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Sorry for the late update, my birthday was Tuesday and with Thanksgiving on Thursday I got a little caught up. But, happy Thanksgiving! I'm very thankful for you guys and all your thoughtful reviews! You all really brighten up my life with your appreciation of my work, I couldn't do it without you.
Next chapter should hopefully be up in eight days, so a week from tomorrow! Now please enjoy the chapter! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale or Horrortale.
Pity was a fickle feeling. Aliza was certain all of hers had dried up after watching Anarchy feed that cleaver swinging skeleton to his own shadow. And yet now, as she watched her best friend smash and shatter the bones of that taller skeleton with the crooked teeth, heard him cry out like some poor dumb animal that really didn't understand, she felt a little sick.
... Sick. That's how Anthony had seemed when he stared Papyrus in the face. The blood spattered monster had been asking about his brother, if the two had seen him around. Anarchy had answered with another question, one Aliza found quite odd.
"What's your name?"
"Me? Why, I am none other than The Great Papy-"
"Liar."
That was the final sentence for the new pile of silver ash. The Anarchist had deemed him a liar, stared at him like a disgusting shell of something he considered beautiful. An imitation, a fake. Aliza thought it was interesting, seeing a beast as grizzly as Anthony so repulsed. But she supposed even her best friend had one rule, one standard. Horrible as he was, Anthony was honest. In all he did and all he was. Things that he deemed fake he deemed revolting. Things he deemed revolting he slaughtered.
Those were the kills he valued, the ones that had a reason behind them. Anarchy was in fact a force of nature, a thoughtless hurricane. Destruction was a part of his existence, where he walked people died. There was no reason, no purpose before or after. For reasons beyond mortal comprehension, Aliza concluded, Anarchy decided who lived and died with only one prejudice. Liars die worse. That was the only semblance of justice Chaos Incarnate followed. Everyone was ripped to shreds in the thousand mile an hour winds of his hurricane, but only liars were truly hunted. The only blood Anthony valued was dishonest blood. Everything else just happened to die in his presence. Just more blood in the rain of his ceaseless storm.
... With the exception of Aliza.
Staring at the red dripped blade of the meat cleaver Anarchy had gifted her, Aliza pondered her own value to Chaos Incarnate. She was worthless, of that she was certain. And yet Anthony saw her differently. He spilled his blood to protect her, carried her carefully. For her those winds that shredded innocent and guilty alike were gentle, delicate.
It was strange, being made to feel special. Her whole life she thought herself invisible, but in the pure ruby eye of Chaos Incarnate, the eye that valued nothing it saw and only found beauty in annihilation, she was visible. She existed there, and to that eye she was precious. Anthony's friendship was helping her to a very simple conclusion. Anarchy had - no, Anarchy WAS power, and that made him the decider of anything and everything. Only his opinion mattered in the grand scheme, and in his opinion she was important. That didn't just make her special, that made her MORE special than anyone else in the world. Well, Anyone other than Anthony.
She stared at him from a distance, hands clasped together at her chest. He was crouched there, over the dust that was his latest victim. She watched him lift his ash stained hand, and through the ivory hair that slipped in locks over his face she could see one of those scarlet eyes peering thoughtlessly at the remains of his victim staining his knuckles. Then, his tongue slipped out of his mouth and reached further than Aliza figured most tongues could reach, sliding over the back up his hand and lapping up that filthy dust without hesitation.
"... Sorry 'bout the delay." That eye glossed over to Aliza, who quickly stood at attention under it's gaze. "You must be cold. You can get back on my back now if ya want."
"... O-oh, right!" Aliza swiftly shook her head, returning from the trance her endless thoughts always put her in and scampering back over to her best friend.
"T-thank you!"
Chapter 33: Paper Money
"What was the question?"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, but they didn't understand a word. Their senses were overwhelmed, their blood was frozen, their body paralyzed.
They were a child, obscured by the writhing shadows that dropped over them. He was violent, striking her again and again with an open palm. She sobbed and she bled, but she didn't dare even try to protect herself. She fought against her flinches, denied her instincts to curl up into a ball and try to protect herself from this beating. She understood that if she did, that open hand would become a closed fist.
The child wanted to turn around. Run away. Look to the side, anything but watch their mother receive this treatment. They begged themself to turn a blind eye to these horrors for even a split second. A blink was all they wished for, but their bargain went unheard by their unresponsive body.
So they stared with wide, haunted eyes. The light of innocence was gone from those orbs. Pupils were shrunken, staring for a thousand yards.
Chara blinked their eyes shut to clear their thoughts, slowly drawing in a deep breath to calm their nerves. They exhaled, and their shoulders sank, then they opened their eyes again. Their orbs were lightless, rubies without luster as they once more stared out over the garden of gold that they were once buried beneath.
They sat there, knees pulled to their chest with their arms wrapped tight around. I stood a ways behind them, leaning my shoulder against the Ruins' wall and grimacing with anxiety. I knew this was gonna suck; me and them weren't on the best of terms lately. I considered turning around, walking away and giving them time to themself.
"... When things get stressful and difficult in a way that you aren't used to, it... It gets easy to play your cards wrong."
... But I decided not to do that.
Chara lifted their head when they heard the leaves behind them crunching, glancing over their shoulder and dropping the weight of their gaze right on me.
"Uhh..." My eyes glossed to the side while I awkwardly rubbed my shoulder. "Hey."
"..." Chara narrowed their eyes at me, before turning their head forward. "How are you feeling?"
"Better now. I ate a Crab Apple on the way here, and that fixed up any remaining ouchies." I smiled some over at them while I took a seat at their side, but they never looked at me to see it. I paused for a moment, let my smile fade when I looked ahead. "... Thanks, by the way. For, saving me, I mean."
"What're friends for?" Chara asked with a lethargic shrug. They still didn't look at me, and the tension didn't get any less intense.
"..." My eyes narrowed shamefully, and I sighed before speaking again. "I'm sorry for putting you in that situation."
"How'd they react when I died?"
"They, sobbed. Hysterically."
"... I know it must've been scary."
Things were quiet. For a minute, Maybe two. Then the tension reached a head, and exploded.
"So, do you just spare everyone?"
"... What?" My eyes narrowed, and I turned my head to look over at them.
"Did you just happen to get lucky sparing me?" They turned those eyes on me, but this time I withstood their glare with my own. "Did you give me a chance because we're friends Cter, or because you were too much of a coward to kill me?"
*If only they knew how merciless you really are.
"Stop talking, Chara." I spoke in a low growl now, jaw clenching furiously. "You don't like how this argument ends for you."
"Does it end with you telling me the truth?" Chara pushed themself to their feet and I did the same.
"No, it ends with me getting very angry and saying some shit I'd rather not said." I warned clearly and concisely, hands clenching into fists at my sides.
"Like what, Cter?" Chara tilted their head, narrowing their razor sharp eyes. "Like how you're starting to rethink sparing me?"
I squinted my eyes and tilted back my head, shaking my head with one absolutely bewildered expression. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Come on Cter, you've seen it!" Chara threw their arms into the air in a fit of frustration. "Future me, The Demon, even if I'm not the bad guy in the present I'm going to be the bad guy in the future! Don't try to say you haven't been thinking the same thing!"
"Chara, you are you, not them!" I spoke like it was obvious, gesturing to them with one hand to emphasis my point on their individuality. "It doesn't matter that they decided to be bad, you decided to be good!"
"So did future me!" Chara shook their head, eyes wide with denial. "But then they-!"
"But you didn't!" I leaned forward just a little to be at eye level, grabbing them by the shoulders in attempt to steady them. "You haven't done anything bad! You've been busting your ass trying to be better everyday, and I'm tired of you comparing yourself to some assholes who took the easy route!"
"I..." Chara's voice was quiet, but I could tell their thoughts were loud. They were trembling, and they looked down, shaking their head back and forth. "Nothing makes sense anymore..."
"What..?" I tilted my head and spoke quietly, so I was jarred when they suddenly shoved my arms off and stumbled back.
"Nothing makes sense!" They repeated furiously, lifting their head to look at me. Agony reflected in those red orbs. Pain and fear and confusion and doubt that spilled over, rolling down their cheek in one black tear. "Nothing has made sense for six months now!"
"Hurting people felt good, it was easy! But then you came along and made it feel wrong! You made everything I was doing feel wrong!" They clenched their eyes shut as they shouted, fist tight at their sides and head tilted down so I couldn't see their miserable expression. "So I try to be good like you because that's supposed to make me feel better, but it doesn't! Nothing does! I just feel shitty all the time and I hate it!"
"Chara..." I knew I was supposed to have something better to say, but before I could add something to pull my statement together, more words tumbled out of Chara's mouth.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do..." They mumbled over what sounded like a lump in their throat. "No matter how hard I try to be better, I... I still feel like a screw up..."
I couldn't speak. Empathy strangled me, made my KIND green eyes shine with concern. I opened my mouth to try to talk, but when I saw the tears dripping from their chin - tears that were lightening from black to a clear shade - words caught in a web of guilt.
"I'm not... As good as you..." Chara choked out the words, jaw clenching to stifle a sob. "I'm not as strong as you, I'm... I'm not even strong enough to protect you, after everything you've done for me..."
"Is that what this is about..?" I asked quietly, some confusion entering my concerned expression while I tilted my head to the side. "Me getting hurt..?"
"It's certainly one of the things this is about!" Chara snapped suddenly, startling me as they lifted their head and looked at me with watery eyes and tear stained cheeks. Their voice cracked and their lip quivered, but they still found the strength to power through and shout at me. "I mean, I was right there! Five feet away and I just let him trick you! He could've killed you, and it would've been my fault!"
"Chara, that wasn't your fault." I spoke softly and carefully, reaching out and putting a comforting hand on their shoulder. "You believed in someone's ability to change, and no one should fault you for that."
"..." Chara was silent then. They hung their head again, sniffling and choking on the occasional sob. Things remained quiet, almost awkwardly so. After thirty long seconds of this passed, they lifted their head just enough to look expectingly at me from under their eyebrows. Another fifteen seconds passed, and then...
"... Are you gonna make me ask for a hug, you sick son of a bitch?!" Chara suddenly snapped, throwing their arms angrily into the air and making me jump.
"N-no! Shit! Sorry!" I responded in a panic, frantically wrapping my arms around them and pulling them into an embrace that - at least to me - felt a tad awkward. "I just... Didn't take you for a hugger?"
"Everyone needs a hug sometimes!" Chara responded hysterically, knocking one fist on my chest to scold me.
"Okay, okay!" I exclaimed with revamped panic, wide eyes darting to the side while my cheeks turned a light pink. "I'm sorry!"
"You're the worst..." Chara mumbled dramatically into my chest. "The silver medal of my two friends for sure..."
I snickered a little at their joke, my panic subsiding some as I felt them start to relax. gently I rubbed their back with my hand while their sniffles and sobs came to a stop.
"... Look, I know things are scary right now. We're kinda suddenly looking down the barrel of everything that's wrong with the both of us and... It's an ugly thing to look at." I glanced to the side, expression softening with contemplation. "But we gotta keep it together out there, or they're gonna pick us apart."
"... I've got a bad feeling." Chara confessed after another few seconds. Their voice sounded more solid now, composed again.
"About what?" I furrowed my brows some, glancing down at them. They didn't look up, and I didn't blame them. I commended them for looking me in the face at all after crying like that, I didn't think I'd be able to do the same. But then again, the responsible handling of my emotions was never my strong suit.
"We were stronger than Hacker and Demon. They knew that." Chara's eyes narrowed at the dead leaves we stood upon. "They know we're going to be coming for them, too."
"... Yeah, that's all true." My own tone shifted to a darker shade, catching on to what Chara was getting at. "So you think..?"
"They're going to be racking their brains to think of a way to get stronger and fast." Chara lifted their head then, a lethal gleam in that right eye. "And I only know one way for a Chara and Cter to double their strength in an instant."
"..." I was silent for a moment, squinting in dark contemplation before I finally spoke.
"... We need to regroup with Future."
Wicked laughter echoed through the whipping winds and bright snow, and Aliza's eyes darting rapidly into the white out that shrouded Snowdin town - or, what was left of it, anyway.
It had started with a bar-... Well, more of a bar massacre than a bar fight. Eager glares and gnashing teeth turned to haunted eyes and begging screams. Now Aliza stood in the flaming remains of Grillby's, the building ignited by the bartender's corpse. The roof and front wall had been ripped away by Anarchy's familiar: The Onyx Scorpion.
Aliza was in awe, to say the least. She'd believed in her heart that Anarchy had unstoppable power, but now that she stood in a building turned bonfire and stared up at one kaiju sized arachnid. The earth and snow shattered apart under each of it's many legs, and with its mighty pincers it sliced buildings in two, sent stone crashing to the ground and made the mountain rumble.
Cowardly victims ran and mad victims gnawed at the legs of the beast, only to be batted away, crushed, or stabbed by the sharp ends of its uniramous'. Aliza had lost Anarchy in the chaos of his one man and one bug siege on Snowdin town, so she decided to stay put where Anthony had left her: in the only heated place in the whiteout blizzard.
She was huddled under a table to protect herself from any falling debris, eyes darting back and forth through the ivory storm while she clutched her cleaver tight in hand. With The Anarchist's mad raid she presumed whatever rabid animals that lurked in this town would be preoccupied throwing their corpses at Chaos Incarnate.
Her hopes were dashed and her hypothesis was disproven however when she heard a low, ravenous growl echo through the thrashing white sea. It was a four legged form, prowling low to the ground. Nothing but a black shadow at first, but soon a bloodstained, frothing maw came into view, and Aliza realized that this Great, feral dog was looking at her like she was a bowl of kibble. She was so terrified that she didn't even realize Mr. Blue Sky by E.L.O. had started playing.
Morning! Today's forecast calls for blue skies!
Watching the feral dog prowl closer, Aliza began to shake. Her fearful eyes trembled, locking onto the beast while she timidly wrapped her fingers tight around her weapon, pointing it in a pathetic threat at the vicious canine.
Greater Dog lunged, and Aliza squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away with an "Eep!"
"Sun is shinin' in the sky!" Anarchy happily sang as he burst from the surrounding wall of white. He slammed shoulder first into Greater Dog, and the two rolled to the floor, biting and clawing like the thoughtless animals they were. This barrel roll ended with Anarchy on top however, and he threw his arm up, letting his crowbar slide up into his grip before mercilessly bashing it across Greater Dog's flesh in three hellacious swings, each one sending blood and viscera flinging out across the tile floor. "There ain't a cloud in sight~!"
"It's stopped rainin', everybody's in the play, and don'tcha know?" Jumping up from his latest victim's pile, Anarchy smiled in that beautifully psychotic way, reaching out to Aliza with his one free and dusty hand, crowbar grasped tight in his other. He was inviting her into his hurricane. She was the honored guest to his chaotic, lunatic party. And suddenly, in the heart of death and devastation, she felt like Cinderella. "It's a beautiful new day! Hey-ayay~!"
"... R-runnin' down the avenue..." Aliza timidly began to sing along, a tiny smile crossing her lips as she crawled out from under her table. She kept her head low, looking up to Anarchy from under her eyebrows. She was happy to see his face light up further once she started singing along, and that gave her confidence to continue. "See how the sun shines b-brightly..!"
"In the city, on the streets where once was pity," Anarchy was glad to take her hand, twirling her in towards himself and tossing up his crowbar from his other hand. As he caught her in his other arm, he reached up, grabbed his crowbar from the air and - without breaking eye contact - smashed the metal right down through the skull of the bear Monster that had been creeping up behind her, lunging at just the wrong time. "Mister Blue!"
"Sky is living here today!" Somehow Aliza's smile grew as dust blew through the air and Anarchy dipped her, beginning to dance amidst this chaos. "Hey-ayay~!"
The shadows writhed up into the forms of blood thirsty worms around the two, but they all waved to and fro in a way that was oddly silly. But what would have struck her as the most odd - if she wasn't distracted by Anthony leading her in a dance across the shattered tile to the sound of the music - was when they opened their maws, and sang in different tones:
"Mr. Blue Sky
Please tell us why
You had to hide away
For so long
So long!
Where did we go wrong?
Mr. Blue Sky
Please tell us why
You had to hide away
For so long
So long!
Where did we go wrong?"
As the song reached an instrumental, Anarchy lead Aliza by the hand in some kind of tap dance. Neither of them had any concept of what they were doing of course, but neither of them cared. Aliza was smiling wide now, laughing somehow right along with her best friend. Carefully he walked her up the wayward bricks of a crumbling, smoldering wall. The wind tugged at their hair, sending it whipping in strange directions. Aliza was too busy having fun in this strange and wacky and twisted world The Anarchist was molding to notice the sting of the snow on her skin.
They reached the peak of the rubling wall, and Anarchy twirled, gesturing out to the chaos and devastation his Scorpion was reigning down. Buildings were crumbling, being smashed to pieces while monsters were crushed, stabbed, or devoured by the beast. And as some mangy rabbit woman made a B line towards the two, jumping from broken stone to broken wood to race up to their rubble hill's peak, Aliza saw a beautifully sadistic twinkle in the scarlet eye of Chaos Incarnate.
"Hey you with the pretty face!" Anarchy made a finger gun at the rabbit attacker just as she dove at him, a sparkle on his pearly white fangs, which were bared in his grin. She stabbed viciously at him with some gnarly, pointed tool, but he caught her by the wrist, spinning and slamming her down on her stomach, pinning her to the ground.
"Welcome to the human race!" Aliza sang right along as she yanked her cleaver over her head. In the presence of madness himself and with the encouraging wink he gave her, she was unhesitating in swinging right down and carving a vicious path through the woman's neck, parting her head from her shoulders and sending it tumbling down into the snow while it faded to dust like the rest of her body.
"A celebration," Anarchy gently took Aliza's hand as one of those massive worms bowed before the two, politely leading her from the flaming ruble and onto it's back. "Mister Blue Sky's up there waitin'!"
"And today," Aliza took hold of both of Anarchy's hands quite boldly, intertwining their fingers and grinning bigger than she ever had. She felt free and happy now, like any and all rules and judgement that had once restricted her were null and void in the company of The Anarchist. So she clung to him, and she sung with him, and she reveled in this perfectly upside down world. "Is the day we've waited for~!"
"Oooor~!" They sang together now, Aliza standing on her tippy toes to press her chest to Anarchy's and her cheek to his as well. The worm they rode now leaned over the form of the Scorpion, and Anarchy scooped Aliza up in his arms, hopping down from their current stead. Aliza let out an absolutely gleeful "Weee!" as the two plummeted, Anarchy landing on his feet upon the back of his arachnid. He let her down onto her bare feet, and the two began dancing in the way that two people do when they have no concept of what they're doing and are completely comfortable with that fact. All the while the worms joined back in with their horribly beautiful voices.
"Oh, Mr. Blue Sky
Please tell us why
You had to hide away
For so long
So long!
Where did we go wrong?
Hey there Mr. Blue
We're so pleased to be with you
Look around see what you do
Everybody smiles at you
Hey there Mr. Blue
We're so pleased to be with you
Look around see what you do
Everybody smiles at you!"
"Mister Blue Sky~!" Anarchy joined back in, twirling and summoning a bloodstained hat from some unfortunate Madjick out of his inventory and placing it atop his head.
"Mister Blue Sky~" Aliza sang a little more softly, spinning around Anarchy and swiping the hat from his head, placing it on her own and pirouetting - or, some attempt at a pirouette - away.
"Mister Blue Sky-iy~!" Anarchy jumped after her, landing behind her as she finished her spinning and dipping her. She was startled by how fast he'd caught her, but ended up laughing anyway.
"Mister Blue, you did it right!" She sang, placing the hat back on Anarchy's head in a way that purposely covered his face. "But soon comes Mister Night!"
"Creepin' over, now his hand is on your shoulder," Anarchy laughed with his eyes covered, feeling Aliza start to fumble and climb over him to get onto his back again. "Nevermind!"
"I'll remember you this," Aliza wrapped her arms around Anarchy's shoulders after positioning herself on his back, smiling as she clung to him. "I'll remember you this way!"
"Mr. Blue Sky
Please tell us why
You had to hide away
For so long
So long!
Where did we go wrong?
Hey there Mr. Blue
Sky
We're so pleased to be with you
Sky
Look around see what you do
Blue
Everybody smiles at you!"
A choir of vicious beasts and hungry shadows sang gracefully while Anarchy and Aliza danced less than gracefully atop the Scorpion's back, which trudged on now, Leaving Snowdin in a mess of ash and embers. As the music began to fade, the two fell back onto the Scorpion's back, laying there and giggling like happy fools.
Aliza couldn't believe how comfortable she had felt, and so suddenly. In Anarchy's wonderland she had forgotten her mother's philosophies. She had sang at the top of her lungs, she had danced goofily upon the graves of her would-be abusers.
Here, on the back of the most terrifying beast she'd ever imagined, next to the most dangerous man in the universe, she felt safe, free, and happy.
F Chara sighed quietly, smoothing the head of black hair that rested in their lap gently with the palm of their hand. It was a pinch of sugar in what was a usually bitter life, the fact that Future still slept easier when they were around.
They sat and he laid on the couch. His crown set off to the side, the king rested his head comfortably in their lap. In his exhaustion he'd passed right out, like the thighs of his family's murderer was the most comfortable pillow in the world.
... Angel was always like that, F Chara thought as they watched his sleeping face with nostalgic contemplation. So stupidly forgiving and trusting. No matter how they hurt him, he always turned the other cheek, always offered a hand instead of a fist.
He had a way about him, Chara had discovered years ago. Somehow he always made them feel hopeful for a better future. For a change. Change. It was surprising that someone who struggled with the concept as much as Angel did always made it feel so easy to them. He knew how they felt, better then they did half the time.
... But not this time. They knew there was no going back now, even if Cter didn't want to admit it. There was no RESETing what they'd done. This ended one way and one way only.
Silently they tangled their fingers in Future's hair, eyes narrowing painfully. He looked happier than they'd seen him in years, a little smile lightening his sleeping features. They wondered if he dreamed. They wondered if they were in those dreams.
F Chara knew Future used to have dreams. Big ones, little ones. They used to talk for hours. Stay up late. His eyes would light up in a certain way when he talked about something that held his passion.
"... I'm sorry, Angel." They whispered, gently brushing strands of hair away from his forehead to further admire his soft, peaceful expression. "But things won't be easy this time."
"..." Chara shut their eyes, and for just a moment they let their hand cup their Angel's cheek. "... Even though I know you need them to be..."
Creeaaakkk...
F Chara's eyes snapped open, and their head swiveled over to the front door across the room, which was slowly creaking open.
"Here..?" I asked with some confusion, eyes scanning over the walls of the solitary cabin while I hesitantly stepped inside. I'd never been to a place like this, and yet it felt familiar. Familiar, and...
Lonely.
Keeping my hand on the wood of the door, my emerald orbs glossed over every inch of the barely lit home. I could feel that I hated this place, but I also felt like some part of myself belonged here.
"Move quickly." Was all C Frisk said from where they stood at my side. Hands behind their back, they stared up at me with an expression that was less than expressive. "We're running out of time."
My eyebrows furrowed with a good measure of concern at that, but before I could ask for more details, Chara's voice rang from behind me, and their tone was more than startling.
"What. The hell. Are you doing?"
Their hand hit a light switch, ceiling lights flicking on and and illuminating the room. This startled me, sending a dull pain jabbing through my eyes and making me recoil. I blinked a few times to let my eyes adjust, then with a groan I looked over the room. I spotted who Chara'd been questioning right away, and my expression soured significantly.
"... Uhm." F Chara's eyes darted from us, to Future's head in their lap, to the wall at their side.
"... What the fuck is this?!" I angrily gestured to the two of them, and was further infuriated when Future groaned tiredly, lazily waving a hand at me like he wanted me to quiet down and let him sleep.
"He was... Very tired." F Chara answered hesitantly, still not daring to meet my eyes or Chara's. They looked nervous and awkward, which wasn't comforting.
"And there wasn't a bed available?!" I snapped, continuing to angrily flail my arms around like I was one of those blow up things at a car dealership.
"Erm..." F Chara's eyes narrowed skeptically when they looked at me, like they were trying to understand their own blatant lie. "... Nooo..?"
"Eugh..." Future groaned tiredly, rubbing his eyes as he slowly sat up. He yawned, stretching his arms behind his head, before finally blinking those empty eyes at Chara and I. "Yeah, what? Did'ja handle those pests er what?"
"... They got away." I answered hesitantly, my eyes lowering and my confused anger subsiding. As much as I wanted to grill him for answers, I knew the questions he had for me were a lot more pressing. "I was, KO'd for a bit. That's why it took us so long to get back."
Future opened his mouth - probably to ask me how I managed that one - when an earth shattering boom pierced our ears, and all four of us jumped.
"What was that?!" Future's eyes darted frantically to C Frisk, who looked a lot less calm than they had a moment ago.
"We've run out of time!" Was the only explanation they offered, and a rift in space time tore open at their side while they looked between the four of us. "All of you, go! You have to stop them!"
My eyes narrowed at C Frisk while panic overtook the room. Something about their sudden emotion, their tone and their expressions...
*Dishonest.
I knew an act when I saw one. When you get good at lying you pick up on its nuances, and bad liars are glass to you. Transparent. C Frisk wasn't lying directly, but something was being hidden. I was certain they knew something I didn't, and that they didn't want me to know.
But...
"Chara, my crown." Future glanced back at F Chara, who had stood from the couch and summoned their blade in hand. They grabbed his crown from the end table at the couch's arm, tossing it to Future, who snatched it from the air and planted it on his head.
There was no time for that.
"Through the portal, now!" Future didn't hesitate to wave us towards the warp in reality, jumping through immediately after his order.
F Chara followed after him, but when they got one leg through the portal, they caught their younger counterpart's glare in their guilty eyes. I watched them freeze up, could tell they wanted to say something to their disgusted other self. But Chara didn't give them the time of day.
"Move. Now."
It was interesting watching a Chara react to my own Chara's wrath. Seemed they could even intimidate themself.
Both Charas disappeared through the warp, and I stepped up last. As I did, I couldn't help but shoot C Frisk a suspicious glance. With me paused there and staring at them like I didn't trust them, I could see them getting anxious. They fidgeted under my gaze, before finally gesturing urgently to the portal I was halfway through.
"W-well?!"
"... Right." I squinted at them, before pushing myself the rest of the way through the wormhole.
"..." As the portal disappeared, C Frisk shut their eyes and let their shoulders sink. A deep sigh escaped their lungs, and anxiety churned in the pits of their ethereal stomach.
Cter The Hacker. The Angel, the killer of Error Sans. But he needed to be more. He needed to fight Character, and he needed to win. It was for the greater good that they let things get this far, even if others had to get hurt. A few lives meant nothing in the face of the infinite.
"How could I ever be nice and friendly, my dear ghosty?
WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD WANTED ME TO BE LIKE THIS?!"
C Frisk clenched their eyes and their jaw shut tight, a tremor running through their body as they remembered looking into the eyes of The Anarchist. Hearing him speak directly to them, and even feel his bloodied hand on their's. He was terror, he was napalm death, and every second he had breath in his lungs was a second they were wasting and he was using to get even stronger.
Frisk hated him, and they feared him. They couldn't understand his madness, couldn't calculate his chaos. Everything they'd worked for, the uncountable amount of hours they'd spent since they were cast across the multiverse, made to exist everywhere and nowhere at all, was up in the air so long as The Bastard Son was swinging that crowbar.
They had one plan, one man for the job and one chance to put reigns on the multiverse that the 21 DoubleTale kids had sent on a wild charge. But if Cter didn't get stronger fast, the only title of his that would matter would be "Victim of Anarchy".
"C'mon, where'd everybody go?!"
Ink lashes as thick as an oak trunk swung and whipped, crashing through stonework and sending house and home crumbling to the ground. Under the overcast sky two human souls in one body crushed the pavement under their feet.
They made their way down the empty roads of an evacuated Ebbot City, flicking their wrist and sending an eraser blasting from the earth, ripping up the hardened tar of the street and punching over some apartment complex. The wood, brick, and drywall structure groaned its death throes while it slowly tumbled backwards, crashing over whatever parked cars and abandoned ice cream stands were at it's other side.
"Everyone and their mother comes outta the woodwork when we're weak," Character ground their teeth furiously, holding their arms out to their sides. They glanced around the devastation they'd thoughtlessly rained down with two wide, bloodshot and scarlet eyes. Through their DETERMINATION and their LOVE they were seeing red. Their mind was set on one track now, and it ended on annihilation. "But now that we're ready suddenly you assholes all tuck your tails and scurry away!"
BOOM.
Character spun on their heel at the roar of my Beat Blaster, cocking back one fist that was suddenly alight in crimson mist and slamming the wave of white energy with a left hook that rerouted the blast. It curved right back through the sky, launching clear over my head and disappearing into the clouds.
"There he is!" Character grinned from ear to ear as they saw me standing atop the roof of the building at the end of the street. "It's about time! Here I was starting to think Hacker really did kill ya!"
"Better men have tried." I responded solemnly as I hopped from the rooftop, dropping down to the street and landing on my feet. My hands rested comfortably in my pockets, the chilled green of my eyes resting with contempt on the fusion of mine and Chara's mistakes.
"We learned your little trick, Cter." Character's hands clenched into tight fists, more red smoking up from their knuckles as they narrowed those vengeful eyes on me. "Now we're gonna rip you limb from limb."
"I've got a new trick these days." I responded without a flinch. Then, I lifted my hands from my pockets, bent my elbows, and clenched my fists tight at my sides. My soul appeared on my chest as a scarlet aura burst to life around me, firing into the dark sky like crimson hope. A similar flame ignited over my left eye, and with the ink wings that whipped open from my back, I ascended to Archangel.
"Flashy." Character complimented bitterly, their jaw clenching at the sight of my wings. As my aura died down, the pillar of red light being sucked right back into my DETERMINED soul, Character began trudging towards me. "But if you think you can take us on solo, then-"
Character paused suddenly, their body restrained mid-step in a PATIENT blue light. Their eyes narrowed furiously, darting over their body with quick realizations. They didn't seem particularly frightened however, any real emotions hid behind a murderous mask.
"I'd've been a real dumbass, right?" A smirk curled my lips, my emerald eyes momentarily glancing past Character to the other end of the street, where Future stood. He reached out with one hand, a glowing cyan light emanating from his pen bracer.
BANG. BANG.
Character's eyes twitched in their restrained state as two red bolts carved through each side of their head, exiting the other side and leaving four holes total in their skull. I wasn't sure if it was death or Future's grip that kept them unmoving, but either way I reached out one hand towards them, seven Beat Blasters appearing over my head in an arch and igniting with their ivory blaring death.
"But if you really knew anything about me," My eyes went wide as I tilted my head back, expression turning to a disgusted scowl. "You'd know I'm more of an intricate plan kinda guy."
White hot light burst through the air, rapidly closing the distance between Character and I and flooring them with scorching energy. The collision of the seven beams caused a blast of light and fire, making me wince my eyes. But seconds later the flare disappeared, leaving nothing but the smoke of burnt pavement in its wake.
"Did we get them?" F Chara called from the left of the steaming crater in the earth, looking over the shattered wall they crouched behind.
"Keep your guard up!" Chara ordered from the right side of the smoke, peeking over the massive pile of debris they crouched upon.
"..." Future slowly lowered his outstretched hand, spear clenched tight in his other fist.
My eyes narrowed into the black mist, teeth grinding with anticipation. Anxiety built more and more as the smoke finally began to fade, and just as I thought we were about get a clear look...
Bump bump...
I heard my pulse in my ears. Fear jump started my heart when that wave of nothing but killer desire hit my soul. I could feel the power looming from Hacker and Demon's culminated soul. I could feel their wrath, their hate, their need to hurt me. To kill me.
Footsteps echoed, and all four of us held our breath.
". . ." Their form appeared gradually. They sauntered up from the crater like they'd felt nothing at all. Whatever holes were in their skull had been sealed in a red light, and the only tell that they'd even been struck at all were the embers on the shoulder of their black striped T-shirt.
Character's crimson eyes were locked with my green ones, and I could feel cold sweat breaking out on my forehead as they slowly reached up, patting out the embers on their shoulder.
"... Ow."
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XWolf26, out