Thanks go to Wingah, BonelessSkele, EpicSlayerGuy99, Eternal7, Zillowzest, 10burgers, DoctahSawbones, GMLxAwesome, Acoolnamme, DuckLIT122000, TiredWhiteMayge, and Zack Frost!
Sorry this update took so long, what with the holidays and my birthday it was a hectic three weeks! But I'm back now, and I think you guys are gonna love this chapter. Next update will be two weeks from yesterday, Thursday December 15th!
Disclaimer: I do now own Undertale.
Dear Melanie,
If you're reading this letter, then I don't mind writing it.
Melanie's frying pan vibrated when Demon's machete slashed against it. Her emerald eyes narrowed, she was sent skidding back on her heels. Demon didn't waste a moment, they darted after her and ran low to the ground, dragging that red steaming blade along the street tar before jumping into the air. They spun as they dropped down towards Melanie, slicing that cleaver down at Melanie's neck in an attempt to chop her head off.
It's hard to put everything I want to tell you onto one page. I'm sorry I didn't have more time to say everything I needed to in person.
Demon's scarlet eyes widened when a green wall appeared in their blade's path, bouncing their machete right back and forcing Demon to throw their arm back. Melanie's glowing green glare connected with Demon's stunned stare, and she yanked her frying pan back.
I think time is hard. I think we all get greedy for more time when we run out, instead of being thankful for the time we had. As I write this, I can't help but remember all the recipes I meant to share with you. I should remind myself that you're a fantastic chef, I should be proud to know that you can figure those recipes out without me.
Demon managed to throw up their free arm, and their teeth grit with pain when the metal of that pan cracked into their forearm. A flash of green light exploded out around the impact, its power vibrated up Demon's arm while they were sent flinging back through the air. They backflipped, landing on the balls of their feet and skidding back across the empty road while they snarled, pointing that machete at the KIND soul before them.
... Say, do you remember the day we first met, dearie?
Melanie was hardly intimidated. She planted her feet, kept her emerald eyes locked on to The Demon before her while her frown sunk a little deeper into her face. She could feel her knuckles going white around the handle of her pan, she hoped a deep breath would steady her hand. Her thoughts flickered between the dirty alley behind a multiverse bar/parlor and a dust stained patch of spikes in Jevil's circus... To Demon's surprise, Melanie launched forward in a sprint right at them.
You were so small back then, and dirty too, ahuhuhu~! I don't know how something as little as you ended up in such a dreary place, but I'm still not sure if you ever knew just how terrible that timeline was. You were just sitting there on the cold concrete, gladly handing over the only gold you had to one of my spiderwebs and thanking the spider when he delivered the croissant you payed for. I'd never seen a little girl who wasn't terrified of spiders before.
Hastily Demon stepped forward, slashing at Melanie only for her to jump, spinning in air and snarling as she sent her frying pan blasting down into the back of Demon's skull. The brutal force of her strike sent Demon launching face first into the road, and they skidded across the tar until they hit the sidewalk. Melanie landed on her feet while Demon struggled to prop themself up on one arm, their blood dripping onto the concrete and red mist streaming off the new cuts in their face.
Your clothes were ragged, your cheeks were sucked tight to your face, you must have been starving. But, when you saw me standing there, staring at you as you opened your mouth to take what I'm guessing was the first bite of food you'd had in days... You stopped. You tore that croissant in two, and you offered one half to me. You smiled at me, and I could never forget how bright your green eyes were in that dull, grey timeline. I think you said something like "Are you hungry too, miss?"
Demon threw their head back once they got to their knees. They looked over their shoulder and glared at Melanie, murder gleamed in their eyes while they wiped blood off their chin. Melanie didn't say a word, she just forced herself to take another deep breath. She let her anger trembling hand relax its grip on that frying pan.
Melanie, I don't know enough words to explain how special you are to me. You made me so happy every day, just by being yourself. Once you were in my life, every day became an adventure. Do you remember all the food you gave away to my spiders? All the miserable multiverse dirtbags that you taught to be just a little nicer? You must remember when one of them hit on you, and Grillby knocked him out with one punch! Ahuhuhuhu~!
The cruel words that Character had once said echoed in Melanie's head as she watched Demon climb back to their feet. Calling her trait pathetic, blaming her for Muffet's death, trying to convince her that KINDNESS was a weakness... All those words tried to force the anger out of her, the never ending ache that had been stinging her heart since Muffet was taken from her was bent on teaching her to be cruel. But she resisted, she ripped herself away from her wrath and she let her KIND soul shine on her chest.
This is a dim world dearie, but you're a bright light. Hold on to that. I know it's not easy to be so forgiving, to be so gracious and friendly and accepting. But staying true to that empathy and that hope in your heart has made you the strongest person I know. So stay KIND, Melanie. Keep doing what you know is right. I love you.
- Mom
Chapter 95: The Color Green
Or: Greenies Stick Together
White light rained down from above, but Hacker didn't flinch. His hands remained in the pockets of his lab coat as computer keys rapidly formed over him, his lightless green eyes didn't bother blinking while his magic shielded him. The scorching rays of Future's Beat Blasters were shining out in a cone around Hacker's keyguard, the white light illuminated his body while the scorching winds pulled at his lab coat. Still, he did not move.
Finally, those flaring lights died down, and Hacker's eyes glossed down and stared straight ahead. Molten plastic was dripping down from above, and through the fading shine of that Beat Blast Hacker watched Future launch. The king blasted right towards him on wings that he deserved to lose, cocking back one fist and roaring with power. Just as he swung that brutal punch at Hacker's despondent expression, the Fortunate Scientist tilted his head to the side and let those knuckles sail over his shoulder.
In the next instant ink exploded up around Hacker, stabbing in brutal spires up at Future. The king's wings beat, launching him skyward and out of the range of those spikes. Hacker frowned a little deeper as Future flew out of his range, his tired eyes blinked slowly as those ink spires dropped back down to a swirling black circle around his feet. His expression hardly lightened up while he clenched his hand to a fist in his pocket, and from the clouds above an eraser fired down.
Future's head whipped around, and his eyes widened when he spotted that eraser racing towards him. He barely had time to spin around, reaching out with both hands and letting that red rubber smash into his palms. Instantly it shoved him out of the sky, he was sent plummeting on the bottom of that wooden pillar to the hardened road tar below. He shoved with all his might, and when he landed on his feet it took all of the strength he had to keep that eraser from pushing down further and squishing him like a bug. Now he stood there, on bent knees with his hands trapped above his head, fingers digging into that eraser. His back was turned to Hacker, and it tensed with every other muscle in his body. "Son of a..! Anarchy made stopping these things look, so god damn easy..!"
"This used to feel good, you know." Hacker didn't bother berating Future, he didn't see a point in it. Instead, he lifted one hand lazily from his pocket, pointing it out to the king's turned back and sending the ink swirling at his feet firing out in a brutal drill shape. Future grit his teeth as he looked over his shoulder towards that ink spike barreling towards him, and Hacker grumbled silently when he watched the king's wings meld together into a turtleshell-like shield, stopping that ink drill dead. He sighed before he went on, "... Used to be the only thing that felt good."
Hacker pulled his index finger back towards himself, and that ink spike waved backwards, once more taking on a more liquid form. It cracked forward like a whip, curling in from Future's left in an attempt to get around his shield. Sweat beading down his forehead, Future hastily shoved his body to the right, jumping out from beneath that eraser. In the very next instant that eraser blasted down onto the ink whip, splattering it to a puddle and smashing the road apart beneath its power. Hacker blinked as wind blasted out around that impact, blowing a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes. "Killing used to make me feel strong. I was so sure I was a god whenever I watched life fade out of someone's eyes."
Future threw up his arms, wincing as pebbles and road chunks were sent blasting by him in the wake of that eraser's impact. He skidded back on his heels while his head whipped over towards Hacker, and his eyes locked onto the despondent scientist. Hacker just pointed one tired finger gun at him, and the ground rumbled and crackled before exploding apart in a wave of pens. Future's wings beat quickly, and the king was sent launching up over the vicious points trying to shred him.
"And then, what?" Hacker took a step forward, waved his hand through the air and commanded ink out of those pen's points. Future threw his arms out to his sides as dozens of ink spikes speared up at him. They swirled in black tar drills as Beat Blasters appeared throughout the sky behind Future, and when the king threw his arms forward and sent lasers of white hot light exploding down into that ink, it burned right along with the pens that it had spewed from. Hacker grunted his displeasure while he winced into that light, lifting one arm to guard his eyes from the flashing lights. He called into the dimming shine, "Someone who's a literal carbon copy of me gets twice as strong, just by playing nice? Suddenly I'm the knockoff?"
In the next instant, Hacker was throwing his previously raised arm out to one side and tilting his head to the other. Future had blasted right out of that white flare, stabbing right at Hacker's head with the newly formed spear of ink in his grasp. Ink slithered down Hacker's sleeve, stabbing up in a handful of brutal blades and spikes around his hand before he haphazardly swiped his hand at Future. The king launched himself back with the beat of his wings, and that gnarled mess of ink blades slashed through nothing but air. The moment he was out of range that ink returned to liquid, slithering and coiling around Hacker's arm.
Future's wings carried him back into the sky that he knew Hacker could not reach, and with a snarl he yanked that spear back over his shoulder. Red flashed from his fingers when he sent that javelin blasting down at The Hacker. He whipped it down at mache speed, an attempt at smiting that lowly murderer from the king himself. Hacker watched that attempt come without flinching, and just before the spear plunged through the space between his eyes, a portal opened between it and his skull.
The moment that spear vanished, Future whipped his head to his left. The very same javelin was spat out of another portal, racing with that same velocity at Future's skull now. He growled with annoyance while he bashed the spear aside with a swing of his powerful forearm, shattering it into inky glass and sending its shards scattering through the air around him. But, in that same instant, he heard the ground shatter apart. And by the time that Future had spun his head back to spot Hacker launching on a spring of ink coiled around his feet up at him, the murderous Angel was already right in the king's face with one ink spiked fist yanked back. He shouted out, "What a crock of shit!"
Future was quick to throw up the same arm he'd shattered that javelin with, lifting his forearm to block Hacker's left hook. But, when Hacker sent those ink spiked knuckles blasting down at him, his fist launched right through a small portal that had instantly appeared in its path, and Future hardly had time to widen his eyes before that punch exploded out of another portal on the right side of his head and blasted into his chin. The few inch long ink spikes that were sticking up on Hacker's knuckles cleaved through the flesh of his cheek while a blast of force sent the king's head bouncing to the side.
"The four winged son of a bitch I can understand, but what right do you think you have to high road me?" Hacker's spare hand darted up, grabbing a fistful of Future's collar while he yanked both of his knees to his chest. With that inky spring stilled wrapped around the both of his legs, Hacker sent a sternum shattering stomp blasting into Future's chest. A shockwave of force exploded out around the both of them from the impact, and in the next instant Future had raced down from the sky and exploded right through the concrete of some empty parking lot.
The king cleaved through stone on his back, digging a trench across that lot before finally coming to a stop. Red mist lifted off his chest while scarlet ichor poured out of the lacerations now painting his back, and he exhaled that same DETERMINED mist through his gritting teeth. He laid there half submerged in the earth, glaring up at Hacker, who had landed atop a telephone pole.
"You're weak too, old man. Everything you've ever had has been yanked outta your hands." Hacker spat a thick venom as he carelessly walked over the edge of that telephone pole. The ink that had once been that spring wrapped around his ankles and the wooden prongs of the pole, sticking to the bottoms of his feet as he flipped upside down there, remaining suspended on the telephone pole. He had his hands in his pockets still, even as gravity pulled his lab coat down behind him, making it hang like a cape. "You're a shell of an Angel, so why do you deserve wings? What makes you any less of a knockoff than me?"
"If you don't get it yet than I don't know what to tell ya..!" Future finally called back, halfway through yanking himself out of the dirt. He lifted his knee just to rest his hand on it, pushing himself up with a grunt. Blood was trickling down the backs of his arms from the tears that had been ripped open on his shoulders, but he still forced his aching body to stand. And the moment that he did, the king swiped his hand through the air, and his blood stained ink exploded out down his arm and through the air at The Hacker while he shouted. "It's not about who the 'real' Angel is, it's about being true to who you are!"
"Who I am? Stupid old man, don't you get it?" Hacker's ink released as that barrage of gnarled black blades raced towards him, and he dropped head first towards the earth. Future's barrage of ink spikes speared right through that telephone pole, chopping it to wooden logs and hissing wires in the blink of an eye as Hacker dropped through yet another portal. Future was quick to look over his shoulder, watching Hacker drop out of another portal a few paces behind him. The wretched scientist flipped in air, landing on his feet and immediately breaking into a dead sprint towards the king. "This is all I've ever been!"
"That's not, true..!" Future refuted as Hacker dove at him, throwing his arms up in an X and stopping another brutal spiked punch with his guard. Hacker landed in front of him as those ink knuckles tore open his forearms, and Future's wings coiled into drills, stabbing down at him the moment he landed on his feet. Portals opened in the path of those wings, and they were redirected to stab into the earth behind Future instead.
"If this was really all you are," Future quickly shifted his arms, sliding one out to the side even though it made those ink knuckles slice across his forearm. He grabbed Hacker by the wrist and yanked his arm out to the side, and The Hacker recoiled with wide eyes as the king cocked back his free fist. Future's green eyes shined with his red soul, scarlet mist rose from between his gritting teeth as his fingers clenched into a tight fist, before he sent a DETERMINED punch blasting right into the face of The Hacker. "Then your eyes wouldn't have EVER been green!"
A portal started to open in the path of that fist, but it was too slow. Future's knuckles crashed right into Hacker's nose, crunching it to the side and forcing his eyes to roll back into his head. His skull whipped back, and the rest of his body followed. A red shockwave exploded out around that impact, and The Hacker was sent rocketing through the air with a stream of blood and red mist trailing behind him.
Machete clanged off of frying pan, and both Melanie and Demon's arms were thrown back from the force of the impact. Demon snarled, throwing their free fist up at Melanie's jaw, only for a panel of green light to appear in its path and stop their punch dead. Demon hardly had time to react to their punch being so effortlessly blocked, because in the next instant Melanie's fist smashed into their chin and sent them sailing back through the air with a brutal uppercut and an emerald flash.
Demon managed to get ahold of their senses just as gravity started dragging them back towards the earth, and they flipped in air. Landing on their feet, they wiped the blood trickling down their chin away with one fist. Their other hand pointed that machete at Melanie, and Demon's scarlet eyes narrowed with a deep confusion and loathing. Their voice was an indignant growl. "... I don't understand how you're so strong. It doesn't make any sense."
Melanie didn't bother responding, there was no words she could say that Demon would want to hear. So, she opted to listen instead. Widening her stance and wrapping both hands around the handle of her frying pan, Melanie The KIND watched The Demon explode forward. That murderer sprinted across the pavement at max speed, dragging the blade of their machete along the stone and causing a stream of sparks to screech along behind its blade. They explained what they thought they knew, "Strength comes from cruelty! How can you win a fight without being ruthless?!"
Demon slashed up at Melanie the moment they were in range, but another green barrier stopped their blade on its upward swing. The Demon grit their teeth, they pushed as hard as they could, and a red crack splintered that hastily crafted green wall. Their blade cleaved up through it in the next instant, but Melanie was already jumping back out of their range. She threw one open hand out towards Demon, and immediately in front of her a wall of emerald energy manifested. It launched forward at Demon, and they planted their feet.
Wrapping the both of their hands around that machete, Demon widened their stance. Their right eye ignited with red light, and their lips peeled back into a snarl as they yanked their blade back just as that barrier got into range. Red light followed the arch of their slash, and they cleaved with all their might into that green wall... But they didn't cut through it. Their blade stuck about halfway through the KIND barrier, but they weren't strong enough to push it any further. For just a moment they were in a gridlock, grinding their teeth and planting their feet in an attempt to stop the wall from making it another inch forward... But they skidded back on their heels, and that wall crashed forward, smashing into them and shoving them back.
Demon was pushed at breakneck speed on that emerald barrier, all the way through the wall of somebody's abandoned house. They crashed through the brick and disappeared in shadows and dust, and Melanie kept one hand wrapped tight around her frying pan as she started to march towards the now broken home across the street. Her glowing green eyes narrowed as shingles dropped from the now drooping roof and over the crumpled wall, and two scarlet dots cut through the smoke to meet her stare.
In the next instant, Demon was exploding out of the smoke and darting towards Melanie. They were quick, weaving between the green barriers that were manifesting in their path before diving into the air, spinning and slashing viciously down at Melanie The KIND. She jumped back, watching red light carve the air where she'd just stood before Demon landed crouched, shoving themself up and after Melanie in hot pursuit. "All the people I've killed, all the sacrifices I made just to get stronger!"
Melanie side stepped an upward slash, yanking her pan back and sending it blasting at the side of Demon's head, only for them to duck down. They spun on their heel, swept their leg under Melanie's and knocked her feet out from under her. Her eyes widened, but she didn't panic as Demon cleaved down towards her while she dropped back first towards the ground. Demon snarled, "All the time I've spent, all the years I won't get back! Why are we the ones who have to be wrong?!"
"Because," Melanie reached back with her free hand, planting it on the concrete and swinging her feet upward. She backflipped just in time, that machete cleaving down right behind her back. It's blade was mere centimeters from her skin, but Demon was forced to lean back as well, narrowly dodging Melanie's feet kicking up at their chin. Melanie landed crouched with one hand on the ground, holding her frying pan out to the side before she launched forward. "You're hurting everyone!"
Demon recoiled, throwing up that machete in front of themself and turning the broad side of it's blade forward. They grabbed hold of the top of the blade as well as the handle, and they winced when the force of Melanie's frying pan striking that cruel steel sent tremors up their arms. They were sent skidding back on the balls of their feet, snarling as they yanked their machete out to their side. But Melanie was already sprinting forward to meet them, pulling back her own weapon. As the two swung at one another, Demon demanded to know. "Why should I care?!"
A shockwave of power, a green shine and red sparks. Machete and frying pan smashed into one another and bounced off each other, and both The KIND and The Demon were sent skidding a few steps apart. Melanie hastily wrapped the both of her hands around her pan's handle and darted in, running low to the ground and swinging with brutal strength up at the chin of her adversary. She offered a counter question while Demon threw their head back and her pan smashed through nothing but air, "Why do you pretend you don't care?!"
"Pretend?!" Demon repeated, disbelief apparent in their tone as they stabbed the curved point at their machete's peak at Melanie's chest. Melanie hastily side stepped that stab, before she was forced to jump back out of the range of the slash that immediately followed it. Demon turned on their heel to face The KIND, immediately diving after Melanie with another savage swing of that blade.
"You helped Chara's plan to succeed and made sure Angel was spared!" Melanie threw one hand out into the path of the blade slicing towards her, and an emerald panel appeared in its path. Demon's machete bounced off that panel, but they didn't look surprised. Instead, they yanked back their fist, sending it blasting down towards Melanie's face. The KIND soul didn't budge, yanking her head back and whipping her forehead right into those knuckles. Another flash of green, another burst of scarlet sparks and they were gridlocked. Demon's red glowing fist was stopped dead by the green shine on Melanie's forehead, and she shouted defiantly. "You tried to fight Anarchy because someone you care about begged you to!"
"You don't know what you're talking about..!" Demon was quick to refute, but Melanie didn't bother listening. They pulled that machete back again, swung it past that green panel and instead swiped at Melanie's waist. But she jumped, and Demon's eyes followed her up over their head, widening as she yanked back her frying pan.
"If you really only cared about yourselves," Melanie sent her frying pan blasting down on an arch of green light, and the flare of her KIND soul reflected in Demon's DETERMINED eyes. That pan blasted right into Demon's face in the next instant, and a shockwave of green light blasted out around the impact while Melanie snarled. "You wouldn't even BE HERE!"
In a flash, Demon was sent exploding back through the air. Melanie landed on her feet and watched with narrowed eyes as her opponent was sent sailing down the street. But, she was only able to watch Demon be flung into the distance for a moment, before she recognized another body flinging in her direction. Melanie turned her head to watch Hacker launch by her side, racing down the street before finally blasting through the front window of some shop.
Eyes narrowing, Melanie turned her body towards that shattered window and darkened store. She had to wait a moment or two, but soon enough a hand reached out of the shadows, grabbing onto the side of that window frame. With his torn up lab coat clenched in his free hand, Hacker stepped out of the dark. Blood streamed out of the scrapes and cuts that now detailed his body, along with red mist. And when he lifted his head, and his dull emerald eyes landed on Melanie The KIND, the bright glow of a charging Beat Blaster illuminated the dark room behind him. He smirked like a deadman, "I've been fightin' myself my whole life, green. Now I think I'd rather fight you."
Future lowered his raised fist. He exhaled scarlet fog, and his wings relaxed on his back as he watched Hacker disappear through the wall of that building. As much as he would have liked to keep his focus on his younger, shittier self, Melanie had sent a more pressing problem his way. Future tilted his head back to watch Demon sail by overhead, stuffing his hands in his pockets while he did so.
He turned on his heel to watch them crash back first into the concrete. They skidded down the road for a few more paces, before their momentum finally reached its end, and they laid there... And then threw their legs up. They pulled their knees to their chest and kicked upwards, throwing themself back up to their feet and sticking the landing. The moment they did, their eyes locked on to Future, and their hand wrapped tighter around that machete.
"... Evening, squirt." Future frowned as he spoke. His haggard eyes locked onto Demon even though it hurt him. It always hurt him, they looked like his Chara. They looked like the munchkin. But, he knew how to dull the pain. His wings opened behind him while his flask appeared in his hand, and he absentmindedly screwed off the cap while his wing span blocked Demon's path. "Nice day today."
"You look as jolly as ever, old man." Demon squinted irritably as they watched Future bring that flask to his lips. He tilted his head back and drank without paying them much mind, and they hardly took kindly to that disrespect. So, they lowered their stance and held that wicked blade out to the side, preparing to strike. They managed to force a cruel smile, "Something on your mind?"
"... In my life, I've loved two Charas in two different ways." The answer wasn't that hard to give, it was always easy for him to be honest with a Chara... Until it wasn't. He squinted into his flask, spent a second or two trying to gauge just how much he'd drank. He gave up on the third second, screwed the cap back on and let that flask disappear into his inventory. Then, he put both his hands in his pockets, and he forced himself to look Demon in the eye again. "Now they're both gone, and it's your fault."
"I would think that'd make it easy for you to kill me." Demon didn't react to Future's accusation, nobody knew better than them what they'd done. Instead, they paused there as a cold wind blew by. They watched that sad old king, and they tried to understand why he had wings and they didn't.
"... You'd think that, yeah." Future forced his lips into a bitter smile after he gave his answer. He knew he couldn't keep hearing their voice without another drink, so he didn't wait for them to respond. The pavement separating the two of them suddenly blasted apart, and Demon recoiled as row after row of pen spikes crashed up towards them.
Demon sprung into the air, launching themself over those pens and lunging over their points towards Future. But their attention was quickly drawn to the three paper airplanes racing towards them. Suspended in air, they yanked back their machete and cleaved right through the sharp edge of the first plane to get in their range, splitting it in two and sending its two sides dropping down into the pens below. They yanked one knee up to their chest as the next raced up towards them, stomping down onto the paper plane's flat top and launching themself up over it.
They spun in air as they launched, cleaving right through the third airplane like a buzzsaw. They stopped their spinning as its now separated sides dropped from the sky, and they plummeted down behind Future. Demon stuck the landing, and they immediately spun around to face the king. He didn't turn to face them though, instead just leaning to his side as they broke into a sprint towards him and letting the airplane they'd avoided blast past him in pursuit of Demon.
Demon slashed up through that airplane, and as its twin sides crashed and skidded across the cracked pavement, they dove at Future's turned back and yanked back the brutal point atop their machete. Unbothered, Future's wing pulled forward before swinging back. It smashed into Demon's side, swatting them away like they were a fly and sending them tumbling over the shattered road and onto the sidewalk.
Future looked to them from the corner of his eye, he was still frowning as they forced themself up to their feet. The moment Demon was standing, he waved one hand towards them, and a Beat Blaster appeared over his head. it unleashed a wave of searing heat, and Demon sprinted to the side. That laser followed close behind, scorching the earth at their heels while they circled around Future. His haggard eyes watched them make their way from his right to his left, and the moment they started to dart inward towards him he stamped his foot.
The ground rumbled beneath Demon's feet, and they instinctively leaned their body to the side. They reached out, planted their hand on the ground and rolled out of the path of the eraser that fired out of the pavement. It blasted right through the space they'd occupied just a second earlier, and Demon yanked back their machete while their eyes darted up to the Beat Blaster over Future's head. it had paused its laser momentarily, expelling steam out from the sides of its speaker like it was cooling down. Demon took this opportunity to whip their hand forward, throwing their machete on a wicked arch up towards that Beat Blaster.
Future's eyebrows rose as he watched that machete slice clean through his Beat Blaster, crashing in through its barrel and blasting out its back. Sparking wires and oil dripping metal rained down around Future, the sound of it all clattering to the ground was almost enough to distract him from the footsteps racing closer. But he looked forward again, just in time to see Demon diving at him with a drop kick. It was a poor imitation of one of Chara's kicks, Future thought while he side stepped it. They were too slow.
Demon landed behind Future and skidded for a step or two, before diving at his turned back and yanking back a fist to punch him in the back of the head. His fist swung back first though, and his knuckles smashed into their jaw in a brutal backfist that sent them launching right back down the road.
Demon's eyes clenched shut tight and their teeth grit as they tumbled and skidded across the shattered pavement, blood trickling down their chin from their split lip. After a moment though, they reached back and planted their hands on the shards of hard tar, throwing their legs up and backflipping onto all fours. They skidded another few paces before finally coming to a stop, and their machete dropped from above, sticking into the stone right beside them.
Spitting a mouthful of broken lip blood to one side, Demon grabbed the handle of their machete and used it to drag themself back up to their feet. Future frowned a little deeper at this, and once again he lazily gestured towards them with one hand. Demon's eyes went wide when they spotted a mechanical pencil appear floating beside him, and they hardly had time to react before it fired.
Thunk!
Demon's pupils shrunk, their eyes trembled with pain as a bolt of graphite fired right through their right shoulder. The force of its impact was enough to knock them back off their feet, and they yanked their machete out of the pavement as they tumbled back onto their side. They cried out in pain, their arm tensed and twitched as blood poured out around that graphite spike, and Future's eyes narrowed...
"W... Why, are you..." Demon grumbled through gritting teeth, biting back pain and wrapping their good hand around that spike. Red mist was trickling out around the hole it had punched in their flesh, and more blood poured out of their flesh as they started to pull on the bolt that had punctured their arm. Their eyes widened, their teeth grit... And as the graphite started to slide out of their flesh, they roared in fury and agony. Finally, after several seconds of squirming and shouting, that lead bolt was ripped out of their arm, and they immediately threw it away from themself. It clattered to the ground and splattered the blood it was stained with across the road, and though they were now dripping with cold sweat, Demon still wrapped one hand around the gaping hole in their arm and snarled at Future from where they knelt. "Why are you going easy on me..?!"
"Ionno." The king shrugged his shoulders. He hadn't moved an inch since the fight started, had just knocked Demon aside every time they tried to attack. No matter the angle, he swatted them aside and then waited for them to rush him again. If he'd really been trying, he would have aimed for their heart or head with that mechanical pencil. But now the pencil was gone, and he just stood there as Demon forced themself to stand. "Guess I'm just waiting for you to do the right thing. Every other Chara I knew did it eventually."
"Well I'm not like them." Demon growled, their scarlet glare settling on Future once more. They removed their now blood soaked hand from the oozing and steaming hole in their other arm, wrapping those wet fingers around the handle of their machete and staining it with their own blood instead of Future's. Their DETERMINATION would heal that hole in their arm eventually, even if it took longer than that stupid Heir.
"Of course ya aren't." Future didn't hesitate to agree. He lifted one hand, kept the other in his pocket while he pressed his thumb and middle finger tips against each other in preparation to snap. He blinked those tired green eyes, and spoke just before he snapped his fingers. "You're still alive, and they're dead."
"Yeah?!" Demon challenged as they jumped to the side, an eraser smashing down into the earth where they'd stood a moment earlier. Though their one arm still hung limp, they didn't hesitate to point their machete at Future and plant their feet. "You got the balls to change that, old man?"
Future didn't speak for a moment, but he did crack a little smile. Over each shoulder twin Beat Blasters appeared, and their glowing white light cast shadows across his face and left only the dim glow of his eyes. "Lets find out."
Melanie threw one hand up in front of her, and a wall of green light flashed to life in the wake of that laser. The Beat Blast crashed into her KIND barrier, and she winced some as she tensed her hand, green shining in her palm. White light flared out in a cone at her sides, and though it rumbled her barrier held. For a moment Melanie was relieved to see that ivory flare dying down, until an eraser blasted through the smoke.
That pencil battering ram crashed right through her defenses, and it was all Melanie could do to throw her arms up in an X in front of herself before it slammed into her too. She was sent rocketing back through the air, the eraser had stopped dead after striking her and that resulted in what was essentially a giga shove.
Wincing, Melanie managed to lift her head while she rocketed backwards and spotted several mechanical pencils appearing in the sky above the building that Hacker was pulling himself out of. She tilted her head back then, and when she spotted the brick wall she was approaching head first, she flipped backwards. She slammed feet first into the brick, and her impact sent cracks spiderwebbing through its infrastructure. Quickly she threw her free hand up in front of her, and a dome of emerald light flashed into existence in front of her just in time.
Thunk thunk thunk!
Melanie didn't bother watching the graphite bolts strike her defense, instead jumping off the wall she was perched on. She spun around to face that brick and cranked her frying pan back, smashing a brutal strike into the wall and sending it crumbling inward. In the dust of its crash she disappeared, just as graphite bolts started shattering through that KINDNESS dome.
"Are you trying to be stealthy right now?" Hacker called from across the road he was wandering down. Without any particular haste he pursued Melanie, one hand in his pocket and the other holding that torn lab coat over his shoulder. Over his head, mechanical pencils continued to blast lead bolts through the building that Melanie had escaped into. "You understand that your power essentially makes you a big green flashlight, right?"
Melanie didn't respond with words. Instead, she let the light of her soul answer for her. On the other side of the now crumbling house she'd escaped through, a massive wall of emerald energy rapidly manifested. It rose high into the air, over the building it stood beside. Then, without warning, it began sliding towards Hacker. His eyes widened as that wall of green steel crashed through brick and mortar with ease, quickly closing in on him with a tidal wave of rubble tumbling in front of it.
Hacker hastily crouched down, planting one hand on the eraser that had suddenly sprouted from the earth beneath him. Rapidly that pencil pillar shot into the sky, lifting Hacker high and over the green wall blasting towards him. He scaled its height before it crushed through the base of his pillar, snapping the wood in two and sending Hacker and the eraser he was perched on tumbling forward and back towards the ground below.
As he plummeted, Hacker spotted Melanie racing up towards him on a platform of KIND energy. She yanked her frying pan back while he dropped face first down towards her, but a portal opened between the two of them first. Hacker disappeared into that spatial rift, and Melanie's pan swung through nothing but air. Another portal opened over her head, and Hacker dropped down, flipping out of his upside down position and landing behind Melanie.
For just a moment, the two stood there. Back to back, on a platform of KINDNESS that just wasn't big enough for the both of them. Hacker still had a hand in his pocket and one on the coat he held over his shoulder, and Melanie had the both of her hands wrapped around the handle of her frying pan. He looked at her, over his shoulder and from his eye's corner. "You got the guts to swing first, green?"
Another pause... And then Melanie moved. She spun around with a brutal swing of that pan, but Hacker ducked under her strike while he spun on his heel to face her. He shouted "Olé!" While he tossed his lab coat up off his shoulder and right onto Melanie's face, blinding her for the moment and making her recoil. He sprung right back up then, yanked back a fist and sent a punch barreling towards her face, only for a panel of green light to flash to life in its path. His eyes widened some when his knuckles cracked into that KIND energy, and he yanked his fist back, shaking his now stinging fingers while Melanie tore the coat from her face.
Tossing that lab coat aside with one hand, Melanie sent her pan blasting up at Hacker's chin with the other. Hacker flipped back however, grabbing onto the edge of the emerald platform they fought on with ink soaked hands. He flipped over the ledge and under the panel, ink sticking him to one side like a web and letting him swing his body right back up the other side. Melanie spun around as Hacker flung up with a kick from the ledge behind her, and her teeth grit with exertion as she forced his kick to a stop by catching his foot in her pan.
Hacker looked aggravated by this, before yanking back his free leg, swinging another kick at the side of Melanie's head. She ducked beneath that one, throwing her pan up and forcing Hacker to back flip off of her platform. A computer key appeared at level with Melanie's KINDNESS platform though, and Hacker landed atop it. Hands back in his pockets, his glare settled on Melanie while ink spikes exploded up from his shoulders and out from under his arms.
The four spikes blasted towards Melanie, who's platform immediately shifted. It flipped from horizontal to vertical, stopping those spikes of ink against it but letting Melanie slip off of it in the process. She dropped back first towards the ground, reaching up towards Hacker with one hand and letting a barrage of KIND panels appear over her. They all fired up at The Hacker, who slashed them away with those four ink tendrils while Melanie flipped back, landing on her feet and bending at the knees some from the force of her landing.
Hacker glared down at her as his ink tendrils slashed outwards, cleaving through the last of those panels and sending them raining down in emerald shards. He snapped his fingers, and Beat Blasters immediately began forming beneath him. Their speaker barrels hummed with power while they locked onto Melanie, who was quick to crouch down and plant one hand on the ground. Immediately KIND light formed a large dome over her head, and the power of her soul made that dome thicker and thicker before those Beat Blasts finally rained down.
Melanie knelt there, under the flashing white and green lights. She was trapped now under Hacker's firepower, her mind raced for solutions. Her barrier would hold against those blasts, but he would no doubt have another assault planned. More erasers or mechanical pencils, those pierced her defenses much better than the blasters... She needed to pick a direction to flee in the moment the light show died down, but with that shine just outside her barrier, she had no idea what her surroundings looked like and no idea what direction would be the best route for retreat.
"All you're doing is turtling!" Hacker's voice caught Melanie's attention, and her eyes widened as she spun around. He was stepping through a portal behind her, reaching out with one hand and sending those four tendrils spiking out towards her. She barely had time to recoil, tilting her head to the side and letting one spike fire over her shoulder. It grazed her face and opened a cut in her cheek while two more tendrils narrowly missed her shoulder and her thigh, but the forth drove itself right into the right side of her abdomen. Hacker snarled as Melanie was sent launching back on that spike, "Come on, green! Where's that fighting spirit?!"
Blood spewed out of Melanie's nostrils and past her lips as she slammed into the cracked concrete and skidded back. That ink spike yanked itself out of her side and sent more of her crimson color splattering over the road, and she immediately clasped one hand over the gash it left in its wake. Green light shined out of her hand and over her wound while blood seeped through her fingers and stained her apron, and Melanie propped herself up on one elbow, wincing and gasping through blood stained teeth. She demanded to know, "Why are you, still doing this..?! You know it's wrong..!"
"Yeah, and what's the right thing ever done for me?" Hacker tilted his head with an irritable squint, waving his hand absentmindedly. On this command that blood soaked tendril cranked back before whipping forward. It slashed across Melanie's shoulder, and she yelped and flinched as her skin was slashed open. More blood trickled down the slash now in her arm, but she kept her focus on healing the hole in her side. Hacker shook his head, waved his hand again and sent that whip cracking down over her thigh this time. "Got my face beaten in by Anarchy. Cost me a home, a job, and most certainly my life if Angel screws up and Xander finds out that I gave him a hand."
Crack!
Melanie clenched her eyes shut and inhaled sharply threw her teeth as that ink whip cracked her again. It was cruel, but she knew Hacker wasn't going in for the kill on purpose. He wanted her to prove him wrong, he wanted a reason to believe again and she knew it. So, even as he cracked the whip and opened another cut on her body, she refused to let herself hold onto contempt. Those lasers had stopped firing overhead, shards of Melanie's KINDNESS dome were raining down around the two of them.
"I mean doing the wrong thing hasn't been too great to me either lately, but at least it's upfront about it." Hacker's cold emerald eyes narrowed at the sight of Melanie flinching on the ground, trying to heal her own wounds with the light of her own soul. His hand was raised, but it paused there. His fingers trembled a little... Hacker growled irritably as that ink whip splashed to the ground, throwing his hand out to his side and snarling. "I've felt like shit ever since hearing your stupid KINDNESS speech, and trying to help people has only made me feel worse!"
"Change... Isn't, easy..." Melanie explained as she forced herself to sit up. That hole in her side was just a little scab now, so she moved her hand to the bleeding slash on her thigh. Those green shards trickled down around the two of them, and she sat there with Hacker looming over her. But, even though Melanie was gasping and wincing and bleeding, she did not glare at Hacker. She did not snarl or bark like all others had. "Doing the right thing is hard, but it's worth it..."
"... Yeah, a goody goody like you would say that." Hacker's bitter eyes narrowed, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. From his lower back, ink formed. It rose, curled over his head and ended in a wicked point like some twisted scorpion stinger. His teeth grit for a moment, and he hesitated...
"FOOOOORE!"
Hacker's head suddenly whipped to the side at the sound of Future's shout, just in time to see Demon ragdolling towards him. Their body crashed into his, and the two of them were sent launching over the sidewalk and through the heavy wooden doors of some office building. Melanie's head swiveled to watch them crash, before she turned to look at the winged king landing beside her. Future carefully rested a hand on her shoulder, kneeling beside her. "Are you okay?"
Melanie nodded, and Future helped her get to her feet. Her KINDNESS had healed the worst of her injuries now, all that remained were some stinging cuts and scraps. Future smiled some when he was sure she was alright, and she returned that smile along with an affirmation. "I'll live, yeah."
"We wouldn't be so sure!"
The sound of those two layered over voices was immediately followed by a powerful boom, and Melanie threw out one hand to summon a barrier in front of herself and Future. Rubble blasted against that emerald wall, a pillar of scarlet light had blown that office building to smithereens in an instant. Now, Future and Melanie huddled behind that KIND defense in the storm of scarlet power. And from the center of the rubble and DETERMINATION, with hulking hands of ink reaching out of their shoulders, came Character The Wingless.
"Yep, knew that was comin' sooner or later." Future stated, jaded as ever. His haggard emerald eyes watched right with Melanie's bright ones, they could both see Character in a green tint through that barrier and in spite of all the red flaring around them. The two glanced at each other while Character's flaring aura started to die down and concrete chunks stopped flinging against that KIND wall, they both knew what the odds were. Character's hyper regeneration would render all their attacks null and void, and their combined strength put Future and Melanie alike to shame. Judging by the explosions and robotic laughter over the horizon, it didn't sound like any of the others at the wall would be freed up any time soon. So they were either gonna talk Character down, trap them with a trick Melanie doubted they'd fall for twice, or die.
With this in mind, Melanie darted to the left and Future to the right as one of Character's ink fists launched forward on a stretchy ink arm. It blasted right through that barrier, but it missed the king and The KIND by a long shot. Future and Melanie both darted in from Character's left and right in an attempt to flank, but The Wingless merely threw their hands up over their head. On their command the concrete exploded apart, and a sea of pens blasted out from the earth around them.
Future's wings beat, launching him up into the air while Melanie jumped back, landing on an emerald platform and ascending up above the battlefield right with him. The points of those pens spewed ink, and in the next instant Future was weaving between slashing tendrils while Melanie bashed them back with her frying pan. Character watched those two gnats buzz in the sky from their place on the ground, and it made their teeth grit. "Come on! Running away isn't gonna save you!"
"Hah!" Melanie threw one hand down towards the sea of whipping tentacles below, and with a mighty flex of her soul a dome of emerald energy exploded to life. It raced down like a bowl being placed over a cockroach, quickly encapsulating the mindless flailing ink below. She turned her head then to the king flying beside her, "Hit 'em hard!"
The moment that dome was up those tendrils were smashing against it, so Future had to work quick. He threw both of his hands out to his sides, and immediately a circle of Beat Blasters started to shine to life at the base of Melanie's KINDNESS Dome. Then, above that, another halo of shining white light. And above that halo, a third. The white light of those three rings glowed brighter, and the hum of a hundred speakers made the air vibrate with power. Each halo began spinning, and when Future threw his arms forward and pointed the both of his open palms down at the cracking green Character had been trapped within, his Beat Dome unleashed its atomic fury.
But, just as Future's Beat Dome released its waves of scorching death, the peak of Melanie's KINDNESS dome shattered. In the blink of an eye Character had blasted out of her trap and launched into the sky. They raced right up at Melanie, and she barely had time to summon one of those KINDNESS panels before Character's fist swung. Their punch smashed right through Melanie's pitiful attempt at a guard, and she lurched forward when their fist blasted into her stomach, coughing a mouthful of spit over Character's shoulder.
"Melanie!" Future cried out, his head whipping over to spot her suspended on Character's fist. Character didn't pay him any mind, one of those ink hands on their back instead yanking back an open palm. That massive hand slapped into Melanie's side, and she was sent rocketing through her platform of KINDNESS. She blasted prone down towards the earth below, and Future watched in horror as her body blasted right through the side of a building, disappearing within. He turned his head back towards Character, and they were already reaching out towards him.
An ink whip blasted out of Character's palm, and Future recoiled as it latched to his chest. Character yanked themself towards him with that ink in the next instant, and Future was quick to lean back and duck beneath the rabid punch they swung at his head. He cranked back his leg as Character overextended above him, and with DETERMINATION steaming off his calf he sent a brutal kick right between the fusion's legs and into their shared groin.
A shockwave blasted out around the both of them from the impact, and Character immediately lurched forward. Their eyes went wide and their jaw snapped open in a silent scream, that ink they'd used to latch onto Future splattered back to a liquid while Future grabbed them by the collar. Snarling, he spun so that Character was the one facing the earth and he was on top of them, and he pulled the knee of the same leg he'd just kicked them in the junk with to his chest. The king roared, and in an instant a DETERMINATION steaming stomp shotgunned right into Character's solar plexus.
In the blink of an eye The Wingless was sent like a bolt of lightning right back into the Beat Dome they'd jumped out of, and Future roared as he threw his hand out towards them. On his demand those three halos blasted their heat rays once more, and a flash of ivory light engulfed the city in an instant. A heat wave melted steel, the force of the blast had windows shattering and trees and telephone poles alike ripping out of the ground. It blew Future's hair back, white light reflecting in his green eyes.
The sight of that shining dome below forced his thoughts back through time, all the way to the crater he'd made in his home the first time he fought Character. The wrong person died in that attack. That was a big part of Future's life, now that he thought about it. The wrong people died and the wrong people got away. Hacker was right, everything Future had was often torn out of his hands. He was a shell of an Angel, and he didn't deserve his wings. But he had them now, and he was DETERMINED to use them right. So, King Future roared with all his might. His red soul flared right with those Blasters, and that searing light flashed even brighter below.
Seconds dragged like minutes, minutes like hours. But, finally, Future exhaled scarlet steam. His extended hand started to relax, along with his wings. And those halos slowed their spinning, the blinding glow died down. Beat Blasters vanished one after the other as Future slowly descended back to the cracked and burnt concrete, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke and ash in their wake.
Future's feet hit the ground, and he slumped forward some. He was sweating, but he wasn't done yet. It was just three halos, a far shot from the seven that had nearly killed him to produce three years prior. But all seven rings hadn't been enough to do Character in then, and Future knew three wouldn't be enough now. So, he forced his wings to spread wide, and he put his fists up. "Get out here, brats. I know you can take more than that."
Things were quiet for another moment or two, before a gust of hot wind blasted out of the smoke. Future winced some, planting his feet and lifting one hand to shield his eyes while the pressure of Character's shared soul cleared out the smog. The shirt had been scorched off their shared body, and red was still misting off a few burn marks, but they were standing alright. The Deltarune glowed on their back, their hands clenched into fists, and they blinked their blacked out eyes to send an onyx tear dripping down their cheek. "... You're still holding back."
"Wouldn't have been any point in going all out. You would have survived regardless." Future answered without any hesitation. Under his shirt, that same Deltarune was shining on his back. But he had wings, and all Character had were those freakish ink hands reaching out of their shoulders. So Future kept his fists up, and he watched with those tired old eyes for any sudden strike.
"Then why are you bothering with fighting us?" Character squinted those red and black eyes at King Future. They held their arms out to their sides and shook their head while they demanded answers. "If you know you can't beat us, then why put yourself in danger?"
"Is your soul only red when you're winning, Character?" Future asked with the tilt of his head. The Wingless recoiled at his question, but it wasn't meant to be pointed. It wasn't an insult. Future explained what had been obvious to him for years, "I'm not DETERMINED to survive by any means necessary like some kind of cockroach, I'm DETERMINED to protect the people I care about. It's not about the odds. I'm fighting you because I have to."
"..." Character stood there in silence for a moment or maybe two. Another black tear overflowed from the darkened whites of their eyes, it slipped over one of the scars that had been left in Hacker's cheek after Anarchy's brutal beating. Their thoughts drifted to the wall behind them, the one Eden was stationed on. The evacuation area far away from this crumbling empire, where Demon's students and Fellphys were supposed to be helping people escape this wretched world. Where they were hopefully making their own escape. So if they were all escaping... Why was Character still standing here? Why did they hold onto their DETERMINATION? What was it they wanted? Their eyes glossed over Future's wings, the Deltarune on their back ached... "You callin' us a cockroach, old man?"
"No, of course not." Future shook his head to dispel their concerns, before he cracked a smirk. "Cockroaches have wings."
Character's eyes snapped open wide, their pupils shrunk with fury. In the next instant they had crossed the distance, and Future barely had time to cross his arms in front of himself before they sent an earth shaking punch rocketing for his head. Their knuckles blasted into his forearms, and The King winced as the force sent tremors blasting all the way up through his shoulders. The impact launched him back on his heels, and he skidded halfway down the road before his wings spread wide, caught wind, and dragged him to a stop.
A Beat Blaster appeared on Future's left and right, shining cannons both taking aim on The Wingless racing towards him and firing their death rays. Character's ink hands curled inward then, shielding the fusion just before those blasts hit. They disappeared inside that screaming white light, and Future was quick to flap his wings. He launched himself up into the air right on time, that much was obvious when rows of pens exploded out from the earth where he'd just been, stabbing up through those Beat Blasters and making them explode into sparks, flames and wires.
Future's wings spread wide, suspending him in air for the moment while he threw one arm out to the side. On this command, several mechanical pencils appeared floating beside him, taking aim on the clearing smoke below. Unfortunately, before they could fire, another laser of explosive heat blasted out of the smog. A Beat Blast twice as large as the ones Future had unleashed raced up to meet The King, and he hastily crossed his arms in front of himself, folding his wings in to shield his body as well.
In the next instant that laser engulfed Future. He disappeared within its searing heat for a few agonizing moments, and by the time Character stepped out of the clearing smoke they could see him plummeting out of the laser and dropping to the cracked concrete below. They didn't smile at the sight of this, it didn't bring them joy like it was supposed to. That just made Character angrier, and they knew just who to take it out on.
Future's wings flailed limp in the wind as he dropped head first towards the pavement. He forced his eyes to blink a few times, made his fingers twitch and clench. Scarlet steam was breaking out over the burn marks on his arms, he exhaled it through his teeth. And just as he was about to flip over to land on his feet, Character launched off the ground. They blasted through the air, crossed the distance in an instant and blasted their knee right into The King's spine. This made Future's eyes snap open wide right with his jaws, saliva spewing up past his lips while his body twisted backwards around Character's knee.
In the next instant the force carried through, and Future was sent rocketing in the blink of an eye down into the unforgiving concrete below. Stone exploded apart around his impact, it blasted up into the air while Future's body tumbled through the dirt. His flesh dug a trench down the sidewalk and all the way into some empty parking lot in front of the same building Character had swatted Melanie into before he finally came to a stop.
King Future laid there, flat on his stomach and resting his now bleeding face in the dirt. His entire body was covered in scrapes, gashes, and bruises now. Scarlet steam was smoking primarily off his back, gradually healing the spinal damage done by Character's vicious knee strike. And he gasped for air, spitting mouthfuls of red onto the ground and clenching his weak fingers in the dirt. His wings hardly remained solid, they were dripping and drooping and it was all he could do to make them shift a little.
"And look where wings get you, asshole!" Character snarled as they landed ahead of Future at the other end of the now divided parking lot. They stood in the wide trench his body and impact had created, shaking their head while they stomped towards the beaten and bloodied royalty. Their imitation wings clenched into tight fists, and Character's lips peeled back to reveal their fangs while they snarled. "You're about to die, all because you were too much of a self righteous prick to stay home and mind your own business!"
"If, I'm gonna die..." Future slowly lifted his head, even though the motion made him wince. He propped himself up on one elbow, and he swallowed spit that tasted like iron. Then, he looked up to The Wingless lurking closer, and he narrowed his eyes with disappointment. "It's gonna be because you chose to kill me. Just like everyone else you killed..."
"... We kill people because we're strong." Character's march came to a stop. They stood in front of Future now, their shadow fell over him. The hands on their back slowly opened wide, ink fingers tensed in preparation to crush The King in their grasp. And Character's eyes narrowed as more black tears overflowed down their cheeks. "You're gonna die because you're weak."
"You tell yourselves whatever you have to, Character." Future's disappointed glare didn't let up, there was no fear in those haggard eyes. He didn't bother trying to get up and move, he just stared up at them while blood trickled down his face. His frown dug deeper into his cheeks, "Maybe killing me will finally make The Killer and The Chieftain proud of you two."
Character's eye twitched, their jaw tightened. More darkness overflowed from their eyes, their scarlet irises shrunk right with their pupils and trembled furiously. Once again their thoughts were drawn back to The Ascended Heir, to the ass whooping they'd received and the speech they'd heard out. Confusion, fear, and frustration all twisted and raged inside The Wingless, and one of those ink hands reached forward for Future... Before suddenly swinging backwards.
WHACK!
Melanie, who had been tip toeing up behind Character while Future kept them distracted, was blasted with a brutal ink backhand. She'd had her own hand reached out, and just when she was certain she had them in the range of her Iron Maiden she was once again smacked aside. She launched back through that trench, landing on her back and skidding a few more feet on her back before finally coming to a stop.
"Oh, good! We're glad you're here green, we've got some questions that you might be able to help us answer!" Character's wide, black and red eyes darted to Melanie after their head whipped around to flash her a vicious grin. Future shoved himself up then, launched out of the dirt and cocked back his fist... Only for one of those ink fists to smash into his back, crushing him right back into the dirt. His wings splattered to nothing and he laid there, twitching and aching. The same hand that had smashed The King into the earth wrapped around him then, lifting him up over Character's head and squeezing him tight while they turned to face Melanie The KIND. "You're smart, right? Well go on and tell us then! WHY SHOULDN'T WE KILL THE GEEZER?!"
"Character, stop..!" Melanie winced as she sat up, placing one hand over her aching ribcage while she propped herself up on her elbow. Her clothes were torn, her body was covered in cuts and bruises. But she couldn't waste anymore KINDNESS healing herself, she needed it for the Iron Maiden. It was the only shot she had left, but with Character holding Future, he'd get trapped in it too! She reached out towards The Wingless and The King they squeezed, and for a moment she remembered reaching out in vain just before those spikes engulfed Muffet.
"Why should we?!" Character snarled, beginning to stomp closer to Melanie with Future in tow. The King winced and gasped, he could hardly squirm in the tight grasp of that ink hand. Character threw one hand out to the side, slapping the other against their chest. "Anny's mom didn't stop beating him when we wanted her to, The Killer didn't stop killing Granny when we wanted him to! The Chieftain didn't stop hitting our mother when we wanted him to and those villagers certainly didn't stop stabbing Asriel when we wanted them to! So why should WE stop?! What right do you have to the MERCY we couldn't get?!"
"You can be better than them, Character..!" Melanie pleaded, forcing herself to her knees. She took a few sharp gasps as she moved, but she didn't care. Character was stomping closer, and she was still stuck there on one knee, holding her ribs and wincing up at them. Barely able to hold her frying pan in her shaky fingers, she begged like they did a hundred times before. "You can do the right thing!"
"Stop saying that, we're tired of hearing it!" Character grabbed their head with both hands while they shouted, clenching their eyes shut tight in an attempt to stop the flow of those black tears. Their eyes snapped open in the next instant though, and they snarled through their hysteria. "What makes MERCY the right thing?! Why is our way wrong?!"
"Because!" Melanie planted a hand on her knee, and she shoved her heavy body up to its feet. She stood there, beaten and bloody and barely able to hold that frying pan at all as The Wingless loomed over her. Still, hunching over and holding her ribs, Melanie The KIND shouted up at them. "This isn't going to make you feel better!"
Character roared, furious and indignant. That ink hand, that imitation wing tossed Future aside. The King hit the ground and tumbled over himself once or twice, but he couldn't get up. It was all he could do to lay there on his side, gasping for air and wincing with blurry vision. And he watched, horrified as Character stomped forward, yanking back their fist. Melanie didn't move, didn't flinch as DETERMINATION flames ignited on their fist. And they screamed in a cracking voice as they sent that punch rocketing forward, right at the KIND eyes that mocked them. "NOTHING EVER DOES!"
Melanie did not reel back, she did not throw up her arms and cower behind a guard. Instead, with one hand, she reached up. That fist barreled towards her, and she put her open palm right in its way. Character's punch blasted right into her hand, and the moment it made contact with her skin... The world went green. Every muscle in their body was frozen in place. The momentum of their punch was stopped completely dead, and Character The Wingless was trapped inside Melanie's Iron Maiden.
And then, everything was silent. Character stared from behind that emerald prison, eyes wide and disbelief written over their face. They lost again, and they knew it. She had them. She beat them, everyone always did. Because they were knockoffs, because they weren't strong enough... Melanie didn't look triumphant, though. She stood there, pausing right with them, their fist taken gently in her hand. She was frowning, Character didn't know why. A single tear overflowed from one of those KIND green eyes, Character didn't understand.
They stood there together, for a long time it felt like. Staring into each other's eyes, comprehending one another. And then... That green tint disappeared from Character's vision. They could breathe again, they could move. Melanie's Iron Maiden released them, and she slowly removed her hand from their still raised fist. Again, they stared at one another in silence. Neither of them moved. Character furrowed their brows, they opened their mouth and no words came. Black tears streamed down their cheeks, and their wide eyed stare drifted to the destroyed ground at their feet... Before, defeated, The Wingless dropped to their knees. Those ink hands splattered onto the ground behind them, their arms laid limp at their sides.
"W... Why did you stop..?" Character gradually lifted their head, looking up at Melanie from where they knelt in the dirt. They shook their head when Melanie didn't answer, and instead just kept staring down at them with those merciful green eyes. Character's eyes drifted down to the pan still in her grasp, and then to their own trembling hands. They could see blood on their fingers then, staining their palms and under their fingernails... They kept shaking their head while they spoke in a trembling voice. "C'mon, hit us... It's the only thing that makes sense, i-it's what we deserve..."
"... Angel. Chara." Finally, Melanie spoke. She stood tall now, her shadow fell over The Wingless. The KIND light of her soul reflected in their eyes when they looked meekly up at her. She wasn't frowning, but she wasn't smiling either. She did not lift her frying pan, she did not clench her fist. Instead she spoke, clear and calm to the ones who murdered her mother. "There's something I've wanted to say to you two for a long time now."
"Get on with it..." Hacker and Demon grumbled at once, lowering their head once again. Their arms laid limp at their sides, they knelt before the one they'd wronged and they awaited their punishment. Character's scarlet eyes glossed up to the frying pan Melanie still held, and they narrowed painfully. Another scolding, another beating. They didn't wanna fight it anymore. They were tired of trying to justify their existence. If Melanie wanted them dead, so be it. "Say what you've gotta say, then hit us. Nothing else has worked, so... Maybe letting you hurt us will make us feel better..."
"..." Melanie paused again. She narrowed her eyes at the kneeling Wingless, and once again she let herself see her mother's last second alive. The smile Muffet had gave, the heart she had formed with her hands... And the dust she'd been turned into the very next instant. All because of the two that were kneeling before her now, defenseless and vulnerable. Her fingers wrapped tight around the handle of that frying pan, her knuckles went white and her hand trembled...
Clang!
Character's eyebrows rose, before furrowing with confusion. They stared at that pan, now lying in the dirt by Melanie's side. She'd dropped it... Why had she dropped it..? Slowly, they managed to lift their head. Hacker and Demon looked up into those KIND eyes, meek and scared and confused. And Melanie took a deep breath, she exhaled slowly and shut her eyes... Then, she looked Character in the eye, and she said what she needed to say. "I forgive you."
"..." Slowly, Character's eyes widened. Those black tears were streaming down their face, their expression twitched as some wall inside them creaked and splintered... And as a few clear tears started to break free and mix with the dark ones slipping down their cheeks, they managed to choke out one word through the lump that had suddenly filled their throat. "W-... What..?"
Melanie didn't speak, not for a moment. She just flashed them a smile, KIND and... And forgiving. And as Character started to tremble, and more of those clear tears started to streak down their face, Melanie stepped forward. She wrapped her arms around Character's upper body, placed a gentle hand on the back of their head. And she pulled them in, hugged them close to her chest and to the emerald soul that shined within her. Then, Melanie The KIND repeated herself. "I forgive you."
Character opened their mouth, they tried to stammer something out. But nothing would come, no sound could get past the lump in their throat. They tried to shake their head, but Melanie kept it tight to her chest. Character didn't get it, it didn't make sense. She was supposed to hate them, supposed to hit them. How could she trust them? Didn't she understand that they could rip her in half in an instant? Why would she let her guard down, why would she let them in this close? Why would... Why would she forgive them..?
Melanie smiled, just a little when she heard Character try to stifle a sob. It was a sad smile, a bittersweet one. So much of her had wanted to beat Character's head in, to try to make them hurt as much as they had made her hurt. But that wasn't who she was, that wasn't who Muffet had raised. So, she stood there, holding Character close and smoothing the hair on the back of their head with the gentle touch of her hand while they trembled and sniffled.
Character's wide eyes winced, their trembling lips tried to clench shut as tight as possible... But the sobs started getting through anyway. They didn't understand, why did they feel like this? Why were they crying? All this emotion that they'd both stuffed as deep down as they could was pouring out. All these years, thinking they were irredeemable. Unforgiveable. All the time telling themselves there was no way back to who they were before things got so twisted, all the times they said they didn't want to go back and that they didn't believe they were wrong...
The black drained out of the whites of their eyes, and now only clear tears trickled down their face and stained Melanie's shirt. Their right eye remained red, but their left had reverted to a green that matched Melanie's eyes. And finally, though they fought it with all their might, Character lifted their arms. They clenched their eyes shut tight, and they wrapped their arms around Melanie. They leaned their head into her chest, and they stopped trying to hold their tears back.
Future laid there, staring in awe as Character clung to Melanie and sobbed. All that loathing was released in tears and sorrowful cries. The King was in disbelief, not because of Character's emotion but because of Melanie's fortitude. To forgive someone who had hurt her so badly, to still offer up the help they needed when she must have hated them... Future never would have believed it if he hadn't seen it himself.
So, the old Angel sighed. He shut his eyes, and he rolled over onto his back. The sky over by the wall had returned to normal, and there weren't any more explosions coming from that direction. He figured that meant Anarchy and the others had succeeded, that was good. But as Future turned his head and looked towards the tower looming in the distance, his eyes narrowed with painful understanding. Lightning was cracking up into the sky in that direction, blasts of fire flashed and masses of ice exploded to life.
The fight was still going, even if the army was defeated and Character was pacified. But, Future couldn't fight anymore and neither could Melanie. Future turned his head, he looked back at The Wingless clinging to The KIND. And, though he wasn't sure why, he smiled just a little. He wondered in that instant if his Chara would be happy to see them forgiven, or if maybe the munchkin would be glad to see their other self let go of all that pain and hate.
Future and Melanie had done their job, and it took everything they had. Whatever happened next, it was up to Lexi and Angel to finish this mission. The multiverse was on their shoulders now.
Whatever it takes.
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