DoubleTale: Rewritten

by XWolf26

What if two humans were in the Underground at once? What if one human was DETERMINED to stop the other? What if they could both SAVE? What happens when an Unstoppable Force meets an Immovable Object? When a certain scientist pulls enough of himself together, he finally finds a way to stop the destruction of his world. (Undertale AU. Rewrite of DT.)

44. Chapter 44: The Devil Was An Angel Too

Howdy! Sorry about being a week late, but this is a very long chapter and needed a little extra time! It's almost 21,000 words, which is just 1,000 words short of the longest chapter in this story, Chapter 25: The Bastard Son (Part 2). So I hope you guys aren't too miffed about me being late, and this big bunch'a content makes up for it. Next chapter should be up two weeks from today, like usual.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! I hope you're all kind enough to review and tell me your thoughts/feelings!

Thanks go to Andyfire123, 10burgers, Wingah, Zack Frost, Fixer140.85, Genowar, acoolnamme, Tbone8454, Jack54311, Skele, and NBoss01.

I would also like to apologize to Doctah Sawbones, who's name I mistyped during last chapters thanks. I hope you can forgive my transgressions.

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale. (Or any of the other non-DoubleTale AU characters running around.)

---

"Hello, Friend."

"I don't make friends with creepy strangers in the woods." Chara squinted those precise red eyes of theirs as they corrected Anarchy, but this hardly upset him. On the contrary, his grin dug deeper into his cheeks. "This is a private residence. Get out of here."

"That a threat, tough guy?" Anarchy tilted his head to the side with his question, but a moment later his brows furrowed with some confusion. "Er, gal? Hey, what are you, exactly?"

"Pissed off." Chara answered with ease, frown creasing their face. Their answer made Anarchy chuckle, baring those pearly white fangs with his amused smile as he re-centered his head on his shoulders.

"Well, androgynous stranger, I'd love to get outta your hair, but I've got a few questions for ya first." Anarchy's eyes narrowed then, his joyous smile suddenly curving in a way that was sinister in every sense. "You wouldn't happen to know anybody named Angel, would'ja?"

Chara's expression twitched, their brows drawing closer together while their jaw clenched. The corner of their mouth curled into a small scowl, and they could feel cold sweat forming on their brow. No doubt about it now, this was the guy. "... No, never heard of him."

"Really?" Anarchy yanked up on eyebrow. His evil smile faded, his expression turning into something curious, yet patient. "Hmm... Question two: Have you seen him around?"

"Green eyes, about yay tall." Anarchy held his hand up to be level with his own head, indicating that him and Angel were about the same height. "Always looks like he's half dead with these sunken in eyes and real bony hands. Kinda pale. Not me pale, obviously, but hard to imagine with a tan, y'know?"

"..." Chara swallowed quietly, though their mouth was growing dry. They felt like they were playing Poker with Death, and that lives depended on this bluff. "Not ringing any bells, no."

"Bells, huh?" Anarchy narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, and his lips curled only slightly. Chara scolded themself internally, remembering Cter's bell from his early childhood. Had something as simple as that phrase given them away? But then, Anarchy shut his eyes, stuffed his hands in his pockets. He slouched some, breathed an exasperated sigh, and spoke. "... Alright, then. Third and final question."

Suddenly, Anarchy's eyes snapped open wide. They were a void, lacking in both humanity and his madness. They were purely evil, entirely dark. And those eyes forced all the darkness they had seen onto Chara, sending out a pulse of vantablack from the soles of his feet. It raced across the earth, erasing all that there was and condemning the two of them to an endless sea of shadow.

"Have you been lying to me?"

Chara's eye twitched lightly and their jaw clenched tight. They suppressed a shiver as they looked out at the ivory ghoul, standing right across from them at the bottom of a vantablack ocean. It was cold. When they exhaled, it formed a white mist that drifted up over their face. It was lonely there in the dark, lonely and terrifying. Staring into those eyes, they felt paralysis setting in on their body. It was like they'd been stung, struck by a venom.

But then, the red light of their soul flared, and they dug their nails into their palms. Forcing their body to move, they lifted one shaky foot, grunting with exertion. As the dark began to lighten from the red glimmer of their soul, they brought their foot crashing to the onyx floor. It's..! Not! Real!

A crack exploded through the floor under their foot, racing across the ground all the way to Anarchy's shoe. From that crack, grass sprouted, before more fissures began spreading through the dark. Rapidly the void fractured, the real world shining through each and every rupture. And then, with a deafening shatter, The Dark shattered completely, and Chara and Anarchy returned to reality.

"..." Anarchy's eyebrows rose slowly, watching Chara narrow their eyes fearlessly at him. Their hands clenched into tight fists, and their DETERMINED soul burned on their chest. "... Mm. So you aren't afraid of The Dark."

"I know who you are, Anarchy." Chara finally spoke up, their voice ringing clear and confident. Their nerve was steel now. "And your spooky parlor trick doesn't scare me."

"Aww... So Angel does talk about me!" Anarchy's lips curled upwards into that sinister smile, his eyes narrowing with a murderous gleam. His voice, cheery just a second ago, once more lowered into that deeper, quieter tone. "... But, you know, I know who you are, too."

"..." Chara squinted skeptically, knuckles whitening around the handle of their blade. They couldn't deny that something about that sentence disturbed them. The thought that those beady, hungry eyes had laid on them before, and they had never known... "You do?"

"Of course! You're Angel's new buddy!" Anarchy exclaimed joyfully, throwing his hands up into the air. His voice hiked right back up to a cheery tune. "You and Frisk and the goat and even the fuckin' lizard are all his brand new friends in his perfect little world!"

"Oh yeah, I've been payin' real close attention to all'a you while you were all perfectly happy pretending I DIDN'T EXIST!" With those words, Anarchy's hands clenched into fists from their place happily raised over his head. His smile instantly changing to a vicious snarl, he threw his hands down with a burst of energy, and invisible force smashed the ground at his feet, causing a vicious updraft that blasted wind out around him and a dent to form in the earth at either side of him.

Chara flinched some at this, leaning back some as the wind whipped by, pulling at their bangs briefly. They remained silent as they watched Anarchy's mood swing back and forth like a windsock in a tornado, those furious eyes never releasing them from their pressure.

"I've been bustin' my ass every day for six months, all for today!" Anarchy threw his left arm out to his side, and his crowbar slipped with ease from his sleeve and into his grasp. With his Inheritance gripped tightly in his ivory fingers, he swung his arm haphazardly, pointing the cruel, crusty metal out at Chara. "And I'm not gonna let his fuckin' sidekick get in my way!"

Chara's eye twitched at that particular remark, but they stood their ground. Fear never entering their expression, they scanned the metal of that crowbar The Anarchist aimed at them. It matched what Cter had described; an evil, disgusting tool. It was stained with blood and dust alike, coated in sin.

"So here's what's gonna happen!" Anarchy exclaimed, those maniac eyes wide in his skull and that ballistic snarl encompassing the majority of his features. "You're gonna tell me where Angel is and get THE FUCK out of my way, OR I'M GONNA RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!"

"... Sorry 'friend', not happening." A little smirk curled Chara's expression as their second blade appeared in their free hand. They held their blades out to their sides, and with a flash of crimson, the light of their DETERMINATION blasted up the steel of their weapons, turning kitchen knives into swords. "Besides, I've had limbs taken off before. Never really stuck."

"..." Anarchy remained silent, his expression shrinking into something colder. A frown was carved into his cheeks now, his soulless eyes only half open. Slowly, he lowered his crowbar wielding arm, leaning his head back. "You got guts, sidekick."

The shadows behind Anarchy shifted and swirled, before two grotesque heads slipped with quiet giggles from the black. They were worms made of obsidian, gnashing blood crusted teeth and letting their nasty tongues flick out into the air, like they were trying to catch Chara's scent. It made sense, they had no eyes. Chara guessed one didn't need to see when one lives in the dark.

"Too bad I gotta rip 'em outta ya."

Chapter 44: The Devil Was An Angel Too

"You lay awake at night in fear of the day you cross paths with me again."

---

Why the fuck am I here?

"Hah!" I shouted out as I lunged at Cliff, yanking back the spike of ink that had formed around my fist and throwing it in a cruel attempt to gouge open his face. It didn't work though; his bulky arm moved fast and his iron grip clamped around my wrist. He yanked my hand to the side, and clumsily I let him toss me right off balance.

I just wanted to clean up my goddamn mess.

*Seems that's all you ever want to do.

My stress cracked brain perceived Cliff's fist differently than it was when he sent a punch crashing into my wide open jaw. There was no glove my eyes told me, his knuckles were pale white. Blood splattered over the floor from the lip Cliff split with his Killer left hook, and he let go of my wrist, letting me stumble away like some drunk moron.

*Poor little Angel. Always tipping trashcans and then getting dumpster water on his hands when he has to pick up the garbage.

Dumpster water… I repeated in my head as I wiped the red river from my chin, dazed eyes examining my own blood. Red mist thoughtlessly wafted up from the shattered skin, resealing it as I lifted my eyes back to Clifford. His footsteps were dull and muffled in my ears, and I lifted my head just in time for him to pop me in the nose. Nasal passages were crushed, nostrils hacking scarlet down my lips and over my cheeks and chin.

*That garbage juice stinks like piss and stains like shit. You'd know, its been collecting on your hands for years now.

I know that getting my nose broken hurt, but I didn't really feel the pain. I recoiled like I did; stumbled back and blinked my now aching eyes. While I attempted to get a look at Cliff - who was (surprise surprise) closing the distance between me n' him again - I thought I saw something flicker over his shoulder. It was tall, maybe humanoid. Pale colors.

Cliff was shouting some shit, but I didn't hear it. He clasped his fists together and swung them up like a hammer, and WHAM my jaws crunched together with his brutal uppercut. The force was so intense it tossed me into the air, sent me sailing until I smashed back first into some jagged bullshit. Chunks of stone and broken wood and other rubble Predator had knocked loose with her home-wrecker attack.

*C'mon, pussy. Throw a punch.

My emerald eyes snapped open wide to the black skies overhead. They were cloudy, smoke swirling up to join them in blotting out the moon and the stars. It was all tinted green through the lens of Melanie's barrier, which stopped that smoke from reaching the sky. With sudden urgency I slapped my palm down onto the uneven ground I was laid up on, and computer keys rapidly built up around me, forming walls that kept Cliff out and me in.

*Well, you got your hands up. It's a start.

C'mon Angel, fuckin' focus! I scolded myself as I sat up, shaking my head in an attempt to loosen up the cobwebs. I reached up, snapped my nose back into place without hesitation. I didn't like that I didn't have to think about doing it, and I didn't like that I hardly minded the pain. DETERMINATION was smoking off my face, healing my wounds in seconds and distancing me further from my humanity. Damn it, I said focus, drama queen!

We don't have time to reflect! I informed myself as Cliff's crackling fist smashed through the key wall that separated us. He reached for me, flailing his meaty fingers at me. I stayed just out of reach, crawling backwards on my hands to ensure I was out of range. I have to win this fight! This shouldn't be hard - I know I'm twice as strong as this guy!

I lifted my hands over my head, before shoving them out towards the wall Cliff was tryin' to grab me through. The keys moved with my will, launching forward and smashing against Cliff's body. He threw up his arms to block the plastic projectiles, and as they shattered against his crackling aura, I questioned the combat effectiveness of thin plastic.

Cliff lowered his stance after the keys died down, pushing off of one foot and launching himself forward at me. I lowered my stance, red flaring in my left eye as I planted my feet. Cliff sent a right hook rocketing towards my face as he propelled himself towards me, and I ducked beneath it, crouching down before popping back up and slamming both my palms into his abdomen.

With a guttural grunt I straightened my back and then my elbows, lifting that mountain of a man straight over my head. This made Cliff's eyes go wide, and he flailed his muscular limbs wildly in an attempt to knock himself off the balance of my hands. Unfortunately for him it didn't work out, and I strained my arms back, before whipping him overhand towards the ledge of the plateau that we battled on. "YEET!"

Cliff's body sailed towards the however-many-foot drop, but unfortunately the brute proved highly skilled. He shifted his weight in air, managing to position himself to grab the ledge. His fingers cracked the stone they hooked into, but never lost their grip. Then, his momentum stopped, Cliff grunted with exertion and yanked himself right up with so much force it was basically a jump. He propelled himself upwards, where he performed a front flip, landing back on his feet and on steady ground.

"... I said yeet." I squinted irritably, my wings spreading wide behind me. Over each of my shoulders, a Beat Blaster appeared.

Cliff knocked the knuckles of his gloves together, and orange lightning crackled between his fists. With disdain in his eyes he spoke,

"I don't take orders from you."

---

Footsteps echoed down the darkened hallways of The Gatherer's third building, his strategy hall. The only light was the cyan glow of Disbelief!Papyrus's bone club, which he held out in front of him like a torch. Due to his less than confrontational nature but more than respectable battle capabilities, he was sent on a solo mission to gather intel on The Gatherer's plans and assets.

He reached a set of twin oak doors, and his sockets narrowed with anticipation. This was the doorway to the central debate hall it seemed, the final door at the center of this building. After a moments thought, Papyrus tightened his grip on his staff, before pulling up one leg.

With a swift kick he forced the two heavy doors to swing open, a loud thud echoing through the previously silent building. The room was revealed to be long, its center piece one lengthy table surrounded by many chairs. Along its walls were book shelves and filing cabinets, and over the table papers were neatly stacked and writing utensils were gathered in small bins. Each bin was set an equal distance from the next, pens and pencils equally distributed.

"Heya, bro." At the end of this mahogany table, slipper covered feet were propped up. Skeletal hands folded behind his head - which was hidden inside his raggedy blue hood - a Sans leaned carelessly back in the lead chair. Under his hood, he winked one red outlined blue eye shut, and the light of green barriers and orange flames outside illuminated his plastic grin through the many windows that lined the walls. "Door wasn't locked, y'know."

"Sans?" Papyrus furrowed his brow bones, taking a skeptical step closer to the hooded skeleton that leaned fearlessly across the room. "What are you doing in here?"

"Noticed you n' your buds were makin' a ruckus outside. You know me, I'm a real lazy bones." Sans leaned forward then, removing his feet from the table and letting his chair fall back onto all four of its legs. He landed on his elbows against the table, leaning his head some. This made shadows slip over his concealed face, consuming all but those madness splattered eyes. "Thought I'd get some peace and quiet in here, but then you came and found me. How 'bout that?"

"... Brother, you need to leave." Papyrus gave a clear warning, lowering his own head some and glaring at this Sans. Papyrus was no fool, he had been around the multiverse equivalent of the block more than a few times. He knew not every Sans was to be trusted, and as much as it pained him, not all Sanses were as benevolent as the brother he had lost. "Please do not make this difficult."

"Whoa, easy bro." Sans lifted his bony hands lazily, leaning his head back some and letting the little light in the room land upon his plastic grin. "No need to get so, heheh... Rattled."

"Ngh... Yeah, I know okay, I know..!" Sans spoke to himself before Papyrus had the chance, and the taller of the two brothers furrowed his brows with some confusion. He watched as Sans growled to himself, placing a hand on the side of his head while a purple flame flickered in his left eye.

"Sans..?" Papyrus took a few skeptical steps closer, lifting one gloved hand like he was considering reaching out to him. But then Sans smashed his fist down against the wood of the table, and Papyrus took a quick step back. It was a good thing he did, as jagged bones shot savagely up through the wood of the floor just inches from where he'd been standing.

"Listen Papyrus, I was lyin' before." Sans lifted his head then, letting the flickering lights of his eyes land on this brother of his. With the hand that had been on the side of his head, he took hold of his hood, pulling it from his head and letting it fall back on his shoulders. "I'm actually on the clock right now."

"Really, I should be out there skewerin' pirates. I just thought it'd be a little easier to sit back and protect important information." Sans grunted as he stood in his seat, before hopping up onto the table. "I know you're a busy guy, so I'll keep this simple."

"I'm on The Gatherer's payroll. There's a bounty on my head, n' by workin' with him I've got a guarantee that I won't have to face hunters like your boss all by my lonesome." Sans' lifeless eyes remained locked on Papyrus while he walked slowly down the length of the table. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, clicking his fingers together. "Since you n' me are family, I'm givin' you one chance."

"Turn around right now. Walk outta here and pick a fight with somebody else." Narrowing his sockets, Sans lowered his head some, blue and red flickering in the dark. "I've killed Papyruses before. I ain't got a problem with doin' it again."

"... DustTale, right?" Papyrus narrowed his sockets, holding his bone staff out to the side. It flashed between orange and cyan threateningly as Papyrus stood tall. "That's where you came from, isn't it?"

"Oh, you know my story?" Dust!Sans widened his grin some, tilting his head to the left. "And whaddabout you?"

"... Disbelief." Papyrus's grip tightened on his weapon as his mind glossed briefly over his memories. He thought, as he often did, of the treacherous road that had brought him here. Of the people he had lost, the battles he had fought. But then, he steadied himself, and pointed his bone out towards his brother.

"Ooh. That's rough, buddy." Dust!Sans told Disbelief, but judging from his grin and the wink of his eye, he hardly cared. He kept walking, kicking over a stack of papers with one of his strides. He didn't bat an eye as the parchments scattered across the table, though, his cannibalistic orbs never leaving his brother. "Guess that makes you n' me kinda alike, doesn't it? Bad end bros."

"... Sans. Who you were is long gone. Who you were would not want this." Papyrus frowned, his own sockets never leaving those of the murderer before him. He slowly lifted his free hand, clenching it into a fist threateningly. "As your brother, it is my duty to put a stop to you."

Then, Disbelief!Papyrus clenched his fist tightly, and the floor behind him cracked and shattered, bones jutting up through the broken floor boards. In Papyrus's right eye a BRAVE orange flame ignited, crackling to life and twisting up into the air beside his head.

"By any means necessary!"

---

Horror!Flowey was thrown back again and again as GB!Sans slashed it from side to side with his monstrous claws. Green blood splattered over the stone floor time and time again as GB!Sans forced his fellow beast towards the cinder block wall of the Science and Research building.

Once there, Horror!Flowey opened its maw in a terrible scream, its jaws lurching forward to crash down around Sans. The draconic skeleton was quick however, instead reaching out with those bony claws and catching those jaws before they clamped shut on him. Sans grunted and growled as he struggled with all his might to keep those teeth from crashing down around him.

Flowey laughed hysterically as Sans was forced to slide back a few inches, the plant creature looming over him. GB!Sans ground his fangs together, bones shaking with exertion as Flowey's weight threatened to overpower him. But then, he opened his maw, and blue flames licked out from the nostrils of his snout as white light began burning in the back of his jaws.

This made Flowey desperate to close its maw, but GB!Sans held them open with all his might while he charged his laser, preparing to fire it point blank right down Flowey's throat. But, as that light crept quickly over each row of Sans' teeth, Flowey thought quickly, and his vines wrapped around the monster's ankles.

Flowey yanked Sans' weight out from under him, letting the beast drop suddenly onto his side. This made GB!Sans grunt and growl with instant pain, wincing his eyes shut as his maw clamped down on that light, making it disappear from between his fangs. Flowey spun once its enemy was on the ground, dragging him into the air before releasing him and whipping him across the courtyard.

Sans' large body sailed through the air before crashing right through the fountain's stone spout, sending water spraying all over him and the ground that he crashed to. He slid a few more feet across the unforgiving rocks, before hooking his claws into the ground and forcing his prone body to a stop.

He opened his eyes and glared to Flowey with slitted pupils. Huffing sapphire fires from his snout menacingly, he climbed gradually to his talons. Once he stood tall again, he stomped one foot down and threw his claws out to the side. His jaw unhinged, and he let out a freakish screech to the vegetation beast that was slithering closer.

Sans lurched forward, hooking his foreclaws into the ground and racing forward on four legs to meet Horror!Flowey. The flower beast sunk several of the vines it slithered across the ground on into the torn up stone of the courtyard, and a moment later a massive spike made from intertwined, thorny roots blasted out from the ground in front of Flowey.

The twisting and writhing skewer fired forward to impale GB!Sans, but the skeletal abomination shifted at the last second, lifting his arm and letting the vine shoot by under him. Then, he snapped forward and sunk his jaws into the violent vegetation. His claws were next to drag through the malevolent green as he wrapped his arms around the spines and barbs of the roots, not so much as flinching as thorns dragged across his bones and dug into his body.

With brute force GB!Sans yanked his entire body back, pulling on that vine and ripping Flowey forward. Then, he released the roots and shifted, slamming shoulder and skull first into Flowey and stopping the plant's momentum dead. With Flowey jarred, GB!Sans raced forward, leading with the beast suspended on his shoulder. He crashed into the same wall he'd pinned the tentacle creature up against before with enough force to shatter through the stonework.

Dust falling around the two, Sans smashed Horror!Flowey against the tile, sending cracks splitting through the floor. Vines wrapped around his maw and tried to push his jaws away as they snapped at Flowey, before the plant shifted its weight, shoving GB!Sans off and throwing his body down the hallway they'd landed in.

Sans landed on his four claws, tiles screeching as he dragged back across the floor. With eyes glowing in the dark, he watched Flowey slither and latch onto the ceiling to get itself upright. Then, it turned to face GB!Sans, and its jaws closed, revealing its one massive eye. This eye began to glow, the air around it vibrating with pressure as its vile light illuminated the hall.

Sans bounded forward, tearing up the floor with his claws and racing to meet Flowey before that laser fired. Just as the beam broke free from Flowey's eye, Sans lunged. He skinned the cat, his body just barely reaching over Flowey's blast and then over his head. He slashed down the vines Flowey'd attached to the ceiling along the way. The draconic skeleton landed crouched behind the violent flower, but was quick to spin around. Flowey was halfway through deactivating its laser and turning around to face GB when his enemy blindsided him, bashing his skull into the back of its flower-head.

Flowey stumbled forward, and GB!Sans roared viciously, chomping down around the top of his enemy's massive eye. Flowey screeched in agony at this, green blood overflowing around Sans' fangs and running down the length of its singular peeper. Then, he ripped his head to the side, ragdolling Flowey's head ( and dragging his body with it) with his terrifying jaw strength and whipping it out through the hole the two had opened in the wall, leading their battle back into the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Kris's footsteps splattered through the broken fountain's spilled water as they raced forward to slash at Mad Mew Mew, who raised her scepter, catching steel on steel with a clang. Then, the cat-face bell atop her scepter lit up, and Kris jumped back just as orbs of white hot light fired from the weapon. They lifted their shield again, and as the plasma balls shattered against their defenses, one purple dino jumped right over their head, yanking her Brave Ax up and preparing to slash down.

Mad Mew Mew jumped back out of the range of Susie's slice, but she failed to notice the red light that had been glowing on her ax's blade. And when Susie's ax crashed down to the ground, a red bolt of energy exploded from it, firing quickly towards Mad Mew Mew. The doll had no time to react, her eyes widening as the Rude Buster slammed into her abdomen, flooring her. The wind was knocked from her, the blast carrying her off her feet and back through the air.

Stuffing flew through the air as Mew Mew slammed flat on her back, sliding a few feet across the ground. But then, she reached back, placing her hands on the ground, and flipping herself back and onto one knee. She growled as she held her kitty-staff out to her side, stuffing floating through the air around her and reconnecting to her body. "Futile. Futile! FUTILE!"

"We heard ya the first time!" Susie snarled as she raced across the ground to meet Mad Mew Mew, her footsteps thudding like a charging rhino. Just as Susie slashed horizontally at the doll however, Mew Mew jumped up, front flipping over Susie's head with stunning acrobatic ability. While upside down in the air above her fellow mean girl, she pointed her glowing weapon's peak down at her, and three more orbs of burning energy blasted down.

"Agh!" Susie cried out, arching her spine as all three baseball sized blasts crashed against her back, scorching through the leather of her jacket and burning her flesh. This pain only seemed to piss her off though, and she snarled, spinning around to face Mew Mew, who landed between her and Kris.

The two circled Mew Mew slowly, and the immortal doll kept up her smug smirk, watching the two sharks from the corners of her eyes. Just as Susie and Kris rushed her from her left and right, she jumped straight up, laughing maniacally. Two out of three Fun Gang members skidded to a stop right beneath her as she ascended, and Kris was quick to look to Susie. She nodded, like she'd understood their silent request.

Susie held out the flat side of her Brave Ax, and Kris hopped up onto it, before Susie launched them up after Mad Mew Mew. She was far too busy laughing like an evil, evil villainous villain to notice Kris rapidly ascending towards her. Teeth grinding together, Kris brandished their blade, wrapping both hands tightly around its handle.

They launched up just above Mad Mew Mew, who's eyes went wide as Kris suddenly loomed over her in air, blade lifted high over their head. With a primal roar and a berserk red glimmer in their eye, Kris slashed downward, carving a slash all the way from Mew Mew's scalp to her skirt. Then, after slashing the doll vertically in half, they spun with the momentum, slamming a kick into her two halves and sending them sailing through the air.

Kris dropped down beside Susie, and they watched as stuffing rained down around Mew Mew's separated body. The two halves thudded limply to the ground, a few feet apart. Kris and Susie watched their foe pensively, wondering if such a brutal strike would be enough to bring this possessed dummy down.

"..." Suddenly, the eye on Mew Mew's right half snapped open, and that side of her mouth curled up in half a grin. "Hahaha."

Next, her left side opened its eye, and she formed the other half of her grin, all while stuffing crawled in through the missing chunk of her head. "Hahaha!"

Susie and Kris both grimaced, taking up stances next to one another. They watched this supernatural creature put itself back together, its two halves dragging across the dirt towards one another. Slowly, as Mad Mew Mew floated back up to her feet, her stitching reconnected, and she was whole again.

"HAHAHA!"

---

Eden watched stars rain down from the sky above towards her via Ralsei's command, her open hand holding her notebook, which was rapidly flipping through pages of its own accord. Then, suddenly it stopped on one page that shined a bright purple glare onto Eden's glasses, and she began muttering like a madwoman once more.

In an instant, the points raining in star shape from above stopped in their tracks. Their golden shine disappeared, replaced by a dull grey shade. It was as if Eden had frozen the assault in time. She didn't have time for a counterattack though, as she was suddenly forced to duck, Ralsei's Ragger stretching out from the dark prince's neck and slashing over her head.

Dropping to one knee, Eden summoned a single white flower from her inventory in her free hand. She placed it against the ground, and began chanting something different. As Ralsei's Ragger stretched back to wrapping around his neck like a prickly scarf, the little flower exploded with life. Roots twisted from its form, sinking into the ground and rapidly draining nutrients from it before it blasted apart with massive, thorny vines. Vines not unlike Horror!Flowey's body.

This spear of vegetation vengeance fired across the courtyard at Ralsei, who's eyes widened under his wizard hat. He was quick to throw one hand back, and on his finger tips another golden star ignited to life. It grew rapidly as those brutal thorns raced closer to him, before he threw the shield of a star out in front of him, and its five points began to spin rapidly.

He planted two hands on his fan-blade defense, and when the vine collided with his attack, he grunted with exertion. Plant blood and vine chunks flinging out around him, he was forced to skid backwards, his frail body straining to keep from cracking under the pressure of this assault. eventually, the vines could extend no longer, and the magic that fueled them withdrew. The green faded from the roots, returning into the ground while the massive spike shriveled and grew grey.

As soon as the attack slowed to a stop, Ralsei dropped to one knee, panting heavily. His star disappeared, and he rested one fluffy hand on the ground, the other on his raised knee.

"You are a weak wizard." Eden stung harshly, her eyes narrowing with disdain as she pushed her glasses back up her nose. She was pretending the sweat on her brow was not there.

"Yeah, well..." Ralsei slowly pushed himself back to his feet, exhaling slowly in an attempt to calm his breathing. He clenched his fluffy paws into fluffy fists, his eyes narrowing at Eden. "You're a mean witch."

"... Mm." Eden frowned a little deeper at that, pointed vines tearing up from the ground behind her. Their thorns were purple. Ralsei's Ragger uncoiled from around his neck some and stood up straight, slowly waving back and forth like a snake preparing to strike.

---

Disbelief!Papyrus jumped back through the doorway of the main conference room, stamping his foot upon landing on the hardwood floor. This sent his own bones firing up from the floor and shattering against the jagged, purple stakes there were crashing up through the floor towards him.

Then, Papyrus lifted his bone staff, holding it up with both hands and catching the point of three more bones that were sent soaring through the air at him. He spun his weapon quickly, flinging the calcium spikes off his club. Then, he planted his feet, pointing his staff out towards the glowing purple eye in the darkness before him.

Dust!Sans walked calmly across the wood floor, slouched some with his hands buried in his jacket's front pockets. Then, suddenly, he yanked one hand free from his pockets, whipping it out to the side and then shoving it forward. On this command a blue Monster soul appeared on Papyrus's chest, and gravity yanked the taller skeleton backwards through the air.

Papyrus was thrown back down the hall, and when he glanced over his shoulder, he found those same jagged spikes of calcium awaiting him on the wall he was approaching. Swiftly he spun back in air so that his feet were heading first towards those prongs and barbs Then, just before those purple drenched spikes, a platform of his own pure white femurs appeared. He landed against this platform, standing horizontally.

He was forced to bend at the knees from his impact, before suddenly diving forward, racing with purpose back down the hall towards Dust!Sans. His soul returning to a white shade, he pulled his staff back over his shoulder like he was preparing to bat Sans' head right out the window. Sans just smiled, tilting his head and winking an eye shut before he disappeared, Papyrus swinging through nothing at all.

The tall skeleton flipped in air once more, landing on one knee and sliding a yard or two. Then he jumped to his feet, spinning around to face Sans. His brother from another timeline stood at the end of the hallway and in front of the two large doors that lead into the building. Dust!Sans grinned a little wider it seemed, shrugging and shaking his head. As he did so, he snapped his fingers on each hand, and over each of his shoulders a Gaster Blaster appeared.

The dragon skulls opened their maws wide, and as white light began to overflow past their jagged fangs, Papyrus dropped to one knee. He wrapped both hands around his staff, slamming its base into the ground before him. Just as boiling plasma fired down the hall, massive pillars of ivory blasted out from the floor before him, racing up and into the path of those beams.

Light peaked through the thin space between the bones, and Papyrus sweat as the searing heat of Sans' attack began melting his defenses. The violent flashes flickered out before his calcium pillars corroded enough though, and just as Papyrus stood, another purple eyed Gaster Blaster warped into existence behind him.

Without so much as flinching Papyrus slammed his staff down on the ground once more, and one porcelain pillar jutted down from the ceiling, blasting through the blaster's skull and crushing it to the ground. Its violet eyes flickered out, and Papyrus wasted no time. he lunged over his melted bone wall, holding his staff out to the side and racing down the hallway towards Sans.

Dust!Sans lifted one hand, and the room was illuminated as PATIENT blue bones appeared throughout the air around him. These pins of blue magic fired down the hall towards Papyrus, who darted swiftly between them, rapidly shutting the distance between himself and his brother. Suddenly, he lunged forward, pulling his club back and swiping at Sans the moment he was in range.

With appalling speed Dust!Sans ducked his head to the left and dodged Papyrus's strike, before immediately leaning back and dodging another swing. Papyrus growled with frustration, swiping back and forth with his club. All he ever struck was air however, Sans easily weaving between every strike. Finally, Papyrus crashed a strike downward towards Sans' head, and the shorter skeleton teleported right out from under him.

Sockets widening, Papyrus quickly spun around. The moment he did, three bones dug their cruel points right into his battle body. The force of this strike shoved him back off his feet, and blood spewed from between his teeth as he fell back into the doorway behind him. His weight threw the two doors apart, and Papyrus tumbled back down the hard stone steps leading out into the courtyard.

"Shoulda left when I told ya, bro." Left eye glowing with madness, Dust!Sans calmly walked out past those doors. He stood atop the steps, staring down at Papyrus. His brother was climbing slowly to one knee, head lowered and one hand on his abdomen, between the three purple stakes that were stuck deep in his ribs. "But that was always your problem."

Dust!Sans held one hand out to his side, and one long, jagged javelin of violet dipped bone appeared in his grasp. His footsteps were like thunder, slow and deliberate down the stone steps towards the kneeling Papyrus. The taller of the two brothers never lifted his head, never moved, not even as Dust!Sans bent his elbow, drawing that bone back and aiming right for the crown of Disbelief's skull.

"You never knew when to quit."

Suddenly, the moment Dust thrust his javelin forward, Papyrus lifted his head, and a BRAVE orange fire igniting in his right eye. He shifted, moving his shoulder in the path of this strike and letting it drive into his marrow, catching it with his body. This made Dust's sockets widen, but just as he leaned back, Papyrus reached out with his speared arm, snagging him roughly by the collar of his shirt.

And with a powerful battle cry, The Great Papyrus grabbed one of the brutal violet prongs that had penetrated his ribs, ripping it free from his body. His own blood overflowing down his battle body, Papyrus yanked his weapon back, and Dust!Sans' pupils shrunk in his head.

"H-hey wait-!"

STAB!

"G-guh!" Dust!Sans lurched forward, crimson droplets flicking out from between his everlasting grin as his own spike drove right through his abdomen, shooting out through the back of his sweatshirt. Red streams ran over the purple stained ivory, trickling down onto the darkening blue of Sans' pierced hoodie.

"M-my persistence... Was never a weakness..." Papyrus grunted out, placing his shaking phalanges over the red oozing hole in his battle body. As Sans crumpled to his knees, and then on to his side on the steps, Papyrus's body swayed back and forth. "It was, and always will be... My greatest strength..."

"Eugh..." Papyrus fell flat on his back, and his distant eyes focused tiredly on the green dome above. Still, his shaky fingers curled, clenching into tight, powerful fists. "T-the real... The real Sans... Understood that..."

"I-I... Am the real Sans, you..." Dust!Sans growled furiously, sockets wincing painfully as he wrapped his arms around his pierced abdomen. "Idiot..!"

"Nyeh heh heh..!" Papyrus's mouth curled into a smile in this wretched scene, a little bit of joy flickering in his exasperated eyes in spite of his brother's berating.

"Sounds like... Fake Sans propaganda... To me..."

---

BANG. BANG BANG.

"You know, in my experience, shoot outs are usually one of the more boring ways to have a fight!" Demon called from the overturned desk they were taking cover behind, bullets cracking the wood. In their right hand they clutched their empty gun, DETERMINATION glowing in its barrel.

"Yer more than welcome to step outta yer hidey hole n' make this quick!" Clover called out, peaking out around the corner of his own flipped desk. His ever accurate eye scanned their cover, watching carefully for any opening.

"Huh..." Demon narrowed their eyes thoughtfully, before a devilish grin creased their face. In their free hand, their knife appeared. Slowly and carefully they shifted behind their desk, turning to face its surface. They laid back on the tile floor and yanked back one foot then, before slamming their heel into the desk and sending it launching across the room towards Clover's cover. "Good idea!"

Instinctively Clover turned his guns skyward when Demon lunged into the air, standing behind his wooden shield of furniture. Unfortunately, just as his crosshairs landed on them, the desk they'd launched at him slammed into his own, jolting it forward and making it ram into his abdomen, forcing him to double over.

Just as Demon descended on Clover, he pulled himself over the two desks, essentially somersaulting over the furniture just as Demon slashed down, a red streak cleaving the wood in two. Clover dove to his feet behind them, and the two spun around at the same time, the both of them lifting one barrel to the other.

BANG BANG.

A bolt of red and a bolt of gold collided in the air, shattering one another and fizzling out into multicolored shards. Demon lunged after Clover then, lowering their shoulders and ducking his next shot. Once they got into range, they slashed their blade upwards at him, but he leaned backwards, a red slash illuminating the dark lab for a few moments as he sprung back, folding his forearms over his head and rolling back across the ground, putting further distance between them.

He stopped his roll on one knee, popping back up and whipping up both guns. Demon lunged into the air, rapid fire yellow bolts following close behind them. Clover shot up to his feet as they descended towards him, catching their knife between an X he made by crossing his two pistol's barrels over one another. He ground his teeth with exertion, struggling momentarily to keep their blade at bay.

Demon lifted their gun to his forehead with their free hand, and his eyes widened before he swiftly jerked his head to the right. With it, he yanked his guns to the right as well, pulling their blade and arm with him. In the same motion he lifted his leg, jamming his boot right into their abdomen with a kick that sent them launching back through the lab.

Clover planted his raised foot back on the ground, extending both arms and taking aim on Demon. Rapid fire pops echoed and golden light flashed across the lab towards Demon, who was quick to swap their knife out for their frying pan as they flew back through the air. They held it in front of their face and abdomen, pulling their knees up to their chest. Some golden bolts dinged off their frying pan, others sliced across their shoulders while a few plunged into their shins.

Pain screaming through their body, Demon ground their teeth together, forcing their hole punched legs to extend and catch them once they fell back towards the ground. Light red steam wafted up from their wounds as they planted their feet, growling and swiping away the last bullet firing at them with their frying pan. In the same motion they pulled up their revolver, ruby eye darting down its sight and landing on Clover's forehead.

"All ya do is steal!" Clover pointed out as he ducked down, red bolt firing over his head. He raced forward, hunched low to the ground while he planted his revolvers back in their holsters, quick fingers snapping them into place before his hands darted behind his back. From some strap in his poncho the cowboy yanked a pump action shotgun just as he reached Demon, whipping it right up under their frying pan and stuffing its barrel right up to their right shoulder.

BANG.

Demon's eyes snapped open in agony as the force of a slug tore through their arm, shredding muscle and maiming flesh. The force threw them right off their balance, their body slamming into some wooden table littered with papers and knocking it right over. Blood spattered parchment scattered across the floor, and Demon landed flat on their back, eyes clenched shut in pain as their right arm dangled limp.

A 'shuk-shuk!' reminded them of their scenario however, and Demon reached back to grab the table behind them, which leaned on its side. They yanked up one leg, kicking the barrel of Clover's shotgun just as he fired. His slug blasted through the florescent light that hung above them, sending glass raining with sparks down on the two. Demon pulled themself up on that table, flipping back behind it before Clover pulled his shotgun's barrel back down towards them.

Other weapons disappearing and knife reappearing in their left hand - the only hand they had that still worked - Demon lurched forward, another slug blasting over their destroyed right shoulder. They lunged over the table with a stab, and Clover stepped to the side, nimbly dodging their strike. They rolled once, before stopping on one knee just as Clover pointed his gun at the back of their head.

Demon jumped back, flipping over Clover and landing a few feet behind him. Right arm still hanging limp, they pulled their knife back in their left, stepping forward to drive it into Clover's back. Eye flaring with a vengeful gold, however, the cowboy shifted his footing, fingers wrapping tight around his shotgun. He jammed the butt of his pump action into Demon's face before they could stab them, bashing them hard enough to shatter their nose and make them recoil. Entire face scrunched up, they had no defense for the second strike from his weapon's stock, twice as hard as the last and in the same spot: square in the center of the face.

Clover spun on his heel then, batting them upside the head with the cruel metal barrel of his Remington 870. This final strike sent Demon clattering to the ground, landing hard on their side. They dropped their knife on the impact, and it slid across the floor.

Finally they opened their eyes, which were swollen and bloodshot from the brutal breaking of their nose and likely other parts of their face. Still their ruby orbs landed on their knife, but just as they reached for it, a hard kick flipped them flat on their back, and Clover planted a foot on their chest to keep them from squirming away. He pointed that barrel right down to Demon's face, and their terrified eyes darted between the endless void of the barrel to the shadow that covered Clover's eyes.

"... You know why I got outta the Underground, n' all the other Clovers didn't?" Clover's yellow eye burned through the dark, its golden flames licking up over the side of his cowboy hat. "It's 'cause JUSTICE gets more n' more vague the harder ya look at it. Cause'a that, them other Clovers got it twisted."

"But not me. Fer me, it's real simple." Clover pressed his shotgun's stock to his shoulder, and that unblinking golden eye stared right down those crosshairs. Demon found themself paralyzed under that eye, cold sweat mixing with the blood dripping down their face. "See, it's God's job to judge sinners like yerself."

Shuk-shuk!

"And it's my job to send'ja to Him."

WHAM!

Demon's aching eyes widened as much as they could in cracked sockets when an eraser crashed into Clover's side, flinging the desperado right off them and through the brutal concrete wall of the lab. Vision hazy, they squinted desperately into the dark to find their savior, semi-wet footsteps echoing closer. As they stared up into the smudged darkness, a steak in the shape of Mettaton's face came into view.

"Christ, Chara, fuck happened while I was out?"

Jarred by this familiar voice, Demon ripped that item right out of the dark, devouring it hastily. As they ate, they felt their face healing. Their nose realigned, their orbital sockets resealed, their concussion dulled and disappeared. And the moment their vision returned to them, they looked with hopeful eyes right into the damp face of The Hacker.

"Heh, what's with that face?" Hacker reached up, running one hand through his still soaking wet hair and pushing his wet bangs back up off his forehead and out of his eyes. Behind him, the shattered glass of the pod he was in flickered brokenly with green lights. He must have punched right through the glass the moment he woke up, having seen Demon in danger across the lab. "You miss me or something?"

"Whoa!" Hacker suddenly exclaimed when Demon lunged forward, wrapping their arms around him and burying their face in his bare chest. This caught him off guard for two reasons. One: He never thought Demon was a hugger. Two: He was fresh out of a healing stew and only covered by his boxers. And while he considered pointing this out to tease them, when they squeezed him tighter, he thought it wasn't the time. Instead, he returned their embrace, a small smile tugging up his lips. "I'll take that as a yes."

"S-shut up..." They mumbled, not looking up at him. That made his smile widen some, before he lifted his green eyes to the man making his way back through the destroyed wall at the far side of the laboratory. Clover tossed the empty core of a crab apple over his shoulder, and the unnatural bend in the arm that Hacker's eraser had struck snapped back into place.

"Uh, Chara? Hate to ruin the moment, but we gots company." Hacker stated, and almost instantly Demon detached from him. They spun on their heel, facing Clover and opening one hand. Hacker knew what they wanted, and was quick to point one finger to their knife, which still laid on the floor. Ink seeped from the Deltarune burned into Hacker's back, coiling up his arm and flicking out from his finger. It wrapped around the handle of Demon's knife, tossing it up and over to them. The handle of their blade landed right in their palm, and their lips curled into a malevolent smile.

"Company, huh?" They lowered their head some, predatory eyes watching Clover like a hawk. Behind them, Hacker rose one arm lazily into the air. At this command, a Beat Blaster appeared on either side of the two. Demon spun their knife, right eye glowing red. "Well, I'd hate to be a poor host."

"Y'ain't exactly dressed to impress, boy." Clover chimed in, holding his arms out to his sides. He opened both of his hands, and in an instant a sawed off shotgun appeared in each palm. He wrapped an index finger around each trigger, pulling his arms forward and pointing those four barrels out at his two foes.

Hacker grinned wide at those words, face twisting into an evil sneer. He placed one hand on his hip, and pointed the other in a finger gun over Demon's lowered head. He took clear aim on Clover, and white light began to glimmer in the blasters looming over his shoulders. "I strongly disagree."

---

Predator stomped, and from this collision ice blasted out in a tidal wave across the roof of the ship towards The Gatherer, who leisurely lifted his free hand, lighter sword in the other. On his arm, his tattoos ignited, cobras swirling up his arms before launching from his wrist. They shot up at the top of the impending iceberg, hooking their fangs into its peak.

Using his snakes like a grappling hook, Xander yanked himself at high velocity up into the air. He flipped right over the peak of this frozen tsunami, his serpents unhooking from the ice and slipping back onto the burning ink of his arm. He landed on his feet along the curve of the wave's back, surfing on the soles of his shoes down towards Lexi.

The Gatherer opened his free hand, bending his fingers in towards his palm but not forming a fist. Black smoke began to seep out of his hand's pores, swirling in a current up his fingers and over his knuckles. This torrent of gas picked up more and more speed, until static began to jolt back and forth in that black smog. Then, in an instant, he threw his hand down, snapping his fingers towards Lexi. From this sudden friction a thundering crash resounded, and an arch of blue lightning blasted out from Gatherer's finger tips.

"Shit-!" Predator threw her arms up in an X, ice building rapidly from her forearms. Xander's bolt exploded right into whatever shield she managed to create in the nick of time, and a wave of force blasted out from the collision. Smoke and steam swirling from her arms, Predator was sent launching back through the air. She sailed clear over the ledge, and Gatherer smiled triumphantly as she disappeared from his line of sight.

But, he didn't have much time to celebrate. The brutal, shattering screech of ice crash closer filling his ears was proof of that. He spun on his heel, immediately slashing clean through a block of frigid magic and splitting it vertically. These two light blue boulders flung over the ledge behind Xander, who kept his eyes ahead. More ice chunks of varying sizes were launching from the tidal wave Predator had thrown at him a moment ago.

Elegantly The Gatherer stepped between projectiles, slashing right through anything too big to side step. From hail to boulders, he skillfully evaded all that he could, until the violent crash of ice resounded from behind him as well. He glanced over his shoulder quickly, spotting one adrenaline junky riding a pillar of ice high into the sky behind him.

Predator laughed manically, her pillar curving from the air above and racing down towards Xander at a stunning velocity. The Gatherer was quick to jump back towards the shrinking iceberg behind him, projectiles still firing across the length of the ship as Lexi crashed right down in front of him. Shards of her ice stream shattered against the metal of the ship, flinging through the air behind her as she lunged forward, yanking her scythe back over her shoulder like she was planning to chop Xander's head clean off with it.

Gatherer leaned back, her chilled blade swiping right by his nose. She flipped her weapon in hand so that the blade was pointing back towards him, immediately swinging right at him again. He jumped over Lexi though, flipping as he was above her and pointing his free hand down at her. As embers crackled from his palm though, Predator reached right up to him with her own hand, frost rapidly creeping over her fingers.

She snatched his hand from the air, intertwining their fingers as he tried to blast flames and she tried to blast ice. This resulted in a ninety mile per hour gust of steam shooting out from between their interlocked fingers, obscuring each of them from the others view. This blast of condensation threw Lexi's hair back out of her face, making her eyes widen.

Still, she planted her feet, spinning around and yanking on Xander's hand, pulling him right through the steam and whipping him across the length of the ship. He flipped in air, landing on his feet and skidding back across the steel floor. By the time he had gotten steady footing Predator was already upon him, having sprinted right after him the moment she finished shit-whipping him.

She yanked her scythe up over her head, slicing down towards The Gatherer, who was quick to bring up his searing shortsword. His blade stopped the chilled edge of Lexi's weapon, a dull hiss resounding from their collision. It didn't last long though, as Xander spun, pulling his blade from Lexi's and swinging back around in a 360. She pulled her scythe back, holding its long handle in the path of Xander's blade and stopping it at her side.

"Always a thorn in my side!" Gatherer snarled, flames licking up from the corners of his mouth as his weapon struggled against Predator's. Violet and cyan glares were in a deadlock. The ground behind Lexi slowly froze over, and the air behind Xander began to wave and shift in the heat. "What did I ever do to you?!"

"You fucked up my house and tried to kill my friends!" Predator responded just as furiously, frosted mist steaming out from her own jaws. Both of their arms struggled and shook against one another, the both of them fighting desperately to overpower the other.

"You started this war, Lexi! You could have joined me, been one of my elites! " Xander growled as wind kicked up around the two, the hot and cold they were putting off creating opposing air currents. "But you turned your back on me! You threw away the chance to work towards a better future to chase cheap thrills!"

"Cheap thrills? Turned my back on you?!" Lexi repeated his words with rage and disbelief, and around the two those winds were swirling upwards in a loose cone shape. "Don't try to feed me that peace lover bullshit, Xander!"

"I know you! I know you just want power, that's why you're doing all this!" Lexi shifted her footing, turning so that she faced Xander head on instead of from the side. Her and Xander's hair was being yanked and pulled at by the increasing winds, a steady stream of steam rising between them from where their weapons met. "The only person you care about is yourself! THAT'S WHY YOU STABBED ME IN THE BACK!"

Suddenly, the violent winds blasted up more harshly, and Predator growled with frustration, being forced to clench her eyes shut tight. She jumped back and out of the gusts that threatened tornado, and Xander was forced to jump back at the same time the two of them landing at opposing sides and sliding back some.

All was silent then, each of them brandishing a weapon to their side. Xander furrowed his brows with some confusion though, and because of that confusion, he spoke first.

"Stabbed you in the back?" He repeated her words back to her like he was looking for confirmation. Her glare was the only answer he received, and that made him tilt his head some. "What are you talking about?"

"The day we all got pulled in, asshole!" Predator snarled, white knuckled fists trembling around her scythe. "When that trade went tits up! When the gangs turned on me n' Anthony!"

"..." Gatherer's eyebrows rose with surprise at this accusation, before they slowly lowered. gradually, his lips curled upwards, a malevolent joy glimmering in his eyes. "You think that was my doing?"

"There's only one person who had the authority over the gangs that it would take to get them to turn on me and Anthony!" Ice shattered up from the ground in knee high spikes around Predator, her left eye igniting in DETERMINED flames. Her skin was freezing, but her blood was boiling beneath. She lifted one hand from her scythe, jabbing her finger in Xander's direction. "And that person is you, you piece'a shit!"

"Oh, Lexi, darling..." Smirk clear on his face, Gatherer shut those violet eyes. He shook his head slowly, like he pitied her. "There were two people with that kind of authority, actually."

"What?" Lexi furrowed her brows, jaw clenching. She was watching Xander's every move now, careful for any indication that he was spewing lies. "Who?"

"Lexi, who was our organization's all seeing eye?" Gatherer questioned, tilting his head to the side. He straightened his back, folded his hands together politely as he posed his questions. "The faceless man behind every screen, listening through every phone. Respected and feared by every grunt we had. The only person who could ever possibly outwit me. Remind me, what was his name?"

"..." Slowly, Lexi's cyan eyes began to widen. The flare over her left iris flickered out, DETERMINATION replaced by shock and creeping terror. This single piece Xander had just given her was setting a thousand other puzzle pieces in place. But, before the picture could be finished, Lexi shook her head. Through grinding teeth she spoke, "Angel would never."

"Oh Lexi... You think you know him so well, don't you? That's okay." Xander smiled with feigned care and patience, his forked tongue hidden behind his pearly white teeth. "I thought I knew him too. But, looking back, I think the only one who really understood the kind of person Angel is was Anarchy."

"You're just trying to turn me against him." Lexi lowered her head, wrapping both hands around her scythe's handle. Frost crept up around her fingers. Her voice was low now, fury burning just below the cold of her eyes.

"I wish that were true." Sorrow glimmering in his amethyst orbs, Xander frowned lightly, shaking his head. He sighed quietly through his nose, like he really felt for her plight. "I wish it had just been my own wretched plot."

"I wish I didn't have to live with the shame of being outplayed by that dead-eyed, pasty, ungrateful, worthless..!" Xander's composure was suddenly cracking. His frown deepened, and his teeth started to grind against one another. His fingers curled back into white knuckled fists, his nostrils flared. But then, he took a deep breath. His jaw relaxed, his expression calmed as he shut his eyes. Slowly he breathed out through his nose, before his magenta eyes opened again, the rage burning in them a moment ago hidden away.

"... I wish he had loved you like you loved him, Lexi."

"SHUT UP!" Predator snapped, baring her fangs. A bone chilling gust blasted out from around her, forcing Gatherer to wince as his hair and clothes were tugged at by the lethal air. The floor rapidly froze over beneath the wind, but Gatherer refused to flinch. "I don't wanna hear anymore lies outta you!"

"I saw it myself!" Gatherer proclaimed, taking a step forward and plating a hand on his chest. That Anger smoldered in his eyes as he defended his point. "They found the mansion, Lexi."

Predator recoiled some at that, but didn't say a word. She didn't let her glare disappear just yet, but she couldn't bring herself to interrupt Xander, either.

"I scrambled to escape, and because I cared I went to check Angel's room as they broke down the front gate." Painfully and bitterly Xander narrowed his violet eyes, hands clenching into fists. More of that indignation burned in his expression, and embers flicked up from between his clenched fingers. "He was already gone. Belongings packed and taken with him."

"Stop it." Predator ordered, shrunken pupils trembling in her eyes. She felt sick. Those pieces were coming together, paint was falling into perfect placing. The picture was becoming more and more clear, and it disgusted her.

"The safe was wide open, and a pretty large percentage of my money was gone." Gatherer lowered his head, eyes glowing a deadly purple into the night. She could see it. The hate, the humiliation, the fury. It all burned in those eyes. It was real. "He planned it. He planned all of it. He plotted our downfall and it went through flawlessly."

"..." Lexi was silent. Her hair fell over her eyes, black strands swaying some as cold winds gusted by. Her jaw didn't clench, her lips formed not smile nor frown. She was still, blank. Like some statue, carved from unbreakable rock. But then, after several long moments, she moved. Her hand tightened around that scythe, and she lifted it, pointing its blade right at the man before her. "... No more talking."

The wind shifted her long bangs, revealing one eye. It was wide, and like the rest of her face it was devoid of emotion. Its iris lacked any and all PATIENCE, left with only blood red DETERMINATION. Slowly, a sheet of frost crept up her cheek. She was like a corpse, dead in the snow. Gatherer thought she looked like Death in that instant. Frozen and empty.

"Time to die."

---

Blood flew through the air and I was forced to step back, red streaming from my newly split lip. Cliff was quick to grab me by the collar though, yanking back another right hook. My disturbed eyes jumped right to him though, and I reached out, grabbing both sides of his fat head. I yanked my skull back before throwing it forward, slamming our foreheads together in a brutal crash.

"Agh!" Cliff exclaimed, dropping me and stumbling back to grab his now throbbing skull. I landed on one knee, panting lightly while I reached up, wiping crimson from my chin with the back of my fist. Cliff steadied himself, running his fingers over his forehead and bringing them down into his line of vision. When he saw the red dripping from his finger tips, he frowned, hand clenching into a tight fist.

"You... You're supposed to be The Angel, aren't you?" Cliff narrowed his eyes at me as he lowered his knuckles. He loomed over me, tall and proud.

"Somethin' like that..." I answered, grunting as I pushed myself to my feet. Once again DETERMINED mist steamed up from my lip, sealing up that crack Cliff's knuckle had put in it.

"Hmph. You don't look like much of an Angel to me. Don't fight like one, either." Orange lightning crackled over his clenched fists as he began taking bold steps towards me, and a little smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "C'mon, where's the laser light show? Complex and creative attacks, fast paced assaults! Are you even trying?"

"..." My bitter eyes squinted, my cracked lips digging deeper into their frown. I threw my arms out to the sides, and the underside of my sleeves bulged as mechanical pencils formed under my arms. Then, I pointed my arms out towards Cliff, taking aim on him with my graphite cannons. "Maybe I don't think you're worth it."

"Yeah right!" Cliff suddenly shouted, lowering his stance and darting towards me. My arms recoiled some as I began firing spikes of graphite from those mechanical pencils, but Cliff darted with ease between each of them. They either flew by him and off the building's side or stabbed into the ground or a piece of rubble. As he got in close, he threw his electric knuckles into an oncoming pin and sent it exploding into grey mist. "You're just sloppy! Unfocused!"

*He's on to you.

I barely managed to dodge out of the way of the punch that soared through the grey smoke, ducking back far enough to plant my hands on the ground behind me and flip back out of Cliff's range. When I landed back on my feet, I stomped one foot down in front of me, and pens fired up in a wave from the ground between us.

"You lack conviction!" Cliff continued to berate me as he lunged right over the pens I tried to impale him with, throwing a heavy fist at my head as he dove towards me. I ducked though, and as he landed behind me, my wings beat, launching me up into the air and out of his fist's range. The two of us spun around at the same time, glaring at one another as I looked down at him from the sky above. "You can't even bring yourself to care about this, can you?!"

"I care about this!" I shouted my lie, eye twitching some as his words shot holes in me. My hands clenched into tight, trembling fists at my sides. I was shaken, paper thin. He was unbreakable, forged from steel.

"No you don't, Angel. I care about this." Cliff stood tall, pointing one thumb back into his own chest as he narrowed his orange eyes to a brutal glare up at me. With his free hand, he gestured out to the world around us. "All of this? This is my life. The Gatherer's dream is my dream! The Gatherer's will is my will!"

"Xander doesn't give a shit about you or your dream!" I proclaimed, throwing my hands down towards Cliff. Ink fired from my sleeves in two separate spikes at him, whistling through the air to impale him. "The only thing he's ever cared about is himself and his power! You're all expendable to him!"

"The Gatherer fights for the safety and prosperity of all!" Cliff spoke with more dedication than I'd ever heard, planting his feet as my attacks barreled closer. He reached up, his aura flaring in brilliant, shimmering volts as his hands snapped shut around my ink spears, stopping them dead. "But you would never understand that!"

"Hiding away in your happy little timeline! You're a coward!" Cliff's lightning was conducted by my ink, boiling the black liquid and racing towards me at a speed I couldn't comprehend. The electricity hit me, and I roared in agony, throwing my head back as hundreds of volts ignited my flesh. The power of Cliff's BRAVERY was crushing me, searing my skin. "Loafing around, trying to hide your identity, all while The Anarchist kills in your name! You have so much power and you WASTE IT!"

"The multiverse needs you, and you spit in its face time and time again!" Cliff roared with exertion as he yanked back on my ink spikes, pulling me right down towards him at shocking speeds. He let go of the smoking sludge as momentum carried me towards him, the electricity fading from my flesh. He cocked back one fist, and when I got in range, he smashed my jaw with an earth shattering hook. "You make me SICK, Angel The Hacker!"

... He's right. I found myself thinking as blood, saliva, and teeth flew through the air. The force of Cliff's strike threw me towards the ledge, but my body was limp. Singed hair shadowed my empty eyes as I sailed right over the edge of the plateau that we battled on, wings being thrown back and forth uselessly in the winds. I'm a coward. I'm weak.

... I can't win. Footsteps thundered closer, racing towards the ledge after me. Cliff dove over the edge, loosing a primal roar as he pulled both knees to his chest, before blasting two feet into my sternum. Lifelessly my mouth opened, more scarlet colors spewing up from between my shattered jaws. I felt ribs break, stab through other important organs. Then, the force carried through, and I was sent blasting straight down from Cliff's impact. He's gonna kill me.

... But... The concrete path that lead into what was left of Xander's mansion exploded when my body hit it, and when a crater formed beneath me from my impact, I felt even more important things snap and shatter throughout my body. My wings were nothing but black paint splatters on the ground beneath me, two dimensional and disconnected from my body. My lifeless eyes never blinked, staring straight up as Clifford The BRAVE plummeted right down towards me. Slowly, my one working hand clenched into a fist.

I don't want to die.

Cliff smashed right down on top of me, each of his knees crushing each of my forearms. Relentless, he pulled another fist back after pinning my broken body there, smashing a punch into my slowly healing jaw. He continued to rant, "It is your duty as one of the strong to bring this world closer to prosperity, not hide in your room like some punk kid!"

*Rage.

"As you are, you are no Angel! You are no hero!" Cliff threw my head back and forth with punch after punch. But, somehow, despite his repeated face breaking blows, my jaw continued to reform. New teeth popped from my gums for every tooth that was clobbered out of my mouth. On the chest Cliff was sitting on, a red soul was starting to glow brighter and brighter. "Just some selfish, punkass brat!"

*Rage!

"I put everything into all that I do! I will not stop fighting, I will not give in!" Cliff told me, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt and pulling my limp head off the ground some, just to start bashing my face in with his free hand. But, every time my nose was broken, it snapped right back into place before the next punch. "I am The Gatherer's unbreakable shield! I will not lose!"

*RAGE!

"Not until I run out of blood to spill!" Snarling, Cliff pulled back one fist, clenching it so tightly it trembled. Voltage crackled and jumped between his knuckles, the orange light growing brighter and brighter. He charged every ounce of power he had into this hand, preparing to crush my very skull.
With a roar, he threw his final punch. "Not until my soul is torn from my chest! Not until it is crushed before my eyes!"

CRUNCH.

Cliff's brows furrowed some, a certain mix of disgust and surprise entering his eyes as he stared down at me. In my jaws his fist was caught, his blood slowly running down from the new holes in his glove. Scarlet streams ran along his fist, dripping down my fangs and onto my tongue. I felt like a shark when the taste of his blood hit me. A new, vicious desire arose in my heart. I writhed underneath him, snarling and frothing while my teeth sunk deeper into his fist.

Hair shadowed my right eye, but my left eye was visible. It stared wide up at him, pupil shrunken in murderous fury. But what caught Cliff's attention was that this eye was not KIND. Its green shade had disappeared into a sea of red. I could feel it, my DETERMINED soul was pulsating. Crimson power was coursing through my veins and out of each of my wounds. As my body started healing itself all over, Cliff's eyes darted to the scarlet mist that began forming a fog around the two of us.

"... There it is." Cliff's eyes narrowed with disdain, and he yanked his fist out of my jaws. He didn't seem to mind the flesh that was shredded on his hand by this sudden motion, his blood spilling out over his fingers and dripping down his nails. "That's why Anarchy wants you."

I snarled, frothed, hissed and growled. My head leaned up, jaws snapping up at him like some rabid dog trapped on a leash. Cliff didn't flinch though, instead bending his arm and cracking his elbow right down into my face. This impact made my head fling back down, where it bounced brutally off the concrete. "Your real eyes are just like his."

"That's what you're afraid of, isn't it, Hacker?" Cliff lifted his knee from my shattered arm, resting his hand on it and pushing himself up to his feet. He stared down at me with some mix of disgust and pity as I gagged, vomiting a stomach full of blood up onto my chest. "It was never the outside world that you couldn't fight. It's what's inside you."

All I could do was growl feebly as he reached down, grabbing a handful of my brown hair. He walked around me as he yanked me up to my feet, and a weak grumble shook in my throat, my eyes wincing shut as I grabbed and clawed at his hand. He dragged me to my spaghetti legs though, forcing me to turn around. My back to the unstable building behind me, I slouched, legs trembling violently. The only thing keeping me on my feet was the hand on my head.

"Maybe it's better that you kept to yourself after all." Cliff said simply, before yanking one boot up. that lightning burst to life on his leg, and then with bone breaking force he booted me square in the chest. I was sent launching back through the wall of Gatherer's mansion, flying through support beams and by leaning walls and drooping ceilings.

The building was already hardly standing after Predator's assault completely rocked it, and it seemed the force of my body being launched through it like a rocket knocked something important loose. I smashed into a staircase, my body falling limp back against it. My lifeless eyes glossed over the walls as they caved in, watched the ceiling drop down on me.

I never flinched. I didn't feel anything when rock and wood fell over me. I don't remember closing my eyes. I just remember watching more and more fall onto me, until everything was dark.

---

Slowly, my eyes opened back up. I was laying flat on my back now, staring up at wooden planks and rusted pipes. It was dark; shadows slithered and hissed just outside my line of vision. Worms giggled and gnashed their teeth, their fangs reflecting what little light the basement had every now and again.

Back again.

I turned my head to my right, spotting the broken pipe that rained water down onto the basement floor. I was out of the range of its puddle now, the hiss of its water a dull whisper across the basement. The louder noise was the vicious ripping and tearing. The gnashing of jaws, the disgusting slurping of blood and flesh.

It's here.

I turned my head to left, letting my lifeless eyes land on the back of the ivory ghoul. His vertebrae were curved on his emaciated back as he hunched over his latest kill, pencil thin arms dragging handfuls of raw meat into his voracious jaws. He was only a few feet from me now. Just two or three steps and I would reach him.

Too late.

My eyes scrolled down to the cruel metal that rested right at my finger tips, gleaming a beautiful red corruption. The crimson streams that ran over its chilled surface were already trickling down my fingers, slipping into my palm and staining my skin. So, I didn't hesitate, reaching out and closing my digits around the ivory ghoul's weapon. I felt its taint burn into my flesh, but I didn't flinch.

Brothers.

Slowly, and with deliberate quietness, I sat up. I climbed gradually to my feet, tip toeing across the cool, damp floor. I rose that weapon over my head, and felt red drip from its curve. It landed on my cheek, slowly slipping its way like a teardrop down to my chin. One step... Two... Three. I loomed behind the ivory ghoul now, its ripping and slurping the only thing I could hear.

I hesitated there, my hand clammy around his crowbar's poison. I watched him eat. Every jerking head movement, every lurch back and forth. But then, I became transfixed on something else. My eyes drifted to the body he was devouring, furrowing with some sick curiosity. It was his mother, wasn't it? He had eaten her here, mutilated her for all that she'd done.

But, the more I looked at this corpse the more my blood froze. I realized I recognized this unfortunate soul. The yellow and green striped shirt. The auburn hair that fell messily over a deathly pale, blood splattered face. Chara laid there, flat on their back, expression frozen in death. They looked horrified, jaw gaping open, dull red eyes staring wide into nothing at all. I couldn't bare to look to their abdomen, where the ghoul was hunched over, ripping mouthfuls of flesh free in his jagged fangs.

Happily ever after.

My hand trembled and my pupils shrunk. Knuckles beginning to whiten around that crowbar, my nostrils flared, lips drawing back to reveal my own fangs in a vicious snarl. My blood, momentarily frozen, now bubbled and boiled. More crimson dripped from the crowbar I held high, splattering onto my forehead. It ran down into my wide eyes, slipped into the whites. It slithered over the green in my irises, smothering my KINDNESS with a wrathful red.

My breath was rapid and furious through my grinding teeth, and I yanked that crowbar even higher above my head. All my muscles strained with hysterical strength, and I swung viciously down at the back of the ivory ghoul's skull. But, once again, his weapon slapped feebly into his palm, and the blood splattered face of The Anarchist snapped around to face me.

He opened his mouth unnaturally wide and lurched towards me, revealing row after row of teeth. All covered in Chara's blood. My hand shot up as he bit at my face, and I hooked my fingers in his bottom jaw, growling furiously as I held his head back away from my face. His maw was forced open by my hand, unable to close and trembling with exertion against my arm, which did the very same. My digits dug into his fangs, impaling themselves just so that my hand would remain planted in that mouth. I didn't feel pain. I didn't bleed.

We struggled against one another, my teeth grinding as desperate grunts escaped my throat. Then, a hellish screech blasted out from behind Anarchy's many rows of teeth, his glowing crimson eyes flaring with animalistic rage. I was not phased, however. In fact, I yanked back my head, bashing my forehead into his and staring into his DETERMINED red eyes with my own. Then, I unhinged my own jaw, and I screamed right back in his face.

It was an equally horrible sound.

Karma.

Vrrrt... Vrrrt... Vrrrt...

My eyes opened groggily as a new sound hit my ears. A dull vibration ran through my thigh from my pocket, catching my attention. Sluggishly I fumbled through what little space I had, my eyes examining my surroundings. Green light trickled in through cracks between the concrete chunks that had nearly crushed me. As it turned out, after a few stones had hit me in the head, the real big rocks hadn't been able to crush me. The rubble had all fallen in such a way that other broken chunks of stone and wood had kept a floor's worth of a concrete slab from crashing down on me, propping it up two or three feet over my head. I didn't have much space, but enough to move around in.

I pulled my vibrating phone from my pants pocket, eyes never looking to see who was calling me. Thoughtlessly I slipped my thumb over the answer button, before holding the speaker up to my ear. "... Hello?"

"Finally! Cter?!"

"... Speaking." I blinked my eyes lifelessly, watching a few pebbles skip and roll down the stone above me. I recognized the voice on the other end to be Gaster, and the pebbles dropped from above, plopping meaninglessly onto my arm before tumbling off into some dark cracks in the rubble below me.

"Good! Now where in god's name are you?!"

"... Uhh..." I furrowed my brows lightly, emerald orbs scanning the boulder that loomed over me. Gaster sounded pretty panicked, but it hardly registered, my mind encapsulated by a hundred and one other things. "... Hiding under a rock, why do you ask?"

"This is no time for jokes, Cter! Listen, this is a serious emergency!"

"Not to be confused with all those not serious emergencies." I mumbled my jaded joke, not so much as cracking a smile at it. I heard Gaster in one ear and everything Cliff had shouted at me in the other. My eyes saw not the rubble, but the gaping maw of The Anarchist. The lifeless face of Chara's corpse. The terrifying red eyes I glared into. What did it all mean? Why of all reasons would I be dreaming about-

"Oh for the love of- Cter! Anarchy! Is! Here!"

*_O_h_?

Time stopped. My lungs were filled with concrete. My arteries pumped ice water. My eyes were popping out of my head, and my pupils were pin pricks. My expression, just a moment ago dull and jaded, was now alight with terror. My mouth hung open, lips moving slowly. But no words came, not for several long moments.

"Cter? Cter?!"

"_W_h_a_t_?_" My eyes creaked over to my left, like I was trying to look at my phone. I never blinked, pupils trembling violently. Gaster stumbled and stammered, and it made that ice water in my veins start to heat rapidly, anger overtaking shock.

"I-it's, uhm- look, this white haired human just-"

"I know what he looks like!" I cut Gaster off, my voice now coming through my grinding teeth. I sat up as much as I could, my eyes darting forward again. Then, once more the image of Chara dead on the floor flashed before me. My eyes twitched, fear flooding them as my fingers trembled around my phone. My mouth felt like it was full of cotton. I could feel some hysterical energy starting to pulse through me, the crimson glow of my soul lighting the darkness around me and overtaking the dim green that outlined everything. "Where's Chara?!"

"They're fighting him on Mount. Ebott! But, I don't know how long they'll be able to-"

I tuned out of Gaster's voice. The world around me was completely silent. My chest was so tight I thought my sternum was gonna concave. Rapid fire images shot by my eyes, mismatched sentences playing over and over and over in my ears.

"You really are too KIND."

"You're a coward!"

"Sometimes you have to pull the trigger."

"You'll be just like me."

"Your greatest strength could also be your greatest weakness."

"What if another fanatic shows up?!"

"So, do you just spare everyone?"

I saw Granny's corpse. I saw Anthony's mother. I saw Anthony's smile. Chara's corpse. The Killer's piercing red eyes. Anarchy's grin. Chara's corpse. The bell my dad gave me. The Deltarune on my back. The scar on my chest. Chara's corpse. Anarchy's crowbar. The basement. Chara's corpse. Chara's corpse. Chara's corpse Chara's corpse Chara's corpse.

Cracks split the screen of my phone, my grip on it rapidly tightening. I leaned back, planted my foot on the metric fuckton of a rock that loomed over me. My teeth ground and ground against one another. My soul flared violently. My leg strained, muscles tightening as red flames flickered to life along it. And then, instantly...

Cliff snapped his head back around, looking to the rubble behind him. When the rest of the building had come down, rubble had filled the entire area between Gatherer's mansion and the courtyard. It had crushed the fence separating these two areas, spilling over into the courtyard like an overflowing garbage dump. And from the center of this garbage dump a massive slab of concrete suddenly launched into the air, flipping and spinning across the sky before crashing loudly into the stone floor.

Dies Irae Instrumental Mix by Apashe began playing.

His orange eyes spotted me there, rising from the destruction and mayhem. I stood, hunched forward and arms hanging limp at my sides. The air surrounding me began to shimmer and wave, as though it was rapidly heating. I never lifted my head, eyes covered by the shadow of my hair. More and more cracks crept over the screen of the phone in my vice grip. Then, the glass shattered completely, raining down to the ground before the rest of the phone exploded apart in my grasp. The moment it did, a gust of wind bellowed out from the ground at my feet, washing over the rubble and down to Cliff.

Furrowing his brows with growing confusion, Cliff threw his arms up to guard against the searing winds that washed over him. They burned his skin, made him wince. But regardless he remained still, watching as my fists clenched tighter, as my body trembled. My nails ripped open my palms, but no blood came. Only the healing flames of my DETERMINATION spilled out from between my fingers.

The air around me crackled and burned. Crimson embers began igniting on the shards of wood that surrounded me. Steam rose from the concrete under my feet, as though it was beginning to melt. Several rebar spikes protruded from random blocks of rubble around me, and they began to droop and bend down, their color slowly changing from a cool grey to a bright, bubbling orange. I opened my mouth and exhaled slowly. When I did, scarlet mist seeped out from my jaws, slowly rising over my face.

Over my chest, my red soul burned violently. Flames burst to life on the chest of my shirt, their heat eating through the fabric. Soon, more fires were breaking out over my skin. The voracious embers of my DETERMINATION bore holes in my shirt and sweatshirt. Slowly, I unclenched my fists. I lifted my arms, straightening my back but never lifting my head.

And as I held my arms out straight to my sides, the moment I opened my palms wide, crimson light blasted up around me. A pillar of fiery DETERMINATION blasted up high into the sky, its light illuminating the entire compound in a terrifying red. Being surrounded by its heat, my shirt and sweatshirt were fully scorched from my body, leaving my scarred chest and branded back bare.

The beam of power exploded against the KIND green dome overhead, and then it shattered right through, sending shards of energy shields raining down from above and other cracks spreading rapidly through the barrier. The green light that had been illuminating the compound dimmed, and was overtaken by my devastating crimson.

---

"You know, I really think we're just a bad match up for these guys." Muffet said, putting her lowermost hands on her hips. Her and Grillby looked down at Swap!Alphys and Fell!Undyne, who were both unconscious and restrained by spider webs at their feet.

"Yeah, they definitely should have sent someone else our way." Grillby agreed, pushing up his glasses. "I mean, I'm certainly not complaining about this being easy, but-"

Suddenly, a wave of heat exploded into them, and they turned their heads quickly as red light washed over them. Eyes wide in shock, the two of them were suddenly paralyzed by the sight before them. A massive pillar of DETERMINATION reached high into the sky from across the courtyard, swirling violently.

"The hell-?!" Grillby recoiled, hands remaining in his pockets. While the heat didn't phase him much for obvious reasons, Muffet had to lift two of her right arms, holding them up in front of her face and wincing into the bright light. But then, her eyes caught the green shards raining down from above, and they widened in horror.

"AUGH!" Melanie's voice rang from behind the two, and they spun around to see that her own barrier that she'd built around herself had shattered, and she fell flat on her back, grabbing the pulsing green soul on her chest. She clenched her jaw tight, and her eyes were shut in the same manner.

"Melanie!" Muffet spun around, racing to the girl's side. She knelt quickly beside Melanie, propping her head up in two of her arms. She looked briefly over the poor girl's pained expression, and then lifted her eyes to the barrier above. Her hands clenched into fists, anxiety sparking in her as she watched more and more cracks start to spiderweb throughout the barrier that kept Gatherer's armies outside.

"The barrier's coming down." Grillby stated with urgency, stepping up to Muffet's side and glancing down to her. "We need to get out of here."

"A-agh... A-Angel..." Melanie spoke slowly, and both Muffet and Grillby looked down to her. Muffet furrowed her brows, and Grillby remained silent, worry crackling in his fiery eyes.

"Just rest, dearie." Muffet advised, placing the back of one of her six hands on Melanie's forehead like she was checking for a fever.

"Angel... You've gotta, take me to Angel..." Slowly, she managed to open her green eyes, mouth hanging open in weak panting.

"Dearie, no, we need to get you to the-" Muffet began, but Melanie was quick to interject.

"Please, Muffet! He needs me..!" Melanie begged, grabbing a fistful of Muffet's shirt. Her emerald eyes were desperate, pleading right with her. "His soul, I-I felt it... H-he..."

Sadness was clear in Muffet's five eyes as she watched Melanie's expression relax. Her eyes grew distant, and slowly closed. Her hand relaxed, slipping off of Muffet's chest and falling limply into her lap. Melanie's head turned to the side as she passed out in Muffet's arms, and Muffet turned her head, looking up to Grillby.

Neither of them said a word. They just stared at each other for a few seconds, before turning their eyes to the twisting tower of DETERMINATION in the distance.

---

"N-... Nyeh..?" Papyrus's distant eyes struggled over to spot the looming tower of power, squinting with confusion. It took several long seconds for his tired eyes to focus in on the flashing lights in the distance, but when he finally made it out, he was left with more questions than answers.

"H-heh... I really... Must be dyin'..." Dust!Sans grinned his crooked smile, blood overflowing past his teeth. He laid on his side, flickering eye resting on the torrent of fire in the distance. His body was getting colder, so those boiling hot winds felt undeniably pleasant.

---

"What in tarnation?!" Clover leaned his back against a slab of broken wall, staring with one stunned eye over his shoulder at the scorching red tornado. It had just suddenly blasted to life, unnatural and unwanted and admittedly terrifying. It was all the cowboy could do to hide behind something sturdy, the rising heat making sweat break out on his tanned forehead. "What kinna twister is that?!"

"... That's no twister, Roadhouse." From across a brief opening Hacker spoke, huddled with Demon behind a different shattered wall. He poked his head out some into the open, green eyes staring bitterly up at the object of everyone's terror.

By his side, Demon pressed their back tight to the wall, wide eyes staring straight ahead. It was like they were trying to hide, as though they were afraid this disaster would see them. They lifted their clammy hands, slowly placing them over their chest. They spoke quietly, but every word hit Clover's ears painfully loud.

"... That's The Angel."

---

"Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!" Mad Mew Mew spoke with growing panic, stumbling backwards and away from the flashing scarlet. So focused and terrified was she that she tripped right back over the fountain, letting out an 'Eep!' before dropping back into the water.

Silently, Kris stared up into the torrent of flames. They were paralyzed, both their shield and their sword dropping from their grip. As their weapons hit the ground, they watched a pure white light flicker in front of this unholy hurricane, swirling and taking form. As this ivory energy took shape, the scorching winds shifted Kris's hair, revealing their wide, unblinking eyes.

And when that white plasma took the form of the Deltarune, flaring its power in another, harsher gust of wind, Kris felt their legs buckle. They dropped down to weak knees, feeling the world pressurize. They were stuck, entranced, both in awe at this holy vision and terrified by this devastating power. The earth was quaking. The air was vibrating. And as broken KINDNESS rained from above, it seemed even the sky was falling.

"Kris-?!" Susie leaned down to grab Kris's arm, when suddenly her own eyes went wide. With another pulse of power from the raging soul ahead of them, it seemed gravity had doubled. Her Monster soul was disgusted, threatened by the overpowering humanity that flared ahead. She grunted, being forced to drop to one knee.

Her eyes glossed over to Kris's face, which had not yet changed. Still they stared skyward, haunted by beauty and fear alike. Susie thought about speaking, but what words could possibly be louder than these winds? So, instead, she just turned her head, facing the whipping gusts. Pensive was she, holding her breath along with the rest of the world.

---

Horror!Flowey shut its jaws to reform its semi-damaged eye, which stared right up into the sky, red light reflecting in its pale yellow shade. Even the two beasts had stopped their battle, shuttering under the unfathomable power on display. Flowey, ever cowardly at heart, began to shrink. Its roots returned their strength to the tremors of the earth, and its body began to shrivel from that of a grand and horrifying creature to a tiny flower.

GB!Sans turned his head towards Flowey just in time to watch it pop back into the ground, fleeing the scene with its tail tucked between its roots. Sans huffed blue flames from his nostrils at this, before turning his slit pupils back into the burning winds.

He lowered onto four legs, as though he was trying to appear smaller. His eyes never left the devastation, watching for any movement, any change. He felt as though at any moment, something beyond his comprehension could turn and begin to hunt him.

---

No words were spoken between The Gatherer and The Predator. Xander had turned his head, cold sweat boiling on his forehead as his shrunken pupils focused on the scarlet tower that had risen right beside the ship. The torrential winds threatened to shove him and Predator right off their platform, but they used all their might to keep steady.

Rapidly Xander raced through his thoughts, trying to find an answer. A reason, a cause for this horrifying display. And after several seconds that felt like several hours, he remembered words he had heard just earlier today. A warning that, while he hadn't much considered at the time, now stabbed fear like a javelin right through his chest.

"He got stronger. Stronger than us. Stronger than anything we've ever seen."

Clifford! Xander thought immediately, fear burning in his violet eyes. He took a step forward, like his body was preparing to break off in a sprint towards that ledge and jump down. But, before he could, he heard Lexi's voice.

"... Yeah, I see that the barrier broke." She had two fingers in her ear, presumably speaking through some communicator. Despite the crumbling of the world around her, she remained hauntingly stoic. Illuminated in red, the crimson even reflected in her PATIENT eyes, which never turned away from the DETERMINATION spire. "We can't afford to bring the ship any lower. You have to get everyone up to the hanger."

"... Angel?" She repeated back to her communicator, eyes narrowing with an emotion that Xander couldn't place. Her lips slowly descended down her face, forming a deep frown. "Leave him. He can handle himself."

She's going to escape... Gatherer thought, uncertain purple orbs darting between The Predator and The Angel's light. Slowly, his jaw tightened, and rage overtook his concern. She destroyed my compound, set me back thousands of hours... And she thinks she's allowed to leave?!

Lexi made her way through the searing gusts, hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. She was walking towards the ledge just over the hanger, which lead back into her ship. But, before she neared the edge, a wave of fire blasted out past her, forcing her to stop dead. Her head snapped over to look at The Gatherer, hatred colder than any ice she could form apparent in her eyes.

"I'm not letting you or your thugs escape, Predator." The Gatherer growled, flames trickling up from the corners of of his snarl. Predator didn't have any words for that. Instead, she turned her body to face Xander, wrapping both hands around her scythe. In her eyes he saw it. 'Fine' she must have been thinking. 'I'll just go through you.'

... Clifford will be fine. Xander gulped, steeling his nerve and focusing his mind. He pointed his flaming blade out towards The Predator, and his left eye ignited in red flames. I can't let her escape.

Clifford will be fine.

---

"What in god's name is that?!" Eden demanded to know, holding up both hands in front of her face. The winds in her ears were deafening, and she was by far one of the closest to the hellfire. The only thing that stood between her and what she could only think to call 'impending doom' was Clifford the BRAVE.

Briefly Eden glanced over her shoulder to try to find the fluffy wizard she had been facing, and she spotted him stumbling towards his other two friends. It shocked her that he could even walk under the incredible weight of this atomic disaster raining down on them. The weight had shoved her down to her knees, left her defenseless. She had put her notebook away in her inventory, for she feared these extreme heats would ignite it in her very hand.

It was all she could do to lift her head and peak between her fingers, wincing her purple eyes to see. All was red before her, apart from one shadowed figure maybe fifteen feet ahead of her. Her elder brother Cliff stood unphased, fearless. His back was to Eden, his fists raised and his feet planted.

He was The Gatherer's Unbreakable Shield. He would not yield, not under any circumstances.

---

There I stood, in the epicenter of my soul's destructive power. But I did not roar as this power flooded through me, not even as it overflowed into this cyclone of devastation. My expression never strained, my muscles never spasmed. And calmly, elegantly, my wings spread from my back. They rose, straightening and forming a wide V from my shoulder blades.

Cherub
cher·ub
/ˈCHerəb/

In the Book of Ezekiel, the cherub is depicted as having two pairs of wings, and four faces.

Another wave of heat exploded from me, racing over the courtyard. Windows shattered when it struck them. Flower beds wilted, dried, and began to ignite. From my mid-back, on either side of the Deltarune that was engraved in my flesh, skin began to part. From inside beautiful onyx feathers sprouted, spreading and growing quickly. With chilling grace two more wings of ink spread from my back, straightening and flexing their entire wingspan. While my first and uppermost pair of wings pointed up in a V, my new lowermost pair pointed downward in an upside down V. This made all four wings loom behind me in a perfectly symmetrical X.

On the back of the head, an Eagle.

Behind me my crimson power swirled and shaped. It formed a feathered pattern. Then, a curved, sharp ethereal beak formed on these feathers, giving them depth and detail. Finally, two piercing eyes opened wide, looking out to the world around me for the very first time. Those eyes saw all. Guilty, innocent, everything in between.

On the left side, an Ox.

To the left of my scarlet tower, more energy began to take shape. Two long, curved horns jutted into the air, reaching hellacious points. From below those horns, a sturdy face took shape. It had deep features, as though it was carved from stone. Its nostrils flared threateningly, and burning eyes snapped open wide, staring straight and seeing nothing but red.

On the right, a Lion.

To the right of my soul's cyclone, a proud mane was carved from ruby. A short snout jutted out from within this mane, lined with razor sharp fangs. Cold, wise eyes opened on the face of this beast. They stared ahead without rage but with judgement, and not once did those gemstone eyes blink. It was the face of a king, all knowing.

And on the front, a Man.

Directly ahead of me, one last face was taking its form. Strands of thick hair fell over a forehead that had one nasty, spherical scar at its center. It was like a divot, filled in with uneven, overlapping flesh. A sharp jawline was shaped in DETERMINATION, before being detailed with burning red facial hair. A goatee grew in around cracked lips, just under a sharp nose. Finally, crimson eyes snapped open wide, and in them a thousand emotions swirled violently. Joy and sorrow and love and hate and forgiveness and rage and envy and pride. These emotions formed a Killer cocktail, and coupled with the wicked grin those lips were curling up into, made this look to be the face of a madman.

The Cherubim are described in biblical tradition as attendants to God, and regarded in traditional Christian angelology as an angel of the second highest order in the Ninefold Celestial Hierarchy.

And then, these four faces opened their maws, and intensity flared in their differing eyes. From the Eagle's beak, a horrifying screech pierced through every heart in earshot. From the Ox's nostrils a loud, threatening huff was followed by a deep, rumbling groan that quaked in the body of all who heard it. From the Lion's maw a thundering roar resounded, crashing through the minds of any who perceived it.

Some have regarded the Cherubim as symbols of the chief ruling power by which God carries out his operations in providence (Psalm 18:10).

The face of Man let his jaws snap apart, and from within, hysterical laughter rained. Cruel cackling blasted across the courtyard, staining the soul of every poor fool who was forced to listen. The DETERMINED red eyes of Man darted to and fro as it laughed, but none returned its gaze. None but Clifford The BRAVE, who kept his fists up, unblinking orange eyes committing blasphemy in the name of his own ruler.

Others interpret them as having reference to the redemption of men, symbolizing the great rulers or ministers of the church.

And then, things grew quieter and quieter. The ocean of red that was blasting like a geyser around my body began to recede, power being sucked back into my burning soul. The scarlet hue that had engulfed the entire world began to dim as the Four Faces shifted and swirled, losing their shape and draining back into the geyser of my power. Soon after they disappeared, the towering light of my soul was absorbed back into my chest, leaving nothing but devastation in its wake.

Lucifer, who through his sin turned himself into the devil...

Gradually, I lowered my arms from their positions raised at my sides. Around me, twinkling shards of green fell like snow from the KIND dome my DETERMINATION had shattered. Red lightning crackled occasionally across my skin, and as I rose my head once more, a gust of wind pulled gently at my bangs, moving them out of the way and revealing my eyes. The emerald hue of my irises had been washed away, leaving nothing but two sharp, ice cold rubies.

Was a Cherub.

The music faded out. The world held its breath. Earth's heart skipped a beat. Everything was completely silent. My blood red eyes were locked on Cliff; the only one BRAVE enough to stay on his feet under the pressure my soul was exerting. I drew in a deep breath through my nose, and when I exhaled in the same manner, scarlet mist trickled up from my nostrils. Then, I lifted one foot, and calmly began to take steps towards Cliff.

"... So this is what you were hiding." Cliff finally spoke into the noiseless void, lowering his stance slightly. His BRAVE aura crackled to life over his body, and his sharp eyes narrowed. "Bring it on then! I will never lose!"

I blinked calmly, continuing to put one foot in front of the other. Without haste and without hesitation I was closing the distance between him and I. My lips never parted to speak, my fists never clenched. Behind me my wings remained spread and displayed, veins of scarlet light glimmering through their dark feathers.

"Weren't you listening before?! I am The Gatherer's Unbreakable Shield!" Cliff smashed his foot down onto the stone beneath him, sending cracks spiderwebbing through it as his aura flared brightly. He beat his chest twice with one fist to prove his point, baring his fangs and lamenting his beliefs. "I will never lose! Not until I run out of blood to spill! Not until-!"

I lifted my left hand as he spoke, pointing my index finger at him. I marked him, acknowledged him as my target, as my foe. And the moment my sights laid upon him, my upper left wing bent, stretching as breakneck speeds and coiling into a drill shape. Instantly the distance between myself and Clifford the BRAVE was closed, and my wing shredded through his sternum. It blasted out through the back of his chest, ink now the only thing filling the gaping hole in his body.

Cliff's orange eyes snapped open wide, and his aura disappeared from his body. His expression contorted with agony just before his jaws snapped open, a pint of blood blasting up past his lips and spewing out over his shirt. I flipped my hand so that my palm was facing upwards, and I curled that extended index finger back towards myself. With that order, my wing tore back out through the hole it had made in Cliff's sternum. This sudden yank made scarlet rivers snort out from Cliff's nose, and his arms fell limp at his sides. The force of my coiled wing removing itself from his flesh tugged him, making him stumble forward a few steps on spaghetti legs.

"... Not until your soul is torn from your chest." I finally spoke, my voice calm. My tone was without rage and without remorse. The wing I had hole punched him with returned to its feathery state, bending down over my shoulder and revealing to me the BRAVE soul it had torn from his chest. I held out my left hand, letting Cliff's soul float just above my palm. It's bright orange light reflected in my unfeeling red eyes, which still never left the bewildered warrior before me. "Not until it is crushed before your eyes."

"I was listening." I assured him, and my expression never changed in the slightest. My hand snapped into a closed fist around his soul, a burst of red power cracking the ground beneath me as I crushed his soul before his eyes.

SHATTER.

Cliff's wide eyes relaxed. The orange in them dulled. His knees buckled and his legs gave out, sending his heavy body racing down to the ground. He hit the floor face first, so hard that he bounced once. Then he never moved again. His body laid there, cheek split against the stone. His dull orange eyes stared at nothing and perceived nothing. Beneath him, blood flowed like water, growing into a large puddle and staining his colorless flesh.

And then, for just a second, everything was quiet again. Until somebody screamed.

"CLIFFORD!" Eden shouted at the top of her lungs, tears overflowing down her cheeks and fogging her glasses. In her anguish she found the strength to push herself to her feet, and as fast as she could she sprinted to his side. She dropped right to her knees when she reached Clifford's corpse, shaking her head rapidly. Her trembling hands paused over his body, tear filled eyes staring into the ink stained, gaping hole in his back.

I didn't say anything. I just started walking forward. She screamed and cried, pleaded with him to get up. Hysterically she shook his heavy body as I got closer and closer, before inevitably she folded over him, wrapping her frail arms around his massive frame and clinging to him desperately. All the while my footsteps got louder and louder, drawing near.

"Bastard. Bastard! BASTARD!" Mad Mew Mew exploded from the fountain, lunging high into the air. She dropped quickly down towards me, roaring furiously and pointing her scepter down at me. My uppermost right wing curled over my face as she blasted white orbs of plasma down towards me, and her attacks shattered feebly on my holy wing.

"I'm gonna ki- AGH!" Mad Mew Mew swung her scepter at me as she fell into range, but my wing easily brushed it aside. With her weapon out of the way, my left hand darted up, fingers wrapping tight around her face and muffling her furious shouts. Those shouts changed tune in the next second though, my fingers tightening and beginning to steam.

My palm glowed with heat, and Mew Mew wrapped her hands around my wrist, desperately trying to break free of my iron grip. I just stared up at her, unblinking as she began to scream with agony, smoke rising from her plastic and fabric head. The fire of my DETERMINATION burned her, maimed her and scorched her face.

Once I was satisfied with my divine punishment, I whipped my arm to the side, and in the blink of an eye Mew Mew's body shattered through the wall of the Strategy Hall across the courtyard. Her now disfigured face disappeared into the smoke, and so did her pathetic cries.

"You! You're a monster!" Eden screamed up at me, catching my attention. I lowered my scarlet eyes to look through her. She had tears and some snot dripping down her face, her arms holding Cliff's body in her lap. Still she bit up at me, anguish and indignation fueling her barbed words. "You're not an Angel! You're a freak! An abomination!"

"I don't care what everyone says about you! I don't care how strong you are!" Eden shouted and shouted, lifting one hand from Cliff's body. She opened her palm, and her notebook appeared from her inventory. Rapidly it flipped through pages, her eyes glowing bright violet under the threat of my red. Her voice cracked and broke, but still she yelled through the lump in her throat. "You're just the bastard who hurt my brother!"

My lower right wing moved quickly, snapping out and wrapping itself around Eden's throat. This choked out whatever magic words she had planned on saying, and terror entered her indignant eyes as I yanked her up into the air. Choking and sputtering, she clawed desperately at the airtight ink around her neck, throwing her head back and forth. Her hair flung around and stuck to the tear stains on her face, and her glasses fell off of her nose, landing on the notebook that she'd dropped onto Cliff's back.

Her wide, bloodshot eyes stared down at me, vibrating with horror. Her face was starting to match her eyes, and feebly she kicked her legs. Calmly I lifted my right fist, never breaking eye contact with her, even as I blasted a lightning quick jab into her abdomen. Cracks and snaps echoed out of her small frame, and her pupils shrunk with agony. Her entire body stiffened, and then went limp. Her head fell forward, eyes closing.

After knocking her out, I tossed Eden aside like worthless garbage. She flung back through the air, before hitting the ground and rolling for another dozen yards. Finally, she slammed back first into the wall of the Science and Research Center, coming to an immediate stop. Dark brown strands fell limp over her unconscious expression, and crimson streams trickled from the corner of her mouth and the both of her nostrils.

"..." I turned my head, slowly scanning the surrounding area with my ruby orbs. Nearby, The Fun Gang huddled together. Susie held her ax out in front of the other two, glaring up at me like she was afraid I was going to rip Ralsei and Kris away from her. Further away to my right, GB!Sans froze in my gaze. He crouched low to the ground, never blinking as he made eye contact with me. It seemed he thought I would strike if he did. I looked away from him, turned my eyes directly ahead. At the other end of the courtyard, Fell!Grillby stood protectively in front of Swap!Muffet, who held an unconscious Melanie close to her chest, mustering her own protective glare. "... Anybody else?"

Nobody responded. Nobody moved. So, I opened my mouth to speak again. But, before any words came, the clacking of a slow, skeletal clap came from behind me.

Instantly my upper set of wings shot back, straightening like scissors and and stopping right around the neck of one tall doctor with a crescent smile.

"Whoa!" The Gaster threw his hand into the air, and behind him several more hands appeared in the same defensive position. My wing scissors paused, poised to decapitate him at any given moment.

I turned slightly, one piercing red eye staring through him from over my shoulder. With the weight of my gaze sure to keep him in place, I spoke. "... Who are you?"

"I am The Anarchist's personal assistant, affectionately nicknamed by my adversaries as 'Badster'." Madness flickered in those cracked eyes, like this skeleton was excited to be centimeters from a beheading. His floating hands used air quotes when he gave his nickname. "I've come to offer you my services, my dear boy!"

"... You're Anarchy's assistant, huh?" My eyes narrowed incredulously, a thin stream of red smoke trickling up from the corner of my mouth. I was skeptical; Anarchy wasn't the type to keep goons. That was Gatherer's bit. Then again, I guessed somebody had to be his guide to each of the timelines he devastated.

"Yes indeed! I would bow to be polite, but uhm..." Those hands that had been raised around his head defensively and/or making air quotes pointed their digits down at the wings parted around his head.

"..." Slowly, my wings retracted from around his neck, returning to their normal length and placement. I turned around to face Badster as he folded one hand over his chest, bowing to me. I didn't have time for pleasantries though, and got right to the point. "What do you want?"

"It is not what I want but what Anarchy wants." Badster straightened his back, those hands disappearing from around his head while he folded his arms behind his back. His smile never wavered, in fact it grew. "I'm sure you've heard; he's very eager to reunite with you."

"... Yeah. Feeling's mutual." My hands clenched into tight fists at my sides, my eyes narrowing with reserved wrath. DETERMINATION crackled lightly over me for a moment, generating from the burning red heart on my chest. "You got a way to get me to him?"

"Just take my hand, Angel." Shadows slipping over his face, Badster's grin curled deeper into his skull. He reached out towards me with one long arm, his phalanges waving excitedly. "I can lead you right to your Reunion in no time at all."

"..." I stared at that hand for a few long seconds, before stepping forward. I walked the few feet that were between us, before lifting my hand to his. My eyes darted back into his sockets however, and they narrowed threateningly. "If you try to screw me, I'll obliterate you."

Badster howled with laughter at that, holding his free hand over his stomach as I took his other hand. I didn't care for being laughed at though, so I gave his phalanges a gentle squeeze, and the snap and pop of several bones got his attention.

"E-erg-!" One of Badster's knees buckled, but he managed to shift his weight onto his other leg to stay on his feet. Nervously he smiled, cold sweat emerging on his skull. "S-sorry, my boy, I wasn't laughing at your threat, that was very intimidating- agh!"

"Then what's the joke?" My grip tightened further on Badster's hand, more cracks resounding. This made him cry out once or twice more, hunching so that I was looking down at him. I leaned in, getting right in his face. I could see the light of my crimson eyes reflecting on his porcelain bones.

"H-haha... I-it's nothing, really!" He managed to laugh, jaw clenching with pain and eye wincing as he looked up at me. The sweat on his brow bubbled and steamed from the heat that radiated from my body. But, even as I loomed over him, even as I crushed his hand and my very presence threatened to scorch him, his skull was being shaped by a grin. His brow bones rose, and I wondered if Anarchy had taught him that winning smile.

"... You two are just so much alike."

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