Error woke up the next morning, feeling warm and safe. He opened his eyes to see Ink still sleeping soundly, his arms wrapped around Error's body securely. Error sighed and snuggled closer, smiling contentedly.

Light began creeping in from the window, showing that it was about six or seven in the morning. Error didn't want to get up, so he pressed his head to Ink's chest, listening to the creator's soul beat. After awhile, Error opened his eyesockets again and looked around. He froze and his eyelights shrunk when he saw a figure standing above them.

Fresh.

The Virus' sinister smile widened as he knelt down, and Error began shaking. Fresh put a finger to his mouth, silently telling Error to stay quiet, and summoned a sharp, daggerlike bone. Error watched in unbridled terror as the Virus slowly raised the bone, positioning it to strike.

"NO!!!" Error struggled out of Ink's grip, then shot some bones at Fresh. The Virus teleported away, and the bones missed their mark, instead shattering the window. That woke everyone up, and Error pulled his knees to his chest, shaking in fear.

"What the shitballs?!" Dust cried, bolting up from his sleeping bag with a groggy Horror rubbing his tired eyes.

"What happened...?" Horror mumbled, still trying to wake himself up.

Cross jumped up, his knife at the ready, and turned in every direction to identify the threat. Finding none, he groaned and sat down, laying his knife across his lap and resting his chin in his hands.
"I didn't ask for an alarm...."

Dream and Blueberry screamed as they woke up, clinging to each other in fear. Nightmare and Killer did too, and the couples smirked at one another in amusement.

Ink was the last one up, feeling almost hungover from last night. He sat up and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck to work out the knots from sleeping on the floor. He gasped when he saw the state Error was in, and crawled over to him.

"Error! What's wrong? What happened?" he asked, keeping his voice lowered almost to a whisper to avoid upsetting him further. Error just curled in on himself more, beginning to mutter to himself.
"He knows, he knows, he knows, he knows, he knows, he knows, he knows, he knows, he knows, he knows-"

Ink carefully pulled Error towards him, resting the glitchy skeleton's head on his shoulder and slowly rubbing his shoulder to soothe him.
"It's ok, it's ok, shh shh shh, it's alright. You're ok. You're safe...."

Error's breath hitched, and he hid his face in Ink's chest. Ink hugged him close, rocking him gently and humming a soft, familiar tune. After a few minutes, he spoke.

"Can you tell me what's wrong, Error?"

Error breathed in shakily, then looked up at Ink. The creator smiled reassuringly, and Error looked down.

"I-I.... I saw Fresh.... Here...."

Nightmare scoffed when he heard that.
"Yeah right! He's never come here, not even to find you, so what makes you think he'd dare set foot in my castle?"

Ink glared at him.
"Let Error explain. I'm sure he has good reason to believe it was Fresh."

Error began shaking again. How did Fresh even know he was here?! How did he know how to get here in the first place?! How did he know to look here??!!!

The questions swirled around in his skull, giving him a headache. Finally, he looked up, and everyone was staring at him. He had started to glitch out, and Ink held him closer to him to try and break him out of a potential panic attack. Error sighed, then sat up.

"S-sorry for waking you all up. I... I must've been seeing things...."

IT'S OK, FRIEND ERROR!" Blueberry said cheerfully, bouncing to his feet and running off to the kitchen. "THE MAGNIFICENT SANS SHALL MAKE BREAKFAST BURRITOS FOR EVERYONE!"

Dream laughed and followed his partner into the kitchen. "I'll help!"

Everyone else got up to get dressed, but Error and Ink stayed in the living room. Error rested his chin on his knees, gulping down the lump of tears forming in his throat. Ink noticed that Error was unnervingly quiet, so he scooted closer.

"Error?" The glitchy skeleton looked up, tears pricking at the corners of his eyesockets. Ink lifted his chin higher and planted a brief kiss on his lips.
"If there's anything you want to tell me, please do. I'm here for you, and I want to see you happy. Genuinely happy. Ok?"

Ink grinned at him, and he grinned back. Ink lowered his eyelights to Error's mouth, and his eyelights changed to a purple heart and a pink oval. Error gulped, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. Ink leaned in closer, and their lips met. Error sighed happily, reaching his hand up and resting it on Ink's cheek, pulling him closer.

They heard snickering, and broke off the kiss. They looked to the doorway to find Nightmare, Killer, Dream, and Blueberry giggling and trying to hide their smiles. Blueberry had his phone out, probably either recording or taking a picture, and Dream was smiling gleefully.

Ink stood up and marched over to the doorway, and the four ran away, laughing and screaming in mock terror. Ink huffed and rolled his eyelights, returning to comforting Error.

... ... ...

The rest of the weekend flew by quickly. Nothing of interest happened, except that Ink announced to everyone that he and Error were official together, now. Error went with it, but his anxiety increased. Every night, he stayed awake, apprehensively waiting for Fresh to appear again. He never did, so Error was relieved.

But suspicious.

How did Fresh figure out that he and Ink were in Nightmare's castle? Did somebody tip him off? It could've been Stretch, since he likely doesn't know that Fresh isn't on the Stars' good side, anymore. Although, the chances of that seemed slim. Stretch wouldn't have sent the Virus off to somewhere his brother was, knowing that since he was soulless, he could hurt Blueberry without regretting it. Then who could it have been? The only other person who knew about this was....

ScienceTale Papyrus!

Error made a portal to ScienceTale after telling Ink he wanted to get something from Sci. Ink was curious, but accepted it, allowing Error to leave. Error quickly walked up to Sci's house and knocked on the door.

No answer.

He tried again, fear eating at his soul.

Still no answer.

He busted the door down easily, not caring about who or what he found.
"SCI???!!!" he yelled, racing upstairs, first. He searched the two bedrooms, but found nothing. "PAPYRUS!!!" He ran back down the stairs, going into the kitchen, and stopped short.

On the floor was Papyrus' coat and goggles.

Covered in dust.

Error stumbled back and hit the wall, sliding down to the floor. Tears welled up in his eyesockets, and his lips quivered. He couldn't help but stare at the remains of one of his closest and dearest friends, and he suddenly screamed. He screamed out in agony, holding his head in his hands, lamenting the loss of his friend.

He didn't know how long he sat there, crying. When he could cry no more, he stood up shakily, and stumbled out of the room. He went down to Sci's lab, hoping to every greater power there is that he wouldn't find that another of his friends had met a similar fate. His hope was for nothing, for he found Sci's clothes sitting in a pile next to his chair. There was a pile of dust a little farther away, and Error's brows snapped together in confusion.

A pile of dust, and a pile of clothes.

Why aren't they closer together?

Error studied the pile of dust closer. It had been disturbed, as if someone or something had been digging in it. Why any sane monster would ever want to dig in dust was beyond Error, since even he knew not to disturb the dead. He looked over at Sci's clothes, trying to wrap his mind around why something didn't feel right.

Suddenly, it hit him. Fresh! That Virus had to have learned Error and Ink's location somehow, and Papyrus was the only one who knew about the plan. Error held a hand to his head, more tears spilling down his cheeks as he realized he'd put his friends in danger, and that had cost them their lives.

He stormed out of the house, a frankly terrifying scowl on his face. That cursed Virus! He will pay for this! He didn't get far before ScienceTale Undyne approached him. He growled at her, and she growled back.

"Hey, freak! What'd you do with Papyrus? He didn't show up for demolition practice!" she aimed the rail gun she had strapped to her back at him, intending to fire. He turned to face her, and held up his hands in surrender.

"I didn't do anything to him, but I know who did. And trust me, when I find that worthless parasite, I will fucking murder him!"

With that, Error fell backwards into a portal, landing gracefully in the Anti-Void. He looked around and sighed, walking over to his old, ripped beanbag chair. He used to sit and watch UnderNovela until he fell asleep, and the memories made him smile faintly. But then, like finding a spider in your bed, the memory of seeing Papyrus' dust came back, and he plopped down on the beanbag in sorrow. He decided to sit here and wait, knowing that Fresh would come looking for him if he stayed in one place long enough. It worked before, so it will work again.

His patience paid off sooner than he thought, because the Virus appeared ten minutes later. Fresh sauntered over to him in his devil-may-care type of attitude, not a care in the world, acting as if he hadn't murdered two people Error was close to, and had attempted to kill one more.

"Well, howdy-doo there, Error broski! What's shakin'?"

Error stood up quickly, and marched straight up to him. He noticed that Fresh was shorter than him now, about the same height as Sci now that he thought about it. He was further infuriated by Fresh's carefree smile, as if he wasn't facing the most dangerous mass murderer in the multiverse, one who was now emotionally unstable from losing two of his friends.

"Alright, you soggy neon sock," Error snarled. "I'm gonna kill you for what you did."

Fresh's smile widened, and he tilted his head casually to the right.
"Aw, dat's just unradical of ya, brah. An' here I thought we be da best o' brosephs!"

Error snapped his fingers, summoning a wall of bones around Fresh, and readied a gaster blaster to fry him. Fresh just shook his head in amusement, making Error growl in frustration.

"C'mon, brah. Ya know ya wouldn't hurt ya buddy, Sci, wouldja?"

Error hesitated. No. There's no fucking way. Sci was dead!

"Heh, yeah, if ya started destroyin' like I toldja, then I woulda had somebody else ta go to. When Inky brah creates, it gives lil ol' me a whole supermarket o' options ta choose whose body ta take over. But now dat ya stopped wit' yer destroyin' days, and Inky brah wit' his creatin' days, I can't get a decent host. So's we gotta fix dat, k, brah? Otherwise... I'll haveta take a more... permanent host."

Fresh smirked evilly, and Error almost fired. He didn't care that Fresh had Sci's body, now. It didn't matter. He would've been dead either way. And Error could end it all right now. All he had to do was let the blaster fire....

"Go ahead, brah," Fresh said lowly. "Take da shot. Sci'll thank ya, if he don't die immediately, heh."

Error's hand began shaking, and he squeezed his eyesockets shut. He had to do this. He had to! Just one more body, one more death on his hands... Then he could be free! Just take the shot....

But he couldn't. Killing wasn't his job anymore. And he wasn't sure he even could kill Fresh. It's not like he hasn't tried; the Virus just keeps reappearing, no matter how many bones Error throws at him, no matter how many times he's blasted him, no matter how many fucking times he's tried to escape Fresh only for him to follow him everywhere and torture him for fun. Error desummoned the blaster, his head lowered in shame.

Fresh teleported out of the wall of bones, landing right next to Error. The glitchy skeleton jerked away, but Fresh grabbed his jacket.

"Listen, broski. Start destroyin' this time, and I won't haveta go lookin' fer a host in one o' yer precious buddies. Pfft, can ya imagine? Tentacle brah as mah host? Hizzity hilarious, broski!"

Error tore out of his grip and shot a barrage of bones at him, but he teleported out of the way. Error roared out in anger, shooting bones and firing blasters in every direction, until he collapsed to his knees. Fresh appeared behind him, resting his hands on Error's shoulders.

"Time ta do ya job, Error broski. Dis body won't last long, and I'll be searchin' fer a new one pretty quick. So's get to it, brah."

With that, the Virus teleported away, leaving Error alone. He curled up into a ball, crying his eyesockets out. He lost two friends and his freedom in a single day. How pathetic.

For a brief moment, he actually considered going to Ink. They could lay a trap for Fresh, capture him, then kill him. But he knew it would never work. Fresh could see a trap coming a mile away, and he could pick off Error's friends one by one, until there was no one else to use as bait.

Finally, Error got up. He didn't want to do this. He hated himself for this. But he opened a portal to a copy of UnderLust, and began destroying everything in it. He ripped the code apart, returning to the Anti-Void after making sure the AU was destroyed.

His soul heavier than before, he went on a killing spree, taking out most of his frustration and anger and hate for himself on the AUs he devastated. He needed time to figure something out. And he had to do it, alone.

Meanwhile, with Fate and Destiny....

"Uh, was this part of the plan?" Fate asked, turning to her brother. Destiny frowned and shook his head.

"No. That damn parasite has been such a pain to deal with. I'll have to ask Grace to help us-"

Fate gasped and grabbed Destiny before he could leave.
"No! We can't bother them! They'll get mad at us!"

Destiny raised a brow, but continued walking.
"It's fine. We'll just explain the situation, and they'll see that we could use some guidance. Or would you prefer bothering Mercy as well?"

Fate pouted before shaking her head. Destiny nodded in satisfaction, and the two headed to a meadow of red and white poppies. They looked for the two deities that normally frequent the meadow, and found them having a picnic near a large lake. They were feeding bread crumbs to a couple of large, golden-feathered swans.

Destiny walked up to them and bowed, catching their attention.
"I hope we are not interrupting you."

Grace smiled and shook their head.
"Of course not! Come, sit."

Fate gulped nervously, and Destiny led her to sit next to the two deities. These two were more or less the parents of the rest of the deities, as Fate was their eldest, and Destiny second in line. They didn't keep too strict an eye on their children's doings, but when something went wrong, they usually stepped in to set things to rights. They regulated the multiverse they had control over, as part of an agreement between the deities and another, more powerful race. They liked to keep order so the other race wouldn't take their prestige away from them, and often would have to meddle in the affairs of the multiverse to keep it in order.

Mercy sipped his tea, eying Destiny with an amused look. Grace poured tea for Fate and Destiny, and the two siblings sat silently sipping their tea before Destiny spoke.

"As you may have noticed, this isn't a casual visit," he took another sip of tea, glancing to his side where his sister sat anxiously.
"We have... run into a slight problem in the mortal worlds-"

"I'm sorry!" Fate suddenly burst out, tears almost spilling down her cheeks.
"I messed everything up! I should've been more careful, and I should've tried harder to give Inky a warning, b-but... I failed, and now everything's going downhill, and I don't know what to do, and neither does Destiny, and-"

"Hush, my dear," Grace shushed their daughter, a sweet and serene smile on their face. "It is alright. We forgive you."

Fate looked up, and wiped her cheeks. Destiny put a hand on her shoulder in comfort, then turned to his parents.
"What can be done?"

Grace's brows furrowed neatly above their eyes, and they turned to Mercy. Mercy lowered his eyes, then turned to his children.

"As much as I would like to give the parasite another chance, I'm afraid his actions have turned selfish. I have already contacted your brother Entropy to take his abomination out of the equation. His twin Harmony will work to balance things out, but you and Fate will have to settle things with your children to keep them under control. I would hate for... you know who, to come and do things his way. He could decide your multiverse isn't worth saving, and massacre everyone in it. Understand this, my children: the outcome of this rides entirely on you two, and you will decide if your multiverse lives or dies."

Fate and Destiny exchanged looks, but nodded solemnly. Grace reached over and squeezed their daughter's hand.
"I believe you can do it, my dear. You both can. There is no better team than when Destiny and Fate work together."

They smiled that beautiful smile, and their children smiled back. They both stood, and bowed to their parents.

"We won't let you down!" Fate exclaimed, tugging at Destiny's arm. He laughed, and the two set off to save their multiverse.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Uh, welp-

Here's another chapter. I dunno where the inspiration came from, but here you go.

Anyway, it's kinda strange to have Fate and Destiny answering to someone else, isn't it? In this subgenre, they are usually seen as the top dogs, but not even their parents are entirely in charge. Weird, huh? If you're wondering who "you know who" is, I ain't tellin'. You're free to interpret that any way you want :)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Cya!