Two Worlds, Two Souls

Chapter 51: Burning

Angel's Point of View (Three Oh Two AM):

"God damn it!"

My legs couldn't carry me fast enough as we tried to escape Undyne. She kept solidly on our heels the entire time as we burst into the final area of the Waterfall, the Eastern Botanical Gardens.

Sans had brought me here a few times to show me more of the echo flowers in large batches, and to show off the work that people of the underground were doing. It was amazing to see it all as we passed by many roped off areas as well as smaller buildings and testing sights that were within tents. Most which seemed abandoned at the time most likely due to it being three in the morning.

I tried to push those kinds of thoughts away from me as we ran. The goal was to escape Undyne, and we'd failed miserably over the last two hours without the help of a little boy who almost died because I wasn't being careful enough.

I couldn't face Undyne… I'd trained against her before. She was a friend of mine that I treasured dearly no different than the others I knew and loved. She was also the kind of person that I knew wouldn't give up. If I tried to fight her, she would fight until her death. That was one of the last things I wanted…

I had to protect my sister and get us to Alphys'. Alphys' lab would be about the only place we could hide without getting caught.

Frisk had out her cell phone again and was trying to use it mid-escape. She struggled to hit the buttons while we ran and at times I had to grab her from tripping up over her own legs.

"He's still not picking up!"

Frisk cry didn't surprise me, but we couldn't focus on that at the moment. Only surviving.

We'd reach him soon enough.

"Keep trying Frisk! He'll come! I know he will!"

Passing by two tents on either side of us, I saw before us that we were entering a protected zone with experimental organisms that weren't safe. Frisk and I didn't have a choice as we continued to rush forward, even toward the roped off area.

"Angel!"

My sister gasped as we entered the area, pausing slightly at the warning sign at the front. However, my grip on her prevented her from stopping. She was forced to keep running as we just barely were out of Undyne's grip behind us.

"Hurry Frisk! This way! Though the research area!"

Undyne was not pleased at the late hour chase she was having to do. I could see the absolute fury in her eye as she continued to race after us, no shred of mercy in sight.

She was determined to get us.

"You damn humans! Stay put!"

She kept chasing us through the brightly colored fungi until we landed ourselves in a nearly cut off area, save for beneath of a tree that led the final tunnel that blocked us off from Hotland.

Taking the precious seconds that we had of a distance away from Undyne, I pulled my sister closer to drag her to that tree.

"Frisk! Under that tree-"

And that's where I tripped and landed hand first into a glowing mushroom that was in this experimental area.

"Shi-!"

Frisk kept running without me, but once she felt my hand leave her, she turned and skidded to a stop. Her eyes widened at the sight of me with glowing juices on the palm of my hand and squirted over the backside of it as well, slipping onto my wrist.

"Sis?!"

Shoving myself to my feet, I leapt back to grab her, throwing her under the tree before following after her. I didn't have time to wipe away whatever it was that I fell into. I left it be as we crawled under the thick tree's branches that were in our way to freedom.

"I'm okay!" Escaping past that tree that had grown so close to the ground, we rushed down the pathway as the heat began to increase. Undyne I knew was right behind us. She roared in rage, hurling herself at the tree and ripping it from the ground before resuming the chase, only allowing another ten feet between us before she attempted to get caught up again. "Just keep runnin- Ah!"

The blood-curdling scream that left me almost made my sister pause, if it wasn't for the pace we were already at. Even while I was screaming and trying to figure out what caused the pain, I couldn't focus on it as much while we ran.

The stone walls were beginning to open up into larger caverns and I could see the glow of lava off in the distance. Even as I felt the burning continue, I couldn't afford to let us stop.

"Angel!" Frisk dared to spare me a glance and she quickly looked to where my arm was still covered in that goop from the mushroom, gasping at what she saw. "It's burning your arm!"

Just as my sister had said, as I looked down to where the liquid had been, I saw the substance quickly eating away at the outer layers of my skin, my arm quickly turning red in irritation and a small trickle of blood escaping from the skin.

Without stopping, I used my second arm to reach back and grab one of the two waters I'd packed for us. In quick eagerness, I unscrewed the top. It was a metal one that Papyrus had bought me for when Frisk and I were training. Its top was lost to the caverns below in my rush and I couldn't grab it in time.

I hoped Papyrus would forgive me.

Readily I poured the water onto the acid like material on my arm, attempting to wash it away. Quickly did it, but the damage was done, and a large patch of open skin was there, bleeding, and some of the acid had made it into the wounds it had created.

The pain was excruciating, but I had no choice but to keep running.

I tried to push through the pain to speak to her, struggling and only managing to grunt my response. "Just keep running!"

Later (Three Twenty-Four AM):

We had sacred moments to ourselves. The air surrounding the entrance to Hotland was hot and arid, making it easier to breath then Waterfalll's air.

Granted, that was only if you weren't being boiled alive.

We had managed to escape Undyne, yet it wouldn't be for long. There had been a crevice we'd snuck into when we turned a corner and currently we could hear her. Only a hundred or so feet away she was rampaging, tearing up the landscape in an eager attempt to find us. I was stunned that others hadn't discovered us yet, or her with all her rampaging about. Yet it shouldn't have surprised me as much as it had been the middle of the night and we were away from the populated areas yet.

With time to breath and catch our breathes, we were able to assess the wound I'd accommodated in the last twenty minutes. The pain level never wavered, even after I'd washed off most of the acid. Some of it had made it into my arm. Nerves were dying, and I was unable to control part of my arm anymore. I could move it at the elbow and bend it, but my fingers were something I couldn't feel anymore, just pain or numbness.

The wound had opened itself larger, that acid eating away at my flesh little by little. My bones from my wrist, part of my palm, and even the base of my thumb's bone had been exposed. I had no way of cleaning the wound or covering it, healing magic wouldn't work either, only sped up the process, as Frisk had tried only a short minute ago.

"Sis… what are we gonna do?"

"I'm not sure… our hiding spot won't work for long, she'll find us before we know it." Even while my arm shook in pain and blackness tried to ebb into my vision, I struggled to keep myself standing.

I was tired, we'd run for the near entire length of Waterfall. Undyne hadn't given us even a second of rest, and even now she was threating that again while we hid, catching our breath.

We had to escape to Alphys' place…

"Try calling Alphys again, see if she might pick up."

Oh how I was silently paying that she'd pick up… I really needed her too…

Dark thoughts passed through my mind while she did so. I couldn't help but glance out of our little hide away carefully to watch Undyne and to gauge just how much further did I need to run before… I couldn't run anymore…

I was afraid… more so for leaving Frisk alone rather than my own safety at the moment. My arm was compromised. I knew that as I kept moving. The acid was still in my arm… albeit, it was moving slowly. I wasn't able to get ride of all of it. The acid was eating away at the flesh inside, and blood was starting to pool at the bottom of my wound. Right now it was only a drip, a few drops here and there, but before long, it wouldn't be.

I had to take care of it as best as I could then and there… in front of my baby sister…

Oh that couldn't get much worse now could it?

"Frisk," my sister lifted her head as she heard me. "I need your help."

She was at my side at an instant, ready for any order.

I hate how she had to act in those moments. How ready she was to listen to my orders with not complaint. I never wanted her to be like that. I wanted her happy, fighting with me. Acting like a typically teenage girl, that's what should have been going on.

And yet, dumb ol' me decided to leave in the middle of the night while Undyne was patrolling and caught us. Chased us to the near ends of the underground, and I was… possibly not going to make it…

I was bleeding. I would cut off the circulation and that would buy me time, but if I didn't get help soon. I would need to lose my arm… or face death and leave my sister all alone…

And I would do anything to keep her alive and prevent that from happening.

"Grab my belt from around my waist, I need you to tie it around my arm."

Frisk quickly moved her hands to my waist and grabbed the object that held my pants just a tad tighter. She unhooked it and yanked it out of the loops before wrapping it around my arm where I pointed to her just above my elbow. My sister worked diligently to wrap my arm, even going as far to summon a single tiny chain to drill a hole through to hook the belt and begin cutting off the circulation to my decaying limb.

I doubted Alphys could save it at the rate it was going down, and the pain I was feeling was beyond anything I could think of. But I had to press on, even if only to save the one person in my life that meant anything to me anymore.

I glanced at her, trying to hold back the tired sound in my voice. "Ready to run again?"

After giving me an almost vacant look, Frisk nodded and I glanced out of our little hide away. Undyne was back tracking to check back at the entrance of Waterfall to see if she had missed us. As soon as she rushed past our spot, Frisk and I were on the move again, eager to escape.

I couldn't fail her… even if it meant my life…

Witch's Note:

Oh no… oh no, oh no, oh no! This is bad! This is really bad! The acid is eating away at Angel's arm! She's losing feeling, blood, getting black spots in her vision. That's really bad, her body is failing her. Could her arm even be saved?

But the real question is, can she escape Undyne? Or will the woman give up chase before Angel's down for the count?

Does anyone else feel like their running with the girls as they rush toward Hotland? These chapters were uber fun to write! And Angel's dilemma… yeah… no dying on me yet. Kinda need ya for a hell of a long time!

And now for some words from our reviewers!:

Not A Shady Guy: I'm so glad you enjoyed it so much Shady! Hope this one met your expectations too! Undyne's chase scene was always one of my favorites and I knew I had to make it more dramatic then the first time around! You may have also noticed a few lines here and there that lined up with what was snuck to you in the PM I sent a while ago? He he!

Granted… my friend Mystic Girl is a bit peeved seeing how you're still moving our friends around in hidden areas.

(Mystic Girl slams her hands down on the table in her anger.) Hell yeah I am! Why does he still get permission to move them around! We've got demands of our own! If we're shut down on our side, so should he! Remove that stupid… what was it called? Code black or whatever that kept all your members on constant watch and release those your protecting! If we have to stop hunting them, then doesn't that mean you job to protect them is mute?!

(I sighed.) Sorry Shady, but she's not technically wrong. In order to keep the peace, you'll have to shut down your own operation as well. At least the more dramatic side of it. What I can allow is that you have designated appointments to meet up with those you were helping in jail where Angel and Sans are keeping them in and treat it much like an anger management or therapy appointment, but once that appointment is done or until the characters have been pushed to the background… I have to sadly shut down your operation too or it won't be fair and I will end up having to shut down the story since Mystic Girl won't let it go. (Turning to my best friend, I raised an eye brow at her.) Please tell me this is acceptable before I burst a vein and hurt all of you.

(My best friend sweat dropped beside me, slowly stepping away with hands raised in defense.) Yeah! T-that's more then enough! So long as he does it, I'll keep quiet. (She pouted before turning her head away.) At least until you mess with more characters…

(My head shoots up and I narrow my eyes at her.) What was that?

(She squeaks and rushed away.) Nothing!

RoseCentury: Cuddling does solve a lot of issues. Can't tell you how much I love to do that with my partner or my cats.

Dang people, we've just made it to the edge of Waterfall and Hotland respectively, but how much longer is this chase gonna go? And what in the world is Angel gonna do?!

This is gonna be bad…

Halloween Witch