Against All Odds

Part 1: Chapter 6

The hurried trek back to the lab felt agonizingly longer than it actually was. Every single step was like another tick of the clock as it counted down the precious time left before Papyrus would be travelling via explosion... to a place they wouldn't be able to find him. At every possible chance, they took shortcut after shortcut, hoping that the time shaved off would be enough.

Thankfully, the outside door remained unmoved, having been wrenched open by Undyne as they left earlier. When they all piled into the room, they looked around.

"he's not here," said Sans.

"Th-They've probably got him in the lab," said Alphys, panting. "I-It's this way; come on!" She hurried to the door and tried to wrench it open. "D-damn it."

"Move over." Undyne shoved the smaller monster out of the way as she and Asgore worked together to pry the door open.

"Elevator's broken, b-but I think we can get in." Alphys paused to think about this for a moment. "All right, Toriel, d-do you think you can climb down the shaft? It t-takes a lot of upper body strength..."

"Yes." Toriel replied. "I believe I can."

"Good. Undyne, you first. Then Toriel with S-Sans on her back... and Asgore, w-will you carry me?" She went a bit pink as she asked.

Asgore nodded. "Of course I will."

Undyne charged, leapt into the elevator shaft, and grabbed the cables, wasting no time in descending. Sans climbed onto Toriel's back and she followed, descending much more slowly than the fishwoman. Gently, Asgore hoisted Alphys onto his back, and with them entering the shaft, the five them descended the dank, dark elevator. The tiny flashlight attached to Undyne's belt was the only light they had, and that was moving farther from the pack with every passing second.

The dichotomy between the climbing styles of Undyne and the boss monsters was exceptionally clear. Whereas Toriel and Asgore were doing their best to descend gently, Undyne was shaking the cables with every grip. It got to be so bad a few times that Toriel urged her to slow down. She did, but only temporarily, as the thought of the timer served as a whip driving her forward.

As they reached the last several feet, Undyne let go and free fell before landing catlike on top of the broken elevator. She winced a bit, but pushed onward, breaking open the door on the elevator's roof and swinging inside, only to find that the doors were closed. Prying open the doors once more-which proved to be even more formidable than the other doors had been-she burst out into the main section of the True Lab.

It was dark, musty, and all kinds of unpleasant. Undyne covered her nostrils as she yanked her flashlight off her belt, looking around for a sign of anything suspicious. After five minutes of running around to no avail, she soon heard the sounds of the others emerging from the broken elevator.

She ran over to them, screeching to a halt. "Alphys, I can't find anything. Do you have any ideas?"

"Split up." Alphys said. "You and me go left, Toriel, Sans, and Asgore go right. Asgore and I are the only ones who know anything about this place's layout."

"I'm glad somebody knows; this place has too many doors!"

The five split up as proposed, the left group checking out the various exam rooms to the left, and the right group, once Asgore had pried open the door guarding it, exploring the right side.

"Nothing!" Undyne shouted, kicking one of the exam tables in frustration. "We might as well go join the others; this is all that's here, right?"

Alphys nodded. "Y-Yeah, it'd probably be best to-"