The Determination Crisis (Part 1)
((This takes place 2 and a half months ( 75 days ) after the events that took place in the “Underworld” arc. As a point of plot, due to the indefinite postponement of the arc, Cronus had used a significant portion of his DT (Determination) to help regenerate the bodies of CP, Cool Paps (Green), and Red (All muses of Underbrothertale) around the souls recovered from Xibalba (or the Underworld). However, unknown to everyone else, the DT wasn’t returned to Cronus after the revival was kick started, and the side effects from this had been increasingly getting worse, with severe pain wracking his body in intervals.))
Cronus woke with a start, pain shooting through his body. He sat up, gasping, as his entire body convulsed in waves of agony, each wave of pain worse than the last. After about five minutes, the waves of pain began to die down, and eventually stopped all together. Cronus sighed, and, very slowly, swung his legs around to the floor.
This had been going on for quite some time, Cronus thought. Ever since the raid on Xibalba, and the ritual to revive his brothers, things had been… wrong with Cronus. He had determined that, when he channeled his DT into the souls of his brothers, so that the dust around them would form bodies, that the DT did not return to him. Instead, it had been used up, either being absorbed into the newly formed bodies of his brothers, or faded into the air around them. The pain he had experienced was a result of, from what Cronus could gather, a form of ‘withdrawal’. His DT levels had dropped so low that, from what he could gather, they were almost on par with what a Frisk would have. Normally, a monster wouldn’t be able to handle that, but, due to a certain…. Experiment done by his creator, he was able to handle it. Not only that, but his body, and SOUL, had grown used to the high levels he had had for centuries, levels that were normally two and a half times more higher than that of a Frisk. Now, though, for the first time in almost 600 years, he had lost almost all of it.
By this point, Cronus had made it to the bathroom, and looked into the mirror. He noticed the crack under his left eye, which had appeared shortly after the ritual, had grown slightly from the most recent waves of pain. The waves of pain seem to be occurring at stable intervals, normally every 4 - 6 hours. However, things had been getting…. Worse. Lately, Cronus thought, the pain had been increasing, with the waves lasting longer and longer as well.
Something was happening. And this something was about to get worse.
Cronus began to cough violently, his entire body shaking with each cough. He moved to cover his mouth with his hand and, after the coughing subsided, was shocked at what he saw. A glowing, red substance had come out of his mouth, which began to evaporate into the air. Panicked, Cronus pulled out his SOUL, horror creeping onto his face. Cracks had formed, small in size, but deep, and, from them, the liquid was slowly oozing from it. Cronus then realized what the substance was, further to his horror. It was DT. His SOUL had cracked, and from it, DT was slowly coming out.
Cronus had no choice now, and he knew it. He had to find a way to raise his DT levels back up, either to what they had been, or above. And fast, he thought, before this got any worse. But one problem was present: Where the hell was he going to get DT from? It’s not like he could just go up to a living thing and take it from them! He had to find a way to….
And then it dawned on him. The DT Pill! The very same pill that had first been used to raise his DT levels to begin with, of course! Cronus, as fast as he could, returned to his bedroom, and began to change into this travelling clothes. Now that he knew his course of action, he just had to find a timeline to visit, and get the pill. Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple, but at least it was something, he thought.
As soon as he was changed, Cronus opened a portal to the multiverse, and stepped into it. From there, he let his mind wander, searching for a timeline that would contain a DT Pill. Normally, when he did this, searching for timelines, he would try his best to avoid timelines that at all involved the pill. But, to his luck, he found a timeline relatively quick. It was a GZ!Tale timeline, all right. He could feel the magical energies from it swirling around him. And this one, he thought, was special. It was a branch from his own timeline! He was able to sense the energies of his counterpart, and determined that this timeline had not yet lost its Gaster.
Excellent! Cronus thought, the pills should still be around! And not only that, but something else was still present. When the Gaster of his timeline fell into the Core, most of the information involving the research and creation of himself had disappeared, as if anything pertaining to Gaster had vanished with him. But, with any luck, Cronus was about to also stumble upon the very secrets of his creation!
Cronus snapped out of this train of thought. He had to focus, and get the DT Pill first. If he had any time afterward, he would go and search for the information. With a course of action in mind, Cronus began the process of accessing the timeline, which required him to find the correct code that would allow for his portal to materialize. He began his search, hope of a cure within his reach, at long last….