Soul Trade AU

Backstreet's Back Part 4: The Redemption

X flinched slightly as Tango charged at him, his sword ready to strike. He took a deep breath, ready to face the end with dignity. There was a blur of steel, and -

"STOP!" Ycnelis' voice broke through the room, loud and terrified. Tango's sword stopped, millimetres from X's head, trembling with the hand that held it. Tango gasped in a breath, eyes wide. He let his hand fall limply to his side, sword dangling loosely.

"I have to do this, Y." Tango sighed, the layering slowly fading from his voice.

"No. No you don't have to do it." Y replied sternly, walking up to be closer to Tango. "You don't have to do it. I... understand that feeling, like you have to be evil, be the monster in the room, like you have to stay angry. But you don't. We can fix this, Tango. Just... put away the sword."

"He... hurt me. He hurt you. He hurt both of us." Tango snapped back.

"Maybe. But that was years ago. We've all changed, we've all learned and suffered and made... made mistakes. Why don't we start over, clean slate?" Y offered, resting a hand on Tango's shoulder. "You're not a bad guy, Tango. I knew you, and I know you. Put away the sword."

"If it matters... I'm sorry. I didn't know." X added. 

"I..." Tango trailed off, brushing off Ycnelis' hand.

"Please." Y begged. Tango half-turned, and saw his desperate expression. With that, Ycnelis won. With that, Tango let out a shaky breath, and carefully sheathed his sword.

"...Alright." He acquiesced. Y grinned, and pulled Tango into a hug. 

"You've always been family to me, Tango." Y whispered into Tango's ear. "Nothing could stop that." At that, Tango stood up, breaking the hug. Y tilted his head, confused.

"There's something I need to do." Tango explained. Y nodded, and allowed Tango to leave, taking off back to the Demon HQ.

Some unspecified amount of time later...

There he was. Tango had looked all over the base for him. Tango cleared his throat softly, and received a very purple sense of being watched, for the briefest of moments. Then Zed looked away, before softly muttering:

"What do you want." His voice was sour with hurt.

"To say sorry." Tango replied. "And to fix things."

"There's nothing you can do." Zed snapped back, half-heartedly.

"Really?" Tango asked. "How does... being you, back to normal again, sound?" 

Zed looked back up at him, gasping softly in surprise, before, with a soft grunt of effort, forcing himself back into a humanoid form, and throwing his arms around Tango.

"You'd..." Zed gasped. Tango nodded. And with that, the deal was set in stone.

And... the arc is done! Look out for the next main arc: Neutral Run! Coming next Tuesday!

...yes the title is an Undertale reference. Shut up, I'm running low on arc title ideas.

I've been Entropy, peace out from the present.