I touched down in the Doodle Sphere. Almost immediately, I noticed Ink, shaking with effort. His eyes, fists, and teeth were clenched tightly shut, frowning hilariously, and concentrating like he was trying to lay an egg. He heard me land. Sighing in relief, he hurried towards me, murmuring—
"Oh goodness, it worked." He snapped open a portal. "Come on, hurry!" And with that, he grabbed my hand and hauled me in behind him.
At the other side of the psychedelic wormhole was an apocalyptic-looking Snowdin town. I gaped at my surroundings. Ink didn't slow to let me take in the destruction, though, and darted over to Dream, who was peeking at buildings over the edge of a cracked boulder.
"What's new?" Ink whispered nervously.
"He's still raiding Muffet's bakery," Dream replied. "It's weird."
"what's going on?" I asked. "where are we?"
"UnderSwap," Dream replied solemnly. "Error's here."
"why would he come? isn't it empty now?" I balked.
"He just can't leave it be," Ink hissed.
Glancing around the famous AU, I felt a sharp twinge of sadness. It was once a wonderful place, destroyed on a whim. A slight twinkle drew my gaze to the right. All conversation came to a grinding halt as I pointed and whispered—
"there are lights on in that building." Ink and Dream stared at the house I pointed at.
"Error teleported." Ink seemed to almost growl with his words. "He hasn't been raiding Muffet's, he's been ransacking the skelebro's home!"
Ink suddenly teleported. Murmuring distraughtly about Ink being impulsive, Dream grabbed me and teleported after him. We ended up beside Ink, standing inside Carrot—UnderSwap Papyrus—and Blueberry's home. A mere second later, the door to the first room upstairs squealed open. Out stepped Error, a bag slung across his back and half eaten chocolate bar held casually between his teeth. There was a tense pause as his gaze landed on us.
He gave an exasperated sigh, though seemingly unalarmed. Taking a bite from the bar and sticking the rest in his pocket, he tightened the sack on his shoulders and appeared to be about to simply continue along his merry little way.
"CaN wE nOt Do thiS tODay?" Error murmured distractedly. "I'm A bIt bUsY." Ink seethed at this.
"'A bit busy'? A bit busy with what?!Ransacking this world, this world you already ruined?" Ink whipped out his paintbrush. "You must have popped a mental circuit if you think I'm just gonna let you walk away." Error sighed again; this time, a snarl laced the sound.
"WeLl, If yOu rEalLy WaNt To dO tHis tHe HarD wAy…" The air clouded with black bone attacks. Instantly, I wrapped us in a shield. The shards pelted the bubble.
"Ink!" Dream exclaimed. "We gotta get outside! We're at a disadvantage in here." Nodding, Ink gripped my shoulder and Dream's, and teleported. Error soon followed.
Summoning three Gaster Blasters, I pointed at Error, siccing them on him. They shot forward. Error hardly spared a glance as he flicked his wrist, sending spikes of strings shattering through the dragon maws. Dream's projectiles were splintered by mirroring attacks. All of Ink's magic was deflected.
Strangely, despite the impressive defense, it seemed as though Error's heart wasn't in this fight. Hints of weariness could be seen in his eyes. A neutral frown took the place of the typical psychotic smile. This battle was merely an inconvenience. It was only when one of Ink's shots grazed the edge of Error's mysterious loot sack that he got peeved enough to fight back.
I'll bet my feathers Ink regretted scuffing that bag.
Within moments, we were overwhelmed. I was first down, knocked to the ground and yanked up by strings, pulled dangerously tight. Dream faltered upon seeing my misfortune, and in a split second, it was over for him, too. Now we were both strung up like Voodoo dolls. Ink was last. Instead of simply binding him, Error wrenched him face to face.
"WhY ArE yOu So InTEnt toDaY?" he murmured in annoyance, scowling at Ink. Ink struggled furiously.
"You've got nerve, coming here! Taking Blue wasn't enough; now you're ransacking his world and stealing his stuff! Why? Why did you even take him in the first place?!" This outburst seemed to mildly surprise Error.
"WhAt'S mADe YoU sO…?" Suddenly, he chuckled. "Oh, I gEt iT. YoU'rE bEgiNnINg tO dEsPAir of FiNDinG hIm, ArEN't yoU?" Ink stopped struggling. "YoU kNOw I'm tHe oNLy onE whO KnOws wHeRE hE is AnD tHe oNlY onE WHo wIlL neVeR TeLl YOu."
"We don't give up easy, Error! Fight back, Ink!" Dream called, yelping as the strings pulled tighter at his stretched limbs. Error returned his attention to his Very Important Prisoner.
"I tOoK BluEbeRrY bEcAUSe I wAntEd tO, AnD I CouLD," Error explained simply.
"Why?" Ink pressed.
"WHaT?" confused, Error asked.
"Why did you want to take him?" The Destroyer narrowed his eyes.
"BlueBerRy aMuSEs mE," he said, threateningly slow and low. "He'S EveRyThIng a pEt sHoUld bE." Ink gave a kick of resistance at this, squirming once more.
"He's more than that and you know it! You can't treat people like that!" Error's expression suddenly turned dark.
"TheN wHaT aBoUt SeRif, huH?" My soul stuttered. Error smirked a bit. "WhY hAvE yoU kePt HIm aRoUNd foR so LonG? WhY dOn't yoU TrY sEnDing hIm BaCk tO hiS hOmE?" Ink stopped wiggling. Error laughed a cheerless laugh. "Ha! I'm RIghT, arEn'T I?"
"don't let him get to you ink," I called. "he's messing with you, and i know you're not doing that," I lied. I didn't know anymore.
Ink was still frozen. Struggling with new strength, I snapped out my wings in attempt to escape the tangle. To my absolute, mind-numbing horror, Error's strings tightened about my shaking joints… and wrapped around my wings. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe.
Still smirking at how shaken Ink was, Error taunted—
"YoU maY taKe hIm For WalKs, bUt yOu keeP hiM On a LeAsh. YoU kEep hIm traPpEd. BeCaUSe yOu dOn'T wAnt To loSe YoUr liTtlE AnGel. YOur PeT." At this, Ink flinched rigid and barfed a torrent of black, going nearly limp afterwards.
Dream and I grit our teeth as the strings suddenly went from completely taut to unbearably tight. Error drew Ink closer as the artworks stopped.
"It'S sO teMPtiNg tO juSt kiLl yoU noW…" Ink let out a strangled cry as his bonds tightened, too. "YoU'd proBabLy suRviVe, yEt It'd sTilL huRt LIKe dEatH." Error's smile had been growing, but now, it suddenly stopped and faltered, as he murmured—"BUt I sEnSe HE wOuLd fEel iT—"
Before he could finish the cryptic threat, the world stuttered. Surprised, we all glanced around. The color flickered, the light blinked, and the images blurred. Error, deeply concerned, suddenly… disappeared. The strings went limp and disintegrated. The three of us fell to the ground, aching, relieved, confused, and disquieted.
Though my mind was swimming from all that had just occurred—from the conversation that had struck at my soul's deepest fear—I pushed it all away. Struggling up, I hurried to Ink, who, though rattled before, now seemed absolutely catatonic.
"are you okay?" I breathed wearily. Dream stumbled over as well. Ink stared straight ahead, a look of horror on his face.
"I… Error—" the colors in his eyes paled as the world flickered again, and he concluded—"Blueberry."
At this, I understood. I'd seen similar things in ButtonTale. ButtonTale was an alternation of UnderSwap. UnderSwap was faltering.
Blue was breaking. We were running out of time to save him.