Sans ducked into the outer chamber of the core, MetalPapyrus following shortly after in a stiff gait. He stepped inside the chamber, reached up and grabbed the sliding door, and forcibly pulled it down, effectively blocking the gunfire of the foundation soldiers chasing them.
The outer chamber was essentially a large dome with a smaller dome in the center, accessible through a massive and very secure set of doors. There were not, however, any guards. Sans thought this a bit strange, but was prepared to accept it as reality giving him a break.
"Nothin' in here." Sans said, breathing a sigh of relief, "That was way too close, Paps."
"They were quite persistant." MetalPapyrus said. "Still, I think I convinced some of them to be nice."
"Uh, right." Sans said, deciding not to mention that the soldiers in question had run out of ammo. With a flick of a finger, he sent a bone flying through the console near the forced door.
"There." He said, rubbing his hands together. "That'll stop them for a bit, at least at that entrance."
"Shouldn't we close the others?" MetalPapyrus asked.
Sans shook his head, once again checking the map Alphys gave him. "We need to keep a way clear for the others."
Sans's radio beeped. "Speakin' of which." He said before raising the radio to his ear. "SmileyBones here."
"Sans, where the heck are you?!" Fuku shouted loud enough to make Sans wince.
"Fuku, babe, I'm sorry." Sans said, rubbing his skull. "I ran into somethin' I couldn't ignore, and-"
"You're at the core, aren't you?"
Wincing again, Sans said, "Er, yeah. But hey, I'm not alone. I'm with the local Papyrus. He's …" Sans looked at his metal brother for a moment before saying, "Oresome."
"That's not funny." Papyrus said.
"You said you were gonna wait. You promised."
"I did." Sans admitted. "I'm sorry, but more soldiers turned up, and one thing led to another … look, the southeast entrance to the outer core is swarmed with soldiers. You're gonna have to find another way."
There was a brief pause before Fuku replied. "Sure. We'll think of something."
"Fuku …" Sans sighed and said, "Be careful, okay?"
"I will … Fluffy-bones."
"Fluffy-bones?" Metalpapyrus asked, giving Sans a curious look. "Your bones aren't even a little fluffy."
"Er, I'll make sure to let her know." Sans turned his attention to the rest of the outer core room. It was essentially one big round room surrounding the core itself; Sans was unfamiliar with it, seeing as his reality didn't have an outer core room.
"Probably added by the SCP." Sans murmured moments before Glen and Savannah rushed through the northeast doors, followed by a mix of Are We Cool Yet members and freed monsters.
"Sans!" Glen shouted, raising an arm in greeting. "Nice to see you again."
"You too." Sans said, waving back at her. "I see you found some friends."
"Oh, yes. These fine artisans are from a group known as 'Are We Cool Yet'. Savannah, this is my friend, Sans."
Savannah looked Sans and Papyrus over, a grin spreading over her face. "Very awesome."
"And this is Pap …" Glen stopped and took a second look at Papyrus. "Paps? What in the heck happened to you?"
"The SCP jerks infected him with something. Whatever it is spreads like mad over monsters."
"Ugh." Glen muttered, peering at Papyrus. "Converts bio-matter into metal and clockwork … I've seen this before. Some kind of virus; always thought those Fifth Church kooks had something to do with it. Look, I can't change you back to bone."
"I understand." Papyrus said, a sad look falling over his skull.
Smiling, Glen leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheekbone. Sans caught a glimmer of light escaping from the rune on the Dreamer's right hand. Papyrus shuddered a moment, several of his metal parts clicking erratically for a few moments before finally settling.
Leaning back, Glen asked, "Feeling better?"
"I think so." MetalPapyrus said, his speech normal as he rubbed his head. "Thank you, Miss …"
"Glen." Sans said. "Just Glen. Like I said, it won't change you back, but at least you won't have to worry about infecting anyone."
"What did you do?" Sans asked.
Glen shrugged. "Basically, I exchanged all his infected parts for equal parts made from conventional materials while making sure he retained his soul; it's kinda like pulling a tablecloth without knocking over the glasses."
"That's an odd hobby." Papyrus said. "I like it!"
Chuckling, Glen turned to Savannah and said, "All right; we're gonna go in and see if we can't take out the core. The core goes, and the site is dead. Fortunately, I have just the thing for this."
Glen slid open a compartment on Headache and pulled out a small book. Sans peeked over his shoulder and was surprised to see it was filled with schematics of the core. The handwriting on the notes was instantly familiar.
"Glen," Sans said, "Where did you get this?"
"From Papyrus of that universe where everyone was swapped, believe it or not." Glen said, still thumbing through the pages. "Said it could come in handy."
"But he didn't write it?"
"Uh, I don't know." Glen said, taking a moment to glance at the cover and the first few pages. "Ah, it says it's property of someone named W. D. Gaster."
"Gaster?" Papyrus asked. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
Sans wasn't sure what to say. He was shocked that the journal even existed. Glen continued to flip through the pages as he tried to think of something, anything to say in response.
"Aha!" Glen said, nodding. "I think I know what to do. Now, I'm gonna be honest; I don't know what kind of a ruckus this is gonna make, so everyone might want to move back."
"No problem." Savannah said with a grin. "Plenty of facility left to beautify, after all. Good luck, Glen."
"You too." Glen said, "And keep an eye out for any of the other groups of interest; I tried to keep most of the crazies out, but if the GOC and Serpent's hand show up, you know there's gonna be trouble."
"I'd be more worried about a counterattack from the SCP." Savannah said, "But don't worry about us; we have our own way out … both for us and our newest members."
The monsters who tagged along with the rest of the assault team cheered, some raising equipment given to them by the artsy humans.
Savannah asked, "Want us to seal up the doors before we go?"
"Uh, just the one we came through." Glen said. "We're expecting more friends soon."
"All right then. Good luck!"
Savannah waited for her team to leave before heading out of the core herself, closing the door behind her. She waved through the small glass window before spraying something that blocked it instantly.
Glen paused a moment before grabbing the edge of the door and tearing it off the wall like a large sticker.
"Nice." She said, rolling it up like a poster. "Whatever the rest of the world thinks, you're cool in my book."
Tucking the rolled-up door under her belt, Glen turned back to Sans. After glancing him over, she said, "Fuku still okay?"
"She's a little mad at me, but yeah, she's okay." Sans said. "How about you? According to Artie, you were lost in a lake of ichor."
"Lost, captured. Held hostage by a creepy old lady who thought my regrets would be enough to open the door for her." Glen shook her head and said, "But it wasn't a waste of time. I think I've got a lead on the source of the ichor; someone who was infected, fought against it, and managed to beat it. We'll have to do a little time jump once we're done here to reach her, but-"
Further discussion was cut off by the arrival of Asgore, Undyne, Alphys, the team from Warehouse 13, and of course, UNDRPapyrus.
"Oh, wow!" Both Papyruses said in unison. "It's another me! And another Sans!"
"Heya." Agent Sans said, waving.
"Aha!" Glen said, clapping her hands together. "Now it's a party. Claudia; I could use your help getting into the inner chamber."
"Right on." Claudia said, following Glen to the console near the massive double doors.
Sans caught the uncertainty in Asgore's eyes as he watched Glen and Claudia work.
"Don't worry, your Majesty.' Sans told him. "Glen will go to hell and back to help us."
Glen flashed Sans a knowing grin. "Among other places."
Sans's radio beeped. "Smiley-Bones here." He said, holding it to the side of his skull. "We're outside the core with everyone but Disco Inferno. Goatmom should be advised that BaaadDaddy is here."
"Asgore? He's alive?" Toriel's voice said, relief ebbing from every syllable.
"I'm okay, Tori." Asgore said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry to scare you like that."
"Oh Asgore, you … you you stupid …" Toriel's voice broke into a sob.
Asgore sighed. "Tori, I'm … I'm sorry. I should've listened to you. I've been a-"
"Aha!" Glen said, stepping back. "We're in!"
The security doors slid open, revealing the dark inner chamber. The light from the outer chamber was not enough to illuminate more than a few feet into the chamber, though everyone could feel the pulses from the core, rippling outwards like someone tapping at the fabric of reality.
"Easy." Glen said, holding a hand out to stop anyone from following her. "Let's face it; if the SCP Foundation wanted to place its nastiest trap, they'd put it right here."
A sudden chuckle made Glen halt in her tracks, a look of surprise on her face. Sans started forward, only to stop himself as Glen suddenly flew back against the outer core chamber wall.
"What the …" Claudia said moments before she too was hurled back against the outer core wall.
In a matter of moments, over half the room was airborn. Agent Sans and Jinks, the Papyruses, Asgore, Undyne, and Alphys; even Sans felt himself pushed to the outer wall and held immobile.
The inner core chamber changed. Sans had to blink his eye-sockets to make sure he was seeing it right, but he was; the core flickered and shifted as the lights of the chambers went out one-by-one, each sending a wave of sparks over the outer chamber.
Darkness fell over the chamber, broken only periodically every now and then as the core let off a soft pulse of blue light.
"Spooks?" Alphys asked, despite the fact that no one could see anything, aside from faint windows of light in the remaining doors leading out of the core chamber. "Any chance you're still free?"
A series of very panicked scratching sounds answered her, as though someone were trying to scratch a message on the wall but couldn't move their hands much. Sans sighed; he didn't need to see to decipher that answer.
After a good minute passed without further developments, Glen said, "All right; you got us here. Now what?"
Another dark chuckle sounded through the darkness. A burst of light appeared in the very center of the chamber, illuminating the room in a slowly growing light. The first thing Sans noticed that the core itself was gone. He was familiar enough with the true core to recognize it on sight, and what was in the center of the chamber was definitely not it. Instead, there was what appeared to be a massive monitor, the source of the light, held in place by masses of thick, thorn-covered vines that even then were spreading to the outer chamber. Grotesque arrangements of flesh formed eyes that looked around sporadically, teeth that clicked together unsettlingly as the abomination shifted on two clusters of ivies that formed massive hands.
Sans squinted at the monitor; there was someone in front of it, held by several thin vines. Whoever it was, they were small. Realization hit Sans just as the monitor brightened enough to reveal the scratched and bloody form of Frisk, her head bowed and her clothes in tatters.
The screen flickered until it displayed the image of a small yellow flower with a face.
"Howdy!" Flowey said, an evil grin on his face. "Nice of you to finally stop by."
