The thought of having to endure Undyne's training wasn't pleasant, especially because she didn't see very happy about it either. Syphus didn't think she'd do something like injure him, but it didn't mean she'd take seriously this so-called training session. The fact she scheduled the session early in the morning was hinting she wasn't going to do things half-assed, though.

When he arrived to the Garbage Dump he noticed thinking Undyne wasn't going to take this seriously was a mistake. There she was, waiting for him, wearing her armor and with her helmet in her hand, sitting on top of one of the many piles of junk. When Syphus stepped towards her, she shook her head, a bit condescending. "Thought you wouldn't dare to show up, punk" Syphus didn't reply to that, his hand unconsciously going to the halberd he had inside his jacket. He hadn't been afraid of Undyne while Alphys and Papyrus were nearby, but now, being face-to-face with Undyne and without anyone else nearby...it made him rather nervous "Come on, say something"

"...let's just get done with this" Syphus mumbled, his eyes darting to the red plume of Undyne's helmet. Undyne, noticing Syphus's reticence to look at him, narrowed her eye.

"Come on! I'm not going to beat you up! This'll be a training session"

"A training session neither of us asked for"

"So what? I'm not going to disappoint them by not giving this a try! And I'm not going to let a weakling like you humiliate yourself" she jumped from the top of the pile to the ground, splashing water all around her "Get ready!"

Syphus reflexively jumped back, once again his hand going to where the halberd was. Only after a moment he noticed he had inhaled and held his breath in preparation for a fight. Damnit, I have to calm down already! But that was hard to do the memory of Undyne killing him still fresh in his mind. Undyne put her hands on her hips. "Will you calm down already? Now let me see what you got. Show me a magic bullet"

"A bullet? Uh...right now?" Welp. That was going to be a problem. The witch was the one with magic, he was just a piece. Even if he had access to the witch's power he didn't know if he'd be able to use magic at all. Undyne's expression soured even more.

"What's that supposed to mean? Don't leave me waiting, do it already!"

"You see, I'm not sure how—"

"What?!" Undyne stared at him for a moment "Did you just say you don't know how to make a bullet?" The slightly incredulous tone of her voice made Syphus feel rather self-conscious, even though he had no reason to be "Okay, let's do this step by step. Focus your magic. Picture a white ball in your mind" Not expecting anything to come out of it, Syphus closed his eyes and obeyed. That was easy, just imagining a bright white ball...it was almost relaxing. "Focus on it. Don't think of anything else"

"Got it. What now?"

"You should feel something deep inside you" I feel silly "Now open your eyes without stopping thinking about that white ball" Syphus obeyed again. Undyne wasn't directly in front of him anymore, that helped him relax a bit "Try to make it real. Come on, do it!" Syphus grit his teeth, trying to picture the bullet as something real and tangible. His feathers slowly stood up on end, he narrowed his eyes, doing as much effort as possible to do what Undyne had told him. Who knows, maybe something would happen!

Nothing happened.

They kept trying for around half an hour more. Undyne tried every method she had heard was used to help monster children to channel their magic and make simple bullets, but nothing worked. Not even a spark of magic emanated anywhere in Syphus' vicinity, much to her frustration, although soon that frustration turned into something that resembled pity. Monsters that were unable to use magic at all were rare. Sure, some monsters were more powerful or have more skill with magic than others – Alphys' magic skills were specialized for her work, otherwise she was considered weak – but a total lack of magic skill was rather uncommon among monsters. That this Syphus guy was one of them...it was almost sad.

"That's enough" Undyne sighed. Why did Syphus look like he wasn't worried about it? "Magic isn't your strength. That doesn't mean there's nothing you can do"

Syphus passed her hand through the feathers of the back of his head, unsure where this was going. "What do you mean?"

"Physical strength. Let's see what you have. Come over here" she took Syphus to where the piece of satellite dish had been left the day before. The rest of the junk Alphys had selected the day before had been taken already to the laboratory, but the satellite dish piece was too large. "I want you to try lift that up"

"Isn't this a bit too much for a beginner?" Syphus said sheepishly, but approached the satellite dish nonetheless.

"You're not going to get crushed, lift it already!"

"I'll do it" Syphus grabbed the steel rods that formed the satellite dish's frame and dragged it to test how heavy it was. It moved much easier than he expected. Calmer, Syphus grabbed the satellite dish from below. The satellite dish moved upwards, so he took the chance and got underneath it to lift it further.

"Yeah! Now that's what I wanted to see. Higher!"

Syphus grunted and managed to lift the dish higher, feeling the strain in his arms. The dish got up to his neck before he felt he was reaching his limits. "H-Help..." Undyne grabbed the dish, holding it with ease while Syphus stepped aside, flexing his arms, with pained expression.

"Told you you'd be fine. No self-respecting captain would give a complete rookie more than they can handle!" she lifted the satellite dish with one hand, holding it over her head without any difficulty "I knew from the beginning you'd be fine"

"So what's your opinion?" Syphus grabbed a heavy-looking pipe as if it was a dumbbell. It would be good to be stronger. It was true his Persona did most of the fighting, but being able to hit harder with the halberd was a nice thought.

Undyne threw the satellite dish aside as if it was nothing, letting it crash and sink a bit into the water. "Do you want me to be nice or me to be blunt?"

"Be blunt"

"You're so weak I could defeat you with one single punch" Undyne said with a grin that wasn't entirely unpleasant, but Syphus didn't take it like a joke at all. He cringed, fearful "Oh, come on! That was a joke" Syphus, realizing he had reacted with fear, took a deep breath and apologized "It's not common for monsters to go around punching each other, so I can't help you with that"

"I wasn't expecting you to do anything. This is a one-time thing, isn't it?"

Undyne shrugged, groaning softly "Whatever. Get ready. I'll give you a sample of Royal Guard training. We have just half an hour more, let's make the most out of it!"

Monsters' bodies could get stronger, but given that they usually relied on magic for fighting and the such, it wasn't common for monsters to try to strengthen their physical bodies, that much Undyne knew, but the Royal Guard had a training regime that included that. She was ready to show Syphus what the training entailed – or at least a small part of it.

The captain found out Syphus would rather to strengthen his arms, something she had no objections to. Soon she had Syphus doing push-ups...

"FASTER! I'll show you how" she said before getting on the ground and doing it. "Your arms' stance is wrong; the elbows must point towards the outside!" ...and punching a mattress Undyne was holding. "Are you punching or petting the mattress? I DON'T FEEL THE STRENGTH OF YOUR PUNCH!"

"I'm trying as hard as I can!"

"No you're not —you can try harder!" Undyne looked from behind the mattress "Stop thinking about hitting the mattress. Imagine you're punching through the mattress"

"Does that really work?"

"It's what I used to do when I was training. I know what I'm talking about, just try it – OH MY GOD I'M STILL NOT FEELING THE PUNCHES!"

Although Undyne was relentless, she had a way of making the training be almost fun instead of a drag. Her energy, the way she shouted, it was contagious, soon Syphus found himself getting enthusiastic and tackling her challenges with gusto, something Undyne approved. "I filled these heavy bottles with water. Lift those to your sides"

"Like this?"

"Yeah, like that! Higher! I want to see you doing an effort" Undyne took a bottle as well, doing the repetitive exercise twice as fast than Syphus. "Grasp those bottles tighter!"

After half an hour she declared the session was over. Syphus moved his shoulders in small circles, feeling sore. That wasn't too bad! Undyne seemed satisfied too, in better mood than she had been an hour earlier. She grabbed the helmet she had left aside. "Are you interested in joining the Royal Guard?"

"You want me to?"

"I'm asking you because I want to tell you right now: I think you're not even close to being a good candidate for the Royal Guard. Your lack of magic skills makes you unviable" she tilted her head "It's a shame, you have the right attitude. It's not perfect, but you're in the right track. BUT if what you want to learn is how to fight then that's different.

The problem is you're not getting anywhere by punching. A weapon may work better for you"

Syphus smiled a bit at that. "I'm learning to use a halberd, actually!"

"A halberd? That's perfect!" Undyne grinned, showing most of her teeth "Yeah, that rules! I can work with that – oh" Right. There she had gone, talking as if it was something that didn't need Syphus' approval. Trying to cover up her blunder, she decided to be frank. "You know, I had thought you were some good-for-nothing jackass, but I was wrong. You may be good-for-nothing right now, but with some effort you can be better"

"...I'm not sure if I should feel insulted or complimented"

"Feel whatever you want. What I'm saying is that I wouldn't mind if you asked for my help. I'm serious. I could try to spare some time for you"

The offer made Syphus happier than he thought he'd feel. During the last half an hour all thoughts of Undyne having killed him hadn't even crossed his mind, and although those were returning, the thought of being in good terms with Undyne was actually rather nice. Her friendliness was genuine, that much he could see right now. "When are you free?"

"Not right now. I have a job to do. Look, go see me tomorrow at my house" she gave him directions to her house, Syphus prudently avoided mentioning he already knew where it was "What do you say? Are you tough enough to work out and train like you mean it?"

"I can do it! I will do it!"

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Undyne extended her hand. Judging the risk of Undyne not noticing the scales of his hands and his claws were mere illusions, Syphus grabbed her hand, thankful she was wearing armor. Her handshake was strong, not enough to make his bones creak, but it was strong enough for him to notice she could seriously crush his hand if she wanted "You don't seem that bad of a guy. Let's meet again sometime!"

Undyne seems to have warmed up to you.

You feel a faint bond forming between you and Undyne.

Thou art I... And I am thou

Thou hast established a new bond

Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Justice Arcana

Undyne left, running with a lot of energy and leaving Syphus at the garbage dump, rubbing his arms. The training with Undyne had gone surprisingly well, and to be completely honest with himself, he actually was looking forward to meeting Undyne again. When he wasn't actively trying to fool her she was rather nice and personable. Besides, getting stronger was a nice incentive. And because getting stronger also involves stuff I don't want to do I guess I should go do my part-time job. True, the Temmies were willing to buy his stuff, but losing the job Sans had convinced Grillby to give to him would be embarrassing. He had to go work.

-ooooo-

"i heard you met undyne this morning"

Why do I feel like asking how he found out will be useless? "We were training, actually. I should tell Papyrus, it's partly his fault I had to do that" Syphus had been given a bit more of responsibility at Grillby's, now having to help the owner of the place to keep the glasses clean, even if it involved cleaning the same glass for several minutes straight. Right now Syphus was staring into the glass, talking with Sans, who was in his second visit to the pub. "Speaking of Undyne...where's Frisk? I thought by now they'd have reached her"

"who knows"

"I thought you were supposed to keep an eye socket on them" Syphus frowned "That kid needs to talk with Undyne as soon as possible. Where did they go?"

"don't worry, they're okay. they're just taking their sweet time to get there. they also told me someone has been messing with the timeline recently. who could have done it?"

...oh. Of course Frisk would notice when Syphus had to rewind the timeline to avoid the bad end. They may not have the SAVE powers anymore, but they had it for long enough time to learn to recognize when the timeline suffered changes. Did they remember what happened in that bad end? Sans shrugged, getting off his seat. "relax. it's nothing they're not used to already. just...try not to do it too often, 'kay?" he walked out of Grillby's and immediately changed locations with ease. One second he was exiting the pub; the next moment he was descending the stairs of his basement to his laboratory. "i'm back, kiddo"

Frisk looked up from what they were drawing, smiling as a greeting. They had supposedly left the skeletons' house the day before, but actually they had asked Sans to hide them for a while. Nothing against Syphus, but after what happened with Undyne last timeline they didn't want to die again. That's why they were taking their sweet time to plan instead of rushing to Waterfall. Sans left a bag near them. "i brought you this from grillby's. 'phus says hi" Frisk didn't reply to that. Sans passed by, checked his time machine, and left again, leaving Frisk with their drawing.

Now that they were alone, they were able to continue their conversation. "Those guards were some we hadn't ever seen before. That may be a trait of this timeline"

"So Waterfall is full of monsters I haven't ever met before?" Frisk wondered, taking another color pencil.

"Most likely" Chara's voice dripped with disapproval "And yet you managed to get caught off-guard by them. You have gotten rusty, Frisk"

"It was the first time I had ever seen them..." not that it was an excuse, though. Chara was right, they had gotten rusty. If Waterfall had more guards they hadn't ever interacted with, it was going to be difficult to end any FIGHT without fighting. "But we have to see Undyne, I want to see her"

"You will, but you need to work on your speed. Ask Sans to bring you some Sea Tea. Always have some of those with you. Got it?"

Frisk smiled to themselves. Chara, always planning ahead...it was nice to have someone to rely on, even if it was a dead child living in their head. "You really want to see Dad"

"What? Why would I? No, I just want to get you to the Barrier and see where things go from there"

Not wanting to force Chara to say something about their feelings they weren't forthcoming with, Frisk changed topics slightly. "I'll get the tea, and then we'll get going—"

"No"

"Uh?"

"Frisk, we shouldn't leave yet. I'll tell you when we should get to Waterfall"

"But why? I thought you wanted me to see Undyne"

Chara was silent for a moment. They spoke with hesitation, like they weren't sure of what they were saying. "...it's just a feeling, but I think we should stay away from Waterfall and Hotland tomorrow.

Something big is going to happen"

-ooooo-

Just like promised, Syphus met with Undyne the next day, in front of her house. She seemed to be in much better mood than in that first meeting. Was it because now she liked Syphus a bit more than before? Encouraged by her welcoming behavior, Syphus greeted her cheerfully. "Hey, Undyne! I'm here like you wanted"

"Perfect. You told me you use a halberd. I want to see it" Syphus took out his halberd out of his jacket, giving it to Undyne. Her grin vanished immediately while she took the halberd, weighing it. "This? This is pretty much a toy! You couldn't even split tomatoes with this thing!"

"...it has worked well enough so far" Syphus mumbled, a bit defensive.

Undyne shook the halberd, not impressed with how it wobbled back and forth. "Look how flimsy it is! And the blade – it's all dull and broken! How long have you had this halberd?"

"Almost two weeks..."

"You can't do anything with this one. Good thing I brought a real halberd from the Royal Guard's armory" Undyne put aside the collapsible halberd and entered her house. After a moment she returned outside carrying a solid halberd, with a pole made of shiny steel. "This is what you should have. Here you go" she said, plopping the halberd in Syphus' hands.

You obtained the Royal Guard Halberd

Syphus folded over, clutching the pole of the halberd and trying to lift it. Carrying it around was going to be a problem, especially because it wasn't collapsible. I'll have to leave it at the village, I guess "It's...heavy..."

"Of course it's going to be heavier than the joke of a halberd you had before! This one? This halberd is going to be much stronger" she said with a lot of pride "I'm lending it to you for indeterminate time, with one condition"

"What is it?" With some effort, Syphus managed to lift the halberd enough to lean it on his shoulder.

"Let me teach you how to use a halberd. I don't want to risk you getting hurt because I gave you a real halberd. What do you say?"

It was a rather good idea, actually. Syphus was no more than a novice when it came to halberds and how to move them, having the help of someone who knew what they were doing was good. "I accept. Teach me, captain"

"You don't have to call me captain, you're not even a recruit of the Royal Guard" Undyne materialized a spear as long as the halberd. She extended her arms, showing Syphus her hands "See how I'm holding this? Do the same"

"Like this?" Syphus curled his fingers around the cold steel of the pole.

"Get your fingers closer. If the halberd falls out of your hands, you'll lose any battle you're in" she indicated. Syphus obeyed, gripping the halberd a bit tighter. "Yeah, like that! I'll show you how to swing it—" she moved to grab Syphus' arms. Since she wasn't wearing the armor at that moment, Syphus stepped back, reluctant to get touched. "What?"

"Sorry, I don't want to be touched"

Undyne raised her hands, showing she meant no harm. "I should position your body to show you how you should do it. That's the best way to do things! You'll remember it better if you get into the position!"

Syphus looked at the ground. That made sense, but the risk of ruining his illusion made him fear this could lead to another bad end. "I know, but—"

"I'm not going to hurt you. Come on, trust me"

"I want to trust you, but..." But it's too dangerous. Seeing he wasn't going to agree, Undyne nodded.

"Fine. I'll respect that, but I hope someday you trust me enough to let me help you with this. It's true I didn't really like you when we first met, but you're okay. Do you have something against me?"

The piece carefully moved the halberd side to side, trying to get used to its weight. "Not really. It's nothing against you, I just don't like being touched by people I don't know well" That was a believable excuse, wasn't it? At least Undyne accepted it to face value. For a moment Syphus wondered if Alphys had once said something like that about herself, given how Undyne took the lie in stride and without trying to argue.

You feel Undyne respects your wishes.

The Undyne Social Link has reached Rank 2!

Your power to create Personas of the Justice Arcana has grown!

"Okay. Since I can't teach you like I'd teach anyone else then we're going to do something else: build up some strength in those noodle arms of yours! Are you ready?" her enthusiasm returned, ready to make Syphus stronger. If she's offering who am I to reject her help?

"I'm ready, captain! Bring it on!"

"Heck yeah! Using a halberd effectively needs a lot of upper-body strength. To build up everything you need we're going to start with these!" she pointed at a bunch of boulders not too far away. Syphus felt himself grow wary of how fast they were going.

"Uh, are you sure I should be lifting boulders?"

"Of course I'm sure! Don't worry, we'll start small. I'm not going to shove the biggest boulder around on you. Come over here!"

Just like she said, she wasn't going to force the most difficult training first. Syphus soon found herself working to improve his strength, Undyne turning out to be both a demanding and caring trainer.

"Push forward!" she said, holding the flimsy bamboo pole. They were each holding onto the pole, trying to push the other back "Dig your heels into the ground because here I come! NNNGGAAAAH!"

"U-Undyne, the wall, I'm going to-!"

The bruise on his back would last for quite some time.

Besides trying to build up strength, Undyne decided to help him work on his stance with the halberd. Swinging it and trying to attack were things they'd try next time, but since the stance was the very base of a good attack technique, she claimed they were going to work hard on that too. It'd also help him get used to the weight of the new halberd. "One hand must go over here, the other should go this low" she demonstrated with the bamboo halberd "Your fingers are very long but that shouldn't be a problem"

They won't. Syphus grabbed the steel halberd like Undyne was showing him. "It feels like it's going to slip from my fingers at any moment"

"Grab the halberd like your life depends on it!" the bamboo halberd creaked under Undyne's fingers "Separate your legs a bit more. Don't stand on your toes!"

"Like this?"

Undyne grinned, approving "Yes! I'll now try to tackle you. BRACE YOURSELF!"

"W-Wait, Undyne, I think-!

It felt like a truck ran over him.

A couple hours later, Undyne decided they had trained enough. She went inside her house and brought a bottle of hot water, tossing it to him. "Take this. How do you feel?"

"Sore" Syphus replied, grimacing and rubbing his arms. Was all that the kind of training the Royal Guard had to do every day? They had to be immensely tough! The piece was amazed he wasn't melting right now "I feel like I'm going to faint"

"That's because you're not used to exercising. It'll get easier once you get the hang of it" she took a long gulp of her bottle of warm water "But you didn't do too bad! You're not up to Royal Guard standards, or even up to Papyrus' strength, but you could be doing worse!"

"Do you really think that?"

"Yeah! Of course I do! It'd be better if you were able to use magic, but you could hold your own against many monsters...maybe even against weak humans too" she said. Syphus drank some of his water while she continued "Humans are the ones used to fighting physically, I guess it'd be good for you to train to hold your ground against one"

Syphus stared at his bottle. "Do you really think we'd even have the chance to see a human?" he asked before taking another swig.

"Of course we will! Someday a human will fall in the Underground and – can you stop trying to swallow that bottle?!" she protested, uncomfortable. Syphus left it aside, embarrassed. Why do I have a snake face, really? "Someday a human will fall in the Underground and it'll be monsterkind's duty to take their SOUL"

"...do we have to?" Syphus murmured.

"Of course we have to! It's our freedom on the line. We need seven human SOULs to shatter the Barrier, and no human would give their SOUL voluntarily. We'll need to take it by force!" Undyne narrowed her eye "Or what? Are you going to let yourself be killed by any human that comes down here?"

"Nothing says a human is going to try to kill anyone!"

"Only a fool would risk it! It's either us or them!"

Syphus grasped his head, taking deep breaths to calm down. If he got into a discussion about this, chances are he'd start shouting and say something he'd regret. The thought of everyone in the Hidden Village dying came back to him again, Undyne holding Cohen's SOUL. "You can't—you can't really believe it. This can't be the only way to deal with humans!"

Undyne seemed to be getting angry too, but she avoided lashing out at Syphus. "It doesn't matter if I believe it or not. It's my duty as Captain of the Royal Guard to make sure all the human SOULs are gathered. Everyone wants to be free!" she stood up, raising her voice "I can feel it every day, I feel everyone's hopes of someday leaving this hole in a mountain and see the world! Everyone wants to leave!

I'm going to ensure everyone's hopes are fulfilled!"

It'd be admirable if it didn't involve killing humans. Not wanting to get into a long discussion about this, Syphus decided to leave the matter aside. He simply nodded, mumbling an 'I see'. The two of them stayed in silence, finishing their bottles of water, until Undyne decided it was time to get moving. "I'm going to see Alphys. You want to come too?"

"Me? Really?"

"You're Alphys' friend, and I think you and I are getting along. I saw you were trying to take Alphys' anime the other day. Come with me, we're going to watch something fun"

It wasn't really that bad of a way to spend the day, leaving aside Syphus' total lack of interest in anime. They were nice company, and relaxing for a while was a rather attractive thought. Syphus accepted, the two of them going in direction of Alphys' laboratory. Syphus had to take the halberd with him, still unsure where he'd leave it. By the time they were crossing the bridge to Hotland, Undyne commented something that got Syphus in high alert:

"Hotland feels cold today"

-ooooo-

Sisyphus stared at the board, sweat gathering on his forehead. The pieces on the gameboard showed it clearly: someone was going to fall down. Stopping it wasn't something he was interested in – they did need the materials obtained from defeating Shadow Selves – but something about the way Cornio had positioned everything worried him a lot. It was way more complicated than how the board had looked when Frisk and Ananas had been attacked. He still was staring at the board in silence when a familiar voice sounded behind him.

"I see you two haven't been slacking off while I was away!"

Lucia sat on her seat with neutral expression. Sisyphus simply nodded in acknowledgement of her presence, and Cornio greeted her more effusively. "Look, I'm trying something new"

"And you're doing excellent. I didn't think you'd try such a daring gambit, Cornio!"

"Daring gambit?" Sisyphus really didn't like how that sounded.

"Yes. Cornio has prepared a majestic set of moves that'll leave you reeling back. I can't wait to see it happen" she smiled coyly. Sisyphus, a tad annoyed by her behavior, groaned at that.

"I thought you were going to be my assistant"

"I am your assistant. It doesn't mean I'm going to give you all the answers"

"What do you mean?"

Lucia traced with her finger the edges of the gameboard "Games need to be difficult for you to show all your skills. If a game is boring, it won't lead to any growth. Would you rather Cornio to be a bad opponent?"

"Of course not, but—"

"I got you out of the void because I thought you had potential, but it has been thirty years and your potential hasn't grown at all. Sisyphus..." Lucia lowered her voice, taking a more serious tone "You're my heir. You're aware of that, aren't you?"

"I know, but...sometimes I wonder if I'm really the best person to be the next Witch of Hope"

Lucia scowled at that. "I fully believe you're the right person, and if you believe you're not...we'll see once this game is over. A good Witch of Hope should be able to perceive people's desires and use them for their own purposes. Whether it's to lead them to their doom or help them depends on you.

In a way that's something I'm very interested in seeing...what kind of witch you'd be"

"What kind of witch are you?" Cornio asked her. Lucia flipped her red hair away, replying with indifference:

"I'm the kind of witch that leads to doom"

"What? Why?" the thought of using people's own hopes and desires to cause pain and doom was something Cornio didn't want to understand. His questions in disbelief were more a reflex movement than anything else.

Lucia rested her head on her palm, thoughtful. "Because...the strongest hope is born from adversity? Hmmm...to be honest...I have forgotten why I started thinking that. It has been so long...after dozens of thousands of years one's memory isn't as good as it should be"

Lucia's starting to reflect about the meaning of her life as a witch.

The Witch of Hope Social Link has reached Rank 2!

Your power to create Personas of the Star Arcana has grown!

Lucia stared ahead, lost in thought. After a moment she sighed, glad her blindfold hid the doubt in her eyes. "It doesn't matter that much. What's important is what's going on right now. Keep the story going"

Sisyphus looked at her, a tad concerned. It was rather unusual for Lucia to get contemplative, but there she was, playing with her hair with her finger and staring at the wall instead of the gameboard. "Will you be okay?"

"Maybe I shouldn't have brought that up" Cornio said. Lucia, still staring at the wall, waved her hand lazily, focused on whatever was going through her head.

"No, it's fine. It's nothing you wouldn't have found out, Cornio. I admit it: I'm an evil witch. I guess I should at least remember why I'm like this..." she glanced at him "Don't pay attention to me, keep playing"

-ooooo-

Alphys was rather happy to see Undyne, and her happiness morphed into surprise when Undyne mentioned she had brought Syphus. Her surprise increased when Undyne boasted about how she had been training Syphus that day. "He's not too bad! Syphus may be miles behind Papyrus and I, but he's not a random wimpy loser!"

"No?" Alphys didn't realize she was grinning, amused.

"No! He's a wimpy loser with potential to be more than that! Thank you, Alphys, for forcing me to deal with him the other day" I'm still unsure if I should feel insulted or honored.

Although Alphys didn't seem entirely happy about Syphus being here, when Syphus asked if she preferred him to leave she hurried to say he didn't have to leave. "Undyne brought you here, I don't mind having you around today..." The usual time Undyne and her spent enjoying each other's company now had a third wheel. Although she didn't mind, she really hoped this wouldn't happen often.

Watching anime was the plan of the day again. The three of them watched anime, featuring a lot of mechas and fighting. There was no doubt Undyne was the one who had chosen it. "Look at that! Alphys, they punched that thing out to outer space!"

"I-It was very cool" she said.

"We should make a mecha of our own. It's the next step after what you did before"

"What do you mean?" Syphus asked. Undyne turned her head away from the screen, beaming with pride.

"Alphys got her job by impressing Asgore. She got the king so impressed he didn't hesitate to give her the job!"

Despite Undyne's gushing, Alphys seemed to be getting distraught. "It wasn't that impressive..."

"It was very impressive! Syphus, Alphys made a robot with a SOUL. That was a major feat! Asgore has all his faith place on her! That was a damn good decision, if you ask me!"

"...Undyne...?"

"That does sound very impressive" Syphus admitted, looking at Alphys from the corner of his eye. The royal scientist was sinking more and more in the couch. Undyne, too focused on singing the praises of Alphys, grinned widely.

"I'm doing everything I can to help her. I see it all the time, I see her passion, her drive to achieve it! And you know what? I'm sure I'm not the only one who believes in her" somehow, something that sounded so positive was what had the worst effect on Alphys. Alphys started to sweat heavily, and even though she tried to dry hear head with her sleeve it was largely ineffective.

"...I-I have to go" Alphys stood up from the couch, avoiding to look at Syphus and Undyne, and went upstairs. Her sudden departure got Undyne to stop talking, noticing now the effect her praise was having on Alphys. The captain's mouth formed a thin line, regretful.

"Darn it...Alphys is modest, but a person can be too modest. She should be proud of her achievements; don't you think?" Syphus didn't reply to that, so Undyne stood up from the couch too. Syphus was the only one still seated, staying on his chair "I'm going to the lab"

Syphus's feathers stood up, alarmed. Wait what? Undyne could go down to the true laboratory? Alphys was fine with somebody going to her real laboratory? That was a remarkably big change, given Alphys' behavior. "Are you sure you should do that?" Syphus inquired, his eyelid twitching a bit. There had to be an explanation here! Undyne either didn't notice or didn't pay attention to Syphus' sudden alertness, dismissive, while going towards the elevator – elevator Syphus just noticed wasn't disguised as a bathroom.

"It's fine. I'm with Alphys there all the time. When you see her tell her I went downstairs" she said, opening the elevator and entering. The ding of the elevator before it started descending echoed in the laboratory, waking Syphus from his stupor. Of course things are changing...but why? What about the Amalgamates, about what Alphys is hiding downstairs? He didn't understand, what had changed? Not having an answer, Syphus ascended to the second floor of the Hotland laboratory, to tell Alphys that Undyne had gone to the real laboratory. Before going up he glanced at the halberd he had left near the elevator.

The more Syphus ascended, the colder he felt, to the point where he started seeing his breath in the air. Alphys didn't seem to notice, though. She was standing in front of a work table, staring at an object in her palm. "Alphys?"

Alphys had been feeling more and more guilty the more Undyne talked. If she knew everything was based on a misunderstanding – misunderstanding she had turned into an outright lie to not only Asgore, but to the Underground as a whole – then she'd leave Alphys. She'd hate her. Who wouldn't? Everyone would hate Alphys for lying to them. One lie more for the already sizable pile of lies, but this one...this is what her whole life relied on right now. Her job, her achievements, everything had started because everybody believed she had created Mettaton and given him a SOUL.

It wasn't like she had any way out of that lie, and she knew it.

When Alphys had gone upstairs, trying to run away from Undyne's constant reminders of how everybody thought she'd help break the Barrier, her pacing had led her to her work table, where a finished cellphone laid on it. Her throat constricted when seeing that, feeling her mouth dry all of a sudden. There she had been recently, working on once another lie. There was no doubt, she had gotten used to fooling people constantly. Despite how many times she had done it yet, it hadn't gotten any easier for her conscience, though. Her guilt kept increasing every day.

Syphus' voice snapped her out of her contemplative state. She left on the work table the finished cellphone for that human child with the striped sweater. "Oh. Hi"

"Undyne went to the laboratory on the basement. Thought you should know"

"Th-Thanks...I'll go see her" she said. She didn't seem shocked or worried about Undyne being in the true laboratory. Does that mean she has nothing to hide there? Alphys shivered. "It's cold today...Syphus, can you pass me another lab coat? It's in that closet over there" Syphus did what indicated, opening the closet full of dirty lab coats and one single clean dress, and passed it to Alphys.

Unsure if he would be allowed to go to the true laboratory – or if he even should be there – Syphus decided to leave. "I'm leaving now. Alphys, there's something I'd like to ask of you"

"What's it?"

"This is going to sound strange, but don't leave Undyne alone" Being with someone else should diminish the chances of them being attacked, right? This cold, he remembered it from the other two times someone had fallen down. Did it mean Undyne was in danger? He had started feeling the cold while he was with her in Waterfall, after all. Undyne is alone in the true laboratory. What if she already was...?

"What do you mean?"

Syphus slowly walked in front of Alphys' work desk and put his hands in the pockets of his jacket "She wants to spend time with you, that's it" It was a bad excuse, but it was good enough. Alphys nodded, so the piece decided to take his leave "See you, Alphys"

"B-Bye..." she said halfheartedly. Syphus descended the stairs, and seconds later Alphys heard the sound of the doors opening and closing. The scientist sighed, changing lab coats and putting on the one Syphus had given her. If Undyne was waiting for her then she had to go see her. Steeling herself and trying to not look at disheartened as she felt, Alphys descended the stairs. There seemed to be no one in the ground floor. Alphys turned off the TV and went to the elevator that'd take her to the true laboratory, humming to soothe herself while she waited. She did notice the halberd to the side of the elevator. "Oh...he forgot it..." Better tell Undyne to give it to him later.

The doors of the elevator opened.

-ooooo-

Undyne wasn't very fond of Alphys' true laboratory. It was a cold and dreary place. It was kept clean and tidy, but Undyne preferred places that weren't as constrained and cramped as this one. That's why instead of walking further into the laboratory, she decided to wait for Alphys to come down. Surely Syphus would tell her Undyne was waiting down here! It had just been like five minutes, but it felt longer than that.

The murmur of the elevator descending got her attention. That elevator was rather noisy; she had told that to Alphys many times. ...wait... The elevator's murmur was sounding way faster than usual...and it sounded even louder than usual...

Undyne barely had time to jump back before the elevator crashed. The steel doors and the wall took most of the brunt, but the impact was strong enough to make dirt fall from the ceiling. For a moment Undyne could only stare at the steel doors, aghast. The elevator crashed – was Alphys riding it? Alphys! She could be in danger! She could be hurt, or...such a strong impact could...she could...

"ALPHYYYS!"

Undyne jumped forward at a surprising speed, grabbing the thin slit between the steel doors and started to push them apart. The doors slowly parted, pushed aside by Undyne's impressive strength. As soon as she could, Undyne put the side of her face with her good eye right against the doors, peering inside.

The inside of the elevator was ruined. The steel frame was deformed, crumpled like a can somebody stepped on. The floor was cracked, even broken in some places. The buttons on the back of the elevator had fallen out of its sockets. And on the bottom of the broken elevator, there was something white and yellow. "NO!" Undyne pulled apart the doors further enough for her to enter and pick up Alphys from the floor.

"ALPHYS! WAKE UP!" Undyne picked up Alphys carefully. She seemed unharmed, but it wasn't like Undyne could know for sure. No, she had to get help for Alphys...she had to get help! Get out of this laboratory and find someone who could make sure Alphys was okay! There was a place in New Home where that could be done, wasn't there? A clinic, so to say. Yeah, they'd know what to do. Undyne stood up, clutching Alphys and feeling the weight of uncertainty and fear in her heart.

"Hang on, Alphys, I'll get help for you! Please, wake up!"

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