Howdy all! Here it is, finally! The long-awaited (hopefully) continuation of my Undertale series, Entwined File. This story takes place a couple months after the end of Armless Embrace... and just after the end of Corrupted File Exe by Petalthorn.
Now for those of you who are new, or have forgotten, let me remind you that there are two stories before this on my profile, Souls Entwined, followed by Armless Embrace. If you haven't read either of those yet, you should probably do that before reading this. Now, this story is also a collaboration between myself and the lovely Petalthorn. As such, it is best that you also read her story, Corrupted File Exe before reading this, so that you understand what's going on.
I know I said I wasn't uploading till the 18th, but I miscalculated how long it'd take for us to finish it up, so, here you go! Early chapter! I will be uploading this on Mondays and Fridays, so stay tuned!
Toby Fox owns Undertale and all associated characters. Alexander belongs to me, Fusion Frisk belongs to Petalthorn.
Alphys's gaze narrowed, sweat beading on her forehead, but she didn't dare try and wipe it away. She could only hope that it wouldn't slip into her eyes, distracting her. This would have to be done with the utmost precision.
Fluorescent lights lit the lab around her, various liquids bubbling and steaming in vials on the large counter behind her. Different machines hummed and beeped quietly to themselves, arrayed in such a chaotic fashion that she would be the only one to have any hope of finding anything. Her old exo-suit hung on the far wall across from her, kept in pristine condition mostly at Undyne's insistence. In case she ever needed it again.
It felt good to be back at work on experiments like this. The last major work she had done was when Kid had Fallen Down nearly three months ago. She suppressed a shudder. That whole ordeal had been a complete nightmare, and she prayed that she would never have to go through anything like that ever again.
She refocused her attention on the open dimensional box before her. It seemed to fade in and out of existence, pale blue lines the only things that showed its location. Any dimensional box hooked up to a phone would be invisible of course, and accessed through the phone's interface. It was a lot safer that way.
Part of Alphys's caution was derived from the fact that she really didn't know all that much about the boxes. They had been the work of the previous Royal Scientist. Of course, he had left behind blueprints that allowed their assembly, so Alphys could make them, but she didn't fully grasp how they worked. it was a gap in her knowledge that she planned to rectify. She would need to know how they worked if she was ever to improve on the formula.
She carefully reached forwards, a device not dissimilar to a welding torch in her hand, and flicked a switch, a short, thin beam of blue light extending from it. Warily, she made a light incision on the box, slicing an orange line down its middle. Small sparks of electricity flared from the hole, and she thought she could see blackness pooling inside.
Nothing unexpected there, she flicked the torch off and placed it to her side, pulling up a scanner to watch the readings of the-
"Alphys!" Undyne roared, causing the reptile to leap her height again into the air. Her wife burst through the doors and ran over to her, dressed in her casual black tank top and dull blue jeans. She had a gigantic smile on her face, and as soon as she reached the hapless scientist she lifted her into the air and twirled her around, laughing all the while.
"Alexander just said 'Mama!' He said it, Alphy!"
"U-Undyne, put me down!" Alphys said frantically, struggling in the warrior's grasp. "I'm working with very unstable materials here and-"
Her tail smashed into the table where she had been working, sending the contents scattering everywhere. The dimensional box hit the ground with a cracking noise, followed by a sound not unlike a loud inhalation, as if a massive being was taking its first breath. The box dissipated, and a large, multi-coloured tear appeared in the air above where it had been. The two women had time for a single shout of alarm, before the pressure from the rift sucked them into it.
In the house he shared with his brother, not too far away from Undyne and Alphys's home, Sans sat up straight in bed, sweat beading on his skull, his left eye blazing in a blue inferno.
"Just… just let it all out," Alphys soothed, rubbing Undyne's back as the fish warrior retched into the grass surrounding them, held up only by her hands and knees, and shuddering as she choked up another wave of bile.
The reptilian Monster took the moment of relative peace to survey their surroundings, for the two were most definitely not in her basement lab anymore. Behind them, the Rift they had come through crackled and pulsed with strange energy, it's many shifting colours almost enough to induce nausea on their own, even without Undyne's weak stomach to help the process.
There were standing at the top of a slight… inclination? It seemed like "hill" was too strong a word for the rise they were on. Not far to their right was Mt. Ebott, and Alphys thought she could see the cave entrance to the Underground if she squinted.
In the distance, she could make out the city, but something seemed…different about it. She knew she didn't get out as much as she perhaps should, but she didn't remember there being as many tall buildings as there were in the city across from them. Their city had two or three… skyscrapers? Yeah, that was what the Humans called them. This one had a few more, and more of the other buildings were taller too.
But the most telling thing, was that behind the city lay a great expanse of water. There was a lake behind their own city, to be sure, but it didn't compare to what they saw here.
What happened? She could swear left and right that the mountain beside them was Mt. Ebott... it was kind of unmistakeable! Had the Rift sent them across time? Or...somewhere else entirely?
Undyne gave a final, heaving shudder and stood shakily to her feet, grimacing as she wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand.
"What the hell just happened?" she asked angrily. "What's going on?"
Alphys narrowed her eyes at the fish warrior, looking up at her from behind her glasses.
"You just barged in! I told you that I was working with delicate materials in the lab, and not to disturb me unless it was important!" The lizard's tail twitched angrily as she spoke.
"It was important though! Alexander spoke!" Undyne defended weakly, but she had the decency to look sheepish doing so, and her ear fins drooped slightly.
Alphys sighed, removing her spectacles to give her clawed hand more room to massage her forehead.
"Yes it was. But you didn't have to throw me around like that! Can't you do anything calmly?"
"Sorry…" Undyne muttered.
Alphys gave another sigh and pinched the bridge of her snout just above her nostrils before looking up again, replacing her glasses on her face.
"I forgive you," she finally murmured. And she meant it, even if she was still a little annoyed at her wife for causing this mess… whatever this mess was, exactly. Undyne brightened slightly at that, though she gave Alphys a look that assured the scientist that the fish-warrior really was sorry.
Alphys looked back over to the city, shading her eyes to protect from the setting sun.
"It's getting late..." she said quietly. "Was I in the lab that long?"
Undyne followed her gaze, frowning.
"Not really, just a couple hours. It should be.. hang on, I'll check my phone."
She pulled the device out of her jean pocket and tapped on the screen. Nothing happened. She frowned, tapping it again a few times.
"What? I just charged this piece of crap, how the hell is it out of battery already!?"
Alphys rummaged through the pockets of her own lab coat, pulling out her own phone and the other various devices she had on her. All dead.
"Hmmm…" Alphys turned to look back at the rift for a moment before looking away again. "It looks like.. like all our electronic stuff got shorted out going through the-" She stopped. "Oh no!"
She quickly grabbed Undyne's left arm, pulling it toward her in a panic, looking closely at the thick metal armband that was Undyne's Determination Recycler. She ran her claws over the smooth surface and a holographic interface lit up. Alphys frantically waved her claws, checking on all the systems while Undyne looked on, with a small smile on her face. The little reptile was always so cute when she went into nerd mode.
Finally, Alphys sighed in relief, dispersing the interface, though she checked on the tube that ran from the armband to the base of her hand first, making sure it was still properly attached.
"Oh thank god… It's alright."
"Of course it is, you made this thing to be just about unbreakable!" Undyne enthused. No stupid… uh.. whatever that thing is is gonna undo my girl's work!"
Alphys couldn't help a smile spread across her face at Undyne's enthusiasm.
"W-well, just let me know if you start feeling weak okay? I can't take any chances with that."
Undyne threw the scientist a salute, then turned back to the city.
"So… at least it's not that far of a walk back down there… I don't really want to go back through that thing again."
Alphys shook her head.
"Definitely not. And… I -I don't want to risk it… not until I'm sure your DT recycler is still working at full capacity. But…" she hesitated. "Undyne I… I think we shouldn't go back to the city just yet.
The fish looked at her in surprise.
"What? Why not? Alexander's there alone, and he might still be a little guy, but you know he can already cause some damage, and we can't call Toriel or Asgore to take care of him."
Alphys waved a claw at the city.
"Undyne… I don't think that's our city."
"What do you mean? Of course it' is!" Undyne looked back at it, but her yellow eye narrowed as she too finally noticed the inconsistencies.
"Hey, you're right!" She took a deep sniff and her frown deepened. "And that's… I can smell salt water! We're not beside any ocean…" She looked back at the mountain. "But that's definitely Mt. Ebott! What the hell is going on?"
"I… I'm not sure." Alphys said quietly. "but I think it might be best if we go back into the Underground tonight. There might be enough stuff in my old lab left over to set something up.. maybe we can figure out what's going on here."
Undyne grinned at her.
"Hah! I knew you'd come up with something, nerd! Alright, let's go!"
There was a ruffling of papers as Dogamy shuffled through a pile in the living room of the Royal's Home. Sitting across from him, was Gerson. The turtle monster was resting his head on a hand, eyes nearly closed. Dogamy didn't look much better.
"Anything good?" the turtle asked him.
Dogamy shook his head, drawing a hand over his face with a quiet groan. "There's nothing too good-our human companions found another location, but...no sign of the two."
Gerson sighed quietly. "Poor kids," he murmured. "They better be all right."
"I second that," Dogamy replied, scanning over another paper. "There's supposed to be another report coming in soon, so I should probably go to where I can receive it."
"At least Mettaton figured out how to make our internet compatible with theirs," Gerson pointed out.
"It beats walking down the mountain," the canine agreed, before looking at the older monster with worry. "Are you going to be all right? After what happened-especially when it's concerning you…"
Gerson waved it aside. "Don't worry so much, Pup. I'm old, not helpless. It's not like I'm going to go seeking out a fight or anything, you can leave me and the Neck Warmer alone for an hour, ya know."
Dogamy snorted at the nick name Gerson had given the child. "Can you please take it easy all the same?"
"I don't make promises," Gerson replied, stifling a yawn. "Anyways, Pup, you're in the same boat as me," he added, pointing at him. "You need rest as well. Considering those furballs you got running around."
"Gerson, I can't, not with this going on and-"
"And being the Captain of the Royal Guard, yadda, yadda-even Undyne slept, ya know."
Dogamy dead-panned. "This is why people have half the mind to strangle you."
Gerson smirked, and shrugged a little.
"Grandpa Gerson…? Uncle Dogamy?"
The two looked over to the entry to the main hall, where a child was leaning against the wall, rubbing an eye, having woken up recently. Dogamy gave a sympathetic smile.
"There you are, Frisk, did you sleep well?"
"I guess…"
"Well, there's my Neck Warmer," Gerson teased. "Feeling any better?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore, but…"
The smile turned to a look of concern. "They're still not talking, kid?"
"There's nothing."
Dogamy breathed out. "Child, we know they're still there, if their souls left…"
The child nodded, looking up with dual colored eyes, one orange, and the other blue. "I know, if their souls were gone, I'd be fully human again."
Gerson tiredly stood, groaning quietly, biting back a hiss of pain as his body protested. "Considering everything, they're probably just dormant for a while, Frisk. It's a big deal for monster souls to have magic drained like that-and who knows what it's like when they're drained while in this state."
He came over, patting their head between the large white horns. "Just give it time, I mean, look at us. It's been a month, and we're still crawling around like those zombies in that movie we ended up watching."
"The good news is that our magic is replenishing," Dogamy assured. "My brother is actually getting some of his vision back."
Gerson nodded. "And heaven knows Doggo needs that." He slowly knelt to be more at Frisk's height, unable to resist a smile as their ear fins twitched slightly. "Look, just give them time, I'm sure you'll be hearing them again-and then dragging yourself over for headache medicine."
Frisk gave a quiet grumble as he ruffled their hair, and then Dogamy stood. "Was there something you needed, Frisk?"
Frisk gave a quiet hum, yellow tail twitching, before they nodded. "I wanted to go to the garden with Grandpa Gerson," they said, pointing toward the stairs to signal that they meant the throne room. "The flowers need to be watered."
Gerson gave a nod. "Sure, just let's grab you some breakfast first," he said, slowly standing back up.
"I can make food," Dogamy insisted quickly. "And honestly, Gerson, it's past lunch time now." With the recent incident, everyone's sleep schedules were beyond broken.
"It's their first meal, therefore: Breakfast."
Dogamy face palmed, and then slowly sighed. "Regardless, you need to rest-in fact-you shouldn't be leaving the house."
"Do I look like I'm dying?" Gerson asked, folding his arms as he raised a brow at the dog monster.
"Your shell is still cracked beyond all belief-you shouldn't be moving around!" Dogamy quietly exclaimed, his tone relaying his concern. Frisk winced, looking at the shell, seeing the deep spiderweb cracks that spread all over it from the center. They weren't as bad as they had been a month ago, but they were still healing-albeit at a snail's pace.
"Then a compromise," Gerson said. "You can make breakfast, but I'll still tag along with the kid to the garden."
Dogamy folded his arms, glaring at the stubborn turtle. "So long as you don't go anywhere else."
"I won't unless it's an emergency."
The dog still gave a slight snort of irritation. "Honestly…" he grumbled, before moving over to the kitchen, rubbing bleary eyes.
After their meal, Frisk left with Gerson to the throne room garden, though once there, the turtle was quick to find a place to sit in the flowers. Frisk looked around with a soft, quiet sound. The throne room was a little different now, due to the fact that both thrones were now in the back, covered in white sheets.
Frisk adjusted the red scarf they wore, making sure the end of the tails covered their palms, with neat little knots resting on the back of their hands to keep them in place, and even now, they still wore a blue hoodie. Mt. Ebott wasn't known to be cold, but unless it was unbearingly hot, Frisk tend to keep the scarf and hoodie around at all times.
They looked to Gerson, quietly hugging him. Frisk still wasn't much for words, and Gerson knew that with the others absent, they were mostly back to their usual silent self, avoiding conversation when possible. "I'm fine, kid," he assured, petting their head. "I'm just going to rest, I'll be right here…"
They mumbled, shuffling on their white Monster feet.
Gerson chuckled. "Need to speak a bit louder than that, you know I can't hear well."
"I wanted to take care of some of the plants by the entrance too," Frisk said, raising their voice just enough so that he could actually make out the words.
The turtle thought about it for a few moments, and then nodded. "All right, but when you get there, holler if you need anything...and come running back if there is so much as a leaf out of place-and keep the entrance in sight-and-"
Frisk couldn't help a giggle, covering their mouth with their fingers, before they finally finished laughing. "I'll be careful, Grandpa Gerson," they promised.
Gerson smirked, seeing that his over exaggerated protectiveness had gotten them to laugh. He sighed in content, and leaned back, tipping his hat forward to shadow his eyes. Frisk smiled, and then took the watering can they had brought along, swiftly tending to the garden.
It helped, in some ways, to tend to Asgore's flowers. Frisk wasn't sure if it was because of his soul, but… They touched their horns. Tending to the garden calmed their nerves and lessened their worries, so Frisk had been trying to go out there a bit more often as of late, due to the absence of their friends.
Usually, they would have been murmuring things in the background by now, but for the past month, it had been silent. One would have thought Frisk would be relieved by that, as it meant it was back to being normal, and not having to share their head with about seven other occupants. However…
Frisk felt very alone. The silence that they had grown up with in their head was now far too noticeable. They liked to have their thoughts to themselves, perhaps-but it wasn't worth the missing presence of their friends.
They hummed quietly, trying to make up for the silence as they tended to the flowers. The other magics...they didn't feel those either. In most ways, they almost felt like themselves again-aside from the obvious physical traits that refused to go back to normal.
Their dual colored eyes narrowed in thought as they continued, thinking over the past events. They had overheard Dogamy talking...the two still hadn't been found. Frisk bit their lip. Those two were vulnerable, and they knew that the people who took them wouldn't hesitate to...Frisk shuddered at the image, and then shook their head to get it back out.
They had to find them.
Frisk hoped that once everyone recovered from the incident, tracking down those two would actually be a simple task, but for the moment, their friends were mostly down for the count, their magic still recovering. Even poor Napstablook had been hit, and the ghost couldn't even muster up the energy to hover as he used too, reduced to sliding about on the floor when he wasn't resting.
The only one who wasn't worse for wear was Mettaton, but that was because of more physical body protecting him, if not for that, he'd be just as bad as Napstablook was. Then there was Grillby and Muffet…
The fire elemental had been so badly drained that he had been mostly extinguished, and for a while now, Grillby had been unable to absorb flames to regain his form, leaving Muffet to fret over him constantly-not that anyone could blame her. After those two had gone missing, it only stood to reason that the spider monster would fret over her husband like that.
Frisk had been staring into space so long, they hadn't noticed that they had tended the garden-and were now trying to spill water on the floor-though thankfully, the can was already empty.
However, Frisk and Gerson had tended to the garden enough in order to know to at least bring two watering cans, with the other nestling beside the now slumbering turtle monster. Frisk smiled a little, and went over. They slowed, and then knelt beside him, hugging him quietly, their smile fading. He was an old monster-and he had been so badly hurt and drained of precious magic.
It scared Frisk to think that something could possibly take him away from them, as Frisk didn't think they could go through losing others again so soon. If Frisk had their way though; there would be no such thing as heartbreak, loss, or death. Frisk wanted the happy ending, but the more they tried to fix it, the further away it seemed to be.
Frisk stayed there a little longer than needed, before pulling away from the worn out turtle. Then, they grabbed the watering can, heading for the exit. They wouldn't go far, just to some plants that bordered the entrance, and as always-since the incident-they'd be on guard for trouble.
The odd combination of human and monster stepped out, closing their eyes for a moment to enjoy the sun's warmth-even if it was already ebbing away into the sea. They waited, always hoping this would lure the others out of their slumber...but the voices didn't come. Frisk sighed, knowing they had been asking for too much.
It was worth a shot though, and that was why Frisk looked for the excuse to get outside from time to time, as, due to the incident, everyone was wary of letting them out of the Underground. Though Frisk didn't fully like the idea as it meant that they couldn't see a few of their friends down in the city unless they took the time to climb up here-which wasn't really an option for one of them-and vehicles didn't agree to Mt. Ebott's slopes.
They tended to the few plants that did actually grow by the entrance, and then, they set the can aside, and moved over to the ledge that overlooked the slopes, where the city could be seen, the sun setting into the ocean beyond.
Frisk sighed softly in contentment, and sat down, feet dangling over the edge, the wind ruffling the short fur. This was always nice at least...They leaned back, looking up at the sky as its blue colors began to change to the red and golds of the evening hours.
"C'mon, almost there babe," Undyne encouraged, looking back at the flagging scientist.
Alphys just huffed in exhaustion, stumbling up the mountain after the fish-warrior. Undyne narrowed her eye at the reptile's raspy breathing. She bounded back towards her, and scooped Alphys up, ignoring the squeak of alarm as she held her bridal style.
"There," Undyne said, giving Alphys a toothy grin. "Much better, don't you think?"
Alphys's scales turned red, and she hid her face in Undyne's chest. The warrior just laughed and resumed taking long strides up the mountainside. To her, Alphys weighed next to nothing, and didn't slow her down at all.
She briefly wondered if Alexander would, like Alphys, have his scales change colour when he was embarrassed. She hoped so.
The two were close to the Underground's entrance now. They had come at it from the side, with Undyne traversing boulders and loose stones with ease and grace. As she climbed the narrow pathway up, she stayed against the mountain wall, not paying too much attention to the sheer drop on her right.
So long as she followed the wall, she'd eventually get to the cave entrance. With that, she turned the corner, and just as she had guessed, she could see the large entrance, and the cliff that stretched out around it. As they turned the corner, they saw a child sitting at the edge of the cliff, dangling their feet over the edge. At their approach, the little one's ear fins twitched and they turned their head towards the two.
Upon seeing them, both their eyes widened in horror and they scrambled to their feet, backing away and clutching the watering can like it was a weapon.
"Wh-who are you?" they managed shakily, quivering so much that water was spilling out of the tin can.
Undyne gave a concerned look at the child, putting Alphys down and taking a step towards them.
"Hey kid, what're you doing up here? This isn't a safe place to play. Where are your parents?"
Alphys peeked around from behind the taller Monster's legs as she spoke, noting with amusement how Undyne's relatively new motherly instinct shifted from protectiveness and caution, to shaking their son upside-down by one foot. An act that the lizard was sure would one day give her a heart attack.
Frisk quivered, and then raised their head. They could feel their fins-their tail-there was no way those two could be standing there! Heart pounding, Frisk took a step forward, pointing at them with their empty hand.
"I asked a question! Who are you!?" Still, while that was loud for Frisk, it was just slightly above an indoor voice for most. Their white furred feet dug into the ground, and they lowered their head slightly, their eyes staring straight on. Briefly, Frisk reached into their mind, searching for a response, but as usual...nobody came.
"Whoa now, easy there, punk." Undyne chuckled, impressed by the display before her. "I'm Undyne, and this is Alphys." She scratched absently at her DT recycler, where the tube pierced her flesh and the base of her hand.
Frisk shook their head, slowly side stepping toward the entrance. They could hardly believe what they were seeing-no, they couldn't believe it, because the truth was right on them. It was a trick-imposters-illusion magic-they didn't know, but it couldn't be them!
"That's a lie," Frisk murmured, their voice just above a whisper now.
Their gaze locked on the DT recycler. Was that somehow making that trick-no-as far as they could tell, the lizard didn't wear that. The child starting backing warily toward the entrance, taking a deep breath. Help was just a few rooms away.
Alphys, sensing the rising tension, took a step forward.
"Umm… we're kind of… lost. S-something happened and we ended up here." Alphys nervously fiddled with her wedding ring as she spoke, a habit she'd picked up over the years. "Uh, wh-what's your name? We told you ours..."
This had to be a trick-and Frisk wasn't about to give them answers. Instead, they turned with a scream. "GRANDPA!" they cried, diving into the cave.
Undyne blinked after the fleeing child.
"Grandpa?"
"I think they were calling for help…" Alphys muttered. "They seemed…scared of us."
"Yeah… I guess…" Undyne said slowly. "Hey Alph… is it just me or was their magic signature… really weird?"
Alphys slowly nodded.
"Y-you noticed that too?"
"Yeah, I did. And I'm getting real tired of not knowing what's going on, especially if this is what the welcome wagon looks like."
"We sh-should probably follow them then."
Undyne sighed and turned to the cave entrance.
"Yeah, you're right. Stay behind me though… just in case this "Grandpa" decides to hit first and ask questions later." She strode into the cave, Alphys scurrying just behind her.