Underdoom - Chapter 9

Hayden paced around the room with a hand under his chin, staying silent as the group overcame the nauseating effects of tether travel. All were weary and unsteady on their feet. The Doom Slayer had known what inter-dimensional travel felt like, as he had been subject to it on countless occasions. Still though, he felt a need to sit down. His impatient fury with the removal of the Siphon combined with the physical sickness he had once learned to suppress to burn in a raging headache which pounded like war drums in his temples. He took his helmet off to reveal a sweating, grimacing face whose countenance seemed to scream sheer frustration. He put both hands to his head, rubbing his aching temples with his thumbs. The demons had always feared him, and though this last gesture seemed to re-affirm that fear, he felt as if they were toying with him. Playing with him. Taunting him with the prospect of saving that which he most cherished before ripping it away, as if they hadn't done enough to incite his wrath. His teeth gritted in barely contained rage. his pupils shrunk. His eyelid quivered. In an attempt to calm himself down, he envisioned his victory. It would be his soon enough. He would reclaim what they had so perniciously taken from him, and in his triumph, he would would gloat himself upon their bleeding bodies. They would know regret and rue, from the greatest to the least of them. Victory would be his, as soon as he retrieved the Siphon.

Then, in that moment, amid the headache and the heart pounding prospect of consummate victory, his rational thoughts returned to him as he saw the pacing Cyborg.

Hayden wanted it too.

What Hayden said about the crucible knowing only the Praetor's hand was true, at least to his knowledge... or was it?

He who the demons called the Wretch was only a memory now. His face long forgotten, and his words even further rusted by the erosion of time. Few of them remained intact in his mind, the landscape of his memory changed by the eons, reshaped by every bloody crusade he fought through the Shadow Realms.

"Your armaments, wrought from the molten fires of the the Malebolge, cooled by the cruel winds of Cocytus..."

"Free your Gods. Take their power. Show the Dark Lords that their plunder cannot stay with them."

"Their power is yours. Their power is two-fold..."

"When made whole, your heart's great desire..."

"Let them not be taken... They cannot..."

"He that brings them together..."

"... and it shall be theirs."

Only so many of those words still had meaning, and that which accompanied them had long been lost. It was enough however. He knew the Cyborg wanted their power, and when he would obtain his prize, it would be stolen from him again, even if not as abruptly or boldly as it had been so before. He had to know, however, what these artifacts would do when combined, right? Surely he knew what the Doom Slayer intended to use that power for. There was no way he'd get in the way of that. He was stupid and short-sighted enough to try and take Argent for himself, blinded enough by his greed that sixty thousand lives meant nothing but a stepping stool to his own glory, and audacious enough to steal from him, but he would never try and get in the Scourge's way of realizing his ultimate goal. The thought almost made him laugh. There is no way. He knew that he couldn't do that and expect not to suffer for eternity. Trying to conquer hell was a fools gambit. Trying to cheat the man who had more or less conquered it himself was a fools' suicide. Continuing to eye the meandering CEO, he turned a little to see Alphys shaken up somewhat, her expression bearing a genuine dread. He got up to walk over to her, certain that she had something to say to him. She immediately looked up at him, and with the relieved look in her eyes, he knew her hunch was right.

"I'm glad you're back." She whispered to him, letting the loud and somewhat sickening nausea induced noises of recovering tether travelers cover her voice from potential scrutiny from Hayden. "I need your help..."

The Doom Slayer took a knee, signifying his reception to her plea.

"Okay... Samuel's hiding something..." Every hushed word made her heart race, as she anticipated an untimely interception from Hayden at any moment. She glanced over at Hayden, who faced the opposite way, seemingly oblivious to all else. "I tried reading up on how they make portals and he grilled me for it. Then I tried looking at the helix stone... he didn't approve of that."

The Doom Slayer nodded with tucked lips and narrowing eyes.

"I need to know if you know much about that stone. He claimed he didn't have Olivia's key, but I Know he's lying. Do you know what it really says? What it's talking about?"

The Praetor simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Please! isn't there anything you can do to-?"

The Marine hushed her with a finger on his lips. HE looked over at Hayden, who still seemed quite distracted, especially now that Asgore had begun to engage him. Keeping his eyes on the Cyborg, he pulled something out from one of the pouches on his waist. It appeared to be some sort of electronic device, or a hard drive of some sort.

"What's that?" Alphys asked.

The Praetorian opened up his log and toggled over to "UAC Staff." there, in all capital letters was a picture of some sort of blue patterning, coupled with a name.

"VEGA... so this... he... will help me?"

The Slayer nodded.

"Okay... I'll read up on him." She stashed the hard drive away under the mess that occupied her desk.

"I think I might toss my lunch..." Undyne whined, slouching into a corner near the security station. "Hayden, you sure you can't make the ride a bit smoother?"

Everyone wore deaf ears except for Alphys and Mettaton, the latter of whom addressed her "I think he's preoccupied, darling."

Amid further conversations from the four sitting around the monitoring stations, Asgore's conversation with Hayden began to increase in volume and severity. "Hayden, my people and my kingdom are depending on your ability to find this thing. I saw them in New Home, Their numbers are increasing. They already have enough forces to overrun us, and I doubt they'll keep waiting. We'll all be dead within the week if we can't stop this in time!"

hayden's normally cool voice once again flared up in aggravation. "I told you, it isn't my fault. We've lost a lot of probes during the program, and the fact that we have any in working order, let alone enough to directly monitor the mission is a miracle! You just remember your luck, Asgore - without me, you and your people would be dust already!"

The King was off put by Samuel's insolence. Nevertheless, he had enough decorum to recognize when he was in the wrong. Indeed, Hayden's help had proved invaluable. Even with the Doom Slayer's help, there was only so much they could do against a full on invasion. "Alright look," Resignation glazed his voice with every word. "I realize what help you've been. You just have to realize what kind of weight we have on our shoulders here. Thousands, perhaps millions of lives are hanging in the balance. Not only are my subjects at stake, but the surface world as well. Forgive me if I snapped at you, but this isn't something we can take lightly."

"I understand perfectly. Just don't try and rush me. I've already told you about Argent D'nur. You'll be able to get the Siphon as soon as everyone's recovered and ready to re-insert. I need some time to think... get everyone ready."

"Just how much resistance do you think we'll meet at Argent?"

The cyborg paused in his tracks for a moment, looking for the right words to say. "Let me put it this way... Argent was one of their most prized trophies. If the records we have are correct, he once guarded it until they absorbed it. You can imagine how sore their defeat must have been when I sent him back there to drain all Argent energy out of it. Now they've decided to house the Siphon there. You can probably imagine what it would mean to them to kill him on what used to be his home turf."

"I see..."

"I don't think it leaves much to the imagination as to how hard of a fight they'll put up."

"I understand... Is there anything you'll need help with in the meantime, Doctor?"

Hayden hesitated before returning to his pacing. "... I should be fine. I just need a moment or two to think."

"Right then... Doctor Alphys?"

"Yes, King Asgore?"

"Call my wife. I need to see her in person."
________________________________

"Alright, are we sure that's everyone?" Toriel called out to the one of the Royal Guardsmen marshaling everyone out of Waterfall.

"Should be most of 'em... I think we'll have everyone once the guys over at Temmie village get over here."

"Good. Once we've gathered everyone here, we can make final preparations to evacuate Snowdin. Make sure we- Oh hold on a moment..." She flipped open her phone. "Oh, Alphys! How are you dear?" She initially answered her phone with a pleasant tone and a smile until Alphys relayed Asgore's message, at which point her countenance immediately began to fall with annoyance. "Dear, tell him we're in the middle of evacuation. It can wai-... what do you mean it wasn't... Where?"

"Toriel, what's going on?" Frisk asked, holding Papyrus' hand as she approached her. "Are they back?"

"Is Sans there?" Papyrus asked with palpable concern in his voice. "Did he make it back?"

"Hold on, you two... yeah... hmm... Alright then, tell him I'll be there.... Oh, by the way, did Sans make it back? ... Oh, wonderful!" Toriel covered the mic as she shifted her attention. "Yes Papyrus, he's safe!"

The tension in Papyrus' expression instantly melted away upon hearing those words. "Oh thank goodness! Can I talk to him?"

"Oh, we'll be headed over there, dear." She redirected her attention back on the phone. "Alright, just give us a little while to get everything settled here. Okay.... We'll be there soon. See you there, dear."
____________________________

Hayden had retired to the "Conference Room" for some time alone. Everyone was more or less ready to re-enter; Undyne had gotten the sickness out of her system, and Sans was twiddling with some of the UAC supplies from the ammo crate with his telekinesis, anticipatory listlessness written on his face. Asgore was waiting patiently for Toriel and the others. The Doom Slayer continued to check his weapons, a strange mix of impatience and concern occupying his mind. For one, he was quite ready to jump back into the fray - he and the others had already spent about twenty minutes waiting on the others, to say nothing of whatever time it would take for the King to talk about whatever was on his mind with his estranged wife. Unable to think of anything else to do, he decided to go downstairs as well. He knew where Hayden was, and made sure in his mind to avoid the CEO. He didn't know why, but he figured it was the best place to stop and think - have a moment to himself.

In the meantime, Alphys and Undyne were glued to the computer screen on Alphys' desk.

Undyne's eye went wide as she viewed the specs on screen. "Whoa... that's a lot of power. Do you think the core could power it"

"I'm not even sure five cores could do that... kinda making me wonder why he gave it to-..."

A deafening roar was heard just to their left, eliciting a fleeting shriek from one and a newly-materialized spear in the hand of the other as both turned to the source.

Alphys was relieved to see it was only on Mettaton's screen. "Oh my goodness... Mettaton, I thought you had a headset on!"

"Oh, sorry Darling, they just weren't doing my hair any favors." Mettaton shifted his eyes back to his screens. "They sure are getting antsy out there..."

Regaining her composure, Alphys turned her own attention back to her own dismay. "... The stakes are just too high. Hayden's got his eye on me all the time. I don't know why our new friend thinks I can do this..."

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing." Alphys felt her friend's arm wrapping around her shoulders. "To be honest, I think he believes in you as much as I do."

Alphys gave no resistance as she felt herself being pulled in closer to her friend. "Undyne...."

"You'll know what to do, Alphys. He trusts you..."

"but I,-"

"I trust you."

The nervous scientist meekly looked up to see her friend's face smiling, beaming with both affection and pride. Few sights made her feel so confident or loved. In that resurgence of trust in herself, she nodded her head. "... I know you do."

Undyne's smile beamed all the warmer.

"I'll figure something out."

"I know you will." After those words, she planted a kiss on her cheek as her arm left Alphys' shoulder. With a last look of affectionate confidence, she went back to another corner of the room to practice her moves, preparing for re-entry into Argent D'Nur.

With that, Alphys opened up a new dialogue on her screen.

DT_EX/FUNCTION/PRIMARY POWER

ACTIVATE?
_YES    _NO

Just as she opened the dialog, the door to the left opened up, letting in a somewhat exasperated looking Toriel, accompanied by Frisk and Papyrus. The focus and anxiety in Alphys' face immediately became surprise and relief as they let themselves in. "Oh! You guys are back!"

"SANS!"

"H-hey buddy!" Sans said, struggling in his brother's tight embrace as papyrus lifted him up off the ground and swung him about.

"I'm so glad you're safe!"

"Told you I'd be fine, d-didn't I?"

"Hey! What's going on, ya little punk?!" Undyne embraced Frisk, nearly toppling over as the young girl jumped into her kneeling frame. "Good to see you again too..." her ferocious smile once again lit up the room.

"Did you guys get it?"

The warrior woman's smile quickly faded away. "No... we didn't get it. The bad guys decided to move it out before we got to it and now it's somewhere else."

"Oh..."

"Hey, don't get all blubbery on me now!" Undyne briefly noogied the giggling child, putting her smile back on. "It's gonna be cake! We'll get it back..."

Frisk flipped her hair back out of her face. "I know you guys will."

All the while, among the happy reunions and what felt like the first happy voices she'd heard since the start of this whole ordeal, Toriel approached her husband with sobriety and sternness in her face and her voice. She addressed him as she grew closer to the sullen figure slumped against the wall. "Dreemurr..."

His brow drooped a little lower over his glazed, unhappy eyes.

".... Asgore."

He looked up and began to stand as Toriel spoke.

"You wanted to talk-"

"Not here." Asgore's hand was raised up in a silencing motion.

"Then what-?"

"Downstairs..."
___________________________

The Praetor's helmet sat on one of the counter tops, surrounded by numerous flowerpots. The yellow glow of their petals gave the darkened room somewhat of an eery, golden glow that rippled somewhat as the Doom Slayer combed his fingers through them. He began to wonder what these things felt like, trying to remember what he had felt so many eons before. Deliberately, reluctantly, he removed his right gauntlet before once again raking through the flower petals. The sensation was spine-chilling and alien, with nothing but the feeling of the interior of his gloves to compare it to. It frightened him, but fascinated him all at the same time. Still, as his fingers brushed against every soft, waxy petal, he felt increasingly uncomfortable, and within a few more seconds, he had put his gauntlet back on, the hissing of compressed air re-pressurizing within the armor resounding in the empty room.

He turned again to the wall to see another one of those screens. He had read a few of them so far, and the picture they painted was bleak and frankly tragic. He hadn't thought of grilling Alphys over it nor would he try. She already had enough on her plate with Hayden breathing down her neck. Those tapes in the other room were even more heartbreaking. one could only imagine what load she had on her back, or how hard it would be to eventually try to take it off.

The monsters' desperation for freedom was apparent in every entry he read. Alphys' experiments with DT, the attempts to break the barrier (one of which apparently killed a man and spread his essence across the cosmos), all of it pointed to a world devoid of hope. Now that world was once again sunk in despair. He interacted with the console display, scrolling down until he came to an entry titled "8."

"I've chosen a candidate. I haven't told Asgore yet, because I want to surprise him with it... In the center of his garden, there's something special. The first golden flower, that grew before all the others. The flower from the outside world. It appeared just before the queen left. I wonder... What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?"

He looked back at the flowers, then scrolled down again, reading whichever ones he hadn't already seen.

"ENTRY NUMBER 10:"

"Experiments on the vessel are a failure. it doesn't seem to be any different from the control cases. whatever. they're a hassle to work with anyway. the seeds just stick to you, and won't let go..."

"ENTRY NUMBER 18:"

"The flower's gone."

The Praetor's mind was caught in a whirlwind of inquiry and suspicion. There was far more to this place than he had imagined, and far, far more than what little he did know. He began to wonder where this "vessel" had gone, or what had become of it. He wondered how Alphys fixed the "amalgamate" problem. surely it must be a thing of the past - all the beds he had seen in the compound were empty, and there wasn't a soul aside from Hayden in here with him.

Then he heard talking.

He immediately put his helmet and peeked around the corner to see the King and Queen speaking one to another.

"Asgore, don't be so melodramatic!"

"Toriel-"

"You and everyone else got out of the last encounter just fine! I don't see a scratch on Sans or Undyne or you for that matter!"

"Toriel, there was no one there! That's what I've been trying to tell you. They took it and left before we got there."

"And your point is?"

"They've moved it to somewhere called 'Argent D'Nur.' That used to be our guest's home realm before they took it. They want to kill him there, and I can assure you that they'll throw everything they've got at him and us."

"...."

"Toriel, I know you. I know when you use that tone of voice."

"Asgore, don't think that I'm-"

Indignance lay hold on Asgore's voice as he cut her off. "Toriel, you listen to me. I know you see me as pathetic, and you're right about that, but don't you ever think I'm hopelessly blind enough to think that you will ever love me again. I'm not trying to win your love back with a pity party, Toriel. I know that you'll never change your mind about me..." Trepidation began to contaminate the bitter, regal . sternness he had so far maintained. "... and I know I will never change what I think of you. All I will ever ask from you is lead this people, Toriel. They don't need to know what happened to me. They just need to know they have their queen back."

"Enough of the drama, Asgore! You got out of New Home just fine-"

Then, he snapped at her, now louder than ever. "What part of 'they'll throw everything they've got' do you not understand?! All of Hell has tried killing this man and they've only ever managed to contain him, and even that eventually failed! Toriel, I'm not just postulating that I will die in there. I'm CERTAIN I will die in there!"

As the Doom Slayer watched, he didn't see Toriel and Asgore.

"Asgore, look-"

In Toriel's place, he saw another woman, human this time...

"I WANT to die in there!"

In Asgore's place, a man...

"Don't you dare do that-!"

And they were speaking of very different things.

"You think i enjoyed any of it, huh?! What kind of soulless wretch do you take me for?! Do you have ANY idea how hard it was for me?! How desperately I wanted another way out?!"

The woman's face had been lost by time...

"I never said-!"

... but the man's was very, very familiar.

"I loved then as soon as I laid eyes on them! But the kingdom's eyes were on me! What COULD I have done?!

Tears were welling up in Toriel's eyes. "Asgore, I never said-"

"That's what you told ALL of them! That's what they told me every time I met one of them! I KNOW what I did was foolish, and I KNOW that I trapped myself, but don't you ever DARE try to deny me this! You know I deserve it, and I know you know, because THAT'S WHAT YOU'VE TOLD EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!"

Before another angry, sorrowful word could escape either of their mouths, both of them felt a crushing grip on their necks, nearly strong enough to crush their collarbones. The grip tightened before they felt it shove them back from each other, letting go and nearly toppling both of them to the floor. They turned to see the Doom Slayer, breathing heavily as he took off his helmet to reveal a face that spoke both worry and scolding. Eyes wide, deep frown, brows pushed upward and together. He stared daggers into them, not wavering until Asgore spoke up.

"...what?" His voice was quiet, tired and trembling from an outlet of countless years worth of pent up guilt, anger, and grief.

The Praetor only shook his head in response as he turned and walked back into the flower room.

There was silence for a while, interrupted only by an occasional sniffle or breath from eithe rof the only two occupants left in the room. The King and Queen couldn't face each other full on, nor could they keep them out of the corner of their eye.

Suddenly, they heard something. Whispering from the other side of the room. It was barely audible, but just enough that they knew who it was and what they were talking about.

"I-I don't know if this is a good idea..."

"I saw him go with them. He's stuck in there, they need to know!"

"Didn't you hear them? Didn't you just hear them yelling at each other?"

"This will help them focus on what they need to do most-"

"What they need to do is-"

"Alphys, Frisk..." Asgore's baritone voice boomed across the empty room. "You can come out."

"Is there something you two need to tell us?" The tears had not left Toriel's eyes, nor had the trembling left her voice.

Peeking back from the corner of the room, The Doom Slayer once again began to eavesdrop.

Alphys and Frisk came out of the other corner, slowly slinking into view with nervous expressions and reluctant footsteps. "L-Lord Asgore, I have something to tell you about the soul experiments..." Alphys barely managed to maintain eye contact with Asgore as she spoke.

"What is it dear?"

"I... I came up with an idea. I wondered if one could implant Determination into something that didn't have a soul..."

"yes?"

"A-and I..." She was already on the verge of breaking down. Calling those families about the amalgamates was hard enough, but telling someone who was dear to you about the fate of their child - a fate you have unwittingly crafted - was utterly impossible. Yet somehow, some way, Alphys found the breath she didn't have and the strength that did not exist to come clean with the truth. "I tried using a flower..."

She and Frisk began to walk towards the Flower room, at which point the Marine hid himself in the small room housed therein. Toriel and Asgore exchanged a quick look before silently following.

"And..." Alphys was so tempted to just run away. "I... I wanted to surprise you. I used the flower in the middle of your garden, but-"

both knew exactly what she was talking about. Asgore could sense the guilt in her voice and tried to console her, all while suppressing his own mixed feelings. "Alphys, did you-"

"I used DT on it, but I didn't know that was where he-"

Neither parent gave in to the anger that swelled in the back of their minds. They weren't petty enough to pin her for something she never meant to do. At the moment, all they cared about was where they could find him. Toriel bowed down somewhat, trying to encourage her to look her in the eyes. "Alphys, listen to me. It's okay, you never meant it to happen. We just need to know where he is."

The Doom Slayer continued to listen. As he did, he remembered the tapes. He knew who they were talking about.

"He followed you guys into the first portal." Frisk's voice stopped everyone cold. "He's still in there."

Silence. Nothing but terrible, deafening, blood chilling silence.

Then Toriel spoke up. 'Asgore... I think you know what you should do now."

"I do."

"I'll take care of Frisk and get the place evacuated..."

Asgore hesitated somewhat before speaking. "And I'll go look for him."

Suddenly, the Doom Slayer racked his combat shotgun, making everyone jump. The only gesture he gave before running back upstairs was an affirmative nod of the head.

Alphys then spoke up. "I think he's saying it's time to go."

Frisk followed. "Asgore?"

"Yes, Frisk?"

"Just be aware, he's not himself. He doesn't have his soul."

"I know."

The fact worried Toriel greatly. "How are we going t o bring him back then?"

"I don't know..." Alphys answer was deliberate, but steady. "me and Frisk didn't think about that... but if we have him here, we have a much better chance of helping him."

"I'll be heading for the first portal immediately." Asgore said,, pulling out his trident. "Frisk, you stay safe with Toriel."

'I will."

"And Alphys?"

"Y-yes?"

"Thank you for letting us know.... you be good up there."