AUTHORS NOTE: This story is set in the exact same AU as Xwolf26's DoubleTale. So if you haven't read that I recommend you go there and read their story first if you haven't already. Here's why:

1) You won't know who some of these Characters are and the significance of some events

2)Major effin spoilers

Xwolfs given me the green light for this project so I hope they and everybody enjoy it. And I hope I have the fuel and motivation to finish it. Again if you haven't read Doubletale already please mosey your litte hiney over there and leave them some feedback. Its hilarious, and the main character is a blast.

To those who have read Doubletale I hope to do right by you and the characters so if there's any complaints, suggestions, or things you feel I've misinterpreted or misrepresented PLEASE TELL ME. Your feedback is crucial so that I can give the most authentic continuation of Doubletale that I can.

CHAPTER 1

"C'mon," said Predator, "you guys are like, what...fifteen...sixteen now? I'm just sayin', its obvious that Chara is a boy."

Chara glowered over their cards across the table at Predator. "I'm sitting right here, you know."

Cter grinned mischievously. "Maybe they are, maybe they ain't. Either way, the only way you're gonna find out is if you show us that hand, 'One Night Stand'," said Cter, voice dripping with lewd emphasis over the nickname he dubbed her.

Predator groaned flipping her cards over, Cter grinning victoriously. Two of a kind. "Core should never have told us about that timeline. Now things are just soooo awkward between us." She winked playfully at Cter as if to say, "yeah, as if."

"Speak for yourself," said Cter, idly rolling a black poker chip back and forth across his knuckles, slouching into his chair. He then put on his best Lenny face. "That just means I have something to look forward to."

Predator reared her head back at that, laughing fitfully. "The future is dark and full of terrors," she said in a spooky voice as she carefully removed her last sock.

"Damn," said Cter, frowning.

"What? I lost the round. Aren't you happy? You're that much closer to having a free peep show."

"Uh, yeah, but you're also ruining my 'Naked With Socks' fetish, so, lose the Assassin's Creed hood instead, Altair."

Predator quirked her brow. "Really? Naked with socks? You're not meeting my expectations at all, Cter. To think, I had always pegged you as a more upper-crust, 'Naked With Gloves', kind of guy."

Cter shrugged at this. "Why not both?" he asked sagely

Predator gasped mockingly, bringing two closed fists up to her temples before miming an explosion with her hands, demonstrating that her mind had been utterly blown. "Aaah, a new perspective on life. My mind has been expanded, o' revered seer of perversion."

"If you two are quite done spamming your FLIRT buttons," Chara said, a little too seriously, "maybe we can move this game along so we can go home and get some sleep!"

Cter and Predator snickered quietly, sharing a look with one another, simultaneously mouthing the words 'fun sucker' and pretending like Chara didn't know exactly what they were saying and to whom it was being addressed!

Nobody said anything for a brief moment after that, but everyone at the card table knew Chara was secretly enjoying themselves too, whether they cared to admit it or not.

"Ah, the Chara," said Cter, "truly the most tsundere of card game enthusiasts."

Chara thought it best not to give Cter what he wanted and dignify that with a response; and was satisfied to see him actually pout a little when they didn't rise to the obvious bait. Best to know when and where to choose your battles after all.

Not for the first time though, Chara was beginning to wonder how they got roped into this high stakes strip-poker game, let alone agree to this stupid bet. Predator and Cter had been bar hopping across the Omega Timeline, going from Grillby's to Chillby's to, Freshby's, Muffet's and even 'Jerry's (Which nobody else went to for obvious reasons), as well as any AU grease joint Omega had to offer. After some time had passed, Chara - being the only grown up apparently - (and at the insistence of their mother Toriel) was sent to hunt Cter down and bring him home.

Next thing they knew, a supposedly 'smashed' Predator and Cter, came stumbling out of 'Muffets', draping themselves all over Chara like they were a coat hanger. Then Predator, out of nowhere, had insisted on knowing Charas true 'biology' since Cter had refused to tell her. Long story, short version? Things escalated, and now...here they were.

"Hey, wait a minute!" said Chara, coming to a sudden realization. "Is that the sole purpose of why you dragged Cter out here tonight? Just so you could get him wasted enough to tell you my...my…"

"Haha bingo! Ya caught me, Steak Knives! Call the S.W.A.T. why dontcha?"

Correction; Chara wasn't enjoying themselves. Not yet anyway. Not until they won this game and had both of these irritating toddlers prancing around in their underwear, begging for their mercy….but demons don't have MERCY buttons. =)

And no, they did NOT have any other ulterior motives for getting Cter to prance around in his underwear. None whatsoever! But they did steal brief glances over at Cter when they thought he wasn't looking. Chara still hadn't managed to get him to lose that damn shirt! S-so they could humiliate him for it later, naturally...

Cter appraised his friend from across the table. "Uh oh, Predator, best watch out. Judging by that expression, it looks like Chara here just activated 'Try Hard' mode. Better call it quits while you still can." Cter was only half-joking.

Predator obviously wasn't impressed nor worried, or if she was, she was doing a helluva good job of not showing it. Which is a good trait to have if you wanna have any prayer of winning a game such as this, Chara thought to themselves neutrally.

"Sorry lover," she said, ignoring Cter's warning glance and Chara's oddly defensive one, "but I came here tonight to kickass and give a shit...and I'm aaall outta shit."

Chara scrunched up their face. "Gross."

"Besides, Chara," said Predator, grinning the most oily, sinister smile Chara had ever seen a human wear. (Considering the kinds of messed up humans they had fought in the past - Cter topping the list - that was an achievement.)

"I wanna know if it's true or not."

DON'T ask her what's true or not, a voice inside Chara screamed loudly. But their curiosity got the better of them anyway."...If what's true or not?" Shit! What did I JUST tell myself?

Predator folded her card hand and crossed her arms, leaning forward. "Whether or not you're a tasty flat chest."

Cter brayed like the jackass he most certainly was, laughing so hard and loud he disrupted the flow of conversations throughout the whole bar they shared with the heterogeneous crowd of AU's.

As Cter' and Predators laughter dissolved into hysteria-laced coughs, flesh stinging leg-slaps, and open-mouthed wheezing, Chara's knuckles began to turn white as snow, their cards trembling in their unsteady hands, face redder than a stick of dynamite and just as eager to blow.

*where are the knives? =)

The game continued on with a distinctly predetermined cycle. Cter and Predator would pretend to FLIRT with one another and ruthlessly tease Chara, irritating them. Chara would get pissed (of course) and threaten to eat their hearts and crap out their souls, all the while cards were drawn and chips were lost, gained, or exchanged; the clothing from all three contestants piling upon the wooden floor until a clear winner was no longer evident. At this point it was anyone's game. For Chara the stakes had never been higher.

"Heh," said Predator, "if Sans were here, he'd probably make a lame pun concerning how 'the steaks are too high' or something." Though she sounded her usual, confident self, Chara noticed Predator was concealing her undergarments beneath her cloak, wrapping it around her protectively on top of sitting with her legs pulled into her chest. Curious, considering her personality. Is she actually being - dare they say - 'bashful' in this situation? Shouldn't it be the opposite?

Chara thought she looked unusually subdued. I mean, this is Predator for Delta's sake!, thought Chara. They had never seen her in any scenario where the word 'subdued' could ever be considered an appropriate adjective to describe her...except...when...

Except for back then, when they had first encountered him: Anarchy and his Dark Shadows…

"Well, that's less threatening than flowey," said F-Cter. Predator did not share the sentiment; she crawled away from the shadowy figure as though he were plague-ridden. She gulped, throat dry as cold sweat ran down her face. Chara knew that look. That was the look people wore upon seeing a really bad memory come to life in front of them. Like a rotting corpse that doesn't know how to stay buried.

"C'mon what's with that look?" The Shadow-man grinned, looming threateningly over Predators trembling figure. "I thought we had something special?"

"Maybe...we should go home," said Chara, glancing to the side, a hint of uncertainty in their voice, "or at least not take off anymore of our clothes. It's kinda weird and there are people present." They weren't sure if they were doing this for Predators sake or theirs anymore. Maybe it was both.

Predator glanced at them from across the table, her expression unreadable, Chara avoiding their searching gaze.

"Hey buddy," said Cter, "take it easy, nobody's gonna get past this curtain." Cter gestured grandly at the curvilinear walls of magic ink and keys forming a perimeter around their table, quite literally the only thing censuring their progression towards caveman status from the other patrons of 'Muffets'. "Heck, even if you lose Chara, and you really don't wanna spill the beans, I'll end this game right now and we can forget all about this, no matter what Predator says. You don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable." He winked encouragingly, smiling and sounding almost sincere for once.

Chara had to duck their head to hide their face in their bangs. Gah! He's always like this, braindead, and immature, and infuriating, but... he's always managed to say the right things when it really mattered. The tiny smile they hid behind their cards was as furtive as it was significant.

"Why?!" Predator cried, sounding like her usual self again. "How's that fair?"

"Its not," said Cter, "and also, because I said so, and that's all a gentleman has to say on the matter!"

Predator rolled her eyes. "Pfft, some gentleman," was all she replied, flicking a chip at him.

"Well I am a connoisseur of the finer things in life. 'Naked With Gloves' is 'uppercrust', remember?"

"You would," said Predator

"Your words, not mine." said Cter winking his left eye shut.

There was a brief pause, and for seemingly no reason at all everyone at the table burst into another spontaneous show of laughter, even Chara.

"Alright, fine," said Predator shaking her head with mirth, "take your family jewels out of the antee then. Can't find out anything juicy with Big Brother over here anyway."

"I'm just here to protect that precious smile," said Cter knowingly, causing Chara to fall out of their chair, flailing as they leaned back on its hind legs before crashing.

Chara winced when the back of their head met the grease-stained floorboards. Seriously, why does he have to know everything!?

Underfell

"Why won't you just die, you flamin freakazoid!" Underfell Sans' arm was a blur of violent motion, his victim being tossed around like a rag-doll, a gruesome chorus of sickening thuds and crunches echoing throughout the corridor. But all the little sicko trapped in Sans' soul grip did was cackle maniacally and grin that face splitting smile of theirs, even as their bones were ground to dust and their insides pulverized to jelly.

Behind Sans, Frisk watched the carnage, trembling in trepidation, but it wasn't for the adolescent's sake that was caught in Sans' crimson magic they feared. It was for both their and Sans' survival.

How many times has he died now? Frisk thought to themselves. A hundred? Two hundred? A slithering motion drew Frisk's attention for but a moment, vines creeping hesitantly across the collar of their red and black-striped shirt. Flowey peeked over Frisks shoulder, dew drops glistening like sweat down his stark white face.

"Frisk," Flowey gulped. "Please tell me you have control over our timeline again."

Frisk glanced to the side, avoiding Flowey's gaze, a shadow cast over their face.

"Ahahahahaha! Seriously? Is this the best you morons could come up with?" A red flash blinded Frisk before the self proclaimed child Anarchy - a variant of the children spawned by the Doubletale AU - sauntered back into the judgement hall, good as new.

Anarchy yawned, sticking one finger in his ear drum, twisting it like a socket wrench. "I mean, even supposing-"

The ground exploded as several inferno-eyed demonic Gaster Blasters fired blazing death where Anarchy once stood.

"-that you do-"

Fusillades of sharpened bone flew past him, Anarchy casually matrix sliding on his knees across the tiles, effectively dodging them with his thumbs hooked in his pockets.

"-kill me-"

Sans jumped behind him, flinging Anarchy into a pillar before flashing to safety, snapping his fingers to fire another volley of Blasters, while Anarchy casually redirected the beams by firing forks of violet hued lightning from his fingertips.

"-repeatedly, my DETERMINATION will still override yours'. Why do you think the Gasters chose me and the others to come here in the first place?"

Reappearing next to Frisk, Sans slumped forward, beads of sweat running down the sides of his skull. His permanent toothy grin grew tighter, face taut, like a spring wound past its breaking point. Anarchy waited patiently for more attacks from Sans. When none were forthcoming Anarchy spoke once more.

"Not a bad idea I guess, using a cobra to hunt other snakes," he said, shrugging. "But uh, problem with introducing exotic species is, they tend to eff up everything else, ya know?" Anarchy's eyes glowered with a demented, childish glee. "Course, he probably wasn't expecting me to put on my rape face and dust some monster bitches immediately after solving his Chara problem. Man, but you shoulda seen the look on my Gaster's face. For a minute there, he truly believed all the pain and death caused by the Genocides was finally over...only for me to turn around and do the exact. Same. Thing."

Anarchy reinserted his thumbs back into the pockets of his ripped shorts, tilting his head back and smiling wider than Sans thought a human should be allowed to. "Hi-larious!" and then he laughed like it was the funniest joke in the entire world.

*The Anarchist laughs, and keeps laughing.

*It's SO funny he can't stop.

*Tears roll down his face.

Woosh, woosh, woosh.

*But it's NOT funny.

The sound of flesh ripping, and a flare of agony dispelled Anarchy's cackling. He glances down at the jagged throwing knife embedded in his shoulder, cocking an enquiring eyebrow at Frisk, the child's body frozen in the exact same stance they were in when the knife flew from their fingertips.

Sans' whistle cut through the silence that stole over them like the blade that sliced into Anarchy mere seconds ago. "Damn kid, bout time somebody shut this creepy little shit up." Sans' smile relaxed to its more natural position, but his red light grew dimmer and dimmer, fading into the abyss of his socket. "Didn't know you had it in ya. Maybe you're not as much of a pansy as I thought, eh kiddo?" Sans reached over towards Frisk.

Not brat…k-kiddo? They flinched instinctively, their mind preserving every reset where they had been abused in one fashion or another by this skeletal Monster. They gasped breathlessly, when instead of a painful strike, Sans lightly patted the top of their hair, stroking it smoothly once, then twice more, before returning his bony appendage back into the shelter of his pocket.

Flowey was stunned into absolute silence by the non-violent gesture, and Frisk could barely register what had happened. It seemed like a pleasant dream within a nightmare: utterly impossible, but it was an impossibility they'd been longing for the moment they had encountered this intimidating Monster. In Underfell, Sans had always been their greatest obstacle, and it stung Frisk terribly knowing that even if they forced The Anarchist to submit, Frisk would have to erase this moment between them to bring back everyone that had perished. What Sans was thinking right now, Frisk could only guess. The skeleton hadn't taken his sockets off of Anarchy for a second.

"Aaaww, you look tired, Sans" Anarchist said, ignoring Frisk. "I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get a word in with you-" Anarchy paused, ripping the jagged throwing knife from his shoulder. "-edgewise."

He let the useless metal clatter to the floor, splaying his fingers into a claw while lightning crackled between them like a plasma lamp. "I mean, you've been forcing me to speak in fragments this whole time. That's kinda rude, ya know? Stylish when writing fight scenes, but still rude all the same."

"Yeah?" Sans panted. "Well keep wondering freak! Nobody ere's got any interest in what you haff to say. So how's about dis then? Insteada listenin to ya flap yer dirty brotha kill'n mouth, why don't we give the Judgment Hall a fresh coat of human varnish?" Sans' left eye erupted into a red inferno, gold tooth glinting in the light. He shrugged his arms, palms flat towards the ceiling. "Whaddya say, brat?"

"Heh-HEH!" Anarchy merely wheezed, clasping his hands behind his head and closing his eyes as Sans' blood-red magic once again took threshold over their soul. The violent thrashing resumed, Sans basically turning the damn kid into a freaking paint roller while Anarchy embraced the pain with a twisted, rapturous expression.

Slam!

Crush!

Splat!

slsslicj!

Plonk!

PLssgh!

Slock!

Crackl

...Thud…

"..Ah..aha...ahaHA-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...AHAHAHAHAHA...aaaaah...ooow!"

"Tch!" Sans clenched his fangs together, readying another barrage of femurs.

Frisk covered their ears, wincing their eyes shut. This was awful. God...please stop. I want this to stop already!

It wasn't too long ago that they had been treated to the same kind of hospitality Sans greeted them with whenever they dared go any further than New Home. Watching this was brutal for them in a lot more ways than they cared to remember.

"Frisk, please!" Flowey whispered urgently. "Leave the trash-bag. Asgore and the SOULS are in the other room. You don't owe these bastards anything. After everything they've done to you - to us - what good does it do you to protect them? You've given this timeline more chances than it deserves. Let this creep put it out of its misery already and get out of here while we still can!"

Frisk glanced down at their shoulder, tears collecting at the corners of their vision.

"We've already learned we can break the barrier if I absorb the Six Human SOULS, without needing to absorb yours."

"..." Frisk bit their thumb, their eyes widening with a sudden realization.

"Fri-?"

"Flowey." The human child sprinted towards the exit of the judgement hall, setting their friend down in a crater where the tiles had been blown away. Plenty of churned soil. Flowey wouldn't have any trouble using it to escape. "I trust you Flowey, you know that don't you?"

Flowey merely looked at them, shock evident in their features. Frisk pressed on.

"But If you want to escape I won't hate you for it Flowey. I could never hate you. We've been through so much. I never could have gotten as far as I have without you supporting me all the way. No matter how scary or painful things were. You helped me stay DETERMINED. Not merely to survive but to show this place what it's like to be happy again. I don't want to give that up. I can't just let all of our work be for nothing. But it would be selfish of me to risk your life for the sake of my dream. Do you understand?"

"Frisk…I-"

"Please go! If this doesn't work I want at least one of us to survive."

"You..you IDIOT! You think its sooooo cool - sacrificing yourself all the time. Well, it's not! That's just stupid! Why can't you do right by you for once and stop playing martyr to these fools!? I'll tell you what I think is selfish! You think it's easy for me, watching the only person I could possibly care for be mutilated over and over again. Oh! I get it! 'Flowey doesn't even have a SOUL, so he wouldn't ever be hurt seeing his BEST FRIEND die hundreds of times to people he despises!' That's pretty damn selfish of you, ya know that!?"

"F-Flowey no, that's not what I-I don't want to leave things between us like this! Not like this!"

But Flowey wouldn't have it. He'd already heard all of this one too many times before.

"If you wanna crucify yourself so bad, be my guest! Far be it from me to convince you otherwise. Hasn't worked before, and even when death is all but certain, I still can't manage to squeeze it into your thick skull. Never could. Never will!"

Frisk reached out, both hands trembling, silent tears running down their cheeks. "Flowey...wait, I'm sor-"

Flowey growled, clenching his teeth, avoiding eye contact, his stem shuddering violently. "I can't watch you do this anymore...Goodbye, Frisk."

And with that he was gone.