Here's the next chapter readers! Man, I've gotten this out much later than planned, but at least I've got it now. So that's gotta be something, right?
...Ah. Understandable, I guess. Probably not, though.
Could be worse, I suppose. But not nearly as much as other stories I haven't updated in a while...sheesh.
Enough about that though! We gotta get going!
Chapter Start!
Tempest sighed softly at the sight of his sister, who was rather casually throwing a ball of darkness against the wall, which bounced back into her paw, and she repeats the process. As such, it's a ball of twilight from her other magic. Even though it was a ball of darkness, it was illuminating the cave everyone was sitting in, which Darkness will always consider to be outright defiant to the logic of light and darkness. And even so, he recognized that magic isn't always logical. He also recognized that Lunar didn't care much for logic so long as she has her fair share of battles that can actually challenge her fairly.
Which does have him slightly question her insistence on training the pacifistic Frisk as much as she was. He was well aware that it was something she agreed to, and she was NOT the kind of dragon to break a promise she's legitimately interested in fulfilling no matter what. Lunar was a lot of things, and a majority of them aren't exactly pleasant-he won't fully fault her for that since he does have an unfortunate paw in her current attitude-but a promise breaker is not one of them when it's for someone she genuinely likes. It was quite obvious the duo was forming a connection, just like she somewhat did with Asriel.
Where that would lead, would require further study.
"Sister...I must ask you. Your dedication towards training Frisk...I've rarely seen you so focused on something that isn't strictly for your own benefit." Tempest said after he decided that the silence has lasted for far too long. "At this point, you seem genuinely interested in helping Frisk grow. And you've done so immensely over the span of these four months. Why is that? You've rarely showed any genuine interest in helping anyone."
Lunar raised an eyebrow at this, seeing that Tempest seemed very interested in the subject at hand. She as also amused by it, to a degree, as he seemed incredibly stumped by the fact that she was doing this for someone other than himself. Darkness spoke up before Lunar could really answer. "Tempest is simply surprised at you, Lunar. For all your pursuits in self-indulgence, you're showing a surprising amount of care for Frisk development, regardless of whether he'll pose a challenge or not."
"...I've decided to withdraw my final test for him."
"E-Excuse me?" Darkness muttered, genuinely surprised by this.
Lunar holds a ball of twilight above her paw gazing quietly at it with her silver eyes. "I've thought about it throughout our four months training together. I've learned more about the kid as time went on, and about his family as well. While Asriel was definitely a worthy opponent, he's got his own goals and identity. And like any person, they're likely to further develop over time. Frisk, however..." Lunar sighed softly. "Frisk through his training, has shown a somewhat desperate need to prove himself. To better himself and forever cast aside the feeling of being a burden to his loved ones. And even more so, to cast aside what he was in the past."
"Cast aside...?"
"Humans were bastards to him here. So much to the point that he hid his eyes from the world, and for a while, became selectively mute, and barely showed any change in expression. After he's known the monsters of Ebott for so long, he began speaking more, and emoting more. Though he still hasn't opened his eyes to the others. But regardless of that, it's still a major improvement from what he used to be."
"And what would that be, Lunar?"
"Someone who's so pure that they're easily influenced by whatever they experience, and as a result, are at dangerous risk of being easily manipulated." Even though she didn't know it, based on how Frisk and Chara's relationship worked in the past, she might not be that far from the truth. Even Papyrus didn't have that risk, incredibly naive as he is.
Darkness visibly flinched from this, and looked away from both of his cousins. Lunar was able to better understand Frisk's need to prove himself than either of them. Lunar, his hedonistic cousin, was able to better understand Frisk much better than an experienced scientist with many studies and an experienced assassin with many ways to interact with people. To some extent, all three of them have been excessively selfish..but only Lunar was able to always stay true to herself, despite the circumstances around her trying to dictate otherwise. It's just that those circumstances allowed her to indulge herself much more than anyone expect, or could control. But Darkness could not deny the truth to her words. Frisk only wanted to shed who he used to be. Someone who lacks the drive to become their own person after being easily influenced by many others after so long.
Just like Tempest...that is also a regrettable fault of my own doing...
Before they could continue their conversation, Lunar stretched a bit. "Welp...I'm just gonna nap right here. You lot do what you ya will." At this, she lazily yawned as she casually fell on her back, and began snoring, accompanied with a snot bubble.
"Seriously...?" Tempest muttered. "How are you just going to suddenly...fall...asl..." Tempest lowered his eyes, before he fully closed them, them fell completely on his face, snoring.
Darkness blinked in a slight panic, before turning around and noticing that the children were suddenly asleep as well. And before long, he too began feeling drowsy. It didn't take long for him to figure out what was going on, but by then he too has succumbed and is promptly forced into slumber. Sound Magic...silent lullaby...is...putting us...to...sleep...
Soon after the trio of dragons have fallen asleep, as well as the six adolescent the cave was soon intruded upon by two newcomers. One of them was a female iguana monster black robes, yellow eyes and her scales are blue. Her companion walked in, and he was a horned lizard monster with a red lab coat and a large scar on his nose. He sneezed a bit as he rubbed his nose, gazing at the sleeping figures. "That...should keep them out for several hours. Having the join the fray would have been extremely troublesome. Right, Dyra?"
"Troublesome wouldn't begin to describe it." The one known as Dyra mumbled. Even the weakest of dragons could be hell to fight if they really bothered to try. The stronger ones...just the idea of fighting them was nightmarish, and Lunar firmly fits into the latter category. Dyra shakes this off though, as she turns towards the six children. ...That prophet said that we don't need their bodies. Just their souls. That way, they at least have a chance of reviving when Ratoveros is done... As such, she reached her paw outwards, as all six of their souls exited their bodies, and began hovering over her paw. She lowered her eyes slightly while shaking her head, then placed them in the containers she brought with the. "We're done here, Warkie. Time to move out."
"Okay..." Warkie nodded as he followed Dyra out of the caves, leaving the three dragons unaware and unconscious...so they think.
Only one of the dragons actually managed to sense them despite their silent approach. Lunar cracked an eye as she watches them leave. But alas she does nothing relating to chase them down. Instead, she simply sits up and stretches again, yawning lazily once again as she scratched her chin. She then shook her head and cracked her head to the side while thinking about what she might want to do next. After a moment of indecision, she shrugged as she moved towards the six children before sitting in the center of them and sits in meditative position.
"I suppose I should at least try and keep these brats bodies alive until their souls are returned." Lunar mumbled, making the task see like an annoying chore instead of a life-or-death situation. Body-wise, they're alive. Without their souls, however, it won't be for long. She provided a bright light in the for of a circle that surrounded all of them, as she closed her eyes and stayed in her current position. Her cousin and brother would be out for a while, if what those onsters said was true. She'll keep the children alive for a while until their souls are returned. What would follow is sure to be Frisk's 'test' of his strength. However, Tempest is certainly going to be momumentally pissed with her for not waking him and Darkness up while all of this would be happening.
...Meh. He'll get over it. Eventually.
Besides, Frisk's deeper power and potential is on the threshold of reawakening, he just has to create a need for that power to come to the surface.
For his friends sake, he'll create one soon.
"Well then, I believe that's enough of that." Asgore said as he turned towards Toriel, who was rather pleasantly cleaning her muzzle of any leftover food. They've had quite a pleasant lunch with the likes of Adam and Alvina, with Temmie and Alex tagging along for company. Asgore in particular was growing just a bit worried for the likes of Flowey, since he pretty much left everyone behind from overexposure to bad food puns and even worse dad jokes. It was simply too much for the poor flower to endure. Besides, they've had their little laugh, now they had to get out there and look for him before he works up some mischief in order to cure his boredom in non-pun related ways.
And Toriel was not interested in filling out the paperwork that his kind of mischief would inspire.
Thus, the group was now making their way out of the nearby cafe area, and were on the search for the mischievous little flower, while Adam was looking impressed with the elder Dreemurrs. As always, they were able to eat quite a lot.
"Yes, our appetites are quite something. It's not really something I'm particularly boastful of, but it's the truth." Toriel smiles while lightly rubbing her neck. "Honestly, I would be much more concerned if we actually gained any weight from eating magic food. Not only does it lack that particular drawback to great eating, it also recharges our magic at a much faster pace. The same goes for healing."
"And we suppose along the way, Chara and Frisk picked up on our eating habits. Asriel was in the middle of a growth spurt, and we suppose that the appetite was there to stay even past that." Asgore chuckled softly. "We Dreemurr's can't help but eat our fill. And since we're not always on the lookout for some sort of conflict these days, it helps to keep our magic energy up at all times."
"...Now to think of it, a majority of our loved ones have grown quite used to eating a lot. Learning how to make incredible food can do that to us, we suppose." Having cooks such as Toiel, Muffet, and Grillby would make anyone feel much hungrier than they usually are.
"Not Sans, however. He apparently began working more...and as a result, he's gotten sleepier."
"...Huh. Well, how about that! Bahahaha!" Asgore chuckled, while Toriel lightly giggled. Adam watched and listened to the duo talking about food and friends. He'll admit that those two topics are definitely among the best to speak about. He didn't really have the luxury of having great food for a while, or the luxury and fulfillment of forming friendships. But with monsters like these, it almost feels ridiculously easy. They were...overwhelmingly friendly from his perspective. Not that he didn't welcome that, of course. It's just that he can understand how her sister could adjust to monsters populating her city so easily. Mostly all of them were decent citizens, and they protect their home with deep passion.
He's become rather comfortable with the fact that the monsters he met here are nothing like the textbook definition of the word. Most monsters he met before Ebott were exactly that. Monsters were usually described as large, ugly, and incredibly frightening. Most of the more unfriendly monsters he's met fit that description. However, example-wise, Asgore and Toriel were definitely large, were not ugly in the slightest, and were only frightening when they needed to be. They demonstrated this rather effectively when they 'took care' of their so-called parents. Most would be undeniably pissed or sad about their parents being dead, but the fact that Adam and Alvina were relatively unaffected by it spoke wonders about just how far gone they were.
He's met some incredibly cruel monsters throughout his days away from Alvina. And half of them were human, just like him. It was a sad reality he didn't like, but he wouldn't lie about it, especially since he experienced both firsthand, and from a distance.
...I might be thinking too deeply into this, but it doesn't mean I'm wrong. Adam muttered to himself. He really wished he could just leave it all behind and forget about it...but that's not how atonement works, unfortunately.
What's also unfortunate, was the familiar feeling of something being very wrong when they traveled a certain distance. In fact, both Asgore and Toriel tensed up as well when they sensed the area around them feeling different than the others. What really gave this away was how there didn't seem to be any people anymore, except for a trio of figures up ahead. Temmie and Alex tensed up as well, while Alvina was the only one who was oblivious to the new situation.
Ah...damn it.
Crowd-Clearing Runes. He should have guessed that's what was going on. He looked up towards the three enemies ahead of him, instinctively raising an arm in front of Alvina. The human before them, which the others were able to sense had the energy of a mage, narrowed his eyes towards Adam and Alvina. Especially the former, which he didn't miss for a moment. He realized how much trouble they were currently in.
"Adam and Alvina...there you two are." the human mage narrowed his eyes, with Alvina glaring right back without much fear. "By all intents and purposes, the team that was sent here should have been dead. All of them, including Adam. And yet for some strange reason, you live. That doesn't seem right at all...seems outright unfair, really. How come you're still alive, yet the others are outright dead. Do tell me why is that?"
Toriel narrowed her eyes, inching closer to her human friends. "Adam...do you happen to know this man...?"
"I wish I didn't. That right there is my rather lovely magic instructor...Aindreas." Adam sighed while lightly rubbing his chin. "And to answer the jerk's questions, I was spared. The others weren't. I wish I could care about that, but I really don't." Adam shook his head. "They've been driven mad by their lust for more magic power and the obsessive need to flaunt it for all it's worth. Any familial bond we had was gone. Alvina's the only one I've got now in regards to blood ties and vice versa."
"That's really pathetic."
"Yup. As if I'm REALLY vying for your opinion. Get real and just tell us why you're really here...wait. on second thought, just outright leave, you're not wanted here."
"Now that's just rude. I've come all this way to see you and you speak to me in that manner? I feel rather sad because of this..."
"That's a lie."
"...Yeah, I suppose it is." Aindreas shrugged as he shook his head. "No matter, I think I'll be getting to punishing you for your betrayal."
Alvina pouted, folding her arms. "I think you've got one thing seriously mixed up. For it to be a true betrayal, Adam has to actually care about you and actually consider you a comrade. You gave him no choice in the matter. He can't betray your loyalty because he was never truly loyal to you in the first place. Thus, he was never truly loyal to whomever else he worked with that didn't really earn his fancy. I think I can guess that much without asking him."
Aindreas narrowed his eyes towards her. "Adam...your younger sister is quite the nuisance."
"Says you, Asshole Aindreas!"
"W-What?!"
"Mayor. I don't think it's wise for us to say here any longer. While the crowd-clearing runes effectively reduced the chances of civilian casualties, it's best we expand the spaces just to be sure." Temmie said seriously. Alvina sighed,, but she agreed that the civilians came first, so she chose to move along with Temmie and Alex to tend to them right away.
Aindreas watched Alvina leave with the others, and let out an annoyed sigh. Adam raised an eyebrow at this, but surely wasn't complaining. Toriel narrowed her eyes as she sets her things in the Dimensional Box with her phone, before setting it aside and rolling up her sleeves. "I'm quite surprised you didn't choose to chase them down."
"If I tried, you would have surely done everything you could to stop me in my tracks, so I'd rather not waste my energy trying that first."
"So It comes down you trying to eliminate us first, is that it...?" Asgore muttered as he holds his arm out, his trident manifesting in his paw. "Surely it's not strictly necessary for you to go through with this...?"
"In any case...how about you fight against me, Asgore?" The monster on the right decided with a cheeky smile. "No civilians to worry about, so you can focus solely on fighting me. And your wife is plenty capable of taking care of herself, so that's even less to worry about."
"Hm...?" Asgore hummed in confusion. It appears we have yet another lover of fighting...this is already feels mentally exhausting.
The monster in question removes his hood so they could see his face. Underneath it lies a komodo dragon, wearing dark green robes with a tribal-styled Delta Rune on the back of it, and a cross-shaped scar on his left eye. He had the eye perpetually closed, signifying blindness in that eye alone. "The name's Scythe, and I'll be your opponent for today! Hope ya do your best!~"
I, how the others say...'called it'. At the very least, he seems very distasteful of civilian casualty...so I'm going to cautiously assume he isn't malicious. "Very well. I shall abide to your this request of yours...the sooner the better..."
"Scythe, please don't be stupidly overconfident right now. That's the King of Monsters that you're trying to pick a fight with." The other monster sighed, who appeared to be a horned lizard also wearing a robe, and a purple bandanna around his head.
"Relax, Akai, I know. It's precisely because he's the real deal that I want to fight him. Flaws, positives and all, you gotta agree that he's the true King. So much better than that pretender King, which is definitely a good thing."
"I definitely don't disagree with you there...but that pretender is the only Monster King we've had..."
Pardon..? THAT sounded like a topic that definitely requires further investigation. But that can wait for later. "Tori..."
"Yes, I know." Toriel narrowed her eyes as her paws lit on fire. Honestly, we are losing all patience with our home getting constantly attacked like this.
"I think that's enough introductions." Aindreas said seriously while lifting his hand towards Adam. "This is the end for you, Adam. You've decided to side with these scum, you can go ahead and die with them."
"See, you wonder why I never liked you lot. Your sense of superiority has became utterly unbearable." Adam muttered hatefully as he prepared his own magic, wanting to take down Aindreas and keep him from hunting down his sister.
He's not letting his past damage their chances of reconciliation any further. No way.
Red's ears flickered a bit as she looked towards the window for several moments. She narrowed her silver eyes towards it as well, feeling that something might be amiss. She couldn't really place a proper label for it because she has little idea of the origin or the effects it may have later. All she knew was that the feeling wouldn't be leaving her any time soon. Her instinct wouldn't allow for her to forget it so easily. Thus, she needed to be pulled out of a trance via Asriel lightly patting her shoulder in worry.
"Red...are you alright? You look like you're spacing out." Asriel said with a concerned look in his eyes. Red sighed while shaking her head. She didn't want Asriel to worry about her, though she simultaneously didn't want to portray the issue as something that isn't worth worrying about. So she chose to simply be honest.
"I don't really know for sure, Asriel. But all of a sudden, I've got a pretty bad feeling coming from within my belly..."
"What do you think might be causing it? Too many Cinnamon Bunnies?"
"Pfft, as if." Red rolled her eyes while lightly patting her belly and licking her lips. She would never place blame on the high-tier snack that is Cinnamon Bunnies for any kind of trouble. Absolutely no way would she do such a thing.
"Hehe, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking." Asriel pouted as he shook his head and hid his face in his paws. "My faith in the Cinnamon Gods has wavered...I feel so much shame..."
"You're still going on about Cinnamon Gods?"
"You should know that Dreemurrs take their Cinnamon VERY seriously. Well, except Chara. He's a self-proclaimed chocoholic, apparently."
"Hmph." Red huffed a bit, before turning towards the window again. "...I'm being serious though, Asriel. There's something going on that we're not entirely aware of..."
"I believe you. You have a human soul of Intuition. And even if you didn't, I'd trust you enough to believe you anyway." Asriel reassured while gently holding her paw. "I'll admit it is a bit unfortunate that your instinct can't really detect what the danger is, only that it's coming."
"Well sor-ry."
"Don't apologize, Red. I know you;'re doing your best, so I don't want to ask too much of you to the point of exhausting yourself. I'll just have to do my best to help you out and make things easier for you...I don't know how I'll do it, but I'm sure that I'll think of something."
"...Okay I'm not as annoyed as before, that's actually pretty nice of you, Asriel."
Undyne watched the two of them from afar while leaning against the wall, with Alphys standing beside her and wondering what might be amiss. Undyne knew that Red's instinct isn't something completely reliable, but it also isn't something that was to be ignored if there really was something going on. In this sort of aspect, she and Red did have something in common.
She sighed as she lightly pushed her hair back a bit, before letting it fall again, a thick bang in front of her patched eye. Between the multiple irritating attacks the city has been exposed to, she definitely would ignore Red's instinct, and decided to use a bit of her own, just to be sure.
...Yes. Her gut was telling her the same thing. Something was seriously wrong.
As they were thinking over this, Shamir, Ribras, and Rasha were simply eating their respective lunches, overhearing the others conversation and exchange of thoughts. They'll admit that they're greatly worried about what's to come next. So much has happened already, and it's because they came here and attacked first, and then stayed when they very much should have been dead, and have been expected to die. and now the ones that were providing their kind hospitality were paying for it. If only they had never went through with that attack in the first place. But then they would have never meant these kind people.
Their thoughts were deeply conflicted about their sense of responsibility...and then they were interrupted by a familiar voice.
It's rather aggravating that you three are still alive...they're more protective of you than expected. You've managed to be more useful within the grasp of a inor faction than you were within mine. Such a thing is blasphemous...but it does prove that you're not completely worthless.
'No...' Shamir mentally mutters in both disbelief and fear. He knew what would happen next, and that it was the last thing he and his comrades needed.
Based on that, I've decided to give you a final chance at proving yourselves. You're all a better benefit alive than dead...so I'll take full advantage of that now.
Shamir, Ribras, and Rasha...none of them were given a chance of significant resistance, as they felt control slip from their minds, their free wills vanishing further and further, until they felt them being forcefully jammed into a mental cage that greatly suppressed the goodness of their souls. And with the goodness becoming significantly suppressed, it allowed for the maliciousness within them to gradually become unconstrained. And with that lack of restraint...came power.
Undyne and Red's respective instincts-the latter from her soul's special ability, and the former from pure fighting experience-warned them of the sudden danger and it resulted in both of them grabbing on tightly to their significant other and jumping outside barely missing halberds from slicing at them. They could clearly feel the heat generating from them, indicating that the strike was by all intents and purposes, an attempt to kill.
That was more than enough for them to realize that something was seriously wrong.
Asriel was able to sense the grave change of the nature of their magic, and narrowed his eyes. "Something's wrong. They've become enveloped in this sinister-feeling magic mostly out of nowhere and brought out the darkest of themselves...why is that...?"
Alphys managed to recover as she watched the trio of felines climb of of the hole they made in her house. She immediately saw, through quick analysis, what it was and the effects it had. "We were told about this before by Shamir and the others, and a bit from experience with Augustine., and information from Eyus.
'Some control their subordinates through authority. Corruption. Fear. Fanatical Loyalty. Mind control...
"I remember this, definitely. This is surely magic involving command. But this one is somewhat different, more immediate..." Alphys said while keeping behind Undyne. "It appears that a command inducement provides the subordinate with a great boost in power, while greatly subjugating them under the user's will."
"Shamir, Rasha, RIbras...this command magic thing is pulling out the darkness within their souls and having it take over..." Undyne glared. Not at the felines, but recognizing the on e possible cause of this. If these three are falling under this magic thrall, it means that Ratoveros is in the city. Bastard finally came out to deal with us himself and he STILL can't bother avoiding using his subordinates, former or otherwise, for his own ends. Undyne clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.
She hasn't forgotten the vow she made. She was most certainly going to make sure he doesn't leave Ebott alive, by her own hand or anyone else's. Though she would greatly prefer the former, she wasn't against the latter.
Asriel's eyes widened as he jumped back from Shamir jabbing his blades into the spot where he previously standing. His eyes looked rather pained. "Shamir..."
"It's no use, Asriel." Geno Alphys muttered while shaking her head. "Their wills aren't strong enough to break through this on their own. If we wanna free them, taking down the one behind it is our best viable option."
Even MORE reason to kill that bastard cat... Undyne mentally muttered. "...Dogramy. Dogressa. Doggo. I need you to keep Ribras, Rasha, and Shamir occupied. Don't let them leave this space no matter what, don't let them harm any innocents, and don't hurt them too much. They're still our friends. Lesser Dog, Greater Dog, be sure to handle any other troubles that may plague them. Stay safe."
"Ma'am!" The trio nodded readily, standing in front of the hissing felines before them. They were reluctant, but they were certainly ready.
"Good. Asriel, Alphys, and Geno Alphys, you're with me." Undyne instructed further. "Asriel, do you think you can get a read on the guy...?" Asriel closed his eyes, magic gently pulsing from his body with his ears rising slightly. He sensed a malevolent magic presence stronger than all the others, within the center of the city. He soon nodded and reopened his eyes towards Undyne. "Excellent. Red..."
"If it's alright with you, Lady Undyne, I'd like to and help Muffet if I can. I know my fellow Pack can handle themselves, and I want to bring Ice Wolf with me." Red requested with focused, narrowed eyes.
"Very well. The same goes for you as well, I need you to be careful. This feels a lot more serious than before, even with the reduced numbers."
"Understood, M'lady." Red nodded. She then turned to Asriel, who nodded back towards her. They briefly held paws and gently gave a squeeze of reassurance. Red soon pulls away and hops on Ice Wolf's back, who got down on all fours and rushed off, the ground lightly rumbling under his feet.
Asriel sighed softly at this, worrying for Red but confident in her ability to handle herself. With this in mind, he stood in close proximity of the three women that would be accompanying him, one being a counterpart of the other. Bracing for the magic drain that comes with teleportation, he focused his magic as a rainbow glow begins to surround them. Taking one last brief, sad look at Shamir and his friends, the others vanished within the bright light, leaving slight sparkles behind.
Like Red, he wasn't able to shake this sudden bad feeling within his chest.
Dogressa nodded as she, Dogamy, and Doggo stood in their feline friends way, seeing the dark and crazed look in their eyes, their killing intent gradually rising. It bothered them greatly that they would be fighting their feline friends, considering that they were living proof that cats and dogs can get along. They really liked their feline friends, so fighting them brought nothing but pain in their souls. But regardless of their reluctance, they were steadfast with their assignment, and stood their ground.
It only furthered their pleading desperation to end this conflict as soon as they could.
"Mmmmngh...fellow cook Grillby surely knows his way with food.~" Muffet hummed while lightly stretching all of her arms. "Hope he keeps up the good work!~"
"Again. It's still just a bit confusing that you consider yourselves business friends AND rivals. That just doesn't make sense to me. Then again, I'm not really a person of business sense either way." Chara grumbled, while having his arm around her shoulder. Muffet's enjoyment of this was subtle, but very much present, as she hums again and rested her head on his shoulder while walking, her lower arms being pleasantly clasped, her middle arms hugging Chara around his waist, and her upper hands lightly playing with his hair. He grumbled again, but lets her be, giving her slight giggles.
"I WONDER IF YOU EVER REALIZE YOUR ARM NUMBER ADVANTAGE OVER CHARA...?" Papyrus asked quite curiously.
"Oh, I'm quite aware of the advantage. I tend to abuse it whenever I find it most suitable. Admittedly not often, but I'll be sure to change that some point in the future.~" Muffet snickers mischievously while affectionately petting CHara's head, making him groan a bit in annoyance. He really wished Papyrus would stop giving her ideas or reminding her of old ones. She was going to exhaust him at this current rate, and that was not something he was prepared to handle, especially when he's not given enough time for it.
"Sans...are you gonna do something about this...?"
"what was that? couldn't hear ya.~" Sans grinned towards him.
"Of course you're not...should of known better. You're only helpful when you have to be."
"not entirely true. i'm helpful depending on my mood."
"That's even worse, damn you..." Chara's eyebrow twitched irritably.
As the current group continues on their path, Sans suddenly stopped them with an outstretched arm. They others were briefly confused by this action, before he places his hand back in his pockets and lifted his head, his eye sockets going dark.
"i'm hopin' ya didn't forget what i promised ya if i ever saw your face again."
...
"Yeah, kinda figured that you'd be able to sense me. You look like your guard is constantly down but you seem to have learned your lesson." The familiar voice rang out from throughout the area, and as they looked around, they realized that there were no usual citizens-human or monsters-around.
Then Sans sensed the faint yet strong magic spread all around the area...likely to be those crowd-clearing runes Alphys told him about. They would sent a subliminal magic pulse to those that were not meant to interfere, and they would obey it without really knowing why. It was a subtle yet very effective way to clear an area and make plenty of space without needless harm to bystanders. And since he could see no one for several blocks from where he stood, the range must have been incredibly wide-reaching this time around, and it wouldn't be wearing off any time soon.
Soon enough, something slowly rose from the shadows of a building several yards in front of them. And from those shadows, slowly gaining more detail, beginning with a rather casual yet dark grin towards them, was the feline monster known as Parvos. With the shadows fading slightly and returning to the ground beneath him, Sans noticed that Parvos has three deep gashes across his face, each looked aggravatingly painful. His eyes, which used to normally be brown, were now constantly violet. And to top it all off, his fur color, which used to be white-Sans noticed that it's gotten darker with every encounter he had with him-was now close to pitch black.
"Sup, Sans? I missed ya, buddy 'ol pal!"
"i'm not your buddy."
"Great! Nice to know that you're doing all find and dandy!~"
"OH MY GOODNESS! PARVOS, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?!" The tension broke only briefly with Papyrus's exclamation and concern over Parvos despite them being enemies. Sans sighed at this, Chara shook his head, and Muffet just seemed curiously amused. "WHO COULD HAVE DONE SUCH A THING TO YOU, AND WHY?"
"Ah. You like it? I got it after I've gotten a bit sassy with my father what he sees as 'mocking one too many times'. I asked him how much he wanted me to mock him. And what you see on my face, is a result." Parvos shrugged. "It was pretty much an excuse to vent out his previous frustrations after everything he's already been pissed about, but I don't really mind that. My old man's kinda twisted, ya see."
"i find it hard to believe that he's any more twisted than you."
"...Heh... You'd be surprised how twisted my old man can be. And you'd be even more surprised that he's not the worst case." Parvos said slyly. "But even with that in mind, what he's cooking up today...it might have required some outside interference...but woo boy! He REALLY wants Ebott destroyed. He seriously can't stand the fact that it hasn't been already despite his multiple efforts. So in his own words: I'VE HAD ENOUGH! I refuse to admit defeat to an insignificant excuse of a city! They're nothing! NOTHING! I shall prove it once and for all by wiping them off the face of this world! And I'll see to it's destruction, personally!'" Parvos mockingly growled out an imitation of his father's voice before clearing his throat. "I translated that as 'Fuck it. I'll do it myself.' I told him he was being a whiny baby about letting you guys get to him so much, and that led to my face's current status. The end!~"
"...THAT SOUNDS JUST A BIT EXCESSIVE..."
"Enough, Parvos." Moments after the new voice rang out, two more additions landed right next to him. Both of the stood up, one being extremely bigger than the other two, and the other two heads shorter than Parvos. The former being a monster gator who was completely topless, but did wear camo pants with solid boots and finger-less black gloves. The latter was a grey-coated tabby cat wearing dark purple robes with a red Delta Rune on the front, and smaller runes on his sleeves. Just how many times have you been scolded for making small talk with the enemy?"
"Maybe I just like talking to people."
"Too much, apparently."
"That's just a tiny bit hurtful...can you be on my side, Dynamo?"
"We ARE on your side. It's just that being on your side is quite dangerous sometimes." The other feline monster, named Will, smiled pleasantly.
"You both are jerks."
"Better than you." Dynamo rolled his eyes.
"Riiight right right." Parvos clapped. "Dynamo's right about one thing though, we've gotta get down to business! We're gonna fight!"
Sans raised a bonebrow at this. "that's it? seriously? that's why you're here, for a scrap...?"
"Yes Sans, well, you see...this is gonna be much different than the other times." Parvos began after scratching his head and stretching out his arms, clenching his paws. "As much as I don't wanna...I'm gonna have to actually try this time. Haven't really done so because I just couldn't be bothered. But it looks like this time I'll actually have to follow through..."
Muffet blinked while letting go of Chara and folding her arms. "Oh...? You haven't really been trying up to now out of sheer indifference?" Chara almost mumbled over how familiar that sounded.
Parvos grinned darkly. Then numerous shadows traced towards him and began coating him in a dark aura, which spiked several times over while he simply stood in place not moving much. Dynamo and Will's magic both began growing as well, the former's being green and the latter's being sky blue. Sans narrowed his eye sockets, their magic did indeed seem incredibly intense, especially Parvos' aura. It was here that Sans understood that it wasn't an exaggeration. Parvos was fully intending to use his full power in order to defeat his enemies this time, even though he seems to be against the idea for some strange reason. It didn't matter why at this point, all that he knew was that they definitely weren't holding themselves back.
If what Parvos said is really true, Ratoveros truly is forgoing all caution at this point and all pretenses, he simply didn't care anymore. All he wanted to do was destroy Ebott and everyone who resides within it. He didn't full stock in Parvos and his words, but it definitely did not feel like he was bluffing over the matter. Still, he considered it important that he puts aside the how and why of the situation for now, and to simply resolve it as quickly as he possibly could.
Chara didn't disagree. But he also felt the need to regroup with his brothers as soon as he could. He turns to let Muffet know this. "I need to find Asriel and Frisk...they might need my help."
"It's no big problem, Dearie. Ribbon Buddy is here to tag in." Muffet said with a smile. Chara blinked, then turned his head to see Red running towards them while riding on Ice Wolf's back. He was briefly shocked by this, though Muffet patted his shoulder. "It's quite alright, Dearie. Go help your dear brothers. We'll be quite fine here. At this, Chara hesitantly nodded, before turning around and rushing out towards the direction he could sense his brothers. He briefly passed Red and Ice Wolf, the former leaping off the latter's back and landing next to Muffet, before moving up next to Sans and Papyrus. "Good to see you, Red-Dearie!~"
"Can you at least pretend to be somewhat worried...?" Red sighed at her friends words, before shaking her head and unsheathing her sword. "I can see that are opponents are ove-oooohhhh flipping dog-biscuits it's Parvos."
"INDEED. AND IT APPEARS THAT HE WILL BE GOING-ALL OUT THIS TIME AROUND. HIS MAGIC IS PROVING TO BE QUITE IMMENSE." Papyrus retorted, before he pounded his chest with narrowed sockets. "BUT REGARDLESS OF THAT, I'M AFRAID WE'LL HAVE TO FIGHT THEM AND DEFEAT THEM. LOSING HAS MANY DIRE CONSEQUENCES BOTH TO OURSELVES AND TO OUR CITY. SO DO LEND US A PAW OR TWO, RED!"
"Understood." Red narrowed her eyes as she steadied her sword. To show their opposition, Papyrus's magic aura flared orange, Sans' flared cyan blue, and Red's flared silver. "This crisis might prove to be tougher than all the others."
"WE'LL PREVAIL, RED. I'LL SEE TO IT WE ALL ARE VICTORIOUS!" Papyrus exclaimed, determined. "I HAVE FULL CONFIDENCE IN YOUR ABILITIES, RED. YOU ARE QUITE STRONG, AND YOUR POTENTIAL IS JUST AS GREAT AS MINE AND THE OTHERS." He clenched his fists and thrusts one outward. "COME RED! STAND BESIDE THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND WE SHALL PROTECT OUR HOME TOGETHER ONCE AGAIN!"
"...Yeah...yeah! Okay!" Red nodded strongly while tightening her grip on her saber. The lanky skeleton's words of encouragement seem to have spurred her on greatly, and now she seems ready to fight.
paps is really fired up this time around. and it seems to be contagious. Sans mentally noted. As he did, he still continued to stare down Parvos, who retained his menacing smile. The cyan glow in his eye sockets flared. Whatever intentions Parvos had, it didn't matter in the slightest. Stopping him was the greatest focus.
"Well. The tall skeleton seems quite confident and energetic." Dynamo said quietly.
"At the very least, it'll make things a bit more lively than expected.~" WIll smiled rather fondly.
Parvos' raised his paw and lightly tapped the side of his head with two fingers, not losing his darkly cheeky smile. "This could end in a plethora of ways, fellas. And quite frankly...that makes me much more invested. As for you, Sans...you and I have unfinished business. Let's get to resolving that, cool?~"
Ratoveros stood tall on one of the buildings within the very center of the city, his cloak keeping him somewhat shrouded from view. As he could sense that the other members of his brigade were following their respective assignments, he took the time to look over Ebott as whole, if only for a little bit. Before he got here, everything seemed so peaceful, at least for the most part. It didn't feel like they've been through two serious attacks that have been effectively thwarted already, leaving them no worse for wear. Remembering this fact, he pulled his muzzle back with a furious snarl.
First they interfered with a scouting mission, taking some of his more useful subordinates in the process, aside from Parvos. Next they interfered with outside operations on that archipelago, which left other subordinate cabals too afraid to so much as go near it, lest they spark the Dreemurr Faction's retribution. Then they utterly swatted aside an attempt to kill them during the siege. And almost immediately after that, the soul traffickers his cabal regularly did business with, they were completely annihilated after trying to steal every human's soul, with the youngest one turning coat and reuniting with his sister.
They humiliated him four different times. It was unbearable to even think about. A seemingly insignificant city like this keeps uprooting his attempts to assert his authority, and that simply wouldn't do. Parvos recently told him he was getting to worked up over it, which earned three claw gashes across his son's face. He didn't know anything. Ratoveros can't accept so many losses against a place that hasn't been on the map for years. It was utterly unacceptable.
Which is why he came across the one known as the Prophet, who informed him of a way to destroy them once and for all. He didn't pay much mind to the details about how this idea came to be, only that he was going to put it to action today. They won't survive this time. He won't allow it. He simply cannot.
During his inner rant, he opened his eyes, not bothering to turn around. "...What do you think you're doing...human?" The human stopped a few feet behind him when he realized he was already sensed. So he cautiously didn't come closer, but didn't back down either.
Frisk.
"You didn't bother hiding your malevolence. I was on my way back from the underground and then I sensed you...so finding you wasn't that hard." Frisk retorted calmly. "I could ask you the same thing though...what are you doing here...?"
"I have no need to divulge my intentions to someone so meaningless. You're nothing to me."
"I would guess so...I mean, we don't know one another." Frisk said while scratching his head. "But aside from that, are you sure you don't want to tell me why you're here...you look like you're going to do something we'll all get hurt for."
Ratoveros soon turned towards the adolescent...he then narrowed his eyes. Frisk guessed him a dark-coated panther monster, having yellow eyes and wearing indigo robes. The feline monster recognized the symbol on Frisk's Golden Heart Locket, and his gaze turned hateful. "Human. Name."
"...Dreemurr. Frisk Dreemurr."
"...I thought so."
That was the only warning Frisk received, and it was more than enough, given the feline's sudden darkening of tone. Frisk immediately jumped over a jagged sword that threatened to slice him in two. And he could see the dark flames that coated the sword, which would only increase overall damage. He dodged downwards when Ratoveros' other paw was also coated in dark flames and tried to burn his face. With both attacks failing to land, Frisk jumped backwards a few times to gain distance between them, his mouth slightly open in surprise.
"H-Hey! There's no need for all of that!" Frisk panicked slightly, waving his hands in halting. Ratoveros didn't pay him any mind, simply swiping his sword and sending a wave of fire towards Frisk again. Gasping slightly, Frisk cross his hands slightly as a wall of white fire defends him, blocking the black flames and causing them to briefly clash together, until they canceled each other out and were reduced to harmless embers. Frisk panted slightly while the feline stands up in slight annoyance.
"No matter. It's time to proceed onwards." He said ominously. Frisk was briefly confused by this, before he noticed Dyra and Warkie land side by side next to Ratoveros...and Flowey popped up in front of them, surprising him further.
"F-Flowey...?"
"Howdy, Frisk! How's it going, buddy ol' pal?" Flower said cheerfully, bobbing his stem...but Frisk wasn't fooled for a fraction of a second. He knew Flowey well enough to tell when something was dangerously wrong. "Say, Frisky. Remember all the good times we've had together? Just you and me?~"
"Flowey...what's wrong? Why are you...?" Frisk asked cautiously, extremely concerned for his friend, who obviously wasn't right in the head at the moment. Flowey hasn't claimed to be sane, but this feels like...the first time they met. Very first.
"Golly gee, Frisk! Seeing me today has made you all jumpy!" Fowey beamed menacingly. "...You must be at least somewhat aware of what's going on...you're at least somewhat aware that something terrible is going to happen...or has already happened..."
"Flowey...?" Frisk said again, growing more worried.
"There's nothing to worry about, Frisk. Can't you see...? I simply miss playing with you. Ya know...like we used to?~"
It didn't take long for Frisk to figure out what was going to happen next, seeing how Dyra was holding six familiar souls over her paw, and Flowey was set on inhaling them. Not even bothering to wonder how and when they've gotten the other children's souls, Frisk soon leapt towards Flowey to try and stop him. Ratoveros didn't allow him the luxury, instead blurring in front of him in a burst of lighting, and punching Frisk's face, sending him tumbling back onto his side. Flowey's menacing laugher rang through his ears as he could sense him absorbing all of the human children's souls. There was a brief flash of light...then nothing but black.
...
...
...
...
...
Friiisssk...Frisky Frisk...Friskirino~
Frisk eventually wakes up, and noticed a few things. First, the building he was on has completely collapsed, and he was slightly buried in the rubble, surprisingly not too harmed. He also noticed that the sky was completely shrouded in pitch black darkness. And finally...the tremendous amount of power he felt from the being hovering above him. A being he was far too familiar with, and something he doesn't remember all that fondly. He wasn't afraid of the being above him, no. He was just...utterly and sadly astonished.
Do people out there...do they really hate us this much...?
"That's right, Frisky! This isn't a dream! Not even a nightmare! Oh no! It's reality! And quite honestly...what worse nightmare could there be?~" It was then and there that Frisk would come to understand two things.
One: Photoshop Flowey was reborn. Frisk remembered it all: His glitchy tv screen, strange tubes, hollowed jaws with eyes and pulsating irises, his cactus-like arms with red claws, his petal-themed piped, and giant thorn vines. An abomination of human organs, plants, and machinery. And due to the six other souls having been tormented into becoming stronger, he too was significantly more powerful.
Two: The nearly all-consuming darkness all around them...he really didn't want to believe it, but it was undeniably, hauntingly true. Chara, Geno Alphys, and Sans were NOT going to react well to this, not by a long shot. Asriel least of all, given who caused it.
Thanks to Photoshop Flowey being more powerful than ever, the entire city of Ebott, and everyone within it, was forcibly shifted into the Void.
Hey, it's Photoshop Flowey!
...Oh...it's, um...it's Photoshop Flowey. Or Omega Flowey. Or God Flowey. Or Flowey X. WHATEVER his name is, he's returned. That's uh...that's obviously not good. And he's not at all in his usual mind...which definitely makes it much worse. And with everyone mostly spread out, not everyone will be able to help one another. And apparently they're so hated that they had someone dig up a VERY dark piece of their past and use it against them in an attempt to destroy them and be done with it. That's not just desperation, that's outright madness, don't ya think? Despite this, will they have the determination to prevail once again?
Only time will tell. Things just kinda popped up on our poor confused characters, but the next few chapters will explain a few of these things in more detail alongside the action. Because some things are not what they seem.
Oh well. Until next time, readers!