Did you know that the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV has a free trial that extends up to level 60 and includes the entirety of the award-winning first expansion, Heavensward?
Jokes aside, that game has stolen my soul, and refuses to give it back until Yoshi-P is finished plucking at my heartstrings. Anyways, with the reaffirmation of my continued existence and desire to write out of the way, let's move onto the reviews.
EpicSlayerGuy99: The first guess is close, partially.
Wingah: Your second guess is also kinda close, and don't worry, you still took less time to review than I did to put out a new chapter. *ba dm tss*
FoxMan888: You'd have to ask XWolf about that one, but I personally doubt he'd be all that phased to hear the details of just how many people got roped into playing the hero.
Shouldn't have to remind y'all this deep into this that I don't own Undertale, Doubletale, or Doublescramble, so let's get this show back on the road.
I let out a groan as I sat up, noting that the feeling of waking up in places other than my own bed was becoming worryingly normal. A quick glance around me revealed that I'd been moved to the bed I'd woken up in after my chest played catch with Frisk's knife-shoe-thing. My whole body felt...strange. The faint sense of exhaustion was normal enough, but there was something else alongside it now. Every breath I took felt charged, every heartbeat pulsing with potential, and my blood felt like it'd been replaced with ozone. I hesitantly swung my feet over the side of the bed, standing up and stretching before trying to process what was going on.
I had magic. This was a true fact about my life now. I wasn't just some schmuck playing pretend, or a stage magician deceiving the eyes of onlookers, I was the real god damned deal, and damn if that didn't put a dumb grin on my face. I thought about how I'd fixed up my shitty sword, only to gasp as I felt the weight of a perfect replica in my hand. I excitedly held it up to inspect it, my grin only growing wider as I saw all the little details that were messed up on my piece of junk were perfect on the blade in my hands...though the faint bits of code pulsing along the edges and seams kinda broke the illusion a little. A clumsy test swing or two made it clear that this sword was as real as it got, and that it was much heavier than my display piece.
"...ahem"
I yelped and whirled around, the sword dissolving into a cloud of pixels and polygons as it tumbled from my grasp. My face was beet red as I stared at Doctor Mettaton's faintly smirking, metallic visage.
Chapter Six: Quick Time Event
"So...Heroes really aren't invincible, huh...?"
"...h-hey, Doc, how's the...weather?" I lamely greeted, my eyes flitting down towards the empty space my text box normally filled with snark in times like these.
"...fabulous...it's wonderful to see you up and moving again, and that the procedure was a success."
Not even the embarrassment of being caught swinging around a sword like a dipshit could fully wipe the smile off my face. I was too busy thinking about what I could do and how fucked Frisk and Sans were the next time I saw them...so busy that I nearly missed Mettaton's question.
"How are you feeling? An-"
"It feels really weird, but good, and holy shit I can just make swords, just, like, on a whim! Holy shit! How fucking cool is that, Doc!?"
Mettaton forced a chuckle at my overeager rambling, before clearing his throat again, which was kinda weird, seeing as he was a robot so technically he didn't have a- Fuck! Focus, Mari, focus. Even despite the haze of lethargy muddling my thoughts and the excitement of being a motherfucking sorcerer, I could tell something wasn't right with the flamboyant metal man.
"A-Anyways, what now?" I asked, fiddling with one of the sleeves of my borrowed sweater.
"Doctor Gaster is still making preparations for the next insertion at the moment, th-though I doubt it will be much longer before he's finished. You could probably go and see for yourself, if you're quite done with the demo reel," the robot dryly answered, his smirk looking less genuine the longer I stared at it.
"R-Right, yeah, no time like the present, right?" I stammered, turning to leave as the static in my veins urged me towards the machine that had put it there to begin with. My bubble burst seconds later as I thought about just how much time I'd spent down here, and how I'd gotten down here to begin with
"...hey, Doc...how…how long has it been, exactly? S-Since I got brought in, I mean…" I hesitantly asked, noticing the way the doctor's eyes occasionally flitted back towards what I could only guess was the way back outside.
Mettaton's hollow smirk melted into a deep frown, the thin veil of mirth being pulled back to reveal anxiety and grief.
"...you were out for only 3 or so hours after Toriel brought you in, and it's scarcely been an hour since the initial procedure." Mettaton's tone was lifeless, and I nearly couldn't bring myself to ask my next question.
"...how long did he hold out?" The hazy image of the armor-clad drake that had thrown himself into the line of fire on my behalf haunted me as I waited for an answer I knew I wasn't going to like.
Mettaton went silent for a brief period, looking to be on the verge of tears.
"...l-less than five minutes..."
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my suddenly dry throat. Frisk had eaten both of the Underground's greatest heroes for breakfast, and I wasn't anywhere near ready yet.
The doctor turned and left with nary a word after his grim tidings. I followed suit, trying my damnedest to ignore the cloying guilt. The sounds of my footsteps echoed strangely in the poorly lit laboratory, sounding eerily like the ticking of the old grandfather clock in my living room.
My feet began to drag the closer and closer I got to the other end of the hallway, my mind a hazy, scrambled mess of plans and worst-case scenarios. My eyes kept flicking between the dull, lifeless gaze in the cracked monitors, the space where my text box wasn't, and the spot on my chest where a scar most certainly was, underneath layers of fabric.
The sound of a familiar voice echoing down the hall stirred me from my thoughts, and urged me to pick up my feet just a little, if only to get close enough to make out the words. Another voice replied, and I didn't have to strain too hard to catch something of note.
"...ou cannot seriously be considering going out there to fight! It's practically suicide! Do you ha..."
The first voice was easily recognizable as Gaster's, frustrated and confused and...hurt? Panicked? It was hard to tell, muffled as the voice was between the walls and what I could only assume was the skeleton pacing back and forth. Getting a little closer made Chara's equally frustrated response easier to hear.
"Who else is left, Gaster!? We need more time, and that dusty freak certainly isn't going to give us any!"
"We can speed up the insertion process then! O-Or try and upgrade Napst-"
"Don't give me that bullshit! She's as good as dead on her feet already! We speed up the insertion process and we end up sending a suped up zombie to fight someone who tore through most of the underground in barely a day!"
I stopped a few feet away from the door, able to clearly make out the voices without strain by now. I considered going in and intervening, or even turning around and waiting for the argument to be over...but my shoes felt like they were filled with concrete. A familiar feeling of guilt played Tug-Of-War with the burning sense of curiosity as I remained rooted to the spot.
"There has to be something else, anything else! You made Cter a promi-"
"HE'S GONE, GASTER!"
I nearly flinched from the intensity of Chara's shout, guilt turning the blood in my veins into a macabre slushy.
"I KNOW THAT AND I WON'T LOSE YOU TOO!"
The faint sounds of the insertion machine tirelessly working to filter more monster dust. The heavy breathing of the two who'd been arguing. These were the only sounds breaking the silence left in the wake of Gaster's desperate plea.
"...we'll discuss this in the morning." Chara replied, their voice lacking much of the emotion and energy it'd had in the heated moments prior to the skeleton's cry. I stiffened and did my best to not look like I'd been eavesdropping as Chara stormed out of the room and brushed past me.
I struggled to find words as I shambled into the room after the fact. Thankfully enough, Gaster didn't seem to be looking for any as he cleared his throat and began checking over his cobbled together machine again.
"...are you ready?"
"A-As I'll ever be…"
The doctor quietly nodded, disconnecting an empty canister and typing something into the machine as I stepped onto the platform, staring into the gaping metallic maw with something akin to resolution in my eyes. Time was running short. I needed to be ready. Those two thoughts bled together in my mind, forming a desperate mantra as light pooled in the beast's throat before rushing out to swallow me whole.
I awoke once more to an inky black sky and a bed of phosphorescent petals, clad in a hoodie that should've been ruined. As I laid in the flowerbed, trying to muster the will to stand up and meet more dead people, I noticed something...off. The sky, or lack thereof, was filled with strange, metallic storm clouds this time.
As tempted as I was to watch the bizarre clouds, I forced myself to stand up, brushing ash and dust off my pajamas as I did so. No small monsters came to greet me this time, though they didn't need to, I supposed. A strong breeze tugged at my hoodie, seemingly nudging me forwards as my blood began to quiver in my veins. I'm not really certain how long I walked for, nor when the breeze picked up into a howling wind, but eventually I came to a stop before an imposingly tall figure stood upon a tiny, mountain-esque spire of rock.
He was clad head to toe in soot-black armor, metallic plates and scales layered overtop his own gold-colored ones. Spines peeked out from the top of his head and trailed all the way down his backbone to his spiked tail. A massive pair of draconic wings stretched from his shoulder blades, tensed and ready to take off at any second. Embers danced on the wind with every breath the warrior took, and his lone eye bored a hole in me, sizing me up from atop his rocky perch.
"...You...you're the one he bet his life on…" his voice rumbled as the embers began to gather in front of him, slowly building upon each other to form a weapon of some sort.
"...everybody's hopes and dreams rest upon your shoulders…" he continued, as the embers burst into flames, the weapon they formed seemingly changing every time the flames wavered or flickered in the gale.
"...you'll need this if you're to stand a chance against something like that, just like he did for us all those years ago…" the drake's teeth grit as he glared at me, and a low growl quickly escalated into a frustrated scream as he let out a gout of flame into the air.
"BUT WHAT'S THE GODDAMNED POINT IF YOU'RE A SHRIMPY LITTLE CIVILIAN!?" Monster Kid stared down at me as the fiery weapon that had been forming snuffed itself out.
"I'M NOT GIVING YOU SHIT UNLESS I KNOW YOU CAN PUT IT TO GOOD USE, YOU GOT THAT!?"
And with that, the Hero launched into the sky with a powerful wingbeat, sparks trailing from his mouth before he spat a fireball at me from on high. The skies around me filled with dozens upon dozens of spears of golden flame.
"...oh you've gotta be fucking me…" I groaned, staring up into the hellish sky and wondering just how cruel to puppies I must have been in a previous life to deserve bullshit like this.
The spears scarcely gave me time to ponder the question before they were screaming down from the sky to try and shishkebab me. I jumped back from the first one with a yelp, nearly falling on my ass before turning and booking it as more followed in its wake. Each spear slammed into the vantablack with a crack of stone and roar of flame. Embers nipped at my heels as I struggled to keep ahead of the salvo.
The crackling of flames slowly began to get louder as I ran. A quick glance upwards a few moments later made it painfully clear why. "...oh shi-" was all I got out before the massive fireball detonated a scant few feet from me. My charred body was sent ass over tea kettle as a scream tore itself from my throat.
I wanted desperately to lay there on the ground, wallowing in agony, but the sound of more incoming spears forced me back into action. I grit my teeth hard enough that they began to creak as I forced myself to my knees, pulling an energy drink from my inventory and slamming it back in scarcely a second before taking off at a jittery sprint. My mind scrambled to pull a plan together as the spears began to come down faster, and I heard Monster Kid spit another fireball.
"QUIT RUNNING AND FIGHT DAMN IT!" the Hero bellowed, nearly stopping me in my tracks as I thought back to the weird little game I'd played all those years ago. I skidded to a dead stop in front of a patch of golden flames, right before a set of spears could skewer me, and whirled around to face the rain of spears.
Tournesol appeared in my grasp in a burst of pixels and code. A familiar warmth filled my chest as the rolling storm in my veins finally seemed to settle, pulsing in time with my heartbeat and the cyan soul hovering over my chest.
*Stand tall.
Gripping my blade tightly, I waited for the next spears to drop. My eyes scanned the sky for a brief moment before locking onto the closest projectile. I took a deep breath, waited a second, and swung as hard as I could. Surprisingly enough, despite the spear being made out of flames, it was still solid. Solid enough at least to offer some resistance before Tournesol shattered it. Whirling around, I spotted another spear getting too close for comfort and lashed out. It burst into embers much like the first.
More spears began to descend, and it took me a second to realize that they'd slowed down now. I deflected another few spears as the sound of my blood rushing through my veins filled my ears. I almost began to fall into a rhythm, before the crackling of flames soon joined it. The second fireball was almost upon me, and I didn't want to stick around to greet it. My sword scraped along the void floor as I made a break for it. A quick glance upward revealed more spears changing course to follow while the fireball lazily continued along its path.
I skidded to a stop to deflect the next set of spears, crying out in agony as one of the spears swerved around me before burning a hole through my arm. The next one barely grazed a leg as I staggered out of the way, before the fireball touched down and exploded. My world was searing light and pain for a few split seconds before I slammed back into the ground, rolling to a stop. I clenched my empty fist, choking back tears of pain as I struggled to my feet and slammed back another drink.
Not a moment later, golden flames began to lick at my legs as light pooled beneath me. The flames didn't burn, surprisingly enough. I had precious little time to ponder that as I clumsily dove out of the way of the new patch of spears that definitely would have hurt. I focused, Tournesol reappearing in my grasp as I glared up at the drake, who was-comingrightatmeohshit!
I barely got my sword up in time to block the set of fiery claws jutting from one wing. My legs nearly buckled under the weight of his blow.
"If you can't handle this, you don't stand a chance!" Monster Kid spun and let his tail crash into my sternum with a worrisome crunch. Once more I was sent sailing into the void.
"W-Won't have one without magic either, w-wiseguy!" I choked out before sucking down another drink. Only two left, assuming my inventory was consistent with the outside world. I needed a plan, or a miracle, and fast.
I side-stepped a spear and deflected another, only to receive a skull bash to the dome-piece for my troubles. I bit back a cry as my nose collapsed into a sandwich of cartilage and bone. I barely managed to hang onto my sword as I dug my feet in. The warmth in my chest escalated into a searing heat that rivaled the flames the hero was spewing, forcing me to stand strong against the assault. I took a swing at Monster Kid, the dragon easily blocking the blade with an armored wing before spitting a baseball sized gout of flame at my head.
I let Tournesol disappear and ducked the flames with a yelp. Before the drake could readjust, I shifted my stance and shoulder checked him. I grimaced as he barely staggered, my shoulder feeling like I'd just slammed into a brick wall. I forced myself to summon my weapon and press the offensive with an uppercut. Monster Kid snarled and caught my sword in his god damned teeth.
Snarling myself, I wrenched my skinny, noodly body up and brought my knees to my chest before shotgunning a kick into the scaly bastard's face. I let my sword disappear as I backflipped off him. I landed on my ass, cause I can't backflip worth shit, but the botched maneuver bought me some time to breathe…
This time was almost immediately stolen from me by more spears descending from the heavens and rising from hell to meet me. I rolled out of the way of the patch of spears that nearly turned me into swiss cheese from below, before climbing to my feet and diving out of the way of another set that fell from the sky. A couple of the spears pulled a ninety degree turn, singing the hair off my arm as I barely batted them aside with Tournesol. A growl on my right was all the warning I got before another fireball exploded barely a meter away from me and sent me flying again.
By the time I got another drink in me and took a breath through uncrushed nostrils, Monster Kid was already upon me again. I barely managed to deflect one swipe from a wing lined once more with searing talons and hop back out of range of the next before more spears began to rain down on my head. I took a sharp breath before rushing in with another uppercut. The dragonoid leaned out of the way and let my blade shatter a couple spears before I had to clumsily roll out of the way of the rest. I grit my teeth as the heat in my chest flared up again and the static in my veins roiled. My eyes flicked between the spears lining the sky, the puddles of flames that littered the ground waiting to be stepped on and perforate me, and the fuck-angry dragon trying to beat the heroism into me.
*Fight smarter, not harder.
As I rushed forward to meet the drake I side-stepped a swing meant to lop one of my arms off before bringing my sword to bear. I lashed out with a series of hasty swings, each blow glancing off Monster Kid's armor or hide. A quick glance at his expression made it clear my pathetic attempts to fight back were beginning to agitate him. He shifted his weight with a snarl, the flaming claws on one wing flaring as he used the other set to deflect my next swing...only for my sword to disappear again. I stifled another cry as the talons burned a trio of furrows into my flesh. The feeling welling inside me rose to a fever pitch as I poured all my focus into the sword that was sprouting from the ground in a burst of polygons and pixels. There was a sound of metal crunching and scraping against itself as the blade punched a hole through the Hero's chest and out his back, before all went still and silent.
The winds died down, the embers beginning to slowly drift to the ground as the spears and flames began to vanish. My whole body was shaking, sweat coming off of me in buckets while I shakily pulled the last energy drink from my inventory. Monster Kid didn't move, only staring at the sword lodged in his chest cavity as it slowly began to break back down into pixels and code, leaving a dusty hole where it'd been.
The silence was quickly broken by the drake's booming laughter, a savage grin splitting his face as he stared down at me. The shock must have been clear on my face, because he shook his head and did his best imitation of a shrug.
"Don't worry about this kid, it's just a scratch. Can't really kill a dead guy, right?" the hero asked, before letting out another bark of laughter. The falling embers began to gather in front of him as the wind picked back up again, pulling the flakes of dust into the vortex as well.
"You're not quite there just yet, but you've got enough potential that I'm willing to trust him on this one. Take this, and give that kid hell like I just gave you!" he bellowed, as more and more of him began to break down into ash, dust, and embers, all of it coalescing into a flaming weapon of myriad different shapes and sizes. I hesitantly reached out to it after one last glance around me to make sure I wasn't about to be impaled, and marveled as it began to lose resolution until it resembled a low-poly model from the games of yesteryear.
*You made it your own.
I heaved a sigh of relief as the strange, shifting weapon disappeared, the void once again breaking down around me and stealing my senses.
I awoke once more in front of the machine, nearly collapsing before a few disembodied skeletal hands caught me and held me steady. I shakily made my way back onto solid ground, feeling and probably looking like hell.
"Get some rest, you're going to need it." Gaster ordered, monitoring the next canister of dust's filtration.
"Aye aye cap'n…" I mumbled, shambling a little ways down the hallway before slumping against the wall as the hands disappeared. I slid down until I was sitting on the floor, groaning and rubbing at my head in hopes that it would make it feel less like I'd driven a white-hot railroad spike through it.
"...this isn't a great place to rest, you know." Chara ever-so-helpfully informed me as they took a seat across from me.
"...feels a hell of a lot better than standing...or moving…" I grumbled, my whole body feeling distinctly like lead as I struggled to keep my eyes open.
"...be that as it may, we should probably get you back to bed." they replied, a ghost of a smirk on their lips as they stood back up and dragged me to my feet despite my protests.
"...'m sorry…" I mumbled after a few moments of silence as I trudged along with Chara's help, prompting them to arch a brow as their maroon eyes bored into me.
"...should've just listened to you…" I continued, unable to take my eyes off my boots, though whether that was the guilt or the exhaustion was tough to say.
"And what, pray tell, brought you to such a novel conclusion?" I could hear the pale sentry's teeth grinding together as they took a deep breath.
Chara remained silent for a solid minute, only speaking up again after we'd made it back to the room with all the beds.
"...you're not the only one who made mistakes today...err...yesterday, now." They paused for a moment to let me sit down on the bed, taking a seat on the bed next to mine and silently watching as I struggled with my boot laces.
"P-Point is, it's not fine, per se, but...now really isn't the time to be screaming at each other."
I managed to get my boots untied enough to pull them off with a bit of a struggle and some less than pleasant words, slumping over and practically melting into the stiff mattress.
"...we'll make it right...promise…" I mumbled through the pillow, my eyes fluttering shut as I passed out before I could hear their reply.
And there you have it. Sorry this one took so long, again. Thanks as always go out to my boys TheEhGatsby and Arisseos for helping edit and provide feedback, XWolf26 for writing Doubletale and Doublescramble, and all of y'all for reading. If you've got the time, feel free to leave a review, hearing what y'all think about this strange little project is always a treat.
That's all for now, I guess. As always, I'm TiredWhiteMayge, and I spent all the time I should've been sleeping playing FF and writing. Work today will be fun.