Hey guys, quick reminder to vote for which of the 6 children you want to meet after Frisk. The next chapter will explain why we need 6 more after him…

-5 Chapters Remain-

-Tough Love-

"Tag," Jared cried with glee as he smashed his palm into another guard's chest. The knight lingered for a moment, giving an audible groan, before vanishing to join his allies back at the Royal Dungeon. Jared whirled around and was met with the girl known as Muffet staring at his gloves in awe.

"You really are something incredible," she purred seductively. Jared was the absolute epitome of smooth.

"Does spider have pusspuss?" he drawled, and Muffet's smile vanished instantly.

"I'll do it myself," she growled, grabbing onto his glove and vanishing a moment later.

"Real smooth, lover boy," a female voice said from behind Jared.

"I'm still available," he chuckled as he sent another Guard to jail. "What're you doing here, I thought you took the left fork?"

"Yeah, but that way was a dead end, so I wanted to see how you were doing," Amy chirped cheerfully, easily deflecting any attacks that came her way with her knife. "Although, I feel like I'm just getting in the way at the moment."

"Nonsense," Jared cried as he scored a double on the two knights who had restrained him before. "You're doing just fine. By the way, what does your weapon do?"

"I don't know, and I'm kind of scared to try it out," was Amy's cheerful response. "So, I take it you were good at tag on the surface?"

"You kidding?" Jared gave an audible laugh. "I sucked at anything athletic. I was always-GOTCHA BITCH-really bad at these kinds of things, so it's kind of nice to be in char-DON'T THINK RUNNING WILL HELP!"

Amy was trying not to laugh to the best of her ability. Simply put, she was doing a very poor job of it. The entire situation was so ridiculous: a bunch of fully grown, highly skilled knights were running away from a boy who was playing tag and massively enjoying himself. The mere fact that some of the knights seemed afraid of Jared just made the entire thing all the funnier; in fact, Amy noticed one of the knight's pants get a bit darker around the crotch and down the legs…

Mercifully, Jared put the poor knight out of his misery and sent him away before any of his buddies could notice his situation (or before a puddle could form.)

In fact, Amy noticed a lot of things about Jared; the way his red hair seemed to flow like fire on his head, the bandana only accentuating the flames even more. The way his surprisingly toned body bended and flexed as though every movement was completely natural, even though he claimed to be unathletic. She had never noticed he was actually taller than she was by several inches, even almost reaching Toriel's height. She had never noticed how, when he smiled, he had elongated canine teeth, giving him two very visible fangs whenever his lips parted.

In that moment, Amy understood the reasoning of every one night stand that Jared had ever been with. She understood why they said yes to a boy who was definitely underage. Because Jared wasn't cute, nor was he pretty.

He was blindingly gorgeous.

And yet, there was something about him that Amy couldn't put her finger on. A silent danger, a feral look in his eyes that said, very clearly, to stay away. Suddenly, it clicked within Amy's head what Jared reminded her of: a trapped fox.

Said fox was currently dispatching wave after wave of Royal Guardsman with ease, not a single blow landing on his body. Amy stood, forgotten by the knights, at the corner of the sewer, staring in awe at the new addition to the Dreemurrs and wondering how she had been so stupid not to have noticed up until now how downright beautiful Jared was. Jared, however, was busy with something else; the approach of Asgore and the rest of the Dreemurrs from down the tunnel.

"Damn, it's the king," he muttered under his breath. "If I send him to jail, he's sure to have a key, then everyone else will be released with him."

"Jared, stop this," Asgore cried as he approached, Toriel and Rusty close behind. "We mean you no harm!"

"I know that," Jared stood up tall, all knights backing off in fear of what their king could do.

"Then why do you continue with this madness?" Toriel asked, expression helpless.

"Because, you'll just send me back to jail," Jared snarled, his eyes glowing orange. "I won't allow anyone else to get hurt. So please, get out of my way and let me give my SOUL to these rebels. They'll leave you alone, and they'll break the barrier. Why are you so against this?"

"Do you really think what you're suggesting will work?" Asgore thundered. "Dying won't change anything. These rebels are not fighting to get a SOUL, they are fighting so they can be in charge!"

Jared shrugged. "Worth a shot."

Asgore grimaced and took a step forwards, drawing his trident from within his robes. Rusty, however, held out a hand to stop the king's approach. In one fluid motion, he plucked a few hairs from Asgore's beard and threw them into his own weapon, a green frying pan. The pan hummed a little in response as the hairs melded into the material.

"Don't worry, Asgore. I can handle things from here on in," Rusty chuckled. "I'll take this dumbass down here and now."

"Really, you've finally got your weapon ready, and you're going to waste it here?" Chara said, mildly amused.

"I wouldn't be worried about that," Rusty smiled warmly. "I'll make it count."

"What are you two talking about?" Toriel asked as Rusty started marching confidently towards Jared.

"A SOUL of kindness like Rusty's has several abilities past sensing allies who are important to him. One of these abilities," Chara started as Rusty's frying pan began twisting and morphing, elongating and growing three distinct points, "is the ability to replicate the abilities of those allies."

Jared's eyebrows lifted slightly in mild shock. Rusty spun an exact replica of Asgore's trident above his head. The very air around the two humans seemed to tremble by the sheer force the boys were giving off.

"I hardly think I need to warn you to avoid those gloves of his," Asgore warned, but Rusty was already charging towards his new foe. Jared braced himself for an attack that never came. At the last moment, and explosion rang out under Rusty's feet, sending him sprawling headfirst into the sewage.

"Ew?" Amy questioned as she walked towards the edge of the water. Rusty broke the surface and gulped hungrily at the air.

"What the actual fuck was that?" he asked, glaring at Toriel, who looked apologetic.

"My apologies, Rusty, but I couldn't bear to watch my own children-"

"Seriously, I'm not your kid."

"-fight each other. Do forgive my intrusion, but don't you think this could be solved peacefully?" she pleaded, and Rusty huffed a little as he climbed onto the dry ledge.

"Fine, I'll try it out," Rusty said and turned to face Jared, his apron and reverted pan vanishing. "Listen, I don't want to hurt you, Jared. You're really fun to have around, so I really don't want to lose you either. But what you're suggesting is idiotic. You're going to get yourself killed because you're too stubborn to face facts."

"Maybe I am," Jared's eyes narrowed, "but I'm not going to sit by while innocent people are in danger."

"We're suggesting no such thing," Asgore exclaimed. "No, we're going to fight back!"

"Toriel just got done saying we should solve this by talking, so what makes those rebels any different?" Jared asked.

"These people won't stop to talk it out. They can't be reasoned with. Their blind hatred and desire is leading them down a very…dangerous…path," Toriel said.

"With your ability, though, nobody has to die," Amy pointed out, Asgore nodding in agreement.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd really rather not have anyone's blood on my hands," Asgore concluded, and Rusty looked mildly hurt.

"What does that make me?" he asked.

"Simply," Chara shrugged, "a human."

"Wait a moment," Rusty's eyes widened. "Where's Asriel?"

"Why, he's right," Asgore gestured to his side, where Asriel most definitely was not. "Chara, where's Asriel?"

Chara's brow furrowed. "I thought he was with you. Mom?"

Toriel shrugged, and everyone's eyes widened at the same moment. They spoke in unison, as though it had been rehearsed:

"OH, SHIT!"

Rusty and Toriel spared no time, literally hurling themselves down the tunnel back to the castle, Asgore in tow. Chara turned to face Amy and Jared.

"It seems you guys are off the hook, for now. In fact, if you were to run, I doubt we would ever find you. Run if you want," she shrugged, and her face showed no signs of hatred, or even contempt. In fact, Jared was sure he saw…was that envy? Before he could figure it out, Chara had already left down the tunnel after the rest of her family.

"Well?" Amy asked, her eyes worried. "What should we do?"

Jared thought about it for a moment then nodded sadly. "WE don't do anything. YOU need to go back and make sure Asriel's safe."

"B-but," Amy started, but a glare from Jared silenced her.

"You're a member of the Dreemurrs, and nothing you say can convince me otherwise." His eyes softened a little. "I can see that you really care about them. So go, be with them now."

Amy opened her mouth to argue, but Jared cut her off again.

"Don't even think you can argue with someone like me," he said, eying her carefully. "In my world, 'no' means 'no.'"

Amy shook her head. "But I'm not saying 'no.' I want to go with you, and put a stop to these rebels who are threatening my family."

Jared's voice had an edge of danger to it. "You don't want to be with me. You have no idea what I'm capable of. I don't need help, and I don't need you."

Amy looked as though he had physically slapped her. "Jared…I-I thought…"

"Thought what?" he snapped. "That we were friends? I didn't even know you a month ago, and here you are acting like you can just tag along on my suicide mission?"

"But why does it have to be a suicide mission?" Amy felt tears rolling down her cheeks, but she didn't wipe them away. "Jared, why won't you help me understand, why can't we be friends? What makes you so sure you have to die?"

"Because I can't stand living anymore!" Jared shrieked, his own eyes watering. "I'm sick of this feeling in my chest that won't go away, no matter how many people that tell me I was amazing. No amount of sex and passion can make up for the fact that I'm a coward!"

"But you're not a coward," Amy pleaded. "You're running straight to your own death! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Why am I here right now?" Jared asked, growing angrier by the second. Why couldn't she just understand that he needed to do this? "Because I'm running. Why do you think I was on Mount Ebott in the first place? Because I was running. It's time I ran towards something instead of away from it!"

Jared ended any further discussion by charging Amy and burying his hand into her chest. The look of betrayal on her face lasted only a second before she was sent to the jail which so many Royal Guards occupied.

"Hurry," Asgore said as the Dreemurrs entered the castle. "Toriel, Chara, you go check Asriel's room and the kitched. Rusty, you come with me to the throne room."

Everyone nodded at their specific jobs, but already things looked bleak. By the tears in portraits and the shattered relics that littered the ground, it seemed the rebels were already ahead of them. Rusty and Asgore ran with as much speed as they could muster to the throne room, Rusty trying to block out what he saw; doors kicked in, timeless artifacts littering the ground, generations of paintings ripped from their frames. He was definitely not prepared, however, for what he saw when he got to the throne room.

Asriel was kneeling only a few steps away from him, with another biped monster standing in front of him, a sharpened blade pointing at the young prince's throat.

"Hello, human," the monster sneered, its appearance similar to that of a gargoyle"

"Leave him alone!" Rusty roared, Asgore drawing his trident from beside him.

"What can you do?" the monster cackled madly, digging the blade into the prince's shoulder.

Asgore charged forwards, but Rusty noticed too late what the trap was. He barely had time to cry out before the blade started rising to meet Asgore's neck. In that moment, he made a decision.

He ran into Asgore's side, knocking the king out of the way, but sending the boy directly into the sword's arc. He lifted his arms to deflect the blow, but that did nothing to stop the blade. There was a loud shink, sharp pain in his elbow, and Rusty watched his own arm hit the ground with a dull thud.

"O-ow…"Rusty barely had time to choke out before the sword was swung again and a line of red appeared on the human's chest. As the stain on his shirt grew, Rusty had only enough time to make out Asgore running towards him before he hit the ground and knew no more.

QUESTION TIME!

Question 1 (paraphrased):
-How are you doing?

Thank you, person! I'm doing rather well right now, thank you very much, although I'm going through a lot of stress between this story, Overtale, the Final Fantasy III Novelization starting back up this month, and my own original story over at fictionpress! Overall, though, I'm having a pretty good time!

Question 2:

-What color socks are you wearing.

Grey.

Question 3:

-I thought this story wasn't going to get darker?

Don't worry, innocent commenter, this story is going to get to about the point of Percy Jackson's fifth book; nothing descriptive and gory, but there's going to be some mildly dark themes.

Question 4:

-Are there going to be any ships in this story?

I'm actually going to leave that up to you guys. If I see in the comment section that a lot of people are shipping Rusty x Amy, I'll give you guys Rusty x Amy, and so on. This entire story, once I start introducing more characters, is mostly just going to be fanservice. Without the smut (for now.)

Question 5:

-Do you have any social media I can follow you on?

Initially, I wasn't going to answer this, but now's as good a time as any; you can friend me on Facebook, and that's about it. My Facebook name is Ryan Gatzemeyer, and I have a feeling you'll be able to guess which one is me based on the profile pic.

Question 6:

-What personality will the next SOUL have?

The next SOUL, Cassidy, is the yellow SOUL of justice. Overall, he's a pretty easygoing guy, but he's a pretty religious guy and dislikes cursing or premarital sex (Jared is going to try to hit on him several times…). I also stated, he's a cosplayer, and a damn good one at that. He can take ordinary items and make a killer cosplay out of them. Simply put: nice guy, can be a little overbearing at times.

Question 7:

-What are the characters' ages?

Asriel is 10, Chara is 11, Rusty is 16, Jared is 17, Amy is 20, Toriel is 34, Asgore is 36, Cassidy is 15.

Question 8:

-Is Jared bisexual?

Jared's motto in life is 'A hole is a goal.' Do with that information what you will.

Question 9 (more of a comment):

-The characters don't seem to fit their canon SOUL types.

Very good observation! So far, none of these characters really fit their SOUL that well. Amy is really impatient, Rusty can get pretty violent, and Jared openly claims he's a coward. My interpretation of the SOULs is that they aren't who you ARE, they are what you ASPIRE to be. Does that make sense?

Question 10:

-Why is Sans here?

Everything in due time, I promise…

With that, I will talk to you guys next time!