DoubleTale: Rewritten

by XWolf26

What if two humans were in the Underground at once? What if one human was DETERMINED to stop the other? What if they could both SAVE? What happens when an Unstoppable Force meets an Immovable Object? When a certain scientist pulls enough of himself together, he finally finds a way to stop the destruction of his world. All he has to do is break through one wall... (A rewrite of DT.)

67. Chapter 67: The Foreseeable Future

Thanks go to MysteriousNugget, EpicSlayerGuy99, Wingah, 10burgers, Doctah Sawbones, BonelessSkele, Zack Frost, TiredWhiteMayge, Guest, Genowar, BadDRUMMERboy15, and Davidiscoolyo.

Alright, so! I know I'm eight days late. I meant to warn you guys in the author's note of last chapter that this update might get delayed. See, this chapter is really long (I intended for it to be longer but ended up having to split things up and make The Worthless Metal a 3 parter) and I have been very busy. I've typed most of this in the past two days, to give you an idea of what my schedule has been like. To even be able to post it this week I actually had to cut out the whole second half of the chapter, which will be released as chapter 68 (hopefully) next Tuesday, six days from now, on June 29th. If not, then expect it a week after that, on July 6th. We're rapidly approaching the finale of season 5, and I think you guys are gonna like it! Just like I think you're gonna like this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

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"Hmm..." Xander The Gatherer narrowed his eyes with some mild displeasure. Standing at the peak of this long since molted pincer shaped shell, his eyes scanned the ground below him thoughtfully. "I guess it would have been too easy if I'd found the metal this fast..."

"Xander!" A voice shouted out, and Gatherer's expression instantly soured. Rolling his eyes and grumbling a few curse words, Xander then quickly composed himself with a deep breath. He spun on his heel, turning around to face Lexi The Predator, who had stopped halfway up the pincer's curved arm.

"Always a thorn in my side, aren't you, Lexi?" Gatherer tilted his head to the side, apathetic purple eyes squinting at her incredulously. He wasn't wearing the suit and tie that he usually wore, today The Gatherer was dressed in the same gear he'd worn to assault Predator's ship a few years ago. A sleeveless turtleneck that was tight to his skin showcased the serpentine tattoos that wrapped his arms, as well as the expensive wristwear and rings that adorned his hands. "No matter who I hire to yank you out."

"If you had any guts you'd do it yourself." The Predator stung with a deathly chill, glowering up at Xander. He had the high ground on the weird structure they stood upon, he was standing directly at the pincer while she was still on the arm-like appendage that connected said pincer to the ground.

"..." The Gatherer's frown cracked deeper into his face. His forehead itched and ached, the snake tattoos on his arms smoldered and glowed with heat. He exhaled through his teeth, and black smoke seeped out from his mouth. "If that's how you'd prefer to die, I can make it happen."

"You're gonna have to." Predator assured while the temperature around her rapidly dropped. A red pulse blasted out from her soul suddenly, and she shut her eyes as her skin grew pale. As frigid winds began whipping up around her, her hair was lifted, waving in the chill while ice crept over each strand. A crown of ice once more formed on her head, and beneath her eyes frost crackled to life in tear-like patterns. Her eyes snapped open once more with another pulse of red energy, and Xander saw that her irises were no longer that gentle cyan color. They were colored over with a vicious crimson shade. "Because I'm not gonna stop until I win or I die."

"... Oh, Lexi." Xander's eyes narrowed curiously at this change in appearance, and the weight it added to Predator's soul. He could almost feel her deathly cold in the pressure that came with her ascension, but he didn't mind. In fact, The Gatherer smiled. He smiled, and his chest twitched and convulsed with subdued laughter. Those snake tattoos began glowing brighter, and as he started laughing harder, Xander had to lean forward some, resting a hand on his chest like he was asking himself to reign it in.

Predator squinted skeptically at the sight of Gatherer giggling. It was unlike him, to be maniacal in such a way. But, the moment he lifted his head, she decided she couldn't worry about that. Because when Xander The Gatherer next looked at her, his eyes were red. And he assured her,

"I'm not gonna miss you."

Chapter 67: The Foreseeable Future

Or: The Worthless Metal (Part 2)

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Suddenly, boiling hot winds were exploding out from The Gatherer. Flames crackled to life on the ground around him, exploding up into a circle surrounding him. Then, another wider circle around that one, and a third around the second. And as Gatherer's muscles tensed, and he grabbed at his forehead, his eyes went wide. Pupils shrunk in his bloodshot eyes, his mouth hung open with ragged breathes while more and more power flooded out of his red soul.

Xander slowly released the cork that held his bubbling rage, and it violently exploded out from him. The temperature skyrocketed around him, and when his hot air met with Lexi's cold they formed together a torrent of brutal winds around the both of them. The pincer they stood upon creaked and groaned under this pressure, but it did not give.

The Gatherer's finger nails grew to sharpened points, and their color darkened and darkened until they were a smoky black. This was a fitting color, considering the thin streams of black smog that began misting out from his finger tips. The skin of his hands and arms grew more and more rough, almost like scales. His snake tattoos burned and seethed on his arms, glowing a bright orange that intensified to blue and even white whenever a new shockwave of power erupted from The Gatherer.

Grunting and snarling, finally The Gatherer threw his head back and pulled his hand from his forehead, throwing both fists down towards the earth while he roared furiously to the sky. He opened his palms, and on his command those circles of flames entrapping him exploding up into the sky in violent walls of fire. They burned brighter and hotter, forcing Predator to shield her face with her forearm from their searing white shade.

And there, in his tomb of fire, Xander ascended. Whatever tie had held his hair in its usual manbun split apart, and his straight hair fell down in loose strands down the back of his head. Though its color was usually a reddish black shade, it seemed all the red was gathering at the tips and edges of his hair, turning to a blood red detail on a pitch black head of hair.

Finally, his forehead split open on either side, splashing boiling blood out through the air as two obsidian horns blasted out from his skull. They sloped upwards, pointing straight into the sky overhead without curling or coiling. They reached a little over a foot into the air, and Xander's blood trickled down their points, running in streams down his face.

Slowly, the walls of fire dulled and dimmed, falling back to smoldering rings at their king's feet. And finally The Predator saw The Gatherer for what he was. The Balor King exhaled slowly, those scarlet eyes still staring up at the void sky. Scorched smog seeped endlessly past his lips, coiling up from the corners of his mouth. Those snake brands came to life on his arms, coiling around him and not once burning him with their deathly heat while they hissed and crackled. On his right arm, his fire serpent wrapped around his hand and snaked out past his fingers, looming and swaying like a living fire whip. In his left hand his lighter appeared, and The Balor King clenched his fist around it. Fire exploded up from his lighter into the shape of some grand blade, reaching several feet into the air in what would have been a heavy great sword, if flames were not weightless. Some molten rock bubbled out past his fingers, creating the handle for this vengeful blade and hardening into the same obsidian color of his horns.

"Ahh... That's better." The Balor King finally spoke, lowering his head and looking upon The Ice Queen. Blood still trickling in slow streams from his horns, Gatherer's face was momentarily a mask of crimson streaks. But then, with another wave of searing heat, that blood burned away, disappearing from his face. "I don't get to show this form of mine off very much, you know."

That checked out, Predator thought. Three years she'd been feuding with Xander, and she'd never seen this malevolent fire from him before. Not that she was surprised by its existence, it made all the sense in the world to her that there was a pair of horns behind Gatherer's lovely mask. "Why? Because you have other people fight all your battles for you?"

"Ha! Well, yes, I do have very capable followers to clean up most of the filth." Xander laughed, like her insulting tone had never even registered. The snake coiling his right arm rose its head to loom beside his own, and he listened with glee to its crackling fury. "But, mostly because it looks a little... Devilish, wouldn't you say?"

"Seems fitting to me." Predator stung again, lowering her stance and gripping her scythe with both hands. The ground at her feet frosted over, and mist rose from her chilled body.

"For once you and I can agree on something. As unsightly as this form is..." The Balor King pointed the grand flame of his blade at the queen before him, and he tilted his head to the side. His lips pulled back in a perfectly honest and wonderfully malevolent smile, and Predator thought his teeth might've even looked sharper than before. "It certainly feels natural."

---

"If we remember correctly, you killed that Chara of yours. Not us." Character had no problem correcting the king, though they didn't seem particularly happy about it. In fact, remembering the shame of the loss they'd suffered that day had put a frown on their shared face. And while it was the Ascended Heir that Character loathed the most, this tired old man and his long dead Chara could also go fuck themselves as far as the fusion was concerned. "But, we do hate to see a Chara and Cter separated. So we'll do ya a big favor and set up a reunion."

"..." Future smiled furiously at that response. His grip tightened on his spear, and the red pen on his brace flashed, causing a shockwave of DETERMINATION to blast out around him. An updraft of power that made the king's hair lift and wave in the winds, before fire crackled and exploded to life over his left eye. "Try me."

"If you insist!" That was the only invitation Character needed. The ground beneath them shattered apart, and they exploded forward, yanking back their machete and swinging viciously at the king. Their blade never reached him, however. A wall of green appeared suddenly between the two of them, and when Character's blade crashed into it, their arm was sent recoiling back. Their strike was powerful enough to shatter the wall however, and as exploded to green shards, Susie suddenly blasted forward at speeds previously unheard of.

The human and monster fusion fearlessly cocked back their ax, red flames igniting over Susie's right eye while she roared her battle cry. Character's machete wielding arm was still reeling back from shattering Melanie's barrier, but with their free fist they blasted a punch into Susie's cheek. The collision was brutal, offering a brief moment of tension just before the force carried through and Susie was sent firing off across the sands of the circus on her shoulder.

Character took just a moment to smile at their handiwork, but that proved to be a poor choice when they felt Future's spear pierce their chest. Lurching forward and skidding back on their heels, the malevolent fusion's ruthless gaze settled back on the king before them. Future did not flinch under this stare however, instead just yanking back his free hand and clenching it into a fist. His knuckles crackled with red energy, and he throw a brutal hook towards Character's jaw.

Character tilted their head to the side, grinning wickedly as Future's punch sailed over their shoulder. Then, their hand darted up, grabbing hold of the spear that pierced them and yanking Future forward with it. This of course forced the pike out of their back, sending more and more crimson rivers overflowing down their body. But Character hardly noticed the pain of being hole punched, too busy dragging Future quickly into range of the skull they were cocking back.

The fusion blasted a headbutt into the king's forehead with such brutality that it forced a shockwave out from around them, and Future's eyes briefly went completely white. That was, before the force carried through and his grip released his spear, Character's headbutt sending him flinging back through the air. He sailed for a few yards, before hitting the ground and skidding on his back. But, after another few yards of sliding through the sands, his senses returned to him, and his wings shoved back against the ground, shoving him up to his feet and digging into the ground to stop his sliding. Once his motion came to a stop, Future lurched forward some, wincing painfully while he rested a hand on his now bleeding forehead.

Eyes quickly darting to the side, Character spotted another barrier of KIND energy racing towards them. They spun effortlessly on their heel, swinging their machete up and once more cleaving through one of Melanie's walls, sending it exploding to pieces with much more ease now that they were prepared for it. What the fusion wasn't prepared for, however, was Melanie, who came flying through the shards of her barrier with her frying pan yanked back.

She cracked the steel of her pan right across Character's face, forcing their head to the side before she planted both feet in their chest and abdomen. She landed on Character, grabbing hold of the spear still buried in them and wrapping her free hand around it. With all of her might Melanie pulled, grunting and growling before finally whatever rib Future's spear was stuck on gave out, and she ripped the pike from Character's body, jumping back off of them with it.

She landed on the balls of her feet, skidding back and thoughtlessly tossing the blood soaked spear she held back towards Future, who caught it in his free hand. Melanie watched Character stumble back a step or two, and her jaw tightened when she saw the red mist healing the gaping hole in the fusion's solar plexus. Not taking her eyes off Character, she gripped her pan in both hands and lowered her stance.

"Oh wow a KINDNESS soul." Character said with a general lack of enthusiasm, tilting their shared skull. They straightened their machete out to their side, and their lips creased down into a small frown. "What a useless trait."

Melanie didn't say anything, instead just offering up a smile. Character thought this was a little odd, until they felt the tug of a thousand threads suddenly wrapped around them. Each string was so thin, they hadn't seen even one of them entrap them until they were all yanked back, pulling tight to their skin and forcing their arms and legs together. The fusion even skidded back a few inches, before they dug their heels into the ground and withstood the force trying to drag them back to the bleachers they'd been tossed into at this battle's beginning.

"Really?" They asked incredulously as they turned their head to look over their shoulder, spotting one straining Swap!Muffet. She stood like a spider on a wall, vertical on one of the large wooden support beams that no longer supported anything other than her. The same strings that entrapped Character were attached to her six hands, and she pulled desperately against Character's overwhelming strength to try and yank them away from Melanie. Character just scoffed, shaking their head. "Do you have any idea how much stronger than you we-"

Then, suddenly, the red soul on their chest flipped to blue, and the fusion's scarlet eyes widened some as they were shoved several more feet back towards the bleachers. Now looking significantly more tense, Character looked to the side and spotted GB!Sans shoving one hand out towards them, his left eye ignited in blue. And though they were irritated by this extra force pushing them back, Character grunted and willed themself against all the gravity tugging them backwards, a berserk smile splitting their face. "Nnnnnope..! Still not enough!"

That furious confidence was once more tested by an orange arrow that appeared beneath Character, shoving them back several more feet. They were sliding slowly backwards now, but they snarled and struggled against all the combined forces shoving them. "Is this..! The best you assholes can do..?!"

"Not even close!" Susie's voice interjected, and she suddenly burst back into view from the side she'd been knocked to a moment ago. Blood still in the corner of her mouth from Character's brutal punch, she grinned with a mouthful of sharp teeth as she slid on both feet and one hand, lining herself up right in front of Character and yanking her Brave Ax back in one hand.

Melanie sprinted from behind the fused heroes, jumped and leap frogging off Susie's shoulders. She spun in air, yanking her pan back like a baseball bat. At the same time Susie launched forward, the ground exploding apart under the force of her step. In perfect unison, Susie sent the blade of her ax crashing into Character's abdomen and Melanie bashed her pan into their face, and the force of their strikes was enough to send the malevolent fusion off their balance. Then, all the force they'd been resisting carried through, and Character was finally sent exploding back through into the bleachers.

Their body crashed through the stands, blasting through support beams and forcing the seats to fall and crumble down on top of their prone body. In the few seconds they had, the pirates sprung into action. Muffet jumped down from the pole she'd been perched upon, landing crouched on the ground in front of her comrades and quickly sticking all the webs that had previously been attached to her hands to the ground. Then, she jumped back, and Fell!Grillby slid in front of her, waving one hand out towards the strings and igniting each of them. Fire raced at a mile per minute up the threads, nearly instantly reaching Character buried in the rubble and exploding up into a massive ball of flames.

"Let 'em have it!" GB!Sans instructed, snapping his fingers and manifesting a dozen Gaster Blasters overhead. Their jaws ignited with white hot flames, and then their rays of scorching heat blasted down into the fireball they'd trapped Character within. Future didn't hesitate to take a step forward, thrusting his hand out towards the exploding orb of heat and manifesting his own wave of Beat Blasters to join in the barrage.

Ralsei threw each hand up over their opposite shoulder, crossing his arms over his chest. In a golden flash, two massive stars manifested over his shoulders, and when he whipped his hands out towards the crackling and boiling blast sight those same stars fired out towards Character's now molten body. The stars began spinning like the blades of a buzz saw, flanking from the left and right and slicing into the bubble of molten heat with a magic hiss.

"Don't let up!" Future shouted over the roaring flames, the brace on his arm glowing orange while arrows painted the ground between them and Character. They each faced in towards the writhing ball of fire, entrapping the malevolent fusion in heavier pressure. "I've fought them before, and I know they can take a lot more than this!"

"Wasn't plannin' on lettin' up, random stranger!" Susie answered, pointing her blade out towards the orb of doom ahead of her. Kris's red soul burnt and boiled with life on her chest, and her right eye ignited in scarlet flames while crimson energy shimmered on her Brave Ax. Then, suddenly, her ax kicked upwards, and an explosion of red energy fired out into the sphere. Her Red Buster crashed through, likely exploding right into Character, who was still invisible within the fires.

For moments that dragged their feet like hours all the pirates and the king among them pushed all the fire power that they could upon the malevolent fusion before them, before tremors started to shake the circus floor. Everyone's footing shifted some on the quivering earth, and glances were rapidly exchanged as the sand shifted and crumbled. It was Future who shouted out, "Everyone, get back!"

Cultist Base from DOOM Eternal began playing.

Just after those words were uttered, the sand exploded up in plumes of grainy yellow. Monarchs and pirates alike jumped back, everyone being forced to stop their onslaught by the massive tendrils of ink that were tearing up from the dirt around the scorched and melting stands they'd trapped Character within. Likes the arms of some obsidian Kraken, these massive tentacles whipped aimlessly too and fro, crashing down and slashing through the air.

"Piss! Off!" Susie snarled as one tendril flopped down towards her, effortlessly cleaving through it with one powerful swing of her ax. What she separated from the tendril immediately lost its form, splattering back to the quaking sands as a seemingly worthless puddle of ink. But, privy to the versatility of a Hacker's ink, Susie jumped back away from the puddle regardless, fearing that it may spike up once more and try to skewer her.

But the puddle did not move again. In fact, all of those massive tentacles just flailed wildly and aimlessly for a minute or two, clearly not having any real target in mind. They merely whipped themselves around in a frenzy, forcing the pirates and his highness to keep their distance from the smoldering stands they were gathered around. Then, once everyone was forced to stand back and out of the tendrils' range, they all began curling back inwards towards the smoking pit they protected.

"That can't be good..." Grillby muttered as he watched those massive tentacles coil back. They each wrapped over the smoldering pit that Character had disappeared within, their semi-liquid forms melding together and fusing into some bubbling orb of tar. This boiling black mass wriggled and writhed, growing larger with each tendril that joined it until finally every tentacle had disappeared within it. Then, a shockwave of red force exploded out from around it. Boiling hot winds that forced the surrounding foes to guard their eyes and lower their stances.

That bubbling ink sphere grew and shaped, another bubble swelling to life on top of it. On either side of its bottom blob, another weird and bulbous shape began pushing out of its mass. The blob teetered and stumbled, before suddenly it spun its entire molding body. Showcasing just how disgustingly gelatinous the blob was, it twirled lawlessly in its own body, spiraling out and leaning forward towards the pirates.

This spinning motion seemed to send this creature through the rest of its metamorphosis, and the bulbous orb atop its fat body popped out completely. The bulbs on either side of it whipped out like tendrils, growing into disproportionately long arms with stubby hands and fingers. The inky flesh on its head popped open two hardened ink eyes, which looked a lot like black buttons. Then, finally, those gross little hands began digging into the moldable flesh of its own face, searching and searching for a few disgusting, squelch filled seconds. Then, finally, it yanked its hands back out of its skull, leaving in their wake one wide smiled, dripping mouth.

"What in the fuck?!" Susie shouted out, eyes nearly popping out of her sockets at the sight of this grotesque creature. She ignored her text box, which displayed Kris's polite request for her to watch her language. The ink doll jiggled and waved its tubby form, tilting its head to and fro and peering at the pirates with its button eyes.

"They're just trying to psych us out!" Future was quick to shout out, lowering his stance. He gripped his spear tight in one hand, his wings curling in some on his back but remaining spring loaded in case he needed to react quickly. "This is just a big mass of ink! The real Character is probably hidden inside!"

"Then I'm going to smoke them out." Grillby stated firmly, a white crackle in his fiery eyes as he lowered his stance. Then, suddenly, the fire elemental blasted out towards the teetering mass of ink on jets of violet flames. Before anyone could object Grillby was closing the distance, opening his molten palms and letting them crackle with heat before throwing them up at the looming abomination.

The roar of fire exploding to life accompanied the bright purple light that suddenly illuminated the circus, and the doll recoiled and waved its stupid arms as tidal waves of fire ignited from Grillby's opened palms. Its liquid body bubbled and boiled, steaming a gross dark mist and filling the air with a poisonous odor. It writhed and recoiled, trying to guard against the walls of fire blasting up into it with one arm while its head rolled around on its shoulders.

But, just as Grillby thought he may have been making an impact on the construct, it yanked its free arm high over its head. Distracting by the explosions of his own fire, Grillby never saw the massive hand swing at high speed down towards him until it had slapped him aside like some annoying fly. The black ichor hand smashed into his side, forcing his fiery body to jolt and waver. He lost most of his shape as the force carried through to the molten core from which his body was comprised, sending it sailing off into the shattered stands that surrounded the circus. It was all Grillby could do to pull his body around his core before it exploded into the seats in a brutal crash.

"Grillbz!" GB!Sans spoke urgently, wide sockets darting briefly to the smoldering crater that Grillby had disappeared within until his attention was grabbed by the massive shadow that appeared over him, rapidly shrinking in on his location. He looked up to spot the long arm of Character's freakish doll swinging down towards him, and just before it crashed down onto him, Sans blinked out of that space.

Arm exploding into the sands and sending a wave of debris blasting out around it, the doll waved its bulbous head around like it was trying to spot the missing Sans. It didn't have to look far though, as he'd appeared in the sky overhead, and as he dropped back down to earth, he snapped his fingers. Jagged bones rapidly filled the sky behind him, each one blasting off to turn the doll into a pin cushion the moment he dropped past it.

Gross, wet thunk sounds resounded from the construct's body as those bones drove themselves into its mass. But, by the time each of them was nearly completely submerged, all of their momentum stopped. Then, the calcium spikes were slowly dragged into the inky muck, disappearing completely. Sans landed on the ground in front of on the rest of his crew, grinning anxiously and folding his hands behind his back while he watched Character's doll.

The bubbling tar abomination suddenly shut its mouth, and its cheeks puffed out. It reached up, as though it was holding its nose shut, and its entire body tensed and pushed out slightly. Then, the same bones it had absorbed exploded back out of its body, firing at high speeds back towards the recoiling pirates.

Without a moments hesitation, Sans threw his right hand out to the side, and bones quaked up from the earth. Far bigger than the spikes the doll was rapid firing back at them, a massive wall of ivory pillars rose quickly and unevenly to defend against the pikes launching back at them. The unmistakable sound of bone shattering against bone resounded, and the moment the onslaught ended, one stubby hand fired over Sans' barrier on an extending ink arm.

Sans barely had time to take a step back before the hand slapped into him. Unlike Grillby, the ink grabbed and wrapped around the skeleton, holding him to its form no matter how heavily he struggled against it. Then that tendril of an arm yanked the short skeleton straight up into the sky, and another arm crashed violently through the wall of bone he had constructed. The second arm had hardened up to break through the wall, but the moment their defenses were crumbled, it returned to its watery state.

Then, as the doll pulled its legless form over the shattered bones with its free hand, the hand suspending Sans in air flung back downwards at a high velocity. And everyone watched, wide eyed, as the skeleton was smashed back first into the sands. Dust fired out in a shockwave around Sans' impact, and the previously wriggling and writhing skeleton went limp in that disgusting hand's grip.

Then, that hand began retracting back in towards the doll's body. It kept its grip on the less than conscious Sans, dragging him back towards the suffocating mass of ink at an ominously slow pace. That was, until Susie launched in from the side. She effortlessly slashed through the long and thin arm, severing it and forcing Character's doll to release Sans. The ink holding him splashed down into a puddle around him, which he did not move from.

Skidding on the balls of her feet after slicing that arm in two, Susie wrapped both hands around her ax and exploded off the ground, racing towards the disgusting mass of ink. The doll was retracting its chopped arm back towards itself, and its free arm exploded out towards Susie, rapidly hardening into a stone-like material. Susie jumped as this arm reached her, letting its clenched fist blast into the floor beneath her and landing on the forearm it was connected. Then she began sprinting up the length of this arm, the blade of her ax once more igniting in red.

Just as Susie reached the grotesque head of Character's body armor and she saw the tiny hands splitting its face and reaching out weakly towards her - as if to beckon her closer and into their grasp - she jumped. Flipping over the bulbous skull, Susie pointed the blade of her ax back towards the back of the doll's head. Upside down in the air, she fired another explosion of scarlet energy from her ax, and the doll jolted forward as the back of its head was blasted apart by her Red Buster.

"Ha!" Susie gloated, vicious grin tearing up her face as steam rose from the blade of her ax. But, just as she spun herself right side up and landed on her feet, the hunched over doll's flesh began to bubble and shift. Susie narrowed her eyes at this, holding her ax out to her side and lowering her stance.

*Look out.

Suddenly, the doll's back exploded open, thousands of hands reaching on stringy arms blasting out towards the soul fused monster. Susie flinched at the sight of this, eyes going semi-wide at the speed and volume of these hands. She managed one swing of her ax, cleaving through a dozen of the arms reaching out towards her before the rest crashed into her. They shoved her rapidly backwards, sending her crashing through one of the support beams that no longer supported anything before finally smashing her into the tent covered stands.

Before those hands could begin yanking Susie back towards the abomination, a massive star carved through their thin arms, freeing her from their grasp. Ralsei dropped down between the ink splashed pile of rubble Susie was surely digging her way out of and the doll that was turning to face her. He opened both of his palms wide to his sides, lowering his stance and digging his heels in. No matter what attack this creature brought, he would protect Susie and Kris.

So when the doll opened its massive mouth and white light began to vibrate in its throat, Ralsei's jaw tightened. Before both of his open palms more of those XXL stars appeared, spinning with a lethal sharpness just before the fluffy prince threw both hands forward, and those stars blasted off towards the doll. They raced in from its left and right flanks, spiraling in a pincer formation to decapitate that massive head before it could fire the laser charging in its throat.

Unfortunately, before the stars could reach, those whipping arms flung upwards, crashing right through their five pointed shapes and shattering them like glass. This made Ralsei recoil, and just as the doll's chest puffed out in preparation to release the searing death trapped in its throat, the dark prince glanced back into the rubble behind him. Susie and Kris hadn't risen yet. He couldn't move, he couldn't abandon them even with death on its way.

A gold flash streaked through the air, flaring right through the doll's head.

BANG!

With the lightning flash of Clover's sniper rifle, a shockwave of power shredded through the doll's head, popping it like the pimple it was and sending super heated ink flecking out over the sands. The energy that'd been building in its throat exploded straight upwards, destroying more of its strange body on the way out and filling the arena with a blinding flash.

Skeptically every pirate and even his highness watched as that fat, gelatinous body crumbled to mush. It slinked down, and from its core another figure rose. Character stood from within the splashing pool of ink, throwing their head back and flecking droplets of ink off their now wet hair. Their entire body was dripping with black paint, but as they turned their head to their right, their scarlet eyes snapped open wide with a murderous shine, and a berserk smile split their lips. "FOUND YOU!"

In one motion Character leaned back, simultaneously throwing their arm out towards the balcony that bolt of JUSTICE had fired from and ducking back out of the way of the next blast of gold power that shot by. The ink coating their body suddenly washed up them and off their extended right hand, exploding from their finger tips at high speeds and wrapping around the banister that Clover's rifle barrel poked out from.

Ralsei pulled back his fluffy paws and prepared to manifest more spinning stars to sever those tendrils before Character could yank themself towards his fearless sniper. Boldly, Melanie dove over Character's left shoulder, yanking her frying pan back and preparing once more to mollywhop the malevolent fusion with it.

Effortlessly Character slashed their machete upwards, deflecting Melanie's swing with their ink dripped blade and forcing her to recoil. She grimaced at how effortlessly her attack was deflected, before gasping as those droplets of ink running down Character's machete darted out in thin spikes towards her. She quickly planted her foot in the fusion's bicep, kicking off them and jumping out of range of the spikes. It was easy, since Character didn't budge in the slightest.

At the same time they deflected Melanie's strike, Character stomped one foot forward. This sent a medium sized eraser blasting out of the ground in front of them, firing out at an angle and smashing right into a recoiling Ralsei. The prince was fired back through the air from the eraser's brutal impact, and he crashed back first into a rising Susie. She managed to catch him, gritting her teeth with exertion and skidding back. After the force finished carrying through, she was forced to drop to one knee, Ralsei limp and dazed in her arms.

With those three out of the way, Character looked back to the sniper's nest they were attached to. Their ink whips yanked them towards it just in time to dodge the massive eraser Future sent exploding down towards them. The rubber of that eraser crashed into the dirt, throwing sand up around the pirates and giving Character a clean escape.

---

"Seven got dang gophers and not one of 'em could keep eyes off their sniper." Clover grumbled to himself as he watched Character yank themself towards his hiding spot. He climbed up to his knee, hardly panicking as the malevolent fusion raced towards him and instead calmly returning his rifle to his inventory. One hand he kept on the ground, grasping something in it while in his other hand a sawed off shotgun appeared. "Boss outta teach 'em how'ta play the damn role properly."

Character kicked in through the railing beside Clover then, and the cowboy combat rolled to the side to put more distance between them and him. The fusion skidded a few extra feet across the carpeted floor of the balcony, spinning on the ball of their foot to face Clover. They smiled viciously at him, holding their machete out to their side. "Howdy sheriff! Been awhile!"

"Glad to see the two'a y'all recovered from the ass whoopin' I gave ya last time." Clover stated calmly, standing to his full height. He lifted his sawed off casually, not flinching as he pointed its two barrels out at Character. Beneath his hat, his one accurate eye gleamed with JUSTICE.

"Really, you're gonna shoot us?" Character scoffed, shaking their head and holding their arms out to their sides. "You understand we're basically immortal, right? It's gonna take a lot more than-"

The first shotgun blast cut them off, exploding through their gut and punching a hole their diaphragm. Just as Character instinctively lurched forward, Clover put the second slug right in their forehead. Blood and grey matter spattered across the wall behind the malevolent fusion, and they stumbled and slipped backwards, grabbing two handfuls of what was left of their skull and hiding some of the mutilation behind their fingers. Blood poured down the lower half of their face and down their hands, and red mist immediately began smoking off the decimated upper half of their head.

"Adios." Was Clover's simple follow up, unable to hide his smile as he watched Character stumble around and slip on their own viscera. He didn't have time to admire his handiwork, though. Instead, he hopped up onto the banister and gave a two fingered wave to the preoccupied fusion before fearlessly falling backwards.

Plummeting down towards the sands below, Clover returned his shotgun to his inventory and instead took hold of his hat with the hand that'd been holding it. In his other hand he held up what he'd been hiding, which appeared to be some kind of detonator. He pushed down the lever along the detonator's side with his thumb, and the antenna atop the detonator gleamed red.

Still in the balcony, Character finally lowered their hands, most of their skull regenerated. With new eyes they looked out over the dark room, and their pupils shrunk at the many gleaming red lights that joined them there. They'd been so preoccupied with Clover, the malevolent fusion didn't even see all the c-4 the cowboy had strapped to the walls, floors and ceiling in preparation for their arrival. Suddenly, those red lights gleamed even brighter, and a quick "Beep beep beep!" resounded from each explosive. Character barely had time to snarl, "Fuckin' hillbilly-!"

BOOM!

"Heheheheh." Clover laughed in his wily way, watching charred wood streak through the air from the massive blast that detonated from his sniper's nest, which was now a billowing ball of flames. As the cowboy plummeted down towards the sands, chuckling at Character's idiocy and his own handiwork, a thick string of webbing struck his back.

Once more perched atop a support beam, Muffet yanked Clover back towards her and away from the ground, stopping his descent, saving him from a back breaking fall and pulling him away from the crumbling tower. After his route was changed, the web detached from Clover's back, and he sailed backwards through the air, eventually landing on the balls of his feet and skidding backwards for another handful of feet until he finally came to a stop.

"And here I was worried about you." Muffet commented as she jumped down by his side. She giggled, before holding one of her hands up to her mouth to conceal her sharp fanged smile. "I should have known you had a plan, ahuhuhu~"

"Red souls is reckless and overconfident. Comes with the regeneration, I reckon." Clover responded, reaching up and adjusting his hat with one hand. In his other, his peace keeper appeared. A revolving six shooter that he pointed up towards the smoldering balcony. "Ain't no greater example'a that than these two we're dealin' with."

"So everybody listen up!" Clover suddenly spoke louder, catching the attention of all those that gathered around him. Susie, Melanie, Future, Muffet, and Ralsei - the latter of whom still looked a little dazed after getting eraser slapped - all formed a wall behind him, watching that fireball from all angles in preparation for Character's return. "This overpowered shithead we're dealin' with thinks we ain't nothin' to worry about! Their weakness is overconfidence; use that to win!"

Suddenly, a second boom resounded. A shockwave resounded from the burning balcony, sending all the flaming chunks of debris blasting out in all directions. A tower of DETERMINATION fired briefly into the void sky, a flash of Character's soul enough to free them from their molten prison. And as fast as it came, that flash of red light had dissipated, taking with it all the disgust it inflicted upon Muffet and Susie's monster souls.

And there Character stood, shirt and sweatshirt destroyed in the blast. Now their scarred up chest was bare, detailed with the many brutal gashes that The Ascended Heir had branded them with over two years ago. Still that locket remained around their neck, its golden chain unaffected by Clover's blast. And across their shoulders Hacker's tattoo was plain as day, reading the words "BAD KARMA".

"Good plan, asswipes!" Character sneered furiously as they shouted down to the ants gathered below them. Red steam rose from their body, and they held their machete out to their side while the void began to light up behind them. Dozens of burning white lights began to ignite in the darkness, and the haunting hum of many Beat Blasters charging at once filled the soundless abyss. "One problem though!"

Character suddenly swung their machete, pointing its blade down towards those gathered beneath them and turning those hums to roars. White rays of doom exploded down from above while they shouted, "WE'RE BIGGER THAN YOU!"

"Mel." Clover stated simply, one eye not leaving the malevolent fusion above while another peacekeeper appeared in his off hand.

"On it!" Melanie stated, immediately throwing her hands up towards the doom raining from above. Her green soul shined bright on her chest, and her eyes flashed the same emerald light. Overhead, emerald walls began shaping rapidly, quickly shielding the circus from the beat waves firing down. The walls layered over top of one another, building upon each other as quickly as they could before the brutal beams struck them.

The first two walls shattered almost instantly. The next two cracked and split for a few moments before snapping apart. The fifth wall lasted for a few long moments before it broke, same with the sixth. The seventh held its ground, the cracks that split it slowly sealing as Melanie poured more of her KINDNESS into it.

"... Mm." Character arched a brow at the crackling battle between their blasts and Melanie's shield, watching for a few more moments. Sure, they could have pushed harder. Fired more lasers, applied more pressure. But washing all of them away in a fiery rain was too easy. So, instead, they bent their knees before firing themselves into the air with a jump so powerful that it collapsed the smoldering balcony they'd been standing upon.

Melanie kept her arms raised over her head, sweat beading down her forehead while her jaw tightened. Her soul shined brightly on her chest, and her heels dug into the dirt. All of her KINDNESS poured from her with ease, the desire she had to protect herself and her friends had to be stronger than Character's desire to destroy them, it just had to be!

CRASH!

All eyes darted to the hole that was suddenly punched in Melanie's barrier, and more importantly what fell through it. It was not the white light of those blasters, but instead Character plummeting foot first towards the ground right in front of the KIND soul that protected them.

"Not so fast!" Muffet shouted out, throwing out from one hand another thick string of webbing towards the malevolent fusion that was dropping down towards her fellow chef.

"Wait your turn, extra!" Character shouted back, slashing away that string effortlessly with the sharpened blade of their machete. Then, Melanie recoiled as they landed crouched right in front of her. Everything seemed to slow down for her as Character clenched their free hand into a fist, smiling wickedly up at her. "White mages go first."

Before anyone could react Character had darted upwards, smashing a brutal uppercut into Melanie's jaw and whipping her head back, knocking her right off her feet. From there the fusion spun, throwing out their leg and smashing their heel into Melanie's side. Her eyes snapped open wide from that strike, and her now blood stained lips parted in a silent gasp as the wind was knocked from her. Then, the force carried through, and the KIND soul was sent blasting off towards a stunned and mortified Muffet.

"Melanie!" Muffet shouted out as she watched the girl fling towards her, limp and bleeding. As much as she wanted to catch her, she knew her frail monster body would crumble under the impact. So, instead, she was forced to side step the girl she'd mentored, instantly spinning around and throwing two hands out towards her. webbing streaked out and clung to Melanie, and Muffet's four other hands shot webs out to random, sturdy objects. From there, the spider baker pulled with all her might, slowing Melanie's speed as much as she could before the poor girl inevitably crashed into the stands.

"Next up!" Character threw their head to the side, eyes locking on to Ralsei, who jumped some when he saw they were looking at him. Before they could rush towards him however, the ground beneath them split apart, and they were forced to jump to avoid the jagged pens that fired out to impale them. Once Future got them to jump into the air Clover opened fire with both of his pistols, ever accurate eye gleaming gold.

Character pulled their body in close, wrapping their arms around their knees and curling themself into a ball as Clover began firing at them. But before any bullet could connect, the malevolent fusion's shoulder blades had ripped open, and massive hands of ink took form from them in some twisted wing imitation. Those hands coiled around the fusion, clasping shut around them and protecting them from the cowboy's bullets.

"What in Sam hill-?!" Clover recoiled at the sight of those hands, pulling back the both of his revolvers the moment they were empty to reload the both of them. That was the only opening Character needed however, because the moment they were no longer being fired on those hands launched outwards. Forming into fists, the obsidian appendages raced out towards both Clover and Future, who were forced to jump back and dodge each vicious punch. This proved to be a necessary move when those punches hit the sand and caused massive explosions of dust; Clover reckoned getting clobbered by one'a those oversized things would break a handful'a bones.

Dropping back to the ground, Character landed on their feet and once more turned their malevolent grin towards Ralsei. Those huge ink hands slipped away back into their shoulders just as fast as they'd came, and the malevolent fusion broke into a sprint towards the prince from the dark.

Ralsei planted his feet, opening his palms out towards the oncoming Character and releasing a barrage of magic stars from his grasp out towards them. This hardly deterred Character though; they ran low to the ground, darting between stars and slashing through any that got in their way with their machete until finally they closed the distance.

Diving at the mage, Character slashed down towards him with their blade, but Ralsei was quick to side step it. They landed crouched, violent red eyes darting to him before they slashed upwards at his head, only for him to tilt his head to the side and just barely dodge their strike. The moment Ralsei's head was tilted back, his scarf shot out from around his neck, prickling into brutal points and coiling into a shape that was vaguely fist-like.

The spines of Ralsei's scarf shredded across Character's face in a brutal strike, ripping through their cheek and forcing their head to the side. But, when it tried to pull back in while Ralsei started jumping away, Character's jaws snapped open and shut around the unforgiving spikes of the fabric. This made Ralsei choke as his escape was stopped dead, and Character's eyes went wide with sadistic glee when they darted back towards him.

The fusion yanked their head back like a rabid dog, and with their bite force they flung Ralsei, throwing him over their shoulder like a rag doll and tossing him away. The dark prince was sent sailing through the air for a few yards, before he hit the ground and rolled for a few more feet. Eventually though, his momentum stopped, and he pushed himself up to his hands and knees to see Character already racing towards him again.

Before the fusion could reach him however, Susie slid into their path. She launched forward at them, snarling as Character grinned. The two swung their weapons, and the impact of ax on machete was so brutal that they were forced to slide away from one another. The moment the two stopped skidding they darted at one another again, and again the crack of their weapons colliding pushed them away from one another.

Character's back arched suddenly with the sting of several stars jamming into their back, and they glared briefly over their shoulder at Ralsei, who was running by them and providing a distraction for Susie. This proved successful, because the moment Character's eye turned forward again, the fusion of Kris and Susie had crossed the distance between them, and they were already slashing with that ax.

With a brutal thunk that ax crashed into Character's abdomen, forcing them to double over and slide back on their heels. But then they stopped, and that ax dug no deeper into their body. Their feet did not slide back another inch. And before Susie could even begin stepping back, a brutal hook cracked across her face, and she was sent reeling. She stumbled back a step and pulled her ax out from Character, blood flecking from her snout while she attempted to gather her senses.

*Look out-!

Character stomped forward, slashing upwards and cleaving up across Susie's abdomen. She was thrown back off her feet from this brutal slice, red droplets flinging through the air as a gash was carved from her hip to her shoulder. Character hardly stopped there though, immediately yanking one leg back in towards themself and firing a pump kick into Susie's gut. This made the lesser fusion crumple around Character's foot, before they were sent flying back through the air.

Susie hit the ground back first, skidding across the rough sands on her shoulders before eventually coming to a stop. She laid there, face contorting in pain while she gripped the brutal wound Character had inflicted upon her. Unsurprisingly, Character didn't feel any remorse about that, instead spinning to face Ralsei once more.

Red mist rising from their bleeding diaphragm, Character sauntered towards Ralsei. With each step, power quaked through the earth. Those paralyzing red eyes laid upon the dark prince, who trembled and twitched and tried desperately to escape their grasp, but to no avail. Character smiled at this; their head filled with ideas. Would they beat his face in or decapitate him? Cleave him in two or impale him? Their cruelty didn't know too many bounds. But, before they could settle on an answer, a streak of gold flashed through them.

BANG!

Character's eyes went wide, but their body did not flinch from the loud noise or the pain that screamed within them. through their back and out their chest a softball sized hole was punched by Clover's sniper rifle, but not even that stopped the fusion's stride. Instead, they merely waved their hand out in the general direction that Clover's bullet had fired from, and suddenly the ground was exploding apart in a tidal wave of pens.

Clover recoiled at the mass of pointed utensils blasting out towards him, letting his sniper disappear from the ground he'd been resting it on and instantly jumping up to his feet. His eye searched quickly for an escape route from this all consuming attack But he could find none. Pens blasted point first towards him from every side, even if he ran backwards he would eventually hit a wall and be impaled.

Just as he thought he might've been screwed however Future jumped in front of him, waving one hand out towards the oncoming pens. The ground between him and the tidal wave rippled open, and his own pen spikes fired up from the earth, colliding with Character's and shattering against them. There was some horrific metal screeching and plastic snapping, but Future's defenses managed to slow Character's crashing wall of pointed pens to a stop.

"Get me to Ralsei!" Clover didn't have any time to thank Future, barking a frantic order to the king. Future didn't waste any time objecting, either. Instead, he just shifted his hand, and suddenly an eraser was firing out from beneath Clover, launching him into the air and over the sea of pikes Character had created.

Wounds already sealed, Character lunged for Ralsei once more. Face contorting into an ominous =) smile, the malevolent fusion yanked back their blade once more to cleave through the prince. Finally Ralsei managed to free himself from his paralysis, and it was all he could do to throw up two hands and manifest a star between himself and Character's blade. Then, as they cleaved through the golden magic, he jumped back, desperately trying to put distance between himself and his enemy.

"Nice try!" Character landed crouched after their slash, opening their other hand and sending ink exploding down their arm from the Deltarune burned onto their back. The ink raced out off their fingers and morphed into a vague hand shape, which rapidly closed the distance between them and Ralsei. The dark prince barely had time to gasp before this hand grabbed him by the face and shoved him off his feet.

His shouts muffled in the ink and his eyes forced shut, his entire face was covered by the black hand dragging him through the air. It shoved him backwards, holding his face tight and sending him racing backwards until finally it crashed him head first through the bleachers, shoving him deep into the wood and metal like he was some battering ram.

"Alrighty, now just pull 'em back, and..." Character pulled their machete back while they flipped their hand to be palm up, preparing to yank Ralsei back out of the stands and right into the swing of their blade.

"AY! Dingleberries one n' two!"

"How many times do we have to say it?! Wait your tu-" Character groaned irritably, looking over their shoulder to spot Clover sailing through the air. They were annoyed both by his survival and his interruption, but that was all put on the back burner when they saw the strange tube he was staring down the sight of. "Is that a fucking bazooka?!"

"One liner!" Was the response Clover shouted, before his finger pushed down the trigger. Light flashed briefly within the green tube before a missile was launched down towards the stunned fusion. Rocket propelled, this explosive raced down towards Character on a stream of smoke while Clover fell towards the sands of the arena. He watched the missile strike Character directly, but he didn't bother smiling while he watched the explosion engulf them.

Rocket launcher disappearing into his inventory, the cowboy rolled when he landed on the sands, going with his momentum until it dissipated and he was able to stand safely. Immediately he got to his feet, bringing his hands together swiftly and wrapping his left index finger around the circular pin in the small metal cylinder he held in his right hand. Yanking the pin from his grenade, Clover then pulled his right hand back and tossed it under hand into the smoke.

"Really, a rocket? Ya fuckin' noob-tubed us?" Character questioned incredulously as the dust cleared, shaking their head at Clover. He could see that one of those ink hands had broken out from their shoulder again, as it was just now uncurling from around them, likely having shielded them from the blast of Clover's bazooka. Before they could scold the cowboy further, their eyes were drawn down to the metal cylinder that'd rolled against their foot. "... Hey wait is that a-"

BANG!

A flash of white light and an ear piercing bang rocked Character's senses, forcing them to shut their eyes tight and grab at their head painfully. They stumbled back, barely able to keep their balance while they tried to stop their head's throbbing. "Fuckin'-! Flashbang! Goddamnit, this is COD: Black Ops online all over again! All that's missing is the nine year old calling us a-!"

Clover raced forward, running low to the ground as a pump action shotgun appeared in his grasp. As he darted by Character, he blasted a shell into one of their kneecaps and forced their already shaky balance to collapse and their mouth to stop speaking. Instead, they snarled and whipped one hand out in his general direction, but as they were temporarily blind and deaf, the spikes that fired from the earth missed the cowboy wildly. Clover ran right past them, turning and circling them to put another shell in their other kneecap. This blast forced their other leg to go out, and they dropped down to both destroyed knees.

Just gotta keep blastin' 'em! Clover thought as his Remington shotgun disappeared into his inventory, replaced immediately by a different shotgun. This shotgun was grey and lined with silver, a 32 shell drum magazine attached to it. Boldly the cowboy stepped right up to the bleeding, steaming, and disoriented Character, looming over them while he pressed the stock of his gun to his shoulder and aimed right down at them.

A vicious series of BANGs filled the air as Clover unloaded all 32 rounds that his AA-12 automatic shotgun could hold into Character at point blank range, melting them to chunks and viscera and drowning their pained and enraged shouts out in the sound of his gun fire. Golden eye flaring brightly beneath his hat's shade, Clover's jaw clenched tight. He, a mortal man, loomed over the titan before him, blowing it to chunks faster than he hoped it could regenerate.

Character's body flailed back and force while they were mutilated, chunks of themself flinging and spattering across the sands behind them. They attempted to get their arms up to guard themself, but those were blasted through and severed and once more their head and abdomen was being obliterated.

But, finally, just as Clover was running low on lead to blast into Character's shredded body, the blood and chunks pooling behind them suddenly moved. Ink stained blood stabbed out from the growing puddle behind Character's body, reaching around their mutilated form to stab at Clover, who swiftly jumped back. He grimaced as he watched those disgusting spikes stab through one another, a loud shing! reminding him of how close he'd been to getting cut to pieces.

That bloody ink immediately drew back in towards what was left of Character, wrapping around them and swirling rapidly. It was all Clover could do to plant his feet and trade his automatic shotgun back out for his bazooka. Without hesitation he fired another missile into the swirling viscera, and with another direct hit another explosion of smoke and flames engulfed the regenerating fusion.

But before the blast had even cleared, a semi-skeletal hand was already blasting out of it. Clover recoiled, eye widening with shock as a now furious Character launched themself from the smoke. Much of their body was still bone and muscle, a red smoke hiding most of their destroyed face while it healed.

And just as Character closed the distance, and Clover thought for certain he was about to get cleaved with that machete, an eraser crashed into the fusion's side, launching them off their course and sending them sailing away from Clover. Clover, who stumbled back a few steps, before catching himself and looking over to see Future land beside him.

The king landed atop the eraser he'd smacked Character with, wings flapping once to slow his descent. Then, he thrust one hand out towards the stands the malevolent fusion had disappeared within, and four Beat Blasters manifested overhead to blast them. But, before they could even finish charging, four ink tendrils whipped out from within the hole that Character had disappeared into, slicing clean through the blasters and making each of them explode into flames and metal shards.

"I don't know who ya are, but yer alright." Clover stated as Future hopped off his eraser, the two standing side by side while they watched a steaming and frothing Character pull themself from the rubble. "You got any ideas on how'ta keep this one down?"

"... Nah, I got nothin'." Future admitted after only a moment's thought. He lowered his stance, holding his spear out to one side while he opened his free hand towards the ground. His haggard eyes narrowed bitterly. "Honestly, you n' me don't stand a chance of beating these two. Our best bet is to just keep 'em distracted until Predator finds the metal."

"Wishful thinkin'." Clover held his two empty palms out to his sides, and a revolver appeared in each hand. He aimed out towards Character, and his jaw clenched anxiously. Now he felt like the wonder gopher.

---

"Eugh..." Melanie groaned, holding her chin with one glowing green hand. Muffet sat beside her, having helped her climb from the rubble of her impact. Now she watched the KIND soul with anxious eyes, thoughts racing for an answer. This fusion bounced back from everything it seemed, and that had to mean that Character was just playing with the pirates. If Muffet had to guess, they could flip a switch and really start flexing the power of that red soul. And if they did, Muffet had her doubts that there would be anyone alive to read her last testament.

"Just try to take it easy, dearie." Muffet spoke while she helped Melanie sit up, resting one hand behind her head and another on her shoulder. She frowned some, and there was some shame in her eyes as they darted to the side. "You got hit pretty hard... I'm sorry, I should have protected you better."

"I'll be alright, Muffet. Really." Melanie shook her still kinda foggy head, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. In truth, she wasn't paying full attention to her mentor's words, preoccupied by thoughts of the enemy. Her eyes lifted then, and she grimaced at the sight of Clover and Future battling Character in the distance. Gunshots echoed, heat rays fired, pens ripped up from the earth. And still, it looked to her that the two were barely managing to dance around death in the form of Character. Without any more hesitation Melanie planted one hand on the ground, starting to shove herself to her feet. "I gotta go help-!"

"Now, hold on a second!" Muffet objected, several of her hands pushing back against Melanie and forcing her to remain seated. "Take another moment to catch your breath! If you go out there, you could-!"

"My friends are in danger..!" Melanie cut Muffet off, shoving away those hands and struggling to her feet. She grabbed her pan from the dirt, dusting off her pants some before standing up straight, pan grasped tightly in her hand. She frowned with certainty, looking over her shoulder to Muffet, who was still kneeling. "I'll protect them with my KINDNESS, I have to."

"..." Muffet sat there for a moment, staring up at Melanie. Blood stain on her chin, pan in her hand, sand in her hair. She looked so different now from the little girl Muffet had taken in so many years ago. In so many ways she was still the giggly child that had baked cookies with her and fawned over how much baking Muffet's six arms could do at once, but in so many more ways she was not. For just a moment the spider baker wondered when exactly she had grown up, so subtly and right under her nose. For just a moment she wished to be back in that kitchen, she wished to see that emerald eyed girl break a cookie to crumbs and pass them out among her spider kin just one more time. But, then she felt pride in the woman that girl had grown up to be, and shame in herself for not being able to protect her any longer. She forced a smile, and with a voice she hoped Melanie wouldn't notice was shaky, she spoke. "Take care of them, dear. I'll be right behind you."

Melanie didn't say anything to that, but her frown disappeared. She smiled from her surrogate mother's reassurance, and gave a quick nod before she turned her emerald eyes forward and sprinted right back towards the danger.

Muffet sat there for another moment or two, smiling sadly while she watched Melanie sprint head first into battle for the sake of those she cared about. Then, after another few moments, she pushed herself up to her feet, and her six hands tightened into fists while she steadied her resolve.

---

Eyes wide, Clover jumped back from some explosion of dust and smoke, likely from Character's impact. He couldn't make enough distance in enough time however, as was shown when Character exploded out from the dust at breakneck speeds. Before Clover had time to react, they were already smashing their knuckles into his abdomen, forcing him to double over their fist just before the force carried through and he was sent launching through the air.

Clover launched backwards, body crumpled inwards in a C shape. After sailing a few dozen yards, he hit the dirt. Flipping and fumbling over himself, Clover skidded across the unforgiving sands for several more moments, before finally he managed to catch himself on his hands and knees. His revolvers sliding to a stop in the sands behind him, Clover coughed a mouthful of blood onto the sand in front of him, gasping for air immediately afterwards.

"D-... Damn... Got too, daggone... Hasty..." With an eye that trembled in its socket Clover peered up towards the now distant Character. His vision faded in and out, and his body trembled with pain and sudden exhaustion. Still, he grit his teeth, pushing against the sands in attempts to climb to his feet. "C-c'mon, boss... Find that dumb, chunk'a metal already..."

The sand shifted under Clover's palm, and he lost his grip. Next thing he knew, he was laying flat on his stomach, face pressed against the ground. Ground that suddenly felt a lot more comfortable than it had thirty seconds ago when he was skipping over it like a stone over a lake.

---

"And then there was one!" Character proclaimed sadistically, throwing both hands out towards Future. Ink fired up from their arms, racing out and splitting into dozens of points as they approached the king. "Better keep your fists up, old man! After we knock you out we think we're gonna start killin' people!"

"Do you ever shut up?!" Future responded with heavy frustration, opening his palm out towards the oncoming spikes. His pen brace shined green, and a wall of KINDNESS formed before him, stopping all those inky spirals in their tracks. While Character's ink drilled uselessly against Future's barrier, the bracer took up a golden shine as well, and orbs of JUST energy began appearing throughout the air around him. "You understand that running your mouth is what got your ass whooped last time, right?"

"That Chara going apeshit because they got one compliment is what got our ass whooped last time!" Character corrected irritably, throwing their arms back and abandoning their ink assault. But, just as they let the ink splash to the ground so they could summon Beat Blasters to take their place, that green barrier disappeared, and dozens of golden orbs fired through the space it once occupied. This hardly phased Character, who continued speaking. "Also you and your stupid Beat Dome!"

"See, this is the problem with you brats!" Future called out as he watched Character dart forward. They weaved between his bolts of JUSTICE, slashing whatever ones they didn't dodge and making them explode in their face. But, the explosions never phased them, and they continued to rush towards a preparing Future. "If you would just start taking responsibility for your actions-!"

"Waste your breathe lecturing the poster Cter and Chara!" Character snarled, lunging at Future with a ruthless slash that he side stepped, only to stab at them with his spear. They front flipped right over his stab however, landing on their feet behind him and immediately spinning back around to slash at him. "We don't care!"

"Well maybe it's time ya start!" Future opened his free hand, and that bracer glowed orange just before an arrow launched Character back away from him. As they were thrown back he spun to face them, pointing his spear towards them and manifesting a Beat Blaster over both his shoulders. With an audio pop both blasters fired waves of white light out towards the fusion, who at this point had landed on the balls of their feet and was skidding backwards. "You two need to grow up!"

"Eat a dick, old timer!" Character threw their hands back, before pulling them forward. With this motion came a wave of keys from either side. F keys from one side and U keys from the other. Waves of light washed briefly over their plastic guard, never managing to melt through. Clearly that didn't matter though, because in the next instant Future's red steaming fist blasted through the wall, and the king was sprinting towards Character once more. "You ever read a history book? The bad guys always win in the end!"

"Not one history book-" Future yanked his spear back over his shoulder, before whipping it over hand towards Character. The malevolent fusion simply snatched the spear right beneath its blade, holding it there just a foot or two from their chest. But, when their eyes lifted from the spear, they widened at the sight of Future jumping into the air and kicking down towards them. He slammed his foot into the bottom of the spear, sending it launching forward and plunging through Character's chest. "Frames it that way!"

"Yeah, obviously! What society built on pure evil would want its people to- We're getting off topic!" Character continued to argue like Future hadn't just kicked a spear into their chest, though their voice did gurgle with the blood that filled their throat. Coughing once and spattering their chin in red, they stumbled back and wrapped their free hand around the spear now halfway through their body. Future pushed back off from his kick, landing a few feet back from Character. "The point is fuck you, we're on the winning team here!"

"Once Gatherer gets Anarchy," Character winced some as they tore the spear out of themself, throwing blood and organ chunks along with a few bone shards out across the sands. Then, they whipped it over their shoulder, throwing it away to assure that Future would not be able to stab them with it again. DETERMINATION misting from the massive hole punched in their core, Character's voice lowered to a gravely tone, and black filled the whites of their eyes. "You're all gonna die."

"That's why I'm not gonna let that happen." Future put his fists up, and his bracer gleamed red. His left eye ignited with DETERMINED flames, and red veins crackled through his wings. Scarlet mist rose from his fists, and his jaw clenched with intensity.

"Ha! And who're you to stop it?" Character shook their head, shrugging like they were baffled by their own question. Then they suddenly pushed off their front foot, exploding forward and yanking their machete back to cleave the king with. "'If only the real Angel was here', we bet that's what you're thinking!"

"He doesn't need to waste his time on the likes of you!" Future's wing launched upwards, wrapping around Character's machete wielding hand. Then, it yanked them in towards Future at a higher speed. Character blasted a punch towards Future's face as he reeled them in, but he caught it in one red steaming palm, wincing from its impact. Then, he blasted his own fist into their chin, forcing their head to turn. After the full force of his punch had rocked their skull, Future's wing threw Character straight upwards by the wrist to keep them disoriented.

As they flung into the air over him, Future's wings beat, firing him up after them. He almost instantly closed the distance, blasting his knee into Character's chin and forcing them to spin backwards in air as he shot up over them. Once he was over them, and they were facing straight up, his wings folded inward, and Future rose both fists up over his head as he dropped down towards Character.

With a brutal red flash Future hammed both his fists down into the chest of the fusion, and a shockwave exploded out around him before they were sent blasting down towards the earth. They hit the sand and caused a massive blast of dust to fire up around them, shrouding them in they yellow mist.

Future maintained suspended in the air overhead, wings beating occasionally to keep him over the dust plume. The red light slowly faded from the band of pens wrapped around his right wrist, the fires over his left eye dimming while the red streaks faded back into his wings. The king panted lightly, sweat beading down his forehead while he watched the smoke below. It'd been awhile since he'd had to fight for his life, he'd almost forgot the feel of his heart pounding against his sternum, the burn of adrenaline in his veins.

For his kingdom, this was a dumb idea. If he died out here there'd be no one to lead Monsterkind to a brighter future. But, he guessed that if Gatherer won there wasn't a very good chance of a bright future for anyone. So he'd have to survive, and he'd have to assure Predator's victory today. Whatever it took.

Suddenly, Something broke through the dust. In fact, many things did. Hundreds of ink spires fired up towards Future, who quickly weaved between the first few. Then, he threw one hand down towards the dust below, manifesting a wall of green and blocking any spikes that would be close enough to endanger him. But they fired up wildly, plenty of them missing by a wide margin. Pot shots, Future figured. Character must've been throwing a tantru-

"UP HERE, DOUCHEBAG!"

Gasping, Future suddenly spun around to spot Character dropping down from above. They were still dripping with ink; they must've shot up inside of one of the spikes that missed him! The malevolent fusion yanked their machete up over their head as Future shifted to face them, and all his highness could do in a panic was raise his right arm to guard.

"HA!" Character grinned wickedly as their machete cleaved clean through Future's forearm, his eyes widening and pupils shrinking as both his hand and the brace of soul pens was sliced from his body. He hardly had time to mourn this loss however, because Character blasted their heel into his solar plexus, sending him blasting down towards the earth below.

Firing into the same dust Character's impact had created, Future's own impact shockwave actually blew the cloud away. He slammed back first into the crater Character's earlier landing had caused, bouncing several feet back up from the force of his crash. His eyes were wide and pupiless for the moment, mouth hanging open after the wind was sent rushing up and out of his lungs. But before Future could even hit the ground again, Character was crashing knee first into his abdomen, slamming him right back into the dirt.

"Alright old timer, we've had our fun!" Character jabbed the hooked point of their machete down into Future's good arm, pinning it to the ground and freeing up both of their own hands. Future just gasped sharply at this sudden pain, before Character's fist cracked across his jaw, sending his blood splattering across the sand beside him as his head was thrown to the side. "But we're tired of playing with you!"

"You shoulda brought that! Piece'a shit Chara!" Character snarled, knocking Future's head from side to side relentlessly with punch after punch. Blood and the occasional chipped tooth flung past his lips with each swing. Future's legs twitched and jolted, desperate to escape. But he couldn't get away. Character sat right on his bruised and broken abdomen, clobbering his head from one side to the other with a furious smile shaping their face. Black tears slowly overflowed down their cheeks from their red and black eyes, and they spoke through grinding teeth. "But if brutalizing you is the message we gotta send to get our rematch, we won't complain!"

The music faded out. Future's pupils rattled around in his head. The only thing keeping him awake was the fresh sting of each new punch in the face. He would have thought a lot of his life was like that in a way, if he was doing much thinking in this particular instant. But he wasn't. He didn't think he was getting out of this one; situation was admittedly grim. Down an arm, the other stapled to the floor. Wings were just black paint on the sand behind him now, and there wasn't anyone to help him.

All the pirates were beaten, the munchkins were away on vacation, and all his friends were long dead. Now he was gonna get his face beaten in by somebody who'd actually been lucky enough to keep his Chara. Maybe he shoulda taken his own Chara up on that evil duo thing when he was a kid, after all. Then they might've still been alive to back him up right now. Ah well. Didn't really matter now.

What was Character yapping about? Something about one'a the munchkins? Oh, right. He sure did sink a lotta time into those kids. Hopefully it does them some good, because clearly it wasn't gonna do him any. They were preparing for a wedding, having a good time with all the friends and family that he'd let die. What a miserable life. At least it was about to be over.

Another punch. Future swallowed a piece of one of his teeth. As he watched his blood splat across the sand in the growing pool around his head, he found himself imagining Asgore and Toriel's remarriage. Thinking about seeing all those faces that he hadn't seen in so long. He thought about what it must've meant to the kids he'd been looking over. How important he'd thought it was that they go. How happy they both looked when he told them he would give them two weeks to spend home for the occasion. For some reason, this particular memory gave him the urge to smile. Not that he could, his lips were split and his jaw was busted. It must've been the head trauma that made Future wonder...

... Are they gonna miss me?

"Night night, Gramps!" Character's doubled over voice proclaimed as they pulled back one final fist, nothing but disdain in their eyes from the sight of an Angel as pathetic as Future. Red misted from their blood stained knuckles, and a berserk smile shredded up their face. They sent their fist blasting down towards the skull of the king, and he did not move. His lightless eyes were barely open. Character wasn't even sure he knew the death blow was coming.

THUD!

Character's eyes snapped open wide at the wall of green that appeared between their fist and the head of his highness. Not only at the KIND barrier itself, but the fact that it did not shatter. It didn't split or crack. So irritated by this were they that they started to shout, "Okay what in the fu-!"

They weren't able to finish their sentence though, Melanie's diving dropkick jamming her heel into Character's jaw. The fusion's expression contorted around the brutal impact of her foot, before they were sent tumbling off of Future's body and over to the sand a few feet away. Melanie landed on her feet beside the king, sliding to a stop and throwing one hand out towards the still downed fusion. With a flex of her soul green light crackled from her fingertips, and a small dome of green energy manifested around Character's still prone body, trapping them for the moment.

"Upsy daisy!" Melanie stated frantically as she then spun around to face Future, kneeling beside him. She grunted with exertion after getting her arms behind his head and knees, struggling for only a moment before lifting him in her arms. Then, she jumped, launching herself up out of the crater and running a few yards from its rim before setting the king down.

She knelt right down with him after carefully laying him on his back, and she held one green glowing hand over his face. She grimaced at the sight of his head; broken nose, orbital sockets, teeth... Not to mention the split lips and swollen eyelids, or even the shattered jaw. But, as she slowly worked on those injuries, she was reassured by a red mist also rising from the king's face. It was dull and slow, but it showed that his soul was far from broken.

Something rumbled in Future's throat, and one of his swollen eyelids managed to peak open up at Melanie. The green light that he saw her through was oddly soothing to his bloodshot eye, so he did not look away. Slowly, as he felt the throbbing pain in his skull lessen and lessen, he managed to choke out a word. "... Why..?"

It was a simple question, but one he thought was necessary. Future was the worst Angel, after all. A failure in nearly every aspect. All he had to his name was a dead timeline, he was just a stepping stone in a greater Angel's ascent. What value did his life have? Why would Melanie waste her time on him instead of someone she actually knew?

But, she smiled. She must not have understood the complexity of his question, or she must not have understood who he was. Regardless, she smiled, and she reached up, pointing to the green of her eye. "Greenies stick together, Angel."

"You... Know..?" Future's split open eyebrows furrowed weakly, his hazy brain barely able to comprehend this. Who was this woman, and how had she figured out that he was in fact an Angel? Melanie might've explained her intuition and the ways that Future resembled the Angel she'd met a few years ago, but more pressing matters came in the explosion of red light that blasted up and out from the crater behind them.

"... Sit tight." Melanie told Future, her expression tensing visibly. She stood up and turned around towards the beam of DETERMINATION that fired straight up from that crater, and she swallowed her anxieties. Pan appearing in her grasp, Melanie The KIND walked straight ahead towards the violent flash of Character's wretched soul. And Future watched from his place on the ground, through the healing red steam that seeped from his face and the stump of his arm. He squinted at her like he didn't understand, but he didn't have much time to contemplate. After a few more seconds, his eyes shut completely, and he felt himself slip away into unconsciousness.

Melanie watched Character jump up out of the hole she'd temporarily trapped them in, landing on the side opposite to her. The fusion faced her, shaking their head like they were disappointed. Corner of their mouth curling up some, Character scoffed. "Oh no, it's the most worthless soul color here to stop us. What are we gonna do?"

"... You can run your mouth all you like." Melanie stated calmly, lowering her stance some. She watched as her words wiped the smile from Character's face, but she didn't derive any amusement from it. Her expression remained tense, her grip remained tight around her pan. She was spring loaded, ready to move at any instant. "My KINDNESS is just as strong as your DETERMINATION."

"HA! Yeah, okay. And what're you gonna do?" Character forced a grin up their face, even though they felt nothing but anger from Melanie's bold and obviously false assumption. There was no color stronger than red, and nobody who could beat them. And if Melanie was gonna deny that truth, Character would beat it into her. "Put yourself in a bubble to avoid this asswhoopin'?"

"Nah." The corner of Melanie's mouth lifted up into a small smirk, and the lack of fear in her eyes infuriated the malevolent fusion before her. She lifted her pan some, and she bent her knees like she was preparing to launch forward. Go on the offensive? Who did she think she was? "I'm just gonna beat you with this frying pan."

"Beat us with th- Listen, bitch!" But, despite Character's furious words, Melanie did not listen. Instead, she launched forward across the length of the crater to meet Character. She pulled her pan back, presumably to bash their face in, and Character snarled, yanking back their machete. But, just as Melanie got into range and Character slashed, she planted her foot of a green barrier that had instantly manifested beneath her, using it to flip right over Character and their slash.

As she sailed over the fusion, she spun in air, swinging her pan with all her might at the back of Character's head. But, before it could connect, the disgusting snapping of flesh pierced Melanie's ears, and she watched one inky hand explode out from the fusion's shoulder blade to catch her pan in its open palm. Eyes wide in shock, Melanie only had a split second to recoil before a second ink fist smashed its knuckles into her frame. The massive fist was able to strike the whole of her upper body, easily sending her blasting back through the air and away from Character.

Melanie tried to gather herself while she was launched through the air, but she was moving too fast. She didn't know what was up and what was down until she finally hit the ground, flipping and skidding over the sands and gathering a handful of stinging scrapes that she barely noticed. She was far more preoccupied with the throbbing pain in her abdomen after getting clocked by that massive hand.

"It's the ones like you that we hate the most, you know." Character called out to Melanie as she finally slide to a stop. She laid on her side, coughing and sputtering while she tried to gather air back into her lungs. Character just shook their head like they were disgusted, sauntering across the arena and towards Melanie. "So selfless and forgiving... Don't you understand that your life is about you, and nobody else?"

Melanie just growled, more to herself than to Character. She pushed herself up onto one hand and one knee, before throwing her free hand out towards the fusion wandering closer. Rapidly, panels of green light appeared before her, immediately firing out towards Character. They weren't phased, though. They just kept walking forward, ink fists looming over each of their shoulders and machete gripped tightly in their hand.

"There's no point in dedicating yourself to others! It's not gonna get you anywhere!" Character swung that machete to and fro once those emerald panels reached them, easily slicing them to shards before any one of them could strike them. Whatever their blade didn't smash, those obsidian hands were sure to swat aside. "The only way to get ahead in this life is to be selfish and ruthless!"

"Interesting, theory..!" Melanie finally spoke up as she climbed to her feet, wiping blood from her mouth's corner with the back of her fist. One hand holding a shining green light over her still throbbing core, she pointed her pan out towards Character with her other hand. This manifested more of those KIND squares, which were thickening from panels to blocks. "Coming from someone as codependent as the two of you..!"

"Get bent!" Character didn't hesitate to refute, growling irritably and beginning to walk faster towards Melanie. They tilted their head, letting a brick of KIND energy sail over their shoulder while their right ink hand smashed through the next oncoming wave with a single swipe. "We work as a unit, we share all the same goals, and as you can see we CLEARLY function pretty well as just one person!"

"I wouldn't say you function well as one or two people!" Melanie stung back, before suddenly rushing forward with her next wave of weaponized defense. She ran low to the ground, dropping both hands to her sides and letting her pan shine with a green light. Fearlessly she added on, "You guys suck!"

Character hissed at this defiance, stomping one foot forward and sending pens blasting up from the earth towards Melanie, who immediately jumped. She landed on a flat panel created by her KIND soul, before immediately jumping from it to another. Using her KINDNESS like steps, she easily scaled over the pens rocketing towards her before diving down towards Character. As she plummeted towards them, she let loose a Valkyrian battle cry, yanking her pan up over her head.

"Oh, please!" Character scoffed, one of their oily hands curling over top of them to protect them from Melanie's strike. But, the moment her pan connected with this dark manifestation, a shockwave of her KINDNESS blasted out around the impact, and violent tremors blasted down the massive hand before it popped like an inky bubble! This made Character recoil back a step, giving Melanie the opening to land on one knee in front of them.

She immediately looked straight up to them, lunging upwards and throwing her pan up with her. With another green shockwave she bashed the flat side of her utensil into Character's chin, forcing them to stumble back another few steps while a few droplets of their blood spewed up through the air. With her jumping strike, Melanie ascended above the stumbling fusion for just a moment, and she immediately spun her pan in hand to crack them atop the head as she dropped back down.

But, before she could strike, Character's remaining hand slapped her aside like some worthless gnat. Its open palm crashed into her side, making her eyes widen with pain while she folded around the strike, before being launched away. She sailed through the air for a few seconds, before crashing shoulder first into the sands and skidding over the brutal grains on her side. Oath from Inmost began playing.

"Is it sinking in yet?" Character asked Melanie The KIND, shaking their head again and holding their arms out to their sides. They once more began walking towards her after easily knocking her aside, watching as the poor girl twitched and struggled to try and climb to her feet. "You're a loser. Your soul, the culmination of everything you are, couldn't hold a candle to ours. Because you're pathetic. Because KINDNESS is a WEAK and WORTHLESS trait!"

"Y-... You're wrong..." Melanie struggled to lift her head, loose strands of her brown hair falling over her face. Red dripped down from her nostrils, and saliva dripped down her chin. Every gasp for air hurt her, but still Melanie shoved herself back up. She had to stand. She had to win.

"You're fighting for a red soul's dreams. You're a slave to someone else's conviction, because yours is too weak. You're a side character in someone else's story, don't you even care?" Character's eyes narrowed with disdain, and as Melanie ripped through the sand with one hand and sent another wall of green energy racing out towards them, they easily punched through it with their remaining ink fist. "What does it matter to you if Predator finds Anarchy? What do you stand to gain? How do you not understand that you're about to die for someone else's dream?!"

"Lexi's, my best friend..." Melanie growled, getting one knee underneath herself. She struggled and pushed until finally she was able to reach her feet. Knees knocking and shoulders slumped, she kept a grip on her pan, and she glared up at Character from beneath the hair dangling in front of her face. "If it's important to her, then it's important to me..!"

"Well ain't that sweet?" Character spat those words out with disdain, tilting their head to the side. As they reached Melanie, they yanked back their right hand, and Melanie was too busy trying to stay standing to dodge the back of Character's hand. Their knuckles cracked across her cheek in a ruthless bitch slap, once more sending Melanie falling back into the sand, now with her cheek split open. "We'll be sure to tell her. Maybe she'll put it on your tombstone."

Melanie didn't respond. Blood streamed down her cheek from where Character had smacked her, sand left scratches in her clothes and her body. Her skin was bruised and her bones were broken from the brutal punches those obsidian fists had laid into her. It was all she could do now to watch with darkening emerald orbs as Character yanked that machete up over their head. It gleamed with red power, DETERMINATION. A strength that she could not fathom and could not challenge. What was her KINDNESS in the face of such overwhelming power?

Thwack!

Just as Character swung downward, their weapon was torn from their hand. Melanie's eyes went wide as she watched a strand of webbing that had connected itself to the back of Character's brutish blade yank it out of their grasp just before they could cleave her open with it. Both her green orbs and Character's red ones followed this strand all the way to Swap!Muffet, who stood across the battlefield, rapidly yanking that machete back towards herself to keep it out of Character's grasp. Melanie managed to choke out, "Muffet-?!"

"Shoulda ran while you had the chance, extra." Character commented without remorse, and Melanie's pupils shrunk in their sockets as she watched the malevolent fusion point one finger out towards the spider baker that'd raised her. "We honestly forgot you were here."

Then, in the blink of an eye, the ground exploded open around Muffet. Tears filled Melanie's terrified eyes in that instant, everything slowing in her perception. In that one instant, Muffet must've realized what was happening. Hundreds of obsidian spears were blasting up from all around her, and her body was still reeling with the force it took to yank the weapon out of Character's hand, her uppermost arms still over her head.

In what milliseconds she had, Muffet assessed almost instantly that there was no escape. So, she didn't bother. She didn't even despair. Instead, she let all five of her eyes fall to Melanie, and she smiled. Her two remaining pairs of arms came together, both of them using their hands to form a heart shape. Melanie reached out, but she was too slow. Green light started to flash into existence around Muffet, but it was too late. In a rush to do something, anything, Melanie shouted the first word that appeared in her mind.

"MOM-!"

Crash.

Silver dust puffed into the air, leaving nothing but shredded clothing behind on the many brutal spikes that Character had unleashed on the defenseless monster before them. The steely ink spikes shiinged on one another, all meeting together where Muffet once stood. Now, only magic ash remained on their jagged spikes. Character's machete dropped down to the sands right in front of that dusty spike pit, stabbing blade first into the ground and standing straight up.

Melanie was completely silent. Her eyes were wide, pupils shrunken and trembling within them. Tears overflowed down her cheeks, mixing with the blood that streaked from the gash on her cheek and being tainted red. Her outstretched hand trembled, before dropping back to her side. And there she sat, on her knees before this unforgiving titan, shoulders sunk and mouth hanging open while bloody tears streamed down her face.

"... You could have saved her, if you weren't so weak." Character finally spoke again, looking back over their shoulder to the KIND one behind them. They watched Melanie tremble with a sob, before she folded forward. She tried to fight it back, but another sob came. A sharp inhale, and then another. And then, as she folded her arms over her head, she wailed. Character just frowned as they watched her cry, a single black droplet overflowing from their darkened eyes. The whites of their eyes had long since turned black, and it just made the red of their eyes all the more prominent. "She would still be alive if your soul wasn't such a worthless color."

Melanie didn't respond. She just pressed her head against the sands and grieved. Sobbed and wailed at what she'd just witnessed, and the loss that she'd just experienced. At what had just been stolen from her. Character narrowed their eyes furiously down at her, and as they reached back, a tendril of ink lashed out from their wrist. It flung across the arena and wrapped around the handle of their temporarily stolen machete, yanking it from the dirt and back towards them.

"You wanna stop us, you wanna protect the rest'a your friends?" Character caught their machete, turning around to face the crying Melanie while they did so. Their free hand clenched into a furious fist at the sight of her, mourning like some pathetic whelp instead of standing up and fighting. The hand on their back seeped back into their shoulder, clearly they weren't going to need it. "Why don'tcha try flipping your soul to a better color?!"

Melanie's hands gripped at her hair, and she forced her jaws together in an attempt to stop her crying. She sucked air in through her gritting teeth, tears dripping off the bridge of her nose to the building wet spot in the sands before her. Shaking her head, she managed to force out words in a shaky voice. "I-I don't..! N-need a better color to s-stop you..!"

"You certainly needed one to save the spider!" Character berated, planting their shoe on the back of Melanie's head and forcing her face against the sand. They held their arms out to their sides and left themself wide open, like they were just begging for retaliation. "Now she's dead and it's your fault!"

"It's..! Your fault!" Melanie challenged, pushing her hands against the ground and resisting Character's foot on her head. She kept her head out of the sand, and the tears continued to flow from her eyes. On her chest, a green soul burned brighter and brighter. Her tear filled eyes crackled and sparked with the power of her KINDNESS.

"Fine, it's our fault! Whatever you gotta believe to grow a pair!" Character applied more pressure, shattering Melanie's resistance and shoving her face into the mud her crying created. They kept shouting, berating her. "Stop wasting time crying like a baby and start hating us! Abandon that KINDNESS! Turn that soul red or yellow or even fuckin' purple! Anything but that STUPID, WORTHLESS GREEN!"

"My! Soul! Isn't! Worthless!" Melanie shouted through grinding teeth. The ground beneath her hands spawned green panels so her palms would stop sinking into the sand, and once again she shoved back against Character's suffocating force and pushed her head back out of the mud, which was now rubbed in her open face wounds.

"Yes it is! KINDNESS is a burden, not a strength!" Finally snapping, Character yanked their foot up from the back of Melanie's head. Instead, they rose it up high, preparing to smash it back down and crush her skull under their heel. "If you won't replace your love for them with your hate for us, you'll never get stron-!"

The moment they'd removed their boot from Melanie's head, she shot up like was spring loaded. Launching right to her feet in spite of her injuries, Melanie's sudden movement made Character recoil and stumble back a step. The speed of her movement just briefly clouded their mind with memories of The Ascended Heir, and they felt a spike of fear in their shared heart for only a moment. That was all Melanie needed.

With all her might she reached forward, and Melanie The KIND planted both hands on Character's bare chest. They expected a shove or some kind of blast of force, but... Nothing came. The girl just slammed her hands into their chest, and Character did not budge. Was she truly that weak? Character thought so, until their vision tinted green.

"?!" The fusion's eyes went wide, and when they tried to swing their machete at Melanie but their arm refused to move, those scarlet orbs darted over to it with confusion. They could not turn their head to look. In fact, they quickly realized they could not move at all.

"You really think I could ever hate you more than I love them?!" Melanie finally shouted, making the shrunken pupils of the malevolent fusion dart back to her. They tried to shout something back, but their jaw wouldn't move. Their entire body was encased in emerald, one of Melanie's barriers growing denser around their body. Nearly a foot thick, the barrier of KINDNESS was tight to their skin, restricting any and all movement. Character couldn't even inhale, no part of them would budge. It felt as though they were encased in concrete. Melanie screamed in their face, "Just how stupid are you?!"

"You selfish narcissists couldn't ever understand what KINDNESS means!" Character watched, appalled and infuriated as Melanie berated them. They couldn't shout back, they couldn't swing and crush her. Magic couldn't even escape their body. They were completely locked in by the might of her soul. Tears still streaming down her face, Melanie continued to shout. "You really thought you could make me forget the trait that defines me?! You really thought you could make me forget how grateful I was to have Muffet in the first place just by taking her away?!"

"KINDNESS is conviction! It's the hardest choice and the best result! That's why I will ALWAYS win against cowards like the two of you, and that's why you aren't escaping until I say so!" Melanie fearlessly glared up into the enraged eyes of the fusion she'd trapped, her own eyes glowing with KINDNESS, much like the soul pulsing on her chest. "In case you were wondering, this is my Iron Maiden! My trump card against abominations like you and the exact reason why you should be afraid of a green soul!"

"See, I usually use my love for my friends to build defenses for them! But I don't have to!" Teeth grinding together, Melanie shoved her forehead against Character's. Or, at least, against the green stone entrapping them. "I can also use my desire to protect them to trap you!"

Muffled snarls vibrated within Melanie's Iron Maiden, but her KINDNESS did not budge an inch. Character struggled with all their might, but it wasn't enough. All their muscles were isolated in their prison; it wasn't like Melanie's barriers. If Character could move enough to wind up a punch, if they could release the pressure of their soul, if they could just get enough magic out to command one of their ink puddles on the outside to attack Melanie..! But, they couldn't. They were trapped, completely and totally. It was all they could do to sit there, tense their muscles in feeble attempts to shatter the Iron Maiden and let their DETERMINATION heal whatever internal issues not being able to breath would cause.

"Are you getting it yet? I'm not gonna release you until Predator finds the metal." Melanie smirked, tear stains drying on her semi-battered face. Just like Character, she stayed right in place, keeping her hands on the fusion's tomb to make sure they didn't escape. Panting, she laughed victoriously, slowly shaking her head. "Until then, neither of us are moving from this spot. So try not to suffocate."

Character tried to respond to that, but nothing other than muffled shouts managed to escape their strangled throat. It didn't matter regardless, Melanie wasn't listening. Letting her racing heartbeat slow, the KIND chef lowered her head some, looking away from Character's frothing expression to examine the sands at their feet. Blood and tears alike dripped off of her face, and she smiled bitterly as she watched the droplets disappear into the unforgiving sand.

... You can do this, Lexi. I believe in you.

---

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