Undertale: Aleph Null

A New Challenger Appears

I finally find my way out of the rubble and walk onto an empty plane, the dust still clearing. I could see Mt. Ebott in the distance, only a few miles away.

The dust settled slowly, and as it was almost done, I saw a figure standing around ten yards away. He was tall, muscular, six feet at least, wearing a thin black jacket and jeans. But that wasn't the main part, it was his face; he was staring right at me with an infuriatingly cocky grin.

"That was quite the spectacle. Maybe a little extreme in hindsight," he finally said, starting to walk forward. I put my shield up as I threw my knife, but he didn't flinch, and without time to catch it, he held his left arm up and let it cut right through, stopping it from cutting through his head. He put his arm down, his face splattered in his blood, as he pulled the knife out and tossed it aside. "Yeah, that's about how I was expecting this to go."

He started walking forward again, wiping off his face on his white t-shirt, and I got ready to fight; I keep forgetting how a fight with a willing human takes more than one hit. They might even be close to comparable normally if they could also wield magic. But he wasn't even getting into a stance, he just walked closer and put his right hand over his wound, covering it with... ice?

He... "Humans can't use magic!" I yelled, catching him off guard, but his smile quickly returned as he stopped, still leaving himself wide open.

"That's rich coming from you. They very well can, plain and simple." Who is this guy? "Though I don't think that's what you should be worried about. You did kind of just declare war with the entire army." He glanced towards the wreckage, then back at me. What does he want?

"What do you mean, 'declared war?'" He doesn't look like military, and talked about them separately. "Are you another of Sans' pawns?"

"Dude, you just murdered a bunch of military officials and brought down one of their buildings. They're not going to take that lightly, and should be here in five minutes or so. And, I wouldn't say pawn, per se."

So he doesn't even know his place. But he is very confident, due to ignorance or actual skill, there has to be a reason Sans would pick him. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to see you in person, and I was told to by Sans. Plus, I thought I might be able to give you some pointers to get better." I can't tell if he's joking or not.

"What would you gain from it?"

He looked happy at the question, then his grin widened as he looked down at me almost sadistically. "A good fight."

"You could never beat me"

"And Sans could? Tell me, what makes him so special in order to be on a higher level than humanity?" He had to be joking.

"You don't know?"

"Please, you think Sans would tell his pawn everything. I can only guess that he told me what I needed to know. I've been able to get bits and pieces of more, but that's about it." So he does know his place at least. Sans most likely had a purpose for leaving anything out, and I have a few minutes before the military arrives.

"Fine, I'll tell you. But you have to tell me something in return."

He sat down in front of me as his eyes narrowed. "Deal. I can tell you Sans' next step."

I took a few steps back, looked around for anyone, lowered my shield and went on with it. "Humans and monsters are very different in many ways. Monsters are a lot more... fragile. Though their magic can maintain their physical form through barrages, keeping them at peak effectiveness until the final blow, most's bodies don't take much to break, and when that magic's used up, their body crumbles. They rely on magic, a powerful force, yet to any determined human, their flaws can be taken advantage of. Monster bodies are inherently weak, but can wield magic over the elements. And although some of the strongest monsters can have magic that imitates that of human's abilities, it can never match the real thing.

"Humans are like the opposite. They can use the power their SOUL gives them, abilities granted from birth. But magic is never something they could hold, or so I thought. But the most powerful thing humans have ever had was their will. Determination runs through all, and with the breakable, but completely physical bodies of humans, they can hold Determination, a force of power that can turn the tides of battle and empower any human beyond their limits. Monster bodies have held it before, but they can't hold it for long without melting.

"Sans has the abilities of the strongest monsters of the underground, giving him the power equivalent of a single human SOUL."

He looked down, taking it all in. After a few seconds he looked back up. "And how are you planning on combating that?"

"With my Determination."

"You think you can win just with Determination. You'll be slaughtered."

"What do you know?"

"To an extent, Sans. Besides, you haven't even been using just Determination. Your shield, that's a Kindness SOUL. If you want to stand a chance, you'll need more, or something to contain that power safely. I know you both aren't the type of people to beat the other by becoming these 'gods,' but why not use that power to your advantage?"

"Who do you think you are? You think you can just some random human can walk in and disrupt Sans' plans?"

"Oh please, you're enacting the law of probability? I don't know half of what your day has been like, but I think if you look at even one element, you would have came to the same 'improbability' conclusion." He's right.

He started to stand up, putting his hand out for... a handshake? "Now. You have a powerset that is still growing. You better train hard until we meet again. Because I want to fight you at your best, or is that only a thing that can be between you two?" 'You two?'

"Who are you?" I'm starting to see why Sans might have picked him.

"That's not important. What is important is the end result. Who will win," he gestured to himself, "the 'good guys,'" then pointed to me, "or the 'bad guy?'"

Why did he say it like that? Whatever. I swatted away his hand. "Why help your enemy? Are you saying you could beat me as I am now?" That's not possible, no human could match up to the same level, magic or not.

"Oh, not at all. I doubt I'd live very long against you now. On the terms of helping an enemy, well, because I want someone who can kick Sans' ass."

"You want me to win? Who's side are you on?"

"I'm on humanities' side. The side of time moving forward as it should. I rather like having people alive. But as I've said, I'm not exactly happy staying as just a pawn for someone I don't know."

Though, what about Sans? Does he even know about any of this? He has to, no one can trick him. "So you knew he was using you?"

He turned around and started walking back to where he tossed my knife. "Of course, you'd have to be an idiot not to." He looked back to me, once again with that grin as he returned, setting the knife down in front of me." No offense."

"What's stopping me from killing you right now?" I said as I picked up my knife. No more beating around the bush.

"That burning curiosity inside you is. You want to see what I'm capable of, don't you?" Do I? We stared at each other for a second before we both noticed the sounds of helicopters in the distance. "Alright, enough talk. I need to get out of here." He pointed to me as he turned to leave, looking more serious than before. "Be ready for Sans, you weren't the only one training in those 'few minutes.'"

He turned around, and started to walk off to the right. "Wait! What's Sans' next step?"

He slowed down, lifting his hand up and pointing off the side of Mt. Ebott. "Oh, right. Your old village. He wanted you to do one more thing before he said he'd actually fight you."

"Why?" My old village. What could he possibly want there?

"No time. Now you better put your shield up again before the snipers pick you off." I put my shield up as quick as I could, turning back to see the helicopters moving closer on the horizon.

I couldn't really see much other than that, but it wasn't long before I heard a loud ping off my shield that almost knocking me over. After I get my balance back, I see a few soldiers and tanks rolling towards me, still far away. Okay, no time for explanations. I have an army to fight.