A great wall blocked that path toward the Crimson Hall from the outside world. If it weren’t for the reflective hazard lines, Undyne would have ran straight into it.
It’s a good thing Grillby tagged along: he provided some much needed lighting in a pitch-dark zone.
Squinting, she said: “I know the Surface doesn't use puzzles for security anymore, but isn’t this too straightforward? It’s just a slab of steel.”
“We still use ‘puzzles’,” Lucidia replied. “Except not in the way you are familiar with. Also, only the outer casing is made of reinforced steel. There are several layers of other materials that are ten times the strength of its shell. The walls, flooring, and ceiling are made of this same composition. Attempts of tunnelling in without appropriate equipment is ill-advised.”
“Okay?” The random trivia reminded her of her beloved Doctor Alphys.
Her Eyes activated, pulling out a hidden console behind a wall hatch. A spinal key then powered up the device in the presence of her magic.
It’s quite a complex piece of equipment. Undyne tried to read the interface, but it’s all in unfamiliar rune symbols.
Lady Lucidia, huh? I didn’t have much chance to ask about her. All I could tell is that she’s a Seer like Sans. And she’s totally an ojou-sama.
Papyrus paced back and forth at the wall, restless. He asked, “WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MUCH SECURITY?”
Lucidia explained: “This is not the first time someone tried to breach the Crimson Hall. Both humans and monsters alike.”
“‘And’ monsters?” noted Undyne.
“That is correct. Sans Serif is not the first.”
As Lucidia worked on the console, she resumed her explanation. “The Keys of Fate control the world. This privilege extends to the wielder’s closest social sphere. Friends. Family. Custodians. Benefactors.”
“Many had attempted to push my husband into an early retirement. Alas, he found none suitable to take his place. As you can imagine, not everyone will surrender their chance for influence without a fight.”
“In the Crimson Hall, the Supreme Judges will simultaneously be at their most powerful and most vulnerable state. Many tried to murder them during this period. Sometimes… they succeeded.”
“H-hang on,” said Undyne. “You’re married to THE Supreme Judge Mezil Thyme?!”
“Yes, I am. Apologies, I must concentrate.”
The fish captain spotted a cryptic puzzle on screen. She may not be able to understand the text, but the sheer number of patterned grids hinted to her that it’s related to math.
She leaned close to Papyrus and whispered: “Is she for real?”
Though he’s still eager, he’s much more subdued than Undyne remembered. “YES. SHE IS INDEED MISTER MAGUS’ LOVELY WIFE.”
Grillby nodded along.
Undyne almost took the events at face value. A second later, she noticed the oddity.
“Wait Grillby, how the heck did YOU know?!”
The man of fire blinked twice. “…Oh… Context…”
Undyne will not further question how Grillby managed to connect the dots. That’s not important compared to the crisis at hand.
Looking at the barricade, she wondered if her spear could bust it down. She’s confident that answer would be a ‘yes’ if it’s weaker than the Barrier: more so with her new DT-laced magic.
“Maybe we can skip the puzzles and--”
The skeleton placed a hand on her shoulder. “NO. THERE’S SOMETHING EVEN STRONGER BEHIND THIS WALL. WE’LL NEED YOUR AWESOMENESS THEN.”
Cringe mode, on. “Are you serious, Papyrus? There’s ANOTHER wall behind this one?!”
“THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER WALL!”
Upon the completion of the passcode, the internal mechanisms lifted the massive structure off the ground. It was then that Undyne understood that the big vault-like blockade was the least of their worries.
Now they had a bloody human on the floor, and one heck of an annoying signature on a place where it really shouldn’t be.
Staring at the Mark, she asked Grillby a question. “That’s… the exact same pattern as the one on Doctor Gaster, right?”
“…Yes…” he replied.
Breathe in.
Hold breath.
Breathe out while resisting the urge to suplex something.
Sans had been here. Dealt some hefty damage too.
Lady Lucidia wasted no time to attend to Cenna. Humans were way more fragile than the history books described.
Yet despite so, luck was on Cenna’s side. That Magus still had the strength to smile and talk.
“Hey…” she said, “…Glad my little drama show sped things up. Though. At this rate… nngh… it’s gonna be for real.”
Still crazy and semi-suicidal as always.
Papyrus asked, “IS IT BAD?”
Lucidia replied, “I estimate fifteen minutes before she enters shock. Using shortcuts, we may be able to deliver her to a hospital in time--”
A tight, bloodied grip on her sleeve interrupted the conversation. Cenna shook her head. “Na-uh, Lucy. I ain’t leaving… I can take down Sans.”
“Cenna! Don’t be silly!”
“I’m serious…” The Magus pointed her thumb at the massive stone door. “Get me in there…”
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Undyne perked up. “You have super medical facilities behind that door?”
“No,” the Seer answered. “But Cenna will certainly be safe. It’s easier seen than explained. But first, we must destroy that False Mark.”
Those bright red wings glowed with an eerie sense of calmness. It’s so still. Silent. Much like its owner.
Undyne summoned a spear and tried to poke it. A slippery force pushed aside the presence of anything foreign.
Huh?
Another poke.
Once more, the same result.
Hnnng!
Her great flurry also failed to land a single blow. Strike after strike bounced off.
Whoa. That felt WEIRD! It’s like… like I’m fighting Sans with all his constant dodging. This Mark’s weakness is freaking eluding me!
At the very least, the Mark didn’t explode. She had enough of explosions for the month.
“UNDYNE!” Papyrus exclaimed. “YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG! RED’S BIGGEST WEAKNESS IS RED ITSELF. USE YOUR NEW SPECIAL MAGIC! ”
“Red?” she blurted out.
Come to think of it, my new magic did deal with Determination.
“Okay Paps. I got it.”
Undyne dismissed her old weapon. After taking a deep breath, she put all her effort into conjuring a new DT-laced spearhead.
Papyrus spoke the truth. Unlike the normal spear, her special one cut through the repulsion like hot knife to butter. It went all the way until she heard a slight ‘clink’. Her spearhead had made direct contact on the Mark.
Except, it won't budge.
Undyne pulled back. “Not good. I need more force behind this. If I don’t fire myself up, I won’t be able to overpower that bugger.”
Lady Lucidia gave a grim warning: “Whatever you do, don’t destroy the Spirit Gate itself. We don’t have time for any intensive repairs.”
“Got it…”
How do I even do this?!
Of all the moments to doubt, it had to be in the middle of a crisis. The fear of failure crept up against her back.
A slap on her shoulder snapped her out of it. It's her best friend’s gloves.
Papyrus said: “FOLLOW YOUR HEART.”
He then went to assist Lady Lucidia. The team had Cenna lie down on the ground. She gave some specific instructions to follow.
Papyrus helped keep the legs propped up, Grillby used his fire magic to keep her warm, and the lady applied compressing force on the plant-bandaged wound.
Everyone is giving their best shot.
If that’s the case, I’m gonna do the same!
Undyne began taking another crack against the Mark. First, she tried to divide her magic. Determination on the front, magic as the shaft for propulsion. Turn it into a Missile of Justice!
Her first strike… had the spear ricochet at a 45 degree angle over her head. It struck the ceiling behind her.
“OH MY GOD!!!” Undyne yelped. “Maaaaybe it’s a bad idea to throw it.”
“…Too unfocused…”
When Grillby suddenly spoke up, that gave her a slight fright. He’s been quiet until now.
“Still? Dammit. What else can I do? Sharpen the spearhead?”
The shape of his eyes curled backwards, along with his invisible brow. “…That won’t help…”
“Sir Grillenn is right,” said Lady Lucidia. “Willpower for the sake of willpower alone will not give the cutting edge you need.”
Grillby seemed to know what he’s talking about. Undyne stepped aside and asked: “Wanna try breaking that Mark? You managed to make fire shoot to the sky. I saw that!”
The fiery ex-captain shook his head. “…Round peg, square hole… Explosives are not the key here…”
Again, Lucidia added: “I apologize for the false hope, Captain Undyne. But, the pillar you witnessed was the accumulation of multiple factors that we lack at this moment. Sir Grillenn’s techniques focuses on retaliation rather than offense.”
Papyrus had grown impatient. He cried out: “UNDYNE! YOU DID THIS BEFORE, REMEMBER? YOU MADE THIS GRAND EPIC SPEECH ABOUT DEFENDING THE WORLD, AND THEN YOU TRANSFORMED INTO A KNIGHT WITH AWESOME COOL BLACK ARMOUR!!”
Undyne ended up staring at Papyrus in utter puzzlement. She heard something like that before: back when Papyrus re-awakened his Eye.
“TAP INTO YOUR BURNING PASSION AND FIND THAT SPARK AGAIN!”
“Papaya!” Lucidia yelled.
Papyrus started sweating by the buckets. “DID I SAY SOMETHING WRONG? AND WHO IS THIS ‘PAPAYA’?”
Her eyes switched to a strong purple. The moment she did so, Undyne sensed a spike of impending trouble for her best skeleton friend. This lady now occupied the ‘do not anger’ list right under Toriel.
“Subject: Papyrus. You have just committed the gravest of all Chronographer errors. Details of defunct timelines must never be applied one-to-one to the present.”
The young Seer raised his hands up high. “P-PLEASE HOLD ON, FAIRY GODMOTHER! I MAY HAVE STUMBLED A TINY BIT, BUT I DID SEE THE FUTURE WHERE UNDYNE ACHIEVES HER GRAND AWESOMENESS IN TIME! WITHOUT THE SAD FATALITY TOO.”
“Query: do the prerequisites for Captain Undyne to unlock her true power exists before Cenna’s terminal exsanguination?”
“YES! WE JUST NEED TO REMIND HER! IN A WAY.”
Her eyes faded back to white. That’s always a good sign when it comes to the skelly people.
Grillby turned his successor back towards the Spirit Gate in a gentle, discreet fashion. He signalled her to maintain focus.
Lucidia took a deep breath. “Captain, there is a method my husband utilizes to raise his Determination in critical times like these.”
“And that is?” Undyne asked.
“He envisions the cost of his defeat.”
“TURN NEGATIVITY INTO POSITIVITY!” said the other Seer.
“If the Magus Association falls, the Surface’s remaining monster nations will lose their primary defenders.”
“WHEN FRISK INSISTED ON DOING A VIOLENCE, YOU STEPPED UP TO STOP THEM! PROTECTED MONSTER KID AT THE COST OF YOUR LIFE! EVERYONE WOULD DIE WITHOUT YOU!”
“Our legal and civil rights will be void. In other words, we will become vulnerable to organized attacks from any human nation. We are looking at a mass genocide that will bring monsterkind to extinction.”
“YOU ALMOST TURNED TO DUST, BUT YOU REFUSED TO DIE! YOU INSTEAD TRANSFORMED INTO A TRUE HERO! I COULD HEAR SPACETIME ITSELF SING AN EPIC BATTLE THEME FOR THAT SHEER BADASS COOL!”
“If that is not dire enough, please consider this: humanity will no longer have anyone to tackle any future magical fallouts. Magic will not vanish upon our species’ death. It is universal constant, much like gravity. It can, and most likely will, be experimented upon again.”
“SADLY TO SAY YOU FAILED, AND ENDED UP IN FOREVER-VACATION AT GOOPLAND. THERE IS A FINE BALANCE TO EVERYTHING! TODAY YOU MUST BE AWESOME WITHOUT MELTING! IF NOT…”
“The abomination under the ocean will break free and consume the planet.”
“THE END WILL COME AGAIN.”
“Captain Undyne, you are our only hope.”
“WE NEED YOU! DON’T GIVE UP!!!”
The crunch descended on Undyne’s head. They really, really, really need to get past this door before Cenna bled out at her feet.
Shit, shit, shit!
I know what I need to do but I don’t know how. And it’s. So. Fucking. FRUSTRATING!!!
“NGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
In a fit of rage, Undyne tossed her DT-enhanced spear towards the Mark.
This time, it didn’t bounce off. The tip managed to drill itself into the target for a few seconds… but it exhausted its power before a successful breakthrough.
The results amazed everyone. Even Undyne herself.
Grillby the said, “…You found it… Remember this feeling… and focus…”
This feeling…?
Of wanting to punch someone in the face?
No. It’s more than that. Grillbz’s right. I gotta focus.
Undyne shut herself out from the outside world for a moment. Filtered out the noise. When she did so, she sensed a strange force welling up from the bottom of her heart.
It beats.
It burns.
It refuses to die.
“………………………”
“I see the stakes now. This isn’t about just the monsters of Ebott anymore, is it? If we fail here… we’ll all lose our future.”
“Monsters…”
“Humans…”
“Everyone…”
“Everyone’s hopes. Everyone’s dreams. Vanquished in an instant.”
“But I WON’T let that happen!”
A surge of power filled her veins. Its sudden force ruptured out from her hollow left socket and ripped through her eyepatch.
“…Right now, I can feel everyone’s hearts beating as one. And we all share the same goal: a better tomorrow!”
“Watch out, Sans! For the sake of the whole world… I, UNDYNE, will strike you down!!!”
A great spear was thus born; so great that the air stormed in its wake. In one mighty blow, she drove the charged spear straight into the heart of the Seraph’s Mark.
It shattered into a hundred glassy shards of red. Destabilized, the remnants burned themselves to nothingness.
The light from her left socket frizzled out. Undyne felt a little wobbly after her stunt. Whatever she did ate a huge chunk of her stamina.
She recalled the notes that excessive internal Determination will kill her. If that happened… she won’t live long enough to apologize to Alphys.
“Uh… I’m not melting, right?”
Papyrus was sparkling in awe. “WOWIE!!! THAT’S SOOOOOO COOL! I CAN STILL HEAR YOUR EPIC BATTLE THEME OF JUSTICE! AND YES YOU’RE NOT MELTING. JUST WINDED.”
“…Good job…”
“Congratulations, Captain.”
Undyne felt like the luckiest woman in the world.
“Let’s hurry,” she said, “Who knows what the hell is going on in there.”