Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fresh floated in the Void. Opening his eyes he regarded the darkness curiously. He could sense something lurking within.

<Ah. You are awake.>

He heard him without sound.

"Yo ...?" Fresh greets.

The thing in the darkness paused.

<'Yo ...?'>  The being seemed surprised at the word, before shaking it off. <... never mind. It is of no consequence how you speak as long as you do your job.>

"Okay ...?" Fresh had questions. "Care ta explain what's goin' on, homeslice? What job? And what's with the wacky blackness and unrad amnesia?"

<I shall do my best to explain. You are in the Void, the realm of nonexistence, where the Walls of Reality are at their thinnest - it is here that you were created for your purpose.>

"Created? By who?"

<An introduction is in order. I am your creator and overseer of this realm. You are admittedly my first attempt at creating life. Sure I have ... influenced some. But never before have I truly created ...> He mumbled the last bit and Fresh could barely make it out. <Perhaps I should have asked Destiny for pointers after all ...?>

"I'm totally buggin' with all the questions I have." Fresh said near monotone at the veiled insult.

<Apologies. I shall explain your purpose in this multiverse.>

The being seemed to move and multiple windows opened, showing scenes from across the multiverse. A lot of them showed skeletons.

<The multiverse is dependent on balance. Between Creation and Destruction; Positivity and Negativity; And Life and Death. These roles have been filled. However...>

The screens shift to the fallen humans on genocide runs and to worlds that were being attacked by coded beings.

<Players and Hackers have the ability to upset any one of these balances. If the scale tips too far into one direction then the multiverse will collapse in upon itself, becoming nothing more than Void itself. Up until now there has not been one designated with the official task of keeping them in check ... that is where you come in.>

He sighed before continuing, as if the next part upset him.

<The Destroyer can no longer attend to the task now that the balance has tipped too far in favor of Creativity.> He mumbled grumpily in a way that implied it wasn’t for Fresh to hear. <... that cursed Fate is doing nothing about it and Destiny with her hands tied with her chosen.>

"So you want me to go out there and up and evict these Player and Hacker bros?"

Fresh looked uncertain at the killer humans and code amalgamates.

<Really it would depend on the circumstances.> The being admitted. <If it is within the design of the universe that they play a part, you are not to interfere with your power. If they go beyond their allotted presence, you are to admit a penalty. Beyond that, live as you choose.>

"What kind of penalties we talkin', dawg."

<Revoking Player access to the Fallen Human for varying spans of time, banning them out right from universes, destroying their vessels in the case of Hackers should they corrupt a world. That among your other responsibilities.>

"What are other responsibilities, bruh?"

<Simple stuff really. Cencering foal language in your presence, keeping things PG where applicable, preventing toxic situations from escalating->

"Yo, what?" Fresh asked, eyebrows rising. "So half my job is protecting the balance and the other half is babysitting??? Bro, that's wack."

<... you also are in charge of refreshing code that is out of date.>

"So a repair man too." Fresh deadpanned. "Cool."

He mumbled out as he tried to continue.

<... and getting rid of viruses.>

"Aaand now I'm also an exterminator. Am I just getting all the side jobs? Really? Anything else? Cuz I don' know 'bout you brolio, but isn't this a lot of things for one skeledude?"

<I made you quite powerful you know. You can handle it, Refresh. I'm sure->

"It's Fresh, yo." Fresh said flatly

<You-> There was a pause as if they were checking something before muttering. <Ah. That explains some things.> He cleared his voice and he continued. <Anyway, you are quite strong given the role you have been given. You are now the Admin of this multiverse and, as such, able to access the benefits befitting the title. Including the Commands.>

"Commands?" Fresh asked. "No wait. Back up. What do you mean by this multiverse?"

He sounded nervous.

<Ah. Yes. Um. You see-> He sighed and decided to explain. <Just as there are many universes in a multiverse, there are just as many multiverses. The main difference is how the balances are maintained between them ... if there is even a balance to maintain. Though they tend not to interfere with each other unless certain ... conditions arise.>

"Conditions?"

<Enough of this. I have said too much on the topic as is. Now about those Commands.>

Fresh decided to let it slide for now.

<Commands can be activated three ways. Manually, verbally and through sheer will. Each harder than the last to master. For now many functions will disabled, such as '/kill all' for example. Now than->

"Wait wait wait. You sayin' I'll have the ability to kill the whole multiverse!?" Fresh asked in almost disgusted horror.

<Well, if you prove trustworthy with the power I don't see why not->

"Nope. Nuh-uh. Don't even want the temptation." Fresh glares. "Please remove that function."

<... a discussion for another time than. Now then.>

A search bar appeared in front of Fresh.

<This is the Command bar and how you enter Commands manually. To begin, start with /.>

"..."

<Come now, it is merely a tool. How you use it is what matters. Let's start with creating and summoning objects. You could do with some clothes.>

Fresh looked down at his skeletal frame, then back up to the Void.

"I suppose you got a point there, bro dude."

<... And perhaps add a pair of sunglasses to go with your outfit. I may have misplaced your soul a little.>

"Is there anything you didn't mess up?" Fresh asked flatly.

<The important bits, I should think. Now then. To create an object you need to be very specific ...>

Several non-hours later - the Void is without time - Fresh was now in very colorful clothing as discarded clothing items were destroyed in the Void.

Fresh had also managed to summon a copy of Undertale's house and was sitting on the porch. He had decorated the interior to his taste. Among his stuff was at least a yo-yo, several furbies, a baseball bat and a skateboard he named Skatebored for easier summoning as well as several food items.

<Alright enough with the clutter.> The being said, annoyed. <You have your ... things . Please avoid filling my Void up with anymore junk.>

"You got it, broseph!" Fresh said smiling, shooting the darkness some finger guns from his new house.

He was really enjoying his magic sunglasses. They were a pain to get right but it was totally worth it to have words appear. They also didn't need tape or frames to stay on. They were hella rad if he did say so himself.

The being in the Void sighed.

<Now that you have Commands understood, I will show you more of the basics and explain more about the AU's and your job. Oh and before I forget, your role needs to be kept a secret. There's no telling what misfortune will befall you should the wrong people learn of your job and connection to me. >

And so the two talked for many more non-hours going over the do's, the don'ts and the more flexible rules.

For one, anyone without god level clearance or higher (apparently Admin was one step above?) would be driven mad if they looked into the Void too long and would be erased from existence if they stepped foot into it. And even those with god clearance would feel some effects.

It was recommended to invest in a set of blinds if Fresh was going to invite guests over. The interior of the house was dubbed neutral ground and the being promised not to tamper with objects or persons within to his full extent unless they left its relative safety.

There were also more than one Void and the one they were currently in was the most dangerous - the True Void. There was also the Lesser Voids which was used for many things. The Anitivoid, the Doodle Sphere, the Save Screen, the Omega Timeline - and a few others.

Apparently the being that created Fresh was in charge of the in between places.

He only gave him the basics, but Fresh learned a little more about his job and the multiverse.

The worlds were made of code and to the Players and Hackers it was just a Game and fictional. There were three routes the Players could take while controlling the Fallen Human. Not all Fallen Humans were controlled at all times, but they basically still had to follow the paths as well.

The Hacker in UnderPlayer was given partial clearance as long as FUN remained between 1 and 100. FUN and Player placement was apparently handled by another person that did background things from the Void. Maybe they'd meet at some point.

He was shown how to make portals and viewing screens and other important things.

Another thing that was mentioned was that Fresh would be unkillable unless he enabled the feature. He was warned he wouldn't be able to re-enable it if he did as making people unkillable was also a locked Command.

Though he did have the /fly Command for some reason. Along with xray, teleport to, locate, and a handful of visual effects he was going to abuse for jump scares and pranks.

What? He was told as long as he did his job he could basically do whatever so long as none of the 'wrong people' found out his purpose.

A lot of the Commands were locked. Most of them he probably wouldn't even use if they weren't.

Something caught his attention though.

"Hey yo! What's dis feature?"

/fourth wall true

<Ah yes I almost forgot!> He said, excited. <Since your job deals mostly with interference from outside the multiverse, I thought it would be a lovely idea for you to be able to see them.>

He sounded smug and Fresh couldn't help but worry if this was something he shouldn't have.

<All you have to do is set true to false when on the job. I can't promise much, but you can at least get a read on their range of view and act outside it if you wish to be undetected. I wouldn't recommend leaving it active for long though ... you might see something you regret.>

"That's comforting ... not ."

<I suppose. But I think you'll do fine. Speaking of, I should really get back to the others so they don't suspect me. Time has always been one of my weak points and I've spent a lot of it here. I think. It will be quite a while before we speak again, Fresh.>

Fresh could sense the being leaving.

"Others?" Fresh asked before they completely disappeared.

<The other Deities. Karma wanted a word earlier. Something about a plan Destiny cooked up behind Fates back ... but never mind that. Take care.>

"Deities? Wait - I never caught your name!"

<... As if it wasn't obvious by now.> The voice was amused and quite distant by now. <'Catch you on the flip side,' Fresh.>

Suddenly, Fresh was alone in the Void. At least he's got his house.

Standing up and stretching he entered his house and made himself some tea, opening the Command bar.

"Now let's see what rad universe or skeleton I should visit first ..."

Chapter Text

After about ten minutes of peacefully drinking tea and searching AU details, Fresh learned something about himself.

He gets bored very easily without company.

So when he finally found an AU he wanted to check out he practically leapt from the kitchen table grabbing several things to put in his inventory. He opted to carry the skateboard though.

He could clean his mug later ... or just make a new one and toss the used in the Void.

Fresh chose to enter an Alpha Timeline - basically a world where he could meet many alternates at once and where it wouldn't be overly suspicious for yet another skeleton to pop outta nowhere.

It was right in the code that most people gloss over the fact that skeletons are rare, making it the perfect place to make friends.

He appeared in an alley between two places called Muffet's and Grillby's. Across the street was a small park.

Immediately Fresh was hit with all the different sounds - from birds, to wind, to people talking, footsteps on the sidewalk and more.

His sunglasses went from YO-LO to !!!-!!!

The Void had been silent ... quieter even, if that was possible. Just like the lighting sitch. Everything but his little sanctuary had been dark, darker yet darker ...

He was quick to get over the harsh difference, smiling in awe. Excited, he tossed his skateboard down and hopped on, ollieing outta the alleyway and grinning like mad at the air he managed.

He almost crashed into someone right away though and called back a quick "Sorry bro!" and kept going. He's pretty sure it was the Papyrus from Underswap, but he was too busy having fun to care - they could meet later.

He loved the sound of the wheels on the sidewalk.

Pretty soon he was weaving his way down the street past pedestrians doing all sorts of cool tricks, going faster than he should. He stuck to the basics such as the occasional manual (wheelie), slappy (tiny grind on a low edge) or an ollie (a hop) to maneuver through the light crowd. It came naturally to him to his surprise and he slowly started to build in a few more tricks and combine them.

Also probably helped he put a little magic in his Skatebored when he made it ... just a little though. It could double as a shield and had 99 def - any higher and he was informed it would be considered a cheat item.

After about five minutes he saw something that caught his interest.

He came to a staircase and slid to a halt with a power slide, popping the board into his hand. He considered his options. It wasn't exactly a ... short descent. Should he ..? Fresh smiled.

Heck ya!

Backing up he got some speed before dropping board and hopping on, pumping the Skatebored twice before he jumped - and did a radical grind on the guardrail.

"Yeah!" He shouted out having fun, pumping his fist, sunglasses stating how CO-OL he found all this as his sweater flapped in the wind.

He did a tight flip at the bottom, sticking the landing, startling a couple sitting nearby.

With wheels like this, who needs a /fly Command? He's already one fly looking skelebro!

He skidded to a halt, board now in hand and looked back at the rail. He paused then smiled holding his skateboard above his head running up the steps two at a time.

"Again!" He shouted.

Once again, Fresh was speeding toward the stairs but this time he did more than just grind down the rail. His glasses now state the action as RA-D!!

And at the bottom? He did another flip, but this time landing in a handstand on the board.

Fresh heard polite clapping from the couple he had surprised before.

His hat fell off at the end, but his trusty YO-LO sunglasses stayed in place as designed.

Then he realized he was on a crash course. 

UH-OH

Because he was upside down he didn't react in time except to call out a "Look out dude!"

"OOF!"

Fresh fell over face side down and his skateboard bid him sayonara for greener pastures as it peaced out with its momentum. The person he had collided with had by some miracle managed to stay on his two feet.

Apparently skating upside down well, was not one of his abilities. He'd practice some more, for sure.

"Sorry man." Fresh apologized, rolling over to face the sky. "Got a bit carried away."

The person turned to reveal a short skeleton with blue eye lights with a blue bandanna and a gray shirt.

"IT'S NO PROBLEM! NOTHING THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE CANNOT HANDLE! MWEH HEH HEH!" He posed and his bandanna billowed dramatically.

!!!-!!!

... who's child is this and can Fresh have him? He was such a bubbly and happy Sans, Fresh couldn't help but smile back.

Must be Underswap. 

'S-UP

"Yo! I'm Fresh." He held his hand out to shake and get help up off the ground. Blue grabbed it excitedly and helped him up. Which is how he discovered he was a head taller than Blue.

His eye lights turned into stars. "WOWIE YOUR SUNGLASSES ARE SO COOL! HOW DID THEY CHANGE LIKE THAT!?"

Mentioned shades turned back to their default YO-LO.

"Magic~" Fresh said with jazz hands.

Blue face palmed and groaned at the answer.

"blue ...?"

The two skeletons turned to the new skeleton in an orange sweater. He was a head taller than Fresh.

"who's your friend?" He asked, looking at Fresh

"PA - STRETCH! THIS IS FRESH. FRESH, THIS IS MY BROTHER."

"What's up my radical skelebro dude!" Fresh gave them finger guns. Then he remembered his missing items. He held up a finger. "Wait hol' up a sec dawg."

Using his specially coded and customized shortcut he 'Fresh Poofed' to retrieve his hat and then his Skatebored.

What that entails is basically a temporary confetti/ smoke blast of varying colors, words 'Fresh Poof' appearing to any viewer - it only had a 1 sec duration. It was a lot cooler looking than he expected. And more pink.

He poofed back over to the other two smiling, skateboard under arm and hat on head.

"Okay go." Fresh said, now yo-yoing.

The two stared at him. His yo-yo failed to make the climb the second time as the silence drew out.

WH-AT

"I got something on my face, brosephs?" He tilted his head as he started to wind up the 'technically a weapon.'

Stretch squinted at Fresh - more specifically his rad shades.

??-??

"how are your glasses doing that?"

"Hmm? Oh. Magic." He answered, just finishing rolling the yo-yo up and putting the toy back into his inventory. He put his hand in his pockets. "They were a heckin' pain to make right yo."

YO-LO

"make?/MAKE!?"

Blue had stars in his sockets again.

"Man I wish I had eye lights half as rad as yours, home slice." Fresh said smiling.

"THANK YOU! BUT YOURS CAN'T BE THAT-"

Fresh teleported away a few feet away when Blue went to remove his shades, sunglasses going blank. He hadn't even bothered with the special effects.

"-BAD?"

Default lettering returned and Stretch looked at him suspicious of his quick retreat.

"Nah, bro, it's pretty bad." He rubbed the back of his neck with a shy smile. "'M kinda self-conscious about it. Eyes are the window to the soul and all that."

"O-OH, I'M SORRY. I DIDN'T KNOW IT MADE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE." He frowned and fiddled with his gloved fingers.

"Aw, broseph, you didn't know." Fresh put up a peace sign. "'S all good, dude."

"STILL ... MAYBE I COULD INVITE YOU OVER FOR DINNER AT OUR HOUSE TO MAKE UP FOR IT?"

Stretch was trying to give Blue a discrete 'no' headshake.

"Ya know what dawg? That sounds totally rad!"

Stretch looked resigned and Blue looked excited.

"REALLY? THAT'S GREAT! I CAN INTRODUCE YOU TO THE OTHERS! LET'S GO, NEW FRIEND!"

With that, Blue grabbed my wrist and started chatting away about the residents in the mansion.

Stretch trailed behind only adding in a pun every once in a while.

Things were about to get funky.

B)

Chapter Text

The walk back to their vehicle was rather short and when Fresh saw the machine his shades turned to exclamation points.

"THIS IS MINE!" Blue said proudly gesturing to a cobalt blue motorcycle.

Admittedly Fresh didn't know much about bikes of the mechanical variety, but he was still excited as he started circling the thing with an ecstatic grin.

CO-OL

"This is like, so totally rad, broseph!" Then Fresh paused and furrowed his brow, having thought of something. He turned to Stretch. "But, dawg, I don't think we'd all fit dough?"

Stretch shrugged. "i know a shortcut."

"Of course you do muh rad bro, of course you do." Fresh smirked remembering he wasn't the only one who could teleport.

Stretch looked at him suspiciously before turning to Blue.

"remember to wear your helmet and not speed."

Blue rolled his eye lights. "I'M NOT A BABY BONES. I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF - I'M OLDER THAN YOU!"

"if you say so bro ..." He said in response. It seemed like a common interaction between the two.

Stretch gave Fresh a look. You know, the you-hurt-him-I-hurt-you one? That one.

Fresh just smiled, though his sunglasses said CH-ILL.

He wondered what it would be like to have a brother ... oh look! Blue's handing him a spare helmet! Sweet!

Fresh gratefully took the protective gear and replaced his hat with. He gave them exaggerated finger guns.

"Howzit lookin' brosephs?" Fresh grinned. "Am I one fly lookin' skele-dude or what?"

The helmet was red with a flame design.

"MWEH HEH! IT IS LOOKING GREAT FRESH!"

Stretch shrugged. He pulled out a pink sucker from his pocket. He looked like he was expecting something else to come out, if the baffled look he gave the candy was any indicator. He shrugged again then put the candy in his mouth as he began searching his pocket again, confused.

He only revealed more suckers.

"Lookin' for somethin' bro?" Fresh asked, curious.

"OH PA - STRETCH, YOU BETTER NOT BE THINKING ABOUT HAVING ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE CIGARETTES!" Blue scolded. "THEY'RE BAD FOR YOUR LUNGS!

"we're skeletons." He said still searching. "we don't have lungs." His shoulder slumped when he couldn't find what he was looking for, placing his hand in his pockets defeated.

"STILL!" He huffed, stomping his foot.

"I'm with Blue dude. Second hand smoke is hella unrad bro." Was what Fresh had to say on the topic.

Stretch facepalmed at being outnumbered on the opinion.

"... fine." He gave up. "i'll meet you two at the mansion."

In a blink it was just Blue and Fresh on the sidewalk next to the bike.

"SIGH ... ARE YOU READY TO GO?" Blue turned to Fresh with a small smile putting his own helmet on.

"Heck to the yeah dude!" He hopped on excited and Blue chuckled.

"ALRIGHT!" Blue said, now excited again. "WE SHOULD MAKE IT HOME BEFORE EVERYONE WITH DAY JOBS GET BACK!"

***

Back with Stretch, Underswap Papyrus, the moment he teleported to the mansion driveway his eyes widened in shock.

His bubblegum flavored sucker all of a sudden became a lit cigarette.

He choked at the sudden shift in flavor pulling it out of his mouth with extreme confusion and trepidation. He tentatively took a huff and it tasted like his usual brand.

Checking his pockets, instead of more suckers he found his usual pack.

He ... didn't imagine that. 

Right?

But he could still taste bubblegum.

This was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

Stretch decided to head in and give a heads up about the skeleton visiting. Those who were home anyway. Except for Black who was likely sleeping because of his night job as a bouncer.

It had been a year since the machine malfunctioned, sending their universe's pair of skeletons here, along with two other pairs that were more violent.

Then after 6 months it malfunctioned again . Bringing another set of three. Luckily only one of them seemed to be violent. The Sans looked a little ... ruff with that skull injury. The Papyrus as well with his teeth.

It was surprising for a new skeleton to suddenly pop out of nowhere when it wasn't those in the mansion being the cause. Stretch knew there weren't any other other skeletons in his Underground - but who's to say about Classic's? He would have to ask about it later.

Stretch shook his head as he walked up to the door, his now cigarette floating in front of his teeth.

Either way, that was one weird skeleton.

The door clicked open to reveal Red and Mutt playing Call of Duty. Both were sunk into the couch in the room to the right. They were trading insults, curses and empty threats thrown in as well ... mostly empty.

Stretch made his way over to the two.

"wow, you really suck at this don't you?" Mutt said to Red who's character was cornered behind some cover.

"i swear to dog." Red growled. "if you snipe me one more fucking time i try to leave i'm gonna replace your bbq stash with mustard! "

Mutt just smirked.

Bang!

"you motherfu-"

Stretch cleared his throat to catch their attention. They only briefly glanced at him as they continued their game.

"tch." Red said grumpy. "what do ya want, carrot."

"we're going to be having a guest over soon." Stretch stated. "they're a skeleton."

The two paused the game and looked at him.

"... the machine didn't blow up again did it?" Red asked with a scowl.

"not as far as i'm aware." Stretch said dryly. "saw him when exiting muffet's. he almost hit me while skateboarding. he eventually ran into my bro after that and was invited to dinner."

Mutt smirked. "take it that means you followed him? and i thought we were the bad skeletons." He put a hand to his sternum in mock shock as if he wouldn't do the same. "tsk. for shame."

Red smirked as well at that.

Stretch didn't say anything as he looked at Mutt and took another drag of his now finished cigarette before turning and leaving to the kitchen.

Without looking back Stretch spoke.

"behave." He warned, blowing out smoke. "he gave off a weird vibe and ... nevermind." He mumbled out at the end, putting out his cigarette stump on the tray in the kitchen.

He glared at the stump. He probably just imagined it.

The others would be getting back in about an hour.

***

Back with Fresh, things were a little ... chaotic.

"FRESH SIT DOWN!" Blue yelled in fear as Fresh yelled in glee. Blue couldn't turn around to make him or he would risk losing control of the motorcycle and he was distracted as is. "YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE ME A SOUL ATTACK!"

With an eye light roll, Fresh sat down backwards. He leaned his back on Blues, arms crossed as his legs kicked back and forth a little.

They were in front of a transport truck.

"Bro dude." Fresh said relaxed and smirking. "What's the worst that could-"

They hit a bump.

-and Fresh was no longer on the motorcycle.

" FRESH!!! "

***

In the living room of the skeleton mansion Stretch, Mutt and Red were playing Call of Duty, Mutt in the lead and Red dead last. Stretch had a new cigarette in his mouth and Mutt had lit up a dog treat. Red was drinking from a mustard bottle.

Things were actually pretty peaceful for once aside from a grumpy Red.

-Until, suddenly, they were no longer playing Call of Duty but Fortnight and the smokers were now sporting suckers.

Mutt spat out the red sucker immediately upon noticing the harsh difference, Stretch pulled his blueberry flavored one out with a dark expression. Red started cursing at the sudden shift in game ... at least he was trying to.

"what the funk is this shiz?" He flinched back with a look of complete disgust. Then his eye sockets widened realizing what he just said. "what the funk? frickin' heck is going on here!?"

Mutt looked from the sucker to Red in confusion. "Why the funk you talking like-" His sockets widened in surprise and a little fear.

A motorcycle could be heard approaching from outside.

"... our guest must be here." Stretch said darkly, getting up to go meet them outside.

Stretch popped the sucker back into his mouth before opening the door with grim determination.

Mutt and Red exchanged looks before quickly getting up to peek through the blinds as the motorcycle cut out.

What they saw was a surprise. 

Chapter Text

The first sight to greet Stretch when he exited the mansion was a Blue scolding an embarrassed Fresh ... who was holding a split helmet and had a nasty bruise on his cheek bone. He wonders what happened.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!" Blue shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO YEARS OLD!? "

Fresh actually snickered at that.

"THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER!" He stomped his foot. "YOU COULD HAVE DIED! DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF SELF PRESERVATION AT ALL!?!"

Oof. Blue was really laying into him. Must have been serious.

"what'd he do now?" Stretch ask, walking up with a lazy persona.

Blue gestured animatedly in indignation.

"HE FELL OFF THE BIKE AND GOT HIT BY A TRANSPORT TRUCK BECAUSE HE COULDN'T SIT STILL FOR FIVE. MINUTES! AND NOW HE'S ACTING LIKE IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL!"

Stretch choked on his sucker.

"Look, boski." Fresh said exasperatedly. He did a twirl arms outstretched. "I'm totes fine. No need to bug out on me."

"YOUR SKULL WENT UNDER THE FRONT WHEELS!" Blue cried out.

Stretch looked at the broken helmet in a new light as Fresh set its pieces on the bike seat.

"Broski, I can totes replace your rad helmet later-"

"IT'S NOT THE HELMET I'M WORRIED ABOUT!" He glared walking over to him. "NOW LET ME HEAL YOU, YOU ABSOLUTE CHILD!"

Each attempt Blue made at removing the sunglasses to heal the bruise was dodged.

"YOUR" Dodge. "EYELIGHTS" Dodge. "CAN'T BE" Dodge. "THAT" Shortcut. "BAD!"

While the two were distracted the door opened and Red came out to stand beside Stretch.

"what's goin' on?" Red asked, watching the interaction. "other than this funker somehow messing with reality that is."

Stretch shifted the sucker in his teeth.

"he got run over by a transport truck and is refusing healing."

Red whistled (magically). "no shiz? he doesn't look like much. It's like a rainbow threw up on him or somethin'."

Stretch shrugged. "looks can be deceiving. just look at us judges."

Red hummed in understanding. "i guess i could lend a hand." He traced the edge of his golden tooth where his skull was cracked absently. "'s better than sittin' around watching that garbage on the tv anyway."

"... not too violently." Stretch cautioned.

Red grinned up at him. "no promises. here's the plan..."

***

Did Blue never tire or something? Not that Fresh was feeling any fatigue from casually dodging the shorter skeletons attempts either. 

Sure it hurt when the truck hit him, but it wasn't like he would die and with the pain suppressant command in effect it wasn't that bad. But maybe Blue was onto something with his seeming lack of self-preservation. He'd be more careful in the future ... maybe.

How he managed to convince Blue to bail before the po-po showed, he could not remember.

He thinks he said something along the lines of 'I may be childish, but I'm not dumb.' Must have struck a chord or something, plus he knew they didn't want the police looking into the skeleton mansion.

Regardless, he could feel the injury starting to heal already. It was only a bruise at this point, rather than the crack there had also been when it was *wink* fresh.

Suddenly Fresh felt magic being summoned from a different skeleton. Startled, Fresh barely had time to duck the sudden red bones coming at him.

!!!-!!!

Blue seized the moment of confusion and caught him in a hug, pinning Fresh's arms to his side. Someone used blue magic making his skull feel heavy and off balance.

"NOW RED!" Blue called, having caught onto the plan.

A sharp skeleton was immediately up in his face with a shortcut, harshly swiping sharpened phalanges at his face.

EE-P!

Fresh did his best to lean back away from the attack without injuring Blue. But when Red managed to hook his fingers under his shades with a sadistic grin, Fresh could tell that the shades were the real target all along.

... Fresh should really look into getting more hands-on experience in fights to avoid this kind of thing again. Especially if he was going to do his job after this ... eh, he'd be fine. Probably.

When he did his job he wouldn't have to worry about holding back.

The reason Fresh didn't want to lose his shades was more than the fact it exposed his soul - the sunglasses were also designed to hide his overly overpowered OP-ness that is himself thanks to a certain Void deity that doesn't know the meaning of restraint. And considering his power level was at a point where even the Void couldn't kill him, it was a considerable amount of excessive magic.

As the sunglasses were smacked to the ground the full extent of his magic was no longer being cloaked and his sockets began emitting a purple smoke as he glared at Red.

All the skeletons froze. The blue magic lost effect.

Fresh spoke flatly, if a bit irritated.

"Really wish you didn't do that, dawg."

The being had warned him he would probably be sensed throughout the multiverse by those sensitive to its workings before he got used to suppressing it himself if his shades were removed outside of Void spaces. At least he had admitted to going overboard. Didn't apologize though.

Speaking of ...

Just as Fresh broke out of Blues hold and replaced his shades an inky portal formed not far away.

Out came a brown clad skeleton with a giant paint brush on his back. Fresh recognized him from the viewing portals.

The new skeleton noticed their group and gave a cheery smile and greeting. His eye lights changed colors and shaped every time he blinked.

"Hi! I'm Ink, Creator and Protector of the alternate universes! I sensed a large magic surge from this timeline and came to investigate!" He noticed Fresh and bounded right up like an excited child. "Oh wow! I've never seen you before! And I helped make almost the entire multiverse! Are you an Outcode?"

He began asking things in a rapid fire way as the three skeletons watched in confusion, not entirely sure what was going on. 

"What's your name? Do you have an au? Are you a Sans or a Papyrus - no wait - don't tell me. You're a Sans I can tell! Even if you're a little tall. Is your Papyrus as colorful as you? What's -"

So this was the guy who is single handedly destroying the balance to the point the deities had to create a Destroyer and now, an Admin. Not what Fresh was expecting.

"So broski, you're the Creator?" Fresh interrupted. Ink nodded his head excitedly. "Coolio. See bro, there's something I've been wanting to do since I heard about you."

Fresh smiled. 

"Oh okay! What is-"

He was interrupted by a powerful punch to the face. Ink crouched down and held his nasal ridge in his hands in pain and surprise.

"O-ow..." Ink said, muffled by his hands.

The force of the blow nearly brought up a gale wind and caused a couple nearby trees to shake.

"Tag! And you're it mah radical broseph~!" Fresh quickly turned to Blue with a smirk. "I'll have to stop by for dinner some other day. Later dudes!"

Fresh poofed to Outertale to prepare for the upcoming battle.

One of Inks eye lights turned into a red target and the other a yellow star as he recovered and got up yelling. "No fair! I wasn't ready!"

Ink swiped his paint brush to create an inky portal intent on finding the skeleton somewhere in the multiverse, leaving a group of very shocked and confused skeletons in the Alpha timeline.

They all were unaware of Fate's screeching and Chaos's laughter as they had been watching Ink for a while now while the others were holding a secret meeting - neither saw Fresh coming.

Chaos smiled. They think they've found their chosen one. They would have to tell the other deities when they were done distracting Fate.

In Outertale, Fresh knew he had some time before Ink found him - it was a big multiverse to search thanks to a certain someone. Looking over the terrain he found a spot with several outcrops of rock that would work as cover and it appeared to be away from the residents.

Perfect, he thought, smiling as he pulled up the Commands.

Ink was about to have rad time.

Chapter Text

Ink was traveling the AU's at random searching for a colorful skeleton. Not the most efficient method, but the unknown Sans presence had disappeared as quickly as he had come and Ink had no clue where the skeleton would hang out.

And he had to find him - Ink was 'it' and they were playing tag ... he's pretty sure. He's been searching for a while? Or maybe it was just an hour or so. He's not very good at keeping track of time or ... anything really.

He thinks he's forgetting something too, but he's used to that. The Creator of AU's is always forgetting something. He'll remember later ... possibly. He didn't know. Ink just shrugged and carried on, hoping it wasn't the oven again.

His face also hurt for some reason. Maybe he bumped into Error on the way?

Or maybe it was a door again - Ink, Dream and Blue shared the trait of kicking doors open when sharing exciting or time sensitive news.

The Sans from Underconstruction had to be called in a lot between the doors and the kitchen constantly needing fixed and/or replaced. (A/N: there is no AU Underconstruction to my knowledge ... Ink's busy with tag at the moment ;D (eh? eh? ))

As Ink was searching through Danceswap Copy 2809 he felt a weirdly familiar large pulse of energy coming from Outertale 567. 

Oh! Ink remembered that he found the colorful skeleton that way before! By following a magical surge! Ink felt his paints imitate excitement and curiosity.

Smiling, he created an ink portal toward the energy that was located just outside of Stardin. What he saw surprised, confused and interested him. It was the new AU hopper! But what was he doing?

When he saw the colorful skeleton sitting on a boulder with a strangely familiar looking foam sword propped on his shoulder, Ink tilted his head and held his chin.

"Hey Sans?" Ink asked, not knowing the other's nickname yet. "What are you doing just sitting there? Aren't we playing tag? Shouldn't you run? ... Or was it hide and seek and I won?"

Ink was confusing himself further and his eye lights took on the shape of question marks.

"Reasons simple bro." The Sans said, smiling. A purple mist began to leak from his sockets behind a pair of sunglasses that floated there ... somehow. "This here is muh radical trap dawg!"

Fresh snapped his fingers and Ink heard something above his skull. He reflexively used Broomie (his giant paint brush) from his back to deflect, thinking it was a blaster or some other attack only to find that the object was ... a bucket of paint!?

By hitting the bucket he caused it to spin rapidly and deposit its contents on him and the ground everywhere. Now Ink was half covered in yellow! He was so surprised he forgot he could magic the paint off.

Ink gaped at the skeleton.

Was this a fight or a new game? What is going on!? Whatever it was, Ink would be ready.

"The names Fresh by the way, home slice." The skeleton said as he poofed behind Ink in a colorful cloud and gripped Inks shoulder- "And we're about to have a rad time!" - and promptly wacked him in the face with the foam sword before he could move broomie to block.

Ink remembered why his face hurt as the weird skeleton ran in the direction further from town.

"Sans - Fresh!" He yelled chasing after him, exasperated even as he began to smirk. "Not again! "

Fresh was a surprisingly fast runner and Ink barely had to fake being slower to draw out the fight(?). This knowledge excited him and he began laughing at the thought of what an actual fight with the colorful blur would be like - it might even be as fun as fighting Error! And as a bonus they could fight without an AU being on the line.

It was a well known secret that Ink enjoyed the thrill of battle. In a way he was kind of happy he had a powerful enemy. There weren't many that could last long if he didn't hold back. Blue and Dream were pretty good though - he didn't have to hold back as much when they spared together, two on one.

As far as Ink could tell, this Fresh wasn't evil. Probably. He never did check what he was doing in that Alpha Timeline AU?

Ink would have to avoid breaking anything if they did manage to spar with this new Sans. Unlike with Error or Nightmare who were clearly evil, he'd actively aim to hurt or disable.

So Ink gleefully took chase after Fresh. 

After all, a trap is not a trap when you know about it; it's an invitation.

Two of the multiverses' strongest beings blurred away from the small town. Neither saw the attention they had gained of two silhouettes after yelling a certain skeleton's name that were on a casual walk eating Nice-cream. 

One of them was a human child, and the other a skeleton much like them.

*Follow?

The human signed with a small smile and squinty eyes.

The skeleton gave an exasperated sigh, dragging a bony hand down his face.

"ok..."

***

Fresh lead Ink to the 'battlegrounds' he had preset with many goodies scattered about ... if you could call it that, with how unleathal everything was.

It wasn't his job to fight Ink after all - that was Error's. Fresh was just the secret support. And getting on Inks side could provide some valuable information. Not that the same couldn't be done with spy cameras. Maybe he could do that later too. 

He'd need to find an inconspicuous design for the cams.

But for now, he was more interested in having fun. And what better way than by playing a little game with the Creator! The fact that it doubled as a way to stall AU creation was a dope bonus.

The battleground he had set up had a nice view of the stars, and lots of places for cover ... even if it was a bit close to the edge, he was sure it would be fine. It was space - if someone fell they'd probably just float or something.

Scattered about in various places behind cover were very colorful piles of water balloons filled with paint. They were mostly primary in color, but a few secondary colors were mixed in as well.

Among the purply-blue rock landscape there were also several foam swords, a couple colored smoke bombs shaped like furby's, several hacky-sacks dipped in colored powders, a few nerf guns and toy shields.

There was also a small ball pit in a kiddie pool, a bouncy castle and a llama piñata filled with, you guessed it, more paint.

There were more objects hidden. He figured it would be fair to have an unfair advantage considering what Inks primary weapon was.

That and it would be hella amusing.

Fresh poofed over to some cover as he approached the area with Ink close behind, stars in his eye sockets at all the colors. Ink seemed to have a hard time focusing on any single thing ... which would give Fresh even more of an advantage.

He chose the spot he knew had the largest pile of balloons and picked one up and pointed his foam sword at the approaching figure, causing Ink to pause in a ready stance.

"Approach if you dare, dawg!" Fresh shouted, channeling his inner hero monologue with a smirk because that makes Ink the bad guy. "For this is the radical battle of the paints! The first skeledude to cover the other head to toe in paint and color is the victor most swag, so said the Fresh Prince!"

Ink smiled and prepared his paintbrush and took a step forward.

"Oh? So you are approaching me?" Fresh smiled. "Radical!"

Fresh poofed a few feet further away and tossed several balloons in the charging skeletons direction. Three hits - a green one directly in the face, a blue to the already yellow arm and red at the opposite foot. The rest splattered to the ground in a colorful display of mock fireworks.

Ink rolled behind cover and Fresh poofed over the ball pit to loudly (it's a ball pit, of course it's loud) take cover there.

"Why always the face with you!?" Ink sputtered.

"What'ch ya gonna do about it broski?" Fresh taunts playfully as he discarded his foam sword for something better.

"Attack!" Ink started to charge again with a battle cry-

-only for Fresh to reveal a fully loaded paint-gun that had been hidden in the ball pit. He looked at the charging skeleton while sporting an easy gin.

"Say 'ello to my little friend then, home slice."

Fresh started firing as Ink swiped his brush to splash purple paint at Fresh and attempt to block the stinging projectiles.

"No fair!" Ink yelled as Fresh poofed away once more - this time behind the pinata.

Ink swiped at the paper mache llama, splitting it. Fresh having predicted this, quickly poofed behind Ink to give him a swift kick to the rear causing him to face plant into the puddle of purple paint.

Fresh only had a few spots of paint (a sleeve and shoe), and Ink was already half covered. Admittedly a lot of it was the yellow paint from the beginning surprise bucket. 

"Neither's that brush bro~" Fresh pointed out.

Ink turned over to be face to face with the barrel of the paint gun, with consideration before sheathing his paint brush, and raising a brow bone.

"Alright, fair's fair. Away it goes broseph." Fresh said, tossing away the gun and helping Ink up with an outstretched arm.

"Just so we're clear." Ink said, hands still together. "Blue magic is fair game, right?"

Fresh shrugged. "Sure why no-" Fresh was suddenly pelted with several balloons from behind and poofed to the bouncy castle entrance to avoid more of the onslaught.

His back was an even more colorful array than usual. Looking back at Ink he could see several more balloons floating around Ink covered in blue magic as he smiled smugly.

"Well played." Fresh admitted, gathering balloons with his own blue magic and setting off one of the furby smoke bombs that was near by. "But two can play at that!" Fresh laughed as he ducked into the bouncy castle as shots were fired blindly in Inks general directions.

This is where the real battle begins. Fresh smiled as he picked up the blue paint packed super soaker and aimed it at the entrance.

Things were about to get colorful .

Chapter Text

As soon as Ink's face entered the bouncy castle, Fresh let him have it, emptying the contents the super soaker had to offer in a cold spray of blue chemical smelling paint. Ink tried to dodge in a roll, grabbing a plastic shield and Fresh just followed him with the stream until the weapon was empty and tossed it aside.

Ink smiled smugly over the shield. The two were armed with the balloons and bean bags that were piled in the corners of the room hovering in their blue magics.

Fresh cartwheeled in an attempt to dodge Inks retaliation while managing to pick up a new foam sword, while sending a few attacks over himself - they were mostly blocked by the shield, others splattering on the ground behind Ink. Using the wall as leverage, Fresh leapt at Ink swinging his sword at his face only to be blocked by the paint covered shield. The collision sent up a spray of blue droplets onto himself as Ink was pushed back.

"Ha!" Ink exclaimed at having blocked the sword. "I wont let you hit my face a- gAin-!? " Inks voice cracked and rose a few octaves as he lost his footing due to wet paint.

The momentum from the hit had shoved Ink onto the strategically created patch of slippery paint covered plastic. Ink fell onto his back in surprise and Fresh went in with the sword and aimed at his face again while Ink was stunned almost as much by falling as that embarrassing sound he made when he fell.

"Yo that's what you thought, bro." Fresh grinned.

At the last moment Ink rolled out of the path of the sword only to get a face full of paint as he tried to use the momentum to get himself to his feet making Fresh laugh. 

Several bean bags were aimed at Inks knees, trying to get him to fall again - a low blow perhaps, but Fresh doesn't believe in such a thing as a completely 'fair' fight. Ink was quick to copy the tactic. 

From there, many water balloons and bean bags were exchanged as the two were literally bouncing off the walls in a dance of dodging, attacking and sometimes falling over. At some point Ink discarded the shield - must not be his style to be the one on the defensive - and he attacked with renewed vigor.

Ink managed to find a water gun himself and was laughing as Fresh smiled smugly, not minding the paint getting everywhere as he attempted to block (poorly) with the side of his sword. The two were very heavily coated in the stuff at this point.

Eventually the bouncy castle became too slippery for any sort of good traction. The castle had basically transformed into one big slip 'n slide - the two were constantly slipping everywhere and having trouble staying upright to each other's amusement.

Deciding to take a tactical retreat, Fresh did a power slide out the exit, knocking Ink over in the process with his sword causing him to faceplant.

"Oof!" Ink dropped his water gun and grabbed a sword of his own.

"Ya gonna just let that slide dawg?" Fresh punned, wiggling his eyebrows he just realized he has.

Ink emerged, brandishing a sword with an excited smile, eyelights a yellow and green.

"Of course not!" Ink said with a battle pose and laughing. "You'll not slip past me again! Mweh heh!"

"Heh." Fresh smiled as he got into his own battle stance. "Y'all better be up 'n ready for these radical sword skillz gettin' all up in yo face, bro."

Honestly, despite disliking Ink for having disrupted the Balance and threatening the existence of everyone and everything in the multiverse ... Fresh was actually having a blast. Ink was a very straight forward fighter and very easy to read and trip up - it was hilarious.

Fresh wondered how many more head shots he could slip in?

The Creator also seemed to be enjoying his little game rather than just fighting him as an unknown, so he must not be entirely bad ... even if he makes some pretty poor decisions.

Just as they were about to engage in their radtastic sword fight they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Ink and Fresh turned to see the Sans and Frisk of the AU standing not too far away.

"welp ... this paint what i was expecting." Sans said with a wink. "don't mean to interrupt ... whatever this is. but do you mind explaining yourselves?"

Ink and Fresh exchanged guilty looks at having been caught. 

***

A few minutes before ...

Sans knew that the human would follow whether he accompanied them or not - they were a very determined and unpredictable child when something caught their interest. And as he didn't fancy a lecture from Toriel later if he lost them, he chose to join them. Besides, he was curious who these new monsters were, having never seen them before.

So the two followed the trail of yellow paint to where the two mysterious skeletons had blurred off to with impressive speed. The kid seemed excited if their small smile and bounce in their step was anything to go by.

He wondered who the skeletons were. As far as he knew there were none other than himself and Papyrus ever since Gaster fell into the Void. Maybe they were from the Ruins and this timeline they had chosen to come out ...? Not all Resets were the same, so it was possible.

Alternatively they could be people from another universe. His machine had received a message about interdimensional travelers a few hundred Resets previously, warning about a Destroyer of Worlds and a King of Negativity. 

When they caught up to the skeletons, they were not expecting the mess they found.

The ground was a myriad of colors from splattered paints, discarded 'weapons' and the sad remains of a piñata (the poor bystander caught in the crossfire).

There was a ball pit with a few escaped plastic balls and a bouncy castle that appeared to be occupied. Laughter could be heard, along with sounds of popping water balloons.

Sans eyed the edge cautiously as a few plastic balls rolled off the cliff.

The human appeared as curious and confused as Sans.

*Circus? Frisk asked before picking up a furby, with their iconic deadpan expression.

Sans shrugged and spoke quietly. "certainly enough clowning around for it."

Frisk giggled at the pun, hugging the weird looking toy.

As they stepped closer to the scene a very colorful skeleton slid out of the bouncy castle on his knees, knocking the other one over with a foam sword. With a roll the skeleton bounced back to his feet, not noticing they now had company as the second followed after.

The two were very covered in paint.

When Sans asked for an explanation the two skeletons exchanged sheepish expressions, before the one without sunglasses walked over cheerfully and shook their hands. He laughed at the whoopie cushion sounding off when he shook Sans hand.

"Hi! I'm Ink! Creator and Protector of the multiverse!" He pointed to the other skeleton. "And he is, uh ..." His eye lights turned to question marks. "Who were you again?"

"Yo yo yo! Name's Fresh, radist skeleton of the AU's in da house." He gave them finger guns. "Pardon the mess homeslice. Must say, my radical brosephs, your pad be the bomb diggity with this radically sick view!" Fresh offered both hands. "Put 'er there pals!"

Frisk and Sans took the offered hands - only for the packet of silly string to activate and coat their hands.

"heh. a fellow man of culture i see." Sans smirked at the handshake gag, before eyeing the Creator. "so what're you two doin' out here in the boonies? especially someone as important as the creator."

Frisk tugged on Fresh's sleeve before signing while adjusting the furby.

*If he's the Creator, what do you do?

"Radical things I assure you, muh trippy little androngonous child-dudes."

For some reason Fresh was looking above Frisk. Frisk followed his gaze to a surprised looking ghost Chara.

*Wait - can you see-?

"Oh we have an excellent reason for being here!" Ink said, nervously answering Sans and unknowingly cutting Frisk off. "One that Fresh will now explain!"

"Yo that is so unrad how you up and tossed me under the bus, dawg." His shades changed to DU-DE as he looked at Ink. "But yeah, I guess I do kinda owe y'all brosephs an explanation, huh."

His shades returned to their default as he placed his hands in his pockets. Frisk was giving him a kinda intense look he ignored. After a moment of what appeared to be Fresh putting his thoughts in order he began.

"Ya see dawg, it be like dis. Ever since I heard about this rad Creator bro, I couldn't help but be wondering' if he be takin' enough breaks since I hear all he does day in an' day out be creating new AU's and fightin' those bad skele-dudes. So I go outta muh way to set up all dis here to give Inky here a rad time away from all dat stress - it ain't healthy yo."

"So ... you did all this because you were worried?" Ink asked. "That's what this game is for?"

"Totally."

There was a pause as Ink processed that before he burst.

"That's why you keep hitting me in the face!?" Ink asked.

Now smirking. "Yup."

"But I do take breaks!" Ink complained.

"Oh yeah? When was da last time ya took one then?"

"It was- ! Um!" He looked at the writing on his scarf "I, uh ... don't remember. But that's not the point!" Ink puffed out his cheekbones and placed hands on his hips.

"That is the whole point muh bruh - ya need to learn ta relax a little." Fresh smiled as he Poofed to Inks' other side and put an elbow on the smaller skeleton's skull, gesturing his other hand like he was cutting a deal. "Lucky for you, your fresh bro Fresh has decided to help a fellow skele-bro out!"

Ink pouted as he brushed Fresh's arm off his skull and crossed his arms.

"I don't need a mum."

"Then how 'bout a bro, bro?" Fresh said, sunglasses blank.

"Huh?" Ink turned a little.

"I heard you were a Sans without a Papyrus and ... well." Fresh rubbed the back of his neck, dropping the 90's lingo. "... I don't have a brother either. No one to prank in the mornings or trick into doing the dishes. I'm just kinda ..." He gestured vaguely to the vast expanse of space.

"... alone." Ink finished, now fully facing him with an unreadable expression.

"Yeah. Dat." Fresh said with a strained smile.

Inks face remained unreadable as he stared at Fresh.

Sans and Frisk were watching the exchange as if it were some sort of strange tv program as neither wanted to interrupt.

After a while, Ink broke the silence. "I ..." He hid in his scarf. "I think I'd like that ... bro."

"Ya mean it?" Fresh smiled.

Ink looked up with a beaming smile. "Yeah!"

Fresh opened his arms in invitation.

"Awkward sibling hug?"

Ink accepted the invitation.

"Awkward sibling hug."

The two hugged.

At the same time they pat each other's backs and exclaimed, "Pat, pat."

Frisk squeed at the wholesomeness and Sans had a fond smile, no doubt remembering when Papyrus was younger.

The two pulled apart.

"So are we done with the game or ...?" Ink asked.

Fresh shrugged. "Sure ... if you're willing ta admit I totally won this round."

"Nevah!" Ink said, brandishing his sword and giving a goofy smile.

"Heh." Fresh picks up the one he had discarded earlier. "Bring it on rainbro."

"Pfft, rainbro? Look who's talking!"

Frisk waved, catching their attention.

*Can I play too?

"Sure can kiddo-bro!" Fresh said. "Why don't ya give that rad furby's ear a twist?"

*Sans?

Frisk wanted Sans to play too.

"naw imma sit this one out. ain't got the energy." Sans said then winked. "you go ahead and get star -ted."

Frisk giggled and turned the furby's ear, causing it to emit a rainbow of colored smoke.

"Round 2 of the radical battle of the paints begins now!"

The three started laughing and dodging as the game restarted. Frisk is a champion dodger and very competitive they soon discover.

Sans takes a seat beside a rock to watch. His eye lights follow the path of one of the bean bags as it's over shot and passes the edge of the path, falling into the Void below. 

For some reason, he has a feeling something is going to go horribly wrong.

Chapter Text

Fate, to be technical, is what one might call a 'petty bitch.'

Even as Chaos was watching the portal comfortably with popcorn laughing at the game Fresh thought up, Fate was planning her revenge on that creature for daring to punch her son's innocent face.

However, she soon discovered that her strings could not bind him - that his Fate was a blank slate ... as was his Destiny. It was unnerving. Every creature of the multiverse was under her sway! No resident of this multiverse was outside her grasp, save those few above her clearance level, like those beyond the Wall or from other multiverses.

Even her sister could not disobey her, Fate!

It must have been a bug - and by how patched together, confusing and unintuitive his code was (she couldn't understand half of it!) it was a possibility. It looked like some amature hacker slapped some code together with all the duplicated coding and redundancies - what even was that math? Nothing was labeled, half of it was deactivated, or uncompleted, things were out of order and - was that a Command Bar!?

And to top it off, every three seconds some things would glitch and shuffle, making reading a nightmare. The very code was coded! Why!?

Whoever did this was either very, very good at hiding their intentions ... or an absolute idiot.

God's and deities, just glancing at it gave her a headache - the flashes of neon just made it worse. It was, she dare say, worse than Errors. She couldn't even tell if it was in a Hacker's control or not. Hackers were really starting to be a problem that she hoped would go away - she'd been ignoring their influx and will continue to do so.

Wasn't her job. She might not know whose job it was but they have been doing horribly lately! Maybe she'll visit Error later to let off some steam. He was overdue for a lashing, that freak, thinking he could take breaks to 'heal.' She couldn't see what her sister saw in him.

Fate came to a conclusion: if she couldn't bind him , she would edit those around him. She smiled as the souls didn't even notice the intrusion as she made a minor change to the AU's ending.

Ink might be sad for a while at losing his new friends, but he would get over it - he didn't like to use the negative paints unless it was over an AU's loss rather than its inhabitants.

How practical, Fate praised.

Besides, Fate knew he would just forget eventually. 

As for this 'Fresh' ... well ... she didn't care as long as he hurt - died, even.

It's not like he was part of a balance.

She locked the codes and smiled, looking back to the portal.

Chaos gave her a disapproving look having seen what she had done. As the youngest deity and acting god of Reapertale, they couldn't go against Fate even if they wanted to.

Yet that somehow didn't stop the little hellspawn from swapping out her and other deities' shampoos and other things, over all causing their name sake to spread among the Deity Realm.

She wished Void had never had the idea to lead them here. He normally didn't take action as the oldest, so it was a surprise when he showed up with the 'child.'

Somehow she had been swindled into babysitting them while they visited this time.

Fate rolled their eyes at the pouty Chara and watched the show.

Fate would admit the jab about not needing a mum hurt - her punishment for not reprimanding her child and her tampering with his memory was him forgetting her as his parent.

And people called her a bitch - if anyone deserved that title, it was Karma. He knew where to hit hard and was willing to do it.

For better or worse, she had been avoiding him ever since.

***

Back in Outertale_Copy567 ...

It was all fun and games. Right up until Frisk slipped on a paint puddle and fell off the edge.

Ink shouted "Gasp!" and Sans startled awake (he had fallen asleep) and Fresh's glasses were full of question marks, wondering why the kid wasn't just floating there because, well, space .

Fresh had no problem accepting that gravity worked on the paths and didn't make sense - these AU's were supposedly a Game after all, and Games don't have to be logical. But Fresh had kinda hoped and expected there to be floaty sections in Outertale.

Sans eye lights went black.

"... that cliff leads to the void." He started mumbling something along the lines of 'not again' and 'i had a bad feeling about this.'

Fresh thought back to the empty realm. He's seen first hand how it devoirs objects. Would his new friend end the same way ...? He began to fear for his new friend and his sunglasses reflected that, a cold pit in his non-stomach.

FU-NK

The N glitched a little as he was forced to censor himself, which felt weird. He kinda wanted to curse and swear but his words were edited as he spoke them.

Darned passive skills and distaste of cussing taking all the catharsis outta it. 

Fresh was about to hop in after the kid but Sans gripped his arm, stopping him. He probably thought Fresh would die if the panicked look he got was an indicator.

Just as he was going to explain he was going to save them, Ink spoke.

"Well ... that's not good." Ink said with a grim expression that seemed a little forced and fake.

Ink's hand hovered over his vials of paint as if deciding whether or not to unsheath the blue one. Ink let his hand fall.

"'not good'? 'not good'!?" Sans exclaimed, gripping Fresh's arm tighter while glaring at Ink. "we have no idea the effects this could have on space time. do you even know how interconnected frisk's determination is with all the resets? we don't know what will happen when they cease to exist ...!"

"Well, actually! There is another Frisk that fell into the Core. Thrown actually." Ink said, inappropriately happy at being able to correct him.

There was a sudden rumble throughout the world.

Fresh experienced an impending feeling of dread and froze. Fresh's shades went blank. He could feel it. The world is collapsing.

And Frisk was a goner.

He was too late. Fresh stood there in a daze.

"what happened to their world?" Sans asks worriedly, letting go (too late).

Ink tilted his head as he tried to remember as he straightened his clothes.

Ink answered (too late), brow only slightly furrowing. "I ... don't really remember - I'll have to ask them later - but I do know that, right now, your AU is deteriorating rapidly."

"what can we do to prevent it?" Sans interrogated (too late). "there has to be a way to save my au!"

Ink hand trailed back to the blue vial. This time, he took a tiny sip of his blue vial and gave Sans an apologetic look. "I'm sorry ... there is nothing I can do."

Ink now genuinely looked regretful.

And Fresh just stood there. Blank.

He'd never lost anyone before. And they had just met. He ... didn't know what to do. His emotions felt like they were lagging.

This was Fresh's fault ... wasn't it? He set up the game. He said they could play. He could have saved them.

Ink readied his paint brush, grabbing Fresh who let him take the lead.

"I'm sorry." Ink said with teary eyes to Sans.

He made a portal.

"w-wait!" Sans begged. "you can't just-" They were gone. "-leave us ..."

Sans slumped to the ground as another tremor shook the world, eye sockets blank. The world began to show signs of glitching.

From a distance, Papyrus could be heard calling his brother's name.

"SAAAANS!?"

"... bro?"

Papyrus came into view.

"SANS!" He rushed to his brother and hugged him. "I WAS WORRIED! EVERYTHING STARTED SHAKING AND - AND I COULDN'T FIND YOU AT YOUR USUAL PLACES A-AND -"

Papyrus looked like he was trying not to cry.

"... bro." Sans hugged Papyrus back. "it's gonna be ok." He lied. "let's go home."

"I ... I ... OKAY BROTHER. I'LL BELIEVE IN YOU." Papyrus lifted Sans, still hugging. "I'LL ALWAYS BELIEVE IN YOU ... LET'S GO HOME, SANS."

'I'll believe in you,' ... not 'I believe you.'

Sans hugged his brother tighter as they walked back toward Stardin.

Papyrus stumbled as the world gave out.

Chapter Text

hello-! time for that 1K special i mentioned. here's proof:

-oops, wrong one~ 

anyway, have at it! feel free to ask, well, anything. 

curse, ship, pun, lie, gifts - all up to you, just no hostility between askers please. this is all in good fun and does not impact the story.

you can ask individuals, and groups or you can pick and choose who you want to ask.

***

Neutral:

Fresh

Annoying Dog

Core Frisk

Classic (holding sign that says "puns here")

and me!

The Deities:

Fate

Destiny

Void

Chaos

Karma

Luck

Time 

Space

The Star Sans:

Ink

Dream

Blue

The Council

Bad Sans (why not):

Nightmare

Error

Killer

Dust

Horror

The Spies

Alpha Timeline:

(Other) Blue

Stretch

Red

Mutt

Edge

Black

Hop

Tango

Crow

Angle

Mars

Jupiter

have fun <3

-and hug your pets for me 

Chapter Text

GloriousRoach to Ink: What's your opinion on the rad dude fresh?

-

Ink perks up.

“He’s really fun! And powerful! I think he would make a great brother. But …”

Ink fiddled with his phalanges. He looks worried.

“I don’t know anything about him yet. But I plan too. The poor guy seems a little distraught about Outertale, so he must be a good guy.” He looks away. “Though I’m still kinda worried he might be secretly evil. He came out of nowhere - just like Error - and I don’t remember making him. I’ll definitely need to keep an eye socket on him. Just in case.”

He looks back up.

“I’ll be honest, being brothers will make keeping tabs on him easier and … it might be nice.”

He hid in his scarf and mumbled.

“... but I hope he doesn’t find out about my soullessness and hate me.”

Realising how thinking that made him feel, Ink glared at his blue vial.

There's a reason he doesn't drink it often.

***

Frostbyte112 to Error: Hello Error!! I bring gifts!!!

*a pile of chocolate falls from the sky beside Error*

-

Error looks from the pile, then to the asker.

Grabbing a chocolate bar he turned it over to check for tampering. Then he shoves the chocolate bar into his face using his five tongues, wrapper included.

He gave a half hearted glare, his voice like an old tv.

“... if this is poisoned I'll h-h-h-have you know I'm immune. Nightmare m-m-m-made sure of that.” Quieter he adds, turning away with a gentle blush. “... thank y-you for the chocolate.”

He starts knitting a Frostbyte112 doll.

***

AudiblyExausted to Core Frisk: *Bondtale!Frisk seemed to latch onto Core in a hug, refusing to let go unless pried off.

-

Frisk is confused about how Bondtale!Frisk isn't phasing through them, and returns the hug gingerly.

A couple black tears escape and they hide their face on Bondtale!Frisk, not being able to close their eyes fully to stem the tears.

“Thank you …”

It doesn’t seem like Core Frisk is letting go anytime soon either.

***

Frostbyte112 to Classic: Did you hear about the skeleton that dropped out of medical school?

I heard he just didn’t have the stomach for it!

-

“heh! good one kiddo. you’ve got some real class.” Sans twirls his pun sign lazily. “what do you do when you see a skeleton at a rave?”

Dramatic pause, followed by jazz hands.

“jump outta your skin and join ‘em! heh heh heh.”

***

wattttpaaduser to Fresh: Fresh I give you a rare furby that you don’t have to add to your collection.

-

“Heh. Thanks bro-dude! Tryin’ ta cheer up lil’ ol’ me.” Fresh hugs the furby and gives a smile.

The smile seems a little fake. His emotions were still lagging from Outertale and he was trying to pretend he was fine.

“But I wouldn’t call it a diddly darn collection, yet man. Just ten at home so fars. Used ‘em to practice coding colors. However, I have … new plans for the lil’ guys. Definitely going ta need more though, dawg.”

His fake smile stretched wider as he gave some finger guns.

“Catch ya later muh homeslice. Stay rad!”

***

Camote_Plateado to … me!?: Que hay mi radical amigo? 👉😎👉 / What's up my radical friend? 👉😎👉

-

… I'd make a joke about looking up and then replying "the ceiling," but I have no idea how well the joke would translate (yet I still squeeze it in XD). so, instead, I shall attempt answering … like a ‘normal’ person.

…

Naaah -

I’m great homedawg! I up and be all battling with the sickest of espresso depressos, man. I be usin’ this here slick fic as a means to escape the unrad vibes that be buggin’ out my jams through the radical innovation of escapism at its most fly, yo!

…

I’m getting better though. It just takes time. (and my dog died this week and it really hit hard when I realised I couldn’t explain to my other pets that she wasn’t coming back … she passed before the vet returned with the syringes. It’s not my first loss (family or pet), but it was the first time I was there. I can only hope i was any sort of comfort)

Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to ignore irl for a sec as I process and be using the lovely questions you so kindly translated for me into an English version ^^

- gracias por hacer eso <3 No tengo idea de la precisión que tiene el traductor de Google, o cómo estás leyendo un Fic Fresh en inglés - eso es muy impresionante incluso para los hablantes nativos a veces XD

Camote_Plateado to Fresh: FRESH:

How does it feel to be the most radical, cool and cool Sans in the whole multiverse?

Do you plan to meet the yin of the balance?

Did you know that in other multiverses you are a parasite or a high school student?

What do you think of these ships?

-Errotfresh

-Inkfresh

-Freshlust

-PaperFresh

-Epicfresh

-

Q1: “Feels totally fantastic bro!” Fresh exclaims, giving finger guns.

His hands fall slowly back to his sides.

“... at least dat’s what I think? Don’ really know bro - emotions have been a little outta wack since Outertale up and poofed with frisky business, but tha’ hasn’t been too long ago.” He frowned briefly. “M’ all hoping that the void deity can fix it. It’s …” His shades went out. “Uncomfortable.”

He rubbed his cheekbone, just below his soul.

Q2: His shades return to default as he smiles. “That I do muh radtastic brotato chip! Actually planned to meet them skele-dudes first but then Inky up and found me. Dat Error bruh needs a hug.”

Q3: “Nah, friend. The void deity never went on to tell me ‘bout the other multiverses.” He tilted his head. “It’s … cool, I guess.”

Q4: Fresh looks from the asker, to the ship list, then back to the asker before taking a deep breath through his nasal cavity. His smile twitched.

“Firstly. Y’all a bunch o’ filthy sinners. Secondly, who is Paper and Epic? No - wait. I don’ wanna know. They probably don't even exist in this multiverse. As for lust I was told to steer clear of his AU’s due to muh code probably not reacting well to the setting (aka violently). Ink is muh bro, and I haven’t met Error yet, but I’d like for the same.”

Suddenly his shades go out as he looks at the askers.

“If any of y’all do this with me ...” He leaned in darkly, angry purple leaking from his sockets. “... you’ll have a very unrad time.”

He leaned back, smiling fakely.

“Huh. Guess I can still feel some things after all.”

Camote_Plateado to Nightmare: NIGHTMARE:

What do you think of your gang?

Do you miss Dream?

Do you know the balance?

How do you get along with Error?

Nightmare, I want to tell you that you are some of my favorite character in the multiverse and that I think what happened to you was horrible, no one should have gone through something so hard, I hope you are happy and can have a normal life one day …

But if you don't want to have a normal life and you are perished to the Nightmare canon, I wish you the best of luck to dominate the multiverse> :) (although I know you don't need it)

Atte: una Simp de Nightmare 💜💜 / Atte: a Simp from Nightmare 💜💜

-

Q1: Nightmare glares to hide a smile. His tentacles lower a fraction.

“They’re a bunch of children that I can’t take my sockets off of if I wish my castle to stay intact.” He pinches his nasal ridge. “Don’t even get me started on how many times I’ve caught Horror trying to shove Dust into the oven … thankfully it’s always been off.”

He scowls. “For now. Dust should really learn when to stop teasing. I swear I’ll end up stabbing him one day if the others don’t get him first. No one would miss him.”

He looks away to hide a frown, tentacles thrashing.

The octopus is lying.

He’d be torn up to lose any of his ragtag family, even if he doesn't let himself show it, he knows it and so do they.

Hard to express yourself when it hurts to be positive.

Q2: Nightmares tentacles still and lower as he turns toward the asker with an unreadable expression.

“... no.”

Liar <3

Q3: “‘Does he know about the balance.’” He mocked, before barking out in a laughter that wasn’t amused. “You mean the thing that ruined my life? Continues to ruin my life!?” His tentacles sharpen as his voice takes on a sarcastic tone. “Nooo - Why the hell would I know about the thing that took my brother - I, uh, I mean-”

He turned away with a scowl.

“Shuddup.”

Q4: He turned back with a narrowed eye socket. “... he doesn’t visit often, but we get along okay. I keep trying to get him to join the gang to get him outta that anti-void. He’s complained about the ‘voices’ that live there.”

He gave a wicked smile, tentacles looming dangerously.

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that now, would you~?”

Q5: Nightmares expression returns to being unreadable. “...”

Q6: A twitch. “...”

Q7: Still blank faced. “... what’s a Simp.”

Camote_Plateado to … everyone: For everyone, did you know that they are observed by more than a thousand people

-

(I was hoping there wouldn’t be one of these ‘to everyones’ …)

Fresh and Error tilt their heads curiously but don’t really care.

Classic shows no reaction that he even heard the question, twirling his ‘puns here’ sign.

Ink is awed and decides to wave excitedly at all his fans (because what else would they be?), while Dream and Blue look worried and confused. The Council is slightly panicked at the security breach.

All of the Alpha Timeline lazy skeletons are freaked out at the revelation to varying degrees - except Mars who doesn’t think it matters. The energetic skeletons wave like they're on tv - except Edge and Black who act uninterested while subtly posing.

All the deities shrug or don’t react - they don’t care. Except Chaos - they smile and wave.

Nightmare's tentacles are in a defensive position to protect the team as if it were a threat, his socket narrowed. The rest of the gang just kinda shrug. Even the ghost’s Ash and CC shrug. The Spies narrow their sockets in a way that asks for silence on their position.

And I blink slowly with a deadpan expression. “Huh. Woudjya look at that - didn’t notice.”

***

KKKJAVIER to Fresh: Hey fresh do you have any on going plans that have any of the good or bad sanded involved? If so what is it? Just want to know you don't need to answer :]

-

“Yo, of course I’ll answer bro!” He smiles fakely, and tilts his head. “It’s not like anyone is listening ‘cept you bros. Long term I up and plan ta spy on both sides ta drop hints where it be necessary. Make sure no one important, like, dies, y'know? Also gonna instal some form o’ radical surveillance system. Other than that an’ muh job?”

He starts counting the plans off on his philangees as he says them.

“Hug Error - and all the balance keepers and their close allies - but especially Error, throw a bucket of pink glitter at da goop-boi, wake everyone up with ice water at least once, change out condiments, place furby’s in weird places, ‘misplace’ Error’s Ink doll into the Council meeting room, etc.”

He rubs his hand conspiratorially.

“Y’all welcome ta suggest some more radical pranks, yo.”

KKKJAVIER to The Deities: (group question for the deities)

Who makes the most trouble and who is the one to tell them off or give them a punishment for it.

Also if you were all fighting a common enemy what would be your roles in the fight for example who would be the tank, healer, fighter, mage and rouge of course there are other roles those are just the basic ones.

-

Q1: Karma stares coldly at Fate. She feels her sins crawl up her back.

“Depends if you mean on a multiverse scale (Fate) or just the Deity Realm (Chaos and Luck).” Karma returns to looking at the askers. “I am the one to enact punishments and rewards. Though I don’t usually tell anyone off.” He smiles disarmingly, with a wink. “I like to strike when you least expect it. I love a surprise~”

Destiny speaks up. “If anyone does tell someone off, it’s usually me, but not often. Though, Void has a way to do it with just a stare for such a non presence.” She shudders. “Not a staring contest you can win.”

The Void smiles smugly. <Thank you dear - eons of practice. Did I ever tell you the time I->

Time interrupts, knowing how he likes to rant. Void rolls his eyes.

“Void once erased my house." <It was an accident!> "Luckily my bro Space managed to make a new one.” Time added, glancing at his twin. “Though I could have just gone back to keep the perfectly good one we had.”

“Bro.” Space dead panned. “We had shag carpet the last time you did that.”

Lady Luck had been watching it all with a lazy grace. She smirked. “I’ve managed to avoid most of the drama.”

Chaos glares. “I’ll prank you one day Luck. You can’t last forever.”

Time looks to Luck. “Didn't you burn down your house in rage after Karma beat you in a card game one day?”

“We do not speak of that day.” Luck says, sipping ice tea.

Fate is sitting in a corner trying to look highty. “They're all troublemakers.”

Q2: Time speaks up almost immediately. “Archer healer! I could play games all day.”

Space speaks next. He looks to the asker exasperated. “Time tends to lose himself to any form of recreation - literally levitating in excitement. I prefer to keep my head in the real world, thank you.”

The majority of the deities laugh at the irony.

Yeah. They know.

Space rolls his eyes. “But if you mean real fighting, I tend to guard Time - our fighting styles are rather dependent.”

Time adds, smugly whispering. “He's a dragoon. And he’s fucking good at it.”

Karma doesn’t say anything about the swear, but there was a flicker of a smirk. “All rounder here, though I do lean toward stealth. Keep the enemy on their toes and all that.”

Chaos answered next like it was obvious. “Rogue ninja mage.”

Collective eye roll.

Destiny replies unsure. “Bard. I believe that’s the term. My strings can make music and can buff stats - sometimes at the same time.”

Fate scoffs. “I don’t have to answer-”

“She’s a berserker that mercilessly uses her string as a wip, the sadist.” Tme tattles.

Because if one thing is a fact, it’s that Time will tell.

She gives him a scathing look. Time returns it.

Void answers last. Everyone is curious - they’ve never seen him fight.

<... if it comes down to a true fight, I would be the tank and mage as I am unkillable and my magic is as vast as the voids I oversee … but I would not likely participate. I wouldn’t want to accidentally take my allies down with my enemies - or Author forbid the entire multiverse.> Quieter so only the askers hear. <Not again.>

Everyone has a bead of sweat rolling down their heads.

(is it any wonder he has such a poor sense of overpowered? … or maybe he’s lonely :’( )

KKKJAVIER to Me?: Yeeee (☆▽☆)

*Gives hugs and pets to author*

-

*hugs back wide eyed*

Gasp! A puppy! How did you know??

(yeah i know this technically wasn’t an ask, you didn’t mean it that way, and you didn’t know - but that’s funny. Let it be known I have a dark sense of humor at times. Coping is coping)

KKKJAVIER to Nightmare’s Gang: Hey nightmares gang have any of you ever seen or met any kings or queen's on the surface? Like in your timelines before? If not have you ever wanted to see or meet one of the royals in person?

-

They all turn to Horror who chuckles.

“... yeah. once. queen’s a nice lady … sense of humor too.”

Killer explains. “horror’s ebott is near england. somehow he managed to stumble onto her dogs and return them. lucky bastards the only one ‘sides nightmare who’s au is still intact.”

“... the crumpets were good.” Horror added.

“hey.” Dust asked. “weren’t you knighted as a show of peace between monsters and humans for that?”

“heh heh, yeah.” Horror admitted. “should have seen inks face when he found out …”

Killer put down his phone. “wait - he found out? what did he do about it??”

Horror snickered. “bloke tried to break into buckingham palace to warn her … didn’t know they don’ live there anymore.”

Nightmare finished the story with a smile and chuckle of his own, knowing the end. “Now Ink’s the one on their watch list.”

He turns to the asker with a thoughtful expression.

“I used to want to meet royalty when I was a kid. All those books about princes and princesses … but now? As King of Negativity, I know what it’s like to be the center of attention walking down a street - if with less positivity - and I don't have a kingdom to run, just these knuckleheads to manage.” “hey!” “As I grew up I realised they're just people too. Same goes for celebrities and influencers.”

Cross hid in his scarf. “... i’d still kinda like to meet one.”

Killer and Dust exchange looks and shrug. “too much effort.”

Horror waves bye to the askers with a smirk. “... ta.”

(hype for british Horror? Oh - and that he still has his AU and Papyrus. Dust is Canadian and Killer American

(not that they saw their Surface much), the rest idk)

KKKJAVIER to star Sans: Hey star sans crew have you ever wanted to meet a royal on the surface? Like a king or queen maybe even Their grandchildren? Just wanted to know :] (my reasoning for this is that they are miserable bro so many people breathing down their backs and tacking stuff from them right now they can only have one thing for them to have and they would take it away so nothing to call theirs, and also them having to be well behaved on a family members funeral sucks you can't cry and let it all out cause Everyone is watching them very much so SUCKS. They really need a break from all that. :[ They be needing hugs and affection bro

-

Dream Gasps. “That sounds horrible! I agree - they deserve hugs and breaks away from the public. No one should have to fear showing emotion at a funeral. Before you said that, I probably would have said yes, but now I feel like I would be putting my wants forward before thinking about what they want.”

Blue was nodding along. “I HAD NO IDEA THAT SURFACE ROYALTY HAD IT SO HARD. I KNOW QUEEN TORIEL HAS A FEW BAD DAYS IN THE UNDERGROUND, BUT EVERYONE HAS BEEN RESPECTFUL ABOUT HER PRIVACY. THOUGH SHE DOES HAVE A FEW MORE PEOPLE POKING INTO HER LIFE ON THE SURFACE, MOST BACK OFF WHEN ASKED … BUT I SUPPOSE NOT ALL SURFACES ARE AS PEACEFUL AS UNDERSWAPS. WE DON’T HAVE AS MANY WORLD WARS IN OUR HISTORY.”

“Well I think meeting royalty would be cool!” Ink says. “But they always turn me away at the door.” He pouted. “Same with world leaders. They don’t believe me when I tell them my role.” He brightened. “I’ve met a Native American Chief though! Don’t remember what tribe. She offered to do a ‘smudging’ thing. When I said yes I thought she was going to bring out some art supplies and sketch me, hee hee. I forget how that happened.”

“I can’t remember the tribe and clan either. They did kinda blur together after so many.” Dream said, tilting his head trying to remember. “At first we kept getting kicked out of different tribes when you kept insisting you were the Creator and tried to walk right into their houses. Not that I blame them. That was very rude.”

“Oh yeah! I did do that!” Ink laughed. “Not my fault I’m not what people expect.”

“... this is why you’re not allowed in places of worship.” Dream shook his head and tisked. “That stunt you pulled at the Vatican was awful. And don’t get me started on the shrines in Japan. What if their beliefs are actually also right?”

Ink shrugged. “It’s possible. I create AU’s by believing hard enough about an idea. Get enough people on board and it’s basically the same thing, I think. Why?” Ink gave a playful shove with a laugh. “Saying I should look out for lightning strikes?”

“You’ve been struck three times in my time knowing you.” Dream dead panned.

“Huh.” Ink tapped his chin. “Don’t remember that.”

“Yeah, they probably didn’t help in that department.” Dream said, trying not to smirk.

“Hey!”

Blue looked between the two confused. “WHY WERE YOU TWO VISITING HOLY PLACES?”

Dream explained. “I was looking into folklore and legends from around the globes and AU's for a way to help my brother back then. Ink came along like some tourist and wouldn’t stop touching things.” He frowned briefly before his smile returned, if a bit smaller. “Unfortunately my search was a dead end. But at least I got to explore all kinds of cultures?”

Blue pouted. “MUST HAVE BEEN BEFORE I WAS PART OF THE GROUP. THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS FUN.”

“Mm-hmm! Lot’s of fun!” Ink said. “What was the asker's question again?”

They shrug.

***

ZaryasTales to Fresh: Wassup my homie, anyway watcha gonaa do once you meet glitchy bruh

-

“First, imma give that glitch broseph a big gnarly hug.” Fresh answers, smiling. “Then, imma ask if he wants ta be muh bro, dude.” Fresh’s smile shrinks a little. “Tho I may not be able to hang much, homeslice. He’s got an unrad job to do.”

***

S1xb0nes to me!: What made you make this story?

-

Thanks for the question!

I find Fresh an interesting character in both his chaotic personality and his weird origin - Fresh was actually meant to be a troll character (as admitted by loverofpiggies) but the fandom loved him and made so many fan works for him.

He was just a silly idea that people fell in love with, even when the creator wasn’t expecting it.

The same could be said about Undertale.

So many little things had to happen to get here, to this moment, where I could meet and talk to all of you over a reimagining of an OC based around a game character from something that wasn’t expected to get as big as it did (got that from a youtube video). I'm happy my silly idea could reach even a fraction of you and I look forward to seeing what you, the community, make of it next - if anything.

One day I hope to share something a little more original though XD

In short, the idea of Fresh feels … validating. Inspiring. Like even a “nobody” can chase their dreams and exceed them. Communities coming together under mutual interests and accepting each other's weird individuality (mostly - and it hurts that i have to add that mostly).

Not bad for some 90’s nightmare.

Oof - so cheesy. To be fair I do have it written on my profile: I am a sappy person. Probably why I like Undertale, parmesan and puns.

For better or worse, I’m never not in my thoughts.

So one day the thought hits that Fresh is kinda like that person playing Creative mode for giggles while everyone is set to Survival. It didn’t take much of a leep to make a parallel to a Minecraft Admin.

And tuh-duh! Admin Fresh.

Also the idea of Fresh being from the Void was just epic.

But mostly it was to unstick writers' blocks XP

***

Shilo9517 to Classic: Time flies like an arrow.

Fruit flies like a banana.

-

“heh! nice timing on that delivery, f-fly-i.” Sans twirls his sign. “... do you think tall people sleep longer in bed?”

***

poz_yo_ke_ze to Fate: Have you thought about leaving the poor multiverse alone? I mean, I think you could spend your time in a different way

By the way:

FUNK YOU

-

Fate gives the asker a cold look.

“You presume to tell me how to run MY multiverse? Ha! Without me things would fall to anarchy under my sister's care. All that ‘chose your own destiny’ crap she’s all about. It is only by her tampering that my power is not absolute.”

She scoffs and crosses her arms.

“I don’t trust her chosen one - or any of the other creations, for that matter - to do what needs to be done without the right push. The plots would start to crumble under her ‘care.’”

A smirk.

“In some respects, she’s almost worse than me, merely providing the illusion of freedom. There are only so many options to choose from after all, and sometimes none of them are good ones.”

Her expression is stern, but lost in an old memory.

“We are all chained to our Fates. It’s better than the lie my sister sells.”

poz_yo_ke_ze to Karma: Why haven't you done anything to Fate? Or you're waiting for their "sins" to accumulate (It feels weird to write "sins")

-

Karma smiles. “That girl needs a good wake up call. The longer I wait, the more likely she is to get the message. Inks memory of her was the first try. Destiny’s plan is rather soft for my liking, but it will make a nice second attempt. If that fails, at the rate Fate is going …” He gives a dark smile. “Some sacrifices will need to be made.”

poz_yo_ke_ze to Annoying Dog: I would make a comment putting "dog barking", but I think that would be offensive

-

Annoying dog wags his tail. He doesn’t seem to mind.

“Bark bark!”

(Man … I hope I did Toby right by this - I don’t know if he’s actually that philosophical, but I was moved writing that reply and I've written some sappy things in my time. I didn’t know words could be strung together like that until I tried to channel Toby’s psych as my own - it was like he was right here with me and I knew exactly what to write. )

Beautiful :’)

poz_yo_ke_ze to Bad Sans: Have you ever thought about the possibility of there being one or more traitors? I'm not saying there's One, Who is the one who does the most nonsense per day or does it equivalent?

-

Error sits this question out in favor of knitting.

“If there were a traitor it would definitely be Cross.” Nightmare said, smirking.

“Cross.” Killer said.

“Cross.” Dust nodded.

“... Cross.” Horror chuckled.

They all turned to Cross.

“wha- hey! i would nevah! you wound me.” He put a hand to his sternum as if really wounded. He was trying to hide a smile.

“Not even for a meme?” Nightmare asked.

Cross looked about to reply then stopped. He gestured in a so-so maner.

He crossed his arms and leaned back. “but i’d be back the next day and it’s not like i’d give them anything important, so it’s not really a problem is it?”

Everyone burst out laughing. Cross was honest to a fault when not joking around.

Nightmare turned back to the askers. “No ones gonna betray us in the gang - we’re tied by Fate. Some of our spies on the other hand, aren't under as strict of binds. But seeing as Ink hasn’t busted the door down? I think we can assume we’re good.”

“ink isn’t exactly … subtle.” Dust snickered.

Killer smiled, from his phone. “if there were a traitor it wouldn’t take long to figure out.”

“... who you texting?”

Killer looked up. “None ya business~”

CC informs Cross it’s Blue, and Ash informs Dust of the same.

The two start giggling at the same time.

“Care to share with the class?” Nightmare looks annoyed.

“pfft.” Cross recovered first. “why the hell are you texting blue when he’s in the room Killer?”

Blue stage whispers. “SHH. THE ASKERS AREN’T SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHO THE SPY SQUAD IS YET. WE’VE BEEN DOING SO GOOD SO FAR!”

“... what were you gonna do if someone asked you guys?” Horror asked amused.

“UH-”

“this~”

“tch. i think the ~ gave ya away.”

“i think we should stop while we're ahead.”

Horror shrugged. “... also pretty sure people think you are spying on us … not for us … just thought the question made it seem that way.”

“Unless you really are traitors?” Nightmare asked, squinting.

There were negatives all round.

“Good.”

Cross points to Horror and Dust to answer the second question. “those two tend to stir up the most trouble. especially in the kitchen. throw blue in and we’re lucky to still have a kitchen left.”

Dust gives a so-so gesture, Horror shrugs and Blue rolls his eyelights.

***

lemonadeguy to The Spies: Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences

-

“HUH. I THINK HORROR WAS ONTO SOMETHING WITH THAT LAST ASK.”

“no, no - what if they think the bad sans are actually evil? it would make sans~.”

“wouldn’t they direct it at all of us then?”

“tch. i hate it when ya got a point.”

“jealous~?”

“shut up, fuck face.”

“speaking of-”

“n o .”

lemonadeguy to The Spies: Enjoy your time before said banquet because it will come sooner not later

-

“MMM’YEP!” He says cheerfully. “AUTHOR FUCKED UP!”

“blue??? what the hell?”

Blue huffs. “I’M ALLOWED TO SWEAR IF I WANT. I KNOW ALL THE WORDS!”

A rough voice is wheezing from the laughter.

A mischievous smirk.

“RED TAUGHT ME!”

The laughter cut out.

“red!” The other two yell, disappointed.

“i did no such thing! and don’ fuckin’ give me away!”

“oh sweety. they already know~”

“tch. there’s no way-”

“tch~”

“... touché.”

A chuckle. “i believe you mean enchante~?”

“n o .”

“LUST, I THINK WE’VE TEASED HIM ENOUGH.”

Lust pouts and backs off. “Boo.” Lust smirks. “than what about you blue stuff~”

Blue gives a deadpan expression. “REALLY.”

“welp … at least one of us has kept their identity secret.” He sips his coffee.

***

RidingHood000 answered by Fresh: Can Fresh Wear lipstick? like if he put it on would it even stick or would it just fall off.

-

Fresh looks up and thinks about the logistics of the question.

“donno bro - maybe if it were, like, a magic brand?” He shrugs. “i don’ think bone is a conductive medium for radical color additions, homeslice. even if magic bone be all more flexible than the remains o’ the more physical vertabruhs of the AU’s, it ain’t the same as skin.” He throws his hand up in an act. “But now ya got me curious!”

Fresh created some purple lipstick and a hand held mirror. He tries it on.

“... it’s a bit wonky. but it’s not like i ever done dis before brotato.”

He had it caked on really thick.

***

Aperson1 answered by Karma and Chaos: If chaos can swap shampoo of all the deities without any repercussions that I know of, then could they potentially have fate slip on a banana peel?

-

“Yeeesss.” Chaos is excited for prank ideas.

“Oh do not worry.” Karma smiles with mirth. “Prank will be met with prank - unless of course Fate is the recipient. I’ve made a few plans backfire already.”

“It's worth it though.” Chara says, adding. “And sometimes things end up even funnier that way.”

“Besides.” Karma gives Chara a fatherly head pat. “They bring joy to most the deities with their mischief, so their bad karma is not as steep as one might think. I had to threaten Fate from making them kill Life to ‘see what would happen.’ I made it clear what would happen to her should she kill off one of the balance holders.”

Karma leaned in and whispered to the asker.

“Just between you, Chaos and me, one could say … I’ve changed Chaos’s Fate.”

Chaos gave a wide smile, singing and twirling.

“I’ve got no strings on me~”

Karma chuckled. Then he posed like a commander. Dramatically he said.

“Go now, my Agent of Chaos! Fate’s tv remotes won't hide themselves!”

Chara curtsies with a smirk.

“My pleasure~”

Chaotic laughter fades into the distance.

“What a pleasant child.” Karma says. “I love my job.”

***

Truenote to Nightmare: Are you made from the goop or are you just covered by it?

-

Nightmares tentacles twitch, but he answers.

“Both. The top thinner layers can be removed without any trouble, I can even will it away. However, removing the deeper goop would be like ‘skinning’ me alive.”

Nightmare shuddered.

“... the idea’s Ink gets. If it weren’t for my brother …”

He turned away, tentacles twitching harder.

(Nightmare’s have layers.)

Truenote to Error: Hey Error how many chocolates can you eat before you get full? Can skeletons even get full?

-

“As m-m-m-many as I want, and you can’t s-s-s-stop me.”

He shoves another chocolate bar in his face. He still doesn’t care about the wrapper.

“A monster can e-e-e-eat for as long as it takes to equal their m-m-m-magic reserves, regardless of HP. Skeletons, Molsmals, B-B-B-Boss Monsters. We’re all the same, just in different p-p-p-packages and power … I haven’t been ‘f-f-f-full’ in a very long time. I don't have the t-t-t-time to eat that much and it’s not n-n-n-necessary for me to live. The anitivoid keeps m-m-m-me functioning.”

He starts to knit a Trunote doll.

“Life's Lemons and Lemonade can c-c-c-come close though. They are definitely the b-b-b-best in raw numbers, but I prefer chocolate.”

Truenote to Void: Does anything happen in the void other than Gasters coming there?

-

<Well, occasionally I will let wind exist in the True Void.> He shrugs. <Just to spice things up a bit - I’m more of a minimalist … the Gasters seem to appreciate it though.>

<The other Voids are more 'interesting.' One time another multiverses Void slipped into the batch - something about a christmas party. I made sure to return it before they were any the wiser.>

Truenote to Fate: What happened for you to end up like this?

-

Fate is silently examining the asker.

She takes a while to answer.

“... long ago, my sister made a promise.” She looks away with a sad scowl. “I should have known better than to believe her. Things can never go back to what they were. That’s all you’ll get from me.”

She glares at the asker.

***

That’s all the questions! Next special will be 10K.

Thank you all for your questions and interest in this story. I have a feeling that the next chapter will either be very soon or very not - we shall see.

Chapter Text

Star Council Base …

Dream was admiring his hard work. The Base was spotless.

When Blue wasn’t here, most of the cleaning fell to Dream as Ink would often forget or get side tracked.

Being Creator was a busy job after all. Supposedly.

Though as the Guardian of Positivity, it wasn’t as if he didn’t have his own responsibilities. But they weren’t nearly as time consuming.

He could do his job with his eyes closed - and being as he needs to be asleep to send good dreams most effectively, he meant that literally.

Though sometimes his job required him to fight off his brother in the waking world every month or so. Dream missed the shy, kind and gentle skeleton he used to be. Eating the negative apples had changed him into something cruel and power hungry.

It hurt him to see what he had become.

His soul twinged at the intense negative feeling.

He lightly slapped his cheek bones. Nope! He has to stay positive or Nightmare will gain an edge. He can’t mope for long about his brother - the multiverse was counting on him.

The positive apple in his rib cage did its thing and he was his positive self in no time. He began humming a tune as he threw a rag into the washer and returned to the living room.

Now what?

He had already cleaned and gone shopping … maybe he could ask Blue to come over after all?

He got out his phone and sent out a text.

Just as his boney finger hit send, Ink came in from a portal and he wasn’t alone.

He was crying … and covered in paint??

Dream rushed forward to give him a hug, not worried about the mess. Ink only cries when an AU he has memories in is destroyed. And with Inks memory … there aren’t many.

“It’s gonna be okay!” Dream said, leading him to the couch and throwing a blanket (that he had just laundered and folded) around his friends shoulders. “I’ll go grab some tea! Will you be okay for a few minutes?”

A small nod.

“There are fresh cookies on the coffee table.” Dream said, smiling kindly. “Help yourself.”

Ink already had one in his hand before Dream made his way to the kitchen.

He had already forgotten the guest in his haste. It was like there was no emotional presence, so Dream didn’t really notice the colorful skeleton as he worried about his friend.

Dream would normally use a tiny bit of his aura to help, but Ink was unaffected by it. Starting the kettle, his golden eye lights lingered on the jasmine tea before he settled on the camomile.

Back with Fresh, his emotions were a little … off. They were almost gone, it felt like. Was it a bug? Could his code not handle loss … or was it just not accounted for … ?

Or was something else at play entirely?

Fresh realized he’d been standing there blankly for a few more seconds than was probably comfortable, if the worried look Ink gave was an indicator. He had stopped crying, but that didn’t mean he was good.

Fresh decides to force himself to act semi-normal.

So with a small lazy (fake) smile, Fresh plops himself beside Ink and grabs a cookie. His shades were no longer blank.

“Sorry bout goin’ all blank Ink bro … kinda not processing well.”

Ink nodded and grabbed another cookie. “... was this the first time you’ve lost somebody? What about your brother?”

Ink must have forgotten Fresh didn’t have a brother.

“Nah bro, I ain’t got no bro but you so fars.” Fresh finished his cookie, but didn’t bother to grab another one. “Never had a bro, bro. Nobody too loose ‘fore now.”

Ink nodded and looked down at his blanket barretto. They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Ink eating more cookies, seemingly for something to do with his hands.

At least Fresh thinks it was comfortable. He couldn’t gadge it very well and it bothered him … kinda. The ghost of an emotion. A phantom feel. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it.

He felt like he was soulless.

He had to stop from checking to make sure it was still there.

Maybe … maybe the void being could fix this?

His thoughts are interrupted by a new portal opening.

Unlike Inks black one that you couldn’t see where it led, this one was basically a rough rectangle the size of a door. Two of the corners had a couple of purple and blue glitches that could have easily been missed.

Beyond, two skeletons could be seen in a house. The shorter blue and gray clad one waving to the one in orange that was lazily sitting at the kitchen table - slumped over it more accurately.

“BYE PAPYRUS! BE BACK SOON!”

“later bro.”

Underswap.

Papyrus briefly locked eye lights with Fresh and was about to say something when Sans shut the portal.

The Sans (okay - Blue ) took in the scene.

A paint covered Ink and a stranger sitting on the couch eating cookies. The sound of a kettle going in the kitchen. Ink wrapped in a blanket with fresh tear tracks.

“WHAT HAPPENED?” Blue shouted in concern. “AND WHY ARE YOU COVERED IN PAINT!?”

Ink looked down and chuckled looking down at the mess.

“Oh yeah … I forgot.”

He held out a hand palm up and all the paint collected into a ball. Closing his hand around the blob, the paint was erased from existence.

Interestingly enough, the strangers YO-LO sunglasses turned into CO-OL ones for a moment. Something about his smile seemed false to Blue - like how Ink would get sometimes.

Dream came out of the kitchen with two cups of tea with a surprised expression. He quickly handed one tea to Ink.

“Four sugar with lots of milk right?”

“Yup.”

Dream turned back to the other guest’s and set down his own tea with a respectable one sugar, no milk.

“I’m sorry Blue!” Dream said, with a small smile. “I got distracted, but Ink needs a break right now.”

“THAT IS PERFECTLY OKAY DREAM. I KNOW WHERE THE HOT CHOCOLATE IS.” Blue looked at the stranger. “BY THE WAY … WHO ARE YOU? I’M BLUE!”

Dream looked at the new skeleton, slightly worried. He hadn't sensed any emotion from the new colorful skeleton - positive or negative (even if negative wasn’t his specialty).

It was … unnerving, now that he was paying attention to him. It was irrily like how Ink was without his paints. Only this person acted like he was fine.

“Oh! Right!” Ink said excitedly. “This is Fresh! We’re brothers now.” He gave Fresh a side hug, pulling him close.

“We diddly darn are, broseph.” Fresh said, poking him in the side, getting a giggle. “I have claimed this here rad skele-creator-dude as muh lil’ bro.”

“Whaaaat? Why do I have to be the little brother!” Ink gave him an unamused look. “And it better not be because I’m short.”

The two other skeletons were watching amused as if this were a tennis match.

“Nah bro.” Fresh smirked. “It be because the older bro gets pranking privileges, while the younger bro gets to act all huffy about it.”

Ink puffed out his cheekbones, not helping his case. “How old are you anyway?”

Fresh answered, letting his voice go flat for the joke. “I would like to up and exercise muh right to silence.”

It must have been too flat if the looks he got was any indicator. He tried to cover his mess up with some forged nervous laughter.

??-??

“Somethin’ wrong brolio’s? Not tickling your funny bones?”

They exchanged looks.

“Fresh … are you okay?” Dream asked. “I don’t mean to call you out but … I haven't been able to sense any emotion from you. At all.”

Both Ink and Blue looked at Fresh startled.

Fresh’s shades went blank and his face neutral, having been caught off guard. He really shouldn’t have. Of course the Guardian of Positivity would catch on.

They all looked unsettled by the shift, so he relit his shades and gave a small embarrassed smile to ease the mood. He could still read a room a little at least.

“Ok. Yeah. I am not good at the mo, bro.” Fresh admitted. “Losin' tha’ AU kinda messed wit’ me. I was hopin’ ta just play it off until things start up again an’ just act like I normally do, homeslice. It - for lack of a better word - feels like absolute garbo not to have emotions.”

Ink looked empathetic. Dream gave an apologetic and comforting smile. Blue looked slightly weirded out, but also like he wanted to do something to help.

“DO YOU MIND IF I ASK WHAT HAPPENED?” Blue asked gently.

“No, I don’.” Fresh smiled hollowly. “Me, Ink and Outertale Frisk were playin’ a sick game I made where you try tuh cover the other completely with paint.”

Dream nodded. “That explains the mess.”

Ink was sitting quietly looking at his half empty tea in his hands.

“Yeah. It was real rad time. All of us laughin’ an’ having fun …” Fresh let his smile dip. “Until Frisky slipped off the edge and into the Void. The AU started to crumble.”

There were a couple soft gasps. Ink was starting to tear up again.

“... it was my fault.” Fresh concluded, not noticing his drop in lingo as he had told the story. “At first I was shocked. Then I was scared, sad, guilty - then gradually just … numb. It’s like my emotions are there but not there. Just out of reach.”

He gently brushed his finger against his cheekbone, just under his soul as his shades went blank again.

“Maybe …” Dream fiddled as he set down the empty mug. “Maybe I can help. I’m a Guardian of Positivity, so, it could be possible? You did say they only felt out of reach, not …” A glance at Ink so quick one could miss it. “Not gone. I might be able to help.”

Fresh chuckled. It was an empty sounding thing now that he wasn’t putting as much effort into the act.

“Welp. What the funk could go wrong?”

Chapter Text

“Welp. What the funk could go wrong?”

The logical thing was to try. And as Fresh was fresh outta emotions to make the decision, trying it was.

“So!” Fresh startled the other three with his sudden ‘positive’ shift. “What’s this radical idea ya got that can up and start the feelies, muh radical brotato chip?”

Fresh gave finger guns.

“O-oh, um.” Dream recovered. “I was going to try channeling my aura. Maybe … that’ll be enough to unlock the block?”

“Pfft. That rhymed.” Ink said, from his blanket barretto.

Ink looked better than he was. He took another cookie from the almost empty plate.

“Aight - let’s get dis goin’!” Fresh said with a smile. “The worst that could happen is it don’ work. Right, bro?"

So Dream made his way to where Fresh was sitting and held his hand above his ribcage.

Should Fresh say something? That’s kind of the wrong spot.

He suddenly didn’t get the chance as he felt Dream's aura do … something. He could almost feel the positivity bubbling up as Dream had a look of utter concentration.

There were suddenly pop up screens that no one seemed to react to. Though Blue might’ve widened his sockets a fraction, but Fresh was pretty distracted with what the pop up said:

<Unauthorized tampering with Admin Fresh’s set penalty. Preventative measures required.>

And that’s how he found himself unintentionally and suddenly having Judo flipped Dream onto the couch where Fresh was just sitting, shades blank.

Needless to say, everyone was a little surprised - including Fresh who quickly let go and held his hands up in surrender.

??-??

“Okay - I did not mean ta do dat bro.” Hands still up. “But uh, we probably shouldn’t do tha’ again, broseph.”

Dreams skull was in Inks lap - who looked both amused and worried - while Dreams legs were draped over the armrest.

“I was so close too!” Dream pouted and crossed his arms.

Ink tried to reach another cookie but Dream was in the way. With a mischievous smirk he picked Dream up and dropped him on the ground.

“Ink!” Dream said, with betrayal. “Why!?”

Ink winced, but grabbed a cookie anyway.

“Couldn’t reach.”

“Wait - is that the last one!?” Dream shouted and tried to retrieve it. “I just made those and yet didn't get any!?”

The two began to ‘fight’ over the cookie. By that, Fresh means Ink started to play keep away.

Fresh - hands still up - leaned to stage whisper at Blue. “Yo, is it always like dis, dawg?”

Blue nodded, clearly exasperated but smirking.

“SIGH. WHOULD YOU ALSO LIKE A HOT CHOCOLATE? I NOTICED THERE WERE ONLY TWO MUGS OUT.”

“Y’know dude - that would be fantastic.” He gave finger guns. “But first my radtastic brolio. Do ya mind directing me to the bathroom?”

“HUH? OH! IT’S DOWN THE HALL TO THE LEFT. I’LL GET THE KETTLE GOING AGAIN.”

“Thanks brolio.”

As soon as he was alone in the bathroom, he locked the door and his shades went blank as his expression.

Recalling the pop up, he pulled up his code and - oh god that was awful - and that was without all the shifting parts, random color strobing and font changes. The void being must not have been lying saying he was a first attempt. It was ... messy.

It was a wonder he was a functioning person at all. Though that in itself was debatable.

Miraculously though, he could read it without too much of a hold up.

Looking for more details about the pop up brought up more information about the ‘set penalty.’

Apparently if Fresh is to to go against his directives three times consecutively, he would be met with the penalty of temporary-permanent emotion loss.

A deeper dig revealed notes. The notes state the idea came from Ink’ soulless state and that it was meant to leave Fresh in a near catatonic state because it would be too dangerous for another powerful entity to be wreaking havoc in the AU’s. It was meant as a simple preventative measure.

Fresh thought that was fair - the multiverse was already unstable. But that was probably because he couldn’t feel horrified at the moment.

But clearly it didn’t work. Fresh decided not to fix the coding error that let that happen.

The rules he had broke were:

<Spike in Rating as direct result of Admin Fresh’s tampering of timeline: Outertale_Copy567. Cause: Change of Fate, Character Death(s).>

<Attempt of consecutive profanity.>

<Attempt to reveal connection to Void with the following individual(s) present: Ink and Fate.>

Fresh thought it was a little strict. How was he supposed to know Fate was watching?? And after checking what a Change of Fate was, Fresh was convinced that it was partially the deities fault rather than his.

If only he could edit his code …

A window popped up.

<Does Admin Fresh wish to edit the codes of Admin Fresh?>

<Y / N>

A loophole. His job was to update old or inefficient codes.

And his codes could definitely use some optimizing.

Fresh tilted his head and considered. Had he had his emotions, the idea might have scared him and immediately selected the ‘no’ option.

But he didn’t have his emotions.

He clicked ‘yes.’

Another pop up.

<These codes are under the authority of the deity Void. Override authority as Admin?>

<Y / N>

So Fresh could override a deities authority as Admin? And now he knows who his creator was - Void. No wonder he thought Fresh should have figured it out.

Was Admin actually more powerful than Void thought?

Fresh didn’t bother to think about the logistics of being able to code something more powerful than himself. It was theoretically possible.

But he probably shouldn’t go around revoking deity rights before he got the full story. Just as there was imbalance in the multiverse, the balance seemed just as skewed in the Deity Realm. He didn't want to make things worse after all. However … it would be very inconvenient to go around Judo flipping more people.

He hit ‘yes.’

Two pop ups this time. Really mixing things up, aren't they?

<You now have sole authority over Admin Fresh! Only those at or above Admin level may edit these codes.>

<Warning. Modifying your own code can be painful and may cause side effects. Proceed anyway?>

<Y / N>

What was a little pain compared to the alternative? He would very much like to feel again. 

He hit ‘yes.’

Another pop up.

<Direct SOUL access required for editing. Removal of magic dampener required.>

Oof. All that ‘work’ just to be denied.

As he was about to remove his sunglasses, a knock came at the door.

“HI FRESH! IT’S BLUE. YOUR HOT CHOCOLATE IS READY AND YOU’VE BEEN IN THERE A WHILE.”

Recalling where he was, he dismissed the window and opened the door with a cheery smile. Beyond the door was a nervously smiling Blue holding two mugs of hot chocolate.

“Yo yo, what up muh little skele-bro dude!” More finger guns.

“THINGS HAVE SETTLED DOWN IN THE LIVING ROOM AGAIN.” Blue handed him a mug, which he took. “COMING?”

“You got it, brolio!” He gave a two fingered salute as Blue led the way.

What Fresh didn’t know is that Blue had felt someone opening codes nearby … and there was only one unknown here that it could have been.

And not just opening - but editing .

The other two sensed nothing off, but Blue knew.

Ever since he was kidnapped by, and eventually befriended Error in the antivoid, Blue became more sensitive to the codes. He couldn’t edit them, per se, but he could punch a hole to create portals.

Turns out staying too long in a void does weird things to a person. Could something similar have happened to their new friend?

He’d have to ask Error if he knew anything later.

The two entered to see Ink had retired to his blanket burrito and Dream had gotten one for himself as well.

Fresh shrugged and grabbed a blanket himself and sat in the arm chair. Blue sighed but grabbed a blanket as well.

There were now four blanket borrettos.

“I’M NOT EVEN COLD.” Blue muttered, but was smirking.

“So!” Ink starts, squished between Dream and Blue. “We were discussing other ways to help get your emotions back! Or at least give you some supplement I have lying around.”

“WHY DO YOU HAVE EMOTION SUPPLEMENTS LYING AROUND?”

Ink shrugged and answered like it was a question. He avoided looking at Blue. “Better over prepared than under prepared …? Anyway!” Ink changed the subject. “I was thinking it was because Dreams can only give positivity! Maybe you need to have both? So I suggested we kidnap his brother-”

“We’re not kidnapping Nightmare!” Dream said sternly. “He wouldn’t cooperate anyway.”

“-which is why we make him! Though we can’t do that now. Maybe tomorrow.” Ink is looking down at his covered sash.

“HOW ABOUT NOT AT ALL?” Blue cringed. “DREAM HAS A POINT. HE PROBABLY WON’T DO IT.”

Ink pouted. “Well that’s all I got.”

“What if I tried again?” Dream said. “Blue could hold him down?”

“Sorry ta all be interrupting this radical debate, yo.” Fresh said. “But while I was haven’ a bit ‘o alone time, I came up with a fresh idea that might work, muh brotatos.”

“Really?” Ink said interested. “What is it? Can you do it now?? I wanna see what it is!”

“Heh. Sorry bro." Fresh gave a purposely strained smile. "But, uh, I’d like some privacy for it, dude. It won’t be pleasant. But I’m pretty sure it’ll up and work!”

“I can handle it!” Ink said confidant.

There was no way he was going to code in front of Ink. So, he did the first thing that came to mind.

He chuckled dangerously.

“I don’ think y’all up and heard me.” He lowered his now blank sunglasses and let his magic leak. “I’d like some diddly darn privacy , dawg.”

He replaced them back on his nasal ridge with their usual YO-LO, bright and cheerful.

“Ya don’ see me all up and crossing your boundaries, bro. Way unrad thing ta do, homeslice.”

He stood up and let his blanket fall and set down his barely touched hot chocolate.

“Welp. I’mma go do the thing. Even if I start screaming, whatever ya brosephs do …” his shades were blank again as he pointed to the bathroom. “Don’ open that door.”

He left in a Fresh Poof.

They all recognized his magic as the same one that was pulsing across the multiverse mere hours ago.

“... Ink?” Dream asked, tightening the blanket around him, with wide sockets.

“... yeah?” He turned to him with question marks for eye lights.

“... just who did you adopt as your brother?”

“No idea!” Ink chuckled. “But that’s what makes this fun! I hope he isn't evil though. That would be a bummer.”

Suddenly they could feel that heavy magic of his in the air again. Shortly after, there was a scream.

“WE PROBABLY SHOULDN’T DISTURB HIM …” Blues eye lights went uncharacteristically black.

Ink smiled.

"Now where's the fun in that?"

Ink ran toward the bathroom.

Chapter Text

Dream is certain Inks impulsiveness and boundless curiosity was going to get them killed one day. Simple as that.

Does he not know a threat when he sees it? Or does he just not care?

The answer is simple really. Dream knew this was mostly because Ink drank purple even less than blue.

The creator literally had no fear. It was all a Game to him.

And that put both himself, and his allies at risk. It was a large point of conflict between the three friends. Dream has only managed to convince him to be fully on his paints once, and while he was better at recognizing danger and taking caution, he was still impulsive, curious, and childish ... and that's when Dream learned the creator actually had a lot of fears.

The color white, isolation, being forgotten, forgetting or losing his friends, people secretly hating him ... and being fully off his paints.

Dream had only seen him low on paints and it hadn't been pretty. He acted purely on logic to complete whatever goal he set his mind to before he lost his (already somewhat lacking) ability to empathize. 

He stops caring about consequences.

Luckily that hasn't happened since Blue became part of the team.

Back in the present, both Blue and Dream shared startled looks as the small skeleton ran down the hall toward the potentially very dangerous, emotionless and unknown skeleton.

The two began to struggle out of the blankets to make it in time.

There was a thump as one of them fell over in their haste.

***

Back with Fresh, he had just Poofed to the bathroom.

Logically, if he wants to keep his job a secret, they can't be asking too many questions - leaving would make them wonder where he went and he can't answer 'the Void.' Therefore he needed to be here to recode himself. 

The down side is they'll know he has weird powers, but not necessarily what or why. He would also be setting a magical beacon at the Star Council Base by removing his shades, but that wasn't a concern to keeping his job on the down low.

But before he removed his shades and began to recode himself, he had to make sure he wasn't being watched. He probably should have done it last time, but he doubted anyone else could have actually understood his code.

Not that he knew Fate had a habit of watching the multiverse like a soap opera or something before seeing the details of his penalty. Weird, but everyone has hobbies.

So, with the practice that took three hours in order to drop a summoned paint bucket on Ink (what? It was worth it), Fresh used his commands mentally. He noted it was a lot easier without his emotions to distract him.

/fourth wall false

He was immediately met with a translucent screen with two people shown watching him. Above their heads floated their status and name.

*deity, Fate

*deity/god, Chaos

He turned to them, lowering his shades with a cruel smile.

"Don' ya know it's unrad ta peek on someone in the bathroom, brosephs?"

They were both startled. Fate even fell off her chair and Chaos dropped their popcorn on her - by accident was debatable. Fresh would have laughed if he could feel amused.

/set portal viewing false

The portal was forced shut to complete the jump scare.

/code lock true

And now they would not be able to open it again, or edit any of the code in this world as long as the code lock was active - didn't want another Frisk incident.

That done, he reset the fourth wall so that he wouldn't 'see something he'll regret.' 

Done with the Commands for now, it was time to open his codes.

He took off his shades the rest of the way, deciding to get this over with fast.

His soul and eye light were pulsing with purple magic again, creating a flame/smoke effect coming from his sockets. A lot of people across the multiverse must be wondering what the heck was up with the random magic pulses and if it should worry them.

So far Ink was the only one who thought just walking up to the source was a good idea. Ink certainly was ... something.

Attempting to edit his code, he was met with the same warning pop up and he accepted the risk of pain. He was quick and efficient with the changes.

First, he made the penalty system toggleable and set /penalty system false, so that he could have a full read through later. Never know what other things he might find out in the hidden notes. 

Next, he /set emotion true to negate the effects left by the penalty system.

He also noticed he could now freely toggle all the Commands that were previously locked up. Probably had something to do with having sole authority of his codes ... but he decided to leave them off until he needed them. He can do that later from the Commands rather than directly with the code.

The changes didn't take long because he knew exactly what he wanted and how to do it. Especially because only part of it was 'coding' and was mostly done through intent. Want something to change? Get a pop up to confirm.

But even if he did have to code manually, he probably could have. Just would have taken an extra minute to type - as things were, they just filled themselves out for him, which was totally convenient.

It took a maximum of ten seconds since entering the bathroom to complete. He even double checked the code lined up with his intent and it looked good. All that was left was to confirm the changes.

He probably finished before the three got over their shock even and so far he's only felt a discomfort in his soul whenever he added something.

No screams of agony as of yet, so that was good.

Any other modification can wait till he has his emotions back and isn't at risk of interruption ... Ink doesn't seem like the type to understand danger. 

Facts: Ink had felt an unknown powerful magic surge and just waltz right into the AU like an excited tourist. Then followed the person that was the cause into a prepared area after it was clearly stated a trap. Brought that stranger home without consulting allies, or housemates.

And that was just one day.

Of course now that Fresh was doing something 'interesting,' Ink would be curious and his time was limited. He probably had only another minute. Though Fresh did have a plan for if Ink entered before he finished.

But other edits can come later when he's safely back in the Void.

Besides, Fresh knows he'd probably not add all the stuff he was tempted to right now (like invulnerability, finger gun lasers, etc) after he regains his emotions.

That was probably a good thing.

Time to wrap this up.

A new pop up.

<Save and Apply changes?>

<Y / N>

...

Though he was sorely tempted to do more while he could. He wouldn't get a chance like this again after all.

As his hand hovered back over the codes with a blank expression, he knew he could do it - he only needed a little more intent and it could be ready in seconds. He likely wouldn't have it in him to add more if he regained his emotions.

He was hit with a thought.

Were his emotions holding him back?

He remembered how he felt when Void told him he had a /kill all Command and made his decision.

Fresh sighed. He knew what he should do. And leaving himself in this state wasn't it.

Shades in hand, he hit 'yes' ... and screamed.

If it was uncomfortable before, it was absolute agony now that the changes were being implemented. It felt like a hot blade over his very soul and he had to squint his socket shut from the pain. He almost fell over having been caught off guard, but managed to catch himself on the edge of the sink. It felt like eternity but was in reality just a few seconds.  

When it was over though, he felt such relief he began to tear up and smiled genuinely. He looked up to meet his reflection. One purple eye light and a soul stared back ... however, his soul had a hairline crack - it was barely noticeable, but it was there.

But he had done it. He could feel again!

He immediately hid his face in his hat at what he had almost added to his codes. He was embarrassed.

What was he thinking!? He was already stupidly OP! If anything, he needed less . It was bad enough he could toggle the /kill all command now.

He sighed and closed the codes.

Never again. Even if it was to delete the /kill all Command, never again would he edit his own code - it was too much of a temptation and so much could go wrong. That and he didn't think he could handle the feeling of being updated multiple times. 

No wonder there was a pain warning.

When he said he might scream, he thought he was exaggerating - he laughed off a flippin' transport truck just hours previously!

Which reminds him, he still has a dinner to attend at some point. After he does his job for a bit ... after a rest at home and thorough check of his Codes and Commands. And then he can meet the Bad Sans and start the pranks! Not to mention his other plans for a monitoring system.

Boy, for being born literally that day, he sure has a lot of plans.

As for Frisk, well ... he could only hope the True Void wasn't a painful way to go and move on with the intention of avoiding a repeat. It was an unexpected event, that's all. Fate was the true cause. There was no reason for Fresh to get hung up over it.

Suddenly the door was kicked open and Fresh turned in surprise, brought out of his thoughts.

There, in the doorway was Ink, smiling like an idiot.

They would be needing a new door and locks, Fresh noted.

"I have come to assist!"

Fresh couldn't help it. He laughed, wiping away a stray tear.

"Pfft. Sorry, bro." Fresh replaced his shades, wiggling them. "I'm already donezo."

"Whaaa?"

Fresh laughed again at Inks disappointed face.

Fresh couldn't believe Ink had shown up after that threat. Well, he suspected he might, but really? Without his emotions he would have thrown him halfway through the wall head first to keep him from seeing the code and said something about a time out.

Fresh considered doing it anyway.

Seconds later two voices shouted out Ink's name. Ink turned with a puzzled expression only to be tackled to the ground by Blue followed by Dream. Ink simply rolled his colorful eye lights and stopped resisting.

Seems like it happens often.

"SORRY!" Blue said with shifty eyes. "INK GETS IMPULSIVE WHEN CURIOUS! I HOPE WE DIDN'T DISTURB YOU."

"Yeah!" Dream agreed. "Sometimes he's a real idiot!"

"Right here guys." Ink said with a bored tone. He then looked up to Fresh excited. "So did it work?"

"Yeah broski." Fresh said, leaning on the less damaged door frame and twirling his hat with a smug smile. "It totally did muh fine skele-dudes."

Dream had a confused expression as he helped Ink back up. Blue was bouncing on his heels excitedly.

Suddenly Ink stilled.

"Does this mean ... you can fix emotions?"

He had that same unreadable expression as when Fresh asked to be brothers.

Chapter Text

In the Deity Realm, the staticy portal Fate and Chaos had been viewing things with, came back into focus - the shot was a close up of Ink’s face and playing at 1.5x the speed of real time. 

The sudden clarity startled Fate into very clearly jumping back from her tampering.

Chaos had been very amused with the jumpscares - they may have used the first one (courtesy of Fresh) as an opportunity to tilt Fates chair just sliiiightly back when she had jumped causing her to fall. 

Sure, Fresh got Chaos a little, but they were better with dealing with that type of thing than Fate. Chaos was, quite literally, their element. Also messing with Haunted Houses with godly powers was always a fun pass time, so they were well acquainted with the art of jumpscares.

Code Locking the AU was a nice touch, though. Fate's frustration made the popcorn that much better.

Fate had even started banging the side of the static filled portal as if the reception was bad when opening with codes or string did nothing.

Thus leading to a close up of a sudden close up.

But it seemed like Higher Management sent someone to repair the Fourth Wall and as a result fixed the connection (sort of). At least the sudden flex tape on the corner of the ‘screen’ would suggest that.

Higher Management was on a tight budget after all. 

For an omnipresent all powerful being(s?), they surprisingly couldn’t do much.

Or they were lazy - their ways were mysterious after all.

“Took them long enough.” Fate huffed, righting her chair once more to watch.

She gave Chaos a look as if daring a remark about her loss of composure.

Chaos gave an eye roll and ate more buttery goodness from their bucket of infinitely spawning popcorn. It came standard with the Deity Pack.

But they digress.

Back to the unnecessarily zoomed in and sped up face shot, Ink was wearing the expression he does when he’s meant to be feeling an emotion he didn't have the right paint balance for. Chaos is pretty sure Ink wants to be afraid - or at the very least, anxious - seeing as he had surprisingly decided to take the blue earlier.

Ink vomited a rainbow. 

Very anxious then.

Fate zoomed out so that they could get a better view (and away from the colored paint), but was having trouble locating the speed controls.

“You ok, broseph?” Fresh asked Ink. Though the speed made it harder to understand.

He looked worried and weirded out at the same time. So either it worked and he got his emotions back or he was getting better at acting.

Chaos nodded to themself. They think they missed something important. But if that meant Fate did too, they had no problem with that. Though judging by the kicked in bathroom door it was probably interesting. That was the only shame.

Chaos ate some more popcorn. They love a good mystery.

“Uh …” Ink chuckled as he used his magic to gather and erase the mess. “I think I just remembered I have to do something.”

He made a hasty retreat through his black portal. 

*Ink ran away.

Fate glared at Chaos for the narration, and they rolled their eyes.

*Ink made a “strategic retreat.”

“Having fun, brat?” Fate sneered.

“Yep!” Chaos tossed a piece of popcorn at the ‘supreme deity.’ Fate twitched. “You're sooo great with kids. Just look how yours turned out!”

The sarcasm was thick.

Fate bristled, but did break eye contact first.

They checked the time with a feigned disinterest. Error had invited them to 'Secret Karaoke' later at Nightmares Castle. 

They still had time.

“What?” Chaos smiled, giving a mischievous side eye. “If you can’t handle a few jabs at your parenting, you can always let me go~”

Fate's expression darkened. “And let you complete the ‘next nefarious plan’ I heard you and Karma giggling about? No. I do not plan to fall for another one of your childish pranks.” A warning glare. “The only place you’re going other than this room is back into the multiverse where you can be someone else's problem.”

All part of the plan. 

Well except for the maybe-banned from the Deity Realm (like that would stop them), but still pretty good! They hadn’t even fought, which was a surprise. Usually by this point weapons were long since drawn.

Chaos was getting bored with babysitting Fate.

Time for phase two then.

“Aw, boo.” Chaos said getting up and tossing another piece of popcorn at Fate, putting the rest of the bucket into their inventory. “Woe is me. Such a shame, etcetera, etcetera.”

They moved between Fate and the portal, humming.

They got an idea. 

They wondered if Karma would approve, though. 

Eh. Maybe Karma would show Mercy to his prank buddy and little ‘Agent of Chaos.’ What a dork … when in a good mood.

It’ll be fine. 

Chaos turned with exaggerated movement and smiled at Fate who had been watching them like a hawk. As if Fate could figure out where Chaos was going with this. Hilarious. Chaos was a master of sleight of hand and improvisation. 

“Dear, dear, Fate. And who, pray tell, said we didn’t already set it up while you were ‘watching’ me?”

Fate pailed.

Chaos laughed, disappearing with their magic leaving them with one last sentence.

“Have fun relaxing at home~” 

Fate tried to focus back on the portal she had been distracted from - Dream had called in a Sans to repair the door - but the paranoia of what might wait for her in the rest of her domain had her turning it off. 

Her Child Ink would be okay without her tampering for a while. Right? She just needed to check her … everything. 

Shampoos, foods, clothes, door frames, door knobs, furniture, electronics - there was no telling what was tampered with or how much. Nothing was off limits. Everything was suspect.

This was going to take a while.

Bracing herself, she cautiously opened the door to the rest of her home one inch at a time as if expecting some Eldritch horror to reach through at any moment.

Looking up the word 'gullible' was still spray painted on the ceiling from a previous prank.

So far all was quiet. Too quiet.

Little did she know, there were no pranks today. And that, in itself, had been the prank.

Enjoy a day of paranoia, Fate. There is no relaxation here.

But more importantly … no one noticed a certain piece of flex tape had gone missing.

***

Star Council Base (what was missed).

“Ink - wait!” Dream called too late. He sighed.

The three looked at where Ink had disappeared into his portal.

Fresh’s shades showed RU-DE.

“Dat was unrad, bro.” Fresh said. “We were up and havin’ a conversation."

Did this have something to do with the ‘soulless state’ Void wrote about? But then, why run, Fresh thought.

“... I WONDER WHY HE LEFT SO SUDDENLY.” Blue said, almost at a normal volume. He had an expression of deep thought.

Dream gave Blue a guilty look, but glanced away. He looked like he wanted to say something.

“Yeah … I wonder.” He said.

That didn’t seem to be what he wanted to say. 

Fresh clapped, bringing up the dour atmosphere while gaining their attention.

“Ok! While as much as I’d up and like ta hang with ya rad skeledudes, I gotta poof.” Fresh pointed to the wreck the bathroom had become. “And y’all got some business ta take care of it seems.” He gave finger guns. “Later!”

Before Fresh could poof, Dream gripped his forearm to prevent him.

“Wait!” Dream said, giving him a searching look.

??-??

“Sup?” Fresh found the ceiling very interesting, not liking the staring. “If you’re up and about to extort some free labor outta this skeleton, I remind ya my radical bro, that it was in fact Ink that kicked that door down brotato.”

Dream looked away.

“... we should exchange phone numbers.”

OK-AY

“Aight.” Fresh smiled. “No problemo, brolio." 

Fresh pulled out a Nokai Brick from his pocket.

It wasn't even a flip phone.

It was Blues turn to give a searching look.

Dream took it gingerly. "O-oh, uh. Thanks? It's very ..."

"RETRO?" Blue offered.

"Yeah! Retro." Dream said, jumping on the word. "That's the word."

Fresh burst out laughing and pulled out the latest model, without a case.

RO-FL

"Oh man, dude! Ya should have seen your faces, bro!"

He thinks he's got a handle on silent Commands. If just the basics and not customized stuff. Though he would definitely need to customize the phone piece when he got back to his crib.

And figure out how to use the thing.

Maybe he should have stuck with the brick. He’s pretty sure he knows how to use that one. 

Dream took it with an eye light roll at the prank handing back the brick. 

“Rude.”

When he turned it on it asked to set up. Dream sent Fresh another unimpressed look and Fresh looked away whistling.

“... are you even hooked up to a plan?” Dream asked. “Let alone the Multi-Net?”

“The what now, broseph?”

Dream sighed and handed it to Blue who did a few things and handed it back to Fresh when done.

"I HAVE ADDED YOU TO THE MULTI-NET AND ADDED OUR CONTACTS WHILE AT IT. I ALREADY SENT US HELLO'S SO THAT WE CAN ALSO GET IN TOUCH." 

Blue seemed in his element as he went on to explain some things. 

"YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT MULTI-NET DOESN'T ALLOW LIVE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ALL AU'S DUE TO DIFFERING RATES OF TIME DILATION - ESPECIALLY IN THE NEWER AU’S - SO ANY COMMUNICATION MUST BE BY TEXT OR PRERECORDED, BUT DON'T EXPECT IMMEDIATE REPLIES."

"Coolio. I understand bro." 

Made sense to Fresh. He has a deep understanding of physics and the multiverse because of his job, so, yeah. To Fresh it was obvious. 

"OH GOOD! I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO HAVE TO EXPLAIN WHAT SPACE DILATION WAS. I SHOULD HAVE JUST SAID TIME WAS WEIRD, MWEH HEH."

Blue rubbed the back of his skull bashfully.

"Nah bro." Fresh shrugged. "It's pretty basic relativity stuffs and I already knew the rad AU's weren't stationary little brosephs.”

It was pretty intuitive for Fresh. Void had also shown him a holographic map he had borrowed from a friend.

Basically, the AU copies circle their original at different speeds, causing time to run differently between them - a universal ‘fast forward’ as it were. They were also bigger and slower the closer they got to the center as they had more time to mature and stabilize their orbit making them less of a collision hazard and easier to travel between. 

Though the many AU’s looked more like asteroid belts rather than planets because there were so many copies. Outer rings of new copies lining the fully established inner copies, and quite a few rouge AU’s that acted like comets that didn’t fit any one AU type because of crossovers.

They all twinckled in and out of existance when a genocide run was completed, or lit up brightly when there was a Reset or Load.

It was kinda pretty.

Fresh could only assume that they were orbiting other multiverses in a similar way, divided only by the True Void and Forth Wall. 

Fresh smiled and added for Blues benefit.

“It’s real interesting stuff, bro-dude."

And relevant to his job as he has to update the outdated codes that keep physics rolling should they ever go out of date and malfunction. Provided the Balance doesn’t fail before then.

He should really ask for a raise.

“OH! ARE YOU ALSO INTERESTED IN PHYSICS?” 

Blues eye lights were literally stars as Fresh gave another shrug and a nod. 

“I dabble.” 

He couldn’t help the smirk - he really couldn’t.

“YOU MIGHT LIKE SCI THEN! HE’S FROM SCIENCETALE. I KNOW SCI IS VERY INTERESTED IN TRYING TO MAP THE MULTIVERSES ORBITS RIGHT NOW BUT HE DOES LOTS OF SCIENCE RELATED THINGS! HE’S BEEN TRYING TO CONVINCE GENO TO SET UP A LAB IN THE SAVE SCREEN, OR INK HIS DOODLE SPHERE TO GET MORE ACCURATE READINGS FROM AN OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE TO TRACK AU PATHS. IT’S LIKE LARGE SCALE ASTRONOMY!” 

Blue seemed very excited about it. He didn’t seem to realize he had started to rant a bit.

“WE ALREADY KNOW STRING THEORY ISN’T THEORY AS WE’VE CONFIRMED AND EXPERIENCED TRAVELING VIA THE 6TH DIMENSION, BUT SCI WAS HOPING TO GET ALL THE WAY TO THE 9TH! COULD YOU IMAGINE WHAT KIND OF THINGS WE COULD FIND!?”

“Blue, bro.” Fresh said, amused. “As much as I’d like to delve into the radical possibilities the observations of higher dimensions can open for string theorists, I think we’re boring our host, dude.”

Dream did have a very glazed expression.

Blue looked embarrassed again.

“I’M SORRY DREAM.”

Dream snapped out of it. “Oh, no! It’s okay! We were talking about the Multi-Net?”

“RIGHT!” Blue turned to Fresh. “BE SURE TO TEXT OKAY? WE CAN TALK MORE LATER.”

“You got it skele-friend.” Finger guns. “Catch ya later!”

He Poofed away successfully that time.

Dream looked at the ruined door and sighed.

He pulled open his phone (which had a text from an unknown number he marked as Fresh) and sent out a couple texts. One to Crane and one to Ink.

“WHAT WHERE YOU GOING TO ASK HIM?”

“Huh?” 

Dream looked up from his phone to see Blue watching him with worry and intrigue.

“YOU LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD SOMETHING SERIOUS TO SAY TO FRESH WHEN HE TRIED TO LEAVE AND THEN CHANGED THE TOPIC TO PHONE NUMBERS.” His eye lights were blue disks.

“... oh yeah.” Dream was surprised Blue caught that. Or remembered. “About Fresh I …” 

He looked Blue in the sockets, trying not to show how worried he was.

“I still can’t feel any emotion from him.”

“B-BUT HE’S ACTING MUCH BETT-”

“Exactly. ‘Acting.’” Dream looked conflicted. He squared his shoulders. “But it’s not possible to just fix your own emotions like that. Even for a guardian. Blue, I think he’s lying but …” Dream looked at his feet. “We can't tell Ink.”

“WHA -”

“Blue.” Dream said firmly. “Ink is already afraid that Fresh is lying.”

“BUT INKS NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING?” Blue said surprised. 

“That’s … not actually true.” Dream looked uncharacteristically sad. “But it’s not my secret to tell. I promised. What I can say is Ink has trouble expressing himself because of it. Especially when it comes to negative emotions and … fear especially.” 

Dream sighed. He’s been doing that a lot lately. 

“You know how unpredictable Ink can be. What I propose is that we keep an extra socket on Fresh discreetly rather than just cutting straight to the offensive like Ink. I might just be jumping to conclusions.” He fiddled with his fingers. “Just because someone can’t feel, doesn’t make them bad. It just makes it easier.”

“ALRIGHT.” Blue appeared to psych himself up as he struck a pose. “THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE SHALL TAKE YOUR WORDS TO HEART! EVEN THOUGH I DON’T HAVE ONE! A HEART THAT IS. IT’S LIKE MY FRIEND TEMMIE! ANYONE CAN BE GOOD IF THEY JUST TRY.”

Dream smiled. “Thanks Blue. I know I can count on you.” He gave Blue a hug. “I’m glad I have such a magnificent friend. I’m sorry to make a liar out of you.”

Blue gave his signature laugh and hugged back. “YOUR SECRETS ARE SAFE WITH ONE AS MAGNIFICENT AS I. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR! DISCREET IS PRACTICALLY MY MIDDLE NAME!”

Dream laughed lightly and let go.

“Thanks.”

They were interrupted by the sound of construction as a portal opened. The portal opened from the cab of a crane. 

Out came an unimpressed Sans with a clipboard and a hard hat. His vest was on backwards by choice.

“... really? again?? i was here yesterday!”

“I’m sorry Crane, I know this isn’t your specialty.”

“whatever.” He marked something down on his clipboard. “the sooner i get this done, the sooner i can have my legally required break.” He added. “i could almost believe it if ink made my au just to have someone repair the doors here.”

Dream did not confirm that it was a possibility. Or that it was fact.

As Dream and Crane assessed the damage, Blue was making plans. He was definitely going to be asking around about Fresh.

Maybe the ‘bad guys’ had an idea? 

It was Secret Karaoke night after all.

Chapter Text

Back with Ink he was feeling … well. Not what he should be as he looked out at the starscape of the Original Outertale.

He was feeling amused, frustrated and a little smug. Among other, less prominent things swirling in his magic system. Under the new paints he was drinking, there were still the faintest hints of blue still leaving his system.

He vomited another rainbow. He cleaned the ink.

Never mind the rainbow showed how he ‘really’ feels. Ink tends to throw up when emotionally overwhelmed; Rainbow for negative or a strong single emotion, and black for positive or overly complicated feelings.

Rather counter intuitive, right? Normally one would think the colorful version would mean good things. But in reality it was his system rejecting the imbalance of positive feelings to force negative ones upfront.

But, still. Ink was fine! Totally fine.

Who cares that by choice the most negative feeling he could experience on average was anger in the absence of fear or sadness? At least anger made him feel alive and not like he was dying. Ink was convinced he wasn’t exaggerating about that, even when Dream said it was because he didn’t let himself ‘process’ long enough or whatever it was. He couldn’t really remember.

But. he. is. Fine .

He was even humming a tune (A/N: … megalovania? That’s a little passive aggressive, but ok) as he thought about something to draw while waiting for the blue to wear off and for the positives to stick better. He tapped his fingers on the binder irritated.

Perhaps a calming scenery?

The stars of the original Outertale glimmered as Ink sat alone over the Void. He wished he had been the one to think of this AU, but that honor went to the real creator. Ink only ever made Copies lately unless there was something specific needed - like with Underconstruction.

He hummed in thought.

At least he hadn’t snapped at his friends, guessing that he wasn’t truly mad. When times like that pop up, he needs a moment to think about how he should act rather than just go with the emotion. Apparently he makes a weird face when that happens because those that know him well are cautious when he’s ‘feeling’ like that, as he was quick to ‘anger.’

It’s made him consider also dropping the reds as well, but usually he can’t feel guilty without blue and a pinch of purple, so he doesn’t - besides, that would just open up the chance for him to be off his paints completely if he ‘felt’ bad enough while only having positives, and that would be much worse than mere anger for everyone involved … 

Which has always bugged him a little. He's soulless. Always has been, as far as he remembers. So why do his paints sometimes act unpredictably when he’s the one to pick them? Thinking about it always gave him a headache - like he was trying really hard to remember something but couldn’t.

Maybe that guy was right. Ink should take more breaks.

He finally opened his sketchbook trying to distract himself from his headache. He flipped to a blank white page as he sat alone on the edge.

Ink gasped and suddenly clutched his skull.

...

Alone. White. Nothing. No one. He was so scared. So alone for so long. Just make it go away! He cried. Something was in front of him and somehow he knew it was the reason for the feeling. He ripped it apart hoping to stop the fear .

Only ... it worked too well.

“Nooo!” A voice called out in horror. 

Huh. He … wasn’t as alone as he had thought … but it was too late.

He didn’t care anymore.

...

Color. Feelings. A job. A warm presence. The feeling of making so many new AU’s, of their few copies. It was so much fun! He asked ---- if things could stay like that forever.

He complained about how Error had to destroy for the balance. How it wasn’t fair.

She said she would be right back.

…

A red string.

…

“Why!?”

The sound of a woman crying. A crack like thunder. Pain. Unexplainable sadness. Consuming Fear . A rainbow.

There must be too much purple. Too much Blue. He wanted it to stop!

“How could you forget me! You can’t forget. Y-you … I’m sorry, sob. This is my fault. Try … try to remember.”

A … hug? Warm.

“It’s me, ----. I’m your-”

...

Ink vomited a rainbow.

What was he doing?

Oh Yeah! Inner monologue. He was thinking about what might have made him run from … Fresh. His name was Fresh. They were brothers now - not ‘that guy’ - Fresh . He had to remember.

He couldn’t forget someone so important.

Ink wrote a note on his scarf so he wouldn’t forget about Fresh, and gave a small smile.

Then he cleaned his mess as he has many times before and started to draw, now humming a happier tune.

Ink slowly remembered why he ran.

When Ink started to feel mad at the realization that Fresh could help him feel normal, he made sure to think the situation through to figure out why that would cause a negative spike.

He should have been happy. Isn’t that what he’s always wanted? But ‘happy’ wasn’t right it seemed. It didn’t take long for him to guess why.

Ink was afraid to be afraid. Ridiculous, really.

If he got his emotions working ‘normally,’ then would he even be himself anymore? Who was he if he couldn’t be the fearless Protector? He didn’t know.

He couldn’t remember any more.

So he ran away to calm down. Forcefully drinking more paints just caused another rainbow, so waiting it out was the way to go this time. No one liked a grumpy Ink - not even Ink.

In another world, this edge had claimed one of his creations because he had been more curious than worried about what would happen at the time. It was frustrating how delicate a universe could be.

He checked his scarf and found a note he had countless times before: ‘make AU copies to stop Error from destroying the multiverse.’ Next to it was a new note: ‘Fresh the 90’s skeleton is your brother.’

Ink couldn’t stay idle any more. The multiverse was counting on him. And now, he also had a brother to protect.

He snapped his sketchbook closed, and the perfect replica of the sky disappeared into his Inventory.

He gave the sky a determined look.

The whole time he had been playing around, he had been ignoring the tiny tug that let him know that AU’s were disappearing. That Error was destroying them.

1, 5, 20, 34, 100, more. Ink couldn’t know as he wasn’t counting - probably wouldn’t have remembered if he had been and … Ink had let him do it.

Just so he could make a new friend who turned into a brother.

Ink was selfish, soulless, forgetful, impulsive and not the Protector or friend anyone deserved. He knew that. But he didn’t have the motivation or time to change. The multiverse needed him now .

As the last of the blue was used up, he couldn’t even feel sad for the AU being destroyed as he stood ... but he could feel angry for them.

Ink was looking for a fight.

Just as he was about to portal to Error, the AU crumbled.

Dammit! Now how was he going to-

A glitchy portal opened to Outertale. 

Chapter Text

Chaos got to the meeting just as everyone voted.

“All in favor?” Destiny asked.

Everyone raised their hand - some more reluctant than others.

Chaos walked up to Karma.

“Sup.” Chaos greeted with a silly salute.

“Well hello my little Agent.” He knelt to ruffle their hair, paused and gave them a knowing look. “Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook for tampering with Higher Management property.”

Chaos pouted, giving puppy dog eyes whining.

“But Dunkle .”

He snorted.

But he also didn’t confiscate it.

That … wasn’t necessarily a good thing, but Chaos was going with it.

“So how is phase two coming along?” Karma asked.

“Great!” Chaos smiled. “Fate should be tearing her house apart right about now.”

“Perfect.” He said with a smug smile.

“This is just the opening needed to deliver a message to my Child.” Destiny said to Chaos with a small grateful smile. She had a very shy demeanor.

“Cool.” Chaos said. “I’ll see him at karaoke in about an hour, Undertale time. BTW, Fates viewing portal seems to be jammed on fast forward. Management did a shoddy job at Fourth Wall repair.”

“Oh that’s news.” Destiny said surprised. “Perhaps Management is finally planning something.”

<Can confirm.> Void said as he absently looked at the ceiling.

They all looked at Void. Void looked back.

<What?> He asked.

Chaos slapped him with the flex tap they … borrowed.

<Oh, hush.> Void said amused, taking the tape off and explaining. <I’m not breaking the Fourth Wall, I received a message earlier about some changes through … unconventional means. I’m just wondering when someone had the time to write ‘gullible’ on the ceiling.>

He gave Chaos a look as he handed the flex tape back. Chaos looked away sheepishly as they took it before returning to the multiverse.

***

Back with Fresh.

Fresh poofed to his Void Home, leaving the Star Sans Base. He hoped he could get some time to plan his next move. He had a lot to do after all.

Fresh appeared in the middle of his living room.

He was not expecting what he saw as he took in the scene.

The windows were covered with bed sheets - he had forgotten to make proper blinds - the door was propped shut with his couch, there were several slashes covering basically every surface and there was even a slice of pie stuck to the roof.

But most strange of all were two greyscale human children glaring at each other from opposite sides of the living room. They each had a couch cushion and seemed to have been there a while.

They wore greyscale space themed clothes that were a little tattered. Though the kids themselves appeared unharmed. Probably because of healing items.

Outertale 567 Frisk and Chara.

WH-A?

Fresh froze as his sudden appearance caught their attention.

“ *Fresh!? ” They both said, shocked to see him and getting to their feet.

Well, Chara spoke. Frisk signed.

They began to bombard him with words. Things along the lines of ‘what are you doing here,’ ‘did you fall in too,’ ‘don’t leave the house,’ ‘don’t look outside,’ and ‘for star's sake, don’t go outside .’

“Ooookey-dokki.” Fresh said, trying to cut off the verbal onslaught. “Hol’ up a bit dawgs.”

He pinched his nasal bridge.

Didn’t these two and their world, like, die ? How the funk were they here!? He had literally felt the AU crumble.

And what was that strong magic coating them? Maybe that was why they were alive - which is great - don’t get him wrong - he’s just a little shocked.

But for some reason the magic was familiar to him and in some way … it set him on edge.

“Kay.” Fresh started answering questions. “Brosephs, one, this is muh crib. I live here.”

They were both stunned into silence, finally (though Frisk was technically already silent).

“Two, I do know what’s outside and that it’s no good for peeps like yous. Three, what are you brosephs doing here and- what happened to my furbies!? ”

Fresh just noticed a few wrecked in the corner. Ooh, he was angry.

Chara and Frisk exchanged guilty looks, before harshly looking from each other.

“Well, after Frisk fell they took our Determination and now they won't share anymore.”

*I did not! You took it! Murderer! You just don’t want to Reset! How else are you in a body?

“Murderer? Me!? I only ever finish what you start.” Their eyes became hollow chasms and their smile dripped with black tar. “Take a look in the mirror, you genocidal-!”

Fresh sent a wave of blue bones at the two and they froze to let the attack pass by harmlessly, harshly cutting off the arguing.

“I’m sensing some unrad tension between you two.” Fresh states.

They continued to glare at each other, Chara smirking no longer using their creepy face as if to egg Frisk on.

Fresh looked over the damage around his house again. It was … a lot.

Jeeze. What a toxic pair.

Oh, right. That was another part of his job, wasn’t it?

“Kay, well, I don’t really give a flyin’ flip which one of you is the genocidal maniac or if it was neither of you.”

He gave an open armed shrug, though they kinda looked confused at the ‘or neither’ bit. Huh.

Fresh sighed.

“Let’s all take a chill pill and talk this out like adults. Sides, kiddo-bro’s.” He lowered his shades. “You still haven't got to the part ‘bout how your here when everyone else ain’t, bros.”

Then there came his next surprise.

There was a knock at the door.

In the Void.

Fresh facepalmed.

“Do you think it’s-?” Chara started and Frisk nodded vigorously as they hurried and tried to move the couch away from the door.

It fell over with a thud at their joint effort. It probably would have taken them both to prop it up in the first place.

But before the two could open it, Fresh pulled them away by the collar of their shirts, shaking his head and tsking at them.

“Just a min yo!” Fresh called to the one beyond the door.

He’s pretty sure he heard a confirmation on the other side. He wasn’t too worried though - Void did say something about others. Or maybe the rest of the AU’s inhabitants survived?

But the magic vibe didn’t seem the same as the mystery magic.

Fresh turned to the kids.

“After you did the radical fav of ‘warning’ me about the Void, you brosephs sure seem in a hurry for another peek. I’ll get it, dudes.” He nodded to the rest of the house. “Chara, if you could gather the broken furbies and debris into a pile near a window to clear a space, I’ll have Frisk start the kettle for our probably-guest-not-void-murderer.”

“Wha-” Chara started incredulously. “Frisk was the one who broke-”

“Nuh uh. No arguing.” He gestured them away. “Shoo.”

Fresh caught Frisk sticking their tongue out at Chara as they disappeared into the kitchen.

Chara scowled after them.

“And you can help Chara when you're done yo!”

Chara brightened at Frisk not getting off easy.

Fresh opened the door to find a tall … skeleton/goop monster? Was it goop? Or was that a robe?? Eh, it didn't matter.

He also didn't pay attention to the darker than dark backdrop of the True Void. It's not like there was anything interesting to look at.

“Yo!” Fresh greeted with (you guessed it) finger guns. “You the FUN guy the big man talked about, muh brotastic broski?”

He seemed surprised and amused at his choice of language.

“Why, yes. You could say that.”

He spoke with purpose and his words were in a cypher - capital Wingdings - but Fresh could understand just fine.

The tall figure gave a kind, mirthful smirk.

“I do indeed oversee the Frequencies of the UNiversal timelines in addition to other roles. My name is W.D Gaster.” He gave a formal bow before standing upright. “Just Gaster shall be sufficient. I am here on business, pertaining to the Hackers. And you must be Admin Refresh?”

“Coolio.” Fresh said, then corrected. “Muh name’s actually Fresh, but yeah, I’m the right guy Gaster-dawg.”

Fresh stepped aside. Gaster tilted his skull as he looked at the house and Fresh with intrigue.

“I see. If you would forgive the intrusion.”

“Oh no prob skeleman!” Fresh said. “Always welcome if ya need a break from the unrad True Void, bro-slice. Hope ya don’ mind the mess though, heh. Wasn’t exactly expecting guests.”

“I assure you … I do not mind.”

Gaster stepped over the threshold, eyelights trailing over the house in an almost nostalgic manner.

It was a copy of his old house, even if a little beat up at the moment and a little more colorful.

Fresh shut the door behind him.

Now that he was completely in the house, Gaster appeared less goopy, and more like he was wearing a black robe/long coat with a gray turtleneck peeking out from the collar.

“Would ya like something to drink, hommie?”

Gaster smiled, gently.

“Some coffee would be divine.”

“It really is you.” Chara came up with a grateful smile. “But you look different than I remember from when I was younger.”

Frisk was quick to exit the kitchen and join.

The Gaster chuckled and further messed up their already messed hair.

“It is good to see you again, children.”

He had a slightly sad smile at their appearance. The two frowned.

*I can’t understand you.

“He said ‘it’s good to see you again,’ yo.” Fresh translated.

“*Apologies.” Gaster said, now signing as he spoke. “*It has been some time since I encountered those who do not understand ciphers. And Chara, I am not the same Gaster as the one you knew.”

“Oh. Right.” Chara said, less excited. “He was more sparkly. I guess that makes sense.”

Frisk gave Chara a weirded out look.

*How does that make sense?

Chara didn’t answer.

“So how y’all know each other?” Fresh asked, making his way to the kitchen to make a coffee and three hot chocolates.

Frisk followed, volunteering to help.

He noticed the mug he had used that morning was in pieces in the corner.

Welp, good thing he made a few. Opening the cupboard showed a collection of mugs in various sizes and designs. Some were too big or small, but he decided to keep them for the designs.

Practicing creation had to start somewhere, and for Fresh that was mugs and furbies. Summoning was a lot easier as it created a copy of something that already existed and he didn't need to be as specific. At least that’s how Void explained it with a few suspicious pauses.

Fresh grabbed four mugs of roughly the same size, as well as the instant coffee and cocoa.

“He found us out there and brought us here.” Chara answered. “Told us to cover the windows and not look into the Void for too long.”

That was weirdly convenient.

Gaster nodded to confirm the odd account, idly examining the kitchen door frame with heights measured out. He gently grazed the lines. Fresh had been too lazy to remove it and it gave the house character.

Probably meant more to Gaster though.

Frisk got a spoon to divide the hot chocolate mix while Fresh worked on the coffee. A quick Check on Gaster told him how he preferred it:

*Likes his coffee as black as the Void.

Fresh thought it was a little funny. He wondered who handled the flavor text department, if there even was such a thing.

Fresh noticed Frisk put extra chocolate mix into one of the mugs without needing to ask Chara. He could tell that they hadn’t Checked them to make the decision.

Huh. Maybe these two weren’t hopeless.

Everyone grabbed their mug but paused when they reached the living room.

There was nowhere to sit. Fresh sighed. He’d fix the actual house later, right now something temporary was in order.

They had to have an 'adult conversation.' Boring, but necessary.

“Any suggestions, bros?” Fresh grinned at his guest.

“*Something simple yet comfortable? If you would, Admin Fresh.”

Gaster inclined his head respectfully, which was weird for Fresh.

“Alrighty!" He said getting an idea. "An' no need ta get all formal on me, broski. You'll give me the jeebies.”

"*As you wish."

Chara and Frisk exchanged confused glances. Good thing they weren't on the list of those that can't know about his job. Not that he was bound by the list anymore.

For their benefit, he used the Commands verbally.

“/summon bean bag chair, 4.”

And tah dah! Seating area. If he did that with /create he'd need to specify sooo much more, like materials, color and diameter.

/summon is basically the equivalent of a lazy /create.

Anything not specified became random though, such as the bean bag colors. But at least it was narrowed down to ones that existed somewhere in the multiverse and not every conceivable combination possible.

One bean bag came with a tie dye pattern which Fresh called dibs by doing a belly flop - because heck yeah - holding his drink steady with blue magic.

Gaster took the one that ended up with a simple stripe pattern of black and white.

“*I suppose this constitutes as ‘simple and comfortable.’” Gaster conceded, with an amused smile. He took a sip of his coffee, both hands on the mug seeping up the warmth. He hummed in apreciacion. “Perfect.”

Chara and Frisk were still in the doorway.

“Y’all gonna sit kiddos, or …?”

They started to move. Frisk cautiously poked the blue one.

It looked suspiciously like a perfect copy of the one Error has in his anti-void.

Chara sat on the floor and just leaned on their plain red one, eyeing Frisk with suspicion as they sipped their extra chocolate hot chocolate.

“So!” Fresh summarized the events. “You two broski’s fell into the Void, Chara-bro somehow ended up being corporeal, Gaster swooped in and found muh crib ta protect ya from nonexistence and your Determination went AWOL somewhere along the line causing ya ta have a fight and destroy my house.”

Nods all around … except for Gaster who looked away.

"G-dawg?" Fresh asked. "Care ta share with the class?"

He sighed, but straightened in his seat.

"*As I have stated, I have come on business pertaining to the-" He glanced at the kids and stopped signing, causing them to pout. "-pertaining the Hackers. As overseer of FUN, it came to my attention that someone had messed with the codes of Outertale 567."

"Oh, that." Fresh said eyebrow raising. "But wasn't that Fate's doing, dude? Way unrad but she's got the authority-"

"I do not mean by Fate. You are correct that she has authority to make last minute changes to FUN … what I mean is that there was tempering after these two fell."

Gaster leaned forward in a serious manner, linking his hands.

"It seems that a Hacker got their hands on the codes of this Frisk and Chara. That is the real reason I brought them here."

Fresh’s shades went blank. “You don’t mean-”

“They are now Hacker Avatars, Fresh. Ones modified to survive the Void physically … but not meantally.”

Chapter Text

Blue took a moment as he returned to his room, getting comfortable.

Now then! He had a 90’s skeleton to investigate.

He pulled out his phone. His most prized possession.

Blue sent out several texts to various multiverse groups to assure the highest probability of finding info about Fresh and to inform everyone.

He texted the following groups.

To the Star Council in an official capacity as one of its leaders (well, mostly mascot), making sure to mention that Fresh was now Inks adopted brother so they don’t think he’s a threat. Considering the Council was formed to combat the multiverses ‘dark side’ it was possible, so he made sure to be clear and reassuring.

To the Omega Timeline in case Fresh happened to be an only AU surviver or dropped by. If anyone would know, it would be Core Frisk. Though sometimes they didn’t answer because it would be better to find out on his own.

To Lady Life and her network of Ruin Caretakers. They usually monitor the Fallen Humans so that they can give Life and by extension Death a heads up if it looks like genocide just in case no Reset comes. A grim job, but important. Error was the one to introduce Blue to Life after the Anti-Void had started to corrupt Blue's code.

The Lemonade was good. The Lemons … not so much.

To the Chara Support System where those of the First Fallen hang out, train and eat chocolate. Most of the time the Last Fallen will blame the First Fallen for the genocide runs when the only thing they do is finish the route. Blue asked his Frisk once why and the reply was something along the lines of not giving Chara a satisfying ending as payback for slaughtering their family and as an incentive to do better next time.

Then there was Team Great Skeletons … the name could use work. A secret club of the Papyrus types that were brothers to those in the Star Council where they could spare, train and just hang out. Occasionally they sneak away for outings when the Sans types are busy with a meeting.

Because if the Sans’s get their secrets, then Papyrus’s were going to play the same game. It took a while before inviting Blue, as he was already on the Council. But he’s glad he got to join, as he could give them a heads up when meetings were going to come up.

The last trip was to Oceantale and was very fun, even if it meant missing a meeting. He wished he could have invited the Bad Sans, but that would ruin the point of a secret club.

It was surprising how little everyone knew how much others knew. But Blue wasn’t going to betray anyone's secrets.

Blue had no idea how he became the center of so many information hotspots and not slipped up.

He put it down to Luck.

After some consideration, he also sent one out to the AU Trade Network - basically a Multi-Net site for advertisements that deliver services or supplies across the Multiverse. Mostly from Underconstruction, Medictale, Farmtale, Undermall, Bittytale, etc.

But there were also a few chat rooms so they could coordinate efforts and gossip. It took a lot of begging to get access, but when Blue offered to better inform them of big Council movements so they could prepare materials in advance, he got in.

It might have been a little far asking if they saw Fresh there - it truly felt like spying when you brought up a person's grocery history - but better to cover the bases!

Blue held out on texting the Bad Sans though. He was going to see them in - he looked at the time only to bolt upright.

Oh no! He was almost late to being early!

Putting away his phone he punched his way through reality to Nightmares Castle Throne Room.

The throne was shoved into a corner and in its place on the slightly raised section of the floor was a microphone. Beside it a TV balanced on a pile of romance novels.

Cross looked like he was in charge of the TV this time. Nightmare was stringing up lights with his tentacles. Horror was preparing a spread of food snacks, occasionally eating as he went. Killer was setting up the seating area with blue magic and Dust was setting up a drinks area.

It was a once a month party where those that knew about the Balance took time to relax.

Basically the rules for Secret Karaoke were that participants would put their name in the bag, they’d all draw a name and give that person a song request, putting the paper back into the bag. Then they’d draw to see the order.

He wondered what he would sing this time … hopefully not that song again. It was getting old.

Blue got several greetings at his arrival and he went to help Dust.

“and what do you think you’re doing?” Dust narrowed his sockets, guarding the various drinks and not-yet-spiked-punch.

“HELPING.” Blue tried his best to look cute.

Dust wasn’t buying it.

“that’s what you said last time and i got blamed for spiking the punch.” Dust pointed out. “i’m not falling for it.”

“HUMPH.” Blue pouted, kicking the ground, acting sad. “... I GUESS I’LL GO HELP KILLER THAN.”

Dust momentarily looked guilty before remembering why he said no, doubling his vigilance over the drinks.

So close.

Oh well. An opportunity would present itself sooner or later. It always did.

It wasn’t long before things were set up with Killer, and Blue made his way to Nightmare.

“HI NIGHTMARE!”

“Blue.” He said, simply.

He wasn’t smiling, but he also wasn’t frowning.

“HEY. WEIRD QUESTION, BUT HAVE YOU SEEN A WORLD HOPPING 90’S SKELETON THAT CAN POOF?”

“That is a weird, and oddly specific, question.” Nightmare said, eyeing Blue while a tentacle places the last light up on its own. “But no.”

“ALRIGHT! JUST THOUGHT I’D ASK.”

Blue looked back to the main area seeing some others had arrived.

Lust was jokingly flirting with everyone he comes across trying to get a blush and succeeding for the most part - they all know he’s not actually interested in anyone, but is just amused by how embarrassed almost everyone gets with ‘innocent’ flirting. By that he meant verbal and not handsy.

Lust hated his AU.

Red was asking where the mustard was, escaping Lust. Dust discreetly handed him something from under the counter.

Sci was at the snack table. He had a briefcase and paperwork with him. Seems like he was going to work though the party again. Hopefully the multiverse map would be proof enough for Ink that the multiverse needed less AU’s - which was the main reason he had started the project … and hopefully Fate would let them use it.

He had heavy bags under his sockets despite the giant thermos of what was likely coffee. It had a logo from Ccino’s cat café in Fluffytale.

Core Frisk was sitting on a couch as if they had been there the whole time. Which, technically, they have been.

Blue checked the time. 

“THAT’S ODD. ERROR WOULD NORMALLY BE HERE BY NOW. AND I’M PRETTY SURE HE INVITED CHAOS … FRISK, DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING?”

Core Frisk was already in front of him as he looked up from his phone, having made no sound. It was well known they preferred their real name to their nickname.

“Error’s busy with Ink.” They answered, two unblinking eye holes looking up at Blue.

Blue winced, but couldn’t interfere in the fight unless he wanted to blow his cover … and Fate made it so that no one can help Error win a fight against Ink. The fact that Ink was in one of his moods the last Blue knew was doubly worrying.

It was a surprise they even said anything. Error and Core have had very … differing views of the Omega Timeline in the past.

“THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW. I’LL GRAB A FIRST AID KIT. AND WHAT OF CHAOS?”

“... not sure. Must be in that place again.”

Blue hummed in acknowledgement.

“AND ABOUT MY TEXT?”

“The one you sent to Seraphim in the Omega Timeline?”

Blue nodded.

“I have never seen a skeleton like that until his appearance in one of the Alpha Timelines.” They gave a small smile. “He punched Ink in the face. Before then, I had known nothing of Fresh. I may be everywhere, but it’s not like I have the capacity to retain it all.”

“THANK YOU FRISK. I UNDERSTAND.”

They gave a sad smile. “ You don’t, but that’s okay. I appreciate the sentiment.”

Core Frisk was back on the couch / they never left.

“You must be very interested in finding this skeleton.” Nightmare said, having listened in.

“WELL YOU SEE-”

They were all interrupted by a portal opening in the ceiling.

Out came Chaos carrying a flex tapped Fresh being carried under their arm like baggage, despite the height difference. Chaos landed and posed gracefully from their red rimmed misty portal.

Fresh’s sunglasses said, HE-LP.

“Chaos plus one has arrived!” They looked around. “Where’s Dunckle Error?”

Chapter Text

Back in the timeless True Void, before Fresh’s eventual abduct- invitation by Chaos for karaoke …

“What!?” Fresh exclaimed, shocked.

“Yes …” Gaster said, bowing his head in reluctant confirmation. “It seems Chara and Frisk are now under the whims of whoever has control of their codes. Though at the moment it does seem these two are in control of themselves.” A glance at the wrecked interior. “Partially, at least. But it is only a matter of time before the Hacker decides to take over for good.”

Fresh rubbed his face, leaning back into his bean bag chair with an exasperated groan.

“I’m gonna need a moment ta recover after that bombshell dude. What … what am I to do with that information? Oh man. Will I have too …? Big oof, bro. Big oof.”

There was a tug on his sleeve and he looked over to see Frisk had got up to check on him with a worried expression. They had found one of the unbroken furbies and was hugging it - just like how he had first seen them. They balanced the furby as they signed.

*Is everything ok? Do you need a hug? More cocoa?

Chara also looked worried from their spot. They looked like they wanted to run right over and also give him their support, though they seemed to be trying to hide it.

This was not helping.

Gaster continues to explain.

“I brought them here because there was still a chance for them to keep their sanity. Outertale Gaster - Nebula - had informed me of their tampering. This is your jurisdiction now, so I hope I haven’t over stepped in taking action.”

“Nah, bro.” Fresh said tiredly. “I’m glad you brought ‘em to my attention.”

Code modification from a Hacker … becoming Hacker Avatars.

That explained the strong magic feeling surrounding the two and why they lived. But when the Hacker took control, would that really be a better fate? When the Hacker started to Play out their plan … what were these two going to be forced to see? To do?

Funk.

This would have been much easier if the Hackers had thought about their minds as well as their bodies. Either an oversight, or just not deemed important. Void had assured him that so far Hacker’s create their own sprite or copy an existing one without their soul or mind.

So Fresh was essentially told he wouldn’t be killing anyone with his job, even if he destroyed the vessel or even the Hacker soul as their true souls aren't tangible things - a weird concept to Fresh, but he could accept it.

This Hacker seemed to have tried to possess two already existing people like a Player does, and then modified them.

Were they a Player or a Hacker then? 

This was needlessly complicated for his first job.

“Alrighty.” Fresh said seriously. “Everyone, be quiet for a moment, dawgs. Need to think of a radical plan. This is actually muh first run in with Hackers, so be patient, yeah.”

Chara and Frisk were confused but did as asked. Gaster just drank his coffee as he looked around the house from his spot.

The hot chocolate was still warm and already he had new problems. Story of his life.

The only things he could think of was A) Mercy kill, B) get the Hackers on his side, C) Hack their codes himself.

Plan A was the closest to his job description that would - well not ‘end well’ for the two, but it was an option. After all, damage done to the Hackers Soul is also taken by their Avatars. If he hadn’t regained his emotions … Fresh repressed a shudder.

Plan B involved a lot of chance and luck, even assuming that Hackers could be reasoned with. How would he even go about convincing those above the physics of his world to compromise? He was just an NPC to them.

Plan C was pretty risky as he would open himself to a counter hack attack. Merely fixing their code wouldn’t help them. That would involve putting them exactly as they’re intended to be; devoured by the Void. If he did this they would basically become his slaves to prevent other Hackers from possessing them as he would be taking the Hackers place. Unrad. And if Fresh became a Hacker himself, wouldn’t Error target him? Double unrad.

A, B, or C ….

After some consideration, he chose B. He could always change his mind later, and he was curious what a Hacker was like in person. Would they appear as some form of kaleidoscope of patterns and colors? Would they even have an appearance he could process?

Beings that saw reality as a Game - there was no way to predict what they would be like. Void's warning about seeing something he would regret came back to mind but he pushed past it.

He had to negotiate with higher beings for Frisk's and Chara’s sake.

Was it even possible?

Only one way to find out.

“/fourth wall false.”

The kids were even more confused and Gaster appeared surprised.

Above the two children he could see two screens (not one) outlined in blue. He could instantly tell exactly their range of view.

It seemed like Fresh was the only one that could see it, as the others just looked at him rather than the now suddenly floating screens.

Beyond he could see two figures, rather than the one he was expecting. They were … surprisingly normal. He was kinda disappointed.

Both appeared to be humans in what seemed to be different bedrooms. He looked harder and he could see an overlay of a desktop and - was that really how they perceived the multiverse?

No wonder they acted like it was a Game. It literally was one from their perspective.

One with graphics Fresh strangely felt the need to approve of.

Fresh appeared to be seeing them from their computer’s camera.  

“Huh.” He said, seeing it appear in a textbox from their perspective in the game. “Trippy.”

The world around him froze as the textbox just hung there on the Hackers screens. They were talking, but not to Fresh.

It was super disorienting being frozen in time, yet not. It was kinda like the vibe the Void gave off but different - stronger. He was pretty sure he could still move and talk if he had really wanted to with a little more effort, but chose not to.

He took the time to observe instead. This was a chance to get information.

The one above Frisk had a cleaner room. There were lots of books there and a few posters.

They wore a shirt with a pun on it.

“For the last time no.” They said, half amused, half annoyed. “That joke is long overused.”

The title above them stated Player 1, Spiffy.

Fresh couldn’t perform a Check on them. He just got an error stating there was no code present.

Weird. If they weren’t made of code, what were they made of? Just atoms? How did they not break apart? What told physics what to do? How were they alive and sentient???

Fresh moved his gaze to the one on the screen above Chara. The room was messier and darker.

There were several skeleton plushies on their desk … and there also appeared to be a body pillow that had an image suspiciously resembling himself.

...

Void was right - he already had regrets.

At least it had clothes. On the side he could see that is.

When the second human spoke there was no sound, but it looked like “can you hear me now?” They looked like they were enjoying themself if the smirk was anything to go by.

They appeared to be muted on something called ‘Discord.’

Their title was Player 2, Snasy.

Like, snazzy? But with a backwards Sans? 

Why the Hacker titles were Players, he didn’t know.

“Please stop.” Spiffy said, clearly frustrated and done.

Snasy threw a shrug before typing. A speech bubble popped up on their screen.

*ok i’ll stop

*for now

Snasy had a lazy smirk.

Spiffy gave them an unamused look before their eyes narrowed.

“Oh hey - his shades went dark. Did you ‘slip’ again?”

Snasy shook their head.

*Maybe it’s a fourth wall joke about Fresh thinking we’re ugly? /fourth wall false could mean he’s ‘looking’ at us

*it did take 15 min before g showed up to save us. Maybe it’s another waiting thing?

“Truuue. Just like a post geno.”

*I know the game let’s you move the character’s at any time but

*I told u it was a good idea to wait ;P secrets!

“Oh shut it. Go take a screenshot of your husbando why don’t you. And go hide that pillow thing. It disturbs me greatly.”

Fresh agrees.

*No. And Fresh is a waifu fight me >:(

*Actually so are all the skeletons ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Spiffy crinkled their nose.

“Surprised you didn’t name Chara Y/N.”

Fresh had had enough. He set his mug down and stood up, time stayed frozen around him.

“Oh!” Spiffy said, getting excited. “I think you were right.”

*patient’s pays off my *Spiffy* friend

Spiffy gave an eyeroll.

It was clear to Fresh they really did just view this as some kind of Game. That he would never be able to convince them otherwise.

A Game, huh.

Fresh got an idea.

“Spiffy and Snasy, eh?” Fresh said casually, shades YO-LOing. “Not the names I would expect from big bad Hacker bros such as yourselves, broski’s.”

The surprise didn’t last long for the Hackers and instead they were … excited? 

“The fabled fourth wall breaks.” Spiffy said. 

*Sempai~ but seriously i hope this pays off.

“This would be so much easier if you could just turn on your mic.”

*yea

Fresh decided to 'help.'

“Hey no problemo, my radical friends. Fresh here can help y'all out with the mic, bro-dudes.”

Fresh selected the Unmute option on Snasy's Discord and smirked. This was the perfect point to show he was at least somewhat aware to them. It would make communication easier.

Though all the background noise that suddenly came up due to his actions was a surprise. Construction, dogs, traffic. No wonder it was muted.

Spiffy jumped at the sudden sounds.

“H-hello?” Snasy said, leaning really close into the mic.

“Holy shiz I didn’t know this was going to have voice recognition. That’s so cool.” Spiffy said.

"Me either. All I know was that the person was giving away access to their game as a prize. Said it was a only for hard core hacker's and fans. Those were some fun puzzles. Though it could have been harder."

“Your neighborhood’s as loud as ever I see. I can barely hear you. Where did you get access to this spin off anyway? I won’t have to worry about it deleting files will I?”

Now there's an idea Fresh filed away for later.

Snasy leaned deeper into the mic. The sound popping with the proximity.

“I refuse to answer such incriminating questions on an unsecure line.”

Spiffy snorted.

“No seriously.” They asked again.

Snasy leaned back and answered with a shrug.

“The dark web?”

Well that sounded a little less than legal.

“Wha- again!? I swear you're going to get kidnapped one of these days.” Spiffy took a sip from a water bottle. “What the heck was an Undertale Fangame doing there? Though I guess it's not the weirdest prize you've gotten.”

They gave a bored expression. “Dude it’s the internet. There’s some weird shit out there." 

“Like you.” Spiffy quipped.

“Like me.” Snasy agreed. "Besides, I only enter those kinds of comps if the risk and reward are low and I don't take job offers. I'm in it for the challenge, not the prize. Though this time the prize might have been a factor.”

Spiffy was giving a them an incredulous look.

Fresh spoke now that there was a lag in their conversation. This would be a lot easier if they stopped interrupting him. Not that they knew just how aware he was of their conversation.

“I heard you bros like to Play Games.” Fresh said.

“Oooh do we finally get a proper tutorial!?” Snasy asked. “I was bored of fighting each other.”

“Me too. At least the side mission Fresh gave was a nice change of pace. Hopefully the extra chocolate for Chara helped smooth things over a little.”

"How was I supposed to know us fighting would make them have a spat?"

"Undertale. Consequences. Ring a bell?"

"Okay, yeah." Snasy said, a jackhammer in the background. "My bad. That's why I said we'd get as far as we can without hacking. Do you have any idea how hard it was to unlock two player like that?"

"I'm gonna say hard?"

"Very hard. Those were some tricky code puzzles." They had a smug smile. 

"I still say you were hacking." Spiffy said.

"Puzzles." Snasy countered. "They were too deliberate. I swear this is the true plot and all that stuff about taking over the multiverse was just gaslighting. I'm determined to ally, not concur."

Well, now Fresh was worried about what motives the other Hackers had.

"I agree." They gave them an unamused look. "Which is why I'm still mad you made Frisk and Chara upset."

"Well your the one who broke Fresh's furbies." Snasy pointed out.

"I wanted to know what the option did! I thought they were his tactical furbies! Why even was it an option? Why did Frisk twist it's ear off?? So many questions."

They were certainly a curious bunch. Fresh could work with that.

“Let’s make deal, bro-dudes.” Fresh continued, catching their attentions. “Make yourselves known to Frisk and Chara and work together, man. Don’t just treat ‘em like characters. It’s an unrad thing to manipulate friends, yo. It’s diddly darn unfresh is what it is. You do want to make friends, right? So what d’ya say, Hackers?”

Fresh lowered his shades.

“Do you want to Play a Game?”

An option appeared in front of both Chara and Frisk.

Fresh let himself freeze again.

The souls hovering over ‘Play Fresh’s Game’ or ‘Play on your own’ weren’t Frisk’s or Chara’s, but a representation of the Hackers from what he could see.

The code was easily visible to all and scrolling inside the colored hearts. Spiffy had a soul of kindness, Snasy the soul of perseverance.

Snasy began to absently move the soul between the options using the arrow keys.

“Hey wait - we didn’t get to choose our soul types!” Spiffy pouted. “Rude. What happened to Chara and Frisks split one?”

“I don't know. But these are scarily accurate choices, don't you think?” Snasy squinted really close to the screen, pausing their soul movements. Maybe to read the speedy code. "Eh. It's probably a coincidence. Also, you sure you don't want me too mute my mic again? I know it's annoying."

There was the sound of a truck backing up.

"Oh. No, it's fine." Spiffy said. "Whatever's easier for you. I'll tell you if it start's bugging me. I'm surprised you can live with it all day though. Hasn't it been going on for a month?"

"Yup." They said, fiddling with their purple soul again. "But I can manage."

What would they choose?

*Play Fresh's Game

*Play on your own

It was at this point that Fresh remembered he could just ban them. Now Fresh had a choice.

Ban them, or befriend them?

So far the only hacking they had done was to save the kiddo's lives. The rest of it was technically Player actions. And so far they didn't seem to bad, just ignorant. Is that why they were called Players and not Hackers?

Ah, man. What to do?

Chapter Text

Fresh decided to see how things play out with those two. He could always just ban them later if they did any hacking.

Besides, it might be fun to have some sidekicks.

He took the time they were deciding his offer to look through the code of the multiverse - the fire walls and ‘code puzzles’ weren’t even a problem with the fourth wall deactivated, he just ignored them. Deep, deep down, he found some interesting things. Along with some info that could give a weaker skeleton an existential crisis.

Apparently, AVFreshVerse (which he learned was the name of the multiverse) was specifically an MMORPG? For Hackers and Players? It seemed to have been outsourced to multiple external universes as well. It went under the game name Underhacked - lame, but so were all the AU names. 

Majority of people only had Player accounts, even if they did a little hacking. There were on average one thousand people Playing at a time. 

For Players it was advertised as a game ‘where no one had to die.’ Didn’t seem to be doing so well on that front.

For Hacker-Players it was advertised as a way to ‘be everyone's genuine friend.’ Also didn’t seem to be doing well.

Fresh already knew those with the title Hacker were labeled as people who go too far in their code manipulations. Infinite loop programs, entering someone else's game as a non-spectator without permission, sending viruses, duplicating Outcodes, etc.

Sprite swapping, speed modification, bug exploitation were all good though. Even getting the Hacker Ending it wouldn't be enough to get the title.

Hackers were those who could irreparably damage the multiverse or fourth wall as a whole.

A Player trading Sans with a Frogget and making themself run a little faster wasn't going to cause the multiverse to implode.

The idea of Hacker-Players never came up though. Those playing on a multiverse scale rather than individual AU's. Perhaps Void overlooked it? Wouldn’t surprise Fresh.

Looking as deep as he was, he could tell the codes were constantly moving and adapting as if they were alive. Letters surrounding Players and Hackers like agitated multicolored bees. It made finding them a lot easier than he thought it would have been. Same with the balance holders, deities, himself - it was kind of dizzying now.

It was like he was looking at almost everything 'important' simultaneously in a weird, non-seeing way. He was getting queasy. Must be his limit, even though he could tell that if he looked just a little harder, there was still more he wasn’t seeing. He was blocked by what felt/looked like a wall of thick code.

The question was, why go through all the effort to involve these codeless universes and who was behind it? Was there even a reason?

Just then Fresh saw something that made it all make sense - a Player Reset.

His shades went dark.

Fresh received a pop up.

<Higher Management requests Admin Fresh stop looking at them like that.>

Tagged on in a much smaller/different font was the word ‘Bakka.’ (... couldn’ resist XD)

Fair enough.

YO-LO.

Fresh decreased the intensity of his stare ‘backing’ away from the image he had seen. He was significantly less queasy now that he could see the walls as walls and not code walls.

Higher Management, eh? Is that what the code is calling itself? And isn’t that the same type of notification format he saw when coding himself?? The ‘Bakka’ seemed different though.

‘Hey Management, bro.’ Fresh asked mentally. There was no reply, but he could tell he had their attention.

‘Is it possible to give these Players their own sprites and let Frisk and Chara dawg live as Outcodes? I saw that there was a hidden character menu, big brother dude.’

<Your proposition is being processed.>

<Higher Management has received permission to execute requests provided Player’s Spiffy and Snasy accept Admin Fresh’s proposal. In compensation Admin Fresh must punish at least three high risk Hackers in the next 10 (ten) hours. Do you accept these conditions?>

<Y/N?>

Well, that seemed pretty decent actually. Don’t these deal things usually require someone to sell their soul or something? Not that he was complaining.

He accepted. A timer popped up in his peripheral, counting down. That was thoughtful of them.

But the fact that there was someone that the very code of the multiverse had to ask permission from was kinda odd. And it didn’t seem to be one of the deities. 

He focused back on the Hacker-Players trying not to think about what that could entail.

Snasy was still fiddling with the options. Their purple heart bouncing with each keyboard stroke.

“Well we gotta say yes, of fucking course.” They said. “I don’t think we're ready for that kind of boss fight. Not without hacking that is. And even then it’s debatable.”

“No shoot Sherlock.” Player 1, Spiffy said.

Snasy took a sip of a Gatorade while still playing with the controls.

*Ding

Snasy slipped and hit ‘Play on your own’ while they were distracted. Their eyes widened in horror as they quickly put their drink away.

Funk.

Time unfroze. Frisk jumped at Fresh being in a different spot, Chara's expression became the same one as Snasy.

Fresh took a step back, giving Frisk space. Though he kept his eye on ‘Chara.’

From what he could tell from the code, the Void had managed to equal ‘time’ to that of their Player world.

Why? He didn’t know. He wasn’t looking deep enough to. He's pretty sure Higher Management had something to do with it though.

He face palmed, shaking his head. This was bad.

“Oh shit.” Snasy said.

“Oh shiz.” Chara said at the same time.

DU-DE

"Language." Fresh said, not amused.

In front of Frisk the option was still there with Spiffy’s green Hacker soul. It seemed Frisk still couldn’t see any of the added screens.

Though Gaster looked between the panel and Fresh, brow bones furrowing. Probably trying to think of what Fresh is planning.

“Snasy. You’re an idiot.” Spiffy stated with all the air of speaking the truth.

Gaster and Frisk didn’t react to them.

"Oh fuck." Snasy. “I’m sorry - I slipped! This time for real!”

"Oh funk." Chara. “I’m sorry - I slipped! This time for real!”

SRS-LY?

Frisk was looking at ‘Chara’ like they had grown a second head. Well, they did seem to start yelling out of nowhere from their perspective, so that was expected.

It seems that the Hacker-Player was now unexpectedly in complete control. 

Fresh had to think fast to fix this. It was an accident, so he couldn't just go with his back-up. But how? And did this mean that Chara was …? 

“Oh, hey Chara’s copying you.” Spiffy said intrigued. “And the text boxes are going away without prompt. Shoot, does this mean QTE’s?”

“... maybe.” Both Chara/Snasy said simultaneously. “I think it’s like that speech to text thing from Underplayer.”

Chara/Snasy still had a wide eyed, deer-in-headlights look that seemed to be from more than just the Game ‘unpausing.’

Frisk was giving ‘Chara’ an increasingly weirded and worried expression. They looked like they were trying to think of something to say. They gave Fresh a sort of pleading look. He couldn’t meet their eyes.

Spiffy/Chara walked over to Frisk's bean bag - the one that looked exactly like the one Error had in his anti-void. Fresh could tell they were trying to interact when they received a text box on their game screen.

*Bean bag chairs; the hacky sack for giants.

"... hey, uh, Spiffy?” Chara/Snasy asked. “Did you ever read that comic ALIVE I recommended?"

*Who’s Spiffy? Frisk finally asked ‘Chara.’ They were ignored.

Fresh sighed. This was so complicated.

"Chara's on temporary vay-cay, brolio." Fresh answered Frisk, unenthusiastic.

Frisk looked even more confused.

“*Interesting …” Gaster admitted, studying how Chara was acting.

“Yeah.” Spiffy said, confused. “The one with Alphys being the main character, right? Good read, but why?”

(A/N: spoilers for the comic ALIVE by Tatatale incoming)

“Well, you know how in season two there was that bit where Insans and Lytta merge souls temporarily? And how Lytta could suddenly feel what the other felt? As if the game was real?”

“Yeah?” Spiffy said, not seeing where it was going. “Wait, Lytta was the hacker’s name right? I can never remember.”

“... I think I feel like that.”

Spiffy laughed.

“Hey! I’m serious here." Snasy/Chara pouted.

“Sure you are.” Spiffy smirked.

So Fresh’s choice somehow increased how ‘immersive’ the experience was? Or it was Management again. At least he knew Chara was still there.

Fresh got an idea.

“Multiverse to Snasy, bro.” Fresh snapped his philangees to get their attention.

“O-oh. Hi …” Chara/Snasy said. Then they whispered excitedly. “Spiffy, are you seeing this? I get to talk to Fresh!”

Oh dog, this was awkward.

“Yeah I see it.” Spiffy replied dryly. “Should I make my choice now or what?” They moved their green soul back and forth a little, stopping on ‘Play Fresh’s Game,’ to accentuate their question.

“Bo-dude.” Fresh said, replying to Snasy. “Flattering as it is to have a rad fan, now that I have your undivided attention broski, do ya mind doing this rad skeleton a rad favor?”

“Yes! What is it?” They said excitedly.

Fresh’s shades went out.

“Please hide that thing behind you.” Fresh said, referring to the body pillow.

“The bean bag chair …?” They asked, thinking he meant in game.

“No broski. Not behind Chara. Behind you .”

“Y-you don’t mean …” Hesitantly, Snazzy pointed behind them in their world. “ That? ”

“Yup. Like your good pal Spiffy said; ‘I find it disturbing.’”

His shades changed to SIN-NER. He didn’t even know that option was available, and he made them.

Spiffy practically dived to hide the Fresh pillow, Spiffy laughing harder.

Chara seemed to stumble for a moment, as the Player literally threw the offending object out of view.

“You saw nothing.” They said, returning.

“Bro …” Fresh smirked.

Fresh emitted purple smoke, forcing their screen to zoom in suddenly. His shades said SEE-YA! in a jumpscare.

“I see everything.”

He closed their Game giving them a one minute ban for sinning. Their window closed.

Chara stumbled again and this time Fresh caught them.

“Wha-what was that!?” Chara asked, understandably shaken.

Welp. Guess Fresh had some explaining to do.

Chapter Text

How to explain this without giving the kiddos an existential crisis about the reality of their multiverse and yet let them understand?

Fresh could still hear and see the two from the window above Frisk, Snasy freaking out. He ignored them. 

“Well, dawg.” Fresh said, to both kids. “Technically speaking, you’ve both been partially possessed by a couple of interdimensional aliens, bros.”

It was for the best if he omitted the bit about it not likely being the only time. Or that it was done with permission from the multiverse itself. 

Frisk and Chara both couldn’t decide between looking worried or disbelieving. Gaster nodded along, so they settled for worry. Gaster was still casually sipping his coffee. 

“FYI, they also be the ones that saved you from the unradicalness of the True Void.” Fresh continued to explain. “These type of extraterrestrials here are called Hacker-bros and can …” How to word it so that he doesn’t mention the world being a Game. “Manipulate reality, you could say. So, earlier, time froze for a bit and I used one o’ muh skillz ta communicate despite that, offered the two Hackers a radical deal, but one slipped causing them to fully possess Chara and time to start again. Used another skill to temporarily evict ‘em, but it ain’t a permanent fix, dude. Which reminds me - Spiffy?” Fresh called.

They were too distracted, chatting with Snasy. Probably didn’t help that just saying their name wasn’t going to change how they heard the text sound. Fresh sighed, pinching his nasal ridge and played ‘incidental music’ to catch their attention. Luckily it worked.

Confused Gaster, Frisk and Chara though.

“Wha- No! Did we miss something?” Spiffy said.

“Not much, brotato.” Fresh answered, looking up. “But now that I have your attention, ya might as well make your choice. Made a deal with the big man/gal to let you flip over onto a place that’ll let ya create your own Vessel rather than borrowing these two. Also-”

Fresh went into their accessibility settings and enabled ‘Text to Speech.’

“-I think you’ll find this more convenient, dawg. Consider it a bonus.”

“Holy shiz!” Spiffy said, eyebrows raising at the sound of his voice.

“What’s going on?” Snasy said, frustrated that they had to wait to log back on.

“Fresh just changed the text duh-duh-duh-duh sound into full on voice acting in the accessibility section!”

“Nooo! I knew I should have checked if there was voice acting. Tell me he sounds hot at least?”

Spiffy didn’t answer, which Fresh appreciated.

*What did you do? Frisk asked, not seeing any changes. Chara was also giving Fresh an intense stare as Gaster looked on with that ever present curious/amused air.

Fresh messed up Frisk's hair.

“Don’ worry about it, brolio.” Fresh gave them a smile. “Just speakin’ their language is all.”

*You speak interdimensional alien? Frisk gave him their signature expression.

Spiffy snorted.

“In a way.” Fresh said mysteriously. “Was a lot less weird without an audience though, homeslice. It's kinda awkward being the only one in the room ta see ‘em at the mo, bro.”

“What do they look like?” Chara asked.

Fresh was surprised.

“So ya couldn’t see ‘em while they were all up in yo buiz?”

“No.” Chara said, shifting uncomfortably. “But I could tell what they were feeling. When you talked to them it was like they were, expectant? Excited? Like they were waiting to see you do a trick.” They crinkle their nose. “It was like they weren’t seeing you as a person, but a show.”

Fresh shrugged. “Sounds ‘bout right, dawg. Don’ think too hard on it Chara-bro, it’s just a matter of perspective. You two of all peeps should know what a bad combination curiosity and power is.”

Chara and Frisk exchange determined looks, nodding.

Snasy finally timed back in, their soul going back to the options Fresh had presented them with.

“Oh thank god I can still make the right choice.”

“Welcome back, Snasy.” Fresh said, looking at their screen. “Not. But still, I understand that it was an accident for ya ta up and body snatch Chara dude. Let me make one thing clear.” His shade went out. “Do it again, and you won’t get a third chance.”

“R-right …” They appeared to be trying to enable voice acting at the same time.

They both selected ‘Play Fresh’s Game.’ The windows disappeared as they were sent to their character menu.

Fresh sunk into his tie dye bean bag chair with a relieved sigh, absently staring at the ceiling.

“Man, that was some eventful day, yo. I’m too young for dis.”

He was getting tired. Must be because of the skill /fourth wall false.

“Are they gone?” Chara asked.

“Yeparuni.” Fresh answered. “They won’t be possessing you peeps or anyone else any longer, yo. But this ain’t the last time we’ll be seein’ ‘em.” Fresh sat up. “BTW Gaster, those two ain’t your run o’ da mill Hacker-bros.”

“*What do you mean by-”

They were interrupted by the door being kicked down, Chaos outlined by the Void. They were holding a piece of flex tape. They had a smug expression.

“I have come for my Chosen!”

Red smoke billowed up from the floor as they teleported behind Fresh.

“Chaos!?” Was all Fresh could get out before the flex tape magically expanded as Chaos wrapped Fresh efficiently. 

They slung him under their arm like some kind of luggage.

Fresh blames the fact that he was caught so easily on the fact that he was tired - never mind the fact that he doesn’t require sleep. They just caught him with his guard down, was all. How many people were just going to bust his door down in the True Void?

He gave the startled kids a pleading and unamused look. Gaster had the audacity to chuckle.

HE-LP.

Chaotic laughter was heard as he was forcefully taken through a red misty portal that had opened in the floor.

Gaster, Frisk and Chara were left staring at the closing portal.

The pie that was stuck to the ceiling finally landed with a splat.

“*Well. I am going to make some more coffee.” Gaster said as he made his way through the still messy house, unconcerned. “*Would you two like anything?”

***

With Fresh … 

There were … a lot of people on the other side of the portal. It looked like he was in Nightmares Castle now. And with the fourth wall still deactivated he could tell there were also a couple deities watching from portals as well. Luck followed Blue, Karma was focused on the stage area near Nightmare and Time appeared to be going wherever the drama was, Void hanging out in the background of Times portal. 

Seeing as there was no Fate, Fresh decided he could get away with reactivating the fourth wall. He really was getting a little tired from keeping it activated for the past however long. Especially because he did a deep dive.

Chaos gave a pose as they landed with Fresh.

“Chaos plus one has arrived! Where’s Dunkle Error?”

The portal closed.

“who the funk are they?” Red asked.

“Language.” Fresh said, turning to Red, then back to Chaos. “Can ya, like, put me down now, muh radical chaotic pal?” Fresh asked.

Chaos dropped him onto the couch next to a monochrome Frisk.

“Sure~" Chaos said with a cheeky smile. "But the flex tape sta-”

Fresh broke free with a shrug.

“Sorry broski.” Fresh smirked, giving finger guns “If ya wanted to catch lil’ ol’ me ya’d better get some stronger stuff, yo.”

“... that is literally the strongest stuff in the multiverse.” Chaos said.

Fresh examined the tape closer. It seemed like the flex tape was only pretending to be tape. The code showed it to be a fire wall strong enough to reinforce the fourth wall even. Only those at or above deity level could even handle it, let alone break it.

He hadn’t even noticed.

“Would’ya lookie there, your right, bro-dude!” Fresh said surprised.

Void really went over kill with Fresh, didn't he?

“FRESH!?!” Blue yelled from the stage.

“Das me!” Fresh gave him a two finger salute.

“This is the one you were looking for?” Nightmare asked, unimpressed.

“WELL. YES.”

Fresh beamed. 

“And you must be the radtastic King of Negativity!” He Fresh Poofed directly in front of him, hand extended. “Nice ta meet ya broski!”

Nightmare hesitantly took his hand with a tentacle to shake, a mischievous smirk playing on his skull. Fresh could feel the negativity trying to sway him but it was blocked by the fact that he was an Admin.

Nightmare stiffened when Fresh went in for a quick surprise hug. Lol, everyone's faces. He hoped back with more finger guns.

“So yall doin’ karaoke? Dat’s cool!” Fresh said. “Can’t let your job rule ya, am I right? Gotta learn ta chillax!” Then with a little venom he added. “Fate can go suck a lemon.”

Fresh poofed over ta Blue draping an arm over his shoulders, giving a short nuggie. “And blue, muh radical little brotato. Ya didn’t say ya knew the so called ‘bad sans!’” He gestured vaguely to show it was fine. “Not that I blame ya bro, not with what company we were in. I wouldn't tell Ink myself, either.”

He poofed over to Sci, shaking his hand up and down. “And your Sci, right broski? I heard ya be up an’ tryin ta map the multiverse, yo! Muh guess is ta show the multiverses storage shortage, eh? Smart idea bro!”

“W-well - uh -” Sci was kida overloaded with the randomness it seemed.

Fresh left him to his stuttering and poofed back over to the couch to sit, spawning in some popcorn. Chaos was still examining the ruined flex tape.

“Hello.” The greyscale Frisk greeted.

“Yo.” Fresh said back.

Everyone was staring at him.

“Chaos … just who or what did you bring to Secret Karaoke night?”

They looked up from the tape. “You know … I don’t know anymore.”

RU-DE.

“S’up! I’m Fresh. Fresh the skeleton.” He said, munching on popcorn. “So when's Error dude gonna get here? Who has the first song?” 

Suddenly a glitchy portal ejected a dark and multi-coloured hobo looking skeleton into the middle of the room.

Fresh facepalmed.

“Naturally.”

Chapter Text

Error and Ink were … complicated. No - not in the ‘romantically involved secret lovers' way. But in the way that ‘things weren’t always like this.’ The broken bones … and broken promises.

Let’s go back a little.

Once upon a time, Ink knew about the balance.

Error and Ink were friends. Brothers even.

Sure, even back then they butted heads a lot, but that was fine - all brothers do. It never changed how they felt about each other.

And even though back then Ink was still an infuriating soulless child, he had a big heart. He just had a little trouble with more complicated emotions. His memories were … better. Not perfect, but better than they were in current times.

The biggest fights were over whether or not Error should destroy an original when the creator gave up on it. Or sometimes even when they asked Error to get rid of it, which was his job back then. Ink still wanted to protect them, but Error was told to destroy them. Error would have to remind Ink that it was Error's job and he didn’t like it either.

Ink usually got a little huffy, but wouldn’t actively stop Error, knowing he’s right.

Back then there were only a few copies, depending on what was asked of them from the Creators. Some things were just more popular. The swaps, fells … and Outertale.

But popularity doesn’t always make a creator happy.

Flowerfell was one such AU where the creators just asked for more . More romance. More flowers. More angst. More … touching. Just more. More than the original creator was comfortable. And so they asked Error to destroy it all. And he did. Months of Inks collaborative work gone.

After the Flowerfell incident, Ink even complained about how unfair Error's job was for him to his … mum.

Bad move. Destiny would have been the better choice. She always listened and would let you come to your own conclusions. Gave options. Freedom to express. A little absent at times, but at least she wasn’t a helicopter mom.

Fate, of course, blew things way out of proportion taking it to mean Ink hated Error because of his job. Rather than comfort her son, she wiped his memories of the balance, Error’s role, and locked Destiny out of the Anti Void, taking her place. She also blocked out the creators so they wouldn't fib on her. All so that Ink wouldn’t feel guilty about becoming enemies. She took his choice. And Karma made her pay.

She had even tried to make Error forget - and for a while, he did. But it came back. Slowly. In disjointed flashes. He’s worried Fate may take them away again if she found out. So he keeps to the villain role.

Error doesn’t blame Ink anymore.

He blames Fate.

From Ink’s perspective, Error was the bad guy. And for a while, that’s all he was - just as Fate had wanted.

So Error loses. And loses. And loses .

Sure he can win the fight’s at times - barely - but in the end? He loses.

He wishes that Ink would proudly show him his latest sketch, bouncing up and down like he was on a sugar high again. Drag him into his latest adventure with silly little monologues about princesses but …

There was only anger in Inks eye light’s now.

So when Ink suddenly took a break in the middle of creating another copy, Error knew something must have caught his attention - that something probably being a crazy strong pulse of magic.

Pausing, Error had opened a small portal to check it out.

Just in case. Not that he was worried or anything.

Ink wouldn't be that stu-

Well he had been proven wrong before.

Error closed the portal and tried not to let it bug him. Ink was strong. Error knew that better than most. And it's not like he could help him, even if he wanted to.

The colorful skeleton was new, but Ink had been creating for a while. A 90s themed AU wasn't implausible.

He dismissed the 90's nightmare as unimportant and went back to work, forgetting about him entirely.

After a full day of stealing chocolate and crushing AU codes on the edge of the multiverse, Error decided to wait for the party in Outertale.

Time was a little faster there.

The local Sans was neutral to whoever came to the AU as long as they behaved.

Error wonders if some part of Outer remembers the three of them hanging out as kids. Error was never brave enough to ask.

So, exhausted he stepped out into space.

It really was a beautiful place. Perfect for forgetting troubles.

He was just about to open a smaller portal to gather his knitting supplies when he was hit hard.

Something cracked, but that wasn't a new sensation. Error shook it off and used the momentum from the hit to roll out of the way of any further incoming attacks.

Which saved him from getting a pretty nasty head shot.

His opponent none other than-

"Ink." Error greeted with a frown.

Where normally Ink would start going on a self righteous monologue, he went in for the attack again, words silent.

Something must have happened with the weird energy surges.

"What?” He dodged as Ink tried to stab him with the end of Broomie only getting scraped rather than impaled - Ink was fast. “No m-m-m-monologue, no insults-s-s-s? What h-h-h-happened?"

As always, Ink thought Error was mocking him. At one point, that would have been correct.

Now it was only partially correct.

"Shut up!"

Error sighed and readied his strings with a sad smirk.

“M-M-M-Make me.”

Ink swiped Broomie once more from above and Error by reflex caught it. The thing must weigh 200 pounds. More probably.

Error grunted at the force as the two were stuck in a pushing match.

Error may have a height and leverage advantage, but Ink wasn’t budging as both their feet dug deeper into the space dust. The very ground began to crack around Inks bare feet and error geta (Japanese wood sandals).

Error could feel fresher injuries reopen, but his back was to the cliff that led to the Void. He couldn’t just let Ink fling him for more distance like he normally would. He wasn’t sure if he could get his strings ready fast enough to ground himself.

He may be immortal, but even Error wasn't willing to risk testing the Void.

Suddenly Outer was right next to them, startling both Ink and Error.

Outer forced Ink and Error into a head butt, gripping the back of their skulls.

“O-ow.” Ink said.

“G-G-G-Get o-o-o-off!” Error glitched a little at the surprise contact.

Ink mumbled. “Why is it always the face today …?”

Outer gave the two a chastising glare, hands on his hips in a typical Swap-lecture pose. They were all Sans after all.

“how many times do i have to reiterate; no fighting in outertale.”

The two looked away guiltily. Ink fiddled with Broomie and Error absently scratched his cheek.

“H-H-H-He started it.”

Ink glared, eye lights red.

“And I can still finish it.”

Error checked his wrist area. Peering into the code he saw the time.

“Would you l-l-l-look at the time.” Error gave an eye light roll, opening a white glitchy portal, Error purposely making it so that others can’t see where he’s going. “L-L-L-Later Ink.”

Error took a step toward the portal. He would be a little early, but whatever.

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Ink said in a suspiciously chipper tone.

Error looked back just in time to realize Broomie was the door.

Chapter Text

At the party… 

The pile of black bones and black/blue rags by the moniker ‘Error’ sprung into a sitting position. His eye sockets blinked owlishly just once.

“Well that c-c-c-could have been worse.” He said out loud, voice lagging in a pseudo stutter.

“ERROR!” Blue yelled from the stage worriedly, peeking around a disgruntled (and concerned) Nightmare. “ARE YOU OKAY??” 

Error gave a thumbs up, ignoring the minor fracture and numerous reopened wounds that creaked slightly with the movement. Regardless, the gesture reassured the Bad Sans’s and their allies who went back to what they were doing while Blue fussed over the liar - er, Destroyer.

Everyone knew Error had a stupidly high pain tolerance. They also knew that with Blue on his case they had nothing to worry about. It was when Error did admit he was hurt they needed to worry.

Fresh turned to the gray scale Frisk.

“Dis happen often, brollio?”

They shrugged, watching the interaction. “Enough.”  

“Huh.” Fresh said, tossing up some popcorn and catching it in his mouth. “BTW, I don’t think I caught your rad nick, little androgi-dude.”

“It’s Core.” They turned to Fresh. “But please, refer to me as Frisk. I oversee the Omega Timeline.”

!!!-!!!

“Oh!” Fresh was pleasantly surprised. 

Void had briefly - very briefly - explained what roles some of the lesser voids played. Fresh knew that the Omega Timeline was the destination for those who survived an abandoned genocide route, or those who lost their world. He had almost forgotten.

Basically, it was the Multiverse’s homeless shelter.

Those without an AU, eh.

“So you’re the radical caretaker of that void. This is perfect!” Fresh turned to face Core fully. “I have a couple o’ gnarly friends that could use your tubular expertise, yo. A Frisk and Chara from one Outertale 567.”

Core gave him a briefly confused expression. “Of course I'd be willing to take them. However, didn’t they fall to the Void, like the rest?”

HOL-UP

“Wait. How’d you know that, broseph?”

“It’s complicated. Am I wrong?”

“Nope. You’re not wrong.” Fresh said simply with a complicated smirk. “I’ll drop ‘em off sometime. Popcorn?” Fresh shook the popcorn container in an offer.

“... Pass.” They turned away. “I don’t need to eat.”

“I mean … I don’ either.” Fresh said, popping another piece of buttery goddess into his mouth. “But that don’ mean it ain’t fun ta discover new flavors, man.”

They turned back. Fresh shook the popcorn again, raising an eyebrow. They puffed out their checks in a manor that was reminiscent of the kid they once were.

“I don’t need it.”  

Fresh shrugged with a light chuckle and leaned back, closing his socket briefly. “Alrighty, brotato. Just thought I’d offer.”

When he looked back the seat was empty. He looked around and saw them chatting with Sci. Sci was asking how accurate a portion of his notes was when Chaos interrupted. Chaos tried to sneak up behind them with their hovering for a hug and failed when Core moved (without moving) a few feet away. 

He caught a snippet of their conversation.

“Hey, Apple Core.” Chaos said amused. “-Don’t call me that-” “Can I have my switch back? I promise I probably won't make it rain frogs in the Omega Timeline again in the near future.”

Without another word (a sigh isn’t really a word, is it) Core reached into their own eye hole and pulled out the portable gaming console. 

“Thanks Frisk!” They said, turning away with a smug swish of their black dress, already booting up the game, humming.

Fresh was distracted from the odd scene by a voice that instantly set him on edge. A skeletal hand draped over the back of the couch behind as the monster leaned over to give his greetings.

“hiya~”

Lust.

Just looking at the suggestive smirk on Lust's face as he stared at Fresh’s teeth was sending alarm bells through Fresh’s skull. Fresh just barely held himself back from violently elbowing the purple skeleton in the face.

Instead he turned to the skeleton and chuckled nervously. 

“Gotta, um, tell ya something bro.” Fresh said, almost casually.

“oooh, a secret~?” Lust looked intrigued and leaned in closer in a very broadcasted way, tilting so that he could hear better. “for little ol’ me~?”

Lust’s loose fitting sleeveless purple jacket slid off one shoulder. The cyan fluff of the hood ghosted over Fresh’s check bone for the barest of seconds. Lust’s inverted pink heart eye lights were abound with a teasing mirthful energy.

Don't punch the flirty skeleton in the face. Don't punch the flirty skeleton in the face. Don't punch the flirty skeleton in the face.

Fresh’s code, his soul, his very being wanted to get rid of the very not PG, very not family friendly content before him. He took a discreetly hissed breath between clenched teeth.

“Yup!” Fresh said with more false cheer than necessary. Even to Fresh it sounded strained. “So don’ tell anyone, ‘kay?” 

Regardless of the obviously forced cheer, Lust leaned right in and Fresh whispered three magic words to the Underlust skeleton.

“I’m still underage.”

Lust leaned back with a surprised and shocked expression. All pretenses of lustful behavior vanished from his demeanor as he hastily pulled his sleeve back up. Burying hands in his hoodie pockets, he seemed to hunch in on himself a little more, expression apologetic.

Fresh is so glad that Void had told him that a lot of Underlust worlds have underage laws and/or morals. It was still a place Fresh wouldn’t want to be. Ever.

“oh my," Lust said, starting to rumble embarrassedly. "i am so sorry if i made you uncomfortable, i flirt with everyone as a little joke. i didn’t know you were still in strips, seeing as you aren’t wearing them. i’m asexual so it’s not like i’m attracted to any - wait.” His face looked a little panicked. “are you even old enough to have had ‘The Talk?’ How old are you?”

Fresh held up a hand, really not wanting to redo ‘The Talk.’ Void had made the whole ordeal sooo much more embarrassing than it had to be.

“I know what sex is.” Fresh said, shades blank as he said it. “And uh, as for muh age I, uh, would rather not say, broski. All I’ll say dawg, is I'mma lot younger than you’d think. Like. A lot , a lot.”

“Like, 50’s young?” Lust asked, going off of what would be a 5 year old in skeleton terms.

Fresh gave an unamused expression at the guess. Lust was studying him rather intensely as he continued to narrow it down based on Fresh’s reaction, getting more perturbed as the guesses went on. Why did it matter so much to him?

“younger? 40? 35-ish. 20’s? less!? ”

Fresh interrupted Lust by slapping him in the face with a foam sword.

“Stop, man.” Fresh said. “Y’all bein’ up in my buiz ain't no bomb diggity, broski. Said I'd not like ta say, friendo.”

“did … did you just hit me with a foam minecraft sword?”

“And I’ll diddly dang do it again.” Fresh threatens. 

With a huff Fresh leaves to see if he can find a less nosy partier, taking his popcorn and sword with him. 

Lust watched him go. “he’s just a baby …” He can’t help but say with a little bit of wonder.

If Lust has one weakness, it’s babies. They were so rare in his AU due to monsters being nearly infertial. In his AU, children - and babies especially - were a national treasure to be protected.

With that knowledge, Lust was filled with a desire to keep Fresh safe and make sure he’s okay. After all, if Fresh is traveling the AU’s at such an age, his parents must not be in the picture like so many of the skele-bros … or they were woefully inept.

Void sneezes in the deity realm. 

Looks like Fresh has unknowingly been adopted. XD

Chapter Text

well hello. still here are ya? i meant to do this yesterday but Wattpad kinda ... broke on me XD now i'm 100 views late for the Ask Special. i couldn't reply, comment, add ch's or even log out for a day smh. i could look but not touch basically 

... so i finished shading this bad boy in the mean time:

okay, okay - i know you don't come here for the art, especially if it ain't Undertale, so i'll move on XD

feel free to ask any of the characters that exist in this universe, not just those listed. gifts and such do not impact the story. 

No hate to each other.

***

Non-Specific Character (question will be directed to random character(s))

Multiple Characters (list who the question is for (please no @ everyone T^T (not that i can stop you)))

Me 

Fresh

Spiffy/Snasy 

Chaos

Core

Ink

Dream

Blue

Nightmare

Error

Killer/Dust/Horror/Cross

Lust

Sci

Red 

Fate

Destiny

Void

Karma

Luck

Classic (holding a sign that says "puns here")

Other Character(s) 

***

hope you have a fabulous day

Chapter Text

10k Q & A

Sorry about the wait, there is a good reason(s).

… 

Anyway, questions are in chronological order of what was asked.

***

NoSleepArtist to Fresh:

Hug broski?

-

Fresh spread his arms wide.

“Course Broski! I’d never turn a radical hug down!”

*you got the hug*

***

NoSleepArtist to Lust:

Are you gonna adopt my bro fresh? The current caretaker of him is kinda meh-

-

“a-adopt!?” Lust looked startled. “wha - what gave you that idea?” He begins to absently fiddle with the fluff on his hoodie, avoiding eye contact awkwardly. “i - i just plan to keep an eye socket on him is all. keep him out of the punch and out of trouble - that kind of thing! that doesn’t mean i want to - would he even -?” 

Lust sputters, blushing. 

“b-besides! i would make a terrible parent. i’ll settle for being the eccentric uncle.” He took a short breath before continuing calmer. “and if he already has a caretaker, then it wouldn’t be right on the grounds of ‘kinda meh.’” He shoves his hands in his pocket, eye contact averting even further. “... none of us are perfect, dear. though it is sweet of you to think i could manage it.”

***

NoSleepArtist to Classic:

You sir are puntastic *hands him the huge ketchup bottle*

-

Classic accepted the bottle and raised it in a cheer.

“and you, friend, are punderful .” He chugged half the bottle, then gave a wink. “we should ketchup some time.”

He tossed the bottle under his station for latter and started to fan himself with the ‘puns here’ sign. 

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Lust:

Fresh protection squad bro? If so welcome to the team of The Fresh Bean!

-

“th-there’s a suad!?” Lust is confused. “thanks for the welcome …?” 

Suddenly there’s a gleam in his eye lights as he spots something. He appears a lot less insecure compared to just moments before.

“say … couldn’t help but notice your name~” He tilts his head, twirling the hem of his shirt collar between two phalanges. His jacket slips off one shoulder. “do you prefer shipping with, or without the packaging~?” A wink. “because with a name like that, you can expect same day delivery any day of the week~”

(A/N: … oh gawd i cringed writing that *flirt)

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Fresh:

Have you seen any of the bitty Verses Fresh? If you haven’t then you should check it out! If you already have seen something of the sort then what would you say is your favorite type of bitty there?

-

Fresh chuckled heartily, amused. “Dude, like, I’m one day old! How much do you expect me to have done already, broski?”

LM-AO

He was smiling easily, and even with the shades you could tell his sockets were crinkling with mirth. He gave a shrug.

“I don’ know what a bitty is, bruh … but i’ll add it to the list of things ta check out.”

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Ink:

Hey Nene!~ how are you right now? Hopefully you don’t have a head ache anymore yeah? But anyways! What would you say is your favorite Coloration outfit of the Sanses within your Multiverse? Your brown and white with a hint of cyan look, Dreams Yellow Sun look? Dancetale Sanses hip hop look? Abyss fluffy semi kind of prim proper look?

-

“Nene…?” Ink was briefly confused but moved on, quickly distracted with the question. “Oh - I'm fine! Just … a little frustrated Error got away is all.” He was clearly clenching his teeth but forced himself to smile regardless. You’re not who he’s mad at.

“Did I have a headache earlier? Huh.” He scratched his chin and shrugged. “I don’t really remember that, but you’re probably telling the truth. I think I’ve been having more of those lately, but it’s probably nothing.” 

Ink takes the next question very seriously. It involved art after all. 

“Favorite outfit coloration, huh? Hmm.” He tapped the side of his skull. “Well I don’t really have a favorite color in the first place, so that doesn’t narrow it down.” He chuckled lightly and smiled with his eye sockets closed, before continuing with a hum. 

“Well, Reds whole ‘i’m a dark edgy bad boy grr’ look is pretty cool.” He said the description in a manner that from anyone else you might assume was teasing, but from Ink was completely serious. “But then there’s also things like Outer’s ‘i’m an approachable guy and wouldn’t mind hanging out or showing you directions’ or Blue’s ‘I want to be relied on and help everyone!’” 

Deep in thought, Ink nodded to himself. 

“I’ve decided!” His expression was smug at having figured it out. He put his hands on his hips heroically. 

“I like them all!”

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Error:

Hey there Erry!~ need some new needles for your string? 

*You gift Error a box of sewing needles of different shapes and sizes

-

Error’s sockets widened in surprise for a second as he gently accepted the gift.

“I, uh. D-D-D-Don’t know what to s-s-s-say.” His eye lights shifted away as he flustered at the kindness. “Th-Thanks …” 

He decided to test the new needles out by making a doll of ThatOneGayShipper2 as a gift back.

Error reasoned it was because he didn’t want to owe them anything … yeah. That must be it.

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Chaos:

Hey chaos! Are you ready for some mayhem that the future might bring? :3

-

Chaos smiled wildly, a gleam to their eyes. “One is never truly ready for mayhem. Isn’t that what makes it so exhilarating …?” They leaned in and lowered their voice. “I can’t wait.”

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Nightmare:

Need some coffee or tea nightmare?

-

“Do you not know me and who I share a roof with?” Nightmare said slow and low. “Of how little sleep I can procure with such rambunctious boys?  Of the tremendous disquiet of the castle, be it night or day?”

Suddenly he slapped a tentacle to the ground and the rest shot forward toward the offered mugs. 

“Fuck yes! Gimme those beans!” 

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Me:

I’m very sorry for all of this but- I can’t help it when one of these things happen- have a chocolate bar for your endeavors as an apology 🍫

-

… It’s okay. I understand getting excited - and who am I to turn down chocolate? XD At least you offered some variety. Could have been worse. 

Oh, wait. You’re not done ? oh … ok … 

*munches on chocolate bar*

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Killer, Dust, Horror, and Cross:

Hi Noot gang!!~ what is hot opinion on Fresh so far, and what do you all like to do in your free time at the castle?

-

“rude.” Killer said instantly, smirking while on his phone. “he ignored us like we're some kind of npc extras.” 

Dust chuckled. “like you actually care. besides, you were on your phone. like usual. and we were all clearly busy setting up.” Dust gave his opinion. “but with how he hugged nightmare? guy’s got gut’s.”

“or a screw loose.” Killer rebuked.

“that’s nothing new here.” Dust pointed out, glancing at Horror with a cheeky grin, only for Horror to swat the back of his head.

This brought about a couple snickers from all but Cross who rolled his eyelights.

“fresh is certainly … colorful?” Cross said, scratching a cheekbone with a phalange. “blue knows him, so he can’t be too bad. seems very high energy.”

“... he brought his own food.” Horror shrugged. “... i’d say the bloke’s got his priorities straight. though … he could have at least tried what i set out.”

Horror gave a kind of huffy pout and Killer took a quick picture.

Horror eyelight snapped to Killer in an instant. “... delete it.”

“lol. nope.” Killer said, sending it to the casual group chat.

There was also a picture of a very startled Nightmare getting a hug from Fresh, as well as several other embarrassing pics.

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Dream:

Hi little Daisy~! Would you enjoy a little light lilac teddy bear with a yellow bow? 

*You gift Dream the Teddy bear

-

Dream gave a smile as he accepted the Teddy.

“Thank you!” He looked at the bear in his hands. “Though, I got to ask … why lilac? I’m more partial to yellow myself. Purple was more my …” Dream only faltered for a moment. “My brother's favorite.”

He looked into the bear's black beady button eyes for a moment longer, before giving it a gentle squeeze and holding it close.

“Well!” Dream exclaimed. “I’ll be sure to take care of him.”

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Blue:

What recipes have you learned? Any new favorites or ones that you would love to try out in the future for yourself or with a friend?

-

“OH!” Blue said, eye lights turning to stars briefly. “I’VE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL MANY MORE RECIPES! ESPECIALLY FROM THE PAPYRUS-TYPE GROUP CHAT AND HORROR. SPAGHETTI, LASANIA, BURRITOS, QUICHE … NEXT I WAS HOPING TO SURPRISE ERROR WITH ONE OF THE FOODS I SAW APPEAR ON UNDERNOVELA.”

Blue sighed. “ERROR DOESN’T EAT AS MUCH AS HE SHOULD. CHOCOLATE IS NOT A MEAL!” He huffed. 

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Red:

Mustard or Chocolate?

-

Red flipped you off. “both, asshat.”

***

ThatOneGayShipper2 to Classic:

I might milk this one a bit, ya know, tibia honest im not that punny with them but sometimes you just gotta make it count in your own way ya know?

*you gift sans a ‘no use cryin over spilled milk’ T-shirt and a Pie Song shirt with the numbers slowly wrapping around and getting smaller and smaller the farther the go down to the hem 

It’s probably best I stop now, ketch you later!~

-

“heh heh heh. nice kiddo.” He tucked the shirts under his station. “ utter- ly ridiculous how you think that ain’t punny.” He spun his pun sign lazily.

***

the_Trash-Man to Fresh:

Will you ever tell any one of your job.

If anyone ever found what your job was what would you do?

-

Fresh tapped his chin tilting his head. “Prolly, yo. Reason I be holden’ off for now is I don’t know much about this rad multiverse.” He gestured vaguely. “Like, it’s people, y’know? Sure, I know a lot about the technical know-how, but if I don’t know the peep’s, how can I make an informed decision if it affects us all, man? It’d be pretty weird ta just up an trust that Void has the whole picture with out confirming, broski.”

“As for if some rad lad finds out themself?” Fresh shrugged. “Not much I could do at that point, TBH. Prolly just be more direct with investigating, dude … after messing with ‘em a lil’.” Fresh smirked.

***

aFlyingDove to Classic:

I may be failing basic math...

But I know you being this cute just doesn't add up.

That was horrible 😂

-

Classic snorts. “get that one from lust did ya? two can play at that … uh.” He has to think for a second. He snapped his phalanges. “if you were a fruit, you’d be a fine -apple.” 

After a moment he facepalmed at his own joke, groaning. 

“okay. now that was horrible.” Peeking through his fingers, now smirking. “I’m not one to go for low hanging fruit like that. i’d like to apple -agize.” He removed his facepalm. “preferably over dinner.”

He gave himself a high-five at the save.

***

Bean_OwO to Fresh:

How will you tell the others that you literally just got born earlier?

-

“Oh, EZ bruh!” Fresh said. “I don’t.”

***

The_Third_Legacy to Lust:

Lust, could you specify age regulation?

as in, what is and isn't allowed

-

“well…” Lust began, taking the question very seriously. “keep in mind, not all underlust’s follow the same laws. but in my au, it's required to inform a government official of a successful conception so that they may receive support. typically, when the child makes it, it will be announced and celebrated. people will offer gifts, congratulation, etc." 

"once they get older they are required schooling - sex ed and anatomy starts young via necessity. when they mature into teens, they are permitted sexual exploration and expression within a specific range of maturity. they may even start seeking advice from more experienced monsters for educational purposes with a whiteness to ensure safety and safe sex prctices - espesially for the more kink driven."

Lust frowned. "unfortunately as soon as a monster is deemed an adult, unwanted sexual advances start becoming more often. it's not taken as seriously as it would other universes unless it goes too far. it's been far to normalized."

Lust shrugged. "at least the transition to adulthood is gradual enough that methods of coping and defending against such actions can develop fairly well. children are taught what to be wary of and therapy is a free resource for all."

***

bakugouilove to Lust:

Welcome to the family💖

-

“i-” Lust blushed and hid in his hood. “you’re all so nice and wholesome. honestly, you’re all adorable, i can’t.” He peeks out shyly. “thank you for being so kind and accepting.” 

A small smile creeped up his cheek bones as he blew a kiss.

***

bakugouilove to Fresh:

I just want a hug lol

-

“Absolutely, bro-dude!” Fresh said, giving you the hug. “Man. I sure am up an’ hugging a lot a strangers today.”

***

bakugouilove to Me:

Hug? 😔💖

-

I shall accept. 

Hope you're okay with one of those awkward hugs where you don’t know if the other person is going for the over arm hug, the under arm hug or a side hug. Don’t know if you’ve ever seen or experienced high-five fails, but it's like that - except for hugs.

I’m kidding. I’m a great hugger. C’mere-

***

the_Third_Legacy to Classic:

Sans, do you think that Ink should FACE the consequences? Will it be his DESTINY? Don't try to aVOID this. Also, does your sk-null hurt when you think about Sci, Yourself, Geno, Fatal, and Error? In addition, I know it's Fatal in the Geno-sans run. Errors that cannot be fixed by Science pop up/

-

“yeah, ink should watch where he’s head -ing.” Sans fans himself gently with his sign, a small frown on his face as he looks into the distance. 

“but that's true for all of us, isn’t it? consequences will always exist. and when they come at us head on , it’s how we cope with them that matters. rather than just face the consequences from mistakes, learn from them … otherwise, it’s just a personal loop of willfully ignorant suffering.” Glancing at you he adds. “i know a thing or two about loops of suffering.”

Classic stopped fanning himself, closing his eye sockets.

“as for that little parallel progression of possible events for my future and past … well.” Sans twirled his sign, eye lights slightly dimmer as his socket half open. “it’s kinda depressing. same could be said of dust, killer, and horror as well. but it’s not like it’s entirely their fault they have such crummy fate’s.” His eyelight brightened as he smirked. “whenever my past, present and future selves get together, i guess it’s fair to say things get a little tense .”

His eye lights trail to you with a shrug. “as for fatal, he doesn’t exist here, and error was always error, made by destiny herself as far as i understand.”

***

the_Third_Legacy To the gods: 

How does Karmic Retribution affect you? How does Flex tape infused with liquid KR affect you? How will it affect Fate? Can it destabilize Fate? CAN YOU REVERSE WRAP IT AROUND A MINECRAFT SWORD AND WACK FATE WITH IT FOR IT TO STICK? Food for thought.

-

The Ask Room was filled with a number of confused Reapertale characters. 

Chaos looked between you and the question. Being as it was directed at the gods, deities weren’t included.

Chaos facepalmed before kicking the rest of the gods out of the room, seeing what happened.

“My child-?” Life asked, before the door shut on her face.

Chaos took a deep breath.

“Karma!” They belted. “Question for you!”

Karma popped his head in and took stock of the situation.

“Ah - I see.” Karma straightened. “KR from anyone but myself is nullified against those god level and above.”

He cleared his throat to further expand. “KR on it’s own can act as the equivalent of poison to one's HP in battle, or a Luck boost outside a battle space, causing sudden misfortune and/or clumsiness for those with negative karma points, or sudden strings of good luck should the opposite be true.” 

He gave a dismissive wave. 

“It can’t kill anyone directly, but it can certainly leave a person miserable. Directed KR, in the hands of someone capable in it’s manipulation, can cause specific ailments to befall the afflicted, such as chronic pain or euphoria.” 

Chaos nudged Karma with a conniving smile. “And their suggestion for Fate~?”

“Well, it would certainly make an amusing prank, if nothing else.” He returned a similar smile. “What say you, we put a Karmic Curse on dear Fate? You still have the tape, do you not?”

“Uhh …” They took out the pieces from their inventory.

“... unfortunate.” Karma said. “If you’re careful, I’m sure it can be repaired at-” He glances at you before whispering directions to Chaos.

Surprised at first, Chaos absolutely beamed maniacally. 

“I like that plan~” Chaos stated.

(A/N: I uh. Hope i interpreted that question right…)

***

the_Third_Legacy To Void: 

Can you be gagged and bound by Flex-tape?

-

<What a suspicious thing to ask of someone.> Void mused. Smirking, he added. <I elect not to answer.>

***

the_Trash-Man to Fate:

What's it like to be a female dog

-

“Perhaps you should ask a Dogaressa.” Fate deflected with a piercing gaze.

***

the_Trash-Man to Me:

What's your favorite childhood tv show (childhood meaning to and under 12 years old)

-

Didn’t really have favorites at that age (or even now). But I watched Yu-Gi-Oh, Totally Spies, Sonic X, Kim Possible, Winx Club, Inuyasha, Tokyo Mew Mew, Suit Life of Zack and Cody, Wizards of Waverlyplace, etc. Whatever was available at the time because tv was unpredictable. 

I didn’t like Hannah Montanah, though.

...

Then there were the things I shouldn't have been watching like Criminal Minds, Supernatural, House, Ghost Adventures, The Listener and other more adult shows. Arguably Inuyasha should be on this list but … ‘kid friendly fight scenes’ are kinda blurred for me.

Unless you meant current kid shows, in which case I can’t really answer cuz I haven’t watched any (including Adventure Time, or Steven Universe).

If you don’t know some of the shows it’s probably because I’m Canadian.

***

RobertElder to Core:

What is your first impression of Fresh? Do you like him?

-

“A mysterious individual, for sure.” Core stated, tilting their head. “But not a bad person, I think.”

***

RobertElder to Void:

Check on ya kid

-

<He’s fine.> Void dismissed. <I have my sights on him through Time’s viewing portal, remember? Not that I expected him at Nightmare’s castle. Also, as the one under control of Fresh’s code, I get notifications on his status … funny … I haven't received any for a while.> Void looked slightly confused at that.

***

RobertElder to Luck:

What is Fresh's luck right now?

-

Luck looked mildly concerned. “... Oddly enough, I can’t seem to find the stat. Nor can I for any other deity related points.” They shrugged. “Perhaps he is from a dietyless-verse and just dropping by … somehow. If that’s the case, he’ll pick it up later. More likely, he’s a Hacker.” She narrowed her eyes. “In any case, I’ll be keeping an eye on him.”

***

RobertElder to Fresh:

Whats your favorite color?

-

“Hmm, gonna go wi’ pink, broseph.” Fresh shrugged. “Prolly what influenced my Fresh Poof ta be more that color in da first place if I’m bein’ honest, yo.” He wagged his finger. “I don’ care if you don’ consider it a color cuz it ain’t in the rainbow.”

***

S1xb0nes to me:

Who is your favorite sans in the AU community?

And

What do you do in your free time? (What games, what hobbies, etc.)

-

Dang - if you had asked for a favorite skeleton, my favorite happens to be a specific Papyrus-type.

Oh well that’s not what you asked =)

I like OG Error. His story’s such a roller coaster and his interactions with others and Askers are hilarious.

In my spare time I watch Youtube (Jacksepticeye, tutorials, fact videos, dubbed reddit reactions, etc.), draw / animate, write, and read. For games, I like Bloodborne, Undertale (duh), Deltarune, and Mario Galaxy … but I prefer board/card games like Dutch Blitz, or tabletop RPG’s XD (wish i could DM a D&D campaign one day, but i don’t know enough of the rules).

***

S1xb0nes to Lust:

Hmmm.....Did you know that?

Fresh is not even a month you.....

Y O U  F R E A K I N G  B A K A

-

“a month!? how was i to know? he wasn’t even wearing stripes!” Lust shouted exasperatedly, raising his hands. “it’s basically a multiversal custom for underage monsters to wear strips.” He gestures sharply. 

“and as a fellow skeleton, he doesn’t look underage. if i wasn’t as good at reading body language, i would have thought he would be lying just to get out of the situation. and even if it were a lie, i would respect it because i don’t hit on kids . i wouldn’t even take the chance”

Lust sighed.

“i understand there are circumstances that would lead a minor to pretend to be older, but that’s never a first assumption.” He borrowed his brow bones. “for being so young, the only thing i can guess is he’s possibly an amnesiatic glitch, from a handplate-like au, or a deity's new child … no wonder he was so nonchalant about his kidnapping. and why he’d like it kept discreet.”

Lust sees Fresh in a new light, but will continue to be the fruity uncle.

***

DifferentLight to Fresh:

Fresh, how do you feel about the fact that Lust might adopt you?

also, if you could do one thing to Fate and get away with it, what would you do?

-

??-?? 

“Lust might wut?” He blinked rapidly behind his shades as he processed. “Well … as long as the bro isn’t all flirty or sexual-like around me. Okay then?” 

YO-LO

He tilts his head. 

“As for  up an’ gettin’ away with any action against that Fate chick …” His shade went black. “Are we sure I don’t already have clearance? We don’t know where Admin falls on the radical power scale, man.” 

Resigned he gently took his shades off and held them in his hands, eye light and soul down turned toward the item. The Ask Room barely prevented his magic pressure from seeping out. He sighed.

“Considerin’ I could revoke Voids clearance ta muh code? That without a constant magic suppressant I can be sensed across the multiverse?” Fresh fiddled with his shades. “Probability’s pretty high up there on the overpoweredness, home slice … I jus’ want to make sure I do the right thing, broski.” He glances up, power leaking from his sockets. “I gotta get to knowin’ what happened before I can find out what that is tho.”

***

DifferentLight to Lust:

are you going to adopt Fresh?

-

Lust gave an amused sigh and smirk. “you’re all set on this aren’t you~?” He giggles. “it’s cute how much you care for fresh. he’s lucky to have you.” He gives you a kind smile. “but the answer’s no … not in the official sense that is.” 

He raised a finger as he thought of a way to explain. 

“it’s more like how one says they're going to adopt their introverted friends. it’s saying you’ll take care of them, even when there is no legal obligation.”

***

DifferentLight to Classic:

bees are dying at an alarming rate.

i just can’t bee-lieve it.

-

“so that’s what all the buzz is about.” Classic said, he starts brushing his skull with a comb. “ Bee -tter prepare for when stretch learns about it.” A wink. “ Hive to say, he’s gonna bug-out over the honey shortage.”

***

dizzymountain to Fresh, Chaos, Spiffy & Snasy, Blue, Red, Cross, Dust, and Fate:

does pineapple go on pizza?

*sits back with popcorn* this is gonna be interesting

-

Spiffy and Snasy reply in the multiverse character creation screen, rather than the Ask Room as their characters are not created yet. 

*Yes (Spiffy)

*No (Snasy)

Snasy wrinkles their nose at Spiffy who just sticks their tongue out.

”Odd question to add to Survey Program Two, but ok.” Snasy, said.

(In the Ask Room-)

Red answered. “funk no. s’ too sweet.”

“it’s okay.” Cross admitted. 

“dude.” Dust said. “hawaiian’s the best type of pizza.”

Chaos smirks. “Depends on who’s in the room.”

“ No .” Fate glared. “It is a culinary atrocity that my sister refuses to let me abolish.”

Chaos glances at Fate with a wicked smile. “In that case, pineapple is the best thing I’ve ever had .” They even spawn a slice of pizza, heavy with pineapple, to eat in front of Fate messily, enjoying every moment of it.

Fate readied their whip and Chaos’ eyes glinted mischievously past their pizza slice. Dust backs Chaos up, pulling a knife and the rest tense. Red notably skoots away from Fate despite being of a similar opinion regarding pizza.

Blues' loud voice interrupts the tension.

“IF A PERSON ENJOYS IT, THEN ANYTHING CAN GO ON A PIZZA!” Blue exclaimed confidently, even posing. “BUT I LIKE PEPERONI BEST.”

Fate looked down her nose at Blue and sweat began to form on his skull. Soon enough Fate huffed and crossed her arms.

“... my sister’s the same.” She still was scowling.

There was a moment of silence, where everyone turned to Fresh who had been standing quietly in the corner, observing the situation.

“Oh, uh, guess it’s my turn then, broski’s.” He rubbed the back of his skull, embarrassed. “Haven’t ever had pizza though, brolio’s.” Fresh admitted. “So I don’t really got a rad opinion. I know it’s supposed to be good though.”

“YOU HAVEN’T HAD PIZZA!?!”

Finally, the room delved into chaos, as was intended by the Asker.

***

dizzymountain to Karma:

opinion on eating grass?

-

“Personally, or as a concept?” Karma smirked. His eyes were clearly planning something amusing to himself. 

“Are you asking my opinion on the biological effects of the consumption of grasses differentiating effects between the carnivorous, omnivorous or herbivorous, land, sky or sea dwellers? Or perhaps you are suggesting that, come an altercation with yourself, an opponent should be wary of experiencing unpleasant sensations leading into their inevitable defeat that leaves one incapasitated and face down in the follioges? Or perhaps you are asking my opinion on the entertaining prospect of individuals losing balance and thus, ‘eating grass?’ Then again you could be referring to the method of staving off hunger pains by consuming what isn’t digestible as a means to have something, anything, in one's stomach? Or maybe you do not merely mean the type of fauna known for adorning lawns. Perhaps you are referencing bribery, as British slang -”

This goes on for some time. 

***

dizzymountain to Fate:

what's your take on eating grass

-

“Who gave you access to a computer?” Fate said in a disgusted manner.

***

dizzymountain to Cross:

cross, are you scared of cows in this bo- i mean, are you scared of cows?

*...quietly drops a cow next to cross*

*looks to the side*

*fourth wall slightly trembling*

-

“n-no.” Cross said, tearing up when the cow was set down. “wh-why would i - hic - b-be afraid of c-cows? that’s i-irrational.”

He is now silently crying and looking anywhere but the cow, as he tries to muffle the rattle of his bones.

Because the Wall was thin, Horror poked his head in to answer.

“... he’s terrified of ‘em.” Horror said, giving Cross a reassuring look. “... after what happened, i don’t blame him.”

“c-can i go n-now?” Cross asked, still trying to be polite so as to not enrage the cow.

“... c’mon.” Horror offered a hand. 

***

unabel1 to Killer, Dust, Horror, and Cross:

do y'all know that nootmare's original body was a swap sans? and what do you think about it?

-

“i th-thought his original body w-was a spirit?” Cross said, still a little shaken from the last Ask. “also, it’s pr-pronounced ‘night.’ but ‘noot’ seem g-good too.”

Horror gave Cross some cocoa and a pat.

Dust gave Ash a look who then asked CC what happened before Ash relayed the events to Dust, who nodded in sympathy to Cross.

“think they mean his previous skeleton form.” Killer said, moving on with the current question. “like, before the goop. which is news to me.”

“Oh … that make sense.” Cross admitted. He was looking better already. CC was giving some tsundere reassurances, and passing a few from Ash as well.

“nightmare based on that blue con artist?” Dust said. “i see it.”

“... how?” Horror asked. 

“picture him doing the ‘disappointed hands on hips and huffing’ thing.”

“... now i see it.” Horror admitted.

“that’s not true.” Cross said. “a lot of sanses do that. at least point out his need to keep the castle clean and orderly.”

“the ‘huff’ is still mostly a swap thing though.” Killer smirked. “most sanses are too lazy to do it that often.”

“... you’re borderline swap, so ya don’ get it.” Horror said to Cross. “... error even said it’s part of your code.”

Cross did the previously described huff. 

“am not!” Cross said, pretending to be offended. “that’s slander! i’m being slandered!” 

They each gave amused grins. Looks like Cross was back to his usual self.

***

unabel1 to Fresh:

who do you like best from all the sanses? yourself don't count tho.

-

“Do I even count as a Sans, broski?” Fresh asked, completely serious, curiously tilting his skull. “Muh name was never Sans, yo. Even if most o’ my wakey code is based on Sansy-bros, there’s plenty of Papyrus mixed in too.”

He shrugged before leaning back comfely.

“As for fav’s? Be pretty unrad o’ me ta up an choose between potential new pals.” His shades spelled out WI-NK. “But bein’ as ya asked … I guess that I’ll go with muh radical Blue boy. Donno, why …” A smirk. “But I feel like he’s a rad fella who can keep a mad secret. Might jus’ tell him my title first, broski.”

***

XTheXAzuraXDragonX to Spiffy / Snasy:

Hey peeps, what do you think of the ‘game’ you’re playing after what Fresh told you? 

Also, just curious; Snasy what have you previously been doing on the dark web?! *I hold my hands in front of me in an incredulous manner*

-

Q1 (Snasy) *So far, the Games pretty interesting. Now that we can make our oc’s i hope we can do the friendship thing. I hope i was just imagining things when i felt like i was possessing Chara … it’s kinda creepy how realistic the interactions are. (they reverse over the last sentence and submit their answer)

Q1 (Spiffy) *I like how the fight’s are more like Deltarune. It controls really well, but i’m sad there is no wall dance. It was funny for Fresh to call us aliens. The fact that Fate was mentioned makes me think she might be the last boss or something. If this is a fgod game, the bad guys need ALL the hugs. Harrish6’s story is a - (they ran out of space for the reply)

“You writing an essay over there?” Snasy asked when Spiffy was taking a while.

“Shut it.” They replied good naturedly. “Pretty sure the developer is asking for feedback. Wouldn’t be very nice to be too short.”

Q2: Only Snasy received the second question. The hair on the back of their neck went on end. They began typing.

*I’d rather not say. But if that’s unsatisfactory, it started as stupid attempt at impressing my parent’s. Now I do it to validate my abilities to myself. (Like before, they delete the last sentence)

***

XTheXAzuraXDragonX to Lust:

Lust. My dude. Do you actually know anyone back in UnderLust that has a baby/young child? If so, how is that?

-

“oh!” Lust boats proudly. “there are two kids in snowdin. bonny and mk. the innkeeps kid and the zard’s kid. everyone keeps an eye out for them and lends their support. bonny’s still very young. as for how …” Lust smirked, tilting his head. “i’m sure you’re aware of the ‘birds and the bees’~?”

He chuckled. “same premise, only far more unlikely. the eternally horney thing was gaster’s serums trade off for even that small increase of a chance to conceive. without it, monsters would die out eventually. in underlust, that is.” 

***

XTheXAzuraXDragonX to Ink:

Ink, I just wanted to say. I feel for you. Families suck. 

Especially mothers in your case.

-

“Okay??” Ink said confused. “Thanks? But I think Fresh will be a fine brother. Besides, I don't have … a …” The ghost of a memory plays at the back of his skull. “I, uh.” He stumble over his words, not as sure as he usually would be. “I don’t have a mum.” His eye lights turned to question marks. “Right …?”

Ink throws up.

***

XTheXAzuraXDragonX to Sci:

How would you feel if the fourth wall was broken...? 

*Gives Sci The Flex Tape* 

Here. You seem like one of the more responsible ones.

-

Sci looked from you to the flex tape, then back to you confused and worried.

“what wall?? why did you give me tape??” His voice went up an octave. “can someone explain??? why do i have to be the responsible one!?”

***

KKKJAVIER to Classic:

To the guy who invented zero, thanks for nothing.

-

(A/N: There were 63 other jokes of a similar caliber and 5 more comments as filler “cause of the number.”(69) 

… please do not do this again, my non-binary pal. In thought, it was a cool idea - in practice, it made going through my inbox a lot harder than it was. 

Reader’s, please do not get mad at them over this. We all make mistakes. And it really was an understandable one to make in excitement.)

(on with the ask)

Sans was ‘woken’ from his nap when the voice stopped making jokes. He cracked open a socket.

“oh. heh. good one. ones.” He amended. “might have to use them on papyrus instead of the usual story.” He closed his socket, getting more comfy in his station. 

“ null offence, but i think you’re trying too hard on the jokes. take it from me and be a little lazier.” He opened his sockets, peering over the counter. “the way icey it, the lazy way tends to be the most efficient.” He closed his sockets again with a shrug, setting his pun sign down. “but what do i snow . i’m just some numbskull .”

It was at that moment a pile of snow fell from the trees above burying his station, as he, himself, was still inside.

“... ok. i know i meant that literally but, like.” His head popped out of the massive snow puff. “not that literally.”

***

GlitchTheDemon to Me: 

Are you going to include other AUs? in the future for example Storyshift or Epictale? I think a meeting between Epic and Fresh would be pretty interesting XD. love the story so far, keep up the good work!

-

Yeah, there’s gonna be more XD also going to add a few Outcode cameo’s as well. Which one’s? You’ll find out. 

Thanks for the love! *hugs* I’m doing things as fast as circumstances allow and I hope you can bear to be a little patient at times. Life’s unpredictable.

***

poz_yo_ke_ze to Lust:

Lust dear- protect Fresh very well, or else you're going to have the protection squad behind you-

-

Lust makes a moke offended huff, hand to his sternum. “of course i will! It takes a village to raise a kid, after all.” A wink. “later cutie~”

***

poz_yo_ke_ze to Error:

I'm just going to say: everything will get better, resist please >3

-

Error looks at you, before down with a sigh. “... y-y-y-you can’t promise that … but I c-c-c-can try.”

***

CrusaderOf_memes to Fresh:

Do you like cults? Care to join one? We have 7 members so far.

-

“Nah man.” Fresh said. “I’m a free spirit, broseph. Not one for much of that radical religion stuff.” Fresh smirked, having somehow overheard the conversation that wasn’t part of the Ask. “Enjoy your ghost hunting, homeslice.”

***

JacklynQueen to Error:

Yo Error! Have you seen the new colorful skele, yet? Did you know he is Ink's bro?

-

“Hmm-m-m-m?” Error said looking up from his knitting. “Oh. The g-g-g-guy on the couch at the party. He’s hard t-t-t-to miss. Ink’s b-b-b-brother, huh …” A look of hurt briefly crossed his face, before being replaced with a neutral expression. “G-G-G-Good for him. If Blue’s fine with h-h-h-him at the castle, then it’s p-p-p-probably fine.”

***

JacklynQueen to Fate, Destiny, Luck, Karma, Void, Chaos, Time and Space.

@ deities : do y'all really have nothing better to do than watch? Don't y'all have like, important shiz you're supposed to be doin'???

***

Time looks up from his phone where he’s playing Minecraft multiplayer with Chaos. Void watching over their shoulder in interest at the game.

“If it’s not scripted, we’re notified.” Time explained. “We’re basically on call, 24/7 with no holidays other than April 1st. Then it’s my job to Reset the day so that no permanent damage happens, should it come to that.” A side eye at Fates direction. “Other than that, it’s basically meddling. Which then dominos into too many of us meddling to fix it.”

Fate huffs. “I’m not meddling if I'm in charge! And that’s just a myth. If it’s within my power then clearly it’s part of the job. Especially when it comes to our Chosen and Children.”

Void looks up with a calculatedly calm tone. <It’s within my power to end this Multiverse.> A dark smile. <Should I test your theory?>

Fate tensed. “I-”

Void scowled down at her.

<For all you know, I already have. Who’s to say we’ve not had this discussion before …? But who cares, right?> His voice steeped with bitter sarcasm as he looked through her. <It’s ‘within my power’ after all ...>  

Fate fled the Ask Room.

<Coward.> Then he muttered. <Should have done that last time.>

Most everyone in the room was nervous after the exchange. Though Time didn’t seem surprised. Then again he already went back to Minecraft. He was looting Chaos's house as they were distracted. 

<I’m kidding, of course.> 

The room took a collective sigh before continuing their explanation.

Destiny spoke with a small frown. “... Deity Magic needs time to settle or it could threaten to unravel what we’re trying to protect. The stronger the magic and deity, the longer the cool down.” Destiny sighed. “It’s why I can’t simply override my sister. Well …” there was a glint in her eyes. “Not immediately.”

Karma smirked and tagged on. “If one’s work aids in another's job, well, the task is a lot more likely to succeed. Management tends to favour the balance when possible.”

“And that’s where I come in.” Lady Luck gave a self confident smile. “My job is to aid in the probability of success." She made a wide gesture. "Where Fate is a chain, Destiny your choice, my job is chance. Though not as powerful as those two, with a little aid, it’s amazing what a little bit of Luck can manage.”

Karma inclined his head. “We are blessed by your cooperation.” He then nudged Chaos, missing the slightly flushed look Luck hid behind her ice tea.

“Yeah, yeah.” Chaos said, trying to steal their stuff back from Time using a creeper cannon. “I create opportunities normally not accessible. Basically the three of us are the means, motive and opportunity of the Multiverse and-" Digital explosions and Times sound of dismay are barely acknowledged. "-could theoretically get away with sooo many crimes -”

Karma gave their head a light chop.

“What? Am I wrong~?” They gave a cheeky smirk and eyebrow raise.

Space was sitting in a meditative position, with eyes closed. “Unlike these free loader’s, I have my hands full preventing AU collisions. I make anywhere between, like, twenty and fifty adjustments a day to prevent unscripted crossovers and collapses.” He opens one eye to look at Void pointedly. “Something that’s a lot easier to predict with my map. One that still hasn’t been returned.”

<Ah. Apologies.> Void set it beside Space. 

“Thank you.” Space went back to his meditation.

Chaos looked around before sighing and turning back to the Asker. 

“So long answer short, no.” Chaos said, adding lightning rods to Times creeper farm. “Other than me, they literally have nothing to do other than wait and watch for the most part. I’m the only one who can physically enter the Multiverse as a god. The rest are limited by their Deity Rank.”

***

RainyTownTime to Lust:

*Gently pats Lust* father

-

He's clearly amused, but is blushing a little regardless. "i'm not father material darling."

***

Truenote to Me:

How do you make your characters not feel OOC?

-

Experience with method acting my dear friendo! 

It takes at least a small amount of empathy and the ability to really put oneself in the position of the characters - not just the protagonists. If you understand the basics of their personality, the rest can be built as you go. A good way to practice this is to give a couple varying 'what if' situations for a character(s), to test your understanding. 

What if there was a big red button titled 'do not press?' What if they were given kindness/hate? What if they were put in charge?

Huh … just realised Asks are technically all 'what if' scenarios as well.

***

Truenote to Fresh:

How big of a prank can you pull off?

-

Without missing a beat he said. "/gift @everyone 1 exploding furby." 

Fresh tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. 

"Now that @everyone be all unlocked I can up an' prank on a multiversal scale, muh radical dude. But tha's pretty low effort and lame." He smirked. "I'd rather put a little more effort into it for the lucky chosen few, yo."

***

Truenote to Destiny:

What exactly happened to error for him to end up as error?

 I don't think Fate would answer and I don't think error remembers.

Do you know?

-

“W-well …” Destiny flustered. "The blame is partially mine.” She sighed. 

“I got indecisive with some decisions and accidentally included a few contradictions to his code. He was a moody youngster.” She spoke fondly. “But beneath that all, he was and is a kind soul.”

She began to fidget as her expression became distant.

“Fate later exploited the contradictions in order to shape him to her new will when Ink complained about his job. It shattered his soul and fractured his memories. It was then that he truly became an 'Error' and no longer - well.” She stopped herself. “That name is dead now. He’s chosen to keep the new one, which I will respect.”

Destiny gave a soft smile. “He’s my little miracle. I’m so proud of his ability to adapt and continue to fight on when things seem hopeless. He deserves better … I'm glad he could keep his creative spark despite everything.”

***

Truenote to Nightmare:

Are there any moments of your life that you think are odd?

Actually what do you think is odd? You are a magical skeleton who is also the guardian of negativity so what is normal to you?

-

"My life is an assortment of oddities and peculiarities." Nightmare deadpans. "Normalcy is an illusion and a construct of society, it was never an option for me; one abandoned by it." He gave a small smile. “But were that not so, I would not have met my boys.” 

***

Truenote to Error:

Hey Error, how long has it been since you began sewing things?

-

Error looked around the room to make sure Fate couldn't eavesdrop.

He took a slow breath of relief before answering.

"My m-m-m-mom taught me when I was young, so it's h-h-h-hard to say. Ink and I were always m-m-m-making things back then." He gave a gentle smile. "… though I did need to r-r-r-remind Ink the value of negative spaces in an art piece. Let a v-v-v-viewer fill in their own interpretations and such. He p-p-p-pushed right back at me to make more intricate d-d-d-designs for my dolls."

His smile turned sad.

"Life was g-g-g-good."

***

Truenote to Fate:

Why do you do the things you do?

No really stop and think about what you have done so far to end up like this?

I mean your sister may have broke a promise but not everyone is perfect.

 It's all in the past after all.

-

"How dare - how dare you bring that promise into this!" Fate seethed and screeched. "Do you even know what that promise was!?"

A genuinely hurt expression crossed her face.

"She said-" Her voice cracked. "She said I could do the right thing! That she would support me and my choices - whatever they be." Tears started to form. "She said … we were inseparable."

Fate looked away.

"She lied." A tear stained glare. "And now, I'm the 'bad guy.' If that's what everyone wants … so be it." Fate is acting aloof. "That's their choice after all. Something tier keen on making."

***

Truenote to Luck:

What is the luckiest event you have ever seen happen?

-

"Speedrunners with good RNG." Luck smiled. "Luck comes down to chance, and as most things tend to be scripted, Players and Hackers with no luck value are, ironically, the ones that experience the most luck."

She took a sip of ice tea.

"Ever see a natural Dog Marriage Skip? Or a near perfect TASgore?" she leaned in with a large smile. "Such a thrilling game of chance~"

***

Truenote to Me:

So how many times a day is the fourth wall broken?

-

*Me with dark marks under my eyes, flex taped to the ceiling*

Wall? What Wall?? Was that a thing I was supposed to maintain???

*chuckles looking at future plans*

***

LunarianoftheVoid to Error:

For Error, "There are multiple multiverses and multiple Errors, I want to know what kind of Error you are, like do you consider yourself insane or does the job of destruction need to be done for the sake of the multiverse. Also most of the Multiverse Errors like chocolate so I want to give you some, hope you enjoy!"

-

Error scratched his cheek bone with a single phalange, looking away. 

“That’s uh. K-K-K-Kinda a lot to just spring on a person. But I g-g-g-guess it does make some kind of sense?”  He shrugged, munching on the chocolate as he spoke. 

“Definitely doing d-d-d-destruction because it’s necessary. Used to be more of a c-c-c-commission situation, but Fate had to go and r-r-r-ruin that. Was a little insane because of her t-t-t-too, but I’m a lot more stable with memories of b-b-b-before returning. Still have to k-k-k-keep up a little bit of an act at times.” He rubbed his sternum with a grimace. “I’ll n-n-n-never be who I was though.”

Chapter Text

Error crossed his arms as Blue fussed over his state. He ignored the way the motion irritated his injury. With the way Error happened to roll his eye lights at the attention, his gaze noticed a colorful new addition to the party. No one seemed bothered, so Error put the weird skeleton from his mind.

“ERROR.” Blue said in a voice that asked for no argument. “WHAT’S BROKEN THIS TIME.”

Error huffed and turned away to avoid Blues eyelights. He was such a worrier.

“I’m f-f-f-fine.” He stated. “It’s j-j-j-just a fracture.”

“IT IS NOT FINE.” Blue huffed arms on his hips. “YOU ALWAYS SAY IT’S FINE. EVEN WHEN A RIB FELL OFF THAT ONE TIME.”

“Not t-t-t-true.” Error raised a brow bone. “I admitted I n-n-n-needed help when both arms were r-r-r-ripped off.”

Blue gave Error an even stirner expression. Error sighed.

Error wasn’t exactly known for reassuring others very well.

“Only because you couldn’t reattach them yourself.” Interjected a childish voice.

Error winced when he received a light bap to his face as Chaos floated into view. 

At some point Chaos had snuck up on him, beating Blue to his concerned scolding. 

Chaos kept their hand there as they spoke in a disappointed/amused voice. Error was notably uncomfortable with the contact, a few glitches popping up and several Error signs covered his sockets. 

He stubbornly refused to acknowledge the hand's presence.

“Dunkle.” Chaos said. “You always tell the Chara’s how important self-care is. They would be sooo disappointed if I told them you were refusing treatment.” 

Chaos's smile said they’d be willing to spread the word just to see the Chara’s panic as they exaggerated the extent of the injury.

“... f-f-f-fine.” Error relented. “T-T-T-Twist my a-a-a-arm, why don’t you.”

Error glared past the fingers. Not that his gaze held much heat at the threat. 

Though Error did remember the last time he showed up at the Chara Realm when he had actually been severely injured. He wasn’t interested in being wrapped like a mummy and strapped to a bed again unless it was actually necessary. But at the same time, it was nice to know they cared.

Chaos smiled smugly and stopped holding their hand to his face.

Blue sighed in relief, giving them a smile. 

“THANK YOU CHAOS.” He turned his blue eye lights on the Destroyer. “ERROR?”

Blue gestured for him to show where it hurt. 

“Yeah, y-y-y-yeah.”

Error gave an exaggerated sigh, but rolled up a sleeve on his patched up trench jacket, revealing a cracked and slightly leaky humorous. Scars spiderwebbed every inch of his bones, some more noticeable than others. 

“Always knew your funny bone was broken.” Chaos jokes, nudging Error’s other arm. 

Both Blue and Error gave Chaos an unamused expression.

“THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO JEST.” Blue pointed out, looking back at the damage. “AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL AFTER TREATMENT.”

Chaos just shrugged, continuing their hovering. They looked like they wanted to say something, but had forgotten what it was and were trying to remember.

Without further prompt, Blue hovered his hand over the crack to focus the healing on the worst of it. The magic sept into Error's bones, leaving a feeling that could only be described as minty … somehow.

“Why don’t you go play a violent v-v-v-video game or something.” Error asked Chaos, slightly annoyed.

“Can’t.” Chaos admitted. “Core hid my switch.”

Error gave a pointedly unamused look.

“Then g-g-g-go ask for it b-b-b-back. Nicely .” He added, realizing it probably wouldn’t end well if he didn’t. Not that it would stop them either way if they were determined.

“Fine.” They said with a smirk. They turned to leave before pausing and turning back, recollection finally dining their features. “Oh yeah! Also have a message from above." 

Their smile uncharacteristically shrunk as they passed on Destiny’s plan.

By the end, Error’s eye lights had gone out, leaving two red voids.

“... you’re s-s-s-sure.”

"THAT’S … A RATHER EXTREME GAMBLE.” Blue said, having listened in.

“It’s just what she said.” Chaos shrugged as they smiled. It seemed strained. “The choice is up to you, though. She won't make you do it.”

“Yeah … she w-w-w-wouldn’t …” He said, monotoned. 

Chaos left in the direction of Core. 

Blue ran a free hand over his skull in shock, still healing Error, but notably distracted from the task. 

Error sighed, facing the ceiling. Just because he had the option to not follow her plan, didn’t mean it would be in the multiverse's best interest. As Blue had put, an ‘extreme gamble’ … but it was one that was needed, considering the state of things.

Even now … Ink was still creating more.

Risky didn’t come close to describing what was needed to do. But Error knew he would do it. 

Hopefully they make it out alive.

Error put to words his frustration.

“ Funk .” 

Error blinked. That … wasn’t what he had meant to say. Even Blue gave him a quizzical look, so he didn’t just imagine it.

Expanding his awareness of the codes around him trying to find the cause, he finally noticed nearby tampering. Being as he was in Nightmare’s Castle, he had let his guard down. Clearly that was foolish of him as someone had invaded the place right under their noseless faces. But who? A Hacker? It hadn’t happened before, but Error hadn’t been able to really strengthen the firewall for … he wasn’t even sure how long.

They weren’t doing much harm - turning any alcohol into fruit juice, cigarettes into snack foods, censoring swear words, lowering people’s guards, etc - but the fact that it was being tampered with at all could only mean that whoever was doing it, they were powerful.

He traced back the signal and focused on the origin of the changes. 

His eye lights were drawn (and assaulted) with codes so horrendous it felt like an insult to Error’s very being just to view it. It was the new person he had dismissed as unimportant.

So. Much. Neon.

It was a skeleton.

“W-W-W-Who or w-w-w-what is that abomination.” Error asked, keeping his voice fairly measured. 

Blue followed his line of sight as he refocused on his healing magic again. 

“OH, THAT’S FRESH. HE’S … NEW.” Blue summarized what he knew like he was reading off a bullet point list. “CHAOS BROUGHT HIM. EVEN CORE DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT HIM UNTIL TODAY. HE PUNCHED INK IN THE FACE AND SOMEHOW CONVINCED HIM TO BE BROTHERS??? THERE’S A LOT WE DON’T KNOW. BUT!! HE KNOWS ABOUT THE BALANCE SOMEHOW AND I THINK …” Blue became a little uncertain and quieter. “I THINK HE CAN MANIPULATE CODE?”

Error saw how Fresh reacted to Lust uncomfortably. Error took out a chocolate bar to snack on while he watched the awkward interaction. The extra healing from the item wouldn’t be unwanted if this ‘Fresh’ turned out hostile. Not that the fight with Ink had even really started.

It was good to be a little cautious. Especially because one of the effects was lowering people's guards.

“You’re right about code m-m-m-manipulation.” Error said between bites, not taking his gaze off the unknown. “He’s passively doing it by j-j-j-just being in the room.”

“REALLY???” Blue asked, surprised. “I, UH, DIDN’T NOTICE.”

“It’s subtle. Y-Y-Y-You wouldn’t feel it with how m-m-m-minor your glitch is …” Error gave an apologetic look. “Sor-”

Blue held up his free hand to interrupt what was not the first, nor likely the last time Error would try to apologize about the whole ‘kidnapping in insanity and forgetting Blue in the Antivoid for too long’ moment.

“ANY IDEAS ABOUT WHO OR WHAT HE IS?” Blue asked, getting to the point. “COULD HE BE ONE OF THOSE HACKERS YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT?”

Error squinted at Fresh’s confusing code once more. A particular line of code that flashed by, that shocked Error. It was a mere chance that he caught it with how fast it moved on, to the point he might have missed it should he have blinked. (Luck gave a fist pump at her assist working)

“... n-n-n-no.” Error said, hesitantly. “He’s s-s-s-something … else .”

Fresh finally seemed to be at his limit for dealing with Lust. Both Error and Blue felt him create the foam sword now in his hold that he slapped Lust with. 

They exchanged quick glances.

“HE SEEMS TO BE COMING OVER HERE.” Blue pointed out, finishing what he could with his healing.

“Yep.” Error rolled his sleeve back down and flexed his hand, then rotated his shoulder.

The wound wasn’t completely healed, but it was better than it was. It just took too much energy to heal Error completely. Even for Blue who was stronger than he lets on to most.

“WE SHOULD PROBABLY STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM BEFORE HE GETS IN HEARING DISTANCE.” Blue said, fiddling with his fingers.

“Y-Y-Y-Yep.”  

“SO … UH. LOVELY WEATHER WE’RE HAVING, ISN’T IT?” Blue said stiffly.

Error didn’t even bother to respond past giving Blue a dead panned expression. Which was fine as Fresh had already walked right up to them.

“Yo yo yo!” The walking color bomb greeted the two, holding out a hand to Error. “What up muh radical Blue-dawg and his fabtastic plus one, the Destroyer-bro? What’s the 411?” 

Fresh had an amused grin and his body language showed no fear. Strange, considering he seemed to know who Error was … unless what Error saw was true.

Orange track pants with a white stripe, jacket of varying colors (two blues, green and pink), purple under sweater and a baseball cap of primary colors he was quite the eye sore.

Error was just going to get straight to the point and ask about what he saw in his code. Error’s not exactly known for his conversational subtlety. 

“Are y-y-y-you an Ad-?”

However, Error’s was interrupted by (-RAID: SHADOW LEGENDS (jk)-) a shadow reverse melting into a barrier between Error, Blue and Fresh.

Nightmare was between them. 

“Fresh was it?” Nightmare asked, clearly not hiding his intention of keeping an eye on him discreet. The protective goof must have finished decorating. “Why don’t we put your name in for the karaoke game.”

Nightmare linked arms and started to drag Fresh toward the stage in a way that barred no argument.

“Hey, yo!” Fresh pouted but didn’t resist, even if he was thrown a little off balance. “I was up an’ in da middle o’ introductions, squid-boy!”

“S-Squid-boy!? ” Nightmare scoffed, unamused. “What happened to ‘King’?”

“Ya didn’t look comfortable when I mentioned your title.” Fresh gave an amused one armed shrug. “Thought this nick would be better, bro-slice!”

“How is that better!?”  

“No?” Taking it as a challenge to find a better nickname, Fresh started giving a few options. “What about Nighty? Moon Child? Tentacle Dadd- no, sorry, didn’t think that through. Goopmare? Negative Nancy? Nootmare?” Fresh seemed to ponder that one. “Nootmare. Noooot -mare. Noot-noot!” He snapped his phalanges. “Imma go with Nootmare!”

The sound of Killer snorting nearby ensured the nickname would be common knowledge within the hour.

Finally they were far enough that Blue didn’t think they would overhear.

“... WELL THAT JUST HAPPENED.” He turned to Error. “SO WHAT WERE YOU ABOUT TO ASK HIM?”

Error sighed.

Chapter Text

As soon as Snasy and Spiffy selected *Play Fresh’s Game, they were sent to a new screen.

Shaking white letters appeared on a black screen. 

<Welcome to Survey Program Two>

<You accept everything that will happen from now on?>

<Yes / No>

Each of their Hacker souls appeared on the same menu. Green and Purple, both brimming with scrolling code.

“Well someone knows how to cover their bases.” Snasy smirked, leaning back. They took a sip of their gatorade.

“Is that a reference to Deltarune?” Spiffy asked.

Snasy snapped their fingers. “Oh! That makes sense. Chapter 2 came out recently.” They shrugged. “Welp, we’ve made it this far.”

They hit *Yes, and are sent to the next screen. Spiffy hesitated a moment longer on the beginning screen.

Of course, the second monitor was open to the codes for safety … and curiosity. Even if they weren’t going to hack, it wouldn’t hurt to look for more hidden puzzles, now would it? Also useful for scanning for malicious malware in the background.

Spiffy sighed but followed Snasy’s lead, also hitting enter on the *Yes option.

<A name has already been chosen>

Enter.

<Player order has already been chosen>

Enter.

<Now is the time to create a vessel>

Enter.

They were sent to two different creation screens, titled with their names. They couldn’t see what the other was doing, but they gave each other a brief description.

Snasy was given a Chara to customize, and Spiffy a Frisk. It must correspond to the player number. Like how Mario was usually player 1 and Luigi, player 2. 

It worked much like the intro to Delterune, only with far more options, accessories and an undo button.

“Gotta go with bowties and suspenders.” Said Snasy matter of factly, after they browse some of the options.

“Why?” Spiffy asked.

“To keep with the theme of our names.”

“Okay.” They agreed easily. “But I say we also get hats. I also vito the use of the Undernovella mustache.”

“Fair enough!” Snasy said, laughing lightly. “I think I know just the hat.”

“... I feel like I know what you’re going to pick.”

“Up up up!” They wiggled a finger. “Let’s make it a surprise reveal.”

“Okay, sounds fun.” Spiffy smiled.

Honestly, they probably took a lot more time than they meant to while trying out the combinations and joking around, but they did finally settle on their designs. 

It was nice. 

Snazzy even managed to forget about the whole maybe-possessing-Chara moment for the time being.

Snasy finished first and even started to clean their room … well, they gathered their laundry into a more compact pile at least, and partially made their bed. It was still an improvement though. A few more Undertale items also seemed to make their way out of view of the camera - not all of it though.

When Spiffy finally finished, they both moved on together.

“Finally!” Snasy said. “I was getting bored.”

“Glad I could be a positive influence.” Spiffy said smugly, referring to the room. “It would have been a shame to interrupt you when you finally cleaned your room.”

“... you did that on purpose, didn’t you.”

“Not telling.” Spiffy smirked.

<A Vessel has been chosen>

Enter.

<But what about it’s mind?>

Enter.

They were quizzed on a variety of things.

Favorite flavors, favorite colors, favorite Undertale character, etc. All pretty basic stuff. Some were even silly. Some were creepy - for example, favorite blood type. Most were simple yes/no or multiple choice. Some were Mettaton style essays. A couple even seemed to spawn out of nowhere in the source code that they almost missed. 

In the end, they finally got to reveal their characters to each other on the last screen.

<This is you>

<Yes / No>

“Oh my God - you look like a chimney sweep!” Snasy exclaimed immediately.

“Says the 90’s school yard bully.” Spiffy quipped back.

They both broke down in giggles.

Spiffy recovered first.

“Ready?” They asked.

“R-Ready.” Snasy said out of breath.

They both hit yes.

Inputs were suddenly meaningless as the game progressed on its own.

<So … this is ‘you’>

<Congratulations>

<The Game>

<Will now>

<Begin>

The screen faded to white.

They felt something stir in their very souls.

***

Back in Fresh’s house, Gaster is whipping up a culinary masterpiece. 

Pancakes.

Fresh’s kitchen was surprisingly well stocked. Everytime a cupboard was opened and closed, a new array of food items appeared to spawn. The same phenomena occurred with the fridge - though both seemed able to narrow down based on what the one opened wanted when concentrating.

Gaster was rather fascinated by the Admin magic that coated the place. Who knew what other mysteries were in this house so familiar to his old one?

Gaster was brought out of his musings by the feeling of something small, wet and firm striking his cheek bone. 

“*Ah. Children, I believe the batter is sufficiently stirred.” He signed and spoke to the two giggling and messy children.

Frisk gave a mischievous smile to Chara who seemed to get it. Both raised a spoon above their separate bowls.

“In the name of Undyne!” Chara shouted. “NYAAAH!” 

They both stabbed down into the bowls of batter getting even more of the contents all over the place.

“*Children…!” Gaster tried to admonish, but couldn’t help but interrupt himself to laugh at the two smug faces covered in batter. It reminded him of baking with Papyrus when he was young, times two. He just couldn’t stay mad. “*I’ll have you two know you’re quite the hand -ful.”

Gaster summoned an array of hands to tickle them, causing them to shriek with their giggles and run out of the room.

Gaster sighed fondly as he turned back to the dish he would have to salvage. Chara’s seemed to have too many chocolate chips to be palpable, and after that last stunt, Frisk's blueberry banana mix also could use some more batter as well.

Luckily, having predicted this, Gaster poured an appropriate portion from the plain batter he had been absently whisking while they worked. It dribbled into their bowls smoothly to make up for their enthusiasm as he mixed well. And there was even enough more for himself, not that it was needed since coming to the void, but it seemed this house acted as its own pocket dimension allowing him to experience reality.

As interesting and nice as this all were, he really should be getting back to his work soon. There were only so many loops he could get away with for not shifting the FUN algorithm. Though he should still be fine, as he knew from taking breaks to check up on his sons.

He was curious about what Fresh had meant earlier about the Hackers not being the usual type and what his plan was.

Gaster, once again was interrupted from his musings. This time by a thump in the living room and a pair of confused voices.

“Holy fuck … I didn’t imagine it.” They sounded worried but not panicky.

“S-Snasy …?” They sounded hesitant and a little scared.

Chapter Text

Back with Fresh, Nightmare dragged him past the food table and Fresh discreetly snagged a sandwich on the way, trading it for his bucket of popcorn. Horror gave a confused, but nonetheless amused smile at the trade. 

‘Nootmare’s’ grumbling over the new nickname was interrupted by Blue’s sudden exclamation of “HE’S WHAT!? ” at top volume.

Fresh thought he spotted a moment of a concerned expression pass over Nightmare’s expression when they turned to see what the commotion was about. 

Rather than an explanation, he and Nightmare received a nervous dismissive wave from Blue as Error facepalmed. Fresh shrugged it off and Nightmare seemed content for the moment to let it be (or remove Fresh further from hearing distance), as Blue was trying to play it off.

Nightmare did a double take at the sandwich in Fresh’s hold as they continued to the stage.

“Weren’t you eating popcorn?” Nightmare asked, confused.

“Yep!” Fresh agreed, taking a bite. 

Nightmare decided this line of questioning was not worth pursuing. 

Making it up the stage steps to where a Tv balanced on romance novels, a chair with a top hat, and a paper with a pencil wait, Fresh was certainly curious about the karaoke game. Nightmare let go of Fresh and looked around for a moment. It seemed he was looking for someone.

Cross popped his head up from behind the tv, likely having finished setting things up, holding a small carton of chocolate milk. He blinked in surprise before giving a hesitant smile to Fresh.

"hi. i'm cross." 

He grabbed the edge of his scarf to pull up above his mouth in what seemed to be a nervous habit. Or to hide a milk mustache. Fresh wasn’t gonna judge.

"Coolio." Fresh said, giving Cross a side hug. "I'm the radtastic Fresh.” He said gesturing with a sandwich laden hand. “I be new to the multiversal neighborhood as it were, my fly fella bro. Pleasure ta mee ya, criss-cross!" 

Fresh took another bite of his traded goodie and released the shorter skeleton - though that description applied to almost all party goers present. There were still exceptions however. 

Fresh glanced toward the ghost Chara floating nearby chatting with a ghost Papyrus that seemed to be just a skull, scarf and mittens. Fresh’s shades prevented the action from being noticed, but he didn’t let his gaze linger long. Figuring that the last ghost Chara he dealt with was surprised to be seen, it was probably best to pretend he couldn’t see them(?) … him? Seemed like a him.

Most of the Chara's and Frisk's Fresh has met seemed nonbinary. Except Core who seemed a little more like a girl, but not quite. A demi-girl perhaps? Fresh probably should have asked about preferred pronouns. Well - when in doubt, neutral pronouns too the save! If it bothers them, he’s sure they’ll say something.

All the skeletons Fresh had met so far were clearly male, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he was wrong or if that wasn’t the case for all of the skeles he’d meet in the future.

"Cross.” Nightmare said, relieved to pass the task to someone else. “Explain the rules to Fresh. I'll just be over there if you need me."

He pointed a tentacle to the punch where Blue and Error were standing, a jug of juice in a confused Blue's hold. Dust appeared distracted with Lust who was gesturing seriously.

The rest of the room had a pretty relaxed atmosphere.

Killer was on his phone - filming or gaming, it was impossible to tell. Chaos was surprisingly peaceful while playing on their switch. Sci was working on papers. Core seemed to be gone. Red and Horror were chatting over the food. 

It was … nice Fresh decided. He could get used to the vibes here.

With Fresh’s cursory look over the room, Nightmare walked with a purposed pace toward the drink table.

“so!” Cross opted to try and start a conversation, not explaining the game. “what brings you here?”

Fresh turned to look back at Cross directly, smirking a little.

“Kidnapping.” Fresh said, matter of factly. 

He finished off the rest of the sandwich by shoving the rest into his mouth. He could feel it restore the rest of his magic stores. It did a better job than the popcorn. Also the taste wasn’t too bad either. 

“… right.” Cross said, sipping his choco-milk. “let me rephrase … what’s keeping you here? clearly you’re not caught anymore and can just leave. unless you don’t know how to au jump? cuz i’m sure if you ask, someone will give you a lift.”

“Nah man” Fresh said when his mouth was unoccupied. “I can flip on outta here if I wanted to, broski.” Fresh shrugged, then put hand in his pockets. “I jus’ figured I could use a wee breather ‘fore things get busy, broski.” For a moment Fresh acted just a smidge more serious. “Big changes are coming, home slice. I can feel it in my bones.”

Suddenly there came a familiar exclamation of “He’s what!? ” from the trio by the drinks, this time Nightmare being the culprit.

Woah. Deja vu. 

“Yooo.” Fresh said absently with a smirk, slightly sarcastic. “Can’t help but feel like them brosephs be talkin’ ‘bout me. So unrad.”

Cross glanced at the group who had turned their backs to the stage just after the outburst and were hurriedly whispering, then back to Fresh. 

“what’d you do to deserve that reaction?” Cross asked, curious. 

“Honestly?” Fresh said, then shrugged with a little chuckle. “Could been a lot o’ things, my skele-dude.”

LM-AO

Punched Ink in the face, indirectly destroyed an AU, adopt Ink as a brother, was emotionless for a few minutes, could see into the code, was devilishly handsome, told Lust he was a minor - point is the list was long and who knew what they had found out or how. Though some things were less likely than others. Like his connection to the Void or his job … probably. 

Error did seem to have wanted to ask Fresh something before Nightmare dragged him off. 

Cross blinked a couple times. 

“should that worry me?” He asked.

Fresh gave another shrug, this time with finger guns. 

“What can I say except I'm one radically busy skele-pal, bro.” He pat Cross’s shoulder. “Continue to facilitate muh procrastination tendencies and quirky personality criss-cross, and I assure you we’ll be great friends, bro-dawg.” 

Fresh finished the statement with a wide gesture indicating nothing in particular.

Cross took a slow sip of his choco-milk while he considered.

“so,” He stated. “the fact that you disappeared from your au isn’t going to cause problems for such a ‘busy skele-pal’?”

MAY-BE?

“Uuuuh …” Fresh said intelligibly, just realizing how problematic it could be to have two Hackers running around the multiverse unsupervised with clearance. Meanwhile, the timer in his peripheral also continued to count down his deadline.

Way to go Cross for reminding Fresh he can’t just ditch his duties without consequences. If he stuck to the newer au’s he could be back before it ended at least. But … that would be work. Sigh. No. Fresh has already been delayed too long. There’s no telling how long it would take to deal with three high profile Hackers. He also has a couple kiddos to send on over to the Omega Timeline. 

“... yeah, I prolly should check in on dat, bro.”

“SORRY TO INTERRUPT.” A familiar voice said.

Fresh and Cross turned to see that Blue, Error and Nightmare were all looking at Fresh, having walked over at some point during the conversation. 

“BUT WE HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.” Blue continued.

“Are you an A-A-A-Admin?” Error asked, cutting straight to the point.

Just for a second Fresh’s shades went blank. But just as quickly they were back with ??-?? as he plastured on a confused smile, deciding to mess with them a little before he split the tea, so to speak.

“Whaaa…?” Fresh said, convincingly (not). “You mean, like. Some radical dude in charge of inter-multiversal affairs, aid to the tubular maintenance of the Balances, and defense against those sick Hackers-bros and unrad Verse-Viruses …?” 

Fresh gave a shrug and a beaming smile, shades reading NO-PE. 

“Nevah heard o’ such thing, broski.” Fresh pointed to behind him with a thumb. “Now if you fine gents ‘scuse me, I jus’ totes remembered something-”

Before his Fresh Poof had fully activated, blue stings slithered around his bones. It was uncomfortably entangled in his ribs and part of his spine, poking holes through his purple turtleneck to do so. Fresh had liked that shirt.

“N-N-N-Not so fast, 90’s .” Error was clearly uncomfortable, but hid it well.

Fine. They wanted him to stay and talk? Fresh’d stay and talk. 

As the color cloud dissipated everyone tensed when they saw what Fresh was leaning on casually, foam sword having been replaced with something a little more … substantial. Fresh still sported a grin, shades still YO-LOed as he raised an eyebrow, but it was clear his guard was up. Internally, he was starting to get annoyed. He had just resolved to do his job for once!

But at the same time … procrastination had a nice ring to it. 

He could mess around for a couple more minutes.

“Now that’s pretty unrad, bro.” Fresh said, swinging his barbed wire covered bat to settle on his shoulders carefully. The item emanated an air of danger with its 99 ATK.

Error minutely tightened the strings in anticipation for what Fresh might do or say. Nightmares' tentacles had taken on a form almost as sharp as his piercing gaze. Blue nervously got into a more nimble stance, but looked like it was more in preparation to stop any fighting that might break out.

“FRESH …” Blue said in a cautioning tone.

Fresh spoke on as if he didn’t hear. “I don’ care much for violence, my glumb glitchy bro-dude.” Slowly he lowered the weapon to point at Error, a sly smile on his face as his shades went out. “But that diddly darn don’ mean I’m some radical pacifist, neither.”

After a second, when no one made the first move, he let the end of his bat clunk against the floor as he went back to leaning on it casually.

“Radical!” He exclaimed, frames back to YO-LO and started talking in a fast manner. Any anger was short lived as he was back to being amused by the whole situation as he took it in.

They seemed more interested in what Fresh was planning rather than wanting to jump right into violence - though it was clear that would change if Fresh had made a move. So the ‘Bad Guys’ really didn’t fight unless it was necessary. Even so, it was clear they were battle worn. That was good to know. 

Fresh gave himself a mental shake. He had meant to mess with them - not psycho-analyze them. Fresh just couldn’t help but note details like that, trying or not. 

“Now that that all be crystallized in your skulls an’ outta the way-” Fresh tossed his bat up and sent it to his inventory, snapping the blue strands of string with his hands to the surprise of quite a few. “-Sorry ‘bout the play’n dumb, guys, couldn’t resist. Guess I should reintroduce myself.” Fresh said. 

“If you must.” Nightmare said, hesitantly. 

With a shrug, Fresh discreetly looked past the Wall and found Void beyond a screen who nodded him on reluctantly - how he could tell Fresh was looking was not clear. The rest of the deities seemed very intent on observing him at the moment. Fresh continued to talk to the group of skeleton monsters and Chaos; Seems he had also gained their attention as well, though they watched from a distance with varying levels of interest. 

Good thing he wasn’t attention shy or he might have been embarrassed by all the gazes directed his way. 

“I’m new to the whole ‘Admin’ thing, brosephs.” Fresh admitted. “So I was gonna lay low till I had a better handle on the job, y’know broski’s? Anyway,” Fresh removed his hat in an exaggerated bow. “Admin Fresh, Child of Void - at your radical service.”

“And Chosen of Chaos!” Chaos yelled from the couch, half paying attention to their switch.

Standing up straight, Fresh snapped his fingers into finger guns pointed in their direction. 

“And Choas’s Chosen!” Fresh amended. 

Chaos suddenly blinked as if what Fresh had said sunk in.

“Wait.” They said, baffled and no small amount of surprise. “ Void made you??”

“Yeah …” Fresh said, a little embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Though even I have to admit his skills are lackluster. I know I’m extra - it’s just too much effort ta tone it down, dawg.” A shrug and light hearted smirk. “Daddio sure could o’ used some rad spell check and a calculator, tell ya that much, bros. Even unradically misplaced muh soul.”

If someone could do a spit take without drinking anything, then that’s exactly what Void did when he heard Fresh call him ‘Daddio.’ By the look on Time’s face, Void was going to be teased about that for quite some time to come.

Error seemed to relax at the fact Fresh gestured to his skull when admitting his misplaced soul. It occurred to Fresh that the strings must have initially been aiming for it and found his ribcage empty - Error would have worried he was soulless. Nightmare also seemed comforted by the fact, tentacles drooping even more.

Nightmare muttered to himself. “So that’s why I can't feel his emotions.”  

Fresh again stored the data into his skull. If Nightmare couldn’t sense his emotions, odds were Dream couldn’t either. 

"Is that why y-y-y-your code looks like g-g-g-garbage?" Error asked with an almost imperceptible teasing tone. “It’s i-i-i-illegible.”

Fresh took a peak at Error’s code. Well, well, well. Fresh smirked.

"Ya ain't in no peak physique yoself, bro.” He pretended to adjust his shades. “And I ain’t talkin’ cosmetic ‘ERROR’ signs and particle effects, broski."

“At least I d-d-d-don’t look like a strobing n-n-n-neon night club.” Error countered.

“Says the microwaved mainframe. Don’ know if ya noticed, but I like the color.” Fresh gestured to his outfit and popped his non-collared sweater.

“90’s n-n-n-nightmare.” Error was starting to smirk at this point.

“Windows Vista.”

Blue sighed, shaking his head amused at how they got along(?). 

“Get a room.” Nightmare grumbled. 

??-??

“We are in a room, Nootmare bro?” Fresh tilted his head.

Error was just as confused. “The w-w-w-word ‘room’ is literally in T-T-T-Throne Room.”

“It’s just an expression.” Nightmare elaborated with a sigh.

“Okie-dokie then.” 

Fresh decided to toss his phone to a startled Blue who caught it with ease and confusion. 

“Fun as this is.” Fresh said with a twinge of regret. “I got some gnarly workload I need ta catch up on considering the unrad state of the multiverse at the mo. Give my radtastic digits a ring if ya got a complaint, a rad request or just wanna hang or something, brosephs.” Blue, catching on, began typing in phone numbers not even needing to reference his own to fill in the majority of contacts.  “Not that I can promise much bein’ as I ain't too practiced yet, yo.”

Fresh rubbed the back of his neck and admitted. “Now I should for reals flip on outta here bein’ as I was totes in the middle of-”

There was the sound of a portal opening. Fresh could feel it in his bones it was from the Void.

“Fresh! We’re coming to get you!”

Fresh face palmed.

The voice belonged to none other than Snasy. 

They sounded determined.

Chapter Text

As soon as the screen made the transition, Spiffy was suddenly seeing double. Literally.

Rather than merely seeing their new 'Vessel' appear back in Fresh's house from the screen, it was like someone had overlayed the first person pov from their created Frisk on their real life eyeballs . And not just sight. Spiffy could feel the weight of gravity, hear the sounds of laughter that petered out at their arrival. 

"Holy fuck … I didn't imagine it." Snasy - that was Snasy right? - said, somehow not freaking out. 

"S-Snasy?" Spiffy asked, trying really hard not to panic, but still not quite able to form a coherent sentence. "What - how-"

They attempted to pinch their arm. Both in real life and character forms compiled.

They started to breathe funny.

Which room was spinning?

"Hey." Snasy said gently, in game self placing hand on their shoulders to comfort them. "Hey, breathe. You're okay. Just breathe. Say it with me. 'I'm okay.'"

Screw logic. Spiffy held on to their friend in this half reality and tried to calm down. Snasy hugged them back, rubbing circles on their back. 

"I'm - I'm okay." They echoed back, taking slow breaths. "I'm okay … this is just really weird.”

A little more steady, they let go with a small smile and squeeze of their hand. 

It had been over two years since the two had met face to face because of the pandemic and distance. The last time they met IRL was a fun convention where they dressed as their favorite Sans’s - Snasy as Fresh and Spiffy as Error. Snasy kept saying ‘I’m not touching you’ while hovering a finger really close, trying to get them to crack up.

The two may have only met because of an Undertale forum, but they were really close … despite the distance. 

"Thanks … I'm okay now." Spiffy said, giving a shy smile.

They finally began looking around their surroundings and noticed for the first time in full HD how Chara and Frisk looked. Frisk seemed really interested in them but Chara was a little more cautious.

*Umm … hello. Frisk signed hesitantly.

Before Spiffy could admit to not knowing sign language, the text box appeared for their real self in the game. They had almost forgotten that POV with how odd it was being in the game and their moment of panic. At least a language barrier won't be a problem.

They absently noticed Gasters sprite in the door to the kitchen watching their interactions.

"... Hi." Spiffy said, not really knowing what else to say. They noticed they also had a text box now. Mentally they facepalmed because, obviously - Snasy had that happen when they … possessed Chara … and Spiffy thought it was a joke … 

Now they felt a little guilty.

“Uh … sup?” Snasy said with an awkward two finger salute. 

The awkward silence dragged on until Chara spoke up.

"So you're the alien that possessed me." Chara said to Sansy, not at all humoring any form of small talk. Not like the Void has any weather to comment on anyway.

*I was expecting something more … alien. Frisk admitted.

"One, it was an accident." Snasy said. "And two, we don't really look like this. We are human though. These are just … Vessels they were called. For psudo-souls? Maybe? Souls are more metaphorical for us in our universe." They theorized and explained on the spot. 

"Or undiscovered in a tangible form.” Spiffy pointed out. “Guess we should ask Fresh. He might know what’s going on. It was his deal … or maybe we should contact the person who sent you the link?"

"Good idea! Where is Fresh anyway?" Snasy asked, looking around curiously. 

"*Fresh is a little tied up." Came Gaster's odd voice, meaning conveyed through a pair of floating hands and a text box.

Frisk and Chara jumped, startled by him joining the conversation. Their sprites on screen didn’t change though. Honestly the sprites didn’t show a lot of the more nuanced expressions and motions. 

Already having known he was there, Snasy and Spiffy weren’t as surprised when they turned to see him there. What was a surprise was Gaster was taller than they imagined in person - sort of in person - the sprite not doing justice. 

Then again, their Vessels were based on kids and were pretty short. 

"*Chaos came by to pick Fresh up." Gaster said with an amused expression. “*In a rather nonnegotiable manner I might add.”  

"Looked like a kidnapping." Chara said. "He was even tied up before they hopped through a portal."

*Hope he's okay. Frisk signed. * But Mr. Gaster says he should be fine.  

"Isn't Chaos that god from Reapertale?" Spiffy asked, already knowing the answer. “Literal embodiment of Chaos?”

The fact that they kidnapped Fresh was worrying. There was no predicting what they had planned. Depending on the multiverse it could be very bad … or not at all. It was pretty ranged. 

Frisk's jaw dropped as they turned to Chara. *That other you is a GOD!?"

Chara shrugged. They didn't seem to care all that much, or secretly already knew a thing or two about the multiverse.

“Didn’t they kill Life at some point?” Snasy asked, startled.

“*What!?” Both Chara and Frisk asked worriedly. Chara more confused.

Gaster shook his head no. “*No … No. You must be thinking of a different timeline. Chaos is the multiversal resident prankster. Their pranks are intended to be non lethal.”  

“‘Intended?’” Snasy picked up on.

“*Probably won’t be a problem for Admin Fresh.”

“Probably?” Snasy latched onto again. "Why do I feel like that was your stance on the safety of no guard rails for the Core?"

Gaster tugged at the collar of his gray turtleneck and decided the wall looked pretty interesting. He wasn’t doing a very good job at being reassuring.

"*Well we had to speed up the process somehow."

Spiffy started to get lost in thought, not realizing they were speaking out loud as they did so.

“Well, it’s clear this isn’t the original multiverse with Fate here. Probably FGoD. Then Fresh is a Minecraft-like Admin for some reason, and Chaos never killed Life. So we can assume that this isn’t the average-”

They were interrupted by a flick to the forehead.

“Ow!” They rubbed their grievous injury. “What was that for?”

“Your brain was leaking.” Snasy said.

The three others had appeared very interested in the short mumbling.

It took a second to figure out what that meant before Spiffy muttered an understanding “Oh.”

Snasy turned to Gaster. “Mind if we ask a couple basic questions about this multiverse? I really don’t want to be surprised if this is a Fallen Stars type deal. Then,” Their eyes flashed to match their soul. “We’re going to Fresh and figuring out just what the hell we got ourselves into.”

Spiffy smiled at their friend's enthusiasm and nodded. It seemed like they had a plan.  

"I have a few questions myself." He admitted. "*Ever hear of the game 20 questions?"

*Does anyone smell burning? Frisk asked.

"*I see you decided to go fir- wait."  Gaster processed the question. "*The pancakes!"

He ran into the kitchen to put out what was more panfire than pancake. (admit it, reader: you forgot the pancakes too :) )

Seeing how Gaster had it under control by grabbing a pan lid, Spiffy looked around at the still slightly run down house.

"How bout we answer questions after we eat?" Spiffy suggested, more confident with the weird situation. "We could clean up a little more while Gaster cooks."

The three others groaned and Gaster chuckled.

"*That sounds lovely. I'm sure Fresh would appreciate it."

Chapter Text

Snasy groaned at the idea of cleaning … but Spiffy had a point. They were the reason the place was such a mess - it was only right they did something to fix it.

Then they had an idea. An insane, stupid and fleeting idea that just might work. An idea that had them smirking devilishly. This could be really cool.

“... I don’t like that expression.” Spiffy said.

Excitedly, Snasy grabbed Spiffy’s shoulders and exclaimed, “I’m gonna try something.”

“Aaaand I don’t like how you said that.” Spiffy concluded.

Placing their hands on their hips Snasy looked from each face of those present and declared, “I’m gonna change the house textures back to default - we can skip cleaning!”

Frisk and Chara were filled with varying levels of curiosity and confusion. Perhaps a little concern as well. 

Going through the files on their second monitor, their in-game self seemed to have summoned a window of code in front of them … with more things accessible; a lot more things accessible. It quickly wiped their childish glee from their mind.

It was like all the things their computer didn’t have the capabilities to host were embedded into the simple looking purple hologram. Everything could be found, including but not limited to the very SOUL data, which included basically everything about that person; too much to reasonably read and more than they would be comfortable too.

The AI mapping was insane and had it been run on a computer (even several hundred military grade), Snasy is sure that even just with Frisk and Chara interacting the mainframes would melt in a few hours. In comparison, what showed up in the computer files was a massive simplification of what and who they are - just as how the pixels hid the true details of what was happening, there was a lot more to the true code. 

It was as if the literal code of an actual universe were at their fingertips … and it was . 

They scrolled down and saw a list of AU’s, copies, Outcodes unexpanded - you name it. The only place accessible to edit was where they were currently at; The True Void - Fresh’s House. Though editing a person required ‘direct soul access.’

Snasy resolutely decided not to mess with anything they didn’t understand, and even a lot of things that could. They were curious and lazy, but not stupid. They don’t even want to risk a misclick just viewing some of the stuff.

Just like with the whole situation, Snasy decided not to examine their feelings too deeply on the matter, lest they break down much like Spiffy had done earlier - though Snasy was almost sure a few breathing exercises weren’t going to be nearly as effective. 

Good thing their childhood was ‘kind’ enough to drill in the skill of compartmentalisation and an ability to stutter emotions into more workable chunks to cope when things got overwhelming. The thought was a bitter one. It was something that even Spiffy didn’t need to know.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Spiffy signaled a timeout, bringing them from their spiraling thoughts. “We agreed to no hacking when we didn’t know this was a legitimate alternate reality. I’m pretty sure it should go double now that we do know.”

“Spiffy.” Snasy said, being very serious. “I’ll be careful. I promise.” 

There was no way Spiffy could know just how serious they were with that.

Seeing how much a Hacker could affect this world had scared them a little. And the fact that Snasy wasn’t the only one with access? … what … would others be willing to do with the power? Would they even know the impact of what they were doing if they couldn’t see the game from the game's view?

Was it even right to still call it a game?

Spiffy might not have caught on to the ramifications of this being an MMORPG yet, but Snasy felt their gut twist thinking about how much damage an ignorant Hacker could do … and how much a malevolent one would be much, much worse.

Snasy was filled with a desire to protect this place - this Undertale Multiverse. Undertale and its fandom was always there for them at their darkest. They would pay it back ten-fold if given the chance.

Spiffy finally sighed, giving Snasy permission to go ahead, seeing how Snasy was being serious. 

“Okay.” Spiffy said. “I know you’re a good person who definitely wouldn’t abuse your Hacking skills.” They kinda gave them a pointed look, but Snasy decided to take the words at their value.

“Absolutely!” Snasy agreed, shooting finger guns. There was no point in thinking any further on such scary things - they’d deal with whatever came their way, just like old times. 

Frisk raised their hand as if they were in class. 

“Go for Frisky.” Snasy said, acting chearily. “What can I do for you?”

*So what are you going to do? They asked.

“Simple.” Snasy said, highlighting some code to copy (the unaffected sprite of the house). “I’m gonna move this, the house from the past.” They highlighted the current house sprite/code. “And replace this, the house right now.” They pasted the code.

Around them, the house glitched for a moment and when the short dizzying effect ended, the house was back to its original state. Though from the computer view it was a lot less interesting and more instant. 

Looking around it seemed that where the couch and bean bags would have overlapped, the bean bags ended up on top of the furniture instead - then there was Frisk who was now on top of the coffee table. No glitched merging. Nice.

*Okay. That was cool. Frisk admitted from their new vantage point.

Before they could agree Gaster came out of the kitchen in a panic.

“*is everyone okay!? No one was hurt? What was-?”

He spotted the screen in front of Snasy who dismissed it.

“Uh …” Snasy said intelligibly. “Cleaned the house?” 

The great Doctor Gaster face palmed. 

“*Next time warn an old man, would you? You just deleted breakfast out of existence.”

“What - nooooo!” Chara wailed. “My chocolate pancakes!”

Frisk got down from the table to give Chara a consoling pat. 

“Let me see if I can find a copy in the code and I'll fix this?” Snasy placated.

And so, with a curious Gaster, Snasy went into the kitchen to give a basic explanation to what knowledge they had figured out about Hacker powers, using pancakes as a demonstration. 

***

Back in the living room, and a quick “Well that happened,” Chara decided that they liked the added height the couch/bean bag combo provided and climbed up. They then gave an exaggerated hand motion as if talking to a large crowd.

“Bow down to the power that is the Throne of the Gods.” Chara commanded a Spiffy and Frisk who decided to humor them.

“Please accept our offerings of chocolate.” Spiffy said. Not that they actually had the goods. Their inventory was sorely lacking.

“Very good, my humble peasants.” Chara said. “Now fight for the right to sit by my side!” They gestured to the second bean bag on the couch.

“I concede this fight.” Spiffy gestured to show that the seat was for them if they wanted it.

*No no, you go ahead.

“I insist.”

*Oh, but that spot really brings out your eyes. They blew a kiss. *Perfect place to seat perfection.

Spiffy couldn’t help but laugh. Was that a *flirt? From THE Frisk?

Before Spiffy could retort even a simple “no you” Chara groaned.

“This is not the fight I had envisioned.” Chara clearly regretted starting this.

“It’s called a Canadian standoff.” Spiffy joked. “The goal is to out ‘nice’ the other person.” They gave a small smirk to Frisk. “Verses a supposed soul of kindness, I wonder if determination could hold up?”

With the expression Frisk had at what was meant to be a joking challenge, Spiffy wondered if maybe challenging a determined soul, even jokingly, was a good idea.

“I concede the stand-off.” Spiffy said.

*Oh, but I insist.

That cheeky expression. This really would end up a stand-off if this lasted much longer. Chara looked exasperated already.

“Okay.” Spiffy decided to end it, hoping up onto the second ‘throne.’ “I win then. Thank you kindly for this great honor.”

The jaw drop was very humorous, and they couldn’t help a small smile.

*Very clever. Frisk admitted.

“Thanks.” Spiffy said, fiddling with the sleeve of their sweater. “I figured it would go on for hours if I didn’t take it.” 

“I don’t think I could have sat through it all.” Chara wrinkled their nose.

“By the way …” Spiffy started, hesitantly, but not wanting to pry. “If this is a FGoD Multiverse … Chara, do you know Error?”

Their face went neutral at an impressive rate.

“Nope.”

Spiffy didn’t believe them.

*Who? Frisk asked, confused.

Before Spiffy could explain, Chara asked something, cutting them off.

“What does FGoD mean?”

Spiffy’s smile was more of a grimace as they explained.

“Forced God of Destruction. Basically if Error, the god of destruction, doesn’t destroy enough AU’s to keep enough room in the Multiverse, everything … ends.” There’s no real gentle way to explain the end of the multiverse. “The Multiverse is operated by deities and has several balances that need to be kept. Creation and Destruction are arguably the most important but other balances include Positivity and Negativity, Life and Death, and sometimes Good and Evil. But since you two don’t know, then the last one doesn’t exist here or is lumped into Positivity and Negativity.”

Judging by their worried expressions, this was news for them. Yet Chara recognised the name Error, so there was probably a Support System in place. That was good. 

*Why did you ask Chara if they knew the god of destruction?  

Spiffy was quick to answer, not really thinking through if they should. “FGoD Error’s tend to knit the first Fallen Humans dolls and act as a father figure.”

Frisk looked at Chara inquisitively. Before they could even sign a question, Chara interrupted.

“I’ve never met him!” Chara exclaimed, almost disappointed. “All I know is he’s the one that made the Support System in the Chara Realm.” They came clean, pouting. “He’s been too busy to stop by much and I keep missing him. I didn’t know what he did for a living. Never asked.”

“What’s your nickname?” Spiffy was quick to ask, trying to move on to a lighter topic.

“... Rover.” Chara answered. “As in the mars rover. All the Zodiac signs and cool constellations were taken.”

*Nickname? Frisk asked.

“Well we couldn’t all be Chara and Frisk.” Chara (Rover) pointed out.

*And Frisk!?

“Yeah.” Chara answered. “Swap AU’s have you as the First Fallen and me as the last with swapped personalities.” 

*That's so weird.

Rover shrugged. “You get used to it.”

“What about you Frisk?” Spiffy asked. “What kind of nickname do you want to use if you get to explore the multiverse?”

They put their head down in thought. Had they been a vocal type, they probably would have mumbled their thought process. As it were, Chara and Spiffy could only guess their thought process.

At least that would be true if the game didn’t start narrating their thoughts on screen. 

What a breach in privacy.

Still, Spiffy couldn’t help but read it.

*(well if all the cool ones are gone, maybe I should just do something similar to Rover? That way people know we’re from the same AU, heh heh. What could work … Rover could be like ‘too wander’ I think? So something like traveler, hobo … uh, this is hard without a dictionary or thesaurus. Oh! I once heard a story about a group of travelers! I think they were called-)

*Nomad? Frisk tentatively tried.

“I like it.” Spiffy said. “It’s cute.”

Frisk (Nomad) gave a beaming smile.

Rover thought it through, tilting their head side to side. “I don’t think that’s taken.” Then they huffed. “Lucky. It took me a week to find something.” 

Spiffy smiled. “In that case … It’s nice to meet you, Rover and Nomad.”

* You too, Spiffy! Nomad said excitedly.

“Thanks … I guess.” Rover reluctantly said.

Then all of a sudden Snasy burst out of the kitchen, two stacks of freshly made pancakes in each hand, Gaster shortly following up behind with toppings.

“PANCAKES ARE DONE!” Snasy yelled unnecessarily loud.

Chapter Text

When pancakes were set on the table with assorted toppings plates and cutlery, Spiffy hesitated to ask as Gaster took his seat (a new glass of coffee finding its way in front of his spot), but finally couldn't let it go any longer.

"Is it really okay to take so much time before going after Fresh?" Spiffy asked worriedly, looking at the door to the Void. "I know you said he's probably fine, but I can't help but feel like we should still hurry, yet we’re settling down to eat some pancakes??"

Gaster blinked and his expression seemed to soften, even if his amused smile still remained as prominent as ever.

"*There is no need to fear.” He assured them. “*Time is flexible here. Leaving will send you approximately when and where you want to be. Just so long as it is not in the past."  

Spiffy supposed that made some sort of sense. As much as any of this did. They took some food from inside of a video game and placed it on a coded plate, prepared by a fictional character and hacked into existence by their friend. For good measure their IRL self took a sip of some very real water in reality to help with their slightly dry mouth. 

Yep. Made total sense. 

Though the in-game food still managed to ‘taste,’ they doubted it impacted reality in a nutritional way … even if it left a warm feeling where their hypothetically-not-as-metaphorical-as-thought ‘soul’ would be for both selves. They really didn’t want to think of how there were two realities somehow connected by a Game interface and what that meant about ‘reality’ as a whole. The thought just made them sweaty, considering how many violent games they had played. 

“So, like, plot convenience?” Snasy smirked, filling their plate, seemingly not bothered to worry about how this works. Nothing ever seemed to worry them long. Or they were just really good at ignoring it. 

The shake of Gaster’s shoulders was enough to assume the sound he was making was laughter.

"*I guess you may perceive it that way.” With a thoughtful expression he continued. “*Considering how you and others in your position interact with this multiverse.”  

Both Spiffy and Snasy go quiet at that. 

“Wha’s tha mean?” Rover asked, mouth full of chocolate chip pancakes. 

*Manners. Nomad was quick to sign over to them, which prompted Rover to stick their tongue out at them.

Spiffy and Snasy exchange looks over Discord, but keep facing their plates in game as they ask.

“... Gaster.” Spiffy starts. “How much do you know about our ‘universe’?”

Setting his mug down Gaster straightens, his smile twitching down only for the briefest of moments. 

“*Not much.” Gaster admitted. “*Just that the means of access to this multiverse is limited as a game format and that most Players and Hackers only perceive and experience it as such. Before now, I had thought proper communication between our - for lack of better term - races was beyond our reach.”

Rover seemed to choke on their food and chugged a glass of chocolate milk, slamming down the galace with a glare. “Life isn’t a Game.” They practically emitted an air of accusation. 

“We know!” Spiffy said, then amended. “Well we know now . Fresh’s deal kind of …”

“Gave us a change of perspective ?” Snasy said in a tone that hinted at a pun.

“Don’t you dare.” Spiffy said, knowing where this was going.

“Why?” They said, amused. “You gonna start seeing double in a rage? Oh wait.”

“That’s so bad …” Spiffy groaned. Before Snasy could do another one, Spiffy interrupted to explain. “After we made the deal, our perspectives were split into two bodies. One from our reality, and the one from yours we made. We're basically two places at once - and yes it is just as weird as that sounds.” 

Gaster leaned in. “*Fascinating.” He examined them with great interest. “*So you mean to say you are of both realities after the intervention of the Admin?”

“Uhh …” Spiffy said, taken aback by the intensity of his curious gaze. Thoughts of darker Gaster versions flickered across their mind, leaving them a little frozen. 

“Basically.” Snasy answered for them. “Speaking of, do you mind if my OG self goes to grab a sandwich or something? These pancakes made me hungry.” Their IRL self got up. “I’ll be interested to know what happens to my Avatar after I leave my computer. Be back soon!”

As soon as Snasy was far enough from the computer, their Avatar self, with a flash of purple in their eyes turned greyscale with a tag stating ‘AFK.’ Their expression was of an absent smile and eyes that saw nothing in a way that was kind of unnerving. A Check brought up the text, *Vessel for the other world , which sounded pretty metal, but also made them think about the Riverpersons warning.

“Okay, that’s creepy.” Spiffy admitted.

“That’s my face you’re insulting.” Rover said. They took a sip from a refilled glass. “Not that I can disagree in this case.”

Frisk poked Snasy in the face and the Avatar tilted but didn’t fall over.

*Weird.

“Anyone have a marker?” Rover asked.

“*There’s probably one in a kitchen drawer.” Gaster said, helpfully smirking over his coffee. 

Without further prompting, Rover made their way toward the kitchen. 

“I don’t recommend drawing anything lewd.” Spiffy suggested. “They will find a way to make everyone else uncomfortable.” Whether Rover would listen, was up to Rover. Spiffy hoped they did. 

Looking around, it was clear everyone was nearly finished eating, meaning the 20 Questions Game was going to come up. After the ones necessary to discover what type of multiverse this was, Spiffy wondered what else they might ask. There were some head canons they were super curious about, but that should probably be left till after they figured out the important things. 

They noted that Rover came in with a black marker and started to draw a mustache and monocle on Snasy’s Avatar.

They were distracted from their thoughts by a gentle tugging on their sweater.

*How did you and Snasy meet? Nomad asked. There was a little bit of syrup on the corner of their mouth.

Spiffy blinked, before looking away with a shy smile. “Um … we met online on an Undertale forum. Uh.” They looked back up, and explained in a way that sounded uncertain. “Undertale is the original game that inspired the fandoms that may have created the AU’s and eventually your Multiverse? Or they just happened to be made coincidentally just like alternate realities? Anyway, let’s ignore that part, and just say we were just a couple of nerds with an interest in the game and fandom.” They tried for a smile and it ended up kind of lopsided with their awkwardness. 

That sounded really lame and Spiffy felt their face heat up. 

“A-Anyway we’ve met at a few conventions so it’s not like we're strangers.” Spiffy said, trying to keep talking. “But due to circumstances, we haven’t seen each other face to face for a while.” 

Spiffy decided to not bring up the pandemic as they weren’t an expert and it would no doubt lead to many questions. And if they didn’t clarify or acted dodgy, they might think it was secretly a zombie apocalypse or something.

Peering through Discord, Snasy didn’t seem to be back yet.

“... I wonder what’s taking Snasy so long.” Spiffy said out loud. “They don’t normally spend this long making a sandwich.”

Hearing the click of Snasy’s door opening, Spiffy spotted them return.

“Oh nevermind.” Spiffy amended. “There they are.”

Rover quickly scrambled away from Snasy’s Avatar and hid the marker in their inventory. At least Spiffy’s pretty sure that’s where the marker went, considering it just seemed to vanish.

When Snasy entered the room with a simple sandwich, they locked the door behind them. 

“Sorry for the wait.” They said. “Thought I heard something.”

“Over all that construction?” Spiffy asked. At least it was starting to get late enough that the noise had decreased. Somehow Spiffy had managed to tune it out and was only now noticing it again because of Snasy pointing out a sound.

They shrugged. “It was probably nothing … why does my Avatar have a mustache and a monocle?”

“Like Temmie.” Spiffy lied. “Your Avatar went to College as soon as you left to claim independence and came back even more sophisticated and with a tea addiction.”

“What?” Snasy said, weirded out but at the same time interested. “Really?”

“No.”

They all tried not to laugh at Snasy’s expression. 

“You just went greyscale and AFK.” Spiffy explained. 

When they all got their giggles under control, it seemed like all the food was done. 

“*Now that we’ve settled, who wants to start the game?”  

It was time for some twenty questions.

Chapter Text

“Ooh, ooh!” Snasy waved their arm crazily as if in elementary school. “Me first!” When they had successfully gotten everyone's attention, they turned to Gaster. “How gay are you?”

Immediately Spiffy gave them a light smack as Gaster laughed.

“Seriously?” Spiffy said, so done with Snasy’s tomefoolery (ok, not really, but still). “We should ask the important stuff first!”

“Truuuue.” Snasy said, turning again to Gaster with a smirk. “So are you?”

“Oh my god.” Spiffy covered their face to escape their loonacy. 

Meanwhile Gaster was still laughing.

“*I think I'm a little old for you. But I am homosexual and panromantic to answer your question.”  

Snasy blinked. “I honestly didn’t expect a real answer, I was just memeing. And FYI, I am an adult, it’s just that we could only make child Avatars in the menu … though now that I think about it I might be able to change that if I found the right line of code.”

*You’re an adult!? Nomad singed in a flurry of surprised hand movement.

Rover outright looked like they had been betrayed and had a very guarded expression. Most Chara’s (and even Frisk’s) were head cannoned as having bad experiences with adults or parents. Spiffy was reminded that they were from Outertale and wondered what caused a bunch of kids to be sent in rockets all alone in outer space. It … they decided that it might be too personal to ask, and too hard to answer. 

“How old are you?” Rover asked.

“Twenty-three.” Snasy answered. “Spiffy’s twenty.”

Nomad and Gaster signed at the same time.

*You’re old.

“*You’re still too young.”

Then there was Rover who said simply. “Huh.”

“What about you three?” Snasy asked.

*Ten.

“Forteen.”

“Before I fell, I had just recently passed six-hunderad and sixty-six.”

Everyone kind of gave Gaster a blank look.

*Correction. Frisk signed. *YOU are old.

“*Yes. Yes I am.” He agreed, smirking.

Spiffy sighed. “And here I thought we were going to ask the important question first.” They turned to Gaster. “What’s the state of the Balance’s?”

Gaster hummed before answering. “*From what I’ve heard, Creation is very nearly overpowering Destruction. Life and Death continue to be balanced. Positivity and Negativity are fairly balanced with only minimal corrections needed to be made every month or so to introduce more Negativity.”  

“Are both sides aware that the Balance exists?” Snasy asked, finally taking things seriously.

“*Creation and Positivity are unaware, but Dream seems to know well enough that not everything is, or should have positive emotions associated.” 

On the one hand, it was unfortunate Error had to go through all this, but on the other, Spiffy was secretly relieved they wouldn’t have to fear an insane Error trying to kill them for being an anomaly. Well, at least it lowered the chance. FGoD Errors were usually nice, but that didn’t mean they all were. 

*Is Dream the guy in charge of Positivity? Frisk asked. *Who else is?

“*Yes. Dream for Positivity and his brother Nightmare for Negativity. Reaper for Death and Vita for Life. Error for Destruction and his cousin Ink for Creativity, not that either remember that.”

“They’re related!?” Both Spiffy and Snasy asked in surprise. 

“*Technically. The Deities Fate and Destiny are sisters and are each their parent’s considering they created them. Fate is Ink’s Mum and Destiny is Error’s Mom.”

“Huh.” Snasy said, absently thoughtful. “Normally Fate tortures a random Sans into becoming Error the Destroyer and Destiny secretly adopts him as her favorate. Also in the original FGoD multiverse Fate’s a guy, but I guess they are more popularly depicted as female. Though if things were as close to canonical equivalents then Error would just be a Geno that succeeded in destroying his own AU-” They were interrupted by a poke to the face.

“Now who’s brian is leaking?” Spiffy grinned.

Snasy huffed, then said in a joking tone. “It’s your fault for ranting about the various Errors all the time that I know this stuff. It’s super clear he’s your favorite, but still.”

“I don’t want to hear about that from someone with a Fresh dakimakura.” Seriously, who buys those pillow things?

“I never claimed to be any better. But the fact you know what that is called is super sus.”

“I watch anime.” They said, tagging on a “Baka.” for a laugh.

“Your weeb is showing~”

“Your … face. Is showing.” Spiffy said, failing to come up with a clever retort on the spot. 

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Snasy laughed.

“Are you two really adults?” Rover asked, doubting them.

“In the legal sense of the term, yes.” Snasy answered, before turning back to Gaster. “Back to the Deities, which ones are in charge here? It varies.”

“*There is Fate, Destiny, Karma, Luck, Void, Chaos, Time, and Space.”

“I thought Chaos was a god?” Rover said.

“*They’re both.”

“That’s interesting.” Snasy said. “So no Love Deity?”

Gaster blinked and gave a half amused half confused smile. “*No, not as far as I'm aware.”

Snasy snapped their fingers in a ‘dag nabbit’ kind of way. “Damn. Guess there aren’t many ships either then.” They looked at Gaster hopefully. “Unless?”

“*I’m sure there are plenty of ships in Oceantale, though I do not know how that connects to a Love deity.” Gaster said to the shock of many. 

“Uh.” Snasy said. “Not that kind of ship. Ship as in relationship. Though mostly referring to a couple you think would be cute together rather than those actually dating-”

Gaster chukled. “*I’m joking. Alphys was my assistant at one time, so I am quite aware of the concept.”  

Snasy gapped. “Oh my god how could you lie to me about something so important. So.” They leaned in. “What multiversal couples will I get the privilege to fawn over, and please tell me if there are kids.”

Gaster blinked and raised his brow bones. “*As far as I know there are no romantic developments occurring, let alone children.” At Snasy’s disappointed face Gaster added without making eye contact. “Though if you squint, perhaps Nightmare and Ccinno would perhaps get together, but I highly doubt it.”

Spiffy gasped. “Oh my gosh, Fluffytale is so cute! The cats are adorable and I always wanted to go to a cat cafe and, oh my gosh, we have to visit.” They shook Snasy’s shoulders excitedly.

“Oh my god.” Snasy seemed to agree. “We’re totally going on a Multiverse tour. After we save Fresh, of course.” They ruffled Nomads hair. “And you two can come too.”

Nomad huffed a little as they straightened their hair but the excitement seemed to be contagious. Even Rover seemed interested in visiting other AU’s.

“We could go to Bittytale, Outertale, Oceantale for a beach day, maybe sneak into the Doodlesphere, and visit an Alpha Timeline to meet the main AU variant’s-”

“Pfft.” Snasy laughed at their excitement. “Quarantine have you a little stir crazy? Not that I blame you. I’m right there with you.” 

“*Quarantine?” Gaster picked up on.

Aaaaand now they’d done it. After giving a brief overview of the world's circumstances 2020-mid 2021, they continued with the questions. 

“So, uh.” Spiffy said. “I know you said how much you knew about Players, but are Players common knowledge?”

“*No. Only the Deities, Error, Fresh and possibly a few others know. The rest, including even the Fallen Children, do not know of their existence. Though some probably suspect.”

Rover huffed grumpily. “Probably would have been useful to know Frisk and I weren’t the only ones in control. Would have prevented a lot of arguments over who kept Resetting.” 

Nomad winced. *I’m sorry for a lot of the things I’ve called you.

Rover gave a laugh that was without amusement. “Don’t be. Some of it was spot on.”

“Chara …” Nomad croaked out with a voice that was hardly ever used as they held Rovers hand tightly. They gave them a determined stare. “No.”

It was only two words, but so much was still said. 

If Rovers eyes were a little shiny as they turned away, no one mentioned it. They gently pulled their hand away as if worried doing it too fast might hurt Nomad. Nomad frowned but didn’t try to take the hand back, giving them space.

“... idiot.” Rover said, softly. 

After a moment of silence, Spiffy decided to speak up in order to give Rover time to calm down. 

“Hey Gaster.”

“*Yes?”

“Did you know a lot of people ship you with Grillby or Asgore?”

“*Do they?” He said with amused interest, turning away from Rover despite his concern. “*I suppose there are worse options. Jerry namely.”

Then Snasy added. “A lot more ship you with Sans though.”

Gaster dropped what little was left in his mug of coffee on his lap in shock and Nomad passed him some napkins.

“*I - but - he’s my son!” Gaster flustered, weirded out. 

“Not in every rendition.” Snasy said, teasingly. “Not that that matters to some shippers. Sans and Papyrus also happen.”

“*Stop. Please cease and desist.”

“Let’s see …” Snasy continued. “There’s also Papyrus x Mettaton, San x Toriel, Sans x Grillby, Sans x Chara-”

“NOOO!” Rover exclaimed in horror. Clearly distracted from their thought of self hate now.

Snasy’s mischievous smile grew. Spiffy knew that look. 

Before Snasy could keep going, Spiffy elbowed them in the side, changing topics. “So, what’s your favorite theme song? I personally like Bonetrousle and Muffet’s Spider Dance.” 

Snasy snorted. “Sans theme is by far superior. Megalovania is such a bop.”

“You know there’s a theory that’s going around that Megalovainia is actually the Players theme and Song That Might Play When You Fight Sans is actually his theme.” Spiffy brought up. 

Snasy seemed to have trouble processing that if the way they opened and closed their mouth was any indicator. 

“What do you mean by theme?” Rover asked.

Spiffy blinked. “Almost everyone you fight has a theme song. Even Gaster has a theme song, though it’s pretty simple.” 

“*Oh that sounds very interesting. I assume they are the same as in Dancetale?” He tilted his skull in thought. 

“Probably some form of a remix, yeah.” Spiffy agreed. 

*Can we hear?

“I guess we can add Dancetale to the places to visit.” Snasy said, smiling. “Hope you can dance.”

Rover and Nomad exchanged nervous looks.

“Ah, well.” Snasy said and tsked. “I can’t dance for sh- for the life of me either. So I guess we can all flail like inflatable noodle people to the horror of the inhabitants.” 

That got a couple of giggles. 

“*So.” Gaster said, smiling. “*Do you think you have enough knowledge to comfortably travel the AU’s now?”

Spiffy smiled. “I just have a couple more. Mostly I just want to know your opinion of the Balance holder's personalities and if we should worry about Blue being a yandere, a soulessly manipulative Ink, a sadistic Nightmare and other things along that line.”

“*Very well. But in return, I would very much enjoy hearing about some of these other Multiverses.”  

“Deal.”

***

After much said, and lots learned, it was time to save Fresh. With Gaster’s help, they managed to get a portal to leave the Void. He would look back on this time fondly. 

“*Player placement is my role.” He winked, opening a rift to where/when Fresh was. “*I think this is within the rules.”

Getting excited and pumped up on determination as they all got ready, Snasy shouted into the portal as it opened, “Fresh! We’re coming to get you!” losing any form of surprise they may have had before hopping through.

“Oh my god.” Spiffy face palmed before shrugging and smiling at Rover and Nomad. “Well, if you can’t beat ‘em.”

Smiling, they all jumped through after.

“*Good Luck, children! Feel free to visit again!”  

Gaster turned from waving out of the portal as it shut to look back at the empty house, so much like the one he had lost a long, long time ago. He wiped a few stray tears that were not necessarily from sadness. It was a bittersweet feeling, full of nostalgia.

“I really am such a sentimental old man.”  

Straightening his shoulders, he turned to face the door to the Void. It was time to get back to work and let the other Gasters know what had happened.

Chapter Text

To say Fresh was surprised was accurate, but that was nothing compared to the panic stricken Error. 

“Miss me~?” Snasy asked, facing Fresh with a face splitting smile. 

Their cheery smile faltered when they were strung up with blue strings and hung from the ceiling by their purple coded soul. Snasy winced. 

Fresh also gave a sympathetic wince, shades stating OW-CH.

Error gave Fresh an unamused look. “I t-t-t-take it this is what you were in the m-m-m-middle of? Fighting a H-H-H-Hacker? And you j-j-j-just left ? R-R-R-Really?”

Fresh didn’t have the time to explain as shortly behind Snasy, Spiffy, Chara and Frisk exited. Spiffy likewise also tied to the ceiling, but Chara and Frisk got away with just being tied up in the traditional sense and not by their souls. The two fallen human, well, fell at suddenly finding themselves tied up. 

Before Error could crush the Hacker’s souls (or it got to the point where Fresh would need to prevent that), Gaster called out from the portal, surprising a lot of those present into freezing.

“*Good Luck, children! Feel free to visit again!”  

Fresh returned Gasters' wave as the portal closed, then cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention as he moved in front of the captive humans with a flourish. Grandly he gestures to them as if this was all staged and planned for.

“Error and every other radical pal present.” Fresh began to introduce, pointing a thumb at the hanging kids. “This here be Snasy and Spiffy, and we’ve come to a rad deal, so no soul shattering required.” Pointing between Chara and Frisk. “And these two swag androgi-bros are survivors from Outertale 567 due to their intervention.”

“... you l-l-l-literally just said your job is to fight Hacker’s.” Error dead panned. “N-N-N-Not befriending them.”  

“Well, broski.” Fresh replied, with a smirk. “This here home boy also never claimed to be particularly good at his gnarly job, as he be new.” This got a few face palms. “Sides.” Fresh added. “They're not regular Hacker-bros. They’re also Player’s.”

“Uuh …” Snasy began from halfway to the ceiling. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to be let down now? I’m starting to get nauseous and I doubt anyone wants that while I'm hanging above their heads.” 

Error narrows his eye sockets in distrust and perhaps confusion. “... I s-s-s-see.” Slowly he lowers them down, string still around their souls. 

Snasy sighed as they touched solid ground once more.

“Thanks …” Spiffy said, looking at Error admirably. 

“No funny b-b-b-business.” Error instructed, as he released them. “We get enough comedians.”

“I bet.” Snasy said looking around at the various characters milling about.

“Just like that?” Nightmare asked, baffled. “I don’t know what a ‘Player’ is, but it can’t possibly be enough to trust them.”

“Trust has nothing to d-d-d-do with it.” Error said, crossing his arms. “In fact, I’d trust them less for being both. But Players and Hackers share one quality.” He looked at the two with a critical eye light. “They can’t talk freely. At least not in a way m-m-m-most can understand.”  

“Oh yeah!” Snasy said as if just remembering something, and turned to Fresh. “We wanted to ask you about that because we could only communicate and see this all as more than what we did after accepting your deal.”

Fresh appreciated that they shifted around saying that they thought this was a Game, even if it were true. There was no point in causing tension over that topic. 

All gazes turned to Fresh who now sported ??-??. 

“Imma be real with ya, bro-dudes.” He said with an open shrug. “I have no idea beyond divine intervention or something of that like.” Then he put his finger to his chin and thought of something. “Probably has ta do with the fact I made a deal to make the deal and they added a few things.”

“FRESH.” Blue said worried. “WHO DID YOU MAKE A DEAL WITH?” 

“Something called ‘Higher Management?’” Chaos froze. “I think they be the radical multiverse itself or its core code, but I’m not a hundo percent sure. Strangely HM-bro had to ask permission to make the deal with me. Chaos, bro?” He called them out.

Chaos jumped. “I can’t believe you got into contact with them …”

“You know something?”  Nightmare asked. He’d been scowling the whole time. Seemed he didn’t like not knowing things.

“Yeah.” Chaos said, almost absently. “I wasn’t around yet, but they went partially dormant centuries ago. Stopped talking or doing anything but the bare minimum of their job like some kind of ‘corporate zombie.’” They quoted, probably from the one who told them about the story. “Shortly after and that’s when the Multiverse went to shiz with no one keeping Fate in check.” Then looking around more seriously. “They’re literally the Manager of the Multiverse. What they say goes.” 

“Why would some homeslice as waked-out powerful as that need to ask anyone permission for something then, broski?” Fresh asked. It was as concerning now as it was then.

“Only one person is rumored to be in a position to give them orders.” Chaos said. “The Server Owner. And only Higher Management is allowed, or able to contact them. But I thought they were only a myth … someone with the power to Reset the very Multiverse.” 

Those last words were enough to leave a somber feeling hanging over the crowd. That is until Chara spoke. 

“Don’t want to ruin the lovely mood you got goin’ on with all the doom and gloom.” They said from the ground still tied up with Frisk. “But do you mind getting us the ever loving funk outta these strings!?!? ”

“Oh. R-R-R-Right.” Error said, releasing the monochromatic children.

“Finally!” Chara said, dusting off their pants. “I thought I was a goner.”

Something about the phrase got a couple chuckles and a really hearty one from Snasy.

“Goner!” Snasy laughed. “Good one.”

“What?” Chara asked, confused.

“What?” Snasy said, having thought they realized the pun.

Spiffy explained. “A Goner is someone that falls into the Void and ends up greyscale.”

Chara looked down at themself. “Ooooh. I see.” They looked up. “Why the funk is there a term? Does this happen often or something?”

Frisk tugged their arm and signed. *Remember those gray Gaster followers that only showed up in a few timelines?  

Chara’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh my god, I forgot about them.”

*I thought I did too, but the word Goner made me think of the MK look-alike.

Meanwhile, Fresh had started playing on a Tamagotchi seeing as no one was in danger of being immediately impaled. Though he did still listen in. It was pretty convenient they showed up, as he was about to go after the three high risk Hackers and the ‘Game’ he had planned for them was helping out against other Hackers. The cloak was still ticking in his peripheral, even if only about a half hour had passed. 

Some of the others seemed to have a similar idea and went back to doing their own things, either listening in, or truly not caring. 

“Hey, Fresh?” Spiffy got closer. “What kind of deal did you make to let us be here?” 

“Nothin’ too serious, brolio.” Fresh said, pocketing his digital pet and rubbing their head which knocked their hat slightly ascue. “They basically just wanted me to stop goofin’ and get on a roll with takin’ out the more serious Hacker-bros.” He placed a dramatic hand to his sternum and added sarcastically. “The horror, broski.” Smiling, he tilted his head and gave a casual. “Come with?”

Using his broken Fourth Wall Break, he had already located several Candadents. Most seemed to be in the outskirt AU’s meaning they could make it back to the party in about 20 min because of the temporal dilation involved in the outer AU’s even if it did end up taking the nine hours. The pattern could probably be explained by weaker firewalls on the newer verses.

“NGL.” Snasy said. “That sounds epic. I’m in.”

Spiffy sighed, but gave a thumbs up. “When do we go?”

Fresh hummed as he rubbed his chin. “First things first brolio. Chara? Frisk?”

He got the attention of the two kids.

“We’re going by Rover and Nomad now.” Chara (Rover) explained, pointing at who went by what.

“Gnarly!” Fresh exclaimed. That would make things easier in the future. “Anyway, Freshy-bros gonna drop ya off with a radtastic pal while we bounce, kay kiddos?” Fresh looked around, not seeing Core. “Core Frisky?”

“Yes?” They said appearing to his left.

Rover and Nomad seemed interested in them.

“These be the two bros I asked about.”

“Wha - wait.” Rover said, turning to Fresh. “Why can’t we come?”

*We can help. Nomad said, attempting puppy dog eyes.

“Sorry, kiddo-bros.” Fresh said sincerely. “There’re no Resets for us radical outcodes and you each are running on half a soul.” He messed up both their hair, Rover removing his hand and Nomad looking down with a pout. “Maybe when ya bros are older. I’m sure there’ll be many peeps willing ta train with ya radical bros where you’re going, my home slice pals.”

“He’s right.” Core interjected. “There are a lot who train everyday in the Omega Timeline. I’m sure one, or even a dozen would be willing to train you.”

*... Okay. Nomad said reluctantly.

Rover, even more reluctantly scoffed and said. “Fine! It’s not like I wanted to go anyway.”

“Aw.” Spiffy said, going in for a hug. “I’m sure we can go for that Multiverse tour another time.”

Rover reluctantly accepted the hug, though they looked like a cat in a bath the whole time. Nomad decided to join the hug and nearly knocked the two over causing Spiffy to laugh. With a shrug Snasy also joined with a leep, this time successfully knocking them all over. Everyone laughed but Rover who exclaimed from the bottom. “You guys are such dorks.”

Lust covered his mouth from where he had been discreetly watching with Horror who had a soft expression. A few more stifled chuckles could be heard from the various eavesdroppers.

“Are you ready?” Core asked with a small smile as they regained their footing.

The two nodded.

“Follow me.” Core walked toward the Throne Room door and explained. “You can get to the Omega Timeline from any door as long as the location is in mind.”  

With a final wave the two left the castle to their destination.

Spiffy sighed. 

“No need ta fret, muh rad pal.” Fresh said, with a gentle smile. “We’ll see those brosephs again sometime.”

Spiffy nodded and gave Fresh a small but appreciative smile.

Out of his peripheral he saw a projectile heading his way and reflexively caught it with his other hand. It was his phone.

“EVERYONE’S CONTACTS SHOULD BE IN THERE.” Blue called over with a smile and wave. “I KNOW YOUR NEW, SO IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE TEXT!”

Fresh gave him finger guns. “Radical!” Fresh put the device in his inventory as he turned to his now official side kicks with an amused smile. “Ready?” He asked and received a couple nods. “Then we go now, brosephs.”

With the snap of his fingers the three were sent through a Fresh Poof, straight into a Hackers den.

Chapter Text

When the colorful cloud dissipated, Fresh Spiffy and Snasy stood in a wintery clearing surrounded by frosted pine. 

The three take a moment to appreciate the sight. It was Fresh’s first time experiencing snow and he enjoyed the satisfying crunch it made underfoot and how the light caught the lazily drifting snowflakes.

Snasy shivered and looked at Spiffy’s rugby-like long sleeve shirt jealousy. “Man, I wish I had a sweater. But at the same time …” They crouched down and grabbed a handful of snow, shaping it into a more round shape, holding it with a thoughtful look. “It’s also not as cold as it should be. Like standing in front of an open fridge.”

Spiffy shrugged. “Probably just attribute any weirdness to magic … heh, now that’s something I never thought I’d say unironically.” They looked up at the cave ceiling high above their heads and stuck their tongue out.

The action confused Fresh. What were they-? Spiffy laughed when they caught a snowflake causing it to melt. Thinking it looked fun, Fresh copied the maneuver. Being successful in catching a snowflake, he looked down and saw Snasy who was for some unknown reason blushing and looking at him - maybe it was the cold.

Probably the cold.

“Sup?” Fresh asked, raising an eyebrow. “Somethin’ on my face, broseph?”

They opened their mouth as if to reply, but shut it as if changing what they were going to say.

“Eh. Nothing.” They said turning away, seeing an unimpressed expression on Spiffy. “Anyway! Hackers to fight, or … whatever, right?” After a momentary pause, they added in concern. “I just realized we don’t have armor, weapons or items.”

“Oh!” Fresh snapped his fingers. “Knew I be forgetting somethin’, bros. Try one o’ these rad boyo’s out.”

From his inventory he emptied numerous objects onto the snow. Weapons such as duel yo-yo’s, lawn darts, a d20 D&D die, and a squeaky mallet. Armor included a fanny pack, neon bomber jacket, a tie-dye bandana and the nokia phone.

He decided to keep his Skatebored and Batt equipped for himself. Patiently he waited as the two decided what they were going to use. He took the time to scout through the code. The Hacker seemed to be making their way through the Ruins.

He saw their LOVE increase.

The two Players Checked each Items buffs and debuffs, trying to find the balance that suited them the best.

WEAPONS:

---

*Duel Yo-Yo’s

ATK 10

*Attack four consecutive times.

*A fight with flair! It just keeps coming back for more.

---

*Lawn Darts

ATK 22

*Critical doubles ATK output. Low accuracy. 

*Straight to the point.

---

*D20

ATK 5

*ATK power multiplied by roll number (1-20) each turn.

*You’re a NATURAL gambler, aren’t you? 

---

*Squeaky Mallet. 

ATK 25

*Heals 3 HP each successful attack.

*Has quite the fierce battle cry, not unlike the mighty Desert Rain Frog.

---

ARMOR:

---

*Fanny Pack 

DEF 15

*Heals 3 HP every other turn.

*Convenient stache for Gummies. Yum!

---

*Neon Bomber Jacket

DEF 18

*Raises ATK by 5.

*An assault on the eyes of your enemies.

---

*Tie-Dye Bandana

DEF 12

*Increase INV by 15.

*Makes you want to pick flowers and play guitar.

---

*Nokia Phone.

DEF 20

*Take no damage on the first turn.

*Feels indestructible.

***

(A/N: did i need to write the descriptions all out? no. did i anyway? clearly XD … so, non-compulsory question, which combination would you use? :D (i plan to mix up the current combinations in later chapters because of … plot reasons =) ))

***

Spiffy sighed. “I think it would make sense if we set me up as the main tank and fighter so you can keep your hands free for Hacking and support. Though most of this is pretty OP, so it pretty much comes down to play style.” 

“I’ll take your lead on the strategy here.” Snasy said, looking over the items. “You’ve always been better at RPG’s.”

“Give yourself some credit, you’re not as bad as you claim.” Spiffy said seriously before changing tones to joking and smiled. “Besides, RPG’s aren’t nearly as fun without you getting in trouble every five minutes.”

“Just for that, I call dibs on the Bomber.” Snasy said tossing a snowball in their general direction and missing. Putting it on, it only seemed slightly too large in the way that makes clothes more comfortable. “Mmm. Toasty warm.”

Its colors were … intense.

Spiffy face palmed. “I was gonna - sigh. Fine, take it.” 

After some internal debate, Spiffy chose the Duel Yo-Yo’s and Fanny Pack, leaving Snasy to pick their weapon.

“Then I guess I’ll choose these.” Snasy said, picking the Lawn Darts and examining one. “Honestly? I’m not surprised these are weapons.” They squinted in Fresh’s direction. He seemed to be staring intently into the woods as a lookout. “I’m pretty sure they’re banned for very valid safety reasons.”

Fresh either didn’t hear, or pretended not too.

“Are you sure you want an accuracy based weapon?” Spiffy asked, gesturing to where the snowball missed them. 

Snasy looked from the disturbed snow, to the Dart, to Spiffy before saying, “But … high crit go brrr?” 

“... I’m honestly surprised you didn’t choose the D20 with that mentality.” Spiffy said, shaking their head. “At least the Squeaky Mallet is consistent and offers passive healing.” 

“I mean, I did consider D20.” Snasy admitted. “It sounds fun and if we were playing a ‘Game’ Game, I would have picked it. But Darts paired with Bomber Jacket’s plus 5 ATK, makes it's base ATK higher than Mallet by 2. A crit could even get 54 ATK!”

“... I don’t think the modifiers stack in that order on a crit. But a crit 49 ATK isn’t exactly bad either …”

“Great! Lawn Darts it is.”

Spiffy sighed. “And here I thought you were going to follow my lead.” They gave Snasy a pointed look. “Which would have been to choose the Mallet and Nokai btw.”

“Maybe if it weren’t chilly.” Snasy shrugged. “As is, best combo with Bomber is Darts.”

“You’ve made your point.” Spiffy sighed. “I guess that just leaves healing Items. Fresh?”

“Hmm?” Fresh turned as if surprised out of his thoughts. “Oh, you brosephs, ready then? Gnarly! Let’s stop by that sick Snowden Shop to get some radical items then, dawgs..”

The two followed after Fresh as he set off after recollecting the unused items.

“You seriously don’t have any healing items?” Spiffy asked.

“No do, broski.” Fresh admitted. “Ain’t really a point for meh, man. Damage and death be false for this radical broseph and any physical injury be fixed with a bit o’ hyper healing.”

“Huh.” Snasy said, before asking a question that should have been obvious. “Wait, if you’re an Admin can’t you just /gift us with healing items?”

Fresh paused mid step and Spiffy nearly walked into him before he turned. 

“Woah, bro …” Fresh said as if Snasy just suggested something ludicrous. “If I just kept making things all whimsy-like, that there would be causing economic stagnation, bro. Unrad. Best perpetuate the radical exchange of goods at the source, dude. Support the little dudes.” He shook his head with a smirk, placing a hand to his sternum in what seemed like a mock offense. “I ain't no freeloader, broski! With great radical power comes some sick nasty responsibility, yo.”

Fresh turned and began walking toward the town again, confident they bought the story and didn’t suspect he had simply forgotten that was something he could have done. Besides, he was curious to get a peek of the sleepy town.

The two Players were left a little confused, but accepted the answer. Though the two suspected he had just not thought of just making the items and was trying to save face. He surprisingly didn’t have a very convincing liar's voice. Does economic integrity matter if it’s gonna Reset? For non Resetting AU’s it makes sense, but this was a geno loop timeline - it’s basically deleting the money … money that was probably spawned in the first place.

“Sooo, what kind of Hacker we going against?” Snasy asked. “What’s the plan?”

“The low risk, high reward Hacker kind, man.” Fresh said, waving a hand dismissively, still walking as he explained. “This Hacker bro created a bot to follow an infinite unrad loop of geno route choicers.” Both Snasy and Spiffy cringed in sympathy. “It’s rigged to alert the Hacker-dude of any deviant script or odd event flags and send out a gnarly recording of it, broski’s.” 

“Probably trying to see if they can recreate Dusttale or something similar.” Snasy muttered, scowling. “Thinks of it as an easter egg.”

Fresh shrugged. “Regardless of their unrad motives, I figure the bot be a good practice dummy for us. It’ll pass the time until the Hacker-bro reacts to the notification at least, brolios. Though this Undertale copy be currently running at a radically faster speed rate than the Hacker’s pov, so we may need to pop out and in again to a different AU to speed things along to fight the Hacker themself.” 

Lights could be seen through the trees as they approached Snowden. 

“Then when they do come online.” Fresh continued to outline the plan. “After a few rounds ta lower their firewalls, I ban the wack Hacker-pal and delete their game file memory to clear more radical space in the Multiverse.” He shook his head in disappointment. “Infinite loops take up a ton of the ‘versal RAM which is super unrad, dudes. ‘S why their high priority, bro-pals.”  

Fresh paused at the edge and turned to the two. “Any question, brosephs?” 

“I mean … I understand a lot of that.” Spiffy said, face scrunched in thought. “But if the Game - er - universe is running at a higher rate than the Hacker time, shouldn’t our IRL counterpart and Avatar selves be experiencing time differently to each other? Yet we aren’t?” They look up, worriedly. “We didn’t just inadvertently cause a paradox did we? Because I'm pretty sure, that’s bad. ”

“Naw, ya good, bro.” Fresh said instantly. 

“But how? ” Spiffy asked. “Like, that breaks physics as we know it, I think.”

“Dude.” He placed a hand on their shoulder to pat with a smile. “Trust me.”

“Telling someone to trust you is not a good way to get someone to trust you.” Snasy pointed out.

“It’s just a vibe I got bros.” Fresh shrugged, before looking thoughtfully. “All I know is the Multiverse code decided to sync up with your universe when ya took my radically improvised deal and it somehow works, bro. Though thinking about it too hard’s given’ me an unrad headache, for some reason.” He looked upward, eyebrows narrowing in confusion. “Normally I’d just up and instinctively know the specific ratio of time dilation between universes down to the second and why with the Fourth Wall deactivated, bro-dudes, but this time I be drawing a blank on the why department … it’s like the answer is on the tip o’ muh tongue but I just can’t get at it, y’know bro?”

He rubbed his skull. Thinking about it was making his headache worse. It was like looking at the maybe-second-Fourth-Wall layer … 

“Eh.” He dismissed the topic. “Anyhow, if we’re ready to head to the shop now we might be in time to catch the bot leaving the Ruins. Or at least make it ta the gate interaction, yo.”

The two nodded and the three stepped out of the treeline into the wintery town that was still oblivious of the danger approaching from the west.

Chapter Text

The town was still bustling with activity. Monsters of all shapes and sizes milling about and going about their day. Word of the oncoming genocidal human wouldn’t appear until a number had already been lost.

Snasy saw Snowdrake, Icecap and other teen monsters head into the woods, laughing and goofing around joyfully. They couldn’t help a twinge of regret knowing what was about to happen. But soon the geno loops would stop. Snasy would help to make sure of it. 

“It’s so pretty.” Spiffy said, taking in the lights and atmosphere of the happy little town.

“It sure do be that, broseph.” Fresh agreed.

He set a hand on each of their shoulders and a notification popped up.

*You received 500G!

“You bro-dudes head on into this fine establishment and get what ya need. I’ll wait for ya’s out here.”

It didn’t take long for the two to stack up, filling their 8 inventory boxes each. It barely put a dent in their G. The Shopkeep mistaking them as tourists from New Home.

“It's so cute.” Spiffy said showcasing the pastry shaped like a bunny head with frosted whiskers to their friend.

“You're cute.” Snasy said pinching Spiffy's cheek causing them to squeak and duck away. Snasy laughed. 

“Rude.” Spiffy stuck their tongue out at them, rubbing their cheek. 

“In that case, you're hideous.” Snasy said, smirking and raising their hands to form some kind of cross. “Can't even stand to look at your demonic face.”

Spiffy dead panned. Considering they were wearing a Frisk face, it was a 10/10. Snasy cracked up again. 

“Alright muh fellow radical children.” Fresh said amused, giving them both nuggies through their hats. “I think it be time we wrap things up in town and slide on down to our place o’ acting, ya gettin’ me?”

Snasy reversed their hat and flashed some hand signals. “I’m ready to throw down, yo.”

They made quite the colorful spectacle with their twirly primary colored baseball hat, rainbow suspenders and neon bomber jacket. 

“Now dat’s what i’m talking ‘bout, dawg!” They exchanged high fives, Snasy’s entire face lighting up in a smile.

Spiffy rolled their eyes as they attempted to straighten their seemingly permanent mess of their hair as they straightened their hat. 

The three made their way toward the ruins, crossing the long bridge leading into Snowden and Fresh teleporting them the rest of the way - effects forgone in favor of stealth.

The Player-Hackers stumbled as the footing shifted suddenly (Spiffy face planted into the snow) and they were in Snowden Woods, perpendicular to the gate-thing Papyrus made.

“Dude!” Snasy said, with a light smack that was dodged. “A little warning!”

“Sorry, man!” Fresh said, hands raised but a smile plastered across his skull spoke of no regrets.

Spiffy just rolled over, still on the ground. “So when's the bot coming?”

Fresh glanced off in that direction, gaze zooming and x-raying through all coded obstacles to see the bot listening to Flowey. He vaguely noted Sans waiting as well. Toriel had already been dusted and they were just about out of the Ruins.

“About a minute, bro.” Fresh said. 

Spiffy sat up. “We're cutting close then, huh.”

Fresh shrugged as they got up and patted the snow off.

“Remember, kiddo-dudes.” Fresh said. “The goal is to weaken the bot bro. Not defeat them. This is practice for when the Hacker-pal finally logs on.” 

“How hard can it be?” Snasy said.

Fresh shrugged again. “No clue peeps. Probably not too hard.” His expression lit up with excitement. “This here will be muh first time doin’ muh job in any official capacity, dawg.”

The two paused at that. 

“... really?” Spiffy asked. “What about us?”

“More of a spur o’ da moment thing broski, and y’all be a special case, what with being registered as Players. Never done Hacker stuff all properly before, is what i mean ta say. But I was told the basics by papa-Void-bro, so I imagine things will go rather smoothly.”

“... never?” Spiffy tried again, confused.

“Na-da.”

“But isn’t it your job??”

“I’m new, bro.” Fresh shrugged. 

“How new?”

“Mmm about one day, broski.”

“Fresh.” Snasy asked seriously. “Are you a one day old with access to god-like abilities and dropped into the multiverse without supervision?”

“Well, no, broseph. Void be keepin’ an eye on me at times.” Fresh gave a quick two finger salute to the viewing portal, Void dipping his head in return. “But for the rest of it? Yup! Voids totally an idiot.”

<How rude.> Void said, leaning back and crossing his arms. <Talking like that about someone who’s listening.>  

“So it was Void's idea-?”

There was the sound of crunching snow. The bot was at the gate. Sans was walking up behind it.

“Hol’ that thought, homeslice.” Fresh said, holding up a finger and hoping out of the treeline.

“h u m a n -”

Using the readily available information of the coded encounter, Fresh timed things so that he seamlessly injected himself into the situation, taking the ‘humans’ hand as they turned around before Sans had the chance to ask. He put a lazy elbow on the Sans’ skull who was now no longer shrouded in darkness. 

Sans appeared to be super frozen with the unexpected script deviation, eye socket wide with confused shock. 

The LV 6 bot showed no outward reaction. But Fresh could feel their limited AI churning and cataloging the encounter. The notification was sent. 

But just below the AI Fresh could vaguely make something else out … was … was the Frisk still …? 

He’d deal with that after. 

“Sup! Names Fresh.” Fresh said, giving his greetings. “And things be going ta go a little bit differently this time around, broseph. All this genocide-buiz is gonna stop, y’here?” Leaning in and using his gip to pull the bot closer, he smiled with his shades going out. “I’m gonna have a Rad Time.”

Spiffy and Snasy both fell out of the treeline just as he dragged the bot into an encounter. Everything went greyscale, Spiffy, Snasy and Sans all being dragged into the encounter as well.

Pulling his baseball bat from his inventory, he made the first move. “Let’s play ball!”

He swung his bat at the Red SOUL - with a crack and shatter the three ended up back at the edge of Snowdin. 

“Huh.” Fresh said, rubbing his chin. “This might be harder than I thought.”

Chapter Text

“Dude!” Snasy exclaimed.

“Yes, broski?” Fresh said, playing dumb. 

“ Dude! ” Snasy said again. “What the absolute funk!?” They smacked him on the shoulder (he let it land this time). “What happened to don’t kill the bot?”

Spiffy just looked disappointed. 

"We didn't even get a chance to help."

They were outside the shop once more. It looked like just after they had made their purchases, luckily enough.

Fresh let out a huff of air looking at his feet and kicking up snow, acting chastised. 

“Well, homeslice.” Fresh said, twiddling his fingers hoping for some sympathy. “I didn’t think being in an Encounter would make such a radical difference regarding intent bein' factored in. I was only a bit annoyed at the unrad hacker for the situation that Frisk be going through. This chill dawg just happened to forget how stupidly OP he be even in base states, man. Prolly should try for a less buffed weapon this time … maybe go in unarmed even, bro.”

Snasy was giving Fresh a seriously admonishing expression, hands on their hips. After a moment however they groaned and dragged a hand down their face in defeat. 

“God you really are a child aren't you.”

“Absolutely!” Fresh said, beaming and giving finger guns. 

“... that wasn’t a compliment.”

“Don’t have to be, yo!” Fresh said, twirling, arms spread. “Tis the facts, man.” Turning back to them he shrugged. “Not like y’all act much different. So, round two?”