YT!Alphatale / Marionette Chapter 1: The Sacred Name

Error!Sans was doing the usual. Knitting. Watching sappy shows. Daydreaming about vengeance. Destroying universes. Stealing souls. Nothing out of the ordinary for the Forced God of Destruction, really. It had been roughly three years since Ink had beaten Error into submission and forced him to play this role, and things had gone better than he had initially expected. Error sat in his beyond-dimensional form in the outer plane, watching over a universe curiously. He takes a bite of his transcendent apple, and aims a potshot at the universe. Nothing happens. It seems to have been blocked, somehow. Error thinks to himself, "Another Dual Mind Wizard? Out here in the sticks?" He assumes dimensional form, and steps into the universe. He looks especially dapper as he walks through the hailstorm, through the overwhelming malice emanating throughout the universe. The aura is like a wall. Anybody below Single Mind II, also known as the Dual Mind, would be instantly robbed of all strength upon being exposed to it. Error simply waltzes through the aura, finally arriving at its center, where skeleton dressed in a blue jacket meditates. "Hey, my name's-" "Error," interrupts the strange skeleton. Error laughs, and begins to speak again, "Ho-" "I am precognitive. I saw everything you would do before you even knew you were going to do it," drones on the skeleton, still deep in meditation. "Punking me, huh? Well, take THIS!" says Error, surprise attacking the skeleton by swinging his strings at him. Error's strings, his most prized weapon, could negate any defense, negating absolutely any interference in its path. Their Level Of multi-Varied Experience was two. Now, you might be wondering, what is LOVE? (baby don't hurt me)

LOVE is your stage in EXP (EXperience Points) gathering. To understand the LOVE system, one must think of a skill with zero EXP, a hypothetical strings attack which could pass through any barrier and ignore any interference in its path. This property would only apply to defensive motions that also have zero EXP; a skill with one EXP would be able to ignore any implications of these strings, while this string attack with one EXP would once again take effect against the defensive measures, and a defensive skill with two EXP would once again ignore the attack. To get a skill with LOVE 1, you would need infinite EXP. To get a skill with LOVE 2, you would need something far beyond EXP; STEXP (Second sTage EXperience Points). Every single STEXP is equivalent to LOVE 1; infinite regular EXP. Infinite STEXP would be required for LOVE 2. Past LOVE 2, TTEXP (Third sTage EXperience Points) are needed, with each TTEXP being equivalent to infinite STEXP. You get the gist, yes? Error's strings strike the strange skeleton's body, and are immediately reflected, sent flying towards Error, who attempts to desummon the strings, but fails. He is struck, and knocked off his feet. "It's no use. All attacks which 'observe' me will immediately be reflected," says the skeleton, in his droning voice, "In more ways than one, actually. The reflection mechanism is one of many ways your attack could've failed to reach me. There is also the skewing of the odds in my favor, giving your attack a 0% chance of harming me in any way. Adding on to that, your attack was completely causally stranded the moment it targeted me, splitting it entirely from its cause, and erasing any effects it could have on me. These are only a few things which guaranteed that you could never touch me. Oh, also, this also applies to accidental attacks. There's no mental tomfoolery with me. At this point, Error, you should just give up and become my servant. I'll be Error!404, as I predict I will name myself," he finishes.

Dude, what the fuck?" says Error. He's lost for words. He opens his mouth to protest, but is cut off again. "Shut up. I don't care and it doesn't matter. You're just a piece to my game," says the newly dubbed Error!404. "Fuck that shit, I'm going home," says Error angrily. "Suit yourself," says Error404, "I predict you'll be back." Error leaps out of the Universe back into the Anti-Void whence he came. As he arrives at the Anti-Void, the Heroes of the Week (Trademarked) are already there to stop whatever evil scheme he'd put into play. "This again?" says Error. He could never get used to people somehow breaking into the Anti-Void, which was supposed to be the most remote and separate location in the Multiverse. It's a miracle he even lost his mind if people could pop in this easily! "We're here to defeat you and put an end to your mischief!" cries Swap!Papyrus, summoning his bones at his side. "Yeah yeah yeah," says Abyss, clearly not the leader of the team. Dream stands uncomfortably at the side of the two. This isn't in his job description. He knocks his bow and arrow with a sigh. "We-" but Error is cut off for the third time today, as he gets blasted in the skull by a bone from Swap. He stumbles back, and attempts to recover, but is body slammed from behind by Tank, who had somehow slipped in unnoticed despite his large frame. Error struggles to get the original Dust!Dust off of him, launching his prized strings at him, which are dodged by a quick barrel roll. Error lashes to right, but is interrupted by Abyss soccer kicking him in the head, throwing his aim off, saving Tank. Error gets up, with tears in his eyes, and is impaled by an arrow of Magic Light from Dream and slumped against his bed. The four round up on him, cracking their knuckles menacingly. "Why am I on a losing streak! This isn't fair," thinks Error, "But, these guys aren't a joke... They're seriously strong! I gotta get outta here..."

Error looks around for a way out, and quickly spots his bedside table. He grabs the table, and slams it into Dust!Dust, ripping a hole in the fabric of the Anti-Void and knocking the group down as Dust!Dust crashes into them, arms outstretched. Error then leaps into the rift, falling through the Multiverse and crash-landing in some random universe. Unfortunately, as soon as he landed in the universe, he was immediately rushed by Delta!Sans. Error, still dazed, foolishly thought he could take Delta in a fistfight. He was proven wrong, as Delta landed blow after blow on Error while expertly avoiding his attacks. Delta throws Error overhead, slamming him into a tree. Error gets back up, fuming, and prepares to attack Delta. As he is about to activate his Code Magic, Epic!Sans steps into frame, far away. Epic!Sans throws some gang signs, representing the Omega Timeline, then summons three supermassive Gaster Blasters. Error wraps himself in a cocoon of strings, just barely avoiding certain death. The dust clears, and Error is heavily damaged, missing one of his arms and being burnt all over. He cannot even get a quip in, as Color!Sans immediately teleports infront of him, and impales him with his fist, then literally fucking explodes, blasting Error away. "Why... am I losing?" croaks Error, face-down on the floor. Dream, Swap!Papyrus, Abyss, and Dust!Dust finally catch up, standing over Error. Swap picks Error up by the scruff of his shirt, and points a bone gun at his head. "Where is my brother?" asks Swap, shaking with fury. "I literally have no clue who you are," croaks back Error. His mind is whirling, thinking of a way out of this. He sighs, and vanishes from Swap's grip. Teleporting above the group, Dream quickly reacts, knocking an arrow of Magic Light and firing it at Error, who knocks it back at them. The four leap out of the path of the arrow, but are intercepted by four bone javelins. "It's so simple," thinks Error, "I just have to think two steps ahead!"

Dust!Dust stops in his tracks, preparing to catch the javelin which is thrown at him. Error teleports infront of Dust!Dust, and grabs the javelin, then drives it in from upwards, striking Dust!Dust on the top of his head, slamming him into the ground. Error then lifts himself upwards, avoiding another arrow of Magic Light which splits the bone javelin in two, shattering it into two sharp ends. Error spins midair, then boosts forwards, using the end of the broken bone as a knife to bisect Dust!Dust. Abyss summons a wall of bones, which Error avoids by leaping upwards, avoiding at the same time a volley of bones from behind, sent by Swap. Error summons two blasters, which he grabs onto. The blasters fire, erasing the bone attacks and creating a massive radius of pure destruction, spreading his attackers out. Error then teleports to Swap with a drop-kick to the chest, blowing his ribs and back out and bending him around a tree. Error turns around with a backhand, catching Color right as he teleports next to him, striking him in the hole in his skull. Error fires strings out of his eyes onto his hand instantly, ripping out Color's soul and magic through the hole in his skull and using it as an explosive weapon, which he throws towards Abyss's massive wall of Gaster Blasters, equalizing them and devastating the landscape. Error then strains himself, sending so many Error Blasters out that they almost appear liquid as they stream into existence. Black blankets the sky, then Error opens fire with extreme prejudice. Epic holds the blast off with his own Gaster Blaster, shielding Abyss and Ink. Error teleports into their net of safety, and fires a copious amount of strings at them. Dream grabs Abyss, and throws him infront of them. Abyss is filled with strings, and exploded from the inside out. Epic drops to the ground, exhausted from blocking Error's wave of blasts. Dream rushes towards Error, creating a sword of magic light, but the latter is nowhere to be found.

Error sits down against a building in an alley, panting. He's finally realized why he was struggling against small fry like this band of heroes. When he had attacked that self proclaimed "Error!404", his powers had all been turned useless and ineffective. The only reason he was still alive was because of the sheer weakness of his enemies. Now, his powers rushed back to him; likely, the Anti-Void had realized what was going on. His arm instantly regenerated and all his wounds were naught. He had, before regaining his strength, completely forgotten the notion of his right arm; Epic's attack had erased it from existence and non-existence, making it neither real nor unreal. Now that his powers had been restored, regenerating from such a thing was simple work, automatic and instant. Error groans. He wouldn't have had to kill all of those sanses if he'd been at full strength. Now Ink was going to have his head, and it was all Error!404's fault! "I need to shift the blame to him," thinks Error, "I can't be at fault for this!" Error gets up, stamina restored, and prepares to go look for Error!404. Suddenly, there is a loud popping noise, and Error turns around so quickly that he gets whiplash. Ink!Sans stands there, wearing his usual brown suit and tie, splattered with all kinds of colors which Error is certain are the hopes and dreams of children. "Hello, Error." says Ink, looking down on the God of Destruction, despite being two feet shorter. Error begins hyperventilating, and drops to his hands and knees. "IT WASN'T MY FAULT! I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT I SWEAR, IT'S HIS FAULT, NOT MINE! I'LL PROVE IT, TOO?" "What are you waffling about?" says Ink, unpassionately. His attention is grabbed by a butterfly fluttering nearby. "ERROR404! HE'S FUCKING WEIRD, HE MADE ME TOO WEAK TO PROPERLY DEFEND MYSELF! HE CAUSED THIS!!!" "Source?" asks Ink. "I'LL TAKE YOU TO HIM, RIGHT NOW! JUST SPARE ME!". Ink gives an uninterested nod of approval. Error stands up, shaky, and grabs Ink.

Error teleports along with Ink into the same malice-filled Universe as before. Ink doesn’t even need Error to show the way, heading straight towards the center of everything, Error404. “I told you you’d be back,” said Error404, standing with his back turned to the two. Ink began, “Err-“ but he is cut off by Error!404, “Error says that I robbed him of his powers and am ultimately at fault for his murder of those random fodder. Yes, that is true.” “Well, then we might as well get right to it, no?” says Ink, rolling up his sleeves. “Yes, I should get to crushing you quickly. Then I can continue on with my plan.” Error!404 turns to face Ink, his hands in his pockets still. Error is standing a good distance from the two, every particle constituting his body desperately shaking, trying to escape this horrible battlefield. But he was frozen. For the first time ever, in his mind’s eye, Error could imagine Ink losing.

END