Chapter Thirty 1
Corruption stood in the mist of the clearing of the smoke in a humanoid form, acquiring three extra eyes burned across her forehead that resembled the Crowned, Genocide, and Chara's eyes. Her own eyes were fully red and had black electric sparks occasionally springing forth from them as well as around her shining red-fired aura. She wore the red crown and had two dark purple horns pointed up on her head, and her clothes consisted of a black tunic of white sparkles, and a hooded crimson scarf on her neck with white rippled ends, as well as her heeled boots that reached up to her knees. She wore dark blue pants tucked into the boots, along with four belts on her waist of dark cyan, yellow, orange, and green. Her pale hands held long black claws with white edges that matched the swords attached to her waist and the battle axe on her back.
Her glare alone was powerful enough to gain all of their attention, causing anxiety for most of them at first, except Frisk and Curtain who stared more intensely when realizing something.
"Now, let's see how strong you really are… " Corruption said in multiple tones with a slight tilt of her head and her left hand over one of her swords.
Other Frisk and Asriel tried to head to the chapel, but a flame wall appeared and tried to attack them. Marisol attacked the wall with her sword as it dispersed and faded away.
"Stay close to me. I'll keep you two safe," Marisol said, as the two ran close to her sides while she kept her sword ready to strike anymore attacks.
Sol ran besides them as well to keep their defense up to protect them, while the others were ready to face Corruption.
"… why does it seem like even all of us fighting wouldn't be an advantage?" Troth said.
"Well for one thing, this form looks very advanced, and judging by the resemblance it seems like… they fused together to create this," Blaze said.
"Fused…" Curtain murmered.
"What does that mean in this context though? Surely they were fused as a dragon before and we still were able to figure out a solution to win," Papyrus inquired.
"Unless… that was not even their final form!" Sur concluded.
"They were playing with us before," Veil said, holding her bow tightly.
"That was playing?!" Papyrus said with bobbled eyes, and Veil nodded affirmatively.
"…" Sans grew attentive to Curtain and Frisk, noticing they haven't said very much and seemed very focused at the moment.
"… So shall I come to you then? I don't think… you'll like what happens next," Corruption said, as she gripped her blade while her eyes glowed dangerous, though her expression was sound.
"Actually we'd pre-" Papyrus was cut off when a pressure knocked him back with such force into Sur that the two went flying back about thirty feet away, which spurred Other Frisk, Asriel, and the Marisols into action to help them since the hit was direct and strong.
Although the Sanses immediately turned and saw Corruption standing where Papyrus stood behind them, Frisk and Curtain were looking forward in surprise as Corruption was still standing in her original spot. The Sanses used their blasters to the Corruption behind them, while Frisk and Curtain weren't sure which Corruption was the real one. Veil and Blaze both rushed forth on instinct and stood in front of the Sanses, as the Corruption there sent an attack that was aimed at the Sanses that the two Curtains were able to block. However, Blaze's eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder to see a shadow of Corruption behind Sans as it kicked him and her away, while another one kicked Troth and Veil away as well. Although hit, the Sanses were still able to initiate their attack on the Corruption there as it faded along with the shadows, though because of that the shadows had a delay response in their attack which gave Blaze enough time to block Sans from the kick that could have seriously wounded him with her arm. They flew about fifteen feet away, as Blaze's arm was in pain from blocking the kick, but otherwise functional enough if given a moment to ease up, while Sans was amazed by her agility. On the other side, Troth actually grabbed Veil to protect her instead, though after they went flying and shook it off, Veil berated him with a glare since she was a ghost and couldn't die, as he couldn't help but smile awkwardly for forgetting that.
Though they turned their attention immediately towards the two who weren't hit.
Curtain and Frisk stood in place when they realized that Corruption hadn't moved besides her right hand that flicked forward, causing the second Corruption to appear behind them all and the shadows after. They knew the real Corruption had not moved from her spot and instead created a clone who created the shadows from their own shadows, as a few of the dark creatures they faced in the soul world had done in weaker forms. Although they had wanted to react, they couldn't move from feeling as though they were stuck in place, realizing that Corruption not only made a clone as that clone made two more, but also used their shadows to hold their feet down. However, the shadows on their feet weren't very strong so they could have broken out, but they didn't want to risk Corruption leaving their sights or else she may cause more harm.
Corruption made a small smirk, "So… you two were only within the Soul labyrinth for a little while, and yet you could read my intentions to distract you so that I could disappear? Interesting… or maybe… being there only enhanced your connection to me… ?"
Frisk and Curtain's eyes widened, realizing that they indeed didn't flinch and knew that Corruption's intentions were for them to turn away so that she could attack them when not looking.
"Hmm, quite troublesome… then I guess I'll have to break you two first instead of last," Corruption said as she gripped her sword, and the two could sense her hostility as her expression grew cold.
"… Clair, please stop them," Frisk said, as Corruption's expression grew irritated.
"Don't waste your breath to utter a name that no longer has merit or existence," Corruption said.
"Liar! She's in there somewhere!" Frisk yelled out.
"…" Curtain walked forward while breaking the shadows off her feet from sheer determination as she placed her hands on Frisk's shoulders.
"And how can you be so sure?" Corruption asked.
"I know she is! She isn't gone! She's somewhere there! Deep in the shadows of the corruption that came out and made you!" Frisk replied more forcifully.
"Then you've… met her…" Corruption said, as a black slit appeared in her eyes that unnerved all who saw it.
"Then none of you can live!" Corruption said with a crooked smile as she appeared in front of them instantly with her sword ready to strike them down.
Frisk knew she couldn't move fast enough to dodge, but she trusted her friend who grabbed her by the waist and jumped back to avoid the hit. Yet, the two were shocked that after Corruption swiped her blade, a wave of energy shot forth and hit both of them. They shrieked from the strike feeling electricity coursing through their veins as they hit the ground with Curtain on her back and Frisk besides her on her side.
Veil and Blaze immediately rushed forth to attack Corruption as they crossed blades, while the Sanses also started attacking when Corruption sent shadows to attack them. The Marisols were also defending the unconscious Papyruses, and Other Frisk and Asriel were trying to wake them up.
Curtain and Frisk were injured but slowly rising, as Sans appeared near them and bent down to help them sit up.
"Are you two alright?" Sans asked, looking between them.
"She's really strong…" Curtain said.
"We… can't fight her as we are," Frisk said.
"Yeah, she is pretty strong right now… but that hasn't stopped you two before. Come on, we got to put our heads together and come up with a plan," Sans encouraged, as he shot a shadow right in the face that came too close.
"Or maybe…" Frisk said as she stood up and looked at Curtain, "Together you can."
"Huh?" Curtain wondered, as her eyes widened to see Frisk summon her soul in front of her in her hands.
Sans was also surprised as he carefully watched her but also kept an eyesocket on their surroundings.
"Curtain, I can't make the final blow, but… you can. And you didn't connect with Clair Voyant, but I did… Separately, we can't defeat her, but together I'm sure we can. Curtain… take my soul and win!" Frisk said, more determined then ever.
Curtain gasped in surprise, as the others around were able to hear the last of her sentence and were shocked, even the Paps who just woke up and fainted again upon hearing that.
"B-But Frisk… what… what would happen to you? This has never been done! A human taking a monster soul was said to not have yet occurred, and although a monster taking a human soul occurred with Asriel… I don't want you to give up your life like that!" Curtain said.
"It has been done! Corruption did it with Chara and we faced them when we were trapped in their soul world thing!" Frisk argued back.
"But they are corrupted! They may have some extra weird perk that breaks rules! How can we be certain my monster side won't absorb you?!" Curtain retorted.
"Because you aren't just a monster or a human! You are both! So you can't just assimilate the rules of both species to yourself so easily! You might have a perk too! And… And we can only defeat her together, Curtain. You know that as well as I do," Frisk said, as Curtain slowly looked down as she closed her eyes.
"… but, what will happen to Curtain and to you? will you both disappear and become someone else? will only one disappear? this really never has been done before and… we all care about you, ya know," Sans said.
"I know the risks, but I care about you guys too, you know. And I know we can do this. We have to try!" Frisk said more determined as she offered her soul to Curtain.
The Curtains looked between Corruption and Frisk since even Corruption stopped attacking, which surprised them. However, they soon realized that Corruption seemed to smirk when Curtain reached her hands to Frisk's soul.
"Curtain… are you sure?" Sans asked, feeling a weight in his heart.
Curtain was silent as she let her hands halt just before taking the soul.
"Curtain, you're my dearest friend. I trust you with my soul. You've saved me so many times before, so please, let me save you too. I don't want you or anyone to die, so even if I were to disappear or just remain fused as a soul to you… know that my soul is with my family..." Frisk said as her eyes watered, and Curtain's eyes widened.
"I… found a family in all of you. Something I've always wanted," Frisk's tears began to flow from her eyes as she smiled at her.
Curtain's tears poured from her eyes as she let out a light laugh that made her smile.
"And I found a family in you too… in all of you," Curtain said, as they smiled brightly with tearfilled eyes.
Curtain took Frisk's soul in her hands and held it towards herself, and a brilliant light flashed as everyone shielded their eyes besides Corruption, as the two girls were enveloped in the light.
When it finally faded, everyone could hear a low chuckle from Corruption.
"Finally, I see you," Corruption said, her smile soft and her eyes darkening even more.
Once the glow calmed down enough, everyone was able to see the glowing figure before them.
She wore a black bodysuit with a purple skirt around her waist and two gold belts, along with a blue blouse that had extra length at the front and back with a red sash around her waist. Her arms had gold sleeves just on the forearms with pink bands on the wrists and just below the elbows, while on her shoulders and neck was a purple scarf in a gradiant form from deep purple to light pink. Her brown hair with purple tips was long and loose up to her waist and slightly defied gravity, as her bangs laid mostly over one of her golden eyes more then the other.
Everyone could see the resemblance of Frisk and Curtain in this new contender, as she drew a sword handle and a blade appeared of gold and purple. Her eyes were filled with determination, and while twirling the blade in her hand she spoke in two tones,
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, Corruption? Mainly ME!"
Corruption grinned darkly as she readied her blade from its shealth and replied,
"I had hoped you had another trick up your sleeves... Glad to not be disappointed."
"Hmph! Like if I came here to make YOU happy! And hope? Don't even talk about something precious you use to hurt people! Now come forth! Or shall I come to you then? Because I don't think you'll like what happens next," She said, and held her blade strongly in her hand.
"Ooh. Suddenly so bold to use my own terminology against me. Though I do wonder if you can back up your confidence instead of running away as you're used to," Corruption said with a shrug.
"Well that's the only thing I can guarantee won't happen... I mean not running to be exact," She said.
"Good to know..." Corruption then rushed forth and attacked with her sword as a shadow of herself appeared behind the new contender.
The new contender summoned another blade in her other hand and blocked both attacks, though Corruption sent two more to attack her as she and the shadow stood against her blades to prevent her from blocking further. Corruption was surprised when she saw her let go of the blades as they stood floating in place keeping guard of her, as she summoned two round red and gold shields with sharp pointed edges. She threw them at the same time as they circled from below up to the chins of the shadows in an uppercut motion and then back to her hands, disengaging the shadows as they disintegrated. Corruption spun around the floating blade as she left hers to prevent that one from attacking her, and brought forth a dark sickle to attack as her enemy blocked with her shield. The shadow of Corruption dived down and grabbed at the legs to hold her in place, and Corruption smirked as she summoned a small dark red dragon to grab at her other arm.
Though the dragon's tail wrapped on her forearm, the contender smirked and released the shield as she grabbed at the dragon's neck to strangle it. Seeing this opportunity, Corruption quickly reached around and grabbed her arm as she attempted to stab her. However, the contender took the dragon and impaled it within the blade along with her hand to make sure it was stabbed and to halt the attack further. This momentary surprise to Corruption left her open long enough for the contender to get her arm out of her grasp to grab the back of Corruption's head to headbutt her with her forehead, angering Corruption to growl in annoyance at herself for giving her the opportunity to attack her.
Corruption made an escape by jumping upward, but since her enemy didn't let go of her, they both flew up high into the air as their weapons fell behind. In bare knuckles they fought in midair crossing punches and kicks as they slowly fell down. When reaching close enough to the ground, they simultaneously kicked at each other and connected feet to do so as they pushed away and slid across the ground a bit before stopping and straightening up.
"Impressive. Now that we've been given this moment to chat, what is your name? Surely I can't call you Curtain or Frisk considering you are both, technically," Corruption asked.
"Huh? Hmm… you could call me Curtain since I'm mostly the one talking to you, though Frisk is aware of what's happening. I guess it really depends if your speaking to the outer form or the inner soul, but it would be confusing…" She shows her soul briefly and reveals a red soul with a purple transparent wrap around it as it glowed golden.
Corruption chuckled and said, "Ahhh, I see now. The soul of a hybrid is inside separate from the body as a human, but can be dispersed into the body and act as a monster's, leaving space to house a soul which also can act as a soul for them without both of them fusing since it reuses the human trait of being separate… Am I correct?"
"Yep. Like you and Chara," She said.
"So by meeting Chara in my soul you realized how the combination was done. Clever, isn't it?" Corruption said.
"Very clever. I wasn't sure if there was a certain method, but it seems to be almost automatic… though it also seems to only be possible if the bond is strong enough, like us being best friends and you and Chara being LOVE… I wondered how you could of known how to do that, but then again, you're a doctor so that makes sense," She said.
"Quite right… Anyway, back to your name. If you wish to prevent confusion, then you might as well give yourself a different name for this form. I kept my name as Corruption since I'm the one in charge anyway," Corruption asked.
"Ahh, okay. Though for me, you can call me... Paradox," She, now Paradox, said with a smile.
"Paradox, huh? I suppose it's fitting… Hmm, I think it's about time for us to resume our battle again," Corruption said as she unshealth her other sword.
"Yeah, seems about right. Hopefully I can land a few good hits before the next break," Paradox smiled as she created a red bow and purple arrows, though the arrows were daggers.
"We'll see... though obviously I'll strike you down before then, faulty child," Corruption's sword glowed a dangerous black, reflective of her sinister smirk.
"Don't count on it, bitter demon," Paradox's eyes glowed and narrowed as her smile remained.
The two resumed their battle once more, attacks sparking and traveling back and forth when making exchanges of blades and strikes. Their battlefield was pretty large since their powers were very strong and they traveled around as they attacked, while the others watched in amazement.
However, a creature rose up from where the residue darkness of the demon dragon form remained. Blaze immediately went on guard sensing it, as Veil noticed and was appalled by the wretched half-dragon half-dead creature that formulated from the remains. It was made of darkness, fractured bones, boiled blood, and dark ash melted together in a grotesque way that even a part of the brain and veins were visible. The eyes of this monstrous dragon form were the same as the Genocide Corr-
"Just die unholy demonbeast!" Blaze yelled out as she attacked it with multiple blasters that shot fire, while she rushed forth with a red trident encompassed in electricity.
The beast cackled as it was hit and fought against the angry Curtain.
Meanwhile, a more humanoid form made of darkness and blood appeared nearby wearing a crown and having the same eyes as the Crowned Corru-
"Your reign ends now!" Veil yelled out as she sent multiple shots from various bow and arrows she summoned with her ghostly magic, as it chuckled as well and fought back.
"It's as if the wills... no, the souls of the other Corruptions are possessing whatever remained so they could still fight," Marisol inquired.
"Hmm, the main one still has their powers though... unless she's projecting their souls into those forms," Sol concluded.
"That could be, though having multiple souls means that even defeating her main form may not be enough. We'd have to defeat all of them... and probably at the same time like before since they sort of regenerated from the former bodies," Asriel said.
"Such grotesque forms! No offense to them but this is going too far!" Papyrus said as he stood up along with Sur.
"Oh good, you two are okay! Come along, me!" Sol said, and Marisol nodded.
"Where are you two going?" Sur asked.
"To help the Curtains! Watch over the children!" Marisol replied, and the two ran forth to each Curtain.
"We'll definitely keep them safe! Just keep yourselves out of harm's way too!" Papyrus called out, as Marisol spun around to wave and then continued along to help Blaze, while Sol held a thumbs up and went to Veil.
Did a little re-edit here.