Chapter 1: Rebirth
Chapter Text
You never knew that death could be peaceful. If you had, you wouldn’t have been so afraid. Your breaths were sharp and hollow as the air was compressed out of your lungs. Blood seeped onto the cold ground, painting the scene in crimson and brown.
You had always been so careful because you weren’t brave enough. You hadn’t made any rash decisions, you never spoke over others. You didn’t want to die prematurely.
All that work for nothing. What a waste of time.
You regretted it, not living your life to the fullest, always too scared to do anything. Always so… Alone. That was your biggest regret. Why, why hadn’t you looked more for people to connect with? If you had… then maybe you would have someone looking for you.
Maybe then you wouldn’t be in this forest, lying on the cold ground in the silent snowfall.
The stars danced in your view as you let out one, final breath and slipped into the waiting darkness.
— — —
Empty whiteness greeted you when you awoke. You felt confused as you rose to your two feet and looked around. Everything felt muted and… unfinished, like it was just left to gather dust.
Well, it wasn’t all that empty, seeing that there were some other people.
You felt relieved, maybe they could tell you what was going on. You were pretty sure that you should be dead right now.
Was this the afterlife? Were they dead like you?
Meekly you approached the strangers, feeling anxiety swell inside you.
“E-excuse me?” You called out, twisting your hands anxiously. They didn’t answer. Sweat trickled down your head.
Didn’t they hear you?
“Excuse me?” You called a little louder, with the little bravery you had left.
No reaction.
They just stared ahead, without actually seeing anything. They didn’t move in the slightest. It gave you the creeps, especially when they didn’t even look like humans. But what stuck the most out to you was that they weren’t whole.
The tall ones with a lot of fur were missing their faces. The skeleton guy had half of his face scribbled over.
You quickly backed awad and sat far away from them on the white. There was something very very wrong about this place. The people weren't’ people but some kind of… Monsters! They were scary, lifeless husks in a white void.
Would you end up like them? Was this a punishment? To stay in the blinding white and slowly lose your personality. Were you doomed even after your death?
Wait- death? That’s right, you should be dead. Bled out in the forest, calling for help.
Nobody came.
You curled into a ball and gnawed on your fingers in your distress. Pale appendages caught your attention. Your fingers were made of bones,there was no skin or muscles anywhere. You let out the most bloodcurdling scream known to mankind as you jumped to your feet and tried to scamper away from the bony construct. The rest of your body was as skeletal as the arm, only bare bones on sight.
Your screams echoed in the white, bouncing back, joining you in your panic.
Why were you being punished? Was this the middle ground between good and evil? Were you destined to just fade away in this white prison just because you didn’t do enough good deeds?
Your nonexistent throat hurt as your screaming faded into sobs. You curled up and hid your head in your knees. You didn’t want to see this place. You didn’t want to be there. You wanted away.
Away from everything.
—- —- —-
You had no way of telling time in the empty void but it had felt long. You were as alone as ever as you were punished for all your sins.
But.
You had laid in the white so long that you felt numb. No longer did the skeletal body scare you or the husks give you creeps. Calming down had helped you to think.
The whole place reminded you of something familiar. Stories stretched far and wide, Charas and Frisks running rampant everywhere. Sanses acting as a damage control, multiversal chaos and fighting.
___tale had been doomed to always be unfinished. Its creator had given up on it and left. The only survivor was Ink, who in all his pain and loneliness tore his soul apart to escape. You gazed down on the white, inverted heart floating in your ribcage. Everything checked out. You had gotten lucky, this wasn’t the forever that came after death. You had an out, not that you wanted to be a walking corpse skeleton.
…
In order for you to escape as well you had to follow the original Ink’s footsteps but unlike him, you knew what came afterwards. You would lose your ability to feel. On top of that all your memories would be gone as well.
Probably. You couldn’t know if the same rules applied to you as well.
Would you forget your real name? Would you forget All the nights you had cried yourself to sleep? And what about the little things that had made life bearable?Would you forget everything that made you you? Could a person be the same without all their memories? You think not. And there were so many kinds of Inks too! You didn’t want to end up as the evil and cruel one. Or the weak and easily manipulated one.
There was no telling what would happen if you tore the soul apart. If you forgot everything, anything could happen.
You buried your head into your bony hands as a deep sigh rattled your bones. How would you ever know what to do? You couldn't just give up who you were. An emotionless, immortal life didn’t sound good at all. What if you ended up as one of the forever tortured and traumatised Inks?
…People really should’ve been kinder to Ink. Now you paid for the all possible horrors that were coming your way.
Nope, you were staying here, in the never ending white with people who could’ve been something someday. Actually, maybe you could help the people here? You weren't the original Ink after all. You were one of the creators, so you should be able to do something.
You walked up to Papyrus, peering up at the taller skeleton.
“Hello Papyrus!” You greeted, trying to sound enthusiastic. The lack of response made you grimace but you didn’t falter, “It’s a beautiful day today, wouldn’t you agree?” You felt a little stupid as you gestured to the emptiness. He kept gazing to somewhere far far away so you let him be.
Next you tried to speak with the one you assumed as Toriel. She liked puns, right? You weren’t well versed in them but surely you could come up with one.
“Hey Toriel, what did the grape say when it got crushed?” You waited, looking hopefully at the queen of all monsters, “Nothing, it just let out a little wine.” You finished dejectedly.
Asgore didn’t care about the flowers you managed to scramble from the unfinished void. Undyne didn’t want to burn anything down or even beat you to the ground. You tried time and time again to get them to feel something, anything at all! You told knock knock jokes to Toriel and recipes to Papyrus.
Not a single one of them reacted.
Time warped together as you woke up, tried to help them, failed and fell back asleep. The silent and oppressive white felt like it was pressuring your eyelights and ear canals, muting your very own being.
—- —- —-
You had curled up on Papyrus’ feet in search of the tiniest bit of connection. It had been quite a hassle to get him to sit but it had worked in the end.
“Hey Papyrus, I hope that one day you’ll be able to feel too. I’m sure you’d love spaghetti,” You muttered tiredly, “I promise that I will learn every bad pun to annoy you if you just wake up.”
You would do your best to be Sans-like, just for Papyrus. But there was no response, like always. You closed your eyes and tried to sleep.
Warped figures towered over you, pulling you, tearing you apart from limb to limb- You sprung up, soul hammering out of your chest. Tears trickled in your eyes and you rubbed them away as you tried to catch your breath. It was okay, you were okay. Your bones were fully connected. You were fine.
Papyrus’ boney feet dug uncomfortably in your pelvis and tailbone so you scrambled up.
“Heh, sorry about that but I-” Your words got caught in your throat as you noticed that Papyrus was laying down. The little features he had had vanished during your sleep. He didn’t have a mouth nor eyes, now he really was a doll. You poked him, but got no reaction. Your fingers met just a little resistance, like Papyrus was made of something soft and malleable.
“H-hey buddy, this isn’t funny.” You knelt over him as you tried to figure out what was wrong. Your eyelights flickered out. “You s-should’ve said so if you didn’t want me sleeping on your legs.”
You rested your hand on his chest, trying to will his soul there. If it would just beat, he could… He could…Your hand went right through his ribs as they gave in. “No, no, no nonono!” You pulled your hand back, staring at the hole it made into Papyrus.
You had killed him. If you hadn’t interacted with him he would…
Your soul cracked, sending a hot, searing pain right through your skeletal body. It felt like you were cut with a blazing hot, dull knife. Your ribs were creaking and there were small cracks forming all along your body. It hurt so badly, you were burning up and freezing simultaneously.
In your haze you reached out and your hand met something solid. You instinctively knew it was what caused you all this pain. You grasped it with your both hands and pulled.
Crack- You were burned in hot lava- Crack- You screamed in agony- Crack- Dark creeped into your sight-Crack- Papyrus reached out to you, the hole in him fixing itself- SNAP -Your soul split in two and the darkness swallowed you.
You were free.
Chapter Text
When you woke up again, you were in a warm orange and yellow space.
You slowly shifted up to see what you already expected. Some of your bones had turned gray and black drawings - tattoos - covered your ribcage and upper arms. The tiny construct in your ribcage was gone.
And you could still remember your identity.
Well, most of it. You couldn’t recall the unimportant facts like your hair color or height anymore. Did you even have hair before? You could also vaguely recall being very scared of something, but couldn’t grasp what. Only numb echoes of pain came through the muddled memories.
You stopped trying to remember.
The pain eased as emptiness filled you. You wondered why you even tried, you should just accept your fate. So you sat down and waited for something to happen. For creators to do something so you could get emotions.
Wait… Weren’t you yourself a -
Your mind felt increasingly muffled. Your vision faded as your head kept ringing. You felt tired. There was no shame in resting. You just needed to wait.
Wait. wait..
wait…
wait….
..wait…
—- —- —-
SPLASH
The world was filled with yellow. Laughter shook your ribcage and a smile stretched your boney face. You straightened up and spun around. The world was so bright, you had endless possibilities!
After you got out to the multiverse you could meet so many people! So many to connect with, so many stories to watch over! You got out of the yellow paint shower a little bit woozy as the laughter hadn’t died down.
You were alive, you could get out of there! You had a very important job to do! Before you could figure out your very important job you were submerged in green followed by orange and other colors. They made you calm down a little but you were still smiling from ear to ear. You could say goodbye to all the office-jobs, boring meetings and angry bosses! If that wasn’t a bug thing to be happy about, you didn’t know what was.
You looked down curiously at the paints pooling around your legs. They made such pretty patterns as they mixed together and moved gently. The swirling colors reminded you of something you were supposed to remember. Something very important, but you couldn’t recall what. But surely it couldn’t be important, you’d remember important things!
You wouldn’t forget. That in mind, you looked around to find something that would be important.
Your breath was instantly caught in your throat.
Hundreds, maybe even thousands of floating islands greeted you. They were scattered onto different heights and places and connected by thin, wooden bridges. Paint kept falling onto the islands, making small pools of it before it trickled down to the infinite gold.
There were also a lot of papers. Some islands had only one or two, but many of them had hundreds of papers floating on them. They flickered and fluttered in invisible wind as you watched them. The wind seemed to come from inside the massive ring of floating islands.
You turned to look to the middle and your breath was caught again.
The largest island floated perfectly in the middle of all the others. The paintfall there had disappeared behind the millions and millions of floating papers. There were so many of them that the island looked like a giant floating snowball.
You noticed that every island had a bridge haphazardly connecting the island to the snowball in the middle. That was the only connection many of the other islands had.
But most islands were connected to the one next to them by bridges varying in length..
Very few of the islands had as many bridges as the snowball. Less than ten, actually,
You currently were on one of them. You were standing on a small floating island with only one paper floating over the paint pool. There were a bazillion bridges leading everywhere. You hummed appreciatively, at least you could go to places without needing to run around too much.
You stepped on the pool and waddled to the paper. It was very bright white and blank. There were faint scribbles all over it, but it seemed like half of them were erased.
You raised your hand to inspect it but the paper floated down and merged with the paint.
What the-?!
The island shook, making you fall face first to the paint.
Joy, anticipation, frustration, so much frustration - Then weariness and finally just the feeling of giving up.
Gasping, you pulled yourself back up from the paints. Your arms trembled with the sheer volume of the disappointment you just had felt. You quickly climbed out of the pool as you gagged and couched the paints out.
Your limbs were covered in purple, cyan and red as you dragged yourself farther away. Your ribs rattled as the paints burned through you.
The sheer disappointment was unbearable.
You wanted away.
You slowly made your way to the nearest bridge. It creaked under you and you held onto the railing like a lifeline. It didn’t crumble though so you continued on your merry way slowly and carefully.
— — —
You were walking around and inspecting the papers on the snowball. They all looked identical to each other from the outside. White papers full of text and code. You hesitantly touched one of them with your fingertip. You didn’t want this to up and disappear too. It fluttered before a big, black screen opened. It had a lot of codes running in the background but you could make out some words.
Undertale #7894
True pacifist.
Saves: 3
Loads: 76
Resets: 1
*Their happy ever after*
After the screen didn’t explode or drown you in misery in three minutes you decided that it was safe to look around and dismissed the first screen. And if you waved at it like a psycho until it went away -well, nobody had to know .
The more you examined the papers, the more you noticed that while they all had different numbers, the first line had only 3 different routes. True pacifist, neutral and genocide.
A distant memory painfully hammered its way to your consciousness. You winced as your head was filled with images of buckets and papers. Golden skies. Au’s.
This place was the Doodlesphere, core of the multiverse, place where all Au’s resided. And the core of Doodlesphere was Undertale. The very first story that gave beginning to the whole multiverse.
You gazed around the snowball. Your vision was very limited because there were so many of them. That was actually good, because they hid the very first Undertale very well inside the snowball.
If you couldn’t see it right away it must’ve been hidden well, right?
And if this was the Undertale, the other islands had to be other Au’s. And the papers were the copies of that said au. So, there was always one paper, the original. The others were copies, usually a little varying from each other.
Yeah, nobody would be able to find the original Undertale in the sea of the copies .
You turned back to the way you came from and were greeted with a weird sight. In the place of the doompool you had taken an unfortunate swim, there was now a small wooden cottage. You trailed back to it, feeling slightly suspicious. It wasn’t normal for houses to just appear out of the thin air.
…Was it normal here?
You slowly walked up the low stone steps to the door and put your hand on it. It felt smooth under your phalanges. You moved your hand to the steel handle and opened the door.
Cool air greeted you as you stepped in. There was a small shoe rack, shelves and coat hangers in the small room. There was also a mirror on the floor. You stepped in front of it.
You were short, that much was clear. You also had the gray bones and black tattoos that you had noticed previously. You couldn’t see them though, because you were completely drenched on different paints. Your skull was coated with yellow and your shoulders with green.
You didn’t dare look more down so you quickly moved on. A tingle of shame mixed in the paints and creeped up your spine.
The floor was almost cold under your feet, as you walked through a small hallway into a room that was obviously a living room. The sofa, TV and coffee table made it very clear.
Narrow stairs went upstairs and there was also a doorway to a kitchen.
You decided to look upstairs first and climbed up. The stairs creaked even more than the bridges. There were splinters on the railing, stopping you from clinging to it. The stairs made a little turn, and you let out a sigh of relief as you reached the top.
Light trickled inside from a circular window on the end of the hallway. There was a dead plant under it.
There were five doors, four on the other sides of the hallway, fifth right next to the stairs, closest to you. You opened it slightly and saw a dark bathroom. You closed the door.
You really didn’t want to get jumpscared right now.
One of the other doors was already slightly open. You peeked in and saw some kind of… studio? It only had a stool, some drawers and a lone easel standing in the middle of the room.
There was a giant broom leaning to it.
For some reason you felt a pull towards it. You hesitantly walked into the studio while watching over your shoulders. This could be some sort of trap, after all. But what could you, a tiny, naked, skeleton do to defend yourself even if that was the case? And this was Doodlesphere, for pete’s sake. It was the safest of the safest!
The floor creaked behind the easel. Your paints jumped to your throat as you booked it instantly. You slammed the door shut behind and leaned on it as you tried to get your panicked breathing under control.
The other three rooms suddenly felt far more inviting than the studio.
You looked in them very carefully. The three all had beds, fluffy rugs and nightstands. Only one of them stood out. It had a table and a stool in front of it. It piqued your interest but you hesitated slightly before fully entering. You suspiciously looked behind the door first, though. There was nothing but a bare wall staring back at you.
The mat was as soft as it had looked like as it brushed against your dirty bones.
There were folded clothes on the stool and on top of them was a sash full of empty vials. There was a pink book with black pen on the table.
The paints rumbled, making you ashamed of your nakedness. You quickly put on the brown overalls and a white undershirt. They felt soft against your bones, you had forgotten what it felt like. You managed to tuck the sock like things onto your feet with little difficulty. The sash was last as you struggled to make it the perfect length for yourself.
A long brown scarf fell to the floor in your fight against the sash. You tilted your head, as you looked at it. It looked very soft and comfortable, which it was when you picked it up and pulled it around your neck. But what was bugging you so much about it?
You glanced at the book and the pen again. How great it would be if you could write things down…
You wanted to kick yourself in the bony but as your memories came flooding back. You were already forgetting the most important things. What were you waiting for? The pink book suddenly felt very inviting. Closer inspection revealed that it was a diary filled with tiny purple hearts. The lock was a golden heart, heck, even the pen had a heart shaped clip. There was a clear theme running around.
Well, your secrets would be safe with it. After all, nobody reads diaries that weren’t their own. You smiled unsurely. Your secrets would be safe in it, right? You opened the lock with the tiny key and flipped the first page open. You hesitated for a moment longer before starting to write.
Name: Ink
MUST REMEMBER: Do NOT create too much, there may be a balance between
creation and destruction. Also positive and negative feelings
Error can be good or bad, get to know him. Don’t attack first. Same with
Nightmare and his gang. NEVER EVER CREATE AU’s.
Also, watch out for XGaster, never trust him!
Don’t forget to make friends!
You hummed happily as you read the first entry again. It had all the critical information you needed. The shortness made it easier to read if you needed a reminder.
You also hastily wrote it on your scarf so you could always remember the warning.
You continued on the next page about the Au’s you were familiar with. What you were interested in, how the multiverse worked. You also wrote how you ended up in Doodlesphere, just in case. Reminiscing could be nice sometimes.
You felt a lot braver with clothes on and proper reminders written up so you dared to go back into the studio again. You could feel the pull again.
This time there was no creepy creaking, so you lurked closer again. The giant wooden brush was taller than you even when it rested against the easel. The pull was a lot stronger as you were near it. Your hand grasped for the handle.
As soon as you got it, you hugged it. It felt warm, like it was embracing you. You wanted to cry as its comfort spread through your cold bones in warm waves.
“Broomie” You choked, tightening your hands around it. A companion. A safe place.
Yeah, this place was your new home.
Notes:
Ink got adopted by a kind broom that was just laying around. Also, hoping you like this far.
Chapter Text
Broomie made everything feel much more welcoming. Its weight was comforting and it reassured you to have it connected to the back of your sash.
The air in the house was warmer than before and the light trickling in was clearer. You no longer got splinters as you descended the stairs.
The chill in the air was gone downstairs, too. There were also soft, colorful rugs covering the floor now. “Huh, I didn’t notice them before.” You muttered cheerfully to Broomie as you squatted down to feel the rugs under your hands. They felt so joyful and inviting after the cold floor.
Your paints gurgled weirdly. You didn’t feel like you were running out of emotions but still you ached there where your stomach had been. It wasn’t the most painful feeling but something familiar. Very familiar.
You had blurry memories about the feeling from your human life. You were pretty sure that what you needed was the kitchen when this feeling hit.
Thus, you made your way to the kitchen. It was a cozy, small area that smelt like peppermint and cinnamon. A kitchen counter separated the cooking area from the wooden table with four chairs.
The walls looked like someone had thrown different colors of paint around. You liked it, it looked like a rainbow if you squinted hard enough. The floor was covered with bright yellow tiles, contrasting the walls heavily.
You decided that you liked the kitchen as you felt the walls. They felt almost rocky under your touch.
Your stomach rumbled again, and the faint pang of hunger made you beeline for the fridge. The light green fridge was located behind the counter as it called to you. You hastened your steps to get to it and swung it open in hunger.
It was filled with black cups. Nothing else.
Your face fell as you took one and inspected it. Thick, black liquid splashed a little as you twirled the cup in your hand. The tangy, musty smell made your face scrunch in disgust before you put the cup back and shut the door.
There had to be something else. You would take anything to not down whatever that liquid was. It didn't even look edible.
You desperately went through every rainbow cabinet and drawer you could possibly find but there was no food. Only an empty coffee machine abandoned in the corner and some utensils.
Sighing, you went back to the fridge as the hunger made your hands shake. Your vision blurred from the edges as you weakly pulled a cup out again and stared at it.
You rose the cup to your mouth, eyeing the liquid. You could make a faint metallic scent out of the other smells now that you were this close. It didn’t make the liquid any more inviting than before but… You were already going to drink paints anyway.
What could some weird liquid even do? Guess you had to find out.
You tilted the cup and let the liquid touch your teeth. At first it felt slimy and the taste overpowered your senses. You choked as you slowly adjusted to the feeling. But to your surprise, the liquid fizzled inside your mouth like pop candies. It actually tasted good.
Greedily you gulped down mug after mug until the hunger pains ceased. Now that you had your food, you should fill up the vials too.
Guess you were eating weird liquids now.
— — —
The paints trickled down as you filled the last vial up before putting it back to the sash.
You had wandered into a small island where the paints had looked promising. It had all the colors, not only some of them. It was also easy to get onto as multiple strong bridges connected it to the others. It almost rivalled your little cottage-island in the sheer numbers .
The difference was that this island had a lone paper casting golden, purple and cyan hues around.
Huh. Did this mean that the original Au’s glowed? If that was the case, you could have some problems. The original Undertale wouldn’t be very well hidden if it glowed like some disco ball.
“The one on the island I woke up was glowing white…” You conversed to Broomie while pulling the codes of the Au. You had to check, just to be sure.
Dreamtale #0
[£u(r#%
Resets: 0=/=0
l0ad$: %
%¤###: “#
*Retr1but10n*
For some reason half of the codes were corrupted and impossible to decipher. The other half was easier but you could only understand a few words here and there. You tilted your head in confusion as you stared at the paper. Why was it this way? Why was it so familiar?
Then you shrugged. It couldn’t be that weird to have some variety, there still were like a billion Au’s with their own weird knicknacks. But it was still weird that Dreamtale was here all alone.
Your gaze lingered on the Au. Something about it was calling to you, nudging your memories. The paper fluttered in a gentle breeze.
It could be dangerous, you could get hurt.
…You looked around the Doodlesphere. A giant snowball amidst thousands of islands and your lone cottage in the midst of all that. There was no other people, you were all alone in the vast multiverse.
Just like before.
No. You were not alone anymore. You had Broomie! Broomie was great company… even if your giant paintbrush didn’t exactly converse back. The small weight on your back reminded you that you now actually had someone. A comforting presence, so to say.
But you still couldn't always hide in the Doodlesphere.
And you missed the noises other people could make. Like talking and laughing. You would even take angry yelling again just to be not alone. Noises were great! They made you sure that you wouldn’t just randomly die without anybody noticing. If there was noise, there was somebody around.
Yeah, you’d better check Dreamtale out before you chickened out again.
You opened the codes again, just to see if there was a manual. Like ABC for “how to travel between alternate universes” or something. You weren’t in luck, Dreamtale didn't have that as an inbuilt option.
Guess you had to do this the old way then.
You twirled dramatically just to psych yourself up before you thrust your hand into the air and shouted “Sesam open!”
… Nothing happened. You felt a little dump.
Something nudged your shoulder. Broomie bristled a little. You had a feeling your brush was silently laughing at you.
“You have a better idea, then?” You pouted at it. You got a nudge again in response. You unsheathed Broomie and held it unsurely in your hands. Nothing happened.
“Well, you gave it your best try.” You smiled as you raised Broomie to put it back. That’s when it yanked your hands downwards in a big arc, pulling out the black liquid in your bones.
Welp, there went your last meal.
You could feel the drain as the swirling shapes settled into a pitch black oval. It did not look inviting. You stared at the swirling blackness for a moment as fear suddenly grasped you.
You were going into Dreamtale. What if Nightmare was there in his all goopy glory? Y ou weren’t an experienced fighter, you couldn’t even open a portal for Asgore’s sake!
Broomie nudged you again, towards the portal.
“H-heh. I totally got this.” You mumbled as you thumbed your orange paint. “Absolutely nothing could go wrong.” You had information and you were prepared. Surely you would even manage with the destroyer himself if you had to.
“Broomie, if we die today I’m gonna blame you.” With that said, you jumped into the portal.
Ink flowed into your skull and filled everything with black. It felt like a heavy blanket pressed down on you from all directions. You were suffocating again. You were suffocating! SUFFOCATING.
The portal spit you out onto hard ground before you could start struggling in blind panic.
You rolled a bit while desperately protecting your vials before jumping back to your feet. The landings could use some practice, you mused as you brushed the dirt from your clothes. Then you looked around.
You were in a big, dead, grass field. The sky was deep crimson as dark clouds drooped down. It smelt like rotten eggs and old fish. Your paints rolled nauseatingly and you briefly wondered if you had taken too much cyan.
This place was definitely not very welcoming.
Notes:
Dreamtale belongs to Jokublog.
Also, you're hungry again.
Chapter 4: Dream
Notes:
Thank you all for the kudos and comments. Please do know I love getting comments and I will probably read every comment like bazillion times. I'm just too socially anxious to converse back but I'll be here giggling and kicking my feet up every time someone comments :D
TW for sligth bodyhorror again.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hard grass brushed against your bare toes as you walked towards the big tree stump. It didn’t feel nice, it was more like you were walking on sharp glass. There were ruins of a village near the tree. You decided against exploring them. After all, Nightmare would probably be there if he was still in the Au.
Judging by the hostile surroundings, he had already been corrupted.
You took a sip from the orange vial to replenish your courage as you made your way to the stump. The gloomy atmosphere gave you the creeps and you shivered as you looked behind you. Nobody was there but you could swear you felt eyes on you.
Luckily, you hadn’t seen anyone just yet. If you did, you would book it, no matter how strong pull you felt to this place.
There was a stone statue lying on the ground near the stump. It looked like a skeleton. A very sad skeleton at that. The statue was crying big, fat yellow tears as its hardened eyes followed your every movement. Its stony hand was reaching up to the skies. And if those telltales weren’t enough, it wore a crown and a cape.
You had found Dream.
You proceeded to poke the statue. It was hard and cold. But you could still feel a small spark against your boney finger. The statue’s eyes moved to stare at your hand.
Not creepy at all.
“Uhhh…” You started intelligently. What were you supposed to say to a crying statue? “I sure hope you won’t jump me the moment I look away.” You then chuckled nervously while staring at Dream. He wasn’t a weeping angel. You had to disperse those thoughts.
Dream was a good guy. He couldn’t be dangerous. Especially after everything in the Au hinted towards Nightmare’s corruption. Not Dream’s.
Then where was Neil? He needed to free Dream from his stony prison to fight against Nightmare. You couldn’t fight all that goopy glory, you didn’t have the means. Well, Neil would surely come later. He would free Dream and then you could make some friends. That’s how it went, according to your knowledge.
“Don’t worry, Neil’s gonna come soon. He’ll free you and then we can meet again.” You comforted Dream. You felt bad for leaving him there when he looked so helpless.
The statue didn’t answer as you straightened up and stepped away.
Broomie pressed against your back. Then it yanked you towards the village.
“Nope.” You instantly dug your heels into the hard ground. Only for Broomie to continue yanking you. The grass cut into your bones as you leaned forward to stop the momentum.
“Broomie, as much as I trust you, I don’t have a death wish.” You dug your hands into the ground too, for better leverage, “And especially not today.”
That made Broomie relent but it still didn’t give up completely. Instead, it started moving upwards. “You wanna out of the sash?” You winced as Broomie almost dislocated your shoulder. It tapped apologetically against your neck.
“I take that as a yes.” You pulled Broomie out with a little struggle. As soon as it was free, it directed your hands downwards. You relaxed your hands and let them move with Broomie.
Your trusty brush drew an uppercase N on the ground. You furrowed your bonebrows.
“Neil? What about him?” You then questioned. Broomie vibrated as if to tell you something. You couldn’t interpret what for your life. Guessing game it was then.
“He’s coming soon and you don’t want us to be seen?” A shake.
“He’s secretly evil and sided with Nightmare?” Another shake, slightly stronger than before.
“...Something happened to him?” A nod.
You looked back at the village. The black remains of houses towered over you, making you feel small and insignificant. But if Broomie said was sure Neil wasn’t okay… You had to find him.
You took a sip of orange again as you hugged Broomie close. Your steps echoed in loud clacks as the ground changed into broken cobblestone. It made you feel nervous, but your orange paint fought it off.
You tried to make less noise by moving slower as you walked among the ruins. That proved to be useful almost immediately. You could hear something moving near you. It was a loud, dragging noise accompanied by a series of crunching. It echoed everywhere around you and it was growing louder.
You froze.
Your paints hammered in your system as your orange dwindled. Broomie yanked you out of your stupor and guided you to hide behind a collapsed wall. It then rose defensively between you and whatever was coming your way.
You tried to control your panicked breathing. Your paints thrummed in your ear canals and your vision swum. Your unneeded breathing was sharp and shallow. Broomie leaned on you in an offer of comfort.
The noise was close now. You could barely hear the strangled breathing under your own but it was enough to shut you up completely. You sat stone still as the unnatural rustling drew near.
Then it all stopped. It was quiet.
It was right on the other side of the wall.
A slow, wet sniff reverberated in the air. Then the previous noises started again and started to grow more distant. It was going away. You didn’t see what it was and honestly you were glad for it. You didn’t need more nightmare-fuel.
Heh. ‘Nightmare.’
Broomie went lax in your hands before it quietly nudged you. You rose to your shaking feet as you allowed Broomie to guide you once again. You did your best to be as quiet as a mouse as you lurked from one cover to another.
From time to time the two of you stopped to listen for the noises again. There were none.
At this moment you had drunk more than half of your orange paint. You didn’t dare to take any more so you steeled yourself and moved forward. Until Broomie stopped leading you.
Your cyan and purple rumbled as you took the scene in. There were multiple claw marks on the ground. They were deep, almost like gouges. There had been a very ugly fight.
There was also a pile of dust surrounded by torn cobblestone. An old backpack and bloodied bandages sat atop the pile.
Guess you had found Neil.
He wasn’t going to free Dream anytime soon. So you had to.
— — —
You and Broomie had returned to Dream without another incident. The statue looked almost confused as it saw you sprinting full speed back to the stump. You had to free Dream. You needed him to stop Nightmare running rampant for the balance.
Wait. No!
You couldn’t just think about needing him, that would be using him! You felt ashamed of yourself. Not having real emotions didn’t excuse you from being a decent skeleton… being?
Anyway, you had to get him out of here and fast. Before the thing came and ate you up.
“Hello, Dream! Neil sadly can’t come so I will be the one getting you out.” You tried to sound happy. Maybe enough projecting would break the stone? You definitely weren’t happy. You were very shaken up by what had just happened.
You pondered about how you should proceed for a moment before dumbing the yellow paint on Dream’s skull. It should work wonders, after all it was purely made of happiness, euphoria and joy
It splattered and ran down his skull onto the grass. The stone didn’t crack. Anxiety bubbled in you as the paints mixed together. Why wasn’t it working? Yellow should be the perfect paint to help the positive spirit.
Wait a moment.
You eyed the now empty vial on your hand. It was happiness, but only to you. For everyone else it was just yellow paint.
“Whoops, sorry Dream. Didn’t mean to do that. “ You laughed awkwardly as you tried to wipe the paint off with your sleeve. It only smudged more. You had just wasted your yellow vial on Dream’s head. And you didn’t have any other ideas.
Maybe you could lick the yellow paint? Making yourself happy could work…?
You didn’t want to leave Dream all alone again but you didn’t have a choice.
“I’ll be right back, don’t worry.” You reassured him as you got ready for a quick trip to the Doodlesphere.
You clanged back at the statue, reluctant to actually leave. You couldn't even drink more orange because you had already taken too much. You took a deep breath as Broomie opened the portal. Dream had waited for a very long time now. Few more minutes wouldn't hurt. Hopefully.
That in mind you rushed to refill your empty vial again.
—- —- —-
“Hello, I came back! Let’s try freeing you again!” You shouted as you raced back to Dream. You had been accidentally spat out farther away from the tree stump than before. You and Broomie definitely needed more practicing in portalling.
Then you slammed your hand on your mouth and looked around. No …creatures came running from the village so you relaxed as you sat next to Dream.
The yellow vial shook in your trembling hands. Would this work? You were scared of the backlash you could get but...
Sacrifices had to be done.
You raised the vial to your mouth, looked at the statue and hoped with all your non-existent soul that this would work. Then you downed the whole vial.
It fizzled in your bones as it overrode the other paints. The warmth turned into a burning feeling. It was like you had drunk lava instead of paint. You opened your mouth to scream but only laughter came out.
You doubled over, laughing hysterically. You tried to keep it down but it was impossible. Your ribs hurt but you couldn’t stop. The joy bubbled and sparked in your chest taking away the edge of the burning pain. You felt nausea rise in its stead.
There were faint cracking noises between your wheezing and giggling as you desperately tried to keep the paint in. Light shone through the cracks forming in the stone.
A distant but loud roar shook your bones as it reverberated through the air.
It came from the village.
A set of loud thumps and cracks followed as the ruins were torn by the creature storming in your way. You cackled as you saw it. It was tall and dark. It looked like several faces had melted together, all of them screaming. Multiple limbs extended from it in unnatural angles as it charged at you.
“Hahahah…Broomie -hehehe- do… something!” You wheezed as a new bout of laughter and pain overtook you.
Broomie’s bristles turned bright yellow. It made a twirl in your hands as it led you to do long swishes with the paint. Yellow lines flung out and started to swirl and glow mesmerizingly in the air. The creature screeched as it halted. Its multiple limbs patted around as it crouched down.
The light dwindled and disappeared.
You could only laugh as it launched itself up the hill. You hiccuped in your laughter. You wanted to cry but you couldn’t. The joy was simply too much.
Broomie splashed the ground. You fell to the familiar, inky darkness as the creature's misfigured hand grabbed the air where you had just been.
You didn’t bother to even try to stick the landing this time. Your throat was burning and paints swirling nauseatingly. Your magic lurched and you threw up rainbows. It dripped down your eyeholes and nose canal as well.
Someone patted your back as you continued to color the ground. You gagged a little bit, dry heaving from the exert your body had put you through.
“It’s okay, you’ll be alright.” The voice was gentle.
It was also the first one you had heard in a time that felt like centuries.
It felt so weird to hear someone. Another living being. The yellow paint overrode the tears that tried to swell up on your sockets. You still felt the dark blue paint swirl as it tried again.
Dream hunched over you in all of his yellow glory. He was smiling, but his golden eye lights seemed wobbly.
You smiled sheepishly as you noticed his yellow coated skull.
“Sorry about that…” The guardian of positivity only smiled at your apology.
“Don’t worry, you were only trying to help.” He reassured you, still smiling.
You could listen to that voice for all eternity. Somebody was talking to you! But that meant that you had to talk back.
“Uhh… You were awake?” You asked, now feeling awkward.
“I have been aware for centuries but not exactly awake.” Dream explained as he retracted his hand. His face scrunched up. “I know it sounds weird but I was and wasn’t here simultaneously.” Now it was his turn to smile sheepishly.
Silence fell between the two of you once again.
“May I know who you are?”Dream finally asked. You jumped a little. Had you seriously forgotten to introduce yourself?
“Oh right, I totally forgot!” You sheepishly rubbed the back of your skull. “I’m Ink, the protector of the Multiverse. It’s nice to meet you, Dream” You offered him a handshake.
Dream’s expression turned stony. He didn’t take your hand. “Pray tell, when did I introduce myself?” He then asked, his gaze piercing through you. Your face fell as you understood your mistake.
You had a feeling that he wasn’t just ‘asking'.
“Oh. Uh… Umm.” You mumbled wisely while giving Broomie a desperate side-eye. Broomie didn’t move an inch. It seemed that your trusty partner couldn’t save you from this. The longer you were quiet the more Dream’s face darkened.
“I uhh… Know a lot since my job is to watch over the Au’s…?” It came out more like a question. You winced. You had just been so excited to have someone around. The loneliness had really gotten to you. Had you just busted your first chance of getting a friend by being a creep?
“Oh. I see.” Dream suddenly beamed.
“You do?” You exclaimed as something akin to hope dwelled up in your chest. Dream’s smile twitched a little but didn’t drop as he nodded.
“Yes. If you’re the protector, these” He gestured to a nearby floating papers, “Must be worlds where people live.” He inspected the floating papers more closely. You were caught up in focusing on how his skull reflected light to answer.
Dream turned his piercing gaze back to you, making you flinch.
“Sorry, what was that?” You had a feeling you would be doing this a lot. It was probably because you had been isolated for so long. Then you caught onto what he had been talking about.
“Yes. This is the Doodlesphere, my home! All Aus reside here and I look after them!” You almost hit one of the papers as you gestured around. Your vials clinked against each other in the sudden burst of movement.
Dream’s expression was unreadable as he stared at you. His yellow eyelights shifted around again before locking onto your vials. You suddenly felt exposed so you tried to cover them. Were you revealing too much? What if this guy was a bad Dream? Had you just let danger into the Doodlesphere?
No. He wouldn't have been a stone statue if that was the case, right?
Yes. You nodded to yourself. Dream had to be a good guy. There was nothing to be afraid of. Lucky for you, Dream had already focused back on the Au’s. He was taking an interest in the red and black papers on the next island.
You quickly moved after him.
“These worlds reek of sadness.” Dream mused as he stared at the copies. You quickly jogged next to him and inspected them.
Underfell #24
Neutral.
Saves: 76
Loads: 195
Resets: 5
*Kill or be killed*
“Yeah, checks out. That is Underfell. They aren’t happy places and your brother probably isn’t helping much.” You instantly slammed your hand over your blabbering mouth as ice cold fear trickled along your spine. You shakily turned to look at Dream.
“What do you know about my brother?” Dream’s voice was bone chilling as his eyelights flickered out. A golden staff appeared in his hand.
You scampered away from the scary guardian and eyed him warily from a distance. The paints churned again as you tried to think about an answer. You had said too much.You had to clear this up and fast or else Dream could run. Or worse, you would have to run from him.
“Listen pal,” You held your hands up placatingly, hoping that Dream wouldn’t notice them shaking, “I am the protector so of course I know your brother. Like I knew you!” Dream eyed you warily but at least the staff disappeared in a yellow puff.
Another crisis averted.
You really had to watch what you said. You slowly forced yourself to relax when Dream didn’t do anything suspicious. He even held his hands up in surrender.
“I apologize. It’s no excuse, but I have been trapped in stone for hundreds of years. Could you please tell me what's going on?” Dream spoke slowly, like one would talk to a scared animal. He smiled hesitantly.
Embarrassingly enough, it worked like a charm. You couldn’t help but smile back, The guardian of positivity seemed so lost and vulnerable at the moment that you simply couldn’t keep your guard up.
You decided then and there that Dream was trustworthy. You would do everything in your power to show him that he could trust you too.
You wanted a friend that would stay. You didn’t want to be abandoned again.
“Maybe we could move inside and I’ll explain there?” You gestured at your little cottage. Dream nodded so you led the way.
— — —
You were strangely nervous as you watched Dream look around in the living room. He seemed to be enamoured by the sofa, though, so you counted that as a win.
“So-” You started but you were interrupted by a loud rumbling. Dream’s skull flushed brilliant yellow.
“Are you, by chance, hungry?” You asked him, feeling as embarrassed as he looked.
You were absolutely a great host. Leave it to you and your guests would definitely go to bed hungry. You gave him no chance to answer as you grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen.
“Just sit here and I’ll get you something.” You smiled. You could still save the situation.
The fridge was full of black cups. Right. You glanced back at Dream, only to find him waiting patiently at the table. You closed the fridge.
“Broomie, help me.” You whispered. The paintbrush hadn’t moved an inch since escaping Dreamtale. You guessed your partner was tired but you seriously needed all the help you could get at the moment.
It gave you a tired nudge. Something clattered to the counter. Bunch of black coffee beans. You wanted to sink into the ground and disappear.
— — —
“-And that’s why your brother is probably spreading negativity around.” You finished your little story by taking a sip from the mug.. The ink inside tasted bitter but that was probably because of the coffee beans.
You had tried to brew coffee with the beans you had found. You guessed Dream didn’t really like boiled ink with mashed beans. He was too polite to say it but you saw how he not so stealthily used his magic to evaporate the liquid.
Well, you had been weirded out too in the first time.
But now you had noticed that the paints actually had their own distinctive tastes. Yellow was sweet, dark blue salty and orange spicy. And the ink itself wasn’t bad at all.
But you couldn’t hold Dream’s unwillingness to consume ink against him. You missed real food, too.
“I see.” Dream twirled his spoon in the already emptied coffee mug. “Then I would like to balance the emotions. They need positivity.” He sighed, eyelights fuzzy and staring into nothing.
You felt that there was more to it than Dream was telling you but… The two of you weren’t close, no matter how you hoped. So you worried for him silently as your paints were wearing out.
Maybe one day you could ask. But that day wasn’t today.
“I’ll help you. But you’ll just have to remember that spreading too much positivity will be dangerous to the multiverse.” You wiggled your finger with a stern look. Dream chuckled before hiding his smile behind his hand.
It was nice to see a real smile. But you really needed to hurry, your body was growing numb.
“I’ll be right back.” You informed him as you jumped up and walked off. You didn’t wait for his answer. You knew that it was rude but you just didn’t have time. You had forgotten to refill your paints after the whole fiasco that had happened.
The AU’s rustled as you walked past them to the nearest paintfall and took the corks off. Then you pushed the whole sash into the paint to fill them all up fast. They all refilled by pure colors, there was no mixing.
You drank straight from the paintfall yourself to save your just refilled vials.
Dream stared at you when you turned around. You grinned at him before noticing the paint had stuck to your teeth. You desperately rubbed it away, hoping that Dream hadn’t noticed any of that… paint drinking.
How could you explain this without sounding like a serial killer?
You didn’t feel safe to tell him the real reason. Dream was the embodiment of positivity, of feelings. How would he react to someone with no real feelings? Anxiety twisted your gut. You felt like you were a lamb walking into a slaughterhouse.
Dream looked confused when you stalked next to him. Your shoulders almost reached your ear canals as you tucked your head.
“Ink, are you alright?” The concern was clear in his voice.
“Yeah, never better,” You lied, hoping that he would let it go. You had just wanted a friend, why was everything going so badly?
There was a sudden weight on your shoulders. Dream held your shoulder slightly as he leaned down to stare at you eye-to-eye. A bead of magic slipped down your skull as you averted your eyelights.
“I know we just met, but I want to say that I will not harm you.” Dream vowed. “I’m sorry for being so hostile, but please know that it is okay to eat paint. I will not judge you for it.” He then murmured as an afterthought.
You gave him a baffled side-eye. He apparently took it as a sign to continue.
“People have different tastes. There’s nothing to be ashamed of being a little bit different. “ He paused for a moment, weighing his words carefully, “I need positivity to feed on. I assume you need the paint the same way. You wouldn't be eating it otherwise.” Dream’s hand froze on your shoulder, before he laughed nervously.
“I don’t mean your food tastes weird at all.” He finished with a strained sound, “It was very good and-” He started to ramble.
“Thanks Dream, I really appreciate you saying that!” You interrupted before he could dig any deeper. You mentally cheered for his misunderstanding. He hadn’t connected the paints to emotions, thank the stars!
“But now I think that it would be best to let you rest. We can go get you food tomorrow.” You hoped you weren’t too pushy but Dream looked like he could use a nap.
It made sense when you took his entrapment into account.
“While I appreciate your kind thoughts, I need to balance the emotions.“ Dream refused, “And based on what you told me, I need to act fast.”
You didn’t like that one bit. He looked like he would fall asleep where he stood. But was it really your place to stop him? Scratch that, was it okay to let him out in that state?
You decided it wasn’t.
“Nope. You look like you’ll collapse on your feet any second now.” You argued. There was no way you would let your first almost friend ever tire himself like this.
Broomie gave you a reassuring nudge.
“See, Broomie agrees!” Both Broomie and Dream froze.
“Who-” Dream didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence before you swooped him into your arms. He wasn’t heavy. You could carry him. You cackled like a maniac.
“Off to bed with you!” You laughed as Dream struggled. You might as well act crazy, you couldn’t give any worse first impression than you already had.
“No, I’m fine. Really. Let me down! Ink! INK!” Dream’s angry shouts echoed in the Doodlesphere before they were cut by a closing door .
“Tomorrow.” Was the only answer he got.
Notes:
Chapters 2 and 3 had really wide spacing for some reason. That should be fixed now.
Also, Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. (I can't believe I forgot this credit ':D)
Chapter 5: Out in the open
Chapter Text
Being judged in your own home wasn’t the most pleasant feeling.
Dream wasn’t talking to you after his forced rest. After you had let him back up, he had just gone to the kitchen. There he was, sitting and staring and you, arms crossed and everything.
You weren’t brave enough to mention that his skull was still yellow. No matter how much orange you drink. So you fixated on the coffee machine in hopes to make something akin to edible. Hunger made people more irritated, after all.
“Pfft- I can’t take this anymore.” Dream suddenly snickered.
“Huh?”
“You don’t have to be so nervous,” He smiled as he stood up, “I’m not angry.”
If he wasn’t angry, why was he acting like he was? You were about to throw up again from the stress. But still, it was a good thing to know he wasn’t too mad at you. Or mad at all, heh.
“But I do have one question,” He leaned into his hand, “Who is Broomie?”
“Oh! Broomie is my partner!” You excitedly reached your hand to pull Broomie out. It pressed itself into the sash, making it harder. You almost let go out of confusion but then Broomie became lax in your grip.
You pulled Broomie out and held it for Dream to see. You hoped you weren’t forcing Broomie to do something it didn’t want to. But the paintbrush should have friends too! It wasn’t nice to be the third wheel in the room.
Dream watched the two of you with a frown forming on his skull.
“Is Broomie… A brush?” He then asked.
You nodded enthusiastically. Your new almost friend and your shy partner could become friends! And then the three of you could go into the multiverse and look around. A perfect plan!
Only, Broomie and Dream didn’t seem that eager. Broomie didn’t even wave to Dream, who was staring at the two of you with a …pitying look? Why was he looking sad?
“Ink.” Dream then gently called you.
“Yeah?” You tilted your head. Dream sighed heavily and somehow the bags under his eyes were even darker than yesterday.
“We… Should go meet other people while helping out.” He stared at you with an oddly soft look. He seemed like he wanted to say something else but he snapped his mouth shut before the words came out.
“For real?!” More people? You could go see other people and talk to them??? Broomie almost fell out of your hands as you rushed to Dream. You smiled so wide that it hurt your face.
What if they didn’t like you?
Your yellow paint faded as fast as it had risen. Purple took control. Before you pushed it deep down and hoped that it didn’t show on your face.
“Yes. As we previously agreed, it is now time to set out in the multiverse.” Dream smiled, “And we should talk to the locals.”
You didn’t know if this was a nightmare or a dream come true. You were going to see many living, thinking people. You would be able to hear them talking to each other! Maybe some would even talk to you?
One could hope.
“I would love to!” You hurriedly put Broomie back to hold Dream’s hands instead, “Can we go to a more welcoming Au first? To get food and to talk? And then we’ll go to Underfell?”
To your joy, Dream nodded.
“Great, let’s go!” You effectively caught Dream off guard by swooping him into your arms again. He sputtered something but you couldn't hear him over your own cheering.
This time Dream just accepted his fate as you kicked the outdoor open and dashed to the islands. You looked around at the thousands of Au’s. There were so many of them. Which one you two should go first?
You looked down to him only to see a perplexed expression on his face. It seemed like Dream wasn’t going to help you with choosing. So you stood in your home-island and tried to think.
Broomie wasn’t helping you either. You hoped your buddy wasn’t mad. You would explain your actions later.
There were two shooting stars. One shined in intense, bright neon colors. The other was muted black and white with hints of violet and gold. They shot over your heads and hit the nearby island. The island shook from the impact and the bridges croaked dangerously.
You held your breath as you waited. But the bridges didn’t crumble and the island steadied itself.
“Uh. I can stand on my o-Oagh” Dream was cut short as you sped on the bridges. You stopped at the island where the shooting stars had crashed. Dream clung to you as you stopped as abruptly you had moved.
There were no marks of any kind of impact. The Au’s floated as peacefully as ever. The paintfall didn’t show any signs of getting body slammed by stars either.
You were sure that they had fallen here. What in the world was happening?
You carefully helped Dream to stand again on his shaky legs as you readied Broomie and looked around.
There were two papers standing out from the rest. One was dark blue with galaxies floating all around it. The other had purple burn marks on it. You checked it.
Outertale #2
Pacifist.
Saves: 76
Loads: 31
Resets: -
*The sky is big enough for all of us*
The code wasn’t corrupted. There was nothing out of place. The purple color had already faded.
You guessed it wouldn’t do harm to check the Au out. It wasn’t a true pacifist but it was close to one and It should be positive enough for Dream. On top of that, you could find cool galaxy-food there!
You also wanted to see the so gloriously described sky.
“Ink, are you okay?” Dream asked you, worry shining on his face. His legs were still shaking a little bit but overall he looked better. You felt confused. Why was he asking that? You were in perfect health. No illnesses here,thanks for asking!
“Yes. I don’t know why you’re asking that but I assure you I’m doing very well.” You pondered a moment longer, “Why are you asking? If it’s about travelling, I assure you that I won’t be a hindrance.”
Dream shook his head.
“I just- what was that earlier?” He then questioned.
“What was what?” You didn’t know where this was going.
“You acted like something dramatic was happening.”
You blinked. Then you blinked again. Dream blinked back by shutting and relighting his eyelights. It was kinda creepy.
“Didn’t you see the shooting stars?” You asked.
“Shooting stars?”
You and Dream stared at each other for a long moment. Neither of you moved. It felt very awkward.
“Uhh… Anyway, this place should be good for getting food. Let’s go!”
You decided to ignore the whole situation. Either Dream was blind or you were hallucinating. Neither possibility seemed nice, so you didn’t think there was a need for worrying over it.
There was every reason to worry. You could d i e.
Nah.The multiverse was a mysterious place, anything could happen. There was no need to worry over such little things. Broomie unceremoniously helped you to open a portal. It, too, seemed to want out of this very awkward situation.
— — —
“So I’ll just… Hop into that portal?” Dream asked for the tenth time as he stared at your inky way of moving. For some reason, he seemed very reluctant to do so as he shifted from one foot to another and fiddled with his thumbs.
“Yes. It’ll take us to Outertale,” You smiled cheerfully. The guardian's face scrunched up again as he gave you a quizzical look.
“It’ll work just fine. You have already gone through my portals once. ” You tried to reassure him. He didn’t look that reassured. You didn’t give him time to overthink. You dove head-first into your portal instead. You distantly heard Dream’s yelp as he dived after you.
You flung out of your portal with great speed and almost stumbled to a vast void. You were yanked back to the solid ground by your scarf. Dream loomed over you, hands on his hips. He seemed somewhat amused.
Then he keeled over and vomited. It looked like Ink-Broomie-taxi nauseated everyone, not just you. But on the bright side, you had already gotten used to the portals.
“It’s okay buddy, you’ll get used to it.” You reassured as he dry heaved. You kept patting his back sympathetically. After some time he finally managed to shakily sit up and look around.
“You really need to control your magic better.” He laughed dryly, “But what is going on in this place?”
Then his eyelights drifted upwards and he went quiet. You didn’t - couldn’t - answer. The sight above the two of you was absolutely breathtaking. It was like you were seeing the Doodlesphere for the first time again.
Millions and millions of stars glittered all over the deep blue sky. The vast, beautiful landscape continued so far that you couldn’t see the end of it. And you probably would never see it. A comet flew past, leaving a glittering trail after it.
You could also see Earth floating near. Your previous home looked so distant in its green and blue glory. You looked back to the stars.
“It’s amazing,” You breathed out, eyes glued to the sky. It was slowly gaining magenta hues.
“Yeah, it is.” Dream had sat down next to you. You managed to rip your eyes from the sky to look at him. You hadn’t seen his eyelights that bright after the whole apple incident. He had a small smile as he gazed on the sky above them.
He was glowing.
You sat down next to him and enjoyed the peace. It was like someone had put a spell over this multiverse. You were glad that you chose Outertale. The Au was magnificent.
— — —
Dream’s stomach growled.
That shook you out of your stupor and you quickly shot up. The paints sloshed up to your skull with the movement but you ignored the weird feeling. You were here to get food.
Dream slowly followed suit as he dusted his clothes before standing up. Both of you looked around. There was a small path trailing away. You didn’t speak as you started to follow it. It somehow felt that it would break the magic Outertale had over it if you did. Absolutely nothing could destroy this joy.
“Why is your skull yellow?” A deep baritone mockingly asked.
You had spoken far too soon.
Dream’s glow dim greatly as Nightmare rose from the shadows and blocked your path. His lone eyelight was focused purely on Dream as he kept getting higher with the help of his tendrils.
“Nightmare?” Dream choked out, sounding like he was just about to get strangled. Nightmare’s sharp smile widened as the darkness around him thickened. You could physically feel the temperature dropping.
“Run!” You screamed as you turned around and booked it. Dream didn’t move so you caught his arm and started to pull him backwards. Two tendrils slammed down right on where he had stood before.
The ground cracked, sending debris and stones flying around. The air was filled with dust. You wordlessly screamed as you avoided black, goopy tentacles that tried to slice you in half.
Dream was yanked from your grasp.
“Dream!” You shouted as you desperately spun around. He was nowhere to be seen.
You really should’ve paid more attention.
Nightmare would’ve never been able to sneak up on you if you only had used your eyes. Now it was too late, his black goop blended far too well with the area while you and Dream stood out like sore thumbs.
Suddenly you were slammed sideways and sent flying. Your head spun as you crashed to the ground. Pain flared in your bones but it was nothing compared to drinking too much paint. You grunted as you struggled to get up.
The tendrils slammed you right back down.
“ Hello there, you dirty little thief.” Nightmare stepped out of the shadows as he lifted you to the air. The tendrils tightened around your neck, almost choking you. His cyan eye twinkled with amusement as he looked at your bruised body.
“H-hi.” Your bones cracked as you were flinged to the ground. You saw stars for a moment.
“ Did you seriously think I wouldn’t know you freed him?” Nightmare completely ignored your greeting as he held you down. He leaned closer to inspect you. You struggled weakly. The tendrils only tightened around you, sending jolts of pain through your body.
“ You see, my Shadow Papyri are very, very efficient.” You were once again lifted to the air, only to meet Nightmare’s scowl. That creature was a Shadow Papyri?
“And now I’m here to get back what’s rightfully mine.” His smirk widened. He looked mad. It sent shivers down your spine. A cyan arrow embedded itself into Nightmare’s body, making him drop you in surprise.
“Leave Ink alone!” Dream shouted as he barreled straight into his brother. The impact sent both of them stumbling.
You hadn't realised just how close the edge had been. Not before you saw howvDream lost his footing and fell backwards. Nightmare easily flung himself away as Dream kept falling.
“Dream!” You flung yourself towards him as you grasped for any kind of leverage. Your hands met soft fabric and you grabbed it with all your might. Dream dangled over the dark unknown, kept up only by you clinging to his leg.
His eyelights were tiny pinpricks as he stared at you in horror.
“I-ink,” his voice sounded so tiny as he breathed quickly, too quickly, “Don’t let go. Please. ”
He didn’t need to ask, you wouldn’t let go. You weren’t about to lose him, even if you had to fight The Void itself. Not Dream , you begged as you adjusted your grip on him.
He was slipping.
Broomie helped you as you slowly managed to pull Dream back to the solid ground. He heaved as you jumped back to your feet and looked for Nightmare. You wouldn’t let him attack now. Why hadn’t he already?
The little hope that Nightmare could secretly be Dadmare was quickly snuffed away as you looked at what was happening behind you.
Nightmare was scowling to a tall, dark skeleton with blue tear marks and error signs. One of his tendrils was quickly regenerating as his opponent glitched.
Light blue strings filled the sky.
The churning inside you made your hands shake as you tried to guide Dream away from the now fighting duo. Emotions filled the empty space and you recognised which one was coming on top - fear.
The Destroyer of the multiverse was here.
Notes:
Yeah, Outertale really wasn't the safest first pick. Dream was about to break the laws of physics just to have an heart attack.
But hey, at least you got to meet new people, just like planned :D
Error belongs to CrayonQueen / LoverOfPiggies
Chapter 6: The Destroyer of the Multiverse
Notes:
I'm not late yet, it's still Sunday!!
Uhh. I will try my best to upload a chapter every week.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“I-i-I t0LD Yo-y0u t0 KEEp Y0ur UglY PAwNS 0ff tHis plaCe!”
You half-carried half-dragged Dream away from the two fighting deities as he slowly recovered from the scare.
“Who… Who is that?” Dream coughed out as he steadied himself back on his feet.
“Error, the Destroyer. My counterpart,” You answered, keeping your eyes on the pair. You had to see how tall Error was.
It seemed like he hadn’t either noticed you or just didn’t care enough. He was currently yelling at Nightmare. The distorted, glitching voice made it hard for you to understand what he was saying.
“ Get out of my way you-” Nightmare’s angry yell was cut off by Error slamming to the ground. Unfortunately he didn’t stay down for long, though. He was right back at his feet, screeching at his opponent. The air grew colder again.
That’s when you saw it. Error and Nightmare had similar heights. Which meant that Error wasn’t a fGod. That guy would have a very noticeable height difference.
So…
“So he’s here to eradicate this Au?” Dream’s question shaked you out of your thoughts. You could already see the workaholic in Dream rise its head. He seemed like he was ready to jump between the two.
You had to act fast. You swooped Dream into your arms again and smiled nervously.
“Let’s not bother them, yeah? They seem to have fun with each other.” With that said, you bolted away as fast as your stubby legs could carry you. Blue strings engrossed into your path but you just jumped over them while trying to hold a struggling Dream.
And this time he really struggled.
“We can’t just leave! What about the people here? They’ll die if we run!” You knew that. You really knew that. And you felt like the scum of The Earth as you continued to run.
But…
You are no match for Error.
Seriously. Even the small glimpse told you enough. He was clearly more used to fighting and had experience. You glanced back. The strings slithered around like predators looking for prey. The distant cursing and loud booms told you the two were still at it.
You would die if you got into a fight with him. You didn’t want to die. Not again.
“Seriously! And the survivors won’t have anyone to help them out!” Dream continued as he managed to free one of his legs.
Now that stopped you dead in your tracks. The people… Had families, right? They would be left all alone if you just escaped. With no one to help them get away. They would be lonely and stuck.
Silent snowfall. Pure white.
That settled it. You would not run away no matter how terrifying it was to finally meet your opposite. You had a job to do even though nobody paid you for it!
Dream took the opportunity to get out of your hold back to his feet. You looked guiltily at him.
“I’m sorry. I- I’m just scared.” What a great excuse, Dream had a murderous twin after him and didn’t even think about running. Dream, in his endless mercy, just gave you a comforting pat on the head. You both turned back to look at the chaos ensuing.
“It is quite alright, Ink. I’ll be here with you and I’ll make sure that no creepy destroyer gets to you.” That probably would’ve been more reassuring if Dream wasn’t sent flying in the next second.
“Wh0 diD y0u CaLL CrEePY?!” Error shouted in enrage as he appeared in the bright sky. Dream dangled helplessly in the air as the Destroyer glared at him.
He looked scarier than you ever could’ve imagined. The crazed glint in his multicolored eyes along with the humming, destructive magic made you want to puke. The air around him just screamed the promise of pain and erasure of existence.
You had to get Dream out of there. You had already failed him once by letting Nightmare close. You didn’t want to see him die because you were stupid and chose Outertale of all places.
Broomie shook in your hands as you drew it. Its bristles were already turning cyan as it drew your emotions in. The drain was uncomfortable, but you trusted that Broomie knew what it was doing.
At least the tremors shaking your whole body were easing. Broomie drew your hands back, then it shot upwards. You tried to help it with all your might.
Your partner launched up like a missile. It cut the strings around Dream cleanly in pieces. You followed as they both then fell down, down down and disappeared.
You didn’t have Broomie anymore. And you had lost Dream.
Shaking like a leaf, you looked up. The crazed eyes met your gaze and Error gave you a vicious snarl. You sweated and gave him a little wave in your panic as you tried to see Dream.
“AnD WH0 are y0U?” The destroyer frowned as he looked you up and down
This was your chance to stall time until you managed to regroup with your teammates. You had to act normal and explain the balance politely. Error could swing into a bloodthirsty rampage in seconds if you pissed him off.
Be polite, be polite, be polite...
“I didn’t think you would win?” Small talk was always good, right? Apparently not. The Destroyer’s expression darkened and you had to dodge blood-red bones slamming down.
“I applaud you for your hard work.” You desperately tried to save the situation by clapping your hands a few times. Your system hammered in your throat as you braced for the next attacks.
“ST0p PlAYinG With me AnD ANSwEr thE dAMN questI0n!” You dived back to avoid the strings sneaking up on you.
Right, he wanted your name. And you had wasted his time by giving out useless compliments. You could see where you made a mistake now, but maybe this was your second chance. You couldn’t mess up again.
“I’m Ink, the protector of the Multiverse.” You answered truthfully, voice quivering. He would find it out sooner or later and it was safer for you to know his reaction. Even though you did not want to be nowhere near him.
Error crossed his arms as his expression schooled into annoyance. He muttered something under his breath. You were pretty sure you heard the words ‘kid’ and ‘murder’ among the glitchy sounds.
“And whAt DO Y0u D0, 0h MIGhtY Pr0tecT0R?” He then asked with a mocking tone.
Here goes nothing.
“My job is to keep the balance of creation! So basically I have to make sure the Au’s are okay and-” The strings gagged you and Error pulled you face to face with him.
Your breathing picked up. You felt dizzy from the fear as you stared at him with wide sockets.
“Y0u’Re iN My WAy, TheN.” He smirked. His breath stunk. It was sweet but stale, a putrid mix. You tried to turn your head away. It wasn’t the best diplomatic solution. You tried your best to mask your fear with an apologetic look as you were spun right back to Error. You even batted your everchanging eyelights at him.
“LeT MeE TeLL you S0methinG. I WANt T0 deStr0Y AlL THesE AN0mAlies In tHIs PlaCE. THesE V3rmins CrAWLing aLL 0VEr th3 PlACe.” Error’s eyelights became fuzzy as he gazed over you. He seemed tired.
“THAt mAkEs ME The Destr0YEr.” The strings tightened but they didn’t hurt like Nightmare’s tendrils had.
Maybe you were delusional from the fear but… Error actually seemed hesitant as he kept glancing around. He just kept you hanging there. It gave the orange paint a boost it desperately needed.
It was bolstered even more by a familiar yellow figure appearing behind Error.
You wriggled your arm out of the threads and ripped the gag away. You had to keep Error’s attention on you.
“Would you like to introduce yourself properly, then?” Your smile was shaky at best as your eyelights trailed on Dream who crept behind Error.
Error contemplated for a moment. He stared down at you with weirdly sad look.
“Well, I guESS THat W0ulD SuffICE.” He then agreed.
You were thrown back in the air before you slammed hard on a stone. Your spine groaned as you slid down to the ground. Dream managed to keep his alarmed shout in by pressing his gloves on his mouth.
Error spread his arms and straightened to his full height. It was impressive, really. He was much taller than you. Just not tall enough to be a gentle giant. You lamented for your life for a little while.
“I aM Err0R, ThE MigHTY DEstr0YER 0f tHe Au’S” What was Dream going? He kept glancing behind himself. You would very much appreciate it if he got you away from Error.
Error glanced to his side but didn’t turn around.
He even let you stagger back to your feet. Your skull was very much informing you about newly formed fractures by throbbing painfully.
Error glanced to his side again. Then he smiled.
“G00dByE, Pr0tect0r!” You raised your arms in front of you in a feeble attempt to shield yourself but the attack never came. Instead you heard a grunt and multiple cracking sounds.
You peeked behind your arms only to see Dream hurrying towards you. He looked very pale, almost ghostly. He wobbled dangerously.
Loud explosions startled you to look on your right. Nightmare flung Error straight into the nearest floating rock and Error pulled him along.
When did Nightmare get here?
Soft thump made you look back at Dream. He had collapsed and lied face down on the ground.
“Dream! What’s wrong?!” You hurried to his side and cradled his skull between your hands. You slowly managed to get him to lay on his back.The sight was not pretty. Dream’s golden magic seeped through his torn clothes. Even it looked pale, like ash.
“I promised to you that I would keep the big bad destroyer away,” Dream laughed weakly and his eyelights went out of focus.
That… Didn’t answer any of your questions. You tried to stop the bleeding but it only came through your thin phalanges. You looked around for Broomie, it would know what to do.
You couldn’t see it.
Okay. Deep breaths. You got this.
“Don’t joke around now! Where does it hurt?” You patted his clothes, trying to find any sign of greater injury.
There were none, only tiny cuts that just kept bleeding. You cursed your limited knowledge. Why did skeletons have to be so different from humans? You couldn’t perform any kind of first aid like this.
Blood seeped on the cold ground
You wailed for Broomie as you carefully gathered Dream in your arms. His skull lolled against your shoulder as you started to move. Every step jostled him no matter how lightly you tried to step. Every twist made him grunt in pain.
And his colors just kept paling.
There was a thunk behind the stone you had crashed. The sound was barely loud enough to carry over the loud yelling and various attacks going off as Nightmare and Error fought.
Your hope soared as you huddled around the stone. Broomie was pulling itself towards you by its still cyan bristles. You hurriedly kneeled down next to it to free one hand. Then it swept all of you back to Doodlesphere.
You held on tightly and this time you actually managed to land on your feet. Dream groaned as you eased your grip on him.
Broomie stood next to Dream and you before clattering to the ground. The cyan bristles faded into black. It seemed like your partner was out of it. And left you to mend Dream all alone.
You panted lightly as you did your best to find the problem again.
Dream had some cracks on his skull alongside the smaller cuts. You still couldn’t find any bigger injuries so where was the problem? These wounds alone couldn’t be the reason for Dream to lose his colors.
Even you wouldn’t bleed out of paints with those. Luckily for you Error and Nightmare hadn’t done that much damage.
Wait… Nightmare?
What had happened after you and Dream got separated? Nightmare had obviously found him again, but what had he done? You gazed at the slowly graying bones peeking under the tattered clothing.
What if…
“Dream, do you need positivity?” You stumbled over the words in your hurry. That could actually explain Dream’s condition.
The guardian didn’t answer at first, he was somewhere far away. Your gentle shaking managed to bring his dim eyelights back to you.
“Did you know your eyelights change? They’re pretty.” Dream slurred out with a tiny giggle. Did he have a concussion or was he dying? Why was he babbling about eyelights?
You hugged him close as he kept slurring.
Dream wouldn’t die. He couldn't! He had trusted you and you had led him straight into the lion's den. Your carelessness had brought this on.
And now you had to your mess.
If your guess was right, Dream needed positivity and quickly. Your vialswouldn't suffice this time. You had already drunk a lot of yellow. Drinking more would leave you incapable of assisting Dream.
Besides, you didn't even have half a vial right now.
You looked around in the Doodlesphere, trying to find something helpful. Something, Anything!-
Then you saw it. You recognised the Au that floated nearby. Dream would surely be helped there, if only you managed to drag him there.
“Sorry. Just bear with me just a little longer.” You pleaded as you nudged Broomie. It gave a very tiny wave, but it was enough to create a portal to the Au. Dream’s eyelights had already vanished as you carried him through the portal.
It spat you with enough force to send you flying . You crashed into a wall and probably jumpscared a certain skeleton with a blue bandanna. At least he looked like it as he clutched his chest like he had just gotten a soul attack. You grinned sheepishly with Dream on your arms. He would surely help you, even with your sudden and brash appearance. He and this place.
Underswap, after all, was always a positive and a safe Au.
Always.
Notes:
Poor Dream is just unlucky.
Chapter Text
“SO HE NEEDS POSITIVE EMOTIONS?” Blue stood over his currently occupied rocket bed.
You nodded furiously as you fussed over your fallen friend, making sure he was fully under the covers and as comfortable as possible. He was still pale, but at least some color was returning.
“IN THAT CASE I, THE MAGNIFICENT SANS, WILL BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE HIM THE MOST PUREST POSITIVITY EVER KNOWN TO MONSTERKIND; FRIENDSHIP TACOS!” Blue announced before he sped out of the room. He was in such a hurry that didn’t even close the door behind him.
You weren’t sure if tacos were the best food for someone so …sick? hurt? injured? as Dream currently was. Especially when he hadn’t had food for a very long time. But it would be better than nothing.
You two needed food. It was a fact. You could hear Dream’s magic gurgle in hunger even now that he was unconscious. You will get him those tacos the moment he wakes up. With that in mind, y ou plopped down on the bed and let out a heavy sigh. The danger had passed and your limbs started to feel heavy. You just wanted to close your sockets and rest.
But you couldn’t. That would leave both you and Dream vulnerable.
So you just laid next to Dream and listened to his quiet breathing. It was soothing, the little puffs told you that he was alive. That he was still here, with you.
You hadn’t failed him.
It had been too close for comfort. But… It was no use to dwell on it forever. Dream would be fine and wake up. Then he could get actual food and meet Blue. You were sure Dream would like Blue.
Speaking of which… You could hear Blue trash the kitchen downstairs for his tacos. You hoped that he was one of the Swaps that knew how to cook. At least good enough to not outright poison you. He luckily had taken your sudden appearance with stride. He was just as described; a happy-go-lucky skeleton willing to help. A guy with a good soul that let two strangers right into his home. Even let one sleep on his bed.
He was a little loud, but you had gotten used to it. The loud way of speaking fascinated you. He was so… full of life and the positivity just seemed to ooze out of him. He felt trustworthy even when you didn’t have Dream’s empathic abilities. So you let yourself relax and actually feel. Your body ached and your newly treated skull throbbed. The sheets felt soft under you. You slowly ran your phalanges on it and just felt the surface. Your sockets felt so heavy.
“INK? WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME DOWNSTAIRS?” You bolted up and wildly looked around. Blue smiled at you. You just couldn’t say no to him, so you gave him a hesitant nod. He beamed and sped away again.
You stared at where he had been before slowly turning back to Dream. You couldn’t leave him all alone, your conscience wouldn’t allow it.
Luckily, you had a solution.
You gently laid Broomie next to Dream under the covers. This way your partner could properly rest and protect Dream. A win-win situation. You felt exposed without it but Dream was the bedridden one, not you. He needed all the extra safety he could get. And he wouldn’t wake up alone.
“Take care of him, okay?” You whispered to Broomie. It gave you a sleepy nod of affirmation.
So you wandered out of the room and made your way downstairs.
Nobody was in the living room as you curiously poked on the TV. It was so familiar but still so odd. It had many buttons you didn’t recognize. You had no idea of what they were for.
You decided to leave it before it exploded or something. You followed the scent wafting through the air instead. It came from the kitchen.
“OH! YOU CAME!” Blue greeted you enthusiastically while standing on the countertop. He was too short to use the sink like a normal being. Or maybe the sink was just too tall. That was probably the case.
“EXCELLENT TIMING, THE TACOS ARE JUST FINISHED. YOUR FRIEND HASN'T WOKEN FROM HIS SLUMBER YET?” He easily jumped down before striking a heroic pose.
He, too, was taller than you. Seriously, why was Ink so short? You weren’t used to looking up to everyone. It hurt your neck.
“Nope, he’s still out cold. But his condition has improved greatly thanks to you.” Blue brightened up even more than before. He then motioned you to take a seat on the table.
“I’M HAPPY TO HELP. BUT PLEASE NOTE THAT WAS IT NOT FOR YOU, HE WOULD’VE NEVER REACHED ME.” Blue patted you on the back as he handed you a taco.
“SO PLEASE GIVE YOURSELF SOME CREDIT AND REST. YOUR FRIEND WILL BE ALRIGHT.”
How did he choose just the right words?
You glared down on your friendship taco as stubborn tears welled up on your sockets. You didn’t want to cry like a little kid. Not now, not in front of Blue,who definitely wasn’t looking concerned.
He sighed before pulling you into a side hug.
That was it. You couldn’t stop the traitorous magic anymore as it stained your face. The paints swelled into a large, uncomfortable mass of hurt.
“I - hic - thought he was gonna die,” You hysterically bawled your eyes out. The agonizing fear, worry and relief all crashed onto you. Blue’s kind words were the last straw that finally tipped the scale.
“SHH. SHH. IT’S ALRIGHT, HE’S NOT DEAD. IT’S OKAY.” Blue’s grip on you tightened a little before he leaned his skull on yours.
“B-but I failed h-him! It was s-supposed to be safe,” You continued to cry. Your heart was completely exposed l to a stranger. A familiar stranger, yeah, but still.
“NO YOU DIDN'T. HE’S HERE AND HE’S ALIVE. THAT’S WHAT MATTERS.” Blue shushed you again. He was seemingly uncaring of the wet spots growing on his shirt.
“A-And he ju-just got out of the stone too, it was h-his first time out.” You babbled out between the hiccups.
“WHAT.”
“I just w-wanted to get him fo-food.”
“...WE’LL HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS LATER.”
You didn’t have the strength to converse anymore so you just silently wept. Blue kept hugging you until your crying was reduced to random hiccuping and sniffling. You felt very tired and embarrassed.
In order to escape the awkward situation you took a large bite from the taco.
It was very… solid. Like, you could bite it! And rip chunks out of it! The glitter got stuck to your teeth as the taco crunched. The taste was… indescribable. Your magic roiled dangerously.
You suddenly felt nauseous but you couldn’t let it show, not with those blue and orange eyelights watching you.
Wait…?
Your neck cracked from the speed you turned your head. A tall skeleton stood at the doorway with one eye flaming orange. His expression was dark as he raised his hand.
Blue was flung away from you as blue bones pierced straight through you. The half-eaten taco fell from your frozen phalanges and splattered on the floor. Never ever in your new dear short life had anyone looked at you that way. Not even Nightmare.
If looks could kill, you would’ve died a bazillion times. That's how bloodthirsty Stretch looked.
“w h o a r e y o u ?” Your nonexistent gut screamed at the cold voice. You were frozen, impaled by the blazing eyelight that met your shaky eyelights.
You were saved by a quite annoyed looking Blue. He shoved Stretch harshly, dissipating the bones in the process.
“PAPYRUS, WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS?” He asked as he stared his brother down, “YOU CANNOT ATTACK OUR QUESTS, THAT’S JUST PLAIN RUDE.”
The look of disappointment he gave made you cover in your seat. You hoped they didn’t notice as you slipped under the table to scramble away. YOu didn’t want to face anyone that disappointed. Or angry. Unfortunately, Blue easily snatched you from the scruff of your neck and pulled you back. He slightly dangled you in the air.
“YOU COULD’VE HURT HIM. JUST LOOK AT HOW SCARED YOU MADE HIM.” Blue sneered. He then gave you a gentler look.
Stretch muttered something but sighed when Blue gave him a look .
“sorry bro. just didn’t want you to get kidnapped again.” He didn’t look that remorseful.
Wait what? You looked at Blue who pinched his nose canal.
“IT WAS ONE TIME, STRETCH. ONE TIME . BESIDES INK ISN’T SOMEONE WHO WOULD KIDNAP ME.” He gently set you back on the ground.
You tried to figure out what they were talking about. There was something you had missed. A crucial piece of information.
“i don’t know. you could get carried away again.” Blue groaned loudly. You felt like you had just missed something again. For the first time, you checked your scarf for any meaningful messages. Unfortunately there were no memos about Blue being kidnapped.
“LEAVE HIM BE.”
“So uhh… kidnapping?” You stared at Stretch, hoping that he would tell you. He only gave you a suspicious look. You put your hands up in surrender. You were totally harmless.
Especially without Broomie.
Blue occupied himself by cleaning the mess on the floor. He looked a lot calmer now that his brother wasn’t trying to maim his guest anymore. He then pulled his phone out, tapped it a while before shaking his head and putting it back.
Then he pulled you into a side-hug again.
“PAPYRUS, THIS IS INK, THE PROTECTOR OF THE MULTIVERSE. HE Error’s OPPOSITE SO YOU SHOULDN'T BE AFRAID.” Blue tried to whisper Error’s name but it wasn’t very quiet. He suddenly seemed nervous as he recalled his words.
So that was what it was.
“Error kidnapped you!” You snapped your fingers, feeling very proud of yourself. Your memory was still working.
Error had kidnapped Blue and brought him into the antivoid. Blue somehow convinced Error to let him go back. Stretch hated Error fiercely after that. Or something like that. Blue and Stretch shared a look.
Blue sweated.
“YEAH, BUT-” Blue’s answer was cut off by a slight rustle from upstairs.
You instantly hurried back into Blue’s room. Dream looked very confused as he examined the rocket bed. His golden eyelights locked onto you. You were glad to see that they were bright again.
“Ink? What is this place?” He asked with a quiet voice. You stood frozen for a moment before you all but dived at him.
“Dream! I’m so sorry! IthoughtyoudiedforrealandIwassoscared!” You clung to the positive guardian like a lifeline. He patted you on the back while he tried to figure out what was happening.
The tears threatened to fall again.
“Ink, I can’t breathe,” Dream wheezed as he tapped your back. You abruptly let him go and backed up. “Thank you.”
A faint thump made you look around. Stretch and Blue appeared in the room. Both of them looked amused by your dramatics. Dream looked wary as he stared at the newcomers.
You wanted to make him feel safer.
“Dream, these are Blue and Stretch!” You gestured wildly to the skeleton brothers. Introducing them would surely lessen the tension.
Or not.
Stretch’s expression turned stony. And it was Blue’s turn to be confused.
“DID WE-” “how do you know those names?” Stretch cut Blue off. His orange eyelight was back as it drilled into you.
Oh. OH . You had done it again. They hadn’t introduced themselves with their ‘multiversal’ names yet. But they seemed familiar with the names. How- Dream nudged you slightly.
“Ink often knows things because of his status as a protector. He also knew my name from the get go.” Dream smoothly explained. You nodded frantically alongside him. He had just saved your metaphorical skin.
Blue seemed content with that answer. Stretch schooled his expression down.
“HE DID EXPLAIN SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHILE HE PANICKED OVER YOU. WE WERE JUST SURPRISED FOR SOMEONE TO KNOW OUR NICKNAMES.”
Dream smiled. You could see that he was nervous behind his mask. You wondered about what he was thinking. Hopefully he trusted you enough to know that you wouldn't’ spill all his secrets to strangers. Even though he really didn’t have secrets.
“INK WAS CORRECT, THOUGH. I AM THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE AND THIS IS MY COOL BROTHER STRETCH. IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU, DREAM!” Blue extended his hand to Dream who took it. You felt sorry for him as you watched Blue almost shake his hand off. Dream took it in stride, though. You could see his golden glow grow stronger the more he was around Blue.
“I STILL DO HAVE ONE QUESTION. HOW OLD ARE YOU BOTH?”
You froze. Dream froze. You shared a panicked look.
Your magic made a fun little spin before you promptly threw up.
Notes:
*A Wild Blue Appeared.*
*He used [Responsible adult]
...
*It was super effective.*
Chapter 8: Stars
Notes:
Thank you all so much for the kudos and the comments! They really made my day all week long<3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The stale magic tasted horrendous as you puked out a half-eaten taco. The half that hadn’t gotten thrown into a trashcan.
The floor was covered in rainbow magic as you retched again. Your throat burned and your stomach hurt. You felt sweat roll down your skull as you tried to keep the magic in.
“Ink!” Dream bolted up.
But before he could do anything, a pair of strong hands picked you up. The world spun rapidly before you found yourself face to face with a toilet. You released the rest of your upset magic into it. Blue gave you a pat on the back before he went away. You started to feel considerably better so you decided to follow after him.
After you got the vomit out of your clothes. Luckily the material seemed to be resistant to the colors. Your vicious rubbing got the stains off pretty easily. Sure, you were wet now but it was better than before.
“HERE.” You jumped out of your metaphorical skin as a glass of water was thrust into your field of vision. Then you took it.
The cool water was like a balm to your burning throat. Your upset magic settled down as you emptied the glass. Blue smiled down at you as he exited again. This time you followed.
“DON’T WORRY. I CLEANED THE MESS UPSTAIRS.” HE grinned over his shoulder. You smiled back a little ashamed. You hadn’t even thought about the room.
Dream was already sitting at the table smiling nervously when you entered the kitchen again.He brightened up when he saw you. It was nice to see him better. You triple checked that he didn’t have visible injuries. Just to make sure.
Stretch lounged back on his stool next to Dream. He looked very relaxed for someone who had two strangers in his home. Especially when he had attacked you earlier.
You shivered.
It definitely seemed to help that Dream was the guardian of positivity. Talk about judging the book by its name. Or was it the text? Cover?
Anyway. He was a lot calmer now which was a very good thing. It didn’t look like he was wary of you anymore. You were very happy that he didn’t look like he was contemplating a murder anymore.
He had to be one of the overprotective ones. Blue had told him off several times and he still was hostile.
You stole a pencil and noted it down with the additional information. You should probably look after Blue. Y’know, just in case this Stretch decides to go on all protect Blue from everyone and everything -mode.
Which wasn’t likely but… Anything could happen.
You liked Blue already, he was kind and energetic but you got the feeling that he wasn’t too happy with getting mothered. He was more like the mothering type. You would make sure that your new friend got the freedom he wanted.
Just -if- Stretch wasn’t a good guy. Maybe you were judging him a little harshly but he started it.
You and Blue sat down on the other side of the table. Blue put a batch of tacos in front of Dream. He then snorted as Dream practically dove at them. He was scarfing down taco after taco. Poor guy was choking on them but still wouldn’t stop. He had really been hungry.
Blue seemed worried and you were too, but Dream wouldn’t die to a taco after Nightmare and Error. At least you hoped so.
“SO. HOW OLD ARE YOU?” Blue decided to ask after Dream decimated his last victim. You couldn’t understand how on Earth he could stomach them. They were so… You decided against finishing that thought.
Dream got a coughing fit.
You sweated as you tried to count how long you had been sitting back there. You were pretty sure it hadn’t been years so… Uhh… You were over eighteen, that’s for sure.
“I’m an adult.” You told them.
“sure,” Stretch snorted. He then suddenly looked grim as he looked at you.
“I’m serious. I just don’t know how long I was stuck-” You cut yourself off when the brothers gave you a look.
Stretch grimaced before turning to Dream.
“and you? babybones as well?”
Dream got an even worse coughing fit.
“DREAM, ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO SOMETHING?” Blue asked worriedly as he hovered over Dream.
“Maybe he likes glitter as much as ink in his food.” You answered in Dream’s stead as you climbed up to the high faucet. You filled your glass and handed it to Dream.
“ink?”
“INK?”
Blue and Stretch inquired, leaning over the table. They looked very intrigued.
“Yeah. I tried to make him coffee.” You explained, “Most of it ended up evaporated.”
You snickered at Dream’s horrified expression. You shouldn’t but it really was too funny to see him like that.
“coffee? why would there be ink in the coffee?” Stretch seemed to catch on slowly, “c’mon, spill the beans. ”
“DON’T YOU DARE TO START!” Blue’s screech made you and Dream jump by the sheer volume.
“c’mon bro, you’re smiling.” Stretch had to duck to avoid Blue’s wrath. You giggled while watching them. Dream was smiling too, this was good for his health.
“I AM AND I HATE IT. “ Blue then quickly turned back to Dream. Stretch took the hint and stayed quiet even though you could see him wanting to continue. Luckily he was merciful and spared you all from Blue’s rage.
“I’m uhh… Around six hundred years old, give or take. At least that’s how long I was stuck in the stone.” Dream finally managed to answer.
Your jaw dropped. And you weren’t the only one.
“What?! Shouldn’t you be around 500?!” You yelled as you slammed your hands down on the table.
“600?”
“I THINK WE NEED TO BACKTRACK A LITTLE BIT.”
Blue gave everyone a taco. You couldn’t stop staring at Dream in disbelief. He was a hundred years older than he should be. What was going on? Dream himself stuffed the taco fully into his mouth as he avoided looking at you.
You hesitantly looked down at your own taco. It didn’t look any more appealing than the last time but you didn’t want to waste food. So you blocked your nose canal and took a nibble from the taco.
The solid feeling hit your magic like a punch to the gut. You gagged the taco out immediately. Your magic kept rolling angrily. You took shallow breaths to keep it in. There were three sets of eyelights on you when you finally managed to straighten up again.
“that ain’t normal.” Stretch helpfully chimed in as he stared at you. He then snatched your taco and munched it. “the problem isn’t in the taco at least. the intent’s amazing as always, bro.”
Blue looked worried.
Dream jumped out of his stool and rushed to you. His hands lit up in a soothing golden glow. You were enamoured by the pretty swirls. Dream looked frustrated as the glow died down.
Then his eyelights widened as he looked down at you. You followed his gaze down to the vials. …What? What about the vials? You glanced down again as Dream triumphantly turned to face Blue.
Well, Dream already knew that you drank paint. There was no harm in the Underswap duo seeing it too. You were good as long as they didn’t know why.
“I am not allergic, but Ink might be.”
“Huh?”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” Blue questioned.
“Ink, your fridge was full of liquids. The only solid food there were the coffee beans.” Dream explained to you before turning back to the brothers.
Stretch sat up straight as he connected the dots. You did too, a little slower. No . It couldn’t be true. You refused to believe it. You had waited to have solid foods for so long.
“here.” Stretch gave you a lollipop.
Everyone stared intently at you as you took a small bite out of it. The hard chunk in your mouth made your magic throw it right back out. Through your nose canal. You were breathing funnily again.
“yep. allergic to solid food.”
“No! I can eat normally!” You yelled as you tried to take another bite out of the lollipod again. Blue snatched it before you could.
“YOU’LL JUST GET SICK AGAIN.” He explained as he dug out a blender. “I BELIEVE WE HAVE HAD A BREAK LONG ENOUGH. WE CAN CONTINUE OUR PREVIOUS DISCUSSION NOW.”
Dream ducked down as he returned back to his seat.
“SO ONE OF YOU IS VERY YOUNG. AND THE OTHER ONE IS OLD BUT STUCK IN A STONE FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. DID I GET THAT RIGHT?” Blue questioned as he put a taco in the blender.
You nodded in sync with Dream. Then you immediately shook your head. You weren’t very young.
“SO NEITHER ONE OF YOU REALLY HAVE EXPERIENCED LIFE.” Blue concluded as he blended the taco.
“Even though I got free just a day before Dream I still have experience!” You shouted over the noise.
“Um. I - I was semi-conscious when I was a statue.” Dream softly interjected too. You almost didn’t hear him over the blender’s loud whirring. You winced. You had had it bad with the whole dead-and-stuck-in-white-prison-thing, but at least you had been able to move.
Dream had been stuck in the same position for over five hundred years. No wonder he was crying. But why was he stuck in there longer than usual?
“... EXCUSE ME FOR A MOMENT. I NEED TO MAKE A CALL.” Blue handed you a cup of wet, blended tacos. It was like soup. He then excused himself as he held his phone to his ear canal. You could hear staticy voice on the other side before he disappeared.
To be honest, the soup didn’t look any more appealing than the solid taco. But at least it didn’t have any chunks in it. You hesitantly sipped it.
It was…good? The taste was familiar and comforting. Your magic didn’t instantly reject the food like before. You could now taste the fresh salad and tomatoes when the feelings weren’t overpowering your senses.
You quietly sipped the warm soup. Dream smiled brightly as he watched you. The electronics hummed.
“so. ink eats ink. are you, like, a cannibal?” Stretch’s question cut through the comfortable silence.
“Am not.” You immediately denied. You weren’t a cannibal, you didn’t eat your own people! Wait. You were Ink and you ate ink.
“...Am I a cannibal?”
Stretch started to chuckle deeply before he laughed his ass off. Tears were forming in the corners of his sockets .
“Ink is not a cannibal.” Dream gave Stretch a stern look, “Don’t listen to him.” He then told you.
Before you could dive deeper to the rabbit hole of your cannibalism, Blue entered the kitchen again and cleared his… throat?
“I HAVE GATHERED THAT YOU PROTECT THE MULTIVERSE.” He started, “I -THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE- HAVE DECIDED THAT I WANT TO HELP YOU.”
Stretch jumped up, knocking his stool back in the process. Dream flinched as he marched past him.
“bro, you can’t! it’s gonna be dangerous” He pleaded as he stared down at his brother. “besides, you cannot just decide that on your own.”
Blue seemed to ponder about that statement before he turned to you and Dream. You could practically hear the silent question.
“Uhh… I don’t think that’s the best idea…” You finally answered. You didn’t want to put level 1 Blue against people who had their LV off the charts. No matter how much you wanted him along.
You didn’t want to see him hurt. Yes, he usually joined but still… He was strong but not as strong as the threats running around the multiverse. You couldn’t risk your new friend like that. You couldn’t be selfish and put his life to risk. Blue made you feel safe and cared for. You wouldn’t pay him back by throwing him to the wolves. Especially when you had seen Nightmare and Error. They were both vicious on their own rights. ‘
They would have no mercy.
“WHY NOT? I WANT TO HELP.” Blue’s eyelights started to glimmer as he gave you a pleading look. You blinked before looking at Dream for help.
He was suddenly very interested in his glass of water.
“you heard them,” Stretch gave you a grin which was much warmer this time.
“AT LEAST TELL ME WHY NOT.” Blue demanded as he crossed his arms.
You rubbed the back of your neck as you tried to think of a way to let Blue down gently.
“So… You got already kidnapped once, right? That could happen again and the consequences would be far more dangerous this time.” You chuckled nervously as you racked your memories, “It’ll be dangerous. You will get hurt.”
“YOU CAN GET HURT TOO.” The determination in Blue’s eyelights just increased tenfold.
“Yeah, but we heal faster… I think?” You smiled helplessly.
“IF THAT WAS THE CASE YOU WOULDN’T BE HERE.” Blue pointedly looked at Dream, “BESIDES, A …FRIEND OF MINE TAUGHT ME TO DEAL WITH THE OUTCODES.”
That was actually quite a convincing argument. You couldn’t provide the positive emotions Dream needed. The previous incident was bound to be a reappearing one if you didn’t allow Blue to join. And if he could handle himself against outcodes… He would be far better than you at least.
Blue grinned like a cat that had gotten the cream as soon as he saw your hesitant expression. The sly fox knew he had won.
“SO YOU DO NEED ME.” He turned to Dream after having bested you.
“DREAM?” Now everyone's attention was on Dream. He avoided looking at them as he twirled the water. You didn’t like how uncomfortable he looked.
“I… I have no obligations.” He finally said with a tiny voice, making Blue cheer and Stretch groan.
“ok, that’s it. bro, i wanna talk.” Stretch grabbed Blue’s arm and teleported them away. It was weird to see them disappear into thin air. You didn’t hear them landing anywhere in the house.
A heavy sigh snapped your attention back to Dream.
“Dream, what is it? Are you hurting somewhere?” You questioned as you got up and pulled Dream into a side hug. It had felt comforting when Blue hugged you so it should help Dream too. At least you hoped so.
“No, it’s just… just,” Dream wringed his gloves. You hugged a little bit tighter. He answered your awkward hug but kept his head down.
“Do you not want Blue to join? If that’s the case I’ll-”
“No, it’s not that. “ Dream intervened, looking straight into your eyelights.
“I just don’t want to sever their bond, Ink.” His voice trembled, “Stretch doesn’t want him to join, I don’t want to be the one to drive them apart.”
Now you understood what this was about, You twisted around and gave Dream a full-body hug.
“This won’t be like what happened with you and Nightmare,” You promised as you pat Dream’s skull. His breath hitched.
“Besides, I’m sure that your brother will come around,” You actually weren't sure but you would do your best to ensure it. Even if you had to drag the king of Nightmares to therapy yourself.
Dream chuckled to your shoulder before he let go. You took the hint and sat back to your place. Just in time. Blue and Stretch appeared back into the kitchen startling the both of you. They were now smiling.
“Did you manage to talk things through?” You asked. The skeleton brothers nodded.
“WE DID. I WILL JOIN YOU, IF YOU ACCEPT ME.”
You and Dream shared a look.
“Only if you promise to stay out of the battles and keep yourself safe.” You sternly told him. That got a chuckle out of both Blue and Stretch. But they didn’t deny your request.
You beamed and could feel your eyelights changing shape. You were overjoyed, you really had hoped for this outcome. Even if it was selfish. Dream’s smile had returned, too.
“Welcome to the team, Blue!” You cheered as you jumped to shake his hands.
“Yes, it’s great to have you with us.” Dream joined your hand-holding session.
“THANK YOU! I’M HAPPY TO JOIN!”
“that’s great bro, but what’s the name of your team?”
— — —
Stretch’s seemingly innocent question set out a long, long brainstorm session.
Dream and Blue sat on the cough, latter leaning his head on his hands. They were muttering names under their breaths. You tried to think too, but you were quite sure that ‘hyperheroes’ or ‘musketeers’ would not be accepted.
Something kept nagging in the back of your skull. You knew there was a good name, it was just on the tip of your tongue. You just couldn’t remember what it was and it was driving you crazy.
“having any luck?” Stretch asked from his spot on the floor. The groans he got in return made him chuckle.
“you’re thinking too hard about this. why not take something simple and effective?” He popped a sucker into his mouth, “like something that would bring hope and joy. think about the monsters here, for example. we dream of seeing the sun, which is a simple but yet so big dream.”
That… Was actually some good advice.
It also kicked your stupid memory into working. Now you could remember what a team including Ink, Blue and Dream was called in your human life. The legendary, yet quite innocent name.
“Guys! Could we be the Star Sanses? Stars give so much hope to people..” You suggested. You were sure that they would accept and …they didn’t let you down.
“Ink, that’s genius!”
“INDEED”
“Then it’s settled. The Stars shall we be!”
Notes:
This chapter fought me from start to finish :D
Dream refused to tell his actual age.
Blue kept mothering Dream and Ink and he wouldn't stop.
Ink couldn't stop vomiting.
Stretch did not want to be nice.Also, if somebody is wondering, Blue convinced Stretch by pointing out how inexperienced Ink and Dream are. They needed supervision and Stretch knew that too. He also *apologised* to ink -you-we???- by giving the lollipop.
Underswap belongs to Popcornpr1nce.
Error belongs to CrayonQueen.
Chapter 9: Teams and discussions
Notes:
Let's go! I finally managed to write this monstrosity of a chapter >:D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“-AND REMEMBER TO PICK UP YOUR SOCK.” Blue finally finished his long, long tirade. Stretch just lazily waved his hand in agreement.
“just keep your eyesockets open for the viruses, bro.”
“OF COURSE.” Blue turned to you and Dream and picked up his suitcase. You let out a relieved sigh.
“ONE LAST THING.” Blue turned back again, “INFORM ME IMMEDIATELY IF MY MISSING BREAKS THE CODES.”
“sure thing.”
“AND-”
Broomie quickly opened the portal to stop another incoming lecture from Blue. Your partner was back on its yanking behaviour with a good, earned rest. You were happy to see it so energetic again.
And happy that it saved you all from Blue.
You and Dream hesitated to enter but Blue luckily didn’t have such limitations. He marched in easily, without an ounce of fear of getting flung around like a ragdoll.
You shared a look with Dream before you steeled yourself and dived after. Dream was right behind you, you could feel the heat he emitted.
You couldn’t see Blue when you were spat out to your home island.
“IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL.”
Blue was staring at the golden sky from where he was barely hanging on. He didn’t make a move to help himself up. You let out a strangled shout as you hurried to pull him up. You didn’t know what would happen if someone fell off the islands.
That shook Blue out of his stupor and he easily pulled himself back up.
“PLEASE DO NOT THAT AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO BE AROUND HEIGHTS. ” He then sheepishly told you, “I JUST HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE.”
You and Dream just nodded in agreement. Neither one of you were eager to be around any kind of ledges after what almost had happened to Dream. Nope, you were good with solid ground under your feet.
Speaking of which…
“WHAT ARE ALL THESE ISLANDS?” Blue then asked as he looked around.
“They’re Au’s, the worlds where every life resides.” You answered, while pulling Blue further away from the ledge. Dream listened intently but he didn’t say anything.
Blue gave you a quizzical look.
“...WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT IS A PLACE FULL OF WHITE?”
Blood. Death.
Lifeless husks.
A call for help.
Nobody came. Nobody. nobody. nobodynobodynobodycame
You couldn’t breathe. You couldn't breathe-
“Ink?” Dream’s distant ringed all around you. You gulped the air like a starving man.
Something soft pressed against your bones. Your hands were locked around you as you kept hugging yourself. A quick, weak rasping sound echoed around you.
“Ink.” Dream called out again. That’s when you noticed longer, warmer hands around you. Dream was holding you gently as your bones rattled.
He, the softness and colors surrounding you helped you calm down slowly. You were back home. You weren’t there. Broomie, Dream and Blue were around. You weren’t alone, there were other living beings.
“Broomie?” You asked weakly. It gave you a soft nudge against your shoulder blade.
Blue stepped silently into the living room and sat next to you and Dream. The sofa sank a little bit, making you slide. You didn’t complain, it only let you be closer to Blue, whose whole being thrummed with safety.
“I APOLOGISE, I SHOULD'VE KNOWN TO NOT ASK THAT.”
He was loud. He was there. He was alive.
You couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t done anything wrong. You yourself hadn’t known that you had gotten PTSD from sitting in a white place full of corpses for nobody knows how long.
“It’s okay, you couldn’t have known.” You smiled weakly. Blue’s expression crumbled.
“Do you like this place?” You hastily asked in an attempt to derail the conversation. If you didn’t, he would most likely feel bad forever and blame himself.
“Yeah, have you seen the kitchen yet?” Dream asked, “It has a magical cold-closet that keeps the ink fresh.” His face was flushed with yellow as he expectantly waited for Blue’s answer.
“THE FRIDGE IS VERY COOL, YES,” Blue patted Dream’s skull, “ BUT THE KITCHEN IS LACKING KITCHENWARE. I COULD NOT FIND ANY KNIVES OR EVEN A FRYING PAN.”
They both stared at you. You grinned anxiously in return.
“About that… I think we do not have any. Just some utensils and the coffee maker.” A coffee maker that didn’t even work. You had tried and tried again when you attempted to make coffee before.
“...AT LEAST I KNOW NOW WHY DREAM WAS SO HUNGRY,” Blue mused, “AND YOUR SUSTENANCE ISN’T VERY NUTRITIOUS.” He continued muttering.
You and Dream shared a look. Dream just shrugged his shoulders.
“ME AND DREAM NEED MORE SOLID FOOD,” Blue pulled out a pad and scribbled something on it, “ALSO, WHERE IS THE VACUUM CLEANER?”
Uh.
You hadn’t seen one. Well, you hadn’t even looked for it. But that was purely because you had lived there for like two days. You looked around. It actually wasn’t that dirty at all. Why would Blue need a vacuum cleaner?
“There …isn’t any?” You answered nervously.
Blue froze.
“THERE… ISN’T A VACUUM CLEANER?” His voice was strangled.
You shook your head.
“Excuse me for asking, but what is a vacuum cleaner?” Dream questioned.
Now it was his turn to receive dumbfounded stares. He stared back with innocent eyelights. Of course. You facepalmed. He had been living under a tree and then as a literal rock. In medieval ages.
Blue took a deep breath.
“WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO TAKE ME BACK TO UNDERSWAP?” You froze. Would Blue leave because you didn’t have sufficient cleaning supplies?
Would he declare that he wouldn't want to be part of the Stars anymore?
But if he didn’t want to stay, who were you to hold him there?
“Okay.” You pulled Broomie out and it prepared itself for opening the portal.
“Wait!” Dream interjected. “Please let me teleport there.” He then pleaded. You couldn’t and didn’t want to say no. For what reason would you refuse? It would give Broomie a break too.
Dream smiled in relief as you nodded before extending his hand and concentrating.
A glowing yellow portal appeared in the living room. You could feel the warmth it radiated, it was like basking in the sun after long hours of darkness. Or like the first breath of spring after a cold winter.
It felt… Like a safe home.
You wanted to stay near it forever but Blue already marched in. You at least wanted to say goodbye to him face to face so you hurried after.
The portal felt as comfortable as it had looked like. The magic wrapped around you like a fluffy blanket. It made your paints felt lighter than before and eased the ache in your chest. You hadn’t even realised it was there.
Then you were gently placed on the other side. The cold reality crashed back on you like a bucket of cold water as you stood back in the living room of the skeleton brothers.
“YOU HAVEN’T PICKED UP YOUR SOCK.” Blue stated. It wasn’t a question, it was more like tired acceptance.
Stretch snorted awake from the sofa.
“back so soon bro? the multiverse is saved already?” He mumbled with a sleep-induced voice.
“IT UNFORTUNATELY ISN’T. WE CAME HERE TO DO SOME SHOPPING AND YOU’RE COMING WITH US.” Blue easily lifted Stretch up and held him under his arm.
“JUST FOLLOW ME.” He then advised you and Dream over his shoulder.
So you followed Blue to the nearest shop, where he cleaned the shelves with practiced motions. He got all of the discounted cleaning supplies and a massive amount of food. Then he asked you if you had a washing machine.
…No. You did not have a washing machine. Nor spare clothes or spare practically anything.
“I DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO FULLY EQUIP THE HOUSE. BUT WORRY NOT! I, THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE, ALREADY HAVE A SOLUTION!” Blue knocked over the nearest pile of canned goods. You and Dream dived to catch them but multiple bones shot up from the floor and stopped the avalanche.
“WE CAN USE THE MACHINES IN MY AND PAPYRUS’S HOME. AND MY FRIEND CAN HELP US WITH THE CLOTHING ISSUE! HE IS VERY GOOD AT MAKING CLOTHES.” Blue then continued as he pulled his phone out and sent a quick text. He waved his hand a little and the bones dissipated.
“amazing, bro.” Stretch lazily nodded along. You noticed that his expression wasn’t as laidback as before.
With that, the brothers paid for the items. The cashier kept staring at you and Dream like you were ghosts or something. Which was rude, because there were actual ghosts around and Dream didn’t like to be stared at.
You were just happy to see more people.
So when you walked back to their home, you watched all the monsters wandering around. Some of them gave you odd looks but quickly continued on their way as Stretch gave them a friendly grin.
“Did we do something wrong?” Dream asked, his expression tight.
“NO. SOME PEOPLE JUST DON’T WANT TO SEE THE BEST IN EVERYONE.” Blue answered with an odd level tone. His gaze was distant.
“mmm. they’re afraid of the viruses outcodes might bring.” Stretch added.
Viruses? Outcodes? Did these people know you and Dream did not belong there? What was happening?”
“What viru-”
Dream suddenly opened a portal and rushed away. Blue immediately transferred his purchases to Stretch and ran after him.
“INK, TAKE STRETCH TO THE DOODLESPHERE AND PUT THE THINGS ON PLACE. MY BROTHER IS CLEARLY NOT RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH TO LOOK AFTER HIMSELF.” He yelled over his shoulder before disappearing,
The portal closed before you could do anything.
“huh. i take it that he doesn’t like feeling like a danger. that expression…” Stretch mused from where he was buried under mops and soaps. He then glanced at you. “don’t worry, my bro will keep him safe.”
You stood frozen next to the tall skeleton. What had just happened? Where had Dream and Blue gone? Your paints rumbled in worry. You had to find them.
“hey, it’s okay. blue’s with him.” A lollipop was pushed to your face. You didn’t know how Stretch managed to do it from under all those things. You didn’t take it and he just popped it in his own mouth, “so just relax and get us to where blue asked.”
Stretch had been scary. He was tall and angry when you first saw him. He felt like he could explode at any moment even though he acted lazy. But right now he felt like you could depend on him.
So you and Broomie took Stretch to Doodlesphere.
Where he immediately laid on the sofa and disappeared under the items. You could hear distant snoring. White z’s floated in your view. Had he… really gone to sleep?
So much for an dependable adult.
But you were an adult yourself so you would manage. You had to do something or you would go crazy. Where was Dream? Why had he gone off? Why had he abandoned you? Would he ever come back?
So you dug Stretch out from under the items bit by bit and put them in their places. The fresh salads, eggs, milk and greens went to the fridge. You gulped some ink down just to ease the empty feeling.
The mop and the bucket of different soaps and cleaning agents went to the toilet upstairs. You left the vacuum in the kitchen with the dish soap. Then came the cans of preserved food that Blue had insisted on getting. Flour and sugar followed.
It was quiet as you worked. Almost too quiet. The electronic humming or the sound of your bones clacking couldn’t ease the sense of foreboding. Or loneliness. You rubbed your clothes in an attempt to make more noise. The soft rustling helped only for a moment.
So you sat on the floor near Stretch when you had finished un-burying him. The quiet even sound of breathing eased you. Somebody was there. You weren’t alone. You rested your skull on your knees and shut your sockets.
The soft breathing continued. Stretch was alive. You were alive.
Deep, slow breaths. You hugged yourself.
— — —
Soft humming startled you as warmth flooded over you. You sprung up just in time to see Dream and Blue exit the portal. Your vision was blurred as you desperately reached out to them. Hot warmth surrounded you as Dream hugged you.
“Oh Ink, I’m sorry,” Dream muttered, “I just didn’t want to be the reason the virus got in.” His voice wobbled slightly.
“After all, that’s how Neil…” His voice cracked and faded away.
Strong arms wound around you both as Blue joined in.
“LIKE I TOLD HIM, I’LL TELL YOU. THERE IS NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THE VIRUSES AS LONG AS YOU DON’T KILL ANYBODY OR LEAVE THE PORTALS OPEN TOO LONG.” He patted you before letting go.
“NOW WE NEED FOOD AND ONE LAZYBONES TO GET UP.”
— — —
“I want to go to Underfell.”
You, Stretch and Blue gave Dream a baffled look. Or at least you and Blue, Stretch just grinned.
“It has just gotten worse. I want to help them.” Dream continued like he wasn’t eating his fifth pancake while declaring his want to walk straight into the wolf’s den. Underfells were dangerous. But there would be people. Angry people. They would make noise. Loud, brash noise.
“I’m coming with you.” You stated. Dream wasn’t going there alone. With the two of you, the danger wouldn't be so imminent. And you would get to see more people.
“DON’T FORGET ME.” Blue grinned as he stood up.
“ FIRST TAKE THESE, JUST TO AVOID THE PREVIOUS INCIDENT.” He handed you a rainbow colored phone and a yellow one to Dream.
A phone. You had a phone. You tapped it slightly and it opened. A bright blue screen opened before multiple apps popped up.
“THEY WORK ACROSS AU’S TOO. I LEARNED SOME CODING A WHILE AGO.”
Dream confusedly shook his phone up and down, accidentally turning the flashlight on. He panicked and dropped the phone.
“i’ll sit this one out. “ Stretch yawned as he caught Dream’s phone. “it’s time for my hard earned meal-break.” He handed it back to Dream, who held it like it was a bomb.
“THIS IS YOUR FOURTH BREAK TODAY. BUT I’LL LET IT SLIDE SINCE WE DO NEED MONEY.”
“thanks.”
Dream apparently had enough of the electronic madness. He pocketed the phone in his cape and pulled his chair back before looking at you expectantly. You stood up as well, waved at Stretch and portalled the three of you away.
The Underfell was a dark and cold place. You had appeared in Snowdin and immediately got hostile looks.
The canine squad definitely stalked you from the bar. They luckily stayed away for now.
Dream moved towards the forest with determination. You trodded after him while avoiding the grey patches in the snow.The cold snow crunched under your feet as you made your way out of the town.
“oi, you fucker!” A deep bass reverberated through the air.
You turned around to see who it was.
A Sans dressed in black and red stomped towards you. His lone eyelight glowed eerily red and the fluffy part of his jacket was flaming. His golden teeth glinted menacingly in the light.
He focused entirely on Blue.
“your friend stole my stash again so you better pay up.” He sneered as he grabbed Blue’s bandanna and pulled him face to face. You and Dream moved in alarm but Blue gestured you to stay put.
“HOW MUCH THIS TIME, RED ?” He sighed, making sure that you both heard his name.
“543 g.” Red grumbled.
“OF COURSE. DREAM, INK, GO AHEAD. I’LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU.” Blue told you as he got out of Red’s hold. That got his attention on you. Red looked you and Dream up and down, expression darkening every second.
“why the hell ain’t they in stripes? and what the fuck possessed you to bring them here?” He growled as the flames flared up. Red sweat rolled down his skull as he glared at Blue.
“We aren’t stripes.” You corrected. He ignored you as he kept glaring at Blue.
“THE SITUATION IS …COMPLICATED.”
“the hell it is! anyone can feel their magic signature. and if ya can’t, lemme tell ya, they’re stripes. ”
“I KNOW THAT!” Blue snapped. He gave you an apologetic look as you and Dream jumped, “GO AHEAD, I’LL HAVE TO TALK WITH HIM.”
He didn’t have to tell you twice. You didn’t want to stay near Red, whose jacket was letting out thick, black smoke from how much it flamed. And based on their conversation, he and Blue knew each other, thus Red wouldn’t be a danger to Blue.
So you and Dream quickly ran into the woods and let the trees act as your cover.
“That’s it. That’s what I felt.” Dream pointed at a strange, black plant growing inside a hollow tree.
It had spikes all around it, twisting around its stem. The ground around it was covered in grey and everything withered. It pulsed in an unsteady beat and dark cyan mush leaked out off its leaves. There was a small, pitch black flower growing on top of it.
The air felt strangely cold as you went closer so you stayed near Dream who emitted warmth.
Dream didn’t say anything. He just walked up to the plant and pulled it.
It let out a horrendous shriek so shrill that you were sure your skull would brust. You covered your ear canals as the ringing kept worsening. Your bones rattled under the pressure as you tried to reach Dream who still hadn’t let go.
Then he fell backwards as the roots gave in and the plant was pulled out. The shrieking stopped instantly as the plant turned into a black sludge that faded away.
“Ink, did you see? I did it! I helped.” Dream grinned at you proudly as he sat up. You rushed to Dream and helped him up. Something hard crunched under your hands. You turned Dream’s hands around.
There were hard, grey splotches in his gloves. It wasn’t spreading like last time but it couldn’t promise anything good.
“Let’s get back to Blue.”
Dream’s smile fell when he saw the greyness. He nodded.
“If you have to uproot the negativity this literally,” You joked in hopes to cheer him up, “We need to get you better gardening gloves.”
That got Dream snort a little. A victory in your book.
Crunch.
Someone was approaching. The snow crunched around you as you tried to see. Dream gripped your hand hard.
“I can’t feel anyone.” He whispered as his skull turned from left to right.
“Who’s there?” You called.
A shrill laughter answered as a dark figure emerged from the shadows. White bones glinted as the figure stepped forward, into the light.
Another Sans.
Black liquid oozed down from the wide sockets that were darker than the Void itself. He didn’t have any eyelights. A red target floated close to his chest as he cocked his skull to the side and watched you.
You stared back. His clothes were dirty, there were black splotches everywhere. And his grin looked a little too wide for his skull. A little too sharp.
Killer.
Your breathing quickened as you watched him pull out the famous red knife. He did it slowly, watching every twitch of your expression with a hungry, sadistic glee.
“Who are you?” Dream asked as he summoned his staff.
Killer let out a maniacal cackle. The liquid thickened as it dripped down his chin to his clothes.
“This place isn’t safe for outsiders. We can help you get out of here.” Dream continued, not discouraged from the lack of answer. You could see his grip tightening on his staff.
Killer’s soul wavered.
“Oh, we do need help, don’t we?”He rasped.
“No we don’t. He promised us something new .” He then answered himself with a deeper, more gleeful but strangely monotonous voice. It sent chills down your spine.
He started to spin the knife on his phalanges.
“Uhh Dream? I don’t think that they need our help,” You whispered to Dream, shuffling your feet, “I mean, they got here on their own.”
“I know but I had to offer,” Dream whispered back.
“Ohohohhoo, so you’re Dream. Neat, saves me the trouble of figuring you two out.”
The second voice mocked, “And besides, it’s a he. ”
The target steadied itself as Killer crouched down.
“ I told you he’s the yellow one a hundred times, you imbecile.” Nightmare seethed as he appeared from the shadows.
How long had he been watching you?
“But where’s the fun in that?”
Nightmare sighed before pointing at you. You froze like a deer in the headlights.
“
That’s your target. Don’t let him interrupt me this time.”
Killer chuckled sinisterly as he stared at you. You and Dream took a step back while the other two advanced. The knife finally came to a stop when Killer pointed it at you. Your paints ran cold. You couldn’t run and you wouldn’t abandon Dream to Nightmare’s mercy. Besides, Killer would just go into hunting mode, or worse, stage three could get triggered.
Like stage two was enough already, thank you very much.
Killer launched himself at you. The knife flashed in red as it cut through the air. You scrambled back just in time to avoid it. Dream dodged left as Nightmare’s tendrils slammed down.
You were separated.
“ Can't hide behind your little friend now, can you?” Nightmare grinned coldly down at Dream. You shot Dream an alarmed look.
That was a mistake.
Killer was on you in seconds. You shrieked and dove out of the way. He snatched your leg and pulled your back. He gave you a cheery wave before striking down.
The attack never landed.
The ground shook as a massive warhammer slammed down on where Killer had just been. He shortcutted out of the way as Blue sent shockwaves all around him. His eyelights were glowing bright Blue as he helped you back up.
Red bones sailed through the air, piercing through Nightmare. He sneered in annoyance. Red used his distraction and shortcutted Dream next to you before Red shortcutted away.
He wasn’t going to help anymore, it would seem.
Blue grinned wildly as he hefted his hammer back up and stood between you and the enemies.
“YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE, NIGHTMARE.” He cheerily reprimanded as his magic crackled around him.
“ Blue. What an unpleasant meeting.” Nightmare spat out as his corruption consumed the last of Red’s attacks.
Killer cackled as he reappeared next to Nightmare. His soul was starting to spin erratically.
Light blue magic spread out, covering everything that was near. It webbed itself around the trees as bones shot out of the ground. Blue’s eyelights were shining even more brightly as the maze built itself around you.
“
Back down,”
Nightmare surprisingly told Killer when he tried to attack Blue, “
We can’t challenge him as of now.”
“THAT’S RIGHT. ESPECIALLY IF I HAPPENED TO
CALL FOR HELP
.” Blue singsonged.
“ You filthy-!” Nightmare composed himself before glaring at Dream again, “ The next time we meet, you won’t be so lucky no matter how much you cheat. I will find you no matter where you hide and I will kill you.”
He glanced at you and Blue.
“ You won’t be safe anywhere, even if you hide yourself behind them.”
With that he and Killer disappeared.
Blue let his warhammer and magic dissipate before smiling to you. This smile was one of the gentle ones that you had gotten used to, not the ones he had had in battle.
“I BELIEVE THAT I SHOULD TEACH YOU HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELVES.”
He then thought for a moment.
“AND HOW TO USE ELECTRONICS.” He added as he gazed at Drea.
— — —
Blue had been teaching you some of the basic footwork. You both had been doing so well with physical training that he had decided to move on to synching up your magic.
Which led you to your newest problem.
“C’mon Ink, you can do it!”
“WE BELIEVE IN YOU!”
The wind howled and your scarf fluttered dramatically as squeezed your eyes shut in focus. You tried to grasp for any of that ‘ intent’ that you were told about.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“This doesn't work, guys. Can we stop?” You pleaded as you turned to face your tormentors.
They didn’t look even remotely remorseful for this hours-long session of ‘hurt Ink physically, mentally AND magically’.
“YOU ALMOST GOT IT,” Blue lied as he readied his hammer again, “NOW BLOCK THIS WITH YOUR MAGIC!”
He charged at you like a bull on steroids. You rolled out of the way as multiple bone attacks erupted from the ground. The island shook under the onslaught. You didn’t have time to pause as you slid under cyan arrows sailing through the air.
“Don’t roll, shortcut!” Dream yelled from his perch on the other floating island. Easy for him to say it when his magic answered his every beck and call. The cheater had even positioned himself out of your hitting range.
You would definitely bonk him if he just came a little closer.
“How?! Just tell me how! There’s no need to shoot!” You yelled back as you hid behind a conveniently placed rock.
No answer.
Cautiously, you crawled to the edge of the rock and peeked around to where Blue was. Or rather, where he should’ve been. The battle area was empty, no skeleton overflowing with energy in sight.
Your back itched.
Slowly you turned to look behind you. Blue boots. Black pants. Shining armor and blue bandanna. A very wide smile and crazed eyelights. Above all a massive weapon purely meant for maiming and destruction.
You tried to jump out of the way but four arrows pierced through your clothes and locked you to your place. You tried to yank them off but blue bones materialized through your body before you could.
They buzzed with energy.
“I’M SORRY, BUT THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.” So Blue now had the gall to sound apologetic?
You huffed before your eyesockets widened. Blue swung down with all of his might.
You braced for the hit. You couldn’t dodge it or block it.
You just didn’t understand anything about intent! How in the world could you when you weren’t a normal monster? You were just a human that was turned into a skeleton. A skeleton with no soul on top of that.
How would you know what was intent ? You would rather study derivatives again than be here.
A blast of cold air whipped around your skull as something lightly tapped it.
You cranked one eye open to peer around the hammer now resting on your forehead. Blue smiled gently down to you. The air sparked and Dream appeared next to Blue in a yellow flash.
“Maybe this is enough for now.” He told you as they finally dispelled their weapons.
Blue hoisted you to your shaking legs and led you back to the base.
“That’s what I said before you decided to pummel me. “ You grumbled.
“DON’T POUT, YOU DID WELL. I KNOW MAGIC IS HARD BUT WITH OUR MAGNIFICENT HELP YOU WILL MASTER IT IN NO TIME!” Blue smiled as he patted you on the back.
“Yes, we will see to it. You’re our teammate, after all.” Dream added as he followed you.
That was a death sentence. And your teammates were sadists. You were sure of it.
— — —
You slumped next to Stretch on the kitchen table as Blue cooked. He didn’t like you only consuming your paints. With enough persuasion, he managed to feed you different variations of taco-sludge.
You had lost all of your appetite towards… chewable things. And after the weird, nightmarish plant, sludges didn’t look good either.
At least Dream was happy. He had looked more than a little relieved when Blue took over the kitchen.
Well, you wouldn't complain. Cooking made Blue happy. It also helped all of you to remember that the fridge needed to be supplied from time to time. After all, there were five of you.
Blue and Stretch needed food. Dream too, even if he mainly consumed their positivity. Broomie didn’t eat at all.
The quiet sizzling and Blue’s humming made you fall into a drowsy state. Someone else was around, you weren’t fully and utterly alone. You felt safe as you rested your head onto your arms.
The drowsiness came down on you like a blanket.
A plate was placed in front of you. It smelled spicey and looked like the usual mush.
Who had put the plate in front of you? You hadn’t heard the others move. Then it hit you.
“Seriously? Now you’re just making fun of me.” You complained half-heartedly,
“You don’t have to flaunt your magic just because I cannot use it.”
The sludge was normal. Glittery, very slightly crunchy and chewy. It wasn’t bad and you were already used to it. For some reason, Dream and Stretch really seemed to enjoy their tacos.
You were handed ink with grinded coffee beans. You gulped it down to ease the feeling of solidness . Blue had been very adamant about using grinded coffee beans.
The heat of stares drilled to your skull. You lifted your skull only to see all of them staring at you with an expectant look. You stared back and tilted your head in confusion.
“DO YOU FEEL THE INTENT I PUT IN THOSE TACOS?” Blue’s bonebrow furrowed as he stared at you.
You looked back at the half eaten slush, then back at Blue. Your confused thumbs up was enough to make him and Dream let out a long sigh.
“We need to address this later. We have done enough today.” Dream concluded as he happily munched his own taco.
“YES. MAYBE STRETCH COULD HELP US AGAIN. MY MAGNIFICENT BROTHER HAS AMAZING IDEAS.”
“of course, bro.”
“You attacking me was his amazing idea alright. I’m sure we need more.”
“DON’T BE GRUMPY, INK. YOU NEED TO LEARN MAGICAL ATTACKS.”
With that you fell into tired but comfortable silence at your small kitchen table. You were comforted by the fact that Dream had to learn the use of electronics every other day.
You weren’t tortured alone.
Notes:
Red decided that it wasn't his circus nor his monkeys. He noped out as soon he managet to get the stripes back to safety. (AKA to Blue)
Stretch will be hanging around until he's responsible enough to pick up his sock :)
Blue's food tastes good to others because it's full of good, caring intent.
Chapter 10: Bad days
Notes:
I probably say this on every other chapter but you deserve the thanks >:D
Thank you all for the kudos and comments! <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It was dark, warm and quiet. The blanket felt like soft feathers on your bones as you shifted and snuggled into the pillow. You sighed contentedly. The light Blue pajamas Blue had gifted felt so nice. You could sleep in comfortably, it was Dream’s turn to suffer today.
Someone knocked on the door three times.
“INK, I HAVE A REQUEST.” Blue’s muffled voice came from the other side.
Welp, there goes sleep. The last wisps of comfortable rest drifted away as you ripped yourself away from sleep. You slowly stumbled over the soft carpet to the door and opened it.
Blue stood on the other side, far too polished and energetic for someone awake this early. Granted, there was no night-day cycle in the doodlesphere but you instinctively knew the passage of time by heart. A heart that you did not have.
Your hand brushed over where it had been. Where it should be.
Only hard bones and soft pajamas met your phalanges.
Blue gave you an award winning beam as soon as the door was open enough. It could’ve seriously won at least two toothpaste commercials with ease. It made you a little less grumpy. Especially when you noticed Stretch who was still asleep behind Blue.
At least you weren’t the only one woken up too early.
You gave Blue a questioning grunt.
“ME AND STRETCH NEED TO GO TO UNDERSWAP. HE HAS HIS JOBS TO DO AND I HAVE TO ENSURE HE DOESN’T JUST SIT AT MUFFET’S ALL DAY,” He shook Stretch awake, “SO WOULD YOU PLEASE GIVE US A RIDE?”
You stared at him for a while. It felt like your mind was running extra slow this morning. Thinking was like treading water right now. When you finally understood what Blue wanted, you just turned around and went to get Broomie.
It was sleeping while leaning on the table. It had insisted on staying upright so you let it be. You had wrapped it up in a thick blanket to make its rest at least a little more comfortable.
But now you had to wake your partner up far too early.
“Broomie.” You croaked as you nudged Broomie, accidentally sending it sliding. It shook awake and stopped the fall by slamming its bristles on the floor.
It didn’t have any eyes, but you could still feel the scalding stare sent your way.
“Sorry, we just need to get Blue and Stretch into Underswap.” Your voice kept cracking.
Broomie just bristled tiredly before falling straight into your arms. You gave it a quick hug before turning back to Blue.
Broomie gave a lazy swipe. You had to help it complete its arc so that the portal was finished. The ink was pulled from you, which made you feel lethargic. You watched the portal flicker in and out before it stabilised.
Your stomach growled.
“OH. BEFORE I FORGET,” Blue pulled a note from his pocket and handed it to you, “I DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO MAKE BREAKFAST SO HERE’S INSTRUCTIONS. “
He was silent for a moment as his gaze flicked you up and down. His bonebrows scrunched.
“I MADE SOME… MODIFICATIONS ON THE MACHINES. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT DREAM EATS. I ALSO HAVE SOMETHING I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT LATER.” He told you with a peppy voice before rushing into the portal and dragging Stretch after him. The closing portal cut off Stretch’s flying z’ts.
…Modifications?
Dread creeped up your spine as you eyed the note Blue had handed you. It had multiple explanations about putting intent into food and how important the healing factors were. What’s even worse, the rest of it was a glitter taco -recipe.
You were not putting glitter into tacos.
You changed your clothes and went to fulfill Blue’s request. Dream’s door was still shut tight when you creeped past it downstairs. Guess Blue had spared him from waking up at the sunrise. A good thing, he needed his rest.
Stretch’s clothes were strewn across the sofa when you passed his now empty sleeping place. You couldn’t believe that a guy that scary could just snooze away on a sofa night after night.
Well, he didn’t complain and your home just didn’t have enough beds. He and Blue could share a room but neither one of them wanted to share the bed. So Stretch stayed on the sofa.
Yours and Broomie’s room-sharing only worked because Broomie did not need a bed, just a blanket and a surface to lean on. Both of you were happy to not sleep alone.
You stopped to feel the soft rugs covering the floor just for a moment. Dream wouldn’t wake up soon so you had time. Some threads poked through your bony feet. It felt weird so you continued on your way while missing your socks.
The ingredients were already on the counter when you entered the kitchen. There was also a new plant that Blue was adamant about feeding skittles. Something about being responsible and taking care of pets.
Your stomach growled again. The ink in the fridge called out to you even more than ever. So you opened the green door and took one of the cups of cool ink. It felt so soothing and familiar against your magic that you could cry.
The ink did not have random clumps in it. You could not really chew it. Your magic immediately accepted the dark liquid which spared you from nausea. Blue did not have to know if you skipped the soup for one day. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.
You drank a hefty dose of the paints too. The more you took in the morning the less people would see. You weren’t a fan of people seeing you drink the paints. In fact, Blue, Stretch and Dream were the only ones that knew about it. And even they didn’t know the real reason. You wanted it to stay that way.
The vials were running empty, though. Especially the yellow and orange vials. The paint was clumped together on the bottom of the vials. You really needed to clean and refill them soon.
With that in mind, you looked at Blue’s recipe again.
- PREHEAT THE FRYING PAN ON THE HIGHEST SETTING.
- PUT THE GLITTER IN.
- ADD EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE TACO SHELLS INTO THE PAN AND FRY THEM IN HIGH HEAT. (REMEMBER THE PASSION!!!)
- FILL THE SHELLS.
- TOP IT OVER WITH GLITTER WITH MORE PASSION!
YOU’RE DONE, GREAT JOB! :D
The longer you looked, the worse the recipe seemed. You couldn’t just dump everything together and burn them. At least not when you expected an edible outcome.
It seemed like you needed to improvise a bit.
Your respect towards Stretch and Dream was skyrocketing. They were eating this day after day without complaints? Well, you did too, but at least yours were in liquid state. If that helped.
With that in mind, you started cooking. Or at least tried to.
You couldn’t turn the stove on no matter how much you tried. You tapped all the buttons, looked at every nook and turned every possible valve there was.
The stove stayed cold and dark, no hints of warming up.
Was it broken? How would you make breakfast now? Blue had given you one task and you had failed before even starting. Well, he wouldn't fault you over a faulty machine, this was Blue you were thinking about.
You decided to leave it be for a while. You could figure the problem out after morning coffee. You loaded the coffee machine and pressed the button… Nothing happened.
It didn’t work either.
You cursed under your breath as you turned the stupid machine upside down to see why it was broken. It didn’t even have a single scratch on it. The plastic surface was as shiny as ever.
Broomie squirmed in the sash. The sudden movement threw you off and you bonked your skull into the machine. It slipped out of your hands and clattered to the counter. The glass pot rolled out and slipped off the counter.
“No!” Your reflexes kicked in and you dived after it. Broomie pulled itself out as you fell flat on your face. The pot landed safely on your boney fingers.
You grumbled as you slowly got up again.
“What the heck was that for?” You angrily asked Broomie. It gave you an apologetic shrug before the bristles gently took the pot from your hands before patting your skull.
You could only watch in deepening confusion as your trusty brush used magic to clean the pot before turning it on.
“Why is it suddenly working now?” You questioned as the irritation rose higher. Of course everything had to go wrong exactly when Blue wasn’t here to help. Broomie contemplated for a moment before swirling the magic in the air.
Magic. Machines not working. Magic.
“ ... I MADE SOME… MODIFICATIONS ON THE MACHINES…”
Blue.
Blue had done something and now you couldn’t use the stove. It was not fair. Wasn’t today supposed to be Dream’s turn to suffer? Why were you the one being punished?
You took a long sip of cyan to calm down. It eased the storm of angry red instantly.
Nobody was at fault. Blue had tried to give you a useful lesson while not forcing you to fight him. Dream was a bystander who didn't have anything to do with this. On some other morning you would’ve liked these modifications but today just wasn’t your day.
“Hello?” Dream’s hesitant call rang out in the living room.
Broomie clattered on the floor instantly revealing that the coffee machine was running on fire. Pure, untamed fire that Broomie obviously wouldn’t be supervising anymore.
You took the duty of watching the coffee.
“Ink!” Dream couldn’t sound more relieved as he entered the kitchen, “I thought nobody was here.”
He chuckled nervously before quieting down again. You gave him a side-eye while trying to not burn the coffee. Dream looked haggard. His clothes were wrinkled and his posture was slumped. The golden eyelights had dimmed noticeably and the crown wasn’t as polished as before.
You hadn’t meant it this literally when you were happy about Dream’s suffering.
“...Could we talk?” He asked with small voice.
“Sure. What’s up?” You asked while you tried to not frown. You had noticed that he was sensitive to any negative facial expression. You didn’t need to add to his stress levels.
Dream glanced around before peeking out of the kitchen.
Oh.
“Blue and Stretch went back to Underswap for a moment.” You informed him.
Dream’s posture eased significantly as he straightened again. He blushed bright yellow as he tried to fix his crooked crown.
“So that’s why I didn’t feel anyone around.” He mumbled. Your paints buzzed with nervous energy as you tried to play it cool. You nodded and motioned him to go on with whatever he wanted to ask.
“So, the thing is… Uhhh….” Dream fell silent as he shifted his weight. You waited patiently.
“Back then… Was that really him? Was that really Nighty?” He continued, almost whispering. You had to strain your hearing just to catch the question. “Like, I know! I really do but-” Dream trailed off.
Oh . Your paints rumbled as you fully turned to face Dream. The coffee could stay not-burned for a few seconds on its own. This was far more important.
You were a little surprised he was bringing it up to you. Did that mean he trusted you enough to tell? You sure hoped so.
Dream fiddled with his gloves when you didn’t answer instantly. His eyelights darted around as he waited. You breathed in deeply. You had done this once, you could do it again. You needed to tell him the truth that he already knew.
“Yes. That was Nightmare, your one and only twin.” You answered all in one go, like it would hurt Dream less.
It did not. He flinched like you had punched him.
“I see.” His voice strained as turned around. You quickly reached for his hand.
“Dream- please listen to me,” You pleaded as he pulled his hand away, “I know he’s changed a lot, both in personality and appearance, “ But! There’s still a chance that you two can reconcile someday! So please don’t be disheartened.” You spoke fast with what you hoped would be the truth.
Even if Nightmare wasn’t a Dadmare, he could be one of the other nice ones too. The game wasn’t over just yet.
Dream just nodded and left. You listened to his quiet footsteps until they faded away. The door upstairs creaked and the house fell silent again.
There was a strange hollowness in your chest. Something always ached when Dream shut himself away. And the ache persevered through the day when you realized that you couldn't help him. Nobody could.
Dream was mourning for his twin and nobody could help him with it.
A burning scent reached your nose canal. You jumped in alarm and spun around to look for the reason.
…
Who in the multiverse invented coffee machines running on magic?! And why did Blue keep on tormenting you with it?!!! You cursed as you hurried to stop the little flames bursting out of the machine.
Broomie helped you by drenching the whole place. On an electric fire.
That’s. it.
You were taking a walk.
Just. To. Get. Some. Fresh. Air.
— — —
The golden sky calmed your angered thoughts. You just couldn’t stay angry when you watched the steady paintfalls nourish the islands or the Au’s that fluttered slightly.
The Doodleshpere was a safe haven you had come to love. There were thousands to millions of different possibilities. And all of them were gathered here for safekeeping.
You couldn’t feel lonely with this many lives surrounding you.
It was a good time for a walk. Dream needed space and you needed a refill. So you wandered around on the creaking bridges and steady islands with no hurry.
You had just arrived on a fairly big island filled with FellSwaps when something tugged your chest. It went away as fast as it had appeared so you ignored it.
Then your chest was tugged more strongly.
It felt like a foreign force was trying to pull the pains out of you. Your bones grew colder as the tugging became stronger. It felt worse than even the overdose you had experienced. It had been sharp, this was a dull ache building up and thrumming through your body.
Distant screams filled your skull. Multiple people pleaded and shouted, their voices mixing and drowning each other out. You fell to your knees as your vision was filled with white.
Pure white that surrounded you. You couldn't see, you could only hear the people screaming for their lives. They were lost in the vast white, in the great nothing. You tried to find them. They didn’t deserve this.
Sharp cuts pierced through your left eye socket. You choked down your own screams.
Then it was suddenly over. Cut off in one clean strike. The tugging and pain faded away. The screams were silenced.
The warm, golden Doodlesphere glowed over you again as you heaved. Firm ground pressed against your back. Broomie duck uncomfortably between your shoulder blades.
You got up to your unsteady knees and almost hit your skull in a lone paper floating on a big island. What the? You hadn’t been on this island before. How had you gotten here?
You looked at the paper. It kept glitching in and out of vision. It wasn’t right. No matter which Au it was, none of the papers glitched. Ever.
Your phalanges twitched. Something grazed against them. You looked down.
Oh no. No.
The island wasn’t empty. The ground was filled with torn papers and small snippets. Bright blue strings spread over the ground like a spiderweb, tangling the papers in them.
You could recognize those strings anywhere. The destructive and angry buzzing they sent out was distinguishable. You had felt this from only one person before.
Error.
Error had destroyed the Au’s. His strings were in the Doodlesphere. Could he get in? Was he in? Was he watching you? No . Surely he would’ve already destroyed everything if he got in. He couldn’t be in your safe haven. He just couldn't.
You looked back at the lone surviving paper.A gasp tore its way up your throat.
The strings were slowly tightening around it, squeezing all the life out of it.
You needed to stop Error. You needed to go to the Au. You couldn't let him destroy the last one, the original paper on this island. Something bad would happen if he did.
Or you could try to remove them from Doodlesphere.
Your shaking hand went right through the strings and hit the paper. That plan wasn’t working then. Your bones rattled as you prepared to teleport there but the accidental touch opened the Au’s screen far and wide before you could.
It glitched far worse than the paper itself.
Fl0_€#rF£¤%
Ne#&%” R0u&e
: 3
Lo){s ??
RE”3tS: ¤
*C0Nt@miN@%ed*
*£Rr0R*
*V/rus, p@r@s1te*
*S@v3 US P/£as3*
The codes glitched and crashed right before your eyelights. They looped rapidly as a purple color with specks of yellow and red bled through them. The strings hunted down every breaking line of the code.
You couldn’t watch it anymore. You had to do something, anything to help! Error would destroy the Au if you didn’t intervene.
You pulled Broomie out and created a portal in the Au. Blue strings snapped around the portal instantly and ripped it apart.
You couldn’t go in.
The codes now flashed red error warnings as the strings spread.
Broomie pulled itself towards the paper and flung bright green at it. The paint covered everything except the codes that were captured by Error’s strings. His magic was like a repellant, yours didn’t go near his.
Or more like Broomie’s didn’t. You couldn’t use magic yourself just yet.
The violet line of code jumped up and down like it was trying to avoid the paints. It didn’t quite manage as you helped Broomie fling even more paints at it. The strings eased their hold on the other codes.
A nervous smile stretched on your face as you could feel the burn on your paints.
The strain grew stronger every second. You could feel your paints racing through your body to Broomie as it kept flinging green at the codes. You reached down with a shaking hand and gulped down all your remaining green paints.
The little help was enough. The green magic paint surrounded the violet, broken codes before engulfing them completely. It started to glow brightly.
You had to shield your eyelights as the paint grew brighter and brighter. A slight coppery smell wafted through the air.
Then it was over. Broomie had subjugated the rogue codes and the Au was returning to normal.
Or well as normal as it could after something like that. Your paints hadn’t vanished. The codes looked like a disco ball with all the new shining colors. You hoped they didn’t cause another outbreak or something. The strings were also still there.
You sat near and waited but Error did nothing. The Au wasn’t ripped to pieces and the codes stayed stable. Or at least looked like it. You weren’t a coder.
Then the strings vanished.
A wave of tired relief crashed down on you as you flopped onto your back. Error had left. You didn’t have to fight him.
You could get to live another day.
It was strange. He had given up on his destruction practically with no fight. Maybe he was tired after destroying all the other Au’s first? Well, you weren’t complaining, far from it.
Lying down was getting uncomfortable. Some of the paint had gotten inside your skull and it sloshed painfully. Your bones ached even from the gentlest waft of air and the slightest movement sent jolts of electricity down your spine.
Of course your phone decided to start ringing at the exact moment.
The rings hammered on your skulls as you fumbled to answer it. The shiny cover was unnecessary slippery.
“Hello?” You croaked.
“HELLO! ME AND STRETCH ARE READY SO I WANTED TO ASK IF YOU COULD GET US NOW?” Blue’s voice boomed from the phone.
You loved his peppy way of talking, you truly did, but right now it grated on your skull. Still, Blue wasn’t the reason so you just gave him a tired answer.
— — —
“WHY ARE YOU COVERED IN PAINT?” Blue asked as you portaled him back. Stretch was carried under his armpit this time. The long, orange skeleton was fast asleep again.
“It’s a long story.” You muttered, voice breaking.
“...I SEE.” Blue’s grin died a little as his eyelights took your whole appearance in, “YOU AND MY FRIEND BOTH NEED REST. HE NEEDED TO LEAVE SUDDENLY SO I WENT BACK TO UNDERSWAP. HE WAS VERY TIRED TOO.”
“Went to Underswap? I thought that you were there the whole time?” You questioned as you wobbled towards your home.
“ERRM… HOW ABOUT WE GO TO UNDERSWAP TOMORROW, FOR PICNIC? IT’LL BE GREAT TO CHEER YOU AND DREAM UP!” The sudden boom in his voice made you flinch.
He seemed to notice by the way he lowered his volume.
You also had a feeling that Blue wasn’t telling you everything. You would dissect the weirdness of the situation later, when you had the energy to think.
You fell asleep as soon as you got back to your blissfully soft and cool bed.
This really hadn’t been your day.
Notes:
Blue definitely isn't hiding anything :)
Chapter 11: Training with intent
Notes:
Guys, I didn't know wether or not Swap the surroundings as well so I flipped a coin and it said Snowdin instead of Sunnedout :D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Broomie was missing.
You noticed it the moment your eyelights ignited. It wasn’t leaning on its usual spot. The blanket was curled on the floor, cold and abandoned.
The sight made your paints come to a complete stop. It felt like they were frozen as you stared at the empty spot. But Broomie didn’t magically appear, no matter how much you looked.
Then you bursted from under the blanket and ran to the hallway. The door slammed against the wall with a loud bang. Your bones caught on the doorknob. The pain fizzled as you yanked yourself off.
You breathed heavily as you stopped in the middle of the hallway. Broomie wasn’t there. Not where the golden light flickered in. Not at the dead plant that Dream was now watering. Not in the stairs where a sweet scent wafted upstairs.
You had to calm down and think.
Nobody could’ve taken Broomie. Your friends wouldn’t just carry it away and nobody else could get into the Doodlesphere. Besides, you would’ve noticed if someone tried and Broomie would’ve fought back. That meant it left on its own volition.
But why?
Broomie wouldn't just abandon you. You two shared a special bond engraved deep into your bones. And while neither one of you had a soul, it connected you and made you whole .
Maybe Broomie didn’t feel the bond? You could only hope that it did.
You gnawed on your fingers as you tried to think about where it could have gone.
Not in Blue’s or Dream’s rooms. Broomie wouldn’t breach their privacy like that. Especially when the two were already downstairs preparing for the picnic. You could hear their chattering.
That left you with two rooms, the toilet and the studio. And you doubted Broomie had needs.
The smooth floorboards creaked as you hurried to the studio. It was the last place possible upstairs.
The door was slightly open as you reached it. You entered the room much gentler than before.
And there, in the middle of the room was Broomie.
It basked on the spotlight as it huddled back and forth. A scratchy noise filled the air.
“Broomie!” You sighed in relief. You felt winded as the stress left your body.
Your trusty partner flinched before turning to you. It was clearly laughing nervously.
“What are you doing?” You questioned as you halted in place. The last thing you wanted was to make Broomie uncomfortable.
The brush hesitated for a moment before it slowly shuffled to the side. Two papers floated in the air. Not the Au -kind, thank the stars. That would’ve been something you couldn’t handle.
But these…
“Can I take a look?” You asked hesitantly.
Broomie gave you a shy nod so you carefully crept closer to the papers and inspected them. They were plain white, the type the studio was filled with. Nothing special there.
You slowly reached for the left paper. After Broomie didn’t intervene, you carefully took it. It gave you a little nick. The pain was forgotten fast as you saw what was on it.
Your own face stared at you from the paper.
Yours, Blue’s, Dream’s and Stretch’s as well. You were all laughing under Outertale’s beautiful vast sky. Stretch had a camera in his hands and Blue was flexing. A soft, pastel-pink blanket covered the ground. A shooting star blazed through the air.
It was like a picture.
Everything seemed so real. You could almost smell the yellow drink Dream was holding. The surrounding area was a complete copy of the real deal.
Wait. Who were those…?
You squinted at the drawing. Yes, your eyelights weren’t deceiving you.
More people stood further away in the shadows. Their faces were hidden but they were clearly facing towards the ‘imaginary’ camera. One was even holding up a peace sign.
You frowned but relented. You didn’t know who they were. Probably artistic freedom or something. Speaking of which.
“Broomie, this is amazing! Did you draw this?” You asked excitedly as you pointed at the drawing.
Broomie waved flusteredly before it gave you an even shyer nod.
“Wow! I never knew you had such artistic talent!” You beamed, “We have to frame this somewhere!”
The studio was full of artsy things so there had to be something useful. You looked around but Broomie outright tackled you before you saw anything.
The two of you crashed down and you accidentally kicked the easel. It swayed dangerously but stayed upright. Broomie came on top of your little scuffle and pressed hard on your ribcage.
“Wha-! There’s nothing to be ashamed of!” You exclaimed as you tried to weasel away.
Broomie didn’t grace you with an answer. Instead, it plopped the other drawing right onto your face.
The edges cut right into your sockets and you wailed in surprise. It didn’t hurt but it felt extremely weird, like forcing your knee over your shoulder. Your eyelights distinguished the second the paper poked them.
You were lucky your skull was hollow.
Broomie jumped upwards in surprise before it relented. It shuffled off and gave you space to just breathe and pry the paper off of your face.
It featured some kind of purple blob. You couldn’t make out what it exactly was since Broomie, for some reason, had drawn it in much worse quality than the other. The lines were blurry and the colors bled to each other. The whole thing was circled with bright red and there was a green cross over it.
All in all, it wasn’t anything like the masterpiece the other drawing was.
And it gave you a really sinister vibe. Something about it was very eerie. Chills ran down your spine as you spotted a lone reddish-yellow blur on the centre of the blob. It was … wrong for a lack of better description. Everything in your hollow body screamed the longer you looked at the drawing.
“Ink!” Dream’s holler broke you out of your staring, “We’re leaving now!”
“Shoot! We have to go!” You yelped as you hurried up. You picked your partner up and looked at the drawings. You couldn't make them levitate so you put them on the easel. You were more than happy to get away from the weird blob. No offense to Broomie, though.
And if the drawing somehow got turned away… Well, you wouldn’t know anything about it.
— — —
It was nice to see Blue that happy. He was rarely down but you hadn't seen him practically jump on the walls before. He looked really proud of his basket of food that smelt really good. Dream was giving the basket glances too.
You snorted before shivering.
You were back in Underswap. The cold had never bothered your already cool bones but now… Now it felt chillier than before. The wind howled and snow flew right into your skull.
You buried your skull into your warm scarf. It flapped in the air as Blue led you towards Waterfall.
“Sans!” A scratchy voice yelled before Blue was swept off his feet. Dream caught the basket before the food fell out.
A tall, muscular lizard in shining armor was currently giving Blue a quite brash noogie. Blue laughed as she finally set him back on his feet.
Then she immediately pulled Blue into a bone crushing hug. You were sure that your bones would’ve snapped with such handling. Blue luckily liked to drink milk. His bones didn’t give in, he just hugged back.
“SANS! I haven’t seen you in MONTHS!” Alphys roared as he shook Blue up and down. Blue just went with it, grinning from metaphorical ear to metaphorical ear.
Dream stepped next to you, smiling brightly. You were very happy to see that expression. He was having fun! Blue’s plan was already working.
“Dream?” You whispered in order to not bother the ‘noogie the skeleton’ session that Alphys had going on. She had moved on to Stretch who just ragdolled in her grip. She was a whole lot more careful with him, though.
“Yes,” Dream grinned.
“Do you think she’s that careful with Stretch since he has only one HP?” You questioned. Dream’s face blanched.
“...He has only one HP?” He asked, voice as blank as his face. His eyelights dulled as he watched Alphys drop Stretch to the ground.
“Yeah?”
“Why is his HoPe so low?” Dream muttered as he watched Stretch, “What in the multiverse happened to him?”
You knew the answer but you couldn’t tell it. At least not yet, when Dream was still down. You should’ve just kept your mouth shut. Dream continued his muttering as you stepped over Stretch. He gave you a lazy wave.
“It’s settled. You HAVE TO come visit me!” Alphys laughed. She gestured to where Waterfall started.
Blue looked at you and Dream in a silent question. Dream smiled sweetly and you nodded. You didn’t have objections about your picnic turning into a house visit.
— — —
You swung your legs happily as you sat on a high stool in the kitchen. The bright colors were welcoming. The others chattered at the table.
Alphys had been really down about not having enough chairs but you managed to reassure her. The stool was actually very nice since you didn’t have to look up to everyone.
“alph, can i use your stove?” Stretch suddenly asked. Aphys’s expression darkened from where she was trying to brew tea. She was placated when Stretch sauntered up to him and whispered something.
“Of course you can!” She laughed, face brightening. Then she stared at you with a weird expression. Her brows were furrowed and she gritted her teeth together so hard you could almost hear them grinding against each other.
You looked away. Just in case she was challenging you.
“Oh! I can help.” Dream grinned as he moved to stand up.
An axe embedded into the table and broke it in two. Dream jumped back as the splinters flew everywhere. You flinched and almost fell off your stool. You yelped as Broomie steadied you.
“No guest of mine except Stretch needs to do anything,” Alphys smiled, “So please sit back down.”
You and Dream shared a concerned look. Blue just smiled leisurely as he used bones to lift the halves back up.
A burning stench filled the air.
“alph, why is your stove stuck on the highest setting?” Stretch asked as he calmly moved his pan away.
“For passion!”
“at least my food’s hot now.” Stretch muttered. He stared at the sausages like he wanted to murder them.
Two buns jumped out from a toaster. Blue magic snatched them out of the air and made them float near Stretch. He flipped the spatula expertly sending the sausages into the buns.
Then he started to add spices. Only Blue’s disappointed stare saved the hotdogs from being drowned in honey.
You didn’t know what created this sudden urge to cook but it was nice. You just listened to Stretch’s sharp movements. He opened and shut the drawers fast and loud.
You closed your eyes and just listened.
— — —
“Here.” A soft clack pulled you back on the land of the awake. There was a hotdog-soup in front of you. With very little liquids.
You examined it carefully. The pieces of the bun were crispy craspy. An enticing smell wafted from the mushed sausage. Stretch had even shredded some salad on it.
It looked safe to eat.
But just to be safe you looked at the others. Only Alphys had gotten a hotdog too, Blue was happily offering Dream sandwiches from the basket. Stretch just stared at you.
“Go on, eat. I haven’t poisoned it.” Stretch smiled weirdly as he reassured you.
You hadn’t even thought about the possibility of poison.
Stretch wouldn’t poison you and Alphys in front of Blue and Dream, right? He had been a lot better since your first encounter. You could trust him. Hesitantly, you sniffed the food. Garlic, salt, maybe some pepper. You gathered your bravery and took a bite.
It actually tasted rather nice. The sausage was seasoned well and the bun was as good as it looked. The spices luckily were ones that your paints had accustomed you to.
All in all, it was as good as chewable food could be. You hummed contently and continued to eat it. In your peripheral you saw Alphys also taking a small bite on hers.
“BLEGH!” Alphys spat her hotdog out of her mouth onto her plate, “In Toriel’s name! Why is this filled with murderous intent ?!”
Stretch who only snorted at her grumbling before pointing his thumb at you.The others turned to look at you. Dream and Blue sighed heavily. You held the hotdog-soup close to your chest.
You could share your food, sure. But nobody was allowed to steal your food, chewable or not.
“I see what you were talking about now.” Alphys broke the silence.
“ink,” Stretch addressed you, “did you notice the harmful intent in that hotdog at all?”
“...Yes?” You answered.
“that’s a lie.” Stretch lazily grinned. Darn him and his Judge-capabilities.
Alphys threw her hotdog away. A shame, you could have eaten it. After turning it to a mush your magic could accept.
“Okay maybe I didn’t,” You amended, “but I’m a fully capable adult and-” Alphys laid her heavy hand on your shoulder.
“Don’t worry. I will help you regain your passion and intent,” Her smile grew sinister, “We have some training to do.”
You bolted.
But claws of justice are long. Alphys easily snatched you by your collar before your feet could even hit the ground.
“Let’s not waste time, punk.”
You dangled helplessly in the air as you were carried outside. Dream returned your panicked gaze but Blue just smiled brightly.
“So,” Alphys started as she dropped you down to an empty field of snow surrounded by trees. You sank immediately knee deep, “The deal is, we’re gonna train and you will learn to distinguish intent!”
Then she swung out two massive double-edged axes. They glinted in the light as Alphys grinned.
“Prepare yourself.” She barked out.
Your hands shook as you pulled Broomie out. You couldn’t take your eyes off the weapons Alphys was currently swinging around as she warmed up. Her eye got a malicious glint as she watched you and Broomie take a more defensive stand.
That was your only warning before one of the axes cut through the air. You yelped as you ducked down. You could feel the wind rush over your skull as the axe embedded itself deeb in the nearest tree.
The tree creaked and swayed dangerously before it crashed down with a groan. The ground shook and the snow was sent flying everywhere.
“NNGRAHH!”
Broomie yanked you aside as the other axe smashed down where you had just been.
“Where is your PASSION?!” Alphys roared as she summoned more axes. She had a crazed look in her eye as she stomped closer. The snow puffed up around her. Her scales glistened in the light.
You tried. You genuinely tried to grasp at the ‘intent’. You would’ve greatly appreciated if your magic came between you and the axe-wielding maniac. Your magic stayed as dead as ever.
Ever so helpful.
You promptly turned around and ran for the woods to avoid getting hit. The snow was heavy and cold, every step felt like you were treading water. It slid away under your feet and resisted every desperate scramble.
“Come back here!” Alphys did not have such limitations with her long, muscular legs.
You could hear her armor clunking as she stomped closer right behind you. Broomie alleviated some of the stress by lifting you a little but it could only prevent you from slipping.
“Wait! Can’t we talk about this?!” You yelled as you rounded a tree.
Your answer was a glowing cyan circle growing right under you. You jumped aside just in time to avoid the axe that spun up from the ground.
That’s when Broomie puffed up. It’s bristles, well, bristled as it gently pulled itself out of your hands. It gave your index finger a gentle pat before it waved you to go on. You watched in dumbfounded awe as it stood between you and the madwoman.
“Finally getting fired up?” Alphys laughed, “I'll snap your pathetic stick into two if you don’t start using magic.”
Broomie’s bristles briefly turned red, then magenta. You could feel the familiar pull on your bones as you watched it flung purple chains right at Alphys. It gave you a hasty wave that could only be interpreted as “ run!”
So run you did.
You sloshed through the snow, away from Alphys’s roaring. But the farther you got, the stronger the pull got. Seems like you and Broomie couldn’t be too far away from each other.
That’s when a familiar feeling creeped up on you.
You spun around just to face the empty forest. The feeling didn’t disappear, it moved.
The whispers of destruction circled you. You stepped back as blue strings crept from the trees. Error was there and you were all alone. You didn’t have Broomie with you. The strings didn’t do much, they just swayed in the air.
Then they disappeared.
Your bones rattled as you felt the presence move away from you. Could you truly let him go? What if he destroyed Underswap? You couldn’t put your friends in such a risk so you sloshed after the destruction.
There went your self-preservation.
It moved fast, much faster than you could currently run. The branches bent and slapped you as you hurried through. The needles pricked at you. Then the feeling suddenly jumped. It had been in front of you but now it was further away. Upwards.
You steered left immediately.
Red, glitching bones erupted from the ground, sending the snow flying again. You froze as you shielded your face.
They screamed malicious intent. You couldn’t go near them without hurting yourself. What had you been thinking? Why in the world were you chasing after Error ? What made you think that you had a chance?
The feeling grew more intense. Lone bone sailed slowly through the air towards you. It glitched in and out of existence. You could hear distant computer-like humming as it neared.
You scrambled backwards only to trip. The world spun around as you crashed down. Blue strings would be around your pants, scrunching them. The red bone loomed over you before slowly coming closer again.
“No!” You struggled. The strings kept you in place as the bone crazed your ribcage, “NO!” You shut your eyes as you screamed.
A deep pull shook your body. The strings suddenly slackened, freeing your clothes and thus, you. You cracked one eye open. A barrier of black bones stood between you and the red ones. It pushed against them for a moment before vanishing.
You heaved on the ground as you wildly looked around. The presence had faded, too. You couldn’t feel the destructive magic anywhere anymore.
You wanted to hide. You wanted to hide and get away from prying eyes, just to feel safe for a moment. You eyed at the nearest spruce. It should suffice.
The snow fell off as you climbed higher. The branches bent under you but didn’t give. You sniffled as you settled on one of the stronger and thicker branches.
Only then you could let the tears fall. You shook as you hiccuped all alone in the tree. you were so scared that no amount of orange could fix. Error had been here. He could’ve killed you.
Something hard hit your skull before sliding down. A chocolate-bar plopped down to your lap. Its wrapper had black and red spirals on it. The text was bold golden color. You hesitantly took it. There were written instructions on how to make hot chocolate with it on the other side.
You chuckled wetly at the flavor. Who in the multiverse names a chocolate ‘lethally spicy goodies’?
But still, where had it come from?
You pulled it close. It felt like eternity since you had last seen chocolate. It comforted you greatly. The paints hammering in your bones slowly calmed down as you just breathed and watched the silent snowfall.
At least Alphys hadn’t found you yet.
— — —
Stretch had the nerve to poke you with a bone.
You, who was already lying on the cold snow. Water seeped through your clothes that now had many holes on them. All thanks to Alphy’s great efforts at beheading you. Your shirt would be remembered. A memorial.
Or you could just ask Broomie to fix them.
“you alive, kid?” He asked. You could hear the slight waver in his voice as he tried to not laugh.
You stared intently at him. Oh how you hoped he could feel all INTENT you projected at him. That would teached him how to deal with people who just went through a traumatic experience.
“I tried everything but he doesn’t get it.” Alphys’s face appeared beside Stretch’s skull, “He just ran away when I tried to smack him with an axe. Then hid in a tree that I had to cut down in order to get to him.”
“i see. we gotta try something else. thanks for the help anyway.”
“Anytime,” Alphys grinned before turning away and leaving.
The captain of the royal guard left you tired and defenseless with Stretch. Who just teleported your tired ass back into his home.
“we might as well sleep here today.” He decided as Dream and Blue entered the house too. They agreed silently before Blue walked upstairs. He came back with spare clothes.
You changed to the warm and dry clothes and swayed in place.
Dream took one look at you before he helped you slowly move to the sofa and bury yourself under the warm blankets. You, Broomie and your chocolate didn’t have any plans to move anytime soon.
Blue carried a mattress for Dream. He got the same blanket he had had on his first visit here. Then Blue got his and Stretch’s mattresses to the living room too.
“WE CAN HAVE AN IMPROMPTU SLUMBER PARTY.” He explained as he barely managed to fit all the mattresses into the small room.
You nodded sleepily.
The sound of rustling lulled you deeper in the dreamland as the others settled.
“I’M SHUTTING THE LIGHTS NOW. GOODNIGHT.” The lights went. You followed right behind them.
That’s why you didn’t notice a lone stature staring into the darkness. He just listened to the quiet breathing filling the living room.
Dim yellow eyelights flickered but never went out during the night.
Notes:
Error thought that Ink was traumatized enough by his strings and decided to use bones instead. That, to his surprise, didn't make Ink any calmer :))
Chapter 12: Intents and purposes
Notes:
I apologize for being a little late. In my defense I graduated and had a very busy week ':D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“-You Do? He Was Terrified.” Low, muffled words broke through your haze. Glitched voice answered.
“What Do You Mean How I Know? He Came Back Shaking Like A Leaf, Of Course I Noticed. ”
More glitched garbage.
“I Know You Tried To Help. I Know. All I Ask Is That Next Time You Contact Me First So I Can Prepare In Advance.”
You slowly managed to pry your eyes open. The colors blended together and the shapes were blurry.
““He Noticed Your Intent? …Hmm. I Guess Your Plan Worked, We Have A Lead Then… What-”
You slowly managed to roll over to hide your skull under the pillow. It didn’t quite manage to drown Blue out.
“He SUMMONED BONES?!” The volume suddenly jumped. You jolted which in turn made your blanket fall off
All the noises suddenly went out.
You sat up, confusedly looking around. The blanket rustled as it fell off. Broomie grumbled.
“Bye Bye. Good Morning, Ink!” Blue rushed to end his call. The phone beebed as he gave you a very energetic grin while keeping his volume down.
You couldn’t not smile back. His happy energy was just contagious. The morning couldn’t go wrong with him there.
“Who did you talk to?” You asked as you slowly stood up. The floor was comfortably warm under your feet. You pulled your blanket up and snuggled in it as Blue stammered. A stray thread tickled your face.
“I -Hm- Talked to My Friend Whom I Hope You Will Meet Soon.” Blue finally answered as he carefully side-stepped still sleeping Dream and Stretch. The duo laid stone-still on their mattresses. Stretch let out a familiar snores and strings of white z’ts. Dream was silent but his chest was rising and falling under his yellow blanket. It rustled slightly with every breath.
They were both alive and making noise. That was enough.
You could finally meet Blue’s mysterious friend? The one he spoke to almost every day? And the one that caused Blue money problems by stealing Red’s chocolate.
That friend?
“I can’t wait to meet him!” You blurted out, suddenly gushing with excitement, “What kind of person is he?”
“He Can Be A Little Grumpy And Scary But He’s A Nice Person. I Promise.” Blue hyped up too as he rocked on his heels, “Just Give Him A Chance To Open Up And He’ll Show You His Goofier Side.”
That wouldn't be a problem! You were sure that you would like him. After all, he was
Blue’s
friend. You were sure he was awesome with just much Blue talked with him! And the more people you could meet the better!
One could only be imprisoned for so long before they yearn for connection.
“ Are You Hungry?” Blue asked as he moved towards the kitchen.
As soon as he asked, you realised that even when you had just woken up you were absolutely starving. You had barely eaten anything yesterday and you had had to fight Alphys and then Error. You longingly eyed the chocolate still on the sofa before shivering under the heavy blanket. You still didn’t know how you made it out alive with that encounter. He hadn’t even shown himself yet you were left a crying mess. He had to be watching you in order to direct his attacks.
Wait. Could he still be watching you ? Error had his glitchy portals that could possibly even reverse time if he wanted to. At least the canon one did. But this multiverse was strange. Blue and Stretch were constantly talking about the viruses.
…You were sure you had missed some vital information. You needed to ask them later.
Broomie grumbled as it climbed to hover behind your back. The blanket sweeped the ground and the mattress sunk under your feet as you waddled after Blue. There was already a delicious scent wafting from the kitchen.
“Ink.” The sudden, hoarse voice made you almost jump. You spun around and came face to face with Dream.
He… Did not look well.
Dream’s eyelights were dim and sunken. The crooks under them were dark like he hadn’t slept at all. There was a slight haze around him as he tried to focus on you. His crown sat crookedly on his skull and his pajamas were upside down. You could see the steams and the tag poked out.
“Are you okay?” You asked as Dream swayed slightly on his feet.
“Blue’s lying.” Dream completely ignored your question as he stared right forward, “His friend is not nice. Or goofy.”
“...What are you talking about? Do you know Blue’s friend?” You asked. You were worried about how Dream’s gaze wouldn’t meet yours. Your friend’s eyelights were big, glossy and unseeing.
He was completely out of it.
“He talked to his ‘friend’” Dream did an air quote he had learned from Stretch, “The whole morning. And he’s not nice.”
Dream tried to explain more but his words slurred. He frowned confusedly and tired again with no better success.
“You should sleep some more.” You decided as you watched him sway on his feet. Your hands poked out from under the blanket as you reached for Dream.
He flinched.
His whole body jerked backwards as your hand neared him. The two of you stared at each other before Dream suddenly slumped back on his mattress and just laid there. You waited for a moment but he didn’t move again.
You gently pulled his blanket over him before waddling into the kitchen.
Blue had already set the table when you arrived. He was currently portioning onion soup on the deep plates.
“OH,” Blue grinned when he noticed you in the doorway, “I THOUGHT EVERYONE WOULD LIKE TO TRY SOMETHING NEW THAT YOU COULD ENJOY TOO.”
The blanket dragged behind you as you sat on your spot.
“I LEFT SOME SOLID CHUNKS IN THERE FOR EXPOSURE. JUST PICK THEM AWAY IF THEY ARE TOO MUCH FOR YOU.” Blue told you before he walked out of the kitchen again.
Huh.
You picked the spoon up and fished the solid pieces of onions in it. The bits and pieces weren’t big. Blue had taken great care to shred them into tiny chunks. They were also boiled soft and transparent.
The smell was good. But you felt like you could make it even better. You eyed your vials.
You had an idea.
— — —
The hypocrisy.
Blue had added glitter into the food but you couldn’t add even a little bit of paint. Not even when you told him it was for Broomie.
“So.” Dream’s still hoarse voice snapped you into attention, “We have had a problem for weeks. I think it’s time to have a serious talk about it. Now.” Dream stared at everyone at the table.
His eyebags were somehow even bigger than before.
“At least before something happens.” Dream shot a… weird look at Blue who answered with a confused grin.
“Ink,” He turned back to you, “Is there a reason you don’t use magic?”
You immediately shook your head before hiding into the warm blanket. You couldn’t just tell them that you had no idea about how magic works. It wouldn’t look good on your resume.
Stretch’s left flickered orange. He shot you a lazy wink while drowning his soup in honey.
“You can’t feel intent.” Dream stated.
You couldn’t deny it. Not when the walking, talking lie detector sat right next to you. And they knew already, so why hide it?
But you couldn’t admit it either. Monsters were born to understand intent. Magic was basically made of intent. After all, it was the only thing keeping the monsters in one piece.
So how could you ever admit to being unable to feel it? You would just get shunned and left behind.
Out. Alone.
You wanted to trust them. Trust that they wouldn’t leave you… The paints roiled anxiously.
“I HEARD THAT HE MANAGED TO SUMMON BONES IN YESTERDAY’S TRAINING.” Blue luckily interjected before you could spiral, “AND HE ALSO FELT INTENT. ISN’T THAT MARVELOUS?”
He puffed up and looked like a proud parent. You felt warm under his approving case as you thought. Blue was right, you had summoned bones. Without Broomie.
You could do magic…?
“And you heard this from your friend , I suppose?” Dream asked icily.
Everyone paled at the cold words. Dream himself slammed his hands on his mouth. He looked horrified.
“I- ARE YOU OKAY, DREAM?” Blue hesitantly inquired. He nervously reached for Dream.
Dream let him hug him. He leaned into Blue and shut his sockets.
Only then you understood just how tired he looked. Dream looked fragile. His bones had slight discolouration on them. The deep grooves under his sockets just seemed to darken the longer you watched him.
His deep, rhythmic breathing filled the air as he snuggled closer to Blue.
“...Ink, Would You Meet My Friend Later? He Might Have An Idea.” Blue spoke quietly as he moved Dream into a more comfortable position.
Anything. You would take anything just to be able to do magic. You wanted to be able to properly protect yourself and your friends. Otherwise you needed to find the nearest gun store.
…That didn’t sound like a plausible option in the world of magic.
“Of course,” You nodded eagerly, “Just tell me where to portal.”
“wait,” Stretch suddenly jumped upright, “ink, you can portal, right? how do you do that?”
“That was Broomie, not me.” You confidently answered and gestured to your partner. A concerned look flashed on Stretch’s and Blue’s faces.
“right…” Stretch mused, “does broomie do any other tricks?”
Broomie bristled but stayed in its place. You gave it a discreet nudge but it didn’t budge.
“Umm… Broomie can draw, float, and make chains,” You summed up, ignoring Broomie’s surprised flailing, “It is awesome.”
“So Broomie Can Do Magic But You Cannot?” Blue clarified.
You nodded determinedly and ate a spoonful of your cooling soup. The liquid was good and your magic didn’t get upset at the tiny pieces of onion. Blue’s plan was working.
The skeleton brothers both got deep in thought. They stared at their food as they went quiet.
“I Think We Need To Consul-”
Dream suddenly jerked up. The whole table shook from the force he slammed onto it. The kitchenware clinked as he struggled to get upright.
You hadn’t known a skeleton could be so pale. But Dream was very pale, almost ghostly. He leaned heavily on the table as his breath was wild. Both of his hands clutched at his chest.
“Dream?!”
All three of you were on his side in a flash. He just shook his head as sweat rolled down his skull.
“Nightmare… Nightmare is attacking an Au.” He mumbled, sounding very dazed, almost sleeplike.
You looked over his skull at Blue. He met your gaze and nodded. Dream wasn’t in a condition to fight and portal you. That meant you had to pinpoint the Au. You waved Stretch a hasty goodbye which he lazily returned with a “take care.” before throwing you a bunch of hotdogs- and cats. You portalled the three of you to Doodlesphere, right in the centre. Undertale had connections to each and every one of the Au’s. It would be wise to start there.
Dream immediately pointed at one of the floating Au’s and staggered towards it. You hurried to support him while wondering if you should leave him in the Doodlesphere.
You could face Nightmare with Blue. But…
That would endanger both of you.Only Dream’s attacks made any lasting damage. And besides, he would probably just follow anyway. That would only make him more tired.
And Blue was strong. He could keep Dream safe if anything too bad happened.
— — —
You landed into the last corridor. It was absolutely demolished. The windows were cracked and the tiles missed a lot of pieces. Long slashes on the walls led away, towards the chest.
You rushed forward. This time you wouldn’t be a coward. The orange paint roared in your bones as you moved.
“DREAM!” Blue’s concerned shout stopped you right on your tracks as you turned around.
Dream collapsed against the wall. His colors were draining right like back in Outertale.
You skidded next to him. .
“Is this place negative?” You asked Blue who grimaced before nodding.
“VERY. IT FEELS LIKE IT’S SQUISHING ME.” He knelt next to Dream and felt his forehead, “BUT FEAR NOT, FOR I WILL KEEP US SAFE!”
His beam felt all too bright in the cold corridor, but some of the color returned to Dream’s face.
“Of course you will!” You cheered before realizing your positivity wouldn’t help. Your yellow couldn’t aid Dream. You needed a lot of orange again.
The vials clinked softly in the darkness of the hallway. The noise felt like million hand grenades with how quiet it was.
“BUT OF COURSE! I ALREADY HAVE PROMISED TO GIVE HIM THE BEST POSITIVITY IN THE MULTIVERSE! AND LOOK AFTER YOU.” Blue gently pat Dream’s skull as the guardian groggily stood up again.
“Great! Blue in shining armor to save us all!” You cheered again.You hoped your fake positivity would annoy Nightmare out of this Au. Even if not, well.
You had teammates to protect.
Notes:
Dream's paranoia strikes again :D
It's not like he has trauma or anything :))
Chapter 13: Rowdy murderers
Notes:
Here we go again :D
Everyone, thank you for the kudos and comments. You are awesome <3
Don't let people tell you otherwise.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
You crept silently through the damaged corridor as you stuffed Stretch’s hotdogs- and cats into your sash. Broomie hovered tensely next to you.
Blue helped Dream slowly forward behind you. His armor clanked with every step and Dream’s feet dragged. The noise echoed in the corridor before fading into the darkness. You were worried somebody with ill intent could hear you.
You were glad you didn’t have shoes. Even when the crushed tiles poked uncomfortably at your legs.
The end of the hallway appeared from the darkness. The chest’s lid had been torn off its hinges and tossed aside. The door was bent and slammed open. The gashes in the walls dug deeper. Whoever had gone through really didn’t bother to hide their tracks.
You shivered as the temperature dropped.
“INK!” Blue warned.
The shadows on your peripheral shifted as someone lunged at you. Broomie blocked a glowing red knife to stop it from piercing your ribs. The strike sent you both skidding backwards as you tried to regain your footing.
Killer chuckled before disappearing into thin air. Your back tickled and you ducked on pure reflex. Jagged white bones brimming with magnificent red and blue sliced through the air right where your head had just been.
The training with Blue and Dream proved to be effective.
You turned to the new attacker. You caught a glimpse of a hooded sans before a wall of bones rose between you. The pearly white bones of Blue’s magic were fast enough to protect you. At least judging by the blasting noise and heat coming from the other side.
Then the bones cracked. You watched in horror as the breaks widened. The blasting stopped only for the bones to break as someone barreled through them.
You managed to dodge the hefty axe that swung at your skull. A crimson eye stared right through you as the axe slammed down on the floor. The force sent a hurl of debris flying into the air.
You used it as a coverage to regroup with Blue and Dream.
Blue took the lead as he warded Killer off. His hammer glowed blue as the electric smell spread through the stale air. It mixed with the dry scents of dust and the wafts of the hotdogs.
“There’s three of them?” Dream whispered as he held his staff with shaky hands.
“Yeah, it’s the whole MTT.” You whispered back as you watched the three silhouettes.
Killer was the hardest one to see. His rapidly spinning soul was his only source of light. The rest of him was swallowed by the darkness.
Murder’s red and blue eyelights blazed in the dark like beacons under his hood. It helped you to see where he was looking which, in turn, helped you to deduce his next step.
The last guy had his lone eye trained on you. Or rather, at your sash. Nobody had prepared you for how massive Horror actually was. He easily towered over everyone and he was much broader too. His broken skull almost scraped the ceiling and you barely reached his lower ribs. He felt like he alone filled the whole hallway just by standing there.
And he just kept staring eerily at you with a tilted skull.
“MTT?” Blue asked as he took a more defensive stance.
“Yeah, The Murder Time Trio. It consists of Killer, Murder and Horror.”
The hoodie -Murder- groaned into his hands.
“What?”
“How the hell does he already know that stupid name?!” Murder lamented, “This is your fault.” He accused Killer.
“How is this my fault?” Killer laughed as he pulled out his knife.
“You were the one to come up with this stupid name!” Murder growled as his eyelights brightened so much they blurred to purple.
You slowly backed away and pulled Dream along with you. Blue retreated slower as he made sure to keep himself between you.
Sure. You had made a promise to yourself to be braver this time but what in the multiverse was this? It was the whole MTT. The infamous skeletons with a lot of fighting -and killing- experience.
Murder and Killer both had very high LVs. Horror probably had too, but he couldn’t be as high as the other two. That fact didn’t make him any less dangerous. Blue was skilled, yes, but the opponents were pure murderers . People that would take joy in killing all the three of you.
You were still inexperienced with magic and Dream was slowed down by the negativity. So, this wasn’t cowardice, it was a tactical retreat. Especially when Nightmare hadn’t shown himself yet.
You knew he was nearby because of the chilly temperature. If he decided to come out to play… Well, Dream wouldn’t be standing very much longer you feared.
You could come look for the weird plant Dream had uprooted before after Nightmare had left with his henchmen.
“Now now, running away ain’t nice,” Your paints jumped to your throat as cold phalanges twisted around your neck.You felt something sticky drip to your skull as Killer leaned down. You elbowed him but he danced out of the way and disappeared again.
Ragged, bloody bones erupted from the floor and you hastily pushed Dream and Blue out of the way. You barely managed to avoid the onslaught yourself.
Then you noticed your mistake. The attack separated you from your team. They were on the other side of the gruesome bones. You and Broomie on the other hand…
You didn’t even manage to turn around before you were thrown against the wall.
Broomeie threw itself between you and the attacker.Wood splintered as it directed the hefty swing away. Horror only managed to crush more stone as you pushed him back.
He blocked your way with his massive frame. Black sludge dripped down his sharp teeth as he stared at you. You could barely see behind him but the little information froze your marrow. Killer and Murder were double-teaming on Blue who was busy keeping Dream safe.
“Eyelights on me.” Horror’s grave, deep voice reverberated through the air. His speech was little slurred as he wiped the black sludge away.
Was he …hungry?
His eye narrowed. That was your only warning before he lunged at you again. You boosted yourself away and barely dodged his enormous hand.
Behind him Murder’s eyelights blazed under his hood as multiple magic attacks tore through the walls. He then summoned a sharp bone in his hands and almost stabbed Killer who jumped in the middle.
“Watch it, idiot!” Murder seethed as he barely pulled back “Or I’ll kill you.”
Killer just snickered before dodging Blue’s bone-attack. You could see his magic spark in the air again as he prepared for the maze. But the hallway was too narrow for Blue to fight properly.
He was struggling, he needed help.
You pulled out all Stretch’s hotdogs and -cats and threw them as far as you could. Horror, as you had hoped, launched himself after them on all fours.
His bone-attacks dissipated and you could see Killer offering Blue a hug. Blue , who was a swap Sans. Practically a Papyrus with a little different personality.
Not on your watch.
You made a mad dash to your teammates.
Murder looked at you with something akin to surprise before you and Broomie hit him sideways and sent him flying. Killer’s sneak attack didn’t get you this time as you threw some debris right into his nose canal.
Now then.
You could cry tears of sheer relief as you saw Blue alright. He had kept his battle stance and guarded Dream just as he had promised. You saw him fiddle with his phone.
Killer couched and hacked behind you. Then he muttered a spiteful curse.
Blue’s sockets widened as he gazed behind you. Without thinking, you twisted around in the air and swung Broomie blindly at anything that was coming. A deep, borderline painful yank shook you as you lost sustenance. Your ink flowed in the air. Big, thick obsidian bones erupted between you and the attack, The inky bones bubbled and sizzled but didn’t break. Whatever did not want to get hit by whatever Killer had done.
“C’mon guys, we gotta go!” You yelled. Blue and Dream shook themselves out of whatever stupor they were in before shaking their heads.
“We have to evacuate first!” Dream insisted before balking.
“Can you feel someone around?” You asked. You didn't’ dare to hope but… Maybe someone had survived this madness.
Dream’s face fell as he shook his head. His breathing was getting shaky.
“We can come later to see if we can help,” You tried to comfort him. After all, a reset should be possible. At least you hoped so.
“OKAY, THEN.” Blue yielded, “AS LONG AS YOU TWO ARE SAFE.”
You created a portal and hastily gestured to them to go in.
“ But we were just starting to have fun.” A deep, mocking voice called as a jet black tentacle pierced straight through your barrier.
It aimed straight at Dream.
Notes:
I couldn't find information whether or not Dusttale's creators preferred Murder or Dust. So I did me and flipped a coin.
Tails. We're going with Murder. I know it's a little odd and I myself kept writing Dust but please just bear with me.
Horror belongs to Sour-Apple-Studios
Murder aka Dust belongs to Ask-Dusttale
Chapter 14: Escape from the Nightmare
Notes:
Folks, always remember:
1. You are awesome and capable. This internet stranger is proud of you.
2. One day you will take your revenge and make the onions cry.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The marrow in your bones froze. Your whole body ached as you willed your feet to move. The little amount of paint you had left struggled to keep you in action. Every breath felt like a tight band was wound around your chest.
You already knew you would be too late.
Dream lifted his head tiredly to watch Nightmare. You could see his feet stagger as he struggled to dodge but he didn’t have the energy to. Nightmare leaned closer, his teeth moved as he said something to Dream, final words before the strike-
“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” Blue screamed as he charged.
His whole body lit up in bright cyan. His bones were almost see-through with how bright he was. His eyelights were like a burning blue inferno. He alone was enough to light up the whole hallway.
And his warhammer…
It looked like it was made from millions of thin threads that were now untangling. The indigo strings wrapped around Blue’s hands as he swung at the tendril.
The hit sent Nightmare flying backwards. His tendril shook before falling off. The air blast was so strong your portal collapsed and you were sent hobbling backwards. A strong arm wound around your humerus as Blue pulled you to his side.
His touch was scalding.
“The ‘ell is going on?!” Murder muttered as he quickly got away from Blue.
Blue let go of you and ushered you behind him, next to shaky Dream.
“ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Blue asked. His voice echoed strangely, like there were three Blue’s instead of one.
You nodded. Dream nodded too, even when everybody could see that no, he was in fact, not alright. Actually, you were lying too. You were running very low on paints. The bones and portalling had taken a lot of your reserves.
Blue wasn’t faring any better. He was sweating a ton and his blazing eyelights started to fuzz.
Your mouth was dry. It felt like you were floating above your skull. The world was blurring slightly. There was a growing ache behind your sweaty bonebrows.
“GOOD. JUST SIT TIGHT, MY FRIEND IS COMING.” Blue smiled at your direction but didn’t take his eyelights off of the enemies, “YOU DO NOT NEED TO FEAR HIM.”
Blue’s nose canal started bleeding. Blue magic seeped from under his armour. The strings wound around his humerus as he tightened his grip. You could see the bones slowly chipping away.
“ You little shit-” Nightmare seethed. He was cut off by a white portal opening right under you.
You screamed as you felt the familiar, destructive magic buzz. You managed to catch the ledge of the portal and pull yourself up but Dream and Blue weren’t so lucky. Dream fell with a tired yelp as he slowly reached for you.
“INK!” Blue yelled horrified as he fell.
He extended his arm and your bones flashed blue. Then the portal closed and you were plunged into darkness once more. Error had taken them. He had taken your friends.
“ No!” Nightmare yelled as he reached for where the portal had been. He shrieked so loudly that the whole building shook. Darkness spread in your peripherals. You straightened to your feet.
“Broomie?” You whispered, “Can you get us out of here?”
Broomie didn’t move. You couldn’t feel it give any signal of consciousness. That meant…
You lifted your skull. Five eyelights and one eye stared right back at you. You were alone and the gang was here. Four against one because Broomie was out.
You bolted back where you had come from. Bones rose from the ground but you managed to dodge most of them. There wasn’t any noise coming from behind. That only made you feel worse, your pursuers were on a hunt.
And they were effective hunters.
As if to prove you right, Horror barreled right at you from the darkness. You dove to dodge his massive claws. He kneed you right into your ribs before slamming down on your skull with the hilt of his axe.
Your vision swam as your legs gave up and you collapsed on the broken floor. You tried to get to your feet but a sudden weight on your back pressed you down.
“What’s the matter?” Killer mocked as he pressed his foot harder between your scapulas, “Were you left behind?”
This time your instincts didn’t save you as multiple bones pierced through your legs and lower torso. You choked a scream as your vision went black and the pain settled in. Your feet were crushed and the foreign bones felt so cold against your body.
“Huh, you’re not dusting.” Two glowed hands took a hold of your face as Murder leaned into view. Your head spun with the pain.
You could already feel it lessening as the ink in your system started to cover the wounds. But you didn’t have enough paints nor ink to heal properly.
You were drying up.
“What?” Killer poked at your broken leg a few times and made stars flash in your view. “Interesting.”
He then pulled his knife out. You weakly struggled in Murder’s hold. You didn’t have enough substances to heal another high LV wound.
“ Enough.” Killer was yanked away from your back and Murder voluntarily stepped away under Nightmare’s scathing look.
“ Now then, Ink.” Nightmare chuckled as he now stood tall in front of you, “ You and I have some business to discuss.”
You stayed quiet. You didn’t have anything to say to him except if he suddenly declared his brotherly love for Dream. And even then, you would need to be careful of his tricks.
“ I see you have the destroyer and his aide on your side,” Nightmare continued, not caring about your silence, “ But I am more intrigued about you. So tell me, are you a balance-holder like us?”
You stayed quiet. You couldn’t know what he’d do to you if he knew you were. You had seen many Inks get tortured because of this teeny tiny fact. Nightmare prodded at your broken feet. You clenched your jaw as the pain flared up. It was much weaker this time.
“Boss, I could-” “ No.” Nightmare spoke over Killer. You were glad his suggestion of something that was not nice in your point of view was shot down so quickly. “ I just merely… Wanted to ask. To give him a chance to help us.”
“And why in the multiverse would I help you ?” You snapped as you felt your fibula and tibia reconnecting. Your paints fluttered like a frightened bird in your chest as you looked for a way out. Nightmare ignored you as he inspected the dust particles on the golden windows.
“ You know, Dream cannot run from me. I can feel him wherever he goes and wherever he hides. There’s no place safe from him.” Just a little more and you could move again, hurry, magic!
“ It’s almost pitiable how weak he is. Hiding behind you and the aide… It’s just merciful to finish him early,” Nightmare monologued, “ After all, I will continue to grow stronger. Even now it’s three against four.”
“That’s not true!” You interjected, “It’s four against four, Broomie is very strong!”
“Broomie?” Horror muttered.
“His brush.” Killer explained.
There was a moment of silence before the trio burst out in laughter. It wasn't a nice laugh, it was cold and cruel. The laughter echoed back in a creepy, twisted tone. Nightmare’s grin spread as he let them laugh.
“ Murder, take him. We’re going back.” He turned his attention to his hollering pawns.
That’s when you bolted. Only to be slammed back down immediately.
“You-” Killer was cut off by a white, glitchy portal opening straight next to him.
“WeLL heLl0 TheRE.” A painfully familiar voice drew out.
Error stretched before he stepped into the corridor. Multiple of his bones popped as he rolled his skull. Then he looked around.
“D0N’t Mind mE. i’M 0Nly heRE t0 c0LLECT A LOST lamB.” He snickered at the silence. His multicolored, crazed eyelights locked onto you.
Blue strings wrapped around Killer’s soul and a portal opened under you. This time you didn’t have the energy to fight it.
You were outta this horrorhouse.
— — —
Error’s portals felt strange. They were like an itch you couldn’t scratch. The glitches buzzed around you as you descended into the pure white. You were encompassed by the need to destroy and-
Then you were freefalling, plummeting towards Underswap Snowdin. Strings wound around your body and gently laid you down.
You scampered up and ran as soon as they let go. You had to get away from the destroyer. Him and his magic screaming of death.
“cALm D0Wn.” A chocolate bar swung right at your face.
You stared at it in confusion. Why was he giving you chocolate? And that wrapper… Seemed familiar. Wait. You looked at the bar again. Black, red and golden. Named ‘lethally spicy goodies’. It was the same chocolate!
Did that mean that Error gave you one before? You gazed at the tall destroyer who just awkwardly waved at you with slow movements. You gave him a hesitant smile.
“Get away from him!” Dream barreled into sight. He slotted himself right between you and Error.
“DREAM!” Blue appeared too, as he stopped next to Error.
“I knew it! I knew you two were tricking us.” Dream seethed as he stepped closer to you, “The phone calls, visits and a mysterious friend. ”
“HuH. Y0u ArE smarTER thaN y0u L00K.” Error grinned, “BuT n0, WE dId n0T intenD T0 “tRIcK” Y0u.”
Dream grabbed your hand as he used his body to shield you. He felt warm and familiar after all the pain.
“DREAM, PLEASE LISTEN. I PROMISE THERE’S A REASON. WE WOULD NEVER HURT YOU.” Blue pleaded as he stepped closer to you.
Dream pulled you away. Blue looked devastated as he backed way.
“If there was a reason, you would’ve already told us. But no, you kept making excuses and lied to us.” Dream spat as he summoned his staff. Error simply cocked his browbone.
“ANd H0w Did Y0u EXcEpt Us T0 d0 thAt WheN hE,” he pointed a glitchy finger at you, “paNiCs EverY tiME I GeT cL0sE?”
“That’s your own fault! You almost killed him!” Dream defended, though you could feel him getting tired again.
Dream was trying to protect you. He was trying his very best to keep you safe and away from Error. He knew just how much you feared him. But on the other hand you knew he hated confrontations.
This had to be exhausting to him.
And maybe, just maybe, Error was a good guy. Sure, he had destroyed places but maybe he had a reason? Blue said he had and you trusted Blue. He would never lie to you.
“Um,” You started, suddenly feeling nervous as everyone’s eyelights snapped to you, “I would like to hear the explanation, please?”
Your voice faded as the small amount of cyan you still had left worked to create fear. It was worth it when Blue’s tired eyelights lit up and Dream’s tensed up shoulders relaxed just a bit.
“VeRy WelL. BuT InsIDe.” Error pointed his thumb at Stretch’s and Blue’s house. Stretch was at the open door, glaring at Error, “StrEtch I swEAr THat If Y0u AttaCk me AgaIN I WiLl Use Y0u aS My PuppET.”
Stretch looked at you, Dream and Blue. You were covered in dried ink that looked like blood. Dream was ashy. Blue was barely standing on his feet as blue magic still seeped down his nose canal.
“fine. but one wrong move and i’ll make sure you’ll never destroy again.”
With that, he stepped aside and let Error in. Stretch followed him immediately.
Blue extended his hand to you. You immediately took it and let him pull you close. Dream was still anchored to your other hand and followed.
“I Promise I Haven’t Brought Danger To You,” Blue quietly told you before coughing up magic.
The wet hacking made Dream immediately jump to Blue’s side. His hands lit up in a golden glow as he healed Blue.
“THANK YOU DREAM.” Blue gently pat his head. Dream let him do that.
“BUT BOYS, ONE THING BEFORE WE EXPLAIN THE VIRUSES PROPERLY TO YOU,” Blue’s gentle tone suddenly became much sterner, “BACK THEN I USED A BAD WORD. PLEASE DO NOT COPY ME.”
You and Dream shared a look. A bad word? Did Blue mean…?
“Blue, I am over six hundred. I can say motherfucker if I want to.” Dream grinned mischievously.
“Yeah,” You grinned too, “we can say bad words as much as we want to.”
“DEAR SKIES, I TAUGHT THE BOYS SWEAR WORDS, ” Blue lamented as he led you inside.
Notes:
Dream was comparing Blue to the villagers. Nice to him but danger to his loved ones. That's why he's reacting so strongly.
Error has decided that giving you chocolate is the best way to keep you calm.
Blue is banged up but he was going to kick Nightmare's ass for his boys. He is currently mortified by the fact that he taught the babybones swearing.
Nightmare is suspicious.
You're finally getting an explanation.
Chapter 15: Explanation
Notes:
Guys, I am very sleep deprived so please inform me if there's something that doens't make sense. Pretty please owo
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“S0,” Error started, “y0U d0N’T Kn0w anytHing Ab0uT ThE ViruSES.”
It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. A fact you didn’t want to accept.
Error and Blue had been questioning you about all the facts that you knew. It made you realise just how little you actually knew about how things happened in this multiverse.
You knew better than anyone why things happened. Since you had the advantage of being reincarnated with past information. But now you knew how much there were things you didn’t know.
And no, Error did not have the Voices in his place.
You had asked him the second you could. He looked at you like you were stupid but answered anyway. So, no Voices. Which meant two things.
Firstly, you couldn’t contact anyone from your past world. If Error didn’t have Voices, this Multiverse might not even have Creators. Secondly Error had been utterly alone in the Antivoid. He had suffered there and didn’t even have the Voices to keep him company.
It was a horrifying thought.
But you couldn’t feel any horror.
You had seen Blue’s eyelights sadden as he heard your question. But you couldn’t decipher why.
“No. We don’t.” Dream answered in your stead as he deadpanned at Error.
His warm hand squeezed yours as the two of you sat on the sofa. Broomie was on the floor. It didn’t move. Error and Blue sat on a swing Error had made. Stretch was sleeping on the floor.
It seemed that nobody else had really noticed. You should really do something about it. If only you could work out the will to move. He could need a blanket.
“LisTEN UP then,” Error grimaced, “ThE VirUSEs ArE AboMInatI0ns B0rN fr0M thE MistAKes IN thE CodE. FiRST ThEY CorruPT THe AU ThEY Were B0Rn int0. TheN THey M0ve 0n t0 the neareST Au. WhicH, In m0ST Cases, is A vaRIAnt 0F tHE SamE Au.”
Weird. THe world suddenly tilted as Error spoke. Your skull met something warm.
“What causes these ‘mistakes’ in the code?” Dream asked. His words were getting muffled like he was far away.
You sluggishly reached for him with your free hand. You had to make sure that Dream still was there, next to you. Your weak phalanges met fabric and you squeezed.
“GlAD y0U ASKeD. ThEy’RE CaUSED BECaUse 0F y0u anD NightMARe,” Error’s bitter laugh glitched and echoed, “0R m0RE BecAUse 0f NIghTMARE. Y0u See, My j0B is t0 St0p thE viruS fr0M SPREading bY CrashinG ThE Au’S.”
He went silent for a moment.
“AnD HE,” Error then pointed at you, “We BElieve thAT He CaN HeAL THe InfecTED w0RLDS 0R Act as aN FireWAll.”
“And who’s we?” Dream asked spitefully, “And why is my brother the cause of the viruses?”
“ME AND ERROR ARE THE ‘WE’,” Blue answered as he waved his hand. The air glitched slightly around it, “I WAS RECRUITED TO HELP AND I WENT THROUGH MULTIPLE AU'S IN ORDER TO FIND THE VIRUSES. “
“recruited as in kidnapped.” Stretch suddenly piped up from the floor. He just grinned at the stern look Blue gave him. Error just snorted.
“YOUR BROTHER… WELL, NIGHTMARE AND YOU HOLD THE BALANCE OF THE EMOTIONS. IN A ROUNDABOUT WAY, YOU HOLD POWER OVER THE SOULS.” Blue explained as he ignored Stretch’s comment.
“NIGHTMARE BROKE THE BALANCE A LONG TIME AGO WHEN YOU WERE STILL IN STONE. THE SOULS HAVE LOST THEIR HOPE BEFORE THEY SHOULD HAVE. THAT BROKE THE CODE...” He continued.
“WhicH IN TurN CreATED The VIRuSES. ANd AS L0ng As hE keePS G0iNg, the ViruSES Will ContinUE T0 MultipLy.” Error finished Blue’s sentence.
Oh. So that’s what had been happening back in Flowerfell. You should tell them that it hadn’t been you. It had been Broomie that fixed the place. You had just been there.
But you couldn’t bother to open your mouth. You were comfortable there, nestled next to Dream. He was warm and safe. And most importantly, he was there. Living and breathing, making noise.
“So you need us.” Dream concluded as his grip on your hand tightened to borderline painful, “You need us to keep you safe. It was never about wanting to care for us.”
He let go of your hand and tightly hugged himself. You slowly managed to sit up and hug him too. Dream was warm and his shoulders moved rapidly up and down. You felt heavy and tired.
“NO! OF COURSE I WANTED TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!” Blue shot up and hurried to you and Dream, “IT’S TRUE, YOU TWO ARE OUR HOPE OF STOPPING THE VIRUSES BUT YOU’RE DREAM AND INK FIRST AND FOREMOST!”
“Then tell me why Nightmare is doing all of this?” Dream asked in a flat tone.
You let your heavy sockets blink shut as you rested your skull against his shoulder.
“ThAT’s BEcaUSe ThE FIrST VirUS EveR CreATed G0t t0 DreamtALE And C0rruPTED NightMAre AnD KillED NEil 0Ver Six hunDred yEArs Ag0,” Error answered.
“WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE FIRST BROKEN CODES BUT… OUR GUESS IS THAT SOMETHING OR SOMEONE VERY STRONG OR VERY BIG ENTERED THIS MULTIVERSE BACK THEN. WE ALL FELT THE SHOCKWAVE.”
“yeah. our au shook like crazy back then. everyone was so sure that the ceiling would collapse upon us.” Stretch muttered, “pretty shaky start to a multiversal travel, eh?”
The words were farther and farther away from you. It was like your skull was pressed under water. It was warm, comfortable and suffocating.
“Ink?”
The world was pressing down on you. Your chest felt tight as the colors dwindled.
“INK! WHAT’S WRONG?!”
Strong hands wrapped gently around you. You could feel the cool, smooth bones against yours.
“ThE HeLl?! Is HE HungRY?”
Cold creeped up your spine. Your phalanges felt like they were frozen in their place.
“The vials! Give them to me!”
Suddenly something familiar and tasty touched your teeth. The smooth liquid flowed freely down your throat. You sat up coughing as you wildy looked around.
Blue, Dream and Stretch were huddled close to you. Dream was holding your yellow and cyan vials. They all looked at you like you were a ghost.
The TV behind them buzzed slightly. No, wait. It wasn’t the TV. It was…
“Error!” You screamed as you jumped up and behind the couch. Then you peeked over the backrest. The destroyer was sitting next to the TV! With knitting needles! The cyan thrummed through your system as his eyelights rose to meet yours. The mad, multicoloured merciless eyelights that-
“Ink!” Dream jumped behind the couch too. He blocked your view of Error.
“IT MighT Be BEst THAt I leAVE.” Error contemplated as he looked at you.
Yes, it would be great if he left without destroying this whole place. You would greatly appreciate it.
“Y0u SH0ulD G0 BacK t0 The D00dlespheRE t00. NeitHER i 0R NightmARE CAn ACCESs THat placE.” Error addressed Blue before walking into his portal.
You shivered as the buzzing pressure disappeared from the air. It was easier to breathe again when the air didn’t smell like coolant fluid.
“WELL THEN,” Blue clapped his hands together even though you could see the worry clouding his face, “LET’S GO HOME.”
— — —
It had been several days since you got back to the Doodlesphere. Blue immediately sweeped you and Dream into the living room to patch any remaining cuts.
“WHY DID YOU DODGE ERROR’S PORTAL?” Blue had asked while he held Broomie hostage. You had explained to him that you were afraid of him and his magic.
Dream listened and made sure that you were okay. Then he apologized because he had been a burden and locked himself in his room.
You hadn’t seen him since.
— — —
He couldn’t be okay. You hadn’t seen Dream in the whole day.
You weren’t the only one worried.
Blue paced back and forth in the kitchen while you sat at the table with Stretch. You had been brainstorming ideas for cheering Dream up. This couldn’t be healthy to him no matter how much he mourned his brother.
“If we offer him chocolate? Or bananas” You suggested.
“IT WOULD BE TOO UNHEALTHY.” Blue shot you down. Then his pacing suddenly halted, “WAIT A MINUTE… CHOCOLATE…” He muttered before rushing out.
“I GOT AN GREAT IDEA! FOLLOW ME!” He yelled over his shoulder. .
You moved slower and Stretch just stayed where he was.
Blue was in the living room. He went through the TV channel before he apparently found what he was searching for. Some kind of show of Frisk with a mustache. Go figure.
“ERRO- MY FRIEND REALLY RECOMMENDS THIS SHOW. I THINK WE SHOULD WATCH AT LEAST SOME EPISODES OF IT. IT COULD CHEER DREAM UP SEEING THAT HE HAS NEVER SEEN EVEN MOVIES.” Blue suggested while hopefully batting his eyelights at you.
“MY FRIEND SAYS THIS REALLY LIFTS HIS SPIRITS AFTER A STRESSFUL DAY.”
“Blue, that’s an amazing idea! I’ll go get Dream!” You smiled as the yellow paint surged in your system, “But you can say Error. I’m not gonna pee my pants over his name.”
Especially when you finally knew that Error wasn’t a threat but an ally.
— — —
“Dream?” You knocked on his door.
There was shuffling and rustling before the door creaked open. Dream peeked out. His eyelights were dim and the bags under them looked almost like bruises with how dark they were.
“Would you like to watch a show with me and Blue? It’s like moving pictures.” You pleaded before he could shut the door on your face. Not that Dream would ever do that.
He sighed heavily before forcing a smile on his face. The fakeness was clear even to you.
“Sure, I would love to!” One day. One day you hoped Dream wouldn’t bottle up his feelings like this. You let it be this time since you couldn’t do anything about it.
“Great, let’s go!” You exclaimed as you took his hand and dragged him down the creaky stairs where Blue had somehow gotten popcorn and different snacks. Stretch was already snoring on the sofa.
Blue sent you a beaming smile when he noticed Dream.
“THE SHOW’S ABOUT TO START, SO LET’S HURRY!” Blue ushered you to sit.
— — —
“Pfft, what even is this show?” Dream laughed with tears in his eyes as he watched the drama occur on the TV.
“THIS IS UNDERNOVELA!” Blue beamed as he tried to hold his laughter.
You hollered on the sofa so much you thought your ribs would break.
Notes:
Also, gongratulations! You sat in the white void for 600 years. Time sure flies?
Chapter 16: Knitting session
Notes:
I'm very sorry about the late update. My eyes decided to screw me over. Dw, they should be okay in a few weeks but updates may be a little funny in the meantime :(
Anyways.
You're awesome people <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
You were laying somewhere dark and hot. The heat sweltered over your bones in hot, wet waves as you struggled to get up. It was like an anvil was tied to your ribgace and it was pulling you down.
You slowly managed to lift your head up. Every vertebrae you owned croaked at the forced use.
Another skeleton laid on the ground. They were as tiny as you were. Very familiar, actually. You had a feeling you knew them. Or he. Or she. Or something else. You didn’t know yet.
But you had a hunch.
The skeleton was dressed in the same attire as yours, the only difference was that their shirt was black, not white. You felt like you were staring at a mirror. Or a twin of yourself.
“..H… ey.” You managed to croak out.
The other skeleton’s phalanges twitched. Theis sockets remained empty as they slowly reached for you. You reached back with the little power you had.
Your burning hot phalanges met theirs. You couldn’t tell where they started and you ended.
“What did the grape say when it got crushed?” They rasped out, “Nothing, it just let out a little wine.” They then finished it.
That phrase was ... familiar.
They burst out in a bout of raspy giggles that then turned into couching. Only then you could see multiple wounds on them through their torn clothing.
“That actually was a good one. I liked it..” They grinned,”It’s nice to actually be able to talk to you.”
“Oh. And watch out for …” Their head lolled back and they melted into black goo.
You were pulled through the hot air. It burned your bones as they started to melt too. Your skull blistered as you felt your body become soft and malleable.
Your sockets blew wide open as you jumped up, choking back a scream. Your blanket flopped down on the floor as you tumbled on the floor.
Broomie was the first thing that came into view. It laid on the floor, still having multiple cracks alongside its wooden handle. It gave you the tiniest wave ever.
That’s when you noticed something.
The heat hadn’t eased up. You were still sweating bullets.
You looked around in the room, only to notice it wasn’t as dark as it should be. The room was encompassed in a golden glow as heatwave after heatwave washed over the room.
Dream was snoring quietly against your bed frame. His face was scrunched up as golden tears poured from his closed sockets.
“Dream.” You whispered as you gently nudged him.
He didn’t rouse from his sleep but the crease between his eyes got a little lighter. You carefully poked him again but got no reaction.
Maybe this was good?
Dream needed his sleep and everybody knew that he didn’t get nearly enough. Blue had been stressed out of his mind when Dream practically sleepwalked right into him.
You scooped Dream up and deposited him into your bed. The mattress puffed a little before settling. Then you picked the blanket up and laid it on top of Dream. He sighed as the tears finally stopped.
He looked so tiny under there, with only the top of his skull poking out. YOu pondered for a moment before freeing his nose-canal. Dream couldn’t sleep peacefully if he was suffocating.
Peace.
Your friends deserved peace but when could they get it?
Broomie, Stretch, Blue and Dream gave you peace of mind by just by existing. They were kind and just purely the bestest friends you could hope for. Minus the ‘magic teaching’ they did.
But the point still stood. The two of them were amazing!
Blue always checked on everyone. When Dream was dimming and losing his colors, he was there, giving Dream the positivity he needed to keep on going. When you were scared of making Error angry, he stopped your panic-indulgent running by pulling you into a bear hug.
One time you had even lost Broomie again. It had just vanished and you couldn’t find it anywhere. Blue had found you turning the house upside down while looking for it. He had then proceeded to pull it from under the sofa with an amused stare.
And Dream?
While Blue was a magnificent protector parent, Dream was the comforting presence.He laughed with you and not to you. He seemed to sense your moods while he couldn’t sense your emotions.
So when you felt like the multiverse was painted purple, he came and sat with you. Breathed with you. Stayed with you. Reminded you that weren’t alone. He held your hand and acted as a barricade between you and the world.
Broomie and Stretch just gave you a peace of mind just by existing.
They have given you so much.
You wanted to give them something else in return.
A gift they would like. Something that would help Dream sleep at night. Something to ease Blue’s worrying.
Blankets. You wanted to make blankets for your friends but you quickly noticed that you fell short on the ability to do them. The only books you found were all knitting books. The weird knots just didn’t want to work.
But you tried.
.
..
…
Which is why you were currently sitting on a cold asteroid with two knitting needles.
Error was the best knitter you knew so surely spying on him would help. He sat on the familiar edge of Outertale and looked at the stars while quietly knitting.
You couldn’t ask him to show you. He would just make the blankets himself and then your idea would be taken. Or worse, he could get annoyed by your request.
Thus the only logical solution was to watch from afar how he did the loops.
You sighed as you leaned on the cold stone and relaxed your tired bones. It wasn’t easy to try to match the pace of Error’s speed knitting and staying hidden.
Maybe… Maybe you could rest just a little?
You peeked at Error. He had put his knitting needles away and was now eating chocolate. He childishly swung his legs over the edge and the scarf he had been making was already finished.
All in all, he seemed content and like he wasn’t going to knit anymore.
You eyed the small start of a very… unique blanket. The golden strings of wool were now woven in order like Error’s. They poked everywhere and wouldn’t just stay in place.
You decided it was best for you to leave. You quietly crouched up but accidentally kicked a small rock off the side. It let out a loud clang as it fell. The noise could’ve easily been the doomsday bells with how loud it echoed in the silence.
“Wh0’s THeRE?!” Error’s screech was immediate. His strings were already circling the small asteroid you were perched on.
You stopped trying to be discreet and jumped off. The air whistled around you as you heard the telltale humming of blasters. Your scarf whipped to your face as you looked back to see several glitching blasters shooting the asteroid to smithereens.
The smoke and debris the blast sent flying concealed you from Error long enough for very limp Broomie to warp you back to Doodlesphere undetected.
You stumbled the landing and almost fell off. A strong pair of arms pulled you back as you flailed.
“CAREFUL NOW.” Blue only let go when he was sure you wouldn’t fall.
“Oh, thanks!” You smiled before you realized that Blue would see the blankets. You quickly pulled your hands behind your back. Only to find them empty.
Where was the ugly start of Dream’s blanket?
You pulled your hands back and examined them. Nope, no knitting works hiding in your gloves. Crap.
You must’ve left them in Outertale. And Error kinda laserbeamed in that case.
“SO WHERE WERE YOU? I MADE COOKIES AND WANTED TO GIVE YOU SOME.” Blue continued, oblivious to your blanket problems.
“Hmm… What?” You finally looked at Blue. He gave you a patient smile
.
“COOKIES. AND I WAS INQUIRING ABOUT WHERE YOU HAD BEEN.”
“Outertale. I was at Outertale.” You answered, mind still working on how you started your knitting progress before. If you just could recall the steps then you wouldn’t need to spy on Error so much.
“...WHAT WERE YOU DOING THERE?” Blue asked as he led you back to the base.
.
..
…
“I- I uh… I was keeping an eye on Error!” Technically true and thus a good alibi. You couldn’t tell Blue that you had been trying to make blankets.
“OH. WHY DID YOU NEED HIM?” Blue pulled his phone out and started tapping on it, “YOU KNOW YOU CAN TRUST HIM.”
“Yes, but y’know. I just wanted to really make sure.” Was that answer enough? Or would you have to make the lie a little bit better so Blue would believe it? Maybe lying would be the best course of action.
“I have studied his habits so I can plan accordingly” You waved your hand in so-so motion, “Just in case he needs backup.”
There, that should be enough.
“MHM. I ACTUALLY HAVE TO DO SOMETHING REAL QUICK SO YOU CAN GO AHEAD.” Blue suddenly informed you, gaze still fixated on his phone.
You didn’t question it. Blue sometimes suddenly got things to do. You guessed it was his way to tell you he needed time alone.
From behind, you could hear Blue’s phone beeping as he called someone. Then he spoke in a hushed voice but you didn’t eavesdrop.
You went inside and found Dream in the living room with a bunch of banana cookies.
He was on the sofa as the TV was playing something. It illuminated the dark room with blue light.
The bags under his eyesockets had become a lot darker. His figure was slumped under the many blankets. You could hear quiet, light breathing. It seemed like he had fallen asleep mid-show.
You quietly turned the volume of the TV down but didn’t turn it off. No need to make Dream feel alone.
The cookies could get crushed. You leaned forward but the instant you stepped closer to the sofa Dream sprung up.
He rolled to his feet while keeping a low, defensive position. His hazy eyelights were trained on you, following even your slightest movements. Somehow it felt like he wasn’t looking at you. His wild gaze was going straight through you as he heaved.
“Dream?” You asked as you stepped closer to him. Dream flinched back and his staff appeared in his hands.
You froze in your place.
The two of you stared at each other for a moment. You kept your hands in view as Dream slowly focused on you.
“Ink?” Dream’s voice was soft.
“Yeah?” Your voice cracked.
That was enough for Dream. His posture slackened and the staff disappeared in a puff of golden smoke.
You hesitantly creeped closer to him and opened your hands as an invitation to a hug. Dream really seemed like he could use one. He looked like he had been having a nightmare.
Dream accepted it immediately. He slumped forward against your short figure.
You dragged him back to the sofa and sat him down. You didn’t know why he was so… woozy today but the cookies would probably help. They were Blue’s handiwork so they should have all the good intent in them.
“Here. Eat this.” You gave Dream the largest and yellowest cookie you found. He munched on it slowly as you buried him under the blankets again.
“I… fell asleep…? Dream finally asked.
“Seems like it.” A weird expression flash on Dream’s face B´but it was gone before you could intercept it.
The closest you could describe it was anguish. Dream had looked anguished .
You wouldn’t just leave him to suffer alone with whatever made him feel that way.You snuggled next to him and put a calming nature documentary on.
Dream slowly relaxed and nodded off again. But he always jolted awake the second his sockets stayed closed for more than ten seconds.
This wasn’t right. This wasn't okay. Something needed to be done.
You needed to help Dream.
Notes:
It is time to stage an intervention =)
Chapter 17: Kidnapping can be good...?
Notes:
Guys, don't worry! I heard you loud and clear and you're getting Ink jumpscare people with his smiley face on multiple occasions. I'm sorry, I forgot it in the last chapter.
(And thank you for mentioning it, I had totally forgotten. If you have other Ink facts that I do not write about, just mention them and I'll see if I can write them into the story)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“ I need your help a little bit. Please, partner ?”
The familiar stranger, your identical copy, was back again.
You were standing in a swirling black darkness. It was soft but tangy as it flowed around your feet.
It wasn’t as hot as it had been before. It was quite calm and quiet.
You would’ve panicked had you been alone. This place reminded you too much of that place , even though it was quite dark.
But the stranger was with you. This time they sat on the ground. Some of the gashes had healed but rather slowly.
“Who are you?” You tried to ask, but your voice was muffled out, like the surrounding area ate away all sounds.
“Don’t you know? You were the one to name me. I’m Broomie, of course!” The stranger answered with a giggle. They seemed to hear you just fine.
“ We were together back there. You took control over my body but that’s fine. I’m not mad. After all, you got us out and I got a new body,” They mulled over a little bit, “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you back then. But I surely will now!”
“Broomie?” You couldn’t believe your ears. Or ear canals.
This was… Your trusty brush that had helped you through thick and thin? It was the original Ink? And you had stolen his body? Oh no. You had to apologise to him even though you never had the intention to take over his body.
But first you had to ask questions. Did they have the og Ink’s powers? Like, could they read the scripts and see the future? Could they tell what was going on in every world without looking?
“I’m sorry! I have been calling you an it ! What pronouns do you use?” You blurted out.
“Don’t worry, I quite like going by it. And my name is Broomie, not the og Ink,” Broomie giggled.
Did he just-?
“And I’m sorry about not being able to help you back there. I tried, but you saw the result. It wasn’t your fault he melted. It was mine. I think. My memory isn’t the best,” Broomie went on,”“But do me a favor and get me to one of the paintfalls. You see, we share the paints and I need to heal before he comes-”
The dream stopped as you were gently roused from sleep.
You blearily blinked your sockets open to see Blue’s gentle face.
“Come To The Studio When You’re Ready. We Need To Plan.” He spoke slowly and quietly for Blue.
Then he was gone.
You slowly sat up. The blanket pooled around you as you stared at Broomie and the gashes on its handle.
“Are you really the original Ink?” You quietly asked, “Or was it just a dream?”
Broomie gave you the tiniest nod.
That was enough for you to get it to the paintfalls. They drippled down from the golden sky as serene as always. The colors swirled calmly as they pooled on the islands.
You took Broomie to the nearest one where it dunked itself in the stream for a while. When it pulled back, the gashes in the handle were completely gone.
You two looked at the paintfalls for a moment before you remembered Blue asked you to come to the studio. You pushed Broomie into the sash and rushed inside.
— — —
Dream wasn’t alright.
That much was clear to anyone. Especially to you.
He had always been a little guarded but that was a given after what had occurred at the tree of feelings. After the betrayal of the villagers and the loss of his dear twin.
But.
He had started to open up. He had been excited to get out to the Multiverse to help people. And now he was just a husk of himself flinching at every shadow like it would jump him.
As his friend you needed to help him whether or not he wanted help. You wouldn’t let this pass anymore.
You would do what any friend would do.
You, Stretch and Blue were huddled into the studio as you spoke in hushed voices. The dim lightning cast shadows over your skulls and made you look scary.
Blue was drawing a battle plan on an empty paper that he was showing you and Stretch. He had put it next to Broomie’s drawings. Fortunately, he didn’t turn the weird purple blob around.
Dream had disappeared into his room again. He wouldn’t come out before lunch so you had time to plan.
“so,” Stretch started, “red told me about a guy named sci who apparently has a lot of experience with anomalies and outsiders.”
“Oh! You mean the Sans who is super smart and has a coffee addiction! He’s the perfect aid.” You grinned. Sci had been in so many stories you had read. He had slipped your mind, but wasn’t he the one to always help while grumpling or something?
Blue quickly shushed you. For some reason your companions first stared at you, then smiled.
“right, I always forget he knows so much…” Stretch muttered to himself.
“SO WE MEET THIS SCI AND ASK FOR HELP?” Blue asked and you confirmed with excited nodding.
“then that’s settled. when should we go?”
“AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. DREAM GETS WORSE EVERY SECOND I SEE HIM. I SURE HOPE THIS SCI IS ABLE TO HELP.”
“But Stretch, what were you doing in Underfell?” You needed to know.
Stretch blanked for a second but his grin never fell . Heh.
“y’know, i was just paying for the chocolate the destroyer stole.” Stretch spat out. Orange sweat dripped off his skull as he kept grinning.
“STRETCH.” Blue’s tone was warning as he put his paper on the weasel, “IF I FIND OUT YOU HAVE BEEN DRINKING WITH HIM AGAIN I’LL-”
“no, bro! i was just getting the money to him while gathering information.” Stretch defended.
“OOKAY. I THINK WE NEED TO CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION LATER.” Blue deadpanned as he side-eyed you.
“ wealth, i think it about time to eat lunch.” Stretch stood up, casting a steep shadow over the room. His clothes rustled as he walked right at the wall and disappeared,
“AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!” Blue screamed in frustration as he slammed his hands on his ear canals.
You held your skull too as Blue screamed. But you still managed to hear the quiet creak of the door.
You turned around just in time to see Dream disappear from the doorway. His yellow cape fluttered in the wind as he went away.
“Dream!” You shouted as you scrambled up and after him, “Wait! It’s lunchtime!”
Had he heard what you had planned? Or had he come to check why Blue was screaming? You hoped it was the latter. The last thing you needed right now was for Dream to feel betrayed. He could always chew you inside out after you had helped him.
You burst out of the door. Its hinges groaned as it gave way.
Dream stood in the middle of the hallway. The lone window at the other end made golden hues dance across his skull. He looked tired as he fiddled with his bright cyan shirt.
“Fine. I’ll come soon.” He finally answered before rushing away.
You looked after him, hand still raised as if to grab him. Then you turned around and went to the kitchen. The stairs felt particularly prickly today as you descended downstairs but it only steeled your resolve.
You had all the rights to be worried. The reasons had just increased when you watched Dream waltz around like a zombie.
One time he even apologized to the sofa when he bumped into and stubbed his toe. Then while rescuing you from Horror, he complimented Horror’s new hat.
Horror hadn’t had a hat.
The poor guy had looked as confused as you were. Then he asked if Dream had gone insane. You hoped the answer was negative.
Blue had keeped an even closer eyelight on Dream. He told you that Dream had only gotten worse. He had eaten a whole bag of candies in hopes to be positive enough to help Dream.
He later told you that it was for scientific purposes but to you it was more like ‘survive a hyperactive bee on steroids’. No wonder you were traumatized.
Dream was just pushing his food around his plate. Then he took a sip from the sweet chili sauce.
“So, you like chili?” You asked innocently.
Dream looked confused before he blearily looked closer at the bottle.
“I thought it was orange juice” He muttered before taking another sip. You exchanged a worried look with Blue and Stretch.
“WE DON’T HAVE ORANGE JUICE AT THE MOMENT BUT WOULD APPLE JUICE SUFFICE?” Blue offered.
Dream choked on his chili sauce, his face turned yellow before he started to cough.
“let’s leave the hot stuff to ink.” Stretch supported as he gently took the sauce from Dream.
“DREAM!” Blue yelped as he hurried to slam Dream’s back
Yes, slam. Dream’s ribs let out very alarming sounds. You were very thankful that you and Dream were guardians, otherwise Blue’s helping would’ve caused actual damage.
He spat the sauce out and Blue finally relented his overly worried smacking. Dream started to breathe normally again.
Now it was your turn.
The plan was to ask the guardian himself just to tell you how he was feeling. Healthy communication and all that jazz.
You would ask Dream once more. If he denied or avoided the question, you were fully permitted to take action. And now was Dream’s final chance to be truthful.
“Dream,” You started, “We are worried about you.”
“As I’ve told you, I’m alright” Dream gave you that weary smile again as he peered at you.
“DREAM, I’M DISAPPOINTED IN YOU.” You and Dream both visibly flinched at the words.
“NOT BADLY OF COURSE,” Blue quickly backtracked,“BUT TIME AND TIME AGAIN WE HAVE TRUSTED YOU TO TELL US IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS. YOU HAVEN’T DONE THAT.”
Dream shifted in his place uncomfortably as Blue’s eyelights drilled into him.
“YOU LEAVE US NO CHOICE.” He concluded.
That was your que.
Dream wasn’t fast enough to escape when Blue tackled him.
“I’m sorry,” You muttered as Broomie created a portal straight under the duo. Dream didn’t seem to hear your apology when he struggled to get free.
“Blue, what are you doing?! Ink?!” He yelled but when he noticed the portal closing around him, it was far too late.
You were already transporting the three of you away.
— — —
You crashed into a hard cold floor when you arrived. Loud alarms blared to life as the lights turned red.
“Alert. Intruders detected. Stay locked inside. Alert.” A monotonic Mettaton’s voice echoed through the long hallways.
“What in the world are you doing?!” Dream exclaimed as Blue helped him up.
You refused to feel ashamed under his stern look. Blue looked more amused than intimidated. He seemed to have fun with kidnapping.
“THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.” He answered with a hardly hidden smirk. You gave Dream a final solemn look before leading the others deeper into building. Every possible machine beeped and alarms kept howling like doomsday was calling.
The hallway felt endless but you trusted Broomie’s intuition more than ever. It nudged you forward, through the grey areas.
You could barely hear hurried steps behind the locked doors as the scientists scurried around.
Then Broomie pulled you to a stop next to an identical door. It was silverish grey and reflected the red lights. There was no door handle, only a keypad on it. It was shut tight.
“Okay, this should be it.” You informed your companions. The door didn’t budge when you tried to open.
You proceeded to smash it with Broomie.
“Ink!” Dream yelped as the door’s hinges gave up and the door crashed down. You stepped in through the rubble and dust. Blue pushed Dream in after you.
The room was fairly big and looked like several mad scientists lived in it. Which seemingly wasn’t too far off. The multiple coffee machines that were scattered all around, connected to big, bulky machines. They looked like they would grind you if you ventured too close.
The lights kept flickering and electricity crackled in the room and Mettaton’s even warnings still sounded off. Visibility and hearing weren’t the best.
What you could see were multiple people huddled together behind a table covered with noodles.
“Wh-who a-are you a-and what do you w-want?” Alphys in a lab coat asked as she peeked behind Undyne who seemed to think that a fork was a very mighty weapon.
“Yeah! Who the hell just barges in like that and breaks our door?!” She waved the fork threateningly in your direction. You actually felt threatened.
“HELLO, NEW FRIENDS! WE ARE THE STAR SANSES.” Blue cheerily answered while making sure Dream didn’t run off. Good, he had it under control.
You scanned the room to find the person you were looking for. Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, Papyrus…Then you spotted your target who was currently standing in front of his brother, apparently ready to commit war crimes with a cup of coffee.
“Sci!” You called. The Sans flinched as the room fell silent.
“SANS, DO YOU KNOW THESE PEOPLE?” The Papyrus then asked.
“nope.” Sci answered defensively. Short and no puns. Or he was just tired.
“Then how do they know you, darling?” Mettaton asked as he eased himself from his battle stance.
“don’t know.”
“BUT WE DO! WE NEED YOUR HELP!” Blue helpfully interjected, “OR MORE LIKE HE NEEDS YOUR HELP. THIS IS DREAM, THE GUARDIAN OF POSITIVITY IN A DIRE NEED OF HELP.”
He then pushed Dream in front of him for everyone to scrutinise. You didn’t like it so you stood right in front of Dream.
“so you just brought your friend here for a checkup?” Sci summarized tiredly while the other scientists quickly but silently filed out. They had seemingly concluded that no, you were not a multiversal threat that came to destroy them. And yes, you would answer their questions later.
“why couldn’t you do it in a more normal way?” He asked as he pressed a green button.
“Threat has been eliminated. Continue your previous experiments.” Mettaton’s voice buzzed to life again as the alarms finally stopped. The place felt eerily empty and quiet without them.
Your footsteps echoed as you followed Sci to his research room. It was a place full of ominous weird machines and a snack stand.
“We did.”
“WE DID.”
You and Blue defended enthusiastically. Sci sighed.
“we’re not doctors, you know. But I guess you won’t get a chance to… examine… a guardian of positivity everyday.” He eyed Dream.
“I am very well thank you for asking.” Dream muttered coldly but he had accepted the fact that he couldn’t run. You knew that if he really wanted to run, he could’ve.
Sci promptly ignored him as he dug around the drawers before fishing out a clipboard.
“So, what’s wrong with him?” You glanced at Blue who had the better memory out of the two of you. Thankfully, Blue got the memo and stepped forward.
“HE HAS BEEN NEGLECTING HIS HEALTH.”
“No I haven’t.”
“HE DOESN’T EAT, HE CANNOT RECOGNIZE A PLANT FROM A PERSON, HE KEEPS STUMBLING AND NODDING OFF AND STARTLES FROM THE SLIGHTEST MENTION TO APPLES. “
“Lies.” Dream muttered.
"ON TOP OF THAT, HE DENIES EVERYTHING AND SHUTS HIMSELF AWAY.” Blue continued, “WERE WORRIED THE BAD GUYS COULD GET HIM.”
You nodded along as Dream’s protests fell to deaf ears. Sci seemed to ponder something for a moment as he looked at his clipboard.
“So tell me, how often do you have to save the Au’s from these” Sci glanced down again, “Bad guys?”
“AROUND FOUR TIMES A WEEK, SEVERAL LOCATIONS. BUT THEY ARE MOVING IN PAIRS, NOT AS A FULL TEAM ANYMORE.” You were amazed by Blue’s memory- and observation skills,
You yourself would’ve just said that you encountered them every now and then.
“ESPECIALLY THURSDAYS. THEY SEEM TO RAID CANDY SHOPS AT THURSDAYS.”
“I see. Dream, how do you feel about this?” Sci took it all in pretty well, he didn’t even seem worried about his snack stand getting raided.
“As I’ve told everyone, I am okay and I like to help people.” Dream huffed. Sci nodded sympathetically.
“Yeah, he’s always saving everyone even though the negativity hurts him a lot,” You chimed in helpfully as you pulled Dream into a side hug. He didn’t pull away which you considered a small victory.
Sci continued to ask questions and you three kept answering.
— — —
“From what I’ve gathered, you have PTSD about apples and a habit to overwork yourself.” Sci concluded his long examination. After making sure that Dream was okay with you and Blue in the room.
“I suggest avoiding Au’s with a lot of negativity for now and consider a therapist. This one’s good if you decide to go” Sci offered a paper to Dream, who was frozen in front of him.
“Thank you!” You jumped in to save Dream,took the paper and portalled you out of there.
Only when you were back in the living room did you turn back to your friends.
Blue and Dream stood there. Dream blinked before he collapsed to the sofa and turned his head away. Blue followed suit. The silence in the room was deafening and you felt heavy tiredness blanket the space.
“So.” Dream finally began, voice straining, “Your attempt to help was to kidnap me for examination with a stranger at that.”
His voice was dry but his fingers tore into the armrest.
“YOU LEFT US WITH NO CHOICE.” Blue defended but he looked as sheepish as you felt yourself.
“In our defense we asked you like bazillion times and you were only getting worse.” You explained while your paints twisted anxiously.
“So you really thought that kidnapping is the best choice of action?!” Dream’s voice was still very level, like he was carefully maintaining himself.
You shrugged helplessly.
“I MEAN IT HELPS WITH MAKING FRIENDS.” Blue stated unapologetically.
You and Dream stared at him for a long moment.
“...WHAT?”
“Kidnapping…makes friends?” You asked while trying to comprehend what he just said.
“YEAH? WE KIDNAPPED DREAM BECAUSE WE WERE WORRIED, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?” Blue tilted his head.
“There’s a lot of difference! Firstly, we could kidnap Dream because we already knew him, it’s far different if we just abduct some random person from the streets”
“NO IT’S NOT.”
“Yes it is!”
“Pffft,” Dream wheezed.
You and Blue stopped bickering as you turned to watch him. Dream held his stomach as he burst out to full-hearted laughter. He fell off the sofa with a soft thump as he kept laughing with tears in his eyes.
You had never seen his emoting this freely.
The laughter was so contagious that you all three ended up wheezing on the floor.
“i see it went well.” Stretch mused as he popped in from the kitchen.
— — —
“Ahem.” Dream cleared his voice as he sat up straight again. You, Stretch and Blue kneeled in front of him.
“I know you had good intentions and you were worried, but your methods sure have room for improvement.” You ducked your head but the light feeling in your chest didn’t leave.
“That being said, I forgive you and your unruly methods.” Dream smirked at your relieved expression, “But you should be very careful if you ever end up needing Sci’s help in the future.”
You weren’t sure if that was a threat but you decided to take it as one. Blue fiddled with his thumbs before he lifted his head.
“SO… CAN I FINALLY ASK WHAT’S BEEN BOTHERING YOU?” He asked hopefully.
Hope bloomed in your chest too- maybe Dream would finally tell you. He looked from you to Blue and back before letting out a sigh. Still, it wasn’t as tired as it had been all the days before.
“Fine. I suppose I can bother you with it unless I want another trip to Sci.”
“So you know Nightmare, my brother. My twin.” He started, “The thing is, he keeps coming to my dreams to torment me. To tell me how everything that happened was my fault.”
There was a faraway look in Dream’s eyelights.
“In a way, it is. I made a lot of mistakes but I had a lot of time to think when I was trapped in stone,” He continued, “I did what I could but I couldn’t save him. I could’ve done more. And now he’s changed a lot and won’t let me be.”
“none of it was your fault. never were.” Stretch sternly interjected.
Dream went quiet. Tears gathered to the rim of his socket. They glinted in the dark.
“He promised that the only rest I get is when I’m dead. “
“What!?” You yelled as you couldn’t contain yourself anymore. How dare he. How dare Nightmare say such things to Dream?!
But Dream wasn’t done.
“He comes every time I fall asleep. I’m scared that he finds me when I’m vulnerable. That would put us all into danger.” It felt like the room’s temperature was falling rapidly.
“When I was in stone, all I could think was that Nighty was still in there… But I felt the pain he inflicted on the multiverse through dreamscape. I heard all the cries as he suffocated the hopes of so many…And now I hear that it was all because of a virus . A virus I could’ve prevented.” Dream drifted off.
Dream… He was carrying so much pain that he had locked away.
Your insides twisted as you imagined Dream’s pain. He wasn’t just a character, he was a person that had suffered for so long. How was he still standing?
You got up and hugged him tightly. He startled at first before returning the hug. Blue’s strong arms wound around the both of you, then Stretch’s as you group hugged.
None of you admitted the silent tears and occasional hiccups.
“YOU CAN COME TO MY DREAMS IF HE KEEPS BOTHERING YOU. I’LL GIVE HIM A VERY STERN TALKING.” Blue vowed.
“or mine.” Stretch promised as his long arms tightened around you, “we’ll tell error to kick his …butt.”
“He can’t get into Doodlesphere, I won’t let him no matter how much he tries,” You whispered, “So you can rest safely here.”
Your face contorted into a smile as you thought of how Nightmare would fume outside Doodlesphere. How he would try and try to get in but you and Broomie wouldn’t let him.
The silence was filled with your promise. You could feel your eyelights extinguish.
.
..
…
“...that expression,” Stretch suddenly shuddered, “it scares me.”
Everyone was staring at you as your hug disbanded.
“Ink?”
“ARE YOU FEELING MURDEROUS?”
“No. I just want to keep Nightmare out.” You answered truthfully.
The room fell quiet. You gazed at the other’s faces. They were pale as they stared at you. Their eyelights and Stretch’s empty sockets were wide. His mouth was slightly open.
“...Don’t murder my brother.” Dream pleaded.
“What?”
“INK, I DON’T KNOW IF YOU NOTICED, BUT YOU’RE SMILING VERY SCARILY.” Blue told you.
You felt confused. Smiling very scarily? You blinked dumbly at them while processing the information.
“and now it’s gone.”
There was a collective sigh of relief.
“I would like new clothes. Maybe that’ll make him see I’ve changed. Is it possible? Blue? Stretch?” Dream’s hesitant question broke the silence again.
“of course, buddy.”
Notes:
If anyone remembers, the Papyrus in ___tale melted. That was because Broomie tried to possess him, if it makes sense?
And I saw some guesses about Nightmare invading Dream's dreams.
Ding ding ding! You were absolutely correct!I'm a little scared of how fast you guys catch on ':D
Chapter 18: More knitting
Notes:
Sleep now, o tired one.
Rest your weary head
For you aren't alone.
You've done your best.And that is enough.
Have a short poem because I don't want to sound like a broken record. You guys are just that awesome <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Dream had been more open lately. He had been showing his face more often and he had taken up Blue’s offer and joined him in on his dreams. You were happy that he was feeling better.
And he had gotten new clothes. Now he was wearing black, silky bodysuit you had helped him to pick. Over it, he wore a yellow, long jacket that stayed on with a belt. HIs yellow cape had stayed.
Of course the cape stayed.
Blue had insisted on getting him striped gloves. After an hour of arguing, Stretch had bribed Dream with a banana-cake. Blue had gracefully accepted the use of unhealthy food.
Dream later told you Blue had the weirdest dreams of motorcycles, glitter and rocket ships. Nightmare had not stood a chance against the race of a thousand tacos.
But you hadn’t given up on your guest to gift your friends the blankets they deserved. Even if Dream was feeling better, not all of his hurt could go away just in one day, you were sure of it.
So you had gotten new materials and were on the hunt for Error again.
In order to stop Blue and Dream from worrying, you had left in the middle of the night. You were in Outertale. Error was bound to be there sooner or later. He couldn’t just stop visiting it.
You and Broomie portaled around on the asteroids as you tried to find a fitting place. You had to see but not be seen. Otherwise Error would just call Blue to come and get you.
You readied your knitting needles and opened the knitting book again. Then you sat down on the cold asteroid to wait until the multiversal destroyer came to relax.
The vast, black sky was filled with twinkling stars as you waited. A few meteors flew by, lighting up the whole area. They somehow made the air feel warmer too, which was greatly appreciated.
— — —
It was morning already.
The sky had turned rosy. In space. It was beautiful. The stars somehow looked bigger and brighter against the pastel colors. The deepest pink faded to rosy golden at the top.
You were absolutely freezing.
Small puffs of air escaped you as your bones gently rattled against each other. The air and the cold from the stone seeped right through your clothes. You couldn’t feel your toes anymore.
And you were tired.
Even though the light started to get brighter and brighter, it was harder and harder to keep your sockets open.
You pulled out a little sheet of paper from the sash. It fluttered in the air gently before settling. The edges chipped your frozen fingers as you put it down on the asteroid and pulled out a smaller brush.
It gently scraped against the paper as you drew little illustrations of the blankets you wanted to make. Then stickmans of your friends happily smiling followed. Blue had stars in his eyes. Broomie watched in interest over your shoulder.
You felt a little self conscious after having seen what Broomie could draw. You gave yourself some slack because Broomie was the original Ink. Even though you were an Ink.
It was confusing. And something else had been confusing too.
“Broomie, why do you avoid people?” You asked as you tried to hop to warm up, “Wouldn’t it be great if they knew you too?”
Bromide gave you a little dance. You didn’t understand a word it wanted to say.
“Come again?”
Broomie tried to draw on the ground but the paint was too thick and it just created a mess. Then it just stared at the ground.
You got a feeling your partner was as frustrated as you with your non-communication skills. And you couldn’t just start sleeping while Error could come at any time. He could possibly hear you snoring!
So. No healthy communication this time.
“Okay, let’s do this. I’ll ask yes or no -questions and you answer. How does that sound?”
Broomie nodded in agreement.
“Do you avoid people because they make you uncomfortable?”
Broomie shook back and forth. A no. You put a hand on your cheekbone. It felt scalding cold.
“Then… Do you not like people?”
Broomie shook more powerfully. A strong no.
You needed to think. If Broomie liked people and they didn’t make it uncomfortable, why would it go out of its way to avoid detection? When you had first introduced it to Dream and Blue, it had made itself look just like a regular brush.
If a giant brush can ever be regular.
…What was the reason why the original Ink avoided being seen? You knew it, you had read it before. You just needed to remember…
Had you written it up somewhere in your diary?
Wait.
You hadn’t updated your diary up to the recent events. You needed to do so as soon as possible. False information wouldn’t be tolerated in your book of knowledge. You had to write up the viruses and the whole Error and Nightmare-situation.
A gentle brush against your humerus tickled you out of your thoughts. Broomie fiddled with its bristles before pointing at your vials.
That’s when you noticed how you were starting to slip away again. Your paints were running low and you couldn't afford to blank out.
You needed a refill, preferably patience that had been burning the whole night.
Luckily you were smart enough to take ink and paints with you. You wouldn’t go hungry or emotionless. You feasted on the cold ink. It burned your mouth with how icy it was. The paints were lukewarm but they managed to crack the coldness that had blanketed you.
Ring ring ring.
You almost threw your vials as you were startled. They clunked against each other harshly as you pushed them back to the sash. It took a little wriggling before you got your phone out.
Dream was calling you.
“Hello, can anyone hear me !? Is this working?! Ink?!” Dream’s hesitant but loud voice blasted through. You quickly lowered the volume
“Yes, I can. Please do not shout.” You pleaded as you looked around. Luckily nobody was nearby.
“Huh, okay. I just wanted- uh. Where are you?” Dream stuttered in surprise, “Breakfast is ready.”
Your paints started to rumble. Suddenly all the cold went away. Your hands were sweaty and heat was rising to your skull.
You couldn’t leave now, Error could come at any moment.
But on the other hand, you had to lie to Dream. You didn’t want to lie to him, not even a little.
“Haha, I already ate.” You tried to brush it off.
The line went silent. Only distant crackling could be heard.
“Are you… lost?” Dream asked even more hesitantly.
“Seriously? Dream, I would never get lost!” You pouted as you sat cross legged on the asteroid, “I just have to do something first."
You heard Blue’s muted speaking from the other side. You tried to listen to what he was saying but then a white, glitchy portal opened and Error stepped out. The familiar, heavy feeling settled over the area.
“Sorry gottagobye,” You whispered and promptly ended the call.
Error’s skull turned from left to right as he scouted the area. Thankfully he didn’t look up and notice you on your asteroid.
He grinned before plopping down on his usual perch. The cold didn’t seem to bother him as he let out a long glitchy sigh. Then he just leaned back and looked up to the stars.
You were cold but you would persevere until Error showed you how to knit. Even if you had to become a skeleton popsicle for it.
He finally put his red, round glasses on and pulled the needles out. Quiet clicking filled the air as you peered over to get a better view.
He looped the yearn around the sticks. Then he stabbed them, scooped the insides out and threw the yarn off. At least that was what it looked like.You copied but your loops were big. Your phalanges could go right through the biggest ones.
You didn’t let the frustration best you as you started over. At least you had gotten a little better at knitting than magic and that was a win in your books.
The session was interrupted by sudden ringing. A peppy, Spanish tune rang out, spooking you. Error grumbled as he pulled a black phone out of his pocket and looked at it for a long moment with furrowed bonebrows.
He just stared at the phone before finally picking up.
“WHAT?” You couldn’t tell what the other side was saying but they had a peppy, loud voice.
“WHAt!?” Error stood up so fast his needles clattered on the ground. His glitching worsened for a moment before calming to the normal state.
Error himself did not as he started to glance around.
“HE’s heRE?” The loud mumbling seemed to agree.
“n0. N0, I d0n’T SeE hIm.” The destroyer grumbled as he glanced nervously around.
Who? Who made
Error
this nervous? Was there a threat? You looked around too, just to make sure. You wanted to be ready if somebody else was there.
The area was empty besides you two. Nobody was hiding behind the rocks or stalking Error from the floating asteroids. Well, apart from you.
So it should be safe…?
“0kay, Y0u d0 thAt.” Error agreed to whatever they had been discussing. He put the phone away and pulled his strings out with one hand. He stood too close to the cliff.
You still had bad memories of Dream almost falling in.
RING RING!
This time you jumped as your phone rang. It sounded far more loud than before, like doomsday bells ringing.
“Motherfucker!” You cursed as you grabbed your phone..
Deep blue strings crashed down from the air and forced you to abort portalling away. You yeeted yourself to the nearest asteroid and the next one. The ringing continued to stay close. Your hand was vibrating madly.
Only then did you realize that the phone was still in your hand.
You squinted against the artificial light as you tried to find the red button. Blue was calling you. How had he managed to pick the worst time possible?
You refused the call but he just called again. And again. And again as you kept yeeting yourself away from the strings that followed you through the air like snakes ready to strike. They sliced through the air in their pursuit. You could hear them whizzing right past your skull as you dodged and weaved.
Your last resort was to yeet your phone with all your might. It hit Error right in the skull as he coincidentally just rose up on his strings.
“GAh!” The strings faltered and loosened as Error crashed back to the ground. You used the time to run from floating rock to another and finally hide in a small crook.
When Error rose to the skies again, he had your phone in his hands. He muttered a few words to it before the ringing finally ended.
You hoped he lost all sight from you. His skull was turning around as the strings examined asteroid after asteroid.
Something piqued his interest as he lowered himself to examine something. Your work! Even your drawings were there! You had left them in your hurry!
A long painful minute passed as you quietly sweated on your hiding spot. Error straightened up and looked straight at your hiding spot.
Something tapped your shoulder. You balked as the strings enveloped your vision.
You slowly turned around only to see an armada of the strings hovering right behind you.
“Augh!” You yelped as you were tangled and hoisted up in the air.
“DOn’t Y-y0u kn0W sTAlKINg peoplE iS RUDe?” Error asked as you were brought face to face with him, “M0re0ver, thIS StuNT WaS DangEROUs. WHat If Y0U had ENCOuntEreD a Virus?”
You didn’t have an answer as you were put on the ground. The strings didn’t let go. They stayed attached to your arms like a weird cape. You felt stupid.
“At LEASt Y0uR BrusH SH0ulD KnoW betTEr. It’S An ADulT AftER AlL.” Error sighed in pure disappointment as he looked at Broomie.
“Wait, you know Broomie? How?!” You asked as you clutched Broomie.
“SImPle. I JuST pErFormed A CHECK ON IT.” Error smugly explained, “BUt CarE T0 ExplaIN y0uRSelVES?”
Silence fell between you three as you blankly stared at Error.
“RiGHT. y0u kn0w N0 MagiC,” He grinned,”ThEN Let mE TeacH Y0u.”
He threw a red bone straight at you. You dodged but his strings grabbed you and forced you to look at him.
“FirsT, Y0u Get tHe 0pp0Nent Into A VulvernaBLE p0Sition. THen,” He waved his hand, “Y0u cHeck. Easy.”
His grin fell. He waved his hand again.
“WhaT…? I’ve NevER… UnlESS.” He muttered as he looked at you more closely. The strings suddenly plunged into your ribcage. They came back empty.
“Y0u d0 not havE A S0ul.” Error concluded as he watched you like a hawk.
He had found out. He had found out. He hated you now and was going to tell everyone! You and Broomie would be left all alone. Tears pooled into your sockets as you started to shake.
“WAit WhY ARE y0U cRYinG? St0p Bef0re BluE MurDERS mE!” Error panicked. Then he patted his clothes frantically before pulling out a chocolate bar.
“HeRe. Y0u Didn’T usE thE LasT Tw0 ANywAY.” He mumbled as the bar hit your skull. The strings loosened and let go. You flopped into a miserable ball on the ground. Why was he giving you chocolate you couldn’t even eat.
“C’M0n, S0ullESNeSS Ain’T ThAT Bad, RIght?” Error’s hands hovered over your shoulders, “AnD n0w y0u Can Make h0T ch0c0lateE. I’lL EvEN leT y0u PractiCe cheCKS 0n ME!”
That got your attention. He was trying to comfort you in his weird way. He wasn’t spitting fire and cursing your whole existence. You sniffled and wiped the snot off before looking at Error.
“You’ll teach me?” You didn’t dare to hope.
“0F c0urSE. N0w, strangLE mE.”
“What.”
“Y0u neeD T0 Get the 0pp0neNT int0 A Vulvenarble P0sition! I SweaR y0U haVe thE meM0rY 0F A GOLFIsh.”
Error didn’t waste any time. His strings tangled around your arms again. They pulled you close to Error who leaned down. Your hands were forced around his scarf. The soft material felt uncomfortable under your hands as your grip tightened. Error’s bones groaned and his skull slowly turned yellow.
“G-g00D. N0W PuLl.”
You were forced to obey. You desperately looked at Broomie for help but your partner was busy playing dead.
A weird sensation washed over you as your hand was pulled back. A small shard floated right in front of Error. You felt it was wrong to gaze into it.
“ThaT’s mY S0ul. N0W cheCk it.” Error commanded.
A weight settled on your chest as you watched the soul. Then you balled your fists.
Something snapped.
Error.
Lev-L: !
att@ck: 999999999
DefenSE: 9999999
HP: 00000.122333
*Hp’S FlucTUAting Due t0 S0ul Damage.
*Amused
*He’S Sure Blue WilL KiLL HIm VeRY PainfUlly.
“brAv0. Y0u perf0rMED Y0uR fiRSt EvEr checK.” Error applauded as the strings finally loosened around your hands, “I’ll SHow y0u M0Re TricKS likE My WindOWs Later. They’RE FunnY. I Can SeE eVerythiNG thAT hAS hAppeneD eXePT THE situaTI0ns WherE THe DAmN VIRUS iS INvolved. D0n’T teLL blUE I curSEd.”
Then he fell off right into his portal. You pouted. He didn’t even say goodbye. But you had to head back too before Blue gnawed his phalanges off in worry.
— — —
“-NEXT TIME–” Blue lectured you with his whole soul as you knelt before him. Dream just hid his laughter at your misery in his hands. He did not bother to help and Stretch wasn’t helpful either. He just snoosed away on the sofa.
“DANGEROUS– YOU COULD'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED— WHAT IF–!” Your legs were starting to cramp. You had been sitting the whole night and almost day now.
Blue took a deep breath before he suddenly hugged you.
“JUST… TELL US WHERE YOU’RE GOING. WE WERE WORRIED WHEN YOU DIDN’T COME BACK.” Blue sighed into your shoulder. You awkwardly patted him on the back and promised to tell them.
“You should’ve seen Blue when he tried to reach you,” Dream laughed, “The first time he spoke on phone he was calm. Then he just started to spam.”
“Oh Blue, I’m sorry.” You hugged him more tightly. You just had the best friends You gave him a small noogie, smiling as he trashed in your hold.
Just usual, happy days. You just hoped they never found out what Error had. You just coulnd't bear the fact that they would hate you.
Notes:
Don't let Error mentor you. His ways are a little... violent ':D
I quarantee you that subduing the opponent before check is unnecessary :DD
Chapter 19: Moo moo hospital
Chapter Text
“So, I’ll be visiting Outertale now. You wanna come too?” You asked.
You hoped that your friends wouldn’t want to come. You couldn't make the blankets with them there. At the same time you wanted to spend time with them. It had been a long time since you had visited another Au with them.
“SORRY, INK, BUT ME AND DREAM ARE GOING TO UNDERSWAP TODAY.” Blue answered as he packed away tacos for Stretch. Dream froze in the doorway.
“Oh, that’s great,” You beamed in relief, “I might dip in later if that’s okay?”
“OF COURSE IT IS!” Blue patted you on the back.
You saw how Dream relaxed and frowned. It seemed like Dream was still hiding things from you. Well, you trusted that he would tell you when he was ready. Until then you would wait and knit the blankets.
“See you later then!” You grinned before you Broomie portaled you into Outertale. The Au had become so familiar to it that it didn’t need the paper anymore. Perks of being the original Ink, you supposed.
Outertale was as breathtaking as always with its magnificent skies. This time the sky had red hues all across the vastness. The cool air wafted around you as multiple comets shot past, tails glittering white.
You spent a few minutes just admiring the beauty. Then you looked around for the destroyer. To your surprise, he was there already.
He sat on the familiar ledge and held something big in his hands.You squinted to see better what he was making.
To your delight, Error was actually knitting blankets. He was also doing the same part that you had been stuck on. The stupid star pattern on the back just didn’t want to work out.
“Hello!” You greeted him as you plopped down next to him.
The destroyer smiled but didn’t say a word. He just shifted slightly and gave you a better view of what he was doing. He was very slowly making a star on back of the blanket. You smiled. It was clear that you had gotten very lucky today.
Now, if you only kept up Error’s pace you could finish the blankets soon.
Quiet clicking filled the air as you did your best to follow Error’s steps. One of the loops you were making rolled off of the needle and your blanket started to unravel.
“It’s EasIer WiTH l0ngER knITTINg NeedLEs.” Error hummed as he side-eyed you.
“Oh.” You answered intelligently as you gazed down to your brown, short needles and compared them to Error’s red and long ones.
Cold wind wafted through the air, making both of your scarves flutter harshly in the wind. It smelt like spoiled, fruity candy. The scent probably came from Outertale’s snowdin.
“HErE. I’LL leND y0u A pAIr 0f MiNE.” Error offered.
Strings gently took your work from your hands as Error transferred the blankets from the original needles to his own, identical pairs. Then the new pairs were plopped down to your lap.
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” You started, “How could you check Broomie and not me? I mean, neither of us have a soul.”
Error put his needles down and leaned back. He gazed at the deep red sky glimmering with stars for a while.
“0nE… CaN ChecK inAniMate 0BjeCTs At wiLL,” He mused, “I reAlLy neVer Even THoughT Ab0uT iT. It’s gENuineLy weIRd H0w LittlE y0u kn0W 0F InnATE MagIC. JusT h0W baD wAS Y0Ur aU?”
You froze.
Had he found out? He knew you were soulless, yes, but he didn’t know about your origins. Error was surprisingly accepting but who could accept a human masquerading as a monster?
You knew far too well what kind of status humans held all over the multiverse. They were ruthless killers. Prey. The enemy. Genocidal maniacs. Pacifists that always, always, reseted.
They were never friends. At least not genuine. No monster would trust a human.
So no. You couldn't tell him. Not when the cold and rotten wind was blowing right through you and making you shiver. Not when the destroyer looked at you with those tired, multicolored eyelights.
You simply couldn’t. Your metaphorical tongue was stolen, passive magic couldn’t conjure a voice.
A soft rattling filled the silence.
“...MaN, H0w d0 I aLWAys mAnAge t0 FuCk Up?” You could hear Error’s faint muttering.
Your hands shook as you tried to continue knitting. Avoiding one’s problems always worked. Why wouldn’t it work now? The world felt like it was crashing down on you from every side. It was crushing, suffocating-
“00kaY, N0 m0re stuPID sCary QuestIONs.” Error decided.
The pressure lifted in an instant. You shakily looked at him but he didn’t meet your eyelights.
“I g0tTA telL ab0UT thIS t0 BluE, THougH. He May Be ABLE T0 helP y0u WIth Y0uR trauMAs. I’m N0t Y0ur Guy iN sitUAti0Ns like tH0Se.” He then doomed you.
“No! Please don’t tell him!” You pleaded.
The destroyer’s jacket flapped in the wind as he gazed down on you. His eyelights dimmed a little. The hard, stony ground felt cold as you gazed pleadingly up to him.
“LiStEN, y0u Cann0T gEt BeTTER WiTh0uT helP. I Kn0w beCauSe I tRied.” The eyelights brightened up again, “BUt it’S P0sSible wiTh The RighT pE0ple AS a suPp0rt.”
“...Fine, I’ll try.”
You fell back into silence. This time it wasn’t as comfortable as before.
— — —
“AlRigHT, ThiS Is ENougH.”
You actually got a lot of work done. Just looking at how Error did things helped you follow along.
The destroyer put his needles away and stretched. You followed in suit. Sitting for hours had been hard on your bones. Your spine popped satisfyingly as the leylines were freed.
You were feeling a lot better already. Both of the blankets were over halfway there. Error had helped you with the hardest parts. You needed more yarn, though. You were running out of the yellow one pretty fast.
“HeH, Y0u’re Impr0vINg,” Error grinned, “BuT THat’s T0 be eXpecTed witH a teACher LikE Me.”
You scoffed at him playfully. His grin widened.
“WHat? Y0u d0n’T SEe mY Awes0MenESs?”
The rotten smell increased tenfold. It was like someone had left chocolate in a hot place for weeks. Or like a dog had eaten candies and then vomited them out.
Error froze. His skull tilted from left to right as he went rigid. The staticy sound of his glitching got louder and higher pitched. You slammed your hands on your ear canals as the sound howled.
Smoke wafted up from Error’s skull.
“What is it?” You asked over the noise.
He didn’t answer. He just pulled his strings out and shifted to a battle stance. His legs were wide and steady as he kept glancing around. Then he relaxed.
“LiSTen, I G0ttA D0 s0mEthing. Y0u g0 BACk t0 Blue asAp.”
With that, the destroyer disappeared into a staticy cloud. You shivered. Outertale felt suddenly a lot more lonely and far away from all life.
Your bones croaked as you stood up. Your knee let out a loud pop as you prepared to portal away.
“A nasty pop, broski.” A new voice leered. The playful tone felt fake as the person stretched every word.
You jumped six meters in the air as the purple paint thrummed in your chest.
“Whoa, calm down” A colorful skeleton grinned from where he sat on the ground, “No need to get un-rad.”
He had a red with yellow rims. His jacket was multicolored and his green trousers were screaming neon. He wore roller skates instead of shoes.
Your survival instincts went haywire but you stayed and took a closer look at the colorful menace that tried to appear innocent. You managed to identify the person.
And the need to make him stay away from your vials.
Then he wouldn’t be dangerous.
“Fresh?” He tilted his head as his shades flashed in question marks before he slowly stood up.
You almost fell off the ledge as you tried to back off. Fresh was taller than almost any other Sans had been. Only Horror was taller than him, and that man was massive.
His roller skates gave him extra length so he easily towered over you.
“I knew you’re nosy, but man, I never thought it was this bad.” He tsk’ed, “If ya already know my name, I guess I can-”
Broomie unseathed itself in one swift motion. It hovered rigidly in the air before it bonked Fresh hard. The neon menace didn’t curse but his smile fell into a snarl. He didn't get the chance to do anything as Broomie kept hitting him.
Why was Broomie being so hostile? Especially when it hated to show people it was alive?
“Broomie!” You yelled as you tried to stop it. It easily avoided your flailing hands. But it needed to stop before Fresh got angry and did something bad. You didn’t want to die here. Or get possessed or whatever Fresh had in mind.
Your phone started to ring. You hesitantly dug the rainbow thing out of your pocket while maintaining eye-contact with Fresh who dodged Broomie’s latest swipe. Was it safe to be distracted around this Fresh?
You hoped it was as you answered the phone.
“INK, WE NEED YOU IN FELLSWAP #342. NIGHTMARE HAS A NEW HENCHMAN!” Blue yelled. You winced at the volume and you could hear several explosions going off in the background.
“I’m coming!” You answered as fast as you could and shut the call.
Then you turned back to Fresh who was now grinning innocently, his lone golden teeth gleaming in the starlight.
You foolishly turned your back to Fresh as you prepared to portal.
“Nah, ya ain’t going anywhere, pal.”
The moment your attention was elsewhere he grabbed your sash and examined the vials, practically pulling you off of your feet. You dangled in the air as you were lifted higher. It was hard to breathe as the sash pressed against your vertebrae.
You wiggled but Fresh kept a tight grip on you.
“Let me go!” You yelled as you tried to kick him. He just dangled you a little bit farther away.
“I have a feeling that you and I aren’t that different.” He grinned. The rotten smell was awful. You couldn’t breathe it in anymore. Something purple, red and yellow slithered behind Fresh’s shades.
Broomie dove.
Several inky bones erupted from the ground and forced Fresh to drop you. Then it pushed you off the cliff.
The air rushed around you as you felt the void creep closer under you. Your mouth opened into a silent scream before darkness engulfed you,
Then you were spat out on a battlefield. You rolled on the ground as grass and stone cut to your bones. The roughness of the ground steadied you as you pushed yourself back up.
“Careful now, Blue!” Dream yelled to Blue who was busy throwing bones at Horror. The giant just kept gnawing on them.
“Hello Ink. You finally managed to come?” Dream then addressed you as he smoothly dodged a barrage of Murder’s bone attacks.
You winced as you took a stance next to Dream. “I had an unlucky encounter with space and parasites.” You mumbled.
More than unlucky. You were still shaken by Fresh’s sudden appearance. You didn’t know he was around in this multiverse. But Fresh was usually a chaotic neutral. You didn’t need to worry about him so much.
Broomie’s reaction, though...
“Nightmare isn’t here, but three of his henchmen are. Horror and Murder are keeping us away as the third one is currently raiding the shop.” Dream explained, “We can’t get through but we have managed to get the Snowdin’s residents to flee to Hotland.”
“Great!” You grinned. Your teammates had done an amazing job at saving the people. You were so proud of them for saving the people from loneliness and death.
“Are you here to fight or talk?!” Murder growled as multiple bones shot up from the ground. They buzzed angrily as they grazed against your leg.
“Uhh… Fight but talking could be useful?” You suggested but that only got Muder to stab in your direction. You dodged and slammed Broomie into Murder’s skull and sent him reeling backwards.
A black and white blur shot out of the shop and caught Murder before he hit the wall. You gaped as the person stared back. Or so you thought, their eyelights were hidden by black shades. You could swear you saw neon flash on them.
He had black undershirt and shorts and a fluffy white jacket. X’s everywhere. A long cape flowed behind him and he had the fluffiest hood you had ever seen.
You could recognize that black and white attire anywhere.
He didn’t say anything as he helped Murder back on his feet.
You facepalmed, you should have known he would be here sooner or later with all the information you had. Wasn’t he a core part of so many stories? Everyone’s favorite emo?
You still couldn’t understand how Cross was standing in front of you. X-event hadn’t happened. Why was he here?
“FOCUS.” Blue snapped his fingers in front of your face.
Horror joined Mut and Cross. He was still munching on Blue’s attacks. The wet, crunchy sounds made you bristle. The trio stared at you, then mumbled something.
“Should we… attack?” Dream asked.
“THAT WOULD GIVE THEM A REASON TO CONTINUE FIGHTING. I SAY WE WAIT. “ Blue answered, "CHECK HIM IN THE MEANTIME."
Check him? How could you put him into a vulvernable position without risking the safety of the people?
"I can't get him defenseless for that." You told Blue.
"...WHAT IN THE MULTIVERSE DID ERROR TEACH YOU?" Blue asked.
You didn't want to get your knitting buddy into trouble so you just kept staring at the newcomer. Cross, the person that was known for his isolation, endless loneliness, mistakes and anger. Someone who had suffered through a fate similar to yours.
Your paints ached for him.
A giant red knife cut through the air in the seconds you were distracted.. You were forced to take a step back as more came your way.Welp, no need for soft feelings, you guessed. This Cross was here before the X-event.That wouldn’t happen as long as you still stood.
The barrage suddenly stopped and you saw that the trio had disappeared.
“They left the Au.” Dream informed you as his staff disappeared into a puff of yellow smoke. He then proceeded to pull out the black plant growing in the middle of the Snowding. Blue went to help the confused and violent monsters.
— — —
“Fuck off already!” The Alphys grumbled as Dream healed her wounded scales. As soon as he was done she swatted his hand away and walked away.
Well, at least she hadn’t attacked you like some others.
“SHE WAS THE LAST INJURED. ” Blue announced as he helped Dream to stand straight.
“If You Have No Other Business In Here I Order You To Leave.” A Swapfell Sans marched up. He glanced around for a moment before he sent you a small grateful smile before he shooed you away.
— — —
“That new guy was Cross. But how could he be out here? I don’t understand.” You mumbled for the thousand time as you raced back and forth in the studio.
You had scribbled out the possibilities but none of them made sense. Had Nightmare just scooped Cross out of his Au? Where even was Xtale? You hadn’t encountered it in the Doodlesphere.
The door slammed open as Dream waltzed in, Blue hot on his heels.
“I STILL THINK WE SHOULD ASK FIRST!” Blue exclaimed. Dream didn’t answer him as he marched up to you.
“Ink, you need a visit to Sci.” He then informed you while eyeing your pathetic scribbles of Xtale.
“What? Dream, I am not injured and-”
“You didn’t use any magic in the last fight. Nightmare has one more henchman. You were injured. Again.” Dream listed off as you crept away from him.
“Listen, I can use magic just fin-”
“This needs to stop. So, brace yourself.” He grinned down at you.
You bolted but Dream was faster. He snatched you up from the scruff of your neck and pulled you straight into his warm, cozy portal.
“This feels kinda familiar, does it not?” He cheekily grinned as the familiar red alarms blared to life.
Anxiety swelled inside you as your paints raced and thrummed inside your skull. You were in serious trouble.
Notes:
I swear you guys have a sixth sense of some sort. The second I'm gonna bring Fresh in I see a guestion about him. Sometimes you scare me /j
Chapter 20: Empty ribcage
Notes:
A BIIIG hug and thankyou to all of you <3
You deserve it.And I'm sorry about the quality drop in the late few chapters. I have been very stressed about work but I'll try my best :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
This time Sciencetale was even less welcoming. The machines in the corridor were croaking ominously and electricity hummed in the cords. Small sparks flew out of the dark cables as Dream dragged you past them.
Blue trailed behind, excitedly examining some of the smaller puzzle testers.
This had to be karma from the previous visit when you had been the one kidnapping. You were suffering from your own actions.
The long, dark hallways were empty except for the creepy machines. You were happy about it. The less people hearing about your problem the better. In the best situation you wouldn’t be here at all.
You shifted slightly. That was enough to make Dream tighten his grip on your scarf. You had already tested the boneless tactic on him. He had just dragged you across the floor until Blue felt merciful enough to help you back on your feet.
“This is even worse than going to the dentist,” You muttered as you neared the door leading to Sci’s chambers. The dent from Broomie in the door was a telltale enough.
“HM?” Blue hummed, eyelights still glued to the various complicated machines you didn’t understand. You just shook your head as you were led inside like a lamb to a slaughter.
The door boomed shut menacingly behind you.
Cold steel glinted everywhere in the room. Dusty machines were scattered across the room. Even the ceiling was full of cords, buttons and engines. They casted a deep Blue hue over the other things in the room.
Sci was slumped over his work desk. A steaming cup of coffee was crushed in his tight hold. The brown, hot liquid poured over the scientist’s hands but he didn’t seem to care.
He lifted his head from the papers when you entered. His eyelights focused slowly on you three.
One of the papers stuck to his skull.
He blinked lethargically before shaking his head and slumping back down. Dream hesitated for a moment before slowly letting go of you. He then lightly shook Sci. This time he all but jumped.
The coffee spilled everywhere. His white labcoat was drenched in it. His glasses had splatters all over them. And it was spreading towards the papers.
The lone paper flapped sadly down from Sci’s skull.
“Whoa!” You yelped as you hurried to stop the caffeine flood from spreading.
You grabbed the nearest dusty cloth and used it as a rag. The rough material easily absorbed the coffee. You still mopped around a little more just to be sure. You hadn’t been fast enough to save the papers but at least the machines were fine.
Phew, one explosion averted.
“HERE.” Blue offered Sci a clean labcoat.
“thanks.” Sci answered surprisingly calmly.
“IS IT JUST ME OR HAS IT ALWAYS BEEN THIS COLD?” Blue muttered as he shook slightly.
You didn’t feel that cold. So maybe Blue was under stress?
Sci straightened his glasses before finally collecting himself.
“well hello again, stars. what gives me this pleasure?” His tone was very flat but it softened after you and Dream winced.
Dream’s warm hand descended on your back before he pushed you to Sci.
Sheesh, he sure was manhandling you today.
“He doesn’t feel intent. Thought we could ask about it from you. Please.”
Sci only cocked a browbone as he fished a notepad from the nearest pile of chunks. He clicked the pen a few times as he sat down again. His eyelights drilled into you.
You held the coffee-y rag tighter in your hands, unconsciously trying to shield your empty ribcage.
“So, any idea why?” Sci finally broke the silence. “Even the tiniest bits of information could help.”
You looked at Blue and Dream.
They stood tall as they blocked the entrance. You slowly shook your head to Sci, who sighed.
“Okay then.” He scooted his chair next to another machine. It was a tall glass container connected to a ray-gun. Metal steps lead to a door in its side. Like it was made for people to go inside it.
“First we should scan your soul.” Sci pressed a button and the machine lit up in pale green. The glass opened with a soft hiss. It was a clear invitation.
One you didn’t want to take.
Not in a million years would you go in there. You tried to move away but your feet were frozen in place. Your skull shook slightly as you slowly hunched. That machine would expose your lack of a soul.
You could not let them know, they would hate you. Nobody liked people who were only faking, nobody would be with you. Every monster had a soul except you. You weren’t even a monster…
They would hate you.
You would be left alone.
A weird clacking noise filled the silence. You looked down and noticed that your ribs were rattling.
Sci frowned at you. Oh no, was he already hating you?!
“Please step inside.”
Nonopenevernada. They couldn’t know.
What should you do? You were scared.
But… You had promised Error that you would try. He hadn’t left you. Why would the others? Could… You believe in them?
Blue, the only trusty adult in your life. Stretch, who, after everything he had gone through, still gave you a chance. Error who already knew.
Dream. Dream who were there with you from almost the start.
The lights flickered as you moved forward. They plunged the room into darkness for a moment. You didn’t pay any attention to it as you thought. This time you would put your trust in your friends.
Hadn’t they showed just how trustworthy they were?
Then you were ushered to Sci’s machine to continue the ‘torture Ink, but it’s consensual’.
You took in a deep breath as you hovered just outside the container.
It will be fine.
It had to be, you didn’t know what else you would do, not without them. With that in mind you finally stepped in and turned around to look at the others through the glass. They looked a little weird through it.
The shadows shifted slightly in the corner as the door was shut.
“Can you hear me?” Sci’s voice came crackling through the mics in the container.
You nodded.
“Good. This won’t hurt you nor your soul, it’ll just feel a little bit weird for the scan. You’ll be alright.” He smiled at you as his hand rested at a big, red button.
Your face gave him a big smile but even you could tell it was more like a grimace.
“Ready? It’s starting now.” Sci warned before he pushed the button. The machine blared to life and a loud humming filled the container.
Then it started shaking. It send pulses through your whole body as the ray-gun moved against your sternum. Pressure was building up your skull and the waves coming from the gun were interfering with your sight. It forced your eyelights to extinguish.
You didn’t like it, you hated it.
You slammed your hands weakly on the door as the shaking just got worse. Tears gathered into your sockets as you pleading was lost in the loud whirring.
Then you felt something hot focusing on your chest. It was like a laser was digging through your clothes and bones, right in the emptiness. Where there should be a soul.
It was coming from the ray-gun.
It shifted around, burning zig-zags into your bones. You tried to shield yourself but it was futile. The laser just phased through your hands.
Suddenly everything stopped, the noises died down, the gun went away and the shaking eased. The doors opened and you stumbled out, still clutching your shirt.
You almost fell down the tiny steps but your friends hurried to your side. They were speaking fast but you couldn’t hear them over your ringing skull.
You were sat on a warm stool and something soft and heavy was placed around your shoulders. It helped your rumbling of your paints, but they were burning fast.
— — —
The awareness of your surroundings was slowly returning to you.
Your friends were still speaking in fast succession.
“ARE YOU OKAY?”
“it shouldn’t have-”
“Ink?”
You gave them a tired wave under the comfy blanket.You wanted to hear the results the machine had gotten. You hadn’t suffered in there just to bail now.
And maybe… Just maybe the machine read wrong. Maybe it would give you a false report of a soul.
But alas. You couldn’t lie to your friends anymore. It would just hurt more to tell them later that you were a soulless being just trying to be loved.
“what?!” Sci yelped as he rolled around on his chair as he checked the scan.
“What Is It?” Blue asked as he patted you in the back.
Dream just stood frozenly in the middle of the room, a forced smile plastered on his face.
“this doesn’t make any sense…” Sci continued to mumble.
“WHAT IS- I Mean What Is Wrong?” Blue asked, keeping his voice low as you jumped at his normal volume.
“the scans didn’t find his soul. Which is impossible because it always finds them. I ain’t messing around with souls...”
Okay, this was your chance to explain. Deep breaths.
“it seems that the vials somehow got in the way.” Sci continued before you got the chance. “the information is in pieces. and it was scanned from them.”
He scribbled something down before turning back to you.
“would it be possible to scan you again without the vials?”
You gripped your sash tightly as you glowered at Sci. Then you relented. You had already made up your mind.
“It- The machine didn’t find my soul because… I don’t have one.” There, now it was out in the open. The reaction wasn’t all that bad. Dream kept the polite smile while Blue and Sci just continued to stare.
“WHAT?!” They all then yelled.
You grimaced.
“I- I am soulless..” You repeated.
A deep silence filled the room. Only the quiet beebings of the machines came through. The air felt a lot colder than before.
“So that’s why I can’t feel your emotions,” Dream finally gasped, “But does that mean you act your emotions?”
“N-No. The paints act as my soul and the ink binds everything together.” You tried to explain while nervously rubbing your arm. The familiar feel of the cool cloth helped you a little.
“so basically you’re just a sans version of a flowey? with emotions?” Sci asked as he scribbled things down again.
You nodded quietly.
“SO YOU WENT INTO A MACHINE SCANNING FOR SOULS WHILE KNOWING YOU DON’T HAVE ONE?” Blue asked. His gaze was very stern, “THAT COULD’VE BEEN DANGEROUS!”
“it was.” Sci didn’t help, “but maybe I could scan the vials?”
The unasked question hung in the air.
You could trust him. You had to trust them. They wouldn’t abandon you.
You had explained almost everything about your soullessness to them. The only thing you left out was how you became soulless.
They were still with you. They hadn’t left you in disgust, cursing your whole existence. They cared for you, soul or not. You could trust them.
They didn’t ask about your past. They trusted you to tell them when the time was right.
And that’s why you handed your sash to Sci.
It felt against your very core to do so. Like giving away the most important piece of yourself. You felt naked and defenseless as you watched Sci scan your vials again.
Dream put his hand on your shoulder. The warmth radiated off of him calmed you a little. He sure was like a walking fireplace.
“so,” Sci took the vials out and put them back into the sash, “your magic issues probably come from a lack of soul.”
You hung your head in shame. It was probably more of a human and soulless combination.
“What happens when you don’t take the vials?” Dream suddenly asked and took your hand in his. The warmth spread through your frozen fingers to your whole body.
“I… Fall down? Kinda?”
Another deep silence.
“WHAT?!” They yelled again.
“No! I didn’t mean- I will get back up after getting more paints!” You explained. Based on your experiences, you were that type of Ink that fell down without the paints. Which, in your humble opinion, was better than walking around emotionless.
“so,” Sci coughed,”based on what i’m hearing, i would suggest magical therapy in medTale along with magical supplements.”
“SO THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH INK?” Blue couldn’t keep his voice down as he jumped from joy. Sci nodded and he cheered before taking your hands in his, “YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT? YOU’RE ALRIGHT!... As Long As You Take The Vials, Of Course!”
Then he proceeded to spin you around Dream who laughed.
There… was nothing wrong with you? They didn’t think the soullessness was a fault?
Something wet tickled your eyesockets as you reached for the sash. Sci held it away a little longer as he suddenly eyed you sharply. Then his gaze gentlened again and he smiled.
“And Ink should be capable of different types of magic, after all Flowey- Hrk!”
Sci was knocked back by a black mass. It sent him and the sash flying.
Sci slammed to a machine and your vials flew out of the sash. The machine beebed ominously as its screen went pale blue. The force was so great that the small, heart-shaped caps on your vials popped off.
The paint inside sloshed in slow motion.
“ I’ll be taking these .” Nightmare snatched the vials from the air before smirking down at you. His neon cyan eyelight shone brightly as he started to melt into the shadows.
“No!” You dived after him.
Dream got there first. His shining arrows pierced through Nightmare’s shadows and slowed his departure down. You slammed face first to the floor.
“GIVE THEM BACK! INK NEEDS THEM!” Blue yelled as his magic reached for the vials.
Nightmare seemed amused enough that he stopped leaving.
“ Does he now? I’m sure I can think of more uses for these myself,” He shook the vials and to your horror. Uou could see how your paint got flung out of them, “ Oops.”
You jumped on Nightmare and climbed him like a monkey in order to reach the vials.
He froze when your feet entered his cold, slimy mouth. You had to get the vials back, you didn’t have any others. And something told you that you wouldn't be getting new ones.
Your phalanges were numb from the freezing cold Nightmare oozed. You almost got the blackened vials through the iciness of Nightmare’s corruption. It burned with how cold it was.
That’s when you noticed it.
A tiny call from deep within Nightmare. Almost so quiet that it couldn’t be heard.
“ Geff offff, youff insolentfh beingh!” Nightmare screeched, your feet still inside his mouth.
A wet, cold tendril wrapped around your middle. The glacial feeling quickly seeped in before you were sent sailing through the air.
You crashed skull first to the wall before sliding down. The world was blinking.
“!!!” Voices came from somewhere very far away as the blink became longer.
You could see a swarm of apples. They were all black except one. It was matted royal purple stuck in the middle.
It was calling for help.
The other apples swarmed around it, suffocated it.
You reached forward and gently gubbed it. The relief oozing off of it was tremendous.
A warm, green hue surrounded the apple. It then spread through the other apples swarming around. The slimy corruption fell off, revealing even more purple apples. The gratitude surrounded you.
Then you were yanked back. A pair of bright neon roller skates stood right in front of you.
“It ain’t nice to steal other people’s toys, y’know. It’s unradical.” The voice made you shiver.
“But hey, no harm done. I’ll just get a new one.” He promised with a quiet sigh.
“Told ya. There’s no running from me, mah brah.” The whisper followed you and echoed all around you as you escaped in the land of nothingness.
— — —
You felt something soft under you when you came to. Your eyes had a hard time adjusting to the darkness.
You had to go to school, right. You attempted to get up but your head stung. Not school then, did you have to go to work? You didn’t like working.
Your eyes finally adjusted. You didn’t recognize the room you were in, it definitely wasn’t yours. It only had a table and a stool alongside the bed and a small closet. For some reason, there was a giant paintbrush on your bedside and a sash full of murky vials. There was also a picture on the table alongside a journal. You reached for it but then you saw your hand.
Your heart froze when the bones moved in clear view. Then you noticed that your heart wasn’t pounding. There was no familiar rush of your blood.
You really should’ve panicked more but you couldn’t, for some strange reason. And the bones didn’t feel that weird. Something told you that they were okay.
Logically thinking, a human’s bones shouldn’t be in view like this.
Your head hurt so you didn’t pay any attention to logic.
You reached for the picture again. There were three skeletons. Yellow, blue and brown. The brown one looked funny, he had a splat on his face and was shorter than the others.
The other two sparked some recognition in you. You felt a pull to them, something surged in your bones.
Why did you know these skeletons?
Were they somebody’s art?
“Oh, you’re awake.” Your head snapped around and you saw the yellow clad -skeleton- stand on the doorway. When had he appeared? Was he spying on you? What in the world was going on?
“Who are you?!” You asked as you hastily stumbled to your feet. The stranger looked worried, then taken aback. He reached for you but stepped back when you flinched. Your head throbbed.
“What’s going on? Ink?” He then asked, “Don’t you remember?” His tone was gentle and his movements slow as he spoke to you. You grimaced as the name resonated with you, it wasn’t yours.
“I’m not Ink! Who would be named after a substance anyway? My name is Y/N!” You growled but your guard was already dropping. The guy was practically shining with ‘reliable’ and ‘trustworthy’ written over his head.
“Wait wait wait so… Blue, could you come here?!” He then yelled which made you jump. Was he calling for reinforcements or something? You snatched the stool and used it as a barrier between you.
This magical skeleton weirdo wouldn’t eat you today! But you were a skeleton too, now… Did skeletons eat other skeletons for vitamin D? Or calcium? And could the voice nagging in your head could stop already, the guy was clearly not trustworthy!
“COMING!” A loud, cheery voice echoed from somewhere.
You heard a lot of loud thumps before another skeleton skidded into the room right behind the first one. This was the blue guy, dressed in shiny armor and a blue bandanna.
And of course your mind was screaming only good things about him as well.
Did you have Stockholm syndrome or something?
Or amnesia? That could be it, otherwise you would surely remember losing all your skin and muscles. Not that it really bothered you. And the skeletons really didn’t bother you either.
“HE TOLD US BEFORE, DREAM. IT COULD BE THE VIALS!” Crap, you had missed like half of the things they had been talking about.
“Hmm… Ink did say something along those lines… Hey, do you wanna take your substances, they would make you feel better?” The yellow one addressed you.
“...”
The blue one elbowed the yellow, whispering not-so-quietly about not calling ‘vials’ substance as it sounded very bad. The other whispered apologised. He started to glow bright yellow instead.
What a weirdo. A good natured weirdo.
Okay, first you were kidnapped, then offered substances. A clear sign to jump off the window and flee. But you had an urge to oblige him. You wanted to take whatever he was offering. It felt like you would die without them.
You slowly put the stool down while verily eyeing the skeletons. If they made even one wrong move…
At your silence, they pointed at the sash. You begrudgingly took it and eyed the vials.
“You want me to take these?” You glowered when they nodded before plopping out the first vial.
It was a dirty green, swirling mass. There were bits of black swimming in it. You looked at the skeletons but they just smiled encouragingly which sparked comfort in you.
The apparent paint looked disgusting and wrong. But despite your initial distrust, you somehow knew the skeletons were reliable. They only wanted what was the best for you.
The feeling of wrongness grew with each intake as the disgusting liquid went down your throat. You almost threw up but managed to keep it in. And then one by one, you sipped down different coloured paint which made you choke and skull ring.
“Good job,” The skeleton, Dream, he was Dream, told you from the other side of the room. Blue smiled at you brightly.
You grimaced but opened your arms in invitation.
“Guys, can I get a hug? Blue? Dream?”
They happily obliged.
“But why did you call yourself Y/N?” Dream quietly asked.
It would seem that that truth needed to come out too. You didn’t want to expose yourself but. You. Wouldn’t. Hide. Things. From. Your. Friends. Anymore.
“I- Another reason why I cannot use magic properly is because… Well I’m.” You sweated nervously, “I was a human.”
“AND WHATEVER DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?” Blue gently asked over your skull.
“I mean I was a human. Then I died and became… This. A skeleton.” Granted, you were a human with a lot of information about everything here but… That was a truth you wouldn’t tell. Just because it would probably mess their head up by thinking about the ‘higher’ beings controlling everything.
Nope. You had read enough stories about the skeletons going insane with this information. You would spare your friends.
“So what?” Dream suddenly spat out, “So what if you’re soulless or that you were a human? You’re still INK , nobody else.”
“Dream…”
But he wasn’t done.
“The Ink I know saved me. The Ink I know tries so hard to hide his blankets from us. He does his best to help people. He isn’t an awful human or monster without a soul. He is kind!”
“So don’t be so apologetic about who you are!” Dream breathed heavily as he finished his tirade.
“I, I won’t.” You promised as your face twisted and wetness covered your eyesockets.
“THAT’S MY BOYS,” Blue leaned down and gave both of you skeleton kisses.
“this makes me tear up.”
You all jumped at Stretch’s sudden appearance.
“anyway, sci sends this,” The tall skeleton waved a big bottle in his hand. He stood in the doorway, grinning slightly.
“i never thought I would become an uncle, by the way.” He then grinned.
“STRETCH!” Blue’s face flushed with bright blue as he snatched the bottle from Stretch.
A sudden, deep pain stabbed through your whole body. It was like someone was poking needles at you from every direction. They stung and itched. You doubled over in pain and pressed your hands at where your stomach would be,
“Ink?” Dream’s heat pressed at your shoulderblades. You pulled away, it only worsened the pain.
And then it went away as fast as it had appeared.
— — —
Blue, Stretch and Dream spent the day with you.You could see the worried glances they threw your way when they thought you weren’t looking.
“maybe the medicine could help?” Stretch suggested.
“Maybe…” Blue muttered in a lowered volume.
“I’ll take it as soon as my bones stop hurting.” You promised.
Which felt like it would never come. Your bones ached from skull to toes. Your arms had fallen asleep. The signals coming from your ribcage were painful. It felt like your whole body was made of malleable play-dough and somebody was busy rolling you around.
Stretch had guessed it was a side effect of running so low on paints and getting hit on the head on top of that. Dream agreed. Blue looked away.
They admitted that they were a little new to all of this paint-stuff but they promised it would go away with time.
You decided to sleep to pass the time. You would be okay after waking up.
Notes:
Sci says a lot of 'So' in this chapter.
And no, nobody noticed Fresh. They were too busy fighting Nightmare :D
Chapter 21: Beginning of the End
Notes:
Ink is still a little bit amnesiac.
In another note, thank you all for your kind words :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The world was black. Then it was painful.
You blinked blearily as your consciousness unfortunately returned to you again. The pains from the paints had only subsided very late at night. You had tossed and turned as your bones burned inside out and made you sweat a river.
You were currently tangled in the inky sheets and an uncomfortable heat made you curl up. The air was far colder than you remembered. It made you shiver as you tried to seek comfort from your blanket.
Only to find it on the floor. You must’ve kicked it off as you had been writhing in pain.
The pain on your skull was killing you. It felt like it would crack like an egg if you didn’t stop moving. You gave up on getting the blanket back and sunk into the cool pillow.
You didn’t understand. Nothing made sense.
Dream and Blue were your friends and they wanted the best for you. They told you the vials were essential for your existence. That it was right and normal for you to take them.
You knew the two of them never meant to harm you.
Then why did it hurt so much?
The burning, invading pain had started just after you took the vials. Maybe this was normal. Blue and Dream said it was normal. They could be trusted, they knew. This was normal.
The vials should hurt.
Then why didn’t it feel right?
You’d believe your friends. You knew they were the ones to trust. Always.
“I-Ink…” A pained voice called out.
The pain coursed through your body as you turned to see who was there. Your bones grinded against each other and dust flaked off. The sheets tangled between your phalanges.
It was hard to see in the dark. Your vision swam as you tried to focus your eyelights. An Identical you laid on the ground in the fetal position. They were hunched over in clear pain.
The only difference was the black shirt.
“B-Broomie?” You gasped as it felt like a knife was twisting in your insides. Hot, sharp edge slicing your bones bit by bit into thin strands.
Broomie groaned as they tried to get up. Their hands shook and trembled tremendously. Mud green shone through their ribcage. It, too, looked wrong. You knew the color should’ve been something else but what?
Were they trying to heal themselves?
“Ink… T-the paints… Fresh…” Their voice cracked as they threw up black ink. There were bits and pieces of chunky red paint in it.
The room was filled with a sour but sweet smell. It made your paints gurgle up too. You barely managed to stop the vomit. You gagged and shivered as you held it back.
“...Write.”
Broomie offered you a familiar diary.
Write? Write what?
The tangy sweat poured off of you as you reached for the book. Your breathing was heavy and troubled. Every gasp felt like you were breathing through a straw.The air just didn’t want to fill your magic with its blessing presence.
Broomie’s hand dropped.
The sudden weight made you almost drop the diary. You barely managed to hold on with your fingertips as your whole body burned with pain.
You opened it to an empty page and took the pen that was attached to it. The cold metal made you shiver, it felt like a glacier against your bones.
Broomie asks me to write.
Fresh and paints. There’s weird chunks in them. Hurts.
Am I gonna die?
Your hand wavered so much that the text was barely legible. Then another hot wave of pain flashed right over you. You wailed in agony and your grip on your consciousness started to slip.
The diary fell from your hands. It thudded softly to the ground below your bed as you gladly surrendered yourself to the land of the sleeping.
— — —
A blessedly cold hand against your forehead woke you up. The sudden light in the room made your eyes shut immediately, but you managed to see a very concerned Blue.
“INK?” Blue asked hesitantly. You winced at the volume. The hand retreated from your forehead, making you grumble your hoarse objections.
“Dream, Get Over Here. Ink’s Not Alright.” Blue called in a hushed voice.
You heard footsteps in the open doorway and managed to pry your eyes open again.
The light didn’t assault you as it had before. Blue loomed between you and the light source. His blue eyelights blazed wide with worry.
“What’s wrong with him?” Dream hurried into the room. He was carrying a bunch of papers with him. Blue gave him space on the bed.
You squinted against the light again.
“He Has Thrown Up.” Blue pointed at where Broomie laid on a puddle of ink. It was back on the brush form.
The cold hand on your forehead was replaced with a hand that burned even more than you did. It was uncomfortable and you tried to turn your head away from it. The hand retracted.
Keeping your eyesockets open started to be harder and harder. It hurt. You gave up and let the darkness swallowed you once again.
“Maybe it was Sci’s…” The hushed, worried voices faded away.
— — —
The feverish pain returned with fervor. You whined and rocked yourself as you tried to soothe the pain. You pulled your hands around your knees and held on as tight as you could.
It felt like someone was twisting your nonexistent guts. What was even worse were the duller waves of pain. They weren’t focused on one area, they crashed over your whole body in tides.
You couldn’t escape them. You could only hope that they would go away on their own.
An especially bad twist made you cry out. You gripped your kneecaps with bruising strength.
“Shh, Ink” Someone pulled your hands away from your knees and pulled you into a hug. A cool hug, not scalding hot. You shivered against them as the pain washed over you.
Tears ran down your cheekbones as Blue gently rocked you.
“It hurts, Blue. It hurts, it hurts it hurts it HURTS!” You choked the muffled words out against Blue’s shirt.
“I Know Ink. I Know,” Blue pat your sweaty skull, trying to ease the pain, “You’ll Be Alright. It’ll Be Fine.” He then hushed you.
He continued to gently pet your head while rocking you. You tried your best to endure the pain.
“Dream Is Coming Soon, He’s Getting Help. We'll Help You.” The room lit into a soft green light. This time it was bright as Blue’s hands descended against you.
He was using healing magic on you.
Even in your pained state you managed to understand that it was futile. Whatever caused this level of pain wasn’t something only healing could fix. But Broomie had tried too so maybe Blue wasn’t far off.
You still curled up into Blue’s embrace, hoping that you could feel even an ounce of it in the sea of pain.
— — —
The third time you woke up it wasn’t in the safety of your own dark room. The lights assaulted you alongside the yellow wallpapers. Normally the wallpapers would be comforting but now they only brought you a headache.
The pain had dulled and you didn’t feel so feverish anymore. You were wrapped up in a light blue soft blanket like a burrito. The softness was comforting against your sensitive bones.
You felt very dried out like someone had decided to hold you from arms and legs and twist until your body cracked. You wanted to fall unconscious even though you just woke up.
“-An eye on him.” Dream walked in, speaking into a phone. He perked up as he noticed that you were awake. He threw the phone away and rushed to your side, mindful of not touching you.
“It’s good to see you awake.” He spoke in a soft tone. You got the feeling he was keeping check of all your reactions towards him.
“Blue is making some food. I know you can’t feel the intent but it’ll help,” He smiled, “I got medicine from Sci. I gave some to you earlier but you should take it again.” He pointed to the nightstand.
It was very suspicious looking medicine. A large white bottle with flashing red warning signs.
Typical Sci, you did not want to consume that. But if it helped…
“Thank you, Dream. I feel better already.” You croaked out as you reached out for the medicine.
“That Is Great!” Blue exclaimed as he entered with a steaming bowl of something that smelled like onions. You couldn’t figure out what it was under all that glitter.
You smiled at him tiredly as you measured medicine for yourself.One full bottle cap should be enough. Blue and Dream kept chattering as you stared at the medicine.
It was thick, bronze liquid and it smelled metallic. You didn’t really feel like taking it but you could feel the gazes drilling on your back already. You lifted the bottle cap and opened your mouth-
The medicine splattered on the floor from your shaking hands. You curled into a small ball from the pain. A hoarse wail erupted from your mouth as you screamed on the top of your lungs.
“Ink?”
“INK!”
It felt like something was twisting and curling inside of you, making its way around your body.
It felt wrong, slithery and bad. Wrong wrong wrong wrong and it HURT!
You let out another bloodcurling scream when it reached your chest and head. It felt like it was eating you, cracking and chipping small pieces away, filling it with wrongness.
You tensed and jerked as you kept screaming.
The pain was far too much, you succumbed to the blessed unconsciousness. It was soothingly peaceful and calming cold. But in your last moments of consciousness you felt like something was ripped from you as the slithery being finally settled.
[Finally. You’ll be fun to play with.]
Notes:
I lied. Someone was close enough to see Fresh in the last chapter =)
Chapter 22: The Core
Notes:
I forgot to mention this in the last chapter but I am going on a trip. You guys get an early update because of that! :D
Also, I'm sorry in advance. Yes, it hurts my head too. But I promise there's a reason for it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
[Come into Storyswap. Now.]
The levelly spoken words woke Ink up. His bones were still scalding hot and moving hurt, but it wasn’t anywhere near the pain from before. He slowly sat up and looked around in Dream’s bright room.
The soft yellow pastels would feel welcome if Ink didn’t have a voice inside his skull.
He needed to obey the strange voice in his head. He didn’t know why, but he just needed to.
Dream and Blue were both slumped against the bed as they slept. Quiet snoring filled the air. Your small smile quickly turned into a painful sneer as the burning multiplied.
[It’s unradical to make a broski wait.]
Dream roused in his sleep, making Ink freeze. It unluckily was a fake alarm. He just turned around and buried his face on the sheets. The snoring continued.
Ink tested his bones slowly. The pain was fading fast and the burning was he could adapt. Carefully he crawled out of the bed and stood up. He covered Dream and Blue with the soft blankets. He
He had to go to the caller. To the first one. Master…?
He sneaked around the medicine bottle still on the floor and stepped into the hallway. The boards creaked quietly as he went back to his room.
Broomie was moved from the puddle of Ink. It was in its familiar place, leaning onto the table. Ink reached for it, he needed Broomie for portalling. The brush’s wooden handle felt cold in his hands and it didn’t lift from the ground. It felt like a ton of bricks.
It just refused to get up from the ground.
“Broomie,” He reprimanded it flatly, “We’re in a hurry. Get up.”
It didn’t move so he let it be and turned around. He couldn’t afford to wait any longer. He would find another way to the first one. He knew he shouldn’t leave his partner. Something was wrong if Broomie refused to help. But he needed to follow his orders like a servant should.
So he left. The stairs creaked ominously as he descended. Blue’s snoring followed him to the living room.
“you feeling better?”
Shoot. He had forgotten about Stretch. The tall skeleton hovered next to the TV, a grin plastered to his face. His face went pale when Ink turned to him.
“listen, maybe you should rest a little more,” Stretch continued his monologue, “you don’t look okay.”
He kept his tone light but Ink could hear the nervous undertone. He couldn’t fathom why. He was okay, everything was fine.
Your body hurt, Broomie wouldn’t get up and you were hearing noises in your skull.
[Hurry, brah.]
Ink needed to go.
He gave Stretch a friendly wave and hurried to the entrance. He saw an image from the corner of his eyelight and stopped. He could see himself in the mirror.
Hollow, white eyelights stared back from the mirror. His sockets looked deeper and darker, like the void. Bottomless void that consumed everything. His bones were pale and flaky. Small particles fell off of them.
He hoped they weren't a bad omen.
The eyelights unnerved him. Something looked wrong. They were perfectly round and there were no cracks on sight. So why did he feel like something was missing? Something very important…
Something purple, yellow and red slithered behind his right eyelight. The pressure inside his skull intensified.
[Those who refuse orders need to be punished, broski. Do not make noise.]
The right side of his skull burst into pain as something latched into his eyelight. He fell to the gold stone floor and writhed in agony. It felt like he would bust. His skull was melting, it was melting-!
It was running to the floor like hot wax. Ink couldn’t see, he could only feel how his forehead dripped down to his chin. There was a hole in his skull, he was sure of it.
No noise still escaped from him.
[Follow my radical orders and this won’t happen again]
The pain was over as soon as it had started.
Ink could see again. He hurried up and looked around, skull thumping in the beat of the wrong paints.
His skull wasn’t melted on the floor. There wasn’t a hole in his skull. He was okay. the phantom pains still followed.
He would be just fine if he followed orders.
Ink pushed the cold metal handle down and opened the door. It croaked before flinging open.
The familiar sight of the Doodlesphere calmed Ink’s thumping paints. The thousands of islands floating around, all connected to the giant snowball in the middle. And to this island, too. The bridges were everywhere.
Each and every universe was connected.
Ink looked around.
“listen, i really think you need a break.” Stretch's laidback tone was gone. Now he sounded pleading.
Ink ignored him. He couldn't answer Stretch who had appeared on the door.. He had orders to not speak. So Ink marched down the third bridge. It was made of stone and his feet clacked and slid against the hard, cold material.
He was familiar with this place. This place was familiar with him.
So he instinctively knew where he was going.
He passed Undertale and the millions of copies of it. Then he arrived on a small island. There were only a handful of copies on this one.
[The original one.]
He went for the paper that wasn’t white. The original Storyswap was red with white font and black heart.
He opened the screen.
Storyswap #0
Saves: 15
Loads: 98
Resets: 2
*The seventh soul is needed
*Parasite
*Virus
The thumping on his head made Ink keel over. He reached for the screen to stop his descent but his hands went straight through and he fell flat on his face. The dirt went straight up his nose canal and already hurt eyesocket. His eyelights guttered out.
A small ping caught Ink’s attention. He raised his head from the warm ground and looked up. Another, smaller screen had opened up and floated next to the big one. He fastly climbed back to his feet.
Storyswap #0
Enter?
*Yes *No
Edit?
*Yes *No
[Interesting… Enter for now.]
Ink looked around a while. The white letters stood out boldly against the black design.
Enter
[*Yes] *No
He pressed the button.
Then he was sucked right in. The screen opened bigger and bigger before engulfing Ink as a whole.
He was twisting and spinning in the darkness. He could see distant lights far, far away. Then something grabbed his spine and he was pulled out and gently laid on a metal surface that let out a faint clang.
It resonated in Ink’s bones. They started to vibrate slightly.
“Finally. Ya took your rad time.” Fresh’s singsonged.
Ink looked up.
They were in the core. The lava hissed and bubbled quietly below them. They were on a thin metal bridge that had tiny holes in them. The lava casted orange and golden hues on Fresh’s skull.
The air was hot and humid. Ink sweated. His many layers of clothing suddenly started to feel too much. His bones were going to actually melt at this rate.
Fresh on a pile of rubbish. There was a lone wheel and an orange ribbon sticking out. Fresh’s hands were on his knees as he grinned down at Ink. His shades spelled ‘RAD’.
He stood upand howered tall over Ink.
You looked at his rollerskates. They were worn and torn. The colors were faded in some places and the shoelaces were chipped. The rolls were dirty and there tiny stones between them.
“Let’s get into business, shall we?” Fresh grinned as he leaned down and pulled Ink up by his scarf. Instead of letting Ink on the platform, Fresh dangled Ink in the air. Ink’s legs swung uselessly as he waited quietly. He couldn’t make noise.
“Take me to the Doodlesphere.” Fresh ordered.
Ink’s hands moved without his consent. They opened the same screen that had gotten him there. The codes shimmered in the golden light.
But.
He didn’t want to. A sudden urge to fight Fresh rose from Ink. He couldn’t get into the Doodlesphere. It was Ink’s job to protect the Doodlesphere and Fresh was a threat. He was the enemy, not an ally!
Ink weakly kicked him. His grin just widened.
“I see ya retained some sort of honor.” Fresh then murmured lowly, like a secret between the two of them, “That’s too bad.”
He lifted Ink even higher. The warm air below wafted up. It smelled like charcoal.
“Then I order you to take me to the Original.”
That made Ink’s nonexistent gut twist. He thought of the giant snowball floating in the middle of the Doodlesphere. And in the core of it… Was the original Undertale.
The one thing where everything had started.
Ink didn’t know why he refused his master again but he did. Something deep down inside him urged him to refuse. He simply couldn’t let Fresh near the Original.
“No.” Ink’s voice was hoarse from screaming all night. iIs nonexistent throat felt like it was shaved down with sandpaper with how dry it was. His skull screamed at him for refusing orders but he stood his ground.
Fresh’s smile got impossibly wide. His golden teeth glinted dangerously in the glow of the lava.
“I see ya can still refuse some orders. That only means ya need some training. No noise.” Fresh lowered his shades. Ink could now see the floating soul in his one socket and the parasite tight around it.
He knew what was coming.
The now familiar pain erupted from Ink’s right eyesocket. He writhed in Fresh’s tight hold as his skull burned. This time it was like thousands of tiny teeth were buried into his eyelights. They felt like they were drilling straight through and cutting his eyelight into pieces.
Ink gasped for air but no voice came from his mouth. He wheezed and couched but no word came through.
His hands wound around Fresh’s as he tried to make the pain stop. His feet kicked the air as he flailed in agony.
Then the pain stopped.
“Had enough?” Fresh questioned, still smiling.
Ink nodded.
Anything to make it stop. Anything to not feel that pain again .
“Then take me to the Original.” Fresh ordered again. And again Ink found the power to refuse. He would give almost anything to make the pain stop. Just not this. Not the whole multiverse that relied on him.
“I see. This is a built in thing with guardians. Nightmare too, refused to kill his brother no matter how many chances I gave him.” Fresh muttered, “But like with him, I can pass those inbuilt firewalls with the right orders.”
Ink gasped as Fresh’s hold suddenly tightened. The world swirled around. HIs feet hit the railing of the small metal bridge and then he was dangled over the hot, bubbling lava.
[Order: Corrupt as many Au’s as possible.]
The voice in his skull was too strong for Ink to even think thoughts of his own. His own voice drowned into the void. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t hear himself. He could only obey.
“STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO INK?!” Someone roared.
Ink was suddenly torn from Fresh’s grasp.
The hot air wooshed all around him and then a familiar grip wound around his shoulders. A blue glove tightened momentarily around his shoulder. It felt comforting. Then Blue pushed Ink behind him.
Blue…?
How was he here? He couldn’t portal. Ink looked around. Dream was nowhere to be seen. But then he noticed. Blue wasn’t alone. A familiar brush floated next to the trusty adult and warrior.
Blue and Broomie had come to your rescue.
“I “I KNOW WHAT YOU DID. BROOMIE TOLD ME EVERYTHING,” Blue snarled, “YOU VILE BEING WON’T FUCKING TOUCH INK EVER AGAIN!”
Everything Blue on his glowed. The air wafted around Blue like a mini hurricane. His eyelights shone brighter than the lava down below. His hammer was wound from Deep blue strings that wound around Blue’s hands.
He shifted into a lower and wider stance as his eyelights never left Fresh’s.
Ink had never seen Blue so angry.
Notes:
Storyswap belongs to Shionbluu.
Fresh took Ink's human part from him. That's why Ink cannot remember that he's you.
Chapter 23: Memoir of a Blue protector
Notes:
I lament my choices of making Frehs the main antagonist. He's very hard to pin down as a character ':D
Also, thank you all for the kudos and the comments! They made my day <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
[Stay where you are.]
Fresh was the first one to break eye contact. He grinned and vanished in a poof of rainbows. The smell of spoiled food grew stronger as the words 'Fresh Poof’ appeared on the air.
Blue reacted immediately.
His warhammer swung right at Fresh who appeared on Ink’s right side. Multiple pearly white bones shot up from the lava. The magma rumbled as it flew everywhere and the golden glow grew stronger.
“Whoa, pal. We can talk this out,” Fresh laughed as he kept dodging the bones now flying at him.
“Move To Stable Ground,” Blue whispered to Ink.
Ink couldn’t move. He had orders from Fresh and he didn’t have the willpower to disobey them. Or more like, he couldn’t muster up the willpower to move. It felt like bricks were tied to his feet. They were heavy and unwilling to obey Ink.
He looked at Blue when he was suddenly yanked back. He slowly turned his skull to the left only to see Broomie pulling him from the sash. His feet slid backwards on the bridge. His bony toes caught on the metal of the bridge but Broomie kept pulling.
Ink should do something. But who should he help? Blue or Fresh?
Besides, he had an order to stay put. He couldn’t move.
“YOU FUCKING BASTARD!”
THe sudden, outraged yell broke Ink free from his thoughts. He startled and looked at where Blue and Fresh were. Fresh was pointing at Ink with one finger.
Blue grabbed Fresh's finger and tore it off.
“Sheesh. Calm ya pants.” Fresh frowned as dust started to fall off of his finger.
[Attack Blue.]
Ink felt the real, grimy ground under his feet now. Broomie stopped pulling.
The order bounced inside his skull, knocking his own thoughts out of the way. He didn’t want to but he had to.
But Blue was his …Friend.
The fighting pair was further away now. Broomie’s bristles brushed gently against Ink’s skull and then the brush flew right towards Fresh. The parasite wasn’t fast enough to dodge this time. He was sent flying as Broomie crashed right on his skull.
He went over the railing but managed to poof away just before hitting the lava simmering down below.
Ink just stood afar and watched.
Fresh was now sweating bullets and he had lost his red and yellow cap. His skull shone brightly without it, and honestly, he looked bald. His shades were tilted and Ink could see the glowing soul in his sockets.
“Two against one, playing dirty eh? I can play dat way too!”
[Blue is an enemy.]
Blue… was an enemy? Blue?
Initialising Memory Reboot…
Gathering memories of [Blue]
Summing up memories of [Blue]
[First memory]: Blue holding Ink after Dream collapsed [Care]
[Second memory]: Blue insisting on giving Ink food in liquid form [Health]
[Third memory]: Blue standing between Ink and the bad Sanses [Protection]
Conclusion: NotAnEnemy. Rejecting [Orders].
Blue was an enemy?
No. It couldn’t be. Fresh was wrong. He was wrong. Blue couldn’t be an enemy.
[True dat. But the order wasn’t for ya, I knew ya would’ve resisted.]
Fresh threw a furry ball straight at Blue and Broomie. They both managed to dodge on the narrow ridge. Loud glangs filled the air as Blue stepped aside.
Ink squinted to see what it was. It had big, glossy eyes in the middle of the green fur. The ears flapped as it took tiny steps and exploded. The pressure the explosion created made even Ink slide back.
His view of the fighters was obscured by a thick, black smoke. The only thing he could see was the pieces of the bridge crumbling down. THe molten lava bubbled and hissed as the metal pieces melted.
If the bridge was down there… Blue?! Where was Blue?
Broomie would be fine, it knew how to float. It had showed its abilities multiple times already.
But Blue couldn’t fly, could he?
The smoke rose higher. Tiny flames grew bigger. A flash of blue in the darkness. The smoke suddenly broke and gave way to Blue who… Who ran in the air?!
It turns out Blue could fly.
He stood magnificently in the middle of the air and gazed down at something Ink couldn’t see.His blue bandanna fluttered in the air. Then a gaster blaster rose up from the smoke. It held something very colorful in its jaws.
“Wiggity waggity un-rad brah!” Fresh kicked and squirmed in the blaster’s maw.
Blue paid no heed to his words. He just extended his hand and the Blaster started charging. Blue smoke rose from its eyes and it glitched momentarily. You could hear Fresh’s yells inside your skull.
The frantic sounds reverberated inside your skull.
[Hurry up!]
The order was so strong that it knocked Ink from his legs. He staggered before falling to the ground.
“INK?!” Blue turned to him, worry in his gaze.
The blaster went off with a loud roar as Blue got distracted.
A blinding white light made Ink shut his sockets tightly. THe light trickled through the narrow, hollow spaces between them. His skull felt like it was on fire with how the creature inside it twisted.
A cool touch to his head made him startle.
“SHH, IT’S ME, YOU’RE OKAY. I’M HERE.” Blue’s deep, soothing voice made Ink’s bones relax automatically. He squinted slightly.
The light had faded. Now the only things that remained were the pieces of the bridge and the bubbling lava. Fresh’s cap was caught on a metal pole sticking out of the magma. It swayed gently in the breeze that wafted in the air.
“IT IS OVER NOW. I’VE DESTROYED HIS BODY.” Blue’s eyelights were ridden with sadness as he gazed down to Ink, “SO LET US GO HOME.
He stood up and offered Ink his hand. Ink took it with both hands and allowed Blue to help him to his shaky, stubby legs.
“I HAVE TO SAY, I NEVER THOUGHT THAT YOUR BRUSH WAS ACTUALLY ALIVE. IT WAS QUITE A SHOCK TO SEE IT… THEM? TO SEE THEM TRANSFORM INTO AN IDENTICAL YOU.” Blue grinned.
Then Blue suddenly went pale. His bright blue eyelights were locked onto yours.
“INK…” He started, “IS SOMETHING… YOUR EYELIGHTS…”
He didn’t have the time to say anything besides that when the thing inside Ink’s skull moved. He could feel it slither out of his socket. Its tiny, slimy tentacles took hold of his socket as it pulled itself out. Blue’s eyelights widened in shock.
“WHAT-!” Blue’s surprised yell was cut short.
The thing’s tentacles left Ink’s skull as it jumped straight at Blue. Blue’s hands raised up in front of his face as he jumped back. Blue started glitching almost as badly as Error did. White particles flew up around him and a sound of rebooting computer filled the air.
The creature hissed as the glitches hit it.
Broomie came in with a big swoop and hit the purple tentacle thing away. It flew over the lava but didn’t fall. Instead, it landed on a bony hand. Ink saw the familiar black and white attire first. Then the shades covering the multicolored eyelights he knew were there.
Cross didn’t waste any time standing around. He jumped high up and slashed at Ink. Ink was ordered to stay put so he didn’t move. He was suddenly pushed backwards with a strong force.
The red slash hit Blue right in the back.
He fell without a noise. Ink could only watch in horror how dust started to flake off of Blue’s bones. His body glitched in and out as he laid on the ground.
Then an X covered his shut sockets.
Ink couldn’t move. Not even when Blue’s body got up like a puppet on strings. His hands moved in unnatural angles. His legs were like a robot’s. They took tiny, very controlled steps.
Something hit him hard in the head with a deep thunk , making him look down.
Broomie laid on the ground next to him, all of its bristles torn off. Deep, red X-marked gashes ran along its handle.
What? When?!
Ink couldn’t believe his eyelights. Both of his saviours were down. Blue looked like a marionette and Broomie… Wasn’t okay.
[Much better.]
This time Fresh’s speech was muddled, like he was speaking under water. It didn’t bother Ink as much as before. He could still hear his own thoughts and wasn’t drowning in Fresh’s.
Cross didn’t say anything. He was unnaturally still, he just stood there, holding the parasite that had slithered out of Ink’s skull on the palm of his hand. His long cape swayed on the warm breeze as he stared right ahead.
[Ink, Error brah is an enemy.]
Initialising Memory Reboot…
Gathering memories of [Error]
Summing up memories of [Error]
[First memory]: Error and Nightmare fighting. Ink running away. [Danger]
[Second memory]: Ink hanging from Error’s strings. [Hurt]
[Third memory]: Chocolate [Safe]
Conclusion: AnEnemy. Accepting [Orders].
Ink’s skull moved up and down on its own volition.
[Wait. Ya are serious dawg?]
Ink nodded again. His head was filled with strange noise. It sounded like three chainsaws that grinded against each other. It took him a moment to realize it was Fresh’s laughter.
[Go back and take care of the balance while I find mahself a radical new host. ]
Cross’s phalanges twitched and he disappeared with Fresh. The rotten smell faded and gave away to the burnt metallic scents floating in the air. Blue’s hollow sockets seemed to stare at Ink from under the X before he disappeared too.
Ink could move again. He slowly picked Broomie up and cradled it in his arms.
The Doodlesphere felt a lod lonelier than before. All the Au’s seemed so far apart from each other. Ink’s purple paint thumped in his bones as he looked around.
So many and so alone.
[Not a word about what happened. Do your job. ]
“Ink?” Dream’s hesitant voice broke Ink out of his stupor, “What happened to Broomie?”
A shadow casted over Ink. He looked up only to see Stretch’s worried face.
“where’s blue? ink, where is my bro?” Stretch asked frantically.
Ink couldn’t answer. But a lone, fat tear that slid down his cheekbone was answer enough.
Notes:
…Put the pitchforks down. It was either this or dropping Blue to the core. (He was too strong to keep around.)
Fun fact: Error is the only one completely immune to the virus. Blue has some of his powers so that immunity extends to him. Unluckily, he is not immune to Cross’s Overwrite like Error is.
Fun fact 2: Blue would’ve soloed if Ink wasn’t there.
Fact Fact: Blue could walk on air because og Papyrus can. He's a Swap so he should have the same abilities (Or more).
Chapter 24: ...Balance?
Notes:
Okay, you can keep the torches but be careful not to light anything up ':)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“I’m sorry.” Ink croaked as he hugged Broomie.
The brush’s hard wood felt unyielding and cold. Tiny wooden particles flaked out and poked at Ink’s skull and hands. The tiny pricks were barely enough for him to hold back the wetness behind his sockets.
He knelt down to the soft ground. His kneekaps sunk a little and it felt like they would pop off. Broomie poked uncomfortably against his femur.
The paintfall’s colors shimmered beautifully in the Doodlesphere's golden light. The red and orange twisted together in a beautiful cacophony of courage and anger. The lesser blues slid down like tears. Oval shaped tears that held the deepest blue imaginable.
Ink couldn’t bear to look at them. They only reminded him of bad things.
So he focused on Broomie instead. The paintfall had healed Broomie once, maybe it would do it again.
If this was something one could heal from.
Ink hoped so as he sunk his trusty companion into the tangy paints.
The colors swirled around his hands gently. When he finally pulled them out, they were covered in red. Bright neon colored red that screamed of vengeance.
Broomie floated for a moment before it started to sink. As he watched his trusty companion slowly disappear in the colors he vowed that he would finish off the plaque terrorising the multiverse.
The plaque called Error. An enemy.
Maybe then he could get Blue back.
Ink shook his head. He had to act
before Fresh took Dream too.
The paints agreed with him. The muddy red encompassed his field of vision again, but this time he embraced it. He needed power to protect what he loved from the evil.
Ink slowly stood up, gaze still fixated on where Broomie had been. He then shook his head. His whole spine rattled with the power of the shake but it made his head clearer.
He turned around and treaded through the soft ground. His feet sank with every step but he didn’t care. The muddy ground stuck his metatarsals. He knew how itchy he would later be but for now he didn’t care.
He had a mission to accomplish. He took a good look around the Doodlesphere. The snowball in the middle was very interesting. But it wasn’t what he was looking for.
In the thousands of islands glittering the golden sky some poked out like a sore thumb. Some of the tiny ones had only one bridge connecting them to the snowball. They had no companion islands.
The issue had to be fixed. Ink headed on the closest small island.
It was tiny but had many connections. The problem was the lack of Au’s itself. THere were only three papers floating on the island. The original Au shone in blood red and electric blue. Ink left it alone. He shouldn’t touch any originals so he focused on the plain ones.
Dusttale #3
Genocide (locked)
Saves: 153
Loads: 348
Resets: 1432
* One left. *
Ink frowned. Only one left? That meant all the others had died. Were they not hopeful enough? Hope was something very important to the monsters.
Blue and
Dream wouldn’t be happy to see this place so alone.
Besides, seeing it would only hurt Dream.
So Ink had to fix it. He reached his hand into the paper and pulled the codes out. It was easy, they surrounded him in clouds of ones and zeros. The tiny screen appeared.
Dusttale #3
Enter?
*Yes *No
Edit?
*Yes *No
He could read the codes and he could understand them. Most importantly, he could edit them. He could and would, they wouldn’t be alone anymore. Never again.
The idea of loneliness stung Ink like a bee. The sting of the wasp felt like it was stuck to his bones. He didn’t know where the feeling came from but it was like a bottomless pit in his chest. Spoken words that nobody heard. Pleas that were never answered.
But nobody came.
That’s why he would never let anyone feel the same way. He held the codes in his hands and concentrated as they ran past him.
Edit?
[*Yes] *No
An identical code started to run over the first one. The codes shun briefly before they were sucked back into the paper.
Ink frowned, had he failed?
Before he could react, the paper started to rip apart. It snapped and tore in two, before finally separating into two papers. They fixed themselves and Ink had a perfect copy created.
He checked its code with trembling hands.
Dusttale #3.1
Genocide (locked)
Saves: 153
Loads: 348
Resets: 1432
* One left *
CHANGE CODE?
*Yes [*No]
Ink pressed the no firmly. He only had to make more of the Au’s, he didn’t want to change them. What would be the point if he created multiple different Au’s? He would just create more lonely Aus.
He needed to make sure everything was identical.
Ink smiled widely, this was perfect. This way he could fill the whole multiverse with copies of copies. Nobody would never ever be alone again.
With that in mind, he got into work, focusing on the Dusttale variant #2.
And if he obeyed orders… Fresh might show mercy and give Blue back.
— — —
The time Ink was done the small island was swamped with variants. The paintfall had completely disappeared behind the papers, just like with the original Undertale.
He smiled proudly as he gazed upon his work.
A strange pain settled on his ribcage but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. The smile returned as he made his way back to the base . The wooden house looked tiny from afar, like just a stopping place and not a resting place.
He shouldn’t stay long now that he knew he could help the multiverse.
As he crossed the bridges he kept an eye on lonely aus. There were quite a few now that he knew where to look. Some even had only the one, original paper on a very small island.
He would make sure that it would change. After he had eaten something and was ready to work again.
He opened the door and stalked upstairs quietly, just in case the others were still sleeping. He peeked into the room and yes, they still were snoring away. They sure were tired.
He knew why .
Dream had been crying all night. He had heard the muffled, desperate sobs through the walls. At some point Ink had joined Dream and just held his shaking form as he gasped for breath between the broken cries for Blue.
Stretch had just been staring at the wall in Blue’s room.
Ink had passed by in the morning and had seen the tall skeleton nod off while holding tightly to Blue’s spare bandanna. He mumbled in his sleep as he leaned against Blue’s rocket bed.
Blue had been so adamant about changing his bed to a rocket that Ink had laughed. He wouldn’t have laughed now. Instead, he would’ve hugged Blue as tightly as he could.
But Blue wasn’t here . He was off to a magnificent adventure somewhere far far away. Or so Ink liked to imagine before his sleepless dreams turned into nightmares.
And the missing weight at Ink’s back reminded him of yet another loss. His movements felt far too light and airy without Broomie. He was accustomed to carrying his partner around.
Now that Broomie was gone too, he had to adjust again. This time to the fact Broomie was laying in a pool of paint like a lifeless husk. Ink hadn’t been able to do anything. He hadn’t been able to help Blue nor Broomie in the fight.
He had only been in the way.
But maybe… Just maybe he could help Stretch and Dream feel better… Not that anyone could feel better when everybody could feel the vacuum Blue had left.
He shut the door and went to make breakfast. Some honey for Stretch. Ink wasn’t the best at cooking.
And he would never be, as it was an useless skill.
He pulled out some for Dream, and put them to the table, before taking his own vials and some ink from the fridge.
Should he take them to the two sleepyheads? Or just continue working?
Ink mulled it in his mind. His teeth clanked together as he thought. The vibrations through his skull felt nice so he did it again. And again.
Then he made his decision. The duo needed some more sleep. And they would be happy to see Ink working even though the great losses they had suffered. So working it was.
He quickly downed the ink and went back to work on Aftertale variant number #5.
THe codes on this one were a lot more complicated as they were already duplicated at some places. There were also missing pieces of codes but he would make it work.
He was so focused on his work that he didn’t hear or see anything else, as he tore copies after copies to existence.
A light tap on his shoulder made him lose focus and the codes disappeared. The papers didn’t tear perfectly like before. Instead, they wobbled and faded away.
Ink pushed the sudden irritation down and turned around only to see Stretch. He looked nonchalant as he looked at the papers. But he was almost crushing his phone in his hand.
“Good morning, finally decided to wake up?” He asked, putting a smile on his face.
Stretch didn’t answer at first. He just watched Ink’s beautiful work with sharp eyelights.. Ink decided that he could just continue if Stretch didn’t want anything.
He could take a break to yap after the Aftertales were ready.
“what’s going on?”Stretch immediately asked.
Ink’s irritation rose as he once again turned to Stretch.
“What do you mean?” He pushed the feeling down.
Stretch hadn’t done anything to deserve it.
He was interrupting.
“that look in your face… you’re angry and desperate. ink, what happened back there? and why are there so many aus?” Stretch frowned as he stepped closer Ink.
He didn’t seem happy with what Ink had done which was confusing. Wasn’t this a good thing?
“for some reason, you wont tell us anything. do you not trust us? no. that’s not it, your expression tells me that much.” Stretch answered his own question.
“...i fear that whatever you’re doing is not what blue would’ve wanted.”
That hit below the belt. Ink felt like he had been punched in the guts he didn’t have. Ink stuttered as the ground felt farther and farther away from him.
Would Blue be opposed to what he was doing? The great blue soldier that always supported Ink? Would he be disappointed? But Ink was doing this to get him back. Surely the results would be more important than whatever means Ink used.
“Probably not.” Ink tried to speak as nonchalantly as Stretch did..
He couldn’t imagine Blue being proud of what was happening. For why, he did not know.
Stretch’s answer was cut short as a sharp pain drilled into Ink’s skull. He felt a strong pull to the Dusttale as the pain worsened. He hurried to the island, only to see the copies ripped apart.
NO!
He pulled the codes out again, trying to save them but they were encased in blue strings that tore them to pieces. The Au in Ink’s hands crumbled into nothingness as the next variant started to get destroyed.
He felt paralyzed. Why was this happening? Why were they being destroyed? They would all die alone… Ink couldn’t let it happen!
Dusttale #3.3
Enter?
[*Yes] *No
Edit?
*Yes *No
Ink slammed the button. He heard Stretch distant yell as he got sucked in ready to defend the Au.
He appeared into Waterfall, immediately spotting blue strings encasing the whole place. The rocky walls were crumbling down as the strings erased everything in their way. He could hear deafening, glitched roaring from deeper in the cave.
The air smelt like burnt plastic and computers on overdrive.
He ran over the muddy, sticky ground only to see this world’s Undyne disappearing into a cloud of dust by a black skeleton with a long trench coat and blue scarf. Error signs floated around him and he glitched in and out. He was covered in fine, pulverised dust.
Error. Ink remembered.
Error’s posture stiffened before he turned around.
“WHAaa-tt The HE-EEeLL ArE y0U D0I-ii-nG?!” He roared, glitching worse than before.
Notes:
Ink Vs Error. Any bets? /j
I have procrastinated writing Stretch all this time. Why, you ask. Because I'm the worst punner ever. I can't come up with jokes that kinda make up his personality :D
Chapter 25: Showdown
Notes:
Thank you all for the lovely comments and kudos! <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The destroyer looked absolutely insane.
His asymmetrical eyelights blazed brighter than the surrounding stones imitating stars. His wicked, yellow grin kept twitching downwards.. He glitched in and out as his string crept even deeper in the Au's heart.
“What am I doing? I’m saving this place from you! ” Ink growled as he tried to stay calm.
Yes, he was up against a mass murderer but he still had to do his job. Dream and Blue had faith in him.
“FR0-M M3e? Y-y0U’RE BrEAk-king T-ThE bAlANce!” Error snarled back.
Balance? Ink halted. Balance. . . He mulled the word in his mouth. It was something familiar and important. But. He wasn't an idiot enough to believe the words of a maniac.
Error killed people. Ink had just witnessed it himself. The Undyne had done nothing wrong and still she had been slayed.
Ink couldn’t trust Error’s words.
“We don’t have to fight. Just leave this Au alone and I’ll-”
”I CA-An’T A-anD Y-Y0u Kn0W i-i-IT!” Error screamed, glitching momentarily worsening.
Ink gulped but still stood as tall as his short height allowed.
He was sweating bullets but he had to protect this AU. Error had much more EXP than Ink. He could feel the LV sizzling in the air.
Ink felt his vials. They were smooth and cold. He took the orange one and gulped it down. It stuck to the roof of his mouth. The bitter, salty taste spread through Ink’s body and he shuddered.
His irritation started to spike every second this went on. What right did Error have that he could do this? How in the multiverse could he reason killing hundreds of people? Error clearly couldn’t be reasoned with.
He had his chance to stop and he wasted it.
Ink had to stop this murder in his tracks before something worse happened.
Error took a deep breath. His shoulders slumped before he addressed Ink again.
“Y0u’Re LettIng The VirUS In By ActiNG LiKE THis. It’s aLrEAdy EveRYWHEre In THis aU,” He stared at Ink with eyeligths weighed by millions of mistakes,"JuST LISteN, I d0n’T WanT-”
Ink knew he would be swayed so he charged straight at the destroyer. Error’s eyelights widened in surprise before he disappeared in a cloud of glitches. Ink landed on his feet and looked around but the enemy didn’t appear.
“The only virus around here is you!” Ink yelled as he kept glancing around.
He shouldn’t antagonize Error. He knew it. But the vulnerable look on the destroyer’s face… If Ink saw it again, he might just give in. If Error was mad, he wouldn’t look at Ink like that again.
The strings went momentarily slack before they dug deep into the codes and whole being of this Au. Ink felt a sharp pain stinging in his chest again as the Au started to crumble.
No, he couldn’t falter here.
“Let’s go, I can do this,” He reassured himself as he gripped the glossy green vial tightly. The smooth glass felt familiar and safe against his phony phalanges. Ink let air fill his whole ribgace before he flung the paint at the strings.
The green paint snapped around the strings that were curled around the codes. The conflicting magics sparked before the strings fell flat. The codes hissed and bubbled as the paint healed the damage the destroyer had done.
For some weird reason, the paint left purple and yellow marks on the codes. Ink couldn’t fathom why.
He tried to move as fast as the destroyer did. The strings and paints mixed into one big, messy picture. Behind the muddy green shields the codes started to flash red, before twisting and blackening.
But Ink didn’t notice that.
He continued to move forward in the wet Waterfall but it felt like every time he repaired one part of the Au, Error destroyed five more. He entered the Hotland. The ground changed from wet and soft to hard and stony.
The little stones pocket between Ink’s metacarpals as he walked. They stretched the fabric on his feet uncomfortably as he looked for the destroyer.
The Hotland was deathly quiet. The only source of movement was the lava that bubbled quietly. The vast cave was empty. Ice cubes weren’t flowing into the core anymore. Ink couldn’t find any people, just puffs of dust splattered everywhere.
Ink had to find Error before he caused more harm.
Before he ran out of paints.
Ink’s instincts suddenly went haywire when he entered the CORE. The air fizzled with the mania and it smelled like burnt wires. The destroyer had been here recently.
“l00KIng F0-F0R meE?” Ink blindly swung purple paint to his left but the chains only met air. The destroyer's crazy cackles filled the air before blue strings crashed from everywhere.
They came from the ceiling, floor and the walls. Ink was completely surrounded by them as the destroyer finally revealed himself. He hung up high in the air, legs swinging childishly. A bright red heart was tied right next to him.
Ink could feel the terror radiating out of the heart -no- soul. It pulsed with fear. He could hear the quiet yells of help coming from it. He felt a sense of longing as he watched the soul spin around again and again.
The soul was innocent. This was Dusttale.
“Error!” Ink yelled as his feet left the ground. Ink rose higher than ever as he soared through the air. His skull brushed against the ceiling of the CORE as he finally started his descent.
His rage was boiling over and the paints answered. His almost empty green paint switched to burning red. It burned as red as the soul and his fury. He twisted mid-air and flung the last of his red paint in Error’s direction.
He heard a pained groan as his feet met the smooth floor again. His knees gave up on him and he was sent rolling.
The strings melted all around him as the red paint ate away everything that touched it. It smelt like acid. Ink charged again, every strike filled with more fury than the first one.
He could feel his bones getting heavier with each swing.
The strings blocked Ink’s way again and the air sizzled before a loud roar sounded off. A lone, black blaster floated above Ink. He ducked under the glitching beam. The blaster leisurely shot out another one.
He tripped over his long scarf. Surprisingly, the blast cut the floor right beside his skull. Had the destroyer missed?
Error peeked down at Ink between his strings, this time a smile on his face. “PlaytIme iS OvER, I’m CalliNG BlUE.” The destroyer sighed, shaking his head before disappearing again.
Blue?!
Ink’s rage vanished the second Error let out those words. He slowly stood up in the middle of the battlefield. His ear canals were ringing. Was the destroyer really calling Blue? How did he know him? What was happening?
Ink was so confused .
“C’M0n, AnsWER mE…” The glitchy voice muttered. Ink couldn't see nor hear where Error was. His voice was too hard to pinpoint. His dark attire would’ve stood out against the CORE’s pale walls without the strings.
“Do you-” Ink coughed, “Do you know Blue?”
He was suddenly grabbed and spun around. The strings snapped all around his body, tightly enough to stop all movement. The empty reddish green vial flew out of Ink’s hands and the strings snatched it as well. He was pulled out of the CORE, skull bumping into every possible obstacle in the way.
Error’s multicolored eyelights stared deep into Ink’s eyelights for a long moment seemingly searching for something. Ink couldn’t read blank faces well but the shaking eyelights were a telltale enough.
“N0. N0. n0. D0n’t TelL me.:.” Error muttered as he turned Ink’s skull and stared right inside Ink’s skull.
Ink squirmed but the strings held him still.
“I WaS stuPid t0 Assume thaT Y0u… NigHTmAre Is A GuarDian T00…” Error’s voice faded, “LeT me SeE.”
A white, glitchy window appeared before Error. He stared at it like it held all the answers. Ink could see people appear on it. Dream and Ink in Outertale. Stretch and Error fighting. Blue and Broomie running through a waterfall. Then the screen suddenly went blank.
“JuST As I Th0ughT, I caN’T SEe aNyTHINg.”
“What are you talking about?” Ink questioned as he tried to wiggle his hands out. He needed to get free and take Error down. Even though he knew Blue, he was still the enemy.
“waIT, I’lL FiX ThIS. ANd BlUe-”
Ink pulled his skull back and slammed it into Error’s as hard as he could. Error didn’t curse. At first he didn’t even react.
Then he broke into three. Red, blue and green Errors floated above Ink. White particles floated around his broken body as the colors finally returned together. His body went rigid. A high pitched noise erupted from the destroyer as his sockets filled with tiny errors.
Warnings flashed over Error’s body. Thick, black smoke started to come off of his skull.
The strings slackened around Ink and he easily broke free. The strings fell silently into the ground and vanished. Ink rubbed his wrists and hissed. The strings hadn’t been too tight but they definitely hurt.
Ink looked at the destroyer again. The taller skeleton didn’t move and the smoke coming off of him was slowly filling the air with a nasty smell of burnt copper. Ink knew he should finish his job. He should do it now when the destroyer was down but he was conflicted.
Error knew Blue. He had been trying to call him. Was… Was Blue on Error’s side? Was he an accomplice all this time? But Blue was the most magnificent person on the whole multiverse.
Initialising Memory Reboot…
Gathering memories of [Error]
Summing up memories of [Error]
An already existing summary was found. Creating new one . . .
[Third memory]: Chocolate [Safe]
[Fourth memory]: Error teaching Ink in Outertale [Guidance]
[Fifth memory]: Error and Ink knitting in the Outertale [Ambience]
Conclusion 2: NotAnEnemy.
Summaries are contradicted. Choose one to follow.
Two screens opened before Ink. They both held summaries of Memory reboot.
A sharp pain pierced through Ink’s skull. He held his skull in his hands as he tried to stay upright. He looked at the tall destroyer. There was a silver rebooting bar over his head. It moved slowly. It seemed like it would be filled in an hour or so.
Ink didn’t know what to think. He turned around and fled.
The Au crumbled down behind him.
Notes:
Error wasn't serious during the fight. He thought Ink was just having a rebellious phase :D
(Though he did get a little stressed about the Au's.)
Chapter 26: A warning
Chapter Text
“Ink, what are you doing?” Ink paused in his object throwing. Dream stood at the studio’s door, seemingly out of his depth. He fiddled with his striped gloves.
“Nothing much. I just need to check if I have anything useful.” Ink answered before he turned back to the drawers. There were just a bunch of papers, normal paints and small brushes.
He moved to the next drawer and pulled it completely out. Just pencils. The next drawer crashed to a wall as Ink let out his frustration. He needed to find information about Error. He had to gain power or find any weakness Error had, just something! Just so he could talk interrogate him.
“Ink.”
There was suddenly a warm hand on his shoulder. Ink startled and delivered a swift punch behind him. Dream doubled over in pain. He groaned and Ink finally understood what he had done. The muddy purple paint flashed before his eyelights.
How could Ink punch his best friend?
“Dream!” Ink’s voice cracked as he squatted next to his friend. “Are you okay? I’m sorry!”
His hands hovered close to Dream but he didn’t dare to touch him. What if he accidentally hurt him again?
“It’s alright, I shouldn’t have touched you so suddenly.” Dream wheezed as he straightened up again but Ink could clearly see how he was struggling to stay upright.
“That’s a mighty punch you have there, by the way.” Dream snickered.
Ink didn’t know which part of him punching Dream was so funny but he let it pass. A laughing Dream was far better than a pained Dream. There still was a glint to Dream’s eyelights that was far deeper than the surface level happiness.
“Seriously now,” Dream started again, voice more level,”Me and Stretch have been talking and we’re worried about you.”
The “And Blue would be too” was left unsaid but it hung between the two skeletons.
Ink’s paints dropped.Stretch and Dream had been talking without him? What had they planned? Was this some sort of plan to kill hurt him? No, Ink shook his head. Stretch and Dream would never betray nor abandon him.
Although…
“I thought that Stretch only speaks to his phone nowadays.” Ink remarked dryly. For the past few days, Stretch had been getting tons of calls every day and he was very busy speaking with whoever was on the other end.
Even when Stretch sounded like he would rather drown than talk to whoever he was speaking to. The tall skeleton was very unavailable. It was a miracle if Ink managed to see even a flash of his orange hoodie.
But Stretch still did care.
When Ink had returned with multiple cut wounds from Error’s strings, it had been Stretch who patched them up. He also looked after Dream, whose bad sleeping habits had just worsened after Blue was taken.
Dream woke up yelling almost every other night. He refused to tell what they were about but also said that it wasn’t Nightmare.
But the thing was… Stretch had started to separate himself from Ink and Dream. He always found ways to avoid being alone with Ink. And when he spoke to Dream, it was this low tone that Ink could barely hear.
It was suspicious
“Well, not exactly. Based on his feelings, he’s feeling very torn about something. To be fair, I’m also worried about him.” Dream answered. He then picked up a pencil that Ink had thrown across the studio and put it back to its place.
Dream organised the papers neatly and stacked them to the corner. The white paper created a nice contrast against the dark walls.
“Is that so?” Ink questioned with a light tone but he felt something ugly raise its head inside of him. Stretch had been so busy with his other friends that he was leaving him and Dream alone.
And Ink didn’t like people who left others alone.
Also, wasn’t it a security breach for him to be able to call other people in the Doodlesphere? Like, what if he was a double agent just biding his time and taking in orders?
Ink swatted the thoughts away and almost stabbed Dream with a pencil. Oops.
But no matter how much he tried to deny his suspicions and trust his friend, the doubt had already taken root inside him.
Well, he had time to find out.
“C’mon, Ink, he’s waiting!” Dream put the last eraser to its place and offered his hand to Ink.
Ink hesitated for a moment before taking it. This was Dream for the Multiverse’s sake. He could trust Dream.
Could he, when he couldn’t even trust himself?
Dream smiled brightly. His rough archer hands were warm. It was like his smile lit up the whole room as the yellow glow spread around. For a moment Ink felt like everything would be just fine. He would get Blue back and everything would go back to normal.
He was pulled through the warm, soft and happy thoughts so when he finally stepped out of the portal, it felt like someone had thrown a bucket of ice cold water over him.
He was in the living room. The soft mats felt suddenly like pinpricks under his feet. They pricked and Ink bristled.
“heya.” Stretch smiled from where he laid on the couch. The TV was off, it was only a blank, black and dead screen. Ink did not like it.
“i thought we might need a break.” Stretch started, “but sit down first.”
Break?
Ink remained standing on the brickly mats. Dream happily sat down next to Stretch who gave him a little noogie. Ink wasn’t jealous. Stretch didn’t meet Ink’s eyelights as he kept staring at him.
There were very deep dark bags under Stretch's eyeligths. Ink glanced at Dream who just beamed brightly.
“Just how can we take breaks when the villains don’t rest?” Ink then asked.
“ a valid question. my bro prepared an answer for us before he… left. ” Stretch finished lamely before brightening up. It eased Ink to see him so energetic.
“he noticed a pattern,”Stretch pointed at some hand drawn diagram taped on the wall, “it seems that the bad guys aren’t attacking on fridays or saturdays and the virus seems to raid candy shops. thus we can take our sweet time and relax.”
“Sounds good to me.” Dream agreed, glancing at you.
And to be fair, Ink thought so too so he nodded along. It would give him more time to plan things out. He needed time to figure out who was the actual bad guy here. Error or was someone else pulling the strings.
He already knew the answer.
Where to point the blaming finger?
With that, he departed from the meeting and went to look at how Broomie was doing.
The paintbrush seemed so lonely in the paints but it was already doing much better. The bristles had mostly grown back and the colors were returning.
“Just a little longer and you’ll be alright.” Ink promised as he sat down to keep Broomie company. The ground was slimy and his feet slipped. Next thing he knew he was face down in the pool. He couldn’t hear anything, he couldn’t see anything. He was utterly and completely alone and drowning in the pool. He couldn’t breathe. The thick paint flooded to his skull through his eye sockets and nose canal.
His paints hammered in his system, imitating a heart pulsing in fear. It felt like it was bursting out of his ribcage and out in the open. His head pulsed in pain as more paint filled his vision.
A heart? Why did he think of a heart?
The tanginess surrounded him, absorbed him. He saw nothing.
But then… He saw it. First it was just only a blue bandanna. It floated meaninglessly in the pool. Then a skull appeared. A smooth, white skull that was so, so familiar to Ink.
Blue stood blankly in front of Ink. He looked like a marionette whose strings had been cut. His limbs were stiff. His arms were held up in a praying position as his empty sockets looked nowhere. The X covering his face crackled quietly.
Where?! Where was he?! Ink tried to look for clues.
Blue’s armor wasn’t shiny anymore. It was covered in cobwebs and dirt. It was almost like he had crawled through ruins of some sort. There were brown and purple patches on his shirt and bones. And there was a small vine wrapped around Blue’s ankle. It bloomed with small, yellow flowers.
Ink’s vision started to blacken but he needed to see more. He had to! He had to see where Blue was, no matter what-
Bony fingers attached around to Ink’s scarf and pulled. The paint sloshed as he was pulled upwards. He could now feel the surface and the burning need to breathe. His skull broke the surface of the paint and the cool air welcomed Ink.
He gasped and couched. His throat was burning as paint flooded out of his skull. Somebody was yelling, but Ink’s ear canals were fully covered in paint. He still couldn’t see.
He bent over and threw up. He could feel the warm liquid gush over his feet. Someone smacked his back hard, almost hard enough to make him fall again.
“-you doing?!” He managed to catch the ending of the sentence.
Ink couched again. The paint drippled down his chin. He could taste the spicy and metallic flavors on his tongue. He raised his shaky hands and gouged the paint out of his skull. It stuck to his phalanges and smeared on his cheekbones.
The golden sky of the Doodlesphere revealed itself bit by bit. But his vision was filled with Stretch’s worried face and the soft fabric of his hoodie.
“we’re going to the trip. now,” Stretch ordered, “before you or dream actually drown yourselves.”
He pulled you alongside him. His hand was on Ink’s shoulder as he steered him right back to the base. The warmth he emitted felt comforting after the cold embrace of the paints.
“I- I saw Blue,” Ink told Stretch between his hacking coughs, “He’s somewhere in the ruins.”
Stretch’s hand froze on Ink’s shoulder. His grip tightened momentarily around Ink’s shoulder before it relaxed again.
“you nearly drowned… dream!” Stretch suddenly yelled, “bring spare clothes for ink. we’re leaving!”
The door burst open as Dream bolted out. He himself was dressed in a yellow, striped shirt that Blue himself had personally handpicked.
Dream looked wildly around, then spotted Ink in his very well colored glory.
“Ink! What happened?!” He yelled as he rushed over the island’s muddy ground.
“he took a dip and almost drowned. end of story.” Stretch sighed, “i knew it. i’m not prepared for the responsibility." He then muttered to himself.
“I saw Blue.” Ink told them again, this time with more strength.
“Blue? Are you alright?!” Dream was still yelling as he patted Ink down, “Wait, you need a shover!”
“just clothes are fine, we need to hurry,” Stretch tried to smile, “The paint will dry away sooner or later.”
“You don’t understand! I saw Blue and I want to go to him!” Ink yelled.
Dream and Stretch startled.
Dream then leaned closer to Ink and whispered: “There’s no need to stress Stretch out more or he starts drinking again.”
Ink knew this but he wanted to go to Blue. He wanted to hug Blue and feel his strong presence again.
“At least the clothes! Come and chance them!” Dream pulled Ink by the hand. This time the warmth felt uncomfortable as it made the paints stick even more.
— — —
When Ink finally emerged, he was wearing a warm, brown striped sweater. Dream had chosen it from the pile Blue had left behind.
“If I have to suffer, you’re suffering with me.” Was Dream’s only explanation. Ink didn’t have the strength to argue.
“you two ready?” Stretch asked lazily. He had pulled out a bottle of honey and sipped from it.
“Stretch!” Dream reprimanded, “That’s not healthy for you!”
Stretch shrugged, then put the bottle away. He flashed Ink and Dream a tired smile.
“I’ll portal us.” Dream promised before Ink could even open his mouth. To be honest, Ink didn’t know if he could even take others with him without Broomie.
Dream opened a yellow, glowing portal right on the doorsteps.
The vast sky filled with countless stars welcomed hInk as he stepped through. Nothing seemed to be out of place, even though Error frequented this place. There were just a bunch of rocks and the nearest town was far away.
“so,” Stretch started as he took the basket from Dream, “let’s all relax and-”
“Yo!” Someone dressed in very colorful clothes crashed down to the ground next to him. The person quickly got up, brushed the dust out of his clothes before addressing Ink again.
“I’ve been looking for you, brah.” Fresh grinned as he addressed Ink. He stood back up to his impressive height. The heelies made him even taller than Stretch.
Ink flinched back. His feet felt like they were frozen stuck to the ground. THe calm atmosphere of Outertale was suddenly smashed into a million pieces.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Dream asked as a staff appeared in his hands. His yellow eyelights glinted dangerously as he stepped in front of Ink.
“Dream, no!” Ink yelped. He couldn’t lose Dream too! He couldn’t let Fresh take him!
Fresh’s sunglasses went blank for a second before he grinned, flashing a golden tooth.
“He didn’t introduce me? That’s cold, Inky.” He then spun around Dream who reacted too slowly. Fresh rolled to a slow stop in front of Ink, “Cold as ice.”
Ice was Blue.
“Ya don’t seem to have any un-rad ideas on your skull. Hm?”
He was warning Ink.
“I'm warning you, identify yourself.” Dream barked out as he reached for as he pushed himself between Fresh and Ink again. His staff turned into dual daggers that he pointed in Fresh’s direction.
Ink felt like the whole world was crashing down around him. Fresh was here, he was here in the same place as Dream and Stretch. He needed to get them away, but how?
“Whoa whoa, there’s no need for that. I’m your radical broski called Fresh!” Fresh shoot finger guns at Dream.
“get the hell away from them or you’ll have a bad time, pal.” Stretch growled as he stepped between Dream and Fresh. Ink couldn’t see Fresh anymore behind the other two.
He wanted to puke. He couldn’t see Fresh. Fresh could do anything and everything and Ink couldn’t stop him.
Fresh quickly packpedaled. He glided on the uneven ground almost unnaturally smoothly, His neon clothes stood out against Outertale’s dark sky like a lighthouse. A distant wind howled.
“C’mon Ink. Tell them I’m not dangerous.”
Ink’s mouth opened and closed like a fish on the ground.
[Speak.]
“You’re scaring Ink. Go away.” Dream poked his head out from behind Stretch. Ink grasped the back of Dream’s yellow sweater. He had to stop Dream from talking more or Fresh would take him.
Dream turned his skull and flashed Ink an honest, caring smile.
That smile would be gone in seconds if Fresh wanted so.
“Why were you looking for me, Fresh?” Ink’s mouth moved on its own.
Fresh’s grin widened. His teeth shined white in the fading light. His shades spelled bright RAD. Horns went off and suddenly Ink was grabbed from behind.
“I’m only here to give ya a rad warning.” Fresh muttered as he spun Ink around face to face with him.
“who’re you to give out warnings?” Stretch’s tone was suddenly even and calm.
Fresh looked into Ink’s eyelights for a long moment, seemingly searching for something. Ink couldn’t tell what because the now blank shades were blocking Fresh’s gaze. He ignored Stretch completely.
“Do what I tell you to do” Ink was shoved away hard and he staggered to keep his balance, “Or you’ll never see Blue again.”
“...” Ink went blank.
He couldn’t think of any worse threat Fresh might have but frankly that was enough. He couldn’t take the risk.
“listen here-” Stretch didn’t get to say anything more before Fresh suddenly turned to him and grabbed his hoodie. Ink’s mouth opened in a wordless yell as purple light flashed.
Stretch slumped down the moment Fresh let him go. His soul glowed behind his eyesocket. A purple tentacle slithered around it before gnawing down on it. Stretch’s whole body shuddered before he went completely still.
“Stretch!” Dream screamed.
[Hold him.]
Ink couldn’t do anything as his body moved. He could feel Dream’s shudders as his arms wound around his skull. Ink tried to make it feel like a hug as he squished the air out of Dream’s taller body.
“INK?!” Dream shouted in disbelief. His voice cracked as unshed tears gathered into his sockets. He sounded so broken that Ink’s paints retreated deep into his bones. He shouldn’t feel anything anymore.
Not when he was doing this to his friend.
“Chillax, Dream brah. I promise it won’t hurt.” Fresh leered down to Dream as he lowered his shades again.
Dream punched Ink in the ribs. They cracked and Ink felt pain soar from the wound but he couldn’t let go, no matter how much he wanted. Instead, he wound his body tighter around Dream.
One last hug before Dream was gone.
Ink rested his skull against Dream’s back. Dream sobbed as he tried to power himself out. His magic flashed golden around him as he tried to use it. Ink hoped he had the words to comfort Dream but he couldn’t open his mouth.
Not now. Not ever.
Then Fresh suddenly disappeared from view. Blue strings snapped through the ground and wound around Ink. They glowed gentle cyan as they puppeteered Ink to let go of Dream. The ground then left Ink as he was pulled high up in the air.
Dream cried as he staggered away.
“Y0-h00.” Someone singsonged with a deadpan tone.
Notes:
Stretch was in a hurry to meet Error which is why he ignored Ink's words about Blue.
Pages Navigation
(Previous comment deleted.)
DriftingStratus on Chapter 1 Wed 14 May 2025 07:16PM UTC
Comment Actions
h3LL10N on Chapter 1 Mon 08 Sep 2025 05:10PM UTC
Comment Actions
Coffee_n_Cream on Chapter 3 Wed 02 Apr 2025 01:44PM UTC
Comment Actions
Moon23574 on Chapter 3 Thu 03 Apr 2025 06:52AM UTC
Comment Actions
Forgner on Chapter 3 Wed 16 Jul 2025 11:10AM UTC
Comment Actions
Coffee_n_Cream on Chapter 4 Sat 05 Apr 2025 08:18PM UTC
Comment Actions
undertalefan2077 on Chapter 4 Sat 05 Apr 2025 08:52PM UTC
Comment Actions
NamiroBossNil on Chapter 4 Mon 07 Apr 2025 07:00PM UTC
Comment Actions
N30NL30N on Chapter 4 Mon 19 May 2025 04:05AM UTC
Comment Actions
Forgner on Chapter 4 Wed 16 Jul 2025 11:31AM UTC
Comment Actions
undertalefan2077 on Chapter 5 Fri 11 Apr 2025 08:04PM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 5 Fri 11 Apr 2025 08:13PM UTC
Last Edited Fri 11 Apr 2025 08:17PM UTC
Comment Actions
undertalefan2077 on Chapter 5 Fri 11 Apr 2025 08:19PM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 5 Fri 11 Apr 2025 08:21PM UTC
Comment Actions
littleDreamCloud on Chapter 5 Fri 11 Apr 2025 09:48PM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 5 Sat 12 Apr 2025 05:53AM UTC
Comment Actions
littleDreamCloud on Chapter 5 Sat 12 Apr 2025 10:47AM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 5 Sun 20 Apr 2025 05:47PM UTC
Comment Actions
littleDreamCloud on Chapter 5 Sun 20 Apr 2025 06:23PM UTC
Comment Actions
Azure_Horizons on Chapter 5 Fri 18 Apr 2025 03:43PM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 5 Sun 20 Apr 2025 05:47PM UTC
Last Edited Sun 20 Apr 2025 05:53PM UTC
Comment Actions
Sakura_Shine on Chapter 5 Wed 11 Jun 2025 09:02PM UTC
Comment Actions
Forgner on Chapter 5 Wed 16 Jul 2025 11:49AM UTC
Comment Actions
littleDreamCloud on Chapter 6 Sun 20 Apr 2025 06:21PM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 6 Mon 21 Apr 2025 01:53PM UTC
Comment Actions
Coffee_n_Cream on Chapter 6 Sun 20 Apr 2025 08:06PM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 6 Mon 21 Apr 2025 01:55PM UTC
Comment Actions
undertalefan2077 on Chapter 6 Mon 21 Apr 2025 04:42AM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 6 Mon 21 Apr 2025 01:55PM UTC
Comment Actions
NamiroBossNil on Chapter 6 Wed 23 Apr 2025 01:51AM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 6 Thu 24 Apr 2025 09:05PM UTC
Comment Actions
MaydayMarbear on Chapter 6 Wed 23 Apr 2025 10:51PM UTC
Comment Actions
DriftingStratus on Chapter 6 Thu 24 Apr 2025 09:06PM UTC
Comment Actions
Shadow_Cat_in_Night on Chapter 6 Fri 25 Apr 2025 07:53AM UTC
Comment Actions
Pages Navigation