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"Let's... let's just go seal that fountain." Susie said, her voice flat. Her face was completely unreadable from Kris' perspective, neither anger nor sadness, just a wall. She didn’t even know why she felt this way, only that something about all of this gnawed at her. Without waiting for him, she turned and walked away.
But Kris didn’t follow. Not yet.
There was something he needed to do first.
".̵̫̝̖̳̥̌̏̽̐̏͠ͅ.̵̩̬̿͗ͅ.̴̘̝̋͒̚Ḳ̵͖͇̙̊̄̿͋͝ṟ̵̽ĩ̶͙͈͖̝̥̃͜s̶̻͖̓̒̔.̸̼̤̀̐ͅ.̵͚̣̘̙̓͗̔̈͂.̴̲͓̥̟̳̻́͐̍̂̎͘"
A distorted, barely audible voice drifted from the shadows of the bunker, warped like static through a broken radio.
Just in time, Kris thought.
A sudden burst of wind rustled through his hair. The human turned around. Hovering in the air before him stood a towering figure—three and a half meters of shimmering, night-sky blackness. A shape too real to be a dream, yet too unnatural to belong in the waking world. The Roaring Knight.
The same being he had faced in TV world.
The same one who had tried to take Toriel.
The same one who had dragged Undyne into that bunker.
And yet… there she was. The cracks in her armor hadn’t fully healed, faint glowing fissures spiderwebbing across her frame, pulsing dimly with light. No weapon in hand. Just her. Watching him.
But Kris wasn’t afraid.
He had never been.
Not even when he watched her saw off Tenna’s arms with brutal precision right off his mechanical body.
"Hey," he said softly, a smile creeping onto his face.
The Knight moved one of her elongated arms toward him, brushing aside the hair that covered Kris’ crimson eyes with surprising tenderness.
She tried to speak, but all that came out was a low growl, warped and broken, like some primal language straining beneath metal and memory.
But Kris understood. He always did.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Don’t apologize. Yeah you where a bit reckless back there, but I guess you were just doing what you thought best to keep the plan moving."
He looked up at her, the towering, unknowable shadow of a girl he once knew.
She looked back down at him.
Then, slowly, her long fingers cupped both sides of his face.
The grip was firm. Kris couldn’t have escaped it even if he tried.
Not like he would have wanted anyway.
The Knight descended from the air.
Wind gusted outward from her form, flattening the grass beneath. As her pointed legs touched the ground, the grass bent and swayed, then sprung back upright once she had settled onto her knees.
A shimmer of afterimage-like aura faded as she knelt before him, quiet and still.
It was rare seeing her like this.
She was down. She wasn’t twitching. She wasn’t breathing heavy behind that helmet...
"Hey," Kris murmured. "I already said its fine. I wasn’t hurt that bad. Plus, everything ended up working just fine."
But that wasn’t enough.
Fighting him and his friends so early hadn’t been part of the plan. She hadn’t anticipated her ally in the TV dark world to turn so early. That battle had taken its toll—not just physically, but mentally.
More than this strange, inhuman body already had.
She hadn’t wanted to hurt Kris. Nor had she wanted to force him to make the choice to turn on the very friends who had stood at his side. But it happened all the same.
The memory lingered. And though a part of her told her she had done the right thing, another, very deep corner of her shattered SOUL knew she’d pushed him too far.
She regretted it. She regretted letting her own jealousy manipulate the situation like that. But everything turned around by the end, right?
Undyne was still trapped inside the bunker, the t̸̻͚̗̮̬͕̮̲͈̋̾̉͒̋̄̈́̀̐̿̕ḣ̴͓̬i̵͖̫͓͍̱̜̱̺͚̤̫̔̋̽͂̿̏̾͘͠n̷̨̛̳̓̈́̂̄̋̋̀̚͝͝g̷̛̮̯̮͖̘̰̀̈́̍̌̀̚͝͝ and mini Asriel had forgotten about everything, and the pieces were still moving.
And the best of all, he had chosen her over them.
But beyond that guilt… that lingering feeling of iniquity, there was something she couldn’t deny.
The way she stood there, unwavering. The determination in his eyes when he turned his blade on his friends.
It made her proud.
Proud of the strength he carried, proud of the boy he’d grown into.
Ever since that day… the day she disappeared.
Kris felt pressure against his forehead.
The Knight had leaned in, touching her helmet to his head. The white slit of her visor narrowed, as if closing eyes he couldn’t see.
Kris closed his own eyes in return.
A low, steady vibration began to rise from her chest.
Rhythmic. Subtle. Comforting.
While her consciousness had remain mostly intact, aside from her emotional instability, this body and the exaggerated exposure to the dark energy of the fountains had managed to impose some... animalistic behaviors on her.
And this was one of those.
She was purring.
It was always a small victory for Kris, getting her to do this.
So they stood there.
The human and the end of the world.
Kris, the only human in a town of monsters.
And the herald of the apocalypse, kneeling before him, purring softly like a cat in the dark.
Eventually, every other sound faded.
All that remained was them.
And the faint clicks of armor shifting. A twisted, metallic symphony, like the sound of twisting machinery.
Her body was strange. Ethereal like the stars, and black as space itself. Cold steel in some places, vibrating faintly to the touch.
But in others, her arms, her legs, her antlers... she was soft. Warm. A texture between silk and fur.
Kris had come to know all of it. Every piece that wasn’t armor.
It was weird.
But it was a good kind of weird.
He found peace in that weirdness.
It helped, in its own way.
Helped him cope with... this.
With the lies. With helping her behind his friends’ backs. With living a double life.
But she’d been there first. Before Susie. Before Ralsei. Even before Noelle.
She was why he believed in the plan Carol had set into motion.
If she was part of it, then so was he.
"KRIS! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STILL DOING THERE?!"
Both of them flinched at the sound.
Susie.
She didn’t sound patient. And definitely not in the mood to wait for whatever she thought he was doing.
Kris turned his head toward the bunker entrance.
Then back to her.
The Knight was growling lowly.
He acted quickly, gently placing his hand on her face, nudging her gaze back to him.
"You should probably go," he said quietly. "I don’t think it’d go well if she saw you again."
The Knight’s grip tightened around his hand.
Kris placed his other hand over hers and gave a soft, steady smile.
"Don’t worry. We’ll see each other again soon. It won’t be long. I promise."
He leaned in. Pressed a kiss between her antlers, onto the cold metal.
It tasted like wet earth.
He didn’t mind.
But the Knight... Angel, she wanted so badly for it to be different.
To feel it on her actual face.
But fate wasn't on her side.
Not yet.
Then, from behind his neck, a voice called for him.
".̷̨̪̗͚̀̾͒.̷̫̝͓͇̲̫̉͠.̶͇̜͈͇͒͆͐̆͋l̶̛͈̩͂͂̀̊̊o̷̠͆̒̊͋̂v̷̈̀̇͂̚ͅë̴̗̬́͗̀̌̍͠.̶̺̫̮͓̂̃͒͂.̶͔͚̬̳̐̃.̷͕̭̺̋͘ý̸̫̔͝o̴̳̪̥̠̰̿̀́u̶̢̙̠̝̞̓̈́̒́̅ͅ.̷̺͚̌̿͊́.̴̬̐͗͑̉͂.̷̢͍̳̖̅͂̐͗"
Kris smiled.
"Yeah, me too, Dess."
And with that, the Knight pulled back.
One last look. One last breath. One last moment.
Then, she vanished into the shadows of the bunker.
Kris stood in silence.
He sighed, staring at the now-closed steel doors.
If Carol was right...
Everything would end soon.
And what they did next would determine whether they would rise up to the sky...
Or drown in the deep.
Either way, he’d be there.
With her.
Man, if only Susie and Ralsei knew he was working and dating the very being responsible for all of this... if only they remembered...
If only they knew...