Underdoom - Chapter 18

All was quiet, but not calm. The room was silent, but Hayden had not stopped hearing the voices, all like schizophrenic nightmares, warning him of his grave injuries. Both arms severed. Optic unit in critical condition. Enhanced computing matrix malfunctioning, now cordoned off from cortex remnants. Exoskeleton motor function destabilizing. Thoracic weapon batteries depleted. Appendicular weapon systems compromised. On and on the damage reports kept flooding in, maddening him ever further with their grating voices, scratching like nails to the chalk of his burning mind. So distracted by his rage, so sickened by sheer frustration, Hayden took a few moments to regain his bearings, trying to retake control of the situation.

“... shut down all notification systems.”

The voices complied, and Hayden was left to himself.

“Discard powered exoskeletal augmentation system.”

With a loud hiss and many gusts of compressed air, each ruined part of the once imposing frame fell off of what was left of its wearer, each melted part landing on the metal ground in a low thud that echoed slightly throughout the empty room. There, the Cyborg lay in defeat, No arms, a cracked optic, an indented cranial unit, and legs whose hydraulic pistons were only barely functional enough to support the Cyborg's three meter frame. Panels all over his body had been warped from heat. Sparks flew from damaged circuitry in his chassis, flying out through various small fissures as several of the components forming his thorax had been partially separated.

He had lost this fight. He had lost and his enemies had proven their strength.

He had so little now. The Mars base was gone. Argent was gone. The Doom Marine was now openly Hostile. The energy crisis on earth would inevitably return with a vengeance, and as if sixty one thousand people wasn't bad enough, it was hard to imagine the billions that would die in the years to come, only this time, it wouldn't be for the cost of progress. Their deaths would not serve a higher purpose. They would be victims. Victims of carelessness, greed, short-sightedness, and closed-mindedness. Thoughts of their screams, suffering borne in anarchy and fear rushed through Samuel's head as he tried with all his remaining strength to upright himself. There had to be something he could do.

Then he remembered the Skeleton's loose lipped admission.

The siphon was not powering the invasion.

Perhaps Hell had thrown everyone for a loop, as Hayden was certain his probes were picking up the right energy signal from the right place. Perhaps it was a ruse? Perhaps the hellspawn activated the Siphon's power as a distraction or a red herring? There had to be something else. There had to be some missing piece of the puzzle. The Helix Stone, his key to finding that piece,, had just been taken from him. It was no doubt in that pitiful underground now. He dare not assault it himself. Underestimating the monsters had already nearly killed him.

As the Lazarus elevator quickly rose up from the depths of the compound, he remembered his probes. Those idiots would be back in Hell soon enough. He'd soon know where they were and what they were up to.

The key now, was simply to wait. Wait until they had come into his sights.



“I HAD HIM!!”

Toriel had regained the better part fo her strength, hoping it was enough to abate the fire in Undyne's heart.“Undyne, plesae! You have to calm down, we have the-”

“I WON'T calm down!” vengeful grief and near rabid anger poured out of Undyne's every raspy word. It quivered her jaw and soaked her face in tears. She half sobbed, half screamed as she spoke, and few in the room knew what to do to curtail her worsening emotional state as she crushed the walls in bouts of rage with her flying fists. “He was right there... HE WAS RIGHT THERE AND I WAS SO CLOSE AND HE-!”

Then, she felt a sudden, powerful jerk pull her backwards by the collar, nearly toppling her as it yanked her faster than her feet could adjust to the sudden imbalance, making her stumble a bit before refocusing her attention on her handler. It was the Doom Slayer, holding her yet again by her collar armor. Once more, he wore a stern expression, scolding her without any words.

This time around, Undyne was twice as defiant and not nearly half as noble. “Get OFF ME!” She shrieked as she tried batting his arm away to no avail. He was steadfast as stone. His tenacity only further enraged the crestfallen warrior

“What? WHAT?! WHAT do you WANT?!” her desperate inquisition began to drown out her rage, and her sorrow began to show more and more through the surface as her scowl slowly began to upend itself.

Still nothing. He knew what she was feeling. He too had felt it before, ravaging him from the inside out like a virile poison. It gave strength to his sword arm on that fateful day, but that was about the full extent of its benefits. He couldn't let Undyne undo herself like this, and so still, he stared daggers into her, trying to get through to her aching heart and clouded mind.

It still hadn't gotten though. “Quit looking at me like that..... Just SAY something already!!”

The Praetorian remained silent.

Slowly but surely, she began to understand the silent words in his stone brow and steady gaze

This isn't getting you anywhere.

“I have to go back.. “ The Captain's voice grew more and more shaky with each troubled syllable leaving her aching throat. “I have to-”

The Doom Slayer's brow lowered just a little, his pupils dilating somewhat.

You're not going anywhere.

“Please....”

No.

The Marine slackened his grip a little, setting his other hand on her shoulder, ready to catch her form her inevitable fall into his arms.

You need to rest, and you need to rest now.

Undyne gave no more resistance, and as she fell into her friend's shoulder, the thick underlying padding beneath his armor muffled her quiet, haggard sobbing. He turned to Papyrus and Alphys, nodding a little. The skeleton took the cue as the Praetor gently passed the careworn warrior to her friends, Frisk looking on and silently following them upstairs. They'd know better than him what to do for her. She needed to recover, and while he wished there was something more he could do, his rational mind knew that time would not allow it. He considered her to be a friend, but he hadn't known her as long as the others did. They'd know how to make things right better than him.

He then turned his attention to the obvious elephant in the room.

There it stood, hovering as it were, radiating orange arcs of argent energy and filling the room with its ominous luminescence. At first silence had ensued as Undyne had been dismissed. Now it only persisted out of a combination of fear, awe, wonder, and reverence.

Mettaton's curiosity opened his mouth. “So.. how exactly are we going to find the answers we need from this?”

VEGA was quick to respond. “The same way we found out about the Crucible's position: from the Doom Marine.”

The Scourge stood with arms akimbo, staring into the many runes on the great stone's surface. He remembered the feeling, the screaming hallucinations brought on by contact with the artifact. As to how Hayden and VEGA were able to extrapolate the artifact's location, he did not know, but perhaps he was about to get some answers.

“When we set out to find Dr Pierce's objective, we knew only one thing; that the Doom Marine would be capable of deciphering things our decoder keys could not. When we first had him touch the stone, the immediate result was a full map of the Necropolis, seemingly erupting from the contact point between his fingers and the stone. Now that he has both the Crucible and the Siphon, we might just get a different response from the stone. It was made practically as a guide to the use of Argent energy, and I'm certain it can tell us how the Siphon was used to bait us from the real source of the invasion's power.”

“How do we know this will work?”Sans scratched his head, not sure just how much of this was solid fact and how much was conjecture. “Sounds like a lot of guesswork and hopeful outcomes to me.”

“We've seen it at work before. The ties between the Doom Slayer and Argent are what enabled both his reading of it and the projection. The Siphon and the Crucible are just as close to Argent's legacy. They too should play a part in how we figure this out. Sir, if you would step up to the Helix Stone?”

These loud, headache inducing trips were always a rush. With every connection to Argent reactivated, more and more hidden and repressed memories would surface. He braced himself mentally for the shock as he stepped deliberately towards the floating stones, staring intently at their many runes, all glowing with that familiar burning orange hue. He held both of his old weapons at either side, activating them, dividing the room between the orange of the stone and the scarlet of the sword and sheild.

He stretched out his arm, and a sharp current took him.The world around him was taken away in an instant and replaced by the familiar crimsons and bright orange and yellow flashes of hellfire. It spun around him in erratic circles, shapes distorted by movement, voices blurred by their constant passing. He saw the Siphon, still in its old Pedestal in the Necropolis. A bright light began to emanate from its edges, and in seconds, that light flashed to near blinding. An Argent shockwave rocked the necropolis, incinerating many of the demons that called it home. Suddenly, the world grew smaller as the Siphon and its containment flew out of view. The Praetor could feel his guts sinking to the bottom of his bowels as he felt himself lifted up to the gray skies of Hell. Suddenly, he could make out something. It was like a line, a sort of connection between the Siphon's location and somewhere far, far off into the distance. All was a blur as he was rushed to its origin point, and soon enough, he came face to face with something terrible and familiar. It bore two white, lifeless eyes. A bloody pentagram adorned its forehead. Long, jagged horns sprouted from either side of its ominous caprine head. The sight filled the Doom Slayer with a long-buried rage. He knew why it was there. He knew what it symbolized. He knew who it once was. His blood boiled and his teeth gritted as he saw the desolate citadel upon which the Icon sat. The thread linking to the Necropolis lead straight into it.

Then, all went suddenly quiet as the world came back, flooding into his vision like water from broken dam.

“The Icon of Sin.... this is going to be... interesting.”

“So that's what that was huh? That.. skull...”

VEGA and Toriel's voices were crisper and clearer than the Scourge was anticipating. This was much longer of a trip than he normally underwent, and he hadn't expected to fully retain his senses. Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Now it was time to listen.

“We've been postulating the source of Hell's collective power for years. I never thought we'd finally find it.”

“What did we just see?” Everyone turned as Asgore spoke, his tone earnest and serious as ever. “Is that the source fo their power?”

“I'll be honest in saying this is our only real lead. The UAC has been researching the center of Hell's power for years, but the Argent fracture and research dedicated strictly to Argent overthrew any other ventures. This is the first we've actually seen of it.”

“Will our son be there?” Worry saturated Toriel's every word. “Will we find him on the way?”

“I'm sure of it.”

The Praetor turned towards the queen, confused somewhat, wondering what she was talking about. What made her think her son was going to be there, of all places?

She noticed his curious gaze. “Oh, that's right, you weren't here when we went over it. Mettaton, if you would, dear?”

“Yes, your highness..” He waved at the Hunter, gesturing him to come and take a look at the monitors.

The Doom Slayer saw the ruins of new home, and just what had been happening while he and his party were at Argent. Mettaton tried fast forwarding through most of it, but it didn't keep the Hell Walker from seeing a glimpse of the breach, as well a Asgore's fiery breakdown. A tinge of regret left a slight pang of sorrow in his heart. Before it could swell any further however, the footage returned to Normal speed just in time to see a small Flower hopping into the portal to the necropolis.

“There he is.” The Scourge nearly jumped, having not noticed that Toriel had crept up to them. “That's him right there...” Her voice was rife maternal concern.

Asgore then called out to the Hunter. “I'm opin you can infer what this means about who you're bringing with you....”

He needed no hand holding. He knew the King and Queen were set on coming with him. Yet again he was stuck between his concern for their well being and his obligation to let them be in charge of their fate. As much as he wanted to fight it, something in his gut told him he had no say in the matter at any rate. He knew a parent's pain at the loss of a child. In fact, only a few moments ago, he had felt anew that same sense of-

No, no, no. Don't.

If he let himself ruminate on such matters he would lose himself. All these many years he had his grief buried under his fury so that his duty, his obligation, his mission, could continue unhindered. That mission was still underway, only now, there were yet more objectives, and they affected more than just his own personal quest. He had to focus, especially if he was to keep the weakened monarchs alive.

He hadn't realized he was spacing off.

“Hey, earth to Doomguy!”

He turned towards the sound of Sans' voice. “I was about to say, you were dead to the world for a minute there, bud. That little helix stunt got you messed up?”

He shook his head a little and waved it off.

“You should all get ready for insertion.” The trio turned to VEGA as he began his final brief. “I would advise the King and Queen to ensure their capacity to carry out this task.”

“We're old, but we're not decrepit, dear.” Fireballs swirled about in Toriel's hand.

“I'm aware. Just realize that the recent breach event has-”

He was interrupted by the sound of the butt of Asgore's trident hitting the ground. “Believe me, VEGA. We have our incentive. We'll be able to hold our own”

“I am aware. That being said, I would opt for more than just the two of you to accompany him. I myself will no longer be needed here.” he then turned to the Doom Slayer. “If I may, I would request to accompany you on this mission. This will allow for the King and Queen to secure their son while we continue the mission.”

“How are we gonna monitor them?” Sans' inquiry drew some perplexed looks from all but VEGA.

“We already have working probes in the Necropolis. These probes are capable of following a certain target, and I can program them to do so once they have line of sight with the shore party.”

Asgore hefted his trident in both hands. \”We should get started immediately. We don't know how much time is left.”

“Agreed. Sans will over see communications. Before we debark I will make sure to send the proper commands to our remaining probes in the Necropolis. I will only need a moment to arm myself and prepare.”

Toriel took a deep breath. She knew the experience would be jarring, and she knew no matter how much she steeled herself, her first footsteps into Hell would be  a pleasant walk in the garden. 'Then let us make haste... the anticipation is eating at me.”

Upstairs, Undyne sat on the bed, surrounded by her friends, lamenting her circumstance. As she heard the conversation downstairs, she lifted her head from it's sunken, saddened position between her legs “They're leaving... they need my help...”

“Undyne, it's okay.” Alphys did her best to try and console her, tip toeing to reach into her hair, trying to get her to look into her eyes. “Don't be so hard on yourself.”

'I can't fail them like this-”

“You're not failing them!” She turned to see a familiar, smiling, skeletal face. “You haven't failed any of us!”

“Pap-”

“I know it's a bit discouraging. After all, remember when Doomguy didn't pick me to come along that first time?”

“Yeah...”?

“Well, I remember feeling absolutely terrible.... and then Toriel told me something I'll never forget. She asked me.... well, I was feeling really bad because I felt I had failed too, or that I wasn't good enough to come along, and that it made me... worthless.”

Undyne continued to listen intently, now keeping her eye fixated on Papyrus as he continued.

“When I told Toriel, she asked me what makes someone worth something.... I was treating it as if Doomguy not picking me to fight made em worthless. That's when she just flat out told me it didn't! My worth isn't dependent on how well I can fight.”

“And you know he can put up a fight!” Frisk's upbeat voice lent a small smile to Undyne's face.

Her eyes went back down to Alphys. “Undyne, you're not a failure. I always thought of myself like that. I remember how much you guys said it wasn't true, and even though it took a whiel to sink in, I eventually realized you were right! Just look around! Do you think any of us think of you as a failure?”

No amount of self pity could make her contradict the answer she knew to be true, especially when she saw all the smiles directed at her. “... no.”

“Exactly!” With every cheerful word from the Skeleton Undyne could feel her misery drip away. “See, there's the captain of the guard I know!”

“And nobody beats the captain of the guard but me!' Frisk tackled Undyne into the bed. At that point, she could let her grief go, even if only for a moment as everyone laughed around her. As she tussled Frisk's hair, heard Papyrus rooting for her, and felt Alphys kiss her on the cheek, she felt assured that the world hadn't ended. She'd lost much, but still had people close to her. The world hadn't ended just yet.

Then, she sat up as she heard the compound doors open and shut. The shore party had left. Upon hearing their departure, she sighed a bit, both in residual regret and some apprehension of what would become of them, especially with her old mentor, friend, and king.

“Don't worry.” Frisk sat on her lap, looking up at her. “They'll be back. Just like always.”

“Yeah..... I know they will.”