Notice: References to past abuse and neglect. If these issues hit home, please feel free to contact me. I'm always willing to talk. I can't promise I'll be of much help, but I can assure you that it will get better.

-3 chapters remain-

-Birthday Bashers-

"S-seriously, Tori, you don't have to do this," Rusty said as the monster virtually carried him down the hall.

"Nonsense," Toriel said cheerfully. "You deserve to have an actual birthday party. Sixteen is a very important age, you know!"

Rusty blushed, but didn't argue any more. When Toriel opened the door, though, he almost fainted then and there. She must have invited every monster he had ever been in contact with. There were fellow knights who had passed with Amy and him during the exams, as well as hopefuls who would have to try again next year. Shopkeepers he had only talked to once, and students that were in his class whose names he didn't even know. Seeing Rusty's face, Toriel frowned a little.

"What's the matter? Are there too many people?"

Rusty didn't respond. The hug he pulled his adoptive mother into was answer enough.

Meanwhile, his real mother was rappelling her way down the entrance to the Underground, along with the boy's father.

"Charlotte, are you sure this was the best way to go about this? With our combined SOULs, we could have just passed through the barrier with no problem, grabbed our son, and left."

"Quiet, you," the woman known as Charlotte growled. "Or shall I remind you why our son is down here in the first place?"

The man's face fell, and he felt tears stinging at his eyes. She was right, of course. All of this had been his fault…

-4 months ago-

The boy known as Thomas was trying his best to calm down the sobbing girl.

"Please, Alice, stop crying. Mom will just get angry again," the boy whispered, softly rocking the girl in his lap. "It's okay now. She can't get you here. She can't hurt you here. Shh, it's okay. I'm here now."

The front door to their trailer home slammed open. "Rusty, goddammit!" their mother's voice rang out through the entrance. She sounded drunk. Again.

"Where're you at, boy?!"

Thomas took a deep breath and covered his sister's mouth with a damp cloth. The girl's eyes widened for a brief moment, filled with betrayal, before closing as the chemicals in the cloth set in. Her breathing slowed, and soon she was fast asleep in his lap. A pang of guilt ran though him for having to drug his sister, but he knew the outcome would be much worse if their mother caught her crying again. His black eye showed exactly how nasty she could get.

"I know you're in here with that whiny bitch," their mother roared. "Come out, or I'll come find you."

Thomas steeled himself before sheepishly opening the cupboard door and crawling out, making sure his mother didn't notice Alice, who slept on in the small space.

"Y-you called, ma'am?" Thomas asked quietly.

"You're goddamn right I did! Where's that brat you call a sister?"

"S-she's taking a nap," Rusty choked out, privately hating himself for what he had done.

"She's taking a nap, what?" her mother said, her eyes narrowing.

"She's taking a nap, ma'am."

"That's more like it. It's about time you started learning some damn respect," she growled, smelling heavily of tobacco.

"Y-yes ma'am," Rusty said, feeling a wave of sleepiness run through him. Dammit, not now! If I can just hold out until she leaves…

"You wanna explain this?" Thomas's mother asked, shoving a piece of paper under his nose.

Thomas's behavior has been improving immensely since we last talked, Mrs. Hughes. However, I would like for you to come in sometime, preferably soon, so we can talk about some possible factors that are affecting Thomas, such as his home life, his relationship with his sister, and his social life.

Thomas felt himself go pale. He had recently tried to pass of his black eye as just a trip down the stairs, but his teachers had seen through the lie immediately. He then had to tearfully explain to them that his mother had just gotten a bit overexcited last time she went out and drank, and that this was a one-time thing, and that she had apologized immediately after.

The best liars tell part of the truth.

"Wanna tell me why your teacher wants to talk about your home life?" Thomas's mother growled. "Or don't I want to know the answer?"

Thomas gulped, feeling a cold sweat break out all over his body. He would have to tread carefully these next few sentences.

"Well ma'am, I was talking to my math teacher, Mr. Cooper? Anyways, he noticed my shiner, and was immediately interested in knowing how I got it," Thomas started, his drowsiness mercifully passing for the time being.

"Go on," mother snarled.

"I-I told them I had just fallen down the stairs at home. H-he knew right away that I was lying. So I told him…" Rusty felt the tears leave his eyes, causing two streaks to run through the grime on his face.

"You told him…?" his mother asked, cracking her knuckles.

"I-I t-told him that…you had gotten a bit d-drunk the night before," his mother's eyes narrowed, "and that you had accidentally hit me in the face when I was taking you to bed."

His mother flared. "You told your teachers I got drunk and hit you?!"

"I-I told them it was an accident," Thomas started, before feeling a harsh sting on his cheek. He really wished his mother would take of her ring when she did that.

"You ungrateful little bastard. You should consider yourself lucky I let you even live under this roof!"

Any further assaults were stopped by the sound of the front door opening gingerly.

"H-honey? I'm home," Thomas's father meekly peeked his head through the doorframe. "I-is everything alright? I heard yelling…"

"It's nothing dear, I assure you," the mother said sweetly. "I was just teaching little Thomas here a lesson in how to treat his superiors."

"Oh, if that's all," the father trailed off, seeing Thomas's eyes widen.

"S-superiors?" Thomas roared. "Y-you think you're above me?! And you," the boy turned to face his father. "You've known this whole time, but you never tried to stop her?! What kind of spineless man can't even protect his own kid?!" Thomas cried, tears running freely down his face.

"S-son, it's not like-" the father started, but the boy's mother held up her hand.

"No, hold on, James. I want to hear more about what we are."

"Y-you're just a bunch of the sickest, lowliest scum to walk the face of this planet!" Thomas cried. "Y-you think that just because I'm your kid, you can just treat me like shit!"

"That's not true-," the father started again, but stopped when Thomas virtually flew out the door around him. "D-damn it! Son, come back! Rusty!"

Alice…I'm so sorry, but I have to do this. There's supposedly a place where they can't reach us. I'll go on ahead. If it's all everyone says it is…Alice, you don't need to be scared any more.

-Present Day-

"You couldn't have just stopped him, could you, you spineless wimp?" Charlotte sneered. "No, you had to let him run away like a little bitch. At least we know what parent he gets that from."

James chose not the speak until the two of them reached the bed of flowers at the base of the opening. "Looks like we're here. Rusty, please still be okay…"

"Hey there, strangers," a female voice sounded off to their right. The turned and a saw a little girl, with hair long enough it obscured her eyes. "I don't think I've seen you before. Although, you do look familiar…" the girl trailed off. "Anyways, we should probably take you to see the king and queen."

Charlotte pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the girl's chest. "Listen, monster, I don't know what you're playing at, but take us to see our son," she growled.

Chara bowed low. "Very well, madam. May I ask who your son is?"

"T-Thomas," the father choked out. "He also goes by Rusty."

Chara's eyes widened in surprise, and she couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, I know Rusty very well. In fact, the monster's are celebrating his birthday right now. I'll take you to see him."

James smiled and started following the girl, while Charlotte stayed in the bed of flowers.

"You really think we're just going to readily follow you? You're just going to lead us into a trap, I know it. And they couldn't possibly be celebrating his birthday, it's not for months!"

"A-actually dear?" James clarified meekly. "It's Alice's birthday that isn't for a while. Thomas's birthday was really three days ago."

Charlotte huffed, but started following nonetheless, keeping her pistol at her side. She never knew when she might need it.

"Has anyone seen Chara?" Toriel asked. "She should be here celebrating with us."

"It was her shift to watch the entrance," Amy slurred, topping off her glass with another amber beverage. She had been very pleased to discover the legal drinking age of the Underground was eighteen. Though, not nearly as much as Rusty, who found that there was no age restriction on mixing drinks.

"Well, that's a relief," Toriel sighed as Amy downed her glass in a single gulp. The human's eyes widened, then narrowed lazily.

"I-I don't feel so good," Amy stumbled, before falling facefirst into the ground.

"Party hard, bitch," Rusty raised his own glass before taking a sip.

The entire ballroom of the castle was alive with chatter, people walking up to Rusty and congratulating him on making it 365 days without dying.

"You act as though this is your first party," Asgore walked up, his own cheeks flushed pink from the alcohol. "Surely your real family must've held one for you before?"

"Sorry, Asgore, but I really don't remember. Memory loss can be a bitch, you know?"

"Watch your language," Toriel pleaded, knowing it was no use. Rusty's profanity was unmatched by everyone, other than another knight in his class. "You're turning into Undyne."

"Let's not go that far," Asgore chuckled. "After all, Undyne would beat the crap out of anyone who looked at her funny. Rusty, meanwhile, takes a little more provocation to even attempt to fight someone! Although, Rusty fights with much more murderous intent."

"Gee, thanks," Rusty deadpanned.

"I wonder what the problem is," Toriel stated, hearing a wave of silence wash over the ballroom as the doors opened. The problem came in the form of Chara, with two adult behind her.

"The husband looks just like…"

"Except for the eyes…"

"He has her eyes…"

The three came to a stop directly in front of Rusty.

"S-son?" the man stumbled out, tears once again stinging at his eyes. "Is that you?"

Rusty's eyes widened. "S-son? Are you sure you have the right kid?"

"What're you talking about?" Charlotte reached out and grabbed her son's wrist. "It's us, your mom and dad."

"Y-you…" Rusty clutched his head in pain. "Damn it…I'm so close to putting it back together…"

"Quit messing around, and let's get out of here," Charlotte commanded. "You shouldn't have to muck about with their type," she gave a curt nod to Toriel and Asgore.

"Our type?" Toriel thundered, but Asgore stepped between the two mothers.

"Now, now, I'm sure we can figure something out. Rusty has amnesia, you see," Asgore started, but Charlotte cut him short.

"I'm sure there are some idiots who would buy into that story, but I'm no idiot. I know your type. You've obviously brainwashed my child!"

Rusty muttered something nobody could make out.

"What was that, Rusty?" James asked hopefully.

"I said," Rusty muttered, louder this time, "where's Alice?"

"Who? Oh, yes, that sister of yours. Don't worry, she's waiting patiently at home for your return," Charlotte chided, her eyes staring bullets into her son. "We shouldn't keep her waiting any longer. Let's go, Thomas."

"Who's looking after her?" Rusty commanded.

"Oh, she's doing just fine with that neighbor girl," Charlotte made up the story on the spot, taking advantage of Rusty's amnesia.

"That's a lie. We don't have any neighbors. You scared them all away with your screaming and ranting about gay people," Rusty growled, and everyone around him took a few steps back. His very essence seemed to bleed out hatred.

"W-well, she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She's what, thirteen now?" Charlotte swore silently.

"You left a ten year old girl on her own, while you went on a wild goose chase to find your runaway son?" Rusty's eyes were empty, staring off into space.

"Is she really only ten?" Charlotte asked James, who nodded sheepishly. "Well, it doesn't matter. I left her with enough food to keep her happy for months."

"Another lie. Alice can't even boil water. She can't cook for herself." Rusty's eyes bore into his parents. "Where. Is. My. Sister?"

James swallowed audibly. "S-she ran off a few days after you did. She wanted to find you."

"Why didn't you just look for her, then? Isn't a little girl more important than a teenager who's able to take care of himself?"

"You can't take care of yourself, and you know it. Look now! There are monsters all around you who are forced to take care of you. How will they react when they find out who you really are?"

"They know, because they've seen it first hand," Rusty burst out. "I've already shown it firsthand to a few monsters who attacked me."

The crowd started getting riled up.

"What does he mean?"

"Monsters attacked him?

Rusty took a deep breath, and cleared his throat. "Creatures of the Underground, you've shown me such kindness, which I have returned with lies. A few days after entering this land, I was surrounded by a group of monsters who tried to attack Asriel and me at Waterfall. What their motivation was, I can't say. But I can say, truthfully, that this next part happened." Rusty took another breath, and announced to the entire ballroom:

"I killed five monsters, even after they surrendered."

The ballroom fell silent, and even Charlotte looked impressed.

"Killing monsters now, huh boy? I have to say, I thought putting that boy into a coma would have stopped your fighting, but you clearly don't know when to stop."

"You've done something like this before?" Toriel asked, looking betrayed.

"On the surface, there was a group of kids who were bullying my sister. One of them even threw a rock at her. I hit him so hard he fell into a coma. He didn't wake up for over a month."

"That's right, you did," Charlotte said, looking satisfied. "And you don't deserve this kind of kindness." She took Rusty's hand and began dragging him from the room. She was stopped as the monsters formed a wall in front of the door.

"Maybe he's done some bad thing," one monsters called, "but he was just protecting others! If it weren't for him, we would have lost Prince Asriel!"

"Yeah, he's messed up pretty bad, but who're you to pass down judgment? We'll be the judges of those monster's lives."

"I mean, nobody's perfect. Killing monsters? Yeah, that's not good. But I'd heard rumors about those guys. He was doing us a favor."

Charlotte growled and turned on her son. "They're just as heartless as you are!"

Rusty, however, was busy wiping tears from his eyes. "Everyone…thank you…"

There was a sharp crack as Rusty was sent sprawling, a red mark on his cheek. He really wished she would take off her ring when she did that.

The room fell silent once more, until Toriel ran forwards to help Rusty up.

"My child, are you alright?"

"YOUR child?" Charlotte laughed. "Oh, that is rich. A human like that being a child to such monsters?"

"I could say the same about you," Toriel huffed, wiping of Rusty. "Now I must ask you to leave the Underground."

"Let's not be hasty, Mom," Chara chimed in, thoroughly enjoying herself. "I mean, we could just take their SOULs here and now, so we'll only need two more."

"Chara, that's morbid," Asriel whined.

"Just a suggestion. But, if Mom wants them gone, I'm all for sending them headfirst into the barrier. It should be good for a laugh."

"You really are monsters," Charlotte exclaimed, disgusted.

"Takes one to know one, bitch," Rusty flared. "Now leave the Underground, before I show you everything Toriel has taught me about magic."

"Please, son," James finally spoke up. "At least let us stay the night. We've traveled a very long way, you see."

Toriel cut off Rusty before he could fling profanities at his father. "We would be delighted to let you stay. You, though," she glared at Charlotte, "are not going anywhere near Rusty. And first thing tomorrow, you're leaving."

"'Rusty?' His name is-"

"His name is Rusty," Asgore affirmed.

"We thank you for your kindness, King and Queen," James bowed low, and Charlotte gave what almost counted as a curtsey.

"Rusty!" Amy cried as she burst into his room the next morning. "We have a situation!"

"Whatever it is, it can wait," Rusty yawned, still not over the events of yesterday.

"You parents have Asriel, and they won't give him back until you agree to go with them!"

Rusty didn't react immediately. Instead, he slowly stood up, put on his bandana to keep himself awake, and calmly walked out the room.

"Wow, he took that surprisingly-."

"MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF SHIT DIRTBAG WHORE SLUT ASSHOLE!"

"Nevermind," Amy smiled a little, before running out behind Rusty.

DRAMA! ACTION! TERRIBLE WRITING! TUNE IN NEXT TIME WHEN OUR HEROES ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE WITH THEIR LIVES!

Also, for those of you interested, I have a poll going on my account on which of the 4 remaining souls you want to see next. TAKE THIS STORY INTO YOUR OWN HANDS!