Thanks go to XelaZagity, Wingah, lmao-imdeadaf, sauceman95, DoctahSawbones, 10burgers, Zillowzest, GMLxAwesome, Guest, TrueUndertrash, Guest, WhiteNinja489, and Guest!

Wow, I'm really happy to see you guys all missed me so much! I really appreciate all the kind words, and I hope I don't ever have to make you guys wait that long for an update again. I mean, hey, this chapter was only a day late! That's a huge improvement from the last time I was late! Next chapter should go up Sunday, September 22nd.

Anyway, I won't hold y'all up any longer. Enjoy the chapter! This one's really fun. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.

Xander couldn't sleep after Future gave him those documents. He took them back to his room, and he stared at the folder, but he didn't open it. Every time he wandered over to the desk where the folder sat and took its opening between his fingertips, he heard Future's words in his ears. "The others can handle this. We've got a life here to worry about." "Some things are better left buried, Xander."

He sat in his chair and stared at the file. He laid in bed, tossed and turned, got up, sat at his desk, and stared for longer. He knew Future was right, it wasn't his business to get involved in whatever was plotting against Anthony and it certainly wouldn't help his recovery. The last time there was danger like this, it was his fault. Xander was about the furthest thing from a hero, so why would he stick his nose in this mess? Give the FEAR File to Eden, let the good guys handle this, and focus on learning how to stop being a bad guy.

... Still, that file held secrets Xander wanted. The woman Cliff had saved, the people painting those horrible Scarlet Letters, whoever was passing out those awful fliers. He recalled the words on the back of his folded up flier, "Do you wanna know the truth?"

Eventually, Xander understood that he was not going to sleep with that file on his desk. Worse than that, he knew he wouldn't be able to resist opening it much longer. So, he got up, put on his jeans and his denim jacket and his sunglasses, grabbed the file, and opened his room door out into The Omega Timeline.

The Omega Timeline was a few hours behind Future's timeline, night was just beginning there. Xander walked down the streets at a brisk pace, he was heading towards Eden's office building. She worked on the first floor, lived in the second, but knowing her she was probably still working this late. He kept his eyes forward and he kept that file hidden under his arm and under his jacket, but when he rounded the street corner his eyes landed on Eden's office and narrowed.

To Xander's surprise, the lights were off on both floors. He wondered while he walked where else Eden would be, and when his brain gave him the obvious answer he turned his head upwards. Just like he'd thought, CORE Alphys' Hollow Spire was floating high in the sky overhead.

Xander glanced to his left, then to his right. There weren't too many people on the street this late, and none of the ones that were out were looking anywhere in his direction. With that in mind, he swiped his arm through thin air and opened a rift in space. Hastily he stepped through it, and when he appeared on the other side he was no longer on the street. He was standing in the open entrance to CORE Alphys' spire, looking down the metal walkway and to the platform where he could see several familiar people standing.

"I can't help but think I'd be faster if I was the one who could see everything at once." Hacker commented from where he stood behind CORE!Alphys. She was facing forward, frowning and holding her hands out into the hollowness before her. Dozens of screens were flashing on and displaying different areas in different timelines, the light from the screens glared in CORE Alphys' glasses.

"You're more than welcome to hop in a CORE and try to get the ability!" Alphys assured Hacker, irritable and frantic. "Seriously, have you ever tried to look in two directions at once? Imagine doing that in a thousand different directions with a thousand different eyes!"

"I thought you could see everything all the time?" Demon crossed their arms. They stood beside Hacker and over Alphys' opposite shoulder, impatient frown on their face.

"Focusing on everything is a different story! There's a reason I record things to playback later: I'm not God!" Alphys explained while she flicked her index finger, making another screen flash on. "Broadcasting one timeline to a thousand different timelines is way easier than broadcasting a thousand timelines back to one!"

"You're doing great, Alphys. We couldn't do this without you." Eden assured as she walked up behind Hacker and Demon, setting a hand on each of their shoulders respectively. She shot a scolding look between the two of them, "Angel, Chara, give her some space."

The two of them looked at each other, frowned, and ultimately stepped back away from Alphys. A moment of silence passed, only to be interrupted by footsteps on the metal platform. The three of them all turned and looked back down the walkway, and Hacker squinted before scowling. "What are you doing here?"

Xander's eyes glossed over to Hacker's, his expression was blank and his eyes were cold. He looked forward to Eden a moment later, his eyes had softened by the time he met her gaze. She looked at least a little relieved to see him, and that was rare for Xander these days. She shook her head at Hacker while Xander reached the platform they all stood on. "I'm glad you're here, Xander. We need all the help we can get right about now."

"What's going on?" Xander furrowed his brows with concern, before lifting his eyes up to the screens flashing all along the spire interior before him. None of them displayed anything particularly interesting, cityscapes or wilderness scenery mostly. A dozen different Undergrounds. Xander looked back down to Eden. "What are you all doing in here?"

"We've found the location of whoever took Aliza. Lexi and Anthony should be there by now, but the timeline's gone dark again." Eden explained, making Xander's eyebrows raise. Her expression hardened with the weight of the task at hand, and she turned around, looked out at the same screens Xander once more looked up at. "I don't know why their defenses lowered briefly, but whether it was an accident or a trap I believe our culprit or culprits are in for a very rude awakening when Anthony shows up. We expect them to scurry away like the rodent they are to one of the surrounding timelines, so I ordered Alphys to display every timeline in travel range. The moment a timeline goes dark, we'll know that's where they went and will be able to give chase."

"Clover just left to gather the rest of Predator's Pirates; if something happens right now, Hacker and Demon are the only ones we have on standby." Eden turned her head and looked back over her shoulder at Xander. There was trust in her eyes, but she still hesitated. "I'm not sure why you're visiting, but your help would be invaluable right now."

"O-of course I'll help!" Xander was a little taken aback by Eden's request, this was more than a lot to take in at once. But, still, after recoiling and blinking his eyes twice, he nodded his head and hastily offered his assistance. Still, superstition made the FEAR File heavy under his arm. It was an odd coincidence that it brought him here for this, and that made him anxious. The FEAR File disappeared into his inventory, and Xander hoped they'd never need it.

Chapter 111: Somethin' In My Teeth

Or: The Omega Is Burning

Anthony stepped out the other end of that portal with Lexi still tossed over his shoulder, and he narrowed his eyes up at the structure before him. It was almost like a castle, built of brick and stone. Walls surrounded the main building, not connecting in the front to leave space for the path that lead right up to the front gate of the mini-castle. A stone tower stood on either side of the wall, and from both towers an old banner hung. On those banners was a serpent within a shield, the symbol of The Gatherer. But that old symbol was painted over now, painted over in red. Painted over with The Scarlet Letter.

Gradually, Anthony unwrapped his arm from around Lexi's waist and turned his shoulder down towards the ground. She slid off of him and onto her feet. Once on the ground, she put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes up at The Anarchist. "... You could've just said 'lets go', y'know."

Anthony didn't answer. His eyes were set forward, through that open gateway and into the courtyard before that castle. Lexi turned her head and followed his gaze; her eyes widened when she spotted the crowd gathered in that courtyard. There was a lot of them, easily over a hundred. But they didn't look ready to defend a castle. In fact, none of them were even looking at The Anarchist and The Predator. They stood in single file lines, forming a single, orderly crowd that obstructed the path. The path lead forward, up the steps and to the platform that lead into the castle.

On that platform, torches were lit. No light shined from within the castle, but torchlight illuminated the courtyard with the help of the full moon's light. The night sky was clear, stars were the gleaming eyes of the void staring down from above. The world around this building was dark, they were on an elevated plain in some mountainous area far from any civilization in the dead of night.

Anthony's hands clenched into fists, Lexi was startled out of her confusion when his shoulder shoved by hers and he began his march towards that crowd. She saw the way his muscles tensed, she could feel the shadows seething and slithering around her. So, quickly, The Predator darted forward. She snatched ahold of Anthony's arm just before he walked right through that gateway, yanking him to the side and pulling her body and his to hide behind the bricks of that wall. Anthony snarled at her when both their backs pressed to the wall, "What are you-?!"

Lexi clamped a hand over his mouth and made a "shh" signal by putting one finger to her lips. The Anarchist grumbled under his breath, but didn't burst out from their shared cover just yet. A second later, suddenly, applause erupted from that crowd. Lexi and Anthony furrowed their brows at one another, and the both of them turned towards the edge of the wall. Gradually, skeptically, they both peaked their heads out from behind the wall to see what the commotion was.

From inside the castle came a woman, cloaked in red and black fabric. A black hood came up over her head and slipped down the top of her face, shrouding all but her mouth and chin from view. On the front of that black hood, right over her hidden face, was a circled A. The Scarlet Letter, the symbol for anarchy, the Killer Family Crest. That black hood flowed down her slender body in a long shawl, over her shoulders and arms and down her back. Beneath it, she wore a scarlet dress with a skirt so long that it dragged behind her. Slowly, that woman lifted her arms, and the applause quieted into buzzing and murmuring. She gracefully spread her arms out to her sides, and with that motion all noise came to an immediate stop.

No one moved, no one spoke. Lexi's brows were furrowed and her lips were parted, total confusion encompassed her face. Anthony, on the other hand, stared with wide eyes and shrunken pupils. In that moment, his thoughts were dragged back to Aliza. To Horrortale, to when she was by his side and he knew she was safe. He remembered, as that woman stepped gracefully up to the edge of her platform and parted her lips, a conversation that he had with Aliza in those days. There was a haunting beauty to that woman's voice, but Anthony was only half paying attention. "I write to, give word the war is over. Sent His cinders, home to Mother."

"Ooh. This place is startin' to give me the heebee jeebies!"

"Y-you said it..."

"They gave Him, a medal for His valor..." She was singing. It was quiet at first, but the crowd was listening intently. There was no music, just the sound of her voice and the sound of memories in Anthony's head. She kept her arms lifted, stood there as if the lyrics were channeling through her and her haunting voice was not her own. "Leaden trumpets spit... The soot of power."

"It's like some weird cult shit, right?"

"Well, if there was anyone to form a cult around..."

"They say!" Suddenly, the High Priestess pivoted. She lowered one arm, and held the other out to the crowd of faithful before her. They all sang back, their voices melded together as one while she walked slowly along the edge of her platform. "We're on your side, when nobody is, 'cause nobody is."

"Ha! Wouldn't that be somethin'? Anarchist cult."

"You would support a cult following?"

"Come, sit right here." The High Priestess turned again, and she swept both of her arms out towards the crowd once more. They fell silent and listened intently while she sang her promise. "And sleep while I slip, the cure in His ear."

"Oh, no. They'd die just like everybody else if I bumped into 'em. Don't use my name for clout, y'know?"

"... Right."

"We are waiting on a telegram to!" The High Priestess lifted her arms up, like she was drawing the voices out of her faithful. And voices did come, once more melted together in a haunting choir. "Give us, news of, the fall."

"I am sorry to report dear Paris," She lowered her arms while she sang those words. She was standing at the center of her platform now, at the head of her faithful. And when she rose her arms up once again, their voices followed. "Is burn-ing, after all."

"We have taken to the streets in open!" She kept her arms raised. Her back was straight, shadows poured over her from every torchlight. Her faithful sang, "Rejoice, revolt-ing."

"We are dancing a black waltz fair Paris!" She bowed her head, keeping her arms out to her sides and raised over her head. The words and the faith of her crowd poured over her, it made Anthony's stomach twist. "Is burn-ing, after all."

"HEY!"

Abruptly, the song came to a stop. The High Priestess lifted her head, she stood up straight while she folded her hands back down and over her lap. A crowd of heads turned, and a wave of gasps exploded out when all those eyes landed on Anthony The Anarchist. He'd stomped out from behind the wall, much to the displeasure of Lexi The Predator, who had both hands wrapped around one of his arms and was dragging behind him like a useless anchor. Anarchy, scowling and glaring at the priestess before him, barked his questions with wrath those faithful believed to be divine. "Who the hell are you and what the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

A sea of murmurs answered Anarchy, it made his eyes dart down to the shifting crowd. Each of them wore black and red cloaks, they would all look identical with their hoods up. But, with them down, he could see the reverence in their eyes. Each and every one of them stared at him while they shuffled to the sides, parting to give him a path to their High Priestess. He grimaced when he saws tears in so many of their eyes but smiles on so many of their faces, why were they so happy to see him? Their words were like hornets in his ears. "It's Him, it's really Him!" "I never thought I'd get to see Him so close!" "We're not worthy!"

"Everyone, it's just as I foretold!" The Priestess shook her head some, like even she could hardly believe what she was seeing. Gesturing out to the now split crowd, she hastily gave instruction. "Bow, bow now! He is here, the King of Darkness! The one true God of this multiverse, He who's mercy has freed so many and will one day free the rest! Bow your head for Anthony The Killer!"

Anthony's eyes went wide, his pupils shrunk. If his stomach was a knot before, now it was a squeezing black hole threatening to drain the color out of his all powerful soul. To his horror, he watched those faithful fall in line. They dropped to their knees one after the other, they fell forward and pressed their foreheads to the ground. They reached their hands as far forward as they could and they pressed their palms flat to the earth. They made themselves small, submitted to The Killer that they believed was their savior.

Anthony didn't realize it, but he was starting to breath faster. Cold sweat was breaking out across his body, a panic attack was setting in. Anthony The Killer? These people were out here worshipping him? Anthony swallowed but his mouth was dry. Fuckin' A, they were looking at him like he was the second coming of Underchrist. But he wasn't. He was a murderer, an animal, a Ghoul. And why on Earth would someone worship a Ghoul?!

Lexi grabbed Anthony's hand, it made his eyes blink and widen. Just then, he'd felt he was sinking. That the gravity of his soul had finally overpowered him, that his knees were buckling and he was about to be crushed under the weight of his father's blood. But, then Lexi grabbed his hand. Her fingers intertwined with his, and she squeezed his scarred hand to remind him he didn't have to hold a crowbar between those fingers. His panicked, desperate eyes darted back to hers, and she looked at him with a care and a certainty in her aquamarine eyes that grounded Anthony instantly. He might have been afraid that he was in fact The Killer these fools had been praying for, but Lexi was certain that he wasn't.

"... What are you all doing here?" Anthony took a deep breath before he said those words. He turned his head, looked back to the priestess, and reiterated his question. Less angry was his tone, but more stern. If these people really did worship him, then they would answer his questions and they would make it snappy.

"I'm spreading the good word to your faithful, lord Killer." The High Priestess once more folded her hands over her lap and stood at attention, like she really was talking to someone royal. Anarchy and Lexi both stared at her with confusion and contempt, but she did not hesitate to go on. "We're awaiting the Darkest Day, when you will free us from the Light and make our reality pure. We're praying for you to free us from the liars, the thieves, the dishonest that seek to use what is rightfully yours."

A resounding "Amen" drew Lexi's eyes to one side of the crowd they now stood at the center of and Anthony's eyes to the other. Her eyes narrowed after that, The Predator looked back to the High Priestess and clenched a fist. Not releasing Anthony's hand, she stepped out in front of him and spoke before he could. "Well that day ain't comin', lady. Because Anthony's not a Killer."

"Your toys poison you, lord Killer." The High Priestess didn't even bother turning her face towards Lexi, her focus remained entirely on The Anarchist. There was pity in her voice, mixed with care and understanding. "They try to hold you in the light that burns your holy skin, they want you to tolerate their chains and their lies because they're afraid of the truth. But we're not afraid."

"Toy?!" Lexi recoiled, her face twisted with rage and indignation. She stomped forward another step and lifted a hand to point at the High Priestess. "Listen, bitch-!"

Lexi stopped abruptly when Anthony squeezed her hand tight. He pulled it back, assured that she could not take another step forward. Furrowing her brows, she looked over her shoulder back at The Anarchist. This time, he was the one giving her a knowing look. He shook his head, and she rolled her eyes but begrudgingly stepped aside. Anthony released her hand, and then he stepped forward in her place. Now, he was no longer shaken. His DETERMINATION shined in his eyes, and his powerful stare settled its weight squarely on the High Priestess of this delusional death cult. "I don't care what you believe. I'm here for Aliza."

"Aliza?" The High Priestess repeated with a curious tilt of her head. A frown yanked down Anarchy's expression.

"Don't play dumb with me, lady. You should know how important honesty is to me." Anarchy's voice was a growl, a warning. That was strike one, and he wanted to be sure the High Priestess knew she wouldn't get a strike two. "You took her from her diner, and you scribbled my symbol on the wall to spite me. Now you're going to hand her back over, or I'm going to rip you apart."

"We don't fear your crowbar, your highness. And we would never spite our savior." The High Priestess folded a hand over her heart. She held her other arm out to her side, and bowed in a display of loyalty that Anthony didn't buy. She lifted her head again a moment later, folded her hands over her lap, and went on. "Perhaps this Aliza left of her own free will. If she knew you, then perhaps she joined our covenant to further understand her faith."

"Stop lying!" Anthony snarled, and murmurs rumbled through the bowing crowd. He stomped forward two steps, his scarlet heart appeared on his chest and immediately its weight intensified the air pressure. His lips peeled back to reveal his grinding teeth, and he shouted while murder burned in his scarlet eyes. "Her diner was trashed! There was blood on her knife! You took her to piss me off so congrats, I'M PISSED OFF!"

"My lord, do you ever think that..." The High Priestess tilted her head back, but shadows still hide her face underneath that hood. Anthony saw her mouth, he watched her lips curl up into a smile that made his skin crawl. And from beneath that hood and that shadow, he saw a pink light gleam. "Maybe you'd already have her back, if you weren't pretending to be so weak?"

The stone path shattered beneath Anarchy from the force of his lunge. He launched forward at mach speed, eyes wide and fangs bared with his powerful hand reached out. He intended to grab that woman by the face, smash her into the ground and do it again and again until she spat up Aliza or turned into red paste. Whichever happened first.

Unfortunately, before his hand could snap shut around her face, the High Priestess jumped backwards. She launched back at least twenty feet at super human speed, and Anarchy landed crouched where she'd just been. His head whipped up immediately, scarlet wrath gleamed in his eyes and his teeth ground against each other. The priestess had vanished into the shadows of the mini-castle, but Anthony wasn't afraid of The Dark. He dug his claws into the stone platform he knelt on and tore forward, launching himself into those shadows after her.

"Ah shit." Lexi muttered under her breath, watching Anthony chase that hooded woman into The Dark. Her scythe appeared in her grasp, and she leaned forward to launch after him... Before her eyes drifted down to the faithful still kneeling around her. They lifted their heads some, their eyes followed Anthony into the castle and then drifted back to her. She frowned with some pity, they all looked so confused and afraid... "Uh, you guys should really get out of here. This is gonna get ugly."

They looked at her, and then they looked at each other. The crowd was made up of all sorts of people. Humans and monsters, some young some old. The multiverse was strange now, so much had happened. There was much to be afraid of and it must've been so hard to understand from the outside looking in. Lexi's eyes narrowed with concern, none of them were moving. Their priestess hadn't told them to.

Lexi's eyes drifted back to the inside of the castle, she winced and hesitated... Before sighing loudly. She marched forward, just far enough ahead to be between the rattling building and the poor sheep behind her. She took her scythe into both hands, she widened her stance. She hated leaving Anthony to do this alone, but he could handle it. If she didn't protect them, every one of these poor scared morons would get crushed by that castle when Anthony inevitably brought it crashing to the ground.

... Come on Anthony, you can do this. Fold that bitch and find Aliza so we can get outta here!

"You think you can hide from me in here?" Anarchy snarled, his every footstep burning the stone floor as he marched through the Darkness. His head turned from side to side, his burning red eyes were the only feature visible on his face in the lightless room. "The shadows won't protect you, not from me."

"They won't attack me for you, either." The High Priestess's voice chimed in, and Anarchy's brow twitched furiously. A quick mental command proved her point; just like they'd been at Aliza's diner, the shadows here were pacified. Sleeping, subdued. Anarchy wouldn't be able to use his worms to sniff her out, but that was fine. His darkborn eyes could see her standing across the room. She smiled while she held her arms out to her sides. She was thin, he'd snap her like a toothpick. "Because The Dark knows I'm a devout follower, my lord. Unlike your toys."

Anarchy snarled as he launched forward. The High Priestess sprung up into the air, and Anarchy's body exploded through the large wooden crate that'd been behind her. Splinters and wood chunks flew through the air, along with all sorts of supplies that he couldn't make out in the colorless Dark. Whatever was solid had been shattered, bent, or broken by The Anarchist's impact, and whatever didn't break was fabric. Likely more cloaks for more cultists.

Anarchy's head whipped back and his eyes locked on to the priestess. She'd launched up and landed on the steps of a spiral staircase, which coiled all the way up the tower-like mini-castle, and now she was sprinting up them. Anarchy growled, bent at the knees, and then dove up after her. He exploded up through the wood of a few steps two seconds after she stepped over them, his hand snatched ahold of the step ahead of him and he ripped his way up onto the stairs. A crouched shadow with glowing red eyes in The Dark, he snarled after her. "If you're so devout then why are you running?!"

"You're the one running, my lord!" She called back while she circled the building's interior, climbing ever closer to the top. Anarchy dove across the way, he sailed through the air and smashed into the wall a few steps behind her, sending pebbles and dust crumbling down from the ceiling. "I'm merely following my faith!"

"You're so full'a shit I can smell it on your breath!" Anarchy exclaimed as he yanked himself out of the wall, shaking his head and sending brick crumbs tumbling out of his hair. His furious eyes darted back to the High Priestess, she was rounding the staircase's final curve and about to exit out onto the roof. With that in mind, The Anarchist growled, bent his knees, and jumped straight up.

The High Priestess launched off the top step and onto the stone of the flat roof. She didn't slow down, continuing her sprint towards the far end of the roof where nothing awaited her other than a drop down back to her faithful. Unfortunately, she only managed to take a step and a half before the floor exploded open a few paces ahead of her. Anarchy launched up through the stone, his body was far too strong for the rock. The shadows peeled off of him, and his features were visible once more as he landed on his feet in front of the hole he'd just made. Slouched forward and clenching his fists, he tilted his head to one side and made his neck pop before speaking through his eager fangs. "No where left to run, Anar-nun."

"I will always have the arms of my lord to return to." The High Priestess assured Anthony without hesitation. A smile graced what parts of her face he could see, and she once more stood there at attention with her hands folded in front of her.

"You're so right." Anarchy agreed while his lips peeled upwards into a berserk grin. His long hair bristled and moved in the midnight air, red light began to illuminate his body from the scarlet heart burning on his chest. He held his big arms out to his sides and tensed the muscles in his hands, putting one foot forward and preparing to lunge at her. "Bring it in!"

The stone floor shattered under Anarchy's foot when he exploded forward, arms held out to his sides. He'd catch her in a bear hug, and then he'd squeeze until she spat up Aliza or her bones were crushed to dust. But, just as Anarchy's shadow descended upon the High Priestess, her own knees bent. An updraft of energy made her clothing shift and wave. Her smile tore further up her face, and she couldn't help but laugh when a pulse of pink energy burst from her feet, launching her right over his head while it crushed through the remainder of the roof and made it begin to crumble.

Anarchy's eyes widened with shock as he watched the priestess fly right over his head, his jaw clenched tighter. Then, his furious eyes were forced to dart forward, and he realized he had nowhere to land. Meanwhile, behind him and just above the edge of the mini-castle's crumbling roof, a ship appeared. It's cloaking peeled away, revealing a shape hardly dissimilar from the ship Predator's Pirates used to sail across the multiverse. This one was much smaller though, clearly only meant for a few people.

Anarchy's arms waved in air, he forced himself to pivot against his own velocity. His glowing Ghoul eyes locked on to the open hangar of that ship and the High Priestess launching towards it. Everything was moving in slow motion, she was getting away. She'd land on that hangar and the already steaming engines of that ship would launch her right out of this timeline and out of The Anarchist's reach.

So, Anarchy landed against the far wall of the castle interior as it started to tip outwards. He landed with both feet and one hand, and more DETERMINATION ignited on his skin just before he exploded forward. A shockwave of red far more powerful than that pink burst crashed out from under his feet, it obliterated the entire backside of that castle and sent stone chunks flying for miles. In the blink of an eye, Anthony The Anarchist was right behind the High Priestess.

Still in the air and still in slow motion, he reached out one powerful, scarred hand. He reached for the back of her hood just as her feet hit the floor of that open hangar and her hand grabbed ahold of one of the handles along the roof of the hangar's interior. With his crumbling footing, Anthony hadn't been able to launch into the hangar or through the ship like he'd wanted. But, he was still close enough. His fingers snapped shut on the fabric of that hood, and he ripped his hand back.

The High Priestess's shawl was yanked right off her body, and the furious eyes of The Anarchist watched unblinking as long, straight brown hair billowed through the air. Or, at least, it started brown. But, as the hair traveled down, it began to change. Quickly, from brown to pink. The ends of her long hair were a bright, vibrant pink color.

Anthony's browns furrowed at this, before the head of the High Priestess turned. She looked over her shoulder at him, and when Anthony saw her face his eyes went wide. His pupils shrunk, and that scarlet aura vanished from his body. He recognized the face shape, but eyes that were once so reserved and hesitant and against all odds kind were now vibrant and explosive with sadism, mania, and chaos. Anthony recognized the face of his second ever best friend, Aliza. But he did not recognize the pink shining in her eyes and the soul on her chest. Paris Is Burning by St. Vincent started playing.

"She really thought you were gonna save her." Lizzy Noire confessed to Anthony with winced eyes and a sweet smile that he wished he didn't recognize. Anthony didn't move, he couldn't. He was suspended in air for that one, long moment, but gravity was starting to pull on him. That shawl was clutched in his fist, but his grip had never felt weaker. The red in his eyes was dim, his face was pale even for a Ghoul. Pink light flared inside the ship, Lizzy Noire had opened her free hand and in her grasp a spike of FEARFUL energy had manifested. It's tip had hooks on it, made for snagging things and ripping them out. She spun on her heel, whipped her body around and drove that spike out towards the all powerful scarlet heart still shining on the chest of The Anarchist. "But Ghouls don't save people, do they, Killer?!"

Anthony didn't move. He didn't understand what was happening, he didn't understand how this happened. He was here to save Aliza. He hid her away so nothing bad would ever happen to her. So... What happened? What did they do to her? That thing had her face, but it wasn't her. He could see it in those eyes, in the pink soul on its chest. Some horrible thing had crawled into Aliza's skin, it had put her on like a suit. She was dead, and now her body was being used to try and rip out Anthony's soul.

Clang!

Lexi's teeth grit, her eyes were wide and trembling with confusion, concern, and indignation. She'd jumped up behind Anthony, now her arm was wrapped around his waist to pull him back towards her. Her other arm slashed her scythe through the air, and the curve of that frosty blade deflected Lizzy Noire's spike mere inches from Anthony's godly soul.

Lexi's eyes locked onto Lizzy's. She stared, in shock and horror, as that abomination held her arms out to her sides. Her pink eyes burned brighter, and the skin on her cheeks stretched and ripped like plastic so that her sweet smile could twist up into a terrible sneering grin. The pink in her irises overflowed into the whites of her eyes, its shade darkened into something more sinister. Her scarlet dress waved and billowed in the wind as that hangar door closed and The Predator and Anarchist dropped down towards the earth. The thrusters on the sides of that voidcraft suddenly flared, and it fired forward so fast that it punched a hole through reality and vanished into another timeline.

Anthony watched the ship vanish, he didn't hear the thrusters fire and he didn't hear Lexi shouting his name. He stared for a thousand yards, up into the air where that ship had been. Where Lizzy Noire had been. Beyond that, up into the stars. Into the void that contained the stars. Into the all consuming Dark. He heard Aliza's voice in his ears, and it made his eyes sting.

"... Thank you, Anthony. For everything. You're a good friend. Nothing you've done is going to change that."

"... I hope you're right, Aliza."

"Something should have happened by now." Hacker commented as he stared up at all those separate timelines, his arms crossed over his chest. More screens were still appearing slowly, here and there. There were hundreds of them now, CORE!Alphys was mapping out that entire chunk of the Multiverse and it looked like it was giving her a nasty headache.

"I don't like this." Demon confessed, shaking their head. They glanced over to where Hacker and Eden were standing on the opposite side of the platform, frowning and narrowing their eyes while they went on. "Something doesn't feel right."

Eden pursed her lips, she squinted up at those screens. She too was starting to feel antsy, and it was getting harder to brush off. Still, she needed everyone on their game. She opened her mouth and mustered the words to reassure her team, but before she could make a sound CORE!Alphys broke the silence.

"They're moving!" She suddenly shouted out, one hand on her head and sweat beading down her face. Sure enough, One of the screens up above them suddenly went dark. Blacked out by whatever spell kept that thief hidden. Alphys stood up and at attention, she waved her hand and suddenly half of those screens were pushed off to the side. Focus centered on this new timeline, and the timelines that surrounded it began popping into view. "The URL is-! ... Oh."

"What?" Eden asked hastily, furrowing her brows and tilting her head some. Alphys was just standing there, her arms hanging at her sides. Her all seeing eyes wide, no longer shrouded by the glasses that had slid too far down her snout. Nervous sweat built on Eden's brow, and she barked her next question like it was an order. "What is it?!"

Suddenly, those screens all shut off at once, making everyone in the room flinch. Immediately afterwards, new screens flashed on. They showed not hiding places, not hidden away timelines or interlopers. Instead, they showed the interior of the Hollow Spire. The exact placement of everyone standing in it. Alphys standing at the platform's end, Demon a few paces to her right, Eden and Hacker a few more paces to her left. Xander several steps back, at the back of the platform, leaning on the railing in the right corner. And, all the way in the back, standing in the doorway, cameras showed every angle of a figure cloaked in black.

There was a scarlet letter over the hood that shrouded his face, and there was a gun in his hand. That gun's barrel... Was centered right on CORE!Alphys' back. He'd snuck up her tower, while her eyes were focused across the multiverse and her guard were all watching those screens. While all her usual defense measures were lowered, because they were in The Omega and they were supposed to be safe. But now, Alphys could see every angle. His exact placement, exactly where his pistol's barrel was pointed, exactly where his bullet would land, and how far everyone else in the room was from her. Understanding washed over her face. She looked up into those screens and she stared into the infinite void of her own eyes. "... I'm dead."

BANG!

Keys started to appear to form a wall and protect Alphys, but it was too late. That bullet flew through the wall before a key could form in its path. Eden jumped to get in its way, but she was too slow. It flew past, underneath her before her body could fall before it. Demon dove through the air, their fingers reached out and their hand hit Alphys' shoulder. Her body moved, she was beginning to be thrown to the left... But not fast enough. Demon's pupils shrunk in their wide eyes as they watched that bullet rip through CORE!Alphys' back and explode out the right side of her chest. The bullet hit the screen that showed Alphys' face, and a spiderweb of cracks exploded out across its surface.

"ALPHYS!"

Demon pivoted in air, they landed on their knees beneath Alphys and caught her in their arms. Horror twisted their expression as they looked over the hole punched in her chest, they watched blood flood her shirt and they could feel it trickling through their fingers. Worse than that, they could see some of her scales were becoming flaky. Demon's head whipped up to look at Eden and Hacker, "She's dusting..!"

Xander's head whipped around in unison with Hacker's, and four wide, furious eyes landed on that gunman as he lifted his weapon and let its barrel smoke. Snarling, Hacker whipped up both of his hands. Ink spewed out from his sleeves, it stuck to the walls just above that shooter and pulled tight, slingshotting Hacker through the air at the assassin that was turning his back on him.

Xander used the hand he had on the railing to jump and pivot. He pointed himself right at the assassin, pointed his feet back in the air in the middle of his jump, and commanded flames to fire out from the bottoms of his shoes. This blast of heat launched him forward like a jet. A murderer seeking missile, locked onto that hooded man as he sprinted up the walkway connected to one of the three outer rings that encircled the Hollow Spire.

Hacker yanked back his hand as he raced towards the turned back of that hooded figure. Ink spilled into his hand and rapidly formed into a spear, which he jabbed at the assassin's back with a snarl. Unfortunately, to Hacker's surprise, the assassin suddenly dropped down and his spear stabbed through nothing but air. Hacker's wide eyes darted down to him, and he watched him plant both hands on the steel floor, before pushing off of them and shotgunning his heel up into Hacker's diaphragm in a brutal kick.

A shockwave of pink energy exploded out from this impact, it blew Xander's hair back but did not stop his jet propulsion. Hacker barely had time to spit a mouthful of saliva into the air before he was sent launching high up into the air, wheezing to get air back in his lungs and grabbing at his now throbbing abdomen all the while.

Xander reached out his hand, and a flaming serpent darted out from his sleeve and struck at that assassin with molten fangs. He had just finished standing back up, and did not hesitate to reach up with pink light shining over his burly hand. His grip snapped shut around the neck of the snake, and he immediately ripped his arm up into the air. To Xander's surprise, he was yanked up in an arc over the assassin's head and sent slamming down towards the steel railing in front of him.

Xander spun in air, he pointed his feet down at the ground and let his jet-like flames slow his momentum. He landed on his feet, and he turned to face the assassin while his snake dissipated into thin air. He was between him and his escape now, sure, but the walkway was at least fifteen feet wide. The assassin could dart to one side or the other, try to flank... So Xander's eyes narrowed when instead of doing that, he squared his feet and put his fists up. His gun was gone now, returned to his inventory. Did he only need it because he lacked a ranged attack?

"You don't know the meaning of that symbol you wear." Xander told him, before exhaling sharply through his gritting teeth. This sent flames bursting out in short streams from the corners of his mouth. He could feel his forehead burning, but he grimaced at the thought of wearing The Balor King's crown ever again. So instead, he summoned his grandfather's old lighter from his inventory. He held it up to his flaming maw, and when he pulled it away slowly, flames poured out past his teeth and formed a furious blade of sapphire flames around that lighter. He flicked that flaming sword out to his side and tilted his head back, looking down his nose through his shades at the hooded assassin with those shining violet eyes. "Now I have to punish you for your ignorance."

The assassin didn't speak, but the corner of his mouth lifted just a little. He knocked the knuckles of his raised, glove covered fists together, and immediately electric pink energy jolted to life on his fingers. Xander squinted furiously at this, before lunging forward. He yanked back his burning saber, but before he could cleave down that assassin launched forward to meet him with surprising speed. He swung a jab in towards Xander's gut, but Xander's free hand got in its way. He stopped those knuckles from hammering into his abdomen, but still winced when the incredible force of their impact carried through.

The force was so strong that Xander was launched back through the air with another pink shockwave. He got a decent distance into the air, before throwing his arms back, bending his elbows, and clenching his back muscles. On this command, flames exploded out of his back, and the blast shot him right back down at the assassin.

With the light of Xander's flames momentarily illuminating him, the assassin bent his knees and lowered his stance. Xander wrapped both hands around the burning handle of his righteous sword. He rose it high over his head and roared his fury as he began to cleave down at the assassin he was dropping down towards. At the same time, his target shoved off the ground. He dove up at Xander with another pulse of pink force, and Xander's eyes widened as he was once more upon him.

Before he could slash him, that assassin's big hand snatched ahold of both of Xander's around the fiery handle of his blade. He pushed the final Fortune back in air, so that he was on top and Xander's back was pointed down towards the steel walkway beneath. He was bigger than Xander, who was quick to inhale two lungfuls of air and begin charging flames in his chest.

Before he could breathe fire right in the hooded face of his assailant however, the assassin drove his free hand straight down. His palm hammered right into Xander's solar plexus in a vicious palm strike, making the last Fortune's eyes go wide. His jaws snapped open, and he coughed up useless embers before the force of that strike carried through and fired him down through the air.

Metal screeched when Xander hit that walkway. Its thin steel dented inwards, and Xander's lighter clattered down beside him, its flame crumbling to wisps and embers. Still wheezing and trying to get air back in his lungs, the last Fortune peeled himself out of the metal now dented into his shape. He flipped over onto the walkway beside the depression of his impact, setting his hand over his lighter and sending it back into his inventory while his glare settled on the back of the assassin.

He was hauling ass, his cloak trailing behind him while he sprinted towards the middle ring at the end of the walkway. All around the Hollow Spire, computer keys were falling into place. Now standing on the walkway above Xander and the assassin, Hacker was building a sphere of keys around the Spire to lock the assassin in. Just ahead of the sprinting criminal, the last keys were falling into place. Letters were pointed in towards him so that he could read them as he ran towards the wall. "EAT SHIT, F-"

The assassin jumped without hesitation. His bulky shoulder smashed right into those letters before they could finish forming, and another pink shockwave blew a hole in Hacker's defenses. At the same time, Xander whipped his arms forward, and snakes fired out from his grasp. They hissed through the air, snapped their jaws shut on the railing at the far end of the walkway, and then pulled tight. This fired Xander through the air like a slingshot, right after the escaping assassin.

He folded his arms at his sides, his snakes once more dissipated while he raced through the air. In another moment, Xander burst through the closing opening in that key sphere and out into the open air. Immediately gravity began dragging him down, and Xander held his arms out to his sides. Wind tore up through his hair and clothes, it flooded his ears and yanked the sunglasses off his face while his eyes landed on the assassin free falling just beneath him. The both of them were plummeting now, picking up more and more speed in the race down towards the concrete.

Flames built on Xander's fingertips, but the tearing winds ripped them away. At this velocity and in his base form, Xander doubted he would be able to shoot any flames down at the assassin. At least, not any controlled ones. He'd have to create a huge blast, and the both of them were plummeting down towards a highly populated area. He had to catch him with his hands, or he'd burn those people's homes down again. That thought made his teeth grit, it made his forehead burn. If he had his horns, he'd be able to put a lightning bolt right through that scumbag's back. But then Xander would have to wear that crown again, and The Balor King would be landing right in the middle of all the refugees he made.

Xander's fists clenched with indignant rage, and then he pulled his arms tight to his sides. He kicked his feet up, turned his head down, and immediately picked up speed. He was in a nose dive now, his eyes were wide and embers were flinging out past the corners of his mouth and up into the air behind him. He was closing in on that assassin, all he needed was another burst of speed. But, just before he could blast more flames from his feet and rocket right into his back, the assassin unhooked his cloak.

Xander's eyes widened when that article of clothing suddenly detached, it flew right up at him. The last thing he saw was The Scarlet Letter, and then the assassin's cloak hit his face and folded around his body. The fabric was thick and heavy, Xander was blinded by it and restrained by it. He snarled all sorts of cuss words as he snatched ahold of that cloak with fingernails he didn't realize were black and pointed.

When Xander finally managed to pull the wool off his eyes, he was instantly confronted with the knowledge that the ground was way closer now than it was last time he could see. He'd make his impact in another second or two, and at this speed he doubted it would be pretty. There was no sign of the assassin, he must've already landed and moved out of the way. Thinking fast, Xander ripped his jaws open, and immediately a wave of flames exploded out past his lips.

The flash of his fires illuminated the entire street. Flames hit the ground before Xander and flared out to the sides, the force blasted up into Xander and slowed gravity's intense pull. A moment later, his body dropped down into the fires he'd created, and the force of his impact blew the fire apart. Wisps and embers flew out through the air, and the street returned to its normal lighting, revealing Xander kneeling on cracked concrete. His chest heaved up and down, he inhaled smoke and exhaled embers.

Immediately after the fires faded, Xander's head whipped left and right. His wide eyes scanned the streets, they glossed over the dozen or so bystanders that had all decided to stop and stare. He didn't really notice them, not yet at least. He was looking for that assassin, but the cloak now clutched in his smoking hand reminded Xander that he had no idea what he was looking for. He knew the assassin was a tall and bulky man, but no one on the street fit that description. Desperate, Xander's head whipped towards the nearest bystander and he asked in a voice more harsh than he'd expected. "Which way'd he go?!"

The woman standing there didn't answer, she just pulled her child behind her. The look of fear on her face snapped Xander back to reality. Immediately the anger disappeared from the last Fortune's face, his pupils shrunk in his wide eyes and the smoke stopped filtering through his teeth. Then... He felt something wet running down his forehead. Slowly, he reached up and wiped his fingers across his brow. It felt wet and warm. Hand trembling, Xander felt up his forehead, and froze when he felt the points of his horns poking through the skin.

Gradually, Xander lowered his hand back down into view of his eyes. He saw his blood on his twitching fingers. Worse than that, he saw black smoke rising off his fingernails. He turned his hand, and he found scales along his knuckles and pitch black fingernails smoking endlessly. Xander's scarlet eyes darted back to that woman, and she flinched. Her daughter hugged the back of her leg. In a shaky voice, the mother dared ask. "Why are you here..?"

"W-wait, I..! It's not..!" Xander stood up too fast, it made that woman step back and clutch the back of her daughter's shirt more tightly. Xander swallowed with a dry mouth, he took a step back away from her while he held up his hands. His fingernails were slowly going back to normal and that smoke was disappearing, but he still had blood on his hands. His horns were sinking back into his skull but she had already seen them. Looking around again, he found all the bystanders staring with those same haunted eyes. They had all seen his horns. "I-I... I was just..."

"Xander!" Hacker's voice drew the last Fortune's frantic eyes back to where the Winged was landing. His ink wings flapped once more to slow his descent, and Hacker landed gracefully on the street a few paces back from Xander. Fists clenched at his sides, his unforgiving stare didn't let up in the face of Xander's guilty eyes. "Where'd he go? Did he get away?!"

Xander's lips parted, but no words came. It felt like all the eyes on him were strangling him, it felt like there was a hole in his chest and it was trying to suck the rest of him in. He just came here to deliver some papers, he came here to do the right thing! And now CORE Alphys was dead, the assassin had escaped, and those goddamn horns almost came out! Clenching his eyes shut to keep the tears from overflowing, Xander broke into a sprint. He shoved right past Hacker, pushed by his shoulder and his wing and ran. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to run away. Behind him, Hacker held his arms out to his sides and watched in disbelief.

"Wha-? Where are you going? Xander? Xander?!"

"Anthony? Anthony?!"

Anthony The Anarchist hadn't moved a muscle and he hadn't said a word since he saw those eyes on Aliza's face. Lexi had landed safely, and now she held his limp body in her arms while she knelt on the stone path. Frantically her cyan eyes looked him over for injury. "What happened? What did she do?"

Great questions. What had happened? Aliza was taken because of Anthony, and now she was gone because of Anthony. What did she do? She hurt someone innocent, someone Anthony swore he'd protect. She gathered a conglomerate of buffoons to worship a power they did not understand and pray for Anthony's worst nightmare. She wronged Anthony, she incited his wrath... And then she got away.

Gradually, the hands of The Ivory Ghoul curled into fists. Fists that clenched tight, that trembled with rage. Deep in his soul, Anthony felt his Darkness seething. He felt a lifetime of fury bubbling and boiling. For the first time in a very long time, Anthony The Anarchist was powerless. The stone underneath him felt like basement cement. Watching that ship leave felt like watching Angel walk up his driveway for the very last time. His teeth grit, the scars on his body burned. Anthony The Anarchist was powerless, something deep inside reminded him. But there was another Anthony he could be.

"F-forgive us, lord Killer!" The voice of one of those sniveling worms drew Anthony's attention, and Lexi saw his eyes finally move. They darted to his side, out to the kneeling faithful that had surrounded the both of them there. They'd formed in rings around Anthony and Lexi, AFRAID and blind with faith. They lifted their bodies, rose their arms up high, and bowed forward. Again, and again, and again. In unison. So malleable, so easily influenced, so eager to give their lives to a higher power. They were crying out all sorts of apologies, they begged for forgiveness and understanding and Anthony didn't hear them. All he heard were two sentences in his head, over and over and over.

"My lord, do you ever think that... Maybe you'd already have her back, if you weren't pretending to be so weak?"

"This world was meant for you, Anthony. You just have to reach out and take everything you want~"

"Anthony..?" There was worry in Lexi's voice when he sat up in her arms. His nostrils were flared, his jaw was clenched tight, and Darkness was flooding his eyes. It washed over the whites of his eyes while Lexi grabbed onto his shirt, but she couldn't even slow him down. He lifted effortlessly to his feet, and from those feet shadows spread. The Dark was a huge mass of shifting tendrils beneath The Ivory Ghoul, it coated the earth like black paint. Lexi shook her head as she stared down at the vantablack underneath her and Anthony, she whipped her head left and the right and horror flooded her eyes as she saw Anthony's shadow connecting to the shadows of his cultists. "Anthony, wait, stop! DON'T!"

Anthony couldn't hear Lexi, her pleas were of no consequence. It only mattered what he wanted, and those worms bowing at his feet understood that. As he looked down the point of his nose and through the now straight stands of his hair at all his bowing faithful with two deep red irises surrounded by pitch black eyes, he knew what he really wished for all of those cowards. He inhaled slowly, filled his lungs while Lexi stood beside him. She pulled on his clothes, tried to tug his arm but his body wouldn't budge. She turned to the cultists and she screamed for them to run, but another far more powerful command came. Anthony The Killer's eyes went wide with divine wrath, every star in the sky disappeared in an instant, and he lurched forward to roar his wish.

"DIIEEE!"

Anthony The Killer's faithful had just pulled their bodies up to bow again, and tears flooded Lexi's wide eyes when they all suddenly stopped. The very next noise to follow The Killer's voice was shattering. Out the backs of every single cultist, shards of soul exploded free. The culmination of their very beings, human and monster alike, were decimated instantly under Anthony's command. The next sound was each and every cultist dropping dead. Humans and monsters hit the ground face first, they bowed to The Killer in death. The humans never moved again and the monsters crumbled immediately to ash. Well over one hundred people misled straight to their death. Their lives snuffed out with one word, blown away like specks of dust by the breath of Anthony The Killer.

Lexi's knees went out. She was at a loss, she didn't understand what had happened. She dropped to her knees before all those corpses and covered her mouth with both hands. Her thoughts were drawn back to Errorphim. Order's Mad God and his ability to flick his wrist and ERASE life on a whim. This was just supposed to be a simple rescue mission, they were supposed to have the element of surprise! How did it go so wrong?

After another moment... Anthony blinked. He gasped suddenly, the lights turned back on in his eyes and The Dark left with two vantablack teardrops down his cheeks. His eyes darted over the hundred bodies laying at his feet, and the weight of his soul felt like it was trying to drag him into the ground. Gradually, Anthony The Anarchist lifted his trembling hands. He looked at his fingers, and even though he didn't see blood in the creases of his palms he could feel it. He stammered, "W-wait, no I... I didn't mean... I didn't want..."

Anthony dropped to his knees right beside Lexi. A year without killing people, up in smoke now. In ash, just like any of the monsters that prayed to him for forgiveness. As Anthony knelt there, looking over a sea of corpses of people who had believed in him, more tears built in his eyes. His vision gradually grew blurry, and when he blinked, clear tears broke free. Slow streams trickled down his face, and his hands dropped flat to the ground on either side of him. The words echoed out of his body, which in that moment felt totally hollow. "... What did I do..?"

Clenching her lips tight together to stop a sob, Lexi shook her head. She quickly reached out, wrapping an arm around Anthony's shoulders. She was relieved to see life back in his hair and Dark gone from his eyes, but his guilty voice inspired agony in her chest. She pulled The Anarchist in, hugged his head to her chest and shielded his eyes from the crime he'd just committed. She wanted to tell him it was okay or maybe that it wasn't his fault, but those words all felt wrong in her throat. All those people weren't coming back, it wasn't okay. And how could she say it wasn't his fault when she saw him do it?

Still, Lexi tangled her fingers in Anthony's hair and hugged him tight. She tried her best to shield him from the wretched reality he had just created, she turned her own head down towards his and clenched her teary eyes shut so she wouldn't have to look at it either. It wasn't supposed to be like this, things like this weren't supposed to happen anymore! They were supposed to be the good guys now..!

Anthony's hands clutched the back of Lexi's shirt. He hugged her back and she could hear his muffled sobs. Slowly coming to terms with this new reality, Lexi lifted her sad eyes. She watched Anthony's shadow stretch out behind him, it reached far and wide and in a matter of seconds it was a two dimensional lake that covered the ground behind The Anarchist. From within that lake, six shining red eyes peered from just under the surface.

A moment later, the surface rose and the surface tension split. The head of Anthony's Scorpion rose from his Darkness, and its eyes looked past his Master and The Predator holding him. Instead, as its massive legs lifted and crashed down on either side of Lexi and Anthony, its glare settled on that already damaged castle. Its pincer pulled from The Dark, and as soon as it was free The Scorpion swung the massive club of an appendage to one side. Then, it swept back, and that mini-castle exploded to stone and pebble dust under the effortless force of the pincer's impact.

Lexi settled her teary eyes back on The Anarchist hugging her desperately, and she frowned with understanding. Overhead, The Scorpion's stinger darted forward. It's point ripped through one of those banners painted with The Scarlet Letter and its impact obliterated the tower the banner had waved on. Wind blasted by as those stones crashed to the earth yards away, it blew Lexi's long black hair and Anthony's white mane to the side for a few seconds.

Stone dust surrounded The Anarchist and The Predator, but neither of them moved. Crashes from The Scorpion's rampage filled their ears, but Lexi wasn't bothered by it. She knew the beast was following Anthony's order; he wanted this place gone. Whatever it used to be in Xander's care, this structure had been turned into a church for Anthony The Killer. And Anthony never wanted anyone to pray to him again.

Xander didn't really know where he was running, he just knew he couldn't stop. He had to get away. Away from the Hollow Spire, away from the fires, away from the snakes on his arms and the horns under his forehead. But somehow, all his running just lead Xander Fortune back to the cemetery.

He finally stopped running when he reached the gateway. He stood there, panting quietly and staring with wide eyes at that monument. That obsidian slab on that concrete platform, and all the names carved into it. Xander stood there in the shadow of that monument, empty handed and stained with his own blood. He stared, and his lips parted but no words came. Then, though he didn't want to... His foot lifted, and he took a step closer. Then another, and another.

Xander took slow, shaky steps into the cemetery and deeper into the shadow of that monument to his sins. The snakes on his arms weren't producing any light but they burned. His forehead hadn't sprouted any horns, but it felt like something was trying to rip itself out of him. He stood right underneath the monument now, his head tilted back and his weak purple eyes reading its seemingly endless names.

Xander dropped to his knees. He set his gaze on the ring of flowers that surrounded that monument, left behind by thousands of mourners. He wished that stone slab would fall forward. That it would crush him like the bug he was, and he wouldn't have to feel this way anymore. Xander's hands slowly lifted, he stared into his palms and at his fingernails. His blood was dried to the hand that had wiped his forehead now, and there was still black soot under his fingernails. He dropped his head into his hands, he gripped his face and wished one more time for that monument to squish him.

When he heard the first footstep, Xander thought for just a second that the monument was creaking and about to tumble over on top of him. When he heard the second footstep, Xander thought he was an idiot. Someone was walking up behind him, he didn't look to see who it was. Maybe Hacker, come to berate him further. Maybe the assassin, come to put him out of his misery. Xander kept his head down. Whoever it was, he didn't want them to see his face. He just wanted to disappear.

Through his fingers, Xander watched someone set a bundle of various flowers in with the rest. Ah, another mourner, of course. It was for the best that he didn't lift his head, then. He didn't want them to recognize him here of all places. His eyes remained open, staring through the flowers ahead of him while he knelt there and waited for the mourner to leave. And that was, until one of those flowers moved right in front of his face.

"Here." A voice Xander was sure he'd heard before made him blink his eyes. His vision focused back in, and he sat up some, pulling his hands just a little away from his face. He stared at the single flower being held out to him, it was a rose. Pink, from the looks of it. Xander furrowed his brows some, and skeptically looked up the arm holding that rose out to him... "You look like you could use a flower, too."

Slowly, Xander's eyes went wide. His pupils shrunk, and tears filled his bottom eyelids. He was staring up into a pair of bright orange eyes, on a face he could never forget. The man leaning down beside him was large, but the gentleness with which he held that single flower between his big fingers was unmistakable. When he smiled down at Xander, the last Fortune wondered if maybe that monument had crushed him after all.

. . . C_l_i_f_f_o_r_d . . ?

"She's slipping!" Demon reminded Eden while the two of them carried CORE!Alphys' limp body towards an open healing pod. The music faded out. Demon, who was holding onto Alphys' legs and tail, was right. Alphys was quite literally slipping through their fingers. A thin trail of dust was growing ever thicker underneath the Fallen Down monster they carried, and there was nervous sweat on Eden's brow while she hastily punched settings into a keypad on the panel beside the empty chamber.

"I know, I know!" Eden agreed, adjusting the one arm she had underneath Alphys' arm and wrapped around her chest. A moment later, Eden's other hand pulled away from the keypad and she put it right underneath Alphys' other arm while she barked orders. "Alright, get her in the pod! Quick!"

Eden and Demon hastily fumbled Alphys' gradually crumbling body into that glass tube, Eden taking the time to fit a dangling oxygen mask around her snout while they did so. The moment she was all in there, Demon slammed the door behind her. It was a good thing they did, because glowing green fluid had already filled the bottom of the tube and it was only pouring in faster.

The both of them were panting with exertion and heavy anxiety as they stepped back from the tube. They watched as more and more of that KIND energy, healing magic, and chemical concoction poured down around Alphys. After another few moments, the tank was full, and she was floating motionless in the glowing emerald fluid. Her head was slumped forward, and her all seeing eyes were shut.

"... Okay, she's stable." Eden breathed a sigh of relief after looking at the vital signs on the panel screen beside CORE!Alphys' healing pod. She wiped nervous sweat from her brow and closed her eyes, leaning over the screen while she went on. "I don't know if she's going to get better, but... She's not going to get any worse now, either."

Demon stared up at Alphys floating in the healing soup. They remembered Error Sans when he was first in a similar pod in Xander's now defunct timeline; most of his limbs had melted away, along with half of his face. He was like that for two years before Hacker got him to heal, and it took seven human souls to wake him up after that. Demon grimaced and set a hand over their abdomen without really think; they hated that they could still remember what it felt like to have their bones move inside their body.

Alphys wasn't in as bad of shape as Error was, she still had all her limbs at least. But, her face drooped around those shut eyes. The tip of her tail was gone, and several fingers had crumbled to dust on her hands. Demon couldn't even see what the internal damage was, but they guessed it wasn't good. If they hadn't shoved Alphys, that bullet would have went straight through her heart, and she would have crumbled instantly. With that in mind, Demon looked over to Eden with semi-wide eyes. "Alright, what the fuck just happened?!"

"... I don't know, but I think we got played." Eden admitted, though it made her teeth clench. Her hands, placed on either side of the panel displaying Alphys' less than enviable vitals, tightened their grip and jolted with tiny orange sparks.

"How did they know what we were doing?" Demon asked while they started to pace. They walked back and forth in the green light of that pod, before turning back to Eden and throwing their arms out to their sides. "How did they even know CORE!Alphys exists?! She keeps a pretty low profile, I coulda swore we were the only people who know who she is and what she can do!"

"I don't know the answer to that, either." Eden's voice was low, tense. She stood up straight and removed her hands from that panel. Then, she looked over her shoulder and through the purple streak in her dark hair at Demon. BRAVE light gleamed in her eyes, and her fists clenched at her sides.

"But I do know that this problem is a lot bigger than we thought it was."

Please Favorite, Follow, and Review!

XWolf26, out