Thanks go to 10burgers, Wingah, Tbone8454, Acoolnamme, Zillowzest, VoidGivenForm, adam,mat2007, GMLxAwesome, Doctah Sawbones, MrDen1999, TiredWhiteMayge, Zack Frost, cagrijan1904, and WhoWritesThisCrap!
Glad to see you caught up, cagrijan1904! I appreciate all the reviews you left along the way, and I hope you enjoy what I have in store. :)
VoidGivenForm, I appreciate you laying out your thoughts so clearly and respectfully. You're right, I have heard complaints about the fight scenes before. Whether it be a review every once in awhile or one or two people who speak to me personally trying to nudge me quietly towards cutting down on fight scene length in a walk on eggshells sort of way, I've heard my share of differing opinions on the long battles that are waged in these chapters. And you guys are entitled to your opinion, and I respect those opinions, but I don't really agree. Important character moments are showcased in these fights, moments that are integral to the story. Further more, from a plot standpoint, many of these battles are fights between super humans with heavy regenerative abilities. Those kinds of fights are bound to be long, it's what makes sense. And while cutting away to different fights when multiple fights are going on can be helpful, I also find that it often undermines the tension and stakes of one battle when we're cutting away from it to somewhere else every time things start to speed up. So there's a sort of time and place for doing that, and it didn't feel appropriate with the Nephilim fight last chapter.
But, really, that doesn't mean anything. The fight scenes are written the way they are written because that's how I like to write them. Long battles have always been a trademark of my writing and I have worked very hard over the past decade to make them what I've wanted them to be. I've consumed media with fights that I thought were lame because of how short they were (It's the whole reason I couldn't sit through the 1st Season of Hunter X Hunter) ((Yes I know it's a great anime I don't doubt that but it's not my cup o' tea)) and I never want my own creations to be that way. I love Dragon Ball, I love long drawn out battles with a hundred thousand different ways for characters to punch each other in the face, and I believe there's much more to these scenes than just two characters flexing at one another. One of the biggest reasons I began writing was because I wanted to make the intense fights I envisioned in my head come to life. Writing fight scenes is consistently one of the most challenging, fun, and rewarding parts of my writing. So, in short, no, I will not be shortening my fight scenes. They're always going to be exactly as long or short as I want them to be, because this is my book and one should always create what they want to create, unopposed and unapologetically.
I just wanna make sure to state that I'm not angry about your request, and I don't want any of this response to come off as aggressive or like I'm trying to puff out my chest. This is just my genuine and honest answer with a full explanation. I know you've been with this story for a long time, just like any one else who's been kind enough to read 80 chapters and however many kajillion words of this fanfiction, and I appreciate you and everyone else being here.
But - and I say this with absolute sincerity and without any malice - if you don't like reading fights, then you are reading the wrong story. VoidGivenForm, this part isn't really directed at you because I know you detailed in your review that you do like fights but can just become exhausted with their length, but if there's anyone else who's really just bored with fight scenes, you should probably read something else. As the reader, you all reserve the right to skim or skip any scenes that you may not be interested in or stop reading if you don't like what I'm writing. And as the author I reserve the right to write whatever I wanna write. I love all you guys, and I'm beyond happy that so many people enjoy my work, but that doesn't mean I'm going to pander to anyone. DoubleTale: Rewritten is and always has been two things: my vision, and a love letter to Undertale and its fandom created in my way and nobody else's. I am an action author, and I always have been. If action isn't your genre then my work isn't for you.
So if you like what I make and you want to keep supporting it, thank you so much. It means the world to me. And if you're not really into what I make or get bored with it at any point, thanks for stopping by and giving my writing a shot. I'll do me, you guys do you, and hopefully our interests continue to align and we all keep getting to enjoy one another's presence.
Anyway, sorry about going on a huge tangent! I just wanted to explain everything and put it all out in the open. I think I've held you guys up long enough - so without further adieu, here's chapter 80! Next update should be two weeks from today, on March 29th!
Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.
*Cold. Cold! COLD!
Susie would have told Kris she knew that already if she wasn't underwater. Snowdin was already a bad place for a lizard, but freezing waters were a death sentence. Not that Susie had much time to think about that, because moments after she hit the water Felldyne blasted in after her. The shivering hero barely had time to get her ax up, catching a vicious bite from Felldyne's piranha fangs on the metal handle of her weapon. Felldyne smiled anyway, her brutal fangs scraping against that ax while the kicking of her feet sent the two of them spiraling deeper into the frigid dark of the river.
Susie grit her teeth, wincing in the fading light. She could see the bubbles escaping her jaws, and she could see the cruel joy it brought Felldyne. Admittedly, things were looking hopeless. The brutal cold was already making her muscles lock up, her chest was starting to burn for air. Light was fading out, and she was alone in the abyss with this bloodthirsty shark.
*Not alone.
Suddenly, a red light gleamed in the watery dark. Susie's eyebrows rose some - warmth was rushing out through her body, strength was returning to her and paralysis was fading away. And Felldyne watched as black markings curled up around Susie's snarling snout, a red soul outlined with white burning on her chest. The whites of her eyes blacked out, her irises now gleamed a bright red in the water that was beginning to bubble and boil around her. And then, with frightening ease, Susie yanked back her right fist. Felldyne barely had time to look to that fist before it cracked across her face, knuckles that sparked red knocking her head away from the ax she'd been biting before Susie planted her foot in the misguided heroine's chest, kicking her away and back through the water.
Flipping back at an awkwardly slow pace in the water, Susie soon straightened herself out, eyes darting down to the murky river floor beneath. After a moments thought, she pointed her ax down towards the frosty sands, and red light began to crackle around the blade. The steel quickly started to glimmer, then glow, and by the time Felldyne was racing back towards Susie it was shining. Just as the vicious fish was about to crash into her prey, a beam of red hot magic exploded from Susie's ax. The shockwave of power crashed into Felldyne and sent her flinging backwards, all the while the crimson stream of Susie's new Red Blaster careened down to the river's bottom, launching Susie upwards towards the surface.
The sound of rushing water filled her ears, and it was all she could do to lift the DETERMINED red of her eyes towards the surface she was rapidly approaching. A toothy grin split her lips, and she blasted out from the frigid water and into the chilly Snowdin air. Gasping for breath, her eyes darted immediately to the shore while the scarlet beam of her magic died out beneath her. Just a second or two after it did, gravity took hold of Susie once more and began dragging her back towards the watery depths. Luckily another slab of ice floated along just in time, and she landed on her feet atop the snowy surface, making it rock and shift without tipping over.
"Ha!" Susie laughed triumphantly through her gasping, wide eyes watching the waters carefully now. Steam was rising from her body, the heat of her shared soul beating back the deadly chill of Snowdin's perpetual winter. Gripping her Brave Ax tight while her wet hair dangled a few strands in front of her face, she shouted down. "You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT!"
A loud splash was the response Susie received, and she spun on her heel to spot Felldyne launching from the water behind her. The chest of her armor was glowing with a white heart now, and glowing light that almost took on the shape of a spear was beaming out from her patched eye. The Undying smiled viciously at the demi god before her, and a scarlet spear manifested in her hand. "That's what I like to hear!"
Chapter 80: Some Old JAS Title
Or: Out Of The Frying Pan
Predator didn't waste any time - the moment that traitor was on the ground, she was launching off towards them. Melanie hardly had time to reach out towards her, crying out in vain while she watched her friend dart out towards Frisk. The disgraced ambassador just smiled at the sight of her, kept their arms folded behind their back and didn't flinch once as she closed the distance. Melanie's voice was drowned out by the heartbeat pounding in Predator's ears, "Lexi, wait! They're baiting you-!"
A flicker. One instant Lexi had been right in front of an unresponsive Frisk, her scythe cocked back and ready to cleave their head clean from their shoulders. In the next, Frisk stood behind Lexi, staring straight ahead. They were grinning wide, the rapiers they'd folded behind their back now held out to their sides. They stood still again, posing for some invisible camera. And Melanie, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, felt her heart sink into her stomach when she realized blood was trickling down the points of those rapiers.
Lexi's eyes narrowed with confusion, before they snapped open wide. Pain shot through her body, agonizing pinpoints in her knees and shoulders. Without any time to react, she was tumbling onto the ground, falling over herself and trying to gain her balance. it felt like she'd been shot from behind, this pain was so sudden and unexplained. There was no noise, no flash, no nothing. Reality had skipped a frame or two, and now she was struggling on her hands and knees in the dirt while red steam sealed the holes Frisk's needles had punched in her. "W-... What the..?!"
"Everybody forgets so easily." Their back to The Predator, Frisk spoke in a lethal whisper. They turned their head at a leisurely pace, opened one crimson eye to peer over their shoulder into the furious glare Lexi was shooting up at them. Their smile widening with sadistic glee, Frisk delighted at the sight of rage and confusion in the eyes of The Predator. "There used to be an art to this, you know. Before you DoubleKids came along."
Predator snarled, swiping her scythe blade at the backs of Frisk's knees and looking to cut their legs out from beneath them. Unfortunately the traitor jumped, and with a blink they were standing behind Predator once more. Arms folded behind their back and bloody rapier points poking up behind their head, Frisk was squinting their eyes and smiling politely once again. Predator was quick to scramble to her feet, stepping back and putting a bit of distance between herself and the traitor. Her DETERMINATION had already healed her wounds, but Frisk didn't mind. They had all the time in the world.
"Fights used to have turns. Red souls used to actually die and then come back. Did you know that?" Frisk's patronizing tone was starting to get under Lexi's skin, but she didn't rush in again. She was smarter than that, even though Frisk clearly didn't want her to think so. Shakily she exhaled white fog through her gritting teeth, shifting her grip on her scythe and widening her stance. Let them talk themself tired, come up with a game plan in the mean time. Frisk carried on with a tone that made it clear they were proud of themself, "Back then it was more about controlling time than it was willing your body back to life."
"Too bad SAVE FILES are obsolete outside of somebody's original timeline. They can't manipulate code that doesn't match the user's." Lexi furrowed her brows some - why was Frisk going on about SAVING, of all things? She guessed it was an important factor to their tired old adventure, but she had learned their lack of versatility the hard way back when she first left her original timeline to be a space pirate. River Person hadn't thought to inform her of this piece of information until she'd wanted to use her own SAVE in a fight with some wayward Geno!Sans. She smirked a little - this Frisk was clearly too caught up in the past. "It's why Frisks are small time."
"Spite's a bad look on you, sweetie." Frisk delivered their catty line with squinted eyes and a smirk, succeeding in making Predator smile furiously. But she thought better of calling Frisk a bitch and lunging at them again - that's what they wanted. So instead she held her ground, and when Melanie started taking steps closer behind her she held out one arm, signaling her to stop. Lexi didn't know how Frisk had stabbed her so quickly a moment ago, but she knew Melanie wouldn't bounce back from it like she had. Frisk carried on, "But, that's so like a DoubleKid. So focused on flexing your muscles and swinging your dicks that you didn't bother considering other options. Alternate routes, different uses for such a powerful tool."
"The SAVE FILE is a product of the soul, after all. A metaphysical tool made by a DETERMINED human to manipulate time." Frisk's smile crept further up their cheeks while they lowered their head. Predator squinted at the unnatural way that shadows dripped down their face, and when Frisk's scarlet eyes opened, she was reminded of the way shadows slithered upon The Killer. Upon Anthony... "And from whence a SAVE FILE came it can be returned. Am I going too fast for you?"
"Get to the point, windbag." Predator sounded impatient, but she was listening. A different use for Frisk's SAVE, possibilities that went unconsidered... Obviously this had something to do with Frisk's new ability. They must've really loved talking about themself if they were just gonna give valuable information to her. Either that or they were certain they would beat Predator regardless. Either way, Lexi had full intentions to make them regret being so cocky. Just as soon as she'd gotten the information she wanted.
"My point is that it took me two years, but I figured out how to... Modernize, my SAVE FILE." Slowly, Frisk unfolded their arms from behind their back. On their chest a red soul ignited, the very same soul that The Angel had graciously returned to them three years ago on the grounds that they never harm another again. But they'd taught that soul to hurt again, hurt like it never could before. "See, I don't have to be stronger than you or anyone else Lexi, not anymore. Now I get to fight like the good ol' days - with time on my side."
"So! From now on? We're gonna FIGHT the right way~!" Frisk lifted their foot, and Predator steadied herself, but in the very next second Frisk was already upon her. Time spliced, and Frisk was darting up from beneath Lexi before she even knew what was happening. Driving those rapiers upwards, a berserk grin ripped Frisk's face open when they felt their twin needles drive up through a recoiling Lexi's ribs. And as The Predator grit her teeth and her blood spilled down the length of those needles, Frisk giddily shoved their forehead up against hers.
"And you just wasted your turn ACTing."
"You think you can burn me?" Gatherer asked as he opened one palm to the wave of violet flames exploding towards him. Massive as the fire beam was, it was split apart before ever touching The Gatherer, crashing out in a vibrant purple cone around him. In that cone a softball sized shadow rapidly shifted; Gatherer furrowed his brows at the sight of it, watching it whip through the flames he was deflecting and out to the end of the cone, behind him.
Grillby's core suddenly exited the flames, the bartender's body rapidly reforming around it. In the split second it took for his upper body to reshape, Grillby had already yanked back his fist, throwing it forward and sending a more concentrated beam of heat exploding towards Gatherer's back. Unfortunately, The Balor King looked over his shoulder to the bartender, and a wall of fire exploded up between himself and this beam blasting towards him, stopping it in its tracks and successfully fighting fire with fire.
The ground rumbled, and Gatherer hastily jumped up and out of the torrent of flames to dodge the pens that blasted up from the scorched earth beneath him. His scarlet eyes darted to the twin Beat Blasters awaiting at either side of him the moment he was suspended in air, and he hastily threw his arms out towards the both of them. Serpents lunged from the ivory burning tattoos on his arms, closing the distance before either of those blasters could finish their charging and growing to an imposing size before they crashed their fangs through the metal.
Beat Blasters exploding into wires and metallic chunks, Gatherer was only able to look proud of himself for a moment before ink lashed up from beneath him. His eyes widened as the whip snapped around his neck, stinging his skin just before he was yanked back down and throw to the earth. One of his snakes bit through the lasso after it had thrown him, and he rolled when he landed, performing a few backwards summersaults before he finally managed to stop himself on one knee. The vicious red of his eyes landed on Future, who still reached out one ink wrapped arm towards him.
"You know, come to think of it, I haven't ever fought an Angel before." The Gatherer spoke calmly as he elegantly pushed himself to his feet, standing effortlessly while he adjusted the Rolex on his wrist. Grillby walked forward and out of the now smoldering flames he and Gatherer had battled briefly in, on The Gatherer's left while Future remained on his right. He flashed his perfect smile regardless, his snakes looming and shifting in the air above him. "Feels overdue."
"Up until a few years ago I still thought you were dead in our world." Future answered in the same casual tone, though Beat Blasters took form over his head. He smirked some, tired eyes reflecting just a little bit of that rogue energy Gatherer had to suffer from The Hacker. "Now I gotta make you dead in this world."
"You failed then and you'll fail now." Gatherer said what Future's thoughts had told him some billion times in the past few years - the sentence had lost its meaning to him. So he didn't bother objecting, instead clenching his fist and letting the beams explode out from his blasters. to his right, Grillby threw the both of his hands forward, sending a torrent of flames blasting out towards the Balor King. And Gatherer did not flinch, nor did he budge. He merely smiled into the oncoming blasts, fires flickering over his body. These weaklings could not stop him, he would reign eternal.
Gunshots rang, bullets exploded through purple thorned vines that ripped up and out of the snowy forest. They exploded to green chunks under the brutal caliber of Clover's revolver; the cowboy stood upon a frosty boulder in the woods, his accurate eye darting to and fro while his barrels aimed and fired through whatever harsh vegetation was reaching up towards him. That boulder he'd found brief asylum in rumbled however, and he was quick to jump back and into the air just before the massive stone was sent firing into the sky with the force of a massive, purple glowing root crashing up beneath it.
A less focused man may have wasted time watching the ten ton boulder get blasted into the sky, but not Clover. Instead, he looked straight ahead and threw up his revolver, blasting a bullet right through the violet thorned vine darting towards him. As green and amethyst chunks spewed through the air, Clover flipped back and over the vegetation snatching up towards him from behind, sticking the landing in the snow on both feet and immediately jumping back once more. Not that it mattered - Eden's botanokinesis meant her powers reached further than any distance Clover could put between himself and her. She might've just been the perfect counter to a ranged fighter like himself.
"Have ya ever thought that yer on the wrong side'a this?!" Clover called out over the shredding earth to the young lady across the opening in the woods. Eden stood perched atop a pine tree that her magic had twisted. The usual pointed top of the tree split open and left a small platform for her to stand on, branches curling up around her in a pointed guard rail that would catch a bullet or two if her force field failed.
"You yellow souls always think you're on the right side of things." Eden retorted, before a bullet once more bounced off of her shield. She'd been fortunate to get prep time before this battle, the cowboy had came to her and she'd been waiting for him. This shield spell took some time to get set up, and if Clover was to break it she would have trouble finding the time to put it back up. With that in mind, her eyes glossed back to the words beginning to light up on the page of the open notebook in her hand while she responded, "You're a terrorist, Clover. Your JUSTICE would bring ruin to the salvation Gatherer is trying to provide to this multiverse."
"You're colludin' with Nightmare, workin' with murderers n' liars, and layin' waste to an innocent timeline!" Clover stated, even though he knew not why he was trying to reason with this brat. Xander's followers were all the same, all believed the same lie. Still, as he threw another cannister of green chemicals into the vines racing towards him, he found himself hoping to get through to this one. A teenage girl, the most fundamental years of her life had been poisoned by Xander's lies. And Clover understood this - his father had tried to poison him the same way when he was a boy. So, he shouted through the hissing death that was crumbling Eden's attack, "How n' the Fresh Friday Fuck does that look like salvation to you?!"
Eden remained quiet. She narrowed her amethyst orbs, felt her jaw tighten. There was a time where she had an easy response to the slander these pirates would shout at The Gatherer's Empire, but lately she found herself at a loss for words. For just a moment, a split second, she felt silly. What was she doing here? Why was she doing this? No, stop, don't doubt him. The will of The Gatherer is absolute, Anarchy was the hero meant to defeat The Angel. This timeline's sacrifice meant... Something. Right? Wait, what did it mean? No, stop, relax! Eden clenched her eyes shut tight, shook her head, tried to push those thoughts away. Why did she keep thinking like this? Why did it keep getting harder to believe in Xander..?
Finally, Eden thought of something to say. A refutation, denial, anything to keep these doubts at bay. But, when she opened her eyes and lifted her head, her pupils shrunk at the sight of a missile blasting through the green smoke towards her, mere feet away. She barely had time to inhale before Clover's rocket propelled grenade exploded against her forcefield, and she watched the flames crackled out across the purple wall. The field hardly lasted however - she was no KINDNESS soul, her shields couldn't stop much more than a bullet. Though the fires and shrapnel had been stopped, the force of the blast sent her shield crashing apart. A blast of boiling hot air smashed into Eden, sending her crashing through the branches behind her and tumbling back into the snow.
She skidded across the snow for a few yards, eyes winced shut and jaw clenched tight. Ears ringing, she finally came to a stop when her shoulder smacked into the base of a tree. It hurt, but she was just glad she hadn't smacked against the thing with her head instead. Gripping her aching shoulder with one hand while the other clutched her notebook to her chest, Eden pondered if she was the only one who actually needed the bullet proof vest Xander had made everyone wear.
At least we all look cool... She thought sarcastically while she managed to get a foot under herself. Through the smoke, she could see that golden eye glowing. She was in the cowboy's sights now, and she had to consider his JUSTICE.
It was a blood bath in Snowdin town. Or, dust bath, Anthony might have called it after a second thought. That was, if he ever thought a second time about what he said and did. He thought he killed the empress and that lizard knight, but then they both did that thing where they get back up and get stronger. Undyne's Undying ascension always made Anarchy feel nostalgic whenever he saw it - reminded him of when he first came to this place, when he was first challenged by a hero. But, the Undyne of his original timeline had failed, and DoubleScramble's Undyne and Monster Kid would fail the same.
The more flamboyant of the two robots was suspended by the head in his right hand now - he'd ripped off Mettaton's left arm and stomped in the both of his legs at the knee after he got tired of being shot by lasers. And as the heat ray of one of Gaster's Grillby Guns fired closer, he held up the barely living robot as a meat shield. Metal shield? Whatever. Stupid thing melted halfway through, left Anarchy to hold back the rest of the beam with his more that capable hand.
After that scorching ray faded, Anarchy dropped his smoldering right hand and pointed his crowbar out to Gaster, sending his shadow blasting out from under him and towards the retired doctor in the shape of a worm. DS!Gaster recoiled, but before that worm got too close Monster Kid was crashing into its side, raking his talons through its soft and slimy flesh and shredding its organs while he used its body to surf across the snow. And Anarchy had only a moment to frown at this, before he was suddenly turning on his heel and spinning his body around the blue spear that Undyne was trying to pierce his spine with.
"You monsters all love suffering the same fate, don'tcha?!" Anarchy questioned as Undyne's one eye darted up to him briefly, her momentum carrying her forward and right by Anarchy's side after he spun around her. She skidded forward, turning to face Anarchy and lunging right back at him the moment her momentum stopped. The Anarchist effortlessly ducked and dodged his head around the vicious stabs of The Undying, before suddenly swiping upwards with his crowbar and smashing the head from her pike, sending sapphire shards flinging through the air. "Just can't help yourselves - no sense of self preservation if an Angel's life is on the line!"
Undyne didn't bother trying to debate the madman destroying her home, instead opting to cold clock him while his crowbar was still raised up over his head. Her scaled fist crashed into his cheek, tilting his head but not pushing him back. And his scarlet eye darted to her, pupil shrinking with fury before he suddenly jumped. Spinning in air, he cracked a brutal kick into her shoulder, earning a horrific snap and sending the Undying Empress flinging through the front door of Snowdin's abandoned shop.
Anarchy landed back on his feet, slouched forward with his arms hanging limp at his sides. He lifted his head some, tilting it back to glance over his shoulder at the dragon racing towards him. Monster Kid the Merciless spun in air, swinging the spines of his tail at Anarchy's head. Unfortunately, The Bastard Son reached back and caught that tail effortlessly in his open palm, his grip immediately clenching down on the appendage like a vice. MK barely had time to try and pull away before Anarchy was yanking him up and over himself, sending him smashing into the snow in front of him and sending powder and dirt crashing up around him.
He kept his grip on Monster Kid, intending to throw him around a little more before ripping him in half. Unfortunately, his plans were thwarted when Napstabot blasted in. Legs exploding with blue flames and sending him zipping forward on thrusters, the robo DJ crashed knee first into Anarchy's chin with enough force to send a shockwave bursting out around the two of them. The sudden shock of this strike was enough to make Anarchy release MK's tail while he skidded back a few steps, letting Napstabot drop onto his feet in front of him and point that blaster right in his face. Blue energy crackled in the barrel of his cannon arm before firing in a searing plasma form.
Anarchy barely managed to get his hand up in time, once more stopping the searing blast against his powerful palm. In an instant the skin on his tail bone had split open, and Napstabot barely had time to recoil before a scorpion stinger was reaching up over Anarchy's head. The black appendage stung down at him with lethal precision, ramming its point clean through Napstabot's mechanical heart and making his body jolt uselessly. His arms falling limp as that blaster's light faded out, his legs gave out a split second later. The robot crumpled to the ground as the lights behind his eyes flickered out. Sparks crackled briefly around the hole that stinger had punched, a few chunks of wire and metal breaking free when that tail yanked itself from Napstabot and left him dead in the snow.
The moment after Napstabot dropped dead and Anarchy's tail hastily disappeared back into his tail bone, Monster Kid lunged up from the snow he'd been smashed into. Fury in his eyes and fire on his fangs, he chomped his jaws shut right around Anarchy's throat and collar and tasted that worthless blood spray onto his tongue. This wasn't enough for MK however - planting one of his feet in the snow while swiping up with the talons of his other foot, he looked to disembowel The Anarchist by raking open his stomach. Anarchy hastily got his knee up though, stopping Monster Kid's foot by jamming his knee into its sole. He would have liked to shove the drake off after that, but unfortunately he had to use his hands to stop MK's newly grown arms.
"I can't believe you grew fuckin' arms!" Anarchy snarled, his hands now locked up with the armored claws on the armored arms that sprouted from the armored shoulders that Monster Kid had grown not ten minutes ago. The two must have looked silly, both on one foot while their hands were locked together in some - as Anarchy would call it - Greco-Roman bullshit. Kid was lucky he had bit Anthony first, or else he would certainly be chomping through The Merciless's armor right about now. "What kinda ascension involves growing new limbs?!"
"Didn't you," MK's voice was muffled some with Anarchy's neck and collar bone in his jaws, his fangs sinking deeper while he struggled to keep his balance against him. He exhaled a short burst of fire, scorching Anarchy's throat and chest while he yanked his maw free, pulling his head back to headbutt the vicious albino. "Literally just grow a scorpion stinger?!"
"Don't try to debate me you cold blooded geek!" Before MK could throw his head forward Anarchy had already cracked his skull into the hero's chin, headbutting him the moment he had the opening. The force threw Monster Kid back off balance, but Anarchy kept him from falling with his grip on those claws. As MK leaned back Anthony spun on his heel, turning and shitwhipping his foe right through the same store front he'd swatted Undyne through a minute ago. Kid crashed through one of the windows instead of the door, though.
And Anarchy only had a few seconds to lean down and grab his crowbar from where he'd dropped it to lock up with MK, straightening his back just in time to see Undyne and Monster Kid launch out of that crumbling store front towards him at once. They moved at their peak speed, rapidly closing the distance while the both of them cocked back a fist. Anarchy managed to tuck his crowbar into his back pocket just before getting his hands up and catching the both of their punches. He skidded back a few steps from their momentum, keeping their fists trapped in his palms. Not that they minded - MK yanked back his tail and Undyne her leg, and before Anarchy could think up a counter both tail and leg had crashed into his face, throwing him back through the air.
Red mist healing his broken nose, Anthony backflipped, landing on his feet and skidding back some while he yanked the crowbar from his back pocket, lowering his stance and preparing to crush the skull of whatever monster dared get in his swing range. MK and Undyne must've understood a head on assault wouldn't work twice, because the former took to the sky while the latter jumped back onto the lightly crumbled roof top of the building Anarchy had put the two of them through. And Anthony frowned up at the fireballs and spears that the two of them hastily breathed and manifested, holding his crowbar out to the side while his red soul began to glow on his chest. Around him, the air pressurized. The snow under his feet began to melt. This is getting old.
His thoughts drifted to Angel as the flaming assault rained down upon, and his scarlet eyes narrowed. How long had he played with his food? Nephilim was a good distraction, he almost wished they hadn't broken so easy. But now his only entertainment were these buzzing gnats, and they did nothing to quell his rage. Where was Angel? Seemed all that winged son of a bitch knew how to do was make him wait. Maybe he hadn't made it clear how urgent an issue he was.
In the next instant, there was a red flash. A gust of boiling winds, a burst of energy that pierced the assault the two heroes were unleashing on The Anarchist. Monster Kid was taken aback by this sudden outburst of energy, the red flash making him clench his eyes shut for a moment or two. His wings flapping to keep him upright in the hot updraft, it took him a moment or two to open his eyes. And when he did, there was a horrific sight laid out before him.
Anarchy stood on the roof of the destroyed shop, knees bent and fist risen. His knuckles dripped with blood that was hastily turning to dust, and Undyne hunched over him. Her body was doubled over, her eye wide and her dusting blood trickling down her bottom lip. Anarchy's cold scarlet eyes stared into her wide, trembling white orbs. His fist having rammed through her diaphragm and out her back, he was up to his elbow in Empress. And he spoke quietly, for only her to hear. "There was a time when I believed that you should defeat me. That I was a villain, and that I needed a hero to stop me. Now I know better."
Monster Kid watched, eyes wide, mortified and teary as Anarchy stood up straight. He rose his arm, lifted Undyne's body on his arm until she was suspended over his head. Her body was crumbling, dusting bleeding and melting. It was all she could do to weakly grip his viscera soaked bicep and try to stop her body from sliding down his arm further, but she didn't have to do it for long. Anarchy threw his arm out to the side, and she slid off of him, flinging over and off the side of the building like she was worthless to him. Then, dusty droplets painting his face, The Anarchist turned his head and settled his Killer eyes on Monster Kid The Merciless.
Gritting his fangs, flames spiraled out from the corners of MK's maw while he blinked the tears out of his eyes. His wings shifted, and in an instant he was swooping down towards The Anarchist, who remained unphased as he opened his maw and breathed a beam of brass flames down towards him. Monster Kid rapidly closed the distance, blinded by the flashing light of the flames with which he had engulfed The Anarchist. Still he flew closer, the heat of his fire growing more and more intense as he dropped down towards the wretched human he was melting. The entire store roof was up in flames, crackling and burning. MK hoped it would cave in, that this creature he was facing would be buried in the fiery rubble and never return.
A hand reached from the fire. Inches from Monster Kid's face, he barely had time to widen his eyes before the blackened and scorched flesh of that hand snapped shut around his snout, slamming his jaws closed and forcing his beam of flames to an end. Embers crackling out painfully from between his fangs and out of his nostrils, Monster Kid stared furiously down at The Anarchist, who was now in clear view. Flames crackling at his feet, he was illuminated from beneath by the brass fire that could not destroy him. And his expression remained unphased as his free hand pulled back his crowbar, the grimy surface of which reflected none of the light that Monster Kid had created.
CRACK!
Monster Kid's eyes went wide, pupils shrinking in agony. With one swing of that crowbar Anarchy had cleaved his body in two, an uneven slash that started at MK's hip and went to the space beneath his shoulder. It was all The merciless could do to stare with wide, pained eyes as his legs crashed to the burning floor and crumbled to dust. Anarchy maintained eye contact, didn't flinch as he carried MK by the snout to the edge of the building, which he promptly dropped him off of.
And Anthony The Anarchist watched as a hero lesser than himself crashed into the dirt back first. Monster Kid stared straight up at the snowy sky as the light faded from his eyes and his body crumbled away - Anarchy didn't bother pondering what he might have been thinking. Meaningless, an ember of life for him to stomp out. But, something about MK's death did catch his attention, if only for a moment. As the dragon crumbled to silver, an ivory heart trembled out of his dust. Upside down, it gleamed weakly with the light of a boss monster's soul, before it cracked and shattered away.
Anarchy didn't know much about souls, but he did know that most monsters didn't leave one behind. And he might have taken time to ponder this, but the unmistakable sound of a laser firing caught his attention. And as he looked up to see Omega Flowery's white hot plasma beam racing closer, shadows were already rising in front of the burning building he stood upon to block the blast. But, to Anarchy's surprise, that laser never landed on his hastily formed wall of Darkness. Before he had time to wonder what had happened, a portal opened directly to his side, and he turned his head just in time to see that wave of power crash through the portal and into his body.
The roof top he'd been standing on was blown to smithereens, and Anarchy was sent flinging through the air right with the brick and wood chunks. Body now smoking red mist to heal the flesh that was scorched away by that laser, Anthony tumbled into the snow in front of the shop. He had to dig his fingers into the iced earth, but he didn't mind so long as it stopped him from tumbling further. Soon enough he was standing again, smoking rubble strewn about around him and red mist rising from his scorched flesh.
Anthony moved without haste, reaching up and casually brushing some molten metal off his shoulder. Then, he lifted his scarlet orbs, and let his Killer stare settle on Omega Flowery and doctor Wing Ding Gaster, the latter standing atop the former's head. What a duo, Anthony thought. A scientist and a godly being teaming up just to stop him. But it wouldn't work, he knew as his fingers tightened around his crowbar. There was no religion and no science that could stop him.
"Flying through blizzards sucks!" I thoughtlessly stated, squinting into the frigid air. I held my arm up to defend my face from the icy flakes, my wings beating right with Chara's. We, or at least I had figured that if we flew into this thing eventually we'd see something that would point us in the right direction. Anarchy was characteristically hard to miss. But the truth was this weather was such shit that we didn't know what was up and what was down, and the chaos beneath us wasn't making it any easier. Between fireballs, bullets, spears and ice blasts, all we knew for sure was that wherever we landed we'd be faced with adversaries. But there was only one guy we were here to see, and I hadn't heard any worms giggling in quite some time.
"Certainly it will be the greatest challenge we face today!" Chara responded from where they flew beside me, sarcasm clear in their tone. Glancing over at them and watching them guard their eyes as I guarded mine, I found myself hoping they were right. Obviously they'd been making a joke, but it certainly would be nice if saying sorry from the get go this time would be enough to take the wind outta Anny's sails. And if he stopped wanting to kill me, I reckoned Gatherer's whole Eradication Plan went tits up. "You see anything that looks like Anarchy?"
"Well, I'm seein' a lotta white if that counts!" I responded, eyes going back to scanning the ground. I didn't think I'd ever seen weather this bad in Snowdin, and I'd probably spent more time here than anywhere else in the underground. I wondered if the battle down below was throwing off the weather - something about the magical properties of the Underground while the barrier is up and the power of souls. Didn't really know though, didn't have nearly the information that I needed to confirm or deny that hypothesis. Shaking my head, I glanced back over to Chara. "I think our best bet might be to power up!"
"Power up?!" Chara repeated over the sound of the whipping winds. They certainly didn't seem too fond of my idea, ruby orbs darting from me then back over to the white fire snake that had risen briefly in the snowblind before being blasted by a wave of purple flames. "That's gonna bring everyone to us!"
"Xander's smart, he's gonna know better than to try and get between me n' Anarchy!" Admittedly, I wasn't so sure of the plan either. I knew nobody would get between me and Anarchy sure, but I figured Xander would also wanna separate me and Chara. That said, Lexi and her pirates were down there too, and I didn't think they were too likely to just let Gatherer's subjects run right by them. Expression tense, my eyes narrowed down into the crackling snowstorm beneath. "People could be dying down there, Chara! We have to clear out this blizzard and find Anny as fast as possible!"
"Uhh, Angel-?!" Chara's sudden urgency drew my attention, and my eyes darted over towards them. Much to my shock, their body was breaking away into multicolored pixels. My first fear was that they were being ERASED, deleted instantly by some power beyond my understanding. But, in the next second, while I watched them look over their vanishing body, I remembered Anthony's right hand man. Doctor Badster, a man who teleported in exactly the same pixelated fashion. Xander didn't just want to separate Chara and I, he already had a plan in place for it. "What the-?!"
"Chara?!" Was the best I could articulate. I reached out towards them, like I thought I could somehow pull them out of their teleportation. They were disappearing too fast however, and I think they too were starting to understand what was going on. Just like me, they didn't have time to say anything particularly meaningful. So instead they just looked to me, their expression losing its bewilderment in favor of urgency and understanding. With the one hand they still had, they gave me a thumbs up. A simple gesture, clear assurance. 'I'll be fine' they told me with their eyes, and my hand went through thin air as they disappeared, leaving me alone in the sky. "Chara!"
Scarlet eyes snapping open, Chara hastily dropped into a defensive stance and summoned their twin blades in their hands. They appeared on the ground, still covered with snow. They were still in the snowstorm they surmised after two seconds of frantic glancing, Snowdin river to their left. Ahead of them, they thought they could see the frosty and muddy path where Snowdin met Waterfall. Alright, good. Not too far from Angel.
"Well alright doc, looks like you got them!" An overlapped voice caught Chara's attention. It was familiar and foreign all at once, an unnatural twist on their own voice and one that they usually found comfort in. Eyes widening and pupils shrinking with realization, Chara quickly put together exactly who was speaking. Through the snow ahead of them walked a twisted Angel, one fused with a Demon. Character sauntered out of the snowstorm before them, red glowing eyes glaring daggers at Chara. A malevolent grin pulled at the wretched fusion's features, and their machete appeared in their off hand. "Guess this makes up for fucking us over a few years back."
"... Hacker and Demon." Wings spreading wide behind them, Chara lowered their stance. DETERMINATION blasted up the both of their knives, glowing red lights in the fog of winter. A frown had dug into Chara's features, thoughts forcibly dragged back to the near destruction of Future's timeline. Watching their older self die, gaining their wings in the first place... "Coulda swore I already killed you two."
"Not our fault you don't check corpses." Character shrugged with one hand, the other resting their machete over their shoulder like it was a baseball bat. They clenched their free hand into a fist after they finished shrugging, and their eyes suddenly widened. Pupils shrunken with fury, that mad grin pulled further up their face as the power of their shared soul exploded to life. Red electricity crackling around them, an updraft of crimson energy melted away the snow falling around them. "And now we're back and better than ever!"
"Can't be that much better." Chara smirked, crossing the burning steel of their DETERMINATION swords in an X in front of themself. Their own soul flashed to life on their chest, sending out a red flare that shoved back the cruel winter winds. A circle of scarlet electricity crackled at their feet, sending out the occasional bolt of crimson lightning. "You're still dumb enough to pick a fight with me."
"Fight you? No..." Character's eyes narrowed, their grin dropped to a frown in record time. With deliberate slowness they pulled the machete from their shoulder, aimed its wicked blade at The Ascended Heir. Ink dripped off their clenched fist while DETERMINATION crackled on their malevolent weapon, and Chara watched the hatred settle and cool in the eyes of the Wingless before them.
"We're gonna kill you."
"Charaaaa! Charaaaa!" I shouted out into the endless white that surrounded me. I could barely keep my eyes open in the harsh winds and snow. My wings beat occasionally to keep me afloat, my head snapped from side to side to try and find any sign of them. But it was pointless, wherever they were it was likely somewhere beyond my current reach. "Fuck!"
"... Just make sure Chara makes it home. Please..."
I winced some, the sound of Asriel's words echoing in my head. But, I swiftly reminded myself of every ass kicking I'd seen Chara deal out or been on the receiving end of. I didn't need to baby them, they could handle themself. In fact the only person I didn't think they could beat happened to be the guy that was after me. So, I took a deep breath and remembered my mission. Chara would find their way back, it was Anny I had to worry about.
I looked back down to the ground below, and my eyebrows furrowed. Through the blistering white, there was a dim green glow. My thoughts drifted back to Melanie, the KIND soul I'd met on Predator's ship. That thing she said, about greenies and sticking together. Maybe it was some weird and simple part of my soul, but seeing that green shine in these uncertain times brought me comfort. It drew me in, gave me a gut feeling that I was supposed to go towards it. So without other options, I did.
My wings beat, and I launched myself down towards that light. It was dim and far away, but my emerald eyes could see it. And as I flew closer, it grew more and more clear. I was getting closer to the ground, other lights were coming into view. Fires, and... Holiday lights? Snowdin Town must have been in rough shape, couldn't imagine why. Eventually, people came into view. My eyebrows furrowed and I squinted into the snow - they were by the tree at Snowdin's town square, that green light was healing magic.
DoubleScramble Toriel jumped some when I suddenly landed in front of her, recoiling without taking her hands off the body laying in the snow in front of her. Honestly I didn't pay her too much mind, narrowing my eyes painfully at the one she was trying to heal. Looked like a version of Chara to me, beaten and bloody and... Cracked. I clenched my left fist while I looked over the DETERMINATION that had shattered their upper body. Toriel blurted out, "Cter..?!"
"Chara?" I arched a brow down at the human laying in the snow, and they must've been alive because they turned their likely aching head and looked up at me. Odd, their eyes were green... They managed to lift one of their cracked hands, waving it slowly from side to side in an "iffy" hand motion.
"Nephilim..." They managed to correct, and when I heard their overlapped voice I pieced the situation together. Them being a fusion explained the green eyes, and also how DETERMINATION had shattered their body. More than one soul is a lot for a body to handle, and from how they sounded I thought they might have three or four stuffed in them.
"Nephilim?" Toriel questioned with further confusion, brows furrowed and eyes wide as she looked down at her beaten and broken child. Nephilim didn't seem too bothered by her confusion, they even managed a little laugh even though I'm sure it hurt them.
"We'll, explain later..." They waved the hand they'd managed to move earlier in a dismissive motion, glancing briefly up at Toriel. They even gave a little smile to reassure her, and it persisted in a weak smirk when they looked back to me. Beaten and more than half dead in the arms of the old queen, Nephilim somehow looked relieved. "N-nice to meet you, Angel... We were, starting to think you weren't gonna make it in time..."
"I'm sorry you got dragged into my mess." I frowned some, even though they looked pretty content from where they lay dying. I knelt down so that they wouldn't have to strain their neck to look up at me, wings folding up on my back. "I don't know why Anarchy is here, but I promise I won't let him ERASE your home."
Nephilim opened their mouth to respond, but a sudden crash caught all of our attention. Eyes going wide, I looked quickly over my shoulder and into a multicolored flash through the snow. All I could see was shadows and outlines in the white fog, but I watched a familiar humanoid shape with glowing red eyes crash down onto a monstrous form that I had to assume was some Omega Flowey variant. Anarchy crashed fist first into what I thought was Omega Flowey's screen, sending out a shockwave of red light that cleared the snow enough for us to see him and Flowey's outlines through the white fog.
The force of his punch made the body of the demi-god monstrosity vibrate and tremble as though it was a liquid, and the four bulbs at every corner of its screen face exploded apart with shards of purple, orange, yellow and blue. With the four human souls and Flowey's power destroyed, Anarchy had no problem digging his fingers into that glass panel, pulling open the screen and reaching inside to pluck the flower within. And we all watched in silent horror as he pulled Flowey's feeble flower form out of the TV. Squirming and wriggling was the flower, we could hear his muffled screams through the whipping winds. Anarchy threw the flower up in front of his face, before slapping both hands around it, squishing it like a bug. A line of fluid exploded out from where his hands crushed the flower, splattered up across Anarchy's face like some kind of war paint.
Eyes wide and pupils shrunk, I stood slowly and turned to face those shadows. And as I watched Anarchy's outline stand from the conquered corpse of that false idol, and those glowing red orbs landed on me through the whipping snow, I winced. Agony burned suddenly in my left arm, but I clenched my jaw and I bared it. That confirmed it - Anny's here, and he knows I'm here. Urgency twisting my expression, my head snapped around to look at the civilians behind me and I barked an order. "Get out of here, now! As fast as you can!"
Pop!
I was a little surprised by the sight of Nephilim and Toriel just vanishing from thin air, but I had much bigger things to worry about. Looking forward again, I grimaced when I realized those shadows had faded. Once again I couldn't see further than five feet in the blizzard, but I felt like something in the blizzard could see me. Wings slowly opening on my back, I lowered my stance and readied myself for whatever might jump out at me. Every hair on my body stood on end, my mind flashed hastily back through my memories. The alleyway, the playground, the mansion, the wheat field, Ebott's peak, the garbage dump. I remembered exactly where I came from, where we both came from. And as the burning in my cracked left arm subsided, I remembered exactly what I had done wrong last time.
The sting of Anarchy's crowbar was fresh in my mind then. It seemed that just yesterday I had been drowning in madness with him, enjoying the brutal agony of his assault and feeling the same catharsis he felt while he beat the life out of me. I believed I deserved it then, hated myself so much that feeling his own hate for me made me feel alive. But this time was different. Steadying my hands and keeping my guard up, I didn't flex my soul. Didn't puff out my chest. I wasn't here for a fight.
"Are you? Are you? Coming to the tree?"
My eyes widened, my head whipped to the left to look out into the snow. Nothing there, not that I could see through the white curtain. And yet, the whipping winds carried a voice. The sound of my brother, his tone delicate and gentle in a way that I had not heard in years. As more words danced out of the brutal storm that surrounded me, I listened to their haunting beauty. From somewhere in the snow, Anthony The Anarchist was singing.
"Where they strung up a man, they say he murdered three."
My eyes narrowed painfully, glossed down to my shadow and the shadow of the decorated tree beside me. The whipping winds had tore many of the decorations off, the lights were broken and turned out. I found myself gulping as I watched my shadow shift with that of the tree, take on shapes that were wrong and unnatural. Gallows, from the looks of it. I rubbed my neck, found myself holding my breath while I wondered if that strange line in the shadows was supposed to be a noose around my own shadow's neck.
"Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be..."
Something was moving in the snow. It drew my attention while I forced myself to inhale, my emerald orbs lifting from the shifting outlines on the bloodstained snow and to the shimmering greys in the shifting white walls that surrounded me. More shadows, but they weren't monstrous. Not the giggling abominations that I had been expecting. Instead, dim outlines of people danced. They were all vaguely familiar in one way or another, but I couldn't really be sure who any of these outlines were supposed to be. Not until my eyes landed on the one right in front of me.
"If we met, at mid night, in the hanging tree."
The shadow of a little boy, one I knew too well. He was meek, keeping himself close like he was afraid anyone and anything would lash out and strike him. Still, he didn't dance like the other ghastly forms in the snow. Even as strange and quiet voices called out on the winds, distorted and indecipherable and barely even there at all. The shadow of this child stood there, unmoving and unphased. I stared at him in a similar way, trying my hardest to understand. Hoping my hardest that he too would understand.
"Are you, are you, coming to the tree?"
My eyes were drawn back to the shadows on the ground beneath me once more. I was forced to look over my shoulder, try to find the source of the grey figure that walked up beside my own shadow. But no one stood behind me, it was merely the dark reflected at my feet that showed this man. And I watched, perplexed, as my shadow and this one stood side by side, both connected to the gallows by a noose.
"Wear a necklace of hope, side by side with me."
That voice was centered now. It didn't echo from all angles, instead flowing in through the snow right in front of me. Somewhere behind the child that stood across from me, my brother sang our perish song. I hadn't ever heard it before, but I thought I might know all the words.
"Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be."
My eyes lifted then from the shadow of the boy to what was forming behind him. A looming figure of a man, another grey form in the shifting white. It definitely resembled one of the two men standing at the gallows, but I didn't know which one. And I furrowed my brows, narrowed my eyes curiously as feathers emerged from the grey figure. Six wings sprouted, spreading wide on the two dimensional figure lumbering closer and closer. Then, finally...
"If we met, at mid night..."
Anthony The Anarchist stepped through the snowblind. The dancing forms in those white curtains disappeared, right with the little boy and the six winged man. And Anthony, though his scarred upper body was on display and spattered with blood and dust, and though ink from that flower he'd crushed was splattered in a vertical line up over his right eye and down into his white beard which had also been stained with somebody's blood, kept a stoic expression. He stared at me, and I stared at him, and the only sound in the world was the whirling winds. I watched Anthony's lips move, I maintained eye contact as he sang. "... In the hanging tree."
After that, it was just the howling of the wind. I exhaled slowly, and my body began to relax. I stood up straight, let my arms lower to my sides while KINDNESS shined in my emerald eyes. Anny's eyebrows furrowed just a little at the sight of this; I wondered if he had expected me to lash out at him again. Not this time, old friend. Not this time. Regardless, the two of us were standing there now. No fighting stances, no weapons brandished. And just like before, it seemed the we were at a loss for words. I wondered if that was always how it would be, if either of us would ever remember the scripts we'd certainly thought up beforehand. The fake arguments had in showers, in bed when we were trying to sleep. I knew I plagued his thoughts like he plagued mine, it had to be that way.
My left arm was steaming now, but it didn't hurt anymore. And as our souls appeared on our chests, and the pressure of Anthony's scarlet heart was released, there was an instant change in the world around us. A shockwave of crimson heat exploded out through the white torrent that had surrounded us, and it shattered apart. In the blink of an eye, the invisible mass of The Anarchist's soul had shoved away the twisting snow and decimated the bitter winds. At our feet, snow turned to water to gas to nothing. And all around us, from the door to The Ruins to the path to Waterfall, not a single snowflake dropped. In the blink of an eye that blizzard had been cleared away, because Anthony's soul had willed it so.
I might have realized everyone was looking at us now, if I remembered there was anyone in existence other than Anny and I. But, Predator and Gatherer had disappeared from my thoughts. Frisk, even Chara no longer remained. Now, as my green soul pulsed to life on my chest, all my focus was on the scarred and bloodied man before me. A humble power, one that didn't release any shockwaves but allowed me to withstand the unbearable weight The Anarchist's soul. As a green halo manifested above my head, I was alone in the world. Alone with him. Anny and Angel, back together again.
*It's been way too long.
Now the world was truly silent. The wind destroyed by Anthony's power, the snow melting away. He still didn't grin or frown, and neither did I. Silently, I wished for the power to save him. Seeing him here, war dripping off his body and devastation resting perpetually at his heels, I kept the image of the bright eyed little boy I had known clear in my mind. And while I stared into the eyes of the Killer before me, and I prayed to be able to heal the scars that painted him, I found myself thinking back to the playground. The creak of the swings was fresh in my ears, and for the first time in over a decade I reconsidered a question that Anny asked me there.
"If you could have a super power, what would it be?"
The Hanging Tree is by James Newton Howard.
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