Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 Tenna was standing at the border between light and dark when Ralsei found him. He found the host at the very edge of town, where he stood, hands behind his back, his screen aimed out into the shadows that glommed across the cobblestones where the lantern light couldn’t reach.

 “T-Tenna!”

 He turned when Ralsei ran towards him. Ralsei watched his screen blink to a practiced smile. He felt his own mouth tug into a similarly practiced grin for a moment, but quickly allowed himself to relax. He didn’t have to smile. They had all just been through something horribly intense.

 “Ralsei, my boy. H-how are you…” Tenna fiddled with his tie. He looked back off into the darkness, his mind clearly elsewhere.

  Kris…

 “I’m fine!” Ralsei said, “everything uh…went rather… odd . For a moment there. I remember that strange flower showing up…and then…everything sort of…got all fuzzy…? B-but! Tenna! I-I think we did it! I sense that the balance between light and dark has been restored, s-so that means that we- Kris- the fountain, it’s…”

 Ralsei took a deep breath. He’d have time to figure it all out. The flower. The sudden switch to static. From his perspective, he had been caught by the flower’s vines up in the air, only to wake up in his room in the castle a moment later. His head hurt slightly, but he was otherwise none the worse for wear. He could only hope the same went for his friends.

 “I’m sure Kris is alright, Tenna,” he said softly. He put a paw on the TV’s pantleg. “If I know them and Susie, I’m sure they’re on their way home right now! O-or perhaps they’re on their way here to pay us all a visit?”

 “They’re at the closet door,” Tenna said quietly. He tilted his screen down as Ralsei’s ears perked up. “Susie pushed me through. Berdly is here already, ain’t he? He ran past me after I got here. I didn’t get a chance to chat, he was…” His voice trailed and dipped into low static. “...tired…poor kid…”

 Berdly was here? In Castle Town?

 “Oh! I’ll have to prepare a room for him, if he’s staying with us,” he tried to laugh. It didn’t sound quite right in his throat. Scratchy and strained.

 “I reckon he’s off to find Queen .”

 Her name shone in halogen cobalt.

 “O-oh! Yes. That would make sense.” 

 Ralsei was the prince of Castle Town, but truth be told, he’d found himself deferring to Queen’s judgement on a lot of the town’s official matters since her arrival. For all her goof and pomp, Queen was, as her name suggested, a natural-born leader. She’d help everyone get settled after their adventure through the Blooming Wastes. She had certainly been a big help with organizing the town’s construction as more and more Darkners migrated over. She was a wacky roommate, but a SMART wacky roommate.

 Ralsei tugged at his scarf. His chest felt heavy. “And…Asgore…I…I hope that he’s-”

 “He’s just fine, Ral.”

 Tenna’s voice perked slightly. His antennas twitched as he looked down at the smaller Darkner, a comforting smile once again affixed to his screen. “We saw him get taken to the hospital before Susie and everybody rolled out from the festival . Old Gori is gonna be just right as rain .”

This was a real smile. Ralsei tightened his grip on Tenna’s pantleg, and nodded slowly.

 “Good,” he whispered, “that’s…that’s wonderful. I’m so relieved to hear that.”

 “You and me both, kid. You and me both.”

 They both snapped their attention onto the cobbled road as someone stepped through the shadows. The skirt of her ice-blue and snow-white cloak dragged across the ground as she stumbled through with a sleeping knight bundled in her arms. She looked around with a wonderstruck expression. The lanterns glimmered in her coal-colored eyes.

 “NOELLE!”

 Noelle ‘eep’d’ as they both cried her name. Tenna lowered his volume, while Ralsei chuckled and apologized gently. Tenna kneeled down as Noelle crossed the threshold to greet her warmly. “Hey, snowflake . Glad ya made it through alright.”

 “I uh…I fell! I think?” Noelle looked behind her into the shadows from where she’d just emerged. Tenna laughed softly. A hushed laugh track accompanied him. Noelle glanced around, as if searching for the source of the noise in the otherwise serene night.

 “Yup! You get used to it. M…may I…?”

 He pointed at Kris, and opened his hand. Noelle gasped and nodded as she passed them over. Tenna lifted Kris towards his screen as he stood back up. Ralsei watched him slowly bring his fingers close around their sleeping form, and felt his heart shiver.

 Asgore was alright. Whatever had happened after that horrible flower attacked, everything worked out in the end. And…and…and this meant…that they had done it, hadn’t they? The flower man was free from his asylum. That meant…

 …Ralsei…wasn’t ready to fully sit with what that could mean. He was very, very tired. His eyes were heavy. His legs were sore. His throat was dry from…screaming, mostly. He very much wanted to put all that aside for a moment. Just a moment.

 There were other things to worry about, anyhow.

 “Where’s Susie?” He asked Noelle.

 “She said she needed to go on a ‘supply run’,” Noelle tapped her chin and hummed, “s-she, uh, said that uh, Queen? That she’d help us…with Loyal, and uh. Everything.”

 As if on cue, they all turned as the rumble of footsteps echoed behind them. Down the path that led into Castle Town came a flock of Swatchlings. Swatch himself walked alongside Queen, who was for once without a glass of battery acid as she strode down the cobbled road. Her heels clicked sharply with every step.

 When she came to a sharp halt, the Swatchlings and their head butler stood at attention.

 “Okay So Like,” Queen waved a hand around as she addressed the crowd, “It Is Very Late and You All Look Really Messed Up. No Offense I Mean This In A Very Sincere Worried Way. So Like Lets All Take A Trip To The Castle Infirmary So You All Can Get Looked Over And Patched Up And All That Junk. Berdly Is There Already Along With His Little Purple Blue Thing That IDK What It Is But They Are Cute So Like Yay.” 

 She put a hand on her hip. She started to point at each of them in turn, before she landed on Noelle and paused. “Okay We Are Missing A Child Where Is Susie?”

 Her visor blinked when Noelle answered shyly, “she’s uh. Running to get some supplies.”

 “Supplies,” Queen echoed, “Okay Well In That Case Swatch You And Some Of Your Crew Will Wait Here For Her.”

 She pointed again. Swatch raised his beak proudly. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

 “Okay And Everyone Else Come Along And We’ll Go Get Everybody All Sorted. Tenna? Hey.”

 His screen was white noise. He had Kris raised a mere few inches away from his display. His antennas drooped low towards the human, who hadn’t moved or stirred once since Noelle carried them through the threshold. Ralsei’s heart fluttered anxiously as Queen stepped towards Tenna and clapped her hands together once. “Tennie Hello Yes Hi Earth To Old Man.”

 He jerked his head to stare at her with a jolt. Static crackled between his antennas as they sprung away from Kris.

 “You Know You Are Gonna Have To Put Kris Down So They Can Get All Patched Up Correct?” Queen spoke in her usual fast, firm, matter-of-fact way. As she stepped closer, though, Ralsei could hear the faintest hint of warmth in her otherwise monotone, processed voice. “You Can Sit By Their Bed Until They Wake Up Though. They Will Probably Appreciate: Cartoons. Or Whatever It Is Children Who Still Watch TV Enjoy.”

 Tenna looked back at Kris. Slowly, he nodded. “That…I understand.”

 “Okay Cool I Guess We All Set.”

 Queen clapped her hands once again. She spun on her heels, pausing, as she looked at Noelle. “Noelle Honey Hi Hey BTW So So So So So So So Happy To See You.”

 Noelle shifted awkwardly under her stare. “Uh. Good to see you too…Your uh….Your Highness." She dipped into a shallow bow.

 “Oh Please Sweetie No Just Queen Is Fine,” Queen laughed and waved a hand, “We Can Chat Lots Once You Children Are A Bit Less Ruffled. That Said. Running Comfort Protocol Dot Exe. Noelle Would You: Like To Hold My Hand On The Walk Over To The Castle? Totally Fine Chill If No.”

 “Uh,” Noelle glanced to the side. She thought for a moment, before she shrugged. “S-sure…that uh…that would be…nice, I think.”

 “Okay But For Serious Do You? Again Chill If No.”

 Noelle looked down at her hands. Ralsei saw that her fingers were coated in pot soil and ashes. Noelle’s eyes flickered to Queen, whose cerulean chassis was clean and spotless. She glanced down at her ruined, muddied robe. Noelle shrunk back and smiled sadly. “I uh…I would. I’m sorry that I’m such a mess…I don’t think I’m really fit to go to a castle right now…”

 To this, Queen stepped closer. She put a hand on Noelle’s shoulder, crouched down, and used her other hand to gently tilt the girl’s chin so she met her visor. In a soft tone, Queen said plainly, “Noelle Honey I Am Merely Glad That You Are Alright. Who Give A Crap About A Dress?”

 Noelle’s mouth fell open. She stared at Queen for a few seconds, before a weak little laugh escaped her. “Okay…”

 Queen took her by the hand, and started up the cobbled road.

 Ralsei followed along into the warm glow of Castle Town’s streets.

—

 Tenna sat against the wall next to Kris’ bed. He’d been allowed to stay in the room as a couple of Darkners looked over Kris’ wounds and bandaged their wrists. One of them had assured Tenna that the cuts were merely surface wounds before they left, leaving him alone as the human slept soundly beside where he sat, knees to his chest, screen angled towards the floor.

 Time was different in the Dark World. A minute could go on for an hour. A week could pass, and once you passed over to the light, it’d only be a few hours since you fell into the shadows. Tenna understood it to be a sort of dream logic. The Dark World was, after all, one formed out of dreams and subconscious musings.

 So as the clock on the wall ticked by, he found himself losing track of time while he waited for Kris to wake up. He kept looking at their hands. He had watched with baited breath as their wounds were carefully cleaned out and dabbed with medicine. They were all healed up by now. The bandages were simply there to keep the skin from being irritated while the magic worked its course to prevent any further damage or infection.

 The seconds ticked by.

 Tick.

 Tick. 

 Tick.

 Tenna put a hand to his chest and felt his own ticker chime along. His insides were a hodgepodge of whatever Kris imagined might be inside of him when they were small. He’d gotten a proper look at what he had under the hood a few times, when Queen was tuning him up and helped him disable the parental safety lock. All sorts of wacky nonsense in there. A heart-shaped clock, a clock-shaped heart, fans, bells, doozits, whatzits, a rubber duck…!

 He laughed and looked over at Kris. They were such a silly kid.

 Tick, tick, tick.

  Tonight….yes…tonight. The Angel shall come.

 A liquid dread poured through his chest. He instinctively pressed his hand against his VHS slot. Kris took a deep breath in, their chest rising as they started to stir. Tenna dropped his hand away and hurried to turn around so he was on his knees and facing the bed directly.

 “Kris! Hey, starlight . Rise and…well. Maybe take your time rising. Take as much time as you need, really!”

 Kris barely shifted under the thin blanket. They rolled their head to the side towards Tenna, who quickly lowered his screen brightness as he leaned closer.

 “You were out cold for a good minute there, kid. We’re back in Castle Town, in case ya couldn’t tell. You and your friends were a bit roughed up , so ol’ Queen rushed y’all to the infirmary. How’re your hands, by the way? Everything feelin’ alright there?” Tenna kept his volume low as he ducked his screen towards Kris. He couldn’t be sure if the soul…if the Angel…if that thing was listening, or if it’d wandered off, or however it worked.

 The walls of the castle were black and blue. Sturdy. Secure. Safe.

 Nothing bad could happen here. Castle Town was safe .

 It was best to keep everything the Knight had said to himself. Kris…they had enough to worry about. They didn’t need to worry about anything else, least of all Ol’ Tenna .

 Kris lifted their hands and stretched out their fingers. They turned their hands over in the light a few times, before they dropped their arms back down to their side. They nodded slowly.

 Tenna sighed with relief. “Oh, good! T-that’s just great to hear!”

 He noticed their mouth twitching. The bulbs on his antennas lit up as his mind flickered through scenes of flowers and fire and vines and blood, interspliced between which were walls of roaring red static.

 “Kris! Your dad! He-”

 Suddenly, Susie burst through the door.

 “KRIS!”

 Behind her in the hallway stood a very flustered Tasque Manager. Susie darted to the side of Kris’ bed opposite of Tenna. Her face was bright, her voice brighter still despite the heavy pant that rattled her words. “Kris…Asgore…he’s fine! He got a bit roughed up, but before we left, some people came and got him to the hospital! He’s gonna be alright, dude! We did it!”

 She leaned against the bed as Kris went limp. At first, Tenna feared it was something with the soul. Then Kris started to laugh, weak but real , their body trembling as Susie joined them. She placed a purple claw on the human’s head.

 “You know what that means, right? We did it. We broke the prophecy,” Susie’s grin stretched wider, yet wider still.

 Kris nodded into her palm. Tenna’s chest warmed at the sight of the two friends smiling. They had done it, hadn’t they? The Legend of the Deltarune called for the flower man to be trapped in asylum. If Asgore was free from Flower King and the Blooming Wastes, well, that was that, wasn’t it?

 He wouldn’t think about what the Knight said. He wouldn’t think about this ‘heretical prophecy’ that this ‘Angel’ that was possessing Kris wanted to enact. 

He would just think about how happy Kris looked as Susie helped them out of bed and steadied them by the shoulders once they were on their feet.

 “So…what do we do now?” Susie tapped her chin and pondered intently.

 “May I suggest a moment of order to get yourself in order, Miss. Susie?” From the door came Tasque Manger’s shard, firm tutting.

 Susie looked at her and shrugged. “Eh, I’m fine! ‘Tis but a scratch.”

 “It appears to be a plethora of scratches from where I stand, Miss. Please. I insist that you at the very least allow me to cast a few healing spells.” She was already halfway across the room. This wasn’t so much a choice, but rather a polite decree.

 Susie rolled her eyes. She held out her hand, reluctant in every meaning of the word, as she looked away and grumbled, “fine. If ya really want to . I’m fine, though.”

 Tenna had to commend Tasque Manager for her firm yet careful approach. As the catlike woman’s hands floated around Susie, one of them pointed to a door off to the side as she addressed Kris, “Kris, dear. If it would so please you, we have taken the liberty of setting out some fresh pajamas in there. We would be so happy to tend to your armor, as well.”

 She then addressed Tenna. “Mr. Tenna?”

 “That’s me!”

 “Could you perchance go and check on Prince Ralsei for me? He is resting in the next room over to the right,” she nodded at the door.

 Tenna’s brows creased with worry. “Why? Is something wrong ?”

 Tasque Manager quickly waved a hand. She shook her head, “oh, no! Not at all. He merely…well…” a soft smile spread across her diamond-shaped snout, “fell asleep, you see. As soon as he was healed and in bed, the poor dear was out like a light! I was hoping you’d be able to pop in and make sure that he’s sleeping soundly.”

 “Oh! Heh. I’d be happy to.”

 Tenna rose to his feet. As he did, Susie mumbled something beneath her breath that gave the two Darkners pause.

 “...don’t even got a bed…”

 “Pardon?” Tasque Manager’s ears perked.

 “What was that, sweetheart?”

 “He doesn’t even gotta bed in his own bedroom ,” Susie had her arms crossed as she sighed bitterly, “I really gotta get him kitted out. He’s weird about the whole thing, though. Kris, you’ll help me, right?”

 They nodded from the door. They looked at Susie, and then at Tenna as he went to go check on Ralsei. “Kris! I’ll meet ya down in the lobby once you’re all set to go. Sound like a plan ?”

 They nodded again and stepped into the side closet. Tenna shot them a smile along with a big thumbs-up before he stepped out. He heard Tasque Manager gently scold Susie for putting off treatment, to which Susie just grumbled until she fell silent. His smile dipped into something softer once he was out of the room. The kids were fine. Kris…well, that smile of theirs when Susie told them that Asgore was alright made this whole romp through the wild, flowery west worth it!

 He absently felt at where he’d tucked the flower-shaped badge in his suit pocket. Quickly, he shook his head and hurried to check in on Ralsei. He found the fluffy boy fast asleep in a room much like Kris’.

 “Ral?”

 His low whisper was answered by a mumbled, sleepy whine. Tenna covered his mouth as he chuckled and crouched by the prince’s bed. “Sssh…back to bed, hon. It was a…a long day.”

 Ralsei rolled over. His eyes fluttered open just barely enough for Tenna to see the hazy pink of his pupils. In a tiny voice, Ralsei said, “...it’s over…the legend…we…we did it…”

 He smiled. Like it was just so wonderful. Like he just couldn’t fully believe it.

 Despite how hard he tried, the Knight’s words rippled through Tenna’s head. How the path had been altered, but the conclusion remained as it’d been written. He smashed the thought. He mentally took a mallet to it and pounded it into the dirt. He smiled and gently brushed a finger between Ralsei’s shiny pink horns.

 “We sure did, kiddo. We sure did. How ya feelin’?”

 “Mm…tired.”

 “Yeah? Susie told me that your bedroom’s been looking a bit bare ,” his chest squeezed when Ralsei shrunk down into the blanket. “How would you like to swing by the studio sometime to see about getting that sorted? We’ve oodles of props you could pick from to pretty the place up a bit!”

 “Oh! Okay…” Ralsei stretched. He wiggled under the covers for a moment, before he slipped out of the bed and landed on his feet. “I-I should be going, though! I need to get Berdly and Noelle’s rooms ready. I need to-”

 Tenna stopped him from running off by forming a wall with his hand. Ralsei stumbled into it and batted his eyes in confusion.

 “Know what I think, Ral? I think a certain someone needs a darn break to have some fun with his friends.”

 Ralsei brought his hands close. He shrunk into his scarf. Tenna hammered down the urge to coo. What, was it his fault all of these kids were just so damn cutesie ? Give a man a break! Cuteness aggression was no laughing matter. It wasn’t easy having a will of steel to push down his every lovely dovey impulse. Yet, still, a small chuckle escaped him as Ralsei’s face turned pink-red before he finally gave in.

 “Okay…that…that does sound rather nice, honestly.”

 Tenna soon had Ralsei at his side out in the hall. He figured Kris would be on their way to the lobby if they weren’t down there already. He heard Susie’s voice booming from somewhere within the castle infirmary. Clearly she was all patched up and ready to get a-rolling.

 “Now, whereabouts could Berdly be?” Tenna tapped the bottom of his display. Ralsei hummed and glanced around. “Knowing Queen, she’s probably with Noelle somewhere. Berdly got here ahead of us, so he could be just about any-”

 “REJOICE! THE KNIGHT IN GLOW IN THE DARK ARMOR EMERGES REFORGED AND MENDED !”

 “-where oh hi Berdly there you are hey look at that we found him,” Tenna managed not to jump out of his casing for once when suddenly, Berdly was at his side, having emerged from the room opposite of Kris’. He beamed and waved at the young bluebird.

 “Greetings, gamemaster. And hello to you, fluffy prince,” as Berdly addressed them both with a salute, Loyal ran out from behind his legs, “aha! As you can see, Loyal, like any great ally, has emerged from their close shave with oblivion not merely recovered, but stronger .”

 The little plush Darkner had a large stitch on its side that ran down the length of their rotund body. Loyal barked happily, their nubby tail-thing wagging as they bounced around Berdly’s feet. The boy puffed his chest out with his hands firmly on his hips.

 Tenna was glad that Loyal was alright. He was even moreso relieved to see that Berdly was back to his wonderful, bold self. The kid had been…out of it…on the trip back from the festival. Everyone was, but the whole ordeal in the Dark World near the very end had left Berdly particularly rattled. Sometimes Tenna wished he was a therapist and not a TV host…though, he could still make the kids smile, couldn’t he? That had to count for something.

 “Shall we make our way to the lobby?” Ralsei asked after a pause.

 “I don’t see why not!”

 “Indeed. Let us make haste. Onward, my Darkner fellows!”

 They made their way to the lobby to wait for Kris and everyone else.

—

 Kris locked the door behind them. The closet was, much like the rest of Ralsei’s castle, blue-black and cozy. You already had an idea of what was about to happen as they entered the room, so it didn’t surprise you when they raised their arm and slammed their hand back down into their chest.

  Yup. I know the drill.

 With you gripped between their fingers, Kris stumbled forward. They opened a wardrobe and threw you inside. The door came shut, leaving you in the darkness, with your red glow the lone source of light while you waited for Kris to get dressed. 

 This was fine, honestly.

 You needed a moment to sit and just…think.

 You were at the fountain. Then you closed it, all on your own, and found yourself back with Kris and the gang. Then Tenna appeared from behind a tree (did a certain man push him out?), Asgore was off to the hospital, and now you were all at Castle Town. You didn’t know they had an infirmary in the castle. You supposed it wasn’t too surprising, you just wondered how come you’d never seen it before now.

 Well. You did suppose that the party never returned to town in such a state before tonight.

 It still struck you as a bit strange, though.

 Everything about today had been strange. Up until that last encounter with Flowey, though, it wasn’t too unusual for the twists and surprises the story had thrown at you so far. But that last fight…you simply didn’t know what to make of it! How come Tenna was the one with that CrimsonCleave move? Where did it come from? Surely, if he could do something like that this whole time, he shouldn’t have gone down so easily to the Knight. Granted, the Knight had the element of surprise…still…

 Then it hit you: the WornTape.

 And then, at the festival, the CrimsonShard you found in Tenna’s slot. You needed to find a way to have Kris ask about that. He was aware of everything around him when he was in the Light World. Surely he…felt it…how would it feel, having a chunk of glass inside of your chest…?

 You needed to ask. You needed to make sure he was okay after what happened. You had a whole other tape to play, too. And while you were still reeling from the first one.

 The video showed December Holiday going with Kris to the shelter.

 The very December whose disappearance broke two families apart.

 A December with twisty antlers, and a fondness for all things dark and edgy. A December who had a baseball bat. The same December who was so brave, yet her bed faced away from her closet door.

 You thought about what Flowey had told Kris. That they were meddling in the affairs of devils and gods. Your thoughts went between the dark voice over the phone and the way the Knight tilted its head when Kris coughed…what sort of scheme had Kris gotten themself caught up in?

 And how did Tenna’s CrimsonCleave play into it all?

 The tapes. The tapes were the key. Whatever you had found…whatever route you’d found yourself on. It started when you followed Kris and found them with Tenna, but it really got going after you played that first tape on Tenna.

 If you played this second tape, would Tenna get…stronger?

 If Tella and Flowey were anything to go off of, you’d need that sort of strength to go against whatever was to come. Tenna cared so much about Kris. He merely wanted them to be happy. The best way you could make them happy was to get this story over with as soon as possible, so they could be free of you and get back to their life. And if you could just…rend your way through…then…surely…

 You still wanted to do your best to be kind, though. Ralsei’s words at the beginning of your adventure had stuck with you this whole while. Being kind was the best way to go. Hell! If Susie hadn’t been kind enough to fix Tenna, you wouldn’t have discovered any of this in the first place!

 It was a lot to think about.

 You floated back and forth in the limited space inside the wardrobe.

 Outside, you heard Kris shuffle around as they got changed. You could also hear Tenna, off somewhere, talking to the other kids. His voice was muffled by the stone walls and the wood that surrounded you, but bits and slivers got through.

 “...have a… rockin’ ...once Kris is here, ‘course…!”

 You heard Kris pause. When they started shuffling again, it was notably faster. You couldn’t help but laugh. Right, Susie had her mind set on Lightners Live, didn’t she? It seemed Kris was excited to get another chance to shred on stage, too!

 The door swung open. A blue hand grabbed you from the wardrobe.

 Kris was wearing a periwinkle blue nightgown. You watched them scowl as they yanked you out and went to slam you back into their chest. You always hated having to go back. You hated that they had to deal with this. With you. You didn’t have a choice in the matter. You had a vessel. You made a vessel! But someone decided that no, you don’t get to choose who you are, here, possess this random child, have fun!

 Would Kris ever believe you, if you could tell them about it?

 You wouldn’t fault them if they didn’t.

 You were back in control after a moment of buckled knees and ragged breaths. You slowly brought Kris to their feet, and glanced to where they’d dumped their dirty armor in a little hamper. 

 A silvery star twinkled beside it. You were informed that the power of unaired laundry shone within you when you went to save.

You proceeded out into the room, and carried on into the hallway. The blue torchlight lit the way through the blue-trimmed passageways of the castle, which you followed along in the rough direction of Tenna’s voice.

 You reached the castle's lobby. Ralsei’s cauldron bubbled in the center of the room. Tenna stood at the door with Ralsei, Susie, Berdly, and Loyal all gathered in front of him.

 They all turned to Kris when you approached.

 “Kris! Hey dude,” Susie walked up and glanced down at their gown, “nice fit! But ya might wanna hold off on getting too snug.”

 “We're going to throw a concert,” Ralsei said chipperly.

 Berdly sniffed and rubbed at his beak. “As I understand, this Lightners Live is, in essence, a competitive multi-player rhythm game?”

 He craned his neck to squint at Tenna, who nodded. “ Right-o ! I've already called the folks at the studio to get the stage set so all of you can play. It's gonna be a gen-u-ine, bon-a-fide, once in a lifetime certified rockfest !” 

 An unseen crowd cheered and hollered. You saw Tenna’s head turn suddenly, and followed the direction where he was looking. You turned Kris just in time to see Queen and Noelle round the corner.

 Noelle was once again in her usual plain, snow white hooded robe. She was holding Queen’s hand as the pair walked over, with Queen bringing her other hand to her mouth as she chortled loudly.

 “Ohohoho See Noelle This Is Why You Are My Favorite You Are Smart But Not In A Stupid Way Like Actually Very Smart.” Queen beamed as bright as a star. 

 Noelle laughed awkwardly, “I-I’m really not that smart.”

 “Oh But Sweetie You Are. I Know This I Have Your Browser History And Have Seen How Hard You Study,” she patted Noelle’s head between her antlers, “Yet You Are Humble And Also Kind. TBH A Bit Too Kind Perhaps We Can Work On That And Hone Your Mean Skills.”

 “Mean skills?” Noelle’s eyes widened. “I-I don't wanna be mean !”

 “Not MEAN Mean,” Queen clarified, “Mean As In Assertive. Blunt! Aware Of What You Deserve And What Sort Of Treatment Simply Will Not Fly. Is This Making Sense?”

 A row of question marks appeared on her visor. Her smile widened when Noelle nodded, “uh…yes. I think so.”

 “Mean For Example Like: Susie.”

 “Oh! I. That makes much more sense, actually!”

 She snickered while Queen ruffled her hair. “After All: How Can You Reign As A Hauntly Frost Empress From Your Icy Cathedral That Sits Upon A Mountain Of Titan Bones One Day If Your Vast Legions Of Frozen Demons Formed From The Sea Ice And Fueled By Sheer Utter Darkness Think They Can Sass And Walk All Over You?”

 “My huh of the what-”

 “Sorry I Am Getting Ahead,” Queen snapped her head around to acknowledge the group, “Hi BTW How is Everybody? We All Good?”

 “Doin’ just dandy !” Tenna rocked back on his heels, eager to get the show rolling.

 “Noelle! Do you wanna play in our rock concert at Tenna’s studio?” Susie ran up and grabbed Noelle by the shoulders. Queen laughed lightly, and stepped away.

 “A concert?” Noelle said, “l-like up on a stage? In front of…people?”

 “ And televised,” Berdly mused.

 Noelle’s ears drooped. Her face paled. “Um. I'm not. I'm not sure…what if I mess up?”

 Queen sprung back to Noelle’s side. She leaned down with her hands clasped together eagerly. “Noelle Sweetie Do Not Fret I Will Assist. I Have All Of Your Assorted Cool Rocker And Edgy Emo Scary Girl Dark Femininity Outfit And Aesthetic Boards On Hand.”

 She snapped, and a green holographic green appeared in the air beside her. Noelle looked at it alongside Susie. From where you stood, you could make out a bunch of poorly taken photos of girls in black skirts, fishnet leggings, messy makeup and spiky jewelry.

 Noelle’s eyes just about bulged out of her head. She threw herself at the screen and waved her arms to make it go away. “UM OKAY N-NO ONE ELSE NEEDS TO SEE THAT UH UM UH!”

 “Yooooo, that one looks rad ,” Susie pointed one picture out just before Queen snapped, and the screen blinked away.

 “Hashtag Sorry My Bad,” Queen apologized.

 Noelle, trembling like she'd almost been shot, whirled around to look at Tenna. “Yeah uh yeah the show sounds fun mhm yup, let's all focus on that now hahaha okay? Okay…” She sighed. She looked like a small gust would knock her over.

 “Ohhh, WONDERFUL ! Glad to have ya, Elly!” Tenna threw his hands up as he cheered. One hand came back down to cover his mouth. A hot red blush boomed from his cheeks. “Gosh, that's like the third time - I'm sorry.”

 Noelle paused.

 Her face dropped into something…distant. Though, as she closed her eyes, you watched a vague smile creep onto her cheeks after she gave it some thought.

 She laughed quietly. “No. It's okay.”

 “Ya sure?” Tenna had shrunk a few inches. His voice squeaked as he tilted his head.

 “Yeah. It's…it’s alright. So, where is this studio? Is it in the castle?”

 Beaming bright, Tenna sprung back to his full height. He gestured to the door dramatically. With a whirr, his little theme song started to play, seemingly from nowhere yet everywhere at the same time. Noelle glanced around, but quickly settled in, already growing used to the host’s brand of nonsense.

 “ Right this way , ladies and gents and germ .” The word germ was purple and periwinkle. Tenna stepped aside from the door, and bowed as he waved his arm to direct the kids outside.

 Noelle, with Queen not too far behind, hurried out first.

 Susie followed. Berdly and Loyal went after her.

 “W-wait for me!” Ralsei hurried outside, his scarf a whirl of pink behind him as he went.

 You and Kris were now alone with Tenna. Tenna remained in place with his head bowed and arm outstretched for a few beats once everyone else was gone. His theme continued to play, until he slowly raised his screen, and shot a quizzical look at Kris. He snapped and the music cut out.

 “...Kris…?”

 You walked up to him. Tenna watched Kris move closer. A tense smile formed on his display. Although he remained standing where he was, you could sense that he was nervous. He…was almost scared . Not of Kris. You knew very well why he was so anxious, and you hated that you couldn’t talk to him, and explain, and make him understand that you wanted Kris to be happy, too. At the end of the day, your goals were aligned.

 If only you could just…explain everything.

 “Something the matter, sunshine ? A-are you not feeling up for Lightners Live?” Tenna crouched down and gingered scratched at the side of his screen. “I…I guess that everyone else was so excited , I didn’t think that you might not…be in the mood. If you’re tired, your room’s right here in the castle! Y-you can just go and lay down and get some shut-eye . It’s alright! Won’t hurt my feelings none.”

 He cleared his throat. Beads of sweat trickled down the edges of his screen. He paused his rambling when you had Kris lift their arms up as you flexed their fingers. A flicker of pink crossed Tenna’s display, before he laughed, and scooped the human off the floor.

 “Oh…” Tenna’s volume dipped low as he settled Kris in his palm. “Yeah…’course.”

 You saw his fingers twitch anxiously. There was an air of disbelief to his voice. Like he still couldn’t fully believe that Kris was here , in the Dark World, where they could interact and talk and see each other and feel each other. 

You wondered for a moment…how it must’ve been…to go an entire lifetime living in the same house as a family you loved more than anything, and to be in a whole other world the entire time, unable to exchange a single word with them the whole while. No wonder Tenna was so eager when Kris made that fountain. No wonder he was so clingy. No wonder he was so protective of Kris…no wonder he wasn’t very…fond…of you .

 Kris couldn’t smile when you were in control. Not…really.

 Kris couldn’t laugh. Kris couldn’t cry. Kris couldn’t live , as long as you were bound together like this. All they could manage were bits of motion and moments of freedom gained by having to rip you out from their chest. And, in those moments, they were tired…weak…

 …no wonder Tenna hated you.

 Kris sat cross legged in Tenna’s palm without your input. They looked into the glow of his screen, the two staring at one another for several long, quiet moments before Tenna’s static popped, and he started out the door. 

  They don’t like to talk too much when I’m here, you realized. A guilty twitch gave you pause. Did Kris feel it? They curled their hands up in their lap, but you could never be quite sure.

 You could help. You could fix this. If you just kept following the story and finding all the clues, surely, you’d figure out how to unbind yourself from Kris so they could be free. The tapes. The shards. After the concert, you’d find Tenna, and you’d play that second tape. Then Kris would be one step closer to being rid of you for good.

 You only hoped they’d both be happy once it was all over.

Chapter Text

 Noelle was here, and therefore everything was wonderful.

 Okay.

 Well. 

 Queen had to be honest, it wasn’t all perfect. Noelle was very worn out. She had told her about the adventure she’d been on with Tenna, and frankly, Queen had. Concerns. She was glad to know that Kris’ dad was alright after ‘all of that’ but she was also very worried about Noelle. This ‘Tella’ had gone on and on about her sister, December, which was frankly very fucked up? Like actually who did that sort of thing? She was also apparently a massive weirdo towards Tenna? Also fucked up? Between that and the stuff with Dess, Queen had a note in her schedule to have one of the Swatchlings serve as a ‘punch-buddy’ so she could let off some steam.

 Noelle said that she wanted to have some fun for a while. Okay! That could be arranged. Tenna was good at offering fun, comforting distractions from scary fucked up real-world junk. Queen also would not lie and act like she wasn’t excited to see Noelle up on the old man’s silly rock stage when it was all lit up and everything.

 Noelle was going to kick ass and take names. All in a fun, good natured way, of course. But names would be taken. Ass would most assuredly be kicked.

 Merely step one on the road to Noelle’s glorious frost empire. She took after Queen. She’d make for a fine tyrant. Naturally, if she learned from the very best.

 She followed the young Lightner as one of Tenna’s staff directed them to a changing room. It was cozy, pink, and had purple stars all over the walls. A fuzzy purple rug covered the wooden floor. The room was dimly lit by a backlit vanity mirror, and a bunch of string lights that were shaped like little TVs.

 Queen saw them and snickered, “Tenna You Freaking Dork. Noelle He Is A Dork.”

 “Hehe! He’s funny,” Noelle looked at the lights and covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled.

 “He Is Yeah. Anyway May I Pull Up Your Inspiration Boards Now?”

 “O-oh! Yeah, go ahead.”

 “Cool Cool.” With a tap of her finger, Queen pulled up her screen. She tapped and swiped until she found the page with Noelle’s various Primtrest boards, and selected the Dark Goth Edgy Girl one.

 As she did so, Noelle looked at herself in the vanity mirror. Queen saw her tuck her hair back as she leaned close to peer at her reflection. Her large, black eyes were tired. The pinkish tint of the light made her pale hair appear almost rose-gold in color. She sighed.

 “Something Is Wrong?” Queen said quietly. She pushed the screen away and hurried over.

 “Just…kind of…overwhelmed, I guess?” Noelle rubbed her eyes as she frowned, “today was…today was a lot . I guess I’m just still processing what Tella said…about Asgore…and…about…about…”

 Queen put a hand on her shoulder, “You Do Not Have To Think About It If You Do Not Want To. It Is As Ralsei Is Always Telling Kris And Susie: This Town Is A Place Where You May Forget About The ‘Real World’ For A Time. But Also…”

 She put her other hand on Noelle’s shoulder as the girl turned to face her directly. Queen crouched so they were at eye-level with one another. “...If It Would Help To Maybe Talk About It With Someone, I Am Happy To Listen. I Do Not Know Everything. I Am Just A Computer After All. A Super Cool Super Smart Computer But Hey Still. But I Care About You, Noelle. I Do Not Like Seeing You Upset.”

 Noelle blinked her eyes slowly for a few moments. Her brow began to furrow, as she slowly tilted her head. In a hushed tone, she said, “...you’re…different. You acted a lot…uh… louder …when I met you in the Cyber World.”

 “Oh,” Queen felt the synthetic rubber of her face grow warm. She tilted her visor down, somewhat bashful as she admitted, “Uh. Well. Yes. I Was…Noelle I Am Gonna Be So Big For Realsies With You I Was: Freaking The Hell Out Back There.”

 When she swore, Noelle’s eyes went wide. Noelle covered her mouth in shock, but quickly started to giggle. 

 Queen’s smile slowly crept back onto her face as she shook her head to keep the ball rolling. “No No I Am Serious Noelle I Was A Mess. A Big Hot Awful Mess. A Jerk To Be Real. With The Internet Being Out I Was. So Scared. That You Lightners Would Not Need Me Anymore. I Was…Very Scared…That You Would Not Need Me Or Come To Use Me Or Take Me Around With You To School Or Kris’ House Anymore. And I Guess I Saw The Knight Do Its Freaky Knight Thing And Thought I Could Do Something That Would Let Me Help The Whole World But Plottwist Turns Out It Would Actually Mess Everything Up? Crazy!”

 Noelle was laughing laughing, now.

 Queen filed this under her ‘epic win’ folder as she scanned and saved the memory. She gave Noelle’s shoulders a good squeeze before she stood back up.

 “It’s alright,” Noelle said as she started to calm down, “I…I think I get it. Ralsei told me about it a bit. How uh, Darkners, like you and Tenna, are objects in the ‘Light World’ that feel best when you’re fulfilling your…purpose. I think I understand how it’d feel, being a laptop when the internet is out.”

 “You Do? For Real?”

 “Uh! Kinda? I-I can’t say that I relate to it, but…” she shrugged, “it feels nice when you feel like you’re doing a good job. If you can’t even try to do a job in the first place, that really sucks.”

 “Sucks Indeed. But Still: I Do Apologize For My Behavior.”

 Noelle acknowledged the apology with a nod. “I forgive you. Just, uh, don’t try to make me your peon ever again, okay?”

 Queen gave her a double thumbs-up. “Sure Thing Honey Gravy.” She then got right back to the task at hand. “But Hey Noelle Enough About Me. You Have Got A Rock Concert To Get Dressed For. Correct?”

 Queen wasn’t like Tenna. She didn’t get all caught up in the past. There was the here and now, and then there was the future. She had to be go go go go-going. All. The. Time. Software updates came out so fast. Everyday: newer, better, faster. It was honestly kind of crazy. She had of course found plenty of ways to keep herself busy since she moved to Castle Town. There were buildings to build, construction to oversee, trees to plant, glasses of acid to throw, and so on. 

 She thought back to the days when Noelle and Kris were small from time to time, sure. 

 Everyone did. But she didn’t let it weigh her down. 

 And like besides: Noelle was here now . So was Kris . King, well he was in the basement but he liked it there. She had no clue where that Ramb guy was, but whatever.

 It was basically like the old days. But! It was TOday. The NOW DAY, one could say.

 What would be the point, getting all tangled up in the past?

 She had to help Noelle get dressed for the concert! Her Swatchlings were all prepared to cheer their hardest as she performed. And if they did not, Queen was prepared to blow the whole studio up. Not really, though. That would make Tenna very sad.

 “Oh! Right!” Noelle gasped, and hurried over to a nearby closet. She opened the door, and yelped, as a metal rack loaded with clothes sprung out like an unwound spring. She barely managed to jump out of the way. “AH! What the-”

 “Okay So Lets Get An Idea Of What We Are Aiming For.” Queen gestured and the screens floated over next to Noelle, “Honey Go Ahead And Browse And Shoot Some Keywords At Me. I Will Sort Through These Clothes And Pinpoint An Ideal Match To Your ‘Vision’.”

 “My…okay!” Noelle poked the screen hesitantly. She scrolled up and down for a moment to get a hang for the controls, and soon began to browse through the various photos and collages she’d amassed over the years.

 As she did that, Queen began to shift through the clothes on the rack, scanning and processing them one by one in rapid succession. Her visor's red light beeped and cast a neon light against the room’s starry walls. Noelle looked at it for a moment, her mouth wide, before she quickly shook her head and focused back on the screen.

  Black dress. Black skirt with white skull-bone pattern. Pink and yellow t-shirt: floral design. Christmas sweater with reindeer. Christmas sweater with snowflake. Christmas sweater with tree and gingerbread. Black t-shirt with a very small, very low quality, halfway peeled off picture of ICE-E dressed as Santa off center from the middle. I am beginning to suspect that Tenna told them to throw all of the Christmas themed clothes into this one closet. Lmao. What a dork.

 Noelle perked up and pointed at the screen. She called to Queen softly over her shoulder. “Uh, is there anything like this?”

 She had an image of a model wearing a black long-sleeve with built-in fingerless gloves pulled up. Queen studied it closely. Within two seconds, she managed to sort through the clothes to fish out a near-exact match. The shirt she’d found had red stripes on the sleeves, but was otherwise a one-to-one to the reference.

 “Is This Sufficient?" She held it out to Noelle.

 Noelle’s eyes lit up as she took it. “Oh! Th-that’s even cooler, honestly! Yeah, this is great!”

 Queen gave herself a sharp highfive. “Heck To The Yes. Okay What Next?” She snap-turned back towards the rack.

 Noelle poked around for a minute. “Do we have some jeans, kinda like these ones? I mean, we could just DIY it and rip them ourselves, but…”

 She presented Queen with an image of some black jeans. Several rips marred the length along the front. Queen looked at it closely, turned to the rack, rifled through for a few seconds, and pulled out a matching pair that was, to Noelle’s delight, even more ripped up than the reference. Noelle clapped her hands before she took it eagerly.

 They built an outfit that Queen thought gave some real ‘dark scene girl’ vibes. A black long-sleeve with fingerless gloves. Ripped black jeans. A knee-length skirt covered in sparkly red snowflakes. Noelle found some spikey bracelets that she compared to Susie’s that she was very delighted by, which she put on and fiddled with while Queen helped her with her hair.

 “Nothing Too Crazy Right?”

 “Ah! Urm, no . Can we…like…make it just kind of frizzy?”

 Queen readied the comb and nodded, “Can Do Yes. There Is Also Some Temporary Spray-On Hair Dye If That Sounds Fun.”

 She grinned when Noelle beamed. “Temporary, right? You’re sure?”

 Queen handed her the bottle so she could read it herself. Noelle did so, smiled brightly, and passed her the spray. Queen gave it a good firm shake while Noelle giddied in her chair. The end result of her work was that Noelle’s gloomit platinum blonde hair was now a frazzled, frayed mane that faded to black near the tips. When Noelle looked at herself, she paused. The faintest hint of recognition flashed through her eyes…followed by a bit of sadness, which she quickly moved past as she turned around and smiled up at Queen.

 Oh thank fuck she’s happy everything is normal.

 “This. Is. So. Cool !”

  Before Queen had time to respond, Noelle hopped out from her chair and had her wrapped in a tight hug. Queen went rigid. She’d…she had never thought that Noelle would…of course she had thought about hugs and stuff, Noelle was her kid , how couldn’t she? She just figured that she was a laptop so maybe it wasn’t as big of a thing with her as it was with Tenna when it came to Kris?

  It.

  Was nice.

  Very…very nice.

  Queen felt the fans in her central processors kick on as she slowly lowered her arms to return the little monster’s embrace. This. This felt good. It felt right.  

 “...Queen…?”

 “Yes Noelle Honey Gravy?’’

 Noelle pulled away. She looked off to the side for a moment, her smile still bright, but her eyes now distant. “Can…can I talk to you…about something?”

 “Sure Hey What’s Up?” Queen matched the tone by keeping a smile up herself, too. She put her hands on her hips and bent over to meet Noelle’s gaze.

 “It’s…Kris,” Noelle said slowly, “lately they uh…they’ve been…different. H-have you noticed anything weird about them, too?” She looked at Queen and tilted her head.

 Queen flicked through her files. Kris was Tenna’s kid . She’d been to their house plenty of times when they were small, but that was years ago, and she’d been so caught up in her work since then. She had some of Kris’ recent browser history. Stuff like college vacation, gaming strats, but nothing out of the norm for their past searches.

 Her visor displayed the word NO in red font. “Noelle I Will Be Real Kris Is Just About As Weird As Always. Why Though Whats Up?”

 “They seem…different,” Noelle struggled as she tried to find the words, “they’ve just been. Acting…not like themself these past few days. Their voice is…higher? A-and they’re being…nice. Kris. Okay, I mean Kris is nice …in their own way, but not like…this…” 

 She then paused before she continued slowly, “...but…today. At the festival. Even when we were in the shop inside that Dark World and it all got really scary…somehow…Kris started to seem…more like…themself. I…I dunno. I’ve just been thinking about it since we got back. I feel like I’m kind of crazy for worrying about something that’s probably just my imagination. I guess I just…miss them. O-or missed them. Or…I dunno…”

 Well. This was. Something that Queen was unsure of how to assist with. She was a laptop…a smart laptop…but she wasn’t an expert in Lightners, let alone human Lightners. The network available to her was sadly filled with massively monster-centric resources. As far as she could tell, Kris was their usual weird mumbly self, same as always. But if Noelle was worried, then something was most certainly off.

 “Maybe it’s Tenna?” Noelle then said.

 “Tenna?” Queen’s visor changed to a row of question marks.

 “Maybe…maybe Tenna is helping Kris feel more like themself?” She said it thoughtfully with an air of unease…yet also hope. Her shoulders started to relax slightly. “...it’d be nice…being able to just…hang out again, I think. I miss…I miss how things used to be sometimes, you know?”

 “I Get That,” Queen admitted.

 She did. She really, truly did. The past was the past, all they had was here and now, but what good was tomorrow without a yesterday for it to stand upon? For as much as she tried to tell herself she was looking ahead, Queen had years worth of memories saved on her harddrive…she was doomed to be as nostalgic as the rest of them, wasn’t she?

 The old days…when Noelle’s big sister would join them all in the living room. What a lovely girl. Smart. Bright. Bold. Queen had done her fair share of searching alongside Noelle. She had lurked and trawled and dug into whatever she could get her mitts on…yet. Nothing.

 Just static, at the end of the day.

 Whatever happened to that girl? The girl with red in her hair. The girl who played the music too loud and stomped her hooves so hard to the beat it knocked pictures off the walls. That bright, bold girl…

  Shit I have a hang-up. Fuck. Goddammit. Cringe.

 Somehow she couldn’t shake it off with a shrug. She shifted around the gooey weight of sentimentality (and grief, though she refused to let it take root) where it hung in her chest as Noelle sighed. Queen patted her head lightly after she straightened up.

 “Hey,” she said softly, “Tonight…You All Get To Hang Out And Play On Stage. That Is…Somewhat Like The Old Days. Yes?”

 “Yeah,” Noelle agreed, “you’re right.”

 “Of Course I Am. Tonight You Get To Forget About The Real World Sad Junk For A Bit. Noelle Honey You May Not Be My Peon But I Must Ask As A Friend: Please Let Yourself Have Fun.” She then punctuated her decree by lightly poking Noelle’s shiny red nose. Noelle blinked. She laughed, and nodded.

 “Yeah. Okay! I will.” 

 Queen filed her smile away, and held onto it tight as they stepped out to head out towards the stage.

 “Onward Noelle. It Is Time For You To Wreck And Take Names.”

 “I-I don’t wanna wreck anybody…!”

 “But Noelle. Your Hauntly Frost Empire.”

 “My huh?!”

 “Sorry Getting Ahead Again Haha Okay Lets Go.”

—

 Kris felt their stomach drop the moment they stepped into the dressing room. The soul, bright and curious, burned behind their ribs when Tenna entered behind them.

 It already had two of the three codes for the shelter.

 It also had another tape, like the one they’d watched on Tenna last night.

 It had been there, somehow. It had seen the tape. It had seen them…it was always watching. Always there. Looking. Feeling. Digging into their life, picking it apart, like they and the people they loved were all a bunch of loose puzzle pieces it was allowed to put together.

  It’s more like a dissection, they realized. Then they corrected themself, vivisection. Dissection is when it’s already dead.

 The soul had seen the first tape. It had hunted down another within the depths of the Blooming Wastes. It didn’t care that Kris’ fingers were a bloody wreck after the fact. It just wanted the tape. It wanted to see, to feel, to explore, to know .

 Its curiosity made Kris feel sick . They were once again thankful that their phone didn’t work in the Dark World. They had had enough for today. They didn’t want to be scolded. They didn’t want to hear how they had messed everything up and made things worse than they were already. They just wanted to have a fun day at the festival. They didn’t think the Knight would put their dad in a Dark World so early. They didn’t…they tried to keep the soul from going down into the basement. They didn’t know…that their dad was…they just wanted to have one. Nice. Day. Was that so bad?

 And now the soul had another tape. And now they were alone with Tenna. They had to get him out of here.

  The key was used up. She was used up. He, too, will be used up.

  You will be used up. 

 You agreed to this. You promised. Even as the fire poured into your throat, you squeezed the icy fingers that held your hand.

 Kris shuddered.

 “Your ‘default’ rocker look is right over there on that hanger,” Tenna pointed to the glitzy get-up that hung on the wall beside a backlit vanity, “but! If you want to try on something different, there’s a whole closet-worth of clothes for you to try!”

 He nodded to a nearby door. Kris felt the soul’s attention bounce between the options, before it quickly had them whirl around to face back towards Tenna. The host rocked back on his heels, hands behind his back, his brow quirked as he looked down at them quizzically.

 “Kris?” 

  Please just go, they pleaded. The soul brought them forward by several steps. Kris pushed back and tightened their legs, so they shuffled rather than walked.

 “You…you doing alright, kiddo?” Tenna kneeled down and set his gloved hands on his knees. The glow of his screen dimmed slightly as he brought his screen closer to Kris, who mentally thrashed against the soul, and managed to bring a hand up to jab at their ribs. “Your chest hurts? You… oh -!”

 His screen went dark. There was a flash as his antennas flickered once. As the light faded, Tenna moved swiftly before the soul had a chance to react. He grabbed Kris with one hand, and with the other, he pointed at the human’s chest. A lone claw poked at the fabric of Kris’ periwinkle nightgown.

 Tenna’s voice was low. His volume could hardly be above one percent. “Okay. Kris? Hon? What do I do here, exactly?”

 He settled onto the floor, before he went still and waited. Waited for Kris to tell him what to do. They sucked in a sharp breath and felt the soul’s frustration and confusion turn into a calm, cool intrigue. It loosened its hold enough for them to speak, just barely.

 “Have to…rip…it…out…” 

 Tenna’s grip was loose enough for them to tug out their arm. They raised their hand, only to freeze when Tenna took it between two of his fingers.

 “Alright,” he whispered, “I’ll help. It’s…heh. It’s kinda like…a trip to the dentist, ain’t it? Like rippin’ out a bad tooth .”

 Kris managed a weary little laugh. They stopped when they sensed the soul’s amusement.

 “On three, yeah?”

 Their breath quivered. They nodded mutely. 

 Tenna bobbed his head once before he squeezed their hand lightly, On three, he pulled, and brought their hand crashing into their chest. Kris seized as the red glow in their chest broke out into a full on blaze. Bright, scarlet light poured out from their chest and glared where it hit Tenna’s screen. They heard his static crackle, but couldn’t make out anything else out over the hot agony that flooded their body the moment their hand and his fingers plunged through the fabric of the gown and then deeper into their own skin, into the space within their chest cavity.

 It hurt. It hurt so, so fucking bad. Their skin was on fire. Their nerves were being doused in acid. Their vision was a watercolor blur of static and shadow and organic red pulses.

 Kris wound tight around the soul as Tenna brought their fingers closed around the roaring ball of hellfire in their ribcage.

 They should’ve been used to this by now.

 They could handle it better when the soul didn’t fight back.

 They agreed to deal with this, didn’t they? They promised.

 The soul didn’t want to let go. It wanted to see and poke and wander and explore. It wanted to use that damn tape. It wanted another CrimsonShard. Did it even know what to do with it?! Kris sure as fuck didn’t!

 They just knew that whatever it did to Tenna was bad . The shard…the red static…it wasn't right .

 “Almost done,” they heard Tenna say. Softly, quickly. “Almost over. You’re being so brave , Kris. My star…”

 Kris saw stars, alright. Blips of light between the hazy red blurs of stuff and nothing . 

 “My precious star . My sweet, darling Kris. So brave. So strong . Almost got it. Almost…”

Tenna squeezed their hand once again, before with another sudden yank, he wrenched their hand out of their chest and pulled the soul out from their body with it. The fire in their blood went with it. They went limp as an icy cold emptiness took its place.

 “Okay…okay! Now, just let go, and I’ll…”

 Kris opened their fingers. Their hand dropped down to their side while Tenna snapped his head up, snapped his fingers once, and screamed for Mike. They heard a light thunk, followed by a plastic click, followed by the sound of someone shuffling through the shadows. Their vision swayed as they lifted their head. 

 The sudden numbness within their chest made it hard to breathe. They felt like they were pulling ice water into their lungs with every short, dry rasp.

 “And if that THING gets away this time, Mike, I swear -”

 The word was a crimson flare in the dark, starry-walled room.

 They felt themself be moved around. Tenna opened his hand so they were now sprawled out in his open palm. As they sucked in another shaky breath, something started to rub soothing circles into their chest. The pressure stung, but only for a second. They pried their eyes open, looked down, and saw that it was one of Tenna’s clawed fingertips. Static prickled beneath where the hooked tip massaged the freshly tendered spot on their sternum.

 Kris sighed, and closed their eyes once more.

 “Kris?”

 They brought a hand up and set it down on Tenna’s finger. They felt it curl. The static in his voice started to fade as he raised his volume by a few notches, “there you are… there you are…oh, Kris …”

 He sounded like he was about to cry. Kris’ eyes fluttered open again as they looked up at Tenna, and watched the glassy tears that were starting to bubble on his screen pause as they strained their cheeks into a small, wobbly smile. The pain was beginning to let up already. They took a few more breaths in, each one just a bit easier than the last. Sensation crept back into their body from the outside inwards. Feet…fingers…arms…until they felt their own heartbeat go steady in their chest.

 They were alive. They couldn’t go without the soul forever.

 But for now: they were alive.

 A few tears still trickled down Tenna’s screen despite, or more likely, because of his relief. His face returned. His mouth was twisted into a crooked smile as he lifted Kris to his screen and dipped his antennas towards them. Kris shivered as the static caused the hair on their neck to prickle.

 When they smiled, a red-pink flower bloomed from Tenna’s nose. He was so goofy .

 “Hey, sunshine . Did…did that help? W-was that- did I- are…are you…”

 They pushed themself up into a sitting position. They leaned forward, and pressed their palms against the TV’s screen. It was almost like when they were small and did the same thing, late at night, when the house was quiet and it was just them and him in the shadowy, silent living room. Rain on the windows in the summer…the soft whisper of wind during winter. Did he remember all of that? Of course he would. 

 Tenna expression became one of confusion, followed by disbelief, followed by a smile of sheer, utter joy . Like it was the most wonderful day of his entire life.

 “O-oh…” 

 The flower on his nose quivered, and gained a few more petals. It smelled like warm dust and rosewater.

 Kris had to steady themself when Tenna’s joy caused him to swell by a few inches. He already had to bend his knees slightly to fit into the dressing room. Even when he was fully kneeling on the floor, the tips of his antennas were squashed against the ceiling as he grew. They carefully pulled their hands back, just to make sure he didn’t bust through the roof, or something. That would be expensive…probably?

 They actually didn’t know how the Dark World’s economy worked. At this point, they were sort of scared to ask. Kris laughed softly as Tenna’s static made a frazzled mess of their hair. They stifled themself when another growth spurt threatened the roof. Carefully, they tapped his screen, and pointed at the floor.

 “Oh! Right. Here ya go,” Tenna set them down and waited until they were firm on their feet to pull away. “Mike is gonna keep a real good eye on that small horrible thing , Kris. It’s gonna just. Not! Be! An! Issue! Right, Mike?!” 

 Tenna punctuated each word by clapping his hands together sharply. His smile morphed into something strained, fanged, and uneasy.

 He chuckled anxiously and fidgeted with his tie. Kris followed his gaze as Tenna looked at the ceiling, before they shrugged, quickly decided not to think too hard about the TV man’s nonsense, or about the soul for that matter, and moved on. They didn’t really care too much about what they wore for the concert. The blue-pink glamor coat they’d worn on Tenna’s show would do just fine.

 They felt Tenna’s gaze follow them as they walked over to pull it off the hanger. Tenna lingered by the door. He rocked slightly while still on his knees, his smile still bright, but they saw his brows twitch as he swayed with his hands tucked behind him.

 Kris looked over and tilted their head.

 Tenna flinched. “A-ah! Sorry, Kris, sorry. I just…I…”

 The flower on his nose sagged, petals drooping.

 They turned to face him completely. They tilted their head. Tenna’s screen fizzled for a few seconds as he stammered and struggled, before his antennas popped up and he finally sighed. “I…I just…there’s just been something on my mind , ‘s all. About…about the show…back in the living room. Something that I guess…with the whole thing -”

 The word was red, small, and glowing.

 “-being. A thing. I…Kris? Can I ask you something, kid?”

 Kris nodded. Tenna nodded in turn. He brought his hands together by his chest, his mouth disappearing as he bowed his head and said carefully, “when you were all on my show. There was that point where you and Susie were talkin’...and she asked you…what you thought of everything…”

 Kris felt their chest go cold. Not from the sudden lack of an alien soul. It was from guilt. It was regret.

 “You…you said that I…” Tenna laughed weakly. He was shrinking down, but only a bit. “That I: sucked! A-and I guess, with this whole thing, with that thing , I’ve just been…wondering…” He started to shake his head. His hands came up over his screen. His voice, small and shaky, became near-inaubile as his volume dropped once more.

 “I’m sorry,” he said, “nevermind, y-you don’t have to- I get it I really do- Kris please I’m not mad it’s fine I wasn’t being a good host I was being really really awful I-I kept on I-I didn’t I wasn’t I was just trying very hard to I mean you were RIGHT I DID suck, didn’t I? I did…”

 The flower wilted into dust.

 Kris’ mind jumped to that moment at the festival with Catti. They’d…blocked out most of what happened once Susie started yelling. But they remembered how they’d turned around because the soul felt curious and had them look at Tenna. They remembered their hand being guided into the VHS slot, where their fingers found something warm and sharp, and they pulled out the CrimsonShard.

 They remembered wondering, in that moment, how Tenna perceived such a thing. Did it hurt? If Darkners were affected by things done to their Light World forms and vice versa, it would have to, wouldn’t it?

 And Kris had been the only one to notice. Well, the soul noticed, but it was their hand that removed the piece of red glass.

 They remembered how it felt to carry Tenna down the steps with Susie. That weight in their chest was so much heavier than the TV in their hands. In the Dark World, Tenna was still…fragile. Despite his size, despite his dramatic flair, despite his strength, he was still this fragile creature that needed a Lightner to be able to fulfill his purpose.

 Tella’s voice echoed in the back of their mind. “ And what about my fucking comfort? ”

 If the Darkners, like Tenna and Ralsei, existed to bring comfort and joy to the Lightners…who brought comfort to the Darkners? Couldn’t they all just…comfort and support one another? That sounded like something that Susie would say…in her own Susie way, of course.

 Kris didn’t even have to raise their voice to cut him off, “but you’re really cool right now.”

 Tenna became a statue. Not actually. He just went really still. His hands remained where they were over his screen, but his volume crept back up as he whispered, “...really?” 

 They nodded once. “Yeah…”

 Tenna dropped his hands, revealing a beaming smile. Because Kris didn’t need to say sorry for what they said. At the time, when the soul selected those words, they were…the honest truth…to how they felt about Tenna. He sucked. At the time. At the time, they were annoyed, overwhelmed, and they just wanted to get it all over with so the Knight would come and things would…go according to plan .

 Phones did not work in the Dark World. Tonight, they were going to have fun with their friends. If someone got upset, then they would deal with that tomorrow morning.

 Their mind flickered to the picture they’d found in the church. Of Tenna. Of the Lord of Screens, cleaved red by blade. They thought about the fight with Flowey. The vines. The static. The red . Their stomach twisted as they remembered how eager the soul was once they stepped into the dressing room with Tenna. They just…they didn’t want to think about any of it. ANY of it. Their dad was okay. Tenna was okay, too. Everyone was okay. 

  Mom will be fine, they told themself, she’ll…she’s probably too busy getting the house ready for Asriel to…notice…she’s fine. She’s fine.

 They. Were. Going. To. Have. A Fun. Time.

 Kris got dressed quickly and joined Tenna by the door. Their face grew warm when he leaned down and his static frizzed their hair once more. His voice toed the line between hypeman and mushy-gushy stupid uncle. Kris was half tempted to take it back.

 “Look at this rockstar , folks!”

 Applause filled the air. Kris knew there was no one around other than Tenna, but they still ducked their head down as their cheeks turned pinkish-purple. Tenna clapped his hands together once. The door swung open, and Kris proceeded into the hall, with the host not far behind. He had to duck his head to squeeze out, but he managed.

 Tenna kept the bit going as they walked along. “Now, folks, Kris here may be blue , but believe me, when they start to shred , those tunes are bright, red hot ! This kiddo ain’t no one trick pony. No sir! No- hoooooo madam! Tender on the ivory keys and wicked on the strings, thaaaaaaat’s Kris Dreemurr for ya!”

 Kris kept their eyes glued to the floor. Tenna, either not noticing or not caring for how red their face was (or the third option: he did notice, and he was simply evil ), rallied his audience to join him.

 “Kris! Kris! Kris! Kris!”

 By the time they reached the stage set, Kris almost ran into the wall on their way in on account of the hands covering their face. Shouts and applause filled the auditorium to announce their arrival. Noelle, Queen, Susie, Ralsei, and Berdly were on the stage. Loyal must've gone off somewhere, either to rest or explore. 

Kris recognized Ralsei and Susie’s outfits from the living room show, but had to pause to fully register Noelle’s outfit and Berdly’s…. assortment .  

 Noelle had gone from all-white to pitch black. She wore a long-sleeve tee with built-in fingerless gloves, ribbed black jeans, and a skirt adorned in glittery, blood red snowflakes. Her hair, which was tinged pale gold in the Dark World, was frazzled and colored black at the tips. When they entered with Tenna and everyone turned to look at them, Kris saw that Noelle even had some runny mascara trickling down her cheeks.

 She looked…really cool. Kris sort of wished they’d done some make-up now. They had a feeling that Tenna wouldn’t be the best of help with that sort of thing, though…just a hunch.

 And Berdly. Well.

 “Kris Hey Hows It Going?” Queen’s visor read ‘wassup’ as she acknowledged Kris with a nod.

 Berdly had one of those shirts on that looked like a six pack. It took several seconds of staring for the full weight of this to register in Kris’ mind. It was toned. Chisled. It was the most absurdly stupid thing Kris had ever seen in their whole life. And they watched Susie almost run into a mural of a cartoon tunnel trying to go through it that one time. And that was even before they considered the black shorts, the oversized leather belt, and the even more oversized platform boots that screamed ‘ER visit’. Two black smears streaked across his cheeks. To look tough , Kris had to assume.

 He

 Was

 So

 Fucking

 …adorable. Kris wanted to squeeze his face and yell nice things at him. They were so, so, so, so SO glad that the soul wasn’t here to fuck this up. Berdly noticed them staring, and grinned. “Ah, my radiant Krisingale! What a joy! What a delight! And may I say, such a fitting garb for one as splendiferous and dazzling as yourself!”

 I need to kill him. I don’t know how to process how I feel about him, and therefore he needs to die. Except I can’t really, so shaking him like a toy will have to do. 

 “Your face makes my insides itch,” Kris told him.

 “Ah-”

 Before Berdly could reply, Kris had him by the shoulders. The shaking commenced post-haste.

 “Hey Noelle,” Queen said nearby, “You Were Saying. Earlier.”

 Noelle laughed, warm and unmistakably fond . “Haha! Yup…that’s Kris, alright.”

 Tenna chimed in from above, “oh…you can say that again, Elly…”

 Kris flinched as they were plucked up by the coat and pulled off of Berdly. Tenna had them grabbed between two of his fingers. He was smiling when they looked up to glare, and laughed when they tried to grab Berdly again, and he cut them off with his hand.

 “Kris. Buddy.”

 Fine. They would use their mouth-words. “Berdly you look really cool,” they rushed out. Saying it left them winded, despite it being a low half-mumble.

 Berdly’s voice spiked into a tiny cheep . He tried to play it cool, but Kris saw him flush as he brushed through his crest and smirked. “Ohoho! I see that my rocker garb , which I tactfully designed to attract the envy and admiration of our audience, has cast its spell upon you, Kris. Do try not to be too distracted. I would hate to hinder your performance during our concert…even if it is on the field….of PVP….”

 Kris caught Tenna with his hands pressed together when they glanced up. He had them by his screen, where his mouth was a tight smile as he stared off into space. When he looked down and saw them staring, his smile loosened. His face softened, and he gave them a silent thumbs-up.

 “I’m gonna wreck all of you, so don’t worry about that, Berdly.” 

 Susie came over to smack Berdly’s back, causing him to squawk loudly. She roared with laughter as he stammered and recuperated. Kris saw that there was a small table with a bunch of the snacks that Susie had gotten from the store spread out, along with some dishes that had been prepared by the studio’s staff. It hit them that they hadn’t eaten real food since before they all went into Flower King earlier today. Kris walked over to the table, while Tenna hung back to chat with Queen.

 “I Asked Kingie If He Wants To Watch And He Said Yeah. But Only Because He Wants To ‘Indulge In Peasant Tier Entertainment’. That Is How He Said It. What A Goof.” Queen chortled, shaking her head as she mused about her ex-husband. “TBH I Think Hes Gonna Watch From A Cage Just Because That Is Funny. To Me.”

 “Ah, King. You know him…a real softie , underneath all that gruff.” Tenna tilted his screen to look at Susie. “Speaking of King, Susie? Did Lancer come through with you? I haven’t seen the little goober .”

 On cue, the little goober himself popped out from behind Tenna’s legs. The host yelped as Lancer rolled around and bounced once, before he plopped to his feet next to Queen. Susie, it would appear, was too busy talking to Noelle to even register Tenna’s question. Good for her.

 “Oh-ho! Girl Dad, Is Lesser Dad also gonna come to Susie’s show?”

 “Sure Lol Why Not.”

 “Last I saw him, he was walkin’ around with a lampshade on his head.”

 Queen ran a hand along her cerebral crest. “Okay So It Isnt Just Me He’s Been. Like.”

 Tenna scratched the spot between his antennas. “Ohh, he’s been…hanging around with you, too? Not just me?”

 Lancer then looked up at Tenna. “Is Girl Dad’s funny failguy my dad, too?”

 Kris watched Tenna’s screen flash to colorbars while Queen shrugged. “I Mean He Could Be. Hey Tennie?”

 She smiled as he wobbled and stammered in reply, “well I- I don’t know if I’m exactly- This is all very- I don’t think it’s a- I’ve got a lot- Am I the best fit- I- I don’t- I-”

 “Yeah He’s Also Your Dad.”

 Lancer did a little hop-spin as he giggled. “I have acquired the elusive Jester Dad! My collection grows, ohohoho!”

 Queen bent over to give the boy a high-five of dad-aligned maternal approval. Kris felt a bit of pity for the poor, babbling television, but they also thought it was just really funny. How many dads was Lancer going to have amassed by the time this was all over? 

 Ralsei joined them as they picked up a paper plate. Kris snickered at his green mohawk. “Hi Kris! How are you feeling?” Ralsei’s smile was as cheery as always, in spite of the darkness of his rock outfit.

 They shrugged. They scooped some rice and veggies onto the plate and grabbed a generous helping of chips. 

 “I understand,” Ralsei said, “it’s been…a long day! But now we get to have fun and rest. It sure is nice of Tenna to let us play on the set. And for a proper audience of so many different Darkners, too!”

 Kris glanced at Ralsei’s paws where they were tucked behind his back. Their eyes flickered over towards Tenna, who had collected himself, and now stood with his head bowed as he talked to Queen, while he held himself in a similar position. A fuzzy feeling drifted over them. They thought back to the days they’d lay on their stomach in front of the TV while they drew, crayons and notebooks and crumbled wads of paper strew all around them. They could still smell the scented markers if they thought hard enough. The weight of a crayon in their fingers. The smudge of green left on their hands from drawing with the same one, over and over.

  Never could get the hands right, they thought.

 They looked back between the two Darkners, before they quickly brushed it all away, grabbed a fresh plate, and passed it to Ralsei. Ralsei had his head tilted as he accepted it graciously. “Oh! You’re right, Kris. I…”

 He then narrowed his eyes. He looked at them. Really looked at them.

 His eyes widened. “Kris…you’re…”

 The ‘you’ went unspoken. Kris just smiled.

 “Wait Hold Up A Sec One Sec Ralsei Hey.”

 They were both interrupted by Queen. She shuffled over, hand on her hip, and pointed at the fluffy prince. “Walk With Me One Sec Okay Over Here.”

 “Uh! Okay!” 

 Ralsei followed the blue robot as she circled the table and led him to the side opposite of Kris. She snapped into place, pointed, and said firmly, “See These Grapes And Assorted Snackable Meat Chunk Bits?”

 Ralsei looked. He nodded slowly. “Why, yes. Susie picked these out when she went grocery shopping yesterday in the Light World. It’s all very wonderful! I didn’t realize that Light World food would be so… rich .”

 “Yeah Okay But,” Queen turned her visor upon him, “It Is Fruits. And Meats. Ralsei. Meat And Fruit.”

 “Fruit balls and meaty bits,” Lancer chirped from across the stage.

 Ralsei stared at her for several seconds without blinking. “...oh.” His smile fell. He slumped. “Oh I…I see.”

 Queen straightened her back and called to Tenna with her hand cupped near her glossy lips. “Tenna Did I Tell You About Ralsei And The Absence Of Meat And Fruit Within His Castle Walls Yet?”

 Tenna had somehow snuck up behind Kris at some point. They didn’t even realize he was standing behind them until he spoke and they had to crane their head back to see his screen. His display flicked to colorbars for a moment, before it was replaced by a confused, worried frown. “Ral? Really? You don’t have any meat or fruit at your castle?”

 He sounded genuinely troubled by the thought.

 “I-I don’t- I- Do I really -?”

 Tenna’s screen went black. He threw a hand over it, and tilted his head back as he sighed a deep, forlorn groan of dismay. “Ral. Buddy. You’re killing me over here.”

 His head quickly shot back up when Ralsei made a frail, broken noise. “NOT REALLY YOU ARE NOT ACTUALLY- Queen what’s the thing you taught me for when you’re bein’ a drama king on-the-line and wanna get your tone across?”

 “Slash J,” Queen reminded him.

 “That’s the one. Slash Jay, Ralsei. You are killing me, but Slash Jay.”

 The image of the Lord of Screens prophecy flashed behind Kris’ eyes. With it also came the image of a crimson slash through yellow petals, and then another before the world turned to red static. They gnawed on a potato chip and shuddered. 

 They heard Noelle laugh at something Susie said, and felt their mouth tug back up into a small smile. 

 Berdly was at the table now, his eyes thin and shrewd as he scrutinized the assorted options. 

 With Tenna at their back, they now felt the faint thrum of static that he gave off, and leaned back into it slightly as the low buzz filled their ears. Dull heat filled their ribcage. The only motion inside was the steady thump of their own heart. They picked up another chip and rubbed it between their fingers. Their fingers.

  Dad is in the hospital. Mama is at home. Az…might be home already with her. And Tenna…Tenna is fine, too.

 They leaned into the static fuzz.

 Though their eyes were heavy, Kris hadn’t felt this light in a very, very long time.

Chapter Text

 Susie felt like she was going nuts. 

 Everything was fine. Everything with Asgore and the Dark World in his shop worked out. They had done it . They broke the stupid prophecy by setting him free. They even got two of the shelter codes from Tella! If they could just get the last one, they could rescue Undyne and set everything right, right?

 But there was something off . There was something off about Kris that Susie just couldn’t shake off.

 Kris was… happy .

 Okay. If she said it like that, she sounded like a massive jerk. She was GLAD that Kris was happy. It was just the way they were acting that kept throwing Susie through a loop. She’d seen Kris smile and she'd heard them laugh plenty of times since they started hanging out, but never like this.

  Kris’ smile was never this… wonky . When Kris smiled, it was like they’d practiced in the mirror the day of school yearbook photos. It was thin and clean and rarely showed teeth. The smile Kris had on their face as they did a few soundchecks, though? It was wonky, uneven, and big enough that Susie somehow finally saw that Kris had a freaking tooth gap ? Since when? How did she not notice that in the five whole days she’d spent hanging out with Kris nonstop ?

 Was she just…not paying enough attention?

 She literally only just learned when their birthday was…

 Then there was the way they talked. Kris had a flat voice. They sounded pretty much exactly the same whether they were happy, sad, angry, or whatever. Unless they were really freaked out like when they got to Asgore, Kris didn’t have much emotion in their voice or facial expressions.

 Well, there was that one time they shouted after they fought that weird creepy puppet guy, but…

 They got angry when their guitar’s cable got tangled with something. They sounded excited when Tenna laid out the choices for what songs they’d be able to perform on the set. When Noelle asked about why Ralsei was so hesitant about "It's TV Time!’, it was Kris who laughed as they explained the whole thing with Ralsei changing up song lyrics when they’d performed on the set previously, because they were ‘so vulgar’. It was Kris who picked the showhost’s battle theme to serve as their penultimate finale.

 Kris still didn’t talk much. It was just the fact that when they did, it was so… different …that kept Susie stuck with an awfully crawly feeling, like there were ants under her scales.

 What really did it in was how no one else seemed to notice.

 Everyone else was just…chill.

 Noelle even said at some point that it was, “Nice to see Kris acting so much like themself!”

 “What do you mean by that?” Susie asked her. She was on drums, while Noelle would be a back-up guitar to Kris.

 Noelle tilted her head in confusion. “What do I…? I mean, Kris has been a bit different lately. I just meant it’s nice to see them having fun and well…being more like themself, I guess!”

 “No, I get that ,” Susie shook her head and lowered her voice. She leaned towards Noelle after she glanced over to where Kris was with Tenna. “I mean… this is what Kris is normally like? Really? I-I mean, they just got through something really freakin’ rough , b-but this…they’re…they’re being…this is normal? This is Kris when they’re…normal…? What….?”

 While Noelle furrowed her brow, Susie pinched the bridge of her snout. “A-and what do you mean that they’d been ‘different’ lately? Kris has just been… Kris !”

 “Susie,” Noelle said softly, “I…I think maybe you forgot that Kris and I used to…that we’re neighbors .”

 “I know you are! But that…” Susie felt her chest get tight, and had to stop to take a deep breath. Her palms were getting sweaty. 

 “We’ve been friends since we were kids, Susie. That’s all I’m trying to say. Kris has just seemed a bit…out of it, lately. Probably because they miss Asriel, if-if I had to guess,” Noelle offered Susie a grin that was supposed to be comforting.

 The ants under her scales started to nibble. It couldn’t be that simple, could it?

 Tenna eventually herded them all backstage. They would be on in about twenty minutes, so Tenna had a chance to get the audience seated while Queen did a check on their audio and lighting systems. She would be up in the control booth with Tenna while they performed. Susie saw where it sat on the opposite wall from the stage above the rows of seats before they went behind the curtain.

 “Queen and me are gonna take care of all the technical junk while you kids rock out! I’ll be right there, so if anything goes sideways, one of you can just wave me down and I’ll be there in a flash !”

 With that, the host ducked back onto the stage. As he left, the murmur of voices and footsteps seeped through the heavy curtain. Word traveled quickly in Castle Town. Somehow, they were also going to be broadcasting their concert across other parts of the Dark World. Queen said that Cyber City was still out there. The Dark World was a literal whole other world , as she put it. Even without a dark fountain, a place in the Dark World still existed in parallel to the Light. There were cities and towns beyond the dusty purple cliffs outside of Castle Town that were filled with hundreds of Darkners. And none of them needed a fountain to exist. They just… did .

 How, though? How did that…?

 Nothing made sense. She wanted it all to be simple. Why did she feel wrong ? They won. They had done it. Asgore was okay. They were going to save Undyne, save everyone from the Knight.

 So why did she feel so sick and shaky and… bad ?

 When she started to tremble, Susie felt a hand on her shoulder. She whirled around, and was met with Kris and their wobbly smile.

 She eased up slightly. She huffed, “hey. What, are ya nervous ?”

 A lone red eye gleamed when she reached down and ruffled Kris’ hair. In a raspy voice, Kris said, “I thought you looked kinda nervous.”

 They had a drawl, too. That one she picked up on earlier in the Blooming Wastes. At least with that in mind, she could chalk it up to being close to their dad and the Dark World’s cowboy vibes bringing it out. They probably got it from him. Kris was always so quiet. When they did talk, you really had to listen to hear them properly.

 “Me? Pfft, nah. I’m gonna rock so hard, they’ll name some fancy music award after me!” She tossed back her hair and shook it out so it’d go all wild. She heard Noelle ‘eep’ faintly behind her, and decided to add on a cool shoulder roll for extra effect. “But like. Mostly? I’m just glad you’re doin’ okay, dude. Really.”

 Susie took Kris by the shoulder. Kris tilted their head up, causing their hair to fall away and reveal their other eye.

 “And….hey,” Susie crouched down slightly. She brought her voice low, and pulled Kris in towards her. “Tomorrow…yeah? We can go into town, and see about findin’ that last code. We’re this close , Kris. We’re so close to saving Undyne.”

 Kris’ eyes fell to the floor. Their smile vanished as they flinched and balled up their hands. Susie watched as their mouth curled into a tight, tense line and quickly stammered out, “o-or I’ll look, and you can, like, totally chill here, dude. It’s cool. I-I get it if you need…a break…after everything, really, it’s no big deal.”

 But Kris then shook their head. They grabbed her hand from their shoulder, closed their fingers tightly around it, and pulled it against their chest.

 “Not alone ,” they whispered. Their raspy mumble was a harsh, sharp hiss this time. 

 This. This was Kris. Kind, anxious, quiet, but so utterly themself with how it all went together. This was her friend. This was the person she’d hurt not even a full week ago, who she now saw and knew without a doubt she’d do anything for. This was her Kris.

 Susie felt her face soften into a tiny smile. Her one hand covered Kris’s where both of theirs were still clutching her other claw. The tangle of scales and skin they made grew warmer the longer they held it.

 A warmth bloomed in her chest when Kris looked back up at her. 

 “Alright. Together, then.”

 She paused. “...I mean…it is a pretty bad idea to go off on your own in the dark. Right?”

 Kris’ mouth fell open. They puzzled over it for a few seconds, before they finally laughed, and nodded. Susie squeezed their hands one time before letting go.

 “But for now,” Susie raised her voice as she turned back around to face the curtain, “I am gonna wreck. All. Of. You. Your highscores are freaking done for .”

 “Alas, dear Susie. I fear that you will find yourself crushed in the dust of this performance,” Berdly had a hand pressed dramatically to his forehead. What a dweeb .

 “I am gonna wreck you especially ,” Susie snarled. She jabbed a finger at his chest hard enough to make him stumble. She grinned, but toned it down when Berdly squawked and looked at her with a genuine look of fear. “And! Then! We’re all, like, gonna chill, and maybe watch a movie? Maybe? Do you guys wanna watch a movie when this is over with, or…something…?”

 She looked around. Noelle shrugged and smiled pleasantly, “yeah, that sounds fun!”

 “Hrm, and I presume we’d view this feature presentation upon…Tenna?” Berdly tapped his beak as he pondered the idea.

 “Yeah,” Susie said, “he’s got a bunch of Kris’ old favorites. Noelle, you probably know some of ‘em. We watched Loraline last night. It was cool!”

 Noelle shuddered. “Oh…yup. I remember that one. Oh, gosh…” She made a face that gave Susie an idea. An idea involving a scared little deer, a spooky movie, and looooooots of suave moves on her part. Kris would be down to watch it again. She still glanced over her shoulder and saw them already nodding, a look of their own telling her that she and them were on the exact same wavelength.

 The sly thumps-up the human gave her sealed the deal.

 “Hey Ral! You wanna watch Loraline again tonight before we call it quits for the night?” Susie saw him peeking out around the curtain to look out onto the stage. “How’s it lookin’ out there? We gotta fullhouse, or whatever it’s called?” She grinned. 

 Ralsei gasped as he turned around, “ah, yes! It is looking quite packed out there.” He then hummed as he nodded, “and, yes! I would love to! Maybe this time, I can keep my eyes open long enough to see how it ends. I think I fell asleep during the scene with the, erm, angel children?”

 He laughed softly. Him and Susie both glanced at Kris. They were rocking back and forth on their heels, guitar clutched to their chest.

  They are so fucking locked in for this shit.

 Noelle scratched her cheek nervously, “gosh, I hope we all do a good job.”

 “We will most certainly dazzle the crowd, Noelle. Worry not,” said Berdly, “should your nerves get the best of you, I shall play the keys with enough strength and sheer prowess to carry our party to the proverbial rhythmic beat payload.”

 He smiled smugly. His feathered hand came up to adjust where the teal blue keytar was slung by a strap around his shoulder. His outfit was so stupid. It was the kind of thing only a dork like Kris could be into.

 Susie was glad that Kris was having fun…but… Berdly ?

 …really…?

 “Oh, Noelle, I don’t think anyone out there will care if you miss a few notes,” Ralsei gave her a reassuring smile. “Darkners aren’t very…erm…judgemental! I think that’s a good word for it. They don’t care if it’s not perfect. What’s important is that everybody has a good time!”

 “Heh. And we’ll all be laughin’ when Ralsei reaches the end of Tenna’s theme and has to say damn ,” Susie snickered. Ralsei squeaked and screwed his eyes shut. “‘Cause you’re gonna haaaaaave toooooooo . Fluffy boy is gonna swear .”

 “Wait, I thought the TV Time song was, like the song for his show?” Noelle’s eyelashes fluttered at Kris, “I mean…Kris, you kind of just. Picked it out, while Susie laughed. What even is the TV Time song?”

 “Tenna’s battle music,” Kris told her.

 That clearly spawned a whole bunch of new questions into Noelle’s mind. Fearful, wide-eyed, confused questions. Susie realized she hadn’t gotten past the part where they found Toriel during their TV World adventure when she was helping Ralsei fill Noelle in on how Dark Worlds worked. She didn’t know about the whole deal with Tenna freaking out and them having to fight him to knock some sense back into his big square head…or about what happened…after they did that…

 Whoops.

 Noelle kept smiling, though, as she went ‘huh’ and tilted her head almost completely sideways. Berdly adjusted his glasses in such a way where the spotlights that peeked through the curtains glared where they caught on the lenses. 

 The crowd was getting real rowdy now. It was almost time for them to get ready.

 “Don’t worry too much about it,” Ralsei told Noelle, “besides, it’s going to be a few songs before we get to that one! First is…oh.”

 Noelle’s eyes sagged slightly. The corners of her smile softened. “Raise Up Your Bat,” she said quietly. She looked down at the ice-themed guitar she was holding, and squeezed it tight. “I can’t believe Tenna has it memorized.”

  I kind of can’t believe you picked it out.

 Susie bit her tongue.

 The brief cold spell that filled the room faded away as quickly as it arrived.

 The applause from the crowd shook the stage beneath their feet.

 Outside came the boom of Tenna’s voice through the sound system. “Hell-OOOOOOOOO, CASTLE TOWN ! Can we please get a proper Darkner welcome for our band? For their first number, a banger by the name of ‘Raise Up Your Bat’?! Can we all please stand, and give it up fooooooooor-”

 They all hurried, grabbed their gear, and got into position. Susie clutched the drumsticks in her fists, and glanced over at Kris. Their hair had fallen back over their eyes. Their smile was wonky as the curtain began to rise, and the neon glow of the stagelights poured in from underneath. Wonky, wide, and it scared her.

 Susie turned her head to smile at the crowd. A crowd of familiar faces.

 And here she was up on stage, so certain that she stood next to a stranger who wore her best friend’s skin. But it was her imagination, right? Sure…

 “- LIGHT-NERS LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE !”

Chapter Text

You were with the Mikes once again. 

 Clearly, they had learned from last time, and had tidied up their room.

  You also saw what their new member looked like underneath the Mike costume: he was a Pippins much like Battat, the green Pippins who led the Mikes as a group, but with an orange color-scheme and a few eyelashes on his open eye.

 It was this orange Pippins who grabbed you up after Tenna ripped you out of Kris. He’d popped out of a vent the moment Tenna screamed for Mike to grab you, and hurried you away without the host noticing he was ever there, as his attention was fully on Kris. The last thing you’d seen of Kris and Tenna was the human going limp in Tenna’s palm as he lifted them towards his screen.

 Upon arriving at the office, the orange Pippins tossed you onto the floor. You rolled around in the gacha ball while Battat hopped out of a chair and hurried to catch the capsule before it hit the wall.

 “Jer!” The tiny Pippins cried, “DON’T just throw it around willy-nilly! If this thing gets out a second time and screws with the kids’ concert, Tenna is- he’ll- he’s gonna-”

 “He’ll live,” this ‘Jer’ said with a shrug.

 “Sis,” Battat said tiredly, “look. When we brought ya onboard as the new Mike, you said you’d take it seriously .”

 “And ain’t I?”

 “You…you’re really not ?”

 Jer shrugged again. He unzipped the back of the Mike suit and stepped out once it fell in a loose pile around his feet. This was Battat’s sister? You could certainly see the family resemblance.

 “This. Is. Serious , Jer.” Battat started to tremble, while Jer simply smiled a lazy, lax grin.

 “Ohhh, lookit it,” he gestured towards you, “ look at it. Such a hassle. Such a piece of work. It sure is causing all kinds of trouble for us, ain’t it, fellas?” Jer snickered and shook his head.

 The Zapper Mike, Jongler, walked over to stand next to your prize ball. They bent over and eyed you closely. “It’s not really doings much. Maybe Jer’s right an’ wes can chills a bit?”

 The Shadowguy Mike, Pluey the cat, mewled in agreement from the corner. “Yeah, Jer’s gotta point. It ain’t doin’ nothin’.”

 You shifted slightly. When you floated to the side, the prize ball rolled a couple inches towards Jongler. Battat screeched . He clutched his head, lunged, and threw himself over the gacha, where his weight brought it back to a standstill.

 “...uh-huh,” Jer said.

 “Shut. Up,” hissed Battat.

 Jer tucked his hands behind his back. His other eye pried open as his smile widened. “Look, lil’ bro. I hopped on this whole ‘Mike’ thing because you seemed really stressed out an’ I wanted to maybe help take the edge off. So…hear me out…maybe chill the hell out for like five minutes . There’s four of us here. The weird red thing ain’t gonna go anywhere.”

 “He’s gotta point,” Pluey said.

 “Jer’s gots a point,” Jongler agreed.

 Battat was still draped over the plastic ball. His face filled your vision as he drooped and gave you a one-eyed glare. He made a “I’m watching you” gesture before he slid off and landed with a huff back on the tiled floor. He smoothed down the front of his suit before he turned back around, locked ‘eyes’ with your glowing form, and proceeded to sit down with his legs crossed.

 “Fine,” he spat, “but we ALL. Watch. It.”

 “Oh yeah sure totally.” Jer sat down next to him. When they were both next to each other, you saw that even when sitting, Jer was taller than Battat by a good few inches. “...but-”

 Both of Battat’s eyes shot wide open. Jer reached into his suit, and produced a deck of playing cards.

 “-we get to play on the clock. If I can’t watch the show, I am gunna do somethin’ with the time. Ey, Plu, ya wanna deal us in?”

 The cat jumped to his feet with a jazzy honk. As he hurried over to take a squat on the floor, Jongler bounced over to a nearby desk and fished out a bag that jingled as he carried it over. 

 You…

 …were rather bored. You really really really understood that by staying still and behaving yourself, you were letting Kris have a good time and a well-needed break from…well… you . You wanted to go along with it. You wanted Kris to have a fun time. Goodness knew how much they needed some fun and some time to themself after today. And the Mikes…the Mikes were fun . Jer was pretty cool. You could just sit here and let them play around you, and in time, Tenna would call, and one of them would run you out so you could be reunited with Kris…

 …but.

 But. You also wanted to see the concert. You wanted to see what Kris and the other kids were up to.

 The only problem was that the Mikes were all sitting in a circle around you. You were surrounded on all sides. Anytime you moved to nudge the ball, Battat would scream, and either he or one of the other three Darkners would catch you with their hands or feet and push you back in the center.

 Without Kris, you couldn’t talk. You also didn’t have access to anything from their inventory. You didn’t have hands. You were, in essence, just a thing . You were within the world, but you could not interface with any of it.

 You sat and you floated and you pondered for some time.

 Wait.

 You floated .

 You glanced between the four Mikes. You shifted upwards towards the top of the capsule, and to your surprised delight, the prize ball started to ascend as you pushed it off the floor.

 “...okay, I’m gonna go ahead an- WAIT WHAT WAIT HEY HEY HEY!”

 Battat threw himself upon the prize ball. It landed back onto the tiles with a rattle. Battat panted. His head whipped around rapidly as he scrambled to keep you on the floor, while you continued to press against the top of the gacha and started to lift him into the air with it. “HEY! HEEEEY! GUYYYYYYS !?!”

 The Mikes jumped into action.

 “We gots it,” Jongler said. They grabbed the prize capsule between their hands.

 This stopped you for a moment. You heard Jer chuckle. “Okay, I’ll get, like, a paperweight, or somethin’...”

 You then had the idea to see if you could…shake them loose. You continued to press upwards, but at the same time, you wiggled from side-to-side. The motion made the prize ball sway and rock. Battat started to slip, while Jongler had to stretch their arms and crane their neck to hold you. Their palms were starting to slip.

 Then Pluey sprung to his feet. He was too short to grab the prize ball from where it was, but he could grab Battat’s legs by bouncing with a trumpeted yelp. As soon as he had the Pippins’ ankles in his grasp, Battat clawed to keep a grip on the capsule. Pluey pulled, and you started to sink back towards the floor.

 Jer, meanwhile, casually rustled around a nearby filing cabinet.

 Battat screeched as he curled his body around your gacha prison. “JEEEEEEER! DO SOMETHIIIIIING!”

 “I am,” Jer said plainly, “I am lookin’ for a darn paperweight. This is where ya keep ‘em, ain’t it?”

 You watched Battat’s head cock, as his gaze shifted past you and towards his sister. “Jer, why would we keep paperweights iN THE FREAKING FILING CABINET ??!!”

 “I dunno. Y’all weird.”

 I mean he isn’t wrong .

 Battat started to slip. You kept up your wiggling and pushing and were now several feet above the floor. You could see a vent in the roof above you. Poor Jongler was on his tiptoes at this point, and Pluey’s body was stretched near its limit. Battat’s pupils whizzed around his eyes like bees trapped in a shaken masonry jar. He slipped further, and the tips of his fingers found purpose in the only place they could: the groove where the two halves of the capsule fixed together.

 He seemed to realize this, and his face went pale. “Pluey,” he said weakly, “st-stop, stop tuggin’, don’t-”

 Pluey didn’t hear in time. He pulled Battat, and a sharp click echoed through the room. The plastic ball fell to the floor in twin pieces. And you, now free, shot upwards into the vent.

 “Hey, I found one, lookit that. Oh.”

 You heard Jer wheeze one, harsh, shaky laugh before you hurried away. The sound of Battat’s panicked screech was joined by Jongler babbling in a low, worried tone, while Pluey did his best impression of an entire jazz band being pushed down a seven story-tall stairwell.

  Maybe if I find Tenna, we can talk, and I can maybe convince him not to get angry with Mike?

 You very much wanted to find Tenna. If you couldn’t talk to him through Kris, maybe you could figure out something else? If you couldn’t get to him, at the very least, you wanted to get to the stage set in time to see some of the concert. You could hear the music echoing from somewhere in the vents up ahead! This was going to be cool.

 You followed the music.

 Beneath the roar of the bass and the distant scream of the guitar, you heard the constant buzz of low, muffled static.

—

 Just as Queen had predicted: Noelle was freaking killing it out there.

 “Look At Her,” she said as the deer girl swayed and tapped her hooves to Susie's drumbeat.

 She tucked her hands beneath her chin and leaned over the console. Beside her, Tenna sat hunched in his chair with a wide smile on his screen that was directed towards Kris.

 “They're sure havin’ a blast , ain't they…?” He sighed. His antennas popped and drooped as he cooed.

 “Dork,” Queen said, “But Yeah Kris Is Doing Good Too I Guess. Not As Good As Noelle Obviously But. They're Cool.”

 Tenna chuckled. He looked down and adjusted one of the many dials. The lights around the stage brightened by a few notches as Ralsei began the final verse of Raise Up Your Bat.

 He was singing the actual, proper lyrics. Apparently he had baby-fied it when he was on Tenna’s show previously. What a little fluffy gooberhead. She didn't have a mic, but from here, Queen saw that Noelle was singing along, too.

 Her fans kicked on at full power. This song was written by December. A piece of her. Tenna had been, unbeknownst to her, one of her biggest fans since day one. Queen had a whole folder devoted to the lost Holiday’s songs, herself.

  When the demon heart is crying

 And the blood is gushing bright

 Raise up your bat for the burning fight.

 When your hope is slowly dying,

 And your future’s lost its rights

 Raise up your bat and face the fight.

 Let’s knock ‘em dead into the night!

 Ralsei’s normally small, gentle voice became a sincere growl during the final beats of the song. The crowd exploded. Swatchlings gently screamed, while the denizens of Cyber City unleashed a chorus of electro-processed shouts and hoots. The Darkners of the Card Kingdom roared their delight. They were joined by the honks and hollers from Tenna’s staff, both those who were on the clock and those who were intermingled throughout the crowd. Even those pious little weirdos from the Sanctuary seemed to be into it. A series of shard whistles sounded out from the Darkners that Kris had recruited during their adventure through the Blooming Wastes. Many haws were yee’d with much vigor.

 Queen and Tenna both exchanged an amused chuckle. 

 “Oh My God He Actually Sounded Kind Of Scary WTF.”

 “Heh! I didn’t know Ral could hit a note like that…poor kid might need some tea after that one.” Tenna tugged at his collar while the applause rumbled down below the control booth. 

 If she had eyes, Queen would roll them. Tenna had only had his parental safety lock flipped off for all of two days. Still. It was really really funny how mushy and overprotective he was. When Noelle was small, Queen showed her a bunch of scary crap, and Noelle turned out just fine! She loved the scary jumpscare videos. The girl yearned for the creepy gaming glitches compilations. She ate that shit up like crazy.

 “I Think That He Will Live TBH,” she said.

 “What’s next?” Tenna, ignoring her (asshole), looked down at the list of songs the children had selected where it laid next to him. His antennas perked up with a jolt. “Oh! Queenie! It’s your song, next!”

 Queen leaned back and propped her feet up on the control panel. “Oh Right Noelle Picked It Didn’t She? Ha Ha Ha. Yeah. Pretty Cool Of Her.”

 Inside her cranium, blue and yellow lights flickered in rapid succession. Her fans churned. The components inside of her chest cavity tingled as jolts of electricity buzzed and wormed through her central network at a speed and intensity she had not experienced in years.

 She was totally chill, though.

 Noelle was having fun .

 Noelle was here, and Noelle was happy . Therefore all was right in the world and everything was wonderful.

 “Your theme doesn’t have lyrics, does it? Guess Lil’ Ral will be playing the tambourine in the meantime.”

 “Nah It Doesn’t So Yea,” Queen watched the fluffy prince ready the tambourine in his paws, “Dude You Are. Such. A Dork. Have I Told You How Much Of A Dork You Are? About The Kids Specifically I Should Specify."

 Tenna’s smile was unmoving. “Yes,” he said happily, “you have, indeed. Many many times.” He tapped at some of the controls, causing the stagelights to shift towards shades of electric green and neon blue. He dimmed them with a dial, and glanced over the screen that displayed everybody’s names and scores.

 “Oh! Susie is in the lead!” Tenna clapped his hands together as his screen brightened. “And Kris ain’t too far behind Noelle, by the looks of it .”

 “Noelle Is Gonna Make A Comeback. Noelle Will Conquer. It is,” she paused for effect. She leaned towards Tenna, hand raised to catch a glass of acid as it manifested in front of her. “Inevitable.”

 Tenna adjusted his yellow tie. “It’s all in good fun , Queen.”

 “Okay Sure,” she shrugged, “But Noelle Is Going. To. Win. Take Names And: Kick Ass.”

 He chuckled, shaking his head slowly. “Ohhh, sure. And when Kris ends up our grand winner , I’m sure them and Noelle will hug it out and be the best of pals , just like always.”

 “Old Idiot Says What.”

 “Huh-wah?”

 Queen hooted one thick laugh and slapped her knee. Tenna’s screen flicked to static for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure as he coughed into his hand and one of his antennas twitched slightly. As he clenched and loosed his fists, Tenna poked at the microphone that sat between them.

 “It’s your theme, Your Majesty . You wanna announce the song this time?”

 “Oh Hell To The Yes. Gimmie the Mic. Hashtag My Mic.”

 He covered his mouth as he laughed. “Well, I have my own Mike. But sure yeah here’s yours.”

 Queen grabbed the microphone and switched it on. She leaned back in her chair again, mic in one hand, raised glass held high aloft in the other.

 “Okay Hello Yes. Next Up Is ‘Attack of the Killer Queen’. Prepare Thine Collected Selves For The Sheer Force And Utter Majesty Of My Sick As Hell Theme Song,” she took a sip of acid before she added promptly, “Noelle Honey Hi BTW By The Waaaaaaay You Are Going To Do Great And Also If You Wanted To Kill Or Maybe Just Mess Around With Kris At Any Point You Have My Blessing To Do So. It Is Not Cheating To Ensure Your Total Domination Over Those Around You. Okay Honey Good Luck Have Fun Bye Bye.”

 Tenna lunged for her. Queen hollered a hearty chortle as she spun around and kicked her chair away, dodging him with ease. As her chair spun ‘round, she continued to laugh, even as Tenna got to his feet and seized the chair and stared her down with his fangs bared. His screen was a mesh of white noise and a snarled, pointed maw. His shadow enveloped her. The air was hot and thick with the whir of fans and the hiss of static.

 “May I?” He asked darkly, pointing a claw at the mic.

 Queen kept smiling as she passed it to him. She took another sip as Tenna turned on a dime, lost the claws, and brought the microphone with him as he strode back up to the control panel. “Haha! Ain’t she a riot , folks! Just a reminder, but this is all in the name of good ol’ fashion friendly competition and fun . And Kris? Show no mercy . Love ya, kiddo.”

 He then flicked the mic off with a firm click.

 Queen used the tips of her heels to inch back up to the desk. The chair squeaked loudly as she scooted forward. Tenna returned to his chair, and sighed heavily as he sat down.

 Queen let the music start up before she looked at him. “Highkey You’re Very Hot When You’re Mad.”

 As if to prove her point, a gush of hot steam poured through his vents. Tenna ducked his head away, but not in time to hide how red his face got. She saved the image to her ‘Cute Dorky Old Idiot’ folder and considered adding it to her epic wins, but decided to keep that as a strictly Noelle-only zone.

 Down on the stage, the kids began to play her theme mostly perfectly. Noelle and Kris kept looking at each other, either with smiles, or shared looks of mortified embarrassment. Ralsei was also a bit flustered, but he swayed along and hit the tambourine against his palm without much trouble. Susie, much to Queen’s surprise, was still far ahead of everyone else in terms of points.

 Susie. Loud. Brash. Vulgar. Yet...yes. Very kind.

 Not the first choice Queen would have for Noelle, but whatever made her honey gravy soon to be hauntly frost empress happy.

 She was neck-and-neck with Berdly, who was creeping steadily up the ranks. Turns out all his talk of ‘locking in’ was not just empty air. The bluebird with his ridiculous get-up had a serious scowl on his face as his fingers jittered across the keys, the notes flashing on the display behind him rapidly.

  If Berdly wins I am gonna go lay down about it, Queen decided. She punctuated this personal decree by taking another sip from her glass.

—

 The music was loud enough for you to actually register what song it was: they were playing Queen’s battle theme!

  This way? Maybe? You followed a turn in the vents that took you to the left. 

 Every once in a while, you’d pass a vent grate and could peek out into the studio’s halls. You mostly saw empty stretches of starry wall paper. Once in a while, though, you’d see one of the Mikes running around in search of you, and you’d throw yourself as far as you could against the vent wall to hide.

 You spotted Pluey, and shrunk away accordingly.

 The cat-shaped Shadowguy panted as he skidded to a halt. He glanced around, yellow-pink eyes bulging, and took out a walkie-talkie. His breath sounded like a mangled accordion mixed with a rusty old harmonica.

 “Not…in the…east hall…not…seein’ it… anywhere …!”

 Battat’s voice came through as a static whine, “well, LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE! Once that concert is done, Tenna’s gonna call and want that thing back so…so he can do whatever with it. Find it!”

 Pluey tucked the walkie away. He looked over his shoulder, his tail a wilted weight behind him as he wheezed and his body sagged.

 “Whatta hell even is it?” He pondered quietly out-loud. “Weird little…red bug…that Tenna yoinked outta Kris…says it’s a soul, but ain’t that supposed to stay in ya? Kris…”

 He fidgeted anxiously with his paws. He started to walk forward slowly, and inch by inch, you crept alongside him through the vent. “Kris…poor kid…way too much goin’ on with them these days. Way too much.”

 You agreed wholeheartedly.

 It wasn’t worth all too much, considering that YOU were one of the things ‘happening’ to Kris.

 Pluey signed again. His head was bowed low. He seemed like he was just pausing to catch his breath for a moment. You were about to hurry on ahead, but you both stopped when a boisterous voice came from down the hall up ahead.

 You jumped when the music started up.

 “GREETINGS! Arest thou an employee of this hither studio?”

  Here’s that weird bisexual man again. Who invited him?

 You laughed fondly. Roulxs Kaard approached Pluey, who jolted and stood at attention. Pluey nodded, “I-I am! What can I do ya for, Sir Kaard?”

 “I,” the Duke of Puzzles declared, “am searching for: the restethroometh. Could’st thou mayhaps direct me to wherest it may be?”

 Pluey put on a grin, nodded, and pointed behind him. “That’ll be just down that way, take a right, and you’ll be right there!”

 “Mine deepest of gratitudes upon you,” Roulxs bowed with a flourish. He sauntered forward, but as he was a few steps ahead, Pluey’s tail suddenly perked.

 “Oh! Erm, Sir Roulxs?”

 “Yesseth?” He turned to face the cat on a dime.

 “If ah…if you happen to spot a erm…small, red, heart-shaped object while you’re on your way back…mind wavin’ me or any of the other employees out here down? It’s erm,” he stumbled and tugged as his paws, “a prop! A, haha, runaway little toy we use as a prop, and it got loose, and well, Tenna, he’ll be quite bothered if he finds out it’s missin’. Catch my meaning?”

 You watched Roulxs scratch at his chin. The Duke hummed and considered for a moment. “Hmmm…does thoust mean…that should I assist in your efforts to find this ‘heart-shaped’ thingeth…that mayhaps. It shall put me in the good graces of thine Lord of the Screens?”

 “Tenna can’t know that it was ever missing,” Pluey stressed. His fur stood on edge. “B-but…I mean? Sure…?” He shrugged weakly.

 “I cameth. To get in with him and Her Cyber Majesty, you seeth,” Roulxs tossed his long, white hair back. He put a hand on his hip, while the other he used to fan himself as he began his scornful lament. “I haveth been trying to woo them both these past few days. Alas! To no avail. But tonight, in this evening of revelry, they areth both upeth there in yon booth, flirting, shamelessly I might addeth, and are in merry spirits as they watch their respective scions goeth at it in the art of a fun friendly competitive rhythmeth gameth.”

 One of Pluey’s eyes twitched. “...uh-huh…?”

 “SO. If I helpeth you find this thingeth…then go back…and shooteth mine shot…they may. Be willeth. To giveth me a… shot . Hah…ahahaha! YES. YESSS! I will aid you, dear feline. In the name…of loveth .”

 He beamed. He clapped his hands. He preened, smitten on the idea alone.

 He then turned back around and slid down the hall. “But first I goeth pisseth.”

 Once he was gone, Pluey took out the walkie-talkie. “Okay. So. I’ve got Roulxs Kaard…helping? But seriously we need to find this thing now .”

 He turned it off before anyone could reply. He carried on ahead, and you watched his tail vanish around a corner. You carried on along the route yourself. After a few more bends, you found yourself going upwards on a steady incline. The music now rattled the vent around you. You had to be close.

 Not too long after you started to worry you got turned around at some point, you emerged into a dark open space. A curtain, outlined by a neon glow, hung in front of you. This was the stage! Kris and their friends were just outside! You were so close to their performance that you wobbled and jittered about from the force of the vibrations.

 You looked up, and saw that the backstage area of the Lightners Live set was filled with ropes, pulleys, scaffolding and metal ladders.

  Okay. Don’t wanna go on stage to bug Kris…can I go up? You hopped out from the vent, looked to your left, and saw where a bit of scaffold slanted upwards against the wall. …I think I go up!

 Just as soon as you began to inch up the incline did a black-green blur jump in front of you. You jerked back. In front of you stood a squat figure with a round head. You locked ‘eyes’ with Battat as he adjusted the microphone-shaped head of the Mike costume, and glanced up to see Pluey’s eyes as he peered down at you, while the outline of Jongler came into view as the stagelights flared and illuminated their tall silhouette. Jer was there, too. He was further up and hung off a ladder.

 Battat gestured to them all, and made a sharp ‘ hush ’ motion. They all nodded in unison, their eyes all flickering to the stage outside, before the focus was placed back onto you.

 You looked at Battat. Battat looked at you, lifted a small gacha ball over his head, and you tensed .

  Oh, it is on .

 As he brought the ball down, you darted forward between the Pippins’ legs. He stumbled forward as you skirted up the incline. There was a gap where it ended and another bit of scaffolding hung down from a thick rope. You hopped across. The momentum from your impact caused the rope to creak and sway.

 Pluey bounded towards you. You hopped to another plank, which creaked as Pluey stepped on it and made to nab you up between his paws.

 Unfortunately for the feline Shadowguy, he over-did his lunge, and stumbled. You were able to time it right to bounce on his head, which gave you a boost on your jump up to the next bit of support. As you readied yourself for Jongler’s move, Pluey honked quietly, turned to come after you, while Battat hopped his way up the climb.

 Above you, Jer was hard at work. His lazy attitude was long gone. He moved in an orange blur from rope to rope, going between the ladders, pulling them up or pushing them away so your ascent would be just that bit harder.

 You then remembered: you could float. Right?

 But you tried, and actually found yourself unable to drift off the floor. You could bounce around, but it seemed someone had flipped on the gravity. And you weren’t even blue!

  It’s cool, it's fine, you told yourself.

 Jongler had a butterfly net with your name on it. Tragically for Jongler, you heard Tenna’s voice come over the speakers outside, and found yourself spurred by the first few notes of the next song as it trickled in.

 “Allllll- righty , folks! Next up…well…Queen, ya wanna say it with me?”

 She laughed lowly, “Lmao Yeah Sure Dude.”

 You heard the smile in her voice as she, along with Tenna, declared in unison, “ It’s T-V TIIIIIIIIIIIIIME !”

  OH it is so cool. Yeah, I got this. Sorry, Jongler.

 The net came down in a swish. You jumped over it just in time. You sailed past beyond Jongler, who spun in an awkward half-circle, and stumbled right into Pluey, who squeaked as the two collided. While they both fumbled about, Battat pushed past and raced ahead after you. On the stage, where the lights pulsed red and yellow, Ralsei was singing his heart out, though you could barely hear his voice over the collective scream of the rowdy crowd.

  Clap and cheer, smile and scream!

 Entertainment on your screen!

 Stomp your feet!

 To the beat!

 Hey folks, you’re in for a treat!

 The song spurred you onwards. Upwards. Plank by plank, beat by beat. You made your dark ascent as the song blared.

  Pull the strings!

 Make it ring!

 ‘Til your heart begins to sing.

 No more reason, only rhyme.

 Ready, folks? It’s TV Time!

 You pinged across another gap. Jer, up on a nearby ladder, rustled around in his pocket, and pulled out a handful of plastic chips. He opened his eye, purely so he could wink , before he started to chuck them at you, one by one.

  POP QUIZ!

 Who’s the CRT whizz: it’s me!

 You heard a thunk when the first one managed to hit you. Your mind flashed towards Kris, and you hurried to bounce and slide around the tiny bullets. You would think that them being so small would make it easier to dodge….you would be wrong!!

 You hummed along to the tune out on stage.

 If the Mikes knew there was a very real chance that Kris felt that hit, they’d probably hold back.

 Unfortunately for the Mikes, you were a disembodied, pixelated organ with no mouth, and merely a capacity to scream internally in frustration as Jongler and Pluey started to gain on you, with Battat leading the charge. Battat pointed, and the two nodded, and jumped to a pair of ladders that hung on opposite sides of the board you were hurrying across. They were trying to surround you.

 Out on the stage, the song dipped into a sinister register. Out in the crowd, you heard a few Darkner’s chant the words “Mister Ant Tenna’s T-V Time” to the beat, while on stage the lyrics rang.

  If it’s a fight that you’re wanting to see,

 Then I’ll cue up the lights!

 For far be it from me,

 To deny you the right

 To all fall to your knees.

 Give the viewers a sight! One that’s sure to appease!

 Pluey and Jongler lunged in unison.

  ‘Cause I’m free from the cen-sors,

 Leaving me free to dismember.

 This will be a show for,

 All to re-mem-ber.

 Battat jumped up, a fresh prize ball ready in his mitts.

  Funny, you hate it: this is the show you created.

 Is your sense of pride really that inflated?

 Jer chucked one final chip that bounced next to you. You jumped in time to its bounce, and through sheer chance, sheer force of willpower, managed to make the leap above the orange Pippins’ head to land on the blank directly above him. Jer whipped his head around, gawking.

 “Well gawd damn,” he said. He sounded genuinely impressed.

 You couldn’t lie: you were, too.

 You were over halfway there. You peered into the darkness above you, and spotted a square of light near the roof. Through there, you’d be able to peek out and look at the stage and crowd without getting into anyone’s way. The Mikes, bless the poor idiots, were visibly worn around. They collected themselves behind you, but the sweat on their faces gave it away that they were reaching their limits. They’d call it quits, soon enough. 

 You jumped up onto another plank, made your way forward, and proceeded to halt when a pair of pointy blue feet slammed down in your way.

 You didn’t even have to look up. Even amidst the roar of the concert, Roulxs’ theme was an unmistakable hum in your ears.

 “Surpriseth,” the Duke purred, “‘tis I. Shockingeth, I know.”

  I mean not really. But whatever makes you happy, strange man.

 Roulxs Kaard pulled out a dainty butterfly net of his very own. You went to skirt around his legs, but he held a hand up, and you hit an invisible wall.

 “Nay. I, Roulxs Kaard, decree that all heart-shapeth thingies must pass…mine riddles three. To proceed.”

  Okay! Hit me.

 To your shock, he did. With the net, specifically. He scooped you up when you went still and hurled the net back up in an arcing motion…the force of which caused you to go flying up into the air. You flew…and flew…and landed with a plop directly in front of the opening you’d eyed up from down below.

  …oh.

 You scooted towards the edge to check on Roulxs. He was stood frozen in place with the net still raised. His smiling face creaked to look up at you. Still rooted to the spot, he began to shake violently. Battat, huffing, trembling himself, climbed up and panted as he stood next to the Duke.

 “He’s…he’s…he’s gonna see it . Oh…oh god .”

 “God,” Roulxs said, “ dammit .”

 Battat clutched his head. He sank to his knees and started to whimper. You watched Jer rush over to hug him, his voice inaudible as he embraced the smaller Pippins and squeezed him tight. Pluey and Jongler, both exhausted, stared at you. Pluey kept shaking his head. Jongler merely sagged.

  Hey guys don’t worry, you wanted to say, I’ll explain everything to Tenna, and it will all be chill. Don’t worry! It’s gonna be okay.

 You left them, and emerged onto the set. You were up in the rafters, where metal beams sprawled out in a net above the crowd below. Across from the stage you saw a lit up control booth, inside of which sat Tenna and Queen. Below you, you saw the kids playing away, all of them dressed in punk rock outfits and also whatever the hell Berdly had going on.

  …it is kind of a look, though.

 Behind you, over the music, in the backstage, you heard a faint staticky crackle. You inched back slightly to listen.

 “Hey? Mike?”

 You heard Tenna’s voice come through. You looked back across the room into the control booth, and saw that the TV was touching the side of his head with two fingers while his antennas blinked.

 Battat cleared his throat as he replied calmly, “yes, boss? Whatcha need?”

 There was a tremble to Tenna’s voice. Slight, but it was there . “Why am I seein’...something that I really ain’t …supposed to be seeing, Mike?”

 In the booth, you saw Tenna’s smile stretch out wide across his screen. Queen looked at him, and tilted her head. You watched her lips move, but Tenna merely looked down at her and waved a gloved hand.

 “Oh, it’s nothin’ Queen ! Just, ah, a slight pest problem.”

 Queen then tilted her head to the other side, and gestured down towards Noelle. Oh! Noelle was scared of mice. Queen was worried a mouse was on set that would scare Noelle, wasn’t she? Oh dear.

 “Don’t worry,” Tenna’s voice crackled over Battat’s headpiece, “Mike is on the case. Mike is- oh, Mike . Ol’ Motormouth Mike . My guy! Mike, you’re my guuuuuuy . You. Are. My. Guy. I know you will take care of this little problem and everything will go back to being just…hunky-doody! Yup! Great talkin’ with ya, Mike!”

 The line went dead. You heard them all shuffle about behind you. There was a metal beam right in front of you that spanned the length of the room and stretched all the way to the opposite wall. If you looked close enough, you could make out the vague outline of a vent grate on the other side.

 That was where you were headed, you supposed.

  Oh, Tenna…

 You went to float across the beam, but were brought to a halt as the song below reached its final swell, and…

 …

  …did…did Ralsei just swear ?

Chapter Text

  Tonight, yes, tonight.

 The Angel will come.

 Tenna sat paralyzed in his seat. He could see it. The little red light. It was small, but he knew what it was from the second it poked out from that hole above the stage. It stood there and just…stared…for a moment. It stayed still the whole time he was on the line with Mike. As soon as he hung up, though, it seemed to sense that he was staring, and started to make a beeline across one of the support beams towards the booth: towards him .

  Tonight, yes, tonight. Tonight tonight tonight tonight. You will have to allow the Angel to do as it wants.

 The Angel-soul-parasite was coming for him. Tenna thought maybe he’d have some more time. Time for one last bang, yeah? One last round of fun before it had to hurt . Before he had to be… honed , as the Knight put it. Before the Angel came and used that second tape and he had to be changed into something else that would help Kris, and set them free.

 Because that was the Angel’s goal, wasn’t it?

 That’s why it was coming to get him.

 Could it even use the tape without Kris? Kris, oh, Kris, they were completely clueless! To this whole mess!

  Good, Tenna thought, please just let the kid have some damn FUN, before you…before I …

 Tenna was terrified. He was terrified of what it would mean, to be honed into this Angel’s ‘blade’ that it would use to break the prophecy. Tenna liked being Tenna. He liked being himself. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to be something different. He wanted to be Kris’ TV and sit in the golden living room and watch them while they laughed and drew on the floor and played with Noelle and ate pie and watched him and smiled .

 Why? Why him ?

 And why now ?

  Tonight, tonight, the Angel will come.

 The next song was some little tune called “Don’t Forget”. Tenna had no clue who made it. He had no idea where he’d heard it before. It was just there in the system, lyrics and all, and the kids all decided to make it their finale because it was new , and new equalled cool . Speaking of-

 “Hey Tenna?”

 He slowly turned his screen towards Queen. She had her arms crossed as she looked up at him, a calm smile of her very own fixed to her face.

 “Y…yeah?”

 “Why Are My ‘Lying Little Fibber’ Detection Subroutines Kicking In?” Queen tilted her face down. The lights onstage caught on her visor and gave it a harsh, reddish glare. “There Is No ‘Pest’ On The Set. You Are. Bullshitting Me? Why?”

 He tugged at his gloves weakly. “Ha…wha-what makes you say that? Y-you…oh, what’s that thing you mentioned the other day? About false flags ?”

 Queen brought one of her legs up, and then brought it back down onto the edge of the console with a heavy thud. He jolted back.

 “Aint No False Flags Here,” Queen said sternly, “You Are. Again! Bull. Shitting. Moi. And Now You Got Me Thinking That There Is Something Very Very Very Wrong You Think I Cannot…”

 She lifted her visor as she thought for a moment. A red, pixelated circle spun around on her display. It turned for a few seconds, then blinked away before she brought her face back down to glare up at him. “...Handle? Do You Think That I Am Stupid, Mr. Ant Tenna? Do You Think That I Am ‘Weak’ And ‘Cannot Handle The Truth’?”

 She brought her leg down from the console. She grabbed her chair’s armrests, gripped them tight, and leaned forward. As she scooted her chair towards Tenna, he in turn leaned back and moved his away.

 “Q- Queen ! No. No, of course not. I-I would- You’re- You’re very…you…you…” 

 The vent. The vent above the control panel. It was there.

 Just barely, between the slits of the grate, in the very corner, there it was: the red glow.

 “...you’re…you…you are,” Tenna’s insides were flooded with icy water. His voice caught. His static hitched. “...my…my very best friend , Queen. I would never call you weak. You’re one of the strongest people that I know. It’s just…”

 She leaned closer.

 The red glow inched out from the vent.

 On the stage below, in a raspy voice, Ralsei finished out the song. The crowd cheered.

  Don’t forget…

 …I’m with you in the dark.

 “-one sec, okay? I will B-ARE- BEE !” The word buzzed above his head. 

 Tenna moved fast. He shot out of his chair. He swiped his hand and snatched up the soul. He kicked his chair when he turned, and dashed out the door.

 “WATCH THE BABIES FOR ME TELL KRIS I WILL BE RIGHT BACK OKAY GOOD OKAY GOODBYE LOVE YOU! HAHAHAHAHA!”

 If she said anything, he was long gone before he could hear it. He had to get somewhere private . Somewhere far away from the stage. Somewhere far, far, far away from Kris. He raced through the green starry halls and found a supply room that he darted into, while the soul wiggled around in his clenched fist.

 The door slammed behind him, and he locked it with a sharp click.

 He leaned against it and slid onto the floor, fans whirring as his chest heaved.

 The thing in his hand squirmed.

—

 You…were now in a closet with Tenna. It all had happened so quickly. Was Queen alright? She sounded very worried…and mad…worried and mad.

  I’m sorry, you said quietly, I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.

 “You…” Tenna’s voice hissed as he raised his closed fist and brought you near his screen. “What…what are you?”

  I’m…

 You weren’t even sure if he could really hear you. How could he? This world was…it wasn’t built that way. It wasn’t like you could chat into a microphone, or type out a reply. And besides, it wasn’t…Tenna, he was…

 …and then you had some options. 

 You were no longer in Tenna’s grasp. He noticed, and he immediately seized against the closet door. As his head whipped around wildly, you considered the four choices that were provided, and went with what you hoped was the choice that would at least help the poor creature calm down a bit.

 “ I’m a friend, ” you told him.

 “A-a friend ?” Tenna’s screen was a void of melted colorbars. He looked at you where you now hovered in the open air above him. “You…h-how did you…I…”

 He sank down until his legs were splayed out in front of him. Back to the door, he spread his arms out and braced them against the cool gray steel. Tenna’s claws dug into the metal door, leaving thick, ragged scratches as he itched against it. He was trembling like a leaf. As much as you wanted to move to give him comfort, you knew it would only scare him more if you got all up in his space. 

 So, you simply remained where you were. You waited. Either for Tenna to say something else, or for the world to give you more choices.

 With a shaky sigh, Tenna said quietly, “...a…a friend . If you’re my friend , mind answering some…questions?”

 You bobbed up and down once. Tenna watched you, and despite himself, chuckled.

 “Alright, friendo. First of all: what’s your name?”

 A vague sense of regret came onto you. When you started all of this, so very long ago, you thought you were being funny. You only hoped that Tenna would find it humorous as the choice of your name popped up and you selected it without having to move.

 “Player?” Tenna squinted, despite lacking visible eyes. “...alright, then. And Player …what’s your deal , exactly? Why’d you go through all the trouble of sneakin’ away from Mike, sneaking on-set, just to come visit lil’ ol’ me?”

 You had more options. It was…strange, being able to just…talk to someone. It was far from the weirdest thing you’d found, though. This was what you wanted. This was exactly what you’d been hoping for.

 You merely hoped that you didn’t mess it up. Tenna was…well. He was rather fond of himself. Maybe it would help him feel more comfortable if you played into his ego a little bit?

 “ I’m your biggest fan, ” you told him.

 “My-” Tenna’s mouth curled into an empty grin, “funny. Real funny. We’ve got a comedian on our hands here, folks!”

 The lack of laugh track put you on edge. Tenna pulled himself off the floor. He steadied himself with the wall, now towering over you where you floated as he stood at full height. Your red glow shone in the depths of his shadow.

 “If you’re such a big fan , I reckon you’ve probably tuned into the fact that I’m not exactly charmed with you. Dunno if I’ve made that clear, yet. Did me rippin’ you outta Kris get that across, earlier?” He took a step towards you. You bounced, just slightly, from the vibrations as he stepped closer. You otherwise remained perfectly still.

 “ I know, ” you said, “ and I’m very sorry. ”

 “Sorry for…what, exactly?”

 He stepped closer. His hands curled into clenched, clawed fists at his sides.

 “ For controlling Kris. ” Because you were . You hated that this had happened to them. That YOU had happened to them. As Tenna took another step towards you, another box of options appeared. “ I didn’t choose this. I didn’t get a choice. It just happened. ”

 “Oh?”

 He paused.

 “And…I’m just supposed to…take your word for it?”

 ‘Word’ came out as something putrid and rotten. His screen was black by the time he stood directly in front of you. You remained completely still, even as he raised his hands, claws fully grown, and his static swelled into an oceanic roar of malice.

 “You…stole…Kris’... life . You… broke …them. Stole their smile, stole their laugh , their tears, their voice, their body ,” a shudder rattled through his towering form. The edges of his suit flared. He laughed hatefully, “oh, but it was an accident , was it? A little mistake? You didn’t mean to eat their entire life up, so it’s all fine and dandy, huh? HUH? DO YOU THINK I’M STUPID ?!”

 White volts of static crackled between his fingers. He spread his claws out wide, the bolts jumping between his digits, while similar sparks danced between his antennas. A toothy maw sagged from the void of his display. Sharp, yellowish fangs seeped out of the glass and bore down upon you. Trickles of chromatic saliva gathered at the corners of his gaping maw.

 Despite his downright monstrous appearance, Tenna’s voice remained calm and cool. “And I can’t even break ya for it, can I? Because any hurt to you goes right over to Kris…I saw them fall whenever you got hit…out in the Wastes…ha…haha…”

 His voice grew thick and wet. Tenna lifted his claws away from you and brought them towards his screen. “Oh…oh, Kris…oh, baby, no…”

 The lightning slowly faded from his hands, which he brought down to his chest. He closed his mouth as he looked down at you. The static on his antennas continued to sing as he hummed quietly.

 “...why did you really come to me? What…what do you want with me, ‘Angel’?”

 Oh. So you were the Angel, after all. You’d figured that was you. The picture for Kris’ part of the prophecy tipped you off along with some other bits here and there, but hey, there was that mystery solved, at least. 

 “ I want to help Kris. ”

 It was the truth. Plain and simple. You wanted to help Kris. You wanted to stop the Knight from opening fountains, so the Roaring would never occur. You wanted to finish the story and beat the game so when it was all said and done, Kris would be free of you, and could go back to living their life. It wasn’t a perfect life. Not by any means. But it was theirs, and they deserved to have the full and final say in it.

 He didn’t believe you. You knew he didn’t even before the words left his mouth. Well. The word.

 One lone, heavy word. Putrid and dark and thick and hateful.

 “ L i a r .”

 His claws were back in place around you. The flashes of electric static were close enough to make a faint outline appear around your form. You weren’t in a battle, not quite, but you saw the TP bar climb in the corner of your vision.

 “You…are…a… parasite . You, you thing . You horrible little pest . You STOLE KRIS’ LIFE. And you expect me to believe that you wanna fucking HELP THEM ?! DO YOU THINK THAT I AM STUPID ?!” Tenna jumped like he’d been struck when his claws brushed against you, causing you to flicker as a thunk rang to indicate you’d taken damage.

 He flung himself back against the door. You drifted over in the opposite direction towards the room’s far wall.

 “Oh god oh god oh god oh god, Kris. No no nonononononononononono, baby, I’m sorry , I’m coming, I’ll make it better, I-”

 Tenna pawed for the doorknob, but merely swatted at it frantically with his talons. His screen flashed between solid red and static white voids. He shrunk by several feet until he was about half of his regular height, the difference even more apparent as he fell to the floor and collapsed against the door once again.

 There was a harsh thud when his head hit the metal. You winced. You scooted towards him, but Tenna whipped his head around, hissed , and clawed at the doorknob frantically.

 “Go away go away go away go away leave me alone leave KRIS alone.”

 But you couldn’t. You inched back. A box appeared over you, and you merely had to shuffle into place to select from the provided choices.

 “ I didn’t have a choice, either. No one does. ”

 “ Liar ,” he spat, “ horrible little lying worm. ”

 Anger and terror.

 There was a vent nearby. Would it help if you just…left him? He was so terrified of you. So furious, and again, you truly could not fault him for either. You were…something so… alien to this world. Tenna was a Darkner, a creature born out of fantasy and subconscious abstractions. To Kris, you were something eldritch. Something unknowable. To Tenna, you were something even more unfathomable and distant. Kris was made of flesh and bone. Tenna was made of static, metal, and a child’s wandering imagination. You were the closest thing either of them had even experienced to a ‘god’, and here you were, just floating around, telling him that you wanted to help the child who created him ( his god), with meager bits of prewritten text to serve as slivers of speech that you could only utter because the game offered them to you.

 You had half a mind to tell him that that is what this all was. The worst truth of them all. The sort of truth that drove jesters and marionettes and wise old merchants stark-raving mad. But oh…the poor thing. The poor, sweet, old thing. He wouldn’t be able to handle it. 

 The option came up to do just that. The choice to tell him. It was worded as “I made an avatar at the start of this game” in the black text box. It stared you down, and you actually hated yourself for even considering it.

 That would not help. Instead, you would keep your words on a level he could grasp.

 To Tenna, you were the Angel of worshipped prophecy.

 To you, Tenna was a vibrating sprite in a dimly lit, pixelated room.

  And yet, the fear is real. As is my care for him. For all of it. And isn’t that just wonderful? Isn’t it feeling real enough to make it so?

 “ I had a vessel. But something happened, and it was taken away, and I was forced into Kris. ”

 “T-taken…?” Tenna had one hand on the doorknob and another gripped on his knee. He looked at you, his voice distorted by static and sniffles. “B…by who ?”

 “ I do not know, ” you told him, “ but I am trying to make it right. I am trying to reach the end of this story, so that Kris can be free, and go back to their life. I really, really did not mean to do this to them, Tenna. ”

 The static continued to buzz, but after a moment’s pause, Tenna let go of the knob and let his hand fall to the floor. He tilted his screen slightly so his focus was on you. You saw the hazy outline of your glow reflected on his display.

 “... does it have to hurt ?” He asked quietly. The words were so small, so faded, so gray, that you have to lean and squint to make them out.

 Tenna pulled his knees against his chest. “...I’m…I’m scared . I’m scared of change. I don’t…I don’t want to change. I just wanna make Kris happy…”

 A beat. The box appeared,

 You tensed as you made your choice. “ So do I. ”

 Change? You supposed that this was a change for him. Tenna thought that he was about to move on two days ago. He was ready to find a new home, a new family, up until Kris wandered into his studio and Tenna saw you and learned about this whole… situation .

 All it took for him to fall back into his natural role was seeing that Kris was scared, and that they needed comfort.

 It was something, you realized, that came to him as easy as breathing.

 He covered his screen, antennas drooping. He shrunk down until he was almost Kris’ height. You waited, and then slowly sank down and floated towards him until you were both at eye-level. Tenna lowered his hands to look at you. He trembled weakly.

 “She told me,” he said softly, “that…that if I let you…that Kris will be happy. P…promise me…promise me that they’ll be happy…when it’s all over.”

  She?

 You didn’t get the choice of a question. You didn’t have a choice at all. It was the same words repeated four times over. Words that were written for you by, if you had to hazard a guess, your friend…your buddy behind the scenes. It was a nice gift on his part…but…a sour one.

 Strange and sour. Was the whirring sound in your ears from Tenna, or was it time to step away and take a break?

 They’d all be stuck waiting if you went to bed…

 If you looked away, everything just…stopped.

 “ Kris will smile again ,” you told him.

 He leaned back when you tried to press against his screen. He took a step back, sprouting upwards as he moved. The static whine swelled with him. “I hate you,” he hissed.

 That was fair. You’d consider the fact that he wasn’t melting down anymore a win. You didn’t need Tenna to like you. It’d be wonderful if he did, if only so he’d be more…comfortable. But this was alright. You hung back and waited to see what he’d do next.

 Tenna felt around for a moment, before he finally got a proper grip on the doorknob. His chest rose and fell as he looked at you. His face was back as a curled snarl of disgust, with lines of sweat all across his forehead as he held up his other hand and summoned a prize ball into his palm.

 “...if…if you really mean it. Then…maybe…work with me, here. And stay in the fucking prize ball until Kris needs you…okay, buddy ?” His mouth turned into a hateful, bitter grin. The plastic ball clicked as he pried it open with his claws.

 He held out his hand, and he waited.

 You obediently floated towards the open capsule. You moved between the two halves. Tenna hurried to shut it around you, his hand shaking as he held you up and peered at you. As he did so, a textbox appeared, and, despite yourself, you had a little laugh at the choices.

 “ Please don’t be mad at Mike. He did his best. ”

 He scoffed. His fingers closed around the prize ball, which he held close to his chest as you heard the doorknob click, and Tenna moved to exit the closet.

 He froze, though. You wondered for a moment, until Tenna turned back around, and you both shared a surprised jolt when a white-black blur hopped out from behind a pile of boxes.

  Ohhhh my fucking -

 Tenna slammed the door shut. He tossed you in the corner as a series of broken, mangled trumpets heralded the arrival of a certain little mailman.

 “TRASHHEAP! Boy, what a [Coincidence? I THINK NOT!]. Fancy runnin’ into you here.”

  Oh my god. Tenna, dude. I’m so sorry. 

 You tried to signal sympathy by going back and forth in the gacha ball. You were also trying to mime the motion of shaking your head, to let Tenna know that you had no idea Spamton was here ( I’m not with him! ), but his attention was on the puppet-like Darkner who was rapidly sliding towards him.

 “What the-” Tenna raised his hands and started to shake. “You- The- The fuck -” He clenched his hands, shook his head, and reached behind his back. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Not doing- I am not dealing . With this shit . Tonight. No thank you nope goodbye.”

 He pulled out the spray bottle. Spamton skidded to a halt, hands raised high in mock-surrender. “WOAH, [Heeeeeeey MAMA]! Don’t shoot! Let me [explaining the unexplainable], old pal.”

 You thought to yourself, Spamton, he pulled a gun on me the other night. The spray bottle is him being nice.

 “Not. In. The. Mood,” Tenna started to shake the bottle violently. As he snarled and barred his fangs, thick plumes of steam began to roll out of the vents on the sides of his head. “I didn’t wanna talk back home . I don’t wanna talk to you when I’m at work . I do. Not. CARE about whatever flimsy excuses you have for what you pulled back then. Kris needs me. I need to check and make sure they’re okay and get them to bed or put something on for them and their friends or SOMETHING. ANYTHING! I NEED TO BE DOING LITERALLY ANYTHING OTHER THAN LISTENING TO YOUR BULLSHIT !”

 He started to rasp. His voice dipped and wobbled. “You left me . You abandoned me. You walked out at the last minute. I’m done. I have been done.”

 “Boobtube, I am TRYING to [help a fella out] with your little…heart-shaped [problemo] over there.” Spamton hitched a thumb to point at you. He grinned, his yellow-pink eyes bright and wild as Tenna turned and paused his fuming.

 Tenna glanced between you and Spamton. “You…you know…how to…deal…with that thing?”

  He’s a liar! You wanted to shout, he tried to kill Kris! …well okay. A lot of people have tried to kill Kris. Tenna, you technically also tried to kill Kris, and uh. You kind of actually did . Kill Kris. A few times. That was my bad. BUT. He was extra freaky about it.

 “[CORRECTAMUNDO]. And then some. [Act now] and old pal, oh, old BUDDY, and you and me can forget the [kids eat free], forget the [downtown], forget the [blast from the past]. We can make it BIG, trashheap! Big! Big shots, you and me! I just need you to-”

 “How did you get in here?”

 “Huh?”

 Tenna had the spray nozzle aimed at the walking-talking-rapidly growing pop-up ad. His screen only displayed his nose, which was angled down at the tiled floor. “How? How did you get into my studio? How long have you been hiding in here?”

 “Oh, you know Kris. That [little sponge] has always had a knack for gettin’ themself in trouble, haha,” his laugh was so forced and stilted that almost hurt . He made a stiff ‘go get ‘em’ motion by thrusting his fist up, and rolled his glassy eyes. “Me and the kid, we bumped into each other while they were wanderin’ around [CYBERRRRRR CITYYYYYYYYY]. We talked. We laughed! We [friend request accepted]! We had fun. You raised ‘em right, boobtube. Haha. Ya sure did!”

 You kept rocking the gacha ball. You saw Tenna’s fingers twitch, and kept up the shaking motion.

 “...Kris…brought you…into the living room,” Tenna said slowly, figuring it out as he spoke.

 “Yup! Glad to see you’ve [taken a chill pill], trashheap. You were real [out of touch, out of time] back then.”

 “How…how long have you…”

 Despite the plastic texture of his body, Spamton’s face softened. His eyes grew…gentle. His voice dipped into something low and warm. Tender, even.

 “...it was a very [lovely] little island that you…set up…for that [game].”

 Tenna bristled. “You…you saw…oh.” He swallowed thickly.

 A darkness crossed Spamton’s face for a moment. He frowned, “and that [hell hath no fury like a woman scorned][in the dark of the night], back there. [Home, home on the range]. [When I get my hands on her, so help me]. Oh, cathode…I almost…but I figured it’d just [freaky Friday!] you out if I…the nerve .”

 Anger. Actual, sincere anger. It fell away, but you saw him stiffen.

 Spamton inched closer to his former partner. “Boobtube, we can do it right this time. You and me. Best [friend request accepted]. The big bads, the [BIG SHOT]s of the show biz. You can have it all. You don’t need all of this weighing you down [in the slime]. Just…give me…a chance.”

 Then Spamton took a step to the side. Towards you . Tenna shuffled his feet to block him off. Thin wisps of steam continued to rise from his vents in spite of his low tone.

 “ You left me ,” Tenna said darkly, “ you ran out on our deal . On. Me . What do you know about what’s ‘weighing me down’? Do you even know what this thing really is?!” He stomped over, picked you up, and jerked his arm towards Spamton. “DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT KIND OF SHIT I AM DEALING WITH RIGHT NOW?! HUH?! DO YA ?!”

 “It’s Kris’ [silly string], old buddy! Hand it here, and I’ll-”

 “And you’ll what? Finally tell me your secret? Like you were always promising to?”

 Spamton stepped back. “You,” he said quietly, “...you [kept it for that special someone], trasheap. Don’t act [koi] with me.”

 “I kept-” Tenna’s screen fizzled for a moment. He stammered and jerked back. “What, the pipis ? Yeah, I held onto it. One, it was a gift, and two, it cuts down on the cost of makin’ TV Dinners and all that junk. One less business expense.” He tugged his tie as he adjusted it sharply.

 Spamton raised a brow at this. He tucked his hands behind his back as he leaned forward, eyebrows all a-wiggling. “Oh, sure. And I’m the [highschool prom queen].”

 A pink glow flicked across Tenna’s display. Only for a second. He quickly shook his head and drew himself back up to his full height. Despite the stark difference in height between the two Darkners, for just a moment there, Tenna was the one who stood in Spamton’s shadow…metaphorically.

 “Why am I even entertaining this? Why am I- what am I doing ?” Tenna smacked his screen and groaned, “stupid, stupid, waste of time, waste of my time, I gotta get back to the kids-”

 “Boobtube, come on! [Don’t be so serious] and miss out on this [limited time special deal]! You wanna help the kid, right? Wanna help ‘em make it big? Wanna help ‘em stand tall and see into [H E A V E N], right? RIGHT?!” Spamton hopped and threw his arms high in the air.

 He bounced to block Tenna off as the host turned to the door. When he lifted his arms, for just a split second, you saw the faintest outline of green strings that led up from the Addison and into…somewhere.

 “ Heaven ?” Tenna echoed incredulously. “You…oh, I’m leaving .”

 “[DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL!] Wait, wait!”

 “Heaven- what do you know about Heaven ? And stop talking about Kris. Leave them- leave them out of your malarkey .” He then paused, as if he’d realized something. His face flickered. His fingers curled around the gacha ball.

 Tenna lifted you up to his screen. “Hey, buddy ,” he said gruffly, “little buddy pal o’ mine. You were there when this small weird guy met Kris, right?”

 You bobbed up and down. You watched Spamton do a double-take.

 “Trashheap, it…it can [understanding one another]?” Because he thought you were like whatever his strings were, didn’t he? He thought that he understood. He thought that his friend on the phone gave him all the dirty deets and insider secrets. He thought that he was big .

 They were both tiny figures on a bright screen, which shone on your face in the darkness of a quiet, still room. The AC kicked on by the window. What time was it?

 Tenna laughed a low, dirty chuckle. “...do ya think…that you can be honest with me. If you really wanna help Kris and all that…then tell me…how exactly did that all go down?”

 The world stopped.

 The faint, pinkish filter that colored the screen whenever you were in the studio disappeared. The room was cold and gray and cluttered with boxes and spare equipment. The audio cut. The textbox appeared, with only two options for you to choose from.

 Those options being “Kris had fun” or “Kris was scared”.

 You hovered over “Kris was scared”, but before you selected it, you noticed something: Spamton’s eyes were still moving. His pupils were visible, and they vibrated erratically each time you hovered over the second option. They snapped up to look at you, only to go still and return to their default position when you moved away from the honest truth.

 And it was the honest truth. And you wanted Tenna to trust you. And Spamton… 

 …he was…a rather sad case. You’d admit that you felt terrible for the poor guy. You had done your fair share of retries to find a way to help him…but…it was almost like he didn’t want to be helped. This was your first time through this story. This was the furthest along you had ever gotten. You’d never reached the ending. You backtracked and reloaded from time to time to test things out and explore other options, but no matter how many times you tried, Spamton G. Spamton would always have that last string cut and just…

 …stop.

 And then, there was how Kris reacted to the whole thing. How scared they were. How terrified. Kris, the child who had remained stoic in the face of a literal Titan , was more unsettled and unnerved by this little puppet than you had ever seen from them in your time together.

 What was Spamton?

 A glitchy ad? A malware-riddled pop-up? A bunch of emails that had been printed out and left in a dark folder somewhere? A walking, talking virus that just needed your consent to take root?

 He was what he was by his very nature of the spam email he was born from. You couldn’t hate him for it. But you also couldn’t ignore…that other route…your… other file…the one you had…experiemented with…you never went far down it yourself. You watched other people experience it. It was too much for you. Made you feel sick, feel dirty, feel wrong .

 You had seen, in a place far beyond this little world, the sort of person Spamton G. Spamton was when he got a single inch. Miles and miles of ice…and a thorny ring.

 Kris was scared when they met Spamton. Tenna was asking for you to be honest. So…

  …sorry.

 You made your choice, and the world started to move again. Tenna bowed his head and pondered you for a few seconds. Spamton laughed nervously, and inched back a few steps from the host as Tenna started to chuckle.

 “...and why would that be, ya reckon?” He looked at Spamton. 

 “Oh, boobtube, you know [kids these days]! They think too much. They see a good deal and pass it by, just ‘cause it’s [straight from the juice].” He continued to prattle on, while Tenna visibly flinched, “Kris and me, we just had a little rough patch , that’s all. Water under the bridge. [The past is far behind us], and now I’m here and [better than ever]. All I need is that [heart-shaped object] so we can get this party [starting at 5]!”

 Tenna took a deep breath in. You watched as, just for a split second, his suit flared as the steam thickened around his vents.

 “Spamton G. Spamton,” Tenna said slowly, “did you or did you not FIGHT Kris Dreemurr?”

 Spamton’s eyes bulged. He looked at Tenna’s black screen, then at you, then out at you, and proceeded to back up until his back hit the far wall. Tenna took a few calm, casual strides forward and was upon him in seconds. He plucked the Addison up by the scruff and lifted him to screen-level.

 His voice was nearly inaudible as he leaned forward and asked, each word crawling at a snail’s pace across the textbox as he spoke, “why…did…you…FIGHT…my…kid…?”

 “The…[heart-shaped object]...” Spamton said quietly.

 “What…about…it?”

 Spamton pointed at you. He waved and flailed his arms. “It’s the [key to success], trashheap! The kid got cold feet, so I had to give ‘em a little nudge for ‘em to go ahead and [show it off]! They’re a [LIGHTNER]! They’ve got the [light]! The [KEYGEN] to [H E A V E N]!”

 Tenna paused.

 Tenna bent down, and set the small Darkner back on the floor.

 Tenna carried you over to the door, and set you down against it.

 His voice picked up the pace slightly. “You know what Kris is, Spamton? Kris is my original viewer. My very…first…viewer. Not Asgore. Not Toriel. Not Az. Kris. Kris was the first one to ever lay eyes on my screen when I was up and running.”

 He slowly made his way to the center of the room. Head bowed. Hands clasped behind him as he took long, lazy strides and chuckled, just barely .

 “‘Course, I wasn’t me , way back then. Not yet. I wasn’t Mr. Ant Tenna. I was just a plain ole little TV, fresh from the store. They were too small to come up with me back then. So…so small. New to…well, everything . Took a few years of Kris watchin’ and thinkin’ and growin’ for it to all… click . For me to…wake up. They were the first person I ever saw , Spammy. The first face I ever saw in my whole life, and it was their precious little smile . Those bright red eyes, so full, so happy…and it was all because of me .”

 The words trembled. Tenna’s whole body swelled as he took a breath in, and slowly shrunk back down as he exhaled with a full-body shudder.

 “I watched them grow up,” he said softly, “I…I watched them become a person . They were just…this sweet little thing…and I got to see Kris Dreemurr , the one and only, happen in real time. A whole person…and I saw them grow into who they are right in front of my very screen. I saw them learn to walk, learn to talk, learn to write, the whole nine yards! I got to be there for so many of those little moments…got to share ‘em all with Tori and Gori. Kris is my kid . Our… mine …”

 He brought his hands up part way and looked at his open palms. “...and…and sometimes it’s horrible . Sometimes it’s just too much to even think about . Sometimes, I look at Kris, and I just feel so much love for this precious kid in me, I swear, it’s gonna kill me. It hurts , loving them so much. Felt like…nah. It killed me when they stopped watchin’. May as fuckin’ well have, with how much it hurt and how cold and empty and hollow I was.”

 The anger passed just as soon as it came. Spamton’s mouth opened and closed, but he remained silent as Tenna carried on. The TV took another swelling breath in as he wrapped his arms around himself.

 “And then they come back…they open a fountain, right in front of me. And then they’re here . I can see them. I can hear them. I can feel them, and they’re right here with me, too!” A tiny, wonderful laugh made his antennas bob. “Oh…oh, it was just wonderful ! Just marvelous ! All those years spent collecting dust, and then Kris walks right into my studio! I prayed for so long, and at last, at long blasted last , Heaven answered this old cathode’s prayers.”

  His smile twitched.

  “...and then it was…less…than what I’d hoped for…”

  Tenna laughed again. It was thick and dry and riddled with shame .

  He shook his head and scolded himself, “oh, but beggars, we can’t be choosers, can we? No…and in the end, look! Kris…Kris came to me when they needed someone to protect them . They’re…they’re terrified . Of this thing .”

  A word, trembling. A word, bathed in crimson ire.

  “Kris was scared and hurt, and their first thought was to visit their Uncle Tenna,” he clasped his hands together tight, his smile once again at ease and serene. Secure. Comfortable. He sighed, “and well…things aren’t perfect. Life never is. It ain’t like pretty like the movies, haha, that’s for damn sure! But we’re working on it…we’re figuring it out…I… I am gonna figure out how to get Kris’ eyes off of this little pest , and back onto what really matters…”

  A golden glow shone from his display.

  “...being happy . Because of me .”

 There was a lull that was almost…peaceful. The buzz of Tenna’s static was mellow and quiet. He kept his hands together ‘neath his chin, while he tilted his head back so he was gazing upwards towards the ceiling. He was, seemingly, lost in some golden, halcyon memory. The sort that contained nary a hint of red angels, cold places, black knives, divine terror, ancient prophecies, nor spammy little mailmen.

 The glow faded away the instant Spamton opened his mouth to talk, “...and what [better act now][way to go!] to get that [Houston, we’ve gotta problem] solved then to hand it over to the [NUMBER ONE RATED SALESMAN 1997]. C’mon, cathode. Give it here.”

 The honeyed, sickly sweetness of Tenna’s voice hit with the softness of a cinderblock to the face. “No. Now, get the fuck out of my studio. And do not. Come. Back.” 

 “But trashheap!” Spamton held out his hands. He begged. He beseech. “What about our [set]? What about the [curse] you placed on my        ! What about [H E A V E N]?”

 You and Spamton both watched as Tenna pressed his hands together, raised them to his screen, turned to face the wall, thus obscuring his face from your view, and went still. He stood with his back to you in the center of the room. 

 His voice, slow and low, crawled across the top of the screen as he said, “ Heaven …and what would you know…about Heaven , and its horrid little Angel ?”

 He lifted his head slightly, as though taking a deep breath in. He turned to face Spamton, who had his mouth hung open to reply, only for it to snap shut as Tenna’s entire body flared crimson .

 Tenna jerked violently. His body turned red, and then it turned… wrong . His neck stretched. His claws grew longer. His shoes melded into his legs and flickered into the shape of jagged, jutting talons. The tailcoat of his suit flared, moving in such a way where it was no longer the tailcoat of a red suit, but rather, the tips of a pair of wings that sprouted from his shoulders and hung in a cloak behind him. The red of his suit now shone as a glossy shell that covered his iridescent, trembling wings.

 When he lurched forward, he raised his hands up, followed by a second pair of talons that clenched and seized at his sides. A horrible buzz filled the room. Something mechanical and organic. A static drone. An insectoid cacophony. The noise swelled when he opened his toothy maw, which was home not merely to fangs, but to a pair of hooked, jagged mandibles.

 His antennas were no longer antennas in that split, horrible moment.

 They were horns.

 Waves of crimson flooded out from him in a pulse. Chromatic, distorted waves that rippled to the edges of the screen. 

 The entire room rocked to the side. The lights flickered, swelled and seized. 

 Tenna made a sound that made your stomach drop into icy water. It was somewhere between a roar, and the electronic wail that had served as his death throe. Beneath it was still the deafening buzz of static. White noise stained red. A sound made by swarms of things that clicked and scuttled and wormed and crawled.

 Around him, a ring of white stars flickered into view. They did not smile. They did not laugh. They spun violently, and whizzed towards Spamton, only to just barely miss, and instead fizzle when they buried into the wall around his head on impact.

 The crimson light reflected in the salesman’s eyes.

 His wide, wide, horrified, unbelieving eyes.

 Wider, yet ever wider, still, as a jittery ring of spikes encircled his small form. It expanded, and then spasmed when it moved to slam inwards on itself, only to fizzle out and vanish at the very last second.

 Spamton’s eyes became pools of pale static.

 This was all so, so, so much bigger than him.

 Tenna went still, and his body returned to normal. But you’d seen it. And so had Spamton.

 “Tenna…” 

 The TV’s screen was a mask of confused horror. He stood frozen to the spot for a moment. Then, slowly, he bowed his head, and then snapped his fingers. The door swung open. You rolled out of the way and inched yourself to the nearest corner.

 Tenna’s screen was blank as he pointed, “leave.”

 “But…but…”

 “Just. Go. I have work to do.”

 Spamton lingered and opened his mouth. He jumped as Tenna’s body flickered to red again. You did, too. He bowed his head and tucked his arms behind him as he finally sighed, defeated, and slowly slid out of the room. He didn’t walk of his own will. He was dragged out of the door by those quiet green strings.

 Once he was gone, Tenna snapped, and the door came closed.

 “...”

 Tenna picked you up, and tucked you by his chest. Without another word, he went to leave himself, while you sat still and silent. What had you done? What had you found? What was that, just now? What? Just…what?

 Tenna jumped like he had just been shot when he opened the door, and Queen was standing on the other side. Without hesitation, he hurled you back into the corner. With a pop, the prize ball opened, and you watched as the poor TV host had to choose between the lesser of two evils: the amoral eldritch time demon that was possessing the child who created him and was the herald of an ancient divine prophecy as foretold by time and space, or a very annoyed Queen.

 The sound of her tapping her foot made you shudder.

 Tenna made his choice. He ignored you as you floated up, and put on a screenworthy grin as he leaned casually against the doorframe.

 “QUEEN!” He said brightly, chuckling as he beamed down at her. “H-hey! How’s, uh, how’s it going? Did the kids all have a good time while I was, er…dealing with that little pest problem ?”

 “You. Me. Private. Talking. Lots. Of Talking. Now .”

 She gestured for him to bend down. Tenna did so obediently, still smiling, still playing it cool. Beads of sweat gathered on his screen.

 “Well, we should, I mean, what about the kids -?”

 She snatched his tie, and tugged. Hard. A metal thunk echoed through the halls as Tenna fell and yelped as he was pulled to the floor.

 “Wait- wait, Queen , hang on, just gimme a sec-”

 The last you saw of Tenna was the yellow of his shoes as he was pulled along by Queen, who dragged him behind her as she darted down the hall.

 Silence fell.

 Yet again, you were alone, with only the buzz of static to accompany you. You looked at the nearby vent. You sighed, and floated towards it.

 Crickets were chirping outside.

 You continued to play as the night inched on.

 Later…much later. After a long while of floating around in the vents, you passed a blacked-out room. You couldn’t see into it, but you heard the sounds of both Tenna and Queen’s voices, though not the words. They were both talking very fast, one after another…it…reminded you of…the other night…with Toriel and Sans…it…

 …

 …

 … oh. Oh. Oh. Uhm!

 Good for them?!

 …you decided to explore literally anywhere else. You hurried away. Far, far away.

Chapter Text

 Kris noticed when Tenna left the control booth.

 They watched as the host jumped up from his chair and bolted out the door, leaving a very confused and angry-looking Queen in his wake. They didn’t let it worry them too much, though. Knowing Tenna, he just forgot something, or had to check on something in the studio, or…something.

 They refused to let it worry them.

 Even as the base of their throat burned, and their fingers wobbled, and they flinched as they missed a few notes, and the music went weird, and they had to remind themself to fucking . Breathe.

  He’s fine, they told themself as they yanked their nerves back into a tightly-wound bundle. He’s. Fine.

 After their grand finale, Queen came over the speakers to declare an “Epic Freestyle” round, if they so chose to accept. Kris waited until Susie pumped her fist in the air before they joined everyone else in an affirmative cheer. The audience followed their example and exploded into an uproar.

 Queen kindly asked for Sweet Cap’n Cakes to join her up in the booth.

 The three musicians bounced out of their seats and were up at the controls in a flash.

 She also asked for Tasque Manager and Swatch. Confused, the two Darkners exchanged a shared glance, followed by a mutual shrug as they got up and went to the booth, too. Kris watched through the glass window as Queen spoke to them all, gesturing, pulling up screens, and passing them some papers as Sweet and Cap’n got themselves situated at the control panel. She took K_K by the shoulder as she pointed out into the set at Noelle, and whispered something to him before he nodded and joined his bandmates.

 Queen then handed the microphone to Swatch, who bowed to her before she shuffled out the door. Kris assumed she was going to check on Tenna.

  He’s fine. He’s fine. It can’t do anything to him without a body. I have the tape. It doesn’t even have hands. He’s okay.

 Their chest tightened. Their breath hitched as a jolt shook them, but it passed quickly enough.

  It's fine. Whatever it's up to, it can't do anything to him.

 Swatch cleared his throat as his voice came over the speakers. “Ahem! Very good, then. Her Majesty has to attend to something, so for the time being, myself and Tasque Manager will serve as your hosts for this Epic Freestyle.”

 He dipped the mic towards Cap’n, who, though visibly confused, beamed as he accepted it. “Al-riiiiight, folks! We are Sweet Cap’n Cakes!”

 “Here for our first ever collab with Lightners Live!” Sweet cheered.

 “Yay, music!” K_K chimed brightly.

 Yay, music, indeed. It was easier to take their mind off of Tenna and the soul when the music got started. There were no notes to follow. Instead, up in the booth, Sweet Cap'n Cakes worked the controls to have the music instead adjust to whatever the band dished out on stage. It was a call and response. Kris stuck mostly to mixing and mashing songs they’d already played, but everyone else branched out and did their own thing.

 Except for Noelle. Kris had to lean to hear her at first, but they quickly registered that she was playing Raise Up Your Bat. It was probably the easiest song for her to play. She’d heard it…a lot…when they were younger.

 At some point, a group of Darkners near the stage pressed close. They whispered among themselves, before a lone Pippins shoved their way through the group and waved at Susie. She kept the beat going, but looked, and Kris saw her face split into a wide, wicked grin when the small dice held something above their head.

 Kris realized what it was with a sinking dread. They offered it, and Susie bolted over to snatch it up before she hurried back to her kit.

 “Fuck yeah,” Susie said, “t-shirt cannon.”

  God help us all.

 It kind of went off the rails from there. Leave it to the Dark World to somehow produce a T-shirt canon that not only contained T-shirts for a band that had existed for all of one and a half evenings, but also one that never needed to be reloaded.

 Susie, of course, went crazy when she realized this. 

 Kris remained rooted to the spot as she began to fire away into the crowd. Both fear of getting in her way, and the dread of allowing Berdly to overtake them on the leaderboard, kept them in place. Susie’s name hung yards above the rest of them on the board. She’d long since abandoned the drumkit, and now darted back and forth at the edge of the stage, shooting out into the crowd whenever someone waved her down or called her name.

 “Susie! Susie!”

 “Yeah, Susie!” 

 “Over here, hey-hey!”

 K_K’s small voice perked over the chaos, “Noelle, Miss. Queen asked me to tell you that you are ‘doing very good’ and ‘taking no prisoners’.”

 Noelle laughed. There were tears in her eyes as she swayed and lost herself in the nonsense that exploded around her. She wheezed and curled in on herself. She laughed so hard that she had to drop the guitar just so she could keep herself from falling over. Susie whirl around, and aimed the cannon at her.

 Noelle shot off like a bullet. “N- NO ! SUSIE, OH MY GOSH -”

 Kris had to thank the soul for one thing: they’d picked up on its knack for dodging. As Susie chased Noelle around the stage, firing t-shirts with wild abandon, they were able to slide and side-step out of the girls’ paths with relative ease. This garnered cheers and awes from the crowd.

 They heard Berdly scream something about “GAMER ULTRA INSTINCT”. He squawked about Kris being his “one true equal”.

 Kris grinned. Oh, they were going to destroy him. They were going to hunt him for sport, bloodhound style. Then when they caught him they would hold him down and bash his head in with a rock. Lovingly. Flirtatously. They whirled around, locked eyes, and shot the bluebird The Look . You know. The Look .

 Needless to say, Berdly made a frail honking noise, and promptly fell over on his side. A Guei in the crowd reached up and grabbed his wrist. They pressed a long finger against the boy’s pulse. The flames by their head dimmed for a moment, but quickly flared back to full strength. It turned its head, and shot a thumbs-up towards the control booth.

 The crowd was a dark, shifting ocean of chaos. Of bright eyes, wide smiles, and the cheers of their adoring fans. They had the split second realization that they had several entire worlds’ worth of people beneath this roof. The thought made their head spin.

 King’s rumbly laugh echoed from across the room. He was watching from a cage that had been rolled in above the back row. His hulking figure, wreathed in neon shadows, leaned against the bars as he gripped them and smiled wickedly.

 Roulxs Kaard stood beside the cage alongside Lancer. The little spade was perched on the Duke’s shoulder. He leaned in and whispered something to his Lesser Father, who laughed, nodded, and in turn leaned and whispered something to King.

 In a loud, booming bellow, King cried, “SUSIE! LANCER WISHES FOR YOU TO KNOW YOU ARE BEING VERY COOL !”

 “THANKS, DUDE!”

 Kris heard King say something about “good-natured, old-fashioned bloodshed”, but his voice became lost in the sea of screams and whistles. A partially loud screech made them whip their head up to the rafters. A cloudy face smiled down at them.

 They waved at Elnina. They shot her a thumbs-up, followed by a wink. When she gasped and fell back in shock, Lanino swooped in to catch her. They were both so stupid. They were utterly perfect for one another.

 Up in the control booth, things were looking less than merry. Swatch was visibly sweating. Tasque Manager was on the mic, and faintly, Kris heard bits and pieces of her politely-worded demands for the crowd to settle down. 

 “Miss. Susie, I must ask that you reel it in on the t-shirt cannon!”

 “King, Your Highness, I implore you to stop chanting for ‘gladiatorial entertainment’. This is not that sort of competition.”

 “Will the Pippins in section E please put your shirt back on. Thank you.”

 “Order, order! You are all- oh, for shame -!” 

 Ralsei glanced at Kris. He took a step back towards the curtain.

 “Kris?” He said loudly, “uh, it might be a good idea, to uh, settle down? Perhaps we can play a softer song, next? Maybe? Just an idea, I mean, it’s up to y-”

 He was cut off by a sudden spike of static that came through the speakers. The music cut out, and was overtaken by a sharp, distorted swell that caused the crowd to fall silent. The noise grew louder. Then louder. Then louder, even still. The noise swelled until became a full on roar. The force of it caused the stage to tremble beneath Kris’ feet, while spotlights swayed overhead, and, up in the rafters, all of Tenna’s staff seized, and grabbed at their earpieces.

 The lights changed. Gone were the pinks and blues and neon yellows, and instead, there was a bright harsh crimson that flooded the entire room.

 Kris sucked in a harsh gasp. They accidentally swallowed some spit, and started to cough violently. Acid filled their throat.

 They recognized the noise. They’d heard it before. They felt their muscles tense as memories of a dark, cold place filled their mind, and they saw the black knife swing through the still night air. Colorbars. Cathodic death throe.

 They gasped again, and dropped the guitar. A soft hand was on their shoulder. Ralsei.

 “Kris, it’s okay, let’s just-”

 A larger, firmer hand gripped their other arm. Susie.

 “Okay, okay, you got ‘em? Let’s get them backstage, yeah?”

 Through the haze of red, Kris saw Noelle dart over towards Berdly. The noise had stopped, but in its place, there was a fresh round of screams from the crowd. Terrified, confused screams. The party was over.

  He was used up. You’ll be used up, too.

 An invisible hand squeezed their throat. Ghostly fingers seized their wrist. Icy fingers held them in place as fire poured into their chest, and their vision became a flood of organic wet pulses and discolored static. Then it was dark, and the noises were softened by the curtain.

 Then they were on the floor, and someone kneeled down next to them.

 Then a hand was around their own, and their fingers felt warm.

 “Kris?” A voice said. Fuzzy. Distant.

 They opened their mouth. A strangled sound, half-gasp, half-whine, squeezed through their acid-burnt throat. The world spun around them like a demented carousel. When did they get to the festival? Was Azzy home yet?

 The warmth squeezed. Kris squeezed back.

 The voice told them that it was all going to be okay. The voice, low and raspy, promised that everything was alright. She told them that they were together. She said that as long as they had each other, then everything would turn out just fine.

 They had her, and she had them.

 Curled branches against the starless sky.

 Footsteps. Rustling. A pair of stern voices, yet soft and caring. They caught a glimpse of yellow eyes and a white beak and felt the tangled knot behind their empty ribs loosen. Their chest lightened enough for them to suck in some air. Lukewarmth tingled beneath their skin. Someone was holding them, now. Someone whose breath smelled like apples and chalk dust.

 A tiny voice weedled nearby, “is Kris gonna be okay?”

 “Oh, Prince Lancer,” one of the soft voices said, “Kris will be fine. They were merely startled by the noise. Fret not. It shall all be put back in order, shortly enough.”

 “Roulxs Kaard is off in search of Her Majesty. Until then: tea, anyone?”

 Several voices chimed in agreement. Kris drifted through voids of chalk and static snow as the world slowed to a gentle stop, bit by bit. Their eyes fluttered open, and they felt the warmth that was enveloping their body shift as a purple snout nudged at their forehead.

 “Kris? Are you…?”

 They felt around until they found her hand. They grabbed it, and squeezed as hard as they could. Their mind dredged up images of parasitic worms and cuckoo birds who engorged themselves on their mothers’ love after they shoved her real babies out of the nest. A library book, checked out many times over. The smell of chalk on their face, as yellow teeth came closing in. A weight. A drain. A burden.

 It was quiet.

 The crowd was gone. 

 Kris looked up into Susie’s kind, soft, worried face, and they strained a smile, because they’d caused enough trouble already. Her brow unfurrowed just a bit. 

 She squeezed their hand. She smiled, “...there you are, dude.”

 “...here I am, bro…”

 Her eyes widened. She gawked for a few seconds, before a snicker slithered into her voice. They both wobbled from her laughter. “Dude, you are so freaking weird . Ya want some tea?”

 Swatch crouched down. He had a cup and saucer at the ready. Kris nodded as they accepted it, and felt the warmth seep into their skin through the tiny plate. The sweet smell of cinnamon and cloves mingled with that of vanilla as they lifted the cup to their lips.

 It was…really nice. The warmth soothed their throat.

  Tastes like home…

 They sat up, still leaned against Susie, and saw Berdly and Noelle where they were sitting on the floor next to Tasque Manager. The cat-like Darkner had a cyan screen pulled up. She tapped away for a bit, while the two Lightners drank their tea and chatted quietly. Berdly had ditched the platform boots. He yawned, only to laugh midway through when Noelle cracked a joke that made them both smile.

 Ralsei was sitting next to Susie. He had his head bowed to look at the tea cup he held nestled in his lap. When he noticed Kris staring, his ears perked, and he offered them a soft smile.

 “Hey, Kris. Are you feeling alright…?”

 They glanced past him. Swatch was by the curtain, where he paced back and forth, pausing on occasion when a Swatchling poked their beak through, only to resume when they shook their head and darted back out onto the set.

 “T…Tenna,” they managed weakly, “and…Queen. Are they…?”

 Both Swatch and Tasque Manager whirled their heads towards them in unison.

 “Her Majesty has messaged to inform me that she will be returning very shortly,” Tasque Manager said swiftly.

 “And she has confirmed that Mr. Tenna is with her,” Swatch added dutifully with a firm nod.

 Kris sighed shakily. They nodded, and took another sip of tea.

 “It’s alright, Kris,” Ralsei said softly. He looked off to the side, then after a pause, said slowly, “...hey. Kris. Maybe…would it help, possibly, if we went outside for a moment? It might help if you got some fresh air!”

 Fresh air sounded…nice. Yeah.

 They went to get up, but their legs had fallen asleep. Susie snorted as she caught them by the shoulder when they went up and crumbled right back down.

 “Dang, dude, where's the fire?”

 “Kris wants walkies,” Ralsei mused.

 Kris bit their lip. They yipped softly. If they had a tail, it’d be droopy. They'd like a tail.

 “PFFFT, okay, settle down,” Susie snickered. Her talons found their way behind their ear, where she scratched lightly at their earlobe. Kris felt the tension in their body drop away as pleasant tingles rippled across their face.

 Ralsei was at his feet. He watched Kris nuzzle Susie's hand, laughed, and handed his cup over to Swatch.

 “It might be best to make it a quick walk,” he said, “we don't want to leave Tenna and Queen waiting when they get here. It's rather late. I…I think I speak for everyone when I say that I…”

 He took a breath. He sighed.

 “...am…rather tired , after today.”

 “Yeah,” Susie agreed, “like, Swatch, maybe someone can tag along? Just in case that…noise…was something weird ?”

 “What was that noise?” Noelle shrunk in on herself, while Tasque Manager placed a hand on her shoulder.

 “Sweet Cap’n Cakes have confirmed that it was most assuredly an error in the sound and lighting system,” she said, “however! If it would put you all at ease, I am certain a Swatchling would be most honored to accompany you.”

 She looked at Swatch, who was already nodding. “Indeed. And should Mr. Tenna return before you do, Kris, I shall let him know of your whereabouts.”

 “Do you guys wanna…?” Susie glanced at Noelle and Berdly, but they both exchanged weary stares and tired sighs.

 “I shall…remain here…for the time being.”

 “No…I’m…I’m fine. You guys go and get some air. We’ll just hang out here for a bit!”

 Susie helped Kris to their feet. Once their legs stopped trembling, a thought suddenly came to them. It hit like a flash. Their eyes fluttered as they had an idea.

  …it doesn’t even know what to do with them…does it…?

 …

 …

 …

  …but…I know someone who probably does .  

 …

 …

 …

 …

 “...huh? You wanna go in and…oh! Yeah, sure, man. We’ll just chill out here. It’s, heh, kind of a small shop, anyhow. Dunno if we’d all fit in there.”

…

…

…

 “...of course, Kris. My…you truly do remind me of…bah! Carry on, dear novice. And fret not: I won’t speak a word of this to your…to our… you know . If there’s one thing we Darkners thrive at, it is the old art of ‘play-pretend’, hee hee hee…”

…

 “...hm? What if it…? Oh! Hee hee, Kris! You truly needn’t worry about me. After all…it cannot do much, so long as I remain inside my ‘seap’.”

“How do I know that…? Oh…it is late, Kris. Run along, now. Much fun to be had yet, yes…much fun…rest well.”

—

 They returned backstage, but Tenna and Queen were still missing.

 “Her Majesty says that there was a delay, but they are on their way here as we speak!”

 Susie saw Kris shift and fidget, and frowned. She'd watched them when the lights got all weird. She saw how their face went all pale, how they stumbled back, like they’d been hit by the sound that overtook the speakers. They'd actually gotten a bit weird a couple times during the show…well… weirder .

 They kept flinching .

 Missing notes. Going all tense.

 Like they were hurt .

 Now they sat next to her on the floor, and kept picking at the bandages on their wrists. She nudged them after a while of watching them go at it.

 “Hey,” she said, “like, don't do that. You'll hurt yourself.”

 Kris nodded. They rocked back-and-forth slightly. She leaned into their shoulder, hoping that the contact and warmth and weight would help them relax. Kris pressed against her, too, but their eyes remained fixed on somewhere up in the rafters. Their face was stuck as a worried frown as their jaw worked and they gnawed on the inside of their cheek.

 Swatch poked his head out through the curtain. Instead of the troubled huffy sigh she had gotten used to, he chirped.

 “YOUR HIGHNESS! Ah-hah! Oh, wonderful, so very wonderful.”

 Swatch pulled the curtain aside. Queen ducked her head slightly as she stepped backstage. Her gaze darted around between everybody. Her visor blinked red as she pointed at each of them in turn.

  Assessing the damage.

 Susie wasn’t…mad. Just confused. And tired. Okay. Maybe she was a bit mad. Everything got really freaky for a second there. It was loud, and scary, and she wanted to know where Queen and Tenna had gone off to during all of it.

Why did stuff have to keep being weird ? Maybe if they all went to sleep, she’d get up tomorrow, everything would be chill, and Kris would be Kris again.

 The heavy thud of footsteps made Kris’ head jerk up. They were already at their feet as the curtain parted, and Tenna stepped through. The glow from his screen cast a beam of light wherever he looked. He ducked his head, smiled, and the beam landed on Kris, who didn’t wait before they had their arms around the host’s leg.

 Tenna opened his mouth, only to freeze when Kris started to scale up his leg. His eyebrows shot up while his antennas perked. Kris clawed at his pantleg in their mad scramble upwards. They literally, actually growled when Tenna brought a hand down and gently tugged on the back of their coat.

 “ Kris . Starlight . I am so happy to see ya too, kiddo…but I just got these pants de-clawed. Mind letting go of ‘em for a sec?”

 Kris swatted at Tenna’s fingers. They looked at him, and whatever their face was doing, it made Tenna’s mouth twitch and his antennas droop. He carefully lowered himself onto one knee and brought both of his hands around Kris, who was near his lower thigh at that point.

 “Kris,” Tenna said softly, “it’s…it’s okay. I’m…I’m alright .”

 A small blue fist came down on his leg. Kris’ face was buried in the black fabric that they clung to. Susie slowly stood up and listened, and felt her heart wince when just barely, she heard a thin, raspy, whistly-whimpery noise that could only come from a very scared, and very pissed human.

 Kris gave it up after a few small tugs. They let go of Tenna’s leg. Their arms went limp as he cupped them in his hands and lifted them to his screen. His nose blinked away, leaving only a void of white and gold and amber hues.

 He turned away from the rest of them. Queen watched all of this, paused, before she then snapped back to look at all of them. 

 She clapped her hands together and beamed brightly, “Okay So Hey Sorry About That Kids. There Was. A Mouse Problem, And Tenna And Me Just Spent Like Ages Running Around Trying To Catch A Sh- A Fu- A Cuntlo- A LOT! OF MICE! YES! Mice.”

 Ralsei’s jaw plummeted.

 Queen looked at him and shook her head hard . She hitched a thumb over her shoulder towards Tenna, brought a finger to her lips, leaned forward, and started to shake her hands while holding them together- oh. She was pleading.

 They all glanced at each other. Ralsei closed his mouth with a click. Noelle raised her hand. Queen nodded once.

 “...did…did you guys hear when the speakers got all scary?”

 A row of question marks appeared on the blue robot’s visor. “No Uh What?”

 Her head rotated a whole 180 to look at Swatch. The birdman in turn directed his gaze at Tasque Manager, who anxiously waved away her screen.

 “My apologies, Your Highness,” she said with a small bow, “I simply did not wish to worry you. The audio and lighting systems experienced a malfunction that caused quite the commotion. I was concerned that if you thought the children were in danger, it would cause you undue stress while myself and Swatch resolved the situation in yourself and Mr. Tenna’s absence.”

 Translation: you left in a big hurry and I didn’t want to freak you out while you took care of important crap.

 Adults liked to use big words so you couldn’t understand exactly what they were talking about. They really liked to do that when they were talking about you . Susie considered herself to be semi-fluent in Adult Talk, though. 

 “Ah. Hey That’s Chill Thanks Girl,” Queen casually leaned with a hand on her hip. She waved her hand all chill like. “But Like It Was Fine. A Maus Got In The Booth And Tenna Dipped So I Had To Go Check On Him. One Thing Led To Another Yadda Yadda Ya Know. Mice Are Gone Now BTW.”

 “Was it just the mice?” Susie squinted at her.

 Another row of question marks appeared on Queen’s visor. “YyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyYeah? Mice. Mice Happen.”

 “Mice do happen,” Noelle said. She shuddered

 “Were these mice of the mundane or animated object variety?” Berdly asked.

 “Mauses,” Queen said, “Like Computer Mice: But Alive And Running Around All Crazy-Style. You Know You Remember Them Probably. I Had To Save Tenna From Them. They Overpowered Him. He Was: Compromised By Computerized Rodents.”

 Berdly gave a sagely nod of understanding. Noelle shivered again at the thought of so many mice that even Tenna got overwhelmed. Queen glanced over her shoulder at the host, who Susie saw was now sitting with his legs crossed and his screen still bowed as he cradled Kris between his hands. She couldn’t see the human. She could hear them, though.

 Weak, shaky, raspy breaths…

 Mice did happen.

 Maybe today was just…bad. Just a weird, bad day overall. Maybe Susie was already freaked out because of what happened at Asgore’s shop, so stuff like Kris and the noise and the stuff with the mice seemed extra freaky. Maybe she really was just imagining all of it.

 …or… some of it.

 “But Hey Like Sorry Kids Like Genuinely. We Should’ve Been Back Sooner. The Mice Were…An Ultimately Minor Issue. That Is On Us. Correct, Tenna?” She looked at him again. She tapped her fingers together while Tenna lifted his head, turned, and his display changed to a warm smile.

 “Sorry about that, kids. There was also a rat that had to be dealt with.”

 “I’m glad you’re both alright,” Ralsei said quietly, “uh…so…who won? Did our scores stay in the system after the glitch?”

 Tenna’s antennas perked. He straightened his back and hollered out into the dark rafters overhead. “MIKE? Can ya run up and fetch a copy of the leaderboard for me?”

 They all waited, and a few moments later, Mike popped out from behind the curtain with a piece of paper grasped in his mitts. He panted as he ran up to Tenna, who pointed at Queen. His screen was once again on Kris. Golden, amber hues danced across the floorboards and silky curtain in a shifting pattern of gentle stars.

 Mike bobbed his head and hurried the scores over to her. Queen patted the squat Darkner’s head as she took it. “Hey Thanks Mike You A Real One.”

 Queen flipped the paper over and scanned it with her visor. A red circle spun on the display as she froze for a moment, processing.

 “...Berdly,” she said after a pregnant pause.

 “Me?!”

 Susie felt annoyed for a second. Then, she realized that she honestly didn’t really care. She had fun. They all had fun. She walked over to give the little dork a good ol’ slap on the shoulder as Noelle clapped along with Ralsei. Queen joined in the applause. As did Swatch and Tasque Manager.

 “Hey, good job!” Susie said.

 Berdly’s eyes bulged and fluttered. His face turned pink as he ducked his head, and smiled a wiry grin. “Heh! Well, it was merely the logical outcome. By all calculations, my experience with rhythm games gave me a…tacticle advantage. But! You all played well, and with true gamer honor. My deepest and most sincere of GGs to all my fellow contestants.”

 Susie snorted. She punched his shoulder again, just for good measure.

 Couldn’t have him getting too big for his boots, could she?

 They all quieted down as Queen clapped one last time to grab their attention. “Okay So Now That It Is All Chill And We Are All Here. Do You Children Mayhaps Wish To Partake In A Hashtag Epic Queen-style Sleepover? Or Is This A Straight To Bed Type Deal?”

 “Oh,” Noelle’s face lit up, “that sounds fun! Are we gonna have snacks and watch a movie?”

 “Yeah I Have Movies And Junk. Tots We Can Have Snacks.”

 “If there’s games on offer, I’ll be there,” Berdly declared.

 “Games Also Yeah.”

 “REAL games, though?” He squinted at her and raised a brow. “Not meager mobile games…?”

 Queen laughed softly. “Yeah Berdly Yes REAL GAMES Like IDK. Minecrap.”

 At this, Berdly’s eyes lit up like fireworks. He shuffled and grinned. Ralsei glanced over at Tenna, but slowly drifted over to stand beside Queen. “I…I don’t think I’ve ever played ‘Minecrap’ before. Is it fun? Is it a racing game?”

 “Nah,” Susie said absentmindedly, “it’s, uh. Blocks and stuff. You build things.”

 Her eyes were on Tenna. Mike (one of them) walked over and gingerly tapped the TV’s back. Tenna either didn’t notice or didn’t respond. He was hunched over with Kris still in his hands as he slowly drew his arms close to his chest. The starry pattern on his screen now cast shades of silver and purple alongside the orange-gold glow.

 Mike inched around until he was standing next to Tenna’s leg. He lifted a finger, hesitated, before he spoke, “erm…Mr. Tenna…? Boss…?”

 Tenna barely moved his head. “What is it, Mike?”

 “Uh,” Mike said, “I just…I’m awful sorry. That the concert wasn’t…up to expectations …”

 To this, Tenna slowly swerved his head until the glow of his screen was cast over Mike. The costumed Pippins took a small step back. A static hum crept in for a moment, before the stars flicked back to full brightness, and Tenna just chuckled.

 “Oh…Mike,” he said softly, “I don’t care about that. Long as the kids had fun, that’s all that matters to me. It’s fine…”

 He looked back down at Kris. He was holding them to his chest. Susie couldn’t hear them anymore. She really hoped that they’d just…fallen asleep. It had been a really weird, long day for them. For everyone.

 “...it’s fine,” he repeated.

 Mike nodded and shuffled away into the shadows. Tenna started to get up, while Queen, Noelle, Berdly, and Ralsei all chatted away about the sleepover. It sounded fun! Susie…wanted to go, too. She just…needed to…

 She walked over toward Tenna. His face was back. He looked surprised, but quickly smiled when he turned and saw her walk up to him.

 “Hey, sweetheart ! What’s up?” He tilted his head. The light of his display still held a soft, goldish hue.

 “Are they alright?” She pointed to where Tenna’s hands were covering Kris.

 Tenna glanced down, smiled softly, and nodded when he looked back at her. “Oh…Susie, dear. Kris is…tired. But, yes, they’re doing just fine. They just need some sleep .”

 Susie nodded slightly. Still. His scales tingled uncomfortably as she glanced over towards Queen, before her eyes went back to Tenna’s screen. “...are you…gonna be okay, too?”

 His mouth vanished. His nose remained as Tenna drew in a deep breath, and stared upwards into the shadowy rafters for a few moments.

 “...I’m alright, Susie. Don’t worry about ol’ me,” his smile returned, bigger and softer than ever. He bent down and gently nodded towards the others. “So long as you and everybody else is havin’ a good time, that’s enough for me. Go and have fun , sweetheart. And get some sleep, too.”

 One of his antennas twitched slightly. His mouth curled as he added with a slight chuckle, “ain’t it a school night, anyhow? It’s a new day tomorrow! New day, new you, fresh start for everybody!”

 Shit…they did have school tomorrow, didn’t they? How were they supposed to…they were literally in the supply closet! How could they sneak out into town to find that last code without being spotted? How did they…how did she forget…and…Toriel…Kris…wasn’t she…? Didn’t she notice that they…even if she…was it just that one time, or…?

 Could Susie even…? She…she didn’t…

 The tingly feeling became a nasty ant biting feeling, again. Susie clenched her jaw tight. Her tongue rubbed at the roof of her mouth, tasting like sour milk and chalk and apple shampoo. The punk clothes on her shoulders felt heavy and worn and dirty. She felt dirty.

 Was this part of the stupid prophecy, too?

 Was she supposed to feel so, so small …?

 Was it… laughing …at her? Could a prophecy even do that…?

 What was the word for it? Did the dread have a name? If she could name the ball of uneasy terror in her chest, would it get easier to breathe around it? If she did it differently, this time, said the right words, this time, wore the right clothes, this time, if she was a good kid , this time, would it be normal, this time? Would she leave and still feel real , this time?

 She balled her hands up, and took a deep breath.

 “...alright,” she said, “if ya say so. G’night, Tenna.”

 “ Sweet dreams , starshine.”

 A hand came down, gentle and soft, to ruffle her hair. Everyone wanted to get changed out of their rock outfits. Tenna stepped out with Kris, while Queen took everyone else along with her. Ants under her scales, a blackhole in her chest, Susie swallowed the fire in her throat, and followed along with everyone else.

—

…

…

…you went outside. You waited in a vent near the door, and watched Tenna step out. He lingered for a moment. His screen tilted in the rough direction of the castle, and caught the glow of the dark fountain that rose above its towers and ramparts.

…

…

…

 With a sigh, he headed off towards the castle. Once he was gone, you slipped out of the vent, and hovered above the cobbled streets. The typical Castle Town theme filled the air, but it was…different…more mellow and slowed. You were about to follow after Tenna, when a thought came to you: could you…check something…even if Kris was…?

…

 …you floated into the shop. The menu appeared like normal, so it seemed to be tied to you , rather than Kris. Seam’s face grinned at you amidst the ambered lantern light. They greeted you like usual, but when you went to talk, you saw a new option.

 It read, simply, “CrimsonShard”.

 You selected it.

 There was a faint stutter in the music. A hiccup. Seam’s mouth curled into a grin, as the old plush cat said, “Kris…I’m terribly afraid that I have told you all there is to know on the matter, already. Hee hee. It’s late, anyhow. Run off to bed, novice.”

 You paused. How…?

  Kris, did you…?

 …you selected it again. The music stuttered, again. This time when Seam smiled, the menu changed. The Deltarune on the banner behind them flickered away for a moment, and for a brief pause, was replaced by a red square. Above the square was a circle, and above that circle stood a tiny, near-indistinct red heart. All three shapes were encircled by an empty ring. A golden ring.

 Then it vanished, and the menu was back to normal. Well. Not quite.

 Seam’s mouth remained still as the text in the box read, “None of this is for you.”

 You had half a mind to check if there were any new recipes, but thought better of it. Your skin crawled. You exited the menu, and hurried over to the castle.

—

 Tenna once again found himself in a loop of the words “monkey’s paw” as they turned over inside of his head. Over, and over.

 It was very late. The streets of Castle Town lay silent, as did the candlelit halls as he carried Kris to their room. If he ignored that the walls around him were blue-black and made of brick instead of golden wallpaper, this was the kind of thing he’d dreamt of doing for his entire life. He was carrying Kris to bed after TV Time. They were fast asleep in a cozy bundle in his arms, safe and warm, wrapped in a blanket he’d summoned that matched their armor’s scarf.

 He was tempted to wake them up to see if they wanted to take a shower. He would have to once they got to their room so they could change into some pajamas. Once they left the studio, their punk outfit turned back to their usual Dark World garb. No, Tenna didn’t know why or how that worked. No, he wasn’t going to question it.

 Did Lightners question when the sun rose in the morning? Did they ponder why the rain fell down instead of up?

 It was very, very late.

 He rounded a corner, and spotted the human’s bedroom door. It was plain and blue, but in a humble, understated way. Tenna nudged it open and ducked down, but paused. A slight dread crept across his wires as he huffed. Even if he got on his knees, he still couldn’t fit through.

 “Oh, for the love of …”

 He carefully set Kris down on the rug inside. He could barely fit both of his arms through the (in comparison to him) tiny doorway at once. The human began to stir once they were set down. Tenna flinched and crouched down and peered inside, so they’d see his screen as they awoke with a tiny yawn.

 Tired red eyes blinked, and squinted in the glow of his display. Tenna dimmed his screen as Kris sat up and glanced around their bedroom.

 “Hey, starshine ,” he whispered quietly, “sorry to wake ya. I was tryna tuck ya in, but eheh…” Tenna leaned back from the door. He tugged awkwardly at his collar while Kris walked out and joined him in the hall. “Oh, Ralsei…suppose I can’t be too bothered by the lack of tall-folk accommodations! He couldn’t have known he’d be hosting a fella like me someday, haha!”

 He leaned back slightly, sighing as his antennas drooped. “Did you…do you wanna…”

 Kris put a hand over his where it was resting on the stone floor next to him. He felt his fans kick on as a red tint bloomed on his screen.

 “...oh.”

 He brought his other hand over to gently brush a finger through Kris’ hair. His volume dipped down to about a two. He dimmed his screen a bit more, and lowered his face as Kris looked up at him with tired, worried eyes. The sight hurt . Kris was having so much fun up until the blasted Angel came and he let his nerves get the better of him, and then the mailman showed up, and then…he…the…

 and it was all red and hot and smoke and static and crawling limbs in dark spaces and buzzing wings among the crimson night and he was all of it within the fire and yet still the fire itself. And it was beautiful. And he was horrified. He did not understand what he was, and he was afraid . The power of god within his malleable flesh, yet his wielder was so, so, so far away. Did they hear him? Did his sweetest star hear his cry? Please, come, creator-child. Come and take your blade. Come and grant him purpose! 

 …and then…

 …and then Queen showed up all angry, and then him and her got… distracted .

 She didn’t know. That, at least, brought him some comfort.

 He felt horrible, still. About it taking so long to get back to the kids. They should’ve known better, both of them. It was just…he was so scared , and Queen was worried , and they got to talking about how different it all was, how big the kids were, how old they were both getting…and one thing just led to another…and…and…

 …but at least she still didn’t know about the Angel. He managed to put on an act and spin some tale about the world’s biggest, nay, the mother of all mauses coming out of that vent in the control booth. Tenna wasn’t sure if she really believed him. She seemed to. He couldn’t always tell with Queen. She was all chrome and silicone. Shiny. Sleek. A real top of the line, state of the art gal, that woman. She was better at keeping her cool than him by miles.

 Even if she didn’t fully believe him, at least she didn’t know, so that meant that she was safe . If the Angel knew that Queen knew about it, it might get curious and look at her, next. He dreaded the mere thought…Queen was wonderful . Brilliant. He’d gladly be honed into whatever blade the wretched thing wanted him to become if it meant she’d be spared the horror of being in the Angel’s crimson gaze.

 It was bad enough when it was Kris and him.

 He used a finger to rub circles into the human’s upper back. Kris opened their mouth to speak, but all that came out was another tiny yawn.

 Tenna cooed in spite of his efforts. Kris’ cheeks went all pink. His antennas twitched and spazzed, but he managed to claw himself back together and spared them from more embarrassment.

 “Sorry, hon. For…for all of it. I’m so sorry…”

 Kris ducked their head. They nodded. They looked at their open bedroom door, and then back up at him. Tenna sighed. His antennas wilted.

 “I don’t think I can get through,” he said quietly.

 Kris then gestured with their hands. They held them out, palm facing each other, and made a show of bringing them together until there was a small gap between them. Tenna puzzled over it for a few seconds, before the bulbs on his antennas lit up.

 “Oh!” He realized, “you…you think it might work if I, ah, shrunk a bit? But um…”

 That only worked when he was…sad.

 Tenna could tell Kris understood this from how their brow furrowed. The Lightner tapped their chin for a few seconds. They put a hand on their hip and tapped their feet. A sharp click echoed through the hall as metal met cool stone.

 Kris then perked up. They cleared their throat.

 Tenna shifted. He braced himself on instinct.

  Oh dear, this is gonna be. Unpleasant. Isn’t it?

 “Tenna. You’re very old, and honestly kind of creepy.”

 Creepy?! Oh…well…he supposed he was a bit creepy. Big guy…TV head…big smile…no visible eyes…yeah…creepy was a word for it.

 “Your nose is weird,” Kris said.

 Tenna flinched. His NOSE? His very attractive, well-maintained SNOZZ? He felt the floor come to swallow him up. His body plunged downwards, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Kris kept going.

 “You dress like a clown. A very sad, unfunny clown. The kind of clown you’d see in a freaky sad horror movie where the clown loses their job and gets stuck in a tent and they cry so much that they drown in it…and also it’s raining outside. And it’s all just pretty sad and gross and pathetic.”

 Oddly specific! Highly effective! Tenna shielded his screen with his hands as the world got bigger and bigger, and his system felt colder and colder. He curled up into a tiny, miserable ball and tried to disappear. Something big and warm came and scooped him up. He yelped, but could only sniffle meekly as he was manhandled and carried across the threshold.

 He then looked up, and saw that he was being carried over to Kris’ bed. Their room was all blues and pinks with bits of yellow. Blue, sketchy stars covered the black walls. An empty window sat between a wardrobe and a nightstand. A couple shelves filled with trophies were located above the bed, which was soft and snug-looking. Tenna was quickly able to confirm the sheer depth of snug himself, as Kris set him down gently on the comforter, and then poked the top of his head with their finger.

 “I’m gettin’ changed,” they told him, “look at the wall for a bit. Stay.”

 Okay. Yeah. He could do that, easy.

 It was fine.

 Kris…Kris didn’t mean it. Just like how they didn’t mean what they’d said earlier when they were in Asgore’s store…about…about wishing that old Gori had never…brought him home. Oh, the memory was enough to make him shrink further. Cold despair seeped through his chest and into his arms and legs as he sniffled softly.

 He hugged his knees to his chest, and looked at the wall. The stars shifted slightly. Side-to-side. He realized that the stars were completely still, and he was just rocking on the soft, pillowy comforter.

  Pathetic. Weird. Creepy.

 Soon enough, a shadow fell over him, and he looked over his shoulder at Kris. They cupped their hands together and rested them on the comforter. Oh! They…

 Tenna took a tentative step onto their open palms. Kris waited until he sat down to lift him. They were in a nightgown again. The same shade of periwinkle. Was it the same one? Again, did Lightners question why the tides came and went? He was better off just going with it. Kris walked to the center of the room. They stopped, and poked at his screen.

 “Tenna,” they said.

 “Yeah, kiddo?” His chest felt heavy. He forced a chuckle. “Y’know, I get that the name’s Ant Tenna. But ya don’t gotta oogle at a fella like he’s a bug in a jar, just ‘cause he’s small.” He didn’t mean a word of it. All he could think of were the times when Kris was small and curious, and they’d poke and prod at him while they were in the living room together. The tingly sensation of little hands on his power cord made his chest flutter, as did the memory of tiny fingers poking into his vents and flicking his antennas.

 Granted! That last one could hurt like a bastard sometimes…but it was worth it, just to see them so happy.

 “I love TV,” Kris said, “and I think that you’re very, very cool.”

 Tenna squeaked as he started to grow. Kris laughed, oh, the most wonderful sound in the world, and hurried to place him on the floor. He stood up as he reached about waist-height next to the human, who hummed as they looked him over.

 “You’re like…Ramb-sized,” they said observantly.

 “Ramb? That guy…” Tenna kept a polite, curt smile on his face at the thought of that little plug. A look flashed across Kris’ face. Oh. They…they liked Ramb. Yes, of course. “It’d sure be swell to see him again! Haha…maybe one of these days, you can swing by and drop him off at the studio? We’d love to have him again.”

 His star. His kind, wonderful Kris. Why, when he was at this size, where he had to crane his neck to look at them, he swore that the stars on the walls circled their head like a halo! 

  The real angel here…

 The mere thought made him jolt up a whole inch. Kris walked around behind him. Tenna turned to follow, but a pair of hands grabbed the sides of his head. He seized before Kris gently turned his head so that his screen was facing their bed.

 “I’m just checkin’ something,” they said calmly, “it’s okay. You’re alright.”

 He was alright. If Kris said so, then he was fine. He felt their fingers brush across his vents and ports, and took a deep breath in as their touch grazed over a tender patch on the back of his boxy head.

 He must’ve winced. Kris went still. They touched the spot a second time, and this time Tenna couldn’t hold back the pained hiss that sizzled through his speakers.

 “You hit your head,” Kris said. Were they worried? Angry? He honestly couldn’t tell. This kid was crawling up his leg less than an hour ago, and now they were calm as could be and barely spoke above a mumbly whisper.

  Can’t always tell with you, and that’s okay. I love you. You’re alright.

 “Ah, did I? Huh!” Tenna feigned surprise and chuckled. He tugged at his tie as he spun around to face Kris, who had their arms crossed and a face that was riddled with needless, unnecessary, kindhearted worry…worry for him . “Hah, ah well. I’ll just ask Mike to give it a little looksie tomorrow! Let’s get you to bed, huh sweetheart ? It’s a schoolnight!”

 He couldn’t exactly pick them up at this height. It wouldn’t be exactly like he’d always dreamed of. That was okay. Mr. Ant Tenna was a true lord amongst beggars. He’d take what he was offered by the little hands that gave him life, and he’d guide those hands off to sleep. He could still pull the blanket up to their chin…pat their head…tell them how proud he was…how much he loved them…

 But Kris had other plans. They stepped away when he stepped towards them, and walked over to the door. “Stay here,” they said, “I’m gonna get Ralsei.”

 His hands fell to his sides. Tenna felt his mouth vanish from his display as Kris turned the doorknob. They paused, and looked at him. They smiled.

 “I’ll be right back. You’re doing real great.”

 They gave him a quick thumbs-up before they vanished into the hall. The smile and reassurance gave Tenna an additional inch of height, but he had to confess he was still on edge. At this point, he’d given up on trying to contain the stupid Angel. If it wanted to come, it would come. If it wanted to use the tape, it was going to use the fucking tape. He wasn’t going to make another scene trying to deny and defy the wretched little god that inhabited his baby’s body…he just hoped he could find it before Kris started to…

  You will have to allow the Angel to do as it wants.

 Tonight…yes, tonight.

 The Angel will come.

 His height dropped right back down. His hands gathered at his chest. He squeezed them together, hard , and tried to distract himself.

 He could count the stars, he supposed?

  One…two…three…four…I’m going to become a big scary monster because God’s gonna turn me from a showhost into a weapon…five…six…it’s gonna hurt…seven…eight…nine…I’ll be fine as long as Kris is happy…ten…eleven…twelve…thirteen…fourteen…it’s still scary, though…sixteen…seventeen…

 Eighteen…

 …nineteen.

 He was…out of stars. Shit.

 “Kris, Kris, slow down, I’m coming!”

 Ah, no worries. The door swung open, revealing Kris and Ralsei. Kris pulled Ralsei by the wrist into the room and pointed at Tenna. They motioned for him to turn around, and he did so on a dime.

 “Oh…Tenna!”

 “Can magic help with this?”

 “I can certainly give it a try!”

 Soft paws cradled the sides of Tenna’s head this time. His screen fizzled when Ralsei poked at the spot where the door had dented his chassis. With a small whimper, the prince apologized, and mumbled under his breath. A soft green light filled the room. Sparkles of magic danced around as Tenna took a deep breath and waited as a comfortable warmth washed over him.

 “...oh,” Ralsei’s tiny voice dripped with disappointment. “I’m sorry, Kris…”

 The human hissed under their breath. They told Ralsei it was fine, but he lingered even when they dismissed him back out into the hall. “Can you go grab Susie?” They asked him.

 “Kris,” Ralsei said, “I…I think this is very kind of you, but it’s late. Maybe…maybe it’s best to leave this until tomorrow, so Queen can maybe-”

 Kris ran out into the hallway by themself. Tenna turned around when he heard them huff angrily, and watched them vanish through the doorway. He looked at Ralsei, and grinned despite himself upon seeing the boy’s PJs.

 “Nice shirt, Ral.”

 It was an oversized tee that would look big even on Susie. The words “CYBER CITY CRAP POST-ATHON 201X MEGA CHAMP” were emblazoned across the cream-white fabric. Ralsei wore it as a dress and gripped the front when he looked down at it and smiled bashfully.

 “Queen let me borrow it,” he admitted.

 “Y’all having fun upstairs, then?”

 Ralsei nodded, “oh, yes! Berdly is showing me how to play Minecrap, and Noelle is teaching us about, ah, an urban legend about this game called Netkinz?”

 “Oh? How’s that going?” Tenna’s hands drifted behind his back. He tilted his head curiously, and rocked back on his heels. 

 “It’s rather unsettling, if I’m honest! The story goes that in the game, there is a chance that when a little pet gets sick, if you take them to the doctor, the character there will be evil? And they’ll kill your pet- oh, it’s all very gruesome, if I’m honest.” Despite the shudder that ran through him, Ralsei kept on smiling. “...though, it is very fun, if I’m honest. It’s a fun kind of gruesome. None of it is real, so I suppose it’s just…”

 “...entertainment?” Tenna offered.

 “Yeah! That’s the word.”

 They both stopped when they heard heavy footsteps out in the hall. Tenna heard the rasp of Kris panting, followed by Susie’s voice as they neared the room.

 “Kris, hey! Dude, I get that Tenna’s a bit banged up, but ya don’t gotta rip my arm off about it!”

 She was wearing a white shirt and a pair of black shorts. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. Kris was visibly sweating as they reached the door and they practically shoved Susie into Tenna, who stumbled back when she hollered.

 “DUDE! Okay, okay. Hey, Tenna?”

 “Hello, dear!” He offered a small smile and an awkward wave.

 Susie chuckled. She glanced at Kris before she rolled her eyes and looked back at him. “Ya mind turnin’ around real quick so I can check out your head?”

 “Sure thing!” He did just that.

 Susie’s hands were harder, but still gentle. She peered at the dent for a bit, then snickered quietly. “Alright,” she said as she let him go and stepped back, “let’s give this a shot. Tenna, just hold still, aaaaaaand…”

 This green burst came as an explosion of vibrate gold-green. The rich hue flooded his vision as a thick warmth rushed through his entire system. It actually hit so intensely that Tenna gasped and stumbled forward a bit.

 He felt Susie’s hand on his shoulder, and…and…

 …the pain was…gone…

 He patted at the back of his head for a bit, just to confirm. He laughed brightly, and whirled around to hug the purple monster as Susie chuckled. 

 “Oh, SUSIE! You little miracle-maker !”

 “Little? Hey, watch this!” She bent down and scooped him off of the floor with ease. Like Tenna was a mere remote instead of the whole television! The floor? Gone. Sense of balance? Topsturvy. Sense of pride…already very shaky, but being picked up like a plush toy did not help things. He…he was not…used to being the one who was being carried around…!

  Susie please don’t break me please I need to help Kris.

 Susie squeezed him tight. She whirled around towards Ralsei and Kris, and plopped Tenna back on the floor. As he steadied himself, she lightly tapped the back of his head and grinned at Kris. “There ya go! All better. Can I go now?”

 Kris sighed, relieved. They nodded and thanked her quietly.

 “Sure, man! Now outta my way. I gotta girl to smooch.”

 With that, she was gone.

 Ralsei glanced around. “Uh…okay! Goodnight, Kris! Goodnight, Tenna!” He shuffled out into the hall. Kris closed the door behind him.

 Tenna watched the human as they turned back towards him. They were…so tired. Did they need the soul? They were slow and quiet and had their head down. What if it got lost somewhere? What if it…what if he couldn’t get it back to them before they…?

 The thought stopped when Kris hugged him. They kneeled on the rug, and squeezed him tight.

 It was a much gentler squeeze compared to Susie’s.

 Tenna froze stiff. “Kris…? Hon…?”

 They pressed their face into the crook of his neck. Their voice, so small, just the smallest thing, made his screen flick to colorbars.

 “ Don’t fucking break on me. Okay? I…I need you…”

 They needed him.

  Kris needed him.

 After all these years, even when they were so big and grown, they still needed him. Tenna was at a height where he could scoop Kris into his arms in a matter of seconds. The human gasped, but soon went still as he got them situated and cradled them near his chest.

  This was more his style. On the floor, crisscross, precious nibling all snug in his arms. He was the one who did the holding and the squeezing. He gave Kris a little one, and brought them up near the bottom of his screen. Their eyes scrunched close when he nuzzled at them.

 “ Ohhhh , my precious star .”

 The pink-gold word spun around between his antennas. The static from his screen caught on Kris’ hair and made it go all fuzzy. He laughed, and nuzzled at them again. How couldn’t he? They were here ! In his arms. Somewhere safe and soft and quiet…somewhere where the darkness was something kind , rather than monstrous and cruel.

 They laughed, even as they shoved him away. His antennas dripped and toyed with their already frayed, frizzled hair. Kris covered their face with their hands, but he’d seen their smile. Their precious, sacred smile.

 They yawned. They were fighting it, but he could see their eyelids flutter between their fingers.

 Honeyed warmth clogged his system. This. This, this, this, this. This is the sort of thing he’d dreamt of for his entire life. Kris in his arms, all tired after a day of fun, ready to be tucked into bed and soothed off to sleep.

 It had been a fun day. Despite…the nasty bits. Kris had fun . A whole day of fun with their friends, and of course, their Uncle Tenna.

 There were some real nasty bits. Some real scares. And not the fun sort, like the Netkinz Killer. But…it all worked out in the end, didn’t it?

 “Alright,” he said softly, “time for bed, starlight .”

 Kris squirmed as he shuffled his knees over to the bed. Tenna laughed. “Kris, come on! Work with me here, kid.”

 They laughed and kept play-struggling. He tightened his hold on them for a bit. Just long enough to get the comforter pulled down so he could set them on the bedsheets.

 “Hey, hey! Kris, no!” 

 As soon as they were loose, Kris took their chance to bolt out of his arms. He didn’t even get a chance to lay them down. They jumped off the bed and looped around behind him. Tenna pretended to be confused for a moment. What? Where did they go? They were just right here ! He lifted and dropped the comforter a few times, before he grinned, whirled around, and grabbed at them.

 “C’mere you…”

 Kris’ eyes lit up when he snarled. They pointed. Their smile beamed. Their face shone, eyes all lit up like pretty little flames.

 Tenna cocked his head. “Huh? Something on my face?”

 Kris nodded, and pointed at their teeth. They jumped back from his hand, which he now realized had sprouted claws.

 Oh. Oh it was on , then, wasn’t it?

 Tenna put both of his hands down onto the rug. Sharpened nails curled against the soft fabric. Vaguely, he registered it depicted the Deltarune, and squeezed just a bit harder. He brought his head low, and pulled fresh static up from deep, deep down in the bottom of his chest. His fangs flashed as his smile widened into a full, toothy snarl. His antennas crackled. His fans whirled at full blast. Lightly colored steam roiled through his vents.

 “ Bedtime, sweetheart. ” The honey-sweet words appeared in grim, blood-soaked font. A dull tone rang. A loathsome bell. And the one who it rang for squealed with delight when he lunged for them.

 None of it was real, of course. Play-pretend. One last game to tucker them out.

 Kris shot off to the side. Tenna caught himself on the wall before he fell forward into it, and spurred himself along after Kris. They were already prepared to dodge again with their knees bouncing and bent. Like a little spring about to uncoil.

 Tenna was ready, too. He grabbed for them with one hand, while the other was balled up in front of the door. They were cornered. How were they gonna get out of this one, folks?

 Under, so it seemed!

 When Tenna lunged, Kris threw themself onto the floor and rolled under his hand. They kept on rolling, rolling, rolling until they went directly past his head and under his chest and past his stomach. Tenna had to crane his neck upside down to watch them as they reached the wardrobe, sprung up, and darted back over towards the bed.

 “You little -!”

 Kris slid onto their stomach. Tenna figured they planned to hide under the bed. What a quirky twist, folks! Instead of hiding from the monster under the bed, Kris, our star, aimed to hide from the monster by going under the bed!

 He felt so proud of them. He was also going to delight in whatever little shrieky squeal of terror they made once he got his mitts on them.

 Tenna made for Kris’ ankles. Kris gasped. They reacted by rolling off to the side, shifting their course away from the bed and back towards the door. His talons closed around empty air. He hissed, the steam billowing thick and gray-white, and slowly lifted his head up until his antennas brushed the ceiling.

 “It is time for sleep , Kris,” he said darkly, all toothy smiles and faux-malice. He used his hands to pull himself along as he stalked towards them. “Time to lay down. Time to close your eyes and drift off into a dark, yet darker dream. Come here .”

 Kris then put their hand on the doorknob.

 Tenna froze. “Wait. That’s cheating. You can’t-”

 They cackled.

 They slowly started to turn the knob.

 His suit flared. “KRIS, STOP !”

 The door creaked.

 “THAT’S A PENALTY! MINUS A THOUSAND POINTS!”

 He lunged. At the very last second, Kris side-stepped smoothly out of the way. Tenna had half a second to duck his screen down and put his arms out before his body hit the door with a heavy thud . Goodness gravy! Queen and everybody else most certainly heard that.

  We’re gonna get a noise complaint! We’re terrible, noisy neighbors! Oh, the horror…

 As he withered at the thought ( the paperwork, my god- ), Kris giggled. His antennas flicked in the direction of the sound. He was about to slip back into character, but he saw Kris stumble a bit, and took his time pulling himself back up.

 “You…you…” Kris wheezed between bouts of laughter. They doubled over and clutched at their belly. “You looked so stupid , holy fuck -!”

 Tenna chidded them lightly, “hey, language.”

 He actually didn’t care. Kris laughed again as he drew closer. They stepped back, but something gave, and they started to fall. He slid a hand in place to catch them before their head hit the wall. They landed in his palm with a quiet oof .

 “Look at who’s all tuckered out ,” Tenna sneered playfully, “I win !”

 The audience, muffled, cheered and roared in celebration of his victory. Kris’ eyes went wide as the claws closed around them. They struggled in vain against his hold. Tenna, overcome with the rush of victory, lifted the human high above his head, mouth gaping wide-

 …and snuffled over back towards their bed. He tucked Kris against his chest while they whined softly.

 “I know,” Tenna sighed, “but it is a schoolnight, honeybunch. I ain’t happy about it either, ya know.”

 “Don’t wanna,” Kris grumbled.

 He bit back the urge to coo. They were pouting. Actually, genuinely pouting. Arms crossed and everything. It was adorable. That was most certainly going in the Kris compilation. All of this was.

 “Are you feeling alright? Nothing hurts or anything?” He felt them shift, and frowned. He didn’t want to think about the soul, either. Until they figured out how to get rid of it, though, the best he could do was what he’d always done: comfort and distract Kris from the things that hurt them.

 Kris shook their head. Tenna nodded.

 He set them on the bedsheets, and pulled the comforter up to their neck. Kris sighed and rolled over. Their eyes were barely open by the time they were settled in. Tenna snapped, and the light switch on the wall flipped off. He dimmed his screen as darkness fell.

 Soft, safe darkness. The kind that promised gentle dreams.

 Dark, yet darker dreams…

 He brushed a finger through Kris’ hair. “Sweet dream, starlight . I’ll see ya in the morning.”

 The stars on the walls were kind and blue as they glowed. The light caught on Kris’ face, and shone in the waxy red of their eyes. They grabbed his finger when he tried to pull away.

 “...would…” he glanced to the foot of their bed. There was an empty space in the corner. “...would it help if I…stayed for a while?”

 They nodded.

 Tenna recalled a time where Asriel was real into one of his games. It was bedtime. Schoolnight. Toriel was calling for him to head up to bed, and Asriel, oh, he asked if he could take the TV with him! Take old Tenna to his and Kris’ room…what a thought…such a kid thing to ask, really.

 Toriel had said no, of course. There was no way in hell anybody was carrying a ninety pound TV up the stairs at that hour.

 Here, though, Tenna could settle into the corner all on his own with ease. He leaned back against the wall, crossed his legs, and watched Kris roll over to stare at him. They tugged the comforter up until it covered their mouth.

 “Night,” the word was muffled, but he heard it just fine. “Love ya…”

 “Night, hon.”

 Tenna wasn’t sure if he trusted himself to say that he loved them back. He felt the tears trying to come, and had to swallow it all down. He tuned himself to a soft channel. Something quiet and colorful and easy to sleep to. He turned the volume down low, tucked his hands over his chest, and settled in all the way against the wall.

 He watched Kris’ eyes close. The comforter rose and fell softly.

 The stars glowed blue above them.

 Tenna’s thoughts drifted to the color red. A dread crawled through his chest. A many-legged, scuttling dread. He drifted off into a shallow non-sleep, and pushed his mind to think about literally anything else.

 He would’ve laughed at the irony that he was the one in need of a distraction.

 He kept quiet, though.

 Kris needed their rest.

—

 It turned out that there were perks to existing as a disembodied, floating organ. You could skip using the front door, and simply slide into a third story window, for one! 

 You were curious about what Queen and the kids were up to.

 The answer, quite simply: CHAOS. CHAOS!

 It was a madhouse in Queen’s room. Absolute anarchy. The music was at max volume. Blankets and pillows littered the floor. Half-eaten bags of chips and other snacky foods were piled high. Strewed about were an assortment of toy foam swords and plastic guns that fired foam darts and plungers. Several of these neon yellow-green plungers were stuck to the walls and floor in multiple places around the room. Loyal was fast asleep on a pillow in the corner. There was a white dog snoozing next to them. Because of course there was.

 Noelle had a laptop open in her lap on one side of the room, while Berdly sat on the floor on a big beanbag with a console controller in his grasp on the other. Susie was chilling with Noelle. Ralsei sat alongside Berdly, though his controller was set aside for the moment.

 Ralsei had a notepad opened in his paws. Susie, meanwhile, was clutching a bag of chips while she peered at Noelle’s screen.

 “YOOOO, this is fun!” Susie stuffed a mouthful of chips into her mouth, “so, hm, wahs this, agah?”

 “This is a mod for LOOM 2 called myhome.wad,” Noelle explained as she tapped away at the keyboard, “it’s set in a normal, everyday house, but online, people say it gets really creepy. I’m already a bit freaked out.”

 Susie snorted as she swallowed, “wah, ‘cause of the demons?”

 “Well I mean yeah ,” Noelle laughed, “but also, there’s just a lot that’s off here. Like…this house? This house shouldn’t be able to exist in this game! The level builder for this game’s engine doesn’t allow for multiple rooms to be placed on top of each other, but this place has multiple stories!”

 Susie leaned in closer. Her eyes burned with curiosity. “Woah…how’d they do that? How’d they make it work like that?”

 Noelle shrugged as she admitted, “I have no idea,” she laughed again, “but! That’s not all. The gun animation when I shoot. Watch.”

 You watched as on the screen, Noelle fired off into a hoard of shambling, skin-colored demons. Each one exploded into a cloud of pixel gore.

 “Uh,” Susie squinted at the screen, “um…what am I…watching for ?”

 “Oh! You haven’t played a whole lot of LOOM, have you? My bad…”

 Noelle fired the gun off into a wall. She quickly explained as she reloaded, “the animations for firing and reloading the guns are a lot smoother than in the normal game. Normally it's more choppy and has less frames. And…hang on.”

 She paused the game, and cupped a hand around her mouth as she called up to Queen, who hovered on a throne above the madness below. “Hey, Queen? Can you lower the music a bit? I can’t hear the game too well.”

 “Oh Sure Honey My B.” Queen fiddled with a dial on one of her screens, and the blare of her epic mixtape dropped to a much more tolerable volume.

 “Thanks!” Noelle’s eyes were back on the screen, “the music is…oh! OH!” She jolted. Her eyes went wide.

 “W-what?” Susie glanced between her and the screen, her confusion only deepening as Noelle giddied and clapped her hands together.

 “The music is all freaky . It keeps messing up! Oh, this is SO freaking cool.”

 While Noelle hopped back into the game, Susie stared, and smiled. She had no idea what Noelle was going on about, but she was glad to be involved anyway. You smiled as she scooted closer and set the chips aside. Her snout just happened to find itself nuzzled up against Noelle’s shoulder.

 A hot blush bloomed on the little deer’s face. She kept her eyes on the game, but her shots became noticeably erratic.

 Berdly and Ralsei, on the other side of the room, were playing Minecrap. You watched Ralsei walk around a blocky field on one half of the screen, while Berdly stood in front of a hole in a stone wall and swung a sword at it. Some kind of creature fell down from above. It burst into flames the moment it was struck by the shiny blue sword.

 Ralsei had his character crouch down when he happened upon a pink sheep.

 “Awe,” he cooed at it, “Berdly! I found another one.”

 Berdly’s head snapped at Ralsei’s screen. “ANOTHER PINK SHEEP? Ralsei…why do the Minecrap gods smile upon you so? Those are exceedingly rare ! And you have found, what, five since we started this world?!”

 His voice cracked with envy. Ralsei laughed as he picked up the notepad and scribbled down a few quick notes. He then grabbed the controller and had his avatar pull out some wheat. The sheep’s blocky head whirled around as it ran towards him. He began to inch along until he reached a small wooden house, next to which there was a pen of, yup, four more pink sheep.

 Ralsei nudged the fifth one inside through a gate as he asked Berdly, “so, why are you just sitting there and swinging at the, uh…mobs?”

 “Mobs, yes,” Berdly nodded, “I am grinding , dear Ralsei. I am farming XP from these mobs, so that I may enchant my equipment and make it stronger.”

 “Oh! Do…should I do that?” Ralsei walked aimlessly alongside a field of pixelated wheat. The dirt path he was following was lined with assorted, colorful flowers.

 “If you wish to! Minecrap, Ralsei, is a sandbox game,” Berdly pushed his glasses back up when they started to slide down his beak, “there are bosses, upgrades, better gear, and a way to progress to certain stages of play, yes, but you are ultimately free to do as you wish. I, for example, enjoy the grind . I like to mine for a mass wealth of materials, accumulate XP, and maximize my productivity.”

 Ralsei’s view turned around as he looked at a structure that sat across the river from the wheat field. It was a slab of stone that sat in the shadow of a blocky mountain. On it, in dirt-brown bricks, was the word ‘BERD’. The ‘D’ hung off due to lack of space.

 A lone wooden door sat underneath the massive sign.

 Ralsei started to gather wheat. He replaced each one with fresh seeds as he gathered the harvest. “I think…I think I enjoy just building a house and tending a farm, honestly.”

 “A valid playstyle,” Berdly chirped.

 Ralsei’s eyes flitted towards the notepad. He seemed to be more focused on the game now, though.

 They were all dressed in baggy shirts and cozy pajamas. Queen scrolled away at her screens, smiling, listening to her mixtape, while the kids played down below. It was all very spread out compared to how Tenna had entertained the kids the night before. You supposed it only made sense, though.

 The door opened. Roulxs Kaard poked his head in. “Greetings, Cyber Majesty! ‘Tis I, Roulxs Kaard, here to informeth thee that I hast tucked young Prince Lancer in bedeth for the evening.”

 Queen glanced up from her many screens. “Oh Hey Thanks Dude.”

 She took a sip of acid from a hot pink silly straw. Roulxs lingered in the doorway. The mixtape blared quietly under the sounds of gunshots and demonic screaming from Noelle’s game.

 “Oh,” Queen said eventually, “And Like. Sorry. I Guess. For Slamming That Door In Your Face Earlier.”

 “Ah- haaaaaaaah ,” Roulx’s laughed. White flecks of sweat pelted down his face. “It is quite alright, mine queen. T’was an honor, truly! Thine door to mine face was a brush with god.”

 “And Ya Know Tenna Is Probably Sorry For Accidently Stepping On You Bug Style.”

 She took another sip. Roulxs started to vibrate violently on the spot. 

 “T’was also…a pleasure…Your Majesty.”

 She stared at him blankly. The kids were all too focused on their games to notice the adults’ conversation. Eventually Queen tilted her head slightly, “Okay So Um. Bye?”

 “YES FAREWELL GOODNIGHTETH YES MHM.”

 He left. Godspeed, strange bisexual man. Godspeed.

 You left shortly after. It had been a good minute since you’d been with Kris. You were worried about them. 

 They were most likely in their room down on the second floor. You drifted through the halls and found the staircase that led downwards. On the second floor, you drifted until you reached Susie and Kris’ room. To your surprise, Kris’ door was ajar.

  …did…do they…am I…?

 You floated over the door, and were now inside. Kris and Susie’s rooms were separate once again, so it would seem. The lights were off. Sketchy, pale blue stars cast a soft glow on the room’s black, featureless walls.

 Kris was in their bed. It was surreal to see them actually sleep in it. They were rolled over on their side with their face facing the wall. They slept with their head tucked down slightly and their arms huddled against their chest, The comforter had fallen down partially, revealing they were once again dressed in the periwinkle nightgown they’d thrown on earlier.

 You could only see them because of the beam of light that came from the corner, near the foot of their bed. When you entered the room, the door closed behind you on its own. You inched forward slightly. You…had a suspicion, but slowly floated towards the bottom right corner, just to confirm.

  Tenna…

 Whatever was on his screen, it was quiet, and playing gentle music. The same song, you realized, that had played as you spoke to that Pippins when you found Ramb turned completely to stone. Slower…softer…but you recognized the notes easily.

 You floated away from Tenna’s still form. Kris appeared to be alright, but it would be best for everyone if you went ahead and just…got it over with. 

 If Tenna saw you, though…

 How could you get past him, though? He was looking right at Kris! Maybe he was asleep? Did a TV man even need to sleep? You drifted over to him again and wobbled around for a moment. He didn’t react when you brushed against him…maybe he really was sleeping?

 If that was the case, then you felt confident enough to float over towards Kris. You floated over their sleeping form, dipped down, and watched as your glow melted into their body. They went still. You didn’t move. You didn’t touch anything.

 The soft song continued to hum.

 Kris kept breathing. The comforter rose, and then fell, and rose up again.

 …you wanted to let the poor kid sleep. You really did.

 …

 …but.

 That tape. That ScuffedTape. If you didn’t use it now when you had a chance, there was a very real possibility that this strange path you had discovered would end. Whatever secret these tapes would unlock would be lost to you. What happened with Tenna earlier was…bad. You couldn’t even tell if he was even aware of what had happened to him.

 The red. The horns. The buzzing .

 If you used the tape, would all of that happen again? Would it get…worse?

 But if you didn't , what if the game ‘corrected’ itself, and Tenna and Kris and everyone else just…slid back into their ‘proper’ roles? You had no way to check. No one to ask. This was all…you’d done some searching, elsewhere. Nothing. This was something you had to figure out all on your own.

 As much as it hurt, you nudged Kris, and they rolled out of bed. They landed with a soft thud. Tenna, if he was awake, didn’t react as you had them walk towards him. Kris was wide awake. You could tell from how you had to fight to get them to walk that they were awake, and that they were well aware of what you were trying to do.

  It’s okay, you wanted to tell them, it’s okay, Kris. I’m trying to help you.

  The Angel is granted its desire.

 The voice on the screen-within-the-screen had said that inside the cave. The cave filled with yellow and pink flowers. The one in the tunnel lined with red vines. If you followed this path, your desire would be granted. You desire to free Kris from your control, and let this world rest in the way it deserved. 

  It’s going to be okay. It will be worth it. I promise.

 Like you could even be sure of that. Kris fought you every step of the way. If you stopped pressing them onwards for even a second, they started to stumble back towards their bed. You pushed and pushed and pushed until they were in front of Tenna.

 You interacted with him, and your menu appeared. You rushed to select the ScuffedTape.

 It appeared in Kris’ hands. A small, black rectangle. They looked at it as their arms moved up. They then went rigid. You were about to move, when suddenly they jerked their head, and brought their mouth closed on their own arm.

 They bit themself.

 Hard.

  Kris…!

 There was a thunk of damage. A box appeared as Kris seized and struggled. The options were “Proceed” or “It’s okay. It will be okay.”

 You, of course, went with the second one. It would be okay. You wanted Kris to trust you. You wanted to comfort them.

 Kris’ eyes widened. Their jaw clenched tight.

 Another thunk rang as they jerked backwards, and their back hit the bed. You had more options. You could say “Proceed”, or tell them “He will be alright in the end.”

 You did so.

 Kris wasn’t having it. Their fingers curled around the tape. Your influence spurred them back towards Tenna, but they made a frantic gaspy sound and managed to pull back once more.

 New choices. “Proceed” or “I only want what’s best for you.”

 You did. You well and truly did . You meant every word of it. Was there any way you could make this less scary? Less horrific? They heard you as the voice of a god they’d prayed to since they were small. You were something from on high that had made roost inside their skin. You were a thing that wormed and burrowed into places where you were not wanted. A voyeur. A violator. A parasite, Tenna called you. And you had to agree.

 You had to keep going, though. If not you, then who would?

 No one would believe you if you ever spoke of this.

 You were alone. It was you, and this strange little story.

 You told Kris, “ It will be worth the hurt. I promise. ”

 You watched their teeth flash as they went to bite their arm again. They crumbled. Their knees buckled. They fell to the floor with a heavy, harsh thud. You drew them back up, and you pushed them forward with the tape still in their grasp: white knuckled and unwilling at the same time.

 A pained, strangled sound escaped them.

 It made you shudder. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.

 Tenna’s screen turned off. There was the muffled sound of fabric and motion. The light came back, this time with a golden yellow hue as his screen flicked on. Tenna was holding Kris in one of his gloved hands. He had them in front of him, while his other hand reached towards his chest, and you heard a rustle as he…he…

  …what…?

 “Kris,” Tenna said slowly, “it’s…it’s okay. I’ll play it. Just…just relax, sweetheart. It’s gonna be alright.”

 Their face fell into a fresh, raw horror. They kept shaking their head. They watched Tenna take the tape from their hand, and kicked their legs as they thrashed widely.

 “It’s gonna be alright,” he repeated, “it…it will all work out, in the end. I promise.”

 There was a faint whirr when he put the tape in.

 His hands both secured Kris in place in his lap. He tilted his head down so they’d watch…so you could watch the screen. You saw the world through Kris’ eyes, and saw the static fizzle and fade to black.

 In white letters, the words “Welcome Home, Kris” appeared. They flicked away, and the video now showed the inside of Kris’ home. The camera bobbed as whoever held it looked around the Dreemurr family living room. It looked different . There weren’t as many photos on the walls as you were used to. Tenna was there in front of the couch where the cameraperson was sitting…but he was new .

 You saw a pair of eyes in the reflection of his screen.

 You realized with a start that there was no camera. You realized, with a rising swell, that you recognized those eyes.

 Those sharp, brilliant black eyes.

 The face they belonged to was younger, here. She didn’t have any red in her hair yet. She already wore it short, though. She was sitting on the edge of the couch with the TV off, hands curled at her sides as her hooves swayed off the edge. She kept leaning forward to look into the kitchen.

 Several figures were huddled in the golden glow. It was dark outside. You watched Asgore’s back move as he shifted to the side, revealing Toriel. A younger Toriel. She was laughing softly, and kept looking at whatever she was holding in her arms.

 You couldn’t quite see. You saw Carol and Rudy Holiday were here. Younger, too. Rudy…oh. He was so full of energy. Carol was…softer. She was still blue and icy, but there was a lightness to her that you couldn’t imagine in the woman you’d met yesterday.

 Asgore moved again, and another wave of emotion hit. When he moved around to fetch something from the counter, you could see Carol’s body, and went wide-eyed when you saw her stomach. This was before Noelle. 

 Then, you looked at Toriel, and your stomach twisted.

  Kris…oh…

 “Gosh darnit, Tori!” Rudy was saying, “couldn’t ya have waited a bit longer? We ain’t due until next month!”

 “ Me ? I am not the one whom this complaint should be lodged with,” Toriel feighed offence and clutched at her blouse. She laughed a high, sharp giggle.

 “And I beg your pardon , mister,” Carol said sternly, “but who is this we you speak of?”

 Both of the women laughed, while Rudy jokingly smacked his forehead. Asgore offered Carol a cup of water that she accepted gladly.

 “Shall I go wake Asriel?” Asgore asked Toriel.

 “See if he wishes to join us, yes,” she said, “though, I suspect he might be too tired. It is alright if so. They will be here in the morning as a pleasant surprise!”

 “A surprise? Hoho! Tori, he has been waiting for this for months . I’ll see if he’s awake,” Asgore proceeded up the stairs. As the boards creaked, Carol took a sip before she studied the newborn in Toriel’s arms.

 “You mentioned that there were some worries about their heart? What was that about?”

 Toriel’s bright eyes softened. “They worried that their heart would need some operations. We were told that we could come, but even after the drive to the city, we were still waiting for quite some time. That is why we waited to call you until we were home.”

 She winced slightly. “I am most sorry that it ended up being so late. But I knew you’d not want to wait too long to meet them, soooooo…” 

 “Please, Tori. We’re just blessed to be here.” Carol dismissed her fretting with a casual wave. Her brow tightened as Toriel’s face remained uncertain.

 “There were also…some…additional concerns,” Toriel explained slowly, “they…they are apparently different from most humans. The doctors said that they could do some…’corrective’ procedures, but when we asked if they were unwell or sick, they went on about things like ‘confusion’ and ‘peer rejection’ and…it all felt very unnecessary .”

 Rudy frowned. His voice held a rare nasty tone, “jeez. I know humans can be stiff about things, but that’s just…uck.”

 Carol nodded in sagely agreement. “You did the right thing, Tori. If they aren’t in pain, then, well, what’s the issue ? Leave them as the Angel molded them, I say.” She punctuated this with a pointed sip. Raised pinky and everything. 

 It was like a funhouse mirror had been straightened out in front of your very eyes.

 Dess, on the couch, looked back at the TV for a moment. She pushed herself off and padded over.

 “Can I see ‘em?”

 Her voice already had a rasp to it. It sounded so much like Noelle in that moment, though. Footsteps sounded upstairs. Slow, calm, heavy. Quick, fast, eager.

 “Oh, yes,” Tori said, kneeling down to the young girl’s eye-level. “Just be very careful, alright? Human infants need to have their heads held up until their necks are stronger.”

 The video bobbed when Dess nodded. She carefully took the newborn into her arms, and looked down at Kris’ round, sleeping face as she returned to the living room. A young voice, almost Ralsei’s, but you knew better, called from the top of the stairs, “CAN I HOLD THEM? CAN I HOLD THEM? DAD, DAD, YOU SAID IF I GOT ALL A’S THAT I COULD HOLD THEM FIRST. YOU SAID-”

 Dess glanced into the kitchen, where Toriel visibly gulped. “I was. Unaware. Of this arrangement. Oops.”

 “Well, let’s see…” Asgore followed downstairs behind his son. He leaned to look into the kitchen, only for Toriel to point, and for his eyes to go wide when he whipped his head and saw Dess as she settled onto the floor. “...ah. It seems someone has beaten you to the punch, Asriel.”

 Asriel hopped down the last step. He looked at Dess. She looked at him, and waved.

 “Hey,” she said casually. She pointed at Kris, “cute, ain’t they? I think I’m their favorite.”

 Asriel’s jaw dropped. Asgore shuffled past him, while the little white goat monster fumed for all of two seconds, before he went limp. He hung his head low. “...I’m goin’ back to bed.”

 He spun around and began the trip back upstairs.

 Asgore, hands behind his back, shuffled into the kitchen with his head also hung low. “...my bad,” he admitted quietly. He then burst into a loud, throaty chuckle that got everyone going. 

 Dess snickered. Her gaze turned to a remote she’d grabbed as she looked at the TV, at Tenna, and turned him on. Before anything appeared on the screen, she looked back into the kitchen towards the adults.

 “So. Name?” Carol had her brow raised quizzically.

 Asgore drifted to Toriel’s side. She clasped her paws together and smiled eagerly. They both exchanged a brief glance, and after a quick countdown to three, happily declared in perfect unison.

 “Togore!”

  …no. No fucking way. Someone save this child.

 It would seem that Carol Holiday was of a very similar mind. She went still, held her drink out to Rudy, and shuffled into the kitchen as soon as he took it. December looked down at the human in her arms as her mother approached. A tiny laugh escaped when she saw how Kris’ red, puffy eyes were focused on the screen in front of them.

 “They’re watching the TV, Mama,” she whispered.

 Carol paused and looked at the screen herself. She laughed softly, hand on her hip. “Hehe…only a few hours old, and they’re already hooked to a screen. Oh dear.”

 She then stared a moment longer, and leaned as she squinted.

 “Oh,” she said, “new. New TV. Asgore, you’ve a fine taste in electronics, I must say. But at the cost of a rather questionable one when it comes to naming your children.”

 “Well now!” The man argued, “how do you know that it was not Toriel who picked out our new television?”

 “Because only you would christen the night of your newborn child’s arrival to this world by buying a television, Gori dear.”

 Asgore went ‘oh’, and slumped. Rudy patted his shoulder lightly. Toriel merely chuckled.

 “Hand them to me a moment, Dess sweetheart. I need to save this child from a travesty of a name.”

 Toriel and Asgore offered some argument, but remained where they were in the kitchen. Dess stood up and passed Kris to her mother. She took them into her arms, and looked into Kris’ face as she circled around to stand in front of the television. Dess returned to the couch to watch her mother as she tilted her head from side-to-side and studied the human closely.

 “...Kris.”

 She paused, as if to let the name truly settle.

 A sharp grin tugged at her lips. “Yes. Kris,” she repeated the name, and found it suitable, “the name of a dagger. A sharp, clever, beautiful thing…”

 A deep, true tenderness spread across the woman’s face. She swayed there for a moment. She swayed in the glow of the television, where Tenna’s…was he even Tenna, yet? The light, shifting and colorful, surrounded her like a halo. You saw tears gather in her eyes.

 Dess did, too. “Mama…?”

 With a sniff, Carol shuffled over and held Kris out to her. “Hold them, sweetie gravy. Mama is fine. Just…very… happy . Yes.”

 She rubbed her eyes and sniffled again. Toriel was ready when she returned to the kitchen. She took Carol by the arm. As she turned, you saw the tears where they gathered in her eyes, as well.

 “Pickle juice,” Carol whimpered, “please.”

 Rudy was already rustling through the fridge. Asgore watched as Dess settled in on the couch with Kris, nodded, and rubbed Carol’s other shoulder. The deer woman took a deep, shaky breath in.

 “I’m fine,” she said firmly, “just…augh. We are never doing this again. I don’t even crave the fu- the freeeeaking pickles! It’s the juice. Straight from the juice, right to the baby. This is so dumb .”

 Rudy popped the jar open and offered it to her gently. Dess laughed. The video ended as she looked down at Kris in her arms, and turned her gaze onto the screen.

 It all faded into golden static.

 The room was dark. You heard a shift, and could faintly see Tenna as he stood up and carried Kris back to bed. Their breath came out in thin, wet rasps as he laid them down and pulled the comforter over them. Tears hung in their red eyes.

 A few glassy splotches fell onto the pink-blue bedding. Tenna was crying, too.

 “...I got to see that one,” he said quietly.

 Kris couldn’t move. Not unless you let them. They laid still and sniffled as Tenna brushed at their hair and lingered, until their eyes fluttered shut.

 “...goodnight, sweetheart…sweet…dreams…”

 There was a quiet click. The tape popped out. And as Tenna returned to his previous spot in the corner, for just a brief moment, you saw his body turn red.

 The music started back up.

 And the world faded to black.