"…ue? …Sue!"

The first reminder that Sue was still alive came to in the form of a voice, calling out from… somewhere. Her awareness had not yet come into focus enough to identify whose voice it was, but she was certain that someone was calling her name. Probably.

Slowly, the rest of her perceptions began to return to her. She was… in pain, that much was certain, but more than anything she felt utterly drained. The fire that had burned in her soul had all but fizzled away, leaving little but the haze of exhaustion looming over her. Prying her eyes open was a serious effort, but eventually she was able to make out two forms sitting above her, anxiety and worry etched onto their faces.

"Ugh..." Sue groaned as she sat up. "Alphys? Mettaton? What just…" It was then, right as she had climbed to her feet, that her most recent memories had decided to burst into the forefront of her mind. Images of fire, agony, and destructive power the likes of which she'd never imagined flashed before her eyes. Her heart rate quickened at the thought of it all, and she felt a cold sweat dampening the inner layer of her fur. "W-wait. Did I… With Misery… D-did I really do all of that?"

"You most certainly did," Mettaton replied. "You managed to give us quite the fright, too. Still… I suppose I'm just glad we all made it out okay."

Sue's stomach churned. She vividly recalled the sound of her friends' screams as Misery tried to electrocute them. "Y-yeah…"

Alphys bit her lower lip. She shared a glance with Mettaton, before looking back at Sue. Almost right away, Sue was taken aback by Alphys's body language. The subtle trembling of her hands as she clasped them together, how her tail was dragging against the ground, the way her already-hunched back was bent over even more than usual, as though she was trying to make herself smaller…

Sue blinked. It couldn't be… could it? "Alphys?"

"Yipe! Um, I-I-I mean… yes?"

As the epiphany dawned on Sue, it sent a nasty, sickening ache that wound its way through her innards. "You… you're not afraid of me, are you?"

Alphys flinched at the accusation. A subtle yet visible bead of sweat dripped down her forehead. "I… I-I… Well, um, y-you see… It's not, u-um…"

Mettaton crossed his arms. "Alphys, we talked about this. Just tell her the truth, okay?"

Alphys sighed. "A-alright… To answer your question, Sue, I… I am afraid of you. I-in fact, given what I just saw, I… I-I don't know how to put this lightly, but I think I'm completely terrified of what you can do."

Sue could feel her jaw coming loose. She had expected the answer, but actually hearing it now felt like a sudden punch to the gut. "I… I see."

"N-not that I don't appreciate you standing up for us!" Alphys hastily added. "I-it's just… W-well, it really did look for a second like you were going to blow us up. A-and even if you never intended that fireball to hit us… I… I…" Tears began to well up within the corners of her eyes. "…I-I really thought I was going to die, Sue! I-I could see my life flashing before my eyes! I-I..."

Mettaton leaned over, placing a steady hand against Alphys's shoulder. At his touch, the steady trembling in Alphys's body began to slow down. "It's alright, darling. It's all over now. Besides, I'm sure Sue is very sorry for scaring you like that. Isn't that right, Miss Sakamoto?"

"Ulp! Um… y-yeah," Sue replied. "I… I'm sorry, guys. I never wanted to scare you like that. I just wanted to find a way to get us out of here alive. I… I shouldn't have done it like that."

A smile made its way onto Mettaton's face. "See, Alphys? She really does care. I think everything is going to be okay."

"Y-yeah," Alphys said with a sniffle. "I… I guess it will. I-I'm sorry Sue, I didn't mean to guilt you like this…"

"There's no need to apologize, my dear friend. It's only natural you would feel that way," said Mettaton. "Besides, I was actually rather impressed by it, myself."

"W-wha… you were?" said Alphys.

"You were?" said Sue. "You… you aren't mad at me?"

Mettaton frowned. "Oh no, don't misunderstand me. I'm certainly more than a little bit miffed you scared one of my closest friends half to death. And don't think I've forgotten how you were treating me as a mere appliance before." His frown suddenly disappeared, replaced by grin that radiated satisfaction. He stepped back from Alphys, kneeling onto one knee as fog rolled in from all directions, seemingly produced out of thin air.

"However! It would be absolutely unacceptable for me not to commend such a performance! To snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, through the most dazzling and sublime of all art forms!"

Sue stared blankly. "Uh…"

"Just roll with it," said Alphys.

"Indeed! Just as all hope had seemed lost, the clever Sue Sakamoto came to a realization." The fog continued to roll in, obscuring Mettaton in silhouette. "She had to make the foul witch believe in that which was not real. To become immersed in a performance that wore the mask of mortal danger! In order to save her friends, our hero had no choice but to turn to the supreme power… of ACTING!"

All at once, the fog rolled away, and a piercing spotlight shone from the ceiling, centered on Mettaton. Though no longer in his 'human-hunter' form, his entire body sparkled with renewed vigor… quite literally, as dazzling motes of light materialized out of thin air, highlighting every minute detail on his body. Clasping a rose in his mouth, he stretched his palm upwards and placed the other against his chest, as his speakers roared to life with the echoing sound of a standing ovation.

Sue continued staring, even more blankly than before. "What."

Alphys gave a small chuckle. "You must be new here."

As the magically-conjured spotlight faded, Mettaton stood up, taking notice of his body. Somehow, the rose between his teeth had vanished. "…Oh? What happened to my other form?"

"Um, that's… part of my design, actually," said Alphys. "Your NEO mode isn't optimized for theatrics. To prevent overloading, it reverts to EX mode if your melodrama levels get too high."

"Oh," said Mettaton. He stood up, brushing at his bangs with the back of his hand. "That's a shame. I quite liked what it did with my hair."

Sue vigorously shook her head. "I'm just going to ignore that ever happened."

"No need to be such a philistine, darling. Everyone can appreciate a good performance."

"Anyway," said Sue, "I'm just… kind of wondering what we should do next. I mean…" She looked past Alphys and Mettaton, towards the wall where her final attack had connected. She winced as she saw the way the solid rock had given way to a glowing, semi-molten tunnel… one that extended as far as her eyes could see. "…there's no way Misery could have survived that, right?"

Alphys's eyes followed Sue's, towards the flame-carved tunnel. She gave a slight gulp, then turned to face Sue again. "W-well… honestly, I can't say. But… there's kind of something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Sue wondered, briefly, what Alphys could have meant. The answer came to her quickly, when her memories recalled the fight immediately prior. Seeing her friends sent into screaming fits of agony by a wicked spell, teetering towards the brink of death with every moment…

…and she recalled pure, distilled fury that followed. She recalled her entire body bursting with unspeakable agony, until it reconfigured itself into a shape that wasn't hers. She remembered watching through her own eyes as the undying rage piloted her body, as though she wasn't even in control of her own actions.

Except that wasn't true. It wasn't like the time she was possessed, despite the similarities. In her transformed state, Sue wasn't out of control of her own body. Every choice that she made was entirely her own. Yet in that state, she couldn't even think of any choice besides violence for its own sake.

A sharp chill ran down Sue's spine, forcing a shudder from her throat. "I… I think I know what you're talking about. It's that… that thing I turned into, right?"

"Yeah," said Alphys. "I… I'm not going to lie, Sue, that really was terrifying. Almost as much as when you nearly obliterated us."

"But I didn't—"

"No!" Alphys interjected. "Y-you don't get it, Sue! T-that form you took! Do you even know what happened when you transformed? I-I… I thought you'd died, Sue! In fact, I'm pretty sure that you did!"

"Um," said Sue, "I'm sorry, I did what?"

"You died!" Alphys repeated. "I-I know it sounds impossible, but I know what I saw! Your body exploded into dust! A-and then, when your soul was all that was left, your… y-your remains started gathering around it, until it formed a new body! And your new body had the Mark of Death!"

"I had the what?"

"The Mark of Death!" said Alphys. "A pair of black markings beneath the eyes. It's… the mark of a monster with a soul that's crossed the veil of death. It's, um… just a rumor, really, but the fact that your body exploded right before… I-I have to wonder, you know?"

"I… see," said Sue. "But do you really think I died, though?"

"I don't know," Alphys admitted. "But… I-I think whatever happened to you when you transformed couldn't have been good for you. When you transformed, you… well, from what I can tell, it looks like you were completely consumed by violent urges. And I… I wasn't even sure if it would be possible for you to turn back. That transformation did something to you, Sue. Not just to your body, but to your mind."

Sue paused for a moment. There was a similarity that she had not considered, one that sent additional chills down her spine. "…Like a mimiga that's eaten a red flower."

"W-well, maybe," said Alphys. "I just… I don't want to have to see you turn into that again. A-at least normally, you'd try to avoid blowing us up. When you're like that, though…" she averted her gaze from Sue, her tail slowly drooping to the ground. More fear, Sue realized. But there was also a different air to it, a sense of surrender in the way her body wilted. "…I don't even know if you'd notice if you killed us."

Sue opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words to reply. Could she even say Alphys was wrong? Before she could even realize it, the fur beneath her eyelids had become damp with tears.

"I… I'm sorry, Alphys. I just… I…"

"Ack! No, w-wait! Don't cry!" Alphys rushed over to Sue, kneeling just enough to meet her at eye level. Sue felt Alphys's hands gently clasping around her own. Though her scaly palms were slick with nervous sweat, Sue found there was a surprising warmth to them, more than she would have ever expected from a reptile. "S-sue, listen. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, okay? I just… I just want you to be careful in the future. I'm not mad at you, and I… I don't want you beat yourself up for your mistakes. Nobody deserves to feel like that, trust me."

"But… I-I could have hurt you. I could have killed you. All I wanted was to keep you safe!"

"And we are," said Alphys. "We all came out of this okay. Just… be happy about that, okay? You're a very brave soul, and you care very deeply about those around you. In a lot of ways, you remind me of…" A slight blush crossed he face. "…W-well, someone very special to me. Someone who was probably a lot like you when she was your age. So… don't take it too hard, okay?"

"I… I guess," said Sue. Several seconds passed, and calmness slowly began to sweep over her, washing away the lingering emotions. "…Thanks, Alphys. You can, um, let go of my hands now."

"Eep! R-right, sorry!"

As Alphys quickly withdrew her hands, Sue would have laughed… but was abruptly cut off by a new sound behind her. A slow, methodical clapping, one that reverberated off the cavern to skin-crawling effect. Sue didn't have to look to see who it was. One look at Alphys and Mettaton's faces told her everything. As her blood turned to ice, she turned around, and stared straight into a pair of blood-red eyes.

The witch's body was lightly charred, but apart from a few holes in her clothing and a slight trickle of blood running down her forehead, she appeared otherwise unharmed. Even her once-broken arm was completely without sign of major injury. She floated in the air with detached amusement, letting her staff hover beside her as she looked down upon the others.

"Congratulations," said Misery. "You passed the test."

Sue's reaction was immediate. Her hands curled into fists, becoming wreathed with powerful fire.

Misery smirked. She held out her right arm and flicked her wrist downward, pointing towards the ground with an index finger. The fire in Sue's hands was instantly quelled as she flopped onto her belly, pinned against the ground with a crushing invisible force.

"Still your anger, Miss Sakamoto. It's not polite to attack someone unprovoked, is it?"

Slowly, Sue managed to push herself up against the invisible weight, just enough to level a piercing glare at Misery. "Unprovoked!?"

"Yes. Because our fight is over," said Misery. She pulled back her arm, and Sue let out a gasp as the weight against her vanished. Misery then grasped her staff in her hand, lowering herself until her feet touched the ground, bending over in a gesture that vaguely resembled a curtsy. "You've beaten me. I lose, and you win."

Sue dragged herself up to her feet once more. She could almost feel the terror radiating off her two friends behind her, a feeling that only intensified the anger and frustration heating up within her. "This is another trick, isn't it? You can't fool me."

"I suppose I can't blame you for being suspicious," said Misery. "Either way, I'm done with tricks. You've already given me everything I wanted from you, after all."

Sue paused. Had she missed something? "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Misery rolled her eyes. "Are you always this slow to catch on? Honestly. There's a reason I was tormenting you, and it has nothing to do with the fact that it's hilarious to watch you squirm… well, mostly nothing."

"You're really not doing a lot to help your case right now."

"True. But I can't really help it. I've felt nothing but rage and bitterness for half a millennium now. Schadenfreude is the closest thing to joy I have left." Misery gave a sigh. "But I suppose you're not going to be sympathetic to my personal sob story. The point is, I had a reason to threaten you and your friends."

"As if!" Sue exclaimed. "What possible reason could justify doing what you did, huh!?"

"I never said it justified anything," Misery snapped back. "I embraced the evil in my soul a long, long time ago. I merely said there was a reason for my actions."

"And what reason was that, huh? And why should I care!?"

Misery grinned. "Because it has everything to do with you, Miss Sakamoto. You didn't think it was a coincidence that I gave you a form with unfathomable magical strength, did you? You didn't think I would want to measure your abilities when I had the chance?"

Just the, Sue could feel her thoughts fizzle and sputter. Her jaw muscles went loose, as she took the time to fully consider what she'd heard. "I… buh… W-wait! A-are you saying… That's what you meant by 'you passed the test?'"

"Yes. A test," said Misery. "Everything you and your friends just suffered through was a test to see what you were capable of. I wanted to make sure I could at least salvage something from you after my plans failed."

"Plans!?" Sue shouted. "What plans!? What are you even talking about now!?"

"Simple. You are undoubtedly aware by now that I was cursed to obey the Demon Crown's master. You were my plan to win back my freedom… at least, for as long as I could manage it. The Doctor ordered me to bring him a mimiga, but he never said it had to be someone who was born a mimiga." Misery's lips curved upward, into the most self-satisfied smirk Sue had ever seen. "So I took a few… creative liberties, so to speak. For what could better match the Demon Crown's power than a monster with a human soul?"

Sue's eyes went wide. She stared at her own hands, the fuzzy paws that had even now seemed alien to her. "So that's why you…? Wait. What about Itoh?"

"Hmm? Oh, you mean that cowardly sod." Misery shrugged. "I was bored. Even with all the power in the world, I don't think he'd have the nerve to swat a fly."

"…Huh. Yeah, you're probably right about that."

"W-wait!" Alphys interjected. Though her body was still quaking uncontrollably, her mouth ran without any seeming thought to it. "T-that's… N-no, that's impossible! P-please tell me you're joking! I-I-I mean… transmuting a full body of matter to energy is one thing, b-but doing it out of boredom? H-how… how powerful are you!?"

"Hmm… good question, actually. I've never had a chance to measure my true power, especially without the Demon Crown limiting it. But if I remember the calculations correctly…" Misery tapped her foot against the floor, rubbing a finger against her chin. "…About the same as a monster with six human souls, I'd imagine."

Alphys froze. A single, tiny squeak escaped her open mouth, so high-pitched that it was nearly inaudible. Beside her, Mettaton stood equally still, though whether he had shut down or gone catatonic was impossible to say.

As briefly glanced back at the other two, Sue couldn't help but wince. "That's, um… pretty strong, right?"

"More than you can fathom. And some would say it isn't enough," Misery intoned. "But I digress. At the time I couldn't tell you my plan, as the curse wouldn't let me speak an intention of betrayal. Either way, I was counting on you to kill the Doctor."

Sue crossed her arms. "Uh-huh. And how'd that work out for you?"

"Sue," Alphys whimpered, "please don't provoke her…"

"Oh, no need to worry," said Misery. "I quite prefer my prey to have some bite."

Alphys let out another yelp, and dove behind Mettaton's still-motionless body, feebly attempting to hide herself.

"That isn't funny, Misery! Don't think I've forgotten what you tried to do to them!"

"What?" said Misery. "Pretended I was going to kill them?"

"I… Wait," said Sue. "Pretended?"

"Arkan's Agonizing Arcbolts," Misery boasted. "A spell designed to inflict pain without damaging the body. Even if you'd failed to interrupt me, your friends would be completely unharmed."

Sue stomped her foot against the ground. For a moment, she was almost certain she'd felt a puff of flame exit her nostrils. "And you think that justifies torturing them!? You could have left them with permanent psycho… psychamo… psycho-whatsit!"

"Psychological trauma," said Misery. "And again, I have no intention of justifying myself. I abandoned the last shred of my humanity long ago. I am evil, Sue. Nothing I do will change that. I can only hide myself away forever, and hope that I will one day be forgotten."

"And what about Toroko, huh!? What about her? Do you honestly think I'd forget what happened to her because of you!?"

"Hm?" said Misery. "I'm sorry, who is that?"

"Toroko! The mimiga that was taken from the village! Because one of the Doctor's goons thought she was me!"

Misery closed her eyes briefly, frowning in contemplation. "Ah, right. Her. She was my backup plan."

"WHAT!?"

"By that point, it was clear to me that you didn't know about your new power," Misery continued. "I needed a way to spur you into action, so I wiped my memory of your appearance. That way, when the Doctor inevitably ordered your recapture, I would take another mimiga by mistake. Enraged by the injustice and wracked with guilt, you would bravely set out on a rescue mission, and confront the Doctor himself… or so I had hoped. Things didn't quite work out that way, as you can see."

...

All fell silent.

...

...

Seconds passed. The silence lingered.

...

...

...

More seconds passed. The silence grew thicker, choking the air with its heavy presence.

...

...

...

...

The grinding of gritted teeth. The cracking bones of clenched fists. The thunderous pounding of a heart. The steady hiss of blood boiling over in the eardrum. The crackling of a fire just beneath the eyes. The world became drowned out in noise as Sue stepped forward, and the stone beneath her hissed with evaporating rock.

"So. Let me get this straight. You're telling me that you took my only friend on the Island. You took the only person here who had ever shown me kindness. You took her, and she died. You took her, and you killed her. And you did it all because I DIDN'T DO WHAT YOU WANTED ME TO!?"

Misery's lips curled into a vicious sneer. "Excuse me? I saved your life, you little ingrate! If I hadn't transformed you, you wouldn't have survived a single minute—"

"I DON'T CARE! You don't get to decide that, you witch! You don't get to decide you can trade lives like that! How dare you suggest you can just throw away someone else's life like it never mattered! How dare you!? How freaking DARE you!?"

Once again, the cavern fell silent. There was no more sound, save for the heaving rhythm of Sue's ragged breaths. Slowly, the burning within her chest died down, gradually replacing itself with the yawning chasm of exhaustion. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, she had been pushed as far as she could take. She wanted to stay angry, but she couldn't. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't.

"Are you quite finished now?"

"I… yes," Sue admitted.

"Good. Do you want me to send you to the Island's surface now? My offer to you still stands."

Sue looked Misery in the eye, then glanced back at the two monsters cowering behind her. Mettaton had already broken out of his catatonic state, and was now holding a trembling Alphys in a comforting embrace. She then looked at Misery again, and saw the witch's red eyes gleaming with an emotion she had never seen in Misery before. Anger. Not sadism or annoyance or frustration, but real and genuine anger.

"Do I have a choice?"

"No," Misery growled. "Quite frankly, I never want to see your stupid little face again. Goodbye."

"H-hey, wait!"

But by then, it was too late. With a sharp and grating whirr, Sue felt the world disappear around her.


"No! Absolutely not!"

"But... but father! The monsters, they—"

"Your father is right. It is far too dangerous. You would be seen as a traitor to your kind, and face execution... or worse."

"But.. but... B-but someone has to help them! It will be a genocide, mother!"

"I... I know. And that is exactly why we must go."

"But—"

"Please, you have to stay here. We have already lost so much. We don't want to lose you, too."

Misery stared at the empty space where the three intruders had once stood. They had been a welcome distraction from her self-imposed boredom... at first. But like all nice things that had ever happened to her, it quickly turned sour. Still, she didn't expect them to wear out their welcome quite so fast.

"Trade lives?" she muttered to herself. "Me? Ridiculous. Utterly absurd. To even suggest such a thing..."

A sudden chill ran down Misery's spine. She'd felt... something. It felt like magic, she had trained herself to recognize it. Like a teleport spell, but it couldn't have been. There was always, without exception, a very distinct whirr whenever such magic was used, the sound of Void Energy bridging reality and unreality. But there was no such sound here. It was magic, but it was unlike any magic she had felt. She turned around, and saw...

"A... a boss monster!? But... no! No! T-that's impossible! Unless... who are you!?"

The monster grinned, and for the first time since the Core was destroyed, Misery felt true fear.

"Greetings. I am Samael."