Scrubbing Out the Stains

Chapter 1

The multiverse could feel the Balance shifting ever so slightly. Destruction waning as Creation went nearly unchecked. It appeared that the Destroyer was preoccupied with something, the multiverse faintly mused. He wasn't going at the pace that he did before. Unfortunately, this decrease in speed is not acceptable with the near constant rate the Creator was going at.

They could weaken the Creator's power, but with the balance already reaching a fragile state from the Destroyer's current condition, there could be... unfortunate side effects for the AUs. Furthermore, the AUs the multiverse contained were all made by the Creator, it would be difficult to keep them running if the originator were to be weakened or killed.

The multiverse needed to do something. The deities weren't doing anything about this problem and there weren't any other Destroyers to continue the duties of the current one.

They then noticed various powerful beings based off of an original being from the first Universe it housed, including the Creator and Destroyer. The original had been given a small portion of power from Karma, and that was influential enough that he had various alternate versions of himself aware of the other AUs existences, including himself.

The multiverse decided to follow this trend, basing their soon to be child off a powerful individual will surely help with their purpose.

Scanning through the diverse AUs they housed, they copied certain codes that they thought beneficial for their child and carefully molded the being.

They needed to know about the workings of the multiverse, the balance, the paths available, the residents. They needed to know how to fight to defend themself. They needed to be able to take on the role of Creation or Destruction, a failsafe if the current ones ever fell. They needed to be outside of anyone's influence. All these characteristics that needed to be implemented took time for the multiverse.

The concept of time was somewhat fleeting as they tinkered with their child. Time only affected the multiverse with the AUs birthed or destroyed, as well as growing in size. It could have been years, minutes, or even seconds for the multiverse during these moments.

In between the AUs, a new life was born without anyone's knowledge except for their creator.

—

In a space of darkness, a skeleton rose from a capsule. They looked at their hands with a hazy stare. Their consciousness waking with the method and purpose of their birth.

They were created for the Balance of the multiverse. They were needed for Destruction, though unable to rid of entire AUs like the Destroyer was able to do, they were needed to clean up the messes the Creator was leaving behind.

Yes, that was an apt description for their current job in just a few sentences.

They gripped the sides of the capsule and hauled themself upwards. Their bones unstable from just becoming Awake.

Their skull felt like it was being beaten up by the waves of the ocean as it rose to high tide. As magic swirled through their body, faded memories of lives they never knew coursed through their skull like skittering animals in a tide pool. It felt like they had a life before, though only faint impressions. Though they knew this was false, their coding was made up of others all mashed up together and altered into the being they are now. They were just a newborn in the body of an adult for a job.

A low chuckle echoed in the space of white, clipping ever so slightly with something lacking in their Soul. A frown appeared on the skeleton's face. Though they had all of the necessary coding for their role, it appears that their creator forgot some aspects of other additional matters.

Oh well, it's time to figure out a way to not be bare bones.

—

(A/N: I can't believe I'm being dragged back into the Undertale fandom in 2022)

Published: September 4, 2022