"Yes, Alphys, this time it'll not be able to move. I shackled the horns as well, just to be safe. And Frisk, didn't I say that we should've called Asgore the first thing we did? You're lucky it didn't slice you open like a can of tomato sauce."

Aofil blinks.

"Undyne! Don't talk like that! You're scaring them, and me."

Their head is pounding, what happened?

"Sorry, Alphys. It's just, it was my fault that it could attack. If it would've reached Frisk, I don't know what I could've done to save them. It moved so fast, I wasn't ready."

Something is holding their head.

"U-Undyne? It's moving again!"

A crackling sound emerges.

"Alphys, Frisk, get back! Alphys, keep your phone ready!"

Aofil tries to reach for what's grasping their head, but their arms are stuck, they can't move them. Something sharp pushes against their throat, and they struggle to breathe.

"You move one more muscle except your tongue, and I'll cut both off! I don't care if you're in pain, because that's the point!" Undyne roars with uncertain anger. Her command is unstable, as if she doesn't believe that she's in charge, "Who are you?"

"Undyne?" Aofil asks. Their voice is feral, it's not theirs. Why is it like this?

The pressure of her spear fades for a second as she flinches from hearing her name. She shakes her head, and pushes her spear back, "How do you know my name? Are you a monster?"

"Aofil," they cough, "I'm Aofil."

Again Undyne's grip on her spear loosens, "A-Aofil?" she stutters out in confusion, "B-but, how?"

Aofil struggles for air as their throat is granted permission to breathe by Undyne's spear. They take some deep gulps of air, each breath sounding foreign to their ears. Once they finally soothe their lungs they lean back, and let their eyes wander around their, basement? Yeah, it's their basement. They're back in it. Wait, back? When did they get here to begin with? And why is their body this, monstrous?

Undyne's head cocks as Frisk brushes past her leg, "Frisk?"

Aofil again locks eyes with Frisk, and again their exhales quicken. They throw themselves against the child, "You!" they roar, before being janked back by their head and arms. They recoil back against the cold steel behind them, and the machine shakes violently. The world around them starts spinning, and they struggle to recover. What did they just do? Why did they attack Frisk? Undyne charges them before they can get their bearings back.

Again the air is forced out of Aofil's lungs. Undyne doesn't waste the opportunity. She pushes her arm up against the throat, and her spear against the chest, "No Aofil of mine would lunge against Frisk like that! Who are you?" Aofil feels the skin on their chest give way to the sharp edge of Undyne's spear, "Last chance!"

"My house, then main road, take a right at the echo flower house!" Aofil shouts with the last air still left for them to use.

Despite the alien tone and growl of their voice, the unfamiliar eyes, and the monster form they have, Undyne knows, it's Aofil. She lets them go with a bewildered and confused expression on her face, "What are you doing, Aofil? Why are you attacking Frisk?!"

Aofil again breathes greedily.

"And why are you like this?" Undyne slumps down on the ground as her spear disperses from her hand, "How are you like this?"

Alphys peeks up from behind a table lying on its side, "Undyne? What happened?" she rushes to Undyne's side and grabs hold of her, "Y-you're not attacking her unless you get through me!" she shouts to Aofil, "I-I don't know who you are."

"I'm Aofil," they interrupt.

"But I'm gonna," Alphys stops as the name settles in her ears, "Aofil?" she takes a look at Undyne, concludes that she's fine, and walks closer to Aofil with her claws tapping against one another, "Is it really you?"

They nod.

"This is," Alphys takes off her glasses and cleans them with her lab coat, "this is unbelievable. You're not you."

Undyne throws a hand up, "Well, obviously," before leaning her lobe against it, "What is this, Aofil?"

"Can you take the chains off, please?"

Alphys returns her glasses onto her nose, "Sure, Aofil."

Undyne stretches out an arm before her, stopping her with a squeal, "You attacked Frisk, Aofil," she removes her hand from her lobe and lifts up a pair of fingers, "and you did it twice. I know that you are you, but are you you?"

Aofil and Alphys both wrinkle their noses at the question.

"Look," Undyne massages her forehead for a second, "it might be you inside that body, but how do we know it's your body? How do we know you're in control? Again, you attacked Frisk!"

Alphys inspects the large and alien monster shackled up like an animal, and takes a step back. Undyne summons another spear in her hand, "Sorry, Aofil, but you have to convince me."

"Magic," Aofil answers, grunting at the sound of their voice.

"Gotta have to be more specific."

"I can't."

Undyne shrugs, "We'll, then I'm not convinced. Sorry."

"Aofil, you're a human with monster features. How? It shouldn't be possible, unless," Alphys moves her eyes to the machine Aofil's shackled to, and her face drains of color, "Oh no, what if?"

"What?" Undyne asks, with her eye still on Aofil.

"A-Aofil, d-did you use this m-machine?"

Undyne puts a hand on Alphys' shaking shoulder, "Alphys?" she asks her, but Alphys' eyes are glued towards Aofil. Her clenched fists are shaking in anger, and she's breathing sharply.

Her eyes narrow, and Undyne almost loses grip on her shoulder as Alphys throws a finger against Aofil, "Who did you kill?" she rages out, "Who did you kill and absorb? Why? Were you curios? Answer me!"

Undyne turns Alphys around and looks her in the eye, "Alphys, what are you talking about? Did Aofil kill someone?"

"T-that machine, it's a s-soul extractor."

Undyne furrows her brow, "Extractor? How do you mean? Wait," and her mouth hangs open, "You," her face goes through a range of emotions, confusion, anger, disgust, questioning, "you built that in our home? Why?"

Alphys posture slumps back down from the upright one she assumed while accusing Aofil. She hides her head in her hands, and her tail curls up, "I-I'm."

"No," Undyne stands up and backs away from Alphys, "why would you do that? It turned Aofil into who what they are now, and you said they had to kill someone to do it? Why would you build something like that? I thought you left this behind! Why?"

Alphys and Undyne stare at each other. Undyne trying to figure out how she feels about it, and Alphys trying to figure out how to tell her about it.

Undyne and Alphys both flinch backwards as Sans pops up between them with his accompanying gust of wind that blows dust into Aofil's face. They blow their lips, and stab one with a fang.

Again Alphys is forced to clean her glasses. She narrows her eyes, "Sans?"

"aofil applied for a teacher position with toriel, right? how did it go?"

"W-what?" Alphys returns her glasses onto her confused, wrinkled nose, "Why does it matter?"

Sans motions with his hand that he want an answer.

"Um, well, I think. They got the job, but why is it important right now?"

"undyne," Sans spins on his heel, looking over her struggling to get out of the pile of boxes she backed into, "what about the trial?"

"What," she leans against a box with her hand, and it falls over. She catches herself just before hitting the ground, "what trial?"

Sans shines up,"heh, looks like it actually works, and we got lucky with the memories," and claps his hands, "how fantastic."

He hums a pleased song as he walks up to Aofil, "you have him under control?" Sans starts as he tinkers with the shackles above Aofil, "scared me a bit back there," he taps his chin, "this is a weird knot."

Aofil can't believe their tear filled eyes, "You're alive?"

Sans leans down with a perplexed look, "yes? did you suddenly forget that i'm not a human skeleton?"

"No, it's just," a shackle opens, and Aofil's arm falls down, "I thought I killed you."

Sans opens the other makeshift shackle, "you got me pretty good with that fireball, i'll give you that, but kill me? nah, not you, you don't love me enough. also, as i guessed before," and pulls down his shirt, exposing his restored ribs, "healing magic works."

"But," Aofil rubs their wrists, the strange feeling doesn't mask the pain. They look at their wrists, the pain is familiar, "nevermind."

Undyne grabs Sans' collar and throws him back, "They attacked Frisk!"

"you did, aof? why?" he stands up, "wait, did you do something, kiddo?" he asks Frisk with a raised eye socket.

Frisk shakes their head.

"no soul sheltering, no keeping them alive, no nothing?"

They shake their head again.

"B-but," Aofil lowers their head in thought. The rope on their horns taut, and they grunt as it drags their horns back. They grind their teeth against the pain.

"oops," Sans apologizes, and walks past a stunned Undyne, "sorry, didn't see them," and unties the rope from the machine. He helps Aofil up on their feet, and brushes them off with his hand, "you were saying?"

"If Frisk didn't touch my soul," Aofil thinks for themselves.

"doesn't seem like it," Sans shrugs and finishes off his cleaning, "unless the kid is lying, of course," he peeks his head out from behind Aofil, "are you?" he asks Frisk. Again they shakes their head.

"So Chara wasn't real?" Aofil whispers. Their face turns bitter and sour, "Dammit!" they yell, causing the entire basement to rumble. They relax their clutched fists, and sigh deeply, "My head is a mess," they complain with a tired voice. They run their hands over their face, but it doesn't help in the slightest. If anything, it made them more aware of the foreign form they have, which is the complete opposite.

"how are you feeling?"

"It's hard to describe. I'm also not hearing," Aofil is silenced by Sans' hand. The question wasn't directed at them, but to Undyne and Alphys.

"I'm confused, that's what I am," Undyne answers with a flail of her arms, "Alphys is too, for that matter. The smartest monster is confused! How did you manage that?"

"arguably," Sans coughs just loud enough for Aofil to hear, but not the others, "but other than that, how is your head?" Sans presents Aofil with his hands, "if you look at aof here, what do you think? can you even think?"

Undyne's brow furrows so far down that her eye patch covers her forehead, "What kind of question is that? I see Aofil being a monster, except, you know, they're supposed to be human!" she screams. Confused and bewildered she stares at Sans, her hand twitching and summoning cyan sparks, just like her eye.

He nods, pleased with the answer, and turns to Alphys, "and you, alphys?"

Undyne throws her arms into the air, "Ngaaaah! Now my head is a mess too!"

"less of a mess," Sans corrects.

Undyne grin is twitching like her eye, "What was that?"

"nothing. alphys?"

"Um," she glances over to Undyne, who's restraining herself from making another spear, "I feel fine, I think? Is Aofil radiating something dangerous?"

Sans winks at Aofil, "seems to be working."

"What?"

Sans taps at his skull, and spins his finger around. Aofil eyes open wide, "Ah," they see what he means. They nod to him.

"What! Are! You! Talking! About?!" Undyne huffs angrily, "Just tell me! My head is spinning! It's annoying."

"no wonder it's spinning, it's your top," Sans grins.

Undyne mumbles obscenities under her breath while the cyan glow in her hand increases in strength, "Not in the mood for jokes."

"then how about tea?" Sans proposes with his arms wide open, "undyne, could you brew some?"

"Why me?"

"because right now, your silhouette is closest to an adult human's," Sans explains while digging through the boxes Undyne fell into, "if anyone happens to walk by, i've no idea who might, mind you, but then they won't immediately be alarmed by a lizard tail, or by children walking around in a house that no children live in."

He tosses Undyne a packet of Golden Flower tea, as well as a kettle. She catches them without blinking, and sighs through her lips, "I should've stayed in the Underground," she's hit in her eye by a beam from atop the door frame. She again shakes her head, and ascends the stairs on heavy legs.

Sans continues excavating a folded table, some cups, and a table cloth. Aofil recognizes none of them, he must've brought them with him. When did he have time for that? Unless, Aofil looks at the machine behind them, unless Sans lived here. That worries Aofil, worries them something immense. They lean their head against their fur covered hand, it's soft like a freshly washed towel, "How long was I out?"

"Um, I think an hour or something," Alphys answer while standing in the middle of the room, caressing her tail with both hands.

"No, I meant before when," Aofil catches their tongue in the last second, and on a fang. They huff away the pain, "Nevermind."

"Ah," Alphys nods before giving her tail another impatient squeeze. She eventually decides to help Sans with arranging the table.

Despite Frisk leaning into Aofil's view, they're still lost in thought. Frisk snaps their finger right in front of the feral eyes, and they react by flinching. Aofil brushes Frisk away with the back of their hand, "Better for the both of us," Frisk lifts up three fingers, "Better for the three of us," Aofil corrects.

Frisk pushes away Aofil's hand, and sits down next to them. They run their eyes up and down, and turn their head away with a conflicted frown.

"Just another monster to you?"

Frisk shakes their head angrily.

"Don't worry, I know what you mean. You're used to monsters attacking you and not fighting back, at least," Aofil moves their narrowed eye towards Frisk, "not this timeline."

Frisk looks away and rubs their arm. They blink in thought, and then look up at Aofil again. They reach for a dangling ear, but Aofil stops them.

"The less I'm aware of how I am now, the better," Frisk returns their hand, "Thank you. Now, do you have any idea how we might get him out of me?"

Frisk sighs.

"Yeah, I ain't got the foggiest either. At least I can think clearly, since I don't feel him in my mind anymore. Don't really know if that's a good or a bad thing. Last thing I saw of him was," Aofil's voice trails off, their throat feels like gravel, on top of sounding like it. They look Frisk in the eyes, and Frisk flinches just slightly meeting them, "I know that Sans asked you before, but did you do anything with my soul when I was out?"

Frisk puts a hand on their chest, and shakes their head. Aofil keeps eye contact for a little while longer, just to be safe, but eventually they give up, "So I guess Chara was just a memory."

Frisk nods, and reaches for Aofil's ear again. They calmly, but firmly, lean away from the hand.

"Tea's done, nerds," Undyne exclaims from atop the stairs, "and whatever you are, Aofil. Seriously, how? Me and Alphys went here to bring back your umbrella, and we saw this huge and lumbering shadow walking around in your house," she explains as she walks down, being careful not to spill the steaming kettle.

Aofil shoots a look towards, "Umbrella?" they mouth accusingly. Sans shrugs with his hands upraised.

"Since the door was locked," Undyne continues, "we used the window, and found you laying face down on the floor. I think it was the first time ever Sans was happy to see us."

"did you find your jaw that you dropped upstairs?" Sans quips. Undyne freezes him with a look. He thaws after a second, "hey, not my fault you can't handle my incredibly fair complex."

Undyne blows her lisp at the very notion, "He told us to carry you down, didn't have the bright idea to tell us who you were though," she places the hot kettle on the table, "Just carry this thing downstairs and lock it up, it might be dangerous," Undyne snaps her fingers, "And then you shortcutted away!"

"A-Aofil attacked Frisk," Alphys adds.

"So whatever plan you had, Sans, it almost got Frisk killed."

Frisk and Aofil share a look, Aofil looking down at the wide stripes they made with their claws, there's still some fabric left on them. They open their mouth to say sorry, but Frisk jumps into their embrace.

With a soft hawk Alphys apologizes for disturbing the humans, "A-Aofil?" she asks with an upraised finger, "C-can I ask you something?"

Aofil nods without smiling, it would probably just scare her.

Alphys taps her claws together, "H-how did this happen? How did you become like this? I asked Sans about it, but he told me he didn't know how humans procreate."

"heh."

Undyne rolls her eye with a sigh.

"Anyway, I might be able to help you, but first I need to know exactly how this happened. You used the soul extractor, right?"

"I don't really know if I should tell you," Aofil looks at their hand, "It might do more harm than good."

Alphys grabs her tail again, "U-unless you want to be this way. Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."

"Oh, no, I definitely want to be a human again."

"beats me," Sans comments as he combs his skull, "but it's probably wise not to tell them that you and i tried to bring back asriel."

Undyne and Alphys heads almost fly off their necks as they swerve them to Sans. Aofil's eyes shoot wide open, and again they try to say something, but they're hushed by Sans' finger, "let me finish, by trying to use this," he picks up the memory box from his pocket, "i placed it inside the machine, aofil came back from their vacation that they had, that's why their house was empty, and that's why i tried the experiment here. they came down the stairs just as the machine went haywire, and they were hit with magic, turning them into what they are now."

Sans takes a dramatic breath, "anything else? and yes, that's why they look like."

"Asgore, and Toriel," Undyne finishes.

"yes, thank you, undyne," Sans stops as he sees Undyne's frozen expression. He follows her eyes up the stairs, to the two large boss monsters standing in the doorway, blocking the sunlight from the upper floor.

"We came as fast as we could, what's happening?" Asgore's face turns to stone as he sees Aofil sitting against the machine. Toriel is confounded at first, but has the same reaction once her eyes also spot the goat-like creature.

Sans glances at the set table, and motions his hand towards it.

"tea?"