CHAPTER EIGHT
Where more light is shone on Crash's past.
________________________________________________________________________________ "Would it kill him to take a break?" Crash asked herself, annoyance clearly laced in her voice, as she connected the soul of a young boy to that of his new little brother. she watched as his eyes grew wide with excitement while he stood by his father's side, his small hands holding onto the smooth textured fabric of the man's trousers. "Sans, say hello to Papyrus...your new baby brother." He signed to the little boy as he went down on one knee, making sure the boy could see the baby in his hands. Crash smiled softly, as she felt the waves of happiness from his soul travel through the thin golden thread connecting his soul and that of his brother's, her earlier annoyance forgotten. She sighed and walked through the wall, remembering her other tasks. She deactivated her cloak, making her code quite visibly engraved in that of the world she was in. She didn't like uncloaking...since that would mean she would have to interact with the occupants. She shivered as cold air hit her frame while she walked, uneasily, to a huge tree surrounded by boxes of gifts.
she huffed and bent down to pick one wrapped in bright red wrapping paper. the others watched her in curiosity as she opened it and placed a knitted red scarf in it. she scrawled a word onto the conveniently placed tag which was connected to the golden bow on the top of the box. She placed it back under the tree and forced herself to walk away as she heard murmurings of her being new in the town. she gritted her teeth when she received cautious looks from a few who had been bold enough to try and check her. they got no results though, as her soul was not with her.
"Damn demi-human anomalies..." she hissed as she opened a portal and stepped through it, her mood souring greatly. she stopped walking as the portal closed, leaving her in a pure white space that seemed to have no end. She mumbled curses, at the demi-humans who had checked her, as she brought out the world's code. she studied its stats as she looked through the numerous life signatures for her own.
"--UNDERBEAT 37912--" she read, her eyes narrowed as she tried to feel the familiar crackle of her magic. "UGh! UnDErBeaT...MoRe LIke UnDErTrAsH!"She said in disgust, her voice quite unclear and full of static as 'CRASHED' signs appeared all around her. She frowned as she spotted her signature and deleted it from the code. "NoW NOnE Of ThOsE StUpiD AnoMaLiEs WiLL Be AbLe To ReMemBEr ME. StUpId, PiEcE oF TraSh WoRld." she growled and dismissed its code. She walked forward a little and stopped a few paces away from where she had last stood. " StUpId, PiEcE oF TraSh WoRld." she heard a glitching voice say as she remembered her last encounter with her brother... Error.
She sighed as her mood went from greatly annoyed to blank and cold. She opened another portal and stepped through it, now arriving at a green landscape dotted with bright beautiful flowers. "Welcome back to the Omega timeline." she heard an echoing voice say and immediately recognized its owner. "Welcome... a strange word...even stranger, now that it's being used to address me," she said in a calm, almost quiet voice, as she addressed the small figure beside her. The black and gray figure looked very much like a child except her eyes were very much just dark voids. They frowned at her response and pouted, showing her obvious dislike for Crash's current mood. "Oh come on...you know I'm RiGht." she said coldly, voice glitching at the end of her sentence. They sighed as they spotted more 'Crashed' signs popping up around her body. "It's okay...let's drop the topic. I wouldn't want you to glitch out on us just a few minutes after stepping foot here." Crash rolled her eyes as her lips threatened to stretch into a smile. "Hey, Frisk! You wouldn't mind me CRASHING here, would you?" she asked with a shit-eating grin plastered right on her face as she finally turned to look at her companion. they eyed her blankly and nodded which made her groan out loud. "How come my jokes never get to you? That was my best one yet...though it sounded more HUMERUS in my head." she chuckled as she delivered the pun only to be given a blank stare. she chuckled some more and returned her gaze to the now orange-filled sky; as the sun set, disappearing slowly. The same way it did before she fell into the void.
She remembered that day as if it was yesterday...
She remembered how Error had been found days before...broken and hurt. She remembered the tears their mother had shed as she analyzed his injuries. She remembered the pain, the hurt...THE BETRAYAL... Her mother was beside herself when she found out that Fate had tampered with her poor little boy. Crash was beside herself with grief when Error did not stir from his sleep in weeks. She kept trying to reach him through their connection but...
"STOP! JUST STOP! CAN'T YOU SEE HE'S HURTING?" Destiny yelled at her when she caught her trying to interact with his soul. She was too occupied with checking Error to notice the look of pain in Crash's eyes. Crash had stopped trying to help wake him up and just...stayed out of the way, not that anyone noticed. Crash stopped spending time in the paradise she called home and started going to other worlds...trying her best to make friends...trying her best to fill the VOID in her soul. She prayed, hard, for Error to wake up, hoping that his wake would at least remind them of her presence. She got her wish...only for Error to act like she didn't exist.
She stopped leaving home for the other worlds and started spending more time with Error... trying her hardest to get closer to her brother again...but... he only became irritated with her countless efforts and childish nature. The day she fell into the void, she had wanted to show him one of her new attacks. she formed a ball with the golden thread she pulled out of her eyes and threw it at Error, who caught it with ease. she giggled as he inspected it. "What was it supposed to do?" He asked as he bounced it on the floor several times. "I can't tell you that. It's supposed to be my special attack," she replied and he burst into mad laughter. "I can't believe a sorry piece of trash like you would create something like a special attack." Crash looked surprised at his outburst and took a frightful step back. "W-what do you m-mean?" He sneered at the frightened expression and summoned a wall of bones behind her. her back hit against it and she winced. "I can't believe that your sorry self has so much power...only to be wasted on useless tricks. Oh well... if you won't tell me what it's for...THeN I'lL JuSt HaVe To FInD OuT!" He roared and kicked the ball hard, making it fly right at her. She tried to move away but it was too fast. it hit her squarely on the chest and bounced off as she doubled over in pain. Error erected another wall in front of the speeding ball and it bounced back and hit her right on the head. He noticed the pattern in its movements and erected more walls, closing them in on her in order to trap her. She screamed in pain as the ball hit her harder than the last...over and over. She wished for it to go away and the ball disappeared. She tried to stand but the searing pain in her body told her she wouldn't be able to. Error, dissatisfied with the silence, brought down the walls and walked over to the broken Crash. he bent down and picked her up by her white hair, chuckling as she groaned in pain. "Though you're weak and pathetic, you still have a zeal for life...interesting..." She flinched as he spoke, his words carrying a dark edge. "W-Why?" she asked weakly after coughing out blood. Error looked at his incapacitated sister and smiled a cruel smile...a smile she would remember for a lifetime he dragged her, by the hair, and pushed her into the void with a chuckle. "Don't worry about getting out of there, sis...nobody's going to remember you anyway..." Was the last thing she heard before she was torn apart.
"Twenty years...still alive...not awake" was all she could hear, all of a sudden. She opened her eyes and stared at Destiny. Her mind was unstable as she saw things happen around her. She remembered dust and blood scattered all around her. She felt pain as she was attacked by Error and Ink. She remembered what he did...and who she was...but it was already too late as she saw Ink dusting in front of her. She felt...nothing, as she looked around, feeling the fear emanating from those around her...so she ran and hid...or tried to. She was scared as her soul kept being unresponsive to the emotions all around her. She didn't know why she felt nothing at all after that mass genocide. "...nobody's going to remember you anyway... "A glitched-out voice seemed to say to her as she cradled the glowing rainbow-colored soul. She stretched out her hand and summoned a panel full of codes. She saw three options under it... RESET, SAVE, AND ERASE. She hesitated a little bit before she placed her hand on the reset option. She hoped that maybe if everything went back to how it was she...would be fixed. nothing seemed to have happened so she pressed Erase. It asked her to select a specific code and she selected hers. She just wanted everything to go back to normal... it was just that...she didn't know what she was doing. Seeing no result she reached for the Save option and pressed her hand against it. The panel glowed, making her gasp in shock. It disappeared after that...but she still felt numb. She summoned her soul and looked at its dimmed, cracked surface. She didn't remember why it looked as wretched as it was. She sent it back and made herself quite comfortable before glancing at the soul in her hand. She felt it shiver and panicked a little. She looked for something to warm it up but found nothing. She pressed it to her chest, hoping that her own soul would heat it up. Then she got an idea and immediately went to work...using her strings to knit a scarf, which she wrapped it up in. She felt it coo and looked at it in surprise. She found it...interesting...though she didn't quite know who it was for. She stayed hidden till Fate tracked her down.
She had come for Ink's soul...but the only thing she saw was Crash holding a little doll, which looked exactly like her, in her arms. She tried to coax its whereabouts from the girl but she was silent, only tilting her head a little when asked about the soul. Crash felt...possessive of the soul, her beautiful rainbow soul. She started to glitch out and so did the anti-void around her. Fate looked shocked as she doubled over in pain. She quickly tried to reason with her, changing the subject from the soul to her family. Almost immediately, the glitching stopped. She looked up at the girl she had come to destroy and changed her mind...this kind of power could be used to her advantage...and if Destiny didn't want her then she did...LOVE or not. So Fate took her in and under her wing. The ink was fine...for now. Her magic was supporting him and it wouldn't be long till he would be able to live without a soul. She even had substitutes for his emotions. Ink didn't seem to remember her but he knew she had something to do with his condition. He didn't react to his mother's choice to take her in...he couldn't. Fate knew he wouldn't protest and went ahead to train her and even taught her how to do her job. She took her around the world and took her through trials to test her efficiency. crash was doing well so far... And so was her mental stability. Soon she was able to talk and take responsibility for her various actions. She got to know that the soul she had so effortlessly concealed in the doll was Ink's but she held onto it as a bargaining chip, just in case. She became more shrewd and cunning as she studied Fate's every move. She listened in to every conversation and read almost every note or book that had more information she could use to her advantage. She learned a lot and got better at manipulating AUs. She even made a few friends, including her brother Fresh. She left Fate's hold after discovering she had tried to control her with her magic. She went back to Destiny but... She barely stayed there for more than three hours. Destiny had given up on her after she had gone on her last genocide run...and so she gave up on ever getting close to her family again...but Destiny introduced her to the others as their sister. She explained that Crash had fallen into the void,making them forget about about her. Fresh accepted her immediately but Geno and Error were wary of her. She didnt mind as she went about connecting people together with her strings, taking up from Fate...but that didnt mean she forgave Error for his sins.