Kris dashed across the tree-lined field of purple grass, eager to confront the King of Darkners in another climactic showdown. They'd made sure to close the Golden Gates behind them so that nobody could sneak through. The only thought on their mind was protecting Ralsei.

Since the King had made it obvious that he couldn't be trusted during their last encounter, the only way for Kris to protect Ralsei from him was to plunge a sword through his heart.

The armies of the King slowly came into sight as they sprinted through the Lavender Fields. Rudinn Rangers, Head Hathys. Kris had no patience for flirting or sparing this time around. Their sword was raised, bloodlust turning their eyes red. All the enemies of Ralsei had to be cut down.

The wind swept strands of dark hair across Kris's eyes and rustled the grass around their feet, pushing them on with ceaseless momentum.

Kris found the main body of the King's army camped around the first puzzle in Lavender Fields. By the looks of it, he was sitting inside a tent pavilion at the centre of the camp. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of soldiers protecting his tent.

Kris would just have to cut through them all.

Without a moment of hesitation, Kris unsheathed their sword and charged into the camp. All the monsters instantly became alerted to their presence and began converging upon them. Swords, spears, staffs, magic, and arrows were drawn. Shouts rang across the camp. Kris kept their eyes focused on the King's tent.

The first monster, a Rudinn, charged at Kris with its sword and shield raised. Kris effortlessly deflected its blow with a fling of their sword. They didn't bother finishing the Rudinn off and continued charging towards the King.

Dozens of monsters stood guard before the camp's central pavilion. Kris didn't have time to turn around and see if there was still an exit behind them. They knew they had walked into the heart of the enemy's territory. Now, it was either fight or die.

Kris slashed and cut, thrust and stabbed, struck out at any monster that stood in their way. They felt innumerable blows dealt against their body, but registered no pain. Their goal of slaying the king to protect Ralsei overcame every other emotion in their mind.

Adrenaline surged through their veins, preventing them from feeling even an instant of weakness or fatigue. Every breath, every heartbeat, every pulse filled their Soul with power, their body with determination, and their mind with the urge to kill, kill, and kill.

They could no longer remember how long they'd been fighting, how many monsters they had struck down, or how far they were from reaching the King's camp. The only thing they saw was wave after wave of monsters steadily converging upon them. Each one struck down was replaced by two more. They were going to fight every monster in the camp.

The blows dealt against their body started to grow heavier, crushing. Their breath was struck out of their lungs. Their chest ached, their stomach churned. Their arms cried in pain when they tried to raise their sword. Their legs faltered and refused to take a single step forward.

The whole world was beginning to fade away.

Something exploded in their head. Everything went dark.


Kris awoke inside a dark room, their body so stiff that moving even a finger sent jolts of pain through every nerve in their body.

It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the darkness so they could see where they were. From the grey steel bars in front of them, they guessed they were inside a jail cell. The ground was hard and cold, covered in decaying brown moss and thick layers of dust. A faint and oddly familiar smell was in the air. Footsteps were approaching them.

Kris moved their hands to rub their eyes despite the burning pain in their arms.

When their vision cleared, they saw a freckled pink face with long, wavy purple hair staring back at them, teeth bared, eyes white with hatred. Spiked gauntlets adorned her arms. She wore a short violet coat, magenta pants, and black boots. The only feature missing from this familiar figure was a giant steel axe.

"You're finally up."

She grabbed them by the cuff of their shirt, picked their body off the floor, and slammed them against the wall, causing another wave of pain to ripple through their body. Their mind snapped awake. Instantly, they recognized who they were looking at.

"S-Susie?"

"You're damn right I am." Susie's eyes were filled with murderous rage. "Mind explaining why you just upped and left home without telling any of us?"

"I...Susie, I'm sorry, I–"

"You better be sorry. Do you have any idea the kind of trouble you've caused me?"

The guilt swelling inside Kris was the worst sensation they'd ever felt. All their power and determination drained out of them. They stopped resisting, their arms and legs going limp.

Words couldn't make up for what they'd done and how sorry they felt.

"I...I'm really sorry, Susie."

To their surprise, Susie dropped them back onto their feet. She still looked ready to bite their face off, but it was clear that there were more pressing matters on her mind.

"If you missed this world that much, you should've at least left a note to your mother before running away," Susie said, her anger-filled voice diminishing to a quiet seething. "That would've made things so much simpler for me. I could've come back here without having to explain to Alphys why there's a portal inside the school's supply closet."

Kris blinked. "Is she here?"

"No, just me."

"But, now everyone knows, don't they?"

Susie grabbed Kris by the cuff of their shirt again. "All thanks to you."

"I...s–"

"Don't say sorry again. Sorry won't fix anything. Do you have any idea what kind of situation we're in?"

Memories rushed back into their mind. They remembered charging into the King's camp, fighting off horde after horde of monsters, pain racking their body, their arms growing too tired to even lift their sword, and then, everything went black.

"Stop being so quiet," Susie spat. "Do I have to explain everything? You got captured."

"Wait." Kris gulped, hoping they weren't in for a face-chewing. "Susie, you got caught, too?"

"What does it look like?"

Kris grimaced. "Yeah, I guess that was obvious."

"I got captured before you. They threw you in with me a few hours ago."

"Hold on...what?"

"We were looking for you, numbskull. Lancer thought the King had captured you for sure. He came up with the plan to break you out of jail by flooring it through the army camp." Susie groaned, a defeated look in her eyes. "We didn't find you, and we got caught instead."

"Lancer? You found him?"

"He's..."

A faint red glow appeared over Susie's cheeks. "Look, I know we're supposed to be friends and stuff, but...I was more worried about Lancer at the time, okay? When I came back to this world, I heard the King was looking for him and Ralsei. Even though I was supposed to find you and bring you back home, I, I..."

Kris felt that if Ralsei was here, he'd be blushing unimaginably hard at the concern Susie had for Lancer. "You looked for him first."

"Yes, I know, okay?"

Susie shoved Kris up against the wall again, lighter than last time. "Well, what were YOU doing this whole time?"

"Ummm..."

"Did you find Ralsei?"

Kris swallowed. If they admitted they'd been hanging out with Ralsei inside his castle this whole time, they might expose him to further danger. On the other hand, not telling Susie the truth would result in dire consequences later. "I, errhh..."

"Well?"

"He's...he should be safe. Uh, where's Lancer right now?"

For a brief second, a glimmer of sadness flashed through Susie's eyes. Her grip on the cuff of Kris's shirt grew tighter, her knuckles turning white.

"Lancer...Lancer has been captured by the King, and imprisoned in Card Castle."

"What?!"

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't agreed to his plan...he'd be, he'd..."

"Susie, it's not your fault. We could still save him."

"I'm going to save him!" Susie huffed, a bit of blush still on her cheeks. "But first, we have to find a way out of this jail. We're inside the army camp right now. It's a long way from Card Castle."

"Huh. No wonder this jail looks different."

Susie let go of Kris and turned away. "Seriously, Kris. How could you just run away from home without telling anybody? "

"I...I was worried about our friends here, okay? Y'know, Ralsei and Lancer. After we broke through the east fountain, the King's minions were right at the door. I couldn't sleep thinking about how much danger they were in."

"Well, you could've left us a warning, at least!"

"I know. I'm sorry, Susie. I'm really, truly sorry."

"Your apologies won't get us out of jail. Let's think of a way to escape this place."

Kris nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

Susie crossed her arms and tapped her foot, her face still turned away. "How did you get captured, anyway?"

"I...I was fighting against the King's army."

"Oh, was that why there was that loud commotion outside just a couple of hours ago?"

"Ummm, yeah, I think so?"

"Was Ralsei with you?"

"No, he–"

Light suddenly flooded the room.

The door into the prison burst open, and a figure Kris had never seen before walked in.

They wore a nondescript mask and a long, slender black dress that covered their body down to their feet. Equally black gloves and boots prevented any trace of skin on their arms or legs from showing. Their hair was white, cut in the same style as Kris's, but of the opposite colour.

"A pleasure to finally meet you, hero of light," the figure said, taking a mock bow.

Something about the figure's voice was inconceivably familiar, but it also felt off.

Susie sauntered towards them, arms raised to attack. "Who are you?"

"You aren't needed."

Before Susie could react, a flash of light pinned her against the wall. Kris gasped as they saw the recognizable two wings, circle in the centre, and three triangles, middle one inverted, emerge around Susie's body. But unlike Ralsei's version of the spell, the symbol that materialized over Susie was black and white, not white and purple.

"I've been waiting my life whole to meet you," the figure continued at Kris.

"What did you do to Susie?!" Kris demanded.

"Nothing too major. Now, if you don't mind, could you follow me to my chamber?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you free–"

An insurmountable force blasted every one of Kris's senses, overwhelming them with the most powerful magic they had ever felt. They could no longer move any part of their body. It was as if the whole world was pinning them down.

The Delta Rune symbol had materialized around their body as well.

"That wasn't a request, but an order," the figure said, before turning around and making for the door. "Now, let's take you somewhere where we can have a nice, private chat."

Panic surged through Kris as their body was pulled to their feet by an invisible force. They started walking after the figure against their will, suffused with the terrifying sensation that they no longer had control over any part of their body.

Kris walked up a flight of stairs and emerged into the tent pavilion they recognized from their charge into the army camp a few hours earlier. Briefly, they saw the King sitting on a chair at the centre of the pavilion, whose two mouths smiled at them as they passed by. Kris wanted to scream.

The figure took them into a side room of the pavilion that was walled on all four sides to prevent anybody outside from seeing inside. They shut the door behind them and forced Kris to sit in a chair, still unable to move of their own volition. It was a feeling beyond horrifying.

"Now that we're alone, I can give myself a proper introduction," the figure said.

Kris jolted forward as the spell that controlled their body suddenly relaxed. They nearly fell out of the chair, only managing to stop themselves a moment before bowling over.

"Who are you?" Kris asked, gasping for breath.

"Have a look," the figure replied, taking off their mask.

Disbelief shadowed over Kris's expression.

They saw their own eyes. Their own nose and mouth. Their own ears. Every contour of the figure's face matched theirs. Only the colour of their skin was different: crimson red instead of teal blue.

"Shocking, isn't it?" the figure said, chuckling slightly. "How does it feel to see yourself, Kris?"

"Y-You, you have to be lying..."

"I am Deltarune, the 'Kris' of the Dark World."

Kris wanted to jump at them, to pull at their face, to tear off their mask so they could see what lay underneath this hideous illusion. But before they could move an inch, they were pinned back into their seat by magic far beyond their own power.

"Let's start with my questions. I hope you'll be as cooperative in answering them as you were walking into my room," Deltarune said, snickering.

Kris found that they could still speak. "What do you want?"

"First, where is Ralsei?"

Kris remained silent.

"That's all right. We'll reach his town and lay siege to his castle soon enough." Deltarune smiled, relishing the fear that sentence sowed into Kris's eyes. "Next question: where does Ralsei keep the other half of the key that opens the sealed door in the waterfall cave?"

Kris's mouth fell open. "You know about that cave?"

"Of course I do. I'm Deltarune. You think I wouldn't know the secrets of a door with the symbol of the Delta Rune inscribed upon it?"

This was too much for Kris to handle.

Ralsei was wrong after all. The King and his minions did know about the secret cave that could bypass the Golden Gate. If someone as powerful as Deltarune was on the King's side, then Ralsei's town was done for.

Kris squirmed in a vain attempt to free their body of the magic that kept them pinned to their seat. Every vein and muscle in their body cried to be released from this spell, but to no avail.

"Well?" Deltarune spoke, leaning down at Kris. "What has Ralsei told you about that door?"

"I won't tell you anything."

"That's funny. You won't be saying that for much longer."

"I don't care what you do to me. I'll never tell you!"

Actually, Kris didn't even know what Deltarune was talking about. What did they mean by 'the other half of the key'? Ralsei hadn't been able to open that door at all.

Something lurched in the pit of Kris's belly, a feeling that they couldn't bring themselves to admit. They didn't want to confront it.

They didn't want to admit the possibility that Ralsei had been lying to them.

"Don't worry. It's not about what I'll do to you," Deltarune whispered. The grin on their face grew devilish. "It's about what I'll do to Ralsei once I find him. You won't hold back your secrets for a second when you find out what we'll do to the dear princ–"

"No!" Kris screamed. "Please, don't hurt Ralsei. He never wanted to fight you. He never wanted to hurt anyone!"

"Now we're getting somewhere," Deltarune said, cackling. "Let's see you the spill the beans, Kris. You know what will happen if you don't."

"I don't know! I don't know what you're talking about! Ralsei never told me anything about a key that could open the door inside that cave!"

"Hmmm...how smart of him."

"What are you saying? Ralsei would never lie to me!"

"A prince has his subjects to protect. Of course he'd lie to you if it meant keeping his town safe."

"You're lying!"

"It seems like I'll have to capture Ralsei after all. In less than a day, the King will be ready to lay siege to the prince's town." Deltarune smiled again, turning back to face Kris. "I suppose, in the meantime, we can entertain each other."

The only thing on Kris's mind was to break free and sprint back to Ralsei's town to save him.

"You come from the Light World, don't you?" Deltarune raised a finger up into the air. "We Darkners, of course, want to bridge the gap that separates our two worlds so that we can go to yours and...well, I'm sure you have an idea of what we want to do there."

"Why is a human like you working for the King of Darkners?" Kris demanded.

"The King has given me access to the East Fountain. Through that Fountain, I can acquire unlimited power. In return, I will aid the King by destroying the spell that separates our two worlds. As the Dark Fountain rises, our world will steadily consume yours, turning places into anomalies–portals that will link the two dimensions together. I'm sure you're aware that you came here through one of them."

"...You know about the portal in my world?"

"Yes. It was pretty convenient that one of them is right inside your school."

"Convenient? What does that mean?"

"There's no need for me to tell you."

Kris felt the blood draining from their face. "You...you've been to my world before?"

"I had to in order to retrieve one half of the key that opens the sealed door."

"What?!"

Deltarune's smirk was really starting to piss Kris off. "It was nice visiting the Light World. Can't believe your mom's a goat, though."

"Shut your mouth!"

"That's not a nice thing to say to your other self, is it?" Deltarune leaned down and touched Kris's chin. Their fingers were warm, just like a human's. "If only we were born in the same world. Then, we could've worked together instead of becoming enemies..."

Kris discovered that they could no longer speak, which was a problem given how tired they were of Deltarune's pointless monologues.

"Alas, we're destined to confront each other. You, on the side of the Lightners. I, on that of the Darkners. Two humans, each born a world away, and now, we finally meet for a battle that will decide the fate–"

An earth-shaking explosion suddenly rocked the camp. Shouts arose from outside, including the King's voice, which was summoning his minions to his pavilion.

Another explosion blasted the camp, this time tearing the door into their room off its hinges and setting the left wall on fire.

Screams filled the air.

Streams of glowing orange flames crawled into the room as if they had a mind of their own. Like serpents, each rose into the air and lashed out at Deltarune. They were deflected by a barrier that Deltarune had created, a black-and-white Delta Rune symbol, and struck the other walls, setting them on fire as well.

Frustrated, Deltarune dashed out of the room and disappeared into the roaring fire.

"Kris!"

Susie charged into the room, and Ralsei came in right after her.

A mixture of awe, relief, and confusion surged through Kris.

"Kris, are you all right?" Ralsei asked, looking at them with terribly concerned eyes.

"I'm...I think I am?"

It took Kris a moment to realize that they were no longer pinned to their seat and that they could move their body again. Shakily, they rose back onto their feet. The heat of the flames surrounding them threatened to sing their hair.

"Thank you," Kris barely managed to say through misty eyes.

"We have to get away from here first," Susie replied.

Susie grabbed Kris's hand and pulled them out of the room.

The scene outside was pure and utter chaos. Monsters were running around with their clothes and weapons on fire, screaming. Most were looking for the King, who had evidently disappeared into the flames. Charred bodies were strewn across the purple grass. Several monsters were trying to save those who were too injured to move by dragging them away from the ceaseless inferno.

Kris staggered after Susie and Ralsei as they darted through the camp. Many glanced their way as they rushed by, but none gave chase. Kris noticed the fearful look in their eyes when they saw Ralsei.

The whole was melting under the heat of the flames.

Kris ran and ran, unsure of where they were headed, the only thought in their mind to follow after Susie and Ralsei. The screams, the crying, the shrieking and wailing and painful gasps that they heard around them was too much for them to handle. The heat and smoke scorched their lungs and made every breath a fight for life. Glowing red ashes and cinders encircled the landscape for as far as their eyes could see.

For the first time in a long while, they wished they were back in their comfortable bed at home, or in their mother's arms, where they were safe and secure.

A place where they belonged.

After running for what felt like hours or days, they were suddenly alone again. Kris turned around and saw the smouldering camp they had just escaped from, but no one was chasing after them.

"I...I have to go now," Susie suddenly spoke. "You two hurry back to your town. I have to save Lancer."

"You're going all the way over to Card Castle?" Ralsei asked.

"I have to break him out of prison!" Susie shouted, her face turning red.

"I understand," Ralsei replied with a solemn nod. "Go help him."

"Thanks for everything," Susie said, before turning to face Kris. "Don't get yourself captured again, you dummy."

"Errhh..."

"I'll see ya later!"

With that, Susie turned around and began running east, veering away from the camp. Kris raised their arm to wave goodbye at her, but she never looked back at them.

"Kris?" Ralsei spoke, facing them with downcast eyes. "I, umm..."

Kris turned towards Ralsei, an uneasy realization rising into their chest.

"Now you know what I'm capable of," Ralsei whispered, his voice so soft that Kris could barely hear. "When I found out you were captured, I ran out of the clinic to try and save you, and I–"

Ralsei broke down into a fit of coughs.

"Ralsei!"

Kris grabbed his shoulders, trying to steady him before he collapsed to the floor. Ralsei shivered, clutching his chest.

The guilt that came over Kris was worse than the guilt they felt for abandoning their mother. Worse than being paralyzed and unable to control their body. Worse than anything they could've ever imagined.

Kris lacked the words to beg for forgiveness.

"It's okay," Ralsei said, shuddering slightly. "I...I wanted to save you, Kris, even if it meant showing you my real magic..."

Kris knelt down. "I'm...I was so stupid and foolish, Ralsei. I'm so, so sorry."

"Kris, it's okay–"

"No." A hot, painful pressure swelled up their nose and into their eyes. "I really, truly messed up this time."

A salty bead streamed down Kris's cheek. They covered their face with their hands, too embarrassed and guilt-ridden to show themselves. "I'm so sorry, Ralsei! I'm so, so, so sorry!"

Ralsei clasped Kris's shoulder with his hand.

The gentle light in Ralsei's eyes grew sad, softer.

Kris cried, unable to take comfort in being saved by Ralsei. Not after what they'd done, how reckless they had acted.

"Kris...I haven't exactly been truthful to you, either."

Ralsei's grip on Kris's shoulder grew more firm, but it was still as gentle as any touch he'd ever given them.

"Come on, Kris. We have to go back home."

"...I'm sorry, Ralsei."

"That's enough sorrys, Kris."

Sniffing, Kris shakily stood up and tried to pull their gaze away from the ground.

Their teary eyes met Ralsei's bright and tender ones.

"I believe I owe you the truth," Ralsei said. "The truth about myself and the Darkners."