Ink and Error had gone their seperate ways after their alliance had been formed.
They sealed their truce with a handshake... and a written contract created with a mixture of there magic. One of the clauses clearly stated: "If one party in the event comes across information, the information must be shared".
It was only there because Error was greedy. And if he had something, Ink knew he'd have to do something extremely embarassing for it. Even worse- let Error destroy his precious Broomie!
Ink shook his head at the thought, his ribs somehow contracting against his non-existent lungs. He clutched onto his Broomie like a lifeline- anything Error could do to Broomie was far worse than death!
It was then Ink was snapped out of his thoughts- hearing a ring on the makeshift watch he had Steampunk Sans make him and the others. A communicator device of sorts. Lifting his wrist, he saw the call was from Dream.
Ink waited before pressing the green button on the left, Dream's voice coming through after a few minutes of static ringing through the doodle sphere.
"Ink!" Dream spoke into the watch, his voice crackling with the choppy audio.
"Hey, Dream! You found anythin'? I couldn't find anything in my sphere, so it's positively, genuinely not here." Ink hummed.
"I definitely did. I'm in Underlust right now, Lust is with me actually-" A voice sounding like a siren's call interrupted, and Ink knew who it belonged to.
"Ink! Hun, I think I saw the thing you might be lookin' for!" Lust's voice came through, and Ink's attention was grabbed before it could drift away again.
"Really! Tell me everything! Like right now!" Ink quickly replied, standing up and pacing around the sphere.
"It was last night in the Scented Escape... y'know, that popular bar in Underlust?"
...
Lust.
Some say lust is just the desire for intimacy, often comparing it to the famous question;
' Is it love, or lust? '
Lust, after all carried many meanings. A desire, but also a want, or a need.It could be dirty, but in the end it meant a strong desire of what someone craved.
Lust understood what that was.
The true meaning of lust!
The hunger and deepness of wanting something, you'd go through hoops to obtain it!
The Scented Escape was such a bar where people could dabble (within reason) on those desires. Nothing illegal, but one could partake in intimacy of many levels. That raw form of lust... or the deeper form of lust.
And tonight, Lust was certain he would make people understand what it meant when you wanted something deeply.
Lust had been preparing all night. His performace, of course! It was a packed shift, and everyone knew his name by now.
Lust stared in that vanity mirror, touching-up and redoing things over and over until he felt certain they were perfect. Perfection is key for a night like this one, after all!
And Lust also knew his beloved was going to be in the audience tonight! Of course, out of sight- tucked within the corner of the bar... scandalous!
He was practically over the moon before a knock and the opening of the door snapped him out of the trance. It was Papyrus, his brother and dance partner. He was dressed up in his matching outfit- nothing too revealing, but enough to be okay on the pole.
Pole dancing? Yeah, it's Underlust. But pole dancing here? An art form, really. Not as lewd as everyone first expects or makes it out to be.
"Brother! We must make haste! The audience is waiting and we're on in five minutes after Mettaton's singing sensation act!" Papyrus stood in the doorway, tapping his foot. If he had eyebrows, Lust knew they would be furrowed.
"Yes, I know! I'm amazingly happy!" Lust bounced over, stopping a foot away with Papyrus letting out a sigh before fixing the feathers stuck to his skull.
Papyrus looked... somewhat tired. Expected, however, as he had a bar shift before dressing up. "You're always happy, brother." Papyrus stated, as if it were common fact (it was).
"Well tonight, I'm even happier! G is gonna be in the audience!" Lust beamed, swooning once again at the thought of being watched by his lover.
"Oh? That G? The one you're always talking about?" Papyrus inquired, leading Lust out the door and into the back of the stage where Mettaton just finished.
The curtains closed, and behind the scenes Lust saw them preparing the poles- the decorations. But in front of the curtains... Lust heard the cheers.
Sure, Underlust was where people of the age of consent could prance around and do what they wanted (again, within reason). But it was also a society filled with rules, and he knew one would never dare break them.
The curtains opened and the spotlight beamed, Papyrus sauntering onto the stage to begin their double act.
The music was loud, and Lust found himself staring at G in the corner. He was there, smoking a cig with that familiar smirk on his face- that crack running deep in his skull. The man himself: Gaster Sans, or just G.
Lust was his name by the AU he hailed from. It was only appropriate he lusted for his partner- that deep, passionate lust that made his soul flutter everytime they were together.
But- Lust's eyes drifted to an unfamiliar patreon near the back. A subtle glance to Papyrus while they preformed and the two agreed they'd never seen him before.
Red hood... a purple cloak...? Sash? Lust couldn't tell- but he noticed G talking to them.
Their performance came to an end, and the curtains closed as quickly as they opened.
Lust wasted no time in changing into his usual attire, donning the watch Dream had given him days ago with an instruction he had given to others.
"No matter how small. If you see something, report it. Suspicious, or even if it's a gut feeling."
Lust had rushed out from the stage, using his hoodie to be undetected by the fans still by the stage wishing for an encore even though that was all the choreography he had.
Just as Lust approached, the mysterious person left the club- heading out through the entrance. G looked like they were calling after them, his sockets wide as he tried to stop them.
"G! Baby, what's wrong?" Lust grabbed the arm of his lover, concern washing over him as he saw G's distressed expression.
"That... That isn't healthy." G whispered, as if trying to talk to the person who had left.
Lust had noted they were quite short. Maybe only the same height as Ink in his base form, not taller though.
"G, baby, what happened?" Lust asked, confused as G eventually placed a hand onto Lust's shoulder, as if seeking stability.
"He didn't... look normal. At all." G whispered through breaths, "His skull was so bashed up, that shit isn't normal."
G eventually paused, taking the time to look at his lover.
"Sorry, babe. It's just that I haven't seen someone with those level of cracks since Horror... or that Innsanity guy. Probably not worse than Sixbones though..." G mumbled, leaning onto the shorter- his chin on the crown of his head.
"Probably should tell your squid friend about this, huh?" G asked, talking into the space while Lust listened. "Well, even if it's not what he's looking for- I'm sure it's useful, right?"
Lust nodded as his lover began calming down, taking one of his hands and giving it a reassuring, gently squeeze.
"Baby, I... also must say you smell like cigarettes again."
...
"And that's what happened, and now G is swearing he's gotta figure out where the hell that Sans came from." Lust sighed.
"A sans with a cloak, and a really busted up face... I'll have the others keep an eye out." Ink noted, hearing the audio from the watch as Lust gave the mic back to Dream.
While Dream was talking, Ink was writing on the inside of his scarf.
"Ink! Damn, pay attention!" Dream groaned, and Ink snapped out of his daze to turn back towards his watch. Ink wondered who the hell took a bite out of his friend's apple... Seriously, Dream is such a loose canon lately.
"Sorry, sorry! I'll pay attention. I was tryna write it down, y'know." Ink mumbled, his sockets glancing towards the single string with a missing paper. A permanent note of his failure.
"I'll meet you in the neutral zone. I'll contact Swap so he can contact Error, okay? I'm also bringing Lust and G." Dream still had that mildly irrated tilt in his tone, but Ink didn't really pay any mind to his friend's state.
"Got you. I'll portal over now!" Ink hung up without another word, using his trusted broomie to smack a blob of paint into a surface.
All Ink had to do was think of the place- and the ink would bubble and morph into a portal with the desired exit point.
"Seriously, Dream is so uptight." Ink mumbled, stepping through the portal and being freshly-met with the soft breeze of the outside.
The neutral zone, where he and Error first formed their pact. The lovely realm of Overtale.
Ink was by the cliff, sitting near the edge while watching the sun set. It wasn't long until he heard the silent hum of a portal behind him- and the yellow familiar glow.
Ink had turned his skull and saw Dream had stepped out first, gently guiding G and Lust through. The two were clearly in a bit of shock- probably had their insides scrambled.
"Dream! Oh, Lust and G, are you okay?" Ink asked, standing up and trotting over to the pair. G looked better than Lust did, at least. Lust seriously looked like he was about to start puking rainbows.
"Perfectly fine! Totally." Lust's voice sounded slurred, and G had his boney hand on his hip.
Dream sighed, pulling out a small vial from the small pouch attached to his belt. "Here. I expected this would happen. Just a small potion for your motion sickness." He smiled, offering it to the pair.
Lust wasted no time in popping off the cork and taking a massive swig.
Dream couldn't help but think to Ink in that moment. Ah... what was he doing?
Dream shook his head, looking away and gazing off to the side.
As if on cue, a glitched out portal opened. It was as if a mess of broken scrambles of space was ripped out to make room for a new space.
That's what Error was, though...
Error and Swap stepped out, Error looking agitated for some reason. Swap looked somewhat nervous, glancing between the three parties.
"So, let's discuss. And fast." Error quickly stated, his portal closing behind him and walking forward to stand between Dream and Ink.
"From what I heard... you spotted a Sans. A fucked up one at that." Error glanced over at G, lifting up an arm and extending his index to point at him.
"... Yeah." G sat Lust down, taking a step forward.
"He was short. About that guy's height, maybe even shorter if he was wearing those platform kind of shoes." G glanced at Ink, then turned his attention back at Error.
"Ah, a short stack... of course." Error laughed bitterly, then clearing his throat for whatever reason.
"So, a short, but clearly off-putting skeleton. You got a glimpse of his eyes?" Error asked, prying some more.
"Nah. The hood made it hard to make it out. All I was focused on was his nasty cracks. Hell, half his skull looked like it wasn't even there." G recalled, feeling the same tightness in his chest as he thought of his face.
"Like Horror and Insanity. Gnarly cracks- they shouldn't be alive, but they are somehow." G ellaborated, drawing a comparison.
"... Well, I got something in reply to that." Swap stepped forward, a bit closer towards Error.
"Earlier in Underswap before we came over, Pap said he saw someone weird." Swap took out an item from underneath his chest-armor.
"This... fell out of a pocket of his while he was running through the snow. Was in a real big hurry, in fact. And I think Ink knows what it is." Swap saw the horrified expression on Ink's face, his sockets wide.
"How the hell?" Ink stood up quickly, rushing over and taking the small fragment of paper. "No doubt. It's the same material of paper I use for my drawings. By extension, the same paper that is used in the doodle sphere." Ink whispered, examining the clear edges that were made from Error's strings.
"Well, confirmation that the Sans were hunting for had ties." Error stared at the edges. A design of his own making. "If that guy had a fragment, it means the rest is still out there, right?" Error asked Ink, but the other was still lost in his mind.
"Oi, ya damned squid, answer me." Error flicked the side of his skull.
"Yeah! Yes, yes. It's fixable." Ink quickly replied, clearly only doing it to get Error off his back.
"... Great. So the next course of action is hunting down the Sans." Dream stated, feeling unease in his soul.
However, from a distance... someone was observing.
Watching.
Listening.
"A rouge Sans. Boss would like that." He mumbled, glancing at the two others by his side- teleporting away before being spotted.
If only they knew another person was watching them.