Chapter 51: Undyne's Request

Author's Note: Wow, over 11,000 views! Thanks so much for the support!

Eventually, Frisk was waiting entrance to Alphys' laboratory with the letter clutched in their hands. There didn't seem to be a mailbox, so they just slid it beneath the door and knocked. After a few seconds, they could hear the scientist nervously muttering to herself on the other side.

"Oh n-no… not another letter… can't I just slide it back out? I don't want to read it…"

They weren't sure what she was talking about, until the memory of the odd stack of unopened letters from several monsters came to mind. Why did she seem so afraid of mail? Frisk knew that she was rather timid, but it was almost suspicious of her to act like that.

"No… I can't keep doing this. I'll read this one."

She was grunting a bit through the door.

"Um… it's sealed kind of strongly, isn't it? Who even wrote… wait a second…"

Suddenly, the door opened. Frisk took a step backwards to avoid looking like they'd been listening while Alphys emerged, her eyes cast down at the ground with a sad expression.

"Hey, if this is supposed to be some kinda joke it's…"

The look on her face became one of confusion, then slight embarrassment when she noticed Frisk standing there.

"Uh… did you write this? It wasn't signed… it's kind of adorable, I had no idea you wrote so, um, forcefully!"

"Actually, I was just-"

"It's surprising," she cut them off, "that you think this even after I did all that bad stuff… I don't really deserve to be forgiven… but you know what? I'll accept! It's the least I can do to make it up to you, right?"

They frowned.

"What are you-"

"Yeah! Let's go on a date!" Alphys said cheerfully. "I'll go get changed, be right back!"

Frisk unhappily realized that they'd somehow asked her out via misunderstanding. They couldn't even appreciate the fact that Undyne had been the one who really wrote the date letter thanks to their surprise. Just as they were about to call her and ask to clear up the situation, however, Alphys returned wearing a pink and red spotted dress. She was blushing quite a bit and Frisk didn't have the heart to tell her the truth at that point, seeing how happy she looked.

"Y-you like the dress? My friend helped me pick it out, she has a really great sense of… a-anyway, let's get started! Here, I've got some items that can raise your affection statistic… you know, to increase the chance of a successful outcome to the date…"

Alphys began digging around through a small bag she carried while they just stared in bewilderment.

"Let's see, there's metal armor polish… uh, maybe you can't really use that. Oh, I also brought some waterproof cream for your scales! Your scales that… you don't have… maybe this magical spear repair kit that… uh… f-forget about the gifts."

She hurriedly stashed away the bag.

"We should go somewhere… I know, let's visit the dump!"

"…sure…"

River Person, who happened to be floating past Hotland, was more than happy to bring the two to the Waterfall garbage disposal in its boat.

"Tra la la, Alphys…" it said to the Royal Scientist. "I have not seen you in a while… where is Captain Undyne? She is normally with you."

She just blushed profusely.

"Um… F-Frisk and I are on a date right now, so… she's not here."

"Is she cooking with Sans and his brother?"

"I think just Papyrus…"

Frisk's attention was drawn toward River Person.

"You know who Sans is?"

"Tra la la… of course I do… I helped transport supplies between Snowdin and Hotland while the Core was being built, and he took many rides with me."

"Did you meet Doctor Gaster?" they asked, perhaps a bit too eagerly.

"Tra la la… here we are…"

They were dropped off at the dump without being able to ask anything else. Not satisfied, however, Frisk turned to Alphys for more answers. Their curiosity about W.D. Gaster was only increasing after seeing what they assumed was Sans' secret workshop (which, for obvious reasons, they didn't mention). The Royal Scientist was able to describe how he'd been a kind boss to her and very caring at heart, but twenty years without him had caused her memories to fade somewhat. She didn't even know what W.D. stood for.

"Well, here we are at the dump!" she said once they'd walked some ways in. "Undyne and I come here all the time, we find tons of great stuff. She's really… uh oh…"

Alphys was looking somewhere in the distance, visibly panicking.

"T-that's her over there! I can't let her see you on a date with me, I..."

Without saying another word, she scurried to hide behind a nearby garbage can, leaving Frisk alone in the middle of the dump as Undyne rushed in. She was wearing a black leather jacket with more stylish-looking jeans and boots. Her hair, once just a flowing red ponytail, now partly hung over her eyepatch and appeared to have been neatly combed. It was actually a rather strange look for her; she never seemed the type to dress up.

"Hey! There you are!" Undyne called to Frisk. "I realized that giving you the letter might've been a bad move, it could give the wrong idea… so I'm gonna deliver it personally! Let me have it back!"

They had to think quickly.

"I, um, lost it before I could give it to Alphys…"

"You lost it?! NGAHHH! Well, have you at least seen her anywhere?!"

"…um… no, I haven't. She wasn't at the lab, and I can't seem to find her here."

"Ugh, where the heck could she be?!" Undyne groaned, stomping away.

Once she was out of sight, Alphys sheepishly came out from her hiding spot behind the trash can. She had a sad look on her face.

"Heh… I guess it's obvious now… I, um, really like her… s-sorry, I just figured it would be fun to go on a cute, uh, pretend date with you? You seemed excited, anyway…"

The Royal Scientist sighed dejectedly.

"She's the one I really want to go on a date with, but she's way out of my league… confident, and strong, and funny… I could never be worthy of her."

Frisk wasn't sure if they should be irritated or amused.

"Well… that letter I gave you was actually from Undyne. I guess she just didn't sign her name. But Alphys, don't you know what that means? She wants to date you too!"

To their surprise, her expression only became more depressed.

"That's… I-I could never go out with her, though… I've told her so many lies, at this point she thinks I'm a lot cooler than I really am. If she gets close to me… she'll learn the truth."

"Then just tell her yourself!" they encouraged.

"What?! But then she'll hate me! Isn't it better this way, for two people to live a lie but be happy rather than know the truth and be miserable? Everyone always says to just be yourself, but… I don't really like who 'myself' is. I prefer just being whatever makes people happy."

A long silence passed between them before Alphys spoke up again.

"…no, you know what? You're right. I can't keep doing this to her, or to myself. But how will I be able to tell her the truth? I don't have the confidence, I'll just mess it up…"

Frisk thought about the situation.

"Why don't we roleplay it? I'll pretend to be Undyne, and you'll tell me the truth. That way you can practice."

She giggled nervously.

"That sounds kinda fun! Okay, let's try it… ahem… h-hi Undyne! Nice to see you today!"

"Hey, Alphys!" Frisk responded in their best impression of the fish monster. "What's up?"

"Wow, you're good… I m-mean, I have to tell you something… I haven't been, um… honest with you…"

"Oh yeah? You can tell me the truth, I won't be mad."

The Royal Scientist was sweating profusely as she continued speaking.

"I… I want to tell you how I feel. You're brave, and strong, and nice, and you always listen to me when I talk about nerdy stuff… you make me feel special, Undyne…"

All of a sudden, her composure seemed to just disappear at once. Alphys began to shout her response to the open air.

"UNDYNE! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANY LONGER! I'M MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU! HOLD ME! HOLD ME IN YOUR STRONG, LOVING-"

"WHAT did you just say?!" a voice cried from behind her. Undyne had reappeared and was staring at Alphys with a bewildered look on her face.

"Oh- um- Undyne, I-"

She cut off the Royal Scientist.

"Hey, your outfit's really cute, Alphys! What's the occasion… wait a second… are you two on a date?"

"Uh-" Frisk began.

"YES! I mean, NO! I mean, we were only romantically roleplaying as you and… I… I've been lying to you about..."

Undyne slipped her hands into her pockets, patiently waiting for the explanation. It came after less than a second.

"…about EVERYTHING! I said that seaweed was scientifically important, but really I just use it to make ice cream! Those human history books I have are nothing more than nerdy comics! And the movies are just… anime! They're not real! Those sword-wielding robot princesses you like so much are all fake!"

"Alphys."

"I just wanted to impress you… I really like you, Undyne, and I wanted you to think I was smart and cool, not just some nerdy loser…"

"Alphys," she repeated, crouching slightly to rub her friend's back comfortingly. Then, without warning, Undyne lifted her clear off the ground and tossed her through the air into the garbage can she'd just been hiding behind.

"Listen up!" the fish monster announced in a loud voice. "I, uh, really like you too! But you've gotta realize… most of what you said doesn't matter to me. I don't care if you're watching kid cartoons or reading history books, to me that's all just NERDY CRAP! What I like about you is that you're super passionate and analytical! It doesn't matter what you're into, just that you're INTO IT! 100%! AT MAXIMUM POWER!"

Undyne was getting a bit worked up but showed no signs of quieting down.

"So don't lie to me or anyone anymore, got it? I like you too, and I'm always gonna trust you! I wanna help you become happy with who you are, and I know just the training for it!"

Alphys peeked out from inside the trash can.

"R-really? You want to train me?"

That got a laugh out of Undyne, while Frisk just silently watched the exchange.

"What? ME? Nah, I'm gonna get someone else to do it. Hey Papyrus, come on out!"

The tall skeleton emerged from behind a pile of garbage, also wearing a ridiculous new outfit. Rather than his "battle body" suit of armor, he was dressed in an exercise headband, shorts, and a t-shirt that read "Jogboy" on the front. He still had his signature cape, boots, and gloves.

"GET THOSE BONES SHAKIN,' DOCTOR ALPHYS! TIME TO JOG A HUNDRED LAPS, HOOTING ABOUT HOW GREAT WE ARE! THE TIMER STARTS IN A FEW SECONDS!"

She crawled out of the can and stood with him, preparing to run.

"I'll d-d-do my best, Undyne. Thank you."

With that, Alphys and Papyrus began jogging off through the dump and into Waterfall. Frisk stood there quietly, taking in everything that had just happened. They wondered how it could potentially help them get a better ending, like Flowey had said. Their reflection was disturbed when Undyne suddenly began screeching at them.

"OH MY GOD! She was kidding, right?! You're a human, you came from the surface! All that cool flashy stuff in the cartoons and comics… that's what life up there really IS like, isn't it?! ANIME'S REAL, RIGHT FRISK?!"

As excited as she seemed, they didn't want to lie. Especially after convincing Alphys to tell the truth.

"Um… no, it isn't…"

Undyne's expression looked like she'd just taken a punch to the stomach.

"No… NO! I CAN FEEL MY HEART BREAKING INTO PIECES!"

Fortunately, it didn't take her long to compose herself.

"…keep it together, damn it… I can get through this, I have to! For Alphys! Thanks for being honest, Frisk. Now, uh… aren't you going to the Capital? Good luck out there."

She trotted off, and the human was alone with no idea what to do next. Shrugging their shoulders, they simply began making their way toward the dump's exit.

The phone rang again at some point along the way.