Hey Everyone!

Interference in bold, puns and memories in italics, magic is underlined.

-text- indicates either texts, or mental "talking".

All Undertale stuff owned by Toby Fox, else me or a reference.

The day before the premiere, you decide you and your friend need new clothes just for the occasion. You hear about a new shop that makes made-to-measure clothes for same-day occasions. You head out to visit.


Alphys

In the fading light of the afternoon, two short figures sat on the edge of a porch, legs swinging idly over the scraggy hillside below. About a hundred yards below them, a lazy stream followed the edge of one of the bike trails that now ran up Mt. Ebott. A few hundred yards upstream on the opposite bank they could just make out the first house of the neighboring suburb, a half-collapsed play gym in the open yard.

"I spy with my little eye something that begins with 't'"

Alphys looked around. They'd watched the first three episodes of Kissy Cutie before Pers had started to sag. She'd spent about half an hour on her review site while he curled up for a nap, muttering something about red satin over white stone in his dreams. From the look of him, he hadn't had a solid night of sleep in a while...although since he'd said he'd only been 'back' for 36 hours, that could mean anything. She'd texted Undyne about an hour ago asking her to let them in when the coast was clear. Pers had woken up not long after, they'd started on this game.

"Um...is it...um...a twig?"

"No."

She sighed. So far, he'd turned out to be much better at this game than she.

"Um...a trout?"

"Where'd you see a trout?"

"Um...the stream…?"

"No, but cool," he scribbled something in his notebook.

She looked around again.

"...trail?"

"No."

A magpie flapped down from one of the pines, landed noisily in the stream.

"...tourist?"

"Nuh uh."

"Trash?"

"No."

She let out a huff. She was really bad at this game, he was probably bored, she should have thought of something else.

"Hint?"

She sighed, "Sure."

"It's one of the few things you can leave behind in a national park."

She scowled. Why did he have to be so cryptic? Something you left behind in a national park...wasn't there some kind of catchphrase about that? 'Take only pictures, leave only footprints'...but footprints didn't start with 't'...wait. Footprints were left by feet. Clawmarks were left by claws and talons.

"Tracks."

"Yep. Your turn."

She looked around for a minute. What should she…

From inside the house came a familiar voice raised in a shout, "TORIEL!"

She raised an eyebrow, turning to the small human beside her. His expression mirrored her own.

"I th-th-think we can go in s-s-soon."

He shrugged, "If you say so. Who was that, anyway?"

She blushed, and ducked her head, "Oh, um...that, that was...um, her name's Undyne? And she...she's great. She's...great."

He stopped swinging his legs and stared at her, "You like her, don't you."

Her claws spasmed, "Yeah. She's...kinda...my girlfriend?"

He nodded. They stared out at the now golden landscape. It was nice. They didn't get days like this all that often this early in the year. It was one of her favorite things about being Aboveground...how difficult it was to predict what the weather would do from one day to the next. Twelve years and she still couldn't get over it - there were scientists up here who spent their entire careers researching it, and even they had only a limited success when it came to knowing what the next day would bring.

Beside her, the young human got to his feet, notebook clutched protectively to his chest...as if he was terrified it might disappear if he put it down, even for a microsecond. She wondered why...would he be alright if it went into his inventory? Should she show him how that worked?...maybe later. Right now she was about to get yelled at by the queen, she knew it. Toriel...didn't really get along with Alphys. It wasn't that she hated her, at least...Alphys didn't think the queen hated her...she hated her, didn't she?

A soft hand wrapped around her arm, tugging gently. She looked up into those odd eyes and shivered. Right. Going inside now. She could do that...she could...she...her legs weren't responding.

"It's okay, Alphys. Things rarely are as bad as we think they are. Besides, the Queen was really nice when I met her before...I'm sure she won't get mad. Come on."

Alphys took in his gentle smile, encouraging and understanding. She gave him back a shaky one of her own...and stood up. She was glad he seemed to ignore just how much her legs were shaking.

"O-okay...let's...um, let's go."


Undyne

Well...that was fun. That was loads of fun. Let's never do that again, okay Undyne? Good, agreed, motion confirmed. No more sharing really stupid stories in front of Papyrus. Good.

At least Toriel has calmed down now. The Queen looked so...heartbroken. I...I can't imagine feeling like that, knowing...all that, all the things she knows about those kids, all the love and time she gave them...and letting them go through that door. I know...I know she actually fought Frisk when they tried to leave...but...I don't think I could have held it together as long as she did...especially not alone.

...I wonder how Asgore can stand it. She hates him so much...hates what he did so much, but...he lets her believe he killed them all. I know for a fact he didn't...Gerson told me he took out the ki- Sean. The captain before me left that report with the details of when he hunted down the purple SOUL...funny, I don't think he ever mentioned what the kid-

"Oh...oh, my...Pers? Is...is that…"

Standing in the hall to the back door is my girl, shaking...why is she shaking? Is she okay? I...wait, who's that human next to her? Did some human PUNK-

"Hi mom."

Toriel rushes over, scooping the punk up into a hug that would make even my bones creak...is this one of them? It has to be. Toriel...the only other time I've seen her Majesty react like that was the day Frisk dragged Azzy out from the Underground.

Alphys looks at me. She's still shaking...why is she shaking? WHY IS SHE SHAKING!

Her eyes dilate, then she digs around in her pockets for her phone, waving it at me before frantically beginning to text...her claws aren't shaking that bad. Good.

-He's...um, he's one of the kids who fell down? I met him.-

-I mean, I met him then, and now, just now on the porch.-

-Well, not just now, like an hour ago?-

-And we were waiting. He's nice. He'd never seen anime before. Showed him MMKC.-

-Metta has another one of them, Pers called them Justice?-

-They're coming back early. So, um, yay?-

My screen fills up with the rapid fire texts. I grin. Nerd. She goes off like this sometimes...usually when she's happy about something, or when she's just watched an anime she likes. Guess this is both. I type back a question.

-If he's nice, then WHY ARE YOU SHAKING?!-

She blinks, looks at her claws, then pings back.

-I was...um, worried? Tori...um...she, um...she's scary when she's mad.-

-And I thought she might get mad at me.-

I scowl.

-Why would she get mad at you, nerd? You're wonderful, you're amazing, and you just brought one of her kids back. Now she knows about, like, three of them.-

-Well, I thought-

-Wait, three?-

I forward her the email from the Lab Goons. She scrolls, then snickers - probably at Fred's reaction. She looks up at me and nods.

A boney hand grips my shoulder. I scowl up at Papyrus, trying to give him the message that I'm busy. He spins me to face the Queen, who looks amused.

"Well, Captain?"

I cough, "Um, sorry, your Majesty. I was...busy."

She smiles, one arm still wrapped around the boy's shoulder.

"I asked you if you would be willing to come aid me. It appears I must air out one of the guest wings, will I not? I seem to be being inundated with children."

I gulp, then nod, "Of course...will you need anything from the store? Alphys and I brought our car."

She looks thoughtful, then nods, "I believe so. You know the ingredients for my butterscotch-cinnamon pie, do you not?"

The boy in her arms grins. I smile back. Toriel's pie is some of the best in the world...hearing that she plans to make one brightens my day. If I hadn't had any for...well, however long it's been for this kid? I'd be pretty excited, too.


Asriel

"Okay, look. The snails can go on the counter, but only if you put a towel down, okay? We just finished cleaning."

Was I this annoying when I was the kid's age?...I mean, yeah, technically that happened when I was Flowey, I probably had them beat by a lot. But not counting those years, was I ever really this bad? It's like...their like...golly, it's like I'm trying to reason with Smiley Trashbag all over again. Isn't that a surpri- I will not sound like a demented flower, I will not sound like a demented flower. I open my eyes.

The kid...actually did what I asked. The bucket is now sitting smack dab in the middle of the counter, metal sides gleaming in the clear light of the ceiling lamp. The rest of the kitchen...well, it's not perfect, but its a lot cleaner than it was this morning. Mom probably won't notice...okay, she'll notice, but she'll pretend she didn't. She's great like that.

The sound of the front door opening drifts down the hall. My ears perk up. Who is it...Mom...Alphys?...stranger. Wonder who the guest is.

"Hey Mom, hey Alphys, who's that? What did Uncle Sans do this time, burn down the house? Wait, he isn't here...did he stain Uncle Pap orange again? That was funny."

Ah, Frisk. I finish tying up the garbage bag, throwing it over my shoulder. I motion for the kid to go back into the dining room. They shake their head. I frown, then shrug. Guess it's okay if they wait here. I head towards the window. Mom really doesn't like when I do this, but if she doesn't catch me...I open the window, letting the bag drop the five feet onto the ground next to the cans. Yes! It didn't burst this time - I hate it when they do that. Okay, and close the pane...and we're good. I let out a sigh of relief, brushing at the fur of my paws as I turn around.

"Okay, let's go talk to mom, strange snail kid," They look down at the floor, all that confidence vanished without a trace. The skin around my snout wrinkles, "C'mon, I know you know she doesn't bite...well, except for snails. Those she'll eat up in a heartbeat. She's gonna see you eventually, let's get it over with."

Reluctantly, they lift their head, arms wrapping around to hug their sides. They breathe in...then nod. I turn towards the doorway...Alphys is standing there, staring at the kid. O...kay. I wave my paw in front of her eyes. She blinks, then looks up at me...I still can't get used to being taller than her. It's weird!

"Oh, um...um...hi? My name's...um, Alphys? It's...um, why...why are you st-t-taring at me?"

The kid blinks, then hunches up, "I wasn't."

Alphys blinks back. She looks at me, then back at the kid, then back at me, "Oh...um, okay...Tori...Toriel's in the living r-r-room."

I clap a hand on her shoulder. She flinches. Golly, she hasn't done that in years...I hope everything's okay...maybe I should tell Frisk. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do. Frisk will know how to handle this...she's awesome like that...oh, right, going to see Mom, right. Stop grinning like an idiot or Alphys will get suspicious, Azzy, and you REALLY don't want Alphys to investigate...wait...has Undyne told her? She's told her, hasn't she? Why else would she be giving you that look? Great, now I'm gonna be up all night worrying about where she's stashed her fanfic about us, and how I'm supposed to get my hands on it before anyone else sees. Great.

It isn't until I see the kid Mom is holding that I realise I've already started to walk. That's...one of the others...isn't it? Yeah...that's...Perseverance. O...kay. This day just got weirder. Then again, life with Frisk has always been pretty weird. Why am I still getting surprised about stuff like this? Who knows, maybe Chara's gonna slide down the banister any second now...actually, no, forget I thought that, I didn't think that, Chara's far from here...table, table's made of wood, right? Sure, yeah. I knock on the table. That should do it.

"Who is there, my...oh."

Oh, right, Mom always responds to a knock knock joke. Golly, how else would we get her attention, charades? That sounds...sarcasm. I'm sure that was sarcasm. Please, please let that have been sarcasm. I actually have to function right now...is Silver panicking? Nope, she's just sitting on the steps, watching...guess there are a lot of new people in here...well, a lot for her. I'll just go sit with her while Mom gets the hugging out of her system, shall I? Good plan.