Alex yanked at the blanket he was still securely wrapped in as Sans teleported to his room. He tore through his closet and dresser, tossing things out of the way and aiming a few articles at his mattress. Sans found he had automatically pulled out what he had worn in that coma induced dream of his that still haunted his dreams as regularly as any Gaster related nightmare. He had really liked the outfit at one point but now he could use it to fight in without fretting of losing a good shirt or a comfy pair of shorts. Heavy footfall was heard on the stairs and he was soon joined by Papyrus carrying Alex as he tossed a pair of Alex's jeans onto the bed next to a long sleeve shirt and a random t-shirt he had come across. The extra layers would do Alex some good. Sans dressed quickly before helping his brother aid Alex in dressing as well.
Worry gnawed at Sans's soul. He could feel Alex shaking beneath his careful hands as he helped the human into the jeans as Papyrus went digging through the mess around them. Alex needed to recover, not go head first into a battle. Sans helped Alex into the t-shirt as he urged softly. "You should be staying here."
Alex gave him a tired smile, his expression tight around the edges once his head came free of the fabric. "I can't. I'll worry myself to death if I do that." The dark humor was unwanted by the two skeletons. It wasn't helped by the soft beeping coming from the heart monitor on Alex's wrist. Alex didn't apologize. "Besides, I know how to shut down the main systems, how to keep the place from blowing a hole to the Overworld. It'll keep me out of harm's way and useful."
Papyrus draped a leather jacket across Alex's shoulders, passing Sans an all too familiar blue jacket. Papyrus cupped the side of Alex's head. "Just don't overdo it. We don't want to lose you for real this time.
Alex nodded. "I'll do what I can."
There was a brief stop at the door for shoes before the trio stepped out into the snow. As much as Sans was eternally grateful the Lab was within the Snowdin region, he cursed the distance they had to cover to get there. Alex was shoved onto Papyrus's back by both skeletons before the human could even think of running said distance. With their sick human secured, Sans led the way, Papyrus easily keeping pace.
The sounds became understandable long before they actually saw anything. By that point, Sans was really hurting - they didn't need to breathe, not really, but damn if it didn't feel like he was suffocating - but he wasn't going to say anything. Instead, he looked to Papyrus and Alex. A sort of scream roar echoed through their heads and Sans watched as Alex flinched, his grip around Papyrus's neck tightening as the human buried his face in the crook of his arm. The lanky skeleton sent a look to Sans. Sans nodded. They would do everything in their power to get this done quickly so that they could get Alex home.
Sans caught glimpses of a black mass nearly as tall as the Lab itself through the trees. He shuddered, risking a glance at his brother and Alex again. Papyrus's wide sockets spoke too clearly that he had seen it. Thankfully Alex still had his face hidden.
Sans ran harder.
They came to a side entrance, both brothers breathing heavily but too pumped with adrenaline to care. Sans grabbed the back of Alex's coat, guiding him off of Papyrus's back as he rattled off, "Get inside, help with the shut down, then get as far from here as you can. We'll keep the attackers out of the lab for as long as we can manage. You just make sure it's not going to explode when they do."
Alex nodded and slipped through the side entrance. Sans grabbed his brother's hand and teleported them to the battle field.
It was utter chaos. Already a fourth of the forces trying to keep Gaster at bay had been wiped out. Distorted creatures were coming out from every part of the dark mass. Left eye ablaze with blue magic, Sans summoned an array of blasters and let loose. White blue beams of burning magic shot out of the skulls, decimating the creatures oozing out of Gaster's inky blob of a form but seemed to have no affect on Gaster himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught flashes of white orange beams of magic. Only once did Sans allow himself a glance at his brother.
Papyrus, ever the caring soul, had dived right in. His bone attacks were controlled and organized, taking out enemies without the threat of injuring an ally. The fact that Papyrus was able to simultaneously let loose bone attacks with such precision and do the same with blasters of his own without even looking left Sans with a sense of awe and pride. Even one of Papyrus's blasters suddenly materialized beside him, taking out an attack Sans had left himself open to. Sans focused back on his surroundings and patted the massive skull. "Thanks, bro," he muttered as the skull disappeared. "I can take it from here."
Where his brother had finesse, Sans had raw power. He reached out with his magic, turning every soul his magic touched blue. There was a brief flash of worry as he started clamping down on souls. Would he be able to tell the difference between the creatures and his allies or would they be indistinguishable under his magic?
It turned out to be a non-issue. The first time he moved people out of the way, he was startled to see no creatures caught up in the blue magic. He happily disintegrated the open targets. The second time, he actually focused and discovered something that made his figurative skin crawl.
The creatures had souls but the souls were and weren't there, as if each soul of every creature Gaster had brought with him was on the brink between existing and not. Sans was at least grateful he didn't have to work more that he had to when using the blasters in such a way. He was already straining.
Though full of raw magic, it was extremely difficult to control and maintain a steady stream of over an extended period of time and he found his magic draining far faster than he would have liked.
His blasters suddenly shattered and Sans crashed to his knees from the backlash. Sweat beading his brow and body shaking, Sans tried to reign in what magic remained.
Movement to his left forced him to dodge a melee attack from one of the creatures. He'd let himself get surrounded.
Bones embedded each creature as he spun, making sure each attack hit the intended mark. The souls that were there and yet not dusted on impact but the bodies of the creatures seemed to disintegrate and liquefy at the same time. Sans flinched as splash back splattered his clothes and face as his shoes slid in the liquid remains. He rubbed at the splatter on his cheek, making a face at the substance. "Ok, that's just gross," he voiced to no one in particular. Oh how he wished he could just use his blasters indefinitely. A glance at Papyrus, though, showed that Papyrus was covered in whatever these creatures turned into with death and that the blasters Papyrus was using had settled on a specific count and were doing short, precise blasts. Sans envied his brother's tactical mindset.
Turning back at the swarm closing in around him, Sans gave them all a grin as he pulled at the world, appearing high above the mass of creatures. A quick brush of magic confirmed that there were no allies blended in with the hoard beneath him as he started to fall back towards the ground. His grin grew as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers. An obscene amount of bones shot out of the ground, impaling the majority of the hoard but a small number got lucky. Sans moved his arm, a barrage of bones appearing around him in the air. He snapped again and the bones rained down on the surviving creatures. He pulled at the world before he could fall much farther. His shoes squelched in the remains but he kept his footing with ease.
With an unobscured view of the battlefield, he was nearly re-acquainted with dinner.
Bodies, dust, and the liquid like remains of the creatures made the grass turn into a muddy mess, dust, blood, and creature remains creating a sort of tar like substance that clung to everything and made it even harder to move. But what made him want to vomit the most were the human remains that stayed behind instead of dusting like monster forms did. What remained of the humans was the perfect indicator on just how vicious and vile the creatures actually were.
"They've breached the lab!"
Sans's magic turned to ice on his bones at the cry. Sans spun around, taking in the massive hole in the front of the lab. There was still a line of monsters and humans holding the creatures back but it wasn't going to be enough. The line was already within the lab walls. One good push from the creatures and all would be lost.
He sneered. Throwing him magic outward, blue bones erupted between the horde and those holding the line, effectively killing a number of the creatures and blocking the hole in the process.
Sans staggered. He wouldn't be able to hold it for much longer. He had used the Gaster blasters for too long, had been fighting too hard.
"Sans!"
His head whipped around, finding Papyrus running towards him. Two creatures launched themselves at the lankier skeleton but Papyrus didn't even spare them a glance, sending a bone through each. Sans winced and focused back on his attack. The creatures were pounding on the bones, trying to get through, but they were killing themselves or their fellow creature as they started to try and scale the things to get in. Blue bones were meant to do damage on moving creatures and stationary blue bones meant that stationary creatures weren't getting through. But blue bones took a lot of magic and far more concentration when not used in brief bursts.
Magic flared at his side as Papyrus came to a stop beside him. All the monsters and humans between them and the gaping hole were picked up by Papyrus's blue magic and suspended above the creatures high enough that Sans had a clear opening. With his brother's own magical attack blended with him, a combination of blue and white bone attacks flooded their way from the temporarily patched hole in the wall, ending when the last creature between them and the lab was taken out. All of his magical attacks dissipated including the constructs that had been obscuring the hole in the lab and Sans crashed to his hands and knees gasping for air. He was aware of Papyrus carefully putting everyone down but that was the extent of what he could make beyond the black spots trying to take over his vision. He nearly jumped when Papyrus's hand settled on his shoulder blade.
The groan he let out was nearly obscene as his brother's magic rushed into him. The spots vanished and his brain caught on to what his brother was doing. Jerking away, he ended up on his rump even as he grabbed at Papyrus's wrist. "Pap-"
"I'll be fine, Sans," Papyrus informed him in equal parts stern and gentle. He clasped Sans's forearm in turn and resumed his magic transfer. "The blasters drain you far more than they do me. I have plenty of magic to not only give you, but to keep yourself and others safe as well."
Sans smiled weakly at his brother but before he could tell his brother just how cool he thought the other was, movement over his brother's shoulder caught his attention. His pupils vanished as his magic flared and he reflexively tightened his grip on Papyrus as he teleported them out of danger. The gaping hole in the lab arched over their heads as Sans watched a clawed, inky sludge hand slam into the ground where they had been standing only a moment before. Magic flared from his left socket as he watched Gaster's size diminish rapidly with the last of the creatures spilling out. Gaster dragging himself to the spot the brothers had just left to become a pile of inky sludge, the white mask-like face failing to hold its oval shape completely with the motion. Globs dripped off and floated about in ways that defied the laws of gravity only to be reabsorbed after floating for a short while. It was a flicker – like a trick of the light – but Sans swore he saw parts of Gaster actually glitch, distorting in places only to realign. Sans shoved at Papyrus's side, urging the skeleton into the lab as Gaster's face turned towards them and the cracked smile turned into a warped grin. Sans threw up a renewed wall of blue bones, Papyrus throwing up a second wall of blue bones just behind Sans's. Hopefully it would be enough to by them some time.
There was the sound of shattering bone from the far side and Sans winced as a chunk of his attack was taken out.
"So much for that idea," Sans offered with a weak smile. "Too many cracks."
"Sans," Papyrus groaned. "No."
Sans chuckled.
Another sound of shattering bone and the majority of what remained of Sans's attack was taken out. Sans turned to those standing about, preparing to defend the Lab, and ordered, "Get everyone out the back and loop back around to the grounds to finish off the stragglers. We've got this."
The monsters and humans complied with surprising ease and efficiency, quickly fleeing deeper into the Lab to get out again. The skeletons readied their magic as a portion of Papyrus's attack shattered into used magic and Gaster's face appeared between the bars of bone. Another swipe and the entire barrier fell.
Sans summoned two blasters as Papyrus summoned three and all five went off at once, slamming into the single point that was Gaster's face. There was a screech almost like high pitched static that scrapped like nails on chalkboard in Sans's skull. He flinched and his blasters shattered. Papyrus grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket and pulled.
A tendril sharpened to a deadly point slammed into the floor where Sans had been standing, embedding itself into the floor so deep that Sans would have been bored through till nothing was left had Papyrus not acted so quickly. Sans rotated in the air, landing hard on his feet but staying upright. His brother, as always, had a bit more finesse to his landing but that was to be expected of the armored Royal Guard that his brother was.
Said armor saved his life not a second later.
Sans hadn't even seen the attack coming but from one instance to the next Papyrus went from standing beside him to being thrown into the far wall. Sans automatically glanced towards Papyrus, taking in that his brother was most likely bruised but otherwise unharmed, before instantly regretting the motion. He pulled at the world as he turned about; the world reforming with his back to the roof till gravity took hold of him again. He had gotten lucky. Another tendril had embedded itself into the floor where he had been standing and had he not teleported when he had, he would be dust. Again.
Apparently Gaster was on to his disappearing act as five tendrils were sent his way. He dodged the first three with ease. He barely dodged the fourth, teleporting away as his sternum stun. An all too familiar slash through the front of his shirt and jacket caused him to catch the fifth in the pelvis. As fluid and goopy as Gaster looked, those sharpened tendrils were like razors, slicing through his bones like they were butter. It didn't stay imbedded, thankfully. Sans pressed a hand against the puncture wound as he spun from the attack's inertia and he used it to embed a white bone through the tendril into the ceiling, pinning the tendril there. It did nothing as the tendril only turned to goop and fell back down to Gaster.
Sans pulled at the world, skidding on the floor as his momentum transferred to the horizontal plane. His left leg gave out due to the pain in his hip. He hissed, suddenly very vulnerable.
His brother's arms were around him and they were rolling sideways as three separate tendrils embedded themselves through furniture and into the wall or floor. Papyrus's hands found their way to Sans's injuries and there was a burst of green light. The healing magic was like living fire and Sans was healed in three seconds – which was good, seeing as that was the only reprieve they had.
Sans found himself airborne again but he went with it in style. Maintaining a tight pattern, Sans unleashed a volley of bones from above as his brother countered from the ground. Gaster was hit from what seemed to be all sides but the goopy entity didn't seem to retain much damage. Sans appeared beside his brother, this time able to neutralize the change in velocity through the shift in location.
"It's like we're fighting a boss monster," Sans ground out, already feeling the wear and tear of the prolonged fight getting to him again. Every bone ached for rest and it was all he could do to keep his magic at such a high level; he was running out of reserve stamina. He had been exhausted before Gaster decided to come say hi in person. "Our attacks are doing nothing."
Papyrus grabbed his arm but Sans pulled at the world and dragged Papyrus to a different location. Gaster seemed to have anticipated their move. Papyrus reacted faster than Sans did and Sans found himself deposited on the other side of the room on the upper walkway, Papyrus within reach. Papyrus crashed to his hands and knees, shaking. Near panic gripped his soul as Sans gripped his brother's arm. Words poured off his tongue as he tried to process the fact that Papyrus had just teleported them. "Pap, come on. This is no time for a freak out."
"Sorry," Papyrus responded, getting up. Sans went with him and they dashed for the nearest door. Tendrils slammed into the wall behind them and ahead of them. Sans pulled at the world, moving in short bursts in an attempt to avoid being impaled again.
Papyrus leapt over and slid under tendrils as needed. It left Sans impressed by his brother's ability to move in such ways and disappointed in himself for not being able to handle such physical movement.
That is till panic nearly made Sans trip into an incoming tendril.
He had watched Papyrus jerk back, face marred by a sneer and a touch of pain as a tendril caught the front of his neck leaving a gash that had Sans remembering things he didn't want to remember.
A white bone impaled the tendril that had missed Sans by a hair and it spurred Sans back into action. Papyrus was still alive and now was not the time to get himself killed over old fears.
H wee slammed the door open when he reached it first, stumbling when it gave far easier than he had expected. It was in his favor as a tendril shot over his head and he quickly moved to the side as it slammed downward. Papyrus wrapped his lanky arms around him and pulled, forcing both of them to dive into the left hallway. Gaster screamed in frustration.
Sans took off down the hallway, Papyrus on his heels. They had quite a bit of ground to cover before they would be able to go a different direction, let alone to a different wing, and sadly the area Gaster had attacked was perpendicular to the hallway they were in.
The wall erupted with spikes as Gaster released a volley of attacks without being able to see them. Tendrils were pulled back only to be shot through the hallway again at seemingly random intervals. Sans grabbed at Papyrus and pulled at the world.
Gaster screamed again.
Sans took the lead when the end of the hallway a floor above formed around them, booking it into the west wing.
He didn't dare use magic again.
They stopped near the middle of the west wing on the fifth floor, the top floor. Only thing above them was the roof. Sans collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath, but he wasn't completely out of steam to not return to his previous worry as Papyrus sank to the floor beside him. "What happened back there? When you had teleported us, what happened?"
Papyrus shook his head, gaze on his hands. "I don't know."
Sans put his hand out, palm up. "Give me your hand." Papyrus hesitated but Sans wasn't having any of it. "We don't have time for this, Papyrus. Give me your hand. I have to check."
Papyrus took his hand and Sans sent a burst of magic through his brother. They both flinched at the rough invasion but it was the only way Sans could get a quick but solid understanding of his brother's magical standings.
It was a mess.
While there was still so much magic housed in his brother's body, the teleportation had done some serious damage to Papyrus's magical system. There was a distortion that Sans wasn't sure he even knew how to fix and Papyrus was now losing magic as if his system had a leak somewhere. If they didn't end this quick, they would both be out of magic and in more trouble than they already were.
Sans didn't get the chance to voice this to Papyrus and, in hindsight, Papyrus probably understood the situation already.
A thick tendril crashed through the ceiling and slapped into them, sending them through the floor. Papyrus's immediate reaction protected Sans from the brunt of the attack. They slammed into the floor of the fourth level but the tendril kept going, shoving them beyond the fourth floor through the third, second, and first, into the first level of subfloors. Papyrus groaned as Sans shifted out from under his brother to look up.
His sockets widened and he blindly pulled at the world as he dragged his brother along. They appeared on the other side of Gaster as the mass of goop collided with the point they had been at, parts of Gaster splattering everywhere. Briefly suspended in the air above Gaster, Sans let off a series of attacks, unintentionally pulling on his brother's magic with his arm still firmly around Papyrus's ribs, and managed to land a good number that he hoped did some actual damage. Downside was that it drew Gaster's attention and Sans was forced to pull at the world again despite the need to counter gravity's pull.
Either Gaster knew where Sans was going to appear or Sans was becoming predicable because as Sans reoriented himself with where he had dragged them, the first thing he saw was a sharpened tendril almost touching him.
He pulled at the world again as Papyrus released several bone constructs in a desperate attempt to give them time.
"Get inside," Sans spoke, the stout skeleton's hand fisted in the back of his leather jacket as a guide off of Papyrus's back, "help with the shut down, then get as far away from here as you can. We'll keep the attackers out of the lab as best we can. You just make sure it's not going to explode if they do."
Alex gave a brisk nod before slipping through the side entrance. The task of shutting down the multiple generators was a hardy one. Nearly every major lab within the all encompassing Lab name had its own generator. Some even had multiple, his and Sans's lab being a fine example of that. They had a pair of turbine generators used for mixing elements and generating power as well as four isolated generators in case of power failure. Only down side was that any generator on – which most backup generators were to some extent due to some experiments' temperaments – could easily become a bomb with the right kind of outside influence. Brute force was a great start. Piercing the machinery was another.
He made it to the first batch of generators as a siren blared to life. He jumped, gaze snapping to the pulsing red lights. His heart was in his throat as the voice echoed from the emergency signal.
"Imminent overload detected. All personnel, shut down all generators and evacuate the building. I repeat: Imminent overload detected. All personnel, shut down all generators and evacuate the building. No generator is to be left on. Flee if in immediate danger. Imminent overload detected. All personnel, shut down all generators and evacuate the building."
The announcement continued as he turned his attention to the lab techs. He recognized none of their faces but they seemed to recognize him.
"We've got it in here, Alex," one of the techs called out, the last generator shutting down. "Head down to the main generators. We'll make sure the rest on this floor are shut down."
He gave a sharp nod even as his chest felt too tight. They were safe, they were fine. He had nothing to worry about.
He covered the heart monitor on his wrist as it started beeping softly at him.
"Be quick and try to avoid whatever is attacking the lab."
"Flee if in immediate danger," echoed his sentiments.
The technicians nodded, determination settling in their expressions.
He took off down the hall, people running this way and that, most with determined expressions despite the fear and panic coloring the edges. Other traits kept fear and panic at bay but Alex couldn't focus on the faces passing him anymore. He was already having a hard time breathing and noticing the number of strangers was not helping. He pressed on, determination be damned; perseverance was his soul trait for a reason and it wasn't about to let him down now.
The beeping from his wrist got louder and faster.
The main power generators were in the largest lower level space available in all of Snowdin Lab. Six massive generators, each on its own isolated system, were still filling the massive space with noise.
A face he half recognized approached him and relief filled the turmoil in his chest.
He still couldn't breathe.
"Generator Five," the half recognized person ordered, gesturing to the farthest generator down the left column. "They should be starting its shutdown sequence once you get there."
"And the other generators?"
A part of the humming started to gradually change pitch in the space and they both looked over to see the first generator on the left start to slow down.
"Handled. Now hurry."
Alex took off running.
He situated himself at Generator Five's large console controls once he arrived, taking up the last free space available.
"Initializing shutdown sequence," someone shouted from behind him. "Beginning sector isolation and stabilization."
Ingrained training kicked in and he automatically flipped switches to divert power and compensate for the fluctuation about to be caused for his section. The others on the large console controls around him were mirroring his actions for their sections.
"Sector Three stabilized," the person to his left shouted over the noise.
"Sector Two stabilized," he shouted as he got a number of green lights and dials in the necessary areas, the person to his right shouting at the same time, "Sector One stabilized."
"Sector Four stabilized," came the final shout farther to his left.
"Generator in the green," was faint behind him.
"Shutdown sequence proceeding. Turbine in free spin."
There was a noise from the generator beyond the console bay and the pitch began to gradually change. As much as that was a celebration in and of itself, they weren't out of the woods quite yet. He watched his section, the dials twitching and feeds fluctuating but nothing was abnormal.
"Sector Three green," came from his left.
"Sector Two green," he added.
"Sector One green," was quickly followed by, "Sector Four green."
"Siphoning off power. Applying breaking system."
The pitch of the generator started to shift faster but there were no changes to his readings. It was a long minute before he heard the much needed words: "Turbine stopped and locked. Generator Five is off."
He sighed, sagging in his chair as his section of console went dark. There were a few cheers from those around him but he wasn't celebrating just yet.
Generator Four was still running while Generator One had yet to stop completely. Generators Two and Three were whining against the braking systems but slowing. He set out to help with Four as two of those that had been with him on Five headed to One.
Alarms were blaring from the console and at least two sections were not stabilizing as they were supposed to. There were commands being shouted and Alex took half a second to see if there was anything he could do to help.
The half remembered person that had greeted him at the door was shoving him to one of the sector controls. "Take over. I have the other one."
He didn't say anything, simply went with the command and tapped the other scientist out. The scientist looked far too relieved to be trading out as a rumble filled the space that had nothing to do with the generators.
"They've breached the lab entrance!"
His hands stilled, his mind suddenly filled with worry. No, they needed more time. Surely Sans and Papyrus...Sans and...
"Come on, Fatum! Don't quit on me yet!"
The shout was almost in his left ear and he flinched away as he came back to the present. It seemed like everything was screaming at him and he quickly started typing out commands and flipping switches in an attempt to get ahead of the mess he had let fester.
Slowly lights became green and dials returned to the needed zones. He heard the faint shout from his left of Sector Four stabilizing but it wasn't enough to break his attention away from his task.
The last light turned green as the final dial fell into the proper zone and he rushed, "Sector Three stabilized!"
"Generator in the green!" There was a slight panic in the urgency of the words shouted behind him.
"Shutdown sequence proceeding! Turbine in free spin!"
It seemed the entire area held its breath as things flickered to red in the different sectors. His didn't fall back into green like it should have and he started countering the errors popping up.
More errors started to appear as the sound of Generator One vanished. Generator Four was the last one to be shut down.
"Get everyone not needed out, now!" the person to his left commanded as he frantically worked to get Sector Three green. "We'll follow as soon as we have this one shut down!"
"Sector Three," came the strangled shout from behind him. "I need you in green!"
"I'm trying!" he snapped, his words holding a frantic edge to them. The person to his left moved closer, hands filling in spaces his left behind. It took a few desperate seconds before they found a rhythm around each other before, one by one, things started returning to green.
The last one came into the needed zone and he stabbed a button, shouting, "Sector Three green!"
"Siphoning off power! Applying breaking system!"
The pitch of the generator started to shift faster. His readings fluctuated and, for a moment, he feared the worst.
"Turbine stopped and locked. Generator Four is off."
The entire room seemed to sigh in relief as everything went dark. Alex draped himself over the dark console, letting out a shaky breath. His heart was pounding in his ribs so hard that it hurt. His wrist was still beeping incensantly at him.
"Alright everyone," the person to his left – the person he half recognized – directed, standing. "Let's get out. Double check labs as you go."
There were rings of acknowledgments from those present and Alex pushed himself to his feet. The person he half recognized laid a heavy hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Go via the medical labs and offices. Make sure your friends there got out."
He frowned, not understanding for the moment it took for his brain to dredge up the yellow dinosaur monster that he had interacted with a few times and the fish monster that was usually around her. He nodded, giving the other's hand a squeeze. "See you in a bit, then."
The person gave him a brisk nod before hurrying after the others.
He stood in the dimly lit generator room for a moment, his heart still not back to a normal rate. He covered the watch style heart monitor hoping to stifle its beeping. Turning, he took off towards the medical area with the hope of not finding anyone there.