utau oneshots

amino contest ¿

don't remember what for but it was in my docs. I just know I had to incorporate a specific set of characters for this one

A portal stumbles into Ink's workplace and interests, as he rounds up a number of party members to further investigate. But what if the intentions of whoever lies behind the gateway has something more than the group can sacrifice; more than anything they could possibly understand?

( --- )

Ink would've never saw it coming, there was no way he could. In the middle of his work he had found himself almost in a coma having been soaked up in nothing but finalizing sketches when, all of a sudden, he'd bothered to stand up for a stretch. And found a pocket universe only moments later having been birthed right then and there, or maybe it was just sitting there all this time? To think that a big, wide world expected to be stuffed into the little space and size of a tennis ball was too much to ask of it, so which explained why Ink couldn't keep his eyes off it for too long. Apart from the fact that there was something new and excited in his routine for once. But there he was, with a pocket universe just sitting there, stirring, quiet, but it's there. It's taking up space and it exists. So what better way to grasp the ideas it was hiding with a few friends? The notion itself couldn't hurt anyone, nor would it be much of a drag if he'd really do it. And so he did.

From behind the colored walls Ink painted himself, and much of his entire playground of a home, he played a game with himself to settle a simple matter. Who would he bring? He took an empty bottle, with ten entries scribbled on ten different sheets of paper, whereas he will only take six. There was no reason why, the reader just doesn't know why Ink likes the number six. He spun the bottle and received the following people in order: Alphys, Temmie, Dream, Melon, Blue, and Asriel.

It was important not to have any possibly murderous characters hitched onto their investigation. Ink thinks it's not so hard to guess why.
He slung his collection of paints over one shoulder and stood up proudly. Then, looked to a can of pink paint. Mumbling something incoherently to himself about this having to be more messy than it needs to be, Ink kicks the bucket of paint onto a plain area on the floor and jumps in - marking both his newly drawn carpet and the search for his investigator friends.

-=-

An inconceivable amount of time later, they formed a line behind the portal and went inside. Having expected anything at all to nothing much, it still shocked every one of them. Ink had never told them to stay together and didn't need to, not with them separated behind walls. Blue, Dream, and Alphys were the first ones to call out. And, thankfully, the distance between one another wasn't too horrible. It was just one wall behind another following along like a line of straightened dominos in a maze whitewashed with different patterns on the walls. What one teammate saw was different from the others.

Something lingered in the air, the group began their walk to the end.

Alphys was overcome with anxiety as she was covering ground in the narrow hallway. Usually, her workspaces were open-ended and not at all having to go to the point of exceeding her claustrophobia. But, really, this was a mess. Now even the halls themselves were starting to look right, twisting a corner this way and that. This wasn't any regular hallway. It was starting to lose its shape. But probably because the hallway wasn't made of what people mostly perceived it as: paint, concrete, and drywall... no, from head to toe and onwards Alphys was walking inside human-sized vents.

Which could also possibly explain the constant twitching and groaning she was hearing.

Much later into the pursuit of things we visit Temmie and Melon entering the land of their every dream come rotten. If one or the other liked sweets, there weren't any. If one or the other favored ten flakes, they were gone. A true horror to our two characters, wouldn't you say?

Dream was paving his way through a patch of grass, growing strong but with no source of where the sunlight or water was coming from. Every wall was packed with dirt. Real, authentic dirt and it felt like Dream was the walking corpse. Wait, that wasn't right. Since when did he let in these negative thoughts? Dream's eyes became glossed over in thought for once, as the heaviness in his chest grew even heavier.

With Asriel, a spacious castle border on all fours was his area of exploration and a path of red carpet at his feet. Asriel couldn't tear himself away from the fact that some rooms were a dead-on copy of his own castle and some were just nostalgic. But when he tried taking a step outside to have a feel for the artifacts the illusion broke loose. When he saw what really lay around the carpet he choked back a loud whimper and continued walking forward even faster. It was best not to see the severed parts of his family and friends stalking the place, consumed in a shadow of scratches and mistakes. Where there were holes leaked white liquid with the pace and density of blood. Their only way of communicating came through how hard they dragged their feet across the floor, given they had any. But as fast as Asriel was blazing through the snaking path he couldn't shake the pictures out of his head...

Another hallway somewhere out in the universe, Blue was coping with the same, unsettling fear. And with the mystery in mind, it was agonizing to have the pieces come so slowly into place. So far it's been nothing but creepy corridors and puzzles (much of what everyone else has been dealing with). Yet, striding up to the next dead end, he couldn't fight the chill that shot down his spine. This is new, Blue thought. A vault door took up the space of two lockers, encrypted in lines and symbols he didn't have enough patience to understand. Blue tried tapping at it, then running his finger through the code.
Nothing as much as a breath left his mouth, and he listened.

If there was any wind from earlier, now it was picking up. Blue placed his hand on the writing. His eyes snapped shut on their own.

Ever so softly did he prod himself awake again and pushed into the door, missing the fact that his consciousness was in a slumber at the time, except for a splitting pain from his body and soul as if they would split.

But then the door was opening to push Blue in the gap. He went inside but his body was falling flat past the doorway.

Ink was certain he heard a thud right above him. He didn't know there was something going on above him at all, the only people he actually brought came from the left and right of him, but it's only been as much noise as his own feet on the ground taking him away. This universe was almost like the Anti-Void Error complained about. It was blank, it was quiet , and it was forever expanding in all directions (in one direction, given the narrow labyrinth everyone was investigating).