The Broken Timeline

 When I came to, I was lying in my bedroom. The daylight of the Omega Timeline shone through the curtains and onto the floor. I was wearing a fluffy pair of yellow pajamas. Across the room, my bow leaned against a wall. I let out a sigh of relief. It was a nightmare, just your nerves messing with you. Ink is safe, we didn't fight.

I picked up my crown from my nightstand. It was only then I noticed the IV bag standing beside it; the cord was connected to my arm. I ran a finger over the cast and checked my other injuries. My legs and ribs had similar bandages. The pain was gone, leaving only a dull throb.

If the fight was real, how did I end up here? Who put these bandages on? What happened to Ink? I was distracted by a quiet knock knock.

"Come in," I said. A small child in a gray, striped sweater peeked through. Their void-like eyes blinked with concern.

"Oh, I didn't know if you were awake," Core Frisk said, "How are you feeling? You broke quite a few bones."

"I feel okay, thank you." I ran a mental rewind through their words, "How long was I out for?"

Core gained interest in their shoes. "Two days. There were rumors that you weren't going to wake up at all."

"Oh," I hated it when people worried about me. Even though I can't feel hate. I decided to change the topic. "What about Ink? Do you know where he is?"

Core shook their head. "Ink teleported away. X-tale collapsed not long after he left; the AU was already on the brink of destruction by its creator. I tried to save any survivors, but there was no one left. It's a miracle you made out alive."

I tried not to look too disappointed at the news. I wasn't sure what I was hoping to hear. That was one of the many curses of being the guardian of positivity. Lifting your hopes and dreams to a point where they become unrealistic. I thought back to my promise to Ink. Was that unrealistic too? No, it's being a good friend. You will save him. Stay positive.

Core hopped up on the edge of the bed, "What were you two fighting about anyway? I've never seen Ink's eyes look like that. His voice was weird too."

Sometimes I forget that despite their wisdom, Core was still a child at heart. "Well, Ink had this secret friend, X-Gaster. I don't know how long they've been friends, but I know it wasn't healthy. X-Gaster convinced Ink to absorb his soul, then he took over his body. When we met up in X-tale, he told me that he could 'fix' Nightmare with a button called Overwrite-"

"Hey, I've heard of that!" Core interrupted. "One time, I talked with some of the residents of Epictale. The Sans of that AU said he knew someone named Cross who was a victim of Overwrite. It changes the code of everything in an AU. Like if you overwrite an oak tree, it becomes a pine tree."

I nodded in thought. That does sound like something Ink would be interested in. It's the perfect way to cheat his new truce with Error. Creation without creation. "I said I wouldn't help him. Then he tried to overwrite me. So we got into a fight."

Core took their time to reply, swinging their legs. "What about his paint vials? Did he still have those?"

"Now that you mention it, they were missing." A horrible idea crossed my mind. "Do you think he destroyed them?" That was exactly what I was afraid of. Ink needed his vials, they were his substitute for a soul. "Or do you think X-Gaster forced him to?"

"I wish I knew. I can't sense his presence anywhere. Error said he hasn't seen him either-" Core suddenly shot up as if they had been electrocuted. "Underswap."

I thought I misheard them. "Underswap? What about it?" I closed my eyes to sense any strange emotions. I couldn't feel X-Gaster's hatred, but there were two other powerful feelings. Jealousy and paranoia.

My powers haven't recovered enough to know who was feeling them. The only thing I could sense was that both emotions came from the same person. The amount of positivity in the AU was far less than it should have been. This worried me. Underswap was one of the most positive AUs, even rivaling the main timeline.

"I'll be right back," Core said. They leaped off the bed and formed a child-sized portal in the wall. After they left, I decided to try and walk on my damaged legs. It sent a numbing feeling through my body, but it was bearable.

I put on my traditional outfit of a pale yellow coat with cyan trim, a yellow cape, and gold gloves. As I was about to grab my bow, I heard 'Wistfully' play from my phone. On the screen, was the word 'Blue'. I picked it up and pressed 'answer'.

"Hello?" I said into the phone. There was only static. I was about the hang-up before hearing a conversation on the other side.

"-for your protection!" Blue was saying, "You can't trust any of them. Especially not the human." I was shocked at the disgust in Blue's voice. He said 'human' as if it were some vile curse. "Why can't you understand, Pappy?" So he's talking to his brother.

Papyrus's response was almost inaudible. "I don't understand why you've killed people. Innocent people. And you're calling it a form of protection." He paused before adding, "What happened to you?"

"I met someone who. . .never mind. What's important right now is that Chara is evil. She has the whole Underground her spell." Blue broke out into a fit of giggles, "Everyone except me. I'm the only one you can trust. I'm the only one who-"

I dropped the phone. This couldn't be happening. I wasn't worrying about how Blue lost his mind. I was worried about Core being in the same AU as him.

(A.N: Oof, this chapter was hard. And before anyone asks, I know Chara is genderless. I see Chara as a girl and Frisk as a boy. Please respect that. )