Once again, the AWESOME cover was made by the creator of Fatealiatale, @Kit0fCATastrophe. Y'all please go give her AU an look-see before you read this if you can. Oh! And this is a continuation of Burnout, the "Genocide End" if you will, so I'd suggest taking a look at that too, but it's fully up to you. Just like in Undertale the game, there are three endings to "Burnout" and this is the "Genocide" or "Bad End". There will be a "Neutral" and a "Pacifist/Good End" ending to the original story when I have the time and after Kinktober is over and I get ideas but here, enjoy this angsty ending until then.
None of the following characters belong to me. Echo and Fatealiatale belong to Kit0fCATastrophe while Dream and Dreamtale belong to Jokublog on Tumblr. Link: https/jokublog./
¡WARNING!: Descriptions of death and blood/gore.
My apologies that this took a while to finish— hope you enjoy.〜 ~ 〜 ~ 〜 ~ 〜 ~ 〜 ~ 〜 ~ 〜 ~ 〜 ~ 〜 ~ 〜 ~ 〜
Blackout
[𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗢𝗡! I̸t̸'s̸ y̸̸̸o̸u̸r̸ f̸a̸u̸l̸t̸. ΨΩU IDIΩT! Y̸o̸u̸r̸ f̸a̸u̸l̸t̸. ๔เ๔ ฯ๏ย гєคɭɭฯ Շђเภк เՇ'๔ ฬ๏гк ๏ยՇ? Y̸o̸u̸r̸ f̸a̸u̸l̸t̸. 𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁! Y̸o̸u̸r̸ f̸a̸u̸l̸t̸. Really now, what were you expecting? A̸l̸l̸ y̸̸̸o̸u̸r̸ f̸a̸u̸l̸t̸. Love? The only love that exists is LOVE and the high that comes with it... and your brother was amazing to kill Sansy~ You should try it sometime. Y̸o̸u̸r̸ f̸a̸u̸l̸t̸. Y̸o̸u̸r̸ f̸a̸u̸l̸t̸. Y̸o̸u̸r̸ f̸a̸u̸l̸t̸. Y̸o̸u̸r̸ f̸a̸u̸l̸t̸...
IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT.]
Echo jolted awake, looking around him quickly, relaxing a bit after realizing where he was.
He reached out, softly calling that cute little nickname that he had come up with when he stopped, remembering.
{So... it wasn't just a nightmare...?}
Looking up, he was startled to see the weak moon high in the sky.
He had fallen asleep? Oh no... what about—
What about Snare?
Oh dear, oh no, oh stars, oh boy...
Internally repeating every curse he knew, he barely managed to form a portal the way Dream had taught him. At the memory of the other skeleton, sorrow struck deep at his soul, he tried to shake it off, concern for his brother and guilt for possibility worrying Snare flooding through his being.
Rushing to go through before the portal closed, he managed to just make it, not noticing the starless night sky that seemed to drip with oozing, black goo, and he landed on the ground harshly.
A small puff of dust rose up around him, causing him to lightly cough as he got up, dusting his clothes off.
Wait a minute... Dust?
He took a closer look at the ground, and reeled back in shock at the monster dust he found there.
His mind went blank as only one thought came to mind.
Snare.
His body acted quicker than his mind, quickly scrambling towards the edge of Snowdin town before he found his head and remembered he could teleport.
As he made the jump, the first thing he heard was the tell-tale damage noise that would sound every time a monster (or human, for that matter) got hurt.
When he saw the billowing scarf, however... the disbelieving and saddened expression on Snare's beheaded skull, the sadistic smirk accompanying those red-tinted eyes of what was barely human, the blood-like marrow slowly dripping down from the base of his little brother's skull...
That did it.
Snare hadn't even fully dusted when Echo attacked the human, conjuring and shooting bones of varying type at them.
Some were dodged, but not all were avoided as the human pressed down on a wound, possibly to stop it bleeding.
So the human wanted genocide, huh?
Well then, that's exactly what they'd get.
In the split second that they looked away, Echo had already teleported in front of the human, firing two summoned Gaster Blasters at them.
Carelessly dodging, they leapt closer to Echo who had a bone in hand.
Turning their soul blue he immobilized them, stabbing straight through their soul, shattering the little red heart, and killing them.
The little battle had taken mere seconds, just enough time for Echo to apologize to Snare for not being there sooner before the latter dusted.
The dust had just began to settle when he felt it.
That strange feeling that came with killing any monster.
D͜͡o͜͡ i͜͡t͜͡.
The feel of increased power.
Y͜͡o͜͡u͜͡ k͜͡n͜͡o͜͡w͜͡ i͜͡t͜͡'l͜͡l͜͡ m͜͡a͜͡k͜͡e͜͡ y͜͡o͜͡u͜͡ f͜͡e͜͡e͜͡l͜͡ b͜͡e͜͡t͜͡t͜͡e͜͡r͜͡.
The small high that came with gained LOVE.
I͜͡t͜͡'s͜͡ a͜͡ g͜͡r͜͡e͜͡a͜͡t͜͡ d͜͡i͜͡s͜͡t͜͡r͜͡a͜͡c͜͡t͜͡o͜͡n͜͡.
The tickling little voice in the back of his head, urging him on.
N͜͡o͜͡ o͜͡n͜͡e͜͡ w͜͡i͜͡l͜͡l͜͡ b͜͡l͜͡a͜͡m͜͡e͜͡ y͜͡o͜͡u͜͡. N͜͡o͜͡ o͜͡n͜͡e͜͡ w͜͡i͜͡l͜͡l͜͡ b͜͡e͜͡ L͜͡E͜͡F͜͡T͜͡ t͜͡o͜͡ b͜͡l͜͡a͜͡m͜͡e͜͡ y͜͡o͜͡u͜͡.
The insatiable desire...
S͜͡o͜͡ g͜͡o͜͡...
For more.
K͜͡ I͜͡ L͜͡ L͜͡ T͜͡ H͜͡ E͜͡ M͜͡ A͜͡ L͜͡ L͜͡ .
More destruction. More death. More kills. More power. More LOVE. . .
Unlike the love he lost not too long ago.
Though... if Dream had just waited... maybe... just maybe... he would have spoken up.
That tiny, brief flicker of rage was all it took.
Suddenly the voices were overpowering, the urges irresistible, the small spark of rage quickly grew into a white-hot flame, his LV clouded mind thinking of nothing but death.
So... why bother resisting the temptation?
Why try suppressing the urge?
Why not just...
...finish what the kid had started?
A crazed smile split his skull, one of his eyelights turning a LOVE-infected red as he pulled up is hood and began walking out of town.
There would be no monsters left here, the human had probably killed them all by now.
And sure, Undyne might have been expecting a training session with Snare, so why not fill in for his deceased brother?
But... only if he could set the bar from 'Spar' to 'Kill'.
"Yo! Hey! You're that weird skeleton dude! What's u–" Monster Kid's speech was cut off by a flick of the wrist from Echo, sending a blue bone through them.
Echo leaned closer, examining the smaller monster as MK stayed as still as they possibly could, knowing that if they made so much as one movement, they'd be done for.
Sans expression turned thoughtful for a moment before he spoke up, "And you're that little monster kid that admires Undyne..."
Thinking for a moment, he smiled softly at MK, using a gentle tone of speech he said, "Say, can I make a suggestion?"
MK carefully nodded, sighing in relief as the bone disappeared. Still a bit shaky, they waited for Echo to continue on to his proposition.
Walking over and leaning down to meet MK's height, he gently placed his hand on their... well, for lack of better words, 'shoulder' as he continued, "Can you go to Undyne's and tell her that I'll be coming over for Sn... Papyrus's training? He can't make it this time and I thought I'd take his place."
A look of confusion crossed MK's face as they looked at Echo suspiciously, eying the dust and red stains on his clothes. Echo quickly looked down at himself, letting out a nervous-sounding laugh as he sheepishly said, "Oh... and umm... sorry for attacking you. Just a bit on edge today."
MK shook off any doubts and suspicions, sure that absolutely nothing could be wrong as they nodded excitedly, quickly rushing off in the direction of Undyne's dwelling.
Echo immediately dropped the sheepish attitude the minute MK was out of sight, slightly ticked off at the feeling of overwhelming LOVE wearing off.
Before he could continue on, he heard a small rustling noise. Immediately summoning a bone and impaling the moving creature, he felt his EXP rise.
The twisted smirk back on his face at his most recent kill and the thrill that came with it, he continued to walk through the beginnings of Waterfall, passing one of his stations and killing the monster who always seemed to stand next to the Echo Flower there.
For a moment he stopped, staring blankly at the flower of his namesake; before storming off angrily, much more eager to kill than he was mere moment ago.
He killed monster, after monster, after monster, but somehow, it still wasn't enough. He soon got bored of the lower-tier monsters that were just way too easy to kill.
Yanking the bone in his hand out of a Shyren's head, he watched them slowly dust. Sighing in content as his LV rose once again. Thinking for a moment, he decided to just get it over with and teleport to Undyne's.
Contemplating wether or not to wash off the dust and blood, he decided not to. He could easily brush off the red stains as ketchup or some other condiment and the dust wasn't THAT visible anyway.
Teleporting to Undyne's house, he found no one there... except for a strange dummy.
Hmm... would he gain any EXP if he...?
A few minutes later, he was walking away from the destroyed house, one of his eyelights lit up a light purple and the other an ominous red.
Proceeding through Waterfall, he ignored the Blook family's household as he strove for more blood. Stopping at the entrance of the Riverperson's port, he suppressed his LOVE-tinted magic and turned left, entering Gerson's shop.
Gerson was surprised to find Echo there, greeting him with a, "Well, hello Echo. I wasn't expecting you here for another couple of days. If yer lookin' for Undyne, she's by the entrance to Hotland. And she seemed worried."
Echo kept his composure, temporarily subduing the urge to ram a bone through Gerson and gave him a concerned look.
"What? Do you have any idea why?" He asked in a worried tone. Gerson scratched the back of his head, looking at the Deltarune on the wall behind him.
"I don't know Echo... but monsters have been disappearing and there's been talk of a human... a Whimsun came here from the ruins, white as a sheet an' told us that a human had fallen down and killed everyone, the poor monster barely managed to escape..." Gerson stated, pausing for a moment as he suspiciously eyed Echo, sensing something off about the usually docile skeleton.
"Speaking of killing, why do ya have blood on ya?" He asked, his guard up, preparing for a possible attack. Echo looked down at himself, noticing one of the fresher bloodstains and chuckled sheepishly. "Oh that. Just kinda got Spaghetti sauce on myself tryna take care of my bro... still can't get it right, heh..." He said, brushing off any suspicion with that easy lie.
"Oh yeah speaking of which, can I get two of those Sea Teas? And please, continue about Undyne." Echo said, casually summoning that sharpened bone and leaning on it. Gerson nodded, getting the Sea Teas Echo had asked for, brushing off lack of the usual correction from 'Mom' to 'Undyne', and continuing.
After all, this was Echo. He didn't have a single malicious bone in his body. He couldn't hurt a FLOWER let alone another monster.
"Well, I hope your brother gets better soon. Anyway, the Whimsun dusted not too long after it arrived, poor feller couldn't calm down. And it seems that Undyne had been told by someone that yer brother couldn't make it ta their usual sparring sessions... I think that the news of the human and your brother's disappearance is what's got her worked up." Gerson said, sliding over both Sea Teas.
Echo nodded thoughtfully, slowly letting his magic fade back into its purple-red hue as he casually sipped one of the Sea Teas. "Snare's just... lost his head is all. There's nothing to worry about. And thanks for the tea. Pleasant as always." Echo lightly stated, downing the rest of the tea with a satisfied smile.
Gerson chuckled. "Well, I try my best. Second one's on the house. I do believe that your brother needs it more than I need the Gold." He stated, giving Echo a friendly smile.
"That won't be necessary, Gerson." Echo blandly said, picking up the bone and quickly stabbing it through Gerson, his movements too fast for Gerson to keep up with.
Gerson let out a weak cough, still in shock of what Echo had done. That sadistic smirk slowly made its way back on to his skull, twisting the jagged bone in hand when Gerson looked like he was about to speak.
"Gerson, we don't know each other well, but I assume you thought you knew me... to an extent." Echo began, pulling out the bone and stabbing him once again as he continued, "Well you don't. And I meant it literally when I said that Papyrus 'lost his head'." another stab.
Gerson's eyes widened in shock, barely managing to get out the words, "Y-You killed him?" receiving another stab as a reward.
Echo's grip on the bone tightened, guilt only fueling his rage as he chuckled lowly.
"I suppose you could say that I did." He growled out, slashing at Gerson one last time before the old Turtle Monster dusted, unable to speak.
He stood hunched over for a moment, the bone in his hand still jammed in the wall before an overwhelming rush of magic went through him, making him gasp as his LV rose not just once...
But three all at once.
Echo started to giggle manically as he began losing the remaining shreds of sanity he had... the high was absolutely intoxicating.
How much better would it be if he killed the one he once called 'Mother'?
The voices in his head united in agreement, all suggesting he should kill her.
Kill Undyne.
So and Echo gleefully obliged, teleporting to the usual spot she'd wait for the human.
The human who was now dead.
Undyne quickly turned, smiling gleefully at Echo before she noticed his changed aura and color of magic, the vibrant purple of his eyelight glowing menacingly as he grinned psychotically at her.
"Heya Undyne."
For some reason, the lack of the usual correction of her name jarred her and she stepped back, already in a fighting stance.
"Getting right to it, are we bucko?" She quietly asked, summoning a spear in her hand. She put on a strained toothy grin, guessing the worst but staying hopeful that she was completely wrong.
"Ready when you are!" She barked out, determination steeling her resolve at the child-like enthusiasm she sensed in Echo the grin holding some genuine factor to it until she saw the attack that was aimed at her.
Three sharp, jagged bones all with a slightly purple hue were sent her way at an incredibly high speed, and she just barely managed dodge them them.
"Whoa... that was pretty impressive... have you been practicing your magi—"
Once again, that damage noise sounded out, Undyne's face pale and shocked, she slowly looked down to see those three bones impaled deep in her torso, one going as far as piercing through not just her armor, but fully going through her.
She let out a weak chuckle, looking back up to where Echo was.
He was gone.
Undyne's face held an expression of confusion right before she felt the stinging pain in her back, Echo's tail which now had split ends wrapped tightly around her neck, the pointed tips slightly piercing her scales. Echo broke out into yet another fit of psychotic giggles, the bone in his grip dripping with Undyne's blood as he suffocated the Fish Monster.
Echo roughly pulled her closer to himself while still resting a foot on her back, making her bend in a nearly impossible angle as he tauntingly asked, "What's wrong mother? Surprised I'm not as WEAK as you thought I was?"
Undyne tried to reply, but the pain from everything was too much, the grip on her throat consistently tightening contributing to her inability to reply as Echo scoffed sarcastically. "Thought so." Was the only thing he stated, some part of his shattered mind briefly suggesting he hear what she has to say before he killed her.
Echo loosened his tail just enough for her to speak, keeping the bone pressed up against her back, slowly depleting her HP as he asked, "Any last words?". The fish monster gasped, coughing up some blood and shakily trying to even out her breathing, an impatient Echo snapping at her telling her he didn't have all day.
Undyne gave a weak toothy smile managing to rasp out the following words, regret clouding her features;
"I said I'd always protect ya... but I guess I failed."
Echo froze, watching as she slowly dusted, the look of remorse never leaving her face.
W h a t h a d h e d o n e . . . . ?
He'd just... killed... he'd just killed his own—
But the overwhelming feel of his LV rocketing higher silenced any remorseful thoughts as the addictive feeling of spilling fresh blood and the reward that came with it once again clouded his mind, his magic becoming unstable as his aura grew bloodthirsty and malicious.
He let out a few cracked laughs, the Echo Flowers long forgotten on his head having being stained a bloody red long ago also joining in on the insane laughter, one whispering a thought that had managed to slip out.
"𝓚𝓲𝓵𝓵~"
The other flowers soon blinded in and both they and the voices swarming his thoughts softly yet deafeningly chanted that one word over and over.
"Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill... KILL THEM ALL!"
And what could Echo do but comply?
Soon after killing off all the remaining higher-tier Boss Monsters, the thought of his former lover crossed his mind, the rage having subsided for now as he sat at Asgore's throne, calmly sipping the Golden Flower tea that the now dusted king used to love.
Setting the teacup back down on the saucer, he let his broken mind wander back to those pleasanter days with Dream, the connection he felt with the positive guardian made him feel almost as if Dream was his... ร๏ยɭ๓คՇє...
A sad, longing smile crossed Echo's skull, a single tear running down the side of his skull.
It would never be the same... would it?
But... there was nothing wrong with having hope... right...?
Echo slowly got up, carefully setting the teacup down on the seat of the throne, and began the long trek from the throne room back to the place he had seen Snare die.
On his way, he stopped at Waterfall to pick up Undyne's eyepatch and hopefully find a shard of her spears as he was looking, he could've almost sworn he heard something...
"¿@ @ @@〜
: ~ @ / • %@ (•~ % ¿ %:' • ¿ @/¿@:\ •/ (•~:'."
...but it was probably nothing. Maybe just the Echo Flowers random whispers again...
After he finally reached the abandoned streets of Snowdin Town, he grabbed his brother's cold, dust-covered scarf, taking both objects to a quite, secluded location.
His former 'Happy Place' if you will.
He gently set both objects down in his favorite spot, pulling the scarf through the the eyepatch and neatly setting them down, contemplating for a moment before taking the Echo Flowers off his head, putting it to the side of the pile.
Getting up after a minute of reminiscing, he once again opened a portal to Dreamtale, saying his last farewells to the items he had left behind before stepping through.
The sight he was met with wasn't at all pleasant.
The entire sky was dark, the overall atmosphere strangely quiet... too quiet.
What triggered a real redaction out of him, however, was when he reached what used to be The Tree that constantly stood there.
Except now it was gone.
The only thing left was a stump with an uneven surface, making it appear that The Tree almost seemed to have been... ripped apart..?
A muffled sob caught his attention and Echo followed the sound, not sensing the usual positive aura that accompanied the Positive Guardian and not noticing the suffocating negativity as his own LOVE-infected magic pushed back against it.
"I-is someone there...?" Echo shakily asked, the LV high having long worn off, thus allowing him to completely ignoring the nagging voices in the back of his head telling him to purge and instead choosing to make sure no one was hurt.
He was met with silence.
Echo steeled his nerves and began walking to the other side of the tree, his actions giving him a strange sense of déjà vu.
Before he could stop himself, he let that little nickname slip out.
"D-Dreamy...?"
He barely saw a flash of black that was just a tad bit darker than the sky move before Dream... or what looked like Dream, stood in front of him.
"Echo..?" Dream questioned, wiping away the black goo that was dripping from his eyes, his expression the very picture of disbelief. Echo couldn't help but smile fondly, taking a tentative step forward.
Before he felt the sharp pain in his chest.
Echo's eyelights turned a pale White, slowly looking down at the tendril stabbed through his ribs then back at what used to be Dream.
Shattered Dream glared at Echo, feeling the tears well up in his eyesockets. He forcefully dragged Echo's corrupted soul out and held it.
"Echo... why did you come back." Shattered growled out, unable to think clearly as he felt the negativity from the Black Apple he had consumed continue to corrupt him.
...and he didn't like that slight positivity radiating off of Echo... it was... irritating.
Echo weakly smiled, happy that his final wish of dying by the hands of his former lover... his soulmate instead of any other way letting his souls rest easy... but he had to say it... he had to let Dream know...
"Because... I love y—"
Echo's statement was cut off by Dream shattering his soul, making him slowly dust. The last thing he heard the one he loved say would've probably shattered his soul either way.
"I don't care. You were just a bit too late with that response. I don't love you anymore... and I'm glad you're dead."