//------------------------------//
// The One 
// Story: The Moon in the Dark 
// by Tatsurou 
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	Sans stared at the Sage that faced him down as the others fought their battles.  He'd deliberately delayed his own confrontation with the last of the seven sages, so that his first face to face meeting was after each of the others had engaged in battle.  The light blue soul had waited with him, confused at his hesitance, but it had nothing to do with fear.  He wasn't afraid of the sages, any of them.  When he'd been created, his father had gifted him with a great deal of knowledge, only some of which was coming into play now.  None of the others knew who they were fighting when they went up against the Sages, but they'd find out when they did.

He knew exactly who the seven they'd be fighting would be.  And like this Grey Soul he faced, he had held back to ensure he would handle the one who was the true cause of it all.  Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Toriel each faced one of the four Knights of the Realm that had led the armies of humans against Monster Kind in the war.  Muffet had faced off against the King's Champion, the Reaper.  Asgore faced the King himself.  And Sans now faced down against the Vizier, whose guilt was far greater than any others.

"bet you didn't expect the king to insist you be part of the barrier, did you?" Sans taunted the 'Sage' as he stared him down.  "bet you thought you could just take what you wanted and leave us trapped down here...like a battery."  The 'Sage' flinched back in surprise.  "what, you think pops didn't know what you were really after all along?  after the artifact was made, oberon explained to your king what it was, and it's purpose, with you in the room...and not a month later, hysteria of how dangerous monsters could be, and the idea that a monster could absorb a human soul, had whipped humanity into a frenzy, where war was the only option.  you even arranged a few atrocities committed by 'monsters' against humanity to force the king's hand...all so you could steal the soulstone for yourself.  all so you could use it to enhance your own power."

The Grey Sage drew itself up, silent laughter echoing.  Spreading its arms, fragments of human soul began to gather to it.

"oh, i see.  you put a safeguard into the barrier when you put yourself into it.  the souls awakening wasn't in response to an attack on the barrier.  it was in response to the soulstone being used, so you can steal it and turn the barrier into a new magical body for yourself.  you don't care if you're human or monster, just so long as you get power.  isn't that right?"

As the Grey Sage expanded into immensity, all sense of distinguishing features vanished.  The Amalgam Sage glared down at Sans from a bulbous, spherical head, the only sign that it was actually a face the black, pointy shades upon its face.  It towered over Sans as it gathered its power.

Sans stared up at his massive foe as the light blue human soul hovered over his head, and chuckled.  "ya know, i'm sure everyone watching from out there expects something super flashy, like going all memelord or ultra sans or something like that from merging with this little guy.  at the very least, they expect me to unleash the same force i would on a human who killed everyone down here.  you, at least, would certainly deserve it."  He grinned up at the behemoth before him.  "but that's not what we're all about, any of us.  yeah, this is gonna be epic, but here's the thing."

He lifted his hand.  Far above, a tiny dot of light appeared.  "i've only got one attack power.  no matter how i fight, i can only ever deal one damage at a time.  my strength comes from knowing the rules, and knowing how to get away with breaking them.  if i beat you that way, it'd just prove i'm a better cheat than you, and what would that teach woona?  instead, i'm going to make this a straight up fight of numbers."

The Amalgam Sage reared in silent laughter, deriding what it saw as Sans' pathetic attempts at being intimidating.

"you think one can't do very much, huh?  well, you're right.  one alone can't do much.  but one is never alone, if you aren't afraid to ask for help."  More dots of light began to gather around the tiny dot far above, and the Soul above Sans began to speak as their combined power called on the aid that was offered.

One for every parent who gives their child a night light.
One for every child without, who faces down their fright.
One for every unsung hero, who stands against the wrong.
One for every lowly bard who puts their glory in song.
One for every soldier who does battle on some far shore.
One for every civilian who supports the soldier and not the war.
One for every hard choice that's more than what it seems.
One for every selfless act of Gimilut Chasadim.
One for every victim who stood up and said no.
One for every leader who said 'Make it so'.
One for every determined soul that helped the troubled youth.
One for every enlightened ruler who embraced the truth.
One for every courageous one who did not give in to fear.
One for every wise one who sought to bring good times here.
And one for every watcher who from beyond does see,
Our titanic struggle, and wants us to be free.

Sans grinned widely as the Amalgam Sage stared up at the sphere of light that had taken shape far above, gently grasped by his single hand.  "so...you think you can stand up to every one that's gathered to stop you?  well...go ahead and try."  With that, he threw his arm forward, and vanished.

The sphere of light slowly began to descend, and the Amalgam Sage felt the pressure of its approach.  Gathering all its strength, it prepared to destroy the upstart skeleton's last, pitiful line of defense against the inevitable.

As the sphere expanded until it appeared the size of a basketball, the Sage began to realize there was a lot more power there than he'd anticipated.

As it expanded until it appeared the size of a beach ball, he began to wonder just how much power a simple monster could gather.

As it reached the size of the Amalgam Sage's spread arms, he realized just who the skeleton was calling his father, and fear gripped the soul at the center of the construct.

As swirling arms of light specks became visible around the central mass, the Amalgam Sage realized just how fucked he was.

The Galaxy of Light descended onto the Amalgam Sage, slowly and inexorably with the force of space-time itself, the spiral arms ripping into the beast even as the weight of the ones bore down, crushing even the monstrosity's last despairing scream into nothingness.

Sans reappeared, the light blue soul bouncing happily over his head.  "heh," he mused as he stared down at the soul fragments that were all that was left.  "and there it all goes."  He paused as the light blue soul nudged him repeatedly.  "what?  ...aw, do I have to?  i just got through saying i'm more than that stuff!"  The soul continued to nudge him.  "fine.  I guess it does fit here."

As he watched the fragments of the Seven Sages - just enough between them to make a single human soul - vanish into the ether, Sans extended his hand and presented a thumbs down.  His voice completely serious, he spoke.

G e t  D u n k e d  O n .