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Magic roiled through his mana-lines like hell fire. It hissed in his skull, demanding violence and destruction. Edge grabbed at his skull, growling as pots and pans scattered across the floor. His soul was in a whirlwind of rage and malice. Another level of LOVE gained earlier in the day. He didn’t want to do it, didn’t want the EXP gain, he had no choice. HE HAD NO CHOICE.
Why did he think he could go home? How did he think that simply cooking something would help?
And now it burned and boiled and raged within him. It called to him, to unleash his fury, to rip, tear and attack. He felt hot, feverish, he couldn’t breath. Wrath seethed through his body. He was fighting it, fighting against his own body and mind. Pushing it back as much as he could. He didn’t want to lose control, didn’t want to lose grip with himself. He was faltering, he was failing, the LV was taking over.
Why did he fool himself to think he was safe?
Safe to come home.
Safe to be around.
It struck him like a brick to the face. He had to get out, had to get somewhere else, far away. Had to get away, before HE came home. Through the haze and redness, Edge took out his phone. To contact his brother, let him know what was going on. With shaking claws, Edge picked out Red’s contact and sent a message, ‘LV’, Short and simple but Red knew that code. The phone dropped, skittering across the floor. Now he had to escape, had to get out of the house before...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stretch stepped out of the shortcut into the living room, while stretching and popping the joints in his arms and back. He took a deep breath, expecting to be greeted by the wafting smell of his husband’s cooking, only to be surprised to find the house without such a glorious smell. Stretch wondered if Edge wasn’t home from Underfell yet. Edge had mentioned troubles happening recently, perhaps he was held back. Definitely not any other reason, negatively swirled in the back of his mind.
Stretch knew Edge had been really stressed lately with the ongoings of the Underfell universe. His husband still held hope for that world, still believed that they could be helped and changed for the better. He dearly loved that about his husband, always had hope in the gloomiest of situations, always wanted to make a change, make a difference. Edge knew what it was like to struggle and went out of his way to make sure no one else did.
He should do something for his babe. Stretch was no master chef. Could barely boil water without something going up in smoking. But he did have one of Edge’s favorite sushi places on speed dial, it’s only a shortcut away. Ah the wonders of having a home on the surface in the Undertale verse. But first, Stretch was parched. He pulled out his phone as he pushed open the kitchen door.
Stretch paused, startled to see his husband, in midst of chaotic scattering of kitchenware, curled in on himself, gripping his skull and leaving reddened marks where he scratched. Cutting board laid broken in half on the far wall with carrots and celery scattered across the countertop and floor. A pot surrounded by a puddle of water, flipped upside down in the middle of the kitchen. A frying pan not far away, bent out of shape and hiding under the table. The burners on the stove still alight, cooking nothing but air.
Fear and panic flashed across Edge’s face before he flinched away. “GET OUT!” He yelled, tucking his head under his arms.
“Edge?” Stretch ignored the fact that his voice shook. “Edge are you ok? are you hurt?”
“GET OUT.” Edge snarled at him. “IT’S NOT SAFE!”
Stretch was frozen in place, phone rattling in his grip. He’s seen Edge have LV flare ups before but nothing like this. He knew he should leave, knew he should get Red. Red knew how to handle these things. But he couldn’t move, just stared as Edge tried desperately to hunker down on himself. He could hear every snarl and growl, watch as his magic flared brighter with every soul beat.
Nails dug furrows into his skull, marrow beaded up. Stretch whimpered at the sight, his grip tightening on his phone. “Edge,” He croaked, not sure what he was going to add to that.
Edge suddenly slumped forward. The room is suddenly choked with malice and intent as a deep growl rises from the fell monster. Edge rose to his feet, slowly turning towards Stretch. His eye-lights were extinguished, but his sockets held an eerie crimson glow as magic leaked from his cracked socket. Stretch whimpered, in fear, in despair, he wasn’t entirely sure. All he knew was that the way Edge was looking at him, there was nothing of the monster that he loved behind those sockets.
And he was prey.
Edge suddenly shifted, body tense, poised to attack before he rushed at Stretch. Stretch raised his arm, closing his sockets, prepared to take the incoming hit.
“idiot!” The growled words came from behind as he was suddenly grabbed and yanked through a shortcut.
Suddenly there was the chill from the winter air around him. Stretch opened his eyes, seeing his breath puff out from his gaping mouth, landscape coated in white.
“what the fuck were you doing?” Stretch jumped at Red’s voice.
“i… i froze.” Stretch admitted shakingly.
“no shit.” Red admonished, he scraped his hand down his face. “just fucking perfect.
“Red, what’s… what’s happened to Edge? why would he…” Stretch wrapped his arms around himself, swallowing as he admitted fully to himself and out loud, “attack me like that?”
“ain’t it fuckin’ obvious?” Red glared up at Stretch, eye-lights blazing with anger… and grief? The shorter skeleton’s shoulders sagged as he looked away towards the untouched snow. “course you wouldn’t know. fuckin’ taleverse wouldn’t see this often, if ever.” Red turned his back to Stretch, taking a deep breath as his hands clenched at his sides. He peers back at Stretch, not wanting to face him as he spoke with damnation “he’s losin’ himself to his LV. i knew he was gettin’ close but.. not this close. thought we had more…”
Stretch nodded, taking the info in as his soul sunked “ok, so, what do we do?”
That got a harsh, bitter laugh from Red before he turned and stormed up to Stretch. “we ain’t doin’ anythin’ honeybuns. yer getting yer ass out o’ here and out o’ danger.” Red loomed up at Stretch, somehow making Stretch feel like the shorter skeleton. Red suddenly turned, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. “he’s mah brother, i’ll take care of him.”
Stretch’s back went straight at the tone of Red’s voice, of its implications. “take care of him how? Red, he’s my husband…”
The shorter skeleton flinched, “ya can’t, not with this. if… if I can get him back. you know how much he’s gonna hate himself fer attackin’ ya in the first place? if ya got hurt or if he even managed to dust ya… it’ll kill him? think he’d forgive me if I put ya in danger?” Red paused, there’s a clink of bone as Red swallowed dryly. “i can’t put ya in danger honeybun. not this time. not with what i have ta do.”
“you didn’t answer my first question, Red. what do you have to do to him? to take... care of him?” Stretch could feel his bones beginning to rattle, and not from the cold either, but a different chill running down his spine.
Red looked back at Stretch, his left eye was beginning to strobe. “i’m going to have ta use the judge on him. fastest way I can bring down his hp and knock him out. if i’m lucky, i can get the judge under control enough to keep from actually killin’ him. the sooner i knock him out, then maybe, when he wakes up… he’ll be back to his senses… otherwise i’ll have to…” Red paused to look away from Stretch, as if not wanting to face the truth before him, before he choked out in a harsh whisper, “to put him down. i promised him i would if it came down to it.”
It was Stretch’s turn to march up to Red, grabbed him by the shoulder to turn him around and face him. “Red, you can’t do that. you don’t have the control like Edge and Rus has. there has to be another way. another way to bring him back.”
Red grabbed onto Stretch’s wrists and growled, squeezing enough to cause Stretch to wince. “you don’t think I don’t know that?! that I don’t know the risks? that i haven’t laid in bed at night trying to figure out what i’ll have to do when this day comes. i’ve tried to figure out ways to stop this from happening. other ways to save him from this.” Red shoved Stretch’s hands off of him. “we’ve only been able to get one monster back from losin’ themselves to their LV. and Edge nearly died doin’ it.”
“yea, he’s mentioned that once before… got Undyne back. had to bite off her hand to save his neck.” Stretch squared his shoulders. “but there has to be another way, Red. i can’t risk you killing him or you getting killed by him. It’ll tear him apart too. you’ll run out of stamina before he does. but if we both take him on, we can do it without using the judge. and less risk for the both of us.”
Red growled, “we don’t have time for that Honey…”
The sound of glass breaking made the both of them jump, their attention turned to the house. Edge was picking himself up from the broken glass of their sliding back door, snarling at everything around him.
“come on Honeybun, git yerself out of…” Red looked back towards Stretch right as the lanky monster sprinted towards Edge. “here, damnit!”
Stretch bent low to scoop up a handful of snow before lobbing it at Edge and hit him square in the shoulder. Edge turned sharply towards him and roared in anger before rushing towards him. Stretch turned back and sprinted in the opposite direction, running back where he came from.
Red was running next to him. “fuck it. it’s ride or die, then. just lead him away from town, there’s that clearing up ahead in the woods where we can deal with him. i hope yer ready for a shit ton of exercise Stretch.”
“already ahead of you. get to the clearing and i’ll lead him there.” Stretch huffed out, making it into the tree line.
“got it, but first.” Red turned around and sent waves of bone attacks towards Edge, who just crashed right into them. “that should slow him down. now don’t ya dare git yerself killed.” and with that Red shortcutted out of sight.
Stretch focused on keeping ahead of Edge, dodging around trees as he listened to his husband snarling coming closer and closer. His soul was racing in his chest as he turned enough to send a wave of bone attack in Edge’s direction to trip up the monster and pushed him back far enough. Stretch knew of the clearing Red talked about. It was Edge’s and his favorite picnic spot, perfect for stargazing and ended up being the spot they got married in. And now it was going to be the spot they were going to fight to get Edge back. Just a little bit more running and they would breach the treeline.
He sensed the attack before it could hit and Stretch dodged right out of the way, skirted around a bush before continuing on his path. Shit Edge was fast. Stretch hurled several bone attacks Edge's way, striking him across the chest and taking his legs from right under him. Seems while in this LV induced rage, Edge’s grace and cunning wasn’t entirely with him, especially as he was sent spralling into the snow. Stretch didn’t let the sight distract him as he continued to run ahead.
A crack of a branch made Stretch glance back, however, and… shit… was Edge chasing after him on all fours. The fuck. Goes to show what one learns while training with the dogi guardsmen. Stretch leapt up and grabbed one of the lower branches and shook it with all his might before swinging forward. The motion caused the tree to dump a mound of snow on top of Edge, momentarily stopping him as Stretch gained some distance between them.
Stretch could see the clearing up ahead as he tossed a few more bone attacks at the advancing Fell monster. Stretch leapt over the bushes and into the open space, landing in the snow and pushing forward until he got to the center of the field to turn and face the LV maddened Monster.
For a moment, there was an eerie silence hanging in the air. Not a bird chirped, nor an insect sang. Only the heavy breaths that Stretch took as he waited.
He didn’t expect the rustling that came from behind him. Edge burst out of the tree line and ran straight towards him. Stretch turned to face his charging husband and began to fling bone attacks in his direction. Edge dodged the first two and took on the next three.
Suddenly Edge was right in front of him, swinging at him with sharp claws. Stretch dodged each potential blow, dancing his way back towards the tree line.
That’s when he heard the whirling of a Gaster Blaster, and dared a glance behind Edge to see Red in the middle of the field, a large blaster above him as the beam powered up in its maw. Red nodded at Stretch in warning before having the Blaster fire down at Edge. Stretch shortcutted out of the way right before the beam hits.
Stretch hid in the trees, panting hard to catch his breath. He could hear Edge howl, the sound making his soul curdle. Stretch hugged himself as he listened to the sound of bone attacks hitting the ground, trees or bone as Edge snarled and grunted.
“come at me bro!” Red yelled in the distance, causing Stretch to turn and watched as Edge dove after Red, only to miss as Red dodged out of the way. Stealing a deep breath, Stretch threw a check at Edge, causing the monster to look around only to be hit squarely between the shoulder blades by one of Red’s attacks.
Papyrus, Lv 18, 975/1300 Hp
EXP EXP ATTACK HELP ATTACK ATTACK
Stretch’s breath hitched at the information he received from the check. He didn’t expect to see that from Edge. The flavor text generally showed some of the stronger feelings or thoughts of a monster. And there was a chance that his husband was still in there, calling out to them. Fuck. They’ve only been able to knock off about a quarter of his hit points so far, and some of it probably helped with Edge breaking through the glass of the back door.
Summoning up his own Gaster Blaster, Stretch rolled up his sleeves, ready to begin his assault anew. He can do this, do this for Edge, to get him back. Stretch ran forward with his own blast powered up and ready to release. Red shortcuts out of the way of Edge’s next strike, right before Stretch fired the beam of pure energy, knocking the monster clear across the field.
Edge shook off the snow before charging towards Stretch, meeting every bone sent his way like a freight train. When Edge neared, Stretch dodged every attack, kicking and knocking Edge away before switching off with Red once he was ready to fight again.
Stretch and Red continued to switch off on attacking Edge, while checking Edge periodically so see how low his health was getting.
Papyrus, Lv 18, 830/1300 Hp
EXP LV Die STOP STOP STOP ATTACK KILL
Papyrus, Lv 18, 569/1300 Hp
ATTACK ATTACK PLEASE STOP EXP ATTACK DIE
Papyrus, Lv 18, 392/1300 Hp
CRUSH EXP BITE STOP ME ATTACK KILL
Papyrus, Lv 18, 222/1300 Hp
KILL EXP ATTACK stop DIE LV
Each check was more soulbreaking than the last, but Stretch pressed on with their attacks, hitting as hard and fast as he could, even if each hit only took 1 hp of damage. Stretch and Red just kept vollying them at Edge, while taking breaks to regain their stamina. But exhaustion was still rearing it ugly head as they battled. Stretch began to wonder if they would be able to keep this up much longer.
Stretch dodged Edge’s swung arm, only to misstep and fall to the ground. He rolled out of the way as Edge brought down both fists to where his head once was. As he scrambled to get out of the way, Edge pounced on top of him and pinned him down in the snow, snarling in his face as the LV-madden monster's claws began to surround his neck.
“Stretch!” Red called out in alarm, the rustle of bushes announced that the shorter fell monster broke out of cover to run towards them.
Stretch choked as his airway began to be cut off, tips of those sharp claws dug into vulnerable vertebrae, threatening to dig right in. Stretch gripped onto those usually loving arms trying desperately to pull him off. Tears streaked down his cheek bones as his fear filled eye-lights looked back at those crimson-glowing, blank sockets. There was nothing of his beloved husband looking back at him, once so humble and caring and loving. So incredibly strong, yet gentle with his touch. He couldn’t see him, it hurt his soul to see it.
Stretch whimpered at Edge “babe, baby, please, come back, please….gak.” His words broke off as those claws squeezed harder. Stretch shut his eyes, sending a flood of tears flowing as he struggled against Edge, trying with all his waning strength to throw the monster off of him. He opened them back up at Edge, his vision grew hazy around the edges as he whispered desperately, “please, i love you, Edge.”
It was only a flash of a spark as Edge’s eye-lights attempted to illuminate. Edge’s grip pulled off of Stretch’s neck and flew to his own skull, claws digging in as he flung himself backwards. Stretch rolled off his back, coughing as he tried to regain his breath.
Stretch watched as Edge flailed with himself, growling and snarling as he bent over, clutching his skull. Suddenly bones erupted from the ground, a mixture of blue and white trapping Edge in place. Edge thrashed violently, causing himself more damage as he moved against the blue magic.
Red helps Stretch back to his feet. “ya ok there?”
“yea,” Stretch rubs at his abused neck. “we gotta…”
Stretch sent another check on Edge.
Papyrus, Lv 18, 99/1300 Hp
ARRRRRRRGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH
Papyrus, Lv 18, 87/1300 Hp
ARRRRRRRGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH
Papyrus, Lv 18, 72/1300 Hp
ARRRRRRRGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH
Edge’s Hp was dropping quickly from the self inflicted damage.
Stretch rushed forward. Ignoring Red’s protests behind him, Stretch approached Edge, mindful of swinging claws and any sudden movements in his direction. Slowly, he raised his hands up to Edge’s cheekbones, wary of gnashing teeth that tried to bite at him and held his face still. Stretch leaned in and closed his sockets as his mouth met Edge’s snarl with a clink.
At first, all there was, was the snarl against his mouth. Stretch tried to pour in all his love for Edge into the kiss. The snarl receded to nothingness before there was a press of a return. Tears dripped from Stretch’s sockets as he heard the other whimper, opening his sockets to see those crimson eye-lights flicker back to life. He broke the kiss as Edge’s jaw began to tremble.
“Stretch...” Edge whispered before consciousness was whisked away from him, body falling limply against the bones. Then the bones dispelled and Stretch found himself catching his husband in his arms before he could hit the ground.
Papyrus, Lv 18, 1/1300 Hp
…
“stubborn ass Papyrus! are ya fuckin’ stupid? stars-damn it kid, you could have gotten yerself killed there. ya crazy fuckin’ tale verse lunatic. fuck, yer lucky that fuckin’ worked.” Red was by his side, huffing and puffing with leftover adrenaline and collating relief.
“you got enough juice in ya to get us back home.” Dased, Stretch could only look at Edge as he worked him more securely in his arms.
“yea, i gotcha bud.” With a huff, Red reached over to Stretch’s elbow and shortcuts them back to the house into their bedroom.
Stretch laid Edge down on the bed and began to remove his shirt. “Blue should be with Rus and Comic, we’re going to need their help.” His hands began to glow green and moved to some of the worst wounds, Red’s hand pulled him back.
“we’re going to need to set up some precautions.” Red said sternly.
Stretch looked from him to Edge before nodding, choking out “okay.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edge’s skull lulled from one side to another as he began to wake. Sockets cracked open and gazed at blurred features as his head throbbed with a migraine. His body ached, stiff, as if he had taken a beating from both Undynes at once. He tried to move his right arm only to find resistance, then his left and his feet only to find the same.
Then the memories came flooding in.
Panic arose in his chest as he began to blink the haze away, searching for “Stretch? Stretch!” He called out hoarsely.
“whoa, whoa, babe, it’s ok, it’s okay, i’m right here.” Came Stretch’s voice to his right, followed by a dip in the bed. Hands touched his cheeks as the blurred face slowly cleared into his husband’s image.
Edge choked back a dry sob. “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t… I couldn’t control…” Edge’s bones rattled hard. His arms were released from their bonds, allowing him to cling and curl into Stretch’s chest as those loving long arms wrapped securely around him. Edge continued to sob brokenly.
“oh my stars, you’re back, you’re back with me.” Stretch cried as he kissed the crown of Edge’s head. Once the restraints on Edge’ legs were released, Stretch arranged his husband into his lap. “it alright love, it’s alright. i got you. shhh, shhh, precious, you’re ok.”
Tears streamed down Stretch’s face as he continued to try to console his husband throughout the night. Holding him in his arms and rocking him, projecting love/care/safety/peace/serenity. “we’ll get through this together, better or worse. thick and thin. i love you Edge.”
Edge fell back into a restless sleep. He could almost already count on the nightmares to come, stemming from Edge’s unease and broken trust within himself. Stretch’s soul was breaking for his love. But he would be there for him, through it all. A prayer to the angel and the stars above as he kissed his scared skull. “thank you for coming back to me.”