Do You Get It?

Fighting the Controller

The Destroyer

I would never have regretted dealing a hit at Ink before now. And my newfound peacefulness makes me hesitate. Holding my fist inches from his face after splattering it with paint. Holding it in mid air I stop.

I put my arm down. I refuse to fight anymore. Gaster realizes this and smiles down upon his game. He realizes it's now his turn. He moves his fingers in a jerky, but controlled manner. Ink's movements are robotic, but heavy with power. Flames ignite and envelope his hands, but the fire doesn't burn the strings.

White smoke wisps up into the darkness of the monster. And with a demented smile on both opponents, Ink launches the fireball at me. Aiming for the head, I bend down. I feel the heat, but there is no burn. After the first shot, he starts sending them off in rounds.

I bob, weave, and wonder. What is this monster gaining from this fight. Why does he want to control Ink?

The strings loosen on Ink and he moves forward. After realizing that I am skilled in dodging, he tries to go for a more...direct approach. His own blue strings launch forward. I fend them of with the paint brush, trying to prevent myself from being tied up. I use some of my pent up energy and channel it into the giant paint brush I had summoned. The relief I get from this is a different type of relief from knitting. But my hands stop shaking and my head starts to clear.

I get into the rhythm of launching a small attack after dodging Ink's. But I don't know how long we can keep this up before Gaster wins us all. An idea pops into my head and I act on it before I could really think.

"What are you gaining from this Gaster?" I shout through Ink. The eyes staring back at me are the ones of the monster that looms above. It makes the possession even more obvious. Expecting the tall accented monster to respond, I am shocked at what really happened.

"I am a patient man, Error." The words fall out of Ink's mouth. Now I am looking at my body, with Ink and a demented monster inside. Fear snatches at my soul as I dodge another round of strings. "I have been waiting this long for you to find me." He says, smiling.

I clench my jaw. I know what he is saying is wrong. He found us, and he knows that. "What do you want from us?" I grunt as a ball of fire clips my shoulder. I am being backed further and further into the darkness. Ink stops fighting for a moment and closes his eyes. "I want control." He says, voice echoing through the entire domain.

Ink's eyes snaps open and he launches another fire attack at me. I manage to get out of the way, but I wasn't able to prepare for what happened next. As I stood straight up after the attack, Ink's arms are held out by the strings. Blue threads of control spool from the fingers and knot themselves around my wrists. I yank back as hard as I could, but it was too late. The strings continue to wrap their way up my arms and around my ankles.

I keep throwing myself backwards, and my injured hand shouts in protest. On the verge of pulling out my arms from their sockets, my soul is encased in the strings of Gaster's control. "Why do you want to go to other dimensions?!" I scream.

The growth of strings stop and I feel myself being pulled up to Gaster's eye level. Hanging by the threads, I feel like a puppet. My life is not in my control. I am only a couple feet away from the monster's face, the endless darkness an abyss below me. I stare at him in the eyes as his unmoving mouth responds. "I want to escape this place." He says, with dreams in his eyes. "And I will make a better world for me...and all monsters." Bliss fills his face. As confusion fills mine.

He knows that I don't understand and he takes humor in that. He pulls Ink up with me, both of us in each hand of the puppeteer. I try to look Ink in the eyes, but his head hangs down. I try to swing myself over to him, but the threads stay as stiff as steel. Gaster makes the strings on my neck turn my head to face him. I fight it, but I can't even close my eyes as I stare at his deformed form.

"You have a gift Error, why do you waste it on the destruction of silly art projects?" He questions me. His accented voice a dare, a dare to answer or to stay silent. I choose silence in defiance. He takes my rebellious nature with a grain of salt and continues. "Your abilities allow you to demolish entire universes by entering the code. And with enough power, you could write your own worlds into existence..." he smiles at my body, or in this case, an unconscious Ink. He tugs at the strings and pulls Ink's soul out of his chest. I try to scream against this crime, but strings weave around my mouth.

The darkness of Gaster's form givers over Ink's soul. "The Creator may have enough power to do such a thing. His soul is whole and undamaged." He says in awe, while also simultaneously insulting me. "Were you the one to swap our bodies?" I ask angrily, through the strings. He turns his attention towards me. "You are very slow to catch on." He says, indirectly answering my question. How could he do that?

Ink's soul hovers outside of his body. If only there was a way I could wake him up. Or a way to get us out of these strings. But all I can do is distract Gaster with questions. "How are you planning on convincing Ink to create a new Universe for you?"

I don't know if he realizes I am trying to distract him or not. But at this point I don't care. All I can do is hope that Ink will wake up soon. "Oh, I don't plan on letting him have a choice." He says playing with the strings. I know this doesn't sound good, but at this point I don't know what I can do.

Gaster's eyes bleed the darkness and his strings start to pull at Ink. His head snapping up with control. A dark smile on Ink's face shows that he is truly possessed. The strings force Ink to hold out his hands and pull up the code. Ink's face looks strained as if he is fighting the control. But he has no choice, with his soul out of his chest.

I stare at the screen, hoping that it crashes with strain. But Ink's soul is enough power to keep the connection stable. I try not to give in defeat, but it is starting to feel impossible. Impossible because the odds are stacked against us.

The screen processes. We all hold our breaths. Mine in fear, Gaster's in anticipation. But luck appears to be on our side. After the screen processes we are all in shock. Like a needle in a haystack, a one in a thousand chance occurs. A one in one thousand chance that makes me realize one thing.

Nothing appears on the screen, because the Void has no code.