One World: Many Souls
Chapter 64: Philanderer's Plight
Third Person Point of View:
"Damn... that was a long session..."
"Uncle Pap and Aunt Lilly wanted to be thorough." Eras commented to Impact's displeasure. "Busy season is coming up soon, we have to be ready for lots of clients."
"Just because I know that doesn't mean I can't complain, you know."
"I know."
The two men walked along a quiet street back home. Being that of a warm summer day, they decided a long walk home would be great to their apartment they shared not far from the restaurant. Hannah was most likely in bed already from how late it was. But most likely there was a meal left out for the two of them if they wanted it, and if not, it was breakfast. Hannah always treated them kindly at the apartment. Sometimes they didn't see each other, but they made time for her as often as they could. Especially Eras who saw her just slightly more often putting in the work and losing sleep to be together.
Eras thought about it more often than not. He was thankful he lived so close to his work so he could be home to her so soon. They didn't often get time together due to their work schedules. Hannah worked an early morning shift starting at six until four. Compared to Eras and Impact who worked the lunch shift starting at ten until eight at the end of dinner. Sleeping at different times made it hard for them, but they made it work.
That was what they promised each other.
"Did Hannah say what's for dinner tonight?"
Eras thought about that for a moment. "Seafood pasta and salad."
"Ooo..." Impact drooled at the food that was stated. "She's been getting better at cooking, and man she's been using lots of cheese and flavors! I can't wait to eat that!"
"Me either. Maybe she might still be up?"
"That would be nice."
The chatter halted there for a moment as the two of them quietly stepped down an alleyway that led directly from their apartment before the main street. It was a narrow space for three buildings before one side of it opened up to a park in their area. It could be a scary part of town, but with the training that the two went through, they never worried for their lives.
At least, not until recently when something changed...
Eras could feel it once more. The presence of someone following them on their way home. He could feel them watching him from a distance. There always was someone watching them, it was often a thing with them being descendants of the house. But not often were they actively followed home on the streets. More or less, he assumed admiration of them for their status or connections.
But this had been going on for a few weeks then. Just shortly before Arial was harmed. No one ever approached them, but Eras just had a feeling...
As the two of them enjoyed the silence, Eras used his magic to tug gently at Impact's ghostly hair. The skeleton male glanced over at his cousin before looking forward again.
"How long?"
"Twenty feet and closing in, looks like something will happen this time. Be prepared."
"Kay."
The two never stopped walking, even as they knew someone was coming behind them. Just one person, but other things were moving in the background. Eras could always feel if there was a bird flying by in his field of magic around him, or other little animals or plant life. But he felt objects moving around him, not living.
And to make matters worse, an alarm went off. A loud, ringing alarm that sounded from the other side of town, but it was loud enough to catch the attention of people in that area. Both males looked in that direction to see the castle off in the distance lit up, flashing lights and magic going off.
"Aunt Frisk...?"
"We should go help!" Impact shouted at Eras' query. "Come on!"
"I think not, darlings."
And before they could move, objects that looked like floating black stones surrounded them, powering up an electrical field that prevented movement in that direction. They watched as more stones powered up around them, moving into the park they were just about to walk by before that event took place. A lone figure stood there in the center of the park with a devilish smile. A sleek metallic skin glittered back at them in the moonlight while stylish skin tight clothes sat upon their figure. Curly black hair was on their head that had a surprising resemblance to Impact who stood a short while away.
"Why hello there, my darling nephew and son."
Those words alone put the boys on edge. Seeing the light take shape and give way to the woman who stood before them, it was Mettaton. Holding herself in a sexy pose to show off her figure. After a few moments, the men could hear cooing from outside the cage they were locked in. It appeared that die hard fans of hers were there as well. They all appeared to have weapons in their hands, controls for the field and guns in their hands pointed at the men.
"Shit..." Eras cursed.
Impact narrowed his eye lights at Mettaton. "Why are you here? You know you're not supposed to come anywhere near me or Dad."
"Oh darling," The woman almost sighed delightfully with the power she held in those moments. Even wrapping her arms around herself in the comfort she took in it. "I couldn't give a damn."
"So you want to be arrested, kicked out of the country and lose what's left of your fame?"
Eras' harsh comment came out and it made the woman blink, but she hardly moved.
"You don't seem to understand darling. It's time to end that of the Terians family that hurt me the most." Like a gloating villain, she took her time to present her set up to the men before her. "Look at my setup, boys. Look at the people helping me. Do you notice anything about them?"
Eras took that time to focus in on them, looking at each human that was helping the metallic woman. Looking at each one of them, Eras did notice one small thing that he noticed between them. A dimness to each of their eyes, the unwell appearance. None of them had been treated right. Some shed tears as they stood around the the three of them with weapons raised.
They were controlled... and it sounded familiar to what Mom told us about Aunt Frisk's case when she was a kid. A guy who controlled her and she almost lost everything... and that guy was kidnapped a short while ago with lots of people missing recently...
And that was when Eras narrowed his eyes. "You're working with Luke Madden, he's controlling these people. Isn't he?"
"Why yes! Spot on, Eras Terians." Her eyes glowed with eagerness at the discovery. "That makes things much easier. And just for the fun of it, I suppose I could tell you that I was in league with the man who tried to kill your sister too. Too bad it didn't work. Dr. Baldeth should have used more explosives to combat her magic. Perhaps we would have taken more than some skin and muscle."
"You guys attacked Arial?!" Impact's sockets glowed in color at his anger at that. "Why would you do that?!"
"I suppose you don't understand the true ire I have against those women of the Terians family." For the first time that night, Mettaton's eyes narrowed, and a red glow came from behind them. "Do you know how much they ruined me? How much they took from me? They ruined me in the underground and played me like a fiddle. And when I tried to come back and boost my popularity, you were created, no matter how much I tried to prevent it, Impact. They also turned my fans and my best friend against me! How couldn't I hate them for that? And I will forever be under their thumb unless they and you die. After all..."
She paused for a moment to allow some ghost like pink hair to come from her metallic skull.
"I can't let anyone know my secret."
With a wave of her hand, the hypnotized fans raised their weapons to shoot directly at the two men trapped in the electric prison they were in. Before the boys could think, the clips of the guns were unloaded onto the two of them. Impact had seconds to summon enlarged bones to encase them while the chains assisted in another layer of protection. The two of them huddled down while the bullets rained on them, alarms of the castle ringing still could be heard off in the distance.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" It was the first time Impact and Eras had been in battle. No matter how much they had been training for it all their lives, it was still frightening to be in a situation like that.
Only Eras kept his composure in those first few seconds as time passed. Eras had seconds to think of a plan. He needed to restrain the people shooting at them, while also leaving enough chains available to attack Mettaton. If she was just as designed as that doctor that harmed Arial, she wouldn't let herself be captured, which meant the two of them would need to take her out.
It wasn't going to be an easy thing, as Impact was struggling then.
"I'll need your help soon, Pac!" Eras had to shout to make sure his best friend heard him. "I'll take care of guns, but I need you to help me hold her back or down. I can take care of the rest, can you do that?"
"B-but- I-Impact! S-she's trying to k-kill us!"
"And we can't let her!"
Then there was a golden opportunity for Eras as he heard the guns stop. He could feel out in his field of magic that they were reloading. His magic swirled around them and he had to move fast. He could feel where they were, outside the barrier. His magic launched, wrapping around the bodies of those that were close by with the guns. He raised them into the air to keep them from being reached by others under the control of Mettaton. He was also trying to grab Mettaton, but he could feel her kick away the chains that came from her, and she jumped back to escape his grasp.
He didn't have quite enough in those moments as so many were being used to restrain others.
Hearing the shooting stop, Impact's head shot up by where his friend was already up and moving beneath the bones he summoned. Eras noticed this and turned his head to his cousin.
"Impact. I need you to use your magic to hold these people in place." Eras tried to keep his voice quiet then so that Mettaton wouldn't hear him. He could feel her stalking about outside while they were still protected. He wasn't sure how long that would last. She was debating her next move while most of her fire power was down, but it wouldn't be for long. "I can take care of her, but I need more chains for that. And right now I'm restraining thirty people."
Impact visibly paled at that. "Thirty...?"
"They can't help themselves. I'm the only thing keeping them from hurting us or each other. If you can hold them with your bone magic, you can protect them and us while I take her on. I can take her out."
Impact sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm himself before he nodded to his cousin. "Can you cover me?"
"Of course."
Eras let his gaze go away from his best friend to match pace with Mettaton. He could feel her from his side as she circled, like a predator stalking its prey.
"Don't stay in there too long, darlings." Mettaton giggled loudly for them to hear. "Or perhaps I should start taking out my members? While I hate to lose my firepower, I would much rather take a few people out if it gets you out of your shell."
"We have to move Impact." Eras whispered. Looking back, he saw Impact were already in position and his eyes glowed in his magic.
"Where do I shoot?"
Eras turned his body in the direction of where Mettaton was. That was when Impact moved.
The large, partially shattered bones that protected them lifted from the ground and flew in the direction of Mettaton. Hurling those at her, she darted back and kicked one out of the way that got too close, putting her into the air. Once Mettaton looked back at the men, Impact already had bones shooting up into the sky making cages around each of the people so they couldn't be hurt, but with their weapons gone, they couldn't shoot either with their empty weapons on the ground. Once the hostages were removed, the many chains of Eras freed up and he used them instantly to destroy the weapons. He was then surrounded by his full array of chains and was prepared to start.
He showed the woman a smirk. "Ready to try again, now on an even playing field?"
"Oh!" Mettaton steamed at that. "You're just as infuriating as your mother!"
From her arms, her elbow bent back and from it came a rocket. She focused on Eras in her fury. A wave of chains swung around and hurled the rocket away from both Impact and Eras while Mettaton charged in. Her leg was extended over her head and her sharp heel hurled downward while chains raced to defend Eras. His red eyes glowed back at her from behind the barrier before shoving her away. Yet, Mettaton twisted her heel into the chains just enough to hang on so she wouldn't be pushed back and tried to swing between his chains. She saw an opening on his side.
"NO!"
Her screech carried over the air as Eras smiled, noticing too late her error. The opening she saw was nothing but a farce as Eras' chains synced down on her leg, crushing it and ripping it off herself. Mettaton used her remaining leg to backflip away to get distance, then being at a huge disadvantage. She watched in horror when she stood back up as the chains ripped the leg to shreds, not allowing a single shred of a large piece to remain.
"You horrible animal! How dare you take my leg?"
"You were the dumb one to come after us." Eras looked rather dully at her. "Your boss clearly didn't send someone able to handle us."
That only seemed to infuriate her as her body sparked and actually covered herself in electricity. Her teeth gritted on herself before she darted forward, springing upward to have her remaining foot act like a jetpack. She was able to hover before the two men while she fired away an electrical blast at the two.
Impact dove behind Eras while the latter only stood there for his chains to absorb the attack. His chains didn't react at all to them other than changing their form into snakes that sparked that same electricity from their mouths.
"You're really not a good matchup for us." Eras could only sigh before the snakes dissipated into chains against the ground, spreading around the area where Mettaton hovered. "Let's honestly see how many volts you can take. You might have a robotic shell, but when's the last time our aunt gave you any upgrades?"
From right behind her shoulder, a snake reappeared with its jaws wide open with sparking teeth. Mettaton only had a second to turn before it latched its fangs into her armor. It didn't even take a second for the chain made fangs to enter, electrifying their opponent. Mettaton let out a horrible screech as her entire body and soul was electrified. Eras could hear the very cracking of her soul as she couldn't move from where she was held.
When Eras released the voltage attack moments later, as snakes wrapped around Mettaton's body, the metallic figure of beauty was no longer that. Covered in breaks, blown wires and liquids poured from many different spots along her body and the pink light in her eyes faded until the robotic head fell. Hair frazzled and nearly falling off the once shiny skull, Eras and Impact watched on at the body, but Eras knew better. The shattering of the soul couldn't be heard then.
"I know you're still alive." He scowled at the scene. "You're not fooling me."
From the body, Eras and Impact watched as a pink glow pulled itself from the metallic form. The ghostly form showed wispy hair like that of Impact though of a brighter fuchsia shade. The ghost monster groaned, struggling to move as her body was fading away and her soul had some cracks in it.
"You can hate my family as much as you want, but I couldn't give a shit about you." Eras stoically looked at the ghost who couldn't even move after what had happened. Impact slowly approached from behind to watch the woman who was his biological mother. "You're nothing."
Impact said nothing as the two men watched the ghost continue to struggle before them, hanging on by a thread. Eras sighed before giving in and one last single chain covered in electricity that hit her one last time, and that was all it took. The ghostly monster form of Mettaton let out one final choked shriek before her soul shattered and she entirely faded, her body became that of dust before it settled on the ground in the wind.
"Is... it over?"
"Yeah, she's dead."
Eras lifted his head to look from the pile of ashes that was once Mettaton to the people above that were still locked in cages Impact made. Most of them appeared still under the control of that Luke Madden guy, and Eras had a pretty good idea of where he was.
"I'm calling Mom, bring the people this way, Impact."
"Okay..."
Following after, Eras was already talking on his phone while he marched away. He needed to get to Hannah and make sure she was safe, but also talk to his mother about what was going on. She needed to know what was happening, and perhaps...
He looked back for just a moment to look at the destroyed body of Mettaton that she'd possessed for years. His chains wrapped around it and dragged it along. He wasn't sure if anything could be used from it, but perhaps it could be useful. He didn't know.
But at least he knew that Lexi's death wasn't in vain. The people who hurt Arial and killed Lexi were going to pay. Eras knew that he and his parents would make sure of that. After all, they were Terians.
Witch's Note:
(While the blasts continue to go off in the distance from Chaos, Mystic Girl and the little red child that appeared on the battlefield, Halloween continued to push forward with Shadow at her side. The two combined cleared much of the battlefield, and once Luke was free of the picture, over two-thirds of the army was gone.)
(Halloween felt no fear in releasing her captives inside their prison of safety. They darted away the second they could, toward those of the medically trained at the back of the field who kept them safe. Who helped them away. Halloween noticed just how easily they were winning once more and it brought a smile to her face.)
Halloween Witch: (She turned to face Shadow and handed him a map. One that he soon saw was a map of the base he was often in.) I like that plan of yours, and with so many people now free with Luke dead, we can do that much more easily. Perhaps you can make a shadow portal for us to travel into the heart of the building and begin removing these pests out of our house? That would be lovely if able, if this map is of any help to you at all.
(While waiting for Shadow's response on the matter, Halloween has a large vine swipe out at the base of her feet for another wave of attackers for her head, though the number had shortened and gotten smaller. Without those possessed mixed in with the true army of Silke's, the war was much easier, and their numbers were beginning to equal before the opposing was plummeting.)
(It was a rather beautiful sight.)
(Seeing the battlefield clearing even more rapidly, Halloween carried on while allowing Shadow time to survey the map and let her know what he could do. She could wait just a bit more if needed... after all, what was a few more moments to the months she'd been without?)
Oh my... look how the tides have changed?
It's a rather delightful sight, is it not?
Yet... keep in mind that this will all be over soon...
Not just this war... but this story...
There are only six more chapters after this?
Such little time left...