Of Soulmates and Bonds - Errorink

1. Something wicked this way comes

The Omega Timeline.

A central point of the Multiverse, where anyone can meet all kinds of beings: long gone were the days when the Omega Timeline was just an empty dimension, full of poor souls looking for a safe haven, an escape from their crumbling and lonely homes.

Over the years, the Omega Timeline evolved and blossomed into a lively nexus, a beautiful city full of eclectic architecture and, most importantly, people.

While communication between Alternate Universes (AUs for short) was incredibly easy and stable, travel was an issue: after years of studies and research from different AUs, it was established that all AUs had two fixed access points, an entry and an exit; in most AUs, they were a specific flower bed in the Ruins and the Barrier itself, but even when considering AUs in which these places didn't exist, there could only be one entry and one exit.

And even with the discovery of these special weak points in the fabric of the Multiverse, going from one AU to another was still incredibly hard: special machines had to be built in these places to allow people to travel, with great expenditure of energy. It was simply too difficult.

If it weren't for the Omega Timeline.

Thanks to its special quantum makeup (or code, as normal people called it), the Omega Timeline was easily accessible to anyone, as long as they meant no harm: you just needed to go toward the Barrier (or your corresponding exit point) and want to enter, and you were there.
You couldn't go to other AUs from the Omega Timeline, only your own, but the existence of this extraordinary place, where people could meet and touch, was enough for all, and soon everyone started contributing to its development and improvement.

Some residents were, sadly, permanent, people who no longer had a home to go to, be it because it was destroyed or because it wasn't safe for them to go back, but the majority of the inhabitants of the Omega Timeline at any given moment were simply passing through, meeting friends or wanting to live the Multiverse experience.

However, even such a happy place had its problems.

"And you think these sudden increases of negativity are your brother's fault?" CORE!Frisk asked in a neutral tone.
"I'm hoping I'm wrong, but it does seem likely." Dream looked away, pensive, and then faced the other again. "I just have... a really ominous feeling, like everything is about to change, and if my brother is involved, it's not going to be good."
"Right ya are Dreamboat!"

Both Frisk and Dream turned toward the sudden voice, to find themselves face to face with a 90s nightmare.

"Fresh! Why- What brings you here?" said Dream nervously. The parasite had always freaked the empath out, since he couldn't feel any emotion from Fresh himself, only the distress and blind panic coming from the captive soul of his host; it made him acutely aware of the danger Fresh presented, and the Guardian never felt like he could lower his guard and relax in his presence.

"Well, my radical broski and nb homie, I'm here to tell ya sum unrad news: ya right, yo brah is planning sumthing nasty." Fresh's glasses changed from YO-LO to NAS-TY. "He wanna come here in this rad place with an unfresh army and totally make himself at home." The glasses changed again to INV-ADE. "Then, he wanna do sumthing sick: he wanna mess with the Multiverse from here" they changed again to UN-RAD.
"Well that's... concerning, to say the least, but we don't have to worry. Nightmare can't enter here. Right, Frisk?" asked Dream, looking at the child. Frisk seemed suspicious.
"Why are you telling us?" they asked. "What do you get out of this?"
"Frisk? He can't enter, right?"
"Well, homie, I like this fresh Multiverse I live in, and don't wanna some goopy brah throwing off my groove, ya dig?" the glasses changed back to YO-LO. "So, watchu gonna do homie?"

The parasite and the child stared at each other for a few seconds, then Frisk, without looking away, said: "Dream, please gather as many fighters as you can in the main square. I'll come soon."

Dream looked sick, but nodded and went off.

Once the Guardian was gone, Frisk frowned at Fresh. For weeks, whenever they tried to check on Nightmare, they were unable to hear him, especially when he was talking to Fell!Science!Sans, and they knew the Guardian didn't have that kind of power. Only one kind of beings could interfere with the Multiverse on such a fundamental level, and if They were involved, it was more serious than Dream thought.

"It's about the Balance, isn't it? That's the real reason you're warning me, Chaos."
Fresh shrugged and grinned; its glasses changed to BUS-TED. "Ya a real smarty-pants, Order. Das why you're my soulmate, ya know me so well!"
Frisk pinched the bridge of their nose. "For the last time, our soulmate bond is only-"
"'-only for the sake of the Balance, They were the one to decide everything' yadda yadda, I know dawg, just teasin a bit."
The parasite then got serious, and his glasses changed to BAL-ANCE "It is Balance Business. The Highups" the glasses changed again to CREA-TORS "ain't happy about the situation. They don't wanna wait no more, so they made one heck ova plan to make them come out."
"I get it, They helped Nightmare with his plan, so that the results will be so catastrophic that I'll be forced to get Creation out of his hidey-hole. I'll go-" Fresh grabbed their arm.
"No no, homie, ya got it wrong. They wanna BOTH of dem to come out"
"Both?! Destruction is out of control-"
"And das why They made the plan. If it works like They wanna, Ink-brah and Error-brah are gonna complete the bond, and Nightlight is gonna chillax for a bit" the glasses changed to TOTES-GOOD.

Frisk exhaled deeply. "What do They want me to do? Lose? Give up? Not fight? Let the Omega Timeline get conquered?!" they got progressively more angry as they talked, furious at the Creators for putting them in such a position.
"Nah homie, how ya fight ain't gonna make a difference, They're totally sure Nightlight is gonna win this one." the glasses changed to SOR-RY.
"...And get the Omega Timeline." Frisk sounded completely disheartened. Fresh put his arm around their shoulders.
"And dat. But what you gotta do after, dat's the issue. And dat's what your radical soulmate is here for! Imma tell ya what to do!"