IC - 1 - Switch


Question: okay, for one, FIND DUST BEAN QUICKKKKK Second, why the heck do all villains say their plans-


Answer: One, yes! Two, not all villains say their plans, but when they do, it's likely because it makes them feel better about themselves, knowing that even if you do know their plans, you'll never stop it. This is actually documented fact, and many real-life villains have quite literally told us what they were going to do. I won't provide examples, though, since I don't want a hitman to come to my house.


~~~~~


Nightmare's gang was having an okay time; the balance had been relatively stable, and we only had to go out when genocides were low or something else was going on. Actually, we enjoyed that time as much as we could; it wasn't as nice as when we had little to no work, but we made do with what we had. We didn't really have much to do today; we had just gone out for the first time in an entire week! I had to fight Ink alone, though, since Cross was in the middle of an intense study on ghost physics which he couldn't break from - Chara had been pestering him endlessly about it, and it wasn't something he could simply have said no to. I felt a bit weird after the battle - tired, perhaps? Maybe ill? - but I attributed it to the fact that Ink had used some magic in contrast to his usual battering with his paintbrush. I didn't actually know what type of magic he had used, but it would have been enough to ground me if we hadn't retreated when we did. Actually, I felt horrible, but Killer wanted to show me some new knife tricks, keeping me awake instead of allowing me to sleep; I was okay with that, though, since I would always put my family's interests before my own, even if it was sleep.


"So when the guy comes at me, I go like this!" Killer showcased a defensive move. "Cool, right?"


"Definitely.." I yawned slightly.


"Ya tired, Dusty?"


"A little..you can go on, though."


"Well, how about one more?"


"Maybe you should let him sleep." Nightmare suggested; we were in the living room.


"It'll be quick!"


"That's what you said about the hour-long one." Error chuckled.


"Heh..right.." Killer wanted to change the subject. "Well, ya look tired, Dusty! How about ya just lay down and get some rest?"


"Now that is an idea I can get behind." I yawned. 


"Here, you can rest next to me; I'll ensure that no antics wake you." Nightmare offered me the distinguished honor of sleeping on a couch; that was an offer almost none could resist.


"Thanks, Dad." I lay down, snuggling into a blanket.


"I can show ya more when ya wake up, though, right?" Killer needed confirmation.


"Sure, just don't go too crazy.."


"Got it! Extra crazy!"


"Whatever.." I just wanted sleep.


I closed my eyesockets and drifted to sleep peacefully, descending into a dusty nightmare. I felt a bit weird today..I was usually more aware when I slept, but..I wasn't this time? Huh..maybe I was just more tired than I had thought; that occasionally happened after an intense battle. I decided to enjoy my rest as much as I could, savoring every moment of sleep I had; knowing Killer, he would have been on me as soon as he knew I was awake, and I needed to be ready in the event that I needed to focus. When I woke, I noticed that I was not lying on a couch..had I been moved? Perhaps something important was happening, but it wasn't important enough to wake me? I decided that I would need to figure it out; in any case, I could just ask Paps. I yawned slightly before opening my eyesockets and finding myself looking into two yellow eyelights-


"Morning, Ink!" Dream?!


Okay, I could have handled it better than I did..screaming in surprise wasn't the nicest thing to do, but what would a logical response have been when waking up to the face of one of my family's most dangerous enemies?!


"Oh!" Dream backed away a little. "Sorry! I forgot you don't like that too much! I just really needed to talk to you!"


"Wha-" Why was my voice different? Why did I sound like him?


"So, about the entire golf incident.." 


Dream started to speak about something, but I wasn't listening. I looked at my hands..those weren't my hands! The hands were..larger..they were stronger? I looked at my clothes..that were not covered in dust?! Why was I wearing a sash?! Oh goodness, this was either the weirdest dream in history, or something was horribly wrong! What did Ink do to me?! I touched my face..I didn't like it when I felt paint on it. I looked around the room I was in; papers covered the walls, but there was barely any furniture - only a bed, a couch, and a desk, for the most part. I was glad I had some sort of self-control, because I needed all the self-control I could get in order to not go absolutely insane! I was in Ink's body! I was wearing his clothes, speaking with his voice, and- where was my soul? Nope. No. I didn't like this! I didn't like this one bit! I couldn't hear my soulbeats! The only thing that was even remotely familiar was the feeling of Nightmare's magic..I wasn't going to question how Ink had something with his magic in it, but I wasn't arguing if it was going to help me stay even a little calm. I needed to sort this out..was Dream still speaking?


"You know, I feel really bad about the explosion!" He hadn't noticed that I wasn't paying attention to him..and from that piece of information, I didn't want to know what he was talking about!


Okay..okay. I was in Ink's body..then..was he in mine?! Oh, no..what was Paps going to do? Was Ink able to see him? Was I going to be able to see him through Ink's eyelights?! What if I couldn't see him?! He's the best! He deserved to be seen and heard! I sighed silently; I would have to figure that out when I came to that point. For now, I had to accept that Ink had likely switched bodies with me like in one of Nightmare's stories, and I needed to figure out a real way to switch us back, not a book way. Okay..if I told his friends that I was actually me, they might have locked me up..I couldn't risk that. Instead of telling them, I needed to make them believe that I was Ink..but I didn't know how Ink acted! All right, that was fine; I just needed to make them believe that "Ink" was going though a changing period..yes, that would have made my behavior acceptable, especially if I did things that Ink absolutely despised. Now..I needed to stage it at the right time. Slowly but surely, I shifted my focus to Dream's speaking.


"When you get past the entire death thing, it really wasn't so bad!" Dream was speaking very weird phrases..why were they engaging in golf with death and explosions? "So..are you still mad?"


"Dream.." I needed to make this the most convincing thing ever. "I've decided that it doesn't matter."


"Really?" Dream seemed a bit surprised - good surprised. "I thought you still would have been angry.."


"No, I'm not angry. In fact, this event has brought me to think about a lot of things, such as life in general. Maybe I should be more open to things; I can't let anger get the best of me. In fact, I think I'm going to try to change as a person."


"Ink, I didn't know it had affected you that much.." Dream seemed to understand whatever I was talking about, which was fortunate, since I had absolutely no clue. "If you want, we can talk about it more.."


"Nothing more needs to be said; it's in the past, and we'll leave it there. For now, I see a bright future ahead of us."


"Wow..if I had known it would change you like this, I would have accidentally destroyed fifty AUs during a game of golf much sooner!" 


I had to pause at that; Dream did what?!


"Are you okay, Ink?" Dream seemed concerned; I was concerned about his entire life.


"I'm fine!" I..he what?!


"Would you like to hear Blue's apology, too?"


"Remind me what he did again?" I had no idea what was going on..


"Oh, uh..he didn't tell you how many he destroyed, did he?"


"Nope.." I didn't want to know!


"Let's just say it was over two hundred.."


"Maybe..you should refrain from playing golf.." I was never playing golf..never.


"Perhaps that's for the best.."


"Let's just forget about it..the past, remember?" How high was Dream's LV?


"Right. It really surprises me how well you're taking this; I can tell that you've really grown from last time." 


"Yeah.." I wanted to end this conversation..


"Well, if you really feel that way, I guess I don't need to bring out the chocolate.."


"The what?" I didn't know that Ink liked chocolate..


"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist!" Dream chuckled.


"I what?" I had no idea what was going on anymore..


"Well, here you go!" Dream handed me a..chocolate bar?


"Uh..thanks.." I put the chocolate bar on a bedside table.


"Anyway, we've got a council meeting to get to in about..ten minutes!" Dream seemed startled at the time; I was startled at the fact that Ink chose this time so perfectly..what was I supposed to do in front of people?! "I'm so sorry, Ink! I thought it was earlier! We should get going!"


I was almost immediately grabbed by the Guardian of Positivity and dragged through a yellow portal to what seemed to be a meeting room; what was I supposed to do now?! Dream walked me to a seat and placed me in it happily as I figured out a way to wrap my skull around what was going on; I knew that Ink had chosen this time on purpose to confuse me further, but I couldn't let it get to me! All right, I knew what was going on in the multiverse, thanks to Nightmare's school - current events was actually paying off! - and I knew the nicknames for various judges; that was a start. Well, Ink had never liked to help people before; he usually just brushed problems off to the side while promising to deal with them..but what if I actually helped? My family would know that something was up if Ink just started helping people from the goodness of his nonexistent soul, and they would likely want to know what was happening; that was my chance. After being given a schedule - that was lucky - I knew exactly what to do..if everything went according to plan, of course. I knew something was bound to go wrong, but I didn't want to think about that right now.


"Good morning." I looked at the first thing on the list: problem solving? Well, that was the way to go, I supposed. "We're just going to get right into it today..does anyone have any serious problems?"


"How about the one I've been asking about for a year?!" Underfell's Sans spoke up.


"All right, we'll deal with it right now." I hoped my plan would work. "Give me the details, Fell."


"Wait, seriously?" He seemed shocked. "You mean you're.."


"Not much of a helper if I don't help; tell us what's wrong, and I'm sure everyone can find a solution."


"W-well, all right! About a year ago, we had our last pacifist run, and everyone's been topside for a while. Kid said it wouldn't reset for a good while, but when we got out, the humans were more hostile than normal; they usually have the same attitude as regular AUs, since only the Underground changes in Underfell, but not this time.."


"Interesting..so you want them to act normal again without the presence of a reset?"


"Yeah, exactly."


"I believe..I know the problem."


"You do? Can you fix it?"


"It depends. According to the law of code-being inherent, under the fifth rule, the only ways to fix a problem such as that would be a reset or a code refresh."


"A what?"


"It's a simple operation, but it might take a bit of work. How about I come to Underfell directly after this, since anyone can perform it? Of course, if you just want to reset, that would also work."


"I don't really feel like going through everything again."


"Understandable. So I'll come to Underfell with you?"


"Sure."


"Right."


The day went on like that. Surprisingly, everything went smoothly; that was saying something, since there were over two hundred problems brought up in that small time period, and I was going to have my hands full with the amount of problems I had committed to fix in the next three weeks. On the bright side, there was nothing that a normal group of people couldn't accomplish; I was glad that there were no issues that needed direct code fixing, since I didn't know how to do that! Another interesting fact was that I could use Ink's powers, but that didn't really do me any good, since I had no idea how code worked. As far as I was concerned, I was going to just act how Ink should have acted in hopes that someone in my family would notice and get me back into my own body; I hoped it wouldn't last for too long. I also apparently had his endurance, because I was not able to go through the amount of stress caused by this event without wanting to pass out in my old body, yet I felt perfectly fine in Ink's. I would use that to my advantage. When the ridiculous meeting was over, I started my list of temporary commitments with a trip to Underfell.


"Are you sure you know where this thing is?" Underfell's Sans asked, as we moved through the dark ruins.


"Certainly." I remembered these special code locations from school.


"How come only you know where it is?"


"I'm planning on changing that; judges, at the very least, should be able to refresh AU codes. In fact, I'm going to teach you how."


"I still don't get this entire 'code' thing."


"It's difficult to grasp unless you have a few hours to get the basics down, and I have something to do directly after this."


"What's with that, anyway? You didn't do this sort of stuff in the past."


"I've had a change of soul."


"You don't even have a soul."


"Expressions."


"Say, how often do you have to take those paint thingies, anyway?"


"About once every few days" I remembered that from a close encounter with the artist; it hurt at the time, but I retained the information well. I wasn't looking forward to drinking paint if I had to, but it was only temporary; I would live..probably.


"How do you stand it?"


"Not sure. In any case, we're here." I looked down at the flowerbed.


"So what do we do?"


"See these rocks?" I pointed to a few pebbles.


"Yeah?"


"Try to move them."


"Like that's a challenge." He attempted to move the pebbles, but they remained still; after a minute, he gave up. "All right, what's the deal?"


"Touch them in a star pattern, as if you were drawing one."


"Okay?" He did so, and a code bar opened up. "What's that?!"


"The codes for Underfell. You can't change them directly unless you have specific powers for that purpose, but anyone can refresh them. Just press the general button."


"All right." He pressed the button.


"Now just press refresh, and everything will be fine, but you'll feel a bit weird for a few moments; that's normal. If it doesn't work, the only way to fix it would be a reset, sorry."


"That's okay..thanks, Ink."


"No problem. If that's all, I'll be going; there shouldn't be any foreigners in the universe when you refresh, by the way, since it might affect them."


"Right. I'll keep that in mind. Good luck with everything, Ink; don't overwork yourself."


"I won't!"


With that, I was gone.


~~~~~


Ink. Because you want to know what's going on over there. Probably. Well, at least I do.


~~~~~


I yawned as I woke up, feeling a bit smaller; I had expected that. Okay, I honestly had no idea why I wanted to swap bodies with Dust; it had just seemed like a good idea at the time! I wondered what life was like in his shoes..I supposed I would find out! I woke up to..quiet? Huh..that was different. Nightmare was next to me, reading a book? When was the last time I had seen him in a peaceful setting? Wait, was he wearing reading glasses? Huh..I had learned so much in only ten seconds. He looked down at me when he noticed that I was awake.


"Good night, Dust." He addressed..right, I was Dust! This was going to be so much fun! "Did you sleep well?"


"Yep." I had Dust's voice..interesting.


"Well, I think Killer should be aware of your waking any moment now; good luck." 


"Thanks..?" What horrors did Killer have? 


"Dusty!" Killer jumped at me; I flinched back. How did he get there so fast?! "Wanna see now?"


"Um..sure?" What had I gotten myself into? What made me think it was okay to switch bodies with someone? How insane could I get?!


"Great!" 


Killer began to..show me fighting moves? Well, that wasn't so bad. I watched his moves as if they interested me; they didn't, but I imagined that that idiot Dust would have taken an interest. Soon, Nightmare ceased the practicing by speaking.


"That was very nice, Killer." He approved, putting his glasses away. "But I'm going to have to take Dust for his weekly checkup now."


"Okay, Dad!" Killer called Nightmare 'Dad'? Perhaps Dust did as well..that would have been good to remember.


"Are you ready, Dust?"


"Yeah, Dad." I tested my theory.


"Very well, let's go." Nightmare seemed happy at the name; he was used to being called that, for sure.


I didn't actually know anything about Dust's private life; that was awkward, considering my circumstances. I knew I wanted to swap bodies for a reason, but I couldn't remember the reason..that was stupid. Well, I'd remember it eventually. When we reached our destination, we were in some sort of hospital room? There was medical equipment..this was certainly interesting. Nightmare gestured for me to sit down on a wooden table, which I did accordingly; I was playing Dust's role now, apparently. Within a minute, Nightmare had hooked up some sort of device to Dust's soul; right, I had his soul now..wait, was he the soulless one now? That would be awkward..oh, well! Not my problem! I turned my attention to Nightmare when he began to speak.


"Would you summon some bones, please?" He requested.


"Sure." I didn't know why he wanted that, but I obliged. The bones came out..deformed? They were cracked and chipped..I had never seen bone attacks so weak..


"Still the same.." Nightmare seemed strangely sad at the sight of the weak bone attacks. "Try a blaster, please."


"Okay." I did so, but the blaster also looked chipped..it looked like it was in pain..


"All right, that's enough." Nightmare sighed, pulling out a cup. "Attempt blue magic."


I said nothing this time, simply trying to perform the action, but..it wouldn't work? 


"Still nothing?" Nightmare seemed to know that nothing would happen..had Dust always been unable to perform blue magic?


"No.." I figured that Dust would have said that.


"I'm sorry, Dust..do you want to try teleportation or levitation?"


"No, thanks.." I gathered that Dust couldn't use those, either; that was odd.


"Very well; I'll monitor this for a moment."


Nightmare continued with the checkup after that conversation, and I was left wondering what else Dust's life had in store. My questions grew when I saw a bodiless Papyrus float up to me?!


"Hello, brother!" He smiled..Dust's brother? A ghost?!


"Hey, bro." I decided to respond..Dust might have responded.


"I wanted to tell you that since Cross has finished his studies, Chara and I are going to be on that trip starting today, brother; we will be gone for about a month. Are you sure you will be all right without me?"


"Absolutely, bro. Have fun on your trip!" I had no idea what this was, but my timing was impeccable.


"Thank you, brother! I will be off, then; good bye!"


"Bye!"


I watched as the ghost opened a portal and went through it..I supposed I was alone, then. Soon enough, the checkup ended, and I went to Dust's room, where I decided to check the codes to see if there was anything interesting. But that didn't happen..my code box wouldn't open! I couldn't access it! I must have lost my powers during the switch! But then..that meant..


I was helpless.


~~~chapter end woot~~~


Dust bean and Ink sausage confused.


Thanks for reading my confusing writing!


Bye!

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