Chapter 8: Leads

A human police officer stands at a door just around the corner within the Ebott police department. His short, brown hair is neatly tucked underneath his cap, and his badge is placed around his neck. The lights from the ceiling reflect off the badge, giving it a bright glow. Out of the corner of his eye, he peers to his left and sees an officer of the monster race marching towards him, who has wide, round eyes and a piercing beak.

"Need the interrogation room today, Harlow?"

"Yes, sir. I've been tasked with studying the Asriel Dreemurr attack case. Kid's lucky that he made it out in one piece."

"I hear ya. Well, don't get attacked yourself. This precinct would sink without you."

The human officer opens the door for Harlow, and Harlow enters. He lowers his gaze. Two monsters are already seated on the other side of the interrogation table, and it's Catty and Bratty who are in the hot seats. Harlow sighs and rubs the top of his feathered head. "Let's get this over with."

Harlow sits down, folding both wings in front of him, and leaning in towards the pair of friends. The cameras in the corners of the room zoom in as the lenses pierce their bodies and the table in front of them. He clears his throat and then looks at the pair, turning his head back and forth quickly. "We have a potential homicidal maniac on the loose. You were seen at that party over on Third Street a few days ago. What were you doing there and what did you see?"

Bratty nods quickly. "Oh yeah! It was, like, three days ago."

Catty nods. "Yeah, like, that's true." Catty then leans back in her chair and rubs her right paw on her furry chin. "Or was it four days ago?" She then turns towards Bratty. "Was it three or four days ago? Help a girl out here!"

Bratty shrugs at Catty and then turns towards officer Harlow, with a slightly half-hearted growl in her voice. "Do you think I'd remember exactly what happened three days ago?"

Catty clenches her paws together and looks at Harlow. "Like, she can't even remember what happened two days ago! Sorry, police dude."

Bratty's reptilian eyes narrow and she glares over at Catty. "You're not helping!"

As Harlow rubs his eyes gently, a new witness is brought into the room. The questioning process repeats and flows. "You say you don't remember, but not remembering what happened is awfully convenient. Now you, tell me…did you happen to know the person that attacked school student and Ebott resident Asriel Dreemurr, and his sibling Frisk Dreemurr?"

Harlow is no longer glancing at a pair of teenaged monsters, but is instead seated across from another. Sporting a beige hat and a long, white beard, the elderly tortoise chuckles and strokes his green, scaly chin. "Ah, Asriel. The prince of the Underground…I remember when the first human fell. He and the human were best friends, I tell you, as big of a trouble-maker as she was at times."

Harlow shakes his head and sighs, with feathers standing on end all over his body. "Mr. Gerson, we don't have much time. I need you to tell me if Asriel Dreemurr had any enemies or rivals."

Time spins forward. The short scaly figure with grafted-in arms shrugs at Harlow has he glues his eyes to the ceiling. "I wouldn't know, mister! I go to school with Azzy, and everyone loves him!"

Harlow shakes his head and his voice moves again, speaking softly. "Listen, bud. Unfortunately, I don't believe you. Even if he has no enemies or bullies at school, nobody can be that likable. Besides, anybody can have a motive to hurt someone. Here, it could be jealousy."

Monster Kid rubs the back of his head and sulks. "I guess you're right. I just can't think of anyone who would hurt Azzy, though! He wouldn't harm a fly, if he could help it."

Harlow strokes his chin, and his eyes light up with stars. "Hey kid, another thing happened at the party. We've heard reports that your friend pushed his sibling, Frisk, out of the way of the attack. Or perhaps stood in front of him, as if he was a barrier. What do you have to say to that?"

Monster Kid's body no longer sulks, but instead he shoots up from his chair and a smile is plastered all over his face. "That makes him just as cool as Undyne! Well…maybe cooler, heh."

After a few more minutes, a new monster comes into the room to chat with Harlow. "And where were you on the day of the party, Jerry?"

"Oh, just hanging around there. Why wouldn't I be at the biggest party the monsters have ever had? The whole town must've been there…well, not everyone. But, I think everyone was there that could fit into the house, or at least Frisk's closest friends."

Harlow's beak presses together slightly and he pulls a piece of paper out of his back pocket. He places it onto the table, and it shows a sketch with pencil. What's depicted on the page is a tall, slender figure with a striped shirt and an odd-looking mask. "The assailant was wearing a green and yellow striped shirt, according to some eye-witnesses. And, apparently you were wearing the same kind of shirt on that day." Harlow's voice lowers as he pulls himself into the table. "Tell me, how good did it feel to get out that rage and madness swirling within your soul?"

Harlow's owl eyes flash with a burning fire. His feathered fists clench on the table, and Jerry backs up an inch in his seat. "Why would I hurt the former prince of the Underground? What actually made me mad was the lack of access to the wifi! I asked politely for the password from the hosts, but they refused to give it to me!"

Harlow nods calmly. "And, where did you go after you failed to receive the password for the wifi?"

"I just mooched…err, I mean, helped myself to some cake!"

Harlow sighs and the next eyewitness is brought into the room. She is sporting a bright red dress and there are many spiders dancing around at her feet. In fact, she resembles a spider herself.

"Muffet," Harlow says, "did you see anyone suspicious that would've had easy access to a knife? There was cake after all... there was bound to be kitchen appliances lying around."

Muffet laughs and shrugs her top six limbs. "I forgot to bring the knife to the party. I'm assuming that Toriel provided us one. I guess the spiders forgot ours, but my dearies are not prone to worrying. They all did a great job with preparing the cake."

The spiders continue to scurry around her feet, and Harlow narrows his eyes as Muffet's pupils bury into the ground. (Still not much they're giving me. Well, it's time to kick it up a notch.) Harlow throws himself onto his feet and slams his wings into the table. "You're lying! I can tell with those shifty eyes of yours. You're too timid to make eye contact with me."

Muffet's pupils dart up at Harlow, and she waves her top two limbs in front of her face. "No no, rest assured my dearie. I do not mean to offend you."

"Then tell me what really happened at the party."

After a few mostly uneventful interviews pass, a tiny monster is brought in. It's Temmie, who still wears robes that the king of the Underground would wear. She takes a moment to jump up onto the chair, and the fabric dangles heavily off the sides of her seat.

"HOI! I was at the party; lotz of good cakes!" Harlow sighs deeply, but before he can open his mouth again, the creature leans in towards him and her voice becomes unnaturally coherent and professional. "But, I must make it positively clear that the mood of the party, while initially jubilant and effervescent, took a sharp dramatic turn for the worse."

Harlow's eyebrows dance a little on his head, and he leans forward. "Oh, really? And why is that?"

"I did not see what happened, but I did see that the prince was injured. He was whisked away to the hospital by Dr. Alphys and Sans the Skeleton. This all did indeed happen at the party, in which we were celebrating our human ambassador's 13th birthday."

"I understand; I wish I could've attended myself. But, paperwork. In any event, what happened next?"

Temmie's serious voice fades away, and she resets to her saccharine tone. "The party waz 0ver!"

Harlow nods and sends Temmie out the door. After she leaves, Harlow looks left and right and sees no monster in front of him. "Well, I'm supposed to have one more witness in for the day. What gives?" Out of nowhere, a short and stocky skeleton apparates in front of him. Harlow gasps and takes two steps back, while his body shakes. He clutches onto his heart. "Sans, you didn't need to do that."

Sans chuckles and shrugs. "That's the way the cookie crumbles."

Sans walks into the room and sits down in the chair. He leans back and lets his skeletal head rest on the back of the chair. Harlow closes the door, takes his own place, and leans in. As he rubs the bridge of his eyes, Sans looks at him and winks. "What's the matter, officer? Cat got your tongue?"

Harlow shakes his head. "It's been a long day. So please, let's cut the crap and get to the point. What happened? The sooner we get this over with, the less guilty you look and the closer we are to cracking this case. Tell me…what happened at that party?"

Sans winks again and shrugs. "What happened at the party? A debate on thermonuclear physics of course!"

"Don't play games with me, Skeleton."

"Why, you must have a bone to pick with me."

If you listen closely, a rim shot could've been heard. However, this sound is not heard by Harlow. "Don't lie to me."

Sans nods and shrugs. "So, you really want to know what happened when the goat kid got attacked?"

A deafening silence falls over the room. Sans' pupils are no longer visible but instead are only his blank, dark eye sockets. Harlow rubs his head and raises an eyebrow. "Mr. Skeleton? Are you feeling alright?"

Sans' pupils return, and he closes his eyes again and speaks. "Depends on what you mean by 'alright', sir."

Harlow nods. "If you're smart, then we'll do this the easy way. If not, we'll do things the hard way. Got that?"

Sans chuckles and winks. "Cool, I'll tell ya."

Sans then closes his eye sockets, with his tone dimming. "If you think that Asriel's injury is just a game, don't kid yourself." Sans opens his eyes again, and his grin stretches across his face as widely as possible. His pupils glow. "I was in the kitchen. The mysterious figure was wearing a mask. They came through the backyard; no entry through the front door. That's how they were able to attack Frisk and Asriel with relative ease. I thought I invited everyone in town, but that figure was the only figure at the party I didn't recognize. Anyway, I noticed that they were wearing a yellow and green striped sweater, and they were holding a knife. It wasn't a toy knife though." Sans' eyes then go blank. "It was a real one."

Harlow nods. The camera lenses in the corners of the room whir with attention, and the hidden microphones are firing on all cylinders. Eyes from all over are now engaged, with Sans' voice lowering further. "I had never seen them before, but they seemed so familiar. Everything felt very weird. And I do know one more point. I could tell that this figure wasn't actually going for Asriel, but for Frisk. I saw that at the last moment, as soon as the figure was going to cut Frisk wide open, Asriel jumped in the way and saved his sibling from potential death. You may call it a sacrifice, or brotherly love. Either way, he cares a lot for that human. It's how brothers should be, I suppose."

Harlow nods quickly and stares into Sans harshly, who returns the look. "Is that good enough for ya?"

Harlow breathes slowly and closes the manilla file folder on the table. "Yes, that's all. Thank you for your time."

Sans is escorted out of the room. After the skeleton's departure, Harlow turns towards the back of the room. A booming voice echoes throughout the room, and Harlow stares up into the ceiling. "Do you have any leads?"

"Yes. The last one especially gave us many items of use."

"So, he wasn't like the rest?"

"No. The older skeleton brother is very perceptive and helpful, but my other interviews didn't go as well." Harlow sighs deeply and folds his feathered arms. "I had to press a lot of them for answers, but none of them would budge. Especially the fish lady with the red hair! I interviewed her right before Temmie. She kept saying 'I am the Captain of the Royal Guard and I am not afraid of some wimpy officer in front of me!' Or, something like that."

The voice over the intercom chuckles. "People can be stubborn."

"Yes, they can be. But, we at least have more clues now to investigate. Let's find this perpetrator, and quick."

…

Within a large yet modest basement within the streets of Ebott, there are two monsters close to each other. One of them, Alphys, is hunched over some notes and charts on a table. The second monster is running on the treadmill located on the other side of the room whilst wearing a black shirt and blue sweatpants. The athletic monster, Undyne, speaks to Alphys as she jogs.

"And then I told him 'I am the Captain of the Royal Guard and I am not afraid of some wimpy officer in front of me!" Undyne cackles, and then waves her left hand around in the air. "Man, that dude didn't know what hit him. Nobody's gonna get information out of me!"

Alphys sighs. "Didn't you wanna be a police officer w-when you were growing up? W-why were you so rude to him?"

"Eh, he was just getting under my scales. You have a point though, but there are other Ebott officers I just like more."

The shorter monster doodles on a series of sketch paper, then looks back at the notes on the table. Then at the doodles, then back at the notes again. Undyne turns her head towards the studious monster and grins. "What's up with you?"

"I need to k-know what you else y-you told the officer, Undyne."

"Something about how I didn't see much, just some striped shirt or whatever. I think I was annoyed because there were a bunch of questions that weren't even that useful! I dunno how quickly they'll solve this case."

Undyne hits a bright red button on the treadmill, then hops down and marches over to a nearby large, black punching bag. She begins to throw her fists at it with pinpoint precision and at a great velocity as Alphys strokes her scaly head with her pen. "That's w-why you're training right now, right? You wanna f-find the attacker yourself?"

Undyne nods as she punches and kicks at the bag. "Yeah! I wanna see that little punk thrown in jail; pronto." Undyne then backs away from the punching bag, breathes deeply, and takes a sip of water. "Well, I also wanna do it right. While that Harlow guy was pretty annoying, he still has a job to do. We shouldn't muddy their procedures, and I especially don't wanna rush in stupidly! Still though, I thought the police would capture that garbage person by now." Undyne laughs, and then sorrowfully leans on the punching bag. "Maybe I'm too optimistic. It'll get worse before it gets better."

Undyne restarts her workout routine as Alphys taps her pen quickly on the bottom of her chin. "How DETERMINED are you, Undyne?"

"Do you even have to ask that question?"

Alphys chuckles and quickly cleans her glasses. "Yeah, you're right. I j-just think a l-lot…" Alphys rubs the back of her neck, but then a bright grin flashes on her face. "But with how strong you are, you should be just fine with what's-their-face-in-the-mask." Alphys smiles and sighs. "Asriel survived, so you can too. T-that's reassuring, at least."

Undyne takes a moment to stop punching the bag, and she flexes her right bicep. It pops with vim and vigor. "Of course, I'll survive. I'm Undyne the Undying!" She cackles and smiles, and then flexes her left bicep, which pops up at rocket speed. "I'll search for that little demon myself. Who knows if the police will find him in time?"

Alphys shakes her head and then holds it in her hands. "That's what I'm worried about. I've seen it on the tapes."

Undyne raises an eyebrow as she continues to punch out the bag. "Wait, tapes? What in the fresh heck are you talking about?"

"I have tapes containing research on various police departments from the Overground."

"Well, so what?"

"I determined that some departments can be a l-little slow with capturing criminals. But, to verify my findings, I needed more data. So, I taped the surface world news, which always came on after Mew Mew Kissy Cutie season 5."

Undyne laughs and folds her arms together. "Now you have my curiosity!"

Alphys nervously laughs. "Yeah, heh. I was s-shocked! Mew Mew's character was dragged through the m-mud in that season. We shouldn't speak of it again."

Undyne continues to laugh and shake her head. "I still have to catch up on that show. But, I'll only catch up if I feel like it."

Alphys nods. "It's a b-bottom tier season; watch at your own risk."

Undyne takes a sip of water and nods. "Anyway, what did you hear on the surface world news?"

"Considering the case studies I researched, I counted the time that the police took to catch the suspects. Half of them took somewhere from 1 day to 20! The rest took 20 to mostly 40 days, and one took 45 days!"

Alphys points to all the markings on her charts that indicate the days in which capture occurred, and Undyne stands upright and rubs the back of her head. "Honestly, that's not as bad as I expected. I wish our precinct was faster, but I also heard they got a lead on the twerp within the first two days! That's a good sign for us, right?"

"Well… that is true. But, I'm w-worried that they may n-never catch whoever attacked the Dreemurrs." Alphys then pulls out another chart from behind her notes, and points at it. This data is shaped in a bell curve formation. "The p-problem I found is that according to the n-news report, the police d-department I studied promised that they'd solve all crimes within 21 days! So, I rejected their claim s-scientifically. The conclusion? I am certain, at a 5% level of significance, that they take more than that."

Undyne chuckles slightly, and then begins to rub Alphys' back. "What's so funny, Undyne? I-I'm doing my best here!"

"Good ol' Alphys. You're doing it again; you're caught in your own brain."

"But why are you s-still downplaying my research?"

"Five percent is still pretty low, right? It's not zero which sucks, and we'd all want it to be there but this should still give us optimism that we'll catch this person. The percentage could be way higher, doncha think?"

Alphys nods and blushes. "Yeah, I guess. I just want to make things right f-for our town as soon as possible."

Undyne breathes, stops massaging Alphys' back, and folds her arms. Her deep voice goes even deeper, and she stares at the charts while narrowing her eyes. "I'll give ya this much: our precinct is pretty dang small. This motivates me more to do something about it. The real question is: how can we make sure that we do this right?"

Alphys shakes her head and rubs her cheek. "While I still worry about g-getting yourself h-hurt, you carrying a spear would help protect you, but I also wouldn't w-want you to come across as suspicious to the Ebott police force." I-It could be seen as a weapon. So, maybe conduct your own investigation and then g-go from there?"

Undyne smiles, nods, and then rubs the front of her chin. "Ya know, that sounds pretty good. And, if it would help ya feel any better, I've been preparing something else too."

Alphys gets up from her chair and her eyes flash with life. "Oh, really? Tell me! Show me!"

Undyne waltzes over to the nearby closet, with life in each step. She places both arms on the handles of the closet, and throws it open, with her arms proudly gesturing towards the objects within. It is a shimmering set of armor. The jet-black shade glistens for the pair, as the chest-plate is large and fitted for Undyne's muscular body structure. The shoulder pads contain spikes on them; black and silver. The leggings are the same way as the chest-plate, covering all of the lower body in gorgeous black metal.

"It's…a-an armor set", Alphys says.

"You know it! Would it be anything else?" She cackles and gestures again at the suit of armor. "I've been doing this in my spare time so we can track them down. And, check this out!" Undyne then reaches into the dark, left-hand corner of the closet and pulls out her trademark turquoise spears. She throws most of them on the ground, keeping one in her hand. She twists the head-end of the spear, and then presses it into the base. After that, she shortens the spear while Alphys walks closer and stares at it. "I can adjust the size of these spears now, so they could function like throwing knives or a dagger! This armor should also fit under some of my street clothes if I need it in a bind!"

Alphys' eyes widen and she clasps her hands together. "That's incredible! Those b-blacksmith classes have come in handy for you."

Undyne cackles. "Darn tootin'!" She then picks up the spears and places them back into the closet. "I should bank on using all of these tools in the future."

Alphys sighs slightly and folds her arms. "Haven't you been training at n-night, too? Sometimes, I'll hear the door slam a-at midnight."

"Yeah, then." She rubs the scales on the top of her head. "I get that curfew exists, but oh well. Anyway, while you fall asleep on the couch watching Mew Mew and your other anime favs, I've been taking jogs at night, training myself to have strong vision when dusk sets in. This is to train my eyes for any time of day. What's especially nice is that my vision is stronger than the average human's vision. I could spot them from a mile away!"

"What if t-they show up?"

"I always bring a spear with me just in case! Relax."

Alphys nods and chuckles. "That's good. I'm glad that you're taking p-precaution."

Alphys then leaps into Undyne's body and hugs her. They release from embracing each other and Undyne places her hands authoritatively on her hips. "Now then, the plan. Undyne, h-how do we track down this person without g-getting killed or messing with the police's investigation?"

"Links back to my evening training: I want to go out every night and try to find them. They're probably still in the Ebott area." Undyne's voice raises, and she clenches her fist tightly as her voice elevates with life. "I will search every nook and cranny of the town until that kid's brought to justice. Mark my words."

Alphys throws her fist in the air. "Let's do it!"

Undyne cackles again as Alphys nods, and places up her right pointer finger. "But, you m-must be careful. If you interfere too much, y-you could get into trouble."

Undyne sighs, while folding her arms again. "I know what I'm doing. Trust me."

Alphys blushes, but then slaps her cheek. Undyne's eyes widen and she leans over.

"Stop hitting yourself, Alphys! You've got me worried sick with how you're treating your body!"

Alphys shakes her head. "Oh, no. It's j-just a mosquito again, heh." As Undyne begins to walk out of the basement and up the stairs, Alphys nods and lowers her head, with her gaze sharpening. "Yes, a plan…I believe it's time to put it into action."

…

The moon has risen over the horizon. The sky is pitch black, aside from the lightning bugs dancing in the fields of Ebott. The view moves inside a tall, colorful house, complete with threadbare room with wooden flooring. A speaker sits, relaying muffles of sounds from an unknown source. A slap can be heard; a distorted yet familiar voice drawls amorously "I bet you can hit it harder". Light smacks blare from the speakers. Meanwhile, the view of the room slowly expands during this scene to reveal a half-eaten ghost sandwich. Outside, a phantasmic figure, Blooky, flies from an oddly-shaped dwelling from the west side, towards an identical looking one to the east. Blooky looks up toward the house and sees flashing lights from the windows.

"Heh…seems like Mettaton's dancing the night away again…." Blooky approaches the home and phases through the front door to see what's going on. Inside the house is Mettaton, who is currently swaying and twisting rhythmically to the music that blares throughout the house. Booming beats and pulsating bright lights echo throughout the expanse of the walls, and no other noise can be heard. Blooky gently floats up to Mettaton, and softly speaks. "Hey…Mettaton…can we, um, talk…for a second?"

There's no response. Mettaton's body continues to contort to the sounds of the music. "YES, MY DARLINGS! I AM THE GREATEST DANCER~."

Blooky shakes his head, and lifts his voice slightly. "Mettaton…can we chat for a second?" The chorus of the song kicks in, and Mettaton begins twirling on his head, letting the momentum of his body twirl to the same tempo as the song. Blooky sighs and looks at the ceiling. "I've never done this before…but maybe it's time to take a page out of Papyrus' playbook." Blooky breathes in deeply, and lets it loose. "METTATON, WE NEED TO TALK!"

Mettaton jumps up from his head and spins around, with Blooky coming into his vision. He waves gloriously, walks over to the sound system and mutes it, but still lets the lights flow around the room. All kinds of colors dance in their eyes and on their bodies as Mettaton walks up to Blooky. Blooky gulps and shakes his head slightly. "My apologies, dear cousin of mine! I was killing it on the dance floor! I hope you were stunned by my smooth moves~."

Blooky shakes his head slightly, and clears his throat. The tone of his voice is low again, and his voice sounds gravelly when he speaks. "I need your help with something..." He floats over to the nearby glass of water, and takes a sip of it. It settles in his mid-section for a moment, but then phases through and lands on the floor.

"My darling, what do you need my help for," Mettaton asks.

"Well, I'm producing a show…or something like that."

Mettaton's metallic eyes flash with stars, and he pounces forward, nearly landing on Blooky. Blooky phases away slightly and widens his eyes. Mettaton clasps his robot hands together and blushes. "A SHOW...A SHOW! Well, why didn't you come to me sooner?! I am more than happy to oblige you by being the star of this show!"

Blooky smiles, with his mouth slightly shaking. "Uh…yes…you'll be the star of a heist show, or something…yeah, that's it…you'll be in a band of heroes, and perform an infiltration mission, bringing down a great evil…that's the premise. You in?"

Mettaton proudly smiles and gestures at the ceiling. "Does this mean I'll reprise my role as a…KILLER ROBOT?!"

Mettaton laughs as Blooky nods. "Well, kinda…except you'll be heroic this time….you'll still be killing it, though…in a way."

"The only killing I shall do will involve slaying box office records!"

Blooky tilts his ghastly head. "So, you're in?"

"I'm in! Now, have your agent contact mine and we'll work out the filming schedule…union regulations, darling!~"

Blooky nods again.

"Sure thing…thank you."

Blooky smiles and phases out the room. After exiting the home, he leans his head to one side. A small, bright, yellow circle appears near the top of his head. He begins to speak into it. "Dr. Alphys, are you there? Yes…there you are…we now have four…you, me, Undyne, and Mettaton…we're ready. We are ready to advance to the next phase of our operation."