Jason was the winner of the contest. He gained a glass jar full of chocolate, which stood almost to his chest. However, when he saw a group of children eyeing the jar off, he ended up giving it to the crowd to share. With a smile, he sat down at the Original's table while everyone got up to dance.

The monsters watched him as he gazed longingly at the dancing crowd. His eyes never wandered off the sight, so he didn't notice their thoughtful and concerned looks.

'If he wants to go out there so bad, why doesn't he?' Undyne asked. Sans shrugged.

'I BELIEVE IT IS BECAUSE HE GET FRIGHTENED OF LARGE CROWDS. COMRADE SAID SO A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO.'

But Sans didn't think that was it. Jason had shown that he loved the attention. His spectacle on the stage had proved that. Now he looked at the dancing crowd sadly, his thoughts seeming to be somewhere completely different. What was keeping him from interacting with other people? Again, Sans wondered what was going through his shifters head.

It was at that time that Ashley and Darkscream strolled over, sitting beside the distraught shifter. They were immediately aware of his nostalgic mood.

'How ya doing, mate?' Darkscream asked, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Jason flinched, quickly wiping at his eyes.

'Yeah. I'm good.' He lied. He turned away so they didn't see the tears that had gathered, but the two shared a knowing look. They had seen it.

'Well that's good to hear,' Ashley chuckled, eyes looking towards the dance floor, 'Because someone has something to show you.'

Comrade rushed to the table, dragging a young girl close behind. They were both laughing, pushing each other playfully as Comrade guided her towards his brother. Jason sat straighter, the sad mood dissipating like mist in the sunlight.

Papyrus tapped his brothers shoulder, a big grin on his skull.

'THAT IS HIS NEW GIRLFRIEND.' He signed proudly.

'Hey. You must be Dawn.' Jason muttered, eyeing the girl critically. She smiled, shaking his hand. She didn't seem put off by the neutral, somewhat off putting greeting.

'Yeah. It's nice to meet ya.'

'Yeah,' Jason muttered, looking over her shoulder, 'Hey Comrade, I think one of the guys is looking for ya.'

Comrade looked back, quickly disappearing into the dancing crowd to find whoever had been looking for him. Dawn moved to follow, but Jason hadn't released her arm. She flinched as his grip tightened. His eyes had hardened, making the monsters and shifters stiffen.

'Kay darling, I'm gonna make this very clear. Comrade is the only family I have left. I will not appreciate someone harming him in any way. So if you hurt him...' He trailed off, the unspoken threat hanging thick in the air, 'I'm sure you get the idea. Do you understand?'

'Y-yes! Yes! P-perfectly!' She stuttered, trying to pull away from him. He looked her over once more, white eyes flashing, before releasing her.

'Good ta hear! Now go on. I'm sure he'd love ta dance with ya!' His voice with merry again, leaving no evidence of the threatening individual he had been moments before. She nodded, rushing off to find Comrade.

Ashley snorted, rolling her eyes.

'Was that really necessary?'

'She is the first person who he's ever been in a relationship with. She needs to know that I won't stand for him being manipulated or abused.' Jason snapped.

'...Wow. And I thought Sans was overprotective...' Undyne signed. That made the monsters snicker.

'So, how are your cases going?' Ashley asked, ignoring Darkscream as he nuzzled her neck.

'They have thus far been very successful. The perps were caught, there was no major property damage, and no casualties.'

'That's always good.' Darkscream muttered, smiling down at Ashley. She just rolled her eyes at him, but smiled back.

'How have your peace meetings been going?'

'Oh boy...' Darkscream muttered under his breath. Ashley sighed dramatically, leaning against him for support.

'Where do I even start? The human government are nothing but idiotic children! Their childish squabbles are threatening to start World War Three, and they are trying to put up restrictions on our work unless we share our advanced weapons. And we all know how that will turn out!'

'Eh. Let them kill each other.' Jason scoffed, shaking his head.

'Ya know I can't do that,' Ashley sighed, 'And then there is Jetstone...'

Sans looked up at this. that was the Verten leader, right?

'Is he doing anything?' Jason asked, suddenly sounding worried. She snorted.

'Least he ain't harvesting my Spark again.' She muttered sarcastically. Darkscream's eyes flashed red at that.

'He still deserves to be melted down to scrap metal for that!' He growled.

'Well, that's just the thing. He isn't doing anything. He has been working with the human government to the letter, he's been assisting rebuilding the old cities that were destroyed... Hell, he even has a force going out to collect those who committed the worst war crimes. He doesn't stand for anyone trying to even challenge the Treaty's rules.'

'Well... that's good, right?' Jason asked. She sighed.

'I... I don't know. He seems to be doing everything right, but... The fighting is still fresh in our minds, and we're always on edge when meeting. And...' She paused, shaking her head, 'He's been acting weird lately. It's making me paranoid that he's up to something.'

'Ash, we know he is up to something.' Darkscream muttered. Jason cocked his head, leaning against the table.

'Oh? What's he up to?'

'We have had seventeen new shifters in the last two weeks,' Ashley sighed heavily, 'The tonic is becoming common among humans, and none of them seem to realize it.'

'Over half the lot turned out to be Bolts, and only three were Mandimal's.' Darkscream added. Jason hummed, a finger tapping his chin in thought.

'If I didn't know better, I'd say Jetstone was building another army.'

'And on top of that, we've been getting constant complaints from the Community, from minor discriminatory disturbances to theft. It's keeping us from properly looking into it.'

'Theft?' Jason's hand curled around Sans slightly, inciting a startled yelp from the skeleton. Sans looked up at Jason, seeing his eyes had turned blue. He pulled Sans closer, as if to verify that he was still there and not missing.

'Yeah. Many people have been reporting stolen monsters lately.' Darkscream said. The fist tightened slightly, keeping Sans trapped in the shifters hold. He tried to push the digits away, but quickly gave up and just lounged over them like they were pillows.

'Ya know, it was when they were introduced to market that all this crap began.' Ashley mused, looking down at the monsters.

'Lenny and Ratap hacked into their computers a while back. Found out that they were not following animal trapping guidelines. And they seemed to be doing... experiments on them, too.' That made all at the table shudder; the monsters at the thought of experimentation, the shifters reliving nightmarish memories they wished they could forget.

'I don't think that's the end of it, either,' Ashley said, tapping Toriel lightly on the head, 'I can't help but think that... maybe... just maybe their-'

Whatever she was about to say was promptly cut off by a bright blue light that engulfed the entire area. After the bright light had dissipated, all eyes turned to the source.

Comrade and Dawn were holding each other, still caught in a kiss. Between them their sparks had surfaced, showing one red, the other light blue. But what had those watching so captivated was the fact that they had merged souls. It was something souls did sometimes, when two individuals who truly loved each other had their souls merge so their other half a a part of their soul with them. It linked them forever.

The two kids stepped back, looking down at the souls that slowly sank back into the bodies. They looked at each other, then collapsed in a fit of pleased giggles. The crowd around them began to cheer, moving to congratulate the couple. Sans' grin widened at the soulwarming sight.

But Jason stiffened, leaning back as he stared, dumbstruck by the scene. His hands began constricting into fists, making Sans gasp in pain as his bones creaked together. Ashley tore her eyes away from the couple and carefully reached out to take his hand, which released the trapped skeleton. Papyrus rushed to his brothers side, wrapping him in a hug and pulling him back to the small circle of monsters.

'Jason? You okay?' Ashley asked. He blinked, his head turning slowly to look at her. His eye colour was flashing again. Blue. Red. White. Black. Green. Repeat. Blue. Red. White. Black. Green. Repeat. He opened his mouth, but couldn't speak. He cleared his throat, trying again.

'I, uh... I...'

'Ya got no excuse now, C! You have to join our team now!' Jason looked over at his brother, who was surrounded by the friends he had made over his time at the school. He smiled at Dawn, kissing her cheek.

'Of course I will.'

And Jason was gone in a wisp of stirred up wind. Sans looked around, startled by the sudden disappearance. is that what people feel when i randomly teleport away?

Ashley looked up, eyes wide. She moved to run after him, but Darkscream pulled her back into his lap.

'Ash, give him some space. The worst thing we can do right now is disrupt their attempt to figure this out.' He instructed, rubbing her shoulders to try and ease the sudden stress that gripped her body. She sighed, looking up to the moon pleadingly.

'I just hope he doesn't kill anyone while doing so.'