A/N: You may or may not have noticed, but I've decided to add the series title to the story in order to help with organization. Make of it what you will.

The drive home was a subdued one, with little to no conversation between the occupants. Given the events which had recently happened, this was understandable.

There isn't really anything we can do, is there? Frisk slumped down in her seat, filled with apathy. The concept of determination, at this point, seemed a totally foreign one to her.

She started to speak, to tell everybody not to tell anyone that they had been at the rally, but then remembered how she had explicitly posted on the website that she and Asriel would be at the rally and slumped with a defeated groan. And our support will probably drop even more after this, given the fiasco that it developed into.

It wouldn't hurt if she took a quick nap, would it? Frisk knew it was still at least fifteen minutes back to Alta Nevada, and that should be enough time. Asriel was looking a little tired as well, so she wasn't the only one worn out by the rally.

Just a few minutes' rest wouldn't do any harm...

Frisk was jolted awake by the car abruptly braking. Undyne swore loudly. "Get a license, Grandpa!" she shouted out the window, and received an explicit response for her trouble.

Shaking her head, Frisk turned to Asriel. He had slumped over in his seat, floppy ears dangling over the area between them. He was clearly in a deep enough sleep to have not noticed the near-car accident which had just occurred. Smiling slightly, she pushed her brother upright in his seat, but it was barely half a minute before he was in the same position.

"What's that?" Undyne frowned, looking up ahead. "If I didn't know any better I'd say that there was a blockade at the entrance to town..."

As Alta Nevada's rugged, low-slung buildings grew nearer, Frisk realized that it wasn't a blockade, although there was a police car at the entrance to the town, along with some weak barricades.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Undyne narrowed her eyes. "You two nerds get down on the floor of the car out of site of the windows."

Frisk unbuckled her seat belt and turned to Asriel. Shaking him gently, she said, "Wake up, Azzy."

Asriel was awake in almost an instant. "Huh? What? What's going on?"

Frisk sighed and rolled her eyes. "And yet you slept through Undyne almost getting us in a car crash."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. There's some kind of police thing at the entrance to the town, and Undyne says we should get on the floor of the car just in case."

"Well, we were involved in instigating an anti-Patriot rally." Asriel said wryly. "Can't understand why the police might hate us."

He crouched down next to Frisk on the car floor as it rolled into motion again.

"You know, I only just realized this," Frisk whispered to her brother, "but it's two days until the second anniversary of monsters leaving the Underground."

"Heh." Asriel smiled sadly. "Two years since we left the Underground. Feels strange to be able to talk about it so casually, with no fear of being forced back there in the near future..."

"Quiet, you two!" Undyne snapped.

The car slowed down, and the noise of the window rolling down could be heard. "Hello!" Frisk heard Undyne's voice become bright and happy.

"I'd like to see some kind of identification from both of you, please." a nasal voice said.

"W-would a driver's license do?" Alphys stuttered.

"Sure, lady, just give me something I can use to verify who you are." Frisk could hear Undyne's wallet flipping open.

After a tense few minutes, the nasal voice said, "Alright, you two can pass through."

"Why the need for the extra security?" Undyne asked.

"You heard about the protest in Sacramento, right? A few minutes after the crowd finally cleared up, somebody detonated a bomb in front of the state Capitol. Blew most of the front to smithereens. We're just trying to keep everyone safe, since this is one of the largest monster communities in the world."

"Y-you think the bomb was directed to...to hurt monsters?"

"I don't know, lady, I'm just going off of what I've heard. Now can you go through into the town now?"

The car picked up speed, and after a moment Undyne said, "Alright, you can get back into your seats."

Both children complied, and Frisk fastened her seat belt with shaking fingers. "Someone blew up a bomb in front of the Capitol..."

"If we'd stayed there longer, we could've been caught in the explosion." Asriel seemed almost as scared as his sister was.

"But what if the bomb was purposely detonated after the protest cleared up, kind of to add onto it?" Undyne pointed out.

"What makes you think that was the motive?" Asriel raised an eyebrow.

Undyne was silent, and Alphys filled in the answer for her: "We saw something similar in an anime."

"Ah." Frisk nodded.

"And there's your house." Undyne pointed. "You want me to drop you off?"

"What time is it?" Asriel asked, and answered his question a moment later by checking his watch. "2:09. We really spent that much time getting there and getting back?"

"I know, it felt like a lot less." Frisk nodded. "Sure, we'll get out here. Thanks for the ride, Undyne."

"No problem!" Undyne responded, but they could all tell that her enthusiasm was strained. "See you two later!"

Frisk and Asriel got out of the car, and it roared away down the road.

"Uh, Frisk?" Asriel asked. "School doesn't let out for half an hour. How are we going to explain this to Mom?"

"By telling the truth and nothing else." came a voice from behind them, and both teenagers whipped around.

Toriel was standing there, arms folded across her chest.

She was not happy.

"And now you will explain why you found it necessary to skip school to organize a political rally."

A/N: Sorry if this chapter seemed somewhat short, but I'm planning an extra-long chapter to post as a Christmas present. I'll try to make up for the wait with some updates on Reset 927.