As it turned out, Papyrus really liked Frisk. The tall skeleton was content with discussing spaghetti all night. Apparently, Frisk was surprisingly well-versed in the field of culinary studies.
"You think spaghetti is great?" Frisk had said. "There's tons of more pasta dishes like that. One time, I had this linguini pasta with garlic butter and blackened sea bass. It was amazing!"
"Wow, kid," Sans said. "That sounds pretty fancy. I don't hear about food like that down here."
Frisk blushed. "Eh. It's just a thing I had once. It's not a big deal."
Undyne, however, was suspicious. This kid had come seemingly out of nowhere, and they were suddenly a part of the team. Undyne didn't necessarily hate them or anything, but she didn't trust Frisk.
"So," she drawled casually. "Where do ya have to go to get food like that? I don't hear about that unless you're up in the airships!"
Frisk winced. They were hoping no one would ask. "Well, uhhh…" they started. "I may have spent some time up there."
"Wowie! I thought only important people get to live up there!" Papyrus exclaimed.
"I- I snuck on, while they were boarding," Frisk smiled through their lie.
"Wow!" Undyne said, genuinely impressed. "You should teach us how to do that sometime! I wanna get in on this "linguini" action!"
"Heh, maybe tomorrow," Sans sighed. "Right now, I'm ready to hit the fan."
"Sans, you always want to nap all night! You lazybones!" Papyrus shouted.
"No, Sans is right," Undyne said, jumping into her bunk. "We have plenty of time tomorrow to do whatever. Let's just get some rest.
"Can do," Sans said, who almost immediately started snoring.
Frisk started to lay down, until they realized that they had nowhere to sleep. "Uh, Undyne? Where should I sleep?" They asked the fish monster.
Undyne threw her blanket at them. "Take that, I like the cold anyway. Make a bed or something."
Frisk wrapped the blanket around themselves, finding a comfy spot at the foot of Sans' bed. It was strange, sleeping with other people. Frisk spent so many nights scared and hungry with no one to back them up. Hearing the snores and mumbling of the monsters, Frisk still couldn't believe it. It was almost unnerving, but Frisk felt safe, for nearly the first time in their life. They drifted off to sleep, feeling carefree and light, prepared for the day ahead.
"Kid, get up! We need to go over our weekly schedule!" Undyne shouted. Flicking the lights on and off.
"Urgh, really?" Frisk groaned, throwing their blanket off.
"Trust me, kiddo, I'm not enthusiastic about it either," Sans grunted.
"Come on, my cool friends! Spaghetti is almost ready!" Papyrus cheered.
The smell of Spaghetti-Os wafted towards Frisk, making their stomach grumble. Groaning, they got out of bed, throwing their shoes on. They ran their little comb through their short hair. They slumped on Sans' bed as Papyrus handed them a bowl of "spaghetti". It tasted stale and overcooked, and it definitely didn't come close to airship food, but it was food, and Frisk had learned to accept food no matter what.
"Okay, team," Undyne began. "Grillby is letting us stay until Friday. Today is Wednesday. We'll spend the next two days training, and then we'll stay in The City for a few weeks."
"So you can spend time with your girlfriend?" Sans deadpanned.
"U-Uh," Undyne stuttered, red as a beet. "K-kinda?"
Sans just slipped five dollars to Papyrus, chuckling.
"We need to run errands, anyway! There's really not that much out here in the way of shops," Undyne retorted.
It was true. Other than Grillby's, a small shop run by a rabbit monster and a small neighborhood, this part of town was rather barren.
"Okay, may we start on that training now, Ms. Undyne?" Papyrus asked as he collected dishes from everyone.
"Sure," Undyne shrugged. "Everyone, to the ring!"
Why did Grillby have a boxing ring in his basement? No one really knew. But he let passing protectors use it to sharpen up on their combat skills. It was rather old-fashioned. Just a padded floor with stretchy cords to make up the walls. Frisk knew they used these back in the 21st century. Now, they had much greater technology for the purpose of combat practice.
The rest of the basement wasn't much. It was mostly kegs and crates of alcohol, and a small freezer for food. Dust and cobwebs covered nearly every surface. Frisk had forgotten the lack of services the surface had to offer.
"Alright! Sans, I need you to work on hand-to-hand combat. Papyrus, work on concentrating magic into something powerful. Be as creative as you want," Undyne ordered. Two teal, holographic bodies emerged from the tip of her spear.
"What about me?" Frisk asked.
"I'm gonna teach you the basics of fighting," Undyne exclaimed. "Alright, kid. Step into the ring." Frisk did as she was told. "I want you to come at me with everything you have. In three, two, one. Go!"
Frisk made a mad dash for Undyne, who sidestepped and threw a quick jab into the small of Frisk's back. They winced in pain, but managed to land a soft butterfly kick onto Undyne's chest. She grabbed their ankle and threw them into the ground. Frisk didn't move.
"You ok?" Undyne approached Frisk. As soon as she got close enough, Frisk whipped around and left-hooked her in the jaw. Undyne stumbled back, but quickly recovered and landed a square kick to Frisk's leg. They cried out and stumbled to the ground. They tapped the floor, signifying surrender.
"Not bad at all," Undyne said. "You held your own for a pretty long time, huh? But in real combat, your opponent won't fall for that trick. They'll either kill you, or they won't take the bait at all. You need to learn how to have an ace up your sleeve at all times. C'mere, I'll teach you the basics."
For the next five hours, Undyne taught Frisk various punches, kicks and blocks. She also taught them about wrist and headlocks, and how to get out of them. Undyne even taught them about "forms" which were just a long series of attacks and blocks. She even told them to practice jabbing with their dagger, which they greatly enjoyed. Sans, per usual, had decided he had had enough effort for the day, and watched the duo go at it.
"Okay," Undyne said, swigging her water bottle. "I just taught you more than what I learned in six months of human training, but you won't only be fighting humans. You'll have to fight monsters as well. The thing about monsters is that we don't use hand-to-hand often. We like to use magic.
Thing is, you can't use magic, being a human and all. So, until we can get you a proper magic block, you'll just have to dodge. Grab that knife of yours."
Frisk picked up their knife, unsure of what was going to happen. Undyne used her main spear to summon about twenty more, which hovered around her in a threatening manner.
"Okay, kid. These things won't kill you if you touch them,but they'll hurt like hell if you aren't careful. I want you to dodge as many as you can. Try to get close to me, and then hit me with your knife. Got it?"
Frisk nodded, shaking worse than their old neighbor's chihuahua. Almost immediately, the spears flew at them. Frisk began running, occasionally darting in some direction to avoid the spears striking in all directions. One grazed their arm, and it took everything to not cry. It burnt worse than fire. But they kept going. They rolled under the wall of spears forming around Undyne. She was just up ahead. Frisk readied their knife. They quickly swiped at Undyne, drawing her back towards the spears. If Frisk could pin her against the now fifty spears, she'd be vulnerable. They kept slashing and stabbing, pushing her further and further back. She stopped moving. This was the perfect opportunity. Frisk sprinted forward, blade outstretched.
They slipped forward on the slick surface. They cried out as their dagger struck Undyne, cutting through her monster's body like butter. It all happened so fast. Undyne fell to her knees, clutching her abdomen. Frisk regained their footing and stood in front of Undyne, knife hand trembling. Sans and Papyrus rushed forward to examine Undyne's wound.
"I'm so sorry!" Frisk cried out, collapsing next to Undyne. "I didn't- I didn't mean to-"
"Hey, punk! I'm fine!" Undyne said, mustering her signature grin. "Besides, you'll probably have to do this in the field, anyway. Better get used to it now!"
"Do what?" Frisk cried.
"I mean, kill someone! You will kill somebody, if that's what it comes to, right?"
"I… I…" Frisk couldn't even think of what to say. Could they kill someone? They weren't sure.
"Oh, you'll be fine," Sans assured. "You just need monster stitches, and Grillby has those."
"How do you know that?" Papyrus asked. Sans only blushed.
"I, um, I'mgonnagogetthosebye," Sans rushed upstairs without another word.
"He spends a lot of time with Grillby," Papyrus noted.
Frisk felt a little bit better after they knew that Undyne would be okay. Of course, they still stayed by her side the entire time, trying to provide at least some comfort. Although she wouldn't admit, Frisk could tell that she was in pain.
"Don't worry, kid," she chuckled. "I've been through a lot worse than this. This is nothing."
Frisk wanted to ask what she meant, but figured that it was a touchy subject and bit their tongue.
Sans came back with a spool of milky white thread and a needle. "Okay, Undyne. This is gonna hurt. Like, a lot. I suggest squeezing onto something."
"Pffft, who do think I am? I've gotten stitches before. I'll be fine."
"If you say so. Here I go," Sans knelt down and inserted the needle into Undyne's skin. She bit her lip in obvious discomfort, but made no other signs that she was in pain.
"What are monster stitches?"Frisk asked. They had never heard of such a thing.
"They're almost exactly like human stitches, but they seal magic into a monster's body. See, kid, monsters are almost completely made out of magic. Whatever isn't magic is dust and our souls. Magic is basically what binds our body together. As we get injured or sick, our magic can deplete. Without that to bind our body together, we turn to dust and, well, we die. The stitches work to slow and stop our magic depletion, kind of like how human stitches stop blood loss," Sans explained.
"Wow. I've never had a lot of exposure to monster biology," Frisk said.
Watching the stitching was rather grueling. At certain points, Frisk had to turn their head away. Back home, injuries were uncommon, and injuries serious enough to need stitches were almost nonexistent. Of course, most times someone was hurt the dirty work would take place in a sterile, quarantined hospital. Sans' place of work was a dirty wine cellar filled with dust and sweat.
Finally, Sans finished his handiwork and stood up. "Alright, you are free to move about the cabin. I'd take it easy until the stitches dissolve. Seriously, no more heavy training."
"Dammit," Undyne cursed. "At least I'll have a new scar to show off. We're lucky that knife of yours isn't long," she added to Frisk. They sighed in apology. "Hey, it's nothing to fret about! I told you to hit me, and you hit me. It's not your fault."
"But I hurt you really bad. If I hadn't slipped, it wouldn't have been that dangerous," Frisk argued.
"Kid," Sans said. "You won't get away with scratching your enemies in the field. If you want to protect people, you're gonna have to get used to maiming and killing."
Frisk said nothing. "It's okay, my small human friend! You get to help people, too! We've saved a lot of lives!" Papyrus cheered.
"Yeah, I guess we have," Undyne grinned. "Now come on, I'm starving!"
The four walked upstairs into the bar, where dinner service was already in full-swing.
"Wowie!" Papyrus said. "I've never seen this many people here before!"
"Yeah," Undyne agreed. "A whole fifteen guests is a lot for such a deadbeat town. Yo, being slashed in the stomach made me hungry. Can we eat?"
"Yeah, I'm starved," Sans chimed in.
The four seated themselves at a table in the far corner. Most guests were playing poker and hustling pool across the bar, a ways away from them.
"Hey, I'm probably gonna gamble a bit as soon as I get a bite to eat," Undyne said. "You guys wanna come?"
"Sure," Sans shrugged. "You know I play a mean poker. What about you two?"
"Of course not!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I, The Great Papyrus, like to earn my savings honestly! Besides, I don't really wanna stay in this greasy bar for very much longer."
"Frisk?" Undyne offered.
"Nah, I'm not the greatest at billiards, and I've never played poker."
Grillby soon placed a stick of butter, a small loaf of bread, several bowls of soup and coffee at the table.
"Thanks, Grillbz. It looks great," Sans commented, sighing in pleasure at the scent of food. Sansand Undyne scarfed their food down rather fast, and went off with small satchels of gold in their hands. Monsters had apparently always used gold as currency, while humans preferred paper and cheap metal with set amounts. After the Crisis of Species, however, human currency lost nearly all value and eventually humans switched to using gold.
"Soooo," Papyrus drawled, suddenly feeling a bit awkward at the prospect of being left alone with a human they had known for about a day. "Where are you from, human?"
Frisk shrugged. "Just a human neighborhood. What about you?"
"Well, actually, our father was His Highness' old royal scientist!" Papyrus beamed. "So I grew up in his lab! It was really nice, even though he wasn't around much. He would sometimes talk about things before the Crisis! Some of the things he said were unbelievable! Like how bright and happy everything was! Every Christmas, people would put up trees decorated in pretty lights and the snow was actually white! Well, I've only seen snow once and it was a gross, muddy brown from all the trash and pollution. Man, I wanna see that someday!"
Frisk giggled. That sounded really cool. Humans and most monsters didn't live long enough to remember the times before the Crisis. But through passed-down rumours and old documents, historians had a grasp on what things were like.
Papyrus' expression suddenly turned bleak. "Of course, Sans didn't really like our dad. He always was saying that he never took care of us. They fought a lot. Dad stopped being around as I got older, and Sans took care of me. Even though he's a total lazybones, he still cooked and cleaned. He even made food for Dad! So I think he cared about our dad a lot more than he likes to admit. That's why- No! No more sad talk! I will not chase away a new friend with my tragic backstory!" Papyrus chided.
"You… You think I'm a friend?" Frisk asked.
"Of course, tiny human companion!" Papyrus shouted. "Everyone is a friend! Even your enemies can be friends if you try hard enough!"
"Thanks, Papyrus," Frisk said. "I know you three barely know me, and I kind of intruded on your team, but it really helps to know that you guys care about me. By the way, how did you and Sans meet Undyne? At least, If you're comfortable with me asking."
"Ah," Papyrus said,"Well, it's a long story. One day, after a really bad argument with Dad, Sans picked me up after school and we just… never went back. I was too young to understand at the time, but I would always ask Sans when we could go home. He would always say 'Pap, that wasn't our home'. We were miles away from home. I really missed Dad," Papyrus chuckled dryly.
"Some way or another, we found ourselves in The City. I had always been a fan of the Royal Guard, so it was to my surprise when we found the former head of the Royal Guard wandering about the streets of Hollywood! When we ran into her, Undyne told us she had to take two homeless monster kids under her wing. Both Undyne and I wanted to protect people, so we decided to take to the streets to do just that!"
Papyrus lowered his voice. "Of course, I think the years have taken a toll on Undyne. She's not like she used to be. She's not determined anymore. She always says that she kills more people than she saves."
Frisk cast down their eyes. Was it really like that?
"But it's not all bad!" Papyrus said, picking himself back up. "I, The Great Papyrus, will save as many people as I can! After, someone as magnificent as me is perfect for bringing joy! Nyeh heh heh!"
"Well, it's a good thing someone around here is positive. I could always use more optimism," Frisk smiled. They had experienced enough pain and sorrow.
"Well!" Papyrus said. "I guess I'll just have to be optimistic enough for all four of us!
They small talked for the next hour, trading fun stories. Papyrus told Frisk more strange things from before the Crisis. Frisk wrinkled their nose at some things, like the idea "Black Friday" These days, people had to fight tooth and nail every day to buy nice things. Other things, like picnics, sounded heavenly.
"You know?" Frisk asked. "We should go on a picnic someday."
"Great idea, human! I can bring my legendary spaghetti!"
"Hey, we talkin' about spaghetti?" Undyne sashayed up to the duo, satchel replenished with gold. She plopped down in the chair next to Frisk to begin counting her earnings.
"Yes! Frisk just had the marvelous idea of having a picnic!"
"Wow, a picnic? Sounds fancy," Sans said from behind Frisk.
"How did you get there?" Frisk asked.
Sans shrugged, and seated himself in his chair (backwards).
"Maybe when we get to The City," Undyne said. "Which, by the by, we're gonna leave tomorrow."
"Couldn't stay away from your sweetheart for just a day longer?" Sans smirked.
"Oh, shut up!" Undyne snarked. "I just felt like we should go tomorrow. The tram is cheaper on Thursdays."
"Very well then!" Papyrus said. "We shall leave tomorrow at 7 sharp! No dilly-dallying!" He sprinted upstairs to pack for the ride.
"Guess we should follow his lead," Sans said.
That night, Frisk chose a more comfy spot to sleep. They had found a bedroll in the basement that Grillby told them to keep. They wrapped their torn hoodie around themselves for extra warmth. Frisk made a mental note to buy new clothing in The City, and maybe a better weapon as well. This hoodie hadn't been washed in a long, long time, and Frisk had barely taken it off since running away. There were other reasons it had to go, as well. Even though Frisk had ripped the insignia of the chest, it still bore the colors of their family, which would be a dead giveaway to any bounty hunter. Not to mention a hoodie was impractical for the desert.
Frisk fantasized about the beautiful coast and wild tropical plants that once decorated these lands. The effects of the Crisis had transformed the entire West Coast into a barren desert, killing many of the plants and animals. Frisk had always wanted to live in the Tropics, so much so that they turned their holo-window in their old room into a dashing coastal panorama.
Sans twitched in his bed, mumbling about something. Frisk couldn't quite make out what he was saying. They shrugged it off, concluding that Sans was a sleep talker. But his murmuring just got louder, until Frisk could make out the words he was saying.
"Pap…? Where are you….? ...Papyrus…." His whispers grew more urgent. "Don't leave…. Undyne….? Papyrus….? No!" Sans shot out of bed, magic ready. He glanced around the dark room. Immediately, Frisk shut their eyes, pretending to be asleep. Sans relaxed, allowing his magic to dissipate. Everyone was safe. Frisk, Papyrus and Undyne were all sound asleep. He glanced over at Frisk, who was curled up peacefully. Sans smiled. He was happy that he had taken in the kid after all. Although he has only known them for a little over a day, he already felt like Frisk trusted them, and Sans trusted Frisk.
Sans wasn't sure he would actually go back to sleep, but he flipped over on his bed and curled up, closing his eyes. Frisk, too, was starting to feel very drowsy. At some point, they drifted off to sleep.
