Another day, another conflict in the multiverse.
Ink had long passed the point where he found this cycle tiring. Errors attacks were not premeditated attacks, that much he knew.
But if that was the case...why did he feel like they were both just... scripted?
yes, like they're scripted. Like they're just acting and going through the motions, with no real animosity or malice in their words.
Their attacks drained of all passion and righteousness that once guided them both forward with vigour.
Now Ink was just...tired of it all.
All these battles...will they ever be won?
What would happen if it did?
if one of them...Won?
if Ink just gave up, would he die?
truly die?
could he die?
Ink was ripped out of his swirling imagination by a string swooping out under him and wrapping around his ankle, the glitched codes stung a little.
He was so used to it that it was almost comforting.
Oh
Oh. He knows how this one goes.
He knows.
He does.
It's a formula at this point. He gets captured by Error.
Gets dragged off into the antivoid and they argue for a while.
Ink frees himself.
Epic showdown.
Ink escapes the antivoid. (Eyes shut tight peek only if necessary tries not to tries not to face it don't face it focus focus don't look how is he supposed to focus when its there its all around him its suffocating I can't breathe please I can't breathe get over it its just some white space all around everywhere no end don't look please don't look)
Rinse and repeat.
He's not playing that game, he's sick of it.
He leaps upwards with a burst of magic when Error comes at him with another string and tears the one wrapped around his ankle with a slash of his brush.
They're in a version of Snowdin Town if the snow-capped evergreens are anything to go off of, so he lands himself onto a stable-looking branch and passes a glance to the right.
Dream and Blue are in this AUs (SOUL FREAK! By Loveless-Bachelor, his brain automatically supplies) waterfall, because by some bizarre and otherworldly coincidence, The stars-damned Bad Sanses had shown up as well.
A bone attack hit him in the back of the skull with a resounding thunk and he found himself hurtling towards the snowy ground, he caught himself drawing into himself defensively or as if to fight back, but resisted it best he could. Broomie lands before him with a dull thump on snow covered ground,he lets it go.
No no, he's supposed to die, he's supposed to get hurt this time.
He has to know... he feels a tug like a rope from somewhere inside his bones that seems to urge him to rethink.
He's too stubborn to turn back now, his fall is intercepted by a kick to the ribs and he feels his bones creak around his 'SOUL' as he forces himself to keep still his movements and take the damage.
Ink hears Error skid back in the snow and fully kick his brush away from the two of them as he is knocked back from the impact again, and this time tries to force himself to face the Destroyer.
The burn and irritation that usually accompanied even looking at Error seemed to fade as that rope tugged and pulled at him once more, fraying with every push forward Ink gave.
Ink could hardly muster up the strength to look at him in the face, but whatever expression he faced Error with seemed to enrage him as his scarf lifted him roughly to meet his flaring eyelights.
Unfocused spiral and splash-shaped eyelights met Errors piercing stare, and Error growled at the back of his throat.
'W̴̡̼̓̚͝ḥ̵̨̀̃͛͗ä̵̻͓́-̸̤̬̒͂̏w̶͙͕̰̪̋̃ḫ̸̮͈͂͒̾͜ȁ̶͔̽̆̚t̶̲̰̿ ̷̲̙͓̼̂́t̷͚̹̦̺̀͆͌͛ḫ̸̒͂̑ȩ̷͇̯̻̈̈ ̶̢͓͎̤̃͐̉̽h̸͚͕̝̒e̴̤̬͙͆͛̏l̵̡̆l̴̢͕̀͊ͅ ̵͔̺͑h̶̡̲͋̈́͛a̵͉͑ş̶̭̑́̆ͅͅ ̵̡̲͖̓̀̏̋ǵ̷̢o̶̰͚̭̮͗͗̓͗ṫ̷͕̘̳t̸̘͋e̷̮͆̒̈ń̸̂̋ͅ-̷͕͚̦̔̋͆g̴͉͍̹̽ȯ̸͎̤͈̼̈́t̶̗̪̺͆͗ṭ̵̠̿e̶͙̜̟̐͒̽͝n̸̢̳̥̜̔ ̵̘̩̣́̐̐̔i̷͈̻̊̏͘͠ǹ̸̘t̵͎͖̝͌o̵̲͓͉̎̑͆̕ ̷̬͈͐̑y̵̥̝̩̎̽́ǒ̸̲̤͙͇̈́͊u̴̙̫̎,̷͎̯͆̚ ̸̪̇͊̍̐C̵̨̠͉̍̂̿ŗ̴̼̖̅̓e̸̪̐͗͠a̶̖̍̍͋̈́͜ͅt̷̤̝̎͘ơ̸̗̠̲̄́͜͠r̸̠̳̹̳̽?̴̨̢̝̩̊!̶͔̯̪̪͂̔'
Error spat half-mocking and half-resentment, if Ink had the energy he would've recoiled. Only fighting the iron grip on his scarf in fear that it would rip to shreds between his sharpened phalanges.
He dared not correct him.
At his lack of response The Destroyer scowled and his entire body seemed to glitch and repeat itself as he seethed and drew his arm back as if to throw him again.
Ink winces in anticipation and draws a shaky breath that only served to solidify his role in Error's frustration.
"-̷͉̲̭͍̽̐̓Ù̸̥̻̀͜͝Ŕ̵̛̜̬̙̈́͝G̶̱̺͖͐̋͘H̷̢̭̳͔̔̓̓̓!̵̬͙̩̙̓ ̷̬͕̼̰̒̐Á̸̜͓̐͌͊N̶̥͋́̐̽S̷͔͉͊-̵̮̑͗͜Ȧ̸̠̠̻̂̉N̸̫̗̽̌̈̏S̷̯̼͋̂̕͜͝W̴͕̋̈́̕Ẻ̸̜̺̪̱̾̊R̵̬̞̺̠͒̊̏̕ ̷̢̳̪̈́̓͛̚M̷̖̓Ę̵͑͋̆͋ ̶̬̍͒͘D̵̨̝̠̔A̴̝̝͚̍̈́̑͜M̴̩̳̺̲̌͆͘-̸̩͚̗̣͒͗͠D̶̹̄A̵̯̔M̴̞̿̉͐M̴͇̃̌I̵̠̊̊T̸̡̀͑͂!̶̞͉̠̈̽͛ ̸͎̅̀̌F̸̤͉́͌̐I̵͎̲̱͛͗̐͘G̶̲̦͚̯̀͗̄H̷̪͂͒̎T̵̨̲̜̱̽͗̿ ̴̟̝̺̮̾̈́͘M̶̹̾͋Ȩ̷̙̳̘̀̇͝!̵̛̮̭̂̊͘"
He exclaimed between his yellowed teeth and finally cast Ink to the snowy ground with scorn, summoning sharp red bones to stab upwards and through the dirt into Ink's ribs.
Unable to stop himself, Ink bound out of the way to the best of his ability and immediately regretted it, his left arm still got caught in the onslaught of bones and he heard something snap and fracture again.
He wasn't sure if it was the rope whittling or his own bones.
He wasn't quite sure what he was doing, just that he was doing it right.
Keep going.
He fought back a scream that came out as a whimper when another bone slashed across his legs only to be immediately driven into his right knee,threatening to sever the bones from their sockets.
Ink felt instead the white-hot heat of a blaster grow threateningly closer, forcing himself to pull away from the enticing light like moth to a flame.
Though he did not know why,again.
His head urged him to end this cycle with his false-SOUL shattered and his dust scattered. But his body seemed to yank him out of the line of fire like a puppet suspended on strings or a parent snatching up a child away from a bed full of spikes.
The Protector finally screamed aloud as he felt a blast singe both his left tibia and the pleated cloth covering it.
It was only then that he realised that The Destroyer was silent.
Coughing and wheezing,
(he spotted a lick of blood escape past his gritted teeth)
He rolled in the near-flattened snow to lay on his back like a wounded animal exposing his stomach as a bid for mercy.
He supposed,grimly, he sort of was.
Ink's fight had left him aeons ago,and he was finally ready to give up.
There was an air of finality to how Ink's dim and glassy eyelights drifted over to meet Error's for a second time with the ghost of a smile on his lips.
Error's body froze,as if being caught in the act,but his eyelights stared back with frightening awareness. A look of pure horror and confusion was etched across his face, his glitches that once moved so sporadically and like a swarm around its nest were as frozen as the rest of him.
Like straws and camels, that was the last tug to completely sever that rope and the connection it ensured.
'What did y-you-ou do?!'
The last thing Ink saw before falling unconscious was Error going limp like a puppet without strings, shoulders losing tension and knees locking together, face still holding that horrified expression as his glitches seemed to flicker back to life with a hiss like dead air.
The Destroyer stared at The Protector's limp body in abject shock for a time.
He didn't know how long it had been when his throat fizzed and crackled with static and 404s as he tested his voice, it came out with a fuzzy-sounding wheeze,
'What the blo-bloody hell di-did you do, Ink?!'
He felt strange, and he'd felt strange ever since he'd hit that stain across the damned head like a plug has been pulled from his system.
The wire felt like it had been torn, and the socket it had been wedged into felt rubbed raw and stung in the dry air, seeping pus like an open wound and holding an agonising numbness that writhed angsty in his blackened bones.
The pain he saw could only compare to setting a bone back into its socket, a pain that promised it would not be felt any longer than it had to.
He wasn't sure what it meant.
He didn't know if he liked it.
Error found himself glaring at that unconscious body again, taking in The Protector's sharp features, his softened expression.
His arch nemesis, so he'd been told.
There was no longer a voice in his head screaming at him to kill the skeleton before him, and that realisation hit him like his own telekinesis might've slammed him against the wall.
The voices were gone, cut from his consciousness like a call had been hung up, muted, disconnected.
Error felt a deep and ingrained pang of panic sweep across him like a hammer reverberating across metal, as well as a tingling sense of relief when that sensation finally settled. The voices weren't there, weren't winding him up finally. It was a relief, really.
But...
But.
But what?
Error didn't know.
And now they were all gone.
Stars, he didn't know what to do.
His sensitive hearing picked up on some hurried footsteps and voices from the direction of Waterfall, and he jolted back and towards Ink.
He flailed to summon a static laden portal to the Antivoid,just barely catching himself from tripping on the trailing ends of his scarf and directly into it.
And the voices got closer,louder and more frantic,and Error stepped towards the portal properly.
Don't look back. Don't look back.
Error looked back.
When The Star Sanses arrived at the scene, all they saw was trampled and blood-stained snow.
And a paintbrush,left discarded.
A/N - First chapter woohoo! before writing this I had ZERO experience in writing a fight scene, I'm accepting constructive criticism for it cus honestly i have no idea if it's good or not.
Title is from the track 'cut the act (everything ruined in moments)' by Ghost. i know,shocker. its real spooky,take a gander!
/rpo4O0M2NPo?si=Gup2ElvHqwmQOWvi
Next Chapter is coming out same time next month (02/11/23)! because I thought having a funny little consistent upload schedule would be cute and a nice thing for ppl to look forward to. which is very pretentious and hopeful of me.
see you next month!