Glen handed Claudia's cellphone to its owner.700Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Uub99kRyB
"Done?" Claudia asked, slipping the cellphone back into her pocket without taking her eyes from the road.
"That's everyone I can think of." Glen said, pausing a moment before adding, "At least, the ones I trust enough for this."
"So are they coming?' Jinks asked.
Glen shrugged. "Hard to say. Wondertainment sounded like she was onboard, but the others sounded suspicious."
"Can't blame them for caution." Agent Sans said, resting back in his seat with his hands cushioning his head. "You are askin' them to attack the Foundation. Any offensive might expose their entire organization."
"It's just one isolated little Site." Glen said. "It's not like I want them to go after Site Nineteen."
"What's in Nineteen?"
"Trust me, you're better off not knowing."
"So we might not have any backup going in here?" Jinks asked.
"Maybe." Glen said casually. "Won't know until we get there."
Jinks stared at her for a long moment before sighing. "Just once, it'd be nice if the odds weren't against us."
"C'mon, Jinksie." Claudia said, flashing him a grin. "Where'd be the fun in that?"
Glen glanced at Papyrus. "How about you, Paps? You feelin' okay?"
"Certainly, Miss Glen." Papyrus said. "I'm simply trying to think up some cunning puzzles to ensnare and entrap our enemies!"
Glen considered this for a moment before nodding. "Sure. Sounds good. Keep at it."
"So," Claudia asked casually, "What's the plan?"
"Dunno." Glen said with a shrug. "I'll figure it out when we get there."
"Yeah, about that." Claudia said, "We're here."
Glen looked out of the windshield to see the small town of Ebott … or what was left of it. Houses remained obviously empty, and large signs posted around the town claimed a natural gas leak had made the place uninhabitable. Then again, she supposed the SCP bought out the town (or, at worst, removed the inhabitants) to better secure the location while simultaneously eliminating those who witnessed the monsters egress from the Underground. She hoped the norm who reported them had a chance to see his or her decision backfire in their face.
"All right." Glen said, "Now I'm guessing the SCP blocked up the main entrance, and from what Artie told us about the monsters, I'm guessing they've made sure to patch any holes from beneath."
"That's a lot of holes." Agent Sans said. "It took the Warehouse months to find them all."
"So there might still be a few they missed?" Nodding, Glen said, "Worth a check. All right, we'll split up. You guys check on that."
"Oh? And what are you gonna do while we're searching the forest for holes?" Claudia asked curiously.
"What else?" Glen said with a grin. "I'm gonna go knock on the front door."
She pushed open the door and leapt out of the moving car. Claudia, Paps, and Jinks yelled out at once, but Glen's Tek-boots activated almost instantly. She ran alongside the car long enough to flash a grin at Claudia before leaving them all in the dust.
The front door, as it turns out, was covered with a large electric fence with both barbed and razor wire. Several cameras monitored the perimeter closely. The only way through seemed to be a small metal shack that housed a single guard.
Glen deactivated her boots a good distance away before dismissing her Builder's gear for a pair of steel-toe leather boots, fingerless black leather gloves, a large backback, and a flower crown.
The guard at the gate stared at her as one might stare at a purple elephant with wings who appears and asks for spare change.
"Howdy!" She said, letting her natural accent take precedent. "Sorry ta bother you, hun, but I think I'm a bit lost."
"I'd say so." The guard said. "How'd you end up all the way out here? There isn't a town here for miles?"
"Oh, I've always been a bit of a wanderer." She said, giving him what she hoped was a dazzling smile. "Used to drive my ma up the wall; barely out of diapers, and I made it all the way to Louisiana in time for Mardi-Gras. Wild stuff."
"I'll bet." The guard said weakly. "Well, the caverns are off-limits to civilians."
"Oh? And why is that?" Glen asked, stepping back and glancing around the area. "Looks absolutely fascinatin'!"
"Gas leaks." He said automatically. "Ever since the last quake, there have been gas leaks all over the place around here. You're lucky you haven't stumbled across one; most of the town died in their sleep."
"Really? That's just awful!" Glen said. Guess that answers what they did with the people of Ebott. At least I don't have to feel bad about what I'm about to do to these Foundation jerks. Out loud, she said, "Well, that's damn shame. And here I thought a beautiful mountain like this would have some beautiful caverns."
"Sorry, ma'am." The guard said.
"That's all right, sweety." She said. "Well, I guess I'd better get a move on. Sorry to take up your time."
She snapped her fingers and pulled a distinctive red bud from her flower crown. She slid the stem into the guard's front pocket. Winking, she said, "Somethin' to remember me by, sweetie."
"T-thank you." The guard said, blushing.
Glen walked away, smiling as she twirled a finger in the air. The guard, smiling to himself, had no way of knowing that the flower Glen removed from her crown was in fact a sleep duster, a wildflower native to the world of Vinta. As such, he didn't notice the flower bud slowly open, releasing a puff of pollen into the air. He was out cold only seconds later.
"Too easy." Glen muttered, changing back into her Builder's gear. There was still the matter of the cameras, but just as she was pondering what to do about it, Headache's inbuilt radio let out a crackle.
"Glenda?" Said the voice of Alphys. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me. I'm just outside the main entrance, trying to think of a way past the cameras."
"Got it." After a few moments, the lights of the cameras went out, only to reactivate a moment later. "There; I set them on a recording loop. Should keep security from noticing until it gets darker out there."
"Awesome." Glen said, checking her rivet clips. "All right, I'm heading in."
Alphys said, "Hang on; what about your allies?"
"No one's here yet." Glen admitted, "But even the more-organized ones need a bit of time to assemble a team. Have you started your attack yet?"
"We're about to." Alphys said. "But if we don't get support from outside, even the toys your friend sent us won't be enough."
Glen thought about it a moment before nodding. "All right. Turn the cameras back on."
"What?"
"Turn 'em back on. We want the SCP divided, and the best way to do that is to make them thing they're being attacked on both sides." Glen raised Headache. "Don't worry; I'll make sure they notice me."
There was a long pause before the camera lights blinked on and off again.
"Good luck, Glen."
"Same to you. See you inside." Glen walked directly into the view of the nearest camera, which immediately pivoted to point directly at her. She gave it a smile and a wave before raising her Headache-covered hand and firing a rivet at the device, shattering it with a single shot.
An alarm immediately went off, its loud claxon making her wince. "Well, here we go.' She said before heading into the cavern.
The damage caused by Sans and 3177 was considerable; the main passage from Site 37 to the rest of the Underground was complete wrecked, the bulkhead door having been smashed into the corridor in such a way that it had to be cut free in pieces.
Several soldiers watched as the repair crew moved to clear the debris, but they were on the watch for monsters; this is why they didn't open fire when the paper airplanes flew through small openings around the bulkead door. These weren't your typical paper airplanes, however; each was a carefully-folded representation of a World War II biplanes, complete with little paper pilots.
At first, they did nothing but circle around the room, dipping, diving around people and equipment before rising into the air as though propelled by invisible gusts of wind.
"This is Bravo Six of the Gate-watchers." One of the soldiers said into his radio. "We have a situation at the Underground gate."
"Has the bulkhead been removed?" Asked the person on the other side of the radio.
"Not yet." The soldier said, "But we're seeing some odd air-traffic here."
"Air-traffic? What are you talking about?"
"Switching on video camera."
The video footage must've seemed comical at first; a bunch of soldiers grouped together as a small fleet of colorful paper biplanes circled around them. It was a lot less funny when the biplanes swooped over the group and dropped their payloads, tiny origami bombs that exploded with the force of grenades upon contact.
The surviving soldiers opened fire, but it was a quick-thinking member of the construction crew who deserved credit for stopping the assault by modifying his fusion cutter on the fly into a flame thrower. Soon, the entire fleet was nothing more than floating ash.
That's when the second fleet arrived. Folded into the shape of harrier jets, these planes fired paper missiles that dealt with the last of the soldiers. The man with the makeshift flamethrower managed to get a few of them, but a missile to his fuel tank ended his counterassault and took most of him with it.
Those workers and soldiers remaining saw the bulkhead tear free with a loud screech, revealing a giant beast shaped entirely from bright red, blue, and yellow clay, similar to what a tyrannosaurus might look like if it had arms as big as its legs. Bullets did nothing to the beast as it slowly stomped through the entryway, roaring once before sweeping its tail across the passage, taking out most of the remaining humans and machinery.
"Whoa there!" Sans said from atop the clay beast's back. "Easy boy, time for phase two."
Sans grapped a spindle of wire and leapt off the clay beast. The wire wrapped around the beast's body cut it neatly into eight separate sections, each quickly forming itself into a miniature verson of the original beast. These took off through the corridors of the facility, chasing after anyone and anything they could find.
Undyne let out a whoop as the monsters quickly moved through the remains of the corridor, binding the surviving foundation personel. Toriel and her team moved among the captured and healed their wounds; Undyne was inclined to argue about this during the planning stages of the attack, but Toriel was ultimately the boss. Once healed, the humans found their wrists and ankles bound by Doctor Wondertainment's Super Sticky putty.
"Okay." Sans said, gathering near Fuku, Undyne, Artie, Alphys, Miss Melody, and Mister Mirror, currently also looking like Alphys. "Time for phase two."
"Right.' Alphys said. "Spooks? You still with us?"
Something rapped sharply against a nearby twisted metal fragment.
"All right." Sans said, "Then we'll see everyone at the core. Oh, and before I forget … good luck, everybody. Ketchup's on me when we win. Toriel? You good here?"
"We'll be fine." The Queen said. "Go, save our people, save my husband … and if you find her, please, save Frisk."
Sans nodded. "You got it. Well, you heard the lady; let's go!"
Glen fumbled along the walls of the cavern. She'd expected to find it much like her own reality, and was surprised when her advance was halted by a solid stone wall. Still, it didn't take much imagination to realize that the entrance was likely hidden.
Her suspicions were confirmed as the metal fingers of Headache found a small section of rock that shifted at her touch.
"A-ha!" She said before pushing it into the rock-face. Sure enough, moments later a large split appeared in the rock wall. The split opened, revealing the metal face of a security door.
"Right then." Glen said, activating Headache's fusion blades. She slowly cut a wide circle in the door, the fusion blades melting the metal like a warm knife melted butter. Grinning, she raised a single Tek-boot and slammed it in the center of the circle she'd just cut. The augmented stomp sent the disc of metal flying down the corridor, where it slammed into two SCP soldiers who hadn't had the presence of mind to take cover.
The remaining guards opened fire, but Glen was already gone. She appeared behind the two soldiers nearest her, smacking their heads together with an audible clunk.
The remaining guards turned to face her as their two compatriots collapsed, unconscious, to the floor. Glen clucked her tongue at them. "Really? Just eight soldiers? I thought you Foundation types were smarter than that."
The remaining four guards opened fire, only to find their target suddenly gone.
"Yoo-hoo!" Glen said from down the corridor. "Looking for me?"
The soldiers raised their weapons and opened fire. Glen laughed as a small shower of nerf darts bounced harmlessly off her. The soldiers looked down in surprise to see their weapons now bore the distinctive blues, yellows, and oranges of the popular toy brand.
"My turn." Glen said, raising Headache. Her shots came quickly, her aim perfect; two bolts caught each guard right at the collar, carried them through the air, and pinned them to one of the walls. They struggled to escape, only for Glen to approach and carefully bolt the leg and arm plates of their armor to the wall as well, making it impossible for them to move.
Hearing a click behind her, she spun with Headache at the ready only to find herself facing a group of young people who looked to have escaped from a local college. They wielded paintball guns, sprayers, and even a heavily modified nerf gun, much to Glen's delight. The leader, a spikey-haired young lady with colorful ivy tattoos spreading across most of her visible body, gave Glen a calculating glance.
"Glad to see someone else thinks this place needs redecorating." She said. "You the one who set up this party?"
"That's me." Glen said. "Call me Glen."
"Savannah." She replied, giving Glen a nod. "Are We Cool Yet."
Glen nodded. "Anyone who knows the tactical usefulness of a nerf gun is cool with me."
"No. we're from the ground, 'Are We Cool Yet?'. We heard you want to spread a little love to our oppressed brothers and sisters of the Underground, and …" She stopped as the Site alarm sounded.
"Attention!" said the operator over the loudspeaker. "Site 37 is under attack. Intruders detected at both the main entrance and the entrance to Waterfall. All combat-trained personnel are to report to their supervisors for deployment. Emergency Bulkheads will be deployed."
"Crap." Glen said as a heavy metal bulkhead lowered over the passage to the surface and the path further into the facility. "I hoped we'd have more people here before the SCP twerps started panicking." Glancing at the group, she shrugged and said, "You ready to spread a little mayhem?"
The answering shout filled the room, making Glen smile.
"All right.' Glen said, reactivating her fusion cutters. "I'll get the door."
Getting monsters out of their containment cells turned out to be more difficult than Sans anticipated. Many of those in isolated containers were not psychologically stable. Some even bore signs of torture, and a few cells were forced open to reveal nothing more than dust. Sans shook his head at these before moving on. Still, there were plenty of monsters who were more than glad to spend their first free moments in a long time helping those less fortunate.
SCP soldiers attempted to ambush them several times, only to find themselves pinned to the wall by a sudden deluge of bones, or incapacitated by a blast from Artie's Tesla gun. Some of the healthier freed monsters joined the offensive, forming small groups along the path back to Toriel's position and preventing the Foundation soldiers from flanking or slipping behind Sans and his team.
"It's been fifteen minutes." Artie said as he helped a man with an oyster head out of his restraints.
"Right." Sans activated his radio and said, "Goatmomma, this is Smiley-Bones. Come in, over?"
There was a soft giggle before Toriel replied, "We read you loud and clear, Smiley Bones. We've received some of your rescued monsters. Has there been any sign of Asgore or Frisk?"
"None yet." Sans said. "But there's still plenty of base left to check. Any word from Fish-Face?"
"That's Scale-Scourge, you bone-head!" Undyne's voice shouted through the radio.
"Oh, right. Right. I keep getting those mixed up." Sans said, winking at Fuku, who giggled.
"We met a lotta resistance, but nothin' we couldn't handle. Gotta say, I thought it'd be harder than this."
"Me too." Sans said, frowning. Monsters should've had a natural disadvantage against humans, whose strength of soul gave them a definite edge. Despite this, the monsters seemed to be meeting them on even-ground, surpassing them even. He hoped whatever luck was helping them would hold out. "Disco Inferno?"
"We've disabled the communication systems," Grillby replied, "and are heading to network control, no problems so far."
"Good. All right, check-in in another fifteen. Smiley-Bones, out."
As the last of the imprisoned monsters in the cell departed for the Underground, Fuku asked, "Sans, what about 3177?"
"Yeah, I've been wonderin' about him too." Sans said. "With any luck, he's out there fightin' too. C'mon; we need to get moving."
They burst through the next cell to find it was another with a single occupant. It was a shock, however, to find that occupant was none other than Fuku, held in a glass tube in the center of the chamber.
"Oh my god!" Fuku said, rushing to the glass container. Her other self, her flame a bright pink to Fell Fuku's light blue, lay huddled in the bottom of the tube, her flame barely flickering.
Artie rushed to the control panel. "They've got her on minimum oxygen. She's alive, but her vitals are weak."
"Get her out!" Fuku said, kneeling by the edge of the tube. "Fuku! It's gonna be all right!"
Pink Fuku looked at her, barely able to raise her head. She weakly pressed her hand against the glass near where Fuku's hand rested.
"Mom …" She whispered. "Dad …"
"They're okay." Fuku said. "They're out there right now, helping us free the rest of the Underground."
The pink Fuku smiled before her hand and head dropped.
"Artie!" Fuku shouted.
"Almost there." Artie said. "Just another- there!"
The tube slid into the ceiling. The pink fire of the other Fuku grew brighter with exposure to more oxygen, though she was noticably dimmer than FellFuku.
"We should bring her back." Fuku said, picking up her other self, their flames combining into purple where they touched.
"What about the Core?" Artie said.
"The path behind us should still be clear. I can bring her back on my own." Fuku said. "And catch up with you. Given how slow you two run, I'll be back in no time."
Chuckling, Sans said, "All right. Just be careful, okay?"
They shared a brief kiss before Fuku hurried out of the chamber.
"You okay, Artie?" Sans asked, seeing Artie wiping his sweat-covered brow. "Things getting to hare-y for you?"
Artie opened his mouth to reply when a scream from the hallway made Sans freeze in place. He quickly regained himself and ran out of the containment room. Fuku was down the corridor, the local Fuku still in her arms. As Sans drew nearer, he saw the source of her cry; 3177 was walking down the corridor, one arm pressed to the wall for support. The other arm was gone, as was the sleeve of his coat, ripped away. All that remained was a short length of bone, burned at the broken end.
Sans caught 3177 before he could fall to the ground. "Whoa! What the heck happened to you?"
"Looks like I got dis-armed." 3177 said with a slight grin.
"By who?" Sans asked.
"I did it." 3177 said. "Better than … the alternative."
3177 laughed again, but this time his laughter turned into a sob. "Papyrus … Papyrus …"
"What about Papyrus?" Sans asked, trying to ignore the unease slowly spreading through his bones.
3177 shook his head. "I'm sorry, Paps.""
Sans frowned, then frowned even deeper at the unusual sensation it brought. "Well … don't worry. Artie, can you help him back to Toriel? See if there's anything she can do for him? Probably best if you and Fuku go together any-"
3177 lunged at Sans, pinning him to the wall with a single hand. His eye glowed blue as he said, "Don't touch him! You can't … you …"
The strength seemed to go out of 3177. Sans caught his other self before he fell to the floor. Artie hurried forward and relieved him of the skeleton.
"We'll get them to safety." Artie said.
"Sans," Fuku said, still supporting the other Fuku. "You shouldn't go on by yourself."
"Don't worry." He said, "I'll wait for you right here."
She gave him a knowing look. "Really?"
"Absolutely." He paused and added, "I mean, well, I'll poke around the nearby corridors a little, see if we missed anyone in the nearby rooms, but I won't go rushing further in without you, I promise."
Fuku still didn't look happy, but she gave Sans a quick nod before she and Artie hurried down the corridor toward Toriel's group, wounded in tow. Sans waited a few moments before activating his radio.
"Disco Inferno, this is SmileyBones. Good news; your daughter's alive and on her way to Goatmom."
There was a pause before Grillby asked, "Is she hurt? Did they injure her?"
"She's a bit weak; looks like they were cuttin' off her oxygen to keep her flames down, but she's already lookin' better."
"Thank the Maker." Grillby said. "And thank you, Sans."
"Hey, just part of the …" Sans stopped at the sight of something strange crawling down the corridor. "Hang on; I gotta check on somethin'."
Sans walked down the corridor toward a complex collection of gears and clockwork that ended in something that looked like a metal hand. It was the hand that propelled the arm forward, each metal finger scraping across the floor of the corridor.
It wasn't the hand itself that bothered Sans, nor the fact that it was moving without an apparent body. No, what bothered Sans was the blue coat sleeve partially covering the arm.
He moved closer to the strange arm, morbidly fascinated. The coat sleeve was a match for his own coat, though Sans had guessed that much already. Obviously, this was 3177's arm. Sans realized the poor bastard must've had to use his magic to blast it off before whatever converted it reached him.
Just as he was wondering what could've converted bone to clockwork, he heard a familiar voice ask, "Sans? Is … that … you?"
Sans's gaze rose as something stepped out of one of the rooms just a short way down the corridor. Something still wearing red gauntlets and boots and a somewhat tattered red scarf.
"Oh no." Sans murmured the collection of gears, springs, and pistons that had once been Papyrus approached him.
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