by GR Griffin
From the earth, azure bones rose on droves before the skeleton – posts made out of blue bone. The armada rocketed at various speeds forward, some fast and some slow, moving at such a wide range that avoiding them was out of the question. Once more, like with the blue in Asgore's trident, these bones passed through Zeus without a hint of damage.
Some legendary attack that was… and then, ping, his soul turned blue and his entire frame weighed a hundred times heavier. Papyrus sneakily conjured up a single bone the moment before his magic took effect, jabbing Zeus in the shin. Taking a hit there was among one of the worst places to get hit.
Papyrus cackled. "Nyeh heh heh! Another falls prey to my incredible power."
Heaven's Shard became Zeus's walking stick. He pushed down and lifted himself by a couple of feet. He took a breath and focused the magic to a single point at the back of his throat. Let's see how that obnoxious laugh sounds after this.
He roared and unleashed another beam of energy toward Papyrus who stopped cackling the second he saw it coming.
Papyrus murmured one word: "Fiddlesticks…"
He raised his red gloves to shield his eyes as the flare became blinding. He expected the blast to connect and to be shattered into particles in an instant, then heard something appear and erupt from out of the moist air. Papyrus opened his eye sockets to see the back of some monstrous skull, countering Zeus's beam with another just as powerful.
Sans had his hand out of his pocket. "I got your backbone, bro."
The two energies fought, wavering back and forth between the two jaws. As it looked like one would win, Sans threw a spanner in the works by forming another blaster over Zeus who saw it coming and rolled sideways out of the way, dodging both beams – one which blasted a muddy crater and the other which zoomed across the clearing a blasted down a piece of the far wall.
Emperor Zeus used his momentum to lunge at Sans who was a short distance away. Sans, in his chillaxed boldness, took one step to the right to dodge the first swing. Zeus swung a further two times, his ire rose with every time he sliced at open air. Could none of these lesser being stay still for one second?
Before Zeus could swing a fourth time, Sans's eye flared and he grabbed Zeus by the soul and threw him across the dead garden. The lion collided hard against the Obelisk's northern face and a collective sting of several bones burst into his back, the stabbing feeling akin to daggers. Not a moment later, he was thrown down to the ground and caught circles of blue emanating beneath him. He somehow was able to hop from the ground to avoid the brunt of the attack, catching it across his legs.
However, after the attack had passed, the burly emperor went to move and toppled, feeling his stamina drain as Sans's magic had a residual effect on him.
Weakened, he had no time to recuperate before the destroyer of Bjornliege Manor, Undyne, lunged from out the grey with a spear at the ready.
* * *
Haze and Rickard might have known exactly where to find the Obelisk, but that did not mean their route could not be disrupted as they encountered their obstacle. His name was General Leigh. Nobody else accompanied him.
"Haze…" Leigh sounded somewhere between a profound delight in meeting an old ally and uneasiness. "Still keeping active these days? You look ready for retirement."
The professor noticed the general's stiff stance. "You were never one for small talk," he said, knowing him all too well even after all these years.
"True." Leigh then said to Rickard, "It's good to see you again, master scribe."
"I've only been gone a short while but it does feel like an eternity." Rickard genuflected respectfully. "I am glad to see you, also." Whatever grudges he held within the Empire, none of them were against this man.
"Let me tell you something off the record: the way Zeus treated you was a disgrace. I know for a certain fact you gave Emperor Juhi nothing but hard work and utmost respect, and then his boy goes and treads over you." Leigh paused and sighed in a lamentable manner. "I wish I had the courage to do what you did."
Rickard was taken aback by what the former warrior admitted. "You really mean that?"
Leigh nodded against his neck's wishes. "How many people would have the courage to stand up to the Emperor? I could name a hundred of our finest, most decorated troops and place them in order of likeliness. But it was you who became the first. You, the one monster intimidated by him as an angsty prince, did what no one else did." His hands clenched, dripping with regret. His whiskers drooped. "I should've been on top of the list. I should've been the one to take that blow. I am sorry."
"You are not the one I am angry at, general," Rickard said. He felt a small tingle of pride. Then again, it could be the ache where his back met the Obelisk, harshly.
Haze inched forward with his three legs. Thud, two steps. Thud, two steps. "You obviously hold little love for Zeus. Why don't you help us instead?" Haze suggested.
"I cannot."
Haze twirled his hand, impatiently demanding an explanation. "Because…?"
"While it is true I do not hold much regard for the new emperor, the Monster Military and the men and woman on all seven islands are still my responsibility as general." He turned his back and clasped his hands together behind himself. He stood was confidence, knowing full well these two would not attempt anything. "The soldiers are running scared, barely keeping order under control by a thread. The reinforcements from the other islands are reporting events most grim: the waters of Bob are rising well beyond their limits, becoming treacherous, homes are flooding, being swept away; the mines of Rocklyn are collapsing in on themselves, and they're taking the canyons down with them. Now more than ever, we need the military to maintain order, to stop chaos from ravaging the population and our ranks." He twisted back around too quickly, cramping his sensitive neck muscles. "And you aren't helping by throwing your rebellion against the gates."
"I had no other option," Haze responded to an instantaneous scoff from General Leigh. Everyone was always out of options. If there was one thing everyone lacked, it wasn't time or money or sense, but options. "You made no progress in solving the Obelisk's secrets, especially in light of this world degrading before everyone's eyes. I will not sit back idly and do nothing while this world dies. I'm trying to save those people, too!"
Half of those words Leigh had heard before, the other half held some sense. "During the civil war," Leigh began to speak, "I lost count of the number of plans passed by me. Out of all those things suggested, one stuck for some reason – one I just remembered after all that time: 'Cut off the head and the body will fall'. If this rebellion is your body, Haze, then I suppose that makes you the head."
Haze attuned his hold on the cane. "Do you really wish to do this now?" he asked.
"Absolutely not…! You and I have been allies for a long, long time. I might even dare to say we were friends, but…" He opened his hand and out ebbed an eyeball of red and gold. "I have thousands to think about."
Rickard scurried between them, holding his arms out. "Now's not the time to fight amongst ourselves. There's no Monster Military, no subjects, no civilians – not anymore –, just monsters trying to survive."
After Rickard's echoed diminished up and down the hall, silence ensued. Haze with his cane and Leigh with the magic in his hand, and Rickard keeping them separated. The professor who enjoyed a fight but was no warrior; the scribe who had never picked up a sword in his life; the general who was once a warrior, now crippled to a point where he could barely hold his own.
"Ah, Rickard," Leigh said with admiration and sighed. "You continue to do what I wish I could. You truly are the bravest out of us all."
While Rickard's head was turned to Leigh, Professor Haze edged closer on shuffling slippers. "I'm not one to apologise, but on this rare occasion," he said, "I'm not making an exception."
Haze swung his cane, cracking Rickard in the back of the head. The rat in the robe went down, clutching his head and sadly remaining conscious against the professor's hope. W
hile Leigh was distracted, Haze threw his body forward and ran against his legs' wishes. He whacked Leigh in the wrist as a laser blasted out the pupil. The next swing was caught by Leigh who swiftly pulled it away.
Haze clutched to Leigh, attempting to stay standing. The two fought as the scribe writhed on the floor.
* * *
Undyne knocked Heaven's Shard to the side before following through with a hard thrust of the blunt end to the stomach, making a bent in that ordained, flat belly.
Zeus was readying his weapon when a series of fireballs struck from his blindside. Asgore and Toriel.
Undyne pressed the attack. She jumped and delivered a haymaker to Zeus's left cheek.
Zeus staggered a few steps in the opposite direction, disorientated by the punch. He made out Mew Mew in his spinning, blurring vision. From out her back, six miniature missiles launched in six separate contrails of smoke, all striking Zeus.
A fierce barrage from Undyne wracked against his armour. It might have been spears, it was becoming harder to tell what anything was anymore.
Next came the bones skimming across the mud and puddles, knocking Zeus around in circles. Like he needed things to become dizzier than they already were.
Undyne lunged, leading with open arms. Zeus brought his arms up, ready to block a frontal attack, but that was not what she did. Undyne kept low, pivoted around him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"It's time to end this," Undyne shouted, "with one grand slam finish!"
Undyne bent her knees, pushed her entire weight down and – feeling her back muscles tighten – pulled herself backwards, managing to lift Zeus an inch off the ground before he began flailing and kicking, throwing his weight forward. The two staggered in circles.
"G-get off!" Zeus tried to pry her off where the hands clasped. When fumbling did not work, he resorted to jabbing the sword pummel into her knuckles. "Unhand me!"
Undyne winced at the pounding against her fingers, her grip remained unbreakable around his waist. "A little help?"
Asgore and Toriel sensed their opportunity and seized it. The boss monsters charged fire in their hands. Mew Mew, suddenly, wanted in on the action and jumped between them. A compartment on her belly opened and there was a square payload of homing missile, ready to fire.
"Sayonara."
Altogether, they fired. A volley of fireballs and missiles struck Zeus in his chest and head; the momentum giving Undyne the incentive to lift the colossus of a monster. She threw her body back, feeling the Emperor's entire weight over her. In the middle of her suplex, Sans and Papyrus focused their magic on where he would hit the ground. The area glowed blue, and then out erupted a dozen bones that crushed and broke against the back of Zeus's head.
The slam came last. Zeus crashed down headfirst, quaking in a resounding quake. Undyne released her hold and the young emperor rolled onto his front, face down in the dirt.
Undyne had suplexed a huge, angry emperor. Not just because she could, but because she needed to.
"Booyah!" Undyne hollered like she scored a touchdown. "You all saw that! YEAH!"
Downed, Emperor Zeus stirred with a groggy groan. Asgore had trident at the ready; Toriel, her magic; spears from Undyne and blades from Mew Mew and bones from the brothers, all at the ready for another attack. Zeus's palms sank into the clay as he pressed down. His body rose on trembling triceps, coming a foot off the ground before reaching an apex. Then, he could take no more and collapsed.
Sans rang an imaginary boxing bell. "Ding, ding, ding. He's down for the count, ladies and gentlemen."
Asgore looked down sadly at the battered emperor as the fires around his wife extinguished. "Forgive me, Zeus." He sighed.
Alphys eased off with the controls while Undyne and Papyrus gave each other a bro fist.
During all this time, Fleck had stood back and watched as their friends battled. Their heart jumped when Zeus and Asgore locked weapons and when he charged Mew Mew (who, by the way, Fleck had a strange hunch was Alphys's secret project she mentioned once a while back) and when he roared his energy beam at Papyrus and swung his sword at Sans. Strangely, watching the Emperor himself get beaten up to a pulp was not easy to watch either, Fleck wishing this all could have ended on much better, less painful terms.
Nevertheless, the battle was won. Zeus was down. Their friends were alright. They were alive.
Asgore walked up beside Fleck and drove his crimson trident down like a proud knight.
"Now that is taken care of," he said, then smiled. "Where is my hug?"
Fleck smiled and lifted their arms up, whereupon the big, fuzzy boss monster reached down with one burly arm and scooped up the tiny human. The king chuckled as Fleck's arms went around his neck. His beard tickled. The terrible weather could not put a damper on this day, it might as well have been shining. Toriel felt the corners of her lips rise; Asgore was just as much their carer as she was. A father hugging his child, this was the soft side to King Fluffybuns which she preferred – loved, even.
Papyrus was there, also. He ruffled the kid's hair. "What a relief," he said. "Fleck is amongst us, still in the land of the living – without wings, I might add."
Undyne added, spear resting on shoulders, "I told you Fleck would stick it to these guys. I mean, we were the ones to beat up this guy – but still! Before this, I bet this kid kicked some major butt!"
Alphys held her controller low; Mew Mew beside her, stationary and harmless. "I'm so glad you're okay, Fleck," Alphys said. "I'm glad you're all here, safe and sound. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry I let go. Had I only h-held on for longer, n-none of this—"
Fleck, upon Asgore's forearm, gave Doctor Alphys a thumbs up and said she had nothing to apologise for. Everything was cool.
"Th-thanks, Fleck." Those simple words lifted a massive weight off her hunched shoulders. "That means so much."
"Holy heck, Alphys," Undyne said, her smile massive as she hugged her girlfriend. "Words can't describe how freaking awesome you were back there!" A smooch on the cheek made Alphys turn red but not as red as the first time on the beach; she became tongue-tied and her words a jumbled mess.
"Hey, great to see ya kickin', bud," Sans said and winked at Fleck. "Never doubted you for a second."
Mew Mew churned out one of her many phrases: "Teamwork is very important." Indeed. Especially when coupled with 7.62 x 51mm NATO. And ninja swords. And warheads.
Toriel moved between all of them. "I am happy for us all to be here, but I am afraid we must cut celebrations short," she said. "We got here using the teleporter, now, how do we return to Earth?"
"Oh, of course." Asgore set the child down. "None of us ever considered that part."
A rather large delimna faced them. Sans, on the other hand, shrugged it off. "Not a problemo," he said, eye closed, as chilled as always. "Pap, Al and I have been zipping around these parts for a few hours now; I think I got the hang of this place. Point me to the nearest door and we'll be chowin' down at Grillby's before we know—"
Wait! Fleck interrupted. They explained a little about this world and how it was dying. The Obelisk over there was the key to stopping all this, its secret power would unlock upon witnessing the 'greatest strength'.
"If this world is not going to last much longer, then how much time do we have?" Toriel asked.
Fleck sighed. There was no clear time limit; they could have hours, minutes even.
It was Alphys's turn to ask. "D-do you know what this greatest strength is?"
Fleck was huffing by this point. They did not know what either.
Undyne frowned as she gave the pillar a stern look. "Hey, you overgrown support beam, I just suplexed someone triple my size," she shouted at the inanimate stone. "Not strong enough for ya?"
"It most definitely isn't looking for strength in a physical sense, Undyne," Asgore said. His inner father mechanic active. "This strength must be of magical nature or based off some trait."
"We was all within eyeshot when we used our magic," Sans
mentioned. "Nuthin' seems to be happenin' though."
"Indeed, brother…" Papyrus appeared annoyed. His bony arms folded and his chin pressed into his battle body. "Which is most absurd considering it clearly paid homage to my blue attack."
"If none of our magic unlocked this… power – whatever it is," Toriel said, "then none of us must possess what it requires."
The human child stood fixated on the Obelisk. There was one strength it had not witnessed yet. Fleck said they would be a minute as they headed toward it. Easier said than done, just watching their child travel a short distance away was murder to the king and queen's souls. Toriel hoped Fleck would not mind a little round the clock supervision for the next few days until she was confident they wouldn't drift up into space again.
The Obelisk's height and mass became apparent the closer Fleck got. Eerie and imposing in the cold mizzle, the power source of this world stood right in front of them. There was a time when those markings were fresh and clear and distinguishable, now buried under several generations. Fleck reached out and tried to feel the magic. The freezing, wet sensation on their fingers was not what they were looking for.
Fleck's soft palms touched the stone. Its texture was no different from your average boulder: the left flattened over smooth stone while the section against their right prickled rough. Nothing spectacular happening. Fleck was not imbued with endless power or rewarded with ancient knowledge.
If it wanted Determination, then Fleck would show it in the only way they knew how. They reached their save file and turned back the page.
Fleck appeared at the foot of the Forest half an hour prior, the revelation from the Forest floor fresh in their mind and quivering to the heart. They had no plan but to stage a one-human assault on Castle Highkeep and battle through legions of troops in order to confront the Emperor and hopefully unlock the secret power of the Obelisk – which in of itself was a plan, except it wasn't a very good one.