A/N: If you're new here and haven't read the prior two stories in the Anomaly Cycle, I strongly urge you to read them now if you want even the slightest chance of understanding what's going on. You might be able to manage without, but I wouldn't count on it.
The little gathering that the Dreemurrs had put together to celebrate Freedom Day had gotten a little out of control, Asriel considered wryly as he surveyed the unfolding apocalypse.
Well, no. "Out of control" was putting it much more nicely than it deserved. The backyard looked like it had been hit by a typhoon minus the water, and the monsters were getting more than a little rambunctious. And by that he meant they were in the middle of a pillow fight, but with chairs and whatever that oblong brown thing was. Regardless, it still was nowhere near the neat and orderly gathering Toriel had envisioned, and barring some major miracle it was going to stay that way.
Not that Asriel didn't think he could handle that, but his mom was probably going to freak out when she saw the mess in the yard, and a genuinely enraged Toriel was not something he wished to see.
Closing the door gently behind him, Asriel stuffed his hands into the pockets of his green hoodie and strolled into the common room, nodding a greeting to Sans and Papyrus as he passed them. (The latter was explaining some probably unimportant point to the former, who looked about half asleep.) Chara, naturally, was raiding the snack bowls, looking critically dismayed at the utter lack of chocolate, and Asriel couldn't help but grin at her: this was the first time he'd seen his sister genuinely smile in years.
The young boss monster slumped against the wall and let out a slow breath. Three years of liberation, and things are finally calming down. He could hardly remember his time as a vengeful flower anymore, and what came after was the farthest thing from his mind.
"Hey, Asriel, you alright?"
Shifting his position to the left, Asriel blinked placidly at the teenager in the red hoodie. "Course I am, Caleb. I'm just thinking."
"Always a dangerous thing." There was no malice in Caleb's grin as he smiled. "I think Frisk's looking for you, by the way, or at least I could infer so from her expression."
"Really?" Something stirred in Asriel's soul. "Where is she?"
Caleb squinted as a mischievous expression crossed his face. "Well, judging by the positions of the moon and Zodiac signs in relation to the current time, and adding in the knowledge that Weimar Germany was a vastly ineffectual system of governing, I'd say she's right behind you."
Forcing himself to move slowly, Asriel turned around to face the first savior of monsterkind behind him. Regardless, he could feel his face splitting into an idiotic grin with no prompting at all.
Frisk was standing behind him, as Caleb had told him in his anachronistically long-winded statement, a carefully neutral expression on her face. "Caleb," she managed between gritted teeth, "you weren't supposed to warn him."
"And since when have I stuck to the plan?" retorted Caleb, spinning on his heel. "I'm going to get my fair share from the snack section before Chara eats the lot. Have fun, you two!" He grinned airily at them as he left.
I've never seen Caleb this happy before, pondered Asriel as he turned his head back around to face Frisk. I wonder if it had anything to do with-
He cut that thought off abruptly. It could be, and if it is this will provide me with plenty of ammunition to tease Caleb, but I've got something more important to do.
"Something wrong?" Frisk asked, concern evident in her eyes.
Asriel took her hand. "No, just-"
But before he could finish that statement, his body froze, all control over every facet of his being surrendered to a helpless apathy that threatened to drown him beneath its currents.
A hissing voice snarled in his ear, This is what could have been, what by all rights should have been, if it weren't for my insistence on drama and senseless bloodshed and your failures to see what is right in front of your noses.
Petrified, Asriel managed to move his eyes to the side and caught a glimpse of purple. Who... What are you? he shouted mentally in a fit of desperation.
I am Ozymandias, king of kings. Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!
On the other side of the room, Chara cried out in pain as an overwhelming black cloud consumed body and mind, chipping away at her soul till it ruptured and released a blast of red energy across the room. Sans sunk to the ground, gasping, and he disentegrated into dust, scattered around the wreck of his hoodie. A gunshot rang out, and Caleb fell to the ground clutching his chest, inhaling desperately as blood seeped through his fingers and dripping to the ground. Papyrus's head toppled from his shoulders as he reached desperately for his brother's dust, skull freed from spine by a single gunshot.
Fearing what he would see, Asriel forced his attention towards Frisk.
She had already fallen to the ground, pale blue hoodie torn open by a bullet meant for him, Asriel, the last monster in the country and the one who should have been killed.
And then the voice spoke again, more quietly, Nothing beside remains: round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away. Look upon my works and despair, indeed.
Why? Asriel whispered, almost crying but unable to. Why are you doing this?
Because you need to try harder. You need something to work for. And however many of these dreams it takes, I shall not stop.
Asriel remained silent.
Sad? Don't worry. It'll all be over soon.
And then the speaker slammed a hand onto Asriel's shoulder, and suddenly he was free. Spinning with a gasp, he summoned a ball of fire into one palm and launched it at them.
The speaker stood there, clad in a purple longcoat and glasses. He almost looked human but for his eyes: one was purple, while the other was completely black save for the white pupil. He barely even flinched as he dodged it.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?" Asriel screamed. "YOU... YOU DEMON!"
"Yes, go ahead, call me whatever you like." the tormentor replied, face blank. "Demon, evil, destroyer of worlds- I'll make no effort to deny it, even if you now share the last label with me."
"SHUT UP!" Asriel snarled, sending a rain of fire down onto it, but it was rendered ineffectual by the jagged purple shield which appeared around it with a simple wave of its hand.
The shield dissipated, and the demon regarded Asriel almost sadly. "When you look at me, all you see is a murderer, and... well, who am I to argue with a label that is true? Nevertheless, the killing is done, if for no other reason than because there's nobody left to kill. Normally I would stay and fight to humor you," the thing said, "but I have far more important matters to attend to. Have fun with your conflicted, severely damaged psyche."
And then he was gone, too, leaving Asriel with nothing but his regrets.
