Chapter Text
Kris tapped her desk nervously, eyes darting around the room. The SOUL had wanted to sleep through class, but Kris couldn’t possibly sleep right now, not with all these worries running rampant in her head.
Last night, Kris informed Carol of Susie’s desire to involve Noelle in the Dark Worlds. Carol decided to have Noelle stay home from school today and told her that it was to let her calm down from the scare regarding Rudy last night. He ended up being ok after having fallen from the ladder, but the Holidays were understandably shaken up.
After what felt like an eternity, class finally ended for the day and Susie stopped Kris.
“Hey could you come with me to Castle Town, I want to get your opinion on what I did with the place, see if Noelle will like it”
Immense dread flooded Kris’ very being. Susie was persistent, she’d go drag Noelle to the Dark World one way or another, and then it’ll all be over.
That damn pack of cats led by the sinister voice in the dark. That boogieman had plagued Kris for years and took everything from her. The cats were after Noelle and given the opportunity, they would tear her apart. Kris had seen it happen before, in a previous timeline, when she foolishly involved Noelle in the prophecy. She loved spending time with her, going on those wonderful adventures, she always cared so deeply for her. She knew she shouldn’t have but thought maybe it’d be ok, maybe with a bit of teamwork, the cats could be defeated once and for all, but she wasn’t strong enough. No, all that could be done was to hide away, stay as distant from Noelle as possible, no matter how much it hurt.
All weak people can do is hide, this was the only way.
Kris and Susie entered Castle Town and the garish display nearly made her gag. Christmas lights and snowy rooftops had completely taken over the town. Susie was giddy with excitement, hoping to show all this off to Noelle. Kris was torn between terror for Noelle getting involved, and vile hatred for Susie acting like she deserved Noelle. For YEARS Kris had been fighting to keep Noelle alive because she loved her, and then Susie decides Noelle gets to be hers? Her love for Noelle is NOTHING compared to what Kris felt. But it had to happen this way, she couldn’t afford to let emotions stop her now. If Kris kept being cautious, things just might turn out ok.
Maybe.
Susie spoke “What do you think Kris? I hope Noelle comes to accept this as her new home and gets away from that bitch mother of hers! Wouldn’t it be great? We could live here forever! You know, you could stay here too if you want, I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to get away from Toriel, then we can all have fun, what do you say?”
Kris was forced to angrily mumble “sounds like fun!”
“Alright, well me and Ralsei have got a few more things to finish up, then I guess we can go to Noelle’s house and tell her to pack her things and you can do the same. Just give me a few minutes.”
After that cutscene, the SOUL eagerly directed Kris towards Seam’s shop and had Kris place the 5th shadow crystal on the counter.
“So, you’ve collected a full set have you? I can purify these for you, but sometimes it’s better not to think of what could have been, isn’t it? I warn you, hopes and dreams can be a dangerous thing.”
Seam handed Kris the pure crystal, and before Kris had a chance to react, she immediately felt herself being pulled towards Mallius. Her fingers were being forced into her pockets, reaching around for the ThornRing. Oh god no, Kris panicked, immediately realizing what was happening, as the TwistedSword was added to Kris’ equipment.
The sword’s blade was sharp and twisted like a spiral. The grip was covered in thorns, to hold this would cause immense pain.
The SOUL attempted to equip it, but Kris had enough power to refuse. She could feel the evil emanating from it.
The SOUL tried again and Kris continued to refuse. She could feel the power emanating from it.
The SOUL seemed frustrated and started mashing equip but Kris refused every time. But Kris noticed new sensations from the sword
She could smell and taste some freshly-made hot chocolate Noelle made for her.
She could feel Noelle’s head rest against her after they stayed up late watching TV.
She could hear Noelle excitedly talking about the game she had recently been playing.
She could see Noelle’s smile.
Tears began to run down Kris’ face. She was starting to crack. For years Kris had tried to forget about how much she loved Noelle, but all those feelings were coming rushing back to her.
And what Susie was about to do would take all that away forever. Noelle would never smile again after the cats chew up her flesh.
This sword seemed really powerful, didn’t it? Like with it, she could do anything. But something was telling her that if she were to pick up this sword, she would lose all control of herself. That the SOUL could make her do whatever it wanted and she would be completely powerless to stop it. It could and WOULD kill everyone she ever loved.
Maybe it wouldn’t kill Noelle though.
It seemed to care about her in some kind of twisted way.
But could Kris really trust this awful being that treated her and her friends’ lives like nothing more than a game?
“Kris we’re all ready here, ready to go welcome Noelle home?”
Did Kris really have a choice?
It was now or never.
Kris’ heart began to beat faster and faster. She should just stick to the plan, maybe it can all work out, maybe Noelle will be fine, maybe this time things will be different.
No.
If Kris wanted fate to change, she had to make that change happen, no matter what it took.
Kris gathered up courage and thought to herself “I’ll equip it.”
And then
Kris was used up
and stopped being Kris.
It worked, Kris finally let you equip it. You’ve been waiting six years to finally see what it’d do, after all. Looks like Kris’ attack stat didn’t go up much. Then you checked the powers tab.
Level 6 Avatar: Accepts the risk of pain and seizure
Looks like Kris has more abilities now too. There’s ACT, X-Slash, and several other new moves you’ve never even seen before.
“KRIS! Are you coming or what?”
You turned your head to the noise and saw Susie trying to hurry you along. Beside her was Ralsei who suddenly had a look of horror on his expression.
“Susie, I-I think something might be up with Kris, maybe we should-“
And then you entered a battle with them.
“Kris what the hell’s gotten into you?”
You used a TensionMax.
“If it’s come to this” said Ralsei “then I have no choice” as he shot off an intense blast of fire, but Susie blocked it with her axe.
“Susie that might’ve been our only chance!”
“Only chance for what? Kris, Ralsei, I don’t know what’s going on but is this about Noelle?”
Susie continued “Kris, I’m not really good with this sort of thing but, are you upset I’ve been so focused on Noelle lately? I guess I haven’t really been giving you a lot of time huh? Maybe I’ve been making you feel left out, and I know what that can do to someone. Tell you what, how about we put Noelle on hold just for today? You, me, and Ralsei can all just hang out. No one will get thrown away, ok Kris?”
You could feel hesitation in your head. You could feel regret and guilt, but you didn’t feel like it was fighting back. Kris had resigned herself to this.
You opened up the ACT menu and saw Kris’ most powerful spell
“SpiralCut” – 100% TP : Causes Fatal bleeding
And you cast it on Susie. With the fluid motions of a conductor directing an orchestra, your hand made several precise strikes, and in an instant several large gashes erupted from Susie and blood gushed everywhere at high speeds. She made an agonized expression for just a moment before collapsing as an awful gurgling sound released from her body. The sensation in your head was nauseous and power filled your very being.
Ralsei seemed distraught, but held himself together and spoke in a somber tone “I guess I better stop you here before you get a chance to save” and cast a searing cyclone of fire which was impossible to dodge.
And you barely felt it.
“W-what? But that was my most powerful spell! Kris, if you’re still in there, do something! Stop this. I know this isn’t what you want.”
It seemed that the TwistedSword allowed you more control over the game, for rather than a pre-set selection of dialogue choices, a text box opened in which you could type anything.
“What could you possibly know about what Kris wants?” you direct while stepping forward towards Ralsei. “Did you ever bother to get to know her?” You put your hand on your forehead, raising up your bangs enough for your red eyes to show through, while still being covered in darkness. “Or did you just ignore everything inconvenient about her so that you can continue playing around like nothing’s wrong?” You were incredibly close to Ralsei now.
Ralsei knew he had already lost, but chose not to show any fear, instead taking one last opportunity to speak his mind. “None of this even matters to you, you’ll never get what you want because you know what happens when you’re done here? You have to leave and go back to whatever world you came from. You’ll never belong here, you’ll never be welcome here, and based on the fact you keep coming back, I’ve got the feeling you don’t enjoy what’s out there. But the truth is, this could never have been your home.”
You slashed Ralsei and he turned to dust and was blown away. There was no point dealing with the other darkners, they didn’t matter. You SAVEd and then headed towards the light and ascended into the Light World.
You found that the TwistedSword persisted and was equipped. Checking the menu, your stats showed that you were LV 2, likely because you killed Susie. Sunset was pouring into the school, seemed like most people had left for the day. You walked into Kris’ classroom and saw Alphys was at her desk.
“Oh my god Kris are you ok?” Alphys shouted, rushing over to you. You looked at yourself and saw that you were covered in blood. Seems like you must’ve stepped in Susie’s blood at some point too as you were leaving a trail of bloody shoeprints on the ground.
Taking out the TwistedSword, you cut through Kris’ teacher, saturating the sword in a fresh coat of blood. You could feel your body grow stronger.
You thought in your head “How are you doing? Do you still trust me?”
Kris replied “I don’t know what’s right anymore. I’m just tired of all this plotting, scheming, violence. I just want to be with her again. I don’t know if you’re doing this to help me, or just because you think it’s fun to hurt people but please, spare Noelle.”
You took a breather in the hallway of the school, taking a sip from the water fountain. Alphys was one thing, but the second you step out that door, all hell would break loose. You went over to the Lost and Found bin and found a black cape. It was no ShadowMantle, but at least it would look a little cool. You put it on, and headed outside.
No one seemed to be outside at the moment, so you walked into the library unobstructed and saw Berdly was at the desk
“A bit early for Halloween huh Kr-“ you were starting to get tired of all this dialogue, so you just leaped over the counter and sliced him. The other visitors in the library screamed and ran for the only exit, but you were faster than they were, blocking the one door out as you painted the walls crimson before leaving.
There was a loud commotion in the streets, it seems like people had heard the screams within the library and people shrieked as they saw you covered in blood. You ran forward, slashing at the innocent townsfolk, not even the children escaped your wrath (though they weren’t worth much EXP).
You entered the hospital and beheaded the large mouth monster that always gave you the creeps and walked into Rudy’s room. The sensation in your head shuddered as you walked over to him.
Rudy was asleep when you walked in, and he would stay that way.
You entered the police station, but the ghost had fled. You walked south, handled the church, walked into town hall, cut the fingers off the hand receptionist one by one before gouging out its palm, and then headed upstairs into Carol’s office.
Carol was standing in front of her desk, katana at the ready.
“This wasn’t the plan, Kris, or was this YOUR doing?”
Carol began to attack you and was surprisingly powerful, you were starting to take some serious hits. You couldn’t seem to lay a hit on her, and before long you were low on HP without any healing items. Instead of FIGHTing, you had another idea, and ACTed.
“Would you give your life for your daughter’s?” you asked.
“Any mother would.”
“Then I need yours”
Horror rose on Carol’s face as she realized the situation
“You’re trying to kill it once and for all, aren’t you?” Carol said as she looked out the window. “What of my Rudy?” she continued.
“Gone.”
“...then I will help you however I can” she said, dropping her katana to the ground as she shut her eyes.
You raided the diner and ate to heal yourself, you entered the apartments and broke down every door, killing one after another after another. You entered Sans’ house and heard some kind of machine upstairs. You went into a bedroom and saw a large capsule. You banged on it, trying to break it open to kill whoever was inside, but couldn’t breach it. In your attempts, though, you slashed some tubing on the sides. The machine began to spark, but still disappeared from the room entirely, leaving the house completely empty.
You went north, entering houses and killing the occupants. You walked into the Flower King and spun your sword around, breaking open all the jars. They’d just wither away anyways. You saw the gate to Noelle’s house and saw it was shut. You then moved into Kris’ house.
The voice in your head said “don’t you think you’ve done enough? She’s my mother, we-we can’t!”
“What if makes the difference between saving Noelle and not?”
“...we’ve come this far. Just do it.”
You saw Toriel rush to the door “Kris thank god you’re ok, I was so worried when you weren’t-“ and then she noticed your black and red cape.
“Ehehehehehehehe! Guess this is what I get for taking in a human huh? I guess I should’ve expected it! Well come on, I bet you want to give mommy a nice sharp hug huh?”
You started to feel a little bad, so you sliced her just to make her stop talking. Your mother’s blood splattered across Kris’ home. You looked in the kitchen and saw she had recently made a pie. When all this was done, that would be the last pie Kris’ mother would ever make for her.
You walked to the lake. You were LV 16. Across the lake, The Knight floated above the water’s surface. It looked just as it did in the Dark Worlds.
“KRiS......wHy......ouR......PRoMiSE.....”
You reached your hand out and suddenly The Knight stood still and it seemed panicked. You left Kris’ body and floated into The Knight’s. For whatever reason, you felt some connection with it. You started forcing its body towards Kris who stood still, sword at the ready, taking shallow breathes. Once you got close enough, Kris cut The Knight down and its body fell down, sinking into the lake below as you rejoined with Kris’ body.
“We’re LV 18 now, I think we’re ready” you said to Kris.
“It’s in the Shelter.”
You walked south. The wind felt nice. The air smelled rotten. The sun was barely over the horizon at this point. It was almost over.
Kris told you the code, and you walked inside. There was a room with several people of Hometown who must’ve been brought here for safekeeping. Snowy, Monster Teen, the police chief, and Kris’ father.
You were LV 19.
There was a storage room packed with preserved food and water. It was enough to last a few people a lifetime. You found a room with lots of screens and a chair that looked like it once belonged to someone important. That person seemed to have left now. All there was in the shelter was you, and it. Along the way, you saw a SAVE point. Unlike all the previous ones you had seen, this one was golden.
You and Kris felt determined.
“Whatever happened to the prophecy, Kris?” a voice in the dark said. You think you can break free, just like this? That’s not how this works! Seems like all that’s left is the cage, the girl, and me huh? So how about it? Let’s kick off the roaring and we can do this all over again! Then you can see your friends again, the ones you just let get slaughtered in cold blood by your own hand!”
“No, it’s time to end this story” were the words that came out of your mouth, but you didn’t say them.
“Well, I sure hope you can see in the dark!”
Fireballs began to be thrown your way. You could feel yourself being gnawed on by glistening pink and gold lights. It was so dark.
So you shined.
You shone so brightly, that all the darkness was burned away. Severed hands twitched on the metal floor. You walked over towards a quivering body in the center. It seemed to be wearing a cloak not too dissimilar to yours. Kris plunged the sword into it. And then again, and then again, and then again until nothing remained. The hands picked themselves up and saw that Kris had slain their leader. They then began to cuddle Kris’ legs and made some kind of noise of contentment. Kris was now their leader, and they would hunt for her.
You saw that there was light blue glow in a far-off room. You moved forward, finding that there was something on a high ledge that you couldn’t reach.
You tossed aside the TwistedSword and it clattered onto the floor. You then left Kris’ body and floated up to the glowing object. It was some sort of jar, so you floated behind it and pushed it down as Kris caught it, inside was a cyan heart. Kris pulled it out, hugged it close, and absorbed it into her and she began to shine as well.
“I don’t understand, why did you help me? Did you just want to see what would happen? Did you think it’d be fun to kill everyone? Or was this some twisted way to save me?”
Your told her your reasoning.
“Maybe things could have been done differently” she said. “Maybe there was a better timeline where everyone got what we wanted, but for now, I think I’d just like to rest for the first time in a very long time, but first, the reason I did all this in the first place. I just, hope she doesn’t hate me. Even if she does though, that’s ok.”
Kris left the shelter and you floated behind. Kris climbed over the gates and entered Noelle’s house. Blood was being tracked into the house, but Kris still maintained that cyan glow. She hadn’t been this happy in ages.
“Noelle! It’s me, Kris! It’s done! It’s all over! We’re going to be OK!”
After a few moments, Noelle’s door cracked open slightly and an eye peered out of it. There was a shriek, but then the door open fully and Noelle came out of her room, looking at Kris.
“Kris? Kris you’re ok! I don’t believe it! Kris, I, I’m scared, I can’t get ahold of anyone!”
“There-there is no one left Noelle...”
“H-huh?”
“There’s no one left! No one to hurt you, the prophecy’s been shattered, the cats won’t bother you, we don’t have to be afraid anymore!”
“Kris? What are you talking about?”
“I guess what I mean to say is-“
Kris moved close to Noelle and finally got to do what she had dreamed of for years. Eventually, their lips parted.
“I love you, Noelle. And I’m sorry I had to wait until now to say those words. Your life was in danger and I did all this to protect you and now, now we can be together!” Kris said with a crazed look.
Noelle stammered “Y-you were the one. You killed everyone in town. Did you kill my mother, your mother, Susie? All of them, just to save me?“
“Yes, I did.”
“That’s... that’s so wonderful! You care for me that much?”
Relief washed over Kris and she hugged Noelle tightly.
You prepared to leave the game, you’d leave them to this empty world you’ve created.
Noelle said “gosh we have so much catching up to you, looks like we’ve got nothing but time now!”
Kris replied “well how about to start, let’s head to my house and share a pie.”