Hey guys, I have great news to accompany this chapter! Wingah has started a sprite comic for DoubleTale: Rewritten on Tumblr/ Imgur. It's doubletaleau on Tumblr; he's already finished the first two chapters and he's working on the third! You guys should totally go check it out, spread it around, leave him nice words of appreciation for his hard work and have a great day after you read (and review pls) this chapter!

Thanks go to 10burgers, Doctah Sawbones, Wingah, Zack Frost Acoolnamme, Fixer140.85, Get vectored, Linki, Chara Moonstone, Jack54311, GrayK, Pokemon122000, Sonic245, and NBoss01.

I'm glad I could be your first story to review Get vectored, I hope you keep enjoying the story and keep being kind enough to leave me feedback! As for Anarchy, I've always liked making nutjob albinos, but his original design and character in the first DoubleTale was pretty much just an Accelerator rip off, yeah. You caught me lol. I hope he seems like a lot more than that in the Rewrite, but I guess that's up to you guys to decide. Enjoy the chapter! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

Tak tak tak tak!

Lightning crackled up the flat stone surface of the mountain wall Chara was running up, hysterical giggling echoing from the snapping obsidian jaws below. As they ran up the 90 degree angle, their ruby eyes darted to the side, spotting the long dark worm that was slithering up beside them.

Their jaw clenched with frustration as it turned its maw towards them, and they flipped their blade around so that its point was facing downward. Just as those fangs drew near, they pulled their sword up, stabbing its fiery red point through the skull of this disgusting creature and killing it instantly.

The corpse of the beast slipped back from the wall, plummeting down to the earth below just as Chara jumped over the peak of the rock wall, flipping up and landing on flat ground. They were at the highest plateau of the mountain now, where they had fought Cter six months prior. They spotted the crater he had put them in with his Beat Dome, but before they could get too nostalgic, a familiar cackling hit their ears.

Chara lunged forward as two more worms coiled up over the curve of the wall, slithering rapidly across the grass towards them. They spun around in air, slashing one of their DETERMINATION swords with their spin back towards the two nightmare creatures. A wave of red fired off their blade, racing through the air at the mindless monsters and cleaving through the two of them horizontally. This sent their separated jaws ragdolling past Chara, limp and spraying disgusting, tainted blood.

Well his attacks are certainly unnerving, I'll give him that. Chara thought calmly, their eyes narrowing at the ledge across from them. Their knees remained bent and they remained on alert, waiting for more giggling and/or gnashing teeth. Lets see if you're good enough to run up a ninety degree angle, mister 'unstoppable god of destruction'.

But, no giggling worms or chomping jaws came. Instead, Chara naturally recoiled when one Anarchist launched right up over the wall of stone, flinging high into the sky. It seemed as though he had jumped from however many dozen feet below, and was now a few dozen feet above them. That distance was rapidly closing however as he raced down towards them, yanking his crowbar up over his head.

... Of course. Bitterly Chara squinted up at Anarchy as he plummeted down towards them, raising one blade and pulling back the other. They planned to stab a hole right through him with their second blade when they caught his sloppy overhead swing on their first, but this plan fell through the moment he collided with them.

His crowbar slammed what scientists would call a 'metric fuckton' of force down upon Chara's single sword, making their eyelids snap far apart in shock. The ground beneath their feet shattered and exploded up around the two, and they were quick to shift their footing for fear of that weight crashing right through their saber. Tilting their sword, they slid the weight of Anarchy's blow off to their side at the same time that they pulled back their other sword, slashing with lightning speed at his head.

Like a crocodile or some kind of shark The Anarchist's eyes lit up as that glimmering crimson raced towards the side of his head, which instantly swiveled to face this slice head on. In the blink of an eye his jaws snapped open and shut again, and in his teeth he stopped Chara's slash dead. Then, his rabid eyes darted up into their stunned ones, and he yanked one knee up to his chest, blasting his foot into Chara's chest.

This kick propelled Chara back like a rocket, Anarchy letting their sword free from his maw and planting the foot he'd kicked them with in the dirt. He watched them fling through the air, before they flipped back, landing on their feet and skidding back across the plateau. They stabbed the points of their sabers into the earth to slow themself to a stop, before straightening their back. They stood tall there, across from The Bastard Son, watching him without hesitation.

"... Huh. That's weird." Anarchy's furrowed his brows with confusion, looking genuinely curious for a moment. But then, his face split into a wicked sneer, and he straightened his crowbar out to his side. "There's usually a crunch when I kick people."

"Maybe kick like less of a pussy next time." Chara stung much like the stinging pain in their abdomen, slowly whittling away as their DETERMINATION healed whatever bones had been bruised.

"Ooh! A sturdy punching bag and a smartass!" Anarchy's eyes lit up as well as his grin. His soul flared on his chest, and a gust of red tinted winds blasted out from around him, causing an updraft that lifted his hair.

"You might be worth my time after all!"

Chapter 45: A Real Kick In The Side

"Just needed to provoke you to fight me with your best, is all."

Malevolence by SharaX began playing.

Red wings flaring out from their back, Chara launched forward, rapidly closing the distance between the two of them. They ran low to the ground, and as two worms wriggled out from Anarchy's shadow, they crossed their blades over their shoulders. When those gnashing teeth fired by Anarchy and towards Chara, the Ascended Heir slashed ahead of themself, swiftly moving their blades from a place over their shoulders to be held out to their sides.

With this quick motion, searing DETERMINATION was slung from their sabers, racing forward and cutting right through those worms, scorching their cold and slimy bodies all the way through. These scarlet slashes continued forward to a giddy Anarchist, who yanked his crowbar back as the strike got in close, before swinging right into the crackling power with his Inheritance. This collision of his will vs. Chara's sent an explosion of red force that kicked up dust around The Anarchist, obscuring him from view.

Fearlessly Chara charged ahead, lunging into the smoke knee first. With a crack their strike landed clean, and one albino was sent stumbling back from the dust plume, head tilted back and nose snapped to the side. Chara landed in front of him, skidding forward and spinning before slamming their heel into his abdomen with a hellacious roundhouse kick, the force of which sent him sliding on the balls of his feet back across the dirt.

"That's how you kick somebody." Chara informed him with a slight smirk, planting their feet and straightening their swords to their sides.

"E-ehe... Heheheh..." Anarchy leaned forward, hands wrapped around his face. He had stopped his backwards sliding, and now he just hunched there, crimson ichor dripping from between his fingers. But then, a mist of a similar shade leaked out, curling up around his face. He lowered his blood stained fingers and lifted his face some to reveal a nose no longer broken, his carnivorous eyes locking back on Chara. Slowly, his long, reptilian tongue snaked out of his mouth, slithering over his red soaked palm and ingesting his own blood. "Interesting."

On Anarchy's tailbone, something bubbled and squirmed below the surface. His skin shifted and wriggled, before suddenly popping open, sending blood flicking out across the dirt. Chara flinched some, disgust clear in their eyes as they watched a dark, chitinous appendage slowly curl up over Anarchy's hunched back. This segmented tail curved and came to a bulb with one hook-like stinger at its end, and when Chara squinted they were sure they could see vantablack liquid trickling down its point like some vile venom.

Lips curling up despite the blood that now stained them, a red flare burst to life over Anarchy's left eye, and he rested his red dipped hand on his cheek. In his other hand he casually held out his crowbar, and over his head his scorpion stinger loomed threateningly.

"Can you teach me more?"

Chara growled, ducking to the side and letting that stinger jab right over their shoulder. It extended endlessly, until finally it skewered a boulder. Then, it rapidly retracted with that boulder in tow, yanking the massive rock towards Chara's back. They looked quickly over their shoulder, spotting this bone shattering assault on its way and promptly jumping into the air, letting the stone sail by under them and right towards Anarchy.

The Anarchist's stinger planted the boulder right into the earth with stunning power the moment Chara dodged it, crushing it halfway into the dirt. Like a grappling hook his tail pulled him forward, and he flipped while he flung, throwing himself foot first up into the sky after Chara while the point of his stinger detached from the stone.

Chara's wings beat, and they turned at the last second, letting Anarchy soar by them. As he passed and his venomous stinger passed with him, the point struck out at Chara, who was quick to swing their blade into its side as it approached. It surprised them some when their saber clanged against the chitin of this tail instead of just slicing through it, but nonetheless the poison was deflected.

Anarchy continued on his arch across the sky, before spinning around to face Chara as he crashed back first into the side of a stony peak, recklessly cracking the rock and putting an Anarchy shaped dent in the flat surface. Chara watched as shadow quickly spread from where his back had hit the sedimentary, painting the wall like pitch paint and forming a perfect circle around him.

The Anarchist smiled wickedly as his darkness bubbled and popped and boiled, before almost instantly those gnawing worms exploded free from this onyx circle, racing through the air at alarming speeds towards Chara. The Ascended Heir was quick to cut through the skull of the first beast to get in range, but when two more cackling maws curled out from around the first one's body before it could even drop, Chara was forced to beat their wings, launching themself higher into the sky.

Rapidly they ascended, a dozen worms in pursuit. Their eyes darted between each foe that closed in, and they moved their hand swiftly as the one reaching up on their right snapped its jaws at them. Instantly they severed its head from its serpentine body, sending it plummeting back towards the earth. But in its place several other obsidian horrors rose, forcing Chara to flap their wings with extra force and throw themself higher into the sky.

As they reached above these beasts with their superior speed, they turned down to face the rising tide of monstrosities. Quickly they brought both blades up over their head, and red lightning crackled along the DETERMINED steel just before they slashed downward. From their sabers scarlet slices crashed down, launching through the air and plummeting right into the rising ranks of The Anarchist's freakish legion. The light of Chara's soul split the darkness of Anarchy's, slashing apart these beasts and dragging their mangled corpses down to the earth below.

But, before Chara could breath a sigh of relief, a shadow fell over them, and instantly they turned around to spot whatever horror could block out the sun. A massive worm had risen there, looming larger than all the others and casting its darkness down onto the crimson hue of The Ascended Heir. Unafraid, Chara ground their teeth, spinning around to face this creature as it lurched down towards them.

Their wings beat, and they fired forward under the jaw of this beast, pulling their left blade over their right shoulder. Bright red right eye flaring with power, the scarlet steel of their blade flamed and grew, doubling in length in an instant. In the next instant, they slashed through the hungry throat of this bloodthirsty beast, sending tainted black blood spilling out over its body while its head - spurting obsidian ichor from its neck hole - plummeted down behind them.

Chara turned to watch the skull of this monster plummet from the sky, brows furrowing with disgust at the smile that still curled its maw even in death. Their blade returned to its original length, now matching its sister saber. They were so distracted by this gross display that they noticed all too late that the body of this creature had not fallen.

"SURPRISE!"

Chara nearly gasped, spinning around to spot Anarchy jumping right from the bleeding neck of his terrible darkness, its blood running in streams over his ivory flesh. Instantly he was upon Chara, yanking that crowbar back. They had turned their head around just in time to catch the filthy metal on their chin, and pain exploded through their face as teeth were launched from their shattering jaw. The power of the impact was enough to mutilate their face and send them blasting in a corkscrew down towards the earth, wings flailing limply in the air.

They crashed against the dirt, dust kicking up behind them as they carved a ravine right through the plateau. When they came to a stop, they were face down in the mud, arms sprawled out at their sides. They'd kept a grip on each of their swords however, and as they slowly pushed themself up onto their hands and knees, they were very thankful for that.

Fuck he hits hard... Chara found themself thinking, rubbing their wrist over their chin to wipe away some of the blood. Red mist was quickly sealing up their face and putting teeth back where they needed to be, healing the damage Anarchy had done with a single strike. But that's fine. I've come back from worse. I can handle this. I have to handle this.

On that note, Chara sprung forward off their hands, swiftly dodging the albino crashing down from above, who landed with a brutal double stomp that shattered earth into a circular crater around him in an instant. He dove out of this crater in the next second, just as Chara stuck the landing on stable ground. As he lunged at their back, they back flipped over him, swiftly yanking both blades back and slashing them in a pincer motion at the Anarchist's back. Unfortunately, all they managed to do was catch the stinger of his tail as it stabbed back at them.

The two stood there for a split second, Anarchy's head snapping back with unnatural quickness to peer through Chara. Then, he spun on his heel, simultaneously yanking his stinger free from the cross of Chara's blades and swiping back at them with his crowbar. With lightning quickness Chara ducked under the crushing swing of Anarchy's Inheritance, grunting furiously as they stabbed the point of each of their blades up through each of his shoulders, crossing them in an X behind his shoulder blades after they shot out his back.

The shredding of his shoulders' muscles made Anarchy's arms fall limp, but that didn't wipe the smile from his face. Quickly he lurched forward, not so much as flinching as he pushed his body down that burning metal, shoving his shoulders down to the hilts of Chara's blade in an instant. This made their eyes widen while they recoiled, but the tail that curled behind them was like a stone wall, and it kept them in range of Anarchy's jaws.

"AGH!" They cried out with pain as those berserker fangs sunk into their shoulder. Bone crunched under The Anarchist's monstrous bite force, and a mad hunger filled his eyes when their blood poured over his tongue. He didn't stop there however, ripping his head back and forth and ripping deeper into their flesh. He was a rabid animal, shredding through muscle and bone. Chara could already feel that arm going limp, it would be worthless until they could get Anarchy off them and let their DETERMINATION heal it.

But the body their blades were trapped in was like stone, torn muscles still finding the will to clench tight around the swords they'd drove through him. As their mind searched for answers, their jaw clenched in pain, feeling Anarchy's jaws dig further through their shoulder. It wouldn't be long until he severed that arm entirely.

Sever.

Suddenly, the red light of their knives disappeared, immediately freeing both weapons from where they were trapped in Anarchy's body. Their right arm dropped limp, but their left lifted its steel right under The Anarchist's chin before he got the chance to pull his fangs from their mutilated shoulder. Then, with a red flash, their blade reignited, instantly blasting up through the throat of The Bastard Son.

Anarchy's head was parted from his shoulders in an instant, remaining latched on lifelessly to Chara's right shoulder as the rest of his body dropped flat on its back with a dull thud. As soon as his tail no longer blocked their path, Chara jumped back, putting a few yards between themself and the corpse.

"... Chew on that, douchebag..." Chara panted as they wrapped their fingers around the back of the severed head that latched on to the steaming flesh of their ruined right arm. Barely wincing, they yanked Anarchy's decapitated skull off them, tossing it over to the unmoving body it came from.

Their eyes narrowed though as they placed a hand over their steaming shoulder, their right sleeve slipping off their arm as their wounds quickly healed themselves. They had chopped Anarchy's head clean off, and yet his soul still burned bright as ever on his chest, not the least bit bothered. It did not rise, it did not tremble, it certainly did not crack.

Then, suddenly, The Anarchist's arms lifted straight up so quickly that Chara flinched. Their teeth grit with frustration and anxiety, watching those arms curl back and rest their hands on the ground behind his their shoulders. Then, the rest of Anarchy's body kicked up, flipping back over those hands and landing perfectly on its feet.

"You're kidding." Chara spoke more to themself than anyone, disbelief in their voice. They regained feeling in their right hand's fingers, which tightened around their right hand's knife. They held this second blade out to their side, and with a crackle of their electric aura, the fiery red of that blade burst to life. Their wide and disturbed eyes never left Anarchy's body, which was stumbling back and forth now. Its arms lifted straight up, letting his crowbar drop back down his sleeve before it began patting around the bloody stump on its shoulders like some freaky cartoon character searching for its head.

Then, the gash on those shoulders began to bubble and steam. Flesh grew and shaped in a display that Chara could only describe as sickening, and as Anarchy's throat reformed, vocal cords began to vibrate loudly. But, with no mouth yet to voice those screams, they were muffled in flesh. Anarchy's fingers dug into this bubbling mass of viscera, as if he were really trying to pull another head out of his shoulders. More horrific than that was that, though creation never should work in such a way, it seemed he was willing it so.

His neck bulged out in a nauseating manner, and his fingers dug thoughtlessly through the bubbling wound atop his throat until finally they wrapped around tresses of white hair stained with scarlet. From there, his hands began to pull, and Chara felt their lunch trying to creep back up their esophagus as that massive bulb in Anarchy's throat shifted and twitched. Flesh snapped like elastic, and then something gave.

With bone chilling crunches and slurps, those calloused hands pulled roughly, and Anarchy ripped a replacement head out from his shoulders. Blood flung from his soaked hair, and the eyes of his crimson mask snapped open, blinking once or twice. The first thing he did was gasp loudly, throwing his ruby dripping hands out to his sides while a grin curled his red painted face. "AAAAHHH! Born again!

Lightning struck in an instant, Chara using their superior speed to cross the distance and slam their boot so deep in his gut that his back bulged out. Then, after a split second where it seemed everything paused, the force carried through, and Anarchy was sent launching back through the air. He soared through over the earth, his body curved like a C before he hit the ground. He bounced, flipped and skidded over the dirt, kicking up brown smog and grass chunks before eventually landing on two feet and both hands. He skidded rapidly, his powerful fingers digging ten lines through the dirt and the toes of his shoes adding two more, wider skids in the mud.

Narrowing their eyes with chilling precision, Chara bent their knees, before firing forward. They were electric, crackling across the ground faster than the eye could see. They zig zagged before diving in a speedy drop kick towards Anarchy, who threw his body up like a rag doll, lifting his forearm. Just before Chara's kick connected, a sapphire shield appeared between their foot and The Anarchist's forearm, unshaking as it took the full force of their 90 mile an hour kick.

Anarchy didn't budge, and Chara was quick to push off from his shield, back flipping off of it and landing a few feet from Anarchy, crouched and spring loaded. Their ruby eyes squinted at the symbol that marked The Anarchist's shield, and they scowled. The Deltarune, adorning a freak like him? It disgusted them.

"You don't deserve that shield." Chara spoke as they straightened their back, standing to their full height. They lifted their crackling sabers, crossing them out in front of them. Then, their aura flared, red light jumping around them and lifting their hair gently in an updraft.

"... Buddy..." Chara's words curved Anarchy's grin into a frown surprisingly quick, and as he lifted his shield over his chest, the manic glee faded from his eyes. In its place was darkness, a predatory shade unhesitating to kill. His other hand was held out to his side, and his crowbar slide from his sleeve down into his grip. Then, his jaw clenched, and a scorching red flame ignited over his left eye with his furious expression. "You don't know what I had to sacrifice to get this shield."

"Let me guess." Chara bent their knees some, eyes narrowing venomously as they prepared to strike. "Somebody had to die."

Anarchy smiled at that, flicking his crowbar out to the side. Along the metal those dirty little black maggots crawled, writhing in their filth. They squirmed along his fingers, and he welcomed them with ease and comfort. "Three somebodies, actually."

On that note, Anarchy's tail launched over his head, curling down and stabbing at Chara, who jumped over it, letting its poison jab into the dirt. They spun like a drill in air, pulling both blades out to their side as they picked up momentum. Ruby voltage jumped between their swords, before they hacked into the steel like chitin of The Anarchist's tail. Their teeth ground with exertion, forcing their sabers through Anarchy's stinger like butter knives through a steel beam.

With a primal roar Chara's DETERMINATION flared, and the fires of their soul exploded out from their blades, super heating them. With this extra power they finished carving through The Scorpion's tail, dropping from the air and onto one knee as the stinger dropped to the earth, writhing and flopping like a headless chicken. The remaining half of the tail slipped almost instantly back into The Anarchist's tail bone, as though it had a mind of its own.

Chara wasted no time, jumping from their knee and lunging out at Anarchy, stabbing at him with both of their burning points. With terrible force he batted their strike aside with his shield however, Chara's eyes widening as their upper body was sent spinning to the left. They thought quickly, jumping and moving with the force of Anarchy's blow to swing their leg at his head.

Instantly Anarchy lifted the arm that lacked a shield, catching their shin on his forearm. His fingers on that hand released his crowbar, and he coiled his arm around Chara's leg, gripping their knee harshly to ensure they would not escape. As his shield bearing arm caught his crowbar before it could hit the ground, he turned sharply, yanking Chara by the leg right over his head. Brutally he whipped them right down to his feet, smashing them into the unforgiving earth and sending cracks shattering across the ground from Chara's impact.

Chara's eyes went wide, feeling the wind blasting up from their lungs and out of their gaping maw from their hellacious impact. But, as their body bounced back up from the person shaped divot they had created, they moved fast, reaching back and pressing their knuckles to the ground behind them. As Anarchy yanked his crowbar - now in his left and nonshieldbearing hand again - over his head, Chara flipped back up onto their hands and one knee, just barely faster than the crowbar that cracked into the earth where they'd just been.

Swiftly they lunged upwards, Anarchy leaning over before them after his swing. They smashed their knee into his jaw, throwing his head back and sending him stumbling back a few steps as they landed on their feet in front of him. While he recoiled, Chara darted forward once more, yanking one saber back and stabbing right for his face.

Anarchy moved fast however, tilting his head to the side and letting their sword slice just by his cheek, removing a few white strands from his mane of hair. Then he swung his head forward, Chara's eyes widening as he crashed his skull into theirs and made them recoil. Stomping forward, Anarchy then yanked up his knee while Chara's face was still scrunched with pain, slamming it into their chin and throwing their head back. The force was so great that it lifted them from their feet, and while they were suspended in air, Anarchy pulled his crowbar as far back as he could.

With maximum torque he smashed the cruel steel of his Inheritance into Chara's abdomen, and that made their eyes snap wide open. Bones shattered loudly, and they were sent blasting back through the air, body taking on a C's shape as they folded around their crushed rib cage. Their eyes were momentarily entirely white, and from their agape mouth blood spewed up, jetting through the air.

Finally, they smacked back first into a boulder, head whiplashing back and cracking the stone with the back of their skull. Momentarily they folded, sputtering and resting one hand over their healing abdomen. As they coughed and puked more red onto their shirt, hair drooped over their face, shadowing their eyes.

Anarchy didn't waste this opportunity, yanking his shield bearing arm back before whipping it forward. From his arm his shield flung, spinning like a saw through the air towards Chara's head. But, when the sound of it slicing through the air reached their ears, one of Chara's pained eyes darted up, spotting the shield rapidly closing the distance.

Instantly they lurched to the side, letting the sharp edge of Anarchy's shield crash into the boulder they were leaned against, sticking right into the stone and stopping dead. Chara's eyes darted to where the shield was stuck, assessed that it would have decapitated them if they hadn't ducked, and then turned their glare to The Anarchist.

Chara's soul flared, and they planted their foot, pushing from it right into a dead sprint towards Anarchy. Electricity crackled along their body, and their right eye flared bright. With one hand on their still aching abdomen, they shut the distance between the two in the blink of an eye, lunging at a surprised Anarchist and pulling back their red shining knife with a primal roar.

Satisfaction appeared on Chara's face, twinkled in their eyes when they watched their blade stab right through the center of Anarchy's face, splitting his nose down the middle and opening the space between his beady eyes. The saber pushed out the back of his head, blood steaming from its piping hot blade.

Anarchy's eyes rolled out of sink with one another as his body almost seemed to go limp, leaning back. But then, those eyes snapped right back into focus, making Chara recoil as the ruby of Anarchy's orbs locked on to them. Then, Anarchy planted his feet, catching himself. His arms lunged out like pincers, snapping in a vice grip around Chara's extended arm before they got the chance to pull away.

SNAP!

"AUGH!" Chara shouted with agony as he snapped their arm down like cheap plastic, reversing its shape into some unfortunate boomerang and making them let go of the blade they had buried in his skull. Then, he spun, dragging them by their shattered limb in a 360 and yeeting them back from once they came with breakneck speed.

Chara shot back across the plain, holding their arm close to their core while they glared painfully back at the man who threw them. But, before they could impact that boulder brutally again, they flipped in air, landing feet first against the stone. The force of their impact cracked the rock as well as made them wince, forcing them to bend their knees. But then, when the momentum stopped carrying them, they dropped, landing on the shield that had been planted below them on the rock and breaking it free before they landed flat on their face.

With the energy having left Chara's weapon, it returned to a knife sticking in Anarchy's face. He reached up, blood dripping down in two thick streams along his cheeks from the massive gash. He wrapped his ivory fingers around the knife's handle, and his eyes rolled back like he was scratching an itch as he slowly slipped the steel back out from his face. Once the metal was out of his brain, he shivered violently for a second or two, his nervous system readjusting and the wound that split his head sealing in a few short moments.

"BrrRRrrRRRrrrRR!" Anarchy exclaimed with flappy lips as he finished his shaking. Then, he blinked his eyes wide a few times, his pupils dilating. "WOO!"

"Nice shot, sidekick." Anarchy complimented as he held Chara's knife out to his side, his eyes glossing back to them. They were just getting up to their knees, panting lightly as they glared at him. The furious fight in their eyes made Anarchy grin, and his fingers tightened around Chara's knife, flaring with red energy. Suddenly, crimson light blasted back up the blood stained steel, Anarchy's own DETERMINATION forming a scarlet saber. It was coiled however, wrong and uneven in its shape. Its edges were jagged, and it came to a sharp point. "I really felt that one. You should be proud."

"Fuck... You..." Chara spat, wincing as they snapped their arm back into its correct shape. Gradually they climbed to their feet, healing crimson flames crackling along their elbow as well as their abdomen. They were still healing but it was getting slower. They worried for how many more times they'd be able to defy death for a split second, before growling to themself. They'd just have to stop getting hit, then.

"You're stronger than me, Chara."

If I can't stop him, nobody can..! Chara ground their teeth, holding their one remaining blade out to their side. At their feet Anarchy's shield rested, and they stomped on its edge, sending it flipping up into the air and catching it on the arm of their free hand. Which means he can't get by me. I have to win.

Anarchy's eyes narrowed, watching them wear his shield. They lowered their stance, holding their defense in front of them and pointing their blade over top of it. Anarchy's grin once more deepened into a frown, and he rose his crowbar to one side and his twisted saber to the other. Then, instantly, the ground beneath him shattered, and he launched himself forward, pulling his Inheritance up over his head and clubbing down at Chara the moment he reached them.

They clenched their jaw, lifting that shield and stopping Anarchy's crowbar against the unbreakable sapphire. The ground tremored beneath their feet as the force carried through, but they refused to budge, shoving Anarchy's crowbar off to the side with his shield and jabbing their blade right for his head again. Anarchy swung his gnarled sword upwards however, knocking their stab straight up. From there he pulled the spike of this malformed weapon back, stabbing for Chara's chest.

But Chara shifted their footing, dodging the stab and spinning around, gaining momentum quickly before bashing that shield into the face of The Anarchist and making him recoil. Blood spurted from his broken nostrils and his face reflexively scrunched, giving Chara the opportunity to stomp forward and drive their blade right through his sternum.

The searing energy of their sword drove clean in Anarchy's front and out his back, forcing more scarlet streams to spew up from between his grinding teeth and spatter down his chin. Having learned their lesson from previous stabs however, Chara immediately yanked their blade back out from Anarchy's chest, flecking red in a line across the ground and making him stumble back a step. Next Chara jumped into the air and pulled both knees to their chest, following up with a shotgun dropkick right into Anarchy's bleeding chest.

The force of that kick sent Anarchy flinging back a few yards, but he flipped in air, his chest resealing by the time he landed on his feet. Without hesitation he yanked back his gnarly blade of his DETERMINATION, snarling as he shitwhipped it overhand at Chara. The Ascended Heir cocked back their shield arm at the same time, launching the sapphire guard in the same manner Anarchy had thrown it earlier back towards him.

Chara ducked to the side, reaching up with their spare hand as that javelin drove through the air over their shoulder and catching it by its handle. At the same time Anarchy threw his fist out, effortlessly slinging that shield right back onto his arm despite the velocity with which it had been racing towards him. And at the same time that he pulled this shield back towards himself and pointed his crowbar out towards Chara, their DETERMINATION shattered the taint from the saber they had just gotten back, returning it to its original form and making it identical to their other sword.

Just as Anarchy lunged forward at Chara, their knees bent, and with a pulse of electricity, they darted away, Anarchy's crowbar crashing through nothing but dirt. His eyes lifted with some confusion, just barely catching the Ascended Heir darting with lightning speed all around him. They circled, zigged and zagged, never standing still long enough for an image to be made out. Then, suddenly, they struck another drop kick into his back.

The force of this kick made The Anarchist snarl, being forced to stumble forward a few feet. But, by the time he swiped his crowbar back where the strike had came from, his attacker was gone. But the moment his crowbar swinging arm was extended, lightning struck again, and Anarchy's eyes widened gleefully. Madness flickering in his tainted ruby orbs, he watched his forearm detach from his body, flinging up into the air. He looked thrilled by the fact that someone was outdoing him, never flinching from the pain of having a limb chopped clean off.

He watched Chara zip by, those joyous eyes darting to and fro to try and catch up with The Ascended Heir. But these efforts proved fruitless when lightning struck a third time, and Anarchy's shield baring arm was separated at the shoulder, Chara launching ahead of him before it even hit the ground. From there, Chara blasted straight at him, slamming their heel right into his jaw with a thunderous kick.

Anarchy was sent firing back through the air along with a few of his teeth, but as he sailed over the earth, he flipped, landing on the balls of his feet and rapidly sliding back through the dirt. His jaws snapped open, blood pouring down the whole bottom half of his face through his broken nose and teeth. Still, he cackled into the lightning storm that cracked ever closer, continuing those fast and confusing patterns. "Neat trick!"

"But I've seen it," Then, suddenly, Anarchy turned, yanking one knee up to his chest. As lightning tried for one more strike, he blasted a kick out into the whipping winds. And with a crash Chara was stunned on his shoe, doubling over and hacking blood through the air. "BEFORE!"

Chara fired back through the air, eyes clenched shut tight and wings flailing uselessly around them. Anarchy didn't waste any time, flames scorching out over the earth beneath him before he suddenly launched himself forward, racing right after Chara. He yanked back what stub remained of one of his arms, and a scarlet fire ignited over the blood gushing wound. Then, almost instantly, bone shot from the stump, coiling with sickening snaps into the shape of an arm. As phalanges formed on a regenerating hand, muscles coiled around the fresh bones, veins pumping fresh blood and bringing this arm to life.

Chara managed to open one eye, and their pupils shrunk with terror as they watched Anarchy pull back this bony, muscle mess of an arm. Thinking fast, they crossed their blades in a guard in front of them, and Anarchy fearlessly threw this new fist forward before skin had even formed over his new knuckles. With a roar, he forced his punch right through Chara's blades, shattering the crimson steel and stunning Chara.

Anarchy's one hand raced right through the flinging shards of Chara's weaponry, grabbing a fistful of their hair and yanking them back. Anarchy pulled Chara into a skull shattering headbutt, and The Ascended Heir's eyes were wide and entirely white as blood spilled down their now split open forehead.

Then, Anarchy landed on his feet, releasing Chara's hair and letting them continue to fling forward, only to snatch them by the ankle before they could get too far. He skidded to a stop with them in two, and this whiplash pause in motion made Chara's limp arms fling back, hands releasing what were now just knives and letting them fling off across the plateau.

Anarchy was cackling, laughing loud as could be as he pulled Chara up over his head, before smashing them back down into the ground. Their all white eyes twitched with pain, mouth hanging open as they were pulled right back up into the air. Anarchy smashed them down to his right this time, then pulled them up again, smashing them into the dirt in front of him. The only thing they heard was his nonstop hysterical laughter as he smashed them up and down, crushing in the ground with their limp body again and again.

"C'MON SIDEKICK! WHERE'D ALL THAT FIGHT GO?!" Anarchy screamed his joy through his giggling, shock waves thundering time and time again as he flung Chara back and forth. His other arm was quickly reforming in the same sickening manner as the first, muscles coiling up the tips of his digits just before skin slipped over them. "I WAS JUST STARTIN' TO LOOSEN UP!"

"Don't! You! Fucking! Die!" Anarchy spoke through his grinding fangs, his blood soaked face twisting in a berserk grin. Finally, he cracked them down into the earth and let go of their ankle, cocking back his opposite fist. The force of his slam bounced Chara right back up, and Anarchy swung his entire body with his punch, smashing his knuckles right into their jaw and sending them firing across the plateau.

Chara hit the ground and rolled, flipping and skidding and ragdolling until finally the friction from the dirt they were shredding across slowed them to a stop. Their wings having receded back into their shoulders, they had stopped sliding right at the edge of Mount Ebbot's crater, earth still scorched from The Angel's wrath. They'd once thought that hole would be their tomb, but now as they were forcing their aching body to its hands and knees, they feared they had been right back then.

Blood trickling down their face from their split forehead, broken nose, and split lip, they managed to turn their head to spot Chaos Incarnate. He sauntered across the plain with slow, deliberate steps. The wind was picking up again, the earth was shivering with fear. Shadows slithered over Anarchy's face, which was still dripping his endless crimson, left over from all the wounds he'd healed in an instant.

In his shifting darkness, The Anarchist was hard to see. Chara had to squint, glaring into the glowing red eyes that shun through the shadows of his face. Chara saw many things slithering in the corners of their eyes. Anarchy flickered and changed in the dark, but those red eyes never did. Chara's jaw clenched, eyes twitching with reserved horror. Such a deep red were those eyes. They had seen them before. They had hated them before.

"Get up, sidekick." Anarchy ordered in a low, gravely voice. His carnivorous eyes never blinked, never moved. They just stared with ultrafocus, all of his cruelty aimed right at them. Eagerly his hands curled into fists. "We're not done."

M-... Move... I need to move... Chara thought to themself, wincing as they slowly got one foot under themself. Still they were on one knee, but they desperately pushed their aching body harder. Their DETERMINATION worked slowly, spread thin through the many bones Anarchy had shattered with the brutality of his latest attack. I can't lose...

"Hurry up." Anarchy ordered a little more assertively, scarlet soaked teeth grinding against one another. Furiously his red soul burned, frustration clear in his beastly eyes. "You can't just be chopping my arms of one second and then fold completely the next. I was just starting to have fun!"

H-he's gonna... Hurt Angel if I lose... Chara clenched their eyes shut tight, ignoring the screams and pleas of their body to stop. Planting one hand atop their risen knee and the other in the dirt, their body trembled, slowly rising from the dirt.

"C'mon punching bag!" Anarchy had closed the distance, and he loomed over them now. Condescendingly he held his arms out to his sides, leaving himself wide open. "Stand up so I can keep hitting you!"

... Which means I can't lose... Hands balling into fists in the dirt, Chara forced their DETERMINATION to flare. On their chest their soul burned brightly, and along their body electricity was flickering. I can't give up..!

"That's it, you got it!" Anarchy continued to berate, leaning over them and grinning. His shade fell over them, his smile plastered on the shadow's lack of a face as well. "C'mon, you were doing great! Don't give up now!"

Not now..! Growling ferociously, Chara reached up, grabbing a handful of Anarchy's shirt in their fist. They used him as leverage, slowly pulling themself up to both feet. All the while they stared straight up at him, hair covering their left eye and DETERMINATION making their right burn through the dark. Not ever!

"There you go, sidekick! Come on!" Anarchy laughed in the face of their glare, keeping his arms out to the side. He even turned his cheek to the side, his maniac left eye never leaving Chara. They never saw it blink, either. "I'll even give you the first shot!"

Chara snarled at that, twisting the shirt that they held and pulling Anarchy up slightly by the collar. He didn't stop his giggling though, not even when they cocked back their other fist, and their electric aura crackled to life. Voltage jumped over their knuckles, lightning climbed rapidly across their arm. Then, with a primal roar, Chara launched their fist forward, all their DETERMINATION channeling through their knuckles.

Anarchy's head was pushed to a tilt, but Chara held him tight by the collar to make sure he caught every bit of force on their punch. His eyebrows rose while his cheek split, a sting settling in over the side of his face. He looked a little surprised for a moment, but then his lips curled up again, and his cruel pupil darted back to Chara from the corner of its eye. "... That's it-?"

"HAH!" Chara suddenly exclaimed, the fires of their soul exploding through their body. Their DETERMINATION channeled out of their fist and right into Anarchy's body, the sudden sensation jarring him. This feeling was immediately followed by stabbing pain when blades not unlike Chara's swords suddenly began blasting out from his skin. They formed inside his body and stabbed their way out, crimson steel jutting out of him left and right. His leg bent, a blade darting out from the side of his knee. Four more spiked out of his back, and three from his abdomen. From both thighs and both shins they protruded. One blasted out on either side of his chest, and from both biceps.

Anarchy's eyes were wide now, pupils shrunken and distant. The moment Chara let go of his collar, his body slumped backwards to fall. But Chara was far from done. Before Anarchy could hit the ground, they spun, raising one foot and slamming a roundhouse kick right into his jaw, sending him stumbling back on spaghetti legs. The Ascended Heir stomped forward and cocked back another fist, rocking him with a right hook. A left handed upper cut connected next, throwing his head back.

But before Anarchy could fall flat on his ass, they grabbed him with both hands this time by the collar, cocking their head back and yanking his forward. With fire in their eyes they bashed their forehead into his with their own earth shattering headbutt, the force of which sent a gust of wind blasting out around the two. Blood spilled down the both of their foreheads, and hairline fractures split their skulls.

Finally, Chara dropped Anarchy, and as he fell towards the ground, the DETERMINATION blades sticking out of him shattered to pieces, leaving massive gashes in their wake. Chara put up their fists in spite of their gasping breaths though, sweat and blood alike trickling down their face. Their eyes never left Anarchy for a second, focusing on the wicked soul on his chest. Once more it mocked their efforts, never showing any signs of cracking.

"... Get up, bitch..." Chara finally spoke, their mouth hanging open to suck air. Despite the tremors of their exhausted body, the fight never once considered leaving their eyes. Their fists never unclenched, their stance never teetered. "Stand up, so I can keep hitting you..."

In an instant Anarchy's body moved, life springing into what - to an unsuspecting eye - looked like a corpse a moment ago. He yanked his knees up to his chest, kicking them out and springing right up to his feet. In this same motion he locked his hands together over his head, swinging down the moment he reached his feet and cracking his intertwined fists across the top of Chara's head like a hammer. The force of this strike sent cracks spiderwebbing through the earth beneath Chara as their knees were forced to bend, shadows concealing their eyes momentarily.

Chara refused to fall however, the furious red of their eyes piercing the dark that tried to consume their face. Instinctively they pulled their right fist back, firing it right up into Anarchy's gut with enough force to make his eyes bulge out of his head, doubling over their fist as wind blasted out of his back from the impact. Then, Chara whipped their lowered head right back up, smashing the back of their skull into his chin and making him recoil, standing up straight and leaning back.

Chara pulled back a left hook this time, but when they threw it, Anarchy ducked to the side of it, cocking back and smashing his elbow into Chara's nose with a sickening snap. They didn't let this slow them down though, batting Anarchy's still extended arm aside and hammering their knuckles right into his own nose, earning a similar snap.

Berserk rage flaring in his wide eyes, both of Anarchy's arms suddenly swung up, wrapping around Chara and yanking them in. He pulled them against his chest with crushing force, trapping them in a bear hug. His fingers gripped one another behind their back, and they threw their head back and shouted with pain, feeling their skeleton beginning to creak and groan under The Anarchist's pressure.

Anarchy cackled wickedly, psycho eyes watching the pain grow on their expression. His grin carved a valley across his face, deeper and deeper the more force he crushed around Chara. Roaring with pain, Chara forced one eye open, fury and fighting spirit still burning in their heart. Without hesitation they yanked their skull back, cracking their forehead against Anarchy's again. Chaos Incarnate didn't budge this time, not even as they repeated the motion and headbutted him another time. Scarlet ichor now trickling from his reopened forehead, his bloodshot eyes stayed wide open. His maw was open in the same manner, screaming his laughter right into Chara's face.

Fed up, Chara lurched forward, sinking their teeth into Anarchy's forehead. Their bottom jaw hooked just under his eyebrow, cutting up into his eyelid while their top row of teeth sunk into The Anarchist's ivory hairline, drawing out more of his blood. This got Anarchy's attention, making him grunt and snarl as more and more bite force bared down on his skull. He stumbled to and fro, shaking Chara around to get them to let go. When they didn't, he released his bear hug, letting go of their body and deciding to let gravity drag them off.

They reached up instantly however, latching one hand onto his shoulder and yanking back their opposite fist as they clung onto him. Savage will in Chara's eyes, they started hammering punches into Anarchy's ear, jaws never unhooking from his head.

"God! Damn! Gremlin!" Anarchy snarled with frustration, pulling both open palms back to his sides. Then, he thrust them upward, smashing a bone splitting dual palm strike into Chara's abdomen and launching them right off of him. Chara flung back a few yards, before landing hard on their side. They immediately opened their mouth to puke crimson bile. The instant they finished vomiting, their eyes snapped back to Anarchy, who was stomping towards them.

Veins pumping adrenaline and nothing else, Chara shoved themself right off the ground and into a dead sprint. They ran low to the ground, slamming their shoulder into his abdomen like they were attempting some kind of football tackle. While this strike did not knock Anarchy down, it certainly made him lurch forward, a guttural 'Oof!' jumping out of his throat with all the wind in his lungs.

Wrathful eyes darting down to Chara, who was still leaned forward with their shoulder planted in his ribs, Anarchy's arms once again snapped down. With a vice grip he grabbed Chara by the waist, before pulling them up and flipping them right around. Their knees resting briefly on his shoulders, he pulled them high over his head, before power bombing them right down onto their back with enough force to send a shock wave blasting out around the two, the earth blasting into a shallow crater under Chara's body.

Before Chara even got the chance to react Anarchy dropped both of his knees down on their chest, making their winced shut eyes snap right open and their head lurch up, only to get caught on the cheek with a punch. This bounced their head right into a fist swinging in from the other direction, which swung them back into the first fist. Now Anarchy was pin balling their head back and forth between his knuckles, growling and snarling like some freak beast from deep in the woods.

Finally Anarchy stopped clobbering them with his fists, letting their head drop back limp. Their concussed brain flickered in and out of consciousness, dilating pupils staring right up at the pink and orange sky. The sun was starting to set. The sky looked beautiful. Not that they were able to appreciate it for long, because Anarchy wrapped his large hand around their face. He pulled their head up, and then smashed it back into the ground like he was attempting to crack an egg.

Not releasing their face, The Anarchist moved his knees off their chest, climbing to his feet with a short grunt. He dragged them up off the ground, lifting them over his head. Their body dangled limp, and he could feel them gasping for air under his palm. Suddenly, he released them, spinning as they dropped and catching them in the solar plexus with a spinning back elbow so forceful that it sent them rocketing back towards that crater. The music faded out.

Chara flung for awhile before they hit the ground and rolled for even longer, finally tumbling in a twisted mess to the rim of the crater. Their left arm dangled limp over the edge, and their eyes stared blankly ahead as they laid on the side of their face. For a few seconds they were hardly conscious at all, but eventually a voice brought them back to the task at hand.

"... You fought hard, sidekick. Harder than anyone else ever has." The psychotic glimmer had left Anarchy's eyes as he sauntered closer, expression devoid of both anger and joy. There was no love, there was no hate. Hands now buried casually in his pockets, Anarchy watched them twitch weakly with life. "You were stronger, lasted longer than everybody else. You even made me forget why I came here for a few minutes there."

"You should be proud of that. You would have been the greatest ever..." Anarchy stopped walking, now looming over them. He removed one hand from his pocket as he leaned down, calmly grabbing a fistful of their hair and beginning to tug at it, lifting their limp head. "... If only I wasn't around."

"But, unfortunately, today is my special day. Not yours." Chara winced as Anarchy dragged them slowly to their feet by the hair. With shaky hands they managed to reach up, gripping the hand that restrained them. Their feet were hardly touching the ground, on the tips of their tippy toes. With eyes half open, they glared weakly down at The Anarchist, thin streams of DETERMINATION still flickering along the larger cuts and gashes on their face. "And I came here for one reason. So are you gonna tell me where Angel is or not?"

"... Eat my... Entirely hypothetical... Dick..." Chara managed to say through their pained gasps, light flickering in and out of their eyes. Their defiance made Anarchy smile in a way that was half cruel and half amused, and he began again.

"I figured it'd be a no. You stick to your guns; that's what I like about you." Tilting his head to the side some, Anarchy's smile widened a little more. He stared at their face, got a good look at it. He stored it away in his selective memory, and then he gave his million dollar question. "Tell me... What's you're name?"

Haaawwk! PTEW!

"H-heheh... Hehehehe..." Chara laughed weakly, split lips curling into a smile now that they saw Anarchy's frown. They had spat a mouthful of bloody saliva right into his eye to answer his question, and now his smile had become a deep frown, his eye forced shut. Spittle dribbled down his face, and one of his brows twitched furiously. Chara mocked, "... Wouldn't you like to know... Hehehe..."

". . ." Anarchy was quiet for several long seconds, before he slowly drew in a deep breath through his nose. Then, he paused again, before suddenly tossing Chara's limp body right down the crater behind them like they were worthless to him. Then he exhaled just as calmly, and slowly reached up to wipe the spit off his face.

Chara tumbled powerlessly down the slope of the crater until they finally reached its bottom for the second time in their life. They laid there for a moment, clutching their eyes shut tight. But then, their hand felt around in the dirt, and their fingers glossed over a stick. It had likely just been blown from one of the trees at some point, having tumbled much like them into this hole to die. Shakily their knuckles coiled around this old bramble, accepting it as their only weapon.

Grunting painfully, Chara planted their free hand in the mud, body trembling as they pushed their palm down. Slowly they forced the lead weight of their limbs to cooperate, sliding one knee up under themself and lifting the other, resting an elbow across it. They gasped for breath after all that exertion, lifting their head some to look between the blood stained hair strands that dangled in front of their face and at the rim of their crater.

Directly ahead of them Anarchy stood, looking down from the high ground with contempt burning in his ruby eyes. That giggling darkness contrasted his fury, Chara watching as worms slowly slithered up to the ledge of the crater, all their gnarled maws pointing down towards them. Filthy tongues flecked out into the air, catching the scent of Chara's blood.

"... Well?" Chara managed to call out, their voice ringing surprisingly loud and powerful. They pushed off from their knee, growling quietly to themself over the pain as they rose one more time to their feet, against all odds. Their ruby orbs scanned the surrounding halo of monsters, spotting the uncountable number of wriggling, giggling beasts. And yet they still held their stick out to the side, as though they truly believed they could and would cleave through each of these creatures and The Anarchist with it. DETERMINATION burning bright, they glared right up at Anarchy, jaws snapping furiously as they shouted. "BRING IT ON! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!"

Frown carving deeper into his face, Anarchy pushed both hands into his pockets. He leaned his head back some, watching Chara stand defiant for two or three long seconds. Then, finally, in a bitter and dark voice, he gave his order.

"Eat 'em from the feet up."

Giggling turned into full blown hysterical laughter when the worms heard that order, and all at once they blasted down over the slope, circling a mile a minute towards Chara. The Ascended Heir never flinched, instead stomping one foot down and letting their eyes dart around for whichever monstrosity they would have to kill first. Heart thudding in their chest and pumping even more adrenaline through their veins, their blood stained maw continued to shout challenge. "COME OOONN!"

Whoosh!

Anarchy's eyes snapped open wide as wind blasted by the side of his head, whipping his mane of ivory to and fro. A small, black droplet had splattered across his cheek, and his expression was no longer furious, rage replaced by bewilderment and complete confusion. His scarlet spheres slowly scanned the crater, only to find that his worms were just as confused as he. They turned their heads from side to side in a search for their prey, tongues flicking uselessly past their jaws to try and find the scent of blood that had been there just seconds prior.

Anarchy skeptically lifted his hand from his pocket, and carefully ran his thumb over the little streak that had appeared on his cheek when air blasted over his shoulder. After wiping the liquid onto his thumb, he pulled it into his line of vision, and his white eyebrows furrowed a little at the sight of a dark, inky substance.

And then, slowly, pensively, he began to turn. He looked gradually over his shoulder, and his eyes started to widen. A hopeful, joyous light shun through all the murder and rage and madness, giving his rubies a beautiful luster. His blood soaked lips curled happily, splitting to reveal his many jagged fangs in an open mouthed grin. He pivoted, turned all the way around, and stared giddily across the plateau at a back adorned with four wings and branded by the Deltarune.

"H-huh..?" Chara blinked a few times, shifting with confusion in my arms. I had one arm behind their head and shoulders and the other behind their knees, carrying their beaten up body carefully. Finally, their crimson eyes traced up the scar of my chest and the burning red soul beside it, all the way to my face and my now matching eyes. This made their bruised orbs widen slowly, their jaw hanging open some. "A-... Angel..?"

"Are you okay?" I asked with a calm and quiet voice, my expression remaining mostly stoic. There was a hint of warmth in my colder eyes however, a pinch of worry in my tone.

"U-uhh... Well..." Chara had to blink a few times, staring bewildered into my face. Their mouth moved silently for a few seconds like they were trying to form words. Finally, they shook their head, jumbling their likely concussed mind together. "I'm, not gonna lie, Angel... I've been better..."

The corner of my mouth curled up just a little, and I carefully knelt down. Delicately I set Chara's beaten up form on the ground, remaining on one knee beside them. They too smiled some when they saw me smile; I could tell they were relieved. I was too. Seeing them here and now, the image of them dead on the floor in the depths of my nightmares faded from the inside of my eyelids.

"You did great today, Chara." I reached out, placing a hand on their shoulder. My eyes never left theirs, even as some surprise flashed on their face from my words. "I'm proud of you."

"I-I... Well... I..." Chara stammered, eyes darting to the side as a light red shade flickered between the black and blue colors on their cheeks. They wouldn't say it, but I think a part of them had desperately wanted - maybe even needed - to hear me say that. And I don't think they knew that until I actually said it. They denied that theory though with an embarrassed mumble. "I-it was nothing, really..."

"Here." I reached out a hand to them, laying my palm flat. After a second, a cinnamon bunny appeared in my grasp, catching Chara's attention. "Take this, it looks like you could use it."

"... T-thanks..." Chara spoke, clearly still shaken up. I couldn't imagine speaking was particularly easy for them either, what with how damaged they were. Still, they reached out and took the item from my hand with aching fingers.

"I'll handle things from here." I spoke calmly as I pushed easily back to my feet, standing over Chara. They were mid chew when I said that, and they jumped like they'd almost choked, immediately mumbling through their mouthful in protest. This made me pause, arching a brow down at them.

"W-wait, Cter!" Chara objected the moment they swallowed hard, wincing and lifting one hand. They shook their head some, like they were trying to help the food go down. Already they were looking a little more energized and like their pain was dulling, but they were too focused on me to notice. "Y-you can't fight him, he's way too strong!"

"I appreciate the concern, but I've got it, Chara." I was distant, not seeming particularly phased one way or another by the world around me. This clearly unnerved Chara in a way; I wasn't normally like this. I was normally stupid, weak willed. Now I was focused, DETERMINED. "You need to get out of here."

"W-what..? N-no, Cter, listen to me!" Chara tried to stand, but suddenly grunted, wincing with pain. They dropped down to one knee, grabbing at the stabbing pain in their abdomen. I squinted bitterly at the sight of this, my hands clenching into fists at my sides with reserved fury. But just as I was about to turn to aim this rage at the damned albino across the plateau, Chara's hand darted out, snagging my pant leg and keeping my attention on them.

"Anarchy, he's... I cut his head off, and he pulled another one out of his shoulders, Angel!" Chara's eyes darted up to mine. They were wide with worry, pupils shrunken in fear for me. That was strange to me. Even after all this time, it still hardly added up in my brain. It was foreign, that a person could show such fear for my own well being. "You can't take him alone! No one can!"

"Chara, I'm not letting you fight him any longer." I blinked calmly down at them, my eyes admittedly cold. I was never good at expressing my feelings, least of all now. "I have to fight him alone."

"... No. You don't." Chara objected, and I arched a brow again, once more mildly confused. But then, they lifted their hand, and my eyebrows rose with some surprise. Over their palm a shining red light manifested. It took shape quickly, forming a crimson heart. Chara held their soul out to me, a hopeful and DETERMINED gleam in their eye. "Together, Angel. Together we're stronger than he is..! I-I know it!"

"..." Slowly, I lowered myself down onto one knee again. I got onto Chara's level, kneeling with them. The light of their soul reflected in both of our eyes, and I reached up slowly with both hands. My fingers neared their ruby heart, but stopped instead at their hands. I gently took their fingers in my own, curling them back into a fist so as to retract their offer for them. When I did, the light of their soul faded, returning into their chest.

"B-but..." Chara's brows furrowed like they really didn't understand. But then, their eyes widened some when I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around them and pulling them tight to my chest in a hug. "O-oh!"

"..." I rested my chin on their shoulder, eyes narrowing painfully into the distance while I held them. My hands balled into fists full with the back of their torn up shirt, and I squeezed them a little tighter than I probably should have with their injuries. But, they never objected. If I did hurt them, they never made it know to me.

"Angel..?" They asked quietly, slowly rubbing their hands along my back. Or, what they could touch, anyway. They kept their fingers away from the burning heat of my Deltarune brand, as well as the four bases of my four wings.

"... I was terrified." I finally spoke, pupils shrinking in my distant eyes. "I thought... I thought I was gonna get here, and I was going to be too late. I wouldn't be fast enough again, I wouldn't be strong enough again, I-I..."

"Angel, hey... It's okay." They assured me quietly, hugging me a little tighter as well. There was worry in their own eyes, my fearful tone catching them slightly off guard. "I'm alive. I'm right here. You got here in time, it's okay... I'm safe..."

"... No you aren't." I said after a pause, lifting my head some to look into the darkening sky. I could hear it now, the slithering shadows. The giggling evil. I could feel Anny's glare like the crushing weight of all my sins, smashing right into my back. "Because Anarchy's still here."

"..." Chara's eyes lifted from my back, narrowing pensively at the looming Anarchist. He stood there, waiting patiently for my attention. A worm slithered obediently up on either side of him. In one's maw it held his crowbar, and the other held his shield. They returned his weapons to him, preparing him for the fight to come, and he strapped his shield onto his back. His crowbar remained clutched tight in his left hand. Chara grimaced, and finally they spoke. "... Angel, you don't have to do this alone."

"... I know. But this is my mess. It's my job to clean it up." I took a deep breath, and shut my eyes momentarily. I savored this moment, what it was like to hold them in my arms for what could be the very last time. Then, I pulled back, unwrapping my arms from around them. I frowned a little as I looked at Chara, but DETERMINATION gleamed in my red painted eyes. "And I don't think I could live with myself if one more person I care about got hurt because of my mistakes."

"... Angel..." Chara trailed off as they looked at my face again. Their eyes narrowed again, staring into the matching scarlet shade of my irises, and it looked like more concern was growing in their heart. "Y-your eyes..."

"As soon as you can walk, get Asriel and get down into the city." I commanded quickly, pushing myself up to my feet so suddenly that it surprised Chara a little. I'm not sure they were ready for me to walk away. But I couldn't wait any longer. They reached out, but I turned around before I let them distract me any more than they already had.

When Chara saw my back, they paused. Their eyes scanned all four of my obsidian wings, before they were drawn to the burning white light of my perpetually glowing Deltarune. Seeing me now made them think about how long these six months had been, how much I had changed the world and been changed in turn by it. How much I had changed since we first met in Snowdin. How much I had changed since we talked this morning.

"..." I drew in a deep breath, my chest rising slowly before falling in the same manner. Finally, my ruby eyes landed on Anny. He loomed there, wearing what was either a giddy grin or a furious snarl. Knowing him, it might've been both. My hands clenched into fists, and my DETERMINATION flared, sending gusts of burning wind swirling out around me. Leaves and dirt alike were kicked up, twirling into the air over my head and disappearing into the sky. Then, I turned my left eye over my shoulder to Chara, who had risen their arms in front of their face, wincing in the heat.

"I can't guarantee Mount Ebbot's still gonna be standing when me n' him are done."

And then, all was silent. I turned my eyes back to Anarchy, and he kept his eyes on me. There was some distance between us, but it felt like we were inches apart. The rest of the world around us faded away. Time stopped, space paused. The sun above dared not set, too focused on the conclusion of our story.

Two garbage kids from society's gutter stood at the planet's peak. Little Angel and Anny, all grown up now. Every second of our lives, from the moment I chucked rocks at the bullies kicking Anthony in that alleyway, it was all for this. Right here. Our special day, our Reunion. And I hadn't understood, not like Anny had, not until right now. I needed this just as badly as he did. I thought about him just as often as he thought about me. In our hatred we loved one another, in our shattered bonds we were brothers. We were the same, him and I. And it was time that we finished what we began in that alley.

Anny and Angel.

Anarchy and Hacker.

The Scorpion and The Angel.

In unison, we took our first step towards one another.

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