Binded Love

Hostages

A horrible and sick feeling twisted the insides of Core's stomach. How could have Ink found them so quickly? No traces were left behind from their codes since they left no damage on any of the inhabitants here. Ink merely chuckled, swinging his brush from behind his back. Then it suddenly occurred to Core - the artist skeleton was much more intelligible than they thought. He had been friends with Core all this time, that he had literally pre-determined which alternate universe she was most likely to jump in - if ever caught in a sticky situation. Error brought out his blasters within a heartbeat, channeling his blast at Ink himself; who quickly evaded it by jumping up onto the battered-out ceiling and bouncing off of it towards Error with a sharpened bone. 

The bone pinned Error's blue scarf to the wall to which he ripped it in an instant to escape Ink's deathly slash. "Tsk, tsk. Always so impatient." Ink sighed, throwing the bone to the side as it landed with a clatter. "Give it up Error. You've lost." Core, who had been analyzing the fight; jumped in suddenly and grabbed the bone that Ink threw, hoisting it up near Ink's neck as a threat. 
However, Ink laughed; staring at Core with nothing emotive in those dim eyes of his. It was almost like he found this whole situation comical - a joke that Core had the inability to kill someone. Heck, even injuring someone would cause her immense guilt. "You're going to hurt me? Fine. Go ahead." He said confidently, with an ignorant smirk that could cause anger in anyone. Core's eyeless sights did not leave Ink's admiring gaze at her, though it did cause her to tremble slightly when she nudged the weapon closer to his neck. Though the three of them were all immortal, only Ink and Error could be killed physically. Core could be 'killed' and come back multiple times. 

If she ended his life right here and now, it would be a good deed for everyone. But her morales stood in the way so much it felt like an impending doom. Finally, her arm loosened up, slowly lowering the weapon. "No! What are you doing? You're letting him get what exactly what he wants! Just kill him! " Error shouted, managing to stand up though the pain in his left abdomen was inexplicably annoying. Ink grinned, crushing the weapon beneath his feet and ignoring Error, as though he wasn't there. "See? You're nothing but a charming little lady who isn't able to bring unhappiness." Error definitely hated to be ignored, so he shot out his blue strings in an attempt to capture Ink. The blue cords shot out quicker than the sound of music, but Ink grabbed it mid-air, pulling out the scissors from his belt and slicing off a chunk of what he needed. 
Core, who foresaw this certain passageway of the future; tried to evade it by using the table as a shield, but Ink had already wrapped her limbs bound by the powerful strings. "I am not a prize to be won, and I belong to no one!" She yelled, her void-like eyes slanted downwards in a pissed-off manner, staring at Ink as well as Error with hatred. She was simply sick of these two fucked up skeletons whom used her as a coping method with their own screwed-up issues. Ink clearly believed that having Core would solve his whole no-emotion problem; and Error trusted that if Core was with him, he would never be lonely again. And as much as she was charmed by them, if she had ever gotten in a relationship with either of them, the toxicity of the relationship would not end well. They needed to solve their own issues before pushing it onto others. "So please stop this nonsense. I don't want to get involved with either of you. You two both are broken. I can't fix you if I'm that way too. So let me go." 

"Oh but look, I've caught you." Ink said, dangling the end bit of the string he was holding onto. With the last amount of power Error had inside of him, he snapped his fingers and aimed the blaster in front of Ink. The artist skeleton pushed Core into the Doodlesphere, along with himself jumping into it. The rip of time closed before Error could climb in as well - which only resulted in his frustration. He banged the wall one good hit to relieve some angst, and was now left alone in a universe that was almost torn to pieces by its own inhabitants. "Fuck!" He growled, breathing for a moment to regain his composure. The look that Core gave him before she disappeared was not only aggravating, but her final words were also ringing in his nonexistent ears noisily. 

"I am not a prize to be won, and I belong to no one!" 

"I don't want to get involved with either of you."

"You two are both broken. I can't fix you if I'm that way too."

Error clutched the torn part of his left side, mumbling incoherently while the thoughts that bubbled over his head tried to drown each other out. What the heck did she mean? One minute she was leading him on, and the next she's terribly upset. Humans were complicated creatures that he didn't seem to understand. But the thing was, he had made up some of the scenarios in his head. Not completely; but just over-romanticized it. It had been a long time since someone had been so careful and shown compassion to him that he didn't think straight. The rose-tinted glasses he had been looking through was now faded away. He had realized that what she meant was that they were both as equally mentally deranged as she was. They depended on her as some sort of plug for happiness that they mistreated her more as an item instead of a being. He didn't notice this because he had never deeply thought about how he admired her - just the shallow part of it. 
And now he had screwed everything up. He was going to be eaten by loneliness again. Error was going to give up just like this because of his own idiocy. But that was fine with him. He didn't need Core. In fact, this whole complication was just silly. Unfortunately, Error did not realize that this was the first stage of his grief: Denial. He was going to live his life normally as he would. Probably should go terrorize some universes out of spite. Error opened up a portal and stepped inside of it. Since he didn't know how to access the Doodlesphere, the best thing he could do for now was ignore that this situation had happened as much as it hurt. He tucked his skeletal hands in his pockets, closing the portal behind him. 

...Yeah. He was going to be alright. At least, that's what he thought. There were blue-colored tears dripping down his cheeks without him noticing. All he knew was that his chest was being squeezed tightly from some invisible force. He had nothing else to do now that Core was stripped away from his life. A tiny voice entered his head. "You're really going to give up just like last time?" 

"...Shut up."  

Side note:
This is one of the chapters where this book has taken a more serious approach at things. Relationships are hard to deal with especially when loved ones are dealing with mental illnesses or traumatic events. I've tried incorporating the reality of how someone might react to be materialized as a usage of source as happiness. In order for it to work, both of the people in the relationship need to learn to respect themselves and others first. 

Author's note:
I am terribly sorry for not updating. There were a few complications in my household, and I've just finished summer school. I can't go into details, but something personal had happened and the good news is, I'm recovering from it physically and emotionally. I hope you all understand, thank you for your patience. What I would appreciate is not nagging me about updates, (which I will do in the span of 2 weeks for each chapter.) I already have enough stress at home, so it'd be a great help if you could just bear a little with me. Thanks^^

- Bored Author