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King Asgore furrowed his eyebrows and spun his trident nervously (which he technically didn't need, but tradition demanded that his decisions be made while he has his weapon equipped and ready). "I am rather... undecided when it comes to your recent proposal. I understood the necessity of these obstacles for the barrier, but this 'pathway' you are proposing... while it seems like a wonderful concept in theory, can you really justify the expense?"
The skeleton monster defensively gripped the file in his hands. "Sir, there has been a recent exodus of MONSTERS from the RUINS on a massive scale ever since... well-"
"Our newest child is a blessing from the Angel themself." Queen Toriel stated simply, reaching out and put a hand on Asgore's forearm to get him to stop spinning his trident. "It does not matter that they are HUMAN - their presence gives the UNDERGROUND hope that we may one day escape from the barrier to rejoin the surface world."
"However..." she said softly, standing from her throne and approaching one of the windows. "I understand their fears. We live here, next to the barrier, to separate the UNDERGROUND from the surface as the first line of defense. And most of the MONSTERS who remain in the RUINS do so because it is the furthest away they can get from the barrier, the furthest away from the HUMANS..."
Queen Toriel turned back to the room and placed her hands behind her back. "But now, HUMANS can emerge from the RUINS - one of the places where we thought our people would be safest in the case of a HUMAN incursion. The enchanted one-way doorway cannot protect our people when a threat may come from behind."
"Therefore," the Queen came to stand behind the skeleton monster. "In order to protect our people, I believe that this proposition has considerable merit."
King Asgore leaned back in his throne and nodded thoughtfully. "What does our Guard Captain suggest?" He looked over towards the corner of the room, where an old turtle suddenly jerked awake (technically he was supposed to be constantly at-the-ready, but, since there were no threats in the UNDERGROUND, it was really only tradition that required his presence to be in the throne room).
Yawning, Gerson leaned on his hammer thoughtfully. "Well, I think we could up the recruitment efforts. Maybe set-up checkpoints at the end of every area, at places where the strongest of our guardsmen could challenge those who are threats to us... And let us assist other HUMANS who fall, of course." He added quickly when Queen Toriel narrowed her eyes at his words. "But, even if our people are trained and ready, well... at least it'll put some people at ease. I still believe that we should give this a chance." Gerson lifted his hammer and set it down with a loud thud, like a judge's gavel while they gave their final verdict.
"Hmm..." King Asgore started to spin his trident again, but stopped when his wife pointedly cleared her throat. "Ah, yes. Well, I can see the point, of course - protecting our people should take top priority. But are we truly ready to undertake such an extensive project, so soon after the CORE?"
"Sir, with all due respect..." the skeleton monster took a steadying breath. "This project may seem like an impossible undertaking right now, but I believe it could mean the difference between our people's survival and extinction. In the case of an attack, we would be trapped, cornered against either the barrier, or up against a wall with no escape. Either way, we would be cornered, and potentially leave ourselves open to being attacked from behind."
"With this method - by separating the main pathway from RUINS to the barrier from the MONSTER'S homes - we could create a shelter which these potentially violent HUMANS cannot access. And these checkpoints," he waved a hand towards the old turtle, who bowed his head, "could allow our people a chance to escape, into these pathways, where the danger could not follow."
"Hmm..." King Asgore closed his eyes in thought.
It was a long, stressful moment of silence, and, though he held himself confidently, he could still feel a bead of sweat make its way down his spinal chord beneath his lab coat. This was it. Either the King would accept his proposal, or he would be turned away. There was even the chance (however slight) that the King would demote him.
(He... he didn't know what he would do if that happened. This was how he supported his family: what would he do if the King decided to give his position to another? He didn't have any other skills he could contribute.
What would he do-!)
Suddenly, the King stood, startling the Royal Scientist into taking a step backwards - and right into Queen Toriel. He quickly turned to apologize, but she didn't look angry, and, in fact, just gave him a smile while she gently placed her hands on his shoulders and gently squeezed.
"I have made my decision." King Asgore stated, gripping his trident in a fashion that made the skeleton MONSTER swallow nervously. "I, King Asgore, do decree that the project that has been proposed by Our Royal Scientist, Dr. Win̶g̶ D̴̷̶i̶̴̶n̷̷̵g̵̶̶ G̶̷̷̶̸̶̴a̷̸̵̷̶̴̴s̸̸̶̴̸̶̴t̷̵̵̷̷̶̶e̷̴̴̷̵̷̸r̴̶̵̴̶̴̷ -
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Within a small, three-room hut made of wood and corrugated metal lit by a single candelabra, a small, skeletal hand reached into a box and pulled out a metal screwdriver. Giggling, he toddled around the room and waved it around, mimicking someone holding a sword as he valiantly battling imaginary enemies. Metal shrieked as the tip of the screwdriver dragged across the surface of a discarded machine casing carelessly stashed under a nearby table.
His father walked into the room, carrying an armful of broken machines. "So what has you so giggly, Pa - NO!"
With a loud clang and clatter, the machines crashed to the ground as the elder skeleton rushed to his youngest son and roughly yanked the screwdriver out of his hand. Placing it on a nearby desk that was filled with machines and gizmos in various states of disassembly, he frowned down at the young boy. "My tools are not toys, do you understand?" He said sternly.
The small skeleton whined at the loss of his toy, glowing tears gathering in his eye sockets. "Oh, no. Please don't cry!" Now mildly distressed himself, he picked up his son and placed him on his shoulder. "Shh, it's alright." He whispered gently into his son's shoulder as he bounced him gently. "Daddy's not angry, dearheart. He was just... he got really scared for a minute because you could hurt yourself with that. I'm sorry, daddy's sorry..."
"dad?" A young voice called from the doorway. He turned to look at his eldest son, who yawned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his oversized blue sweater sleeve. "there's people at the door. they said they've got a 'nother delivery of stuff from that water place."
"Already?" He glanced over to the candelabra, only just noticing that the candles had burned down to small nubs. "Oh my, it is much later than I thought..." His youngest son whimpered, and he ran a hand over his skull soothingly. "Oh, um... Sans, do you think you could do me a favor and lead them in here, please? Just have them stack what they have in the corner, please - I need to put your brother to bed."
"yeah, I *yawn* guess." His eldest shuffled back towards the door, his large pink slippers dragging across the floor as they dangled from tiny feet. He rolled his eyes; his pick of the shoe stockpile, and his son grabs slippers. Granted, it was at least a pair of slippers, but he should have had shoes.
(Even if they weren't matching, both of his boys would have gotten shoes if he hadn't been too busy working to go with them to pick it out.)
With that taken care of, the adult skeleton left his lab space and wandered over to the third room of their little hut which acted as their shared bedroom. One corner of the room was littered by a variety of children's toys that ranged from colorful ring stacking toys to small figures, and was cordoned off by a long, curved piece of chicken wire that was carefully screwed into the wall.
He passed that corner by in favor of the large pile of dirty sheets and stained bedding that resembled a large nest. It was so difficult to keep anything clean here in this damned cave, which wasn't much of a 'home' despite the fact that their King had named it such. They couldn't clean the sheets much, as there was a single stream had to supply everyone with clean water, and, as they couldn't risk tainting their drinking water, they were forced to use the very end of the stream to clean anything.
(And he would sometimes miss the days they were allotted, because he was too busy working)
As with every time he looked upon it, his eyes narrowed in contempt. His sons - no, every single MONSTER - deserved better than this, to live in squalor and rely on the HUMANS' refuse that stacked up in the micro-climate filled with waterfalls. But, he had to stay strong for his boys. There was no point in resenting this, because it would get better.
And he KNEW it would get better.
He'd damn well make sure of it.
"Alright Papyrus, it's time to take your nap." He whispered to his son, who whined pitifully as he pulled him off his chest, small phalanges clinging to the hem of his lab coat. "C'mon, Paps, it's ok," he sighed as he was forced to pry small fingers off his clothes, and, now free, he laid his son in the middle of the nest, who continued to whine and squirm as he adjusted the bedding with fat, magic-infused tears rolling down his cheekbones that stained the bedding a glowing blue.
"I'm just gonna be in the other room, alright?" He murmured quietly glancing over towards the entryway where he could hear the MONSTERS delivering the most recent machines recovered from the water.
Oh, he did hope that they were careful with the machines. They were delicate things and, although most of the usable equipment they found was already broken, but any rough handling could break the surviving equipment that he could salvage. But, from the banging he heard, they obviously didn't understand that. He ought to go out there and give them a piece of his -!
Something held him back as he tried to stand. Looking back, his youngest son had caught the hem of his sleeve. "Papyrus, please," he sighed as he had to yet again untangle small fingers from his clothing. "Daddy's very busy, and I need to-"
"D-dada," his son whined softly, and he felt his heart seize. That... that was his son's first word! His youngest had never spoken before - and he was so much older than all of the other MONSTER children. This was a miracle! He just couldn't believe- "Dada no go." Papyrus hiccuped and started to sob.
Kneeling, slowly, into the nest of blankets that he and his children would share when they slept, he stared down at his youngest son's face, encircled by a small glowing blue halo of tears.
His duty to his King told him that, as he was now the Royal Scientist, he was being trusted with an immense task, and his duty to his people told him that he needed to complete it as soon as possible.
But it was his duty as a father - to keep his little miracle sons to happy and healthy - snarled at everything else that it could wait for an afternoon.
(He had missed so much already...
Oh, dear Angel...
What kind of father was he...)
"Shh..." he hushed slowly, lowering himself into the bedding. As his son clutched at the front of his shirt, and buried his face into his father's sternum.
His ribs were rattling in his chest as he hummed gently, trying his best to soothe his son and, soon, his son's sobbing faded into an even rhythm as he fell into an uneasy slumber.
He wheezed as something collapsed across his side. Surprised (and in a slight amount of pain from the impact), he raised his head up to look at the blue lump draped across his side.
It seemed as if Sans, who was never one for missing an opportunity to take a nap, had decided to join the impromptu cuddle pile. Chuckling lightly, he raised his free arm and laid it across his eldest son's back.
"Did you snuff the candles?" He whispered softly, and his eldest hummed something that sounded like an affirmative answer. Smiling softly, he reached his hand up and rubbed his phalanges over his son's skull, who emitted a soft sigh.
There, in the comfort of each other's presence, the rest of the world seemed to fade away. In the back of his mind, he remembered something - a small tune that seemed so distant in the back of his mind, now crescendo'd to the front of his mind.
He gently cleared his throat, and tried to remember the words. Perhaps his boys would take comfort in it...
"When t̵h̵e̵ ḻ̴͆i̴̢̊g̵̺͌h̷̫͝ẗ̶̳ ̴͖̆i̸̓̋͜s̴̻̫͝͝ ̶̛̳̱ŕ̸̲͖ȗ̶̬͚̆n̴̙͉͂͝n̸͖̋͌i̴̧͂n̸̢̄ģ̶̧̈̈́ ̸͓̗̋ ̸͓̗̋ḻ̵͛ǒ̶̢̩ẁ̶̢̞-̵͗̇͜"̴̡̨͗̐
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NOTES:
(This will correspond to the sections, since I thought it would look weird if I used the normal (#) system I do normally)
1. (The Throne Room): For one thing, could you imagine being a monster in the RUINS, in a place where you KNOW there are no humans and furthest from the entrance (the barrier) where they are likely to enter... and then, from out of NOWHERE, a human child falls out of the sky? In a place you thought was safe. Oh, sure, there are plenty of monsters in New Home NOW, but, in the beginning, there's actual proof that everyone fled to the furthest corners of the Underground. It was only later that they started expanding out.
As for the state of that 'special project' that the Royal Scientist proposed... well, you'll have to wait for that to develop further...
2. (The Hut): In the beginning, monsters didn't have all these homes and cities. What, you think that the buildings came with these poor monster refugees? It takes time for places like that to develop. Thus, this is set in the beginning of the Underground's existence (heck, they only recently named it 'HOME' - I actually had to stop myself from using the term 'RUINS'), where a Scientist is just trying to improve his son's lives while also helping his people.
And, before it can be said by anyone else, yeah: the bedroom resembles Fallout 3. This may be Undertale-centric, but this is still a Fallout crossover - of course I took some liberties.
Also, chicken wire for the skeleton children is fine: if anything, it'd probably feel weird on their phalanges, and, since they don't have skin, so it can't be caught, pinched, or even cut.
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A.N.
Hey guys! Sorry this is a bit late. This was written the same day, actually (April 1st)! I, uh, actually lost track of time? And the real chapter 6 is still being written (though it is close to being done, I just gotta work out the kinks, meaning that I can probably get this done somewhat early this month), so I decided to take a couple of the ideas I had floating around, and put it into this lil' thing here.
I might actually expand this chapter later, because my god I brainstormed a lot of ideas doing something like this, but I wanted very badly to put this up today, so I could only manage two... because they DESERVED to be written well, damn it, and I think these two are really good for being written same-day. I tried for a third, but I decided that it was getting pretty late, so I decided (for quality's sake) to upload this as-is.
It's kinda funny, because there are a lot of places and situations where I can totally go over Undertale's past (like in this case, I tried to focus on ) and our poor lost soul G̵̢̺̺̮͋̚a̷̼̓s̶̫̯̘̿̅͝t̵̡̘̟͔̐̂̾-
* Error Detected! Unknown file destination!
* Reloading Author's Note . . .
... wait, where was I? Oh, right, anyways...
I'm not too experienced with computers. I tried to make it a little fancy, kinda like coding... except I know nothing about coding •(^)•. I've seen a couple fanfictions use this proto-coding thing, so I tried to emulate it. But, when it came time to write it, I couldn't find any examples. If I find any, I'll update this chapter accordingly - But don't worry! As with all of my previous chapter updates, I will tell you at the top of the page (meaning I didn't update any previous chapters this time, so don't worry about it this time!).
So, yeah! I wanted to do something special for April Fools Day that IS a chapter, but not uploading something mean like a 'oh, I'm cancelling the fic... haha, prank'd! Here's the ACTUAL chapter!'. And, since I don't have that chapter ready, it'd be almost a month of believing it was canceled before I had something ready.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! An entire chapter directed towards out favorite man who may or may not be a man, ya boy - !
...
...?
Um...?
... wait who was this chapter dedicated to? Who was I writing about again? It's like there's something missing from my memory banks... It's right there, on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't seem to -
* Error Detected! Author AI Exceeds Parameters!
* Resetting Fanfiction . . .