Ayo, MAJOR trigger warning in this chapter. Somebody gets, uh... tomato juiced. 

With an axe. 

...Yeah, let's just say that.

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It's been a few weeks since we helped Time faked his death. As the days pass, we keep getting stronger and stronger from the power of the Crystal nodes and siphons. This phase of Rainbow's plan is almost complete, then we can move onto the next. Speaking of Rainbow, he has all his color back now. Seeing him as his normal multicolored self brings a sense of peace to me, as if him getting better is helping me as well.

Right now, the four of us are all preparing for the final part of this phase. Rainbow and I are making cloaks to hide us when we break into the Citadel, Time is mapping out the safe enter and exit points in the Rainbow Kingdom, and Dark is making some extra weapons.

"Hey Time, how do you know all these places?" Rainbow asks Time. "Didn't Elemental keep you trapped inside?"

"Ah, well, watching over the Kingdom from my dimension let me get a view of the area." Time answers. "Not like I had much else to do. How are the cloaks coming along?"

"Pretty well." I say. "We're almost done with the last ones."

"Perfect." Time says. "We'll be able to execute the plan the night we agreed upon."

The plan. Tomorrow night. It's time for the Vengeful to show their faces to the world. This is going to be big for us... everyone will finally see what they've done.

Dark then walks over, holding four bows and swords, each duo intricate and with their own styles.

"So, how'd I do?" Dark asks, holding out the newly made weapons. "Pretty sure you can tell whose is whose."

"Yoooo, those look sick!" Rainbow says, taking a multicolored set. His bow had prismatic accents etched into the wood and the handle, and crystals poking out from the bow's edges. The sword had a rainbow hilt, and when a light bounced off the blade, a soft iridescence appeared on it.

"He's right, these are amazing!" I add. My set has my signature dark green, tinting the wood of my bow and the string. The bow's handle is a dark grey, almost black, matching my blindfold. Small multicolored swirls are carved in, and it has tiny crystals lining the edges. My new sword has a green hilt, with a symbol matching my Earth patch on the hand guard part. 

"You sure know how to keep on-theme." Time says, admiring his set. He got an intricate sword with Roman numerals carved into the blade, going from 1 to 12. The hand guard is circular and looks like a clock, while the hilt is wrapped in a golden colored material. His bow looks like a fancier version of a normal bow, with gold designs and little add-ons on the ends.

Dark shyly holds up his set, which is a yellow and orange split color bow with black accents, and a sword that has a darker blade and duo-colored edges matching the bow.

"Thanks, I guess I do..." He says.

"You did great, bud!" I say. "These are really impressive!"

We go back to planning for a while. We've all agreed it's just a confrontation mission, although we are going to blow up the vault a little to get their attention. Everyone was surprised I know how to make explosives, especially Rainbow. We also agree to scope out the place and grab stuff from my old house, as it turns out nobody has touched it since I died... and I have some important stuff in there that I want back.

Soon, we remember that today is another day that Green visits, and prepare the place for the arrival of our ally. We maybe be undead outlaws, but we still have standards. Besides, being polite is the least we could do since he's been bringing us supplies.

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After we had cleaned up, we've been waiting for Green for quite a bit. The sun is setting by now, even. I'm getting worried, and I can tell that so is everyone else. We've been keeping ourselves occupied with working on our new powers a little, but eventually we were all anxious of our friend's late arrival. The past few weeks, he's been very punctual with his visits, so what could possibly be keeping him up? Dark the stands up.

"Alright, this is getting ridiculous. I'm gonna go look for him." He says.

"Are you sure, Dark? It could be dangerous." Time asks him.

"He's right." Rainbow adds. "It may be sundown, but someone could see you."

"Guys, I'll be fine." Dark says, putting on his bag and grabbing a lantern. "I blend in perfectly with the forest's shadows. Besides, if someone does see me, they'll just think I'm Darkness and run."

"I'm coming with you." I say. "If Green needs help, I want to be there."

Everyone else knows there's no arguing once I've made up my mind, so Rainbow makes me stand and passes over control to Dark.

We've figured out that anyone with the Crystal can puppeteer me just like Rainbow can, and control can be given to others. It makes it easier for travel, and if Rainbow's not here, it'll be useful. However, we've only been able to master movement and attacking, not normal functions. We'll have to test that later.

"Be careful, you two." Time says as Dark and I leave the cave.

Stepping out into the cool early evening air, Dark and I cross the river using a hidden bridge and start in the direction of Green's house. It's a quiet night, the only sounds heard being hoots of owls and nighttime insects, the occasional splashes of streams we pass by. While the forest canopies are thick and take up most of the space around us, we can still see the stars and moonlight through gaps in the leaves. Dark and I are conversing through the Crystal, as not to alert any potential passerby in the forest around us.

"Do you think he's alright?" Dark asks.

"I hope he is. He's one of those ones you just... don't want to lose." I answer.

"Hey, how did you two become friends anyway?"

"Well, once I moved into the Kingdom after the Age of Darkness, I only then noticed how everyone else saw me when I wasn't of any use to them. Most of them ignored and shunned me, however there were some extremists. Some would make comments on how I didn't belong there and called me a destroyer, thinking I was out of earshot, but I heard everything."

"Really...?"

"Mhm. And it only got worse when Sol came around. Instead of trying to talk about me behind my back, people would outright say to my face all those terrible things. No one stopped them, not even the Leaders. The Yellow and Violet Leaders were the worst of all. Yellow would just ignore anything brought up about it, saying they couldn't control their people and their thoughts, acting like it was okay and I was just supposed to deal with it. And Violet... he'd rant behind my back to others, agreeing with all the hurtful comments and allegations against me."

"What?!"

"Yeah. Green was the only one I felt truly accepted me, other than Time of course but... we know what happened. Green never agreed with what the Leaders were allowing people to doing to me, so he moved out and let me visit whenever I needed. He was kind of like a therapist, honestly... I'm pretty sure that if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have survived back there."

"Wow. And after all you did for them... did they know about when Nightmare...?"

"Either Blue and Orange never told anyone or just outright forgot that happened. Light, too. I wouldn't be surprised if they did."

"Huh... you know, it's kinda ironic."

"What is?"

"A king, supposed to protect all those close to him after being saved from evil, using his regained power to hurt... and someone supposed to represent the embodiment of love discriminating someone for something they couldn't control. Makes you think that they're not really as strong and honest as they make themselves out to be, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess... thanks for listening to me rant, Dark."

"No problem, Sabre. Unlike some people, I hold respect for those who have saved me."

"Hahah, yeah you do. It's a little funny how you have better moral standards than them, despite the Chromatics being supposed to represent good."

"Pfft, yeah."

We're interrupted by the sound of a cracking twig behind us. Dark and I turn around to see a Blue Steve donning Corrected Sun armor, some of it broken off, as the helmet isn't really covering his face. He's holding a sword. Dark grabs my hand, and we run. 

We hear the Corrected Sun member chasing after us, but we keep running and don't stop to look behind us.

"Where do we go?!" I say. "He'll catch up to us!"

"Not if we use our powers, he won't!" Dark says. "We're both part yellow, remember-"

He's interrupted by us both tripping on a tree root. As we fall to the floor, he makes sure to catch me so I don't hit the ground too hard. Using himself as a buffer, he takes most of the fall's force, and we land against a tree. Once he catches his breath, he looks at me to check I'm alright, and I nod.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asks.

"I'm fine, don't worry." I say.

Suddenly, we see a golden sword pointed in our direction, the Blue Steve now standing in front of us. We both freeze. I'm having flashbacks to my second death, and trying to keep myself from having a panic attack right then and there. The Blue Steve looks at us, with an expression like he's seen a couple of ghosts.

"You're both supposed to be dead..." He mumbles.

The Blue Steve just stares at us for a while, in awe of our presence in the Overworld, sword still pointing at us. He then raises his sword over his head, preparing to strike.

"Better make sure you don't come back this ti-"

Suddenly, someone in a cloak jumps out from the trees, holding an axe.

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[Green's POV]

I've been waiting all day for these guards to finish their patrol, and the sun is already setting. It's like they're trying to get me to come out so they can follow me, but I know they think I'm not home. I hope I'm not worrying my Vengeful friends too much, but I just can't risk these Colorless Guards finding them.

"Do you see anything?" One of the Guards asks another while looking through the trees outside.

"Nope, nothing. Are you sure that report was correct?" The other answers.

"It wasn't just one, there were three reports of Darkness being seen around here in the past week."

"Alright, you two." The third one says. "There's clearly nothing here, maybe whoever made these reports just saw the person who lives over there at night, and jumped to conclusions. We need to get back to the Kingdom."

Finally, they're leaving. And from what they said, it seems like someone's been snooping around my house... I'll figure that out later, right now I need to get to my friends. I'm sure they'll do something stupid if they think I'm in trouble, no offense to them.

I put on my cloak and gather my things that I usually bring, and this time I bring an axe with me, as I noticed the vines are getting a little too clumped together in some areas on the secret path we made. It's a path made of small, greyish-green rocks that are spaced out from each other, enough so that you can follow them but they don't stick out too much. If the vines cover them, it'll be impossible to follow.

I quickly head out the door, my lantern hanging off my basket, and make my way to the Vengeful's base of operations. That group name is awesome, it sounds so cool... and as I clutch my new scarf in a pocket of my cloak, I think of how happy I am to be part of it. Following the little path, I quietly hum to myself as I speed walk through the forest. Suddenly, I hear crashing and the sounds of armor clinking, and I turn to see the source of the sound. There's a light a little off the path... I should investigate, in case it's someone that shouldn't be here.

I slowly and quietly make my way through the trees, careful of whoever might be there. As I approach a larger tree with roots sticking out from the ground everywhere, I hear an unfamiliar voice.

"You're both supposed to be dead..."

I peek out from behind a tree, and see a terrible sight.

A Blue Steve in broken down Corrected Sun armor is pointing a sword at Sabre and Dark, who are backed up on the ground against the huge tree. I freeze in fear, and subconsciously pull my axe out in case the Blue Steve does something rash. Then, I see the sword be raised over his head, about to arch down towards his undead targets.

I don't even think. I just run, axe in hand.

"Better make sure you don't come back this ti-"

And swing.

And keep swinging. Even when the Blue Steve falls to the ground, I don't stop. I don't know whether it was out of fear or anger, maybe both. I don't know. The Blue Steve is unable to scream, as my first blow went for the throat. He keeps trying to raise his arms to defend himself as blood spatters everywhere, but the axe just keeps making cuts, although never going completely through. I think I'm seeing red, but that might just be the blood. The axe makes deep dents in his armor, as his bones break from the blows over the metal. He's crying, but...

I just. Keep. Swinging.

Until I see his eyes glass over. Once he stops moving, I snap out of it and see what I've done. All that's left is a mess of blood and blue flesh, trapped inside a crushed set of armor, resembling what once was a living person. I feel hot tears sting my eyes.

"Green...?" I hear Dark say behind me.

I let my arms down, lowering the axe. Horrified at what's in front of me... horrified at myself. The shock passes, and I start crying, but I keep remembering the Blue Steve crying as I brought the axe down upon him. I turn to Dark, sobbing uncontrollably as he and Sabre get up from the ground.

"D-Dark I... I..." I stutter, trying to speak through the tears.

What did I just do?

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[Sabre's POV]

...Oh dear lord.

Green is having a mental breakdown, staring at the now dead figure at his feet. Dark and I stare at the body, unmoving and almost beyond recognition. I turn my attention back to Green, who's now staring at us.

"G-guys, I... I didn't..." He says.

Dark and I move on from the shock, having seen things like this before. Dark walks over to Green and hugs him, the blood now staining his coat as well.

"Hey, hey... It's okay, Green." Dark says, comforting Green, who is standing still and has a thousand-yard stare. "You were protecting us. He was Corrected Sun. It's alright, you did the right thing..."

Green slowly returns Dark's hug, still sobbing and shaking. Stuttering while trying to speak.

"I-I just... oh my gosh, I j-just killed someone..."

I find the strength and power to make myself move towards the two and join in on the hug. Green flinches for a moment, then the full realization hits. He buries his face into Dark's shoulder, and we just stand there for a while. When Green finally lifts his head back up, his eyes are reddened and he's trying to calm himself down.

"W-what do we do?" He asks.

"We'll help you with this. You're not alone, we're here to help you." Dark says, patting Green on the back.

We all step back and look at the body. Careful not to make too much noise, we walk over and lift it up.

"There's a deep hole we passed while running from this guy." Dark says. "We can dump it there and make it look like he got crushed, then wild animals found him."

Dark leads the way, and we get to the hole he was talking about. We let Green sit down on a nearby rock so he can collect himself. Dark and I throw the body down the hole, then make some of the dirt collapse of top of it by digging in a few places, making the body half-buried over the most dents in the armor. Now only the upper torso is sticking out. I see a pile of leaves, and point them out to Dark, which we then use to cover the body slightly to make it look like it's been there for a while. Once we're done, we walk back over to Green, who's just staring at the axe in his hands. As we sit down next to him on the rock, he starts crying again.

"I'm a monster, aren't I...?" He whispers.

"No, no you're not." Dark says. "You did what you had to, it's not your fault. He was going to attack us, you were defending us."

Green looks up at the two of us as we place out hands in his shoulders.

"You killed for a good reason, buddy." Dark says. "And believe me, I know the difference between a good reason and a bad one."

Green wipes his tears, and turns to a river behind us. He suddenly picks up the axe and throws it into the river, the bloody weapon disappearing into the nighttime reflection of the sky.

"No evidence." He says.

"C'mon Green," Dark says, getting up. "Let's get you back to base so you can clean up."

As we walk back to the cave, the three of us never look back to that clearing, wanting to forget it as soon as we can. However, we know we're going to have to explain why we're covered in blood to the other two...

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Rainbow and Time freaked out when we entered the cave and Dark and Green were covered in blood, and were even more concerned when we said it was neither of theirs. Once we explained the story, they took Green and Dark to get them cleaned off, while I waited on my bed.

Dark was finished pretty fast, as red blends in pretty well on black, and his coat was no problem to clean. However, Green is taking a little longer... opposite color from his, after all.

Eventually, they're both given new clothes and we just sit there for a while. Nobody wants Green to panic again, so we don't want to bring up the murder, but it's a very prominent topic.

"What'd you guys do with the body?" Rainbow asks from our Crystal connection.

"Dumped it in a hole," I say. "Made it looked like he was crushed then spliced open by wild animals."

"And the axe?" Time asks.

"Green threw it in a river." Dark answers.

Eventually, we find something we can talk about with Green to take his mind off what happened; the Plan.

"So, you guys are gonna break in, blow up the vault to get their attention, confront them and call them out on their BS, and then make a hole in the Citadel and escape?" Green says.

"Basically." Rainbow says. "It sounds bad now, but that's just the bare bones of the plan."

"That's cool." Green says. "Won't Yellow Steves be able to catch up to you, though?"

"Not if we lose 'em in the forest." Dark says.

"I've been mapping out our area for potential escapes, if needed." Time says. "I was able to find a spot in the trees where we can run inside the treetops, and it's not like they'll look up."

"Oh, wow. You guys nervous?" Green asks.

"Oh, definitely." All four of us say, even though Green can't hear me.

We laugh at that, and then notice it's late.

"Hey Green, maybe you should stay with us for tonight." Rainbow says. "It's already past 9, and it's dangerous out there."

"Yeah, you're right..." Green says.

"You can take one of our beds, if you want." Time says.

"Oh, no no, it's fine." Green says. "I'm okay with making a little spot on the floor."

We help Green set up a makeshift bed with the cushions we have in the floor, the we all climb into our respective beds and turn out the lights.

"G'night, guys." Green says. "Thanks for everything."

"Least we could do, bud." Rainbow says.

And soon enough, we all drift off. It's a peaceful night... for us, at least.