Here I am, four days just like I said!

Thanks go to cassianaswindell123, BadDRUMMERboy15, Wingah, Zack Frost, BonelessSkele, Alrarora, Gray Kanzakai, 10burgers, I'mANervousWreck, and Okami Endless.

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

"... You."

"It's been a long time, runt. You've certainly grown from the little punk I left in the rain."

"..." Cold emerald eyes blinked slowly, without worry or fear. The two stood ten feet apart, the light of day just starting to dim as night drew ever closer. They were in a field of wheat, off from the roads and hidden away from whomever may be chasing each of them respectively.

"What are you doing here?" Angel didn't waste time and didn't take those icy eyes from his killer, his arms hanging limp and casually at his sides.

"I came to congratulate you, my little Angel." He smiled, ivory hair falling over his face as he tilted his head to the side. The crimson eyes of The Killer settled upon Angel, and he did not flinch. "I was just too proud not to."

"I mean, tossing all your friends to the hounds, using them until they served no more purpose and then lining your pockets with their blood!" The Killer laughed, eyes wide with disbelief as he threw his hands out to the sides. "You've become so perfectly RUTHLESS!"

Angel didn't talk, and his expression remained unmoved as he was praised by his Killer.

"For awhile there I thought it would be my son to ascend, but even as a crowbar swinging maniac he isn't half the sociopath you are." The Killer grinned with sharp teeth, those murderous red eyes only half way open.

"... You're Anthony's dad." Angel concluded, thought there wasn't a lick of surprise - or, anything at all - on his face.

"Duh." The Killer rolled his eyes. "How many other albinos have you seen wandering around that shit hole city?"

"Well. It's just you now." Angel blinked without care, and a grin tore across The Killer's face.

"Yes, this is what I was talking about!" He gestured with one hand towards Angel excitedly. "Those are the eyes of a cold blooded killer!"

"Anthony was just too sweet as a child. Even after he took up the Anarchy persona he still remembered what it was like to love someone." The Killer shook his head with disappointment, before grinning wickedly at Angel. "But you, Angel..."

"You've never really cared about anyone, have you?"

"You're wrong."

The Killer furrowed his brows with sudden confusion. "What?"

"I cared about one person." Angel spoke calmly and emotionlessly, even as he swiftly reached to his back pocket, pulled a pistol free, cocked it, and pointed it right at The Killer in one swift motion.

"And you killed her."

BANG.

"Guh..!" The Killer stumbled back, jaw clenching and eye twitching as he grabbed his now bleeding shoulder. His eyes darted from his new wound back to Angel, and he took a step back.

"N-now you see, this is what I saw in you Angel." The Killer spoke, though cold sweat was now beading down his forehead. "You're so-!"

"Shut up."

BANG.

The Killer grunted with pain, eyes snapping open wide as a bullet punched through his leg, making him drop down to one knee before Angel.

"So what..? You're gonna kill me..?" The Killer smiled a pained and yet chaotic smile. "Good, that's what I wanted, anyway."

Angel didn't speak, he just began walking across the field towards his victim.

"This world needs people like us to keep it turning, Angel." Now panting, The Killer smirked weakly up at his approaching murderer. "Sheep must be herded and slaughtered, otherwise they'll waste all of our air."

"I saw potential in you." The Killer looked up, Angel now looming over him. "I knew you could be strong, and I knew you could understand the truth of this world. That's why I spared you."

"Should'a killed me." Angel stared down at The Killer, his shadow stretching wickedly over his victim. He lifted the barrel to The Killer's face, pressing it right at the center of his forehead and keeping their eyes locked together. "You would've lived longer."

"Then go on brat." The Killer's eyes absolutely lit up, and he pressed his skull against that barrel. "Look me in the eye and pull the goddamn trigger."

Angel's eyes narrowed then, his jaw clenching.

"Come on!" The Killer laughed, madness flaring in his eyes. "It's what someone Strong would do! It's what I would do!"

"And it's what the little old lady couldn't do!"

Angel snarled and yanked that gun back before swinging it, smashing it's barrel against the side of The Killer's head and sending him falling onto his back.

"Who do you think you are?" Angel demanded to know, his fury now evident in his voice.

"Maybe I'm God, maybe I'm the Devil." The Killer smiled wickedly, even as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "I watch over you either way, my sweet little Angel."

BANG. BANG.

The Killer hacked crimson into the air as two holes were punched in his stomach, facial expression twisting with agony.

"Well," Angel leaned down over him, and an honest smile crept along his face as he put that pistol's barrel to The Killer's forehead once again. "You die like you're human. Crazy how that works, ain't it, asshole?"

"G-go ahead, Angel..." The Killer winced, streams of red overflowing from between his lips. "Kill me, and become me. Separate yourself from the weak, and make them fear your strength and pray for your death..."

"No one will mourn you little Angel. Your fate will be sealed... You'll be just like me..."

Angel looked the Killer right in the dying light of his eyes, his emerald irises dull and lifeless, entirely lacking any remorse or hesitation.

"I don't give a damn. You killed my Granny."

BANG.

Chapter 19: Til Death Do Us Part

"I'm not gonna forgive you for this."

"WE'LL SEE!"

I tilted my head to the side suddenly, Chara's knife soaring over my left shoulder while I cocked back my right fist, our eyes locking for a split second before they lifted their forearm, blocking my punch with it and flipping their blade - which was still behind me - back to face the back of my head.

I ducked under their stab back at me, quickly jabbing at their abdomen with my ink spear, only for them to jump back out of range.

As Chara jumped back, their eyes darted up to the two Beat Blasters that appeared above and narrowed. They landed on one foot as the beams fired, only to jump back again and land on their hands, springing from those while white beams of energy chased after them.

As they neared the ground from springing from their hands, a portal opened below them, and they dropped right through.

I instinctively spun around and brought up one arm, blocking the kick that they fired through a portal above me with. Chara grinned down at me, and I glared coldly back up at them before throwing the arm they were planted on up and tossing them back through the air. Without skipping a beat, I cocked back my spear and whipped it at their face, only for them to tilt their head at the last second.

The spear fired right by their cheek, slicing it open and sending a single stream of red running down the side of their face. I didn't hesitate from there, shifting my hand and sending ink firing up over my arm and out at Chara. The ink wrapped around their waist, and I yanked my hand back, pulling them back towards me.

I threw up my forearm as they threw their knee forward, and the collision sent a shock wave bursting across the ground that surrounded us. Chara yanked their knife back over their head as both my arms were preoccupied, but that scorpion tail of ink fired up from my tail bone and collided with their blade, making their teeth grind with exertion as they tried to power past my defenses.

Suddenly I threw my ink coated arm out to the side, dragging them through the air and sending them slamming face down onto the ground. I spun then so that my back was to them, and threw my hand forward, yanking them up through the air and sending them soaring into the sky, where my ink released them.

Chara launched rapidly towards one of the high peaks of Mount Ebbot, and they spun in air, grinding their teeth from the force they landed feet first against the peak at, crouching before launching right back down at me.

I threw back one hand and clenched it into a fist, making four pens appear at my sides. I threw my arm forward, and the pens launched at Chara, who spun like a drill in air and shot between the four, racing down towards me.

I threw my arms up in an X, and their Tough Glove covered fist slammed into where my forearms met at the center of the X. I ground my teeth, sliding back across the ground while Chara still spun like a drill against me, twisting and tearing the skin off my arms while gradually slowing to a stop.

Chara dropped back to their feet, and swiftly jumped back away from me as pens fired from the earth where they'd been.

My eyes narrowed down at my now bleeding forearms, but I merely threw them out to my sides and flicked away the blood streaming down them while simultaneously summoning three mechanical pencils, one over each shoulder and one above my head.

Chara jumped to the side to evade pens that jutted from the earth under them, before rolling forward to evade the enormous pencil eraser that fired down from above to crush them. The moment that they climbed to their feet, however, they were forced to duck, a bolt of graphite firing over them and sticking into the pencil that their back was against.

They slashed a second bolt to shards as they stood back to their full height, but winced from the plume of grey smoke that broke from the graphite, obscuring their vision for only a moment but a moment long enough for the third bolt to fire through their shoulder, making their eyes snap open wide as they were sent stumbling back.

I fired through the smoke in the next instant with a left hook cocked back, teeth grinding and crimson beginning to steam from my knuckles just as I threw my fist forward, slamming it into the side of their face and knocking them off their feet. I carried them on my fist into the pencil behind them, which shattered under the force and, right after we launched through it, plummeted towards the earth and crashed loudly to the ground, sending smoke blasting up around us as I launched Chara into the distance.

Chara slammed onto the ground on their back and skidded through the dirt for a few moments. They snarled with fury while they slid, swiftly reaching up and gripping the spike of graphite that had penetrated their shoulder and - without a moments hesitation - tore it from their flesh, sending blood splattering across the grass and making their eyes widen with pain that they refused to let bother them.

I stared into the smoke that surrounded from the impact of that pencil with narrowed eyes, palms open at my sides as I awaited any sign of-

"That all you got, Hacker?!"

my eyes locked on to the Toy Knife that fired from the smoke at a shocking speed, and my face tightened with pain as it buried itself in my right shoulder, making my eyes dart to the new wound while I stumbled back, just as they dove through the smoke, rapidly closing the distance between us.

I growled, lifting my good arm and sending ink launching down my it and spiking out at Chara, who side stepped it and cocked back their only functioning arm, smashing one Gloved fist into my cheek, making my eyes snap shut on reflex while I stumbled to the side.

Chara spun through their punch, jumping up and kicking at the side of my face as ballet shoes appeared on their feet.

I lifted my forearm and their shin slammed into it, the shoe knife of those ballet shoes inches from the side of my head. I glared up at Chara, and they snarled, that revolver appearing in their grasp and those ballet shoes disappeared.

As Chara aimed down at me, I reached up with my right hand and gripped the Toy Knife was embedded in my right shoulder, tearing it free and throwing it up at them just as they fired.

The both of us fell backwards away from one another, knife stabbing into their chest and bullet blasting through mine, but we both caught ourselves on our hands and back flipped away from one another just as a Beat Blaster fired from above and sent its beam exploding into the earth where we had just been, launching more dust into the air.

I landed behind what remained of my fallen pencil, gritting my blood stained teeth and grabbing at the hole in the right side of my chest with one hand, my other opening it's palm to the sky and summoning a slice of cinnamon butterscotch pie from my inventory.

*You have to do better. You can't afford a stalemate here.

"Yeah, I know, I know!" I assured with frustration, before viciously biting into the slice of pie, stuffing it into my mouth and violently chewing and swallowing it. If nothing else, I'd certainly learned speed eating down here.

I took a moment to close my eyes and tilt my head back against the fallen pillar of pencil I leaned against, inhaling slowly and exhaling in the same manner while my torn arms, punctured shoulder and - as they eloquently put in my home town - gatted chest sealed and healed.

*Well, if you're lucky, Chara didn't have any healing items and is currently di-

"Get out here, Cter! I know you aren't dead!"

*Should've thrown the stupid knife at their stupid head.

"Was aimin' for it." I explained as I stood, looking over the pencil I'd been up against out to the plain of scorched earth that our arena was quickly becoming, eyes narrowing as I spotted Chara standing across the way, crossing their arms impatiently. "It kinda goofs your shot when someone puts a bullet in your chest."

"Chara's Theme [Megalo Strike Back]" NITRO Remix V2 by Nick Nitro began playing.

Rain was pouring now, beating down the smoke that surrounded us and creating a clear mist at our feet. It matted our hair to our foreheads, our shirts to our chests. Ran in streams over our skin, washing blood stains away.

We stood there, thirty feet apart and staring at one another while sheets of precipitation crashed down, lightning flickering throughout the sky and thunder booming in our ears.

Lightning crashed to the earth between us, a sudden and brutal flash that neither of us flinched from. And the moment it faded, Chara was blasting through the steam and smoke of it's arrival, yanking their knife back for a stab.

I swiftly brushed their arm aside with my forearm, cocking back my other fist and throwing it at their face, only for them to catch it in the palm of their free hand and swing up so that their legs were facing me. They pulled their knees to their chest before shotgunning a kick towards my chest, only for an L key to appear between their kick and my chest, resulting in them kicking off of the key and back flipping through the air, landing on their feet and quickly ducking as I threw out one arm, sending a spike of ink firing over their head.

They launched forward with a slash, but I ducked back, placing both hands on the ground behind me and flipping back, an eraser shooting up from the ground where I'd been at Chara in that instant and forcing them to throw their arms up in an X to block as it smashed into them and carried them up into the air.

I landed on my feet just to jump up onto the pencil that Chara was riding into the sky against their will, sprinting up it's diagonal arc towards the top.

Chara growled, just managing to claw one hand onto the wood of the pencil and get themself from the eraser when they spotted the Beat Blaster floating over head, and instantly frowned with irritation.

Chara was blasted from the pencil and sent launching head first towards the earth when I dove from the end of the pencil, throwing ink out and connecting it to the eraser, using it to swing down towards them.

Chara managed to open one eye, spotting me and glaring while I swung down at them, leading with one knee, my right arm up in the air and wrapped in the ink that connected me to that pencil. They threw up their arms and blocked my knee, teeth grinding with exertion before the force sent them blasting back through the air and exploding into a peak across the way, dust bursting out from the collision.

I slowly descended on that whip of ink, which receded back up my arm once my feet touched the ground.

*Did you get them?

"If Chara's gonna die it's gonna be where I can see it." I blinked calmly into the smoke. "They're alive."

As if to instantly prove this theory, several round of DETERMINATION bullets fired from the smoke, and I threw up one hand, a wall of keys appearing and blocking the barrage.

My eyes widened over my shoulder however when I heard a portal open there, and pain tore across my back in the form of a knife, making me arch my spine and cry out in agony while blood splattered across the ground.

Chara grinned wickedly, black filling their eyes and leaking down their cheek as they yanked back that knife for a stab, only for me to drop down onto my hands, their knife sailing through nothing but air while I pulled both knees to my chest, standing on my hands.

Their eyes widened down at me.

I smiled.

I slammed both feet into their chin and sent them sailing back through the air while I sprung back on my feet and back flipped from there, launching over them and cocking back one fist. I slammed a punch into their abdomen and sent them crashing back to the earth, which indented under them while their jaws snapped open with the wind that blasted out of their lungs.

Panting, I landed on my feet just a few yards from Chara's crater, which they hopped right out of, one hand over where I'd punched them and a stream of red running down their chin.

"I can't help but notice," Chara reached up, wiping the blood from their chin with the back of their fist while they glared at me. "You're throwing a lot more punches than you are pens."

"You've spent a life time and a half dodging magic, Chara. You've gotten real good at it." A smirk found itself on my lips as I clenched my hands into fists at my sides, my soul flaring brightly. "Fists, on the other hand..."

"Not so sure you wanna keep getting so close." Chara grinned, a stream of black running down from the corner of their mouth. "Why don't you consult your back?"

My eyes narrowed, suddenly very aware of the oozing slash across my back and all of the agony that it screamed with.

I snarled, stomping one foot and sending pens spiking out in a line from the ground towards Chara, who jumped over the pens and spun down towards me with that knife, only for me to jump back. They landed on their feet and lunged out towards me, leading with their knife, which I ducked to the side of, cocking back a fist and throwing it at their face.

They caught my fist in their palm mere inches from their face, expression twitching and jaw clenching from exertion as they struggled to hold back the punch, before I pulled my free hand up and sent ink firing up from the ground under us in a curving slash.

Chara quickly let go of my hand and leaned back, eyes widening as a slash appeared on their cheek from the narrowly dodged ink, which quickly curved back down to stab at them, only for them to back flip out of the way, landing on their hands and springing back as the ink stabbed into the ground before launching back out of the earth at them.

They pulled back both hands as a frying pan appeared in their grasp just before they swung down, smashing the pan into the oncoming ink and sending it splattering out around them.

Chara plummeted back down towards me with that frying pan, and I jumped back as they slammed it into the ground, crouching down and glaring up at me before lunging after me.

The Tough Gloves appeared on their hands and as they cocked back a right hook I threw up both arms in a cross at the side of my head to guard, only to immediately regret my decision as they slammed their left fist into my abdomen and made me hunch over in pain, eyes snapping open wide. Aaaand then the right hook came.

I stumbled back, head tilted to the left and blood running down my chin while Chara darted forward, sending three more quick jabs into my core and making my body jolt back and forth, before they jumped up and rammed their knee into my chin. I leaned back from the force of their knee strike, and they straightened said knee, slamming their foot into my chest and launching me down into the ground.

I exploded into the earth, carving a path through the dirt and across the plateau, racing towards the entrance that my friends watched me through. Eventually I came to a stop, and there I lay, groaning with pain.

"... Eugh..." I closed my eyes with exhaustion, tilting my head back against the dirt that was at the level of my shoulders. I was laying there in the line crater my body had made through the earth, chest heaving and blood dripping down my chin.

*What are you doing? They are going to kill you! Get up!

Slowly my hands clenched into fists in the dirt, eyes struggling to open while I grappled my pain for control over my body.

*I know you're stronger than this! You know you're stronger than this! So why are you holding back?!

"Cter!" Monster Kid's desperate cry struck my ears, and my jaw tightened. "You have to get up! Please!"

"Keep fightin', punk!" Undyne pumped one fist into the air. "Fight like only you can!"

"We all know you can do this!" Papyrus pressed his hands against the barrier. "We believe in you!"

*You have to stop holding back, because I promise you that they aren't.

Growling with exertion, I lifted my heavy head and opened my eyes to glare at Chara, who was glaring right back at me while they sauntered - or really limped, but ominously - towards me.

"No, I... I think..." Grunting and groaning I pushed myself to my knee, and then to my feet, swaying back and forth some. "I think they might be..."

*They might be what?

"... I don't have anything solid, but..." My eyes narrowed tiredly at the approaching Chara, a jug of Spider Cider appearing in my hand. "I've felt Chara's hardest punch. And that wasn't it."

*So they're tired from getting thrown into a mountain side! Don't let it distract you from what must be done!

"Gee Texty, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were worried about little ol' me..." I chuckled weakly to myself as I watched Chara summon a package of Instant Noodles while I tore the cap from my cider.

*I have a lot riding on you, brat.

I sucked down the entire drum of cider in seconds, making it crunch up from how much it pressurized before I emptied it and tossed the plastic container aside, letting out an "Ahh..." and wiping a stream of cider from my chin.

"And also," I lowered into a fighting stance as Chara swallowed the last of their raw noodles. "You die if I die, right?"

*Well it wouldn't be the first time I died because of you.

A grin instantly pulled up my features from that particular memory, and four sharp pointed spider leg-like spikes shot from my back.

"You really know how to put a guy in a good mood, Texty."

Sans stared with pupilless eyes down at the unconscious Gaster, his back to the barrier and the battle. He sat on his knees, arms limp at his sides.

"That kid's got traitor in his blood, Grillbz."

Slowly, Sans skeletal hands clenched into fists, and his sockets narrowed.

"Cter Hacker is in every way The Angel the legends have foretold, and he is willing to sacrifice everything to stop devastation from rocking our world."

That much was obvious to Sans now, and it certainly stung to know how wrong he'd been. But the guilt and shame that came with that false judgement stung worse.

"It ensures that, no matter what person I decide to be, you guys will be safe. So I can always say I did at least one thing right."

"I don't understand..." Toriel confessed quietly, looking down at Frisk, who's head she'd laid in her lap. "So much of this makes no sense at all..."

"... Yeah." Sans stood slowly, and Toriel looked over to him curiously. "I guess there are a few pieces I should probably fill in."

"W-wait, Sans, you know something about all this?" Alphys glanced back from the fight to Sans, several others looking back as well.

"Alph..." Sans looked over his shoulder to the group at the barrier, sockets narrowing. "I know everything about this."

"And I think it's time that you all knew, too." Sans turned to face his friends, and Grillby shot him a worrying glance.

"Sans, are you sure about this?" Grillby asked skeptically, and Sans nodded.

"If the kid's going this far for us, then... The least I can do is tell everyone everything he's done for us."

I was growing more and more certain the more slashes I weaved between that Chara was not giving it their all, and that thought alone was incredibly distracting.

"I guess I just feel strange." I shrugged lightly, clothes sticking to me from the water that rolled over me. "Saying goodbye is always hard, isn't it?"

...

Rain stopped rolling over me, and I looked with some surprise to find that Chara had stepped closer and lifted their umbrella higher, shielding the both of us from the downpour.

They stared ahead while I looked at them curiously. Their expression was hard to read. A lot of things were hard to understand these days, it seemed.

"... Yes." They agreed, not blinking in the pouring rain.

"Yes it is."

I grit my teeth while I ducked back under a slash, several hairs being slashed from my bangs. Damn it, I can't be thinking about that now!

I threw up my arms to block Chara's punch, and even though it made me slide back from the force, I couldn't help but take note of the lack of enthusiasm behind the strike.

I threw my arms out to the sides, darting forward and crouching down, slamming two hard jabs into Chara's abdomen and making them hunch over in pain before I jumped over them, spinning in air and slamming my shin into the side of their head, sending them launching to the side.

Why didn't they block that? My eyes narrowed with what could have been concern as I landed on my feet, watching Chara skid across the ground before flipping up, landing on both hands and feet and continuing to slide back on those.

*What does it matter? keep attacking or you are going to die!

"I know, I know!" I shook my head to remove those memories from my brain, eyes clenching shut tight for a moment.

"Know what? That you're going to die?!"

I quickly stepped to the side, watching Chara launch by with a stab. I threw my hand into the air, and an eraser jolted from the ground under them like some cartoony spring trap, throwing them high into the air.

Why'd they yell that threat? If they hadn't I wouldn't have seen them coming! My brows furrowed with further confusion while I watched them drop from the sky, landing on their feet. Not to mention how sloppy that stab was! it was half assed and slow and-

*Why. The hell. Does it. Matter?

"Don't you get it?" I looked to the floating 2D box. "If they're hesitating then it means I might be able to-"

*Angel you have killed friends before, how is this any different?!

". . ." I went silent then, eyes going wide and urgency fading from my expression, replaced by the surprise that comes with a sudden realization. "... Wait, friends..?"

*Yes! Obviously you two are-!

*... Wait. Oh shit-

"Oh my god you're right." I reached up, placing a hand on my forehead and tilting my head back, eyes closing.

*No I'm not! You two are mortal enemies! Forget that friend thing right now, it was just a fluke! I didn't mea-

"Text box." I lifted one hand to get the box to stop speaking, gradually opening my eyes and looking down to it. "It's too late."

*... You're going to get yourself killed, aren't you?

"Eh." I shrugged, slowly nodding my head as I watched Chara start to approach. "Solid possibility."

*Someone strong would never do something like this, Angel. Are you really going to roll those dice, all or nothing, for them?

"..." My eyes narrowed thoughtfully, hands clenching slowly into fists as I contemplated that question and all it entailed.

"Huh? Why flight?" Anthony arched one white eyebrow.

"So I can fly anywhere in the whole world, duh." Angel said like it was obvious, smirking over at Anthony. "If I could fly, I could get outta this crummy city."

"Anywhere in the whole world, huh..?" Anthony spoke quietly and thoughtfully, looking down at his feet.

"I might even take you with me, if ya ask nice." Angel winked an eye shut, grinning playfully.

Anthony laughed lightly at that, smiling over at Angel.

"I can't leave this place, Angel." Anthony waved a hand dismissively, speaking like the idea was silly. "Who'd take care of my mom?"

"That stuff don't matter when you're flyin', Anny." Angel grinned up at the cloudy sky. "It's all yours up there."

"Haha! Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this." Anthony smiled gently. "Would you at least come visit me?"

My jaw clenched, and on my chest my crimson soul flared, its white silhouette shining brightly.

"What kinda friend would I be if I didn't?"

"That's... A l-lot..." Alphys' eyes glossed to the floor, hands nervously gripping her lab coat. "Sans, you and I... G-gave Cter those powers..?"

"With... Us?" Undyne stepped forward, placing a hand on her chest.

"Asgore even gave the kid his soul." Sans nodded once. "Everyone in this room contributed in one way or another to making Cter the man he is today."

"He is not even from this world, and yet..." Asgore stepped to the barrier, reaching out and placing his hand on it. "He has given up everything for us..."

"Because we're all he has." Sans spoke, looking to the ground as his pupils disappeared from his eyes.

"And, Frisk..?" Toriel's eyes drifted down to the child that she held. "They could actually do something so horrible..?"

"Try not to be too hard on them." Sans sighed regretfully, eyes glossing over to Frisk. "They had... A lot of power and had no idea how to handle it. And Cter's really helped them get their life back together."

"... And what about me?" Monster Kid looked up then, eyes narrowing. "What was I to him?"

"Heh. isn't it obvious?" Sans grinned, winking an eye shut. "You were his best friend. Without you, he never would have been able to stay strong and beat Chara the first time."

"..." Monster Kid smiled at that, before looking over his shoulder at the battle. "Then I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"Yes, if he beat them once I'm sure he'll do it again!" Mettaton exclaimed with a nod.

"Yeah!" Undyne grinned wide, holding her fists out in front of herself excitedly. "We've just gotta keep believing! When everyone's hearts are beating together, they can't lose!"

"That's right!" Papyrus agreed with a nod. "Cter is going to win for sure!"

... I wasn't wrong about you when you first came here, Angel. Sans silently walked forward towards the barrier. You were every nasty thing you said you were and then some.

... Were. Past tense. Sans reached out, putting a hand on the barrier while his sockets narrowed thoughtfully. But you've grown so much since we first met.

I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner kiddo, and... Sans' hand slowly clenched into a fist against the barrier, and the pupils disappeared from his sockets.

... I hope I haven't missed the chance to tell you how proud I am of you.

Chara raced forward across the plateau, darting between the giant pencil erasers that crashed down around them, before diving forward and stabbing at me, only for me to side step the stab and throw up one arm, sending pens spiking from the earth at them.

Chara reached out and placed their hand on the tip of a pen, avoiding it's point and pushing off from it, spinning to the side and slashing down at me, only for me to jump back out of the way and for them to land on one knee, immediately diving after me.

*So what's your big plan here?

Well, I ducked, dodged, and side stepped around slashes and stabs, backing up as I did so. Chara proved to be relentless in their pursuit, however, and I continued to rapidly twist, sway, step, turn... Basically, I'm gonna crank up the intensity of the fight - and possibly piss Chara off intentionally - to make them stop holding back.

*Why?

Chara jumped as pens fired from the earth in front of them, before an eraser shot from behind them, slamming into their back and tossing them across the plateau.

To make sure they'll land a mortal wound. I shrugged casually, before throwing out both hands and sticking two separate strands of ink to two peaks at opposite ends of the plateau, just before yanking myself across it, kicking towards Chara.

*And why on earth do you want that?

Well I figure- Chara jumped over my kick, and I shot by towards the wall of a high peak, planting my feet against it and back flipping over Chara, who had raced back after me with a slash. That if Chara sees me on the verge of death,

I threw one fist at the back of their head, but they spun on their heel and dodged it, throwing a kick at the side of my head, only for me to block it with my forearm. They'll realize they don't want me to die.

And then, I stamped my foot and pens fired from under Chara's feet, only for them to jump back on the wall behind them and kick off it at me. They stabbed at me, but I reached out and grabbed them by the wrist, pulling their arm aside and throwing a fist at their face, only for them to catch it in their palm. I should hopefully be able to convince them to stop this murder shit..!

*And if you can't?

My eyes darted to the side with thought, before widening with pain as they cocked back their leg and slammed a kick into my side, making my grip loosen enough for them to break free and jump back away while I winced and held my side, waterlogged strands of hair draping over my face.

Well... Then I leave my pen to Monster Kid. Beat Blasters appeared over my head and fired beams at Chara, who continued to jump back, smoke exploding up around them.

*Monster Kid doesn't have hands. Or arms.

Exactly. I smiled a little while I watched the smoke. It's funny.

*You're going to die like a fool.

Yeah, well. My eyes narrowed as I watched Chara launch from the smoke, yanking that knife back. Rather die a fool than live like an asshole.

On that note, I ducked to the side of their stab and cocked back one fist, throwing it at the side of their head, only for them to block it with both arms in a cross and be sent sliding across the mud back away from me.

They jumped back at me just as an eraser crashed down right where they had been, sending mud spraying up into the air and raining down with the water that still poured from above.

They cranked back that frying pan, and my eyes went wide as it banged across my head, sending a deep ringing through my brain while Chara jumped into the air and pulled one knee to their chest, kicking out at me only for me to catch them by the foot and throw their leg upwards, making them spin back through the air.

Chara landed on one knee, eyes instantly widening as I reached out and sent ink wrapping around their throat, immediately spinning around and whipping them back towards the mountain side, ink releasing them and sending them flying.

Chara spun in air, looking back to find the pens that jutted from the wall they were rapidly approaching head first and narrowing their eyes. They reached out and past the point of a pen, wrapping their hands around it and flipping themself back up onto it, sliding back from their momentum and jumping off it and onto a small ledge on the cliff face.

I threw one hand out towards them, mechanical pencils appearing over me and beginning to rapid fire out towards Chara, who jumped up from ledge to ledge while graphite bolts fired into the rock after them. When they reached a particularly high point, they kicked off from the wall and launched back down towards me, drawing that pistol and blasting any spikes of graphite that shot at them to smithereens.

I threw up a wall of keys as they landed and immediately opened fire on me, bullets bouncing from the keys before I threw my hand forward, sending the wall launching out towards Chara, who bent at the knees, diving over it and yanking that knife above their head.

I rolled under them, and they slashed down behind me before immediately spinning around to start sending more rapid fire stabs at me.

"Nope no nuh uh nada un uh no way." I spoke mockingly between each stab as I continued to dodge, duck, side step, or redirect each stab, and very soon the little vein could be seen popping out on Chara's forehead while they snarled with growing anger.

Their slashes and stabs came even faster, and with the rain I could also feel sweat making its way down my forehead while I was pushed further and further back towards the mouth of the cave.

Suddenly I knelt down and pressed both hands to the ground just as they stabbed, and their eyes widened as an eraser shot up from behind me and smashed into their face, sending them flinging back through the air in a series of involuntary back flips.

Chara face planted in the mud and slid back, almost immediately pushing up to their hands and knees and glaring at me. Black oozed from their eyes and the corner of their mouth, along with a distinct stream of red from their nose, no doubt caused by the impact of that eraser.

I glanced hesitantly over my shoulder at the hopeful faces behind that barrier, and my eyes narrowed painfully.

I can do this... I can make this right! My hands clenched into fists at my sides while I watched Chara launch off the ground, blasting right across the plateau and letting out a furious roar as they cranked back that knife, crimson eyes locking onto me.

"I guess I hadn't thought about it, a world without you. I've been very focused on getting to it, and haven't considered much what I'd do when I'm there."

I threw out one hand, ink spiraling up from behind me and firing off at Chara. I have to!

"'Is this as sweet as you?'... Well, I am sweet..."

Chara slashed rapidly, sending ink splattering to nothing in the rain as they rapidly closed the distance between us. Come on Cter!

"... What is a 'yandere'?"

I held my arms out to the sides, leaving myself wide open as more and more ink fired from behind me. Come on Hacker!

"You sweet talk every murderous lunatic like that? Here I thought I was special."

They were mere feet away, cocking back that knife for what I prayed would be the last time and letting out a primal roar.

Come on Angel!

The music stopped.

Lightning crashed to Earth.

Thunder boomed.

Screams echoed from my friends. Well, all but one of them.

Chara stared down at me, jaw clenched and expression twitching with a mix of unsure emotions.

They'd knocked me right over, buried that knife in my diaphragm. When I fell back they'd dropped with me, sitting on my abdomen and using their knees to pin both of my arms to the ground.

"... Eh... Ehehe..." My eye twitched with pain, cold sweat pouring down my face with the rain while I stared up at them. Blood ran in a stream down my chin. "Y-yup, that... Still hurts like it used to..."

Chara didn't speak, just staring at my face with semi wide eyes. Their hands trembled around the handle of the knife they'd driven into my core.

"You... Didn't dodge..."

"CTER!" Monster Kid screamed, tears flooding from his eyes as he desperately shoved against that barrier.

"Come on, punk!" Undyne slammed her shoulder into the barrier, gritting her teeth with frustration. "Let us in there already..! We have to help you!"

"Get up, Cter!" Papyrus smashed his fists against the barrier. "You have to!"

"C'mon, kid..." Sans spoke quietly and almost just to himself as he rested his palm upon the barrier, sockets narrowing painfully. "It can't end like this..."

"Please, no..." Toriel stood slowly, placing her hands over her mouth as tears built in her eyes. "Not another, please..."

"Not after everything you've done for us!" Asgore pushed his hands against the barrier desperately. "Please!"

"You're stronger than this, darling!" Mettaton cocked back one leg, slamming it against the barrier. "You have to keep fighting!"

"P-please don't die Cter!" Alphys pounded her scaly fists against the barrier.

Grillby stood a ways back, eyes narrowing painfully before the glare of his glasses covered his eyes.

On the ground behind them all, Frisk's eyes twitched with life. Gradually, their fingers curled, hand balling into a fist.

Chara's jaw clenched, strands of soaked hair clumped together and dangling over their face.

"... This is your last chance, Cter." Their eyes narrowed painfully down at me, hands tightening around their blade's handle. "Either join me or die."

"Why are you giving me another chance..?" I looked up at Chara curiously, one eye winced shut while I heaved for air. Each inhale and each exhale hurt, but so did holding my breath. "I thought you wanted me dead..."

"I've entertained your goddamn fight enough already!" Chara snapped, hair falling over their eyes and making them disappear in shadow. "I won and you're going to die, so just join me already!"

"But... I thought you wanted to fight me..?" Drops of water fell from their hair as they leaned over me, landing on my face and helping wash away some of the blood that dribbled down my chin.

"I wanted you to join me you moron!" Chara balled their hands into fists, pulling them up like they were going to slam them on my chest but, upon seeing my fragile condition, hesitating.

"I gave you the incredibly simple ultimatum - join me or die - because I thought you would obviously pick the option where you get to live!" Inky black tears streamed down Chara's face with their outburst. "And then when you proved SHOCKINGLY indecisive on that, I changed the deal so that your death wouldn't be guaranteed!"

"But how does that-..?"

"So I would have time to convince you to change your stupid, stubborn mind!" Chara grabbed onto my torn and soaked shirt, glaring down at me. "But you're STILL being difficult!"

"This is the last time I'm going to ask, Cter! Hacker! Angel!" Chara wrapped one hand around that knife, placing the other on my chest to assure that I stay down. "Are you going to join me or am I going to have to kill you right here and now?!"

"... Chara." I closed my eyes, slowly shaking my head. "I'm not gonna help you... Hurt innocent people..."

Chara's jaw clenched, and a great measure of some mixed bag of nasty emotions flooded their eyes, overflowing in dark tears while they stared down at me.

"W-well... Fine!" Chara snarled, and my eyes snapped open wide as they yanked the knife from my solar plexus, making me cry out in agony. My yell was cut short, however, by blood that rushed up my throat, my eyes going bloodshot as crimson sprayed up from between my jaws, tremors rocking my agonizing body.

"If you'd really rather die than..!" Chara hesitated, holding that knife high above their head while trembling eyes stared down at me. "I'll grant your wish!"

Everything went silent. Just the pounding rain.

Chara's arm shook with indecision, crimson eyes never leaving my emerald ones. Their expression shifted, their eyes did not blink, their jaw locked.

"What's... What's going on..?" They almost whispered to themself, expression softening with confusion and concern. "W-why can't I..?"

"... You don't want to kill me." I blinked my eyes calmly, though I have to say that I felt relieved to have my theory confirmed.

"What..?" They asked quietly, brow furrowing like they really didn't understand.

"That's why you changed the deal. That's why you want me to join you. That's why you're hesitating." A genuine smile slowly crept up my face, despite the blood it was stained with and the fact it was going pale. "You don't want to kill me."

"That's..." Their eyes darted from side to side in a panic, like they were looking for any other answer.

"Ridiculous!" Chara's eyes landed back on me, wide with denial. "Why would I give a damn about your life?!"

"Shot in the dark..?" I arched a brow at them. "Probably because I'm, not afraid of you... I treat you like a regular person and I take the time to talk you because I... Enjoy being around you..."

"Because... You're my friend."

Chara's eyes were wide in horror, and they quickly started to shake their head. "Stop talking Cter."

"You're my friend and I..." I looked to the side, tired eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "I want you around."

"Cter I'm serious quit it!" Chara's voice rose, and so did the panic in their eyes.

"I don't want to fight you, I don't want to hurt you, I just..."

"Stop it Cter!"

"... I want to be your friend, too."

"Stop talking like that!" Chara snapped, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt and lifting me some, making me wince with pain. "Stop being so..! So..!"

"I Chara-bout you." I grinned sheepishly even with the blood staining my teeth and the pain coursing through my body. "Hehe..."

Chara's hair shadowed their eyes and their teeth ground together, entire body trembling as their grip tightened on my shirt, before suddenly releasing.

"SHUT!"

My eyes widened, darting up to their hand as they once again pulled that knife up over their head.

"UP!"

Blood flew through the air. Agony carved a diagonal path across my chest with their slash. My eyes went wide and my pupils shrunk. Thunder boomed in the clouds above.

*Death of a fool it is.

"You..!" Chara once again grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, yanking me up some. "You ruined it!"

"This was supposed to feel good! I was supposed to be happy that I beat you!" Emotion burned in Chara's wide eyes. "But just like everything else you... You just..!"

Water struck my face. It was hard to tell if it was from the rain, or...

"You come along and make everything different and hard to understand!" Chara shook their head with frustration, inhaling sharply. "You fucked it up! This is all your fault!"

I wanted to say something. Say anything. But I couldn't. In fact, I could barely keep my eyes open. I'd been in excruciating pain for a few seconds, but now everything was going numb. My vision was starting to get hazy, and when my head fell back because my neck just couldn't support it's weight any longer, Chara's eyes suddenly widened with realization, and the fury disappeared from their expression.

"... Hey, w-wait a second." Their grip on my shirt loosened, and they gently set my head back on the ground. "What's going on?"

I stared up at the sky with hazy eyes. I couldn't feel the rain on my face, and Chara's words were muffled in my ears.

*You gambled everything and you failed.

"Why are you being so quiet?!" Horror was washing over Chara, cold sweat forming with their realization. "Say something!"

I wished I could say something. That I could tell them it was okay, that I didn't feel mad or betrayed or...

*But why don't you, runt?!

I didn't have an answer. My brain worked with what energy it had left to find one, but the search was all too exhausting. I wasn't sure if I was breathing anymore. I didn't feel like I was choking, but I didn't feel my chest lifting either.

"You have something up your sleeve, don't you?!" Chara gripped fistfuls of my shirt, desperation in their eyes. "Some harebrained scheme that's going to save you?! Anything?!"

Their eyes lifted then with the red soul that slowly floated up from my chest, mouth hanging open and pupils shrinking as they watched cracks begin to split my it's crimson form.

"O-okay, Cter! You were right! Is that what you want me to say?!" Chara's eyes darted back down to me, watching the green fade from my eyes. "I-..! I don't want this..! I..."

Tears welled up in their eyes then, and they clenched their eyelids shut, turning their head down and away from my ever cracking soul.

"_._._._I_d_o_n_'_t_w_a_n_t_y_o_u_t_o_d_i_e_._._._"

"..." My mouth managed to open with what little of my strength and DETERMINATION remained. Everything was going dark around me, but four words sat on the tip of my tongue, and even as my soul cracked and broke, I had one last proclamation to make. Not for Chara, not for my friends. For me.

So I spoke, quietly and barely at all. But without pain, without hesitation.

"... Then He was wrong."

Chara's head lifted at the sound of my voice, a glimmer of hope appearing in their eyes.

S_h_a_t_t_e_r

Their pupils shrunk, watching shards of red fling through the air as tears overflowed, a stream cupping each of their cheeks. Their arms dropped limp at their sides, and hope left them there, cold and in the rain.

Slowly, Chara lowered their head, looking to their blood stained hands with blurry eyes. Water droplets hit Cter's blood and diluted it, making it run from their hands and slowly washing it away.

They were shaking, and they managed to lift their eyes to the corpse that they were seated on. They gradually brought their blood soaked hands to their chest, hugging them close and almost seeming to curl up some, like they were trying to seem small and insignificant.

Cter's eyes were empty of all life, what was once green now almost grey. They stared for thousands of miles, unfocused and lacking any and all emotion. His face had gone pale, rain washing the clashing red blood from his pale white skin and letting it seep into the earth.

Looking upon the hollow shell that wore Cter's face made Chara shake even more violently. It made panic, regret, denial, guilt, and a billion other emotions scream in their brain. They screamed and screamed and screamed until Chara had no choice but to unhinge their jaw, clamp their eyes shut and do the same.

They screamed and cried and shouted into the nothingness they'd cast themself into, tears streaming indignantly down their face.

Unable to bear the pain in their chest, Chara had to hunch over while they sobbed, placing one hand over their face in a pathetic attempt at stopping their flow of tears while they hung their head low. They sat there, crying uncontrollably for a time period they were unsure of. It was like the world had frozen, went dark around them.

Lightning struck.

Thunder boomed.

A shadow fell over them.

Chara slowly lifted their head, one hand still covering the right side of their face as they looked up at Frisk, who loomed over them, Worn Dagger gripped tightly in their hand.

"... You killed my friend." Frisk spoke after one hate-filled staring contest, a furious scowl overtaking their usually calm and friendly expression.

"H-heh... Hey," Chara sniffled, a weak smile forming on their face as they began to giggle in spite of the tears that continued to pour down their face. "He was my friend, too."

Frisk's eye twitched with aggravation at such a notion, before swiftly lifting that dagger, pointing it right in Chara's face, the blade inches from their nose.

"I'm tired of this. I'm tired of you." Hatred was clear in Frisk's tone. It was written on their face, shined in their eyes.

Chara didn't bother responding, just pointing back up at Frisk with their own knife. Seeing the blood it was still stained with made Frisk's knuckles whiten around the handle of their dagger.

"No more fighting. No more hurting people. No more death." Frisk's soul appeared on their chest, red outlined with white. They tilted their head back some, and a murderous red gleamed in their right eye.

"No more Chara."

Wood chips.

I was laying on wood chips. Staring up at a darkening, overcast and polluted sky.

Not the afterlife I'd imagined.

"Angel?"

My eyebrows raised in surprise as a pale, childish face leaned over me. Kind ruby eyes shined with concern, the small albino boy tilting his head to the side, a band-aid under his left eye.

"... Anny..?" I asked with furrowed brows and squinted eyes, like I was trying to make sure I had the right face.

The boy just smiled, reaching out with one little hand to help me up. I lifted my heavy arm, taking the child's clean, soft, pale hand in my dirty, rough, bony and blood stained fingers.

"It's been such a long time since you've visited, Angel." Anthony laughed as I sat up, smiling genuinely while I looked over the playground we sat in.

We used to spend every afternoon here. Sitting on those swings. Playing 1 on 1 tag and/or hide and seek. It was a nice, safe place. A little slice of heaven for an innocent Angel.

"... Yeah..." I looked to my hands with narrowed, exhausted eyes, and I frowned. I certainly looked like I just died. I was still stained with mud and blood, still missing my sweatshirt and wearing that cut up, red striped black T shirt. The only thing that was missing was the water the sky had dunked me in and the gaping chest wounds.

An Innocent Angel, and whatever I had always been.

"It's getting late." Anthony scratched the back of his head as I stood, looking to the side.

"You've gotten big and strong, haven't you?" Anthony smiled knowingly up at me, tilting his head to the side while he held his hands together in front of himself. "Would you mind walking me home..?"

"... If it's, not too much trouble..." Anthony lowered his head, rubbing his shoulder timidly. "I know you must be busy these days..."

"..." I smiled sadly, reaching down and picking Anthony up. I set him on my shoulders, and his legs dangled forward over my chest.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around my forehead while I took gentle hold of his ankles, beginning to walk through the wood chips towards the gate of the chain link fence surrounding Heaven.

"Thanks, Angel!" Anthony smiled a big happy grin, hugging my head affectionately and appreciatively.

"I knew I could always count on you!"

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