The dust hung in the air like a thick gray fog, smelling of burning and melted code. The battlefield trembled from the explosions, and each blow in the distance echoed as a dull rumble underfoot.

You and Dream kept a little to the side, both breathing heavily, pressing your palms to the wounds, from where warm blood oozed through your fingers. Your muscles burned from fatigue, and each breath was painful. But your gaze was still riveted to the center of the field, where Cross stood.

Something was wrong with him. The red light in his eye sockets suddenly faded, replaced by a deathly white glow, devoid of emotion. A motionless, almost doll-like coldness appeared on his face. Thin dark lines ran across his skull and neck, going somewhere into the emptiness above him, where barely distinguishable bugged threads moved.

"And the voice. Not his. Deaf, old, imbued with power:"

"You all.. bore me."

The air around him trembled, as if the universe took a breath. The next moment, Cross took off. A jerk — and the ground at the point where he had started cracked and fell away.

Killer only managed to raise his knives when the scarlet blade passed a centimeter from his face, leaving a hot scar in the air.

“Oh, wait…” Killer chuckled hoarsely, jumping back. — “It’s… not you, Cross.”

He narrowed his eyes, and a mocking tone entered his voice. “It’s you, you old scum…”

The answer was an attack. Giant bones burst out of the ground - jagged, with sharp ends, like spears. They struck in an arc, cutting through space, breaking pieces of code that fell like glass fragments.

Killer rolled, throwing a series of knives. But each blow was met by a blinding barrier of bones. A snap of his fingers - and black portals opened behind Cross, from which massive skulls slowly crawled out.

A cold white light lit up in their eye sockets. The rumble grew louder until it turned into a roar, and laser beams burst from the skulls. They cut through the field, burning everything in their path, leaving smoking craters in the ground.

"Are you serious, old fart?!" — Killer shouted, ducking and barely dodging the intersecting beams. — "Hiding behind the kid's body because you can't get out yourself? Cowardly bastard!"

Cross did not answer. He just waved his hand and the skulls shot out again, blocking Killer's escape route.

"Fuck you..." — Killer roared, jumping over the wave of bones. — "You don't even feel what it's like to fight for real!"

"I feel... everything," X-Gaster said with an alien mouth, and his voice was icy. — "And I do it better than anyone."

Cross's blade flashed, reflecting the glare of the lasers. He rushed forward with such speed that the ground behind him exploded into a cloud of dust. Killer tried to parry the blow, but the power was too great - the wave of force threw him back like a doll, tens of meters.

He flew straight towards Nightmare. He, without even blinking, took a step to the side, letting him pass.

Killer fell on his back and muttered hoarsely. — "Fuck it boss.."

"I’ll deal with you later, you piece of shit," —Nightmare said coldly, without even looking at him.

Silence.

The lasers went out, the bones crumbled into dust, and the skulls scattered like smoke. Cross's body went limp, he fell to his knees, then sat down on the cracked ground.

The white glow in his eye sockets faded, and his usual warm red light returned. He frowned, looking down.

"Fuck!.. How painful it is!" — he breathed out hoarsely, his voice wavering. "Took over my body... made me his.. puppet..."

He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles creaked.

"I... felt everything. Every movement. Every bone that flew..." — he paused, then quietly added, — "And every second of that damn pain..."

His shoulders shook, and thin purple tears rolled down his cheekbones.

You and Dream exchanged glances. His golden gaze was full of sympathy, but he did not say a word.