Chapter 26: A Hard Secret
The monarchs and the enigmatic scientist had finally delved into the park. They would find that they did take quite the time to actually get there as they would be disappointed to find that those who they wanted to see there had already gone along with all the normal goers of the park as well. As they stood there in their dissatisfaction Gaster had looked at his phone with a confused stare realizing that he got a notification on his mobile device a couple minutes ago, it was about some cameras on a few agents going dark for some time and cameras in an alleyway also around the same time, this was all very strange and he would turn towards the two monarchs to relay this.
"Ms Toriel, and Mr Axis, it appears we have a problem." He would say with his own face unreadable at the thought. He would present the notification towards the both of them. "I suppose we'll check it out while we're here?"
Two affirmative nods would be received from the king and queen as they made a walk with quickened pace towards the alleyway due to a certain bad feeling they were getting, this bad feeling only increasing the closer they got to the alleyway as it seemed to cast an extremely unsettling presence from it almost as if telling people to avoid it and run away from it.
When they arrived there this would have been around the end of the fight between Gereson and the other agent. Toriel with a simple wave of her hand would have cleared all the smoke within the area, before them was a horrendous sight, it was Gereson all alone lying on the ground looking beat up and in quite the horrible state. Unfortunately for them the bodies of the other agents and the one fighting Gereson were all gone making exactly what happened here unknown to all but Gereson who was currently unconscious. Toriel would cover her mouth and look in shock at seeing this, the sight of a monster this hurt, especially an old one like him that she had actually known for quite some time, it was not pleasant at all for her to see. Axis seeing Toriel in such a way would wrap his arms around her and hold onto her tightly, they really could barely get a break. Gaster would have said nothing only looking at the scene. He would flick a finger upwards putting a black barrier around the alleyway that rendered the scene invisible to the eye of any other. The monarch's would look confused at Gaster for a moment.
"Well, I think it best to make sure nobody sees this don't you? We don't want any more trouble for everyone in Ebott. Let us keep this a secret and try to find out what happened before everyone knows."
Toriel would seem to understand this sentiment as she did not object to what he said. "Gereson is a really good man, he was loved by everyone around here, I don't know who would do this to him. And I don't want anyone to be worried about him, I know he'll be alright.."
Axis would seem more hesitant on this, he didn't want to really lie to his people, but at the same time he found that they wouldn't exactly be doing so and the two seemed to share the same sentiment in a majority rule. "I shall agree with this Dr.Gaster, but I do hope that we don't do this again, nor do we allow this to happen again." A seeming self disappointment coming over his face as he blamed himself for this ever happening.
Dr. Gaster gave a reassuring look towards Axis. "Don't worry Axis, with due time and development we will make sure that this place becomes the safest in the world, and you shall be remembered for such accomplishments." Gaster after saying this would go on to actually start inspecting the crime scene motioning for the others to do the same. Yet after their sweep they found nothing on any of the surfaces or cameras around, the cameras were clean from damage and there was no sign of any gadgets or some sort of advanced EMP which could've possibly caused this. After they had no luck on the area check Gaster would snap his fingers warping them all towards a private hospital, where he actually was and placing Gereson onto an empty bed there.
"Now although I am a Dr, the medical field isn't my profession, could you call a doctor and tell them of the situation. We must identify his condition."
Axis would make a call towards a doctor that he knew quickly explaining everything, and some time later they would have arrived there looking at Gereson, it was surprising to see him like this for anyone. The doctor with a card on their jacket noting them as Dr. Malakai. Malakai would ask no more questions and quickly got to work setting up everything and putting a magic drip into his body to make sure that his body was properly sustained. As he begins his analysis on the body of Gereson he wouldn't find any traces of fingerprints or any specific weapon, but when he pulled out a machine to detect magic that's when something revealed itself. There was the tiniest hint of some sort of black magic onto him, some dark hued magic not seen before by him at least. With this revelation he would present the screen towards the others there.
"As you can see most of his body looks pretty normal with its functions and magic flow." He would then zoom in towards a part of his body that had been hit partially badly in the battle as well as panning over towards his lungs. What he could see on the reading was a strange black coloured magic that had a no good aura about it at all, from its very appearance to the energy that it gave off. "And then there's this strange black shaded magic that isn't his. It's not showing up in the magic database of any others on record."
They would look at it intently. Axis being the first to speak seeing some familiarity. "Gaster, is that your void magic? Perhaps you accidentally left some lingering when you teleported us here." Well at least that's what he had hoped would happen.
Gaster would shake his head from side to side pointing more closely and zooming in further on the scanning. "Take a closer look, my void energy is usually outlined in white when it's like this, and the feeling that it gives off is just wrong. I have one final conclusion and that is.."
"That black substance, this is the very same essence, it was hate that they called it." Toriel would suddenly blurt out in her silence which Gaster would respond to with a quick nod.
"You are correct Toriel, that is the same thing that I believe it is. And the only people I've seen with that sort of magic or soul essence are those of that organization, but they've been gone. Do you think someone took some of their stuff and is trying their own thing?"
"Perhaps that could be so, if it is we must shut it down quickly before it becomes any trouble." Toriel would quickly say not wanting to experience that again.
Axis this time would express his different opinion as he shook his head from side to side having a look of deeper concern on his face than the two of them combined. "Don't you think it would be a tad bit weird for some new group to make a move that big so soon? They can't have that many people with them and they fought Gereson? Although he may be old he is still a pretty strong monster isn't he? Although I would not want to think about it, we must be prepared for the worst.
With this being said a strange feeling that made a sick thought wash through the minds of all that stood there would leave a small shudder at a thought, the thought being that what if all of what they had been through was not the end of something, but instead a beggining. The silence in the room would be palpable as no one would speak, not even a whisper would echo throughout the room at all…
Grilled Spiders, Days Later
Grillby would be shining his dishware and such as he manned the bar, but as he did so it would be rather slow in the way he did so and unusual, there was certainly something going on with him and it was unknown as to what exactly it was. Muffet turned to him from her side of the establishment feeling something off herself. She would declare herself on break as she would stride with her natural grace across the floor until she reached Grillby, using some of her arms she would pull herself up to now sit on the counter cross legged, seeming to make herself look nice.
Her head would tilt to the side with a mix of concern and smugness across her countenance. She would simply observe Grillby some time before speaking, but she would sigh, seeming to be annoyed for some reason. "Grillby, can you make me some apple cider?"
Grillby wouldn't even bother to verbally answer and instead motioned for a slow nod and indirectly looked at her. Grillby would quickly whip up the cider, but Muffet would be noting his every movement of him doing so as if there was a certain suspicion that she wanted to clear from herself. And with this she seemed to get exactly what she wanted, which in this case would not have exactly been a good thing. Muffet would have taken the drink when it was given towards her, she took a sip and put it down not seeming to be pleased exactly by it.
"The way you made it, it just wasn't right. You aren't moving right, and you definitely don't look right." She would say mercilessly unloading on Grillby with her words in a slightly angered tone it seemed, but then she would seem to have a more caring voice. "Tell me what's up Grillby, we are partners now, so you gotta tell me."
Silence would consume the both of them more for some time as Grillby would simply say. "I just have some stuff on my mind. Don't be too worried, Muff."
Muffet would gasp, he called her a nickname? He never did that! That must mean that something was really messing with him, and so by her own order she would grab Grillby and drag him outside declaring that they would temporarily stop serving to the customers for a break. Now she would simply engage in a nice simple walk with Grillby, it was quite a beautiful day, and well probably the last one for a while as Winter is about to hit. They would simply walk for some time without words and it would seem Grillby would become more relieved as they did.
"So hot stuff, ready to spill it now?" Muffet would ask with a tinge of curiosity in her words mixed with worry all at once. Grilby would seem to be more open to actually answering and so would respond in quite a short time. "Dunno, today just feels off. Got a sense that something won't go right today." He had a look of wonder on his face towards this feeling, but Muffet would respond on a more positive note to this negative optimism. "Well look here you ended up with something good, you got to have this nice walk with little old me." Muffet would then give off one of her well known strange laughters, but Grillby would not seem to be amused, but his pondering of those thoughts seemed to go away for now. "You really think you're that great huh?" Grillby made a slight chuckle at himself. "But, despite how it seems, it really is nice to have someone else around." Grillby would sound rather appreciative in his tone and that seemed to make Muffet quite pleased. The rest of their walking would have gone on in silence as they simply enjoyed the self employed break, almost forgetting that they had work to get back to. After some time Grillby would suddenly turn to Muffet. "We should go back now." "Oh.. right."
The two would return back to their establishments getting behind their counters again, Grillby seemed more relieved, well nobody could tell besides Muffet.
The two went back to their regular day of working, but that would only be for a while. That was until a rather interesting customer would have made their way into the bar. They had quite a normal look and appearance about them, yet there was just something further about them. The person would have just taken a seat at the bar. He would look at Grillby then seem to side eye Muffet. Muffet would notice the slight gaze and would think he might be some sort of weirdo; she has had to deal with several of those before. Muffet would stroll over besides Grillby and look at the man with two hands on her hips. "So whaddya want."
The guy would slowly shift his eyes between the two of them, his face retreating under their hat hiding it mostly. "You two know about those guys that made a huge movement in this place right? Well I'm a part of those people." The two would be shocked by him saying that so casually, but at the same time they would furrow their brows towards the stranger thinking that they may be some sort of threat. The man in the chair quickly puts his hands in the air wanting to disarm any sort of doubt they had towards him. "I'm not here to fight, I'm just here to talk to you two. Come outside and I'll be waiting." The man says this and he gets up from the chair taking water from the bar and drinking it up as he walks outside.
Grillby looks towards Muffet and Muffet looks towards him with the same look as they both nod their heads. "Do you still want to see what's up?" Grillby would think about it after Muffet spoke. "Yeah I told Sans I'd tell him if I heard anything, and this is the best way to get as much info as possible." Muffet would nod towards him. "But are you really gonna make both of us go out there without some sort of plan, really that's not smart for a smart guy like you." Grillby would still seem un-bothered even at such a thought as his head would shake. "I know with you and me we will have no need to." Muffet would slightly laugh as she walked out the store right behind Grillby. "Shops closed for today guys! I'll give everyone here free food and drinks if you all leave now." Everyone would suddenly dash out of the store as they all want to get some free stuff, and everyone quickly flocked home. With only one person remaining outside
When Grillby and Muffet met the mysterious guy outside he would have started to walk and then talk with the two of them. He would come out with a blatant statement. "We want both of you to join us, now before you say anything back to me, do not get our cause twisted. It is not some ultimate evil, in the end we hope to achieve something good, it just happens to be at the cost of a few lives you know?" But something was off putting about the man, even after speaking of how people were being sacrificed there was no sound of pain or regret at the thought of it. This notion sent a shiver even down the heat of Grillby. Muffet would be first to speak as she was rather snappy and would definitely be about something like this. "No matter what you're trying to do, this is all the wrong way! Now go on and scram before we get you detained by the police. We're not gonna join you and if you don't listen you'll face our fury."
The man would take a deep breath in, he would've planned to go even deeper with his convincing but with what Muffet said absolutely dejecting the idea of sacrificing others for the greater good, or atleast what they were telling them. The man would let off a small smirk to himself for a moment before turning back to them and tipping his hat. "Very well then, I'm sorry about this." "About what?" Grillby would question, but then he instantly knew. "On guard Muffet!" This whole time while he was walking and talking he had actually led the both of them towards a secluded area with little people around them at all.
"You'll see what we did to that darn turtle!" The man would suddenly say as he would point two of his hands outwards, a string of cyan energy shooting out and touching both of them. "Don't Move." The man would say and they felt as if they could not as they had been touched by the essence of patience. The man was now approaching them ready to grab them and activate another skill, but when they got close Grillby himself did not move, but he would suddenly burst into flames pushing back the guy. And to showcase something else Grillby would create a bottle of alcohol with magic? The alcohol would have been tossed over towards the guy with flames on them. Yet before it could actually hit someone jumped in front of them and the bottle shattered against their body sticking them with some shards, but they were relatively unphased.
"Ugh, I hate when these buggers always fight back, can't you ever just go down easy. Just one time is all I ask. Anyways gotta do what the boss wants no matter what you know nothing really personal about it."
The person would touch the air as it seemed to crackle with a dark blue aura of integrity, the air being pulled to one single integral point. And then with a sudden release it all shot out towards Muffet and Grillby at extreme speeds creating a sonic boom in its wake. Luckily for them due to Grillby burning the other guy the effect of his ability lasted shorter and they were able to move to the side just in time.There was no moment for relief as the counterattack ensued, Muffet would have suddenly set up a whole spider web where they were going all around the place, her spiders would crawl around the web and went to attack the two guys swiftly. The spiders would be a temporary annoyance to them as Muffet used it as an opportunity to shoot her webs at them effectively wrapping them up and tying them up, the strength of her webs being around that of her own. Grillby now had an opportunity and took it as he snapped his fingers spreading fire across the webs encircling them in a tight flame circle like a pyrope. The two guys would grunt as they went to get free, unfortunately though they were fighting a wielder of integrity. They would loosen the integrity of the webbing, easily freeing themselves and getting out of the elaborate attack set up for them. The soul of the integrity user would free the patience soul as well, even ridding of the flames by loosening their connection with their own bodies. The patience user would place a hand on the spider web and cast 'don't move' making it so the spiders on the web were all frozen in the mass complex structure. The integrity user would make a sudden burst of speed towards the both of them pulling along the patience user, but how was he suddenly faster? Muffet made an observation with her keen eyes that the air seemed to be completely ignoring his presence and so it did not cause him resistance. No matter what, she was on guard. When the integrity user got close they swung the body of the patience user against the both of them, Muffet made a small web structure to block this, but Grillby tried to use his arms, that was all a part of this plan. Since Grillby used his arms the patience user grabbed onto them mid air from smacking into him and activated 'the ruling of patience.' Grillby suddenly felt himself trying to move, but his speed was sent to such a low point where he was practically still. The dark blue opponent would jump at Muffet about the same time this happened acting as a second attack, their break neck speed trying to crash through the webbed defense of Muffet. Yet this would not work out in their favor. The strength of the structure of the small web defending her was enough to not be ripped completley, instead it would cause them to be stuck within it. Muffet would quickly web them up even more and began to swing them around with a string smacking their body right into the patience user slamming them into a wall. Muffet then tossed the guy up into the air and created a slingshot of webbing below her. Her hand would reach out to Grillby grabbing some of his flames and suddenly shooting herself from the slingshot into the air. When she was in the air she used all of her arms which were now blazing with Grillby's flames to send a powerful barrage of punches as they turned into a ball of flames. Muffet then flipped around in the air and kicked them down to the ground right onto the patience user. Muffet would then land to the ground with a certain elegance even from the incredible height that they were at. Grillby would be able to move once more and just kicked the both of them one more time just to make sure that they were down.
"Fwuhuhu, looks like we're pretty tough huh Grillby, at least I am! Can't believe they only sent two guys for us hmph." Grillby would shake his head at her seemingly carefree reaction. "Be glad it wasn't more. Besides it seems that these guys were pretty well trained and just slipped up when it came to our prowess. Go take these guys to Queen Toriel, I have a call to make." "Alright alright, as you request. Come on then little ones." She would pick them both up and put them on her back. Muffet would swing away like a certain spider hero off towards her destination.
Grillby would sigh as he picked up his phone and started ringing it as he would have begun walking home, he then heard a click. "Yo yo, it's Sans. I'm tired, can you bug me later Grillby, I'm sure I paid my bill" Sans would have just been lying in bed at the time "They made a move Sans." Sans would suddenly sit up in his bed as all of his tiredness seemed to be washed away. "Tell me everything." "Well Sans, they came up to me and Muffet telling us to come outside. They tried getting us to join them but me and Muffet beat them up really good. Sadly we haven't gotten anything from them, but Muffet is taking them to Toriel." Sans would be slightly relieved that they were able to take them down and from the way he spoke they were alright. "Though one thing I do have to say is… they mentioned that they took down a turtle. I think it might've been Gereson." Sans would have his smile slightly droop as he would realize it to likely be true. Gosh he's gonna hate to have to tell Undyne this. "Alright, cya Grillby get home safe." Another click played as the phone call ended.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone