"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Past speech and Gman"

"Other"

"Text/misc"


An electric ding echoed through the elevator as the door flew open, letting in a dense fog that seems to always be in the True Lab. The soldier next to her brought up his rifle and slowly advanced as his mask's lenses brightened. The doors behind them shut as soon as Chara stepped out of the elevator, and she could hear the machine powering down already like it had always done in the past timelines. Adrian didn't seem to notice however, instead he kept his focus forward as he made his way down the hall.

"Adrian. Who was that?"

Chara could see the marine visibly jump as he heard her voice. Did he forget that she was here she wondered? Her musings were cut short however as Adrian turned his head back to her as he kept his rifle aimed forward down the hall and into the impossibly thick fog.

"You saw him?" Shock was clear in his voice, which only confused Chara for a second before she regained her senses.

"Adrian. Who was that?" The phantom asked, more forcibly then before hand as she stared back at Adrian with her own crimson eyes. Chara gets no response as Adrian continues to stare back, his expression impossible to tell with his night vision on.

"Adrian, I told you about my secrets, now tell me about yours."

"Please."

Unknown to the phantom, Adrian was having his own inner debate in his head about the whole situation. He didn't want to get Chara involved with him. While he might not say it out loud. He's grown extremely fond of Chara, more than he's willing to admit to even himself, and would do anything to keep her out of his dirty little hands. On the other hand however, he can't just keep this secret away from her forever. Not since she's seen the stranger.

'Wait a second. If she can see him then… no, oh god no.' The HECU marine thought as the realization hit him head on.

She's already been involved.

"Chara… I'm so sorry." Adrian says, his voice extremely shaky, causing Chara to blink.

"Adrian?"

Chara takes a step forward, but stops as she sees Adrian visibly flinch. A jolt of pain stabs at her heart, but she continues onward nonetheless.

"Why did I have to get you involved in this? You never deserved this, not after everything you've gone through."

A pale ghostly hand makes its way onto the soldier's shoulder, silencing him.

"Adrian, please, calm down and tell me what the hell is going on."

A quick glance down the hall shows that nothing has changed from their perspective. A wall of thick fog still blocks the hall further ahead. Adrian hesitates to put his weapon away without knowing what's on the other side of said wall.

"There's no one coming Adrian. We're safe here."

Adrian lowers the carbine as his body slumps backwards onto the nearby wall of the hallway and slides down onto the floor. Almost instantly, Chara is by the marine side as he stares down the hallway, avoiding eye contact. Not a word is said between the two as they both peer into the fog before the marine suddenly speaks up.

"He's the reason why I'm here, in the Underground. I never fell into a portal Chara, that thing brought me here, and he has been watching us ever since." His voice is deadly silent.

"Who is he?"

A short laugh comes from Shephard. "I don't know… A few days before Black Mesa, there were some odd occurrences happening at our base in Arizona. Training routines were becoming harder as we started to focus on CQB and indoor fighting. No one knew why. Then I was pushed forward onto the advance training list with no real reason. It was strange, but it all makes sense thinking back to it." The marine takes off his helmet and respirator, and breathes in the dusty air of True Lab. "He was there Chara, back in Arizona, and even in Black Mesa watching me and manipulating things behind the scenes. I could have escaped that place a lot sooner, but he would always shut the exit on me at the last possible second, all with that damn smile."

His voice gets quieter as he starts to break down.

"He used me as a tool, guiding me further and further into that hell hole as I tried to save as many people as I could, but it didn't matter. The government, the one that I swore to protect, decided to nuke the entirety of Black Mesa with everyone still in it. Did I tell you that? Because that's what happened. I managed to stop it, but of course that didn't fucken matter, because that suit came in right as I left and rearmed it right in my face. Jenkins, Johnson, Otis, all of those unnamed scientists and security guards, all obliterated in an instant."

A memory of the large explosion flashes in Chara's eyes. A wall of fire engulfing everything in its path as the silhouette of that same man watches on.

"It was weird at first. I remember seeing him back at base, thought he was some sort of Gman, an agent from the government or something. Nothing seemed off, but once our training routine was changed, I started to see him more and more. Sometimes he would be talking to some higher up, and other times, he would just be watching from a window, observing. I asked others about him, but they didn't know what I was talking about. They said they haven't seen any Gman." Another laugh. "Then we got to Black Mesa. There, the bastard would stop me from escaping, always leading me further and further in the depths of the facility."

"So, I made it all the way till I found this huge ass alien coming from a portal, so naturally, I killed it. I thought it was going to end there as the foundation was crumbling around me, but no, he had other plans. The bastard teleported me away to a VTOL and said I was simply a loose end in Black Mesa, and that I needed to be taken care of. So he stuck me in some void and left me."

Chara leans closer to the soldier as he vents out his frustration.

"That's not the best part however. No no no. The best part is that he had the gall to come back and 'assign' me a mission." Adrian green eyes stare into Chara's.

"Chara, he wants me to collect the Souls from the king."

Chara doesn't speak, instead she simply lean into Shephard as the two fall into silence, with the only noise being that of the humming of the TV screens on the walls. A tear falls down the soldier's face as he stares ahead. "Now, he's dragged you into this."

"Adrian, he's the one after the Souls, I was going to be dragged into this regardless. Now, how do we kill him?"

"Kill him?" The marine shakes his head. "I don't think you can kill him. He won't let you get the chance, and even if you do, he'll probably just teleport you to that same void that he sent me to."

Chara doesn't say anything at first, before she suddenly gets up and offers her hand to the marine.

"Then I guess we'll have to get the Souls then, huh partner?"

Adrian looks up in shock.

"What?"

"Come on, if this suit wearing bastard is so tough, then we'll just get the Souls, and go on our merry way, and if he tries to pull something on us… Well, he'll have to deal with both of us. So get off your lazy ass, and let's get a move on soldier-boy."

The marine hesitates for a second, giving Chara a reason to worry that her little spiel wasn't enough before suddenly, Adrian smiled behind his mask.

He grabs Chara's outstretched hand and pulls himself up.

"I guess your right… partner."

Chara smiles back.


Monitors lined the halls as the two continued their trek through the True Lab. Each one detailing the story that Chara already knew of. Monsters brought back from the brink of death through the power of Determination, the joy from Alphys as she got ready to send them home, to her sheer horror as the monsters were twisted beyond belief into abominations that made one question their sanity.

Adrian didn't say a word as Chara told him the story, his mind still focused on the man that led them here in the first place. Chara can't blame him, another manipulating entity in the Underground is not something that she is taking lightly.

Especially if what the voice in her head said is true.

"By the one who brought on this change. For HE wishes to use the keys. For HE is an INTERLOPER. For HE is an ENIGMA."

If that man is the reason for the time skip and the aliens in the Dump, then they have a problem. No other Entity other than the Souls, or one that had them, have been able to overpower Frisk's ability to save. Even Chara wasn't never able to. She simply took Frisk's Soul and Reset herself. Chara was never able to do anything else with the Soul. So for this thing to be able to Reset, it's… worrying to say the least.

The two walk past the vending machine and through the open door way that leads to the elevator out of True Lab. So far they've haven't encountered any monsters that normally roam around here. Only more fog and monitors. It's odd, they've gone through half of True Lab yet there still no sign of anything. Why would this entity lead them here if there nothing down here, the ghost thought to herself.

It wasn't till they got to the elevator that would take them out of the lab did they find something out of place. There was a mechanical door that wasn't there during the last run and next to the doorway was another monitor.

The marines' blood went cold as he read the text.

Subjects were brought in for study. These creatures are possibly the strangest things I've ever seen, their DNA structure is vastly different from anything encountered before and the same goes for their Souls. While we might be limited in our knowledge of the outside world thanks to the Barrier, these subjects' mere existence go against so many beliefs that we've held onto for so long.

Adrian didn't look excited about what the message entailed, and understandably so. He's seen what happened the last time someone tried to study the aliens, and it went horribly. So to see the same thing happen again in the Underground sends a shiver down his spine. However he wasn't going to go and do anything about it. He just wants to get out of here and forget about them.

Chara wasn't as surprised, taking some of the aliens for study seemed like something Alphys would do. In fact, she should have seen it coming. However that does bring up the question of why Undyne thought Adrian was responsible for the Royal Guards death in the Dump if she knew the aliens resided there. Or did Alphys keep the aliens existence hidden, just like her last experiments?

"God damnit." The marine swore as he pushed the elevator door button, only to get no response. "Power's out for the elevator."

The ghost pointed down to the right where a mechanical door was located. Above the door was a sign that read "power" in bright red. Adrian simply nodded to Chara as he made his way over there. A big bright red button sat in the middle of the door. Pressing it, the marine expected the door to open, but instead, it stayed shut. He pressed it again to see if it would work this time but was met with the same results.

"Of course it's not that easy." Adrian turned back around "Chara, is there another way out of here?"

The ghost shook her head.

The only path left for them to take now was the door next to the elevator. The door was unlocked surprisingly. It brought them down another hallway that looked much like the last, however this time there were no monitors this time. The two made it to the end of the hall that split off in a V style. The right hall led to a number of different doorways, each one identical to the last sans the monitors that hung above them. The left on the other kept on going until not even Adrian could see with his night vision thanks to how thick the fog became.

"Which way now."

The ghost shook her head. "No clue, this place wasn't here before. If I were you however I would try the right hall first, see if there's anything useful like a map."

"A map would be nice."

They went to the first door they saw that was labeled "Samples" on the monitor. It opened as soon as the marine came within range of it's sensor, allowing him to walk in without a problem. In the room, were flasks and beakers that were filled with all sorts of liquids. The labels told them that some were simple mixtures of various chemicals, while others were labeled as "Determination." One flask however was filled with a green liquid and had the label "Blood Samples" taped on it. Adrian knew instantly that it was from the aliens, he spilled it so many times that he can tell just by a glance. They left that room and continued on towards the next one, this one labeled "Storage A". Again, the pair was met with a variety of equipment, chemicals, and other such materials. The rest of the rooms were very much the same, with only the last one, the "Notes" room being the only thing that looked somewhat promising.

Adrian sweeped the room with his M4 carbine like he's done for the other rooms, and like those rooms, it was completely unnecessary. Chara walked on over to one of the counters while Adrian checked the cabinets, all of which were filled with piles upon piles of notes and sketches of things that went way beyond Shephard. Chara on the other hand, was having a much easier time sorting through them since the counter was much more neatly organized. Like Adrian however, many of the notes were complete nonsense to her. She was about to give up when she stumbled upon a note with the letter "G" on it. Her curiosity was piqued, as she only knew one person in the Underground that went by that letter.

Turning the piece of paper around, the ghost examined the note. On the back were a long series of symbols that she couldn't decipher the meaning of, at least not completely. She did understand a few key words however. Things like "The Dump", and "Containment" stuck out from the rest. Her train of thought was soon interrupted by Adrian.

"I couldn't find anything useful. Just more notes pertaining to unrelated topics. What did you find there?"

Chara handed the slip of paper to the marine. "Just some notes from the last Royal Scientist. He was known for coming up with his own language, so I couldn't really understand most of it, however I did see the words "Dump" and "Containment '' come up.

Adrian nodded his head and looked at the slim piece of paper. It was old, very old in fact. However that wasn't what caught Adrian's attention. The symbols on the paper looked familiar to Adrian, but he can't remember where for the life of him. He stared at the note for a while, hoping that it would jog his memory, but nothing came of it. After a few seconds he simply put the paper down as the two made their way out of the room and down the left hall.

This hall was very much like the last one, a common theme it seems. The only difference being that the monitors that lined the walls had power and were turned on for once. Red text glared back at the pair.

I don't think I'll ever understand what these creatures are. They are completely alien in every regard. In fact, some of them aren't even related to each other. While their Souls share many similarities, they also have many different characteristics based on species and the same goes for DNA.

That's somewhat new to Adrian. He initially thought that all of the creatures were related to each other. They did come from Xen. The only exception he can think of was Race X, the alien force that invaded shortly after the Xenians.

I tried to find everything I could about them, but it was in vain. All showed extreme hostility to me and any other monster that got near them. Everything I do know is only thanks to the few that are in containment, but again, they are less than ideal. I tried putting up cameras in the Dump, but most end up destroyed before they pick up anything useful about them.

The fog in the room was becoming increasingly thick, making it harder to see further then a few feet even with Adrian's built in night vision.

I found something really disturbing about these creatures.

I dug up some old notes from the storage unit, most of them went beyond even me. G really was a genius thinking back to it. Anyways, back on topic. The notes detailed an expedition he took into the Dump 22 years back, the day before the place was declared off limits. He noted a severe lack of human trash, which was strange at the time, but nothing too unusual. Things started to get more disturbing the further he went however. Strange, ghastly smells, choked the air, making it hard to breathe, and his equipment, the best of it's time, started to freak out. That's when he saw something. Whatever it was, it freaked him out, because a huge section of the notes are scribbled out after this. Everything that I could make out was simply incoherent ramblings about how the Dump had to be shut down. The writing that isn't scribbled out afterwards is what really concerns me however.

Adrian stopped as he stared at the monitor in front of him.

He described growths on the Dump ceiling, strange three legged dogs, and large two legged beasts that spat acid. The descriptions and sketches fit the creatures to a T. It's hard to imagine that these things have been hiding right under our noses for more than 20 years

Bile rose in Adrian's throat as he read the last portion of the text. His legs became heavy as his mind went blank while Chara stood next to him. His rifle fell on the ground, causing the ghost to look his way in confusion.

"Adrian?"

His legs gave way as he stared at the screen through the fog. Chara was by his side in an instant, concerned for his well being. She followed the marines graze and read the text. The ghost confusion grew as she read it again and again, not understanding what caused the Corporal to freak out. She was about to ask him what was wrong before he asked her a question.

"Chara… You said that it was a different year from the last Reset."

The ghost nodded

"Chara, what year is it?" His voice was quiet again as he continued to stare up ahead at the text on the screen unmoving.

"2041." As she said this did it register with Chara why Adrian was suddenly so downtrodden. Her hand made its way to the marine's shoulder once again, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"Adrian, what year was it before you came to the Underground?"

The soldier didn't answer, but it was all the confirmation that the phantom needed to confirm her suspicion.

"2041, 22 years. I'm 22 years into the future." The marine whispered to himself

"THAT FUCKING BASTARD!"

Chara didn't say anything as the soldier got up and shouted down the hall and into the fog.

"THEY WON DIDN'T THEY YOU FREAK? THAT'S WHY THEY'RE HERE, BECAUSE THEY WON. HUMANITY IS DEAD AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME THE CHANCE TO GO DOWN WITH THEM! WHY?

"Why?"

The marine got no response, instead he felt a pair of arms wrap around him as tears threatened to fill his respirator.

Adrian knew it was possible that the aliens won in the end ever since he saw them in the Dump, how else could they have gotten down there, but this was just too much. He held hope that maybe he put them there, or something. But now, the evidence now sits right in front of him in the form of digitized text.

Why did he do it? Why did he "save" him out of all people? Just because he reminded the thing of itself? The thought brought up feelings of rage. The two of them have nothing in common, he thought to himself. That thing does nothing but watch as others fight and die, all alone and afraid. That's what he is right now. Alone and afraid. Everything he fought for, all of the horrors he went through, it was for naught. They won, and he might be the last man on Earth.

"Adrian… Please don't give up. You just gotta stay determined Adrian."

Chara's words rung in his head. Stay determined, she said. But why? What's left for him. Humanity is gone, devoured by beings from beyond our fabric of reality, and nothing can change that.

"I know what it's like to be alone Adrian, it's a terrible feeling, but you're not alone. What about Spitball? Sparky? Are you going to just forget about them?"

Chara leans closer to him, while Sparky and Spitball come out of his bag and curl around their masters' arms, trying to comfort him in the only way they can.

The marine didn't say anything as he looked at all of his companions. An odd bunch. A marine betrayed and left to fend for himself, an alien used as a tool of destruction, and a baby that's been taken from it's home and experimented on.

"What about me?"

Then there's Chara, the girl who had to watch her world be destroyed over and over again. The girl, who he has begun to care about more than he thought possible despite the very short amount of time they've known each other. The girl who went through so much, but persevered nonetheless.

Each and everyone of them are depending on him. Can he really just abandon them? Just like how his government abandoned him?

Something stirred deep within him. Something primal, something that allowed him to persevere before. A desire to help them. There might not be much left on the Surface, but he can still care for them. He can make do. Maybe, he can find a way to live peacefully down here, with the rest of Monsterkind. It would be a long shot, but it could work. Worst case scenario, he retrieves the Souls and leaves this place behind and they start anew, away from that thing. That could work. He failed everyone else, but that doesn't mean he has to fail his companions too.

He will continue forward, and give them all the life they deserve.

He is filled with DETERMINATION.

The marine puts his hand over the phantoms.

"I'm not leaving any of you behind Chara. This changes nothing."

A contagious smile makes its way up the ghost face as she peers into Adrian's eyes behind the respirator.

"We'll get through this." She takes his hand and envelops the marines. "Together. Partner."

The two continue to stare for a second longer before the sound of someone coming further down the hall causes the marine to jump for his discarded M4 and take aim. A silhouette can be seen walking through the fog, a large being whose shape would leave lesser men sobbing in sheer horror.

"An Amalgamate." The ghost besides him says.

The Amalgamite takes another step with it's many legs as it's center orifice stares straight at the marine. A loud screeching noise emanates from the creature as it drags its back leg behind it. None of that matters to the marine.

For his focus was on the headcrab latched onto the things neck.

The Corporal aimed his rifle straight at the parasitic alien on the things neck, and depressed the trigger before he was suddenly interrupted.

"Hey!"

The Amalgamate stopped in its track as a small lizard-like monster dressed in scientist attire came up from behind the thing, causing the marine to lower his rifle a little bit. The monster said something to the creature, which caused it to slowly lumber it's way back down the hall with the alien still munching on its neck. Once it was out of sight, the small monster turned to him and took a step back.

"Oh my god! Your the human? I thought you were still in Waterfall? How did you get down here? I made sure to lock the door on my way down. What are you doing down here, and why do you have a gun? How much do you know?"

The marine brought up his hand to silence the monster who was still asking a series of rapid fast questions. The small monster, Alphys, stopped her ramblings as she developed a bashful expression.

"Sorry. I… um, Doctor Alphys, the Royal Scientist for the crown. I'm, um sorry that you had to see that. You probably already know about them if you got this far. By the way, what are you doing down here anyways?"

The marine turns to his partner, before looking back at the small scientist monster in front of him.

"The elevator door was wide open, and well, curiosity got the better of me." He shrugs his shoulders.

"Oh." The doctor's cheeks become bright pink as embarrassment comes into full effect.

"Why was that crab on that thing?"

The doctor blinks. "What?"

Adrian gestures further down the hall where the Amalgamate was heading. A second passes before Alphys suddenly realizes what the marine is talking about.

"Oh that. There one of the creatures that I've been studying for a while now. As for why it's on them. Well the two have developed a sort of symbiotic relationship. The parasite gets an unlimited source of food without hurting it's host, and Endogeny gets a friend to carry around. Say, do you know anything about the parasite, or anything like it."

Again, the soldier turns to his partner only to receive a shrug from the ghost. Turning back to Aphys, the marine contemplates what he should tell the monster. Eventually he decides that he might as well tell her the basics.

"I do. Yes."

"Really? That's awesome!" The doctor exclaimed, waving her arms around sporadically. "Tell you what, you tell me everything that you know about them, and in exchange, I'll help you get to the Barrier. How does that sound?"

"Sounds fine to me."

"Yes! Right this way please." She motions further down the hall.

Adrian follows the small scientist as they make their way past a number of rooms and monitors. The pair eventually make it to a room labeled "Specimen X001A" with an ID scanner next to the door. Alphys brings out a plastic card and brings it up for the machine to read it. A small ding is heard as the door slides open, allowing the soldier a look inside.

Not much is different compared to the last few rooms he and Chara searched through. Science equipment and notes line a dozen of different tables, with each one properly labeled and categorized. However it's what is in the middle of the room that grabs his attention. Standing a few feet tall and suspended in the air by numerous supports is an orange crystal. Clean cracks and fractures can be seen all over its otherwise perfect surface.

Adrian does a double take as he stares at the Xenian crystal in the middle of the room as a bunch of different questions swirl in his mind, however one was more prevalent then the others.

"Where did you get that?" The marine exclaimed as he pointed at the alien crystal.

The monster scientist glanced back before going over to the crystal.

"This is one of my newest specimens. I found it at the edge of the Dump with an unconscious creature not found in the Underground. I've been probing it for a while now, but so far, I found nothing special about it other than the fact that it is made up of no known elements on the periodic table, nor does it have any magical properties. I was wondering if you knew anything about it? I assume you have it on the surface."

'Other than the fact that they come from a different dimension, no,' is what the marine wanted to say, but that wouldn't go well. Instead he simply shaked his head.

Alphys shoulders visibly fell. "Oh. Well I got more specimens in the containment room, and don't worry about being attacked, I took all of the necessary precautions in advance.

'That makes me feel so much better.' Adrian thought to himself.

The good doctor led them out of the room and back into the hallway. From here, the two continued forward in silence as Chara followed close behind. Chara noted that the Lab was much smaller before the Reset, saying that it must be at least twice it's original size by now. Adrian didn't respond, it would be odd for the monster to see him talking to himself, it also might raise some suspicion.

Alphys eventually stopped in front of a heavy bulkhead, which made Adrian appreciate that there were indeed some form of security in this place. The small monster scientist pushed a series of keypads before the bulkhead started to split in two outwards into a sealed room, which contained another large bulkhead. Again, the monster keyed in some type of passcode which caused the bulkhead behind them to close, and the one in front of them to open.

Blinding light flooded in from the other side as the fog dispersed into the large open room. A catwalk greeted the soldier, along with a large number of 3 meter high pods. A floor below them, two Amalgamates wandered aimlessly around, as headcrabs were latched onto their bodies. The sound of machinery and steam came from every direction as Alphys led the soldier and ghost down the catwalk. A sudden bang rang from one of the pods as they walked by it, causing Adrian to tighten his grip on his M4.

"Don't worry, they're completely sealed off. They aren't going anywhere," Aphys commented.

Adrian didn't lessen his grip.

They eventually made it across the room where a mechanical door greeted them. Unlike last time, the door opened as soon as they got close enough. The other side was lined with monitors upon monitors, all of which were turned off. That changed however once the monster scientist pressed a series of keys on a console station in the middle of the room. The monitors all turned in tangent with each other. Each one showed what looked like the inside of the pods outside. A portion of them were completely bare, with nothing inside of them.

The others on the other hand.

They showed almost every type of alien Adrian fought in Black Mesa, causing him to take a step back in shock as he realized just how many of them there were just outside the room. Bullsquids, houndeyes, barnacles, headcrabs, and even a few of the hulking Xenian soldiers; minus their armor or bug launcher. Then there were some that he didn't know, like a large red dog-like creature that spots a horn and claws as big as Adrian's body, or the ones that look like miniaturized pterodactyl.

"Where the fuck did you find all of these things?"

The doctor looked over at him.

"In the Dump. I had to take some of the Kings Royal Guard in order to capture some of these, those that swore an oath of secrecy. Not all of them made it back… So what do you know about these guys? Where they came from and what not."

The marine opens his mouth to speak but is soon interrupted as all of the screens start to spasm out, while his radio produces an ear piercing static that threatens to make him bleed. Alphys, surprisingly, doesn't seem that surprised by this sudden development into chaos. Instead, she looks more annoyed than anything else, which earns a raised eyebrow from Chara.

"That would be another one of the specimens, the one that came in with the crystal in fact." A few keys are pressed on the console, which stops the ear piercing static and allows the monitors to come back online. The doctor gives the marine a thumbs up as turns back to the console before the static returns again.

"That's never happened before! Um, I'll be right back, I need to go check on the specimen. Just stay right here." A door opens on the other side of the room, which Alphys quickly runs to. The marine waits a second as the static still fills his ears before the door shuts, leaving him alone with Chara.

"I don't like this one bit."

Chara glanced over to him.

The ghost doesn't answer, but in her head, she can't help to agree. Before long, the pair had already passed the door that Alphys went through. A very short walk down an empty hallway led them to a closed doorway. The static stopped as soon as they reached the door, which caused Adrian to pause as Chara stood next to him. A second pass before the Corporal continued forward, his M4 was brought up as prepared to enter.

The door opened and he made his way inside. A relatively small room greeted him that was devoid of any equipment that was in the previous rooms they've seen down here. In the center of the room was Alphys, typing something on a console, and in front of said console, was a sealed off pod that, unlike the last ones, had a large window that allowed anyone to view what was inside.

Chara stared at the hovering creature inside. A disportianly large head stands atop a small body with a third arm sticking out of it's chest that has three long and deadly looking claws on the end of it. Two thin, fargil looking arms hang in the air as the legs dangle in the air as the thing swivels it's body mid flight and towards the marine and ghost. Three blood red eyes stare back at Chara.

The voice from before echoes in her head as she stares back at it.

"Slaves... we are all slaves."

Then all hell breaks loose.


Adrian was too focused on the alien itself to notice the particles of yellow energy gathering by the alien controller's containment pod. Metal buckled as the particles pushed up against it. Static filled the room as every machine started to go haywire. Glass shattered as the alien made a high pitch screech and reared its arm back. A ball of yellow energy formed in it's clawed hand, while the other one had particles swirling around it. Before Adrian could even bring up his M4, the alien brought the orb down and sent it flying to the marine. He dodged the projectile, but it exploded into a dozen of smaller orbs that spread throughout the rest of the room. Adrian's PCV's shielding flared as the energies foriegn to this reality burned everything it touched. Alphys fell onto her back as her console was surrounded by the same energy which proceeded to crush it. The wall behind Chara caved in on itself and the alien made a beeline for it's escape.

Four rounds exited from Adrian's M4, two missed as the alien sped through the room with other two collided with the creature's large head and went right through it. Despite what would be a mortal injury for most sentient creatures, the alien flew out of the room and down the hall with.

With static still ringing in his ear, Adrian ran down out of the room, ignoring the monster doctor on the floor. He followed a path of destruction back to the monitor with Chara right behind him. The doors were ripped open by the aliens telekinesis that tore apart metal like tin foil. The rest of the room was in a similar state of disarray despite the short amount of time the alien was in there, however some of the monitors still worked and were showing the other aliens banging up against their containment pods without pause. He and Chara quickly made their way out of the room just as Alphys entered.

An amalgamate stood on the catwalk with Adrian. As he made his way pass the mutant, his radio went silent before a whisper came from it.

"He's angry."

Adrian glanced over to the amalgamate, before making his down the crosswalk, ignoring the banging of the aliens trying to escape and the ear piercing static that came from his radio once again. He made it to the other side to find that a few of the pods were gone. The bulkheads, which were made of solid metal, were also caved in by the alien, allowing fog to flood into the room.

"Where is that thing going?"

Adrian didn't respond to the ghost, instead he had Sparky and Spitball latch onto his arm, and brought up his M4. The soldier quickly sprinted through the door, and down the hallway, following the trail of devastation left in the controller's wake. He pumped his legs as fast as he could, trying to catch up to the bastard, but no matter how fast he ran, the thing was still nowhere in sight. Eventually however, his running paid off as he found one of the doors down the hall teared off it's frame.

"Adrian, the crystal."

The marine didn't need to be told twice.

He ran into the room, gun raised and ready for a fight. The alien was on the other side of the room, cradling the xenian crystal between it's three clawed arms. The being looked at Adrian as a distorted alien voice rang from both his and Chara's mind.

"Too late…"

Adrian fired off a round that went straight to the alien's face. After the nano second it took for the round to cross the distance between the two, it made contact.

Against an orange hexagonal shield.

"What?"

A table rose upwards in the air before being crushed into a ball of bent metal and broken wood. The controller's arm, covered in numerous yellow orbs, swung forward, and the table was hurled towards Adrian. He went into a combat roll and narrowly avoided the thrown projectile as it crashed into the laboratory wall with a loud clang.

"Fool… Shephard… You are a fool..."

Adrian got out his roll and ran straight towards the alien.

[Black Mesa - Ascension]

Immediately, the creature brought up one of its arms, and shot three beams Adrian's way in a frantic and unpredictable pattern, cutting up lab equipment in the process. One of those beams hit Adrian dead on, causing him to stumble back as his PCV's shield was brought dangerously close to collapsing. Nonetheless, he continued his sprint towards the alien. He aimed his M4 right at one of the hexagons that had deflected his last round. Still running, the soldier sent a hail of gunfire downrange. Like last time, they impacted the shield. The first volley hit one of the hexagonal sections, but just as it looked like it was going to break, the shield moved, and another hexagonal section absorbed the rest of the soldier's gunfire.

Adrian reached the floating alien and lunged at it as he took out his combat knife. The controller, aware of the Corporal's next plan of action, floated upwards at the last section, causing the knife to only skid alongside the shield. In retaliation, the alien controller shot highly charged orbs at the marine, hoping it would bring the human to its end.

Adrian backpedaled as the balls of energy hit the surface in front of him and exploded. It was around this time that the voice, who he was going to assume was the controller, spoke up again.

"My master… dead… My master is dead." Another onslaught of orbs exploded in front of Shephard as he went into a roll and behind a flipped table. "Now we're slaves… We are all now slaves."

Adrian didn't respond, but he did wonder what the thing was talking about. They won after all, otherwise they wouldn't be here. His train of thought was interpreted as his cover was flung to the other side of the room by the things telekinetic powers. Thinking on his feet, he fired another burst from his rifle, however this time he made sure to keep his aim on only one segment. The segment finally broke, but the controller sent another beam Adrian's way before he could capitalize on his opening. Again, the marine was able to dodge all except for one beam which grazed his shoulder.

The shield rotated as the alien being brought up the Xenian crystal in it's arm. A yellow aura shot forth to the shield, repairing not only the broken segment, but the damaged ones as well. "Come… come to me…"

Before Adrian could even process what the voice said, he heard Chara shout his name. Turning around, the soldier saw two alien soldiers walk into the room. Large hulking beasts that could snap him in half like a twig. One of them looked his way, it's eyes locked onto his form, and it roared a challenge. The other advanced behind it's brother as they moved to pumble him to death. A green ball of slime and acid collided with the leading alien, burning away the creature's skin as it took a step back and roared in either pain or annoyance, most likely the latter. Adrian fired another acid grenade from Spitball, this time nailing it straight in its face. Again, it only staggered back as its friend ran towards the marine. The controller was not idle either, another orb of energy was hurled at Adrian, causing him to retreat further into a corner as one of the hulking aliens charged him.

At the last possible second, he rolled under its arm as it collided with the wall, denting it in the process. A ball of bent metal collided with the soldier mid roll, causing him to stagger and fall on the ground. The other alien he shot earlier with Spitball tried to stomp on the soldier's head. It's massive foot missed as the marine rolled on the ground. Adrian brought out his knife and stabbed it in the appendage that almost caved in his head. The Xen grunt roared and swiftly kicked the Corporal with enough force to send him halfway across the room. He quickly got up as a table collided with him.

"We were enslaved… we were enslaved because of your kind."

A beam hit Adrian in his side, bringing down his PCV's shield to 0. He looked up as the somewhat injured alien grunt charged at him, ready to cave his head in. The creature brought down it's arm in an attempt to squish him. Shephard jumped back as the arm made contact with the ground. Not wanting to miss his chance, the marine jumped forward onto the creature with his sidearm drawn. Grabbing onto the side of it's head, and bracing one of his feet on its massive bulky body, Adrian aimed the Desert Eagle right between the creature's eyes. Adrian enjoyed the brief look of confusion on its face, or what he assumed was confusion, before he pulled the trigger, sending a .357 round straight through its skull and out the other side.

Adrian jumped off the dead alien as it fell backwards onto the ground, leaking its green blood all over the laboratory floor. It's friend did not take kindly to it's comrades death, and promptly rushed to the human soldier. It crashed into him, sending him flying out of the room.

Blood leaked out Adrian's mouth as he collided with the wall outside of the lab. Every muscle in his body cried in agony as he stood up, causing him to wince. He aimed his M4 just as the alien grunt walked out of the lab and pulled the trigger.

His gun clicked empty.

The alien, not known for its use of advance tactics, charged the marine just like its fallen brethren did before it. Unlike its brethren however, it did not intend to squish the soldier, but rather send him flying back into the wall. So as Adrian tried to side step the charging alien, he ended up walking straight into one of its arms which flung him back into the wall behind him.

Adrian didn't move as the creature picked him up by his neck and got ready to slam him into the ground. However the creature soon found that the human wasn't unconscious as a combat knife was jabbed right into the side of it's head. Despite it not killing it, the grunt did drop the soldier as it let out a mighty roar. Once Shephard made contact with the ground, he quickly let Sparky crawl on his arm and aimed the alien right at the Xenian's head. A ball of plasma slammed into its face, followed closely by another and another, with each one burning more and more of it's rather hard skin that covered its face. The creature spasmed as electricity coursed through its entire body. The alien's face was soon completely gone once the marine stopped firing, causing the body to slump forward and almost crush Adrian under its sheer mass. He quickly got out of the way as the thing collided with the wall and slumped down towards the ground with a loud crash.

Adrian, bleeding and bruised, turned back to the lab where the alien controller was still waiting. Running in with Sparky aimed at it, he sent plasma hurling straight towards the creature, however it simply moved out of the way before the shot could land. Sparky wasn't the only one helping Adrian, because as soon as the controller stopped moving, a ball of acid exploded on its protective shield. Three of the hexagons were close to breaking, but they were quickly switched with new undamaged ones.

"Time… So much time has passed… It is not the same… The surface is not the same… The surface." Three yellow energy bombs flew towards the marine, all of which he dodged. "Prophecies… False prophecies will not save your kind, for they deserve their fate."

Before the creature could launch another one of its attacks on the human soldier, a miniature robot that resembled Mettaton crashed into its protective barrier and exploded. Turning its attention back to the exit showed Alphys, with more of the robots hovering around her.

"I don't know what you are," the lizard monster shouted over the static, "but I'm sorry for locking you up. Surely we can come to some sort of agreement without killing each other?"

The controller took note of the monster that imprisoned it, and noticed that the creature was shivering in fright. So, it launched a beam straight at the small creature, only for the robots to form a protective wall around her, stopping the attack. As the alien turned to deal with the new threat, Adrian was able to get behind it and find the damaged portion of the shield. He brought up Sparky, aimed, and fired at the damaged sections, causing them to burst apart. Another shot hit the alien straight in its back as it was preparing to attack Alphys once again. The creature let out an ear piercing shriek as it stumbled forward in the air. More robots slammed into the front section of it's shield, causing it to flicker.

"No… No… NOOOO!" An invisible force pushed everything away from the creature as the crystal grew brighter in intensity. Adrian flew backwards and collided with the wall as everything in the room started floating in the air due to the sudden wind the creature was causing. Panels from the wall and floor were peeled away as the static coming from Adrian's radio grew in intensity.

Alphys had her magical machines take hold of her so she wouldn't go flying like the human. Her relief was short lived however, as the alien shot out dozens of small beams that destroyed all of her robots. Once they were taken care of, the creature charged up a single powerful beam it prepared to fire on the small scientist. A ball of acid collided with it's now fully repaired shield right as it unleashed the beam.

While it's aim was thrown off thanks to Adrian, the lance of energy still cut through Alphys right arm, causing it to turn to dust which was then blown away due to the intense winds. She didn't move, she simply stared where her arm once was. After a brief moment of shock however, the Royal Scientist looked back at the alien as she fell onto her knees.

"Asgore… Undyne… I'm… sorry I wasn't good… enough." With those passing words, Alphys, the Royal Scientist of King Asgore, and secret admirer of Undyne, turned to dust.

"Unaware… The creature died unaware of the happening of it's home… Unaware…" The creature turned back to Adrian, revealing that it's eyes now glow a fierce yellow.

Adrian fired off another ball of plasma at the creature which only proved to annoy it as it collided harmlessly against it's shield. Not letting the human stay on the offensive for long, the controller fired off three explosive orbs in quick succession. They missed their mark as the marine jumped to the side before they could touch him, causing them to explode as they came in contact with the ground. A console embedded into the wall of the lab was torn out as the alien brought up one of its hands. With a simple flick of the wrist, the panel flew at Adrian at unavoidable speeds. The Corporal was sent flying back once again as the piece of metal collided with him.

Chara ran to the marine's side and attempted to help the injured soldier up. Before she could however, she found herself flung away from him by an unseen force. She wasn't hurt, but the sudden movement did disorient her. Looking towards the alien showed that the creature was staring straight at her, which caused her eyes to widen in shock.

'It can see me?' She yelled in her head. Her thought was interrupted however as the voice from the Ruins ranged in her head again.

"Gifted… His kind is gifted…" The ghost briefly wondered if the entity in her head was related in any way to the alien, considering it's speech pattern and the fact that it knows about it.

Rounds of 5.56mm slammed into the alien shield, causing one of the segmented portions to break apart in the fashion as glass. The controller quickly spun it's shield, readjusting it so that a new segment was facing the marine behind it. It turned itself to face the troublesome human. As it turned to the human, it found that it already crossed the distance between the two and was nearly upon it. Knowing that a melee against the same human that killed so many of it's underlings and defeated the Outsider invasion would be suicide, it shot wave after wave of attacks at the human, most of which missed. The few that did hit the soldier caused Adrian to wince in pain, nonetheless, he never broke from his run.

Brandishing his knife and one hand and wrench in the other, the soldier closed the last few feet between the two and jumped. He plunged his knife in one of the shield segments. The controller flew upwards in a frantic manner as it tried to get the human off it's protective barrier. Using the knife as a way to hold on to the alien, Adrian swung his pipe wrench against the shield. The wrench bounced as it made contact, but that didn't deter the marine in the slightest. He brought it down against the shield again, and again until finally, the segment broke. The controller brought up the crystal and tried to restore the shield, but before he could, the marine swung the wrench inside the barrier and knocked it out of it's hand. Once it was out of it hit the ground, the shield disappeared, causing Adrian to fall off as his knife had nothing to hold onto.

Shephard landed into a crouch, as the creature made a beeline for the crystal. Bringing out his sidearm, he took aim, and fired. The round tore through one of the alien's thin arms, completely sheering it off from the body from the elbow up. Green fluids spilled out of the wound as the thing let out a screech of sheer agony. The static coming from the radio suddenly stopped as the alien fell out the sky and onto the laboratory floor. A resounding thud echoed through the room.

Adrian, bloodied and bruised from the fight, walked up to the dying creature as Chara walked beside him. The two found the creature still alive on the ground, although barely. Green alien blood still leaked from the wound, and it's eyes were much darker as it clung to life. It looked at the human, and projected it's voice into Adrian's mind.

"Prophecies… False prophecies… You… You are nothing but a puppet…" The creature let out a weak cough as it slowly slipped away. "You stopped the Outsiders… But… We are all still there SLAVES… Freeman took our master… And in return, THEY took your world." Adrian brought up his Desert Eagle and aimed it right in between the alien's multiple sets of eyes. "You will never wi-"

Adrian pulled the trigger, and the alien dropped dead.

"What the hell was that thing talking about?" The ghost next to him asked. Adrian could only shrug his shoulder as he stared at the dead controller by his feet. Looking over the room showed that it was a complete mess. Panels from the wall and ceiling were missing, tables were crushed and, in some cases, lodged into what remained of the wall. Fog permeated the room along with dust from the monster that the alien killed. Broken machinery lay scattered everywhere, and blood, both his and the aliens, stained the floor.

Looking over to the crystal, the marine was shocked to see that it was hovering off the ground in an almost majestic manner. Small arches of yellow lightning struck the floor at random intervals. He was so shocked and mesmerized by the strange phenomenon, that he didn't even notice that Chara was walking towards it until she was already a few feet away from it.

Adrian looked over to his partner. "Chara?" The marine received no answer as the ghost walked right up to the Xen artifact in a trance-like state.

Chara didn't know why, but she felt as if the crystal was calling her. It was a nagging feeling that the ghost couldn't describe. It was like something was compelling, no, pushing her to the strange alien crystal. She reached out to the artifact, ignoring Adrian as he asked what she was doing.

Her hand made contact, and her world went dark.

"Chara!" The marine screamed as he saw the ghost disappear, however before he could do anything, the Xenian crystal shot out a beam of electricity that collided with him, knocking him down.

As Adrian slowly went into a state of unconsciousness, he could see that thing's smug face staring back at him from across the room.

"You… bastard…"

Adrian's world went black.


Chara opened her eyes to the sound of rotary blades spinning. Looking around, the first human found herself standing in some sort of military VTOL flying over the New Mexico desert.

"So, Corporal Shephard, we meet at last."

Chara froze. That voice, it was filled with so much wrongness that her nonexistent body was screaming at her to run, to get as far away as possible. The scenery outside changed to a void, and she found that the stranger that led Adrian and her to the Lab standing over a tired looking Adrian.

"While I believe a civil servant like yourself understands the importance of... discretion, my employers are not quite so trusting… and rather than continually subject you to the irresistible human temptation of telling all… we have decided to...convey you to somewhere where you can do no possible harm, and where no harm can come to you. I'm sure you can imagine there are worse alternatives..."

The scene suddenly changed. It was as if she was suddenly plucked from the VTOL dropped into the middle of space. No longer was she in a VTOL, now she found herself surrounded by bright little twinkles in a vast void. Chara could help but awe at the beautiful view. Everywhere she looked it was all the same.

Her awe soon turned to confusion as she noticed one of the lights blink out of existence. A few seconds later passed as she stared at where the "star" once was, the one next to it followed suit. Then another, and another. Chara watched as one by one, every star in the void disappeared until there was nothing left, leaving her completely alone.

"They consume…"

Chara looked all across the void to find where that voice came from. It was getting on her nerves at this point. Her search turned up no results however as the entity continued to speak.

"We could not win… We could not… We…"

"Come out and show yourself already!" Chara all but shouted into the void.

Not a second after she said this did she saw particles from out of nowhere and converge right in front of her. More and more particles came together into one single mass. After a few moments of watching the mass grow in front of her did Chara suddenly realize what it was.

It was a Soul, an alien Soul.

Chara could feel the Soul as it grew and grew in size. It looked alot like the portal that Adrian came out of when he entered the Underground, with only a few slight differences that weren't worth mentioning. The particles suddenly stopped appearing, and before Chara could even raise an eyebrow, the Soul let out a blinding light.

When Chara opened her eyes, she found one of the most disgusting things she's ever seen in her life.

Twice the height of the average person, the thing looked like a worm, if a worm had two front claw-like legs that allowed its upper body to stand. It's skin was reminiscent of a brain, with four eyestalks spread around the top portion of its body. Sharp teeth hung loosely from its body as skin peeled away from it.

The thing brought it's two front "legs" forward and dragged its body towards her, causing Chara to take a step back.

"What are you?"

"I am the last… I am the last…" The same voice from the Ruins answered.

"What do you want from me?" She was tired of playing these bullshit games with the creature.

"You are a key… You are a key… You are…"

Before she could respond and tell the thing to go fuck itself, her mind was assaulted by an image that showed the outline of multiply different people. One of the outlines was covered in some type of bulky armor that she thought she recognized. The other had a more feminine appearance, while the one next to her was much obviously male. She looked more closely however, she saw that it Adrian, if the outline of the gas mask was any indication. However, it was the last one that gave her pause, for it was completely visible to her.

She saw herself.

The image in her head quickly left, leaving a small headache in its place. She glanced back at the creature in front of her.

"You will all set us free."

The ghost didn't respond.

"My time draws near… I come, to impart to you a gift that will see us all free from our bounds."

The ghost snickered. "Sorry to disappoint, alien, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm not really alive. So I don't think I'll be emancipating anyone anytime soon.

The creature didn't respond. Instead, it brought up it's two arms and put them together, earning a confused stare from the phantom. Suddenly, a small portal appeared between its arms, illuminating the two in green. A second afterwards, the portal disappeared. The creature put it's arm back down as Chara stood there flabbergasted.

In front of the creature, stood a red cartoonish heart. A Soul she realized. A human Soul. But as she looked at it a bit longer did the feeling of familiarity well inside her. It was at that moment did she realize what it was.

It wasn't just any human Soul that the thing was giving her.

It was her Soul.

"How? How?"

"My Gift… My last Gift… My time is now… Know this, Chara Dreemurr.

Chara took a step back in shock.

"Beware… For HE watches… Now go… Now go… Now!"

The Soul, her Soul, flew away from the creature and slammed right into her, causing her to scream in pain as her Soul returned its host. After a few seconds however, the pain was gone, and before she knew it, she was back in the surprisingly cold laboratory.

'Wait. Why am I cold?"

Evaluating the situation, Chara did indeed feel cold. Which is impossible since she is dead after all. Any environment wouldn't have any effect on her phantom form. Another oddity was the fact that she actually felt heavy, instead of the usual weightlessness she's used to. Questions kept adding up as she took in her surroundings, but those were all pushed aside as she saw Adrian lying on the ground.

She quickly made her way over to the downed marine, and got down next to him. Sparky and Spitball were still clung around his arm protectively she noticed, but she quickly discarded that detail. Wanting to see if the marine was okay, the fallen human tried to shove Adrian to see if that would stir him. As she was shoving however, she felt the fabric of his clothes touch her hand. Again, that was strange.

All thought processes stopped however as she looked into the lenses of the marine's gas mask. The weight of everything came back to her as she continued to look.

For she saw her own reflection.

"I'm alive?" She whispered in awe. "How?"

Then she remembered.

Her Soul

How could she be so stupid. That alien worm returned her Soul.

A groan could be heard coming from the soldier on the ground. She ignored it however as she stared down at her hand. Tears ran down her face as she realized the implications of the situation. She's alive, she thought to herself over and over again. She was so engrossed by the sudden revelation that she didn't even notice Adrian getting up until he put his hand on her shoulder.

Adrian felt like he just got hit head on by a speeding train as he got up. But as he got up and noticed Chara crying by him, he quickly got himself up and put a hand on the ghost to get her attention. He brought it back however as he felt her shoulder. Normally she's always room dead cold, even in Hotland, so it was quick the shock to actually feel her. He also was prepared for Chara to suddenly throw herself onto him and embrace him in the most heartfelt hug he's ever received.

"Chara?"

He didn't get an answer, but he didn't need one, because for some reason, Chara was alive.

"Adrian…" Her voice was a whisper in his ear, which sent chills down his spin. "Take off your helmet." Doing as the ghost, or human asked. The soldier awkwardly took off his helmet and respirator. Chara stared into his eyes as he looked back at her, still unsure of what the hell happened, and is happening. Before he could even ask a question however was interrupted.

By Chara smacking her lips into his.


The plot thickens.

I do hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the one before it (you spoiled bastards), it was a blast to write, even if some parts felt rushed.

Anyways, I hope you guys are all doing well as the Coronavirus spreads across the globe, and the stock market plunges. Make sure you are washing your hands and practicing good hygiene. School here has been canceled, so I have a lot of free time on my hands now, which I'm going to be using to play Doom Eternal when it comes out.

Now about the story. I want to know how this chapter came out, because I'm posting this late at night, so I'm not really sure how comprehensive this all is.

Joel Nielsen is a god, so I had to add Ascension from Black Mesa. God that elevator scene was epic. As you can tell, I'm adding a lot of elements from Black Mesa. This is quite obvious with the fight with the controller, since it's supposed to mirror the battle with the Nihilanth (in Black Mesa), while also taking inspiration from the shielded controllers in Black Mesa.

If any of you are wondering who the voice was. It's a Kingpin, the one from Half Life: Echoes specifically.

Now I have a question about Chara and Adrian. In this chapter, we finally got some romance going. Now I don't know how many of you actually care for the romance, and that's okay. However, I want to know your opinion about it if you're willing.

As for Lemons. I've never written one in my life. I am 18 however, so there's no reason I couldn't, but again, no experience, and I'm not even sure if that's something you guys would want. If I do end up doing it, just know that it won't be good.

Okay. Thats all for today. See ya, be safe and stay indoors!