:):

Thank you for the nice reviews. :)

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Asgore is a tough cookie to write.

I hope I was able to keep him in character!

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Facing the Music

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Seething, Undyne carelessly tugged at the freshly wrapped bandage wound tightly around her shoulder. The nasty puncture wound she'd received was stinging and throbbing like crazy, and that only seemed to further fuel her ire as she impatiently waited for the King's response. Like usual, he was taking the calm and slow approach as he thoroughly read her formal complaint.

Leaning back into his throne, Asgore felt himself droop a little as he stared down at the angry handwriting covering the paper in a messy scrawl. Apparently, there was once again a human child in the Underground. It was inevitable. He knew this. But he had hoped a few more years could pass before they received the sixth soul. Only one more soul would be needed after this child and life as everyone knew it would change. Whether the change would be good or bad, he couldn't be certain and that uncertainly haunted him.

Lowering the paper, Asgore looked over to Undyne. He hadn't seen his Royal Captain look this angry in years. A bandage had been tied a little too tightly around her shoulder, and her arm was just hanging at her side like a dead appendage. That was quite a serious wound she had received.

"Sans the Skeleton did that?" The King asked as he nodded to her shoulder. "Are you sure? That doesn't seem like something he would do."

"Yes, I'm sure!" Undyne snapped as she tugged again at her bandage. "There was a freakin' bone sticking out of my shoulder and a dozen more aimed at my head!"

"And you're saying that this act of violence was over the sixth child?" Asgore frowned deeply as a thought occurred to him. "Please explain."

"It happened right after I had successfully captured the human." Undyne started. "I was on my way to deliver it to you when out of freakin' nowhere he shows up and demands I let it go!" Gripping her shoulder angrily, Undyne felt the throbbing intensify. "He caught me by surprise, but I... I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I should have tried harder..."

"No." Asgore objected. "You did the right thing by releasing the child. Resisting would have only exacerbated the situation and might have caused more unnecessary harm. Something like this needs to be approached with calm reasoning. I have already sent out a Royal Summons. When Sans arrives, we will have a civil discussion on this matter. In the mean time," He said as he folded the formal complaint. "I think you should visit Alphys' lab for medical treatment. Her field of expertise may not be in medicine, but she is still a doc-"

"I'll go later." Undyne interrupted, glaring hard at the yellow flowers carpeting the floor around her. They seemed to be flourishing in the Throne Room's refracted light. For some reason, even the damn flowers were pissing her off right now. "My shoulder can wait until after we have this talk."

Asgore frowned at the stubborn woman but gave her a subtle nod nonetheless. "See that you do." Even after all these years, she was still as unreasonable as ever. But under these circumstances, he could understand her frustrations. Hopefully when Sans arrives, they would be able to get to the bottom of this mess, but even as he thought this, he had a feeling that things were only going to get even messier.

If his Royal Judge had indeed taken pity on a human and protected them, then that would have directly gone against his very own decree. Even so, Asgore couldn't help but empathize, for he, as well, had done the very same thing such a long time ago. Still, the law was the law for a reason. All humans must be brought before him, whether they be treacherous or innocent, they must still come.

...

Nearly twenty minutes went by and still Sans had yet to arrive. Undyne was nearly at her wits ends as she ground her sharp teeth in impatient frustration. "Where the hell is he?!" She snapped.

"Undyne," Asgore sighed tiredly as he felt the beginnings of a headache forming. "calm your temper. I'm sure he will be here any moment."

"You said that five minutes ago." Undyne pointed out heatedly. "For someone who can teleport, how is it that he is always late?"

"Hmm... Perhaps I should have tried calling." Asgore mused as he took out his phone. It was a top of the line cell phone that Dr. Alphys had made personally, and it had all the bells and whistles of an ordinary phone, as well as everything else the shy scientist could think of. Unfortunately, the King didn't seem to understand even half of what he was holding, nor did he understand how to properly operate it.

As Asgore was poking at the screen with his large furry fingers, the phone began to chime. A phone call? Pawing at the unfamiliar number, the King put the small object to his ear. "Hello? This is King Asgore. Who may I ask is calling?"

Undyne resisted the urge to facepalm as she watched the technologically inept king try again but with the other ear this time. He then lowered the phone to look at the screen in confusion before poking at it once more. Then for a third time, he lifted it to his head and presented himself yet again.

"Ah!" Asgore's eyes seemed to light up a little when he finally heard the person on the other end. "Gerson, is that you?"

...

More than half an hour had rolled by as Undyne watched with barely contained annoyance as the King attempted to have a conversation with his old friend. As it turns out, neither Asgore nor Gerson had a very good grasp of technology. The cell phone Alphys had given to the King was far too advanced and whatever phone the old tortoise was using might as well have been as old as he was. Though that wasn't possible...

After multiple dropped calls, Asgore finally came to the conclusion that whatever Gerson was trying to tell him was important enough that they would need to have a face to face conversation. His old friend seemed to have something to say about the sixth child, but he couldn't quite understand what he was talking about. Whatever it was, it was at least relevant to their current situation.

"Enough of this." Asgore said as he again poked at his cell phone screen. "I'm giving him a call."

"Good idea." Undyne forced a grin. It was toothy and passive-aggressive at best as she tried to contain her ire. He should of done this an hour ago!

As Asgore held his phone to his ear, an energized tune came to life from just down the hall outside the Throne Room. The tune continued for a few more seconds as its owner proceeded at a leisurely pace.

Stepping into the floral scented room, Sans smiled as he snapped his phone shut, effectively ending the music. "i'm here. hope you didn't start without me."

"You're late!" Undyne snapped as she bared down on the traitorous skeleton. "How dare you make us wait for over an hour!"

Stuffing his bony hands into his jacket pockets, Sans grinned icily up at the Head of the Royal Guard. "i was just giving you enough time to tell your side of the story. after all..." He shrugged, closing one eye socket only to have a flicker of blue flash in the other. "it must have taken you quite a while to write a formal complaint with the wrong hand. am i right? how's that shoulder treatin' ya?"

"You punk..." Undyne gave a low growl as she glared down at the Royal Judge. Livid didn't even come close to describing what she was feeling right now. He didn't seem sorry at all for what he'd done. Not an ounce of shame! Not only that, but he didn't appear to be at all worried about the consequences of his actions. He wasn't going to get away with this. She would make sure of that.

He. Would. Pay.

"Enough!" King Asgore commanded as he rose from his throne. "I did not summon you here for you to fight against each other. Undyne, calm your temper at once, and you, Sans," He started, giving the skeleton an unimpressed look. "are in no position to antagonize her for your own offense."

The impending fight ceased instantly as Undyne and Sans turned to face their King. Lowering their heads, they both apologized for their unruly behavior. It was sometimes easy to forget that the normally calm and easy going Asgore actually had a temper. He was just really good at keeping it contained behind a pleasant smile.

"Now, let's begin." Asgore said as he sat back down. "Sans, have you prepared a formal complaint as well?"

"nope." The simple reply was emphasized by a slight shrug. "according to the law, she was in her rights to do what she did. though... morally, i feel her actions were a bit... extreme."

"Please explain." Asgore urged as he patiently listened.

"the law that you created pertaining to humans suggests that any human found in the underground be brought before you. and if the human doesn't survive the process of capturing, then their souls are to be brought to you." Sans calmly stated.

Asgore nodded grimly. For some reason, hearing his own law laid out so plainly sent a deep throb of shame straight down to his soul. He had created this wretched decree during a period of unbearable heartbreak, but he couldn't reverse it. They were too close now. "That is indeed my law." He acknowledged.

"it's pretty straightforward." Sans continued as his grin lessened slightly. "however, i guess i missed the part where it said it was okay to terrorize a scared little girl." Eye lights drifting over to Undyne, the Royal Judge stared unnervingly at the self proclaimed 'hero'. "if you had already captured her, then why did you still try to kill her? not only that, but your method of execution was unusually cruel."

"Is this true, Undyne?" The King asked as he narrowed his eyes at the shrinking warrior.

"I... Well, you see..." Undyne paled slightly as she averted her eye. "I can explain."

"That won't be necessary." Asgore frowned. "I feel that your hatred for humans has somehow blinded you to the fact that they are still people. Human children are not much different than monster children. They can be easily frightened and they can feel pain just as you can. I know it may seem unfair, but I won't tolerate such acts of mindless cruelty from my Royal Captain. I insist that you work on your empathy."

Clenching her sharp teeth together, Undyne lowered her head in angry compliance. "Yes, sir..."

"As for you, Sans," Asgore started, as he eyed the supposedly levelheaded skeleton. "This does not excuse the fact that you attacked Undyne. Monster on monster violence is also something I will not tolerate. Can you give me a good explanation as to why you would do such a thing?"

"she was hurting the kid." Sans answered truthfully. "i just acted on impulse."

King Asgore sighed deeply as he gave them both a look of great disappointment. "I'm suspending you both for the next two months. Use that time to reflect on your actions."

"Two months?!" Undyne shrieked. "You can't be serious!"

"can i count this as vacation time?" Sans asked, his usual smile back in place.

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I feel like this is really only a punishment for Undyne...

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In the next chapter, Asgore has a special request for Sans.

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Sheii Bae~