Tyrantale
Chapter 2.
And so, Tyrantale continues.
Bringing in more of the gang.
Frisk made it back to the living room and just as he did, Toriel also returned, though, this time she was not alone. With her was a small group of different Monsters, one was a short skeleton, barely half a foot taller than Frisk, who was wearing a black bandanna with a blue flame pattern on his skull, a black, sleeveless leather jacket, faded gray jeans, and black and silver gothic boots. The was another skeleton, a taller one, wearing a ratty, black hooded cape, a frayed gray jumper, dark-orange high-rise pants, and brown, knee-high boots. There also a woman who seemed to have the characteristics of a fish with an eye-patch over one eye, she was wearing a black leather jacket over a dark gray halter-top, tattered black leather pants, and red combat boots, on her head she wore a thin, green head band that held her long red hair out of her face. Behind them were two bipedal dogs one had white and black fur, he was wearing a black hoodie, brown pants, and a dark red beanie on his head. The other dog had all white fur, she was wearing a black sweater, gray pants, and a black and red headscarf on her head. There was also an odd looking being that looked like a stuffed, limbless mannequin that was floating in midair, wearing only a black cloak, with him was the same dusty-looking ghost that Frisk had seen on his way into the ruins.
They were speaking quietly to each other, before Toriel finally noticed Frisk.
"Ah, yes," Toriel announced, "everyone, this is Frisk, the new Human that just fell down."
She beckoned the Human child.
"Don't be shy, Child." she said.
Frisk approached the group, staying close to Toriel, feeling a bit intimidated by the severe-looking beings looking down at him, not a hint of happiness on any of their faces.
"Um...h-hello," Frisk voiced, trying to be polite, "I'm Frisk."
The short skeleton looked him up and down.
"How old are you, kid?" he asked.
"Oh, uh, almost nine." the Human boy answered meekly.
"So...eight." the bandanna-wearing skeleton responded.
Frisk nodded.
"Wow," the tall skeleton voiced, "you weren't kidding when you said the Human was a little kid."
"Has he been here long?" the fish woman wondered.
"Just a little over an hour." Toriel affirmed.
"So, if were lucky," the cloaked mannequin being said, "the news shouldn't have spread outside the ruins yet."
"Of course," the small ghost sighed, "it probably won't be long now."
"Unless the spiders are suddenly bad at keeping secrets," the hoodie-wearing dog replied, "nobody else should know yet."
The gang continued to discuss the situation while Frisk looked on curiously.
"Um...if I may ask," Frisk inquired, "what exactly is going on?"
"Here, how about we go have our meeting out by the old tree," Toriel voiced, "Asriel is napping and I do not want him disturbed."
"Right," the short skeleton replied, "how's he doing?"
"Same as usual." the goat woman sighed.
Everyone seemed to be dismayed by her answer.
"Come now," Toriel said earnestly, "let us take this meeting outside."
Everyone made their way outside of the house, converging in front of the dead tree.
"First off," the goat woman said, "I think we should start by telling Frisk your names."
"Got it," the short skeleton voiced, "I'm Sans, Sans the skeleton, and this," he pointed to gestured to the tall skeleton, "is my brother, Papyrus...the skeleton."
Frisk nodded in response.
"My name is Undyne." the fish woman said.
"I'm Doggo." the male dog said.
"Dogaressa." the female dog said, pointing to herself.
"People know me as the Mad Dummy," the cloaked mannequin voiced, "but, every I know calls me 'Maddy'."
Maddy turned to the dirty ghost.
"This is my cousin, Napstablook," he affirmed, "we call him 'Blooky', be nice to him, or else!"
"Keep it together, Maddy." Napstablook stated.
"Okay," Toriel said, "now that we have that out of the way, we should clue Frisk in on what has been going on."
"Yeah, I wanna know," Frisk voiced, "why does everything down here seem so...bleak?"
Everyone was silent for moment.
"Before we say anything, kid, I gotta ask," Sans questioned, "how are things on the surface?"
"Up there?" Frisk responded, "In general, uh...nothing special really."
"Is that right?" Papyrus replied.
"Yeah," Frisk said, "Humans are...well...insufferable, they're boring and irresponsible, the environment is pretty much doomed because of us, also, my parents abandoned me, so...yeah...the surface is kind of a drag."
More silence.
"Well, are there any sort of internal struggles?" Papyrus asked, "War, epidemics, famine, government problems maybe?"
"As far as I know, nah," Frisk answered, "mostly just pollution and slow progression."
He looked around strangely.
"Why do you ask?" the Human child wondered.
"We're just curious," Undyne said, "but, it sounds like it's still better off than things down here."
"Our king got discrowned," Sans informed Frisk, "forced off the throne by a psycho Human kid who took over and is now ruling the underground."
"He's a cruel, dirty, savage tyrant!" Papyrus uttered, pounding his fist against the dead tree.
The Human child looked on, surprised by what he heard.
"Wait...a kid, a Human kid, took over your guys' land?" Frisk responded in disbelief.
Everyone nodded.
"Actually," Undyne affirmed, "the kid was, is, just about your age."
"But, how? How does a Human kid, especially one my age, steal the throne of a king?" Frisk wondered, "And who is this kid?"
Another moment of silence went by.
"Chara," Toriel said sorely, "his name...is Chara."
Frisk looked up at her, a grim expression covered her face.
"He was...the very first Human who fell down here after we were sealed in here," the goat woman explained somberly, "Asriel found him and brought him home, it did not take long for me and my husband, King Asgore, to decide to adopt him."
"So you were the queen?" Frisk inquired.
Toriel nodded.
"Everything was great for a while, Asriel quickly took to Chara like a brother, we loved him as if he was our very own child," Toriel continued, "everyone was happy and we were...we were just what we needed to break the barrier and get to the surface, we were so close."
Frisk looked on warily as he braced himself for the bad part.
"But, then, one day..." she started, her voice breaking.
"Chara went crazy." they heard.
Every looked back at the house and saw Asriel standing in the doorway, rubbing his eye tiredly.
"Asriel, what are you doing out of bed?" Toriel questioned.
"I'm done with my nap," the goat boy affirmed, "I woke up, but, nobody was inside, then I heard you guys talking and I came to see what was happening."
The goat woman looked on pessimistically as her son approached them.
"So you're telling Frisk about Chara's betrayal?" he asked.
"I don't understand, if you treated him so well," Frisk wondered, "why did he turn on you?"
"It seemed that Chara was not the child we thought he was, he came up with his own agenda right under our noses," Toriel said gravely, "and by the time we found out, it was too late." She brought her hands to her face as she began to tear up.
"Please don't cry again, Mama." Asriel allayed, hugging his mother at her side.
"The kid went nuts and attacked our lab," Sans explained, "he killed three of the lab associates and absorbed their souls, allowing him to take the Human souls that were meant to be used to destroy the barrier."
"Human souls?" Frisk responded curiously.
"The barrier that seals us in is made of Human soul power," Undyne said, "and the only thing that can destroy it is the same thing that created it."
Frisk nodded understandingly.
"We need seven souls," Sans continued, "we had five, but, Chara stole them for himself."
"After doing so," Toriel chimed in, having pulled herself together, "Chara came home and wrecked up the castle, then he attacked us, we tried to reason with him, then Asgore admonished him, promising that he would fight him if he had to, but, then, Chara threatened to take the soul of every Monster in the underground, starting with Asriel, if we did not do what he said."
Frisk was appalled by the story.
"We did not know what else to do, we were literally backed into a corner," Toriel lamented, "so Asgore did as Chara said, he surrendered the throne and Chara wasted no time taking over. Asgore was kept prisoner in the castle while Asriel and I were forced into exile."
"We didn't even get to say goodbye," Asriel said sadly, "I miss my dad."
Toriel pet her son's head comfortingly.
"The Monsters who submitted are 'provided' to by Chara, so long as they continue to obey him, but, he gives them what they need to stay alive, but, it's definitely not enough," Undyne said bitterly, "on the other hand, those of us who refused to concede were cast aside and forced to fend for ourselves, so now we're all living like rats."
"But, we refuse to live like this forever," Sans avowed, "so we're coming up with a plan of our own, a plan to take Chara down and get Asgore, our real king, back in power!"
"Yes, however," Papyrus voiced, "though a child, Chara certainly does not mess around, as of now, he has more power than anyone and he knows how to use it, so scheming has not exactly been easy."
Frisk looked around, scanning the group as they all looked on hopelessly.
"That being said," Toriel wondered, "has anyone found out anything new?"
"Yeah, actually, I have," Sans voiced, "and well...I have good news and I have bad news."
"Oh dear," the goat woman replied warily, "what's the bad news?"
"Well, apparently, after my last 'visit' Chara decided to do some renovating on the castle," the short skeleton told her, "so everything's different now, he also upped security a great deal."
"Good heavens," Toriel replied, "what is the good news?"
"I managed to get my hands on these." Sans said proudly.
He reached his hand behind himself and pulled a long, rolled up piece of paper from the back of his sleeveless jacket. He then knelt down and unfurled the paper, revealing detailed sketches of a castle surrounded by numerous blurbs of writing.
"What it is?" Doggo asked.
"Blueprints," Sans affirmed, "this what the castle looks like now."
"How exactly did you get those?" Papyrus questioned.
"I managed to teleport myself right Alphys lab on the inside, luckily, she was alone at that moment," Sans explained, "and when I asked her what was going on, she told me about Chara's plan to upgrade the fort and she gave me a copy of the blueprints she made."
"How is Alphys?" Undyne wondered.
"About the same as everyone else," Sans sighed, "hungry, overworked, and miserable."
His answer made the fish woman visibly upset.
"Dammit," she growled, "we have to get her out of there!"
"We have to get everyone out of there," Sans replied, "but, that's easier said than done."
"And you're sure we can't just sneak into the place under the cover of nightfall?" Undyne questioned.
"You know Chara has eyes all over that place, especially now that he's upgraded it," Sans attested, "I can barely teleport in and out without getting caught, regardless of what time it is."
Undyne furiously punched the dead tree.
"Man, if I only had my suit of armor still," she expressed irately, "I'd storm the place and..."
"Get turned to dust before you even reached the core," Sans asserted, "we've been over this, we cannot just charge the place like it's nothing, we don't have that kind of power with us."
"You've been saying that for the last few months." Undyne groaned.
"Because you seem to keep forgetting it," Sans replied, "Chara has soul power on his side, none of us are strong enough to face him head on."
"He's right, Undyne," Papyrus said, "as long as he has that power, Chara is a force to be reckoned with, no matter how desperate we are, we can't afford to make any mistakes."
"I'm not scared of that little bastard." the fish woman grumbled.
"You may not be scared, Undyne, but, also, you're certainly not dumb," Papyrus replied, "we have to be smart about this, one careless move and we all could be reduced to dust."
The aquatic woman did not respond verbally, but, the look on her face indicated that she understood.
"Our feelings here are only natural," Toriel said, "we all have somebody we care about trapped in the castle."
"That's why the sooner we come up with something," Sans responded, "the better."
After watching the tense display, Frisk felt overcome with emotion, he had not known these creatures long and already he cared about them more than anyone he ever had in his life. The more he heard of their troubles, the more he wanted to get involved.
"I...I wanna help!" the Human child uttered.
As soon as he said that all eyes were on him.
"What?" Maddy responded.
"If things are really as bad as you say they are," Frisk voiced, "if you're really in that much trouble, please, let me help!"
"See Mom," Asriel said, "I told you that Frisk would-"
Toriel quickly put her hand in front of his mouth to silence him.
"The Human puppy wants to get involved?" Dogaressa voiced curiously.
"Uh, Frisk, it's nice you wanna help," Undyne said, "but..."
"I know I'm little," Frisk pressed, "but, you need all the help you can get, right?"
"It's not that we doubt you, kid," Sans said, "it's just that...well...Chara made another demand after rising to power, a demand that stands to this day."
"He ordered that the very next Human that falls into the underground be taken to him immediately," Papyrus explained, "he wants that seventh soul so he can shatter the barrier."
"But, not to set us free," Undyne chimed in, "he wants to get to the surface so he can take over there too and rule over both Monsters and Humans."
Frisk shook his head in disbelief.
"That is why we are hesitant to get you involved, Frisk," Toriel affirmed, "we do not want to risk Chara taking your soul and if Chara does find out that a Human has fallen down and he was not informed, the consequences will be dire."
"I get that," Frisk voiced, "but, you can't just tell me about all this horrible stuff that's happening and not expect me to want to help. Please, please, I want to do something, anything!"
Silence fell yet again.
"Well, Tori, as much of a risk as it is," Sans expressed, "I don't think it would be fair to leave the kid out of our cause, I mean, it's not like he can leave the underground."
"I know that, but-" the goat woman responded uncertainly.
"And besides, if we take the right steps," Sans added, "this could actually give us just the advantage we need."
"As much as I hate agreeing with him," Undyne sighed, "it's not like he's wrong, the kid has something that most Monsters don't have nowadays and it's not like we'll be able to hide him forever."
Toriel still looked unsure.
"And, if that's not what has you on the fence," the short skeleton avowed, "don't worry, we won't let you, or Asriel, get in trouble. If we're caught, Chara doesn't need to know who actually found the Human."
"Please, whatever I can do," Frisk begged, "let me help, like you said, I'm stuck down here anyway, I may as well pull my weight some how."
Toriel sighed deeply and knelt down to meet the Human child face to face.
"Frisk, if you really want to join us," she told him intently, "promise, please, promise you will not go anywhere by yourself, promise that we'll know where you are at all times."
As he looked into the goat mother's pleading eyes, the Human child nodded.
"I promise," Frisk said, "I'll do whatever you guys say."
"Okay," Toriel replied, getting to her feet, "oh, I know, wait here a moment."
She disappeared into the house and soon returned with something in her hand.
"Here, take this," she said, placing the item, which turned out to be a cellphone, in the Human boy's hand, "if at any point you end up getting separated from us or you need something from someone, just call."
Frisk slid the cellphone into one of his pockets.
"Well, if the kid's gonna survive down here," Undyne affirmed, "he's gonna have to know how to fight."
"We'll get to that, but, he also needs to know full well the reality of the situation," Sans said, "he needs to see what lies beyond the ruins."
"I suppose, but, do not take him too far right away," Toriel advised, "discretion is key here."
Sans turned to Frisk.
"All right," he said, "come on kid, it's time you saw just what we're dealing with."
Frisk nodded and followed along as the skeleton brothers and Undyne led him away.
"Can't I go with them, Mom?" Asriel asked.
"Not right now, Asriel," Toriel told him, "we will go out another time."
The goat child looked on disappointedly.
Frisk was taken down the stairwell in the entryway of the house, which led to a long, cold corridor that stretched all the way to a big door.
"Here we go," Sans said, "stay close kid and brace yourself, you're gonna see some bad stuff."
He placed his hands on the door and proceeded to push it open, as he did, Papyrus offered Frisk his hand, which the Human child quickly took. Sans looked around outside, presumably to make sure they were in the clear.
"We're good," Sans confirmed, "let's go."
They walked through the door onto a path in the middle of a snow covered forest of dead trees, all was silent save for the sound of the snow grinding beneath their feet. It was also rather dark, there was light, though, the source of which was not visible.
Before long, they came across what appeared to be a small town, there was a filthy, worn sign, that looked like it could fall over at any moment, at its entrance that read: Welcome to Snowdin. There were buildings, many of which were deserted with boarded up doors and windows and the houses that did appear to be occupied looked dilapidated, so much so, Frisk was concerned for the safety of the residence inside.
"S-So many of them are empty." he stated, unnerved.
"That's cause most of the residence here either either left or were chased out by Chara," Undyne told him, "anyone with a useful job was forced to move to the castle and work for the little tyrant, whether they wanted to or not."
"If they don't work, they don't eat," Sans added, "though, they're never given enough, so everyone is practically on the verge of death."
"How does anyone survive if the king is withholding all of the food?" Frisk wondered.
"That's where we come in." Undyne said.
"Whenever we get a chance," Papyrus informed the Human child quietly, "Sans sneaks into the castle and takes as much food as he can, then we take it to our fellow "Resisters" that need it most."
Frisk looked at Sans who nodded affirmatively.
"How long has it been since you were able to do that?" the Human boy asked.
"Ah, well," the tall skeleton sighed, "it's been...a couple weeks."
"It's been hard," Undyne said, her arms crossed, "Chara seems to get more observant every day."
"And now that the castle has been 'modified'," Sans said, "it's only going to get harder from here."
Frisk scanned his surroundings and it was not a pretty sight.
Eventually, they walked into a new area, this one surrounded by water, glowing, blue flowers, and glittering stones high up above that lit up the cavern. As they came to a corner, something stirred in the water below and as a creature began to rise out of the water, Frisk nervously squeezed Papyrus's hand harder. A pale-yellow, octopus-looking creature rose form the water and looked around.
"H-Hey guuuyyyys," the creature spoke, it's voice high and quiet, a disturbing smile on its face, "how's it going? Got anything for me today?"
"Not today, Onionsan," Sans said, "sorry."
The creature's face fell slightly, though it tried to hide its disappointment.
"Oh, that's okay," Onionsan voiced, "I think I can hold out for little while longer, see you laterrrr..."
With that, the tentacled being disappeared beneath the water.
They continued walking and this time, the sight was far more disturbing than in Snowdin; everywhere Frisk looked, he saw miserable, weak, sickly-looking Monsters, there was one creature, it looked like a small fish with long hair, lying on the ground. It was pale in color, emaciated, and gasping for air, clearly on the verge of death, another fish-like Monster, orange in color, was sitting against a wall, appearing catatonic, the only sign of life was its slow, labored breathing. A being that had the head of a horse, a humanoid torso, and a fish bottom, was curled up limp in a corner moaning in pain.
Frisk was horrified, but, at the same time, it only made him want to help even more.
They were suddenly approached by a small, catlike being that stumbled with each step, obviously very weak.
"H-Hoi...Tem...need food," the creature squeaked, coughing as it spoke, "you have...food...for Tem?"
Sans shook his head.
"Not yet." he said solemnly.
With that, the small being collapsed, Undyne was quick to pick it up off the ground.
"I got it," the fish woman said, "keep going, I'll catch up with you guys."
She then carried the small creature away.
"Should we go any further," Papyrus wondered, "I mean, I think Frisk pretty much got the message."
"Loud and clear," Frisk said, aghast, "I knew it would be bad, but, this...this is ungodly."
"That's why we need to do this," Sans said, "we need to get King Asgore back, otherwise our race is as good as eradicated."
Frisk nodded understandingly.
"Why don't we go back to the ruins," Papyrus voiced, "I think the child has seen enough for now."
"Yeah, you guys go on back," Sans said, "I gotta go see someone."
"Ugh, if you're going to see who I think you're going to see," Papyrus advised, "be sensible about it, don't call attention to yourself and for God's sake don't do anything stupid or unnecessary."
"I'll see how it goes." the short skeleton stated.
"Sans." the tall skeleton groaned.
"Don't worry, bro," Sans assured him, "I'll be fine, I always am."
He looked at Frisk.
"I'll see ya later, kid," the short skeleton said, "be good for Toriel."
Frisk nodded.
Sans then vanished from sight.
"Now then," Papyrus sighed, "come along, Frisk, let's go back to the ruins, I think you've had enough mental scarring for one day."
Frisk held the tall skeleton's hand firmly as he was led back in the direction of the ruins, though, he could not keep himself from looking back as he walked.
There we go, the resistance has been introduced.
I have to say, as fun as this is to write, it is not easy trying to come up with unique personality traits or wardrobes for these characters as I really hope they're not carbon copies of other people's AU counterparts for them. For the most part, everyone is mostly serious due to their circumstance, I tried really hard to make them serious without making everyone borderline emo.
Hopefully, within the next chapter or so, I can finally introduce Tyrant Chara, Fallen Asgore, and some others I am eager to bring in.
More Tyrantale to come eventually.
