Loyal Servant (Crossmare) (Rewrite)

The Fallen Star

Cross tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade and went to step towards Horror. He didn't get far, Nightmare raising a tendril to signal him back. "I can handle this one," He said before using his tentacles to charge himself in Horror's direction. Cross kept back, but watched the scene unfold carefully.

Nightmare dove upon Horror like a tsunami. Cross imagined it would be like the entire night sky had descended upon you. his tendrils shot straight for the skeleton's broken skull. In return, Horror lifted his axe and with impressive speeds he swung to and fro. He struck the tentacles at full force, cleaving right through the limbs which continued to squirm and twitch after parting from Nightmare's body. He didn't appear phased by the cuts, not showing so much as a hint of pain. Still, Cross disliked the sight of anything slicing at the king whether it hurt him or not.

Horror eventually had to teleport back to avoid a direct puncture to his chest. Nightmare hissed, using his tendrils to scurry like a spider after him. He completely tore through the thorny loops of the bramble patches, honed in on tracking Horror's movements throughout the garden. Horror may have been light on his feet, but Nightmare had enough experience to predict his next attack. Right when the skeleton teleported behind Nightmare's back, axe raised, the king shot a tendril right for him.

Cross watched as he looped the appendage through that hole in Horror's skull along with the socket of his eye, as if it was meant to be a handle. He then whipped the tendril up in the air before he slammed him right back down onto the rough gravel a couple times. Once he had his fill of that tactic, he hurled him into the trunk of a thick tree a distance away. Cross heard a loud snap as if Nightmare had broken Horror's spine with the power behind the throw.

Horror's pinpricks went dark as he fell limp. He landed face first into the ground at the base of the tree.

Nightmare scoffed, lowering himself to stand on his own two feet. His tendrils still swished in rage through his furious expression became no more than a grimace. "What a disgrace," He said, turning his back on Horror. "If this is Ink's idea of a challenge, he's an utter fool-"

Cross saw one of Horror's empty eye sockets flash with light. He's not dead! The skeleton started to stir further. "Nightmare!-" By the time he spoke the king's name, Horror had tossed the axe his way. Still, Nightmare caught on to the reason for his alarm and looked back to see the weapon heading straight for him. He did not move, allowing the axe to embed itself in his chest. The sight made Cross recoil, though Nightmare merely gave a calm glance down at the axe. Then he smiled.

"And here I thought you had no potential," Nightmare cooed before he took his hand and grabbed hold of the axe's wooden hilt. He yanked the weapon free from his chest. The goopy substance of his coating oozed off the axe, dripping to the ground in shimmering blobs. The entire blade now looked deformed, Nightmare's darkness eating away at the steel like acid. "I'll consider this failure Ink's fault, seeing as he failed to properly brief you on all my capabilities," He said, dropping the remaining wood to the ground. As if bored of the fight, he turned his gaze to Cross. "Kill him," He ordered.

Cross nodded then stepped past Nightmare, holding his blade in Horror's direction. All the smaller red knives which still encircled him tilted to point at the skeleton as well. To ready himself, Horror summoned yet another axe up out of seemingly nowhere. That won't do you much good. After letting silence build up between them for a moment, he narrowed his eyes. With that subtle command, the knives flew straight for Horror.

He lifted his axe, swerving and spinning it about in order to deflect the incoming knives. With that as a distraction, Cross ran straight for him. Horror had to let the final knife strike his shoulder for the sake of blocking the incoming swing of Cross's much deadlier blade. As their weapons clashed, Cross could finally get a sense of just how powerful this other Sans's was. Holding each other off appeared to be a struggle for them both. We may have equal strength, but I bet I'm faster. With that thought, he leapt up and twisted midair to strike at Horror from above.