Hello Everyone!

Interference in bold, puns and in italics, magic is underlined.

This starts while Papyrus was watching the kid, you'll see where it catches up.

Swearing happens, just so you know.

Undertale is owned by Toby Fox, not me. I own my characters.

...I got nothing…

Undyne

COFFEE IS AMAZING, WONDERFUL, INCREDIBLE, LIFE-SAVING MAGIC FROM THE GODS! Alphys says I shouldn't drink so much, but...I'll give it up, if I can just get through today. I most certainly did not say the same thing yesterday.

My lab goons were still in their lair, although I noticed Fred was asleep on the copy machine again, "WAKEY WAKEY, EVERYONE! THE SUN IS SHINING, THE BIRDS ARE SINGING. ON DAYS LIKE TODAY-"

"We've got work to do!" The halfhearted chorus was plus one squeak as Fred fell off the copy machine. Their faces became noticeably more cheerful when I started handing out the coffee cups.

"Anything to report?"

"Nothing much, boss. The 'bad time' list is getting longer - we're gonna need another whiteboard soon. We stopped sending new photos to Sans...was that alright? Boss?"

"Yeah, short stuff's out of the loop for now. I can't shake the feeling I DON'T want to see him lose it. Any clues on what names belong to which kids?"

"We got a couple more nailed down, coupla distant relatives came to claim their orphans. Not so much luck on the humans. Do we have the okay to send our list out on the airwaves?"

"...not yet. Give it a few more days. Ask Fedsy if his lot can give us a hand," my, it's good to see them smile on a case like this, even if it's just at that old joke.

"U-u-undyne?" NO, not again, don't tell me another one's- "we f-f-found something…" phew, "I sent it to Alph-ph-phys, like you told me to, b-b-but I thought you should see it. It's one of the older f-f-files, but…" I skim through the jargon until my eye catches on one word, 'deathgate'. I slow down. My legs - good boy, Carl. You remembered about the chair.

"Has anyone ever heard of magic like this?" The humans in the room looked awkward, as they do when we come across this sort of thing in an investigation. My goons aren't uncomfortable around magic - if they were, they'd have left long ago - but the humans haven't known about it long enough to help out when we run across something weird.

"Sounds a little like absorbing, but...kinda like healing, too. And maybe a bit like fights?"

"It's not really absorbing, since the girl wasn't taking the SOULs completely, and they all seem to have lived...at least, in these files. The space they describe the SOULs going into, yeah, that sounds like a fight box, but healing…?"

"Some of old Gerson's relatives used to do something like that when a monster used all their magic. They'd pull the SOUL out just enough to where they could touch it, and then they'd, sorta, pass it some power, and then they'd put it back in, and whoever it was would have enough magic so they wouldn't Fall Down before they could build up some more."

Everyone sits back, little brains racing over all the possibilities. THEY ARE THE BEST! "Well, we'll know it when we see it. Till then, GET BACK TO WORK!"

"YES SIR!"

Undyne - later

Gods, nothing? It had been hours, and it felt like they'd gotten nowhere. I had to chase the goons out into the world after lunch - they'd been at it for almost 48 hours without sleep, and they weren't going to catch ANYTHING passed out on their desks. The lights had gone on a few hours ago, BUT I WASN'T GIVING UP YET!

Alphys

Alphys knew Undyne didn't like her coming into the office, but she hadn't seen her girlfriend since that morning, and she knew that, on cases like this, Undyne was just as bad at remembering to take care of herself as she could be. Anyway, she had brought her analysis of the 'deathgate' files, so she was there on business, wasn't she? She had to remember that.

The lights under the door led her to Undyne's department, which had moved since she'd been there last. When she opened the door, it was to a maelstrom of overturned furniture and scattered paper, with a broken whiteboard to one side, watching with disapproval. She rushed in to find Undyne curled up in the center of it all, "U-u-undyne?" The long silence drained the blood from her face.

"...I...failed, Alphy. I said I'd keep them safe, and I've failed."

"What are you talking about? Who's been hurt?" More silence.

"...do you remember my Uncle Nymphie and his family? They stayed with us for a while, back when we first made it out."

"Yeah. What happened?"

"That...BLOODY DAMNED MANIAC KILLED THEM! THEY-" Undyne's throat caught, "...two of the souls in that fucking meld are the twins, Alphy. Triclin was one of the first...trials in his fucking 'deathgate' project. Even though *sob* even though this girl saved her SOUL long enough for the bloody healing magic to take, he still fucking killed her the next day, to see what would happen. Nymphie died not long after that IN THE SAME FUCKING WAY! The babies were dusted within hours of their arrival in camp. WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL ME WHERE THEY WERE GOING? I WOULD HAVE...I SHOULD HAVE...NYAAAAHHHH!" One of the desks went flying into the door, and through the wall beyond that, too. Undyne grabbed a chair, looking for something else to throw it at.

"Undyne-"

"I failed them, Alphy. I let them die." She dropped the chair, then slumped into it.

"NO!" Shocked, Undyne turned to stare at the yellow lizard, "...what I mean is, well...you didn't let them die. You didn't know, you couldn't have known."

"BUT I SHOULD HAVE!" Undyne began to sob into her hands, sliding to the floor and curling up in a ball of tears. Slowly, Alphys came over to sit next to her.

"But you didn't. Remember what you told me, all those years ago?" Alphys cautiously reached over and began stroking her girlfriend's back, "You know, when I told everyone about the Amalgamates? You said there are always people you can't save, and that you have to keep going for the ones you can."

"I don't think I understood that, then. I mean, I understood it was comforting, but I didn't really think about it. There are thousands of monsters, billions of humans in this world, Undyne. No one can watch over them all, not without going mad, not without tearing themselves apart. But...if we all try our best? If we all keep going, even if it seems impossible? Maybe we can save enough. NO ONE can be everywhere, but...maybe that's okay."

"Maybe we can...we can be...um, satisfied? No, that's not the right word. Content, maybe...maybe we can be content knowing that we've saved one person, one life. And, hey, we've saved more than that, right? So, we have to remember them, the ones we saved, and think about who we can save next. Because we can tear our SOULs apart, trying to save them all, and it won't do a thing. But...if we can save one more, that's okay...right?"

"So, come on, Undyne. Let's go home. You can save someone in the morning, okay?"

"...Alphys…"

"Come on, you know I can't lift you! Get up...please?"

"Alphys, I can't-"

"You will. Come on, you need some sleep. If you don't come get some sleep, I...I won't tell you what I learned from the file, okay?"

"ALPHYS! YOU FIGURED SOMETHING OUT?! TELL ME!"

"Not until you get some sleep."

"...okay...just let send an email to the building crew, okay? I think I went a little too far again."