Adrian

There seemed to be no end to the onslaught. Spears, red and blue and gold, flew at the humans from every direction, pummelling the shields that seemed like scarcely better protection than sheets of glass. Adrian was standing, twisting wildly in an attempt to block all the projectiles coming their way, while Nyssa braced her feet against her shield and struggled to cast it out of her way.

Undyne, still monologuing, bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet. "For millennia, we've dreamed of a happy ending. Sunlight is almost within our rea– augh! Just die already! I don't remember all of Alphys's scientific soul babble, but you–those white parts in yours don't belong to you, do they?" Undyne snapped her fingers, and the spears briefly ceased their assault on the humans. Their shields blinked out of existence.

Nyssa was fast, but Undyne was faster. Green magic lashed around her wrists and bound them behind her back, choking her soul marks back into their dormant state.

Never taking her blazing glare off them, Undyne slowly walked closer.

"You think you're so nice–but I know what you've done." She jabbed an accusing finger at Nyssa and Adrian's souls. "And that, that just proves everything I've suspected about you all along."

"What?" Adrian sputtered.

Undyne barked a laugh. "Don't play dumb with me, human," she warned. "There's only one way your kind could possibly have gotten pieces of monster soul. How else could you do magic like us, fight like us? You disgusting murderers." With another snap of her fingers, a circle of spears enclosed the humans, a thousand bristling points aimed straight at them.

"We didn't kill any–" Nyssa started, but the words died in her throat.

How would the two of them explain Wing?

Adrian took a breath. He knew was going to do something stupid–but he had to risk it. There was no other way Undyne would possibly be moved enough to spare them.

"Alphys will explain."

Undyne's wall of spears faltered for a beat. Although she tried to maintain her cold, hostile demeanor, Adrian saw immediately on her face that something had changed the moment he mentioned the current Royal Scientist's name.

"Alphys?" Undyne demanded, her spears moving in closer. "What makes you scum think–"

"Alphys knows what's happening. If you want an explanation, take us to her."

The blue of Undyne's cheeks gave way to beet red. "I… I should kill you right now," she snarled. "How dare you bring her into this?" One spear emerged from the barricade and levelled itself at Adrian's soul. "For your nerve, human, I think I will enjoy finishing you first."

"W-wait!" Adrian cried, shooting a terrified glance at Undyne's attack. It was impossibly close, its razor point a whisper away from burying itself in his soul where purple and white met. "T-trust me, Alphys won't like this!"

Undyne's gaze snapped back to him, and he trembled. He had her attention. Now was his chance.

"A-Alphys took notice of our souls and told us to find her in her lab. She-she didn't want us killed, at least not until we reached her. Then, ah, she… then she was probably going to call you over."

Adrian had delivered his lie unconvincingly, he knew. But it was enough to make Undyne stop. Adrian could almost see her gears turning behind her narrowed eye. For whatever reason, she was concerned about her relationship with Alphys, and if the humans' death in any way jeopardised that… well, the Captain of the Royal Guard was more than smart enough not to take that chance.

"Very well; I will take you to Alphys's lab, and there you can try to explain yourselves. But if you are found to be lying…" Undyne warned, making all her spears flare with magic for the effect. She didn't bother to end her sentence–she and the humans all knew she didn't have to.

Adrian swallowed hard.

Nyssa caught his eye, and on her face he saw reflected the same thought that had started racing through his own mind: what in the world do you think you're getting us into?

Nyssa

What the hell, Adrian? Nyssa silently fumed as Undyne marched the two of them down a long stone passageway to the next section of the Underground. The moment their lives weren't being threatened, she was going to thrash him for doing something so impulsive, so idiotic, so blatantly dumb…

And lifesaving, the reasonable part of herself reminded her.

She mentally slapped it.

"Human! Keep moving!" Undyne yelled, and Nyssa realized she had lagged slightly in the haze of her thoughts. A spear broke the ground at her heels, and she ran ahead with a yelp. Letters scrolled across the wall in blinking red lights: WELCOME TO HOTLAND.

Just then, there was a buzz from Nyssa's pocket, and she cursed inwardly.

A phone call? Now?

To her surprise, Undyne just rolled her eyes. "What the heck–take it," she said gruffly. "But don't try to escape, do you understand?" To emphasize her point, she summoned five spears in front of each human, their electric points barring their way to freedom.

"Hey, what's up?"

Crap.

Nyssa had forgotten she'd left the phone on speaker. Papyrus's voice, enthusiastic and exuberant as ever, was unmistakable. Undyne stared at Nyssa, not even bothering to yell out a death threat. "Papyrus has your number?" she sputtered. "How?"

We're one surprise after another, Nyssa thought wryly.

Xandre

Xandre heard Papyrus before he saw him–just like in every other encounter he'd had with the skeleton brothers. He was a little way out past the Gasters' house and the boundaries of Snowdin Town. It sounded like he was having a one-way conversation, and it took a while for Xandre to remember that phones were a thing in the Underground.

"You guys, me and Undyne should totally hang out sometime," he was saying.

Xandre risked a glimpse in Papyrus's direction over the boulder he'd been hiding behind. He couldn't believe his luck–Wing's younger son was alone, grinning at the metal box he clutched in his hand. Heck, he was prancing out in the snow without a care in the world! Too naive to realize that everyone else who'd once shared Snowdin Town with him was dead.

[Idiot,] Xandre said.

"Idiot," Chara snorted at the same time.

[Where's the older one? Sans Gaster?]

"Haven't seen him in a while. But I have a feeling that if he were anywhere nearby, he'd be with Papyrus. Those two are practically joined at the hip most of the time."

[Weird that Sans isn't here, then…]

"But lucky."

Xandre's knife slid from its sheath without a sound.

[Yes. Lucky.]

Adrian

"I think you would make great pals," Papyrus continued, oblivious to the fact that Undyne was standing right there behind the humans with an impressive mixture of anger and incredulity on her face. Oblivious, too, to the fact that another human had just moved several steps closer to him, a blade the length of a forearm bone glinting in his hand.

"Let's meet up at her house later! I'm sure we'll have so much fu–"

Papyrus's voice suddenly dropped off. The crunching of boots on snow became audible on the other end of the line, growing in volume and proximity.

Something had happened.

"H-hey! It's you... Oh drat… Sans, are you there? S-Sans, help! Hey! Human, what are you doi–"

Click.

You know what I'm going to say–please follow, favorite and review if you liked this! I want to emphasize that especially with the reviews–I value feedback more than anything, and I really don't think I've been getting enough lately. It would definitely be a helpful thing for you to leave a comment.

I am currently in the process of rewriting the first few chapters. I made the biggest changes to the prologue, which in my opinion is a lot better than it was a year ago. If you want to check that out you definitely can.

Also, happy Mid-Autumn Festival! (It's something we celebrate where I live.)