Chapter Text
"Not you again." Error glitched, staring at Fresh in annoyance.
"Yo, Wazzup Ma Radical Broski?" Fresh pointed finger guns at Error as he bounced to his feet, tilting his head to the others still on the floor. "Weird brah."
"GO AWAY!" Error's glitching worsened as he glared at Fresh.
"Error? Fresh?" The two turned towards the voice, only to see Dream slowly getting to his feet, a hand held up to his skull and confusion in his eyes.
"What have you people done now?" Stretch groaned, lazily looking at everyone and then his surroundings. "Where the quack am I?" He asked, only to blink slowly before frowning. "Why...?"
"His fault." Error pointed at Fresh.
"Oh, neat."
"What's going on?" Outer asked, looking at the many versions of, well, himself, and the lone Papyrus. "I was just at home-"
"We clearly don't know, so don't ask stupid questions." Error cut him off, moving further from the group when Fresh tried to touch him. "STOP THAT!"
"Alright Brah, Calm Down, Some Deep Anger Dilemmas Ya Got There." Fresh snickered, mockingly shaking his head at Error.
"This is odd." Everyone turned to the voice, everyone recognizing it for once. Core stood, staring at their hands, opening and closing one. "I wasn't in a physical form, and I didn't make one."
"YOU!" Error shouted, glitching horribly.
"Do you have problems with everyone?" Stretch asked, lazy smile not leaving his face, even as his eyes watched their surroundings warily.
They were in a living room, particularly the kind that was occupied by nearly every Sans and Papyrus in the Multiverse. The walls were a light shade of blue while the floor was a fluffy white carpet. There were three couches that all faced a TV, the TV was huger than any of them had likely ever owned. This was not a comforting fact.
Before the TV was a small glass table with... a note on it?
Spotting this, the final occupant of the room who had hidden in the corner, unnoticed, immediately moved forwards and snatched it up.
"Can you all shut up and maybe if you used your skulls you'd be smarter."
"Oh, it's you." Error smirked, forming some string and tugging on them, "How are you here? Can't be away from your other half for long, can you?"
"You can see me?" Chara asked, surprise flickering across his face. "Right now?"
"Are we not supposed to be able to?" Outer asked as Core walked towards Chara.
"Can I have that?" Core asked, holding out their hand for the note.
Chara glanced at them, eyes softening slightly before handing the note to them. "Whatever."
Core read the note calmly, glancing at certain people at certain moments. Everyone was silent, standing around the room, each with different expressions. Sighing, Core finished reading the note. "Do you all wish me to speak it word for word, or a brief explanation?"
"Just tell us what it says." Stretch waved a hand at Core.
"Ok. 'Greetings all. You have all been brought to this world to watch your future. Everything that you see will be happening in a months time, do not worry, time here... works... differently.'" Core paused, glancing off to the side before continuing. "'You are all involved in this event, choose how you change things carefully.' That's the first part of the note."
"Future? That's ridiculous." Outer shook his head, frowning.
"Us being here is ridiculous too, yet here we are." Error responded sarcastically, arms spread.
"There's more," Core announced, raising the note.
"THEN SAY IT!"
"Brah, Calm Down," Fresh said, looking at Error.
"Umm, 'Normally only one person can see Chara, but in this place, you have all been given the ability to see them, whether this ability remains when you leave this place is dependant on what you do here. After the first part, you will be able to notice something different. Good luck.'"
Everyone stood in silence, digesting the information before Outer clapped his hands, drawing attention to himself.
"I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on, but I'd like for us to move forwards. I don't know If everyone here knows each other, but maybe we can do introductions?"
"I've only met two of you lot before, so it's acceptable," Chara admitted, crossing his arms and glaring at Error.
"I'd like to start." Core announced. "I am a version of Frisk, mostly known as CORE!Frisk. When with others refer to me as CORE to avoid confusion, but when alone I do allow Frisk, that is still my name." Core glanced at the next person, Error.
"ERROR. Destroyer. Don't touch me and don't go near me." Error said, glitching all the while.
"Hiya, I'm Dream! Guardian of Positivity." Dream lightly waved his hand as he smiled.
"What's Up, Brahs? I'm The Cool Fresh, That's Mah Name." Fresh gave everyone a thumbs up.
"Don't touch it." Error interrupted, glaring at Fresh.
"Why? Isn't it only you that we can't touch?" Chara teased mockingly, looking at Fresh curiously.
"He's a parasite. He needs to move from one host to another every now and then. Other than that he's harmless." Core interrupted, smiling.
"Brah." Fresh nods at Core.
"Well, that's not the weirdest thing happening, so who cares?" Chara asks bluntly, "I'm Chara, from 'XTale'. My soul is currently in his possession." Chara pointed at Error. "It's also merged with Cross, the Sans of my world, that's why I'm like this." He gestured to his phantom-like form.
"I'm, ah, I guess I'm a version of Sans? My bro calls me Outer, sometimes, a bit of a running gag." Outer scratches at his skull, awkwardly smiling. "But my names also Sans...? This is weird."
"It always is the first time you're involved with someone from another world like this lot, and me in this case." Stretch sighed, "I'm Stretch, I come from UnderSwap."
"Wait, where do I come from?"
"OuterTale." Core answered, a small smile working its way onto their face.
Outer blinked, a dreamy look crossing his face. "Cool."
"Yo, Can We Start Or What?" Fresh jumped in.
"Even if this place has time working differently, I still want to get out of here soon." Dream commented, looking at the ground. If he was gone for too long, Nightmare would notice. That is, if he hadn't already.
With that, everyone got ready.
There were three couches that could fit about three people on each, meaning everyone should have been able to sit down. Emphasis on should.
Error had taken one of them for himself and glitched whenever someone came near him, growling ever so slightly.
Stretch and Outer shared a couch, with Strech taking up most of it and only Outer had been fine with the small amount of room left.
Core sat on the final couch alone, sitting right in the middle, leaving Fresh, Chara and Dream standing around awkwardly, looking at each other.
None of them were keen on sitting with anyone.
Dream glanced at Core, hesitantly fiddling with the ends of his cape. He could sit with them. They knew each other, that was true, they'd met, but... he felt... alone. This was something new, something different. They were supposedly going to watch their future, a future that was only a month away. To him, time like that tended to pass by so quickly.
One month. That was like seconds to him.
He wasn't quite sure he believed it, but he hoped it was true. He didn't know why.
Glancing down towards the floor, he examined the carpet for a brief moment before making up his mind. Smiling to himself, he sat down cross-legged and turned towards the screen, waiting for it to turn on.
Chara grumbled as he followed Dreams example and sat on the floor a great distance away from him, and everyone else.
One month, one month, one month, one moNTH, ONE MONTH-!
This whole thing was a bad idea. The future? Stupid.
Chara looked at his hand, seeing the floor through it, how silly.
So... silly.
Fresh watched the two sit with an odd look. He'd love to try and sit with Error, had tried to, in fact, just to mess with him, but he fancied the approach the other two had more.
The Future, odd concept. If they needed to see it, then it meant bad news, the fact he himself was here, made it worse. Plopping onto the ground he shook his head, he shouldn't worry. Whatever happens, happens.