It has been a week, since Systemtatic decided to make a partnership with Dust's group. And needless to say, it is stressful for Dust to say the least, at least to his group, the ones that Error404 would consider to be useful. Due to a promise that Error404 has made, in which it involves separating the AUs from the fused state that it is in, they began to work together in order to separate the AUs. The ones that are considered to be useful members are Red, Dustbelief, Killer, Vivian, Dream, Dust, and Gradient. The ones that are not useful in Error404's eyes, the rest, are told to stay out of it, but will allow help when it is because Dust needs them for something.
And of course, having work with Error404 is a stressful thing for Dust, due to the fact that he is in the presence of a version of him, that is to quite literally the strongest version of him yet, and he partners with him. But Dream, although he can sense that Error404 here is being truthful and really does want to partner with him, Dust is beginning to wonder as to why this is the case. Did Error404 allow himself to truly be revealed, his hands now spread out and showing that he has nothing, or did he simply manipulate his emotions enough to bypass Dream's empathy powers? Dust is not sure, due to the fact that Error404 is a complicated character all on his own. He has no idea what is inside of Error404's mind to make him be like this. And of course, Error404 has told Dust to use the powers that he has absorbed from before, but Dust revealed that they are gone in his normal form, and the only way that he can use them again is in his Nightmare Mode, which has not been affected by the MainFrame glitching for some reason. Error404 decided to try and fix that problem by restoring the MainFrame and give it back to him, although Dust doubts that he can pull this off.
Nightmare and Shattered clearly hate that they are gonna be siding with Dust and his group, due to being from Team Hope, and the fact that Dream is here. But there is nothing that they can do, as Error404 wants what he wants, and thus, wants Dream as a part of the group, for he has need of him. And of course, there is Error and Fatal_Error. Fatal still treats the members of Team Hope like normal, friendly and all of that. But Error hates Fatal and the members of Team Hope. But more importantly of all, he hates Gradient so immensely, due to the fact that he is a spawn that is accidentally created by Error, and wants nothing more then to kill him. But Error404 simply refuses to let that happen, and continues to watch over Gradient.
Error404 has a strong interest in Gradient, due to the fact that he has both the power of Error and Ink,
And unlike both of his siblings, he is able to inherit their power perfectly on both sides, perfectly, meaning that he can do just as much as both Ink and Error. And having both Ink and Righteous teach them all that they know, at least when it involves teaching him how Error does what he does back as his normal self, combined with the immense LV he gained from destroying the copies of the AUs back in Righteous' Multiverse, it also aided in how strong his powers become. But the one thing that he is not able to be taught, was Blue Magic. Yes, Righteous taught him, but only with words and not with actual demonstration and training from someone as strong as Error404, and does not even know how to manipulate pixels like Error404 can do it. Well, Gradient can manipulate pixels, but only based on what his 2 parents taught him, but not by how Error404 taught him. And this is what Error404 is doing with Gradient now.
Error404 is now with Gradient and Error, who decided to watch and see what Gradient is like when training with Error404. Gradient looks at Error404, as Error404 spoke out in a strict and firm tone.
"Alright boy, lets begin with a lesson on blue magic shall we?"
Gradient looked down, and gulped, as he then looks at 404 in front of him, standing far away from him. Gradient spoke out.
"Ummm...are you sure that you want me to do this to you, use blue magic on your, sir?"
404 nodded, as he spoke out.
"It's alright. I'll be fine. I'm a lot stronger then you can even realize."
Gradient sighed, before he then rose his right hand, and used his Blue Magic to try and lift him off of the ground. And well...Gradient did it, but Error404 used his flight to push himself down. But Gradient pushed harder, as he then began to try and use it to forcefully raise Error404 up from the ground. It is a little bit painful for Graident, but he kept on trying and kept on pushing, trying to forcefully lift 404 up. But Error404 pushed himself a bit more to the ground with his ability to fly, and Gradient began to feel stress, due to how much Error404 is pushing him. And after what must have been about 4 minutes, Gradient went onto his knees, as he swears for a little bit, due to the fact that he is unable to lift Error404 off of the ground. He looks down, as he then stood up, and sees Error404 look at him and spoke out.
"Well...at least you are far more cooperative then even Error here. He is always very petty and childish, and even attacked me, despite knowing how strong I am when he first tried to fight against me."
Error looked away in embarrassment and frustration, remembering that time, the Multiverse resetting from Error404, and him being back by the Anti-Void's ground from the back of his skull. It is a thought that never left his mind, and an embarrassment. Gradient then turned around and spoke out.
"Well...I guess...even though it does nothing."
Error404 then spoke out.
"Anyway...let's go on with the ability to manipulate Pixels."
Gradient nodded, as Error404 then spoke out.
"But first...show me how you manipulate it in the way you do it."
Gradient then gripped his Stylus, as he looks at Error404 in front of him, as he then spoke out.
"Do you...do you want me to use it on you, like, attack you with it, or aim it someplace else?"
Error404 then spoke out.
"Do it on me."
Gradient nodded with a nervous expression, as he then decided to use it.
Gradient swung his Stylus, making a pixel slash of sorts, which launched at Error404, who swipes it away. But Gradient wasn't done, as he then made spears with the same stylus using his Pixels, and aimed them in a similar way to Undyne, as they fired at Error404, who then dodged the attack. He was able to keep on dodging them, and at the same time, Gradient went behind Error404, and summoned 2 glitch portals using his Stylus, launching the spears into them, and to Error404, who then dodged the attack as fast as he could. Error404, however, saw the attack, and used his Dark Blaster to fire the attack and destroy it before it even has a chance to hurt him. Error404 looks and smiled, before he then spoke out.
"Impressive. You used your glitches in such creative ways."
Gradient then spoke out.
"I had Ink teach me how to be creative. So I learned to use pixels for my creativity powers."
Error404 chuckled, as he then spoke out.
"Ink...I tried to enlist him into my services...but he already had someone that he works with...a ghost of some sort. And seeing what you can do...you seem to be just as unpredictable as he is."
Error404 then puts his hands into his coat pockets, before he then spoke out.
"So...let's see what you can do...shall we?"
Gradient looked stunned, and he began to feel nervous, as he then spoke out.
"Wait...you want me to fight you now?"
Error404 nodded his head, as he then spoke out.
"Of course. After all...I want to see your strength."
Gradient was admittedly a little bit uncomfortable, as Error sneered at this, seeing that his own spawn, who has hates with every fiber of his soul, is going to fight against Error404. He honestly hopes that Error404 would beat the kid to a pulp at least, just to make it amusing for him, since he cannot destroy him.
Gradient sighed, before he then summoned his Gradient Blaster, and fired it at Error404, who then used his God Ray to overpower the Gradient Blaster itself. Gradient dodged out of the way, as he then summoned an ink wall, to defend against Error404's Anti-Void Bones. The Dark Blaster fired, and Gradient teleported, as the Dark Blaster blasted through the ink walk after a couple of seconds. Of course, Error404 can do that instantly if he wants to, the only reason that he doesn't do it that fast, is simply because he is holding back on his power.
Gradient launched yellow bones at Error404, but Error404 dodged the attack, and used Blue Mastery on Gradient, before he then throws him away. But Gradient made a portal, and went inside while affected by the Blue Mastery, and then reappeared onto the ground, and did the same in using his Blue Magic, and throwing him to the side, and into a Gradient Blaster. But Error404 teleported, and goes to Gradient, as he fired his God Ray at Gradient. But Gradient, on instinct, made a glitch portal, and fired the God Ray inside of it, before making another one, and fired it back at Error404. But Error404 used a Dark Blaster to counter it, before he goes to Gradient, and Gradient jumped into their, launching slashes of paint and snapped his fingers, as the paint then turned into binds and tried to tie onto both of Error404's wrists and ankles together, but Error404 ripped the paint off of him, and flies up to Gradient, before Gradient teleported back down to the ground, and then fired his Gradient Blasters at Error404, who then fired his single Dark Blaster at Gradient, and the Dark Blaster overpowered the Gradient Blaster. The Gradient Blasters exploded, but then, Gradient fired Red Strings at Error404, with the strings wrapping around his leg, before pulling him down and firing more of the Gradient Blasters. But Error404 is still fine, as he then teleported 20 feet in front of Gradient.
Error404 looked impressed at this, as he then spoke out to Gradient.
"Impressive. It took Error months to last this long against me at full power. But you...you are able to last this long, and this in our first spar. I applaud you, little boy."
Gradient smiled, as he held the Stylus in his hand, and began to make something. He then made a wall of ink, before punching the wall, and sharp ink spikes fired out from the wall at rapid speed, and Error404 fired his God Ray to destroy the spikes that formed the wall in the first place, and Gradient attempted to move out of the way. He did, and his clothes did get graded a little bit, but other then that, he is still fine. Gradient looks at Error404, and he prepares to fight again, when Righteous came out of nowhere and spoke out.
"I think this is enough for now. Besides, we are wasting time with this. Also, I'm pretty sure you need to go and get more code from Help_Tale, so you can bring back Alphatale, right?"
404 looked and nodded.
"Very well. We'll go and resume the task at hand. But I'll still train Gradient into using his powers. After all, his powers, if used at their full potential...it will be useful in that I will be able to bring back Alphatale."
Error404 rose his hand, and summoned Fatal_Error to his side, before he then pulls them close to him with his Blue Mastery. After that, he then took his Conduit Soul of Balance out, before he grabbed onto both of Error's and Fatal's soul shards, and he then fused with them to bring back Systematic. The fusion makes even King Multiverse look short in comparison, and is almost as tall as...someone that 404 is related too, more powerful and older then him, but is mindless and filled with rage. Systematic looks and sees his body.
"I'm beginning to like this form."
Error404 said inside of Systematic's head, as Error then spoke out.
"Hey, boss. Don't get distracted with yourself in how awesome we look!"
Fatal then spoke as well.
"Let's not waste time and do it already."
404 rolled his eyes, both in the mind and using all of Systematic's eyes. Systematic then began to move forward, his very footsteps shook the ground, as Gradient even lost his balance at this, and Systematic spoke out.
"Nightmare is already busy with a task that I had given him, along with Shattered...so...I'll have to ask Dream, Killer, and Murder to accompany us in this. Blueprint can join as well, due to his construction powers. Bit Palette and Paperjam...they will stay out of what I have."
Systematic continues to walk forward, as Gradient looks at Error404, and Righteous spoke out.
"So, how was training with Error404, kiddo?"
Gradient stretched and spoke out.
"I actually liked it! 404 taught me how to use Blue Magic in a much more greater way and even taught me how to manipulate pixels!"
Righteous nodded, as he spoke out.
"Well, considering you have both mine and Ink's powers, and the fact that you gained your Blue Magic on your own, at least you had it much more easier then my other self, as well as me. I only had my Blue Strings, which acted as a replacement for my Blue Magic."
Gradient spoke out.
"Yep, and it was fun!"
But Righteous made a stern look on his face, as he then spoke out.
"Don't get to ahead of yourself, kiddo. 404 only is teaching you so that he can use you. He's only doing this because he wants to use your powers for his own ends. He does not do this because he cares for you, unless he starts warming up to you, then that would be an exception. But if he is able to do so, to treat you more kindly...well...that is something that even I'm not sure that he'll do to you."
Gradient looks up and spoke out.
"Will he, though? I mean...did your Error404 ever warmed up to you?"
Righteous looks down and spoke out.
"Well...not at first. Originally, I was merely a right hand man to him, and we treat each other as student and master...but...yeah, he did warm up to me...although it took me years to do it. Who knows...maybe he'll warm up to you as well."
He snapped his fingers, and went to another AU, this one in what appears to be the Waterfalls area, and Gradient is standing in front of something.
Gradient looks down at the dead Echo Flower that is in front of him, and spoke out.
"Wow...that looks...that is actually a very sad sight, father."
Righteous nodded his head, as he then spoke out.
"Yes, it indeed is. After all, all life and all of creation needs to end at some point, either by you and by its own ending."
Graident nodded, as Righteous grabbed Gradient and snapped his fingers, and the both of them teleport into the Digital Sphere, a pocket dimension that is based off of the Doodle Sphere, constantly recreating and destroying islands that float in the air.
"And besides...you already made something that Ink has made with his own powers...and this is already a beautiful place that you had done. For you are the living embodiment of duality, creation and destruction together. And besides...if you can destroy AUs as I can...then perhaps yoj can make AUs like Ink is able to, or at least, copies of the original. You can make me and Ink proud of this."
Gradient looked and nodded his head, as Righteous then leapt into the air, and began to float, due to gravity not being existent inside of this place.
Gradient smiled a little bit, inside of the Digital Sphere, before he then decides to do what Ink had taught him to do, make his own AUs. After all, since Gradient is as powerful as Ink...if his parent can do it, then he can do it as well. He then took out his Stylus, and he then got to work on the AU that he wants to think about, the AU that will hopefully make Ink impressed and maybe 404, into realizing the potential that he has deep down within himself.
Elsewhere...
Dust in his Nightmare Mode, by 404's orders, along with Dream and Blueprint, as shown to be walking with Systematic, his giant footsteps shake the ground, as they did the best that they can to keep up with him and not fall down to the ground. Dust looks at Dream and at Blueprint, seeing how very weary and frightened that he is, as Dust patted his head. Killer is present, as his black tears come down his face, but only because he was in the presence of Nightmare, making him emotionless and go into his Third Phase. But Dream's aura is able to give positive feelings to Killer and he began to regain the emotions that Nightmare had robbed him of. Killer held the knife in his hand tightly, as Dust narrowed his eyes, and Dream flapped his wings a little bit, his Positivity Aura filling a huge chunk of the AU, but not all of it, due to it now being almost the size of the entire Multiverse that he's in.
Dust then looks at Dream, and he notices that Dream is looking a little down now, as he spoke out.
"Not happy with partnering with 404, Dream?"
Dream looks at Dust and spoke out.
"No, it's not that. It's just that...I'm working alongside my brother, Nightmare. The very person that I had failed in the past. The person that I didn't help or save from all the suffering that he had gone through."
Dust looked sad at him, and spoke out.
"I hear ya. I had to kill my own brother just to end my suffering. Had to do something terrible just to stop this insanity I had to go through. Felt like shit what I had done."
Dust then puts his hands in his pocket, as he looks and sees Phantom Papyrus smile at him sadly, aware that he can never truly forgive himself for what he had done, but knows very well that he still loved his younger brother, and born Dream and Dust continued is forward, as Dust then spoke out.
"Also...Dream...mind if we can speak to each other with our thoughts? I wanna know something and...I don't want to have 404 know with what I am thinking of."
Dream looks at Dust and nodded, as he and Dust began to use telepathy, all from Dream's power, as Dust then spoke out.
'Is it working?'
Dream confirmed it, as he then spoke out.
'Yes, it is. I can hear your voice just fine.'
Dust nodded his head, and it felt a little weird. It is as though he is hearing a voice behind his own head. But he shook his head, as Dust then spoke out.
'Anyway...about what I was wondering...it's about you and the apples that you all guard. Mind telling me what they do to a normal person, if you are willing to tell me?'
Dream looks down, as he then spoke out.
'Well...as you know, the apples that me and Nightmare carry...they both embody the positive and negative emotions of all living beings. And those that consume one of them, they will change in different ways. For eating the Golden Apple, it makes a person filled with positivity, capable of feeling good emotions and desiring to help and heal other people. While the black apple, if a person eats them, they become a being that embodies evil, having no soul and with a interest to cause pain and suffering to people. And normally...a mortal eating more then one...it will always kill them.'
This made Dust confused, as he spoke out.
'How can that be? I mean, you and Nightmare ate 999 of those stuff, and you both are fine.'
Dream then spoke out.
'That is because...me and Nightmare...we are not truly living beings, at least, not in the way that you can think of. We are simply entities attached to the very concepts of positivity and negativity, which is why we are able to handle more then one apple. And when we are the apples...we left our immortality. But eating and gaining 999 Apples from both sides...it made up practically impossible to kill, and we now became 2 separate beings, for Nightmare, he is a being that sheds darkness, while for me, Dream...I am a being that continues to expel light.'
Dust looked down, and spoke out.
'Becoming unkillable, all by eating 999 Apples, that is insane. I can't imagine how strong that you and Nightmare would be if you ate are one more, and gained 1,000 Apples for both sides.'
Dream nodded his head, as he then spoke out.
'I cannot imagine the power that I would possess either. But if I were to believe, if either of us are one more...then it is where we will both become truly unstoppable. We'd regain our immortality, but with newfound, far more greater strength, and be akin to a god to an extent, possibly at a comparable level of Error and Ink.'
Dust nodded his head, as he then spoke out.
'Well, hopefully it stays that way, because I prefer to have you as your normal self, then what you would become worn the powers of having one more.'
Dream nodded, as he continues on. But Systematic tilted his head, almost as if he knew the conversation in his own way, despite the fact that Dream and Dust are using a form of telepathy to speak to each other. Systematic continues to lumber forward, as he then reached Snowdin, and he then touched the ground, due to the fact that Help_Tale's Underground is comparable in size to Alphatale, due to the fact that the buildings combined and now exists a city inside of the Underground.
As soon as the disembodied hand touched the ground, Systematic began to copy the code of Snowdin, at least on the location itself and not on the residence that lives here. Systematic smiled worn his 3 mouths, as he spoke out.
"Excellent. Now to bring it back to where the other location that I had copied."
Systematic then teleported and inside of an incomplete AU, which has the copied code of the ruins, that Systematic took before meeting with Dust's group, as Systematic lumbered forward, and touched the ground in front of the end part of the Ruins, as he pasted the code Snowdin of Help_Tale, and made an exact replica, as Systematic spoke out.
"Your powers are proven to be very useful, Fatal."
404 said, as Fatal spoke out.
"When, I wanted my brother back by using his code...so why not make this power?"
404 smiled, as he then teleports back to Help_Tale, the group are in Waterfalls, having been waiting for Systematic for an hour, despite it being minutes for Systematic, before Systematic continues forward, and touched the ground of Waterfall, and copied the code of Waterfalls, seeing it comparable in size to the Waterfall of Alphatale. After he finished, he went back since of Help_Tale, and saw that the group is there already, as Blueprint...Dream has now taken him back to the Omega Timeline, due to sensing e immense fear that is present inside of him. But Systematic cares less, as he continues forward, and touched the ground with his hands again, as he copied the entire section of Hotland, in which he then left moments later, as Dust and Dream looked at each other, as they see the various Muffets and Alphys' present all over the place, and needless to say, Dust is a little hit unsure about all of this, as Dust then spoke out.
"Dream...do you think it is the best idea that we have Error404 with us? I mean...considering how manipulative he is...it will end in a disaster for all of us."
Dream spoke out.
"Admittedly, I do not know about this, Dust. But...I can sense that Error404 meant it. So...it is best that we take this option. Besides, he has not decided to attack us. So we should be fine."
Dust nodded his head, although he still felt a little bit skeptical, as Systematic appeared once again after half an hour. Dust sighed, as he took out the Scythe of Fear, and spoke out.
"So...you getting close?"
Systematic nodded, as Error404 spoke out.
"Yes, indeed that I am. I am halfway there, and I am almost ready to restore the AU that I have lost. Then I will restore the people within my AU next, before going to anything else."
Dust nodded his head, and he continues on, the hands inside of his pocket, as Vivian and Red, who are also present, are in between Dust, with Dust lowering his head, and his eyes flared dangerously. Then...they went to the Core, and at first...it is empty...as Systematic also tries to fit inside...but his large form made traveling inside difficult for him. Dust wanted to laugh, but he decides that it is best that he holds his breath in for the time being, so that he does not enrage Systematic.
"Okay...we should also be getting close to where IT Mettaton is."
Systematic looks down and spoke out.
"And what are going to do if you find this IT Mettaton, Dust?"
Dust spoke out.
"Split then into their original selves, then RESET the entire AU."
Systematic rolled his eyes, as he and Dust continued on...and eventually...they reached the center...and it is here that someone is waiting for them, as they fell down from above.
This made Dust and the others look to see that it is none other then a IT Mettaton, and needless to say, Systematic does not look impressed in the slightest. Dust then spoke out.
"Don't bother. Let me and the others take care of it."
He then snapped his fingers, and summoned IT Frisk, who realized what is about to happen, as Dust and the others went into battle. But Systematic flies upwards into the air and goes into the entrance, before he walks down to the end of the Core's section, before he then puts his hand and began to copy the code of the entire CORE. It took a rather long time to do it, due to the fact that the IT Mettaton entity is causing him to have some trouble over obtaining the code, making him delay for a little bit longer then expected. But eventually...Systematic got what he wanted, and Error, inside of Systematic, spoke out.
"Seems like they got what they wanted. The Mettatons are finally free."
Systematic nodded, as he teleported back, and pasted the Data of the core into the MainFrame, as Help_Tale then began to RESET, thanks to the efforts of Dust and his group.
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