Hey Everyone!
Interference in bold, puns and memories in italics, magic is underlined.
-text- indicates either texts, or mental "talking".
All Undertale stuff owned by Toby Fox, else me or a reference.
Sorry for the delay (again) - I've been in Finals season.
Toriel gives you an apologetic look.
Alphys
Alphys clutched her clipboard as she skittered along the hallway of the skeleton brothers' house towards their back door. She briefly noticed the blue blur of her girlfriend standing on the counter in the kitchen, but right now she was too panicked to stop and think. Why had Toriel and Sans been growling like that? That was...that was...were they mad at her? They had to be, she had gotten him worked up like that, she KNEW how he got about memory things, she shouldn't have tried to quiz him, she should have known…
Her claws scratched against the stained wood of the door, the handle stiff after an overnight frost. Open up, please open up, come on...resisting, it began to turn. A shout echoed down the hallway, muffled by the distance and her own panic. She flinched, and the handle gave way. She flung open the door.
"Ow," Alphys slammed the door shut. Oh no, someone had been standing there and she'd just slammed the door on them and she'd HIT them with the door...now they probably hated her and wanted to-
The handle of the door turned on its own, and the thick oak door swung open. She gulped, staring at a small pair of scuffed brown Oxford shoes. They were going to yell at her, she knew it, she deserved it, she-
"Hey, don't look like that - I'm fine, see? You just startled me is all," Alphys hesitantly looked up.
Torn khakis over thin legs had a striped polo in different shades of mauve tucked into them. Scraped red elbows hugged a worn notebook to a small chest. Scraggly blond hair, almost white, tangled with the thickest pair of glasses Alphys had even seen. Behind them, the immensely magnified silver eyes with scribbles of lilac along the rim of the iris blinked owlishly.
"Hey, it's you! I remember you…" The child in front of her bent down, flipping through the notebook, then froze, "Oh, yeah, this is my new book, isn't it. Um...there was this blue glowing thing...um, a mushroom, right, and there were these flowers that repeated whatever you said...those were cool. And you had a red ribbon, I think? And you looked lonely so I gave you that poster thing the pink ghost gave me and told you to go talk to them because you were lonely and they were lonely and lonely people should stick together and...and...are you okay?" they looked up, but Alphys' vision was too watery to make out their expression.
She remembered that...she'd met this strange monster in Waterfall, and she'd been really sad because her plans for a magical microscope had gotten soaked AGAIN and she was just so tired of messing up all the time. But when they spoke to her...she felt like maybe things would get better, if she just kept going a little bit longer. She'd gone to the meeting on the poster and been so excited when she met the ghost. She'd gone home that night full of ideas, and almost forgotten about the strange monster who'd told her about it...she hadn't figured out they were a human until Frisk had fallen into the Underground.
"I'm f-f-fine, I jus-s-st...how do you know ab-b-bout that?" The human child tilted their head.
"Cause that was me, silly. I got...lost, after I met you, and things got dark for a while...but I kept going, and it's alright now, so that's alright," They smiled sadly, "Things usually work out, if you keep trying just a little bit longer."
Alphys
She and the human ended up sitting out on the back porch, since Toriel had glared at Alphys when she went to go ask the Queen what to do with the child. After an awkward moment when she wasn't sure if it was too late to ask the child for their name and pronouns - he went ahead and told her anyway - the Scientist and the boy, who said to call him Pers, settled into an empty silence that would do Silver proud.
The boy swung his feet idly off of the edge of the deck, "So, what do you want to do until she's done in there?"
Alphys blinked in the sunlight, "Um…" She hesitated, no idea where to start a conversation. She decided to go with her default, "What do you think of Anime?"
The boy blinked back at her for a moment, then dug through his notebook. He flipped through a few pages, then squinted, "That's the Japanese cartoon style, isn't it?"
Her ear flaps perked up at this, "Haven't you ever seen any?" He shook his head. She let out a quiet squeal - someone with no experience she could pick what to start them on? This was an amazing opportunity...oh, no, she was going to ruin it, wasn't she? Of course she was, she'd pick something and he'd hate it and he'd never want to see another anime ever again and it would be her fault...she couldn't do this…
"Hey, it's alright. I'm sure it's really cool! Do you have a favorite show?"
She tried to get her breathing back to normal. She was fine, everything was fine, totally fine...had he just asked her what her favorite show was? He had! "Oh! My favorite show is Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, the first one not the second one, they completely ruined the main character's entire plot arc in that one, except they just announced that the people who did the third installment of one of my other favorite shows are remaking it and they did a great job with that and most of their other stuff is pretty good so I think it's going to be better this time and…"
She noticed him blinking back at her. Had she...she had gone off again, hadn't she, and he had no context for what she was talking about. Maybe she should pull up an episode? "Would you like to see some of the show?"
The boy shrugged, "Why not?"
"O-okay, let me j-j-just-" she pulled out her phone and started typing. A banner popped up on the top of the screen. Her brows furrowed, "Why is he t-t-texting me right now? I thought his sh-sh-show was supposed t-t-to finish half an hour ago, and he always g-g-goes and powers down in his room f-f-for an hour afterwards," she switched to the other app.
-Darling, I hope this isn't a bad time, but you will not believe what just happened.-
She started to type in a response, but before she could finish, another text came through.
-I knew the security here wasn't as good as back home, but really, letting an armed fanatic onto the stage?-
She froze, then her claws flew across the keyboard.
-Are you alright Metta?-
-Oh, fine darling-
-They didn't get far, but you won't believe what happened next.-
Alphys sighed. She didn't dislike the robot...not exactly, but…sometimes she wished he would be a bit less dramatic. A cough from across the porch reminded her of her companion. She motioned him over and began to type.
-What happened?-
-Well, darling, I was standing there giving my soul-tugging speech about life in the Underground when this wild-eyed human in one of those awful t-shirts heaved themselves up onto the stage.-
Beside her, Pers shifted his grip on his notebook nervously.
-Of course, Blooky asked the human if they were alright, because you know how big of a jump that is for a human.-
She rolled her eyes. Napstablook had probably floated right over to them. The ghost worried so much about others, and had never really had to think about any possible danger to themselves.
-The human didn't seem to appreciate his concern, because they pulled a length of pipe out from under their shirt.-
A bead of sweat rolled down her scales. Oh no, she hadn't asked about the shy DJ...he was okay, right? Metta wouldn't be so calm if his cousin had been hurt...but what if…
-Needless to say, Blooky is fine. The human didn't even get close enough for an Engagement.-
"Then what stopped them?" Alphys looked over at the boy beside her. He seemed...not as worried as she was. More...curious, as if he already knew the results of the experiment, but was running it anyway just to see how it was done. She typed in his question, and they waited.
-It was the strangest thing, darling. Almost like the plot of one of my earlier shows...the ones that were just too outrageous.-
That kind of described all of his shows.
-Picture it: a shouting human with a menacing stance stalking towards the helpless victims, when suddenly an over-inflated beach ball rockets into the villain's head.-
Pers snatched her phone and typed in a message.
-Who threw it?-
-Ah ah ah! No spoilers.-
The boy harrumphed.
-Anyway, the ball strikes. The villain staggers, confused at this unexpected attack, and turns around...only to get hit in the stomach by a child in a yellow shirt and faded, scuffed jeans.-
"If he was just going to tell us, why was he so rude about it?"
Alphas played with the fringe of the doormat with one toe, "He d-d-doesn't mean to b-b-be like that...it's just, he...um, he...he's always like that. He's been b-b-better lately, but...he reverts when he g-g-gets scared."
The boy looked thoughtful, "Is he related to the pink ghost?"
Alphys hesitated. Mettaton really didn't like people to know that he was a ghost, but...if it hadn't been for Pers, she and the ghost who would one day become Mettaton would never have met. She decided to tell the truth...after all, Frisk had been encouraging her about this, and...she thought Metta wouldn't mind, "He used t-t-to be the ghost you int-t-troduced me to... I made him a b-b-body so he could be c-c-corporeal...um, don't tell anyone, will you?"
Pers started scribbling in his notebook, her phone set carefully on the wide, painted railing of the deck. He nodded absently, the stopped for a moment, "I…" He looked worried, "...if there's someone I want to tell, can I ask you?"
Alphys' claws scraped against one another. Oh no, why would he ask that? Was there someone he wanted to tell? Of course there was, he probably had all kinds of friends, and now he wanted to tell them and she'd just told him, hadn't she, and now he was going to tell all kinds of people and they'd tell others and then someone would post about it on the internet and then everyone would know and Metta would hear about it and he'd get mad at her and it was all her fault-
"Hey, it's okay...I don't have anyone I want to tell...I don't really know that many people...I just like to know, if something is a secret, who that secret belongs to."
That...made sense, "Um...you can ask me, I guess...or Mettaton? He'd probably be better...um, cause it's his secret?" Pers nodded sagely, scribbling something else in his notebook. Plastic vibrated against wood, and the screen of her phone lit up.
-The small human grabs a piece of string out of their pocket...always useful to have a piece of string...and ties the villains thumbs together behind his back.-
Alphys grinned nervously. This sounded like something out of a cop show.
-Then they turn to me, shining in the spotlight, and say, "Sorry about the holdup...would you mind helping me get this bully off the stage?"-
"Did they tie his thumbs up?" Alphys' head shot up. Pers was staring at her, like he was perfectly willing to keep asking until she gave him an answer, "Justice. Did they do the thumb-tying trick? They're always talking about it," she nodded her head dumbly, "Thought so. Maybe they finally got it out of their system."
Another text came through, and Pers leaned his head over to get a better view.
-Anyway, darling, they would like to know how their friend is doing...they said he's supposed to be with you?-
"Oh, they mean me. Can I answer that?" Alphys handed over her phone, her claws shaking just a little. What was...what was happening?
Undyne
Papyrus and I have just finished pummeling our ene- I mean, mashing the vegetables for spaghetti sauce as a 'cheer-up the skele-nerd' surprise - when my phone dings at me. WHY THE HELL AM I ALWAYS BEING INTERRUPTED BY THIS STUPID THING! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THAT STUPID COMMUNICATIONS POLICY...THING, I'D- Wait, what? Where did the kitchen go? Wha- Tomatoes? Why is my-
"Papyrus, why exactly did you THROW THE TOMATO SAUCE AT MY FACE?!"
"YOUR PHONE WENT OFF!" I take a deep breath.
"THAT'S NOT A REASON TO SPATTER SOMEONE WITH TOMATOES!"
"AREN'T YOU GOING TO CHECK IT?"
"NGAH! FINE...pass me a towel," Terry cloth rubs against my scales, "I CAN DO IT MYSELF, PUNK!" My eye is finally clear, and I blink a few time to get the rest of the tomato juice out of it. Papyrus looks...sheepish? Crap, "C'mon, punk, it's fine. Just...warn me next time, will ya?"
"APOLOGIES, UND- DO NOT NOOGIE THE SKELETON!"
"TOO LATE!" I let Papyrus go - turns out it's not nearly so fun to noogie the skeleton when he's so stiff. Crap, I didn't even think Papyrus could get stiffer - he's made of bones, for gods' sakes! Oh well, "I'll read it to ya, since you're so interested."
I fish out my cell, sliding the email thingy to get up the message. From the Lab Goons, eh?
"Hey Boss!
So, I know you said not to email you, but this is kinda a weird thing? And we have no idea what to do. So, sorry."
My eyebrow rose. My little goons are pretty damn good at what they do - what could possibly have come up that they don't know how to deal with?
"You know how Fred went with one of Fedsy's guys out to that town on the edge of the desert where the meld kid Usik's family moved? Well, he got there, that went fine, report on its way, but…"
Well, at least THAT is over with. Coming up with a story to tell the two non-government families of SOULs trapped in Silver's head was kinda tough. What did we settle for again? Something about an escape attempt, right? Yeah, and they ended up in a vat of Determination, and sorta turned into an Amalgamate...something like that. Explains that they can still get messages out, but not really come home.
"So, they were coming back to the car? And this little squirt of a human in a light blue dress is sitting on the hood - a kid, Fred said she looked kinda beaten up. The suit went to go shoo her off their car, or, y'know, whatever suits do, but when he did, this other kid in an orange jersey comes up and pokes Fred. Like POKE poke, he thinks they might have bruised a rib."
Papyrus winces, and I frown. Well, Fred is a bit of a softie, doesn't really surprise me he'd overreact to something like that. What was he doing out of armour anyway? I thought Alphee made him a set...doesn't matter, yell at him when he gets back.
"Anyway, he looks at them, and they give him a look - he said it was just like one of yours! And then he said they said, and I'm quoting him here 'cause it was that creepy:"
Okay, hold up...I have a look? Not important, must know the creepiness.
"I wanna talk to the shouty red-blue fish lady again. We still haven't finished our match!"
"WHAT THE HECK?! WHY...Why, how...but Gerson...but..." My fins press back against my hair. How the hell could anyone know about that! That kid...that kid fell down even before I challenged Fluffybuns! He was like my first real spar, and...I didn't realise he was a human until Gerson started yelling at us, and...the kid messed up.
"UNDYNE, WHY ARE YOU RUBBING YOUR EYEPATCH?"
"...It's nothing, Papyrus. Just remembering someone I knew a long time ago."
Asgore
Asgore looked worriedly over the sea of faces surrounding him. These sort of events were so much easier in the Underground, where he had known everyone's name and favorite flowers. Talking to humans was a much less forgiving process, and in places like this, with so many unknown people crowding around him, his guards had insisted on so many cordons and personnel that he was hard pressed to connect to any of the people who had come to meet the King of Monsters. It made him feel like a figurehead, a statue to be waved at and photographed, rather than an individual, a caretaker and a father and a gardener who had a deep passion for tea that could not be quenched. Just once, it would be nice to play with the children as he once did.
Shouts of alarm and confusion came from behind him, two human guards whose names he had never been told, although he knew the younger one had two twin daughters in their first year of kindergarten, and the older carved stone fountains in his spare time. He turned to face the two, the other guards swarming towards the noise, when something impacted with his left knee.
The crowd went quiet, a kind of quiet that only highlighted the noise before and promised deafening noise soon after...of one kind or another. A waiting silence. Slowly, carefully, he bent down, right knee sliding back. He hunched himself over, curling his back until his snout was almost pressed against the small skull buried in his fur.
The child's face was surrounded by fur, but their hair was long and dark, brown or black under all the dirt. One of their small hands gripped the leg of his suit, olive skin coated in mud; the other held a dandelion by it's roots. They wore something green which might have been a dress or a robe...or possibly a pillowcase with holes cut in. It was carefully mended in a few places and slightly shiny over the knees, and spattered with mud and flower petals. Someone had clearly loved the child, although for whatever reason they had failed to keep them from digging in the garden. He wondered if they would be willing to let the child join him on his rounds one day.
"Howdy, small one. Would you-" A muffled, high-pitched voice interrupted him.
"Sorry," His brow furrowed.
"Small one, why are you apologizing?" The small head tilted up, revealing a mud spattered face. The child's eyes opened, and Asgore gulped. Grey eyes stared back at him - grey eyes with a thread of bright green that echoed through his soul. One hand pushed the flower towards his chest.
"'m sorry we couldn't get you all out sooner, Maeiz-King."
Asgore remembered a child walking up to him when he was out visiting the children in Hotland. He was inspecting a potted cactus - the most tsundere of plants - when he realised one of the children he had given a speech to had followed him over. He turned around, intending to call for the child's guardians...and saw a human, holding a flower in trembling hands. They asked him if what he had said was true - that the monsters had been imprisoned under the mountain by humans for a long time, but if they could get two more human SOULs they could break the Barrier. He had nodded sadly, sure this child was going to run away...but they didn't. They pressed the flower into his hands, and told him he could take their SOUL - that it was unfair they had been trapped for so long, and that this way, they could see the sun and the moon that much sooner. Walking with their small hand in his back to the castle had been one of the most heartbreaking things he had ever done.
Asriel
Frisk throws a tomato at my head, which I duck. I sneak my head around the corner of the doorway, looking for any ammunition in this war on boredom. A small hand passes me a water balloon, and I grin. Oh yes, Frisk is in trouble now!
Just as I am about to lob the projectile, a loud banging echoes throughout the house. I stand, only to get hit by a pat of butter to the ear, "Come on, Frisk, I have to answer the door!" I can hear the whine in my voice. I hate getting butter out of my fur.
"You started it! Anyway, why can't I get it?" She comes around the corner, and I give her a look-over.
"For one thing, you're covered in flower from the pancakes earlier. For another, I think you've been eating Mom's raspberries, because your face looks like something out of a horror film. Finally, because this is technically the castle, and I'm technically the only member of the royal family at home right now, so technically it's my job to answer the door."
Silver pokes her head out from inside one of the cupboards, and giggles at us. I smile. If nothing else, today gets marked down as the first day I have seen Silver act entirely her own age...I just jinxed it, didn't I? Yes, yes I did.
Another knock sounds through the house, "Can you help me get this...this stuff out of my fur?" Frisk gives me a glance, and I squirm. Then, she reaches over to Silver, who hands her...something, and she brings it up next to my face. A blast of heat soaks into my skin, and the butter melts off. I blink, and look down at the puddle at my feet, "How did you do that?"
Frisk holds up a...cup holder? "Alphys made it. It's supposed to heat up drinks and stuff when you turn this dial. Neat, right?" I stare at the thing...well, she did make the hot fridge, and her stove design has taken over the world market...why not this?
"That's...pretty cool."
"Glad it worked so well. This is the prototype. I snagged it last time we visited her and Undyne," my expression shifted. A prototype? Frisk just- "I kid, I kid! She finished these a while ago - they go on the market next month. This is just a promo she sent Mom. You're fine."
My weird half-SOUL stops fluttering around like a fly in a mason jar, "Good. So glad. Whelp, now that I'm done with my heart attack, let me just go answer the door like a normal person."
I turn to go, but small hands wrap around my wrist. I look down into Silver's solemn face. She looks...worried, "Oh, no, I'm okay, Silver. Just exaggerating. See?" I stretch, then do a few jumping jacks. Silver watches, wordless, until I come to a stop in front of her. She nods, grabs her sister's hand, and leads Frisk down the hall to the bathroom. Frisk slots me a look over her shoulder, but I shrug. It was a pretty good attempt, all things considered. We should have food fights more often.
I make it to the front door just as another set of knocks issues forth. Wow, somebody's impa- Flowey thought, disengage. I will not sound like a deranged flower, I will not sound like a deranged flower. I let out a puff of air, repeating the mantra under my breath, and open the door.
"Howdy, this is the Dreemur Residence, Newer Home. What can I do for you?" I look down at...someone vaguely familiar, from a long time ago. A kid, black hair flowing like silk, skin backed to a golden yellow. Red scratches cover their face, and a couple of thorns are tangled in their hair. Dirt and leaves litter their jacket, a giant blue trench coat with shoulders reaching down to their elbows, and cuffs past their knees. A dented bucket sits beside the scuffed yellow rain boots sticking out from under the edge of the coat.
"Oh, it's you. Didn't you used to be a flower? You were really rude," I stare into a pair of dark grey eyes mixed with spikes of dark blue that sends shivers down my spine. The voice that is becoming ever more familiar goes on, "So, um...Flowey, wasn't it?"
"Um...it was, but I'm...I'm not really Flowey anymore. My names Asriel," I am so lost! What is...how did...this is, was the kid with the SOUL of Integrity. Crap.
"Okay," They shrug, and I feel a twinge of annoyance at how casual they are about that change. Shut up, Flowey, it doesn't matter, "Hey, Goat-Mom lives here, right? Is she around?"
"Um, no," we stare at one another. We stare some more. Golly, isn't this exciting?
"Can I come in?" One boot scuffs against the welcome mat, "Only, I promised Toriel I'd get her the best snails she'd ever eaten...and they're kind trying to run away."
I look down. Inside the dented bucket, a handful of snails are slowly making their way to the top of the pail. The kid gives it a kick, and the snails fall back into the depths. I sigh. Today just got a whole lot weirder, "Yeah, sure, why not," I open the front door wider, "Kitchen's that way."
They walk past, pail carried haphazardly between two hands covered in fabric. I dig out my phone, typing in a message for Mom.
-Hey, there's a kid here who said they promised you snails? And I think they might be the SOUL of Integrity. Help?-
...and send. From the doorway to the kitchen, a voice echoes.
"Wow, cool! Did you guys have a food fight or something?"
I groan, and hurry back to get started on the mess.
Note: Maeiz is the transliteration of the Arabic word for Goat.