A/N: Got some possibly exciting news, which, as I should get into the habit of doing, I will post at the bottom of this chapter where I'll actually remember it.

As a forewarning, after wrapping up the events of last chapter, I'm going to do a timeskip to the inauguration of John A. Pence. This is mainly because I really don't want to bother with all the filler time in between (and I doubt you want to either), and in retrospect I should have staged the assassination for later, but I'm too lazy to retcon anything.

Here goes:

Asriel strode forward, putting one foot after the other. It was all he could do to keep moving, clutching Caleb's tattered hoodie and necklace in one hand.

His soul pounded within him... and next to it, Caleb's soul, disoriented and unsure of what was happening.

It wasn't just grief that clouded his mind and caused every step to be painful: it was also the struggle to keep Caleb's soul in check, to keep its power from ripping through his body and transforming him into a monstrosity.

And if he would actually help out with keeping himself from transforming me into something I don't want to become, that would be great, Asriel thought, annoyed in spite of the current situation.

Frisk's movement forward was slow and steady, her eyes clouded and her face pale. He could tell that she was suffering just as much as he was, and yet this only made him angrier.

They hadn't just lost a friend today, they'd lost a battle. One that might have just decided the war.

Undyne's car was still lingering there at the edge of the road, and the door opened. "Get in..." Undyne started, and trailed off. "Where's the other kid?"

Frisk shook her head sadly, and Undyne's eye widened. "What...?"

Failure was hard to accept. Harder still, when it had resulted in a senseless death with no profit.

.I cannot understand.

.What did I do wrong?

.I did everything I could to aid them, short of actual intervention.

.And yet...

And then, for the first time, the Seraph spoke aloud, in the dim, pallid light, pale face wet with tears.

"If I ever really cared about this world... about what the Anomaly was doing... I should have acted long ago. Now I can't do anything... and like them, I'm powerless."

01000111 01001111 01000100 01001111 01010100

Asriel wasn't sure of the date. He wasn't sure of many things any more.

Al he knew was that it was around midnight, a few days after New Year's, and he was checking his email.

It wasn't something he just gave out to anyone- in fact, he only used it for his now-neglected DeviantArt account and his art Tumblr (obviously, he didn't let on there that he was Asriel Dreemurr, Prince of Monsters), and yet, there was an email in the queue from an unknown address.

It was labelled: An Offer.

Despite every part of his body screaming to delete the email, something else stirred within him, and he clicked to open it.

It read:

GREETINGS.

I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.

DO YOU WISH FOR JUSTICE TO BE SERVED TO THOSE WHO TEAR MONSTERS APART?

ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS SAY "YES."

IF NOT, PRETEND YOU NEVER RECEIVED THIS EMAIL, AND MOVE ON.

AN ALLY

Just as before, something in Asriel was screaming to ignore the email and delete it, it was probably just the government trying to figure out a way to arrest him, and yet...

Caleb's soul, which had been sedentary and silent for so long, sparked, and Asriel's finger moved to the "COMPOSE" button.

Only three keystrokes and another click was all it took. And so he did.

Frisk's soul was still brutally scarred from the events of the past few months.

It had been so long since Caleb's death, yet she still hadn't fully recovered.

The night that Caleb had died, some of her had died with him. He had been a good friend, even if he'd started to change in a bad way towards the end, and she bitterly regretted his meaningless death.

If I had just kept my ability to reset... If only I had...

But then she looked over to Asriel, and her mind was conflicted again.

They were sitting side by side in the middle of Social Studies. Their teacher had decided to postpone the day's lesson in order to let them see the inauguration of their new president, and although Frisk would rather have experienced a cerebral hemorrhage she had no choice in the matter.

On the television screen, John A. Pence stepped up to the stand. Placing his hand on the Bible, he slowly intoned, "I, John Athalwulf Pence, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." After a short hesitation, he added, "So help me God."

The crowd in Washington, DC erupted into cheers. A 21-gun salute was fired off as the US Marine Band began playing.

Frisk couldn't help it, and she burst into angry tears.

John A. Pence had always written his speeches himself, and this one, his inaugural address, was no exception. Although he had borrowed some material from various other Patriot politicians with their permission, the bulk of this speech was his own, a way for him to present his vision for the future to the nation that he was now in command of.

"Fellow Americans," he started, "today is a great moment in our nation's history, and as such I request that you spend a moment to take in its majesty." He paused for a few seconds, before continuing, "I wish that my first words that inaugurate this era be clear regarding the future endeavors of our government."

"We all have a conviction deep within that the American people have gone forth into this morass in order to ensure the continued freedom of their family and friends. In the appalling fate that has dogged us since October 2014 we see only the consequences of the poor choices of the people in control of the country at the time. But the rest of the world is no less shaken, as they share in a common issue that threatens to tear society apart from the inside out. Already Russia, France, and Spain have begun dealing with their monster problems in ways we would do well to echo. The historical balance of power, which at one time contributed not a little to the understanding of the necessity for solidarity among the nations, with all the economic advantages resulting therefrom, has been destroyed by monsterkind and their rampant influence that terrorizes the innocent, freedom-loving people of the world."

"The delusion that monsters are in fact equal to humans and that the latter are in no way superior is total fallacy. The misery of our people, being forced to coexist with these creatures, is terrible! For two years they have been permitted to undermine the basic principles of our national system; well, no more, I say! We simply cannot allow this blatant desecration of American principles, and-"

Just as Pence was about to reach the peak of his speech, an explosion erupted. At first, Pence couldn't understand what had happened, and then, suddenly, he did.

The top third or so of the Washington Monument had simply exploded, pieces of stone raining down from the orange-yellow blast.

The crowd screamed in terror, and ran. Chaos erupted as they fled, and sirens wailed in the distance.

Pence's bodyguards pulled him down from in front of the Capitol building, and he didn't try to resist. He couldn't die, not now, when so much remained to be done.

It couldn't have been a coincidence that a blatant act of terrorism had occurred in the middle of his inaugural speech, after all.

A/N: Here's the news:

I've finally got a Tumblr! It can be found at anomalycycle. tumblr. com, provided you remove the spaces. There, I'll be adding art I have made of scenes or characters, links to the music once I'm done writing it, extras to fill in the timeline or make it feel more realistic, and basically everything that I can't post here on Fanfiction. I'll be answering asks there, including in-character asks. I hope to see you there!

On another note: I just realized that I never did much of a good job describing Caleb. What were you guys picturing him as looking like?