five chapters now whoops

will update faster because I'm impatient.


"Stay here for me, okay?"

Slobber, pant. Its great paws were as big as Alphys' head. She yelped slightly, but took the playful swipes.

"Calm down! J-just stay here and I'll get you more treats, okay?"

A little plaintive howl. Alphys swallowed away any disgust and reached out to pet the poor creature against its goopy ears.

"It won't be long, I promise." Another languorous pet, another distracting handful of treats, and it was easy enough to shut the doors before Endogeny could turn around from its little food bowl.

It was temporary. It was fine. But she turned on the fans to cover up any noise, just in case…


For three days, Alphys went over the tapes. She tried to identify the routes the human had gone over, what had made it switch off down this small bridge, what had made it decide to stop and circle around this area, knowing, somehow, that a monster would soon cross its path. She didn't get much out of it – and even less out of that last footage, where the lights had grown so intense that the colors of the already cheap video footage had stretched, inverted, before finally blacking out. Honestly, the best thing she could have done was ask Undyne herself on what had happened in those moments, just after her victory.

But… that was… difficult.

"Hey! Doc!"

Alphys jumped, nearly upending the swivel chair she was on. She turned to see a small, little fire monster, standing posed near the door. "O-oh! Uh, what… what is it?"

He jerked a flaming thumb behind him. "People are hungry and want updates on what's… well, up."

She looked at the clock on the wall of her small workstation. Gosh, it was already past 12. How had time passed so fast when she felt like she was slogging through the videos? She shook her head, trying to swat away any remaining dizziness after staring at dimly-lit monitors for five hours straight.

"Sure, y-yeah, just give me a sec…"

The monster (Heat Flamesman, was it?) had already left, leaving her talking to the air. She sighed, her soft whine reaching all the way down to her toes. Then with a deep breath, she left the room, barreling through her already building anxiety.

The large area of the laboratory had not seen so much footwork in years. It was the best place for it though. With a large assortment of beds around, and easy access to the shower that was just down the hall, as well as a kitchen stocked with three fridges full of food besides ramen and pocky, Alphys couldn't think of any better place that the monsters could evacuate to.

The initial problem had been the amalgamates. They had nowhere else to go, but… well, Alphys hadn't had much choice in the matter. And an impending apocalypse can certainly make some fears seem really small in comparison. It was easy enough to tell the other monsters which areas were off-limits, (and hiding the DT Extractor with a giant sheet) and there were few risk-takers among the group. Luckily, the amalgamates were good at hiding, and so far no one had mentioned seeing any horrible abominations. That was one good thing, at least.

When Undyne first arrived, the other monsters had gone crazy, swarming over to her, drawn by the cracked armor she wore, hypnotized by the light shining from her eye. Alphys had to try to restrain everyone from getting too close, still unnerved by Undyne's unusual silence. But for all that, the others didn't seem to notice…

"Yo! Undyne!" The armless monster kid had scurried up to her then, his chest heaving, and had been dangerously close to tripping headlong into the floor. But he had stayed on his feet, skidding just up to his hero. He had been among the last monsters to join the evacuation. "I- I knew you could beat them! I bet you beat them up real good! You're so cool!" Then he had suddenly grown somber, inclining his head towards the tall warrior. "I'm… I'm just glad you're okay after... saving me from them."

Alphys would have expected Undyne to grin and muss up the kid's head. But there was only a smile, only a pat on the back, and that was all. Undyne hadn't even gone out of her way to suplex anyone!

However, there had been one strong reaction from her.

"That is so a neat accessory, Undy!" Catty had yowled, pawing at the scarf. Her swipes had been gentle, a claw just barely catching onto the fabric. "Like, did you find that at the dump to-?"

A very strong reaction.

Undyne had stepped back, clutching the scarf closer. The light in her eye had brightened, engulfing Catty in a spotlight. "Stop!"

It was the force in her voice, the same that she had used against the demon that had cut down all monsters in their destructive path. It was the voice of righteous anger as she had slain the human, leaving the world safe to march on, undisturbed. The monsters jumped back, and soon the Undying was only surrounded by empty space.

If there was anything apologetic in Undyne's face, it was not easy to see. The scarf obscured her mouth, hid away those fangs which, only moments before, had looked ready to tear off Catty's much too curious paws. By then, everyone had made sure to leave their savior alone.

Such a very tense three days.

Alphys, after her solitary time within her laboratory, suddenly needed to act as intermediary for all the monsters here, and for Undyne, who never talked, never looked at anybody at all. All she ever seemed to do was go off by herself, keeping the scarf close, and always looking so preoccupied. Her light would shine bright and far to examine every crevice, every possible angle. She had been looking around, searching the laboratory with very little sleep. To what end, Alphys had no idea.

She saw Undyne now, off by the entrance to a hallway, separate from the rest, seated on the floor. What was she doing?

"Ms. Alphys? Hello?"

"Ah, s-sorry." She turned back. It was another fire-monster who questioned here, younger this time, her flames green and still wearing her white blouse and blue skirt that made up her school uniform. "As I was saying…" She faced the group, which consisted of bird-creatures, squealing vulkins, blushing tsunderplanes, and a few flustering woshuas who, no matter what anyone said, would not stop mopping away at the floors.

"E-everything back in the Underground seems to be normal most… mostly. Some reports were m-made about the…uh…a piano in Waterfall being used?... But nothing came up. King Asgore and the Royal Guard are still doing a f-full check though!"

Was there anything else she had to mention? She really hadn't seen anything new in the cameras and-

"Will we get to leave soon?" spoke the fire girl again. "The vending machines are running low, and I haven't seen my father in a while..."

"It- it won't be too long! We just have to make s-s-s-sure everything is safe!"

A grumbling, rock-like monster, who had only two feet and a perpetual frown on his face, walked up to the doctor. "But didn't Undyne already do that? Killing that human and all? What are we waiting around for now? This young generation just pleased with lying about here in the dark?"

"N-no, sir. Just waiting on King Asgore's orders! I- I'm sorry, I don't make the rules…"

God, she wasn't good at this. She was doing all she could to keep everyone occupied and safe, and unfortunately not all the monsters were fans of her anime collection (and it took some great willpower of hers to not go in a heated debate when one of the woshua's dared to call Mew Mew Kissy Cutie utter filth, then tried to scrub the DVD's). Other than that, she felt so emotionally drained after every encounter that she would find herself falling asleep by the potted plants, hoping that maybe Undyne would come by and give her a noogie-hug like she used to. Just standing before the group – not even that large, not even that judgmental – was draining all of her mental reserves.

It was both unfair and rude, but her eyes kept straying to Undyne, who…

Undyne was moving. She was now heading down another hallway, that light of hers intensifying. It made Alphys nervous, and soon her forehead beaded in sweat, and her stuttering only got worse.

"I thought Undyne already rooted out the area for any more humans," Heat Flamesman was asking.

"Y-y-yeah, I-I know! It's j-just precautions. And, uh, uhhh-" Undyne turned a corner, and Alphys' heart made a leap in her throat. Her clawed feet slapped against the floor as she ran. "I g-g-gotta go! Sorry!"

She felt the gaze of the others on her back, but her embarrassment was covered over by her fear, intense and mortifying. Because Undyne was going down a hallway, down past one of those 'off limit' areas.

She rushed up to Undyne's side, panting heavily. "Hey! I! I, uh…"

The warrior didn't turn. Alphys tried again.

"Are you… um, are you looking for something?"

Undyne laughed.

It was soft laughter, very faint, like a private joke that no one else could possibly understand. Alphys waited behind Undyne, watching the warrior mutter into the scarf around her neck through chuckles.

"Good joke, Papyrus. Ya probably need to work on the delivery though." She paused, turned an ear to the fabric that she held so delicately. "Hey, no sweat. I'm still looking for 'em. Though, I'm not really sure why we need to anyway. What was that? Yeah! I'm fine. I got it. I'm fine. They can't hurt me."

"Undyne?" Alphys' voice trembled. She had seen Undyne sometimes whispering to the scarf, and thought it was just due to exhaustion. It wasn't like… It's not like it could actually mean… "Is everything okay?"

There was a time when Undyne used to actually talk with her. She didn't realize how much she missed that. Her friend stood so tall, red hair tied, the shoulder plates of her armor jutting out dangerously. She was on a whole other plane of existence, so separate from the self-pitying atmosphere that Alphys couldn't help but bring around.

Undyne frowned. "Oh." She grew quiet, narrowing both eyes of light and dark. "Do we really need to? It's not like he's done anything to help."

Alphys waited to the side, wishing she was fluent in, well… scarf-speak. Undyne gripped the fabric, then growled slightly.

"Seriously, Papyrus? After everything he did?" She shook her head. "Actually, scratch that. After everything he didn't do?"

Suddenly the warrior rounded on Alphys, nearly making her choke on her own breath. "Alphys, you had cameras there, right?"

"Umm..." She fiddled with her claws. "Cameras where?"

"In Snowdin! After that… thing… walked through. Like you had in Waterfall."

"Uh, yeah? I guess so?" Why did she say that like it was a question? She knew she did! But it was so hard to not be nervous around Undyne now, at least the kind of nervous that had her in a cold sweat instead of fluttering butterflies in her stomach. "Why though?"

"When Papyrus… turned to dust…" Undyne gritted her teeth. She wound the scarf near her chin. "I'm okay, it's fine," she whispered to the fabric, then louder for Alphys, "You had the cameras for when that happened too, right?"

"I… I do…" She had seen the tape only once. She didn't want to remember it.

"And where was Sans?" Undyne towered over Alphys, eyebrow raised.

"Sans?" Honestly, that was a question she had right now. She had not seen Sans at all for the past few days. "Have you seen him actually? He said he would follow-?"

"Where was he?" Undyne's voice was tight, and the grimace she gave Alphys was something she had never given before. It made the scientist question everything.

"He…" She thought back, her breath shuddering. She was afraid she'd do something stupid like burp. She needed to stop eating so much ramen in the morning. "He… was standing by the trees to the north side. I mean, I only guess so? The c-camera's quality isn't always that good-"

"See? I told you!" Undyne turned away. She held the loose end of the scarf in her right hand, staring at it. "He's not worth it, not when he just-" A pause. Undyne's visible eye widened. "Still? You still want me to find him?"

This was not a conversation Alphys wanted to be a part of any longer.

"Maybe… maybe I should go." She started to edge her feet away. Just lock herself up in the video room, watch some slice-of-life anime and pretend that things were mostly okay.

"Alphys, wait."

Undyne looked down at her, and it was with a gentleness that was familiar. It was a look that Undyne would give her when Alphys would ramble on too long about an episode, or fluster over a random compliment. It was a look filled with apology.

"Um…y-yeah? Undyne?" She clasped her hands together.

"You have dogs here, right?"

Alphys felt her heart wither up in her chest. "You mean… the Royal Guard?"

"No, no…" A look of regret passed over Undyne's features. "Not them. I know what happened to them. I mean, the dogs that live here? At least, Papyrus mentioned that." She sighed. "He said that since Sans is such a dog person, he'd be hanging out with them."

Out of everyone, she didn't want Undyne to witness her failures. Especially not when she was all tall, serious, and spoke to scarves. "I don't… know? I'm sorry…" She decided to be brave, though no one would have been able to tell by just looking at her. She shivered so much as she reached for Undyne's hand, glad to see it free of her spear. "Can't, um, c-c-can't we maybe go back to the others? I think, um… th-th-that monster kid was looking for you!"

Undyne barely registered her touch. Her eye was lowered, her other hand twitching at the scarf, its end wound about her fingers.

"Uh…" Alphys blinked, shut her mouth, then opened it again. Nothing came out. She let go of Undyne's hand. "Hey… at least, um, let's get something to eat-"

"You have dog food though."

"Huh?"

"Papyrus saw the bag back upstairs," Undyne was saying casually. "So, then you must have some dogs, if that's the case. That's what he's been asking you about this whole time."

"Papyrus…" Geez, this just kept getting worse. "I can't… hear… I mean, um, maybe I, uh… those are mine! For, for myself!" Yeah, it got worse.

Undyne frowned a little. Her gaze flicked from the scarf to the scientist. Alphys was drenching her lab coat by this point.

"W-w-why are you staring at me?" Alphys' voice shook to such an intense degree. "It's, uh, not the first time I ate gross stuff?"

Whatever look that Undyne gave her, it was not something she had to see for very long. Because the warrior turned away, marched past other off-branching rooms into the ventilation area where fans for cooling off the multiple routes of her machinery were stationed in.

"I heard something," was all Undyne would say before she went off further.

"Wait, please-" Alphys dashed after her, following her down the long hallway to the carefully locked doors. It didn't matter to Undyne. The heroine, cuts still fresh on her face, reached one gloved hand for the doorknob, wrenching it back, shattering the lock mechanism inside. Alphys winced at the sound, watched as bits of metal clattered to the floor.

Undyne marched into the large ventilation room.