Only when it was late at night, Syphus was able to return home. He had needed to clean the entire cafeteria at the headquarters after 053 accidentally spilled several tins of coffee powder. Although he had helped clean everything, it took them an exceedingly long time, and it didn't help 053 still was upset with Syphus' antics back in the Ruins. Apparently he missed that part of the Underground. The entire cleaning ordeal was awkward and tense.
Feeling sore, Syphus turned off his disguise and descended the stairs to the village. He couldn't wait to get to his cottage and rest for the day. He had gotten to his door when he noticed one of the other cottages still had its lights on, even though it was past midnight. Celia's cottage. She was still awake, or perhaps Byssa was still there? Concerned if something was going on, Syphus approached Celia's cottage and softly knocked on the door.
"Byssa? You there?"
There was no response. Trying to be as quiet as possible just in case someone simply left the lights on, he pushed open the door, wincing when the creak of wood sounded louder than expected. Opening enough to peek inside, Syphus examined the inside of the cottage.
Celia was still awake. She was propped against the back of her bed, staring forward with contemplative expression. When Syphus opened the door, she looked in his direction, acknowledging his presence. Syphus waited for her to say something, but she didn't. "You can't sleep?" he asked.
"...no, it's not that. I'm just...thinking" she answered. Syphus nodded.
"Alright then. Have a good ni—"
"Wait. Please come here"
Syphus had been about to close the door when Celia asked him to wait. He entered the cottage, approaching and sitting beside her bed, and waited for whatever she wanted to say. The old woman crossed her hands over the blanket on her legs, and sighed. "I guess now you think I'm an awful person, don't you?"
"Why would I think that?"
"Because of everything you heard. I hate this place"
Syphus shook his head. "Of course I don't think that. I doubt anyone in this place likes being locked down here"
"Really?" she didn't sound convinced at all. "I have the impression all of you are taking everything better than I am" It wasn't like she was wrong. Everyone else had ways to be able to cope with being trapped in the village. Cohen had his duties, allowing himself dive headfirst into them. Byssa had Celia, taking care of her. Ciruel and Ananas had their monster friends. Graham...Syphus wasn't sure what Graham was up to, but he suspected it had something to do with the papers in the room with the climbable bunch of rocks.
What did Celia have, being unable to move and having to rely on others to help her? She couldn't even get out of her cabin by herself unless she already was on her wheelchair! And it had been like this for decades.
Of course she was so bitter about being the only one who seemed to hate this place with all her heart.
"You have your family," Syphus said on impulse.
"I do, but I don't want to talk about this with her. Or with anyone else but you," she shifted on the bed, letting her head fall on her pillow. "It's unlucky the others saw that thing that said everything I was feeling...I didn't want that at all. What was that thing anyway?"
How to explain Shadows? "It was nothing, don't pay much attention to it." He decided to dodge the topic, and not in a skillful manner, apparently.
"And you and the others have some weird power—"
"I'd like not to talk about that"
Despite that refusal, Syphus ended giving a few details about that. Celia's face showed she didn't understand anything, and in the end she decided it was better not to ask any further questions – it sounded like a mess she shouldn't touch.
"I see," she says, not understanding at all. "Don't tell Byssa about any of that. She wouldn't believe you at all," she said with a smile, like she had just said a clever jest. Syphus didn't take it like that, though, instead he took it with the utmost seriousness.
"Why not?"
"Oh, don't think too hard about it"
Syphus crossed his arms. "Celia, why don't you tell anything to her? You really should." He omitted how he told her some of that already, he hoped that wouldn't get him in much trouble once Celia inevitably found that out. "Don't you trust her?"
"Of course I do. I just don't want to worry her"
"Why not? She's your family"
"It's exactly because she's family! Syphus, she came to the mountain to look for me. She wanted to find me because she wanted to see how I was like. If I tell her how much it pains me to be here..." Celia shook her head. "She'll feel guilty. She'll feel like she has to do something about it, and I don't want her to do anything reckless." the old woman adjusted the ribbon on her hair. "I know her, she will. She's just like me"
"No offense, but you and her aren't similar at all"
Celia chuckled, a twinkle in her eye. "Oh, I wouldn't say that! She and I are more similar than you think. I just mellowed out with age. If I could use my legs, I'd be sneaking around behind Cohen's back just like she and Graham do"
"They sneak out of the village?"
"Not really. She told me she and Graham have a secret, that's all I know"
That was news! Filing that in his mind for later, Syphus changed topics. "Fine, I won't tell her. Hard to help you when you insist in keeping this to yourself, though"
"Then you help me. Please?" she looked at him with pleading eyes.
Syphus smiled. "Did you really even have to ask? Of course I will"
Relieved, Celia nodded. "I'm not sure what happened, but I do know I feel ashamed of everything you all saw. I can't let any of you ever see me like that again," she said. "Mom Toriel once said if you want to get over something, you must talk about it. That's what I'll do.
I'll tell you everything"
You have turned into Celia's trusted confidant
The Old Woman Social Link has reached Rank 4!
Your power to create Personas of the Strength Arcana has grown!
To Syphus this felt different than how Celia had asked him before to talk with her. Back then he hadn't seen the depths of Celia's soul. Now he knew exactly what was going on with her, and she knew it was useless to pretend he didn't. She could now be straightforward and he could actually help her.
"Great! Do you want to start now?" he got himself comfy, like he was going to spend the next few hours listening to her. She just gave him a look of amusement.
"Syphus, it's like 2 AM. This isn't time for psychotherapy" Oh. Right. He had completely forgotten it was rather late at night. She added, though: "But I'm glad you were so willing to listen...I think for once I'll have a good night of sleep"
Syphus sheepishly stood up. "Um, then I should get going...sleep well, Celia"
"You too. By the way..." she lowered her voice. "Please don't tell the others the stuff I'm going to tell you. I know they saw my thoughts, but...I'd like to keep some of my dignity intact. Please"
She didn't even need to ask that, he never intended to inform the others about anything Celia said. Having reassured her the secrets she was going to tell him someday would be safe with him, Syphus left the cottage, turning the lights off on the way out. The old woman relaxed, falling asleep shortly afterwards.
Finally she was starting to feel some peace despite her situation. After almost a century, things were starting to feel like they wouldn't be so bad.
-ooooo-
Day 51
It wasn't often Syphus got a free day from work, but when Undyne told him he wasn't needed that day, he immediately knew what he wanted to do: bother Burgerpants some more. Apparently he didn't have anything better to do – and that was exactly what Burgerpants told him when Syphus leaned on the counter. By now any bite in that greeting was long gone, to Syphus it seemed more his surly friend said it because it was starting to turn into some sort of running joke between them.
"Where to today?" he asked, putting away the mush he had been turning into hamburgers.
"Snowdin. Take a coat if you have one"
"It's like you're trying to take me further away from Hotland every time," he commented. "Who am I meeting this time?"
Syphus waved a finger. "It's a surprise!" from the way he was grinning, he was looking forward to it. His enthusiasm was contagious, Burgerpants found himself grinning too, although his was more sardonic. Having obtained Burgerpants' approval, Syphus set towards Snowdin, expecting to spend the entire day working on the plan for the day.
It had all been Ciruel's idea. Now that Syphus had apologized, things were more civil between the two of them, to the point where Ciruel was willing to sit with Syphus and talk. He had commented Papyrus intended to recalibrate his puzzles and maybe try to make a new one. Syphus had jumped off his seat so quickly he dropped the bread he had been holding. That was a good chance to continue his plan! "Ciruel, let me come with you!"
"What? Why?" he frowned. "You didn't seem so interested in puzzles ever before"
"There's a first time for everything, pal. Besides, I think I know someone who'd absolutely love to give Papyrus' puzzles a try"
That was all Syphus had to say for Ciruel to agree. After all, it'd make Papyrus very happy to have someone to both work with and solve puzzles with. For the sake of Papyrus' joy, Ciruel accepted to bring Syphus along, as well as that friend once everything was ready.
Syphus trekked through Snowdin, getting to the edge of the town, to the bridge that connected the plateau where the town was located and the other side of the wide chasm. There were three figures tinkering with a lot of ropes and what seemed to be a few metallic balls of spikes. Note to myself: talk them out of using anything like that. Papyrus' silhouette was easily recognizable, and to his side Syphus saw someone with antlers. Ciruel, most likely. And besides Ciruel, a much smaller figure, coming right out of the ground. Any greeting Syphus had was gone when he noticed that was Flowey. He hadn't expected him to be there!
By the time Papyrus noticed Syphus and brought him to the rest, Syphus still hadn't figured out what to say. "THE FOUR OF US WILL FINISH IN NO TIME!" Papyrus said, pleased. "AND LATER WE'LL BE FIVE!"
"I had barely finished saying you'd bring someone later when he had already ran away to finish this quicker" Ciruel whispered to Syphus. He didn't pay attention to the former scholar, instead glancing at Flowey every once in a while, who was glaring at him rather fiercely. Noticing Syphus wasn't paying attention to him, Ciruel pushed him aside, closer to the flower. "He's Flowey. He's been helping us for a few days already"
"AND AS ANYONE WOULD SAY: MY FRIENDS ARE YOUR FRIENDS!" Flowey didn't even listen to them. Instead he seethed for a while longer before vanishing under the snow, having decided he had no patience to deal with Syphus directly anytime soon. "OH. I GUESS. WE'RE DOWN TO THREE AGAIN"
"He sure seemed to hate your guts. Had you met him before?"
Syphus nodded. "I don't want to talk about it" There were more important things to deal with, anyway – such as puzzles.
The next few hours were spent going back and forth between the Ruins and Snowdin. Papyrus commanded their every move, Ciruel and Syphus diligently did everything he told them to do.
"PUSH SOME SNOW OVER HERE! THIS IS IMPORTANT!"
"Papyrus, why are we making this at the edge of a cliff. If we slip we die"
"FRET NOT! THERE'S A LEDGE UNDERNEATH WITH A LOT OF SNOW. FALLING WILL BE LIKE CRASHING AGAINST A LOT OF PILLOWS"
They really hoped he was right. The rest of the puzzles weren't that much better in terms of safety, at least at first sight.
"Um...Ciruel, you test it"
"I don't want to get electrocuted!"
"I already tested it once. It's your turn"
"I CAN TEST IT—"
"Fine, I'll do it"
But, even though they seemed dangerous at first, Papyrus always strived to keep them safe, and on the times he didn't, Ciruel was there to pick up the slack.
"Papyrus, we need to talk. I want to veto the balls of spikes"
"I BLUNTED THEM EXTENSIVELY! LOOK, IT'S HARMLESS"
"Not when they swing. Also, the flamethrower is a bad idea"
"EVEN IF THE FIRE IS COLD?"
"...what do you think, Syphus?"
"No flamethrower"
"You heard him, Papyrus. Here, I'll help you move this stuff away"
It took them several hours to recalibrate the puzzles and ensure they were working perfectly. Once Syphus informed Papyrus and Ciruel about who he wanted to bring to solve the puzzles, the former scholar decided it'd be better to leave. He didn't want to risk being caught by Burgerpants.
-ooooo-
"I should have brought a coat," Burgerpants said, shivering slightly. Having fur only helped so much when you were used to Hotland's heat!
"Don't worry too much about that. In a moment you'll be too busy to worry about the cold," Syphus said, hoping the puzzles would keep Burgerpants distracted enough not to notice the cold. They had gotten off the ship near the Ruins and, following Papyrus' instructions and leading Burgerpants all over the cliffs near Snowdin, until they found the skeleton standing in the distance. "There he is"
"That's the guy you brought me to see?"
"Exactly. His name is Papyrus, and he's a bit of a puzzle fanatic. You'll like him"
"I dunno, I have never been someone who likes puzzles" Still, this Papyrus guy didn't seem like a bad person. May as well give him a chance. Once Syphus and Burgerpants stood in front of Papyrus and introduction were done, Papyrus posed, pointing at the distance. There were some fuzzy forms not too far away – undoubtedly one of the puzzles Papyrus prepared.
"WELCOME! TO THE GAUNTLET OF CUNNING I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE PREPARED FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT!"
"I thought the Snowdin traps and puzzles were to defeat humans"
"THE BEST PUZZLES ARE VERSATILE, MY NEW FRIEND. YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN WHEN YOU'RE COMPLETING THEM AND HOPEFULLY NOT GETTING SO BEFUDDLED YOU GET STUCK. BUT DON'T WORRY," in a manner that'd have been somewhat condescending if it had come from anyone but Papyrus, the skeleton grabbed Burgerpants' shoulders, rather happy. "I HAVE FAITH IN YOU! I KNOW YOU'LL BE ABLE TO GET ALL THE WAY TO THE END"
It was nice to be told by someone they believed in him – or at least it was way better than Mettaton's constant stomping all over Burgerpants' self-esteem. True, Burgerpants was a very mediocre worker, but that didn't warrant such treatment, in his opinion! "Fine. I'll try," he said, unable to bring himself to be rude to Papyrus.
"AND IF YOU EVER NEED HELP, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, AND ON MY ASSISTANT FOR THE DAY, SYPHUS"
"Really?" Burgerpants turned his head towards Syphus. "You helped him?" Then maybe the puzzles wouldn't be too bad. How bad could these two's puzzles be?
Such thought was dashed when they got to the invisible electricity maze. Papyrus explained the rules with enthusiasm, and Burgerpants' look of surprise soured with every word. "Come on, Burgerpants, it won't be too bad," said Syphus, passing him the orb that'd deliver the electricity.
"It's electricity! Electricity and bodies don't mix unless you're a monster with electricity, and I'm not!"
Syphus shrugged. "Trust us. We wouldn't make something that's dangerous for you" That was a good point. Syphus wouldn't collaborate in something that'd put him in danger...at least intentionally. Meeting Muffet still had been an awful experience.
The invisible electric maze was as awful as he imagined it'd be. Burgerpants gripped the orb and stepped forward, onto the space without much snow. He looked at the ground, hoping to find the walls by taking a good look at any marks, but he found nothing. He had been so busy looking at the ground he collided against an invisible wall headfirst. The shock was immediate, Burgerpants yelped and jumped in the air. "Yikes!"
"It's not too intense, is it?" Syphus asked, walking around the maze.
"Anything that involves getting zapped is too intense!" Not that he could back off now, he didn't dare try to return to the edge of the terrain. What if he crashed against another wall? He was trapped now!
Traversing the maze took quite a while. Burgerpants walked slowly, looking around with caution. After the first few minutes, Papyrus started getting concerned. "IT'S TAKING HIM A LOT OF TIME. DID I MAKE THIS TOO DIFFICULT?"
"I don't think it's your fault" Syphus said to him.
"YOU CAN DO IT, BURGERPANTS!"
He couldn't do it. After having gotten zapped for the fifteenth time, Burgerpants had an idea he hoped would help him. There were walls, weren't there? Expecting to find them, he threw the orb forward, waiting for it to collide against something and that way see where was a wall. The orb flew out of the course and, thinking it was safe, Burgerpants ran in that direction, bypassing most of the maze.
"HE LOST THE ORB!"
"He broke the puzzle," Syphus groaned into his hands. There weren't walls, there simply were markers buried under the ground that simulated walls and would activate when someone passed above them. Not having the orb, Burgerpants could pass over them unharmed. It'd get him out, but it also defeated the entire point of the puzzle.
"NO, HE DIDN'T BREAK IT! THIS WAS...A CLEVER MOVE TO OVERCOME AN OBSTACLE," Papyrus heaped praise on Burgerpants. "YOUR FRIEND IS SUCH A SMART COOKIE, SYPHUS"
"...yeah, he is. Fiendishly clever," Syphus said. It'd be easier to play along than to argue. If Papyrus was having fun and Burgerpants felt accomplished, who was he to rain on their parade? Burgerpants ran towards them, picking up the orb from the floor and shoving it towards Papyrus.
"There! I win! Your maze was obliterated!"
"It certainly was" Syphus mumbled.
"MY MOST SINCERE CONGRATULATIONS, FRIEND WHOSE NAME I DO NOT KNOW! ARE YOU READY FOR THE NEXT PUZZLE?"
"Yeah, bring it on" If it was at all like the maze, maybe he could do it! He had to try. Burgerpants' confidence got shaken when he saw the tiles on the floor once they arrived to the puzzle. There was a square machine to a side, presumably connected to the floor. "What's this?"
"IT'S ANOTHER KIND OF MAZE. THIS ONE IS GOING TO MAKE YOU WORK VERY HARD! WHEN I ACTIVATE THIS MACHINE..." Telling all the rules took a bit. There were so many Burgerpants' eyes glazed over halfway into the explanation. "DO YOU NEED ME TO REPEAT THEM?"
"...uh? Uh..." he shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, but Papyrus took it as a no.
"TERRIFIC! THEN LET'S COMMENCE!" with a flourish, he pressed a switch on the machine, turning it on. The tiles on the floor flashed several colors, faster every time, until they turned into a blurry mess of colors. It kept going on for a while until it stopped, showing the configuration of colors. "LOOK AT THAT, IT'S WORKING PROPERLY NOW!
"It wasn't before?" Syphus inquired.
"CIRUEL HELPED FIX IT. HE KNOWS A BIT ABOUT MACHINES!" Papyrus pressed another button, bringing a chronometer up. "CHALLENGER, YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE TO CROSS THESE TILES"
"I'll try" Burgerpants said, already trying to remember all the rules. What followed was one minute of nonsense. Burgerpants took a few steps in, passing over pink tiles and jumping into a square of water. Once he got out of there, things started to get dicey, he got confused and slid around, crashing into water and electric tiles. Every time he touched a green tile, Papyrus and Syphus threw snowballs, hitting him every time. Even though it was just a minute, to Burgerpants it seemed like an hour.
"I give up!" he shouted when the minute was almost up. The tiles turned gray and deactivated, letting Burgerpants crawl through the floor until he reached Papyrus. "Nobody could have solved that one!"
"IT WAS A MORE DIFFICULT PUZZLE, BUT IT'S A MATTER OF PRACTICE. I KNOW IF YOU TRIED AGAIN, YOU'D BE ABLE TO DO IT!"
"Yeah...yeah...no. I won't" Once was enough. A bit disappointed Burgerpants didn't want to continue playing with that puzzle, Papyrus walked away to prepare the next one. He took it with remarkable stoicism, especially for him. Not having expected Papyrus to just leave him behind, Burgerpants stood up. "He left. Did I say something I shouldn't have?"
"...maybe. Papyrus is a guy very hard to offend, though. I wouldn't be too worried if I was you"
"If you say so"
As expected, Papyrus was waiting for them in the next puzzle, like nothing had happened. If he was offended, he didn't show it, but it did feel like he wanted to give Burgerpants a chance to have fun. Although the puzzle – sliding on ice on a ledge – seemed more dangerous than fun, Papyrus put some real effort into inviting Burgerpants to solve it. "YOU HAVE TO CONVERT ALL THE X INTO CIRCLES!"
"Syphus, this seems very unsafe"
"I HEARD THAT AND HERE I AM TO TELL YOU THERE'LL BE NO HURT IN THE PUZZLE. I HAVE TAKEN MEASURES"
Not specifying exactly what measures they were didn't fill Burgerpants with confidence, but that seemed to be the only way forward, unless they all went all the way back to the Ruins to get on the boat again. By now going through Papyrus' puzzles seemed like the quickest way to get to Snowdin town. Burgerpants rolled up his sleeves, regretted the decision, and rolled them back again. Time to go forward and try not to break a leg for real!
It could have gone better than it did.
"Papyrus, I think we should all have thought this twice. Or thrice. Maybe four times" Syphus mused when Burgerpants slipped off the cliff. They could hear the plaf against the show from where they were standing.
"I PILED A LOT OF SNOW THERE! I EVEN LEFT A COUPLE SNOW PAPYRUSES TO GREET HIM. PAPYRII?"
"Papyrae" Syphus trekked down the slope towards the place where Burgerpants was expected to have fallen down. There, among seven of Papyrus' snow replicas, was Burgerpants, lying face up on the snow and staring towards the dark ceiling above. "Burgerpants, you okay?"
"I fell down a cliff after slipping on solid ice. I bumped my head, I smell like lemons and it's gross, and I'm still freezing. How do you think I'm doing?!" he yelled, somehow keeping the same lineface expression.
"Oh. I'm sorry, Burgerpants. Here, let me help you—"
"Stop that, I can do it myself. But you know what...?" he frowned, confused. "I'm actually having fun. How weird is that?"
That was a huge relief to hear. Syphus smiled, putting a hand on one of the snow Papyrus. "It's not really that weird. Puzzles are supposed to be fun! And Papyrus is a swell guy to be around"
"He's weird, but talking to him makes me feel...warm and fuzzy inside. It's being near a very bright lightbulb." It he had to guess, it was because Papyrus was so encouraging. When was the last time someone encouraged Burgerpants this much? Even Syphus hadn't done it this much. "Thanks. For making me come here"
"Don't put it like that, it's not like I forced you. You wanted to be here"
"...I guess I did. Thanks for being my friend, then. I'm sorry I tried to push you away many times before." He shrugged. "I still think you're kind of an oddball for trying so hard to talk to me, but I can't complain anymore"
Syphus' feathers fluffed up. "You're welcome!"
Burgerpants, Papyrus and you had a good time.
The Fast Food Worker Social Link has reached Rank 5!
Your power to create Personas of the Magician Arcana has grown!
The Papyrus Social Link has reached Rank 4!
Your power to create Personas of the Sun Arcana has grown!
Syphus waited for Burgerpants to get back on his feet. "Buckle up, Burgerpants. You still have plenty of sliding around to do if you want to solve this puzzle"
"Can't you use a secret switch or something?"
"Where'd be the fun in that? Besides, Papyrus would be really disappointed. Can you look at him and tell him you want to take the easy way out?" he gestured towards Papyrus, who was waiting for them courteously yet with barely suppressed excitement.
Burgerpants twitched. "No. I can't. This is unfair"
Somehow, Burgerpants managed to overcome the puzzle. The trek through the bridge to the edge of Snowdin was easy, the gauntlet Papyrus had planned had been completely removed. With very enthusiastic farewells, Papyrus invited Burgerpants to visit again.
"IF YOU EVER WANT TO VISIT, COME TO THIS HOUSE OVER HERE," he indicated his house. "I'LL HAVE SOMETHING FUN PREPARED FOR YOU, AS WELL AS SOME GOOD SPAGHETTI. DOESN'T THAT SOUND TERRIFIC?"
"I'll think about it." It sure wasn't an automatic no! That was as good as Burgerpants could do, neither Papyrus nor Syphus could complain. Just because of that, Syphus considered this a rather successful day. I think I'm actually doing some progress here! Anything that led to Burgerpants feeling better was good.
-ooooo-
Day 52
Although he had done a lot of progress last time, Syphus wanted more. It was encouraging that Burgerpants was generally more cheered up nowadays – at least when he was with Syphus, because the rest of the day he was as surly and lackadaisical as always, if not more. The day before Syphus went to see Burgerpants again.
"Okay, where to this time?"
"Not today, pal," Syphus said, leaning on the counter. The restaurant was empty, so Burgerpants was slightly more at ease. "I haven't arranged anything yet"
"Really? I'd have thought by now you would have planned like five other people you want me to meet," he shrugged, actually sounding a little bit disappointed. Just a little.
"I ran out of people already"
"That's too bad." He opened the box of cigarettes and took one out, gesturing around with it. "This is the most people I have talked with in a while"
"Really? You weren't sociable before?"
Burgerpants scowled. "There were a couple girls I was into. Take it from me, Syphus, people who are attractive just want to—"
"Wait, really? Tell me about them?" He had a sudden idea. Perhaps this was something he could try to do? Encourage Burgerpants to talk to them again? It depended on his experiences with them, pretty much. If they ended being too much of a disaster, then that wasn't a good idea.
It may be a sign of Burgerpants and Syphus' growing bond that he didn't hesitate much before telling him about that. The story of how Burgerpants got his nickname was something Syphus remembered hearing before, but it was so much different to hear it directly from the monster. How Burgerpants sneaked around with a lot of burgers, how he dropped all of them...
At least it seemed it wasn't particularly traumatic for Burgerpants. Syphus judged getting them involved should be okay. "Okay, I'll find them and talk to them. What were their names?"
"I know what you're thinking. You really should stop getting into other people's lives like that." Burgerpants took out a container of sequins to start attaching them to the burgers. "It doesn't matter anymore, anyway. The human child did it already"
Syphus' eyes widened. "Frisk?"
"I dunno their name, they're just my little buddy and they got me a time to hang out with them" Burgerpants shrugs, like he wasn't as pleased as that as he actually was. In the inside he was much more elated than that. "You wanna come?"
"Wait, really?"
"Sure, why not? We can all hang out together," he started gluing the sequins on the burgers. "We'll be at the garbage dump, there's no way but upwards now. It can't get worse than that!"
It was decided. The next day, Syphus would meet Burgerpants and his two friends at the garbage dump.
-ooooo-
Day 53
The garbage dump was rather flooded when Syphus arrived. Usually there was some dry terrain around the piles of garbage, but this time most of the place was flooded. There also seemed to be more garbage than usual, piled so high and so precariously some parts of the garbage dump were inaccessible. "This usually isn't so full of stuff" Syphus commented when Burgerpants and he entered the area, trying to stay on the dry terrain as much as possible.
"Really? You have been here before?"
"Just a couple times. Had to come here to look for stuff"
Burgerpants judged Syphus slightly for wanting to spend time in the garbage dump, but didn't have time to think it for long before he saw his two friends not too far away. "It's them. Their names are Catty and Bratty"
Syphus nodded, ready. The two girls had been talking until Burgerpants and Syphus approached. When they saw who was coming, they laughed noisily. "Bratty! Bratty, he's here!"
"Aw, he's not bringing burgers"
"Bratty!"
"What? They're, like, really good," Bratty said. "But look! He brought someone with him"
"Gosh, who is that?"
"I dunno. I had never seen that guy before. Look at those bunches of feathers he has, it's like he's balding"
"Poor guy...but if he's with Burgerpants he must be nice" Bratty waved at them. "Hello!"
The introductions went without a hitch. Burgerpants seemed rather timid, hanging back while Syphus said his name. It took a lot of encouragement for him to join them, with Catty and Bratty doing most of that job. Soon they were talking freely, bantering and looking around the garbage dump for anything that may be interesting.
"Oh my god Catty, it's been ages since I was here last time"
"It was like a week ago!"
"Why do you even like coming here?" Burgerpants asked them. "It's a garbage dump"
"To stock up on stuff for our store, of course!" Catty said, covering her mouth once she realized what she admitted. "It's good stuff, like, the best kind of stuff"
"We got stuff you wouldn't find anything else" Bratty added, taking a container of junk food. It already had a bite.
"Yeah! Like, exclusive gaaaaaarbimeanproducts. Very good products"
Burgerpants turned to Syphus. "Can you believe this? Ah, these two. They're wonderful. And by wonderful I mean I can't believe this!"
"At least they're doing what they like" Syphus said.
"Burgerpants should listen to him, he sounds so smart, like, knowing what we like" Bratty said, wrapping her arms around Syphus' neck. Syphus shuddered at the contact, feeling his personal space invaded. "How did you meet Burgerpants?"
"Th-the...MTT resort restaurant"
"He's such a weird guy, right? He acts like he's not having fun, but, like, he actually loves all of this" Catty said.
"Remember the time he said he'd rather be working than being near us?"
"Yeah! That was such a lie!"
"Totally!"
Even though Burgerpants huffed and turned around indignantly, it wasn't like they were wrong. In Burgerpants' opinion, anything was better than working and everybody knew it.
It was possibly because Catty and Bratty were far more talkative than either Burgerpants or Syphus that they carried most of the conversation, jumping from one topic to another with ease and without giving them much time to think what to say. Despite not getting much of a word edgewise, those two gals had a way of making being nearby entertaining, Syphus was satisfied just being there. Burgerpants seemed much sullener he couldn't say anything, but he didn't want to leave. He was here to hang out, of course he'd stay!
"Burgerpants, you have something on your shirt!"
"I think that's glitter"
"Why did you come here with your uniform? That's, like, not what you should wear to hang out with others"
Syphus playfully clapped Burgerpants on the back, making him wince. "He came here straight from work, that's why. Don't make him feel bad about it"
"Oh. We're making him feel bad? Bratty, that's, like, not good at all"
"We should ask him that" Bratty winked. Taking the hint, Catty clasped her paws together, asking with bright eyes:
"Like, Burgerpants, how's the acting thing going?"
The acting thing. What a way to describe Burgerpants' aspirations. Even though Syphus knew there was no malice in that, he felt somewhat annoyed nonetheless. "...it's going great" Burgerpants lied, not very convincing at all. Bratty laughed nonetheless.
"Oh my god, that was perfect! Your delivery was, like, totally deadpan?"
"I knew he could be an actor"
"What? You never said that before!"
"Now I do!"
Even though there was praise, Burgerpants didn't seem to be taking it seriously. His face dropped. The conversation chugged along for a couple minutes until he stood up, fed up, and walked deeper into the garbage dump. His departure quieted all conversation, awkwardness was all that was left. "Do you think we overdid it?" Catty wondered.
"Maybe. What do you think, Syphus, was it too obvious?"
"What was too obvious?" he wasn't sure what they meant. Clearly Catty and Bratty had planned something, and somehow it had gone wrong. Bratty, still clinging on Syphus' arm, confided:
"We wanted to be friendly with Burgerpants"
"We know he wants to be an actor! I mean, who doesn't know, right?"
"So we thought we should bring it up and, like, be supportive"
Catty seemed surprisingly contrite. "But we didn't think he'd take it this badly! What's wrong with him?"
They had the best intentions, but botched the execution of their idea. Syphus, still annoyed despite having confirmed the girls had the best of intentions, said rather bluntly. "Maybe he was hurt you were handling this with so little tact"
"Oh, no! That's not what we wanted to do!"
"We wanted him to feel better because he has no chance to be an actor"
Bratty's statement surprised Syphus so much all he could do was stare at her with astonishment. This gave the girls a chance to continue talking.
"I like Burgerpants and I hope this will go okay, but..."
"I mean, he's not a bad actor, he just—"
"There's Mettaton"
"With Mettaton around, who's gonna look at Burgerpants?"
"Mettaton is so hot, look at him! And Burgerpants is—"
"Mettaton is, like, the big star. Burgerpants could be his roadie"
"He's kind of ugly? Ugly actors can be cool, but with Mettaton here—"
"There's only space for one star in the Underground"
It was true. Syphus hated to admit it, but they were right: with Mettaton around, Burgerpants' chances of being famous and beloved were rather low. Of course nobody ever said that to Burgerpants' face because that'd be incredibly discouraging. "...please don't say that when he's nearby"
Catty gasped, like Syphus had asked her to never speak again. "We'd never do that!"
"Like, get going! We're gonna look for him"
You finally are starting to see why Burgerpants has no confidence in his acting plans
You feel your bond with Burgerpants is getting stronger
The Fast Food Worker Social Link has reached Rank 6!
Your power to create Personas of the Magician Arcana has grown!
The search for Burgerpants was on. Together, they walked in the nearby area, looking for him. The water all over the garbage dump made their movements more difficult, and it didn't help there were currents in the water. Some of them were strong enough to sweep them off their feet, the third time Bratty fell she commented it had never been like this ever before.
"Where did he go?!" Syphus shouted. How could it be they hadn't found him even after walking all over the garbage dump? Catty shrugged.
"We're following you"
"Yeah, like, we're going everywhere you go" So is it my fault we're not finding him?
Syphus groaned. If he really had claws, he'd have injured his own palms. How could that monster be so sneaky? The garbage dump wasn't that big, and he really doubted Burgerpants was intentionally avoiding them! Frustrated, he swiveled his head around, calming down after a moment. "Okay, this is what we're going to do. Let's split and cover more terrain like that. Good? Good" Without even waiting for their approval, Syphus ran, slipping on the water of the floor. "Why are there so many currents?!" he shouted while he turned the corner.
Bratty shook water out of her hair. "Like, he's taking this really hard"
"Yeah, Burgerpants and he must be really close"
"You wonder how he did that? Burgerpants isn't very friendly"
"It makes me feel bad for this Syphus guy too. It's as if you went missing in middle of the trash, I'd search for you too, Catty!"
"Aw, Bratty!" if Syphus and Burgerpants were anywhere as close as Bratty and her, then she had to help, no question! Following Syphus wasn't too difficult, there was pretty much only one way he could have gone. Just around the corner, the girls found a dead end in a pile of trash. For some reason there were a lot of large square containers and astronaut food bars all around Syphus. Everything was being carried away by the water through a small hole among the piles, it was so strong it even could carry the container most likely filled with astronaut food. Not too far from there, Syphus was trying to climb the garbage, trying to get onto the top. "Syphus, we shouldn't split!"
Syphus yelped and stared at his hand, quickly hiding from sight. He had just cut himself with the trash. If the girls saw him bleeding, they'd suspect he wasn't a monster. "Alright!" he hurried to shout, sliding down the trash pile and pressing his hand on the inside of his track jacket. "I was trying to get on top to take a good look around"
"You could have fallen and, like, gotten hurt!"
"I'm sorry, I just...I just thought it was a good idea. I'm getting worried." He said. "This isn't going at all like I thought it would. So much for hanging out and having a nice night with pals..."
"Aw, it will be okay! Don't worry so much"
That was easy to say, but it didn't assuage at all Syphus' concerns. Uneasy and starting to think Burgerpants may have left the garbage dump. He was about to say something when Catty gasped, pointing at something in the distance. "Look!"
"Is that..." Bratty took the lead, running to take a better look. There was a patch of golden flowers not too far away. Bratty ran towards it, having seen something in middle of the flowers. Indeed, lying in middle of it all, was Burgerpants, unconscious. Syphus felt his heart jumping to his throat, and hurried to check on the unconscious monster.
"He's—He's fallen down!"
Of course saying that caused astonishment and panic. Catty couldn't say anything, horrified, while Bratty barely managed to ask: "He's gonna die...?"
"No, he's not gonna die. But we should take him to the hospital"
"Oh my god, the hospital. Give him here" Bratty was stronger than she looked. Between Syphus and Bratty, they lifted him off the golden flowers patch.
What had started just as a night to hang out had turned into once another attack onto somebody. Syphus wasn't really surprised that had happened, but what was bothering him the most was where they had found Burgerpants. How did he get there? True, they hadn't approached the flowers before, but they had passed close enough for them to notice if their friend had been there from the start. He was pretty sure he hadn't been.
I don't get it, why was Burgerpants there?
While Catty fretted near them while the others carried him, none of them noticed the movement nearby.
Flowey watched them leave. So that was what was going on...he finally understood more or less what was happening in the Underground. He had to tell Chara everything. Not too far from him, the vines let go of a container they had pulled aside so the others wouldn't see it, and retracted into the ground.
Chara really would be very interested to get some of the answers they wanted.
SOCIAL LINKS:
Fool - Frisk - RANK 7
Magician - Burgerpants - RANK 6
Priestess - Alphys - RANK 7
Empress - Toriel - RANK 3
Emperor - Cohen - RANK 4
Hierophant - Ciruel - BROKEN
Lovers - ? - RANK 0
Chariot - Ananas - RANK 7
Justice - Undyne - RANK 6
Hermit - Gaster - RANK 1
Fortune - ? - RANK 0
Strength - Celia - RANK 4
Hanged Man - ? - RANK 0
Death - Cornio - RANK 2
Temperance - ? - RANK 0
Devil - ? - RANK 0
Tower - ? - RANK 0
Star - Lucia - RANK 4
Moon - ? - RANK 0
Sun - Papyrus - RANK 4
Judgment - Team - RANK 4
Aeon - Syphus - REVERSED
Jester - Alphonse - REVERSED