Here we go.
Toby Fox owns Undertale and all associated characters. However, The Defiler is mine.
The group all whipped around at that voice, and Frisk felt his knees go weak at the sight before him. It was him. The golden-masked figure was floating thirty feet in the air, gazing down upon the small group before him. Strangely, there was no sign of the magical storm.
The being's gaze was focussed directly on Frisk, causing the boy's skin to crawl and Chara to pull her presence as deeply into his subconscious as she could go.
"No wonder my servants could not pinpoint this fragment." The flames in the being's eyes brightened as he spoke. "Two souls, one body. Very clever. You knew I was coming for you, didn't you?"
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Undyne called out, a spear materializing in her hand as she took a step towards the floating figure, pushing Frisk behind her as she did so.
Frisk was impressed. The dark figure's gaze was trained upon the warrior, but she showed no sign of fear.
"Who am I?" He gave another laugh, causing a shudder to run down Frisk's spine. "I am beyond your comprehension, mortal. But so that you might have a name to curse with your dying breath... " He raised his arms straight out at his sides so that his hands were level with his shoulders. "I am The Defiler."
As he spoke, a burst of power exploded from him. The monsters seemed unaffected, but the force behind it sent Frisk to his knees. He felt a hand on each shoulder, one boney, one soft and furry. Toriel and Sans were behind him, lending him their support. Knowing that his friends and family were there for him, it filled the boy with Determination. He stood up and took a deep breath.
The Defiler continued. "As for what I want…" he floated slightly to the side so that Frisk was once again in his field of vision, then pointed his staff at the boy.
"You have something of mine. And I will have it."
Chara began to rise up from his subconcious and into the forefront of Frisk's mind.
He… He wants me.
"Frisk?" Toriel asked quietly. The boy shook his head.
"If you wanted something, you could have just asked instead of attacking us." Asgore rumbled. "There was no need to…"
"Sans," Toriel said quietly, while Asgore attempted to negotiate with the menacing figure. "Get Frisk away from here, somewhere safe. We will handle this."
The short skeleton hesitated for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and nodded.
"Got it, Tori. I'll keep my promise."
"Thank you, Sans."
Frisk was about to object to the idea of abandoning his friends here, but by the time he had opened his mouth, Sans had already placed a boney hand on each of his shoulders. Frisk braced himself for the sensation that was about to come.
Nothing happened.
"You think I would just let you leave?" The Defiler called out to them, interrupting Asgore mid-sentence. "None of you are going anywhere until I have what I came for."
"Sans? What happened?" Toriel asked worriedly.
"I can't get out of here." The skeleton replied tersely. "None of my shortcuts are working. He's disrupting the flow of energy somehow, I can't…"
Frisk?
The voices around him faded as he concentrated on Chara's voice. She sounded strange, and her image's gaze had trained on The Defiler, one arm slowly stretching out towards him.
Chara? The boy asked nervously. What are you-
He's calling me, Frisk. He wants to bring me home. He wants to make me whole again. I have to-
Frisk could feel his Determination rising within him. Gently he let that power flow around Chara and he pulled her back to him. She blinked a few times, her gaze seeming to clear.
What… what happened? I feel… strange.
He's trying to trick you, Chara. Don't listen to him!
Frisk took a step forward and and managed to meet The Defiler's gaze.
"You can't have her! She's my friend, and I won't let you take her away!"
Frisk…
"My child?"
"Wait, her?"
The Defiler raised a hand, and a ball of flame was quickly conjured in his open palm. He glared menacingly down at the gathered Monsters.
"This is your last warning. Return my power, or I will-"
The Defiler stopped short, and ball of flame dissipated. He looked down at his chest. There was a spear impaling him through it. He turned his gaze back to the Monsters where Undyne already had another spear prepared to hurl at the figure.
"I don't know what you want from him, but I know Frisk. If the punk's not just handing it over, then there's a damn good reason for it! Now get out of here, or you'll regret it!"
The dark being reached out a hand and wrapped it around the shaft of the spear impaling him. Black energy crackled from his fingertips, and the spear dissipated. Then he began floating down.
When his feet touched the ground, he spoke.
"Very well. Let us see what power this world has to offer."
Energy began building up around The Defiler, and the amount of power pouring forth was enough to have almost physical force. Frisk could feel the pressure as the air grew heavier. He never once loosened his grip on Chara, however. She seemed to be resisting The Defiler's call, but he wasn't about to take any chances with her.
The Monsters around him were also preparing for battle. Flames sparked from Toriel's hands, and Asgore had called his trident into his grasp. More spears were floating above Undyne's head and Papyrus had summoned several of his bones, both blue and white that were dancing around him. Sans was the only one who had not yet called upon his magic but, knowing him, he would wait until the last minute before doing so anyway.
Suddenly, two bolts of magical energy flew from the sky above them, crashing into The Defiler's chest. His head snapped upwards, just in time to be greeted by a volley of missiles. The weapons impacted him, exploding into great gouts of flame upon doing so. Where The Defiler had been standing was now obscured by smoke and there were small chunks of debris raining over the area.
Frisk's group looked up to where the attacks had come from, and there was a bright red figure quickly dropping towards them out of the sky. It landed on the ground beside them, the concrete shaking on it's impact.
It appeared to be some kind of robot, though it wasn't very much at all like Mettaton. It was a vibrant red with a metallic sheen, and a bright pink visor that covered over where the eyes would be. There were small cat ears set right above the visor. It was short, nearly the same height of Frisk himself, and it's body was shaped like a very familiar reptile…
"Is… Is everyone alright?"
There was no mistaking that nervous voice, even if it did have a slightly more synthetic sound to it.
"Alphys?" Undyne questioned incredulously. "Is that you?"
Alphys looked towards the fish-warrior, rubbing her hands together nervously.
"H-hey Undyne. Yeah, it's uh… it's me."
Undyne just stared at her lover. Her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out.
"You… how… what?"
"Umm, s-sorry, this was supposed to be a surprise f-for you. I uh, I've been building this Exo-suit as part of my work combining tech with magical power. It's… it's not done yet but uh, when the magical storm disappeared and a different power exploded over here, I uh, I had to see it for myself."
"Wait wait." Undyne seemed to have gotten a grip on herself somewhat. "Is this the secret project you've been working on? This… this…"
"R-robot armour? Yeah... "
Undyne let out a very uncharacteristic squeal and grabbed Alphys lifting her up into the air and swinging her around.
"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen! And you totally smacked down that Defiler guy too! Fuhuhuhu! Looks like I'm gonna have to try a little harder to keep being the badass of our relationship!"
"You… you really like it?"
"Like it? I love it! As soon as we get home, I'm gonna-"
"Not to interrupt this charming little scene." The Defiler strode out of the smoke that was slowly dissipating around him, his eyes blazing orange. "But we are not yet done here. If you think that is all that it takes to bring me down, you are sadly mistaken."
"Alphys." Toriel whispered to the lizard as Undyne put her down and turned to face their enemy with a scowl on her face. "Can you get Frisk out of here? This man is coming after him."
"I'm afraid not, Toriel." Alphys replied reluctantly. "Y-you see, there's some sort of barrier around here. It's uh, it's mostly transparent, but it seems to be much the same as the barrier in the Underground. Anything can enter…"
"But nothing can leave." Toriel finished. "So… the only way for us to get out of here is to defeat him." Her eyes narrowed and her fists balled. "The man who threatened my child."
Toriel turned her attention to Frisk.
"Child, find somewhere safe to hide, until this is over. Alright?"
The boy nodded and, after quickly scanning the area, saw a car parked on the side of the road nearby. He dashed towards it, and had almost reached it when time stopped.
He could feel the sudden change in the world deep within his soul, and had to lean himself on the car, which had gone from a bright blue to a dull shade of grey. The entire world had turned grey. He looked back to his friends and saw them all frozen in place, each of them in the midst of calling on their magic. The only things that seemed unaffected were himself, Sans and The Defiler.
The dark being watched in amusement as the small skeleton made his way around the other Monsters and stood before him, eyes closed.
"Impressive." The gold-masked man stated. "Your soul belies your power, skeleton."
"Well, I didn't get this far by throwing all my cards down right off the bat." Sans sighed.
"Listen. I don't like fighting. I don't really have the stomach for it. But…" He looked around. "We finally made it. We finally got a happy ending. And you. You would take it all away."
The Defiler did not respond.
"Heh. I'm not gonna let that happen. So, if you don't want to have a bad time, I suggest you leave. Now."
A ball of dark energy materialized behind The Defiler, then blasted out at the skeleton, who dodged effortlessly out of the way.
"Welp, it was worth a shot. Guess you like doing things the hard way, don't you?"
Colour began to bleed back into the world, and Frisk could feel time starting again. The other Monsters paused upon seeing Sans at their forefront, a sizzling crater next to him from where The Defiler's energy had struck. Then, there was a collective gasp as he called his Gaster Blasters forth.
The massive dog-skulls immediately fired their huge beams of energy at their foe, bathing him in white light.
As the energy from the blasters expended itself, The Defiler was once again visible. A shimmering shield surrounded him, and had apparently protected him from the blast. He made a gesture, and the shield dispersed.
"Perhaps this will be amusing after all."
Frisk ducked behind the car as The Defiler fired blasts of dark energy out at the Monsters, one beam nearly slamming into Frisk's cover. Despite the onslaught, the boy periodically peeked around the car to witness the battle.
He'd seen all his friends fight before, of course. They'd been attacking him most of the time. But never before had he seen them fighting together. They fought as a team, each of them supporting the other as they hurled everything they had at The Defiler.
Asgore had closed with the dark being and was attacking him with his trident, forcing him to defend himself with his staff while his free hand fired bolts of dark magic out at the other Monsters.
Undyne was keeping a short distance, firing spears in volleys at The Defiler, and occasionally lighting up the ground beneath his feet to slam her attacks into him from below. Meanwhile, Alphys's suit allowed her to fly overhead, peppering their foe with magic and blasts of electricity.
The Defiler was focussing most of his attacks on Sans, forcing the short skeleton to spend more time dodging than attacking. Fortunately, Toriel was using her own magic to shield Sans, creating walls of fire or blasts of magic to halt or divert their enemy's magic, giving him time to throw in his own counterattacks.
As for Papyrus, he was close to Undyne, throwing his bone attacks at The Defiler. Frisk could faintly hear him calling to the dark being, asking him to stop and that he was sure he could do better than this. The taller skeleton's bravery and compassion even in the midst of battle brought a smile to Frisk's face.
He ducked again as another bolt went astray, passing overhead a little too close for comfort. When he looked back he was just in time to see another of Sans's blasters impact The Defiler, Asgore jumping back to avoid the deadly blast. This time, There was no shield to protect their enemy, and he suffered the full brunt of the blast. But even as it impacted, The Defiler merely laughed.
As the energy faded, he leapt forward, striking Asgore with his staff with such force it hurled the former king through the air, crashing into one of the nearby houses. There were no signs that the dark being had been affected at all by the power Sans had unleashed upon him.
Frisk gasped, and he heard Toriel call out Asgore's name. She threw up a wall of fire in between herself and The Defiler, then ran towards the wounded boss monster.
"Stay where you are!" Undyne cried, making a familiar gesture with her fist. The Defiler stopped short, then began to laugh once again. Frisk was beginning to hate that sound.
"You think to affect my soul? Your arrogance is astounding, mortal. I am more powerful than you can imagine!"
"Ha! You don't scare me! I have my friends behind me, and you have nothing!"
The warrior leapt forward, intending to drive her spear into the golden mask covering her enemy's face. But before she reached it, she seemed to pause in mid-air, then was jerked violently to the side just as a beam of black energy fired forth from The Defiler's eyes.
Sans lowered his hand, blue flames slowly dying out around his bony digits. Frisk could see his shoulders heaving with exertion, but he stood his ground.
"You alright?" Sans called out to Undyne as the warrior pulled herself to her feet from where she had crashed into the pavement.
"I could've handled it!" She shouted defiantly.
"I'll take that as a thank you."
He's toying with them.
Undyne unleashed another volley of spears upon The Defiler, and this time the dark being simply ignored them, allowing them to impact him as he sent another wave of energy at Sans. The skeleton barely made it out of the way of this one, and Frisk could see sweat beginning to bead on his skull.
He knows they can't beat him. Chara's voice was devoid of hope, her words reverberating dully inside Frisk's head. The boy narrowed his eyes. He hadn't come this far to give up now. If they couldn't beat The Defiler in combat, then there had to be another way.
Frisk? Whatever you're thinking, stop it.
Stop what? the boy asked innocently.
I know you. You're about to go out there and do something stupid. I'm telling you, it won't work.
I couldn't beat Asriel in combat either.
That was different! Asriel was a good person, he just… forgot. There's nothing that you can Save here!
I'm not going to sit by while my friends fight. Frisk retorted. If fighting isn't the answer, then maybe kindness is.
Don't you dare-
Determination filled Frisk as he stood up and stepped out from behind the car. Even as he did so, a massive wave of energy exploded from The Defiler. The force behind it bowled all of the Monsters over, and sent Frisk flying backwards. The boy crashed into the sidewalk, scraping his arm against the rough cement on it's edge.
Frisk blinked his eyes a few times to refocus his vision and stumbled to his feet, bringing a hand up to clutch at his bleeding arm as he gazed around the battlefield. Bits of rubble were scattered around and he could see his friends attempting to get up from where the onslaught of power had deposited them.
A menacing laugh brought his gaze sweeping up to where the Defiler floated several feet in the air. Frisk's Determination almost wavered upon meeting his gaze.
Almost.
"This farce of a battle is over. If you will not give me what is mine…"
Frisk let out a scream and dropped to his knees as a brutal pain tore into his skull.
"Then I shall take it!"
Frisk clutched and his head, wrapping his fingers into his hair, tears running down his face as the pain increased. His own cries were mirrored by Chara, as an invisible hand reached down to grasp her, forcefully yanking her away.
In his mind he could see her image being torn away by The Defiler's grasp. But he reached out and grabbed Chara by the hand, seeing her whip her head away from their tormentor to stare at him, her eyes filled with fear.
I won't let you go.
Frisk, what are you doing?
Frisk let out another cry, falling forward onto his face as if yanked forward as the pain increased again.
I won't let you go!
He could see Chara hanging before him, torn between the grip of The Defiler and his own. He reached out another trembling hand and it quickly joined his other in grasping Chara's own digits. Then, he pulled.
I won't let you go!
Despite the agony he felt, he refused to give up. If The Defiler wanted her, he would have to go through him first!
I won't let y-
There was a snap.
Author's Note: Enough feels for you yet, Vitaking?