A/N: To answer your question, Snow, the identity of the person in the Ruins is to remain a mystery until later. Only I know who it is, but the pieces will slowly begin to come together over the course of the story, and you may figure it out for certain on your own. All I will say is that it's someone we already know...And in time, they will achieve the impossible.
And I updated the last chapter again to add more to it. Sorry, you'll miss stuff unless you go back. Heh...Eh.
Also, sorry this is a day later than I said it'd probably be. Whatever, though, it's here now, so let's move onward.
"Dang. I think today was the most fun I've had in a while."
"OH, IT WAS STUPENDOUS! DON'T YOU AGREE, SANS?"
"yeah, it was pretty dope."
"Drained me, though..." Undyne yawned, stretching herself out to the point where she almost seemed an entire foot taller. "Either I'm slippin' into a food coma, or...What time is it? Like, ten something?"
"THAT WOULD BE RIGHT. TOMMOROW I SAY WE TAKE IT A BIT EASIER; MAYBE WE COULD SEE WHAT THEIR MOVIE THEATER HAS PLAYING BEFORE WE HEAD OUT! WE DON'T HAVE TO BE BACK UNTIL THREE, SO I THINK WE'D HAVE TIME."
"Yeah. I gotta be at Grillby's to do my thing."
"ditto...oh boy, am i glad to be back in this."
The first thing Sans had done when they walked in through the door to their room was get out of his formal wear and back into that same old jacket and shorts, and he acted like getting back into them was the best thing that'd happened to him all day.
"well, imma turn in," he said to them, flopping down on the right end of the bed and shutting his eye sockets as soon as he hit it. "see you two in, like, ten hours, i guess."
He started to snore almost immediately.
"...Well, I guess it's just you and me, huh?"
"IT SEEMS SO. AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHISPERING, UNDYNE; A FIRE ALARM COULD GO OFF AND HE WOULDN'T SO MUCH AS STIR IF HE WERE ASLEEP."
"He's that heavy a sleeper, huh? Well...at least you know he sleeps well."
"TOO OFTEN, THOUGH. YOU'VE SEEN IT FIRST HAND HOW OFTEN HE FELL ASLEEP AT HIS POST!"
"Gotta agree with you on that one. Heh...Yeah...The Royal Guard. Those were the days, huh? I...honestly kinda wish there still was one, even if we only protected the queen instead of goin' after humans...Heck, then I might've even decided to let you in, who knows?"
"NYEH HEH! WELL, WHATEVER THE CASE MAY HAVE BEEN, YOU NEEDN'T WORRY ABOUT IT ANYMORE. THE PAST MAY HOLD MANY PRECIOUS MEMORIES, BUT THE FUTURE HOLDS AN UNKNOWN WORLD OF GREATNESS THAT HAS YET TO UNFOLD BEFORE OUR EYES. WHO KNOWS WHAT AWAITS US?"
"Yeah, heh...Eh..."
Undyne turned slightly away, turning a very mild bluish-purple and scratching the back of her head in an awkward manner.
"Hey, uh...You remember I said I brought that photo album along, right?"
"OH, YES, THAT'S RIGHT! WE CAN SIT AND LOOK THROUGH ALL OF THOSE GOOD TIMES WE'VE HAD! WHAT A FINE WAY TO WIND DOWN AND END THE DAY...YOU TRULY ARE A GENIUS, UNDYNE!"
"Ah, well, I mean..." she stammered, purple hue growing a bit stronger. "Just a spur-of-the-moment idea, you know? Uh...Mind if I get changed first? Just to get it out of the way? Besides, this sounds like something to do in pajamas."
"YET ANOTHER MARVELOUS IDEA! TELL YOU WHAT, I'LL DO THE SAME. IT SOUNDS VERY COZY, AND I AM VERY MUCH ON BOARD!"
"Heh...Cozy...Yeah, it does. Okay, be right out."
They both dug their respective bunny and spear-clad sleepwear out of the duffle bag, and Undyne disappeared into the closet. Within not even a minute's time, the door swung open and they joined each other on the side of the bed, skimming through the photos and chatting about the crazy things they'd done and wondering when they should do it again.
"Hey, uh, word of advice. We might have had some good ideas earlier, but I don't think the fancy restaurant here would appreciate the Sandwich of Chaos. I mean, we sure as heck liked it, but...A sandwich with both peanut butter AND raw eggs? I'm gonna admit; it doesn't sound as good on a high-class menu."
YES, YOU DO HAVE A POINT...OH, WELL. WE ALREADY CONJURED UP PLENTY OF GOOD IDEAS, THE MASTER CHEFS WE ARE!"
"Um...I have a confession to make, really. I know we've both really improved since we started, but back then, I...I was really terrible at cooking. And you weren't much better. back then, I'll also say...At least your final product looked edible the first time around, so I guess that's pretty good. In a way, I think you taught me a few things about how to dabble in the culinary arts. I should be askin' YOU for tips, really, now that I've seen your full potential."
"AH-HA! SO IT SEEMS, THE STUDENT HAS BECOME THE MASTER!"
"Yeah...But you'll never top me in the headlock business."
"THE WH-ACK!"
Before he could finish his question, she had him trapped in the crook of her arm with her clenched fish rubbing all over the top of his head. The playful noogie wasn't as hard and vigorous as most of her others, but it was a noogie nonetheless, and Papyrus struggled to get free. But any and all escape attempts proves fruitless until the fish monster herself decided to finally show some mercy.
"HEH...YOU SURE DO KNOW HOW TO CATCH SOMEONE OFF GUARD."
"So that's where you get it from."
"NYEH HEH HEH HEH! I SUPPOSE WE DO RUB OFF ON EACH OTHER QUITE A BIT."
"In more ways than one," Undyne sneered, raising her hands and looking ready to trap him again.
"OH, NO. NO MORE, PLEASE..."
"Heh heh...Okay. Let's just keep this up."
She turned to the next page and scanned over the next photo.
"...OH, SANS. HE MUST HAVE TAKEN THIS."
"Hold up. Is this from when I had that really bad cold? I vaguely remember falling asleep like that..."
"YOU WOULD BE RIGHT. AND THAT WAS THE SAME NIGHT YOU GOT THIS VERY PHOTO ALBUM FROM ME."
"Ain't that a co-inky-dink? Sans must've snapped this, then developed it and stuck it in here on the sly at some point."
"HEH...YOU LOOK SO COMFY THERE. ALL SNOOZY AND SNUGGLED UP UNDER THE COVERS USING MY LEG AS A PILLOW. I KNOW YOU AREN'T ONE TO THINK OF YOURSELF IN SUCH A WAY, BUT IT'S PRETTY ADORABLE."
"Me? Adorable? Psh. Puh-lease," she teased, waving a hand, trying to hide the plum tint on her face. "One thing's for sure, you don't get THAT from me."
They both threw their hands over their mouths once she realized what she'd said, eyes big and cheeks turning pink. Undyne was mortified at what she just told him, but her bony friend was beaming, his wide eye sockets sparkling.
"REALLY?" he gasped. "Y-YOU THINK I'M ADORABLE?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant! I mean..."
"OH..."
The smile fell from his face, and he lowered his head a bit in disappointment.
Aw, shit, SHIT, now I made him upset, Undyne panicked to herself.
"Well, I mean, that's not what I meant to SAY, that is. I don't mean that you're NOT, because, I mean, who could resist a guy in bunny pajamas I MEAN NO CRAP I DIDN'T MEAN TO SAY THAT EITHER, BUT THAT Doesn't mean someone wouldn't...Like...Think that was...Damnit, I'm such an idiot."
She hid her face in her hands and let out a frustrated moan. At this point, Papyrus had gotten down what she meant and had perked back up some.
"NO, NO, I UNDERSTAND," he told her, resting a hand atop her back in reassurance. "NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF. EVERYONE TRIPS OVER WORDS SOMETIMES."
ALTHOUGH I DO NOTICE IT HAPPENING WITH YOU MORE OFTEN IN RECENT DAYS. SOMETHING THE MATTER? he almost added, but decided against it.
Undyne lifted her head back up and turned to face him. He wasn't sure why, but she seemed more upset over the matter than what he thought was normal for her. He had the strongest feeling that something else was on her mind, but for some reason, he couldn't quite pinpoint it.
"IT'S ALRIGHT. HEH...CHEER UP, UNDYNE," he grinned, elbowing her a bit. "COME ON, SHOW ME ONE OF THOSE GIANT TOOTHY GRINS OF YOURS!"
She cast a glance off to the side for a moment, then flashed him a small smile.
"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT? YOU'RE UNDYNE, FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD! YOU CAN DO A HUNDRED TIMES BETTER THAN THAT!"
Finally, she sported one of the biggest grins she'd ever given to anyone, her rows of pointed teeth giving off a strange, wonderful mix of both intimidation and intimacy.
"THERE IT IS, RIGHT THERE! NYEH! THAT'S ONE OF THE BEST ONES I'VE SEEN!"
"Ya think so?"
"I KNOW IT FOR SURE!" he answered, putting an arm around her and pulling her a bit closer. The fish monster quickly returned the favor, and the two of them chortled over the whole situation, finding it nearly as amusing as any of the jokes they'd heard from the resort comedian that day.
"You know, I'd ask you to make one, but you pretty much do all the time anyways."
"HA! YOU'RE RIGHT! BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE LIPS! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH! HEH HEH...HEH..."
"Yeah, heh...Runnin' low on charge? I barely have any energy left to laugh myself."
"YES, YOU COULD SAY I'M A BIT TUCKERED OUT."
"Hm..."
They still had each other wrapped in the other's arm, and they each tightened their grip just a tad.
"...HEH. YOU FEEL NICE AND FUZZY."
"Yeah...Pajamas do that to people, don't they?"
They both let out almost perfectly simultaneous yawns, stifled behind their hands.
"The idea alone makes you feel sleepy, don't it?"
"IT SURE DOES...HOW ABOUT WE HEAD ON TO BED NOW? IT'S GETTING KIND OF LATE AT THIS POINT."
"Sounds good to me. That pillow's practically callin' my name."
Papyrus nodded, then got up to switch the light off. Undyne scowled a bit as the warmth she was feeling left her.
"ISN'T IT CONVENIENT THAT THE BED HAS EXACTLY THREE PILLOWS? IT'S ALMOST LIKE THEY KNEW AHEAD OF TIME HOW MANY OF US WOULD NEED TO BE ACCOMODATED!"
"Well, we DID walk up to the front desk to actually get the room, so..." she answered, stretching herself out and flopping down on the left end of the bed. "...they kinda did."
"OH. YES. THAT'S RIGHT...YOU WANT THE AIR ON TONIGHT?"
"Sure thing. Keeps ya from gettin' too hot beneath the covers...Isn't it weird that even if you're sweltering hot, you can't help but want to sleep with something overtop of you? Do you ever think about that and how weird it is?"
"HUH...I DON'T KNOW," Papyrus answered, fixing the air conditioner. "MAYBE IT HAS LESS TO DO WITH HEAT AND MORE TO DO WITH...WELL...A SENSE OF SECURITY."
He carefully pulled the covers out from underneath her and Sans, then fit himself into the space between them as he spoke.
"I MEAN, DOESN'T SETTLING DOWN FOR THE NIGHT WRAPPED IN A FUZZY BLANKET MAKE YOU FEEL NICE AND SAFE?"
"Guess I never thought about it that way...You bring up an interesting point, though."
"EH...JUST MY THOUGHTS ON THE MATTER," he shrugged, pulling the covers over himself and his brother. "...IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE SOMETHING WARM AND SOFT WRAPPING ME INTO A TENDER HUG AFTER A LONG DAY OF TRAINING."
"Yeah..."
The small smile on her face fell, and she looked thoughtful for a moment.
"SOMETHING THE MATTER?"
"Nothin'. It just...That kinda reminds me of someone...that I used to know."
"OH...THE KING?"
She buried herself into her pillow a bit more.
"...Yeah. He was...See, both of my parents died when I was real young, so he...sorta filled in that space. Heck, he even...offered to take me in a few times, once he found out what my situation was...Sometimes I wish I'd said yes; this was actually shortly after the prince died and the queen left. But I was too stubborn. Kept takin' care of myself...It was rough. But in the end, a lot came out of those days. I rose in the Guard ranks, got stronger...Taught people like you how to be tough and battle-ready. None of it ever would've happened if it hadn't been for Asgore, though...He was really that rock I needed to lean against whenever mine threatened to break. And he was always just so..."
"KIND AND CARING AND ALWAYS WANTING THE BEST FOR EVERYONE?"
Undyne let out a shaky sigh, tears threatening to spill over again, and she hid her face in the pillow.
"Aw, darn it...I miss the big guy."
"...I MISS HIM, TOO, SOMETIMES. BUT IT'S ALL GOING TO TURN OUT ALRIGHT IN THE END, THOUGH, ALRIGHT?"
He pulled the covers overtop of his best friend, making doubly sure that they were secure and that she was warm and snug.
"Heh...What is it with you always tucking me in like that whenever I'm down?"
"JUST BEING THERE FOR A FRIEND, IS ALL," he answered, cozying up himself and resting a comforting hand on her back again. "BESIDES, I KNOW YOU WOULD PROBABLY DO THE SAME FOR ME IF I WERE GOING THROUGH SOMETHING LIKE THIS...DOES THIS HELP AT ALL?"
She smiled a bit as she brushed the tear sitting in the corner of her eye away with her thumb. This guy. This wonderful, amazing monster...
"It does...I guess you were right about this making you feel s-secure..."
She sniffled, burying her face into the pillow yet again in order to hide her tears.
"...I'm just so happy I still have you," Undyne croaked, her voice slightly muffled from underneath the headrest. "...Wh-whatever happens between us, just know I'll always be there to protect ya if you need it, okay? I won't let anyone o-or anything hurt you. Ever...I'm not letting that happen again."
"THAT I CAN BE SURE OF...BUT DON'T WORRY," Papyrus assured, reaching up and giving the top of her head a gentle pat. "I DOUBT ANYTHING ELSE BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON. WE'RE SAFE AND HAPPY DOWN HERE, AND..."
He heard a loud sniff from behind the pillow.
"NY'OH, THERE, THERE, UNDYNE. NO NEED TO CRY," he soothed, pulling the covers over her until they went as far as they could go without covering her head. "...WOULD A HUG MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER? A REAL ONE, I MEAN? NOT JUST FROM THE BLANKETS?"
She didn't answer him right away. But in time, her shaky breathing slowed, then evened out, and she finally rose her head to look at him. Undyne's entire face was smeared wet with her own tears, and the spot on the pillow where her face was didn't look much different. Nonetheless, she wore a smile on her face.
"...Okay."
Her voice was still a bit hoarse, but Undyne was definitely better off than before. Her skeleton friend moved himself and his pillow up closer, turned to face her all the way, reached out to her and pulled her close, making doubly sure the blankets overtop of them were well secured in the process.
"THERE. A HUG WITHIN A HUG. HOW'S THAT?"
She put her own arms around him and squeezed him as tightly as she could as means of gratitude.
"I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me."
"YOU'RE WELCOME FOR EVERYTHING, UNDYNE...THIS IS A BIT CONSTRICTING, THOUGH."
"Sorry."
She quickly lessened her grip some, then nestled down into her pillow a little more.
"...Just...Even if I can't find the right words, or the best way to express it to you, just...Thank you, okay? You really got me out of a major slum...You still are, just by being here."
"THAT'S A PLENTY GOOD ENOUGH WAY OF PUTTING IT TO ME," Papyrus answered, snuggling up to her just a tad bit more and closing his eyes. "SLEEP TIGHT, UNDYNE."
"G'night..."
Undyne shut her own eye, but didn't fall asleep right away. She had a lot on her mind, and none of the thoughts setting her mind ablaze were going to die down quite so soon.
First off, she was fairly pleased with the vacation so far. Pool? Went well. Fancy dinner? Went even better than expected, especially now with that new chef spot that might be opening up for Papyrus soon. She was a bit put off by Mrs. Snowdrake, though; that event was pretty unsettling, but it didn't really impact things. And it'd at least gone okay since they'd come back to their room for the night. Sure, she said a few dumb things, but Papyrus didn't seem to mind any of it, so she was glad of that.
This managed to pique her curiosity. Sure, he was a bit naïve, but he wasn't THAT naïve. She would even go as far to say that Papyrus had really matured in recent days, and for the better(even if he did still think his dorky 'cool dude' outfit was proper dinner wear...Although in a way, it had a sort of charm to it.) He was quick to interpret almost anything she said, no matter how stupid-sounding, into a compliment, and he especially seemed intrigued by her advice at the dinner table...And come to think of it, it might've just been her imagination, but Undyne swore she saw him steal an odd glance at her when they were at the swimming pool...
Hold on a minute...
Her closed eye nearly burst open right then and there once the thought entered her head.
He doesn't...secretly like me back, does he?
When she looked at everything from a certain angle, it actually did seem that way. Even so, she wasn't completely sure; Papyrus was a friendly and affectionate SOUL by nature. It could still just be him being his usual, good-natured self, right? Besides, as much as she wanted a chance with him, she found it hard to picture him actually being keen on the idea of romance.
...Then again, she wasn't sure, but it seemed like he was trying just a bit harder to please her, or make her feel good about herself than what seemed typical...And then she took their CURRENT situation into account, which was really the dash of parmesan on top of the heaping plate of friendzone spaghetti.
Here we are, now, she realized. In bed together. Hunkered down under the covers...CUDDLING with each other. It doesn't get much more 'audible wink' than that.
Well...If this was the case, she figured that tomorrow might be the best time, if ever, to tell him. Granted she could get Sans out of the picture for a long enough amount of time. Maybe five? Ten minutes? Just enough to explain everything she'd been feeling towards him recently and see how he reacted. Either way, though, Sans would have to know at some point, whether or not anything came to be.
Her train of thought began to run low on fuel, and she let out another yawn. Papyrus nuzzled a bit closer, seeming to sense her shift. To this, Undyne finally cleared her head and went to sleep. She would have more time to think about it in the morning.
In the mean time, she could enjoy the present moment for what it was.
...
She wasn't entirely sure where it came from, but even without the sun and moon, or even the clock on her phone, for some reason, Undyne was always able to tell almost EXACTLY what time of day it was, give or take a few minutes. So she didn't usually have the need for an alarm to wake up.
The fish woman could tell, by subtle shifts in the SOUL, and even perhaps the earth they were trapped within itself, that it was approaching eight in the morning. Not on the nose quite yet, but it wasn't far off. So she figured it'd be a smart idea for her and Papyrus to get up about now.
Undyne would have sprung right out of bed and struck a heroic pose, reenergized and ready to take on the day, if she wasn't trapped in the tangled-up mess of bed sheets and sleepy-headed skeleton that she found herself in.
"Oh, boy..." she mumbled quietly. "...Ain't this a kicker?"
She took a peek at her best friend; the look on his face was more than enough to make her guilty to have to wake him. He already looked cozy and serene, but the faint smile that stuck to his face even as he slept was what sold it. Even so, it had to be done. Besides, the LAST thing she wanted was for Sans to see them like this. Sure, he usually slept in until nine or ten(further backed by the last thing he said to them the previous night,) but just in case...
"Psst...Hey," she whispered, nudging him a bit with her elbow. "...Rise 'n' shine."
He started to stir, drawing back in annoyance and his smile fading into a disturbed grimace. Finally, Papyrus reluctantly opened his eyes, and the first thing he processed was the image of his dear friend flashing him an apologetic look.
"...Sorry," she sighed. "...But we should probably get up. It's kinda late."
The smile returned to his face even quicker than it'd left him.
"NO NEED TO BE SORRY," he assured, squeezing her into another hug. "YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT THAT, ANYWAYS...DID YOU SLEEP WELL?"
She turned puce again at the gesture.
"Yeah, I did," Undyne answered, instinctively returning the favor. "...Thanks for askin'. You?"
"VERY. I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER FELT SAFER THAN WITH YOU."
She couldn't help but let out a breath of a laugh and roll her eye.
Jeez. I haven't put anything into play yet, and we already sound like a freaking MARRIED couple.
"I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I'M POSITIVELY FAMISHED. WANT TO GO DOWN AND SEE IF THE BURGER EMPORIUM HAS A BREAKFAST MENU?"
"Sounds good to me. I'm pretty starved myself."
They both sat up and stretched, almost perfectly in sync, then flung the covers off, headed to the side of the bed and planted their bare feet on the cold, hard floor. Papyrus wasn't particularly bothered by this, but it sent a cold chill running up the fish monster's spine, and she hissed through clenched teeth at the feeling.
"COLD?"
"Just a bit. Don't worry 'bout it; some chilly hotel room's no match for me," she sneered. "Hey, let's remember to bring somethin' back for Sans. By the time we get back, he..."
She took a look at the shorter skeleton; he was still out of it, snoring away where he was.
"...MIGHT be awake. Maybe. Either way, he'd probably appreciate it, you know?."
"I DON'T USUALLY ENCOURAGE HIM BEING LAZY...BUT JUST BECAUSE OF HOW SWEET IT SOUNDS, I ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL."
"Proposal!? What!?" she echoed shrilly. "Who said anything about a proposal!? Not me! Why would I propose!? To who!? That's ridiculous! I mean, it's...Ah..."
The moment Undyne realized what she was going on about, she went from puce to dark pink in a matter of seconds.
"NOT THAT KIND OF PROPOSAL, SILLY-HEAD," Papyrus teased, elbowing her a bit himself. "I MEAN THAT YOU MADE A GOOD SUGGESTION."
"Hah...Yeah. Right! Of course I knew that! I was j-just pullin' your leg is all!"
"OH, WERE YOU? WELL, IF YOU WERE ABLE TO CONVINCE ME INTO THINKING IT WAS GENUINE CONFUSION, YOU DID A VERY GOOD JOB OF IT! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"
"Ha ha ha...Yeah, I gotcha, didn't I? Ha ha...Well, I'm gonna go change, be right out."
She zipped into the closet with a change of normal clothes, then proceeded to raise her hand and(literally) slap herself across the face for being an idiot.
God damnit, Undyne! Get ahold of yourself! she screamed in her head. You didn't take stupid pills this morning, so stop acting like it! At this rate, you're gonna say something that you're REALLY gonna regret, so...
She sighed.
...So don't ruin this for yourself now. Not when you might be closer than you think. Watch what you say and watch what you do...In the end, it just might be worth it. And even if it's not, then...Well...At least you tried.
She swapped out her spear-clad pajamas for her casual look; there wasn't as much of a need to be fancy today, even with what she had in mind for later, so she went ahead with that and slipped on her trusty, rusty red boots.
And don't try to tell him anything at breakfast, she continued to tell herself. Tempting? Sure. But first thing in the morning's probably the WORST time for something like that...
...
"...hm...feels empty in here."
Sans awoke with a light stretch and a not-so-subtle scratch of his rear end. The first thing he'd noticed was that, save for himself, the bed was empty. Not alarming by itself, seeing that they usually got up way earlier than him anyway. He figured they might've headed down to the lobby to see if they could snag some breakfast of any sort.
"hmm...it's quiet in here without 'em."
But something still felt...off. Like, even though he didn't see anybody in here but himself, he had the strangest feeling that he was being...watched by something.
"...too quiet."
He felt very alert, all of a sudden, shifting his feet slowly and darting his gaze to meet every corner of the room. He wasn't sure how to interpret this. Was he just being paranoid? Was somebody playing a trick on him, maybe?...Or was there a genuine reason to be concerned?
His left eye flashed blue, and he readied to summon up his special attack, the image of a canid skull just barely coming into view to the left behind him.
"think you can sneak up on me? nuh-uh, think again. unless you came here just to get blasted into oblivion."
He knew what it was like to be watched over by a sinister being...He didn't want to have to live through that ever again. Since the human left, he hadn't felt any of those telltale shifts in the atmosphere and earth surrounding him that indicated another blasted Reset...So far, so good. Maybe Frisk had stripped that talking weed of his powers when she claimed them for herself when she fell through...But whatever the case might be, he promised himself he would give the flower a good trampling the next time he came across it.
And he had the strongest feeling that Flowey was closer than he liked, so he kept his blaster ready to fire.
His skull nearly spun clean off his neck when he heard a stifled noise coming from the closet and turned to face it, his Gaster Blaster now fully materializing. He tiptoed closer to the closet, the blaster readying up a white-hot energy beam to fire at any enemy, his bony hand slowly reaching closer and closer towards the knob. When it finally made contact, he quietly wrapped his fingers around the knob and slowly turned it all the way, the white beam in the blaster's mouth burning hotter than ever. Whoever was back there was about to get dunked on HARD.
He flung the door open, aiming his blaster at the huddled figure on the floor, the skull emitting a deep snarl.
"surprise."
"AH! DON'T FIRE, DON'T FIRE!"
"Jeezus! What the hell IS that thing!?"
"what..."
It was no intruder, but rather his brother and the former captain, looking like they'd been ready to pounce before he scared the figurative crap out of them with his blaster.
"BROTHER, COME THROUGH, IT'S US, IT'S ONLY US! WE WERE JUST...PULLING A PRANK, IS ALL!"
"You were still asleep when we got back from breakfast, so we ate our stuff, stuck yours in the fridge and decided to...Well...mess with you a little. We didn't mean to scare you like that, man, we're sorry."
"hah...it's only you two..." Sans almost laughed. "heh...Eh..."
His eye sockets went dark, and the corners of his grin lowered.
"Are you two insane? You nearly gave me a heart attack. You think that's funny? Which one of you came up with that brilliant idea, huh?"
"DON'T GET MAD AT UNDYNE, SANS. SHE WAS THE ONE WHO TEASED IT, AND I JUST EXPANDED UPON IT AND PUT IT INTO PLAY. WE'RE SORRY, W-WE DIDN'T MEAN TO SCARE YOU LIKE THAT. AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE THOUGHT YOU WOULD...WELL...FIGURE OUT IT WAS US."
Sans let out a sigh, pinching the sides of his nose bridge.
"...just...don't do it again, okay, you two?"
"YES, SANS."
"Yeah...We can do that...Sorry."
The two of them looked no less guilty and scared than a pair of kids that'd just been caught red-handed doing something bad. Sans finally flashed them a genuine smile, and the two taller monsters relaxed a bit. Undyne didn't think the puny skeleton could ever intimidate her, but when he was serious, he was surprisingly scary...And then there was that THING behind him that'd since dissipated. Was that his special attack? He talked about it sometimes, but she'd never actually seen it for herself. One thing was for sure, though; it looked pretty badass.
"...alright. come on out o' there, you two," he told them, his special attack dissipating. "you said you brought somethin' back for me?"
"OH, YES WE DID. THE BURGER EMPORIUM DIDN'T EXACTLY HAVE A BREAKFAST MENU, SO WE, UH...JUST ASKED THE VULKIN WORKING THERE IF IT COULD SUBSTITUTE THE MEAT PATTIES IN THE BURGERS FOR EGGS. I THINK THEY CAME OUT QUITE WELL! WOULDN'T YOU SAY SO, UNDYNE?"
"Yeah, it was pretty good. I didn't find it as appetizing as the lunch from the other day, though...Maybe I just thought it was so good because I was half starved, I dunno."
"NYEH! THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE. EVERYTHING SEEMS TO TASTE BETTER WHEN YOU'RE THAT HUNGRY!"
"true...alright, then. i'm gonna chow down, then we can head over to the theater and see what they have playin'. once that's all said and done, i guess we can come back here, pack out stuff, check out and start headin' home. how's that sound? good?"
"SOUNDS EXCELLENT! LET'S GO SEE WHAT THEY HAVE NOW!"
"Hold on, wait! Do you even know where the theater is!?"
Papyrus neared the door, the two other monsters close behind him as they readied to leave.
Meanwhile, the curious figure just behind the door crawled back up into the plant pot lining the hall and disappeared into the Ficus roots. He hadn't meant any harm...Not this time, at least. And probably not ever again. He wanted to see what the friend group was up to, was all. It was something to entertain himself with.
Even though his main reason for being out and about was to collect materials for whatever-in-the-heck his roomie was working on, he was never given a rule not to wander a bit and keep himself in a decent-enough mood. Dang...The old smiling trashbag was still on his skinless toes, even after all this time. Needless to say, he was good at sensing whenever he decided to come around, even if he had no plans to interfere.
He heard the three friends open the door and walk down the hallway, leaving him alone where he was hidden...Good. They didn't see him.
In that case, it was about time to get back to business, so he crawled out of the Ficus pot, weaved back out through the crack in the wall he'd come in through, got onto the ground, and then burrowed down into it...He had things to do.
...
"Jeez...This place takes up the whole fifth floor, don't it?"
"crazy...wonder if the resort hotels on the surface have cinemas as big as this."
"I SUPPOSE THAT WILL REMAIN A MYSTERY UNTIL WE SEE FOR OURSELVES...UNLESS ANY OF THESE MOVIES GIVE US FURTHER INSIGHT, SOMEHOW."
There were two separate parts of the cinema; one for Mettaton's original works and one exclusively for films found in the Trash Zone from the surface world. It seemed that the late robotic television star had an eye for human films just as much as his late creator did, having found some inspiration in these movies, perhaps...Though there wasn't a familiar anime title in sight. Most of them centralized around robots...Of course he would only salvage those. But why had he felt the need to rename all of said movies? "Robot #5 on the Run?" "The Giant War Machine who Saved the City?" "The Picker-Upper Robot that Fell in Love?(A METTATON FAVORITE)" Undyne figured out pretty easily that those weren't the original movie titles, from what she knew about Mettaton. Maybe he thought the original titles weren't dramatic enough, or something like that, so he decided to "fix" them. And by fix, he meant basically turn them into a synopsis of the film.
"see anything familiar, undyne?"
"Nope."
"and i'm assuming you don't want to see 'the mettaton romance drama extravaganza', do you?"
"Um, no. No thanks...Unless...Papyrus wants to watch it, maybe."
"OH, DON'T WORRY, I HAVE THAT ONE AT HOME. YOU GO AHEAD AND PICK!"
"Uh...I don't know, Papyrus. How about you make a suggestion?"
"ARE YOU SURE?"
"Yeah! Why not? I'll give whatever it is a chance just for the heck of it, sure!"
"WELL, I'LL BE PICKING A SURFACE FILM, THEN," he insisted. "HMMMM...I KNOW YOU AREN'T MUCH ONE FOR ROMANCE FILMS..."
"Actually, I think the genre's been growing on me a bit," she told him before he could say anything else.
If I can set the mood, I might find a good opportunity to say what I wanna, she figured.
"OH, REALLY? WELL, THEN...HOW ABOUT 'THE PICKER-UPPER ROBOT THAT FELL IN LOVE'? I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT I ONLY HAVE GOOD FEELINGS ABOUT THIS."
"Let's give it a go. Sans, you in with us on this?"
"i say i'm already going in through the door."
"HEY! WAIT FOR US!"
They ran after him, and quickly foun themselves squeezing past a surprising number of monsters.
"Wow...This place is jam-packed. I guess a lot o' people had the same idea we did, huh?"
"I GUESS A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE MUST HAVE GOOD IDEAS, THEN! DO YOU PREFER MID-ROW SEATS OR ONES CLOSER TO THE FRONT?"
"Ah...Front row seats are overrated. You have to tilt your head up the whole time to get a good enough view of the screen, and by the end of the movie, you'll have given yourself a neckache, you know what I'm sayin'?"
"YES, GOOD POINT. MID-ROW, THEN?"
"I'm game. Sans?"
"ditto."
"THAT'S SETTLED, THEN!"
Despite the crowd, there was a lot of spacing in between seats and isles, so they were able to find a spot easily enough. Once again, it looked like a lot of other monsters had the same idea that they did, as the middle rows already had quite a few people in them compared to the front and back. They'd been smart to come early enough before the movie started, or that might have been different.
"A'ight, 'scuse us, pardon me, CORE Surveillance Unit, comin' through. Sorry, did I step on your feet? Oh, wait, some of you here ain't got none...Whatever."
An Astigmatism squeezed past them along the row, making his and his comrades' presence known as they searched for a spot. His party consisted of one other Astigmatism, a couple of Whimsalot, a Final Froggit, and a...
"ribbit...step over...walkin' here."
uh-oh, Sans said to himself, grimacing through his smile.
ANOTHER ONE HERE? Papyrus almost wanted to shriek. THIS COULD BE BAD...
The tall, vaguely avian figure strode right over Undyne with its long, white, droopy legs, and gave her a curious look.
"captain...robbit...doin' lately?"
Undyne was speechless once again. ANOTHER one of these...melting hybrid things!? Mrs. Snowdrake was bad enough, but this one was...Was its head made up of two fused Astigmatism, conjoined right along the beak!? And its wings bore an uncanny resemblance to the legs of the Final Froggit accompanying the party. What was going on!?
"...Captain?(Ribbit?)" the garbled voices coming from the abomination addressed simultaneously.
"'Ey, fishface. What'cha givin' my brothers the stink eye for?" the first Astigmatism asked her, an annoyed glare in his gaze.
"Brothers?" she echoed, completely dumbfounded.
"You been livin' under a rock the past two days, or somethin'?"
"SIR, THAT WAS IMPECCABLY RUDE!" Papyrus chastised, wanting to have the foreboding topic dropped as soon as possible as to keep suspicions low. "NOT EVERYONE IS GOING TO KNOW HOW WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YOUR BROTHERS HAPPENED! THINK FOR OTHERS!"
"Apologies...sorry...woof," the amalgamate chattered.
"OH, NO, YOU NEEDN'T APOLOGIZE FOR ANYTHING, FRIEND. CARRY ON. OH, HURRY AND FIND YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS A PLACE TO PARK, I THINK THE MOVIE'S STARTING!"
The group of normal monsters from the CORE continued past them, the Whimsalot shrugging at each other and the bird-like entity pretty inconveniently sitting right beside the former Captain of the Guard, unaware of her being disturbed by it, and the film began. It opened right into an adventurous-sounding burst of song, and the intro credits were flashed across a starry background, soon revealing itself to be not just any night sky, but rather shots of the infinitely vast universe beyond the surface; the cosmos. Undyne knew about such a place from several of the anime and other shows she and Alphys used to watch together. She might be gone, but she at least had to thank Alphys for teaching her all of those things about the world aboveground.
But she was less worried about all of that now than she was the ordeal with the fused, melting monsters she'd been seeing.
"INTERESTING SO FAR, WOULDN'T YOU SAY, UNDYNE?"
"Huh? Oh, oh, uh...Yeah. Uh..."
The earth itself was shown next...But it looked substantially less green from space than she expected, for some reason.
That reason was given when the camera zoomed in, passing through a mess of debris surrounding the earth and piercing the dusty atmosphere.
"Oh...Well...THAT escalated quickly."
"WOWIE...THE SURFACE HAS TURNED INTO A GIANT TRASH ZONE. HOW NEAT!"
"I don't think it's supposed to look 'neat,' Papyrus. It looks bleak and lifeless more than anything. I mean, look. Where are the trees? The grass, the animals...The HUMANS? From the title of the film, the last thing I expected this to have was some post-apocalyptic setting. Are you sure we're in the right room?"
"Strange...agree...bleak...crrrroak," the melting hybrid nodded, causing Undyne to lean away from it. Everything in between remained overlapped and incomprehensible.
"Jeez..." the Astigmatism puffed. "You would think that a message sent out to the entire Underground would reach someone like her, wouldn't you?"
"Agreed," one of the Whimsalot replied.
"Wait, what?" the fish monster asked, peering over from behind the bird to face the one-eyed monster. "What'd you say about a message sent across the Underground?"
"Is your phone dead or somethin'? The broadcast was wired to every electronic device. Text for phones and audio for radios and T.V. You mean to tell me NOTHIN' in your house was workin' for you to get it? Ghee, and I figured YOU of all people would've known, seein' you were the one who was supposed to be patrolling the place, makin' sure nobody was doin' any funny business."
"What are you talking about!?" Undyne nearly hollered, pretty irked that she apparently didn't know anything about this when, according to the Astigmatism, everyone else did.
She turned to face the skeleton brothers to her opposite side for answers, and when she did, she caught them exchange nervous, suspiciously knowing glances at one another. Her expression hardened into a glare, and she addressed the shorter of the two first.
"Sans, what's going on here? I feel like this is something important."
"...can we wait until we get back home?"
"Oh, no. I can tell that you know more than you let on, and I want an answer right here, right now."
"UNDYNE, ARE YOU CERTAIN YOU DON'T WANT TO WAIT UNTIL THE FILM'S OVER? BESIDES, I DON'T MEAN ANY OFFENSE, BUT YOU'RE, UM...STARTING TO MAKE A SCENE."
She huffed out a sigh. She didn't want to ruin anything for Papyrus. He was probably oblivious to the situation, anyways. Even if something DID go out to every device in the Underground, she didn't think Papyrus would've read much into anything; he typically deleted texts not directly addressed to him without even bothering to read them.
"...Fine. I'll wait. But Sans, you better not give me any bullsh...crap," she corrected herself, remembering that she was in the public eye...Especially the peering eyes of two rough-mannered Astigmatism and a strange drippy fusion of multiple monsters.
The brothers sighed in relief, and they turned their attention back to the screen. At that point, they'd missed a bit of the intro, and now beheld the main protagonist of the feature trailing through a desolate, abandoned world, littered with debris, old holograms, and most disturbing of all, broken-down corpses of his own kindred...What an odd way to begin a supposed romance film.
...
"WOWIE. THAT WAS WONDERFUL! WHAT'D YOU THINK, UNDYNE?"
"It was pretty good..."
She hadn't really paid much attention to the film with the subject of the melting monsters looming over her head. The only part that she really remembered clearly was the dance across space. Papyrus had actually been able to tell that she wasn't paying any attention(which was a shame, since he had, and it seemed like something she really, REALLY would have enjoyed if she had) so he decided it might be a good idea to try again some other time.
They walked into the hotel room, Undyne shutting the door behind her before beginning.
"Alright, you remember earlier, Sans. What's the deal?"
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with a bony finger and thumb.
"...the monsters we saw...mrs. snowdrake and reaper bird, i think everyone calls it now...they're called amalgamates. and they're made up of several individual monsters that were injected with determination."
"Injected with...Wait, but how does that make sense? What does DETERMINATION have to do with the fact that they're all melted into each other like that?"
"you probably don't know this," Sans continued. "too much determination in a monster causes the magic composing their body to break down and melt. the host loses what physicality they have, and if they get close enough to one another, the melting forms end up sticking to each other and fusing into what we call amalgamates."
"But...What about me?" she asked, suddenly becoming panicky. "How long does it take? Is this type of thing gonna happen to-"
"you're a special case. you're the only monster anybody knows of so far that can not only generate your own determination, but control its power. so no. i don't think you have anything to worry about. the thing with the amalgamates is that they were directly injected with the substance. and way too much of it for their bodies to handle."
"But where'd it come from?"
"the human SOULs."
"The what...?"
"determination was extracted directly from the human SOULs and injected into the bodies of monsters."
Undyne was mortified by such an idea. And that disgust was quick to curdle into anger.
"...Who did this?"
"you're not gonna like this."
"Tell me who would do such a thing!"
"just...hold on a minute."
"What? Why hold on!? What are you trying to do, protect someone!? If you know who did such a horrible thing, then just say their name already! And when I find the sicko, I'll bring 'em to the queen and have 'em thrown into the dungeon for their crime against-"
"You can't arrest her because she's already dead!"
She stepped back. Sans almost never yelled, let alone straight-up frown, but here he was, with a serious and seething look on his face if she ever did see one.
"...and that whole thing is part of the reason why."
"BROTHER, YOU NEEDN'T GET ANGRY...HERE, I'LL EXPLAIN IT."
"Wait...You know about this, too?"
"...THE EXPERIMENT WAS HELD TO TRY AND GET A MONSTER SOUL TO PERSIST AFTER DEATH. SINCE THE THOUGHT WAS THAT WE COULD USE THE SOUL POWER TO BREAK THE BARRIER WITHOUT HAVING TO...YOU KNOW...KILL ANYMORE HUMANS."
"You know about the six that died, too?"
"I DO NOW. THE EXPERIMENT WAS TO SEE IF INJECTING DETERMINATION EXTRACTED FROM HUMAN SOULS INTO THE BODIES OF THOSE WHO HAD 'FALLEN DOWN,' SO TO SPEAK COULD GET THEIR SOULS TO LAST AFTER THE MONSTERS TURNED TO DUST...BUT RATHER THAN THAT HAPPENING, THE DETERMINATION CAUSED THE MONSTERS THAT'D FALLEN DOWN TO...GET BACK UP. IT SEEMED ALRIGHT AT FIRST, BUT THEN...THE BODIES BEGAN TO MELT. AND THE FAMILY MEMBERS ALL GOT STUCK TO ONE ANOTHER...THEY WERE KEPT HIDDEN AWAY IN FEAR OF THEM BEING DISCOVERED UP UNTIL VERY RECENTLY."
"But WHO DID IT!?"
"God damnit, it was Alphys, okay!?" Sans finally spat out.
Time seemed to freeze, and the room became so quiet, the brothers could have sworn they heard Undyne's heartbeat, granted it hadn't stopped.
"...What?" she finally rasped.
"...it was alphys," he sighed. "she was given the task of breaking the barrier by the king at the time, and she went on hoping that she'd be the one to free everyone...nobody saw what was coming. and she blamed herself and only herself for the amalgamates, even if it wasn't all her fault, since it was asgore who gave her the task, and there was no telling that the monsters would've melted and fused...that's why she was always at the garbage dump. she was always on the edge...literally. mettaton and the king dying was what really tipped everything over...it wasn't all her fault...i wish i told her that while i still had the chance."
"How would you have known about it back then? You said this didn't-"
"Because I did know about it back then," he answered, voice as cold and hard as a stone. "I snooped one day. Went down to the lower floor of the Hotland Lab and found them all there...She begged me not to tell anyone. Not even you. She was so upset, and...I couldn't let her down. Not after I saw what she'd been through...But deep down, I had that sinking feeling I was only making things worse. I wanted to convince her to come clean. I planned to meet her right after Asgore died...But then you came back home the next day with that look on your face and I knew right there that it was too late."
Silence reigned supreme again. Sans hung his head, Papyrus darted his gaze from his brother to his best friend and back over and over again, equally shocked that Sans had actually known so much more than he'd let on, and Undyne just...stood there, completely motionless, her mouth slightly agape as she processed everything she'd just heard.
"...You knew about all of this before it all went down," the fish monster finally snarled. "...And you didn't tell me anything?"
"I promised her I wouldn't! You can't turn someone down when they've been through hell! I don't normally make promises, but I..."
He trailed off. Getting into the reasons why would only make things even more confusing...Besides, odds were that nobody would believe him when he got into the details of Saves, and Resets, and how he'd already seen what would happen if he told anyone, and that he knew that either way, nothing good would happen.
"Well, your 'promise' pretty much cost her EVERYTHING! It cost ME! What did you think would come out of you keeping everything a secret!?"
"UNDYNE, HE WAS ONLY TRYING TO-"
"And what about you!?" she interrupted, now turning to face Papyrus. "You apparently knew about all of this, too! For HOW LONG!? How long has it been since you learned everything, and why did you keep it from me!?"
"Don't you get mad at Papyrus, now! He's only known about any of this for a day! I explained it to him before we left! You don't have any reason to blow up at him!"
"But..."
She continued to stare at the taller of the two brothers.
"Why didn't you tell me any of this when you first found out?"
"SANS TOLD ME IT WAS BETTER YOU LEARN ABOUT EVERYTHING WHEN WE GOT BACK HOME FROM HERE. WE, EH...HAD THIS ALL PLANNED OUT ALREADY AND DIDN'T WANT TO SPOIL ANYTHING."
"Well, he was wrong! And you were wrong to just not question any of this and keep this from me! You know how important something like this would be!?"
"I thought you said you were over Alphys!" Sans continued.
"Maybe, but if I'd known abut something like THIS, things might have turned out differently! I could have at LEAST convinced her not to JUMP!"
Another silence broke the chaos, but only for a few moments before Undyne spoke again, eyes still trained on Papyrus.
"...You told me not to keep anymore secrets from you, so why would you do that to me? And about something like this? Didn't either of you consider how important this is to me? And how much do you wanna bet that Sans would've swept the whole thing under the rug once we got home, too, if I wasn't already suspicious something was up!?"
"WE WERE GOING TO TELL YOU, I SWEAR WE WERE!"
You know him, he puts things off until you don't even care about them anymore! That's how he gets away with crap, that's how he got away with slacking off when he was a damn sentry! He'd have brushed it all off as nothing if I hadn't confronted him with it the way I did and I never would have known! what really went on! And another thing! The Astigmatism in the theater said that the message about the amalgamates was sent out to every device in the Underground so everyone would get it! Why didn't I!? Do you have anything to do with that!?"
"I got rid of it before you could see it, okay!?"
"WHAT!?"
"Just hear me out. I didn't think-"
"No, you DIDN'T think, apparently! You honestly figured it was a good idea to just keep something like this from me just so I wouldn't be miserable the whole time we were here!? If you'd told me right off the bat, it would have been better! I'd have...well...A bit LESS of a reason to be angry at you right now! What REALLY ticks me off was the fact that you knew ALL ALONG and didn't say anything about it! And not just for Alphys! What about the amalgamates themselves, and their families!? If you know there are monsters separated from their loved ones, you just pretend you don't know anything about it!? How do you sleep at night!?"
"Not well, and for more reasons than all of this, alright!?"
"Well, good for you! Hope this kind of thing keeps you WIDE awake at night because you-"
"ALRIGHT, BOTH OF YOU STOP! THIS IS GOING TOO FAR! UNDYNE, SANS MAY HAVE MESSED UP, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY-"
"I've got every right to say it and every right to say it to you for keeping the same things from me!"
That stopped him right in his tracks. Once again, the room grew deathly quiet.
"I...I'M SORRY, I...I JUST...WE DIDN'T WANT YOU TO BE UPSET. ME ESPECIALLY, SO...THAT WAS WHY I WENT ALONG WITH IT."
"Well, you were wrong. Both of you were, and now I'm LIVID. At BOTH of you. And...I'm getting out of here before I say something I regret!"
She didn't say anything else, instead just turning away and storming out of the room, the door slamming behind her.
"Now where's she going?" Sans complained. "Ugh...i guess we should get ready to check out of here. we'll have to make sure nothing gets forgotten, alright?"
"I'LL TAKE CARE OF IT, SANS," his brother answered. His tone had an underlying anger in it that made him flinch. "BUT I WISH NOT TO SPEAK TO ANYONE AT THE MOMENT."
"what, you're gonna give me the silent treatment? You don't have any idea what I've been through."
"PERHAPS NOT. BUT...UNDYNE WAS RIGHT. IT WAS WRONG OF ME TO JUST GO ALONG WITH WHAT YOU HAD IN MIND. ESPECIALLY OVER SOMETHING LIKE THIS. AND IT WAS WRONG OF YOU TO TELL ME TO DO SO."
"oh, so now you're gonna be all high up on your horse like you have the moral high ground? both of us might've screwed up here, but that doesn't give you the position to preach to me about it when i just got chewed out by captain fish-breath. i honestly thought you'd have had my back here."
"SANS, YOU TAKE THAT BACK! AND FOR THE RECORD, I AM NOT TRYING TO DO SUCH A THING! AND I SHANT HAVE ANYBODY'S BACK IF I BELIEVE WHAT THEY HAVE DONE IS NOT RIGHT, BE IT YOU, OR UNDYNE, OR ANYONE ELSE! NOW, I SAID I DO NOT WISH TO SPEAK TO ANYONE AT THE MOMENT FOR A REASON, AND THAT IS TO COOL OUR HEADS. WE MAY DISCUSS THIS LATER."
Sans practically growled.
"...i'll be in the lobby."
He turned and left the hotel room himself, ignoring the fish monster seething beside the door and leaving his brother in there by himself to gather their belongings so they could return home. Now processing everything that'd just happened more clearly, his expression softened, and he hung his head and sighed. This had quickly escalated into one of his worst nightmares: everyone being upset at each other for some reason. And the worst part was that he wasn't so sure how to fix all of it...Was there even anything he could do without making things worse instead?
He figured he might think of an idea later. For now, though, he decided to pack. He already had most of his belongings stored away, so it wasn't that hard. Besides, he doubted it would be a good idea to bother his party for help at a time like this. As sure as he hoped, nearly everything was done within minutes. Good. Now all he had to put away was the...
"OH..."
The photo album that he and Undyne had looked through the other night sat on the very end of the bed, which was conveniently large enough that nobody could reach far enough back there to knock it off onto the floor while they were asleep. He couldn't help but sit down with it and skim through the few pictures that were in it again, just to help ease his nerves. The last photo in the book really stuck out to him this time; even in sleep, he couldn't help but see how happy the two of them were together. He hoped there would be more good times like that ahead.
He hoped the worst was over with.
He put the book away, stepped out of the room and took a glance at Undyne. She was quiet and still now, but the redness of her eye indicated that she'd been crying.
"...UNDYNE?"
"Just go away."
She turned further away from him. He wanted to apologize and tell her everything would be alright, but deep down, he knew it was better if he wait. She wasn't just upset this time. She was angry. And she was angry at both of them. Right now, what she needed was to be alone...That was what they all needed, really.
Papyrus met his brother in the lobby, and when Sans saw him with the packed duffle bag, he went ahead to the hand receptionist and checked out. Undyne decided to appear the moment he'd finished, knowing that it wouldn't be smart to sit and get left behind now that they were both down there without her. It didn't take long. Within minutes, the trio was heading out the front door and approaching the elevator shortcut that would take them through most of Hotland in only a short while.
No words were spoken the entire trek, and except for in the elevator, they all stayed at least a good three yards apart from each other, Sans in the lead, Papyrus behind him, and Undyne dragging along in the back. Her silence was the most unsettling out of anyone's, seeing what was usual of her.
When they made it back to the house in Snowdin, they entered one at a time. Sans immediately went and disappeared into his room, and the former captain parked on the couch, looking as sullen as ever. Papyrus let out a sigh; this while mess had really put a strain on everyone, all of a sudden, and as nervous as he was, he still wanted to do something to help someone. It'd been a while since anybody last spoke to one another, so he decided to try again now. He sat down beside his best friend, an empathetic look in his eye sockets...
Only for her to move to the opposite side from him, cross her arms and turn away.
"UNDYNE, I JUST WANT TO TALK, ALRIGHT?"
"You should've said that the other day," she snarled under her breath.
"I...I KNOW. I JUST-"
"Go do something and leave me alone. I don't wanna talk to you right now. Or anyone."
"BUT-"
"Go away!"
He opened his mouth to say something else, but no words came out. He couldn't think of anything else to say. So, against his wishes, the skeleton stood back up, went up the stairs and went into his own room, quietly shutting the door behind him before sitting down on his bed, shaking his head and hiding his face in his gloved hands. It wasn't long until a tear slipped from an eye socket, then another, and before he even realized it, he found himself full-blown crying. He was upset and lonely, but there was nobody to comfort him and tell him that everything would be alright but himself. And he didn't feel so sure of himself right then and there.
For the first time in a long time, he felt absolutely hopeless.
A/N: Yeah, remember what I said about extending the last chapter to even out their lengths a bit more? Well, that didn't really amount to much in the end, because this is still more than double the length I wanted it to be and it's probably gonna be the longest chapter in this story period. Oh, well. At least I think it turned out...okay-ish? I wanted there to be a major conflict concerning the Amalgamates, and I did it for the most part, but I'm not sure how well I executed it. Too rushed? Too out-of-character for the characters? I don't know, tell me if you think there's anything I can fix.
Next chapter is actually a good part of the way done as I write here. I have a habit of writing out future chapters and even full blown story finales long before I need to post them, since it motivates me to get the story done quicker.
Also, tip of the hat to those who can figure out what surface movies Mettaton went and renamed. Hey, "The Picker-Upper that Fell in Love" is a personal favorite of mine, too, ya know.
See you guys soon. :)