Note: This is an Advanced Literate Roleplay between me and Shouta that I really enjoyed the beginning scene of! It does have some angst and mild fighting though, so don't expect any Error x Ink (although I ship it and that was the point of our rp, they obviously won't love each other right off lol). With that in mind, there may be some typos. I hope you like it though! I'm the one playing as Ink and Shouta was Error if any of you are curious lol
Art Credit: Mr. FrankCan
Ink couldn't think properly. Not in an Au like this.
And... he was both sure and confused why he was defending the empty space so much. Something he couldn't quite remember or grasp.
It seemed like the Au creator had made the characters a long time ago with only scraps of story and setting to really make a world, so the characters just wondered around a mostly empty area. All hoping for more. Redesigns maybe. Rewrites of their story. They all blinked in confusion. What were they even supposed to do, seeing the two skeletons who suddenly invaded their home fighting so hard in the mostly white space around them? It was terrifying of course, but not anything they wanted to interfere with.
Ink couldn't take his colored eyes off them. Especially the alternative version of himself. He was scared by how the owner of the world had given up completely on it. He could feel why- they thought it was a worthless idea. Something that should just remain abandoned.
In that case... why protect it so much? Why protect worlds like these? He wouldn't be able to feel much from them and it just reminded him of how.. useless he could really be sometime. Even if he did accept every feeling, it wasn't exactly uplifting or motivating for when he needed to save more worlds.
But he needed something to believe in, so he could feel. He needed to save the universes. He needed to keep going so he didn't end up like another scrapped and forgotten piece of paper.
He didn't have another soul to rip apart.
Ink kept splashing color everywhere, hoping to create something of his own to make up for the lack of, well, anything, while dodging anything that came his way. But it was growing harder and harder.. he couldn't think like this.. but he couldn't fail them either. At this rate Ink was painting much more than attacking or defending himself.
Error had only continued throwing his attacks, dodging almost every attack thrown at him. While some hit him, most didn't. He had been paying pretty close attention the the other before him, thinking off all the possibilities to take the other out.
That had been when he noticed the other slowing down with the attacks and becoming rather distracted. Now, he didn't know why, but he didn't care about why either.
He had taken advantage of this and only threw more attacks, seeming to have been much more determined then before. He was finally going to find a way to get rid of that stupid anomaly once and for all.
Error grinned in victory as he could already feel that he had been going to win. He didn't care about Ink, not even at the slightest. Or so he thought. He didn't really pay attention to his feelings all that often since he knew that it'd distract him from his job. He was finally going to get Ink out of his way so he could finish what he needed.
He wanted Ink out of his way once and for all. He had been pretty determined too. He eventually made a bone wall to both sides of Ink, having blocked any exit, other than going backwards, but that had been part of his plan. He had trapped Ink, and continued to throw attacks to Ink couldn't escape and would eventually get hit.
Ink glanced at Error occasionally but kept trying as much as he could to create anything the alternate universe could become something with. Something more than what it was. He was only dodging now though.
And it was becoming much more of a problem.
What was impressive was how he had dodged nearly every attack so far, but his clothing was getting torn up. Ink felt fear rise when he saw the bones blocking his path and his breath caught, purple showing in his eyes now. He moved much faster backwards but he STILL decided to take a chance at painting up something else-
His scarf caught on one of the bones and he got hit.
Pain was an interesting feeling to him. Well, maybe not as much of a feeling as a reaction to being harmed. And it was really strong this time. Ink cried out and saw everything flash black for a second, falling back in the process. That blackness was his own "blood" obscuring everything a second. Or him almost going unconscious. Either way it wasn't good.
The artist tried sitting up immediately but felt that same pain again and an intense red and purple flashed in his gaze. He was trying to look for Error now, breathing quickly. Honestly he was hoping he'd see the other, so he could know what was happening in the middle of everything.
Error obviously grinned as he hit Ink, chuckling out evilly. He had made sure to walk over pretty slowly, wanting to build up the fear in Ink.
He could care less if Ink were in pain. He only continued to walk slowly, once he got over to Ink, he stepped on Ink's chest.
He had then summoned two bones and pierced them through Ink's arms, grinning at Ink. It was in a way that seemed as though he'd won.
He wanted to see the fear on Ink's face and watch it get so much worse in the last minutes. He wanted to see Ink beg for mercy and not get it.
He just pressed down on Ink's chest with his foot and stared at him, not saying a single word. He didn't due this so the fear would rise.
He had begun laughing after a bit as he found amusement seeing Ink in pain. He had been laughing like a complete maniac now.
Ink was surprised at the.. very strange relief he had seeing him. So he wasn't dead or anything. Or wasn't about to be. Error wasn't fuzzy looking anyway. But there were a lot of sparks. Stars, in a way.
Error was partially getting his wish though, because Ink tensed when the other arrived and tried pulling away again, only to wince and stop himself. Once Error stepped on him though, bright purple mixed with blue flicked back and forth over him and then the bones he summoned. Even more pain was burning into his arms. He wouldn't fully complain though. It was something he was sensing. Just because it was bad didn't mean Ink didn't accept it. He just held in any noise as it happened.
He was hoping he wouldn't die though.. if that was even possible. Ink never exactly tried it out, but he didn't think it would work too well.
Soon that dismay and fear had turned into a blank expression with a slow fanged smirk spreading as more inky blood flowed out of his arms. He didn't stop looking at Error the entire time. "Ha... good luck killing a soulless being. Even if you do kill me.. you know you'll never be able to win this, right? What's easier, making something.. or destroying something? They.. don't always need me to make their worlds and be happy." His smile fell and blue met Error's face again. Deep blue. "..But.. you know.. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't kill me...? Or destroy this world?" He looked up tiredly. "I mean, if there's actually no point to me doing this anyway so you may as well, right? But I wish you wouldn't." It wasn't exactly the terror the other was looking for but Ink was definitely at a low point. He did essentially call what he did useless in the end, in front of him, no less.
Finally though, he did seem much more panicked, and actual ink flooded his eyes when he smiled up at the other. Ink was contradicting himself when he spoke, but that just showed how all over the place his thinking was in his situation. "C-come on, who's going to give you your job of destroying worlds if you don't? They need me too.. and I need to feel everything else there is. Like- um- defeat! Yep!" He laughed, but he didn't sound happy now at all. "Error- at least- please think about it at least- I'm not disappearing, I'm not-"
Error just sort of listened. While Ink was right, he could care less about if he needed Ink to be alive to do his job. If anything, he hated it. He hated all those stupid anomalies, but he hated actually killing them.
He wanted everybody else to feel alone, like he had for years. He hated the fact that Ink was right too. Though, instead of accepting it, he pressed further down on Ink's chest.
"I'd zip it if I were you. You're not in the best situation to be talking. Or even laughing at that."
He then chuckled out after a moment. He moved his foot and stepped out of Ink's sight.
"Maybe I could just destroy everything while you're like this, and leave you here, alone. Leave you here to rot. Or I could just kill you off right now, painless and easy.."
He had obviously noticed that Ink felt a sense of comfort when he was in sight, so that had been why he moved.
"Or perhaps I could kill you slowly, limb by limb. Oh, decisions, decisions. I can't decide."
He had paced around Ink, knowing he won, but the victory just didn't feel right. He didn't know why. He hated Ink and wanted the artist gone, but didn't want that either.
He made a 'tch' sound, eventually stopping completely out of sight.
"You just want to stay alive so you can continue protecting these stupid glitches and to continue fighting me, making my job harder. Plus, what's the point in staying alive if you can't feel real emotions? I think its stupid honestly. You don't actually think of how others feel, you just want to keep them alive for your entertainment. Am I wrong?"
Ink flinched again but looked up challengingly at Error until he couldn't see him. Every word went dry as he began to sit up, and let out a strained groan. That definitely wasn't happening. Ink crashed back down and looked up, more stars fading in and out. Error's voice was clear though. That first sentence definitely had him in a small state of panic again. Sometimes he just couldn't hide what he was "feeling," because he didn't want to suppress it.
"..Dream would find me, at the very least." He was killer bluffing though. Dream needed positivity to actually get to Ink, and it would be very hard for him to conjure up something for his friend in any of those situations.
That last part was what probably hit the hardest and he had to actually close his eye sockets so that more ink didn't just drip out. Of course he was this sensitive, he had just taken his vials before he had gone off to fight. That sadness was fake anyway.. he was meaningless.
Still, Ink tried to look for Error when he had it in him to actually open up and look around again. "..The point is I might remember where I came from someday. I at least had SOME desire.. it's why I started collecting the colors to feel everything I lost again when I didn't have it. And someone gave me those. Someone cared enough to create me. I shouldn't just.. give up." That small tired smile came back. "You know, sometimes you make me as close to jealous as I can get, with how you feel actual things. But I make other people feel genuinely positive things when I save their worlds too, you know? It doesn't matter how genuine it is. What have YOU mostly done? Destroyed everything they loved? You really do that when you know there's someone out there who destroyed YOUR home or whatever you had before this?" His face hardened. "Even I know I had something before this, I think.. I had to have. You had to have as well. So why get rid of every other chance for a home out there?!"
Error watched Ink, glaring, though, he froze as he let Ink speak, actually sort of interested in what the other had to say. Though he wished he hadn't listened and just got rid of the artist right then and there.
"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! You don't know anything about me or my past, so stop talking like you do!"
It was rather obvious that what Ink said really got to him. He had been feeling all sorts of emotions, and this made him angry.
Though, instead of taking it out on the one who made him feel the anger, he just destroyed quite a few things around the two.
Error refused to accept the fact that Ink hit the spot that made him lose it, that Ink knew how to get to Error now. This only made him angrier and he growled out.
He had wrapped his strings around Ink and made sure it hurt, wanting nothing more then to make Ink feel the pain.
He had a rather horrible idea in his head. He didn't care either. He left his strings trail behind him as he went off and destroyed the rest of the broken Au.
He killed everybody who was there, leaving nothing but whiteness and dust around.
He wanted Ink to feel as alone as he always felt. He wanted Ink to realize how much it hurt to just sit alone, in the plain white void he called home, voices screaming at him. He wanted Ink to feel how it felt to have nobody to talk to since he was feared. He wanted Ink to feel all of this, he didn't plan on leaving Ink completely alone. He planned on sitting a little whiles away so he could watch Ink hurt, and suffer just as much as he did.
Ink was actually smirking now, and anger also showed clearly with the dark red that bore into Error before just turning... soulless. "So you think not listening is going to help, don't you? You're so funny Error! You think killing me or destroying any of these Aus is going to make you feel better about yourself, but it's actually just the opposite huh? Man, I guess I'll really never understand what it's like- I mean- I can't see WHY you'd want to put yourself through tha-" His breathing hitched when the strings attached and he flinched again, squirming around a little. He couldn't move even more now, and he knew he probably asked for it. It did sting though.. badly.
He was also starting to grow scared at how Error was walking off. Ink hadn't failed to noticed what was being destroyed around him earlier and he was growing more and more worried the rest would be finished. "Wait- WAIT- Error you don't have to listen to me talking abort you- just don't destroy it- please- ERROR!"
..The artist could hear everything turning to dust around him. Everything disappearing. ...He couldn't hide the sadness this time either. That world had meant so much to him. Of course, he tried not to pick favorites. But this one... reminded him something. Something he could've found out about if it stayed. Now it was gone.
He could feel that Error was still there. Ink didn't know what to think about that. Black streamed down his face and he tried turning to see him, trying to keep his voice steady. "...I'm... really not forgiving you for this one.... just know that." Ink shuddered when he looked around again. At least he had his vials. At least he was feeling everything. This was part of it all, wasn't it? It was so empty though..
Error only stood quietly once he was done. He knew what Ink had been saying was still the truth, but he ignored it. I refused to accept it as the truth.
After a long few minutes, he just laughed out before he spoke, his voice seeming to boom in the absolute silence now.
"I could care less if you forgave me. Hell, there are plenty of other AU's exactly like what this one was out there. Haven't seen them yet though have you? You were focused on this one. All the others out there, suffering because you picked a favorite."
He once again began to pace around Ink, going silent for a good minute or so before continuing.
"You know, even if I make people feel hurt, and empty, at least I don't leave them to suffer in their own world of blankness. I know what that feels like. Now you will too."
He soon stopped just right above Ink's head, looking down at the artist and just staring. He did plan on releasing Ink, not too soon, but he planned on it. He mainly wanted this to happen again, so he could just see Ink suffer.
"Hurts doesn't it? Sitting there, knowing you can't do anything about your situation.. Being in this empty void. That's what they feel. They know they'll be here until the end of time, alone, knowing that they can't do anything about it and that they can't call out for help."
"I don't think so. This one was different. This one had a chance.. whoever they were, they were thinking of rebuilding this into something new. And you ruined that." Every time Error came into his sight he just stared at him, pain still lingering in his expression. Hearing what Error said next just made Ink completely freeze though, struggling a bit again. "T-That's- NO, I'm giving them a chance! I try to see them and help them. Maybe even take them to other worlds if someone hasn't already! I wouldn't just.." But he would. He picked this universe over just about hundreds of others so that he could try and find something about himself there. It didn't matter now though, did it? This was his fault.
Ink didn't try and look at Error this time, but he did blink away more black droplets. "..You must really hate me the most then. I mean.. that was obvious. But it makes me wonder what I did before we even started fighting. If- you remember anything-" He forgot about how tight those strings could be. It was getting pretty hard to breathe evenly in the middle of all that pain. "...Did I fail to save your world from something? I don't always remember fighting you or even seeing you.. were you one of them?" Of course, he could be remembering wrong. But it was a time where he felt plenty of happiness. Creating endlessly and watching the multiverse grow.
Error had gone completely silent after he let Ink finish, his facial expression showing that Ink had been right about something.
He growled and shook it off after a moment before he glared at Ink.
"Y'know, by now, I could care less if you told anybody. You did fail. You failed horribly. I was put here to balance out your wrong doings. The stupid curators were telling you to slow down with the creating, but no, you didn't listen, because when push came to shove, you were more important. Now look at where we are. I was put here against my will, nobody actually caring about whether or not I wanted to destroy, to be the one to balance out everything."
He walked off a good bit before he mumbled to himself. He waited a good bit before speaking.
"I never wanted to be here in the first place. Do you know how many years I was trapped in that stupid void, wrenching in pain, not knowing how to get out? How many times I called out for help, only to be ignored? You failed to see me, to even try to help me. You only cared about your creations, and how you felt. And that leads to me getting out, being forced to destroy, kill even, being ignored, and then in the end, getting hurt for it. And I wonder who caused this all."
He paused a moment. It felt a bit better letting what he had been holding in, off of his chest, but he had still a lot more feelings pent up inside and didn't need to waste anymore time he could be using to go somewhere else.
The realization dawned and he listened breathlessly, staring up into the blank white space. He.. COULD remember.
Aftertale.. Wasn't it Aftertale? I thought I sensed something but it was completely gone when I looked again- Or did I even see it? Or did I ignore it?!
Knowing Error had an actual reason to hate him and to destroy the other worlds- at least the unfinished ones- made it a lot harder for him to speak. His vision blurred again and he stayed silent a long while. "Error... I'm sorry." The tiniest smile curved along his face after another few seconds of quiet and dust blowing off. "..But I'm glad.. you came out of all that at least, without me, you know?"
As soon as he said that a shimmer of light opened up.. along with an opening of pure oozing darkness. Ink was surprised to see both Dream and Nightmare step out. They both looked injured. They must've been fighting just like Ink was with Error. The artist blinked.
Error only stood silently. He had expected the two to appear as there had been so much negativity flowing out of the empty place.
He didn't bother to get rid of the bones holding Ink down, but did get rid of his strings, staring at the two guardians. He didn't care for what they had to say either, and so he stared.
He had a feeling they had known what was going on, but he didn't care about that either. After a moment, he looked over to Ink and spoke.
"A sorry won't fix anything. You're just lucky they got here before I left you here alone."
After that, he looked back to the two guardians, not saying another word.