Chara had now located the location- located the location? – of the third part of her human soul. The Doctor, just before, had asked her where they were, and judging by the look on his face, they weren't in for very much trouble. They were heading for the planet Alastro 4 of the Shining System. The most beautiful planet in its district and a bustling center of trade, along with its planetary sisters.
In short, everything was about to go wrong.
She'd located the human soul: once again trapped within the highest of authorities. The Doctor once again led the way out of the TARDIS, followed by Papyrus, donning the fedora like second nature at this point.
"Alastro 4." the Doctor explained. "One of the most beautiful worlds in the universe, alongside the likes of Midnight…It's actually very similar, actually, only not having the downside of not orbiting an X-Tonic sun. We're in the Diamond Deserts right now."
"Damn! Where are my sunglasses when I need them?" Papyrus asked to himself. "Also, what's X-Tonic? It sounds like some generic brand of…sunscreen? My brother was buying it by the ton before we went to the surface."
"I guess you could say he bought…" Chara sighed, leaving an obvious pause. "A skele-ton."
"OH! MY! GOD!" Papyrus snapped, kicking at the diamond sand, sending a beautiful glittering spray across the air. "Why does everyone in my life torment me with puns?..."
"Just trying to lighten the conversation…Maybe if you stopped reacting like that, they wouldn't do it." Chara muttered. Papyrus immediately got her point, and blushed a little before beginning his march across the sparkling landscape.
"So…according to the TARDIS navigation system, the Great and Shining City of Alastronica is, roughly, this way. Turn left at the large diamond mountain, basically…" the Doctor advised.
"Doesn't look very great and shining to me." Papyrus noted.
"Are you referring to that giant cloud of smog?" Chara asked, pointing towards a tainted sky, and progressing towards and upwards to investigate.
"I thought Alastronica's famous for having no pollution…" the Doctor muttered, incredibly confused. Moving forward through the sand which hardened into a structure beneath his feet, he slowly began to break into a run towards the shapes on the horizon that he saw: moving shapes with a sharpened edge. The three of them followed suit: all three of them were amazed by what they saw. Recollection flashed in Chara's eyes: she recognized this place. A shining desert turning dark. She'd seen that in the premonition she'd had way back then. Of everything that could be. What WOULD be.
The skyline of Alastronica showed before them. Militarized. Broken. Rusted. Attack helicopters hovered around it like flies.
"How did the greatest city in its local system become a dystopia so quickly?..." the Doctor gasped.
"Doctor, I can tell you the answer to that right here and now." Chara whispered, shaking slightly.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"The universe's worst nightmare." Chara hissed, her eyes becoming hollow black holes and her voice becoming a hollow echo. The Doctor looked incredibly startled, prompting Chara to hide her eyes.
"I know not the specifics, all I know is who's responsible. She's what you both have been fighting against this whole time. The one who spread the psychic network throughout the universe and has been destroying it piece by piece AS WE SPEAK!"
"So she's some sort of god." the Doctor concluded.
"An equivalent god." Chara replied. "You saw Asriel Dreemurr, didn't you? Did he talk about gaining complete control over the other Earth's timeline?"
"Yes…she's already GOT complete control, that's the thing. She just doesn't want to use it, at least not for its intended purpose."
"She must have been the one that let that Cyberman through, trying to get me to reset." the Doctor noted. "But if she's intent on destroying the universe, why doesn't she use that?"
"Simple." Chara explained. "There are more interesting ways to do it." As soon as she spoke the word interesting, her voice gained a very sharp tone to it. The Doctor was amazed by such levels of obvious hate coming out of one small child.
"You two!" Papyrus exclaimed. "There's someone wanting to say hello."
The Doctor whipped around, suddenly beholding two attack helicopters hovering towards them. Clearly they recognized them from somewhere, and immediately- they were advancing. The Doctor didn't know why, but the Doctor knew what was going to happen if they lingered.
"RUN!" he screamed, grabbing both their hands and crashing back over the diamond sands. He didn't know how long they'd have to run. He didn't even know where to run. The biggest question running through his mind was: did they recognize him or were they just hostile?
Chara was still level with the Doctor in terms of running speed, Papyrus was going amazingly quickly for someone wearing actual metal armor, but no human could run faster than an attack helicopter. Their only option was, paradoxically, to stop and run the other direction while the attack helicopters turned, but something told the Doctor this system of helicopter was far more advanced. The desert glittered with diamond dust as gunshots exploded into the sand.
"I have an idea, Doctor!" Papyrus yelled over the noise. "It'll be like…Landspeeders!"
"You've watched Star Wars?!" the Doctor replied.
Papyrus stopped in his tracks, materializing two bones in midair. "Hang on!" he cried. "And yes! I have!"
Hanging on with one hand only, Papyrus immediately shot the bones towards the horizon, the Doctor holding out his sonic screwdriver to aid its acceleration, Chara hovering near the helicopters with a plan of her own: distraction.
The Doctor could see a small mountainlet on the horizon: he could faintly remember Alastronica 4 being renowned for its beautiful cave systems below its mountains. "Left!" he shouted, taking a sharp turn. "Chara, are you able to act as a beacon?"
"Yessir!" Chara replied.
"Find a good cave!" the Doctor instructed, Chara immediately shooting off to find one. Papyrus looked at his impromptu vehicle- filled with the holes of bullets, he immediately directed it backwards, left, any which way to throw off the gunshots. Suddenly, his vehicle flipped over, leaving his cape scraping the sand. The Doctor's one was right in front of him, and his was beginning to fall from the sky. Slowly and carefully he inched his way towards the end of his makeshift Landspeeder- grabbing the end of the Doctor's. For a brief moment he skidded across the sand before inching onto the end of the Doctor's vehicle. His other vehicle smashed into the desert sand.
Suddenly, a massive blue light shone nearby. The Doctor, looking behind him to see Papyrus clinging on for dear life. He hesitated before swinging the vehicle to go full force for the light.
Before the attack helicopters could catch up with the accelerating Bonespeeders, the Doctor was heading for the diamond cave's entrance under the diamond mountain. Careening down the tunnel, the attack helicopters waiting at the entrance, the Doctor and Papyrus had found safety.
And, it seemed, so had two others. Clutching each other, they trembled in fear in time with the beats of the helicopters waiting outside. They were two deer-like creatures, but with a human-like face.
Papyrus immediately saw their fear, and stepped forward to greet them as warmly as possible. "Never fear! We're not soldiers, despite my brilliant armor!"
The pair seemed to calm down a little. Chara gave a look to Papyrus that told him one thing: yes, you are. You're both soldiers. Nevertheless, the introduction seemed to have worked a treat.
"Have you crashed here as well?" one of the refugees asked, voice trembling still.
"Well, no. We're looking for something." the Doctor explained.
"Specifically, my soul." Chara interrupted. "I got wind it was being kept in the city."
"Don't go in! It's anarchy in there ever since the other planets…disappeared."
"I've gotten wind that the universe is at stake here." the Doctor continued. "Also, how exactly did the other planets get destroyed?"
"Turned to dust." the other explained. "Our command ship was hijacked by seemingly nothing. We crashed in the desert and immediately took refuge in this cave…we pulled straws as to who would look out for…you know."
Turned to dust, Chara thought, half-repressed memories flooding back. Turned to dust. Dust like everything else in her path. Chara snarled at the memories she viewed before her…she just wanted to leave. Leave everything.
"Well! That's quite the villain we're up against." Papyrus noted. "What was it you said they were?- the universe's worst nightmare!"
"Yes." Chara muttered. "I should not have dragged anyone into this."
"Well, as you said. The universe is at stake. There's been several reports of clouds of white dust where prosperous planets once were, and they seem to be centered around the co-ordinate where the psychic network originated. Stars are going out by the dozen. The universe is in a state of crisis, and several times the Cloister Bell started ringing for a few seconds…"
"But still. I don't wish you to be brought into this scuffle between powers."
Chara's voice lowered. "Especially not you, Papyrus."
"Anyway." the Doctor continued. "Thanks for the refuge. We'll construct a plan to get into the city and take back the power source, hopefully bring it back to democracy while we're at it and get you home?"
"Sounds like a reasonable plan." one of the aliens concluded. "I'm Alyxandra, she's Quasi… And you three are?..."
"Papyrus! The Great Papyrus, to be exact." Papyrus replied, incredibly proud of himself for no visible reason. To be proud of yourself, Chara thought. She was jealous of him for that reason alone.
"Yeah, I'm the Doctor. Nice to meet you two." the Doctor answered.
"And…I'm Chara. The unlucky one who had their soul stolen."
"Interesting. We're willing to shelter you for as long as you wish!" Alyxandra offered. "We've got a nice cave for you guys, some quite scenic stalagmites…"
They both laughed, their horns clattering. "Anyway, continue as you will. We've sent out a distress signal and we're in the process of repairing the ship. Once the airspace is declared free for a moment, we'll get off this cursed planet."
Continuing down into the shining, glossy cave, the Doctor saw more and more survivors of the crash, hiding out, some already geared for protection. It was obvious that none of them were remotely prepared for this situation mentally: in fact, the Doctor suspected these Equis (their species name) were on their way to some kind of language trip. They looked…almost like teenagers.
Many turned their heads as the unlikely trio picked their way down the corridor. A human, an Ajaxan, and a hologram. Chara cast a dim and calming blue light on the cave walls. Eventually, they came to an open alcove in the wall, where they all made their place and began their plan. The Doctor spearheaded the operation: he'd been to Alastronica before. The town, as he'd heard, was completely militarized and presumably under the control of the psychic network. But, he deduced, the psychic network clearly knew who they were. The entire military must be under the entity's control. Only thing is, the Doctor didn't seem to have enough information. Chara wasn't letting much slip. On that note…
"Where's Chara?" the Doctor concluded.
"I shall search for her!" Papyrus suggested, practically jogging up the incline.
When Papyrus reached the entrance, the climate of fear was completely gone. Well, that wasn't what he expected. At first he thought it might be his presense, maybe the group's in general, but his theory was thrown out the window when he saw the burning attack helicopters. Chara was standing there, her hand raised in the air.
Papyrus read the scene like a book.
Chara felt his presence and whipped around: her face in shock as she saw the one person that believed in her, at least up until now.
"Oh! Chara. The Doctor wants you." Papyrus noted.
Chara instantly teleported back to the cave without a word. Papyrus just stood there, half wondering how a half-incorporeal ghost could destroy two attack helicopters, and half-wondering if…she had actually killed the pilots. Maybe the system was automatic, he thought. Maybe there weren't real people inside.
Oh, who was he kidding. Chara had destroyed them. It all seemed to add up. How she's frequently talked about not wanting to hurt anyone else…because she was…guilty. Guilty of a lot, it appeared.
But something held him back from being truly angry at her, or angry at jer at all. He didn't quite know what it was, but he'd definitely felt it before, back when the Doctor was fighting him for the first time. It was the same reason he asked specifically to capture the human, before Undyne could give him direct orders. And he didn't quite know it until now.
In fact…he wanted to help her. He wanted to help her through her trying times. Show her that she can move past what she'd…presumably…done to make her like this.
Several hours later, the Doctor had a complete plan. He had a strong feeling that this might not go well, and if anything killed off more companions than anything else: it was poor planning. They'd get into the the main capital via the subway system, get into the building where Chara's soul was kept, and launch either a stealth attack on the structure or…the alternative. He'd asked for their shelterers to stay there: he didn't want any of them to be hurt in the venture. Chara wholly agreed.
"If my adversary is indeed in full control, I may be able to distract her." Chara explained, with grace neither had seen before. "She's been waiting for me for a long time, and us venturing onto one of her new planets may be…"
Chara took a pause.
"…exactly what she wants us to do."
"Well, we musn't be peturbed by that!" Papyrus exclaimed.
"We don't exactly have a choice. I've been keeping tabs on planet disappearances and they're rising by the day."
"Well. That's…exactly what I predicted she'd do. She destroys things just to see the dust it'll leave behind." Chara replied.
The two of them were silent. The Doctor hadn't seen planetary destruction on this scale. This villain Chara spoke of…she rivalled even the Daleks.
The trio walked slowly across the shining desert, wearing large sunhats borrowed from the Equis (and by that, I mean VERY large) to disguise them from a bird's eye view. (Unable to wear a sunhat, Chara just turned her form into a raggedy sparrow, resting on Papyrus' glove.)
"So, you say this villain of yours…she absorbed six human souls? I thought human souls couldn't absorb humans souls. Also, you should shapeshift more often!"
"Thankyou, by the way." Chara whispered. "Well, I know how it works. It's definitely something to do with Determination. The monsters just don't know that a Determination soul can harness all the power of other human souls. Then again…your definition of human wouldn't fit her or me, really. We're both something different."
"Understandable." Papyrus replied.
Chara was silent for a moment, then immediately realised what he meant.
"Oh! Right! I'm a sparrow! Still though…the answer is that I just don't know. The Determination soul type is so rare that her and I are probably the only two in the world that possess it. Otherwise its effects would have been known throughought history."
"How very, very interesting!" Papyrus noted, before continuing to run after the Doctor, who was getting incredibly close to the city…but, then again, they couldn't get too close to the militarized walls.
"Stand back, you guys. There's a subway route right under here." the Doctor declared, pointing his sonic screwdriver directly at the sand. The diamonds began to slowly move apart, shifting by way of controlled vibrations, revealing a metal sheet, which melted and fell onto railway tracks deep below. The Doctor dived into the gap, Papyrus hanging onto the edge and Chara phasing through sand that was rapidly draining into the subway system.
Chara reverted to her child-like form and glanced suspiciously around the subway system. No-one was coming for them, neither train nor soldier. At least, not yet. However…there seemed to be one in a crouched position, buckled over in pain. The Doctor quickly made his way to him…or her. In her or his state, it was impossible to tell. It was incredibly clear that it was dying…its mouth trembling as though trying to speak but stuck on one word. Suddenly, it fell limp. The Doctor noticed a massive earpod stuck in its ear: definitely not originating from Cybus, but it instead looked hijacked. The Doctor gently retrieved it: no brain parts came out with it. A simple hypnotic signal.
Immediately, without warning, the signal started again. White noise, the Doctor thought. White noise with an encoded signal.
Papyrus heard the terrible noise: and immediately, something began to form itself in his mind: an image, a visage so horrifying he trembled in fear, the trembles turned into shakes, the shaking turned into movement and he found himself watching his limbs begin to move on their own, hand outstretched towards the Doctor's back. His magic was materializing against his will. Chara turned backwards, and shoved the Doctor out of the way with trembling arms.
Just as a bone shot right through where the Doctor's head had been.
The Doctor, immediately seeing what had happened, ground the transmitter into metal dust and sparks beneath his feet. The white noise sputtered, then stopped. Papyrus fell like a puppet with cut strings onto the unused railway tracks. Chara and the Doctor rushed over to him at once.
"O-oh my god, Doctor! I'm s-so sorry!" Papyrus gasped once he found his tounge. "That wasn't my f-fault, definitely not my fault!"
"Possessed, the technology's possessing them." the Doctor concluded. "Their bodies, their technology, even their minds so some extent, all in the control of one mind."
Papyrus shuddered; he'd seen what was in control of him and he had absolutely no desire to see it again.
"That must be why they were so hostile." Chara muttered. "They know me and Papyrus as well; the other universe's version of him at least. But how they knew you…I have no idea."
"Anyway, we should probably get moving. If these soldiers have locked onto us, we can expect them to be arriving soon." the Doctor continued. "Judging by the vibrations…we have five minutes."
The three of them ran from the abandoned station, Papyrus following slowest, still incredibly shaken by the experience. "You alright?" Chara whispered. She heard him pause, as though he was about to enthusiastically say yes, but…no.
"N-not exactly." Papyrus stammered. "But…look on the bright side! Someone said that bravery's all about being a little scared…I think!"
"You have quite the optimism, don't you, partner?" Chara stated. "Optimistic people and I tend to go together, like the ying and the yang…"
At last the Doctor, using the soul radar in his sonic screwdriver, detected the main military building. They still had five minutes before the soldiers arrived, and they'd have to get inside the building as quickly as possible: luckily, the sonic screwdriver could take care of that.
The building appeared deserted but crumbling, the very structure collapsing around them. Doors fell off their hinges and fans lay loose. Picking their way around the building, the Doctor instructed them to touch nothing in case of a cave-in.
However, eventually the trio came to a complete dead end, and as they watched the corridor shake around them- something was coming, the Doctor turned, seven armed soldiers, armed to the teeth. All three of their minds were racing, until Papyrus remembered something crucial. They were hypnotized, under someone else's control.
"Soldiers!...No! Whoever you were! You can break out…because…this isn't really you! You wouldn't normally attack me!-"
"I don't think they can break out." the Doctor muttered.
Immediately, all seven of them began to laugh in unison. Not just laughing at the same time, but all of them laughing together like a clip played over itself. They…whatever it was…had utter and complete control.
"Do you believe in us?..." the soldiers hissed, all at the same time.
Papyrus nodded, getting ready to run for his life.
They laughed again, this time even harder. Abruptly, they raised their guns.
"This is almost going to be too easy." they whispered. Suddenly, Chara stepped forward, phasing right through Papyrus. Every single soldier reacted with surprise.
"Hello, my old partner." Chara spat, obvious sarcasm in her voice. "I could say a thousand things against your name. But…all I shall say now is…be seeing you soon. And soon is when it shall end."
"I will never end my reign of dust, and with the help of my friends, my reach shall extend further than you can believe. The universe will be nothing. What you did all those years ago-"
The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver, turning off the controlling earpieces.
"No monolouging."
The soldiers fell to the ground like puppets with cut strings, and the Doctor leapt into a ventilation shaft, the cover easily ripped straight off its screws. The very shaft itself began collapsing: covered in rust, it cracked beneath them like thin winter ice. Upwards was where they were headed for.
Several times they were forced to pull each other over gaps that opened beneath them, but…eventually, the sonic screwdriver indicated the soul was directly below.
Unfortunately, some others might have had the same idea.
"They're following us." Chara muttered.
"I noticed." the Doctor replied, kicking the rusted floor- it immediately gave way, revealing a white spot deep below, at the bottom of a chasm dotted with pipes and wires.
"Target, there. Looks like we're going to have to do some base-jumping." the Doctor noted.
"Noooo way." Papyrus gasped.
"I wouldn't call it a jump so much as a fall with frequent but short delays…" Chara explained. "You've just got to keep moving."
The Doctor planted his feet on another ventilation pipe below: a deadly creak sounded, but not before Papyrus landed as well. The pipe collapsed, landing them on yet another, and another-
Eventually- they were left hanging on a wire, which sparked and hissed. The Doctor looked straight up, viewing the soldier's faces peering downwards, and leaving…were they too scared? No. No. This villain did not care for the lives of humans. If they could get down here, they could get down by way of the mob.
But that was no reason to turn back- he dropped. Standing on the cold white metallic floor of the artificial chasm, the Doctor ripped off the roof with ease. Chara phased through the top, beholding her soul in a shining glass cage. The Doctor soon saw it tinkling to the floor.
Chara embraced the soul shard, clutching it. Suddenly, she whipped around, turning off every light in the room. The white noise that echoed throughout the city ended immediately, a thousand soldiers fell to the floor…some slowly getting up, seeing their comrades and even family fallen…before falling with them.
"It's all about the little victories." Chara muttered.
"This isn't what I'd call little." Papyrus replied. "I mean, you've saved this planet, judging by the relieved look on your face!"
"Compared to the other things." Chara explained. "Anyhow. I do believe there's some escape pods nearby for quick transportation."
"Hold on. I'm just going to check what's happened all over the planet, check if it's just Alastronic-"
The Doctor looked at the image and saw nothing but space and dust.
"NO." he and Chara said in unison.
Alastron 4 was turning to dust right before their eyes. The planet shook as its rotation went wild. The very ground felt like it was being torn apart.
"RUN!" the Doctor screamed.
Down the corridor. Down the hallway. The very world was crumbling. The first few waves of destructive energy was echoing throughout time- it sounded like a roar in their ears like crashing waves. Eventually, a window was all that stood between them and freedom. Crashing through it without a scratch, they ran across rooftops that fell beneath them as a wave of white could be seen on the horizon. Down, down they fell onto the sands at the edge of the city, watching the dust for brief seconds as it closed in like a sandstorm. Chara couldn't help noticing that Papyrus was lagging behind, glancing towards the mountain where the Equis had hidden. Please don't tell me they're all gone, he thought, please don't let them have died, please don't let them be another casualty.
Chara instantly knew what he was so worried about. "Come on, you! The laser destroys everything, even the beings living on the planet!..."
Papyrus stopped in his tracks now. Chara didn't look particularly amazed, but by this point she knew that whatever she said would be hypocritical.
Finally, without a word, he ducked inside the TARDIS just as the wave of dust hit him. He practically fell onto the floor and skidded quite a way. Chara felt immediately relieved: did he finally get it or was he just wishing to survive?
"Do you see, Doctor, the danger the universe is in? She's pursuing us now." Chara explained.
"I've been pursued many times, and I've never been caught." the Doctor reassured her. "I guess you could say…I've been running all my life."
Chara was silent, almost in a moment of silence for what the Doctor had done, good or bad. Papyrus just stood there, wondering what on Earth the Doctor had to run from.
If only he knew, she thought.
She gave the Doctor a small glare, just for a microsecond, knowing that he hid so much, before she remembered she definitely wasn't one to talk.
That reminded her.
There was a reason she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders recently, even though the wait hadn't been lifted.
She would tell someone what she had done.
She let go of all her anxieties.
It almost felt like fate to meet the one person who would forgive anyone.