Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was quiet. Quiet. Too quiet. The loud ringing that resounded in the hollow skull of his muffled out any noise that filtered through the white emptiness. He could almost hear them now. WHO? It was almost as if they were talking through a pillow, behind many, many layers of thin walls. Not loud enough to hear, but quiet enough to register it as a white noise. IT’S ALL HE COULD EVER HEAR NOW. And still, the same questions repeat in his head. Regrets. Pain. Too much. It was loud, too loud, so loud, that you couldn’t hear anything. So loud, that all the noise made it seem quiet.

His breaths came in ragged gasps, his rib cage rattling around his empty insides. Empty. So empty. Pain. Why, why, Why,whywHywhYwhyWHYWHYWHY-

Beads of sweat dripped down his chin, making a subtle plip for every droplet that splashed. Unsteady hands, trembling as his body lurched forwards, rigid as if he was in electrifying pain. SOON. He could barely count the lines on his fingers, the crinkles in his clothing, the seconds, minutes, hours, days,yearsDECADES-

he’s been trapped here for, in an empty white void with voices crowding around him. He stopped screaming for help a long time ago. He’s learned better. Now, his guttural cries that scraped his dry throat from the inside out were for some form of entertainment, any form of entertainment. Anything to distract himself, even if it hurt. Everything hurts. 

He would have been happy. He had a good ending. Or so he thought. His decisions lead to this, and now there’s no going back. He’s stuck forever in this Hell. If only, if only, he could go back and destroy all bad that ever happened to him. It all started with YOU, after all. You made this happen. YOUR decisions. YOUR will to slaughter everyone. Over, and over, and over again. YOU made him like this. YOU, the player, are the cause of all problems.

But he could not deny that he got himself stuck here. If only, if only, he could eradicate all bad endings. Nobody would suffer ever again. Never. NOBODYWOULDSUFFERTHISUNBEARABLEPAIN. He would make sure of it. DESTROY THEM ALL.

Suddenly, everything was silent. All noise stopped. Finally, he could hear through the loud quiet. He could hear his shaky breaths counting in and out, in, and out, in, and, out until it beat out into a steady pace. Slowly, he stood up. Nothing ached. Nothing hurt. He felt… free. Something new shone in him. He felt refreshed. Like a cold shower in the morning.

He brought his hand up and reached outwards, drawing forth new power that thrummed though his bones. Bones that had changed. He had changed. He knew he was no longer himself anymore. So he did the only thing he could think of. In front of his hand, light had begun to warp, as if he were ripping open the expanse around him. The space tore open to reveal a mirror behind it, reflecting back the surprised look of the person who summoned it. A skeleton enveloped in pitch black stared back at him, his eyes red and his teeth yellow. Glitches surrounded his right eye, but his body in general was littered with them along with the occasional ERROR sign. 

That wasn’t what he was expecting. He shrugged. Welp. He was strangely used to changing looks. He supposed he could use a new name. And it almost spontaneously came to him. 

His name is ERROR.

Chapter Text

To be honest, the Anti Void didn’t really get any more fun. Error played around with his ‘portal powers’, as he now called it. From them, he withdrew many things, mainly for comfort in his new ‘home’. Recently he had dragged in his best find- a massive beanbag. So at least he wouldn’t be sleeping on the floor anymore. That was too embarrassing to even think about. Speaking of embarrassment, it felt weird not having a scarf to hide behind back when he was… not who he is now. He was past that. 

Which brings him to his next question. Where does he get these items from? The portals must lead to somewhere to allow him to just grab them and bring them here. Could he go through one of these portals? But then again, he wouldn’t know where he would end up. HE WOULD NEVER FORGIVE HIMSELF FOR GETTING TRAPPED AGAIN. Then the idea struck him that, if he were to just open a portal, rather than go through it, he could easily deduce if the place was dangerous or not. Typically, though, he would have an idea or what he wanted and then it would appear in front of him when he opened a portal. With no goal in mind, what would happen?

Error sighed. This was too much thinking. He would rather just get it over with, which is what he did. At his fingertips, which were coloured red and tipped with yellow, appeared a portal. Looking through it, there was a dark landscape washed in an ethereal teal light. The soft sound of running water could be heard amongst the small mushrooms emitting faint pastel light. Error stumbled back in surprise, his eyes widening. It was Waterfall. It was the Underground. The portal had been connected to the Underground. Could he just… reintegrate himself back into monster society? Could he have done this the whole time? He wouldn’t be alone anymore. Things could finally be normal again. He shook his head. No. Nothing will ever be the same. He’s gone too far at this point. There’s no point.

Cautiously, Error stepped through the portal. It was a weird sensation, like walking into a hot room when it’s cold outside. It felt like static was passing through him at the same time as he was transported to Waterfall. The moment he was fully through, a name popped into his head. Dust…tale? That’s a weird name. Where did it come from?

Looking around once again, the intense feeling of WRONGNESS shuddered through him. This place didn’t look the same. It didn’t feel the same. IT WASN’T THE SAME. It felt empty. TOO EMPTY. This wasn’t his Waterfall. But it was Waterfall. Of course. He could never go back. YOU GOT YOUR HOPES UP FOR NOTHING. Error buried his face in his hands and began to laugh. He never realised just how different his voice now sounded until it rang through the cavern, echoing louder and louder and LOUDER. There was no way, right? He had returned home. After a Genocide Route. Fate absolutely hated him. He was never meant to be happy.

Damn the Player. DAMN THOSE CREATORS. He would never let anyone suffer EVER. again. Not like he did. Error’s eyes burned, stung, ACHED with tears just itching to fall. There was no point in a Timeline where nobody was happy. Where everyone died. So why couldn’t he just DESTROY it? He couldn’t bear the itching in his eyes. IT WAS UNBEARABLE. Error reached up, and pulled his tears out of his sockets. He watched as they solidified into a firm, string-like material, fit for destroying this Timeline that was never meant to be. 

He took his time wrapping the essence of this Timeline, the CODE, looping around it once, twice, to make sure that it could never repair itself, if it even could. His blue tears now strung up on the ceiling, Error stepped back to admire his work. The faux stars now hung from his strings, mixing the dark blue with the cyan glow, making it look like a stage set fit for the show he was about to witness. He grinned at the thought of watching this Timeline unravel from the very stem of its code.

Until he heard a tiny shuffle from behind him. Error whipped around, instinctively shooting his strings out at whatever moved behind him (it was strange how he adapted to his new feature so quickly). In his clutch was a monster SOUL. So not everyone died? He looked up and saw himself . But he looked different. JUST LIKE THIS PLACE. 

The Sans held up his hands in surrender. “hey, i don’t mean any harm,” He said in a half-panicked tone.

Error squinted in suspicion. The Sans had his hood up, shadowing his face, so he couldn’t read his expression. It was almost unnerving. Along with that red scarf wrapped around his neck. THAT DOESN’T BELONG TO HIM. “WhaT aRE YoU dOinG HEre?” Error asked.

“i could ask the same for you. you know, seeing as you’ve strung up the entirety of the underground.” ‘Sans’ replied.

Error couldn’t deny that what he was doing would look confusing to other people. He supposed that this Sans owed an explanation in his final moments. He sighed and let go of this ‘Sans’’ SOUL. “I’lL TEll yOu whAt’S gOInG oN If yoU tEll ME wHAt’s wItH YOu,”

‘Sans’ visibly relaxed, “that’s a fair deal. should i go first?”

“i doN’t MiND,”

“you’re aware of resets and genocide routes?”

“... I’M aLl toO FamILIar wItH THem.”

“well, let’s just say that i tried to catch up with them in terms of LOVE,”

Error understood immediately. “yoU…”

‘Sans’ turned away, clutching his scarf the way Error used to. “What else could I have done?” he mumbled into the dust-coated rags. Then Error realised. This ‘Sans’ could have been him . This wasn’t a normal Genocide Timeline, not at all. It deviated from the main storyline. 

“YOu dId All yOu cOUld,” was all he said.

‘Sans’ irregular eyelights turned to him. “what about you, then? why are you here?”

Error took a deep breath. “thERe iS no PoiNT In tHIs TimEliNE eXisTinG AnyMOre. It shOUlD hAvE NEveR hAppENed. I AM heRE to dEStroY iT. bUT.” ‘Sans’’ head turned to face him.

“I wIll sPArE You. yoU dIdn’T DeSERve anY oF tHiS. YoU sHouLD bE haPPy,”

‘Sans’ huffed. “as if. after all i did? i’m irredeemable. you can’t save me. you shouldn’t be sparing me,”

“YOu WeRe pUT in uNFaiR CircUMstANceS. yOu dID whAT yOU thOUghT wAs RigHT. YoU sAw WhAT yOu dID WrONG,” Error opened a portal behind him, “aNd fOR ME, ThAT’s ReaSOn enOUgh fOr yOU TO lIvE,” Before the Sans could protest, Error grabbed him using his strings and threw him into the portal and tearing apart the Timeline by its seams in one smooth action, staying to watch the code of this messed up Timeline mesh together until it was an unreadable script.

Sans stumbled through the rip in space, steadying himself quickly. Where he was at, he didn’t know. It was just an endless white void, exempt from the few little trinkets laying around on the floor here and there. He followed the trail until he came across what seemed like the main area, which was a beanbag and a fridge. Is this where that monster lives? It’s a bit underwhelming for such a character, in all honesty. With nothing to do, he plopped himself onto the beanbag and waited for that monster to, hopefully, come back. He didn't want to be left alone with Paps for too long.

Which he did. Around 5 minutes later.

“it was very rude of you to just throw me in here without any warning,” he said half-sarcastically as he sat up. “so did you do it?”

The monster nodded, strolling over to the fridge and pulling out a chocolate bar. "iT wAS QuItE ThE SIgHt. aLso, I rEaLIse nOW thAT i nEvER ToLD You mY nAMe. i aM ERROR.”

Sans pulled his scarf further up his face. “sans.” he replied with a bitter tone. 

Hearing this, Error tutted loudly. “yOu DOn’T lIkE tHaT NAme aNYmOre.” He stated, knowing it was a fact. "YoU fEEl yOU Don'T DeSeRVe THat 'tItLE' AnYMOre."

"how can i after what i did?"

"i unDERsTAnd You. so ThEN, wHY NoT cHOOse a NEw oNe?"

He took a moment to consider. He had never thought to go by something else. A new name... if he were to go by one, what would he choose? Only one name came to his mind. He hesitated a moment before he whispered, “dust,” 

Error looked at him. “DuST? aRe YoU sURe?”

“i’m sure,”

“vErY WEll.” and just like that, the two of them sat in silence for who knows how long. It was impossible to tell in a place like this. At one point Error offered Dust a book to read, to which he refused. Meanwhile, he sunk deeper and deeper into the bean bag that it almost drowned out the constant chatter of Papyrus, who nagged him day and night.

Recently, he opted to ignore him when he could, but it got lonely in that empty abandoned Timeline. Dust didn't even notice how drowsy he was until he was staring through half-lidded eyes at Error, who seemed to be constructing a hammock with his strings. His last thought before drifting off was what he was going to do now that he had the chance to start over.

“...NS. SANS, WAKE UP!” Dust’s eyes shot open at the sound of his brother’s voice. And there he was, standing over him. His whole body was intact. Dust felt a pair of hands tuck themselves under his armpits as he was lifted up by Papyrus into the air, his feet dangling in the air helplessly. “SANS, WHAT’S WRONG? YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’VE SEEN A GHOST,”

Dust took a second to register what Papyrus said before giving out a light chuckle. “sorry paps, i’ve just been so BONE-TIRED lately, maybe i’m seein’ things, y’know?”

Papyrus groaned. “AND I WAS ACTUALLY WORRIED ABOUT YOU.” he stated exasperatedly, being careful to place Dust down on both feet before letting go.

“come on, bro, no need to SKIN ME ALIVE for that. we all need a laugh or two in our lives,” Dust replied teasingly.

“IF YOUR PUNS WERE ACTUALLY FUNNY.” Papyrus grumbled. “NOW GO DO YOUR JOB.”

“right, right,” Dust strolled lazily to the door, pocketing his whoopee-cushion hand and twisting the knob with his other one. The door swung open and he began to step out when he froze. His foot was hovering over an empty black space, the entirety of Snowdin was enveloped in pitch black. “uhh, papyrus? i don’t think that outside’s supposed to-” his sentence was cut short when he turned around to go back inside. 

Everything had disappeared. He was standing alone in a dark void with darkness surrounding him everywhere he looked. It was heavy, imposing, isolating. He heard a small voice whisper something right next to him, as if someone was standing right over his shoulder. Too close. Dust whipped around with a jagged bone in his hand, slicing through the air in one smooth movement, only to find that he had stuck nothing. Another voice taunted him along with the other one, and then another one joined in, over and over more and more voices piled on top of one another until it was one loud cacophony of scrambled words that mixed in with each other.

Overwhelmed by this, Dust cupped his hands over his ears and curled into a tiny ball only for it to be in vain. They continued to grow louder and louder until they were screaming at him. It was too much, it was too much, IT WAS-

“SHUT UP!” Dust shrieked, his own voice piercing through the dark nothingness, the phrase echoing for a good few seconds around the place. Suddenly, everything was quiet. Dust waited until a few moments had passed, counting his breaths until they evened out before carefully opening his eyes, to which he wondered when he had opened them. 

Standing over him was Error, his face painted with worry. “DuST?”

Dust lifted himself off the bean bag. “wha- shit, sorry error, i probably scared the crap outta you. bad dream, you know?” he laughed shakily. Error’s scowl only deepened.

Dust watched as he stood up. He could see the gears turning in that skull of his. A moment passed. “YoU CAn’T sTaY HEre aNy lOnGer. yOU hAvE tO LEAve.” He could hear the concern in Error’s voice.

“but where will i go if i can’t stay?” He asked, still shaken up by his nightmare. He didn’t question Error’s judgement, but it did make him wonder. Did this mysterious place cause him to dream that badly? If Error was living in a place like this, then did he get used to it? That sounded awful. It sent shivers down his spine.

“I wILl hAvE tO fIGuRE thAt OUT,” Dust observed as Error stretched out his hand and summoned a portal. “tHIs wiLL, as FAr AS I Am aWaRE, tAkE uS To tHE MoST PeACEfUl TImELinE i cAN fInD. maYbE yOU WilL bE aBlE to sEtTlE thERE.” He gestured to Dust. “aFTeR yOU.”

Dust stepped through to find himself in an area that looked to be the surface, but not quite. What a distant memory. When was the last time he saw the Sun? Behind him, he could hear Error close the portal. “AppARENTly thIs PlACe is cALlEd THe omEGA TimELInE,”

*’And you are quite right.’ A voice said. From the shade of a tree appeared a monochrome child with black voids for eyes. One that looked an awful lot like- 

*’What brings you here?’

Dust's reaction was immediate. He leapt back, summoning a Gaster Blaster besides him as he adopted a battle-ready stance. Just before he was about to fire it, Error held up his hand to stop him.

However, the child didn't even flinch. They cleared their throat. *’Sorry for scaring you. Let me introduce myself. I am CORE Frisk, overseer of the Omega Timeline, a safe space that people and monsters can come to seek refuge in. I’m Omnipresent, so I see everything that goes on in the Multiverse, including the destruction of your Timeline. I assume you've come here with nowhere else to go?’

Dust made eye contact with Error before retracting his Gaster Blasters. "yes, that is correct,"

'*You know, it's really quite intriguing that the one who destroyed your Timeline is the one who helped you.' CORE Frisk said.

Dust saw Error tense up at the mention of this. “aRe yOU ScaRED i MiGhT dEsTRoy yOur oMeGA TimELiNE?” he questioned defensively.

‘*No, I’d like to know your true intentions before I assume anything. Why did you destroy this Sans’ Timeline?’

“name's dust, now,” Dust murmured into his scarf.

‘*Noted,’

“I dEStRoyEd hIs TimELiNe BecAUse It WAs a GenOCidE rOutE tHaT DUsT SurViVeD. thERe is nO POinT IN soMEthInG lIkE tHAt ExIstiNG. nOBoDy ShouLd suFfEr for thAT lONg.” Error explained, “aND i’Ll MaKE sUre tHaT nO oNE SuFFerS lIkE ThaT agAIn.” instinctively, he reached to pull his scarf further up his face only to grasp at air. His neck felt so empty.

CORE Frisk’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. ‘*So you’ll only destroy Genocide Timelines?’

“AS mAny aS i nEEd To.” Error replied firmly.

‘*Hmm… that sounds interesting. Yes, Dust can live here from now on.’

Error’s shoulders visibly relaxed upon hearing this. “TheN tHAt’s aLl i NEeD tO kNow,” he said, picking his feet up off the ground and turning back to open a portal back to the Anti Void.

‘*Actually, before you go, Error,’ CORE Frisk interjected, appearing in front of him. ‘*Could you do me a favour?’

“...”

‘*Take any survivors of Genocide Timelines here, will you? I’ll leave it accessible for you as long as you do that,’ CORE Frisk stood there expectantly, waiting for an answer. 

Error shrugged. "THat'S tHE pLAn, iSn'T iT?" Was all he replied with before disappearing through a portal.

It was only after Error fully disappeared that they spoke again. ‘*Is he usually like that? Just, like, really vague?’

Dust only shrugged. “hell if i know. i only met him a couple hours ago and he's been all over the place on the emotional board.”

‘*So I’m supposing he is.’

“that’s right,”

Back in the Anti Void, Error felt a huge weight being lifted off his chest. Now Dust would get a happy ending, like he should have. He sunk into his massive bean bag, staring into the endless ‘sky’, mulling over the events that had just happened. He destroyed a 'Genocide' Timeline, supposedly called Dusttale and then took the only survivor, an alternate version of him, to the Omega Timeline. He recalled during their conversation with CORE Frisk, they mentioned the Multiverse, which meant that… oh stars. His eyelights dilated as he came to the realisation that, not only were the Timelines with bad endings, but there was an entire MULTIVERSE. Different Universes, with different Timelines that could end badly. It was an endless cycle of suffering. But that didn't discourage him. No, not at all. He only became more adamant to save everyone. He had so much work to do.

Error extended his hand out again and began cycling through different portals, the names of the places coming to him almost instantaneously for each one he opened. Underswap. Storyshift. Fluffytale. Farmtale. There were so many AUs and Alternate Timelines in need of someone to save them. And who else but him could? Then he found one that caught his eye. Dreamtale. That was his next destination.

Chapter Text

Error took a small peek through the entrance to check if the coast was clear, which, it was. He wasn’t planning on interfering with the main storyline of this AU, if it even mattered. After all, he was just looking to see if everyone was being brutally murdered or coexisting happily. He supposed he could check in every now and then to see if the Timeline had Reset or not, but that seemed like a lot of work.

However, this small, cautious act seemed unneeded. The sky was shrouded in a cloudy darkness, looming over a barren, empty land. The only sign of life was the discoloured blades of grass in the large expanse of the world, and the faint sound of- was that crying? 

“SHiT,” Error murmured to himself, fully stepping into the world. He listened intently before managing to single out the tiny sound, and made his way to it at a brisk pace. In the distance, he could see a faded tree stump slowly coming into view, kneeled behind it a trembling shadow. Halfway there, the silhouette froze, as if coming to a realisation about something, and made an action as if it were wiping away its tears while standing up.

Closer, still, Error approached. Was the person… waiting for him? Did they know he was coming? He noticed as soon as he could make out the details of the person clearly that they were smiling weakly at him, a ruse all too familiar with him. It was a skeleton monster; another alternate version of him Sans considering the short stature and shape of the skull.

The moment Error reached the stump, the other Sans began to speak. “Hello!” he said with as much enthusiasm as a tired person fuelled on a whole lot of caffeine. “I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new?” The other Sans sported a golden crown that intertwined with each other at the ends, a yellow cape held together by a magenta clip with a white star and a blue short sleeved tunic with a golden belt engraved with the letters ‘DR’ wrapped around the waist. On his hands were a pair of yellow fingerless gloves, and on his feet were yellow boots with blue velcro straps.

Error folded his arms. “yEAh, bUt ThAT’s NoT thE rEAsON I’m hEre.” He turned his eyes to the other Sans. “aRE YoU OkAY? YOu wERe UpSEt,”

The other Sans’ expression switched to a surprised one. “You saw? I’m- I’m very sorry you had to see me like that, it won’t happen again! I’m alright, though,” he stammered.

“dON’t exPEcT mE To bELiEve tHat, but I wOn’T PrY. wHAt hAPpenED tO tHiS UnIVErSe, tHouGH?” Error replied. He only realised he asked another prying question when the other Sans responded.

“Well, it’s complicated.”

“ThEN wHaT’S YoUR nAme?”

The other Sans seemed more than happy to answer that. “I’m Dream, Guardian of Positivity around the Multiverse. And you?”

“ERROR,”

“Nice to meet you, Error. I’m assuming you’re new to the Multiverse? I could give you the rundown, if you’d like,” Dream offered, along with a hand to shake.

Error made to shake back, but found himself hovering over the hand nervously. “MayBe nO pHYsIcaL ConTAct…” he stated, slightly embarrassed as he pulled away. Dream nodded in understanding and reeled his hand back to His chest.  “bUT a sUMmAry wOuLD Be hElPfUL,”

“Of course! It’d be my pleasure. Let’s sit down for this, shall we?” 

Dream guided Error until they were sat at a bench propped by a crumbling fountain that was leaking bits of loose pebbles rather than water. He quickly glanced away before he could start reminiscing too much. Instead, he forced his eyes to look at Error and began speaking.

“So, the Multiverse. It consists of a whole bunch of Universes and Alternate Timelines. Alternate Timelines are, put simply, branches of normal Timelines that contain a certain achievable scenario that changes the story of a Universe.”

“sO AN alTErNaTE TiMElIne woUlD Be lIke DuSttALe?”

“Probably. I haven’t heard of that one before. Alternate Universes, or AUs for short, are a little more complex. It uses the original Universe, Undertale, as a base for a new storyline completely, forming new concepts from existing characters and altering them. A good example of an AU would be something like Underswap, where the roles of every character are swapped with someone else.” Dream heaved a sigh from his mouth. “And that’s the basics of the Multiverse that you’ll need to know. Was that difficult to understand, or…?”

Error shook his head, “nO, NoT aT AlL. ThANks foR tHE RUnDOwN,”

“A few other things to take note of, by the way. You’ll mostly see other Sanses hanging out in the Multiverse, including me. Some AUs are open to Outcodes like you, Outcodes being monsters or humans that have the ability to traverse the Multiverse, but not all AUs welcome outsiders. Be wary of them, and stay out of sight until you know for sure that an AU is docile. You still with me?”

“yEaH,”

“The main groups you will see are a group called the Star Sanses, which I myself am a part of, and a terrorist group called the Bad Sanses that spreads negativity around the Multiverse.”

“wHO ElsE is iN ThE sTAr SAnsEs?”

“The Guardian of the Multiverse, Ink, and a Swap Sans called Blue.”

“i’VE HEarD YOU menTioN GuARdiANs a LoT, wHaT ARe tHEY?”

“Us Guardians take the role of protecting a certain thing, such as me, who protects the balance of Positive emotions. I go around the Multiverse preserving Positivity, while another Sans called Nightmare does the opposite, spreading Negativity instead. He’s the leader of the Bad Sanses, although he only had one Sans working for him at the moment,” Dream paused for a moment. “Do you have any more questions?”

Error took a minute to process all of the information he had just been given. “...Do yOu WOrK wItH cORE FriSK?” he asked.

Dream nodded slowly. “You’re planning something,” He stated with a wary tone.

“i AM,” Error replied matter-of-factly. “Say, wHY DoN’T We wORk ToGEthEr?” He took Dream’s silence as a sign to carry on. “SeE, i DeSTroY gENoCidE tImeLiNEs, aNd i’M suRe It’s DOinG yOu SOmE gOod. in REtUrn, YOu tAKe aNy SurViVOrs to tHE OmEGa TiMEliNe.”

Dream sat up upon hearing this. “You destroy Timelines?” 

“GEnociDe onEs, Yes.”

“...Give me some time to think,” He sighed. 

Error leaned back in his seat, opting to continue looking through different AUs once again. “tAkE aS LoNG as YoU nEed,”

A Sans that only destroyed Genocide Timelines. Nothing else. Dream didn’t know what to think of that. The same Sans that is offering to work together. He carefully considered this proposition. 

Genocide Timelines often generated a lot of Negativity, which wasn’t helpful for him. Especially when he had only been freed of his petrification recently, coming back to his senses in a Multiverse that was completely imbalanced. Destroying Genocide Timelines would help smooth out the Balance even if it was by a small margin, but even that seemed like such a distant goal in the dystopia that he awoke in.

But wouldn’t his Universe be considered to be somewhat of a ‘Genocide’ Route? There had to have been a reason why Error came here in the first place. Did he come here to possibly destroy his Universe altogether? He couldn’t- his Universe can’t be destroyed. What would happen if he agreed to this proposition? He didn’t know Error enough to know if he'd be betrayed sooner or later. Yet, when honing in on his emotions, he could sense a hard-driven character with complex thoughts. Could he possibly add in his own condition to the deal?

Weighing the pros with the cons, Dream decided it was really all or nothing. He opened his mouth to say his answer.

Error listened intently as Dream spoke. Once Dream was finished, Error stood up, switching the gate to display an empty white space. “pLeaSUre WoRkiNg wITh yOU,” 

Dream nodded. “We’ll meet in the Omega Timeline?”

“YeAH. i HavE SoMEonE I WAnt tO CheCk ON tHErE, too.”

“See you then, Error,” Dream watched as the black skeleton disappeared before focussing to locate a certain presence in the Multiverse. “Where are you, Ink?” He muttered. It never took too long to find the artistic skeleton with how unique his emotions were, or at least, how artificial they felt. Eventually, he found it- a small, colourful speck in the ocean of emotions that was the Multiverse. Dream gathered his Magic and teleported to it.

Blue was used to his Multiverse-dwelling friends just appearing out of nowhere at random times, especially Ink. He didn't mind, company was always welcome in his Universe, but he wished that Ink could at least clean up the mess he would make on the floor every time he arrived. Blue had tried reminding him, but with how short-circuited his memory is, it was always in vain.

Which brings him to his latest encounter. Blue was just doing his Royal-Guardly duties as usual, helping to deliver some packages to Muffet and running a few errands here and there when he could. While he was heading back to Snowdin to check up on his brother, Ink leapt out of the wall as he was passing through Waterfall. This would have startled Blue if it weren't for it being the 156th time this happened. And yes, he counted each time.

"Hey Blue!" Ink chirped, dusting himself off.

Blue smiled. "HELLO, INK. WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE TODAY?" Ink would always just waltz into his Universe with some random absurd request or to take him out to explore a new AU that had formed 4 minutes ago or something.

Ink swayed back and forth on his feet. "Not much. Say, d'you wanna go to Fluffytale? I heard it just opened a new restaurant,"

"A RESTAURANT?" Last he heard, Fluffytale mostly had cafés and libraries, places that just had an overall cosy and warm atmosphere. "THAT SOUNDS INTERESTING,"

"I know, right? Whaddaya say?"

"I'D LIKE TO CHECK IT OUT, BUT RIGHT NOW I JUST NEED TO CHECK IN ON MY BROTHER," Blue answered.

"I'll come with you and then we can go after!"

"SURE!"

However, the moment they started walking, a familiar voice rung in their heads. "Ink!" In a flash of light, Dream appeared before them, a mixed expression on his face. He fidgeted with his hands as he spoke. "I need to speak with you,"

"Dream!?" Ink exclaimed.

Dream turned to Blue, "I think it's also worth you hearing this, too,"

Blue quickly regained composure upon being addressed. "WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

"I'm fine," Dream quickly brushed off Blue's concern, instead looking to Ink.

"We can talk in Fluffytale, if You'd like. Uhh, we were just on the way there once we stop by at Blue's house," He said.

"It's kind of urgent? I'm not sure what to make of this,"

"THEN WE'LL TALK HERE," Blue asserted before speaking with a softer tone. "WHAT'S WRONG?"

Dream cleared his throat and began to explain. "Not too long ago, I met a new Outcode in my AU. We, um, ended up striking a deal with eachother?" He paused to assess the state of the other Sanses.

"...What kind of deal?" Ink asked.

"The Outcode I met destroys Genocide Timelines, which produce Negativity."

"He WHAT!?"

"SHH, INK, LET HIM SPEAK,"

"The deal we made is that in return of him destroying said Timelines, I take the survivors to the Omega Timeline and that I will guide him to more negative AUs," Dream took in a deep breath. "Ink, I know that doesn't benefit you, but please don't do anything to him." He pleaded.

Both Ink and Blue stood in shock, processing what Dream had just said.

Until finally, Ink spoke. "I won't do anything, then. But I'll talk with him."

"IF DOING THIS HELPS YOU, I WON'T PROTEST." Blue chimed in. "YOU SAID HE ONLY DESTROYS GENOCIDE TIMELINES. THAT MUST MEAN HE HAS SOME PURE INTENTION, RIGHT? NO BAD PERSON WOULD ONLY TARGET BAD ENDINGS,"

Dream's shoulders fell in relief. "I'm glad you understand, Blue." He said. "And Ink, you can talk with him. Just- don't harm him, will you?"

Ink grinned, "Right!" he replied dutifully. 

"WE SHOULD GET GOING BACK TO SNOWDIN, NOW. DO YOU WANT TO COME ALONG WITH US, DREAM?" Blue offered.

"No, it's alright. I have places to be." Dream politely declined.

"Aw, bummer," Ink whined before immediately cheering up. "Guess we'll see you around, then!"

"SEE YOU!"

Dream smiled tiredly. "Right!" He watched the two walk off into the distance until they were just a black speck on the horizon. Then he disappeared once again, heading to the Omega Timeline.