Chapter Text
Palette let out a discouraged sigh, pulling on the old and tattered yellow scarf and pulling his hat over his skull, adjusting it for a moment before leaving it as it was originally. Once ready he took hold of the oversized paint roller his father, Ink, insisted he used as a weapon and means of transport and opened a large yellow and cyan swirling portal before stepping through boredly.
Recently Ink had been alerted to a sudden destructive force in the multiverse, causing him to go on the mad and endless search for the source of the devastation. Apparently, according to what Ink had told palette, entire universes had been disappearing as if they hadn't been there in the first place and he had been forcibly volunteered by Ink to aid in his mad search.
Palettes ‘mission’ for today (as phrased by Ink) was to investigate the trail of destruction caused by whoever this was.
The universe on the other side of the portal lay barren of any life, an unexpected turn of events from what palette had been expecting; a lively, snowdin town. Palette felt off about this place in general, used to the noise of people chattering or at least comfortable silence but there was something about this completely empty universe that was… unsettling. The alarms were going off in his head as he trudged on through the thick layers of snow despite the warnings.
In the distance there was a noise, a faint one, but a noise nonetheless. His bones rattled slightly in surprise before he slipped back into his cautious state, arming himself with his impractically large weapon before attempting to locate the source of the sounds.
The sound almost like a ringing in his ear as he followed it cautiously into a clearing in the snowy forest. In the centre of the small barren patch sat a figure dressed all in white and red robes toying with some kind of magical floating panel, obviously the source of the noise now that he was closer to it.
Suddenly a spike of energy surged through the air as the person jolted up, looking around suspiciously before noticing Palette standing behind them. The person stood up defensively and stared at him before summoning a glitching blaster and firing it straight at Palette, the latter dodging with minimal effort. This was really the first and only time Palette was able to get a look at the other, they were a skeleton monster, much like himself, but they had some strange black markings on their jaw and cheeks, that was all Palette managed to get a view of before the other pulled their red scarf over their face and fired more blasters in Palettes direction.
He dodged all of them, almost getting hit by the last two, them appearing in his blind spot before firing. Palette felt the adrenaline rush through him, despite all of the training Ink did with him in his younger years he wasn’t prepared to actually fight anyone! Especially not someone as powerful as this skeleton! Nevertheless he fought back, flinging a glob of paint in the offender's direction and hitting them, effectively distracting them for a few moments before swinging the giant roller into them like a bat. The other groaned in pain as the blow landed directly in their ribs and hit them back multiple metres.
This continued on for almost hours until finally there was a victor, the strange and apparently violent person had somehow managed to get Palette on the ground and was just about to strike with another blaster before the other had fallen through a portal below him in a last minute escape.
Palette's breathing was heavy and ecstatic, back to the ground and facing the ceiling of wherever he had managed to portal to. He hadn’t even bothered to check where he was, the fight had taken all of his energy to even survive let alone fight back. He could feel magic leaking from a few gashes on his skull where the mystery person had gotten some good hits in.
He let out a sigh, turning on his side on the hardwood floor to avoid the light getting into his sockets and making his head ache further. Now in front of him was a splotchy brown and white shape, not quite able to tell what.
“Kid?”
Palette suddenly snapped up from the ground and out of his exhausted haze staring at the figure he now knows as his father, Ink.
“Woah! Slow down, aren’t you meant to be on patrol right now?” He kneeled down next to Palette on the floor and looked at him, puzzled.
“I was! There… there was this-... this guy! And they attacked that AU I was patrolling! I- I tried to protect it b-but they were too powerful!” Palette held himself in his own arms as he rasped out sentences between gasps for air.
Ink looked shocked and concerned, an unnerving stare on his face directed at Palette. His eyelights dilating and changing every time he blinked. Palette could swear he saw anger in the mix of concern and fear at least four times.
“So what you’re saying is, There was a mysterious person in the exact universe you were patrolling, attempting to destroy it, and you didn’t stop them.’’ Ink stood up from the ground and looked down at Palette. “The Universes are extremely important, kid! I get it, you’re a rebellious teenager, you aren’t like other boys, all that jazz, but on the battlefield that doesn't matter. It’s life or death out there.”
Palette hoisted himself up weakly from the ground and onto his feet, leaning on the oversized paint roller in his hands. He listened to his father rant on and on about how ‘protecting the AU’s is more important than protecting yourself’ and that ‘a good protector is always willing to sacrifice themself for the greater good’.
There was one that really got Palette paying attention, though.
“People died in that universe, kid. Do you understand that? People lost their lives because this mysterious person was ‘too powerful’. Do you hear how selfish that is?” Ink sighs and turns away, mumbling under his breath as he rubbed his temples.
“Just… get to bed, I have things to discuss with your padre.” Ink turned once more and walked out of the room, seemingly forgetting all about Palette's injuries, it's alright though; it's not like they hurt anymore.
Palette rubbed his skull, just standing still for a moment before deciding to make his way to his designated room.
Opening the wooden door and slipping into his room Palette instantly felt a shiver of relief flow through his bones. The room was dark, curtains and skylight closed and lights off, but he could still make out the bed in the far corner, swiftly making his way over.
He fell backwards onto the creaky wooden bed with a huff, the pillows and blankets puffing up slightly with the force. Staring up at the ceiling for an hour would be fun but the clothes surrounding Palette's form were itchy and uncomfortable, unbearably so at the moment.
He managed to get changed into his pyjamas before collapsing back into bed with exhaustion yet, as he stared up at the closed skylight he couldn’t help but feel guilty. What his father had said about innocent people dying in that AU was getting to him, he could have saved them yet he was selfish and decided that his life actually mattered and now there was blood on his hands. He might as well have been the one destroying the universe at this point.
Finally the drowsiness of exhaustion starts to set in, clawing at him until his body gives in and shuts down for the night. If only it hadn’t just been for the night.