Another chapter for ya laddies! Prepare for sunshine and rai-oh wait...it has what? Oh...ooooh...okay. Alright. Yep, that's not very happy at all. Nope, not even a little bit.

Undyne: Grrr...

Alphys: O-Oh no...

A bit more action to be had here, as a response to something they simply cannot allow themselves to ignore. This archipelago has unfortunate circumstances behind it...pretty unfortunate. It needs serious help.

Chapter Start!

(The Second Island)

"Feeling a bit concerned for Alphys, perhaps?" Gerson suddenly asked, taking a surprisingly accurate guess on Undyne's current emotions. He noticed that ever since Frisk teleported the three of them to this island, she had an unsure frown expression on her face, something very rare indeed. "It's okay to feel like that, Undyne. You're letting her fend for herself because she now truly has the power to do so. You're fully for the idea of doing so, yet that feeling of concern in your soul cannot help but worry for her. There is nothing wrong with feeling that way. Your high confidence in her success more than proves your faith in her abilities."

"Yeah, that's right!" Undyne grinned. "Even though she just got her new techno-magic, it's right within her alley! And she's a genius, so she'll be able to figure it out awfuly quickly! I'm worrying too much!" She folded her arms and huffed. "Besides, it isn't like she's on her own. She has Chara and Muffet to back her up. She's a genius, and she's going to be absolutely amazing." Undyne boasted. Then she looked to the side with a more somber expression. "Besides...she has a promise to keep. And considering who it is, there's no doubt that she'll do whatever it takes to keep it. I definitely have faith in her in that regard." Frisk wondered what the expression meant, signifying that he doesn't know what promise Undyne was referring to. It must be very important to Alphys for her to do this, to come along with them on this expedition instead of staying behind. There was something very significant about this expedition that really drove Alphys, her determination refusing to let her fail. Considering how she was six years ago, Undyne must see this as a very significant improvement. And now...

Gerson nodded to the duo before proceeding to lead them on. He had to admit...it felt pretty great to be on an expedition. Undyne's excessive inner squealing at the prospect was understandable. She has always looked up to him for quite a long time, so taking up this chance to adventure with him was something he couldn't imagine her passing up. Indeed, while it was very subtle, he could still see her bouncing with glee at the opportunity she ever so eagerly grabbed. The sight made him chuckle, then his thoughts quietly focused on Toriel for a moment. She seemed very eager to participate in this expedition. So much that she persuaded Asgore to let her take his place. Gerson could understand some of her feelings there. There's no doubt on his mind that she really wants to do something to help, which may most likely stem from her self-imposed exile resulting in the suffering of her people. She doesn't want her own inaction to be the reason why others suffer. He just hoped that his friend wouldn't overdo it.

The elder monster slowly raised his head an opened his eye. He has been feeling magic around the islands, and a lot of it. There was no doubt on his mind that there were monsters here, and possibly magic-wielding humans. However, what they were capable of was still to be determined. Then again, discovering new things was something he was always interested in, even though it might be potentially dangerous. If he couldn't handle a bit of rough danger, especially when he knew that fellow monsters were in danger, then he really couldn't call himself a Hammer of Justice, could he?

Soon the trio reached a certain point, and took in quite a sight before them. They were filled with a very expressive-aside from Frisk-look of relief/shock/worry.

"NAPSTABLOOK!" Undyne shouted as the trio ran up to the ghost suddenly appearing into view. He was very clearly crying. But instead of it being his usual tears, they were tears of genuine distress and concern. "Napstablook, we found you! Are you alright?! Where's Shyren and Mettaton?!"

Napstablook slowly raised his eyes to meet them. "We...we were just trying to do a tour of the island...but then Hapsta got angry at something that's just a bit ahead of us. He tried to do something about it, but there wasn't anything he could do when he was overwhelmed by something stronger. He got hurt, and Shyren was taken away...I'm the only one who managed to get away. Though I couldn't do anything to set them free..."

Frisk sighed. At the very least, the good news is that Mettaton and Shyren are alive as well. The more unfortunate news is that it might not last unless they act quickly. But first, they had to know what Mettaton saw that made him so angry. "Let's keep going so we can see for ourselves...though I'm guessing it won't be anything good..."

"It isn't..."

And he wasn't bluffing about it, either. Frisk wasn't sure what to think when he saw the area they came across. Anything but what he was witnessing right now. Undyne wasn't too sure what to think of it, either. But she can definitely understand why Mettaton was sufficiently angry about. There across from them, they could see many humans in chains and shackles, and their faces filled with sadness and gloom. Their clothes were rags at best, and it didn't look like they've properly bathed. There were numerous monsters watching over them with spiteful,heated gazes, pushing them to move along or to keep quiet. A couple of the humans working looked like they were being forced to dig up possible gold in the area. Since gold was monster currency, thus much more plentiful than humans first thought, there would be some hidden in these lands. Humans were being forced by monsters to use magic-or their bare hands-dig up possible sources of gold on this specific island. Very few of these humans had homes of their own, and even those were lackluster at best. And fter closer inspection, it wasn't just humans, either. There were also a handful of monsters who looked just as miserable, and were being handled by other human magic-users. The monsters could do nothing but whimper and cower away from them, begging not to be harmed.

Undyne's reaction was predictable.

"What the fuck is this...?" She seethed, her fist tightening tightly enough to draw blood.

"Slaves...?" Gerson guessed, his eye narrowed. "Well well...this certainly won't do. Now I wonder what we should do about it...?" Doesn't take a genius to know that was rhetorical.

"I managed to stay pretty stealthy for the time that I've been around here...they've been here for a while...I don't really know for how long, though...sorry..." Napstablook said slowly, saddened by his apparent lack of usefulness.

"No, you did well Napstablook. We need as much info on this archipelago as we can." Frisk muttered quietly, still in disbelief that humans were being treated like this by monsters, even though vice-versa was also hapening to an extent. He wondered how long has this been going on. It may be that no one knew where this place was-which may take a majority of the magic cabals into account in that regard-and because of that, these people probably needed help for years. Begging, praying, pleading, crying for someone to save them.

But nobody came.

Frisk disliked that particular three-word sentence with an intense passion, and one of the very few things he can genuinely bring himself to hate. It was easy to sum up Asriel's soulless time as Flowey with those three words. Living in misery because no one would-or could-come to help a person in need. No one needed help more than Asriel, and for the longest time, there wasn't anything that could be done for him. Until Frisk finally decided to burn a majority of the rules away and begin doing things on his own him, those three words meant that there was no hope for the person who's in need. That was unacceptable.

Undyne agrees.

"NGAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The nearest human who was within her range had the unfortunate experience of having her boot smashing into the back of his head, sending him flying past a few of his companions in the process. Their faces contorted with shock at the unexpected entrance. Gerson could only sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck, moving forward to join his rather hot-blooded younger companion. Not that he didn't expect it, but she didn't really give him time to construct a plan. Guess he'll have to join her so she doesn't overdo it. Then again...the subject in question will assure that her rage will continue to burn for a while.

"What the hell...?" One of the nearby monsters, the slavers and not the enslaved, uttered in shock as a fish woman, an elder monster turtle, and a human teen approached. Each of them looked quite upset. "Who are you three?! Where did you come from?!"

"Whether it be human's enslaving monsters, or the other way around...I highly disagree with both of those options." Gerson said with a slight glare. "I'm especially disappointed in the monsters for their behavior. To my misfortune, the first monsters I meet outside the ones I know turn out to be quite despicable. Humans and monsters...you've bothered the citizens of this archipelago with your selfishness and greed. I can sense it within your souls." Gerson slowly grinned as he gazed at the opposition before him. "Tell me, youngsters. Do you have any idea who I am?" Waves of confusion sounded throughout the group, and he chuckled. "No, I would suppose not. I'm considered a hero to many of my monster bretheren, especially to this hot-blooded lass next to me." He gestured softly to Undyne. "If you truly do not know, then allow me to tell you. My name is Gerson. And to this day, I've gone by the title of the 'Hammer of Justice'. Care to see why?" Gerson held out his hand as green colored magic gathered within his palm. The light soon thins out, then extends outward horizontally. It formed a head on the right, then glowed brightly. When it finished forming, there was a glowing greeen war hammer in Gerson's hands, and the Delta Rune Symbol was shown on both sides in a brilliant white light of it's own. He grinned as he hoisted it over his shoulder. The ones that watched them could only gap in awe that this monster, this seemingly feeble old monster, was carrying a large war hammer like it weighed nothing at all. "Don't worry, I won't swing too hard. I've learned quite a bit of self-control."

That was the only warning they received.

Frisk's soul flashed Green and he clapped his hands together. Nearly all of the slaves nearby where suddenly covered in a green glowing healing shield, each with a Delta Rune symbol branding them. With the protection for the slaves set up, Gerson got a good grip on his hammer and slammed the green glowing weapon into the ground. On his cue, a green magic shockwave stored through the area. Everyone that wasn't shielded by Gerson's attack was blown away a good distance away from the slaves, eventually crashing outside the came. He twirled his hammer and restediti on his shoulder, before he began moving towards them.

"...Gerson brought down the hammer...I'm SO happy right now!" Undyne allowed her inner fangirl to shine through, her uncovered eye having turned into a star of admiration and amazement. She shook her head to regain focus, an turned towards Frisk and Napstablook. "You two stay behind and make sure these people stay safe. We'll deal with those assholes." Undyne manifests a spear in her hand as she rushes off to join Gerson.

Frisk meanwhile sits down with his legs crossed as he gazes at Napstablook. "Napstablook, do you think you can go into a bit more detail about what's happening on this archipelago?"

"Oh...are you sure...?"

"Don't worry. As long as I can keep my focus up, these shields won't break so easily." Frisk said as he leaned in with his hands on his lap. "Now how about that recap?"

""Okay..." Napstablook relented with a slight bow. "As I was here, I kept myself mostly invisible and listened to these villagers...that was probably very rude of me. They've been taken away from the village from one of the other islands...someone came and captured the entire thing years ago. Humans with magic, and monsters I haven't seen before. At first Hapsta and I were happy to see that there were more monsters outside of Ebott. But the monsters we ran into...they were hostile like the humans accompanying them. Mettaton was furious at what was going on here, and he told me and Shyren to step aside as he went against them all by himself...but he was eventually overpowered due to them being stronger than he thought...now I don't know where he is, nor where Shyren is. I just stayed hidden where I was on this island. I could have gone after them, but there are others here who rendered that impossible for me...someone incredibly strong..."

"Is that so? So this means that there's someone on this archipelago who's ordering this cabal to keep everyone in check, These people are being used to dig for hidden riches...they were living in relative peace before they came along...I see..." Frisk nodded softly, turning towards the people who gazed at the boy in awe. As well as recognizing the glowing green light surrounding them was branded with a Delta Rune symbol. With his mind properly made up, he gently smiles towards them. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine soon. My name is Frisk Dreemurr. Just stay within the green light, and all of your wounds will heal. The other two will be helping me help you."

One of the shy monster children, standing in-between a human and a monster, peeked through their legs and stared at Frisk curiously. The young one was intrigued by the name 'Dreemurr'. "You...came to help us...? To save us...? Why would you do such a thing for us...?"

Frisk simply smiled. "There's a certain saying. 'I was in the neighborhood'. We were just looking for our friends and saw that there were people who needed help. So we went on to helping you all. That's all there is to it, really."

Away from the spacious camp, Gerson had once again slammed his hammer down, generating another green glowing magic shockwave that knocked down most of the human magic users as well as the monsters siding with them.. He grinned a bit as he lifted it back on his shoulder as Undyne eventually caught up to him. She could see the shocked faces on most of the monsters faces as they finally took in the information that Gerson the Hammer of Justice was truly standing before them. And despite his age, it seemed to them that he was stronger than ever. It shoudln't be possible for him to be significantly more powerful than his days in war, but here he was, standing on the opposite side of them. They see his grin, yet his single opened eye was brimming with righteous fury. In Undyne's eye, that fury is doubled, given being much younger than he was. Youth tends to do that.

"...T...there's no mistaking it...that really is Gerson!" One of the monsters stuttered while hiding behind one of the humans. "W-Why are you here?!"

"Oh, I was reliving the good old days when I used to go on expeditions when I wasn't being a war hero. I much prefer the former, as there's a lot less unncessary fighting and more exploration. It's always interesting to find new things the world has to offer me. I'm not as obsessive about finding out secrets like those mad scientists in those strange hero movies...but I'm fefinitely not against making a discovery or two. And here I made an interesting discovery...there are monsters outside of Ebott. That's a relief." He narrowed his eye and clutched his hammer tight. "Unfortunately, like I said before, from what I see before me, there are some monsters that have become quite disappointing, helping keep an archipelago enslaved. Have you no shame?"

One of the humans made an attempt to explain himself...didn't really do much good, as Undyne punched him hard enough to send him crashing him into the ground, cracking it slightly. "Any excuse you make will sound like unwanted bullshit. Thus, we have no interest in hearing it! Punks like you are punks I've gotta bring down!" She didn't bother turning around when one of the human attackers panicked and attempted to strike her from behind with earth gathered around his arm. A spear immediately shoots out of the ground and pierces through the rock, shattering it into pieces. She turns around with another spear in hand and slashes a line across his chest. She spun the spear a few times before it morphed into a polearm, and she smcks him across the face with it, knocking him into the ground. She twirls the staff and plants it into the ground. "Does anyone else have the balls to try me?! Huh?!"

"Who are you supposed to be, anyway?!"

"The name's Undyne. Not only are you all doing shit like this, but your little island-sized party was also responsible for putting a hit out on my girl." Undyne responded with a savage grin. "Hey...I just reminded myself about that! Unfortunately for you guys, I can take out my stress on you!~"

Gerson sighed. "Do forgive her. She can get more coarse than usual when she's worked up..." He twirled his hammer a bit, tightened his grip on it, and smashed it down once again, another shockwave blowing the targets back once again, but only for a few feet. "Wah ha ha! Betcha didn't know how much can come out of using a hammer with magic! Magic all on it's own is much more versatile than it appears, if ya play yer cards right!"

"Y-You damn geezer!"

"DON'T DISRESPECT GERSON!" Undyne slammed her glowing blue staff in the back of his head, smashing his head into the ground. "Only I can call him a geezer!"

"Cheeky brat..." Gerson smiled, despite the irritated vein pulsing from his head. Though he pushed this thought aside as he briefly swung his hammer in a small arc and smashed a larger rock flying towards him. With a grin, he slammed his hammer down onto the ground in that direction, another small shockwave sending the enemies flying across the land, landing painfully on their backs. He raised an eyebrow as a large pillar of earth was lifted from the ground and tossed towards him in a bit of a frenzy. He almost yawned at the attempt of intimidation, swiftly turning around and swinging the hammer into the pillar, smashing it into pieces as the debris harmlessly flew past him. "You all aren't too skilled with your magic, are you? You're not mere novices, but you're definitely not too threatening to an experienced elder like me! And even less of a threat to the lass who's accompanied me."

He was proven right in that regard as Undyne took a grip on her staff, and twirled it around in a wide arc. gerson casually ducks as her staff extended and both ends smashed into the heads of the rest of the stragglers, knocking them out or simply rendering them unable to continue. With a few more twirls, she planted the staff into the ground and huffed, pushin a bit of her hair away from her face. When she was sure that they were incapacitated, she pumped her fist with her signature grin flashing happily.

"I just kicked some major ass...with my idol fighting alongside me...THIS IS DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE!" She shouted with glee, and a star in her eye. "There's only one thing that could possibly top it without competition! And I do mean, one thing!"

Gerson dissipated his hammer and watched Undyne with a curious/mischievous grin. "Oh? And what might that be?~"

The sound of wedding bells sounded in Undyne's head, as well as the beauty of a certain yellow scientist in a wedding dress. She lost her grin and dissipated her own weapon, then began twiddling her fingers as a shy blush began covering her cheeks. "N-Nothing worth mentioning right now..."

"Mmhm..." Gerson rolled his eye. "I'm gonna check upon Frisk and the slaves. Stay here and make sure these whipersnappers don't go anywhere. If they do, call me and I'll smash em'."

"Yes sir!" Undyne saluted, eliciting a small 'Wah Ha Ha!' from Gerson, as the elder slowly wanders off as if he hadn't just unleashed devastating power a moment ago. When he was out of earshot, Undyne yawned and placed her arms behind her neck, her grin still in place. "Seriously. got to fight side-by-side with Gerson. Asgore, I owe you a tea session for suggesting hi to come with us!" She opened her eye a bit as hermind wandered.

Still...I wonder how the others are doing. Now that we've found Napstablook, we should probably call the others about it...

Undyne suddenly felt an intense killing intent fill the area. Intense enough for the air to grow much colder and becoming slightly hard to breathe. Her eye narrowed at the feeling, not entirely sure where it was coming from. An ominous breeze passed her by, causing her crimson hair to flow along with it. She didn't stop listening, all of her senses on alert, trying to find her enemy.

...The wind stopped.

"...I know you're there."

CLANG!

Pure instinct spurred Undyne to manifest a spear from behind, and she heard the sound of a weapon clashing against it. She then heard something jump back from her and plant it's feet. "...Your reflexes are commendable. I know for sure that my presence was completely masked." The attacker revealed himself to her. The first thing she saw was golden eyes. A red-scaled lizard was standing before her, covered in robes she found somewhat familiar, but definitely not related to the Delta Rune. The weapon that had clashed with her own was a golden katana, glittering in his paw. "However, that is not going to help you." He rushed towards her once again and slashed his katana down on her. She was swift to react once again, a blue sword manifesting once again and parrying the slash away. His eyes narrowed slightly as he jumped back. "You have Telumkinesis as well...except yours is blue, while mine is golden..."

"I gotta admit that's much cooler looking than mine. Also, that's some impressive killing intent you've got there. I actually felt a chill." Undyne grinned cheekily. "So, are you gonna tell me who you are, or are you immediately gonna try to kill me again?"

"My name is Tempest...you've ventured into territory you shouldn't have come across. Reluctantly, I'll have to kill you."

"Whatever. This archipelago has my friends. The name's Undyne, and Undyne doesn't turn her back on friends. I came here to get them. So here I am." Undyne explained simply. She held her hand out as another glowing weapon appeared in her hand; a glowing blue naginata was brought into existence, and she gripped it tight. She twirls it a couple times before pointed it towards him with a determined glare. "And I'm not leaving without them. Convincing me otherwise is like talking to a brick wall. Too stubborn to budge."

"Yes, I suppose that is true." Tempest said slowly as he placed his other paw on the golden katana and holds it towards her, and the reflection shows an image of his new enemy. His golden eyes narrow dangerously. "Unfortunately for you...brick walls can be broken down..."

(The Third Island)

"Alphys. There's something on your mind, isn't there?" Chara raised his eyes as he gazed towards Alphys. "We're going to find them. I have absolutely no doubts about that. We're not leaving this place without them. All of them."

Alphys slowly opened her eyes, as well as her paws. "I know...I have no plans on backing down from this. It's my chance to prove to Undyne that I can take care of myself. There's no way I can turn my back on them. Mettaton is my best friend, regardless of how stuck-up he can get sometimes. Napstablook may not be corpreal, but that doesn't mean he's not in long-term danger. And...Shyren..." She clenched her paws into fists as her glasses glinted in the sunlight. "..They're equally important...but Shyren's case is just a bit more personal for me."

"More personal than Mettaton?"

"In a different way...yes."

Chara could hear the somber tone in her voice, and he was immediately able to understand what she was talking about. He nodded quietly in understanding and simply looked on ahead, his arms hidden under his poncho. It took him a moment, but he knew who she was referring to, and why she's become so determined to see this through. Knowing Alphys, there was no chance she was going to turn back from a chance of saving Mettaton and Shyren. Especially when he knows the details of why she was intensely devfoted to saving Shyren especially. Mettaton's creation was her responsibility, and he was cousins with Napstablook. Shyren...she couldn't leave without Shyren. She just can't.

"We're going to find them. This bounty on my head is not going to stop me. I won't let it."

"Well said, Dr. Alphys!" Muffet said while placing three arms around her. "No measly bounty is gonna stand in your way! No amount of money on your head is gonna stop you!~"

"Muffet...you were thinking about the reward money, weren't you?" Chara deadpanned.

"...Nooooo! Of course not! I wouldn't dream of turning Alphys in for the reward money!" Muffet shook her head and raised a finger with a cheery smile. It didn't succeed in fully reassuring Alphys, who seemed a bit put off by Muffet's cheery demeanor about the issue. Chara just rolled his eyes and went with it. There was nothing to worry about. Muffet was a greedy spider with an immense fondness for money, making it somewhat easy to bribe her sometimes. Though given her increased time with the Dreemurrs, she's gained a bit of standards when it came to her greed for money. She's still quite greedy, but she's placed a limit on what she's willing to do to satisfy that greed. Seriously turning on a friend for money was a definite no-no for her.

Muffet stopped a bit as she held her arms outward, her head tilted. The other two paused a bit as they waited for her to continue with her sudden thought. She slowly closed her eyes for a moment while turning her head to the left. After a few nods of confirmation, she opened her eyes and gestured for them to follow her, a serious silence sweeping over her. Chara and Alphys slowly followed her, wondering what's gotten her so serious. They soon passed through multiple shrubs and bushes, hidden by the shade of the trees above them. After five minutes of simply passing through the vegetation, as well as Muffet unconsciously attracting several natural spiders along the way, she stopped them with a raised top hand. She narrowed her five eyes and pointed forward with her middle hand. The moment Chara and Alphys followed her finger, their eyes widened.

They could see multiple monsters in cages, monsters they've never seen before. Cages for the big, medium, and small. The cages were retraining their magic, as well as glowing shackles around his neck and limbs, preventing them from breaking out and escaping. They looked downtrodden and broken, though a few of the still had a little bit of fire in their eyes. Some of them were not so easily broken. However, the same cannot be said for the majority of the imprisoned monsters. They looked like all they've known for so long is the feeling of being in cages. Unable to use their magic freely, or even move as freely as they'd like, has really dampened their souls. Alphys shuddered at the grim sight; a couple monsters even looked dangerously close to 'falling down' out of the despair of their situation. She wondered how long they've been imprisoned like this.

Chara's eyes dimmed as Muffet lead his and Alphys' sight towards one of the cages in particular. Someone familiar keeping her head down so no one could see her face.

Shyren.

That was enough for Alphys to act out, she was even the one to move first. Seeing that no one was supposedly guarding them at the moment, she rushed out from cover and up to the cage Shyren was imprisoned in. She placed her paws on the bars. "Shyren! Shyren! I'm here, Shyren!" Shyren slowly turned around towards the voice, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Don't worry, you're going to be fine. I'm going to get you out of here soon, I promise. I just need t-" Something hard impacted her from the side, knocking her away and across the ground with a pained groan. Muffet and Chara immediately ran to her sides, helping her to her feet as several humans approached the trio. Shyren shrunk away from them at the sight of them.

"What is this? A few more intruders trying to free the merchandise?" One of them said as he raised his hand, another construct of earth manifested above it. "Where do you peopme come from? Is this island's secrecy finally compromised...? Tch, that's going to be a problem."

"...Merchandise...?" Muffet said slowly as she turned towards the cages of monsters in shock. "You...you mean they're supposed to be...?"

"Okay, that's not going to fly. No way." Chara shook his head as he glared towards the humans in disgust. "What the hell do you think you're doing? How long has this been going on?"

"This is getting ridiculous. There's more of you trying to interfere with things that don't involve you." Was the response given, the earth above his palm turning into a spiked ball. He then gazed his eyes towards Alphys, and they glinted. "Oh...you're the one that Augustine placed a hit on. You're the dumbest one of all, coming here."

Alphys hesitated slightly, but she shook it off and glared back at the humans. "I came with my friends to get my friends back. That's exactly what we're going to do. Now...I've already found Shyren. There must have been a pink and black robot with you. He's my friend, and his name is Mettaton. Where is he?"

One of the other humans looked a bit surprised for a second, before he laughed and grinned. "No way, that robot belonged to you? Ha! No wonder you've got a hit on you, because that guy was very close to tearing one of our lands apart when he found out what we were doing. Luckily we were able to overcome him with shear numbers...eventually. That, and he eventually founds himself powering down at the worst of times. Augustine then had him handed over to someone else under her thumb, and he's most likely being studied due to his admirable magic weaponry...quite painfully." He grinned maliciously as he could see Alphys' glasses glinted from the light again. "So you're some kind of genius? Is that why yoi're here? You want your precious weapon back?"

"...Mettaton is my friend above all else. I do notappreciate the fact that he's been captured and hurt." Alphys said quietly as she clenched her fists. Chara's eyes widened as Alphys began glowing yellow from her paws. The glow seemed to be...digital? "I don't expect you to understand, and I don't care. Like Shyren and Napstablook, he's coming home with us. And as for these imprisoned monsters...they're going to be set free You're not going to stand in our way."

"Oh? And what do you plan to do if we do?"

"I suggest you don't test me. I have quite an ability. Ever heard of techno-magic?" Alphys scoffed at the lack of care at her words, though they were briefly confused. "Mimicing technological aspects via magic. Which means I can enhance myself, or use techno-magic spellcasting. All I need is the knowledge of the tech, and the magic to bring it forth. Unfortunately for you...I have both." Alphys' hands glowed brighter, and Chara was sure that the glow was digital. Perhaps she had thought deeper on the potential of her techno-magic than he realized. He was right about that, as Alphys proceeded to raise her paw as more yellow light generated above her it. It wasn't lightning as Muffet initially began to think. It was becoming more obvious that the light was clearly digital energy. Slowly and surely, somethng began to manifest...and Chara's eyes widened when he saw what it was.

"...How...?"

A Gaster Blaster was hovering menacingly over Alphys' head, causing the other side to step back out of shock. She raised her head slowly. "I watched plenty of sci-fi anime that deals with certain concepts of hard light projection being utilized. The way I'm using digital energy via magic right now can be considered hard light. It may seem like just a hologram...but it can still hurt you. Allow me to demonstrate." She nodded once as the Gaster Blaster fires target, briefly causing an explosion that sent them flying back. The blaster immediately disappears as Alphys lowered her paw and began moving forward.

The humans shook their heads as they recovered from the blast. The one in the very front narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "There's no way you're gonna just drop in outta nowhre and just shut us down! Kill her!" As soon as he shouted this, he was met with a strong kick to the chest by Chara, who was gazing at him at the group with a somewhat bored expression. Infuriated by this, the other humans called forth their earth magic, morphing it into various weapons constructed of that element.

"Your boss much be a Earth Magic User, seeing how a majority of you seem toi wield it like it's no big deal." Chara deadpanned as he spun once and kicked the first guy away, watching him crash into another. "Unfortunately fo you, that's not going to help your fate. These monsters are going free, and you're going to be lying on the ground in pain. Then we'll be leaving." He was resisted nonetheless, multiple earth blocks heading towards him, which he clenched his fists and smashed three of them apart before dodging another two. They seemed shocked by his swiftness, though they were quickly becoming irritated as their multiple attacks were failing to reach their target. Chara took delight in this, shrugging nonchalantly. "Wow. You guys look pretty pissed off...am I frustrating you? Am I giving you a bad time?~"

"You little brat! Who do you think you are?!"

"This pink-cheeked punk thinks he's all that?!"

"I don't like that dark look in his eye..."

Chara shrugged off the unsults heading his way, avoiding multiple small bolts of rock were thrown at him with little success. He was having a rather easy time with them, almost toying with them even. He dodged multiple pillars of earth as they throw them towards him. He jumped straight over one of the pillars and kicked one of them in the head from above, smacking his face into the ground. He tilted his head to the side as sharpend spikes of earth just barely missed him, and he jumpped back as a much larger piece of eath was attempted to drop on top of him, crashing into the ground and picking up smoke. Chara stepped back a couple feet while smirking. They were getting quite angry over their weakness. So many easy mistakes for them to make. He could relate to that, beoming so frustrated that they could barely land a hit on-

There came pain in his back as he felt multiple earth needles pierce him after hearing a burst of rock from behind. It made him double over and flinch slightly. A hearty laugh echoed throughout the group of men, taking pleasure in his pain. Though after a few moments, Chara was quickly beginning to regain his momentum, standing up straight...only to have multiple sharpened rocks impale into his left arm. Then while he was distracted by that, an earth pillar rose from the ground and struck him hard in the chest, knocking him back, ending with him landing on his back. Considering that those earth needles were still in his back, this was only serving to agitate him rather than make him cry out. The anger was evident on his face. He slowly rose his head up as he noticed a much larger earth spike hovering a few feet above him, seeking to impale him straight through the ground. Before it reach him, something kicked the side of it out of the way. The magicians eyes widened as the earth smashes into a few of them, knocking more of them out. When a few of them stood back up to see the one responsible, Muffet had her eyes narrowed. She wasn't pleased at all. She looked like someone foolish has damaged something that belonged to her. She tends to take great offense to that.

Chara stood up with a grunt as he tried to pull the needles and spikes out of his back and arm, respectively. "Muffet...stand back...these guys just got a cheap shot, that's a-"

"Hush." She grumbled, and he immediately follows the order.

Alphys had attacked first, gathering more digital energy within her paw and raising it above her head. Within her will, it separates into simple blasts of yellow energy and rained down on them, bnlasting them and taking them down. One of them tried to sneak up on her, raising a large construct of earth, shaping it into a blade, and slashing down on her. Almost on instinct, a force-field manifested around her, this time instead of lightning, it was also made of yellow data of numerous numbers and letters. She pushed her paw outward as a beam shot out from the shield, crashing into his chest and throwing him a distance away. He landed painfully on the ground, knocking him out. Alphys gazed at her paw.

My magic awakening...I feel it beginning to settle and adjust itself. Techno-Magic...one of my abilities is to generate digital energy via magic...to be perfectly honest, I didn't think that would work that well! She was simply testing her luck at that moment, and it seemed that it chose to smile upon her at that moment. Geno Alphys was right about one thing, Magic Awakening appeals to the inner power of monsters, and what closely connects to their interests, desires, and skills. Techno-Magic was Alphys' area, and it was much more versatile than she thought if it allowed her to manipulate digital energy. Still, even though her technology intuition was doing her wonders, she couldn't afford to grow too confident. She clumsily dodges out of the way of another earth blade narrowly missing her, then raised her paw as a stream of digital energy impacted one of them in the chest, then slammed them back down. Adjusting her glasses, she turned to see how Muffet was doing...she wasn't to be concerned over.

"You know...I'm quite a fan of money. In specific areas, it can make the world go round. However...I can't abide with making it this way." Muffet declared, her lower hands on her hips. "You have one more chance to turn away from this and allow us to free these monsters, or you're going to be in for a world of pain." One of the magic users made the mistake of laughing at her threat, and a few of them even joined in. A vein pulsed on Muffet's head. She slowly raised her left leg a few feet, and then stomped hard. The ground suddenly cracked in multiple places, and debris spread outwards. They stopped laughing right then and there, while Chara was breifly surprised. Muffet's eyes twitched as an irritated smirk etched itself on her face. "Laugh at my compromise, will you? Fine. Pain it is.~" And she then struck out. The next thing the person before her knew it, he was knocked out by a painful punch to the face, sending him crashing hard into the ground, cracks splintering outwards. Chara couldn't feel his jaw drop at the display Muffet slowly turne around as her lower arms were quick to wrap her target up in purple webbing, restraining him and his magic.

Muffet felt the earth move beneath her as she was lifted up from the ground via platform. She noticed that one of them had hs hands raised, having the viewpoint that she couldn't handle high places very well. He was unfortunately proved wrong as she jumped off from the platform and fell towards him. She flipped a couple times before she pulled her fist back and smashed it into his midsection, cracking the ground and cratering it slightly from the heavy blow. She then webbed him up and turned towards the others, who were growing more nervous by how irritated she's gotten so quickly. She smiled as she charged towards them, avoidng the panic-thrown rocks her way with grace that Chara hasn't seen from her before. While she was moving, she held her top hand out and began forming regular white webs, having it stick to one of the larger fallen rocks from one of their attacks. It was completely covered in webbing, prompting her to to grab the web-line with her other top hand. She then slid to a stop as she pulled on the web-covered rock, and swung it in a wide arc. There was the harsh sound of rock impacting hard against skull, and a few more of the men were knocked out before they could react. While she slid, more webs formed as she jumped and they formed into something else, a hardened web mace in which she swung again and knocked out too more of them, cocooning them in purple webs before eventually stopping and turning towards the leader, who was slowly beginning to regret a few life choices; mainly because painful retribution has come with a vengeance.

"...Uh...I just wanna let you know...I don't really have the means of undoing those magic shackles. That's not my line of expertise, you see..." He laughed nervously. Muffet smirked at the fearful sweat running down his face. "H-Hey...I heard that monsters souls are mostly composed of love, hope, and compassion. With those traits in mind, you'll have enough compassion to lemme off easy, right?" He was answered by a swift punch to the face, and he was conscious no more.

"Maybe if you were showing genuine remorse for your actions. Instead, you get a concussion. Have fun with that!~" Muffet giggled a hand covering her mouth. Alphys simply sighed as the battle ended sooner than she thought. The nearby monsters seemed surprised, and a few of them even began looking towards tem with a glint of hope in their eyes. Shyren was slowly smiling with relief, seeing that all of her friends were safe. And Chara...he was busy picking his jaw up from the ground.

"...Muffet...? How...how did you...?"

"You should never underestimate the strength of spiders, Chara-Dearie! Especially when they learn how to tap into it...someone like me has achieved that. And I didn't need anybody to train me either. Nope! I improved upon my abilities alllll by myself, like a big girl!" Her middle left hand lifted his head up by the chin as her lower hands were on her hips. "Are you glad I came along now, Dearie? Ahuhuhu~" She cooed tauntingly, before releasing him and focusing on the cages of monsters. Chara blinked a few times. Never would he have imagined that behind Muffet's cheery-and somtimes insensitive-demeanor is a fighting machine with magic spider abilities. She may not look like much to the blind eye, but that was not an accurate representation of her ...could feel his heart beat a bit faster.

...Woah. Chara shook his head as he stood up, still a bit agitated by the sharp stones pierced into his left arm. He sighed as he reached towards it. They were going to be a pain to pull out one at a time. Still, he can't leave them in there, so he might as well get started-

SLASH!

Chara blinked owlishly. He heard Muffet and Alphys suddenly panicking, the former with concerned and horrified eyes turning towards him. A far-cry from her playful teasing a few moments ago. He could hardly blame them. Because his left arm, which was just attached to him a couple moments ago...was now motionless on the ground, severed from his body. What remained of his arm began to bleed, which caused Chara to sigh and grumble in irritation and a shake of his head. My family's not gonna be happy to see that...

"Wow! You seem to have an abnormal, yet truly impressive pain tolerance! Seeing that you're not reacting how one should after having your limb sliced off, such as screaming in agony or even just passing out from shock." They turned around to see a black-scaled lizard slowly walking up to them, with his arms behind his back. His long tail moved casually from under his own robes, and his eyes seemed genuienly remorseful for his actions. A few seconds after, Alphys was graced with the sight of Mettaton landing right next to the lizard, standing up and pulling back his laser blade. Alphys could see Mettaton, in Neo form. Though the look in his eyes...she can't see any glimpse of the Mettaton she knew within them. And judging by Shyen's horrified reaction, she seems to have some idea of what happened, and it wasn't good at all. He gazed at the yellow lizard staring at them with disbelief. "Ah. You must be Dr. Alphys. I wish we could have met under more pleasant conditions. Unfortunately, our current circumstances has made us enemies."

"Who are you?! And what have you done to Mettaton?!" Alphys regained her focus and shouted at him, her eyes still on the latter, who was staring back at them coldly.

"Ah, of course. My name is Darkness, m'lady. And as for your friend...I've done some reprogramming. He seemed to have a mode that was mostly for combat purposes...so I mode-locked him in this so-called 'Neo' form." Darkness sighed. A butterfly landed on his paw as he lifted a finger. "I really didn't want to do this. I actually wanted to become friends with a fellow scientist who was actually as smart as me...or even smarter. Unfortunately, my superior won't allow such a thing to happen. I've lost pieces of my free will, you see. She holds it within her grasp, so I am literally incapable of disobeying her or rebelling directly. So because of that, I am being forced to do this. And I thought the bitterness between my younger cousins was depressing." Darkness sighed, then slowly raised his paw. In conjunction, Mettaton Neo lifted his head and his eyes glowed red. Alphys' eyes widened.

He knows techno-magic too?!

"My magic deals with technology as well, you see. Technology and weaponry. Because of this monster quite literally being a living weapon with those components, bending him to my will his quite easy. It's sad to do so, though. As strange as his ego was, he was deadly serious about wanting you to be safe...I suppose he couldn't have known that you'd come for him." With another sigh, Darkness lifts his paw slightly as the butterfly flies away a safe distance. With this in mind, Darkness held his paw over Mettaton, with his other paw still behind his back. "I am sorry, Dr. Alphys. But as my superior has dictated...this is your last day to live..."

Let's see...Gerson wielding a powerful hammer that causes shockwaves when he strikes the ground, and he creates as manny hammers as he needs? Check.

Alphys capable of magically generating and manipulating digital energy via 'hard light' as benefit of her techno-magic? Double-Check.

Chara getting his arm sliced off by Mettaton Neo? Unfortunate, but checked.

Enemies closing in on those two respective islands and attacking a specific hero? Also unfortunate, but definitely checked. Soo...a bit of good here, a bit of bad there, and plenty of badto go around in some circles...I'd say things aren't totally going well. Not terrible, but...they can definitely be better than what's happening right now. Here's to hope they can pull through this. We'll discover in the next chapter.

Alphys: *Looks at her paws* ...Wow...even I can be strong if I try...*closes fists* And I'll be sure to usee this strength to save Mettaton and Shyren!