DON'T GIVE UP
After their time off, the Timeline Travel Trio continued their quest. There were many different Alternate Universes out there. There was one where Sans was the embodiment of death itself, one where the crew was a set of pirates, one where everyone's rolls in their timeline was shifted around, one where the skeleton brothers looked a lot more like the mysterious person who caused this than they should…and yet, when asked about the figure of red and gold, or the Timekeep Journal, everyone would draw a blank.
They would talk about someone named "W.D Gaster", but would never go into detail or they would strait out state he would never be caught dead in red and yellow. As for the journal pages, those keeping hold on them would say how they just came out of nowhere. It wasn't giving the trio any lead, which was for sure. They gathered and read through the journal, and yet…the effects of the timekeep seemed to be irreversible. Keeper looked crushed. He hung his skull, and as Frisk and Chara tried to cheer him up, it was clear that same depressed look from before all of this returned, plastered smile and all. Not even a good joke would work.
That night, Keeper didn't even bother making his bed. He was slowly crawling back to his nihilistic state of mind, slowing down, growing lazy again, cracking bad jokes only to hide his depression, but Frisk and Chara knew he was upset and depressed. Who wouldn't be, knowing your entire species is stuck like an inanimate object for the rest of forever. They themselves were losing their spark to this new idea. It was a terrible and depressing day indeed. Everyone went to sleep that night, a restless one where the thick atmosphere could be cut with a knife. The trio was losing hope.
That night Keeper had a dream, a dream born from the desperation of souls begging him not to give up. In the dream, Keeper was in the center of a dark room. Light began to appear in the room, as each light turned into his friends. Papyrus, his brother, spoke first.
SANS! THE SITUATION MAY LOOK ROUGH, BROTHER, BUT I BELIEVE IN YOU! WE BELIEVE IN YOU! WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SUPPORT YOU IN PERSON, BUT KNOW THAT WE WILL ALWAYS STAY CLOSE TO YOUR SIDE. AFTER ALL, ISN'T IT SITUATIONS THIS HOPELESS YOU EXEL AT THE MOST?
The illusion of Papyrus stared Keeper in the face as it spoke, a determined yet kind look, a look of someone who wasn't ready to give up yet. A second illusion made itself present, and Undyne spoke next.
Come on, you lazy dork! I know you're not done yet! After all you've done up to this point, you can't just quit. Don't you feel it? Right now, everyone in the entire multiverse, their hearts are beating as one! We all have one goal, Sans. You can't quit with the entire multiverse riding on your actions!
The powerful illusion spoke in a way that was very much like the royal guard Keeper knew. A burning feeling he couldn't describe started to build in his chest. Alphys appeared next to Undyne, it was her turn to speak.
I know it's c-completely impossible f-for us to come back, a-a-and that we may never see each other again after this, but, w-we can't just st-stand by and watch our world and c-countless other people's l-lives crumble in front of us. We have t-t-to keep going, no matter how hopeless it seems!
Alphys had more confidence in her eyes than Keeper had ever seen. The royal scientist, while still stuttering, said her part the way it needed to get across. Keeper stared at the lizard a short while, until another figure appeared behind him. It was Toriel, and a stern, yet caring look was in her eyes.
Sans. We may not have known each other in person for long, but I do know that it is not only you at risk when it comes to this situation. Even if you cannot act on your own will due to the severity of hopelessness in this issue, please, please, promise me you will try your hardest, not just for your sake, but for the sake of those who support you, your friends, your family…your partners.
Toriel kept a calm and direct tone in her voice. She seemed to look through Keeper, and her words hit like fire. There was more than just himself stuck in this situation. It began to dawn on Keeper, that even after all this chaos, his friends and family were still alive. They were still close, and they had supported him all this time. How could he have been so blind to their embrace…?
Flowey appeared out of the ground, a different look on the flower's face than normal.
I never liked you, smiley trashbag. I still don't like you now….but, you've shown real and genuine care and trust to my best friend. You've given them a light in a world no other stupid smiley trashbag would accept them. Look… what I'm trying to say, is that Frisk and Chara need you more than ever. After they worked so hard to watch it all shatter in front of them when this big clock mess happened, you were the only one there to help them through it, and they still need help through it. Don't be an even bigger trashbag just giving up on them like that, ok?
Finally, Asgore appeared, the stern yet kind and gentle look on his face as well. He only said little, but it was finally enough to fully awaken Keeper to what his true purpose was.
Sans the skeleton… for the future of all those who exist in the multiverse…You have to stay determined!
After the forms of light had all spoken their part, they each took a different shape. They took the forms of different blasters. Keeper recognized the form of Papyrublaster, slowly being followed by Undyneblaster, Alphyblaster, Toriblaster, Floweyblaster and Asgoreblaster. They all shot their magic attacks in the sky, creating a firework show, and the resonate echos of the aftermath stuck in Keeper's head. It sounded like one hundred, maybe even more voices all chanting the sane thing.
Don't give up.
Keeper reawakened, invigorated by his dream. The image of his friends and family supporting him stuck in the back of his head. They were nowhere near done yet. It wasn't the end. With his newfound spark of determination, Keeper awaked his partners. There was still one last threat out there. The one who sent this all into motion had to be stopped, one way or another, and the back of the last Timekeep Journal page gave temporal coordinates to his last location. They were a bit awkward and jumbled, but based on what Keeper knew, there was only three places with coordinates so complex. The void, the anti-void, and the theorised location of the Temporal Core, the fine line separated the two voids. After preparation, Keeper began inserting the complex code into the hands of his timekeep, twisting back and forth. This required a lot of precision, even the slightest shift in the wrong direction could send them to the wrong plane.
It was at the last minute a loud crash was heard.
Chara looked around the corner to see a fleeing figure holding two red scythes and wearing what could be known as a darker colored "battle body" with blue streaks. They tried to give chase to the figure, but they were gone as soon as they appeared. They must have caused the crash and fled back to their timeline after the fact. It was unknown why.
"Oh well, guess I can just try again…" Keeper muttered.
Suddenly, the door from the messed-up coordinates swung open unexpectedly. On the other side was a deathly quiet field of white. It was almost empty, save for the figure standing on the other side of the door, as well as the mass of blue strings on the roof, holding many human souls and puppets. In fact, the door seemed to be forced open by a similar set of blue strings coming down the center figure's face and wrapped around their hands. The figure themselves was a black contrast against the white space around him, and many ERROR messages seemed to flash around him. He glared at Keeper and his two partners, and spoke in a distorted tone, one word before dragging all three into the anti-void with him using his odd strings.
"heya…"
Meanwhile….
A character in similar fashion to Error Sans finishes exiting a clock door. They have noticeable differences in comparison to the other error skeleton, but it was clear they had the same origin. These differences included their constantly somber look, the bright blue behind their eyes and running down their bones, the seemingly armored outfit they were wearing and the two red streaks in their eyes, seemingly running down their arms, forming the shape of the two red, star tipped scythes the figure was holding. The ERROR signs also flashed in different places compared to the skeleton, most noticeably in their eye socket and on their shoulder. The figure stared at a second in the room, who was staring at a large monitor.
"I see you've returned, Blueberry. Was your mission successful?" The second figure asked. The first nodded. "Yeah. Error just dragged them into the anti-void a minute ago," Blueberry replied, looking at the figure hopefully. "Excellent work, Blueberry. Everything is going according to plan. I may need your help when they all get here." The first figure replied, tapping on the monitor's keyboard. Blueberry Error nodded. "Just as long as we're one step closer to helping Error. Thank you for all of your help, Timekeep Gaster, I could've never gotten this far and this knowledgeable about the multiverse without you"! Timekeep Gaster nodded, patting Blueberry Error on the head. "Of course. Now, why don't you go and play with the other Sanses and Papyruses wating for you downstairs. I bet that Underswap Papyrus is still waiting for your return…" The tall, red and gold wearing figure responded. Blueberry Error exited the room after that, a smile on his permanently somber-looking face. After they exited, Timekeep Gaster turned and faced the monitor once more. It was showing the fight currently going on in the Anti-void. He smirked and gave a dark chuckle. "Yeah….help Error….help put him out of his misery…" Timekeep Gaster hissed, resentment flashing in his eyes before his grin widened.
The time had come for his revenge.
((KEEPERTALE IS COMPLETELY NON-CANNON TO ERRORTALE UNLESS THE ALMIGHTY CRAYON QUEEN SAYS OTHERWISE. (Blueberry is a full error who got kicked out of the anti-void when Error Sans didn't recognise him after being gone so dang long!))