watched the scene with slight jealousy. They wished their younger brother was still with them. They had failed him, like Dream thought he had failed his brother.

Error watched with a small smile, how he wished Geno and Fresh would treat him like that.

Nightmare grins at his brother and goes back to his seat. Dream chuckles and walks back towards his friends as well.

When Nightmare sits down, he notices how much closer Cross had moved towards him. He grins and stretches his arms before settling one down behind Cross, who freezes at the motion before slowly relaxing into it.

X!Chara grins from where he’s floating behind Cross.

Error was the only one who noticed it and he decided to stay silent. For now.

Chapter Text

Cross looks down, he did not want the others to find out about what had happened to his AU.

The screen lights up on what looks like a normal undertale au. Cross, without his scar and looking younger, is curled up on the couch fast asleep. 

A couple of them cooed at the sight, but most stayed silent. Something bad was bound to happen.

He’s jerked out of his slumber at the sound of the door slamming open. X-Gaster storms into the house and grabs Cross by the front of his shirt, pulling him up and yelling in his face. 

They all flinch back in alarm, Cross curling up and hiding his face in Nightmare’s shoulder. X!Chara looks over at the skeleton with slight worry before shaking his head. He shouldn’t feel bad for the skeleton. It was Cross’ fault he was trapped as a ghost.

But the yell is muted. The screen glitches and turns black with words appearing on it.

This was the 167 time dad had restarted the timeline. Apparently we weren’t doing things the way he wanted them to be done. His ‘perfect experiment’ wasn’t going the way he wanted it to go.

The screen glitches back to the house to show Cross sitting back on the couch, his skull was bruised slightly and his arm was wrapped around his ribs protectively.

The bad sanses all growled, cursing out that Gaster in their head.

X!Paps: Sans! I'm back from training with Undyne!

Papyrus runs into the house with a large grin, but the smile fades at the sight of his brother. Cross notices and puts on an easy-going grin, getting up and hiding his wince of pain.

Cross: Heya bro! Did you have fun?

X!Paps: Yeah, but are you okay?

Cross: Ah you know me, clumsiest skeleton out there. Might be because I’m missing a few vital organs

Cross winks at his brother who groans and rolls his eyes with a small smile on his face.

A couple of them looked down. They knew what it was like to lie to their brother about being okay.

X!Paps: You and your jokes. Hey, when are you gonna be able to go to school with me?

“You didn't go to school with your brother?” Blue asked in confusion.

Cross shakes his head.

“Why not?”

Dream doesn’t get a response and they all turn back to the screen, worry evident on their faces.

Cross frowned, a dark look crossing his face before it’s quickly replaced by his smile.

Cross: I’m getting homeschooled, remember? I don’t need the other schooling! Dad teaches me just fine.

“I don’t like the fact that his dad kept him home,” Red mumbled. Classic glances over at him for a moment. Red notices and sighs.

“From what we’ve been shown, his dad is abusive. So being at home with him all day?”

Classic nods, a frown making its way onto his face.

X!Paps: You’re lucky brother! I wish I could spend the whole day with dad!

As Papyrus is saying this, he’s walking away to his room. Cross’s face darkens and flashes of Gaster’s abuse go by on the screen(images of Gaster forcing him to practice hours on end-refusing to teach him anything other than fighting-even touching him inappropriately) before he lets out a forced chuckle.

The room goes quiet and Cross hides his face again, shoulders shaking slightly at the memories the images had brought up.

Nightmare’s grip had tightened around his waist and he pulled the skeleton fully onto his lap.

X!Chara looked over at Cross with wide eyes. He knew Cross had gotten hurt by his dad but he didn’t think…

The ‘bad sanses’ move closer to where Cross was sitting for comfort. Ink and Reaper both growled, glaring at the screen.

Cross: Knowing you, you’d never get anything done!

X!Paps: Oh hush!

The screen glitches again and changes scenes. Cross is laying on a yellow bed in a palace room. X!Chara is sitting by him on the bed, legs dangling off, while X!Frisk is criss-crossed on the floor.

X!Chara frowns, resting on the back of the couch instead of floating. Why did Cross end up betraying him? They were supposed to be friends.

X!Chara: So how many resets has he made now?

Cross: 167. What even is his final plan for this world!?

X!Frisk shrugs, head being supported on her hand as she stares lazily into the distance. X!Chara groans and falls back into the bed. Cross kicks him in the stomach and X!Chara kicks Cross back. 

X!Chara chuckles quietly. He wished that Cross and him could go back to that but he couldn’t forgive Cross for what he had done.

Before it delves into a full on fight X!Frisk speaks up.

X!Frisk: So, how are we gonna stop your dad from restarting constantly?

Cross sits up, a sly grin forming on his face.

Cross: I was thinking that we could find a way to show the others what he has been doing. Then, we can all band together and kill him!

“Yeah!”

“Wooh!”

“Get rid of that bastard!”

Cross chuckles at the shouts echoing from across the room.

X!Frisk: You’re willing to kill your dad?

Cross shares a look with X!Chara before looking back at X!Frisk and shrugging. The screen glitches again and it shows X!Frisk and Cross talking by a large tree.

X!Chara frowns. He didn’t know the two of them had talked. That was odd.

Cross grimaces, side-eyeing Chara cautiously.

X!Frisk: Sans, I wanted to show you something.

Cross: Okay?

X!Frisk holds out her hand and Cross takes it. Their surroundings change and suddenly they’re in Classic’s timeline. They watch from behind some bushes as Classic, Papyrus, and Frisk zoom away in a car, laughing and listening to music. The background then changes back to where they were before.

Classic looks over at Cross in surprise, “You went to my Timeline?”

Cross nods, deciding not to speak up. They would find out why in a few minutes.

Cross: What was that?

X!Frisk: That’s what Gaster is working towards! A life like that for us!

X!Chara tilts his head. Why did Frisk sound like…she wanted to side with Gaster? That couldn’t be right! Cross was the one to betray him.

Cross looks at Frisk in confusion.

Cross: We have that life though.

Frisk frowns.

Frisk: No, you don’t understand. That’s the original timeline. Gaster is trying to make this timeline the original.

Ink frowns, “But that would mean getting rid of Classic’s timeline. Your Gaster has to know the consequences of that.”

Cross flinches slightly and looks away.

Cross: But…wouldn’t that mean getting rid of the actual original one?

Frisk waves her hand.

Frisk: What use are they in the grand scheme of things?

X!Chara gapes at Frisk in surprise. She had said that!? Why?

The others all glare at her. How could she say something like that!?

Cross frowns, glaring at the human.

Cross: So you’re, what, on Gaster’s side now? You’re willing to kill an innocent timeline for this one to be…connected with Gaster’s grand plan!?

Frisk: It’s a better plan than the one you came up with!

Cross: I don’t understand, Frisk! You were on our side! The plan will work as long as Gaster doesn’t know about it!

Cross stops and looks at Frisk. She looks away and doesn’t meet his gaze.

X!Chara feels his heart drop into his stomach. No…She wouldn’t. He looks over at Cross but the skeleton is avoiding his gaze.

Cross: …no…you didn’t

A couple of them flinch back at the amount of fear Cross’ voice held.

Frisk: He just wants what’s best for us, Sans! How can you not understand that!?

Cross shakes his head, pacing back and forth.

Cross: You told him? Oh my god, he’s gonna kill me. He’s gonna kill Chara . Do you really want him to kill Chara!?

X!Chara flinched. Cross was more worried about him than himself? He shook his head. No. Frisk would see reason now that his life was in danger.

Frisk: What use is he in the grand scheme of things?

Cross tenses up in Nightmare’s arms and stumbles to his feet.

“Cross?” Nightmare asks in concern. The others look at the skeleton in confusion.

Cross grimaces and hunches over, hands on his skull. “Chara, calm down. Chara please!”

“No! She lied to me! She blamed you! She made me hate you! SHE LIED SHE LIED SHE LIED!!” The words came from Cross’ mouth and everyone else watched quietly, wondering what was going on.

“Chara, CALM DOWN!” Cross shouts, a wave of purple magic emitting from his body and whooshing through the room. For a second his eye lights flickered different colors but then they went back to the normal white and he slowly lowered his hands.

He seemed to be staring straight in front of him at something. Or someone.

X!Chara was kneeling on the floor, arms wrapped around his torso while he sobbed. “She lied. Why did she lie?”

Cross knelt down in front of X!Chara, wishing he could hold the boy. “Chara, it’s okay.”

X!Chara looked up at him and darted forward for a hug but fell through onto the ground. Cross backed up a bit.

“She made me hate you,” Chara choked out. Cross sighed. Nothing he said would get through to Chara. He should just let the boy calm down slightly before saying anything else. He looked up and met eyes with Nightmare, vaguely aware that everyone was watching him.

“C-could…we just finish watching first? I promise this will explain everything and if it doesn’t I’ll tell you,” Cross says, speaking mainly to Nightmare. Nightmare nods, gesturing for Cross to sit back down.

The rest of them slowly sit back as well, sending cautious glances towards their friends.

Phantom floats over to X!Chara and places his hand on his back. Chara leans into the touch and the two sit on the floor together.

Frisk crosses her arms, staring Cross down. Cross lets out a shout of rage at her words and lunges, sword coming out to attack. The screen glitches and suddenly Cross is against the tree, blood dripping down his cheekbone as hundreds of black knives glowing purple are aimed at him. Frisk has her hand over a glowing purple button. OverWrite.

Everyone flinches, staring at the screen with wide eyes. Since when did a human have that much power!?

Frisk: Don’t get in my way, Sans.

She takes her hand away and disappears. The screen goes black for a moment and then the scene changes again. Frisk and Chara are standing in front of Gaster. Chara looks confused while Frisk looks smug.

X!Chara looks away from the screen and Phantom holds onto the human for comfort.

Gaster: I have heard that you’re trying to conspire against me, Chara.

Chara’s eyes widen and he looks at Frisk in alarm. Frisk’s features take on a look of fear and confusion as she stares back at Chara.

Gaster: Thankfully, my son has been helpful in telling me of your plans.

Cross frowns, so that’s what Chara had meant. Gaster and Frisk had lied to him.

Chara’s face goes blank. Sans had told on him. He thought they were friends! Frisk puts on a face of rage.

Frisk: What!? I thought Sans was your friend! Why would he tell a lie like that!?

Blue and Dream narrow their gazes. They wouldn’t mind adding Frisk onto the long list of monsters and humans to kill.

Gaster grins before holding up his hand.

Gaster: Regardless if it’s a lie, you must be punished.

The screen glitches as Chara and Frisk’s souls merge. Frisk is in control, Chara now nothing more than a ghost hanging out behind her. Frisk and Gaster share a smile.

“H-he merged their souls!? I didn’t even know that was possible!” Geno says in alarm.

The scene changes again to Frisk and Gaster on a stage in front of a number of humans and monsters. Cross is there as well, standing next to Frisk. As Gaster is speaking, Cross looks around and notices that Frisk has her sights set on some of the monsters. Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys to be exact. 

Cross closes his eye sockets. He didn’t want to watch this again. It was bad enough that everyone else was watching. This was supposed to be his secret. No one was supposed to know about this.

Cross notices and frowns, wondering what she was up to. His eye sockets widen when he notices her hand hovering over the OverWrite button. He jumps back and sends a Gaster blaster right towards her.

But that was what Gaster and Frisk were hoping for. Gaster disappears and Frisk puts on a fake facade of fear. The humans run away, leaving Cross and his friends.

Frisk: S-Sans! I…I thought we were friends! Why would you try and kill me!?

“Oh no,” Blue mutters. They had set him up.

She starts sobbing and the other monsters stand protectively in front of her. Because of his apparent attempt on her life, he was now an enemy. His friends ready their weapons and they start fighting.

The ‘bad sanses’ all flinch at the sight of Cross fighting his friends, memories of their past coming back. But unlike them, Cross was the one being attacked.

The finishing blow is when Papyrus summons a ton of different blasters, aiming them all at Cross. Cross was hunched over, holding onto his injuries, but he looked up at his brother. 

“No!” Dust shouts, moving back against Cross’s legs, making sure he was there. To be killed by your brother…

Phantom looks over at his brother with sorrow, wishing he could comfort him. But he can’t. So he focuses on comforting the human instead. It’s the least he could do.

Papyrus looked away and fired the blasters. The group of friends walk away.

“Cross!” 

Cross feels his soul warm at how worried they were for him. He fights back a blush as Nightmare tightens his grip around his waist.

The screen glitches again and shows the group of them fighting against Gaster, Frisk in the lead. They’re winning when suddenly a group of attacks fires at them, blasting them backwards.

Everyone watches the screen in confusion. Who had attacked them? Frisk hadn’t Restarted yet so it couldn’t be Cross…right?

Cross limps out, part of his skull gone and the rest slowly dusting away. 

“Oh my god,” Killer mutters, hand coming up to cover his mouth. Cross flinches as everyone voices their shock. They thought he was an abomination.

Nightmare softly grabs his face and moves it to face him. “Cross,” he says softly.

Cross looks up and meets Nightmare’s eyes. But they aren’t staring at him in disgust.

“Cross, we’re just worried about you. Okay?” Nightmare continues, looking at the skeleton on his lap in worry. Cross looks away, unable to meet his eyes. Nightmare frowns and brings Cross closer to him, pulling him in for a kiss.

Cross instantly kisses back, leaning in for more. The two quickly pull apart at the cheers of the rest of the skeletons.

Cross’ face goes purple and he hides it in his hands in embarrassment.

“Finally! I’ve gotten sick of watching you two dance around each other!” Error shouts.

Killer and Horror sigh in defeat, each handing Dust ten dollars as he grins. Fresh, Geno, and Red doing the same with Classic and Reaper. Though as soon as Reaper collected the money, he sent a glare towards Nightmare. If that skeleton hurt Cross in any way...

Dream and Blue both fist bump, staring at Cross and NIghtmare with approving gazes. Ink shakes his head at their antics before glaring at Nightmare, his thoughts the same as Reapers.

X!Chara chuckles. It was about time. But if that octopus [though he wasn’t an octopus at the moment] hurt Cross he’d have a world of pain coming in. Phantom watches the two with a happy look, “I’m proud of them. But I thought they were already dating? Why is everyone cheering?”

X!Chara shakes his head with a grin, “Don’t worry about it.” Phantom shrugs.

Frisk sneers at him and he lunges, attacking her. The other monsters get in the way and he kills them all. 

Everyone instantly sombers as the screen unpauses. Cross rehides his skull in Nightmare’s chest, refusing to look at the screen.

Then he grabs Frisk’s soul and brings it closer to his dusting soul. 

They all watch the screen in confusion. What was he doing?

He holds both of them in his bloody hands and pushes them together. Everything around him glitches and then a white blast fills the screen. When it clears, Cross is alone in a white void. He checks his soul, and it’s half white, half red.

The room goes silent as they process what had happened. Reaper turns towards Cross, “Is that why it seemed like you had been ‘possessed’ earlier?”

Cross nods, “Sometimes Chara can take control, but other times he’s just a ghost following me around.”

“An amazing ghost,” Chara says with a grin.

Cross rolls his eyes, “More like annoying.”

“Hey!”

Cross chuckles before remembering that everyone was watching him. “Uhm, I was just talking with Chara.”

Dust grins, “I guessed that, I do the same with Paps!”

His face splits into a wobbly grin and he reaches his hand out for the Restart button, but nothing happens. Chara watches him from behind, an almost pitying look on his face.

Chara: You can’t use the Restart . You’re a monster.

Everyone sombers up again as they realize why Cross had done what he did. He was hoping that he could Restart everything.

Cross whips around and stares at Chara with wide eyes. Chara glares at him and disappears. Cross looks around at the empty void for a moment before looking down at his bloody hands. Tears come to his eyes and soon he’s on his hands and knees, sobbing.

The ‘bad sanses’ all crowd around Cross for comfort as the others watch with small smiles. They were glad this viewing thing was shown. It allowed them to know more about each of them and why they turned out the way they did.

Geno turns his gaze towards Error, wondering if when he saw Error’s past his feelings would change towards the skeleton.

Chapter Text

Once everyone had slowly calmed down and relaxed the screen lit up once more.

StringTale

Error looks at the ground, the others would know his darkest secrets. Fresh and Geno….how would they react?

“What’s ‘StringTale’? I thought Error would be next,” Reaper wonders from where he’s curled up at Geno’s feet.

Geno and Fresh flinch at the question. 

The screen lights up to show a young Geno [white/flowy cloak-red scarf-white pants/shoes-red slash across his chest ], Fresh, [neon jacket/pants-black shades-backwards hat ] and another skeleton [gray jacket with pink edges-white shirt-short jean shorts-pink boots] walking through snowdin.

“Wait, Geno, Fresh…you know about a StringTale?” Cross asks from where he’s curled up in Nightmare’s lap.

Fresh looks down as Geno answers, “That was our AU. The other skeleton there is our younger brother, String.”

“YOU GUYS ARE BROTHERS!?”

Fresh and Geno nod. Error fidgets with the scarf placed around his neck and the blue glasses on his face, soon they’d know about his secret.

He was scared about how his brothers would react.

“But how come we haven’t met String yet?” Dream wonders.

Geno brushes away tears, “He….disappeared. A long time ago.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ink mutters in sympathy.

Error ignores everything going on. How he wished he could tell Geno and Fresh that he was still alive! But they would never believe him, he just had to wait until the end of the reaction.

X!Chara noticed how Error was acting and smirked. He enjoyed drama when it didn’t center around him.

The mysterious skeleton runs ahead slightly with a bright smile.

Fresh: Watch yourself, String! 

String turns back and sticks his tongue out at Fresh and Geno.

String: I’m very careful big bro!

Geno: You’re really not.

String stops, looking at Geno aghast.

Sting: What!? Name one time I wasn’t careful!

Geno: Remember the vase incident?

Fresh: Or the totally uncool fish accident.

Geno: And there was another time with Toriel.

Fresh: Ooh! What about that rad time with King Asgore when yo-

String: Okay, okay! I get it.

His hands are outstretched, not wanting to hear anymore. 

The other sanses chuckle softly, amused by the sibling banter.

Geno and Fresh allowed small smiles to grace their features. How they wished they could go back to a time like that.

String: But seriously, we’re just looking for the human. Remember?

The other two nod their heads and continue following him with a small smile. The screen freezes, pausing on the happy siblings. A voice speaks over the pausing.

VO: This was the 1,289th time I relived that day. I was getting better at acting as if nothing was wrong. Acting like I hadn’t heard that same conversation all the time. But it was still hard. Having to act like the dumb, younger brother. Not being able to stop the human from killing my brothers every re-run. Little did I know, this was just the start of my problems.

“What!? Str-String….was…he…the human….” Geno stutters, not able to form a full sentence at the shock of what his brother had been through.

“Woah, I thought the human broski was chill!” Fresh shouts in alarm.

“PLOT TWIST!” X!Chara yells out, startling Cross who turns around and glares at him.

“So, this video must be about String then,” Horror says. “He’s the one who remembers the RESETS and he’s doing that weird, voice over story-telling thing.”

The screen unfreezes and the three brothers continue walking on. The screen changes and it shows String rushing forward, tears streaming down his face, arm outstretched, as he tries to stop the human from killing Fresh.

He gets there in time to catch his brother’s glasses before they hit the ground. He collapses on his feet, the human ignoring him, as he tightly holds the black shades. After a while, he gets up, putting the shades on.

Every sans flinches at the sight of String putting on the only thing he had left from his brother. Geno pulls Fresh into a tight hug, hating the sight of his brother dusting.

Error reached his hand up once again to grip his blue glasses tightly, tears filling his eyes at the reminder of what he had to see.

The screen changes again to show String walking through Hotland. He stumbles upon a pile of dust and looks down in shock. Sitting in the pile was Geno’s red scarf.

Fresh lets out a silent sob, clinging onto Geno even tighter at the sight of the dust.

The other sanses all sent pitying glances towards the two, offering their condolences or trying to cheer them up.

Error was the only silent one.

‘Of course, he doesn’t care about some useless AU,’ Geno thinks bitterly.

String: W-what!? Th-the human usually waits…..this hasn’t….

He gets down, picking up the scarf with shaking hands.

String: Wh-why did the human…change…change their tactics!?

“The human didn’t usually kill Geno that early?” Killer tilts his head in confusion.

“That’s odd. I wonder why they changed,” Dust adds on.

‘God, if only I had paid more attention! Maybe none of this would’ve happened,’ Error thinks, sinking lower on the couch. No one notices his dilemma, to caught up with what was happening on screen.

He stumbles back to his feet, wrapping the scarf around his neck. As he trudges onwards, he doesn’t notice a tall lady wearing red observing him with a smile.

Ink gasps at the sight of FATE in StringTale.

Everyone turns towards him at the sound.

“Ink…do you know that lady?” Classic asks.

Ink nods his head, “Th-that’s FATE. She’s a deity. An extremely powerful one at that. If she tells you to do something, you do not disobey her. Or there will be consequences.”

The room falls silent.

“Wh-what was she doing….in StringTale?” Blue finally asks.

Ink shakes his head, “I have no idea. All I do know is that it isn’t anything good. She probably chose String for something. Geno, Fresh…I don’t think String disappeared. I think he was taken by FATE.”

Geno glares daggers at the lady on the screen, “I’ll kill her.”

“I’ll be glad to join!” Reaper exclaims in excitement. The others nodded along.

Ink grimaces, “You guys don’t understand. She’s extremely powerful. Only one sans has ever gotten close to killing her, but no one knows who it was or what happened to the guy.”

Error flinched at the discussion about FATE.

The screen changes once again to show String in the judgment hall, facing the human. It seems that they had already fought, for he had a red slash across his chest.

Everyone flinches back again, surprised they weren’t going to see the fighting part. Maybe this would tell them what FATE wanted with String.

He chuckles with a soft smile.

String: You know, I once thought you could change buddy. But I guess I was wrong, heh. See ya later, kid.

He stumbles to the ground as the human walks away. As he’s about to dust, however, a save screen appears in front of him. He gets up, all signs of injury gone.

“Why does he have a save screen!?” Geno shouts in alarm.

String: What the hell is this place?

As soon as he speaks, the button saying TRUE RESET lights up. Slowly, the save screen starts disappearing, being replaced by a bright white.

String looks around in fear as his timeline is destroyed.

“WH-WHAT!?

“HOW THE HELL!?”

Ink was the only one studying the screen. He noticed that it looked like the anti-void. Where Error lived. But that didn’t make sense.

Error started breathing heavily, soon it would be shown. How would the others react?

String: N-no! What about Fresh, or Geno!?

A voice from the white expanse of nothingness speaks up.

Random Voice: Do not worry, child. They are safe. Their memories have been slightly altered of course, but they remember you.

“I-is that why we don’t remember our timeline getting completely destroyed?” Geno asks.

“I guess so,” Dream responds.

“Yoo! Error Broski, why does that insane looking nothingness look like your totally rad anti-void?” Fresh yells out, startling everyone.

Error flinches back in alarm, he didn’t think that they would notice so soon. “Uh-uhm..I…I don’t…uh..”

Geno glares at the skeleton, “What did you do to String!? To our Timeline!?”

Error starts trembling, “I-i didn’t…I didn’t do anything! I..I…I hadn't even..even started destroying yet! Why-why would you think I did something!?”

Before Geno can respond, Ink stands up. “Okay, that’s enough! Geno, we don’t know what happened. You can’t just blame Error for the destruction, it was probably FATE’s fault!”

Geno sits down but continues glaring at Error.

String looks around in alarm. 

String: B-but…whe-where am I!?

Random Voice: You are in the remnant of your destroyed timeline. It’s very rare that a destroyed timeline leaves something behind but you have an interesting power, my child.

String: What do you mean!?

“But, what power could String have?” Red asks.

“He must obviously be extremely powerful if it kept part of his timeline…” Blue adds.

Cross looks at the screen, confused. His timeline had ended up like that. Did String have the power of a multiversal RESET as well?

X!Chara floats closer to Error and observes him. Maybe Cross was right, this skeleton could have that power.

The voice never responds, and String’s forced to stay in the white nothingness with no one else to talk to.

VO: I don’t know how long I was stuck in there for. Time works differently there. But I do know it was a long time. A long time of me asking for someone to help me, knowing I wouldn’t get a response. 

As he’s talking, it shows clips of String trying to escape, yelling for help. 

“The poor skeleton…” Blue mutters.

VO: Soon, my body….evolved. It grew into something that could almost live peacefully in the place I called the anti-void.

While he’s talking, String’s body on the screen starts glitching. He falls to the ground in pain, shaking in fear. His white bones turn black, his eyes become different. His jacket turns a dark gray with golden edges while his pink boots turn red and Geno’s red scarf turns blue. Fresh’s large, black shades turn into small, blue glasses.

Everyone’s silent as they look between Error and the screen in shock. Error avoids everyone's stares, opting to look at his hands while he was shaking in fear.

“That’s why you’ve never taken those glasses or that scarf off,” Nightmare finally says.

Error nods, blue tears falling down his cheekbones. “I…they…these were the only things that reminded me of my two older brothers…even when I couldn’t remember them I knew that the scarf and glasses were important.”

Geno rushes towards Error. Error flinches back in alarm, expecting Geno to attack him, but he’s surprised when he instead feels arms wrap around his midsection.

Error hesitantly hugs back.

“I’m so sorry! I can’t believe that I never realized you were String…I’m a horrible big brother!”

Fresh walks forwards, placing his hand on Error’s back in comfort and leaning his skull against Error’s.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Bro.”

Error lets out a happy sob, hugging Geno even tighter as Fresh moves closer and wraps his arms around the two of them.

The other skeletons in the room observe the family reunion with small smiles on their faces.

Eventually, Geno and Fresh let go of Error. Just in time for Ink to swoop in and tackle Error into another hug.

Ink tightens his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, allowing Error to rest his head on Inks chest.

“God, RuRu. I can’t believe you spent that entire video in pain and none of us noticed.”

Error chuckles, looking up at Ink with a soft smile and a light blush. “It’s okay KiKi.”

Ink is suddenly yanked backwards as Fresh and Geno pull Error back into a hug, glaring at the creator.

“Hands off our little brother,” Geno growls.

Error rolls his eyes, “Really guys? I’m fine.”

They ignore him and continue to glare at Ink, until the screen unpauses catching everyone’s attention.

String looks at his body in fear. Just then, the large woman wearing a red dress appeared in the anti-void.

Fate: Hello, String.

“Oh. It's her again,” Dust groans out in annoyance.

Geno and Fresh let go of Error and observe the screen. FATE obviously wanted something to do with him.

Error flinches so subtly at the lady on the screen that Ink only notices because he was looking for it.

Ink gets off the ground, pulling Error back into a hug. “Oh god, RuRu. What did she do to you?”

Error shakes his head, signaling that he didn’t want to explain it.

String whips around in surprise, looking at the woman in shock.

String: Wh-who are….who are you!?

Fate doesn’t respond, just observes the changed skeleton in front of her.

Fate: You know, your name doesn’t fit you anymore. I’ll just change it.

String: Wha-?

He never finishes, for she snaps her fingers and he passes out.

Fate: Good, all your memories have been erased. Hopefully you won’t find out how to gain them back. Now what to name you…

She pauses, tapping her finger on her chin before straightening up.

Fate: Ah, I know! How about: Error

The screen zooms in on Error laying on the ground of the anti-void before turning black.

“SHE TOOK AWAY YOUR MEMORIES!?” 

Error stumbles back from the loud noise of all of them shouting. He falls on the ground, curling into himself, shaking as he places his hands over his ear holes.

He blocks out all concerned noises from his friends as he tries to ignore the memories coming back to him.

Flashes of him…fighting?...FATE flickered in his head. No. That’s not right! No one could fight FATE and survive. Right? What the hell was happening to him!? What else did FATE steal from him!?

He’s knocked out of his resurfacing memories at a loud ringing noise. Blearily blinking his eyes, he looks up and comes face to face with Nightmare.

Looking past Nightmare, he notices Cross, Killer, Dust, and Horror all crowded around him.

He has a brown sweatshirt on him, with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. There was a pile of chocolate on his lap and a water bottle sitting next to him.

“C-can….can we not talk about this?” Error finally speaks up after a few moments of tense silence.

“Of course,” Nightmare nods.

“But if you ever do need to talk, we will all listen!” Horror adds on with a smile.

Error smiles back, hiding his grimace as their surroundings change to a theater. RESETS sucked.