:-"An Unlikely hero"-:

The dawn of a new day. It's Monday, April 3rd, 2045.

Burgerpants wakes up bright and early, and at first he almost falls into the routine of getting ready to work at that accursed burger stand… but then he remembers that he doesn't work there any more.

He feels a rush of freedom, life, and unbridled joy at not having to work at that god forsaken burger stand any more.

Burgerpants… No… After getting the manager job at that new pizza place, he has decided to go by his real name. Lenny.

OK… not a "manager," but second assistant to the assistant manager is still pretty close… even if there is only one Manager, and no assistant manager.

Alright… alright… that's just what he prefers to call himself; he's a cashier again… But! This job at the "TEM PEATSA SHOP" is really… relaxing; and he gets to practice his acting!

Lenny opens his closet and grabs one of the many identical cardboard Tem costumes.

'Time to go humiliate myself all over again! Man… I love this job. No one even questions it! I'm a Temmie now.'

While putting on his "Monday" uniform, which has been coloured on crudely to resemble one of the Temmies (and is exactly the same as the rest, though Temmie says otherwise), Lenny gets himself into the mindset to act like a Temmie.

'Alright, Lenny, remember to act TEM.'

"hOOIY! I'm Lenny!"

'No, no that's all wrong! Alright… Gotta try again.'

"hOI! i'm Lenny!"

'Alright… closer. So far so good! That should be enough practice. Tem to go to work!'

Walking out of his green magic-house, Lenny strolls happily through the monster shanty town that has been named "Home Town;" proving, once again, how bad Asgore is at names.

A few places are already up, like Grillby's bar, a few apartment-like buildings, a small library with the classic misspelled name, and a small hospital. There is also an excavation site to the south, but no one knows what that is for. With all the monsters bored and out of work, there are plenty available to help with construction. Any who can't have been acting as teachers, and babysitters, for the younger monsters.

The TEM PEATSA SHOP is not that far from Grillby's, just across an intersection and at the end of the road. To call it a proper building is really stretching the definition of building, but despite being made of various forms of cardboard, and cardboard tubes, it is somehow very sturdy.

There are a few regulars, but they mostly come around to draw on the "spoiled" pizza.

Lenny makes his way to the almost deserted store, and walks in. It would seem only Temmies are here, as usual. He can't blame the other monsters for not showing up, since all the pizza is made out of cardboard and the toppings are made of construction paper and glue.

Inside the cardboard store there are three proper tables, each with two proper chairs. Two Temmies are in the back, making the "pizza" for the day, and a third is walking out of the manager's room. The third Temmie has a graduation hat on and a piece of paper taped to their shirt with "manigur" written on it.

Bob seems to be absent today, but, just in time, the regulars Monk, Robert, and Drake walk in and take their usual place by the counter.

Manager Timmie moves over to the counter and asks, "hOI! u here to take bad smely trash?"

The three monster children nod, almost in unison.

Ecstatic, the manager Temmie says, "thanks for take bad smely trash! remebr if eat it u get SIC," then places a pile of "spoiled pizza" on the counter.

"bOI! !"

After manager Temmie leaves them with the "trash," Robert takes out some pencils.

Monk sits down and holds one of his feet out to take a pencil, "who needs hands, with feet like these?"

Drake opts to take a pencil with his beak, sighing in the process at Monk and trying to speak,
"yoo augh oo ugh eagh-uh-uhn."

Monk sticks his tongue out at Drake, and says, "you can never watch too much Mettaton!"

The trio begin drawing on the cardboard pieces.

Now behind the counter, Lenny waits for a customer to approach; he will do so all day.

:-:

With Bernard, Deborah, Anthony, and Katsuro gone, the other leaders of the Guard are having to make decisions without them. Unfortunately, without Bernard's presence, the rate of anti-monster actions have increased. Over just a couple of days there have been four separate "attacks." People have been trying to frame the monsters for things, despite monsters keeping to themselves in their shanty town. These stunts, though easily dismissed by most guards and the educated, have stirred up support among the less educated; but no matter their station, or level of education, the paranoid are tricked too.

As a result, support for the anti-monster movement has been steadily increasing.

The four remaining leaders of the Guard are Aideen -captain of the West gate-, Gerald -captain of the East gate-, Martin -captain of the South gate-, and Hilda -captain of the North gate-.

With tensions rising, the Guard have had to set a curfew; they set it to around the time everyone is normally asleep anyway.

Despite their efforts to keep it from being cumbersome, people still complain.

Gerald and Martin are in a meeting in one of the stone guard garrisons, talking about recent events.

Starting off the conversation, Gerald's words are filled with worry,
"these 'attacks' are getting worse. Soon we may actually see innocent people get hurt…"

Taking a moment to try to calm down, Gerald stands near a window, leans his forehead on one of his hands, and continues, "What are we supposed to do? The monster town has gotten larger. Have you seen the tall buildings they made?"

Exasperated, Martin replies, "We can't do anything. The monsters aren't actually causing problems, beyond existing, and the village has more than one idiot! We can try to keep the peace, but all of our efforts are just making things worse… Hell, we don't even know if we are dealing with one group, or a bunch of small unorganized ones!"

Gerald comments, "hey… no, actually, we do."

Confused, Martin asks, "what do you mean? How?"

Turning to look at Martin, Gerald says, "Hilda found a flag at the last 'attack' site. It's got a picture of the lost child, Chara, embroidered on it. Also has a demonized version of Asriel, covered in golden flowers and leaning over their body… menacingly."

Grimacing, Martin says, "god, they're opening old wounds and using new fears… This could get out of hand very fast. You don't think that idiot Derrick has anything to do with this, do you? Isn't he the one that keeps claiming the monsters are in league with the flowers?"

Gerald nods and looks to the floor contemplatively as he turns back to look out the window, then says, "Yea, maybe he is… Haven't seen much of him lately though. If it's Derrick, it shouldn't be much of a problem to solve."

After a few moments of uneasy silence, Martin says, "We need someone to get into the anti-monster group, someone we can trust, so we can find out who's behind it all."

An idea comes to Gerald and he quickly turns to face Martin again.

Closing the gap quickly, Gerald gives Martin a bear hug while saying "you just gave me an idea!"

Dumbfounded, and shocked by the sudden hug, Martin can barely mutter "w-wha-?" before Gerald runs off and leaves the building.

Martin has a bad feeling about Gerald's "idea."

Her hard work has finally paid off. The Antenna is complete! Alphys opted to add a crank system to charge it, but there is also a few different kinds of standard plugs for external power. She's going to include a small generator in the packaging, just in case. She decided to add the crank system for emergencies.

All in all, the Antenna is… pretty heavy. She isn't sure Mettaton can actually lift it. Because of that, she is working on the Aircraft again. It's almost done, thanks to some of the engineer monsters helping out previously.

It would probably already be done, if those stupid humans didn't make a fuss about monsters going through the village. Everything was fine when the monsters were kept in the Addams' yard, but someone had to go and break down part of their brick wall.

Monsters can't even be escorted through the town any more by guards, thanks to people becoming more aggressive with Bernard gone; the monsters that are at the Addams' manor are essentially stuck until he comes back; fortunately that only consists of Alphys, Papyrus, Undyne, Sans, and the elder puzzler… Thing has special arrangements.

Alphys sighs… she can't wait till all of this nonsense is behind them.

Her phone chimes, so she pauses her work and takes a look.

It's from Mettaton.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
From TheFabulousMTT:
ALPHYS DARLING, I AM TERRIBLY
SORRY THAT I MISSED YOUR CALL!
I WILL BE OVER SHORTLY. YOU
CAN COUNT ON MTT!

-THE CONTENTS OF THIS MESSAGE
ARE FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, DO
NOT REDISTRIBUTE MTT BRAND
TEXT MESSAGES.

-SIGNED BY YOURS TRULY, THE
MOST FABULOUS ROBOT EVER,

METTATON.

"DON'T BE SQUARE, DARLING,
BE RECTANGULAR!"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Another sigh, this time of relief. Though Alphys is pretty sure he is only responding due to promises of upgrades, at least she knows that he listens to her messages… or has someone listen to her messages.

'No time to dwell on things you can't change Alphys… just keep going. At least the Queen hasn't approached you about that, right? You're still the royal scientist… so you have to work hard… prove that they shouldn't get rid of you.'

Another thought crosses her mind as she begins to work on the Aircraft again. 'I… I should find a way to reverse the amalgamation… but that has to wait. I don't have any clue how to approach it, let alone what tools I'll need. Once the underground lab is done, I should start tests… I was going to work on something else, but it… it can wait.'

Working with a laser focus and dedication only seen in the truly passionate, Alphys hammers panels of recycled metal, salvaged from the CORE and the Underground dump, to make plating for the Aircraft.

Once shaped as needed, she holds it in place for the elder puzzler use a tool to rivet it to the aircraft. Screws and nails are not enough to keep an aircraft from falling apart. At this rate, she should be done with the upgrades and repairs by tomorrow.

Assuming nothing happens to distract her.

The upgrades she has managed to install include:
Stronger, quieter, thrusters which utilise both magic and a gear system hooked up to a steam engine.
Gauges that do not require the Artifact to be connected, thanks to Sans somehow knowing human magic…
A powerful, but relatively lightweight, steam engine to provide extra power to the thrusters .
A larger tank for magic to be used as fuel, and a tank for the steam power generator.
A magic fire furnace for the steam engine.
And a light but sturdy metal frame.

All that is left to finish is the metal shell, which will keep the occupants safe during high altitude flight, and a system to circulate air through the whole thing… because most monsters, and all humans, need to breathe.

'Lights would also be helpful, but adding a system to generate electricity, or converting the steam engine to generate electricity, would cause it to weigh too much. Hmm… maybe I could add some bioluminescent mushrooms or crystals from the Underground?'

Checking her supplies reveals… none. She will have to find a way to get some later.

'Maybe Sans can help? No… he has been "busy," lately. I wonder what he is up to…'

Deciding to put her thoughts aside and focus on the aircraft, Alphys works the metal plates faster to try to make up for lost time.

It isn't long into her work before Mettaton lands in the backyard of the manor, making Alphys jump in surprise.

"HELLO DARLING ALPHYS! I'M HERE AS I SAID I WOULD BE. NOW, THERE IS NO NEED TO FEEL RUSHED BUT I DO HAVE THOUSANDS OF ADORING FANS WAITING FOR ME TO RETURN!"

Sighing and waving the other monster away, Alphys guides Mettaton into the manor's lab so she can get started on his upgrades and maintenance.

:-:

Conrad has been spending most of his time practising swordplay and stitching wounds shut.

The house without Marceline is… dreary. Dreadfully boring. Horrendously empty.

Vacant, of her lithe beauty; it just doesn't feel like home.

The day after they left, he felt very uneasy, as though he could tell she were in significant distress…

But it must have just been his imagination, Bernard and Deborah are with them; she and Frisk are perfectly safe… right?

Deciding to focus on other things, Conrad seeks out Thing so he can distract himself by teaching her how to Fence.

Thing has been quite helpful around the house, as well as with the recent anti-monster issues.

In fact, she has been in the Townhall almost constantly, and is the only monster allowed to go through the village with an escort of guards.

Without her diligence, the monsters would probably be rejected unanimously by the council.

Today, however, is a short break.

Conrad finds Thing relaxing in the conservatory.

Cheerily, hiding his worry, Conrad asks, "Thing dear, would you like a lesson in Fencing?"

Thing looks to Conrad curiously and asks, "Fencing? To repair the damage to the yard wall?"

Conrad shakes his head, and replies, "No, it is a style of competitive sword play. I only have Sabres, but they will do. The point is to strike your opponent, without getting hit yourself. So, interested in learning?"

She takes a moment to think, but ultimately decides to accept his offer. Nodding, Thing gets up from her seat and follows Conrad.

The pair make their way to Frisk's play room, but Conrad has her wait while he gets two sabres from his office, then he gives her a brief rundown of the rules.

"Now, when Fencing with a sabre, the arms, chest, head, and neck are all valid targets; however, the hands, and everything below the waist, are not."

Conrad assumes a wide stance and holds his sabre at the ready, explaining, "Now, the sabre is a light cutting and thrusting weapon, so hits with the entire blade are valid. You want to ensure that your opponent cannot touch you, so you must parry and strike fast."

He briefly points to the hand guard, which extends down to the pommel, as he continues,
"The hand guard is best turned outward, to help protect your sword arm from hits."

Returning to his ready pose, he says, "Unfortunately, we do not have any protective gear, but these sabres have been dulled, so as to not cause cutting wounds, and the tips -as you can see- have large wooden tips on them. You will still need to restrain yourself. It is a practice of speed and precision… As such I will have to request that you do not try to strike my face until you are more practised."

Conrad waits for a bit before asking, "do you understand so far?"

Thing nods and holds the sabre hesitantly at the wrong angle.

Seeing her hesitance, Conrad attempts to ease her worries by saying,
"no need to fear, I will go easy on you. Now, if you are ready then assume the same pose as me."

Doing as instructed, Thing assumes a ready pose with her sword held upwards at the correct angle.

They begin to spar, and Conrad instructs her as they go.

After a few minutes of swinging, parrying, and thrusting his sabre at Thing, Conrad comments about the day.

"Mondays are truly dreadful, which make them the best day in the week! Don't you think so, Thing?"

Thing does her best to keep up while she tries to reply. "I thin-… I think-… I think, Monday-"

She signals for a break, not familiar enough with the sport to remain focused and talk at the same time, "I think Mondays are lovely, just like every other day of the week."

Contemplative, Conrad replies, "hmm, quite right! Now… enough talking. More parrying! More swinging! Lunch is just around the corner, and I want to be hungry for it!"

:-:

Papyrus is in the kitchen, trying to teach Undyne how to cook.

It isn't going very well.

"NO NO NO! UNDYNE, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO KNEAD THE DOUGH, NOT SUPLEX IT INTO SUBMISSION!"

With a huge grin, Undyne retorts, "PFFF! NO! This lazy lump of dough needs me to whip it into shape! So I'm gonna keep on suplexing this sorry excuse of noodle dough till it's what I want it to be! ! FUHUHUHU! !"

Unexpectedly, Sans chimes in, "undyne, there's no knead to be so aggressive with the dough. what is it gonna do to ya? wheat you to death? or is that the yeast of your problems with it?"

Frustrated, Papyrus says, "SAAANS! ! YOU'RE NOT HELPING! GO DO WHAT EVER IT IS YOU DO… WHEN YOU… DO NOTHING!"

Undyne bursts out laughing at Sans' puns, "FUHUHUHUHUHU! ! You've still got it Sans!"

Sans winks to Undyne, saying, "'course i do, but i haven't let the fame rise to my head."

Failing to keep himself from smiling, Papyrus complains, "THAT ISN'T FUNNY SANS! ! WE ARE VERY BUSY MAKING LUNCH! SO… MAKE LIKE AN OMELET AND BEAT IT!"

Sans chuckles briefly and leaves.

Collecting himself and speaking more calmly, Papyrus says, "NOW, UNDYNE… AFTER KNEADING THE DOUGH, WE ARE GOING TO GENTLY STRETCH IT. THEN WE ARE GOING TO COVER IT IN FLOUR AGAIN."

Papyrus waits for Undyne to do as instructed, "AFTER WE HAVE IT COMPLETELY COVERED IN FLOUR, WE ARE GOING TO TAKE THE TWO ENDS AND BRING THEM TOGETHER."

He demonstrates before continuing, "WHEN WE HAVE DONE THAT, WE WILL GRAB THE MIDDLE OF THE BEND AND STRETCH THE DOUGH AGAIN; THEN COVER IT ALL IN FLOUR. WE WILL REPEAT THIS GENTLE PROCESS UNTIL WE HAVE THIN NOODLES!"

Undyne tries to follow along, but she pulls too hard and ends up pulling the dough apart…

Her inability to gently work the dough makes her loose her original gusto, and she comments, "I dunno Paps. I… don't think I'm cut out for all this gentle work. I just wanna RIP AND TEAR! ! !"

Papyrus gently places his partly-done noodle dough on the counter and puts a hand on Undyne's shoulder, saying, "NO WORRIES, UNDYNE, YOU CAN MAKE THE MASHED POTATOES INSTEAD."

Excited, Undyne runs and grabs a pot and the meat tenderizer, shouting,
"HELL YEA! IT'S SMASHING TIME! FUHUHUHUHU! !"

While she makes a mess with the potatoes, Papyrus continues making the noodles.

He was going to tell her to make the sauce, but… that would be messy.

…And a fire hazard.

Papyrus is sure that she can learn to be gentle when cooking, she just needs practice.

:-:

Monk, Robert, and Drake are all finished with drawing on the "spoiled" pizzas. With circular disks of cardboard thoroughly utilized, they stash them with the others on the side of the building. It seems the Temmies don't look there for some reason.

Bored, with no ideas for what to do next, they decide to play truth or dare…

Robert starts off the game, "alright, so uh… basically we are gonna take turns asking truth or dare; then the person we ask goes next after they say or do whatever it is. I'll start it off, so… Drake, truth or dare?"

Drake thinks for a moment, then says, "truth!"

Robert asks, "alright, what is the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

Hesitantly, Drake mutters, "I… I… Uh…"

Monk teases Drake,
"yo come on! It can't be that bad, right? It's already done! You're not a scaredy-cat are you?"

Indignant, Drake snaps back,
"N-no! I just haven't done a lot of stuff I think is embarrassing! I'm cool ."

Taking a moment to think, Drake says, "Alright… the most embarrassing thing I have ever done is… I… got startled by something… and uh… it… it turned out to just be Frisk… but I uh…"

Impatiently, Monk pressures Drake, "come on, yo! What'd you do? Did you hit them on accident? ?"

Embarrassed, Drake continues, "n-no! I wish…! I uh… I accidentally used some bullets… and… they… got stuck to me. I had to go around all day, pretending like nothing was wrong… It was like I was a human who pee'd their pants, put the pee was frozen to my head…"

Monk tries to keep himself from laughing, "yo! That must have been sooo uncomfortable!"

Robert replies, "that wasn't that bad, at least you didn't try to make jokes about it. Alright, it's your turn. So, who you gonna ask?"

Taking a moment to look between the two, Drake looks to Monk and says,
"you were pretty cold, so truth or dare, Monk?"

Worried that Drake will try to get revenge by asking him something embarrassing, and not really being willing to reveal the embarrassing stuff he has done, Monk says "dare!"

Not letting him off easy, however, Drake replies,
"alright, I… dare you to sneak into the human village and take something!"

Feeling scared and cheated, Monk complains,
"y-yo! You can't dare me to go there, that place is dangerous!"

Exacting his revenge, Drake retorts,
"I told you something super embarrassing, it's only fair! What, are you a scaredy-cat?"

Robert chimes in, "Oh man, you're calling him out Drake! You always do talk a big game about being brave, Monk; how about this, we'll go with you and watch your back."

Now regretting that he suggested it, Drake says, "w-what? No, I'm not going!"

Monk pressures him, "it's only fair, yo! That place is dangerous, if you're gonna make me go there, you've gotta watch my back! Unless you'll let me say truth instead?"

Not wanting to give up the chance to dare Monk to do something embarrassing or stupid, he says,
"No takesy backsies! A dare is a dare. Be cool."

Robert agrees, "yea, it wouldn't be fair. C'mon, lets just get it over with; I'm sure it'll be fine."

Hesitantly, but trying to prove that he is brave, Monk starts walking away from the TEM PEATSA SHOP.

Lenny is able to hear everything outside of the store, so he decides to take his break early and make sure they don't get hurt. They are the only customers he has, even if they never buy anything.

The other two follow closely behind Monk, and Lenny follows from a distance.

Sneakily making their way through the small shantytown, they eventually get to the gate and start making their way to Riverperson.

It would seem Lenny will have to take the long way if he is going to remain undetected…

He decides to tell someone about it instead of going off on his own, so he looks on the Undernet and looks for one of the monsters already in the village.

'Hmm… CoolSkeleton95? No, I don't even know that guy… what about… ALPHYS? No… she scares easier than I do… Oh! StrongFish91! She's that one tough monster who used to guard waterfall all alone, right? I bet she'd be able to handle this just fine!'

After bringing up Undyne's profile, Lenny sends her a message.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
To StrongFish91:
Hey, Yo, StrongFish91! Theres a big
problem I ned ur help with. I hve to
go bk to work soon, but sum kids just
ran off 2 try sneaking n2 the
human village! They got a ride wt
Riverperson b4 I culd stop them.
u'v gotta get them!
-CoolCat.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

With his message delivered, Lenny walks back to the TEM PEATSA SHOP and uses the rest of his break to smoke. He should probably quit, but monsters don't suffer the same side effects humans do.

:-:

Undyne's phone buzzes, but she is too preoccupied with turning very solid potatoes into very not-solid potatoes.

Papyrus, however, notices and says,
"UNDYNE, ARE YOU GOING TO CHECK THAT? ALPHYS MIGHT NEED HELP!"

Taking a break from smashing potatoes so thoroughly that none of it actually stays in the pot, Undyne looks at her phone, then sighs, "a guy named 'CoolCat' says that some monster kids snuck out of Home Town and are gonna try sneaking into the human village… I guess I'd better go stop them."

Stopping her, Papyrus says, "NO! ! THIS IS A MATTER THAT REQUIRES THE UTMOST DELICACY, WHICH YOU DO NOT POSSESS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GO…"

After taking a moment to stop and clean up, Papyrus finishes his comment, "BESIDES, ALL THE HUMANS ARE REALLY SCARED OF YOU… AND YOU'D PROBABLY HURT THEM ON ACCIDENT!"

Undyne replies as though she were physically assaulted,
"Tch! They'd BETTER be scared of me! I'M THE STRONGEST FISH! !"

She then proceeds to beat the potatoes hard enough to start deforming the metal pot she's using…

Papyrus, after setting the home-made noodles aside, takes off his apron and leaves the manor.

The three guards stationed outside the house notice him, and approach.

"You there! You can't leave the manor, it isn't safe."

Taking on his heroic pose, Papyrus's cape flaps in the non-existent wind as he declares, "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM VERY STRONG! NO ONE CAN BEST ME, SO YOU HAVE NO NEED TO FEAR. NOW, IF YOU DO NOT MIND, KINDLY STEP ASIDE SO I MAY GO AND STOP SOME SILLY MONSTER CHILDREN FROM PUTTING THEMSELVES IN DANGER!"

Not moving, one of the guards asks, "what do you mean? All the monster kids are in the monster camp to the south east, they can't… Wait, don't tell me, some of them are headed here…?"

One of the other guards speaks up, "God dammit. I'll go alert the East gate, we'll-"

Interrupting, Papyrus says, "NO NEED HUMANS, I AM MUCH FASTER! ! I WILL GO, NYEH!"

After his declaration, Papyrus hops a little and "walks" through the air over them to the eastern gate.

The sounds of startled and terrified humans below him as he "walks" over the village ensue.

With a sigh, one of the three guards says, "well, not our problem any more" which prompts the other two to look at each other and shrug before returning to their posts.

By the time Papyrus gets there, unfortunately, there is already a commotion.

The monster kids chose a bad time to try sneaking into the village, as the farmers were still working the fields. If they had waited for lunch then the path would have been clear…

Drake and Robert are on the outskirts of the field, unnoticed, but poor Monk in surrounded by three scared and angry humans with pitchforks.

If it were not for the fact that Stag hill is going through a food shortage, they'd probably also have torches.

When Papyrus arrives, it adds additional fuel to the humans' fiery mood; they feel threatened now.

One of the humans pipes up, loudly so as to draw attention to himself, "Ah knew it! You monst's try'n' ta kill off all the hue-mans by get'n' rid of us farmas! Ah told 'em you's up t'no good!"

Papyrus attempts to approach, while saying, "WORRY NOT HU-"

But the farmer threatens, "Stay back y'damned skel-o-tun or I'll show yous why ya mess'n' wit' the wrong farmas!" The farmer shakes his pitchfork threateningly at Monk.

The other two nod in agreement, while keeping their pitchforks pointed at Monk.

Poor monk is shivering and trying not to cry.

Papyrus starts talking again, this time more authoritative, "NOW NOW HUMAN! THIS CHILD IS NO THREAT TO YOU! PLEASE KINDLY STOP POINTING YOUR LARGY POINTY FORKS AT THAT POOR CHILD, THEY MEAN YOU NO HARM!"

But they refused, loudly, "No way y'damn 'bomnation! I'll skew'r the lot of ya!"

Not giving up, Papyrus pleads, "PLEASE! LET THE MONSTER CHILD GO AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SWEAR TO YOU THAT HE WILL DO NO HARM! ! I WILL EVEN LET YOU HOLD ME CAPTIVE AS A SIGN OF MY SINCERITY!"

Monk objects, "Y-yo! Y-you can't d-do that Papyrus! They'll kill you!"

Papyrus takes on his usual heroic pose and says, "FEAR NOT MONK! WHY? FOR I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! ! NO SILLY HUMAN WEAPON CAN KILL ME!"

The farmer shouts, "Pah! ! As if I'd trust a monst'r! Your hear'ism don't make a lick of a difference to me! We'll jus' kill ya both!"

After making his statement, he stabs at Papyrus with his pitchfork.

It doesn't do anything because the prongs are spaced too far apart, and the none of them made contact with Papyrus. Instead, two of the prongs have part of his spine between them.

Papyrus looks at the farmer angrily as he reacts, "HOW RUDE! ! ! I WOULD HAVE YOU KNOW THAT MY BROTHER WORKED VERY HARD ON THIS COSTUME! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GET MY LAZY BROTHER TO DO ANYTHING?! I SWEAR, IF YOU DAMAGE THIS-"

The human farmer interrupts, pulling the pitchfork back and trying again,
"shut yer damn mouth! y'have any idea how 'noying you are?!"

As the farmer stabs forward again, Papyrus grabs the pitchfork. This takes the farmer off guard.

Papyrus, still angry, shouts,
"YOU TORE IT! ! I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW ABSOLUTELY RUDE YOU ARE BEING!"

Papyrus then grabs the human by the collar of his rough shirt and starts to drag him to a nearby house, saying, "I'M PUTTING YOU IN TIME OUT! YOU HAD BETTER THINK REALLY HARD ABOUT YOUR LIFE CHOICES, YOUNG MAN! !"

Yelling out in complaint, the farmer retorts,
"Ah'm sixty two years old! ! Ah'm no 'young man!' Let me go y'damn monst'r!"

Papyrus retorts, "YOU ARE OVER TWO THOUSAND YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME! RELATIVELY SPEAKING, YOU ARE BASICALLY A BABY! !"

The other two try to keep up, and are also shouting to try to get help, but Papyrus is too fast and the other humans are too scared to approach.

Papyrus' antics are the perfect distraction for Monk to run away.

The guards are watching the scene unfold with amusement, knowing full well that Papyrus won't hurt anyone, but still being vigilant in case any humans try something stupid.

As Papyrus drags him, the farmer continues panicking and trying to hit Papyrus with his pitchfork, but the attacks are too weak to do anything more than further damage his costume. Eventually the farmer loses his grip on the tool and starts kicking and punching, akin to a child having a tantrum.

Other humans look on in terror as Papyrus quickly drags the farmer to the closest house and tosses him inside.

Like a disappointed and angry parent, Papyrus declares, "YOU ARE GROUNDED! ! YOU'D BETTER THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! AMBUSHING A POOR CHILD AND RUINING MY COSTUME! ! I SWEAR, YOU HUMANS ARE ALL SO RUDE! NYEH!"

Slamming the door shut, Papyrus then looks to some nearby guards and asks, "WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO MAKE SURE THIS DELINQUENT DOESN'T LEAVE THE HOUSE? HE TRIED KILLING ME! I AM GOING TO GO AND DO HIS JOB FOR HIM, BECAUSE FOOD IS IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE!"

The guards look to each other, and one shrugs, saying, "sure?"

Papyrus is happy now, and he says,
"THANK YOU HUMAN GUARDS! I AM OFF NOW TO TEND THE FARMS."

After moving over to the door of the house, the guards watch Papyrus run off to the farm; they are very amused. The other humans nearby look at the guards incredulously, as if they were supposed to do something about Papyrus.

Many people start muttering about how useless they think the guards are, but they don't speak out about it. With the guards not doing anything about what just happened, the people have lost confidence in them.

:-:

The thing about small villages is that word travels fast…

Gerald has been looking for something he can do to try getting the anti-monster people to recruit him, if there's even a group, or to at least identify who is who in a reliable way that won't tip them off.

Despite news travelling fast, it isn't until around dinnertime that he hears the news about what Papyrus did, and that the guards didn't do anything; it gives him the perfect opportunity. He only managed to hear the news in passing, because the villagers are trying to keep quiet about it for some reason.

Gerald makes his way to the common gathering area, near the town hall, and makes a declaration…

Loudly, to get everyone's attention, he says, "today, I was saddened to hear that some of our guards were standing idly by while one of our elderly neighbours, a farmer, was dragged and thrown into a house…"

He takes a brief pause… some people start to gather around, curious.

Continuing, with a false heavy heart, he says, "but I was shocked and disgusted to hear that those same guards, without due process, enforced the monster's wish to keep the man locked in a house that wasn't even his own!"

Another brief pause, and the people around him start to murmur; some guards join the small crowd, confused and curious.

Gerald sighs, as though he were making a hard decision, and finishes his statement, "that is why, after some consideration, I have decided to leave the village guard. All of my efforts to shape them into people to protect you… were completely pointless."

He takes off his helmet and tosses it aside, the same with his sword, and his armour, while saying,
"What good is the village guard, if they do not guard you?! So… I will do my best to right this wrong! I will protect you, without the support of those fakes!"

The murmurs among the crowd grow louder, and some people mutter agreements with his decision and statements… but the guards are worried. He painted them in a rather bad light, and they are expecting people to act out more as a result. They leave quietly to speak with one of the leaders.

Gerald leaves the gathering area to prepare… in hopes that his stunt got the attention of what ever leader is in charge of the people behind all the "attacks," but he also prepares in case he accidentally caused an organized group to actually be created.

He waits and prepares at his house for several hours before there is a knock on his door.

Getting up to check, Gerald carefully opens the door.

It's Aideen, and she looks really ticked off.

Pushing her way in, she nearly shouts, "What the hell are you thinking?! Do you have any idea what you just caused?! How dare you turn your back on your duty!"

Gerald puts a finger to his mouth and motions for her to be quiet, whispering
"I can explain, stop being so loud!"

Aideen pinches her nose and turns away in frustration, inhaling deeply to calm herself down, then demands, "fine. Explain yourself, or I'll make your face redder than my hair."

Beckoning her in further, Gerald closes the door and whispers, "I've been trying to find a way to get into the anti-monster group so we can take it down from the inside. When I heard that Papyrus locked a farmer in someone's house, and that some guards kept him there, I used it to try getting the anti-monster people a reason to recruit me."

Smacking him on the side of the head, Aideen says, "you idiot! You should have talked to me first! There is no anti-monster group! Me and Hilda figured out that it was just a bunch of small separate groups, and completely unorganized!"

Gerald retorts, "but we found a flag-"

Aideen interrupts, "That me and Hilda made! We were going to tell you, but we were trying to keep it quiet, in case any guards are in on this anti-monster nonsense! We've been planning it ever since the Johnathan incident."

Leaning her head forward slightly, then running her hand through her short curly hair in frustration, Aideen sighs, "…I should have talked to you sooner. Now they are probably going to try to join together and get you as their leader."

Gerald does as well… then hesitantly speaks again, "so… you're telling me that I didn't just accidentally cause them to join together, but also became a potential leader?!"

Aideen nods slowly, frustrated and stressed.

:-:

Frisk and Marceline are resting in the hastily made wagon. Though uncomfortable and bumpy, it's surprisingly sturdy. The group hasn't had any troubles after that one attack… it seems their luck has changed.

Though, they also haven't stopped riding since they left. The poor horses must be tired.

Looking up into the twilight sky, Frisk contemplates everything that has happened… and everything that has yet to happen.

They have a nagging feeling that something isn't right, but they can't tell what.

Worried due to past problems, they look inward to their SOUL… but everything looks fine.

Thoughtlessly, they rub the pendant under their shirt as they think about all their monster friends.

Frisk closes their eyes, and thinks, 'please… please be safe… you're my only real friends…'

After thinking that, they immediately feel bad as they remember Bernard, Kevin, Deborah, and… Katsuro.

A tear finds its way onto their cheek… 'why did he have to die? It… It isn't fair…'

Unexpectedly, Marceline rubs the tear from Frisk's dirty face and sighs.

After a moment, Frisk cuddles up to their mother, and Marceline says, "don't worry, my angel, everything will be OK. When we get to the Sanctum, we can take warm baths; and you can play with some of the other kids while I get our living situation set up."

Not desiring to play with the other children, Frisk complains, "I don't want to play with other kids, they are all stupid and mean… I want to play with my monster friends… and Katsuro… I miss him so much, mom…"

Marceline holds Frisk's head close to her chest and runs her hand through their hair, in a calming manner, while saying, "I know, Frisk, we all miss him. With how things have been going lately, we might see him sooner than we expect."

Her usual dark comments normally tickle Frisk's funny bone, but this time it feels out of place.

Comment aside, Frisk starts wondering what it's like when people die. They wonder if Katsuro is happy, or if they don't exist any more… lost to oblivion.

Slowly, Frisk drifts off to sleep despite the bumpy-ness of the ride and their unhappy thoughts…

* Frisk's sadness and hopelessness echoes through the void, but the void responds with HOPE.

* FRISK IS FILLED WITH DETERMINATION!

* FILE SAVED!
* FRISK FEELS REJUVENATED.