Underdoom - Chapter 22

“Okay… okay, but Gaster was saying what I think he was saying, right?”

Sans nodded before Undyne finished speaking. “They cut off when they went into that tunnel, but I think we heard enough. They pull this off and they could fix this whole timeline mess for good.”

That assurance did more to embolden everyone than anything else. Still, there were uncertainties, and no one was sure what to do.

Alphys managed to drum up a question. “Okay, but what’s our next move? This is big, Sans. This might need more than them.”

He was more than hesitant to re-enter the Dark Realm. “I dunno... what could we even do?”

“Look, I’m not gonna pretend I’m eager to go back in there, but if they need help, they need help.”

“Undyne, darling, they haven’t given us any sign that they need help yet.”

“I’d rather not wait until they do.”

Hoping she could help, Frisk piped up. “Why can’t we just send the probe in?”

“That’s a good way to lose a probe if a demon catches sight of it, kiddo.”

“There’s gonna be tons of them. Argent’s gone and this is all they have left.” Alphys turned to see Undyne nodding to the affirmative at her postulation. ‘They’re gonna need a lot more manpower.”

“Well so will I” Mettaton did not try to hide his exasperation. “Undyne and Sans leave and it’s just you and me down here to watch over Frisk and make sure things are stabilized in the event of a-“

Everyone jumped as yet another hair-raising shriek sounded from the station. They looked to see an imp, impatient from constantly waitin, had thrown itself against the defense grid, cutting itself to pieces before expiring. Some diodes had taken damamge, and though the Overlord system was quick to intervene, it wasn’t instantaneous: several destroyed diodes, either burned or with claw marks on them, clung to the defense matrix or lay as ruined clutter on the ground.

“… in the event of a breach.”

The situation was uncertain. Two problems and only one solution was available at once. Alphys opted to take a look at the monitors. Though she could no longer directly track the group, perhaps she could put the probes to use with indirect observation, tracking hell energy levels and monitoring demonic activity. The others’ debating became white noise as she directed her focus towards the monitoring stations, switching between views from Agent, to Thermographic, to DT…

…DT.

When she saw it, she almost fell out of her seat.

“GUS!” Everyone turned her way. “GUYS, HE’S THERE!”

“What?!” Sans and the others gathered around Alphys. “You don’t mean-“

“Oh, I do! Look!”

Undyne squinted at the somewhat faded DT signatures leading into the passageway. “You sure that’s not all just Doomguy?”

“That’s definitely not Doomguy’s. Look closer.” She pointed at the three main trials leading into the cave. “There’s Doomguy’s over to the right, and you can see VEGA’s over on the left… aaaannnd there. Look Third trail, practically right on VEGA’s tracks. It pops up just a little bit before the cave opens!”

Sans got back to his comm station. “Alright then, we’ll continue our little powwow in a second. We gotta touch base with Toriel and Asgore.”

“But what about Doomguy?” Everyone fell dead silent when Frisk asked her question. “Should we tell him? Should we tell Toriel and Asgore about him? We never settled on that.”

A brief pause and Sans gave the only answer he could think of. “One step at a time, kiddo. Okay?” He sighed a little as he faced the screen. “I really don’t know how we should go about that. I mean, Doomguy’s gonna do what Doomguy’s gonna do. I don’t know what we’re gonna do with Asriel… but hey, we can figure it out. At least we know the whole ‘bait’ gambit worked.

Frisk quietly nodded and didn’t say another word.



“The way is solid, but it is not safe…” Gaster carefully tiptoed around the many holes and pitfalls woven into the perilous bony bridge. “Watch your step. I cannot guarantee we will be alone much longer, and should you find yourself pinned or trapped, there’s only so much I can do for you.”

The Doom Slayer knew such perilous walkways intimately. Hell was, at best, a smoldering pile of twisted steel and misshapen rock woven around into haphazard loops and the occasional temple or sanctuary. He knew it well enough that he could traverse even unknown parts with little thought. He had slowed down to accommodate the others, doing his best to keep his mind blank, to avoid distraction.

He knew what he was here for.
He knew what he was here for…

And then, Toriel’s comms rang up.

“Shore party, come in! Can you hear me alright?”

“Sans? Sans, what is it? What’s happening?”

“Your highness… It’s your son. We’ve got a trial on him. He’s following you.”

He knew what-

The royalty was struck dumb for a moment, as was Gaster. The news was unbelievable, but they couldn’t scare him off. If Sans was telling the truth, any enthused calling out or exclaiming would drive him away. They exchanged looks, and Asgore silently nodded to his wife. She replied quietly into the bracer.

“Do you have any idea how close he is? Can the probes see him?”

The Marine shut his eyes. He didn’t need to hear this.

“The probes can’t climb over the mountains. Weather pattern readings don’t paint a pretty picture up there. Anything we’d send would get blown away.”

They turned upon hearing VEGA speak. “He’s right. There’s reason we’ve never found this place. Weather in this plane of hell get extreme at altitude, hence why so many demons opt to live in the various subterranean complexes here, like at Titan’s realm.”

Alphys got them turned back to the bracers. “It’ll be on you guys from here on out. Toriel, Asgore, this might be when you guys wou-“

A foul shriek tore through the air.

The Doom Slayer turned to his left and caught the imp by its throat, crushing it into bloody, cartilaginous pulp between his fingers.

Everybody’s heads turned in every direction, and where they looked, they saw demons. Cacodemons floated towards them, hurling mucous and licking the teeth lining their gaping maws. Their projectiles slammed into the bony bridge, nearly missing imps who clambered out from under it. The Scourge opened fire on a group of Hell Knights flashing in front of them in bright showers of hellish light. Summoners burst one scene in similar displays, and set the flesh on the bridge alight with their fiery attacks.

It was an ambush.

VEGA’s cannon fired in computed precision, tearing asunder the skulls of knight and imp alike. The King saw their silhouettes darting and scrambling between the bone and rick underneath him, and as he skewered them with his trident from above, Toriel’s magic took control of the lava below, sending it upward in surges to scour clean whatever screeching spawn remained clinging to the cobbled bridge. Gaster was practically stationary. He raised his hands, and foes would simply disappear into some sort of pitch black abyss that sprung up in a second below them before disappearing with them in tow, their screams snuffed out by dark tendrils.

This is exactly what the Doom Slayer needed.

No distractions.

No pesky thoughts clouding his brain.

Rip and tear

An imp in front of you. Shotgun blast, Rack. Keep moving forward. Can’t let them swamp you here. Look back. Is everyone following? They just saw you. They’ll get the hint. Roaring. That’s a Baron. Turn back around. Send him a grenade. He just jumped. Jump back. Grenade hit an imp. Baron missed his punch. He’s hunched. Grab his horn. Break it. Bludgeon him. Step over his carcass and keep moving. More imps. Keep shooting. You’ve got plenty of shells. Five down already. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Summoner just popped up. Dodge his beam. Frag him. He’s stunned. Break his arm. Smash his damned face in. Move forward. More coming.

Tear… tear, rip and tear…

Pinkies. Spectres. Narrow room to dodge. Wave back, get the other’s heads up. Fire. Not having much effect at the front. They’re charging. Jump. Barely missed ‘em. They’re gonna reach the others. Hit them with more shells. They can take a lot. One’s stumbled. Run up to him. Tear his tail off. Cave his skull in. The other’s stopped, noticed you. Charge him before he charges you. Forget the gun. Grab his jaw. Rip the tooth, Send it into his eye socket. Dead. Turn back. More knights. They’re coming in fast. So are you. Kick that one’s knee in, he’s face level now. Yank his jaw off. Punch it into his skull. One behind you, screaming. Gaster’s got him. You can hear the tendrils whipping around. To your left. Another one’s gunning for you. That’s a hit. Hurts. You’re on the ground. Look up. He’s dead. King’s trident is sticking out of his chest. Push its corpse off you. King’s alongside you. Queen and VEGA too. Keep going. Keep killing…

Rip and tear until it is done.

And it would be done.

He was here now, and it would be done. No matter what else, he would have it. He would have it… even if it cost…

He hadn’t realized that he had stood still for five seconds while thinking about it.

He felt a tremendous force nearly crush him into the bridge. A cloven hoof was on him, pinning him down with enough force to crack the rock around him. The creature bellowed at him before grabbing his legs. The Praetor grabbed its wrist, digging his fingers into its flesh. It screamed as he pulled back. It was trying to bifurcate him. He was strong enough to hold it off, but not for long. He looked to his left and saw white streaks fill the air, tearing into the demon’s torse before the King sent his trident through its skull. He shoved it back off the prongs of his weapon, letting it tumble over in a mangled heap. The Marine took the King’s outstretched hand, standing up and dusting himself off a bit. For now, there was no more, though the shrieks and bellowing calls of their kin could be heard afar off.

“I’ve never seen you falter like that.”

The Marine turned to see VEGA staring at him incredulously. “I’ve monitored your combat effectiveness. I’ve watched you clear out entire facilities with little effort. I’ve never seen you just stay still in the middle of a fight.”

The Slayer turned his head back to the Citadel, but remained motionless.

“Is everything alright?”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t turn back

Toriel walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Sir, I can tell something has been mothering you. Gaster hasn’t been so forthcoming, and I assume it’s for a good reason, but we can’t go on keeping all these secrets. This just almost cost you your life.”

Gaster put a hand to his face and turned away. The King saw and watched anxiously.

“Please, you have to tell us. What’s going on? I can tell when people are troubled. Does it have something to do with our mission?”

He didn’t move. Not an inch.

“It’s something only you and Gaster know about, I know that much… it’s about something that happened all those years ago isn’t it?”

The Doom Slayer turned his head just a little. VEGA narrowed his eyes.

Toriel could sense that perhaps she had walked the line far enough. “Whatever it is, I won’t pry any further. I just… I just think it might be time for you to take a break-“

He turned around to her eye to eye, and the flaming pits of hell seemed to freeze solid in his cold gaze. His face was rife with rancor. Death screamed from within his sunken, angry eyes. The King gripped his trident, ready to point it at him should he dare touch his wife. For an eternity, he stared her down with those wide, merciless, nearly-dead eyes, and she could not move or speak. Within the Doom Slayer, every drop his blood boiled in anger and blooming suspicion. Just how much did she and Asgore know? What about VEGA?

He turned to see the Ghoul come out of his cowering to stare him back down with surprising vitriol.

He seemed to know exactly what the slayer was thinking. “I have told them nothing. This is your decision to make. I gave you my word, now leave her be.”

The Scourge’s eyes narrowed at Gaster’s defiance, and he would have taken a step towards him.

“DON’T you DARE try it! I said leave her be! Do you understand?!”

Those words were enough of a shock to snap him out of his seething rage. He took a second to look around. Everyone but Gaster wore fear and uncertainty in their countenance. The old Doctor stared him down with scolding decorum. Without another word, he gave him to diatribe of a lifetime.

You know better than this. Get a hold of yourself.

Turning back around towards the citadel, he wouldn’t suffer the stares any longer, He started for the great doors off on the other side, certain the others would follow, at least eventually. Shame stared him down, as did doubt, but his will was iron. Nothing could stop him now. Not when he was so close.

Nothing…



Undyne waited with bated breath to hear Papyrus pick up the phone. The dialtone seemed to drone on forever before she heard his voice.

“Undyne?” She breathed out a sigh of relief as he answered. “hey, what’s going on?”

“Got a lot to explain, but we can save that for later. It’s getting late and I was just wondering if everything was still okay or if you needed me to come back.”

“I already told them you would take a bit longer. Some are supposing you’ve gone off and joined the shore party, but other than that, everything actually… well, things have calmed down a lot.”

“Whaddya mean?”

For a few seconds, Papyrus did not answer. His eyes were fixated. He lay on his back alongside the now resting crowd, and as he took in the wonderful vistas, he couldn’t help but be distracted. His ears were blithe to everything but the chirping of crickets around him, that is, until he heard Undyne again.

“Hey, earth to Pap!”

“Oh! Sorry, I was… I was just looking up is all.”

“Up?”

“Yeah… Undyne, the sun is down. Do you know what we’re seeing right now?”

“What?”

“Undyne, I’m looking at the stars.”

He took a second to pause and take the sight in again. An endless sea of lights spanned overhead. He reached his hand out, as if to touch them, to twirl them around and watch them swirl in the vast ether of the cosmos. “All we’ve had to see have been the crystals in the cave in Waterfall... I don’t think I could have ever imagined them looking like this. Old Gerson in his shop says he could point out every single crystal in that place, said at one point he had a name for each and every one. I don’t think he could ever hope to name all of these.”

Undyne let go of her nervousness over recent events, even if just for a moment. “Pap, are you serious?”

“There’s so many, Undyne. I lost count somewhere around two hundred. I can see a big stretch of them across the sky too, like a huge mush of them. It’s all blue and purple and white… Everyone’s so calm right now. Kinda hard to believe when you think about this afternoon.”

“Wow. I’m kinda tempted to head up there and join you, Pap.”

“Well hey, feel free! I certainly won’t stop you, as long as you’re not needed down there.”

It was then that she remembered their little conundrum. There were still no solutions to the Doomguy decision. The prospect of sending further aid to the shore party was still unresolved. She was needed for the moment, albeit for how much longer, she didn’t know. It was such a shame. What Papyrus was describing sounded absolutely beautiful.

“Guess I’m staying down here then. We’ve still got a couple issues to sort out.”

Papyrus sat up, sitting crisscross and hunching over a bit. “Like what?”

“Well… Doomguy’ apparently got a little score to settle. Looks like it’s really important to him. Remember my text?”

“Oh, about Gaster being back?”

“Yeah. Apparently, this isn’t the first time they’ve met. Gaster know what it is, and he seems really nervous about it. He tried confronting Doomguy, but he almost throttled him when he even suggested calling it off.”

“Yikes. What was it about?””

Undyne let out a quiet, exasperated sigh. “I dunno what to tell you, bud. I think we ought to save it for now.” There was only so much she could say. Maybe she’d text it to him later. “On top of that, those things on the other side of the fence are getting real uppity with us. Some have tried breaking out. Mettaton’s got good tabs on ‘em, but if any of us leave, this place will have virtually no protection from them if they decide to mount another attack, so I gotta stay put until we can be sure they’re not getting any reinforcements.”.

“In that case, I’m more tempted to come down there and join you.”

“Ah, don’t sweat it, Pap. You know they still need you up there.”

“Yeah… hey, how’s Frisk doing?”

“Oh, she’s in bed. Tucked her in about half an hour ago.”

“Still up!”

“Hmm?”

She turned to see the little girl standing over to her right, by the escalator. Her eyes were a little baggy, but it was apparent that 30 minutes wasn’t enough to keep a young child asleep. “hey Undyne.”

“Whatcha doin’ out of bed, punk?” Undyne tussled her hair as she stooped down and gave her a warm hug.

“It’s only been like, ten minutes. Is that Papyrus you’re talking to?”

“Frisk!” the skeleton’s upbeat tone brought a smile on the child’s face. “Is that you?”

Undyne took a knee and lowered the phone. “Yep! How’s it going up there?”

He laid back down, taking a deep breath. “Frisk, you were one lucky kid, you know that?”

“Hm?”

“Every night, you got to look up and see all this... all these stars, and the Moon… I’m just glad that we get to see it now too.”

Both Undyne and the Frisk felt smiles come to their faces.  “Don’t mention it, pap.”

“Oh, I’ll mention it all I like, Frisk!” He chuckled a little, took another breath, and laid back down. “I’ll mention it as long as I get to see this…”

“There’s a lot more where it came fro-“

GGRRROOOOOOOAAAR

Frisk screamed and Undyne grabbed her and held her tight while facing the roar’s origin, dropping the phone.

Mettaton jumped to his screen to find and eradicate the culprit.

Papyrus was in a panic. “Frisk?! Frisk, are you still there?!”

“Oh no-!” The automaton rushed his hands to the Overlord System controls. A Baron was well on its way to tearing the laser defenses in the entrance apart. The diodes burnt its hands, but hellish fury overcame pain, and it screamed in rage as it tore the gates apart with its bare hands. Mettaton loosed one of the Overlord batteries, assuming control of its free-floating mode and leveling it with the New Home entryway.

The Baron turned and made eye contact, staring it down with utter contempt and snarling at it before those piercing green eyes were evaporated form its skull by the weapon’s searing power, baking most of the flesh on its upper torso into a blackened crisp. It fell, limp and dead, and its fellows behind it looked up from its corpse to face the Overlord battery.

Mettaton scowled. “Just so none of you get any ideas…”

He opened fire into new home, burning away whatever remained anywhere near the now vulnerable entrance. Alphys ans Sans looked over from their station, unable to speak. Suspense had frozen them both

Undyne put Frisk down and hurriedly took to her radio. “All guardsmen on the lower levels, do you read?!”

“Yeah, we hear you loud and clear, Captian!” Lesser dog’s whimpering could be heard behind #2’s voice. “What’ve you got for us?”

“Any breaches down there? Demons starting to target you?!”

“No Ma’am! Should we be worried?”

“A little... we just had an attempted breakthrough out in the main entrance, Mettaton just had to vaporize the escapees. Just wondering if they’re trying other exits too.”

“No, in fact, we haven’t seen ‘em anywhere near out posts, and that update’s 10 minutes fresh. Looks like it’s still up to date – I don’t see any of them here.”

“Alright… okay, good. Just keep on your toes, okay?”

“Got it. Makes sense they’re all up there, I guess…”

“Why?”

“We hear them roaring like mad somewhere up by the podium. We can’t see anything form here, and neither can any of the other guys, but it doesn’t sound good.”

“okay, I think I can check that from my end. Undyne out.”

“Copy that.”

Frisk followed her as she ran up to Mettaton;s station, picking up Papyrus’ hapless calling in the meantime. “Frisk, are you still there?! I hear Undy-!”

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, one of them just tried getting through, Pap. It’s dead now, we should be safe.”

Undyne leaned over the Robot’s chair. “What’s the damage?”

“That entryway doesn’t look good…” He pointed out to the ravaged laser defenses. Four sad little beams were all that was left standing. “ That’s not going to hold much of anything. I’m gonna need to keep the overlord system directly in front of it to hold them off.”

“Great… what does it look like inside? My men said something about hearing them getting riled up near the oration platform.”

“Frisk! Frisk, what’s going on in there?!” Several monsters had awoken to Papyrus’ frantic calling. “Is everything okay? Are you hurt?”

“Yeah, no, we’re fine, we’re just having a little trouble down at the entrance.”

Papyrus had to try his hardest to watch his words around everyone as they began to shift their attention from the stars to him. He kept his voice down. “Is it under wraps? Are they under control?”

“Hold on…” she put it on speaker so he could hear Undyne and Mettaton clearly.

“Look, I can’t bypass Overlord now, what if something gets out while we look?”

“Just do it! It’ll only be for five seconds.”

With some chagrin, Mettaton complied. “Alright, let’s be quick.” He pulled up the New Home monitors.

“You said they’re checking it? Can you see anything, Frisk?”

Frisk’s eyes widened. “Papyrus…”

A massive throng of hellspawn was gathering on and around the Orator’s point. Hundreds of them were flocking thereto. Multiple screens showed that Hayden’s original portal was no more, neither had the Crucible’s doors been left open. Hell had already established its own proper link, now swirling in a terrible vortex above the rostrum. From it, more of them passed, to and from Hell in an open traffic. The screen was up for another five seconds before Mettaton reverted it.

“Alright, I’ve got to keep an eye on the entrance from here on in.”

“That doesn’t look good…”

“Frisk, what are they talking about?” Papyrus was now hunched, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

“I-I don’t know what to tell you, Papyrus.”

“Hey….” Undyne hugged the little child again. “It’s alright, we’ll take care of this. Let me see the phone, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Here. Let’s get you back in bed.” She gently led her back upstairs. With Mettaton having switched back from the monitors, the compound had gone eerily quiet. Each wall was just as much a silent bulwark as it was a scrutinizing observer.

“Undyne you still there?”

“Yeah, I hear you Pap.”

He did his best to restrain himself, despite the ever-increasing inquiry burning in his mind. “Okay, I’ll call later. I’ve got questions, but I think they can wait.”

“Sounds good.”

“bye.”

He pocketed the phone and rolled out a comforter from the Snowdin Inn. He lay back down, on his side this time. Soft as the blanket was, the stony ground still protruded out in places, but he was tired enough not to care about them. A light breeze rustled the grass around him. Tired as his body was, his mind was still wide awake. None of what he heard sounded good, and there was only so much he could make out. Things were always scarier the less you knew about them.

He looked up at the star-filled sky, then back to the pit that led into the underground.

“I know you guys can do it…”

He closed his eyes, and tried his hardest to fall asleep. He wasn’t the only one having trouble that night.

“Undyne, I can’t sleep.”

“It’s okay, I understand.” The Captain sat on the bed, near Frisk, gently rubbing her scalp and running loving fingers through her hair. “I know that was scary, but we’ll get through this.”

The child hesitated for a few moments. “Could you stay here with me?”

Undyne smiled warmly. “Of course.”



“Great…” Asgore grumbled a bit between exasperated breaths as he extracted his trident from the rubble, The Doom Slayer following suit as he dug his fingers out from underneath a boulder. “There’s no way this is coming apart. The passageway is blocked for good.”

Toriel paced a little behind her husband. “The door is only so far away. Perhaps we can find a detour by another bridge?”

The caustic call of static made everyone jump, and suddenly VEGA’s communicator lit up. “Uh, Base to Shore Party, we’ve got some trouble on our end.”

It was Alphys. “Shore party, we read you. What kind of trouble?”

Sans’ worried voice brought the others closer to the AI. “The kind that involves near breakouts and almost busted defenses. Just how close are you guys to finishing this up?”

Toriel put a hand to her chin. “That depends. How much distance to the nearest intact bridge?”

VEGA shook his head. “I’ve done a preliminary scan of the surrounding area before our descent. Nearest intact bridge is about a mile away. It’s not terribly distant, but we’re quickly running out of time. That’s a mile extra that we do not need.”

“The automaton is right. The few times I’ve been here in person, I’ve seen just how long of a trek it will be to make it all the way to each bridge.”

“Whatever you guys gotta do, do it fast.” Alphys ran several diagnostics on the tether as she spoke.  “Overlord System’s got us covered for the moment, but there’s hundreds of them in New Home right now. You guys have to hurry. Base out.”

The King’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t like the sound of that. We ought to get going.”

“Wait…” the old ghoul put a hand up, stopping everyone in their tracks. “Alongside these passageways lie the conduits through which Hell brings its energy. Said conduits are spacious tunnels, designed to be upkept by demons who maintain their efficiency, performing rites and the like. They should give us passage to-”

He then looked to the walls.

“Oh no.”

“Doctor, what is it?”

“My Queen, we must turn back. Make haste towards the next bridge. I don’t think our friend here will be able to endure the conduit passage.”

“Why?”

“There’s conduits here, but-“


To their left, they heard what nearly sounded like an explosion or an earthquake, sending loose rock and stalactites raining down upon the floor. They looked and saw the Hell Walker slamming himself into the nearby wall, which caved and gave under each magnificent blow. They could hear his breath, like a snarling beast, hissing from within his helmet as he retreated, lined himself up, and thundering towards his target, bashing his shoulder into the crumbling stonework. Rusting iron bars near the top creaked and groaned in protest as the wall under it pulled them apart. He sent himself into the wall again, and again, and again until finally, in a thunderous noise of cracking stone and screaming steel, he broke through. The other side was dark, but one could see walls, glistening with blood, glimmer from the outside.

“I personally think he’ll be alright.”

In making his coy reply, Asgore did not see the Praetor’s seething composure. He didn’t have time to take a long detour. He couldn’t afford any more blows to his resolve. The quicker he got this done, the better. He didn’t even look back as he jumped into the tunnel and sped forward.

“… Matter of fact, looks like he’s just ready to get this over with.”

The Ghoul’s countenance was visibly fallen, but he went forth nonetheless. “Then let us follow him. We’re getting very close now.”

The Royalty quickly followed suit as Gaster entered the breach, but VEGA paused for a moment, scanning the area.

“Just what was he so worried about…”

For a few seconds, he could pick up nothing. Perhaps the old ghoul was simply crazy or paranoid after all this time stuck in Hell.

Or maybe he wasn’t

He picked up a very familiar signature from within the fissure.

“Oh no…”

His optics recognized some very familiar insignia scrawled onto what was now a small piece of rubble.

“VEGA?” He could hear the Queen calling out for him. “VEGA, are you well? Are you coming with us?”

“Yes, I’ll be just a moment.”

He overturned the small stone to see the Argent Sigil.

“Just a moment…”

He dropped the stone and made his way inside.