Helooooo Internet?!
I'm finally on break! Yeeeeahahahh! (That was unnecessary) Unfortunately it's winter over here and it's only 2 weeks long... But that's not gonna stop me writing, if anything it'll make me more productive.
Anyway, onto the one-shot! (yeah, it's a one-shot, dis arc'll be good!)
It was a nice summer afternoon in the suburb of Monsterville, a sight ruined by a small group making there way to Mt. Ebbot. We leave if from last chapter, after finding Papyrus and Undyne somehow amalgamated, Sans and Josho needed to help them, the answer? The true lab.
"kiddo, i know a shortcut to the mountain, you keep on rollin' them, i'll warn alphys" Sans yelled to the already puffed out Josho, who bore a wheelbarrow full of Papyrus and Undyne goop.
"Sure, sure, just go!" At his permission, Sans walked back towards the house, he didn't need an explanation for this phenomena.
"IT'LL BE OK, WON'T IT UNDYNE?" Papyrus questioned, although seemingly calm before, the seriousness of the situation has dawned on him.
"Yeah! Of course Paps! Alphys'll fix us right up!"
Seeing the monsters hope for life only made Josho feel... It was always hard for him to understand his soul trait.
Josho knew he was different, magic, increased resistance, near-immortality, those aren't things humans have. It was only from his monster friends that he knew he was different, an only several weeks later that he unlocked his magic. So, what was he? He was a Mage, a Magician if you prefer. A descendant of one of the 7 that created the barrier. That should make him an enemy to monster kind, but he doesn't want that, and doing this could repent himself from his ancestors acts all those years ago.
His soul trait, in ancient texts there were 7 documented soul types.
PATIENCE; the ability to wait, to endure, until the ultimatum.
BRAVERY; the ability to push forward in dire times.
PERSEVERANCE; the ability to learn, to 'try try again'.
INTEGRITY; the ability to think on your feet. To come up with a diplomatic and fair answer.
KINDNESS; the ability to approach every situation with tenderness and care.
JUSTICE; the ability to determine and dish out what is right.
DETERMINATION; to push through adversity, no matter the consequences.
Josho was unique, he matched all of them, that have him something only Mages and certain people can achieve;
VALOR; the ability to look on a situation with steadfast wisdom, and act to what is right and just, the perfect leader...
Through steely determination, Josho pushed the wheelbarrow up to the mountain entrance, back to the underground.
He pushed them through the bridges of New Home, through the conveyor belts and steam exhausts of Hotland, finally reaching the lab.
The lab was dirty, musty and surprisingly cold, like someone had accidentally left the air-con on. The elevator was already open, so he went in, a little while later, the door opened to an even colder, mustier place.
"FINALLY! WE'RE... WHERE IS THIS PLACE?"
"This is the True Lab, this is where your getting fixed..."
"Yeah! I can finally fight properly!" Undyne yelled, intense relief in her voice,
"BUT YOU SAID I WAS A GOOD FIGHTER!"
"You are Papyrus, but it'll be a little easier when we aren't the same being",
"OH OK! I SEE YOUR POINT!"
Josho emptied out Papyrus and Undyne, who could shamble there way to the machine. The two (or one?) ran ahead, while Josho slowed down to observe the ruined laboratory. Frisk had told him about it, but he hadn't seen it for himself. The lab was in extreme disrepair, beds and operating tables covered in sticky goop, a dog bowl filled with moldy dog food, a... bath?
Josho began whispering to himself, "Okay... The DT extraction machine is... This way" He walked down a hall and entered a doorway, where a huge skull-like machine stood. Next to the machine a door was open, voices and sounds of welding could be heard in the room. This was where Josho assumed he should go.
Entering the room, he could see Sans reassuring the Papyrus and Undyne blob, while Alphys turned to Josho, taking off a welding mask.
"Is it done?" Josho talked, a teaspoon of fear in his voice,
"Y-yes, I've made the m-modifications and allowed f-for a tertiary chamber... A-are you sure you w-want to do this?" Alphys asked, Josho turned away to look at Papyrus, Undyne and Sans. He couldn't leave them to lose there minds, he had to do something. As if that meant risking his own life, so be it. Maybe that is what VALOR is.
"Yeah, let's do it..."
"I-if you insist..." Alphys directed Papyrus and Undyne into a metal cylinder, closed the glass door as flicked a switch. This caused a blinding light to fill the chamber, then immediately cease.
"Y-your turn" Alphys said, her voice filled with dread. Josho reached for the second chamber door and opened it. He stepped inside the tiny space and awkwardly closed the door.
"O-ok, let's see... Energy readings are normal... Life f-forces stable... Ok! L-let's do this!" Alphys pressed a large red button, causing blinding light to fill both chambers. Josho felt intense pain, but he didn't black out, instead he writhed in agonizing pain that could only be compared to the sensation of every bone in his being crushed. The pain caused the part-magician to become lightheaded, vision cutting off... then...
...
...
Josho's eyes snapped open, only to be met by darkness. He stood up, looking at his body and surroundings. His body was mostly in contact, but his surroundings were still pitch black.
'Is this the afterlife? Am I dead?' Thoughts came to Josho's mind, scary thoughts, he can't be dead, he... No, he took the risk, he has to suffer the consequences...
Josho tried walking around the seemingly infinite space in awe and curiosity, taking in the nothingness. Until a surprise guest walked from the shadows... It was the ERROR. The ERROR he was trying to track for weeks, the ERROR he believed to be himself...
"Heh heh heh... You really think you're above consequences, don't you?" The ERROR taunted, it was funny, for an error, he talked normally, like he was keeping his sanity.
"Good morning captain obvious, of course I think I'm above consequences, it's my nature"
The ERROR chuckled, "Yes, yes it is... I would know, I used to be someone like that..."
"You don't say..." Josho should have noticed this earlier, but the ERROR bore long flowing reddish-brown locks, that should have been a dead giveaway from the start. "So, what do you want with me? Why did you protect me once, and then leave me to die now?"
"Your not dead, you simply survived the destruction of your world"
"...what?"
"Yes, I̴̡͍̳̳̻̰̰͈̞͙̥̼͒͑͆̂̒͂̀͡͝ ̸̨̧̬̻̭̝̮̙̟͈̻̘̇ͩ̒̾̽̀͘ was the one who destroyed everything... It was m̃͊ͩ̐̀͡҉̣͇̣͓͚̙̮̯̦̲͓̹̘̩͈̲ͅe̶͍̰͎̪͍͙̰̣̫̰̬̦ͩ̾ͤͩ͗̾͂́̚͠ who purged this impure timeline... And guess what? It was Y̨̖̪͙̬̜͇̻̺̤̱͍͍͚̭̣ͥ̾ͦ̌͌ͥ́̓ͪ̑̕͞O̵ͩ̆̌͋̉ͧͦͧ͒͐̚̚҉͓̮͇̺̥̤̼̣͍̝͎̥͢U̡̯͎̼̯͇̣̒͑̐̎ͫ̑́̕R̛̘̭̲͕̠̮͔̼̭͊ͭͧ̍͌͆̂̍͗ͬ̇ fault that it happened"
First off, Josho takes back what he said about this ERROR being sane, and secondly... "Bu... Wha... What? Why!? What was wrong!?"
"I̧'ll̵ t̢el̸l҉ ̀y҉ou ̵w͏h̸a͘t w͢as̸ w̵ron̷g͠...͜"͏ The ERROR points at you... The reviewers, "Y͏o̶u let th̢em͏ ̡brèa̸k͟ th͝e 4th̡ ͘wall,̴ ͘ỳo͜u ͝le͢t th͞èm ̀me͜dd͜lę ̕wi̶t͢ḩ ͢ơur ͞l͝i̴ve̢s̵, ͡b̛l̡an͏k̕ k̡i̸ss҉in͢g͢ ̀bl̵a̴nk̵ ́is҉ n͘orm̴al.̵.. B͢U̡T̷,́ ̀you̵ ͠ĺet̷ th́em c̶h͠ange th́ȩ ͘l̕iveś o͏f the ćh̸a͏rac͟ters,̡ ̶t̵h͘e͟ ̶re͏v̧i҉e̡w̷e̶rs arȩ ̶ch͜ang̴e҉in̢g d͞est̨i̕n̶y,̸ ąn҉d t͏h҉a͝t ca͞nn͘o̢ţ be ALLOWED!"
"So you literally kept me alive to lecture me, how mature"
"That wasn't the reason, I am going to bring this world back, but I needed someone to stay alive, to act as a 'moderator' if you will"
"So... How far are you resetting?"
"Just to before that skeleton and fish amalgamated"
A lot had happened in the space of five minutes, or at least it felt like five minutes, who knew how long it really was. The world could have been erased for years for all Josho knew, and he only just woke up.
"Fine, but at least tell me... Why are you like this?"
"You want answers to my origins? Fine, I will give them to you" the two sat down in the nothingness.
"It began... An indescribable amount of time ago, I was form a universe where you fought in the ERRORtale wars, and lost. Myself and several other OC's were collected and stored. The ERRORS knew that they would lose eventually, the resistance was too strong. So, long story short, they c̥̱̣͕͓̥̅o̯̯̰ͨ̔̀̑̏r̸̐r͌͒̉u̷̥ͯ̆͆p͚̗̮̫͒͋ͪ̃̔t̘̠͉̤̫̯͙e͕͈̦̹͔͔̣ͯ̂̌̒ͨ̃̚d͍̘̤͎̉ out souls, and made us just like them. The general idea was that when the ERRORS were locked away, we would be released to do there dirty work. Universe moderation, that was my job, be thankful I wasn't one of the ERRORS that was told to hunt down there OC's and kill them..."
"Another question..." Josho interrupted, "Why are you less... Glitchy?"
"Because my soul was strong, I could resist the corruption a little more than others, any monsters captured either went completely insane, or died on the spot. There was one particular OC I... k͜n͘ew a lot... They didn't take the corruption all that well..."
Josho was now curious as to how exactly this ERROR 'knew' them.
The ERROR stood up, "Anyway, none of that matters, it is time to bring this world back" Josho stood up to face the figure. The ERROR took of the eyepatch on his left eye, revealing there to be no eye, only a swirling black and red void, the text ERROR floating around in it. The figure summoned a combat shotgun and held it to Josho's face.
"No hard feelings, but it is part of the 'recreation' process"
The shorgun fired, causing intense pain, then blindness, then...
...
...
...
"Josho, are you awake? It is time for breakfast" the motherly voice of Toriel spoke,
"you awake kiddo? listen, i was thinkin' we should re-binge rick and morty again, sound good?" The warm, friendly voice of sans added
"Y-you watch that show too?"
"Hell YEAH! That show is awesome! It's somehow sciencey and cool at the same time!" The vigorous and nervous voices of Undyne and Alphys also added,
"WOWIE! THAT SHOW SOUNDS COOL! CAN I WATCH IT WITH YOU GUYS!?"
"Of course Papyrus!"
"yeah, maybe not" Sans vetoed.
His friends, the friends he tried to save... are alive! Josho sprung out of bed to latch onto the closest person to him, "Oh thank god you guys are here! I thought you all died, I was..." Josho opened his eyes to realize that he was latched on to Chara, the one he would rather not touch again. Josho received a slap from the aforementioned demon-child (Note: not a literal demon),
"Oh, ok, right, I try to show affection and that is what I get, thanks..."
"what's wrong kiddo? looks like you've seen a ghost" Josho looked at himself, he was pale, clammy and sweating, like he had a bad dream, but he could have sworn all of those past occurrences were real...
"I dunno... I guess it was just a nightmare... who knows these days..."
A red-and-black portal opened on the roof, and out stepped the one-and only ERROR!Josho. He took the opportunity to gaze across the newly-formed world. If only that poor Mage knew what would have happened if the ERROR hadn't stepped in at the right time... Anarchy. Anarchy would have happened...
That's all folks! Thank you for reading this little piece of work I had to get out of my system. Next chapter I will get back to my regular situations.
Anyway... I'm out!