Undertale: Wholehearted Half-Souls

by HattyTheWriter

The ambassador of Ebott reunites with his best friend to give him his real body back. Soon after, a new malevolent force arises and strikes. All of the hard work the ambassador has done will be destroyed and death and despair will sweep the town- unless he and his brother can figure out a way to thwart the malice creeping through Ebott. They must stay DETERMINED to survive.

11. Allies

Chapter 11: Allies

A purple van pulls into a school parking lot. At the front of the school sits a large white sign with red lettering that reads: "Ebott Junior High School: Where Your Children Prepare for the Future." The school is larger than expected for a small town, with a track and field arena in the back lot of the school and a front parking lot that would be able to fit 100 vehicles, give or take. The school building itself towers above most others in Ebott, with crisp tan paint, shimmering windows lining the front lobby, and office spaces used for the principal and secretaries.

Two children jump out of the van and wave at the van. As it pulls away, the pair walk towards the school. Frisk sports an Ebott Junior High-themed sports jacket over the top of his favorite shirt, while Asriel wears a burgundy and blue hockey jersey with a white stylized letter "A", to serve as a change of pace from their usual attire. Frisk nudges Asriel as they walk through the front door. "I hope you're ready for science class, Azzy. We're dividing into groups for the science fair!"

Asriel laughs and rubs the back of his head. "Oh yeah, that was fun last year too." His head droops as they turn the corner and head towards their lockers. "I just hope I get caught up; I don't wanna fall behind or anything."

Frisk waves his hand gently and shrugs. "You only missed one day of school; there isn't too much makeup work. You'll be fine."

Asriel nods and gives Frisk a thumbs up. "I've got two good legs, right? I gotta use them and keep moving forward."

Frisk looks over at Asriel, who pulls out a piece of paper. It has various numbers scribbled over it. "Ah, so you were given your locker passcode, Azzy. Just had to make sure."

Asriel begins to turn the dial on his locker. His voice dances and rolls off his tongue gently. "I hope you're on my team this year for the science fair. That'd be pretty cool, huh?"

Asriel's locker swings open, and he places his spare books. Frisk chuckles and nods. "True, but you know how our teachers are."

They then speak at the same time with cheeky grins on their faces. "If you're in the same family tree, in the same group you will not be."

The Dreemurr siblings share a laugh and then begin walking. After rounding the first corner, the smells of chemicals begin to fill their noses. They look down at their schedules and Asriel points to the fourth row on his piece of paper. "Hey, do you have Ms. Warner for math in fourth?"

Frisk looks at his schedule and shrugs. "No bro. I'll be with Mr. Snowdrake."

Asriel laughs and shakes his head. "Good luck with that one."

From out of the crowd, a thin and cheerful-looking reindeer pops out in front of Frisk and Asriel. She wears a checkered red and green dress and her warm, brown fur and a delightfully bright red nose complete the look. She waves enthusiastically to them. "Hello, you two! It's great to have you back, Azzy!"

Asriel blushes, and waves back. "Howdy Noelle. I'm glad to be back, too. What's up?"

Noelle shrugs. "Not much, just going through the daily grind! And how are you, Frisk?"

Frisk smiles and nods.

"Never better."

Noelle chuckles and holds her hands politely against her dress. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, Azzy. We were worried about you."

Asriel rubs his arm and sulks slightly. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry to make you worry."

Noelle smiles and gives him a thumbs up. "It's fine, my friend!" Asriel politely laughs and Noelle begins to walk back into the depths of the science wing. "Well, the bell's gonna ring soon and I can't be late for Dr. Alphys. See you later!"

The Dreemurrs wave at Noelle as she skips towards the other end of the science wing, and they step up to the front door of their room. Asriel nods at Frisk, rubbing his neck while still blushing. "I wish Noelle was in our class."

Frisk tilts his head. "Yeah…I getcha. But, she is the best science student in our grade. There's no wonder why she got placed into Dr. Alphys' class. It's a very selective group; they're half the size we are."

Asriel chuckles and smiles widely. "That's our Noelle. She's always aiming high. And, she's really nice, too."

The pair enter the next room; a series of maps lines it. A short, squat figure with a large unibrow and frizzy hair gets up from her chair and stares sternly at them. "Hey, what the heck are you two doing here? First period is my break!"

Asriel and Frisk look at the disgruntled teacher, at the maps, at their schedules, then at each other. Their eyes widen and Frisk facepalms. Asriel exclaims, "Oh no, we stopped in the social studies wing by accident!"

The pair of siblings rush out of the room and Frisk looks up at the number of the room. "201", Frisk says. He sighs and Asriel looks at the numbers. They speak to each other between breaths as they run up the hall.

"What room should we…be at, Frisk?"

"304…just follow me."

They reach another corner, turning right and ending up in the 300s. The smell of chemicals is very pungent now, permeating throughout the hallway. Frisk looks at his schedule, then takes a few paces forward and points to the room labeled "304". Asriel nods and wearily walks up to the front door of room 304 while taking a heavy breath. "Awesome…we're here. Frisk…remind me to never skip leg day again."

Frisk chuckles as the pair enter the room. He looks up at the walls and sees periodic tables and pictures of cells. Beakers cover the back counter, with Bunsen burners being spread out across the seats. Asriel looks up at the clock and sees the hands are positioned in the '8:09:45' position. "Thank goodness; we're 15 seconds before the bell."

They take their seats. 9 other human and monster students make conversation with each other. The teacher is turned towards his laptop, typing furiously. As he is typing, the bell echoes throughout the hallway. The teacher marches over to the door and closes it, then returns to the front of the class. He nods and smiles. This teacher is a human, with bright blue eyes, light stubble on his chin, and chestnut brown hair. He stands proudly, with his fair complexion illuminated with excitement. On the board is scrawled the name "Mr. Penske" in large red letters.

"Good morning, class. I'm glad to see you all again." Mr. Penske waves warmly at Asriel. "And welcome, Asriel. I'm glad to see that you've made a full recovery."

Asriel rubs the back of his head gently and smiles. "Thanks."

Mr. Penske turns to his laptop, presses a few keys, and pulls down the projector screen with vigor. His blue eyes shine and he flashes an enthusiastic grin at the class. "Now then, SCIENCE PROJECTS!" On the PowerPoint slide are various pictures of science projects from Ebott Junior High's past, and Mr. Penske points at each one. "This is my favorite time of the year, gang. We may not be the honors class, but I'm sure that we can 'wow' the judges at the science fair this year all the same. We did well last year, so let's kill it again! Before we specify projects, though, we should sort you into groups."

Before Mr. Penske can continue, echoes of shouting and locker banging waft into the room. The 11 students in the classroom turn curiously towards the closed door; Mr. Penske raises an eyebrow and marches up to the door. "What in the Sam Hill is going on out there?"

The shouts and arguing from the hallway grow louder and clearer. "Your smell is so fugly, Susie. Honestly, would it kill ya to use some deodorant once in a while? You could use some."

"YOU CAN IT, blondie!"

"Oooooh, I'm so scared of the big bad Susie. Whatcha gonna do, eat my face?"

A loud clang is heard from outside, and Mr. Penske swings open the door. Three figures come into his line of sight: a tall, muscular purple monster with a black jacket and dilapidated jeans; a petite blonde girl decked in a cheerleading squad outfit; and a human teacher with fiery red hair marching towards them and lunging commands, "BREAK IT UP, YOU TWO!"

The purple monster, Susie, is holding the cheerleader by the neck, growling and spewing venom at her. The small figure's face begins to turn blue. "Mouthy people like you really tick me off," Susie says. "Screw with me again and you wish you hadn't."

The red-haired teacher jumps in between them, and the cheerleader falls to the ground, coughing and holding her throat gently. "Susie! Detention. Every Friday for the rest of the semester. And, you're lucky that I'm not putting you on suspension or expulsion notice for that stunt. The same goes for you, Miss George."

Susie looks at the teacher, shakes her head, and shrugs. "Whatev, not the first time."

The red-haired teacher marches back up the hallway and rubs her temples forcefully. "It's only the first week…it's only the first week."

The cheerleader quietly gets up from the floor, rolls her eyes, and heads back to class. Susie struts into Mr. Penske's classroom, and Mr. Penske closes the door behind him. Susie takes a seat in the final chair available, next to Asriel. Mr. Penske walks back up to the front of the room, holds the bridge of his nose for a moment, then releases it. "Susie, you're late for the second day in a row, and you had an attendance problem last year as well. You do realize that you may also gain detention for tardiness as well, correct?"

Susie smirks and shrugs. "Sweet, sounds like fun to me."

Mr. Penske shakes his head. "Do you understand you could be held back again for holding such a record?" Susie shrugs and Mr. Penske sighs. "Just try and stay on task with us as we prepare for the science fair in a few months, alright?"

Susie tilts her head, chuckles, and turns to look at Asriel. His brow sweats as he holds up a hand and weakly waves at her. "Uh…howdy?"

Susie's smirk turns into a neutral face, with her bright yellow eyes narrowing and staring down at him. "So, the Dreemurr prince is alive and well…sweet."

Asriel rubs the back of his head. "Uh…thanks."

Susie leans back in her chair and holds her arms behind her head. Asriel leans forward, pulls out a pencil, and begins recording the words on the slides. Frisk does the same while Susie props her feet up on her desk.

Mr. Penske slams his hands on the desk in front of him, and all 12 students jump. "Class, let's split you into groups now. This is how they'll be organized." Penske clicks the arrow key on his laptop, and the following slide shows the groups. Group A contains "Ellie", "Terrian", and "Birdie." Group B contains the students known as "Susie", "Asriel", and "Frisk." Group C contains "Hollyhock", "Franklin", and "Snowy." And Group D "Walter", "Jesse", and "Mike."

The 12 students seek out their group partners, with various levels of enthusiasm. Frisk then looks left and right, then forward and backward, and then at Asriel and Susie. He smiles silently to himself as the chatter drifts through the room. (This is good,) he thinks. (Family is never paired together, but it seems like Mr. Penske made an exception. And I love Jesse, but he really didn't do me any favors in last year's project so this group should be better, even though I'm not familiar with Susie.)

"Alright class, break off into your groups and brainstorm what topic you want to do for the project. You have until the end of the class period to report back to me about which ideas you have for the project. I'll be showing suggestions for your project on the slides, too. And, remember...it has to have a viable hypothesis and a reliable testing process! Use your 7th-grade class project from last year for inspiration too, if you need it."

Frisk gestures to his two project-mates. Asriel immediately gets up from his chair and follows Frisk to the back corner of the room, while Susie saunters to the group's destination. The trio pulls up a few chairs, sit down, and stare at each other silently. She folds her arms and eyes up the two Dreemurrs assertively. Asriel gulps and rubs his ears, deciding to speak first.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" He laughs nervously, but neither Frisk nor Susie acknowledge.

After three more seconds, Susie glances at Asriel. She sighs and shakes her head. "I saw what happened with you- you were all over the news. You're lucky to be alive and I also think I know the punk who pulled that crap on you."

Asriel gasps. Frisk lowers his head and stares intently at Susie as she forms her hair into a ponytail. Asriel's tongue fumbles. "Wait…what? Who is it? I need to protect Frisk, and me too!"

Frisk continues to stare at her. His ears burn and hang onto every word as she leans in and opens her mouth. Before she can continue, however, she glances at Mr. Penske. He stares at group B with a gentle yet stern fire in his eyes. Susie recoils and sighs. "Forget it. Talk later."

Susie aggressively stares at the ground and intertwines her strong, thick fingers. Asriel raises an eyebrow and clutches his chest slightly. "Are you feeling ok? We can talk about it if you want."

Susie laughs suddenly, causing half the class to turn their heads and stare at her. "I'm cool with anything, as long as it's not a volcano! Those things suck."

Asriel strokes his ear, then his nose. "Well, yeah. I agree. We're not in elementary school anymore. So we can think of something better than that. Right, Frisk?"

Asriel smiles and turns towards Frisk, but Frisk doesn't respond. His eyes are moving like a pendulum back and forth between Susie and Asriel. He rests his head on his hands and continues to sit in silence.

…

It's noon. At a table on the east side of the lunchroom sit the Dreemurr brothers, Noelle sitting with them. She takes a sip of milk and smiles at the Dreemurr pair. "So how is science fair prep going? I hope that you didn't get paired with any slackers."

Before Frisk and Asriel can answer her question, a lizard-like kid wearing all yellow runs in from the side of the table, and plops down beside Noelle. "Hey, partner!"

The student, Monster Kid, takes a sip of milk and smiles at the three sitting near him. "Oh, hello, MK," quips Noelle.

Asriel takes a bite out of his taco and leans his head to the right. "Hey, wait. MK, I didn't know you were in the advanced science class."

Monster Kid smiles enthusiastically. "Yup! And the teacher knows Undyne, too!"

Asriel nods and smiles politely. "Of course- that would be Dr. Alphys."

Monster Kid continues to smile, as he takes bits of food and talks while he chews. "I love science. It's the coolest subject! And Dr. Alphys is an awesome teacher."

As he speaks, Dr. Alphys walks behind him and blushes. She grabs her cheeks, rapidly grabs a tray, and heads out the other side of the cafeteria. Frisk looks back at the group and nods. "I'm glad to see that Alphys is using her skills. I think it's good for her to spread her wings and get out of the stuffy lab once in a while."

As Monster Kid, Asriel, and Noelle eat their lunches, Frisk peers around the lunchroom. (No sign of Susie. This is the perfect time for her to tell me what's been on her mind. I want to hear more about the attacker. But, if it was that important, where the heck is she?)

As Frisk sits there, a voice jolts into his ear and awakens his brain. "Frisk? Bud?"

He turns and looks at Noelle, whose eyes are sad-looking. "You haven't touched a bite of your lunch," Noelle says. Frisk looks down at his tray and the steam from the tacos has faded away, with the milk carton still sealed. "If you're not feeling well, I can take you to the nurse's office. Do you need stomach medicine? Does your belly hurt? Or maybe it's a headache?"

Frisk shakes his head. "No, I'm fine. Just focused on more important things right now."

Noelle scratches her head, and carefully takes a bite of broccoli. "Oh…ok."

After a silent 30 seconds pass, two muscular hands clamp down onto both Frisk's shoulder and Asriel's shoulder. Susie's back. "Come with me, shorties. Now's the time."

She pulls them out from the lunch table and drags them over to the bathroom area nearby. As the Dreemurr siblings are dragged out of the lunchroom, Asriel reaches out to where he was seated. "Um, can this wait?! My tacos are getting cold."

As the three stop in front of the bathroom doors, Susie spins them around and eyes up both. She folds her arms and glares down at them with her bright yellow eyes. "Look, you wanted to know who the attacker was, right? The most I can tell you right now is that I know them. At least, I suspect it's them. But listen here, pipsqueaks, don't let your guard down. We'll talk more about it after school. Got it?" Susie aggressively stares at them. There's no response. "GOT IT?!"

Asriel holds up his hands and waves them. "Woah, woah…we're sorry, Susie. We understand."

Susie rolls her eyes and looks out the window. "Good."

Frisk strokes his chin and taps his foot. "Hold on. You have detention, right? Didn't Mr. Penske give you detention after school today for being tardy to class?"

Susie chuckles and grits her teeth delightfully as she hisses her words. "Pft, detention. Who needs it, am I right?" After letting out another chuckle, she shrugs and reintroduces her normal tone of voice. "They'll let me make up for it, I guess. Just meet me here at 3:10 sharp. Then, we can head to your place and chat."

Asriel looks at Frisk and his eyes beam. "That's a great idea! You can meet my mom. She makes the most delicious pie in all of Ebott!"

"Sounds good to me."

Frisk looks out the window and scratches his chin. "What we all ride home together? It would make things go quicker."

Susie smirks. "Sweet. You tell your mom we're working on super important science stuff, then we go in, we lock the doors, close all curtains. Then, I'll tell you what I know."

Asriel's voice leaps as his face fills with a glow. "Yeah! Then you can try her famous butterscotch cinnamon pie! She's won prizes at the county fair before."

Susie simply nods and marches back into the lunchroom. "Good."

After she leaves, Asriel's stomach rumbles. Frisk's stomach rumbles even harder and they chuckle. "Hey, Azzy. We should get back to lunch."

"Yeah, right."

When they reenter their seating arrangement, Noelle and Monster Kid wave at them excitedly. Both of them have plates in front of them, covered with Italian noodles, sauce, and meatballs. Frisk and Asriel blink, then Asriel smiles and points at the spaghetti. "Looks like you got a second lunch." He chuckles. "Did Papy swing by and drop off that spaghetti for you guys?"

A loud "NYEH" sound echoes into the lunchroom, and Frisk and Asriel turn to look out at the courtyard. Papyrus runs through the yard, holding two plates of spaghetti high in the air, one in each hand.

Frisk smirks. "Heh, I guess he did."

…

The Dreemurrs and Susie meet at the lobby. She turns around to face them, arms crossed, and smirks. "You showed up on time", Susie says.

Frisk bites his lip; Asriel looks at him worryingly. Susie sighs and stares out the window again. Frisk looks up at Susie as her eyes burrow into the parking lot below. "What's the color of your mom's car?"

"It's a purple van with eight seats."

"Oh, so she's here. C'mon, let's move."

The trio trots down the stairs quickly. As Toriel's van pulls up to the side of the curb, she looks out to them and waves. Asriel waves back enthusiastically, while Frisk nods at his mom. Frisk then jumps into the van and gestures at Asriel and Susie to follow him into the vehicle.

"Azzy, you're the smallest, so you'll sit in the middle", Frisk says.

Asriel shakes his head and slowly climbs into the center of the row behind the front seats, while Susie takes a seat on the right side of the van. He frowns and folds his arms. "Man, it's not fair that I'm older, yet you're still taller than me."

Frisk chuckles. "I'm only taller by an inch or two; nobody can spot the difference. Besides, with your genetics, you'll be the tall one by the time we graduate."

"I guess."

Toriel's bright ruby eyes sparkle and her head fills with warmth. "Hello, my children. I see you've brought a new friend of yours!"

Asriel smiles at his mother. "Yes! She's tough but cool."

Susie smirks and gently leans her head back to stare at Toriel. "'Sup, Mrs. D?"

Toriel grumbles under her breath but then lets herself relax. She gently turns her head towards Susie and her eyes slightly dilate. "And what might your name be?"

"Susie."

Toriel's smile increases and the light of the sun reflects off of her face. "What a wonderful name! I'm also happy that you're joining us today."

Susie chuckles and snorts, and turns her head to the right to gaze out the window. "Yup. Gotta work on some dumb project, so I'll tag along and do it with my partners here. Just get it done; the sooner the better."

Susie clenches the sides of her mouth together tightly as if to hold back laughter. While she stares out the window, head rested on her hand, Asriel looks up at his mother and cheerfully bleats. "I told her about your pie, Mom! Would you make some for us while we work on our science class homework?"

Toriel changes the gear shift from park to drive and begins heading out of the property of the school. "That would be lovely, my child. It will be butterscotch cinnamon pie, if that's alright with you, Susie."

Susie shrugs and smiles slightly. "Heck, why not? I'm game as long as it tastes good."

After 20 minutes of driving, the Dreemurrs and Susie arrive at home. They walk into the house, and Frisk points them in the direction of his and Asriel's bedroom. Toriel nods and holds her hands in front of her politely. "Let me know if you need anything, my children. I hope you enjoy your stay, Susie."

Susie, before she rounds the corner, nods at Toriel and her hair covers her bright yellow eyes. "Sure thing, Mrs. D."

Frisk, Asriel, and Susie enter the bedroom, with Susie locking the door behind them. The Dreemurr bros and Susie sit on opposite beds and Frisk pulls the notes out of his backpack. Susie folds her fingers together and stares at Frisk and Asriel. Asriel tilts his head and taps on his horn. "Is something the matter, Susie?"

"Nope. Just thinking about your mom."

"How?"

"…You have a good mother. A really good one, honestly."

Susie lowers her head and her teeth clench together. Her pupils become jagged as she taps her foot gently on the floorboards.

Asriel smiles and chuckles. "Thanks, Susie. My mom's the best I could ever have!"

Frisk sets the notes from science class beside him. He holds his arms on his lap. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding, but you don't have a mother, do you?"

Asriel spins his head towards Frisk in a blur of shock. Susie smirks, pulling out a hair tie from her pocket. She places it around her locks and forms her hair into a ponytail. "You're a perceptive one. I'd expect nothing less from the ambassador of the monsters. But yeah, I'm an orphan."

Frisk nods and rubs his forehead gently. "I'm sorry to hear that. Nobody should have to be an orphan; I know that too well."

Susie chuckles. "Birds of a feather flock together, or something like that." She shrugs. "I dunno. I heard it somewhere."

Frisk lowers his head slightly and places his hands under his chin into a folded position. "Let's get down to business. Tell me more about this person."

Susie sighs deeply and rubs her neck softly. "It's a long story; pretty weird one, too. He used to be in the same school as me. We both transferred to this town at the same time, and we ended up at the same school again in Ebott." She shrugs and rubs her lip. "Dude, it's so wack. After the barrier broke and the monsters came to the Overground, both of us ended up in Colorado Springs."

Asriel's body goes stiff and upright. "Wow! That's at least a hundred miles northeast of here."

Susie chuckles and looks up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I know. It's like he and I can't get away from each other. Wherever one goes, the other follows."

Frisk begins to stroke his chin. "Did you two get along in school as well?"

Susie laughs and lowers her head again. "Both of us have bad attendance records, so we didn't see each other that much in class. But, he became a close friend of mine. That's probably thanks to the orphanages and the caseworkers I've had that I've met in them." Susie takes a moment to breathe, lowers her head deeply, and stares at the foot of the bed. "He was a silent type which I'm normally not cool with, but, we became friends anyway…for a while."

Frisk nods quickly and raises an eyebrow. "I don't like where this is going."

Susie sighs deeply and her exterior softens yet toughens up at the same time. Asriel scooches forward on the bed and places his hands onto the mattress. "What was his name," Asriel asks.

"Kris", Susie sharply retorts.

"What caused your friendship to fall apart?"

Susie lowers her head and her hair completely covers her eyes now. "Even though he acted kindly to me for a while, there was a lot of weird, dark energy in him. Soon enough, that dark energy all came out at once. I had an axe to protect me from him, too." Susie reaches down to her backpack and pulls out a bright silver axe with a retractable handle. It extends widely and the metal glistens in the sunlight.

Frisk looks at the axe with contemplation and calmness, but Asriel stares at it in awe and shock. "How are you able to even smuggle that thing into school?" Asriel asks. "And, do you take it everywhere with you?"

Susie laughs, pushing the handle down back to a nub. "What kind of woman doesn't have an axe?"

Susie smirks as she places her favorite weapon back in the bag, but Asriel shakes his head profusely. "That's against school rules!"

"Why not bring it? It's my prized possession!"

Frisk shakes his head and sighs. "Azzy, Susie, we're getting off-topic."

Susie's eyes flare up and reappear from behind her hair, but Frisk doesn't flinch. She nods and backs down her inner rage. "Point is, I have it with me both because it looks cool, and because of self-defense."

Frisk nods. "You bring your axe to school to protect yourself from him if he ever shows up again, don't you?"

The breeze from the somewhat open window blows through the room, and the silence is deafening. Asriel's face turns pale as Susie sighs deeply and cracks her neck. "He's even tougher than I expected," Susie says. "He's not exactly easy to reason with too, ya feel?"

Asriel nods and frowns. "Please tell us what happened between you and him."

She sighs and rubs her scaly hand through her hair as her mind begins to recollect all that occurred in the past. A dark fog enters the room, and the memories begin to flow.