"The Magician Arcana is about initiative and self-confidence. My master once said attaining one's dream requires a stern will and unfailing determination"
"...a lot of arcanas are about improving yourself..."
"They are. Being told the meaning of the cards is easy. What's difficult is to make that favorable future happen by making an effort"
Sans' trinkets were more useful than Syphus expected. True, their budget was pretty much infinite thanks to selling so much stuff to the store at Temmie Village, but after the first few Sans seemed to just do whatever he felt like doing. It was a lot of hit and miss.
Now it would save all of their lives. Some of those trinkets would prevent status problems. Knowing Undyne would be greatly embarrassed if she found out she had fled from battle, he made sure to not say it would stop such thing from happening. It was like he was piling secrets on top of secrets.
It was already late at 'night' when Syphus decided they were prepared. By now the hospital was already closed to the public. Undeterred, Undyne decided to take charge of the situation. With energy, she knocked on the door so strongly her friends thought she could knock the door off the hinges if she did it a little louder. The receptionist who opened the door seemed to have the same thought, because she immediately asked Undyne to be more careful.
"Our patients are sleeping!" she chided. Undyne looked guilty for a moment, but she continued anyway:
"I'm here as the captain of the Royal Guard. I need to enter the hospital" she didn't like pulling rank, but it was the best and quickest way to get access so late at night. The receptionist yielded immediately – for Undyne, at least.
"Of course, go ahead. But your companions...?" the rest of the team had their Royal Guard armor in a way it ensured it would cover their faces.
"They're with me. What's a captain without loyal and reliable guards?!"
"Oh...alright. Please remember to stay silent" the receptionist stepped aside, granting access without further complaints. The team made sure to seem like they were meant to be at the hospital for official business, and only stopped pretending that when they arrived to Burgerpants' room.
Putting on the brooch on the monster's uniform again, Syphus nodded. "Okay, it's set"
"That's it? No more last-minute preparations?" Cohen asked sardonically. He was the one who was unhappy the most, later he would say it was because he didn't like the thought of leaving Burgerpants like this for longer than necessary. Even though Syphus understood his dissatisfaction, he scowled, giving Cohen a judgmental look.
"Yes, Cohen, we're done"
"Then let's get moving, chop chop!"
Thankfully, the journey through Burgerpants' soul wasn't too bad the second time. Although they once again failed to get Burgerpants out – by no fault of their own, given his soul was intent on keeping Burgerpants chained to the restaurant – so it was unavoidable they would have to fight the Sleeping Tables again. Now that they would be less likely to be affected by fear, it went much better than before, even though the tables again tried to make them afraid.
"Geiravor!" Undyne increased Ananas' speed, enabling her to hit three of the tables with impressive agility, the tables broke apart in pieces before bursting into smoke. "Is that it? Any other tables want to try?"
No other table dared to. The group slumped together, glad they wouldn't have to keep fighting waves of Sleeping Tables. "That took forever!" Syphus commented.
"...I don't think the burger guy wants to come with us" Ananas said, drawing her knees closer to her chin. From the counter, Burgerpants was starting at them with a rather bizarre expression. "He looks like we stole his candy or something"
"I don't care if we have to throw him over Undyne's shoulder and carry him out, we'll get Burgerpants away from that counter right now" Syphus grouched, stomping towards the counter with the halberd in tow. To Burgerpants, who had seen Syphus and the others cleave and attack with their weapons, it was like a vengeful zealot coming to smite him. "Enough! You're coming with us!"
"I-I-I can't!" he insisted. Fed up, the team got behind the counter, literally grabbing Burgerpants and dragging him, kicking and biting out the service area. Carrying him was very easy among the four of them, especially because no Shadows got on their way. Only when they reached the glass doors, the situation changed.
"Oooh? Are you clocking out early, Burgerpants?"
A mocking voice that sounded vaguely familiar to Syphus seemed to come from everything surrounding them. Where have I heard that voice before? It definitely wasn't Burgerpants' voice, that was for sure. Cohen and Ananas were clueless, but Undyne was the one who managed to give a name to the voice:
"Mettaton? The bucket of bolts is here?" Before the others could ask who Mettaton was, from behind Burgerpants an ominous silhouette rose from the floor. The tiles rippled, like murky water letting a dangerous abyssal creature emerge, and a pitch-black being came through. Square, two long arms, panels on its face when the ink started slipping off it. Not even the humans in the group could stay ignorant to who it was – it was impossible to not know, that face had been shown around at the resort. With a chuckle, the fake Mettaton grabbed Burgerpants by the back of the neck, sending shivers of fright down Burgerpants' spne.
It was impossible! Surely it had to be a Shadow that represented Mettaton in some manner. "It can't be Mettaton!"
"Why? Is it so hard to believe I have absolute control over his life?" the robot grabbed Burgerpants' shoulder, pulling him closer. Syphus saw tendrils of steel enveloping his friend's shoulder. That definitely wasn't Mettaton, that had to be Burgerpants' Shadow. "Tell them, darling"
"I...I'm not..." Burgerpants was sweating heavily, distressed.
"Look at that, he can't even speak for himself! It's pitiful you would try to befriend somebody like him. You're just getting closer just to take advantage of him, aren't you?"
"Never!" Syphus shouted, although that was true to some extent. While he cared about Burgerpants, he couldn't deny he was getting some advantages from this friendship. "What gives you the right to say something like that?"
"Why, I'm him. I know what he thinks and how he feels because he and I are the same person" It was confirmed, this Mettaton was Burgerpants' Shadow. Ananas asked the question everyone was wondering:
"Why does his Shadow look like a robot? Is Burgerpants a robot?"
"Of course not! Haven't you noticed?" Shadow Burgerpants' lights blinked while he rolled aside, revealing something that chilled Syphus to the bone. Wherever Shadow Burgerpants moved, the tiles on the floor kept changing, moving like it was rippling water. Bits of the tiles merged into Mettaton's single wheel. Cohen was the one who noticed what that meant:
"Wait, that guy's Shadow isn't just the robot. It's the restaurant! His Shadow's this whole place!"
"Correct, sweetheart! I knew you were looking for me, so congratulations! You found me right when you entered to this soul. I tried my best to stop you, but you're all so incredibly persistent! You should be glad you have friends who would go this far for you!" it said to Burgerpants, who shook his head.
"They-They should go away!"
"And now you're trying to protect them. That's a first! Aren't you a hypocritical little idiot? First you try to push them aside, and then when they insist on talking to you, you keep them around until you decide there must be some ulterior motive to talk to you. Why's that, myself? Why don't you tell them?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" with his eyes wide open, Burgerpants shouted at the rest: "Don't listen to him, please don't believe him!"
"Looks like you know already what I will say" Shadow Burgerpants' voice changed into Burgerpants' voice for a moment before turning back to Mettaton's. "It's sooooo hard to believe there's any value on anything other than this job. Everything in our life is so devoid of value, nowadays it's like this job is the only thing that matters anymore, and he hates that! He hates this job with all his soul!"
"Why doesn't he just quit?" Ananas asked.
"Are you crazy? I need the money-!" Burgerpants protested, getting shushed by a gloved hand enveloping his face and pressing with force.
"He doesn't feel like he can do anything else, of course. Even his nickname is related to his job. Mettaton doesn't even know it, but he has managed to trap him into a dead end, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
This is his life, and there's no way out!"
So that was the reason why his soul was so short and straightforward. They had been standing on Burgerpants' Shadow all along – he had been so consumed by the job he hated it had become everything Burgerpants was. By the looks if it, even though Burgerpants wanted out of this life, his lack of drive and the hopelessness he felt kept restricting him. Was this something Syphus could help with, he wondered. It was just too big of a personal problem.
Only Burgerpants himself would be able to change his life. For that, first he would leave his soul. "Nevermind that. We'll get him out of here"
Cohen nodded. "That's right. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice"
Shadow Burgerpants grabbed Burgerpants tighter, like it expected the team to lunge forward and try to pull the monster away from him. "Who are all of you? Most of you aren't even his friends!"
"We may not be friends but we sure won't leave him trapped in his own despair!"
Ananas trained her gun on the false square robot. "Let 'im free, pardner"
"We're not going to ask again" Undyne threatened, already prepared for the fight to come. Shadow Burgerpants didn't seem intimidated at all, instead more hands popped out of its back with a screech of metal, grabbing Burgerpants and immobilizing him. Burgerpants struggled, trying to get free, but the gloved hands kept such a firm grip it was like he was wrapped in a cocoon made of cloth and metal. Shadow Burgerpants laughed, its voice sounding like both Mettaton and Burgerpants' voice at once.
"How brave of you! Alright, give it a try! Let's show myself bravery only leads to doom!" The hands compressed Burgerpants even more, until the monster's legs buckled, he falling to the floor. Cohen tried to reach the fast food worker, to try to pull the arms off him, but one of the hands came free and swatted Cohen away, punching him in the gut and making him step back with a groan! Trying to regain his breath, Cohen glared hatefully at the Shadow. Don't worry, Burgerpants, we'll get you free!
The hands clutching Burgerpants moved, a muffled scream emanated from the bundle of wire and metal. Slowly, the arms retracted, revealing the change Burgerpants had undergone to. Shadow Burgerpants and the monster had fused together, metal and monster blending together in an almost seamless combination. Burgerpants' legs were off the ground, the robot's wheel being the only way to move, and several hands were keeping him against the slab of steel, even though in many parts of his body the metal had fused. One of the hands, being rather large, had completely covered his face, and there was a wide smile on the back of the hand. Burgerpants' arms were held by several gloved hands, and when the Shadow moved, it lifted one of the arms by moving the hands, like Burgerpants was no more than a puppet.
"I will show you how hopeless our life is as we end yours!" the voice came from behind the glove over the face. Syphus prepared himself, pointing the spike of the halberd at Shadow Burgerpants. Keep fighting, buddy, we'll free you from this thing!
The floor beneath them heated up, like a fire had been set underneath the floor. Oh, right! Burgerpants' Shadow was the entire building. The terrain for the battle was the Shadow itself. They were at the mercy of anything it could do, the disadvantage was sizable! Syphus quickly changed his Persona to the only one he had that could be of use – if it turned out the floor was heating up because of a fire spell, then he would be healed all the time! Ananas looked uncomfortable but not too affected, while Undyne was hopping from one foot to the other, wishing she didn't have a steel armor that would trap the heat.
Cohen, though, was weak to Fire. When the floor had started heating up, he gasped, jumping up. "H-Help!" he asked.
"Get on the tables!" Syphus advised. It would be greatly disadvantageous for Cohen to be unable to even get close to Shadow Burgerpants, but it was better than dying! Cohen threw himself on a table like it was a lifesaver in a sea of magma, and stood up with hesitation.
"Sorry, guys, I think I'm out of my league with this one"
This was going to require some strategy. Syphus examined the situation. With one of the team members greatly limited, they wouldn't have as much attack force as he hoped. Since Ananas was enduring better than Undyne, Ananas would be the main attacking force, while he looked for a way to free Burgerpants. "Undyne, keep an eye on Cohen's health. Cohen, attack with your Persona all you can. Give it a zap and see if it helps!"
The analysis was as useless as ever. By now he wasn't sure why he was doing it – it wasn't like it was going to change, was it?
Shadow Burgerpants
Magician Arcana
As planned, Cohen's Persona Ajax appeared, brandishing its sword and slashing at Shadow Burgerpants. Some of the arms parried the sword, flailing around like leaves in the wind, the sound of steel scratching at steel filling the room with a deafening cacophony. Ajax, being as large as it was, couldn't move nimbly, all it could do was attacking over and over at the Shadow to keep it defending. The old man was trying to make the Shadow be unable to defend itself so the others could attack, chance the rest of the team tried to use to attack.
Ananas' Persona Hippolyta made sure to launch fire spells towards the open space. Shadow Burgerpants didn't even try to block, a couple of the arms even twisting around to form a circle in the trajectory, like it was forming a hoop or a target. The fire fizzled against Shadow Burgerpants, it chuckled with amusement. "Keep them coming!" it taunted, even making more targets for Ananas. She was about to command her Persona to continue the fire volley, when Syphus stopped her. "Wait!"
"What? I have to—"
"You'll heal him!" Any progress they could make would be nullified. No way they could allow such a thing! The problem was that it meant Ananas also wouldn't be as effective as she could be, and given Syphus' best Persona only having a strong fire spell, he would be unable to do anything either. Shadow Burgerpants was effectively getting rid of their best offensive powers – and not only that, he was constantly healing himself thanks to the red-hot floor! We really need more team members!
Undyne jumped into the fray. "Then I'll be the one to do this!" her spears aimed at the targets, with excellent aim her weapons flew through the circles and struck steel. Shadow Burgerpants recoiled, not having expected a different person to attack.
"You're devious!" it complimented mockingly, before several of the arms grabbed Burgerpants' prone body and held it in front. The Shadow was using it as a shield! Undyne, who had already prepared more spears, didn't throw them, afraid of hitting Burgerpants.
"Do you think you can hit it?" Syphus inquired.
"No! This is too dangerous!" And even if Syphus told her to try anyway, she'd refuse to launch a single spear that could hit Burgerpants. Shadow Burgerpants wasn't nearly as reluctant, with a laugh, it propelled itself with its arms off the floor, tearing out a cushioned sofa and swinging with it, smacking Undyne onto the floor with it. "Oof!"
"Undyne!" Cohen's Persona jumped in front of her, protecting from any further battering, slicing the sofa with its sword, cotton and stuffing flying everywhere and catching fire. The old man had to duck to protect himself from the flying cinders.
Shadow Burgerpants was disquietingly agile. Some of its hands kept holding Burgerpants while with the others it swung around, grabbing onto any hold and moving all over the room, even staying up near the ceiling. From there it attacked over and over, balls of fire and wind battering the team. Cohen, especially, was vulnerable against the attacks, being on a higher terrain than the others and unable to get on the floor without suffering even more damage. His Persona had to huddle over Cohen with its armored back, keeping him safe but making it impossible for him to do anything.
Their foe's strategy was obvious: make them be unable to attack. And it was working.
Syphus' Persona Throne kept hovering over Undyne protectively while she tried their latest idea: latch onto Shadow Burgerpants and force it to drop the monster. Syphus' Persona was a robed figure on a large wheel, so Undyne jumped up, grabbing the spokes of the wheel, and started swinging her feet, gathering impulse to throw herself at Shadow Burgerpants, while Ananas kept Shadow Burgerpants busy with her axe, swatting around to make sure Burgerpants wouldn't be hurt. "Undyne, careful! That's the core of my being!" Syphus said, feeling strange sensations inside his chest. Having someone hold onto his soul was so strange!
"I know, you won't even feel I'm here!"
"I'm feeling it right now!"
She didn't bother to acknowledge that. Instead she let go of the spokes, clinging onto Shadow Burgerpants along the way and dragging him onto the sizzling hot floor. The Shadow fell like a ton of bricks, Undyne pushing him onto the surface as if she was doing a slam dunk, the Shadow bouncing up and letting her stamp a kick right on its back. "Yeah! That's the stuff!"
"You...that hurt!" Shadow Burgerpants protested, bouncing up and turning upside down. The robot beeped, the screen panels behind Burgerpants' face turning bright red. "I'm fed up with all of you!" Almost all of its hands except two unfurled, raising high to the air. The ceiling above cracked, plaster and embers crumbled down onto them, revealing a deep, dark purplish slime above the roof. It pulsed, like it was alive and ready to feast on the team inside the restaurant the moment it all fell apart. "I will crush you all!"
"W-We're trapped! That jello thing is going to fall on us!" Ananas cried, holding onto her hat like it was going to save her from being smothered by the immensity of that ink. "Undyne, Cohen! Please hold the ceiling!" Their Personas Geiravor and Ajax flew to the ceiling, holding their arms to the ceiling to try to stop the pieces from falling. "That will—will that be enough?!"
"I really doubt it!" Syphus was deadly pale. If the ceiling fell apart and they got engulfed by all that, they would all be doomed! It was only matter of time! Shadow Burgerpants, pleased by the panic one single move had brought on them, clapped with most of its arms, tilting back and forth like it was about to topple over. "Look at yourselves! This restaurant and everything it represents will trap you forever too! Ain't that ironic, guys? You'll see the crushing weight of everything I hate!"
It was matter of time before the ceiling crumbled. They had to defeat Shadow Burgerpants before that happened! With this nebulous time limit imposed on them, their only option was to hit hard – a harder task than it should be, given how two of their Personas were stuck holding the ceiling in an attempt to delay it, and the two that remained had fire attacks as their strong point. The odds they would survive were rather low!
There has to be a way to defeat this thing quickly. Come on, we need a weak point...something we can use! As long as Burgerpants was attached to the Shadow, they would be unable to hit as hard as they wanted. "Attack those arms" Syphus instructed to Ananas. If they could make it drop Burgerpants...! Ananas aimed her weapon, nervous at the thought of possibly harming Burgerpants, and shot. The magical bullets from the gun Alphys made hit a joint – the wrist joining with the glove, making the hand twist in an odd manner. Shadow Burgerpants yelped, keeping that arm away as much as possible. "Annie, you're brilliant!"
"I am...!" she hadn't planned for the bullet to hurt that much, but they sure were willing to take advantage of it!
"Hit the rest! Quickly!"
One, two, three more bullets crossed the air before Shadow Burgerpants could try to protect itself. Three more of the arms' joints were shattered, weakening it. Enraged, the Shadow rolled towards them, lashing with the arms as if they were thick, prensile whips, smacking Syphus right on the chest and throwing him at a wall. Wheezing from the impact of his back against the wall, Syphus crumpled over one of the tables, dazed, leaving him vulnerable to be grabbed again. One of the arms that were still intact grabbed his ankle, raising him in the air. "I should tell you the other me really appreciates everything you're trying to do for him, but it's all a waste of time. You're never going to get him to change"
"I don't want him to change!"
"Come again?" the Shadow's voice sounded rather skeptical. Behind it, the rest of the team were approaching, slowly, although two still had their gaze on the ceiling, ready to plug any hole that could form quickly.
Syphus put a hand on his chest, fearing one of his ribs had been broken. "I want to support him, no matter what he does. I just want him to be satisfied with his life, not...not any of this!"
"...you have way too much faith on him. Fool"
"I know how it's like to feel trapped, I think...I think he can make the right decision once he finds the drive to do it, and I want to be there to see it happen!"
"It's not going to happen. Look around yourself! Do you think this is something he can get out of?!"
He really believed Burgerpants could. That was why he wanted to show Burgerpants it was possible, so he would take the decisions that would lead to being a little happier. If they involved being an actor, then great! If it had to do with quitting the job, then alright! The exact decision didn't matter, what mattered was that Burgerpants could be happy with it. That's all Syphus wanted to see.
And, although it was a tad selfish, he also wanted to see it because he wanted to see it was possible. If Burgerpants could do it...then maybe Syphus himself could as well.
"...we'll find out once we return to the real world. Now stop getting in our way and give us back our friend"
"You're wasting your time!"
"Then we'll take him by force! Now!" he shouted at the rest of the team, who had subtly waived at him indicating they were ready to move at any time. Syphus wasn't sure what they were going to do, but he trusted the team, they would know what to do! As soon as Syphus finished his shout, all three of them jumped on Shadow Burgerpants' back, grabbing as many of the arms as they could. The arms with the broken wrists were held rather easily, the arms with intact wrists tried to slap them aside, only to be hit by Undyne's largest spear, the one she was hauling around.
"Everyone...this is futile! Let us go!" Shadow Burgerpants pleaded, the metal screeching from the team's efforts to wrangle its many arms. Obviously, nobody let go of any of the arms, instead tightening their grip. Syphus got off the table, examining the team briefly.
Ananas was bleeding from her forehead, she presumably had hit her head against one of the tables. Undyne was grinning widely, her armor showed many dents but overall it seemed there was nothing she wasn't used to already. Cohen, on the other hand, seemed about to faint. He was touching the floor, the heat from the floor wearing him down quickly. Don't worry, I got your back... Syphus changed Personas, giving up the constant healing he was getting from the fire. The angel Throne disappeared, being replaced by the goddess Kushinada. The woman floated over to Cohen, covering him with a red mesh that glowed strongly before disappearing.
"That's much better" Cohen murmured to himself, grabbing the hand in front of Burgerpants' face. Slowly, with a lot of effort, he started pulling it away. Despite his age, he still managed to use a lot of strength when he needed to. Inch by inch the hand let go off Burgerpants' face, the monster underneath gasping for air. "Syphus, pull the guy off!"
"I'm on it!" now that he didn't have a Persona that absorbed the fire, the heat emanating from the floor was overbearing. How could the rest have endured this for so long?! Running on the tip of his feet to try to avoid the heat, he reached Shadow Burgerpants and grasped Burgerpants' shoulders, trying to get his fingers between the metal and the body.
"No! I won't let you—"
"Hurry up!" Undyne urged, reaching another arm. Syphus wiggled the handle of the halberd between Burgerpants and the metallic body of his Shadow, using the weapon as a lever, and applied force. Bit by bit the monster was separated, steel flakes raining down and incinerating in contact with the floor, until Burgerpants was fully separated, flopping onto Syphus, barely conscious. Syphus moved him quickly, placing him on one of the tables to keep him away from the scalding tiles of the floor.
Burgerpants was barely conscious. He laid on the surface of the table, blinking blearily at the weird Mettaton-shaped thing being held back by two humans and a monster. "What...why is Undyne and those two beating up Mettaton?" Not that I don't approve, but what did he do?" He definitely wasn't in a state to listen what was going on. Syphus sighed, a tad disappointed Burgerpants was unlikely to join the team. Another pair of hands would have been a lot of help. He turned around to the rest of the team, right when they pushed Shadow Burgerpants against the floor, the screen cracking.
"I think we won!" Ananas shouted, happy. Cohen looked at Burgerpants with some doubt.
"Is he going to face his Shadow?"
Syphus thought for a moment and held Burgerpants in his arms. The monster was surprisingly light, it was almost worrying. Not saying a word about the scalding floor under his feet, he walked to the glass doors, ready to get out the moment they knocked out the Shadow. "He won't. Let's finish this"
"If you say so" Cohen accepted and punched the back of Shadow Burgerpants with all his strength. The Shadow stopped moving, all the arms fell to the floor, inactive. Just like the Shadow had said, the entire restaurant started warping and melting. The ceiling, already broken and held by the Personas, started leaking dangerously, sludge splashing and threatening to flood the place. Undyne grabbed one of the fallen arms and ran out, her Persona disappearing.
With a decisive move, she ran shoulder-first into the glass, breaking through without difficulty. Now that the Shadow was unconscious, escaping the restaurant was easy enough. "The coast is clear!"
Everyone else followed suit. Without the Personas holding the ceiling, everything started crumbling apart, starting from the end with the grill and the counter. Pieces of ceiling and heavy tar-like sludge splashed around, coating everything and compressing into nothingness, revealing no more than a purple fog behind. Nobody wanted to find out what would happen if they were still inside the restaurant when it all collapsed.
The lobby of the MTT Resort was barren, except for the thick purple fog. Syphus was the last to exit the restaurant, carrying Burgerpants. Behind him, the place collapsed, disappearing in a burst of smoke. All that was left was an empty space, like a scar in the otherwise normal lobby. "...is everyone okay?"
Nobody paid any attention to him. Cohen was looking at Ananas' bleeding injury, cleaning her face from blood. "...t'was just a bump, don't worry about it"
"Is it really normal for humans to bleed that much?" Undyne seemed concerned but unsure if this should be taken seriously or not. Cohen nodded.
"Our heads are filled with all kinds of blood vessels. We'll bleed heavily if we hit our heads" he said. Syphus approached, intending to heal them. One group healing spell later, the wound was closed, and the girl was wiping the remaining blood off her face with ease. Once they made sure to have the material for Alphys' weapon to shatter the Barrier, they prepared to leave. Cohen checked Burgerpants' head, as if he expected to see him bleeding too.
"Is he going to be okay? I don't remember anyone else being so groggy"
Syphus nodded. "He'll be just fine. He's tired, that's all. I doubt he'll even think any of this truly happened". He didn't know if that was good or not. Not that it mattered that much. Even if he told Burgerpants later, he doubted the monster would believe him at all.
Securing the brooch on the uniform was easy enough. Syphus pressed the brooch, glad another mission had gone well.
-ooooo-
The hospital was so silent when everyone gained consciousness for a moment Syphus thought the celebratory high five Cohen and Undyne had would wake up any patients on the floor. It sure woke up Burgerpants, who sat up looking like he was about to run towards the door at the first chance after seeing a group of four people with bright black armor covering them, all of them holding threatening weapons. It would have been a reasonable reaction! Everyone stopped moving, unsure if anyone should say anything or try to reassure Burgerpants and tell him they weren't about to attack him in the middle of the night.
Burgerpants solved the stalemate by fainting. He just flopped down the bed, freaked out. "...is this good or bad?" Cohen wondered. Undyne shrugged.
"He's not freaking out too much so everything's fine"
"Undyne, he fainted from fright" Syphus pointed out.
"Then he'll think this was a weird dream or something! It saves us the trouble of explaining what happened. Come on, let's get the hell out of here" Maybe she was right. Burgerpants wasn't getting a Persona, anyway, so may as well spare him the explanation. Besides, once the medics found out there was nothing wrong with him now, they would let him leave and that would be the end of it.
But would Burgerpants' outlook of his life change? Syphus wasn't...very sure if it would. They had defeated the Shadow, but Burgerpants hadn't even crossed any words with it. It was likely the trip wouldn't make Burgerpants take control of his life. Easier said than done, but it could have been a start, nonetheless.
That made Syphus feel rather depressed. He hadn't realized until he said it to Shadow Burgerpants, but maybe the reason why he had befriended Burgerpants was because he had seen a little too much of himself in the cynic employee, a part of himself he didn't want to acknowledge.
If Burgerpants was unable to get out of his rut, what hope did Syphus have?
When they returned to the village, having left Undyne at her house, the humans took off their armors and went their separate ways. Syphus got to his cottage before he stopped, pensive. With apprehension, he sighed, hit the door of his cabin with his forehead, and stood there for several minutes, deep in self-pity. Such a moron, standing in the middle of the night in front of his house and wallowing in his own thoughts. What a joke, having left everyone else to die in that other timeline. So stupid, the guy who—
"Syphus"
Cohen had approached him without Syphus noticing. The old man was looking at him with concern, unsure why his friend would be looking so depressed all of a sudden. Syphus smiled half-heartedly, not bothering to hide he wasn't feeling too well. "Cohen, you should rest"
"...get over here" he demanded.
Did Cohen think Syphus was just hungry? Possibly, because in matter of minutes he was shoving some food at Syphus, having dragged him to the communal building where they all ate. Syphus was now sitting to a table, feeling better after each bite. "Syphus, tell me what's in your mind"
"...can you keep it a secret from the rest?"
"If that's what you want then I will. I won't tell anyone"
Syphus stuffed his face a little more, preparing himself to talk. Cohen wasn't going to leave until he said a few words, so it was better to start already. "...Burgerpants' my friend"
"Yeah, we all noticed. You seemed to be getting a little too personal during this"
"Maybe I was. Would it be weird if I said I think I'm similar to him?"
Cohen's first reaction would be to say it was, but he wanted to have tact, just for once. "No, not at all. Friends are with friends because they have something in common"
It made some sense. "I was hoping Burgerpants would face his problems, but he didn't. It's making me wonder if I will be able to face them"
"You're definitely thinking too hard about this. You don't need to see someone else face themselves for you to know you can do it"
"What do you mean?"
"If that guy had somehow fought his Shadow and won and then refuted everything the Shadow says, would you suddenly feel prepared to face your own problems?"
No. Definitely not. Syphus' head hid a little between his shoulders when he hunched over. "...I guess not"
"What Burgerpants does or doesn't do won't change anything about you. You have to think yourself: can you face your problems?"
"...I don't think I know if I can"
"And why not?"
Because it felt like he was trapped in an endless cycle of making mistakes and paying for it. It was what happened when the one who had the other half of your SOUL was making you continue doing the wrong things. "That's just how I feel. It's hard to explain"
Cohen shook his head. "I don't get it, but I'm not gonna press you. All I want to tell you is something maybe you forgot"
"What is it?"
"You're not alone"
That wasn't exactly what Syphus expected from Cohen. Thinking maybe he was misinterpreting what Cohen meant, he asked for clarification: "What do you mean?"
"The burger guy had you. You have us. We're a team and you're our leader, so we're gonna help you whenever you need us"
"...I don't think this is something I can deal with you all"
"You have to try anyway. Syphus, if you ever need support, just say so. I won't abandon you when you need someone to lean on, and I'm saying that as the guardian of this village and as your friend, so stop moping and let us help you!"
That was rougher than he thought it'd be, but it was hard to say no to that. Not when Cohen had gone out of his way to talk to him. It was hard to ignore how it made him feel round and fuzzy, like the mere reassurance he had at least one person who would take the time to check on him and help if he ever need it. "Cohen, I'm not sure what to say..."
"Don't say anything right now. Just promise me when you feel you're backed in a corner you will try to get our help"
He appreciated the offer, he really did. Syphus wasn't sure how to make sure Cohen would really do it, but he made the promise nonetheless: "I promise. Cohen, I don't know what to say, but...I think I really needed to hear that"
Cohen smiled, a kinder expression than usual spreading over his face. "I was a jerk to you today. I also have to apologize for that"
"It's okay, no need to—"
"It's just that, as our leader, second-guessing yourself may be dangerous. I know you did it to be safe, but at the time it annoyed me. I was having misplaced expectations on you. I really should give you a break" Syphus sure wasn't going to reject the apology. After indicating he forgave Cohen, he stood up, going to Syphus' side. "It's getting late. We should go rest. I have to be at the sentry station early, and you should go see Burgerpants if he's awake"
He wasn't alone. Any doubts could be solved by talking with the rest of the team. Syphus' determination to tell them about everything that was going on grew stronger. When will my master let me do it?
If only he could talk to him.
You feel Cohen's concern for you
You feel your relationship with Cohen isn't growing stronger yet
You have decided to confront Sisyphus
You feel your relationship with Sisyphus is on the right track again.
The Last Timeline Social Link of the Aeon Arcana has been repaired!
But how to reach his master? He was on a completely different plane of existence! It wasn't like he could just walk into wherever he was.
Still, his decision to confront him made him feel like he had a new plan for the time being. He just had to do it!
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 - RANK 3
Jester - Alphonse - REVERSED