Chapter Text
You've just escaped the angel doll again.
You've been through the three day loop quite a few times, but out of everything, Noelle's house feels the most like there's something here you haven't been able to find yet (or at least something you want to find, there is a much weirder path you could take through Cyber City that you are most certainly not touching). And if there's anything more for you to find, it has to be in Carol's room; The one room you can look into from the vents but can't get inside.
Normally, for things to move forward, you'd sneak into Dess' room and proceed to get sniped by a hockey puck, but you're trying something else this time. On your last go-around, you learned a fascinating bit of information: At some point, Asgore will go into Carol's room. If you're quick enough to knock out the power while he's still in there, you might have a shot at sneaking in. Thus, you waste no time getting yourself up to the third story, tuck yourself neatly into the corner right above the door, and wait.
And wait.
And wait some more.
When you're starting to seriously worry that you've already missed your window, the door slowly opens The big guy himself pokes his head out, scanning the area as if he's afraid he's being watched (and like, he is) before silently creeping into the hall. It's actually a bit impressive how quietly he can move.
Now! You have to react quickly, since you are frustratingly slow as a disembodied soul, so the second the doorway is behind Asgore you dart out from your hiding place and slip inside mere moments before the door clicks shut! For probably the first time ever you're grateful that you can't make any sounds when you're in this state.
From the vents, all you could see of Carol's room was a houseplant, the hilt of a katana, the corner of a bed, and the edge of a corkboard. Now that you're properly inside, on top of seeing all those details in full, you can also spot a neatly-kept desk and a walk-in closet. You find yourself drawn towards the closet. Unlike the desk drawers that are all closed tight, the door is ever so slightly ajar, and it's just open enough for you to get inside.
Like the vents, the closet is dark and your field of view is limited to whatever is close enough for your glowing form to illuminate. You're not sure what you could find in here, but there must be something! Surely, Carol Holiday has a few skeletons in her closet!
Clothes, clothes, belts, clothes, shoes, clothes, katana sheaths, clothes, clothes…
And then something enters your field of view that makes you stop immediately.
A hand.
A grey, human hand.
Your hand.
Trembling, you hover closer. It's you! Your vessel, the one you made at the start of this run, the one that was ripped away and discarded like a used napkin, the one you thought you would never see again!
Without taking any time to even think about it, you press yourself into your vessel's chest, phasing through clothes and flesh with only the slightest resistance.
Your fingers twitch.
You open your eyes.
You breathe.
You lurch backward when you realize that you can hardly see anything, and bump into the wall. You feel the impact and gasp. You felt the impact. You heard the thud. And then you realize that you can smell the air around you, and feel the clothes on your flesh and the carpet beneath your hands, and that you're seeing the world not from an overhead viewpoint but through your vessel's eyes!
You climb to your feet, and promptly find that you have absolutely no sense of balance. Figures. Holding onto the shelves for support, you make your way toward the closet door, and step into your first taste of freedom.
…Just a taste, because you're still in Noelle's house, and Kris probably won't appreciate this turn of events. You consider taking the katana leaning against Carol's bed with you, but decide against it. One, you have no idea how to use a sword, and two, you don't want to provoke Carol Holiday's ire any more than reclaiming your vessel inevitably will.
Back into the hallway it is, then. You're already dreading going down the stairs.
Kris was just about out of patience.
Once the lights had gone out, they knew it was just a matter of time before it found a way back into Dess' room. So they had done the obvious thing, and gotten nice and cozy under her bed, with a hockey puck in their hand and plenty more throwable objects if one wasn't enough to knock it out. But it was taking too long, and Kris was starting to think that maybe closing the vent in the kitchen really was all it took to get it locked down and house was just having regular electricity problems.
And then they heard Susie shout, "Dude, it's GONE! The angel fell over! That thing could be anywhere!"
They sucked in a breath. Yes, Susie could be talking about literally anything, but Kris knew there was one specific pest in the house with them. So Susie and (probably) Noelle had caught it? Did they know what it was? Were they actually cooked?
They didn't want to leave the guitar unguarded, but if anyone else had seen it, then they needed to do damage control. They shoved the hockey puck in their pocket and got out of Dess' room as fast as they could. They all but crashed into the railing overlooking the living room. Sure enough, Susie and Noelle were down there. Objects added since they last checked were a cookie sheet on the table, an angel doll on the floor, and a hamster cage on the couch.
Footsteps approached. The sound of breathing, then a gasp. Dread gripped their heart, but they turned to look anyways, and saw-
A human.
A human with pale grey skin adorned with red markings, and stark white hair that turned red at the tips.
A human with slitted eyes that glowed a vibrant red, the exact same red as the parasite Kris had been stuck with for the last few days.
Kris froze up. They wanted to lunge at it. They wanted to run away. They wanted to scream. They wanted to turn invisible.
They heard it say something that didn't matter because it was coming closer!
Kris took a step back. It offered a small smile. "Hhh…hi, Kris." Its voice was soft, but something about it was rough, and the words were uncertain. As if it wasn't used to its own voice. Now that it was closer closer too close TOO CLOSE, Kris noticed that it was constantly shifting its feet despite holding onto the railing.
Acting on pure instinct, Kris grabbed it by the collar of its sweater, dragged it into Dess' room, and slammed the door! They pushed it away, not with enough force to knock it over, but it fell down regardless.
For entirely too many moments, Kris and the thing on the floor in front of them didn't say a word, eyes locked. If they had any lingering doubts about its identity, the eerie way that the red parts of its body glowed in the darkness - not just its eyes, as they thought at first - put them to rest.
The tense silence was broken when it let out a strange, somewhat manic giggle.
"Haahahhahahahahhahaahahahahahhaaa..!"
Of course. Of freaking course, you were going to end up in this room again, all alone and at Kris' mercy. And now that you're seeing the world through your own eyes, the roiling contempt on Kris' face is clear as crystal. You've always imagined they had an expression like that when they were attacking you with a hockey stick.
Kris takes a step back. They look less angry and more… uncomfortable.
You take a deep breath to try to calm yourself down. This is not the first impression you want to give Kris! "Sahh- Sorr- Sorry!" You take a deep breath to calm your nerves even a little bit. "Let me just… start over. My name is…" You hesitate.
Once you've gotten the out-of-bounds mod installed to the specifications of the tutorial you found on Reddit, you waste no time in firing up Deltarune.
You've started enough playthroughs by now that you can fly through the Goner Maker, already knowing all the options you like. Sweet, your actual favorite flavor. Blue, the closest option to purple. AB, the universal recipient blood type. Bravery, something you yourself lack. And Hope, that your creation can have a good existence someday. You ponder giving the vessel your name, but decide to name it something else. Just feels a bit more interesting to do that, you think.
During this whole process, you fail to notice the darkness bleeding out from your laptop's screen, nor the dwindling sensation of your own body.
WE CALLED IT
"FOX."
EXCELLENT.
TRULY
EXCELLENT.
Wait a minute wasn't Gaster supposed to ask for your name there?
…You get a sinking feeling that things are about to take a weird route.
"…Fox." You had another name, before. You had a few names actually, the ones given by your parents and a few you went through when you first figured out that you're trans, but you'd settled on one well before the new chapters dropped. But you can't remember what it was, not since (for lack of a better term) getting isekai'd. Which is sad, you liked that name quite a bit. At least 'Fox' is still something you like being called. "It's nice to meet you for real, Kris."
"Nice to-" Kris' expression twists into a snarl. You flinch when they lunge toward you! Once again they grab you by the collar of your sweater, and then they yank you off the floor! "Don't you dare act like we're friends," they hiss.
Your smile drops. "Right. Sorry." Of course, you expected Kris to feel this way, but it stings nonetheless. "I… suppose you're gonna tear me out of this body, aren't you?"
Kris shifts their head so that their bangs cover their eyes. "You will stay put."
You…
You don't want to lose your vessel again.
It feels so much more yourself than the flesh you were born into and begrudgingly acknowledged as your own, permanently marked by a masculine puberty. The comparatively more feminine physique, the softer voice that better matches your inner thoughts, and especially the longer hair with bangs you can feel swishing across your forehead. And yeah, you'll say it, the markings are cool! Very kitsune!
You can't lose your vessel again.
Realistically, you know you can't overpower Kris and run away. Your body, for as right as it feels, is still unfamiliar to you. It's in the shape of a teenager, presumably around Kris' age, so the proportions are all different from what you were used to before all of this (if any muscle memory has even survived the time you've spent controlling Kris). So fighting isn't really an option - not that you'd even want to hurt Kris. But there has to be something you can do!
You won't let it be taken from you again!
Kris pulls their left arm back, ready to claw your SOUL out from your chest, just as they've done so many times over while you inhabited them. But before the strike connects, you cross your arms in front of your chest, blocking their hand! "Tch. Of course you're making this difficult," they growl.
"I am not going back in the birdcage!" God, it feels good to finally say that. "I want to help you, I really do, but I'm sick and tired of being treated like a tool!"
"And how do you think I feel!?" They throw you to the ground. It doesn't actually hurt that much, but for someone who hasn't felt the sensation of pain in quite some time it's still enough to get a hiss out of you. "You. You get to choose everything I say and do. You're the one living my life." Each word drips venom. "You don't get to cry about being a tool. Now hold still!"
They lunge at you again, but you roll out of the way! "We don't have to fight like this!" You pull yourself back onto your feet. You're still unsteady on your own legs, but you can mostly keep yourself standing. "If you'd just talk to me, we could- We could work together! Figure out something better than whatever this is!"
"Shut up." You and Kris are circling each other like predators. "You don't know anything."
Kris is no longer between you and the door. Getting the code from Dess' guitar isn't a concern right now, all that matters is keeping your vessel. Whether that means talking Kris down, or running away.
Talking doesn't seem like it's getting you anywhere.
You hope this body has enough stamina to outlast Kris, and make a break for the door!