The Immortal Stargazer

Reality

*Warning! Suicide attempt at the end, plus depressing thoughts. Proceed with caution!*

Four hundred years later....

Inky stood at the head of the huge, rectangular table. He'd had to make a larger one to accommodate as many AUs as he could, though the effort seemed insignificant since he still couldn't fit them all. Nevertheless, he had tried, and that's what counts. He had sent the darker and more unstable Judges to Nightmare's castle, where they were holding a meeting similar to this one. Four hundred years' worth of resets, it had been that long, in which for every AU Inky created, Error destroyed ten or twenty more. Judges from every walk of life had begun to question why some of their friends were disappearing, so Inky decided it was time to inform them of the growing threat. Above the frenzied din of Judges wondering what they were for, he cleared his throat to calm them down.

"As you may be aware," he began, surveying the enormous crowd with a hopeful and confident set of his shoulders, "there have been rumors of a threat to the multiverse. Now, I don't want to alarm you, but these rumors... they are true."

Murmurs rushed through the crowd like wildfire, spreading to those in the back who couldn't quite hear properly. Most of the originals were in the front, while the copies hung out in the back, unused to being acknowledged at this scale. There were more than just the typical Sans or Papyrus too; there were Toriels and Asgores, Asriels and Charas, Frisks - who were regarded with immense suspicion by the monsters - Mettatons, Undynes, pretty much any character in existence. If Inky was interested in them, they would be put into a prominent position somewhere in the core of a universe, thus creating universes and copies with strange and unique twists. The only AUs that didn't have copies or variations were Reapertale and Dreamtale. Their respective roles in the multiverse were too important and too delicate to upset and unbalance. The irony, am I right?

Inky shushed them once again. "You're all probably wondering why I've called you here, right? Well, the Dreamtale twins and I have identified the threat, and have been trying to stop it for the last four hundred years-"

"Four hundred years?!" One Judge cried, outraged.

"Why haven't you said anything?!" Another snapped.

"What's causing this?" Yet another inquired.

"QUIET!!!" Inky yelled. He sighed, choosing his next words carefully. "We did not want to cause a multiverse-wide panic. We have figured out the threat is a black skeleton named Error. He is highly dangerous and mentally unstable. We've managed to drive him from some universes, but not all of them. It's the only way we've been able to stop him, unfortunately. We can't kill him; Nightmare and his gang have tried many times. Some of you might be skeptical of uniting our forces, but this threat, this... Error, is tougher than anything we've ever seen."

Inky sighed as the cacophony of voices rose, remembering their first attempt at killing Error. He'd been strolling through the Doodlesphere, feeling freer than he had in a long time, when he spotted shreds of paper a few feet away, disappearing within seconds. He had followed the paper trail to an AU that seemed to be in turmoil. He had made a portal into the AU, only to stop dead in his tracks and stare in complete shock at the sight that greeted him.

"I-it can't be...."

He'll never forget the smug, insane grin he received from none other than Error, as the glitch sent a torrent of strings at him. Inky had dodged, still shocked by Error's resilience. However, something had seemed... off, about Error that day. Almost as if he was weakened. Of course, he doubted an unprepared trip to Gastale and breathing in the deadly gases permeating the atmospheres of both the surface and underground was too pleasant, but it had only been a week! Surely, even with how strong Error was, he'd still be too weak or sick to move, right?!