Undyne rolled her shoulders, frowning deep.

She was walking again, more walking through a forest that hadn't changed before and wasn't changing anytime soon. Same forest she stared at for the Angel knew how many hours before. Everything was just feeling off to her.

Didn't sleep well, not with the kid resting on her chest. Didn't wake up right, without a ceiling or stars above her. Couldn't even say she was in a good mood right now, walking instead of running for the damn thief. Angel knew she deserved to be chased, not tailed. This was supposed to be an awesome chase, not one of those lame investigative stories.

At least now she understood how the humans could have so many different stories about themselves. They did whatever they wanted to make that story happen! Figures it was why they were sneaking in a forest instead of riding the blue-haired girl's dragon. That would have been badass.

"You alright, partner?" Derflinger spoke from Undyne's back, popping out of his sheath. "Can't tell if your scowlin' ta try and be scary or if your just tryin' ta show off some teeth." Undyne clicked her tongue at his words. Figures she was scowling. Couldn't help it, really.

"Just got a rough night's rest is all," the monster replied, rolling her shoulders for good measure. Her armor clanged with the motion, but not much more than that. It'd take something a hell of a lot of heavier hitting her armor to hurt it. "Doesn't help that we're still walkin' and are 'bout this much closer to finding that thief!" Undyne didn't realize she turned her scowl into a frown until she raised her gauntleted hand to her good eyes, squeezing her digits together.

"Closer," the blue-haired girl spoke up from the cart. Had her eyes on her book though, least when Undyne looked at her. The monster didn't say anything though, waiting for the human to go on. But she didn't. Of course, she didn't.

"We're walkin' in a straight line without a freakin' clue for where this Fouquet human is. How do ya know if we're closer or not?" Undyne asked back. It said something about the humans when the kid wouldn't even look at her, keeping her nose in her books. Alphys need to look up from her machines when monsters were talking to her. "If you got an answer, I'll take it."

"Undyne raises a fine point," the pinkette spoke up. Undyne couldn't help but smirk. About time one of the human brats developed some common sense! Must have been when she fell asleep against her last night. Did knowledge work like that? Maybe, humans were weird enough. "We have yet to do as much as look for a marker in the road. How sure are we that we are traveling in the right direction?"

"Very confident, Ms. Vallière," the woman at the front of the cabin spoke up. She'd be nice, if she didn't act like a fleshy version of Nabstablook. At least he had jams to make up for the personality. "I have detected no other humans traversing this path, except for the soles of one heading in the same direction as us." Undyne had to shake her head a little at that.

"Wait, what?" She asked. She quickened her pace a bit, enough to put herself side-by-side with the front of the cart. Her armor got a bit loud, but nothing too bad. The green haired woman just gave her a glance. "What do ya mean your magic senses it? What's that supposed to even mean?"

"Perhaps you are not aware Undyne, but Ms. Longueville is a celebrated earth magic," the busty human spoke up. She should really cover those up. But right now, Undyne was looking back to look at the girl's eyes. She had a smirk that wasn't exactly contagious. "Her expertise allows her to find anyone on campus grounds, simply by using a bit of her magic to track changes in the earth. It's a marvelous ability that is recognized by the courts to be invaluable." Words were impressive enough, the girl didn't have to keep waving her hand as she spoke.

"Gotta say, that is pretty cool," Undyne admitted. It was enough to get the human to blink. Props. "But ya coulda mentioned that yesterday, ya know? Would have saved me a lot of breath." Undyne rolled her shoulders as she finished. Still stiff.

"I will… remember that," the green-haired woman spoke, before turning her eyes back to the road. Guess that conversation was over. That just left the sound of the wagon, the forest, and Undyne's armor clanking along the road.

She played with her gauntlet as she walked, flexing each of her digits to make sure the metal wasn't stiff or stuck. Nothing creaked or wined at her movements, as flexible as the first time she got them. Greaves were moving just fine, still loud enough to walk up Alphys from five floors down. Helm didn't exactly have to move, so no need to check that.

And they were still walking. Just walking, in the silence, that wasn't really silent. Just… boring. Just still going. More silence. More nothing. More waiting while moving. Was this even considered chasing? The anime must have lied to her if it was all like this. At least the shows made it exciting, or climatic! This was just… boring.

That meant she had to resort to the one thing that she loathed to do. The one thing that was supposed to be done only at the most desperate of times for the most desperate of reasons. This qualified.

Girl talk.

"Okay, before I go insane from boredom, can we talk about what we're gonna do when we catch up to this thief?" Undyne as she put the digits of her gauntlets to her good eye, rubbing it to keep it from falling shut. Lack of sleep and crippling boredom were her worst enemy right now. "I'll do the fighting, no sweat there, but what are the rest of you guys gonna do?"

No better topic for girls to talk about than this.

"I will secure a perimeter upon finding Fouquet," the Long Vile woman spoke up. Yeah, that was her name. "It will keep Fouquet from fleeing again if they attempt to do so." That got Undyne to grin.

"Okay! Yes! That! Do that!" She nodded her head and pointed at the human with the words. That was best idea she'd heard from the punk all day, and yesterday, and ever. "So Fouquet can't run, and they're not gonna be able to hide from me. What else?"

"Distraction," the blue haired chick spoke up. She still had her eyes on that book of hers. The Snowdin Librarian would be proud of her, that was for sure. "Create openings." Undyne kept her head moving.

"Alright, good, good," she spoke honestly. It was just average, but it was at least keeping her boredom at bay. Better than walking silently through the woods. That'd only be okay if they were 'chasing' a human thief. "What else we got?"

"I can help battle Fouquet!" the pinkette pretty much shouted. Undyne just blinked her good eye as she tilted her head. This was the same punk that almost got buried alive. Not exactly credible for a second go at the human. "I can! I am a noble no different than the rest of you."

"Oh, but you are quite different, little Zero," the red-headed human spoke up. With the way she was talkin', walkin', and just plain acting, Undyne was starting to seriously hate sharing the same hair color as the human. Hopefully that was all they had in common. The smirk wasn't helping at all. "Do remind me of the number of spells you have cast that have been conjured correctly? I believe the number is quite round and hollow." Yup, bad.

"I can cast spells Zerbst!" The pinkette shouted back. That was normal at least. Then she swung one of her dainty hands towards Undyne. Still normal, but bad. "You are looking at the product of one of my spells right there! Summoned forth through the familiar festival and carrying the memories of her kingdom." Undyne felt a frown slowly fall over her lips. Being the example in an argument felt like being the wheel on a cart. Everyone just rode you.

"And what marvelous examples you have displayed sense then," the busty girl spoke on. Was she a girl? Undyne was sure she was female, yeah, but girl? Kind of… curvy for that title. "I believe can count them on one hand. Oh, wait," the red-head stopped herself. She was blinking like she remembered something important. Was it important? "I don't believe I need any hands at all." Nope.

"Take that back you Germanian Cow!" The pinkette stood with her words. That could be kind of dangerous, standing in a moving vehicle. Was that a bad thing? Papyrus always did talk about doing that when he got to the surface. Then again, he also said he'd have hair, the bone head. "Take that back this instant!"

That was when the pinkette reached into her cloak and pulled out her stick. Oh, wait, that was a wand. Whatever, it was there now. That wasn't what got Undyne's attention though.

What got her attention was how fast the red-head and even blue chick got defensive. The busty one put up her hands with wide-eyes, the kinda thing you'd see from someone about to be attacked. The nerd was closing her book and grabbing her staff, the kinda thing a warrior did when they were getting threatened. The hell?

"Ms. Valliere," the human-tracking human spoke up. She was turned around from the wagon's front, one hand extended towards the pinkette. "Please lower your wand and calm down. Only petty words have been exchanged, no threats."

"Yes, yes, of course, simple banter," the red-head was talking up now, faster than before. She'd better not be some 'proud noble' or else it would seal the deal on how pathetic these humans were, at least for Undyne. Asgore would have the final word. "No need to get so defensive."

"Wait, wait, ya got my reflection clouded," Derflinger spoke up. Undyne felt him pop out of his sheath to do so. She didn't stop him… mainly cause she had no idea what he had just said. "If the young lady ain't able ta cast a spell, what's the harm in a wand bein' out?" Okay, that was a good point… if Undyne didn't already have an idea.

"I'll show you!" The pinkette shouted.

Undyne had just enough time to watch her turn around, whip her arm back, then fling it forward like she was chucking a spear.

"Fireball!"

A tree next to Undyne exploded.

"Gah!" She shouted as the charred bark slammed into her armor. Her arm went up a moment too late to keep a branch from smacking into her head. It broke on impact, but damn if it didn't hurt! She rolled her jaw, cracking it as if it had fallen out of place. Took her that long to realize that her hearing was ringing. Perfect.

She looked back up to see the cart had stopped. No surprise there. The horses were flipping out. Still no surprise. Undyne could only barely hear out the ear that was closer to the tree. But she'd seen enough of the old anime to know that those things going haywire was how humans got hurt. They were fragile like that.

"Hey! Calm down!" Undyne yelled as she walked closer to the horses. It was hard for herself to tell if she was yelling to get their attention, or to hear her own words. "I said stop squirming dammit!" Her gauntlet grabbed the reigns of the horses. That kept them still at least. Better than grabbing their necks.

Kept them still, at least in the sense of running off. They were still bucking in her grips like a spoiled brat. Geez, that made just about everyone and everything on this chase a brat! Didn't help that they were kicking at her armor like it was gonna make her let them go. They'd break their legs before the beasts got any luck with that. Oh, wait, that'd be bad.

"Seriously, quit it!" Undyne yelled again, putting her good eye right up to one of the horses. "Quite it or you're gonna be limpin' home!" Could horses do that? Probably. Sides, it was only a threat. It worked to.

The horses got meeker in her grips. They stopped kicking her at least and settled with just beating the dirt. That was good. They weren't a tenth as strong as she was, so it wasn't like they were gonna move the earth or anything. Sides, that meant she could let go of them.

It gave her just enough time hear Derflinger laughing over her back.

"Now that was a show of force!" The magic sword started spouting. "Talk about givin' the evil eye ta someone. You're a regular pro at bartering, partner. Bet if we set up a shop, we'd be able to undercut everyone else!" And he was so close to being pun free.

"Ms. Valliere!" Undyne looked up to see the secretary woman looking over the cart. Must have been screaming at the pinkette. Yeah, that. "That was an inexcusable show of force! You very well could have harmed not only yourself, but everyone else present." Almost everyone. The tree hitting Undyne kinda stung, but that was about it.

"I-I… I apologize," the pinkette spoke up. Undyne felt her good eye rise at the voice. Was that the pinkette? She sounded meeker than Alphys in front of Asgore. Geez, it was even worse than when she was in front of the princess. "I'm… I take… I accept full responsibility for my actions."

"That you will," the human spoke up again before roughly turning around to face the horses. She had a pout that, Undyne could swear, was close to turning her face into a prune. That would've a show to watch. "Thank you for calming the mares, Sir Undyne," the woman spoke up again. And again, with that sir business. She was like one of three people and it was already annoying.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get moving." Undyne spoke as she let go of the reigns. The horses didn't flip out, thankfully, as she got out of the way. "Sooner we find the thief the better." But this was a good distraction. Blowing up trees was always fun.

Blowing up anything was fun. Alphys made that a fact.

"Indeed," the woman spoke up again before giving a light whip of the reigns. The horses made their neighing sounds before they began to walk forward again. Of course, a walk, not even a trot. Not like they were in a hurry or anything! "I assume we are close, assuming of course that this has not alerted Fouquet to our position and prompted them to flee." Yeah, that'd be bad.

"And too bad we can't run or anything." Undyne let the words lie. Not like the humans were gonna change their minds. They were stubborn like rock. But at least that stuff broke when she punched it hard enough, or bite it.

The cart began to move again, just like before… just like the same boring trip as before. Oh by the Angel, it was gonna be like this until they found Fouquet, wasn't it? Talk about better in fiction! Alphys was right all along! And she was gonna have to put up with this for even longer? If this was the cost for coming to the surface, then Undyne knew she didn't owe another cent extra.

Her good eye drifted back up the cart, seeing the three girls sitting there. The blue haired chick was reading her book, no surprise still. The red-head was staring at the pinkette, about just as surprising, but the pinkette herself was doing something else.

She was looking at Undyne, staring more like it. The kid looked like she was getting ready to jump out of the wagon just to get away from the rest of the brats by her. Kinda hard to blame her in that regard. No one wanted to be somewhere they made a mistake. Guess humans were the same way.

Too bad they were on a crash course for the thief, hopefully. Getting up and leaving was not something they were gonna do, especially not now. They were this far and she was gonna uproot the forest if they just decided to walk back to the school. The pinkette was just gonna have to tough it out. Actually… Undyne had a really bad idea.

Eh, only lived once. Bad ideas were the most fun anyway. Doubly so when it applied to kids.

"Hey, punk," Undyne spoke up, grinning at the pinkette. The girl blinked her wet eyes. Undyne slapped her pauldrons, stepping closer to the wagon as she did so. "Jump on."

"What?" The pinkette asked. Kay, that was kind of an expected question. The brat wasn't like the kids in Snowdin. She thought she was an adult and all that lame junk. Undyne was gonna must start fixing that in some way.

"Get on my back," Undyne started, the thumb of her gauntlet pointing over her shoulder. She held it there for a moment before pulling Derflinger out. He would've gotten in the way. "And enjoy the ride."

But the human just kept staring at her, her and the other brats in the cart. Even the green-haired woman at the cart front kept looking over her shoulder. Was it that weird to give kids piggy-backs here? Maybe that was why the humans were so messed up. They didn't know how to have fun!

"It's pretty comfy back there," Derflinger spoke up from Undyne's hand. "Great view, great company, and no energy required." He was lucky he was awesome, cause if he could walk, Undyne would have made him.

"O-Okay…" the pinkette responded, sounding about as confident as Alphys on an average day. Great.

Wait. Alphys… that gave Undyne another idea! She was a on a roll with them, so if the first was good, the second one had to be just as good!

"Great, then hold still," Undyne spoke up as she reached up towards the pinkette. The brat had enough time to widen her eyes before Undyne picked up by the scruff of her neck. Her must have still been ringing, because she couldn't hear a word of protest from the punk. Then, again maybe she liked it.

Holding her arm up high, Undyne dropped the pinkette on her back. Felt like dropping a dry blanket on her back. The punk weighted about as much and her hair certainly felt like a blanket, especially when it fell over Undyne's good eye and made vision impossible. She held back a growl.

"Whoa, ah!" The human spoke up from behind her, grabbing hold of parts of her armor, like she was trying to get a footing. Given the size difference and how much lighter the human was, it was kind of like climbing a mountain.

Undyne felt a bit of joy at that, being big and tough enough to resemble a mountain. Not quite to Asgore's level, sure, but every step on a journey mattered for the end.

The pinkette did eventually settle on Undyne's back, with her butt sitting on the collar of Undyne's black armor and legs hanging over her torso. She could feel the punk's hands leaning on the spikes of her pauldrons for support. Hair behind her back where it belonged, the pinkette wasn't even a distraction. Of course, that was as long as she didn't pull on Undyne's hair.

"This is… odd…" The pinkette spoke softly. Sounded softly, but then again Undyne knew her ears needed a good cleaning after the exploding tree.

"Hey, I'm usually the one bein' carried around on someone's back," Derflinger spoke from Undyne's hand. She held the blade up as he spoke. It must've been hard talking if he was being swung back and forth.

Wasn't gonna let him go though, obviously. Just holding made Undyne felt like she was ready to take on three of those giant dirt things.

"But hey, if ya wanna be the fair maiden bein' carried by the gallant knight, I'll switch places with ya." The hell was he talking about now? Undyne felt her head tilt and snarl grow as she stared down at the sword. Only got deeper when he started laughing. "Ha! That's quite a blush ya got goin' there! Glad ta know I'm the only one here made of metal." Skin and steel what now? Oh, wait, that was a pun or something, wasn't it? They were getting worse and worse.

"M-Mind your tongue!" The pinkette shouted from above Louise. Maybe it was the explosion from earlier, but it didn't seem as loud as Undyne expected, at least not given how loud the brat usually got. "I am… merely accepting Undyne's kind offer. And yes, it is… comfortable. And a bit warm." Comfortable she could buy, but warm? Undyne knew her metal was cold like Waterfall's rivers. Maybe the human was sick or something.

Oh, crap, did that means he could get sick, too? The human had better keep her hands honest if that was the case.

"Just be careful back there and it'll all be good," Undyne spoke tilting her head until it hit the girl's inner thigh. Yeah, it was soft, but it could do with some muscle. Went right from skin to bone. "Can't have ya weak and woozy when we reach Fouquet, right?"

The pinkette didn't say anything in response. Probably a good thing, at least Undyne was sure. Whenever that happened in the anime, it usually meant some character was either stunned silent or admitting they were wrong. Both were good enough for her right now. Sort of. Silence was boring, but at least she had something to focus on either than crippling boredom.

"So…" Derflinger spoke up, still hanging in Undyne' hand. "Ya got explosions for magic, huh?" Definitely a question for the pinkette. Undyne realized that it was only the second time she'd seen it. Sort of the second time she felt it. At least this time it wasn't the spell blowing up in her face.

"Hardly what you can call magic," the red-head spoke from the cart. Undyne didn't hide her scowl. Didn't bother to even try and suppress her groan. The chick was seriously starting to get on her nerves or something, Undyne knew it. She was like a peppier version of Sans! "Those are her failures to produce proper spells. If you need evidence, just think of what she attempted and what the results are. Whatever you wish to call the eruption of property, it is not a 'fireball'."

"Correct," the blue haired chick spoke up. Seriously, her too? Undyne was sure she was just supposed to be the silent neutral type. Turns how she did have a side. And of course it was a bad one!

"I'm willin' ta bet my hilt that something explodin' in front of me is gonna do a lot more damage than a few embers ever could," Derflinger spoke up again. Undyne lifted him up, putting him on eye level with her… sort of. Wherever that mouth piece of his was at least. It was close enough. "Seriously girly, explodin' spells are somethin' I haven't seen in a long while."

"Before? You've seen it before?" Well clearly that got a cord with the pinkette. Undyne could see the red and blue haired girls looking up at them with that. Of course, she saw them over the pinkette's thigh. Kinda cool to see that blue-haired chick do more than read! "There… have been nobles like me before?"

"Noble ain't the first word I think, if ya get my point." Undyne ignored that, as best she could. Her best was grit teeth and a seething groan. "Bein' noble makes ya sound stuffy, 'fraid really show your metal." If there was a point to this, Undyne had better hear it soon, or else Derf was goin' back in his holster and the brat would be carried bridal style. "But bein next ta them was a serious waker-upper."

"I… don't know what you mean," the pinkette responded. Honestly, Undyne didn't really either. If he wasn't talking in puns, Derf was kind of a mess, at least so far.

"Talk slower and use no puns," Undyne clarified to the magic blade. "Seriously, any more of those and I'll start thinking the pinkette missed her mark with that spell." It did feel good to kick him that last time. Exploding him after a bad pun probably felt the same.

"Sorry, sorry, thinkin' while I was talkin', doesn't go well together. Kinda like attackin' while you're defending." Undyne nodded her head. That did sound kinda hard, useless too. Best defense was a good offense after all! "Just sayin' that I knew a guy a long time ago that made stuff blow up a lot. Way I heard it, he became a pretty big deal, 'specially for being 'not-noble' or all that jazz."

"What was his name?" Undyne could feel the pinkette literally leaning over her head. Any further and she was gonna fall of. Her hair was already starting to feel like a curtain again.

"Pretty sure it was-"

"We are here."

Undyne twisted her head at the interruption, seeing the green-haired woman pull on the horses' reigns. They stopped in place, the cart just after it. Undyne followed suit. She felt her free hand flex and unflex. Only one reason they could stop in the middle of the day, and it had better be the one reason she was thinking of.

"Ms. Longueville?" The pinkette asked the woman's name. Said human didn't respond, instead just dismounting from the cart and carrying the reigns with her. The girls in the back were getting out as well, guess that was more good news!

"I can sense a stray trail heading into the woods from here. They must be fresh from the strength of response." Getting warmer! "I suspect Fouquet is hiding in the woods nearby. We should proceed on foot for now." Nearly there!

"Kay, pinky, free ride's over," Undyne spoke up as lifted her arms the same. She picked up the tenth-pint by her waist, putting her back on the ground. Air was only a bit lighter than she was. If she said anything in protest, Undyne missed it, but it probably had to do with Derflinger jamming into her side during the transition. She'd get over it.

Undyne was already walking closer to the green-haired woman before any of the brats could say another word to her. The secretary or whatever was tying the horses up, probably to keep them from running, not a bad idea. Undyne could see them getting nervous just by her walking over.

"Undyne," the human spoke first. "As you are clearly the strongest of us, I hope you are willing to lead the attack when we find Fouquet." Undyne wasn't sure she could grin any brighter! Was there even a reason to ask. "I… assume you are okay with this."

"Okay? I'm pumped!" Undyne let out, slamming her fist against the front of her chest plate. The horses jumped, the human too. Wimps. "Promise you'll make sure she ain't going anywhere and I'll give ya one caught thief in return."

"… I can promise you Fouquet will not escape again," the human spoke slowly. Probably making sure she could keep her promise. Well, if she thought about and she could, then all the better!

"What should we do?" The red-head asked. Least she was being full of herself, not that the hip-pushed-out look she had going would make you think that. At least the pinkette could dial down the self-righteousness! "Capable as we are, Fouquet is nigh-square class earth mage."

"Dangerous," the blue-haired agreed… maybe. Undyne couldn't be sure with a single word. "Caution?"

"You three will be tasked with finding the Staff of Destruction while Undyne attempts to defeat Fouquet." Undyne almost whirled at the human. Attempt? There would be no attempts, only results! "It will likely be in their possession, but if not, you must find and secure it. If we are possibly able to detain it before Fouquet has a chance to use it, then they have lost their advantage."

"Pretty sure I could take the human with or without some mega-staff or whatever," Undyne let out with a grin. She was sure of it, too. What could a bigger staff have on her even bigger muscles? She rolled her arm as she spoke. "Take a lot more than a pile of dirt or big stick ta knock me down."

"The Staff of Destruction is not to be underestimated," the human spoke to Undyne, wagging a finger at the monster. A part of Undyne wanted to bite it. It was wagging at her like a worm out of the ground. "As Osmond once described it, the staff alone was able to fell a horde of dragons and marauders with but a single command. In the hands of a capable noble with foul intentions, the four kingdoms could be at risk of war."

"Ms. Longueville is right, Undyne," the pinkette spoke up now. "The staff was kept guarded in the Academy's vaults specifically to have eyes on it at all times. It was forbidden for use because it was believed any kingdom with such power would disrupt the balance of powers."

"Very dangerous," the blue haired chick added on. Two words and two hands on her staff to boot!

Wow, talk about a pep talk! Maybe that meant the thief would actually fight this time!

"Just means I gotta try extra hard then," Undyne responded, cracking her neck for good measure. The human's' face was priceless. "Plus, I got my own magic weapon ta knock any staff outta the park, right Derf?" She held up the sword to demonstrate.

"Happy ta lend an extra hand, there's swords way the thief is gonna beat us." Undyne felt her grin twist his words!

"Plus… if we can't cut the thief… then… Derf 'll talk 'em ta death!" The puns were pretty damn close to doing her in as it was!

"Quite…" the human spoke up. "Regardless, as long you are engaged and the students find the staff, we should have minimal issue. Be wary, be cautious, and be prepared." The human turned back towards the forest. "My magic shows the path is straight for sometime into the woods, indicating Fouquet had a specific direction they were heading in. Follow it straight, and you will likely find them."

"And this is where you scamper off to make a perimeter or whatever?" Undyne asked, putting her free hand to her hip. Letting it just hang was lame, and she had to be cool before a fight, otherwise it wouldn't be worth talking about later.

"Indeed. The sooner I begin, the greater the chance of keeping them contained. So with that, Undyne, students," the human spoke as she turned to face them again. "May the Founder protect you. Good luck."

With that, she started to walk off in some other direction of the forest, wand out and looking around. Undyne shrugged. She didn't understand human magic, but if the rest of them understood, then it was cool, sort of. Long as she kept the thief from running away again, then it was cool with Undyne!

"Kay, so," Undyne spoke up, looking over her shoulder at the punks. Given that they looked different colors of the rainbow and attitudes to match, they'd have been perfect for guard duty in Hotland somewhere. As it was now, they were gonna have to follow her orders. "Ready to go?"

"Absolutely," the pinkette spoke first, standing to attention a squaring her shoulders. It was enough to make Undyne grin. The punk did have discipline in her, at least beyond yelling. Perfect!

"I will follow your lead, Sir Undyne," the red-head spoke up with a low bow. Kay, kinda uppity for Undyne's taste, sort of villainous even, but it was there. Sort of.

"Same," the blue-haired chick spoke last. Her staff just kind of went up and down… that was it. This freaking… Nabstablook was a party animal next to this girl!

"Right, let's go then," Undyne spoke with a nod over her shoulder.

Then they were walking again, in the forest, with nothing to do. It was almost boring. Almost being the operative word. Not quite there, but dangerously close. There was at least more going on than a cart spinning its wheels next to her.

It gave Undyne a chance to look at all the different trees in the forest, because there were a bunch more further in than she could have seen off the road before. Roots were popping out of the ground without being covered by snow, squirrels were running away and up trees as her armor clattered by, leaves fell from them, it was kind peaceful.

Yeah, her armor was too loud for it to be anything worth enjoying by sight alone, but it was still freaking awesome! Just one more reminder that this was what she was fighting for, a chance for the rest of the monsters to see this. As long as she got on the good sides of the princess, and therefore the queen, it would happen.

She just had to stay in control. In control, in power, and ready to show them the strength of monsters. That last one she could do no problem.

"Hey, partner," Derflinger spoke up. Undyne gave him her attention. "I think we're here." They were?

"Huh?" Undyne looked up. Oh, yeah, they were. "Oh, sweet!" At least it looked like it could be.

There was a cabin sort of like the houses in Snowdin, but with just wood logs for walls instead of planks. Looked sort of cool, in that rustic way Alphys sometimes talked about. Of course, she talked about it being horrifying without any electricity, but that was different.

Besides, what mattered was that out in the deep deep forest on the surface they had found a cabin along the straight line the human had told them to walk. Damn good chance the thief was in there.

"Okay, Fouquet's probably in there," Undyne spoke up, pointing her gauntlet at the building. "I'm goin' in first. The rest of you, stay back here till I say it's safe, got it?"

"Understood," the pinkette spoke up first. Undyne caught the human nodding at her, that same serious look on her face. Considering how up till now it was either glowering or pouting, it was suddenly unnerving. Better than crying though. Yeah, way better. The other girls just nod at her. Good thing nobody had an argument.

"Ready when you are, partner," Derflinger spoke up. Undyne grinned at the blade. It was gonna be one part weird, two parts awesome to fight with a magic talking sword!

"Let's go," Undyne spoke up.

She lifted her helm from under her arm as she spoke, putting it on her head as she entered the clearing to the woods. It felt tight around her, the same fixation that she got every time she put it on. Unspoken invincibility, that was what her armor was. Long as she was wearing this stuff, nothing short of Asgore's blows were gonna do much to her.

Her armor clanked with every step she took, marching towards the cabin with deadly intent. Maybe not too deadly, but deadly enough to make a thief want to run. Ready as Undyne was, they wouldn't get far if they tried. She kinda hoped they try. Undyne's gauntlet wrapped around the door handle, feeling the wood resist under her metal.

She tore the door of its hinges with one pull. Man, wood was weak.

"Heh, you don't lack in force, partner," Derflinger spoke up. She snorted in response.

Her boots clanked as she took a step into the cabin, feeling the wood crinkle a small amount under her weight. It was a really small cabin, like only one room. No second floor, no magic closets, not even a table or bed to hide under. The heck was this, abandoned? Actually… that made sense.

"Hey!" Undyne yelled as she looked out the cabin door, now a real open door. "Place is empty, so it's cool." They'd get that. At least the pinkette would.

The punks poked their heads out, one-by-one, sort of like the Snowdin rabbits after snow fell on their heads. They walked into the clearing, making it over to Undyne just as uneventfully as the walk here. Freaking perfect. Not even finding a mysterious cabin in the woods could be exciting.

"Oh, it is empty," the red-head spoke up. Master of the obvious, right here. "But how odd that it is so well-maintained. This level of craftsman ship must simply be cared for." What was she talking about? Was she seriously analyzing the place like it wasn't empty?

"Used, recently," the blue-haired chick seemed to agree. Her staff poked at the wood as she walked into the building. "Clean." Well… yeah, Undyne could give her that. There wasn't exactly a lot of dust in this place.

"Clean, empty, open, and yet barren," the pinkette starting talk now. If she was about to turn into the blue-haired chick with that kind of talking, Undyne was going to walk home! This was supposed to be an adventure, not a test in restraint! "Wait… this is probably a-"

BOOM!

Undyne felt the shake even through her armor. Too bad for the mini-punks, all sent to the cabin ground. Something big had obviously just appeared outside, and Undyne wasn't gonna wait for them to get back up! Her boots stomped through the cabin, crunching the wood as she exploded back outside.

She was greeted by the sight of the golem, not-a-monster, once more. And as a bonus, it looked even bigger!

"Aw yes!" Undyne shouted, pulling Derflinger out. BANG! And making sure she had a spear in her other hand. She'd make more soon, for sure. "Now this is what I've been waiting for!"

The giant pile of dirt groaned in response, maybe. Or it was just the sound it made as it reared back its hand. Thing was still large enough to cover the sun. It was perfect! …Except for the fact that it was probably going to crush the cabin with the kids inside. That wasn't good.

"Hey, you're fights with me, clumpy!" Undyne yelled as she reared back and threw her spear. BANG BANG BANG BANG and the four more she made appear with it. They all struck home on the beast, pushing back whatever it was intending to do. Wasn't beat yet though, definitely more of a challenge! "You punks stay inside! Find that Fouquet thief or whatever else!" They'd find something to do, long as they didn't get between her and her fight!

"Well I'm with ya partner!" Derflinger spoke from her hand. "We'll pommel this thing back into the ground!" Undyne was too pumped to care about bad puns!

"Then let's go!" BANG BANG BANG Undyne slammed a spear into the ground as more popped overhead. With Derflinger in her hand, spear in the other, and her armor all around her, she knew she had this.

Her boots carried her forward, running at the giant not-monster. Even with her armor on, she reached it in no time at all. All that working out under the sun was already paying off. The creature moved just as her spears appeared, lifting its leg like it was gonna try and stomp her. Undyne could only grin at its stupidity. It was dumb as dirt!

She jumped left as the limb came slamming down. She could feel the shake even through her armor, but she could see the trees around the cabin shake even more. It was what happened when she slammed her fist on the table, watching the plates shake. Well, when she wasn't breaking it in half.

Too bad for it, Undyne was no spoon, she was a knife! She… had to get better at analogies.

"YEEAA!" Undyne yelled as she chucked her spear forward. BANG BANG BANG And several more to boot. They all slammed into the outstretched leg of the golem, tearing off the dirt and rock in the chunks, human-sized chunks! It was like she was easy mode against this thing!

It didn't pull its leg back at the blow, but dragged it instead. The thing was groaning again under the effort of the move, moving back to get away from her! Too bad she was a monster on a mission, and it was gonna take a lot more than-

"Undyne! I have the staff!"

The monster whipped her helm to see the pinkette running from the log house, holding an… actually pretty long container. Looked bigger when the squirt was holding it, especially over her head like some kind of trophy. But that was the same one the thief had taken from the tower yesterday! Where the hell was that in an empty cabin?

Didn't matter, they definitely had this! Undyne could only grin brightly beneath her helm. No way was the thief gonna run away again! Even if the human did, it was their loss, cause they got back the staff!

"Good job kid!" Undyne yelled to the pinkette, raising her hand into the air at the same time. "Now let me take care of the rest." Even with her helmet on, Undyne gave a grin that would have made Sans think twice. Oh yeah, this was gonna be fun.

She twisted around and threw her spear at the golem, letting them slam into the beast's center. She saw the dust blow off of the thing like throwing a rock into water. Only this was twice as cool, cause the rock monster wasn't gonna reform from that!

Bang Bang Bang Bang

Definitely not gonna reform from the rest of her spear tearing into its other arm!

The useless limb was already falling to pieces, and it had only taken like half a dozen blows! Either Undyne was seriously feeling pumped up or the monster was even weaker than before… Nah, she just had Derf! She was on her game cause the magic sword was in her hand! And the sun was on her armor!

BANG BANG BANG

Half a dozen of her spears shot into existence through her magic, hovering above her with points aimed at the dirt golem, which wasn't a monster. Wasn't human either. It was just a mass of magic that was good for target practice. She was gonna turn the pile of dirt into-

"Partner, jump right!"

Undyne had just enough time to look down at Derflinger before doing as asked.

Not a moment later did a massive hand of dirt and rock slam into where she just was.

She pivoted in her greaves, staring through the glowing hole of her helm at the hand. Didn't take long for her to follow the mass of earth upwards, seeing it end up attached to a golem. Problem was… it wasn't the non-monster she was aiming at before.

"Are you kidding me?" Undyne asked, good eye staring at the pair of golems that now towered over her. Her and the trees of the forest. "There's two of them!?" She gripped her fists together, feeling her magic surge at her anger. What kind of fight was it when the enemy could just make more of themselves!?

Okay, given how she was already tearing apart the first golem so easily, it might be making it fair, but they couldn't attack when she was getting ready to. She at least let the beat make a move before she squashed it!

The least she could do was make more of her spears. Bang Bang Bang Bang. And then use them.

With a feral yell, Undyne threw her hand down, commanding the spears to pin-cushion the golem that had tried to get the upper hand on her. They slammed into the mass of dirt like her fists through rock, tearing the golem's arm apart. It was satisfying like nothing else to watch golem fail to pull its arm back, letting it fall to the forest floor. That just left two arms for two golems. Pretty soon it'd be two to none!

But the first golem wasn't just waiting around. Even as Undyne threw out her magic, it took the step or two necessary to catch up to Undyne, lifting its good leg up to stomp on her. The ground shook with its reaching steps. Undyne could hear the punks screaming from the cabin. But if it was gonna stomp on Undyne, that wasn't gonna work! That didn't work at the School and it wasn't gonna work now!

Undyne gave another cry as she pulled Derflinger back, swinging the badass magic sword over her head. She felt Derf tear into the dirt of the golem, ripping apart whatever the hell was holding the thing together. She gave it a push for good measure, like when she was lifting boulders in Waterfall. It worked, for the most part.

The golem withdrew its foot, taking a step back in what she was hoping was silent agony. Couldn't tell how well she was doing if the damn things couldn't even yell! She was the one making all the noise here. But she disarmed one golem and just about took apart the leg of the first, she was in a good spot to-

"Gotta block left!" Undyne followed Derf's advice, putting the sword up quick as the spears she threw.

Soon as she did, the second hand of the second golem slammed into her. It rattled her arm, shaking her around inside like the noodles in Alphys's ramen. It made Undyne's teeth grit, her eye narrow, and lungs heat with fury. Basically, it pissed her off.

It was hard to attack and defend at the same time! Fights were supposed to be one-on-one, or army-on-army. Where the hell was the honor or coolness of a two-on-one fight? It was just flat out annoying! She was either playing catch-up with one or tag with the other! It was seriously starting to piss Undyne off!

"One at a time punks!" Undyne shouted through the teeth of her helm. She tore Derflinger through the mound of dirt that was the arm that attacked her. It ripped through the stone and mud that made up the golem, letting the kickass magic sword pop out the other side. That wasn't enough for pissing her off!

Undyne kept her twist, stopping only when the back of her other hand contacted the shredded golem's pseudo-hand. It was made of mud and dirt. She was wearing kick-ass Alphys-smelted steel. And she was strong. The outcome was almost cool enough to let off some steam.

The blow demolished the golem's limb, plastering the dirt across the trees in the forest. It even made a noise boom to go with it, only a bit duller than her spears. Still, plenty strong enough to get the golem to back off. But if there was a pattern happening here-

"Jump!" Yup, course she did.

Undyne lifted off the ground, leaving indents in the dirt. Not a moment later where those filled by dirt, several hundred times over. Undyne landed on the pile of dirt, her armor turning whatever was stable in it to dust, kind of like the rest of whatever the not-monster was made from.

She turned with Derflinger, pointing him at the golem that had tried to attack her. It was the one missing one leg and lacking the other, so that meant she had just brought it down to one good limb, which was awesome. If nothing else, this was a fight she'd be able to talk to Asgore about later.

In fact, the golem's other arm was swinging at her, swinging down at her like Onion-san's limbs. Undyne jumped forward, way faster than any pile of falling dirt could be. If this scrap dirt was going to go this all out on here, the least she could do in return was rip apart its chest so that it could never COME BACK! She could even see its legs… wait.

What… one golem without an arm, another with mangled legs and a bad arm, this one… This had just one bad arm… but the other golem with a bad arm was behind her.

"Three!?" Undyne yelled as she grabbed at the chunk of dirt that was holding the new golem up. It groaned as she began to lift the monolith of stone and mud above her. She might have felt a tooth crack she was gritting her teeth so hard. "You got three of these punks comin' at me at once! Fouquet you're a coward, thief, and dead meat!" She was going to have to prove it now.

And she started that by lifting the golem above her head. Undyne shouted for good measure. Loudly.

YYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

The rock not-monster above her groaned with the efforts, kind of like her armor but with the actual chance of breaking. Undyne wasn't even feeling a sweat yet, just pure annoyance and rage. Together, pissed off.

And nothing in the Underground was more terrifying than a pissed off Undyne. Now she just had to show the punks that were watching why that was.

The dirt monster being lifted off the ground, every limb in the air, by a monster in black armor, definitely did the trick.

The mass of stone and dirt above her ground, either like a cry of pain or just moving parts. Didn't matter to Undyne, nothing much did when she was this angry. These monsters were attacking out of turn and they expected her to go easy on them!? They had a better chance of her wishing for the Underground!

Her greaves lifted and fell against the earth, pushing into the forest floor like the supports of a house. She could feel her boots digging holes by pressure alone, which was perfect. That meant she had support to do what she had to do next!

Undyne started to twist her body, spinning like she did when she tore off the golem's arm the first time. Except now she was carrying the entire four-story thing, like a boss! She could feel it falling under the force, unable to keep itself right. That was okay with her, cause she wasn't about to stop anytime soon!

BOOM!

Even when it slammed into the ground and shook the trees till their roots were popping out like daisies, she wasn't about to stop! She kept spinning, feeling her lips part under her helm until they were stuck in a mad grin. She was gonna turn this pile of dirt into a top!

She started to lean back the faster she spun, making sure she wasn't about to fall over with the thing in her arms. Only thing that was gonna come tumbling down today was someone's hopes and dreams, and it was in the form of some thief's cheap magic!

"Hyaa!" Undyne let out as she finally released the golem.

It flew like a meteor through the air.

BOOOOOOM!

It crashed with a resounding boom against the first golem she started to tear into. Her greave planted itself into the ground quickly enough for her to watch the damage unfold.

The best way she could describe it, and how Undyne would always remember it, was like watching two snowballs slam into each other in slow motion, tearing one another apart and letting debris fly in every direction of the forest. Expect the snowballs were big enough to bury two houses each and the debris flying off of them were fast and heavy enough to flatten the average monster.

Trees along the edges of the clearing got absolutely demolished by the effort, torn right at their trunks by the flying remains of the golems. Entire chunks of the forest were basically shoved to the ground by the size of the boulders that came flying out of them, like ice hidden in snow.

It was a blast!

The dust and dirt settled like a new sledding hill in the clearing, leave Undyne with a cabin full of brats and one seriously messed up golem left.

"Kay, you!" Undyne yelled, pointing Derf at the not-monster. She could hear the blade chuckling. "I took out both of your friends like yesterday's trash. You still wanna go against me? Huh, punk?" That was good, she'd seen that line in a show that wasn't an anime, but still human. It was a line that worked on humans.

The golem didn't answer. It just stood there, with mangled limbs and no face to show what it was thinking. Could it think? Undyne wasn't even sure. If it could she knew it'd be wetting itself like morning dew… thank the Angel Sans wasn't here to think that. Cause he'd probably say it instead. Focus! She had a monologue!

"Cause I promise you, bad as both of the other guys got it, you're gonna be wishing it was as quick as-"

"Fireball!"

Undyne blinked beneath her helm. She didn't say that. In fact, she recognized the voice immediately. That was actually bad. Not really bad, but bad enough. She just had to keep going.

"… You're gonna be wishing it-"

"Fireball!"

"-Wishing it-"

"FIREBALL!"

"-it-"

"FIREBALL!"

A slow groan left her throat as Derflinger fell back to her side. Even the kickass magic sword was groaning in disappointment. But she had to stop. Undyne couldn't give a badass monologue with brats interrupting her, it defeated the whole purpose! She started to turn back towards the pinkette, ready to tell her to go back inside with the other half-pints.

"Pinky, get back inside before… fore…" Undyne's words trailed off as she looked at the pinkette. Thing was, there was nothing different about the pinkette. At that moment, Undyne give a shred of soul for the human.

All her good eye saw was the lance in human's hand.

The long, red, flower encrusted, triple-pointed, lance.

That… That wasn't a lance. That was a trident… that was no staff… that was Asgore's… Asgore!

"PUNK!" Undyne shouted. The pinkette jumped at her voice. Good! "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!?" Undyne stomped towards the brat, arms swinging violently at her sides. The girl was pulling Asgore's lance closer to her. No! "I SAID WHERE DID YOU GET THAT BRAT?!"

Undyne lifted and tore her helmet from her face, letting her good eye glare down at the human.

"Does she recognize the Staff?"

"Odd?"

The two other brats were speaking from the cabin, but Undyne didn't give them the time of day. All she cared about was Asgore's Lance in the pinkette's hands. And the closer she got, the clearer it was. The color was the right shade of red, the tips ended at the same point, the flower motifs were carved the same way, and it was just as long as she remembered it. It was Asgore's Lance!

"Uh, partner, we still got magic golem standin' behind us." Undyne ignored Derflinger. He wasn't a monster; he didn't get it. Instead, she reached down and grabbed the hilt of the lance from between the punk's hands.

Undyne ripped it right out of her grasp.

The girl yelped in surprise, yelling a bit as well. Didn't matter, not right now. Undyne's good eye was trailing over the lance. Holding in her hand, holding it in her left hand, holding at all… she could tell, she could immediately

This was Asgore's.

"One more time," Undyne seethed, eye trailing down the lance and ending at the girl. She took a step, which meant she knew she was wrong. "Where did you get this?!" All the little punk did was shake!

"I… I…"

"Partner look out!"

Undyne swung Asgore's lance, screaming as she did so. It's three tips rammed into the swinging fist of the golem. She didn't flinch. She couldn't flinch. She was pissed off before, and that was when she threw one of the golems.

Now she was enraged.

"You," Undyne seethed, glaring up at the faceless body of the dirt creature. "Stay out of this!" Undyne moved to throw the creature, spinning her body with the three tips of Asgore's Lance still buried into the beast. That wasn't what happened. Instead, something told her to act differently.

She moved forward with her spin instead, twisting the spear around her gauntlet like she knew how to do. It was how she moved with her own spears, though much smaller and thinner. With a step forward, she drove the spear in deeper, like pushing sand with a broom. Didn't matter she heard rocks splitting with the force, definitely didn't matter that chunks of the thing were falling off.

All that mattered was that it was stopping her from finding out where the pinkette had found Asgore's Lance!

"Go Away!" Undyne roared as she ripped the red lance right out of the golem's arm. It was like a knife through butter, heated by her knowledge that she was holding Asgore's Lance. It turned the mega clod of dirt into an above ground cavern, ripping the arm in two.

But then, as if it were following her command, it began to fall apart. Unceremoniously and without so much as a groan of warning.

In chunks to blocks the creature of dirt fell away, like letting a block of ice drop to the concrete. Nothing held it up, nothing pushed it over, the several stories tall pile of stone and mud just began to fall away. Large chunks rolled into the cabin, making the wood it was made out of cry in protest, but it didn't give. Undyne watched with her good eye, seething still.

"Well… that was impressive." Undyne whirled to see the red head standing in the door of the cabin, stepping out now that the golem was gone, probably. Why was she so comfortable though? Did she know how Asgore's Lance go here? Was she a part of this? "It's almost as if you took away the very magic holding the golem up,"

"Magic annul," the blue-haired girl now. She had her eyes on the pile of dirt that used to be a golem, not the lance that she probably helped to steal. "Dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Undyne repeated, glaring down at the human. It only helped so little to see the girl blink up at her, mouth parting as if she knew what she did was wrong. Oh, she knew, she was just doing a damn good job of hiding it. "No, I'm dangerous."

"S-Sir Undyne?" the red-head skipped. Good. Get started, start realizing how badly you screwed up! Undyne knew that the more scared a coward was, the faster they'd start talking. She'd terrify these humans. "What's wrong? You won! You have defeated Fouquet's golems thrice over now!"

"I don't give a damn about that!" Undyne yelled, letting her boot fall as she twisted back toward the humans. They all shook, maybe from the impact she made, maybe from her voice, but they shook all the same. "I care about this!"

And she held up Asgore's Lance to them. Asgore's Lance, his lance, not theirs and definitely no Staff of Destruction. It wasn't even made for humans at all! They had stolen it!

"The Staff of Destruction?" the pinkette spoke up again. Undyne could hear her take in a breath as her golden eye fell on her. "Th-that is what we came to recover. It belongs to the Acad-" Hell no!

"This belongs to my King!" Undyne yelled down at the human brat.

The punk jumped away, stopping when her back hit the frame of the door. The girls behind her curled their arms, like they were going to stop her from hitting them. When Undyne did that, she'd shatter every bone in their body, guarding or not.

"Students, Undyne, what's happened?" Undyne whipped her head towards the wood. Out came the only adult among a pile of brats. Green hair and probably a green soul. Green with greed, the thief! "Oh, you collected the Staff! Excellent work Sir Undyne, I-"

"It's not your damn staff!" Undyne yelled again, this time with a swing.

She stopped with the three points of Asgore's Lance pointing at the human. She stopped dead in her tracks, holding up her hands with an agape jaw. She wasn't shaking, but the punk knew better that to make a wrong move.

"This is my king's weapon! He made it himself from the fires of his own magic! He keeps it closer and it never leaves his side!" Undyne spouted every fact she knew about the weapon, seeing Asgore use it and hold it whenever they had meetings or even just tea! She remembered him pulling it out and putting it down when he went to brew the stuff! "So why do you human thieves have it!"

"Undyne," the green-haired human spoke up, arms like she was waiting to be killed. "I do not know how your king's weapon came to the Academy. I know even less of how it was misnamed as the Staff of Destruction. I only know that the Headmaster was the one who came across the tool, describing in depth its power and need to be kept from any one kingdom."

Undyne wasn't buying it.

"LIAR!" Undyne yelled, swinging the spear back around. It sliced into the wall of the cabin, sticking through one of the logs of the cabin.

The cabin gave a groan before the ceiling started to fall in.

"Wha!"

"Get out! Get out!"

"…!"

All three girls gave cries of fright as they ran from the cabin, past Undyne and the dirt hill remains of the golems. The ceiling fell not a moment later, taking with it the empty building. The wall fell apart as if they were ice in summer, without an explosion or show of force. It was almost as if the wood itself had lost the will the fight nature. In no time at all, the cabin in the clearing was scrap wood and dust. Bits of wood clinked against Undyne's armor, but it didn't so much as make her flinch.

Undyne kept her eyes on the green-haired woman all the while, even as she stared openly at the remains of the home, arms up to guard herself.

"You stole this from Asgore." Undyne watched the human's eyes switch back to her in a moment, wide with fright. She knew she was a thief and she couldn't hide it anymore. "There's nowhere else you coulda gotten this from. You stole this and you thought I was gonna give it back to you!"

"Stop!" Undyne whipped her head back to where the punks were now. The pinkette was jogging back, eyes focused on her, wet with guilt no doubt.

She took deep breath as she stared up at the monster, the monster the human had tried to take advantage of again. Humans had done it in the war, and now they were doing it again.

"Undyne, please," the pinkette was basically crying as she looked up at her. Even had her hands folded together when she spoke. The Angel was for the monsters, not thieving humans. "Let Headmaster Osmond explain, let the princess explain, b-but please hear them out. We wouldn't… I wouldn't steal from you, ever. You… You have given too much for me to even harbor the thought."

"Yet here I am holding proof!" Undyne shouted down at the human. She held up Asgore's lance, high above her head. "All you got are words and I'm holdin' pretty convincing evidence that you're lying through your flat teeth!" Her lips snarled till she felt gums dry. If she could, she would have breathed fired on the brats.

"Hey Hey, partner, maybe we should calm down a second," Derflinger spoke up from Undyne's opposite hand. She glared at the sword, gripping the hilt until her gauntlets groaned. The sword didn't make a sound. "I'm findin' it pretty hard to imagine them askin' you to help bring back something that belonged to yer people, while knowing it. Seems like a pretty fast way ta ruin a friendship, if ya asked me."

He… He had a point. No way the humans, stupid as they were, were stupid enough to bring her along. Cause… if they knew the lance belonged to Asgore, they wouldn't have asked her to come. Knowing them so far, they would have given some bull excuse for keeping her away.

Maybe he was right, maybe… But maybe not. Because Undyne was holding Asgore's Lance! It was his, she knew it was his! It was just as long, red, and filled with strength as she remembered it! No way it belonged to anyone else. The humans were just watching her, all ready to jump her probably. They stole this from Asgore, so they'd still it from her if they had the chance.

"Then I need a reason." Undyne seethed through her razor teeth. She twisted and slammed the butt of Asgore's spear into the ground. The triple-pronged tip rose above her head. "I need all of you ta give me a reason not to take this and go find the rest of the monsters myself. Cause if your kind is happy 'nough to steal from one another, how do I know you aren't hiding other stuff that belongs to monsters? How do I know you're not gonna try and take this back?"

Their silence was their answer. All of them, staring at her with grit teeth and shaking eyes. They were afraid, like the cowardly humans they were. No determination, no confidence, nothing but greedy palms and sick minds. The pinkette was getting ready to cry, the green-haired human was crouching like she was going to run, the blue-haired chick was gripping her staff and hiding her eyes, and the red-head just looked like she was ready to beg.

"Maybe ya should ask the big guys about that," Derflinger spoke again. Undyne twisted her good eye to the blade. "Pretty sure that if any human's gonna be hidin' something this big, it's gonna be the ones up in their high tower, right? Sides, if what all of them were saying before was true, that staff was behind some big brass door long 'fore any of the gals here got to the Academy."

"Correct," the blue-haired chick spoke up. Undyne shifted her gaze to the her, hard. The brat didn't flinch, but she wasn't moving to attack either. Undyne had no such promises. "Unaware of shape. Power. All unknown."

"Tabitha is speaking the truth, Sir Undyne," the red-head now. She had to be extra careful. "All I knew of the staff before now was its importance to balance and age. No one here, certainly not us students, were aware of the depth of its history. Surely you must have artifacts or events such as that in your own history, correct?" What was she talking about? Making some excuse for thievery?! Undyne felt herself take in a breath of air through grit teeth.

"Th-The war!" the pinkette almost yelled.

Undyne whipped her head back down, fast enough for her hair to become a dangerous tip.

"You spoke of the war before, but you were not a part of it. You were aware of it, told of it, b-but you never actually saw anything of it. Is this not the same? The war to you is as the sta-Lance to us. We knew only tales of it." That… was actually a good point.

Maybe these brats didn't know. They were just brats. Wouldn't make sense for the rabbits in Snowdin to get how the Core worked. This was probably the same thing. It made sense… but holding Asgore's Lance just made it impossible to think. Wait… this was his spear, no doubt, so then…

"Fine," Undyne relented, teeth grit and eye narrowed till it was slit like a human's heart. "We'll go back, but I'm carrying Asgore's Lance and you are gonna keep pace with me. I want answers, and I'm not gonna wait for them, got it?" There was more though. "In fact, I got another question your gonna have ta answer for me."

"Completely understood, Sir Undyne," the green-haired woman responded. "We will make haste back to the academy. If we share the stallions, and you run, we may be able to make it back before day's end." Oh, they'd make it back. No way was Undyne gonna do anything else but plan her attack as soon as she got back! "But what is the other question you have for us?"

Leaning over the woman, lips snarled and eye gleaming, Undyne asked the most important question of her life to the pathetic human.

"Where is Asgore?"


Author's Note: And now, for the this chapter and next, possibly the one after, you will see the please-don't-be-mad part of the story. I know this is mood whiplash, but to progress the story, and make it seem realistic, it had to be done. There really was no way to do this gently, especially with Ms. Extreme at the helm.

So… yeah, next chapter will definetly be sad, and depending on how much I push through, it may be part of the next chapter, but I can promise that this will not be the sum total of the remainder of the story.

Maybe a bit of a spoiler here, but this mood will NOT last forever. I said I wanted it to feel like Undertale, going from joyful and happy tunes and turn it into oh god no then right back. So… this kind of thing will happen again and again, each cycle taking about a dozen chapters, but the point is to have highs and lows.

Hopefully you understand.