Back down in the True Lab, my eyes started to open, groaning from the sudden crash landing. With Frisk pressed against my side, still hugging my waist, I was on my back, looking up at Undyne. She used her body to protect us from the fallen debris. Alphys was in the fetal position beside Frisk and me, covering her head in fright. Undyne pulled off chunks of the ceiling from her back and helped Alphys up.
Meanwhile, Frisk removed themselves from around me and presented their hand to help me up. It took me a moment to get out of my shock before I willingly grabbed their hand to pry me off the cold elevator floor. I soon realized that I was not holding the flower pot. I saw Flowey knocked out in the corner with the flower pot broken in half, leaping into action, and rushed to pick him up off the ground.
Flowey woke up and shook his petals, using his leaves to rub his face, "Ugh....stupid elevator!" He opened his eyes, seeing that he was no longer in the planter, suddenly freaking out as if he was naked. He wrapped his vines around my left arm tightly, almost causing his thorns to penetrate my skin. I grunt from the pain, having Flowey loosen his tight grip but still hanging on. "Oh...sorry...."
"It's....fine...." I swallow the pain, "Just try to keep your voice low around Undyne."
Undyne was oblivious to the flower gripping my arm as she stepped over to the elevator door to pry it open. With a loud, "NGAHHHH!" She effortlessly pulls off the door, stepping out and throwing it away. "There!" She turned to face us, dusting off her hands afterward.
We all step out of the elevator and look around the empty room. Alphys sighs and comments, "Welp....so much for the others to use the elevator. We sh-should notify them and let them know we're safe."
Frisk takes out their phone and sees multiple voicemails and texts from their frantic mother, but the phone never rang out. "Toriel has been trying to reach me...." They tried to call Toriel, but the phone replied with only garbage noise, which gave me goosebumps as I could hear it loud and clear through the phone. "Hmm, let me text her instead." Frisk started to text Toriel. Luckily, it worked, and seconds after Frisk hit send, Toriel replied. Frisk read Toriel's text reply aloud, "She said they've been trying to reach us and use the warp door to get to us, but it's not working."
"Th-that's strange...." Alphys's worried voice echoed through the corridor. Frisk types back to Toriel, reassuring her that everyone is okay. "Tell the others that we'll keep g-going forward. Maybe the warp door will start working again if we leave this room?" Frisk understood the order and started typing to Toriel while we walked down the hall into the other area.
We arrived at the other elevator with the four lights already lit up. I was thankful that we didn't have to go into all the rooms to activate it, yet I wasn't ready to go into another elevator after that stunt back there. I was eager to press on, following the royal scientist to the machine that would take me home.
She presses the button having the door open. "The device that'll get you home isn't too far from the room that turns on the power."
Thankfully, when we ventured into the elevator, we didn't need to go to another level. Another door opened to our left as we followed Alphys. Another corridor was before us as we walked to the end, making it to another door, not saying a word to one another. Frisk was glued to my side while they texted Toriel about our progress. Sans tried to use the warp door in each room we went in, but luck was not on their side, having the warp fail each time.
The group entered a dead-end room as Alphys stood in the middle, facing us as she spoke, "Th-this is the room where Frisk turned the power back on for the elevator."
Undyne shouted out, "Is that the machine? Don't look like much if ya ask me."
"Actually, no." She paused while we all looked around, not noticing any other machine. "But we may need to use this device to turn on the elevator later to get back to the shattered barrier."
Undyne questioned, observing the room, "Then where's the machine to get this kid home?"
Alphys walked to her left without saying another word, making her way to a brick wall. We observed as she felt around the wall for any loose bricks. Suddenly, she effortlessly moved one of the bricks as if it was fake. Behind that brick was a switch opening a hidden room. The light within the new room illuminated us as Alphys led the way.
This particular room was vastly large. Large enough to battle or train inside. It seemed like a place where someone used to construct computers, robotic devices, and puzzle machines secretly. Most of the objects were not complete, as if they were failures and thrown away in trash heaps in the corners of the room. But one machine stood out amongst the junk. On the other end of the room laid one working machine. We all made our way to it, seeing the machine's buttons lit up. Looking closer at this machine Alphys talked about, it was a replica of my home computer, but much larger and incased with a Mettaton's frame with added buttons. My eyes widened, but I kept my thoughts to myself.
Surprised, Alphys rushed to the device and messed around with it, "T-this is the machine I found the other d-d-day. I failed to get it to work....but now....It's on! I think It turned on when you arrived here, human...." Alphys turned to face me, but before I could speak, Alphys's eyes went wide, stuttering her words while pointing behind the three of us. "S-s-s-someone's in the r-r-room with us!!!!"
Undyne leaps towards Frisk and me without a second thought, snatching us while sliding over to Alphys. Flowey held on for dear life around my arm while Undyne landed next to her girlfriend, facing the intruder setting us down shortly after.
Blocking the exit to the room, we spotted a shadowy figure standing in the darkness. Undyne shouted out with a threat, "Who's there?! Show yourself, or I will be forced to use my spears!"
The shadow didn't move an inch. The only motion that occurred briskly after was the exit to the door slamming shut as it echoed throughout the room. A gray barrier appeared over our only way out, trapping us all in with this shadowy intruder.
Undyne had no hesitation, throwing three of her blue metal spears at the enemy. Bizarrely, the weapons stopped inches from the being while we watched the spears bend like a spoon without being touched, only to drop to the floor shortly after. The whole room went silent after the sound from the metal spears faded, settling on the floor. The figure agreed to step out of the darkness and into the light showing us who they were.
Everyone but Undyne backed away in fear. Alphys cried out, shaking her head in disbelief. "Th-this can't be possible. Y-you fell into the CORE!"
W.D. Gaster companied us in the room. His presence made the air feel thick while the darkness loomed around his body slowly crept into the room's corners. His only noticeable features were his crooked smile, blackholes for eye sockets, and cracked skull-looking face. His body was cloaked in black like an oversized black coat hiding the rest of his form.
"Watch yourself, Player...." Flowey whispered, still hanging onto my left arm. The room went silent again until sounds started to form out of Gaster's mouth, trying to speak to us. Unfortunately, we could not understand him, speaking in his Wing-Ding language. "Speak English, you freak!" Flowey shouted out, not caring if Undyne heard him or not.
Undyne glanced over to Flowey and me figuring out where the voice came from, as she saw the flower ready to go in battle mode. "Papyrus was right! You are that messed up flower!"
Alphys snapped her girlfriend out of the distraction, "N-now's not the time, Undyne." Undyne whipped her head over to Gaster, who kept his distance, waiting to see if he would speak again.
Instead of speaking out loud, Gaster made his voice heard telepathically. "Finally, you've arrived, Player." His hoarse tone sounded like two voices speaking simultaneously. One more eerie than the other.
My body shuffled back after the voice rang in my ears. It sounded like Gaster was right behind me, speaking in my ear, yet he never moved from his spot. Undyne, Alphys, and Frisk also heard the echoed voice, seeing them looking about, trying to figure out how that was possible. As for Flowey, his eyes locked onto Gaster, waiting for his moment to attack if needed.
I shout out finally, "What do you mean by that?!"
He began to speak again, being more specific, "That machine there," His arm slowly extended out from inside his black hole of a coat, pointing to the device behind us. "It sent you here, into our game. At first, I was surprised it worked. I thought that it could not be done....I was wrong."
Flowey snapped out, "I knew it was you who did this! Let me guess...you caused the glitching within the game to happen, am I right?!"
I listened intently, not saying a word feeling Gaster's voice vibrate the room around me. He explained in more detail, "To an extent, yes....I created a new game over the Player's old one on their contraption, having them become the new human that had fallen. But alas, their other, almost completed game, still hidden within the file, forced you to all persist within the game without becoming reset. This major error caused your other halves to glitch out during the Player's exploration. As for the random monster encounters glitching out for the Player....that was a different issue altogether."
The whole room fell silent once again. That was until Undyne finally managed to ask, "What the hell is he talking about?!"
Alphys nervously responded, "I'll explain l-later Undyne. Right now, we need to protect the new human at all costs!"
Flowey heard enough as he climbed up on my shoulders and bellowed out at Gaster, "Well, good thing your new game failed you then!" His vines thickened and stretched around the room, whipping wildly. One of the vines forced me to lower to the ground. I bent down, and my instinct was to protect my head with my hands. I knew what was coming, expecting he would change into Omega Flowey and attack Gaster with his sporadic attacks. However, Flowey never changed but did throw everything he had at Gaster, giving it his all.
Undyne jumped away for cover with Frisk and Alphys in her arms from the frantic attacks Flowey flung around the room. You could hear the sound effects as if you were in the game, dodging the attacks of Flowey's. It felt like minutes passed while listening to the blasts above my head. But it was only fifteen seconds of Flowey unleashing his power on Gaster, slowly coming to an end.
A cloud of thick smoke engulfed the room. Did Flowey manage to get rid of Gaster? Was It that easy? His vines allowed me to stand back up while I scanned the room with caution, hoping not to have Gaster leap out at me through the dense smoke.
"What the hell kind of power was that!?" Undyne screeched out, not being able to see her surroundings. She still held onto Alphys and Frisk in each arm but couldn't find me in the thick smoke.
I franticly shout back at Undyne, "Stay put! Keep Frisk and Alphys safe!"
The vents started to power on to clear the room of the smoke. After recovering our bearings, mine and Flowey's expressions frowned as we noticed Gaster floating in his original spot. The attacks didn't do anything to him.
Apologies for the shorter chapter. ^_^;