King: The 40th chapter! More than half a million views! This is a big moment~ How do you celebrate that? A chapter! The 40th chapter... You get the idea. Hope you enjoy and stay determined~!

Inspiration: Undertale

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After a while, the next world started to form, not that they knew when the last one ended.

The world was dark and empty, the sound of Jaune's voice carrying through the void, "You really are determined, aren't you? I told you… I TOLD YOU! IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!"

Ruby groaned, getting a little too used to this feeling, "That's not a good sign."

"But you… you didn't listen. You lived this twice and didn't kill anyone! What is wrong with you?! No morbid curiosity?! No sense for revenge or power?! You were supposed to kill the King and let me take the souls of the humans he'd kept to break the barrier! Then… I kill you and become a god! But no. NO! You just had to go and spare everyone! You found a way to keep them all alive!"

Pyrrha nodded to herself, "Okay… at least whoever he's talking to is a good person."

"… I tried that once you know. More times than I can count. I've lived countless lives. I spared them all more times than I remember. But I also killed them all more times than I can count. I've lost who I was… I have no emotion anymore. With this power, how long until you return to finish them all off? Become like me? Oh well… doesn't matter. You made a grave mistake in the end. You brought them all here. All the monster souls of the Underground! Enough to manifest a human equivalent!"

Green, thorn-covered vines wrapped around the screen's surface.

"More than enough with everything here! I'll show you… I'll show you all!"

The vines seemed to constrict before bursting. When they were done, Jaune dropped to the ground. He was dressed in a lemon and lime striped sweater and loose black pants. A pair of goat-like horns popped up through his golden hair. He took in a deep breath, the first he'd been able to for a very long time. "Finally… I'm me again…" He turned toward a person opposite him. "Chara? Is that you?"

Across the black void, they saw someone they didn't recognize. She was dressed in similar attire to Jaune, but her form told she was human. Her dark eyes and hair were almost too generic. She'd have been unrecognizable to anyone that passed her in the streets. But she was long since gone.

A heart appeared on the screen, causing a cascade effect turning the void into the barrier room. The form of Chara replaced by Penny Polendina in a blue and pink sweater similar to Jaune's. She also had a golden, heart-shaped locket she'd found around her neck.

Penny clasped her hands together, "Oh! It seems I am a character in this version. How interesting!"

Ruby smiled at Penny's excitement, but Jaune's speech didn't bode well for future events.

In Jaune's place, however, was still very much Jaune Arc. But a very different variation. This Jaune was taller and dressed in a purple and white robe resembling a mage, a style based on that of his parents, complete with that weird symbol they all have. His sclerae were as black as the void, his teeth extended in a set of fangs, and his horns became longer and sharper. He also had a golden, heart-shaped locket around his neck.

Coco raised an eyebrow. "Kind of reminds me of the style Velvet had when Jaune was that Mountain King."

Ruby nodded, remembering that world a little too well. It was hard seeing her friend so torn up inside… A desperate and broken man with nothing left.

Neptune thought for a moment, "Wait. Didn't it say it was based on his parents? Wouldn't that make Jaune the child that died."

Velvet leaned toward the group, "Do you think the lockets are important?"

"Probably."

Penny took a step back seeing Jaune's form. She'd heard the story of the King's child… but to think he was that weird talking flower? And now he'd taken everyone away and created a false soul for himself to revive his body. Now he was back and still very warped by an ever-repeating reality without a soul.

"Yikes…" Nora frowned, "No wonder he's so mean in this one."

Jaune grinned down toward Penny, "Now Chara… What do you say we play a little game?"

Penny's head tilted, "Why does he not address me by that name?"

Weiss tapped her fingers on her chair in thought, "If I had to guess… The scene before showed the girl he knew in the past, the one the King version of Jaune said fell and became friends with his son. Since Jaune is now the son, it's likely this Chara is the child he befriended before they both died."

Neptune crossed his arms and nodded. "Plus, there are superficial similarities between the two. That, coupled with his apparent resurrection, could mean that his memories are scrambled to point where he sees his old friend in Penny's place."

Penny was still for a moment before turning back to the screen, "That makes sense. You are both quite smart."

This got the two to beam with pride.

Penny took a breath and steeled her determination. Despite the odds, she would try to save the friends he took away. Despite what he's done… She'll try to save him, too.

Ruby smiled. She knew Penny would try to help anyone she could. Penny's mission was to save the world, after all.

A red heart appeared in front of Penny and a series of panels followed soon after reading: [FIGHT], [ACT], [ITEM], and [MERCY].

Penny tapped Ruby's shoulder, "Friend Ruby, what are those strange panels?"

Ruby smiled, "They're how she'll interact in a fight. In this world, fights are set by those weird panels and each does something different. At least, that's what they did when I was in your shoes."

"How do you mean?"

"In one of the other versions of this reality, I was the one with the heart and panels. In it… I had to fight Jaune as the King. But you still have the Mercy option, so that's good."

"Why did you not have the Mercy button? Were you not a kind person?"

"I am. It's just… Jaune destroyed it in that reality, believing he couldn't be forgiven for what he'd done."

Penny frowned and turned back to the screen. "Well… maybe we can change that in this reality."

Jaune started to float off the ground and held out his hand. With the snap of his fingers, the two returned to the void. A second later, the void of darkness started to change with stars and streams of colors forming around them. And so, the battle began.

Penny started by using the Act option to check Jaune's form and stats. A text box appeared showing the findings.

[Jaune Arc. The God of Hyperdeath! HP: Invincible. AT: Infinite. DF: Infinite.]

Roman snickered, "Hyperdeath? Sounds like something a kid would make up on the playground."

[Jaune could destroy everything in existence at the snap of his fingers… But he didn't. There may still be hope for him.]

Jaune's grin was borderline psychotic as he raised a hand to the sky. He swung his hand down, causing a series of stars to fly toward Penny. Penny dodged the first only star, only to find out they explode into smaller stars on impact. She took some damage from behind, but now she knew what to expect. Jaune was suddenly before her with twin swords in hand.

Penny jumped back, avoiding any follow up, and hit the Act option again. She had to get through to him! Penny clenched her fists and prepared for the gauntlet about to be endured. Jaune swung the blades in a pattern until he slammed the twin swords into the ground, causing them to erupt into a series of stars bursting outward. Penny ducked the stars before jumping over an incoming line of fire balls. She had to hold on to her hope…

As she dodged another attack, she thought back to her first run… When that damn flower, who was apparently Jaune without a soul, took the six human souls. She was able to call out to them from inside his weird form then. She had to hope her friends were still in there somewhere.

Neptune had to take a moment to really process that. "That's… really weird if you think about it."

Sun shrugged, "Then don't think about it."

"It's not that easy!"

Penny jumped to the side just in time to avoid a rainbow-colored bolt of lightning. She was running on empty, but she was getting closer. She could feel it!

Jaune held a hand out before his face fell into a glare. "Enough of this game, Chara. Take this seriously!"

Penny took a breath, hoping to use this as a way out. "I'm not Chara! My name is Penny! Please! Let's stop the fight and we can…"

"SHUT UP!" Jaune growled, his breath hitching in annoyance, "You can't fool me Chara!" After a few breaths, he seemed to calm down a bit. He started to laugh. "Fine… If that's the game… Then I'll stop holding back." His open palm shifted, his index and middle fingers pressed against this thumb. He snapped his fingers and the world became a void again. Unlike before, however, there was a giant skull-like device in Jaune's place. It seemed to laugh before it started to suck in everything around it. A localized black hole.

Weiss felt a shiver run up her spine. "That's horrifying."

Ruby tilted her head toward the heiress, "Is it? Seems like any other vacuum thing so far."

Yang shook her head, "A black hole is basically a void of gravity that pulls in everything, crushing it into nothingness. Not even light can escape the pull."

Tai held back a chuckle, "Planning your next pun?"

"Always~"

Penny was able to avoid the effects long enough for the world to go white. The vacuum had stopped and she was on her hands and knees. She looked up and her eyes went wide.

Opposite her was a Jaune transformed by immense power and anger. His lower body had reformed as a single, heart-shaped spike. His chest was now glowing with a hollow heart. His arms morphed into a more geometric form. A pair of multicolored wings flowed out from his back. His shoulders stuck out like armor. He resembled a demon! And, weirdly, that symbol from his robe. The Delta Rune… Symbol of the Angel. The Savior or the Killer…

Penny smirked, a mask to hide the dread seeing this form. She'd fallen into the Underground… Perhaps she was the Angel that would 'empty' the world below. The thought filled her with determination. She would save them all… As her thoughts surged, she could feel a strange presence from Jaune. His form was taxing his hold on the souls! She could reach them!

Jaune, on the other hand, had other plans. He unleashed a torrent of deathly fire. She was able to dodge the worst of it, but it was an ordeal. She stood back up and clutched her burned arm. She used an item to heal her injuries, but that left her open for attack again. She stayed on her toes enough to keep the damage to an absolute minimum. She returned to her panels and her eyes went wide. The act button had replaced with a blinking green panel labeled [SAVE]. She grinned back toward Jaune struck the panel.

The screen went white, showing four scenes of various faunas-like beings. The first was Montagne and his wife Josephine. The second was the skeletal Yang next to an equally skeletal Ruby. The third was the good Doctor Blake. The final scene showed Ilia, Captain of the Royal Guard.

Yang snickered, "Doctor Blake, huh?"

Blake rolled her eyes and glanced toward Ilia.

Ilia's eyes were filled with thought. Captain of the Royal Guard? Can I really achieve a level like that?

After the four scenes, Jaune roared out toward Penny and created a giant fireball. He slammed the attack down and pushed Penny away. It was too late, she'd saved their souls from within him. She just had to find a way to… Her thoughts were cut off when an attack ripped through her and started to crack her soul. The heart snapped in half.

Penny jumped in her seat. "I… I just…"

"Died." Ironwood took a breath. "We've seen it happen to a few of us by now."

The halved heart started to shake and snapped back together. Penny's eyes were glowing. She refused to fall now!

Tai chuckled, "So… she… re-fused?"

Groans followed and a high five between pun lovers.

Penny groaned at the pain and looked to her panels. The Save option was still there.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Who's left to save?"

Pyrrha felt a small smile, "Jaune…"

Penny opened the option and found Jaune's name in the box. She nodded and looked up toward Jaune. She smiled and pressed the button. "You can still stop this… We can stop fighting.

Jaune's eye twitched, "Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!" Jaune unleashed a mass of burning bullets toward Penny, but she just walked through them. Each time her heart cracked, it would re-fuse and she would continue forward.

Penny choose to save Jaune again.

He unleashed another torrent, but fewer bullets flew from his form. It took more hits to crack Penny's soul.

"He's getting weaker." Ironwood's eyes narrowed.

Salem shook her head and smiled, "He's likely just as powerful, but she's getting to him. She's saving him."

Penny smiled up toward her counterpart, happy to see her fighting for others. No… not fighting. Saving.

Penny chose the option again.

Jaune raised his shaky hands, unleashing a set of flames. But Penny avoided the fire by continuing to walk forward.

She chose to save him a fourth time.

Jaune was losing his will to fight. He unleashed a weak fire than avoided Penny as she walked closer. His arms fell soon after. He clenched his teeth before bringing his arms back up and unleashed a powerful blast of rainbow-formed light. Penny's HP stopped at 0.000000001. He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill her…

The world went white again. When they could see again, Penny was standing opposite the version of Jaune in the striped shirt. His head was down, and he was shaking. "I'm… I'm so sorry…"

Penny smiled and took a step closer, only to be confused when he took a step away.

"I… I can't excuse what I've done when I had no soul. I… I want to make this right." Jaune turned toward the glowing barrier. He waved his hand and shattered the barrier using the power of the souls he still had within him.

Yang blinked in surprise, "Well damn! That's crazy power!"

Roman leaned back into his seat, "If really was a god, it's not that surprising."

Jaune kept his back to Penny for a moment, "You said… Your name was Penny, right?"

Penny nodded, "Yes."

Jaune turned back to her, "The others… I can feel it in their souls… They care about you a lot. You've made so many friends in the Underground." Jaune smiled sadly. "Please… Take care of them."

Penny stepped forward. She knew that Jaune had died. If he gave up those souls, if he let them go, he'd lose his body. He'd be gone again. She hugged him as he started to fade.

"Penny… It was nice to meet you… Goodbye."

That day, a long lost prince was saved by and Angel.