Hello everyone and welcome to another fanfic by yours truly, Icee the Hedgehog!
So I have recently gotten into Undertale and MAJORLY so. There are just so many cool ideas to work with from it, not to mention the various AU crazes that are going on. So, I just had to publish my own Undertale related work.
While this is not going to take place directly in any AUs, it should be noted that AUs exist and are part of my UT headcanon's background. This fiction aside from my little differences, will mostly follow the canon universe and game, and will likely end up a 3 book series of my take on the Undertale world.
I hope you all enjoy my little expirimemt here. Feedback is welcome!
Anyway, enough of my babbling. Enjoy the work!
Chapter One: Blueberry
"We're here."
The small blue-clad skeleton whimpered as the Creator of all AUs, casually known as Ink, set him down on the floor of the blank void. Normally his feet would barely have hit ground before he would take off running, spewing things about immediately getting back to his puzzles and training but this time the little gaurd in training just sat on the ground like a statue. An orange hoodie was clutched tightly in his small hands. He hasn't let it go since his brother took that fatal blow for him and neither have the tears stopped flowing from his eyesockets.
To think he would end up here. Just a week ago, the little guy's only objective was to capture that human and give them to Alphys so that he could be a member of the Royal Gaurd. So he could finally gain fame, fourtune and most of all have his brother be proud of him. He didn't think that the human would have been killed right in front of him or that his brother would have taken a fatal blow for him. What was worse is that the little guy could not see his attacker. All he saw before running for his life was a streak of black, blue and red and good lord, the blue cables. The way they wrapped around both the human and his brother like snakes constricting their latest catch was something he wouldn't soon forget. Nor could he firget how Alphys, Undyne, even Queen Toriel herself met the same exact fate. How he saw the sky dissintigrating before all went white...
"Th-they're not...they're not coming back...are they...?" the child somehow managed to find his voice, though it wavered. He couldn't sit there and act like a child. They would want him to be brave, right?
Ink looked at the child with multicolored eyes. His left eye shone a bright cyan and his right was a neon yellow star shape. It looked sort of weird to the child. He had never seen such colors on a monster before. However, given his current state of shock, the skeleton could not muster up the will to ask about them, wiping a few stray tears with the bandana around his neck.
It took a few minutes for Ink to respond. Unlike the original universe, Underswap's Sans was the younger of the two brothers and significantly so at that. While he had created Underswap's Papyrus to be an older teenager, Underswap's Sans only about ten years of age. However, he had been given a similar personality as the original Papyrus - the strong ambition of becoming a royal gaurd and the ego to make him want to act older than what he truly was. Ink did not want to frighten the child but it was best he understood his circumstances sooner rather than later...
"...No."
More tears fell down the child's eyes as he heard the answer. He held the hoodie close once again, his tiny body shaking as he struggled not to break down sobbing. Be brave. Alphys would be calling him a weenie for sure if she saw him like this.
"At least...not now." Ink quickly added.
He did not want the child to be too traumatized to go on, potentially on his own. He would not allow another creation of his to be killed. Especially not one that was still a child.
"You mean they're dead?! That glitch thing...he killed them, right?" the child asked. Feeling a sudden wave of determination pulse through his tiny bidy, he stood up, summoning a bone. "Where did he go?! I, the magnificant Sans will-"
"Sit down and listen to what I'm about to say!" Ink said sternly.
He hated having to yell at a child but given the circumstances there was no other choice. He needed to make this guy aware of his situation and that he absolutely cannot go and play hero. Not against a person like...him...
The child silenced himself, though he seemed upset that his speech had been cut short. He held the bone tightly though, still determined to do something about whatever situation he is in. He only knows his people are dead - his brother was dead. He had to avenge them, he had to stop whoever did all this!
"You're the only one left." Ink told the child sternly as he held his shoulders, lightly pinning him against the wall and forcing him to look at him. Ink's right eye flickered as it became a red triangle. "Your whole universe is gone. Ripped apart. Glitched beyond what I can repair. And you would have ended up just like your friends if I hadn't grabbed you before HE could!"
"He? You mean glitchy guy?" the child asked before mire mire angry tears welled in his eyes. "Why didn't you let me fight him?! I could have saved everyone!"
"You were out cold!" Ink yelled. He cursed the fact the child still wanted to be the hero even though the situatuon was a dire as it was. He cursed the fact he still wanted to throw himself into danger when hed hed barely avoided becoming another toy. "Stop trying to play hero! Do you even understand your situation?! You're a SOLE SURVIVOR!"
A Sole Survivor. A title he had dubbed for the only one remaining in an AU. Ink did not think he would actually have to deal with one, let alone what he should do with one. What to do with a child that had no demension to return to. The Doodleverse here certainly was not safe. Their enemy could just come in here any time...
"Well, that's even more a reason why I should've been able to fight him! The Magnificant Sans would have been able to save everything!"
"You would have only been dusted." Ink told him. "You don't understand who the enemy is, do you?"
"But I don't have to!" the clutched the bone in determination. "The Magnificant Sans always has a winning strategy against any opponent!"
"You would have had no strategy against a GOD!"
"...Huh...?" Ink's comment made the child curious, his wide eyes curious and in disbeleif. A god? An immortal being that no one can hit? Okay, maybe even he couldn't stand a chance against that...
"The person who killed your folks, he is an enemy of mine as well." Ink explained now that he got the child to calm down and actually listen. "His name is Error. He and I have fought for years, though it's always ended in stalemate. He wants to destroy any universe that he doesn't think is acceptable, regardless of who or what is in it. Had I not come when I did, he would have killed you in an instant. He's a glitch, so it's not like you would have been able to hit him, no matter what you tried."
"Oh, so he's a Super Ultra God of Destruction?" the child asked as he put on his heroic sona once more. "That sounds tough, but I can-"
"No, you can't." Ink cut off the child's fantasies. "That's why you're here...but this place won't be safe for you either. He will eventually just break in once he senses you're still around..."
"Then let him! We can fight him together! And who knows? Maybe he can be our friend!"
"You're not anywhere near strong enough." Ink said as an idea came to him. "But I think I can take you somewhere he won't touch."
The original timeline. Error always preserved the original timeline. The original universe, the original cast, the original story. If he placed this child there then he would not be touched, right? Error never appeared in the Classic World, for he felt he would cause abnormalities in an already perfect world. So that meant the child would be safe.
"More weird places...?" the young skeleton looked down, not liking the idea of hopping between unfamiliar places. He truly just wanted to go home. Go back to his puzzles, back to trying to get his brother to help him, back to anxiously awaiting humans to show. But suddenly in hours he had none of that to return to...
"It's not that much different from your own place." Ink said as his right eye became a soft purple as he pat the now scared child's head. "There's a Snowdin there too. And a Sans and a Papyrus, an Undyne, Alphys, Toriel, Asgore...all of the people you once knew. Their roles are different than what you know but they still look like the people you knew."
"There's another me?" the little skeleton's eyes widened eagerly.
"Yes. He is sort of like your brother." Ink continued. "You see, when I created your AU I didn't really have ellaborate designs for it. Your AU was one of the first I made. So everyone is still their original selves. The only difference between your world and the original is that people have different roles. But they all still have the same names, close to the same personalities..."
"A...U...?"
Right. Ink should've known that the child wouldn't understand multiverse termanology. Most of his AU creations did not even know other universes existed. Now, a few of the Sanses did know of alernate timelines but none fully knew just how many AUs Ink has created. How many stories were unfolding at the same time alongside the Classic line...
"Alternate Universes - other universes existing alongside yours with different people and places and stories." Ink explained it as simply as he could. "Kind of...like other planets in space, you know? You can't see what's going on there, yet they are there and anyone out there is living their own life and story."
"I kind of get it...so...you made those? So...aren't you a god too?" the child questioned.
"I guess if having the ability to create many different realities and people to go in them makes someone a god, then yeah." Ink nodded lightly.
The child's face lit up with glee
"So if you're a god and that glitchy guy is a god, then wouldnt you two be on equal ground in a fight? If I help you fight him, maybe-"
Ink sighed. This child wouldn't give up. He doesn't understand just what Error's power is. Just why he can't combat him easily.
He probably never would understand either...
Just as Ink was opening his mouth to say something else to the child, black cracks began to appear in the white colored sky. Suddenly, a series of black, red, blue and yellow glitches began to peek out from said cracks. Ink pushed the child back, standing in front of him protectively, paintbrush at the ready.
*DiD yOu tHiNk YoU cOuLd hIdE tHaT gLiTcH iN hErE?! YoU rEaLlY aRe An IdIoT, InK!
Ink knew that glitched telepathy. It was the only way they could speak. Ink knew they could not talk normally. They were too glitched for that. Even telepathy was disorted and riddles with random glitches in the pitch and tone.
"Error..."
The cracks open as the glitches form themselves into a glitched out skeleton. He was mostly black, although his arms and legs were red colored and the tips of his fingers were gold. What really creeped the child out were the blue cables near his eyes that made it seem like he was crying. Even the red-rimmed glasses her wore couldn't hide them.
*CoMe NoW, InK. YoU kNoW I aM jUsT pReSeRvInG tHe OrIgInAl TiMeLiNe. JuSt LeT mE hAvE tHe GlItCh AnD nO vIoLeNcE wIlL bE nEeDeD.
"You killed my brother!" the child yelled, starting to charge at Error, only for Ink to hold him back.
"Sorry, wanted to talk for longer before I did this but I can't!" Ink told him. "I'm sending you off now!"
"N-no! I have to-! My brother!"
The child's yelling got Error's attention. He chuckles as his form glitches a bit.
*Go AhEaD. CoMe At Me, YoU lItTlE rUnT. YoUr BrOtHeR mIsSeS yOu!
A pinging sound is heard as the child yelps, his SOUL becoming exposed. The marks on Error's face glowed as they extended into blue, thread like cables that he fired, straight at the child's SOUL.
"I won't allow it!"
The child opened his eyes, expecting to have had his SOUL ensnared in the cables. But what he saw now before him was enough to make any drive to fight off Error become replaced with fear. His eyes widened.
The cables were now wrapped around Ink's body, ensnaring him in Error's grasp. His arms, legs, even his neck were caught in the string. Ink coughed, breathing being cut off by the tight grip of the cables.
*WeLl wElL wElL...tHiS wAsN't WhAt I eXpEcTeD..
"I won't let you kill any more of my children, Error. Even if it means it coming to this..." Ink got out.
Ink barely manages to get his arm free, a portal appearing behind them as he looked at the still frozen child. Ink's right eye is now a blue raindrop, though they look a lottle dim. Were the cables some sort of life force drainer as well?
"R-Run...go through the portal...the people there will help you." Ink urged the child on. "If I don't pull through, then I will leave things in your hands. Your AU may be gone, but I know you'll be able to defeat Error with the help of the people who are through that portal..."
"N-no! I'm not going with you like this!" the child yelled, starting to cry again.
This was just like what happened to his brother. Ink took a hit that HE should have taken. Now that one hit might cause his demise and once again he was being forced to do nothing but run and hide. Run and hide like a coward - Alphys would certainly be calling him a weenie right now if she were alive. He had to find a way to save Ink...
Yet his little body would not move to even pick up a bone. More tears fell down his face as he could only reach out for Ink, futilely. He was too scared to do anything else...
*Do YoU tHiNk YoU cAn EsCaPe?! I'lL eRaSe YoU bOtH!
The child yelped as he saw Error charging for him. He yelped again as he suddenly felt the wood of a paintbrush in his arms, a streak of rainbow colored goop now between the child and Error.
"Go!" Ink yelled "That will only trip him up. You have to go!"
"But-"
The child turns toward the portal. He knows running is his only chance of not being erased. But how can he just run with Ink like this? More tears fell from his eyesockets.
"I'll be fine. Now go!" Ink urged him.
The child heard Error trip over the goop. As much as he hated to have to run he had no option. If Error got back up and he wasn't gone, he would be erased. He has to go. Find those people Ink mentioned would help him. Then he could go back and save Ink! And then revive his universe!
With those positive thoughts in mind, the child hurried through the portal.
The last thing he heard as all was going white was Ink's weak voice.
"Take care of yourself...Blueberry..."