Omen [Undertale Multiverse]

Ch10 - Fight

Omen's POV

You paled when you read the the STATS for this world.
Why had you been brought to a timeline that was falling? A timeline where its very code was dying, where it was so unbalanced that it was going to cease to exist? Was this some kind of trap? Had this strange inky skeleton brought you here to try to kill you?

You moved Blue quickly behind you, eyes meeting yet another skeleton who wore black, white and yellow. His gold orbs met yours, and as though he sensed your confusion and fear at having been brought along, he immediately turned to the one who had brought you here. "Ink! Who is that? You were just meant to grab Blue!"

Just Blue? Did that mean they were here to hurt Blue, then? You wouldn't let that happen. Even if you had only interacted briefly, you could tell he was a very kind variant, and you had no intention of letting him die in this place.

Ink's expression seemed to become a little confused for just a brief moment. "Uhhhh, no idea! But! Its too late to take them back now!" he said with a grin. "Besides, this could be fun!"

Both Blue and Dream shouted a scolding "INK!" to the other's casual admittance. The dynamic was definitely coming across more like they were friends, not kidnapper-and-victim. Blue didn't seem afraid in the slightest and even moved from behind you to join the other two, leaving you even more confused about the predicament.

Did they know eachother, then? But that still didn't explain why you were all in an AU that was actively falling! You were confused, afraid, and terribly overwhelmed. Their STATs were not really doing anything to make anything clearer.

DREAM- POSITIVE GUARDIAN - 7880/9999HP - 50/9999WTL

INK - CREATION GOD - 8810/9999HP - 23/9999WTL

BLUE - PROXY TO DREAM, ERROR, INK - 488/500HP - 430/500WTL

Somehow, new information seemed to click into place. A proxy in this case meant that the multiverse had deemed these roleless entities as being vital to the balance, specifically because they were valued so dearly that their death would cause certain role holders' Will To Live to plummet.

In other words, if Blue were to die, that meant that Dream, Error and Ink - all mentioned in his CHECK - would suffer a lot due to that loss. You weren't sure who Error was, but that didn't matter. If their name was mentioned, they must have been a role holder too.

You did wonder why the Will To Live was so low for Dream and Ink. The healthy minimum was 75% of their max, which... theirs clearly was not. If Blue died, it might set their WTL to 0. Which would be bad. Very bad.

"--is dangerous!" Dream added in scolding, sounding very exasperated. You must have zoned out for a few minutes, though it seemed you hadn't missed much of the argument anyway. "They could get hurt! You shouldn't have brought them! We don't even know who they are! What if they are an original!?"

"Awwwh, but Dreamyyy, we can just protect them! I bet they could even help us stop the Bad Sanses from destroying this AU!"

"Ink, no, you can't just throw random people into this!" Dream insisted. You had a sneaking suspicion this was not the first time that this Ink character had pulled a stranger along to... well, whatever this was.

The golden skeleton finally turned to you, expression apologetic. "I'm SO sorry Ink got you caught up in this! He's a bit impulsive and doesn't think through what he's doing. I suggest you teleport to safety while we handle this." His aura was... warm. Calming, but in an unnatural way, as though his very magic was trying to comfort you. It was weird and made you feel dread instead of calm.

You shook your head. You were not a variant that could teleport, though that wasn't the reason for the action. "This AU is already falling," you let out plainly. You had no real emotion to the comment - you weren't really attached to this place. Plus... Dream's aura was making you feel weird. A mix of numb, and dread that was leaking through beneath a false positvity.

"WE ARE TOO LATE TO SAVE IT..?" Blue let out. He sounded sad, but also determined to understand your reason rather than simply arguing against it.

"Falling is different from corrupted since it happens due to extreme misbalance instead of direct code damage, but usually, they collapse the same. It would have to be severely disbalanced for a long time for it to be falling like this..."

Dream gave you a look as though he was suddenly suspicious of you. "What? But this world was positive! How do you even know-"

You interrupted him by suddenly shoving him hard so he was forced quickly out of the way, a glowing red knife just barely missing the skeleton. It'd been a reflex when you felt the magic suddenly flying towards you both. If you had acted even a moment slower, it would have hit his skull and caused considerable damage.

Dream's expression shifted from shock and anger, then to appreciation when he saw the glowing dagger embedded in the tree where he had been standing by. His magic flared as he readied for a fight, bow materialising in his hands. "Ink! They're here!" the gold skeleton shouted.

You turned to face the attacker. You knew Dream's health was high enough that you probably didn't have to worry too much, but still, you wouldn't just stand by and let people be hurt if you could help it.

Meandering from between the trees was a skeleton with a black sleeveless top. His empty sockets leaked a black substance you did not recognise, his grin wide, sinister like his sudden chuckle. "Awh, ya got a new friend? Lets hope they last longer than the last one I dusted!"

You felt your soul race in your chest as you processed his words. This skeleton was clearly a threat, somebody who had killed before and who currently intended to do harm. You hated confrontation - there was a reason you tried to stay hidden when visiting timelines, but clearly, it was too late to just disappear. And even if you decided to portal out of here, you didn't want to abandon Blue or his... friends.

"BE CAREFUL!" Blue shouted as he summoned what appeared to be a giant glowing warhammer, made of magic and bone. He wasn't a god, but that ability definitely made him seem closer to one than most variants. Perhaps a perk of being a proxy to three beings.

"Hiya Killer! Like Blueberry said, we will stop you! I won't let you destroy any more timelines!" Ink sounded weirdly cheerful even as he launched quickly into action, using a wall of paint to block an attack. No, several attacks, you realised - there were more skeletons, and you could feel the high LV radiating from them, the intent to kill.

You ignored your passive ability trying to tell you their STATs and instead moved quickly to avoid the dust-covered skeleton that seemed to have chosen you as his target. Since he was close, you did read his STATs, though mostly out of habit.

'DUST - PROXY OF NIGHTMARE - [HP Hidden] - 483/500WTL'

You were curious as to how he had a hidden stat, since that typically required a coding ability. You did not personally have a way to manipulate code, and your own STATs were hidden to others, but you didn't actually know the reason for that.

You frowned. Wait - if Blue is a proxy, and this person is also a proxy, then either of them dying would be disasterous! Why were they fighting? Did they not know how important they were? Should... should you tell them, or would that cause more issues?

An attack from Dust tore apart several trees and you dodged it as best you were able. This skeleton as definitely far faster and far more powerful than you were used to. Even the HorrorFell variant you had once been forced to dust wasn't as skilled as this strange hooded skeleton was, and that was a concern.

"Yer faster than I expected for some shitty outcode," he grumbled. "But not fast enough," he snorted as you were struck by one of his bone attacks. If the pain was anything to go by, this skeleton clearly had an intent to kill.

And since you had now identified him as a proxy, you knew you absolutely could not afford to dust him without risking upsetting one of the balances. He mattered to whoever this Nightmare person was, and--

Hold up. Did it mean Fresh's Nightmare!?