Bad Luck Gang Chapter 80
A shock of MTT theme music blasted through the VC and the screen was quickly taken up by Mettaton's pale face as he looked around, brushing a leaf from his dark hair and biting his lip.
"Well, that certainly took a turn, hm?!" He lifted the camera up in his hands and peered around. "Alright! Spybird Two activated, aaaand… Let's get back to it, shall we? Going live in three, two, one, and—" His whole demeanour brightened, eyes glittering. "Hellllooo, my darling viewers, we are coming to you LIVE from the woods just beyond the Soul of the World, where the mysterious Interloper is doing something extremely suspicious! Our dear, strong, and extremely ill-tempered Queen Undyne is mustering soldiers to go toe-to-toe with this fiend as we speak! Let's watch!"
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As Spybird Two's vision blurred with the foliage of trees and burst up into the air, Frisk's fingers gripped hard into Asriel's arms and she braced as if she was flung upwards, too. The false bird's gaze brightened with sunlight as it stared out across the grassy plain before the Soul of the World. The small mountain itself billowed its iridescent wisps across the sky as if nothing was amiss, stark contrast to the looming purple mass accumulating at its base and the dark smear of soldiers marching towards it.
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"I-It's only been a few hours, right?" Frisk said shrilly. "H-How's he doing stuff again so fast?!" She looked up at her brother. "What do we do?"
"We… We, uhhh…" Asriel tightened his grip around her, a little tremor warbling in his soul. "I dunno, but it's fine. It's fine! Undyne can handle it, right?" He looked back at the others for support.
Chara's nod was hesitant and unconvincing as her brow set into a cautious, uncomfortable frown. She put a hand on Sans's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
"But why is this hurting you?" Papyrus asked his brother shrilly. "It can't be just a coincidence, can it?"
Sans grimaced. "Ignore it," he said.
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"Looking out over the field," Mettaton announced loudly, "we can see! Our soldiers marching ahead bravely towards this mysterious Purple Dome! Now, friends, this looks to me an awful-lot like a shield of some kind, but let's move in for a closer peek. And as we do, let's outline the stats!"
The photo of Gaster flashed across the screen, with big, painted-on angry eyebrows and smokey clouds around him. A stat sheet was below, each category filled with large question marks.
"Let's recap! The Interloper! A monster! Yes, hard to believe, dear viewers, but one-hundred-percent true! With a sinister goal that is, for now, classified! Age: unknown, origin: also unknown, stats: also also unknown! But certainly a boss monster! Very, very powerful! Maybe even Platinum rank! He has engaged in combat with the guards three times now, resulting in two wins and a draw, for our side, of course."
The photo switched quickly to one of Undyne, looking like she was trying to get the camera out of her face while she was in the middle of something else. Her stats appeared beneath her as well, with each category filled with ranks from S+ to A, with the exception of Defence, which was a C.
"And our Queen! Undyne, the Spear of Justice! Look at her! Style! Grace! The fists that sank a thousand ships! The spear that jabbed a thousand—"
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"C-Can't he get back to the live stuff?!" Frisk demanded, raising her voice above the music.
"He's always like this," Chara said glumly.
"Ugh." Frisk tried to get up, but Asriel held her steady. "Az—!"
"Let's just see, it might be okay," he said tepidly.
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"—and all-around strong fish! With at least a hundred and eighty years of experience fighting hooligans, this is bound to be an interesting match! Let's all cheer her and our soldiers on!"
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Back to the live feed: Spybird Two was closer to the action now, skimming above a plain speckled with the remnants of broken autocatchers, small numbers in comparison to the ones that still poked up farther afield like the heads of suspicious serpents. The solid, purple shield was not tremendously tall but, supported by Gaster's stolen turrets, it spread almost from the edge of the field all the way back to touch the base of the mountain in a wide, oval. Soldiers— a different group, lead by Mistral— were moving in in a wedge formation, bursts of magic wind providing them a cover of disruption from the slowing blasts pelting them from the front and sides.
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"Looks like Dragonguard Mistral, Tempest of the South, is leading the secondary charge on this side!" Mettaton cheered brightly as the skeleton's photo and stats card appeared at the top right of the screen. "And is…? Oh! Looks like Spybird One is up and at 'em again! How are we doing over there?!"
Splitscreen activated to show the face of a three-eyed stork. She waved.
"That's right, Mettaton," she announced in a theatrical voice, "we were down for a moment, but it seems like the Interloper was only strong enough to hold us back until his cowardly Purple Dome was raised! Now!"
The stork's screen abruptly switched to an overhead of Undyne's group. They were blasting their way up to the dome just as Mistral's side had been.
"Looks like they're doing a boar's head into a pincer maneuver, wouldn't you say?"
"Yes, I would!" Mettaton said. "You know, this is usually a very good strategy, like it was used back at the battle of—"
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"Wait wait wait, where's the grey turret?" Frisk yelped. "Why aren't they showing that?"
"Why would they?" Chara asked.
"Is there a way to call them and make them show different stuff?!" Frisk asked.
"Uh. No?"
"Wait, why is there a grey one, anyway?" Papyrus asked. "Aren't they the colour of the magic they're loaded up w…" His eyes went wide. "Oh. Oh no. Y-You don't think—?!"
"I—! Maybe?!" Frisk squeaked. She finally pushed herself out of Asriel's grip and flopped onto the floor before hurrying to her feet. "We have to go."
"What? No!" Asriel reached for her but she stepped out of range and looked to Sans with wide, worried eyes.
"It's hurting you, right?!" she demanded.
"Kid, stop," Sans said. "I'm fine."
Frisk looked at him skeptically. His bones were a little flushed, and there was sweat beaded at his temple.
"If you want to keep everyone safe," Chara said gently, "wait."
"There's so many soldiers," Papyrus said. "He might even surrender, if he really doesn't want to hurt anyone. Right?" When nobody responded with affirmation, the skeleton looked around in puzzlement. "Nnnnot right?"
"Yeeeah, I dunno about surrender, Paps," Asriel said quietly. He got up and bent to hold Frisk's shoulder. "B-But! Um. Maybe Alphys's thing works now. So. If he doesn't get away this time—"
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Frisk groaned and hurried back to the TV, staring at it with intense red eyes as Mettaton and the stork were just finishing up a recap about some ancient battle. Her ears were deaf to their commentary as she peered insistently at the dome, trying to see anything of what Gaster was doing within. Spybird One was farther overhead. A little glint of unusual light shone from the base of the mountain and Sans drew in a sharp intake of breath.
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The kid whipped around, her eyes locking onto his. His gaze remained steady, despite the subdued discomfort on his face.
"He's trying to get in, isn't he?" she said. "He's trying to shoot into the mountain to get in there or something. Right? And the Soul's warning you. Isn't it?"
Sans didn't say a word. Frisk's eyes narrowed.
"I'm not gonna feel safe unless we're all safe," she insisted. "What happens if he breaks into the chamber from the outside like that?"
"He won't," Sans said.
"What happens if he does?"
The skeleton's expression didn't waver and his shrug was easy, but the kid saw the faintest of flicker in his eye before he shot her a tired wink.
"Dunno," he said. "Doesn't matter. He won't."
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Frisk folded her arms and glowered. "If I could get there, I could just… I could use my magic to stop him."
"Kid," Sans said sternly.
"I don't care if I get arrested!" she blurted. "I don't!"
"You…" He sat up a bit, grunting with pain.
Papyrus quickly grabbed his shoulder. Frisk's eyes went wide with worry.
"Sans?" she squeaked.
"Heh. You think this's 'bout y'gettin' arrested?" His eyes gleamed with mirth. "I mean, yeah, that's a pain, but y'know what'd be a lot more of a pain? You gettin' hurt out there."
"You can't risk a reset," Chara said.
"I…" Frisk grimaced. "I know, but—"
"Listen," Sans said, pointing at the screen. "This's hardly started, yeah? Just… give 'em a few minutes, at least?"
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Frisk's fur bristled all up and down her neck and she bit her lip. Asriel bent down and smooshed his snout against the side of her head.
"C'mon, sis, deep breaths," he said quietly.
A deep, unsettled ache roiled through her body, but she nodded reluctantly.
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"And we're through!" Mettaton announced.
Frisk turned quickly and everyone's attention was back on the VC screen. At almost the same moment, Mistral and Undyne's groups had broken through the purple barrier. A layer of it collapsed back, only for another to reform, guarded by the repurposed autocatchers. The grey one peeked up and Frisk yelped and pointed. She could have sworn she recognized some of the components attached to its side, but it ducked down and away too quickly to tell and just in time to get out of the way of the others turrets' opening fire. The soldiers' shield wall raised again and torrents of water and wind sprayed out to neutralize the attack as best they could.
"Annnnd they're engaging!" Mettaton called. "A masterful maneuver, wouldn't you say?"
"They're absolutely steamrolling the defences, Mettaton," the stork said. "Let's see if they can keep it up!"
"Of course they can! They're—!"
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Chaos erupted in the soldiers below and Mettaton let out some alarmed bleeping as autocatchers burst up directly beneath them, knocking armoured monsters about like rag dolls. Undyne shouted something and the formation changed to protect their flanks and rear, but more of the turrets pushed up from the earth and began to shoot. Monsters tagged with the purple magic were bowled over and stuck in place.
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"C-Crap," Frisk squeaked.
"Nyoooh no, that looks bad," Papyrus said. He looked, wide-eyed, at his brother. "Sans, are you sure we shouldn't…?"
Sans stayed still, though his fingers were clenched into his shirt. "Just wait."
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Undyne's roar could be heard even from the Spybird's height. She and the group she lead smashed forward, magic bolts hurtling into the autocatchers, blasting them to bits before crashing into the next layer of barrier.
"Looks like we're still pushing forward, darlings!" Mettaton said. "What a twist! And—! What's that?!"
Spybird Two zoomed in on a form racing along the top of the purple dome— Leirak. A cutaway, blurry photo of him appeared in the corner with stats marked in question marks, with the exception of speed, which was ranked an S.
"Looks like a mysterious new soldier is taking it upon himself to try to strike right at the heart of the problem! Let's all cheer him on!"
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Leirak sped ahead like an arrow loosed, but as he closed in on the Soul of the World's mountain home, he began to slow, his feet pulling up bits of purple as if they were sticky spiderweb.
"Is this possible?! The Interloper is changing his barrier behind the scenes?!"
"All it takes is a little reorganizing of autocatchers, Mettaton, and it's very possible!" the stork voiced. "A barrier can just as easily become a trap!"
"It looks like the soldiers are having a bit of trouble with it, darling!"
He was right— Spybird One showed, though the soldiers were blasting through chunks of barrier heading towards the mountain, some of those who came into contact with it were getting stuck, having to be yanked back by their comrades.
"Absolutely," said the stork, "and that might be a problem because their numbers were already way below what we know Queen Undyne would want for a mission like this! With our forces spread thin over the Kingdom, and with several units-worth of the capital's forces out of commission, this may be a little more difficult to pull off than it would be on a normal day!"
"Will they have to draw back and wait for reinforcements?" Mettaton wondered. "I sure hope not!"
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Leirak pushed on, undaunted, despite seeming to see something below him. He galloped, eyes focussed forward as large, white, draconic skulls drifted upwards as if raising from a bog. He didn't even turn to look and a loud whistle sounded. Something struck into the blaster skulls before they'd even begun to aim and they shattered. Mettaton whooped as the kids watching from the throne room all wilted with relief.
"Looks like we have a sniper in the wings! Who was that, darling, did you catch it?"
"I did not!" crooned the stork. "Which means we've got Archwizard Alphys to thank for whoever it is!"
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Leirak skittered to a halt, magic raising in a bright, red glow around his shoulders. He braced his feet and opened his jaws to blast a beam straight down underneath him.
"He's trying an energy beam!" Mettaton announced. "Let's see if it pays off!"
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Sans leaned forward a little. Chara shot him a sideways glance. Spybird Two zoomed in slowly, and Frisk folded her arms tight, her fingers clenched into her sleeves.
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The planty monster faltered. Stumbled. Then, purple engulfed him, and he was dragged down into the depths of the barrier without a trace.
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Frisk let out a yelp and both announcers erupted into loud, competing commentary. More monsters stuck to the barrier were taken as, at the same moment, a dozen blaster skulls breached the magic layer to engage with the group. Monsters turned to protect their sides and counterattack as Undyne plunged ahead with water and ice unfurling before her like a tidal wave.
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The earth cracked. A grey turret shot up from the ground in the middle of the soldiers and—
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Detonated.
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A huge burst of grey energy seeped from the blast like a volcanic eruption and, just like that— aside from a few stragglers— the battle was silent. Statuesque. Blasters and soldiers stuck in tableau. The turret's own shards suspended in clear monochrome. All but the edge of Undyne's attack stuck in time, the far end of the torrent collapsing and sloshing uselessly to the grass.
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"Wait, what?! What just happened?!" Mettaton demanded, switching his screen to a hand-held shot of himself. His eyes were wide and alarmed as he pointed back at the mountain from the edge of the woods. "Did you just see that? Did our cameras break?!"
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A horrified chill clouded the throne room. Whatever that monster was rambling about now, Frisk couldn't hear it through the blood rushing in her ears. Her eyes misted and she wiped them quickly.
"Nope nope no way, I'm going," she announced, storming off towards the door.
"Wait, wait, I gotta…!" Asriel fumbled to scoop up some watermelons. "I'm not ready, I—!"
"Let me," Papyrus said, grabbing a couple fruit and a handful of seeds. "Oh! We should load them up, I need to make more potions, I'll just run to—"
"Wait." Sans reached out, his magic seizing blue onto Frisk's soul for just long enough to pause her, freezing the rest of the group in apprehension as well.
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The kid whipped around, and all eyes followed hers to land squarely on Sans. He was up on his feet now, but he didn't look good— still a little flushed, still too sweaty; a soft rattle running from his shoulders down his spine. The blaze in Frisk's eyes dimmed.
"I'm not letting him hurt you," she said, and she gestured at the VC, "and I'm not letting him do that to them!"
"I…" He sighed. "I know." He smiled sideways. "Saw a small chance that your new pal mightta broken through, but—"
"He didn't." She puffed herself up. "So we gotta."
"Still bait."
"I don't care."
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"Me neither," Papyrus said, quickly shoving some plants into his pockets. "Sans, he's hurting you with whatever he's doing, whether he means to or not, and what he did to all the soldiers, I can't…! Nyeh!" He hurried to turn down the MTT music and Mettaton's shrill narration.
"Finally," Chara said under her breath.
"ANYWAY!" Papyrus announced. "Frisk's right. We're going."
Sans grimaced. "…Can't stop ya." He smiled apologetically. "Can't really help much either."
"He's out this time," Chara said, patting Sans on the shoulder. "I'll… Damn. I'll go grab mom?"
"Y-Yeah, definitely do that," Asriel said.
"Try, but it's a long shot," Sans said.
Chara nodded. She hurried past the others, but Frisk grabbed her quickly and leaned in close.
"Does my ring work backwards?" she asked. "With the portals?"
"Uh. It'll get you to towns from here and back," Chara said. "But that's about it. Not the Soul, if that's what you're thinking."
The kid nodded. "I… I don't wanna wait, but…" She held out the dove medallion. "If we have to, we have to."
Chara raised her brows, but she took it and put it back around her neck. "I don't know, uh… Damn, but maybe a town is better?" She looked at Sans. "So we don't walk into him face-first?"
Sans could only shrug.
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"Okay, okay okay, so what do we…?" Frisk blinked. "When the autocatchers got me, where did I end up? When I was with, um, Blueberry?"
"When what who?!" Asriel called.
Staring into Frisk's eyes, a flicker of a scheme lit on Chara's face. Her lips twisted into a conniving smile. "You're a smart little weirdo, aren't you?"
"Y'think so?!"
"What's going on?" Asriel demanded. He had taken his hoodie off and was trying— with only moderate success— to load watermelons into it.
"Oh, here!" Frisk hurried to take the sweatshirt from him and began to fashion it into a sack. "You gotta use the sleeves to tie it, see?"
"She's thinking we go underground," Chara said.
"Oh yeah?! Can we?!" Asriel asked.
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The freckled girl turned her gaze on Sans. She hurried to him and held his shoulders. "Think you can do one warp?"
"Kid, you don't gotta wor—"
She grabbed his face in both hands and glared into his eyes. "Stop being so stubborn!"
Sans's grin spread. He carefully ruffled her hair. "I can do one."
"Okay!" She whipped around and jog towards the door. "Meet you!"
"Nyeeeh, I'm coming, too!" Papyrus said, chasing her down and scooping her up as he ran straight out past the flipped throne.
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Sans's shoulders sagged. He sighed and his hand settled against his soul spot once more. "Damn."
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The scene on the VC hadn't improved one bit. In fact, Mettaton and the three-eyed stork were together now, ducked down behind some bushes as Gaster's phantom hands flitted about in the air. Both looked incredibly concerned.
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Frisk was staring at it. Sans caught her eye and his brow bent apologetically. She tilted her head in puzzlement.
"Frisk?!" Asriel's bleat took her attention right away. He had the makeshift sack slung over his shoulder and was scrabbling over the trays of food that had been left for them across the tables. "Yo, which fruit grow from stuff?!"
"Um, all of them?" she said.
"I mean, which ones have seeds?! What if they're baked?! Does it still work?!" His eyes were wide and filled with panicked urgency.
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Frisk rushed to the table. Her brother's paws were already stained pink from the remaining slices of melon he'd left in an eviscerated heap of mush. She skimmed everything quickly and plucked the fresh blackberries off some little cakes and tossed them to him.
"These grow on bushes, they're really prickly," she said.
"Okay. Okay, good!" He almost shoved them into his pocket before reconsidering and stashing them in a cloth napkin first. He hefted a bowl of salad up, too. "What about this?!"
"I have no idea," she said. "But we gotta go. Grab some apples, they do trees."
"Right. Right, right, yeah." He did as she said and looked to Sans. "A-Are you okay to—?"
"Have t'be," Sans said. He took Frisk by the hand and grabbed Asriel's arm. "Ready?"
"Go," Frisk said.
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Light fell away with the shift and the three of them were left in darkness save for a faint blue glow shining through Sans's shirt. Asriel grunted and stumbled back into a solid dirt wall and Sans dropped to his knees. Frisk squeaked and caught him as best she could, lowering them both to the ground carefully. He grumbled out a curse under his breath but couldn't seem to get his feet under him. The kid winced and held him tight, gritting her teeth, her ears pinning back and the red of her eyes gleaming.
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She was going to stop Gaster. She had to. She just had to get close enough.
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"I'm fine, kid," Sans said after a moment.
She didn't believe him, but she made a small sound of affirmation anyways and carefully released him.
"Where are we? A tunnel or something?" Asriel asked.
"Yeah." Sans huffed as he slowly stood up, reaching down to pull Frisk with him. His breath dragged and he submerged the blue glow beneath his hand. "Crap."
"M-Maybe you should rest," Frisk said.
"Plannin' on it," he joked. "We're, uh, just outside the autocatcher network. Near where the people who get autocaught end up."
"So are there guards down here?" Asriel wondered. "Someone who could help?"
"Shouldn't be," Sans said. "Evacuated early."
"Where's that huge spider?" Frisk asked. "I thought he was staying?"
"Dunno." Sans's eye lit up bright, the glow lighting the tunnel enough to show they were right in a bend. He folded his arms tight to his chest and his sharp teeth parted for just a moment, letting out a long, low breath. Then, he settled, and the light dimmed to just that of his soul. "Don't think I see myself findin' him here." He grunted and put a hand to his head. "Shit."
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Frisk's brow furrowed and her face twisted with worry. Asriel bent and picked up Sans, to the skeleton's audible surprise, and then gave Frisk a nudge.
"Come on, maybe we can get started, uhh…" He hurried off around the corner and Frisk rushed to keep up. "I mean, I dunno what we're doing."
A warm glow ebbed down the tunnel from a larger opening before them. They raced towards it.
"What's the plan?" Asriel asked.
"Get to the guy," Frisk said. "Free the others."
"In that order?"
"I dunno, uhh…"
"Do that," Sans said. "Can't be a sittin' duck if…" He shivered. "I-If there's nobody shootin'." He winked. "That's a human expression, right?"
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The room they came to was all stone, smelling faintly of char and sweet coffee. There was a fireplace in the centre, burning low. A large box of discarded blankets and scarves sat on one side, while there was a little table, stool, and a stack of papers at the other. A mug near the fire was half-full and a kettle lay on its side just a few steps away.
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"Okay," Asriel said as he carefully put Sans down on the stool. "So we aim for the mountain."
"Yeah," Frisk said.
"We breakin' this barrier down?"
"We'll have to, to let Alphys in, right?" Frisk said. Her throat dried. "Oh. O-Oh, crap, I hope she's okay." She turned to Sans. "Is there any way to check on her?"
"You got a tracker crystal?" he asked.
She fished in her pocket and pulled out the small one Chara had given her when they'd first gone to the city. "This?"
Sans nodded, so she tossed it to him. He began to drum his thumb against it.
"There's, uh, tapping language. We got some codes," he said. "If she's near, I got 'er."
"Ugh, crap!" Asriel bonked himself in the forehead. "I should have given Chara my phone!"
"S'okay, I-I'm sure they'll find us," Frisk said. "She knew what I meant, so—"
"I don't think Toriel can fit down here."
"Probably not. Um." The kid looked around. "Um. Is this a dead end? Is there a way to get, like, underneath him from here?"
"Secret doors," Sans said, pointing across the room at absolutely nothing conspicuous.
"You wanna underground sneak attack him?" Asriel said.
"Yeah. He can see, like, everything around, right? With his extra hands?" Frisk said.
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Asriel grimaced. He clasped his stained paws together, fangs flashing in the dim light. "This friggin' guy… What does he even want here?! What's he even doing?!"
"I'd guess he probably wants Soul power for something," Frisk said. "It's kinda like the CORE, right? It's super strong in there. But if he can't use portals, he's stuck trying to break in like a creep."
"Or maybe Toriel scared him off," Asriel suggested under his breath. He shook his head. "Bah, no way. Ugh, he knows we already fought today, right? Couldn'ta given us until tomorrow?!"
"Why would he?" Frisk said. Her stomach tightened and twisted. She had to take a deep breath to fight off the nausea. "Maybe we should change our name to the Bad Luck Brigade."
"No way. We're gonna get him." He looked very serious. "We have to. This is nuts."
"I'm gonna get him," the kid said sturdily.
"…Kid, what exactly are ya thinkin'?" Sans asked.
"We get me close. Don't care how," Frisk said. "I'll use my magic on him. I'll… I'll freeze him. Until they can arrest him."
"You gettin' close to him is probably the worst thing you could do. Y'know that, right?"
"Yeah, duh, of course!" she said, eyes wide. "But what else can we do?!" She clenched her fists, her heart pounding. Her cheeks flushed hot under her fur. "I-If I had just done that sooner, then… Then you wouldn't be…"
"I'm not sure you had much an option," Asriel said quietly.
"I could have! I should have just tried harder," Frisk said sharply.
"Chill," Sans said, his voice rasping a little. "I'm gonna be just fine."
"We don't know that!" Her voice shot out a lot more shrilly than she'd intended. She gulped and tried to settle despite her insides writhing. She stared at the floor as a shameful heat coursed all over her body. "…Sorry. Y-Yeah. I'm… I'm sure you'll be okay."
Asriel's ears drooped. He went to Frisk and dipped to hold her shoulders. "He's gonna. Promise. We'll get you to Gaster." He cupped her face to draw her eyes up to his. "What do you need me to do?"
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Frisk gulped, fighting back tears. She quickly wiped her eyes and racked her brain. She didn't know that she was cut out for battle plans, but ran through all the things she knew her friends could do: fire, falling stars, plant growth, enchanted weapons, smoke bombs, bone walls; false blasters. Sans was down for the count, so his methods of distraction were out. If Toriel could make it, that would be a game changer, but would she have problems with the barrier since it was set up by another boss monster?
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"I, um… I think we gotta…" Her ears perked to a distant sound and a small alert triggered in the back of her mind.
Asriel straightened up a bit, too, but as it drew closer— a light scuffing of hurried boots— he relaxed. After just a moment, Papyrus raced into the room the same way they'd come from, stalling himself just before he tripped over Frisk.
"Oops! Friends! Brother! Chara's on her way," he said, his voice warbling as he tried to catch his breath. "She sent me ahead to— whew! L-Let you know, mom's going to try to come."
"Try to?" Asriel repeated worriedly.
Papyrus nodded. "She's a little under the weather, but she's going to try to gather up some reinforcements and then head in to meet us as soon as she can. Sans, are you okay? You look awful!"
Sans shrugged.
"Then we can open the way for her, right?" Frisk said. She looked at Asriel. "Maybe we can use your fruit to like, blow some of the autocatchers up from underneath. Like, a bunch of them at once so it's harder to replace them, y'know?"
The goat boy's eyes widened. He looked to Papyrus. The skeleton grinned. He opened his coat to show his fully-stocked bandolier of potions.
"I'm sure we have something in here to help," he said. He slid over to the opposite wall and pressed on a perfectly average-looking stone, and a doorway opened up where there hadn't been one before. "Follow me, I've been through here a few times before! Sans, rest up, okay?!"
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The tall skeleton raced away down the dark tunnel. Asriel followed, only to double back for a moment and look to Frisk.
"You comin'?"
"I'm… gonna wait for Chara," she said. She smiled sideways and pointed upwards. "I can't really reach the ceiling anyway."
Asriel pouted. "Kay. Come soon, though, alright?"
Frisk nodded, and her brother nodded approvingly and rushed off after Papyrus.
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As soon as he left, the kid drooped where she stood and rubbed her hands over her face. She edged up close to Sans.
"Um. Anything from Alphys?"
"Nope."
Frisk grimaced. "Hope he didn't get her, too. D-D'you think she was the, um, sniper?"
"Doubt it," he said. He tilted his head towards the door. "Why don'tcha catch up with your bro? I ain't exactly in a rush to get up."
The kid quickly shook her head. Sans leaned towards her a little.
"Don't tell me you're stayin' 'cause…?"
She gulped and folded her arms, quickly puffing herself up. "Fine, I won't."
The skeleton snorted in amusement. He put a hand on her head and gently mussed up her hair. "Sorry—"
"Don't say it," she said. She made a face and blurted out a laugh, clapping a hand to the side of her snout. "Heck, I sound like you."
He chuckled, though his grin was still a little strained. He settled back and crossed his arms. "Just chill for a bit."
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Frisk copied his posture, resting her back against the wall with her eyes locked on him. A twinge ran through him, but he didn't make a sound and closed his eyes, leaning back against the table. That must've meant Gaster was back to digging, Frisk thought. She clenched her fingers into her sleeves.
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She racked her brain for some image of a plan. If that skeleton was going to be faster than her no matter what, her dodges would only help part of the time, just like when they'd fought before. She'd have to avoid his attacks, that laser that had struck Asriel… She swallowed her fear at the thought of it. The parasol might help, and her own pausing of his magic definitely would, but she wasn't sure how many things she could do at a time. With all those blasters and the phantom hands, she knew she'd get overwhelmed, and then what?
.
"Sans?" she asked. "Do you, um…? Do you have enough energy to like, look into my future?"
His eyes opened, the iris in his good eye flickering. "Yeah," he said.
"You sure?"
He beckoned her closer. Frisk hurried to him and he slid off the stool and bent to put a hand on her head and a finger on her chest.
"Go ahead," he said. "Whatcha lookin' for?"
"Just, um…? If any of these things might work?"
He closed his eyes to focus and she did the same.
"You know the drill," he said. "Make it your plan. Then…"
"Mhm." She focused her thoughts and dedicated her heart to an idea. Maybe Papyrus could throw her again and she could—?
"Nope," he said.
Frisk flinched. Okay, then, maybe by riding on Hypergoner towards—?
"Nuh-uh."
Her heart thunked. Sneaking? Running herself? Trying to freeze him from across the field? Chucking prickly bushes at his feet? Sticking him in a tree?
"Nada," Sans said. "Nothin'."
"…Nothing?" Frisk pulled back and looked at him sceptically. "What d'you mean?"
"I see it for a sec, then nothin'," he said. "Sorry. Dunno what that means."
.
Frisk scrunched up her snout, her confusion palpable. Sans sat back down and pointed down the tunnel. The kid looked, brows raising and, sure enough, she soon heard someone running towards them.
"Chara?" she asked.
"Coming!" Chara's voice bounced up the tunnel. "Did we start?!"
"Kinda?!"
"Good!"
.
Her hand on the wall as a guide, Chara came around the corner and then sprinted from the darkness. "Good news and bad news."
"Okay," Frisk said.
"Good news. Mom's up. Bad news. Can't fly. She's exhausted. She's looking for backup but most of the people in New Home that could go are already here."
"Is she really bad?" Frisk asked worriedly.
"Well, I mean, it was a lot," the girl said with a shrug. "She didn't have time to optimize the Mirror composition for magical efficiency. Obviously."
"But…" Frisk's eyes widened and her stomach flipped. "But the guy's out here now, he's not even—? Oh, crap. Crap. Ooooh no." Frisk squeezed her ears against her head. "She did all that for nothing. Oh my god, I'm so dumb—"
"She might not have," Chara said swiftly.
Frisk gritted her teeth. "She made herself exhausted for nothing because of me and now—"
"No. No, Frisk. Stop that." The girl grabbed her shoulders and looked at her sternly. "Stop. He could get away here. Then we're back to square one. And the castle'll still be safe."
"But…! Oh, crap!" Frisk's heart sunk down to the dirt. "I-I should've just turned her back in time! Why didn't I do that?!"
"You're in disguise, knucklehead," Chara said.
"That's not as important as—!"
"Yes it was." Chara glared. "You do that and we're holed up in the castle for the next few hours trying to explain to a bunch of panicked monsters that are already on high alert how a human with no bands infiltrated the city."
"Come on, Chara, they can't care about that now, can they?!" Frisk said.
.
Chara's bright eyes locked on hers, steady and unwavering. Frisk's ears drooped, but her brow furrowed.
"I-I gotta go back," she said, turning towards the tunnel. "I gotta help your mom."
"Frisk, stop." Chara grabbed her arm. "Be logical."
"I'm trying! What if she's the best shot to stop Gaster?!" Frisk said.
"And what are you going to do? She's already on her way out of the castle. You don't even know where you're going."
Frisk winced. Chara's brow bent sympathetically.
"Listen. I understand," she said. "We can set up and wait for her here or we can—"
.
A pained grunt from Sans shut her up and both kids whirled on him. He'd pitched forward on his seat a little, his hand clasped to his chest. He sucked in a deep, rattling breath.
"I'm fine," he said. "D-Don't, uh… Don't mind me."
Chara and Frisk shared a wide-eyed look. Frisk's gaze raced to the other doorway.
"Going," she said.
"Yeah," Chara agreed. "I'll deal with him. Meet you guys there." She hurried to Sans, grabbing his shoulders to help prop him back up. "You must be really sick; how did you suddenly become the worst liar I've ever heard?!"
He laughed hoarsely.
.
Frisk booked it down the unfamiliar tunnel, rushing as fast as she could along a path of twisted dirt and rock halls, marked roughly by fallen watermelon seeds. Up a long set of stone steps, she found a new chamber and set of hallways, all laid in smooth stone bricks and lit dimly with crystals. It reminded Frisk a little of the underground of the lab, save for the ceiling, which looked to be raw earth. Somehow, there were disks of colour— mostly purple— glowing above as if seen through wax paper.
.
One of the few blue disks vanished. Frisk jolted and went stiff, holding her breath as she locked onto the spot. Nothing more than that happened. She huffed and took off again.
.
As she cleared what must have been the equivalent of a few street blocks, she caught sight of markers of bone jabbed into the ceiling alongside some of the purple disks. There was also a few full-sized watermelons shoved into holes there, too. She followed the bones, except where the dropped seeds contradicted them.
.
Alongside wide chambers like the first one she'd entered, there was also a gridwork of halls and a few smaller rooms hidden away behind closed doors marked with all kinds of symbols. One that was open gave Frisk pause. Inside was a crescent-shaped desk and a bunch of tiny marbles laid out on a slate covered in little holes. There were several large, flat prisms upright before it, but all of them were dim. Cautiously, she snuck in to get a closer look. The marbles were actually on a map, with a big blank circle in the middle to represent the mountain, she guessed.
.
She almost jumped right out of her fur when one of the marbles moved on its own, rolling into another slot elsewhere on the map. She leaned over, blinking and wide-eyed. The marbles didn't form a full outline, but she was positive that part of Gaster's barrier was marked here. She cautiously touched one of the marbles, but it seemed as if it was sealed in place. That is, until another one from one side of a small grouping near the mountain shifted a little on its own.
.
The slate was large, but it wasn't nailed down, so Frisk heaved it off the desk and made off with it. One of the marbles shifted across and she was sure it wasn't her doing because, after a minute, it rolled right back to where it had started, even if she was holding the thing lopsided.
.
It wasn't much longer before she caught a glimpse of white and orange speeding by between halls.
"Guys?" she called.
Papyrus instantly doubled back and rushed to her as Asriel poked his head out from around the corner.
"What's that?!" he called.
"Let me…" Papyrus carefully picked the thick map board she carried up and then let out a shrill gasp. "Gasp! Great find, friend!"
"What is it?" Asriel asked again as he caught up. "What's going on, did Chara find you?"
"Y-Yeah," Frisk said.
"It's a map of the autocatchers, see?" Papyrus said. "Has it moved?"
"Little bit," she said. "One keeps going back and forth after a little."
"Nyeh heh! Perfect," he said. "We can see a bit of what he's doing from down here, then."
"What's going on with the others?" Asriel said.
"Chara's here. She's coming. Sans's bad. Toriel's maybe coming but she's not good either," Frisk said. "We gotta hurry."
"O-Oh," Papyrus said worriedly.
"Okay. Okay, that's… That's fine, we're…" Asriel put a hand to his head. "Not even halfway done."
A chill ran up and down Frisk's spine "What'd you do so far?"
.
"We got seeds all through most of the roof to disrupt some of his backup stuff. And we got a bit of what we're pretty sure is the barrier section."
"I marked those with bones," Papyrus said proudly.
"But I figure we're still pretty far down," Asriel said. "Annnnd I'm actually not sure how we're even gonna get up there."
"We can definitely blast through," Papyrus said. "But we will not have the jump on him at all."
"And we gotta make sure we don't smack anyone he caught," Frisk said.
"That too," Papyrus agreed.
Asriel grimaced. "We're, uh, way outta our depth."
"I know," Frisk said. "B-But…! But when's that ever not true, right? We gotta do something!" She looked at Papyrus. "Something bad happens if the mountain breaks, right?"
The skeleton's eyes shifted nervously and his cheekbones flushed. He faltered for a moment, tenting his fingers. "You know. It never happened before," he said. "But it… almost happened, they said. Way back. Before Sans was the Oracle. I'm not sure how bad it'll actually be, but I think there has to be a reason it's protected like this and there's no openings at all."
"Right," Frisk said. "And Sans is…" She grimaced, then took a deep breath to steady herself. "Okay, what else we got?"
"Vines with smoke bombs," Asriel said. "Sent a few up. They're in the flowers."
"I've got some spears ready to trigger, too," Papyrus said.
"Okay, what can we…?" Frisk folded her arms and tapped her foot. What was the fastest way up? "Could we…? Um…?"
.
She thought about the apples. She'd seen their trees on the surface; the way the trunks intertwined to, sometimes, make massive, sprawling masses of branches and leaves. If Asriel could grow them fast enough, they might be able to break through the earth, but then would they have to climb a tree to get out? They'd be overrun for sure. Unless…
.
"Az, this, um, might be a long shot but do you think you could do that plant world thing again?" she asked.
"The what?! You mean that crazy evil bush thing?!" he yelped.
"It wasn't evil," Frisk said, "you were freaking out!"
"Why would I wanna—?"
"Oh! You could hide us in something and just sneeeeak right out onto the field!" Papyrus said.
Asriel blinked. He looked at his hands. "You think so?"
"I was thinking apple trees," Frisk said.
"I… Uh…"
"Just… Ah…" Chara came out from nearest hall, panting. "Phew. Crap. Uh. J-Just give it… a shot, Azzy."
Asriel's face flushed. "O-Okay. Let's try to get a bit closer to this guy."
"Let me c-catch my breath!" Chara protested.
"No time!" Papyrus shoved the map under one arm, then whisked Chara up and began to run.
.
Counting the autocatcher markers— lining them up with the ones on the marble map— they rushed until they reached the last large chamber, one that ended in a dead end. Here, they could see a cluster of the turrets— mirrored by a few shown on the map. There was a little more of an array of colours here. Purple, blue, and orange, and a few yellows. They could also see that the perimeter ones were quite far off.
"Think that's him in there?" Asriel asked, pointing out the purple cluster. "Or the guys he caught?"
"Keeping them in another purple trap would make sense," Chara said. "Papy, gimme a sec?"
Papyrus let her onto the floor and she strolled the room.
"If I were him," she said. "I'd have something… weird to protect myself. Just in case. Something I haven't used yet. Same as what we're trying to do."
"So…" Frisk pointed up at an array of six loosely grouped together, with a little more orange and yellow than usual. "What d'you think of that one?"
Chara smiled and nodded. "I was thinking the same." She placed herself between that grouping and the purple cluster. "Here."
Asriel nodded. He folded his arms. "Okay. Hang on." He beckoned to Papyrus. "Planting time."
"Got it!"
.
Papyrus put the map on the floor and quickly climbed onto Asriel's shoulders and, boosted up, grabbed a bunch of watermelon seeds and jammed them into the earth below the purple cluster. Then, they went to under Gaster.
"A few of the berries, too," Asriel said.
"Absolutely!" Papyrus jammed into the dirt with his claws and smooshed the fruit in there.
.
Asriel frowned and focused his magic. His soul reverberated around the room and the seeds responded with little chimes and sprouted. Some specks of dirt crumbled down onto the otherwise pristine floor.
"Oh. Um. This issss gonna collapse, huh?" Frisk said sheepishly.
"That's fine, it can be fixed," Chara said, waving her hand dismissively. "We're saving the Kingdom, they're not allowed to be mad."
.
Papyrus leapt to the ground. "Okay! Are we ready?"
Frisk glanced around. Nobody looked ready. She was sure she didn't. They were all tired and banged up and dirty with soil and stained with fruit juice. She gulped.
"Yeah," she said.
.
Asriel joined Chara and put a few apples on the ground, then waved for her to back up.
"Oh! Everyone!" Papyrus said quickly, pulling a few small, blue potions out of his jacket. "Take these first." He passed them out quickly to everyone. "It's the beltaine and chamomile."
"And it does… what?" Chara asked, side-eyeing Asriel as he'd already downed it.
"I am ninety-eight percent sure it's a pick-me-up and eighty-two percent sure that it helps with magical output efficiency," he said. "Either way, it's better than not having it."
"I felt like it helped my brain a bit earlier," Frisk said sheepishly before she took a sip.
Chara shrugged. "Hell, I'll take a placebo if it helps at this point." She popped the cork and chugged it.
"It is not one, but good," Papyrus said with a laugh. He drank his and then tossed the bottle over his shoulder. "Asriel, are you alright?"
"Yeah." The goat boy cracked his knuckles and waved for the others to stand back.
.
As soon as it was clear, Asriel took a deep breath, his magic prickling over the surface of his fur. The vine wrapped around his wrist twisted and spun slowly like a slithering serpent. He stuck out his hand and pointed at the apples on the floor.
.
The fruit blasted apart and roots grasped downwards, trunks bursting and twisting upwards so fast that it almost crashed through the ceiling right away. Asriel cried out and tried to drag it back. Leaves exploded outwards and spread across the roof as some dirt rained down between them. But, it paused, leaving everyone staring at it in shock.
"Welp. Uh." Asriel scratched his head. "I… dunno about the weird plant dimension but… maybe we can just hide in the leaves?"
"This is so dangerous," Chara grumbled. She immediately started to climb the tree anyway.
Asriel grimaced and looked to Frisk. She shrugged.
.
The others hurried up the tree and smooshed themselves against the trunk as close to the top as they could get. Asriel fanned the top out and sides out, thick with leaves to protect them and, after a moment's thought, dragged out new, bare branches over the canopy, twisting them together like a shield.
"This is the dumbest thing we've ever done," Chara said. "Don't break right out right away, okay? Give us a second to see where we are."
"And try to avoid that back-and-forth one," Papyrus suggested.
"I… I'll try," Asriel said.
.
The boy braced himself against the trunk, holding tight to it with one hand and tight to Frisk with the other. His magic crackled and sparks of it ran all along the bark. He scanned the ground for the map and stared at intently, waiting for the marble to roll. As soon as it did, he sunk his claws into the wood.
"Go," he said under his breath.
The tree groaned and shot upwards so quickly there was little time to brace, and little more to feel claustrophobic as the strange branches worked like the head of a seed to crack the surface, retracted, and their overflowing canopy barely peeked out to cap their tunnel.
.
Frisk held her head dizzily. Chara groaned.
"There's no way he didn't hear that," she whispered.
Asriel hissed a shh at her and she reached out to gently whack his arm. Clutching tight to the tree, Asriel pushed himself up to carefully peek out between he thick leaves. He could see purple there— a small barrier within the barrier.
.
"I can hear you, you know."
Gaster's voice. Asriel turned to ice. The others stayed as still as possible and the boy cautiously twisted around. He peeked through the leaves and, sure enough, there was the old skeleton, framed on either side by a blaster skull. There was one behind him as well, blasting a beam deep into a hole he'd carved into the mountainside. He wasn't looking anywhere in their direction, though. Instead, his gaze was directed straight ahead. Asriel looked down and shook his head. Frisk mouthed a confused what? at him, but all he could do was shrug.
.
"You may reveal yourselves," Gaster said. "You won't be harmed."
"…It looks like we've been caught, darlings." Mettaton's voice. "I guess it's time."
"M-M-Mettaton, no!" Alphys. Her voice was shrill and urgent.
Nonetheless, as if he was throwing off a cloak, Mettaton appeared before Gaster in a defiant stance, brandishing a crystal microphone like a weapon. "VILLAIN, IT'S TIME TO STOP!"
Gaster's brows raised. "Ah. I apologize. I cannot."
"Then be DEFEATED!"
.
Mettaton launched himself at Gaster with an arc of lightning following his fingertips and the heel of his boot in a high kick. The skeleton stepped from the line of the strike, and a furious shriek erupted behind him. The three-eyed crane appeared mid-divebomb, only to be nudged by the snout of a blaster skull and sent off-course. She flipped in the air and recovered beside Mettaton, claws out and sharp beak glinting. Gaster looked at them both with a gleam in his eyes as if he were dealing with rambunctious, teething puppies.
"I am not here to fight monsters," he said. "I—"
.
A crack of lightning and a new strike of electric magic seared the air. Gaster stepped back and his blaster took the blow, carving part of it in half. He looked surprised.
.
Asriel twisted, and he felt little hands seizing onto his shoulders as Frisk climbed up him to watch, too. First, they saw yellow talons. Then, a sniffling sound broke the silence.
Alphys, wet-eyed, frowning, two fingers held out towards the skeleton like a pistol, approached, her invisible camouflage falling away down her back.
"St-Step away from them," she ordered. "A-And s-s-step away from the Soul of the World."
Gaster smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry."
"D-Don't! Don't you d— Get away from it. It's incredibly d-dangerous," she said. "Y-You're…! You're under arrest."
"I apologize, but I must finish what I started," he said. "If you can grant me entry to this mountain, I will cease my digging without complaint and I will be gone from your realm as soon as my job is done."
Alphys's eyes narrowed. "Never."
.
The skeleton looked a little disappointed. "Ah. Then I suppose more discussion is useless." With a wave of his hand, a dozen blaster skulls materialized effortlessly.
The three monsters braced themselves together.
"Is this the end for the magnificent Mettaton?!" Mettaton demanded. "OF COURSE NOT!"
.
"Go go go, now now now!" Chara called.
Asriel gulped. He focused his magic and let it jettison the whole tree upwards as hard as he could, grabbing Frisk and bailing out behind it. As soon as they hit the ground, he dug his claws into the grass and reached through to find the seeds and ordered them upwards. Weird sprouts popped up all at once, potion-grasping flowers enlarged into melons and burst into massive smoke bombs in an instant. Brambles erupted near Gaster so quickly that he was forced backwards.
.
Panting, the boy dragged himself up. Frisk was already on her feet, and she grabbed his hand. Before she could say a word, a strange distortion of magic warped the air and sunlight streamed in from above as the out of control apple tree slammed its way through the top of the barrier, too.
"Nice!" Frisk said.
"Totally meant to," Asriel joked, his voice trembling.
"What's wrong?" Frisk asked.
He shook his head.
.
Somewhere in the smoke, Mettaton whooped, and his Spybirds rushed through the gap in the barrier and slammed down into the chaos like squawking, marble comets. They were tossed out just as quickly as they'd come, though, and Mettaton and the three-eyed stork were seized in the jaws of blaster skulls and ferried away despite their kicking and protests.
.
Lightning sparks made the smoke look like storm clouds, but they had little time to figure out what was going on there before the ground rumbled below them and more blaster skulls rushed from the smoke, peering around with their big, dark eyes.
.
Asriel growled, but Frisk quickly grabbed him and dragged him around the other side of the tree, barely out of their line of sight, just as more autocatchers burst from the earth near where they had been. Chara and Papyrus had had the same idea— the girl clutched her sword in one hand and waved to them with the other and they hurried to huddle together. She pointed out the smaller purple barrier, surrounded by the six autocatchers to keep it up. Mettaton and his co-host were in the smaller dome, talking indignantly into his crystal mic. Leirak was also there amongst a group of guard monsters, pacing anxiously.
.
"I'm gonna go over there to help them," Chara said. "When I say, blow it. Then blow the rest."
"I… I dunno if I can," Asriel said.
"You're good, you just gotta be confident," she said.
"No, Chara, I'm serious," Asriel said, wide-eyed. "I dunno if I have that much range. I—"
.
A shrill shriek caught all of them off-guard. In the bramble-covered battleground, where the smoke had begun to fade, Gaster stood with an apologetic look on his face. Alphys was pinned up in the jaws of one of his blasters, her hands held together and covered by Gaster's phantom ones. She was struggling, her stripes flashing colours, but it was of little use.
.
Frisk felt like puking. She got up, fists clenched, and looked around the tree.
"Frisk," Chara snapped, "what're you—?!"
"This's already too far," she said. "I'm going in." She looked at the others. "Back me up?"
Asriel looked sick, but he nodded. "Demon Gang."
Papyrus stuck his thumb up.
.
"Aah! F-Fine! Fine! You g-got me!" Alphys squeaked loudly. "P-Put me with the others, I s-surrender!"
"Sorry, little one, but you will stay there," Gaster said.
Alphys gulped. "H-Huh?!"
"You were the one who slipped in through the shield with those other two," he said. "Don't fret. I will release you once I'm finished."
"Oh. OH! N-No, wait!" Alphys said. "You can't! You can't finish, y-you're going t-to—! You're g-g-going to—!"
.
"GASTER!" Frisk ran out into the open and spread her arms. "STOP!"
The skeleton stiffened up, his expression frosting over. He extended his hand and his blaster whisked Alphys off towards the purple barrier despite what he'd said. "You."
"You have to stop!" Frisk ordered, very aware of the massive draconic skulls materializing just in the corners of her eyes. "You can't dig into the Soul of the World, you're hurting Sans when you do it!"
A small, disgusted smirk twisted the skeleton's face. "Why in the world would you come to me pretending to care about him?" His eyes darkened. "As if you haven't killed him."
.
Frisk's heart cracked but she held steady, even has the blasters around her fired. She braced herself, magic boiling over under her skin and coming out in a wave, burning her disguise away in determination-fuelled embers and trapping the beams in a loop. Pushed back, they connected with their origins and blasted them all to glittering dust the second she let them go.
.
Gaster sneered, a foreign and ugly expression on his face. "And there it is."
Frisk took a deep breath and extended her hand. "I get that you hate me!" she said. "But you can't just—"
"Don't moralize to me," he said. "I know what you are. I know what you do. You with your stolen soul."
"…My what—?"
"Don't think I don't feel that magic within you," he said. "Stolen from my friends. My sons." His eyes narrowed. "That… is new to me. I don't believe I've seen something as disgusting as that."
.
Frisk felt like she'd been struck in the face. Her hand— human, scarred on the top from the burns of the Soul; on the side from some old fall— reflexively cupped over her chest. She gritted her teeth. "Sans is sick because of you."
"You don't ca—"
"You need to stop messing with stuff!" she shouted. "If you'd just stop screwing with stuff you don't understand, none of this would be happening!" Her eyes welled up. "I don't want to fight you, I just want you to stop."
"I… cannot stop," he said. "Until you do not exist."
.
She knew the turrets were coming up from below her before they did, but Frisk's limbs felt like lead. She took a step back as the mechanical opponents loomed, but her focus was shot. She did all she could to concentrate her magic around her body. A soft hand on her arm pulled her aside and the yell of Chara's voice cut through her mind.
.
A wave of bones crashed across the ground and through some of the autocatchers, while others were smothered and crushed in vines or blew up in a mass of sparks and smoke and splattering watermelon. Massive roots twisted towards Gaster like writhing tentacles, followed by the intense heat of flame. The skeleton juked backwards, grabbing onto one of his blasters to ferry him away, but Asriel burst from the fire and headbutted it as had as he could. It shattered and the skeleton dodged back and away with his clumsy teleport.
.
"I suppose I didn't convince you," he said, a twinge of disappointment in his voice.
Asriel answered with more fire.
.
"Frisk!" Chara grabbed Frisk's face in her hands and forced their eyes to meet. "Snap out of it! He just said some rude garbage, get it outta your head!"
"Wh… What the heck does he think I'm doing?" Frisk breathed.
"I don't care," she said. She whirled and plunged her sword into the mouth of a blaster that descended upon them, shattering it."You said you were gonna freeze him, right?"
"R-Right."
Chara's eyes flashed. "Then we'll get you close!"
.
A deep, groaning crack forced them to turn and the massive apple tree, warped beyond recognition, was not willing to put up with the weight on its side. Its trunk splintered and buckled and it bent towards the battle it was unwitting waging, its canopy dragging through more of the barrier to let in more light
"ASRIEL!" Frisk yelled. "Where is h—?!"
"He's being an idiot again," Chara said dourly. She pointed her sword at the mess of burning roots, where the boy was doing his best— and failing— to catch a teleporting skeleton. "He became such a hothead, huh?"
.
"DISENGAGE!" Papyrus yelled loudly. He blasted in, surfing on his bone wave, and whipped a bunch of potions straight into the fray.
Smoke and snow billowed as is from nowhere and Papyrus dragged Asriel away by the collar of his jacket. As the tree slumped farther, the two monsters scrambled through the leaves and over the roots to meet Chara and Frisk.
.
"Sorry! Sorry," Asriel said quickly. "I-I got carried away again, huh?"
"Forget that, how's Frisk supposed to catch this guy?"
"We can throw her at him again," Papyrus said.
"No," Chara said. "We're here. We need to be sure."
"Piggyback?" Frisk suggested weakly.
Asriel frowned thoughtfully. He offered Frisk his hand. "Gimme your soul."
.
Frisk's eyes went wide. "Wh…? You sure? It might not—"
"I know," he said. "But that's our best shot, right?" He gulped. "You're my sister. I'm gonna protect you."
A shiver ran up and down the kid's spine. She didn't know if she was ready. Didn't know if he was, either. But, she nodded. Red flared in her palm and she slammed it into her brother's.
.
A spark. Static. Then, they erupted into light, iridescent, incandescent starlight blazing.
.
First, there was vertigo. Growing too fast. Up and up and up. Assembling. Holding. Intense, overwhelming heat. Shimmering, iridescent dust built them a new body. The red that was their souls wove together and they held tight.
.
.
Chara screams. He doesn't know what to do.
.
"FIGHT, ASRIEL! WE'RE GOING TO DIE IF WE DON'T!"
.
.
Asriel braced against the voices, the yelling, the burning, but it still rang in every note of his body.
.
.
"YOU HAVE TO! OR LET ME! WE HAVE TO FIGHT!"
.
Something plunges into their back.
.
.
Frisk held him. She wrapped him up. She whispered in his mind that it was scary but it was okay. She loved him. Chara loved him. This past wouldn't go away now. Maybe it would never go away. But, together—
.
.
"WE HAVE TO FIGHT! WE FIGHT OR IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING!"
.
.
They didn't need to fight. All they had to do was stop him. Maybe they couldn't convince him today, but maybe tomorrow. It'd be okay. They didn't have to fight. They just had to endure.
.
They'd done that plenty of times.
.
The light dimmed. Their body was huge. A towering goat monster with iridescent white fur, garbed in purple magus robes, white streaks on the sleeves and collar blazing with starlight. The dark stripes up Asriel's cheeks and under his eyes had crept farther up, like the dark marks around the eyes of a tabby cat. They were also clear on their neck and down their arms. They had two sets of smooth horns, one pair curving upwards while a second curled forward, and a long, serpentine tail. Wings with too many digits unfurled from their shoulders, the internal membrane shimmering with dark, starpricked space.
.
Asriel hesitated, and Frisk's energy wrapped him in a warm hug. She assured him not to be nervous. A cool, apprehensive darkness crept from his thoughts regardless. Frisk felt, deep in their merged soul, an ache. The heat of fire. The pierce of metal through their fur. She grabbed him and pulled away from the outside.
"Az. It's okay. You can have it," she told him.
He took a long, deep breath. He flexed their fingers on his own, feeling their sharp claws on their palm.
.
Their eyes opened black, and a beaming red iris lit up in each. Asriel lifted one clawed hand up to look at it. He frowned slightly..
"No. Together," he said.
"You sure?"
He was. The warmth of her energy wrapped back into their limbs and they felt solid and strong. Their soul beamed red from their chest, emblazoned with an iridescent, four pointed star. They flexed their wings and she giggled. That wasn't very cool, he teased. But, she retorted, how could any part of this not be cool? She flared them out huge and grinned.
.
"Guys?!" Chara's voice.
They looked down. Papyrus was gawking, his hands clasped to his cheeks. Chara stared up at them, beaming, tears in her eyes.
"Sis," they said, bending down to gently cup their hand around her.
She laughed and grabbed their finger, giving a shake of her head. "Go get him," she said.
.
Their lips pulled back into a wide, fangy smile. They turned to face the chaos and plunged their hands into the earth and felt every seed they had planted before and reached. Their magic swelled like the light of the sun and bloomed each one. Columns of magic smoke burst at the distant edges of the barrier, collapsing it in huge chunks as plants flowed over the turrets. The ones near the trapped soldiers erupted and were overtaken in seconds, releasing those stuck inside.
.
Gleeful, the massive monster's eyes skimmed for Gaster. They couldn't see him in the smoke, but they could feel his movements through the grass. That was new.
"We just gotta grab him," Frisk said.
Asriel dipped their head a little and, with a flap of their wings, they took off together at effortless speed, sailing through smoke and over foliage without a care in the world. The field looked more and more like a forest in their wake, their brambles and vines, and even offshoots of the apple tree sprouting up under the light.
.
As they came to the mountain, they caught that one of Gaster's blasters was still boring into the stone. With a deep frown, they grabbed the thing and crushed it in their fist.
"That should help a bit, right?" Frisk said.
"Yeah, it better," Asriel said. "It's…"
A tremor ran up their spine and blue flickered in their mind. Though the boy paused in confusion, Frisk whipped them around and caught a half-dozen blasters surrounding them. Asriel straightened up and blasted fire down around them from their mouth, searing the attack away.
"Yooooo, that feels weird!" Frisk said.
Asriel snickered. "Keep going."
.
They bent forward, running their fingers through the grass. The blades betrayed Gaster, and they whirled to follow his path, like a bloodhound with a scent until, abruptly, it stopped. They frowned and straightened up, looking around through the smoke, large roots, and foliage around them
"In the air?" Frisk wondered.
"Teleporting?" Asriel asked.
.
The blue shot through their mind again. They turned. There he was, just metres away, kneeling on the top of one of his blasters, just off the ground. His weapon that had once been fully charged with a rainbow of energy propped up on one shoulder. He fired.
.
Asriel wanted to lunge. Grab him. Frisk's reflex was different. She threw out her hand, time magic reaching. It connected with nothing. Their body split in an instant, jettisoning the two kids apart, and the beam sailed between them as they landed heavily on the ground.
"Frisk!" Asriel scrambled upright, reaching his hand out to his sister.
She didn't have time. A thrum in the air announced a second shot, this time connecting fully with the tiny kid as she was getting to her feet. The world around her froze, distorted; burst with light, and then
.
.
.
.
…
Here he is again.
.
The world is grey. Always grey. Over and over again, he falls, he wakes, in this grey space. He pleads and yells but nobody hears, and nothing he does changes a thing.
.
He sees his eldest son wake, leave, die. Out of alignment. It shouldn't happen. It's too soon. Not that there is ever really a right time, is there? He doesn't know what's going on. He can see his son knows something, but the knowledge is taken on every loop.
.
It's torture.
.
He sees his youngest son, alone so much, grow and then loop back, stuck an infant for far too long. How much time has it been? He deserved to grow up.
.
The King twists. The world twists. And always that thing with the haunted smile and the blade returns. It's a phantom, but he's seen it so many times he sees it no matter whether he sleeps or refuses to.
.
He toils and toils. It is undone, but he remembers. How long does it take? He builds things. They might help. If not him, someone else. These things can't be allowed to continue.
.
A light of a star gleams in the deep, grey heat down below in the magma. He doesn't know how it got there, but he knows what it must be.
.
If only he could undo it. Reset everything. Lock it out. If only he'd known before he'd invited one in.
.
.
.
.
…
Deep down, under a mountain, resting in soft, grey flowers, a small, dark shape stirred. Heavy, aching, the little phantom raised herself up and blinked, rubbing her head.
This felt awfully familiar.