Thanks go to Zack Frost, Wingah, Zillowzest, GMLxAwesome, Spencer the Gamer, 10burgers, WhoWritesThisCrap, underboythereal, I'mANervousWreck, and CrystalGamer82!

Alright, so I know this chapter is two days late, but I have news! After getting a promotion at work and some things changing in my schedule, update days will be every other Tuesday and not every other Sunday! Since I usually have Mondays and Tuesdays off, updating on Tuesdays works a lot better for me. So clear your schedules and write it on your calender, next chapter comes out Tuesday, May 18th!

To answer your question underboythereal, making a DoubleTale: Rewritten discord server might be fun, but it would also be a lot of responsibility for me that I unfortunately don't have time for. Managing a server and having moderators and whatnot to make sure that nothing bad goes on between a big group of people is honestly a pain, and the last thing I need on my schedule is other people's Discord drama lol. So, if there was going to be a real server for DoubleTale: Rewritten, I wouldn't want to make it or moderate it. It would have to be fan created and fan managed. From there, I would be glad to join it, and I'm always happy to talk DoubleTale!

Alrighty then, on to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

Gold light shined in through the bay window of the living room. It was so bright that it rendered the stained white curtains completely useless. Golden rays gleamed on the scratched wood floor, reflected on the box TV's dark screen and tried desperately to add beauty to the sunken cushions of old furniture.

It was so bright that Anthony had to squint to try and perceive this familiar room. He blinked his tired eyes, tilted his head to his left and looked into the blank TV screen in an attempt to see his reflection. But the glare was too bright, the powerful shine burned his eyes. So he blinked from where he lay on the couch, and he looked straight up.

There she was again. The haggard face of his mother smiled regretfully down at him, tears trickling down her emaciated face. And Anarchy blinked his scarlet orbs slowly, furrowing his brows with confusion up at her. The dark blue of her eyes was gentle, more so than he'd ever seen it. Her touch did not bring pain, she did not strike at him and attempt to punish him merely for existing.

Instead, her bony fingers ran gently through his hair. Appreciated its soft feel and its bright color. That was unlike her in so many ways... Anthony did not understand her. He didn't know why she cried. Was it him? Had he done something to disappoint her? Had he broken her heart? He guessed that he didn't actually care about that.

"Mom..?" His voice was quiet in his own ears. It echoed some, muffled and hard to understand. Her tears struck his face, but he didn't really mind. He just squinted his eyes some up at her; it was hard to see with that bright light beaming in through the window. As the light stung and burned his dark adjusted eyes, he started to see her lips move. She was speaking, shaking her head and wincing with some pain that Anarchy did not understand. Slowly, he lifted his hand, reaching up towards her. "Mom, I can't hear you..."

Her sad smile trembled on her face when he said those words. She reached up with her free hand, and in it she took the hand he reached up towards her with. Her fingers really were so small compared to his. She rested his hand against her cheek with care that he did not understand. He felt her tears slide over his fingers as she shut her eyes, and her expression tensed like she was stifling a sob.

And then, there was noise. For only a moment, Anthony The Anarchist could hear clearly. And her voice, the one he had nearly forgotten after all this time, filled his ears.

"I know."

Anarchy's eyes snapped open wide, and the first thing he saw was the ceiling of his barn. The dusty rafters stared back at him, and it took him a minute or two before he finally conceded the staring contest and blinked. Then, he continued to lay there. He didn't know for how long. Light was just starting to creep over the horizon, filling the barn in dull yellows. It was probably early, something like 6 AM.

Usually Anthony would have climbed out of bed after waking up, he didn't really like lounging around much. But, on this particular morning, he laid there and he stared straight up. He didn't move; if it wasn't for his open eyes he might've even appeared to be asleep. Finally, some creaking and thumping caught his attention, and Anarchy sat up in his bed, propping himself up on his elbows while his blanket slid off of his scarred up chest.

Up the ladder leading to his little home in the rafters, a head of blue hair poked. Followed by a skull with glowing magenta eyes, and finally a giddy smile. Anthony couldn't help but cock an eyebrow when he saw Mako climb into his room at this early hour, his sleep heavy voice rumbling out of his throat. "Mako? What are you doing up this early..?"

"I set an alarm!" Her voice was a bit too peppy for this hour of the morning, but Anthony appreciated her enthusiasm regardless. He scratched his head of white hair, shutting his eyes momentarily while he tried to jumble his thoughts together. He only had a second or two to try and solve the mystery of why Mako would set an alarm to wake up earlier than him, before she gave him the answer. "You said you wanted to spend today with Max and I, remember?"

"Did I say that..?" Anthony asked himself more than he asked her, his eyes drifting to the wood floor while he ran a hand through his white locks, pushing them behind his head and out of his eyes. Mako answered his words with an angry little 'Mnnn!', and he lifted his sleepy eyes to see her crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. That made him chuckle, and he grabbed a handful of his blanket, yanking it away from his legs while he swung them over the edge of the bed.

"Alright, alright." Anarchy waved a hand to dismiss her worries, planting his bare feet on the floor and slowly standing. Grunting and groaning, he stretched his arms over his head, rolling his head back on his shoulders. His muscular frame tensed and flexed from his stretching. "I just didn't think you'd be up this early... Thought I'd have time to water the flowers first."

"I-I can help you with that!" Mako spoke hastily while she turned her head to the side, adverting her eyes from the shirtless and stretching Anarchist. Her cheekbones tinting red, she attempted to hide her blush, wildly waving her arms in front of her in senseless gestures. "But first put a shirt on!"

Chapter 64: Dating, Start?

Or: Part One Of Anarchy's Friendship Adventure!

Grumbling to himself, Future stood in a void of dark before a screen of flickering green numbers and words. He poked at these numbers with his fingers, pulled them back and forth and tried to rearrange them. And judging from the haggard frown on his face, he'd been at this awhile, and he hadn't gotten particularly far.

His tired green eyes glossed over to the monochromatic child standing by his side. They folded their hands behind their back and stared with intense focus into the flickering code in the rift before them. Under their stare, numbers and letters shifted around rapidly. They moved, swapped places, were deleted, and were replaced. But, still... Nothing.

"... This ain't workin', Frisk." Future finally stated, turning his head towards CORE!Frisk. He shoved his hands into his pockets, narrowing his eyes with subdued frustration. "We aren't gettin' through this firewall."

"Well we don't exactly have any other options, Future." CORE responded irritably, not turning their head away from the firewall they tried to manipulate. Their lips curled down into an even deeper frown, "I shouldn't have to explain to you how bad it would be if Gatherer or even Predator got their hands on Anarchy's location."

"Don't you have multiverse pals you can call?" Future tilted his head to the side while he turned his body to face Frisk, who shut their empty eyes and groaned at his inquiry. "You're fuckin' CORE!Frisk. There's gotta be someone you know who's better equipped for this job than we are."

"... None that Gatherer wouldn't have contacted first." CORE!Frisk slowly opened their eyes, glaring into the shifting numbers before them and refusing to look towards Future. "Gatherer would think that far ahead, I know he would. So I can't afford to go asking for help, because I don't know who is and isn't in his pocket."

"... Yeah, that's a good point." Future stated begrudgingly, crossing his arms over his chest. He turned his eyes away from Frisk, grumbling to himself while he shook his head. Xander was certainly an irritating enemy to have, that much hadn't changed since he was a teenager. Trying to strategize against him was like playing four dimensional chess. Future knew full well how Gatherer thought, always plotting one step ahead of the other, always listing possible issues and then thinking up ways to fix those problems should they ever arise. But, judging from how many locks he'd painstakingly placed on Cter's timeline, Future had to guess there was no plan B. Gatherer had made it as close to impossible to reach Cter as he could.

"Aren't you a Hacker?" C Frisk questioned, void eyes darting up towards the king. This time he was the one who didn't bother looking back at them, instead scratching at his stubbly chin while he leaned forward to get a better look at the shifting numbers. "Things like this should be in your job description."

"I'm an alcoholic." Future corrected, pointing over to Frisk with his off hand. He must not have paid much attention to their demanding tone; there was a good chance he hardly respected them after the outburst he witnessed the monochromatic child have at Cter a few years back. And since that outburst, CORE!Frisk had become less apologetic about their demands and less secretive about their motivations. It was plenty obvious these days; this was business. Not a friendship. Future slowly leaned back from the sheet of code, shoving his hands back in his pockets. "... This isn't like Xander. To put all his eggs in one basket like this."

"What do you mean?" Frisk inquired, lifting one grey eyebrow at Future. They watched the king shake his head, stepping back from the shifting wall of coding.

"I mean that Xander doesn't hinge his bets on one plan. He thinks ahead, makes failsafes. But, this..." Future paused thoughtfully, squinting his haggard eyes at the flickering numbers. "... It's too perfect."

"Yes, it's a very good firewall." C Frisk answered with heavy exasperation, shoulders sinking while they squinted at Future. "We've been over that part already."

"It's not just a good firewall, Frisk. It's the best one he could make with his resources. Because it had to be." Future's calculating emerald eyes darted over to C Frisk, and the dire straights of their situation reflected in his gaze. "Because there's no possible plan B, Gatherer had to make sure that plan A worked."

"But... That doesn't make sense." Frisk argued, furrowing their brows. They folded their hands behind their back, shaking their head at Future. "Even if Gatherer had known Cter was going on vacation, he would have had no reason devise this plan until a few days ago when Nightmare reached out to him about Anarchy's location."

"Well, if you were Gatherer, and you had an enemy like Angel, wouldn't you spend all day thinking up contingency plans?" Future scratched at his stubbly chin, looking down towards Frisk with a curious expression despite the fact that his question was purely rhetorical. "My bet's that Gatherer already had this 'trap Angel in his own timeline' plan mapped out. I also might be willing to put money on the fact that Nightmare was aware of this too, and that's why he waited for Cter to go on vacation before giving Xander the call."

"..." CORE!Frisk paused then. They lowered their head so Future wouldn't see the way their jaw tightened, their expression twisting with fury. Their voice left their throat in a low growl. "... This was calculated. All of it, on all ends."

"We got played, Frisk. Simple as that." Grumbling to himself, Future lowered his head and shut his eyes. He lifted one hand from his pocket, and from his inventory a flask appeared in his hand. Lifting his head begrudgingly, Future began the exhausting and repetitive task of unscrewing the cap from his drink on-the-go. "The only player in this game that wasn't accounted for was Predator. She's the one wildcard and our one hope of keeping Anarchy out of Gatherer's hands."

"Predator? Our hero here is Predator?" CORE!Frisk exclaimed with disbelief, their shoulders sinking forward while they gaped at Future, wide eyed. "You expect me to rely on her to get the job done?"

"Look Frisk it isn't my fault you hinged all your bets on mini-me." Future glared over at C Frisk from the crow footed corner of his eye, before lifting the metal of his flask to his lips. CORE's expression grew more and more disgruntled with each gulp that echoed from Future while he drank, before the king lowered his drink and looked back to them. "Predator's plenty capable, and she's a lot smarter than you think. She hunted down and aligned herself with an all-seeing Alphys, and she's survived three years at war with Gatherer, a man with infinitely more resources and an incredible strategic mind. She would never fall into a trap like the one we fell into."

"..." CORE!Frisk paused. They didn't talk for awhile, maybe a full minute or two. Future didn't really mind the quiet; they both had plenty to think about. But, eventually, Frisk turned their back on the flickering green of Gatherer's unbreakable firewall. They took a few steps away from it, looked to the obsidian floor of the void. Then they shook their head, presumably with disgust. "... Alright. Lets go over what we've learned."

"... If you think it'll help." Future glanced over to them, shrugging carelessly. He couldn't deny that he thought stepping back and looking at this issue as a whole might offer a new solution. Or, at least a new clue towards a solution. "As a start? A firewall like this could only have been securely applied from the inside. If Xander had tried to block off this timeline from the outside, you would have seen him."

"In other words, The Gatherer has a mole in Cter's inner circle." CORE finished Future's thought for him. They lifted their head, staring out into the endless blankness with a frown drawn clear on their face. "That much seems clear after the phone call I saw Gatherer have. Unfortunately, whoever was on the other end spoke in codes, and Gatherer never said a name."

"That was probably intentional. I'm sure Xander understands the dangers of your omnipresence ever since the raid you orchestrated on his empire." Future spoke casually, like he didn't know he was throwing a past mistake in CORE's face. Or, like he didn't care. He fiddled with the cap of his flask, likely unscrewing it for another drink. "Next up: Nightmare!Sans."

"He's been a pain in my neck for ages now. I'd honestly hoped he'd either stay in hiding or have gotten himself killed by now." CORE blinked their void eyes, frown cracking deeper into their features. They shook their head at memories of the many issues Nightmare had caused the multiverse in the time before DoubleKids; he was a part of the past that they hardly wanted back. "But, Nightmare's smart. Smarter than Error, smarter than a lot of people."

"Smart enough to find Anarchy and manipulate Gatherer and Predator into playing some sick treasure hunting game, from the looks of things." Future had taken another drink from his flask while Frisk spoke, and now he was screwing it shut and putting it away. "Jackass even started things off from Anarchy's original timeline - someplace you can't see inside. So we don't know the exact rules of his game."

"What we do know is that he's forcing Predator and Gatherer to wait a week on the next part of the game, which is gonna take place at what's left of Jevil's Circus." CORE!Frisk's expression lightened up some, and they lifted their chin a bit as the news grew less disastrous. "This revelation made Gatherer obviously anxious; we can infer that in two weeks, Cter will be able to leave his timeline. That means that this barrier keeping us out is either on a time limit, or it only works one way - meaning that there's nothing stopping someone from the inside from leaving, and the barrier only keeps the outside from getting in."

"But judging by what we've seen so far, it doesn't really matter how much time we have." Future shook his head, bitter frown cracking deeper into his features. "A day, a week, a month. We aren't gettin' through this thing any time soon. And even if we did start to get close, I get the feeling some of Gatherer's goons would be here to stop us lickety split."

"..." Frisk's aggravated silence showed a clear disdain for Future's less than positive outlook, but they didn't bother voicing it. Instead, they just stood there. Their back to him, his back to them. A cold wind blew by, but C Frisk didn't feel it. The last time they'd felt the sensation of touch was three years ago, when Anarchy reached across the table and grabbed their hand. Or, at least, tricked their brain into perceiving that he had. "... There's no guarantee on what happens next. There's very little we can do."

"... Yeah." Future's shoulders sunk some, and he exhaled in a quiet sigh. He considered getting his flask out for another drink, but ultimately decided the effort of grabbing it from his inventory and unscrewing it was too much effort. Besides, he'd put it away because he was supposed to be done drinking from it. So instead he just stood there, staring at the wall of code in his way while he listened to the hollow wailing of the void winds.

"For now, all we can do is wait."

"You really did do a good job cleaning this place up." Anarchy told Mako as the two wandered back into his barn from its back entrance. They each carried a watering can, Mako's being the smaller of the two. Not that it mattered, both cans were empty aside from the occasional droplet of water falling from the spout. With all of Anarchy's crops harvested, all that was left to water were the flowers he'd planted along the outer walls of his barn. It took a lot less time than watering the entire garden, especially with two people.

"Thanks!" Mako gladly accepted his praise while the two made their way over the clean swept concrete floor. She turned her smile over towards him, but he kept his eyes forward. His expression didn't look all that intense though, so she figured he was probably grateful for her positivity.

As she looked over towards him, Mako once more spotted the sapphire shield Anthony had mounted on his wall. Her brows furrowed curiously once more at the sight of it, and eventually she came to a stop. Anarchy continued moving, making his way to the wooden table at the far end of the barn. There was an old towel laid across the wood, perfect for resting his watering can while it dried.

"... Hey Anthony?" Mako's voice caught his attention, and he turned his head back towards her. She stood in front of his shield, staring up at where it loomed on his wall. Her question mark pupils floated idly in her eye sockets while she examined its shining blue color and its Deltarune brand, before she turned her head towards him and asked. "Where'd ya get this shield?"

"Oh, that?" Anarchy rested his hands in his pockets as he wandered back towards her. His scarlet eyes lifted from her curious expression to the shield on the wall, and he shrugged his shoulders some. "Just something from a dream I had once."

"A, dream..?" Mako tilted her skull curiously, the question marks not leaving her eyes. Anthony's answer had left her more confused than she was before she asked her question. This shield was real, how could it have been in a dream? "So, you made it? Like, it's design came to you in a dream?"

"Somethin' like that." Anarchy answered casually, scarlet orbs thoughtlessly examining the perfectly polished finish of his shield. It appeared almost ornate, that was the reason he'd hung it up in the first place. Well, the real reason it hung on the wall was because Anthony had nothing to defend against in this reality. But it wasn't hidden away like his crowbar, because unlike the twisted metal of his Inheritance, the shield was fairly pretty to look at. Despite the many battles it had seen, it bore no scratches or dents.

"Hmmmm..." Mako took hold of her own chin, squinting her sockets up at The Anarchist while she leaned in dramatically. Her question mark eyes shaped into crosshairs, displaying how intently she was examining Anarchy, who cocked a brow at her. He snerked some at her intensive curiosity, and eventually once he felt she'd lean in close enough, he planted one finger between her eyes, keeping her from scooting in any further. Not that she could reach his face; he was like two feet taller than her. Her eyes slowly crossed to look at his finger, which made the forming grin on Anarchy's face grow a little faster. Those pupils uncrossed and returned to their regular shape, and Mako smiled knowingly. "Somebody's in a mysterious mood today."

"Huh?" Anarchy pulled his finger back from her forehead while she removed herself from his personal space, contemplating her words. After a moment's thought, he shrugged his shoulders again. "Eh, just loony talkin'. Don't think too hard about it."

"If you say so." Mako snerked, giving Anthony a playful push as she walked by him. Of course, he didn't budge at all, and she ended up just forcing herself to slide back, but no one acknowledged this. Instead, he followed after her, the two making their way out of the barn and up the gravel driveway towards the house.

"So... What's next on the agenda, exactly?" Anarchy asked, glancing over at Mako. He had to walk slower than her in order for her to keep up on account of his legs being much longer than hers, but that was fine. She was almost always moving at a hasty pace; her excitable attitude usually motivated her quickly from one destination to the next.

"We're gonna make breakfast!" Mako answered, tilting her head up to look at him. She flashed the purity of her smile, but Anarchy's subdued expression hardly showed how he felt about it. His eyebrows rose some at her words however, and he scratched at his beard thoughtfully.

"How long has it been since I cooked something..?" Anthony wondered more to himself than to Mako, the gravel crunching rhythmically beneath their feet as they made their way towards the house.

"I didn't know you cooked at all." Mako stated with a curious stare. Then, she squinted up at him, puffing out her cheek bones like she was pouting. Anarchy didn't exactly understand the science behind her malleable cheek bones, but then again he figured skeletons made of magic were different than a human's skeleton. Mako continued, "You never talk about yourself, mister!"

"Huh?" Anarchy arched a brow down at her, his relaxed expression reflecting mild confusion. Again he was giving a lazy shrug of his shoulders. "I just don't think I'm a very interesting guy."

"Mweh? Well I think you're interesting!" Mako objected, frowning dramatically up at him. Anarchy thought about refuting this statement, but there was no point. Mako would argue and argue her point until he gave in and accepted her compliment, he knew that much from experience.

But, Anarchy didn't care about being interesting or complex. In his mind, he believed he was pretty simple. Having ungodly power at his finger tips and even more ungodly baggage on his mind didn't change that. Still, Mako was trying to be nice to him, and he appreciated that. So, he flashed the sharp tooth smile that many before her had found terrifying, and he accepted the positivity she blessed him with. Her smile brightened further when she saw his, and that made Anarchy feel... Lighter, somehow.

Eventually they made it to the house, and Anarchy held the door open for Mako. She nodded her thanks to him, her bright smile never having left her face. After she walked through the doorway, he followed after her, shutting it behind himself. The two entered into a short hallway, continuing through it and into a living room. While they passed through this room, Anarchy's eyes glossed over the lay out. The furniture, the way the morning sun beamed in through the window.

"I know."

His brows furrowed. Had he modeled sections of this home after his childhood house without even thinking about it..? He knew he furnished the basement and kept it well lit as an exact opposition to the basement he'd been tormented within. he grumbled silently, frown creasing his subdued expression. This revelation was about as comforting as the reoccurrence of that dream.

"So, what would you like to make for breakfast?" Mako looked up at Anthony with a curious expression. Her brows furrowed some at his suddenly disgruntled frown, but she didn't think it was unusual. Anarchy's usual expression was either a neutral look or a frown, a smile was what was unusual. But, Mako knew she could bring one back. "Are you a good cook? Can you make something super fancy?"

"Uhh..." Anarchy's frown dulled, and he looked up at the ceiling while scratching thoughtfully at his beard. Then, his eyes darted back towards her, and he shrugged skeptically. "... Chocolate chip pancakes?"

"Sounds great!" Mako grinned giddily, her pupils shaping into stars. She threw up one hand and gave Anarchy a big thumbs up, and that got his frown to disappear.

"You sure do know how to do a lot of stuff, Anthony." Mako spoke absentmindedly while she scrambled an egg with a fork. Behind her, Anarchy scooped pancakes from a pan with a spatula. He flipped them over, placing their still mushy topside back into the searing heat of the metal pan.

"I was a pretty independent kid. My parents weren't much to rely on." Anarchy answered with ease, setting the batter-stained spatula to the side, on a paper plate. From the same plate he grabbed a pair of tongs, using them to flip and fiddle with the bacon cooking in the pan beside the pancakes. "I learned how to do a lotta stuff on my own."

"Can you teach me some stuff?" Mako asked with an excited glint in her eye, spinning around to turn her smile towards The Anarchist.

"Uhh... I mean, most of what I know is, really physical chores..." Anarchy hesitated, arching a brow at her. Mako didn't seem to mind though, happily bouncing over to the stove and pouring her scrambled egg into a third pan. "I could teach you, but I don't think it'd be very fun."

"I don't care what we're doing!" Mako dismissed with the wave of her hand, shaking her skull while she emptied out the remainder of the plastic cup with the scraping of her fork, before stepping back away from the stove and swinging her arms casually behind her back. She turned her bright smile over towards Anarchy then, shutting her eye sockets and tilting her head to the side. "So long as we're spending time together, it'll be fun!"

Anarchy didn't say anything, at least not for a few seconds. He recoiled some from her KIND words and the positive glow of her smile; his eyebrows rose on his face and a light pink shade dusted over his pale cheeks. After a few moments of staring at her silently, he looked back to the food he was cooking. Furrowing his brows at the sizzling and writhing bacon, Anarchy finally spoke. "... I don't understand you, Mako."

"Huh?" Mako's sockets opened, and she arched a curious brow bone at Anthony, not untilting her head. She reached up, poking at her own chin with one boney finger. "Are ya sure? I don't think I'm too hard to figure out."

"What I mean is, that I don't get why you want to be my friend." Anarchy elaborated, scarlet orbs not leaving the food he meticulously watched over. His expression wasn't easy to read; not exactly troubled but not exactly comfortable. And, as always, medicated. His emotions suppressed by the pills he took every morning, his manic tendencies forced to sleep with portions of his personality by his anti-psychotics. "You're tiny, and fragile. And... You've seen what I can do. So why aren't you scared of me?"

"Well..." Mako frowned thoughtfully at this sudden change of attitude from The Anarchist. She wondered how long he had pondered this, how often he wondered why she wasn't terrified of him. It was a question she'd never asked herself, so it took her a moment to think up the answer. The index finger pressed a little harder against her chin, before finally her magenta eyes looked back to The Anarchist. "Well, sure, it was scary seeing everything you could do on TV. But, when I met you, you weren't scary. You were nice, and friendly!"

"But I could kill you." Anarchy was quick to state, eyes narrowing. He didn't look at her, in fact it seemed like he was avoiding doing so on purpose. Keeping his hands busy, he pulled pancakes from the pan and began stacking them on a plate resting on the counter beside the stove. "I could kill everyone."

"But you don't. And I don't think you will, either." Mako stated with certainty, lowering her finger from her chin. She stepped closer to The Anarchist then, and fearlessly reached out to his spare hand with her own. His arm tensed when her fingers touched his, jerked and flinched. Her sockets narrowed painfully at that, and her thoughts drifted to the scars that covered his upper body. How used to being attacked was he? How little had he received any kind of loving touch, that his body's first reaction to physical contact was to try to defend itself? "... You saved my brother's life yesterday."

"He told you about that..?" Anarchy finally turned his head, arching an ivory brow at her. His gaze lowered from her caring eyes to the small hand, the digits intertwining themselves with his fingers. The bones of her hand were smooth and warm, surprisingly pleasant to touch. Certainly more alive than he had expected a skeleton to feel. Making direct contact with her was... Soothing, in a way. It dulled the anger that boiled beneath Anarchy's surface, it removed the bitter feeling from his chest, it almost made him forget that if he were to tense his fingers, he could crush her hand to dust in his own.

His thoughts drifted back to the day they first met. The way her touch had changed one of the gross grubs of his darkness. The light of her soul had put the little larvae through a metamorphosis, changed it into something new. It had morphed into a dragonfly instead of a worm or a scorpion, and it had flown away on white wings. Its body had remained blackened, that was not taken away from the creature. But... A light was added to it. Something that made it more than it was previously. Anarchy often wondered what might happen if she touched one of his worms. His Wyrms, or maybe his Scorpion. Even he felt different when she touched him...

"He told me a lot of things. I hope you're not mad, he just thought it was important that I understood the full scale of things, too..." Mako's magenta pupils looked to the side, and with her spare hand she rubbed the back of her skull sheepishly. But then, she looked back to him, and her hand squeezed his tighter than it had before. "To answer your question, Anthony... I'm not afraid of you, because you're more than your power."

This made Anarchy's eyebrows lift with some surprise. He recoiled at those words, because he didn't understand them. The idea that he was worth more than his strength, that he had any meaning beyond what he could produce was foreign to him. His mother had only paused her abuse when he provided her with a cooked meal. When he cleaned up her messes, when he fixed what she broke. Angel had only cared about him when he was there to amuse him, Xander had only had a use for him as a killer. Any sense of worth The Anarchist had ever derived came directly from his ability to build, or his ability to destroy... More than his power? That couldn't be right.

"From what Max said, it sounds like your life has always been hard, and because of that you haven't always done the right thing." Mako smiled patiently up into The Anarchist's bewildered expression, but he remained skeptical. Watching her with furrowed brows, and lips slightly parted to give a refutation that never came. Still, Mako slowly reached up with her free hand. And, though she had to stand on her tippy toes to do it, she cupped his cheek in her palm. "But, ever since you came here, you've been nothing but nice. To me, to my brother, to all the little animals... Because that's who you really are, Anthony. You're gentle, you're sweet..."

"..." Anarchy's ruby orbs darted to the side, and he reached up, placing his hand over the one Mako laid upon his cheek. Her thumb rubbed gently against the hairs of his beard, smoothing their prickles with her touch. Still, Anthony frowned. "... There was a time when that was true, Mako. But I don't know if it is anymore."

"Well..." Mako smiled softly then, tilting her skull to the side. She put more weight onto her tippy toes, standing a little taller and removing more of the distance between them. "Lets find out together!"

Anarchy looked surprised again. His eyebrows rose, he recoiled a little. But... Then he smiled. Just a small smile, a way that was caring and loving. A smile that had been fake for nearly a decade now, a a sick and deranged way of unsettling his enemies. He would put on the adoring smile he'd flashed the world that rejected him when he was a boy, and he would wear it while he murdered and destroyed. But, now... He wore that smile because of Mako. Because her positive soul had brought it out from within him.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

It wasn't until the fire alarm went off that Anarchy realized he smelled smoke. He and Mako jumped, letting go of one another and turning their attention back to the charred pancakes and extra crispy bacon, as well as the blackened and crunchy scrambled egg. Frantically they shut off burners and waved away smoke, Anarchy even going as far as to peel the burned pancakes from the scorching hot pan with his bare hand and stuffing them into his mouth.

"What's going on in here?!" Max's voice shouted over the ear piercing screech of the fire alarms, and the two of them turned to spot him standing in the kitchen doorway. Still wrapped in a blanket and blinking and squinting to see them, it was very apparent that Max had just rolled out of bed. His sleep crusted eyes took a few moments to adjust, giving Mako and Anarchy enough time to wave the smoke away from the alarms and shut them off.

Finally, when the beeping stopped, Max reached up and rubbed his eyes. Then, he opened them again, finding Mako grinning sheepishly and standing there with her arms folded behind her back like she was innocent. Behind her, Anarchy's jaws were still slightly parted, stuffed full with charred and smoldering foods that he was struggling to chew. Max just frowned, his shoulder sinking some at the sight of them. "I need a coffee..."

Anarchy swallowed his food with a loud and dry gulp, and Max grumbled quietly, turning around and walking out of the kitchen. Mako figured it was to either collapse in bed or get that cup of coffee. Either way, she turned around to look back at Anarchy, and she laughed, reaching up and scratching the back of her head. "Ehehe... Oops!"

"Looks like this is gonna take a little longer than we thought." Anarchy scratched at his mane of white hair, looking to the burned up scraps he'd left in the blackened pans.

"Yeah, but that's okay." Mako assured as she opened the refrigerator door, grabbing the carton of eggs and the remaining half pack of bacon. Then, she shut the fridge, turning towards Anarchy again. And again, she flashed her wide smile. "Like I said, as long we're together, I'm having fun!"

Anarchy didn't say anything to that, but it did bring his smile back.

Monster Kid had tried to organize a flying race from the mountain top back to Ebott City, but ultimately we didn't want to abandon our flightless friends at the peak. So, with the use of my pencils like elevators, we made it down from the peaks and back to the ground. Asriel stayed at The Ruins, because he still lives there. I guess he's looking into getting a house in Ebott City, though, which I thought was good. I'd like to see him more often, and I know everyone else would too.

Chara came back to the Dreemurr house with us, they decided they would stay there with the rest of us in the spare bedroom while we vacationed here. I was glad, that meant I wouldn't have to worry about not seeing them as often. It was a smart move, they were here to visit everyone after all. Wouldn't be much of a visit if they stayed in Mount Ebott instead.

Monster Kid decided to spend the night, which I was excited about. It'd been awhile since me and him had hung out one on one, and after Frisk and Chara both went to bed in their respective rooms, it was just me and him. We spent most of our time in the living room, chilling out and playing video games. Occasionally we laughed about how bad of an idea it was for us to stay up, as tomorrow we were getting up early to go get Chara and I clothes for this wedding. But, even though we knew we'd be tired, we stayed up anyway.

Eventually, MK suggested playing a different video game, one that I had to return to my room to get. He came with me, and we tiptoed up the steps and to my room. I entered first, leaving the door open for him to follow while I made my way to my duffle bag filled with various gaming systems and video games.

"Soooo, Cter." Monster Kid broke the silence, punctuating his words by shutting the door behind himself. My eyebrows furrowed, and I looked back over my shoulder at him. I suddenly felt as though I'd been trapped in some kind of interrogation room, squinting with confusion at MK's inquisitive expression. He cleared up my confusion with just one, mostly rhetorical question, though. "You've got a big ol' crush on Chara, huh?"

"H-huh?!" I recoiled immediately, feeling heat rush right up to my face. I didn't lie too often anymore, so it'd been awhile since I'd felt the panic of being caught red handed. My brain rapidly tried to come up with refutations and ways to wriggle out of this conversation or escape, but unless I was about to jump out the window, I was stuck in this room with Monster Kid between me and the door. And besides, I didn't think fleeing for my life would help my case. "W-what?!"

*Oh boy. The subplot subthickens.

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