Underdoom - Chapter 29

“Alphys! What’s it look like in there?!”

“THEY BROKE THROUGH!”

“What?!”

“SOMETHING BIG JUST BROKE THROUGH!”

Something very big had indeed broken through. Sans glimpsed at Alphys’ screens to see the shadow of some behemoth creature lumbering over the rubble, its smaller fellows scurrying around and past its tree trunk ankles. Her efforts to find it and take it down with the Overlord batteries were fruitless; it had already left. The shadows of chains whipping around from the protesting creature’s neck disappeared into the cloudy mayhem.

Her little fingers flew about in a mad blur, going from battery to battery, trying desperately to stem the flow of hellspawn from New Home manually. Her breathing was frantic, her panic finding its way to her face and to her lungs far more easily than what little courage remained in her.

“No, no, no, no, no, no…. Sans?”

The skeleton had not realized how hard he had been focusing on Alphys’ station, or how long it would take for the interference to subside. His eyes were met with the sight of an endless demonic legion running toward three grainy little personages in the middle of a desolate field.

“Sans, please tell me things are going well on their end!”

He never realized he could feel so terrified and hopeless. “I… I dunno what to tell you, Alphys… they’re not even moving. They- wait…”

Something very bright and very green was beginning to glare into the probe’s lenses.

____________________

That’s right.

Line right up for me.

Boom

The BFG unleashed its latent power.

A shot to the left, and a storm of Argent energy struck out in every direction, at every molecule of demonic blood that contained any water. Its bolts boiled every cell to exploding and as the shot passed by, millions of hellspawn felt its unbearable burn, if only for a second, before their entire bodies burst into a burned, gelatinous mess. The sound of their heat-minced flesh falling to the ground was as a wave of the sea, as was the sight of their bursting carcasses all the way to the mountainsides. Similar giblets fell as rain as the BFG shot tore through the herds of cacodemons within its range, their purple flesh leaving trails of superheated steam as they plummeted to the ground.

Another shot, this time to the left, to near identical effect. From their frontline between the icon and the Doom Slayer, to the ashen calderas on the other side of the valley. Another wave of corpses. Another swathe cut cleanly through the horde in an explosion of Argent fire and demonic gore. The King could scarce look upon bloodshed, but as the shot mowed sheave upon sheave of hellspawn down, he felt an overwhelming gladness. That many more won’t get to Asriel or Toriel or Frisk or anyone else he loved. VEGA was simply impressed. If only the staff at the BFG division knew just what kind of weapon they had created. Funds well allotted indeed.

The BFG had spent its last two shots. The Praetor stowed it away, and looked his shocked opponent in the eye with both contempt and snide confidence.

Bring them on.

_______________

Static crackled over the radio

“DOGAMY! DOGARESSA! REPORT!”

Husband tore through an imp with his ax, while wife bounded from platform to platform, luring imps and a few possessed soldiers, leading their floundering feet to awaiting vents that would blow them into the burning magma below. Whatever stayed on its feet was quickly picked off by an arrow or spear thrown from a hidden guardsman, hanging off the walls or behind a pillar somewhere in the heated cavern.

Dogamy’s axe landed square into a hapless unwilling’s ribcage. “Honey, can you get that?!”

She gladly obliged, hopping off the last platform and onto the cliffside. “Dogaressa here! There’s not as many a we thought, but they’re giving us a run for our money!” The repeated sight of the cavern walls being illuminated at last turned her attention to the source, “Looks like Alphys has been making short work of them, but I see a lot more heading straight to the other entrance!”

Papyrus could hear demonic calls coming ever closer. They must have been halfway through waterfall by now. “Alright then. Anything else?!”

“Uh, no we- GAH!” Another imp took her by surprise, a fireball barely singing the fur on her muzzle. The creature made the mistake of charging at her, catching itself an ax to the face. “It’s mostly small fry we’re dealing with but….”

“But what?”

She would owe her life to her fellow guardsmen’s arrows, as she was so distracted by what she was seeing to pay much attention to the hordes of possessed that shambled towards her. Each tremor from its lumbering footsteps made her heart skip a beat.

“Dogaressa?!”

“Papyrus… you’ve got something BIG headed your way.”

“uh, okay. Something big. Roger.”

The radio crackled again, and The impromptu captain got in touch with his next line of defense. “Doggo! How are we holding up?”

“’Old on now… HA!” Blue knives found themselves lodged in the skulls of marching Hell Knights and floating Cacodemons alike. “That’s right… keep movin’…” Every now and then, he’d see a spear or a sword glimmer in the azure shadows, his comrades jumping out and taking on small groups of them by surprise.

“Doggo?”

“We’re ambushing them by the bushel, but they don’t ever stop for us! They see us killin’ ‘em, and only the small ones seem to want to fight back! I think the big ones plan on forming a spearhead! Y’know, try and break through the entrance!”

“I see….”

“I smell more of ‘em coming my way. Gotta skewer ‘em before they run off… doggo out!”

“Roger that…”

Papyrus slowly lowered his radio and stowed it away. He stood alone on scorched soil, wisps of powdery snow blowing into the crater in faint trails. Smoke still rose from what remained of the trees nearer the entrance. Most of the old puzzles and the woods surrounding them had been burnt to ash, and Grillby’s now bore a pitch-black scorch mark along the entire side of its east wall. The Overlord system’s silent fire lit the underground up like lightning bolts in the night, and in the wake of their light, one could see jagged silhouettes dotting the sky and scurrying across the horizon. Their apparent champion could be seen lumbering over its fellows, wrangled forward by thick chains tied twain around its neck. They were all only seen in brief flashes, but with each shot, one could see them coming ever closer, their vile screaming becoming more lucid by the second.

Within the abandoned town, he could see his comrades scurrying into position, hiding themselves within the library and the shop, and behind the windows of his house.

One however, had emerged, if only for a little while. Amid all her other fears, Knight-Knight had just a few more things to sort out.

“Do you hear them?”

Looking at him, one would take Papyrus as some noble and fearless hero, standing stalwart before the gates, but in reality, the sound of the demons’ braying made him just as afraid as anyone else. “Yes… yes I can hear them.”

“Is everyone else okay?”

“Oh they’re just fine, actually. For the most part, they’ve been overlooked. Only the small ones are really bothering with them, and they’re making short work of it.”

“And the big ones?”

“…. Headed right for us.”

Knight-Knight let out a restrained breath, her tone defeated and fretful. “Do you really think we can do this?”

He lied to her, but it was only a half lie. “I know we can do it.”

The subdued light shining in the streets began to cast itself on approaching faces crossing from Waterfall. Papyrus could hear barons snarling and imps hissing from their jagged teeth. Their thunderous stampede made Snowdin’s fickle lights flicker, and snow drop from rattling rooftoops

“They’re here. Get to your position.”

She obeyed without a word.

They came into the light, slowing to a halt as they eyed their prey, lording over the skeleton with bloodthirsty fury.

Sans wasn’t here. Undyne wasn’t here. Asgore wasn’t here. It was so easy for Papyrus to forget that he had help hidden away, and so easy to remember just how small he was, how alone he was. All by himself, staring down the feverish hungry eyes of a heartless enemy.

But he could not falter now.

He would not.

“You want me?”

The demons almost seemed to understand him, as they retorted with a vile ensemble of ear splitting roars, flashing claws and gnashing teeth. Barons kicked the earth with their hooves, and knights pounded the earth. Mancubi drooled and gargled, aiming their cannons downrange.

The young skeleton summoned two blasters over his shoulders, a barricade of bones round about him, and twin clubs in his hands.

“COME AND GET ME!”

They charged him straightaway.

Papyrus replied in kind.

______________

The new Icon looked on in disbelief, almost unable to process what had just happened. Half its forces lay in pieces before its eyes. Its primal enemy stood in bold defiance, unafraid and unabashed.

It stood still as its minds clashed with each other.



YOU POMPOUS IDIOT! YOU DIDN’T KILL HIM WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE!

You be quiet. Don’t forget who’s in charge here.

I HAVEN’T, AND I SHANT WHEN YOU KILL US BOTH!

Just let me take care of this. You least of all can tell me how to deal with him.

JUST KILL HIM!

Shut up…



The Doom Slayer now had both VEGA and Asgore to his side. One’s battery was waning: 41% and falling, and the other still had a fractured leg and partially crushed rotator cuff. Still, no shortage of courage could be found from any of the three. Their enemy stood before them in a humiliated stupor. His minions lay in pieces for a mile around. What more could he possibly do?

The answer cam swift and loud, and in a terrible display of awesome power and newfound rage. The Icon arched its head back and issued another ground-shaking, reverberating call, this time higher and louder, and rife with indignance. The skies went stark red, and the clouds swiftly gathered in a whirling storm above and around the Icon, hailing a wind that whipped the dry sands about and brought loose stone and bone ruins crashing to the ground. Bolts of scarlet lightning danced all around from the blackened skies, all across the mountaintops and throughout the ruined citadel, issuing thunderclaps that nearly tumbled the shore party to the ground. The beast stopped only for breath, and amid the lightning and the shrill wind, it issued forth another call, summoning forth in wave upon wave, the remainder of the legions of Hell. No waiting this time. Straightaway, they charged forth, and pointed their unholy fury at the intruders.

The other two felt death’s shadow crawling upon them. Only now did they truly realize what power they were up against. VEGA in particular, as he remembered the inscriptions upon the Corrax Tablets

“The City of Argent is fallen! Is fallen! Howl, O City. Cry, O Gate. Weep, ye inhabitants and despair.”

A dozen barons lead the unruly mass, charging headlong into the fray. The Doom Slayer wasted little time sending Gauss bolts into their eyes and their stomachs, gouging out pieces of orbital skull and tearing abdomens asunder. Cacodemon mucous flew and missed him by inches. The cannon’s siege mode fire tore through soft underbelly, bone, and chitin plate. Their death throes blew their indigo entrails across the screaming wind. Yet more of the horde threw themselves at him. A pinky charged him and met a rocket flying into its mouth. A Hell Razer felt its leg being broken backwards, and its own foot being sent into its skull.

“From thy loins is begotten treachery, and the wages thereof are suffering.”

VEGA accounted his battle readiness as he bisected hordes of imps and possessed with the laser emplacement on his arm. Diode at 42% power. Cannot borrow more from main power source. Will expire in 42 seconds of fire. Dorsal Rocket Batteries 82% depleted. Bombs depleted. The picture was grim, but he could not let his guard down, especially when he detected mancubi opening fire on him from afar. Some were among those altered by the Lazarus project, and pools of Toxic bile kept him mobile, dodging between ignited pus and hellfire. His chassis can only take so much damage. He could not let himself get struck down. He couldn’t let Hayden win.

“He shall ride upon the waters of Phlegethon and of Acheron, and all shall adore. Yea, he shall ride upon all the waters of Hell, and the damned and doomed shall mourn and despair.”

Pain shot through his left side anew, but Asgore could not let it hinder him. He had to fight through it, trudge through it, eat the pain and fight. He could not run fast, or he would crumple over in agony. His trident could only afford one arm, as his left shoulder still shot unbearable stabbing pain every half second, even unused. No matter. He did not need to move much to breath fiery death upon these mindless beasts. He thought of the portal to New home as a score of lost souls charged him from the air and were met with arcane fire. He thought of his family as he stuck his trident through a Knight’s knee, and blasted its screaming face with a gout of his fire.

They stood surrounded. They stood together. They stood alone against the horde.

The Icon loomed over his prey. They could only last so long.



FINFISH THEM OFF

Quiet. I want to enjoy this. Let them die one by one

I SHOULD HAVE DECLINED YOUR OFFER, PITIFUL MORTAL. YOU HAVE GRANTED THEM ONE TOO MANY CHANCES.

And you would be the one to lecture me, I’m sure. Just how many of your heads has he torn through?”

YOU WILL FAIL US

And you’ve failed enough that I think your attempts to usurp control are moot. Now shut up and let me work.

Another Call, another sound of that trumpeting, gargling roar, and more of them came from across all hell to join the fray. Surely, the Doom Slayer has not been met with so many at once. His friends would eventually make a mistake or fail to dodge something: that frail and crippled king would probably last another minute or two, and VEGA another five after that. The Hell Walker would be alone. They would bind him and seal him once more, or if he had died, they would find him after his re-awakening and entomb him anew. It was only a matter of precious, precious time.

_______________

Alphys

Alphys pls answer

Alphys?

Alphys is busy, kiddo. She told                                                                                                     me you were texting and said I                                                                                                 should to pick up. Wht’s wrong?

What’s happening up there?

Alphys is trying to hold them off.                                                                                                        Mettaton too. Doomguy just                                                                                                                        blew half of hell away with                                                                                                           something but I dunno how he                                                                                                                                            did it. More are coming back.                                                                                                                            I might need to go in.

Sans, you have to let us up

That’s up for Toriel to decide



That last message sank frisk’s heart, even moreso as the sound of the hellish stampede continued to fill her ears. Toriel’s eyes scarce left that ceiling. It was all that occupied her thoughts. That was the sound of ravenous creatures waiting to tear into those she loved, those who were in the breach, and those she now guarded at her feet.

There was little chance of her saying yes.

Especially if she knew the specifics.



The horde had not waned. More and more were pouring through the breach like waves crashing endlessly onto a battered shore, and Alphys was finding it harder and harder to keep them at bay.

“No, come on! NO!, Don’t burn out on me, come on, now-“

“Diodes giving you trouble?”

“They’re burning out! I’ve lost three already!”

“Crap… Has Mettaton called back yet?”

“Not yet, he-“

Her phone rang again

“Oh please no, not now, Frisk…”

Sans recognized the theme. “Wait, your ringtone… is that mettaton?”

Alphys noticed it too. Cursing under her breath, she took one hand off the console to answer. “Mettaton?!”

“ALPHYS LET ME IN!”

“wha-?!”

“I’ve been damaged and I need to recharge! Open the top hatch!”

“Okay!”

Pocket phone. Open compound lockdown controls, open top hatch. All those in the space of about three seconds.

“METTATON, GET IN! CLOSE THE DOOR BEHIND YOU!”

Sure enough, the sound of the hatch clanking shut was followed by metallic tumbling, the sound of sheet metal scraping on linoleum and sparks shooting form frayed wires. It didn’t sound good.

“Mettaton?!”

“Ugh, hold on, Alphys…”

The strain in his voice was apparent, as was the labor in his movement. Everything in Alphys wanted to rush up and help him, but she couldn’t afford to divert her attention any further. She heard the odd rhythm of limping footsteps going down the escalator, and her heart began to sink.

He finally came all the way down. It was worse than she had thought.

His right pauldron had been torn off. Left leg actuators were badly damaged and leaking hydraulic fluid. Scorch marks could be seen dotting the upper right side of his chassis, and there were claw marks on his back.

Alphys wanted nothing more than to tend to him as she saw the full extent of his damages, and she rose to the occasion, but he wouldn’t suffer it. “It’s okay, calm down, I’ll be fine. You need to focus on keeping them out. I just need to recharge and repair. Sans, help me out here.”

The skeleton shot a glance at his screen before hopping off his seat and obliging. Doomguy and company were putting up a vicious fight, but there were surrounded on all sides, and would need relief soon.

“Hold on, Alphys, where do you guys keep his plug?”

“It’s upstairs!”

“Got it.”

As his self-repair matric went to loud, sparking work, Mettaton took a glance at the probe footage screen - and didn’t like what he saw. “That doesn’t look good…. They’re going to need some backup!”

“I already noticed.” Sans came scrambling down with the plugin cord in hand. “I planned on going in to give ‘em some help in a minute.”

“We’re gonna need that ourselves! They’re attacking the Overlord diodes!”

All eyes now bolted to the Overlord feed. Airborne cacodemons shot and chewed at them on several screens, while dozens of imps concentrated their fire onto the defense complex.

“Okay, Sans, get that toolbox by Alphys’ desk, we’ve gotta hurry this up!”

“Son of a-“

“We need someone out there now! Mettaton, call Toriel and get her up here.”

Sans hastily threw down the toolbox and got to work unraveling the thick cord. “What about the kids?!”

“I’ve got an additional lockdown protocol that seals the elevator shaft with a blast door. It should keep the kids safe until this is all over. Mettaton, what’s you charge at?”

“Thirteen percent.”

“Then it’s gonna take you twenty minutes to get operational. Toriel can’t operate the tether module, and we need someone up top! I’ve already lost five diodes, and I’ll lose them all if we don’t hurry! Call her up here now!”

“Right…”



Toriel’s mind was drawing blanks, trying to find a way to make the situation less bleak. She hated the terrible atmosphere here, the dark corridors, the blinking lights, and of course, the sound of a demonic stampede and all the shrill cries that came with it. The children didn’t need this. She was standing by the door when her phone rang, and it made her jump as it roused her from thought.

“Hello?”

Asriel and Frisk turned around and hoped to eavesdrop, to overhear and get at least a glimpse of the situation. Her speaker was just quiet enough for the sound to be out of their reach.

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“I-I can’t they’ll be al alone in-…“

“Oh…. Okay, I see.”

“yes, I understand….”

“Okay, I’ll be up there as fast as I can. Make sure you’ve got those blast door sup as soon as you see those doors open.”

She clicked the phone shut.

“Mom, what’s going on?”

She knelt down  near the both of them, they having huddles near the middle bed.

“Asriel, Frisk… I’ve got to go topside for a moment. They need help up there.” The news only barely escaped her lips on her hushed, somewhat broken voice.  “I’ll… I’ll be back soon, okay?”

Vain as it was, Frisk just had to ask. “We wanna come up there too!”

“No!”

Toriel reached down with a quivering hand to Frisk’s shoulder, feeling the holes in her shirt where that imps teeth had sunk in. Blood still stained it all the way down to the armpit. She pulled the shirt over a little and saw the scars where it had bit her. Healing magic and monster food had made short work of the wound, but scars still clearly outlined the beast’s bite. Even seeing it healed felt like seeing it freshly inflicted, and Toriel teared up just a little at the thought of something so terrible. Unable to bear seeing it any longer, she covered the scar back up and looked Frisk in the eyes.

“I can’t ever let that happen again…”

“Toriel, please!”

Her arms suddenly enclosed them both.

“… I love the both of you too much.”

There wasn’t anything left to say. She just wanted to embrace the both of them forever, but the sound of chaos being wrought above painfully reminded her of the urgency of the situation. Time was wasting. She was needed elsewhere.

So she let them go, and made her way to the Elevator.

“You be good now….”

She disappeared from their sight.

Frisk’s hopes began to wane. Only so many things could convince Toriel to leave them at this point. The lights flickered a little more frequently as time passed. The shaking wrought by hundreds and hundreds of hooves and claws had intensified enough to shake an empty bottle from atop one of the sinks. There was such an oppressive air of fear and dread, it surprised Frisk that Asriel had the wherewithal to speak.

“F-Frisk?”

“Hmm?”

His words were trapped in his throat and it took all his willpower to coax them out. “What exactly were you hoping to do?”

The child deliberated, The subject was delicate, and she needed to map out her words very carefully if she wanted Asriel’s cooperation.

“Asriel…. You and I can take them. “

“But how? Just look at what they did to you!”

“…”

“Frisk?”

It was getting harder and harder to look him in the eye. “I-I know what happened with you and Chara, and-“

“wha-?!”

“… a-and I think if we-“

“Frisk?!”

“We…”

__________________

Another pair of the big jumping ones. You can take them. Lure that one with blaster fire, right into Madjick’s trap. Fell for it. Other one’s gunning for you. Twin blasters to face. He’s down. Send a bone through his neck. He’s out. Whole bunch of transformed humans, ones with shields this time. Knight-Knight’s got it, she’s got orbs behind them. Big one’s getting closer (is that fire spouting up near the Core?). Small jumpy ones coming for you. About seven of them. Block them with bones, keep them from separating. Guardsmen have them pinned. Keep moving. Keep getting attention.

Keep on fighting.

Don’t waver. Don’t Fear. Don’t quit.

Big one’s getting really close. Tremors going up your spine. It’s like he’s right on you already. Don’t be scared. You can do this. Big red ones. Two of them, thundering towards you. Other monsters’ attacks aren’t fazing them. Doesn’t matter. Bone wall to slow them down. Blasters to keep them down. Keep them pinned. Got them on their knees. Send bone through both heads. Done. Can hear chains jangling. Stomping getting closer. None have passed so far. Almost winning….

 “HOLD YOUR GROUND, EVERYONE!” The Skeleton heaved a club at an attacking imp’s head. “WE HAVE THEM WHERE WE WANT THEM!”

“PAPYRUS, LOOK OUT!”

A barrage of rockets pummeled into a bony wall, summoned nearly on instinct. Three rockets hit it before it was burst asunder, giving Papyrus a little over half a second to react and flee. Rockets followed his panicked retreat, and he could feel the shockwave of each detonation threatening to topple him over. Too big to be the lanky jetpack ones. He hadn’t noticed how far to the right he was veering.

BOOM

Papyrus’ momentum landed him flat on his back as slick ice. Something huge nearly crushed him. He didn’t get a good look at it. He had only time to run before that foot, seemingly made out of both flesh and metal,  would come stomping down on him. It sent some sort of magic attack after him, giving itself away by its own bright yellow light. Several huge swathes of some sort of offensive magic flew under and around him, cutting down a patch of trees to the south. Six seconds, and none of it permitted him see his attacker.

Still, as he ran and found cover in what was left of Grillby’s (Barons had chased the guardsmen out, and in the process, had flattened its west side into rubble), he got a fleeting glimpse of his foe.

It was at least three stories tall. On its stumpy head he could see one broken horn on its left and what looked like some sort of stone and flesh mask on the left, underlaid by bloody and pulped flesh. A light was glowing from the right side of its chest. Its left arm did not match the right: it was orange and metallic, and as it lined up another volley, papyrus could see five lights where a hand should be,

Then more rockets.

Duck.

More behind you. Jumpers and former humans Starting to get tired…

Kaboom

Well, that took care of them. Look back. That was the big guy’s doing. Don’t know how I’m gonna take him down…

Maybe I don’t have to yet.

He’s got you on a bead. Perfect. Run towards the others. Three humans with guns, another jetpack flyer and three pigs. Doge their fire. Run past them. Hear explosions. Look back. All giblets. So far so good. More in the air. Big floaty ones spitting purple stuff. Summon blaster. Ride it. Go straight for them. Shuck and jive. Take a few shots as you go. Rocket’s fizzing behind you. Can hear them making impact on some of them. Missed a few, but you can take care of those. Bright flashes. Bright than usual. Something firing from his back…. Okay that’s a lot of rockets. All headed for you. Gotta look for more them. Three big fat ones attacking Knight-Knight and Madjick. Let’s change that. Swoop down. Rockets closing in. Fly past fat guys. Holy moly, they stink. Here come the rockets. These ones sound gooey for some reason. Look back… okay that’s gross.

Chains are jangling. Handlers aren’t too happy. What are they? Those big shoulders, stumpy legs and no head. They look like they’re made of rock or something and they move all jolty-

And then the green lights on their carapaces spun out of control in streaks. The entire world was tumbling around him. Something had shot his blaster out from under him, and he came crashing into the ground, rolling several times over in the snow.

Everything hurts. Vision blurry. Hearing muffled. Someone calling out. One of the guardsmen, maybe. Hear screeching. Getting closer. One of the jetpack flyers. Gotta get up

He was on his knees when the revenant kicked him back to the ground. It loomed over him, grabbed him by the throat and screamed in his face, holding back a fist ready to smash his skull in.

Wait. That thing Undyne taught you.

Puts hand on back of head and under chin.

Twist it

Snap.

The revenant fell limp atop the skeleton, dead. He shuffled its carcass off himself, his senses still aching and his legs still weak. His right leg felt shattered, and he felt light headed. Determination alone kept him afloat, kept him in the fight.

The behemoth began to grasp at its own chains, and in seconds, it had hurled its handlers into the ground before it, trampling them underfoot in guttural, mindless anger and frustration. It tore the collar from its neck, revealing sore and reddened flesh.  Two beady, yellow eyes on the intact side of its head glared at Papyrus with feral rage, and with a low, gurgling growl, it took aim at him once more.

Not done yet. Gotta keep running. Don’t trip over. Don’t lose balance. How am I gonna beat this thing? More pigs charging you. Keep moving, just like before. Keep dodging. Keep firing. Keep swinging.

Wait…

The lights by New Home. They’ve stopped….

_______________

Lights all across the core were shutting off. Imps and lesser demons gnawed at the power cables, and Hell Knights tore breaker and junction boxes apart. Power was failing throughout the Core, and the MTT resort, already in flames, was now devoid of power.

And now, the overlord system was too.

“No… NO!!”

“What?!”

The lights were beginning to flicker again

“SANS, ACTIVATE EMERGENCY POWER! USE MY COMPUTER!”

“Why what’ happening?!”

“They’re destroying the core! We’ve lost power to the Overlord System and we’re gonna lose power here! The Hydraulics keeping the blast doors shut are gonna fail, and-“

“Son of a-“

Mettaton shoved him away. “Sans, just go! I can finish repairs myself!”

“Already on it!” His fingers rushed across the keyboard. Panic began to grip everyone in the compound.



Terrified sobbing choked every other syllable the prince spoke. “Frisk no! I-I can’t do it!”

“We have to!”

“I ca- I can’t!

Suddenly, every light in the lower compound went out with a horrible bang. Both children screamed, and their hastened breathing echoed in the dark corridors and empty rooms of the True Lab.

“F-Frisk…?

“Asriel…”

Another bang, and the lights came back on. Some sort of loud droning could be heard from the further reaches of the complex.

“What? What was-“

“I-I dunno. I… I think it’s the power. The demons must be destroying the Core….”

“Frisk, I-“



“Holy crap, that was close…” Sans slouched against the computer desk, his breath heaving in and out. “Where’s Toriel?! Man, we should have told her to stick to the core…”

Alphys had gone completely despondent, her head buried in her palms in front of a hundred “connection failed” screens, but Mettaton was quick on the uptake. “She’s still got her bracer on. Use the Module to get in touch…”

As the skeleton hustled into the seat at the console, Alphys managed to eke a few words out of herself. “Wh-what’s it look like on the shore party’s end?”

“…”

“Sans?”

“It… it doesn’t look good.”

__________________

A host of millions now closed in on the Hell Walker and his doomed accompaniment.

Don’t let them take you, old man. Don’t let them get close. More boars, two from the front and three from your right. Firewall. Let them run into it. They’ve hit it. Writhing on the ground. Big jumping ones with no eyes. Can barely walk. Can’t dodge them. Have to fight. One’s airborne. Catch him on your trident. Fling him off. Other one swinging. Duck. Shoulder hurts. Can’t get back up. He’s got you by the throat. Breath fire in his face. He’s down. Something sharp in your leg. Pain is excruciating. One of those small ones biting you. Trident through his head. So much killing intent in these things. Fat ones shooting from afar. Send fireballs their way. Can’t keep this up…

Power at 33%. Dorsal batteries depleted. Arm Diode at 42% power. Taking damage: hell energy shot from nearby imp. Dispatch with shot to head. At least fifty more within seventy square yard vicinity. Horde imps mostly. Sequential Targeting in effect. 35 Targets locked. 47. 58. Firing. One down. Ten. Twenty-two. Arm Diode at 38% power. Why isn’t he attacking us himself. He’s just standing there… re-establishing link with Praetor Suit: Ammunition count: Plasma; 28%; Brass Cartridge (.50 UAC and 15mm UAC): 13% and 3% respectively. 40mm Rockets: 42% and declining. 12G shells: depleted.  Running out of time. Need to stop Hayden. Need to destroy Time crux. No immediate solutions available

Keep ‘em coming. Can’t stop me. Catch imp’s arm. Tear it off and smack him with it. Rip the other one’s jaw off. You kill me, and I’ll just be back. I’ll never stop killing you. I’ll never stop making you pay. Baron stepping on Asgore. He’s screaming. Oh no. No, you don’t. Get off him. Ding under ribcage, rip it open, claw his lung, let him choke to death. Hell razers shooting at VEGA. His armor’s coming apart. Run at them. Jump over him. Rip their arms off. Punch their skulls in. Don’t you touch them. Don’t any of you dare to touch them. Cacodemons shooting at you. No. Shooting at Asgore. You leave him alone. You leave both of them alone. I’ll kill you all.

Doom Slayer’s getting rid of the flyers. Good. Can’t do much about them. Can’t do much more at all. Throw trident at the horned one. Missed. He’s gunning for you. Doom Slayer has him. Has his horn. Shoves it through his chest.  Can barely stand. Can’t move my arm without wanting to scream.

Critical damage sustained. Chassis integrity compromised. Power lines to lower extremities and Flight Modules damaged. Flight capabilities incapacitated. Attempting self-repairs. Power at 29% Summoners attacking. Damage sustained. Demonic reinforcements inbound. Cannot hold out.

More attacking VEGA. Snap that one’s neck. Pull out Rocket launcher. Lock on. He’s done.  Another Pinky Charging Asgore. He’s on his knees. Leave them alone… You take them from me, you die. You all Die. Hayden… Kill you… Kill you and your little pets. Kill you over and over if I have to.

____________

“Toriel, it’s okay, you didn’t-“

“No Sans! I should have been there!”

“It’s not your fault we didn’t tell you.”

“I just-“

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m at the Hotel. I’ve tried keeping them away from the defenses, but-“

“It’s okay, there’s nothing we can do about that now. Just calm down. Papyrus might need your help at Snowdin. You’re gonna want to get there as soon as Possible. They’re skipping our defenses everywhere else. They want to get to the surface!”

“Please tell me Asgore is alright!”

“Your highnss, I-I don’t think I can-“

“PLEASE!”

Sans couldn’t bear to tell the grim truth, at least not all of it. “He’s… he’s not in good shape, but Doomguy and VEGA will take care of him.”

“Send me to him now! I must heal him!”

He could hear Alphys beginning to cry. “NO! You’re needed at Snowdin! They’re concentrating there!”

“But I-!”

“Just go! Doomguy can take care of things on their end, just go1”

She hung up without a word.

Line 1 closed

Line 2 closed

Line 3 closed

Sans squinted at the screen. “Wait... ‘line 3?’”

________________

Ariel set down the bracer as the display on screen went inactive.

“D-Dad…”

He felt Frisk’s hand gently rubbing his shoulder, almost exactly like before. “We can do this…”

“W-why don’t you just reset? We can start over, Doomguy can zap me again and we-“

“I can’t! Doomguy has more determination than me, and we never told him about resetting!”

______________

Toriel’s flames evaporated the water around her in an instant as she rode a stream of arcane fire through Waterfall. She could see the flashes coming from demonic magic, the dark outline of a massive beast in their midst, firing rockets wantonly, razing the town into the ground.

“Hold on, Gorey…” she thought to herself. “I’m coming for you. I’ll be there for you, just wait… just hold on a little longer…”



Keep running, Papyrus. It’s still working. It’s starting to get madder. Goodness, that roar…. Can’t hear anything after it roars. Have to feel for them. Something rumbling behind you. Another pig. Jump over it, send it into a bone wall behind you. Blast it from behind. They’re weak there. More laser demons a ways off. Fire on the horizon. Getting closer. What now?

______________

He shot up, and his hands grasped Frisk firmly by the shoulders. “I DON’T WANNA HURT YOU AGAIN!”

“…”

“…Please. I’ve already seen you hurt before, and it was bad enough when it was me doing it. I know I wasn’t all there and I know I wasn’t-“

“Asirel, it’s okay-“

“And, and I kn-know you’ve already forgiven me, but just the thought of you-“

“I understand.”

“And when Chara and I did it….”

He felt her hands gripping him back, almost as strongly as her eyes were gripping his. “I’d never do that to you…”

___________

“Alphys.. Alphys, it’s gonna be okay.”

“N-no it’s not…”

Mettaton shuffled himself back up. Barely operational, but he couldn’t let this despair overtake him as well. “Alphys, I’m charged to 40% and my hydraulics are mostly repaired. I can go out there and help.”

“What difference will it make?”

“I can-“

“You’ll die out there.”

___________

“…but you know we have to do this.”

Asriel was running to a million doors in his head that lead to nowhere. Frisk was right. It was now or never.

“Okay….”

Frisk hugged him as tight as she could, just like before. Her little mind could only grasp so much of what the boy had gone through, but she understood enough. She understood how big of a step this had to have been, and for that kind of bravery, she couldn’t be more grateful.

“But how are we going to do it? How can we do this without hurting you?”

___________

Imp fireballs and mancubus pus flew at the skeleton and the queen form all directions. Rockets hounded their heels and fueled their pace.

“Keep running, your majesty!”

“I passed legions of them on my way here. We cannot focus on this one for much longer!”

“We can use him to get rid of them too! Trust me, he doesn’t seem very bri-“

The beast slammed a fist into the ground, and with some form of Hellish magic, shot two walls of burning stone before him, entrapping the two boss monsters in a narrow corridor that ran from his personage tot eh end of the cavern wall.

His eyes narrowed, and the saliva on his teeth glinted in the orange light of hellfire

“Oh no…”

“Papyrus…”

He took aim at them.

___________

“I think…. I think I know a way, but we’ll have to talk to Dr. Alphys about it.”

The prince gulped and prepared himself for what was about to happen. “okay… call her then.”

___________

Can’t fight any more. Can’t hold on any longer. More lightning. Must be more of them. Tori… forgive me….

Too damaged. Will die in moments. Can feel more tethered activity behind me. It’s over… wait, that’s not….

You never learn. You never learn what happens when you take from me. You may kill us here, but you will NEVER… hold on… Something’s up.

Those horns… where are they coming from? The demons look afraid now.

Tethered activity not matching known demonic profiles. Some sort of call. Acoustic profile unknown

Son of a bitch. I know those horns anywhere.

___________

Sans’ heart was shattering. Alphys was hunched over the keyboard, full-on crying in defeated terror. Mettaton was trying – and failing – to comfort her, telling her things that all three knew were untrue. Doomguy can do this. Asgore and VEGA will make it. We’ll keep them from breaking through. All lies. All hopeless and untrue and unreal. It couldn’t; end like this. Not when they were so close to a solution. The way to end all resets was right there, on the tether probe screen, swirling in scarlet streams around the new Icon, and yet no one could reach it. The thing that could give life meaning again, that could make him care, that could stop the invasion, was just hanging there like bait.

He had to say something. Anything that could help lift the unbearable weight, even if it was  flat out lie.

“Alphys, we can still-“

“We can’t do anything…”

Then, her phone rang.

She would never know what possessed her to pick it up against the despair that would have held her hand down, but she picked it up anyway. It was Frisk.

“F-Frisk?! What wrong?!” As if everything wasn’t already wrong.

“Alphys! Me and Asriel are gonna fuse souls! We need you to help us!”

For a moment, it was as if the demons themselves had heard her, and they too fell silent. The whoel compound felt quiet as she spoke those words.

“You’re… you’re going to what?”