Tyrantale

Chapter 4.

The AU continues and God am I having a blast writing this.

I am so glad that people are liking this AU so far, it surprises me, I mean, I do not expect this AU to get the same love as Underfell, Underswap, or any of those other AUs that are being spread all over FFnet and Deviantart, but, the fact that anyone is showing interest in it at all is plenty satisfying.

Now let's hope that this does not derail as the Resisters begin planning a big job.


Toriel was standing at Asriel's bed side, having put him to bed after finding that he had a fever.

"But, Mommy," Asriel said wearily, "I feel fine, I don't want to go back to sleep, I want to know what you guys are planning to do next-"

He was cut off by another arduous coughing attack.

"I wanna-" he tried to speak again, his voice painfully hoarse.

"Shhhh," Toriel hushed, "now, now, do not fight it anymore, you need to rest."

"That's what you always say." the goat child mumbled as his mother pet his head.

Despite his reluctance, seconds later, the goat boy finally nodded off.

With a forlorn sigh, Toriel turned off the bedside lamp and, after taking a moment to watch her poorly son sleep, she quietly left the room, carefully shutting the door behind her.

Out in the dining area, everyone was still lounging at the table, further discussing their situation..

"So, Sans," Papyrus asked, "has Alphys made any more progress on the Soul Extractor?"

"A little bit," Sans answered, "but, she ain't getting anywhere fast by herself."

He folded his arms on the table and rested his skull on them.

"I feel bad that I can't help her with it." the short skeleton sighed.

"Chara doesn't even know that it's still there," Undyne voiced, "can't you just the device and work on it yourself?"

"If I had the equipment necessary, I would've done that a long time ago," Sans replied, "all of our gear was left behind in the castle, that's the only reason Alphys has been able to work on it at all."

Frisk looked around curiously.

"You guys are working on a Soul Extractor?" he inquired.

"It was the same one that was used to absorb the original Human souls," Papyrus explained, "but, it got destroyed during Chara's usurpation. We're hoping that if we get it repaired, we can somehow use it against Chara."

The Human child listened with great interest.

"That makes sense," Frisk voiced, "but, if Chara is as powerful as you say he is...how would you do that."

"That's another part of the plan we need to figure out," Undyne sighed, "and probably the most challenging part."

"Well, it wouldn't be so hard," Maddy asserted, "if that little bastard didn't have eyes all over the goddamn castle."

Sans rubbed his skull in frustration.

"Ugh, if I could just get in there for more than a few minutes without the threat of getting caught," he expressed, "I could work on the device myself."

Everyone was quiet for several seconds.

"What if Chara was distracted?" Dogaressa suggested.

"It wouldn't do any good since he has guards watching the prisoners like hawks." Sans said.

"Well, what if he was distracted in a way where all of the guards were called away from the prisoners." Dogaressa pressed.

"But, what situation would be dire enough for Chara to send all of the guards away?" Papyrus wondered.

Everyone thought about it.

"News of a human in the underground?" Frisk offered.

"Eh, nah," Sans responded, "that would probably work a little too well and end badly, we're not there yet."

Frisk was disappointed, he really wanted to help.

"What about...a prisoner escaping?" Toriel voiced, "That would probably get Chara's attention."

"Yeah, the little brute has that place held up so tightly," Undyne said, 'if someone did manage to escape, he'd probably go apeshit."

"Even more so if multiple prisoners escaped." Sans affirmed.

"It's a good idea," Doggo voiced, "but, there's a lot of people trapped in the castle, who do we spring?"

"I know one thing," Dogaressa said, "I sure as hell wanna get my husband back and I know you wanna get your buddies back."

The knife-wielding dog nodded firmly in response.

"We gotta get our cousin out of there." Maddy stated.

"But, Mettaton is one of the guards," Napstablook responded, "that's gonna be hard."

"I'll be damned if I'm gonna leave Dad and Muffet behind again." Sans asserted.

"It will not be an easy feat," Toriel attested, "but, Asriel misses his father and I miss him too."

"Well, we all know what we want to do and we know who we want to get out," Papyrus voiced, "but, we need to take a moment and think about where we even begin with this 'prison break'."

Everyone though again.

"I'll try to get in for a moment and run our plan by Alphys," Sans said, "if anyone we want to free has been put under the 'Inculcating Machine', maybe she knows how to undo it."

"How will she be able to do that if guards decided to watch her operate the machine?" Undyne wondered.

"That...I'll discuss with her when I go back." Sans replied.

At that moment, Frisk yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Are you tired, Frisk?" Toriel asked.

"Kinda." the Human boy sighed.

"It is really late, actually." Undyne said.

"We can act in the morning," Toriel affirmed, "right now, I think it would be best if we all got some sleep."

She offered her hand to Frisk.

"Come with me, little one." she said.

The Human boy followed along as the goat woman took him by the hand and led him down the hall to her room.

"I was a little too distracted today to make a sleeping area for you," Toriel told him, "so, until then, you may sleep in my bed."

"But, then, where will you sleep?" Frisk wondered.

"Oh, my chair is plenty comfortable," the goat woman affirmed, "I have slept in it many times."

Frisk smiled as the goat woman lifted him up and placed him on the bed, the Human boy went limp as he sunk into the surprisingly soft mattress and pillow, finding that he was indeed more tired than he had realized.

"There we go," Toriel voiced, tucking the Human boy in, "are you comfortable?"

Frisk nodded as he felt his eye lids getting heavy.

"That is good," the goat woman replied, "now, I think I better check on Asriel before I settle down myself."

"What's wrong with Asriel?" Frisk wondered, "He coughs a lot."

Toriel sighed deeply.

"He is not well, to put it simply, he has been in poor health for a while now," she explained solemnly, "our living conditions and the malnourishment certainly does not help; I feel so helpless, I am his mother, my job is take care of him, but, with food alone being so hard to come by, there is so little I can do for him, it is maddening."

Frisk looked on condolingly as the goat woman made her way to the door.

"Well, let me know if you need anything," Toriel said docilely, "sleep tight."

With that she left the room, softly pulling the door shut behind her.

As he stared at the ceiling, Frisk felt an odd surge of determination within him.

"I have to help them." he thought as he nodded off.


Some hours later, Frisk awoke, wondering how long he had slept, though he figured it was long enough, as he felt pretty well rested. Curious of the time, the Human boy slid out of the large bed and quietly left the room.

As he walked into the living room, he found all of the elders still asleep; Toriel was sleeping in her chair, her hands resting on the skulls of Sans and Papyrus, who were sleeping against the opposite sides of the chair, their skulls resting on the armrests of the chair. Doggo was curled up on the floor in front of the fireplace, which was currently not lit, Frisk guessed that it must have died out in the middle of the night. Maddy was asleep in the corner of the room, remaining idle on his stand, while Napstablook was slumped against the wall; on the other side of the room, Undyne was sleeping on the dining room table, while Dogaressa was curled up under it.

Frisk was unsure of what to do, as he was hesitant to wake anyone.

It was then that he felt a small tap on his shoulder, he turned around to find Asriel standing behind him.

"Hey," the goat boy said quietly, "you're up early too I see."

Frisk nodded.

"What are you doing?" Asriel wondered.

"I wanted to see what time it was," the Human boy said, "there's no clock in your mom's room."

"Oh, you slept in her room?" the goat boy responded, "That makes sense, Mom always said that no child should ever have to sleep on the floor."

"Why are you up?" Frisk asked.

"I'm just up," Asriel said, coughing softly, "I feel like I've slept long enough."

He looked around.

"Looks like everyone spent the night." the goat child noted.

"Do they normally?" Frisk inquired.

"Quite often," Asriel said, "especially if the weather gets bad or a meeting runs really late and Mom doesn't want them to go out in the evening, as strong as everyone is, there's no telling what could happen, so, nobody likes to chance it."

"Toriel likes to take care of everyone, doesn't she?" Frisk responded.

"Of course she does," the goat boy voiced, "she's a mom and she was the queen before Chara took over, so, it was her and Dad's job to make sure everyone was taken care of."

He then looked sad.

"I really miss my dad." he sighed.

"It sounds like everyone does," Frisk replied, "he must've been a really good king."

"He was a very good king," Asriel affirmed, "everybody loved him because he never overlooked anyone, he never turned any Monsters away, all he wanted was for everyone to be happy and sound."

Frisk looked on with interest.

"And...Chara betrayed that kindness," the goat child expressed solemnly, "we made him part of our family, he called my parents "Mom" and "Dad" and he called me "Brother", and here we found that it didn't mean anything...he didn't care about us at all, he just wanted our power to carry out his own plans."

He clenched his tiny fists.

"I hate Chara with all my heart and soul," Asriel asserted, he coughed again, "and I want him to die."

"Betraying those who genuinely care about you is inexcusable," Frisk replied, "that shouldn't have happened to you guys...none of this should happen to anyone."

They were quiet for a moment.

"So..." Frisk asked, "who of this group would you say is the strongest?"

"That depends, are we talking physical strength or actual magic?" Asriel responded, "Because, I'm pretty sure Undyne has the greatest physical strength, while, on the other hand, Sans probably has the strongest magic, of course, Papyrus is pretty powerful too."

They looked at the sleeping skeletons.

"They're both incredibly powerful," Asriel said, "unstoppable when they fight together, probably because they were born in a lab, that's where their daddy, Uncle Dub, made them."

"Uncle...Dub?" Frisk replied curiously.

"The old royal scientist, W. D. Gaster, his full name was Wingdings Gaster, but, he preferred to go by his initials," Asriel explained, "but, he and my dad had been friends for, like, ever and Dad gave him the nickname "Dub", referring to the "W" of course."

"Did you see him often?" the Human boy wondered.

The goat boy nodded.

"He lived in the castle," he said, clearing his throat, "I didn't always understand what he was talking about, but, he and Daddy spent a lot of time together and sometimes I got to go to the lab, but, only when Uncle wasn't working. If he and Dad were off doing grown up things, I would spend time with Sans and Papyrus, I always had fun with them."

Just then, they heard a soft sigh come from Toriel, who was just starting to wake up; the goat woman's stirring caused both skeleton brothers to awake as well.

"Oh my," she yawned, "what time is it?"

"Probably too early." Sans sighed.

"It's a little after 6:30 a.m.." Papyrus affirmed.

"Yep," Sans said, "too early."

Their speaking roused Doggo and Undyne out of sleep as well, the black and white-furred dog lifting his head curiously.

"Huh?" Undyne mumbled, opening her uncovered eye, "What's happening? Morning already?"

She pulled her wild, red hair out of her face, quickly slipping her headband on to keep it in place, her movements waking Dogaressa beneath the table. Napstablook then woke up as well.

"Hey, Maddy," the ghost said, trying to wake his cousin, "Maddy, it's morning."

The orange dummy woke up.

"Eh, wah?" Maddy muttered, "What're we doin'?"

"Children," Toriel asked, "how long have you two been up?"

"Not too long," Frisk answered, "barely ten minutes...if that."

"Is everything okay?" the goat woman wondered.

"Yeah, just, I woke up, but, there was no clock in your room," the Human boy said, "and I wanted to see what time it was."

"What about you, Asriel, dearest," Toriel inquired, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom," the goat boy replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice, as his mother rubbed his face, "I woke up because I was done sleeping."


As soon as everyone was up and around, the group gathered around the dining table to discuss the next course of action.

"So, we're serious about this rescue mission," Papyrus voiced, "right? We're still going to get people out of the castle in an attempt to distract Chara?"

"And while Chara is distracted," Undyne affirmed, "Sans will join Alphys in the lab and help her with that Soul Extractor."

"What happens after that?" Asriel wondered.

"We'll discuss that further after we get this part done." Sans said.

"Right," Papyrus pressed, "and everyone remembers who we're going to spring?"

"Dad and Muffet." Sans affirmed.

"My Dogamy." Dogaressa said.

"My comrades." Doggo stated.

"Our cousin." Maddy said firmly.

"And my daddy!" Asriel said gladly, coughing afterwards.

Papyrus thought about it.

"Yeah, about that," he expressed, "Mettaton and Asgore are probably going to be the hardest ones to get out, how are going to go about that?"

"Like I said," Sans said, "I'll go in ahead of time and talk to Alphys about un-brainwashing the guards that were put under the machine, it'll have to be done before we launch our rescue attempt."

"You really think you can come up with a way she can undo the brainwashing without getting caught by Chara?" Undyne wondered.

"I already have an idea in store," the short skeleton replied, "let's just hope that some of our friends are decent enough actors until we can get them out of there."

He slid out of his chair.

"I think I'll get on it now," Sans said, "we can't afford to waste any time on this."

"You know the drill," Papyrus asserted, "be careful."

His brother responded with a salute before teleporting away.

"Hope he knows what he's doing." Undyne said.

"He usually does." Papyrus assured her.


After getting to castle and finding Alphys alone in the lab, Sans let himself in and explained the plan to her, needless to say, she was quite taken aback by what she heard.

"You want me to undo the brainwashing?" the lizard scientist voiced tensely, "Sans, I don't know, that's quite a risk, I don't know how I'd get away with that."

"Alphys, it's simple," Sans instructed, "summon the guards, one at a time to be safe, that were put under the "Inculcater" to the lab, tell them it's Chara's orders, maybe say it's for an upgrade or something, put them back under the machine and throw it in reverse."

"But, won't Chara be able to see that they're no longer under his control?" Alphys wondered.

"Yeah, you're gonna have to advise them to fake it," the short skeleton attested, "but, it won't have to be for long, as soon as the guards are un-brainwashed, we'll move on to rescue part, when Chara sees that Monsters have escaped the castle, hopefully he'll send the guards out, then, with Chara distracted, I'll come back here and I'll help you work on the Soul Extractor."

"What if Chara doesn't decide to send the guards after the escapees?" the lizard woman questioned.

"Then, for a Plan B, we'll have the guards distract Chara," Sans said, "create a diversion maybe, then, we'll quickly round up the needed supplies, take the Soul Extractor and you out of this castle, and go back to my house to work on it."

"Uh...not that I doubt you or anything," Alphys replied, "but, that Plan B sounds like it would make a pretty good Plan A."

"I know," Sans responded, "but, we're pretty set on the rescue mission."

Alphys looked on uncertainly.

"You have a choice in the matter," the short skeleton assured her, "if you're really not up for it, you don't have to go along with the plan, we'll think of something else."

The lizard woman thought about it.

"No, that won't be necessary," she said firmly, "I...I'm in, let's do it!"

"You're sure?" Sans responded.

"yes, I'm sure," she expressed intently, "every day I'm scared, scared of what will happen if I don't do what Chara says, I'm sick of it, I'm tired of obeying his every demand for the sake of getting fed my measly scraps, of doing this sick, ungodly process, on these poor Monsters, I'm done with it."

Sans nodded proudly.

"Sans, tell the others that this game plan is on," Alphys avowed, "later today, I'll start calling guards to the lab and reverse the inculcation, in the meantime, you guys get ready."

"Thatta girl." the short skeleton said.

The two then gamely locked hands in affirmation, dead set on their finalized plan.


I know this is a lot shorter than the previous chapters so far, but, honestly, I felt really good about ending it here.

Next up, rescues ensue as the Resister's spring into action, we will see how far they can get before Chara catches on.