Chapter 9: Interlude: Camp Underground

Doot doot disclaimer deet doot doot

==oo00**00oo==

The sun had been up for at least forty-five minutes, and as far as Undyne was concerned, it had been up for too long. Bouncing on her heels hard enough to rattle the things on the desk, she waited in the office, staring at the clock as it ticked away, clearly far slower than it was supposed to. Stupid clock. She oughta break it for having the nerve to be too slow, but she had been told by Toriel that the next time she did that she would have her own workout privileges restricted. Undyne shuddered just thinking about it. How was she supposed to keep the students in shape if she wasn't able to suplex a boulder every once in awhile? At any rate, the kids were far more important anyway, so for their sakes, Undyne would bear the heavy burden of.. Ugh... Toriel's 'reasonable' summer scheduling.

Her grin widened, showing a few more sharp teeth as the last seconds before 7AM ticked away. Quickly she dug through the list of old phonograph records sitting next to the record player in the main office until she found what she was looking for, her copy of "Sveglia Militare Italiana". Well, a copy of Sveglia Militare Italiana, at least. After her first copy had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and then her second copy had been found mysteriously melted, she had tasked Frisk with spending an entire day plowing through used record stores and thrift shops until they found enough copies that Undyne would never be without it. Setting the needle on the record, and tilting the microphone towards the speakers, she leaned down, hands on both switches, looking up at the clock as the second hand ticked away.

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

With a flip of her fingers the record sprung to life, sending the sharp tones of the bugle Reveille blasting through the compound, drowned out only slightly by Undyne's even sharper voice.

"Alright Campers! Sleeping time is over, living time is here! Time to get up face another awesome day head on! And your favorite physical education counselor is here to help! Now, Everyone Get Ready! Meet me in the center yard in fifteen minutes, let's goGoGO!" Grinning, she leaned back as she let the rest of the Reveille play over the intercom before flipping it off with a chuckle. He could just hear the groans from the kids from the office, monster and human alike, as they started getting themselves together for the day. Putting away the record and setting the office to rights, she strode out onto the parade ground at a leisurely pace. Usually it would be at least eight minutes before the first of the campers would show their faces after the announcements, so she had time to make it out to greet them. While walking out to the grounds, seeing the sun starting to peek up over the treetops to the east, she couldn't help but smile to herself at how great things had turned out over the last year. She admitted the first week or two had been a bit... hazardous. It seemed that, though everyone in the underground had thought about all the things they wanted to do, if they managed to make it up to the surface, but very few people actually thought about how they were going to accomplish anything, herself included. In the first few days, it became appallingly clear (after a few near misses with some local humans) that simply walking up to everyone and sending along a friendly greeting would probably not be the best course of action. However, no one from the underground felt like hiding was an option either. Tensions by the end of the first week were probably higher than Undyne had ever seen, and there probably would have been monsters taking up arms, if it weren't for quick thinking by a few of the underground's finest.

The first, of course were the King and Queen, both of whom quickly stepped up and provided leadership and guidance, calming the monsters and educating them as much as they could on proper decorum and treatment of humans. She frowned a bit while walking between one of the school buildings and the cafeteria; that had been one of the hardest parts for her personally. She had been surprised to find that humans were actually a bit more... fragile than she had anticipated, enough that she realized her perceptions of how humans would need to be treated was completely upended. It took some long discussions and some research with Alphys, but eventually she managed to come up with a happy medium, allowing her to show her new human friends her true character without having to worry about fracturing things like their egos, and feelings and occasionally bones.

The other, and probably more influential, person that assisted in the transition was Frisk, who took to their named position as ambassador with a passion that almost (almost!) surpassed her own for her duties. Within the first two weeks, the monsters had enough information on humans to ensure there would hopefully not be any problems with the divide between them. About three weeks after that, Frisk had cooked up a plan to get a couple of monsters in to see England's queen. She felt the flush of pride at that memory, Frisk had decided to take both Toriel and, surprisingly, Papyrus, on that particular trip. Toriel's choice was obvious given the mission, but when asked why they chose Paps for this particular mission, Frisk just smiled and said 'He learned from the best.' If Undyne ever needed any justification for stringing Paps along in his quest to join the royal guard, that would be it. Apparently the three of them had a time getting into London, but they eventually did, and not long after that, got an audience with the Queen and her advisors, which according to all three of them went better than any of them could have hoped. In the weeks and months after that, Frisk helped plan out the eventual reveal of the monsters to the world, and what a plan it was!

She shook her head from her thoughts as the first camper stumbled their way onto the parade ground. Undyne smiled as Frisk rubbed the sleep out of their eyes with one arm while waving a greeting with the other.

"Heya runt, glad you could make it this morning. Heard you have a busy day too. You ready to do this thing?" Frisk gave a jaunty, though sleepy, thumbs up and a grin, which Undyne returned. She could always count on Frisk to make the day just a bit brighter. The second person to manage to make it out to the grounds was also not a surprise.

"GREETINGS UNDYNE!" gasped Papyrus, clearly out of breath from his run onto the grounds (though how he could possibly be out of breath, being without lungs, was an unknown to Undyne) "I, THE GREAT AND PUNCTUAL PAPYRUS, ARE THE FIRST TO ARRIVE FOR THIS MORNINGS ROLL CALL! GAZE IN WONDER AT THE... INCREDIBLE..." Frisk and Undyne both tried to hold in their giggles as he seemed to realize that no, he was indeed not the first one to arrive. Jaw dropping, Papyrus stared at the pair for a moment, before throwing up his arms and stating dramatically: "CURSES! FOILED IN MY QUEST FOR EXTREME PUNCTUALITY FOR THE THIRTEENTH TIME IN A ROW! YOUR POWERS OF WAKEFULNESS ASTOUND ME, FRISK!" he smiled down at the short human, who smiled back. "TELL ME, HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO ARRIVE SO CONSISTENTLY QUICKLY?"

Frisk just smiled and reached down into the pocket of their workout shorts, pulling out their phone, and showing him the alarm set to about fifteen minutes earlier than the wakeup call. While Papyrus showed his excitement at finding a new tool he could use on his own phone, Undyne watched as the rest of the campers started stumbling their way out to the parade ground, each in various states of wakefulness and/or dress. After nearly a year on the surface, she was surprised at how well the monsters were doing at integrating with their new lives. The ratio of humans to monsters was still low, though she guessed after what was going to happen this evening, all that would likely start to change dramatically. And to think, all of them had Frisk to thank for this opportunity, to make a whole new life for themselves. She looked over at Frisk, who had since finished their conversation with Paps and instead was over talking with MK and a few other kids. She smiled knowingly at the sidelong glances Frisk and MK would give each other when they thought the other wasn't looking; those two would be an awesome couple if they got their heads out of their collective behinds. Not as awesome as her and Alphys, of course, but nearly so.

Looking at her watch, she noted that time was nearly up, and doing a quick headcount, it appeared that she wouldn't have to go hunting down stragglers this morning. So walking back to the center of the group, she raised her voice to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, campers! Everyone's here on time, and everyone looks to have their shoes on this time, so how about we get started! First, let's all, we're taking the long route around the lake, so that's two miles, should be a great warm up!" She smirked at the groans that came from a few of the campers, but most of them seemed to perk up a bit at the news. "Now, Frisk! MK! Front and center!" She waited for the two to move up in front. "Per the schedule, you two will be setting the pace this morning, so make it a good one!" Frisk gave Undyne a thumbs up while MK nodded and gave Frisk an excited nudge on the shoulder before realizing what they were doing and straightening up, saying

"We won't let you down Undyne!"

"I wouldn't dream it, MK," she replied, then leaned down towards them and whispered, "but between you and me, some of these kids are getting a bit soft. Too much good food from Toriel I think. Make em work it off after the warmup." Undyne smiled at the identical grins from two of her favorite campers.

Turning to the rest of the crowd, Undyne called out to everyone "Alright monsters and humans, time to get the lead out! Hit the road!" and on that, they all were off. Papyrus came up beside Undyne as they settled into the end of the group, watching for stragglers as they went. After starting their trek around the lake at a jog, Undyne turned towards her fellow member of the royal guard.

"So, do you think tonight is going to go well?"

Papyrus continued jogging but turned his head towards Undyne in confusion for a moment. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

"I mean, from what Asgore told me, the meeting with the whoever tonight is like... the big one, right? The one where we finally figure out what we're supposed to do up here?"

"WELL, YES OF COURSE!" Somehow Papyrus manages to make grand gestures while still maintaining his pace. "ALL THE WORK THAT FRISK HAS DONE WITH THE HUMAN ROYAL FAMILY AND THEIR DIPLOMATS HAS LED UP TO THIS, OUR FINAL MEETING BEFORE THE OFFICIAL TREATY SIGNING CEREMONY." Undyne smiled as Papyrus practically floated beside her. "IT HAS BEEN FASCINATING TO SEE THE HUMANS AT WORK, ANSWERING ALL THE LITTLE QUESTIONS AND MAKING PLANS. IT'S ALMOST LIKE MAKING PUZZLES! EXCEPT OF COURSE INSTEAD OF FIRE AND SPIKES THERE ARE THINGS LIKE CLAUSES AND-UAUGH!"

Undyne laughed out loud as Papyrus, so absorbed in his description that he forgot to pay attention to where he was running plowed straight into a bush. Turning around, she reached out her hand to help him out. "You gotta be more careful, Paps. Your brother would kill me if you fell apart again." Papyrus started to complain about terrible puns, before realizing that she was being serious, and accepted Undyne's assistance. "Now, I think the kids are done with their warm up, don't you think?" Turning forward, she yelled "Hey! MK, Frisk! Warm Up's over, time to kick it into high gear!"

She heard the other campers groan as MK and Frisk smiled at each other, then took off at a much faster pace. As the rest of the kids sped up to keep up with the leads, Papyrus and Undyne took up the rear of the group, encouraging the folks in back to stay with the group. As they passed the north end of the lake, just past the cabins, Undyne saw Frisk wave at Toriel, who was standing on her front porch. Their initial greeting started a cascade of waves and shouted greetings to the camp's favorite teacher, counselor, and chef. Undyne and Papyrus laughed at the antics of the campers, gave their own greetings to the former Queen, and proceeded on with the rest of the run. Toriel and Papyrus sent cheerful greetings towards Toriel as well, who returned their greetings with a smile.

==oo00**00oo==

Toriel laughed as she waved at the campers making their way around the lake. It had become somewhat of a tradition during the last few weeks of the first annual 'Undercamp' for the campers to run by in the morning and greet her on her way out to start the camp breakfast. It had been by accident the first time, when a pair of the human children (two boys, both children of staff members in the British Parliament, Edward and Gene, if she recalled correctly) accidentally ran into her while stumbling around during Undyne's morning runs. The boys were shocked at first, and Toriel was worried that they may have started panicking, until Frisk managed to come to the rescue, walking up to her and giving a nice greeting. Monster Kid had actually followed almost immediately, and quickly the rest of the campers gave her greetings as well, quickly stemming the rising concern, and easing Toriel's mind.

It was a good thing as well, she thought in retrospect as she stepped off her porch walking over to the cafeteria. Early interactions between humans and monsters had been... strained... to say the least. The initial meetings between Frisk and the members of the Royal Court of England helped stem many of the concerns she had however. She smiled as she thought of those early weeks, and how surprised she was (though she shouldn't have been) on how eloquent and learned Frisk had been. It was those early negotiations that helped set the stage for what was happening this evening; a clandestine meeting between the members of the Underground Delegation, as Frisk had taken to calling the monsters, and the very highest members of the British governing bodies, and overseen by their Queen herself, no less! She shook her head, glad that Asgore, at least, had taken to assisting Frisk well with that specific part of the process after the initial meetings. Toriel was never really a statesmonster, and though she was indeed capable, she was rather unimpressed by the way things needed to be handled in politics, both with monsters and with humans. Yet another of the things that separated her from her former husband, she guessed.

Shaking her head from those particular recollections, Toriel entered the cafeteria to find the kitchen staff hard at work already. Greeting her friends and coworkers, she quickly set herself in the line, assisting in preparing with the human exclusive side of the kitchen, as they seemed to be particularly troubled this morning. As she prepared the batter for a particularly delicious pancake breakfast, she considered the remaining things that needed to be done that day while the campers were having their fun. She had completed the syllabus for the next school year, including the adjustments that needed to be made to pass educational standards for humans, though they still needed some minor revisions before they could be sent for review. Fortunately, as long as they were in before the week was out, she had been assured that her school should be able to open for both humans and monsters in six weeks when the school year started (yet another adjustment she had to make to her teaching schedule, as there was no such thing as summer break in the underground for obvious reasons). She had her hopes set on a dozen or so humans joining the young monsters in their first year open, then hopefully more in the following years. After that, she would need to attend to a few of the camp projects that the children were tasked with, and then she would return to her home in the early afternoon to help Frisk prepare for their evening. Then, this evening was going to be another movie night for the campers, which was an experience for everyone (especially Mettaton, who had taken to observing new human culture with a zeal normally reserved for Papyrus.) Toriel smiled to herself. The days hadn't been this full of things to do in ages. So many new experiences, and new friends to make, and she absolutely loved it.

==oo00**00oo==

After finishing up preparations for lunch, and ensuring the rest of the staff was had their tasks prepared for the early afternoon, Toriel went to find Frisk. As she headed out across the grounds of the camp, she tried to recall where the campers would be at this point in the day. She was so engrossed in her recollection that she almost missed the small boy headed past her towards the cabins.

"Good afternoon Miss Toriel!" the boy, Adrian Thomas, she recalled, one of the younger humans to spend the whole summer at the camp, said to her with a smile. Toriel easily returned the smile and replied.

"Good afternoon yourself, Adrian. Where are you headed to so quickly?"

"Back to my cabin for a moment, Miss. A couple of us wanted to play a few games during the downtime after the group meetings, so I wanted to grab a deck of cards." Toriel nodded.

"Wonderful. I'm glad you're making more friends." her smile turned a bit more mischievous "I seem to recall you being a bit concerned at the beginning of the summer about meeting so many monsters. It seems you've gotten over that particular worry."

Adrian blushed slightly and looked down. "Well... it was a little scary at first. Some of the monsters look really scary-" the little boy immediately threw his hands over his mouth, realizing his verbal oopsie and turning bright red. Toriel simply giggled at that and placed a paw on the little one's shoulder.

"Now now, nothing to be embarrassed about. I don't doubt that monsters would seem frightening at first, we are very different from all you humans, much more different than you are even from each other..." Toriel paused, then kneeled down in front Adrian and leaned in closely. "In fact, if you want to hear a secret, when we first left the underground and came to the surface, I was scared too." The boy's eyes widened in surprise. "It's true! The world outside is so much bigger than our little underground, and the things you humans have done since we left... massive cities, flying machines... you've even been as far as the moon, and even beyond that! So much has changed, and things are just so big now, it scared me at first too!" She smiled at Adrian's dropped jaw. "But, just like I said when you all first arrived at camp, 'It is easy to be afraid of something you don't understand. But if you take the time to learn...'" Adrian picked up the phrase with a smile.

"'You don't have to be afraid anymore!' Wow. I didn't know grownups got scared." Toriel just laughed at this and patted the boy on the head as she stood again.

"You're never too old to be afraid of something, my child. Just like you're never too old to learn something. Now, I believe we both have things to do, so I'll let you go get your things. By the way" she added as the boy turned to go. "You wouldnt happen to know where Frisk was at, would you."

The boy turned his head for a moment and thought, then replied "Naw, I haven't seen Frisk in a while, but MK is hanging out by the docks, and the two of them are usually together." The boy made a face. "They act so weird sometimes, especially when they're together." Toriel merely laughed at that and sent the boy on his way, heading quickly towards the docks to find MK.

She found Frisks close friend sitting on the dock, looking over towards the woods, feet kicking underneath and tail twitching agitatedly. She walked up the dock and MK looked up and noticed she was approaching. With a surprising amount of grace, MK's tail wrapped around one of the dock supports and pulled, and suddenly the kid was standing right in front of her.

"What is it? Has something happened? Is it time?" As the questions mounted, MK began to bounce in time with the tail twitch. Toriel merely smiled and tried to calm them down a bit.

"Now now, no need to worry. I just wanted to fetch Frisk to give them time to prepare for the meeting this evening. Little Adrian seemed to think you would know where I could find Frisk, though I wouldn't know why."

MK blushed a bit and grumbled too low for Toriel to hear but quickly looked back up at her. "Yeah, Frisk is down along the lake in a clearing, reading up on the treaty again." The young monster huffed, trying to look annoyed, but Toriel saw right through that. "Sent me away again. I was only trying to help too."

Toriel smiled sympathetically at this. "I know you want to help, MK, and I know Frisk has been very grateful for your help, they've said as much to me on several occasions," MK's frown turned into a bit of a smile at that. "You just need to understand that this has been the culmination of a whole year's' worth of work for Frisk, and indeed for the rest of us. I really think Frisk has put more energy into that document, into our futures, than nearly every one of us monsters. I wonder, sometimes, if we give Frisk is even aware of how much help all that work is for us..." MK frowned a bit, and Toriel smirked to herself. "Anyway, perhaps you could lead me to this clearing..."

==oo00**00oo==

Sorry for the later than usual update, but it was hard to find time to write, and once I started, it was so hard to find a decent stopping point until I had both characters written out.

By the way... the meeting the Queen scenario is one that I think is a hilariously awesome concept, but not one that I had really fleshed out. I mean, you have Frisk (who is a kid, albeit a clearly mature one), Toriel (who is both kind and intelligent, but whose last communication with humans on a large scale was clearly pre-industrial), and Papyrus (who is... well... Papyrus) all trying to get from the wilderness through the UK, into London, and somehow into a meeting with the Queen of England. Hilarity would have to ensue. However, writing it is just not in the scope of this story. I may come back to it, but if I do, it will be well after this story is complete. Sooooo... Consider it a writing prompt folks! If anyone does write this one, let me know in the comments, or just PM me, cause I'd love to read it.

Two more characters left to check up on before we get ourselves back to our intrepid Wizard and his floral companion. Next chapter working titles: Laughter, or A Not Quite As Rude An Awakening As You Would Think