Chapter Text
The Omega Timeline... was a mess.
Half the buildings had been destroyed. Dust was everywhere, even miles away from the town, where it may never be found. The Spider Society had put up many medical tents to help the injured, but their lack of knowledge of Monster biology and general lack of natural healing powers limited what they could do.
How could they have let this happen?
Spiders were everywhere, clearing rubble and comforting those who weren't scared of them.
Marine rushed into one of the tents to find Clover lying in a cot. He had lost a lot of blood during his battle. The Captain America version of Spider-Man tried to assure her he would be okay, but it is hard to listen when the person you love looks so close to death.
Such destruction, all in less than a day. Frisk couldn't take it. They could see all of it and it hurt more than it always did. They could feel the multiverse trying to pull them apart again but the synthetic glue holding them together still wouldn't let go.
Even so, they could still see and hear everything happening in the Omega Timeline and they hated it. It hurt so much that they just wanted to gouge out their new eyes. How could they let this happen? Why did they allow themself to leave? Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY?!?!
"I'm sorry."
Core lifted their tear-stained face from their hands and turned to look at Prime, surprised that they hadn't noticed him approaching. He was sitting next to them on the edge of the roof of a half-caved-in house. He didn't have his mask on, showing the world a thirty-year-old human with brown hair.
Frisk almost forgot that the mask wasn't his face.
"What for?" they asked.
Peter turned to look at Frisk. There was no denying the grief behind his eyes. The guilt that looked older than the attack. Frisk wondered what he had gone through to be able to make such an expression.
There was also... confusion.
"We made you leave. It's our fault that all of this happened," he answered.
Core stared at him for a few moments.
"It's not."
"It is."
Core shook their head. "No, it's not. You wanted our input on how to handle Error safely. We should've insisted that we do it here. We should've known that Nightmare would take advantage of our absence. You couldn't have known. This multiverse is our responsibility. Not yours."
A momentary laugh escaped Peter. He shook his head and said, "You obviously don't understand how we Spiders think."
Frisk smiled softly, "Actually, I'd say I have a pretty good idea."
A calming silence washed over them, broken only by the sound of work and cries of grief and effort. Both of them were used to it.
"How's the new body holding up?" Prime asked like he was a father asking his kid about a new bike.
Frisk shrugged and began examining their flesh-coloured hand again. They ran their thumb over their palm. They pressed down. When they lifted their thumb again, the skin in that spot was paler than before but it quickly returned to normal.
"It's... weird," they began. "I can feel so many new things, things that I haven't felt for a long time. Bones under my skin, saliva in my mouth, my heart beating, my lungs deflating... it's almost too much. But... at the same time, I feel like my senses have been dulled. Not surprising since I don't seem to be able to see past the Omega Timeline."
"And thank God that you can still see everything here." Peter proclaimed, cheerfully smacking her shoulder. "Without you, we would still be searching for everyone who ran away from the invasion. You were amazing."
Core's soft smile widened slightly. It felt... nice to be congratulated like that. It's not like when their friends or the residents thank them. Prime sounded so proud when he said it. It wasn't something they were familiar with. Something warm stirred in their chest. Core decided that they liked the feeling.
"Thanks..." Frisk said as they began to rub the wristband that they were wearing, and suddenly the warmth disappeared.
They froze and for a moment, it felt like they forgot how to breathe.
Prime quickly noticed. He bent down to them, placing both hands on their shoulder which anchored Frisk.
"What's wrong?" he asked like a concerned father would.
For a few moments, Frisk didn't know what to say. Tears were building up behind their eyes. Next time they cried, would their tears be black instead of clear? They turned hesitantly to look at Prime and saw the worried expression that he wore. He cared and... Frisk felt like he deserved to know.
"I'll have to take this off," Frisk said, lifting up their hand which had the day pass wrapped around their wrist, the sole reason why they were suddenly human once again. "I need my omnipresence back. I can't take any risks after what happened today."
A broken laugh escaped their lips. "Even then, I probably wouldn't be allowed to keep it. Who knows how thin the barrier between our multiverses is right now? You guys are already packing up to minimise the already high risk of all of us being destroyed."
Peter sighed. He let go of Frisk. "Yeah, we definitely need to get going... and I will need the day pass back."
Frisk bowed their head. They had expected him to say it, they knew they couldn't spend the rest of their life finally growing up and eating all of the foods that they had been missing out on. Then, if they already knew it, then why did it hurt so much to hear him say it?
"But," Prime continued, "that doesn't mean I'll just let you fall apart without a way to pull yourself back together."
He gently grabbed their chin and slowly made Frisk look at him. He had a gentle, almost reassuring, smile on. He let go of Frisk's chin as their eyes slowly drifted to his open, outstretched hand. There, in the centre of his gloved palm, was a metal bracelet. It was red and blue and didn't look much different to simple jewellery but Frisk had a feeling...
"I had one of my guys make this using materials from this multiverse," Peter explained. "Sorcerer also put a few enchantments on it to help speed up the process."
Frisk gasped. Tears were now gushing out of their eyes like waterfalls.
"You mean..."
"I understand that you have a responsibility to watch over your multiverse, but no kid should carry such a burden, at least not without breaks. If you ever feel overwhelmed or maybe a little peckish or if you just want to feel human for a bit, put this one and you will stop looking like Noir's cousin in fifteen minutes tops."
Frisk didn't know what to say. They slowly reached for the bracelet this literal miracle device that they were being given for no other reason than that they wanted it.
They hesitated.
"What if I break it."
"Did you really think we were going to leave without giving you guys our number?" Peter asked with a laugh.
He reached into an invisible pocket and pulled out a small, red, spider-shaped object with a red dark blue button."
"Both Dream and Ink have their own. These things will send a signal directly to the Council. If you want to talk, press it once. If you need help with a crisis, press it twice. If the multiverse is ending, press it three times. No matter what, we will see each other again."
This was too much. Frisk couldn't take it. Without thinking, they launched themself at Peter. They wrapped their tiny arms around his torso and refused to let go. It took a bit for the surprise to wear off Peter but when it did, he didn't hesitate to return the hug.
"Thank you." Frisk choked out.
Peter gently patted their head, "It's okay, Frisk. Everything will be okay. I promise."
///
"Their lives are like one giant soap opera! Isn't that fascinating?" Ink asked as he helped with the cleanup. With a flick of his brush, brown splattered across a caved-in wall of a cottage on the outskirts of the town. Immediately, the brown paint shifted to replace the wood that was missing from the house, filling in holes and healing cracks. Without showing the phenomenon any attention, he continued talking excitedly, "They alone must have enough stories to fill up the entire Doodle Sphere!"
He let out a grunt of frustration. "If only they could give us comics or something about their multiverse to read. It would make learning about it so much more convenient. We wouldn't have to ask for permission to talk to that Watcher guy."
Dream hummed unenthusiastically as he shifted through the rubble, searching for anything potentially important. He had originally been on healing duty, but his magic was drained very quickly. He never had to heal so many people at once. He wanted to be still useful, but he also wanted a distraction from all of the negativity that was suffocating him, so he delegated himself to scavenging.
Ink was an... unexpected companion.
"And the Professor and that magnet guy. I know they're supposed to be enemies but I feel like there's more between them. SO MANY IDEAS!!!"
The Guardian of Creation bent over and released a bucket load of black ink. That was the twelfth episode since they started cleaning.
Dream honestly wasn't surprised. He had never seen Ink so excited before. It almost made it seem like he had somehow regained his soul. Dream wished he could feel as happy as Ink, but he couldn't see a reason to be positive.
They had failed. HE had failed. Even now, after Nightmare had left and his followers were put in containment, negative emotions continued to hang in the air like this rotten stench that would never leave. Dream usually didn't mind negative emotions. They had their purpose and he understood that. It's why he fought to maintain his Balance and not force it in his favour.
But the Omega Timeline was supposed to be different! A safe space to heal and mourn what you've lost and then get up to make new happy memories. It should've been different...
This was Dream's fault.
He left the entire multiverse unprotected and let his brother invade the Omega Timeline. If Sorcerer hadn't been there to stall him...
"Hey buddy, you okay?"
Dream looked up from the rubble he had been sifting through, and saw Ink standing over him. His pupils were shaped like question marks and he seemed... concerned.
Dream shook his head and turned his attention back to the rubble. "It's... nothing, Dream. Just... go back to work. You were saying something about magnets?"
Ink blinked. Dream noticed that his friend's pupils were now less abstract. They were still colorful though, so that was good. Dream wasn't sure he could deal with an Emotionless Ink right now. Although maybe that would be better..?
Ink, to Dream's surprise, placed his hand on his shoulder.
Ink closed his eyes. He breathed in, then breathed out. He then opened his eyes and began to speak again.
"Listen, Dream, I know I'm not the best when it comes to emotions, even with my Vials. It's why they are your department, but I still think I need to say something."
"We made a mistake. I won't deny that. However, going with the Spider-Men to the Spider-Verse is not it."
"How can you say that? If we hadn't gone-"
Ink cut in, "Then Nightmare would have attacked next week, or next month or next century. You know how he works. So do I. He chose to attack the Omega Timeline. That's on him, not us. All of that dust and blood is on his hands, not ours."
"But-"
"No buts!" Ink snapped. His eyes briefly flashed red and returned to normal as he quickly calmed down. He sighed before continuing, "You blaming yourself because you have a saviour complex or whatever isn't going to help anyone. Do you know what WILL help?"
Dream hesitated, "What?"
"If we do what Creators do when they make mistake. We learn from it. Do you really think that Desert Sanctuary was created without some practice? Next time we visit, one of us will stay behind. We'll add some defences that can protect the residents if the timeline itself is breached again. When this is over, we'll be stronger than ever."
Dream wasn't sure what to say. He honestly wasn't expecting Ink to be so empathetic and... wise.
"Feeling better? GOOD! 'Cause I REALLY need to get this off my chest. Why is that Logan guy so determined to take that redhead from One-eye? I mean, it should be a no-brainer for her. Laser eyes are SO much cooler than knife hands."
The sudden change in topic should have surprised Dream. Or at least disappoint him a little.
Instead, he laughed. It was nice, knowing that even with a second multiverse worth of possibilities being opened, some things would never change.
And... he supposed that Ink had a point.
///
It wasn't long before the Spider Society was packed up and leaving. While there was still a lot of work to be done to repair the Omega Timeline, they couldn't risk staying. They had already worn down the barrier between the two multiverses down to a mere sheet paper at best.
So, the tents went down as quickly as they were set up, and the sound of countless goodbyes and portals opening and closing filled the Omega Timeline. While most of the residents weren't necessarily afraid of the spiders anymore, they weren't exactly upset to see them leave. It meant that things were starting to return to normal.
The human kids were pretty upset when Miles left though.
Soon, there were only three Spiders left.
And they were having one last conversation with the Guardians, who were a decent distance from the town.
"I guess this is goodbye then." Dream said somewhat awkwardly.
"It's not like we were ever going to stay," Octavious replied. "Us merely opening a portal to your multiverse was already an irresponsible risk. We have pushed our luck far enough."
"It's still kinda disappointing," said Ink leaning against his paintbrush. "There's still so much that I want to learn about your worlds."
Sorcerer smiled. "That's what the Beacons are for."
Ink blinked, seemingly surprised. He then smacked his forehead in frustration and swore, "I knew I was forgetting something."
A still-human Core Frisk, now wearing the bracelet that Peter gave them, giggled while Dream just smiled fondly. Superior rolled his eyes at the foolishness while the other Spiders laughed. They would definitely miss the Guardians.
Even with the Beacons, communication would have to be limited. A real shame.
Prime sighed, "I know this goodbye isn't as... grand or heartouching as it should be, but I've been away from my universe for too long and my wife is going to kill me if I don't get back soon. So..." Peter bent to one knee and offered Frisk his hand, "Until next time kid."
Then, to everyone's surprise, Core ran past the hand and wrapped their arms around Peter. He quickly returned it.
Superior sighed and turned around, activating a portal back home. He didn't say anything, choosing instead simply to step through it.
"I'll miss you," Core whispered into Prime's ear as he stood up, breaking the hug.
"I'll miss you too, kid," Spider-Man replied, "And sorry for the trouble."
Ink shook his head, "No trouble at all."
Sorcerer snapped his fingers suddenly. "I just remembered something," he declared. "We dropped off the walking glitch in the endless white void that has nothing to do with this endless white void."
"Wait, seriously?" Ink questioned. "What happened to coming up with a solution of making sure that he doesn't hurt any more AUs?"
Sorcerer sighed, "Unfortunately, his actions are important to the survival of your multiverse, even if he has no intention of cooperating. We decided that the safest option for now is to just leave him in be."
"So... all of this was for nothing?" Dream asked.
Prime shook his head. He reached into an invisible pocket and pulled out a USB stick. "Not quite."
He tossed it to the Guardians and Core caught it.
"Everything that we learned about Error is on there," he explained. "Including schematics for devices that might help you fight him and protect universes. I hope they help."
The three Guardians stared at the USB in Frisk's hand in shock for a few moments.
They then looked back up at the two remaining Spiders and unanimously said, "Thank you."
The two remaining Spiders simply nodded. They then turned around, back to the portal which would take them back home and said...
"Goodbye."
A/N: When I started this fic, I did not expect Prime and Core to develop a father-and-child bond. I'm glad that they did.