Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Well this is strange.  You are now in a vast white empty space.  No color, no sound, just whiteness.  You don’t recall how you ended up here but you start to walk around.  You aren’t sure how long you had been walking around, time seemed to lose meaning to you fairly quickly here. 

You walk onwards, and onwards, until you finally see a speck of color appear in the horizon.  Relief.  You were starting to feel like you would be trapped here forever and no longer be able to see any other colors aside from white.  You run closer to the color and you start to see shapes. 

These shapes turn out to be buildings and you could even see some scenery designs.  However, you notice something odd.  These buildings were either destroyed completely or partially destroyed and the scenery designs were missing pieces or crossed out.  This wasn’t what you were expecting.  You never would have thought that this place had these things.  You felt somewhat unnerved but you continued on.

You freeze as you realize you aren’t alone, there’s a body of a figure sitting off ahead of you by about 20 feet.  They seem to have heard you approach because they turn and look at you.  It was a skeleton, a black skeleton that reminded you of the infamous Error Sans, but this wasn’t him.  For instance, his clothes were different.  True that both of them wore hoodies, but this one was black with a blue pattern on it. He also was wearing a tan sweater underneath his hoodie, as well on the arms and pants were blue strings that made an ‘x’.  His pants were black that faded to brown the farther down they went.  He wore a red scarf that was tied around his waist with yellow designs at the ends of the scarf.  His eye sockets were gold, his eye lights were red like Error’s, but his left eye light had a cross in it.  He also had blue squares on his cheekbones.  You don’t know who this skeleton is, but you were curious about his origin story.

“Y-you seem l-lost,” he said, his voice was slightly glitched, but was more understandable compared to Error’s.  He was also shy when he spoke, stuttering slightly.

“Y-Yeah, I uhm…yeah,” you say dumbly, making him chuckle lightly.

“Welcome to m-my Anti-Void, I’m Gradient,” he said as he introduced himself, his stutter lessening.

“I’m (Y/N), it’s nice to meet you Gradient.  I don’t know how I got here, can you help me?” You ask calmly.

“Y-yeah I suppose I can, b-but it’ll have to wait a bit.  I just used quite a b-bit of magic not long ago so I need to rest, hope you understand,” he said as he pulled out a stylus pen that one would use for a tablet or phone, even for drawing. 

He waved it towards the floor, of the now known anti-void, and you watch as pixels come out of the pen, then form into color.  The color settled to a green color and actually turned into grass.  Gradient sat down and continued to draw on the grass, adding details so it actually looked like grass.

WHAT?!

HE COULD DO THAT?!

You stare at him with your mouth dropping in surprise, looking between him, the stylus in his hand, and the grass in awe.  Said skeleton gave a sideways glance at you and chuckled a bit sensing your curiosity. 

“You know if you leave your mouth open like that, your jaw will fall off,” he teased with a chuckle, as if that thought amused him. You, in response, immediately shut your mouth and walk over hesitantly.  You weren’t sure if you were able to sit on it.  Was it even real?  Was it just paint?  Was this a prank?  He reminded of you Classic Sans with his pranks.  He seemed to sense your unspoken question.

“You can sit on it you know,” he said.

“A-Are you sure?” You ask hesitantly.

“Yeah, it’s the reason why I made it,” he said as he motioned for you to take a seat.

After another moment of thinking it over, you relent and sit down.  Oh wow, this was INCREDIBLE!  It felt a lot like grass.  It was cool and soft.  It didn’t itch but this was very nice.  You notice how Gradient moved away from you slightly, perhaps it was to give you plenty of space to sit and inspect the grass.  You run your hands over the blades of grass, so intrigued with his magic now.  You had so many questions for him.

“How did you do that?”  You ask in awe.

“Magic,” he said with jazz hands, mimicking Classic Sans, even laughing at the look of annoyance you gave him for the vague answer. 

“Are you really Gradient?  You remind me of Classic Sans,” you huff while crossing your arms.

“I technically am a Sans, but yes I am Gradient,” he said in response.

“So magic?” you ask

“Magic.” He replied.

“That’s incredible.” You saw with honesty in your words.

“I get that a lot.” He said calmly.

“Is that just a regular stylus?”  You ask suddenly.

“Huh?” he asked confused.

“The stylus.  Is it like any old stylus?”  You say, clarifying what you said previously.

“Oh, yeah I guess.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Can I see it?” You ask.

Gradient tensed up a bit in response to your question but he looked down at the stylus he held in his hand then back up to you.  He gave you a calculative look, as if trying to determine if you would try and do anything to his precious stylus.  You shiver at the look.  Yup, he was definitely was a Sans.  You’ve gotten that look before from Classic and it always made you nervous. 

Before you say that he didn’t have to if he didn’t want to, he held it out for you.  You take it with a smile and inspect it.  It was light, just like any ordinary stylus you’ve seen.  Now, for the thing that you really wanted to do.  You waved it in the air like how he did, but nothing happened.  Huh?  How?  Why did it work for him and not you?  Wasn’t the stylus magic too?  You tried again, again, and again.  You turn to Gradient, seeing him holding his sides, laughing at your failed attempts to use his stylus like him.

“Wh-what are you do-doing?” he asked while laughing.

“I’m trying to do what you did.  And stop laughing at me!” You say pouting.

Gradient sat up and soon calmed down with his laughing.  He wiped, what it looked like blue…was that INK?!  He cries blue ink?  Wow that’s weird.

“You can’t,” he said after a few moments, making you snap out of your thoughts.

“Can’t what?” you ask in confusion.

“Do what I did,” he said clarifying what he meant for you.

“B-but isn’t the stylus magic?” you asked baffled.

“No, its strong and durable, but it’s just something that I use to channel my magic through,” he said as he took back his stylus, “besides, my magic is fairly unique.  Only I can use this type of magic.”

“Well aren’t you special,” you say huffily.  Gradient, in response, tensed up and looked away.

“I…am really not,” he said softly.

“Why not?” You ask confused. 

“Its…hard to explain,” he says, dodging the question slightly.

“But your power is amazing! How isn’t it special?” You question.

“(Y/N)--,” he tries to say but you cut him off.

“Really Gradient, it’s so unique!” You continue on, oblivious to him trying to talk.

“(Y/N),” he says again a little louder, but you still don’t hear him. 

“You shouldn’t be ashamed of it.  You should be proud of your power!” You say again.

“I WAS A MISTAKE!” he shouts suddenly making you freeze in surprise.  Gradient seemed to realize what he said and pulled his hood up over his eyes as he started to glitch a bit.  You could see his error signs flash a bit more as well as other words appear around his form.  You caught the words ‘create,’ ‘digital,’ and ‘destroy,’ before they died down.

“Sorry…just…forget I said anything,” he said after a few moments of tense silence.

“….A-are you sure?” you as hesitantly.

Gradient didn’t respond.  You felt bad for making him glitch a bit, and to make him feel bad.  You reach out to touch him, but you gasp when he grabbed your wrist suddenly.  Wow, he had a strong grip.  You notice he had a slightly panicked look on his face as if you were going to strike him.  He seemed to calm down then released your wrist before looking away again.

“Sorry,” he mumbled softly.

“I-it’s okay,” you said as you looked at your wrist.  There weren’t any indentations from his phalange bones, nor did you think it would bruise.  Well this was just great.  You upset your new possible friend twice.  You take a sideways glance at Gradient and notice that he had moved a bit farther away from you.  You came to a realization.

“Gradient, do you have…haphephobia?” You ask slowly.

“Y-yeah, I do,” he replied softly.

It all made sense.  Why he gave you so much room to sit down, why he continued to back away from you and why he grabbed your arm in order to keep you from touching him.  Wow, you felt worse than before.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize until now,” you say sincerely.

“Its fine, most people don’t know what haphephobia is,” he said calmly.

“Error has haphephobia,” you muse out loud.  You saw Gradient tense and look at you with a look of surprise.

“What?” You ask confused. 

“I…didn’t expect you to know who that was,” he said slowly.

“Who? Error?” You ask.

“Yeah, most people who don’t know about the multiverse don’t know who he is.  It’s clear that you seem to know about it thought if you know him,” he explained looking at you with a look of surprise.

“Uhhh…multiverse?” You ask.

“Yeah, don’t you know about it?” he asked.

“Uhhh…. I know that there are multiple universes with different versions of the cast from Undertale,” You say still confused what he meant.

“That’s the multiverse,” he said pointing at you, causing you to nod in understanding. 

“So Error is part of the multiverse?” You ask.

“Yeah…he’s more commonly known as the Destroyer of Universes.

“Oh, so how do you know Error?  Did he destroy your universe?” You asked with worry.

“Uhm, not exactly.  He’s my dad,” he said blushing green.  Green of all colors.  You once again feel your jaw drop in surprise.  How was Gradient related to Error of all people?!

“H-How did that work out?!” You ask in shock.

“What do you mean?” He asked confused.

“How did your mom put up with Error and love him enough to have his child?! No offense,” you say still surprised and confused.

“I don’t have a mom,” he explained.

“HUH?! Th-then how--,” you start to ask only for Gradient to interrupt you.

“Monsters don’t have to be like you humans to have children.  You have to have a male and a female in order to procreate.  Monsters can be both male or both female and still have children if they so choose.  It depends though on the situation,” he explained.

Okay, how did he know about this stuff?  He was like 13 years old right?  No way he knew about this stuff.  That is, unless it was obvious or his other parent taught it to him?  Ugghhh, monsters were so much more different than you thought.

“So Error is gay?” You ask, very intrigued to know.

“Gay?” He asked confused.

“You know…only into other guys,” you try to explain.

“I have no idea,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders, only to confuse you further.

“T-Then who’s your other parent?” You ask.

“Ink Sans,” he said.

“Wait, Ink?  You mean THE Ink Sans?” You ask with mounting excitement.

“I take it you know my father,” he said with a chuckle as he watched you pretty much explode with excitement.

“How could you NOT know Ink?! He’s SO AWESOME!  His magic is INCREDIBLE!” You say happily, causing Gradient to laugh as he watched you.

“Yeah he’s pretty cool.  He’s known as the Protector of Universes,” he said with a soft smile.

“Wait…so then how did that work?” You ask confused.

“How did what work?” He asked matching your confusion.

“Error and Ink?  Aren’t they enemies?” You explain.

“Yeah they are,” he said, only to make you resist to growl in frustration.  Were all versions of Classic Sans so vague in their explanations?

“So…. did they put aside their differences and fall in love then have you?” You ask.

“No, they still don’t like each other,” he said.

“Then…how did you, you know, how where you born?” You ask, very intrigued now.

“Its…. a long story,” he said while rubbing the back of his head.

“We have time, you said yourself you needed to rest so you could use magic again,” you pointed out.

“Alright, well I might as well start at the beginning,” he said as he turned to face you.

Chapter Text

Ink was working on a new AU that was being created.  It didn’t have much detail yet, but the ground work was made.  He stayed there for a little while so that way he could continue to help the creator and inspire them further to complete their work. 

Nearby, a portal was being opened and another being emerged.  This skeleton was black, wearing a black and blue hoodie with black shorts. His eye sockets were red with one small red eye light and the other was layered with blue and yellow circles around the other eye light.  However, the most prominent feature about this skeleton, was the error signs that were surrounding his form.  He was the infamous Error Sans, and he was on a mission.

That mission, was to destroy this universe.  He despised all alternative universes that stemmed off of the original Undertale universe.  He believed that there was only supposed to be one universe, and that all other ones that were made were abominations.  He looked around at the alternate universe in its beginning stages and this was perfect.  It won’t take him long at all to destroy this one.  So he started to destroy the universe by breaking apart it’s code piece by digital piece.

Across the universe, Ink was working on adding details to a house, when he felt a disturbance.  He looked around and tensed seeing that some of the scenery and background details were missing.  That wasn’t good.  He looked around to see what the problem was and glared as he found the source.  It was Error.  How dare he continue to destroy universes?!

“ERROR!” he shouted as he waved his ink at him to stop him.

Error looked up and scowled in annoyance.  It was the rainbow asshole again.  He was ALWAYS interfering!  Why? WHY CAN’T HE WORK IN PEACE!?  He jumped and moved away from the attack.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t you, rainbow asshole,” Error spat in annoyance, his speech glitched as he talked.

“Why do you continue to destroy universes Error?” Ink asked as he dodged some red bone attacks Error sent his way.

“You know why Ink!  They are all abominations stemming away from the original.  They must be eliminated to restore balance to the multiverse,” he said as he summoned his Error Blasters and had them fire at Ink.

“They are not abominations Error!  They are the precious treasures that are made by their creators!” Ink shot back as he turned to ink and avoided the attack before he then tried to attack him again.

Error soon grew tired of home much space Ink had to dodge his attacks amongst these trees.  So he raised his hand behind him and opened a portal into the anti-void.  He held his hand out, having blue cable-like strings shoot out and wrap around Ink’s leg making the other trip.  Perfect.

He jumped into the anti-void and yanked hard.  Ink cried out in surprise as he was pulled from the AU and into the anti-void.  So Error didn’t like him dodging his attacks? Fine, he would play offense then.  He used his ink to break free of the strings’ hold and then tried to attack him with his paintbrush.  Error jumped away, using his strings as leverage and grinned as he fought with Ink.

Magic was thrown back and forth as well as ink, a few of Error’s strings, and a bone attack here and there.  Now normally, magic would dissipate into the air after it missed or hit its target.  However, today was different.  Ink and Error’s magic, instead of dissipating, were sticking together like protons with electrons.  This continued to go on, the two skeletons were oblivious to the oddity going on in the background away from them.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Ink was encased in Error’s strings and Error stood over him with a smug grin.  Ink glared at him, the star in his eye a rhombus shape as he struggled to get free, but the strings weren’t exactly comfortable.  They were surprisingly sharp and he bled the more that he struggled. 

‘Was this the end?’ Ink wondered as he watched Error approach him.

“Heh, it seams like you’re tied up,” Error punned as he grinned at Ink.

“What are you going to do now Error?” Ink asked.

“Kill you of course!  With you out of the way I can continue to destroy those hideous AUs and then the multiverse will finally have balance,” Error replied excitedly.

“If I’m gone the balance will be tipped Error!” Ink shot back, making the other pause and look at him in annoyance.

“What?” he asked.

“You heard me, if I’m gone, color will fade, creativity will disappear, the fabric of the multiverse will start to tear,” Ink replied.

“Nonsense!” Error shot back, cutting Ink off from going on.

“Error--,” Ink started only for a sharp bone attack be pointed at his neck.

“Say your final words Ink, because you will die with me being the last thing that you see,” Error said as he moved his hand to his chest, about to pull out his soul.

This was it, he would finally be rid of this rainbow asshole.  He was about to have his strings wrap around the other’s soul but he was interrupted by someone touching his leg.  Error had haphephobia, which is the fear of touch.  He looked down at Ink, thinking it was him, but Ink had his hands tied behind his back with his strings.  So, who was touching him?

Error looked down at his leg, to find that behind him was the source of the touch.  It was small skeleton with blue squares on its’ cheeks, the same color as his own strings, yellow eye sockets and red eye lights.  The baby bones had a cross in its’ left eye light, mimicking Ink’s left eye and how it changed when it reflected his emotions.  The child seemed to also have his colored bones, especially in their hands, yellow at the tips of his phalanges, then red, then black palms.  However, Error had error signs show up in his eye sockets when he saw that not only was this baby touching him but it had matching Error signs on its body.

“WHAT IS THAT?!” He shouted to which the baby flinched back at the screaming but still seemed to want to be close to Error. 

Error had made a mistake in his distracted moments.  Error had given Ink slack to get free from his hold, to which the other immediately removed themselves from Error’s strings.  He grabbed his paintbrush and then turned seeing the baby bones.  They were so cute.  However, he saw Error try to kill the baby with a bone attack, to which he dove, grabbing the baby, and rolled away from the attack.

“ARE YOU MAD ERROR?!” Ink shouted at Error, surprised he would try to kill a baby.

“I’M MAD?! YOU’RE MAD! THAT THING JUST SHOWED UP HERE AND IT TOUCHED ME!” Error snapped back.

Of course, like any child, they don’t like really loud noises.  Babies can also sense the emotions of those nearby, and right now the baby felt like they were mad.  So, the baby did what normal babies do, they cried.  Their cry was glitched, but it was loud.  Ink was started and held the baby close and winced at the loud cry.  Error covered his ear holes and started to glitch. 

“MAKE IT STOP ALREADY!” He shouted at Ink.

“Keep shouting and the baby will keep crying,” Ink hissed out as he then focused his attention to the baby. 

He held them and gently rocked them, lightly shushing them and rocking them like how they’ve seen other monster couples do to their children.  So this baby seemed to be a lot like Error.  The error signs and glitched speech were traits that Error had as well.  Though, he noticed that the baby’s form seemed to bubble, as changing from a solid to a liquid, kind of like how he could do that at will.  Could this child be…

“Error,” Ink called softly, to which the other glared at Ink.

“What?” Error snapped in annoyance.

“I think this is our son,” Ink said looking at him.

“WHAT?!” He shouted to which Ink shushed him.

“Keep your voice down or he will cry again,” Ink scolded as he gently rocked the baby, since they whined when Error shouted again. 

“How? How is that thing my kid?  All I do is destroy! You are the one that creates.  That is strictly yours,” he said, very adamant about not wanting ownership of the child.

“Error, look at him--,” he started only for Error to cut him off again.

“How do you know it’s a he?” Error demanded.

“I looked at his soul, it’s a boy, this is our child Error.  Like it or not.  He is our son.  He has your error signs, your features, and some of my features,” Ink said, trying to get Error to understand, but all he accomplished was making Error have the error signs in his eyes again and backed away from them. 

“Oh no, that thing ain’t mine,” he growled out.

The baby didn’t like how his parents were arguing.  His crying seemed to work but he looked at Error and wanted to be held by him.  So he reached out for him and whined so he could be held by the other skeleton.  In response, Error glitched and moved away. 

“Why does it want me?” He asked annoyed.

“Because he wants to be held by you Error,” Ink said as he rocked the baby, since he knew that Error wouldn’t want to touch him.

“Why would I touch an abomination like that?” He snapped to which Ink turned to him and glared.

“What did you say?” Ink growled out.

“That THING is an ABOMINATION, and I don’t touch those FILTHY THINGS,” Error repeated, putting emphasis on ‘thing,’ ‘abomination,’ and ‘filthy’ so he could get his point across since Ink seemed to be dense.

“He is NOT an ABOMINATION,” Ink said in response, shaking in rage.

“Well it is,” Error said, waving his hand to leave this anti-void and go back to his own.

“Where are you going?” Ink asked watching the other curiously.

“Away from that thing and you.  If I ever see it again, I will not hesitate to kill it,” Error warned as he left, closing the portal.

Ink took a few deep breathes and looked down at the child.  Well, if Error wasn’t going to help raise the baby, or not want anything to do with him, then he would raise him.  He nuzzled the baby bones and smiled seeing the baby coo happily in response.

“You need a name,” Ink said as he started to walk through his own shortcut to his anti-void.

Ink smiled as he held the baby as he looked around.  Ink tried to decorate his anti-void so he could add color to it.  He hated how the anti-void lacked in color.  He looked around at his surroundings and tried to think of a good name for the child.  He noticed how he used a style of painting called gradient for his sky and that’s where his inspiration came from.

“Your name will be Gradient,” Ink said with a smile and lightly bumped the child’s skull in a skeleton kiss.

“So Error disowned you the second he saw you?” I asked curiously, feeling bad for Gradient.

“Yeah, that’s what father told me,” Gradient responded sadly.

“I’m so sorry Gradient,” I say gently and sincerely.

“Its fine, anyway, where did I leave off?” He asked before remembering, “Ah okay so this is what happened next.”