Annnd we're back! Welcome to all readers, returning and new alike! If you are a new reader, then I just want to reiterate that this is the fourth part of a series. The first story is called "Souls Entwined", and the rest of the books can be found in chronological order on my homepage. Also, you may want to check out the author Petalthorn's story, "Corrupted File Exe" as it is also technically a part of the series. (I know it's a lot of reading, but I like to think it's worth it.)

So, on Aftermath, this story will be set up in a similar style to Armless Embrace (the second story in the series) The first half of the story will be on my side of the Rift, and the second half will take place in the Corrupted File world, as both sides are closed off at the moment due to the events of the last story.

Also, we will be uploading this story Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'm very excited to be putting this up, Aftermath serves a very important purpose for the series as a whole. What that is, you'll just have to see...

Toby fox owns Undertale and all associated characters.

She had worked on many projects before. The Determination experiments. Attaching dimensional boxes to phones for easy access. Creating Kid's visor, and building a body for Mettaton… and for Chara. But standing here, now, with the dessicated husk that had once held Chara's soul on the table before her…well. Even after what had happened to the Amalgamates, at least they were still alive.

"Why?" Alphys muttered, trying to avoid looking at the blackened, twisted metal, even though such a task was impossible while she rummaged around within it, pulling out various charred circuits and wires from it and spreading them out across the table.

"Why did you explode? It doesn't make sense!" She continued her rambling, attempting to keep her mind off what she was doing. "E-even if your core was pierced… there were failsafes to stop something like this from happening! Why didn't they work?"

Searching within what had been Chara's chest, her hand closed on a small box. She quickly unhooked it from the wires that had held it in place and put it on the table next to the rest of the things she had salvaged from the robot.

"There you are…l-let's see if you can tell me what happened…and if there's anything left."

She inspected the small black box, frowning as she noted that even that had not escaped the explosion unscathed. It sported two large dents, and a small crack down the middle that gave her a glimpse into the mess of wires and flashing lights inside.

She pulled a scanner from her lab coat, and hooked it up to the black box, her frown deepening at the amount of corrupted data being displayed on the screen.

"Come on, give me something…" She began scrolling through the scanner, trying to make sense of the bits of data that weren't corrupted. Her frustration began to mount, as more and more unreadable text scrolled past, until she let out a cry and slammed her fist onto the table.

"D-damn it! You're supposed to monitor the systems! This is all useless!"

In the wake of her outburst, she took in a few deep breaths, attempting to calm her nerves. The data had to be there… she just needed to figure out how to access it.

An idea came to her, and she turned her attention the the jumble of pieces that she had salvaged. She narrowed her eyes in concentration. Maybe…

A few minutes passed, then Alphys looked down at the messy tangle of wires and circuits that attached all the spare parts to the black box, and then to the computer. It wasn't pretty, but it might be enough to get what she needed.

At the click of her mouse, various windows popped up on her screen, each one displaying it's own set of incomplete data. Sensor readings, magic levels, internal systems, battery levels, each one providing a different piece to the puzzle.

Wait. Alphys narrowed her gaze on the readings. According to them, Chara's battery had malfunctioned just a few days ago, keeping it from recharging. She checked the other data, and realized it must have been when she had gone through the Rift the first time. Alphys glared at the shimmering scar in the air on the other side of the room, before returning her attention to her work..

"How didn't she notice that?" the reptile murmured searching through the data for clues. "She said she felt a little drained, but… she was running on virtually no energy! That's more than a little-"

She cut herself off with a gasp. From that she could piece together, it had been… nearly two weeks since her battery had been anywhere near the level it should have been, even before the Rift had opened. If she was used to her battery being drained, she wouldn't have noticed the malfunction. If her energy was low, that meant she must have been powering herself through her own magic. And if that was the case...

"Alphys?"

The scientist didn't look up at her wife's soft voice, she had lowered her her head into her hands and was shuddering as she fully realized what had happened. Even when she felt Undyne's strong hands fall upon her shoulders, she didn't raise her head.

"Did you find anything?" Undyne asked quietly, rubbing small circles into Alphys' shoulders with her thumbs.

"She's gone," the yellow reptile whispered hoarsely. She felt Undyne's grip tighten slightly, though not painfully so.

"You sure?" Undyne asked, still keeping her voice quiet. "I mean, Chara's soul is different than anything else we've seen before, maybe…"

Undyne trailed off as Alphys shook her head slowly.

"If a non-corporeal being fuses with it's body, they become part of the body," Alphys explained, tears in her voice. "I-if the body is destroyed… so are they. E-even if she didn't work like that somehow, she'd been powering everything with her magic for…far too long. By the time she…" the scientist swallowed. "She died…there wouldn't have been enough magic left to keep her alive. She's gone."

"Damn it." Undyne's voice was slightly shaky, and she pulled Alphys off her chair and into an embrace. The reptile just sagged into the hug, and made no move to return it.

"I-I had safeguards to stop something like this from happening," Alphys explained, trying to wipe her eyes dry with the one hand that wasn't pinned to her side by Undyne's strong arms. "B-but, by the time her core was pierced, she wouldn't have had enough battery power or magic left to activate any of them. And so she's…" Alphys went silent and buried her face into Undyne's tank top.

"T-this is all my fault! I should have-"

"Hey!" Undyne pulled back and lifted Alphys's chin so that her tear-filled gaze met the piercing yellow stare of the fish woman.

"Don't give me any of that! You did everything you could!"

"But if I'd checked up on her systems like I was going to, I could have stopped this!"

"Hey, you know Chara," Undyne replied, managing a small grin. "She almost had me beat for stubbornness. And you would have given her the check-up if I hadn't trashed the lab."

"S-still! I should have-"

"What did I tell you about beating yourself up about this kind of stuff? Listen, you didn't want Chara to die any more than anyone else did. You did your best. This is not. Your. Fault."

Undyne pressed her lips to Alphys's forehead, silencing the reptile. Then she glanced at the shimmering scar indicating the closed Rift, changing the subject in the hopes of diverting her wife's self-deprecation.

"I still don't like that this thing is down here. What if it opens again, and more of those things come through?"

"I'll set up some defences later," Alphys promised tiredly. "A-and maybe I'll s-start using the main lab more often, but… it's better to have it where we can monitor it."

"I guess," Undyne grumbled. "I don't want you down here alone while it's here though. I'm not risking you to this. And that includes when you have some idea in the middle of the night."

"Does that mean you'll come down with me that late?"

Undyne snorted.

"Hell no. It means I'll get you to write it down, and then chain you to the bed to make sure you don't go anywhere. Crazy nerd."

Despite herself, Alphys let out a soft giggle through the trickling tears.

"S-sorry…"

"Don't be sorry," Undyne soothed, adjusting her grip on the reptile to make sure she was still comfortable. "You do that often enough. Come on, let's go upstairs and watch some anime, okay?

"W-wait." Undyne paused just as she was about to start walking and looked at Alphys in confusion. The reptile gave a loud sniff and wiped at her eyes one more time.

"I… I have to call Toriel," Alphys managed to keep her voice mostly steady, only letting a slight waver in her tone get through. "I… I have to tell her…"

"I'll do it." Undyne stated firmly. "You don't-"

"I do," Alphys insisted. "I-it has to be me. But umm, could you… be with me when I do it?"

"Of course, love." Undyne replied softly, placing Alphys down and kneeling so she remained at eye level with her, moving her hands so both of them grasped one of Alphys's.

"You know I'm always there for you."

"I see." Toriel spoke into the phone, her voice barely above a whisper. "T-thank you for telling me."

She barely heard Alphys's apologies on the other end, absently hitting the button ending the call. She could feel her strength draining out of her, and she let her arm fall, the phone slipping out of her loose grasp and clattering to the hardwood floor of the dining room. She began to shake uncontrollably and her legs quickly gave out, causing her to collapse to her hands and knees as she started to cry.

She didn't notice as Asgore poked his head in from the living room, stopping short when he saw his wife's position. It wasn't until he knelt at her side, an arm draped loosely across her back that she realized he was there, though that knowledge only made her cry all the harder.

"Tori…"

"She's g-gone, Asgore." The former queen barely managed to choke out the words. "We… we failed her again."

Tears had begun running down Asgore's face, but he did his best to keep his voice level and soothing for his wife's sake.

"Tori… it's not your fault."

"We promised her!" Toriel wailed, her large, white-furred hands grasping at nothing. "We promised we would take care of her… and we failed her twice! " As Toriel's shudders became more violent, Asgore pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her, crushing her close to him. She did not resist, and her shaking eased a bit, though it did not stop entirely.

"Asgore…" Her voice was a moan, filled with nothing but grief and despair. "What is the point? Am I destined to remain here forever, watching my children die around me for eternity? Frisk… our baby… they will just be taken from us too."

"They will not," Asgore declared, rocking back and forth in an attempt to comfort his wife. "Toriel, I swear to you, I will die before I allow harm to come to our children again."

"I do not wish more death, Asgore." Toriel sniffed. "But I… I am so tired. We were never meant to live this long. I do not want to see everyone we know pass on before us again. I want to have our child, to watch her grow up into a beautiful woman, and then… I want to have peace."

"I know," Asgore whispered. "Just please, hold on, my love."

"Mom? Dad?" Both Boss Monsters turned to look to Frisk, who had appeared in the doorway, his eyes rimmed with red and his face twisted in grief. His parents opened their arms to him and he ran to them, falling to his knees and wrapping his arms around them both as far as he could go.

From the living room, Kid rose from the couch and shakily made his way to the kitchen, avoiding the dining room and heading for the door leading outside. He had known that Alphys would call the family first once she knew, so he had stayed with them, hoping against hope…

But that didn't matter now, did it? And he had already heard more than he needed too. He couldn't stay here anymore, so he quietly exited the house and began shambling down the street in the vague direction of his home. His eyes were unfocused, and he barely paid attention to what was going on around him.

And, as it had been since Chara's death, his eyes were dry.

Kid silently dragged his feet into his house, not bothering to take the effort to close the door behind him. As he reached the living room, Napstablook appeared in the center of the room, looking to his son in concern and cautiously floating over to him.

"Oh… you're back… Um, I made some food, if you want…"

"I'm not hungry."

"Oh…" Napstablook faded slightly for a moment, then rematerialized. "Umm, is there anything else you want? I can-"

"I want her back." The words were soft, and Napstablook floated a little closer to Kid, stopping just within arm's reach.

"Sorry, I didn't hear-"

"I want her back!" Kid shouted, causing the little ghost to flinch back in alarm. Kid whirled around to face the wall and slammed his head against it as hard as he could.

"It's not fair!" He continued bashing at the wall with his skull, each impact punctuating a word. "It's! Not! Fair! It's not… it's…"

As quickly as the sudden burst of anger had come, it was gone, and Kid crumpled to the floor, twisting slightly as he fell so he was lying on his side, rather than on his face. His body began to shake uncontrollably, and finally, finally, the tears came. It was as if a dam had been broken, and wetness ran down his face in streams as he sobbed brokenly into the carpet.

Napstablook hesitated, not sure what he could do, but knowing that he couldn't leave Kid alone like this. After a moment, he floated close to the boy, settling himself down right next to him.

"Why?" Kid choked out between sobs. "Why did she have to die? Why did she have to leave me?"

"Oh, Kid…"

"I… I love her, Dad! And it hurts so much and… and... " The weeping reptile curled up on himself. "What do I do now? We were supposed to be together! It wasn't supposed to be like this!"

Napstablook's own eyes welled up in grief and sympathy, his soul wrenching in response to Kid's distress. He had no words for him… what could he even say? So the ghost did the one thing he could.

He reached out with his magic, encompassing his son in a warm, soothing embrace. He did not stop the flow of magic until it completely enveloped Kid. Then he took a deep breath, and let his own emotions filter through, surrounding Kid in his sympathy, his acceptance, his love. He could not reassure him that everything would be alright, but he could at least show him that he would not be alone.

Long after Kid had stopped crying, they remained like that, father and son together on the floor. And not once did Napstablook relinquish his magic, no matter how long it took. He would always be there for Kid.