Thanks go to Spencer the Gamer, Wingah, Guest, 10burgers, Zack Frost, Acoolnamme, cassianaswindell123, elicas, Chara Moonstone, and NBoss01!
As always, I appreciate the support, and I hope you guys like this chapter! Also, Zack Frost made a neat DoubleTale one shot called Of Demons and Angels! You guys should totally go check it out some time. :)
Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and have a great day! Next chapter should be up in two weeks!
Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.
I am a lot smarter than everyone gives me credit for.
Boots thudded harshly across the wood floor, leaving a frosty sheen in the wake of her every step. Freezing winds gusted all throughout the devastated dive bar, swirling in a chilling tornado around the Queen of Ice.
Smart enough to use the fact that everyone thinks I'm just some dumb adrenaline junky to my advantage, anyway.
Rapidly the windows she passed by were clouded with frost, before shattering in a cold snap. Spilled drinks froze to the overturned chairs and tables, all of which pilled along the walls of the room, leaving a straight path to the counter.
I bet everyone's thought that I was just sporadically looking every which way for Anthony these past few years. But that's because I wanted it to look that way.
"H-hey, c'mon Preds!" A bear monster smiled nervously through his chattering teeth, holding up his paws defensively. He huddled his back against the counter at the far end of the bar, the furious young woman across from him blocking any and all escape routes. Ice was forming on the fur surrounding his snout, his every breath freezing the moment it left his mouth. "I-it's me, Politics Bear! You n' me a-are friends!"
"You been holdin' out on me, PB." The frigid cyan of Predator's eyes squinted down at the panicked monster, and her hands balled into fists. Her long black hair waved in the winds with an ethereal sheen, glimmering like the dead limbs of a frozen tree. Every strand seemed to be covered in a thin layer of ice, giving her hair an almost otherworldly shine. This hair folded to the right side of her head, the left side shaved down to a black buzz cut. Under each of her eyes ice spread in a crack like pattern across her cheeks, glimmering with a strange beauty. But the oddest part of her head was what she appeared to be wearing upon it. Around her forehead a shimmering blue crown rested, formed from the very ice that she was the queen of. "You know I don't tolerate that shit."
Nobody gets it, it always catches 'em off guard when they see that my eyes are PATIENT. Some people even think its funny, because it seems so out of character.
"C-c'mon, Preds, go e-easy..." Politics Bear whimpered, huddling close to himself in attempts to keep from freezing over within the icy hell that followed The Predator's ascended state wherever she went. His teeth wouldn't stop chattering, his body wouldn't stop trembling. It felt like the cold hands of Death were tightening their grip at his every side, and that was a terrifying feeling. "I-is the crown really n-necessary? Y-y-you've got things pretty well h-handled here..!"
"Yeah, but the cold makes ya feel a little more urgent, doesn't it?" The corner of Lexi's mouth curled cruelly as she came to a stop before the freezing bear. She rested her hands casually in her jean pockets, a short black shawl wrapped around her shoulders. It only reached down to her biceps and shoulder blades, and it was kept clipped together just under her neck by a dark blue gem of some kind. Her chest was covered by a crop top shirt, and her midriff was only half covered by a fishnet shirt, but this seemed to be plenty to keep her warm in these sub zero temperatures.
What they don't get is that I'm a master of playing the long game. In fact, I've been playin' the long game my entire life.
"Like death is setting in painfully slow..." Predator's volume lowered to a whisper as she knelt down, her unforgiving smirk creeping further up her face. Slowly she lifted her hand, reaching out towards Politics Bear, who flinched, scooting as far away from her reach as he could. "Creeping around the corner, reaching out for ya..."
See, if all the little moves you make are dumb and reckless, no one realizes that the connected dots of those little moves makes one big, well thought out plan.
"O-okay! Okay! Just tell me what you wanna know and I'll spill it!" PB shut his eyes tight, curling up feebly as far away from her hand as he could get. He was still well within her reach. "C-c'mon Preds, I've been your code supplier for years! You can't just ice me, that ain't politics!"
"Then you better open that big fat mouth, you stupid bear!" Lexi snarled suddenly, wrapping the deathly chill of her fingers around PB's collar and yanking him towards her. She stood suddenly, hoisting the grizzly up by the neck like he was half helium. "Who's your supplier? Where do you get those codes from?!"
"I-I already told you that!" Politics Bear waved his hands desperately, shaking his head. "Its them Mobtale boys!"
"I already went to them, dumbass!" Predator shook PB briefly, before slamming his back against the wall. "And they said you were their supplier!"
"O-Okay, okay! You got me!" PB's voice cracked with fear, the terrified tears freezing the moment he blinked them out of his eyes. "But I can't tell you who my supplier is! You don't know what they'll do to me, Predator!"
Nobody works as hard as me.
"No but I know what I'M gonna do to you if you don't start talkin'!" Lexi lifted her free hand, clenching it into a fist and holding her knuckles inches from PB's face. The skin of her fist smoked white like dry ice, threatening his face with frostbite.
"Okay! Okay okay okay!" The bear wailed like he was a teddy instead of a grizzly, shaking his head back and forth and kicking his feet in the air. "I'll tell you everything! Just turn off the cold, please!"
In an instant, The Predator released her grip, and Politics Bear dropped flat on his ass. He let out a surprised "Oof!" and clenched his eyes shut for a moment. But then, fearfully, he peaked one eye open. And, to his relief, he watched steam rise from Lexi's chilled skin. The icy glimmer of her hair dissipated, and the frost pattern detailing her face melted away. Her crown followed suit, fading into the white fog that steamed off of her rapidly reheating body. Some color returned to her pale features, but the chill remained in her eyes, which glared down at the monster she was interrogating.
"O-oh..." PB breathed a shaky sigh of relief his body still trembling even as heat crept back into the frozen dive bar. Through chattering teeth he stammered, "T-thank The Angel..."
In an instant, Predator's boot swung up, planting itself in the chest of the brown bear and slamming his back into the ground. Fear immediately exploded to life in his eyes as he stared up at her less than sympathetic expression, and he gulped as he watched the corner of her mouth begin curling up into a snarl. In a low growl she spoke, "I think you should thank me, PB. I'm the one who's gonna decide whether you live or die today, not him."
Nobody.
Chapter 51: Labor's Fruit
Or: Three Years As The Predator
You're probably wondering how I got my super cool ascension, right? Well, like everything else in my life, I worked for it. So, before we go any further, lets just get this flashback outta the way.
The ground rumbled, the air was thin with heat. The ground scorched all that touched it. The orange flames of Hotland burned out of control, bright and hot. Magma rumbled and rose, flowing onto the stone plateaus that the monsters here lived upon.
I knew I had to get stronger. And I thought that if Angel could grow wings, and Anthony could grow scorpion limbs, there had to be something for me, too.
At the center of this hellish landscape stood Lexi The Predator. Gasping for air, dripping with sweat. At some point she had thrown her cloak aside, and the rising tides of lava had consumed it. That was the least of her worries, however.
I really beat my head against a wall for a long time. I worked out, I fought tough opponents, I picked fights whenever and wherever I could. But nothing worked.
"Hah!" Lexi shouted as she threw one hand forward, sending a deathly chill blasting out across the creeping waves of thick magma edging closer to her. The cold she manipulated temporarily dried the molten rock, which hissed and smoked as it lost its vibrant orange shade, being reduced to a deep black.
Eventually, I got so frustrated that I split from my Pirates. I told 'em I'd be back of course, and they understood. Whatever power I was looking for, they weren't gonna be able to help me find it.
Lexi jumped forward, yanking both fists over her head. As she landed on the plateau of obsidian she had just created, she threw her fists down, sending ice exploding down around her. A tidal wave of chilled glass launched out all around her, and the hiss of the wave's instant melting was deafening.
I wandered around for something like three months, doing whatever nutcase shit I could think of. That's what lead me to a timeline where Mount Ebbot was erupting and got me in a fight with a volcano.
Surrounded now by boiling steam, Lexi's half lidded eyes glossed from side to side. She was hunched forward, arms hanging limp. Her chest burned, her head ached. No breath of air was anywhere near enough. And she watched searing oranges and reds shine through the fog of her futile attacks, once more creeping closer. Lava washed slowly over the smoldering stone platform she had created for herself, prowling a burning death ever closer.
And I was losing. I could have turned tail, I could have just opened a portal and ran. But... Something wouldn't let me.
Predator sucked in one more deep breath, before swiftly straightening her back. She pulled her arms up to her sides, and all the fog and mist surrounding her rapidly drew into the air overhead. The endless steam swirled together, rapidly recooling and forming massive blocks of ice. The moment she had created a ring of ice blocks, Lexi threw her hands back down, and those slabs rained from above.
I had to get stronger. Something had to give. There had to be something more.
With a resounding crash and an immediate scream those ice blocks slammed down, walling off the endless, burning sludge. Lexi collapsed to her hands and knees, gasping for dear life. The knees of her jeans smoldered and burned, and her palms singed against the steaming rock.
If there wasn't, then... It was all pointless. I'd never be able to keep up unless I found something. Unless I reached higher. But I was at a wall, and I couldn't get past it. Angel, Xander, Anthony... I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up.
It hurt, but she was too weak to stand. She couldn't breath, she could barely move. Her vision faded in and out, she could hardly hear the melting of her last line of defense. She knew she could escape, but she didn't want to. Not another failure. She was so tired of this. Feeling like she was trapped, never getting anywhere.
... And I started thinking, if I wasn't able to keep up, then I was letting everyone down. Anthony's sacrifice was pointless if I couldn't help him. Disbelief Papyrus's death was in vain if I couldn't stop Gatherer. My promise to Angel was a lie if I couldn't find strength on my own.
Her long black hair fell around her face. Shadows covered her eyes. The flickering, uneven lights of the shining magma swirled all around her as the boiling stone crept closer, singeing through her ice wall. Her mouth was dry, her lips cracking. The sweat that poured out of her took all of her hydration with it, making her stiff and tired.
... I remember thinking...
The heat rose and rose, and her body felt weaker and weaker. The only sensation left was the pain. The ache of her dehydrated and overheating organs, the sting of the heat on her flesh. This was it. She was going to die. She wasn't good enough, so she was going to die. Everything she'd worked for, everything that had ever been given to her or sacrificed for her was for nothing. Her whole life, PATIENTLY waiting. All for it to end like this.
"If I'm gonna die, right here and right now, alone and a failure... Then what the FUCK did She even raise me for?!"
And just like that, she was cold. She felt the grip of death, the brutal chill of complacency. PATIENCE unrewarded and abused. The icy trapping within her own failure, encased entirely in the freezing waters of frustration and indignation. Anxiety and fear and sorrow washed over her, threatening to drown her before the lava ever got a chance.
And when I realized just how much I was wasting by dying, when I understood just how much was riding on me... Something snapped. Something gave. A wall came crashing down. All my fears disappeared, all but one thought drained out of my head.
Slowly, her dirty, burnt fingers curled into fists against the cracking stone she knelt upon. Lexi lifted her head gradually, and the hair falling around her face parted. The orange light washed over her eyes, revealing the furious red that lurked within them. PATIENCE was washed over with DETERMINATION, and her cracked lips curled carelessly back into a snarl. Her pupils shrunk with all of the intense emotions within her, her entire expression twisted with intensity.
"I don't want to die."
An in the next instant, power flared within her. She felt her soul burn even as the world around her began to freeze, a vicious tornado of subzero winds exploding out around her. Cold pulsed over the ground beneath her, sucking all warmth from the burning rock on which she stood and sending steam rising up all around her.
Lexi The Predator then found the strength to rise. She lifted one knee, and planted her hand atop it, using that to shove herself to her feet. And the moment she stood, the clear fog that rose all around her from the rapidly cooling magma was sucked towards her. It gathered around her head, rapidly condensing and taking a solid shape. Over the span of a few seconds the vapor froze over, taking a jagged shape and glittering with a steely blue shade.
The Ice Queen had been crowned, and by her might a chill was settling over the volcano. A light white fog misted from her crown while her icy eyes trembled and stared into the darkening orange of the magma that surrounded her. Her entire body shook with her rising power, but she did not scream. She did not flail. She just stood there within the frigid winds that whipped around her, frost cracking down her cheeks from below her eyes.
And as she inhaled, and her chest lifted, crystalline frost crept down her long black hair. It reached quickly from her roots all the way to the singed ends of her hair. Her glimmering locks fell around her steaming crown, white smoke rising off her dry ice skin.
Then, suddenly, Lexi stomped one foot forward, and exhaled a massive blast of subzero air into the bubbling lava before her. The molten stone rapidly cooled, all of its life and color being dragged from it by Lexi's deathly chill.
So, I'm sure you can piece together what happened from there.
At the edge of THE CORE, Alphys and Mettaton stood ahead of all the other monsters of Hotland. Pensively they stared into the rising white fog, nervous sweat beading down the yellow lizard's face while they all waited. The ground had been rumbling, the magma had been crackling and the ice had been hissing. But, now there was... Nothing. Everything was dead quiet for minutes that felt like hours. Until, suddenly...
Tak... Tak... Tak...
Across a chilled obsidian floor, boots thumped. Step after step, getting closer and closer, until a shadow appeared in the shifting mist. That shadow grew and grew, until finally the newly crowned queen emerged from the belly of her slain beast. Her crimson eyes stared straight ahead, right through Hotland's inhabitants. And with one hand, pale with cold, she reached up, brushing a strand of iced over hair behind her ear. A small smirk creased her lips.
With my new strength, I whooped that volcano's ass. Then, I finally went home and took back leadership of my pirates.
Lexi The Predator walked right up to Alphys, and laid her freezing palm flat for the golden lizard to see. Alphys jumped slightly when the Queen reached out, but when she realized Lexi was just demanding her payment, she smiled nervously. Alphys then shoved her hands into both of her lab coat pockets, rummaged around for a few seconds, and pulled out two fistfuls of miscellaneous dollar bills.
Predator let Alphys stack her payment in her open palm, not saying a word. No one did, every monster held their breath. Then, once Alphys had finished paying her, Lexi shoved that money right into her own pocket. She lifted her free hand, have a two fingered wave, and fell backwards as a portal opened behind her.
Wasn't hard, they'd been waiting for me.
In the common area of Lexi's Pirate Ship, Melanie laid upside down on the couch. She folded her hands over her lap, staring out at the upside down ship with a bored frown while she kicked her feet over the back of the couch. Beside her Clover sat, resisting the urge to yawn while he ran a rag along the barrel of his revolver, shining it.
But then, the sudden and familiar sound of a tear ripping through space caught the both of their attention. They both lifted their heads to the center of the room, where Lexi dropped from a hole in the air, landing on her feet before two of her human comrades. Her back was to the both of them, displaying her icy locks to the both of them for a moment.
But then, Lexi The Predator turned her head, grinning over her shoulder at the both of them in a way that was uniquely her. Clover just smirked knowingly at the sight of her, but when he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by an accidental kick in the face. Beside him, Melanie had fumbled to turn herself right side up, accidentally swinging one of her legs into the side of his head.
The KIND soul didn't seem to notice her clumsy assault however, she was too busy scrambling to her feet. Teary eyed she sprinted for The Predator, who immediately flinched, throwing up both hands as a warning to Melanie, who payed her no mind. Melanie dove at Predator, instantly clinging to her and pressing her own cheek against Lexi's frosty one.
Melanie could only remain hugging Predator's dry ice skin for a moment or two, before painful tears built in her eyes, and she was forced to jump away. While Clover rubbed his head and tried to gather his senses, and Predator laughed and tried to explain why she shouldn't be touched, Melanie just looked between Predator and her own frostnipped skin.
Her two braincells knocked together, a spark was made, and Melanie carelessly dove at a stunned Predator again, clinging to her so tightly that it made Lexi yelp. The KINDNESS soul lifted The Ice Queen over her head with her hug, even as Lexi's skin burned her with frostbite.
... I had to give Melanie a healing item after I figured out how to power down back to normal. But, I think that's enough recapping. You get the idea, right? Hope so, because I'm done talkin'. Not much of a narrator, that's why the story isn't told from my perspective. So, without further adieu, lets get back to the action!
Clover crossed his arms over his chest, his back leaned against the wood wall of PB's bar. He'd let Lexi go inside on her own; she wanted to flex her scary cold form, and he wasn't about to stand next to her and freeze his ass off just so she can scare the piss outta some small time goon who got trusted with too much responsibility.
Things had been loud for all of fifteen seconds, and then the only noise in there was the billowing winds that followed The Ice Queen. About a minute went by after that, and then the winds disappeared as well. They were immediately replaced by the angry shouting of Clover's boss and the bellyaching of Politics Bear, and after about three minutes, Lexi stomped back out through the doorway. A doorway which was in fact lacking a door, as The Predator had kicked it halfway through the bar when she made her entrance less than five minutes ago.
"That was quick." Clover commented, pushing up the rim of his cowboy hat to give her a wink with his good eye. The hat was one thing that hadn't changed over the years, it was an item that must have meant something to the man. He'd traded out his poncho though, now replaced with a leather vest over a worn, white button up. The brown leather was adorned with two belts of bullets that wrapped in an X around Clover's chest, and a pack of shotgun shells over each side of his chest. He still wore his same blue jeans, and around his neck was a bandanna that's golden shade matched his soul.
"Not quite a new record, though." Lexi gave him a small smirk, before lifting her left hand. Between her index and middle fingers she clenched a white slip of paper, upon which a set of numbers was written. "But we gots what we came for."
"And you're sure he gave ya the right one?" Clover tilted his head, an uncertain frown creasing his face.
"I dunno." The Predator turned on a dime, peaking her head back in through the destroyed doorway of the bar. She shouted, "This the right code, chicken shit?!"
"Y-yes! I promise! Please don't hurt me!"
"Thank you, sweetie." The Predator's voice lightened to a sweet and caring tone, and she gave a smile that was filled with fake friendliness. Then, she leaned back out into the open, and gave Clover a thumbs up. "We're all set."
Clover just nodded his understanding, before stepping away from the cold wall he'd been leaning against. He reached up to his ear, and pushed the button on some type of ear piece. "River Person, open the hatch. We're headin' back up."
"Copy that, tra la la~"
Lexi took one long stride to stand right next to Clover, and without a word the two braced themselves, just before the ground beneath them exploded upwards with a pillar of ice. They raced skyward, swiftly closing the distance between themselves and the ship floating overhead. By the time the hanger's door had opened fully, Predator grabbed a handful of Clover's sleeve, and dove from her ice pillar with the cowboy in tow. They landed with a roll on the metal floor of the hanger, and Lexi immediately jumped right to her feet, pumped one fist in the air, and let out a "Woo!"
"So, I'm guessin' things went well?" GB!Sans winked an eye shut with his usual grin, his hands shoved in his sweatshirt pockets. The only addition to his clothing over the years had been Disbelief Papyrus's scarf, which wrapped casually around his neck, most of it tucked away in his sweatshirt.
"Hehe." Was the only response Lexi The Predator gave, flashing her white slip of paper and the code written upon it. Behind her, the hanger's massive door was slowly pulling itself shut.
"Ain't take her more than two minutes 'fore that bear was squealin' like a pig." Clover smiled with some pride in his friend, stepping up beside Lexi with his hands in his jean pockets. "Ya shoulda heard him."
Susie laughed at that, stepping further into the hanger from the doorway she'd been looming in. Her gear, too, hard hardly changed over the years. She was still adorned with the same golden spikes, and on her back her ax was strapped. She had hardly needed to gear up for a fight, but she was an eager one, and Clover was willing to bet she'd been hoping things had gone sideways, if only so she could crush a few goons with her monster strength. "I'm surprised we DIDN'T hear him, with the was Lexi interrogates!"
"Ahh, I went easy on him." Predator waved a hand modestly, though her lips curled in a sly smile. "Politics Bear n' me go way back, after all. Few years ago I killed his Mafiatale boss and he ended up gettin' that job as a bar owner/code dealer."
"Owner of a bar that you just destroyed." Sans cocked a brow, his never ending grin looking more than a little incredulous.
"Hope he's got insurance, the lying sack'a shit." Predator responded in a perfectly happy tone, giving a little shrug before walking past her teammates. She damn near skipped her way to the door at the back end of the hanger, where Melanie stood to greet her.
"Congrats on the find, Lexi!" Melanie gave one big, happy grin. She turned on her heel as Lexi walked by, following her and continuing with her down the hallway. The KINDNESS soul still wore an apron, but these days it was just one that fell from her waist and over the front of her thighs. In the three pockets of the apron random things were stashed; a small notebook, a pen, salt and pepper packets... Over the pocket in the middle of the apron a green heart was stitched, a lighter shade than the dark green of the apron. She wore black pants beneath that, and a long sleeve, white button up shirt. A green tie wrapped around her neck and fell down the center of her chest. Lexi had never really been sure why Melanie liked to dress like a waitress or a chef, but she hardly minded it.
"Thanks, Melanie." The Predator returned Melanie's sweet smile, though it was to a smaller degree. Her boots and her friend's shoes thumped down the halls, the both of them making their way towards River Person's control room.
"Soo... That's the main supplier's location, you think?" Melanie craned her neck to look at the paper that her boss now clutched tightly in her fist.
"Either their location or where they distribute directly from." Lexi answered with ease, her focused cyan eyes staring straight ahead while she made her way down the halls at a brisk pace.
"And you think whoever this distributor is might be responsible for broadcasting Angel and Anarchy's fight multiverse wide?" Melanie questioned curiously. Of course she knew Predator thought that, it had been her main theory for the two years they had sunk into this investigation. But what she really wanted to know was if Lexi had pieced any more together.
"Gotta be, right?" Predator's eyes darted over to Melanie, who was forced to walk fast just to keep up with her. She arched a brow, shaking her head. "Who else could have opened that many viewer portals at once?"
"I'onno." Melanie furrowed her brows with thought, pursing her lips while she thought on her boss's rhetorical question. "Maybe that Jevil guy who sucked you, Clover, and a bunch'a other big names to that circus?"
"Yeah, but Jevil's dead." Lexi refuted easily, before her eyes darted to the side with sudden doubt in her words. "... Er, something. I dunno. He turned into a scythe and Anthony stashed him away in his inventory."
"Maybe a Jevil is the distributor." Melanie shrugged with her top of the head theory. She'd said it casually, but this mission was nothing but casual for Lexi, who pondered Melanie's theory carefully.
"Maybe... But what would a Jevil have to gain from that job..?" Predator mumbled to herself, her eyes falling to the floor while she thought hard. "Inciting chaos, maybe..?"
"Well, hey, it doesn't matter!" Melanie grinned wide, planting one hand on Lexi's back, which she patted supportively. "Because with this code we're gonna find them and see their face for ourselves!"
"Heh... Yeah." Lexi smiled gently over at Melanie, appreciating her friend's positive energy. Melanie had a way of dragging her out of her intense thinking and even her brooding with that KIND soul of hers. This had been a grueling task these past two years, hunting down this illusive supplier. Sometimes Lexi had been made to wonder if they were even real, but they had to be. There had to be something or someone that was responsible for what happened that day, and they had to be connected to not just Anthony, but everything.
"So, Lexi..." Melanie's voice shifted some, and her expression grew a bit more tense. With her volume lowered, she asked carefully. "If everything goes well, today might be the day that..."
"The day that we find Anthony." With some emotion that was hard for Lexi to describe and hard for Melanie to understand, The Predator's eyes narrowed. she felt anxiety and DETERMINATION clash within her, but like always, her DETERMINATION was the victor. "I know."
"How are you feeling..?" Melanie asked with a care in her tone and concern in her green eyes. She knew how much Anthony meant to The Predator, Lexi had trusted her crew enough to share her reasons for chasing him. And though the idea that The Anarchist had once given his life for Lexi had stunned Melanie, her KIND soul compelled her to agree: even the worst person has the power to change.
... All of that said, Anarchy was beyond dangerous. Melanie had watched his fight with Angel, and she still didn't know if herself and her crew would even be able to escape him if things went bad, let alone defeat him! She was uncertain of a lot of things. Where Anarchy had been, who he was now, what they outcome of his reunion with Predator would be... But what Melanie was certain of was Lexi's will. Her DETERMINATION, her hopes and her dreams. If she was being lead by Lexi The Predator, then Melanie did not fear Anarchy.
"... I don't know." Lexi answered honestly as the two turned a corner, spotting the door to River Person's cockpit at the end of the hallway she had put them on. Her fingers curled back, turning her hands to fists, and she exhaled one cold breath to calm herself. "I'll tell ya after we find him."
Predator'd seen a lot of strange things in the multiverse. A timeline to timeline cargo train, a chaos circus, an Archangel ascend to a Cherub. So, she wasn't completely baffled by the sight of this 'warehouse', though it did definitely strike her as odd.
It was a square building, closer to a storage unit than a warehouse. Made from chrome and detailed with glowing blue veins of electricity. It was surrounded by robots, simple boxy things floating around on jet propulsion. They each had two cartoony arms sticking out of each of their sides, and they swarmed around every angle of this unit. A unit which Predator had to guess was packed full of computers and filling cabinets and printers, an endless well of knowledge on locations and codes.
Predator's lips curled as she stared down at this building. The fruit's of her labor, the source of all the viewing and gateway codes distributed throughout the multiverse. She'd found it. Not Gatherer, not Angel, her. Because she worked the hardest, she got underestimated the most, and she had the most to prove. So it was time to prove it.
"... Well?" Fell!Grillby stepped up beside The Predator, crossing his arms over his chest. He cocked a brow over at her, "What's our next move?"
"C'mon, give us the order!" Susie demanded impatiently, a bloodthirsty grin crossing her face. She brandished her ax, glancing down once more at the robot swarmed box on the earth below. "Lets turn off the ship's cloaking, jump down there, and start crushin' tin cans!"
"... No." Lexi's eyes narrowed then, her reflection clear in the window between herself, her crew, and the outside world. Her word made the gathering of her pirates recoil collectively. No? After all this time, she didn't want to start smashing shit? They'd finally found what they were looking for! What more waiting had to be done?
"No?" Swap!Muffet repeated curiously, folding two arms over her chest while using a third to hold her chin. She stepped closer to the window, her five eyes glossing over the swarming robots below before she turned her head back to Predator. "I would think you would be the most eager to get down there."
"... Somethin' ain't right." Lexi stepped up to the glass and reached out, resting her open palm on the clear surface. The closer she examined this warehouse, the more out of place it seemed. Just sitting here, in the middle of absolute nowhere in a nothing timeline. Surrounded only by desert sands and swarming machines. There was no way Xander and Angel wouldn't know about a place like this if it really were the source of all code trafficking. Hell, there's no way she wouldn't have found this place by now if this was really all it was. There wasn't even any fire walls protecting this timeline!
"... She's right." Ralsei added, puffing out one cheek with confusion beneath the shade of his hat. Beside him, Kris silently nodded their agreement. "This is too easy."
"Exactly. If this really was the big outpost of the distributor, then..." The Predator trailed off, stroking her imaginary beard with heavy thinking. Rapidly her mind assembled piece after piece of this puzzle, until a spark went off in her mind. A lightbulb flicked on over her head, and she understood where everything fit. Unable to contain her excitement, a grin tore across Predator's face, and she slammed both hands against the glass. "That thing can move!"
"Mm?" Clover turned his head over to her, leaning back some and stuffing his hands into his pockets. "What're you talkin' about?"
"That's not the base of operations! That's just a drop ship!" Quickly Lexi whipped her head back around to face the rest of her crew, grinning wide and rapidly tapping her fingers on the glass. "That just carries the cargo and the robots run all the business with whoever shows up to buy codes!"
"So where's the real deal, then?" GB!Sans turned his grin up to The Predator, arching one brow bone. He rested his hands comfortably in his pockets, his lax disposition a direct contrast to his boss's excitement.
"I've got no idea!" Lexi said in a way that was just a little too upbeat. But before her crewmates could groan, she pulled back one hand, slapping it against the glass right over that dropship. "But that thing's gotta know its exact coordinates!"
"So we go down there n' start smashin' stuff until we find what we need." Susie drew a conclusion pretty quick, slamming her fist down on her open palm. Her face tore up in a sharp toothed grin.
"You got it!" Lexi snapped her fingers, pointing one finger gone towards Susie. "We gots two objectives: Make sure that thing doesn't fly off and make sure we don't accidentally destroy the info we need!"
"Before that, Predator," When River Person chimed in, all attention was drawn to them. The navigator was a person of few words, and when they did speak it was often in riddles. The River Person rarely fought alongside the rest of Predator's Pirates, instead remaining within the ship. Within the cockpit mostly, with their wooden tiger Splinters. "I believe I've found something that will cut out this entire step."
"What is it, River P?" The Predator stepped away from the window and towards her eldest crewmate, furrowing her brows with confusion and curiosity. "Whatcha got for me?"
"I ran a scan of the timeline a moment ago." As River Person spoke, they slowly lifted one arm beneath their cloak. One ethereal, inky black hand reached from within their cloak, and it pointed straight upwards. "And the center piece of the supplier's operation is closer than you may think."
"..." Lexi was dead silent, her eyes wide in awe. She looked to River Person's vantablack hand, before looking to the ceiling they pointed at, before looking back to River Person. "You're kidding."
"Hovering just above us." River Person's hand sunk back into their cloak, some amusement in their tone from a crew's worth of baffled staring into their cloak. "Tra la la~"
There was a moment of silence, everyone exchanging glances. The kitchen crew looked at the Fun Gang, the Fun Gang looked to Predator, Sans and Clover, and Predator, Sans and Clover looked to the Kitchen Crew. Then, Lexi grinned wide, feeling her heart start to beat harder. Adrenaline began to flow into her blood, excitement began running wild.
"Then what're we waitin' for?!"
From there, it was a high speed race into the atmosphere. Another new experience that Predator appreciated: sieging a space station. After they reached the void that loomed above this nothing timeline, River Person had displayed the scans of this space station, and it was something to behold.
A massive pillar surrounded by three flat rings, each ring connected to the pillar by steel walkways. It seemed this mass was trapped within a bubble of its own creation, a strange sphere of energy that spread from both peaks of its tower. This bubble of invisible force trapped oxygen within the station while simultaneously maintaining its gravity and cloaking it from being visible to the naked eye. River Person went on about the intricate science of this thing, but Predator tuned it all out. All she needed to know was whether or not they could get through that bubble.
River Person had that one figured out, however. Just warp the ship past the bubble; that space station was so massive that their void craft would fit well within its barrier. Lexi had told River Person that sounded too easy. River Person had shrugged.
Either way, they were here now. And in an instant, the action was on. With a crash they had warped within the bubble, and immediately the crash of their ship's blasters rocked the hanger that Predator and her entire crew (minus River Person) stood in. And The Predator stood at the forefront, gripping her scythe tightly and bouncing from side to side with uncontainable excitement.
"Alexa!" She suddenly turned her head towards the walls of the ship and called, and Clover's shoulders sunk with aggravation as a strip of blue lights that circled the walls of the hanger lit up with blue. Lexi continued, "Play Barracuda by Heart!"
A robotic voice answered through speakers embedded in the walls, "Playing: Barracuda, by Heart."
But, just as the first few notes of the song began, Clover called out to the machine, a deep frown engraved in his face. "Alexa, pause."
"Cloverrrrr." Predator's eyes narrowed over at her right hand man, the song abruptly pausing at the cowboy's command. Predator said his name like a disapproving mother, preparing to scold.
"Boss I done heard this song a thousand times 'cause'a you." Clover pushed one finger into the rim of his hat, making his good eye visible as he shot Lexi a disapproving stare. "I ain't hearin' it one more time."
"It's either this or Ram Ranch." Predator retorted with an plain expression and an easy shrug.
Clover visibly cringed, rolling his eyes dramatically while he groaned. "Boss, c'mon now."
"EIGHTEEN NAKED COWBOYS DOWN AT RAM RANCH, CLOVER!" Lexi suddenly shouted, making Clover jump. At this point Melanie, Muffet, and Susie were suppressing laughter. Ralsei looked visibly confused, before Kris calmly put a hand over each of his ears to protect him from the lyrics their boss was reciting. Grillby and Sans just smiled some, clearly amused by their crew's antics. "BIG HARD THROBBING-"
"OKAY! Okay!" Clover quickly shouted, silently glad that his hat's shadow covered the red tint of his ears. He groaned again, shaking his head and mumbling angrily to himself. "Twistin' my got dang arm into a pretzel... Alexa, resume!"
Barracuda by Heart resumed, and Lexi threw her head back to let out a victorious "Woo!". At the same time, the massive door of the hanger began to lower, and the only sound that reached over Barracuda's guitar was the River Person commanding the mounted canons atop the ship to blast away the swarming square robots.
Those bots swarmed in through the opening hanger the moment the door parted from the wall, only to be greeted with Clover's furious gun fire. The cowboy had swiftly drawn the both of his revolvers, and his glowing gold eye darted from target to target, his barrels following close behind. Hole punched metal boxes crumpled and crashed to the floor of the hanger, not a single one getting within spittin' distance of Predator's crew.
And the moment the gate was open, Grillby lunged forward. He yanked both hands back behind his shoulders, before whipping them forward, purple whips of fire licking the air behind them. His open palms took aim on the buzzing swarm of machines flying in through the open door, and in an instant blaring violet flames illuminated the hanger. A tidal wave of scorching heat exploded out the open gate, blasting apart the front line and clearing a path for the pirates.
Predator sprinted past him, front flipping right over the edge and dragging her scythe through the air behind her. From her scythe's blade an icy slide followed close, leaving a clear path for the rest of her crew. Rapidly Lexi descended, all the way down to the upper most ring of the spire, where she landed with a roll. Her ice slide connecting behind her, The Predator jumped to her feet, spinning and slashing her scythe clean through the three boxy bots racing towards her. She cleaved each of them in half with ease, the light fading from their face screens while the saw blades that replaced their hands stopped spinning.
Behind her, The Fun Gang was the first to take the dive. Kris led the slide, holding up their shield and letting the bolts of energy that the robots overhead fired from blaster hands down at them. In the middle was Ralsei, who lifted both fluffy paws to the sky. Over the heads of the trio, golden stars formed rapidly, before firing even faster into the air. The gunfire of those robots was cleaved apart by these stars, which shredded through every machine they encountered. At the very back Susie stood, swinging her ax to and fro to slash through whatever machine got within distance of herself and her friends.
Fell!Grillby launched into the air on a stream of fire, jetting into the sky and darting jaggedly between the suppressing fire. Every robot he shot by exploded into a heap of flames and shattered metal, carved apart by one slash of his bright burning arms.
Swap!Muffet slid with ease down the ice path, her five eyes darting between several tin cans swarming in on each side of her. Without thinking her six arms darted out, and from each of her sleeves a stream of webbing shot out. These webs slapped into the face-screens of six separate bots, and Muffet jumped, front flipping in air and tugging the robots she now restrained high over her head. She swung them down, sending each of them flinging downward towards that ring. The robots smashed together into a fiery heap of metal and wires, and Muffet used this pile of rubble that her webs were connected to to yank herself through the air. She flung down towards the ring, clenching her fists and detaching her webs just before she landed with a slid on the blue metal of the upper ring, right beside The Predator.
Sans teleported right beside the two of them, lazily snapping his fingers. Bones manifested rapidly under the ring on which they stood, and they flew endlessly upwards, stabbing and slashing through droid after droid. All the while Sans just smiled, ever so casual while he decimated this vicious technology.
Melanie and Clover were the last ones down the slide, the cowboy slinging bullets into whatever poor machine thought they could outshoot him while Melanie batted aside whatever saw-handed murder android tried to get close. The moment they reached the steady footing of the metal platform the rest of their friends stood upon, Melanie made a break for the front line.
She sprinted right past Lexi and Muffet, jumped into the air, and pulled back both hands. On her chest her emerald soul gleamed, before a wall of green energy manifested before her. Fifteen feet tall and ten feet wide, the next wave of machines all bashed uselessly into the light of Melanie's shield. Next, she pushed her hands forward in a shoving motion, and as she landed at the base of the walkway connecting the top ring to the spire, her wall raced ahead, smashing into malevolent square after malevolent square. It dragged all of those foes to the unforgiving metal of the spire, which Melanie's green barrier crushed them mercilessly against.
Predator stepped past Melanie then, the two spinning back to back in perfect sync as Lexi swung her scythe in an upward slash. Following her blade, a pillar of ice exploded up from below, racing quickly down the walkway and charging for the large metal doors on the spire. Like a battering ram, Lexi's ice crashed through the doors, knocking them off their hinges and sending them flinging into the strange blue light that glowed within.
From there, it was a race towards the entrance. Every crew member ran at full speed for that doorway, their footsteps pounding like a stampede down the metal walkway. And one by one, only seconds apart, they each filtered into the hollow pillar. The moment they had each made it inside, Lexi The Predator spun around, lifting one hand to the doorway and immediately causing the rapid creation of ice. Chilled glass formed one foot thick, rapidly closing off their exit and the robots entrance.
Barracuda faded out.
Lexi exhaled slowly as things grew quieter, her expression relaxing some and her shoulders sinking. She stared at the wall she had hastily crafted for a few long seconds, placing one hand on it just to check its sturdiness. She guessed from the lasers beating uselessly against it on the other end that her and her crew would have more than enough time to find this shadow broker.
But, as she turned around, her brows furrowed with some confusion. Each member of her crew stared with awe up into the greyish blue lighting that shined from above. She followed their eyes, and when she saw what they were staring at, she mimicked their dumbstruck expressions.
The entire tower was hollow. Ahead of them a single walkway lead down to a simple couch, but that was about the only normal lookin g thing in this place. The walls were completely lined with an uncountable amount of screens, and each screen displayed a different show. Random characters, random people, living their lives. Battles, weddings, funerals. Life and death, peace and war, love and hate.
Suddenly, Lexi The Predator was staring into the infinite of the multiverse. Her wide eyes reflected the light of endless possibility, every feature on her bewildered face illuminated. Her cyan orbs scanned for what felt like forever, until finally they locked on to the biggest screen. One big monitor at the very center, looming right in front of that couch.
It displayed them. All of them, right now, in this instant. To test it, Lexi slowly waved one hand, and she watched this video feed of her do the same. Completely stunned, it was all she could do to slowly shake her head. "What... Is this place?"
"Lexi The Predator."
A somewhat nasally voice caught the crew's attention, and all their eyes were drawn to the single seat in this incomprehensible place. Claws clicked upon the floor, and Predator furrowed her brows, squinting into the strange lighting while one figure stepped out from behind the furniture.
CORE!Alphys smiled in a way that could only be defined as mysterious, the glare of her glasses obscuring her eyes from view. She folded her hands behind her hunched back, calmly and fearlessly making her way towards the Pirates. "I've been waiting for you."
"An Alphys..?" Melanie pondered out loud, some confusion overtaking her expression as she watched this stranger skeptically.
"I mean, it kinda fits, don't it?" GB!Sans arched one brow bone over at Melanie, his shoulders lifting with a halfhearted shrug.
"If you knew I was coming, then you know why I'm here." Lexi spoke up over her crew's confused murmuring. Frankly, she didn't care who this Seer was. An Alphys, a Gaster, a goddamn Jerry. Didn't matter to her. What mattered is what this monster knew and what she would tell.
"That I do." CORE Alphys stopped her walking, pausing just a few paces ahead of the Pirates that had forced their way into her home. It was unnerving to some members of the crew, the way she spoke. So clearly, without a stutter or a pause like they'd come to know Alphyses for. The lizard reached up, pushing her glasses back up her snout and keeping her eyes hidden. "... And you should know, I can't tell you where he is."
"Then I can't let your head stay attached to your shoulders." The Predator was quick to snarl through grinding teeth, stomping one foot forward. She'd come way too far now, she wasn't just going to let some yellow reptile tell her to go home.
"Now now, lets just take it easy." Alphys lifted her hands defensively, showing her open palms. The way she moved and acted, it was rehearsed. She really had known The Predator was on her way, and she had planned accordingly. "It's not that I won't give you his location, it's that I can't."
"You better start makin' sense, lizard!" Lexi snarled, stomping another step closer. She lifted her scythe, pointing its blade out at the Seer. A blue chill crept over the blade, smoking a menacing white fog. "I know you give out the codes! I know you're the one who showed everybody the fight between Angel and Anthony! That means you can't just see Anthony, you can see everything!"
"... Yes." Slowly, CORE!Alphys lifted her hand once more. Gently, between her two sharp nails, she took her glasses into her grip. She pulled them slowly away from her face, and Predator's expression turned from anger to surprise and disgust. Those void eyes of the Seer stared endlessly into The Predator and her entire crew, never blinking. "I can see everything."
"Then spit it out!" Predator demanded, lowering her scythe and trudging furiously ahead. She grabbed CORE!Alphys by the collar of her shirt, yanking her up to eye level and off of her feet. In the surrounding dark, just beneath the walkway, shadow stirred. Darkness shifted, and stretched. "Where's Anthony?!"
"... That's the one thing I can't see." Alphys spoke quietly, with a hint of shame in her voice. Painfully, her void eyes narrowed slightly. Behind The Predator, she watched the pirates shift with unease. They turned their heads, narrowing their eyes into the shifting and slithering shadows. Something was moving, lurking just beyond their vision. "The Dark... It blinds me."
"What are you talking about?!" Predator shook Alphys back and forth, not paying attention to the way her crew crept closer to her, forming a perimeter. They circled around Predator, their backs to her while each of them watched the darkness carefully.
"Look around you, Predator! Haven't you been paying attention?" Alphys suddenly demanded to know, making Lexi wince with confusion. As per Alphys' request, her cyan orbs turned, looking out into the nothingness that surrounded them all. Her jaw clenched with apprehension, feeling a sudden spike of anxiety within her when she watched some shape slither by. It was large, no, it was massive. Just a brief peek, a single segment of a black, scaly body as it slipped by. But that single sighting was a swift reminder to Lexi of all the eldritch horrors, all the abyssal creatures that obeyed Anarchy's every command.
"What is that..?" Predator spoke quietly now, as though she was concerned this lurking beast would hear her. Its subtle, hissing breathes echoed all along the metal. These short hisses were only emphasized by what sounded like even smaller, further away giggles. The Dark was watching their every move, preparing to strike.
"The Dark obeys The Anarchist's wishes. And The Anarchist does not want to be found." Alphys spoke at a regular volume. She was already very aware that the lurking beasts could hear her every word, and every word of her intruders. If she was afraid, she did not show it. Perhaps this beast had lurked around her for so long, she had grown comfortable with its presence. "Any portal I open, the worms close. Any screen I try to view him on, the Wyrm smashes. If I try to say aloud the timeline he is hidden within, the monstrosities scream so loud that no one could hear me."
"... So these things are holding you hostage." Predator's expression tightened with something hard to define. Was it anger, or disappointment? Frustration, perhaps? She had come so far, only to be blocked out at the end of the race by Anarchy's disgusting pets. That was... Infuriating! All of her hard work, just for this?!
"These things are holding everyone hostage." CORE!Alphys casually reached up, slowly slipping her glasses back over her black hole eyes. The glare of her spectacles hide her all seeing eyes away once more, and she continued to speak. "Everywhere there's a shadow, The Dark is listening. Watching, waiting."
"Waitin' on what, exactly?" Clover spoke up this time, turning his head away from the shifting shade to shoot a glare back at Alphys.
"His next order. His next move. His Return." Alphys' snout gave a deep frown, but she still did not struggle in Predator's grasp. "And they've been getting restless. I don't think they're going to be waiting much longer."
"..." After that, everyone went quiet. The pressure in the room was unbearable, the quiet hissing and giggling was deafening. No one knew what to say, what to feel. Predator's Pirates all exchanged glances, they all gulped and sweat and felt the anxiety that was spiked by these revelations.
Then, suddenly, Predator dropped Alphys. The all seeing lizard dropped down onto her butt, jarring some from the sudden impact. She decided it best not to complain however when she looked up to see Predator's face. Lexi stood there, her head lowered and her hair shadowing her eyes. Her clenched fists trembled at her sides, and everyone felt the temperature of the room begin to decline.
Rapidly, her brain considered the options before her. Sure, she could pick a fight with these things. She had faith in herself and her crew, she believed they could handle an onslaught of horrors. But, could they keep Alphys alive throughout this battle? Could they keep the Hollow Spire in tact? All this information, all the code, everything so many people - from bounty hunters like herself to power seekers like Gatherer - relied on stemmed from this place. Like she said, Lexi was smarter than everyone gave her credit for, and she knew the stakes far outweighed the possible gains.
Suddenly, she felt Melanie place her hand softly upon her shoulder. And she lifted her head, turning her distraught eyes upon the KIND emerald orbs of her friend. Melanie just smiled sadly, showing a full understanding of how Lexi must have felt. Lexi thought she might have needed to see that, required that small reminder that she was far from alone in her struggles.
... No. This wasn't the end. She wasn't through, not by a long shot.
"AY! Ugly!" The Predator's voice suddenly cried out, and everyone jumped some, turning their eyes to her. She threw her head up, turned her glare to the shifting darkness. Her back straight and her chin up, she stomped right past Alphys, making her way down the walkway and towards the couch at its end. Her footsteps echoed loudly, bounced along every wall and struck every listening ear. "Giant snake thing! I'm talkin' to you!"
The hissing in the dark grew louder, and the walls vibrated with the shifting of the Wyrm's body. It sounded like it was approaching, getting louder and louder like the approaching rumble of a train. And when Lexi The Predator stepped past that couch and stood at the end of the platform, it emerged.
One massive, scaly head rose from the vantablack depths below. The blue grey light of the many screens illuminated its obsidian scales and its ivory grin. And Predator watched without a single flinch as its massive, crimson eyes opened, and the Wyrm glared down upon her. It was so massive that it could lurch forward at any second and devour not only her, but the metal that she stood upon.
Still, Lexi The Predator just snarled right back up at that beast, her own lips drawn back to bare her own furious grin. She pointed her scythe up at the abomination, and shouted for it and all its gross little maggots to hear. "Good, glad I've got your attention!"
"Listen up!" Lexi swung her scythe out to her side, pointing the index finger of her free hand up at the Wyrm and stomping one foot forward. "You may have won this round freak, but I'm not done!"
"I'm gonna find Anthony! And I'll carve through any worm, serpent, or scorpion to get to him!" Furiously she shouted up at the beast before her. And The Dark's abomination merely tilted its head, blood red eyes watching Lexi curiously. She was so fearless, to demand something from the nothingness. This amused the monstrosity, made a feel a strange sense of respect. Not much, but enough so for it to want to listen to each of her words. "So you better relay a message for me!"
"You tell Anthony that Lexi's comin' for him!" The Predator's outstretched hand curled into a fist, and she brought it back, beating it once against her chest. "That I'm gonna find him, because I haven't forgotten what he did for me!"
"You tell him I didn't forget about him!" Lexi demanded from this creature, stomping right up to the very edge of her platform. She glared up at the Wyrm, her ice cold breath misting frost past her nostrils. She could feel this abomination's hot breath rain down upon her from every huff of its massive snout, but she hardly noticed. "And you tell him that I'm gonna pay him back!"
Things were quiet then. Alphys and Predator's Pirates all watched pensively as the Wyrm and The Ice Queen stared one another down in a deafening silence. Just watching, waiting to see who would blink. Who would flinch. And then, finally, the Wyrm leaned back. It blinked its massive crimson orbs slowly, before resuming its stare on The Predator. And its gaze never left her, even as the beast slowly sank back down into the deepest depths of The Dark.
And as those glowing red eyes disappeared into the nothingness, one last hiss echoed ominously. And then, all the slithering and giggling was gone. The shadows no longer vibrated with life, the room was no longer thick with pressure and tension.
And Lexi sighed, dropping to her knees suddenly. She lowered her head, and shut her eyes for a moment. The intensity drained from her expression, and she basked in this disappointment. She meant what she said, she would find Anarchy and she hadn't given up. But... This was beyond a let down. It was a crucial blow to her investigation.
"... I'm gonna find you, Anthony." Lexi spoke softly now, words only for her ears. She lifted her head, and she stared up at the infinite. The uncountable screens, all glowing with a different reality. "I'm getting close, I just know it."
Painfully, her PATIENT eyes squinted into the endless possibilities. The twisting chaos of the future.
"... You've gotta be out there. Somewhere."
It was a beautiful day outside.
A soft breeze blew, making the fields sway and move with life. Trees let go of leaves of a beautiful variety. Greens turned to oranges, reds and browns, and they billowed through the air, riding the soft air currents all the way to the ground. Everything was silent, peaceful and calm.
His footsteps crunched up the gravel path, their subtle sound as essential to the delicate music of nature as the chirping birds or the whistling winds or even the buzzing insects. He made his way to that old red barn, its new paint having withstood the Summer rains well. He hoped it would fair the same for the Winter's snow.
Eventually, the crunching of gravel became the tapping of concrete as he passed through the large door at the back of the barn. He continued past a window, through which golden sunlight shined beautifully. Those rays landed perfectly upon the sapphire shield that was hung on the opposite wall, making it's Deltarune symbol glimmer and shine.
He wandered past a number of things. A wall of tools, a work bench, a ladder that lead up into the barn's rafters. Finally, he reached a lone bench near the large front door of the barn. The sliding sheet of metal was currently up, giving view of the entirety of his front lawn from his bench.
He sighed with some relief, pulling the large burlap sack he'd had slung over his shoulder off of himself and letting it plop down on one end of the wooden seat. Then, he walked around the back of the bench, grabbing a half full garbage can and dragging it closer to where he inevitably sat, beside his burlap sack.
Briefly he shut his ruby eyes, leaning his head back over the bench's back and letting his ivory mane overflow over the wood. He rested like that for a moment or two, let the breeze cool his hot skin and dry his sweat. It'd been anything but a mild September this year, and though he wasn't really exhausted, he felt he had earned himself a moment's rest. There was hardly any rush; like all of his work, he was ahead of schedule.
"Anthony? Anthonyyyy?"
His left eye peaked open when he heard his name being called from a distance. He stared up into the wood of the ceiling for a few seconds, before tilting his head upwards. He looked out through that wide open barn door, up the driveway, and to the back porch of the log cabin he had put together. It had been one of his bigger projects, that house. And one that he certainly took pride in.
Anyway, on that porch, he spotted a shorter monster standing. A skeleton, to be exact. She was a littler one, probably not even five feet tall, but so were a lot of those skeletons. Always either very tall or very small, from what he'd observed over the years. Her yellow sundress flowed lightly in that pleasant breeze, and the sapphire blue of the wig that she wore atop her skull even rustled some. The wig wasn't particularly long, only reaching down the back of her neck. Messy bangs fell around her face, but she brushed them aside to keep them out of her sockets.
Anarchy watched her peer to and fro on that porch, her glowing magenta eyes morphing into little question marks while she scanned the property, one hand on her forehead shielding her eyes and the other holding a ceramic plate. The corner of his mouth curled up a little at how dutiful and dedicated she looked to find him, the way she pivoted back and forth like a ship captain watching the waves.
"In here!" He finally called out, lifting one pale hand to wave her down. Her sockets turned to the direction of his voice, and she jumped some when she spotted him at the entrance of the barn. Her pupils turned briefly to exclamation points, before returning to their usual spherical shape as she raced down the porch steps to reach him.
Anarchy watched her with one arched eyebrow, genuinely curious as to what the short skeleton girl was up to. Absentmindedly, he reached one hand into the burlap sack by his side, retrieving one freshly picked corncob from within the bag. He calmly yanked the husk from the cob, before tossing the leafy substance into the garbage can.
By the time that was taken care of, she had made her way out to him, having eagerly raced all the way out to the barn. She wore a giddy smile, looking quite proud of herself as she offered him that plate. Upon it was a simple food, a grilled cheese sandwich. Though it was no grand gesture, it was a small good deed that made Anarchy's white eyebrows rise. She only smiled wider at his surprised expression, "Here, I made you lunch!"
"... You didn't have to do that." He stated simply, his eyes never leaving the food she outstretched to him. He wasn't spurning her actions though, merely stating a simple fact. She didn't have anything to gain from this act of kindness, and yet she had done it anyway. He certainly didn't want her to feel this was an unappreciated gesture, so he reached out, taking the sandwich from the plate that she held out to him.
"Well sure I didn't have to! But I wanted to!" She smiled briefly, before suddenly furrowing her brow bones. She crossed her arms over her chest, giving Anthony a disapproving look. "You probably haven't eaten since the crack of dawn."
"Mm." Anarchy nodded simply to confirm that theory of hers, his mouth now full after one massive bite. He'd devoured nearly half the food after a single chomp, but this flashing of his terrifying jaw range and bite force hardly bothered her. In fact, the skeleton woman just smiled at how unique he was. Anarchy lifted the sandwich some, looking to her while he nodded towards it. He swallowed, and spoke quietly. "This is good. Thank you."
She beamed with pride from his compliment, her pupils turning to stars. But Anarchy remained as inexpressive as ever. He took another short bite out of the food she'd gifted him with, before looking back to her. Curiously, he arched a brow. "That a new dress?"
"Huh?" Her eyes returned to normal, and she looked down at her sundress. Then, she turned her head back up to him, shutting her sockets and flashing her smile yet again. She was always like that, so quick to smile and radiate positivity at any opportunity. "Oh, yeah! Max just put the finishing touches on it this morning! I thought it was a nice day for a dress like this."
"Mm, you were right." Anarchy spoke slightly muffled, before swallowing his mouthful. He scooted over then, giving her room to sit down even though he did not verbally invite her. That was okay, because she knew what he meant. Anthony was a man of few words, and that never bothered her. So, she sat right down beside him, folding her hands over her lap. He felt glad that she'd understood his invitation, but once more he kept those words to himself. Instead, he opted to compliment her. "You look nice."
"Mweh!" A light pink shade appeared on her cheeks, and she shut her sockets to flash him the biggest smile she could. "Thanks!"
The corners of The Anarchist's mouth curled up at the sight of her giddy bouncing, feeling a little bit lighter now that he'd caused happiness in someone else. He didn't speak though, instead looking forward. Silently, he enjoyed having her positive self by his side, leaning his arms back across the back of the bench.
"So," She turned her magenta eyes to him, furrowing her brow bones and tilting her head curiously. "What are your plans for today, Anthony?"
"Well... I gotta finishing shucking all this corn for one." He tilted his head back, once more letting his hair fall over the back of the bench. He reached up with his free hand, scratching thoughtfully at the short, well trimmed beard of white that covered his jawline, cheeks, and upper lip. "Then I'll probably mow the lawn, and that'll take a good chunk outta the day..."
While she tried not to giggle at the word 'shuck', Anarchy took one final bite from his sandwich, devouring all that remained of it. He chewed for a few seconds, before swallowing his mouthful. He reached up then, brushing his calloused fingers through his ivory hair. "Then I'll work out, shower, eat dinner, and go to bed early."
"Don't you ever take a break?" She pondered out loud, her brow bones drawing near one another with visible confusion and concern.
"When I eat, shower, and sleep." Anarchy shrugged his shoulders like it was obvious, lifting his head once more to look over at her.
"That doesn't count!" Mako stamped her foot against the concrete floor, crossing her arms over her chest. She puffed out her nonexistent cheeks, pouting. "When do you have time to do what you wanna do?"
"..." That made Anarchy go quiet. He looked away from her, staring forward with an expression that she could hardly make sense of. And as he stared out at the bright blue sky, as he watched nature at peace and full of life and light, something crept up from one of the cracks in the bench. One little black maggot wriggled all the way up, managing to flop its disgusting body onto the back of Anarchy's hand. And though Anthony The Anarchist felt the darkness there, he did not look upon it. Instead, he stared into the beauty of a world left alone. He appreciated the lack of noise. No screaming voices, no giggling worms, no blaring assaults. Silence and tranquility.
"... Idle hands do the Devil's work, Mako."
Please Favorite, Follow, and Review!
XWolf26, out