Glen ran through the chapel, Jake close on her heels. On her arms she wore a very crude UBT built out of spare parts around Alphys's lab. It lacked many of the key functions of her personal unit, but it did have a mild strength enhancer, a radio transceiver, a flare launcher, and crude but functional hands for more precision work.
"Okay," She admitted, "That took longer than I thought."
Jake barked.
"Hey, better safe than sorry." Glen said. "Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I just hope we can get to Sans before-"
Her words were cut short by a massive earthquake. Behind them, the ceiling collapsed on the remains of the cathedral, quickly filling the corridors with dust and pulverized stone.
Glen quickly covered her mouth with the front of her shirt before she could breath too much of the cloud. It settled quickly, leaving only a slight haze that seemed to amplify the light of Jake's monitor.
"I'm gonna guess this means we didn't make it in time." Glen said before letting out a string of coughs.
Jake bumped her leg, his face concerned. Glen waved him off. "I'm fine. C'mon! We gotta move!"
They continued racing through the hallways, spurred on by the knowledge that whatever was happening was not only bad, but Sans was likely stuck in the middle of it.
Glen's fears were confirmed when he saw the throne room doors. They looked the same as they did when she last saw them, only now they were embedded in the wall opposite of the door frame they previously occupied. The Throne Room beyond was in shambles, the sun window shattered, the throne crushed, and the flowers trampled.
Frisk's body lay in a pool of her blood, looking like a doll discarded after being broken. Glen knelt beside her and felt her neck for a pulse. Looking up at Jake, she shook her head. She took her dimensional analyzer and clamped it on her hand.
"No lifestream." Glen said with a sigh. "No signal. I was afraid of that."
Sighing, she carefully moved the little girl so she was lying more or less flat, her arms across her chest. Whether it was her Frisk or not, seeing the little girl dead hit Glen hard.
"I'm sorry." Glen said, smoothing her hair. "I'm so sorry."
A groan from across the room drew her attention from the fallen child. It seemed to be coming from beneath the remains of the second throne, a pair of slipper-covered feet cluing Glen in to just who it was.
"Sans!" She said, rushing over to the fallen skeleton and pulling the sheet away from him. The throne apparently shielded him from the brunt of the damage, though he did have a nasty-looking crack in the back of his skull.
"Easy." Glenda said, helping Sans sit up. "You took a nasty hit. Hang on a sec."
She put her rune hand on Sans's head. He flinched at her touch, but held still. Glen focused her thoughts on mending the cracked bone, her rune glowing as she channeled the energy of dreams. When she finally pulled her hand away, the crack was gone.
"How's it feel?" She asked.
"Better." he admitted, rubbing the healed spot. "I didn't realize humans had magic too."
"Probably not the best time for that discussion." She said, flashing him a quick smile. "What happened here?"
Sans bowed his head. "Asgore absorbed the kid's soul."
"I don't ..." Glen stopped and looked back at Frisk's body. "The ichor."
Sans nodded. "He absorbed it. I don't know if he even noticed."
"Well, where did he go?"
"Where do you think?" Sans jerked a thumb at the massive hole in the back of the throne room through which the remains of the doorway leading to the surface was faintly visible.
"Okay." Glen said, rubbing her forehead. During her time in Ebott, she'd seen a few instances where a monster accidentally absorbed a dead human's soul, typically after an accident. It was always a frightening occurrence, more so for the monsters suddenly transformed. "Soul-merged bossun. It's all right; we can handle this ... why are you shaking your head?"
"He absorbed all of them. Frisk's soul and the other six he already had. He used the souls to smash through the barrier ... that's what caused the explosion."
"Seven souls." When Sans nodded, she sighed and said, "Asgore's absorbed seven souls, one of which was corrupted by the same force that was possessing the kid. Anything else?"
"Well, he had these weird gauntlets. I think I saw the word 'Headache'-"
"That's quite enough."
Sans watched her in silence as she contemplated her place in the universe ... again. Dalek fleets, star-eating Reaper ships, cheese-loving demons, and Glyche Corruptions ... just once, she wanted to go somewhere and find out there was an infestation of cute bunny rabbits who all just needed a good cuddle.
Sighing, she said. "Right. Okay, first thing's first; I know Asgore couldn't get his giant feet into my tek-boots, so they must be ... ah, there they are."
Glen quickly retrieved the tek-boots from where she'd left them (albeit under a bit of rubble), as well as her impulse harness and control visor. She winced as her still tender feet slid into the cushioned footwear, and slipped the harness around her body. Her makeshift UBTs didn't have ports, but she was able to link up the rest of her gear and bring up their status on her visor.
"That stuff still works?" Sans asked.
"It should. Gineros gear is made to last." She shook her head and said, "Ugh. Remind me to punch someone from Gineracorp's marketing devision when I get back."
Feeling a little more secure now that she had most of her gear, she turned to Sans. "All right. Let's go stop Asgore before he gives humanity a really bad time."
"Just us?" Sans asked as she headed for the opening in the back of the throne room. "You and me versus him? Seven souls, Glen; that much power's gonna make him practically god-like. Literally god-like."
"Yeah? Well, I never much liked gods. Uppity bastards, always wanting praise for the Creator's work. Let's go bust him down a few pegs."
"Glen, stop."
Glen stopped and turned to once again face Sans. His skull was somber as he said, "Asgore and I are the only monsters left. With Frisk gone, I don't know if we can reset the timeline."
"Reset the wazzit?"
"The ..." Sighing, Sans said, "Long story. Thing is, Asgore and I may be the only monsters left. I don't know if I can fight him knowing that."
"I understand, Sans, I really do. The thing is, there's a town out there full of humans who have no idea what's about to fall down on them, if it hasn't already. Maybe they're sinners, maybe they're saints; either way, I can't just let them get slaughtered. I gotta try to save them. It's just what I do."
"And if they were monsters?"
The insinuation annoyed Glen. "I don't care if they're sentient pineapples, Sans; I'm gonna do what I can to protect them. I'm sorry about what happened to the monsters of the Underground, but the wholesale slaughter of Ebott isn't going to bring them back. You know I'm right.."
Sans still didn't seem convinced. Glen let out another sigh and said, "Look, if you can't help, that's fine ... but it there's anything of the Sans I know in you, you'll help. Either way, I'm going."
Glen didn't wait for a response; she hurried out of the throne room. It didn't take much investigating to follow Asgore; the path of destruction extended to the corridor previously blocked by the barrier. Glen followed the trail down the passage and out of the Underground.
The passage opened onto a wide cliff-face. There was no park here, however; just stone and a few tufts of weeds. It was night, though the first vestiges of dawn were faintly visible on the horizon.
Even stranger was the sight of Ebott; gone was the comfy town she spent over a hundred years of her life. Gone were the vast orchards, the stone wall, and the homes she built. In their place was a gleaming metal city, fully illuminated in the darkness of night. Flying cars zoomed through the streets, and a small space transport vessel was just beginning its descent into a spaceport on the edge of the city.
"Well, I guess that answers that question." She said, eyeing the emblem of the Systems Alliance painted on the side of the transport. "Okay, but where is Asgore?"
"I'm right here."
Glen turned in time to get hit by a blast of fire. Her clothes were naturally flame retardant, a simple safety measure for any builder in the Ranger's Collective, and thanks to her gear absorbing most of the magical energy, Glen's burns were merely superficial; they'd heal in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, the force of the blast was enough to knock her off the edge of the cliff.
She fell for a good ten seconds before the urgency of the fast-approaching ground broke through her shock. Using her tek-boots to blast her toward the cliff side, she dug her makeshift UBTs into the solid rock, slowing and eventually halting her fall. She started to climb up when she caught a glimmer of fire in the reflection of her impulse visor.
A sane person would've tried to get out of the way. A sane person would've simply released her grip or thrown herself aside, or perhaps quickly clamber up or down to avoid the oncoming fireball. While those who met the wild Dreamer would attest to her many outstanding attributes, few would claim sanity under pressure to be one of them.
Glen kicked off of the cliff face, her tek-boots flaring as she spun about and shot straight at the massive horned figure flying in the air. Glen could tell it was Asgore, but only just; his once shining armor was now as black as polished ebony, his white fur now all but completely black, and his once blue-eyes now as red as blood. More frightening to Glen, however, were the imposing forms of the twin Headache units. The units were designed to adjust to different users, and Asgore's imposing musculature pushed them to their limit. Nonetheless, there they were, the tools that built and destroyed a dozen dreadnaughts, armed and active on the bossun who was now trying to kill her.
Glen hit the massive bossun right in his chest plate, her tek-boots magnetizing to the armor at her will. Eye-to-eye with Asgore, she grinned and said, "What's up, big guy?"
Asgore let out a roar, a wave of energy pulsing from his body with enough force to knock Glen from him even with her tek-boots. Unable to reposition herself, Glen was sure she was dead ... at least, until she crashed into the upper branches of a pine tree moments later.
She hung upside down for a few moments before the urgency of the situation reasserted itself by means of the burst of fire that hit the top of the pine tree, setting it ablaze.
Glen quickly climbed down, doing her best to keep as many of the larger branches between her and Asgore.
"Hey, what gives, Asgore?" Glen said, ignoring the host of scratches and scrapes she was accumulating from the rough bark of the pine. "I thought we were pals. I let you borrow Headache and everything."
Glen didn't expect him to respond; for all she knew, the same force that possessed Frisk was in Asgore. To her surprise, however, she heard him say, "The souls don't just give me power; they've given me knowledge, knowledge of humanity ... and knowledge of you. I know what you are, Dreamer, and I've seen what you have done. If I let you live, you will not stop until one of us lies broken on the ground."
He paused a moment before letting out a small chuckle. "I suppose I do owe you my thanks though, Dreamer. Without your magnificent machines, the child would have undoubtedly killed me."
"Yeah, well give 'em back, and we'll call it even."
Asgore's laughter filled the air, deep unpleasant laughter. "Consider it your contribution to the war."
"War? What war?" Glen asked, a slight relief filling her as her feet finally connected with the pine needle-covered ground.
"The war I intend to wage against humanity.."
"Why attack humanity?" Glen persisted. "You can't think the actions of one human child represent humanity as a whole."
"You think humanity would welcome one such as me?"
"I did." Glen moved from tree to tree, trying to spot the empowered bossun. It was hard to see; the forest was especially thick around the base of the mountain. "You think humans will freak because you're not human? Asgore, there are already non-humans on this planet. Asari, turians, sentients, elves, artificial life forms, descendants of the Glyche. Hell, there might even be other Dreamers like me; trust me, you'll fit right in."
Glen leapt back as the pine tree beside her was torn from the ground with great force. Asgore tossed the tree aside, his eyes on the now-exposed Glen as he floated to the ground to stand before her. "Would I? Even if I wanted to, my people are gone. Dead by the hands of a human I trusted, a human I treated as my own. You say not all humans are bad, but can you tell me there aren't still some that would do the same? Can you tell me there aren't segments of humanity who would gladly slaughter every monster without a second thought?"
"No." Glen said. "I can't. Darkness of the soul doesn't need black ooze; it exists in everyone in some measure. Thing is, even if you aren't my Asgore, you're still Asgore, and I know you well enough to know that this isn't you."
"Oh? Then what is it?"
"I have no idea." Glen confessed. "Liquid evil? Darkness made manifest? Desire twisted to mindless anger, enough to push even you over the edge? I'm no scientist, but I know you absorbed a good bit of it when you took Frisk's soul. It went from her to you. You saw your entire kingdom destroyed; that's enough to make anyone angry. With the ichor amplifying that anger ... well, it must be overwhelming even to a gentle bossun like you."
Asgore bowed his head. Taking this as a good sign, Glen slowly approached him. "The death of all the monsters in the Underground is a tragedy, Asgore, I feel that every bit as much as you. If I'd shifted to this reality earlier, believe me when I say I would've put a stop to it myself. I knew your people, Asgore. I knew your ex-wife. I knew your Royal Guard. Heck, I knew prospective members of the guard ... and I know you. This isn't your way. You don't want to start a war. You don't want to cause any more suffering."
"Perhaps ... perhaps you're right." Asgore said.
Encouraged by this, Glen took another step. She didn't see Headache coming. Asgore caught her around the chest, lifted her from the ground, and slammed her against another pine tree with enough force to shatter the bark. Her impulse gear spread the impact, but she definitely felt a few ribs snap.
"Then again." He said, black starting to drip from his eyes. "Perhaps you don't know what you're talking about. You didn't lose your entire kingdom today."
"Not today, no." Glen said with difficulty. "But I know what it feels like to lose everything in one go."
Asgore narrowed his eyes at her. "You're lying."
"No, I'm not. Look me in the eyes."
It was hard not to flinch as she met his gaze. For a moment, it looked as though he was reconsidering. Unfortunately, that moment passed all too-quickly. Perhaps he saw his reflection in her eyes, black ichor streaming from his face; he raised a hand to the black substance and stared at it.
"What ... what are you doing to me?" He asked, a note of horror in his voice.
"I don't know." Glen said truthfully. "But I think it's for the best."
Rage filled Asgore's face. "No! You ... you did this. You infected me with this!"
"No, Asgore, I'm just-"
He slammed her against the tree again. "I'll kill you! Then I'll turn my sights on the rest of this world!"
He raised his other hand, Headache's metal fist clenched to deliver a blow that would likely either smash Glen's head or knock it clear from her shoulders. Glen tried to speak, but he was squeezing her with his other hand, Headache slowly crushing the life out of her.
A blast of light shot past Asgore, blasting off a portion of one of his horns. He twisted toward the source enough for Glen to see it as well; Sans was riding Jake, one hand raised and blue fire flaring in his left eye socket. A massive reptilian skull floated behind him, already drawing more energy into its maw.
"Hey, your highness!" Sans shouted, "I got a bone to pick with you!"
Asgore flung his open hand at Sans, sending out a burst of fire that shattered the skull on impact to Sans's apparent surprise. Jake backpedaled, but Asgore surrounded them in a ring of fire too high for even Jake to jump.
Sans sent a barrage of bones flying at the empowered bossun, but Headache's missile shield powered by the magical strength of bossun containing the power of seven human souls made it little more than an act of defiance.
"I see." Asgore said. "Then I am truly alone. Perhaps that's for the best."
He raised his hand again, this time pulling in immense amounts of magical energy for a blast that would no doubt reduce the skeleton to ash and the robot dog into melted slag.
This did cause him to slightly loosen his hold on Glen, who took as deep a breath as she could manage before shouting, "Headache: Action code forty-seven! Remove approved user Asgore Dreemurr, authorization turbo-cheesecake!"
"Authorization confirmed. Action code forty-seven initiated." replied a voice from within Headache. Before Asgore could react, both units constricted around his arms. Both of the mechanical hands flew open, allowing a very winded Glenda to fall to the ground and quickly scrabble towards Sans and Jake.
"What did you ..." He stopped suddenly, letting out a roar as a loud crack of bone shot through the air, followed shortly by another. His arms were immediately pulled to the ground as Headache's mass effect generators went to full power, increasing their weight a hundred-fold and effectively weighing the Dreemurr down.
"And stay there." Glen muttered as she did her best to quell the flames around Sans and Jake. Fortunately, a light autumn rain was already reducing the flames, allowing Jake to carry Sans out of the circle.
"What the heck did you do?" Sans asked, staring at Asgore as he struggled to move.
"Anti-theft functionality." She said. "Breaks the arms of an unauthorized user and weighs them down until security can arrive."
Grinning, she elbowed Sans's side. "Consider it a disarming mechanism."
When Sans didn't respond, Glen blushed and turned away. "Sorry; I guess it's not really the time."
"He certainly didn't find it humerus, did he?"
Glen met Sans's eyes for a moment before they both laughed. Unfortunately, their laughter was short lived as Headache exploded into a thousand flaming fragments. Glen managed to shield Sans from the debris, though she felt more than one chunk hit her in the back. The selanium-threaded shirt protected her from cuts, but not bruises.
Asgore rose from the ground, his form twisting and growing. Ichor matted his white fur as he gradually grew to three times his previous size. The broken bones snapped into place with audible pops as King Dreemurr turned his sights once again on Glen, Sans, and Jake.
There was no reason in the bossun's eyes; only ichor, red, and hatred. He let out a roar that shook the very trees, sending any bird nesting in a mile radius flying.
Glen was reviewing her very poor chances taking on the monsterous Asgore when she heard Sans shout, "Hey, landlady!"
Glen turned to see Sans already on Jake. She needed no prompting to hop on behind the skeleton and wrap her arms around his mid-section as Jake took off running.
Asgore flew after them, the trees uprooting as he flew past. Fortunately, for all his power, he couldn't match Jake's ability to turn and twist.
"Back to the entrance to the Underground!" Glen shouted.
"I thought you were gonna try and stop him before he starts blowing up the surface!"
"I am!" Glen told Sans. "Trust me!"
He flashed her his usual grin. "Why do I get the feelin' that's a dangerous statement coming from you?"
The path back to the entrance was narrow and rough, a far cry from the paved and safety rail-lined path Glen originally took to get there. More than once, Jake nearly fell back over the edge; fortunately, Sans was able to give Jake a push here and there, and Glen managed to keep them all from flying off the trail once by grabbing a conveniently placed root.
That wasn't the worst of their troubles, however; Asgore was still behind them. Whether from anger or ichor, he was little more than a roaring beast at that point, hurling fire at the retreating group as well as trying to block their paths with magical tridents that crashed into the stone like red thunderbolts.
Finally, however, Jake brought them face to face with the passage to the Underground. The entrance had partially collapsed, but there was still a sizeable hole left that was more than large enough for the three of them.
"All right!" Glen said, patting Jake's side. "Just a little farther, boy, and I'll give you all the ram chips you can eat!"
Jake barked excitedly as he continued to race toward the Underground. About fifty feet away, however, a shadow fell over them.
"Whoa!" Glen shouted, but Jake was already skidding to a halt ... and not a moment to soon. Asgore hit the ground in front of them with one massive fist, sending a tremor that nearly made Glen lose her footing.
Asgore turned to her immediately, raising both hands. Another trident appeared in his grasp, glowing faintly red.
"This is your end!" Asgore said, raising the trident.
Glen raised her makeshift UBTs and fired. Asgore didn't bother dodging; the flare went wide, flying well over his shoulder, where it hit the ceiling of the tunnel and immediately burst into light.
He stared at it for a moment before turning back to Glen with a murderous smile on his face. Sans sent a torrent of bones at the massive bossun, Jake assisting by firing off a series of electrical bursts. Neither seemed to even phase Asgore; he simply continued walking toward Glen.
"Any last words?" He rumbled as he raised his hands over the comparatively tiny human.
"Just two." Glen said, grinning as she pointed behind Asgore.
His eyes went wide as a sultry voice let out an amplified, "Oh, yeah!"
Mettaton exploded out of the passage, knocking Asgore back as he made his big debut from the Underground. Massive, gleaming, and loaded with Alphys's prototype weaponry, Mettaton had more in common with one of the Dreadnaughts Glen designed than he did with his old body, though the overall effect still looked surprisingly glamorous.
"I give you ... Mechaton!" Glen said before following Sans and Jake to a safe distance away.
"What the-" Asgore said before a giant (yet still shapely) foot knocked him back.
"I'm the hero, darling." Mechaton said. "If you want to destroy all my future fans, you'll have to go through me."
The fight was on; Asgore and Mechaton struggling on the cliff face with the city of Ebott visible in the distance as the night waned. Asgore was stronger, but Mechaton's new body was quick and equipped with energy beams, laser projectors, and even an energy blade that helped even the playing field. Blade clashed against trident, fire blackened metal, and lasers burned through flesh as the two giants struggled.
Glen, Sans, and Jake could do little more than watch with bated breath as the two struggled at the cliff side. Unfortunately, Asgore was the stronger; even with Glen's knowledge as a Builder, she was still limited to using the junk Alphys collected, and as the fight drew on it began to show. Weapon systems failed, the energy blade was knocked aside, and soon it was Mechaton who was struggling, his arms entwined with Asgore in a vain attempt to resist Asgore.
With a roar, Asgore tore Mechaton's arms from their sockets. Mechaton stumbled back, a stunned look on his face as a triumphant Asgore tossed the arms over the cliff. Mechaton took a step back as Asgore moved in for the kill.
That's when the first boulder hit him in the back. Sans swept his other arm down, sending another flying at Asgore. It wasn't alone; Glen's makeshift UBTs gave her enough extra strength to let her throw a few sizeable rocks of her own. Jake barked angrily as the Dreamer and the skeleton made as much a nuisance as they could of themselves, all the while shouting whatever puns came to their minds.
"We're gonna beat the schist outta you!"
"That'll teach ya to take us for granite!"
"Come on, Sans! Don't get all sedimental now!"
"A little slow there, landlady! What's wrong? I thought you'd be boulder!"
"Going against us was your Biggest Mistake! Eh? Eh? The Rolling ... ugh, fine. How about, uh, you're not so tufa!"
Whether because of the barrage of rocks or the unending stream of bad jokes, Asgore turned his attention from Mechaton to the comparatively small figures of Glen and Sans, no doubt thinking the robot helpless without arms. That was his mistake.
Mechaton's legs snaked around Asgore's mid-section. While not as refined as those in Glen's tek-boots, the electromagnets Glen installed in Mechaton's feet and legs made up for lack of finesse with raw power as they clamped to Asgore's armor.
"Who needs arms," Mechaton whispered in the bossun's ear with a victorious grin. "When you've got legs like these?"
With that, Mechaton fired every booster remaining on her frame, carrying the surprised Asgore with him over the edge of the cliff. The resulting explosion shook the cliffside for a good five seconds before the ground was finally still.
Sans and Glen met each other's gaze instantly. "Mettaton!"
They rushed to the edge of the cliff and peered down at the ground, where the light of the moon was just enough to illuminate the twisted wreckage of Mechaton lying in a massive pile of ash. There was no sign of movement ... no sign of life.655Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BWG5r2m5A
Glen pulled off her visor and rubbed her forehead.
Sans looked at her. "Is there a chance ... I mean, Mettaton's a machine, right?"
"That explosion was the power core." Glen said sadly. "Even if the machine parts could be fixed, his soul was gone the moment the core shattered."
They shared a moment of silence for the fallen entertainer. Even Jake bowed his head.
"He went out like he would've wanted." Sans said, his tone solemn. "In a blaze of glory, the hero of the Underground."
"Oh, right. I was gonna go with 'his legs wrapped around the king', but your thing is good too."
Sans gave Glen an incredulous look, only to find Glen smiling kindly back. Chuckling, he said, "To Mettaton?"
"To Mettaton!" She said, raising one of her makeshift UBTs.
Sans raised his hand as well, the still-cracked reptilian skull forming above him and charging up energy.
They both fired at the same time; Glen's flares nearly enveloped by the energy blasts of Sans's summoned skull. Sans and Glen watched as the light rose through the night while amidst the wreckage at the base of the cliff, eight glowing souls flew from the wreckage and vanished from sight, the red soul and the white soul flying close together before disappearing entirely.
ns 15.158.61.16da2
