Monster Age

by GR Griffin

  If he could remove Toriel from the equation, then – Ping! Not again! Zeus was dragged back as his soul got caught in an aura of blue. That lazy skeleton. Emperor Zeus grinded himself to a halt – to think this archaic blue magic stood any chance against the strength he wielded. Sans attacked from the ground with his bones. Papyrus threw them like a charging legion. Heaven's Shard made short work out of most, but not all, of them. The ones that did hit, hit hard, and zapped his resilience. Pain. Weakness. Both made him angrier. Anger fuelled the tar surrounding his soul, making his stronger.

  No more playing around. Sans went all out. Six of his blasters appeared at once in a line above him, all aimed and gullets charged. Zeus channelled a mighty roar of his own, pulling from every corner of his dark soul. All six blasters roared at once. Zeus bellowed, unleashing a boom he thought impossible. His energy beam – no longer white, but the same nightly shade as his soul – made short work of Sans's blasters, destroying them all with one swipe.

  The light in Sans's eyes went tiny as pieces of bone rained around him. "Holy…"

  Zeus inhaled another deep breath and let it all out in a stream of black energy, going crazy, aiming everywhere. Sans and Papyrus dove for cover as their ground went up in flames. Asgore, Toriel, and Undyne ducked. Alphys scrambled, unable to get out the way when Mew Mew lunged from the smokescreen, grabbed her creator and leapt over the beam. Fleck, at the end opposite, raised their shield just in time.

  As the beam passed, Fleck recoiled back five feet, the force nearly knocking their defence away. The shield face steamed under the cold, evening air while the underside glowed red hot, blistering their forearm. The clasps couldn't come off fast enough.

  Springing on frantic steps, Fleck tossed their shield into a puddle where it hissed in hot billows, then pulled up their sleeve. Their skin was inflamed and scorching to the touch. Next time, dodge.

  "Warning. Overheating detected," the shield spoke. "Damage threshold exceeding acceptable levels." Half submerged, the automated female voice came out chaotic. "Battery power at forty nine percent."

  The Emperor of Evil halted and inspected the damage done: the surrounding walls of his own home crumbled and burned; there being a clean path from where he started to where he finished; a trail of dirt, destroyed stonewall and debris, revealing ruined rooms on the other side, their contents and ornate furnishings alight. He had hit everything and yet not what he wanted as those opposing him rose from the destruction.

  Surrounded on all sides, his enemies made a tacit play. To the north was Undyne. Sans to the east, his brother beside him. Asgore and his wife to the west. From the south, Mew Mew stood in still functioning order; a little blackened, a few showers of sparks, but still walking and talking her canned talk. Alphys right next to her.

  Alone, they were weak, but together, strong. All eyes shot arrows at the bad guy. More fire flared from palms of white. More bones at the command of red gloves. Blasters guided by white mittens. Spears ready to fly at the twitch of a yellow, catlike eye. Bullets and rockets awaiting the push of a button.

  Everyone unleashed their magic at once. Spears, fire, bones, beams and rockets all converged toward their target in the centre.

  Zeus rose a thunderous roar as he swung Heaven's Shard to deliver his shockwave. When he did, however, the unexpected happened: the earth around him shot up. Rough boulders buried deep under the mire, erupted upwards and took the flames, the spears, the bones, the blasts, and the warheads.

  Everyone gasped in unison as the rocks remained floating above ground just how Fleck saw the Shattered Zone, shielding the lion emperor. He gazed at the rocks around him, glimpsing his enemies through the cracks, and realised he could feel them.

  * * *

  Chaos. Pure Chaos. The end of days. The purging of all life.

  The citizens with their umbrellas and parkas and worried souls, going about their lives in the waterlogged streets of Parfocorse, got a great shock when a loud flash boomed overhead. Just as they flinched, the ground began to rumble. Civilians and soldiers panicked and screamed and ran for their lives as the earthquake tore the great railway hub in two, breaking in a lightning crack which gobbled up tarmac and buildings alike. A great arc of electricity struck the ground, narrowly missing a mother and her child.

  The edges of the islands crumbled. The escalators connecting the Plain-plain to Ice Island shifted and warped to one side as the ground at its feet broke. Birgir rushed out just in time to witness the connecting steps snap and for the breaking ground to take his booth. He ran away as fast as he could as his home for so many years began to collapse.

  In the swamps of Bob, the water wouldn't stop rising! It wouldn't stop rising! The murk crept against walls and rigorous waves battered against them. Walls creaked. Windows cracked, leaked and then, eventually, smashed. Possessions of all shapes and sizes and value drifted and sank. Everywhere on the island, monsters clambered onto their roofs and up branches. Boats rocked in the merciless torrent, struggling to stay afloat. One of them being the frog boatman. A family of four selflessly reached into the waters and dragged out a kicking, flailing monster whom they had never met before, saving him from certain demise – or, at the very least, delaying it.

  A tidal wave, bigger than the one before, struck with white teeth at the once golden beaches of the Oasis. With every bite, it swallowed more, dragging leafless palm trees down into the depths. The mansions and homes would not stand a chance. The residents would try to either run, or stand and fight to the bitter end, but neither option held any hope.

  Mistress Mind with the aid of several of Grill's servants rushed to board up the windows of Mineyor Manors as the first sights of water pressed against the glass. The main entrance opened a smidgen and water threatened to gush through. Master D. Mind, Jim the doorman, and a handful of Grill's wives pushed against the door to keep it closed. Each punch of the water pounded at it, and each push kept it closed. Great streams swam around their ankles.

  "Master Mind?" Jim said, his flat back against the grand door. His toupee fell off at the next bump and drifted down the lobby. "If we don't make it, I just want you to know: it's been an honour, sir."

  From the next room over resounded the tell-tale smashing of glass, snapping of wood, and gushing of water.

  The master of the manor had both palms and his cheek against the grain. His single eye located the doorman. "Wouldn't it be more fitting to say that to your lord… had he been here?" Grill's wives – soon to become former wives – wished he was here, too. So they could chuck him outside.

  To which Jim replied, "Then it wouldn't've been much of an honour."

  Master Mind chuckled, especially as water leaked under the doors from adjacent rooms. A large object, like a table or a chiffonier, bumped against a wall somewhere. Despite the chaos, the feeling remained mutual. "The honour is all mine. But don't give up. We will make it through this!"

  The great canyons of Rocklyn crumbled and collapsed in giant rockslides and fountains of red dust. Monsters fled for their lives and those unfortunate enough to be inside the mines watched in horror as their exits were cut off in blockades of stone and the ceilings cracked, supports chipped and snapped. All they could do was wait to die.

  The trees which stood for a thousand years, the grey, shrivelled husks they had become, crumbled and collapsed, taking the walkways and others trees down with them. Residents retreated, holdings possessions and loved ones tightly.

  In the deep mines under Black Ice Mountain, its only occupant, Geoffrey, ran for his life as they crumbled all around him. His legs burned, threatening to snap off. The tunnels on his heels crumbled, the same tunnels which stood for centuries without as much as a shiver.

  He shot a glance down an adjacent tunnel to find it impassable, forcing him down another.

  Geoffrey knew these tunnels, but only from the comfort of his fictional world as the suave, sophisticated Vail. Using his own eyes, his own feet, and his own shoddy sense of direction, he was as lost as those
he had trapped beforehand. He ran. He ran against his pained chest and his undernourishment of salty snacks and sugary drinks.

  The worst happened: he tripped and landed on his face, a sandal flew off. The rumble got closer. Before he could move, a crushing pain clamped on his ankle and refused to let go. Geoffrey tugged to no avail as the walls began to slowly cave in like wolves closing the distance.

  "H-help… Someone help me…!" he cried into the surrounding doom, knowing no one heard him. His own tomb being constructed around him. "I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die…!" Hot tears burned his cold cheeks. "I really don't wanna die…"

  * * *

  In the middle of all this destruction, Zeus, the emperor of all that was wicked, stood alone, harnessing the very elements of the Outerworld, bestowing upon him a mantle worthy of a god.

  So much power. Emperor Zeus could feel this world – the earth, the air, the rain, the fire – and its last dwindles of magic around him, fuelling him, feeding his murky soul, giving him the clout needed to fulfil destiny itself.

  He threw his hands out and the rocks shot outward as fast as bullets. Asgore battered them away and glanced over his shoulder to witness a large fragment plunge deep into Toriel's stomach. Her eyes and mouth went wide as all the air was knocked out of her; she doubled over, clutching her stomach and falling to her knees as her body screamed from the hollow crevice in her gut. She crumpled onto her side and forced slithers of oxygen into her lungs.

  Asgore instinctively reached out to her. "Tori!" Then faced the Emperor, angry. From around, he found that Papyrus and Alphys had taken blows themselves, the rest had blocked or dodged. Sans was already tending to his brother.

  Deep down, he still wanted to believe there was still good within this young man. Through the terror of his new form, a spark existed of the innocence he knew from before the dark times. A hope which dimmed for every action Zeus took against them. Seeing the one he loved so grievously hurt caused the flame to flicker, almost dying out completely to a petrified candle wick.

  As the king of monsters charged, Toriel watched with bleary eyes. "…G-Gorey… no…" she barely got out.

  Zeus waited for Asgore to draw near, knowing full well Asgore's powers were of no threat to him, as significant as bacteria in the face of his own capabilities. A lapse of hesitation betrayed the king, making his steps heavier and his trident quaver. Was he aware of how small his chances of success were? Was he holding back? Or did he still see traces of the child, or father, he barely knew, thought dead long ago? The trident barrelled closer, three prongs aimed squarely at his chest, ready to impale. At the last moment, Zeus used his control of the land to force several rocks from out the murk and into the king's body, halting his charge in an instant.

  Asgore was helpless under Zeus's unlimited control with as jagged edges pushed and cut into him from all directions, routing him in place like a vice and severing the feeling in his arms, the tip of his weapon an inch away, quivering under the strain.

  "This… isn't who you are…" Asgore stammered. The hold was crushing, Zeus retaliated by tightening it. The light of hope became a tiny flame. "This isn't who anyone should be."

  Zeus, without looking, swung around and blocked Undyne as she attempted to land a sneak attack. Magical spear clashed against shining sword. She swung and stabbed, pushing her body to its limits having lost her years of dedicated training and discipline to blind, unscrupulous rage. She sidestepped and gored with such voracity she pierced his second skin. Zeus barely flinched then caught Undyne in the thigh and midsection with two slices. As the henchwoman faltered back, falling on one knee and clutching her side, Zeus felt his unlimited energy grab Asgore, lift him up, and slam him into her, barrelling them both across the garden.

  Sans inspected Papyrus, finding cracks in his battle body which took the brunt of the damage. "Are you alright, bro?" he asked, concern in his tone.

  Papyrus's eye sockets opened. "I, the great Papyrus, have a boo-boo."

  "Where does it hurt?" Sans searched him up and down. "Where's the boo-boo?"

  "Everywhere."

  Sans rested his hand gently on Papyrus's body. "You did great, pal," assured Sans. "We'll take it from here. You lie for a bit an—"

  An unexpected grin appeared on the face of the goofy skeleton. "Phooey!" In one motion, he pushed Sans aside and did a kip up, hopping upright in the span of a second. "To be an ex-member of the ex-Royal Guard is to wade through trivial matters such as pain!" And sleep. But not hunger. There was always time for lunch.

  Sans paused, then asked, "Where'd you learn to do that?" He had no idea his brother possessed that kind of dexterity, him being all bone and no muscle and all.

  "Undyne taught me during our private, one-on-one training sessions."

  "You mean your cooking les…?" Sans stopped himself. As unexpected as the turnaround was, he could not deny the results: his brother was upright and ready. "Whatever. I'll line 'em up" – his eye flared blue – "you knock 'em down."

  That familiar ping clutched the Emperor's soul, followed by the undeniable gravitation. This time, Zeus said no. He stomped deep into the ground, routing himself. Papyrus unleashed a super cool, completely normal attack. No dogs around to eat them this time. Bones of all sizes darted forth, some bobbed and weaved, some zigzagged across. Zeus swung and swung and swung, and the bones kept coming and coming and coming, and Sans kept throwing him off by tugging on his soul; up, down, left right, forward, back, any direction to faze him long enough to get a hit in, and it worked to some degree as a few of Papyrus's bones struck home.

  A fierce breeze wisped through his monochrome crown. Zeus felt the very air become an extension of his body; the sensation in his limbs dispersed and scattered like ash, spinning in cyclones higher and higher. He reached out.

  Just as Sans was about to pull upwards, something began to pull him. A powerful gust brushed the trim of his jacket then swirled around to do it again. His hold faded as he was now the one being tugged around.

  "Whoa, what's happening?" Sans shielded his eyes. He caught Papyrus, who was having the same difficulty as him.

  "Pesky breeze!" Papyrus said. His scarf whipped around and smothered against his face. Sans, in all his timely wisdom, thought about the 'no capes' scene from The Incredibles. Papyrus's next line of reasoning came out a muffled mess: "How is a man expected to engage in combat during these conditions?"

  The godlike emperor rose his hands, barely feeling himself as he did so, and lifted the two as effortlessly as lifting air. Sans and Papyrus lost their hold on the ground, caught in two cyclones and spinning head over heels rapidly as they ascended above.

  "Try dodging this," Zeus said before slamming his fists together, in turn smashing them together. Their skulls collided with two sinister cracks running across their bald heads. He pulled his fists apart and together again and again. Sans and Papyrus were helpless, their magic useless, bones cracking against one another as they became two action figures in a messy kid's grubby hold.

  The last hit came as Zeus threw his hands down. The skeleton brothers hit the ground and lay there a foot away from each other. Bones cracked and broken in several spots. Never before had they been in so much agony.

  "…Owwie…" Papyrus whispered.

  Sans barely moved his head and heard a crackle. "Owwie's right…"

  Toriel, through the throbbing pit in her gut, had forced enough air down and worked up enough strength to stand. Her legs trembled. A vice-like grip pressed on her skull, enriching what little colour remained of this world, including the fire she summoned from her palms.

  Zeus made eye contact. Time to extinguish this woman's flame. The rain ran down his face and rattled off his armour. He liked the sound, made him feel like a machine – an unstoppable mechanism. He felt the earth, the wind, now he felt the rain. He felt every drop, every impact, and every body of water. There was a large puddle at Toriel's flank which churned the moment Zeus glanced in its direction. Before she could attack, a spray
of rainwater swung straight out and struck her in the back, knocking her face down in the dirt.

  He wasn't finished, for he could feel the rain. He swayed his will and watched as the downpour changed direction at his whim. Toriel was getting up, with more fire. The rain froze momentarily in mid-air before all zooming toward her, encasing her in a bubble of water.

  Toriel kicked and flailed helplessly as she floated in the centre of the rippling sphere. All her attempts to escape failed and she struggled with what little oxygen existed in her burning lungs.

  Meanwhile, on her belly, Alphys's snout was bruised from where the rock hit. She retrieved her controller and made Mew Mew dance. Her robot stood up, brushed stones of her exterior and readied her miniguns and rockets.

  "Time to re-sit the test," Mew Mew groaned with static. "I'm sure I'll pass this time."

  The first bullets bounced off metal armour before Zeus focused on her. He threw more rocks. Alphys targeted them, blasting rock after rock into pieces.

  Toriel's lungs wished to burst out her chest. She clutched at her throat, trying to keep the last traces of air in indefinitely. Her chest cried out. The edges of her vision – Mew Mew gunning down each boulder lobbed her way – crept with inky darkness.

  She reached her limit. Toriel's jaw opened and out escaped a watery scream in a cascade of white bubbles. She exhaled until there was nothing left then gulped down rainwater. The pressure pressed down on her skull as water rushed down her throat and nostrils. The pain extraordinary, then dulled to a soothing sensation. A warm feeling washed over her as she stopped struggling and allowed herself to drift within the bubble. Through the dull water, it sounded like someone said her name, but she didn't care.