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Kris gave a quiet sigh after the group defeated Tenna. The minigames were incredibly fast paced, and it was only by virtue of the SOUL’s excellent piloting that they all managed to get through with little more than bumps and scrapes.
Tenna’s wrapping up.
“Audience, would you please stand up and clap for our winners!! For outstanding kindness and bravery, the Lighteners have won…”
“THE GRAND PRIZE!!! ”
Mom, safely in her capsule, descended from the top of the Christmas tree. She’ll think this is all a dream, after. Luckily. Hopefully.
“Here you go!! She’s all yours, folks!”
Kris supposed that this was as much as they could manage in terms of delays. Oh well. The final part comes into play now.
“How wonderful!! The family’s all together again!!”
Azzy isn’t here. Dad isn’t here. The Holidays are still distant.
That spare thought made the wait for the next moment easier to bear.
“Now you all can finally-”
CRASH
A brutal, off-guard strike caught Tenna utterly unaware. And, because of that, and its ridiculous strength, the poor TV was shattered completely. Both arms, gone, static filling his face as he went into shock, falling to the snow in a heap. Kris knew what the look on Susie’s face would be, what Ralsei’s eyes would look like, and… probably what the SOUL was thinking.
They side-eyed their friends. The spark of indignation was far, far stronger than any sense of aimless rage Susie had before. It was a noble anger, one borne of care and kindness. They admired that a lot about her, and so when she grit her teeth and roared out Tenna’s name, they were right behind her, confronting what was, to Susie and Ralsei, a mystery villain only heard of but unseen until now.
Ralsei was surprised, but quickly grew morose and determined. Hands behind his back like always, he faced forwards towards their perceived foe. The fuzzy guy held many, many secrets, some of which he kept between himself and Kris alone. They would not betray the Darkener prince to the SOUL’s ears… but maybe they could convince him to share with the SOUL at some point. Together, they all faced…
“Who… WHO the hell are you!?” Susie shouted.
Dess, back turned to them all. Trying to look cool. Succeeding. Not part of the plan, but telling December Holiday that she couldn’t aura farm was like telling the sun it couldn’t shine. Her form was made from Darkness itself, and she blackened the area with her presence alone.
“If… if you don’t tell us who you are, then…” Susie threatened.
Dess turned, using her floating state and strange proportions to her advantage in order to appear as off putting as possible. She was even fake-crying, little tears of black ringed by white light falling to the snow.
If the plan wasn’t a thing, and their promise wasn’t at stake, it’d make for a memorable prank on Noelle. Unfortunate.
The Knight lifted a hand, and began the process of capturing Mom. It made them wildly uncomfortable that this was Plan A, but she would be safe with Dess no matter what came after them, so it should be fine.
But, like they’d told Carol , Susie cut the capture beam and stood in front of it in a heroic stance. Ammo for later teasing.
“Like hell we’re letting you take her…!” Susie said. Kris heard a shake in her voice, certain in action but uncertain in the ability to carry it out.
Dess Pocketballed away, likely to set a better stage for Plan B. The snow would prove irritating to work around anyways, and Susie was about to goad them forwards. Sure, it was their job as leader most of the time, but Kris liked it when Susie preempted any movement by the SOUL.
“Kris! Ralsei! C’mon!!”
They all lined up in their battle formation: Kris on the left, the tactician and planner. Susie in the center, the powerhouse and defender. Ralsei on the right, healing and mobility. A good team.
They’d have to be impossibly better to beat Dess, though.
The darkness-clad Holiday drew in rainbow light and roared, setting the tone for their conflict:
Pulse pounding terror.
She drew her bat, summoning it from the palm of her hand, and brandished it at them.
* The Roaring Knight appeared.
Plan B was simple, Kris thought as the SOUL held their breath. Present an overwhelming force to delay the group for just long enough to capture Undyne when she inevitably made it into the Dark World from the front door. Dess was certainly tough enough to capture the cop, and as a side benefit it would make tagging Town Hall easier. They’d paint the lesbian flag on it. Sure, they were working with Carol, but that doesn’t mean she got to be a jerk about who Noelle liked.
Ralsei tried to reason with Dess.
“Please… please, don’t do this… if the Roaring happens, then… then… Please, stop…!”
Nothing happened. No change in Dess’ demeanor, nothing to indicate that she felt a lick of anything that was emotionally tossed at her. Ralsei’s begging face was quite potent, but unfortunately useless.
Susie tried, too. Surprising, but not bad.
“I don’t know what the hell you are, but… Leave Toriel alone! You hear me!?”
Nothing happened. Susie got a dark look on her face, the one that meant she wasn’t gonna play nice anymore.
“… Fine, you don’t wanna listen? Then we’ll just. Have to do things the hard way.”
Dess’ first attack was a brutal rush of snowflake-based projectiles that washed over the three of them. The SOUL took over, puppet strings turning taut as Kris’ body dipped, ducked, and dove out of the way. It seemed easy, and was easy, until the things exploded all around them. They heard a grunt of pain from Susie, but not much more. She was still up, and Ralsei’s potent anxiety was still present, so he was still up too. Good.
Kris wore the mantle, and kept its existence a fact hidden between them and the SOUL. That game… that game wasn’t okay. They hated it. The SOUL seemed to hate it too, and when the mini-Kris came out of the side of the TV, they’d simply locked eyes. Some sort of mutual understanding passed, and then the mini-Kris simply walked in a direction they couldn’t describe.
* You felt something hovering close behind your head…
“Guys…” Kris heard their mouth say. “We have to stop it from taking Toriel. Full attack.”
Kris tightened their grip on the strings dictating their actions, and pulled back on the hit. They were supposed to lose here, after all. The SOUL probably noticed, but that was also covered in Plan B. Susie and Ralsei hit as hard as they could, too, but it did almost nothing.
Dess’ second attack summoned spearheads that fired off like cannons, each dangerous. The strings tightened, and the SOUL put them in front of Ralsei just before the poor prince was impaled by one. The impact still winded them, despite the mantle and despite the shield and despite the plan. Susie seemed to have the rhythm for this one, despite her terrible performance on the drums earlier, and she came through without a scratch. Still good.
* Your vision narrows.
Susie’s magic was ready. Kris was curious at how much it would actually do; Susie had been growing a lot stronger as of late, and her gear and equipment really emphasized her attack, though it wasn’t used much. She’d grown into the fun kind of bullying to pacify or spare enemies, and it was genuinely refreshing.
So, seeing Dess stagger at the Rude Buster’s raw power concerned them. That wasn’t part of the plan. That wasn’t part of the plan at all.
Dess made a finger gun, and faded away. A storm of swords blasted at the group, the eye of which was narrow and rather terrifying. The SOUL tried to weave through, miniscule cuts appearing on Kris’ arms and legs as the sharpened blades flew by. It hurt, but not enough to worry. Susie was fine, her bulk carrying her through the storm fairly well, and it was quite tense. Ralsei, though…
“Kris! I-” The swords stopped, aimed at the prince, and-
SWOON
Ralsei was little more than a scarf and a pile of fluff, and the SOUL paused to stare at Ralsei’s clothes. Anger and worry drifted across the connection, palpable despite the impossibility of their communication.
* Your chest feels tight.
It was part of the plan. Ralsei was a Darkener, he could be fixed after the fight ended. The SOUL patted their pockets for something, anything to bring the prince back from the brink. But they were out of ReviveMints, and normal healing wasn’t going to cut it for him. For Susie, the SOUL tossed her a DeluxeDinner. The monster flashed them the briefest grin before firing off another Rude Buster, which impacted with even more force than before. Workable; Dess had tanked worse.
Dess flipped the bat and gripped it like a blade, cutting red-tinged slashes into the air around them. The strings tightened, Kris’ body dodged, and dodged, and dodged, and dodged. The final flurry caught Susie unawares, and she dropped to a knee. Blood and dust spilled from a cut on her shoulder.
Blood?
That wasn’t part of the plan.
* You felt lightheaded.
* You saw golden stars…
Kris threw another DeluxeDinner Susie’s way, the monster scarfing it down in an instant and repairing the damage. That… it’s fine. She’s okay, it’s not a real injury. This is still part of the plan.
Susie grit her teeth, and the familiar Rude energy flickered over the edge of her blade, but faded. She settled for a normal strike, which Dess mostly blocked with the edge of her bat.
It occurred to Kris that the two would make incredible friends with their shared love of crimes, moss, beating jerks up, and rock music.
“Heheh… Didn’t think we’d still be standing, did you?” Susie taunted. Probably to psych herself up, to try to Rude Buster again. “The thing is… You actually messed up, picking a fight with US!”
Susie getting overconfident. Part of the plan.
Dess cocked her head to the side, pointed her finger, and the whirlwind of snowflake bullets came once again. The SOUL threw themselves directly on top of one to prevent it from exploding on Susie, the bullets punching holes in Kris’ armor and shield. The Shadow Mantle took the brunt of it, but that still hurt.
Ralsei’s scarf was half buried in the snow. He would be fine, just follow the plan.
* Suddenly, the north and east winds blew fiercely.
The SOUL directed them to strike, with Susie’s Buster following shortly after. Their strike was… held back. Part of the plan, of course. But maybe Kris let their resistance against the SOUL falter a bit. Ralsei felt pain, after all, so it was only fair.
Dess wound up and cut in front of Susie and Kris. The battlefield split in two, with debris scattering on either side threatening to crush them both. The SOUL barely moved, the star-rocks flicking right by their face as they dodged with minimal effort. But then Dess slashed again, and again, and again, and Kris felt sweat beading at their brow. A low oof noise from their right meant that Susie had taken one directly to the gut, but she was still standing. Not… ideal.
* Your vision narrows.
* …Your head is spinning.
The SOUL hesitated before pulling out the ClubSandwich and tossing half of it to Susie. Her nosebleed vanished, and Kris felt much, much better. Ralsei was still down. But that was part of the plan. Extended plan, now.
Susie struck again, her axe catching Dess in the chest. It bounced, naturally, but Dess staggered backwards and, if Kris was reading her right, looked incredulous.
“You? You’re all damn alone…” Susie taunted again, breathing hard. “Me? I got Kris right next to me, and Ralsei right behind me.” Drool dripped from between her fangs, and exhaustion permeated every part of her stance, but she still stood strong. “Even if you knock me down… As long as Kris and Ralsei are here…”
Dess unleashed the blade corridor again, though this time it twisted and turned. The SOUL tensed their body, attempting to weave through the narrow eye of the bladestorm. More cuts, more scrapes, the Mantle proving its worth time and time again. Susie grunted in pain, and the
The swords stopped and aimed at Susie. The SOUL almost tensed their vocal chords in time to warn her, but-
A clang, a clash, a crack, a whine, a roar. Susie had blocked one blade with her axe, and gripped the other she couldn’t dodge with her bare claws. Her Toxic Axe had shattered, pieces sticking in the gaps of her scales and softer underbelly, its gross edge sizzling where they met her skin. Kris took in a shuddering breath. The SOUL screamed distantly.
* You feel surrounded.
“Hah… hah… not done yet.” Susie pulled out something they thought she had discarded. An axe, wicked and sharp, and curved in all the wrong directions. Something they agreed she’d never use on regular Darkeners. The Devilsknife.
Kris passed her another DeluxeDinner. Susie didn’t even smile, just got a glint in her eye. “Even… even if you knock me down…” She took a shuddering breath, Rude energy concentrating and intensifying upon the blade. Shifting from purple to Red. “As long as Kris n Ralsei are here… As long as Kris has got a hand to lift me up with.” Her axe shined with hopeful light. “Heh… You’re never gonna win, you hear me?!”
The Red Buster flew, clear and strong. Because they were looking, Kris saw Dess’ visor widen just a touch in surprise. The attack staggered her, making her scramble for purchase in midair for just a moment, before she recovered her impenetrable stance. Not part of the plan at all.
Dess’ attack was, to put it bluntly, angry. Kris and Susie were forced back-to-back as a cyclone of spearheads trapped them within itself. The SOUL must’ve sensed what was about to happen, as they muttered through Kris’ mouth, “Small movements, Susie. We got this.” Each impossibly fast cut was close enough to rip the wind apart, threatening to drag the two Lightners along with the wake of its force. And it happened again, and again, and again. More than once, Susie grabbed Kris’ cape to keep them from being flung into the bladenado. Finally, it let up, and the SOUL used Kris’ face to make a small, shit-eating grin at what they thought was the Knight.
That was not part of the plan, and Dess’ reaction wasn’t, either.
* Your heartbeat becomes twisted.
The red-tinged darkness slashes. Kris’ body was so tired, but the SOUL’s grip was like iron. Each dodge was carefully made, just short of missing them every time, so Susie could use the Red Buster. It was mostly fine, the two dodging in sync, lethal strikes just barely avoided until the Knight simply appeared in front of Susie, bat raised like she was going to make a home run.
Susie, eyes wide with surprise curdling into fear, said, “Wait-”
SWOON
Her body ragdolled, slamming against the ground and digging a trench into the snow, the Devilsknife nearly falling from her grip. She came to rest just in front of Mom’s sleeping chair.
That was not part of the plan.
Kris turned from Susie’s prone body, ignoring the pink smear in the snow. Kris turned from Ralsei’s buried scarf, threads coming undone by the proximity to violence. Kris turned to December Holiday, who looked like she had just had a lot of stress lifted off her inkblack shoulders.
“Yeesh, Kris! Your friends put up a helluva fight.” She leaned on her bat, the form she took now looking friendlier than it ever had a right to be. “Guess we can call it now, seeing as it’s just us.”
The SOUL was in despair, and through that despair its wires relaxed. Perhaps it was mildly catatonic. Perhaps it couldn’t see past the tears.
“Soooooo, like, how do you wanna do this?” Dess tapped the bat on the ground a couple times for emphasis. “Are you just gonna pretend like I knocked you out, or..?”
That wasn’t part of the plan. Susie’s blood wasn’t part of the plan.
Ralsei’s terror and despair wasn’t part of the plan.
Something cracked, just a little.
Kris slowly, deliberately drew their sword in a fighting stance. They could feel their blood boiling.
“Kris? Buddy?”
They stopped a snarl from coming across their blank face. Barely.
Dess swung the bat around to rest on her shoulders, a claw pointed directly at them. “Dude. Why are you squaring up. Kris. Seriously?” She chuckled in the same way an older sibling chuckled when a younger sibling claimed to be able to beat them at Kario Mart. “You know I’m just going to kick your butt, right?”
“You hit them for real.”
“Yeah-duh, Kris. It’s a fight.”
Their grip tightened, tears threatening to distort their vision. They sniffed back snot.
Dess paused. “Dude, the plan-”
“You hit them. For real.” Kris ground out through their teeth. The SOUL wasn’t paying attention. Good.
That’s part of the new plan.
“Kris, stop, it’s not that deep. I literally had to, it’s part of the bit. I win, fake-capture Tori, Undyne should get here any minute now, I take her out to the Shelter, easy.” She shook her head and sighed. “Why are you making this hard on us? Just, here, kneel down and-”
“Fuck the plan, Dess, you hit them for real!” Kris’ shout echoed across the snowy landscape, the dark fountain’s uncaring aura muffling nothing about how angry the human was.
“...Okay, buddy,” The Knight said, readying her bat once again. “But just so you know: you asked for it.”
* The Roaring Knight attacks!
Kris breathed in, counting their injuries. Including the mantle, they could probably handle one or two direct hits. They breathed out, focused.
In a blur of motion, they dashed forward and cut the Knight twice, faster than they’d ever moved before. X-Slash, they’d call it.
The sword parted Des- the Knight’s darkness just a little, having slipped underneath her guard. A look of mild astonishment came across her visor, before she retaliated with strikes of her own. Nothing like the patterns she had before, nothing like the plan.
Kris felt their breathing sharpen, a hint of energy from the SOUL. A string tweaked here, a muscle tensed there. It was helping them, but letting Kris take the reins.
It must be quite angry about Ralsei and Susie.
Good.
That’s part of the new plan too.
The Knight’s strikes were brutal and essentially unstoppable. Catching her blade on their own was asking for a quick knockout, so they kept parrying, dodging, dipping, ducking, diving, anything to avoid a direct hit. The turns they were so politely taking earlier dissolved into the scramble of a real fight. There were no breaks, no healing from delicious dinners, no pauses for recuperation. Just action after action after action.
Susie’s contributions to the fight weren’t done, yet. During the flurry, Kris spotted the smallest chip taken out of the Knight’s weapon and did their best to aim strikes there. Of course, the Knight parried far more than they just let hits land, and Kris noted a singular drop of sweat begin to bead by her visor.
And then, they had an opportunity. They knew the Knight, knew she liked showing off and being a little goofy. So, when she broke off from their engagement, they prepared. They felt the blood in their body shift and flow, and they hyperventilated to get even more going faster and faster. Anything to get the slightest advantage in what was to come.
“Y’know what, Kris? This has been fun,” the Knight called out. “But I’m ending it now.”
* The Knight’s hands glow a strange color…
* Your lungs feel like they’re going to explode.
The Knight began gathering power, snowflake bullets being sucked in from every which way. Kris twisted their body around to dodge the ones from behind, but the SOUL twisted them back again. It could sense where they were coming from.
Kris put their faith in it, and focused on exactly what the Knight was doing.
A breath.
The Knight roared, its sound rippling reality around them as rainbow light seemed to shoot out in every direction in an attempt to catch them off guard. Up, down, lef- right , jump, duck, cut one in half, deflect another. Kris’ body was on autopilot, even more than what the SOUL could ever do, their strings gone for just a moment. They were free.
The Knight finished her temper tantrum, and slumped for a moment. Kris, high on adrenaline and SOUL juice or whatever was still letting them move their legs, dashed forward for one more grand overhead strike. She saw it coming and raised the bat to block with almost contemptuous ease. Kris adjusted, and..!
CLANK
Their blades clashed, Kris putting in more effort to shattering the stupid blade than anything they’d ever done in their fucking life. Dess, looking shocked and a little sad that they were going so far. With a crack like broken glass, the chip Susie made expanded into a whole chunk taken out of the Knight’s weapon, and Kris fell to the ground alongside it. Chest heaving, grip tight, but legs liquid and the innumerable cuts across their body oozing dark red blood. They coughed, something wet and ugly coming free from their throat and landing on their chest.
Dess stood over them, the expected air of smug superiority absent. “Kris… dude. I’m...”
Kris began to stand, putting weight on their sword. “Fuck… you.”
The bat landed on their shoulder. “Go down, Kris. You gotta look like you don’t know me, remember?”
The plan.
Right.
Kris grabbed the shard of Dess’ weapon and put it in their pocket. Their hand brushed against something invisible, and that went into the pocket too.
Dess sighed. “I’m sorry, lil sib. I went too far.” She pushed the bat down, applying gentle pressure to their stance. Kris fell down almost instantly. They were blacking out.
Dess resumed Plan B, putting a hand out and began lifting Mom into her space grip.
Susie shifted, and grabbed the Knight’s ankle. Kris could do nothing but look out of the corner of their eye, their breaths still heaving from exertion.
“No… you… you can’t…” Susie mumbled. “You can’t… take her…”
Dess paused, motionless. Unreadable once again.
There was a sound of created weapons, and Dess reverted to Pocketball form to dodge. Cyan spears crashed around them as Susie got back up on one knee.
“HEY!! YOU!! STOP!! POLICE!!” Undyne’s shouts echoed clear across the Dark World. Just in time. “Wh… What the hell is going on here!!? You’ve got some explaining to do, punk!”
According to plan. Dess shifted into some sort of flying form and grabbed Undyne, taking the two out through this world’s Great Door.
“Hey, what are you doing!? Put me… PUT ME DOWN!!!” Undyne’s yelling had no effect on December as they careened out into the light.
Susie shuddered. “Hey…” She got up. Susie the indomitable. They were jealous. “Hey, where the hell are you going?!” She began sprinting off into the dark, unwittingly in the same direction as the Door.
The SOUL grabbed a TVDinner and ate it quickly, just enough to get themselves back on their feet. Their gaze flicked over to Mom, who looked like she was having a nightmare, and Ralsei, who was starting to rise from the snow.
“Somehow,” the prince said weakly. “I thought we… had won… for a moment…” He took a steadying breath. “That… we would be able to end the battle… here and now…” Ralsei looked at them, tears shining behind his glasses. “You were so brave… and yet… In the end, our struggle…” He hiccuped, the start of a sob. “It’s only beginning, isn’t it? Isn’t it, Kris?”
Their heart twisted as the SOUL put a hand on Ralsei’s shoulder. They couldn’t say anything.
“Kris,” Ralsei said. “I’ll be fine. But… if I’m hurt this badly, then Susie must be…”
Kris’ gaze was involuntarily drawn towards the pink smear in the snow.
“Kris, you’ll make sure she’s alright, won’t you..?”
The SOUL nodded their head, and ran off to help Susie chase after the Knight.
To help a friend chase after a sibling.
…
They had to follow the plan.
They promised.