This chapter really fought me. But somehow, I actually managed to get it done. Feelin' very accomplished, even though some parts will be quite a mess. I can try to do some fixing here and there as best as I can. But for now, hope ya enjoy.
Gonna keep the note here short and sweet. Let's get to it.
Chapter Start!
Chara jumped back as his copy slammed his enlarged blackened fist down, cracking the ground in front of both of them. He slid back a few feet as the flames slicked forward a little bit. His eyes narrowed a bit through the black flames. His copy dully stared at him as it extends it's arm again and attempted to punch Chara, who countered with one of his own. The impact cracked the ground slightly while again forcing them away from one another. He sighed; it was much more resilient than expected...like him. He wasn't too surprised, but that does't mean that he wasn't allowed to be frustrated about it.
Chara jumped towards him and punched his copy with his other hand, with was coated in black flames. The copy responded with a punch of it's own, and his other shadow arm blasting forward, with Chara countering with one of his own. They once again blasted each other away, with the black flames following them the entire way. Now he could see the trouble he had caused a long while ago. Clones that can match you for everything you have were extremely troublesome. Especially when he gets tired and they don't. Highly unfair on multiple fronts.
Asriel was having similar difficulties with his own copy. It was a bit strange to see that the Void can gave flames of it's own, Void flames. Luckily Asriel was still able to counter it, if only barely. Their flames-rainbow and blankness-countered on one another constantly with grand explosions within the air, picking up much smoke that varied in color. He landed a few feet across from said copy, and the latter did the same. This is a predicament..I know I've dealt with the idea of copies already, but not exactly myself...well, kind of. Leafy The Leaf Ninja still hasn't made a proper return... Asriel mentally sighed at the terrible name he couldn't take back. He reacted quickly once his void copy leaps forward with a Chaos Saber in paw, and Asriel manifested with one of his own to parry it, creating sparks between them while pushing against one another.
"I don't suppose you can talk, can you? I'll admit that the silence is a bit unnerving...well...aside from the fighting around us." Asriel said with a sheepish smile. This Void copy didn't respond, only pushing his blade further against Asriel. "Right...should have figured that you wouldn't. And even if you were, I don't think you would have said much anyway..." Still, nothing was said. The Void copy finally throws Asriel off and blasts him in the chest with void flames, pushing him back a grand deal and knocking him along the ground for a few moments. Asriel recovered immediately, his own flames helping him heal the burns. Asriel really should have figured that would have been the case. They don't have any will of their own at all, reasoning with them was literally impossible.
Void Asriel slashed with it's Chaos Saber again, sending a wave of black lighting towards is counterpart. He nimbly jumps away from said slash while increasing his reflexes with a burst of lightning. And when he eventually stopped in place, another burst of lightning shot towards Void Asriel, which was quickly countered with it's own. It didn't even wait for the smoke to clear as it leaps forward and attempted to slash at him wit a Chaos Saber. Asriel countered with one of his own, but quickly infused it with lightning magic before the clash, which allowed him to slice through it with minimal effort. Void Asriel jumped back before it could be slashed as well, this time maintaining a somewhat safe distance. Asriel narrowed his eyes and remained focused. It definitely seems as though we're evenly matched...that's going to be more than troublesome...still, I can't really back out of this, can I...? No of course not! Asriel shook his head as he gripped his Chaos Saber again, preparing to attack again.
In the meantime, Frisk was looking towards Void Frisk, who was standing across him silently. It was a bit strange that aside from color, they were matched in appearances, down to the single gravity-defying hair on their heads. And during his observation of his copy, he realized that it didn't immediately go on the offensive. He could sense that it was using Support Magic to greatly increase it's own attributes. Not wanting to be caught off-guard, he began doing the same thing. Defense, Speed, Evasion, and Accuracy as well if need be. Once they were both finished, Frisk paid close attention to his copy, and Photoshop Flowey hovering overhead with an eager grin.
"Here we are, Frisk! Will you be able to prove your mettle once again? Or shall everything fall apart despite all of your efforts to become stronger? You've been training to do exactly hat, but are you willing to actually go through with putting them to the test? Let's find out! Keep playing with me!~" Frisk could only jump upwards after Flowey's rant ending with multiple vines smashing into where he was previously standing. He landed on yet another rooftop while the one before him smashed into pieces, while Void Frisk followed him effortlessly.
Not a hint of hesitation...then again, there aren't any emotions within them...and for the longest time, neither has Flowey... Frisk sighed as he shook his head and remained focused. Either way, I have to take action. Even of Flowey says that his control over the souls is significantly better, it doesn't automatically mean absolute. Frisk vanished as another vine smashed into where he was previously standing, only to appear a few feet away. Despite most of the noise, he remained as focused as he could. After he was sure that there was time to attack, he throws a well-timed fireball to Void Frisk, burning it's chest. He didn't waste anytime dodging yet another storm of vines attempting to impale him from behind. His increased speed and evasion via Support Magic really helped.
"Tehehehehehe! Well it looks like you're truly putting your training to use. Though you're not necessarily going on a very effective offensive.~" Photoshop Flowey chuckled as two dozen yellow guns shot multiple bullets towards Frisk. While he was able to avoid up to half of the first wave, the bullets already began grazing his body while he was in mid-air. He landed on his feet as a shield surrounded him and dissipated the remaining bullets, greatly struggling by the end, but managing to hold out until the assault ended. Plant stems with finger guns soon proceeded to join and worsen the storm of bullets for Frisk. He panted slightly, but he held out strong, until the bullet hell eventually stopped, and his shield dropped a moment afterwards. "My my, look at you! You're holding out quite nicely so far! though you still haven't made a meaningful attempt of offense!~"
Frisk sighed quietly as he gradually recovered his wounds, surrounded in a bright and gentle glow. So it's nowhere as easy as it was a first. I have to push harder if I'm going to get a response from them and free them, as well as Flowey. I have to keep proceeding cautiously, yet at the same time, taking too long will be just as detrimental. He continued regardless of Flowey's taunts, moving swiftly past another storm of vines he instantly incinerated with a wall of white flames. He coated himself with a thin layer of said flames which continued the healing what remained of his wounds. Running towards Flowey, he was briefly blindsided by a vine cutting his from behind. The distraction was enough, as a bomb with Flowey's face on it detonated right in front of him and sent him flying off the building he stood on, with a thick smoke trail following him, landing on his side with a coarse cough.
This is much more difficult than ever before...I barely have time to attack. Frisk gasped as he rolled out of the way of another barrage of vines that pierced the ground of where he was just collapsed, and he got up, a healing light covering him once more.
A bit further away, Alphys clumsily rolled out of the way of a wave of electric ice shooting past her. She was breathing heavily and was hurriedly trying to get coherent thoughts together. Though her aggressor wasn't interested in giving her that time, as she's forced yet again to jump out of the way of a electric ice pillar from above. The area was freezing, and it was also crackling with electricity.
"Alphys...I'll admit something. From scientist to scientist, I'm actually very interested in you. Especially when I've heard that you possess one of the most versatile magics out there: Techno-Magic." Dyra said with one paw raised, which was now generating lightning alone. "It's a highly adaptable magic, especially if you have the IQ to analyze a variety of situations, capable of overcoming any obstacle. Be they mystical, scientific, or psionic. So dealing with my magic shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"
Alphys, still panting, looked rather exasperated as she had her own paused raised in slight panic. "I-I'm aware of that...though it's not exactly explaining why you intend on attacking me!"
Dyra smirked madly. "I call it...experimentation." Another blast of psychic lighting launched towards Alphys. She gasped in panic as she pulled something from the Dimensional Boxes via her phone, and deflects the blast via weapon. Dyra comes in close as she attempts blasting her once again, which she again deflected. Once she got a proper look at what's in her paws, she was admittedly surprised. "Is...is that a double-ended wrench...powered by negatively charged energy...?"
Alphys nodded quietly, twirling said wrench in her paw before swinging it to the side. "Tinkering here and there...I was able to recreate it quite well. Though it took a bit of doing." She said while it charged with energy and launched towards Dyra, which she rather clumsily dodged herself.
"Really...? And what was your inspiration?"
"Played enough sci-fi video games to get my mind going." Alphys twirled the double-ended wrench again and then slammed it into the ground. Dyra was surprised that the effect was a energy shockwave that sent her tumbling across the ground. She managed to recover easily enough, and seemed overjoyed from the experience.
Such a intellectual equal...nah. She's far beyond me. And she's a good person. Regrettable considering our vastly contrasting alignments...but very fascinating regardless. I'll need more...experimentation.~ She stands back up with a paw of psychic lightning, very eager to continue their battle.
A screech of pain sounded out, and Undyne was sent crashing along the ground once again. She panted irritably as she stands back up again, with numerous burns across her body, with her clothes in a similar state, as well as being tattered. But she didn't allow this to stop her, as she stands once again, spear in hand. She was fully aware that she was getting roughly beaten into the ground, which only frustrated her. Not enough for her to start attacking blindly, but it was very clear with her scowl.
"Your resilence is fascinating, yet also gravely annoying." Ratoveros rolled his eyes as black lightning coated his body. "Why don't you do us both a favor? Shrivel up and die already."
"To hell with that!" Undyne stomped her foot as more spears manifested above her and shoot towards Ratoveros in droves. He pulled back his bow and fired multiple arrows in rapid succession, deflecting all of them effortless. He huffed in slight annoyance, only to be surprised by a spear shooting up from the ground and very nearly impaling him from the chin if he hadn't jumped back. Undyne took the opportunity as a spear manifested behind Ratoveros and shot forward, only barely averted by Shamir interfering and deflecting the arrow with his swords. Undyne's twitched eye reflected a look of frustration as well as concern, as Shamir immediately went back to fighting Doggo. "Dammit! Stop making them defend you! You know how much they hate you, right?!"
"That's none of my concern." Rateveros responded with grave indifference as his jagged sword was coated with crackling lightning once again. "...I will concede to you being a formidable warrior. It's quite a shame that you're wasting your potential on protecting a backwater city like this."
"Fuhuhu. Backwater. A place or condition where no progress or development is taking place. You're totally wrong about that. Backwater also means isolated and peaceful. While the former might not be suitable for the long run, we DO prefer being peaceful." Undyne twirled her spear. "But for some reason, assholes like you keep trying to tear up our home for shits and giggles! Getting REAL sick of it!"
"As I've said before, others outside are paranoid enough to consider you a growing formidable threat, and thus desire your destruction by any means necessary. As for me, you already know my personal reasons for doing this, which coincidentally coincides with their desires." Ratoveros hummed while twirling a lightning bow in his paw. "And I'm sure you've heard of the saying: 'Do unto others before they do unto you.' Right?"
Undyne blinked. The more we keep hearing that, the more we'll have to accept that those people are actually serious. "That reasoning is sort of bullshit, don't you think...?"
"In some aspects in terms of being a waste of time...I agree. However, that does go into my personal involvement." Ratoveros hummed again. "I'm always willing to partake in crushing an enemy, especially if it means increasing my standing. The higher my standing, the more likely I am to achieve success." He lowered his head slightly. "And a higher rank can also lead to a higher chance of becoming stronger...to increase their chances of survival..."
"Survival...? What the hell are you talking about...?"
Rateveros sighed deeply for a moment, his eyes closed. Then he reopened said eyes, with streams of black lightning emitting from them. "It's the way things are, ever since the Monster-Human War's aftermath. Destroy others you deem a threat before they destroy you first. It's not a matter of it, but when it happens. And you have no idea just how thoroughly broken this world truly has been ever since." Undyne was briefly confused by this, though only had a second to react to Rateveros suddenly appearing right in front of her in a flash of black lightning. Pure reflex had her put up her arms to block with little time to defend with magic. A lightning infused punch later sent her flying across the street and through several buildings. He stoically followed after her.
Geno Alphys could see everyone struggling from afar. She sighed and focused on her magic circle. "Alright Alphys. Everyone has a seriously high chance of getting killed, so you have to work quickly or we're all royally screwed..." She mumbled while panting slightly. She lifted one paw and pulled out her phone, accessing the Dimensional Boxes. "Luckily for me, I've been preparing for this ever since we left the Underground...it's only a matter of how it happened and why. And this gives me the perfect opportunity. And I'm not gonna waste it." She pressed a certain number, and something large landed right beside her.
The Machine.
Thanks for lending this to me, Sans...I appreciate it. She thought quietly to herself. She took her paws of the ground, the magic circle now able to sustain itself as she then began typing away on the machine with haste. "Alright, I've got the procedure, algorithms, power management...all memorized to the number. Now all I need to do is put it into action. Provided that nothing distracts me."
"E-Excuse me, Alphys Twin...?"
"Of course." Geno Alphys deadpanned as she heard Warkie call out to her. "I hope you're not here to stop me. I'm really busy." Plus I won't be able to fight back...
Warkie sighed as he rubbed his arm. "Y-Yeah...I can see that...but...what exactly are you doing...?"
Geno Alphys lifted her head as she could see someone glitching into existence, just barely holding himself together. But with one extra push, the man who speaks in hands appears before her. "I'm hoping to bring someone back...someone who can really help turn this whole situation around..."
At a pretty hefty price...but I can pay that price, easily.
Red and Parvos slashed at one another multiple times, much faster than one could easily keep up with eyes alone. Both of them slid away from one another after a brief clash set them both apart. Red held up her sword while Parvos held casually onto his dual daggers while smiling smugly at Red.
"I have to admit I'm impressed, Pup. I have to use my lightning magic to increase my speed. But you...you're just really quick overall." Parvos chuckled. "I so much as move wrong, I'll find my head separated from my shoulders. Don't want that to happen. Speaking of which, you're one merciless little wolf pup, aren't ya? Of course you'll go for the throat when it comes to protecting your friends, your Pack, and your home. Pretty natural instincts for a wolf, really. And considering the trait of the human soul beating your bust, that makes even more sense."
"We're all getting more than a bit irritated with these attempts of destruction towards us. We've lost a lot of patience with that constantly happening." Red narrowed, her silver eyes glistening slightly. "So yeah, I'm not really interested in prolonging this more than necessary."
"Yeah, I figured that'd be the case." Parvos shrugged.
Red and Parvos ended their exchanged for the moment as they continued their battle. There were multiple sparks generating between the two of them and their respective blades. Multiple parries pushed them away from one another before they would clash again. The former's sword and the latter's daggers constantly clashed and attempted to lethally slice open the other. If one of them slips up for even a moment, it meant a very high risk of grievous injury. But it looks like at the moment, in a clash of blades, they were stalemated. Though at one point, the difference of experience began to appear. Right when Red parried yet another slash from one of Parvos' daggers, he swiftly threw one of his daggers upwards and charged his paw with a ball of explosive black flames. Red's eyes widened as she was still mid-parry; the fireball slammed into her midsection and exploded on contact.
Red rolled to a stop with a smoke trail following her, and small embers covering her body. She shook her head and hoarsely coughed a few times while attempting to regain her bearings. Her ears twitched and her eyes widened as she lifted her head, though it was too little too late; a rocket-like blast of lightning, which detonated right upon contact and forced her even farther away. And now she was covered in both black embers and black electrical surges. She snarled in a fit of pain, shaking her head while trying to get back on her feet. Her defense dropped for only a moment, and he had taken complete advantage of that. Reckless slashing wouldn't help her here, time for a different approach.
Though before that, she needed a few moments to recover.
In the meantime, Muffet landed feet first on a lamp post, perfectly balanced. Across from her was Will, who was also balanced, but he was a bit more clumsy about it. The spider monster smiled calmly while brushing off her skirt a bit, and adjusting the ribbons on her shirt and hair. Though for the briefest of moments, two of her eyes looked towards the right as she could see Red struggling to stand up while coated in black embers and injured with black lightning. Great worry was reflected within those two eyes, but the other three remained focused on Will so she wouldn't be caught off-guard. And even if her eyes were distracted, her reflexes would help her with that. Will simply seemed nervous, and quite awkward.
"Man, what a mess." Will sighed while scratching the back of his head. "Sheesh, I'm saying that quite a lot, though only because it's completely true. Things really got outta hand fast."
"I don't disagree. Things got rather chaotic. Makes me wonder why you don't just quit while you're ahead. Or behind. It doesn't really matter.~"
"Funny." Will chuckled, scratching his head. "Yeah, we really didn't want to be a part of this. And we aren't even gonna use an excuse of simply following orders, at least to an obsessive degree..."
"How do you figure...?"
"We do what we do, mainly out of fear for our lives...which seems pretty redundant considering where we are. But hey, what are we gonna do?" He chuckled with a swish of his tail. He had given up on illusions, Muffet wasn't falling for any of them, and he didn't have the energy for more powerful ones right now. So he stuck to using his sword. He swiftly appeared behind her and he slashed at her head, only for her to reflexively duck under it, humming softly. "And you've mostly been calm throughout this entire ordeal. Are you affected by this at all?"
"A little bit in some circles, yes." Muffet tapped her chin as she jumped onto the ground, patting her skirt. "Sometimes I just happen to have very impressive nerves.~"
"That scary calmness of yours, plus your sense for danger, and your reflexes, makes it incredibly difficult to get you completely off your guard. Never would have expected that from an adorable spider girl." Will sighed. "Oh well. Gotta play with the cards I'm dealt." He dashed towards her and slashed diagonally. Muffet jumps back to avoid it, and shoots two webs that he dodged as well. Three swift slashes, two brief dodges and the last slash was caught with four hands, stopping him in his tracks. She managed to barely avoid getting cut.
"I can appreciate that part about you, at least.~" Muffet cooed as she lets go and quickly jumps backwards to avoid another slash to her neck.
Meanwhile, Dynamo and Ice Wolf were both pushing against one another with their paws clasped against one another. Intense heat from the former clashed relentlessly against freezing cold from the latter. The former was generating too much lava for the latter to be able to harden, and the latter was too cold to stay melted. The two large muscular monsters were stalemated.
"You're pretty tough, I'll admit. In the current circumstances, you're a much more fitting mach for me, given our opposite elements." Dynamo grunted, pushing forward in an attempt to gain some ground. But Ice Wolf was very resilient, not budging an inch. To their credit, the same was true for vice versa. "Tell me, you're part of a Pack, right? I heard that wolves in a pack are intensely protective of one another. Does the same apply to you, especially in regards of that young canine?"
"...Of course we are." Ice Wolf commented, as he pushed even harder against Dynamo. The gator monster grunted, but he did not let up.
"Right. Well, I have someone to look after. My step-sister, Dyra. I've always been taking care of her since she's mentally unwell. Dementia, in fact. Enough to be called Dyra the Demented. This entire thing won't be helping those cases at all, because I know she's a good person. At least, she tries to be when a situation allows her, but...you know." Dynamo sighed, before he and Ice Wolf pulled away simultaneously and managed a rough punch parry, causing a burst of heat waves and cold mist to spread all around them. His fist coated with hardened magma and Ice Wolf's coated with hardened ice, they punch parried again, this time in rapid succession. Shards of ice and droplets of magma dropped all around them, leaving behind steam and mist from the both of them. After several seconds, Ice Wolf managed to land a clear punch on Dynamo's snout, disorienting enough for him to charge him with a cold tackle, smashing him into the ground. He was quickly kicked off before he could do too much. Ice Wolf almost pounced him again, though Dynamo smashed his tail into his midsection and knocked him away several feet.
Ice Wolf grunted as he stood up again, shaking off his dizziness before gazing towards his elemental rival again. Dynamo cracked his neck slightly before doing the same with his gloved knuckles. Ice Wolf's colorless eyes lowered at this, before he regained focus and got on all fours. His entire body turned to ice, before he charged towards Dynamo once again. The gator almost scoffed when he thought the canine was repeating a tactic, only for his eyes to widen in surprise as he sees the wolf's jaws open, and right before he reached him, he was enveloped in a close-range ice magic blast. The surrounding area around them was soon coated in ice and falling snow.
Dynamo managed to melt his was out of the block of ice he was briefly imprisoned in, though he fell forward and panted slightly, while Ice Wolf remained on all fours. "You don't seem that bad if you care so deeply about your step-sister. Still, I'll have to defeat you so that I can keep my Pack safe."
"Hey, don't let me stop you. I just don't want any misunderstandings..." Dynamo huffed before he stands back up and rolling his shoulder. "Now let's keep going. This is a fierce fight between two protective beasts."
Far from them, Red took a deep breath and held tightly onto her sword, with Parvos grinning. "C'mon, Pup. You've got more fight in you than that. Show it to me, if you can."
Okay, here we go. Red collected herself and narrowed her eyes. At her mental command, two Delta Guardians formed along her sides. Both of them began a storm of red magic runes towards Parvos. He scoffed at this and began dodging a majority of them, not looking concerned in the slightest. Red increased the intensity, before she had the left Delta Guardian switch modes and fire blue circular runes instead. Parvos looked somewhat impressed with how quickly the modes switch. And while the left kept firing blue runes, while the right then briefly fired orange runes. Parvos leaped in response to avoiding the blue pulse; though he was briefly surprised as Red twirled as a chakram appeared in her paw. She tossed it towards him, and he grunted a sudden gash in his side.
While he recoiled from that, Red jumped and swiftly blurred before appearing right in front of the airborne Parvos, a magic bomb generating in her paw. His eyes widened as she slams it into his chest causing a medium-sized explosion that sent the both of them fling from one another. Red managed to land on her feet while Parvos landed roughly on his side. He coarsely coughed a few times before recovering, briefly patting his chest.
"Heh...didn't take you for a grudge-holder..." He didn't get to completely finish his thought, Red had tossed another chakram towards his face, forcing him to hurriedly dodge to the right, the weapon slightly slicing his cheek open. While he was occupied by that, Red leaped towards him with her sword prepared to impale him through his head. He vanished in a shroud of shadows before she could make contact. Red skidded to a stop and kept vigilant for him, her ears and nose both twitching slightly and trying to pick up on him. Her eyes flashed a bit, and she slashed at a shadow from behind her. Her eyes widened; it was a decoy. She turned once again...with Parvos having a paw towards her face.
The blast had enveloped her and devastated a great deal of the area around her.
Red's sword clanged against the ground, along with Red herself. She was covered in black lighting surges once again, though it was much stronger than last time. Red's cloak and cowl fell off of her back, her fur was singed even further. She coughed slightly as she tried to push herself back up.
"You're good, Little Red. Too bad I'm just a lot better.~" Parvos chuckled while leaning against a shadow cat he manifested. "You might wanna take five, Pup. Even after so many tries, you're just not capable of making the clear-cut on me. Do yourself a favor and sleep, alright?"
Red scowled angrily at him as she managed to reach her sword and stand on her two feet, huffing slightly. "That's...not going to happen. I'm gonna keep trying until I eventually cut you down. I'll keep my home safe..." She said while gripping her sword with her other paw and glaring hard towards him. He simply smiled at her.
"Ya know...I really do like and respect you guys. Unfortunately my superiors just refuse to believe that you all aren't a threat waiting to happen. They're adamant on 'getting' you before you 'get' them. If you're so far beneath them, why bother?" Parvos shrugged. "Well, if they were afraid of you before when you were basically minding your own, they'll sure as hell be afraid of you if you somehow survive all of this nonsense."
"We ARE gonna survive, fuzzball!"
"You realize you're quite a bit fluzzier than me, right?" Parvos pointed out with a mock tilt of his head. "That pink curly fluffy hair of yours only helps my case."
"...S-Shut up! Be serious, darn you!" Red sputtered, flustered by Parvos and his lack of devotion to this entire event.
"Heh. You try to make yourself out as a big wolf, but you're really are a naive, impatient pup who's just trying to find her way. Taking control of your own path...must be a nice privilege to have..." Red was surprised by how somber the feline sounded near the end. "...Well, we'd better refocus on trying to beat the hell out of each other. This isn't a time for sentimentality." Parvos raised his paw as more shadow hellcats rose from the ground, coated in black flames. "Now then, let's see ya play hero and try to stop me. If ya can't manage it, you'll die.~"
"Tch..." Red clicked her tongue as she tightened her grip on her sword, as each of the flaming hellcats pounced towards her.
ZZT!
Both Red and Parvos were left surprised at the sudden powerful orange beam that pierced and destroyed the shadow manifestations in seconds. The latter blinked owlishly. "...Wha?"
"YOU ARE QUITE RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING, PARVOS. FOR THE SAKE OF HER HOME, RED IS AN ASPIRING GUARDIAN, RESOLVED IN DEFENDING HER HOME AND THOSE THAT RESIDE WITHIN IT. I CAN WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE WITH THIS." The both of them were thrown off by the sound of Papyrus' voice, as he had stood back up with the cracks on his wrists gone from self-healing, and an orange swirling aura of magic surrounded him, and the origin was from his glowing eye-sockets. And hovering right above him, causing his scarf to flutter in the air, was a Gaster Blaster. Much larger and silly looking than Sans' blasters...and the shorter skeleton brother could sense three times the power. "BUT THAT BY NO MEANS DOES THAT REQUIRE HER TO FIGHT ALONE. WE SHALL PROTECT OUR HOME TOGETHER. RED, YOU SHALL FOCUS ON PARVOS. LEAVE WHATEVER SSUMMONED SHADOW CATS TO ME. HE WON'T MAKE THEM WEAKER AFTER THAT."
"Okay!" Red shook her head and regained focus as she turned towards a pleasantly surprised Parvos, who tilted his head to gaze at Sans, who was leaning against a wall of bones with a cheeky smile.
"Hey. Your brother couldn't do that before, could he...?"
"nope. he figured it out." Sans grinned. Sure, Papyrus couldn't summon dozens of them or use rapid-fire like Sans could...but the trade-off for increased duration and power seems to balance that out.
Papyrus balled one hand into a fist and pointed at Parvos with his other hand. "HERE I COME, PARVOS! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS REJOINING THE FRAY!"
From all that Aindreas has heard, Gerson The Hammer of Justice was remembered from the Monster-Human War for surviving, not for being incredibly powerful or anything like that. The elder monster's greatest and most grand success was miraculously surviving an unwinnable war when many others certainly could not. Thus, for the briefest of moments, a side of him figured that such an old monster was no one to be afraid of in the slightest.
But then Gerson started attacking with such mighty intent, it caused Aindreas to drop that notion completely and properly defend himself. Underestimating this monster would result in him becoming a bloody smear on the earth, and he was fully aware that Gerson would have no qualms doing so.
"There's one thing that troublemakers like you tend to forget when it comes to large-scale events like this." Gerson said strongly as his hammer was parrying Aindreas' sword. "You keep comin' after us, causin' ruckus after ruckus, and yet you act SO surprised when we retaliate with full force. Ya really don't expect a lot resistance from those you attack, do ya?" He questioned while pushing forward with a glint in his eye.
"Tch..." Aindreas didn't respond at first, simply trying to resist Gerson's seemingly overwhelming force.
"Well it's very unfortunate that you've chosen this path to follow, because we ain't no pushovers. If you're gonna keep comin' at us like this without room for compromise, we'll have no choice but to crush ya!" Gerson grinned as he swung his hammer while still parried with Aindreas' sword. Because of the extra force, the sword shattered, unable to stand up to it. Aindreas hurriedly jumped back as Gerson twirled his hammer before briefly resting it on his shoulder. "I'm a Guardian, and I tend to guard my home quite heavily, ya see! Wa ha ha ha!~"
Aindreas shook off the fact that his arms felt like the bones within them have almost shattered. Trying to engage Gerson at close range was asking for a quick and crushing defeat. His hammer was tearing through his defenses easier than tearing paper.
Gerson then lost his grin as his eye narrowed seriously. "This is yer last chance. I don't entirely wish to crush you, but that doesn't mean I won't." Aindreas' response was to hold out hi hand as a green flaming scythe manifested within it. He gripped it tightly and swung at Gerson, sending a wave of green flames towards him. Gerson swung his hammer and the resulting force behind it blew the flames to the side, scorching the wall next to him rather than harming him or the group behind him. "Hmph...very well then. It's your own folly."
In the meantime, Adam was tiredly eating monster food, while also feeding a bit fo Alvina. She opened her eyes slightly, before opening completely, sitting up and rubbing her head. Adam sighed in complete relief, glad she was alright. "Adam...ugh...what happened...?" She blinked, then pouted. "Oh, right. I got knocked out...that really sucks."
"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." Adam sighed as he turned towards Aindreas. "You stay here. I'm gonna go help out Gerson..."
Asgore and Scythe were once again parrying one another's weapons, flaming trident against dual ice katanas. They continued pushing against one another, though neither of them have shown any serious signs of tiring, which was highly worrying for the former and made the latter rather ecstatic. And even then, Asgore could still see something else within his eyes that he felt it necessary to figure out. So he did, while he swiped his trident diagonally, leaving a slight gash on Scythe's chest. The lizard grunted while jumping back, sliding backwards with ice before stopping himself, brushing himself off.
"...Tell me, Scythe. Your grand excitement for battle is very much notable. But I must ask why someone like you feels the need to assist in something like this? You don't seem to be the kind of person who would willingly partake in this..." Asgore asked quietly while holding his trident out. Scythe was silent for a moment. Asgore seemed quite insistent on pushing this subject no matter what he said. Scythe didn't really think it mattered, but thought it over since the King really did seem very concerned for him, even though they were currently enemies, willing or not.
Scythe smiled, as he chose to multitask. He swiftly moved towards Asgore and again slashed at him with both swords, which was again parried with the trident. "You're really weird as a King, worried about someone like me. But if you insist, then I'll cave in for now. To put things simply in terms of occupation, I'm leader of my own group, and my specific team is Scythe's League. Sounds pretentious to name it after myself, I know, but the others agreed to it rather easily. Probably because I brought them together. " Scythe chuckled sheepishly, his tail swishing slightly. "We mostly formed the group so that we could look after and protect one another after being relentlessly shunned..."
"That so...?"
"Yeah. But I have to tell ya, the training was not pleasant." Scythe emphasized as he briefly kicked Asgore away with his leg briefly coated in ice, before he slashed both times, sending cold slashes towards him. Asgore immediately countered by slashing once with a horizontal slash of heat. The larger wave of heat countered the two medium sized ice slashes, cancelling one another out and picking up a large amount of steam. "It's a rather despicable practice that we're not capable of stopping by ourselves. But they take quite a selected bundle of human and monster children, putting them through some highly intense training. And after a whole year of that, they 'test' us for about ten minutes. The test is the children slaughtering one another until that time is up. The ones left alive are the ones who are allowed to live and continue their training, which grows even harsher than before, now that they know that they can handle it."
Toriel overheard this, Asgore could tell. As the heat from her end grew to intensify five times at the very least. Not that he could blame her, he was feeling rather heated himself, but controlled himself enough to not take it out on Scythe despite currently being locked in combat with him. Akai, the one Toriel was currently fighting, nodded in confirmation and slammed an enlarged paw down onto the female monster. She fired of a flame to the left, propelling her to the right, avoiding the large attack completely. He shrunk it back to normal and briefly nursed it.
"It's true. It was in different intervals but each member of our group has been through that experimentation. The most avid supporter of that practice so far is Captain Ratoveros, who seems to join others of his rank in funding it whenever a new batch of children is summoned." Akai, despite explaining this to them, continued attacking as his tail enlarged and swung at Toriel, who's flames thrust her upwards to avoid it. He again raised his tail to deflect several fireballs sent his way, though he noticed the burns were getting more painful despite his defense. "And after that, the stronger monsters and humans would move on, while human souls were collected and saved for storage until they find those worthy of absorbing them and further increasing their power. Never allowed to truly pass on, only to be used as a means towards an end..."
Was this what the Six went through with their forced resurrection...? Toriel thought while quietly clenching her fists. Not only were those children forcibly resurrected after having found peace, they were forced to fight and kill other children simply for their right to be used as weapons. And considering how hardened they've noticeably become since then, they've definitely ended more than a few lives their age simply to survive, while they've been put through rigorous training and then sent out to kill older targets. And apparently, a majority of the reasoning behind it was purely to spite the monsters of Ebott. Whoever instigated this-aside from the aforementioned Ratoveros-seemed ridiculously petty about one city suddenly gaining a reputation independent of their control.
Alvina briefly turned towards Adam, silently asking with her eyes if he went through a similar practice. The slight, regretful shift in his own eyes confirmed that her brother went through so much more than he established.
"The Dreemurr Faction is not something we can allow to roam freely. Thus their extermination is not only warranted, but absolutely necessary." Aindreas said to all of them as his slashed with his scythe again, which Gerson readily deflected with a strong swing of his hammer. "We are not aware of your fullest potential, and we'd rather not find out what that is. It is significantly better to snuff out your spark before the embers turn into unquenchable flames."
"You're excusing your constant attacks on what could happen?! That's preposterous!" Asgore yelled in outrage while still parrying against Scythe's sword slashes, embers beginning to build in his jaws. "We've been perfectly content to simply live with Ebott City in peace!"
"I'll repeat my sentiments from before. What you want does not matter in the slightest. What does matter is that your very presence is inspiring various amounts of disarray despite hardly leaving your general area. And besides, our masters have enough of a hard time keeping hold territories as it is. They don't have the time or patience to waste on some rouge element inspiring-intended or not- those resistors to resist even harder. So long as your existence and resistance to subjugation persists, and you're all under the banner of 'Dreemurr', you shall never be able to rid yourself of the placed target over your heads."
Gerson narrowed his eye at this, clutching his hammer. "So...if we're not subjugated, we're enemies regardless...and you're here to enforce that upon us regardless of our consent. Seems a bit much, don't ya think...?"
Aindreas didn't heed this. He instead gave very specific instructions towards Scythe and Akai. "No more restraints from either of you. You're to actually put your absolute full efforts into crushing your enemies."
Scythe sighed while shaking his head. "Welp...fun times over. Akai, you heard the Boss..." They literally had no choice in the matter, as much as they tried to stall.
"...Alright." Akai mumbled reluctantly.
Sycthe turned towards Asgore with a sad smile. "Sorry, King. But I'm not allowed to hold back anymore. So I'll have to devote my full power into killing ya. Don't take it personally..." Scythe pulled his fist back. Asgore's eyes widened at the immense amount of magic building around Scythe. And he was given no proper time to counter. only dodge, as Scythe threw a rather powerful punch. Rather than the punch connecting, the ice shot forth. It heavily grazed Asgore's side, and kept going. The path behind him was soon devastated by the immense spikes of dark ice around them, destroying dozens of buildings with frightening ease or freezing them outright in mere moments, before they shattered from the force of the other large pillars of ice. By the time the attack's momentum stopped, it was snowing. Black snow, to be more precise.
With Akai, he turned towards Toriel with an even sadder smile. "You really are a nice lady...but I can't disobey. I won't be able to control myself after what happens next...so please forgive me." And with this, his eyes closed slightly as he began growling in pain as his tail lashed about wildly and glowing cracks began appearing on his skin. Toriel wondered what was happening, and moved to stop it, only to be immediately cut off by Aindreas swiping at her with his makeshift scythe, interrupting her advance. She looked towards Akai again, only to hear him scream out in pain, followed by his scales completely shattering, along with a massive flash of light.
The flash lasted for several moments. Adam teleported Alvina, Alex, and Temmie out of the way, while Asgore, Scythe, and Toriel jumped regardless of being unable to see for several moments. By the time the blinding light died down, and Toriel was able to see...her eyes widened in disbelief, her maw slightly agape in shock.
"My goodness..."
A thunderous, earth shattering roar sounded throughout the city trapped in the Void. Windows shattered, more buildings fell, the fighters were forced back a few feet from the roar alone. They were staring in awe at the being before them. The creature before them opened it's eyes and snarled lowly, drool dripping from it's maw, clenching it's sharpened claws as it stepped out of the crater, and glared at the others. Toriel could tell by the feral look in it's eye that it's lost all sentience. The fact that the clothes surprisingly grew with it confirmed something.
Akai had transformed into a rampaging beast.
"His magic, when pushed past the limit, turns him into a giant, uncontrollable monster...you have GOT to be kidding!" Alvina groaned, out of fear/frustration, but mostly the latter.
Toriel regained her bearings and clenched her increasingly heating paws. Not at the thought of now doing battle against a giant, but the fact that Akai clearly didn't want to do this, yet Aindreas used magic command inducement to force him into it anyway.
They really do hate us this much...to go THIS far...out of spite...? Unacceptable.
"Geno Alphys! What do you think you're doing!?" The man that spoke in hands shouted shouted in outrage towards the alternate Alphys, who seemed completely uncaring about being yelled at.
"Nice to see you too, Gaster. Mostly put together and such." Geno Alphys shrugged as she continued her process, which was beginning to exhaust her quite a bit. "I'm really pushin' myself faaaaaaar beyond my limits for your sake. So you'd better appreciate it, you glitchy bastard." Geno Alphys grinned. "Besides, I know how you're always listening. You know exactly what shit I'm about to pull."
"Geno Alphys, don't do this! You can't just throw yourself away like this! Not after all you've been through!" Gaster pleaded with her, though the cheeky smile Geno Alphys' muzzle let him know very clearly that nothing was going to stop her from doing this. But he felt the need to try. "You've endured so much to get this far, helped make everyone stronger, no matter how small the contribution was! I'm not worth it throwing yourself away like this!"
"I think that's for me to decide, G."
"Geno Alphys...PLEASE reconsider this!"
Geno Alphys kept her smile, though it was more somber. "I really did have fun, ya know. I've had a total blast with all of my friends. And I can do this with a big smile on my face, however bitter yet not with regret, that I contribute to their growth one final time. And all it's gonna cost me...is me. Seems like a fair trade." She closed her eyes. "Besides, us being inside the Void and all, along with you having enough Determination to pull yourself together in one specifc place, even if it's for a few minutes...this is the only chance I'm gonna get. And I'm not gonna waste it, me being the cost of such development is more than acceptable."
"And you chose not to inform your friends on THIS part of your plan?! Trading your existence for my own?! You realize this will go beyond memory erasure while in the Void! It's memory DESTRUCTION! They will not, nor will they EVER remember you! It isn't like me and Sans! Even their SUBCONSCIOUS bond to you will be irrevocably destroyed, with their memories being rewritten to fill in the blanks you've left! Everything will keep going on by, except that you don't exist, nor will you EVER exist again!"
Geno Alphys hummed as she panted softly. "Ah. So someone doing this kind of thing in the Void when you're not used to it...risks complete destruction of self. I won't be able to will myself outta oblivion like you or Asriel...kinda expected that would be the case." Her tone indicated the lack of disturbance she had with this...she was calmly resigned to it. Besides, if the others-ESPECIALLY Undyne and Asriel-knew what she was actually up to, they would have stopped her in a nanosecond. She appreciated that...and it's eaxctly why she lied to them about the truth of her next action and what it would do.
The irony was not lost on her. She almost laughed at it.
"Geno Alphys...you won't even give your friends a chance to find a better way...?"
"I might not be giving them a choice to find a better way than this, but I'm giving them a chance become even better without me. And that's enough for me, selfish as it is." At this, the magic surge around her completely stopped, along with the crackle of the Machine. In an instant, Gaster, while still incorpeal, appeared within it. And that wouldn't last long. Geno Alphys lowered her arms, sighing in exhaustion. And during this, glowing cracks began appearing on her body. "There...all done. I've done my part...gladly."
"You actually..." Gaster was speechless, as he was slowly regaining his corpeal form, while Geno Alphys gained more cracks around her body. "You're really sacrificing yourself. With no hesitation whatsoever...just to bring me back."
"Yup. Is it bullshit? Perhaps. But then again...they need you far more than you need me. I had a good run, Gaster. I've done all I can do, and this will be my greatest-and last-contribution since Asriel's true ressurrection."
"Even though no one will remember you, nor will they ever remember you or what you've done for them...except for me."
"Yeah..." Geno Alphys admitted...it was getting harder for her to speak. "The Dreemurrs...the Skeleton Bros...alternate me, everyone else...Undyne. As long as their stories continue...I'm content with this."
"Geno Alphys...!" Gaster called out to her, but she didn't acknowledge it. She simply smiled as more cracks appeared along her body.
"Gaster...I'm gonna be selfish, one last time." Crack. "Don't breathe a word of this to anyone, not even out of honor or hoping that by some miracle they remember me anyway. This is solely between you and me." Crack. Geno Alphys smiles quietly. "Please...do your best. Protect the future. Believe in the friends that I believe in. Do all that, and I know you're gonna adjust just fine. Overall...just be good...okay...G...?~"
CRACK...SHATTER!
Geno Alphys shattered into temporal pieces, much to Gaster's horror as he regained full solidity. He looked on despairingly as he slowly, tiredly, reached out to the one thing that slowly fell into his hand. Her glasses. Though even that was eventually faded into nothingness. Any trace of her, physical, mental, emotional, down to the very subsconscious, was now gone. No one would ever know or remember her or what she's done for everyone.
The acceptance of this caused immeasurable guilt to build within his soul. He always wanted to be free of the Void...but not like this. Never like this. There could have been a better way, but she wanted immediate results in an increasingly desperate situation. And she got it. Every drop of her magic-soul and all-within the Machine, plus Gaster being spot at just the right position while Ebott was trapped within the Void. Even though it was at the cost of herself, she actually did what Sans never could. Taking advantage of this entire situation in order to bring Gaster back. But...literally no one will be able to appreciate that, no one but Gaster himself. That's a terrible, guilt-heavy burden she left him with. She was right, that IS selfish.
Yet...he felt compelled to respect her wishes anyway.
In the meantime, Undyne was once again sent crashing along the ground and through several large pieces of debris. She grunted, picking herself up and wiping blood from her mouth. "Fuck...I was flown much farther than before...if he keeps knocking me down like that, I won't make any progress whatsoever. I gotta change that, and soon!"
"Undyne!" Frisk landed right beside her, and pressed two hands against her back. He proceeded to use healing magic on her wounds, as well as restore quite a bit of her stamina, albeit costing some of his own.
"Thanks for the assist, Frisk." Undyne grinned at him while she looked ahead. "He'll be catching up soon. Get me up to a proper state and I'll be able to kick his ass no probem!" She blinked slightly once she noticed something. ""Hey...are you alright?"
"...I'm not sure...I managed to get away from the other me. But..." Frisk shook his head. "I wasn't able to do any significant damage to him or Flowey. The other me is seriously out to kill me...I don't know what to do..." Frisk shook his head in frustration. "I'm honestly trying my hardest, yet still...!"
Undyne could tell that Frisk was having a difficult time, and felt the need to help him out of his slump. She herself can see his improvement, but he needed another push, and not one out of training.
"...Listen to me, Frisk. I know you've been through a lot, in more ways than one. You've gotten the shit kicked outta you constantly just for being the nice guy. I'm no way am I ever gonna say that your kindness is a bad thing. No way in hell." Undyne said strongly. "I haven't forgotten, it's that same kindness that got us all out of the Underground in the first place. It was that kindness that spurred you on, completely hellbent on save every one of us you consider friends and help us become better than before, future complications and consequences be dammed. I know for a fact that same Determination is still there. It hasn't dimmed in the slightest. And not only that, you're so much more powerful now. Enough power to continue putting that Determination to great use, and beyond."
"Undyne..."
"We fuck up sometimes, Frisk. Let someone down, get our asses kicked, or just straight up fail. It happens. But instead of letting that drag us down, we use it to make us even better than before so it doesn't happen again." Undyne gently lifted her hand and patted his head, flashed him her trademark smile. "When it comes down to things like this, we can't half-ass it. We have to give it our all, one-hundred percent and beyond. I know you're capable of that, Frisk, because you've done so before...and you're gonna do it again. Not just for us, but yourself as well. You believed in us, and we believed in you. And now, we can all believe in each other. That mutual faith between us will make us all stronger, now and further on."
"Ah, there you are." The duo turned towards the sound of the voice, seeing that it belonged to Ratoveros, who had nonchalantly smashed a car out of his way while striding towards them with the overwhelming veil of a predator. "Look at you, Undyne. You're all healed up. That's unfortunate, because now you're just going to get hurt even more before you die."
Undyne simply grinned as she regained her footing, a spear in hand. "Fuhuhu...dumbass. I'm not gonna die so easily. I'm taking you down, whatever it takes." She lightly shifted her head towards Frisk. "Show em' what ya got, Frisk. Because we both know you've got a lot." She turned towards Ratoveros and crouched. "Here I come! NGAAAAAH!"
Frisk stood there quietly as Undyne Ratoveros disappeared into a different area to continue their battle. He looks at his hands for several moments, thinking over what Undyne told him. Of coursse he knew that this was a pretty big reason why she was Asriel's mentor. And even so, he didn't think that she would resonate so well with him. If anything, Undyne was a very effective motivator when she needed to be. Both for herself and for others. And it was because of this, that Frisk knew what he needed to do.
He slowly stood up and could see Asriel and Chara struggling with their own copies, and with Void Frisk joining them, they were quickly getting pushed back, but they stubbornly held their ground. They were giving their all. EVERYONE was giving their all. And here Frisk was, still contemplating what to do. Though the moment he thought about this, he shook his head furiously. And in the same moment, he does something he very rarely does.
He fully opened his eyes. And they were shining brightly, and his aura reflected this. No more hesitation. He would let others keep bleeding for him when he could contribute just as much.
"Damn..." Chara grunted as he and Asriel stood against their Void copies, with Void Frisk tipping the balance heavily in their favor. "You three think you're gonna overcome us so easily? You've got anothe thing coming!"
"We'll force our way through you towards Photoshop Flowey, if we must." Asriel narrowed his eyes, flames coating his arms. They were hoping Frisk was safe, and that they'd join them soon after recovering. There was no way they'd just let Frisk get hurt though. They'd use their full power to protect him, and everyone. They could see Void Frisk stepping forward with another Void attack prepared. They also prepared themselves to counter.
They were briefly surprised by Frisk swiftly moving past them, and landed a rather rough punch into his copy's midsection and sent it flying several meters, cratering the ground while doing so. Asriel and Chara could see the magic coming off him in gentle pulses. And then it stopped for a moment as he stands up straight. Asriel reached out and lightly patted Frisk's shoulder. They already knew what their interaction would consist of.
"I'm okay. You don't need to worry. I'm ready to fight now. For real." Frisk mumbled quietly while clenching and unclenching his hands, magic continuing to build within him, as well as his eyes. After the glowing within his eyes stopped, they began to dim down softly. "I'll be alright. We'll get each other through this like we alays have. After all..." They were eventually cleared, and Frisk's eyes could be seen very clearly. They were a sparkling mix of crystal blue and gold, the former color being the pupil while the latter color being the iris, and it was reversed for the other eye. Glowing crystal blue being dominant in the left eye, and glowing gold in the left. And it also reflected onto his soul. The soul itself remained crimson red. But a flame surrounded it. A flame mixed of white, blue, and gold. It's like it represented a fire lit within him that would push him to fight more than he did before. "We may stumble every now and then...but losing to ourselves isn't going to happen!"
Photoshop Flowey could see this from afar, his eyes narrowed. "He's actually gained more power, his mental block overcome...it won't do them any good...but I'd better stop him just to be sure." He began moving forward...but was immediately stopped by being blasted in the side by a blast of energy. "Ow! What the hell was th...no...no way!" He was glaring in outrage as he noticed that Gaster was the one who blasted him, with a large and highly intimidating Gaster Blaster, who's magic in it's maw, along with it's eye sockets, were glowing a ghostly mixture of purple and red. "There's no way! Gaster?! But how are you here?! WHY are you here?!"
Gaster had his hand rasied, his lab coat flapping around a bit from launching his first powerful attack. After thinking it over, his answer was obvious.
"I'm here to help stop this spite-induced chaos."
And here we see, a little bit of desperation here, struggling there, and Determination all around. And a really important haracter finally makes his way back into the world of reality...but at a cost that no one but him will be able to appreciate.
He won't forget. He'll never forget.
Frisk is stepping up after a bit of encouraging words from Undyne. Also known as,Frisk to be awesome, more than ever before. He'll keep up with the others no sweat. Also, whaddya think of his eyes colors, and what his new resolve did for his soul?
Speaking of colors, I'll do the following just for light fun.
Asriel, Asgore, and Toriel: Each have their eyes and face greatly resembling the first Dreemurr's Hyperdeath form when they really get serious, though there are a few differences. The reason why the latter two somewhat look the same-aside from being Asriel's parents-will be addressed at a certain time. Also, their magic aura-and flames-rapidly change colors every few moments to fit their Rainbow Flames to some extent. Sometimes they're many colors at once.
Chara: Magic Aura and flames are mostly black, though over time it became a sinister mixture of black and red. His eyes tend to match this when he gets really serious as well. And sometimes blackness will leak from them for extra intimidation-and horror-factor, on some circles. When that aura flares and that mixture of red and black gets intense, it'll be a very ugly day for the recepient of his wrath if they can't handle it.
Frisk: Magic Aura and flames mostly stick to gold, blue, and white. Now that his eye color has been revealed-haven't really read about a heterochromia Frisk for myself yet-those are the colors of his eyes. He'll still mostly have his eyes closed. But once again, they'll fully open, as well as glow, when he gets really dangerous. Demonstrations of this will come up in the future. They're his actual eye clolor by the way, not just magic.
Welp, hope ya enjoyed. And I hope that I can get the next chapter out sooner.
See ya!