"I don't trust it."
The man - Vogel - would say, leaning back on the cushion of the armchair he rested on.
"Very few of us do, Red." The Dark Angel - Timor - would reply from his spot across the room. "Longinus is hiding something; and we must assume that Shadow and Scramble are in on it."
"It is quite possible they all are." The Light Angel - Spero - would say, from her position beside the grand doors. "Those shouts and fighting were loud, after all. How would one not hear it? And yet the others did not come to investigate, only the four of us."
Is that why you brought us here?" the fourth - Emilia - asked, toying with the hilt of her sword. "You could have taken us back to our rooms after Harley collapsed, but you whisked us away to your castle."
"It is the only place we can speak without fear." Timor would say, his red eyes burrowing into Emilia's. "My subjects would die for me; never would they report what they hear to the obvious potential enemies of their liege."
Vogel and Emilia would nod, with Spero making her way over from the door to beside them, laying a hand onto Vogel's arm.
"Sweetheart - you need to not engage with Longinus."
"She - he - I forgot how Longinus was when I left -"
"She."
"Thank you. She is doing something. Joseph was shaking his head at me when Longinus was speaking; and honestly? That tells me she wasn't actually speaking the real reason why she was sending him home."
"I got the same feeling, but -"
"So I should simply let her treat our allies fouly so she can cover up whatever the hell it is she is doing?"
"Sweetheart, I am not-"
"Because I refuse to do that! She sent Joseph to his death for the sake of-!"
"Red -"
"And silence is ridiculous when -!"
"Harley!"
He would quiet as Emilia spoke.
"Harley, look. I know where you are coming from - I don't like the idea of doing nothing either, I don't! But what can we do, hmm?" She would lean forwards as she spoke, resting her chin on her hand. "If we got aggressive, sure. We could handle Scramble. You and I together could potentially handle Longinus herself; but Shadow? You want to test your mettle against Divinity?
"These two would help us!" Vogel declared, gazing back and forth from Timor and Spero; but Timor would be the one to speak.
"Red, we would, and we will if it ultimately comes to blows; but what would that solve?" Timor shook his head as Vogel opened his mouth to reply, and he stopped, the Angel continuing.
"We should bide our time in silence. We are all needed to work together to take down this Prime Evil, and while we do so we can listen and learn, keeping an eye on Longinus and her followers, while we do what we need to. And when the opportunity arises? Then we make our move."
Vogel stood there, his fist clenched as he growled, but would turn his head as Spero gently squeezed his arm.
"Sweetheart - what would it serve if you died fighting them?" She asked, her tone gentle. "Your family needs you to come home."
He sighed, and raised his gloved right hand to Spero's and gently squeezed it, then spoke.
"You are right… All of you are." He shook his head once more, then would speak to the Angel beside him.
"The rings - they are still functional, right?"
She would nod, and would give his hand another squeeze before pulling away, heading to Timor's side.
Vogel would stand in silence for a moment, then stared upwards, speaking quietly.
"I hope everything is okay at home." He muttered, then turned as someone knocked on the door.
Frisk shook her head and blinked, trying to refocus on where she was.
"Fucking intrusive ass memories." She furiously tried to remember what she was saying, ignoring the side glances that Undyne was giving her.
"S-so." She stammered, "As I was saying, my call to arms didn't not really get international coverage, so I have come here today to request official permission to draft a statement to our neighbours that we need aid."
The members of the Ebott City Board - Humans, elderly ones at that - would all mutter amongst themselves, with one shaking her head before loudly saying.
"And who would come?" She demanded, a single eyebrow raised. "Why would anyone come, to aid such a youthful and inexperienced leader?"
Frisk scoffed, holding her hands out in front of her as she spoke. "Would you rather do nothing, and let these people storm our homes?"
"Ms. Dreemurr, I would like to remind you that with the guards you have strolling down the streets every day, you might as well have! People are terrified! Why don't you just request to enforce a martial law while you are at it?"
"Are you dense?" Frisk replied indignantly. " I would never demand martial law unless doing otherwise would put the very citizens I am trying to protect at risk!"
Another wave of muttering would break out over the room, and Frisk sighed, holding two fingers to the center of her forehead.
"Look - You need to understand that despite my troops being about twenty-thousand strong, that is nothing compared to what the NHDS is building."
"And how do you know this?" Another board member would ask.
"Simple math." Frisk replied, and would hold up three fingers. "Firstly - they had a lot of supporters last time, even without an official army being built. Secondly, I would estimate that of the remnants of the Ebott Royal Army, twenty percent were killed in the initial raid that took all the leaders, ten percent chose not to fight anymore, and thirty percent answered my call."
"So even if I am wrong about how many chose not to fight, I know for a fact that they at least have an army of my size from my spy."
"And lastly - while I have not issued any messages worldwide - because you won't let me - they have. Their leader is Pride, one of the two surviving Lieutenants from last time; and you can literally go on YouTube and find her statements to recruit that were on the news! She is building more support every day, and I am stagnating!"
"And maybe we should just - not respond?" The first board member would say, shaking her head. "What if you are wrong? I mean, look at you!"
Frisk would glance down at herself, then back at them, confused.
"You are armed! A sword on your belt, a fully automatic rifle at your back. Your armed guards, all geared to the teeth - and what a guard it is? Isn't that one my granddaughter's gym teacher? That one is the bar owner in town, and the other a famous star?"
Her gaze would focus on Sans, and he would grin, his eyes going dark. "Aren't - you have to be that guy that was on the news, aren't you? That 'Reaper'?"
"no. ya must have me confused for someone else." Sans would say with a shrug. "'m far too lazy to be a 'reaper' of some sort. only here to keep a promise i made."
"Whatever. My point is - look at you and your ensemble! Your very presence is inciting violence!"
"How fucking moronic-!" Frisk would begin to shout, before catching herself and taking a deep breath. In, out, in, out. Okay.
"Are you seriously not going to recognize that my reformation and organization of my late brother's MHDS from a militia to an army was a reply to the information that the NHDS had split our army - the very thing protecting us - into disarray?"
She wouldn't respond, so Frisk pressed on.
"Violence is here if you like it or not. We will have to fight, no matter what! Why is it that you cannot understand that? I don't know if you are okay with keeling over and dying the moment they tell you to, but I'm not."
Frisk folded her arms behind her back and shook her head, gazing out over the meeting's congregation. "And… I…"
She would raise an eyebrow, staring hard into the crowd - and one would grin at her.
"Aren't…"
Frisk would pull up her shield and shout "Hit the dirt!" as several members of the crowd would rise, the one she had been staring at drawing a pistol and firing at her while the others summoned their weapons, charging towards the guards present at the meeting as an explosion sounded from outside - an assault had begun out there too, no doubt.
"How did I not realize? How did now one realize -!" Frisk thought furiously as she was engaged by a few people. That had been Amy! The soul of Cruelty that attacked her house!
Frisk growled as she parried a few strikes, pulling up a wall between two of her assailants and thrusting outwards with her hands, shoving them both to the ground; lopping the head off of one as she passed them, the hairs on the back of her neck would rise as she heard the familiar hum of the Gaster Blaster as it charged and fired - glancing over, she would see that Freddy and Dawn were still covering and protecting Sans, who was hiding behind shields they were using to cover him as he reserved his energy for magic instead of dodging.
The Blaster's hum would be accompanied with the blasts of the Neo Cannon - and then Frisk's attention returned to the field as she engaged a man with pure white irises.
Corrupted by Aggression.
He would roar and swing down a pair of axes at her, but would grunt before he was even able to do anything; a large spear had been thrown and impaled into the back of his head.
Undyne, no doubt.
Frisk paid it no mind, instead charging forwards, aiming for Mettaton and Amy - he was under assault from the Lieutenant, and was losing quite badly, the armour of his Neo MKII body was beginning to shatter, and Frisk watched in horror as Amy slammed him into a wall and tore off the arm with the Neo Cannon.
"No!" Frisk screamed, throwing her sword at Amy - Amy dodged, with the blade imbedding in the wall, but Frisk had already slung her rifle off her shoulders and into her hands, opening fire onto her as she ran.
Frisk gritted her teeth - the recoil of this weapon was fairly hard to handle at full auto like this - and would pour more magic into her arms and back, fortifying herself to keep on target while moving.
And - Amy was caught off guard. The first few shots sprayed across her stomach, and she stumbled backwards, throwing up a shield to catch the bullets as Frisk approached - but the shield was cracking; the effort clearly too much with the injury.
And absolutely too much to maintain as Frisk dropped the gun and slammed right through the shield, tackling Amy and throwing her into the far wall - and sprint overm seizing her by the throat.
"You… Will… Burn…" Amy coughed out, and Frisk shook her head.
"Please. I've been through hell, and I will just come back singing." She replied, and swung Amy to the side, using the sword impaled in the wall to decapitate her.
Around them, the sounds of combat were beginning to die down as the last of the assailants were struck down; Undyne and Sans had already grabbed Mettaton; Sans taking the three of them through a shortcut out, as Freddy, Dawn, and Grillby would come over to Frisk.
She was staring down at Amy's corpse, shaking her head.
"Freddy." Frisk said, turning her head to face him. "Call Alphys, tell her and Sans to issue a statement out to the leaders of all the neighbouring regions - hell, around the continent. Tell them that a war is coming. Tell them that they will need to ally with a side, because the NHDS has no jurisdiction they respect."
"Tell them that they will need my help."
Freddy nodded, and turned away, pulling out his phone; and Frisk stared at her hands - at the ring that she had been given.
"Harley - I don't know if you can hear me, but I need you here. We need you here. What is coming is bigger than any of us."
"Please - come home."
A/N - Three Chapters Until Arc V
