Thanks go to BonelessSkele, 10burgers, Wingah, WhoWritesThisCrap, CrystalGamer82, Andyfire123, GrayK, Jack54311, Xero619, Allagenda-domsitzers-chan, Genowar, Monkey D. Chimera, Guest, and istic.
To answer your question Guest, it is unlikely that more than the four DT kids we've seen (Cter, Anarchy, Predator, Gatherer). There's mainly just 21 so that people can have fun and create OCs and whatnot if they want to. That said, there will certainly be a lot more DoubleTale in the Rewrite than there was in the first story. Where the first story ended is jsut the halfway point for this story. So gear up, you're in for a long ride.
Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale or Horrortale.
Gradually my eyes creaked open, but they found little light to adjust to. My sluggish orbs glossed over my surroundings, examining them as the sleepy fog surrounding my brain began to subside.
I was laying on my side, body resting on wet concrete. The first sound that entered my ears was the pouring of water, the splash of a broken pipe's contents plummeting down to the unforgiving floor. When I lifted my eyes to the ceiling a few feet diagonally from my legs, I spotted the busted pipe that the ugly, improv waterfall was pouring from.
The more I examined, the more I recognized this as some kind of basement. Concrete floor, cinder block walls, wood beams and pipes making up the ceiling. I placed my hand upon the floor with a gentle splash, pushing myself to sit up.
Riiiiipppp...
My dazed emerald orbs narrowed then, squinting into the blackness ahead in hopes that my eyes would adjust and that I'd be able to find the source of the only sound other than dripping in the basement: the savage and voracious chewing. It was a disgusting sound, some mix between a dog gnawing on a rawhide and someone chewing a mouthful of gum with their jaws open.
After a moment of searching, my pupils perceived a pale white form at the center of the basement's darkness. Its skin was so reflective that it just barely appeared through the vantablack, and the longer I stared the more detail I found. It was humanoid, its back to me and its spine in clear view as it hunched ghoulishly over whatever might be creating the red puddle it knelt in. I could see the majority of it's bone structure with how tight its skin was sucked to its bones. No wonder it was ripping that body apart so carelessly; it looked like it hadn't eaten in days. Weeks, even.
Too far gone.
My eyes glossed down from the ivory ghoul to the only other object I could see, specks of light shining down from the floor boards above and reflecting in the crimson painted crowbar that lay just behind him. My less than KIND green eyes paused on this item, brows furrowing with contemplation.
Before he kills you.
As quiet as can be I pushed myself to my feet, eyes locked on the mane of red stained snow that fell in mangy locks behind the ivory ghoul's head. In a paranoid silence I crept closer and closer, heart pounding in my chest at the thought of that head whipping around and those scarlet eyes locking onto me as the beast's next prey.
But they never did. Even as I leaned down, plucked the object of death and devastation from the concrete. Even as my fingers curled in its filth, and its red brand seeped deep into the flesh of my palm. Even when I rose my arm, blocked out the Heavens above with the twisted metal and prepared to strike down the Angel Killer's Bastard Son.
But when I swung, my arm didn't travel more than three inches before it was stopped dead. Dread struck my heart, cold sweat fled down my skin, and my shrunken pupils trembled as they laid upon the pale and bony hand that wrapped tight around my wrist. His filthy, untrimmed finger nails tore into my skin, let my own red shade trickle down his blood stained hand.
And when I turned my head back down to look at him, and my eyes met those of The Scorpion, I concluded that he'd known I was here the entire time. That he'd been finishing devouring the other corpse, that'd he'd been saving me for last, and finally - as those rows and rows of teeth ripped my face from my skull and that wretched tongue slurped it down into the stomach of Chaos Incarnate - that I never stood a chance.
Karma.
Chapter 32: Weather Forecast
"Oh shit."
My eyes snapped open wide, but my body didn't flinch. I just laid there, flat on my back and with a blanket covering my legs while I stared up at the ceiling. I could feel the gentle pin pricks of my pores opening, followed by the sensation of sweat trickling down my forehead. For seconds or hours I didn't breath and I didn't blink. I just laid there, trying to make sense of the torment my brain had just subjected me to. Every frame of that nightmare was replayed, again and again, until the rest of my senses came back.
"You're going back?!"
"Of course I'm going back! I have to!"
"Cter got hurt, Chara! If I hadn't healed him, he might've-!"
"Cter's fine, Asriel! I've seen him jump back up from much worse!"
"Oh yeah, he looked real jumpy spilling pints of blood all over our floor!"
Oh, right. Hacker and Demon. Chest got popped open. My super cool nightmare where my childhood best friend ate my face almost made me forget how I got KOed - damn near Yamcha'd - in the first place. I blacked out from blood and organ loss, and Chara must've gotten me back to their Ruins home for Asriel to heal what my DETERMINATION couldn't.
"What's it matter?! He's fine now!"
"Fine?! He could be in a coma for all we know! You should have taken him to mom, you know she can heal way better than me!"
"Oh sure! I'll just show up on their front doorstep with a dying Cter in my arms! I'm sure that won't raise any fuckin' eyebrows!"
Hearing this shouting match from the kitchen made me feel nostalgic. Expression blank and eyes devoid of light, I turned my head to look at the shadows. The silhouettes on the wall of the kitchen that screamed like I couldn't hear them. It took me back to my early childhood, made me remember wishing that the manic whir of my chainsaw bayonet in Gears of War would drown out my parents not-so-distant yelling match. But I didn't have any sadistic and barbaric tool to rip through Locust flesh on the big screen this time. Now the only other noises were my invasive thoughts, and ironically those were loud enough to drown out the yelling.
"Can you just relax?! You can't just rush into things like this! Did anyone other than me even know what you two were doing?!"
"What were we gonna tell them, that we have to go across the multiverse to kill ourselves because we're being shitty?"
"Oh please. This isn't some justice crusade, this is a personal vendetta!"
Granny was wrong about us. That's the last thing I remember hearing. Hacker said that, then he made his daring escape and I made my daring drop into unconsciousness. Now I got to lay here, basking in the glory of my idiotic mistake. I'd fallen into my own trap, for my own lies. I don't know if that made me an idiot or a narcissist or both, but now who knows how many more people would get hurt, all because of me?
"But your greatest strength could also be your greatest weakness."
Originally, I'd written Chara's rant during our sparring yesterday off as being more about them not trusting themself than me being gullible, but now I was finding more and more truth in their words. Hacker had manipulated me, used both my hopes and my fears to get me to drop my guard. We had the both of them, and my stupid KINDNESS let them slip through our fingers.
Maybe I was getting arrogant. Maybe words don't reach everybody. Maybe sometimes people have to die.
*Told you so.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you trying to fix your issues by stabbing someone. Again."
"Asriel you better not be accusing me of what I think you're accusing me of."
"Look, you aren't bad for wanting to kill Demon. Trust me, I've imagined what it'd be like to torch Flowey to death more than once. But it wouldn't fix my issues. And killing Demon isn't gonna fix yours."
"So what, you just want me to talk to them?"
"Yes, actually! I think that'd get you a much better kind of closure!"
"How am I supposed to talk to a homicidal maniac?!"
"Chara that's LITERALLY HOW CTER STOPPED YOU!"
That one shook me outta my thoughts. I grimaced visually, sitting up slowly and carefully to keep anymore bolts of pain from jutting through my aching chest. Skeptically my eyes watched that kitchen entrance, and desperately my ears listened for another word. But none came. Just a tense silence, followed by footsteps, quick and angry.
Chara stomped into the living room and got about three steps in before their eyes landed on me, and the intensity in them made me flinch. Once more I felt overwhelming guilt and shame for my stupid MERCY. MERCY that was certainly lacking in the furious eyes that rested upon me now.
"... Know who you can trust, huh?" Chara's words were just as pointed as their glare. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words would come forth. The tension in the room choked me, and the gravity of the situation crushed me.
"Save it." Chara spoke before I could vomit up any words, turning that brutal gaze forward and walking right past me. The further away they got, the lighter the invisible grip on my throat became. Until finally, just as I heard the front door creak open, I managed to speak.
"Chara-!"
SLAM.
*Too little too late.
"..." I clenched my eyes shut tight, slowly leaning my head back against the couch. "Fuck..."
"... Oh, Cter. You're awake..."
I frowned knowingly, opening my eyes and looking over to Asriel, who stood in the overhang between the kitchen and living room.
"I'm, glad you're alright..." He kept his head down, eyes never landing directly on mine in a poor attempt at hiding whatever shitty emotions he must've been feeling. "... And I'm uh... Sorry you had to hear that."
"... We really shit the bed on this one, Asriel." I looked back to the ceiling with honest and lightless orbs, one lethargic frown curling my lips.
"Look, I know you're still recovering, but could you go talk to them..?" Asriel lifted his head, looking at me with sad goat eyes that were hard to say no to. "I, think you might be able to help more than I can."
"... Yeah." I blinked slowly, exhaling and glancing down to the massive hole at the center of my shirt. "I was going to anyway."
"Nice place." F Chara stated without much kindness, crossing their arms over their chest while their eyes scanned over the cabin they now stood inside of. "This where you hid from us for all those years?"
"Thanks." Future stated from the kitchen, which one large doorway connected to the living room that Chara stood in. He seemed to ignore Chara's pointed question, too busy behind the bar in the corner of the room, where he was refilling his flask with some clear fluid that poured from a glass bottle. "Built it myself."
"Never took you for a lumberjack or a carpenter." F Chara walked from the wood floor of the living room to the tiles of the kitchen.
"Yeah well with enough razor sharp ink tendrils and Youtube tutorials, anything is possible." Capping his flask and tucking it back into his coat, Future turned around to face Chara, setting that bottle on the counter between them. Then he leaned down, retrieved two short glasses from under the bar, and straightened his back once more to set them on the granite surface. Finally he glanced back up to Chara, pouring more of that alcohol into each glass. "Thirsty?"
"Not particularly, no." Chara narrowed their eyes with an icy chill, clearly aggravated by Future's bush beating.
"More for me then." Without hesitation or shame the king lifted both glasses, bringing the one in his left hand to his lips and effortlessly gulping it's contents down. Then without a breath between, he switched glasses, chugging the second glass with just as much ease as the first.
"..." F Chara's jaw clenched, frown only growing - much like their disgust - as Future set both glasses down on the counter, exhaling through his teeth and blinking his eyes wide a few times. "You're-"
"A shambling husk of a man?" Future finished their sentence for them, lifting those lightless emeralds back to Chara's rubies and putting on a soulless smile. "I know, right?"
F Chara couldn't deny to themself that they found this unnerving, and with such a feeling in mind they turned their head away from the king and glanced out the window at the far side of the room. Nothing but trees and dirt. Everything about this cabin felt like solitary confinement.
"... Why am I here, Cter?" F Chara looked back to Future from the corner of their eye.
"Good question." Walking out from behind the counter, that bitter frown that had become Future's resting expression reappeared on his face. He glanced over at them as he stepped past, making his way into the living room. "Why are you here?"
"What are you on about?" Chara narrowed their eyes suspiciously, following behind Future from a distance. They paused at the center of the living room, watching him plop lazily into the couch and let his lethargic gaze land upon them.
"Why'd ya go pick a fight with Hacker and Demon?" A blunt question for someone who'd purposefully ducked and dodged around the point for so long.
"... Well..!" Chara flinched visibly, leaning their head back and letting more anger creep into their expression. "That's none of your business!"
"Why'd you come here, Chara?!" Future rephrased his question with more of his reserved fury in his tone. His anger was a fickle thing. Ninety percent of the time he hardly felt anything at all. But for that other ten he felt he was about to explode. It was always sudden, a bolt of rage that made his muscles clench and his voice rise in volume.
"You aren't an idiot, you knew how dangerous those two were!" He stood from the couch, his anger ignoring his aching, exhausted body as he pointed an accusatory finger in their face. "Why would you take a risk like that?!"
"What's it matter to you?!" Chara slapped his hand out of their face, their own blood quick to boil. "I'm your enemy, dumbass! Why's that always been so hard for you to understand?!"
That was true. Future was built to kill Chara. It's why his hair was black, it's why the Deltarune was engraved on his back. But for something he existed to do, he was admittedly bad at it. People had been hurt and people had died, and as furious as that made Future, it all went away whenever he imagined Chara being dead too. Anger turned to sadness, hatred to soul crushing loneliness and emptiness.
"You rushed all the way out here in the middle of the night just to save my sorry ass when I slaughtered everyone you cared about!" Now F Chara was the one doing the pointing, jabbing their index finger into Future's chest and making him back up. "That doesn't seem a little fucked up to you?!"
"Maybe I want to kill you myself!" Future was always good at lying on the spot.
"Bullshit!" Chara was always good at seeing through those lies.
"Look, this isn't about me!" Future knocked Chara's hand aside, going right back to poking them in some idiotic stand off. "This is about you trying to get yourself killed and me being pissed about it!"
"Why do you care?!" Chara reiterated their question with a demanding shove that made Future take a step or two back.
"Because!" Future shoved them right back after he got his footing, forcing them to stumble back like he had. "Everyone else I've ever cared about is dead!"
"Yeah I know!" Chara furiously gestured to themself, leaning forward some. "I'm the one who killed them, idiot! So why don't you hate me?!"
"BECAUSE WHEN YOU LOVE SOMEONE YOU MAKE EXCUSES!"
Things got quiet. F Chara recoiled, Future stiffened.
*Hahahahahaha!
"... I uh... I said that out loud, huh?" Future's eyes were empty again, his anger leaving him for that numb feeling he was so used to. Those emeralds without luster that were stuck in his skull laid on the floor, and his shoulders sunk with his frown.
"... Yeah." F Chara couldn't make eye contact either. They awkwardly rubbed their shoulder, ruby orbs looking to their right. They didn't seem particularly angry anymore either, confronted instead by emotions that were a bit harder to understand and express.
"..." Future sighed audibly, rubbing his exhausted eyes with his index finger and thumb while he turned, dragging his sorry ass back towards the kitchen bar for another desperately needed drink.
"... Look, I don't know why I don't hate you for what you did." Future's voice was bitter. That'd been the flavor of his life for a good number of years now. He lazily slid into one of the two bar stools and leaned his elbows on the counter. "I tried to be angry at you, but it didn't work."
"Every time I tried to think "How dare they?" or "That piece of shit I'm gonna kill them!" I just started thinkin'-..." Future cut himself off, lifting that bottle from the counter and bringing it to his lips. After two or three gulps, he set the bottle down and shook his head. "I started thinkin', "Wow Angel, you're such a piece'a garbage, all you had to do was be there and you failed. You're a fuckin' failure. I hate you.""
"... Er, somethin' to that effect, anyway." Future gave a sluggish, one handed shrug. his other hand was preoccupied pouring drinks into one of the two glasses still resting on the counter. "Every time I tried to blame you I always concluded that it was all my fault. Because it was."
"..." F Chara listened quietly, before making their way over to the bar where the king hung his head. They slid onto the stool at his side and leaned forward, resting their elbows on the counter. After a moment of melancholy thought, they gestured to the empty glass that rested next to Future's. "Pour me one, too."
Future cocked a brow over at them, contemplating the opportunity to tease them on their indecision. He knew he wasn't in a playful mood, however, and instead just turned his gaze back to their glass, filling it with the bottle that had yet to leave his hand.
"... I messed up, Angel." F Chara spoke after a pause, both hands wrapped around their glass and their eyes drowning in it's contents. "Even someone as crazy as me can understand that."
"You aren't crazy." Future made an attempt, but it just made Chara shoot him a sarcastic and condescending look. That made him scoff with some amusement, shutting his eyes and turning his head back to his glass with a smile that was less than happy. "'Least, you aren't when I'm around."
"Well, that was the problem. You weren't around." Chara shrugged their shoulders, frown only growing and head not lifting. "At first I didn't know how to feel when you left. I was angry and betrayed. Then I was sad and alone."
"... Then I was, guilty." Chara's scarlet orbs narrowed painfully, their grip tightening some on their glass. "Guilty and desperate."
Future didn't speak, instead leaning back in his chair and turning to face them with a curious expression.
"I started to think it was my fault. That you trusted me with your past and I was wrong to try to get you to come clean with everyone else." F Chara shut their eyes, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I just didn't understand how scary the truth was to you."
"I... Didn't realize you were more committed to hiding your identity than you were to me." F Chara's eyes glossed to the side, their pain glimmering dully in them. "To all of us."
Future still didn't talk. Shadow obscured those emerald orbs, and on habit he pulled that drink up to his lips, quietly sipping to silence his thoughts and help him listen better.
"I was furious with you, but I still missed you. And that made me furious with myself, too." Chara leaned back, letting their eyes rest on the ceiling. "I was confused. Didn't know what to feel. And that made me remember what I did the last time my whole life felt upside down."
Future's jaw clenched, and through gritting teeth he sucked more alcohol. He still didn't object however, knowing these were words he had to hear, no matter how much they hurt.
"At first the thought was silly. I dismissed it with ease." Chara paused, shadow dropping over their eyes. "... Then it came back. Again. And again. And again. Each time the idea made a little more sense than it had last time."
"Soon enough, well... You know how the story goes." Chara tilted their head, finally looking back to Future. "I wanted to see you again more than anything. Wanted to go back to when things were simple between us."
"... What about everyone else?" Future narrowed his eyes sorrowfully, KIND emeralds finally breaking free from the shadow. "Didn't you care about any of them?"
"... Of course. They were all my family. I loved them." F Chara looked ahead, and without hesitation they lifted their glass, taking a long drink before speaking again. "But I didn't think I'd have time to regret it. I'd kill them, and you'd finally come back to stop me."
"..." Future drank whatever his glass had left to offer. His hopes that it would help him swallow that pill were dashed, and gently he set his drink back on the granite surface. "... You wanted me to kill you."
"I was counting on it. I was sure I meant nothing to you, so I thought it'd be easy for you. Heh..." F Chara smiled at the boo-hoo funny joke their life had become, eyes lowering to the smooth stone they rested their beverage on. "But I should've known that wasn't the case. Things have never been as easy as love or hate between us."
"..." Future was quiet for a long time. So was Chara. Neither of them had anymore words to say. So instead they sat there, for awhile, adjusting to the gravity of the truth that they'd spent so long ducking and dodging around.
Eventually, F Chara decided they'd overstayed their welcome. They placed their hands on the counter to push themself to their feet, but before they could, they felt another hand rest itself on top of theirs. This startled them a bit, but they didn't dare jump or flinch, instead just letting their eyes gloss over to the scene.
Just as they'd thought (hoped) was true, they found Future's hand laying on theirs in some silent gesture. They wanted to tell him they appreciated this in the same manner, so gradually they turned their palm to face upwards, and they intertwined their fingers with his.
"... Do you think there's any way we can fix this?" Future asked after awhile, lifting his head just enough to peer at Chara with one eye. They could tell he was pleading for a good answer, and were quick to find that they couldn't bring themself to give him a bad one.
"We've done the impossible before." A luke warm answer at best, but when F Chara saw Future smile a little, they figured he would take just about anything.
Things were quiet again, but it felt nicer this time. Less tense and more comfortable. Eventually Future groaned to break the silence, reaching up and rubbing his eyelids with his index finger and thumb. Chara was suddenly reminded of just how exhausted he looked these days.
"... I'm tired, Chara." He eventually spoke, letting his arm drop back onto the counter. "I think I have been for a long time."
"I think you should get some sleep, Angel." Chara answered genuinely, gently squeezing his hand in theirs to express their care. "You've been working harder than anyone."
Future groaned again, lazily leaning to his right and letting his head rest on their shoulder. He shut his eyes, yawning loudly. "You're... Probably right..."
F Chara shot him a confused glance, but after a moment of inspecting his half asleep expression, they just let out a silent sigh, rolling their eyes.
*He looks peaceful.
Hacker knelt there at his Demon's side, watching them carefully and anxiously. They were laid on a flat bed of keys, which wasn't much of a bed, but it was more than the inky black void had to offer. Similar keys formed a wall at their side and an overhang above them; some form of comfort and protection in the endless and ever extending dark between worlds.
The cinnamon bunny was useful. It had healed whatever organs were punctured - based on the placement, Hacker had guessed a lung and a kidney - and put The Demon in stable condition. The scariest part had been removing the rebar spikes. If Demon had passed out before Hacker had the chance to feed them the bunny, they would have been done for.
Done for. Cautiously Hacker glanced over his shoulder, eagle eyes narrowing into the shadows that surrounded the two. Three Beat Blasters circled over head, barrels (speakers) pointing out into the void and keeping a watchful eye over their surroundings.
Hacker was aware of the stakes here. That other Cter and Chara were stronger than them, and after his quick thinking and brutal trap that lead to him escaping with his Demon, he was certain they would give chase. They were the hunted now, Hacker knew he wouldn't be able to trick himself again. They needed to run, but Demon...
"Angel..?"
Hacker's eyes widened some, and he turned his head back to The Demon with some surprise. They'd managed to open one eye, and Hacker wasn't sure whether to be happy or worried that they looked more tired than they looked pained.
"You should rest, Chara." Hacker smiled gently, taking their hand in both of his. He'd found himself doing that a lot since they got hurt. He wasn't sure why. He should have told them to suck it up and get off their ass because the two desperately needed to move, but when he looked at their face all he could manage was: "Everything's gonna be alright, I'll take care of it."
"Did you... Mean what you said back there..?" Demon asked, opening their other eye to look into his surprised emerald orbs. "About... Me being everything you have..?"
Hacker stared with confusion for a moment or two, before the corner of his mouth curled up into a slight smile. He couldn't help it, he thought that was a silly question. He'd ERASED his timeline, all friends he had a chance of making and all other lives he had a chance of living to go live carelessly across time and space with them. of course he'd meant every word of what he'd said.
He was about to make a joke, playfully chastise them for questioning something so obvious. But then, with what strength they had, they squeezed his hand. That made him feel oddly warm, and that's not something a killer like him was used to feeling. In fact, in context like this, he didn't think he'd ever felt this way. Their eyes were serious, pleading. They needed a real answer. An honest one.
"... Chara, of course I-"
"Ahem."
Hacker damn near hissed over his shoulder at the intruder, eyes losing that KINDNESS from seconds ago and being refilled with murderous intent. He was a cornered animal now, ready to slaughter anything that might threaten Demon's safety. So he was only half relieved when he found Badster looming like the malevolent hunchback he was, staring into him with those lightless eyes, poisoned with curiosity.
"... That's strike two, Gaster." There was venom on Hacker's tongue as he gradually climbed to his feet and begrudgingly let go of Demon's hand. He turned to face the doctor that had nudged him and his partner in this direction in the first place, standing protectively between him and Demon. "Your timing is one strike from costing you your arms."
"I've got spares." Badster dismissed with that crooked smile, letting those crazy eyes gloss to the side for a moment before they darted back to The Hacker. "Seems you two have had quite the run of bad luck."
"An eighteen karat run of bad luck, to be exact." Hacker narrowed those furious green orbs, and Badster noted the ink dripping from his clenched fists. "And I'm beginnin' to think the game was rigged from the start."
"Whoa now, lets not be too hasty." Badster lifted his hands defensively, and several other hands appeared in the same pose over his head before disappearing.
"I dunno doc, I'm startin' to feel kinda fuckin' hasty." Hacker took a step forward, and the three circling Beat Blasters all came to a stop, turning their speakers towards Badster and awaiting their next order.
"You are in a very sticky situation, Hacker." Badster's jaw curled up further, though he did not dare move under the watchful eye of The Hacker. "I've only come to lend you a hand and give you some useful information."
"Why?" Hacker demanded to know, jaw clenching and ink curling around his fingers. "Why have you been helping us? What do you stand to gain?"
"I'm a friendly man, Hacker." Badster spoke, but his lies only earned a warning flare from the Beat Blasters that loomed over head. A momentary flash of them charging that faded seconds later.
"Wrong answer." Hacker growled menacingly.
"Fine, fine. You make a very convincing argument." Badster shut his eyes for a moment, smile remaining plain on his face. "The Cter you faced is not any ordinary Cter."
"What do you mean?" Hacker watched skeptically, examining Badster's every move for any tell of a lie. He found none.
"He is the very same Cter The Hacker that defeated Error Sans." Badster's words struck The Hacker like a freight train. He'd heard the story, how could he not have? Him and Demon had traveled far and wide, met plenty of scummy multiverse figures, and they'd learned that with Cters, there was one above all. The one that massacred Error with his bare hands. Shattered his bones, detached his arms, and left him to die in a pool of dust and tears.
Hacker had heard it'd been effortless, and sudden. One second he's hiding with his Chara in a key fort, the next he's causing sonic booms with punches and sending Error rag dolling for miles. At least, that's what Hacker had heard. Word traveled from first source, to secondary source, to third, fourth, fifth, etc. And as is the nature of that kind of information transferal, fact thinned and fiction widened. The exact details were hard to ascertain, but the moral of the story was always that this Cter was the biggest and baddest Cter there ever was.
"You sent me n' my Chara to fight that maniac?!" Hacker snapped furiously, stomping one step closer to Badster.
"Error was a personal friend of mine." Badster lied effortlessly, but Hacker was too enraged to pick up on whatever tell - if any - the doctor would display. "And I thought you and The Demon would be the best option for disposing of him on my friend's honor."
"We're thinking of the same Cter, right?" Hacker squinted suspiciously. "Because the one I'm imagining would mop the floor with the both of us."
"Cter The Hacker's strength that day was not his own." Badster tilted his head, that smile returning in all of it's haunting glory.
"To achieve that power, two things are required. A Cter," That crescent grin was all that existed on Badster's face, shadows obscuring his eyes. He lifted one finger first, and as he continued speaking he lifted a second, crossing it with the first. "And a Chara."
"..." Hacker didn't speak. He watched Badster for a moment, concern and curiosity written on his expression. Skeptically he looked over his shoulder at The Demon, who stared right back at him with the same uncertain expression.
"... What're you gettin' at, Gaster?" Hacker turned his head back to Badster, narrowing those emerald orbs and listening carefully.
"You two want to be stronger, yes? You want to kill your counterparts before they kill you, don't you?" Malicious eyes watched the desperate children, Badster tilting his head with his question.
"..." Hacker cast one final glance back at Demon. Seeing them laying there, hurt. Remembering every pretentious word out of that winged jackass's mouth. His jaw clenched, and fury ignited in his eyes. Then he let those eyes land back on Badster. "... Yeah. You could say that."
Badster's smiled curved and curled. His sockets went wide, and as he titled his head back, the pupils disappeared from them. The windows to his twisted soul were shut, cutting any shred of humanity from his expression. he reached out one skeletal hand to The Hacker, and in that moment he found the doctor reminiscent of what'd he'd imagined the Grim Reaper to look like.
"Then let me show you how."
Next chapter will be the Thursday after this Thursday.
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XWolf26, out