"HeY SLEE-pInG BeAu-U-uty! wAkE uP!"
The lights in Ink's eye sockets slowly returned…and for a split second, he thought he'd gone blind.
It was dark. Really, really, really, really, really, really REALLY dark. Dark that went on for what seemed like forever. He squinted and tried to shake away the chills he felt chasing down his spine at the sight of so much blackness. He'd spent so much of his life in the bright colors of the other worlds and the pure emptiness of the Anti-Void that this darkness left him far more unnerved then he felt it should.
"How unusual." He thought as his eye lights flickered into different shapes, trying to find one that would allow him to see more clearly.
None did.
"hEy! cOMe oN pAl! I sAiD uP!"
Ink let out a yelp as he was jerked upright by the sapphire strings that pinned his arms to his sides. Now that he was sitting more comfortably, Ink looked down at them curiously. They were as thin as thread with a pale glow that matched their neon color.
He shifted his arms a bit and felt them tighten around his bones, not quite painful but not very pleasant either.
"hEh…thAt'S bE-E-etteR. nOw I cAn sE-E-e yOur uGLy fACe."
Ink lifted his gaze towards the voice.
At first it was hard to make out the figure's outline. His bones were as black as charcoal and blended into the shadows with only a pair of glowing targets to show where his head was. As his vision adjusted, Ink could make out streaks of color decorating the figure; a crimson shirt, a golden grin and dozens of long blue lines, the same shade as the strings, dripping down his face like permanent tears.
The figure was looking him over carefully and Ink was doing much the same, albeit with a far less harsh expression.
There was no doubt about it. This monster was Sans, or a Sans at any rate.
"Well that explains everything!" Ink felt a wave of relief wash over him. "I must have fallen asleep making a new world again and this Sans must have found me here! Poor guy! He must have freaked out founding a copy of himself just lying around….I'll have to fix this."
Ink pretended to take a deep breath, the act of which made him feel even calmer. He wished he could put out his hand for a shake, but as those were currently tied to his sides he settled instead for a friendly tilt of the head.
"Hello there! Sorry if scared you! My name's Ink. Ink Sans. Nice to meet you! And well…you're Sans too and that must be weird but don't worry! It's not that hard to….explain…."
His voice trailed off as the other skeleton snorted, a hand held against his mouth as he fought to hold back a laugh.
"Um…did I say something wrong?" Ink frowned.
At that the Sans burst into a fit of laughter that sounded like a gargled washing machine and lacked any feeling of warmth Ink had come to expect from Sanses.
"aRe…Are YoU Fo-O-or rEal? yOu gOtTa bE-e-e kidding mE….yOU ARe, rIGHt? YoU'RE kIDDinG mE-E-e?" He tried to regain himself, but a few more chuckles slipped between his teeth. "I lITerALy cRUshEd hAlF yOur rI-I-ibS iNtO DusT aNd yOu jUst….fOrgO-o-oT!? iT's bEen Like wHAt? tEn MINutEs?"
Ink wasn't sure how to respond to that. His ribs felt perfectly fine...Oh wait! Ten minutes. Well of course! That was more than enough time for that to heal…well, for him anyway. Other versions tended to have pretty low defense and they certainly didn't regenerate HP like he did. With all these strings on, this Sans probably just hadn't noticed.
Then again, he was being pretty rude about it. Was he trying to apologize? Or maybe he was a Underfell/Horrortale kind of Sans.
"Um…well I have a really bad memory." Ink shrugged, still unsure of the best way to act around this Sans. "Like, a really bad memory. It's fine though, I don't mind getting hurt a bit. I mean 'Just wait until the next RESET' right?"
That should have set something off. A sad joke maybe or an angry comment, most certainly a question of how he knew about RESETs!
Instead, the Sans only replied with a look of disgust.
"uHhHhHhh. YoU have gOt tO bE thE mOSt pAthETic glITcH yEt…..
"Glitch?" Ink grimaced, trying to understand. "Like Glitchtale? Oh I love that one! It's so cool getting to everyone working together to stop Betty! And all the other human soul kids with-Wait…you probably didn't mean that huh? There's no way you could. Heh, heh, sorry! Silly me!"
Ink playfully stuck out his tongue while the other Sans merely shook his head.
"sO Your fROm gLITchtAle thEn? fiGures…...cOUlda sWORn tHAt pLAce Only hAd OnE Sa-A-Ans thOUgh….."
The Sans lifted a hand, his fingers tied with hundreds of blue strings. There was a faint whoosh as something shot through the air and landed in his hands. Ink let out a quiet gasp.
It was his paintbrush.
He hadn't even noticed its absence, but there it was being held by some other Sans.
"aNd This iS yOUrs thEn? nEVer sEeN a GLItch wIth A PaINtbRush bEfO-o-orE." He waved the brush through the air a few times, but to no effect. "nOt doing mUCh nOw thOUgh-"
"Um yeah! That's mine! Please be careful with it! Like, really, really careful!"
Ink's bones shook with urgency. Of course it wasn't doing anything. It was his brush! And he needed it! How was he going to make worlds without it!?
The worry that came upon him began to tickle something in the back of his head. A little thought that had fallen asleep, now beginning to wake up at the call of familiarity. He'd felt nervous in a situation like this before, but what did that mean?
The Sans glanced back at Ink with a malevolent gleam in his eye lights.
"ImPORtiANt hUh? weLl hO-O-ow AbOUt wE play a lITtlE GAME wiTh THis?" He twitched a finger and a few threads wrapped themselves the brush, suspending it in midair. "iT's cALleD, 'I BREak thIs bRUsh iN tWo aNd lAUgh At YOuR reACTion'."
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Ink was bouncing in place, shaking his skull as rapidly as if it were on fire. "I need that! It's important! Really important! You have no idea how important that is!"
The Sans just laughed and turned the brush over.
"oH? wELl nOW REALLY wAnnA sEe YoUr reACTion tO wATChinG yOUr SpECial lITTle bRUSh bE ShATTEred inNtO spLIntErs!"
A miniature gaster blaster appeared in the air above him, its black jaw opening as energy built up inside it. "hErE-ere. I'Ll eVEn gIve yOu a cOunt oFf! oNe…."
"Come on! Stop it! It's not funny!"
Ink pulled at the strings that held him. They were stronger then they looked and only squeezed tighter as he fought against them, like some kind of snake.
"..t-t-TwO…"
Ink's memories urged him to fight harder, to worry and panic even more and to be very upset. Maybe even angry, but he couldn't tell why nor could he waste the time to find out. He had to get his brush! NOW!
"…thR-ee-ee-ee-AAAGGHH!"
The sound of strings snapping and the Sans's shout intertwined as Ink leapt from his bondage and onto him. The Blaster vanished as he skidded backwards and before the Sans could summon a new one, Ink had ripped his brush from his hands and jumped away. He held it out like a spear towards the Sans, his eye sockets burning with scarlet lights.
"You…you're the one who destroyed Sugartale!" He shouted as the memory finally emerged. "And Gamertale! And Ectofell! And…and…and everything!"
The other Sans didn't respond. He stared down at his hand, his expression one of pure confusion as he flexed his fingers.
"hO-o-w?" He muttered. "th-Th-tHat'S nOt pOSSibLe…."
"Hey! I want an explanation!" Ink's scowl felt awkward and unnatural to him, but he wasn't going to back down. Just the thought of the empty plains that had once been home to light and sound and color, to so many friends and enemies who weren't really enemies, to everything that he lived to create; it was….it was…
"What Sans are you!? Where did you come from!? How…why did you destroy all those worlds?"
The Sans looked up and slipped a hand into his pocket, his grin returning as let out a small chuckle.
"ThE na-A-A-AmE's ERROR." He raised his other hand into the air and a new Blaster appeared, this one full size. "A-A-And iF yOu wAnT MOrE, yOu bETTer nOT hOLd bA-a-Ack!"
BWWWEEEEE!
Ink dodged aside as the blinding light of a laser shot from the Blaster's mouth, narrowly avoiding its touch.
BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE!
The air echoed with the sound of laser as more Blasters appeared, surrounding Ink with open jaws.
"Agh!" Ink yelped. He aimed his brush at the ground and fired a stream of rainbow paint that ejecting him into the air. As he shot off into the sky, another Blaster arrived to greet him. Ink swirled his brush around, cutting off the stream just as they were about to collide. In a few strokes he surrounded himself with a clear bubble of paint and fell back to earth with a bounce.
BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE!
Ink cringed as the blasters fired upon him but his bubble held steady, shielding him from the wave of attacks. The light surrounded him completely making it impossible to see anything let alone the San…
Let alone Error.
The Blasters suddenly vanished, taking their lasers with them. In their stead appeared something all too familiar. Strings that shot out from seemingly nowhere and began to encase the bubble in their dark blue glow. As more appeared they slowly began to tighten, forcing the bubble to flex under the pressure. Ink quickly jabbed his brush into the thin frame and injected it with paint to keep his shield secure. The stronger the bubble grew however, the more strings appeared. Soon Ink was barely able to keep back the crushing weight, even at full power, and yet strings continued to multiply infinite numbers. Flecks of paint splattered onto him and dripped down his skull like sweat.
"Come on Ink! Think!" He muttered to himself. If he tried to pull his brush away, he'd be crushed! He was trapped, surrounded on all sides…
Wait, no! Ink glanced down at his feet. Just past the bubble's foggy frame he could see the dark black ground beneath his feet. The one place those strings couldn't reach.
An idea quickly formed in his mind.
"Here goes nothing." He shifted his grip on the brush. "Three…two...ONE!"
Ink shoved against the bubble's side with all his might, rolling over so the blank spot was above him. Before the strings could cover the weak point, Ink leapt into the air and thrust his brush handle through it.
POP!
The bubble exploded into white goo and the strings tangled up with one another as Ink avoided their grip. As soon as he landed, Ink's lights fixed upon the lone figure that stood before him. With a battle cry he slashed his brush at the ground, he sending a splatter of paint flying towards the figure.
The figure vanished and the paint hit nothing.
But Ink would have been crazy if he hadn't known about Sanses teleportation and crazier still if he hadn't planned for it. He spun around to meet Error with another strike of the brush. Error vanished again, this time appearing to Ink's left. He raised his hand, trying to summon another Blaster, but Ink quickly knocked him back. With a growl of annoyance, Error fired a torrent of blue strings towards the other skeleton. Ink danced in and out of them, swirling left and right to avoid their ensnarement. He moved closer and closer to his target with every step until finally one managed to tangled his leg. He stumbled forward and Error took the chance take another shot with a blaster. Ink rolled aside. The laser nicked his arm but he grit his teeth against the burn and jumpedback into action, knocking the miniature blaster out of the air with his brush. It spiraled out of Error's control, giving Ink the opening he needed. A final slash of paint erupted from his brush and this time, it hit its mark.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Error screamed as he fell to the ground. The blue strings vanished along with what remained of his Gaster Blasters. Ink raised his brush, readying himself for another attack.
None came.
Error hand was clutched tightly around his chest, paint dripping from his coat like blood. His entire body was tensed and shakey and Ink was instantly hit with a twinge of sympathy. Was his paint actually hurting him? That had never happened before.
The last thing Ink wanted was to hurt someone…. at the moment though, not being blasted into dust took priority. Shaking off his pity as best he could, Ink strode forward and pointed his brush at Error's chest.
"All right. That's enough." Ink demanded calmly. "I want answers, Error, starting with where in the multi-verse you're from."
The black skeleton carefully propped himself up with his free hand, trying his best to avoid the bristles that hovered above him. His mouth remained stubbornly shut.
"I don't want to hurt you, but that doesn't mean I won't if you force me."
Ink held his brush tighter; preparing himself in case this Sans tried something. "Now tell me where you're from."
Error's cold glare locked upon Ink, the lights in his eyes burning with fierce hatred that Ink had never seen before. Not even from the thousands of Floweys and Charas he'd met. Not the kind built up by rage or pain, but by something else Ink was unable to set his finger on. Something that made his hate far more terrifying then anything Ink was able to understand.
Then Error turned his gaze away.
"I Ha-a-A-vE abSAlOUTlY nO IDEa-Ea."
The answer caught Ink off guard and his expression softened with curiosity.
"What do you mean? How do you not know?"
"Ca-A-An'T rEmEmBEr." Error chuckled with unexpected warmth. "sOOOOOo so-RrY i'M sUch A bONehEaD."
It was such a sudden change of attitude. Ink almost couldn't believe it.
A small smile snuck onto his face along with a spark of hope. Maybe he'd just been too quick to judge Error.
"I guess I can sympathize. Still, you had to have come from somewhere and for the life of me I can't remember." Ink scratched his head as he thought. "Well maybe you could at least explain what you did to those worlds?"
Error's smile didn't waver, but his gaze lowered guiltily as his fingers twitched.
"Come on, I promise I won't be upset. You just gotta tell me what happened." Ink returned his brush to its carrier and knelt down to Error's level. "I'm not sure yet, but if I know how all those worlds went away in the first place, that could go a long ways in figuring out how to fix them."
"yOu….cAn dO-O-o thA-Aat?" Error still refused to look him in the eye socket, but his voice held a tint of worry.
No doubt he was having trouble understanding what was going on which made perfect sense. Sometimes even Ink had trouble figuring it all out!
"Well…actually I have no idea." Ink shrugged sheepishly. "But who knows! Maybe…There has to be a way to bring them back."
He said this as much to himself as he did to Error.
There just had to be a way to bring them back.
There just had to.
Error looked down at his injured ribs as he twitched his free hand a bit more, the strings attached to them rubbing up against each other.
"wElL…I thInK I MI-I-ighT hAvE fIGuRed Out OnE THinG…yOu PRObAbly hEArd iT bEFoRe tHouGH…."
"No no! Go ahead." Ink insisted, his hopes rising ever higher. "Just say it! Tell me what you figured out!"
Error turned to face him once again.
The lights in his skull suddenly went out.
"yOU rEAlLy aRe aN iDIot."
"Look out!"
Ink heard the scream just in time to see a wave of bones rushing towards him. He barely had time to dive out of the way.
"What the-"
Ink couldn't finish his sentence. Another wave of ivory bones flooded out of the darkness in neat lines like soldiers marching to war.
Caught off guard, Ink had no time to dodge.
PING! PING! PING!
His HP dropped drastically as the attacks hit him head on. He felt something like bruises form on his bones, black battered scars that ached straight down to the marrow. The attacks didn't wait for him to recover and another row came rushing towards him at high speed. Before the attack could ram into him again Ink regained his senses and leapt into the air, the unfazed attack flying off into the darkness behind him. More bones came to take their place; some hung from the sky like stalactites while some towered above him like skyscrapers and all came at great force. Ink quickly fell into a rhythm, ducking and jumping in time with the bones movements. His confidence grew with each evasion. This was easy! Almost like he'd done it a hundred times before…but that didn't matter right now. As he jumped a few more rows he could make out a faint blue glow in the dark.
"Welp…I tried to be nice." Ink thought, his expression twisting into a scowl. "But if that's what you want, that's what you'll get!"
Pulling his brush out once again, Ink took a running start straight towards the next wave of bones. His brush cut cleanly through the air and as it hit the ground it spat out a massive spray of paint. He vaulted into the air as his artwork formed into a massive wall of color beneath him, the force of its creation sending him higher and higher. The attacks could do nothing against it and at this height Ink had a perfect view of his attacker's glowing blue hands.
Ink jumped from the wall, his brush held ready to strike the moment he hit the ground.
And only then, in the pale light of his attacker's magic, did Ink realize it was not Error.
"Swap!?"
"Ahhhh!"
Both skeletons let out a squawk of surprise as Ink clattered onto the ground. He couldn't stop looking at his friend, dressed in a pale blue scarf and grey clothes that made up his 'Royal Guard' uniform with a face that look just like his own. An exact copy except for the sheer guilt, confusion and terror painted upon it.
"S-swap!?" Ink croaked again. "Wh-what are you doing here!? Why-"
Before he could continue, Swap Sans burst into tears.
"I am so, so sorry! I don't know why I was attacking you! Or why you look like me! Or where I am! Or what happened to the human! Or…or…Oh I'm so Sorry!"
"N-no! No don't be!" Ink scrambled to his feet, his concern doubling as he looked his friend over. Everything from his skull to his shoes was covered with those wretched blue strings, looping around his entire body several times over before ending in tight knots that shifted as he whimpered his regret.
"B-but I attacked you?! And you haven't done anything at all! It's completely unacceptable behavior for a future royal guard! Please accept my apology-"
"No! Listen to me Swap. This isn't your fault! It's-"
"M-i-i-Ine."
The moment Error reappeared behind him, Ink's temper flared in ways he'd never felt before. He clutched his brush tightly, his eye lights dimming in warning as turned to face the black skeleton.
"Error!" Ink's tone felt unfamiliar to him, loud, vicious and burning with wrath. He'd never even imagined he could feel so upset.
"Let Swap Sans go now or so I'll help me I'll-"
Error clenched his hand.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Swap let out a shriek of pain as the ropes around him glowed and tightened around his bones.
"yOU bEtTer PuT thAt THiNg AwAy" Error's warning was tinged with glee. "OthErwISe yOuR fRIEnd mIGHt fInd iT CruSHiNG."
Ink looked back at the fearful face of Swap, who could do nothing more than squeak out apologies as he tried to hold back his screams, and reluctantly stashed his brush away. The strings hold Swap hostage instantly loosened, but only the slightest bit.
"Sm-SMaRt MovE. gUeSs yOu'RE nOT So STUpiD aFTer A-A-alL."
"Please….let him go." Ink forced his anger back down his spine. "Whatever you you're doing, you shouldn't have to involve him."
Error responded with sick laughter.
"oH yOU hA-A-aVE nO iDEa hOw WRonG yOu aRe."
With a twitch of his finger, Swap was lifted off the ground and carried over to Error's side where he hung uncomfortably in midair. Ink grit his teeth, unable to do anything.
"iT's bE-e-EcaUse oF thESe dISguStiNg lIttLe GlI-lI-LitChes thAt i'M dOinG aNythIng."
Error giggled as he patted Swap on the back, who cringed at the touch.
"aRe-ArE-ARen'T yOu eXciTEd sWaP? yOu gET tO Go bAck hOmE! oH, oR WouLd yOu pREfEr I cALl yOu Blu-BlUbErRy? I hEAr thE vOIcEs lIkE thAT nIckNa-A-Ame anD yOU'd hATe tO MaKE thEm UPsEt…."
"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Ink shouted, his fists clenched so tightly that it hurt.
"oH-Oh-o-o-OoOoh, I'lL LeT Him gO…" Error taunted, twitching his fingers so that Swap swung gently. "jUsT As sOon aS hE hE-E-lps Me gRinD tHAt StuPId bROThEr oF hIs iNTo dUSt. ThEn I'lL BE hAppY tO lEt hIM gO ALoNG WitH EVerYtHInG ElSe iN tHAt mISeRiBLe UnDeRSWaP."
Ink's eye lights lit up with horror.
"NO!" Swap screamed. A few glittering specks of blue magic fell from his eye sockets; the closest thing to real tears a skeleton had. "Please! No! Don't hurt Papyrus! Please don't hurt him! Pleas-"
Error raised a finger and a string promptly laced Swap's mouth shut.
"pU-U-UpPetS dOn'T Talk UnlEsS i tElL THeM tOo." He hissed, his face only inches away from his prisoners. Swap shrunk back with a whimper, causing Error's smile to stretch even wider as he turned back to Ink. "wElL tHEn, I-i-Ink. I'd LOVE tO stay aNd ChaT bU-u-uT I'm On a tIGht sChEDuLe."
Error stretched out his free hand and as he waved his fingers, the darkness began to pixelate into a blob of white squares.
"sE-e-E yOu AroUNd!"
"No! Wait!"
Error stepped through the portal, bringing Swap right along with him. Ink hurried after them, leaping through the portal just as it began to vanish.
He landed in the Anti-Void and after the pitch black of…whatever that other place had been, the pure empty whiteness was almost blinding.
"Error! Swap!" Ink called out into emptiness, but the two skeletons had vanished.
How? They'd just gone through here! How had Error disappeared so quickly!?
Still Ink continued to yell their names, the infinite echo of his own voice being the only reply as he began to feel full weight of what had happened.
Somehow Error had destroyed all those worlds. He'd destroyed them and all the monsters and humans who'd lived in them. Not by accident! Not by mistake! He'd done gleefully and without any trace of regret. He'd kidnapped Swap and was going to use him against his brother and…and..
And he'd done nothing to stop him.
That thought hit hardest of all. Ink spat out a thick wad of black ink that numbed his teeth fell from his mouth, splattering onto the ground in a inky puddle.
"That is some sick-nasty jiz right there."
The comment barely even phased Ink as he reflected on his actions. Those were his creations Error had destroyed and he hadn't even been there to see it. It was his job to protect them and he'd done nothing but watch one of his friends be dragged off by that maniac. He had a brush! He….could have done something! But he hadn't!? He'd just stood there!
"I…I didn't do anything." Ink whimpered as he stared down at the black goo, watching it fade out of existence. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I-I-I'm the one who should be-"
"Whoa! Whoa! Easy brah! Take a chill pill!"
Ink felt a friendly pat against his shoulder.
"I think yous gotta 'nuf wiggy-biz to dealio wiff without yo hateifying on yo-self wiff all dose un-radical hate'n vibes."
"But…what do I do now!?" Ink sighed as an arm placed itself around him in a comforting manner. "I don't even remember what world he's from! Is he even from a world? I mean, what if I can't find him? Or what if he destroys another world and I'm not there!? I mean he's going to Underswap right now but how am I going to figure out which one!? I can barely even keep track of the worlds I make, let alone all the variations! There's the Classic!Swap one and the Yandere!Swap one and the Super!Swap one and their all so similar that I don't even know which ones are worlds are ones are just RESETS and which ones are-"
"SHHHHHHHHHH!" A finger landed on Ink's teeth. "Chillax brah. Buggin' out don't help nobody. Just gunna wear yo out like a holey sock. Now breeeeeeeath."
Ink pretended to take a deep breath. The air whistled faintly through his teeth as he began to calm down. A hand patted his cheek.
"Yo feelin' 'aight now?"
"Yeah. Yeah I…yaaawnn…I am." Ink let out a yawn, beginning to feel a bit tired.
The hands that had been touching him instantly let go.
"Coolio! Now I gotta bounce. Yo don't forget to chillax now and don't go dustin' or die-i-fying on me, ya hear?"
"Okay, thanks for the help…wait…"
Ink raised his head as it finally occurred to him he'd been talking to someone.
Or…maybe he hadn't because as he looked around, he discovered there wasn't anyone around.
"That's weird." Ink scratched his head for a few moments before shrugging it off. "Oh well, whatever that was it had a point. Feeling bad isn't going to fix anything."
He began to smile, already feeling hopeful again as he reached for his brush. The first place to start was to go through all the Underswap's he could remember and if that didn't work he'd just start searching every place else! It was going to be all right. He'd find Swap Sans, stop Error and figure out how to fix everything. He was sure of it.
He just had to stay DETERMINED.