Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Drip

Drip

Drip

You cry, wishing -begging- someone to help you. To save you from this white hell

But nobody came

Of course no one came. Why would anyone come to save someone like you?

This is all your fault, trash bag

You destroyed your universe

Our universe is dead because of you

Do you think tears will bring salvation

Crying won’t bring anyone back

N o b o d y w i l l e v e r c o m e. S o s t o p c r y i n g

      And Cross stopped. It was unbecoming of a royal guard anyway. His bloody tears wasted magic. Was there really any harm though? Despite what Chara said, there was nothing that could help them leave this blank hell. If there was, Chara would have given him orders. Instead of repeating what they already knew: the universe's destruction was Cross's fault.  Cross missed so many things from his world—Papyrus’s training, Undyne’s swimming drills, Muffet’s lectures on poison, Mettaton’s fittings, Alphys’ science talks. Most of all Cross missed Frisk. He missed the stupid puns Frisk made on Cross's uniform. Now Cross couldn't even remember Frisk's voice anymore. Just a low distorted hum.

     “Of course you can't. We've probably been here for months and you've done nothing, but feel sorry for yourself”, Chara said. Cross curled up tighter. Another rant was coming–he could feel it.

     “Where's the guy who fought through hell to save Frisk when he got kidnapped by those anti-monster assholes? Where's Sans the vigilant royal guard??”, Chara said.

     Dead. Sans was dead. Cross killed him along with everyone. Why? Because Cross was an idiot. Cross didn't need Chara to tell him the facts. He had his own voices to do that. His skull ached when it tried to differentiate between his voice and the humans. He couldn't deal with Chara. Not right now.

     “There’s nothing we can do,” Cross muttered. “If there was, you’d be doing it instead of screaming at me to hide how powerless you feel”

     “Powerless? I am not powerless”, Chara snarled. “It's not my fault I'm stuck with you. I’m trying to find a way out of this hell-but you…you won't even try. I’m finished!”, Chara yelled. Cross did try. Nobody came when he yelled. He found nothing worth exploring. There was no way out. Everything he tried failed. What else was there? Cross didn’t have time to think before he felt it: the pull on their shared soul. Like being shoved headfirst into freezing water.

     “If you won’t do something, I will,” Chara hissed, trying to forceibly control.

   The last time Chara tried this, he had nearly killed him, so Cross instinctively resisted. They wrestled for dominance. Chara pulled and Cross pulled back. A tug-of-war with the fragile soul as the prize. The sensitive organ cracked beneath the strain. Both of them felt it, but neither gave in. Unfortunately, the trauma of merging two beings—and fighting inside one body—was too much for the poor soul. Pain crashed through them, doubling him over. Chara’s magic seeped into his body, burning, too potent to filter. Even Cross, trained to endure various methods of torture, couldn't reppress his reactions. Chara's feelings and thoughts were bleeding through like ink far more than usual. The lines between Cross and Chara, between monster and human were getting blurrier till Cross couldn't tell where he or Chara ended or began.     

   Cross was suffocating, his lungs weren't getting enough air– He didn't have lungs. 

   He looked at his radius and for a moment he saw flesh. Skin. Till it disappeared–just bone again.

  “ What's happening to me?” Cross thought, clutching his skull. Alien memories and thoughts pounded into his head. They weren't his. They hurt. They were so confusing. They scared him. He wanted Frisk. He wanted Frisk to comfort him like he would during a thunderstorm. He wanted his little brother–I don't have a brother.

   Cross endured the pain till it subsided and he felt like…himself again. To his side knelt Chara's ghost form. The child clutched a hand to his chest trying to calm his breath. To Cross's shock, he thought he could see tears– human tears growing in the normally aggressive child's face.  Cross didn't believe it and before he could clarify if it was real Chara turned his back to Cross. Not fading away. Not saying anything. Just facing away. Should Cross say something. Probably not. He just followed the human's lead and turned around as well. Cross knew when to keep his mouth shut.

    Time wasn't easy to tell in this place,  but this had to be the longest Chara had ever given Cross the silent treatment. A few times Cross glanced towards his soul sharer, but Chara was always looking away from him staring into void or looking at what he guessed was they're code. Eventually Chara started muttering to himself something about code, hidden files, and restrictions 

     “Fuck you old Man. You think this can hold me? You think you can mess with my code? I'll break out and then I'll break you”, Chara screamed. Cross didn't understand what Chara was talking about. He considered asking, but didn't want to break the peaceful truce. It’s the most amiable they've been while stuck here. Besides, even if Chara wanted to explain, Cross wouldn't understand. He never understood anything. His mistakes only hurt the people he loved — and left him trapped with this hybrid abomination. 

     Cross somberly looked at the soul. This soul could be called so many horrible things–all because of him. The red half blazed with determination — vibrant, alive. A representation of Chara's strong power and determination. A beautiful splash of color in this white void he couldn't help, but stare at when this place got too much. The white half just sat there. Blank. Empty. Dim. Like him. Like this place. Cross hated it-the hollow and useless feelings it invoked in him. Cross hated it wasn't the noble purple, symbolizing its immense power, it was supposed to be.

     Cross held no delusions of ownership over this soul half and its power. It wasn't his. It was His . His original soul had been destroyed when he took this one from Frisk. Now Cross was an incompetent vessel holding and repressing the soul's potential. Potential to fix things and put everything right. Something Cross couldn't do. He couldn't do anything right. Cross's  imperfection was the reason everyone died for nothing. The only silver lining was that he got what he deserved for his failure-being stuck here.He was the only one left, but he didn't deserve to survive–not one bit. Before Cross realized it, summoned one of his twin daggers. He looked at the dagger and then looked at the soul. Cross knew what he had to do; he pointed the sharp tip of the dagger toward the soul.

    Cross was tired–of pain, of guilt, of everything. It's better for everyone if he deactivated himself and didn't cause more trouble. Using his free hand, he opened the last memory of his people. The last thing he’d ever see would be Frisk’s crude drawing in the locket. A childish scrawl of everyone they loved. It was enough. More than he deserved.  He smiled — gentle, almost tender — as he tilted the dagger toward the soul, like he was putting down a disobedient dog. Letting go of all his worries with a final breath, Cross drove the dagger toward the soul.

     He hoped it would be quick. Painless. Just dust and silence. A faint prick before the soul broke and the only proof anything existed within this place would be his clothes covered in dust. That's all Cross wished for, but like all of Cross's wishes it didn't come true. Once the realization came that he was notably not dead, Cross thought he could burst into tears right there. With his eyelightless skull, he saw the dagger was only a few centimeters shy of impaling the abomination and destroying it forever. He tried to push his arm more, but he couldn't move it. The body wasn't listening to him. 

     Cross turned more to see the cause of betrayal were translucent hands gripping the arm tightly. They were pulling it and by proxy the dagger away from the soul. Cross could only stare blankly as the arm shook from the force of Chara trying to push it back while Cross tried to push it forward. The human didn't let up, Cross knew he wasn't getting the sweet death he aimed for and gave up.

    “What are you doing?”Cross asked tiredly, breaking the tentative silence they'd been stuck in and letting Chara have the arm.

   “WHAT AM I DOING? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING”, Chara screamed, throwing the dagger as far as possible.

   “You’re giving up. No, you can't do that. Xtale isn't gone. They’re not gone. We can bring them back”, Chara clenched his fist as Cross stared blankly

   “After everything you’ve put me through you can’t just end things”, Chara said before his voice started wavering in fear and desperation.

     “T-things can get better, you just have to trust me”, Chara said, hands put out like they were pleading and reaching out to Cross.  

     Hearing Chara sound afraid was so weird; they sounded so child-like. For a moment he could see Frisk. Didn't that hurt.Cross would be more incredulous if he wasn't so focused on what Chara said. Out of all the things, Chara said to him that was the most fucked up.

     “Trust you. T-Trust y-you”, Cross's voice cracked into a scream. “WHY THE HELL SHOULD I TRUST YOU” Chara actually flinched back mouth open in shock. Cross had never screamed like that before. The skeleton normally deferred to others in a non-physical battle or confrontation, but his emotions were in overdrive. This demon ruined his life, ruined his death, and now wants his support. His trust. After everything he did. Fuck that.

    “You made Frisk mess with my mind–my grasp of reality. With a smile on your face you turned my dreams into nightmares”, Cross said, shaking as he finally let everything out.

     “Do you know how often I spent looking in the mirror clenching my hands, repeating how my job was to guard Frisk? Hating myself for having such traitorous thoughts about killing the prince”, Cross's thoughts went to Him.

     “How fearful I was, someone would find out. Fearful He would find out. That I’d be sent back for reconditioning. That maybe I needed it to fix myself and stop being broken", Cross said as his hands clutched to his head remembering those moments and the words carved into his being.

    “When I came to after attacking Frisk on stage, I couldn't help but think what have I done? How could I lose control like that? I was ready to surrender and be executed for treason, before the world reset”, Cross said before he started laughing.

   “Then I found out all that turmoil was because my friend–my best friend was messing with and altering me to do what he wanted ”, Cross said, looking Chara in the eye and glaring.

   “You don’t want our world back. You want your toys back. From the very first timeline you knew and did nothing as He overwrote us continuously and didn't care till He put you in the same position. ”, Cross said.

“Shut up”, Chara said

      “When you had the power you did the same things he did. You’re just like him”, Cross said

Shut up”, Chara said again, shaking, but Cross couldn’t. This has been held in for too long.

    “You’re just like XGaster,” Cross said and that was the final straw for Chara.

    “ I SAID SHUT UP”, Chara yelled with a twist of an arm the human had Cross’s hand heading straight toward his own face.

*SMACK*

    A sharp string contact with Cross cheek, turning his skull to the side. Instinct made him quickly repostion himself infront of his assultant-the surpriased human. Cross touched his cheek, flinching at the bruise definitely forming. The silence pressed in, heavier than the strike itself. The void held its breath waiting for what would happen next. Cross looked at Chara. The human child stared at Cross with a shocked look on his face like he couldn't believe what he had done. Many emotions flashed on Chara's face–guilt, disbelief, and many more before settling on the humans normal look of anger.

   “I am NOTHING like that bastard. We were kids. We wanted to be happy. We fought for years in the timelines for everyone-including YOU, but you ruined our plan by not just doing what you were told. YOU destroyed our universe not me remember and I’M the one actively trying to fix your mess", Chara screamed. 

   “If you don’t want or think you need me, fine I'll leave and never come back, but know this Sans ”, Chara said, getting closer, making Cross flinch back at the use of his old name. Cross wanted to pull his arms to shield his face in fear of being struck again, but experience prevented him from doing. He knew defense would get nothing but more pain.

   “I will not allow you to take the easy way out and if it requires every last bit of my determination I'll chain us here forever”, Chara said harshly before fading away leaving Cross frozen and incapacitated on the white floor. He knew he shouldn’t cry — not here, not ever. Tears wasted magic. But the sobs tore out anyway, useless, unstoppable. The only sound left was the drip of his tears, steady as a clock, counting down to nothing.

Drip

Drip 

Drip

Chapter Text

     Cross—well, Sans—followed Sir to meet the royal family. Sir drilled his rules into him beforehand. This meeting was important: Sir expected Sans to become a royal guard and serve closely with the human prince. Sir worked hard to shape Sans into the ideal weapon. Sans didn’t want to waste that work–to be a waste of magic.

   “Ah, Gaster! Nice to see you, my friend,” King Asgore greeted warmly, standing beside his wife and children.  

   “Likewise, Your Majesty,” Sir said smoothly.

   “And who is this young man?” Queen Toriel asked kindly.  Sans glanced at Sir for permission. A tiny nod gave it.

   “My name is Sans, Your Majesty,” he said, bowing just as he’d been taught. 

   "What a sophisticated young man,” Toriel said, smiling.

   “These are our children, Asriel and Frisk,” Asgore continued, stepping aside to reveal a small goat monster and a human. The human’s gaze lingered on Sans with something like pity—or was it longing? Strange.

   “Why don’t you children go play while we adults talk?” Queen Toriel suggested.

  “Sans.” Sir’s voice froze him mid-step.  

  “Play nice,” Sir added. On the surface, it sounded gentle, but Sans knew better: don’t embarrass him. He would not. He would act flawlessly.

  “Come along, Sans,” Prince Frisk said, gripping his arm with surprising force. “Let’s get to know each other.” Sir’s dark glare followed them as they left—not at Sans, but at the prince. 

  Walking behind the prince, Sans felt the strange weight of the prince's soul. Human souls were different, yes—but Frisk’s was… wrong. Sans felt watched. Something was gazing and analyzing him closely, but that was crazy. There was no one else here. Sans's instincts must be making him paranoid. Frisk led him to a messy room full of toys scattered everywhere. Sans was stunned. If Sir ever saw his quarters like this… he didn’t want to imagine the consequences. Sans hesitated at the door—he hadn’t been invited in. 

   “Come on in, Sans! Mi casa es su casa,” Asriel said proudly. Sans followed the order tilting his head. What does that mean? 

   “Frisk taught it to me. It means "My home is your home”, Prince Asriel said. This was a castle not a house and Sans didn't own it. Humans have weird sayings.

  “It means you’re welcome to be yourself here, child. You can relax", Prince Frisk said. Relax, in front of royalty. No way, and be himself. He wasn’t perfect yet.

  “Ugh, Frisk,” Asriel groaned. “Don’t be bothered. He loves pretending to be older than he is.” Frisk only looked sad at that statement. Sans wondered why before the human perked up.

   “Anyway, come play with us—we’re drawing,” Frisk said, moving to the floor. Paper and markers lay everywhere, colors Sans had rarely seen before. Prince Frisk held out some items.

  “A future royal guard doesn’t waste time on childish games”, Sir's voice spoke in Sans's mind, but this was an order by the prince.

  “Thank you, Your Highness,” Sans said, taking paper and markers.

  “Drop the titles,” Frisk said with a scoff. “I’d like us to be friends. Our….parents are close, after all.”

  "True! What’s the royal scientist like?” Asriel asked, curious. “He’s so mysterious.”

   "Si-ure Father can be a bit aloof sometimes, but I'm grateful he cares for me”, Sans said internally hitting himself for his near slip. Sir already explained how people would ask useless questions if they heard Sans called him Sir. 

  “Ah yes I heard about the problems when you were born”, Prince Frisk's voice took a sharp bitter turn. “Trouble with magic absorption leading to magic deficiency. Gaster really messed up when he made you”, Prince Frisk said bitterly. Sans would defend his father, but that could make Prince Frisk mad. It wasn't Sir's fault Sans was born weak. Sir was trying to use his soul to give birth to Skeletons since we're a decreasing population. There were problems, but thankfully Sir helped and gave him magic.

  “Let's change the subject. I bet you have access to really cool experiments”, Prince Asriel said

  “Not really. I’m not really that smart.  Father has Alphys, my…big sister for aid”, Sans said. The term roommates is more accurate, but that would also lead to questions. Their relationship was complicated, but Alphys worked to keep Sans on track to becoming perfect like Sir wanted.

   “My talents are more magic and fighting. Father says I have high potential to be in the royal guard when I am older”, Sans said faintly smiling. Sir believed he could be great. 

  “A royal guard huh. That means you’ll be protecting us, close to us–close to me, " Prince Frisk whispered before grabbing Sans by the shoulders. Sans was shocked by the prince's eyes. Children's eyes were supposed to look soft and curious, full of innocence–these eyes weren't. Prince Frisk eyes were red and purple targets—painted on him, marking him. Sans could see the determination and….something else in them. Like there was more then Prince Frisk watching him. A pain and darkness Sans was ashamed to say unsettled him. Were all humans like this, something told him they weren't.

  “Sans, can you make me a promise?” Prince Frisk said. Oh. The prince wanted something from San. Of course he’ll promise. Sans was his subject. Steadying his shaking body he answered.

  “Anything”, Sans said automatically. The eyes were gazing even heavier now. Sans could feel them looking at him like a piece of meat. The prince frowned, clenched tighter, and looked to the side like he was watching someone before turning back and smiling.

  “Work hard to be a royal guard. If you do, I'll make you mine. My personal royal guard”, Princes Frisk said. Something in those eyes unsettled him. But another part—small, desperate—ached to believe the promise. To believe someone thought he was worth something. 

   “I thought you wanted to make Galette's daughter, Muffet, your personal royal guard", Prince Asriel interrupted laughing. It didn't break the seriousness of the situaltion thought.

  “I promise to work hard and keep you safe my prince Liar ”, Sans said. He would have kneeled, but Prince Frisk was holding him too tight for him to move. Prince Frisk smiled. Sir would be so proud. Sans made such a good impression that the prince wanted him.

     “So serious. Let's get back to drawing”, Prince Asriel said. Sans drew himself, Sir, and Alphys. Sans frowned, the body proportions are inaccurate. It was a marker, so he couldn't erase it. He needed to make it perfect. Sir needed everything Sans did to be perfect.

  “It doesn't have to be perfect, you know, it just has to make you happy”, Prince Frisk said, seeing the frustration growing in Sans sockets.

  “Make me happy”, Sans whispered. Perfection is…happiness right? He grabbed the yellow marker. He didn't know why, but yellow is definitely a nice color for Alphys. Wrong you exist to be perfect. Not happy.

     Frisk explained how humans worked. They needed other creatures for functionality, not magic. Sans read some history books about old monsters needing to “eat” as Frisk called it before they adapted to absorbing magic. Luckily,  underground fruits–like pimplom fruits were edible. Queen Toriel made waves making pies with it.  He was having fun and the princes were so nice. He never got to connect with others like this. Alphys wasn't the best at socialization sometimes. Unfortunately, it came to an end when their parents finished their discussion.

  “Aww how adorable”, Queen Toriel said, coming into the room along with the King and Sir. Sans immediately stood up to not be rude, and tensed up once he caught sight of Sir's face.

  “Mommy, Daddy we had so much fun. Can Sans come over all the time”, Asriel said

  “Maybe my son”, King Asgore said

  “Sans, It's time to go”, Sir said and Sans went to follow him before he was grabbed mid-step and pulled into Frisk. It was so tight. Was Frisk trying to crush him? Wait, this was a hug. He saw other monsters hugging, but never had one himself. Despite his crushed ribs, Sans felt warm.

  “Goodbye Sans”, Frisk said before pulling him in tighter. Sans should hug back, right. That was the proper response. His arms moved stiffly. He patted once, twice, then clung tighter, mimicking the human, hoping it was right.  “Goodbye Frisk”, Sans said. Sir dark glare turned on again.

  “Stay safe. Until I can keep you safe” ,  the human whispered, so only Sans heard it. Of course he would be safe. Why wouldn't he? And it wasn't Frisk's job to keep him safe. Reluctantly, the human let go and Sans went with Sir. He could feel eyes glaring at Sir now, but maybe it was just Sans's imagination.

     Sir was upset.

     His clenched hands and sharp pace spoke volumes that Sir was displeased. That a punishment was promise once they got home. But Sans had been perfect—respectful, kind, well-liked. What did he do wrong?    The lock clicked shut,separating them from the world outside. Sir turned to face Sans while Sans looked to the ground standing still. Silence stretched, heavy, suffocating. Sir’s hand flexed once, twice, like testing a weapon. His gaze cut into Sans’s skull. Then—

SMACK

   The crack of bone against bone echoed in his skull. For a moment, Sans couldn’t breathe. His sockets watered, not with tears but raw shock—Sir had never hit him before. The taste of copper flooded his mouth. He tried to swallow, but it clung, metallic and thick.

     “Get up”, Sir exclaimed. Sans did, not wanting to make Sir angrier. His arms shook as they struggled to push him from the ground.

    “What exactly were you doing with the princes”, Sir said. Sir wanted an explanation. Why did he have to hit him to ask for one.

     “I drew with Asriel and Frisk and-”, Sans said 

SMACK

   Another hit much harder than the first one. His cheek burned. Sans could feel tears stinging his eyesockets. He needed to push them away. Crying wasted magic. Sir didn't like expending himself on Sans if he would waste it.

  “Frisk and Asriel”, Sir roughly repeated. Sans realized his mistake.

  “Prince Frisk and Prince Asriel asked me to draw with them. I couldn't refuse Sir”, Sans said. How could he make such stupid mistake? Sir trained him better than to slip up like that.

  “No you couldn’t, but you do understand the issue. One day with royalty, and you forget your place”, Sir said, walking closer to tilt the younger skeletons head up. Sans wanted to run. He wanted these hands to stop touching him. He wanted to find the darkest corner and curl up forever, but he didn't. Couldn't. Sans made a mistake and had to face the consequences.

     “Beneath the heel of your betters”, Sir said and Sans gazed down in shame and hurt. Sans had fun with the princes. He didn't have friends to play with, but they weren't his friends. They were his superiors. 

     “Say it”, Sir said and Sans obeyed.

    “I am less than the prince”, Sans said.

   “And”, Sir said, clutching harder. 

   “I should never forget my place”, Sans continued.

  “Good. Honestly, if you're that easy to corrupt I should scrap you”, Sir said. Sans's eyes filled with panic. No, no, no, no. Sir can’t just abandon him. He’ll do anything. Sir seems to smirk at Sans face.

  “Luckily for you, I’m busy with the experiment right now and will think of a more fitting punishment later. For now Alphys”, Sir said, summoning Sans' roommate/sister.   

  “Take Sans back to his room. He will be rewriting what he learned today 100 times. Come to me when you're done. There's still work to be done on project 9”, Sir said walking away. Sans heard of project 9 before. The perfect soldier. A model for Sans to learn from. “Understood Lord Xgaster”, Alphys said, dutifully.

“Oh and Sans, you won't be getting your refill for this stunt”, Sir said walking away. Sans soul plummeted. Magic deficiency symptoms weren't fun-aching bones, lightheadedness, and inability to move. It all hurt so much. Sans had to work hard. Had to earn Sirs forgiveness. 

     Alphys walked up to Sans with her normal look of cold indifference and brought out a napkin and healing paste. She dabbed the blood with the same detachment she used cleaning spilled ink. The healing paste came next—measured, efficient, indifferent. Once the ointment made contact with his bruise, Sans whimpered and flinched from the sting. Alphys stopped for a bit before sighing.

  “Regardless of how much it hurts, you need this to heal and for the pain to go away”, Alphys said before continuing. Sans kept from flinching till she was done.

   “Come now Sans”, Alphys said and Sans followed to his quarters. 

  As he walked, Sans thought about how he was so happy to tell Sir how prince Frisk liked him. How he said he'd make Sans his personal royal guard. Sir would be proud and happy. They’d hold hands like in his drawing—oh stars the drawing. Sir wouldn't be happy to see it. Sans felt inside his pocket. It was still there. Sans had to get rid of it. Burn it with one of his blasters before Sir saw it.

   “What is that?”Alphys said, stopping just outside his door.

   “It's nothing important. Just some trash I forgot to throw away”, Sans said, not wanting to risk Alphys telling Sir.

   “Hand it over”, Alphys said hand out waiting. Resigned Sans did. Alphys unfolded and looked at the drawing emotionlessly. For a moment Sans hoped Alphys would crack a smile or tell him how silly it was.

   “I am not yellow Sans”, Alphys said factually and his hopes were dashed.

   “I-i know”, Sans said looking down.

    “You are not that tall and your father does not have red coats. You are fortunate he didn't see this”, she continued. Sans knew it was true, but he really did hope they would like it. Alphys sighed and put a hand to Sans back to gently lead him into the room.

   “We will work on your drawing capabilities another day. Right now, I will dispose of this and we will never speak of it again. This behavior is why Lord Xgaster is so hard on you. Now go do your homework”, Alphys said, putting the drawing in her coat pocket.

   “Yes ma'am”, Sans said walking to his desk and got to work.

   “I am less”

  “I am worthless”

“I am a tool”

Sans was worthless , but you know what Cross was: a piece of failed code that made Sans seem like a diamond.

—-----

     Cross woke to the void’s blinding light, heart racing. Signing, Cross laid a hand on his slapped cheek. The bruise from then was gone, only phantom stings remained. Just like the bruise from Chara’s slap. The decreasing pain was Cross's only way of telling how long the human had been gone.  Cross honestly didn't think Chara was serious about leaving–at least for this long. Xchara would always come back to remind Cross what he did.

    Chara wasn't completely gone though. Any time Cross grabbed the dagger, even if it was just to sharpen the weapon, he felt Chara's presence watching. Not talking, but still there making sure he didn't try to kill himself again. It was comforting in a twisted way.  The void felt emptier without Chara's voice. Lonelier. Without Chara to exhaust him into doing nothing, Cross had far more free time. In a blank void that was more of a curse than a blessing, so he tried to fill the space.

   Gaster blasters couldn't talk, but they could make sounds. Their purring and cuddling when Cross petted and hugged them was a god send. Cross also trained. Dodging and jumping summon bones and gaster blasters. New techniques, but it honestly wasn't the same as back home–no wind blew on his face, no sun burned on his bones, no environment to focus on, and no partner to tell him how he’s doing.  It made doing anything seem so pointless. The magic usage made him more tired. He didn't like blacking out here though. Royal Guards don’t collapse in the open. It leaves them vulnerable, exposed to attack. Only the lazy do that and Cross wasn’t raised to be lazy. He couldn’t forget his training. No matter where he is.

    “You insolent child”, a voice said. It was a static, ringing, a pressure in his skull—then the voice crystallized into something horribly familiar.

    “ Sir”, Cross said, shocked. It couldn't be him. He was gone. It had to be another hallucination. They got worse the more he resisted sleep.

     “ Have you deteriorated so much here you forgot how you talk to royalty”, Sir's voice said. He couldn't pinpoint its location. The voice was echoing all around him amplified by the void.

   “Royalty”, Cross said, confused and his head started pounding again. Soon he could see monsters, his people everywhere. Cross could see himself Sans there in casual clothing. It was surreal, he would never wear something like that. 

  “Pay attention”, Sir said

   “Now presenting the royal family. Prince Asriel, Prince Frisk, and....Prince Chara”, a voice said as everyone in the memory cheered, but Cross could only stare in shock at Chara. Chara. His demon, his tormentor—standing with the royal family. No. No, impossible. Chara was rude, crude, and a childish brat. He couldn't be a prince. But the cheers thundered: Prince Chara. A truth his mind had erased like a smudged page. A truth that made him a traitor for forgetting. 

   “I-I didn't know- I didn't remember. Why didn't I remember”, Cross said. Cross knows he can't remember everything from the 10 timelines, but forgetting a prince. What kind of soldier was he? How could he?

   “Excusing your behavior. Didn't I teach you better”, Sir's voice said.

   “Y-you did. I swear you did. Please, I-I just felt so mad.”, Cross cried. 

   “You felt. You have no place feeling anything. You’re just a tool. You don’t have the right to think. You only cause trouble”, Sir said and Cross could feel the echo pounding down on him getting closer,settling on his shoulders, forcing him to his knees.

     “ Say it. ” Hands—cold, phantom hands dug deeper. His skull rang. It wasn’t a command—it was a cage snapping shut.   

     “I’m… a tool,” he whispered, the words spilling like an old oath he’d repeated a hundred times before.

   “Again.” The void crushed in.

    “I’M A TOOL!” Cross shouted, louder, clearer, his voice cracking on the last word. 

     “Yes. And you’d better never forget it.” The echo receded, leaving silence behind, silence almost worse than the voice. Cross trembled, clutching his ribs, cuddling into the fluff of his jacket

     “…I’m a worthless tool,” he repeated, softer this time, like resignation. Like he was a child again. His hands shook as he summoned the soul. He knew what he had to do. 

“...Chara?”

Chapter Text

His name was Chara

You are code 6

He was a human 

You are Prototype 1 of the X-Event experiment 

Along with his brother Frisk

You are Prototype 2 of the X-Event experiment 

E x p e r i m e n t E x p e r i m e n t E x p e r i m e n t

    “I AM NOT AN EXPERIMENT”, Chara yelled into Sans Cross's mindscape. Xgaster's voice has been echoing through him ever since the failed attempt to take control— experiment, prototype, tool. He wanted to claw them out. None of what they said was true. He was a person, not some project of that megalomaniac. He never should have tried to force control. The body being half-monster and half-human made such fights too risky. The bleed-through of memories and thoughts was far more potent than when he had been attached to Frisk. They leaked like an open wound, and Cross’s self-loathing and internalized objectification seeped into him like poison, forcing Chara to relive the worst parts of the past. He preferred focusing on the experiences of others, like Cross, rather than his own pain.

     Through their soul connection, Chara could access and watch Cross’s memories when not in phantom form. At first, he thought he could figure out XGaster’s plan, but he learned nothing. Every memory featuring XGaster here was tainted, painted in a black coat that shielded them from prying eyes. He could only guess because they weren't the happiest and Chara was technically an intruder. There was nothing Chara could do about it and chances are Xgaster was far too paranoid to tell stuff to Cross. Only Alphys was perfect enough to trust with sensitive information. The only reason they continued visiting these memories was to escape the hellscape outside. Through the earlier timelines, Chara could remember what he was fighting for and maintain some semblance of sanity. His attachment to Frisk allowed the same blessing. There were funny memories here that almost made him miss Frisk less—Papyrus swearing was a personal favorite, and seeing Sans again was… nice. Usually, these moments brightened Chara’s day, but not today. Cross’s words were still ringing in his mind.

     Chara was nothing like XGaster. He wanted Xtale and everyone in it to be happy. He didn’t care about “perfection” or “father’s” goals. Now, he was a million steps away from that goal because of Cross. All Chara wanted was for that idiot to understand the urgency of their situation. Were his methods cruel? Yes. But they couldn’t afford niceties anymore. Frisk had needed similar treatment when he lost his own determination. Chara sat on the “floor,” staring at the memory of Cross attempting suicide. He could still feel the panic and adrenaline Cross had when pulling the dagger. He couldn’t believe it. How could Cross go that far and think  “termination” was the best decision.

     “ These things mimic people really well, Chara. With your treatment, breaking was inevitable ,” XGaster’s voice sneered.

     “Fuck off, You're not real. You're just a voice in Cross's head”, Chara yelled.

    “ Hahaha, the irony of you calling me tha t,” it replied enraging Chara. “ Don’t worry. Not all fault lies with you. Sans—or Cross, as you’ve decided to call him—is weak. He requires a heavier hand. I’m proud of you for putting him in his place .”

     As the voice disappeared, Chara felt nauseous. He didn’t want XGaster’s approval. Even worse, the memory reached the moment he slapped Cross. The dull ache in his hand and Cross’s fearful face came rushing back. Hearing Cross’s words still struck a nerve, but what he had done was necessary. XGaster would have been gone soon, and they’d fix everything.

     “There’s no point thinking about it anymore. What’s done is done,” Chara thought. He regretted it but couldn’t undo it. Cross didn’t want him, and he didn’t know if he could face the skeleton.

     “Maybe looking at one of my favorite memories will help,” Chara murmured, moving past the orbs representing Cross’s memories. The memory he sought was from the first timeline. Sans had summoned Gaster Blasters so Frisk, Asriel, and Chara could race. Chara had bribed Sans to let him win and crushed his younger siblings. Sans had sold him out afterward. Frisk and Asriel were outraged, chasing him while Sans laughed. Chara would have smiled at the thought, but something was off. Chara reached for the orb—but it was dull. Once gold, now sick yellow. Shocked, he touched it. Everything in the memory was grey. Faces, voices, even laughter were warped, slow, like a scratched record. Chara, shocked and horrified, took his hand off. What the fuck? Why did the memory look like that? Looking around he saw other orbs were the same. Dull. Sick yellow.

    “No! No no no! Not this! Not the memories. They're mine”, Chara said, clutching his hair and running around. All of Chara's favorite moments with Sans were fading away. When he made Chara that pimplom and chocolate pie. When Sans had his first taco and attempted to buy the person's whole shop. Even the memory where everyone surprised Sans on his birthday leading to him gaster-blastering everyone. So many memories would soon be gone.

     “This can't be happening. You can't be forgetting”, Chara screamed. He knew Cross had issues recollecting or organizing the memories he and Frisk gave back, but didn't think his mind would start forgetting. This was beyond bad. If these memories were gone, would Chara’s memories go next? Would he forget his mom, his dad, his siblings? Forget everything Xgaster did? Will he fall into insanity like Cross is? Forget himself? No, he refused. How long have they been here? Why hasn’t Ink come yet. He didn't…quit did he. Did he get bored? After everything. Was this it? Was there really no hope?  Chara shook out of it. What was he saying? He shouldn’t be having such thoughts. He was determination. Why was he thinking like this? Why did his soul hurt so much? Chara summoned it and gazed at it closely. The red half looked fine, but looking closer he could see it. The dark grey parts he had only seen once before. 

      /*Flashback*/

     It was the end of the 6th timeline. XGaster had just swapped half their souls, and the barrier resurrected to keep Frisk out had disappeared. The Amalgametes looked armed and ready in case Frisk tried something. Frisk seemed to be saying something. He was trying to call Chara. Trying to see if his big brother was ok. Chara couldn’t hear him. He was still in shock from what had just happened. Frisk then tried to say something to Xgaster. Tried to see if the man they once called a father was still there. How foolish. If that man was still alive, would he have done this Chara.

   “Aw how determined of you. Not as much as Chara of course, but enough, to test the prototype”, Xgaster said and he summoned the overwrite button. Soon the amalgamates were gone and they were all back in their flower fields. It was the start of the 7th timeline. Xgaster dropped Chara's body onto the ground. It should have hurt, but Chara couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t move and couldn’t fight against Xgaster puppeteering his body. Chara was forced to stand up despite the injuries on his body.

  “All right Experiment. Lets see what you can do”, Xgaster said.  Following instinct, Chara held his hand out and the overwrite button appeared in front of him. First he got rid of these troublesome injuries and ripped clothes. Next he looked at Frisk, staring emptily with his new red and purple eyes.

     “Chara–skaa”, Frisk said before he was interrupted by the impalement of red determination knives. With a look of shock, Frisk bled to death leaving his red soul floating over his corpse. No, what has he done?

   “Interesting. Time to test this RESET for myself”, Xgaster said and the reset button appeared returning Frisk to life. He was breathing heavily.

   “Try something new, Experiment. Use the OVERWRITE”, Xgaster said and Chara did. He killed Frisk multiple times while Xgaster brought him back to continue playing.

Spears. RESET.

Vines. ESET.

Fire. Screams. Ash. RESET.

Again. Again. And Again.

Chara experimented with killing Frisk in so many ways with the overwrite button, but not once did Frisk fight back.

   “Honestly, Frisk, are you that weak?” Xgaster asked, realizing that as well. Frisk just spat blood at him. Chara would be proud of the tiny rebellion, if he didn’t get a look at Frisk's soul. What was happening to it? It was losing its red glow. Chara could see the red dripping out of it like blood. Was he losing determination? That could happen. No. What would happen to Frisk if he lost it all? What would Xgaster do to him? Chara internally begged Frisk not to lose hope. To fight back or at least try to run away. Anything, but loses himself. It didn’t work. With each reset, Frisk lost more and more determination till it was all gone. Xgaster got bored and decided to leave Frisk dead. All Chara could do was cry. He wanted him back and he expressed it to Xgaster.

   “He is irreverent for this world and will turn his back on you again. He should be erased for being a useless coward. We’ll make a new human, so stop crying”, Xgaster said, flicking his own “tears” away. Chara was enraged. He didn't want another human. He fought Xgaster's influence on him. 

   “I WANT HIM BACK”, Chara said sternly, pulling the RESET button out. If he had to fight Xgaster he would. He wasn’t a “character” despite what Xgaster thought.

  “And what are you going to do? His determination is gone forever. I certainly won't be giving this back”, Xgaster said, giving Frisk soul over to Alphys who added it to their data compilation.

   “Half of the overwrites aren't powerful enough to make a new one”, Xgaster said. Chara didn't even hesitate with his offer.

   “He can have my soul”, Chara said resolutely. The world went silent with that claim. Xgaster froze and stared at Chara to see if he was serious. Chara was dead serious.

   “I will give him my soul”, Chara said. If it meant Frisk got to live. Got determination. He'll gladly give up his own body. Xgaster looked like he wanted to deny Chara's request, but then his eyes flashed like he saw something and then nodded. Chara would have questioned it, but had a higher priority. Gently, picking up his brother's body he overwrote. Chara was gone and in his place was Frisk. In his new ghost form, Chara made Frisk a promise. His brother could borrow all the determination he needed from Chara till Frisk got his own back. They then went on together while Frisk real soul stayed with Xgaster, and stayed grey.

/*flashback*/

    “Shit! Shit! Shit!”, Chara screamed. This couldn't be real. Chara couldn't be losing determination. They went through too much to start losing it. Why now? How could this be possible? Chara then thought. Cross. He was the reason. Cross’s negativity was affecting his determination. If this keeps up all his determination would be gone and they'll end up falling down. What could he do? Chara needed to make Cross listen to him. Cross needed to realize there was still hope, but how? Cross didn't trust or like Chara, but he had to try; he couldn't give up. He-

   “...Chara?”, a voice said, stumbling Chara out of their spiral. Was that?

   “Chara are you there?”, it said again.

   “...Cross”, Chara said.

     Cross kept calling till he had Chara’s attention. He felt Chara's presence was there and watching. Taking a sigh, he said what he needed to say.

     “I..I’m sorry”, Cross said, full of regret. Chara froze. Was Cross...apologizing to Chara.

    “I never should have spoken out of turn to you. I have no idea what you went through with Him . You were–are–right. Everything is my fault. I should have listened to you both back then. You knew more than I did. I acted inappropriately and got us stuck here. I'll accept the blame and your anger. Will you just please…please come back. I didn't mean those things I said?”, Cross begged.  Chara was shocked. Cross was asking for him to come back? He didn't expect that. He didn't know what to say.This was Chara's chance. He had to take the step.

   “Oh you meant it. You meant every word”, Chara said, appearing behind Cross. Cross turned, shocked to see Chara came back. He expected them to leave Cross to stew for a bit more as punishment. They stared at each other. Chara looking tense and Cross trembling, worried at making the slightest move and upsetting the human. Chara sighed and floated down, so he was sitting on equal level with Cross.

   “It's OK. I'm not mad anymore. You had every right to be upset. I've been letting my anger out on you all this time. It's no surprise you snapped”, Chara said, before his face changed to regret.

   “You’re right to be upset with me for the things I did. I'm sorry for doing them and most of all I'm sorry for slapping you. You didn't deserve it”, Chara said. Cross was stunned, Chara was apologizing to him. Why? Cross acted inappropriately, so of course punishment was necessary. Chara frowned.

  “We're stuck together now Cross”, Chara said like he was answering Cross' thoughts. “Connected. You're not my enemy and I'm not yours. I'm tired of hating and fighting you. I can tell you are as well. We need to stop or we'll both lose”

   “What”, Cross thought.

   “We only have each other now, Sans”, Chara said. Cross was stunned to hear Chara use his old self so nicely instead of mockingly.

    “I want to be your…friend again. I promise to be your friend and help you rebuild the world we lost”, Chara said. So much of what the human said confused him. A friendship. Chara wanted a friendship with Cross, but he killed his last best friend. He didn't know what friendship was anymore, and rebuilding Xtale–was that even possible anymore?

    “I know you gave up a long time ago, but not me. When I see this place, I don't see a prison or punishment. I see the opportunity to make our home amazing and happy like it should have been”, Chara said and Cross felt the numbness in his right arm signifying Chara was taking control. Cross tensed up thinking Chara would hit him after all, but all he did was grab the heart locket. Chara opened it up to reveal the picture of the Xtale group. “It's what they would have wanted. What Frisk would have wanted”

     Cross looked at every person he killed lost, before settling on Frisk. Would he have wanted Cross to trust Chara? Probably, but something in Cross said to be hesitant. Chara wasn't Frisk. Cross’s experiences with Chara were incredibly antagonistic. He couldn't even remember Chara clearly from the early timelines. He didn't know if he was a good person or if they even got along back then, but…..Cross couldn't do anything by himself. Chara was the only one who could Overwrite and Cross could feel Chara's love for Frisk and everyone else were genuine.

   “ It's not like I know what I'm doing. It's better if I didn't risk making the wrong choice, but I'm a horrible friend. I am a good subordinate though”, Cross thought sighing.

   “Help me, Kid. Tell me what I should do.”, Cross said. Cross’s shoulders snapped back, spine rigid. His voice flattened to monotone, like he was back on parade. Not a friend. Not even a person. A soldier awaiting orders.

    Chara could see Cross was slipping into the obedient soldier mindset. It was toxic, but there was nothing he could do. Cross’s conditioning was too ingrained to be changed by a simple offer of friendship. If this was how Cross best worked, Chara would have to deal with it until Xtale was back, and everyone could be rehabilitated. It was silent as Cross and Chara entered their partnership. Only till it was broken by a slice in the air none of them had heard before. Turning that could see a sludge of black ink just floating in the void. Black drops hissed where they touched the nothingness before knitting together into limbs. Soon it was another skeleton.

   “ Another person”, Cross thought in awe.

   “FINALLY YOU SOULLESS FREAK”, Chara thought. He didn't know what he would have done if Ink didn't come soon. Now they could start planning.

   “Oh… Heya! You can call me Ink!... What's your name?”, they said.

Chapter Text

     For his whole life, Cross had been surrounded by two colors: white and black. That was all there ever was, except for rare bouts of red, yellow, and purple to signify power or value. This stranger—Ink—held all those colors. He must be someone of huge importance. Cross would have thought to show more dignity. Being on his knees with a tear-stained face was hardly the proper way to be seen, but he couldn’t. This skeleton had so many colors. Colors Cross had never seen before. They burned his eyes. They collided in his vision, sharp as shattered glass. The riot of colors made Cross’s head throb, his stomach churning. When Ink introduced himself, Cross wanted to respond—but it was just too much.

     “Breathe, Cross. I know it's a lot, but you have to breathe,” Chara said. Was he not breathing already? That was bad. Cross listened. He closed his eyes to block out the onslaught and breathed.

     “Now, count to ten,” Chara said.

     “1…2…3…” Cross continued until he reached ten and started feeling better. He opened his eyes to see Ink still watching him. Cross blushed. The first person he’d seen besides Chara—and this was how he acted. Disgraceful.

     “Oh, you’re back. Sorry, considering this place, you must have been…what's the word—overstimulated, right?” Ink said. Cross nodded. Was that what it was. Still, no excuse.

     “Let's try this again. I’m Ink, the protector of the AUs. What's your name?” Ink said. Cross glanced at Chara. The human nodded back. Cross thought. What should he say? The name Sans almost slipped past his tongue, but he held it back. Cross—Frisk had named him that as a joke and against his wishes. After killing Sans, he’d taken the name Cross, and Chara even called him that, but saying it to another person felt like killing Sans for good. Certifying he wasn’t Sans anymore. He needed to make a decision. It was rude to keep people waiting.

      “I’m Cross,” he said. Despite weight in his soul and the tightend in his throat—he’ll wear the name as a tribute to Frisk.

     “Cool name. I can see why you chose it,” Ink said, referring to the numerous x’s on his uniform.

     “I didn’t choose it. My…best friend did,” Cross said, wiping his tears. This skeleton could be the key to their freedom. He needed to present his best self.

     “Cool,” Ink said, pulling out a book and beginning to draw.

     “What are you doing here? How did you get here?” Cross asked.

     “Huh, what am I doing here?” Ink said. What was strange was how his eyelights changed to show a square and exclamation point. “Oh, right. I came because I sensed lots of suffering in this AU and decided to check it out.” He sensed Cross suffering. Cross had been suffering for a long time. Why did Ink come now?

     “A million gold question,” Chara said, glaring at Ink.

     “As for how…well, how well-versed are you in multiverse theory?” Ink asked. Cross blinked, already lost.

     “I…know other universes exist,” he whispered, his voice thinner than he wanted. Ink grinned, undeterred.

     “Good! Blue actually made me a pamphlet—” He pulled it out proudly, like a child showing off a toy.

     “Seriously, Picasso,” Chara said, pinching his nose.

     “Once upon a time, there was one universe created. It was called Undertale,” Ink said. Cross’s eyes widened and his breath hitched. Wasn't that the world Frisk took him to?

     “In this universe, two races ruled over Earth: humans and monsters. One day, a war broke out, leading to monsters being imprisoned underground,” Ink continued. Basic monster history.

     “Yada yada yada, the 8th human child to fall—because of their determination—has the power to turn back time, RESET, and do a pacifist route to free monsters, a genocide route to kill all monsters, or a neutral route, a mixture of the two,” Ink said. Cross’s tongue felt heavy, itching to ask a question. He guessed most of the Xtale timelines could be considered pacifist routes, except timeline 4 and 10. Was it more common in other universes?

     “Being the original universe means all other universes are derived from it in some way. But they don’t just come into existence. Higher beings called creators make the ideas for a new world and have their avatar help create them. Who is that avatar? Yours truly,” Ink said, smiling. Cross caught it for just a heartbeat—a flicker in Ink’s grin, something older and heavier hiding behind the childish tilt of his voice. Then it was gone, buried under laughter. “Anyway. The end. Any questions? You there?” Ink said, pointing at Cross with his tongue out. This guy was the creator. He thought XGaster was. Cross finally asked his question.

     “So…you made my world?”, Cross asked.

     “I helped bring it into existence, and many more. Wanna learn about them?” Ink said, already pulling out pieces of paper before Cross could answer.

     “Oh, before I do—are you a classic, Fell, or Swap Sans?” Ink asked.

     “What?” Cross asked. This guy talked way too fast and far too much.

     “Let me change the question. Are you lazy, edgy, or a hard worker?”

     “Uh…a hard worker,” Cross answered, rubbing the back of his neck and wishing Ink would slow down.

     “A Swap Sans, then,” Ink said. What did that mean?

     “Let me explain. The earliest AUs were Underfell, where all monsters are just rude jerks dressed all edgy,” Ink said, showing a drawing of a skeleton with a gold tooth and lots of red. 

     “And Underswap, where all the people are swapped from the main universe,” he added, showing a drawing of himself smiling, surrounded by stars. Cross felt weird looking at him. Ink said Cross was a Swap Sans. Did that mean he was supposed to be like this guy?

     “All universes are different, but personality-wise, they can be based on those three universes—mostly Classic. Universes can be based on anything: space, underwater, shifted in different ways,” Ink said, showing more images. It was pretty impressive. Cross almost felt…jealous. He loved his world, but hearing about these worlds that had more than Xtale ever did—worlds that were happy, while Xtale and he had been left to rot—felt unfair.

     “It is unfair, but we’ll fix it,” Chara said, glaring at the AU drawings.

     “Some universes are even just alternate timelines of AUs from a big choice. All beautiful, and all protected by me. It’s my job to keep these stories safe…though,” Ink said, looking at the white expanse. “I guess I failed at that, huh?”

     “No shit, Sherlock. Some protector you are,” Chara said, arms crossed.

     “Cross, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your AU and why is your soul like that?” Ink asked. Cross froze. If Ink found out he destroyed his world, would he hate him? Leave him here as punishment? Punish him personally?

     “Cross, repeat exactly what I tell you,” Chara whispered.

     “There was a…genocide route. Everyone was killed, but I absorbed Chara’s soul into my body. Unfortunately, the process…did this,” Cross repeated verbatim. Not a lie, but certainly not the whole truth. Ink stared in pity.

     “Man, that sucks. Charas can be real troublemakers. It’s one of the worst fates for a Sans—to be stuck with someone who killed everyone multiple times,” Ink said.

     “Go to hell, Ink stain,” Chara said, flipping him off. Wait—did Ink believe Chara did the genocide route? Cross was going to clarify before Chara spoke again.

     “Let him. I don’t care what he thinks. He’ll be more likely to help you if he thinks you’re a victim,” Chara said. That made sense, regardless of making Cross uncomfortable. He was no victim.

     “Let’s get to know each other. What’s your favorite color? Mine is brown, like my scarf,” Ink said, holding his scarf proudly.

     “What is brown?” Cross asked. He didn’t think he had a favorite color. Ink froze. Was that rude?

     “You don’t know what the color brown is?” Ink said, horrified. Cross became nervous.

     “I’m sorry, but the only colors I know are black, white, red, yellow, and purple,” Cross said, nervous. Was it bad if he didn’t know other colors? He was confused to see them on Ink. They couldn’t be important; if they were, he would have kept them or put them in.

     “Cross, you’ve seen a rainbow before, right?” Ink asked.

     “What is a…rainbow?” Cross tilted his head, shocked, as Ink threw up black ink. He quickly teleported away as Ink started coughing.

     “Ahh, gross,” Chara said. Cross shared the sentiment, watching the vomit spread around. They may have hated the white void, but didn’t want color if it meant skeletons puking their guts out.

     “I—I’m sorry. Stars, what merciless creator makes a world with no rainbows?” Ink said.

     “You’d know, you big liar,” Chara shouted. He really hated Ink, didn’t he?

     “Don’t worry, Cross. I am a master in all things artistic—including colors. I’ll teach you everything you need to know,” Ink said.

     “Sure,” Cross said. He didn’t mind learning new colors. Some of them looked interesting, and dare he say…pretty.

     “Okay, first—ROY G. BIV,” Ink said.

     “Who is that? Did he invent the colors?” Cross asked. Chara face-palmed while Ink laughed.

     “It’s an acronym, Cross. For the seven colors in a rainbow. Here, look,” Ink said, grabbing a piece of paper and a red marker.

     “Red,” Ink said, drawing an arc with the red and taking another marker.

     “Orange,” Ink said, layering a smaller arc under the red. He continued carefully—yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—until a river of color spilled across the emptiness. Cross stared. His throat locked. The brightness wasn’t just seen—it pressed into him, vibrating under his bones.

     “This is a rainbow. A drawing, though. Real-life ones are prettier,” Ink said, holding the paper out to Cross. His hand lifted toward it, trembling, as though touching it might burn. He whispered, hoarse, “I…didn’t know things like this could exist.” Cross couldn’t help but wonder: what did real-life rainbows look like? How were they made? How were the colors separate like that? He had so many questions. The silence stretched. For once, the void itself seemed to hush, as though the colors demanded reverence.

     “Don’t look so lovestruck. It’s just light separated by water,” Chara snarked. It didn’t ruin Cross’s mood, though. Chara signed. “I get it. I understand your excitement. Xtale didn’t have the palette for rainbows. I remember the first time I saw one,” Chara said, looking away, voice softening, but eyes sharp—like he was remembering another time.

     “These are the main colors in the world. Many others exist that are shades or mixtures of these. Would you like me to explain?” Ink asked.

     “Yes, please,” Cross said. Ink explained all he knew about colors with diagrams and examples. Ink was very silly. It was weird; he was supposed to be a god. He’d expected a god to command the room like XGaster always did, not ramble about shading like this.

     “ HE was not a god. He was an arrogant fool,” Chara scoffed. “You’re right, though. Lots of gods in the multiverse are more personification and act like normal people. Death likes Starbucks.” There were other gods. That made sense. Let’s hope Cross didn’t have to meet them. They might not all be nice like Ink. Speaking of which, Ink had just finished explaining the different types of color contrast.

     “Man, that felt great. I never have people willing to listen about the different types of red shades. I’d love to stay, Cross, but duty calls,” Ink said, getting up and ready to leave. Cross panicked.

     “You’ll come back, won’t you?” The words tumbled out before he could stop them. His fingers twisted the fabric of his scarf, pulling it tight. Ink tilted his head, surprised. Cross’s chest seized.

     “I mean—if you don’t, it’s fine. I can…” His voice cracked. He forced it flat, monotone. “Forget it.” Heat rushed up his face. Pathetic. Desperate. He wasn’t supposed to beg for attention like a child. But stars, he wanted Ink to stay for a bit longer.

     “You’re my friend. Of course I’ll come back. In the meantime, here are some things to keep you busy,” Ink said, using his paintbrush to summon more notebooks, crayons, and other utensils. “Use these, and when I come visit, we’ll draw together.” With that, Ink left, returning the void to its natural silence.

     “He’s not so bad,” Cross said, looking at the items. They were left in such a mess; he’d have to organize first before using them.

     “Don’t get too attached,” Chara said sternly. “I know him. He’s a disconnected shell. Talking about how all the AUs are beautiful…he didn’t even acknowledge all the horrible AUs that exist.”

     “Do you think Ink would help us if I asked?” Cross said. Surely the protector could help him fix his AU.

     “If you want to ask him, you can, but don’t have too much faith in him. He’ll just disappoint you,” Chara said, looking away. There was definitely a story with Chara and Ink. “For now, go to sleep. It’s been an exhausting day, and I can feel how tired you are,” Chara said, floating to the floor and dropping down. Cross looked at the mess. He wanted to clean up, but Chara was right—he was tired. The things would hopefully still be there when he woke up. Against his training, he got comfortable and fell asleep.

     As Ink entered the doodlesphere, the smile on his face slowly changed to a frown—a complete contrast in such a whimsical place. With its gold glow and multiple floating islands, it was a wonder anyone could not be happy. Ink reached into his pocket, and when his hand came out, it held a small glass vial. Inside floated half a soul—jagged, cracked, bleeding light. Each pulse sent a low hum through Ink’s ribs, forming words.

     “What really happened?” Ink said seriously. A complete switch from the childish personality he had shown Cross.

     “Getting right to it, I see,” XGaster’s voice echoed from the glowing vial. “They weren’t lying, though Chara did make Cross stretch the truth a little.”

     “How long has it been like that? Why didn’t you tell me?” Ink asked.

     “It was Chara’s plan that led to everything. They needed a punishment,” XGaster said.

     “And Cross?” Ink pressed.

     “Hmm, that thing isn’t exactly innocent. He was simple collateral,” XGaster said.

     “Cross doesn’t deserve to suffer for what the human did. You have to bring Xtale back,” Ink said, gripping the vial tightly.

     “No,” XGaster said, shocking Ink.

     “No? What do you mean no? You have the power, too. You have to bring it back,” Ink said. Cross didn’t deserve to be stuck in that cruel whiteness. The whole time Ink was there he had to keep his discomfort in check. The world was so lonely and…quiet. Cross looked so small in that void.

     “I don’t have to do anything. Stay in your lane, Ink. Your job is to protect the script of the Creators. I am the Xtale's creator and I’m liking the story so far,” XGaster said smugly. “Cross has accepted Chara as his new master and they’ll will be working together to “save” the world. Isn’t it poetic? Two broken things clinging to each other, thinking they can be the hero. It’s so amusing, I couldn't help but want to give them hope by telling you to visit.” Ink frowned. He could be a bit callous about the people of the multiverse, but Xgaster was a whole new level toward his creations. His hands were tied though. Xgaster was right. He has the right to decide what he wants for Xtale. Ink still felt bad though for Cross and even the Chara. All he could do was visit more and curb their loneliness.  Check and visit Cross in Xtale– Ink wrote on his scarf to remind himself. Smiling in satisfaction, he was interrupted by a phone call.     

    “What is it Dream?”, Ink said, picking up the phone.

    “Ink. I sensed a huge amount of negative energy in an Underfell copy. It could be my brother. I’m getting Blue”  Dream said. It could be Nightmare or it could be… Ink shook his head; he didn't want to think about the other problem in the multiverse. He’ll be fixing it soon enough. With a splash of his paintbrush Ink made a portal to go help the other Star Sans’s.

Chapter Text

             When Cross woke up from his dreamless sleep, for a moment he thought it had all been a hallucination. A stranger bringing color and hope to his blank world—that sounded too good to be true. Too good for someone like him, but when he looked, the mess of supplies was still there. The rainbow drawing was still clinging stubbornly to the void’s floor. Proof. Someone had actually come. They weren’t forgotten. They could escape this hell. Cross stood, bones creaking faintly, and began sorting through the items. If they were going to use these, he needed to know what they had. He counted: five two-hundred-page notebooks, twenty packets of twenty-five crayons and markers, fifty packs of pencils, fifty erasers, sharpeners, glue—more than he could’ve imagined having.

             Chara stirred awake, floating beside him. “Jeez, this is a bit much. Ten sharpeners? What, does Ink think we’re gonna break them?”

              Cross stacked the erasers into neat rows. “He cares about art. Maybe he wanted us to have more than enough so we wouldn’t be bored.”

              Chara scoffed. “We don’t need art supplies. We’re not children. We need a house. A bed. Even a pillow would’ve been better.”

              Cross couldn’t argue with that, but he didn’t feel ungrateful either. The colors were… something. Better than nothing. While he worked, he risked a question that had been gnawing at him. H

              “Chara,” he said quietly.

              “Mm?”, Chara said

              “Why did you and Frisk pick me? For your plan.”, Cross said.

Chara flipped upside down before righting himself, eyeing him. Cross hesitated, but pushed through. “I was defective. Raised to obey Xgaster. Surely someone like Papyrus, or Undyne, or Muffet—”

               “We tried,” Chara cut in. His voice was flat, tired. “Hundreds of ways. The other humans. But you—all of you—always saved us. Kept us alive when we wanted it to end.” Cross winced, stomach twisting. How many humans had he falsely imprisoned or killed when they had no choice. 

                Chara must’ve seen it on his face. “If it helps—some of them attacked us on their own. And Frisk… tried to show mercy when we controlled people. It didn’t always work. That bastard wanted us to suffer either way.” It didn’t help. Cross stayed quiet.

      “Sometimes,” Chara added, softer, “we had the others help, but Xgaster threatened them—like Muffet. Papyrus too, but… that was worse.” His eyes dimmed. “In Timeline 9, we told him everything. The truth. He gave up. Said he’d rather be mindless in the next cycle” Cross couldn’t hold back his surprise Papyrus would ask for that.

      “So it was just…. my turn”, Cross said softly.

       “No. You were the only one who could kill us. With my determination and overwrite… dying’s not easy. You think we didn’t try? You think we didn’t want to?”, Chara said. Was Frisk…suicidal. Cross never noticed that. Stars, he really was a bad friend. “Sans are coded to have stronger chances against determined humans, so you would have been able to help. We thought you’d hate Xgaster enough you’d help us”

           Cross’s thoughts caught onto the word: hate. Before, Cross would never think to hate Xgaster. He raised him and aimed to make him an amazing soldier. At least that's what Cross thought. Now. Cross doesn’t know if he hates him. Cross does know he never wants to face him  ever again. Cross asked another question that had been itching at his skull.

          “Why doesn’t the overwrite work with me” Cross asked

          “I already told you in the beginning”, Chara said

          “I know, but I can feel you’re hiding something. It works for Xgaster. We were all made to mimic other monsters—so why not me?”

           “Huh alright”, Chara said hesitantly. “It's because you were born from Overwrite” Cross just blinked. “It doesn’t identify you as a monster like Xgaster. It wouldn't have worked for the other humans either”, Chara said looking away. “I’m not saying it makes you all not real or not alive, but if anyone looked closely at your code vs the code of another sans from another universe you could see there are differences. Like dogs and wolves.”

           Cross didn’t want to know which ones Xtale inhabitants were. He didn’t need more proof he wasn’t a person, and he was glad the other monsters couldn’t hear it. Cross picked up a note book and pencil. What could he write about? Maybe some memory recollection.

           “What were the early timelines like?”, Cross asked his companion.

             “What they were like.”, Chara said and Cross was surprised to see a smile grow on his face.

            “Well before… everything. It was just me, Frisk, and… him.” Chara’s lips twitched, almost smiling. “We played in flower fields. He’d conjure food with Overwrite—bread still warm from the oven, juicy pimplom berries . Sometimes he even did little tricks to make us laugh.”

             Cross’s grip on the pencil tightened just enough to not break it. He tried to picture it: Xgaster covered in flowers, laughing. A father who could care. His chest tightened, sharp and aching. Jealousy—no, envy—burned in his ribs. Why hadn’t he ever been worth that? Why couldn’t Xgaster have been his father, just once? What would Cross have been like if he’d grown up with that Xgaster? Would he have been a person worthy of the name Sans. The pencil trembled, leaving a jagged line on the page. Cross glare would have set it on fire if he could.

              “Eventually he lost motivation and considered destroying our whole world. It wasn’t until he got access to other universes he decided to make everyone and start the timelines”, Chara said and Cross wrote “Timeline 1” on the page.

               “The first timeline. Xgaster gave Frisk and I to Asgore and Toriel while he worked on the other details. We had fun. We grew up. It was all happiness", Chara said. Cross can see that to Chara the first timeline was paradise.

              “What was wrong with it,” Cross dared to ask. If Xgaster was a better person. A better father. Why would he end it? What went wrong?

               “THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT”, Chara yelled darkly, all previous joy gone. The air grew taut. Cross froze, spine straight, waiting for the storm to pass.

               When Chara’s breathing slowed, Cross whispered, “And the second timeline?”. Cross wanted to ask more about the first timeline, but knew Chara wasn't up to it.

             Chara’s smile was gone. “It was basically the same. I was scared it would end, but Asgore helped me escape the depression. It went on until Xgaster got bored of our happiness.” His voice grew bitter. “He killed the ones we loved. For me, Asgore. For Frisk—” He looked straight at Cross. “You.” Cross’s soul lurched. Memory crashed over him: his father’s cold hand holding him up, refusing to let him go, then the pain, sharp and searing. His father had killed him. How many times? How many overwrites and resets had wiped it clean? Chara kept talking, words tumbling faster.

            “Timeline 3, Xgaster just added and deleted code. You all used to have to eat before Xgaster changed things”, Chara said. They did. Monsters just viewed eating as a fun hobby. They didn’t have the need or obligation for it like humans did. He personally saw it as a requirement for his job to Frisk. He never enjoyed or disliked it. Did he have favorite foods before? Hated foods.

            “It only lasted a few weeks”, Chara said laughing hysterically. Cross nearly spoke up to tell them they didn’t have to continue, but Chara started ranting. Not even talking or looking at Cross anymore.

             “In timeline 4–he let us become teenagers. Left us alone. Let Frisk hope this could be the end. Then went ahead and Overwrote him to kill everyone. To kill me” Chara said as his hands fisted in his shirt. “I should have done worse than punched him before resetting”Cross’s throat went dry and his pencil stilled. Frisk…did a genocide route. Cross couldn’t see the person who worked hard for monster peace do that. It sounds unbelievable. How much pain was Frisk in once realizing what he’d done. 

             “Then we have number 5”, Chara's voice cracked. “He erased us from everyone's heads. Made them distrust and hate us. Left us to fend for ourselves on the streets. He made Frisk give up and took half my soul. He made me kill my brother multiple times till all of Frisk's determination was gone”, Chara said. He trembled, eyes shining. He turned away quickly, wiping at his face with shaking hands. Cross dripped the paper tighter. He never should have opened his big mouth.

            “We-we don’t have to continue…..”, Cross said, finally getting the strength to speak up.  “It’s not really that important anyway. Things will be different next time”, Chara looked surprised. It was normally Chara who said stuff like that.

             “Yeah yeah that's true”, Chara said, turning around. He was embarrassed he vented like that. Cross didn't comment. They both needed their scraps of dignity. He grabbed the crayon packets. Cross picked a fuschia crayon randomly. He looked at it for a moment and looked at the white expense. He put the crayon tip to the “floor”.

            “What are you doing?”Chara asked, looking back at him.

             “Maybe if I draw on this place it’ll look less blank. Having some landmarks or way of mapping things out could make being here more bearable”, Cross said. Cross expected Chara to tell him it was a dumb idea or it wouldn’t work, but it seems Chara was just as curious. They watched closely as Cross drew a long straight line through the void. 

             Cross and Chara held their breath. Cross hoped it worked–hoped they could look at more than whiteness. The fuschia line stayed for about 5 seconds before it started being absorbed into the void–disappearing like Cross tears. Being eaten with a hiss that told Cross he shouldn’t have dared tried to change his prison.  Cross let out a sign of disappointment.

             “It was worth a shot”, Cross said. He saw Ink using this paintbrush to paint. He thought the items would be magic as well, but he was wrong.

              “Yeah it was. We should just stick with the paper?”, Chara said. His sketches weren't the best at first, but he slowly got the hang of it. Thank the stars for the eraser. Soon he drew everyone: Papyrus, Muffet, even the human adult versions.

             “I miss being grown up”, Chara said looking and a drawling of his adult self. He gave Cross multiple critiques on his adult self's hotness.

             One day, Cross stares at a blank piece of paper and wonders. Should he write and draw Xgaster? Why would he? What would Cross write? He never has an answer so he doesn’t do it. He just lets his mind wander as he absentmindedly movies the pencil on the page.

            “Huh not something i’d think you’d make up”, Chara said, pulling Cross out of his thoughts. He looked to see what Chara was talking about. His drawling was strange. It was a picture of a skeleton with a scar saying, “Sup Brah. I’m Epic” on it. The word dude was also surrounded the page. It was weird. It was just a drawing. Why does Cross feel like he’s seen this skeleton before?

            “Maybe you're more creative than you thought ”, Chara said. Oh right, mind-reading. Really takes away the need for verbal communication. Maybe.

            “ Wanna play chess ”, Cross asked internally. Deciding to forget about it.

            “Sure”, Chara said. Cross made games for them to play out of paper. They used erasers for pieces. Cross moves for Chara, but it still works as great mental stimulation and Chara only cheats 20 percent of the time. It’s during a game when Chara brings up something important.

            “Cross I’ve been avoiding it, but we do need to talk about how me getting the Overrite function back and rebuilding Xtale would have to work”, Chara said, making Cross look up and be quiet while Chara inputted the plan into his mind.

            Time passed and supplies dwindled. They worked on rationing everything carefully, but paper was nearly gone, crayons were snapped stubs, markers dried, and pencils were worn to splinters. A lot of time must have gone by. 

            “Where the f*ck are you Ink”, Chara grumbled so Cross wouldn’t hear. Chara could tell he was starting to fear Ink forgot about them. His hands shook and a few drawings of Ink looked rushed and crumbled. Chara couldn’t have that. Cross memories have been more stable since he started doing this. Regaining their golden hue. He’s been more hopeful. They can’t lose that.

           “What would you like Xtale to have?,” Chara asked suddenly. If he got Cross to think about the future they could have more time.

          “What” , Cross thought.

          “What do you think would make Xtale better? Things you would like to see more of. Things you hated and don’t want in the new world”, Chara said. Cross never thought about that. The humans would  make the new Xtale and make it happy. He didn’t think his opinions would be necessary. What would Cross like? He was taught to appreciate what he had. He never thought anything was bad about his world and if there was he had no power to change things, but if Chara was asking?

           “I would like more colors” , Cross thought slowly, looking at all the new colors he learned about: teal, cream, aqua, and many more. Colors his people could marvel at.

            “Alright, we should be able to do that”, Chara said. Honestly, he didn't know why Xgaster didn’t add more color in the first timeline. Maybe he was bad at it. Chara could figure it out. “Even if you can’t see it. There were many things wrong with the tenth timeline that could be fixed. Just think about it”

           Cross did while folding paper into origami. It was great work on hand eye coordination. While doing that they both hear a slice in the air. Familiar black ink condensed into a skeleton body as Ink barged in looking panicked.

          “C, Cross um how are you doing?”, Ink said looking nervous.

          “You should be nervous Van Gogh”, Chara hissed.

           “Ink you’re back” Cross thought before remembering Ink couldn’t read minds.

           “I-In-ink *cough*”, Cross rasped voice scratched–rough like cracked wood. Chara seeing that got madder. How long was Ink gone?

           “Oh you sound awful. Hold on drink this”, Ink said summon a glass of–

            “Is that brown ink,” Cross thought.

             “WHAT it’s chocolate milk. You forgot chocolate milk. Oh my stars. I’ll kill that old man. Drink it. It tastes good and will help our throat”, Chara said, horrified and excited. If Chara trusted it. Grabbing the glass, Cross downed the contents. It was…good, incredibly good. Relief washed through him. He downed it in gulps. It was cold, sweet, and soothed his rough throat.

              “I’m really sorry I was gone for a while. I brought these as extra apologies. You must be hungry”, Ink said, holding a bag that said “Blue’s best Tacos”. Cross didn’t need food and was going to tell Ink before Chara spoke up.

             “Taco’s. Not my favorite food, but I’m desperate to taste anything”, Chara said. Cross would have to suck it up and take the food. Taking a bite, Cross’s eyes widened in joy and pure bliss. It was amazing. Cross had never felt anything like this when eating. Was this why so many monsters cooked and ate? 

           There was no bitter taste of poison. The shell’s texture was soft with a fringe of crispness. A clean, climbing burn bloomed along his tongue and lined his cheeks; not the alarm of injury. A kind that said take another bite. The white paste—creamy, sour—cut clean through the fire like a blade through fog; the green strips snapped cold and wet; He counted chews without thinking, cataloging how textures collapsed, how the burn retreated then returned like waves on a shore he’d never seen.

          He wanted more. He wanted to hoard the taste in his bones, afraid it would leave like everything else. He's never wanted something before. He wanted Xtale to have more of these tacos. By the time he reached the last taco, his hands had stopped shaking. He laid the empty bag down like a completed mission and realized his jaw ached from clenching around a grin he didn’t know he’d made.

           “You really haven’t changed have you”, Chara said softly. Cross wondered what that meant. He couldn’t ask though. Ink was still here.

            “Thank you”, Cross whispered. His throat felt a bit better.

           “It’s the least I can do. I knew you’d like them. All swaps love tacos”, Ink grinned. 

          “So what have you been up to,” Cross asked. What took you so long was the unasked question.

          “Well my job has many responsibilities like fighting a group of bad sans led by a hentai squid”, Ink said 

          “What”, Cross said as Chara snorted.

          “Anyway we just finished fighting them when I remembered you and came here as fast as I could”, Ink said. Cross could see that Ink looked tired and had some injuries. He felt bad for judging him. He’s a GOD. Of course he has more important things than him to deal with. Cros still had a question.

           “How long were you gone? ”, Cross said. Ink looks away. A pit dropped in Cross soul.

            “Time moves differently in each universe. It wasn’t long for me, but I don’t know the time dilation here”, Ink said. Cross gulped “But lets not focus on that. Look at all the drawings you made. Is that an origami rabbit? Cool. You even made games. Let’s play.” Ink and Cross played many games. 

            “You’re stalling Cross”, Chara chastised as they played their 20th game of checkers. Cross tensed and sighed to gain some bravery. “Ask him what you want to ask him”

            “Ink”, Cross said. “Could you help bring my world back to life?” Ink stared blankly.

            “I’m sorry Cross, but no”, Ink said. Cross clutches the flimsy picture of Ink and him together. Ink looks like he wants to take the words back, but doesn’t. His next words are dulled to Cross ears. “I can’t bring people back from the dead. It’s not one of my powers or my place” The words hit like stone. Cross’s hands twitched. The void seemed to be closing in. 

             “I knew you’d be useless, squid”, Chara said spat.

            Ink turned, lifting his brush. “I’ll give you space. You need time.” Space? Time? Cross’s throat closed. He didn’t need either of those things. He needed not to be abandoned again. His breath quickened. His bones shook. Don’t leave. Don’t leave me alone. Ink raised the brush. Cross didn’t think. His body moved first. Because if Ink left, that was it. No more games. No more colors. Just silence. Forever. He had to stop him from leaving. Cross lunges and rips the brush free from Ink’s hands.

           “Wha-my paintbrush. Cross, give it back”, Ink said as Cross ran as fast as he could.

            “Cross, what are you doing?”, Chara said. Cross didn't know. He couldn't outrun a god. This was a bad idea and he needed to think fast. He could feel portal magic attached to the paintbrush. Skidding to a halt, He drew—one wild, desperate stroke across the void splitting it open. Unlike the crayon it didn’t disappear. Cross hesitated. If he did this. He'd be betraying a friend. AGAIN. But Cross had to take the chance. Ink wasn’t going to help him.

              “Cross wait–”, Ink said in terror, seeing what he was doing. Cross didn’t take any risk. He snapped the brush in half and jumped in before Ink could close in on him. Seeing the vanishing skeleton, his broken brush, and hearing the drips of paint fade away Ink only had one thing to say.

            “FUCKKKKKKK”, Ink yelled into the void.

Chapter Text

 “Ahhh I can’t believe he did that”, Ink said, holding the broken pieces of his paintbrush. It’s far from the first time his brush has been broken, but every time it is he has to put lots of work into fixing it. Honestly, it’s impressive Cross was strong enough to break it.

 “Wait why am I praising him”, Ink groaned as he put the pieces together and inputted magic, so it could mend itself.

“You shouldn’t. I raised him better than that. Don’t worry. He will be punished for this stunt”, Xgaster’s voiced echo from the vial though the amusement was obvious. He didn’t expect his toy soldier to do that. “Desperation is no reason to forget his place”

“This isn’t his fault. Why didn’t you remind me to check up on them”, Ink said.

“Don’t blame me for your bad memory and if I knew he’d do this I  would have”, Xgaster said. The next stage of the X-event was about to start. Xgaster couldn’t help but be excited that all his patience had paid off. “Their fusion was so unstable before, but it is becoming more balanced. Besides, watching them lose hope was delicious.”

“Nice. Now I have to fix this and figure out where Cross went. He isn’t going to be thinking straight and won’t do anything good”, Ink said.

          Going through the ink portal was weird. It was nothing like the tingling static of his teleports. Cross felt like he was submerged in thick oil and squeezed through a tight space. All too quickly, he was spat out into whatever unsuspecting world the paintbrush took him too. He  landed on the ground. The rough, uneven ground. Not the straight, smooth ground of his dead universe.

           Cross tried to open his eyes, but once he was assaulted by bright yellow light he forced them closed again. He turned around to face the other direction. After a while, he risked opening his eyes again. The first thing he saw was the grass--the bright green grass. After staring he turned around. He saw brown trees, orange flowers, and once he got the strength to look up again saw the blue sky. Cross stood up and saw the intense colorful world in full view. He was in a forest, but what universe.

           “Underswap”, Chara's voice said, surprising him. Of all worlds. Cross turned to see his other half was looking at code.

          “We’re in Underswap”, Chara reiterated before laughing and looking at Cross “We're not in Xtale anymore Ha Ha that was a pretty ballsy move” Cross winced. Acting without orders like that was risky. He’s lucky they didn't end up in one of the horrible AU's Chara talked about.

       “I-I'm sorry”, Cross said.

       “Don't be. This was way better than my plan”, Chara said proudly. He was going to manipulate Ink into removing their restrictions. There were flaws of course that Ink wouldn't help, but it was the best they had at the time. “Of course In the future, I'd prefer we discuss plans like this. We shouldn’t depend on luck too much”

Cross then caught a blue river out the corner of his eye. He walked up to pick up some water to splash on his face. The voids "temperature" was always constant. Never too hold and never too cold. Never changing. The refreshingly cool water was a shock to his system and Cross felt more invigorated. He drank some as well. It comforted his throat enough he signed in relief as he let himself be at peace with his environment.

He looked down into the water and was shocked at what he saw. There were no mirrors in the void. He hasn’t seen his reflection in a while. He got a vague idea on what he looked like now. With his new red scar, but now he saw his new red eye  and how..tired he looked. His bones looked unhealthy and he was thinner than before. His uniform had purple tear/blood stains. Cross was disappointed in himself. No matter the circumstances he should have kept himself up to royal guard standards. He would have felt worse about it before he heard a sound. Cross feels his red eye flare in power and instinctively goes to summon his weapon. Instead of the light twin daggers he was used to in Cross’s hand was a large heavy knife. “Woah”, Chara said with surprise Cross shared.  He was well-versed in many weapons, but this knife still felt unnatural in his hands. Before they could react the sound turned out to be a little rabbit. It continued staring at them with big innocent eyes not even fazed at the sword pointed at it. Cross blushed.

“Pfft.  Stay calm, it can probably smell fear”, Chara teased as Cross slowly put the knife down. The rabbit kept watching him. The longer it did the more ridiculous Cross felt. Having eyes on him always made him feel uncomfortable. Like He was looking for something to criticize Cross for. Finally the rabbit skittered away and Chara floated around the knife gazing at it curiously.

“I wonder”, Chara said, opening their code. “Ah all those restricted files. They’re opened now that we escaped the universe. Do you know what that means?” Chara said, excited.”We have new powers. Suck it Xgaster. I told you you couldn’t hold me”

Cross supposed this was a good thing that would help them in their goal. Cross looked at the knife. It wasn’t just heavy—it dragged at his arm like it wanted to cut something. The edge hummed faintly, pulling at the air itself. Cross decided to will it away, and go observe their surroundings while Chara continued to look at their hidden files. He surmised they were on this universe's surface. It was much more vibrant and visual then his universe’s surface and seemed to have many more fauna. To Chara’s disgust, Cross saw many different types of spiders. Frisk would have liked them

Another sound shakes Cross out of his thoughts. This time he didn’t panic and jumped up the closest tree. He used it as a vantage point to hide and observe the group of people that came in. It-it was Cross people–wait no it wasn’t them. It was their Underswap counterparts.

“Don’t run too fast Sans”, The Papyrus said.

“Sorry paps this is such a beautiful day”, the Sans replied excitedly. He was dressed in the old royal guard uniform and had such a huge smile on his face. There were stars in his eyes. He didn’t get it. He was supposed to be similar to this Sans.  He seemed so happy and positive. Cross was none of those things, but there were more important things to worry about. There others came out.

“Come here my child”, the Asgore said, holding the hands of the Chara.

“The surface is really amazing, right Napstaton ”, the Undyne said to a robot who he supposed was the Mettaton.

“I bought these from Muffets”, the Alphys said, bringing pastries from the Muffet.

“Gimme some”, the…Temmie said

“Temmie be patience”, the Toriel said

“MWEH HEH HEH, lets get this picnic started”, the Sans said before they all started eating. Cross could only watch as they all light and smiled at how their lives had been. These weren’t his people.He knew that, so why did he see Papyrus in that papyrus, Frisk in the Chara and himself in the Sans? Why did being around these copies feel so much like being around them?

“I know this world and its code fragments feel so familiar”, Chara said. He controlled the arm to wipe his..tears. Was he crying? He didn’t notice. “But it’s not them. We’re out now, so we can get our real friends back”

Teleporting out of the trees to the ground, Cross walks away from his the people. Blue looks up thinking he saw something. Seeing nothing he turned back to his friends and brother, oblivious to the fact someone was watching them.

“Ink could still be in our home. We need to figure out our new abilities  and start the rebuilding procedure”, Chara said

“You said we’d be taking code from other universes to do it. How will we get to them?” Cross asked.

“With the Hack Knife of course”, Chara said. Hack knife? Is that what it was?”We can use it to make portals and steal code”, Chara said. Cross summoned the knife back and looked at it. He could feel the powerful magic seeping off it.

 “We don’t know any routes besides the og universe. It’s like an intersection for the multiverse. We can figure out coordinates to other universes and get the framework for rebuilding Xtale.“I'll input how it works and Undertale’s coordinates into your mind”, Chara said. Once Cross got it he got to work. The hack knife glowed a powerful red and following Chara directions Cross sliced it in the air with the coordinates in mind. A glowing portal was soon cut into the world.

     “Yes it worked", Chara said, satisfied. “Alright Cross. Ready to get the happy ending we deserve”

     Cross stepped into the portal. His words slipped out, smooth and obedient, before he even realized his mouth had moved. “Yes, sir.”

Chapter Text

The Undertale portal while still very different from Cross’s own was still much better than Ink’s. More of a burning sensation than a staticky one. It looked like they were in the Underground–specifically the ruins where humans fell from the surface. Sunlight fell across the golden flowerbed where Cross stood.

            “So this is the original universe”, Cross said while he looked around and Chara appeared. 

            “Yes. Now Cross since this is the original universe, we can't kill people or risk erasing them from across the timelines and destroying the whole multiverse”, Chara's voice clipped. “We just need to stab or cut people with the hack knife to copy the basic code we need” He sounded like a general or a commanding officer when they gave orders. Something snapped into place–something familiar.

            “Understood”, Cross responded and went on his journey. He hadn't lived in the Underground since he was a child. He went back on a few missions, but his memories of the time were still a blur. He did notice that there was no one around.

             “Why is it empty? If the portal took us here monsters must still be underground. Did we come at a genocide route”, Chara said. Cross dismissed the theory. There was no dust anywhere.

             “What is this? Nice outfit, trashbag. Papyrus finally reached his limit and burned all your ketchup-stained jackets,” said a...talking—flower said. Cross wouldn't claim to know all monsters, but he's certain no flower monsters like this existed. “Any way shouldn't you be with the others going to the surface”

            “Oh we came before Frisk shattered the barrier. That makes more sense”, Chara said, relieved. “If we were in a genocide route we'd have to wait till Frisk reset and I dont want to test what would happen to us. Since he's here, we can at least get Azzy’s code. Get him Cross” When Chara said that Cross was confused especially when Chara looked and pointed at the flower. Azzy could only mean one person.

           “Prince Asriel", Cross said which caused the flower to flinch.

          “H-how did. Did Frisk tell you? Wait”, the flower said before he checked him.

           “Yeah Yeah I know. Long story. I assure you that's Asriel”, Chara said. Cross knows Prince Asriel liked flowers and had flower powers, but he didn't think his original self was a flower; If Chara thinks so. When the check was done Cross knew a monster about to flee when he saw one. Faster than the flower could dive into the ground, he grabbed the stem and forced him out like the weeds HE made Cross pluck from the house. The moment they saw Cross pulling up the big knife their eyes widened in fear.

            “Wait please wait don't kill me ack–”, They said before Cross cut their neck, which left a glowing red cut before they went unconscious.  Cross stared for a while before he set them down safely. He didn't dust so he's not dead. Cross didn’t do anything wrong…right.

           “He’s fine. Copying his code just puts some strain on his body”, Chara said

          “You'll be able to bring Prince Asriel back with this flowers code”, Cross asked

         “Yes. I'll need to get code from a goat monster Asriel, but I'll be able to do it. Let's go”, Chara said. Cross made sure to keep hidden. He couldn't start a panic or fight in this world before he got the code for the others. Luckily Cross was trained in the art of avoidance. He shouldn’t admit it, but his shoulders eased; the thrill of sneaking around to prevent capture and detection tightened his senses in a way he missed. He breathed slowly, kept his movements slow, and kept an ear out for important information.

           “Come on slowpokes. We have to get to the castle or we'll miss the barrier opening”, Cross heard a bunch of kids say from around the corner. He remembers when Frisk did openned the barrier. It was the most amazing thing he ever saw.

         “Everyone will be going to the throne room. Can you teleport there?”, Chara asked. Cross frowned. He should. If the layout of the underground was the same as his worlds. He concentrated and soon he was at New Home castle. He stuck in easily enough–too easy. They should work on their security. Cross heard footsteps, so he quickly hid. Two goat monsters came out. The Toriel and Asgore of this world.

            “You wanted to talk, Asgore”, the Queen said.

            “I wanted to apologize for how everything went down. You were right. I was giving in to my anger when I declared any human who fell down must be killed. When we get out I'll go straight to the human authorities to turn myself in and accept the punishment they give me”, the King said, sadly. Cross head tilted in curiosity. What was this King Asgore talking about? 

          “You're not the only one to blame Asgore. When I left I made a big claim that I would stop you. I just hid in the ruins like a coward and let those human children go by themselves. I'm just as guilty as you”, the Queen said. Hiding in the ruins. This world is more different from his than he thought.

           “When Frisk comes back and the barrier is broken we'll fix everything”, the King said and they left. Cross frowned. The Frisk not being here was a concern. He’d prefer to get everyone at once.

           “There are many more monsters here”, Cross thought as more monsters came in. It was true. Cross saw people and monster types that never even existed in his world.

            “Xgaster didn't let some people exist. Mettaton was made in timeline 8 and Frisk made Galette in timeline 9 to protect Muffet” Chara explained. “We could make new friends. Frisk was always upset Metteton didn’t get more family” Cross looked more and caught sight of a familiar group. It held the Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Mettaton of this world. He moved carefully so he could get closer.

“Hey paps, where is your brother?”, The Undyne said.

“Nyeh he’s said he left something at the house. I swear it's another joke book”, The Papyrus said. Seems this one hadn’t trained that verbal tic out of himself.

“W-well ev-everyone is here. We just need to wait on them”, The Alphys said. The whole underground is here, bar the Sans and Frisk. Cross wasn’t interested in fighting another him, so that was good. He’ll have to get the Frisk later. Cross couldn't fight the whole Underground though. He’ll have to incapacitate all of them and he had just the tools to do it. Going into his inventory he pulled out three cylindrical containers.

  “What are those”, Chara asked

“Alphys sleep mist grenades”, Cross thought simply.

“WHAT!!!!”, Chara yelled. Thankfully Cross had a good hold or he would have dropped them.

“Please don’t do that”, Cross thought back. He couldn’t blow his cover.

“Grenades. You’ve had grenades this whole time. Since when”, Chara said.

“Since Xtale. Alphys made them, so I could quickly subdue anyone who posed a threat to Frisk”, Cross thought. She took extra care to make sure Cross knew how they worked and made him do multiple test on how to utilize them. It was a lot of work, but they helped him out in many scraps. He'll have to thank her when he sees her again. Cross teleported the grenades to different places and pulled the pins, purging the monsters into chaos. The gas spread fast, dropping monsters one by one. Soon everyone, but one, was unconscious–the Papyrus. 

“Oh dear. Undyne. Alphys. Mettaton. Is everyone alright?”, The Papyrus said, trying to shake everyone awake. It was a waste of time. They’ll be out for a while. Cross jumped down from his hiding spot a good feet away from the Papyrus. 

“S-sans. Thank god you are here. Everyone just collapsed. I need your help”, Papyrus said. The gas that hadn’t dissipated prevented him from seeing Cross clearly. Cross used that to his advantage and lunged with the hack knife toward the taller skeleton. Unfortunately, it seems they had combat training as he used a long bone to block Cross’s attack.  

“Y-you’re not Sans”, the Papyrus said, pushing Cross away and summoning more weapons. 

“No I’m not”, Cross said, steading himself. Right now Alphys making skeletons immune to the mist was causing issues.

“Who are you? Did you do this?”, Papyrus said. Cross hated that he had to fight. It was supposed to be a simple mission.

“I’m sorry you have to be awake for this”, was the only thing Cross said before attacking again. The fight was careful as neither wanted to kill the defenseless monsters. Cross carefully avoided the traps the papyrus made to restrain Cross and they avoided Cross' attempt to hit him with the hack knife. The figh reminded Cross of the times he sparred with Papyrus. Cross never could beat him. The only reason he could before was because Papyrus was disillusioned from the truth of their lives being controlled by their piece of shit father.

“This world and its people are soft compared to us”, Chara glaring. “You’ve been trained better than him. You’ll win” Chara said. Encouragement wasn't something Cross was used to, but it was appreciated.

“Please just stop. I don’t know why you look like my brother, but I don’t want to hurt you. Please just wake everyone up”, Papyrus said. Cross dodged his last attack and looked down.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone either”, Cross said before summoning another knife to point at the Undyne. “But I will if I have to”. Cross sends it to the sleeping fish monster.

“Undyne No”, the Papyrus said, jumping to stop it. Cross used the opportunity to cut the Papyrus along the side and within seconds the Papyrus’s code was copied. Cross caught the other skeleton to prevent him from hitting the ground. He was held in Cross's arms for a while before setting him down. The knife stuck a few centimeters away from Undyne's head then dissipated. Everyone was down for the count and Cross could get to work harvesting code. After taking the Muffet's, Cross looks around. Shouldn't Miss Galette be here too? Unless she’s dead. He wouldn’t have to collect code from dust would he. Could he even do that?

“Relax Galette isn’t technically from here. Frisk took her code from another universe. I remember it and will be able to bring her back”, Chara said and Cross went back to work. He ignores the pang of guilt and his shaking hands seeing the knocked out version of Monster Kid resting on the ground. “It took ages, and there were too many to count—but Cross kept at it.”

             “Yes, We did it. Now we need Frisk and we can go”, Chara exclaimed. Cross hears footsteps and voices coming in.

             “We were so busy looking we were almost late”, a familiar voice said. Looks like the Frisk is coming.

            “Don’t worry kid. The weed will show up eventually”, another that must be the Sans said. He’ll have to deal with both of them at the same time.

           “Your ri-wait what”, The Frisk said as the both stepped in and saw Cross standing in the middle staring at them surrounded by monsters with red glowing cuts.

           “Wha paps”, The sans said running toward the fallen skeleton.

           “Who are you? What are you doing here?”Frisk said. Chara stared at the Frisk hungrily.

           “HAHA take it Cross. We need it for Frisk”, Chara said hysterically and he lunged. Before Cross could reach the kid was surrounded in blue and pulled away into the Sans arms.

           “Sorry Pal, but no fighting in here”, the Sans said teleporting away. Damn it.

           “Son of a-there in the judgement hall”, Chara said looking at the code of this world. The judgement hall. Of course. The last time he was there he killed everyone. Just his karma to be brought back there. Signing Cross teleported. The Sans and Frisk were in defensive positions.

            “Look bud, I don’t know what world you're from, but in our world we don’t allow harming anyone. Especially Paps”, the Sans said. Huh, so this one is aware of alternative worlds.

           “You have no need to worry. They’re not harmed. Just…exhausted. They’ll be fine after some rest. I have no desire to stay longer than necessary. I just need material from your Frisk and I’ll be gone”, Cross said.

            “Sorry, but I don’t trust anyone with my own face. Especially one who would attack Papyrus”, The Sans said, firing gaster-blasters. Cross quickly avoided them and went after the Frisk, but the Sans got in the way of every attempt to take code. Regardless of his slow and sluggerish form he was a strong fighter. Cross kept his eyes on the human looking for an opening. When he looked he could see they had a hand hovering over the reset button out. Sh*t.

            “I’ve got this. Howdy, I suggest you convince your partner to stop”, Chara said. Cross wondered who he was talking to, but a gaster-blaster pulled his attention away. He had bigger things to worry about. This was a conversion for Chara.

            “Oh and why should I do that? By the way, it sucks to be you. Getting stuck with a smiley trashbag”, another Chara said floating behind Frisk.  It was the original Chara.

            “You wouldn’t know this, but outcodes messes aren't easily fixed with a reset. We took their code. The core of their being. Resetting won’t give it back. In fact it could make things worse”, Chara said

           “Hmmm”, the Chara said and Frisk could feel their hesitation, it's why they haven’t pressed it yet.

         “Of course I could be lying. You’re risking more if i’m not”, Chara said

         “Either way, It’s best we kill this alternate trash bag Frisk” Og Chara said and Og Frisk joined the fight. Cross wasn’t panicked. A monster and human vs a monster and human. He still liked his odds. 

         “Where are the knives”, Chara and Cross’s voices glitched simultaneously making red knives rain down, but the Frisk and Sans had experience dodging and shooting their own attacks. Cross needed to finish this. He could feel Chara’s impatience. The biggest obstacle was Sans. He remembered what Chara said about the risk of killing them, so he needed a plan on how to best subdue and not kill him. 

            On his next lunge he teleported in front of the Sans. His stupid smirk quickly fell down in shock as Cross summoned and grabbed his soul and started pulling. 

            The soul's natural magic resists trying to keep itself together, but Cross is stronger. It stretches and tears as Cross continues to pull and he forces half of the soul out and jumps away just as Sans starts screaming.

             “Ahhhh”, the Sans yelled. It was so loud it was like it was spanning all across the multiverse. If only Cross knew how accurate that was.

              “Ahhhhh”, three Sans screams in their lunch room. They were the Murder Time Trio consisting of Killer, Dust, and Horror—alternate timeline versions of the original Sans made from big decisions. They were eating updogs after getting trashed by the Star Sanses when they felt an incredible pain in their souls. Killer held his chest feeling as if his soul was getting ripped up. Dust put his hands over his temporal bones to block out the unfamiliar screaming that filled his head. Horror’s magic felt weaker than normal like it was drained out of him. After what felt like hours, but was really seconds the pain stopped.

            “What ... .was…that”, Horror said, breathing heavily while his updog laid disappointedly on the floor.

            “I-I think something happened in the original timeline”, Dust said as some memories finished coming in. Everyone looked concerned. If anything bad happens in the original timeline it could affect the multiverse.

           “I felt huge pain from you all. What’s wrong”, Nightmare said, coming in his eldritch horror glory. He was black goop creature in the shape of a Sans with a glowing teal eye. He was missing two of his four tentacles and looked tired. He’s still healing from his fight with Dream.

         “Oh nothing boss. We’re just still in pain from the fight and we're moving too much”, Killer said, getting a look from the others. 

          “Are you sure?”, Nightmare said sternly. He wouldn’t be surprised if Killer was lying to him. Not just because he's Sans and Sans are liars, but because Killer was Killer.

           “Yep we’ll get some pain meds and we’ll be fine”, Killer said

           “Horror, Dust”, Nightmare said.

           “Yeah..we are…fine…Just need..Meds and..Rest”, Horror said. He didn’t know what Killer was doing, but he trusted him.

           “You need rest too boss”, Dust said ignoring his brother calling him a filthy killer and liar. Nightmare stares more; he could feel how they were still in pain and see them trembling, but decides to let it go. He knew he felt big waves of negativity in the multiverse and focused on the amount coming from his boys. He’ll come back to it when he has more tentacles to pin them all to the ground.

           “Alright, but come to me if anything's wrong I'll be in my office”, Nightmare said leaving.

          “Why did you lie”, Horror said

          “Come on guys. If we tell him he’ll worry. Besides, if it’s the original universe. Ink will “care” more and go deal with it. We don’t need to get involved. We’re all in no position to do anything right now. God this is like us level of suffering.”, Killer said rubbing his chest.

          “True, but if it screws up we’re blaming you”, Dust said. 

          “Nice, feeling the love Dusty”, Killer said, causing everyone to laugh.

          “SANS”, Og Frisk said running to the fallen skeleton.

          Cross flinched as Og Sans continued to scream while holding the soul half. He knew it must have hurt. It did everytime HE did it to train Cross’s pain tolerance. Cross couldn’t deny it. Watching him whither in pain was uncomfortable, but he couldn't focus on that. The Frisk was holding Sans up trying to comfort him. They had their back to Cross. He had his opening. Teleporting behind Og Frisk, Cross quickly stabs them in the shoulder finishing the job.

           “KID”, Og Sans said, grabbing the human even with his strained body.

            “YESSSS we have all the people”, Chara said excitedly. Cross was still looking at Og Sans. They were holding Og Frisk looking worried. Their determination made them not collapse but it wouldn’t last forever. Cross could leave, but seeing Og Sans on the floor like that. He couldn’t help, but relate to Sans now being by himself with everyone else not dead, but gone for who knows how long. He couldn’t just leave him. A good fighter doesn’t deserve that.

         “There’s nothing to fear Sans. I wasn’t lying. Your loved ones will wake up. You won’t be alone for long”, Cross said trying to be comforting. He must have failed as Sans just glared at him. His bright blue eyes shine with so much hatred and desire for Karmedic Justice.

           “Well you tried. Lets go”, Chara said and just before Cross sensed an attack coming at him. Jumping to his side, he dodged a slash of…paint. Looking back he saw Ink standing guard in front of the shocked Sans. 

           “It’s time to stop C”, Ink said, paintbrush held out looking all the God of Creation he claimed to be. Cross internally cursed. He’d hoped he had more time till Ink found him.

           “Hello Ink. I’m sorry about the paintbrush. I’m busy right now, so can we talk later?”, Cross said.

          “What are you doing? Do you realize where we are”, Ink said

         “It is the original universe. I’m only here for code to rebuild my world.”, Cross said simply

         “I can’t let you do this Cross”, Ink said. Cross grew annoyed

         “And why not. You can’t help me, so I'm helping myself”, Cross said.

         “I’m sorry, but you’re world is gone”, Ink said

        “No it’s not. Chara can bring it back once we have more code”, Cross said.

        “Cross if you don’t stop I'll have to fight you”, Ink said. Cross responded without hesitation.

        “Then that's what we’ll have to do”, Cross said and they both lunged. Cross aimed to stab Ink, but he was a much better fighter than Cross thought. He dodged all of Cross attacks well enough and even got some good hits in, but so far his goal seemed to be to use Cross as a canvas. What was the point? It didn’t seem toxic or anything just annoying as it stuck to his clothes. After another paint strike Chara's voice slipped through.

          “Ahh stopped doing that”, Chara said as Cross grabbed Ink with Magic and pulled him up into the air.

          “We don’t care if we have to kill you Ink. Not you nor your stupid paint brush will stop us”, Chara said before Ink spoke up

          “If I were you, I wouldn't say that. There's something called "Creativity and Strategy”, Ink snapped his fingers. The paint soaking Cross’s clothes bled outward, hardening into magenta chains that snapped around his limbs. The more he fought, the tighter they constricted—pressing bone to bone until it felt like he would shatter. Fuck. 

             “What NO”, Chara said, as Cross fell to their knees and Og Sans caged him on bones. Shit. He’s failing. He can’t fail. Not again.

            “Look Pal I don't know your story and frankly I don’t care, but you need to quit whatever crazy plan you have. Please give me my soul. I’m sure this artist me will help ya”, Og sans said

            “C, I promise everything will be okay...you can’t listen to Chara, He can’t be trusted”, Ink said

            “Chara is the only person I've had since my world was destroyed. With no help from you”, Cross said before Chara talked.

“You got some nerve talking about trust, Da Vinci. You trusted XGaster", Chara said. Ink looked away in shame before turning back.

            “Look Cross. I can take you somewhere else filled with people who lost their home like you called the Omega Timeline. You can have a new life there”, Ink said. Why does the name Omega Timeline sound so familiar? His head split with an ache, like the word itself was carved somewhere in him, waiting to be remembered. He ignored it. He had to stay focused.

           “I don’t want new people or a new life”, Cross said before Chara joined him.

           “We want X-Tale”, and we teleported out of the judgement hall back to the ruins. The last thing they heard being Ink’s, “NO! WAIT!”

           “This is bad..”, Ink said after Cross teleported off. Sans forced himself to pick up Frisk in the process. He was still reeling from losing half his soul, but he had to check on the others, so he ignored the desire to pass out. He went to the throne room where the other monsters laid fast asleep and Ink followed to see what Cross had done. Sans set Frisk on a chair. The human was still awake, but was so tired. Sans looked at his brother. This was supposed to be their happy ending timeline where they could live in peace and have no more resets. Sans looked at his remaining half a soul that had a red x crossing over it before looking at the other skeleton.

“So... Your name's Ink, huh?”, Sans said

            “Yep. Nice to meet ya”, Ink said signing. “I-I'm so sorry Sans, I never thought this could happen”, Ink said looking around.

     “It's ok bud. I'm not dead... At least, not yet. Looks like that guy loves to cause trouble”, Sans said

“Actually, this is the first time he's done something like this. He's scared since... Well... It's a long story…”, Ink said. 

“Look if the situation was different I'd be willing to listen, but I can’t. Can you wake them up or at least reverse whatever that oreo me did”, Sans asked, desperately.

“I’m sorry Sans, but don’t worry, I've seen this before. Not like this specifically, but they should wake up. Even if I could, it could take too long. I have to stop C and get your soul back”, Ink said. 

“S-sans”, Frisk whispered, they were fading fast.

“Kid try not to talk”, Sans said

“Y-you have..to go with Ink”, Frisk said

“Kid I can’t just leave you all”, Sans said

“You have…to help, we'll be fine. Take these ”, Frisk said holding their locket and a Bottle of Deluxe Ketchup - Limited Edition. “Maybe they’ll be useful.

“Thank’s Frisk”, Sans said

“Please, take care of yourself......because ... ..because", Frisk said before they passed out.

“...'cause someone really cares about you... Yeah…”, Sans said before he looked at Ink. “Guess I’ll be going on a multiversal adventure”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get someone to keep your world safe”, Ink said and they went to look for Cross.

Chapter Text

“WE DID IT! HAHAHA! We got all the code and half of the original Sans' soul! Now I have a better idea..let's use it to access the whole multiverse. No, jumping back and forth between this boring ass world and another. We can go anywhere from anywhere. Are you ready?”, Chara said, staring at the soul along with Cross. He could see it pulsing in pain from being separated. Cross wondered. Ink was trying to help. Could he…No Ink could have helped a long time ago. Cross couldn’t depend on him.

“Let's do it”, Cross said and absorbed it. It felt like a punch to the gut. His chest burned like someone had injected hot lava into it. For a second, he swore he could feel Sans’s pain, rage, and sadness. Chara and Cross had to take a few moments to breathe. The soul was screaming,  begging to go back to Og Sans. It wanted to go home. Cross understood the desire. He really did, but he couldn’t allow it. Cross needed it to fix his world. When it’s all over, he promised to take it back.

"Wow, a new soul and a new getup”, Chara said. Cross could see that now their soul looks like a normal monster soul except with a red outline. Cross looked through the closet mirror to see what Chara meant by a new getup. Cross looked like a new monster: his bones were white and healthy, the bags under his eyes were gone, and his uniform was up to code. Cross looked and felt reinvigorated. Chara started looking at the code.

“Here I found a universe where we can get started”, Chara said. Cross snapped out of his observation, so they could go. This new world was on the surface and it was a mess. Cross seemed to be in an empty camp. There were ragged tents and burned-out fires. It looked very medieval.

“This is an alternate timeline of the original universe still in the human-monster war era. From here we can get bare bones like earth, history, etc”, Chara said looking at the world's code. “This will be simpler, but will last longer. Just sink the hack knife into the ground and let it take the code”

While Cross waited, he looked around and remembered how he had extensively studied the monster-human war. He was supposed to analyze and learn the military tactics used on both sides to improve his technique. It was for education, but Cross couldn’t help loving the stories as a child. Where strong soldiers fought, so monsters could continue to live on the surface and not become extinct. His favorites were the stories of Sirin Stencil–a skeleton monster that led troops to liberate captured monsters and push back invading human forces. She was smart, strong, and respected. Everything Cross aspired and tried to be. Not that he succeeded. Sirin would call him a disgrace of a soldier and a sorry excuse of a monster. Cross would be more hurt about it, but what use is there in caring what a fictitious character thought of him? All of it—Sirin’s speeches he lived by, the victories he memorized, the sacrifices he admired—had never happened. They were just scripts Xgaster wrote into the minds and history books of his creations. Cross’s childhood heroes weren’t heroes at all. They were props in a play he was forced to believe in and give Xgaster the “perfect” history for monster-kind. That’s, all everywas in Xgaster's world was-a prop.

“Cross heads up”, Chara said, snapping him out of his spiral. He heard footsteps. It must be the inhabitants of this world. This could be a problem if another fight starts. “We can’t pull out the knife or we’ll have to start over”

So he’ll have to fight without the hack knife. That's fine. He’s more used to his daggers anyway. He left the hack knife impaled in the ground and summoned bones to keep it covered. He pulls out his daggers and waits for the monsters. To Cross’s surprise the people that show up there are not monsters; there are humans–seven humans to be specific. Cross is in a human camp during the war and has just been found by humans. Fuck

“Monster. A monster has found our camp”, an orange human said. Cross was not worried. He’s fought more humans than this. That’s what Cross thought, before the yelllow human threw bullet-like projectiles, which he had to deflect with his daggers. That was magic. He’d only seen Frisk and Chara have magic. These must be the 7 mages who trap the monsters underground

“Just our lu–Cross look out”, Chara said before a cyan-like rope wraps around his waist and the cyan human pulls to throw Cross against a tree. He maneuverse so he lands on the tree trunk and cuts the rope. Cross jumps so he’s lunging at the green human but a green shield blocks him.

“Ahh”, the green human said as his dagger made cracks in the shield. Cross would have pushed more but had to dodge a blue rapier. Cross goes to kick it out of the blue human's hand and cuts their cheek. They glare at Cross while they bleed.

“The monster's protecting something over there”, the purple human said and Cross freezes. 

“Shit”, Chara said.

“I’ve got it”, the orange human said, their hand condensed in orange magic going to where the hack knife laid. Cross didn't hesitate. Before the orange human moved one more inch, Cross teleported in front of them and slashed them right in the chest before kicking them away.

“Ugh”, the orange human said, skidding against the ground choking on blood. The other humans went to their fallen comrades aid. The green human seemed to be healing the wound, while the purple and red human stood in front with their own weapons out. Cross was done with this. He grabbed all the humans telekinetically and held them in the air with gaster-blasters surrounding them on all sides. 

“While just killing you 7 will save this world's monsters a lot of trouble, it's not my place or my concern. If you want to live you do not interfere with our goals”, Cross said as his soul unintentionally came out. Cross could see the disgusted and horrified looks on their faces, but he was focused on something else. The human souls-they were color. Chara and Frisk were the only human souls in xtale with color. The others souls were as white as monsters. Cross could see how the souls' coordinating with the humans clothing colors. When he stopped at the purple human he froze in fear. Their soul was purple—overwrite purple. Could this human overwrite. Were they using this world as a playground like He did?

“Cross he’s going to reset”, Chara yelled. What? Cross looked at the red human to see that they had a shaking hand reaching for the reset button. Cross quickly forced a gaster-blaster to fire, but it was too late. They pressed and the world shuttered. Time had reset and the humans were gone. Chara came and groaned,.

“Of course resetting is still possible here. There is a determined soul”, Chara said, face-palming, while Cross put a hand to the hack knife.

“OK, good news. Resets won't cause issues for us, and they didn't mess up the process. Bad, news, it's not finished yet and we have about 10 minutes or less before the mages come back”, Chara said.

“The purple human–their soul. I-I thought overwriting only existed in Xtale", Cross said,  breathing heavily. This was bad. He couldn't fight against someone with overwriting powers; it's impossible. He’s powerless against it.

“That wasn't an Overwrite soul. It was a perseverance soul”, Chara said, laying his ghost-form on Cross’s skull. Seeing Cross confusion Chara explained.

“Officially there are seven human traits  Red-determination, orange-bravery, yellow-justice, green-kindness, cyan-patience, blue-integrity, and purple-perserverence, ”, Chara said before he continued “The old man saw other humans as background characters and they didn't want them and to have power ”

“So determination grants the reset ability and perseverance overwrite. The other traits don’t have their own powers do they”, Cross said. He needed to know in case they met more humans.

“Not that I know of”, Chara assured. “Hmm you ,know maybe next time humans will have magic. It’d be cool. I could spar with people. Monster and humans could bond over it”, Chara said

“I think we’re getting off track”, Cross said

“Yeah, you're right they’ll be here soon. We need to take out the red mage first. You got any more of those grenades”, Chara asked. 

“Two more”, Cross said

“We only need one”, Chara said as they both hid. Eventually the mages showed up and had their weapons out.

“You sure the monster was here”, Bravery said

“Yes. Look there's the cage of bones I told you about”, Determination said. Cross tensed in their hiding spot. They didn't like using the weapon as bait, but they had to.

“Where's the monster? You reset. Shouldn't he be here?” Patience asked.

“I-I not sure. Their souls had a red outline. They had determination”, Determination said

“B-but youe the only Determination soul around”, Kindness said.

“I’m old. It's not impossible another one was born”, Determination said 

“So a child. That monster killed and took a child's soul”, Integrity said with disgust. That was sorta true and sorta not true at the same time.

“We’ll get justice for them", Justice said, laying a hand on integrity.

“First, we have to see what they were doing”, Perseverance said  walking toward the bone cage. Cross got ready.

“Wait for it”, Chara said as the humans got closer.

“Wait for it”, Chara said as they were about to touch.

“Now!!!!” Chara stated as Cross pulled the pin and teleported the grenade to the center of the humans. The humans were shocked as neutralizing gas filled their lungs. Everyone slowly passed out. Determination had the sense to cover his mouth and tried to reset again, but Cross pulled them into a choke hold. The human thrashed trying to get out and reach the reset button, but Cross held tighter till they succumbed to oxygen deprivation.

“Finally we can work in peace”, Chara said and waited till the process was done. Cross looked at sleeping humans. In Xtake, Frisk was the only human he was close to, but some did strive for monster-human peace. They were victims of Xgaster and Cross actions just like the monsters.

“Should we take code from them”, Cross asked.

“Yeah...No, I don't want to make humans that will hate monsters. Don't worry about it and leave the human stuff to me. I got the next world to collect from ”, Chara waved it off as they left Undertale 5002519 historical changed.

            ,“Wow surface is as beautiful as ever”, Sans said as he appeared in this alternate world. He was actually in an alternate universe. Alphys would be so jealous. He'd enjoy it if the circumstances weren't so horrible. He looked around and noticed one thing: A crowd of monsters surrounding a statue—a statue of the jerk who stole from him.

            “Hey Ink, I found someth-Aaand why are you hiding there?”, Sans said, seeing Ink hiding in the bushes.

            “I must prevent myself from being seen in any AU for everybody's sake”, Ink said

            “If you had done that with Cross, none of this would be happening and I wouldn't be here, with just half a soul, and so far from home”, Sans said annoyed.

           “...Sorry?” Ink said.

           “Nothing. Nothing. So...Cross obviously came to this place?”Sans said, pointing at the statue. Ink frowned at it.

          “Maybe you could do some reconnaissance. Ask around”, Ink said

         “Uh Fine”, Sans said, going up to someone who looked like Gerson.

        “Hey, pal, I'm not from here. Can you tell me about the statue over there?” Sans said, pointing at it.

        “Happy to. It's the statue of the angel", Gerson said

         "Angel", Sans asked. He only knew of one angel story. Not that Chara could be called that,  but if they keep their promise to not reset and commit any more genocide routes, Sans would step back from calling them a demon.

        "It was during the human-monster war. An angel came down from heaven disguised as a skeleton. With his soul blazing with determination they defeated the 7 mages who were planning to trap monsters underground. With them defeated, monsters were able to win and end the war.” Gerson said. Sans could see people bowing and placing offerings at those statues.

         "The statue is to honor them for saving monster-kind", Gerson said. That was the biggest load of crap Sans had ever heard. Cross isn't a savior. He's a selfish person willing to ruin happy worlds because his world went wrong. He didn't deserve a statue or to be called an angel.

        "Thanks for the history lesson", Sans said, keeping the bitterness out of his voice, and relaying the info to Ink, who did not look happy.

        “Seriously. Not only did he change the course of the story and make monsters not trapped, but they think he's some sort of god”, Ink said, rubbing his skull

       “Ahh, is that part really so bad? Monsters not being trapped sounds good to me”, Sans said. 

      “I know it sounds good, but if the creator of this world doesn't like it…then bad things could happen”, Ink said, looking away holding his scarf.

      “What kind of bad things?,” Sans couldn’t help but ask. He didn't understand what Ink meant by creator or why their satisfaction should determine if a universe should be allowed to live.

        “ It will take too long to fix and Cross could cause more damage. We have to go.”, Ink said, avoiding the question.

       Sans wanted to push somemore, but Ink was right. They were on borrowed time. Sans looked back at this world. It looked happy. He hoped it stayed that way.

Chapter Text

Cross appeared in an alleyway, surrounded by high glass buildings stretched impossibly high. He watched cars scream past with engines growling like monsters. It was quite advanced and bright compared to the sterile cities of his home world. In Xtale, monsters lived on the surface; it was where the majority of people were happiest, so their goal was to gain surface code, such as buildings and landmarks, from this timeline. 

“This is Glitchtale. During a failed genocide route, the reset caused errors and glitches to the timeline. Right now, monsters are on the surface working for peace against the Anti-Monster Department, and unknowingly have enemies in the background”, Chara said.

“Are either going to be a problem?” Cross asked. The guard had dealt with Anti-monster organizations before that aimed to kill Frisk, kill monsters, or both. Cross wondered why Xgaster made them in the first place. He supposed he thought it'd be interesting to have human “antagonists” to go against Frisk and Chara.

“If we do this fast, no”, Chara said while Cross dragged the hack knife along the city grounds. Red lines erupted and traveled up to the buildings, causing them to glitch out. Cross looked and wondered. Would everyone like them? He hoped so. He wanted to make their new home and everyone as happy as possible. It needed to be filled with a variety of things they lost or never had because of Xgaster’s perfectionism. That was when he stopped in front of a sign that said “Muffets Bakery.” Cross head tilted. Muffet was always curious about the human hobby of baking. She even offhandedly tried to ask him Frisk's favorite treats. She’d like the idea of owning her own bakery business; She was certainly cutthroat enough. After the building's code was copied, Cross finally paid some attention to the surrounding populace running away in panic as they saw what was happening and the monster that was doing it. With shouts for someone to call the AMD. 

“Looks like we have an audience”, Chara said, and they looked to see a floating camera pointing at them.

             “Oh my-my g-god. It's a-another Sans. The m-m-multiverse is real”, Glitchtale Alphys said excitedly, watching with the rest of the Glitchtale cast. They were having a good day till they got notifications about a rogue monster terrorizing the city. They turned the TV on to see a sans’ look-alike causing destruction.  “Uh, babe, I don't think this is the time to be excited. The punk is demolishing everything ”, Undyne said, upset. This is gonna set humans back on accepting monsters. Undyne didn’t care if they had Sans’s face. She was going to punch him.

             “O-oh r-right sorry”, Alphys said as Gaster stared.

             “Why are they doing this?” Papyrus said. Why would a version of his brother be scaring people and causing such destruction?

 “I'm not sure, Paps”, Sans said, clenching his chest. He wondered if this traveler had something to do with the spark of pain he felt a few days ago. He was just doing science experiments with his dad when he fell and screamed in pain. Gaster had tried to find what was wrong with his son and heal the injury, but they found nothing. Sans swore there was something wrong with his soul. He kept getting weird flashes of memories that he knew were not his. Sans and Gaster agreed to keep this quiet until they could study more.

               “Looks like the AMD is arriving”, Frisk said, watching trucks screech to a halt.

Cross watched the large trucks and heavy-armed group of humans box him in a circle with a calm, blank expression. He could feel magic pouring from their souls; Humans must have the ability to use magic in this world as well. This Anti-Monster department might have to be disposed of if they prove to be a huge threat.

“Halt. By order of the Anti-Monster Department, put your weapon down and come quietly,” A female human said and looked at them. Cross flinched back in shock. This human may have been more colorful, but he recognized her anywhere. Jessica Gray–the leader of one of the largest anti-monster organizations in Xtale. She caused protests and attacks, leading to many deaths against monster integration with humanity. She was here

“Of course, he based his biggest monster-hating antagonist on someone from another universe”, Chara said. They both remembered when Frisk had a meeting with her to debate the safety of humans with monsters around. She talked cruelly to him about how he was just a manipulated child who needed his real parents to teach him right from wrong. It pissed them off so much. Cross could see how those words hurt Frisk. He wanted to attack Jessica then and there, but he held himself back. Chara wanted to punch Xgaster right in the face when he talked about how Jessica was right that they needed him to educate them. Cross kept looking at the woman, hand clutched even tighter on his knife. Once the AMD saw that Cross wasn’t cooperating, they decided to advance.

“Looks like they're not coming willingly,, A bravery trait said, lunging at Cross with his spear. Cross blocked with the hack knife and started attacking back. Good thing he had more knowledge from those other timelines. Cross targeted the kindness traits first, tearing through the healers before anyone could react. Every block, every dodge was precise—perfectly planned to subdue his opponents quickly and efficiently. The AMD barely had time to scream before they fell. There were a few close calls, like the bullets he was deflecting from a justice trait. Cross eventually got them pinned down. He would have stabbed them before he caught Grey pointing a gun at him. A spark of lightning went through his body before he could dodge, and he was forced off the human onto the ground.

“Hhhhhggg”, Sans said, clenching his chest and dropping to the ground. His chest felt like it was on fire. He wanted to pass out.

“Sans, are you ok?”, Ink said, holding the skeleton up.

“I-my-my soul-hurts”, Sans said as his soul was summoned. It was pulsing in pain.

“Oh boy. Did Cross...absorb your soul. This is bad. If he did. You guys are connected. Anything that happens to Cross can happen to you”, Ink said. 

“Agggg, that guy’s so gonna get dunked on”, Sans said. He felt so tired. What did he do to deserve this? He just wanted to live on the surface.

“Ok, just breathe. Hears some water”, Ink said, painting a glass of water. Sans drank and tried to catch his breath.

“Ok, ok, I’m feeling better now”, Sans said, trying to get up, but his body wouldn’t let him.

“Just take some time”, Ink said. He didn’t want Sans to dust. The multiverse would be destroyed, and it would be his fault.“I’m sorry to ask this of you, but can you describe what you felt? It might give us a clue to where Cross is”, Ink asked.

“I don’t know. It was like I was shot or something. My magic feels drained, and I can’t use it”, Sans said

“Drained. It might have been an anti-magic ray. Cross could be in Glitchtale”, Ink said, hauling Sans like he was a paper weight.

“Hey, what the heck, man?”, Sans said. Ink was way stronger than he looked.

“I can’t leave you here. We have to go”, Ink said, working to hold Sans and grab his paintbrush.

“Can’t believe someone so short is so strong”, Sans said

“Ouch and thank you”, Ink said, working it out to make a portal.

“Cross. Shit! Are you awake? Come on, you have to get up, " Chara said. Cross felt a little disoriented, but he got it together. “I’m fine”, Cross thought back. He felt a sting and some exhaustion, but he could still function. “This pain… It was familiar. Ahh, I recognized it. He must have been hit with an Anti-magic ray. Guess Xgaster took it from here, too. He wasn’t very original, was he?” Cross thought. The Jessica Grey of his world used them against monsters, too. During a big peace event, Cross was hit with one, making him incapable of protecting Frisk. Sir was so mad that the Prince got hurt on his watch. He forced Cross to take many shots from a confiscated weapon on the harshest level until his tolerance and fighting ability were perfect. Cross would have winced at the memory, but he had to stay still. These humans didn’t know his near immunity and were closing in, thinking Cross was out cold.

“Good shot, Jessica”, Cross heard a human say. 

“Yeah, thanks for the save, but your soul. Those things aren’t approved by the HSO for a reason”, another said. Based on the vague image, it was the human he had pinned.

“He’s right. See that crack”, another said. Right, he recalled the flaw with the Anti-magic ray was its negative effect on the user. Something Xgaster somehow avoided.

“I’m fine. I did what I had to do. Just prepare containment ”, Jessica Grey’s voice said as Cross heard humans getting closer.

“Thank god I sent some of the pain to Sans. Can you get up?" Chara said.

“I have a plan”, Cross said as the humans got closer. He kept his body still and eyelights out. It kept him from seeing clearly, but he was trained not to be 100% dependent on his senses.

“You sure that thing is out?”, Cross heard.

“I used the highest level. They won’t be moving any time soon”, Jessica said

“God, look at their soul”,  a perseverance trait said.

“We can interrogate and study them later. The monsters better have an explanation for this”, a patience trait said. Once the group was close enough, Cross summoned bones to impale them in the limbs. Many humans screamed as Cross shot up into the air to shoot gaster-blasters, injuring more. Cross could see Jessica Grey aiming for another shot, but he didn’t allow her the chance to get a finger on the trigger. He teleported to cut her wrist, making her drop the gun and pin her to the ground by her throat.

“I-how the A-anti-magic r-ray should have”, Jessica said as Cross crushed her throat more, making her struggle in his unmoving hold. Her boots scraped against the asphalt as her nails clawed his arm, leaving streaks of blood. She couldn’t even scream—his grip crushed her throat too tightly to allow words. Cross just stared at Grey's slowly turning purple face emotionlessly. He should kill her. It would save this world’s monsters so many issues. There were so many failures to capture Jessica in his world. So many criticisms from Sir on why Cross couldn’t do his job. Showing mercy to threats like her would be traitorous to the crown. He was about to snap her neck before Chara called.

“Cross, get out of the way”, Chara said, and Cross dodged the swipe of a red glowing sword. He was high in the air before gaster-blasters surrounded him. He formed a cage of bones to shield himself from their blast before landing on the ground. Once the dust had cleared, he was faced with the Frisk of this world in front of the Sans and Papyrus, who were focused on healing Grey. Why? Don’t they know how much of a threat keeping her alive is?

“I don’t know who you are, but leave our timeline. It has a happy ending”, the Frisk said sternly. Cross and Chara both froze. A laugh broke out. Then another. It wasn’t his. Wasn’t Chara’s. It was both. Small. Cracked. Then louder, jagged, until it tore out of them in a sound that wasn’t human or monster.  Cross was laughing because why does this world get a happy ending, while he was full of suffering? Chara was laughing because he knows the secrets of this world and knows it’s anything but a fairytale.

“A happy ending. With all the pain, suffering, and hate you have caused”, Cross said with Chara’s overlap causing the Frisk to flinch at the world hate. 

“You really think you deserve a happy ending?”, Cross and Chara said together and made a lot of gaster-blasters. They saw the look of worry and fear on everyone's faces as they fired. It was glorious. Cross expected everyone to be reduced to ash and dust, but was shocked to see that not only were they alive. They were surrounded by a green shield, being maintained by a very familiar monster. Sir was protectively standing in front of everyone, keeping the shield up, before he stepped out. Cross immediately stepped back. This couldn’t be possible. He can’t be here.

“Cross, it’s not him. It’s just an au variant”, Chara said. He should have been listening, but he couldn’t. He was in front of him. The Gaster stopped seeing how this alternative version of his son seemed to be afraid of him.

“I can see such pain in your eyes. You may not be him, but you are my son, and no parent should see such fear in their child’s eyes”, Gaster said, but all Cross heard was “Let fear teach you the consequence of imperfection”, Sir said in the back of Cross's mind.

 “ However, I also can’t let you hurt anyone here. Whatever happened to you isn’t this world's fault, so just stop”, Gaster said, becoming more stern. “Because if you don’t, I'll do what’s needed to keep my loved ones safe”, Gaster said, eyes glowing purple, bringing his 7 Chromatic hands out, glowing menacingly with the colors of the seven traits. Cross’s breath stuttered, his ribs locked up. All he could see were those hands reaching out to him. Hands hitting him, holding him down as their owner did whatever they wanted, and marking him as property.  He could never escape. No matter how much he tried. He would always be afraid. Cross didn’t even register teleporting. He just had to get out of there. Away from Him. He didn't know where he was, but he did see a pole, which he promptly clutched tightly to have something to hold on to.

“Cross, calm down, and take a seat. Take a breath. Like I taught you before”, Chara said, referencing when Ink’s colors overstimulated him. He listened. He needed to listen. Chara was the only person of authority here now. He counted to ten. Grounded himself by touching the faint grass; Breathing in the clean air till. It took a bit of time, but he was mentally ready to speak. “I’m sorry…for running away. It won’t happen again”, Cross said. What pitiful, cowardly guard runs away? He delayed their mission. 

 “It’s fine. We might not have been able to fight him anyway. Leaving was the rational choice”, Chara said. He should have taken the Gaster’s into account. They were just aiming to get places to live for everyone before Chara and Frisk could make more. He’ll be more careful in the future, so situations like this don’t happen. Cross lay against the pole and sighed. He looked to see that he was on the edge of the city where it met the forest. There seemed to be no one around, which was fortunate.

“Will....Will the other timelines we go to have Xgaster in them?”, Cross asked. Cross knew it was a stupid question the moment it left his mouth. Of course, Xgaster would exist. Why wouldn’t he? He hadn’t seen them in Undertale, but to be fair, it’s not like he was looking, but there were to be alternative versions of him somewhere.

“Yes and no”, Chara answered, floating next to the skeleton. “Yes, they exist, but in a majority of timelines, Gaster falls into the Core. He is erased and forgotten from the minds of everyone in the universe.”

“Lucky them”, Cross said. What else could Cross say after hearing that? Xgaster was always weird around the Core. Whenever they traveled there, the doctor always stayed away from it or held close to the handlebars bar preventing anyone from falling in. Back then, Cross would never dare think Xgaster was afraid of anything, but the way he acted around his greatest, most praised creation said otherwise. It makes sense if he knew that his common fate was falling in and being forgotten. Xgaster was too much of a narcissist to be ok with that.

“Very lucky indeed”, Chara said. He considered having Frisk push Xgaster in, but it wouldn’t kill him, and Chara didn’t want to give Xgaster the advantage. Cross wished he could have sat more, but he knew he had to get back to work. He was in the middle of getting up when he noticed a pink goop thing staring at him.

“Ahh, what?”, Cross said before Chara saw as well and shouted.

“CROSS, GET AWAY FROM THAT THING”, Chara said, and the goop creature shot toward the skeleton and impaled the spot where Cross was sitting, and nearly impaled the skeleton himself if he didn't jump away and summon a hack knife. The creature looked at Cross hungrily. He kept his eyes on it before seeing it take a glance behind him. Cross turned to the side and was able to dodge a pink scythe. Standing where the scythe was stuck stood a pink-highlighted human-at least Cross thought they were human. They looked the part, but the magic surrounding her radiated something else-something corrupted.

“Crap”, Chara yelled.

“My. My. Strong instincts. Right, Akuma?”, they said as the blob creature went to her side.

“Who are you? What are you?”Cross asked. 

“Betty Noire, the soul of fear. At your service”, Betty answered, doing a mock bow.

“Soul of…fear”, Cross asked. Chara didn’t mention anything about a fear soul trait.

“That's because we weren’t supposed to meet them. F*ck”, Chara yelled.

“Your soul. It’s a disgusting abomination", Betty said, with a smile on their face. “I can smell the fear in you. It smells divine. Let me taste more of it.” Betty uses their hallucination magic, causing Cross’s eyelights to turn pink. Cross is shocked as Betty's image shifts into the Xtale cast, looking at him with anger and disappointment.

“Why did you kill us, Sans?” Queen Toriel said, with a burned body so churned he could almost smell it. The others had similar features.

“Why did you betray the crown?” Papyrus said. He had a bone attack impaling his chest.

“Why did you forget what you are?" Frisk said. He had a dagger to the heart.

“A failed tool,” They all said as their voices and forms overlapped into Xgaster's, staring down at Cross, reaching out to grab him. He was frozen in so much fear that Betty couldn’t help but relish it. Chara cursed. Cross was just standing there. He didn’t know what Betty was making him see, but Chara had to snap Cross out of it. “Cross. That bitch is fucking with your head. Don’t let them”, Chara said, trying to get his partner out of the hallucination.  

“What can you do to save him? When you couldn’t even save me,” A voice said. Chara looked and saw his brother. He looked just like he did when he was an innocent twelve-year-old. Before age, time, and Xgaster machinations broke him, but it wasn’t Frisk. Frisk was dead. Frisk never blamed Chara for what happened–Right. “You killed me. You were too weak and allowed Xgaster to use you to kill me”, Frisk said, and with a blink, the image shifted to show Frisk's teenage form-his body grew taller, and face became sharper, and his eyes filled with emptiness.

“Frisk, I’m sorry. I'm so sorry. Cross and I are trying to fix it”, Chara said. Chara hated how small his voice sounded, but he couldn't help it. It was so real. The image laughed before it shifted again. This time into an undead corpse. Their hair darkened, the skin rotted, and by god, Chara could actually smell the decay. He wanted to gag. Frisk's body was filled with spears, vines, burns, and many other things around his body. Everything that reminds Chara of how he killed them. He was speechless. He didn’t want to see this again.  “You talk about such a big game being the mastermind, but you're just like Cross. A thing,” Frisk said, and that crushed Chara; even if he knew it wasn't real, he could feel his soul crack. How could his brother say that to him? He knew that was his biggest fear. 

“Hahaha, you both are so paralyzed in fear. The perfect prey.”, Chara heard, and he noticed the image shift one final time. Betty was standing back in Frisk's place and was about to throw a spear at them. Chara acted quickly and pulled them far away from the black beast onto Mount Ebott. Cross’s hard landing on the forest floor caused his vision to clear up. He no longer saw his disappointed comrades or his father.

“W-what happened. Where–”, Cross states. Looking to see where they were. Where was that human? “We got away, Cross. It wasn’t real. We’re safe”, Chara said, holding his arm tightly. Cross realized what had happened and was filled with humiliation. Getting caught in hallucination magic like that was a disgrace. He was trained to be immune to hallucinogens and recognize the feel of mind-altering magic. It doesn’t matter that he could feel as if the girl was looking right through his soul. Like she saw every horrible thing he ever did and was using that against him. He knew better than to fall for such tricks. How broken was he? How will he ever fix his world if he’s still so fucking defective? He tried to get up, but felt a pain in his chest and summoned his soul. It looked the same, but the red aura seemed dimmer. Chara looked at it and began to shake with rage. 

“Son-of-a–that bitch. Her fucking trick depleted 10 percent of our determination”, Chara said, pissed. His determination may be strong, but it was still only 50%. They needed to keep as much as they could if they were going to fix our world. “If only I had a full soul. I would beat that bitch. When this is over, I'm coming back and caving her head in. ”, Chara yelled. His hands ached to wrap them around Betty’s throat and choke the life out of her, while Cross looked ashamed. He shouldn’t have fallen for that so easily. Chara was the only reason they lasted this long, and because Cross was weak, they lost power. Sir would’ve called him defective. And he was. How could he fix a universe when he couldn’t even protect his own soul?”

“Should we wait here till the determination refills and go back to the city?”Cross asked. They didn’t finish getting surface code. Even if Cross didn’t want to face that Gaster again, they might have to. Chara shook his head hard. “No!!!! Screw this world. We’ll get surface code somewhere else. Where there are no bubblegum bitches or wing-dinguses. Someone could find us if we stay here. It’ll grow back naturally, and there’s still enough to put up a fight”, Chara said before opening the code.

“Since we’ve got basic stuff out of the way and going to alternative timelines is going well, it's time to make things more interesting”, Chara said as a smirk grew on his face. These new coordinates seemed different then the other ones; They were a bit more complex, but he could understand them. “That’s for an alternative universe, not a timeline. It will be more different from Undertale”, Chara said. Cross didn’t really care. As long as it was far, far away from this world and XGaster’s grasp.

“Dammit, we were too late again”, Ink said as he and Sans appeared in the Glitchtale timeline. They looked around to see the red lines and pixelated buildings. Cross was truly doing this. Using universes with no thought to their existence or the people in them. They had to find him.

“Ah, Ink”, Sans said, facing the other direction, still in Ink’s arms.

“Huh”, Ink said, turning around as well to see the inhabitants of Glitchtale staring at them. Sans saw the injured humans getting healed and alternate versions of his friends. He looked in sadness at this world's Papyrus, looking nice and healthy, while he was unconscious and hurt.

“Oh, Crap, so much for keeping hidden”, Ink said, face-palming.

“Looks like I’m seeing triple”, Glitchtale Sans said.

“Are you with that panda punk?” Undyne said, summoning spears.

“Pfft, I’m saying that to his face next time I see him”, Sans said, laughing, before he clutched his chest. It still hurts. Maybe he should be careful about cracking jokes. Glitchtale Sans looked at this other version of him. He didn’t know what, but his guts told him he wasn’t a threat. To be honest, he looked in bad shape. He’s mastered the art of pretending everything's fine and can see how the alternate his grin is close to falling. How his slouch hides true exhaustion.

“Hmm, I say we trust them. Something about their faces is just so trustworthy”, Glitchtale Sans said.

           “Ahh, thank you right back at you, handsome”, Sans said. He couldn’t help himself.

           “Ugg Sans, please don’t start making puns”, Papyrus said. He’d normally be happy to have more brothers, but this isn’t the time.

           “We have bigger things to worry about”, Gaster said, showing himself. Sans was confused. Who was this guy? Sans then got a spark of memory. He saw two people. One looked like a goofy version of this guy, but looked nice. The other was more spiky and didn’t look kind at all.

“I’m very sorry this happened. We’re looking and trying to stop Cross. I’d love to fix the issues, but I don’t have the time. Just hold on and good luck with Bete Noire”, Ink said, grabbing Sans.

“Who-”, Frisked before Ink and Sans left.

“Aggg, he’s getting faster and more bold. Who knows when he’ll try going to an alternate universe?”, Ink said, banging his skull against a wall. He had set Sans down on the ground. He was feeling better and thought he could walk on his own. No way was he doing this mission in Ink’s arms like some damsel. He may be lazy, but he has some dignity.

“Hey, pal, I'm here to help you. Is there anything you need?” Sans asked.

“I-wait, yes, you can help. You guys are connected. Can you maybe track him or see where he is?” Ink asked. 

“I can try, I guess”, Sans said. He didn’t know what he was doing. He just decided to try to connect with his other soul half. He felt a gnawing exhaustion-physically and emotionally. His eyes were still closed, but he could somehow see through what he assumed were Cross’s eyes. He looked for identifying features. “I can see people and places. They look red and kinda edgy”, Sans said. A lightbulb went off in Ink's head, and he painted a portal.

“Underfell”, Ink said.

Chapter Text

“Welcome to Underfell, Cross,” Chara said.

Cross stood in this AU’s Snowdin just past the bridge. The cold bit his cheeks; his fluffy coat warmed him enough that the chill felt like freshness for the first time in a long while. He remembered pieces of a childhood here—Sir’s rigid hand, other kids making snow monsters—but most memories were blank or tangled with XGaster’s authority. Royal guards didn’t play in the snow.

“What do we need from here?” Cross asked.

“Just parts of the Underground,” Chara said. “We’ll take Snowdin.”

“And the inhabitants?” Cross asked.

“Everyone here is a rude jerk, besides Frisk and Flowey, who are having a pacifist run teaching that the world doesn’t have to kill to survive. They fear and respect strength — so they’ll stay out of our way.” Chara’s voice was casual. Cross nodded. Hopefully, they were smart enough to retreat and not interfere. They walked along the crunching snow. No one was around; it was quiet and peaceful. After Glitchtale, they needed that.

“Well, outside a few hiccups here and there, we’re on a steady track to bringing our world back. Everything is going perfectly,” Chara said. Perfectly. Perfectly. Perfectly. The word echoed in Cross’s head. Perfection had always been his barometer — if he could be perfect, nothing bad would happen. Hearing it from Chara blanked his mind; he had to keep working. He had to be perfect so they’d succeed.

  “I thought of being your friend... I could fix what happened that day…”, Sans heard from his nap. He wasn’t paying that much attention-just catching up on sleep.

“Psst! Hey, Sans! Wake up!” the voice said.

“ZZZ... just 5 more minutes…”, Sans said, cuddling into the cold…snow…what.

“Hey, wait a minute”, Sans said, jumping up. He looked to the side to see that snow was everywhere. He was in Snowdin back underground. 

“Pfft, calm down, pal. This is not your Snowdin. Welcome... to UNDERFELL!”, Ink said behind some bushes.

“Still hiding, huh?”, Sans said

“Yep. Technically, people aren’t supposed to know about other universes. Suspecting and theorizing is fine, and if something happens that reveals it, sure, but they have to focus on the story of their universe. Beings like me can't just go into a universe and say I'm a god in the multiverse, which is real”, Ink said. Fair enough, Sans thought. “I hope you were right that Cross came to this place. This world is living a Pacifist Timeline despite...many problems.”

“K. Let's go then”, Sans said, and they started quickly teleporting forward, following the red line of magic and destruction. 

“YO!! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOIN' SANS!?”They heard. Ink quickly hid, and Sans turned around. He saw a spikier version of monster kid and some mouse monster.

“Umm…”, Sans said, confused. How should he plan this

“Why are you wearing those weird clothes? There's no time for that! Snowdin is going down, jerk!”They said before walking away.

“YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!”Ink yelled.

“What's the matter? The people here are jerks”, Sans said, glitching out at the end. He held a hand up to look at it.

“Wow. What was that?”, Sans said. That didn’t feel the same as getting hit with lightning, but it was still weird.

“Oh, no......Cross...What are you trying to do now...?”, Ink thought.

So far, Cross had faced no resistance; Everybody he saw just hid and ran away. With how Chara described this world, he expected more opposition. He’s not complaining-just surprised. He was in the middle of Snowdin when his peace came to an end. Standing in front of him was the Sans of this world, blocking his path.

“Huh. You're in my way...Get outta here”, Cross said to this version of him. He thinks the best word to describe him is one word. Edgy. He looked like one of those emo goths from comics. Frisk secretly showed him trying to seem tough, but was actually very soft. Hopefully, he would just leave and get out of his way..

“Wow. What do we have here...Hey, fluffy asshole. Nice knife”, Red said, picking their teeth with a smirk. The crude words made Cross shoot up in shock.

“...What did you call me?” Cross said as Chara manifested beside him. 

“Ha. Whatev. Waddya want? You made a pretty mess of Snowdin…”, Red said before laughing. “PFFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! ALL OF YOU ARE COWARDS, HIDING LIKE IDIOTS!! HAHAHA!! LOOK AT YOURSELVES! EVERYBODY SUCKS!!” Insulting the hiding fell monsters.

“Interesting guy living in this Pacifist timeline…”, Chara said. Cross agreed, but mostly he was grossed out. He didn’t like this guy. 

“I don’t have any of this guy in me, do I?” Cross asked.  Xgaster was cruel, but he wouldn’t put some of this guy in Cross’s code, would he, and Frisk wouldn’t agree to that either, right?

“No, Frisk and I didn’t need his code to make you more aggressive and open to killing us. We got it from other Sans, and Xgaster wasn’t very fond of the fell universes-he thought they were brutish and scrapped any thought of putting fell code on you once learning how much cursing and chugging mustard he does”, Chara said. Cross was repulsed at the idea of him drinking any condiments.

“...Disgusting”, Cross said. He threw the knife; It nicked the Sans in the shoulder jacket. Red's eyes widened before he glared at Cross. That was just a warning shot. 

“Let's just get straight to the point”, Cross said, disposing of the knife. “You're human… Is trying so hard to befriend all of you, right?... But they won't be able to fight against someone who doesn't care about any timeline......Coming from elsewhere...ruining everything and causing pain and suffering forever...someone like ME”, Cross said. He’s not delusional enough to see himself as a hero. He ruined everything and is going to cause more ruin. He didn’t even have high hopes that he would be accepted when his world was back. They would either kick him out or have him imprisoned for treason. He wouldn’t fight against it either way. He wasn’t entitled to a happy life in the new Xtale.

“...Will your human dare to start a new Pacifist Timeline again if I become a part of this universe? I need some resources to rebuild my world. And I’ve been tasked to use this place. So you can see if your human will be able to keep you happy in a shattered world... no matter how many resets they try...OR ACCEPT THAT YOUR WORLD IS MINE NOW. And that not one of their useless friends will try to stop me. So, get outta my way.”, Cross continued. The whole time, Red listened to this monochromatic motherfucker's monologue, he imagined what this guy would do if he got his hands on Frisk. Red would only say something sappy like this in the privacy of his thoughts, but he had to do the right thing and stop this guy. For everyone.

“..Nah. Do it if you want”, Red said, smirking. “This is a pacifist timeline, we monsters and the humans will still be friends, giving them love…and LOVE hehe… But I'll try to be nice and change your mind, buddy. There's so much corny happiness and all, so, if you want, I can share it a little with ya. WE CAN HAVE A GREAT TIME”, Red said, red eyelight glowing as they entered a fight.

“Do I have permission to kill him, or do the same rules as Undertale apply?”Cross asked Chara.

“Hmm, technically yes, but only toward the AUs that branch off Underfell. I say don’t kill, but rough him up for daring to interfere”, Chara said. He needed to vent some rage from Betty.

“Understood”, Cross said, summoning a long bone and jumping at Red. He hit Red in the face right into a tree, dropping snow on his head. Cross stood there before he sensed a magical disturbance. Red appeared and had punched Cross back, but he steadied himself,

“Look, pal. My boss is busy helping people. When they come back and see all this disaster, I'll be in trouble. So, please...you gotta leave”, Red said. He was pissed. The boss was gonna blame him for this.

“Ha...ha...are you begging me for mercy? You're not as rude as you seem-”, Cross said. Politeness doesn’t seem like a language this Sans would understand.

“CROSS!! WATCH OUT!!”Chara yelled. Cross was stunned as a bone attack impaled his chest, while elsewhere, Sans was feeling the pain too. Red started laughing.

“Get...dunked on! HAHAHAHAHA You're so stupid...Here, it's still "Kill or be Killed!" While the human may not realize that...Anyone can kill anytime!”, Red said. Cross became still the moment he heard that.

“You look like me, and I don't wanna know where you came from, but, man, you're so pathetic! You made a mistake coming here and bothering me. Just go dust yourself. Bye”, Red said before he was shocked to see Cross grab onto his bone attack and pull it out like nothing.

“Wh-what!?”, Red said.

“Actually, we're hurting someone else right now...We're doing well”, Cross said, dropping the bone with a smile before laughing hysterically.. “That's the rule of this world...ha...HAHAHA ...THAT MEANS IT WILL BE FINE IF I KILL YOU!!... Where are the Knives?”

Chara had taken partial control. The full red eyes showed how he was there aiding and fighting with Cross against Red. They used their hack knife to attack Red head-on. Red was a slippery bastard, though. Dodging every swipe and sending his own attacks back, but they both destroyed any bone or gaster-blasters easily.

“PEOPLE LIKE YOU WILL NEVER DESERVE A HAPPY ENDING!!”, Cross said, grabbing Red telekinetically. He wouldn’t kill him, but we would show him true pain.

“Wh-What the hell are you!?”, Red said

“I AM THE X-EVENT”, Cross said. His eyes were now red and purple. His voice was also different; It sounded so layered. Chara and Cross's voices were there, and so was a third party. Watch. Talking, influencing. Cross and Chara were too emotional to notice. They were so focused on Red they didn’t see the gaster-blaster powering up behind them till it shot the knife out of Cross's hands. Cross started rubbing his hand. It burned a bit, but thankfully, it didn’t destroy his gloves. He turned to see that the disruption was caused by Ink and Sans.

“CROSS!! THAT'S ENOUGH!!”Ink said.

“Crap. They caught up. Don’t worry, Cross, I’ve got a new trick we can use to even the odds. ”, Chara said. 

“Huh, Hello, my old friend...I knew you would come after me”, Cross said, staring Ink in the eye. “Do you like what I'm doing? I know you do...you support people who create new AUs... and I'm creating my own.” Why doesn’t Ink understand? He should be celebrating his world's rebirth with him.

“...You're destroying all I've been trying to protect…”, Ink said with red cross-hair eyelights.

“Take it easy, Ink. I'll handle this.”, Sans said, wiping the blood off his mouth. His movement christened the golden locket around his neck. Drawing Cross’s attention to it. He grabbed his locket.

“Oh, I see. You're going to use Sans as your pawn....Welp.I think it will be a fair battle.” Cross said, and before anyone could do anything. He impaled the hack knife right through Red. There were glitches all around his body that soon cleared up. Floating in front of Cross stood Red. His clothes looked more monochromatic; he had pixels over his face forming an x, and his chest and soul had an x over it. He was now under Cross’s control.

“...By the way, Sans...That heart locket doesn't belong to you…”, Cross said harshly. 

“...Why did you refuse to help me...?...Did you... Do you hate my world?”Cross thought before shaking them out. They don’t matter.

“The core code of this world is mine now...We can use it better than these people”, Cross said, watching as the code was getting ready to be transported.

“Sans. I'll help you as long as I can. Please, don't hurt this version of you. He is corrupted, but we can find a way to bring him back to normal”, Ink said, preparing his paintbrush.

“Ok”, Sans said. Cross snapped and controlled. Red started attacking. Shooting bows from the ground. Ink jumped to dodge while Sans used his hundred resets of experience to dodge cheekily. Cross was annoyed. He sent Red forward to shoot gaster-blasters, but Ink created a barrier. Cross used Red’s blasters to launch himself at the barrier and destroy it. Ink and Sans had escaped thought. Cross had Red send another blaster, but Sans sent one too. Both blasters fought to overpower the other, but they were evenly matched. In the background, the buildings and forest started disappearing. Underfell Alphys, who was watching from her cameras, called Underfell Papyrus to her lab and saw this. Back in the fight, more blasters were summoned, causing a huge, blinding explosion. Ink had to cover his eyes. Cross used that opportunity to take a swipe at him. Sans was quick to pull Ink away, though. Cross couldn’t focus on that when he saw that Red was trapped by Sans’s magic. Ink used his paint to grab Red and stop him from fighting.

“Sans! Get Cross now!”Ink said. Sans used blue magic to grab his soul, which pulled Cross and him together.

“How clever”, Cross thought.

“You said this heart locket doesn't belong to me...well, that half soul doesn't belong to you either…”, Sans said

“You can't hurt me. You want your soul back, right?”Cross said.

“Heh. Why don't you take a break? Sleep is more fun than corrupting timelines, buddy.”, Sans said.

“I was never trained to be lazy”, Cross said. No one in Xtale was. Even relaxation was a privilege not given. Cross summoned knives, and Sans summoned blasters.

“Usually I only have enough energy for talking...So, I'm just going to ask ya somethin' ...Who is he? And I'm not asking ya about the human inside your body”, Sans said. Cross could feel that Chara was paying attention. What was this?

“I saw someone in one of the timelines you visited”, Sans said. “I don’t know why, but seeing him brought something to my mind, and I saw two people. One seemed to be a nice person. But...the other one didn't look so friendly. Does he have anything to do with ya? You can have fun with my soul, but if someone like HIM has the same idea...bud...do you really know what would happen?” Cross flinched back, getting rid of his knives, at the flash of memories.

“wh-...he can't be-”, Cross said, panicking again. Chara rushed to stop this.

“Cross! Listen to me! He's just screwing with your mind! We have to go now, we have the core code of this place!”, Chara said. Even if he was just worried, they were busy.

“He should be dead. He should be dead like everyone else.”, Cross yelled. He wasn’t yelling at Chara. He wouldn’t do that. He was yelling at the multiverse. If HE were alive, why hasn’t he come to punish Cross for what he did yet? What horrible punishment awaits him? Why did he survive out of everyone else?

“He is. It’s just some lie or some messed-up mind trick from your connected souls”, Chara said. Chara wasn’t being one hundred percent honest. Xgaster’s other soul half has to be somewhere, most likely with Ink, but they couldn’t do this now. Red broke out of Ink's paint prison.

“Darn!” Ink said. Red went after Sans, but he forced him to the ground.

“Ok, you asked for it, Cross...It's time to use my SPECIAL ATTACK”, Sans said

“CROSS!! WE HAVE TO A NEW WORLD NOW!” Chara said, trying to pull his partner away.

“YOU GOT IT! SANS!”, Ink said supportively. To everyone's shock, Sans just took his slipper off and threw it at Cross.

“Ug what?”, Chara said.

“Your slipper. Your Special Attack. Is it your slipper?” Ink said, confused with question mark eyelights.

“Sorry, pal, I'm out of ideas. With just half a SOLE, I can barely do a SOFT KICK”, Sans said as Ink laughed at his joke.

“Whoever made Ink the protector is an idiot”, Chara said. Cross would have agreed if he hadn’t seen the hack knife flicker back to black. In front of him, Red was getting up. 

“Uhh......what happened...?”, Red said

“IMPOSSIBLE!!”Cross said. 

“You!!”, Red said, enraged. 

“We did it, Pal!! I dunno how but-”, Ink said before Red pushed them out of the way.

“...YOU!! HHH YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS!!”, Red said. He summoned a bone right through Cross's arm. Sans grabbed his arms in pain as Cross fell.

“No, wait! Don't hurt him!”Ink said. Red summoned a blaster to obliterate Cross. Seeing it coming, Chara goes in front to take it away from the spot. Seeing the state of his home, he screamed.

“...Agh...Just look at this disaster...DAMN!!”, Red said

“Um...We're really sorry...But hey! At least nobody is dead!”,

“You're sorry...YOU'RE SORRY!!?? SNOWDIN HAS BEEN DESTROYED!! YOU PROVOKED THIS, DIDN'T YA?FINE! YOU'LL HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS TO MY BRO-”, Red started before he felt the hit of a slipper.

“Hey, I'm gonna stomp ya with my special attack if you don't shut your mouth, dude.

Pfft”, Sans said

“You think this is some kind of joke!? CUZ YOU LOOK LIKE ME BUT WAY MORE STUPID!”, Red said

“DO YOU WANNA HEAR A BETTER JOKE?”, Sans said darkly, staring at Red.

“Hey, guys, calm down!” Ink said, pushing them apart. “Your timeline will be safe, but you and the others should evacuate to another part of this world for safety. Classic Sans and I will handle th-”, Ink said before they were interrupted by Red’s phone ringing.

“'Sup”, Red said, answering.

“BROTHER.”, Fell Papyrus said

“P-Papyrus! I-I MEAN BOSS! H-howzitgoing!? Snowdin is ok as always! Nothing strange or something has happened!” Red said lying. He can’t see his bro see this ever.

“TURN AROUND”, Papyrus said, and Red did. Turning to see a camera pointed at him. His face was the definition of oh crap. Sans and Ink saw as well. They sent looks of sympathy towards him. I SAW EVERYTHING. WHAT YOU DID...AND I'M NOT HAPPY.”

“Aah, B-Boss, I can explain-”, Red started 

“I WAS HAVING A NICE DAY WITH THE HUMAN, SO I'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE.

I'LL GIVE YOU TEN MINUTES TO HIDE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE…”, Papyrus stopped for a moment to let his word truly sink in. “BECAUSE WHEN I FIND YOU...I'LL USE YOUR SKULL TO SERVE MY SPAGHETTI!!!”Red was silent for a moment. He then destroyed the camera and his phone.

“Oof, tough break, man. Well, we’ve got to get-”, Sans said.

“Take me with you”, Red said. He didn't want to beg, but he would if he didn’t have to face his brother's wrath.

“Um, I’m not sure. I mean, taking Sans out of his AU is already breaking some rules. I shouldn’t break more”, Ink said

“Excuse me, but my world was fucked up, and I was brainwashed. I deserve compensation. I deserve to beat the shit out of that guy”, Red said, pointing a finger in Ink's chest. He didn’t trust this guy. When he was controlled by that checkerboard cheapskate, he could feel the suffering and pain he felt, especially toward this guy. Going with him might not be the smartest idea, but he’d prefer not to face his bro.

“Ok, ok, Red, you can come”, Ink said, relenting.

“Red”, Sans said

“That's just what the creators call you to differentiate between Sans”, Ink said

“Whatever, so what do we do, and more importantly, when do we leave?” Red said. He wasn’t going to waste his ten minutes. His boss could decide to shorten it to 5 minutes.

“Well, I think we should get someone else to help. Cross’s mental state is getting worse. Especially when you started talking”, Ink said to Sans. 

“I wanted to know who that guy I saw was”, Sans said. Ink was quiet and clutched the Xgaster vial in secret.

“Well, either way, you definitely destabilized Cross and maybe Chara, too. I have a friend who could help us calm him down.”, Ink said, getting his paintbrush and taking Red and Sans to get one of his bestest friends–Dream. He should be able to help Cross.

Chapter Text

“Look what they did to us. How dare they use HIM against us?” Chara’s voice rang sharp in Cross’s head. Cross had landed in another alleyway, curled behind a dumpster with one arm cradled against his ribs. The bone throbbed, but he had endured far worse. Pain wasn’t his concern—something else gnawed at his mind far deeper.

“Is it possible… the doctor is alive?” Cross whispered. His voice rattled with unease. The thought of XGaster walking free, lurking unseen, made every shadow feel hostile. If he survived, then nowhere was safe–especially Xtale. Chara’s eyes softened as he studied the skeleton, who looked as much like a frightened child as a soldier. He answered honestly.

“XGaster is a coward. And cowards… know how to slip through the cracks.” Chara said. “Especially when there's just half a soul protected by a god” The unspoken yes struck harder than any wound. Cross’s chest tightened, his bones trembling with remembered fear. He had lived under XGaster too long not to know: that man was never truly defeated. Chara knelt, forcing Cross to meet his gaze. “But it doesn’t matter. Alive or not, he won’t control us again. I’ve been writing code—defenses for Xtale. No one will be able to mess with us. Not Xgaster, Not Ink, No one”. With a snap of his fingers, Chara closed Cross’s wounds. The arm straightened as if it had never been fractured, strength surging back into the bone. Cross flexed it once, twice–god as new. If Chara said he had a plan, then Cross would trust his determination.

Where are we?” Cross asked, standing. They need to get back to work.  He peered beyond the alley at a city that was rustic compared to Glitchtale, but still nice.

“Farmtale. Another surface Au. Pretty simple au. Every monster is good at farming. Their pacifist routes are a good harvest and genocide a bad one”, Chara said. That’s it. How is that even worth making an au? 

“We can finish getting surface code here.”, Cross said

“Yep, and no Pink Pricks or Gasters here to get in our way.”, Chara said excitedly. The journey wasn’t anything special. It was similar to how things went in Glitchtale and Underfell, except no interruptions. As buildings rose in lines of gleaming code, Cross caught sight of one in particular: Grillby’s. The name struck a memory. Grillby had catered countless royal events in Xtale. Cross had never been close to him—guards and chefs rarely were—but Grillby was kind. Kind enough that Cross would trust him not to poison Frisk’s food. Cross’s gaze lingered. Another building was lifted. Then another. They had gathered so much surface data already—surely it was enough. 

During the spectacle, Cross felt something against his leg. He drew his knife on instinct  only to find himself face-to-face with… a kitten. Its blank, glassy eyes stared up at Cross, then it rubbed its head against his shin, purring as though a dangerous killing machine wasn’t pointing a knife at it. The purring grew louder, filling the silence between heartbeats. Cross didn’t know what he was doing, but his hand trembled, hovering above its fur. He could almost feel its small heartbeat, steady and trusting.Then the image shifted. Where the kitten had been now crouched a purple cat—blood soaking its chest, eyes lifeless, gaze fixed on him. Cross staggered back, breath sharp, yanking his hand away. The kitten blinked in confusion, padding closer, but he wouldn’t let it near. With a flick of telekinesis, he carried it far from him, safe from the hands of a murderer.

“Are we finished here, Chara?” Cross asked, once the cat was out of sight.

“Yes, we have enough surface code, but we can’t leave yet. I want to get some of the fertile farmland this place is known for.”, Chara said. Cross nodded and left. The fields sprawled wide with crops in every color and shape. He had never seen such oversized pimplom fruits before. Agriculture wasn’t something he paid much attention to, but he could acknowledge perseverance and resilience required.

“King Asgore will be pleased to have fertile soil like this”, Cross said as he got to work. The monsters they encountered were no fighters and quite easy to dispatch. The farm animals on the other hand were pretty cute just gazing at Cross docilely.  Cross didn’t want to hurt them. He made his cuts quick and shallow, enough to extract code, then lulled them to sleep with a gentle touch.

“Hey, Cross, look, there are cows over there”, Chara said, pointing to his right. Cross turned, and the moment he did, he froze up in shock. There were cows there, just as black and white as in Xtale, with bells tied around their necks and patterns on their flanks. They were staring at Cross as innocently as the other animals. They were completely non-threatening, but Cross couldn’t help but tense up at seeing them. Couldn't help clutching his hands in sheer terror as a memory bled through.

Flashback

Sans never expected Sir to step foot in a place like this—muddy fields, reeking animals, the roughness of life far from marble halls and polished laboratories. Sir woke him before dawn, earlier even than the grueling training hours he demanded. Normally Sans would have risen without question, but it was strange that Sir had come himself. Stranger still that he had led him here. The disdain in Sir’s expression deepened with every step across the farm’s dirt path. The curled lip, the flicker of disgust—he was clearly revolted to be among such filth. Yet there was purpose in his stride. Sans knew better than to ask. Signs marked this as private property. They were trespassing. Still, Sir pressed forward, and Sans followed, shivering in the cold and wishing they could return home. At last, Sir’s face shifted into a smirk as they reached the barn. He pushed the door open, and inside, shapes stirred in the dim light. Cows. Sans recognized them instantly—creatures from the book Frisk had once given him about surface animals. Their large eyes blinked curiously, ears flicking as they regarded the intruders who had broken their sleep. One cow stepped closer. It flinched from Sir, but lowered its massive head toward Sans, sniffing before brushing its tongue over his cheek. The wet rasp tickled. Sans almost laughed, almost let himself break composure—but he forced it down. Sir hated weakness. He stepped back to maintain control. That was when he noticed them. White numbers. Branded into the cows’ flanks. Every animal bore them.

“I see you’ve noticed the numbers, Sans”, Sir said. “A method called Freeze Branding was used to create these marks.  It’s how their owners can differentiate and indicate them as their property.” They were marked. Did it hurt? “Don’t look so concerned,” Sir scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Freeze branding isn’t painful. Not compared to its counterpart—hot-iron branding. Do you know what that is, Sans?”Sir’s gaze fixed on him, sharp, expectant. Sans shook his head quickly.

“Words.”, Sir said annoyed.

“…No, Sir.” Sans whispered. He never did know when Sir wanted him to talk or keep quiet.

“It is when a searing iron rod is pressed into flesh, burning the mark into permanence.” His tone was clinical, almost amused. “Excruciating. Torture, some would call it.” Sans’s stomach twisted. He remembered reading about hot iron in books about execution methods. These animals—innocent, harmless—didn’t deserve such agony. “Honestly, these background characters care too much,” Sir continued, smiling thinly. “What does it matter if mindless property suffers?”  Sir then looked at Sans and smiled creepily. In the next moment, Sir seized him by the jaw, lifting him off the ground, muffling the cry that escaped. He looked at Sir in fear. What did he do wrong? Hands pinned his arms outward. Two more appeared, each grasping a rod so hot it glowed, embers drifting from their tips. The stink of scorched metal choked the air. What was his father going to do?

  “Remember, Sans, no childish screaming”, Xgaster said.and pressed the rods into his palms. White fire exploded through him. Sizzling bone, the stench of burning, the sound of his own muffled screams. Around them, the cows began to bellow in panic, hooves clattering in terror.The agony dragged on forever, an endless eternity of heat and pressure until, at last, the irons lifted. His body sagged, arms limp, vision swimming. He was barely aware of the tears threatening to fall. Only the ringing in his skull and the acrid stink of charred marrow remained. The cows were still crying.

 “What’s gotten into you cows?” another voice called distantly. Sans barely registered it. Sir’s tone was dismissive, almost bored. “Enough. Time to leave. Alphys will repair the damage.” Darkness swallowed him as they teleported away.

Flashback

When the memory ended, Cross stared at his gloved hands, trembling despite the layers of fabric. He remembered waking afterward to find that Xgaster had sent him to Alphys. She had done her best—cleaning, binding, doing everything possible to keep infection away. But once the pain dulled, the true scars revealed themselves. On his left hand, a black X burned deep into the bone. On his right, the name “Xgaster,” etched in cruel permanence. The marks were his father’s signature—proof of ownership seared into his body. Cross had been horrified the first time he saw them. Alphys had quietly offered him new gloves, perhaps out of pity, perhaps to help him hide what he never could erase or have anyone else see. He had accepted them with gratitude, but the truth still lived beneath the fabric. He always knew what lay there, what they meant.Thinking about those scars made something inside him collapse all over again. But he couldn’t afford to break. Not anymore. Not after everything. He had already ruined too much by being weak, by failing to “grow up” the way Sir demanded. The past didn’t matter. Not now. It was years ago, and he had to bury it like every other piece of himself. Still, the cows unsettled him. Their wide eyes, their brands—it was too close.

 “Chara,” Cross whispered, his gaze fixed stubbornly on his covered hands. “Can we leave now?” Chara manifested beside him, worry flickering across their expression.

 “Yes. It’s fine. I have a new AU you’re going to like,” they said gently. Cross gave no answer, just followed when Chara pulled them both away from Farmtale. Neither of them noticed the ripple in the air behind them. Someone else had just arrived.  

Horror was on his way to Farmtale. The AU was neutral ground, untouched by the wars of balance. The inhabitants welcomed travelers as long as they worked, and Horror had come to value it. He of all people understood the value of working for your food. The rest of the Murder Time Trio worked here on occasion, but Horror returned most often. He even made friends with Farmer–the Sans. It was one of the most peaceful Au’s next to Outertale, so when Horror appeared in Farmtale, he expected to see Farmer standing over his newest batch of crops, but was shocked at the pure destruction he saw.

“What….the….Fuck”, Horror said slowly. The farmland was ruined—fields torn apart as if by claws, soil ripped open into bleeding red cracks, livestock scattered or unconscious. It looked like something straight out of a nightmare.  What the hell happened?

“H-horror”, A voice snapped him back. Farmer staggered toward him, cradling a broken arm, Tomato—his Papyrus—clinged to his side. Horror rushed to them.

“What happened?” he demanded.

 “Some… some version of Sans,” Tomato said, trembling. “He came out of nowhere. Started tearing the place apart. We tried to fight back, but—” Tomato’s voice faltered. “He even destroyed the city.”Horror’s chest tightened. 

“What...did he…look like?” Horror said. Please don’t be the guy from the memories. Please don’t be the guy from the memories.

“He was black and white. A red scar and used a big ass knife”, Farmer said. Goddammit. Why did he listen to Killer?

“Need to Evacuate ... .We'll deal with this”, Horror said. Farmer nodded, guiding Tomato toward safety with the rest of the survivors. Horror pulled out his phone and sent a sharp signal. Nightmare would sense his emotions anyway. It didn’t take long before black tendrils of magic coiled around him, pulling him back through the portal. He stumbled into Nightmare’s base. Dust sat on the couch, watching television. The killer was laughing as he filmed one of his cats. Nightmare himself was watching Horror with narrowed eyes.

“What happened?” Nightmare asked, scanning him for injuries. Finding none, he exhaled. “Why cut your meeting with Farmer short?”

“Farmtale was destroyed,” Horror said flatly. The room stilled.

“Uh… H? Buddy?” The killer said slowly. “Farmtale’s an Original AU. Error wouldn’t touch it, let alone wreck it. You sure your skull isn’t… y’know… acting up again?”

“Not Error,” Horror growled. He turned a glare on Killer. You were wrong…Should have told Nightmare”,Killer froze, the grin slipping from his face. Dust immediately caught on and backed away. Nightmare’s gaze sharpened, irritation simmering.

 “Should have told me what?”Nightmare's gaze sharpened, irritation simmering.

“Well,” Killer began, scratching the back of his skull.

“It was Killer’s idea.,” Dust blurted, selling him the tear-stained skeleton out instantly.

“Thanks for the support, asshole”, Killer hissed, wanting to throw a knife at the dust-stained skeleton.

“Enough”, Nightmare said before they could get into a fight. “Killer. Explain”

“Ok, remember when you felt that burst of pain from us, and I said it was from the fight”, Killer said

“Yes”, Nightmare said.

“Well, it wasn’t”, Killer said

“And what pray tell was the pain from?” Nightmare said, eyes twitching.

“Oh, nothing special. Just some alternate Sans who went to the original au and stole half of classic Sans soul”, Killer said. The room went quiet for about five seconds, and they were the longest seconds of the murder time trio's lives. Killer’s grin faltered. Dust looked away. Even Horror’s breath felt too loud. Then Nightmare moved. Tentacles lashed around Killer’s ribs as he roared—

“WHAT?” Nightmare screamed, enraged. “The Original timeline was attacked, and you didn’t LET. ME. KNOW.” 

“Look, Nightlight, we were all tired. You only just got all your tentacles back. Besides, like your side, it's the original timeline. I thought Ink would fix it”, Killer said. He knew the god wouldn’t hurt him. The tentacles weren’t even holding him tight enough to deprive him of oxygen. A nightmare wouldn’t hurt him, but he could still make his life suck.

“Nightlight, c’mon,” Killer croaked. “You’d just gotten your tentacles back. We were exhausted. And it’s the Original timeline! I figured Ink would fix it—”

“You relying on Ink makes me think Science should reevaluate your brain at your next medical check up,” Nightmare snarled, tightening his grip. “If this Sans destroyed Farmtale, who knows what else he’s already torn through?”. He was so pissed off right now, but he'll deal with Killer later. There are more pressing matters at stake. He dropped Killer to the floor, fury still crackling through the air. Before anyone could speak, Nightmare stiffened. A wave of negativity surged across his senses—sharp, potent. He could sense that his twin was there too. Something told him to go there, and he had a feeling why.

“We’ll talk about this later. Right now, we have a scouting mission. I think I know where our little soul thief went”, Nightmare said

“Where?” Killer asked, rubbing his ribs as pocketed his camera.

“Outertale.”

Chapter Text

When Cross emerged into the new AU, his gaze was fixed on his hands. The scars that marred them made his stomach twist. He despised them—constant reminders that he was less than an animal to Xgaster. He wished they could vanish, even if it meant tearing them away or burning his very existence with an Overwrite.

       “Chin up, partner,” Chara’s voice broke the silence. “The stars are far too beautiful to waste on moping.”

        Cross blinked and raised his eyes. For a moment, his breath caught. He stood in the void of space itself, a billion stars spread like jewels across a velvet canvas. Nebulae spilled ribbons of color into the void, celestial bodies drifting in stately silence. He should have been concerned—his form was not made for the vacuum—but awe drowned every other thought.

     “This is Outertale,” Chara explained, a wry smile tugging at his mouth. “In this world, monsters weren’t banished underground… but exiled to the stars, to a forgotten moon.”

      “It’s beautiful”, Cross whispered,

       “Isn’t it?” Chara replied softly. His grin widened, and he pointed toward the horizon. “Look there—a meteor shower.” Cross followed his gesture. At first, a single silver streak flashed across the dark, then another, and another, until the heavens blazed with falling stars. Fire tailed through the emptiness, painting the void with strokes of crimson, gold, and violet like a divine brush across endless night. The sight stirred memories. Once, long ago, Frisk had created such an event—a Monster-Human gathering beneath Xtales sky, where meteors burned with impossible colors of red, gold, and purple.They were one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. He didn’t understand how Xgaster could just dismiss them as a burning piece of space debris. It was childish, but at the time he secretly made a wish like the ones Frisk had told him about. His wish had been simple: that everyone would live safe and happily. Of course, the wish had failed. It always did. But now… now he could make it real. He would bring them back. He would ensure they saw the stars again. Determination surged in his chest, filling the last grey fragment of his soul with vivid red light.. 

“Our determination is back to full strength, finally”, Chara said looking at their soul.  “Lets go Cross we have some collecting to do” Cross turned toward the new world, only to halt at the sting of something grazing his cheek.

“Damn it—you missed,” growled a sharp, hostile voice.

 “Not these bastards again.”, Chara hissed. Cross pivoted and found himself confronted by a half-circle of figures: Ink, the Sans, Underfell Sans–scowling and ready for blood—and two more. One was unmistakably the Sans of this universe, clad in stars. The other held a bow in hand, his arrow still glowing. His presence radiated something uncanny, a magic that prickled Cross’s very marrow.

“Hello, Ink,” Cross said coldly, voice flat as ice. “And who, exactly, is your new friend?”

  Ink had taken everyone to Haventale, the sanctuary Dream typically retreated to after particularly taxing battles. Dream even kept a small home there. Sans and Red stayed close, both of them visibly affected by the naturally cheerful atmosphere of the AU. Ink noticed Red crack a few smiles, which he found almost endearing. While they were distracted, Ink quietly transported XGaster’s soul into the Doodlesphere. He could not risk Dream sensing it. From there, they began asking around to discover Dream’s whereabouts and learned he was assisting children with apple picking. How typical, Ink thought—kind, yes, but Dream really needed to learn his limits, or at least the ability to refuse.

“Dream,” Ink called, approaching his friend. Dream stood atop a small ladder, looking at apples with a nostalgic expression.

“I–Ink. I thought you had something to take care of—” Dream began, only to falter as his gaze drifted past Ink to the figures behind him. “Ugh… Ink, who are they?”

“This is Classic Sans, and this is Red—the original Underfell Sans,” Ink explained.

“Original?” Dream repeated, his face paling. “Ink, what are they doing here? You always said—” His words cut off in horror. Haventale itself was safe, but having the original Sans outside his AU presented an enormous risk.

“I know, I know,” Ink said quickly, raising his hands. “But these are special circumstances. We need your help.” He explained everything. As Ink spoke, Dream’s expression grew progressively more stricken.

“Oh, stars,” Dream whispered, finally stepping forward to embrace Sans and Red. His aura washed over them, warm and overwhelmingly positive. “I’m so sorry, Sans, Red. I wish I had known.”

“It’s fine, bud,” Sans murmured. He admitted, if only to himself, that the embrace dulled the ache in his soul.

“Ahh, get off me, you walking sunlight,” Red grumbled, squirming in discomfort. The aura made him feel safe—happy, even. He hated how unnatural it felt, and hated even more the small pang of disappointment when Dream finally let go.

“How can I help?” Dream asked earnestly.

“I just need you to shoot him with one of your positivity arrows,” Ink explained. “It should calm the anger and drown out Chara’s voice.” Dream nodded firmly.

“Great, we have a plan. Now—how do we find the fluffy asshole?” Red asked.

“Sans, anything?” Ink prompted.

“Hmmm. Oh yeah,” Sans muttered, closing his eyes.

“Ugh, what’s he doing?” Red asked.

“He’s using the soul-connection to track Cross,” Ink explained. “It’s how we knew he was in your edgy AU.” Red scowled at the description, preparing to retort, when Sans opened his eyes again.

“I see stars,” Sans said. “But also Earth. And…Jupiter.”

“He must be in Outertale,” Ink concluded. “Let’s go, team.” They entered the portal. The moment Sans and Red emerged, their eyes widened in awe at the endless cosmos stretching above them. Ink smiled with pride; Outertale was one of his finest works. A meteor shower streaked across the sky, making the scene almost too perfect. Ink longed to pause and enjoy it, but urgency pressed them forward.

“Well, well… impostors? Or visitors from outer space?” Outer quipped, clearly gearing up for one of his infamous handshake gags.

“Hey, Outer, we don’t have time for this,” Ink said sharply. “We’re on a mission to save your timeline. Can’t stop for a whoopee discussion.” Outer stared at them for a long moment, then shrugged. “Okay.” Better to go with the flow for now.

“Thank you. Sans, can you get a clearer read?” Ink asked.

“No. Just stars,” Sans replied, spreading his hands to show constellations drifting across them.

“Let me try,” Dream offered, closing his eyes. He searched for traces of panic or discord but found only joy, the collective delight of the inhabitants watching the meteor shower. If Cross were truly dangerous, negativity should have radiated from him. Dream was not as skilled as his brother, but he was sensitive enough. Instead of hostility, he caught a wave of emotions—nostalgia, awe, determination. It had to be their target. 

“I think I found him,” Dream said at last. They followed his guidance to an isolated overlook. There, standing near the edge, a lone skeleton gazed skyward, utterly entranced by the falling stars.

“There’s the mouthfucker,” Red muttered, shifting forward with clear intent to shove Cross off the cliff. Sans restrained him with a firm grip.

“You’re up, Dream,” Ink urged. Dream readied his bow. A positivity arrow wouldn’t harm Cross—only calm him, long enough for them to reason with him. He loosed the arrow, aimed straight for Cross’s chest. At the last second, Cross turned, and the arrow sliced only a shallow cut across his cheek. Red cursed Dream’s miss, but Dream’s attention was elsewhere. Cross’s gaze fell on them—blank, expressionless. Outwardly, he betrayed nothing. Inwardly, Dream sensed a storm of rising anger. Whether it belonged to Cross or Chara, he could not tell. When he finally spoke, his voice was as hollow as his expression.

“…Hello, Ink.”

“C, this isn’t you. You have to stop,” Ink pleaded

“You don’t know what I’m like,” Cross retorted, irritation sharpening his voice. “We’ve only met twice, and both times you abandoned me.”

“I didn’t abandon you—I just couldn’t help you,” Ink argued.

“Forget talking with the bastard. Let’s kick his ass,” Red growled, surging forward. Cross had to multitask: continuing to siphon code while simultaneously fending off five opponents. Each fought with purpose. Red fought for revenge; Sans fought for his soul; Outer fought to defend his home; Ink and Dream fought for the universe itself. Their motivations were strong, but Cross had one equally unshakable: the resurrection and protection of his homeworld. Glaring furiously, he delivered a swift punch that sent Ink flying.

“You alright?” Outer asked.

“Barely felt it,” Ink replied smoothly. Cross grimaced, suppressing a wince. Was Ink’s body made of stone?

“He’s a god. Don’t expect him to fall easily—and neither will Dream,” Chara warned. Dream, the “lightbulb” with his bow, continued to fire arrows. Their magic didn’t feel hostile. In fact, they radiated a false sense of safety. Instinct screamed at Cross to avoid them.

“Good instincts,” Chara said. “Those are positivity arrows. If they strike us, our fighting spirit will collapse.”

“What?” Cross said. That made no sense.

“It does if you're dealing with the God of Positivity", Chara said. That is who this guy is. Another god like Ink. “Yes. He’s a god of emotion. His job is to protect the hopes and dreams of universes through manipulation of positive emotions”, The thought chilled Cross. XGaster could warp their bodies, memories, and thoughts—but emotions? Terrifying.

“If you think that’s terrifying,” Chara muttered as they dodged another barrage, “you should see his brother.” Cross narrowly avoided a volley of bones and arrows, confident he had taken no damage—until Sans’s voice cut through the chaos.“Well, look at this. Cross, I think you dropped something.” Cross’s eyes snapped to Sans, who held a golden locket impaled on one of Dream’s arrows. Identical to Sans’s own. Identical to...

“Our locket!” Chara screamed. Cross’s hand flew to his neck. It was gone. Panic surged through him as he saw Sans open the locket’s chamber.

“Nice family,” Sans remarked softly. “Would they really approve of this?”

“Give that back. Right. Now,” Cross and Chara roared in unison, incandescent with rage. Cross charged, blade raised to sever Sans’s arm.

“Oh shit—Ink, catch!” Sans shouted, tossing the locket over Cross’s head. Ink caught it easily.

“Over here, C!” Ink taunted, bolting toward an empty stretch of terrain. Cross gave chase, his fury overflowing.

“I’m going to shove that paintbrush so far down your throat you’ll be coughing splinters  for a month!” he bellowed, slashing at Ink’s dissolving body.

“Outer!” Ink shouted, tossing the locket again. Outer caught it, froze at the sight of Cross’s expression, and flung it hastily toward Red.

“Come and get it, bitch,” Red jeered, throwing it as far as he could. Cross teleported, reaching desperately for it—so close. But Dream appeared in front of him in a flash of light, bow drawn, arrow aimed square at his chest. Cross had no time to react before impact. The arrow struck, sending him tumbling across the ground. He staggered to rise but was struck again, then again. A strange calm began to flood his body. Relaxation. Relief. He despised it. He could never relax—not while his world was dead. This was manipulation, no better than XGasters.

“Cross,” Dream said gently, stepping closer. “I can feel the love and regret you carry—for your family, for this locket. But this path isn’t the way.” What could he know? A god who had never suffered. Who had never been forced to endure.

“Cross. Give up. It’s over,” Ink said. Over? No. It could not be over. He had not come this far to fail. Cross clawed at the earth, trembling, rage burning through tears he could no longer suppress. Chara’s anger swelled with his own fear and fury twisting together. He was supposed to be a soldier. Soldiers did not stop. Soldiers rose.

“Give back everything you stole from my world, dickface,” Red snarled, before turning on Ink. “And I still don’t get your role in this mess.”

“I’m wondering that myself,” Dream admitted, suspicion flickering. He trusted his friend, but some things don’t add up. 

Ink shifted uneasily. “Look—Cross’s world was destroyed. I found him, but… I had to leave for a while. I was busy.”

“How long is a while?” Outer pressed.

Um maybe a few….years from my point of view”, Ink said and the air grew cold. Chara and Cross had to take some time for Ink and just confessed. They were in the empty hell for years. They didn’t care if it was by Ink’s timeframe or that time could have gone slower in Xtale. The point was that Ink forgot about them for years.

“You…absolute…Fucker”, Chara screamed and contined cursing while Cross. Poor Cross couldn’t help but feel more betrayed, but soon betrayal twisted into something darker—pure, consuming rage. Ink had let Xtale rot, and him with it. Left him in solitary confinement like a discarded toy. He felt some strength come back, but if he was going to make Ink regret he was ever born he needed more. More magic. He pushed his soul outward, feeling the threads of magic around him. Ink and Dream radiated immense power, but theirs was incompatible. The others, however—Sans, Red, Outer—their magic seeped into him, strengthening him. Raising a bone, his gaze burned into Ink’s before he plunged the weapon into the right half of Sans’s soul.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”, Sans said. Blood sprayed as he collapsed, coughing violently. Cross was far too furious and used to pain to react to the large cut in the soul.

“What the fuck”, Red shouted, racing to Sans’s side with Outer. Ink paled

“Cross what are you doing”, Chara gasped, gripping his chest. Cross will apologize later. Dream was rushing toward him thinking he’s hurt and wanting to help. The moment he was within range Cross seized Dream’s arm, teleported beside Ink, and swung Dream’s body like a bludgeon. Hurtling the god of creation into a wall.

“I-ink”, Sans said and Cross turned to trap the three mortals in magic. Tightening his grip, he used Dream’s body as a weapon. Again and again he slammed him into Ink, each impact punctuated with years of pent-up anguish.

“DOES THIS ‘BARELY HURT’, INK”, Cross screamed . “YOU FORGOT ME FOR YEARS. I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND–I THOUGHT YOU CARE FOR ME, BUT I WAS NOTHING TO YOU.” He struck harder, ignoring the screams from the captured Sanses. The only important thing now was beating this asshole to the ground for everything that happened to him and his universe. If he was more focused he would have heard the laughing happening overheard, but he wasn’t. He was focused on the pure schadenfreude he got watching Ink's body break. He deserved it. For every moment of happiness Xtale lost. 

Dream couldn’t escape Cross’s unrelenting hold. Unfortunately, the physical contact made Dream’s aura hit Cross full force. The longer he held the more warmth he felt–the more memories filled his head.  Memories where he’s sitting on the beach eating nicecream with Frisk, where he had races with the princes, and where everyone had a birthday party for him. Tears were falling. He's never celebrated his birthday before, he didn’t even know when it was. He didn’t remember any of these moments and this lightbulb forced so many of them on him. It made him start hitting harder to hurt both of these sorry excuses for gods. Where were they when his world needed protection and hope. He was laughing and crying now. More memories were coming in that filled him with so much joy, but even more rage. If these moments were real they were taken away from him. Xgaster stole so much from him. 

“I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH. YOU RUINED EVERYTHING. WE DIDN’T WHAT TO BE PERFECT. WE JUST WANTED TO BE LOVED. WHY COULDN’T YOU LOVE US”. Cross wished so badly that he could have Xgaster be the monster he was hitting right now. Have him powerless beneath him. Understanding what it’s like to be at someone else's mercy. Soon the rush of emotion became unbearable. Cross shoved Dream away, gasping as the false warmth ebbed. His body shook, tears still streaming. He looked at Ink—unconscious, bones fractured, paint dripping from shattered vials, vomit staining his body. Dream lay nearby, trembling, blood and bile on his lips. The three Sanses stared in horror. Cross felt nothing. No triumph. No satisfaction. No shame. Just exhaustion.

      “Cross! Are you alright?” a familiar voice called. A phantom— Mission Leader—manifested, their expression laced with concern. Why? The threats were neutralized. The mission was accomplished. Yet Cross’s cheeks were wet with tears, wasting magic, and staining his uniform. He wiped his face quickly, restoring his composure, though Mission Leader’s frown only deepened.

“Cross, I—” Mission Leader stopped, sighed, and pointed. “Our locket is over there. Retrieve it. We’re leaving.” Cross obeyed mechanically, pulling up his hood. He ignored the horrified stares as he crossed the battlefield, retrieved the locket with shaking hands, and clutched it tightly to his chest. Still intact. Still his. He slipped it around his neck, holding it against his heart where it belonged.

Chara lingered, shaken. He had not expected such rage, nor the sight of Cross wielding Dream himself as a weapon. Impressive, perhaps, but horrifying in its instability. He drifted toward Ink’s broken form. He couldn’t help the smirk growing on his face at seeing his form. He looked analytically.There were many vials, but not the one he sought. That meant Ink kept it hidden elsewhere. Scowling, Chara returned to Cross, who stood dazed, locket in hand.

“Come on,” Chara said, miming an arm around his shoulder. Cross opened a portal, face streaked with tears marks, and stepped through. Neither of them noticed the teal gaze following them, curious and interested.    

Nightmare observed as the skeleton vanished through the portal. The lingering negativity was so strong he could still feel it saturating the air, almost taste it on his tongue. It was intoxicating. The faint traces of positivity interwoven within the negativity only heightened the flavor, sharpening its potency until it became irresistible. He wanted to claim it—reshape it, refine it, and savor it as though it were a rare delicacy. It had been years since his dark apple of a soul had pulsed with such hunger, not since the days he discovered Killer, Dust, and Horror. He turned to his followers. The trio were crowded around the recording from Killer’s camera, replaying the scene over and over while laughing with unrestrained hysteria.

“I swear, I’m gonna shit my pants—that was the most badass thing I’ve ever seen,” Killer cackled. His vulgarity aside, it was a true sentiment. To weaponize one god against another was an impressive feat in itself—but to overwhelm Dream to the point of throwing up from sheer exposure to negativity? That required an extraordinary surge of emotion. Nightmare wanted it for himself. He would have it.

“It’s time to move, boys. We have plans to make,” Nightmare declared.

“But they’re defenseless now. Easy LV,” Dust noted, watching as the freed Sanses rushed to the fallen gods, lifting them with care. Outer led the way, guiding them toward the nearest hospital.

“He hurt… Farmtale,” Horror rumbled.

“True,” Nightmare conceded, his voice smooth yet edged with satisfaction. “This Sans—Cross—has caused a great deal of disruption. He must be dealt with.”

“Can you sense him?” Killer asked eagerly.

“Unfortunately not,” Nightmare admitted. “The clash of Dream’s aura and Cross’s own overwhelming negativity lead to emotional detachment. But after what he endured, I doubt he is in any condition to act. We need only wait.” A slow smile spread across his face. “We will find him” And when we do, he will join us. He will fit perfectly with the rest of his boys.