I was the first into the corridor. The final corridor before the Rift. I stopped for a moment and peered to the other end.
Broken memories flashed by my mind.. Of all the times I had walked this corridor..
Of all my mistakes I've made..
"You alright Gramps?" Sans asked me.
I hummed and looked at the steel grating that made up the floor, holding us over piping that housed wires and cables carrying mass amounts of electricity through them from the CORE's main power output. I could just barely hear the sparks of electricity within them. The sounds of the CORE were most all I could hear right now. Below us I could hear lava being moved towards the steam chambers, the clanking of the machinery accompanying it as the CORE processed everything.
"Grandpa Semi..?" Papyrus asked when I didn't respond right away.
I glanced at them both, then turned my attention back ahead of me.
Fear filled my mind as I wondered what would be waiting for us.
Sadness tore at my soul as I thought back to how this all began.
Hate made me tense with anger at everyone, including myself.
My heart turned callous..
But instead of assuring myself I was capable of doing what needed to be done, that I could solve all our problems here and now-
I stood lost.. confused..
"No." I answered the boys. "No I'm not alright." I forced myself forward.
Our steps on the grating echoed around us off the walls, bearing the Delta Rune symbol, and large pipes that towered along the sides of the corridor. The lights pointed at the Delta Rune symbols flickered for a moment, causing me to notice steam at the ceiling as the flicking lights reflected off of it. The CORE made some strange noises as the power fluctuated, and that didn't help my fear. If something went wrong with the system, with the lava flow.. I don't think anyone could stop it.
I took a deep breath to smell the air in here, and found it clear of o-zone. That meant nothing was leaking in from the CORE itself, expect for that steam up there, which did have me worried. Or maybe I just missed a few places when I was sealing the place up like W.D had done to prevent rusting.
My mind and eyes were wondering around the corridor as we walked down it, but something suddenly caught my attention. Something I sensed that felt.. out of place. I looked ahead, and saw someone familiar.
I held my arm out to stop Sans from walking past me towards them.
"Noto!" Papyrus ran past me at them.
"Papyrus wait-!" I tried to stop him.
Noto's tail perked up and they charged at him. They jumped up on his legs and he pet them as they barked happily at him.
"Noto! I have not seen you in years!" Papyrus said with joy.
"You know them..?" Sans asked, glancing at me.
I pulled my arm back and kept my eyes on the skeletal creature. Sans hesitated for a moment, but began walking to Papyrus.
How were they here..?
Noto pounced on Papyrus, knocking him to the floor, and nuzzled at his face.
"No! Nyeh! S-Stop!" Papyrus laughed.
I stared at that.. creature.. utterly confused. I could still sense they were not a summoned creature, and that their soul was still very weak. In fact, sensing it now, it seemed.. broken somehow to me. It still felt familiar too, why?
"You gonna introduce me or what bro?" Sans chuckled.
"Of course!" Papyrus stood up. "Sans. This is Noto." he gestured. "Noto, my brother Sans!" he smiled.
Noto barked and wagged their tail at Sans.
"Wait, Noto?" Sans laughed. "Your imaginary friend?" he asked Papyrus.
"She is NOT imaginary!" he stomped his foot.
Noto was growling at Sans now.
"Well, obviously.." Sans snickered. "But uh.. what is it doing here?" he asked a bit worried.
Why is it here indeed.. I don't like it. Why did they show up NOW? Why does everything go wrong at THIS point every stinkin' time?
"Someone's got us set up in a trap." I stated for everyone to hear.
"A trap?" Frisk asked from beside me.
I glanced around us for a moment, and recalled what Mystrium had said. Most of what he said was just crazy talk, but a certain string of words stuck with me out of it.
"Mystrium mentioned that everything has been planned from the start." I quoted him. "What if what we're doing is exactly want that monster wants us to do?" I asked with frustration.
Sans' expression grew fearful.
"Then I guess we need to ask what exactly is it we are doing." he replied with a more serious expression.
I looked past him towards the Rift..
What are we doing? How did I come in here without a clear goal in mind? What was I going to do? I could just shut off the power to the Rift, like I had originally planned when I was here before, or I could dismantle the whole thing.
Or I.. I could..
No. No I'm not using it. It's far too late for that Semi.
"We're disconnecting the Rift from the CORE's main power." I told him. "It will be useless than." I stated.
He smiled at me.
"I'll let you handle that I guess." he said. "We'll watch your back while you work on it so you don't end up in some other dimension again." he winked.
Asgore forbid I have to do that again..
"I swear, if anyone else gets thrown through that thing I'm starting a war and filing a complaint." I grumbled.
"With who?" he laughed.
"I don't know boy! Life itself?!" I shouted out flustered.
"Calm down Gramps. We'll get this done." he gestured to clam me. "Don't snap your spine out of place over it." he smiled.
"Don't snap yours trying to keep me calm." I warned him.
He looked at me with a mix of fear and concern on his face.
"Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl?" Papyrus cooed over Noto, who was soaking every bit of the attention up. "Yes you are! It's you!" he rubbed their ribs as they rolled over.
Frisk was quick to join Papyrus in petting it.
"Oh boy.." I sighed. "Come on. We can handle it I guess." I pat Sans' back and invited him to follow me past them.
He didn't move. He stood looking at Noto with a stern gaze.
"Boy!" I called him.
He snapped out of it and looked at me. I peered at him as he walked over, glancing back at Noto.
"You sense it too?" I asked him.
"Noto's.. weird soul?" he replied.
"What can you tell about it?" I asked him, to see if he was picking up on something I wasn't.
He stood silent for a moment.
"It.. It seems familiar." he said.
"Familiar?" I asked out loud. "How can it feel familiar to you?" I asked him.
He dodged my eyes and didn't answer.
"Sans.." I pressed him.
"T-Their soul just.. feels the same as someone else I knew." he said. "A.. long time ago.." he hesitated to add.
"Who?" I asked with interest.
He didn't answer. He didn't want to answer.
Well. I know how to fix that. I'll use your own curiosity against you.
I waited for the right moment, as Papyrus got up from petting Noto and looked our way, and smiled at Sans, making him nervous.
"You know my brother built all this?" I proclaimed with my hands gesturing out around me.
"Your brother?" Papyrus looked at me curious.
"Younger brother by about 5 years. W.D Gaster." I stated. "He was a whiz when it came to technology, especially in the area of engineering. He built the CORE to help power the underground. And the uh.. Rift." I put my hands in my pockets as I fought my rising emotions. "He was also, as far as I know anyway, the first to discover the secrets of a human soul's power." I added, managing to speak clearly on a painful subject.
"DT. Determination." Sans said.
"He called it Will Power, WP." I looked at him, unhappy with the new name it had apparently taken on. "With Lillian's soul, he was able to reset time, and did so many times. For good reasons." I explained. "He even did it a few times to make sure I didn't die some horrible death!" I laughed at the memories of him telling me of all the ways he had seen me die.
"Well that was nice!" Papyrus replied.
"So.. what happened?" Sans asked, no doubt already knowing from Lillian what W.D's experimenting turned into.
I leered angrily at him for a moment. Like I was going to readily answer that. I was going to get answers from you first boy.
"Who does Noto's soul feel familiar too?" I asked him plainly.
Sans shivered, realizing I had set him up for this. If he wanted to know more, he would have to tell me more first.
"I've met a soul like Noto's before." he answered. "Broken, weak, unable to use magic." he explained.
"Oh yeah?" I replied. "Who were they?" I asked.
He snickered.
"What happened?" he asked me, done giving his answer.
I hummed in frustration and turned around on my heels away from him.
This is where it's going to get hard..
"My pride." I answered him. "I wanted that power to.. make things better." I struggled to say.
To save them..
"But you made a mistake somewhere?" he asked.
"Mistake is too light of a word to describe what I did." I looked over my shoulder at him. "Worse part of it is, I probably still would have done it without the monster egging me on." I shrugged a hand up.
"Done what..?" Papyrus asked concerned.
I forced myself to smile and spun on my heels back towards Sans.
"Back to you boy." I told him.
He raised a brow at me before answering.
"The monster I met, was just like Noto here. Her soul was broken somehow, and I tried to help her." he answered, stopping short of the full story.
"And?" I pressured him.
He stared at me irritated. I stared back with the same expression no doubt.
I huffed a heavy breath and walked around him and the others. That wasn't enough for me to tell anymore to him.
"W-Wait! What did you do?!" Papyrus exclaimed.
"He'll come around with it all Paps." I heard Sans tell him.
"What did YOU do?!" he replied to him. "Who was this monster you helped?" he asked confused.
"Another promise I couldn't keep alright?!" he yelled at him.
I stopped and looked back at them. Papyrus stepped back from Sans as Noto stood behind him eyeing Sans. Frisk had apparently been following me and turned back to see them as well.
"Sorry Papyrus I.. It's a sensitive subject, like what happened with Chara.." Sans' expression dropped.
"Do you forgive yourself for what happened with them too?" Papyrus stepped towards his brother.
Sans didn't answer right away.
"I dunno." he answered. "That was all something.. I did entirely on my own." he looked to the side. "Not that what I did was anywhere near as bad as what I did to stop Chara, but.. It's still hard to live with." he sighed.
"Well I forgive you!" Papyrus told him with a big smile.
"It doesn't even involve you bro." Sans replied, looking up at him with a weak smile.
"Oh.. well.." Papyrus lost his smile. "I am sure the monster you helped forgives you! For.. whatever it was that you did." he got his cheerfulness back.
Sans eyes grew dark as he looked away ashamed. Noto cautiously approached him and forced their muzzle under his hand. He pet them, and his eyes brightened back up. Noto suddenly barked at him, making him flinch, then raced around behind him and shoved him my direction towards the Rift.
"Noto! This is no time for playing!" Papyrus scolded them.
They looked back at him and barked.
"I'm afraid I don't speak.. whatever you are." he replied.
They barked again and snatched Sans' jacket sleeve in their mouth, dragging him towards the door.
"Hey! No! Drop it!" Papyrus commanded them.
Noto kept dragging him along until they reached me. I grabbed Sans' hood and pulled him fomo their grip. I thought. Noto was holing on to him pretty tight.
"LET. GO." I sternly ordered them.
Noto looked at me with anger. They let go and immediately bit into Sans arm to grab him. Sans cursed under his breath and they tugged him away from me. I quickly blocked them off and Papyrus got behind them, and Frisk beside them, trapping them in.
"Noto. Let Sans go." Papyrus ordered her.
"Hey. Wanna trade?" I summoned up a bone to try and temp them into letting Sans go.
They didn't react to it. Worth a try.
I recalled the magic and step towards them. Noto sank their teeth deeper into Sans' arm. Sans did his best not to yell out from the pain.
"Noto what are you doing..?" Papyrus asked bewildered.
Noto got ready to try and run past me. I got ready to stop her. Sans suddenly grew angry, and Noto noticed.
"Suzy let me go this instant young lady or I will report you to the Royal Guard!" Sans shouted out at Noto.
Noto yanked their teeth out of his arm and whimpered in fear of him.
"You cantankerous little goblin of a monster!" he pointed at her enraged. "You better explain yourself and you better do it quick or I won't be meeting you for lunch this weekend!" he threatened her.
Noto whined and lay on the floor.
"Yeah you BETTER be sorry! You little brat!" he told her off.
The HECK is going on here..?!
"Aw! You DO still love me!" a small voice echoed around us suddenly.
A little monster, a dragon bone skeletal monster, ran up and grabbed Sans by his injured arm. He winced in pain as she held it, and flinched when he saw her. His eyes went pitch black in fear at her. The little monster wore a purple bow and pinkish vest, and if I weren't suspicious of her, I'd say she was almost the cutest kid I'd ever seen. But Arial holds that record. Heh.
"H-How are you..?" Sans tried to ask.
She pulled on his arm and circled him giggling.
"It's all thanks to you Sans!" she said happily.
"What? But I-"
"Shush shush." she cut him off, holding a finger to his mouth. "It's okay Sansy. I forgive you for thinking I was dead." she smiled. "But now that I'm here, and you know I'm alive, I would like to ask you to help me again." she told him.
Sans looked terrified the longer he looked at her. I could sense his fear it was so strong. I summoned up a bone sword and walked up to the monster.
"Get your claws off him." I warned her.
Sans snapped out of his fear and pushed her behind him to defend her.
"Okay.. I wasn't expecting that to happen.." I said surprised.
Noto crouched next to him, growling at me. Suzy came around him on the other side and held his arm as she stood close to him. Sans began shaking. And I sensed corrupting confusion on his soul.
"Sans. Who is this?" I calmly asked him.
"S-.. Suzy." he stuttered in answer.
I tried to sense Suzy's soul, and found it was like Noto's. Weak. Familiar. And broken. How though. How are we BOTH finding their souls familiar? I've never met this weird kid before. So who was I sensing? Who were they..?
"Don't tell me you're scared of some old fossil Sans." Suzy said, looking up at him.
He shook his head and looked at me.
"How come their soul's are so much alike?" I asked him to help him get his mind on something.
"I-I don't know." I answered. "I don't even understand how Suzy is here! I-I.. I failed to save her.." he said in disbelief.
"Do I look like a failure to you Sans?" she leaned into him.
He kept his focus on me. I tried to come up with something to say to keep him thinking. I wonder.. If me and Sans both find their souls familiar, does Lillian?
"Does Lillian find their souls familiar?" I asked him.
He relaxed a bit as he kept staring at me. No doubt him and Lillian were having a discussion in his mind.
"Oh come on Sans!" Suzy tugged him by his hand. "Let's ditch them!" she told him.
"No!" he yanked his hand free from her. "You need to explain some things to me first!" he grew angry at her.
Her eyes narrowed at him. Then she smiled and hummed a laugh.
"I'm here to help you of course!" she stated happily. "Because helping you helps me!" she winked.
"What..? You mean you know about-" Sans stopped himself.
"Yes!" she grabbed his hand again. "Now let's go!" she pulled him towards the door.
"I don't think so kid." I held my sword out to block her off. "Let him go and step back." I ordered her.
"Or what old man? You gonna poke me with that stick?" she replied, narrowing her eyes at me.
"Suzy, chill. That's my Grandpa you're talking to. He-"
"I know silly!" she leaned into him. "I know ALL about him.." she grinned at me.
I actually stepped back out of fear of her.
"I sure don't know you." I replied.
"Oh yes you do." she giggled. "Amiri." she grinned with a sly look.
"How-!? How do you know that name?" I flinched.
It had been years since I heard that name. It was who Mystrium mistook me for after he fought with the monster and got his memories backwards.
"It's what Mystrium called you!" she laughed. "Because he mistook me for her cousin!" she smiled. "Which is funny, now that I know I actually AM her cousin." she stated.
I tightened my grip on my sword and stepped back forward.
"Sans. You seriously need to get away from her." I told him.
"But I need your help first!" she pleaded with him.
"With what exactly?" he asked her confused.
She giggled.
"The Rift." she said plainly.
I stomped my foot forward and pointed my sword right at her.
"How does a kid know anything about the Rift?" I growled at her.
"How did you know anything you knew?" Sans asked her.
She knew? What's he mean by that?
"Like I told you Sansy!" she said. "I hear all sorts of rumors and stories!" she told him.
"Expect NO ONE but myself and Arial know about THIS story kid!" I informed her. "Anyone else that did know forgot because of the resets!" I explained in anger, and in fear of just who she was.
No one else knew about the Rift. No one but me, Arial, Tahoma I guess, Calibri, Lillian, and.. W.D.
Suzy held onto Sans.
"Are you going to help me Sans?" she asked him.
Sans stood silent.
"Suzy." Frisk walked up behind them. "This isn't how I remember you telling me we would do this." they said.
"OU! You remembered!" Suzy wagged her short tail. She let go of Sans and turned to Frisk. "I'm so sorry for not finding you when you came Frisk! Some things.. came up." she told them.
"Wait how do you know-" Sans tried to ask.
"Never mind that!" Suzy pulled Sans lower. "Just grab Frisk, and we can go finish the Rift." she whispered to him.
But I heard every word.
Sans reacted before I did, getting away from her.
"No! You need to start explaining things NOW!" he shouted at her. "Who are you?!" he asked her.
Suzy grinned.
"Catching on are you Lilly?" she replied.
"Don't do this. You KNOW it's too dangerous!" Sans voice came out higher pitched. It was Lillian talking.
"This is why you have always been my favorite Sans." she said, leaning side to side. Then she stopped. "You are not an idiot like the rest of the world." she stated with blank eyes.
In an instant she pulled Frisk over with magic and rammed them into Sans, shot attacks at me and Papyrus, and summoned up.. an anomaly. A SAVE point!
"Suzy no-!" Sans tried to stop her.
She cast it before I could do anything, and in a flash of light, they were gone.
I held in some nasty words and tried to stay calm.
Until I heard a growling behind me..
I turned around and found Noto ready to pounce me.
"Whoa! Heel! Down! Halt!" I commanded the beast, but she kept creeping closer.
"Noto stand down!" Papyrus sternly ordered her.
She kept getting closer..
Papyrus growled and got between us.
"I said STOP!" he held his arms out. "Why do you dislike Semi so much?!" he asked her.
She barked a few times and growled.
"Whatever that was, it is not a good reason to dislike him!" he told her.
She growled and searched for a way around him.
"What has gotten into you?! I do not remember you being this aggressive before!" Papyrus said worried.
Noto barked a reply, and while he kept her attention, I slipped away to the Rift.
I hurried in and ignored the Rift itself, as hard as it was to do with it taking up the entire center of the room. I hurried to the console for it and started it up. The Rift's systems and a scanner that could detect sources of WP, or, humans souls really. It could be used to not only locate them, but even pull them here through the Rift. It was the only means I had to find out where that monster took Sans and Frisk.
That crazy kid monster.. Everything about her rubbed me the wrong way. Her soul was just like Noto's, and they both felt familiar to me. She knew about my past, something only.. W.D would know really. Others heard Mystrium call me Amiri, but only me and W.D knew who he was mistaking us for.
The only way she know that, and about the Rift..
How..?
Was my theory on his soul not dying from the incident.. right? Was his soul simply.. shattered, by the rip in space made by the Rift? Did it also somehow string him across time as well? That seems impossible, but.. We're talking about a magic based soul empowered by WP, making it more willing to live and fight against death. Could that little bit have been enough to keep him somewhat alive?
W.D.. alive all this time..
What has he been doing?
The console signaled it was ready. I began the scanner program and got it running. While it looked over the entire underground, I switched over to the power controls and got ready to disconnect everything.
Come on.. finish scanning..! Every second I wait gives the monster another second to use against me!
I kept glancing over my shoulder for someone to catch me off guard while I was here. It had happened last time, and I was expecting it to happen again. The scanner completed and displayed its results. 7 souls, besides myself, came up. 7? Who else is down here that has WP? It should just be me, Frisk, and Lillian with Sans. One of the souls was in the corridor the report said. Noto? Another was in the room before the corridor, where I had left everyone with Mystrium. This couldn't be him showing up though, he lost Brianzar's soul. And it wasn't Calibri, and couldn't be Tahoma, heh.
Arial..?
Splints-! That would explain how she knew I was resetting time! How she kept up with me and got at me when she noticed it! How though?! I didn't have WP until after she was born, so there's no way I passed it on, if that's even possible. How did she..? Who..?
W.D!
That's the only way. He's the only other one who had access to the stuff. He must have given it to her at some point! God when did I last let him watch her? I left her with him once when she was a baby bones.. Could he have done it than? And why? Why would he do that? Was that why he was so interested in her ability when she starting showing it? Was she just some experiment to him?! WHY?
"What the heck are you doing brother?!" I slammed my hands on the console.
3- no 4, of the marks were close to each other in Snowdin. Sans, Frisk, Suzy, and.. someone else? The mark in the corridor I realized was overlapping with another. And there was only one other person in there with Noto. Papyrus.
Splinters.. It can be passed on than..
I better go tell him where Sans is and send him to go get him back.
But first. We're shutting this all down.
I switched back to the power controls I had opened and began the procedure to disconnect the Rift from the main power. I raced through the familiar console commands, turning off one piece at a time. I came to the last line of code needed.. and hesitated..
Just do it old boy. Give it up already..
You can't save them..
But you can save who you still have, here in the future.
Sans..
Has he really forgiven me..?
Has.. W.D.. forgiven me..?
I made the last input and confirmed it. Everything began to shut off, and all the sounds in the room disappeared one by one. I grasped the edge of the console as I listened, and waited. Once everything was done, I too ka deep breath, and turned to go get Papyrus.
The moment I turned around something hit me smack dab in the face, knocking me back into the console. I got hit again from one side then the other, and something wrapped around me. It picked me up and slammed me to the floor then tossed me aside where more magic attacks hit me from the floor. Rock magic. Sharp claw like magic attacks came through the air and hit me. Than something hit me from behind and I was poisoned.
I knew it..
All those attacks I knew too well. They were W.D's assistants magic.
"Ah.. cripes.. How did the gang get here..?" I got myself up.
Before me stood the assistants. Clay, Snak, and Specs. All still gray, all still soulless, and still on W.D's side I guessed.
"And how are you using magic?" I asked surprised. "I thought you told me you couldn't!" I got frustrated with them.
Because this meant they COULD have healed me when we met in the Void!
"We are an exception." Specs said.
"Because what? You're smart?" I replied.
"Our souls were not lost, merely displaced." his body flickered. "We are very much intact though." he straightened his glasses.
"So what's the deal here?" I asked as I cringed from the pain of the lingering poison Snak had got me with.
None of them answered.
"Papyrus!" I called as loud as I could for him.
"No one is stopping the Doctor's plan." Specs said.
"It will be done." Clay said.
"The Doctor has been waiting.." Snak hissed.
Something about them seemed.. off. More than they already were. They were almost emotionless, as if being.. directly controlled.
Just what had you gotten into here W.D?
Poison-!
"Speaking of, I better go find one." I said to them as I inched towards the door.
Their magic blocked it off.
"You will not stop this Semi." Specs said. "This time you will not win." he stated.
"Win? Wha-? That war's over!" I informed him.
"Not until the Doctor's plan has succeeded." he said, walking closer. "When he has rewritten history. And has made the future better than the past." he explained.
W.D had told me that.. the day I.. when he..
"T-That's not how I interpreted what he said.." I stepped back.
"You do not know what awaits you should this fail Semi." he stared at me through his glasses. "The world, the galaxy, the universe itself will cease to be." he stopped a few feet from me and stated.
"A bet dramatic don'cha think?" I shrugged.
"Not when it is the truth." Clay replied.
"Well, let me go get the others and uh.. we can talk about this and.. help out." I suggested.
They kept their gazes on me.
"Hey, we talked about this didn't we? I said I was sorry, you forgave me, all that jazz?" I tried to remind them.
"Your past actions and forgiveness do not have a bearing on this Semi." Specs told me. "Neither does your living." he summoned his magic.
"Just so you know.." I began as I took a step back. "All those shots before didn't exactly hurt me. My uh.. defense is pretty high." I informed him.
Poison-! The poison still hurt though..! Can't defend against that sadly.
"Defenses can be broken." Specs said, firing off his sharp claw like magic.
Not my defenses pal.
I dodged the shots and countered at them, all of them firing back right away.
I dodged the flurry of magic attacks and let off a blaster at them. They somehow got around it and I quickly countered with blue bones to catch them as they moved. They stumbled through them but seemed unaffected by the damage they took. Before they could make their next move I sent a blaster at Specs and hit him with it. He survived it and countered.
I was in shock that he survived and failed move out of the way of his attack. It knocked me back but my defense kept it from getting through. I moved with the force and used it to get myself back upright.
I summoned a bone sword and got ready for their next move.
"Come on Chara help me out attack wise too." I said to myself.
They all launched off their attacks again and the poison hit and made me stagger. I dodged most of the attacks and got scraped by the rest. One that scraped by me was a poison attack. I couldn't afford to get directly hit by one of those again.
I fired back, so did they. I got some hits in, theirs did nothing to me. This was going to be a slow battle, but it would end in a win for me. Not that I wanted it..
But.. I did..
Something.. was suddenly moving me to attack relentlessly, to show no mercy. It was like all my LV was being used against me to take me back to the way I was before. Angry. Hateful. Fearful.. Callous..
I shook my head to keep it from filling with blind rage. As much as I hate these guys I'm not killing them. I can't. I'm suppose to be moving past this!
Their magic stuck me while I was distracted. More poison attacks hit me and I felt my energy draining away by the second.
"We can't.. talk about this..?!" I staggered.
"The Doctor wants you out of the picture Semi." Specs said. "There can be no disruptions to his plan." he stated.
"I guess.. he still doesn't trust.. me.." I felt weaker.
"No." he said.
"Funny.. I trust him.." I replied, weakly laughing. "Despite.. this.." I cringed.
"You are too unpredictable Semi. Too much of a threat." Specs stated, summoning his magic. "You are not worth saving in this broken timeline." he said.
"This timeline..?" I wondered. "W.D is planning to use the Rift, right?" I asked.
"For a purpose of his yes. But not for time travel." he told me.
"If it were to be used, the universe would split into 2 separate realities." Clay explained. "That cannot happen." he stated firmly.
"That would be bad yeah.." I groaned in pain. "So what is his plan?" I asked.
"You do not need to concern yourself with that." Specs said.
"You won't remember any of this once he's done anyway!" Snak proclaimed.
I don't like what this is implying..
"Where is he?" I asked them angrily. "Let me talk to him directly." I demanded.
They stared at me in silence..
"I am afraid he is too busy to make time for you." Specs stated.
The poison took effect again and I could tell I was getting closer to being dusted by it. I needed to get out of here and find the others before it got that far..
I looked at the gray group..
I might have to kill them, just to survive..
It's become a kill or be killed situation.
Just as I gathered my focus for my magic, someone else magic came blasting through from the door at them. I heard a howl and Noto came leaping through the magic debris in the air at Specs. She pinned him down and growled at the other two.
Bone magic came raining in and knocked the other two back while Noto kept Specs down. In came running.. everyone. Arial was thrown forward with gravity magic and she kicked Snak square on, knocking him to the wall. Calibri's pan hit Clay and someone's magic shot up from the floor at him, landing him next to Snak. Noto grabbed Specs and tossed him up, where a wave of bones shot him over to the other two.
"Yeah! Good coordination!" Papyrus cheered.
Poison-! Stinkin' stupid poison-!
"Dad!" Arial came running over to me.
"Heh, nice moves Dot." I winked up to her.
"My god you look worse than ever." she said with a worried expression.
"It's called dying.." I replied.
She knelt down and looked me over.
"I cannot afford to keep healing everyone." she said.
"Than don't. Just get rid of the poison." I told her.
"Poison? I-I have never healed poison!" she exclaimed.
"Let me." Calibri quickly knelt down beside me.
Her healing magic rushed through me and I felt the poison disappear.
"Thank you.." I heaved as I fell into her.
I might just live now.
"T-They are getting back up!" Tahoma warned us.
I sensed their magic coming at us and shoved Calibri to the floor, dragging Arial with us with gravity magic. Their attacks flew over us and I got myself up to counter at them. As soon as I was up, they had another wave coming at us, and I had no time to react.
White magic appeared as a wall and blocked the attacks, cracking under the damage it took for us.
"Enough of this!" Mystrium's commanding voice rang out. "Stow your magic displacements or I shall send you back to the Void from wince you came!" he threatened them.
They all stood back and stopped their attack.
Heh. Mystrium's back to normal I see.
"Semi." he snapped his finger to summon me.
I winced in surprise and hurried over to him.
"This Rift is powerless correct?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the others.
"Just got it disconnected." I told him.
"Good." he replied.
I waited for what he had to say next. But he uh.. didn't continue.
"Do you want me go find some cuffs for these three or..?" I asked him.
His eyes widened.
"I.. did not think past that." he stated surprised with himself. "But knowing the Rift is without power I shall not have to worry about it at the least." he said more seriously.
"Right, but, there's another problem." I decided to tell him. "Another party is involved in this whole.. fiasco." I told him.
Noto came up and sniffed me for some reason.
"Who?" he asked.
I knew exactly who now..
"W.D Gaster, my supposedly dead brother." I answered.
His eyes narrowed.
"I am aware." he replied.
"You are?" I asked surprised.
"He and my grandfather have been at odds for thousands of years." he said. "The two have fought in a war that has spanned all time, concluding here at this place, at this time." he explained. "Both have altered history to lead here in their victory, but.." he paused.
"Who's really going to win?" I looked at the assistants. "And whoa hold on did you say grandfather?!" I panicked and looked up at him.
Mystrium cringed at that. He looked almost disgusted. He sighed and focused back on the assistants.
"The King and Lord of the Kingdom of the Black Sands to the south of these lands." he stated factually. "And a master of magic and corruption.." he added.
Yeesh. The more I know..
"He will not exist once the Doctor sees his plan through." Specs stated. "He will be destroyed, and the underground will be free of his evil influence." he added.
"You mean the world." I corrected him.
"This war will not be won by W.D. It is not possible." Mystrium replied. "Not time travel nor reset can erase him, only the blade in the hands of a pure soul can end his reign." he explained.
"That is where you are mistaken." Clay said.
"The Doctor has had time to think this through Mystrium." Specs said.
"He's going to stop him, and the human half, and save everyone." Snak said.
"I would not be so sure of that." Mystrium raised a brow at them. "Not even the human army of the Raba kingdom could defeat him, and that was when he was at his weakest." he informed them.
"You underestimate the Doctor." Specs replied.
"And you underestimate the monster who conquered kingdoms in a single day." Mystrium replied with anger. "I myself have played part in his wars and have seen his mastery of tactics. You will not get ahead of him." he growled. "I would not be surprised if I am still playing part in his master game even now.." he said under his breath.
"So let's work together than!" Papyrus told everyone.
"Why don't we?" I asked the three.
They looked our way with blank expressions.
Suddenly, I sensed an anomaly.
Me and Mystrium were the first to react to it. It came from the Rift. It suddenly sparked to life with power and began to charge. In the conductor, below in the massive gap, electricity sparked up, then was suddenly pulled back down. From it came the girl, Suzy. She flew up out of it and landed at the front of the gap. She had a horrible grin on her face.
And she was here alone..
I gasped out the start of a word when she attacked with her magic. A massive wave of bone magic arracks hit me and knocked me to the floor. The magic was corrupted and tore into my soul, leaving behind a painful, cold, feeling.
I struggled to recover from the damage.. I struggled to even breath..
I sensed my soul fighting to survive, trying to force a reset of time.. But because of Frisk that wasn't happening..
As I staggered to my feet, I saw Suzy had everyone else knocked down, even Mystrium. And W.D's lackeys made sure they stayed put. I tripped over and Noto caught me. They whimpered, oddly concerned with me now, and stood next to me to let me use them as a support.
I and Suzy's eyes met. The Rift began to draw power to activate behind her. She must have bypassed the controls somewhere down there, which was the worse thing to do. Without the proper control system regulating the power, this thing could easily overload.
But I bet you know that if you're really W.D..
I sensed reality flicker suddenly. It had to have been Frisk, wherever they and Sans were. I gathered what was left of my strength and stepped towards Suzy. Noto stayed close by me.
"Where is Sans?" I asked her.
She giggled and spun a full circle on her heels.
"Don't worry about them." she winked. "They'll be here." she grinned. "Once I've made sure none of you will in interfere." her eye flashed with magical power.
I staggered forward, and Noto barked angrily at her.
"Oh hush up you mutt-!" Suzy snarled at them. "You agreed to this just like all the others!" she hissed.
"Agreed to what..?" I struggled to speak.
Suzy narrowed her eyes at me for a moment. Her stare reminded me of W.D.. This whole situation reminded me of all the times I met him here.. and we fought each other..
"Over 1,000 years of planning." she said. "Learning, studying, altering history, training, watching, listening.." she paused. "Waiting." she looked right at me. "And no one, Mastic or you, will stop me from seeing this through..!" she growled.
I sensed her magic building.
I stood my ground next to Noto.
"What exactly.. are you planning to do?" I asked, cringing in pain.
Hold yourself together old boy..
Suzy laughed. The Rift sparked with electricity behind her. She didn't answer me, and seemed to want to keep me in suspense.
"W.D." I stepped towards him. "WHAT are you doing?" I asked again.
Suzy kept smiling, and raised a brow of interest at me when I said his name.
"W-What..?" I heard Calibri gasp.
I took another step and stood up straight past the pain I was feeling.
"Why did you toss the Star Blade along with Calibri into the Void?" I asked. "Why did you give Arial WP?" I added. "Why did you use Sans for- whatever it was you got from him?" I grew angrier. "Why bring a human here!?" I asked in a louder tone.
She stood on her toes and held her head high.
"I had to keep the blade safe from the monster, obviously." she began. "Calibri I kept there just for you, so she could keep you reined when you arrived in this time." she winked. "Arial was just insurance, in case you lost yourself between now and then, and you almost did!" she laughed. "Sansy I needed to get everything YOU destroyed rebuilt and operational. And to empower my soul with Will Power; Determination; Resoluteness; whatever you want to call it." she answered. "As for Frisk, well, they're lucky number 8 on my attempts to get a strong human down here to use the Star Blade!" she shrugged her hands.
"What?!" Arial exclaimed. "YOU are the reason all those humans came here? And were.. k-killed." she stuttered with fear.
Humans..? Dang what else did I miss? What all happened after I was gone?!
"They died because they were weak." Suzy replied uncaring.
"And for what?" I growled in anger.
I saw Suzy wince, and sensed something that made me uneasy.
"You wanted a human and the Star Blade here at the same time." Papyrus stepped forward. "And it is obvious you expected Semi to be here as well and made sure to keep him unaware of your plan." he stated. "I have the feeling there is more to this, something involving the Rift." he added with suspicion.
"Ou, someone's been paying attention." she replied in a childish tone.
"If everything you have said so far is true, I can only conclude you have been working to led everything to this point." Papyrus told her. "You have a living human soul. The Star Blade. All of us to use against Semi." he listed off. "Sans to blindly help you because of your.. FAKE friendship!" he said disgusted. "And the Rift powered to do.. something." he lost his confidence, as well as information to run off of I'm sure.
"Take a guess. I'm interested to see what you come up with." she grinned at him.
Papyrus thought about it for a moment. I came up with a pretty good answer myself. The Rift, as it was, could create a portal to different dimensions. But, if Suzy got Sans to help her finish it, and she just came up from the gap.. She could have just installed the magical element convertor. I wasn't going to question where she got it from, but I had the sinking feeling that was what she had been doing down there.
"Something to do with your broken soul that Sans helped you with?" Papyrus guessed, thinking the same as me.
"Sooo close!" she replied. "But not entirely wrong!" she laughed.
"There is something else?" Arial asked worried.
The Rift sparked and went dark for a moment, then activated, colliding concentrated electricity and magical energy into each other just above the gap. As I watched it tear through space, and possibly time, I felt myself begin to shiver in fear. It wasn't because of the Rift though. It wasn't bad memories.. What is it..?
"I'm afraid none of you will get to see the ultimate outcome." Suzy told us all.
W.D's assistants stopped anyone from moving to stop her. I tried to walk towards her, but she quickly fired her magic at me to stop me. Noto shoved me out of the way and took the shots. I heard Noto yelp at the hit, and Suzy winced in pain at the same moment.
"And if this fails.." Suzy laughed. "No one will be seeing anything." her eyes went blank in terror.
The Rift flashed as the portal was torn open. The light filled the room and I heard electricity sparking through the circuits. Along with.. voices..? I got up and tried to look towards the Rift, but the light wasn't fading. The CORE's power fluctuated for a moment, then thankfully returned to normal. The light finally began to fade, and the sounds coming from the Rift grew quiet. I stood up and let my eyes adjust to see what had happened.
And I saw..
Him.
Down on all fours, his claws dug into the metal floor, creating deep scratches in it. He let out what sounded like a roar and whipped his tail around behind him. Its sharp tip end made a horrible sound as it slashed across the metal floor, hard enough to create sparks. His eyes locked onto me and dread paralyzed me. His bone was cracked and scuffed, and his cloths were torn and looked burnt in some places. His entire body flickered between different forms for a split second of time.
I sensed his soul, and sensed it was still broken. Yet, somehow, he was mostly here..
His eyes flashed with magical power as he began to approach me. He slowly moved from all fours to his hind legs as he came towards me. I walked backwards away from him as he rose over me, until I had my back against the wall. He looked ready to tear his sharp claws right through me.
He stopped, just a few steps from me.
"Do not try to stop me Semi." he said, looking at me with glowing eyes. "I have come to far to fail in saving you now." he stated.
"Saving me..?" I replied confused.
He grabbed my head and tossed me back at the others. I collided with Arial and Tahoma, who tried to catch us both, and we crashed to the floor all at once. I saw W.D moving back towards the Rift, watching me closely. Papyrus was quick to stand in front of him to stop him, blocking an attack from one of the assistants that tried to stop him. W.D stopped and stared at him.
"I don't understand." Papyrus told him, shivering in fear.
"I doubt you could." W.D replied.
"Why did you help me so often as Noto?" he asked. I noticed Noto was nowhere to be seen now. "Why be.. a friend to me, if you were just going to hurt everyone later on!?" Papyrus demanded to know.
W.D didn't answer.
"Why did you not try to tell me about this? That you were a broken soul?" Papyrus said calmly. "We could have helped you without all this fighting!" he said loudly. "Why did you not try to tell Semi it was you?" he gestured towards me. "He said you were brothers!" he stated.
W.D was visibly shaken.
"Do you not trust him?" Papyrus put the question to him.
W.D stepped back shaking his head.
"No.. No! I couldn't!" he said with fear. "It would not have worked!" he shouted.
"Why not?" I asked him, turning his attention to me.
His expression was hard to read.. because I could tell he was feeling multiple emotions at once as he looked at me.
"I will n-not let y-you repeat history.." he stuttered.
I walked towards him, ready to stop him before HE repeated history.
He lashed out with his magic and threw Papyrus aside with gravity magic.
"I will not let any of you fools stop me..!" he snarled in anger. "I have given up too much for this to fail now!" he shouted. "I WILL save you Semi! No matter what it takes!" he declared.
"What do you even mean by that?!" I replied.
"This future, this timeline as a whole, is destined to be destroyed." he stood in front of the activated Rift. "I will change that. I will change history. And you will not fall to that monster's corruption." he stated, whipping his tail behind him.
Does he mean to use the Rift to go back in time? To.. stop me..?
"You open a way to the past, and you will be inviting the it here to the future!" I warned him. "And if you alter history this way, there is no telling what might happen to reality!" I added.
"That did not seem to worry you Semi." he replied, staring me down.
My anger summoned a blaster at him, but his assistants shot their magic through me to stop my attack. Their magic didn't hurt me, so I turned the blaster at them.
"Dad no!" Arial shouted at me.
I winced, and W.D's magic shot through me. He fired on the others and they managed to dodge the attacks.
"This timeline is lost." W.D said. "By creating an alternate timeline, reality will survive the destruction of this one." he stated. "We both dreaded the idea of such an alternate timeline existing along the first, but in order to create a better future, we must erase all the damage that has been done up to this point." he explained.
"Damage..?" I panted.
Reality flickered. That was not caused by an attempt to reset. It was.. reality itself flickering away. How could all of space and time be that damaged? Have we.. was this because of us..?
"I will do this Semi. I will change everything to save you. From yourself, from that monster.." he said, beginning to cry. "From ME!" he said angrily.
His soul grew cold I sensed.. Just like Sans' had earlier.. It was corrupted..
By Sadness.
"W.D.." I reached out to him.
The Rift flashed again, and W.D's expression turned to one of shock. We both looked at the controls and saw his assistants, essentially, betraying him. They had control of the Rift and had opened it to someplace else. Mystrium gasped and I looked back at the Rift, to see a familiar silhouette standing in its light.
Everything.. has been planned from the start.
He was here.
I stepped forward to stop him but I nearly tripped over myself due to weakness. I was too weak to fight him again. One hit from him now and I would be dusted.. or worse.. I regained my balance and looked at my hand, noticing the magic making up my body beginning to destabilize. A drop of liquefied magic fell from it and hit the floor, sparkling in the light from around the room.
Hold it together Semi..! You can't die just yet.. not like this..!
Sans.. Frisk.. Where are you two..?
My soul again attempted to reset time, but time itself seemed to feedback into me, sending a wave of pain through me. I could sense time breaking down around me..
"Well.. This is indeed a welcome surprise." the callous soul human spoke as he walked away from the Rift. It collapsed behind him, and I saw his smug face a he glanced around the room. "So good to see you again Mystrium." he stated.
Mystrium flinched back in fear.
Someone shot their magic at him, and he easily dodged it.
"You monster's have such weak souls. Souls prone to kindness rather than power." he grinned. "Corruption is the only way to reveal a monster's true power. So show me what you are capable of doing with that magic of yours when you are pushed beyond your limits!" he shouted out with a smile, inviting everyone to attack him. "Give in to your hate and fear.." he glared at us.
I held myself back form attacking him, so did everyone else thankfully.
"Oh come now." his gaze turned to me. "Do not let fear hinder you." he stared at me. "Let it empower you." he smiled.
I ignored my fear, and debated what to do..
"You seem a bit overwhelmed Semi." he laughed as I staggered in pain. "Or are you losing hope?" he mocked.
"There's always hope." I growled.
"You are no hero monster." he said disappointed.
"No. I'm not." I admitted. "But someone out there is." I stated. "And they won't give up in doing the right thing, no matter what you do." I said.
"You speak of the Angel of prophecy?" he asked, somewhat interested.
"Maybe." I replied. "But I had someone else in mind." I smiled. "And I trust him to do the right thing, and be the hero I was not." I said clearly. "He's already proved he can." I tried to laugh.
"Who?" he pressured me.
Magic came flying into the room, hitting the human and the assistant trio. A flash of bright blue went past me and struck the human instantly. He staggered back from the hit, and the rest that came after at him from every angle. The person attacking made one final strike from behind and landed in front of him, holding the Star Blade. They stood up and held it at him.
It was Sans.
Papyrus gasped in awe as Sans stood fearlessly before the human. His jacket was somehow flowing, as if being blown by wind, and that just added to the heroic stance he was taking. Heh.
"This is as far as you get buddy." he told the human. "I already gave your friend a good wallop on the way here, so don't think it will be any easily for you to fight me." he informed him.
Frisk ran up beside me and asked if I was alright, but I wasn't able to respond. I was too busy being proud.
That was the hero I meant.
A true hero.
A soul of patience and kindness. Of true justice. He was a better monster than me in every way. That's why he acted on what he knew, why he believed the best in others, why he tried to help me.. And it was why he was here now.
"Hold on.." Papyrus glanced around. "It that.. theme music?!" he exclaimed in shock.
Now that it was quiet, I could hear heroic music. It sounded like it was coming from Sans.
"It's Undyne's ringtone. Thought it would be a nice touch for my entrance, heh." Sans winked to him as he held out what looked like a cell phone.
"Why didn't I ever think of that?" Papyrus replied amazed.
Frisk hurried to Sans' side and he passed the blade to them.
"Fool.." the human laughed as he staggered to the side. "It is far too late to stop what is to come now." he said.
"Oh yeah?" Sans asked.
Frisk stood determined with the blade ready.
"There is only one soul we are now lacking.." the human's gaze turned to me.
"You're not getting it." I told him.
"Even without it, we will not be stopped." he grinned.
I heard W.D yell out, and saw him hit the floor. The assistants stood over him as they eyed me.
I glanced around to see how everyone was, and concluded we could win this. We can stop this human, and stop this from going any further. Thanks to the magnetic field the Rift and the CORE itself generated the monster half of the Black Soul couldn't reach us in here. So as long as it was being generated, we had some really good odds working together.
The CORE suddenly went dark. Everything went quiet as the CORE shut down. The auxiliary lights came on along the base of the walls, and I felt an overwhelming sense of dread enter the room.
Splinters.
I really must thank you..
I could hear the monster in my head.
Especially HIM.
I looked at W.D, struggling to get up.
"It is time this game of ours came to an end." his voice came from outside my mind. It came from the human, who was now surrounded by dark magic.
Frisk stepped forward.
"Do not think you can win simply because you wield that blade child." he chuckled with amusement. "The last two that tried to use it against me FAILED." he stated.
In an instant, the darkness of the monster swallowed the human, and their souls combined. Darkness filled the room, and within it I could sense their collective soul. There was no way to quantify their power; their LV. It was.. far beyond what I believed was the limit.
"Surrender now, and I will make good use of your corrupted souls rather than destroying them." he offered everyone, his voice echoing around us.
"Never." I shivered, summoning a bone sword.
Everyone stood with me, summoning their magic in different forms. I sensed their fear.. Their sadness, anger.. everything negative. I ignored my own corrupting emotions and tried to focus.
I'm not giving up just yet.
"Very well." he said, his tone indicating he wasn't surprised by us.
DIE.
Some words from, well, me, the writer.
The big finale is next.. And lemme tell'ya, this is has been fun writing. I have to say I've learned a lot about writing -which was the main reason I even started this- and I think my spelling has really improved. I've certainly learned quite a few new words while working on this. But I'm still working on grammar..
I am seriously interested, for those of you who have read this far; would you like more of Semi? Or of this world? More stories, before and/or after? I have many ideas to expand this version of the Undertale universe, and to dig deeper into it. But I'm only going to do it if others want it. As a sort of tense of what I have in mind, post-story wise, I'd like to have certain ones of the cast explore the rest of the surface world. This is one thing I have yet to find anyone else do. (If you know someone who has let me know. I'd like to see!) What is the rest of the surface world of Undertale like? Are there other monsters who got trapped by humans? What stories do they have? As for pre-story, I have a whole plot for that partway written. Multiple plots actually. Most I wrote up already to help keep the story in the here and now straight, so if you would like to see them just give the word.
Either way, I hope you have enjoyed this story so far, and I hope you find the ending just as good. There were so many ways for it to play out, but I'm content with what i ended up with.
Stay determined friends. There's one last battle to fight ahead..!
