A Shadow of the Past

Not a friend

"B-bLuEbErRy!" Error stood up and, without thinking, hugged Blue. He let go immediately, feeling faint and lightheaded as he glitched out slightly. 'Well, that's not how I expected to greet him,' he glanced at Blue, who was startled by the sudden action, and looked away, a slight, blue blush on his cheekbones.
"I-i-I-i'M sO-o-O-oRrY, i DoN't KnO-o-O-o-Ow WhAt CaMe OvEr Me-E-e-E-e...."

Blue regained his composure and forced a smile. "It's fine, really! Just caught me off guard, that's all."
He had to remain calm and not get angry with the skeleton if he wanted to gain his trust. He has been known to lose his patience quickly, but with this guy, he thought it better to maintain the "trust" between them his appearance had gained him. Error turned back to face Blue. Smiling gratefully, he walked back over to the bean bag pillow fortress, motioning for Blue to follow. He did, and the two of them started the marathon without Blueberry.

Meanwhile, in the Omega Timeline....

"Here we are!" Ink put his paintbrush away, leading Blueberry and Dream to a section of the place filled with houses. The Omega Timeline was nearly infinite, making it a suitable to accommodate many people, from many, many AUs, with no home. They walked to one, which resembled Undyne's lab, and knocked on the door. Surprisingly, Alphys answered it. She recognized Ink and gave him a wide, toothy grin.
"Well, if it isn't Inkblot. What brings you here?"

Ink blushed at the nickname. Error was the only one he knew that used nicknames to refer to him, and Alphys' nickname was similar to Inksplat. It was an older nickname that Error used to use when he seemed almost... happy to see Ink. He has recently stopped using it, which kinda made Ink sad.

Ink stepped aside after saying hello, revealing a very excited Blueberry. He'd heard the voice of his mentor, and couldn't wait to engulf the short lizard in one of his signature hugs. Before Alphys could react, he did just that, squeezing her as hard as he could.

"*Cough* S-sans... Can't.... breathe....."

"Oops!" he let go and looked down, a little embarrassed. "Sorry, it's just... I haven't seen you or the others in forever. I really missed you guys."

"Well, come on in. I'll bet Undyne would love to see ya!"
They made their way inside to Undyne, who sat at her desk reading a manga. She heard footsteps, and looked for their source. She gasped, spotting Blueberry, and sprang up to run toward him.

"O-oh, my god, S-sans, w-w-we thought y-you were d-d-dead!"

"Um, I go by the name Blueberry, now. It's a nickname that was given to me by-! Oh, my stars, Error!" He and Error were supposed to watch Undernovella together and he'd forgotten all about it!

"What about him?" Ink asked.

"We were supposed to watch a movie together! I made cookies, and we found a bean bag chair, found some blankets and pillows, everything!"

Ink and Dream exchanged a look of concern, fearful that Error may have brainwashed him.
"We can't let you anywhere near him, Blueberry." Dream said.

"Wha- Why not?!"

"He could hurt you. He doesn't keep prisoners, and he might've ended up killing you if you had stayed with him any longer."

"But-"

"No, it would be safer for you to stay here. Whatever Error has told you is a lie. He's tricking you, probably to gain information about us." Dream looked at Ink and nodded. The artist nodded back, created a portal, and the two guardians hopped through, leaving Blueberry behind.

"But.... he's my friend...." Blueberry stood there, staring where they had disappeared.

In the Doodlesphere....

Ink looked through the AUs, trying to find one in particular. 'If that blank AU is destroyed, then at least we know Error's alive," he thought. Finding nothing, he let out the breath he'd been holding. Thank the stars. He definitely did not want Error dead. It would tear him up inside. He couldn't deny it anymore; he really did fall for his worst enemy. The sad part was, Error would never like him back. For too long, they'd been at each other's throats, trying to overcome the other. It's been too long to mend their relationship, if you could even call it that, but perhaps, if Blueberry was telling the truth, maybe there was a glimmer of hope. Maybe he was never in any danger in the first place. Maybe they really were gonna watch a movie together.

Like friends.

Ink felt a burning sensation in his chest he didn't recognize. He scowled, feeling frustrated and angry. What was this feeling?

He decided to blow off some steam by creating an AU. Yeah, that will calm him down. It always calms him down.

He focused- er, tried to focus, his thoughts still being clouded by the feeling in his chest, but he managed to draw up the new AU, which he named "Swapfell." 'Great,' he thought angrily. 'Another swapped universe. What is wrong with me, today?' He gritted his teeth, paced around restlessly, then decided to visit Dream. Maybe he could share some insight on how to fix his feelings. Or, at least, make sense of them.

In the Anti-Void....

About half an hour passed. Error was really enjoying spending time with who he thought was Blueberry, watching his favorite AU, especially after finding out that Ink was alive. Sure, Blueberry had left with them earlier, but he'd returned, and Error foolishly decided not to question it. Instead, he clung to the false sense of peace, hoping it wouldn't crumble, but knowing it would at some point, in one way or another.

Blue wasn't exactly interested in the AU they were "watching;" he was more interested in the multiverse as a whole, who was top dog, who was the scapegoat, where they both lived, how to get there. This information could definitely provide some leverage for him to use against Solar. For one thing, he could gain powerful allies, considering each multiverse probably had its own versions of Solar, Pale, and most likely the Meme Squad. He'd rather not stoop to the level of desperation that compelled him to seek them out, but who knows? The more the merrier, he supposed.

But first, he had to gain this skeleton's trust, and... persuade him to divulge as much information on this multiverse as possible.

(Nights: Uh, I don't like that pause...
Me: Meh, it's not as bad as you think.
Nights: Oh, thank go-
Me: It's waaaaay worse.)

He decided to try and strike up a conversation with the skeleton to learn his name, hobbies, and where his loyalties lie. Not his first choice in info gathering tactics, but he had little choice. Before he could try, though, Error stood up.

"DaMn It," he muttered. "I cAn'T sEeM tO cAtCh A bReAk. SoRrY, bLuEbErRy, I hAvE tO gO. AgAiN."

"Where to?" Blue was genuinely curious.

"To DeStRoY aNoThEr UnIvErSe? LiKe LaSt TiMe?"

Blue was a bit surprised. In his multiverse, it was Pale who would destroy unwanted universes, consuming the leftover emotions to fill the void of his soulless being. It was a good way to root out negativity, in Solar's opinion, so he made Pale his right-hand man- er, skeleton. The two of them would make a great team, if Pale actually cared enough to do his job.
"Oh, well, hurry back, then." Blue waved at Error with a bright, but fake, smile. Error noticed this, but smiled and waved back.

He made a portal to an AU called Fnaftale, an older AU the code of which was crumbling apart, making way for a new AU. He could see the code of this newer AU, called Swapfell, and it seemed to radiate anger, frustration, jealousy, and hostility. He could feel it like an enemy out to get him, as if it wanted to lash out at everything and anything in its path. He didn't have patience ti worry about it, though. His head was pounding, so he quickly made short work of the older AU. He decided it wouldn't hurt to check up on the new AU, to see what was causing its aggression, before he returned to the Anti-Void.
Hmm, probably not the smartest choice, Error.....

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Lol, Ink be a jealous boi! X3

Anyway, it is still kinda slow going, but trust me, the plot will thicken like gravy. I hope you're enjoying it, cya!