Sigh...
It really shouldn't have taken this long, damn it. But it has, and I kinda hate myself for it.
I really did mean to come back much, much earlier...I don't think I need to say that there's one legitimate, MAJOR factor to my hiatus that everyone knows about, because it's impacting damn near everyone, and it doesn't look like it's going away any time soon. I spent most of the time working my ass off and helping my mother and sister, as one of the few in my household that HAS to keep going out to work-former is working online, latter had school pretty much canceled until further notice-as an essential worker, for however long that holds up.
But as you can see...I haven't given up on this. Not a chance. Things may be out of place or missing, but I went over most things the best I could, and gave it my best shot, with my exhaustion cluttering up my mind. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint too badly.
I won't waste any more time, so let's get to it.
Chapter Start.
She stared down the ancient mage attempting to murder her child and her friends, with the icy flames dancing around her, perfectly capturing how she was feeling. Frigid cold fury on the outside, while inside her rage was a blazing inferno of rage. She kept it all controlled, honed, restrained to only hurt one person. And that was the cruel magician placed in front of her, the one who severely hurt her friends and child.
"I did not think I would see you again. Honestly, I hoped never to see you again. But in a way, I am glad." Toriel muttered coldly as she tightly clenched her fists. "Because now, I can seek retribution for your cruelty in the past, personally."
"The sheer ice in of your tone, paired with the fiery passion of your anger. Indeed, you wielding ice-fire makes sense." Revan hummed, though his eyes returned the intense malice he was receiving. "I also didn't peg you for the vengeful type, Miss Peace and Love."
"You know damn well why!" Toriel seethed as the area around her grew even colder due to the cold flames. Faryn was slowly pulling Frisk away from it, and wrapping him in the warmth of her now two tails. "After all of these years, I have not forgotten your utter cruelty."
"Oh goodie, a foolish creature can remember something that happened to be damnable people from centuries ago. Such a massive accomplishment. Someone should hand you a treat." Regan rolled his eyes. "Though I'd much rather put you down and save everyone the trouble. A natural response to an abhorrent infestation that is monsters like you." He pointed with his unburnt hand. "A Queen of unwanted vermin is still vermin."
"Enough!" Toriel declared as she held up her paws and clenched them into fists, the icy firestorm around her picking up and growing stronger. "I shall not listen to you disrespect my people as well as my human comrades. Every single repugnant word that leaves your contemptible mouth, only serves to add further fuel to my fiery fury towards you and your blackened heart and soul."
Revan spitefully spits at the ground, scoffing at her declaration as lightning crackled all around him. "Your opinion of me matters less than the dirt on my boots. Just obediently die like rampant monsters are supposed to."
Both of their magic's intensified as the room began to shake. Faryn pulled Frisk closer to her to focus on healing him, while Gaster laid injured, attempting to get his magic back as he watched worriedly. If worst comes to worst, as soon as he recovers enough, he'd need to warp everyone away from this location, to more allies.
Toriel thrusts herself towards him with her own flames, and her fist immediately connected with his jaw. He grunted from the blow and skidded backwards a few feet, before coming to an abrupt stop. His eyes glowed fiercely towards Toriel, whose glowing blue eyes reflected upon the spite she returned towards him.
"First blood. The others must have done more damage to you than you realize." Toriel acknowledged with narrowed eyes. It was likely a major reason why she has a chance at all. That, and Revan is still vastly underestimating her.
"Mere luck, nothing more." Revan spits the blood from his mouth, and proceeded to blast lightning from his fingertips, sending multiple chains over a large area. Toriel narrowed her eyes and swirls the icy flames around her in a circle, until they froze and effectively blocked the blast of lightning.
Her eyes widened as she briefly jumped back, as more powerful lightning smashed right through the ice-fire shield. A spear of lightning soon pierced her shoulder, making her wince. Though she too throws a spear of icy flames through his own shoulder to return the favor.
The next attack came quickly towards her; a focused beam of black lightning that shot towards her quickly. She briskly dodges to the side, only to be caught flat-flooted by a lightning bomb also zooming towards her. She had time to briefly put up a brief barrier of flames to reduce the powerful and painful impact.
She ended up crashing into the wall behind her, lightly slumping to the ground. She turned to the side to see Frisk and Faryn still recovering, more the latter healing the former, with Gaster looking on as he stayed by their side, prepared to defend them at any cost. Toriel deeply appreciated this.
She heard further crackling of lightning, and narrowed her eyes as cold flames swirled around her in a vortex to defend against the stronger, more ruthless onslaught. They dispersed quickly, as she stood back up, gathering a bit of fire in her paws, then greatly enlarging it in a manner of seconds. She then tosses it forward towards her target.
Revan saw the fireball coming, and smugly scoffed while slicing it upwards, cutting it in half. He was shocked that the two halves them proceeded to explode violently, sending him back and badly scorching him. He was then pushed downwards by a heavy force. Daleen was forcing him down with her pyschic magic, not holding back. This wasn't someone she could afford that against.
"You're quite a cranky, foul old man, aren't you?" She muttered distastefully.
"Mind your tongue and business, filth!" Revan scowled as lightning blasts from his body, with Daleen barely able to avoid most of them, and winced at being scorched across her side.
He missed Toriel rushing forward with her fist coated in cold flames, and she relentlessly smashed it into his midsection with enough force to crack the ground around them, which in turn was coated in a new sheet of ice. He was sent flying again, with a painful splotch of cold flames freezing over and making his arm wounds worse than before. Though for the most part, aside from an aggravated grunt,not did not significantly all him down as much as expected. Though Toriel was not discouraged. If anything, it made her ever more resolved to right the malevolent man before her, with a mixture of regular flames and frost flames rising up around her in a spiral. That spiral soon expanded and shot forth towards her hated target, all with practiced yet fierce intensity. Daleen blinks at all of this, having seen none of this intensity during Toriel's clash against her, and wonder how well she would have done if she did show this ferocity before.
She doubted she'd lasted long.
That aside, this definitely feels personal.
On the sidelines, Faryn was tending to the gravely injured Frisk. Frisk was looking towards the battle, grimacing at how helpless he currently was. He did dearly want to help his mother, having felt for himself the power that the ancient mage held at within his fingers. As they were, neither he or Faryn stood much of a chance against him on their own. Faryn looked at Frisk, as one of her tails reached for his phone. She needed access to the Dimensional Storage connected between everyone, so she could get magic food to feed him with. She hasn't recovered her own magic enough to heal him directly, or else she would have done so immediately. That last attack, along with manifesting a second tail-Daddy's gonna be so proud of her!-all of her magic reserves were depleted at the moment. Not to mention, their enemy would never allow Toriel a much more experienced healer than she was, to tend to their wounds while he was present. At the very least, she wanted to heal their wounds while their magic replenished.
And then what? We did pretty good for a bit, then he turns it all around in seconds. Faryn thought worriedly. Miss Toriel seems to be doing fine despite the burning anger emitting from her, but it might not last. We have to be ready to help her if she's in trouble. She lightly picked out a Cinnamon Bunny. Eyes briefly checking on the clash, she pulled Frisk onto her lap and lightly fed the magic food to him. It wouldn't heal everything given how severe the damage was, but he should at least be able to move about.
"Frisk, you need to eat this." Faryn says gently as her ears flicked slightly. Frisk looked up towards her worried face as he struggled upwards a bit, biting into the Cinnamon Bunny as she helped him sit up. Several bites and he could already feel a majority of his sounds closing and healing, though the fatigue and pain was still very much present. He winced, but was able to sit up straight on his own while lightly rubbing his sore neck from which the ancient mage tried to snap with his bare, lightning-infused hands. "Are you feeling better?"
"Enough to sit up on my own, at least." Frisk answered with a grunt as he gazed back towards the battle unfolding before them. "I can feel the hatred between Mom and this Revan guy..."
"He and Queen Toriel have a rather...brutal history. Meeting him again has awakened a volcanic rage within her heart." Gaster informed while sitting on his knees, arms still feeling weak. Faryn handed him a Cinnamon Bunny of his own, which he appreciated and accepted. Revan did a number on him, evident by the numerous cracks across his bones. His Void Magic would be of no help here. If he used it in his weakened state, he likely wouldn't survive the fallout. It frustrated him, but he wouldn't be much help either, unless his magic recovered, first. Preferably before Toriel's battle turned for the worse. There was no way it wouldn't, considering who it was she was fighting, though he was currently thinking of how to turn the situation back to their favor.
Toriel's cold flames coated the ground in yet another sheet of ice, throwing two ice fireballs from both paws to attack Revan from the sides. He scoffed at this and deflected both fireballs with a lightning barrier around himself, sending both of them bouncing back and decimating the complex around them. Toriel grimaced, yet noted that it was likely the structure wouldn't last too much longer if such damage continues. The orphaned children haven't been evacuated from the fortress yet, thus they have a dangerously high chance of dying during the clash if it goes too far. That, she could never allow. She would NEVER allow it.
And yet, despite that, she was faced with the fact that she is up against one of seven who sealed a very large group of her people away under Mt Ebott. Resolved as she may be, she can't hope for a clear-cut victory against him as she was right now. But the alternative was to let him kill her child and their friends as well as many others if he managed to get past her. Or if she escaped with everyone, he would take his face out in someone else.
She approved of neither scenario, not finding them the slightest bit appealing, so she continued to resist, in fiery defiance. Revan met her fiery rage with his own crazed lightning.
"You're seriously fired up, Lady Queen. You ought to calm down for a bit. You might burn yourself up from the inside." Revan taunted as more lightning crackled from his fingers. "Actually, on second thought, go ahead and burn yourself up. Did from combustion. It would do us all a favor, especially myself. But then I remember that fire magic users have a high resistance or outright immunity to flames hurting them. Pity."
Toriel said nothing to amuse him. Instead she drew her paws outward as she formed a fiery blade made of flames. Revan saw this and shrugged, holding out a hand and forming a blade of lightning. They rushed towards each other and clashed these blades of fire and lighting together. The elemental swords grinded against each other, causing sparks and crackles of embers and bolts to fly all over.
"You think you and your band of scum can go hop scotching to another continent to began poisoning the minds of even more people with your influence? I think not. I'm cutting off the source, today." Revan declared as he glared right into Toriel's crimson eyes.
"You shall do no such thing. I will not allow it."
They broke away from the parry, each sliding across the ground with a flame and lightning trail for each of them scorching the ground around them. With both of their eyes blazing, they charged once again towards one another. Right before reaching each other, Toriel held out her paw and made a ball of flame. It then flashed so brightly that it blinded Revan for several seconds, stunning him and making him shield his eyes.
"Grah! You wretched-!" He wasn't given time to finish as Toriel immediately ignited her fist and smashed it into the side of his face, once again sending up spiralling across the ground. He recovered quickly enough to regain his footing, standing and spitefully spitting blood from his mouth. "Dirty tactic from a filthy creature..."
"You are out of practice." Toriel deduced with a critical glare. "As powerful as you are, you clearly have not honed your skill as much as you think you have. You have been sitting comfortably on your precious pedestal, content and complacent in the supposed fact that nothing could ever challenge you."
She held up a paw that had a growing ball of ice fire above it, tossing it towards him and watching ice spikes trail behind the thrown projectile. Revan jumps back and counters with a ball of lightning that clashed against it, sending the elements spiralling everywhere and impacting the areas around them.
"Contrasting me and my loved ones, whom at a certain point, have begun to constantly struggle to defend our homes and each other lives. It drove us to become stronger so we could protect each other. That is why Monsterkind has long since shattered our shackles of weakness, we had to work for it." Toriel clenched her fist as it was again encased innflames. "And you cannot accept that, because it means you cannot look down on us anymore. We now have the power to defy people like you. People who callously abuses their power so they can hurt and kill without regard for the consequences, or the feelings of those you they torment."
She punched forward as a pillar of flames ejected from her fist, engulfing the entire hallway. Revan glared madly and spread his arms apart, splitting the flames pillar in half and dispersing them all about, landing harmlessly around him.
"You will be silent, you disgusting creature."
"No. I don't think I will. Stay silent, while people are being threatened? Standing by and doing nothing as they struggle and suffer just to try living their lives just to keep myself safe and happy?" Toriel narrowed her eyes as more flames danced around her form. "On my name as a Dreemurr, and as Queen of Monsters, I shall not. That phase of my life shall stay in the past."
"You'd rather a shameful part of you remain in the past?" Revan huffed with a manic look in his eye, gathering a condensed, yet powerful ball of lightning in his hand. "Then you might as well accept responsibility for your shame, and die with it!"
Toriel narrowed her eyes as she raised her paws in preparation to counter the attack, only for panic to grip her as Regan's eyes swiftly shifted to Frisk and Faryn. Her fears were proven correct as Revan proceeds to blast a condensed screen of lightning towards them, large enough to take up the entire room. Toriel didn't hesitate to place herself in-between the surprised children and the blast of lightning heading their way. Gaster grimaced, haven't not yet fully recovered.
This...will be most unpleasant...
The lightning stream could be seen piercing through the outside of the earth fortress, having blasted a sizable hole through it and causing the walls to collapse down. Debris smashed into the ground and crumbled further into pieces as discharged lightning coated a few of them. The sky briefly darked due to the thunderous lightning blast, causing shadows to form from the immense light caused by it.
Frisk could hardly tell, but he knew he was outside the fortress by now. He felt brief surges of lightning bringing immense pain to his body, and almost rendering him immobile. With a pained grunt, he turned on his side to try and see if the others were alright.
It wasn't good.
Faryn was lying on her side, this time completely unconscious, with her ears flat against her head and tails limp on the ground. He could also see Gaster nearby, slumped against a rock, with no sign of light in his eye sockets, meaning he was out as well. Daleen barely fared better than either, having nearly been crushed by some of the debris, and having a difficult time lifting some of it off of herself with her magic. She was pinned down.
As for Toriel herself, she was slumped over a rock herself, her clothes and fur badly singed, with smoke rising off of her body. He couldn't tell if she was unconscious or not, but he didn't sense any movement from her at all. And he was well aware that she very much took the brunt of the blast, meaning she took the absolute worst of it.
Everyone is...!
His thoughts were interrupted as he was harshly kicked in the side, tumbling a few feet away until he was lying on his back, coughing as whatever little wind he had in him was rather ruthlessly knocked out of him. He was barely able to grasp that Revan was standing over him, now once again clutching his lightning dagger in his hand. He was glaring right at Frisk, with his eyes revealing a crazed resolve to see the child before him turned into a bloodied, morbid corpse.
"Maggots, the lot of you. Making me exhaust most of my magic on what should have been a simple side-trip. You're more trouble you're worth. But now you're in my sights."
Frisk gritted his teeth as Revan approached him, dagger in hand as the maddened glare in his eyes intensified with great anticipation for his next action.
"Die."
That was his only word before he made way to stab Frisk with the dagger. Frisk's heart froze as he had little time or energy to avoid it. Though regardless of that, he didn't really flinch. Not when Revan terrifyingly closed the distance between them in a matter of seconds so he could sink the blade into his heart.
And he surprised himself by not flinching when the blade instead found itself stabbing right into Toriel's shoulder.
She had draped her body over Frisk so the dagger would only hurt her. Frisk looked up at her in blank shock, with Toriel's eyes dark and expression a pained grimace, while Revan was just about ready to fully relinquish any patience he had left.
"Damn it! DAMN YOU, you wretched beast! You are battered and beaten beyond recognition, lying limp on death's door, and yet STILL you insist on defying me?!"
"...My son..." Toriel muttered quietly through gritted teeth. "Frisk...is my son...you shall not take his life...not now...not ever."
Mom...
"Spare me your sentimental garbage! Get out of my way and die!" In a maddened frenzy, Revan stabbed Toriel in the back again, causing a pained grunt from her. He then stabbed again. And again. And again. And possibly even a dozen more times, in an attempt to hopefully pierce through her and kill Frisk.
Toriel did not budge. Her arms shook and trembled, and she would whine out in pain once in a while, but she refused to actually fall down or over. She had placed herself as a shield over Frisk, and defied any and all attempts for Revan to get past her. He wasn't thinking straight-she doubted he did for the entire encounter-as his sole focus was viciously murdering Frisk with his dagger. He would find himself disappointed.
Toriel would not allow it. Not even when she had many a knife wound in her currently unprotected back.
She refused.
Revan finally backed off, breathing heavily as he attempted in vain to get a hold of himself. Sensing that the onslaught was over, Toriel turned her head to glare at him. Revan found himself seething at the glare. He hated it. He could not stand it. Nothing could ever describe how much he truly despised that look in her eyes, especially since it's from Toriel of all people.
He couldn't believe she was the same person who cowered in the face of his wrath so many years ago. The inferno within her eyes used to be harmless embers that could easily be put out at any time, since she didn't want to hurt anyone, and didn't want anyone to be hurt.
Those very same flames were igniting the hearts and souls of those she and the other Dreemurrs come in contact with. With all of their immense power and potential, their biggest and most dangerous ability was starting the fire within people's hearts and souls. A fire that continues to gather, enlarge and consume the old status quo that he and his acquaintances have tried to uphold, but are quickly losing their grip on. If it wasn't stopped, the status quo will be destroyed completely. Here and now, today, he could fully see that the threat was real, in the fire that burned within Toriel's eyes, a fire shared throughout the entire family, and all that allied with them.
This infuriated him to no end.
"What right do you have to glare at me like that, you inferior trash?!" Revan spat as more lightning gathered in his hands. Toriel breathed heavily, blood running down her face and down her back, but she nonetheless forced herself to stand in front of Frisk while facing the ancient mage. Frisk winced as he sees the vicious damage Revan's assault did to her back. Despite those wounds, Toriel remains ever defiant.
"If I am so inferior...why do you feel so threatened...?" Toriel hummed, staggering slightly as she tried to keep herself steady.
This is quite a predicament I am in. I cannot move my arms, and simply standing is taking what remains of my stamina. Toriel thought, her vision beginning to blur too much for comfort. Yet regardless, she refused to fall.
"Mom..." She could hear the worried tone within Frisk's voice, very clearly worried about her. She smiled it off, shaking her head slowly.
"Stay behind me, my child. Everything will be alright..."
"I've had enough of you. The sight of both of you is beginning to aggravate me the longer you survive. Neither of you can fight back anymore." Revan snarled as his dagger was infused with dark lightning. "You are to die, Toriel. And once you're dust, I'll slit the boy's throat. Then you both can burn in hell together for eternity! That will be my 'mercy', as no one else shall be corrupted by your disgusting influence!"
"Oh, how very kind of you. Perhaps there is kindness in your soul after all. It must have been drowning under all of that pointless malice." Toriel smiled audaciously despite her condition.
"Snark won't save your life." Revan growled, his pupils turned to black pinpricks, as he moved in for the kill. Toriel stayed smiling as she lowered her head.
"You are quite a worthy example of what it means to be filled with wrath to the core, Revan. Truly you embody to a great degree." Toriel's eyes flashed a bit. "Unfortunately, if uncontrolled and untrained, it comes with the great risk of extreme tunnel vision..."
Revan spared her words no mind as he goes into kill them. The ground suddenly shifted as Revan lost balance. His eyes widened as he noticed the ground shift even more, cracking and rupturing.
Gnome rushed upwards from the ground. Given no time to react, Revan was smashed with a full force headbutt to the chin, knocking upwards a few feet before landing on his back. Toriel's large ears picked up his skull cracking just slightly from the surprise blow, which was quite a devastating one given the damage Revan already sustained. Gnome soon landed near Toriel's side. Lunar soon followed, looking rather beaten up and battered, but still very much standing. Terra soon rose from the earth as well, calmly patting down her dress.
Revan shook slightly, before raising his head off the ground and glared at Gnome, utterly incensed. "You...you dare?!"
"I...do..." Gnome declared slowly yet strongly, the earth shuttering around him in waves. "Not...scared...of you..."
Revan paused, before he relented and stood up, obviously infuriated with the whole incident. So much magic spent and he hadn't been able to kill any of them. Any more time wasted here will shift things further into their favor, as their friends are likely to gather more. "This isn't over, vermin. Your luck can't last forever. One way or another, I am going to obliterate you all. Starting with you two." He focused intensely on both Frisk and Toriel, before he vanished in a crack of lightning. He couldn't be sensed anywhere in the area anymore.
Then, and only then, did Toriel allow herself to relax, which resulted her eyes rolling into the back of her head and collapsing on her side. Her ears flopped onto the ground and her eyes became overshadowed.
"Mom!" Frisk was immediately by her side, on his knees next to her head. She wasn't unconscious, with her breathing slow and steady, but it was clear she couldn't move anymore.
"Mommy is fine, Frisk...just need to lie down for a bit..." Toriel mutters softly, her warm tone returning. Despite being exhausted and critically injured, her first instinct was to reassure Frisk that she was alright. Alright enough to survive, at least. "These wounds...they are nothing. So long as you are alright..." She shifted her head towards Gnome. "The children..."
"They are...safe..." Gnome reassured as he nodded to the side. The children were being safely escorted out of the fortress with a levitating earth platform carrying them down all at once. They crowded around their caretaker, Daleen, who was hugging quite a few of them after coming to. Toriel looked relieved to see this.
"Good...very good..." She shifted her head, once more, towards one more other child. "And Faryn...?"
"Ugh...my head..." Faryn blinked as her eyes came to life, and she zipped upward in a panic, her tails frizzy and standing straight up. "Gah! I got knocked out! What the hecky heck happened?!" She looked around in a frenzy. "Did we lose?! Where'd that crazily evil, evilly crazy old man go?! Is he gone?! Is everyone okay?!"
"Just fine." Frisk smiles, both to Faryn's question and his mother's. If the former was alright enough to be her usual hyper questioning self, albeit with a more worried tone, Frisk wasn't too worried about her. It was his mother they needed to focus on, as she was the worst off of all of them. "Faryn. Mom is really badly hurt. We need some magic food and some healing magic."
"His assault was utterly savage." Gaster, coming back to consciousness himself, groaned as he held his slightly cracked head. "Revan is as merciless as ever. Yet fortunately, he was also out of practice." He shook his head. "In any case, we need to regroup with the others so Toriel can recover."
"Alright." Frisk and Faryn-after calming down-nodded in agreement.
"But first...what about you?"
Gaster asked a fair question, as he, and the others gazed towards Terra, who calmly looked back towards them with an even expression. Of all the gang that could still and possibly fight, Gnome and Lunar were the only ones still in fighting shape in case Terra wanted to continue.
It didn't look like she wanted to, for she simply patted down her dress again. "I'm done here. It's time for me to go."
"You're leaving?"
"Yes. I am being called back. Those are my orders." Terra turned her back to them and began walking. She stopped for a moment, and turned her head. "If you truly care about your new friends in this Kingdom of Legatum, you'll have to reassure it's safety and protection. Because by the time this current conflict is over, even if it ends in your victory, Legatum will be greatly weakened...a prime target for conquest."
"Wait, conquest?!" Frisk repeated in barely repressed shock and slight concern.
"Libertas is already preparing it's forces. If you don't act quickly, it will share the same fate as Animus. Completely destroyed." Terra looked like she was finished, for she turned her head forward and kept walking. "One more thing." She lightly turned her head. "Some of you are needed elsewhere...I'll be sending you there." Terra raised her paw, and gently closed it.
"W-Wha?!" Frisk exclaimed as the ground suddenly opened up from underneath him, he ended up calling within the whole, with it closing behind him.
"None of you have the energy to resist. Try not to unnecessarily stress yourselves." Terra commented dryly as she made her gesture again.
"Frisk!" Toriel called out to her son, before gasping as the ground opened up beneath her as well. Unable to move, she helplessly felt into it, as it two closed behind her.
"Frisky?! Miss Toriel?! What's hap-wah?!" Faryn questioned, only to be cutoff as the same fate befell her, disappearing into the earth without warning, despite brief seconds of protest.
"What have you done?!" Gaster exclaimed while looking at the spots the three of them just were. He couldn't sense them anywhere in the area, not within the ground, either.
"There. They should arrive in Gustus in about seven minutes. I have to go, now." Terra declared quietly as she turns and continues her leave.
"Terra...wait...!" Gnome called out to her once more. Terra briefly stopped at the sound of Gnome's voice. Sadly, after a moment, she continued, much slower this time. Then, the ground opened up before her, and she jumped down into it, with it closing behind her.
"Damn coward..." Lunar huffed, but she wasn't fooling anyone. She was barely able to stay conscious as well.
"She escaped. Right after she sent Toriel, Frisk, and Faryn elsewhere." Gaster sighed as he lightly massages his skull. That was...a very troubling and concerning end to this near disastrous encounter. He gazed around at his remaining tired and injured allies. This could have been a lot better. Yet at the same time, could have gone a lot worse. Though that doesn't change the fact that he lost sight of his Queen and Prince.
The others were not going to like this. Not at all.
In the distance, The Prophet stood by, having watched the entire exchange. It was quite rough to watch, and the outcome left then others shocked. Aside from himself, which was both fortunate and frustrating.
He shook his head. The others will be able to handle the rest themselves.
"There's nothing more to accomplish here. Tengu, Hounda, Monster Mam. We're going back." He muttered before storming off with the monster trio, still troubled by this whole thing.
Things will only get rougher from here on out.
Toxin was having a good time. In fact, Toxin could happily say that he was having a great time, even as the furious flames of Asgore Dreemurr chased him down and attempted to incinerate him where he stod. He merrily avoided the flames while gauging the Monster King's furious reaction.
"Oh my, such rage! You shouldn't stress yourself out so much, your Majesty!" He says with mock worry, almost casually ducking backwards as Asgore's trident soared over him, in an attempt to take his head from his shoulders.
"You poisoned my son with that?!" Asgore roared as he twirled his trident and slammed it downwards, a pillar of flames rising from the ground where Toxin stood. He quickly avoided the fiery circle of inferno and perched himself atop a roof, sitting down.
"I figured I'd use a poison he was intimate with! He seemed to be taking it quite sells but he still didn't look too good. Again, I recommend a good doctor when you find one." Toxin spoke with Asgore as if it were a conversation between friended which only further infuriated the King as it showed how little he cared for putting his son in such a dangerous condition. "His face twisted with such exquisite agony! I'd have recorded it if I had the time. But alas, job before pleasure. And sometimes it's rough doing both, you know?"
"I will burn your tongue to charcoal!"
"That would not only be unhealthy, but it leave a bad taste in my mouth!"
"heh. that was a pretty good joke. i actually almost laughed at it." Sans snapped his fingers as he appeared behind Toxin, with a Gaster Blaster at full charge. His eye sockets were dark. "too bad it came out of the maw of a complete scumbag."
"Oh-" Toxin blinked, but was already blasted in the back full force from the cyan beam of magic. Straight towards Asgore, who held his trident back while infusing it with intense blue flames. "-shit-" Toxin was then batted aside with said trident and sent crashing into a wall, both the flames and the cyan energy meeting to form a mixed blue explosion of flames and energy. Sans warped next to Asgore as they waited for their enemy to recover, sure that wasn't the end of him.
And true to form, Toxin ended up slithering out of the wreckage he was nearly trapped under from all the flames and energy, lightly cracking his neck, looking quite delighted. "What a combo! That seriously hurt, ya know."
"then act like it actually did, you jerk." Sans deadpanned, slumping slightly. "darkness. ya got anything that can help us with this guy?"
"Don't let his bravado fool you. A fight against multiple opponents around his level isn't ideal." Darkness suggested while keeping eye contact with Toxin, who remained mostly unperturbed.
In the meantime, Efreet, Rebecca, Papyrus, and Gerson were still heavily resisting Keter. Efreet was the one met intent on opposing him, so long as he pursued this current path, one he was no longer sure if Keter knew was actually his. Yet regardless, from how far he's come, Keter was unlikely to give up without a struggle.
So be it. There's far too much innocent blood lost due to Keter's actions to allow him to proceed any further.
Efreet's immensely powerful flames was too much for Keter's remaining allies to handle. He punched through Marid's water wall due to the fact that said water was evaporating in spite of how boosted it was. Marid was felled as the fiery fist smashed into her cheek, sending her into the ground in a heap.
"Gettin' tired. Gotta put my all into this blow!" Gerson declared as his hammer glowed a bright green, before he smashed it into the ground, the ruptured earth collapsing forward in front of him and launching him towards Shaitan. With a war cry, Gerson's hammer struck true, despite the enhanced strengthening of Shaitan's earth defenses. His target was easily sent crashing into the ground, blood spittled from his mouth, eyes blank.
Papyrus would be buffeted with winds as Jinn struck at him with an increasingly lowered whirlwind, his scarf flapping wildly. He however stood is ground, and reinforcement through his bones prevented him from being pushed back any further. Instead, he manifests a Gaster Blaster that kept strong even as the wind attempted to erode it into nothing, constantly reforming faster than the wind eroded it. With a flash of his eye socket, the blasted fires an orange beam, tearing through the wind barrier and smashing into Jinn, burying the monster into the ground behind it.
Keter was exhausted, seeing that his monster followers have each been defeated. The victors took some time to catch their breath, before they began to advance on them.
"This isn't over. I won't allow it to end. I have to see this through." Keter declared as several ends were formed around his arms, manifesting another sword, one conjured of ice runes. "No matter what, I cannot and will not abandon this path. I've sunken far too deep into it."
"Keter..." Rebecca muttered with tears in her eyes.
"THEN THERE IS TRULY NOTHING MORE WE CAN SAY TO SWAY YOU. I REALLY WOULD RATHER NOT DO THIS, BECAUSE REBECCA SEES YOU AS HER FRIEND..." Papyrus looked truly conflicted by this, still sending that Rebecca would rather not hurt Keter, regardless of how little he returned the sentiment. "BUT ALAS, THIS IS OUR CROSSROADS. CONFLICTING INTEREST INSIST THAT WE CONTINUE OUR CLASH."
"So it does."
Papyrus stepped forward, his scarf billowing in the wind. "VERY WELL. IN THAT CASE, WE SHALL END IT HERE." A wave of his arm summoned a Gaster Blaster into existence, having it flying by his side. "THERE IS NO WAY WE CAN ALLOW THIS TO GO ON ANY FURTHER. IT IS ABOUT TIME SOMEONE BLOCKED OFF YOUR PATH TO SELF-DESTRUCTION."
"Indeed. This will end soon." Efreet growled, his flames intensifying.
"REBECCA. I KNOW THIS MIGHT BE DIFFICULT FOR YOU, BUT WE WILL NEED YOUR FULL SUPPORT ON THIS." Papyrus declared without turning towards the conflicted Queen.
"Indeed, My Lady. Keter has made his choice. You know what you have to do." Efreet echoed the sentiment.
Rebecca still didn't like this at all, but solemnly nodded. Keter was her enemy, as she pained to admit to herself, and her friends needed her blessing to fight him without restraint, lest more innocents die. With a saddened sigh, she binded herself to them with her binding magic, supplying them with her immense reserves. "Very well..."
Papyrus and Efreet solemnly appreciated her assistance as Keter prepared another rune, Efreet identified it as lightning. The human mage swiped his hand downwards as the runes closed brightly and shot down towards the group with a road of thunder. The former placed his hands on the ground as a some of bones surrounded everyone and shielded against the lightning strike. The shield was heavily dented as a result, but was otherwise still intact.
Efreet bursts through the shield, which results in a blast of fiery bone shards heading towards Keter. The mage managed to deflect several of them in time, giving Efreet enough time to close in and strike him in the chest. Keter sputtered blood from his lips, not just from how forceful the blow was, but how he applied intense heat to his fist to enhance said blow.
Allow us to end this quickly, Keter. With how much Rebecca cares about you, this is hitting her more than you. Efreet thought strongly as a gathering of fire formed in Efreet's paw, before he slammed it into Keter's chest, resulting in the fireball engulfing him and having nothing them crash into the earth in an immense fiery blast of heat and flames.
The fiery crater had Keter lying right in the center, covered in intense burns. Efreet held very little back in terms of having to bring down Keter, but he made certain not to kill him yet, despite him thinking it to be a necessary course of action. Papyrus, on the other hand, immediately went to restrain Keter, surrounding him a circular cage of bones. He grunted from how tight it was-Papyrus very briefly pondered loosening them if they were uncomfortable, before quickly discarding that as a very poor idea-as the skeleton descending upon him, his scarf billowing in the wind.
"HERE. WE HAVE FOUGHT LONG ENOUGH. OUR BATTLE IS OVER." Papyrus declared strongly. "WITH THAT BEING SAID, ARE YOU READY TO TALK TO REBECCA PROPERLY? IF NOT, I MUST KEEP YOU RESTRAINED. SORRY ABOUT THAT!"
"Tch..."
"Oh give up the bravado, boy. Yer beaten." Gerson scoffed while moving towards Keter with an annoyed frown. "This young lady has been pleading for you to give her a chance, and you kept spittin' on that offer almost every single time. You oughta be ashamed of yourself."
"You are given one more chance to surrender, Keter. And I do truly mean it this time." Efreet's glare and flames intensified as he folded his arms with a stomp. "Should you refuse once more, I will have no choice but to finally end your life. I will accept the burden and blame for causing my Queen grief for ending the life of someone she used to admire, but I can't allow you more chances to attack her again. The next time you true I incinerate you until you spontaneously combust. No warning will be given."
"Ya might wanna consider your chances, son. He's not bluffing." Gerson lightly tapped his hammer on the ground with a huff. "When it comes to protecting your monarch, one has no time for half-measures. But you know this, don't you?"
"EVEN IF SHE PERSONALLY HAS DONE NO TRUE DIRECT HARM TOWARDS YOU, SHE STILL FEELS THE NEED TO ANSWER FOR THE WRONGDOINGS OF HER PARENTS TOWARDS YOU AND ANYONE ELSE THEY MIGHT HAVE WRONGED. SHE WANTS TO REBUILD THE TIES THAT YOU SEVERED WITH HER." Papyrus gazed at Keter, the man noticeably going silent.
"Do tell us, is this the legacy yer' aimin' to leave behind? To be a protector of a princess who once adored you and thought of you as her friend, turned into someone who's willing to kill that same person who's now Queen? And to do so for the sins of her parents. Revenge towards a tainted throne, one she wishes to redeem, and for the most part, succeeded?" Gerson questioned quietly, keeping his eye narrowed on Keter. "Is that really how you wanna be remembered? Because Rebecca certainly doesn't want to be remembered solely for her parents' missteps and malevolent rulings."
"TO REDEEM THE THRONE THAT DISHONORED YOU, SO YOU CAN BE FRIENDS AGAIN. WHY DENY HER THAT?" Papyrus says while gesturing to Rebecca, who took the time to slowly step forward.
"Keter. We should begin anew. The betrayal that happened to you in the past, it won't happen again. Everyone worked hard to bring themselves out of those worse times. We've done our best to better ourselves. It isn't perfect by any means. But, hopefully you can give it a chance?" Rebecca pleaded with him, holding out a hand.
Keter glared at the hand for a moment, silence still dominating the space. After a bit of contemplation, as well as taking the time to calm down and really think it over, Keter looked Rebecca in the eyes.
Papyrus jumped in front of her has he blocked a powerful jet of water with a hardened wall of bones, and even then it nearly broke down from the intense pressure, before the attack subsided. Rebecca's eyes widened as she fell back slightly from the shock, as Keter's water rune vanished, having freed himself from his restraints. Papyrus grimaced as his bone wall faded away.
Had that attack made contact, it would have torn Rebecca in half. Papyrus lamented quietly as he understood the message loud and clear. They kept extending the olive branch, yet he keeps smacking it out of their hands. He sighed, knowing what would come next. And given the sudden sadness Rebecca was feeling through her link with him, she knew as well.
Enough was enough, Keter has made his choice clear. Papyrus sighed, having no choice but to respond in kind.
Papyrus raised and clenched his fist as an array of bones manifested and formed, turning into a large fist of bones. He couldn't let Keter keep going like this, yet watching Efreet kill Keter will surely be too much for Rebecca's already wounded heart to handle, especially with everything else that has already happened to her kingdom.
At the very least, she shouldn't have to watch one friend kill a former one. There has been enough cruelty today.
The bone fist soared through the air. Unable to properly avoid it, Keter attempted to defend with an earth rune to raise a sturdy wall. He ended up surprised as a Gaster Blaster beam ended up decimating it before it could fully form, leaving the bone fist to slam right into him with all of it's momentum and might. He gazed at the glowing orange eye sockets that Papyrus showcase from summoning his Gaster Blaster, seeing the intensity behind it after having discarded more of his reluctance. All doubts did not matter, there was a princess who needed his protection.
Even know she wasn't really his princess, and this wasn't his kingdom. Yet neither seemed to matter to this skeleton. He didn't make sense. What he was doing didn't make sense.
Ever since that day, nothing made sense anymore.
As he laid on the ground, crumpled and defeated, Toxin took a quick look towards his direction, humming curiously. Poor Keter doesn't look like he'll be able to continue. But where he sees a loss, I see an opportunity to be cheeky! He thinks with a malicious glint in his eye as he conspicuously waved his paw over Keter's form.
Keter laid still as Efreet happened upon him, an intense flame circling around him. "Keter, you'll have no more chances for mercy. Speak your final words with care, before they are burned to ash along with you."
Keter looked at the group that felled him, despite his best efforts to defeat them all. He really was going to die here, despite how against it Rebecca and Papyrus seemed to be. His crimes would not be overlooked by Efreet, who slight justice for the bystanders that perished due to his scheming. Fair enough, he had this coming.
Yet still, he would give them the courtesy of hearing his last thoughts.
"Rebecca..." Keter mumbled, brief hints of his undamaged sanity returning to him, if only slightly. Rebecca perked up at his voice, intent on hearing him out. "All I wanted to do wa-" He stopped suddenly, eyes widened as he grasped his chest, his head pounding awfully painfully all of a sudden. It was like it was trying to punch it's way out of his body.
Come to think of it, the pain was beginning to spread all over his body, sabotaging his attempts to even try to move. The intense pain nearly brought him to agonized crying. He looked at his hands, and saw a purplish green glow beginning to surge from his veins. He clenched them as he immediately realized what it was and who was responsible. There was something selling up inside of him, and he couldn't do anything to contain it. The best he could do was stay still and await the inevitable.
Papyrus for one, seemed to realize what was happening as Keter's entire body began glowing, much to Efreet's surprise and Rebecca's worry. And thus, he put his boisterous voice to good use. "EVERYBODY FLEE! TAKE COVER AND GET AWAY FROM HERE!"
Sans for one was the most taken aback by the utter urgency in Papyrus's declaration, yet trusted it as he briefly touched Asgore's leg. "sorry, your majesty! we gotta move away from here asap!"
Asgore looked prepared to protest, but Sans already warped him away as Toxin smiled and waved his paw once more. The dark glowing within Keter's body spread even faster, and even attached to his unconscious three followers. Their glowing turned more malevolent and menacing, sickly and abhorrent. At the sight and sense of it, Toxin could only smile viciously.
That was the moment that Keter exploded. Shaitan, Marid, and Jinn soon followed.
Four explosions of toxicity from all four individuals roared and briefly drowned out many other noises. They each left smoldering craters in their places, utterly decimating what left of the area, leaving only a horrid smog that was billowing upwards, nearly blocking the view of the sky.
"Haha! At least they managed to explode quite nicely!" Toxin clapped with a bright smile, his tail holding his camera and getting the whole thing, including the expression of shocked fear on Keter's face before his demise. He then folded his arms and rubbed his chin. "I didn't use fire though, so would it be called toxic-technics? Meh, probably not."
Sans and Papyrus both helped the gang to their feet after warping them to safety, especially the monarchs. Both Asgore and Rebecca looked on with disbelieving eyes at the smoking, poisonous craters that used to be Keter and his three monster followers. The latter teared up slightly.
"Keter..."
"he really just had them blow up like toxic bombs..." Sans muttered with hollowed eye sockets.
"HOW COULD YOU?!" Papyrus exclaimed while setting Rebecca down behind him.
"Simple, really. I placed these on him and the other three quite a while in advance. Just in case he lost and you all somehow managed to convince him to relook himself and seek atonement. You're terrifyingly good at that, ya know? And luckily for me, I timed it just right! Rebecca actually thought she was going to get through to him! Beautiful!" Toxin's tail swayed gently while he gazed at them. "It's a shame, though. I thought he'd blow up a bit messier than that. Was kind of going for a more 'chaotic art' feel."
Darkness frowned. "I wish I could be surprised by this, but you really are as vile as ever!"
"Pfft, come now, Darkness. You really should have seen this coming, you're a smart dragon!" Toxin lightly tapped his head. "And in other news, how about you stop pretending like you were always a person who cared about the morality of things?" Darkness actually snarled viciously over this, yet it only served to make Toxin smile more.
"Toxin!" Asgore gritted his teeth as he leapt from his foothold, landing on both feet as a ring of flames rose around him.
"Oh, right. You're still mad about your son. The eldest one." Toxin took a brief look around, before scratching his cheek. "Well damn. I'm seriously outnumbered. Guess I'll have to pack my things and call it a day. I didn't get everything I wanted, but things were accomplished, I suppose." Toxin tilted his head. "Ya know, Asgore. You and your family better be careful on your journey to redeem your family name, lest you burn yourselves to ashes trying...not that it wouldn't be fun to watch."
"You believe I'll allow you to escape?" Asgore snarled as his trident began hearing up, the flames around it getting wilder. "If anyone has done far too much damage, it is you to this Kingdom!"
"Calm your mane, I never said that we wouldn't see each other again. In fact, I had already planned on ensuring that you'll see me again." Toxin soon vanished into cloud of poisonous smog, setting Asgore on edge and preparing for a possible surprise attack from anywhere.
"what's he gonna do now?" Sans narrowed his eye sockets and kept vigilant, with Papyrus and Efreet staying closer to Rebecca on opposite sides to weaken a sense of surprise.
A paw clamped onto his shoulder, and he felt the estoeric poison surging through his bones. Though instead of pain, he felt himself stuck in place, almost completely.
the hell?! i can't move! He managed to sneak up on him again, he couldn't sense him at all!
"Sans? Sans the Skeleton, is that right? Don't worry, that's just the paralysis kicking in, bones or not." The smog materialized as Toxin leaned his head over his shoulder bone, head curiously tilted. "I thought about it, and I believe we kind of got off on the wrong foot. What, with me impaling you with my tail in all. That was rude of me." Toxin smiles. "How about we head over to my place, start over, and have a chat? Sound good?"
"Sans?!" Asgore's eyes widened as he turned on his heel to where he was standing before. I stepped away from him too soon!
"UNHAND MY BROTHER THIS INSTANT!" Papyrus shouted, though his loud voice was laced with great panic, as he attempted to get to the two of them. It was however, too little to late. In a flash of purple, both Toxin and Sans vanished, leaving behind a brief explosion of venom that nearly splattered on Papyrus. He jumped back avoid the splatter, which proceeded to melt the ground where they landed. "NO! SANS!"
"The Great Papyrus? HAH! You obviously aren't that great if you can't even protect your brother!" Toxin's mocking voice echoed throughout the area briefly, before fading away at his proceeding, taunting cackle.
Asgore stood up straight and surveyed the area. They needed the get away quickly as the entire space was beginning to suffer a dangerously high amount of pollution. Breathing in the smog left behind would be ill-advised. Yet, even this pales in comparison to the guilt Asgore felt about one thing.
Sans got him out of the blast radius with his intense rage towards Toxin for his intense poisoning of Chara keeping him from doing so himself, and not calming down quickly enough resulted in Sans himself has been whisked away.
Now that the raging flames within him we're quelled into silent embers, he could only feel ashamed.
My impulsiveness resulted in Sans' capture...right after he saved me... He turned towards Papyrus, who could only gaze at the spot where his brother just stood, before slumping to his kneebones with only they and his hands holding him up. Rebecca and Efreet came up to his sides with their hands on his shoulders. Papyrus couldn't do anything as his brother was taken quicker than he could react, despite his efforts.
"Asgore. There ain't no use moping right now." Gerson pulled him out of his pause with a brief tap on his arm "It ain't gonna do us any good to just sit around. What we need to do now is gather everyone and regroup."
"Right. You're right." Asgore nodded slowly, but still couldn't rid himself of the shameful feeling he felt in his heart. Darkness could see it in his eyes, and the dragon could do nothing but sigh and turn away, feeling somewhat responsible for what happened.
Unfortunately, things wouldn't get better anytime soon.
"What the hell?!"
Undyne's fist slammed down on the table in front of her, the fish woman grinding her teeth together as Alphys feebly tries to tell her to calm down, lest she agitate the injuries she's still healing from. "You're telling me that Toriel, Frisk, Faryn, AND Sans are missing?! They all got captured?!"
"I wouldn't designate the former three as 'captured' per se. If Terra is being honest, she simply sent them elsewhere for a hidden agenda of some sort." Gaster mumbled as the hands scratched to his wrists were clasped together, his forehead pressed against them. "However. In the case of Sans, we can indeed designate that as an outright capture." He seemed especially troubled by this, his stoic demeanor barely holding together.
Undyne slumped in her seat and massaged her temples. Alphys shook her head sadly. "We didn't delude ourselves into thinking this expedition was going to be a super easy walk in the park, but just the fact that four of us are unaccounted for from all of this is distressing. Despite securing a bit of victory, we weren't as prepared as we thought we were. Not to mention..." Alphys turned to the side, where a certain sight making her feel all the more frustratingly helpless.
Chara was laying in a pool of healing water prepared by Undine, as soon as they all regrouped. They managed to get most of the poison out of his system to the point that he wouldn't die, but the terrifying amount of damage he suffered was undoubtedly done. He was unconscious and barely breathing, his eyes closed in a pained grimace and his soul feeling weak to a very concerning degree. Asgore was obviously nearby, watching over his comatose eldest child. Gerson and GROUP was sitting a bit farther away, but close enough for them to be noticed, and letting their support be known.
The two closest to Chara in positioning, however, were Asriel and Muffet themselves. The former was sitting in a chair with his head slumping and ears hanging silently, his eyes remaining in shadow. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Prince was feeling rather troubled. His mother and younger brother are currently unaccounted for, and his older brother is currently comatose due to poisoning, and it was likely to be drawing out very bad memories. MK was by his side, a metallic hand on his shoulder.
Muffet was on the other side, two of her middle arms reaching out to hold Chara's single hand, as he wasn't able to manifest his arm of shadow as he was. The dried tears from all five of her eyes, let it be known that she's been crying, as Chara passed out completely when she was carrying him to the current location. Red was by her side, her ears pressed against her head and paws silently clasped.
Neither Asriel or Muffet said a word ever since they arrived.
And then off to the side, Papyrus, who was currently gazing out the window with his scarf rustling in the wind, no doubt thinking about Sans. The normally boisterous skeleton has also been unsettlingly silent when he arrived, with Rebecca gazing at her damaged Kingdom with barely repressed tears. Even as the poisonous smog was gradually being cleared and purified due to Sylph's wind magic, which would take a bit of time, Rebecca could not help but believe she failed her Legatum. She never should have allowed it to be hurt this badly. And the threat of a possible invasion from Libertas certainly didn't help her thoughts, either.
"My wife is missing. My youngest son is missing. Faryn, whom Tamotsu entrusted us with, is missing. My eldest son is in a coma. And my rash anger resulted in Sans being captured..." Asgore mumbled with his head also hanging.
"Fuck. Faryn...!" Undyne swore, gripping her face in even deeper frustration. Tamotsu entrusted them with his pride and joy, the future Queen of Astus, the brightest light in his life, Princess Faryn. And on the first stop on a new continent, they already lost sight of her from all the chaos.
If something happens to her on their watch...
The more they thought about everything, the more that lingering sense of defeat hovered over them. It was getting heavier by the second, almost suffocating everyone.
Asriel suddenly lifts his head and paws up, before slapping himself in the cheeks, three times, as hard as he could.
"Son?!" Asgore blinked and looked towards his birth child in concern, the action managing to surprising everyone out of their silence.
"Asriel?!" Red and MK gasped at the unexpected action.
"Things went wrong! Things got crazy! A lot of people got hurt, a lot of people are trying to heal! They have to support each other to get through this hardship! I'M HUNGRY!" Asriel spoke out to no one in particular, shaking his head, his ears flopping about. After one more slap to his cheeks, he took his paws away and smiled. "Sorry, I was just venting my thoughts aloud. I feel a bit better now!"
"What the heck, Asriel?! Don't scare us out of nowhere like that!" Red grumbled irritably, reaching out and roughly pinching and pulling on his ear.
"Ow, ow, ow! Sorry! I said I was sorry! Please show my ears mercy!" Asriel whimpered as Red gently released him. He briefly nursed his now slightly pained ear before addressing everyone else. "Okay, everyone. We need to get a grip on ourselves and decide on what we need to do next. We can't do anything if we're sitting around pouting. Right now, we have to focus on working out a plan to get everyone who's missing back."
Asriel... Asgore gazed as his son for a moment, before he nodded...then proceeded to slap his own cheeks as well.
"Haaaah?! You too, Asgore?!" Gerson gawked at Asgore copying Asriel's actions of snapping himself out of it.
"I can't allow myself to be inactive, not at a time like this." Asgore declared as he stands up straight, shaking his head clear for the moment. "Asriel is right. This is indeed a very troubling step for all of us, but that simply means we need to work hard and take action, in order to not only complete our objectives, but to get our missing loved ones back."
Undyne took a deep breath...then punched herself in her cheek.
"Undyne no!" Alphys panicked with erratically waving arms. "We get it, we're not giving up! Just stop hurting yourselves, PLEASE!"
"If those two gotta slap themselves back into action, then of course I gotta punch myself into action. Punching someone awake tends to work a lot better." Undyne grinned cheekily, which made Alphys sigh and mumble about the craziness of it all. She soon turned to Gaster with a focused eye. "So let's get two very serious topics outta the way right here and now. And you know what they are."
"Of course." Gaster stands up and brushes his coat off, while keeping a close look on everyone's reactions. "Terra did indeed send Toriel, Frisk, and Faryn to Gustus, if we are to be risky and take her at her word. She likely needs for them to do something there. What that may be, Gnome is not certain of."
"Okay. Also, it's true? That old bastard you guys fought over there. He's one of the Seven?"
"Indeed he is. I could both see and feel that his skill has waned, but his overall power remains formidable. We barely managed to drive him away, rather than defeat him." Gaster held up one of his floating hands, and a projected image of Revan attacking was shown for everyone to see in better detail, and give them an image to remember.
"Gerson? Asgore?" Undyne looked to them for confirmation.
"Aye. That's definitely him. I could never forget that face of madness." Gerson coughed into his fist as he glared at the image of Revan.
"He's alive. Our clash was centuries ago, and he still lives. Not completely surprising, just unexpected. And very worrying." Asgore muttered while shaking his head. "If he's alive, then it's very likely that the others are still around as well. That's a very troubling thought." Of all of the Seven that Tori could have run into, it's the one she hates the most. She must not have been thinking completely straight when fighting him. Asgore thought to himself.
"Seriously? Shit..." Undyne whistled with her arms folded under her breasts. "Toriel had help, but she was able to fight the guy to a standstill. Whch fits into him not being a particularly skilled fighter anymore, but still being incredibly strong. Toriel has been growing both in strength and in skill. The old bastard must have gotten complacent."
"While it's definitely not happy news that he still holds massive hatred towards Monsterkind as a whole, the fact that Toriel was able to fight him somewhat evenly gives us a bit of hope, however slim." Gerson hummed, rubbing his chin with closed eyes. "Back during the war, the Seven were utterly unstoppable. Nothing we did could so much as make them flinch, and we were killed at the hundreds, perhaps more. However, if Toriel was able to fight him herself, then that terrifying image of unbroken invincibility is no longer existent."
"Thought that doesn't mean we should be reckless if we're were forced into further confrontations with them. If anything, we ought to avoid outright direct confrontation with them, if we can." Asgore informed everyone. "If we do, we'll need everyone to work together to fight them, or at least drive them off. With their immense power, we can't risk fighting them fairly."
"Fighting dirty it is. Not exactly favorable, but with this huge bump in the road, we can't be too picky." Undyne sighed while sitting up with a hand on her hip. It was a shame, as she really wanted to fight a few of them to see where she stacks, but that was too risky. Plus, her friends came first. "So, how are we gonna do this?"
"If some of our friends are really being sent to Gustus, then it might be best for a smaller group to go there." Darkness speaks up, with Tempest and Lunar by his sides. "In essence, three royals have been sent there, so their retrieval is absolutely vital. Especially Faryn's. Tamotsu would never forgive us if we allowed something bad to happen to her and she never came back home."
"We're not gonna let that happen, we're gonna save all of them!" Undyne punched a fist into her hand.
Darkness nodded, before turning to the still downtrodden Papyrus. "Papyrus, in all likelihood, Toxin has taken your brother to our Homeland, Libertas. If we are to rescue him, we should head out as soon as we're all healed and rested. As the more dangerous area of the two, woefully unprepared if we tried going after him as we were." I can't delay anymore. As soon as everyone is rested, it's time we begin doing something about Terra.
Papyrus simply nodded to indicate that he heard everyone. Undyne's eye remained on him, but chose to keep quiet for now. Rebecca noticed his silence as well, and couldn't help but feel responsible.
Papyrus was closer. He might have been able to help his brother in time if he wasn't occupied protecting me. After how hard he fought for her despite how recently they met, he didn't deserve to be feeling so down. Rebecca resolved to make up for all of this, while her Kingdom heals and prepares to defend. Though with how weakened they were, it seems like a risk.
"Everyone." Rebecca called out for everyone's attention. "Legatum once tried to reach an agreement with Gustus, and never managed to do so thanks to outside interference. If we manage to succeed in the next attempt, then they might be willing to come to our aid." She sighed while closing her eyes. "It is indeed a risk, for Gustus would be risking their own people to help mine, when they've been given no good reason to. It would take quite a bit of effort to make it work."
"Well, guess we have a reason to do our best to make sure it does. Or else Legatum is screwed." Undyne scratched her head with a tired sigh. "If we're lucky, Toriel and Frisk will soften them up for us. Then again, with our luck, I'm not strongly counting on it being easy for them."
"Better than nothing. In any case, we've got a lot to do." Gerson shook his head. "But not now. At the moment, we're all too exhausted, physically, emotionally, mentally...we can head out when we've had proper rest."
"We're just going to have to trust that the others will be fine without us for a little bit. We won't be of any help to them if we can barely stand." Alphys agreed, though the reluctance in her and everyone else's eyes was very clear. This really is a huge mess. Talk about a difficulty spike!
Asriel soon turns to Muffet,.who has been paying attention but not taking her eyes off Chara for even a moment. He lowered his eyes at this. "Muffet...I'm entrusting you with my brother, because I'll still be heading out as well. I know I don't need to tell you, but please stay by his side until he wakes up."
"...Understood, Asriel-Dearie." Muffet sniffled as she reaches out a hand to gently caress Chara's rosy pink cheek. "Look at what you're doing to me. Making a cute girl like me constantly worry and messily cry over you. Chara-Dearie, you really are a big meanie." She mumbled grumpily, yet she leaned in lightly kiss the cheek she was caressing.
"Muffet... he'll be okay. He's terrifyingly tough." Red mumbled as she lightly rubbed her friend's shoulder. It was really rare for her to see Muffet like this, not being so pepper. It was quite worrisome.
"Ahu...do wake up soon, Chara-Dearie. I'll make you a whole super-sized basket of tasty sweets, just for you. A big reward for all of your hard work." Muffet wiped her tears as she leans in close to hold his head gently in her arms, softly nuzzling him. "I won't laze around. I'll keep working hard too, so don't worry, Dearie. I'm here for you..."
Asriel gazed at the scene before him, then focusing on Chara's face. Chara...this is just like before. You're in terrible condition due to intense poisoning, and all I could do was cry and watch you die. Even if you did it to yourself, your pain was very real back then. Having it return like this must really be terrible for you. It definitely is for me watching. But... Asriel adjusted his scarf and pushed it upwards slightly. I can't do that this time. Sitting still and crying over this isn't going to get anything done. I have to stay active and move onwards. I'm sure you'd want me to as well. Asriel closed his eyes. I have to be strong, and trust everyone. I'll trust you to recover from this, so trust me to get things done until then!
"Red. MK." Asriel hummed as both of his friends turned towards him. "I'm going to count on you both a bit more, so please, keep working with me."
"Of course."
"Yo, you don't even need to ask!"
Asriel smiled, as he gazed outside as night began to fall, the stars becoming visible and brighter than ever. Mother. Frisk. Please keep each other safe. And Faryn, too. Be safe, all of you. Through it all, he also spared a brief glance to Tempest, and remembered what they both agreed he should tell Rebecca. But given the way things are, and the new situation developing, now might not be the best of times. Things needed to quiet down a bit more, and other things needed taking care of, before they could really sir down and talk about it in detail.
As everyone began reluctantly turning in, preparing for the more difficult trials ahead, Undyne placed a hand on the still silent Papyrus's shoulder. "UNDYNE...?"
"Hey, Papyrus. Let's chat for a moment. Outside." His captain said solemnly, walking past him and leading him out the door. He followed quietly, with Rebecca quietly watching them leave. She shook her head. She definitely had to make it up to Papyrus for defending her so strongly, yet having lost his brother to the enemy because of it. She won't allow that debt to go unpaid.
Undyne stepped outside with Papyrus in tow, as they could see Slyph's flying, green glowing form in the distance, still working on purifying and dispersing safely. After a certain distance, Undyne stopped and turned to Papyrus, folding her arms, her hair undone and flowing in the gentle breeze. "You're awfully quiet. It's so unlike you that I felt like I had to pull you aside and say something."
"REALLY? OH." Papyrus turned towards Undyne while scratching his cheekbones. "I SUPPOSE I WAS A BIT TOO QUIET DURING OUR MEETING, WAS I? I DIDNT CONTRIBUTE VERY MUCH. SORRY ABOUT THAT..."
"Tch, don't apologize for that. I get it, shit went down and your brother got kidnapped. It's understandable you're not exactly feeling like yourself right now." Undyne shook her head and lightly scratched her head. "I wasn't expecting this to be easy, but damn. This is much crazier than expected."
"NYEH. I SUPPOSE IT IS."
Silence passed by them for a moment, simply sitting in the moment and taking solace in each other's company. After a minute, Undyne regathered her thoughts and spoke again.
"Papyrus. Are you gonna be alright?" She questioned him as he seemed close to spacing out into deep thought again. "Because, I'm gonna go after Toriel, Faryn, and Frisk. Which means I can't directly check up on you for a bit as you try and find Sans." Undyne lowered her eye. "I need to know that you're not gonna do something that'll get you seriously messed up trying to rescue your bro."
"I WON'T DO ANYTHING OF THE SORT, UNDYNE. I ASSURE YOU THAT." Papyrus tried to reassure her, but she didn't seem completely convinced, given her raised eyebrow. He put more effort into it, cheerily waving a hand away. "REALLY, I WON'T. YOUR CONCERN IS APPRECIATED, BUT I'LL REALLY BE ALRIGHT."
"Dumbass. Of course I'm gonna be worried about you." Undyne stepped closer to him, until she was a few feet away. "Papyrus. Speak your mind for real."
Papyrus once again lapsed into a period of silence. He thought back to what he witnessed. Toxin, callously detonating Keter and his followers, right being him of possible atonement and really being Rebecca of a past friend without so much as a blink, and laughing about it afterwards. He then proceeded to take his brother, right before his eye sockets with the most mocking of smug smiles and condescension towards himself, and he couldn't do anything about it.
The Great Papyrus? HAH! You obviously aren't that great if you can't even protect your brother!
He clenched his fists and hung his head dejectedly.
"MY BROTHER WAS KIDNAPPED...AND TOXIN MOCKED ME FOR BEING TOO SLOW TO PREVENT IT. AFTER RUTHLESSLY KILLING KETER AND OTHERS IN BLASTS OF TOXIC BOMBS...
"Yeah, he did." Undyne said bluntly. "Surely you're not just gonna take any of that lying down, Papyrus. You're gonna kick his ass and prove why you're called The Great Papyrus."
"...IT FEELS LIKE WE KEEP RUNNING INTO MORE MONSTROUS PEOPLE THE FARTHER WE EXPAND OUR HORIZONS." Papyrus says with a sigh.
"And with every asshole like those, we run into reliable and trustworthy friends." Undyne replies confidently.
"EVERY CHALLENGE GETS MORE DIFFICULT AS WE GO ON. AND MORE DANGEREOUS, MORE THAN I FEEL LIKE WE CAN HANDLE AT THE TIME." Papyrus lightly ran his hand across his scarf.
"And every time we overcome them, each of us grows stronger than ever, individually and together." Undyne declared strongly. "I'm not gonna let you of all people talk yourself down to such a degree, Papyrus. That shit doesn't suit you at all. I've got enough of that with the entire Dreemurr family, dammit. They really knock themselves down a few pegs every once in a while, and it's a bad habit they have that they still haven't quite kicked completely. Maybe they won't ever do so, but they're doing much better than before."
Papyrus sighed as he gazed at his boots for a while. "...YOU REFUSE TO ALL ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS TO SIT AROUND DEPRESSED. EVEN WHEN THINGS ARE LOOKING VERY BLEAK AND DIFFICULT."
"No friends of mine give in that easily, and you sure as hell aren't one to be depressed, Papyrus. We've known each other for a while, long enough to know that you'd never stay down for long. And know you've got even more power to back up your boasts. Now you can actually do the things you say you'll do."
"NYEH. WE DO KNOW EACH OTHER WELL, DON'T WE? LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW DIFFERENT WE MIGHT BECOME AS TIME PASSES. FOR INSTANCE..." Papyrus lifts his head up to look at Undyne. "UNDYNE. DESPITE STILL SWEARING SO MUCH THAT SAILORS ARE ENVIOUS, AND BEING RATHER RUTHLESS IN BATTLE...YOU'VE BECOME A MUCH MORE GENTLE PERSON OVERALL." He began to smile at her. "ITS VERY NICE TO SEE."
"...Tch." Undyne clicked her tongue with a smirm as walked up to him, then roughly punched him in the shoulder. "The hell you talking about? Gentle? Me? As-if! Say something like that again and I'll kick your bony ass!"
"N-NYEH! NOT THE SHOULDER BONES! HAVE MERCY, UNDYNE!" Papyrus exclaimed while nursing his hurting shoulder, before he was stood by Undyne closing in with a hug, gently resting his skull on her bosom. His went still and silent in surprise.
"Don't let what that no-good toxic newt said and did get to you, Papyrus. I know you'll be able to get your brother back." Undyne soothed as she lightly pets the back of his skull. "You're one of the strongest people I know. Strong enough to come back from a loss. You were beaten. Not broken."
Papyrus took in Undyne's encouragement, her soul reaching out to his, while comforted by the close proximity of her beating heart. Slowly, he returned the hug she gave him, and the warm feeling was gladly returned. "THANK YOU, UNDYNE. I'LL BE ALRIGHT. FOR REAL."
"I'm glad to hear that." Undyne nodded as the duo pulled away from one another. "Now then, we've got a lot to do starting tomorrow. I'll need the stock up on positive vibes." She grinned as she runs mischievously back into the building. "Alphys! I'm gonna need some help sleeping, so you're gonna be my super cute body pillow for the night!"
"E-Eeeeehhh?! W-Wait! I haven't finished calculating how long it'll take until we-"
"Calculate later, cuddles now. Besides, we have more than one nerd, let them handle it!"
"B-But I! U-Undyne stop! That t-t-tickles!"
"Such a casual dismissal." Darkness could be heard, exasperated.
"And she's only getting started." Gaster was heard sighing.
"Lady Undyne, that conduct is inappropriate, there are others around!" Red was heard barking.
"Ya got your own cuddle source, Red! Ya got Asriel! Nice and fuzzy!"
"Please don't involve me in this, I've been quietly minding my own business. I'm still hungry..."
Papyrus couldn't help but chuckle. He supposed the antics kept everyone's spirits up despite everything that happened. He decided to go join them, while he quietly resolved himself.
BROTHER. PLEASE HOLD ON AND WAIT FOR ME. I PROMISE THAT I'LL SAVE YOU!
Chapters done. About gosh darn time.
Quite a few members have been whisked way to other places, we'll check up on them in the next chapter proper.
If anyone still seriously reads this, I appreciate the patience, really, I do. I'm more frustrated at myself than anyone, but I'm also trying to calm down, cause an angry muse just leaves me even more unhappy.
...I might have mentioned it before, but my enthusiasm and inspiration tends to spike whenever I'm writing Undyne in some significant moments. Can you tell through the writing itself? Sometimes I don't notice unless I look back.
Whether it be a badass fish woman that kicks bad guy butt, a crass and silly fish woman that swears up a storm, or a compassionate and supportive fish woman who's there for her friends, Undyne has become one of my favorite characters to write for outside the Dreemurrs.
Maybe I mentioned why that is before. I'm just saying, that feeling comes once in a while ahen she's on the scene. Wiring her definitely helps me feel better.
Anyway, the next chapter awaits. Much MUCH sooner, hopefully.
Stay safe, and stay determined.