"How much you willin' to bet that half of the six attendees are being paid free breakfast just to show up?" Ethan joked, a smirk on his beak.

"Oh, come on, Ethan. Just because you think that doesn't mean everybody else does."

"Well, even if that is the case, you can bet one owl won't be there, and you're lookin' right at him, hon'."

"He IS your best friend. What will he think of you talking like that about his younger brother?"

Ginger winced a little at the noise her parents were making; they were going to wake Felix up, no doubt, and this was one of the few times she ever had a moment's peace from him...Nonetheless, she couldn't help but be intrigued by this conversation they were having. Why didn't her dad want to go the Wingfast ceremony?

"Look, it doesn't matter what Harper thinks about it; my mind's made up on that sort of thing. If he wants to be there for his brother, let him go on right ahead. They can leave me out of it and I won't say anything about anything. But lemme tell ya, if I were dragged over there against my will for some reason to watch it all unfold, you know what I'd do? I'd say it loud and proud right before the vows end: 'Hey! Guess what!? I think Cooper's a gosh-darn..."

...A gosh darn...What?

Hmm...That didn't sound like a good thing to be called. It sounded like a word used to refer to...well...the fly larvae that raided the old nest material. And if one thing was for sure, those were NOT pleasant to be compared to.

Even her mother was surprised at her mate's language, albeit also the teensiest, tiniest bit amused herself.

"Ethan! The kids!"

"Ah, they'd have heard it sooner or later. As long as they don't parrot it. Look, I'm gonna go pick us up some dinner; it's almost twilight, okay?"

"...Alright. Fly safely."

"For the greater good, let's just pretend this conversation never happened, okay, Nutmeg? It'll drive us both mad. Ha!"

At this point, Ginger had more questions than answers. So, with her father off hunting and her rowdy brother down for a nap, the young owl approached her mother.

"Um...Why doesn't he want to go to the ceremony? What's the big deal?"

"Oh. Oh, dear me...See, I knew this was going to happen," her mother groaned. "...Well you're ten now, almost fledged, so you're old enough to understand it to an extent, I guess. Erm...You have a basic grasp of the concept of romance, right?"

"Well, yeah," she answered. "It's when a buff and a leia love each other a whole bunch and decide to be mates. Like you and Dad."

She brought the tips of her wings in to meet each other, representing said male and female owl getting together.

"Alright. So..." Nutmeg continued. "Imagine the same sort of thing, except BOTH owls are buffs. Or leias."

The fledgling pondered this for just a brief moment, looking down at the tips of her feathers and imagining such a thing.

Her already large blue eyes went even bigger, and developed a confused glare. Her beak crinkled up, and she immediately separated her wings.

"Not a whole lot of owls are like that, but there are a few. Like Harper's brother," Nutmeg explained. "So, what do you think of that?"

"But that's...not how it works, is it? I mean, they can be friends, but...That just sounds...wrong."

"That's your input?"

She'd nodded, sticking her tiny, pointed tongue out of her beak to complement her thoughts.

"Egh..." she gagged. "I wouldn't want to go to that Wingfast Ceremony, either."

"So, you don't like it...Alright, then. How about we save further talk of this for when you're a bit older?"

"With pleasure. I might not be able to keep dinner down if we don't."

...

"Who's this?"

"Ah, this is Valdimore, young Tyto." Nyra answered her. "He's one of the best slipgizzles on the force! Just got back from a stealth mission at the Great Tree."

"So you're Ms. Ginger Wingren, are you? Well, pleasure to make acquaintance with an owl from the outside!" the Eagle Owl greeted, extending his massive wing across to the trainee table from that of the higher-ups' to meet her with. "Heard of your victory in the trials her Pureness here established to decide the leader of the youth squadron. Must say, you mainlanders have yet to let down our expectations. Good thing Jatt 'n' Jutt found you out there when they did!"

"So, Valdimore, what'd you pick up from your secret chamber hidden within the Roots this round?" Metal Beak inquired.

"Oh, yes, that's right. your Majesty. I must tell you; Ga'Hoole has done something so terrible, it's laughable!"

"Pray tell," Nyra inserted. "What has the king of snowballs done this time?"

"It's going to make you both YARP," he emphasized. "King Boron has officially announced that he will openly accept...'double-wingers' into the guardian fleet."

"No..." the High Tyto gasped.

"You're pulling our tail feathers...!" Nyra exclaimed.

"Oh, no, I'm not, your Purenesses. But you know something? It's actually a good thing. For us, at least. How many owls are ACTUALLY in favor of that sort of thing? Let alone LIKE that? Less so than humans, let me tell you now. If that's true, than you can bet we'll win over the majority of the Owl Kingdoms for our rule in no time. We'll essentially have most of the work done for us!"

"That King Boron gets more and more loony everyday," the High Tyto growled. "Does Glaux Himself not think that such practice is appalling?"

"It's written right there in the Sacred Glauxian Texts," Valdimore answered him. "Maybe the Guardians should start reading them again instead of obsessing over every little thing we do. Might finally teach them a thing or two...Even a lot of the ones who haven't read the Glauxian Texts are on the same page with us on that. Erm...If you'll pardon the pun."

"Um..." Ginger asked, having been paying close attention. "...What's a 'double-winger'?"

All three of the adult owls looked at her, wide-eyed.

"...Well," Nyra finally said, a calm smile on her face. "Should we not teach young Ginger exactly what we, the Tytonic Union, strive to achieve in the Kingdoms?"

"I'll tell you what a double-winger is, child," Valdimore started. "Double-winger' is a derogatory term used for an owl, or any other creature, really, that is amorously attracted to those of its own sex. Buffs courting buffs, leias courting leias; you see double, and the two of them think they could be wingfast to each other. That's where the word came from. Now, it's far from a common practice, but King Boron is so desperate for allies nowadays that now he'll scrape the very bottom of the barrel for them. And this little stunt of his was the garnish on our victory cake."

"Oh, THAT. Oh...Yeah, I've heard of that sort of thing before," she cringed. "My first initial thought was that it...It just doesn't seem right, does it?"

"It defies the very laws of nature," Metal Beak pointed out. "It is absolutely repulsive and completely backwards. Any living creature on this earth who practices such should not be allowed to reproduce, should you ask me."

"Well...I guess it's a good thing they can't if they try!" Ginger exclaimed, agreeing with her elders' outlook and causing an uproar of churrs among all four of them.

Even the other young Tytos at Ginger's table laughed, although they preferred to keep themselves busy with wet poop jokes instead of join the 'adult' conversation.

"Um, just curious; is there a law among the Tytonic Empire that prohibits this sort of...behavior?" she asked them.

"Well...Not exactly, at least for the majority," Nyra answered her. "What citizens do in their own hollows is their business...But I do recommend it be very heavily discouraged across the Kingdoms. And mark my gizzard, none of them will be permitted to join our fighting ranks anytime soon, much less be allowed to DO such things within our castle walls! And should we ever find an active Pure One soldier guilty of this, I, as Ablah General, hereby declare that they shall be severely demoted, if not terminated...Perhaps even sent to one of the Glauxian Retreats in the North. Oh, that'd be a kicker, wouldn't it? They'd bore anyone out of their brains, even if they do know a thing or two! Ha! Ah...But I digress. We strive to spread our ideals, young Tyto, for the good of all things owlish. As did the very Guardians of Ga'Hoole, before they took this...unfortunate turn, and got to where we see them today. We won't make the same mistake, though, I can promise you that."

"Any particular reason you ask this, young one?" the High Tyto inquired.

"Not really; just learning more about how things work around here."

"Well, my love...She HAS only been with us for two moons," Nyra pointed out. "Valdimore, make sure you keep an eye on those fellows. You never know when they might try to catch us by surprise, you know?"

"That brings up another issue," he answered. "There's been increased talk of flecks and fleck safety around the tree as of late. They could be up to something."

"...Flecks, you say?" Metal Beak repeated. "If that's the case, I might increase your patrols. Stay safe out there, alright, soldier?"

"I'll watch my back, your Pureness. Is that not what the spy business is all about? Who knows? Maybe young Ginger here might even take interest in it one of these days..."

...

"Oh, no...No, no, no, no, this isn't happening, this is NOT happening..." Ginger panicked.

This was bad. REALLY bad. That was a love letter? From UNDYNE? To ALPHYS!? Ginger tore at her hair; this wasn't just bad, it was TERRIBLE. This was the last thing she'd expected. The human knew how rare this type of thing was, but even so, she'd always been STAUNCHLY against it. Ever since the day she learned of it.

But what had she done here?

She'd unknowingly assisted it. Enabled it. And now, if she didn't say or do something to stop it, it looked like she would be PARTICIPATING IN IT.

I've become the very thing we swore against, she realized grimly.

The more she thought about it, the worse the situation became. This had turned into not just a shockingly horrible revelation, but also a huge misunderstanding. Alphys thought SHE'D written that accursed love letter. How was she going to explain this whole thing? And Alphys...Did she...? But what about her thing with Asgore, that everyone had been talking about?

Everything about this was so confusing. There was so much Ginger didn't know, and even more that she didn't CARE to know.

She had to do something to stop this before it started, she realized. Maybe sit down and have a good long conversation with Alphys about...the whole thing.

But how? And when? Right here? Right now? In what manner? She was at civil war with herself; the Pure One side demanded that she answer her call of duty, and bring all of this to a screeching halt before it could begin, remaining loyal to the cause she'd vowed to serve. But the newer, softer side that'd rooted itself in the Underground told her to respond to things as they came, and to refrain from lashing out. Things worked differently among monsters, and therefore, she had to adapt, like she had since the start.

But doing...THIS? She wasn't sure she could take it.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this..." Ginger muttered to herself.

"D'oh...I can't believe I-I'm actually doing this..."

The human's head rose a tad at the sound of Alphys' voice coming from inside, and she listened in curiously.

"I-I mean, sure, she was awful nice, b-but...this? M-me? For real? It's...isn't it k-kinda soon? I mean, I don't...f-feel the same way, but...I-if this is what I can do t-to make it up to her, then...Well, I c-cant say no and disappoint anyone this time...I've done that too much."

"Huh..."

So Alphys wasn't exactly gung-ho on the perceived situation herself. That might make things a bit easier...hopefully.

The raptor monster sighed.

"...I need to cut back on the ramen."

Ginger heard her claws tapping closer to the door and stood back up, getting onto her feet right as the metal doors slid open.

The Royal Scientist hesitantly peered out from the side to meet the human's gaze. The human didn't look to be in a good mood, all of a sudden. Maybe she'd thought twice about this? Had she taken too long to come out? It could be anything...But she couldn't turn back now after getting her hopes up.

She sighed, readjusted her glasses, then stepped out from behind the wall and came outside.

Alphys had swapped her dusty lab coat out for a little black dress speckled with white polka dots, and it highlighted her somewhat rounded form, complementing it. The outfit had no sleeves, so her arms were bare, showing...Was that a fine layer of downy feathers coating them? It certainly looked like it. They were small, though, none of them getting any longer than most coverts. And the human had thought she only had plumage on her head.

If not for the situation, Ginger likely would have said something to the effect of: "Aww, you look adorable~!" But instead...

"Oh..." she emitted plainly, noting the difference from the lab coat.

"...D-does it look bad?"

"Ah, no. No, it doesn't," she answered quickly. "Just...wasn't expecting it, is all."

"Oh..."

"Uh...Where, uh...Where'd you get it?"

"F-friend of mine helped me pick it out. Heh...Sh-she's got a really great sense of..."

She trailed off, shaking off whatever thought was making her blush again.

"Uh, a-anyway. L-let's just start the date, okay?"

"Um...Right. That thing."

"Yeah! Let's, uh, date."

Ginger was beginning to turn pink herself, purely out of embarrassment. She was still pondering how she was going to handle this.

An awkward silence hung over the atmosphere, and the human refrained from making eye contact with the Royal Scientist as best she could. Alphys' smile began to weaken, and she pursed her lips, glancing off to the side and shuffling her feet some.

"Uh..." she finally said, earning Ginger's attention. "D-do you...um...like...anime?"

"...I've never watched any."

"Oh. W-well...Maybe I could...show you, s-sometime?"

"Sure, sure..."

Silence reigned again, but only briefly, as Alphys made the bold attempt to speak again after her previous blunder.

"H-hey! Let's, uh...go somewhere! I guess..."

"...Where?"

"Heh. Uh...G-good question. I-I didn't think I'd make it this far...!" she answered, emitting a somewhat forced laugh at he end.

"Hm...Where's a good place to go on a date...?"

She thought for a few moments before perking back up.

"I got it!"

"What?"

"We could go to the garbage dump!"

Oh. Not...exactly what Ginger had expected? But she did understand the appeal, so...

"That works...I suppose," she agreed, pulling on the collar of her striped sweater to release some of the heat built up in it.

"I'd like to get out of this oven anyway. Waterfall's nice. I like it there. Nice place to, uh...clear your head."

"O-Okay! Great! Uh...Sh-should we go? Like, now?"

"Let's do that," she shrugged, leading the way out of Hotland. Alphys stepped up her pace and followed alongside her.

She looked up at the human; for someone to have written something like that, she...didn't seem all that enthused. Strange...Maybe she was nervous? Well, if that was the case, she could DEFINITELY relate; why WOULDN'T she be nervous? Alphys knew that she herself certainly was. Maybe she should try to break down that wall?

"U-um..." she stammered, twiddling her thumbs. She wasn't sure how well this would go over. "Do, uh...C-could I...um...D-do you want me to-"

"What?"

"-Hold your hand?" she finally spat out, and the moment she did, she flung her hands over her mouth, then hid her face in humiliation.

Ginger rolled her eyes and huffed out a sigh, half in pity and half in shame, then tapped the monster on the shoulder. Alphys rose her head to meet her gaze, and saw that she was extending a hand for her to take.

"Oh. Uh...Th-thanks."

Now hand in hand, the two of them left the lab behind them, Waterfall-bound.

...

"Well, here we are."

"Heheh...Yep."

The Trash Zone sat before them in all of its garbage-filled glory.

"So...Any particular reason you decided on this place?"

"W-well, I mean, isn't it great? There's so much cool stuff here, j-just waiting to be dug out and used!"

"Well...You're not wrong."

"Y-yeah! Undyne and I come down here all the time looking for stuff!" She turned pink again. "Heh...She's really awesome. Um...I-I think. I mean...I know you're not, um... that big on her, b-but you know, you said it yourself th-that she and I are a good match."

She saw Ginger tense, and it looked like she was fighting back a grimace.

"Um...Y-you okay?"

"Too good, maybe," she muttered.

"Oh. Um...Heh...Wh-what, are you, like, jealous, o-or something? Hee hee..." she teased lightly, nudging her with an elbow.

The Huntress growled at herself, then pinched the top of her nose.

"...What's wrong?"

"Alphys, I've been putting this off ever since we were at the lab. There's something that you should-"

"Alphys? Hello? You 'round here?"

The familiar voice echoed across the garbage dump. That familiar, deep she-voice.

Alphys tilted her head to look behind one of the trash piles, and Ginger followed the direction she was looking in. There was Undyne, wandering around in search of her.

"O-oh, no...!"

"You're kidding me..."

"What's she doing here!? I-I can't let her see me on a date with you!" she panicked hoarsely, her face flushing red again. "Oh, no, oh, no, here she comes!"

She took cover behind an old trash can standing among the debris just as the Captain of the Royal Guard turned the corner around the piles. Ginger stared at her like a deer in the headlights as she ran right up to her.

Oh, no. Ginger and Undyne. Together. Alone, Alphys woed silently. How is THIS gonna go down?

"Augh! THERE you are!"

"Oh. Well...You look different," she remarked, raising an eyebrow.

Undyne had donned a black leather jacket fitted over a white turtleneck, and a portion of her blood-red hair was flung over her missing eye.

"...I thought all of your stuff was burned in your house fire."

"I was able to salvage this stuff, okay?! Now shut your mouth and listen! I've been thinking, and I realized that..."

She turned plum.

"I figured that if you delivered that thing, it, uh...might be a bad idea."

"You think?" Ginger scowled.

"So I'm just gonna do it myself! Give it to me!"

"You're kinda late. Already delivered it. Against my gut instinct...which was correct."

She mumbled the last few words.

"SHIT!"

Undyne stamped her boot into the water, causing a bit of a splash to rise up.

"Have you at least seen Alphys anywhere? She wasn't at the lab, and I haven't found her here so far, so I don't know where the hell she might have gone."

"Even if I did, do you honestly think I'd tell you?" Ginger retorted.

The captain noted that the mocking undertones of her usual speech towards her were gone. It was just sheer anger and...disgust?

"Why? You know as well as I do that she and I are close."

"Uh-huh. I noticed," she answered, narrowing her eyes at her. Undyne fixed a glare of her own, then snarled at her.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU TO BUTT INTO THIS!?"

"Someone who can stop it before it starts, that's for sure! I knew you were screwy in the head, but this!? This is goin' off the deep end!"

"You don't know ANYTHING! You want screwy in the head!? How 'bout I take a drill to yours!?"

"I'd have you harpooned and over an open flame before you even got the chance!"

"Wanna bet on that!?"

"I can't be bothered! We both know who's gonna win already, anyway..." the human sneered, raising a fist to show off.

"You think just because ya brought me down ONE time that you can do it again! Don't think I forgot all your tricks!"

"You'd forget your own misshapen head if it weren't stitched on right!"

"At least I'd be able to lift it back up, ya beanpole!"

"Well, at least I smell like beans and not rotten tuna!"

Undyne found herself stepping back some. Sure, they'd been hurling insults at each other ever since they'd met face-to-face, but the human seemed genuinely enraged about something this time around; something that was making this whole beef between them just a bit more personal, and a lot more ugly. She scowled back at her.

"You know what?" she finished. "I'm not gonna stoop down to your level. You're wasting my time, anyways. I'm going to look for Alphys, and when I find her, I'm gonna make sure you never get near her again!"

She turned and left Ginger behind, still yelling.

"And I WILL find her! Good riddance!"

"Yeah, good luck finding her, ya stupid, fugly, fish-faced f..."

The word-THAT word-her father had used that day over two years ago threatened to spill off the tip of her tongue. But, just to save face, she changed it before it could.

"Freak..." she said instead. And then, she groaned, digging her fingers into her face in frustration.

"I swear...I'll STRANGLE that woman one of these days," she growled to herself. She emitted a sigh, then turned to approach the trash can where Alphys had taken cover.

"Alph? You still here?" she called quietly, not wanting Undyne to find out she was here. "Alphys?"

Ginger peered down behind the trash can, and there was the Royal Scientist.

She was curled up into a ball, tail wrapped around her feet and head buried into her arms, weeping.

"Aw, frig..." she rasped, cautiously kneeling down.

"Al...?"

It took a few moments, but the mention of her name was enough to make her raise her head to look at her. She was an absolute mess.

"Why...?" she nearly squealed, hiccupping again. "Why did you do that...!?"

"Because..."

Ginger was about to defend herself, but the more she reflected on it, she realized that what had occurred could have easily been avoided. Undyne might have brought her temper along, but she hadn't been the one to instigate the blowout. She and her had spoken to each other about being civil with each other in front of the public for the sake of the Underground's peace, but it looked like she'd failed to keep up her end of the deal. Because of her, things had only gotten worse.

"...I don't know, Alphys. That...That was stupid."

The monster didn't respond, instead curling back into hiding. Ginger slumped down unceremoniously onto one of the piles of rubbish and rested her head on her hand, at a loss for words herself. She wasn't sure what direction this was going to go in now, but it didn't look favorable.

Finally, Alphys rose her head again.

"I..." she sniffled. "I-I think I wanna go back home now."

"Okay..."

"...Are...uh..." She wiped her eyes. "Are you coming back t-to the lab?"

"I didn't think you'd want me to."

"N-no, it's...It's okay. You...f-forgave me when I did that bad stuff t-to you," she acknowledged, hugging herself some. "Aren't you the one who wanted to do this anyway?"

Ginger heaved out another sigh before answering her, lifting her head up to make herself look just a bit more dignified.

"No. I wasn't."

"But what about-"

"I tried to tell you when we were at the lab, but I couldn't get to that point. I'm not the one who wrote that letter."

"Y...You're not? But then who-"

"SHE is."

"What!? Un-Undyne!?"

The human hid her face in one of her hands, scowling again.

"Yep."

Alphys went quiet. Half of her was completely humiliated for having misinterpreted the situation so badly, but the other was in utter disbelief at what the actual case was.

"W-wait. Undyne...really wrote that?"

"Apparently."

"So then that means...That means she...She..."

An almost horrifyingly big smile stretched across the monster's face, and she suppressed a joyful squeal, clenched fists pressed against the sides of her snout as she rose up onto her feet again.

"I-I don't believe it. I-I-I didn't think I had the chance with her, I thought she was way out of my league! I didn't think it would ever ACTUALLY be mutual! She...she actually likes me? Wow, oh my God, I never would have...H-have I been oblivious this whole time!? Oh, no, what...B-but she doesn't know for s-sure that I like her, too, then. W-what am I gonna do? And...And now that everything...went down the way it did..."

Her expression fell, and she sat down beside her company.

"...What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know. Really I don't. I...I'm sorry, Alphys. This whole thing was terrible; I shouldn't have said what I said."

"Well...Y-you're not the only one who regrets something here."

"Hm?"

Ginger still sounded a tad grumpy, but she lent an ear.

"I...uh...I wasn't exactly all up f-for this to begin with myself," Alphys admitted. "I, uh, th-thought it might be fun to go on, like, a sort of...pretend date with you, t-to make you feel better? Heheheh...Eh...Well, it...it sounds even worse when I put it that way, huh?"

"Gotta agree with you on that."

"Heheh...Yeah...I'm sorry about this whole mix-up. I-I should have given you the chance to tell me about this while we were still in Hotland."

"In a way, I'm actually sorta glad it held off until now," the human admitted. "I was...still sorting out what I was going to do about all of this back there, everything happened so quickly...And you can say I wasn't too happy about it. Still not, honestly. And for more than one reason; not just because we don't like each other."

"Oh. W-well, what's the other reason?"

Ginger sighed; she was going to have to put this delicately. Alphys had been through enough at this point. The last thing she wanted was to make things any worse.

"See, I come from a place where...well..."

"Hm?" Alphys hummed, paying attention closely.

"I won't get into the knitty-gritty of it, but if my kin back on the surface knew what was going on here, they definitely wouldn't be...pleased with it, to say the least."

"Oh...Ohhhhh," she realized. "I've...read about places above like that, a-actually. It's...um...n-not comforting."

"The Pure Ones rubbed off on me a lot when I was with them. I thought it was good for me at the time, but...Since I fell down here, I've started seeing things in sort of a different perspective. I guess that sometimes, you gotta see past things like that in people. Do I have to be happy about it? No. But does that mean I should be a jerk about it? You saw what came out of that; nothing good. This whole Underground journey of mine's really done something to me. When I first realized it, I thought it was just turning me into some weak-minded fool of some sort, but...when I delved a little deeper into things, I realized something."

"What'd you realize?"

"Well...I told you this myself when we first met here, but now that I'm a hundred percent sure, I'll say it again; tenderness is a strength, even if it doesn't look like it at first. And so is kindness, and MERCY. I used to think those things brought someone down, and made them weak. But if you use 'em the right way, then...Well, if you'll pardon the pun, they can work like magic."

"Heh heh...I get it...B-because monsters use that."

"Heh...Egh..."

She scowled again.

"So...you like like Undyne, eh?"

"Uh...Yeah, heh...I do."

"Gave up on Asgore?"

"Yeah. Too far out there...Uh...S-sorry if this...um...bothers you."

"Don't worry about it. In fact...You know what a wise man once told me, not so long ago?"

"What'd he tell you?"

Ginger cleared her throat.

"...'If we only based our views of people off of their flaws, then how would anyone ever make any friends'?"

"Huh...Th-that's...deep."

"Deep as his SOUL."

Ginger drew in a deep breath again, and let it out through her nostrils.

"A lot of this mess is my fault. If...I don't know if there's anything I can do at this point to fix this, but if there is, then tell me what I can do. I'll help."

"Y-you will?"

The human nodded, and Alphys sighed again.

"C-can I...explain a few things to you a-about this, then? That you...might not know about? It's...kind of important."

"I'm listening," she answered, scooting a bit closer.

"I...I-I wanna tell her h-how I f-feel," she told the human. "But she's...a-all upset now, and there's...th-there's a lot of stuff I've told her that, uh...W-well, I was...trying to impress her, and...s-stretched the truth about a lot of things t-to make myself look a-a lot cooler than I actually was. And sh-she thinks it's all true, and...she regards me so highly, it's...If she found out the truth, she'd...b-be heartbroken, and...she'd never f-forgive me. I-I know you forgave me, for what I did t-to you, b-but I've been doing this ever since before you came here. It...won't be that easy."

"Is...this the thing you told me you couldn't tell anyone you did."

"Ah, no. Heh heh...Heh...Th-that's w-worse than this. By far..." Alphys whimpered, hugging her knees up against herself. "And this is already bad by itself. I mean...Really, who am I to think I have a chance with her after all this? I mean, y-you had a different experience with her, a-and got on her bad side just by b-being human. But really, she
...Sh-she's so strong, and funny, a-and confident...And I'm just a nobody. A fraud, that's what I am. I might be the Royal Scientist, but...All I've ever done is hurt people. I-if she finds out, then...I-I'm scared to think of what might happen. What do I do?"

"Well...I know you're not going to want to hear this, but the best thing you can do is come clean; give her the truth."

"The t-truth!? R-right when I next see her!?"

Ginger nodded in response.

"A-are you sure? It's...It's not better to l-live a lie where both of us are happy...Than a truth where neither of us are?"

She shook her head.

"Bad mentality. Especially if you slip it up somehow. And once the cat's out of the bag, there's no putting it back. It's best to just be honest."

"I-I don't know. I mean...I know they say to 'be yourself,' but...I don't really like who 'myself' is. Wouldn't it be better to just be wh-whatever other people like? Eheheheh..."

She forced a laugh, but it wasn't long before it disappeared along with her awkward smile, and she brought a hand to her face.

"...No, you're right. I-I've been doing this for too long..."

Alphys paused for a moment, her eyes filling with horror. She realized what she had to do.

"B-but I...I don't have the confidence, I'll mess it up and make it worse!"

"Then...You'll have to practice."

"P-practice? How do I do that?"

Ginger rubbed her chin with her forefinger for a few moments in thought, then perked back up and snapped her fingers.

"I got it," she smirked. "Everyone down here's been comparing me to Undyne in one way or another, right?"

"Well, at-at least some, yeah."

"I'll be your 'practice dummy.' Just pretend I'm Undyne, and you say what you wanna say."

"Y-you mean like, sort of a, uh...r...roleplay?"

"Whatever you wanna call it."

The monster thought about it for a second, then chortled at the idea.

"That...actually sounds kinda fun! Heh...O-okay, so, uh, h-how to we start this off?"

"Well, first off," the human answered, standing back up from the trash heap they'd been sitting on. "This is a face-to-face deal. If you do it side-by-side, you'll catch her off guard, and she needs to know how serious it is before it even gets to her. You gotta look that fish right in the eye and tell her everything."

To emphasize, she tightly shut her left eye and pointed at the right one.

"Uh...Well, I-if you say so," she agreed, huddling up onto the pile of rubbish some more.

"You gotta stand, too. Standing exhibits an aura of confidence. People will take you seriously when you do."

"Stand tall. Face-to-face. Got it. So...U-uh...Do we, uh, s-start?"

The Huntress pulled her striped sweater off in preparation and shoved it back into her messenger bag.

"On the count of three."

She turned her back towards Alphys, and the latter did the same.

"One."

"Okay..."

"Two."

"I can do this."

"Aaand..."

"It'll be fine...It'll...ah..."

"Three."

They turned to face each other again. The raptor saw that Ginger had even shut her left eye and rolled up her short orange and white-striped sleeves to amp up the realism.

...Either that or she'd just taken the opportunity to mock Undyne. But whichever she was trying at, it was working.

"Um..." Alphys stammered. "H-hi, Undyne. How, uh, how are you doing today?"

"Hey, nerd! Today was epic!"

Holy crap, she's good at that.

Her impersonation of the fish monster was nearly spot on. She even did the overbite thing with her teeth.

"Wow...Ha! Ha...G-glad to hear it! Uh, what'd you do?"

"Stabbed some things, beat some wimps up with my bare fists, set my house on fire again...You know, the usual."

"Oh...Uh...C-cool."

Maybe she was too good at this.

"So...um...Anyway, I, uh...I'd like to...um...talk to you. About something. I-important."

"Important, you say, huh? What's goin' on, is there a human for me to skewer alive 'round here?"

"N-no, it's, ah...not about that. It's more of something...S-something between y-you and m-me."

"Oh...So it's a SECRET that there's a human 'round here for me to skewer alive!"

"N-no, there's no human...Well, I mean, even if there was, it wouldn't really, uh...m-matter, y-you know?"

"Auuuuuuugh, daaaaaaamniiiiiiiit...I wanted to kill something."

"Understandable. B-but, uh...This is kinda serious."

"Oh...Well, spill the beans, come on."

"W-well...um...Y-you see, I...well...I h-haven't been exactly...a-a hundred percent truthful w-with you about a few...n-no a LOT of things, a-actually."

"I've been deceived!? I oughta get a warrant for your arrest..."

"No, no, please don't do that, Undyne...!"

She actually seemed genuinely afraid of such a thing.

"I...uh...C-can I just...tell you what I wanted to tell you?"

"...Sure. What is it?"

"I...W-well, y-you see, some of the things I've, uh, s-said about some things aren't exactly...well...like when we...And that I...I..."

Her eyes were getting moist again, and Ginger dropped the act for a moment when she realized this.

"Alphys?"

"Oh, forget it!" she suddenly burst out. "Undyne, I-I want to tell you how...h-how I feel!"

The human stood silent and attentive as the Royal Scientist gave her good-to-honest confession.

"Y-you're so brave, a-and s-strong and nice...A-and you always l-listen to me wh-when I talk about...n-n-nerdy stuff, and y-you go out of your way to...t-to make me f-feel special, like t-telling me you'll b-beat up anyone who g-gets in my way, o-or tries to hurt me...I-I thought maybe we might...W-well, What I really want to s-say is...i-is..."

"...Alph?"

"Oh, I can't TAKE THIS ANY LONGER!"

It went from one extreme to the other in no time flat, and the young human was so startled by this that she ended up backing away from her as she practically screamed out into the garbage dump for all to hear in a passionate gush.

"UNDYYYYNE! I'M MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU!" she proclaimed. "AND I WANT US TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER! HOLD ME, UNDYNE, HOLD ME LIKE YOU SAID YOU WOULD!"

"Whoa..."

She'd been impressed with her raving over the phone with her about her favorite television show, but THIS? She didn't care about the context; this was by the must enthused she'd ever seen or heard her, and she was proud of her friend.

...But maybe she was freaking out a little, too.

"Cool it just a bit, Al, or you won't have any energy to-"

"WHAT did you just say!?"

The voice came from behind. They both turned their attention toward its owner.

There stood the Captain of the Royal Guard, and she stared down at Alphys as though she was about to explode.

Which she just might have done, but the sight of Undyne was the bucket of water that doused the fuse.

"Un...Undyne!"

Oh, no, no, no, how much of that did she hear!?

"We were...I mean...I was just-"

"Whoa, hey, hold on just a second, Alphys," she interrupted. "Heh...You know, that outfit's really cute."

"R-really?"

"Heck yeah, I do. What's the occasion?"

"Um..."

Undyne glanced off to the side...and then her eye fell onto the human, who was staring right back, expression blank. The fish monster looked to Alphys, then to Ginger again. She put two-and-two together, then saw just what was happening.

"...Wait a second," she realized, her anger boiling back up again. "Are you two...on a DATE!?"

"Um, uh, YES!"

She gave the Huntress a deathly stare, and she rose her hands in defense as the monster summoned a spear.

"I knew it...You sabotaged me! Now you're gonna get it!"

"WAIT, no! Th-that's not what I mean, we weren't really!"

She turned her attention to the Royal Scientist again, weapon dissipating.

"I mean, well, not exactly, but, I mean, we were, but, I-I mean we were romantically roleplaying as you! NO, NO, THAT'S EVEN WORSE! I MEAN...I mean...!"

"...What?" she responded, visibly confused.

The little dinosaur looked to the Huntress for further instructions, but all she did was back away and sit back down on the trash heap to watch from a distance. Alphys was in a state of silent panic, and she shrugged and motioned toward her crush, clueless as to how she would do this; they'd barely had time to practice!

But Ginger just nodded confidently. There was to be no more practice. It was time to come clean.

"Un...U-Undyne, I've..." she began. "I've been lying to you!"

"What!?" the captain exclaimed. "About what!?"

"About, w-well...Everything!"

Alphys didn't realize it, but as she admitted the truth, she slowly approached her.

"I-I told you that seaweed was like...s-scientifically important, but really, I just...I just use it to make ice cream! A-and those h-human history books I keep reading? Th-those are just dorky comic books! And the human history movies are all just...anime. Th-they aren't real!"

The captain's eye got big at first, but as the Royal Scientist drew closer, it developed a tender glint. By now, she was right in front of her, though still shrunken back in fearful shame of herself.

"And...R-remember that time I told you I was b-busy with work on the phone? I was...I was just sitting around eating frozen yogurt in my pajamas! I was too nervous to talk to you! A-and that time I t-told you about-"

"Alphys."

All she had to do was say her name and she stopped.

"I...I just w-wanted to impress you," Alphys admitted, voice trembling. "I-I just wanted you to think I was...smart, a-and cool, and not some...nerdy loser."

"Alph', it...It's okay."

Undyne bent down to her level.

"I...I got the letter you sent," she squeaked. "I-I never...I didn't think-"

"Alphys?"

She put a hand atop her head and stroked it in attempt to comfort her.

"Un...Undyne, I..." she sniveled, tears burning in the corners of her eyes again. "I-I'm sorry, I just...I really think you're neat, okay?"

That was the selling point; she hated seeing her cry.

"Alphys..."

Undyne gently put her arms around her and brought her in for a hug, their heads rested on each others' shoulder.

"I...I-I don't deserve you."

"Shhhh..." she soothed, rubbing a hand up and down her back to calm her down. "I'm right here, okay?"

"I...I-I like you, too."

The fish monster let out a light chuckle.

"I caught onto that part."

And it was then that she tightened her grip on Alphys and lifted her clean off the ground.

"Whoa..."

She's...she's holding me.

She went bright red again, and her smile returned.

"Al, listen. I think you're neat too...But you gotta realize, most of what you said doesn't matter to me. I don't care if you're watchin' cartoons or reading those history books, or whatever."

"Y-you don't?"

"N'aw. Come on. That's all just...nerdy crap. It's not really my thing."

"Oh..."

"What I like about you is that you're passionate. Analytical. Doesn't matter what it is; what matters is that you're into it. 100 percent. And it's awesome!"

"Y-y-you really think so?"

"You better believe it. So, you don't have to lie to me, alright? I don't want you to have to lie to anyone anymore, just because you feel like you're not good enough. Because I think you're good enough, okay? And you can take my word for it, can't you?"

"I..." she stuttered, another tear slipping. "I-I'll try, but-"

Before she could finish, Undyne leaned in and lightly pressed her lips against her forehead. Alphys' eyes bugged out the moment she processed what'd just happened.

"...Did...D-did you just-"

"Duh."

"Oh...U-Undyne..."

They touched foreheads, and stayed that way. Ginger watched the entire scene play out from the trash pile. Honestly, all of this had gone better than she'd expected. Alphys had mustered the courage to come clean to Undyne, the latter had accepted the confession, and now they were together. Alphys was happy. Undyne was happy. Everything was warm, fuzzy and lighthearted. It was...It...

"Blegh," Ginger gagged, just not quite able to get on board with their romance. "It's still gross..."

The fish monster didn't comprehend the human's speech from the distance she was at, but when she heard her mumble, she carefully lowered Alphys back onto the ground and made her way towards her adversary, her eye flashing a deathly glow.

"As for YOU..." she threatened, summoning her spear again. "I think it's about time I teach you a-"

"No, no, Undyne, wait!"

She lowered her weapon some and looked back at the Royal Scientist.

"D-don't fight anymore, please," she begged. "Sh-she helped me, actually. She helped me practice, and gave me a c-confidence boost...If it hadn't been f-for her, then...We wouldn't have...I wouldn't have been able to...This wouldn't have happened. I know you don't like her, Undyne, but...She went out of her way for us here...f-for me. She's a great friend, Undyne. A-as great a friend as you are a...well, a..."

Undyne smirked.

"Go on, say it."

"A g...girlfriend?"

"There it is, right there!" she exclaimed. "Well...Alright, since you insist. Now get back over here."

They rejoined each other and locked into a warm embrace.

"So, I'm willin' to bet you were glad to get all that off your chest, huh?"

"Yeah...I guess it's always best to come...clean with...with...th-the truth..."

"Something wrong, Alphy'?"

The smaller monster pulled away, fear flashing in her brown gaze. She realized something.

She realized what she had to do.

"I..." she said to the captain, lightly pulling away from her. "I have to go do something. A-at the lab...alone, for a while."

"Alph', whatever it is, you can go ahead and tell me."

"Not now...I have to go..."

"Alphys? Come on, we just-"

"I'm sorry, b-but it's important. You'll catch wind of it, though, I...I promise. S-sorry I had to cut this short, but...this is something I've been putting off for way too long."

"...Okay. But you mind headin' over to Snowdin with me after all of this so we can continue this train of thought? I'll meet you back here and we can go there together."

"That...that sounds wonderful. I-I'll see you later, Undyne," she bid, making her way out of the Trash Zone. "I-in the mean time, why don't you and Ging' work your problems out some? Just...no more fights, okay?"

"I'll keep that in mind. For your sake."

"Great. Th-thank you. Erm...bye."

Before she left the dump altogether, she took a deep breath, then rasped to the Huntress.

"Meet me at the lab in an hour," she told her. "By yourself. It's...urgent."

"What's going on...?" Ginger whispered.

"It's...the 'thing.'"

The human's eyes widened, and stayed locked onto the feathered creature as she hurried out of the garbage dump and disappeared. This would be important.

"What'd she say?" Undyne asked her, having noticed the brief exchange.

"Oh, she, uh, just thanked me for helpin' her out," Ginger claimed. "But anyways, are you two, like...dating now?"

"Are you retarded? What do you think you just watched?"

"That'll do, captain," Ginger scolded. "What just happened beforehand was too close to another all-out war. One more clash like the first one and one of us could end up really bad off...or worse, and the sufferers will be everyone we know. And I mean everyone. We need to sign a Cold War pact; we lay low whenever anyone else is around and only fight about crap when we're alone. This is stronger than just a verbal agreement, especially now that we've seen the consequences."

She extended a hand to meet her with.

"...I like that idea. I'm on board."

Undyne met her halfway with a firm shake. The deal was made.

"...Can we at least still roast each other in front of the peeps?"

"I'll allow that," Ginger agreed. The mockery flung around in their squabbles was the least of everyone's concerns.

"So, everything went alright," the captain affirmed. "Well...In that case..."

Without any warning, she grabbed the human by the shoulders and pulled her right in, her face halting just inches away from hers.

"Oh. My. GOD," she nearly yelled, her yellow eye wide with shock. "She was just kidding about that, right!?"

"About what...!?"

"All those cartoons, the comics...Hah...Th-they're all still real, right?"

"You're cutting off the blood to my arms again."

"ANIME IS REAL, RIGHT!?"

"NO! It isn't! It's all fake! Get off of me!"

She staggered backwards in disbelief. Everything she'd ever believed about humans, and their amazing history...dashed to pieces, just like that.

"No...NOOOO, please no! AURGH! My SOUL! I CAN FEEL IT BREAKING APART! It's...scattering into a million pieces..."

Ginger watched as the Captain of the Royal Guard fell to her knees in horrible emotional agony, looking just about ready to cry herself. It was HILARIOUSLY pathetic...But the human managed to keep a straight face.

"...No," Undyne finally croaked. "I...I can survive this. I have to be strong. For everyone...for Alphys."

She stood back to her feet.

"So...you're SURE you guys don't have magical gunswords and crazy powers up there?"

"Pretty positive. But don't you guys have those things down here?"

"Um...sort of? I mean, not to the same degree as what I-"

"Then that settles that."

"Fine...Uh...I guess I should, like, thank you for tellin' me that. Man...Imagine if I went up there thinkin' that."

"You'd humiliate yourself in front of everyone."

"No kidding."

"Not to mention drive everyone away with your hideous face."

"Don't push it."

Silence returned to resume its reign, but only briefly.

"...I gotta go. Maybe, uh...go grab some grub before I go back to New Home...or something."

"You meet Asgore?"

"Yeah. And I'll have you know I followed your advice," Ginger assured her. "Had a bit of a conversation with him...Not sure if he's fully convinced to let me go yet, but it went okay. He sent me off to tend to anything I had left to do before we, uh...settled the matter in the worse way."

"Well...It's a start. Say, I gotta head back to the winter wasteland and alert the bone bros. You go, uh, disappear somewhere, I guess. Later, punk."

"See you 'round, fish."

Undyne made a mad dash west through the dump, leaving the Huntress behind. Once she was gone, Ginger wiped away the sweat that'd accumulated along her forehead and huffed out an exasperated sigh.

"Boy, and I thought I couldn't like you any less, Undyne," she remarked. "Well...at least it's mutual."

...

"Okay...Well. That went...alright. Very alright, actually," Alphys said to herself as she smoothed her outfit down and stepped back into the lab. "Heh...Can't wait for later. It-"

She stopped short when she spied a foreign object on the floor; it was a piece of paper, but too far away from the lab doors to have been slid under. The thing wasn't even in an envelope. What was this?

"Psh...What if it were a love letter from Asgore?" she mused, picking up the sheet to read it. "Oh, that'd just be-"

"I KNOW WHAT YOU DID."

Time seemed to freeze. The ambiance of the lab was shut out from her ears. Alphys stared down at that sloppily scrawled-out text for what felt like hours, still as stone, wide-eyed, and mouth agape in utter shock, disbelief, and horror.

"...Wh...Who wrote this..." she asked hoarsely, to nobody in particular.

Her claws were shaking so badly that they ended up dropping the paper. And once the sinister note fell onto the floor, Alphys finally unfroze, staggering backwards, almost positive that her heart had stopped beating long ago.

Ginger was supposed to come in an hour. She couldn't have written this...Someone else knew. And soon, the Huntress would as well.

The Royal Scientist finally drew in a ragged breath, then rushed up the escalator to get back into one of her lab coats. She had to get down there. She had to hide. And if she couldn't do that, if the Royal Guard came looking for her, she would have to escape. Run away to somewhere she would never be found. She couldn't even trust Undyne with this...Not now.

And maybe not ever. It was too much.

She decided she might as well do herself in at that point. Turn herself to dust so nobody would ever have to be bothered worrying about her ever again. Everything that had happened at the Trash Zone was nothing more than a flash of happiness in her bleak outlook.

...But she'd been right before. She'd been putting this off for far too long.

A hand still over her chest, Alphys got out her own piece of paper and wrote down her message on it, aware that it might just be the very last thing she wrote.

The Underground had to know.

Even if she didn't live to see the day.

A.N.: Views expressed by the characters are not necessarily those expressed by the author. XP

Yeah, I know I kinda went out on a limb with this chapter with the conflicting ideologies the Pure Ones have on this type of thing, but not a lot of other people go in this direction, and I wanted to spice things up a bit. You don't normally see Frisk/OC inserts turning their noses up at it, so despite the heavy controversy, it's an interesting character trait to have in this world, and especially since we see how Ginger handles the matter.

But anyway, if you didn't like the way I did this, sorry 'bout that. Don't like, don't comment...but also don't worry! If you know what comes next in the True Pacifist Route, then you can bet the next chapter's gonna be WAY better!(not to mention, a lot more fun to write for me, lol.)

Later, folks! :D