(S1) Chapter 18: Oops, all OPtale!

Oh shit, we’re starting the chapter with OP!Tale. Ares and Hephaestus watched as their massive boat took anchor off the shore of what looked to be a massive plain of ash, rock, and volcanos. Lava filled the ground, and even seemed to make up most of the rivers and lakes. Hephaestus looked over the side of the boat, to notice the water was boiling. He recoiled in slight surprise, as he barely caught himself, having rather poor balance due to his withered legs.
“Alright, this looks to be it.” Ares said, a cigarette in his mouth as he took the captain’s hat off. Oh shit, they were at Generic Volcano Place, or GVP, the entrance to the underworld. Ares crouched down, before taking a hefty leap, landing on the volcanic soil beneath his feet. Papyrus crouched down, before taking a large leap. He landed on the ground, wobbling a bit. He had a concerned expression on his face, struggling for a moment, before regaining his balance.
Sans and Papyrus began to walk through the volcanic area, only to see a massive hand reach out of the ground. Another hand reached right beside it, as a humongus rock monster pulled itself from the earth. It let out a roar of rage, as Sans and Papyrus leapt back, instinctively raising their forearms and making bone walls. The rock monster approached them, punching at them both. Lava spilled over, as they both staggered away. Zamn, there was lava in this thing too?
The rock monster swung its arms, sending lava towards the two of them, as Sans raised his spear, making forward-slanted walls in front of him and Hephaestus, deflecting the lava to the ground. He leapt on top of his own, as he hurled the spear at the rock monster.
The spear struck it in the chest, as it held said chest, falling back. Papyrus dashed in front, as he raised his right arm, a massive ball of fire appeared, as he hurled it at the rock monster. The fireball hit it and blew it to pieces, as rock and lava flew everywhere.
“Alright, that was a bit of an issue. We should probably be more careful.” Papyrus said, as Sans nodded in response. The two continued through the lava infested area, as Ares pulled out a map. The two continued their journey through the area, until they reached a cliff’s edge, overlooking a massive lake of lava. With no other choice, Ares leapt onto a pillar of rock, and began jumping through the gap. Hephaestus sighed, as he followed. A geyser appeared in front of Ares, as he quickly regained his balance, coming to a stop. After the geyser ended, he hopped to the next pillar of rock.
Papyrus groaned in pain, his withered legs making traversing the pillars difficult. Ares leapt onto the edge of the other cliff, as Papyrus approached. Papyrus leapt onto the second pillar from the end, only for a bit of rock to break off. Papyrus slipped, as he tried to catch himself with his other leg, only to feel it snap. He screamed in pain, as he fell towards the lava. Sans quickly leapt down after him, as they fell closer to their doom. Sans caught Papyrus, as he hurled him up to safety. He turned back to the lava, as he stabbed his spear into a nearby pillar. Rather than stopping his momentum, the pillar was simply torn to pieces.
He swore to himself, as he raised his spear. He made a shield around himself, as he fell into the magma. Even with the shield, he screamed in pain. He used all that remained of his strength to hurl his spear up. The spear flew, as Sans watched, his shield beginning to fade away, as the lava filled his skull, and he began to struggle. He tried to cough, but that only caused more lava to flow into him, as he twitched around in agony. He reached up, as he began to feel himself lose consciousness.
The spear landed, as his eyes opened wide. He twitched his arm, struggling to move it, as he slammed his finger onto a button on his waist. The grappling hook activated, as he flew into the air. He exited the lava, as he flew higher. Suddenly, the string snapped, as he reached for the cliffside, only for him to barely miss. Papyrus reached over the edge, grabbing him by the wrist and hurling him to safety. Ares landed, as he coughed up lava. He got on his knees, coughing madly as the lava fell through the holes in his ribs and skull, tearing into his clothes as he felt the horrible heat exit him.
He breathed heavily, as he stood up straight. Papyrus sighed, as Ares picked him up, helping him continue to walk. Papyrus limped on one leg, with his other being entirely broken. “I think you might need to get better at parkour, paps.” He said, as Hephaestus chuckled, nodding in response. They continued, as they wandered deeper into the volcano area, Ares not bothering to check the map. The lava having still injured him, he began to grow weaker, until finally collapsing under the strain. He and Papyrus fell unconscious.
||| |||
Ares groaned in pain, as he opened his eyes. He felt cold water land on his face, as he twitched slightly in surprise. However, the cold water felt good, as he still felt burns all across his body. He was in sleep paralysis, as he tried to open his eyes all the way. He snapped awake from another dump of cold water. He groaned, as he felt his face in discomfort.
“Oh, good, you’re awake. You two just can’t seem to stay out of trouble, can you?” Frisk asked, as they walked over to Papyrus, adjusting a stretcher that was holding his broken leg. Sans groaned in pain, as he sat up. Aphrodite walked over, waving to him to lay back down, as he did. She grabbed a rag, getting it wet with cold water, as she put it on his face to soothe the burns. She grabbed a pitcher of cold water, as she poured it into his nose. He blinked, as he felt the cold water swish around in his hollow skull. It was cold, but it felt good on the burns.
“What even happened? I just found you two out there unconscious, him with a broken leg and you with burns all over your body.” Frisk said worriedly, as she walked over to the oven, grabbing a bowl of soup from on top of the burner, as they brought it over to Sans. Sans took it, as he began eating.
“We were traversing part of the area. Paps broke his leg on one of the jumps, and I dived into the lava to save him.” Ares said, groaning in pain as he moved his skull up, dumping the water out of it. He grabbed the blanket he had wrapped around him, as he took it off. He felt his eye, noticing it had bandages all over it. He turned to Aphrodite.
“Hey, what’s with my eye?” He asked.
“I dunno. It was doing some weird glitchy thing when I found you, so I just wrapped it in bandages for now.” She said, as Sans grabbed his soup, finishing it rather quickly. He sat up, feeling the ground with his feet to test how wounded he was. After some struggle, he stood all the way up, as he carried his bowl and spoon over to the sink, putting them in it.
“You shouldn’t be walking! You’re still hurt!” Frisk said, shuffling him over to his bed as he groaned in pain. He looked around at the area itself, as he found them to be on the side of a volcano. The house seemed to be built into the volcano itself, and the material around him was colored dark if not black to blend in with it. He relaxed slightly, as he looked around for something to entertain himself with.
“Hey, is there anything to do around here? You wouldn’t happen to have a deck of cards or something?” He asked, feeling his bandaged eye. It felt rather weird, to be honest, and he wanted to get his mind off of it at the very least. Frisk paused for a moment, putting her fingers to her chin as she thought about the question.
She turned back to Hephaestus, who opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he surveyed his surroundings. Aphrodite walked away, as he opened a few drawers, looking inside of them. Sans got up again, walking over as he opened a cupboard at his face level, grabbing a deck of cards from the highest shelf.
“How’d you know it was there?” Frisk asked, somewhat bewildered, as Ares sighed. He sat up at the table Frisk had put his soup on, as he laid out a game of Solitaire, before putting a cold rag on his ribs.
“You don’t strike me as the gambling type, so you’d put your cards somewhere that they’d take a bit to find, versus someone who would like gambling, who puts them somewhere within easy access. You’re concerned about people, so you wouldn’t put them somewhere that children could reach them. So, the top shelf only makes sense.” Sans explained. Aphrodite blushed slightly.
“Is it that easy to tell all that information?” She asked sheepishly.
“It’s not a bad thing, really. Those are pretty nice traits to have in a person. Being blatant would just make people like you more.” Sans said, as he looked at the cards in front of him. He sighed, as he laid down an ace at the top of the game. Aphrodite walked over to Papyrus, as she gave him a cold rag for his leg. He sighed, as he adjusted it to be where the pain was.
“Frisk. I want you to promise me something.” Ares said, as he drew three cards from the deck, putting them in the discard pile as he inspected them. Frisk looked up at him.
“What is it?” She asked, somewhat confused.
“When we go into The Underworld. I don’t want you following us.” He said firmly, as he looked up from his cards towards her.
“B-but why? What if you’re hurt?” She asked.
“That’s exactly the issue. If we’re hurt, and you help us, Hades will know you’re helping us, and he’ll probably hurt you for it. I don’t want you to get hurt for our sake, Frisk, especially not mine.” He said firmly, his eyes dimly lit as he stared her straight in the eyes. She sighed, before nodding to him.
“Alright, I won’t-“ She said, being cut off by the sound of a window breaking. Everyone in the room turned to the noise, as suddenly, a spear flew through the house, tearing through several walls and narrowly missing Ares’s head. Ares stumbled back in confusion, quickly getting up from his bed. Athena Undyne ran through the walls, before tackling Sans, knocking him through another wall, as she slid to a stop.
Helios floated in, as he struck Frisk on her heels with his foot. He caught her, smirking, as he flicked her in the face, knocking her unconscious. He waved to Ares, who tumbled down the side of the volcano, as Helios flew towards the entrance to The Underworld. Sans continued to fall, before rolling to a stop. Undyne landed in front of him, in a full suit of armor, as her spear hit the ground.
“If I was sure of my victory before, now it’s outside the question.” She said, as she kicked him in the mouth. He fell back, blood spurting out of his mouth, as he groaned in pain. He put his fingers to the ground, leaping up, as he took a defensive stance. The two circled each other, as she aimed her spear at him. He couldn’t see Undyne’s expression, but he assumed her to be focused.
“Not very honorable kicking a guy when he’s bedridden.” Ares mused.
“Honor is for the stupid and weak. You fit into both categories. I am the goddess of Wisdom and War, not just barbaric stupidity like your domain. I do not fall victim to such foolish laws of man.” She said calmly, as Ares smirked slightly.
“Uh-huh. Sounds like a cope.” He said.
“Think what you may. Maybe I’ll understand when your brains are splattered on the volcanic rocks.” She said, hurling a spear at him. Ares fell back, before flipping to safety. He raised his arm, making a bone wall, as she raised her spear. Several more appeared beside her, as they all flew at him, hitting the wall several times. Several of them broke through, as Sans teleported away.
“I’ll carve your skull for a trophy, Ares! Hades will be most pleased with your death.” Athena said, as she put her feet behind herself. She blasted off from the ground, flying towards him, two spears in her hands. Ares summoned his own spear, taking a defensive stance, as she stabbed towards him with both spears. He raised his own, knocking hers upwards, as he hit her across the face with the back of his spear. He moved back, as he shifted his stance, before going for a stab to her heart.
Undyne caught the spear, as she stabbed him in the torso with her free one. He screamed in pain, as the spear amplified the pain of several of the burns. She smirked, as she kicked him in the face, drawing blood once more. She pulled the spear out, as she struck at his feet. He leapt into the air, spinning, as he scraped the floor. Volcanic ash flew into her eyes, as she released her grip on her spears.
“COWARD!” She roared, trying to get the ash out. Ares rushed at her, as he raised his arm, throwing a heavy punch at her face, as she fell back. He summoned a blaster, clicking his fingers as it fired. The blaster struck her, sending her tumbling back.
“You’re the one who said honor was foolish. You should be more consistent, Undyne.” Sans said, raising his hand, as a spear shot out of the ground, impaling Athena through the chest. Undyne spat blood, as Ares pulled a massive rock out of the ground, slamming it into Undyne. The rock exploded in contact, its small parts impaling into Undyne at several angles. Ares raised his hand, as a massive beam of energy washed over Undyne, sending her tumbling away. Ares watched as she fell towards the cliffside, and rolled over into a pit below. He quickly ran over to the pit, looking around frantically for her. However, he didn’t see her anywhere.
Ares sighed with relief, as he ran back to where the house was. He found Hephaestus, who was wandering the area in confusion. Evidently, he had just woken up after Helios and Athena had destroyed the house. He turned to see Ares, as he ran over to meet him.
“WHAT HAPPENED?!” Papyrus asked frantically, surveying the area in a confused manner.
“Helios and Athena attacked us, they’re working for Hades. Or so they say, at least.” Sans explained, as he and Papyrus continued their approach to the Underworld. They didn’t really have direction, but were walking towards a rather conspicuously large sign that said “UNDERWORLD PARTY HOUSE!”
“Hhhhh… WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?” Papyrus asked, rubbing his back as he groaned in pain from the damage he had sustained earlier.
“Helios ran away with Frisk, and I fought Undyne. I threw her over a cliff, but when I looked to try and find her, she was nowhere to be found.” Sans explained.
“WELL, ALRIGHT THEN. THAT MEANS WE’VE GOT ONE LAST PLACE TO GO.” Papyrus said, pointing to the entrance to the Underworld. Ares nodded, cracking his neck, as he prepared himself to enter.
Category:Season 1
Category:Story
Category:Canon
Category:Episodes
Category:Written by Reaper