Thanks go to Zillowzest, TiredWhiteMayge, Wingah, Eternal, Acoolnamme, Zack Frost, GymNatty321, SansThePunnyton, ZeroaraTheKnight, DefenseSquadofDefenseSquad, BonelessSkele, 10burgers, sauceman95, Prominent, GMLxAwesome, DuckLIT122000, and TrueUndertrash.

To answer your question Eternal, I've considered DoubleVerse spinoffs. Long movie esc chapters to go into DoubleExtras explaining things like how Lexi met Clover and started her pirate crew or AUs like DoubleSwap or even a story built around an Anthony who stayed in Deltarune. Ultimately I doubt a lot of these will happen, and if they ever do it will be some time after DoubleTale as a whole is finished. (Which won't be for awhile. There's more loose ends than ya think. ;) )

I appreciate the thank you, Prominent! And I appreciate the kickass music! (Psst everyone go subscribe to Bloxxxed Makes Beats on Youtube and listen to the homie's music there are songs based on all your favorite DoubleLads)

DefenseSquadofDefenseSquad, seven souled gods have unmeasured power. They aren't scaled in the same way that the characters we know now are, in a way that is similar to Anarchy we have never seen any of the few that have appeared (and almost always nearly immediately disappear) be pushed to any sort of limit. But they can warp reality and have godly powers so it's up in the air if brute force can stop one. And what's stopping monsters from soul thieving timeline to timeline is the same thing stopping Flowey from stealing the souls in Undertale until his fight at the end: Asgore has those bad boys locked up tight and humans are really hard to kill. Not to mention timeline hopping and underground slaughtering ain't exactly an easy feat for most in the multiverse.

It made me laugh seeing you guys accept Anarchy's apology for kissing Frisk and also how many of you thought last chapter was short. I've really been spoiling you guys with the 12k+ chapters, huh? Well, I won't hold'ja up any longer! On to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

*long day today.

DS Chara read Sans' words over a few times, but chose not to respond. They weren't in much of a mood for banter, certainly not with the skeleton in their head. Sans was right though, it had been a long and horrible day. After Anarchy finished stomping a mudhole in the rest of DoubleScramble's less than welcome intruders, the screens shut off and the Underground stopped shaking. Since then, things had been quiet. Didn't feel like there was anyone left to make noise.

On a bed across the room, Toriel had fallen into an awful, restless sleep. She'd exhausted herself trying to heal all of Chara's wounds, and to her credit all the damage Anarchy's crowbar had left them was gone. unfortunately her magic did little to soothe the searing red scars that three souls worth of DETERMINATION had left on Chara's arms, but that was alright. The stinging pain kept Chara awake, and they couldn't afford to sleep.

"... Do you guys think they're gone?" Frisk's voice was the first sound in a good long while. Chara's eyes glossed over to where they sat, the bed to their left. A child who had held dominion over this reality just this morning, now quiet and scared. They sat on the bedside, clutching a pillow to stop their body's shaking. Their clothes were still torn and bloodied, everyone's were.

"They don't have any reason to stay. Not for this long." Cter finally spoke up; he'd been uncharacteristically quiet. Staring off into space, twiddling his thumbs. He was exhausted, all of them were. But even hours after the underground went quiet, there was still work to be done. He looked up, his eyes glossed between Chara and Frisk. "And, if they're gone, then... It's time."

A knot twisted in Chara's stomach, they had a bad feeling. The option was laid out before the four of them, there was only one way to save this dead timeline and that was to start over. But, going back to this morning... It didn't feel like enough. Being Nephilim expanded their minds, allowed them to see each other's struggles. They knew each others sins and virtues now, and it had never been more clear just how damaged this timeline was. Even if Frisk spared everyone, even if the barrier was broken... Asgore was still a murderer because Cter was still a liar. Four little kids were still dead, a portion of Monsterkind was still gone... Toriel, their last living friend in this decimated world, would still be without a son. So, if going back to this morning wasn't enough, then what was?

"... Just, how far back are we taking things?" Frisk lifted their head some, dared look the Judge and his Sentry in the eye. They were scared, because they were just a kid. That was why they had to leave their power with someone else, that was why Sans had stayed in Chara's head. Their question brought silence. No one wanted to answer. No one spoke for uncomfortably long, until...

"All the way back." Cter's words brought Chara and Frisk's eyes to him. He lifted his head and did not hesitate to look the both of them in the face. The scar weighed heavy on his bare chest, his shredded and blood soaked shirt and sweatshirt were tossed in some dusty garbage bin hours ago. Still, a grin defined his exhausted expression, and he reiterated. "We have to go all the way to the beginning."

Cter turned his head then, let his KIND green eyes land on his roommate. Chara looked at him too, their eyes narrowed a little painfully. They knew where this was going, and it hurt them. They silently begged and pleaded with whatever invisible force would listen to stop Cter from confirming their fears, but no help came. They were out of options, and Angel made it clear with his next sentence.

"To when the first human fell."

Chapter 87: A Future For Bad Men

Or: Once More, With Feeling!

"What?" Chara was the first to question because Frisk didn't have the heart. They turned their head to look at Cter, it was about all the movement they could manage. Their bed had been propped up so that they were in a sitting up position, the red of their scars glowed through the white bandages encasing their limp arms. Still they summoned the strength to object, "Angel, that's a decade of our life!"

*he knows that.

Chara grimaced at Sans words, the knot in their stomach wound tighter. Their eyes darted up from their new text box and back into their Angel's reassuring grin, but they still didn't feel particularly sure. Their mind was swelling with thoughts, lines were rapidly connecting dots. They shook their head even though it irritated the scars on their collar, hastily listing the cons of their roommate's idea. "I know things are bad, but think about this! If we go back to when I came to the Underground, and I don't kill anyone-"

"Then Gaster and Sans will have no reason to bring another human into this world." Cter finished Chara's sentence for them, and it made Frisk recoil. The both of them were looking to the Judge now; his verdict was far from ideal. Still Cter bore the weight of their mortified stares. He wore his grin in the face of destiny, and if he felt fear he did not show it. "The machine will never explode, Sans and Papyrus will never be separated from their bodies and the RESET button will never be created."

"... And, you... Won't, exist?" Frisk leaned back on their palms, confusion twisted their expression. Where had Cter been before this world, exactly? They had hazy knowledge, fuzzy images were left imprinted on their brain from their time sharing a soul as Nephilim. An old barn, a rainy backyard. A hand bell, red eyes... And what of Frisk? Ten years ago they were a toddler. Ten years ago... They still had a lot to live through. Cold sweat breaking out on their forehead, they chose to focus on Cter's future rather than their own for the moment.

"... I don't know." Cter paused, his pupils disappeared from his eyes. The world felt heavier then, for all four of them. Chara's eyes were stinging, it felt in that moment that they were watching gasoline be poured over a box of priceless photos taken over the last ten years. All the little jokes, the late nights and early mornings. Those days gathered around the kitchen table until the AM with Monster Kid, with Angel... With Asriel. Chara's bandaged hands clenched into weak fists against their bedsheets as Angel went on.

"There's a chance I wake up back down here anyway. But, there's also a chance I wake up... Where I was, before here." Cter's pupils reappeared in his eyes, and they glossed apprehensively to the side. His hands were shaking and his palms were drenched in cold sweat. He grabbed two fistfuls of his now torn jeans, and his thoughts drifted to the forgotten flame. The fire elemental that even he had trouble remembering, the one scattered and removed from his home when he invited The Hacker to this place. An anomaly... Cter couldn't bring himself to acknowledge the possibility, instead trailing off. "There's, a chance that... "

"We are not rolling those dice." Chara dared interrupt. They glared at Cter with trembling resolve in their scarlet eyes, their aching fingers curled into fists. Cter looked at them like he was sorry, like he wasn't convinced. Chara felt the knot in their stomach pull itself tighter, and they growled as cold sweat broke out on their forehead. "I don't care how bad things are, after everything you did to try and get us a happy ending I am not creating a timeline without you in it!"

"What I did was frame an innocent man for murder and kill four kids. What I did was force a good person to be a soulless abomination and separate two brothers." Cter's grin was heavy, it was hard to smile while watching the hope fade from Chara's eyes. Sometimes, it was hard for him to understand why they would care about somebody like him. To Angel, the numbers didn't lie. The world around him always ended up worse off with him in it. So why was Chara afraid? They should be smiling, smiling like he forced himself to. But... They weren't. And it felt bittersweet to Angel. "If there's anyone who deserves-"

"Don't you start that shit, Angel!" Chara shot him down before he could finish. He might not have understood the worth he had and he might have only seen the mistakes he had made, but Chara recalled with ease the good in his soul. They knew first hand the KINDNESS that glowed in his eyes. So while he was so quick to throw himself away, Chara would not part with their Angel so easily. Tears were stinging their eyes and it made them so furious that they had to shout, "I am not losing you too!"

"... There's no "too", Chara." Cter found the strength to say after a pause. That same KINDNESS was glowing in his eyes, it was heartbreaking to Chara. With a quiet groan, The Judge forced himself to stand. He looked so tired, he had for a long time but Chara had been trying so hard not to see it. Still, he smiled. He smiled for them, because they had needed him to. Because he needed them to be happy. For that reason he stepped towards their bedside and he wore a grin that said everything would be fine. "If we do this, Asriel comes back. Papyrus and Sans have bodies, Alphys and Asgore don't have to hide in the Ruins. You'll have so many friends, Chara."

"But none of them are going to be you!" Chara snapped at him as tears overflowed from their eyes. They were so passionate, it was something Angel always admired about them. Seeing them shouting and crying now, it reminded him of the day he spared them. The look on their face when he opened his arms for a hug, even though they'd just cleaved a canyon into his chest... With his torn shirt and hoodie thrown away, the scar they'd left him was on clear display. But it was a part of him, they were a part of him. He was a part of them too, and they refused to let him go. "Don't you get it?! It isn't a happy ending if you aren't there too!"

"..." Cter had to pause for a second when he heard that. For just a moment he reconsidered his idea, he doubted if this was the real answer. But, looking at Chara's face now, he knew it didn't matter where this RESET sent him. He reached out and he set a hand on their shoulder. They sniffled and failed to keep their upper lip stiff, but that was okay. Cter used the thumb of his free hand to brush some of the tears off their face, and even though he hated making promises... "Wherever I end up, Chara, I'm going to find my way back to you. I promise."

"..." They wanted to object, but they couldn't. Chara sniffled and tried to stop their crying, but it was impossible. Sans was right, it had been a long day. The same day, over and over for an eternity and Chara had never even known. All the fights that had been had a million times over, the war that was waged beyond Chara's memory. All before the meteor thrown by god, The Anarchist and all who came with him to melt their home to ash. Now... A RESET. A new world to rise out of the ashes, a better world. Angel knelt by their bedside, and Chara ignored their body's hurt to cling to him. They wrapped their arms around him and buried their face in his chest, and he put a hand on the back of their head. He held them, and he understood better than anyone how hard it would be to let go.

"... Cter, I..." Finally, Frisk spoke up again. They looked to the side, it wasn't hard to see how ashamed they were. That was good, Cter thought. Meant they had learned something. After a moment's hesitation, they shook their head. They gathered their nerve, and they looked at the two friends they'd killed once upon a time. "I'm sorry. This... This is my fault. If I had just, let things be after we made it to the surface the first time, you wouldn't have to..."

"... Everybody makes mistakes, munchkin." It took Cter a minute, and the words did scratch a little on the way up, but he meant them. He looked up from the roommate he was clutching to his scarred chest, and his grin felt a little lighter when he lifted one hand from Chara's back and waved it inward. A simple gesture, one that surprised the screwed up kid sitting here with him at the end of the world. "Bring it in. You're sacrificin' a lot here too, don't think I don't appreciate it."

Frisk's eyes widened some, it'd been awhile since Cter had seen those scarlet orbs. But, then they smiled, and it'd been awhile since Cter had seen that too. Frisk stood from the bedside they'd been sitting on and took a few steps closer. They remembered briefly the pens that had impaled them, the lasers that had turned them to ash. But, they also remembered the sleep overs under the moon. The dates under the ground. It felt so far away, their very first adventure in this world. How many years had passed in one day? How old had they gotten without aging? They felt Cter's arm wrap around their shoulders, and they didn't object as they were pulled into a hug.

The three of them were like that for awhile, clutching one another in a group hug. They'd spent an eternity together, and now that eternity was coming to an end. Chara finally knew what had been happening, Frisk was finally giving up on the adventure that they'd never wanted to end, Cter was finally letting go of the lies he'd told. Yes, this story would end. Gone, thrown out, revised. The world would be unscrambled, those cut down before their time would be given one last chance. And the interloper from another reality... Chara and Frisk held him tighter. Even if he was gone, he would find his way back. He promised he would.

Eventually they all pulled away some, but they did not fully let go of each other. Arms remained on shoulders, sides stayed side by side. They all gradually looked forward as Chara took a deep breath, and the golden light of that RESET button reflected in their eyes. This world would end, but another world would take its place. A better world. Chara just had to hit the button. One final RESET, one last chance to make things right.

"... This happened." Cter spoke after a moment of contemplative silence, drawing Chara and Frisk's attention from the future shining before them. They watched him open his palm, they watched ink shift and slither over his hand. Between his fingers a stem rose in black glass. It swirled open at its peak into a brilliant petal design; Chara's eyebrows rose at the sight of it. The flower's shape was familiar to them, it matched the golden flowers that they had laid in as a child. But how? Angel had not seen those vast fields, he had not known the flowers of their happy place... Frisk's eyes were fixated on the other shape in Cter's hand; a black bell. Made from ink that shined like metal, Cter knew it as the tool for granting an Angel wings and he still offered it to Frisk. He explained when their eyes lifted from the gifts he had created and back to him. "This life, this world. These past ten years. The good and the bad, for better or for worse, happened. Don't forget."

Carefully, Chara and Frisk reached out. Frisk retrieved the bell, they held it by its cone so that it would not ring. It wasn't time, they thought. There would come a day very soon where they would ring that bell and wish for wings, but it just wasn't today. They weren't ready for the responsibility, and that was okay. They were just a kid, they had time.

Chara smiled quietly as they took that flower into their bandaged hands. They couldn't feel its smooth surface through their wrapping, but they could feel its warmth and that was enough. Their eyes lifted from the glassy black petals and back to the emerald eyes of their Angel. He was smiling back at them, like always. Perhaps that grin of his looked fake to others, but Chara always knew it was real. At least, it was when he looked at them. They held that flower tight in one hand, and their eyes drifted apprehensively back to the glow of the RESET button.

"... Well..." Gradually, Chara lifted their right hand. Their pensive glance shifted between Frisk and Cter, the former looking equally uncertain and the latter looking supportive. Hard to believe this morning Chara's biggest concern was capturing a human... They took a shaky breath, let their scarlet eyes refocus on the back of their trembling hand. Were they really strong enough to throw this world away? Fear started to grow again, but Frisk and Cter reached out in unison. Cter put his hand on the back of Chara's, intertwined his fingers with theirs. Frisk put their smaller hand on the back of Cter's hand. And, for just a second, Chara thought they could see a skeletal hand on the back of Frisk's hand. They smiled only a little nervously, and asked one last question. "Does... Does anyone have anything else they wanna say before we..?"

"... Uhh." Chara didn't expect it, but it was Angel who spoke up. He'd often been a man of few words, at least when it came to his own thoughts and feelings. Now with one of his arms around their shoulder and the other holding their hand out toward the bright light of the future, Chara could see their Angel glance to the side. He hesitated, cleared his throat a few times, winced... "Yeah, I uh. Well, uhm. Chara, I uh."

It was right about then that Frisk peaked around the side of Chara's head. A grin was curling their lips at the sight of a red color appearing on Cter's face, and he shot them a glare when he saw the knowing look in their eye. It'd been so long since the first Snowdin dates, since Mettaton's gameshow with Cter and Chara hanging over cardboard fire. There were so many jokes that had disappeared in time, so many moments that Cter did not know he would ever recall with fondness. His glare lightened up, and he took another deep breath. Fuck it. "Yeah so I've been madly in love with you for like seven years now."

"wHAT?!" Chara's face lit up in red, they recoiled and turned their head to look at Angel with eyes now wide. On their other side Frisk was grinning from ear to ear, shouting out "I KNEW IT!" in a proclamation of victory. Angel The Judge smiled at the sight of the two of them, Frisk jumping for joy and Chara looking at him with a fusion of confusion, embarrassment, and shock. It was a nice sight, felt pure to him. This, he decided as he pushed Chara's hand forward into the RESET button entirely so he wouldn't have to elaborate further, was what life was all about. It was why he'd come back, no matter what. And Chara, like they didn't see the white light exploding out of that button, shouted into the hurricane of time. "YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT NOW?!"

The sound of Angel cackling at their bewilderment was louder than the rushing winds, more important than the peeling code. It stuck with them, everything about him remained right at the front of Chara's rapidly de-aging brain. Madly in love with them?! Of course he waits until the end of the world to tell them, that..! That!

And then everything went dark. In the next instant, Chara was not laying in a hospital bed. They were not wrapped in bandages, they were not scarred by DETERMINATION, they were not haunted by a skeleghost. They were not surrounded by the last friends they had left. The squeaky springs of that old mattress were replaced by a hard, unforgiving floor. The burn in their overworked body was replaced by a blunt force ache.

And when, gradually, Chara opened their scarlet eyes... The first thing they saw, as they laid there flat on their stomach with their head on its side, was their clenched fist. Gone from it were the little scars that they'd gained as they got older, the wrinkles and callouses that came with age. Their hair, no longer long enough to cover their face. And in that clenched fist was not a knife. It was not a weapon. It was a flower, made out of ink black glass. Gripped so tight in their fingers that if that fall had killed them, no one would have ever been able to retrieve it from their grip.

Their haggard expression reflected in that black glass, dark and distorted and misshaped. And, for some reason beyond Chara's knowledge, their eyes did not reflect red in that dark glass. In the mirror of that flower, their eyes were a KIND green.

KINDNESS... Who did they know that had eyes like that, again?

Chara laid there for awhile, they were pretty sure. They were squinting at that flower, at the red turned green. They didn't move, they knew once they got up there would be no laying back down. They knew they had ten years to make up, they knew they had a lot of work ahead of them... What they couldn't quite remember, was how they got this flower. It was a gift, and it was important... "Don't forget." Don't forget what?

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"

Chara's scarlet eyes went wide, their pupils shrunk. They flinched, but they couldn't move. They were afraid to, they were afraid any sudden movement would wake them up. It wasn't until fluffy paws took hold of them that they were forced to move, pulled up out of the dirt and onto their knees. And they dared lift their head, they dared look through the blinding light pouring down from above and onto the white fur that reflected it.

"Did you fall down?" Asked the crown prince, Asriel Dreemurr. He was so busy looking Chara over for any red cuts or silver flakes, he hardly noticed their wide eyed stare. It wasn't until he finally slowed himself down and looked into the scarlet eyes of this new human that he realized he should relax. His hands on Chara's shoulders to make sure they didn't fall back over, Asriel still leaned back some in an attempt to give them space. He repeated his question, "Are you okay..? You look, really tired..."

Chara sniffled. Their trembling lips curled up into a shaky smile as tears started to overflow from their eyes, and they inhaled sharply as they nodded their head to dismiss Asriel's fears. There was confusion written all over his face, but that was okay. Chara tried and failed at swallowing the lump in their throat, and spoke in a shaky voice that they desperately tried to keep steady. "Y-yeah, I'm okay..."

"I-I just..." Chara reached up, carefully wiping away some of the tears now streaming down their face. They trembled and stifled a sob, but they didn't look away from their bewildered brother.

"I just h-had a lot of work to do, i-is all..."

"... Huh."

DS Cter furrowed his brows as he examined the world around him. It wasn't a wheat field and he wasn't eighteen again, so that was a step in the right direction. There was also no obliterated machine and no skeletons talking in his head. No RESET button... He was floating upside down, but it was hard to tell. There was no gravity, there was no land, there was no wind. There wasn't anything. Just him, alone, in a deep nothingness.

The dark colors surrounding him were not suffocating, they were not a thick fog. They were hard surfaces, glasslike. In them Cter could see reflections that were not his own. Staring straight ahead, he could see an upside down flame. A greyscale fire stared back at him from behind its glasses' glare, a face Cter recognized and - if he had to guess - the only familiar face he'd be seeing for awhile.

His guess was debunked when he tilted his head up (down?) and spotted another reflection. This one was more familiar but less welcome than the last: An ivory goatee and piercing red eyes stared down (up?) at him. Just like [REDACTED] in front of Cter, The Killer's position mirrored Cter's perfectly. He too floated and his body moved when Cter's did. Cter squinted and The Killer squinted back. Across from him, though he did not see it, [REDACTED] was looking over his head and squinting behind his glasses too. Cter mumbled into the nothing, "Oh, kay..?"

Begrudgingly, after a few long moments of flailing his arms and watching Killer mimic all his moves without a moment's delay, Cter decided he was nothing more than a screwy reflection and took his eyes off him. Skeptically he glanced over his shoulder, and he was surprised to see that his wings were suspended there with him. His inky black feathers matched the dark void he floated in, camouflaging them and preventing the dazed Judge from spotting them in the corners of his eyes. And while he wasn't upset to see his wings had sprouted from his shoulder blades once more, he couldn't be entirely sure it was a good thing either. He could not be sure of anything.

It took him a second to remember how to do it, but Cter carefully folded his wings on his back so that he could see over his shoulder. And for just a moment he thought he was finally seeing an accurate reflection behind him. The same height, the same hair color... But, there was a Deltarune on his back. There were no wings sprouting from his shoulders, replaced instead by the green halo over his head. The Angel's red cracked arm and KIND halo appeared to be the only lights in The Darkness, and that made it apparent to Cter that he just wasn't The Angel.

The Angel stared over his shoulder at The Judge just like The Judge stared over his shoulder at The Angel. Angel frowned when Cter frowned, Angel squinted bitterly when Cter squinted bitterly. And when Cter took a deep breath and looked away from Angel, Angel did the same.

After that, Cter was left staring into the flickering glasses of [REDACTED] once more. He didn't move anymore, didn't play with his reflection. He just floated there, and he pondered, and he did so for what was probably a long time. There was plenty to think about, a lot to feel. But, strangely... Cter did not feel afraid. He did not feel anxious. After a decade of cold calculating and and careful steps taken, he was free. Free from his schemes, free from the RESETs, free from the Underground... But, without Chara. So, though this all seemed weird and confusing, the truth was that there was only one question to answer: How do I get home?

Good news was, he had the next decade to figure it out. So, DS Cter's lips curled back up into their grin, and with a grin on his face The Angel looked a lot more like The Judge. Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his still beat up jeans and unfolding his wings from his still shirtless back, Cter's scarlet soul ignited on his still scarred chest. And he asked the reflection before him,

"Alright, doc. Where do we go from here?"

"... And then what?" Anarchy asked after the screens went dark. Frown painted on his face, he turned his head and let his scarlet eyes land on CORE Alphys. She trembled and sweat under his stare, the stutter she'd forgotten an age and a half ago returned when she tried to respond. Anarchy had little sympathy for the annoying lizard and her all seeing eyes; keeping her quiet had been by far the most tedious part of his time in hiding. If it wasn't for her importance to Badster's plan, he would have destroyed her years ago. She probably knew that, based on her shaky claws.

"N-nothing really too interesting after that..." Alphys pushed up her glasses to hide her gaping eyes. She gulped quietly when Anarchy crossed his arms over his chest and arched a disbelieving brow at her. The screens behind her flickered with images of DoubleScramble; Chara eating dinner with the Dreemurr family, Cter wandering through the infinite blackness he'd been sentenced to. Alphys hastily added while Anarchy's harsh stare lifted to the screens, "Chara's been meeting monsters and making friends. Cter's been, uhm... E-existing out of existence?"

"..." Anarchy was quiet. his eyes remained focused on the winged knockoff swimming through endless nothing. He was still grinning - why was that? Why was that knockoff putting himself through any of that? Anarchy mulled this over in silence, chewed on this information and rolled it around on his tongue. Finally, he shook his head and called out. "Gaster!"

"Yes, Anthony?" Like always, Badster answered immediately. Pixels rapidly put him together like he was an incredibly detailed LEGO skeleton, and within two or three seconds the bad doctor stood beside his master. Anthony didn't bother looking at him; he just pointed up at the lost Judge.

"Whatever he's lookin' for, draw him a map to it." Anarchy ordered clearly and concisely. He didn't elaborate, he never needed to. Especially not with Badster. And though the Seer and the bad doctor looked to him curiously, Anthony just spun on his heel and started walking down the path towards the Hollow Spire's exit. "And if there's no way outta where he's at now, make him a way out. Got it?"

"Yes, of course." Badster didn't hesitate to answer. He never hesitated, never questioned his master. At least, not aloud. He'd come to learn that Chaos Incarnate had MERCY in his heart, but he supposed absolute cruelty would not be fitting of Chaos. So he didn't bother himself with pondering Anthony's morality, or if he potentially felt guilty for slaughtering the inhabitants of DoubleScramble, or even if he'd come to respect Nephilim. Instead, he disappeared in the same pixels from which he appeared, and like always he set his master's order to his top priority.

Anny came down from Alphys' spire while I was leaving Asriel a voice mail, just in time to ask me if Monsters had baseball and add a little color commentary to my heartfelt message. We walked from the spaceships parked in Future's lawn while I left the message, up towards the king's humble castle. We had to pause at the door while I finished the message, until Lexi poked her head out and reminded us of the time. After that I finish things up and we went inside.

Future's living room was the most lively I'd ever seen it. Most of the furniture had been moved out of the way in favor of one big table surrounded by chairs and littered with papers. Maps, notes, code... A plethora of things were scrawled over those papers, but they weren't what caught my attention. At the head of the table was Future, crown even on his head and dark circles apparent under his eyes. At the opposite end of the table was where Lexi stopped, her cowboy on her right and her chef on her left. Susie, Fell!Grillby, Ralsei, and GB!Sans all rounded the table, leaving spots at the center of the right and left side open for Anny and I. Over Future's shoulder loomed Badster, though several of his hands were preoccupied writing up notes for some unknown - at least to me - task. I took the chair on the left between Susie and Grillby and Anny took the one on the right between Ralsei and Sans.

"Alright, here we are." I spoke first, shattered the pensive silence with a clear and confident tone. My sunken in green eyes glossed around the table; Anny sat slouched back with his hands in his pockets across from me. Future was seated with posture that I had yet to learn, his elbows propped up on the table and his hands folded into a bridge that he rested his chin on. Lexi was standing, leaned over the table with her palms pressing into the wood. Tension vibrated in the air... But I kept talking anyway. "So, first thing's first. What are we up against and what are our options?"

"What we're up against is a mad man with seven souls, an army, and an impenetrable firewall guarding his clubhouse." Lexi wasn't shy to answer. In her eyes I could see someone who had been at war; while Chara and I were away, and even before that, it was Lexi and her Pirates fighting alone against The Gatherer. This information was not lost on me or anyone else at the table, so we all listened as she went on. "After our attack on his timeline a few years back, that joint got locked up even tighter. Far as I know, there's no way in."

"... So are firewalls like a physical thing or like a nerd thing?" Anthony questioned after a short moment of contemplation. He arched a brow Lexi's way while he flicked his wrist, sending his crowbar sliding up out of his sleeve and into his hand. A little smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Because if it's a thing I can hit, I think I got us a way in."

"Unfortunately, them firewalls is a... 'Nerd' thang." Clover shook his head and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Ain't as simple as deployin' a tactical Anarchy n' blowin some big brick wall open."

"Ah. Bummer." Anny threw his hand up over his head, letting his crowbar slip back down his sleeve. Then, with the same raised hand, he pointed over towards the bad doctor looming at the table's side. He asked without hesitation, "Gaster. Nerd stuff is your department - you got us a way in?"

That raised a few eyebrows and turned a few heads, but really it shouldn't have been a surprise. Badster was essentially Anarchy's science butler, least that's the way I saw him. So, to me at least, it wasn't surprising when the bad doctor smiled at his master and answered - like always - without hesitation. "I took plenty of notes on the inner mechanisms of The Gatherer's firewalls when we were inside of his timeline; would have been a fool not to. It will take your ERASE button to power it, but a virus to neutralize all firewalls protecting his timeline has been in the works from the moment he betrayed you, Anthony."

"That's what I like to hear." Anarchy's lips curled upwards and into a grin. His arm dropped back down to the table as he turned his sharp toothed smile back to the rest of the table. I was reeling some, everyone was. I couldn't have been the only person who felt that was too easy, and I certainly wasn't the only person skeptical about trusting Badster. Anny, however, was not among we of little faith. "No more firewall. Easy."

"Before we celebrate, I should warn you all." Badster caught our attention before we could jump for joy or voice our concerns. Anny turned his head right with me to cock an eyebrow at Wing Ding Badster, who had folded the hands attached to his arms behind his back while several more floated over his head. The hands floating over his head stood with their fingers up straight, signaling the table to pause while Badster explained. "Inputting this virus into the code of Gatherer's timeline will completely dissolve all firewalls that he has in place."

"Yeah? Isn't that the point?" I questioned, crossing my arms over my bare chest. I hadn't bothered wasting time getting dressed, I was still in nothing but a pair of basketball shorts and some medical tape. Black stubble had formed on my face in my two weeks of unconsciousness, and I hadn't taken the time to shave it.

"You misunderstand." The hands over Badster's head wagged a finger in some kind of "No no" motion, and that put an annoyed frown on my face. Badster was lucky Anarchy liked him - I wasn't in the mood to take sass from a fuckin' hand. I swallowed my aggravation and let my haggard eyes drift back down to the bad doctor. He went on to explain, "In creating an entrance for ourselves, we would be creating an exit for everyone else. There are a lot of less than reputable humans and monsters that gathered under Xander's flag in fear of what one of you three might do to them, and they will all be able to scatter like roaches when we invade."

"... And if Xander does create a seven souled god..." Future finally spoke up. He lifted his emerald eyes from the papers he'd been silently examining, let his iron stare gloss between everyone gathered at the table. He hadn't moved since the meeting started, he wasn't moving now. His focus laid on the task at hand, not on fidgeting. "It will be able to escape into the Multiverse and cause unfathomable damage."

"Xander isn't creating a seven souled god." I stated with absolute certainty. My own eyes met that of my Future counterpart, and beneath my bandages the cracks on my left arm could be seen shining bright. Anger simmering in the back of my throat, I added on. "Not with my Chara."

"Angel..." Future's expression faltered some, sadness bled into his stone cold eyes. He understood, of course he did. He was an Angel like me, and he didn't have his Chara either. Difference was, his Chara wasn't coming back and mine was. They had to... My fingers gripped the edge of the table tight while Future dared speak, "We can't deny it as a high possibility. Xander has lost many of his assets, and if we just blast open his front door-"

"If Xander makes a god I'll kill it." Anarchy cut Future off. When I glanced over to him, I noticed that he too looked just as aggravated as I did by Future's warning. He looked back to me briefly, our eyes met and he hesitated... Before looking right back to Future. "We'll kill it. And Angel will get Chara back."

The room was quiet for a few seconds, everyone needed a second to comprehend Anthony's proclamation. Wasn't often someone could say they would kill a god and be believed, but here we were. I smiled some at Anny's words, his support dulled my anger and reminded me that I wasn't alone. It was right about then that Lexi slammed her hand on the table like a judge would a gavel, gathering all eyes back to where she stood.

"Xander has never been more dangerous or more unstable. We have the most powerful and most capable people in the multiverse gathered at this table." The Predator's aquamarine eyes narrowed harshly as they looked between all those gathered at our round table. A chill settled over the room, frost crackled on the back of her hand. "If we have the opportunity, we have to cut the head of the snake now."

"Alphys told us Xander is still unconscious in a recovery pod and Chara's soul is still in his inventory." Melanie chimed in from Lexi's side. Her pleasant voice was a welcome addition to this gritty debate. I arched a brow over towards where she sat, and she went on. "That means no one can create a god at this moment and that they have had no leader to prepare them for battle."

"But he's gonna wake up soon - we're on the clock." Susie explained from where she sat, leaning on the back legs of her chair with one arm draped over the back of the chair. With sharp teeth she frowned and gave a shake of her head, "And if they've got even the most basic of systems to check for breaches, Kris is sure they'll know when the whole firewall system breaks down."

"So covert operations are off the table..." Fell Grillby pondered aloud from where he sat at Future's side. He reached up with one violet hand, pushing up his glasses and shrouding his eyes in the glare his own flames caused.

"Then we kick in the door." I stated forcefully as I stood from my chair. Black stubble on my face, cracks in my arm and bandages on my body, I laid down the gauntlet. A frown dug into my cheeks and a red soul ignited on my scarred chest, and I slammed my knuckles onto the wood of the table. "Delete the firewalls, appear in the sky over the base, fight our way to Xander and rip Chara's soul out of his cold dead hands."

"I love the enthusiasm, but we can't run this raid exactly like we did the last one." Lexi explained as the only other one standing at the table. She hardly looked bothered by my idea, but she knew more about Xander and his empire than I did and she had a team to keep safe. Wished I could relate, but my team member was currently a soul in a jar. The Predator explained, "Xander's got an army and he's got cannons to blast my ship outta the sky. If the ship goes down, some of us don't have a way home and the rest of us don't have a home period."

"We need something to draw all of his fire power, then." I responded, leaning my head back some and stuffing my hands into my pockets. I narrowed my eyes and Lexi did the same; we were both contemplating the same plan, but I was the first to say it out loud. "We need... A Wonder Gopher."

Anny's chuckle broke the dramatic silence that followed my proclamation. All eyes fell to The Bastard Son as he threw his feet up on the table and leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head of ivory hair. He grinned with a mouthful of sharp teeth while he looked between Lexi and I, and beneath him a worm slithered up and out of his shadow. It loomed by his side, and Anny casually removed one hand from behind his head to scratch the eyeless invertebrate's chin. "Now, if only we had somebody dangerous enough to draw an entire empire's firepower layin' around! I can't think of anyone; Can you, George?"

George The Worm (he names those things?) played along and shook its head like it head no idea where we might find a one man army to distract Gatherer's army. Seeing a creepy critter act like a cartoon mascot was enough to get a giggle out of Melanie, and that was enough to drain some of then prewar tension out of the room. Smirking, Anarchy looked back to Lexi and I before confirming our hopes. "I'll be the Nightmare Gopher. You guys handle everything else."

"Alright, now we're gettin' somewhere!" Susie exclaimed with a sharp toothed grin. There was a red glint in her eyes, likely an agreement from her headmate, Kris.

"A tactical Anarchy is without a doubt the best way to handle Xander's army." Future nodded his head in agreement, before gathering up a few papers from the table in front of him. He stood from his chair and leaned forward, reaching out to set all of the papers at the table's center. "But the army isn't the only opposition we face."

"Frisk. Hacker. Demon. Eden, and Gatherer if he wakes up in time." The papers that Future laid out before us had each of the humans Future listed drawn on them. Their names were at the top of their page, and bulleted notes were by the drawings of them. "Documented powers", "Notable character traits", "Potential weaknesses"... Even their danger ratings were listed on those pages. Were these drawn up while I was unconscious? I guess having an all seeing Alphys around made it easy to catalogue personal data. Future lifted his head and looked out at the rest of the table. "Anarchy killed several members of Xander's inner circle and several other have been killed over the years, but the four that remain are potentially the most dangerous to ever stand under Gatherer's flag. How do we handle them?"

"..." My jaw tightened while my eyes glossed over Frisk's paper. "Documented powers" included their time skip and their time void as separate powers, something I hadn't even noticed when Chara and I fought them briefly. Their manipulative skills were also listed - I figured Future must have made it a point to add those. He understood that Frisk was a master of ACTing. Fuckin' A, they already had a Triple S danger rating? That time skip really was an equalizer...

"... I beat Character once." Melanie voice was the first to break the silence. Lexi's head turned swiftly to look at her as she picked Hacker and Demon's papers from the table, along with the third paper for Character. The smile that had existed on her face was gone now, and she looked unlike herself because of it. Her distant eyes examined the papers she held, and a frown tainted her face. "I can do it again."

"What?" Lexi exclaimed immediately, furrowing her brows in disbelief. She reached out, putting a hand over the papers Melanie was staring at and making her look up into her stunned PATIENT eyes. Worry was clear on the face of The Predator as she shook her head, "Melanie, you caught them last time because they let their guard down! They're incredibly powerful and they're going to be ready for you this time! I can't let you-!"

"Lexi. They killed my mother." Melanie glared into Predator's eyes from beneath her eyebrows. It was an expression Lexi had never seen on her face before. Then, Melanie's KIND eyes darted back down to Character's paper. Under the section "Notable decisions" she read the words "Helped convince Xander to let Angel go" and "Only tried to stop Anarchy after Eden begged them to" over and over... "Tried to convince Melanie to change her soul color"... The KIND soul's eyes narrowed with an unusual intensity. "I wanna know why."

"..." There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence. Melanie's argument was hard to refute; Character had killed her mom and I wasn't about to be the guy who told her she couldn't get justice for Muffet. Lexi must not have had the heart to say no to her either, nor did any of her pirates. Anarchy didn't look like he had any desire to object; in fact, he looked impressed by her DETERMINATION. The only person who found the strength to speak was Future, and it wasn't to shoot her down.

"They killed my Chara." The king stated, but it wasn't a challenge and Melanie knew that from the moment she met his KIND eyes with her own. Future stood up straight and nodded his understanding to Melanie, in his heart was the same ache that loss brought. His next words brought some relief to Lexi and a slight smile to Melanie's face, made her look more like herself. "I'll help you face them."

"... I'm, probably the only person who's got the skillset to handle Frisk." I was the next to speak after a pause. My own solemn stare landed on their paper, and I reached out to retrieve it from the table's center. A frown dug deeper into my face while I read the information jotted down about them. "Unknown time interval" "Pathological liar" "Betrayed Angel" "Allegedly in love with Anarchy"... "Liar". "Liar". "Liar". "Liar". "Liar". "Liar". "Liar". I lifted my head to look out at the table, swallowed my fury to say. "They're a monster of my creation, and my KINDNESS armor is the only adequate defense against their time skip. I'll make sure they don't cause anymore trouble."

"I got through to the princess las' time. I reckon she ain't too big'a fan'a Xander's right about now neither." Clover spoke next, reaching across the table as he did so to snatch Eden's paper out of the pile. With his free hand he pushed up the corner of his hat, revealing the golden glow of his left eye and giving a slight smirk. "Iffin' I can talk to her again, I might jus' be able to get 'er ta see things our way."

"... Well, then that just leaves one." Lexi The Predator spoke up as her eyes settled on the last paper at the table's center. Her PATIENT eyes narrowed, not necessarily with hate or with anger. She carefully reached forward, took Xander The Gatherer's profile into her hand and brought it back towards her. In silence, she only bothered to read the one sentence that she'd personally added to the paper. "Used to be our friend"... Lexi lowered the paper and lifted her eyes back to us. DETERMINATION glinted in her stare... "If Xander wakes up, I'll knock him right back out."

"The rest of us can handle the automated defenses." Sans spoke up from behind his permanent grin. He sat comfortably in his chair, hands in his pockets while he winked one of his eyes shut. "My bones, Grillby's fire, Ralsei's magic and Krusie's ax should be able to cleave through any canons that pop outta the walls."

"Sounds like we got ourselves a damn good blitzkrieg drawn up." Anny put his other hand behind his head, and George The Worm disappeared back into his shadow. A sharp toothed smirk on his face, Anthony nodded his head to the rest of the table. "Xander's empire is finally goin' down."

"Remember, our first priority is assuring that Xander loses access to all seven souls." Ralsei stated clearly, wrangling everyone's attention back to where he sat with perfect posture. From the shadow under his hat his eyes darted between the lot of us. Anarchy, our army of one against Xander's army of thousands. Clover, our diplomat against Eden, Xander's disciple. Melanie and Future, our heart and our soul against Character, Xander's cruel abomination. Me, our reformed traitor against Frisk, Xander's relapsed sociopath. And captain Lexi against emperor Xander, one last time. If Ralsei had any hope or any despair, he didn't show it. Instead, he kept on with laser focus. "Whether that means reclaiming Chara's soul or destroying one of the other souls that Xander has doesn't matter. The stakes here get multiplied by a thousand the moment a seven souled god comes into play."

"Everybody understand?" Lexi The Predator asked from where she stood at one end of the table. Her powerful stare made its way around the table, finding nothing but DETERMINED stares, confident smirks and thumbs up all around. That slapped a madwoman grin right onto Lexi's face, and she slammed her hand down on the table one last time as she proclaimed:

"Then lets get to work!"

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