A fox was hurt in the making of this chapter. Help me.
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Auto suddenly ran forward, throwing all her weight onto Dark before he even processed what was happening.
The dark ego stumbled but didn't fall, grabbing Auto by the arm and twisting it sharply with a snarl of fury. Only to let go as sharp teeth clamped down on his wrist. The fox was at Auto's side in a mere second and feigned launching to bite down on Dark's throat. Dark flinched back, and the fox swiped his feet out from under him.
Grabbing the hurt Auto gently by the collar, the fox picked her up and ran the other way with a growl.
You have to be careful. He'll try, but he'll forget to go easy on you. You may be his niece, but he's still insane. He may be getting better, but that fact remains.
"I̷͐ ̸Ḱ̸N̵͛Ơ̵W̸͝ ̵h̵̓ȇ̵'̵s̶̈́ ̵i̷̒n̸̉s̸̎ã̶n̵͌e̸̋!̴͂ ̷I̵͘ ̵w̸͠i̶t̸ń̸e̵̒s̷̕s̸è̷d̷̊ ̴f̷i̵r̸̚s̷̍t̸h̸̏a̴̐n̶͆d̸̏ ̵h̵̒ő̴ẅ̷ ̵b̶̈́a̶̿d̶̉ ̶ȉ̴t̸̾ w̵a̷̿s̶̈́.̸.̵.̷!̸" Auto hissed as the fox set her down, holding her arm. "I just... Ḯ̸ẗ̵́'̴s̸̄ ̷b̵̃ẽ̵è̴n̷͝ ̷s̵̅o̸͑ ̶l̵̆o̴̔n̸̔ǧ̵ ̶t̴͗h̵͗a̶̒t̸͘ ̶I- LOOK OUT!" The fox was suddenly pushed to the side. Of course, it was nothing more than an awkward stumble due to the two's difference in size, and the push was only able to do even that much due to shock.
"How many times do you need to learn this lesson? Battles aren't time for chit-chat, kiddos~!" Anti laughed, knife out as he barreled into Auto. The two wrestled on the ground; Auto trying to keep the knife away and get him off, Anti trying to knock her out with the hilt. Of course, Auto didn't know that Anti wasn't trying to kill her, but that wasn't important, really.
The fox pinned its ears back, leaning to jump at the glitch, but someone grabbed its tail. It turned around to see Dark. Ugh. So many things going wrong today... Now we need to shake Anti off our backs before we can go through with our part-of-a-plan.
"Unfortunately, they forgot someone. And now, they needed to shake TWO people off their backs." What-?
WHAT THE FUCK, HOST?!
As the fox turned to see the newcomer, it was received joyously with a punch in the snoot. Who the hell punches a fox in the nose?! That hurts like hell, you fucking-! That's abuse! STO-
Dark harshly yanked on the fox's tail, earning a quick glare from Host, as if that were so much worse than punching me in the nose. The Host then proceeded to wind back dangerously, preparing to punch with all of his might. He was planning to knock the fox out.
Unfortunately for him, I have a power he'll never have or understand.
I'm invincible.
I cannot be hurt. I cannot be broken. I will not cave. I will always push through. He can't hurt me- no one can. I. Am. Invincible.
"You're right. You can't break what's already broken." Dark's voice rumbled next to the fox's ear, who was thrashing in an attempt to get out of this situation. "It can only be fixed." Host's voice came from ahead, and a sharp yelp cut through the air as Host landed a punch on its head that definitely should've knocked it out and broke Host's hand. But it didn't.
The fox had vanished. Host cursed, but wasn't surprised as he swerved to face the direction that he could sense the fox in. Of course, it was prying Anti off of Auto. The machine couldn't use her soul, for Host would likely pull it from her grasp, so they had to win this fight without weapons.
...Very slight change of plans. We'll split them up. I'll pretend to go after Host and Anti, you pretend to go after Dark. Last minute, I'll raise my tail up in signal. You'll swerve to hit me, okay? This makes our chances drop a tad, but it'll be fine.
"Y̴̔o̵͒ú̸ ̶r̶̃e̶̓ȃ̵l̴͐l̴̍y̷̓ ̸ń̵e̴̓e̷̚d̷̓ ̴t̴̂o̴̊ ̶s̷̔t̴̄ö̴́p̷̆ ̵c̷͆o̷̓m̶̓ì̴n̷̅g̷͋ ̶ủ̷p̸̔ ̶w̶͗i̸͗t̴̎h̸̑ ̵P̸̈́Ä̷́R̴̂T̴̊Ḯ̵Ȁ̶L̴̿ ̶p̶̾l̸̑ȃ̸n̸̎s̵͝ ̸ā̴n̷͘d̶͝ ̵č̸o̵͝m̸̉ȇ̶ ̸u̴͑p̴͝ ̴w̶̽ï̷t̶̃h̴͘ ̶s̴͐ỏ̷m̶̄e̸̎ Ȃ̴C̷̈T̸̎U̴͝Ȃ̵L̶͊ ̵p̴͒l̵̀ǎ̶n̸̏s̷̈́.̸ ̶T̷h̵̊ĩ̷ś̸ ̸h̶͘a̵̔š̵ ̵b̷̽ë̶c̸̿o̷̐m̸̐e̸̍ ̷q̸̊u̴̿i̸̎t̶̾e̷̚ ̵t̶͗h̶̃e̴͌ ̸ȁ̵ẁ̴f̸͗u̷͂l̵ ̶t̴̿h̶̿e̶̐m̸̽e̴̊ ̶ȉ̸n̴̚ ̷y̵̓õ̷ü̵r̸͌ ̷d̷̎ä̷m̴̿n̵̂e̸͠d̸̈́ ̶s̷̓t̴̛o̴̓r̸̄i̸̅é̸s̶̆.̷" Auto let out a gurgle of a hiss, her voice dropping concerningly low.
Usually because in those situations, there's no time to stop and take forty minutes to think of a fully fleshed-out plan! This is one of those situations! Just do as I say and I- and we win! And be careful this time! DON'T drop your guard around that psycho!
Auto sighed but nodded. The two stepped away from each other, and then the fox charged. It launched just between Dark and Anti, turning to the glitch and Host and snarling. The two stepped back, but Dark turned to grab it by the scruff. Unfortunately, life had other plans and his reaching hand was almost blown off. He turned to see Auto with a smirk, her soul out. There was enough space between her and Host for her to be sort of confident.
The duo successfully split the group up, but now it was a matter of timing. I was always bad at timing. Or perhaps I was too good at timing? I have no idea- my timing was always convenient. But not always in a good way. So, there was still the possibility that-
"That- that right there! That's the kind of mindset that got the Author here!" Host cut into the writing again. Yes, it got me here. So close to victory. Victory over... Beings from another universe that I technically control.
Wait...
Host knows what I write, so does that mean-?!
Host was narrating, so there was only one thing to do now. The fox feigned an attack at Anti, making him back off, before jumping and twisting in the air, howling. Host was caught off-guard, but Auto got the hint. There was a new signal. Dark looked over his shoulder to look at the fox, and in that moment, he made the biggest mistake he could've in this situation.
Auto aimed, and with as much energy as she could save up and muster in those moments of violence, she fired.
And I won.
A piercing shriek echoed through the outdoors, seeming to go on forever. Birds and bats flew away, insects went silent, and a shadow cast over the moon. All as if the entire world could understand what was happening.
A tremor went through Auto, and she stumbled back. The white dots in her eyes were gone, and as she steadied herself, she seemed to get worse. The fox had fallen- it had lied. I lied. But Auto should be happy about that. She did what she set out to do.
So why did she look so broken? This is what she wanted.
"You were wrong. You always were. This is what YOU wanted- she never hated you, idiot. Spite and hate are... So, so different." Anti shook his head, stepping back to give Host space as he went towards Auto, who had fallen to her knees. The glitch's eyes never left the fox, and after a moment, he walked towards it.
Without a word, Dark followed the glitch and sat next to the fox, who was still breathing... But not for much longer.
"Host felt bad, he really did. He felt worse than words could ever express. It was laughable, really..." Host's words were almost casual as he took Auto's soul into his hands. "The trails of Actor's soul left-" Auto jerked backwards, but Host held her still. Already, Host was pale with the effort, so she must've not been putting up much of a fight. "-Flickered away and left Auto's soul." The dark egos relaxed at that, but Host seemed to tense, his shoulders trembling slightly.
Something was wrong. Was Host... Crying?
Wait. No. He's- "Heheheheh. Unfortunately for the dear Author, Host wasn't a fan of letting friends go. Neither was he a fan of losing. Especially not to people who fail to think about the consequences to their actions." What did he mean-?... No. No, no, no!
A blue aura washed over the fox, leaving it still. Slowly, the mangled, beastly creature relaxed under the magic's influence. A slightly chilly feeling tingled through it as Dark's blue aura healed its wounds.
And then the manor's door opened, the light from inside stretching out and highlighting the shadow of a figure.
"The dark egos were never the ones being played, child."