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Kris knew something was very, very wrong at that moment.
When Tenna had his arms cut off, Kris held back from wincing. It was a necessary evil. If this didn't happen, their plan could fail, and as much as they wanted him and their friends to not get hurt, that was what would happen for getting in their way. It wasn't something they were proud of, but they had to keep going.
And then the Knight appeared, looking intimidating as always. It was simple. The group would face them, the Knight would easily defeat them because they was much stronger than them combined, and then they would continue with the plan without it seeming like they were both working together. The Knight even assured them that they wouldn't hurt Kris's friends too much after they begged for mercy for them. Nothing could go wrong.
But then... Everything went wrong.
Kris felt the SOUL in their chests throb, it always did when they felt something strongly or a battle began. And before the battle began, their chests throbbed strongly, an almost overwhelming feeling arising for a brief period. So strong that they couldn't determine exactly what it was before the battle began, and that in itself was disturbing.
But nothing was more disturbing than what happened right after.
They felt their bodies move and mentally prepared themselves, waiting for what action the SOUL would ask them to do, but they soon realized that something was different. Their feet were further apart, their shoulders tense, and their hands tightly gripped their swords. That pose... Kris vaguely remembered that pose, the pose Ralsei had taught them at the very beginning of their adventure.
A pose of someone prepared to fight.
Kris's eyes widened slightly when they realized this, but they could do nothing as their body launched theirselve at the Knight. Their attack didn't have much effect, fortunately, but the relief didn't last long, as Susie and Ralsei also suddenly attacked, their rebellious friend causing much more damage than them.
This was strange, what was happening? Why was the SOUL attacking? They had never ordered them to do this in any fight until now. Even when the situation was difficult, even when their opponent seemed cruel and irredeemable, determined to kill them, the SOUL never made them raise their weapons for anything more than defense. Why was this happening now? What was different about this fight?
The Knight attacked, blows like snowflakes, like shuriken blades, and for a brief moment they could see those blades hitting them and their friends, a quick and painless victory, as painless as possible at least. But no. The blades grazed close to them, but didn't touch anyone. The SOUL commanded, their bodies preparing for another attack.
Fear began to rise in Kris. Why? This didn't make sense, they couldn't understand it. How were it dodging so well? Why did it choose to fight instead of act? The SOUL never attacked, the SOUL was stubborn and refused to hurt unless it was an unwanted side effect of an action. The group kept attacking and the Knight fought back, they didn't always manage to dodge all the blows, but they never stopped attacking, the damage taken wasn't enough to slow them down. Kris glanced at their group, and what they saw would have made their entire bodies freeze if they had control.
There were times when the SOUL was completely focused on the battle. Kris liked to think that the SOUL was ‘locked in’ or ‘in the zone’ at those times, when they felt their body lighter and their mind quicker to think of a solution to resolve the situation. It was times like these that Kris, even if reluctantly, felt lighter because they were being controlled, certain that any great challenge in front of them would be no match against the SOUL’s determination. This didn’t only affect them, however. Whenever this happened, Susie’s eyes would shine a little, her yellow more intense while her pupil turned red, her arrogant smile transforming into a more serene and confident one. Ralsei also changed a little, his eyes shining green, with his pupil also turning red and his posture relaxing, as if he knew that everything would turn out well in the end.
What was happening was something similar to those moments, but totally different.
Ralsei's irises were as red as theirs, an aggressive snarl completely out of character for him plastered across his face. Susie was even worse, her eyes glowing red like a beacon, roaring like a furious wild animal as she used Rude Buster with all her might against the Knight. They could see the faint red aura that showed the SOUL's control over them, they focused on sensing what was happening with it, the abrupt change in its attitude.
And when they finally reached the SOUL for long enough...
...They would be nothing but pure hatred being screamed to the heavens towards the Knight.
...
. . .
. . .
Fear.
For the first time in a long time, Kris felt nothing but fear.
They had never felt intimidated by SOUL before. Angry, upset, exacerbated by some of its actions, yes, but never intimidated. Kris didn't like the fact that they were being controlled, not at all, but they had a feeling that SOUL was doing its best to be respectful of their wishes. It was never mean to the people they liked, it didn't ask everything it could of everyone it saw, it tried to respect the limits of how much their bodies could handle being outside walking around. Even when they slashed the tires and opened a Fountain of Darkness in the room, the only thing it did was ask Kris if anyone was going to get hurt, not questioning it anymore when Kris said there shouldn't be any real risk in this world.
Somehow, they are sure that the SOUL is being as nice as possible. They are aware of how powerful it are, that what is possibly the incarnation of what they need must be powerful to achieve their goals, after all. They can feel that what they saw, what they know about the SOUL, is still not the true power of what it can do. When Noelle became part of their team for a moment, Kris felt a shiver down their spine. Something like a vision, perhaps caused by their own paranoia, where they saw Noelle being controlled like a puppet by the SOUL while the entire city turned into an icy desert, briefly appeared in their minds. Her first battle, however, ended with them and their opponent explaining to her how to win fights in a non-violent way.
Kris may not like the SOUL, but something like an instinct told them that things could have been much, much worse than they ever imagined.
And that is why they were so terrified of how things were going.
A blade approached their faces, Kris saw it impale their shoulder for a moment, hurting them and distracting their group enough for the Knight to defeat them as well. When they blinked again, however, the blade passed inches from their face, their body preparing for another attack. Even when they tried to resist, it was no use, not even shaking the ropes that controlled them.
The thought was terrifying, did the SOUL have that much control over them? Could it easily make them obey its and they would do nothing but comply? So all those moments in which they had free will, that took the SOUL away from themselves, that prevented themselves from doing something they didn't want to, that made them leave the answer to a question about themselves implicit for the SOUL to answer... Wasn't it by Kris's own will? Was it because the SOUL loosened the ropes to give them more freedom? Did they never have any hope of fighting it if it used all its power?
Another blow from the Knight, this time Kris couldn't dodge and fell. They felt the SOUL's anger increase, was it furious that the Knight had hurt them? Ralsei's attacks became more aggressive, tears of fury streaming down his eyes, Susie seemed to have completely lost her reason, screaming and roaring as she alternated between attacking with the axe or using her Rude Buster. It would have been a touching moment, seeing their friends so angry that they had been hurt, if they hadn't been so terrified, seeing the Knight getting hit more and more, the damage starting to become apparent.
The Knight prepared theirselves, about to use their most powerful attack, Kris held their breath. This was it. This attack should be enough. Finally this battle would be over, their group would fall and everything would return to normal. The attack launched, their roar shaking the earth as countless blades were thrown. A devastating attack of destruction, an attack with a random pattern, an attack that they could see their friends failing to evade, an attack...
...That Susie and Ralsei managed to dodge without taking any damage by a hair's breadth.
...
... No...
... It can't be...
... How?
They don't know.
All they know is that it's all over.
Susie, with a scream of fury echoing along with the SOUL and using all the strength she had left, attacked the Knight, who blocked the blow with their blade. The test of strength didn't last long, however, and Susie managed to land the blow, a piece of the blade flying off and falling near Kris's feet. The red aura began to fade, the power and vitality that the SOUL had given them finally disappearing, too late to change anything. Ralsei fell to his knees on the ground, panting, his eyes returning to their usual gentle pink, Susie staggered for a moment, trembling with the effort as the yellow returned to her eyes before she limped towards the Knight, her axe ready to be used. The Knight didn't seem to react, the helmet covered their entire face, but Kris knew what expression they had underneath. Surprise. Frustration. Fear.
It seemed like everything was over, everything they had done, everything they had planned, it seemed like it would all end here at that moment.
That was when a miracle happened.
Undyne appeared, using spears that caught everyone's attention. The Knight took advantage of the situation and transformed, running away while kidnapping Undyne, Susie started trying to follow them to help the police officer. Ralsei almost had to drag himself to Kris, using the rest of the power he still had to heal them, giving a small sad smile as he asked Kris to help their friend.
Kris staggered, picking up the broken piece of blade and a Shadow Crystal, and then they stopped. They felt their SOUL weaken, a mix of anger and sadness echoing within them, as well as a bit of shame for what they had done, for the reason they had done it. Revenge.
Revenge for what? Had the SOUL met the Knight before? Had the Knight done something against the SOUL? Something other than what they was doing to the group? Something that even Kris didn't know about?
The SOUL didn't respond. It was silent. It had fallen asleep again, Kris having complete control of its body with no negative effects for a while.
With an unnerving feeling in its body, Kris went after their friend.