Watching You: A Refresh Story

Hard Reset

   Matthew stopped in his tracks a few feet in front of Matthieu.

   Matthieu frowned. "I said. Come."

   Matthew kept his feet planted firmly on the ground. Outertale was always one of his favorites. A Watcher had created it back when it was simply called Space. Ink had perfected it. "No."

   "No..?" Matthieu looked taken aback. No one had been able to say No to him in.... He couldn't remember how long. "Mattie. Oh Mattie. You can't just say No to me."

   "I can. And I did." Matthew huffed standing his ground.

   Matthieu was getting mad. "Fine then." He waved his arm to reveal an illusion. He knew the meaning of this skeleton to Matthew. "Listen to me or i will kill him. Sadly I liked this one. I would be so sad to ki him."

   Matthew stared between Matthieu and Error. No. It isn't real. Hes manipulating you. His shoulders tense up. "You took everything from me!"

   Matthieu senses power gathering. He steps back. "How are you doing that!?"

   "This is my Multiverse. It wad supposed to be mine a long time ago! The Omniverse should never have been broken!" Matthew snapped stomping his foot. Shockwaves radiate out and both can feel the code shift. Matthieus illusion disappears.

   "What did you do!?" Matthieu asked panic edging into his voice.

   Matthew didn't speak. He stepped forward. Matthieu stepped back. Forward. Back. Edge. Over the edge.

   Matthew jolts out of his trance and grabs onto Matthieu as he topples over the edge. Falling in Outertale is a surefire death...

   Matthieu looked up and clutched on tightly. "Mattie. I'm scared."

   Matthew's eyes flicker across Matthieus face for a moment. The Hard Reset got rid of the virus. "I won't let you fall."

   "Mattie!" Matthieu's glove is slipping. "Mattie don't let me go!"

   Matthew knows he isn't strong enough to hold him up. Along with restoring the Omniverse the Hard Reset had destroyed any viruses bringing Matthieu back to his original intention. A friend. A creation that was a little too real but still lacked something. Some spark.

   "Listen to me Matt. You won't fall. I promise." Matthew was lying. He couldn't fix this. The Hard Reset was his last trick and it just brought the multiverse's back together. It couldn't bring anyone back to life.

   Matthieu gripped on tighter. "Mattie..." His glove was slipping more. "I'm sorry." His hand slipped out of his glove.

   "No!" Matthew reached but it was too late. Matthieu was gone. Matthew shuddered and clutched his chest. The code shifted again. The Young Prince was whole again.