PATCHWORK SOUL - NEW MEDIUM

by TakaiWolf

DIRECT SEQUEL TO "PATCHWORK SOUL" — A few months later. A family of monsters and their little human kid try to start life anew beyond the confines of a giant mountain. Maybe they find something. Maybe they lose something. Time flows ever onwards, but sometimes it goes sideways, and it's heavier than they thought.

55. what are these characters doing here

what are all these weird characters doing here chapter 55

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With wires wrapped around his arm and up through his ribcage and an oversweet, green lemon soda in his hand, spinning slowly in one of Alphys's chairs, Sans couldn't help but be filled with nostalgia. Tests and wirings and magic analysis were things he'd gotten very used to, especially in his youth. All things considered (and despite the impending exhaustion) he wasn't bad off at all, but Alphys insisted on a new set of readings for him, just in case. The real ones who needed to be looked at were Gaster and Papyrus, and the doctor was on top of that as well.

.

Sans was getting pretty used to looking at things as if they were normal despite the time fragments screwing with his vision. The headaches, though, were getting worse the more tired he got. He took a swig of his soda, silently watching Alphys franticly rushing between the two taller skeletons. It helped, but only slightly.

.

Papyrus hadn't had many tests on his soul done since he was a tiny kid, and found the whole thing fairly novel. He had no clue what exactly he'd done in the CORE, but he didn't seem any worse for wear and was pretty pleased to see his big, bright amber soul up on one of the analysis screens with health numbers far exceeding the average for his age and size.

.

Gaster, too, was a ball of energy and was doing almost as much work as Alphys despite her attempts to make him stop and relax. Typical, Sans thought. The old skeleton would be all excited analysis with a big grin on his face, only to collapse into guilt and regret in private later, hoping nobody would notice. Sans always noticed, though. It was his job. As much as he was friends with his father, Gaster was still his father. It made sense that he would try to avoid burdening Sans as much as he could, even though it was painfully transparent and worthy of a solid eye-roll. Maybe Toriel could help. She and Gaster had known each other a long time, and she had a way of helping even the most guarded monsters open up.

.

Sans was snapped from his thoughts when his father cut across his vision, dragging a magic drip with him as he babbled notes into a recorder.

"Gaster…! G-Gasssster!" Alphys trailed him, waving her arms, but she kept her voice quiet. "Gaster, please…! Slow down!"

He didn't slow in the slightest. Alphys sighed and drooped, turning to look at Sans while gesturing to his father as if to say, g-get a load of this guy. The short skeleton chuckled.

.

Sans finished his soda and looked at the numbers in his soul, only displayed on the screen of his phone. Zero point four six. Most monsters falling down hit a certain threshold of reduced base health points and then become comatose. He wasn't sure if or when it would happen to him. Maybe it was a certain fraction. Maybe he'd just abruptly turn to dust when his countdown finally ran out. He hoped he could catch it maybe ten seconds before; say something real stupid going out. Another one bites the dust. Hey, better grab the vacuum cleaner now. Wanna see a vanishing trick? Papyrus'd kill him. He'd find a way to bring him back without the kiddos just to scream at him, probably. Sans grinned to himself. In all aspects, he was a mess.

.

Sans carefully unhooked the wires from inside his ribcage and set them aside on the desk. Alphys whirled on him with intensity in her dark eyes.

"Ah-ah! Did you f-finish your soda?!" she demanded.

"Yes, ma'am," Sans said with a grin.

Alphys sighed. She waved him off. "Anything?"

"Nothin' unexpected," he said as he pulled his t-shirt back on.

"Good. Good!" Her cheeks flushed faintly. "Um. So is…? Is it falling too fast?"

"Like I said." He smiled ruefully. "I'll be alright."

She nodded, though her brow was wrinkled with worry. "Would you mind, um…? C-Could you call Mettaton for me and get him down here?"

"Sure," he said.

"A-And… And check in on the Captain, too, okay?" she said.

Sans smiled sideways. "Expect her to come bargin' in the second I wake her up."

"That's fine. Thank you." She stuck up a finger and opened her mouth as if to interrupt Gaster on another pass by, but he was still completely absorbed in his verbal report and she gave up before she'd said a word. She sighed and rubbed her temples and turned her attention on Papyrus. "P-Papyrus, how's it going over there? You still f-feeling okay?"

"Yes, just fine, Doctor!" he said brightly, waving. He pointed to the golden amber heart on the screen beside him. The soul in his chest cavity shone even more brightly. "I'm fairly sure it looks normal. Above average! Great, even! Right?"

.

Alphys clasped her hands tight and tilted her head. She waved for Papyrus to sit down, and he did so instantly. She grabbed his face gently and squinted curiously at the bone between his eyes. She touched the spot with careful fingers.

"Is there something there?" he asked.

"N-No, it looks totally normal," she said. "Which is, um, good! I think." She pulled back, folding her arms and frowning thoughtfully. "Is that m-mark on your arms r-related, do you think?"

Papyrus tilted his head, then looked at his arm and began to cackle. "Nyeh heh heh! No no, Doctor, that's, uh… That. Is. Actually. A tattoo. From the movie, remember?"

"Wh-What?! You got it for real?!" she asked shrilly.

"It sure seems like it!" he said. "Though it is not something I actually remember doing at all. Which I guess is pretty par for the course at the moment."

.

Gaster zoomed by them again, still rambling into his recorder. Alphys sighed and shook her head.

"Why does this feel incredibly familiar?" Papyrus said with an amused smile. "So! Am I finished?"

"Ah! Um! I think so? B-But if you start f-feeling weird, or… or d-doing… unusual magic like that bubble, let me know, okay?"

"I absolutely will do that!" he assured her.

She reached into his ribcage and unfastened the wires and nodes that gathered readings close to his soul. He pulled a t-shirt back on and wrapped his scarf warmly around his neck. The red dog orb somehow tumbled from the cloth. He caught it, rolling his eyes. All of a sudden, a little white dog was reaching its small paws up onto his knee. Alphys yelped and stumbled back a step.

"Wh-Where'd you come from?!" she squeaked.

"Oh, don't mind him, he appears almost every time I touch this thing." He held out the bright red orb. "Either that or he texts me a picture of a close up of his nose. Which I have told him is weird, but he does not seem to care one bit."

The dog woofed. Papyrus scoffed, but he pet the small beast on the head regardless.

.

"Um." Alphys tilted her head and cautiously pointed at the artefact. "C-Could I, um, see that really quick?"

"Absolutely!" He handed it over and the small dog followed it with intense, beady dark eyes. "It definitely has some unusual power, I just don't fully understand it yet."

The dog barked.

"Yes, well, I thought that part was obvious," Papyrus said.

Again, the dog woofed.

"Pff! As if you can convince me that how high it bounces is of any relation to…" Papyrus rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowing. "Unleesssss…" He quickly shook his head. "No! Nope. No way, you are just entirely being a troublemaker. As usual."

The dog stuck its tongue out in reply. Alphys looked between the two, unable to mask her confusion. Nonetheless, she cupped the orb in both hands and raised it up, squinting at its unassuming, shiny red surface.

"I… c-can't even tell what it's made of. It's… almost crystal, but not quite?" she said quietly. She passed it back to the skeleton. "I'll look into the d-data we got from it downstairs when I h-have a little more time, okay?"

"I'm sure there's no rush," Papyrus said, sliding the orb into his pocket. "We have a lot more to worry about than…"

.

Gaster was making another round. Papyrus got up and stood in his path, grasping his shoulders. The older skeleton stalled and blinked like he'd been splashed with water. He clicked a button on his recorder.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Yes, in fact, something is the matter! Something incredibly serious!" Papyrus said, putting on a very dour expression. "You are supposed to be slowing down and resting and instead you are not doing that at all."

"Oh." Gaster rubbed the back of his skull. "I… I know, Paps, but—"

"Buuuut, your arm is still all strange! Look!" He grabbed his father's blackened hand and lifted it up— there was still iridescent energy in the holes of his palms. "And that was actually pretty horrifying, what happened. So. Could you maybe just take a small break? Please? Just for Alphys's sake if not your own, she's a wreck." He gestured to the lizard and shot her a wink.

Alphys's face flushed and she suddenly looked sweaty. "I-It's true! I-I'm basically a… A w-walking mess!" She grasped her cheek, holding in a nervous laugh.

Gaster's eyes flared gently with blue and gold. He sighed and chuckled, rubbing his brow. He thumped Papyrus gently on the shoulder and shot Alphys a fond smile. "Alright, I take your point." He grasped to the stand with the magic drip attached to it and measured the level in the bottle with his finger. "I will pause for a moment."

.

Papyrus grabbed Gaster's dark jacket and draped it warmly over his shoulders before he offered him his seat. Gaster settled, but couldn't sit still, drumming his fingers on the nearby desk. He held out his hands, casually bringing a soft, blue light to the left and a matching grey one to the right. Papyrus perked up.

"Is magic working again?!" he asked.

"…Sort of. But I'm not entirely sure what this grey is," he said. "I wonder if I can…" He cautiously touched it and stretched it bigger, making an orb big as a dinner plate that coloured the room seen through it in monochrome grey.

"That's…" Alphys adjusted her glasses and squinted. "V-Very weird. D-Do you know what it does?" She reached out cautiously to touch it, but her finger tapped against it like it was made of glass. She drew back instantly with a quiet hiss and stuck her finger into her mouth.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Alphys, are you alright?" Gaster asked.

"I-I-It's just s-super cold!" she said.

"Here." Papyrus grabbed her hand and warmed it between his with golden magic, and she blushed instantly.

.

Gaster brought the orb in closer to his chest and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He brushed it with his dark fingertips, but felt nothing. His white ones, though, felt exactly the frosty chill Alphys had described.

"Is it void junk?" Sans asked as he rolled his chair over with a lazy shot of blue.

"Most likely," Gaster said. He ran his fingertips through it again and tilted his head. "I admit, I don't quite see the point."

"That would make it some weird timeless crap, right?" Sans grabbed a crumpled piece of paper from the trash and chucked it at the bubble.

The paper passed through and froze in its centre. Gaster tilted his head. He got up again and circled it curiously, and then snapped his fingers. The grey dissolved and the paper continued forward and plunked onto the floor as if nothing had happened.

"Ohhh!" Papyrus beamed. "That's cool!"

"I-Is it a… time freeze, or something like that?" Alphys perked up. "Oh! That c-could be really useful."

.

Gaster looked at his dark fingers; rubbed them together against his broken palm. He beckoned to Papyrus. "Let's try something. Would you mind sending a few attacks my way?"

"Not at all!" Papyrus hopped back a few paces and gestured broadly, summoning up three pointed bones. With a flick of his wrist, he sent them sailing straight at Gaster.

The old skeleton stuck his hand up, a pulse of discordant magic ebbing from his palm as he swept it through the air, painting a swath of grey. The bones hit it point first and stuck fast.

"Ooh!" Alphys cooed.

"Now break them," Gaster said.

Papyrus snapped his fingers. The shafts of bone shattered into dissipating glitter, all but the points, stuck firm in grey magic.

"Now that is definitely interesting!" Papyrus said brightly. "I can't break them in there."

Gaster stepped aside and carefully released one of the points. It sailed forward for just a moment before breaking in midair. "I can certainly see some uses for this."

"I-It's a shame it's sort of one or the o-other in terms of the m-magic, huh?" Alphys said. "B-But you're s-so good at m-multitasking anyway, I'm sure you'll make it work!"

"Thank you, Alphys. I hope so," Gaster said. He let the other points free and they sailed and dissolved just as the first one did, then turned to Sans with a smile. "Good thinking." He checked the magic drip again and sighed, plopping back down in his seat. "And I suppose not taking significantly more energy is a plus, but—"

"You still n-need to take a breather," Alphys said. She headed for the fridge. "I'll get you another soda. Ginger, right?"

"Thank you," he said.

.

Just as Alphys began to root through her fridge, the east door crashed open and, with an explosion of pink glitter, Mettaton clip-clopped in his high-heeled boots— four legs worth of them, in fact.

"Helllooooo, darlings!" he said brightly, prancing forward with his bizarre, centaur-shaped body, a long tail tipped with the pointed end of a heart swishing behind him. "How are we doing today?!"

Alphys's face flushed and she ducked behind the door. Gaster frowned and rubbed his chin in puzzlement, looking to Papyrus with confusion, though his son merely shrugged. Sans burst out laughing so hard he almost fell out of his chair.

"What?! What on earth is so hilarious?" Mettaton demanded.

"Since when?" Sans demanded, gesturing to the metallic monster's body.

"Since when what?!" He stomped a front heel impatiently. "You are being incredibly weird!"

"Am I though?"

"Yes, you are!" Mettaton sighed and rolled his eyes. "I know you didn't just call me here to say incoherent things to me, right?"

"Heh. Thought that was all I ever did," Sans said with a wink.

"…Fair point." He clip-clopped over to the fridge, hands on his waist, and leaned over to look at Alphys. "Alphie, what are you doing down there?"

"Wh-What?! Nothing! N-Nothing. Sorry! S-Soda?" She offered him a bright red can as Sans surreptitiously snapped a few photos.

"Mmmmno thanks, doll. I've been cutting down on the carbonations," he said. "So what exactly is it that you want? I'm on a tight schedule, you know, I can't just be running down here all the time."

"…Seems like runnin's the least of your worries," Sans said, resting his cheek on his fist, a big grin on his face.

"Oh, stop it, brother," Papyrus scolded jokingly. He grabbed the ginger soda from Alphys and passed it to his father. "It's good to see you, Mettaton! I guess we should probably just get into what's going on."

"Yeah." Sans cleared his throat. "No more horsin' around."

Papyrus cut his eyes at his brother. "Sans."

.

"W-We need to use your broadcast b-blaster," Alphys said. "I think y-you're the one who knows how it works best, right?"

"Obviously!" Mettaton said smugly. "But I do need it to go live in—"

"A couple hours o' reruns ain't gonna kill anybody," Sans said.

Mettaton was about to protest, but Gaster got to his feet and the metal monster froze. He looked him up and down. "Oh my."

"Excuse me. I know we aren't very well acquainted," Gaster said. "But we really do need your device. We have some monsters with aberrant souls. Like this." He put his hand over his bare ribs and his blackened, spiking soul surged forth, shimmering blue and gold along the edges. "We need to locate them as quickly as possible. For the safety of the kingdom. And for their own sakes. Do you have a way to do that?"

"Wait, you're saying my fans could potentially be in danger?!" Mettaton demanded. "But what exactly is going on here? It sounds incredibly dramatic."

"You remember the surface?" Sans asked.

Mettaton froze. He tilted his head. It sounded like a screw clunked around his metal cranium and dropped down into his chassis. "Excuse me?"

"Aw," Papyrus said quietly. "Don't tell me you don't remember saving Ellie, that was a big deal!"

"Oooooh, Ellie! That cute little tiny human? Of course I remember that!" he protested. "But I… Hm. Wait a second…"

"It's a bit disjointed, right?" Papyrus asked. "Like me and the movie!"

"Oh! I do remember that."

"And you only had two legs back then," Sans said.

"What?! Only two legs!?" Mettaton scoffed loudly. "I don't believe it. Alphie would never. Only two!"

"Hah… Y-Yeah," Alphys said quietly.

"Of course not! I specifically requested the human preference of legs-four-daze and Alphys…" He grabbed her shoulders and grinned. "My wonderful, talented, charming Doctor Alphys, did exactly that!" He scoffed again. "Two legs! Who would dare?!"

.

"Okay, so can we use the thing or not?" Sans said.

"You'd owe me," he said. "A favour. A big favour."

"Sure," Sans said.

"What? Just like that?" He squinted. "What's the catch?"

"Eh." The skeleton winked. "Nothin' 'cept I ain't gonna remind you about it."

"Deal." Mettaton tapped his cheek with a metallic clinking sound. "I have used it to conduct a survey or two before, I'm sure I could—"

"That's perfect. Thank you," Gaster said.

.

Gaster and Alphys left with Mettaton the second the magic drip was finished. As soon as they were gone, Papyrus put a note in the shift-tracking app that just said, "LEGS?!" Sans laughed.

"You noticed, too, huh?" he said.

"It took me a moment," Papyrus admitted. "Wowie. It's not even noon yet and the number of weird things today has already been uncommonly high."

"Knowin' us, that ain't gonna be the end of it, either," Sans said. "But. That'd be nice, huh?"

"Chin up, brother, it's going to be okay," Papyrus said. "No matter how many bizarre, weird, multi-leg changes happen." He tilted his head. "Oh! How's Undyne, by the way?"

"Should be here any second. Hopefully with two legs," he said. He rested his cheek on his fist. "I'm takin' 'er out for the biggest dinner she ever had after this shit is done."

"Oh? Oh! As thank you. I see. That's a nice thought, brother." He grinned. "I'll hold you to it."

"You better." Sans winked. He chuckled. "Nah, I'll remember, don't worry 'bout it."

.

Papyrus's gaze shifted to the west door. He sat on the table next to his brother and tapped his foot. "Sans? You've been through all this nonsense before, right? With the memories and everything around you going back and forth?"

"Back mostly. Yeah. Why?"

Papyrus sighed. "It must've been lonely," he said. "I feel lonely just thinking about it."

Sans shrugged. "Nah. Had you."

Another note pinged from on the app, this time from Toriel. It read: "giant spider - river". Papyrus's eyes went wide; he laughed tiredly and rubbed his brow.

.

With a crash of the door, Undyne arrived, huffing and sweating. "NNnngaaaaaah! Still hate that hot!" she yelled.

Sans tossed her a can of soda. She held it tight against her forehead and let out a sigh of relief.

"How many legs you got?" he asked.

"What?! Two, ya punk!" she said. "You guys alright? Paps? Sounds like I missed a horror show."

"It was definitely a gigantic nightmare mess, yes, but it's okay now," he assured her. "And dad can do void bubbles that stop time now so that's pretty impressive."

"Also." Sans grinned and beckoned to her. "Look at this garbage." He showed her the pictures of Mettaton he'd taken and she snorted loudly.

"WHAT?! How the hell?! MAN! Was that what legs meant?!"

"Exactly that, in fact," Papyrus said.

"And don't tell me Alph didn't notice?!"

"She didn't seem to," Papyrus said.

"Dude, that's crazy," Undyne said.

.

The blue monster winced and popped the top of the can and guzzled the cold soda. She grimaced and smacked her lips. "So. Uh. How's Alph? She okay?"

"Oh, she's great! She really helped us out. As always," Papyrus said.

"Dad's a good distraction," Sans said. "She asked about you. Back at the house."

"She did?!" She grinned before she could help it. "Better than nothin', huh?!"

"Wowie. You must really miss her," Papyrus said. He frowned thoughtfully and rubbed his chin, but then his eyes brightened and he stuck his finger in the air. "I know! I know I am no replacement for Alphys, but if you want, I would be happy to perform some girlfriend duties while her memories are gone, if it would help in a nostalgic sort of way!"

"Ppfff, what?!" Undyne spluttered. "Paps, you don't—"

"I can call you in the morning!"

"You do that anyway."

"And I can help sharpen your spears! And we can lift weights and jog together!"

"We do that anyway, too!"

"And I can brush your hair and take you skating and get your groceries and I can make you delicious ramen noodles which are similar but not exactly the same as—"

"Paps!" Undyne laughed, grabbing him by the shoulders. "I appreciate it. Really. But you don't have to do anything. You're enough as is. Plus, I mean, you already set up my whole room for me."

"Oh! Nyeh heh heh! Well. That is true. But…" His brow furrowed slightly. "If there's anything more I can do to help, you'll let me know, right?"

"Yeah, dude, of course." She chuckled. "Definitely not turnin' down some company on a jog, though."

"And we should go skating," he said.

She laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll at least slide around with ya."

"Perfect! I'm glad! Sans, you should c—!" He turned to his brother, but Sans was asleep where he sat. Papyrus sighed. "Of course."

"Ah, let him," Undyne said. "Guy needs it."

xXxXx

Mercifully, the adjustments to the broadcast blaster and the resulting data collection didn't take long at all and the science monsters were back in the lab again within the hour, though Gaster was a little puzzled by the rhinestoning of what had once been one of his CORE workstations. Nevertheless, they had the information they needed. The strange, dark signal was so unique that it was easy to spot. There were two in Snowdin, one in Waterfall, and three in New Home. Suzy and Flora were well accounted for. The one in Waterfall would probably be the fancy clam girl that seemed familiar with Suzy up on the mountain plateau. The other three, though, they were unsure.

.

The plan was fairly simple: find the afflicted monsters, provide them with proof if needed, then invite them to the lab and explain the stakes. If they agreed, and had enough power, they could cast Gaster's new spell and help him guide the NOCTURNE on the right path. Gaster hoped desperately that Suzy was the youngest monster troubled by a soul marked with black, but there was no way to know who their candidates were until they actually found them. Papyrus would head to Waterfall, Gaster and Undyne would search New Home, and, with a phone call, Toriel agreed to gather Flora up and head to the lab with Suzy as well.

.

Sans slept through the whole meeting and it was unilaterally decided to let him continue to snooze rather than drag him all over the kingdom. Alphys would stay back and make sure he was doing okay— plus, trawling through UnderNet forums in case someone mentioned something that might be a clue. Papyrus headed out before the others, giving his brother a warming shot of bright magic right through the skull and tucking a mysterious dog in with him.

.

Of course, the skeleton was worried about his brother. None of this was sitting right with him at all. Everyone was acting so nonchalant— though, he supposed he was, too, but that was only because he felt one-hundred-percent perfectly fine. He knew for a fact that neither Sans nor their father were as okay as they said they were. He remembered Gaster being a workaholic from way back when he was a baby bones, but he didn't remember him being so stubborn and secretive.

.

Waterfall was swarming with Tems dancing between its glowing crystals. They were a chaotic horde, some in red and some in blue, and they were doing battle with cardboard tubes and plastic kitchen utensils. Papyrus deftly avoided them.

.

It was a shame the world was such a mess, he thought. He wished he had more answers about literally anything. It definitely hadn't slipped past him that he'd performed magic he'd never even seen before in the CORE. He wished he knew someone who knew something about it— or maybe about the dog summoning orb and why it zapped him in the skull, or the shrine in his basement. As he pondered, he realized he was lacking something else— he didn't actually know the name of the clam girl he was looking for. He called up Suzy and the little monster answered quickly.

"Hey," she said, trying very hard to sound casual.

"Hello, my wonderful assistant Suzy! It is the great Papyrus calling! How are you doing?"

"Oh. Um. Fine, I guess," she said. "Did you want to talk to Miss Toriel? She's outside telling a big spider guy to stop stepping on our— your roof."

"Oh! Well. That's… unusual," Papyrus said, scratching his chin. "But, no, actually, I need to ask you a question."

"Me?!"

"Nyeh heh heh! Yes, of course, I called you, didn't I?" he said.

"O-Oh! Yeah. I guess so. Um. What's up?"

"Could you tell me the name of that clam monster you met outside? You know her, right?"

"Wh…? Opurl?" she asked. "She was my babysitter when I was like, a baby, why?"

"I am on the search for her!" he said. "And I…" He slowed his gait, eyes catching on an odd shimmer of purple light to his right. He squinted into the shadowy crevices in the cavern wall.

.

He recognized where he was— a few paces from Gerson's store. The light came from the entrance of a home he'd shut the door to a few days ago. Curiously, he peeked inside. A series of beakers and flasks were bubbling on a desk at the back of the room, emitting a pinkish-purple glow that made a plethora of strange gadgets on the walls and tabletops gleam.

"Um. Papyrus?" Suzy asked.

"Ah! Sorry," he said, "I was just—!"

A loud pop made him yelp and he ducked as one of the bottles rocketed out towards him, propelled by a geyser of glowing, misty liquid. It narrowly missed his head.

"What was that?!" Suzy yelped.

"Never mind! It's alright!" Papyrus assured her quickly. He scanned around for the bottle. "Thank you again, friend. I'll see you at the lab a bit later, okay?"

"Oh. Um. Yeah. Sure. Glad to help," she said.

"Okay good bye talk to you later have a great day!"

.

Papyrus quickly hung up and began to look for the bottle again. Despite the glow of its contents, he couldn't see it anywhere, nor any splatter against the stone floor or the cave walls. He frowned to himself and poked his head into the home, knocking on door that was, once again, left wide open.

"Helllloooo?" he called. "Is there anyone home? One of your strange science beakers popped and flew out of your house and unfortunately I could not find it to bring it back to you! Just so you know what happened in case you're looking for that specific thing!" He titled his head, listening closely for a reply, but none came.

There was a closed door deeper inside, but a knock on that one also resulted in nothing. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and peered at the remaining beakers curiously. He couldn't make much of them, though.

"Sigh. I guess a note will have to do," he said.

.

As he went through his phone to find some paper, the light shifted slightly and he heard a clunk of wood on stone. He whirled around to see a feathery shape in the doorway, gleaming crystal eyes shining back at him, only a few bird-like features pulled out by the purple light. Papyrus immediately broke into a smile.

"Oh! Hello there! I am the great Papyrus! Do you live here?"

"Yes, this is my home." The voice was light and feminine, with a lilt to it Papyrus didn't recognize. She turned, scoffed, and bonked herself on the head with a wooden staff that she held. "Darn, I left it open again, didn't I?"

.

Papyrus bounded over, allowing a little more light from the glowing, bubbling experiment to cast over the newcomer. She was just a little shorter than him, with a dark, owl-like face and dressed as if anticipating a blizzard, garbed in a hood and a feathery muffler that shrouded portions of a dark grey tunic. Her long, fluffy wings ended in leathery, taloned hands, and a belt dangling with little shining baubles was strapped around her waist.

"Sorry for letting myself in," Papyrus said. "One of your experiments shot right out the door and I unfortunately could not find the bottle. I was about to leave you a note about it."

"Oh!" She chuckled. "Thank you. That's alright, it happens fairly often. It didn't hurt you, did it?"

Papyrus shook his head, though his eyes scanned her curiously. Her face was fairly stiff. An unusual monster, to be sure. She looked up at him unblinkingly and tilted her head.

.

"You… I'm sorry to ask," she said. "But… you wouldn't happen to be related to Doctor Gaster, would you?"

"You know my dad?" he blurted out, then his cheekbones flushed and he rubbed the back of his head "Nyeh heh! I guess that answers that with a yes!"

"Huh." The owl chuckled. "I suppose it does. We've met a couple times. Your face reminded me a little of him." She lowered her voice. "He didn't… happen to send you here, did he?"

"Nnnno, no he did not," Papyrus said. "Why? Gasp! Did you need help with something?! Oh! I'm sorry! He was gone for ten years, that's a huge amount of time to wait!"

"He was…?" She tilted her head the other way. "I'm not sure I understand."

"It was a very strange and complicated thing," he said with a nod. "I'm sure he can tell you all about it sometime! But! Do you need help?"

"Oh, no, please don't worry about it," she said quickly. "I was just running some tests on… Well. It's not really urgent."

"Well! Okay! We are quite busy in the lab at the moment, but once that's done, feel free to pop in, I'm sure my dad will be happy to see you! Or I can send him your way!" He grinned and stuck his thumb up. "Anyway! If I find your potion, I will bring it back here, but for now I will get out of your feathers!"

.

He headed for the door, but a surge of warmth tingled through his bones and a sudden weight in his ribcage made him pause and sigh. He lifted his shirt and a fluffy white dog fell out of his bones, ran in a circle around his feet, and then sped away into the Waterfall caverns beyond.

"What on earth…?!" The owl, despite a bit of a limp, raced to peek outside her door. "How did that happen?"

"Oh! It's this," Papyrus said, pulling the red orb out of his pocket. "It happens periodically and also most of the time when I touch it."

She stared unblinkingly at the sphere and then rushed towards him. "W-Where did you get that?"

"From a strange time hole at the bottom of the black lake. The one between here and Snowdin. Why?" He tilted his head. "Oh! Do you recognize it? Do you know what it's for?"

"May I?" she asked.

Papyrus offered the orb to her and she took it in cupped hands and quickly ferried it over to the table where her beakers bubbled.

.

The owl moved swiftly, shoving things off her table and dragging out sheets of old parchment, some long, thin pencils, and a drawing compass. From a compartment in the wall, she grabbed some pots of ink, too, and then quickly used her compass and pencil to draw out the orb at its exact size. She scrawled some notes beside it. Her writing was quick and scratchy, and when Papyrus leaned over her shoulder, he couldn't read it at all.

"Sorry, could you get the light?" she asked, waving towards the door.

Papyrus hopped to it, finding a round switch on the wall. He twisted it and the light faded up over the room, revealing organized chaos: water-damaged tapestries stitched back together decorating the walls, every surface stacked with papers and tomes, all kinds of strange metal gadgets and books in uneven piles over the room.

"Thanks, hun," she said. She poured out ink from several pots onto the page and pulled out one of her own feathers to stir it, making a red that matched the sphere exactly. She painted her circle with it. "Do you have any clue what this is? You lucky thing."

"You sound like you've seen one before," he said. His eyes brightened. "Oh! I hope I'm not imposing but could you tell me what you know about it?! We've kind of been at a loss, to be honest!"

"They're something very prized in the surface world, but also… mythical." She whirled on him. "That dog appearing, that was it activating, wasn't it?"

"Seems to be, yes," he said with a nod, though he rubbed his skull. "Why would a human want it?"

"I've read about them, for sure. There were depictions of it in ancient shrines," she explained. "But nobody… They haven't been seen in person. Not in a very long time, at least. It's been a mystery for a few hundred years. "

.

"Wowie, that's really something," Papyrus said. He put his hands on his hips and took another look around her living space. "So you're… a researcher, or something, right?"

"You could say that." She kept writing with quick fingers. "Would you like to know a little more about it? This artefact, I mean."

"Ah! Yes! Anything you could tell me!" he said hurriedly. "Wowie, am I glad I trespassed into your house!"

The owl chuckled. "It's to my advantage, too." She turned back to him. "Would you mind if…?" She tilted her head. "You look very worried, hun, you alright?"

"Hm?! Do I?!" He put a hand against his cheekbone. "Ah. I'm sorry. It's just there's a lot of things going on right now. Actually, I should probably g—"

"Would you like some tea?" she asked. "It's all the way from New Home; it's very good. Relaxing."

"Well, I…" He sighed. He walked fast, didn't he? He could afford the pause, couldn't he? "Nyeh. I'd love some, honestly. Thank you very much."

.

The owl nodded. She opened the door in the wall to reveal a very small, cozy kitchen. It wasn't as much of a mess as the main room, but the stove inside was dark and old fashioned, and the walls and furniture were a medley of different materials and styles from bygone eras.

.

With a wave of her hand, she invited Papyrus farther in. She heaved up an old, blackened kettle and put it in the sink to fill it. With water inside, she struggled— Papyrus grabbed it for her and put it on the stovetop.

"Thanks, hun," she said. When she turned on the heat, the stove ticked like an old clock for a few seconds. She looked up at him and tilted her head. "So you just found it in a lake?"

"Well. More like, a rip into a timeless void happened at the bottom of a lake and a strange tendril grabbed me and it gave it to me when it spit me out," Papyrus said.

Though her expression was unreadable, her tone became shrill. "That sounds like quite the ordeal. Was that recent?"

"It was, but that's not—"

"Were you hurt?"

"No, not at all," he said. "Honestly, on my list of things that are odd— I mean, it's definitely on there, but I have to put it somewhere at the bottom because at least it isn't urgent."

.

The owl crossed her wings. Papyrus's cheekbones flushed.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I must be making no sense at all."

"That's alright. What did you say your name was? Papyrus?"

He nodded. "Yes! The great Papyrus! That's me."

"Well. Papyrus." She pulled two mugs from her cupboard. "You're pretty young, aren't you? A teenager, still?"

"Nineteen, why?" he said.

"You need to slow down for a minute. Just breathe." She carefully opened a kitschy jar with kittens painted on it to pull out the teabags, and put one in each mug. "I was like you at that age. Hah. Listen to me, talking like I'm three hundred! But. Honestly. The last thing you want is to go so fast you miss something important. For example. I'm glad you took a moment to stop by here, even if it was just happenstance."

"Well, I couldn't just let you wonder about your bottle forever!" Papyrus insisted.

"That's very nice of you," she said.

.

When the kettle boiled, the owl poured them tea with shaking hands, and passed Papyrus a mug. He sipped it daintily.

"Back to your artefact," she said as she leaned back on her kitchen counter. "There are some interesting stories from the surface about ones like it. They were sometimes found in temples, or given as gifts to people deemed worthy for some reason or another. The records aren't really clear on that part, unfortunately. Humans wanted them. Then, for a relatively short amount of time, they actually began to burn them."

"Burn them? Why?" Papyrus asked with alarm.

"The thought was to bring them closer to the heat of the sun," she said. "So, the stories say, as many as could be gathered were brought to the human king— though what year exactly isn't really clear— and they lit a huge bonfire. There was nothing left in the ashes. Unfortunately for the humans, the school of thought shifted just a few decades later and when people wanted to find them again, it became very difficult. The bonfire might just be a mythologized story, but either way, these… orbs, they're still missing."

"Wowie. You're sure it's the same thing?" Papyrus asked.

"I believe so. But. Just to be sure. In my readings, it seems some of the other effects include glowing, an aura of protection, and granting visions."

"Oh! That's interesting, I think it's done most of those, for sure!" the skeleton said brightly. "Plus I put it on a dog shrine and it shot me in the head."

The owl almost fumbled her tea. "I-It what?!"

"It was fine! I think. It was just this morning. So maybe something else strange will happen, buuuut, that's okay. Again, on my list, very low."

"What could be going on that getting struck in the head by an ancient artefact is low on the list?" she asked.

.

"Wellllll…" Papyrus said. "Ah. It's really a very complicated and bizarre thing. I mean!" He stuck his hands up quickly. "Not that I think you couldn't understand it, it's just a lot of layers of nonsense I need to keep straight, and that's assuming you even believe me."

"I have no reason not to believe you, Papyrus," she said gently. "Something is clearly causing you a lot of stress."

"Is it really that clear?!" he asked.

The owl chuckled. "I… know how it feels, when making it through the day is… Well, I wouldn't say a struggle, but is starting to get overwhelming. When I first came here, everything was like that. Every new place, every new monster; every new bit of magic. I kept going, of course. But something out of your control turning your world upside down is no easy feat to deal with."

"O-Oh." Papyrus sighed. "Sigh. You're right. It's definitely not easy at all. I wish I could say it was! I mean, I will anyway. In front of my brother. And my dad."

"I see," she said. She put her untouched tea aside. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"Honestly, I would. But. I should really get out looking for who I was looking for."

The owl nodded. "Well. Next time. You're welcome to come back."

.

Papyrus's eyes brightened. "Thank you! And thanks very much for the tea," he said as he gently put the mug aside.

"One thing. Sorry if this is forward," she said. "May I… borrow your artefact? Just for a little while. There's someone I'd like to speak to about it. I may be able to find more answers for the both of us with just a little more time."

"You'd really do that?!" He grinned. "Of course! That's so helpful! Wowie, I was just wishing for someone who could help me with that confusing dog orb and—! Well, anyway. I'm going to be looking around for somebody for a while, and I'll be back this way soon. Is that okay?"

"Thank you, Papyrus," she said brightly. "You won't regret it."

xXxXx

As Papyrus resumed his search, Gaster and Undyne began their own on the streets of New Home. Though it was daunting— it had the highest population of any livable section underground— at the very least, homes weren't tucked away into extra, maze-like caverns or gullies, or at the bottom of dark lakes.

.

A little boost to the SOULSCN app and they at least had a hot-and-cold reading and a little alert system. As they headed through the shopping district without a hit except Gaster himself, Undyne found her mind wandering away. She caught sight of some of her guards doing a patrol down the next street, carrying a big sign announcing that anyone feeling down should come hang out with them. They saluted her when they caught sight of her, and she thumped her fist over her soul spot in reply. Pleased, they hurried away, giggling like schoolchildren.

.

"So, uh. Hey, Doc?" she said, turning to the skeleton a few paces ahead of her. "You got any thoughts on who might be a good candidate for this?"

"It's hard to say," Gaster admitted. "Logically, I would think somebody who worked at the lab. But, at that time, all our senior members had retired or passed away, and we didn't have any interns. It was only Alphys, Sans, and I. And neither of them are afflicted, obviously." He rubbed the back of his skull. "But, then we have the issue that is Suzy."

"Yeah. Poor kid," Undyne said. "Everything's goin' all screwed up on her."

"I spoke with Toriel about this earlier, and we suspect it was her and that clam, Opurl, together. This other monster was her babysitter. It could be something as simple as they were out for a walk and got caught in some stray energy. Flora, too."

"And she's all the way from Snowdin. So it really could be anybody."

"Hm. We could try to narrow it down; ask for anyone taking a walk near the CORE ten years ago. But. Memories fade. And it probably wouldn't seem like a day to stand out at all, with the exception of some seismic activity." Gaster shrugged. "At the very least, we know that there are, in fact, three signals here. Better than nothing, I suppose. I hope they weren't children, too."

"What a mess," she growled.

He looked at his blackened hand. "I hope… that if something goes wrong again, with this, I can at least pause it."

"I mean, sucks about your arm, but that'd be good," Undyne said.

"Anything to help," he assured her. "I'm not concerned about it."

.

"So did you guys know this was gonna happen?" she asked quizzically. "When it blew up, I mean."

"The CORE was clearly behaving strangely. We had planned maintenance and shut down the area. We sent out flyers; put out signs," Gaster said. "I knew I was going to die. I did not want anyone else to suffer the same fate. But… ultimately, you can't control what others do. And we obviously couldn't control where the CORE's energy went."

"What's that like? To be so sure about something like that?"

"Oh. Horrifying," he said with a laugh. "But… reassuring, all at once. My mother had the ability naturally. I did not until I experimented on myself with determination before Sans was born." Gaster took on a melancholy, nostalgic smile. "The specific ability to predict one's death is very rare. I'm not sure it exists very much at all anymore, but when I was a child it was called a Profos Eye."

"Pfff. Named by a skeleton, I bet," Undyne said with a sly grin.

"Hm? Oh! Hah. You're right," Gaster said, chuckling. "Monsters who possessed an Eye could give it up if someone else would take it. It would often be passed from parent to child. My mother chose to give hers up before I was born, though. I don't think it sat well with her."

"Sounds tough to deal with," Undyne said. "I wouldn't wanna give that to my kid."

"I think she would have agreed with you. And yet…" He sighed and shook his head. "Well. It did help my daughter a little, in the long run, so there is that."

.

Undyne sighed. "Maybe it shouldn't be just us. Not sure how many guys Asgore pulled, but I could see if there's anyone around to help us go door-to-door. That's what we usually do for a big search like this."

"I think you're right," Gaster said.

Undyne tilted her head, brow furrowing in thought. She took a few steps more and then clunked her back against the side of the nearest shop, turning to her phone. She texted knights in a hurry, her frown deepening. Her ears perked up.

"Yo. Wait a sec. If these guys have this dark soul stuff, like Suzy, right? They might be noticing the shifts in the city. Right?"

"Very likely." Gaster's eyes brightened. "Oh! They may have mentioned it to someone."

"Yeah, I was thinkin' that." She typed faster. "I'll tell Alph to look extra hard for stuff like that on the forums or whatever."

"That's good." He tapped his teeth thoughtfully. "I'm wondering if I shouldn't check on some of my old colleagues anyway."

"They're a bunch of smart dorks, too, right?" Undyne said. "Might not be a terrible idea."

"And if anyone was going to be wandering around the CORE at the wrong time, their probability would be higher," he said.

.

Undyne nodded. She tilted her head down the street and they continued on their way.

"How are you holding up, by the way?" Gaster asked.

"Hm? Ah. Could be worse," she said.

"Is Toriel still missing from your memories?" he asked gently.

"Ahhh…" She rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah. I feel pretty bad about that one." She clenched her fists. "It's really kinda messed up, though, because I have this feeling like I like her a lot. But I also have this feeling like I was really pissed at her once. I can't remember why. Or when."

"Is it related to Asgore?" he wondered.

"Not really? I dunno! It's…" She growled. "It's not real. It's nothing from… here. It's something sideways, gotta be. That ain't fair, right?!"

"Not at all," Gaster said. "I'm so sorry, Captain. We're going to clear this all up."

"Yeah yeah, I know," she said. "It just… Guh. It's fine. Whatever."

.

She sped up, almost clunking directly into a woman coming around the corner on her blind side. She jerked back, as did the other— a pale, deer-like creature with white horns and brown and green stripes on her arms and face. She yelped with a familiar voice.

"Oh! Captain Undyne, I'm sorry about that! How are you feeling?"

Undyne blinked blankly. So did Gaster.

"Wait, you're…?!" Undyne tripped on the word human and stopped herself from blurting it. "June?!"

"Well, yes, I…!" June paused in surprise and then began to laugh. "You actually didn't recognize me? Papyrus did a really good job, then!"

"Papyrus did…?" Gaster closed in quickly, his eyes alight. He took note of the false horns on June's head. "Would you look at that…"

.

"Hello again, Doctor Gaster," June said brightly. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Wait a damn second, what're you doing out here on your own?!" Undyne asked.

The woman grinned bashfully. "Well, since this…" She held out her hands, drawing attention to the makeup patterns on her fingers. "It's… pretty effective. I was curious about the city and the King suggested I take a look at the shops before the crowds come out. Also, I'm, um…" She pulled a paper list out of her pocket and skimmed it quickly. "I'm also supposed to stay away from Hotland and very bright lights for the makeup and he suggested I check out theeee… Archives and a candy store and a park on Buttercup Boulevard."

"All good suggestions," Gaster agreed. "Nobody's tried to battle you yet, have they?"

"No, not at all," she said. "The, um, owner of the breakfast place seemed to have a deal up where you could win a battle for half-price on waffles but I turned them down."

"Oh, dude, I'm definitely goin' there after we're done," Undyne said.

.

June smiled. She tilted her head curiously. "Is it alright if I ask what you're doing? You two are both very high-ranking, right?"

Gaster shrugged. "I have no problem."

"Monhunt, basically," Undyne said. "We're lookin' for a couple people with black in their souls. It's, uh…" She squinted. "I… forget how much you know."

"If it's about the missing kids, I do know about a lot of that," she said.

"Oh! Great, okay, that's… good to know." Undyne's head hurt; her ear-fins drooped. "Basically. These monsters might be having some issues we can help with. Hopefully. And they can help us with our kid search."

"We're travelling along the streets in a grid, as much as we can," Gaster said as they started to walk again. "We'll arrive at the Archives eventually, if you'd like to come along."

"Gladly," June said.

.

Undyne's phone buzzed. She checked her messages, though every one of her soldiers who replied were saying they were on Asgore's task. It was an important mission, though, so it didn't bother her.

"No luck on the help so far, Doc," she said.

"Shame," he said.

"It's… people with something weird in their souls, right?" June asked. "Maybe they've been to a hospital about it or something."

"Uh…" Undyne scratched her cheek. "I'm not sure."

"It doesn't seem too far fetched to go to the doctor if they were feeling off, does it?"

"Uuuhhh…" Undyne smiled sideways. "We, uh, usually just eat a ton and sleep it off."

"The clinics are more for immediate injuries rather than illness," Gaster explained. "The natural reaction to a soul issue would be what Undyne said."

June looked confused. "So you don't go if you catch something?"

"We don't," Gaster said. "Catch something, I mean. We don't get sick in the same way humans do. But. Checking in at the clinics is not a bad idea at all."

"I'll call, I guess," Undyne said, lifting her phone again and dialling.

"Don't you need a warrant for info like that?" June asked.

"What the heck's a warrant?" Undyne wondered.

.

She stuck her phone against her head and some small voice blurbled on the other end. "Yo. Captain Undyne here. Got a sec? …Cool. Anyone come in with a weird soul? Black stuff on it. Spiky or…? Oh?! Oh yeah?!" She grinned. "So what'd he…?" She gestured to Gaster, miming for a pen.

He handed over a crumpled piece of paper and a marker, and Undyne stopped, holding her phone against her ear with her shoulder and using the wall of a nearby book store to write on.

"Uh-huh. Uuuh-huh. And he said…? Eey, thanks! That's great. As you were, citizen!" She hung up and turned to Gaster. "Monster came in a week or so ago, showed the soul, but there was some scrap in the waiting room and he didn't stay. Didn't leave a name, but, uh, looks like it was a shadowcat." She thumped June heavily on the shoulder, causing her to stumble. "Good idea, that's something, at least!"

"Shadowcat?" June repeated curiously.

Gaster frowned thoughtfully. "But what would a…?" His eyes went wide and flickered with colour. "Scathkath?"

"Sha-dow-cat," Undyne said slowly.

Gaster's brow furrowed deeply and he paced anxiously. "That lines up with my tentative hypothesis but how on earth…? Oh, that's bad, it's—"

"Yo. What?" Undyne said, grabbing his shoulders to stop him. "Less rambling, more explaining, okay, Doc?"

"Sorry. An old colleague of mine is a shadowcat," he said. "There aren't very many left. Two families, in fact, unless something awful happened to them in the last ten years."

"That narrows it a lot," Undyne said. "Know where they live?"

"I know where he lived, ten years ago."

"Alright!" Undyne grinned. "Good enough, lead the way!"

He pointed down the street. "Same way."

"Oh." She guffawed. "Easy!"

.

They picked up the pace. June rushed to keep up. Despite the urgency, there was a glimmer in her eye as she looked at the architecture of the pale city around them.

"You guys don't have cars, right?" she asked.

"No cars," Undyne said.

"I guess that's good, actually, the noise down here would be horrific," June said quietly. Her dark eyes went wide. "Wait. So how did Papyrus know how to drive?!"

"He knows how to drive?" Gaster asked with surprise.

Neither of them could conceal their surprise and Undyne barked out a loud, boisterous laugh. One more step, though, and she bonked her face right into the side of a building.

.

"H-Hey, what…?!" June squeaked from beside her. "What just…?"

Undyne grunted and took a step back, rubbing her face, teeth bared. "Where the hell did this come from?!" She cast around quickly, scanning an alleyway that penned the two of them in.

The building that had slammed her in the face was massive, over ten storeys, and Gaster was nowhere in sight. Her ears pinned back and a deep ache rattled inside her head. Growling, she scrunched her eye shut and pressed her palms against her temples. Where was she? What was she doing here? Was she looking for something?

"H-Hey! Undyne, are you alright?"

A hand on her back and Undyne's eye opened, blazing, to the sight of an unfamiliar, deer-like face. Every note in her soul screamed human. Magic crackled under her claws and a bright cyan spear snapped into her hand. Her soul blazed and the green soul of the human surged out of her chest as she was clutched in battle. The woman yelped with surprise.

"U-Undyne?" Her eyes were wide and worried. "Are you going to be sick? Should I find you some water?"

.

Undyne whirled around, shoulders hunched, clutching her weapon tight as she looked over the human with a scowl. "…What the hell is going on?" she snarled.

"I don't know, one second we were with Doctor Gaster and now we're… here," the woman squeaked. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Undyne squinted. Human. But something was definitely wrong. Her anger began to drift away. She knew she'd seen the sky. Seen the ocean. The barrier was gone. There was no fight to be had. Her face flushed and she shook her head quickly, releasing the battle as quickly as she could. The glow of their souls faded.

"Shit," she muttered.

.

The headache slipped away. Recollection flickered in her mind. She took a deep breath. She straightened up, thunking the butt of her spear against the cobblestones, letting it give her a little support. June edged closer.

"Are you okay?" she asked again.

"Sorry. I'm fine," she said. "We were…?" She looked up at the looming building with confusion. "Jeez, what the hell happened?!"

June could only shrug.

.

A sharp ringing startled them. Undyne chucked her spear into the ground hurried to answer her phone.

"Undyne, are you alright?! Are you still in the city?" Gaster demanded.

"Yeah! Where the hell are you?!" she asked.

"Same spot. Is June with you?"

"Yeah," she said. "We're fine."

"Good." He sighed. "Good. Should we meet up or—?"

"Nah, we'll keep going," she said. "Call if you get stuck somewhere, right?"

"Right. Heh. Thank you, Captain. I'll head to the north end. That's where I recall my colleague living before the accident. We can meet up later. Good luck out there."

"Don't need it!" she assured him as she hung up. She turned to June. "So, uh, sorry, gonna take a bit of a detour."

"That's alright." She looked a bit pale, though. "That… was bizarre."

"Tell me about it," Undyne said.

.

They left the alley for the street and Undyne tried to figure out where they were. It was a set of apartments set up before a small courtyard of tended greenery. It resembled a place Undyne had seen before, but the name on the front sign was Bramble Balconies, which she knew for certain was not an apartment complex that had existed a day ago. Undyne folded her arms, scowling at the building. June looked at her, then looked at it. She fished in her pocket and pulled out a folded rectangle of thick paper that unfurled into a street map. Undyne followed her lead and brought up a map app on her phone. The layout she saw— a stylized array of streets and blocks of buildings based on a live-feed— was mostly unfamiliar to her. She glared at it.

"Okay, fully noticing this garbage," she muttered.

June edged closer to her to let her in on the paper map. The two hardly lined up.

"It looks like," the human said, leaning over the phone and pointing to a section of green on Undyne's phone, "That maybe this apartment and this park got switched?"

"But why did we move? We weren't at either of those," Undyne grumbled.

"Well… Umm…" June checked her list again. "Was it Buttercup Boulevard? Maybe in… another time, we were headed there, but it was… somewhere else, and…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I have no idea."

"Same." Undyne sighed. "Shit."

.

She turned on her heel and stormed down the street. June hurried to keep up. A few blocks down, they got their first hit of luck. SOULSCN alerted. Undyne's ears perked right up and she circled the street to pinpoint the direction and then zoomed off after it.

.

The detector led them to a street of homes, and straight to the door of a pale house that looked like a squat castle tower with a small door. Undyne bent down and knocked. The monster that opened the door resembled an axolotl shaped beanbag chair— round, white and pistachio green on the tips of its limbs and floppy gillstalks.

"Oh my, is that Guard Captain Undyne?!" he squeaked in a nasally little voice. "Can I help you?"

"Yup! You got a black soul?" Undyne asked.

"Wha…? Oh, no no, mine is yellow!" the little round creature said.

"Hmm…" Undyne rubbed her chin. "Can I come in and look around?"

"Of course!" He rolled aside. "Ooh, is this part of some big investigation? How exciting! I'll make some drinks!"

"Cool." Undyne ducked through the doorframe, and then waved at June to follow. "C'mon. Drinks."

"Don't you need a warrant?" she asked worriedly.

"I still dunno what that is," Undyne said.

June looked flummoxed, but she followed the big blue monster inside anyway and gently closed the door behind her.

.

Inside was just barely standing height for Undyne. Most of the house was just as pale as the outside, with a light green rug leading to a downstairs pond of water. Undyne stared at her phone and looked around curiously. It lead her to the right, to a cozy little living room that had some pictures of several types of colourful monsters on the walls. One right over a small bookshelf showed the smiling face of a white and blue monster, similar to the one who had answered the door, squished playfully against the cheek of a small, round-headed, red monster with huge eyes, making a peace sign. An ugly orange couch sat on another green rug, in front of an old, patched-together TV, currently playing Mettaton cooking show reruns at a low volume.

.

"Hey, uh, anyone else live here?" Undyne called.

"Oh! Yes, my brother, but he's not home right now," the little monster replied.

"Are you sure this is okay?" June insisted.

"Yeah, 'course it is, why?" Undyne said.

June shrugged tepidly. She carefully tiptoed across the room and put her hands on her hips as she looked around. "It's strange. Houses here look a lot smaller on the outside, right?"

"Hm? Oh. Uh. Yeah. Guess so. Magic stuff." Undyne prowled around. Her phone buzzed; the app reacted very strongly to a burgundy book left out on the shelf. Undyne's eye went wide and her ears pinned back. She moved the phone around it, just to be sure, but the strongest signal remained right over the book."…Uh. Uh oh."

"What?" June leaned in. "Is it broken?" She cautiously reached for the book, but Undyne grabbed her hand and quickly shook her head.

"Just, uh, wait a sec," she said.

Though June looked confused, she nodded and drew back, folding her arms.

.

The little round monster rolled into the room after a moment, presenting them each with a glass of bright green cider which, miraculously, he had not spilled a drop of. Undyne nodded gratefully.

"Thank you very much," June said quietly.

"How is the investigation going?" the monster asked.

"Uhhh. Gooooood. I think," Undyne said. She took a deep swig of the cider and then pointed her finger at the book. "That… wouldn't happen to be someone's, uh, special item, would it?"

"Oh! Yes! It is. My brother's partner. Pepper. She was a brilliant scientist, you know! A doctor, even!" The little monster drooped. "Unfortunately, she fell down three years ago."

Undyne gulped. "Damn. Sorry."

"Thank you," he said. "She was very nice. She worked at the lab on the CORE before she decided to set up the clinic here."

"Hm. You don't say."

"I don't understand," June said quietly.

"Yeah, uh, sure happens way too often," Undyne said quickly. "But, uh! You know it's… We got some knights. Going around. You heard about up top?"

The round monster's dark eyes glimmered and his cheeks flushed pink. June had to stop herself from cooing.

"It's really true, isn't it?" he asked. "The barrier… It's really gone? Just like that?"

"Sure is!" Undyne said, putting on a big grin. "So you better check it out! It'll do you good! Your brother, too."

"I will! Thank you, Captain!" he said brightly. "So. Um. What is it that you needed, exactly? Can I help?"

"Nah. We're good. Thanks though. False alarm," she said. "I can send you the report once I do my write-up."

"Ooh! An official report! I'd love to see!" he said.

Undyne chuckled. "I bet."

.

Undyne and June slipped out as soon as they could, finishing their drinks first to be polite. Undyne's glower returned almost the second they shut the door behind them.

"Shit," she said, quickly texting Gaster.

"I don't understand what just happened," June said.

"She's dead. She somehow died in the time she didn't exist," Undyne growled. "Damn it."

"Oh… Shit," June said at a whisper. "So was that book, like… an urn?"

Undyne sighed. She grabbed June's arm and gently tugged her along. "When a monster dies, if we can, we scatter their dust over something important to 'em. It still carried some of their, like, essence, I guess. So…"

"So." June sighed. "Poor Pepper."

.

Undyne rubbed the back of her head. "So. Uh. Sorry to drag you all over. You want me to drop you at the Archives or something?"

"I don't mind coming along if you don't mind having me," she said.

Undyne nodded. "S'fine." A pang of guilt hit her and she winced. "Uh. Listen. If I… space? And I make your soul glow like that again. Run. Or. Hide behind something. Or, uh. Tell me to call Sans to sort it out, okay?"

"What?" June asked worriedly.

"Just say yes, okay?!"

"…Yes. Okay. I will," she assured her.

xXxXx

When Gaster got the message about Pepper, he didn't want to believe it. She'd worked in the lab with him for over fifteen years. He had to take a moment, hiding in a gap between buildings, his soul seeping cold sadness as tears poured down his face.

.

As he regained himself as much as he could, he straightened up with a heavy soul and hurried his steps.

.

One of the monsters he was looking for lived once lived above a stew restaurant in the northern end of the city. Gaster couldn't contain his relief and his dread when the app on his phone alerted him near a storefront in the same spot that instead sold soup. He slipped inside through a side door and headed upstairs, to be met by another door with a welcome mat it front of it shaped like a round, black cat head. He knocked.

.

Within a few seconds, the door opened and a thin, black, cat-like monster stood before him. A shadowcat— a type of monster with malleable, smoke-like form. Pitch black with a bright, cheshire grin, sharply pointed ears that curved back at the tips, and glittering, obsidian eyes. He was dressed casually in an off-white hoodie and black slacks. To look at him, one wouldn't guess he was once one of the kingdom's top scientists, and now served as the director of the University of Hotland.

"Oh. You," he said dryly, folding his arms. "You have some nerve showing up here."

"I…?" Gaster blinked. "Scathkath, are you alright?"

The shadowcat stayed stiff for a moment before breaking out into a grin and chortling loudly, pulling Gaster into a tight embrace. "You old kook, where were you?!" he demanded. "When I said you needed to retire, I didn't mean just to vanish like that."

"I'm sorry." Gaster laughed with relief and patted Scathkath on the back. "I… I never intended…" He shook his head. "It's a long story. I need to talk to you. Do you know where I can find Kio?"

"Of course." He pulled back and turned, calling into the house. "Kiiiiooo, look who the dog dragged in!"

.

Instantly, a large, long-necked, blue snakebird poked her head out of another room inside and gasped loudly. Gaster couldn't help a grin. Kio, too, was laboratory alumni — one of the best mechanists he had ever met.

"Gaster?!" She shoved her way past Scathkath and grabbed the skeleton tight, yellow eyes glistening.

He wanted to collapse with relief, but he kept himself upright and steady despite the monster squishing his spine.

"What…?! It's so good to see you! Where…? Huh! What a mysterious feeling." She looked down at him and clacked her beak. "It's like…"

"You didn't realize I was gone. And now it feels very obvious," Gaster said.

Kio's eyes bugged out. "Yes! Exactly that!" She pulled back and waved him inside. "Come in! Scath, honestly, don't just block the door like that!"

The shadowcat grinned and stepped aside, beckoning Gaster in.

.

The home was an even mess of knitting projects and collections of textbooks and manuscripts, with the exception of the checkerboard kitchen at the back, which was completely spotless. Homemade textiles hung upon the walls to give pops of colour all over the otherwise bland room.

"Food? Tea?" Scathkath asked.

"I'm alright. Thanks," Gaster said. "So, um. How have you two been?"

"Oh! You know. Alright," Scathkath said, though there was a little trepidation in his voice. "Taking a little holiday from work. Which…" He gestured to the stacks of papers eclipsing the dining table. "…Basically means catching up on grading." He chuckled. "How's Sans, by the way? I…" He frowned. "I didn't keep up with his progress. I should have. I don't know why I…?"

"It's alright," Gaster said swiftly. "I'll explain… He's fine, by the way. And so is Papyrus."

"Aah! Little Papyrus! Or! I guess he must be… what, eighteen? Nineteen, now?" Kio said. "Feels like no time at all!"

"He didn't follow the old man's footsteps, too, did he?" Scathskath teased.

"Hah. He didn't. He's more interested in following in Captain Undyne's."

"Oh! A skeleton of action, hm? Interesting." The shadowcat smiled. "Sans was enough of a handful. The mind on that one." He shook his head. "Did he ever let you read his dissertation? Did he tell you what he did?"

Gaster blinked blankly. "He… didn't, I don't think?"

"He wrote it under a false name, right?" Kio said.

"He submitted every assignment under a fake name because he thought I was going too easy on him in the lectures." The shadowcat grinned sideways. "I thought I was going hard on him."

Gaster smiled. "He does have a good head on his shoulders, doesn't he?"

.

"I guess you'd be the one to ask this, but did you hear about the barrier?" Kio asked, wide-eyed. "I keep hearing these rumours the last few days."

"It's true," he said.

"Amazing," she breathed. "Was it you? Or Alphys?"

Gaster shook his head.

"There was literally no commotion about it," Scathkath said, rubbing his chin. "Very strange."

"Right," Gaster said, "about that—"

"What's going on?" The snakebird slithered onto one of two grey couches, shoving aside a basket of yarn and knitting needles. She patted the space beside her. "To be honest, Gaster, you look awful!"

Gaster chuckled. He sat beside her and she instantly grabbed his blackened hand in her wing, gasping loudly.

"GASTER!" she squealed. "What did you do?!"

"And why were you out of contact for so long?" Scathkath asked. "I know you get absorbed in your work, but—"

"I was very literally absorbed by my work," Gaster said quickly. "This will sound crazy, but if anyone were to understand, it would be you two." He put a hand to his chest and pulled out his dark soul. "The CORE erupted on top of me. I was erased from time for ten years."

.

The other monsters froze. Kio's beak dropped open and she garbled for a moment before bringing out the glow in her own soul as well. The deep blue of it was riddled with spikes of black. Scathcath winced and clenched his hand into his hoodie. His soul, too, surged out. Even more than Kio's, the orange shine he brought forth was stained in chunks with darkness even deeper than his smokey form.

"So it's… not just us," Kio said softly.

"I was going to try to get it looked at," Scathkath said. "I've never seen anything like it in my entire life."

"Haven't read anything about it, either," Kio said, nodding. "I checked the Archives. Nothing."

"Have you been noticing things… changing, every so often?" Gaster asked.

"Oh my god, yes!" she said shrilly. "We used to live about a stew restaurant, right?"

"According to them, it was never a stew restaurant," Scathkath said.

Gaster nodded and looked at the shadowcat. "You might want to be sitting for this."

Raising his brows, Scathkath did just that.

.

The skeleton tented his fingers, and then began to explain. He told them about the CORE, about the research into timelines that had happened past their time working with him. He explained the void. He explained his death, and what was essentially theirs, too. With the news about Pepper, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Then, he explained his daughter — her role in the world, what was happening due to its fragility and her absence; how her determination had restored those who'd been lost to time.

.

His former colleagues sat in tense, worried silence. Gaster grimaced. He knew it must be hard to take.

"So, what, we've… all lost ten years?" Kio asked, her voice cracking.

"The memories are… fabricated, somehow," Gaster explained. "I don't have them, but everyone else afflicted seems to. They've plopped back into a life as if they never left. We found a child who is… only eleven years old. Same thing."

"Oh. No… What a nightmare. That poor little one."

"You know what this means?" Scathcath reached across for Kio's wing and cracked a smile. "…We should do a second wedding."

"W-We should!" she laughed, wiping her eyes. "Oh. Gaster. So if… your daughter, if she hadn't… We'd all still be…" She shook her head.

"I'm so sorry," Gaster muttered. "I thought it was only me. I tried so hard to—"

"We were the ones who ignored the signs!" Kio protested. "We thought, it'd been a little while since we saw the three of you and oh, wouldn't it be nice to surprise you! Maybe lend a wing!"

"But then the ground started to shake and we…" Scathkath folded his arms and frowned. "Well. My memories say we left some donuts at Alphys's desk and then went home when we didn't find anyone."

"It's the same for me," Kio said. "But… that didn't happen, is what you're saying."

"I'm sorry," Gaster said again.

.

The monsters went quiet. Scathkath sighed heavily.

"So. What is it you need from us?" he asked.

"If you're up for it," Gaster said. "It seems like… us with this black in our souls can access the void, at least a little. And we're more immune to these time shifts. What I would ask is just… help. Channeling a spell. There would be no danger to you."

"Only to you, right?" The shadowcat frowned. "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking after all this time. That's what happened to that hand?"

Gaster flinched. "I… can't ask someone else to do any of this in my place. I won't."

"This is why you couldn't keep interns, you know," he teased. "People wanted to work on theories and energy systems. Instead of, you know, patching up old Doctor G's blown-up ribs again."

Gaster could only shrug tepidly. The snakebird rolled her eyes.

"And yet you stayed," she said.

"I didn't say it wasn't worth it," Scathkath said, sticking his grey tongue out. He got up and stretched his arms and his long, mist-tipped tail. "So. Back to the lab now, then? It will be nice to see your young protégé again."

.

Gaster wilted with relief and his eyes brightened "Thank you. Honestly."

"Don't thank us yet," Scathkath said. "And. In return, you could put in a good word for us with the King, hm? The University of Hotland could use a couple green common areas."

"And a pond!" Kio said. "And… some therapy."

"Definitely the therapy," the shadowcat agreed.

The skeleton laughed, rubbing his brow. "I'm sure we can arrange something," he said.