Thanks go to Zillowzest, Wingah, Spencer the Gamer, I move weight, 10burgers, GMLxAwesome, Zack Frost, WhoWritesThisCrap, Sonic245, TiredWhiteMayge, JasherTheDarkened, I'mANervousWreck, 2Strong2SignIn, and Genowar.

Wow, got a real good response on the last chapter! You guys must really love shipping fuel, huh? Well thanks to everybody who reviewed, I really appreciated it! Sorry about the late update, I had a lot going on the past two weeks, so we're getting a Tuesday update! Next chapter should still be out two Sundays from last Sunday, so on the 18th of April. I'll get on replying to my PMs now too, I know I have a few of those that I haven't checked because I've been so busy. ^^'

Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter, and have a great day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

"Thanks, cutie!" Melanie smiled wide up at the looming serpent, waving her hand over her head at the creature. She and the rest of the pirates who had just escaped the depths below on the head of Anarchy's Wyrm now stood on the middle ring of the Hollow Spire, and while Predator got a laugh out of Melanie's friendly nature, Clover scowled and shook his head. His expression was not dissimilar from that of the Wyrm, who clearly would have liked nothing more than to gobble up the KIND soul and all her friends. Unfortunately, that would mean certain death at the pincers of The Scorpion lurking below, as well as disobeying an indirect order from The Anarchist himself. So, instead, the beast released a low, rumbling hiss, before it began sinking back into The Dark below.

"... You really think that thing's cute?" Ralsei sent a curios glance Melanie's way, and she turned the pure KINDNESS of her smile his way.

"It's just a big snake." Melanie shrugged casually, her grin turning a might sheepish. "And snakes are just cute noodles."

"..." Clover's frown dug deeper into his face, and he once more shot Melanie a glare from the corner of his eye. His thoughts drifted back to the rattlesnakes he'd tip toe around in his youth, to the twin discolored dot scars on his Pa's ankle. The old man'd had a story or a scar or both to warn little Clover of all the wild west's dangers. He shook his head, muttering as he turned around. "You wouldn't'a lasted a day on the ranch."

On that note, the five of them made their way with haste down the metal walkway and to the spire's center, the door sliding open to welcome them inside. Predator lead the crew with haste in her step, hands balled into fists at her side. Sure, she was plenty happy about Anarchy's intervention in their battle with his Darkness, but she had much more to be pissed about. Firstly, Gatherer's escape. Secondly, the lead he had on them to the location of The Broken Spear. So, the moment she spotted CORE!Alphys standing at the edge of the platform, she shouted out. "Ay, Alphys! What's the situation?"

"After Gatherer escaped The Dark, the remainder of your crew went after him in your ship, and the remainder of his inner circle is en route to the Broken Spear." CORE!Alphys laid out clearly and concisely, not looking back from the wall of screens she was watching. When Predator lifted her eyes to them, she realized they were displaying her own crewmates in battle with Gatherer's goons on the despot's train. Other screens displayed Mad Mew Mew conducting another train through the infinite void. Alphys continued to explain, "It is likely Mew Mew will reach DR107489 before Gatherer does. The timeline she is leaving from is closer than the one we are leaving from."

"Ah shit, you mean his flunkies are gonna have that stupid thing before we even get there?!" Predator demanded to know, fists tightening at her sides as she stomped up behind Alphys. She groaned loudly, reaching up and burying her hands in her black hair while she shook her head. "I can't let that smug twink get another one over on me!"

"And he won't." Alphys spun around to face The Predator, her hands folded behind her hunched back. She flashed a smirk Lexi's way, making her pause her panic. She didn't pull her hands off her own head just yet, but she did cock a brow down at the all seeing scientist.

"Whatchu talkin' 'bout Alphys?" Predator lowered her hands from her head and instead rested them on her hips, watching CORE!Alphys suspiciously. Then, the corner of her mouth pulled up some in the early stages of her madwoman grin. "You got a plan in that scaly brain or what?"

"It's simple, Predator. My spire moves through the void far faster than your ship or Gatherer's trains." Alphys' lips curled further up, revealing her pointed reptile teeth. Behind Predator, the remainder of her crew all lifted their heads and their expressions, looking revitalized by this news. Most excited was Lexi, who was now grinning from ear to ear. "Meaning that we'll be getting there just in time to crush Gatherer's B team and take the Broken Spear for ourselves."

Chapter 62: Some Old Daydream

Or: The Broken Spear Part 1

Mad Mew Mew stared pensively out into the shifting void, watching colors split and break apart in the face of her space train. The sight used to make her nauseous, but eventually she got the hang of piloting these strange trains. As much as the flashing lights could mess with her head, they had no effect on her plastic dummy eyes.

What a mess, she thought. The Predator once more sticking her nose into Gatherer's business. Mew Mew had to try her hardest not to shout when Gatherer had informed her of the situation; she knew he didn't tolerate her volume control problems. In all honesty, a part of her was excited for the chance to smack those self righteous pirates upside the head. They didn't have The Angel to save them this time, after all. There'd be no scorching red hand to mutilate her face and stop the path of her wrath.

But, as angry as she was about the resurfacing of Predator as a thorn in her master's side, she was also happy. Gatherer had trusted her to lead a mission. To gather a team of her own and travel out to complete an incredibly important mission: retrieve the Broken Spear. She'd honestly had no idea what to expect for this strange timeline; its initials told her it was of the Deltarune variant. And, somehow, it was linked to The Anarchist? She wasn't sure what The Broken Spear was either, apart from what it obviously was based on its name.

So, she packed the best muscle she could find, Fell!Undyne and Swap!Alphys. Two loud mouth meatheads that knew how to throw a punch, they reminded Mew Mew of the Undyne from the timeline she'd left behind ages ago. But they weren't her, so Mew Mew didn't bother getting particularly buddy-buddy with them.

The forth member of her four man squad was Dust!Sans. Or, whatever was left of him. In The Predator's raid on Gatherer's base, Dust had nearly been killed in a battle with an alternate reality version of his brother, Disbelief!Papyrus. Disbelief had dusted already, but Dust's heightened LOVE was making his death slow and painful.

Dust had been Hacker's peace offering. By reviving the killer skeleton, Hacker had easily established his scientific worth to The Gatherer. But Mew Mew had known Dust before his resurrection, and he was not the same afterwards. Hidden poorly beneath his oversized blue hoodie and dusty orange scarf, Dust!Sans' body had changed. A byproduct of the magic forced into Dust's dying body, his bones were detailed with strange, crack-like patterns. Some bones, particularly around his shoulders, bulged and pointed out, almost like spikes. It almost reminded Mew Mew of the beast Predator had released into the courtyard, Gaster Blaster!Sans. His skull was adorned with cracks too, one reaching up from the corner of his right eye socket towards the space between his eyes and another creeping down from his left eye like a stream of broken tears.

Dust!Sans had spent a lot of time in Hacker's lab, and Mew Mew didn't wanna imagine what sort of mad scientist nonsense the poor murderer had to put up with. Dust didn't ever share his experiences with anyone; he had no friends. No one wanted to associate with a brother killer, and he had no desire to associate with them. Especially after he went under Hacker's care. Now, the killer was hardly even good for a smart remark. He was just irritable, all business. Such a sourpuss that Gatherer hadn't even invited him to Eden's birthday party.

But, regardless of Dust's less than trustworthy or reassuring demeanor, he was some of the best muscle available. Him, Felldyne, and Swaphys were the strongest monsters Gatherer employed, and while Mew Mew had seen the ascensions that gave Felldyne and Swaphys far more of an edge than they once had, she was unsure what exactly Hacker had done that had made Dust any stronger. She wasn't sure she wanted to see it. But, if they had to face The Predator, she thought she might have to.

Mew Mew piloted a three cart train, much like the one Gatherer had left in. In the cart directly behind her conductor cart, Felldyne and Swaphys sat side by side. Gatherer's two most devote and unquestioningly loyal subjects, the pair of heroines had been gathered from their respective, dead worlds. Empty timelines, the only ones spared in some cruel Frisks' neutral runs. Neither of them understood why they were the only one's left, Gatherer had told each of them it was fate. That they were destined to help him build a safer multiverse.

... But, when Predator invaded, they failed. They were put away with humiliating ease, and Cliff The BRAVE was murdered. They'd known Cliff. Fought side by side with him. He was their commanding officer, and one of the few humans who'd earned their respect. His death had crushed each of them, and they each vowed to become stronger to make sure nothing like that were to ever transpire again. Anyone, from The Angel to The Predator, to stand in the way of The Gatherer's dream would be crushed under their fists.

All of that said, neither Felldyne nor Swaphys had any real idea what Gatherer wanted with The Anarchist. It made Felldyne giddy, the thought that she might get to fight such a powerful creature. She'd told Swaphys that the two of them could stomp the pasty weirdo flat, and that she figured that was what Gatherer's order would be. He wanted to rid the multiverse of such a wretched creature to ensure its safety.

Swaphys had a different theory though, citing the way Anarchy had mentioned The Gatherer when he was berating The Angel in their battle. Anarchy had spoken highly of Gatherer, mentioned working hard to repay Xander's past kindness. Swaphys floated the idea that perhaps The Anarchist believed in The Gatherer's cause in his own twisted way, and thought that maybe Gatherer could take him in. Xander had brought less than virtuous people under his banner before, the skeleton in the next cart down was a testament to that.

As far as the pair of heroines were concerned, both options were equally possible. But they did not know or understand The Gatherer's mind, so they could never really be certain what he would do. They were just certain that it would benefit the multiverse, whatever he intended to do. And they would help him achieve his dreams no matter the cost.

Way at the back of the train, sitting alone in the third cart was Dust!Sans. He liked the space, these days he constantly felt cramped in his own body. One of the side effects of Hacker's tinkering. The codebreaker turned scientist had figured out a way to heal monsters when they'd fallen down, a little tweaking in their code and the insertion of more magic. DETERMINATION was a foreign substance in the monster body, that was why they often melted and crumbled with any substantial amount of it in their system. Magic was not the same way, however. When more of it was introduced into a monster's system, it began putting them back together.

Of course, that meant to heal one monster, a handful of them had to die. Monster ash was the only tangible source of magic in this multiverse, at least as far as he knew. Dust didn't know how Hacker got his hands on enough of the substance to put him back together under Gatherer's thumb; maybe he'd told the good king what he needed and Gatherer had secretly given him the OK to go collect from some nothing timeline. It wouldn't shock Dust!Sans; he hardly trusted government officials, least of all Gatherer.

If there was one thing Dust had learned, it was that the only good human was a dead human. He did not believe for a moment that The Gatherer had any intention of saving the multiverse, he just had a lust for power. Every human did. and even though his judgmental eye's vision was hazy these days, Dust could see blood on The Gatherer's hands and malice in his soul. Not that he cared, so long as he got to cling to his own miserable existence. This was just how the world was now, he'd had to assure the ghastly visions of his long dead brother. The brother he'd murdered twice now.

Whatever the case, Dust understood his place under Gatherer's thumb. He was expendable, might as well have died fighting Disbelief. All he was now was Hacker's old lab rat, the prototype to the healing process that had successfully put Error's comatose body back together. Error. The lucky, unconscious piece'a shit. Hacker had perfected the healing process by the time he got to the eraser of worlds, but Dust hadn't been so lucky.

No, Dust suffered the side effects. Strange, uneven growth of bones. Spines poking out from his shoulders. Cracks spreading occasionally across his body. Sometimes they healed, sometimes they didn't. He didn't feel much like Sans anymore, he felt like the shell for something much more terrible beneath. Some great power that lurked inside his bones. Dust often felt like he was clenching, grinding his teeth or tensing his diaphragm. Like he was attempting to hold something in at all times. He didn't know what would happen if he released that tension, but he doubted he would be able to go back from whatever transformation he'd undergo.

From under his hood, Dust lifted the glowing red lights of his eyes to the windows across from him. The twisting colors were shifting more subtly, the train was slowing down. They must've breached the timeline, they were arriving at their destination. This made Dust grumble lazily while he tilted his head back, flashing the ceiling his plastic grin. Another day, another dollar.

Demon ran low to the surface of the cart's roof, racing down the conductor cart of the train and towards the roof of the middle cart, where Susie stood ready. They dove into the air suddenly, spinning to gain momentum before suddenly slashing down at the hulking monster. Susie wasn't fast enough to dodge this strike, she wasn't as agile as her human opponent. So, instead, she swung the blade of her ax into the path of Demon's machete, and with a clang the slash was deflected and Demon nearly got whiplash from the abruptness of their stop.

It was then that Susie struck, yanking her head back and throwing it forward. She blasted a headbutt right into Demon's chest, making Demon's eyes snap open wide from the force of the sudden impact before they were shoved back through the air and to the roof of the first cart once more. They flipped in air, regaining their balance and landing on their feet. They slid back a few steps, before holding their blade out to their side and immediately darting forward once more with intimidating speed.

From the opposite end of the train, laser beams fired and bones spiked. GB!Sans slammed his front claws into the roof's metal surface, and a moment later a wave of jagged bones raced up from the steel. Hacker didn't hesitate to burst off his front foot, racing forward and right towards the wave of bones exploding out towards him.

Watching Hacker sprint closer, GB!Sans lifted his head and unhinged his jaw. His back straightened while a deep blue energy began to glow from his eye sockets, before a white light shined in the back of his throat. And just as Hacker jumped over the brutal patch of jagged calcium, GB lurched forward and pointed his wide open maw at the airborne Hacker, firing a laser of white hot plasma at him. Hacker reacted simply, "fuCK-!"

He threw his arms up in an X and pulled up his knees, ink quickly seeping out from his forearms in the milliseconds he had before the beam of fire blasted him out of the sky. The impact of the scorching ray evaporated what little ink he'd brought to the surface to guard him in an instant, charring the arms that Hacker defended himself with. The beam exploded against Hacker, and sent him launching off the back end of the train, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke behind him.

But, before GB got the chance to relax his bones, two thunks! got his attention, and he rapidly turned his head from left to right. At either side of him, a whip of ink had hooked into the train car, and they both stretched into the black abyss of the void that GB had blasted Hacker into. When GB realized this, his wide sockets darted forward all too late. Sling shotting himself on the ink he'd hooked the train with, Hacker fired rapidly back towards GB, leading with his feet. His whips were wrapped up his still smoldering forearms, but he clearly had bigger worries than the pain of his scorched flesh.

Gaster Blaster Sans lurched forward when Hacker collided with him, blasting both feet into the beast's ribcage and forcing his clawed feet to slide back a few steps. Hacker grinned maliciously up at the beast, before GB's burning blue pupils locked back on to him. Suddenly GB lurched forward, grabbing Hacker by his shoulders with his clawed hands and smashing him back first into the metal of the train.

Hacker winced his emerald eyes, glaring up at the monstrosity looming over him. GB Sans parted his jaws once more, forcing Hacker's analytic brain to instantly understand that his entire head would fit in the creature's mouth. Fortunately for Hacker, two erasers about the size of his head fired on pencil pillars up from over each of his shoulders, crossing and slamming up into GB's chin. This made the beast recoil, release Hacker from his grip while he straightened his back.

Snarling, GB turned his skull back towards Hacker, only to catch a kick in the chin from his prey, who was back flipping up onto his feet. GB was forced to stumble back another step from this brutal kick, grabbing at his maw with one clawed hand. He opened one eye socket, glaring back to Hacker, who was busy jumping back and putting some distance between the two. GB growled, shook his head and stomped forward towards the liar. Then, he opened his maw, and released a horrific screech.

"Just give up!" Demon ordered Susie, who was on her backfoot, stumbling backwards and trying to deflect the rapid fire slashes Demon was unleashing on her. On Occasion a cut would appear on one of her arms or across her cheek as she tilted her head to the side. As much as Susie hated to admit it, she couldn't keep up with this speedy assassin, and it was more than apparent that Demon knew all there was to know about killing Monsters. She wished she had Kris and Ralsei here as support; the duo of Hacker and Demon was no match for her dynamic trio. Demon continued to shout, "Nobody can beat Hacker and I!"

"You think I haven't seen the videos of that Chara kicking your asses, you dumb bitch?" Susie shot back, and instantly Demon was seething. Susie grinned at that; she knew a thing or two about being irritable. If she couldn't overpower Demon, she could certainly get in their head. They were an angry brat deep down, this much was proven when Demon roared, yanking their cleaver up over their head and swiping down in a slice that was admittedly sloppy. Not something Demon would usually do, but not only were they angry, they didn't view Susie as a real threat.

Susie made them regret that decision when she side stepped that downward slash, Demon's eyes widening up at her as their blade flung downward, crashing into the metal of the train car. Looking up at Susie, Demon was able to watch her yank back one fist and send a brutal jab right into their nose. This made The Demon's nose reflexively scrunch up and their eyes wince while they stumbled back, but they didn't get far before Susie was reaching forward and grabbing a fistful of their sweatshirt.

Releasing a vicious battle cry, Susie yanked Demon right up into the air and over her head, making them yelp with surprise before she whipped them back first into the steel roof that they stood upon. They were sent crashing with such force into the car's top that their body dented into the metal, and their eyes winced shut with pain. They knew better than to keep their eyes shut for long however, and they opened those scarlet peepers just in time to see Susie yanking her ax up over her head.

Growling, Demon lifted their machete just in time to catch Susie's crushing blow, holding it up like a bar between their head and the ax racing down to split their skull vertically. the power behind Susie's assault forced them to shove their free hand into the back of their machete, and its serrated edge dug deep into their palm.

For a moment, Susie and Demon locked eyes. Demon was growling and snarling, all while Susie wore her berserker grin, pushing with all her might against Demon's defenses. After a few seconds of struggling, Demon swung their left leg over their right, throwing up their left shoulder at the same time and shifting their weight in an instant. They turned their machete to the side, sliding Susie's ax off of it with a shing!

Now on one knee, Demon shoved back off the ground and jumped back away from the ax wielding hero. They landed on the conductor cart, and after a quick glance back Susie realized her and GB!Sans were standing nearly back to back on the middle car with their opponents on the outer carts. That was good, she thought. Their main objective here was to antagonize, keep Gatherer guessing. Of course the four pirates understood that they weren't strong enough to kill Gatherer, but they could certainly throw him off. They'd already destroyed his train's cloaking device, now he couldn't hide from them to any capacity.

But, if the pirates were going to keep harassing Xander, that meant Character had to stay out of the picture. With a Double S Danger Rating, the pirates knew the fusion of Hacker and Demon meant a swift death for each of them. That was why Susie and GB had to keep the two as far away from one another as possible; Character was Gatherer's most powerful asset.

In an explosion of purple flames, the door to the third car was sent blasting off its hinges. Instantly through the smoke sprinted Fell!Grillby and Swap!Muffet, the former spinning back around and whipping a ball of violet fire into the smoking doorway the two had left behind. This fireball exploded in a magenta flash, briefly illuminating the smoke and casting shadows within. Then, vines suddenly darted in around the smoldering metal of the doorway, wrapping around the steel so tightly that it dented and bent.

From within the smoke a burning white light ignited, and Grillby's eyes widened behind his glasses. Without a second thought, he reached out and planted a shove in Muffet's chest, throwing her to the side just as a laser beam streaked from the smoldering doorway. The beam exploded right into his chest as she landed flat on her ass, shredding through his vest and button up shirt while the force threw the fire elemental right into the back wall of the train.

Grillby smashed into the wall back first, a crack splitting the lenses of his glasses. His body slowly slid down the wall, crackling quietly as he crumpled to the floor, eyes shutting behind his busted spectacles. Muffet's five wide eyes darted between the less than conscious Grillby, to the creeping death in the doorway. Without a second thought she was jumping to her feet and sprinting to take up a stance between her fallen ally and the horrific flower crawling into the room.

Growling with frustration and feeling a cold sweat break out on her brow, five of Muffet's six arms began throwing handfuls of spider silk into the train car. She was rapidly connecting strings, building a defensive wall of webbing to keep the unstoppable beast and the cruel women who commanded it at bay. Of course, no matter what she did, there was no defense she could build against the wretched laser that the monstrous flower could scream. So, she planted the index finger of her free hand on the communicator in her ear, uttering hasty orders. "River Person, we've done all we can do! It's time to retreat!"

"For such a gracious host, you truly are a terrible guest, Muffet."

Suddenly, Muffet was forced to throw her upper and middle arms up over her face, an explosion of orange flames obliterating her wall of webbing and forcing her to skid back on her heels. When she lowered her arms and began opening her eyes, her jaw tightened at the sight of him. Xander The Gatherer, walking in through the doorway.

"And I thought a spider would know how rude it is for a prey to squirm." Gatherer didn't bother rolling up his sleeves as he walked past Eden to his right and Horror!Flowey's massive form clinging to the ceiling over his head. The two of them must have pushed deeper into the room while Muffet built the wall that their boss had just devastated with the flick of his wrist. Now Gatherer stood leading the two of them, reaching out towards Muffet lazily. Near the cuff of his sleeve, Muffet could see his snake tattoos glowing with heat. "But, I guess it doesn't matter. You're no spider to me, just an ant under my magnifying glass."

And just as flaming snakes exploded from Gatherer's sleeve, curling and coiling through the air with their crackling hisses to devour the bug in their fires, reality shifted behind the spider queen. A rift in space opened, and one vantablack hand reached from within, grabbing Muffet by the back of her shirt and yanking her forcefully back through the rift. The cut in the fabric of space instantly closed after Muffet was pulled inside, and Gatherer's snakes sunk their fangs into nothing but the metal wall behind her. Grillby had disappeared as well, Gatherer assumed via the same method.

"..." Things were silent in the train car for a moment. Xander lifted one hand, and all the wayward flames on the train were sucked in towards it. The fire all gathered on his palm, before slowly extinguishing. Eden clapped her spell book shut in her hand, and Flowey's vines began to shrink and recede into his little flower form. Eden glanced over at Xander, "So. How'd the phone call go?"

"About as well as it could have." Gatherer answered, looking back over to Eden. In his raised hand, he closed his fist around the final embers and snuffed them out.

"That bad, huh?" Eden responded with a slight smirk, and her sour response made Gatherer smile some.

"The Angel is blissfully unaware of our dealings with Nightmare and our search for Anarchy." Gatherer cleared up as he turned to face his protégé, folding his arms behind his back. Smirk curling his features, he straightened his back, standing prim and proper like usual. "Our mole is keeping up their end of the deal, rude as they are."

"How are you so sure they won't doublecross us, sir?" Eden asked not out of doubt, but out of curiosity. Gatherer walked by her and back towards the middle cart, and she fell in line after him, walking behind him and matching his pace. She held her book to her chest with one arm and kept the other flat to her side. So well mannered, Gatherer thought. It was how every person should be, or at least that's what he'd been taught as a boy. He was glad to have imparted that wisdom upon her.

"That's the easy part, Eden dear." Xander's lips curled a little further up his face, his cruel thoughts feeling soothing on his stress racked brain. "Angel betrayed this friend, too. He's ruined their life with his selfishness; they have every reason to want him dead."

"Mm. Sounds about right." Eden squinted spitefully, her thoughts once more drifting back to the four winged creature that haunted her nightmares. Her jaw tightened. "Bastard doesn't seem to have the best track record as a friend."

"Hey c'mon!" Hacker's voice caught both their attentions, and the two watched him swing back in through the same window he'd swung onto the roof from. On the opposite side of the car, Demon made a similar entrance. Once he stood on solid ground, Hacker smirked some, holding his arms out to his sides and pretending to be offended. "I'm standin' right here!"

"... I said what I said." Eden glanced over to Hacker from the corner of her eye. And though, yes, her tone was as cold as ever, there was just the tiniest bit of a smile on her lips. And that was enough to convince Hacker she was joking, or at least that he was starting to grow on her.

"So, I take it the intruders on the roof have been dealt with?" Gatherer turned back to face the rest of the cart once he stood at the forefront of the room. His precise eyes darted between Hacker and Demon, who both wore sour expressions when his inquiry came.

"We had them on the ropes, but then the cowards escaped through portals." Demon crossed their arms over their chest, frown digging into their features. "I take it the goons down here made a similar retreat?"

"All those pirates know how to do is run." Eden stated spitefully, walking past Gatherer and into the control room. She carefully lifted Flowey's pot from the table she'd left it on, before she made her way back into the middle cart. Flowey sunk down from the ceiling like the weird, seeping sludge he really was, falling back into his pot and rooting himself there while Eden continued to speak. "The Predator leads a pack of cowards."

"Ionno about that." Hacker contradicted absentmindedly, burying his hands in his pockets. His eyes glossed over the train cart, examining the torn up seats and burnt walls, as well as the two open windows that him and Demon had used to get to the roof. He wondered why there wasn't loud gusts of wind bursting in through those open windows, but when he thought about it he realized things weren't all that windy outside the train, either. At least, not until he was knocked off of it briefly. He wondered if there was some kind of shielding in place or some invisible bubble that surrounded the train, but didn't really care enough to think any further than that. "I don't think 'coward' is a word I would use to describe Predator."

"..." Demon paused then, their expression suddenly souring even more. They shot a glare at Hacker from the corner of their eye, and when they spoke there was a threatening energy to their tone. "And what words would you use to describe Predator, exactly?"

"Oh boy..." Hacker muttered under his breath, tilting his head away from Demon momentarily so they wouldn't see how exasperated he looked at their loaded question. This amused Gatherer a little; he figured this must've been an argument the two'd had before. Demon certainly seemed the jealous type, so Hacker's technical ex girlfriend was probably a sensitive topic. Either way, Hacker displayed that he knew exactly how to defuse the situation, smiling sheepishly and forming a heart with his hands when he looked back to Demon. "... Not as pretty as you?"

". . ." Demon stared at Hacker for a few moments, desperately fighting the smile trying to creep up their face at his answer. Their cheeks turned a little red when they looked away from him, and they mumbled. "Dummy..."

"If you two are done." Gatherer stated to get their attention, his mouth now crinkled down into a frown. Seemed their relationship only amused him when it was going poorly. "Keep on your guard, we have no way to hide from those pirates with our cloaking broken, and we don't know what they're planning."

"Speakin' of, how'd they find us anyway?" Hacker crossed his arms over his chest as he looked back to Gatherer, tilting his head to the side. "Thought we were supposed to be invisible with that thing."

"... Hmm. Good question." Gatherer paused at Hacker's question, and he reached up, taking thoughtful hold of his chin while he wandered over to the wide open window. He stared out into the shifting void, squinting while he contemplated. And he was quiet for several long seconds, long enough for everyone to start exchanging confused glances. Usually Gatherer always had some kind of answer, so when they thought he was stumped, it was beyond surprising. But, just as their doubt peaked, Gatherer spoke. "I'm retracting my previous theory. The one about there being a mole among us."

"Hm?" That piqued Demon's interest. They cocked a brow at Gatherer's back, resting their hands on their hips while they watched him curiously. "Then how do you explain Predator having so much information?"

"I think she may have added a new member to her team." Gatherer stated swiftly, and the room tensed. A new member, the room pondered. Just who could that be? Gatherer explained further, "A Seer. Someone who sees all, or knows all, or is everywhere."

"Uhh... What?" Hacker scoffed, arching a disbelieving brow at his boss's back. The corner of his mouth curled upwards in a somewhat condescending smirk. "Like CORE!Frisk? Didn't we already establish that they ain't on the same team as Preds?"

"The multiverse is infinite, Hacker." It was then that Gatherer finally looked back at the bunch of them. His expression was not hopeful, but is was far from despairing. He was merely stating his theory, seemingly indifferent. There was no point in panicking, he would inform anyone with concerns. Freaking out would never solve a problem, only hard work would. "There are infinite possibilities for more beings like CORE!Frisk to exist, and I believe at least one of them has already begun meddling in the business of DoubleKids."

"... The broadcasting of the Angel Anarchist Event, right?" Eden finally spoke up, and Gatherer smiled with some pride at her deduction. All eyes fell on her, but she did not flinch. When she knew what she was talking about, Eden proved to be quite the public speaker. "It was shown multiverse wide. Even timelines like ours, that are heavily protected by firewalls, were shown the battle between The Angel and The Anarchist. No normal being should be capable of such a feat."

"Precisely, Eden." Gatherer turned himself back around to face the room, hands remaining folded behind his back and smirk remaining on his face. "The whole multiverse is watching us, even the gods."

For a moment or two, the train car was silent. Everyone spent a few seconds contemplating this, what it meant to be in the eye of beings beyond your own understanding. But, finally, Hacker spoke up.

"Ay, far as I'm concerned?" The Hacker took a step forward, bringing up one hand. He pointed his thumb back towards his chest, and a malicious grin curled his lips. His next words made Eden scowl and Demon smile, but Gatherer did not react. However he felt about Hacker's words, he did not show it. "Us DoubleKids are the only gods in this multiverse."

It was right about then that Flowey's eyeball petal split and revealed its vertical maw. This maw curled into a strange grin, before opening wide and releasing hysterical, wicked laughter. The soulless flower cackled with malice, clearly beyond amused by the antics of the wicked humans he was surrounded by.

"Those are some nasty scrapes..." River Person commented, tilting their head to the side while they watched Susie bandage her own arm. She was seated on a bench in the ship's medbay, and across the room Muffet was closing the metal door of the oxygen tank she had loaded Grillby's unconscious form into.

"I'm fine." Susie barked, furious eye darting up to River Person. As usual, the ferryperson did not flinch. Susie wondered if the strange, vanta-black being had any soul at all beneath that cloak. But, the weirdo would no doubt duck the question if she asked. So instead, she lowered her gaze to the red stain slowly growing on the bandage she had just wrapped around her forearm. "... It's the others you should be worried about."

"Tra la la~" River Person sang thoughtfully, spinning on their heel and doing a twirl in their flowy blue cloak. They turned their gaze to the rest of the room, worrying for everyone else like Susie had requested. GB!Sans was back in his humanoid skeleton form, laying unconscious on a white bed. River Person had to put him out with sleeping gas, it was the standard procedure for taking him back into the ship after he'd been transformed. As good as GB had gotten at controlling his beastly form, they still couldn't risk him getting violent on the ship. So now the short skeleton laid sedated in his tattered clothes and orange scarf, and it would be another few hours before he awoke again.

As far as injuries went, GB!Sans was the best off. That beastly form of his was quite durable, River Person had analyzed. Muffet's bartender clothes wore a few holes and her skin wore a few scrapes from Flowey's thorns, outside of that the only thing paining her was anxiety. Anxiety for Grillby, who she had placed in the oxygen tank they had to use to heal the fire elemental.

When he was struck with Horror!Flowey's laser, it had blown apart the defensive fires of his 'body' and struck his molten core. That center was cracked now, and if the fires of Grillby's body - aided by the oxygen flow of the tank he was resting in - could not weld those cracks shut, it was likely the fire elemental would go out and die.

Beyond that, Susie licked her wounds. She hated the frailty of her monster body on some days; in the face of a malicious human her body felt like it was paper mache. But, she would never admit that this weakness even existed. She would snap her jaws at The Anarchist himself, LOVE be damned. But, no matter how much she bolstered, she was still bleeding. The cuts and gashes Demon had inflicted on her would take plenty of time to heal...

"... Melanie would be having a field day, seeing me this worried about him." Swap!Muffet commented with a sad smile as River Person wandered over to her, swaying and bouncing almost like they were dancing. Muffet wondered what music they might have listened to beneath that pitch black hood, or she would have if she wasn't busy resting one of her hands upon the metal of Grillby's healing chamber. The metal was warm, almost hot. There's no doubt this entire room would go up in flames if the heat secured within were released. Muffet laughed without much joy, "She's always accused us of a workplace romance, ahuhu..."

River Person remained quiet. They remembered that The Predator had found all three members of the kitchen crew together; a motley gang of cooks just trying to serve food to the hungry scumbags in some wretched corner of the multiverse. River Person hardly remembered the full story of their recruitment, but what they knew full well was that Melanie saw the two monsters as family. Parents. She'd been a child when she was taken in to their restaurant, as River Person recalled. It was no wonder the girl wished to see the two of them together.

"... I received word from Predator while you were on the train." River Person finally spoke, so clearly that it surprised the room. The specter mostly just spoke riddles, sang songs, or did not speak. So, hearing a straight sentence turned all eyes to the colorless void of the ferryperson's cloak, and with such an odd tone of care, caught the crew off guard. "Her and those that accompanied her are safe, and will soon reach the Broken Spear, tra la la~"

"Fuck yeah!" Susie was the first to speak up, standing from were she sat and pumping her bandaged fist into the air. A sharp toothed grin tore across her face, "I knew those nerds would pull through for us!"

"Do you hear that, dearie..?" Muffet asked quietly, eyes glossing back to Grillby's flaming chamber. She slowly ran her hand across the warm metal, a smile crossing her lips gradually. "Melanie is safe. That means you have to pull through, too..."

"... Huh." Dust!Sans commented without much care while his sockets glossed over the surrounding area. A strange timeline, certainly long dead. Card Castle stood in the distance, all color drained from it and everything else. All that existed here was grey, apart from the green ones and zeros that misted from some of the surroundings. Trees, rocks, parts of the looming castle, all semi-evaporated into streams of code. But, what stuck out as the most nightmarish about this timeline was the sky above.

Wide eyes and mouths, all strained and twitching. Eyes darted apart from one another unnaturally, tongues hung past lips, the faces that made up the sky all seemed to be writhing in never ending laughter. Odd thing was that they didn't make any noise. They just flexed their tongues and moved their lips and chattered their teeth like they were cackling madly. Their pupils were blood red, like the tongues they slurped over their jagged teeth. If Dust still felt, he thought this place might have unsettled him greatly.

"Freaky. Freaky! FREAKY!" Mew Mew exclaimed suddenly, drawing everyone's attention back to her. She shivered, shut her eyes on the monstrous sky and let them fall back to the only somewhat less unsettling ground below. All that seemed to be left of this reality was Card Castle and the massive yard around it. Beyond the smoldering code at the edges of that yard was nothing but blackness. Behind the four of them, their train was at a stop, its door hanging open. "Lets just get this dumb spear and get outta here!"

"Gotta be on the highest peak of the castle!" Swaphys pointed to the looming stonework in the distance, grinning confidently. "It's the only place dramatic enough!"

"Good enough for me!" Mad Mew Mew didn't hesitate to agree; the castle was as good a place to look as any. So, she took one step forward, pointing onward towards Card Castle. "Everyone, lets-!"

"Not so fast, punkasses!"

With the sound of a hauntingly familiar voice, five massive stalactites of ice dropped from the sky above. They crashed down directly in the path of Gatherer's B Team, sending up a shockwave of grey dirt and forcing Mew Mew to throw an arm up to guard her eyes. When she lowered her arm, she found Lexi The Predator standing atop the middle ice spike and grinning like a madwoman down at her. Behind her, the line up of Kris, Ralsei, Clover, and Melanie stood, each brandishing their respective weapons and looking plenty ready to kick ass. "Shit. Shit! SHIT!"

"How'd they get here so fast?!" Swaphys demanded to know, before Felldyne stepped right by her. The fish woman yanked her spear back, yeeting it at high speed right towards the face of The Predator.

"Who cares?!" Felldyne gave a berserk smile as she watched her spear sail towards her foe. "Lets beat their asses!"

"Kris, you know the lay out of Card Castle, and you're faster than Ralsei." Predator spoke clearly and seriously, squinting her eyes at the spear sailing towards her. She opened her palm to her side, and in her grasp her scythe appeared, its blade immediately frosting over. She swung it up in an instant, cleaving right through Felldyne's javelin and shattering it to crimson shards around her. "Get going."

Kris didn't say a word, instead just nodding their understanding. They jumped back, landing on the downward slope of the ice spike and sliding down on the side facing the castle. Predator grinned at that, before stomping forward and pointing the curved blade of her scythe out towards the four before her. Rapidly, ice exploded out from the front of her spike wall, forming slides for the four of them. "Rest'a you! Dust these bitches!"

"Yeeeeeehawww!" Clover shouted as he dove over the edge, planting his boots on the slide and rapidly slipping down to the ground below. Beside him, Melanie threw her frying pan down onto the slide and jumped on top of it, riding it down like a skateboard down a rail. Ralsei didn't bother with his slide however, instead just planting one hand on the ice beneath him. Suddenly, a large star appeared beneath the fluffy prince, and he launched off into the fray of top of it. Predator scoffed at that, and briefly her brain compared Ralsei on that star to Kirby. But, she didn't waste much time thinking about that, instead just sprinting down her own slide.

"Here they come!" Mew Mew warned, throwing one hand into the air. From up her sleeve her scepter raced, and she caught it in her hand. Then, she pointed it down at the pirates racing closer, beginning to fire white orbs of magic at rapid speeds towards them. This broke up their ranks, made them split up around the blasts.

"I've got Predator!" Felldyne and Swaphys shouted in unison, and they both took up the same stance. They bent their knees and their elbows, before opening their mouths and roaring their battle cries. This forthcalling of power forced an explosion of white light up from around the two. The white light of their souls briefly reached into the sky, illuminating this dark place, before disappearing. When this brief light show faded, the twin heroines stood ascended as Felldyne The Fearless and Swaphys The Savage.

The moment the two had ascended, they exploded off the ground, each racing in towards Predator from the left and right flank respectively. Seeing the two blurs of speed dashing right towards her made Predator grin a little wider, and she quickly yanked up her scythe, holding its handle horizontally in front of her. Swaphys and Felldyne both collided with this handle, and Predator's teeth ground together as she was slowly shoved back on her heels, which dug into the dirt.

"Grrnn..! Ladies..~!" Still grinning giddily through her clenched jaw, Predator winked at the two hulking monsters. Finally she managed to plant her feet, stopping the two beasts dead. Swaphys pressed an ax burning with golden energy against the handle of her scythe, while Felldyne's shimmering red spear was stopped against the curved blade of the weapon. They each now wore burning white hearts on their armor, and their respective eyepatched eyes glowed with magic.

"Okay, that's..! Probably our best bet at keeping Predator at bay!" Mew Mew pointed out, though her eye twitched some at the disobedience from those two meatheads. She was supposed to be leading this team after all. But, she hardly had time to get angry about that, instead focusing her anger on the other three pirates still closing the distance. She knew they were outmatched here, there wasn't one human on their squad to stand against this assault of some of Predator's best fighters. And no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't even put together a way to get past these four, let alone get her hands on the Broken Spear before Kris did.

"Ay, you can't really be hurt by physical injury, right?" Dust suddenly spoke up, turning his permanent grin and passive eyes towards Mew Mew. This question confused Mew Mew, made her furrow her eyebrows beneath the bandage that permanently wrapped her face as she glanced over to him.

"Um, no, DUH!" She shook her head, bewildered by how dumb that question was. She even shrugged almost irritably, like it pissed her off that Dust would even ask such a thing. "But what's that got to do with-!"

"Great." Dust cut her off, lifting one palm towards her. Suddenly, her monster soul appeared over her chest, tinted blue. Mew Mew's eyes went wide, darting to her soul before jumping back up to Dust, who appeared to be grinning a little wider than usual. "Bye."

With a massive overhead throw, Dust sent Mew Mew flinging into the twisted sky above, screaming all the way. She sailed like a javelin, flying high over everyone's head and disappearing behind the wall of ice that the Predator had blocked their way with. In fact, it seemed pretty likely to Dust that she was gonna slap face first into the wall of the castle. But she'd live, so he didn't really care.

After taking a moment to chuckle about shitwhipping Mew Mew, Dust!Sans turned his attention to the footsteps racing towards him. Ralsei, Clover, and Melanie skidded to a stop before him, and he quickly assessed that he was the only thing standing between them and the train behind him, AKA his only way home. At the center stood Clover, revolvers aimed in on Dust's head. to his right Ralsei pointed an open palm, glowing with magic just waiting to manifest. And to his right Melanie held her frying pan tight, just waiting for Dust to give her a reason.

"Heheheh..." Dust got another laugh out of the sight'a them, burying his hands back in the front pockets of his jacket. He hunched forward some, and Clover's eyes narrowed at the way his smile strained, almost... Painfully? "Alright kids, guess I'll give ya a warnin', since I'm a nice guy."

"You take one more step forward?" Suddenly, bones jutted randomly out around Dust's feet, getting the three to flinch in preparation for an attack. But that attack never came, and instead Dust's body just began to twitch and shift unnaturally. White light shined out from between the cracks that detailed his bones, and he threw his hands out to his sides suddenly, revealing the way his knuckles cracked and sprouted points.

"And we're gonna have a mad time!"

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