Wooooo! Chapter 3! Lots of combat bout to go down! Get ready for fear and determination.

Also, I'm really tempted to put links to undertale-inspired songs that match the vibe of the fights. Still debating.

Edit(September 29 2022): Changed up and added some more descriptions and actions as well as added an entirely new scene! Enjoy!


Screams filled the air and voices of desperation boomed through the air. Almost everyone was running, fleeing, or hiding for their lives. Some were confused, while others loomed over their dead loved ones and sobbed. There was nothing but terror from every angle of the arena, especially when there was wires and beasts after them all.

Those who weren't physically there had their own horror, being able to do nothing but watch from behind the screens and see the various bloody and dusty deaths everywhere. People would call relatives and family members who could've been there at the scene, and those who served and protected rushed to assess and salvage what they could of the ongoing horrors. Everywhere, people's souls were wavering from the turmoil.

It was a nightmare for everyone, they all wished for it to end or better yet to not happen at all, but reality was immutable. Lives were on the lines, lives have already been shedded, and more would be if things continued to get worse. There was one unified emotion between everyone who knew this.

Fear.

Betty could feel it powering her.

She was surrounded from all angles, stuck right in the middle of a hoard of bone-like beasts and portaled wires dangerously circling around her and a possessed Mettaton she had pinned down. This was the worst situation she could've ever been in, group fights weren't her specialty, especially when taken by surprise and having no plan to counter her opponents.

But the crowd's terror-filled and strengthened her. Even with the odds stacked against her, she would have to push forward. There was so much negativity coursing throughout the arena, she had to put it to good use to stop the source of it all.

Her hair would slowly grow pinker. There was no choice but for Betty to fight. "Let's begin..." She twirled her scythe and slammed it into the ground, piercing the earth. Without a shred of hesitation, she forced her weapon to blast out a wave of magic towards her opponent. Red and pink would quickly approach a group of boney hounds and wires, forcing them to retreat or succumb to the attack.

With the battle truly starting, the other beasts and cords would begin their merciless assault on the pink-haired human. From all directions, they'd attack and strike, trying to slash or pin down Betty by whatever means they could.

Betty had to play safe, without Kumu she couldn't rely on blocking consistently. Instead, she'd resort to countering and dodging, becoming defensive and only striking when the time came. It only worked for so long. Slashing the beasts and wires was easy enough, but actually making them stay down was hard. They kept going despite the severe damages she'd inflicted, the wires regrowing and the hound-like skeletons completely ignoring the damage. CC and Impa had made their attacks last.

They started to overwhelm her. They just kept attacking, failing to let up on her like a rabid pack of dogs. Slice after slice, it did little to dissuade them from advancing.

Hearing a whizzing noise come straight for her, she instinctively took a step back, right into. One of the skeletal beasts. It bite down onto her left arm, crushing her flesh and bone till it bled and cracked. She grunted in pain and dropped her scythe to instead form an explosive, triangular projectile. She shot it straight into the thing's head, decimating their jaw at the cost of earning shards of bone in embedded into her.

Before Betty could grab her weapon and continue the fight, the strings of inverted patience wrapped around the magical item and pulled it into the summoned portals they came from. "Dammit!" Resorting to her sword of determination, she'd continue the fight as best as possible.

Unlike with her scythe, she was evidently less skilled with a blade, sluggishly slashing it around and trying to strike from a range that was impossible for its size. Attacks would begin to miss more frequently, allowing time to earn slashes against her body wherever her opponents could get it in.

Betty's weakness was eventually used to her attacker's complete advantage. Upon the girl missing a strike, the sword got stuck in the ground for just a second, and dozens of patience wires shot forward. She'd hear another loud whizzing and spun around.

Before her blade was readied to cut away the long cords, they'd rip into her chest and come out from the back. She stared down in pain and horror. I'm at a complete disadvantage!

They pulled her up high into the air while spreading throughout her body, tieing around her limbs to prevent her from moving. She was forced to watch as a sole string yanked off the spear holding down a possessed Mettaton. He was quick to get up, take a second to dust himself, and point his blaster towards Betty. "Smile for the camera!"

Betty yanked her arms in a attempt to rip off the wires from her, but there wasn't enough time to escape. A huge stream of magic engulfed her, evaporating her outer body alongside the wires keeping her in place.

She would fall to the ground, body charred.

"Drama! Bloodshed!" Mettaton posed and looked towards the lacking audience.

"This fight isn't really going your way, is it, determined one?" CC hummed and took a cocky step forward, admiring the scene before him. "Determination can only go so far in life, can it? You won't win with the numbers stacked against you, both literally and metaphorically. You've lost..."

The burnt body of Betty began cracking, exposing red and pink underneath her cooked exterior. It would slowly grow over her injuries, remanifesting her clothing, hair, and skin. She flexed her hands and pushed herself back up, growling and raisinf her right arm to summon a projectile directly towards CC. Her eyes glowed with dermination past her charcoaled eyelids.

CC took a step back, arms behind his back. "Not dead yet? Huh."

Jessy would notice and used her integrity magic. Darkened panels of blue appeared over Betty's appendage and were quickly brought down with one motion. Her arm would snap underneath the sudden pressure and gravity, leaving both her arms now nearly unfunctional. Her hair slowly grew pink, extending until her hair was nearly gone of brown.

Betty couldn't be defeated like this. Through the pain, she thought of one act she can pull off. If fighting a crowd wasn't going to work on her, then it was time to end it. To die here was unacceptable. I won't give up!

She'd collapse onto the ground and dig her fingers into the earth. On the outside it appeared the damage had taken a huge toll on her, and honestly...It did. A huge portion of her body had just been replaced with wires that went through her, crimson red was spilling pouring from her like a gusher, and her body was still trying to recover from all the horrific burns. It would've killed any other human, but it wasn't enough for Betty.

CC gestured for his minions and Impa's wires to come to him. A few more hand movements to suggest a good portion of them towards Betty all while he grinned from ear to ear. "Kill her." he simply commanded then turned away, eyes closed. Death seemed inevitable for her, charging towards the weakened human for a killing blow. This fight had been easy...

Far too easy...

Time felt like it slowed for Betty as she anticipated the finisher. As the snarling creatures reached out with their claws, she'd dig her fingers deeper into the ground and time her attack. One wrong move and her counter would go to waste...

Closer...

Just before any of them could slice her, Betty felt their boney hind paws make contact with the earth above her trap and the sound of wires lashing the air. They were in range.

Now.

"You idiot." Betty mocked right before the ground began to break underneath her and the canines and wires, magic illuminating through the cracks. Before any of them could react in time, massive claw-like red digits would burst out and ensnare them all. She herself was also in the trap, but she was peering at the four corrupted humans with a triumphant grin. She ripped off her hands off from the arena floor with a harsh splitting noise, breaking off her magical claws from her fingers.

"I' shouldn't celebrate so early." The pink haired girl grabbed the corrupted cords of patience locked inside and began harshly pulling on them, tugging as much of it inside as she could. She didn't seem to mind the fact the boney creatures trapped in her would begin to grab and bite her wherever they could, there was too much determination in her aura for them to penetrate.

Impa's eyes widened as she felt her body being lifted up from the ground, even if ever-so-slightly.

"Uhhhhh- CC, her wires!" Boukyaku pointed out.

"Tch. What the hell is she doing?!" CC summoned a tile of distorted kindness and transformed it into a sawblade. He quickly threw it at the wires, cutting off the ones from the determined human's grip

Good enough. "You have no idea what you're up against!" Betty gave a manical laugh, doubling over and clutching onto the wires she had managed to get ahold of.

Without warning the claws would explode, magic and bone shrapnel flying in all directions.

The opposing group would shield themselves behind CC's quickly formed shield, protecting themselves from the flying debris. Once everything had settled and there was only smoke, the shield would come down and they'd stare at the scene.

"Did she just kill herself?" Boukyaku asked, trying to peer through the thick, dirty clouds of dust and magic.

"She...Just took out almost all my children in one attack...A good portion of our wires too..." CC said in disbelief. Seeing if Betty were alive or not, he placed his hand on the ground and allowed a pulse of magic to flow throughout the field. No sign.

He shook his head and grinned. It didn't matter if all those wires and beasts were destroyed, Betty was dead. She may have taken out a large portion of his team's assets, but they had won. "She's dead. It's a good trade at leas-"

CC felt a burning sensation pass his cheek, leaving a wide gash. looking behind himself and saw Betty's sword of determination stuck in the ground. She's alive. He could feel the color of his soul drain, belwildered. "B-but that blast!"

"I can sense your fear..." Betty giggled as the dust cleared, revealing herself encased in a heavily cracked, layer of determination. The shield dissipated around her body and she'd step forward, hands behind her back. Her chest had a huge hole in it, but despite the injuries and blood that would drip from her, she moved like nothing. Mass fear and her own determination kept her going. There was a dangerous, red and pink glint in her eyes. "It's going to take much more than that to kill me."

"What the hell kind of magical strength does she have...?" CC muttered to himself, growing nervous at the sight. "My life detection should've worked..."

"Hm...We're thinning out our forces." Jessy noted casually despite the terrifying sight in front of her. "Boukyaku, do you have any clones who can lend a hand? We need a quick replacement."

"Let me check..." Boukyaku grumbled and placed a hand against his ear. He seemed to be trying to contact his deployed clones, but all he received was utter silence. His swirly eyes dimmed down as he lowered his hand and took a deep breath.

"What's wrong?" Jessy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We all got our asses thrashed..." Boukyaku squeaked and turned away from Jessy, embarrassed.

"Then why not clone more of yourself?" Jessy asked, raising an eyebrow. "How did you even lose to teenagers?"

"They're cheaters, that's why! And I barely have any magic to do that right now!" Boukyaku hissed. His body would begin shifting and vibrating, but no duplicates of himself would spawn. He stopped and sighed. "I wasted it all towards cheaters..."

Jessy sighed and turned towards Impa. They just shook their head at her. "We can't make more beasts either, Impa is still collecting souls. There's only so much wire she can use too..."

"Then we'll resort to a new plan." CC raised his pole saw at Betty. His dark green eyes pulsed with black, ready for combat. " Impa, finish gathering the spirits. I'm taking the determined one head-on. The rest of you aid me in whatever way possible."

"Why don't we just retreat? We can take the souls we have now and re-strategize..." Jessy alternatively suggested, not so keen on wasting anymore time on their powerful target.

"We've already made our cameo, they'll expect us next time. Even with our plan going into shambles, we can't waste this opportunity." They needed Betty's soul and CC was ready to throw as many lives as needed for it. Even his own. He wouldn't take fleeing as an option or any kind of mercy in this case.

"Now that the playing field is more even-" Betty's wounds began to slowly close up as a twisted smile arched from her lips. Now that she wasn't fighting over a dozen enemies at once, she can focus on who to attack. Gleefully, she extended both of her hands out, encasing them in determination magic until they became claw-like appendages. "-I think you'll find me much more difficult."

"Oooh, im just warming up!" Mettaton pointed his blaster at Betty once more, sending another charged blast of energy at her.

Betty endured the blast with her newfound claws. It barely did anything to her. In that moment she would manifest a red projectile within the attack and fire, directly into the robot's blaster and reducing it to scrap. "So am I."

"Things are blowing up-" Mettaton collapsed under the foreign weight of Impa's wires, The pink-haired girl having thrown them over him like a net. He couldn't get up after that. "Time for our union-regulated break!"

Betty cracked her determined knuckles. "I've always preferred these over my sword when I don't have my scythe as an option." Generating weapons made of pure magic was draining and hard to re-conjure, even with all the power she was amassing from the hysteria and her own inability to give up. Layering her hands with magic was much less taxing.

She flexed her claws and giggled. "So do you all still want to fight? It's not too late to turn and run. It's a mercy, especially after all those people you four killed..."

"Don't get cocky." CC's pole saw began spinning, initiating his battle with Betty. The rest of his monsterous hounds would go after her, numbering in total three to one.

"Let's play." With the skelatal creatures rushing in, the determined human wasting no time defending herself. Wild slashes and gnawing came from the beasts, aiming for whatever body part seemed to be the most exposed. They didn't seem to take in account her reaction time. Rather easily, they were parried and slammed away, predictable and telegraphic despite their feral state.

Grabbing the face of one snapping its jaws too close for comfort, Betty's palm would glow and release a point blank burst of magic. Instantly its upperbody was reduced to nothing but bone shards. She would look at the other two, her eyes flashing find. The two others would stare, their eyes color matching hers. They were frozen in her fear. Not so easy when I can focus, huh?

"Gah! What are you two doing?! Attack!" CC demanded.

Nothing.

"Useless." CC snapped his fingers, the runs on his hands glowing. His two minions quickly turned into dust. He would take the situation in his own hands and charge at the determined human. His movements were quick, appearing in front of the girl within seconds with his saw high in the air.

Betty raised her other arm up and blocked the aggressive hit. The weapon would continue to cycle and chip away at her magic, breaking away at her encased arms. She growled and lurched forward with her left arm, striking the corrupted child in the chest. The force would send her attacker back, allowing her to bend down and summoning two pink, explosive projectiles towards him.

CC gave a disappointed grunt and quickly regained his ground by sticking his landing into a defensive stance. He spun his weapon and nullified both incoming projectiles, striking them with precision. The attacks couldn't explode in time, decaying into nothing almost immediately upon contact.

It didn't explode... Betty stared at CC and watched as he pointed at her. The gesture wasn't for nothing as she'd find herself quickly surrounded by a dome of twisted kindness magic. Spikes would soon jutter out from inside, attempting to stab and mutilate her. She was forced to summon her spherical shield of determination, blocking each spike.

Using her own shield to her advantage, she quickly expanded it, overpowering her opponent and shattering it. the pink-haired girl then reformed her shield into a spear and launched it at terrifying speeds, the air bursting from the velocity.

three, small shields were summoned in rapid succession in front of CC to block the attack. He thought it'd be enough, but they'd all be shattered by sheer force. The spear would strike the center of his stomach and protrude out his back. The human was utterly shocked by the sheer offensive power of his target. "My shields!"

He came to realize determination was no joke, even with what power he had. It pissed him off and he'd rip the piercing object out of his body. His wound would heal rapidly within seconds. "This is why I need your spirit: The sheer power..."

The vile human had also noticed he wasn't the only one regenerating. Offense wasn't Betty's only forte, she was also adept at healing, that gaping hole in her body that should've killed her was nearly regenerated and replaced by flesh. He needed to change that as quickly as possible so he can wear down and kill her effectively.

Betty herself was surprised by how little her attacks inflicted any pain on CC. He remained level-headed as much as she did, even with severe injuries. If she had to guess why, it'd probably be because of that dual trait of his, perseverance and kindness...Well, she couldn't really call it either of those things now. His traits were the twisted versions, which made him especially deadly since he was dual-traited and corrupted.

"Just die!"

Betty felt her soul become heavy, forcing her down. Looking up, she saw Jessy using her magic while CC began summoning multiple spiked walls in various directions, tipped with defense-breaching perseverance. The size and number of kindness and perseverance walls were no joke, there were so many that the sky had become practically tinted in green and purple. She had a good feeling she knew what they were about to do. Never a fair fight with them...

Intent filled Jessy's eyes, the intent to cause pain. With one hand extended, she sent Betty flying into one of the many walls. Then the next. Then the next. And the next. She was relentless with her attack, slamming the determined human into as many spiked walls as her magic would allow her and dragging them around like a ragdoll.


A cry of pain rang out through the room as purple blood splattered against the walls and furniture of the arena's lobby. An unstoppable massacre went on, the sound of crunching bones and spewing blood filling the air. Clone after clone became body after body, Tulah and Null failing to let up on their attacks. What was supposed to be the two defending themselves turned into their attackers struggling to survive against them.

Tulah was unstoppable, physically. She was easy for the swirly-eyed humans to land blows on with their knives and twisted perseverance-tipped claws, but both attacks more often than not failed to bring on any actual damage to her. Any slashes made against her simply nicked her magically armored body and bounced off. Even when an attack did punch through, her aura would block any further damage being made. Only once did she actually get stabbed, but that had been with her guard down when she and everyone else was jumped.

She would simply let her opponents – more like victims at this point – wear themselves down from their barrage of attacks until they either gave up or became exhausted from continuously striking her. Outlasting them, she would then use the opportunity to grab and beat them into a bloody mess with her reinforced fists. From there it was rinse and repeat.

"What's wrong, I thought you wanted to have fun." Tulah said with the widest grin she could muster, matching the ones the Boukykau clones possessed minutes ago when they weren't on the receiving end. She grabbed a worn-out Boukyaku and lifted them by the neck.

"How..? How am I not hurting you?! You cheating or something?" The clone heaved out. It extended its arms out and futilely began clawing at Tulah's shoulders and chest.

Tulah shrugged and slammed the Boukyaku into the ground, headfirst, cutting its life short. "Dunno tbh."

"Was that an OHKO!?" Another Boukyaku commented right before being decapitated by a set of white claws.

Null was having as easy of a time as his sister, although resorting through the usage of his new weapon and dodging rather than enduring hits and countering. Terrifyingly, he was a proficient fighter and seemed to always be a step ahead of his opponents even while being teamed. That wasn't even mentioning how eerily calm he was about the whole situation, like he felt nothing in the moment. His magical, white claws generated by his glove made quick work of his enemies, slicing through each one like butter parrying any blade or hand that came too close. What was worse for the clones was the fact he could shapeshift his claws into other small weapons such as knives.

Dodging another blade of perseverance, the emotionless teen returned the gesture by using his own blade to stick it right into the neck of the attacker. He yanked it out and proceeded to reform his knived claws into a singular spike, jamming it into an incoming Boukyaku's chest.

Null tried to pull off from the body, but found the clone gripping hard onto the spike with one hand, refusing to let go. With a crazed smile, it would use its free hand to summon a knife, fulling intending to gut the human right then and there.

Midway the clone mustering a concentrated source of corrupted magic, a fly pellet would come shooting towards and striking right through its wrist, cutting off its plan. "Wha-" Just for good measure, the pellet would come back, bouncing off a plate of integrity and striking through the back of its head.

Turns out Milo and Mila – currently still posing as 'Miller' – were also present, sidelined in the back behind Null and Tulah. Neither of them were truly fighting, having little to no actual combat experience as opposed to the two siblings, but they were able to provide support in whatever way they can. For the most part they'd take potshots at the clones, preventing them from conjuring any blows or attacks that otherwise would've been fatal to the group.

They were exceptionally deadly in their own way and none of the Boukyakus could get to them without going through Tulah or Null first. Effectively, they were reduced to enduring the duo's ranged attacks as they were effortlessly massacred on the front lines.

One Boukyaku watched in anger as it watched its other duplicates fail to an edge on its opponents. To the twisted being, none of this was fair at all. How could it be losing to four nobodies? "This is supposed to be my game, and yet they make a tower defense out of it?!"

Its eyes swirled and it began gritting its purple-laced teeth. Its hands twitched. "It's fine...It's fine. I can just switch up things, I'll make them fall to their deaths like that stupid black roach of theirs! Take this!"

The room began to alter around everyone, casting the Mew Mew club member to pause and watch in disbelief as everything turned pitch black...Then it turned back to the bloodied lobby.

"W-What?" Boukyaku looked down at its palms, its pupils shrinking. "No, I couldn't have run out of-" A barrage of pellets broke through its chest, destroying its materialized soul into nothing and killing them.

The fight was quickly coming to a close, becoming an outstanding loss for the Boukyakus.


Betty would try her best to endure being flung around into spike after spike, encasing herself with determination to take each blow. However, upon the fourth wall, her defense gave out, perseverance and kindness stabbing her right through the back. She hissed in pain, feeling her body burn from the violent magic embedded in her. The pain was especially uncalled for when it began to spread across her body. Looking down, she saw her wounds worsen, the magic eating away at her. Shit, I just healed that!

With the way this fight was going, she couldn't endure being flung around any further. She used her hands to block the next set of walls, breaking down the spikes with her encased fists before impact. During one of these, she'd summon a projectile in her hand and let herself be flinged once more. Mid-air, she aimed her attack at Jessy and fired.

Jessy's eyes widened and immediately moved away, releasing her magical grip on Betty to focus on falling back. "Dam. I could've thrown them around more."

"Don't bother. You've done enough." A sadistic grin came on CC's face as he watched his opponent fall onto the ground and slowly get up. His eyes were on Betty's wound, watching it progressively get worse and worse as time went on. He fantasized about her eventual decay into nothing but her soul, hardly able to wait for her demise. "How does it feel, Betty, Slowly dying? Don't bother answering, I already know the answer... Luckily for you, I have a one-time deal: A quick death!"

He spun around and faced Impa with a wild look. "Impa, give me the spirits! now is our chance!"

Impa nodded and pulled her many strings towards herself, dragging along multiple souls wrapped and attached to them... That is what would've happened if most of her wire wasn't burnt off. There was only two. She looked down at the end of them, looking at the scorch marks made on her magical cords. It definitely wasn't Betty's doing.

"Er...Slight problem, CC." Boukyaku noted as he gandered at the wires right before he noticed the flood beneath him, Impa, and Jessy had turned white. Looking down, he saw a huge box outline with an exclamation mark. "Huge problem!"

"Under me!" Jessy commanded, quickly summoning a large platform of inverted integrity above her. Boukyaku and Impa would run and cover themselves under the platform, right before a massive bolt of lightning came down on the three of them. The platform would collapse and shatter under the force of the attack, but the group remained unharmed except for Impa's lack of attached wires holding her up. She'd collapse on the ground like a marionette with no one controlling them.

"Impa!" Boukyaku ran over to Impa and bent down, looking at their cut wires. "Gah! This sucks! She's down!"

"Are you fucking with me?! You have allies?!" CC snapped at Betty. "Where are they!?"

Betty had no idea what CC was talking about, the last time she checked she was the only one fighting him and his group until now. That magic certainly couldn't be a human's, no one of her kind could summon lighting. It was a monster's doing.

Her assumptions were proven to be right when she heard footsteps approaching. Looking from behind, she saw a goat-like monster approaching with a white blade in hand. He seemed no older than 18 yet ready for combat, his eyes having streaks of black underneath and readying a ball of fire in one of his palms. To say at the very least, he was mad.

"Oh... Seems like someone is done being a bystander..." CC scowled and placed a hand on his hip. "You're the one who destroyed Impa's wires, aren't you? And where are my other children I've sent to collect too...? It was you, wasn't it? All those spirits she gathered...Gone. You bastard."

No response.

"Aren't you the quiet one... Well, let me tell you something, 'buddy'. You're already too late to help Betty, she's already dying. Just look at her decaying chest!" The corrupted child pointed at Betty's gaping hole in her chest. It was starting to become absurd how she lived through it for so long. Was it the power of determination or was she just inhuman? "I'll tear your spirit out if you try anything, if that isn't enough of a warning for you."

The goat monster remained stoic. "I'll distract the three humans. You keep focusing on your main target, Betty."

Well, this is certainly a nice change of pace. Betty nodded and watched her unexpected ally rush forward, past her and the outraged CC. With one issue out of the way, the only ones left was the magic eating away at her and her opponent. He didn't seem happy in the slightest and it'd only get worse from there.

"You- Impa, Jessy, Boukyaku! Watch out!" CC couldn't help his team at the moment, he needed Betty dead first. He gripped hard on his pole saw and gave a strained, irritated chuckle. "I'm getting sick and tired of these setbacks..."

"How unfortunate. Too bad it'll keep happening..." Betty cocked her head and gave CC a freaky smile. She figured there was one move she could try to stop the disintegration of her body, and there was no better time to use it since it became clear her opponent wasn't going to muster large-scale magical attacks. Her pink hair began to glow.

"Rhabdophobia."

The area around her suddenly inverted in color then quickly shifted back to normal. The girl's intention wasn't to catch any magical attacks, but rather to invert the magical damage caused to her. It worked, the violent perseverance and kindness eating away at her turned pink and instead healed her. She gave a pleased sigh and placed her hands behind her back, swaying like a mischievous child. "You think you'll win at this rate? It's becoming painfully clear you won't win. Don't you see?"

Jessy held out an integrity platform to block the approaching goat monster's barrage of fire then sent the plate flying at him. She winced up seeing him effortlessly avoid the attack with a leap and charge his saber with magic. In a panic, she raised yet another platform to block his incoming strike, only to instead earn the blade right next to her and into the ground.

Before she could properly react, flames rose from the ground and engulfed her. Moments later, the fire would settle and reveal a scorched Jessy on her knees. She gritted her teeth and changed her gravitational pull, the burnt earth beneath her cracking and splintering. "Nuisance." jumping on her feet, she met face to face with her attacker and attempt to pull them in with her gravity. She was only met with more fire, blasting her away.

"Jessy! Fall back, you're not made for combat!" Boukyaku summoned a knife of perseverance and turned his hands into sharp, purple claws. He moved in front of Jessy and twirled his weapon between his fingers. "Grab Impa and get a portal out of here. I'll play a little stalling game with the grass-eater."

CC tightened his grip on his pole saw, ignoring the sight of his allies on their last legs. "You think your trick and furry ally is enough to dissuade me?! I won't give up! I'll kill you, no matter wh-"

his eyes met with Betty's, seeing both of her's glowing bright pink. The world suddenly folded around him, the person in front was someone else he knew. His worst nightmare was looking right at him.

"I think we're plenty done here..." Betty's eyes fell back to being mismatched and she moved towards the frozen CC. She wasn't here for a fair fight like they were, in fact she never wanted to be here at all. She had expected an interview, not a fight to the death. Whoever this kid was, Betty couldn't let them live. She feared they were too dangerous and in the way of her goal.

Summoning a spear into her right hand and walked up to CC. She looked at his black sclera surrounding their now pink iris. For a moment she wondered what he was thinking about, but ultimately she shoved the thought away and plunged her piercing weapon into the kid's soul. She watched as his eyes turned back to a murky green and he looked down at his injury, gasping in pain.

"Y-You..." CC's soul began cracking and he would step back, the spear pulling out his soul as he did so, stuck on it. A moment later he got withered to the ground next to where Impa was, clenching his fists. Seconds later and his soul shattered and his hands opened, revealing two patience-wrapped souls protruding with bones. The runes on his palm glowed.

Just then, it jutted outwards towards Betty in one last ditch effort, sparking her to back away from the corrupted human's corpse. A wall of cartilage was made, blocking her off from the body.

Boukyaku was busy clashing with the goat-like monster when he saw his leader collapse and die. He frowned while parrying his opponent's saber and slashing them across the cheek, backing up immediately after the move. "Oh boy, I knew he was biting more than he could chew."

By this time, Impa and Jessy had escaped, although the portal left by the two of them was still open. Boukyaku didn't dare retreat back though, instead dropping his knife and holding his arms out. "It's been one shitty fight, but it's time to end it for now!" his eyes and claws began to glow, magic building up within him. he smirked as perseverance began to truly course through him. "Get ready for my ultimate! You fuckers are nothing but cheaters and I hope you all go to hell!"

The monster raised their sword in preparation for what was to come, the black streaks on his face becoming more prominent. He had no idea what Boykyaku was planning...And he certainly didn't anticipate them running past him and grabbing CC's corpse.

"Kidding." Boukyaku threw CC into the portal with impressive strength right before Betty broke past the wall of bones. Her claws would grab his head. "Ha! Homeru-" his skull was crushed, leaving his lifeless body to collapse.

Betty wiped and shook the purple blood off her claws before reverting them back into normal hands. She looked over at the closing portal... They fled.


The fight was over, she had ultimately won. The cost though...was devastating.

As Betty was settling down and her adrenaline lowered, she noticed everywhere she looked there was a corpse. From bones of CC's beasts to corpses and dust of many poor souls, there was no spot where death lingered.

While she did win, she felt devastated by the losses. They had been after her, if she hadn't come in the first place then...Well, none of this would've happened. Probably. Her goal to protect human and monsterkind had been upheld, yes, but it also failed at this moment. She could only hope there were more survivors than bodies.

The screams of panic and fear filled her thoughts, remembering and feeling the widespread panic everyone had. Her victory was a lot to take in with what had happened. Their fear was her key to success, amongst the overall luck of her opponents being unable to anticipate most of her abilities. She was stronger thanks to his crowd's terror and horrified emotions. Their lives didn't go to waste in a way.

She could feel the fear subsiding around her from victory, a parting note that gave her some relief. The nightmare was over for now. Thank god.

And then there was that monster...Who was he anyways? Betty didn't expect someone to muster enough courage to take on such strong humans. Turning around, she saw him looking up at the debris and bodies where people would've been prior to the fight. To say he was sorrowful was an understatement, he was crying.

"So many souls killed, and they tried to use it to push their agenda... It's sick." The monster muttered to himself before noticing Betty looking at him. He snapped out his thoughts and raised his floppy ears in surprise. "Er- Sorry. I...Today is pretty terrible."

"No, no. It's fine...This is a lot to take in. What's worse is some of our enemies escaped alive." Betty sighed. She walked up next to the monster and stared in the direction they were, taking her time to observe the horrible scene. "If it makes you any better, you're brave for helping me."

He looked at Betty, a slight smile rising from his teary face. "Well, I couldn't let them abuse people's souls...It isn't right."

"What they did wasn't right in general." Betty stated. Human and monster souls contained a lot of magic and CC had used them to create those beasts. She had a feeling she knew what else they would've been capable of it her ally had not prevented those twisted humans from collecting souls. He was as much of a help as her temporarily increased power. "What's your name, hero?"

"Asriel. Asriel Dreemurr. Nice to meet you, Betty, despite the circumstances." Asriel introduced.

Betty vaguely remembered a last name like that. Maybe it was those shows she watched on Hate's tv? She thought back for a second, the last name ringing in her head before the image of an older, goat-like monster appeared in her mind. Asgore. "You're Asgore's child?"

"Yea, that's me. Mettaton invited me to watch this show live...Before all this happened." Asriel could faintly hear Metatton's voice, the speech about various MTT products and Mettaton-faced plushies. The voice wasn't a memory, they were literally behind him, still pinned to the ground by Betty's spear. "Mettaton?! Is he okay?"

"Lights, camera, action!" Mettaton shouted, raising up his broken and firing sparks of magic in the air. He was still controlled by a singular wire Impa had put on, making him act like some sort of enemy with repetitive dialogue and have cyan eyes.

"Yea, he's just controlled." Creepy. Betty cringed at the sight while grabbing her sword of determination off the ground. She moved over to Mettaton and proceeded to cut the dark string off him and take off the wires keeping him down. "There, that should fix it..." He's not going to react well to what happened the moment he regains consciousness.

"Time for a p-pop- AH! Attackers! My audience! My friends!" Mettaton's eyes reverted to their trademark hot pink. His first instinct was to get up, which didn't work as he felt immensely weak. All he could see was the broken arena roof. "W-what happened?!"

Betty grabbed Mettaton by their other arm and lifted him, allowing the robotic monster to sit upright and look at the horrid scene surrounding them. "Take a look."

Mettaton remembered when the incident had started, four corrupt humans making their entrance and causing havoc. During the chaos, one of their attacks managed to strike and control him. Everything was blank after that, until now. What he was seeing was the aftermath of it all, the destruction and damages caused by the intruders. He had always been attached to his audience, seeing their faces and enjoying their expressions and reactions...But now he saw a lot of them dead or dusted on the ground.

"Oh my..." The robotic monster gagged at the sight. He raised a hand over his face, his sorrow quickly becoming unbearable the more the saw the horrible scene. "T-they- no, they didn't deserve this..."

"No one did." Asriel agreed with a mutter, arms crossed with a somber look on his face.

"Asriel...?" Mettaton turned to the goat-like monster, rubbing the tears in his eyes that were beginning to form. "Y-you're okay...Wait. What about Alphys-darling and Isabelle and the rest? Are they all okay?!"

"Oh- uh, yeah. They're fine. Undyne and Gaster escorted our friends to safety." Asriel smiled lightly, glad to bring in some good news. He rubbed the back of his head and shifted his eyes over towards the arena's nearly collapsed entrance. "They're outside with the other survivors. I stayed here to escort as many monsters and humans out as possible...And also help Betty."

Betty dipped her head. "I will restate my appreciation for your aid." Now that the topic of friends and safety was brought up, she wondered what happened to her own. She knew Withern, Hate, and Agni wasn't caught in the incident -at least she hoped- but what about the rest of them? "By chance... Do you know what happened to Null, Tulah, Milo and 'Miller'?"

"Oh yea, them! I hope those darlings are fine too." Mettaton commented wholeheartedly.

Asriel would only continue to bear good news, much to Betty and Mettaton's thankfulness. "I saw them leaving the arena with our friend Papyrus."

Betty sighed in relief. "Good, this isn't the worst imaginable outcome."

"But it's still a heartbreaking one. This will make national news... Undeniably there will be a lot to do and explain once everything settles." Mettaton wasn't overjoyed in the slightest over the attention he would be bound to receive. His goal was to be a star, which he already was, but improving human and monster relationships were second to that. He had no idea how this incident would affect human and monsterkind.

"Joy." Betty muttered "But you're right, it's unavoidable...The best thing we can do is move on and face the consequences."


Super Short Story

Null dragged himself over to a nearby store with his ragged, oversized coat that was falling apart with each passing day. He certainly had better days than currently, having the trademark look of an abandoned and neglected child. The only thing he was really missing appearance-wise was being underweight, no thanks to Tulah's efforts. Food was really the only thing they were doing okay, but they needed clothing and Null would try to provide that.

Opening the door, a bell would ring and alert the shopkeeper of his presence. For a moment she wouldn't see anyone, not till Null stopped hiding behind the door and nudged himself in. She was awfully shocked by his appearance to say the least. The bunny monster swore she had met every human and monster living around this small, unpopular place. While the economy here did have its shortcomings, she thought every inhabitant was well off in some capacity.

Maybe he was a traveler? He did give that look she knew many young humans gave back in the underground...Only this wasn't the underground anymore. Well, she still had to greet and at least be nice to them. "Welcome, how can I help you?"

Null gave a silent wave and continued onwards, deeper within the shop. He was only interested in getting clothing, nothing else. He wasn't in the mood for a conversation. In fact, he didn't look like he was in the mood for anything. His eyes seemed dead and emotionless as they browsed through each article of various clothes. Eventually, he'd stop to face the shopkeeper and talk with an equally blank voice as his looks. "Do you have a clearance section?"

The shopkeeper snapped out of her staring, her ears perking up. "Over in the right, upper corner we do. Nothin' much though."

"Okay." Null turned away and walked over to the location, allowing the shopkeeper to keep watching without his notice. From what she was getting, he wasn't very...fortunate. If they couldn't afford any of the cheap clothing she sold around here, then they definitely had little to no money going around. Just seeing their appearance made her assumptions make sense. He wasn't wearing that coat because he wanted to. It made her feel bad honestly.

The blank-slated human would eventually find a piece of clothing, an inexpensive and rather itchy-looking gray sweater. "I'm done." He placed it on the counter and looked up at the bunny monster, waiting for her to check the item out for him.

Is he really going to buy this? The shopkeeper didn't want to seem rude, but- "Can you, uh, afford something less tawdry than this?"

Null, as careless as he was, wasn't offended in the slightest by the question. He'd answer as if it was just any other question, casual and unbothered like it wasn't pertaining to his sordid state. "No. I only have five G with me."

"Five G..." The shopkeeper echoed. That couldn't even afford a cinnamon bun! It was only by sheer luck this sweater was as cheap as it was, she had it lying around for years on end to the point all the color had been drained from it. The item was rather dusty too, now that she was holding it up and placing it into a paper bag for him. Sweet Deltarune, this child... "Are you new around town?"

"You could say that." Null answered without any hesitation as he took out his five gold coins and placed them on the counter. "Me and my sister came here a few days ago. Something about avoiding people? I don't know. We're just here now."

"I see." Okay, that does it. The shopkeeper pushed back the coins to Null and leaned over the counter a bit. "Well, want to pick out a few more clothes for you and your sister? Free of charge."

Null shook his head and pushed the coins back towards the bunny monster. He wouldn't allow himself to take the opportunity, despite clearly needing it. He also didn't understand why they were being nice to him all of a sudden, it seemed like it came out of the blues. What reason was there to help him? There was none for him, personally. "No. I was told I shouldn't take advantage of people."

For someone who paid and had so little, they certainly were a tough customer. Anyone else would've accepted the deal in a jiffy to the shopkeeper's offer. Who wouldn't want free stuff? This human was certainly an oddity. "Taking an advantage? I suppose you can say that, but I'd like it if you did rather than not."

"...I suppose I can't argue with that logic... But I still can't. I'll come back with more G next time." Null jumped up and yanked the paper bag with the sweater from the shopkeeper's paws. Before she could get a word out, he had ran out of the store.

"Ah...What a strange human." The bunny monster mumbled. Well, there was no stopping him now. She hoped the sweater would at least work for him.


Notes:

•CC refers to souls as 'spirits' intentionally.

•The Helpless severely underestimated the MewMew Club. They planned for resistance, but not abnormalities.

•Negative emotions fuel inverted traits corresponding to them.

•I was going to have Mettaton play a bigger part by attacking Betty, but I forgot.