Unmei Force Shattered Heroes: Dawn of Despair

by Xovercreator

The X-Event finally makes their moves, as the member of the Unmei Force, as well as those of the Future Seekers, seek to pursue the X-Event, so that they can find X-Gaster, and put an end to his genocidal plans once and for all. However, it seems that their quest will not be without its own problems, and it's only a matter of time until Richard awakens...

4. Chapter 3

Unmei Force Shattered Heroes: Dawn of Despair

Chapter 3: The Dawn of Despair

---

With Siege's group…

The entire group managed to end up in the New Home of the Outertale timeline, as everyone began to look around.

"Huh. It's a bit lighter around here, but not much different." Kaguya remarked. "I guess despite being themed around outer space and all that, it still has some grounded basis to the world."

"Looks a lot more familiar than I expected." Sans admitted.

"Yeah, it's almost as if I'm reliving my place through here." Swap remarked, which surprised a part of the group.

"Swap Sans? What are you doing here? I thought that-" Gus said.

"...I know X-Gaster personally. It's my duty to stop him, not just for the sake of my world, but for the sake of everyone else." Swap declared. "...Don't worry, I won't drag anyone down."

"That's not going to happen." Meiling remarked. "You'll be a great help."

Swap gave a smile, while Fell merely sighed deeply.

"Where do we even start with all of this?" Alear asked. "We have no clue where Ink could be, or where this confrontation with Error is going to end up."

"My dear doppelganger here is the key to that." FS!Sans smirked. "Say, you mind if you guide us for a walk?"

"Hm… Sure, I'm attracting trouble from all of this anyways." Sans shrugged, before he then began to walk away, as the rest of the group began to follow.

---

As they walked through the streets of New Home, Sans became a little bit solemn, thinking about something that X-Chara said.

"Something wrong, Sans?" Alear asked.

"Something about his words about trying to make a perfect world rings within me." Sans sighed. "...Funny thing is that I know that my kid has earned this timeline we live in, after so many resets… I wonder if X-Chara is truly as monstrous as he looks to be, after he laid out his motivations."

"Gonna be real honest. He's not a monster. He's just misguided." FS!Sans deadpanned.

"Yeah, well, that ain't going to excuse the shit he's done." Fell scoffed. "I mean, you saw what he did, and from what he did in that other place…"

"No. We were fortunate to nip this early." FS!Papyrus answered back. "But you of all people should know that there's always some hope even in grim times."

Fell was silent, before everyone felt a familiar looming pressure behind them.

"Well, well… Is that a group with a lot of people who seem to be impostors of me… Or visitors from outer space?" A voice remarked behind them. "Hey, don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around… and shake my hand…"

"Ok." Sans remarked, before he then turned around, as Sans put his whoopee-cushion hand forward, as Kaguya realized what was going to happen.

"DON'T-" Kaguya exclaimed, too late, as the two whoopee cushions interacted, as it caused a massive roaring farting sound.

"Well… guess now I know what happens when two Sans do the whoopee-cushion handshake with each other." FS!Chara chuckled.

"That was… unexpected, heh." Outer Sans remarked. "So… Do we know each other? The name's Sans, just in case."

"Well… look, it would take me a long time to explain, but if it helps, I can explain everything while we walk." Sans offered.

"Sure, I can talk a walk around and hear your story out. It's my lunch break, so let's go!"

As the group began to walk, the various Sans began to tell their perspective of the issue at hand, as each account made Outer Sans a bit worried.

"Huh… that's a real mess of things, ain't it?" Outer remarked.

"That's only a part of it, friend." FS!Chara remarked. "Just know that something is going to be happening around here, and you're better staying in our company for the time being."

"Strange…" Outer remarked, before then clearing his throat. "Anyways, my brother, Papyrus has been insisting a lot on how a human will soon get here. He wants to capture one and I must help him. But honestly? I'm not interested in that. He wants one so that he can become a royal guard, and he's motivated for it. That's why I'm doing my best to keep a lookout for humans… and speaking of which, you have quite a few among you all, don't you? Seems like he might get lucky."

"Well, I wouldn't mind being 'captured' by him." Alear remarked casually. "He's a real kind-hearted individual, from almost every timeline that we come across him."

"...What a beautiful sight." Sans remarked, looking at the starry skies above.

"You… you think that?" Outer remarked. "I mean, it would be sad if anyone had to conform with, dunno… artificial ones or something like that."

"Trust me, pal. Not everyone out there has the chance to have something like this. They would dare to take your place and steal your happiness." Sans sighed.

"Well, the sky is big enough for everyone." Outer declared. "Anyone is always welcome. After all, I'm not the owner of this world."

Sans was silent, as FS!Sans looked up to the skies.

"You know… I think I understand those words a lot better hearing them from you." FS!Sans remarked. "A sky where everyone can be a star of their own dreams… countless hopes and dreams… Wouldn't that be a perfect world…"

"Uh, I think we got trouble." Gus remarked, seeing that there was a certain murderous skeleton, who just killed a Astigmatism, as its SOUL formed.

"Woah, what the…!?" Outer exclaimed, before the Bad Time Trio shoved Outer back. "Huh?"

"We got this handled, just stay back and don't get yourself killed." FS!Chara remarked.

"Damn you, I told you I am done working for you!" X-Chara growled, as the group could see that he was being restrained by Nightmare, who was looking fairly sloppy. "I'm not taking that damn SOUL, just so that you could indebted me further in your stupid contract!"

"And you paid a price for working with me. You think you can just renege that deal because I got damaged so much?" Nightmare snarled. "My patience is already gone after what has happened. Be grateful I'm not making you suffer."

"Y̴u̷c̶k̵.̴ ̶I̷f̵ ̷I̸ ̶w̶e̶r̷e̷ ̷y̶o̴u̶,̶ ̴I̶ ̷w̴o̴u̸l̸d̸n̷'̵t̸ ̷t̶o̵u̸c̴h̷ ̴t̷h̸o̷s̴e̵ ̸t̴h̴i̶n̴g̴s̸.̷" A familiar glitched voice remarked, as Error Sans appeared, before dangling a half-purple, half-red SOUL by one of his blue strings, from the Anti-Void. "I̵ ̴c̵a̸n̸ ̴s̶e̴e̶ ̵t̷h̸a̷t̶ ̸y̴o̶u̸ ̶m̷i̶s̴s̷ ̴y̵o̸u̸r̶ ̴o̵r̵i̸g̴i̶n̸a̴l̵ ̶S̷O̸U̶L̸ ̷s̷o̷ ̵m̷u̸c̸h̷.̸"

"You….!" X-Chara growled.

"Are you seeking attention again?" Nightmare remarked. "I don't have time for-"

"H̸o̷w̸ ̷f̵u̸n̴n̴y̴,̶ ̷N̵i̵g̸h̷t̵m̷a̶r̴e̷.̴.̸.̸ ̵A̶c̵t̸u̶a̶l̶l̴y̴,̸ ̷I̴'̴v̶e̴ ̷b̶e̵e̵n̷ ̷v̶e̴r̸y̸ ̶b̴u̶s̷y̸ ̷b̶u̴t̴,̴ ̵I̴ ̸w̴a̸n̴t̵e̵d̷ ̷t̶o̴ ̶a̸s̶k̸ ̸y̶o̸u̸ ̵s̶o̶m̴e̸t̸h̸i̴n̵g̵.̷.̸.̵" Error remarked, before his eyes narrowed with anger, as his voice distorted further. "W̶͖̽H̶͓̊E̸͔̅R̴̭̍E̴̲͝ ̸͎̎I̷̢̾Ş̸͝ ̴̻̊Ḯ̴͕N̸̻̕K̶͖͛!̴͎̈!̶̜̌!̷̣́ ̴͎͗T̸̘̈́E̵̬͋Ḻ̶͒L̶͖̏ ̴̫̿M̴̭̋E̴̗͘ ̵̯̎N̴̗̎O̴̲̽W̵̉ͅ,̸̞͋ ̵̬͂D̵͕̊A̴͈̽M̵̫͊N̵̼̅I̶̬̔T̸͖̑!̵̹̿!"

"Since he stopped taking his vials to have feelings, I can't detect his presence." Nightmare remarked, before eyeing the group. "...But you can ask this group over there who won't mind their own business."

"Oh no." Kaguya remarked, before Error raised his hand, as a mass of blue strings began to come out from every single place. "Get back, those strings will-"

Before she could continue, every single member of the Unmei Force except Gus himself, had their SOULs snared by the strings, while Error moved forward to attack the rest.

"W̴e̸l̸l̸,̵ ̸w̶e̸l̷l̶.̶.̸.̸ ̸q̴u̷i̶t̸e̵ ̶t̵h̸e̵ ̵g̷a̷t̶h̶e̷r̴i̶n̸g̶ ̷o̷f̸ ̸a̵n̸o̵m̵a̵l̷i̸e̷s̸ ̸h̶e̸r̸e̷.̶" Error remarked, before snapping his fingers, as a massive array of Error Blasters appeared. "C̷r̸e̸a̸t̴u̴r̷e̷s̶ ̷l̴i̴k̴e̵ ̵y̸o̶u̸ ̷a̶l̵l̷ ̴a̵r̴e̷ ̶t̴h̶e̷ ̸r̵e̷a̷s̵o̵n̶ ̷w̷h̵y̸ ̵I̴ ̸e̵x̴i̴s̶t̵ ̷f̶o̵r̶ ̷m̶y̶ ̵d̸u̸t̷y̵.̷"

"What, your duty is to erase anomalies?" Alear growled.

"Yeah, sorry, not something I have on the cards for the day." Baudimon smirked as suddenly, a light portal opened and out rushed a bulking feminine Steel Knight, as Error got shield bashed by Isabelle, as she, Robert, Jakka, and Victoria rushed in on the battle, while Jakka used several javelins to destroyed the incoming Error Blasters.

"Oh, man, Baud, you're looking a little tied up there." Jakka smirked. "Need some help cutting loose the rest?"

"Did we manage to come to your aid in time?" Robert remarked.

"We are safe… but the others…" Aylanda remarked, seeing Kaguya and the other members of the Unmei Force struggling to break free of their control.

"Don't worry, we will try to release them." Isabelle declared.

"Hang on, guys!" Victoria exclaimed, the red haired free knight rushing to help cut others loose.

"Y̵o̴u̸ ̴w̶i̷l̵l̷ ̴N̷O̵T̵ ̴s̵t̶o̷p̸ ̷m̵e̵!̴" Error growled, before Meiling and Suika began to twitch, as they were forced into attack Victoria, only for Robert and Isabelle to block them with their respective shields.

"Go for the rest first, Victoria!" Robert declared. "The two children, they're the priority due to the fact that they are easier to release!"

"Yes sir!" Victoria exclaimed, quickly rushing to Heiwa and Popol, sword ready as she quickly diced through the strings holding them.

Before Error could even attack, FS!Sans summoned a massive Gaster Blaster, although he surprised the destroyer of AUs by using it as a massive ram to knock Error away, while FS!Papyrus began to threw column after columns of bones to take care of them.

Heiwa and Popol tried to stop themselves, before they fired a massive barrage of fire and ice towards Victoria, who was using her own mount to dodge the attacks quickly, even with a few close calls, before she then wielded a large blade in her hand.

"Claymore… don't fail me now…!" Victoria remarked, before her Regalia struck true, freeing both Popol and Heiwa from control.

"We're free! WE'RE FREE!" Popol cried in comical anime tears once he was loose.

"Thank you so much!" Heiwa thanked Victoria.

"There's still the others…!" Jakka remarked, before seeing Reisen and Weiss began to create a massive field of ice that they were using to impede the group.

"Leave that to me!" Aylanda remarked, as Heiwa quickly coated her brush with her own hell-fire, before using it clear a path forward, against all of the icy attacks that Reisen and Weiss were using.

Reisen immediately bounded up, before she then began to fire several danmaku blasts at Aylanda, only for Popol to rush in, before using his spear to deflect them away.

"Be free from your strings!" Aylanda declared, before using light magic to create a massive barrage of light arrows that managed to damage Reisen and Weiss, as well as sever the blue wires on them.

"My thanks." Reisen remarked, as she fell down momentarily.

Meanwhile, Robert and Isabelle were forced to defend against the fighting specialists, as their armor was barely able to hold against them.

"Grgh…" Robert remarked. "I must be feeling my age if this is as far I can do."

"We're keeping the attention off the rest." Isabelle declared. "So long as we can-"

Meiling then blasted Isabelle back slightly, although she was able to recover, and block an incoming palm strike. Before the dragon youkai could made a crushing attack, Reisen shot the strings with several ice blasts, while Weiss glided into the air to save Suika.

"Hah…." Suika remarked, as she relaxed significantly. "Sorry for getting myself stuck like this."

"We don't have time to dawdle… there are still the others…! And Error as well!"

In the meantime, the FS!Bad Time Trio were currently struggling in the battle against Error, as they were evenly matched despite it being a 3-on-1, the three of them having drops of sweat fall from their heads.

"Y'know, it's times like this I wish we weren't the only ones left from our timeline." FS!Sans remarked.

"I̸̛̘ ̴̣̉h̵͕̿a̵̖̐v̵̜̾e̴͖̅ ̷̭̑s̶̒ͅp̵̟̈́é̴̩n̶̼̍ẗ̸͇́ ̷͋͜ě̸̻o̵͓̾n̶̩̍s̴͓̍ ̵̩͌ḟ̸̗ì̶̥g̶͉̍ẖ̸̉t̵̜̐i̵̹̿ņ̶͊g̶̰̚ ̵̟̐b̸̞͐e̵͎̓i̵̘͋n̶̞̍ḡ̸̝ṡ̵̡ ̶̣̐l̷̲̕i̴̥͊k̸̲̀e̷̱͗ ̴̠͘ȳ̸̙o̴͎̓u̵͓͌.̷̡̏ ̴̧̅Y̴̊͜ô̸̩ũ̴̙ ̷̮͐t̶͖̆h̴̺͑i̸̧̓n̵̅͜k̷͍̀ ̴̛̗t̷̯̚ḣ̷͓ǎ̵̞ṫ̸͈ ̵͜͝ÿ̸͇́ö̷̫́u̵̝̒ ̶̫͆c̶͉̑ȧ̷͍n̵̪͆ ̶̳͘j̴̩̋u̴̺̅s̶̗͠t̵͕͋ ̷̧́ú̷͍p̴̩̕ ̶̟͐a̴̼̿n̶͆͜d̶̝͋ ̸̖̑d̷̡́ȇ̴̙f̶̣̎e̵̍ͅa̸͕̾t̴͔̓ ̴̙̕m̷̯̃ȇ̶͍ ̵̺̑a̵͓̓s̵̫͆ ̶̖͝Ǐ̸̟ ̷̀ͅa̷̩̾ḿ̸͔!̴͎͐?̴̳͛ ̶̡̓S̷̨̔U̴̱̓C̷̙̆H̸̥͊ ̵̨̎Ã̷͉R̶͉̔R̴̲̈́Ö̶͔́G̴̢̔Ä̴̗Ǹ̶̞C̶͓̑Ě̸͇!̶͇͒" Error growled, before he tried to snare the trio's SOULs, only for them to dodge the strings, and blast them away.

As he tried once again, however, as the trio was caught off guard… Out of nowhere, spears erupted from the ground, severing the strings and defending the trio, as they looked familiar to the trio.

"Eh? ….Doesn't that kinda look like…" FS!Papyrus remarked, before a portal suddenly opened, as out of it jumped a feminine figure who was wearing a very different suit of armor than usual. The armor was purple and red in color, opened around her midsection to show off a toned six pack abdomen…

And more importantly: Blue skin.

"No way…. Undyne!?" FS!Chara exclaimed.

Cue: Spear of Justice - Intense Symphonic Metal Cover by FalKKonE

"Heh, looks like ol' Siege man thought it was finally time for me to come out of hiding, and that I needed to drop in." FS!Undyne remarked, a wide grin on her face. "Turns out, I think he was on the money with that assumption. It's time for the Spear of Justice to rain down on his enemies! FROM ME! GWAHAHAHA!" She laughed before firing a salvo of spears at Error.

Error growled, before weaving his strings into a massive barrier that blocked the barrier, although that left him open to hit from underneath by FS!Sans's bones, and then comboed into being hit by several knives from FS!Chara that sent him further back.

"Guess you're as headstrong as ever, aren't you?" FS!Chara chuckled. "Can't help but come to the rescue in such a dramatic fashion."

"Hah, you know it. But really, Siege never wanted you guys to know the fact I was alive. He knew you'd all be looking for me if you knew where I was. Better for me to come to you when the time is right than you all worry yourselves over me, eh?" FS!Undyne chuckled.

As Nightmare was about to retreat, Baudimon immediately rushed forward, before pinning Killer Sans with his blade, and overwhelming him, pushing him to the ground, and sticking him to the ground using Dawnbreaker as a stake.

"Don't even think about trying to get away, or trying to launch a sneak attack." Baudimon declared. "I ain't going to be showing any mercy to anyone who is planning to cause a lot of discord around here."

"You…!" Nightmare remarked, before Aylanda bound him with light chains. "ARGH… NOT AGAIN…!"

"Let the light bring you to your demise!" Aylanda yelled, as Undyne looked to see the chained up Nightmare and formed a Spear made by Magina which was infused with positivity.

"YO! GOOP GUY! CATCH THIS!" FS!Undyne laughed, firing the spear of emotions right for Nightmare's center mass.

"OH, YOU'VE GOT TO BE-" Nightmare cursed, before he then began to melt, as his head rolled onto the ground, before coming to a stop. "...to be… defeated… by… the likes… of some…"

"That's what we do." Baudimon shook his head. "Sorry, but compared to Asmodeus, even if you're some god of despair, you ain't got anything on Asmodeus or Fomortiis."

"Quite humiliating, ain't it, bud?" FS!Undyne cackled, before turning back to Error. "Wish I could watch someone curb stomp your head but I got my own plate full." She smiled, charging Error again.

Error immediately summoned his bones, before he defended againstagainst FS!Undyne's attacks, although he was being forced back, due to the fact that her strength was overwhelming compared to her standard counterparts.

"Oh you know my spear attacks, eh?" FS!Undyne asked, before she then leapt high into the air. "Well, HOW ABOUT THIS ONE, EH?" She shouted, rapidly moving her hands in a familiar formation before stretching them forward. "BURNING ATTACK!"

Suddenly, a mass of burning ki energy shot down and exploded upon Error, all bones and strings burning away in the pathway of the attack, as Error was stunned by the force of the attack, which smashed him against one of the walls, cracking it heavily, before it then faded.

FS!Undyne then raised a finger, as several energy spears pinned Error to the wall temporarily.

"While this won't keep you still for long, it's enough to give us time to take a breather." FS!Undyne remarked. "You won't be able to manipulate anyone with that cranium of yours reeling from this blow."

FS!Undyne smirked, snapping her fingers as spears aimed themselves for Kaguya, caught in strings. "So I'mma just save time and cut everyone else loose now too. In case you SOMEHOW get out of my spears." She smirked, as spears cut the strings holding Kaguya, as she dropped harmlessly.

"Grgh…" Kaguya cursed, before she fell to the ground for a moment. "...Thanks a lot. Good thing Error was kept too busy to have me bust some moves out. That could have ended badly."

"I don't get it. Everyone else from our timeline was wiped out… how in the name of Gaster did you survive?" FS!Sans asked FS!Undyne as she sighed.

"Leave that for when we have more time, eh?" FS!Undyne shakily smiled at FS!Sans, getting the picture it wasn't exactly the most convenient of ways she came back.

X-Chara looked at the situation with shock, seeing that even Error was being kept down by the likes of the heroes, despite being one of the most powerful entities in the AUs.

"We should be mostly done here." Gus remarked. "If only we could-"

Before the group could even continue, a familiar streak of purple ink appeared, as Ink stepped out of it, with his expression blank.

"...So you finally show yourself, Ink." Kaguya remarked.

"What… What is that face of his…?" Swap remarked, as the look on Ink's face unsettled him.

"You got some nerve, pal." Baudimon stated, glaring right at Ink. "Siege and Richard, well, the ones we know, trusted you to pull your own damn weight with all this. Yet you stay in the shadows… As if you're playing puppetmaster, just like my brother Mortimer used to be. You got anything to say about that? Or are we just gonna beat sense into you like about a few others we've had to do!?"

"S̸o̴,̸ ̶e̸v̴e̷n̸ ̶t̴h̶e̸y̷ ̷f̵i̵g̸u̶r̸e̵d̷ ̶o̷u̶t̵ ̴y̷o̴u̷r̵ ̴g̷a̵m̸e̴.̸" Error growled, before leaning forward to glare at Ink. "D̷o̴ ̵y̵o̸u̸ ̶r̵e̵a̵l̷l̵y̸ ̸t̷h̷i̸n̸k̷ ̵t̷h̴a̴t̵ ̸I̸ ̸w̷o̷n̸'̶t̴ ̶t̸u̶r̸n̸ ̸t̸h̴e̵ ̴e̶n̶t̷i̶r̴e̴ ̸m̶u̴l̶t̵i̷v̸e̴r̶s̵e̴ ̴i̵n̶t̴o̴ ̸g̸a̷r̸b̴a̶g̷e̵ ̵b̵e̴c̵a̴u̶s̵e̵ ̶e̵v̸e̵r̴y̴t̵h̴i̵n̴g̷ ̶y̵o̵u̷'̷r̵e̵ ̸d̷o̶i̷n̵g̸ ̴i̵s̷ ̵j̷u̵s̶t̸ ̵a̷ ̵s̷i̷m̸p̶l̵e̴ ̵g̴a̵m̸e̸!̴?̶"

"What…?" Gus remarked, as the group were stunned at what they heard. "Error… is going to… what…?"

---

Meanwhile, in the Underfell universe…

X-Alphys landed on the snow, right on the empty field where Snowdin was, as she began to observe the surroundings.

"Pacifist Timeline number 13. Alternate Universe 'Underfell'." Alphys declared. "The X-Event only took a few code fragments from this location known as Snowdin. Unlike the other AU, its inhabitants have not been corrupted by them."

"I DON'T EXACTLY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, BUT-" Fell Papyrus told Fell Asgore, as there was a mass of monsters who were investigating the source of the situation, before they all turned to X-Alphys. "WHAT IS THAT MONSTER DOING OVER THERE?"

"H-Hey! It's another one of those pale intruders!" Fell Alphys growled.

"She… looks a lot like you, Alphys." Fell Undyne declared.

"Hey, you! Intruder!" Fell Asgore growled, before stepping forth, with trident in hand. "Have you come to cause more trouble in my kingdom!? You'll suffer the consequences if you don't confess!"

X-Alphys didn't respond, as Fell Asgore raised his weapon.

"You've got until the count of three to explain what you have done to this part of my kingdom!" Fell Asgore declared. "...One…Two….THREE!"

Asgore then charged forward, as X-Alphys raised a page with the VIII numeral written on it, as it turned into X-Mettaton, who caught the trident by its fork, much to Fell Asgore's shock.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" "KILL THOSE WEIRDOS!" "TORTURE THE IMPOSTORS!"

"I hate that such rude people… Interrupt me at work." X-Gaster growled, as his voice carried through X-Alphy, with her right eye glowing purple for the duration, until she returned to normal. "Get rid of them, Mettaton. This place will be formatted from scratch after the Quanantine anyways."

X-Mettaton immediately pulled one of his hands out, as a purple energy saber appeared in it, as Fell Asgore tried to pry himself free to no avail.

Before X-Mettaton could even use his blade to attack, something smashed into him, sending him back.

"What!?" X-Gaster remarked, through X-Alphys.

That something was Galahad, holding his shield proudly as he and Randall stared down the X-Verse members, before they were encased in painted glass, Utsuna walking up to them with hands in her pockets.

"So Sans was right." FS!Richard remarked. "You really were going to massacre Underfell."

"So, this is the other Richard Liu…" X-Gaster growled, through X-Alphys.

"Damn right." FS!Richard responded back, as the rest of the group made themselves known.

"You've got some nerve, playing God as you are attempting to be." Randall remarked firmly.

"I've taken out quite a few fools who play God. You're not the first." Utsuna deadpanned.

"Interruptions everywhere. It's as if that wretched copy is mocking me." X-Gaster growled. "I will need a lot more than Mettaton for this. Assistant, summon IV, V, II and I."

"As you wish." X-Alphys remarked, before four pages began to form with the aforementioned numerals, before taking the form of X-Muffet, X-Undyne, X-Asgore and X-Asriel.

"That aura…" FS!Richard remarked, looking at X-Muffet, before looked at Utsuna, before silently gesturing for her to immediately assault X-Muffet.

Utsuna nodded, as before X-Muffet could even react, Utsuna immediately used her time skip to catch up to the spider monster, before sending her flying over the horizon and chasing after her mid-flight.

"I got the kid." FS!Richard remarked, as he glared down on X-Asriel. "Takes a spell-blade to fight a spell-blade."

"That piscine woman…" Galahad remarked, as his eyes were upon X-Undyne. "I shall test her resolve myself."

"A king to a king." Randall remarked, looking at X-Asgore. "And tyrants opposed. I shall handle this royal myself."

"Leave us to handle the automation." Draco declared. "Whatever tricks it could have, we have the people to force him down."

"Then let's begin our attack." Ezroa stated, Randall's crew having journeyed with him into Underfell, as Ezroa flared her magic while pounding her fists. "Bring it on!"

"I shall run my spear through all enemies of Randall, advisor of King Baudimon!" Kearza exclaimed.

"Bahahaha! Bring it on! Bring me a worthy fight!" Griselda laughed.

"I tshall support you all. We will win this day!" Tridor exclaimed.

"You… You are the ones-" Fell Asgore started.

"Killia, get the monsters away from this fighting." FS!Richard ordered, without turning his head. "If you have to use force… don't hurt them too badly."

"Let it be known we're on your side. You would do well to listen and evacuate this battle." Randall stated, his expression serious as he briefly looked back at the Fell-Verse occupants.

Fell Asgore looked at the group for a moment, before growling, clutching his trident hard.

"...Fall back. Let the outsiders handle this situation." Fell Asgore relented.

"BUT, YOUR MAJESTY, WE'RE-" Fell Papyrus started.

"NOW!" Fell Asgore growled, as the monsters were cowed by his roar, before they quickly retreated from the battle.

With all non-combatants out of the area, the group immediately rushed into battle, going against their respective foes.

While the fight ensued, X-Muffet managed to break her fall, using webs of energy formed from her whip, which bounced her off, as she landed on the ground, as Utsuna stopped right in front of her.

"You must be a real speedy one…" X-Muffet remarked. "...I saw that you stopped time there as well… Never thought that I would be fighting someone like that so soon."

"Get used to it. Or don't. You'll probably be dead in about a few minutes." Utsuna declared with a glare.

"Bold statement." X-Muffet smirked. "Let's see who has the real control over time, shall we?"

Both of them immediately activated their powers, as the world turned both negative-colored and filled with stained-glass windows, as the both of them began to attack at normal speed against each other, while the entire world was stopped right around them.

X-Muffet began to use her whip to create a massive barrage of whips that were aiming to ensnare Utsuna, only for her to be able to leap over and side-step each of them. The spider monster then immediately summoned several minions, as they began to chomp towards Utsuna, flying at break-neck speeds.

Utsuna simply scoffed, as if no effort was spared in dodging them, heck, she just WALKED past them as if she knew what she was doing, before punches hit them and obliterated them, before Muffet was then hit by punches…

And yet Utsuna was only walking… Only walking!?

"What… what is this!?" X-Muffet growled, as she wiped her face with one of her arms. "...You're dodging my attacks, but you aren't moving on the spot… it's as if…!"

"Oh so you don't know? Oh, I get it. You don't at all, do you." Utsuna remarked. "You can't even see it. No worries. Let's wait for about 10 seconds… ….My movements should be catching up to you… now."

In an instant, Utsuna began to move in slow motion as Muffet's eyes finally saw that while she was still, she was actually moving at speeds faster than her eyes could see, so she was being pummeled while Utsuna was still, as Utsuna approached her, and landed one more punch to send her soaring through the area.

"You're… you're instinctively dodging the attacks, with micro-movements…!" X-Muffet exclaimed, as she was sent flying through the air, as she tried to use her whip to stop her rising, only for Utsuna to punch the whips going for the trees at the same speed that she was using. "Damnit… who are you!?"

"I'm simply an assassin for hire. The second most well known one… Behind my father, who was better at this than I am." Utsuna stated. "I am Utsuna, the daughter of Hit… And you're just another contract for me to fill."

X-Muffet was about to say something, before Utsuna chased after her, and hit her in the chest with a powerful straight punch, that managed to cause her to gag heavily, as the inverted colors faded away, while she slowed down.

"...You only have this much power to offer." Utsuna remarked, before shaking her head. "...You're already done for."

Utsuna then smashed X-Muffet with several crushing blows, which sent her crashing right down into the ground, as her battered body began to fade away, turning into the same page of light that was used to summon her.

"You were impressive… To a fault." Utsuna declared. "I hope you can return one day and fight for what is right in this world, not what is wrong."

X-Asriel and FS!Richard began to circle around each other, as they waited for one of them to make the first move.

"I never thought that I would be fighting someone like you, Azzy." FS!Richard remarked, pacing around. "You always were such a soft-hearted kid. To come face to face with someone like you… it really stings."

"Spare me your pity." X-Asriel snarled. "You will not get any sympathy from me. My brothers are nothing but traitors to what is right. Especially the other you."

"I don't know what the hell he did with you… but I know that you're lying." FS!Richard remarked. "...I can tell just by how you speak. You loved him once-"

X-Asriel then charged at FS!Richard, as the Chaos Sabers clashed against his Xuan-Yuan, as the sabers rang hard against the Regalia blade.

FS!Richard quickly stomped the ground, as an earthen pillar formed under his feet, sending X-Asriel up, who quickly righted himself in the air, before summoning a massive rain of star projectiles down on him.

FS!Richard merely smirked, before he then began to rush forward, as he evaded the burst of stars, getting closer to X-Asriel, before hitting him with a short-range fire burst that knocked the goat monster off guard.

"Declare Spell Card: Water-Fire Sign 'Antipode Breaker'!" FS!Richard declared, as he summoned a barrage of red and blue orbs that surged through the entire battlefield, and whenever the two types of bullets met, they created a fairly large explosion of both colors that ravaged the field.

X-Asriel growled, before he then used his Chaos Sabers to cut through the bullets, in order to deal with his opponent, as he weathered through the explosions, despite the injuries that they were giving him, to hit FS!Richard with a barrage of slashes, before summoning the Chaos Blaster, and firing it point-blank at full-charge at Richard.

The rainbow beam hit FS!Richard for several seconds, before he then recovered to use Xuan-Yuan to split the beam in two, as it began to destroy the nearby environment, as FS!Richard countered the attack with a beam of magic himself, hitting X-Asriel hard.

X-Asriel then raised both of his sabers, before rainbow thunder hit them both, supercharging them, as he then began to throw slash waves of thunder at his foe, which moved at alarming speeds, forcing FS!Richard to use a magic barrier to protect himself.

With the other hand, Richard quickly opened a sukima right in the path of the attack, opening the other end behind X-Asriel, as his own slash-waves hit him from behind, staggering him.

"Eat this!" FS!Richard declared, before charging his blade with energy, before slashing X-Asriel full-force with the attack, as the attack created a massive gash against X-Asriel's body.

"Damn… it….!" X-Asriel growled, before he then morphed back into a page of light.

While the fight raged on, X!Asgore seemed to be able to withstand his fight against Randall and his retinue quite handily, as the amount of void-like fire that the boss monster was wielding, managed to fend off the group well.

"He really is worth his title…!" Griselda remarked, before rolling under a wave of fire. "A tyrant of flames… I could say that he is Surtr incarnated in the form of a goat!"

"And his blows are ruthless." Tridor remarked, before Randall blocked a trident-pierce that was aimed for him, with his sword. "He is much like Thorgrim was in his prime, barring that hell-fire of his."

"You can't just say that. Thorgrim was married to Maria, he could have been taught magic from her!" Ezroa stated as she skid back from a blow from X-Asgore, her guard up as she skid back.

"Don't praise our foe! He is our enemy, and we must fell him! Fight on! Charge!" Kearza declared heroically, before launching flames from her Flame Spear at X-Asgore, aiding Randall's charge as he slammed his shield into X-Asgore to gain some distance.

"Why do you continue to fight for a future filled with misery and pain?" X-Asgore growled. "Do you think that you have the power to make your own future, when there is unbound chaos in the other universes?"

"That might be so, but that chaos is the reason why heroes are born." Tridor remarked. "Much as light and darkness are two opposing constants, order and chaos exist both for a reason. To force order upon the worlds, especially with such sacrifices, would only invite stagnation and disaster. I come from a race who has fallen to the same mistakes."

"A king must strive for better." Randall declared. "You and I are the same in that regard. I can see it through those eyes of yours, even as a puppet. You were forced upon unreasonable demands, and were forced into these actions. I am no better, since I have willingly done wrong for the sake of my own beliefs. But, I have come to realize my mistakes. There are still people who need not discard sentimentality to bring proper order to this world. To let one keep their will to choose, and to ensure that the people will be able to be happy, that is what a true king of the people does. And my brother has proven it to me so truly."

"That is why we stand with Randall! He has realized the virtues that truly make a king! Do you?" Kearza asked sternly.

X-Asgore hesitated for a moment, as his spear lowered, before his eyes hardened.

"No. This is the only way to prevent our past from reoccuring once more." X-Asgore declared. "...Even if I sympathize with your beliefs… as you have said to me, you are my enemy. There is no peace for either of us, so long as our ideal stands."

"Then you suffer for your beliefs then." Tridor answered back solemnly.

"Well, in that case, everyone, CHARGE!" Griselda roared, as the five of them immediately began to attack at once, intent on overwhelming the king.

X-Asgore was forced into trying to block Kearza and Ezroa, as his trident was able to protect him from both of their attacks. However, it left him open to getting hit by Griselda, who carved a nasty cut right through the back of his own armor, while Tridor immediately pulled out a stave.

"Freeze!" Tridor declared, as X-Asgore felt his entire body lock up from the magic, causing him to mutter curses.

Ezroa roared once X-Asgore was in place, her magic flaring and channeling into her fist. "EAT THIS! HELLFIRE FIST!" Ezroa yelled, hitting X-Asgore full force with a punch that was engulfed by hell-fire itself, which destroyed the entire front of Asgore's armor and staggered him.

After his retainers managed to take down most of his armor, Randall leapt right into the air, with his blade raised.

"HRAH!" Randall growled, before smashing right down on X-Asgore, as it left a cut that crossed diagonally across X-Asgore's exposed flesh, as the goat monster staggered back.

"To be… defeated like this…" X-Asgore remarked, as he collapsed, trying to stand back up and failing. "...In the end… I truly am too weak to protect those close to me."

X-Asgore then disappeared into his page, as Tridor used Fortify to heal the entire group.

"Are you all alright?" Tridor asked the group.

"I am fine, Tridor." Randall assured his Lightbringer mage. "This is far too little to be able to bring me down."

X-Mettaton slowly walked towards Draco's team, before going for an overhead slash that was blocked by Senshi, as he was then sent back by Marty, slugging him with a right hook.

"Zo, you're the X verzion of that celebrity." Marty said as he observed X-Mettaton. "Eh…The original pullz it off better, honeztly."

"I CARE NOT FOR FAME." X-Mettaton responded back. "I AM WHAT HE IS INTENDED TO BE, A WEAPON OF UNPARALLELED MIGHT. SURRENDER YOURSELF, AND SPARE YOURSELF A GRIM FATE THAT YOU CAN AVOID. IF YOU DESIRE DEATH, THEN IT WILL COME GENTLY FOR YOU ALL."

"Not interested!" Draco said as he manifested his left arm, grabbing X-Mettaton by the head and slamming him to the ground. "I don't intend to have a peaceful end, nor do I intend to end today!"

X-Mettaton quickly grabbed Draco's arm, before reversing the grab, and throwing him aside, before swinging his saber wide, creating a massive slash that forced Thinker to summon a shield, as it managed to block the attack, as X!Mettaton used his other hand to create a hand cannon, firing it at the group with rapid explosive shots.

"Mighty impressive shootin' there." Sawyer remarked, before he pulled out a revolver and shot X!Mettaton's bullets, detonating them in mid-flight. "But pre-programmed ain't much against skill, partner."

X-Mettaton continued forward, before the Walrider seized him, as X-Mettaton tried to break free, but even his inner ghost was being repressed by the specter.

No… MORE!

X-Mettaton watched as both of his arms were being torn off, spilling oil and sparks everyone, before the Walrider smashed the automation against the ground over and over, as it managed to damage X-Mettaton's body heavily, before he managed to fend the Walrider off with a massive blast of energy that forced it to retreat back safely.

"Not looking too hot there, Mettaton." Jaw said smugly as he pulled out a small blaster. "Can't outright destroy you, as easy as it would be…so I'm gonna need you to sleep for a while, huh?" he asked as he fired the gun, crackling blue lightning shooting out. "Electric Mishap Projectile. Put 'em together and whadda get?"

The blast hit X!Mettaton, the electricity coursing through him before he collapsed to the ground in a heap, reverting to a page.

"EMP." Jaw finished. "Nighty night, sweet prince." He said with a bow.

Meanwhile, X-Undyne and Galahad was still clashing,as lance and spear clanged against each other for the countless times between the piscine heroine and the Steel Knight.

"You're not bad for a folklore knight." X-Undyne remarked, before smirking. "Shame that you're fighting on the wrong side."

"Am I?" Galahad remarked, before the both of them thrust each other on the same moment, as their tips collided, creating a massive shockwave. "Seems to me that it is you who is misguided, knight of spears."

X-Undyne merely grinned back, before she summoned a massive rain of purple spears, that rained down upon Galahad, who used his own lance as a make-shift shield by twirling it around, deflecting the spears away, before going for a charging thrust, that dealt considerable damage to X-Undyne, as the lance pierced through her stomach.

However, X-Undyne grabbed the lance with both hands, before slowly pulling it out, while Galahad tried to get his lance off her hands, only for her to sock Galahad hard with a right hook that knocked him to the floor, before she then used his own lance to try and impale him, as Galahad rolled out of the way of the attack.

"Real shame that you only have one spear to fight with." X-Undyne remarked, before tossing Galahad's lance aside. "What a shame, this fight is very much over-"

"Galahad, catch!" Randall declared, before Galahad caught Randall's greatsword mid-air. "You have us to aid you."

"Thank you, my liege." Galahad answered back, before wielding the blade. "Well now, not so helpless, am I?"

"Heh. I suppose that you got some tricks up your sleeve." X-Undyne answered back. "But that won't help you against me!"

The two of them began to clash again, as Galahad used Randall's greatsword to great effect, as his blade was able to parry aside X-Undyne's attacks with great force, allowing to land several powerful blows, while he side-stepped any incoming spears, whether it be from the ground or air.

"It's time I ended this." Galahad remarked, before bringing the blade over his head, and charging forward.

X-Undyne summoned a massive salvo of energy spears to try and interrupt his attack, only for him to dodge her attack by making small movements, before he then reached her, and cleaved right through her with a extremely powerful swing that cut her in two, much to her surprise.

"...Heh. Guess only the winner decides what's right. Good fight." X-Undyne remarked, before she turned back into a page of light, as it returned back to X-Alphys, as Galahad flicked his sword to the side.

The entire group looked at X-Alphys, who had received the pages of her defeated brethren.

"So, what now?" FS!Richard remarked. "I doubt that you're in any state to be forcing a Quarantine. After all, Alphys ain't built to fight, unless you're talking about her other selves. But this one is strictly only scientist material."

There was only silence, before X-Alphys's mouth turned up into a smile, as she began to chuckle in X-Gaster's voice.

"What's so funny?" Randall growled.

"It won't matter. My time has finally come." X-Gaster declared through X-Alphys. "I will soon be free… and none of you will be able to stop me."

"NOT IF WE HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT!" A voice suddenly echoed loud enough that X-Alphys spoke it, as it seemed Siege had found X-Gaster at last, the voice coming right through a sukima that suddenly appeared, as the group could see that Siege was holding a certain vial in his hand, right where Outertale was.

"How… How did you…!?" X-Gaster remarked, before the group quickly entered through the sukima, as both groups were reunited, as they saw that Ink was knocked down on the ground.

"If I were you, I'd not move." Rimuru threatened Ink, as he and Veyle were pinning Ink down.

Ink was silent, before Siege began to toss the glowing portal vial up and down.

"So, this is where you've been hiding all this time." Siege remarked. "Never thought that you would be able to think of this. I do wonder… it would be a shame if I… just broke this and smashed what's inside…"

X-Gaster trembled in the vial, before Error saw his chance, and quickly broke himself free, as he summoned several strings that surged towards the vial, and put it into his possession.

"T̵h̶e̵ ̶o̷n̴l̵y̸ ̶o̵n̸e̸ ̷w̴h̶o̶'̷s̶ ̷g̵o̵i̴n̶g̸ ̷t̷o̸ ̴b̶e̷ ̷t̸h̷e̴ ̵o̴n̴e̸ ̶j̶u̸d̴g̵i̶n̷g̵ ̸t̸h̸i̶s̴ ̴a̴b̵o̴m̵i̴n̴a̵t̷i̶o̴n̴ ̸i̸s̶ ̵m̶e̸!̴" Error growled.

"You-!" Siege exclaimed. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Siege yelled as he roared and charged at Error, blasting him with intense energy.

"Ink!" X-Gaster growled. "If you value your wishes right now, you WILL aid ME!"

Another brush began to appear beside Ink, as the skeleton quickly grabbed it.

"Don't let him get away!" Rimuru exclaimed, attempting to stab Ink to hold him from warping.

However, Rimuru got Ink's intentions wrong, as Ink slammed his brush against Rimuru's body, covering him in dark purple ink, before they turned into barbed chains that restrained Rimuru in his current form.

"GAH!" Rimuru exclaimed, before he smirked. "Hah, you forget!" Rimuru suddenly changed into slime form. "I'm a slime too! NOW HOLD STILL!" He yelled, unleashing a salvo of dark magic. "Veyle, keep him from getting away!"

Ink took this chance to leap back, as he then readied his brush, as Veyle tried to hit him with Nosferatu to weaken him to a point he was unable to get away.

Cue BGM: Inking Mistake

"Get Error, and get Ink as well! Neither of them must be allowed to release X-Gaster's SOUL!" FS!Richard growled.

"You got it!" FS!Undyne exclaimed as she shot spears at both, before seeing X-Chara make a beeline for the vial. "Hey, what's that kid doin'!?"

"If I can get his SOUL… then I can recover the full power of OVERWRITE…!" X-Chara exclaimed. "With this, I'll get two birds with one stone…!"

"Oh dammit, someone stop Cross!" Siege exclaimed.

Error quickly teleported out of the path of the spears, before summoning a barrage of bones, as several members moved forward, before blocking off the barrage of glitched bones together, while Kaguya immediately leapt up.

"Piss OFF!" Kaguya growled, before firing a massively-powered Moon-blast right in the face of Error, sending him flying back, although the glitched skeleton suddenly disappeared into the Anti-Void, before coming out on the other side, as he caught Kaguya's SOUL again. "Oh, you son of a-"

Error then quickly forced Kaguya to fire a barrage of ice lasers at the group, managed to hit several of them, although Kaguya managed to jerk her body away enough to make the shots glancing.

"NOT A SECOND TIME!" Baudimon yelled, cutting free Kaguya as quickly as she was caught, as he then blasted Error with Dawnbreaker afterwards.

Error then found himself surprised from behind by FS!Chara, smashing him with a wall of knives, which bounced him towards Ink, who was being thrown by Meiling.

"Hit them hard!" Suika cried out, as Aster quickly raised his hand to cast a massive meteor.

"IS ANYONE STOPPING CROSS OR ARE WE ABOUT TO SEE AN EVENT WE MAY NOT SURVIVE!?" Siege yelled, watching X-Chara bound for X-Gaster's SOUL.

X-Chara was rushing towards the air-borne vial, only for Heiwa to foot-stool him, and catch the vial, while Popol smashed him back.

"What the hell!? I thought that you were going to stop all of this!" Popol exclaimed. "We just talked you down-"

"Get out of my way! I can't let X-Gaster get released! I need his half!" X-Chara growled. "If I have the full OVERWRITE power, he can't use it to do anything!"

"We got the same damn goal, if not for the part of you needing him, damnit! We're all fighting for the same goal, I just want him dead!" Siege exclaimed.

X-Chara looked at the group, before seeing as Error and Ink were being smashed by Aster's falling meteor, as the rest of the group were firing everything right at Ink and Error, in an attempt to keep them down for good.

"...Fine. If you can stop this, then you can have his SOUL. I just need that half!" X-Chara declared.

"Thank you." Siege nodded, catching the vial as it was tossed to him by Heiwa. "Don't you dare do something that we regret."

Siege prepared to split the vial in half, raising it up…. just when a splash of dark purple paint wrapped around him, as several of the group were hit by red explosive ink, creating some distance between Ink and them.

"WHAT!?" Siege exclaimed, his grip on the vial loosened as Ink dashed, grabbing it and landing far from the group.

"F̷́̋͜Ȕ̷̯͎͎̲̗̖̈́̃̅͐͑͌͜U̵̬̲̠͊̓͑̕U̴̢̟̻͙͈͒̒̔U̶̙̘͋ͅÙ̸̢̮̩̋Ṳ̷́̈́̾͝U̶̡̺͎͎̓̀͒͗Ç̷̰͂̄͑͂̚Ç̴̗̹̼͌̓͌̈́̉̌C̸̘̱̩̗̖̪̝̈C̵̞͔͖̻͗̿C̶̱͍͔̣̦̟̺͂̒̍͒̕C̵̨̢͍̘̑̀̅͐̃͋K̵̦͌͜K̶̳̮̜͉̤͉͕̀͒̃̾K̵͕̙̆K̴̨͙̻̬̝̼͗̕K̵͈̦̼̺̩͈̄̉̒̈͐ͅ!̸̖͉̂̌̕͠͝!̴̢͖̪̌̕!̶̻̺͍̿̓̎̾̔̽͜!̴̨̹̮͓̣́͊̈́͛̏̚͠" Error roared, as his expression was apoplectic, before he then glitched a massive armada of Gaster Blasters, row after row, until the entire sky will filled with them :"J̵̞̇͋̽͘͘Ű̴͍̠͈͈̙̻̌͛S̴̱̤̓̌̆́́̄͌T̵̬̬͙͚͍̓̋͊̈́̑ ̸̟̪̜̻̞̖̅́͜D̷̠̩̿̈́̅̈͐̒̕D̴̲͍̀̎̏I̸̧̭͎̗͕̒̚I̷̡̨͈̭̲͛͗͜I̴̡̗̭̗̾̈͝Ǐ̸͙̠͔͗̍Ì̷̠̯̪͖̔Ị̷̼͂̆͘Ḯ̵̭͈̞̳̱̔̆̏İ̸̛̘̌͝I̴̭̹̟̜̾ͅĒ̴̛̛̪̹̾̀̈́͝E̷̤̞̊̑̆̽̎Ë̷̖̭̮͚͉̤́̀͆̈́̕E̶̯̥͊̊̆̓̏͂E̶̟̩̲̯̻̥͑̒È̸̼͚́̔̅͒͋E̷̺̳̮̗̺̭͖̔̏̐̎̄!̸̧̖̥̥͎̈́̀̀͘!̶͕̊̃̏̈̇!̸͔̼̻͈̮̜̬̈́́͗̏͘͝͠!̴̮̎̉͊͂͑̄"

"BRACE!" FS!Richard cried out, before he, Aylanda and Richard formed a barrier of light just in time as all of them were released, as the entire area was filled with the light of the Gaster Blasters.

When the light faded, the group found that the entire universe was reduced to a chain of floating islands of varying sizes, as all of the Sans, barring the one from Siege's universe, were gathered on one, Ink was standing over another, and Error on a third, while Nightmare's head was being carried by Killer on a fourth, and the group were standing on one on the other side.

"Ink, have you gone mad!?" Swap exclaimed, hoping to get Ink to see reason. "You're not supposed to ever intervene like this. You're supposed to wish to protect the AUs!"

"That's what I'm doing." Ink remarked, with his voice still lacking in emotion. "You're the ones who can't see beyond what the multiverse is. After all, there are thousands of alternate versions. Thousands of timelines in their own universes. Why even worry about a small affected fraction? Everything will come back to normal once I feel satisfied. When I feel bored, I'll start this game all over again. This will be the perfect alternative to keep the balance between Creation and Destruction of the Multiverse."

"Y̶o̴u̷ ̴f̷r̵e̴a̴k̸i̶n̸g̵ ̸p̶s̴y̵c̴h̵o̴.̷ ̴I̴ ̴s̵h̵o̷u̷l̵d̴n̷'̵t̵ ̵h̷a̷v̶e̴ ̶n̶e̴g̷o̵t̶i̵a̸t̵e̵d̵ ̴a̷n̶y̴t̵h̷i̷n̸g̶ ̴w̷i̸t̶h̶ ̸y̶o̵u̸.̵ ̵" Error growled.

"Ink, stop, do you think the Color Gods will stand by and allow you to carry X-Gaster's plans out!?" Gus exclaimed. "They'll know of what happened here!"

"They won't matter soon enough, after X-Gaster is done." Ink declared.

"You won't enjoy those new possibilities if you can't feel anything!" Sans pleaded.

"I won't be like this forever." Ink declared, before holding the vial out. "It's just that… I don't want to regret it now."

"NO!" Siege roared, before Ink let go of the vial, as it smashed against the ground, before a half-empty and half-purple SOUL was released, as it began to absorb purple energy everywhere, forming X-Gaster, who has been distorted due to the exhaustion of the DETERMINATION half of his own SOUL that he borrowed from X-Chara.

---

In the GFS Ryujin….

Yukari stood over Richard's comatose body, as she held the RESTORE button in her own hands, after hours of trying to retrieve it without destroying Richard.

"It is done." Yukari remarked, as Yun was watching over it.

"Do we really need the button to be truly able to defeat X-Gaster?" Yun asked, before Sumireko entered the room. "That button…"

"It is the only thing that will be able to prevent X-Gaster's advantage with the full OVERWRITE button." Yukari remarked. "As long as he wields it… all victories are meaningless, even if Magina's protection has prevented it from affecting her heroes in our world."

"I see…" Yun remarked.

"I will pass it along to Gus. He is the most compatible person to be able to make use of this." Yukari remarked. "...Who knows, perhaps the button might also awaken a power within him far greater than he had before."

Yukari then walked away, while Yun and Sumireko watched over Richard's body.

"Richard… I don't know if you can hear me or not in here…" Yun remarked. "...But everything is going to be alright. We're going to stop X-Gaster and save everyone, so that you won't have to suffer like this again. It'll be like the old times… and we'll all be-"

Suddenly, the EKG on the machine began to beep, which shocked the group.

"Yun… Richard's… Richard's waking up!" Sumireko exclaimed.

"He must have finally recovered!" Yun remarked. "We need to inform-"

Suddenly, the EKG began to rapidly increase in pace, before it began to beep at a super fast rate, which turned their relief into horror.

"...What? What is this?" Yun remarked. "What's happening to Richard!?"

Richard's eyes suddenly snapped open, as they were blood-shot, as he was scrambling rapidly in the life-pod, clawing and scratching everywhere.

"Richard…" Sumireko remarked, as Yun paled heavily.

"Oh no… no no no…" Yun muttered rapidly, as fear was on his face.

"Yun?" Sumireko remarked, before Yun grabbed her by the shoulders.

"You must go to Yukari. Tell her that she needs to speed up her plans!" Yun exclaimed. "Don't look back, and don't stop running! You need to get to her as fast as possible!"

"Yun, I don't understand! What's going on-!?" Sumireko remarked, before she yelped, hearing the sound of the life-pod's glass crack, as Richard's fist was rapidly smashing against it.

"NOW!" Yun shouted, as Sumireko nodded rapidly, before running away.

Yun then quickly scrambled for the intercom system nearby, before turning it on.

"This is acting officer Yun!" Yun cried out. "We have an Alpha-class emergency in Sector C! All personnel are to cease non-critical duties, and evacuate from the sector immediately! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill! We have an Alpha-class emergency in Sector C! All personnel are to cease non-critical duties, and evacuate from the sector immediately!"

Yun then winced, as he heard the glass of the life-pod shatter, as the liquids within began to pour out from the life-pod, as Richard slowly scrambled out, limping slightly, as there was a dark look in his eyes.

"Gaster…. Gaster…..!" Richard moaned, as he staggered forward a few steps, before he regained his balance, before walking forward.

"Richard, stop!" Yun shouted, as Richard turned to give him a side-glare that unnerved Yun. "You need to stop! Trying to go forth will not only end up killing you, but-"

"I. Don't. Care." Richard declared, with his voice was filled with pure hatred, before he then summoned a sukima, before stepping through it.

Yun closed his eyes, as he began to mutter silent prayers.

'Sumireko… you better have reached Yukari by now… because he's coming… Richard's coming…!' He thought with desperate hope.

---

"Y̵o̵u̸ ̴e̷n̴t̸r̴u̷s̶t̴e̷d̷ ̷y̸o̷u̴r̴ ̷o̴w̴n̶ ̶S̷O̸U̷L̶ ̷t̷o̷ ̴I̶n̵k̴,̵ ̵t̷r̸y̵i̸n̸g̸ ̶t̸o̸ ̵s̷u̶r̷v̸i̵v̶e̸ ̶s̶o̷m̴e̴w̷h̶e̸r̸e̶ ̴i̷n̶ ̶t̴h̶e̶ ̴m̶u̸l̶t̴i̶v̷e̶r̶s̴e̷,̴ ̴w̸i̶t̸h̴ ̸j̸u̵s̴t̴ ̶a̵ ̵f̸r̷a̶g̷m̶e̴n̶t̷ ̵o̴f̷ ̸D̸E̸T̶E̶R̷M̶I̵N̵A̶T̸I̴O̶N̸?̶" Error remarked, before spreading his arms out. "̵I̷'̴m̵ ̷g̸l̴a̶d̵ ̷t̶o̴ ̶k̶n̷o̵w̷ ̴h̶o̵w̶ ̶s̷c̸a̸r̸e̴d̴ ̸y̷o̵u̵ ̵a̷r̸e̶ ̵o̶f̶ ̴m̴e̴.̵"

Everyone watched, as the entire world around them began to change pixel by pixel, until they found themselves right in the sunset skies of the Doodle Sphere, as they saw that countless floating pages were being ensnared by Error's blue string, in a massive web that spanned the entire area.

"No way…" FS!Richard remarked. "Error… Error did all of this…!?"

"Someone, you have to stop-" Kaguya pleaded.

"No use." FS!Papyrus remarked, as Error formed a glitch barrier around himself. "He's not going to let anyone interrupt him."

"...The Doodle Sphere… Oh gods… So what that future Richard said was true…" Draco remarked. "...Mark told us of what he had heard from his mouth."

"A future Richard?" Gus asked Draco.

"When the Hero Alliance were dealing with a temporal crisis… They meet a specter of Richard in the future." Draco declared. "Mythos Hearts said that he looked more ghost than human, his hair bleached, and his own presence weak. He came from the future, saying that something terrible was going to happen in the Doodle Sphere… that he needed to be stopped there."

"So, we weren't the only ones with the vision of that future." Siege remarked.

"I̵f̶ ̶y̵o̴u̸'̸r̶e̷ ̶e̴x̸p̵e̶c̸t̸i̸n̵g̷ ̷m̵e̵ ̶t̶o̶ ̷j̵o̸i̴n̵ ̴y̴o̸u̸ ̶i̷n̴ ̴t̵h̴a̷t̴ ̷G̵A̵M̶E̶ ̴y̴o̶u̵ ̶w̷e̶r̶e̷ ̷t̵a̷l̸k̵i̴n̸g̸ ̵a̶b̴o̷u̵t̸ ̸i̸n̷ ̴m̸y̷ ̸d̵r̸e̵a̴m̵s̶.̴.̶.̷ ̶L̵e̵m̸m̴e̸ ̵t̸e̵l̸l̸ ̶y̴o̸u̸ ̶s̸o̴m̸e̶t̷h̶i̶n̶g̶.̵ ̴" Error declared, before he then raised his hand to tug at the end of the string web that he made. "̵̟̂͘İ̶̭̙͘ ̷͎̱͆͂D̴͈̏Ơ̶̗̜̏N̶̺̐̎'̸̳̣͛̎T̸̨̟͑ ̸͖̩̽͂W̷̜͑̀Á̴̖Ń̸͈Ṅ̸̦͜A̸͎̽͋ ̷̱͌̆P̴̱̃̕L̸͇͂͒A̷̖͎̔͌Y̵̡̨͛ ̶̨̔̄W̶̳̏I̴̹̤̋͆T̵̢̝͐̒H̷̹̾͝ ̷͍͙́̈́Y̸̼̘̌Ö̸̥́U̶̫̖͆.̶̼͌͝"

The group watched in horror, as every single page was being torn apart, with their shining pieces raining down around them, as the Bad Time Trio clenched their fists tightly, as if they were reliving a nightmare.

"Such a pity." X-Gaster remarked, uncaring of the tragedy. "In that case, we will continue on our own. Ink."

Ink then hit Error with the same restraining purple ink, as it tied the destroyer up.

"H̸E̵Y̷,̷ ̸W̴H̷A̵T̵ ̵D̴O̶ ̵Y̴O̸U̵ ̸T̶H̵I̶N̵K̵ ̸Y̵O̶U̴'̵R̴E̶ ̷D̴O̴I̴N̶G̷!̴?̶" Error growled.

"None of your business." Ink declared, teleporting behind Error, before sending him flying with a swing of his brush, sending Error flying, and then creating a purple ink portal into the Anti-Void, where Error lied in, before X-Gaster reached his hand out to grab Cross's actual SOUL, the half-red and half-purple one.

"D̴O̷N̶'̶T̵ ̸T̶O̵U̸C̵H̴ ̸M̷Y̵ ̵S̶T̸U̵F̶F̶ ̴Y̷O̵U̵ ̵P̷I̷E̵C̶E̵ ̷O̸F̷-̸!̴" Error cried, before the portals closed, cutting his words off.

"At last." X-Gaster declared, before he opened his hand, as the empty-half of his own SOUL was filled by the purple half of X-Chara's original SOUL, leaving only a half-red SOUL in X-Gaster's hands.

"No… No… not like this…!" X-Chara remarked, as tears of despair ran down his eyes. "All my efforts… were for nothing… I'm supposed to never lose… It's not fair… IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"Are you crying? Oh, Chara…" X-Gaster remarked. "We knew this would happen. You have a lot of potential, but you still have so much to learn. It's such a shame that you're not without a SOUL, or I could have forced you back… so that you can rest and watch, since you will never apologize for everything you did. And as for the rest…"

X-Gaster then summoned a mass of floating skeletal hands, with the same SOUL-rending spikes on each of them, causing the group to be alert, before they surged forth.

FS!Richard, Draco, Gus, Kaguya, and Siege immediately attacked as one, as they destroyed the incoming hands together.

"You aren't getting rid of us that easily." FS!Richard growled. "...So the mastermind finally reveals himself… and to be frank, after everything… I think that you really deserve to die for everything you have done."

"I won't forgive you… not after what you've done to everyone, especially to Richard!" Kaguya growled, before transforming immediately into her awakened Nahobino form. "I hope you have a last will, X-Gaster, because there won't be anything left of you."

"...For everyone you've hurt, and for everyone who will live on through this… I will defeat you, and put an end to your cruelty!" Gus declared with firm resolve.

"Your actions have resulted in pain for me and my fellow mercenaries, along with countless others. Save Doflamingo, I've never encountered one as cruel as you. You'll burn for it all!"

"When I'm done with you, you're gonna be nothing but ASH!" Siege yelled in fury.

"What can you and your smattering of powerless creatures do against me?" X-Gaster chuckled darkly. "With the full power of the OVERWRITE button in my hands, you are nothing but simple obstacles to my plan. A single use of this button, and most of you will be nothing but slaves. Or I could inflict the deepest of sufferings upon you. Believe me, what X-Chara is capable of with that half-SOUL on using OVERWRITE, I am a thousands time more capable of using it."

"But you can't fully affect us." FS!Richard declared. "Magina's protections prevent the likes of your OVERWRITE from being able to directly affect us."

"You underestimate my resourcefulness, silhouette of Richard." X-Gaster answered back. "I can still change the world around you… and I will rain down a thousand hells upon you all until you cannot fight anymore."

"We'll see about that." Siege growled.

However, before the fight could even begin, Gus and Kaguya received something through their communicators.

"This is Gus, what's going on?" Gus called out.

"Something's wrong! Richard broke out of his life-pod, and Yukari said that you need to get something, Gus!" Sumireko exclaimed. "The entire space fortress is in uproar, as he's causing damage everywhere he's going. Anyone trying to suppress him is getting beaten bloody! And he's going to come here within the minute!"

"What!?" Kaguya exclaimed, before Gus saw a sukima appear before him, as Yukari's hand came out of it, shoved the RESTORE button right into Gus's chest, as Gus's orange SOUL showed, before it then slowly faded into a more prismatic color.

"I feel… strange…" Gus remarked, as the surge of power unbalanced him for a moment.

"The RESTORE button is built with the powers of many SOULs, human and monsters." Yukari responded through the communicator. "Gus, Kaguya… and anyone else who can hear this… I wish you luck about what's coming… and… I'm sorry for everything. Especially for hiding what Richard's true last log had written inside…"

"What are you talking about-" Gus remarked, before a sukima opened right behind the group, as everyone was able to tell that it wasn't one of FS!Richard's, or Yukari's….

…It was UF!Richard's own, as the owner stepped out, as his irises had a red tint to them, and there was a massive crushing dark aura that everyone can literally feel.

"Richard… what have you become…?" Gus remarked with horror.

"What is this immense power…?" Kaguya remarked. "It's almost as if…"

"That's right… His seals have been destroyed." Yukari answered back. "...Right now, I'm using everything that I can to prevent him from being able to reach the same power level that he showed in the near-ruination of our Gensokyo on that fateful day… The powers within are greatly degraded, with the strongest of them being completely inaccessible to them… but his original power is many times stronger than it was before… Don't let your guard around him. He won't be able to listen to you. Do not engage him until I get the reinforcements here. Keep stalling him without escalating to hostilities right away."

"I… I understand." Kaguya answered back, as she squinted her eyes. "Damn it… Richard… don't do this…"

UF!Richard continued to walk forward, before he then stopped a bit ahead of the group, as he looked at X-Gaster, Ink, and X-Alphys, the latter who arrived by accessing a Shortcut.

"Well, well… the prodigal son returns." X-Gaster mocked. "So then, you have recovered from your own SOUL fragmentation, and you decided that you would face me the moment you awakened? Do you seek vengeance against me so much, Richard?"

UF!Richard was silent, as he merely glared at X-Gaster with eyes filled with indecipherable emotion.

"What's the matter? Are you actually scared of me?" X-Gaster remarked, with both hands together. "After all, I WAS the one who killed you. And I can do it easily, now that I have the power of-"

"You will die last." UF!Richard declared with finality, as his voice held no emotion other than animosity.

"What did you say?" X-Gaster remarked, as his smile disappeared.

"You will die as the last of the X-verse, X-Gaster." UF!Richard repeated. "A simple death is far too kind for you. Even tormenting you is far too kind. I will know only peace when I destroy every single last one of your creations, the mockeries that you call my family and friends, and devour their very traces of existence before you. And then I shall make you realize how truly powerless you are before me. You will fight me, and you will lose. The OVERWRITE button will not save you. You will die realizing how much of a failure of a creator you were, and how much you deserve to die for engineering my personal hell, to drive me to this point for a second time. Everything you have created will be destroyed with utter cruelty, and your plans will be ashes. Only when I see that expression of despair that I so longed to see on your face, only when your mind is nothing but a gibbering mess, only then shall I grant you death. True death. There will be no afterlife for you. Only the void itself. Such is the exact price for your sins."

X-Chara quickly rushed forward, as he went towards UF!Richard.

"Chara, no!" FS!Richard cried out.

"Richard! Richard!" X-Chara begged, as UF!Richard turned around to see X-Chara, as his expression did not change. "Richard, I'm so glad that you're alive. I'm sorry for everything that I have done. Please, I was doing all of this for you! Don't you see, we're on the same side! We both want X-Gaster dead! I promise that once we free everyone, we can go back to being happy!"

X-Chara smiled back, hoping that he could ignite some happy memories in UF!Richard, although UF!Richard didn't react for a moment, merely looking down at X-Chara, as his eyes were empty of emotion.

"...Richard? Please, I'm your brother… What happened back then… I regret it all!" X-Chara pleaded. "I'm sorry for hurting you so much back then, and I'm sorry for never trusting you when you did everything to honor Azzy! Frisk and I can change! Please, let us help you."

There was silence for a moment, before UF!Richard's mouth began to curve up for a moment, as he began to let out a chuckle.

X-Chara began to feel fear, before UF!Richard's chuckles began to evolve into laughter, as he had one hand over his head, as he laughed and laughed, as if he heard the most humorous joke ever.

"Oh, Chara… Chara, Chara, Chara…" UF!Richard remarked softly. "You always were the first to act. The first to complain, the first to rebel against X-Gaster, the first to hurt me so deeply, and the first to come to me. You know what, I'm so glad that you're here."

"Richard, you're finally-" X-Chara started, as hope crossed his eyes.

Before X-Chara could finish his words, he then felt UF!Richard grab his throat with both hands, before his grip tightened around his throat, so tight that he felt his entire windpipe contract completely from the force, while his own spinal cord creaked from the immense pressure.

"Because congratulations, you get to be the first to DIE!" UF!Richard remarked, as there was insane glee on his face. "Thank you so much, Chara! Thank you so much! I'm so very happy that you know how so very terrible of a person you are, that you would bring yourself to me, so that I can end your miserable life! But don't worry! Because you're the first! You won't get to watch as the puppet that was our family die before you! And as an added bonus, I won't destroy you completely! I'll even let you reincarnate! Ain't I being very nice to you!? AIN'T I!?"

X-Chara tried to say something, although not a single breath could leave his throat, both due to his own throat being completely shut, and being filled with primal fear looking into UF!Richard's insane eyes.

However, before UF!Richard could tighten his grip further, and kill X-Chara, a bunch of Void Lances came out of the void, coming from a familiar source, hitting Richard and pin-cushioning him, while sending him back, as X-Chara fell to the ground, as he was barely conscious, breathing in greedy gulps of air, as his entire neck was purple from the grip.

Kiana stepped out of a sukima, with most of her wounds bandaged, as Allison came out as well, being in a far better state due to priority treatment from the best of the UGF medical personnel, and Sephiroth himself.

"...I guess we made it on time." Kiana remarked, before looking at UF!Richard who slowly rose up. "...I can't believe that Richard has fallen this far…"

"There is no point pitying him." Sephiroth remarked. "...Reason has left his head entirely. Our only choice is to stop him before he can carry out his genocide."

Allison could only look back at UF!Richard, with a mix of pity and anger.

"A-Allison?" Kaguya exclaimed. "...You're still able to fight!?"

"I have to." Allison answered back, before she snarled. "...I refuse to let his blood brother stain my husband's last wishes."

"Brother…" Heiwa remarked, as she was horrified to the point of tears, seeing her brother in such a twisted state.

"Jeez… I just can't catch a break these days…" UF!Richard spoke with a drawn out accent. "But you know what, give me a moment to do something. I promise that I won't hurt any of you, nor can I hurt this little shit, even if I tried right now."

UF!Richard then suddenly appeared on the same island as Killer and Nightmare was, as the two of them reacted.

"Mudada. (It's useless.)" UF!Richard remarked in Japanese, before slicing his hand through the air, as multiple sukimas formed on Killer's body, before they all went open, as Killer was torn to pieces as a result, leaving Nightmare's head to fall upon the ground, as Richard picked it up.

"What… WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Nightmare cried out, as he was unsettled.

"Solving problems… as I should have from the beginning." UF!Richard declared, before dropping Nightmare through one of his sukimas, before warping in front of the group again. "There, nobody to go and interrupt this moment. Error's gone and sealed in the Anti-Void, and Nightmare is never coming out of there as long as I have a say on it."

"Richard… what the fuck have you become…!?" Suika responded back.

"Like I said before… what I should have been from the start." UF!Richard responded back, before throwing his arms out. "So, I know that you ALL are dying for some answers about all of this, don't you? Go ahead, ask. After all, you're not the ones that I'm going to utterly destroy from existence!"

"Okay…we assumed it was going to be bad, but not this bad…" Scrap whispered in fear.

"Uh…so, should we start shooting him, or…?" Jaw asked.

"DON'T." FS!Richard quickly spoke up. "He's expecting an attack… and if you attack him… I don't know what he'll do. He's on eggshells at the moment… keep him talking. We have a plan of our own."

"Oh! A fellow alternate of me. So nice for you to be here…" UF!Richard remarked, before his expression turned deadpan. "...But you're not here to help me at all… aren't you?"

"You want people to ask you, then don't pick at people's motivations." FS!Richard growled back.

"My bad, my bad. I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so very angry that my default state is being jubilant right now. I think that this will wear out eventually, and so will the rage…. Once I am DONE." UF!Richard declared, as he emphasized the last words. "So, any of you like to ask? I have aaalll the time in the world to listen to questions right now. After all, it's going to be worth it in the end."

"Don't go actin' like that, boy." Sawyer said disapprovingly. "Y'all ain't the only victim in this story. Justice is in the cards for these varmints, Ah'll agree…but why's your way better than ours?"

"Because, dear sheriff… it puts a permanent end to the problem." UF!Richard declared, lowered his head slightly, as his eyes glinted for a moment. "No more X-Verse, no more games. No more X-Gaster, no more manipulations. Once I kill all the perpetrators, no one is going to be able to use the OVERWRITE button to ever cause this over again. It's a nice and tidy end to it all. Why fight it? What do you think you hope to save, heroes? What do you think is worth saving?"

"…The potential for good…that's worth savin'." Sawyer replied. "Sure, there's no good scoundrels there…but there's good, decent folks in every world too. It ain't right to wipe 'em all out. Besides…my posse and Ah got brainwashed by X-Chara there. But that wasn't no evil mastermind move. It was a scared kid, doing what he could to fix things. Y'all, of all people, gotta know something 'bout that."

"What a stock answer that I expect from someone like you. It's so pure and altruistic that it makes me want to retch." UF!Richard answered back, giving Sawyer a golf-clap. "I think that you got two things wrong. One, the entire X-Verse is nothing but a puppet-show. I learned that truth a long time ago. They have no free will, they are merely extensions of X-Gaster's will. Mere creations to fulfill his sick desire for control. And second of all, you don't even know the extent of what that piece of shit did to me. I can tell you as much as I like, but you in your oh-so forgiving mindset will never hear a word of it, no matter how firmly I tell you it."

"Speaking of which, we're still missing a few, so if you could wait a bit 'till we get them back…" Jaw said.

"Oh? Very well then, the more the merrier…" UF!Richard remarked. "...Bring the entire Hero Alliance here, if you wish…. It won't change a single thing."

"What could possibly drive you this far…?" Aylanda remarked. "...Surely, there was some part of you that would still forgive them for everything."

"Perhaps it once did." UF!Richard answered back. "...But that part of me died a long, long time ago. It's too late to preach forgiveness to me. They are all dead to me, and nothing will change that fact."

"So that's it, you would kill everything." Baudimon snarled. "Just because you can't handle all of this, you decided to destroy the problem entirely without any scrap of trying to salvage this."

"As I should have." UF!Richard answered back, as some of his whimsy disappeared from his voice. "You see, I learned something during my long rest. There is one truth that applies to heroes in reality. The fortunate ones get to rise up to become the legends that they aspire to be. And the unfortunate ones, end up disappearing into obscurity, dying in an unmarked grave. And where do you think I ended up, hm?"

"The unfortunate one… but I fail to see your argument in your own insanity." Randall growled back.

"Then allow me to make it clear." UF!Richard answered back. "So long as problems exist, I will never find any peace. No matter what I do, everyone around is going to be doomed to suffer, because these problems will arise over and over again, because I never truly had what it took to apply the proper solution to them. You see, you heroes have a problem. You let scum live, and let them do as they please. You never truly destroy them with everything you have, and look where that has got them several times."

Just then, FS!Siege soon stepped before UF!Richard, a look of melancholy on his face as he did so.

"...Boy are you off kilter." FS!Siege spoke bluntly to UF!Richard's face.

"Oh, and here comes the alternate Siege, here to speak to me, to either mock me, or to try to convince me with serenades!" UF!Richard declared. "Oh, do go on, I want to hear what you have to say, wearing that face before me."

"Oh, no, I'm not here to do that. I'm not here to do any of that at all. You're right… I have a problem. I have a… massive problem…" Siege spoke before he raised Breaker of the Dark. "A PROBLEM WITH THE FACT YOU'RE SITTING HERE AND BLASPHEMING EVERYTHING WE'VE WORKED FOR!"

In an instant, Breaker of the Dark PLUNGED into UF!Richard's gut, as blood hit the floor as Siege had a look of fury in his eyes.

"So fuck talking you down. Fuck trying to be amicable. You clearly refuse to be amicable. And so it stands for me to do the only thing I know how to do with evil fucks like you, or good people with evil in their heart. Smack them with the side of light for the darkness to finally LEAVE!" Siege yelled.

UF!Richard merely looked down right at the axe buried in his chest, as the group were horrified, before UF!Richard then looked back up to Siege.

"...Just like that." UF!Richard remarked, before he then grabbed the axe, before prying it out of him, as more blood began to spill on the ground, as he spoke like as if the attack didn't even effect, despite the fact that the wound was bleeding heavily. "That's exactly what I'm trying to say! Destroy your fucking problems, and damn the rest!"

UF!Richard then tossed FS!Siege back, as he landed on his feet.

"All this nonsense about 'an eye for an eye makes the world blind' is absolute shit!" UF!Richard declared, with his hands raised. "If you think that ideology is ever going to work, then tell it to the worlds themselves, tell it to cruel reality, who will never stop taking from you over and over! You will die knowing that the only thing that matters is making sure your enemies never rise up to threaten your people ever again!"

"You've truly gone mad…" FS!Richard remarked, as he stepped forward, with an expression of horror.

"I've been mad from the beginning! Mad in terms of both mentality and anger!" UF!Richard cried out. "I have never known sanity ever since the moment that I have awoken! It's only in true insanity that I can finally think so clearly, unplagued by the nightmares!"

UF!Richard then looked down as both FS!Richard and FS!Siege.

"Say… don't you think that I'm such a sad pathetic creature, that I am what I am right now?" UF!Richard asked in a low voice.

FS!Richard tried to answer, although the words couldn't come out of his throat.

"It's incredibly sad. Seeing how far you plunged. I wonder how your Siege would react. Hm?" FS!Siege remarked.

"That's right." UF!Richard spoke, as his voice lacked the mania that he had before. "My dear sworn-brother died for this useless sack of shit. A sack of shit who couldn't change anything. Who couldn't save anyone. Even in his own victories, he and his people continue to suffer. He never left that personal hell, where everything was oh so wrong for him. Never to find hope, never to find peace. Only a broken shell repeating the same useless actions, until he finally collapsed into nothing, and gave birth to a monster like me."

UF!Richard then looked at the group, as his eyes were completely empty.

"Laugh." UF!Richard muttered softly. "Laugh at this worthless fool, who can only stumble towards the light. Laugh at this failure of a hero who only knows how to hurt people. Laugh all you wish, the laughter of the world around me is the only thing that I know now, since my heart has become an empty shell as the old Richard has been a rotting corpse that day the universe was destroyed."

"All members… prepare for battle." FS!Richard declared. "...Do not hold anything back. Only death or defeat can save him now."

"...I will stop you, Richard. No matter what it takes." Gus declared.

"Heiwa, Popol… get as far from this as you can." Kaguya remarked. "...And take your new friend while you do that."

"But what about-" Heiwa said.

"Please… you don't deserve to be scarred fighting your brother as he is." Kaguya gently said. "Go… please."

Heiwa looked at Kaguya for a moment, before silently nodding, as there was an extremely sad expression on his face, before she grabbed Hat Kid and Popol, using her brush to create a trail of fire to get them as far away from this battlefield as they could.

"Don't worry, I know that you're doing the right thing… so I won't kill any of you." UF!Richard said, before a twisted smile appeared on his face. "I just need to make sure that none of you are able to get up and stop me. But do go ahead and try to fight me. After all… I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE."

The Dawning Despair

Richard Liu

Cue BGM: Identity (Saitama Saisyu Heiki Original)

"Assistant." X-Gaster declared.

"Yes, Lord Gaster." X-Alphys remarked, as she summoned all eight pages, as the entirety of the X-verse residents were all present, as those who fought earlier were all battered.

"So their damage was carried over…" FS!Richard remarked. "...Good, that simplifies things. All we need to do… is prevent the other me from trying to kill them."

"Problem is… with our Richard as he is… How are we going to be able to deal enough damage to put him down?" Gus remarked. "...He took that ax that literally smashed Nightmare to pieces, like it was nothing… I have a feeling that some of the abilities that he absorbed is making him extremely durable."

"Like a raid boss?" Kaguya remarked. "...Fuck, this is really going to suck. And I doubt that putting him down one time is going to be enough if I know how tenacious Richard can get…"

"Now then, how about we get this party STARTED!?" UF!Richard declared, before several dark magic circles began to appear in the skies, before they then launched a mass bombardment of elemental spells on all sides.

"Alright, first thing, the magic circles need to go!" Baudimon growled, as he did an incoming glacier of ice, as UF!Richard was hurtling towards X-Toriel. "And someone to keep him busy!"

"Get me higher!" Meiling exclaimed. "I can use a Spell Card to destroy his formation!"

"Say no more!" Suika declared, before grabbing Meiling, and shoulder-tossing her above the magic circles.

"Declare Spell Card: Chi Sign 'Big Dipper Cannon'!" Meiling declared, before firing a massive ball of chi that targeted the magic circles, destroying them all in one go.

Meanwhile. X-Toriel tried to fight against UF!Richard, who was rapidly hacking against her barrier of flames.

"Come on, come on, fight back!" UF!Richard cried out. "Or do you think that you can actually make me feel guilty by trying to 'spare' me!? You always were a failure of a mother-"

Marty then immediately leapt up to sock UF!Richard across the face, which managed to send him crashing away into another island, while X-Toriel turned her attention towards Marty, as she tried to attack him.

"Woah, you really need to calm down, mizz!" Marty exclaimed, as she began to dodge the attacks.

"MotherFUCKER!" UF!Richard roared, before firing a massive beam of energy right where X-Toriel was, as FS!Richard moved forward, and used a sukima to swallow the attack.

"You aren't killing any of them in my watch, pal!" FS!Richard growled, before sending the attack coming back at FS!Richard who dodged the attack.

"Well then, I guess you really want to SUFFER then!?" UF!Richard growled, before summoning a mass of skeletal hands from countless sukimas. "You think you're enough to fight me!? I'll CRUSH YOU!"

FS!Richard quickly evaded the attacks, while attacking the skeletal hands that were going towards X-Toriel.

"Do something!" FS!Richard cried to Marty. "I can't hold him much longer! There has to be a way to force them to be weak! The power of dialogue affects them strongly as monsters! Speak to them, convince them to stop fighting!"

"...I failed my family." Toriel remarked, as there was an expression of regret on her face. "I failed all of my dear sons… My only redemption is to ensure that the perfect world comes, so that no-one will have to suffer the same pain again."

"You failed…? A perfect world?" Marty repeated. "…There'z no zuch thing. That meanz redemption can't happen. Or maybe…you don't need it in the firzt place?"

As X-Toriel froze for a moment, Aylanda then hit X-Toriel with a fully-charged Starlight, as the light spell hit the goat monster, as the attack seemed to target her very SOUL, washing it over in light, as X-Toriel slumped over, completely unconscious.

"Good job!" FS!Richard exclaimed, before gapping X-Toriel away from the battlefield, to prevent UF!Richard from getting to her, before seeing the fighting continue on other areas, as the other X-Verse members were still fighting. "...Eight more to go… Keep it up, everyone…"

"NO! What have you done!?" UF!Richard screamed, as his expression was filled with rage. "You… You've…!"

Both FS!Richard and FS!Siege felt the darkness in UF!Richard's heart getting weaker, as if the release of X-Toriel smothered some of his own unending darkness.

"...Wait, that's it!" FS!Richard remarked. "If we can convince the X-verse residents to stand down, and face their faults… then whatever is in my other self's heart… what good still remains… it will weaken him constantly!"

"I WON'T LET YOU!" UF!Richard exclaimed, before summoning a massive rain of dark blades. "You will not take this from me! I WILL NOT BE STOPPED!"

"Save it for someone who cares!" Baudimon remarked, before he then gathered power to Dawnbreaker, before creating a massive wave of light that he swung forth to deflect the blades away.

Meanwhile, X-Asgore was fighting against Draco, as the former was flagging from the prior damage.

"Is what that noble said earlier true…?" X-Asgore remarked. "That if I followed my virtues… I could have prevented all of this from happening… or at least saved my people and my family from the suffering that resulted?"

"…Maybe. Maybe not." Draco admitted. "But at least you could've said you remained true to yourself. Perhaps…it's not too late to change back. It's never too late to change. Trust me, I destroyed many lives, and the ones who helped me… they not only forgave me… but they gave me a path to the right way."

At the same time, X-Asriel was being fought by Allison, as the two of them were clashing Chaos Saber against Chaos Saber, before Allison managed to deal considerable damage with a massive double-bladed strike that knocked X-Asriel back, as he coughed up some of his purple blood.

"Why… Why must you fight like this?" X-Asriel asked. "I only wish to bring about a better world for everyone… there will be no more suffering here…. And everyone can find their happiness there…"

"Trust me, I know what it means to lose your happiness." Allison remarked. "...I lost my husband, and I lost many friends just recently. But trying to find happiness with the sacrifice of others… can you really call that happiness? Is it fair that others have to suffer for you to be happy? I don't. Because that's what my husband believed to his last breath, in his final sacrifice."

X-Asgore and X-Asriel stopped fighting, as Tridor used Sleep staves to knock the two unconscious, as FS!Richard teleported the two away.

"Why won't you STOP!?" UF!Richard roared, before then summoning a rain of spears. "They have to die! THEY HAVE TO DIE!"

As the group was battling UF!Richard, FS!Siege was trying to think up a plan to somehow turn the tides, when he suddenly remembered, and pulled out a golden object… was it truly time to pull that out?

Given the situation here and now, it was. As FS!Siege took a deep breath…

"You are the ocean's gray waves…~"

Suddenly, a resonating water torrent flushed through the area, emanating from the golden pendant as FS!Siege soon turned it open, as he looked to UF!Richard.

"You want to call yourself low, you want to go mad and continue on like this!?" FS!Siege yelled as a golden portal opened up. "...Tell it to someone who's close to you."

Theme Switch: Devils Never Cry - DMC3 OST

As the buildup began for the new song, familiar footsteps rang in UF!Richard's ears, as he could see a squad of four approaching out from the golden portal: one was a familiar male in a jacket and black pants, the other, one of the fallen Espers from the fight with Sorthax, that being Brynn…

And the other appeared to be a woman with brown hair, decked out in black clothing with draconic and lightning markings, her eye color heterochromatic between blue and green, as a sword was on her back, being SoF!Jesse Davis, as the leader of them all…

Was none other than SoF!Siege, walking out with a black over jacket, and black pants and boots on, with a spear latched to his back as he looked at UF!Richard with a small click of his tongue.

"...Been a long damn time, bud. But last thing I wanted to see before coming out of heaven thanks to this gateway was you going on an unnecessary fucking rampage." SoF!Siege spoke with a clipped tone.

"YOU…!" UF!Richard seethed as FS!Siege. "You would…!"

"Eyes on me, Richard." SoF!Siege declared as UF!Ricahrd turned back to him.

UF!Richard stopped for a moment, as the rest of the group noticed that this was the chance for them to free more people, so they took that chance, going in and freeing them.

"So just what the fuck's going on in that mind of yours, Rich? After all that high praise Siege sang about you before bringing me here, I was half expecting you to be more… Amicable." The man who was obviously Dante spoke, twirling his guns around as he slowly approached with SoF!Siege, Brynn, and Jesse.

UF!Richard could only seethe back for a moment, before he then growled. "You don't understand a single thing." UF!Richard growled. "After all, I was the one who was left to pick up the pieces! How do you think I would react after all that had happened!?"

"We don't understand!? WE DON'T UNDERSTAND!?" SoF!Siege yelled in guttural fury as he pointed a gun at UF!Richard. "YOU OF ALL PEOPLE KNOW THAT I UNDERSTAND! HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES HAVE YOU PULLED ME OUT OF WHERE THE HELL YOU ARE RIGHT NOW?! HUH!? ANSWER ME HONESTLY!"

"AND WHERE DO YOU THINK THAT YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN, IF THEY DIDN'T INTEND TO USE YOU TO GET TO ME!?" UF!Richard roared. "WHAT DO YOU THINK I COULD HAVE DONE MY POSITION, WITH HOW BROKEN I ALREADY AM!?"

"WATCHING YOUR ASS TEAR YOURSELF TO UTTER PIECES, DON'T GIVE ME THE HYPOCRITICAL TALK WHEN YOU YOURSELF, YOU YOURSELF CAME BACK FROM DEATH FOR ME BEFORE TOO, SO I PERSONALLY DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT WHERE I WAS, SPARE ME YOUR FUCKING HYPOCRISY, BROTHER!" SoF!Siege yelled.

"OH YES, I'M A FUCKING HYPOCRITE! I ALWAYS WAS!" UF!Richard screamed. "I JUST CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT! I NEVER COULD MOVE ON FROM MY AGONY! IT'S EITHER BECOME A MONSTER, OR WATCH EVERYTHING THAT I CARE FOR GO TO RUIN! SO WHAT IF I'M WRONG, HUH!? DO YOU THINK I CAN DO ANYTHING TO CHANGE THAT!? I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING LEFT IN ME BUT THIS UNENDING HATRED! EVEN IF I DIE AFTER ALL OF THIS, AT LEAST THE CATHARSIS OF WATCHING THOSE BASTARDS DIE FOR EVERYTHING I SUFFERED WILL LET ME REST IN PEACE!"

"Well than that makes fucking two of us, don't it?" SoF!Siege snarled. "Aren't we two peas in a bloody pod? Monsters trying to bury the hatchet with good deeds and acts to hide our bloody and battered truths, oh trust me, we ALL hate X-Gaster and his fuckheads. But you're blaming the puppets for their puppetmaster's story. And that's where the line becomes crossed. You're so eager. No. So GODDAMN SELFISH! To put your SAVIOR COMPLEX up higher than ever, because that's what gives you solace! That's why you think there's problems! That's why you HAD problems! YOU JUST BELIEVED YOU HAD TO SAVE IT ALL AND TAKE ALL THE GODDAMN BURDEN! Now look at you, a crazed, demented, mind shattered husk of a man I THOUGHT WAS MY BROTHER IN ARMS FOR LIFE!"

"Don't… Don't go there! Don't make me hope!" UF!Richard exclaimed. "Stop trying to sound… sound so damn right…!"

"OH I'M NOT GONNA MAKE YOU HOPE! BECAUSE YOU DESTROYED MINE!" SoF!Siege yelled. "I TRUSTED YOU! You hear me!? I! TRUSTED! YOU! TRUSTED YOU WITH MY PARTNERSHIP, MY LOVE AS ONLY A BROTHER COULD LOVE! SOMETHING NOT A SINGLE PERSON EVER COULD BREAK, BUT NOW I SEE I WAS WRONG TO EVER CALL YOU A BROTHER! …Because I trusted you to be more human than I knew you were… But in the end I guess I was wrong."

UF!Richard was silent, as his hot tears ran down his eyes.

"That's right. I'm more human than I ever could have been… I'm no damn hero." UF!Richard answered back. "A useless existence who could never become a hero. I can't move on like the heroes. I just can't. I'm such a mess of a human being, a sad child who played hero and paid the price for it. I'm barely alive because my hatred drives me."

"Then make that two of us." SoF!Siege spoke with a pained expression.

BANG! BANG BANG BANG!

Suddenly, SoF!Siege shot multiple bullets into UF!Richard, to the point Richard looked more like a leaky boot than a figure of humanity, before SoF!Siege reloaded his gun.

"You're hopeless as you are. You've gone mad. The only thing I can do now for a brother who's gone mad like you is do him a service… And put him down. Dante. Brynn. Jesse…. No mercy." SoF!Siege snarled.

UF!Richard merely nodded silently, as the tear-streaks burned into his own, before he then summoned his own attacks, as his focus was entirely on the group.

"Well, brother…" FS!Richard remarked, seeing that UF!Richard seemed to be too focused trying to fight off SoF!Siege and his party, rather than going after the rest of the X-Verse residents. "I think that this worked out far better than I expected… he's not outright burnt out… but that really took a lot of winds out of his sail… his own attacks are wavering."

"Exactly as I planned. And I know it hurts them both coming to this. Hell, I hurt for them." FS!Siege remarked. "But right now, the advantage needs to be pressed. Neutralize the X-Tale residents, and kill X-Gaster where he stands. Here. And now."

"Then we'll do it." Rimuru stated, before looking at X-Gaster. 'I wonder…' Rimuru then thought. 'Is it possible to absorb OVERWRITE if I absorb one of his attacks…?'

"That, or you end up making yourself vulnerable to it." Jaw pointed out.

"How the hell did you read my thoughts!?" Rimuru exclaimed, looking over at Jaw.

"What? Just cause I'm fucking crazy, doesn't mean I'm fucking stupid." Jaw said.

---

Meanwhile, X-Muffet was fighting against Scrapper, as the former laid down, as she was beat badly from the attacks from multiple members of the group.

"Funny thing…" X-Muffet weakly chuckled. "...I don't exactly remember what I'm fighting for. All I know is that I wanted to protect something… I can't remember… Do you remember?"

"Well, I can't say for sure what it is…but I can tell you how you can remember: just stop fighting against us for a second and collect your thoughts for a second. I'm…99% sure the memory is still in there somewhere, buried in all those overwrites."

X-Muffet remarked, before she then relaxed. "...Take me down then." X-Muffet answered back. "...Free shot. I won't resist, I promise. Just a good whack in the noggin will do."

"Sure, you got it." Scrapper said, before she whacked X-Muffet upside the head. "Oh,wait, you said on the noggin…sorry about that." The mercenary apologized to the unconscious spider girl, just as she was whisked away.

---

X-Frisk was fight against FS!Chara, in an ironic mirror of a familiar situation.

"You know, if we weren't fighting right now. I'd ask you on a date." FS!Chara teased as she winked at X-Frisk. "Finally, a Frisk who has some spine~"

"...Why are you flirting with me?" X-Frisk remarked, as it caused him to hesitate for a moment. "I'm literally trying to kill you."

"Oh, just trying to get under your skin I guess. Learning why you fight for a madman who wants to destroy it all and cause a cycle of pain and discontent. Besides, no one said fights between one side and another couldn't be fun." FS!Chara giggled.

X-Frisk was silent. "...There is no other way." X-Frisk responded back, as there was some grief in his voice. "You have seen the lengths that Gaster would go to achieve what he wants. He will only make it hurt worse if there is resistance."

"Oh come ON! There's always multiple paths! Pacifist, Neutral, Genocide, God mode and make the story your own, suicide mode, make you and everyone suffer, I mean, the possibilities of what we can do with SAVE, LOAD, even NEW GAME… you can make the story whatever you want! Even OVERWRITE can't beat that!" FS!Chara giggled.

X-Frisk paused for a moment, as he began to remember the happier times, before looking as FS!Chara's expression of genuine care, despite the pain behind her eyes, as the grip on his knife weakened.

"C'mon bud. I couldn't help my own world… will you let me help yours?" FS!Chara asked.

X-Frisk lowered his head. "...If only there were more people like you and Richard…" X-Frisk answered back. "...Perhaps then, even Gaster could have been saved, and we would have had our happy endings."

"Sadly, the world is cruel that way. Not many of us exist… but it's the existence of us few, that really makes changes… sadly, I think Gaster's too far gone to change, bud." FS!Chara admitted.

X-Frisk looked down, before he then conjured his own SOUL, before tearing it out with a yank, causing him to faint immediately, as he began to fall down.

"Ai ai ai! I didn't mean you had to rip your heart out for me!" FS!Chara joked before she sighed, catching him, smiling slightly.

For a moment, FS!Chara could have sworn that she saw X-Frisk give a smile, before a sukima appeared before her, as she threw X-Frisk into it, to keep him away from UF!Richard.

"Okay, back to work." FS!Chara casually transitioned, brandishing her knife with a blood hungry smile.

---

Meanwhile, X-Undyne was fighting against both Reisen and Weiss, as the two of them had X-Undyne pinned against the wall.

"Heh… good hit." X-Undyne remarked. "...I suppose that's as far as I can go… Truly, I am too weak to be able to protect them all… I remember when I tried to help Richard and Chara break free… But damn it… was that a failure… all it did was end up hurting Alphys… How damn stupid am I…?"

"You're not stupid." Reisen remarked. "In fact, you're the strongest of them all, because you still kept a fairly noble heart, despite everything that you have been doing. You fight for a cause you believe is right."

"We're no different." Weiss responded back. "We fought together, so that we can protect what matters to us. Everyone here has something that they want to protect… and we're already doing the job well. Look around."

X-Undyne watched, as half of the residents disappeared into FS!Richard's sukimas, as she merely smirked.

"Well, I suppose that the other Richard has picked up our Richard's own will… How ironic." X-Undyne chuckled.

Reisen quickly knocked her down with a nerve-pinch, as the fish-woman slumped down, before falling through a sukima.

---

X-Mettaton was still heavily damaged from his previous fight, as Jakka was fighting against the deadly robot, as the young spear lord seemed to be powerful enough to keep up with him, with the power Ahlspiess offered him.

"Stay down, damn you…!" Jakka growled, as he slashed down on X-Mettaton, exposing more of his body. "Divines, you just can't understand that you need to stay down."

"WOULD YOU NOT PROTECT YOUR MASTER?" X-Mettaton answered back.

"Not if he's a madman like egghead over there." Jakka answered back with a glare. "Are you really just some automation that just simply does what he's told like a puppet with no free will."

"I HAVE TOLD YOUR FRIENDS AS I WILL TELL YOU. I AM A WEAPON OF DESTRUCTION. THERE IS NO OTHER PURPOSE FOR ME. EVEN FROM MY BIRTH, I HAVE SOUGHT TO DESTROY." X-Mettaton answered back.

"Bullshit, I don't know how you were goddamn made, but you're full of contradictions." Jakka growled. "If you really think that you're some damn slave, you wouldn't go about trying to justify it. It's a fallacy that I have seen several times in my recent tenure as guard captain. What did Siege call it again… ah, right, Stockholm syndrome. You get treated just like a slave for so long and so well, that you think you deserve to be a slave. I know that you had something in you that wanted more, to be your own self."

Jakka then sighed, before he then readied his spear, as X-Mettaton was silent, pondering on Jakka's words.

"Not like it matters." Jakka stated. "I won't kill you. I'm just too damn good for all of that. But what I'm going to do is take you down with everything."

Jakka then rushed forward, before hitting X-Mettaton with a spear-rush that managed to hit him fully, before the last over-head blow managed to down X-Mettaton.

"TO BE… SOMETHING… MORE…" X-Mettaton whispered, as he fell backwards, as a sukima captured him.

---

Meanwhile, X-Papyrus was fighting against Sephiroth, as the One-Winged Angel didn't seem to be fazed by X-Papyrus's attacks, as he fired spell after spell that forced the tall skeleton into a perilous situation.

"I am surprised that you're not using your full power." Sephiroth remarked. "What's the matter? Can you not summon your full strength, even when your cause is at the verge of defeat?"

X-Papyrus did not respond back, before summoning a barrage of bones that Sephiroth cut down using rapid swings of Murasama.

"Answer me. Do you really think that all of your fighting has any meaning?" Sephiroth asked back. "There are more people like me who will not hesitate to destroy the rest of you. Be fortunate that I am holding back, because it is the request of Allison and Gus that I do so."

"...I KNOW." X-Papyrus responded back. "BUT THIS IS ALL THAT I HAVE LEFT. I BELIEVED ONCE UPON A TIME THAT I COULD BE ABLE TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES. BUT I FAILED. GASTER COULDN'T UNDERSTAND, SANS COULDN'T UNDERSTAND, AND RICHARD… RICHARD PAID THE PRICE FOR EVERYONE'S MISTAKES."

"Did he?" Sephiroth answered back. "Well, if only he was not driven by madness… he would have told you that he still believed in you."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" X-Papyrus asked back.

"That man, he is one of the most resolute men that I had the pleasure or displeasure of meeting." Sephiroth answered back. "When his heart is set to something, he would carry it out, no matter how much it would hurt him. Perhaps it's because he would rather suffer hell than let anyone suffer for his sake, or perhaps he believes that all the good in the world needs someone who will constantly fight for it. If you are his friend, he will protect you with everything that he has, and ensure that you won't have to suffer the same feelings of despair that he felt."

X-Papyrus was silent, while Sephiroth lowered his blade.

"You know, despite our differences, there is one thing we have in common, skeleton." Sephiroth remarked back. "We're both people who have been hurt by what we have seen. I can see it in those hollow eye-sockets of yours. I have seen hell itself, as my own friends had turned against me, and then seeing that I was merely an experiment that was meant to be a monster for destruction. In fact, I was like the same as your master. I wanted the world destroyed so that I could make it anew."

Sephiroth then threw his arm out.

"But ideals like that don't last in the face of determined individuals like Allison and Sapphire." Sephiroth answered back. "They hunted me down, and fought me several times, trying to make me see the truth that I am my own self, that I was no monster, but a tried and true human being. I eventually did come around, and put an end to my plans. Nowadays, I simply seek to fight evil, as it is my own desire. And while I fight, the people that I have met, have given me closure on my own feelings, to help me find inner peace. I am no saint, I will confess that, but I am a far better person than the megalomaniacal self that I would have remained, had no-one believed in me."

X-Papyrus looked at Sephiroth for a moment, before closing his eyes, and letting his arms drop, as his constructs disappeared.

"YOU'RE RIGHT. THIS HAS GONE TOO FAR." X-Papyrus answered back. "I WONDER… WILL THE WORLDS FORGIVE US FOR OUR CRIMES?"

"Be grateful that only two worlds have been harmed as a result. One shall be fixed in short order, and the other will take time to recover from the loss of its residents." Sephiroth smiled. "It is no grand crime compared to what many others have done."

X-Papyrus nodded, as Sephiroth smashed the hilt of Muramasa against X-Papyrus, enough to knock him in an instant blow, and causing him to crumple down, before falling into a sukima.

---

"We did it…" X-Chara remarked. "...We managed to save everyone!"

"So we managed to achieve what we came here to do." Tridor remarked, as he was healing X-Chara's neck wound.

"Then what about the other Richard?" Killia remarked, before seeing UF!Richard crash to the ground, extremely wounded, as there were several gaping holes in his body, and one of his own arms was barely hanging by a thread of muscle. "Oh."

X-Alphys watched the situation, before she internally smiled.

'Thank you, CORE Frisk… You managed to get them to save the others…' X-Alphys thought. 'Now that is left…'

FS!Richard suddenly appeared before her and X-Gaster, before the latter was blasted away with a massive beam of energy, while Ink was dropped into a sukima. He then immediately grabbed X-Alphys, before plunged his own hand right through her SOUL, causing her to freeze up.

"It's alright now." FS!Richard remarked. "...I know that you've been waiting for this moment."

"Yes… I managed to… protect the future…" X-Alphys answered back. "Please… stop Richard… stop him before he…"

X-Alphys then went unconscious, as FS!Richard slung her into his sukima, as it closed behind him, as he quickly regrouped with the others.

"That boy ain't in fightin' condition." Sawyer said, before he sighed and shook his head. "But that ain't gonna matter to him, is it?"

"Got it in one boss." Jaw said, hefting out a square-looking minigun. "We have a few seconds before he gets up. More than enough time to-"

"Whoa, wait, Jaw! You sound like you're gonna kill him!" Miles said.

"...What, it wasn't obvious?" Jaw asked. "Got 50 mini-nukes, empowered with 10 of the strongest legal enchantments…plus a few less than legal ones. This should put him down. A little time out in the afterlife should sort him out."

"Jaw, we're trying to save him!" Aster said.

"...We can't." Jaw replied, matter-of-factly.

"But what about-" Draco argued.

"I said we CAN'T!" Jaw shouted. "Not without fatalities! His bonds, his love, his memories, what's in his heart…look, that all means jack shit right now! It's his mind that's broken, damn it! His heart knows this is wrong! But darkness and light don't mean a thing here! His mind is dead set on this shit! If this goes on any longer, then not all of us are going to make it out alive! I am not risking you guys! Not even for Richard Liu!"

Jaw then turned to the leaders of the other group.

"Are the lives of everyone here that much less important than his?! Are you going to send all these people to their deaths for him?! Do all of us…matter so little?" he said, going from angered to scared. "I…I don't want to die here, man…"

FS!Richard looked at Jaw for a moment, before closing his eyes.

"No, no, you don't mean that little to us, that we would risk you." FS!Richard answered back. "...But it's not about whether we kill the other me or not… it's whether if we're proving his point or not."

"And I doubt that killing him will just fix the situation." FS!Siege sighed, shaking his head. "Even if his technical immortality is down after being beaten so badly… I have a feeling that we might be doing something we'll regret. Not the 'what have we done' kind, but the 'what have we unleashed' kind."

"Well, what do we do?" Scrapper asked. "I'm pretty sure just wiping his memories won't work. His mental state's almost completely FUBAR."

"We'll see how Richard reacts…" Gus remarked. "Somehow… the darkness… it's… all gone for a moment."

SoF!Siege finally landed down, as UF!Richard raised his head to look at him.

"...It's over, Richard." SoF!Siege remarked. "They're all saved. Everyone that you would have killed… they're all sealed away. Something in you has already given up the fight… or you wouldn't have taken that beating so easily."

"So I have…" UF!Richard answered back quietly, as his voice was a whisper. "...Even at my worst, I can't fight back against you with my full strength. It's as if I can't bear the thought of killing you… Perhaps the only reason the others were able to continue through while the others were saving them… is because I wanted to stop you interfering, because in my heart… you're my greatest foe right now… in terms of both strength… and both rationality."

"So… you haven't gone completely insane." SoF!Siege scoffed, before his expression turned solemn. "Does all of this really have broken you down? What you all said, is what you truly believe?"

"Yes. Yes, it was." UF!Richard answered back. "I'm so hurt… Siege… So very hurt… I don't even know what I even am anymore. I know that what I'm doing is wrong… but I feel like I couldn't bring myself to care… As if I really was a hollow shell. Then why do I still hurt? I cast away my own emotions, the ones that are bringing me such pain…. So why… why?"

"Because you can't erase emotions like they don't matter." SoF!Siege shook his head. "Believe me, I tried. I have many times where I wished that I had no emotions at all. But that's just a simple fantasy. You can dilute your emotions, but you can never truly be rid of them. You either are born without them, or you have to bear with them. That's the sad fact of reality, Richard."

"It's not fair…" UF!Richard whispered gently, as tears fell down his eyes. "Why is it that fate turns against me so strongly? I tried my best to be a good person, I tried to learn from my mistakes… but just when I think that I finally found my place… the world tears me down… Whether it's because I caused all of this… or that I almost killed everyone I cared about. Why will the world never let me find the happiness that I yearned for?"

The group watched as tentacles of shadow began to manifest from Richard's back, as they began to gather the fragments of the torn AUs before them.

"What the…!?" FS!Richard exclaimed. "...What the hell is he trying to do?"

"...I… I don't think he's even aware of what he's doing." Gus remarked. "He's still blinded by emotions…"

"Well, whatever the case, we need to stop this. Absorbing fragments like this is going to result in something that we won't like to see…!" FS!Siege declared, as he rushed forth. "Richard, that's enough! You need to wake up, now-"

Before the group could even do anything, they were suddenly seized by shadow tentacles that rose from the ground, binding them all, as they seemed to have bound the group tightly… all except for SoF!Siege.

"Can't… move…!" Kaguya exclaimed.

"Damnit… I can't cast anything…!" FS!Richard growled, as he struggled. "...The tentacles… they're sealing our power away while he's powering-up!"

SoF!Siege noticed this, as he tried to shake UF!Richard hard by the shoulders.

"Stop, Richard!" SoF!Siege yelled. "Stop it! You're hurting all of your friends and family!"

UF!Richard was silent, as SoF!Siege racked his head, trying to find a way to stop his brother before he could turn into something worse, although nothing could come to mind.

"Perhaps… this world no longer needs to exist." UF!Richard remarked, with a smile filled with sadness, before the fragments were dragged into him. "Perhaps then…. Everything will be right again."

"I'm sorry, Richard." SoF!Siege remarked, before he then pulled out Parallel Falchion. "...But you really forced my hand this time."

The group watched as SoF!Siege plunged his blade right through UF!Richard's heart, as darkness began to billow from the fatal wound, until the entire group were engulfed in darkness, as even X-Gaster was not exempt.