Tyrantale

Chapter 8.

Now, back to the revolt.


"ESCAPED!?" Chara questioned furiously, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN PRISONERS ESCAPED!?"

The servant who had broken the news to Chara about the prison break flinched as the young tyrant's aura surged intensely.

"W-We just found out-" the rabbit woman tried to say.

"It's. Not. Possible!" Chara growled, shoving the rabbit against the wall.

The demonic child then teleported himself to various other rooms in the castle, searching for signs of prisoners or their escape routes. When he found nothing, Chara seethed with rage and inhaled deeply.

"METTATOOOOOOONNNNN!" the savage boy screamed lividly.

Hearing his name, Mettaton quickly made his way to the tiny tyrant, trying to keep a straight face.

"What do you need your highness?" the robot responded stiffly, feigning his brainwashed state.

"Mettaton, tell me," Chara questioned, "where were you all day?"

"My post, the roof, same as everyday," the robotic man answered, "just like you ordered."

Chara inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"Well, did you happen to see or hear anything?" he asked irately, "Did anyone come up here? Maybe somebody from outside? Like a Resister?"

"Negative, Sire," Mettaton responded, "the roof went quiet and undisturbed all day."

"So then how the hell did so many prisoners escape my castle?" the small tyrant growled.

Mettaton did not respond.

"Whatever," Chara huffed, "rally the guards, we're gonna find them and make them pay for defying their king!"

"Yes, Your Highn-" Mettaton started to reply.

"But, first," the king interjected, "I'm setting up the Palace Exterior Blockade."

What he said caught the robot off-guard, but, Mettaton was good not to react to strongly.

"Palace Exterior Blockade?" Mettaton responded curiously.

"Yes, it's a precaution that came with the recent castle renovations," Chara told him, "as long as it's activated, no Monster will be able to get in or out."

The small tyrant then held up a small black square with a green light in the center of it.

"This sensor indicates whether the blockade is on or off," he explained, "when it's on, the light is green, when it's off, the light is red."

Mettaton stared at the device in Chara's hand.

"I'm taking this with me," the wrongful king attested, "and if while I'm gone the light suddenly goes from green to red, by God, I'll be back here faster than anyone can say 'Soul'!"

Mettaton did not respond, as he could not think of a response that would not sound suspicious.

"I know it seems extreme," Chara voiced, "but, I don't think I can afford to take any risk by this point, I mean, who knows what could be going on when I'm not around...right?" He looked intently at the robot.

"A...valid point, Sire." Mettaton stated.

Chara then assembled what guards were left.

"You know what you have to do," Chara asserted, "find anyone who swore their allegiance to me and then deserted me and bring them back, by any means necessary. Nobody disobeys King Chara and gets away unscathed."

The guards turned and walked out of the castle, however, as Mettaton tried to follow them, Chara stopped him.

"Actually, Mettaton," the demonic child said, "I thought about it and I decided that I would feel better if you stayed here."

"Me? Stay?" Mettaton responded curiously, "Why?"

"Well, someone has to stay behind and keep an eye on the remaining prisoners," Chara replied, "and who better than the most outfitted of my guards?"

"Uh...right." the robot said awkwardly.

With that, Chara left the castle with the other guards and, once outside, activated his "Palace Exterior Blockade", which was an ominous, red coating that surrounded the castle, resonating like the barrier to the surface.

"ALPHYS!" Mettaton yelled, as soon as Chara was gone.


After tracking down Alphys and Sans, Mettaton told them what Chara had done.

"Oh no," Alphys uttered, "I can't believe I forgot about the blockade!"

"Damn," Sans groaned, "I didn't think it would that easy."

Just then, his phone started going off, he answered it and heard Papyrus on the other end.

At that same time, Papyrus and Undyne were still on the roof, having found that they could no longer get back inside, Papyrus had decided to contact his brother.

"Sans, we can't get back in," Papyrus asked frantically, while Undyne furiously tugged on the trap door that led back into the castle, "what's going on?"

He quickly switched his phone to speaker, so Undyne could hear Sans.

"Ugh, turns out Chara was more prepared than we thought he would," Sans explained, "he has a barrier of his own around the castle, no Monster inside gets out and no Monster outside gets in."

"Alphys made it didn't she?" Undyne voiced, still fighting with the trap door, "Can't she just turn it off?"

"I could turn it off at any time," Alphys informed over the line, "but, if I shut it down, even for a second, Chara will notice and teleport right back here to investigate."

"Well, if no Monsters can get in or out," Papyrus inquired, "then what are we supposed to do?"

There was a long silence while everyone thought about their options.

"Keep an eye out for Chara and keep checking back in with the Ruins," Sans said intently, "I won't be going anywhere any time soon, so, we'll be working on the Soul Extractor."

"But, what about Asgore?" the younger skeleton questioned, "What about-"

"We'll figure it out," the older skeleton replied, "just...do as I say, call Toriel and tell her what's going on, who knows, maybe she'll have a solution."

Papyrus sighed.

"All right," he said, "I'll call Toriel, I guess I don't have to remind you to be careful."


Back in the Ruins, Toriel was in Asriel's room, once again watching as the ailing goat child slept heavily, when she suddenly felt her phone go off. She had set it to vibrate to avoid disturbing her son's nap, should she get a call. Toriel quickly answered her phone and heard Papyrus speak on the other end.

"Toriel," Papyrus asked tensely, "how is everything there?"

"Everything is quiet here," the goat woman answered softly, "why, is something wrong?"

Papyrus explained the situation regarding the Palace Exterior Blockade.

"They cannot get out?" Toriel gasped.

"According to Chara, no Monster can get in or out," Papyrus affirmed, "if we shut it down, Chara will come right back, so...we're kinda backed into a corner at the moment."

Toriel anxiously brought her free hand up to her face.

"Um...you wouldn't happen to have any ideas," the tall skeleton wondered, "would you?"

"Me?" the goat woman responded, surprised.

"Yeah," Papyrus said, "Sans thought you might."

Toriel was at a loss for words, while she provided for her fellow Resisters and helped when needed, she was not a planner, that role was normally taken by Sans and Undyne.

"I...I do not know, I really do not," the former queen voiced, "I guess, maybe if you could find a way to turn the blockade off without Chara knowing."

"But, like I said," Papyrus reiterated, "if we turn the blockade off, Chara's device will alert him."

Toriel thought about it again.

"Well...what if Chara...lost the device?" she offered, "Like, if it disappeared and then someone turned off the blockade, then how would Chara know that it was shut down?"

There was a long pause following her suggestion.

"I'll call Sans back," Papyrus said, "I think he can find a way to work with that, take care."

With that, the call ended.


Back at the castle, Sans and Alphys were hard at work on the Soul Extractor, when Sans' cellphone started going off. Seeing that it was Papyrus, he quickly answered it.

"What's the word, Bro?" the short skeleton asked.

"Hey, so I talked to Toriel," Papyrus informed him, "and she offered an interesting notion that I think you could work with."

He then told Sans about Toriel's "if Chara lost the device" proposal, hearing that, the older skeleton thought about it, and came up with an idea.

"Is Undyne busy?" Sans inquired.

"I'm still here." Undyne said, upon hearing her name.

"Do you have energy to spare?" the short skeleton queried.

"I'm listening." the fish woman responded, intrigued.


Whoo, finally, a new chapter done.

I would have gotten to this sooner, but, recently, I had to deal with some family craziness, my mom had to spend a few days in the hospital with health concerns and has to undergo some lifestyle changes, so that kind of had me distracted. But, things are fine now, for the most part, so, I should be able to get back to this fun stuff.

Anyway, the next chapter will come eventually, hopefully there will not be any more family crises or anything else that will distract me.