Thanks go to hermitfan, TiredWhiteMayge, Wingah, 10burgers, BonelessSkele, Mysterious Venus, Doctah Sawbones, Eternal, GMLxAwesome, MrChizzle, ZeraoraTheKnight, DuckLIT122000, sauceman95, Prominent, XelaZagity, Zack Frost, Tbone8454, cassianaswindell123, Acoolnamme, CornierComet, Astreum, Okami Endless, Zay, and THE VILLAIN.

Thank you all for your outpour of support for Season 6 Part 1's finale! It really means a lot. I'm so happy to see that I've made you guys happy and sad and lots of other emotions. One of my favorite parts about the reviews I received over the past month was how many of you were cheering Frisk getting clobbered; that was hilarious.

Glad to see you got caught up cassianaswindell123, I really do miss people when they stop reviewing! I appreciate you leaving so many reviews on your back through too, I really love seeing people's reaction to parts of the story even if they're older arcs.

Thanks for the review, THE VILLAIN! Always happy to see a long time fan still keeping up with my work. Reviews are kinda my only way to gauge who's reading, so a lot of the times if someone isn't review I just figure they've disappeared into the internet. I'm glad you've been keeping up with things regardless, I hope you'll stick with my writing to the very end!

Anyway, it was a nice break after a great halfway Season finale, but we're back and bigger things are on the horizon! Stick around and you'll see great and horrible things beyond your wildest imagination. :)

On to Season 6: Part 2! ORDER'S MAD GOD!

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

Green grass and an overcast sky.

Man, I hate rain. I remembered that now, as I found myself laying flat on my back in wet grass. Rain drops struck my skin, but I couldn't feel them. The cold was numbing my flesh, but it didn't really register. I had told Chara that once, that I hated the rain. Something about The Killer, or maybe it was my Granny.

Back again.

Didn't feel like I ever left. Granny's backyard, I remembered it vividly when I sat up and took a look around. Deck railing was busted, a chunk of fabric stuck in the splintered wood. The little gate at the small yard's corner flickered and glitched, frame skipped between being open and closed. Someone went through it, and now he was here and he was gone all at once.

Don't know how to fix it.

I'll figure it out. How hard could repairing a deck be? I climbed to my feet, something that had seemed impossible the first time I was here. That deck was so tall when I was younger, now I was able to climb up onto it through the busted railing. Didn't even have to use the steps.

Died here.

That's fine, I decided while I made a casual stride through the rain. I was back, that's what mattered. Surely Granny had been waiting for me; I was already thinking up one liners when I reached for the sliding door. I tugged on the handle and confidently stepped forward... Only for my forehead to bounce off the glass after the door refused to budge.

... Home.

Oh, right. Door was locked. It was... Always locked. I'd been here before, left out in the cold and rain. And I didn't understand as I tugged on the door, why was it locked? Why wasn't I allowed back in? And more importantly, why wasn't I strong enough to just rip the stupid thing open?!

Never enough.

"Granny? Granny!" I beat my fist against the glass, squinted through it to see. She was right there! Sitting in her chair, reading one of her books, like always! Why wouldn't she look at me? Why was she ignoring me? Wet prints were left on the glass with every strike of my fist, but it didn't budge. I wasn't strong enough. "I know you aren't deaf yet, ya old hag! C'mon!"

Redundant.

"C'mon..!" I pleaded, pressing my hands against the cold glass. My hair was drenched with the rain, droplets dripped from clumped together strands dangling in front of my face. How long had I been under this storm? My chest ached, I didn't understand. "Is this about the deck? I can fix it! I can fix everything, just gimme a chance!"

Not coming back.

"Please!" I begged while my hands clenched into trembling fists against the glass. There were tears in my eyes, reflecting red and green in their salty waters. I could feel my fists getting weaker, could feel exhaustion creeping in. My eyes drifted downward, and I slowly shook my head. Lightning struck somewhere behind me, and in its white flash I reflected a six winged shadow into Granny's home. "I don't wanna do this anymore..! I've been out here so long, I just want this to be over..!"

... Still here.

The glass went dark after that lightning struck, I couldn't see inside anymore. Instead, all I saw was my own reflection. And, behind that... Granny's backyard was gone. At the edge of the deck, there was not grass. Woodchips, instead. A playground that I knew, and a playground that I had not visited in three years. It was where my brother lived, where I had left him so that I might grow wings strong enough to fly him away.

And I spun around, hope gleaming in my eyes to see little Anthony waiting for me. Hoping, praying for whatever wisdom he might offer me from his innocent throne. His swing set, our swing set. Where we first dreamed we could fly...

Debts to pay.

But Anny wasn't seated there, wasn't waiting for me in his playground palace. Instead, standing in front of his swing set... Was Chara. Firm in the woodchips, no rain hit them. It was not raining on the playground, nothing wrong could ever happen in that perfect place. I furrowed my waterlogged brows; it wasn't that I was unhappy to see them, I just didn't understand how they got there. What happened?

Missing something.

They were smiling... But it wasn't right. They looked sad, too. I hated seeing tears in their eyes, would have done anything to cheer them up. So, I took a step towards the playground. I opened my mouth to speak while I reached out my unblemished left hand towards them, but I paused. My eyes caught something, a little red glow on the back of my hand.

I stopped, and I squinted at that little red gleam. Granny's house, the playground, Chara... What was I missing? What was going on? In the next instant, that glow exploded to life. In the blink of an eye scarlet cracks had shattered across the skin of my limb, and I watched horrified as a burning red glow mutilated my arm. Deep scars and trenches, they tore brutally and without warning up my forearm and bicep. And as I stumbled back first into what was now the front door of the house I had abandoned little Anny at once upon a time, my agonized scream made no sound at all.

Karma.

My green eyes snapped open wide and I sucked in two lungfuls of air. My entire body jolted, and the springs on the bed beneath me squeaked. For just a moment, I knew nothing. There was no Angel, there was no Anthony, there was no Fortune City and there was no war. No matter how horrible the nightmare was, the few seconds right after waking, when I don't remember who I am, was always the easiest part of my day.

But the memories came, and they came fast. The first real thought I had was an understanding that I was still alive, and that nothing good could come of that. My time was supposed to be up, the story was supposed to end one of two ways. Either I save Anthony, or he kills me. That was how it was supposed to go. Nobody else dies, nobody else gets hurt. My life to protect everyone else's, I was ready to make that sacrifice.

... But I wasn't dead. I was laying on a twin sized mattress with no bed frame, staring straight up at a dirt sky. Was I still Underground, was this still DoubleScramble? Why would I still be in DoubleScramble? Carefully, my eyes scanned the world around me. It was familiar... Too familiar. Walls, floors and ceilings that shifted with a strange magic. Like a glass wall separating me from the dirt... The Barrier Room? Was I still dreaming?

The stiff ache in my body when I began sitting up was enough assurance to me that this was real. I looked down at myself, at the light blanket that had been thrown over me. I was dressed... More than I'd been dressed when my memory cut off. Charred scraps of clothes must've been peeled off me, I was wearing baggy shorts now. I didn't have a shirt though, the only thing covering my upper body was a few bandages wrapped around my abdomen and one of my shoulders. Looking to my left arm, I could see that it was once again bandaged from shoulder to finger tip. I would have hoped that I hadn't expanded my cracks any more, if I thought I had some sort of future.

But I didn't, I couldn't have. If I was still alive it meant Gatherer had some sort of execution planned, right? He must have taken me alive after Chara left, that was the only thing that made sense... What happened after they hugged me, again? I shook my head, placed my hands on my temples to try and get my thoughts straight. If Gatherer captured me, why was I in Future's Barrier Room? Even if a miracle had happened and that old fart had swooped in to save us at the last second, he woulda put me in a bed, not a mattress on the floor of the nightmarescape where Chara and I did our training.

As I rubbed my head, my fingers made contact with something. A smooth, glassy surface. Delicate detailings... My brows furrowed, and I slowly pulled at the flowery creation placed behind my ear. When my eyes settled on the green and red veined ink flower, they went wide. I felt my heart drop into my stomach. What... What was this doing here? This, wasn't for me. I, I made it for...

*Look up.

My eyes darted up from the flower, I stared straight ahead of myself as per Texty's advice. And there, sitting a few feet in front my mattress in a metal folding chair... Was Anthony. Staring at me with his stern, unreadable expression and his powerful red eyes. He didn't look angry, but he certainly didn't look happy either. He'd flipped the chair around, folding his arms across the back of it while he stared at me with those lightless ruby orbs. He was cleaned up too, not the blood stained animal I had last seen him as.

A thousand and one questions swirled in my head, I was getting dizzy. I leaned back on one palm while my cracked left hand kept a careful hold of that ink flower. There I was, there we were. Alone in a containment room a hundred feet under the earth. Not on our feet and not with our fists up, but instead sitting and laying. Like there was no fight to be had... How long was I asleep..?

Anny shut those red eyes, exhaled quietly. It was the first sound I'd heard since Chara last spoke to me. Where was Chara, anyway? Why weren't they here? Why wasn't anyone here? Why the fuck was I alone in the Barrier Room with Anthony?! He must have seen the equations appearing around my head, because Anny finally spoke up.

"... Angel." His voice caught the attention of my racing mind, but I hadn't stopped staring at him. I hadn't moved a muscle, I had no idea if he was about to yank a crowbar outta his sleeve and start trying to dome piece me with it again. But Anny didn't look violent. In fact, he looked... Pensive. He frowned, glanced to the side and shook his head lightly. Then, with renewed fortitude he looked back to me. He took a deep breath, before stating clearly four words I wasn't sure I would ever hear him say.

"We need to talk."

Chapter 86: Two Angry Men

Or: Aftermath Of The Second

". . ."

It was one quiet staring contest between Anny and I. My mind was racing through a hundred different avenues, I was trying desperately to put together how I went from giving Chara my goodbye to sitting with Anny in the Barrier Room. He seemed to have more patience than usual, just sitting and watching me while he awaited my response. Finally, only after reaching up and pinching myself on the arm to assure this was real... I gathered the strength to ask. "Anny, be straight with me... What the fuck is goin' on?"

"You want the good news or the bad news?" He slouched forward some, rested his bearded chin on the arms he'd folded over the back of his chair. There was something so peculiar to me about his demeanor; he wasn't screaming at me. The room was vibrating with tension, but Anthony hadn't exploded on me. There was no aggression, passive or otherwise. He was... Just, talking to me.

"Uhh... I, think I could use some good news right about now." Bad news always outweighed good news these days, or at least it felt that way to me. Was usually more important, too. Might as well start easy. Slowly, I began the process of getting out of bed. I moved gradually, watched Anny with skeptical eyes. Parts of me were certain he was going to lunge out and strike me if I made any sudden moves, and I figured there were parts of him that thought I would do the same.

"Good news is, you're safe for now. I, know it's just you n' me right now, but you have allies waiting outside. You're in about the best place you could be." Allies waiting outside? I, guess that answered one or two questions. But if there were people who I could trust on hand, why were they waiting outside? Maybe it was Anny's request? Did he want to speak with me somewhere quiet? But, why would he be with my friends, anyway? He'd made it pretty clear who's side he was on last time I saw him. This still didn't make sense, but Anny went on regardless. "And before you ask; no, I'm not gonna try to kill you."

Okay, that was good news. If I'd heard it outta any other mouth I wouldn't have believed it, but Anny wasn't a liar. That said, his words weren't friendly. He said he wasn't going to try to kill me, he did not say we were on the same team. Regardless, I was still left with more questions than when I started. Now he's not gonna try to murder me? Last I checked all my speeches were in vain and this pasty dickhead had quite literally spat in my face when I tried to reach out to him. So, reasonably incredulous, I squinted my emerald orbs at The Anarchist. "... Why not?"

"..." Anarchy hesitated, and it made my jaw tighten. I was standing now, on my feet before him and ready to move. I might have still had a few bandages on me, but this wasn't like when I woke up after our last fight. I could bring my wings out, I could fight him again if I needed to. But, knowing that also brought another question. If I was already this well recovered, how long had I been out? I watched Anny's expression intently; he shut his eyes and sunk his chin a little deeper into his arms. His teeth ground together for a few seconds, I reckoned there were some unhappy thoughts twisting behind his forehead. What else was new? "I... Made a promise."

"A promise..?" My expression softened a little as I repeated his words to myself. I pondered, as more confusion was writing itself across my face. A promise to do what? Not kill me? Not attack me? That didn't add up - Anarchy had spent his entire adult life chasing my tombstone. What on earth could have been offered to him in exchange for my life? And who would have made such a bargain with him? My thoughts drew back to my last moments conscious, and my eyes started to go wide. Last I remembered, there was only one person in that timeline who didn't want me dead. And I had told them to run. So, with my pupils beginning to shrink in my eyes and a knot starting to form in my stomach, I asked with a frantic undertone in my voice. "... Anny. Where's Chara?"

"... That's, the bad news." Anarchy winced, it might've been the first time I had ever seen him do it. He looked away, something appeared on his face... Shame? What was he ashamed of? What did he do?! My hands balling into fists, I could feel cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. My cruel brain was giving me a quick playback of all my favorite memories with Chara, and it only made my fists shake. Anthony wasn't looking at me though, he couldn't see how tense I was as he went on with eyes painfully narrowed. "You were out for awhile, Angel. A lot happened."

"What do you mean a lot happened?!" I found myself snarling. In an instant I had stomped forward and off the mattress I had been standing on. My hands reached forward, and I grabbed two fistfuls of Anarchy's collar. His powerful red eyes darted into my green ones as I pulled him a few inches up from his seat and closer to my enraged and frantic expression. His face was a blank mask, a stern stare that showed no fear and showed no anger. Still I couldn't stop myself from shouting at him, "You guys wanted me and I told Chara to leave! There was only one thing that could have happened! So how did we get here, why am I still alive, and where the fuck is Chara?!"

"... There was another option, Angel. You just weren't selfish enough to see it." Anny looked me dead in the eye and said I wasn't selfish with the same mouth he'd used to bite me, spit in my face, and curse my name. He didn't pull my hands off and didn't try to clobber me for grabbing him, if I tried to punch him I thought he would have let me. He had this look in his eye, like he thought he deserved it. With all his might, Anny fed me the toughest pill I've ever had to swallow. "Chara offered up their life in exchange for yours."

I was silent. My eyes were wide, pupils shrunk and face pale. My fingers trembled now, it felt like the strength had suddenly been drained out of my body. My grip on Anny loosened, and he slipped away some. He could have pulled away fully, but he didn't. He just sat there, staring up at me with a tremble in his all powerful red eyes. And I asked, my voice barely even a whisper, as the walls started closing in on me. "... W-... What..?"

"Xander needed a seventh soul, and Chara knew he was greedy." Anarchy went on, but I wanted him to stop. I wanted everything to stop. I wanted to go back in time, wanted to hit an undo button and reverse this reality. There had to be a loop hole, right? This wasn't, really happening, was it? There was no way that Chara was... That they... It'd been a long time since I felt so anxious that I thought I would throw up. It was an anxiety symptom that Chara had helped me out of. But they weren't here now. Where were they? Anny had to be lying, this couldn't be real..! Anny must have seen the way my face was twisting with grief, because he looked away again. "They offered up their soul. In exchange for absolute power, Xander would have to let you go. They played into all his fears and all his insecurities, and they got him to agree to their deal."

"... N-no... No, that... That, can't..." My eyes drifted out of focus, if I was really conscious in that moment I might have thought I was going blind. Slowly, I let Anny slip through my fingers. I stumbled back a step or two, and when my foot caught on that mattress I hardly noticed. With my legs so weak and my body so heavy, I fell right back on to the bed I had been so carelessly napping in not five minutes ago. After I landed with a thud, I struggled to prop myself up on my shaky elbows. I was staring off into nothing at all, trying to fight back a panic attack while Anarchy continued to explain.

"... After Xander agreed, they talked me into promising to hold up his end of the deal. Said I owed you, said that by rejecting your KINDNESS that day I had betrayed you worse than you ever betrayed me." Anny's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightened. I blinked a few times and managed to look up at him with eyes desperate for even a glimmer of hope, but he couldn't look at me because he didn't have any to give. His grip tightened on his arms, he looked sick. "It was... Hard to disagree with them."

I was dizzy. My thoughts raced, it felt like I'd been poisoned. Like I was dying, like some part of my soul was being ripped out of me. And all I could think about was how easy it would have been for Chara to get me to relax. How calm they always made me, how simple it was for them to make my anxiety fade away. How happy I was whenever they were around... Was I really never gonna feel that happy again?

"After Xander had their soul, he tried to double back on the deal. I stopped him. Then he turned on me." Anarchy's teeth grit; the feeling of betrayal was never one he took lightly. Truthfully, I wasn't really listening. My mind was still stuck on Chara; their deal, what they had done, the fact that they were... No no no... Anny's voice was a dull echo in the corner of my mind. "I, tried to get Chara's soul back. But... I, I fucked up. And he got away."

There was a pause, a long one. My eyes drifted to the shimmering floor, the same floor Chara and I had laid each out on a hundred thousand times. We'd trained here, spent years here. This place was awful but it felt like home with them by my side. Now they were gone. They were gone, like my Granny was gone. They were gone, and it was my fault. Because I wasn't strong enough.

I don't know if Future stuck me down here because he thought I would explode with power when I heard the news. I don't know if he had Anny deliver the bad news because he figured he was the only guy who could survive me growing another halo or more wings or horns or some stupid shit. But, I didn't blow up. There was no tower of light, no shockwave of power, no dramatic music. Because I didn't feel powerful. I felt weaker than I ever had before.

"... H-... Heh..." I started laughing, in that boohoo kinda way. Tears were pouring out of my eyes, I hadn't even noticed. I had totally disassociated, zoned out stare focused on the floor that I had bounced off of so many times. All these years, all this work, all the sacrifice... I was cracking up as my throat tightened. Suddenly, wall after wall was crumbling in my psyche, and every cruel thought I'd ever had was flooding in and soaking into my brain. I ran my hands through my hair, shook my head, and I managed to squeeze out a few words in a voice that was cracked and broken. "I-I... I can't believe it..."

"... I... I know this is a lot, Angel." Anarchy clenched his eyes shut, his fingers had a white knuckled grip on his sleeves. He couldn't look at me; he probably wished I would have exploded. That I would have gotten angry, tried to hit him. He would have known what to do with that, but he didn't know what to do with this. So he just forced out a few more words, "But... You know I don't lie. I'm sorry."

"... N-no, no... Not, not that..." My little laughs were turning into sobs, and my throat squeezed especially tight while I tried to force out my next words. I had two fistfuls of my own hair, I felt frustration indignation and guilt all threatening to blow my skull apart from the inside. I could feel the foundation I'd built beneath myself turn to dust; 'redemption'. What a stupid word, what an unreachable goal. I felt in that instant that I had been chasing a fairy tail, but my cracking voice still managed to squeak out, "I-I can't believe that... T-that you were right about me..."

"... What..?" Finally, Anthony managed to look at me. Some emotion twisted his expression. Fuck, I hope it wasn't worry. Nobody should have been worrying about me, I was scum. It was more obvious now than it had ever been.

"I-I work so hard, and I have tried and tried to convince myself that I can do better, but who the fuck am I kidding?!" I snapped up at Anarchy, and this time he flinched. His pupils shrunk in his eyes, he grimaced at the sight of my tear stained face staring hopelessly up at him. My voice was weak, high pitched and muddled with tears and breaks as I spiraled right before his eyes. "I-I left you behind, I c-couldn't save my Granny..! Frisk left because of me, so many people have died because of me!"

"A-Angel, I-" Anarchy raised his shaky hand, tried to cut me off. But I wasn't done. This is what he wanted, right? Well here I was, off my fuckin' pedestal! My shiny new, 'fake' life that I didn't deserve was in shambles! So what the fuck did he have to worry about?! I damn near screamed in my hysteria,

"The ONE good thing I ever did! The ONE person I a-actually managed to help! And now they're dead BECAUSE! OF! ME!" I threw my head down as I shouted, curled myself into this tense little ball. But I was so sick of myself that I couldn't stand being that close to me, so my limbs shot back out. They forced my shaky body onto its knees. I was this pathetic, weak little thing. I had always been a miserable creature, and I always would be. "You were right, Anny! Is that what you wanna hear?! YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT ME!"

"That isn't...-" Anny shook his head slowly, looked at me with those mortified eyes. What right did he have to look at me like that? Shouldn't this have made him happy? Guess I couldn't even admit defeat right. In fact, it looked to me like there was only one thing I could do right now. The same thing I had been ducking and avoiding ever since that night in the rain behind Granny's house.

"I think it's pretty obvious by now that this world is worse off with me in! So go on, do what you were born to do!" I screamed with tears cascading down my face my fury as I knelt before The Anarchist. The Killer's Bastard Son, the best friend and the brother that I had fucked over. I lifted my bandaged left hand and poked repeatedly at the top left corner of my skull, praying for one last crowbar to the head. "Hit me Anny! Get it over with! KILL ME!"

"What?!" Anthony recoiled in his chair, almost fell back out of it. Must have been a surprise, he probably thought I was gonna weasel out of death until I had nowhere left to run. But frankly, I was tired. I was done. Without Chara, Anarchy was right. I had no justification for staying alive. Everything I touched really did turn to garbage, everything around me really was worse off with me there. So, I asked him to finish things. Was it really so hard to understand? It was what I deserved, it was the one way to make things right. One of us had to leave first, and it had to be me. Somehow, he had the audacity to disagree. "Angel, I just said that I'm not gonna-"

"You're fucked up because of me! Granny's dead because of me! Frisk is gone because of me! Chara's dead and Xander has seven souls because of me!" Tears streaming over my miserable expression, I beat my bandaged fist against my head while I went over every soul crushing failure. I couldn't take it anymore, I wanted this to be over and there was only one way out now. "I have tried and tried and tried and tried to find something redeemable about myself, but who was I kidding?! You were right, I'm not gonna get better! So get it over with and fucking kill me already!"

"I'm not gonna kill you!" Anthony stated clearly and a little frantically. He stood from his chair, but he did not draw his crowbar. He didn't strike me down like I was begging him to, and it boiled my blood.

"Damn it Anthony, you hunt me for three years and NOW you won't pull the trigger?!" My lips curled back in a furious snarl, and I once again viciously beat my finger against my head where I wanted him to strike me. And I just kept shouting, kept crying hysterically. "You were right about me! EVERYONE was right about me! So don't puss out now! BASH MY FUCKING HEAD IN!"

"NO!" Anthony stated with force, finally managing to plant his feet under himself. I didn't understand how he could stand so firm, how he could deny his birthright so easily now. This was how he'd wanted the story to end, right? Why else would he have made me suffer all these years in his name? Every awful thing anyone had ever said about me was true, I got it now. All the years I'd spent denying it were wasted. I was a bad person, and I wasn't going to get better. It just wasn't in my nature.

"Please..! I-I can't do this anymore!" I lowered my shaky hands away from my head, grabbed instead at the tightening cavity of my chest. My heart ached, my soul felt weak. As more tears overflowed, I clenched my eyes shut tight. I leaned forward, bowed my head and rested my forehead against the unforgiving floor that I had once stood on in vain hopes of protecting what I loved. But it was clear, now more than ever, that I wasn't good enough and I never would be. "Everything I love dies, everyone always goes away and it's always my fault..! Please, just make it end..!"

". . ." Anarchy just stood there. He stared down at me with wide, mortified eyes. I couldn't look back up at him, I was face down on the floor and fucking sobbing. All I could think about was all the time I had wasted telling myself and others it would be okay, all the promises I should have never made because I could never keep them. I was poison, and I always had been. There was no cure for being Angel, none that didn't involve one fatal crowbar swing. Anarchy's hands clenched into fists, they trembled white knuckled at his sides as his teeth began to grit.

"Y-you were right, I-I'm the evil one... You were right..." I managed to stammer pathetically into the floor as my hysterical rage dulled back into a soul shattering misery. I thought back to the parents I'd abandoned, the people who had died in my name. The promise to keep Chara safe, all the dreams and aspirations that I had let everyone hope for. It seemed so cruel to me in that instant, that I had made so many people believe in someone as shitty as me. "I-I don't wanna hurt anyone anymore, I-I can't handle losing anyone else... I'm alone, a-and... And I deserve this..."

". . ." Gradually, a growl started to creep out of Anny's throat. I didn't notice in my hysteria, but I was a lot like he was when I first met him. Exhausted, broken, laying in the dirt and begging for death. Anny made the connection though, he was smart like that. That growl grew in his throat, got stronger and stronger until finally he was roaring. And he yanked back his left hand, sent his crowbar sliding up his sleeve and into his grip. He shouted as he swung viciously, "DAMN IT, ANGEL!"

CRACK!

Anny's folding chair crumpled around the strike of his crowbar, just before it was sent blasting off towards the horizon. I lifted my head just a little to watch it go, before looking meekly up to my brother with tears in my KIND eyes. He threw his hand up over his head and let his crowbar slide back down his sleeve, stomping forward and dropping to one knee in front of me. He grabbed me by my shoulder and pulled me up off the ground, made me sit up while he pointed his finger right in my face. "YOU! DO NOT! DESERVE THIS!"

"... W-... What..?" I choked a little, struggling to swallow my tears. What did he mean..? That, contradicted almost everything he'd said to me for years... What would have changed his mind? I didn't understand, but Anthony did. And in his unique, abrasive way, he got started on beating back my misery.

"And you're not alone! Everyone isn't gonna leave!" He continued to assure while he forced himself to stand. He loomed over me, stood tall and with an absolute certainty. And he beat his hand against his chest as he snarled, "Because I'm still here, Angel! And ya can't get rid'a me no matter what you do, so I'm gonna BE here!"

Somehow... I stopped sobbing. I stared up at Anthony, and for the first time in over a decade being his brother did not make me feel guilty. I had experienced many times over what it was like to make someone who loved me hate me, it was a wretched feeling I had tried to numb myself to. But, what I had little experience with, was someone who hated me... Starting to care about me again. It made my KIND soul ache, made me choke on another sob while I asked in disbelief... "A-... Anny..?"

"Look, I've been a real piece'a shit too! And Chara's soul being in Xander's hands is way more my fault than it is yours!" Never in my life did I think I would hear Anthony The Anarchist admit he'd been a piece of shit. Really, I'd hardly let myself think it much. I'd certainly never believed he would say I didn't deserve bad things that had happened to me. But somehow, at the lowest point I'd ever been at, when there was no wings no Deltarune and no Chara that could reach out and save me... It was my brother who reached out and caught me. He went on, his voice softening up some. It felt like it'd been forever since he looked at me the way that he did now. "And I don't know what our odds are. I don't know if someone can come back from being a disembodied soul for too long, I don't know if a human soul can be taken back from a god..."

I tried to maintain eye contact, but I couldn't. I lowered my head, clenched my eyes shut and my fists tight. A few more tears slipped free while shame and regret burned in my chest. I felt so weak and pathetic in that moment, but... Some measure of FIGHT was starting to creep back in. My soul was red, after all. How, though? Anny didn't know the odds, but I did. There was no recorded case of a human soul being returned after becoming a part of a god. There was only enough accounts of souls returning to some kind of life after being separated from their body for an extended period of time to be counted on my hands. Potentially just hand. So... How?

"... But I know I have to try to fix this, because I messed up." In spite of those odds and in spite of the person that I was, Anthony reached out his hand. With the same hand that had held his crowbar, the same hand he'd used to strangle me... Anny reached out to me. He opened his palm, offered a hand when I needed it. An act of KINDNESS, of MERCY. Something he had learned from me. I stared up at him with teary eyes gone wide, I was baffled. Never in my life had I believed that he would be the one to reach out to me... And he narrowed his eyes a little, his expression relaxed some but remained focused as he forced out words that I was sure were hard for him to say. "So... Will you help me?"

"... I, just..." I wasn't strong enough to take his hand, not yet. But I didn't push it away, I didn't want to. I hoped Anthony would understand as I lowered my head again, as I let my shoulders sink and stared forlorn at the familiar floor. My arms were too heavy, my hands had too much blood on them. They rested knuckle down at my sides as I knelt there, trying to gather up whatever FIGHT was left in my scarred up body. And I shook my head slowly, "It was supposed to be me..."

"It was always supposed to be you or me, Angel. I'm sorry." Anthony did understand, and he didn't pull his hand back. He frowned, there was an understanding in his eyes that I never thought I would see again. He was apologizing..? If I didn't know better I would have thought he really had hit me in the head and this was all some hallucination. But this was real, and if there was one thing I knew about Anny it was that he'd never lie. So it meant something to me when he went on, "This was always something between us, I never should have let it spiral so out of control. I never should have let so many people get involved."

The walls stopped closing in, gravity lightened up. I blinked a few tears out of my eyes while my heart got room to beat again. I could see my reflection in the shimmering floor I was staring at... What would Chara say if they saw me like this? My fingers twitched, more strength bled out of my red soul and into my dying body.

"I understand that I've put you through hell, and I get it if you don't trust me." That shame and guilt was still sprinkled over Anthony's expression; were his eyes really those of a Killer? Still, Anthony had the strength to look at me. He kept his hand outstretched, and he shook his head some while he admitted, "But I need your help, Angel. Because every time I try this good guy thing without you it goes tits up."

"... H-heh... I-I know the feeling..." I finally managed to crack a smile at that. My body felt a little less heavy, I was finally able to lift my head and look him in the eye. Didn't seem real, seeing Anny without murder in his eye. Honestly, I hadn't let myself believe it would ever happen. I was certain Anarchy was going to destroy me, that this war was going to end with my life. But instead, Chara had... Something flickered in my soul, power flared inside me. And without another moment's hesitation my hand swung up. I grabbed Anthony's outstretched hand with all the might that I had in my bandaged left hand, all while my right wiped away the tears still resting on my cheeks. I nodded decisively, and spoke with a voice that had started to regain its strength. "Duh I'll help... What kinda best friend would I be if I didn't?"

Anny didn't say anything in response, he just smiled. Smiled like he did when we were kids, I think. It was a little hard to be sure, I hadn't seen a happy look on his face in a decade. It felt unreal, seeing it now. But it also looked... Natural. Like a smile belonged in his expression, like it was always supposed to be there. With his infinite might, Anthony The Anarchist pulled me up off the ground and to my feet. And we stood there, eye to eye and shoulder to shoulder for the first time since we were kids.

"Sorry, about uh... Getting, hysterical." I apologized awkwardly after he let go of my hand. On my own two feet now, I shook my head to get my thoughts straight. Had to blink my eyes and rub at my face a little to get rid of any remaining tears and tear stains, but at least my voice wasn't cracking and nasally anymore. It was a lot to take in, a latest failure and Chara gone from my side... But Anthony was here with me, I wasn't alone. And whatever the stakes were, I would get Chara back. Because together, Angel n' Anny can do anything. I knew that to be true. So I flashed a smile my brother's way, "Thanks for not bashing my head in. That was a bad idea, I think."

"Don't mention it." Anarchy stated with his own amount of awkwardness. He put his hands in his pockets, glanced to the side a little pensively. It would probably take a little time for him to adjust to speaking to me like I was a regular person, but he was trying and I appreciated that. He reached up with one hand, rubbing the back of his head while he choked out a few more words. "Thanks, for, y'know... Being, patient with me. Ahem."

"..." I looked at him for a few seconds, before I snerked. He narrowed his eyes back towards me while I started to chuckle, his ears turned a little red. I figured Anny had a ways to go before openly admitting he was wrong, and I don't think either of us could really be sure that he was entirely finished with his "people don't deserve to get better" mentality. But either way, he was here and he was trying to do the right thing. That was what mattered, I figured as I responded. "Any time, Anny."

"... Anyway." Anthony changed the subject, turned his body away from me and took a step in that direction. With the hand he'd used to rub the back of his neck he waved for me to follow, putting one foot in front of the other. He explained as he walked, "C'mon. We've kept the others waiting long enough."

"Others?" I repeated back to him, arching a confused brow. Regardless I followed after him, having to take a few hasty steps to match his pace. Once we walked shoulder to shoulder, I glanced over towards him and pondered his words. Once again, I had to wonder how long I was out for. And what others? Future? Anthony didn't answer my question with words, he just looked ahead and paused. I paused right with him, our momentary brisk pace brought to a sudden stop. And after watching a little smirk start to cross his face, my eyes followed the hand that Anny lazily pointed out ahead of us with.

There, across the Barrier Room and standing before the staircase that lead up and out of the underground chamber, was Future. The older Angel had his big arms crossed over his bulky chest, there was a knowing smirk on his own lips. It must've been quite a sight, watching me n' Anny walk home together. And as good as it was to see a familiar and friendly face in Future, my attention was drawn more so to those beside him.

Leaning on the king's side like he was a big royal wall was a face I hadn't seen in a real long time. Lexi The Predator, a confident grin shaping her features. She definitely looked happy to see me this time around; I recalled the promise I had made her last time we saw each other. If she was here now, maybe I'd done a good job of keeping it. Maybe I was better now than I was then.

To Lexi's left was Melanie The KIND. One hand thrown up over her head, she waved from side to side to make sure me n' Anny could see her. She was smiling too, it was a nice thing to see. To Future's right was Clover The JUST, hands in his pockets and eyes shadowed by his cowboy hat. But the golden glow of his accurate eye was apparent in that shadow, and even he had a slight smirk on his usually stern face.

Behind the four of them, only really visible because of his looming height, was Doctor Badster. Hands folded behind his back and shoulders hunched forward, his plastic smile seemed a little more giddy than usual. And while I wasn't exactly happy to see the bad doctor, I knew that he knew who signed his paychecks. If Anarchy was on my side then so was Badster, and the fact'a the matter was we needed more than muscle to make our way outta this mess.

On the stairs was two more figures. A greyscale lizard peaked timidly out of the stairwell, flinched a little when I looked at her. I recognized her shape as an Alphys, but her color and blacked out eyes reminded me more of CORE Frisk than anything. Speaking of the monochromatic child, they were the other figure on the steps. C Frisk stood a step down from the black and white shut in, hands folded behind their back and void eyes on me. They didn't exactly smile, but there was some measure of relief written on their face. I guessed that was good enough.

I stood there, stared in silence at the motley crew before me. Suddenly, this situation looked a lot less hopeless. I shook my head with some measure of disbelief, and as a smirk curled my lips and my eyes started to look a little less sunken in, I glanced back over to Anny. He cracked a sharp toothed smirk and he slapped one hand on my back, gesturing out towards the allies that were assembled before us with his free hand. He reiterated, and I didn't feel alone anymore.

"Others."

Bandaged hands rested on the window sill. The glass pane had been slid up, a warm breeze washed in through the opening and across Eden's haggard expression. Her sunken in violet eyes stared at the horizon; it was clouded, darker than usual. Blackened clouds crackled with electricity, looked like the first thunderstorm of the year was rolling in.

But, the real storm was the people at the gate. Signs overhead and chants echoing through the metal of the fence, a horde of protestors was kept at bay outside with the help of Gatherer's military. Thousands of monsters and humans, all afraid and all enraged. The leader they'd placed all their faith in had been torn from his pedestal and and placed under the boot of The Anarchist. Xander was outed as a liar, a cheater, and a scumbag. And part of Eden wished she was on the other side of the picket line, wished that she was standing by her people and fighting for something she believed in. But the truth was they had no idea how big all of this was, and that lack of understanding only terrified them more. Apparently they'd been out there for days; Eden wouldn't know, she just woke up a few hours ago. Hadn't even bothered peeling off the hospital gown.

Eden shut her eyes. She listened to the howling winds, the thunder booming in the distance. The voices that screamed through megaphones, past platoons of soldiers standing firm without fighting back. Over walls that were too high, through the windows on a tower that reached towards a furious sky. She breathed it in, let her bandaged arms tense with frustration... before they relaxed. She opened her eyes, and her gaze settled upon the looming statue of her brother in the courtyard below. Clifford The BRAVE's immortalization looked pretty dead to Eden.

The first drop of rain plummeted from above. Through rolling thunder and crackling lightning, water dropped from the sky all the way down to the stone cheek of Cliff's statue. The rain drop landed on his unmoving expression, it slowly slipped down his cheek... And Eden wondered, as she had many, many times. What would Cliff do in her position? There had to have been someone older than her, wiser than her. Someone she could trust, someone more suited for this. But Cliff was dead, and Xander was... Eden lowered her head, propped up her elbow on the windowsill and ran her hand through her black hair. The purple streak Xander had once helped her dye into her hair had all but faded...

"Eden." A familiar voice caught Eden's attention, but she didn't bother lifting her head. She just kept her eyes shut as Demon's foot steps came to a stop behind her. They were standing in a common area, low down in The Gatherer's tower. A more public space that now felt unbearably private with so many of this mansion's inhabitants dead and gone... Eden squeezed her forehead, didn't bother putting on any appearances for Demon, who stood a few steps back from the window she'd been staring out of.

"What..?" The crown princess of that shithole timeline responded in a groggy voice. She just kept rubbing her forehead and her eyes, like she was trying to scrape the exhaustion off her. Must've been the bandages on her hand, because she couldn't get a grip on her fatigue and peel it off.

"... What do we do?" Demon asked a simple question in a tone that they hoped didn't reflect their uncertainty. They crossed their arms over their chest, kept their back straight and kept their upper lip stiff. They were always at least trying to look like they knew what they were doing, Eden appreciated that about Demon. Of the few people still left in her corner, she was glad Demon was one of them.

"What are you asking me for?" Eden's question wasn't hostile, she really wanted to know. What reason did Demon have to look to her for guidance? She finally lifted her head, opened her eyes and glanced with an exhausted expression back towards one of the most reliable serial killers she knew. Wayward strands of unkempt black hair dangled in front of Eden's face, and despite over a week of unconsciousness she still looked to be in desperate need of a nap.

"You're the smartest person we know." Hacker answered her question in Demon's place, surprising Eden some. She had to look past Demon to see Hacker at the opposite corner of the room, leaning in the door frame. The grey light shining in through the window cascaded across his face, Eden could see the marks Anarchy's fist had left. A scar under Hacker's right eye and one over the bridge of his nose, twin horizontal lines carved into his flesh. They matched the vertical scar that went through his left brow. Frown clear on his new face, Hacker had buried his hands in his pockets before he finished his statement. "You're also the only person left around here that we trust, and the only one who understands this uhh... Political climate?"

"..." Ah fuck, he was right. Eden turned her head back into her hand, muffled her groan in her palm. She was in fact the heir to Xander's throne, the only one who had any idea how to run an empire in his absence. She was also of the few people in this wretched little group her boss had assembled who was unblinded by hatred, bloodlust, or greed. If there was anyone fit to rally the troops right about now... She pulled her hand off her face, used it to push her hair back and out of her eyes. Then, she stood up straight and turned around to face Hacker and Demon. She asked with sudden purpose, "What's Xander's status?"

"He's still out cold in the soup." Hacker answered clear as he could, he wasn't in the joking mood and didn't have time for it. He stepped away from the doorway, took steps until he stood by Demon's side. Despite the new details on his face and the shitty situation he was in, Hacker still saw a silver lining in Demon. Seemed to him he was the only Angel who still had his Chara. Still, he frowned a little deeper while he delivered the news to Eden. "Could be another day or two before he wakes up. He got the worst beating outta all of us."

"And Frisk?" Eden might have corrected Hacker and told him that Mew Mew, Felldyne, and Flowey got the worst beatings if she thought it was worth her time. But, in terms of who got the most shit kicked out of them, Frisk had gotten off easiest. Anarchy had been shockingly gentle with them; just a quick strike to the abdomen to knock them out. Apparently, Frisk had woken up before anyone else. That said, Eden had not seen them since she rose from her own coma.

"Moping like usual." Demon rolled their eyes and shook their head. Their scarlet eyes glossed to the side; they might have been worried to have had Frisk awake before anyone else, if Frisk hadn't been so dejected. They were a ghost lurking around their room and Anarchy's abandoned dorm, inconsolable and disinterested in the world around them. "They haven't been taking Anarchy's rejection too well, apparently."

"Tragic." Eden stated dryly, shaking her head. Then, she stepped forward and away from the window, started a march right past Hacker and Demon. She stared straight ahead with eyes a deep purple, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Purpose in her every step, she spoke clearly and concisely. "Round up whoever's left in Conference Room A. Meeting starts in 45 minutes; if Xander isn't awake by then we're starting without him."

Hacker and Demon exchanged mildly surprised expressions, before the both of them smirked at each other. Kid was comin' along, how 'bout that? The both of them had faith in Eden, knew she was the right person to turn to. So, though they hardly liked taking orders and would have preferred being anywhere but this crumbling timeline, they listened to her words and knew they would obey. Eden, too busy putting something together behind her forehead to notice the moment her murderer teammates were having, explained as she headed towards the elevator. "I'm gonna go take a shower and get dressed. Remember, Conference Room A."

"You got it, boss." Hacker and Demon called back in unison just as Eden stepped into the elevator. She finally spun around to face the two of them, spotted their knowing smirks as she hit the button on the elevator panel to propel herself upward. And as the doors began to close between herself and the Hacker and Demon she'd come to know, even though it seemed she had nothing to be happy about in this moment... She cracked a smile. Just a little one, to show some measure of confidence. Or, maybe to give them hope. Two things that seemed scarce lately.

After the door shut, Eden leaned back against the back wall. She could feel the elevator rising, and she allowed herself just a moment to imagine. She closed her eyes, put a hand around the faded orange bandanna wrapped around her neck. Feeling the elevator carrying her reminded her of the weightlessness she experienced in her youth, the thousands of times her bulky elder brother would scoop her up for one reason or another. A safety that felt far away and foreign now, but that was fine. Eden decided in that moment that she was BRAVE enough to face the world Cliff had died protecting her from. Not only that, but she was BRAVE enough to try her hand at protecting what she cared about from that world, too.

"If you're not gonna put your personal desires aside for the good of your people, then what THE FUCK did her brother die for?!"

... The elevator stopped, the doors opened with Eden's violet eyes. Moment's over, time to work.

(*Ring, ring...)

CTER
*Hey, Asriel? Anybody there?
*Ah, well. Guess I'll just leave a message.

CTER
*So, I reckon you might be a little surprised to hear from me.
*I heard the fight got broadcast multiverse wide again. Last you guys saw us, I was laying flat in the dirt surrounded by a big ass snake, and Chara was...

CTER
*...

CTER
*... Well, good news is, I'm not dead. If you, still see that as good news.

CTER
*I don't have all the details just yet, but apparently Anny finally switched teams in the bottom of the ninth inning.

ANARCHY
*Do monsters have baseball?

CTER
*That, is... A good question.

CTER
*Also hi Anny.

ANARCHY
*Hi, Angel.

CTER
*Ahem! Anyway, after Xander escaped and the screens shut off, Anthony dragged me-

ANARCHY
*Carried you.

CTER
*Transported me to rendezvous with Future and Lexi.
*I, would have called sooner, but I was sorta unconscious until a few hours ago.

ANARCHY
*I pitched the idea to deliver the bad news myself but the old knockoff advised heavily against it.

CTER
*Yeah Anny I can't imagine your scary ass woulda been too welcome in the Dreemurr house.

ANARCHY
*I coulda sent a letter!

CTER
*Oh yeah that woulda been great!
*"Dear furries, sorry I beat up your kids on live TV. One of 'em is fine tho. Forever yours, Anthony."

ANARCHY
*... I woulda had Gaster proofread it.

CTER
*Well is there anything you'd like to say to the peanut gallery now?

ANARCHY
*... Uh. Sorry about uh. Kissing Frisk.

CTER
*You did what.

ANARCHY
*It seemed like a good idea at the time.

CTER
*... Of all the shit you did you picked THAT to apologize for?

ANARCHY
*Trust me Angel if you'd seen it you would understand.

CTER
*... (Inhale).
*Anyway.

CTER
*If my cohost here hasn't already made it obvious, Anny and I are on the same team now.
*In fact, with Lexi's Pirates, Future, CORE(s?), and Anny's mad scientist, it... Kinda feels like we've really assembled a power team here.
*It feels... Overdue, and also like it should have been impossible at the same time. It's a lot to take in.

CTER
*I, can't imagine what you guys are feeling right now. I can't imagine what it must be like back home.
*And I, I know you probably would have preferred me to explain this all in person, but...

CTER
*... But I promised you I would bring Chara back safe, Asriel. And I meant it.
*So until I have them with me again, I can't go home. I hope you guys can understand.

LEXI
*Hey, you guys done in here?
*Not trying to be a bitch, but we got a plan to draw up and the doomsday clock is ticking.

CTER
*Yeah, no worries. I'm just leavin' somebody a message.

CTER
*There's my cue; I gotta go. But we'll be home soon, okay?
*Whatever it takes.

*Click...

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