Bones from Classic erupted from the ground, launching Xchara into the air.
Seeing this, Murder reached out and summoned a mass of Blue Bones along the human's flight path.
Next came Classic's slam dunk.
Classic appeared in midair and grabbed Xchara.
With a fierce throw, he sent XChara plunging into the torrent of bones below, where the blue bones drained a good chunk of HP.
Classic's bone spikes waited at the very bottom.
Shhk, shhk.
Meanwhile, two-fifths of Swap Chara's soul had returned, and joy spread across her face.
Classic pinned X-Chara to the ground with Gravity Manipulation.
Blue and yellow sparks flickered in Classic's eyes.
Nearby, Fell, Murder, Killer, Swap Papyrus, and Blue teleported behind Classic Sans.
Sixfold Judgment!
A barrage of Shock Waves took aim at X-Chara.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say, if X-Chara took all their attacks, he would shatter on the spot.
Sure enough, Nightmare could no longer sit by. He appeared in front of X-Chara and used a mass of tentacles to forcibly block the human's bombardment.
Those attacks could do no real damage to the tentacles.
Fortunately, we had Dream.
The bow in Dream's hands rapidly charged and fired, blasting Nightmare to pieces.
"It's ██ you again!! Why do you always get in my way!!!"
Ignoring Nightmare's fury, Dream fired faster and faster, and Nightmare vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Not good... I need to buy some time..."
X-Chara had noticed this too. His only chance now was to wait for Nightmare to recover.
He stood up and asked Classic Sans a question.
"Hey, Sans... haven't you ever worried about those parallel universes with meaningless timelines?"
Dream held the bow without firing.
Murder summoned Shock Waves and aimed them at X-Chara.
"Plenty of timelines have absurd stories, all different from yours."
"Because of your human's repeated resets, you wanted to stop timelines from being created. That's how all of this happened."
"You're still suffering... even in your 'happy ending.'"
"Naturally... that also drew [his] attention."
X-Chara chuckled.
"Cross is very jealous of you... because of that heart-shaped locket."
It held a group photo from the pacifist timeline.
Seeing what Classic held from a distance, Murder's eyelids drooped slightly.
"To you... timelines aren't as important as they are to him."
"Your timeline isn't quite what it appears to be, either..."
"...That keeps Cross from thinking clearly about our mission."
"They sure talk a lot. Why don't we just attack?"
Killer asked Murder from the side.
"Wait. Let's see what happens first."
Murder was in no hurry, pulling out a hamburger and some ketchup and starting to eat right away.
HP restored!
"...In just one world, together with the best people..."
X-Chara smiled at Classic.
"...Just one universe."
As X-Chara spoke, purple traces of overwrite began appearing on his hand.
Dream watched X-Chara's hand, growing more serious.
The overwrite formed the same large cleaver from before.
Magic began gathering in Murder's hands.
A dagger also appeared in Killer's hand, as though she was ready to strike at any moment.
XChara pointed the cleaver at Ink behind Classic and continued speaking.
"Sans, I know you understood what I said."
"Let's get away from the real enemy. Then you can go home."
At those words, Classic turned his eyes toward Ink.
"...That liar is just using you."
Suddenly, the dagger in Killer's hand flashed, unleashing two slashing waves.
"!!"
X-Chara quickly raised his large cleaver to block, but Killer's attack wasn't aimed at him.
Shhk!!
Killer's slashing waves struck a tentacle that Nightmare had suddenly sent at them.
"Damn... this guy's defense is incredible..."
Killer complained.
"You've already wasted the chance I gave you. It's time for us to leave."
Nightmare's tentacles shot straight toward Swap Chara.
"And you... Killer, I don't know what you've done... but the next time we meet, I won't let you get away."
At the critical moment, Murder flung Swap Chara hard against the wall of a building, saving her from being impaled by Nightmare.
Though Murder had no idea why everyone was just standing around, Murder had been watching the situation the whole time and hadn't listened to a word of their nonsense.
Even though Murder had saved Swap Chara, the impact against the building was more than an ordinary person could withstand, and she coughed up a great deal of blood.
Seeing this, Swap Papyrus and Blue hurried over to help Swap Chara.
X-Chara also sank to his knees in pain. The recovered Nightmare appeared above him, glaring angrily at everyone.
"Spend your final days reminiscing about the past, comedian."
With an escape route secured, X-Chara grew bold enough to taunt Classic before Nightmare pulled him away.
Before you continue