Chapter 6

I went through the town, meeting a bunch of friendly faces in the process, including a non-furry monster that happened to be a little kid wearing a striped shirt... but they had no arms and didn't tell me their gender. All they told me was they would like to be called Monkid... apparently their full name was Monster Kid and they were named by Asgore.

"Sounds like Asgore isn't the best at names," I frowned.

"Tell me about it. When he made the original settlement in the Underground, he called it 'Home'. And the castle? His living quarters is called 'New Home'," Monkid frowned.

"Heh, it's kinda funny in a way," I smiled.

"I guess," Monkid giggled as I then tried to go out of town... but found that I was soon in a bunch of fog. I couldn't see a thing... that is, until Papyrus appeared in front of me.

"Mute the Human..." he said, me frowning at him.

"Papyrus the skeleton," I said.

"Listen, I really don't want to fight you. In fact, I'd love nothing more than to be your friend... but in order for me to join the Royal Guard, I need to capture you," Papyrus said, me frowning at him. "So, I'm sorry, but I'll make this quick," Papyrus said as he then approached me and I simply stood in place, not doing anything.

"I'm not going to fight you, Papyrus," I frowned.

"So you won't fight, then? Very well, prepare for my special blue attack," Papyrus said, me staying still as a bunch of blue-colored bones came from Papyrus's hand and I stayed still for all of them. But then, just as the shopkeeper said, I felt incredibly heavy and found I was forced to the spot. I then had to jump high as a bone came after I was on the ground. And then, for some reason, I felt my body lower me like my gravity was increased!

"You're blue now! That's my attack! Nyehehehehehe!" Papyrus snickered as I simply stayed still and smiled at him. "Uh... why are you smiling at me?" Papyrus asked.

"Why do you want to join the Royal Guard, Papyrus?" I asked him.

"Why? I want to join the Royal Guard because I want to be popular! If I'm with the Royal Guard, I'll have a ton of admirers and friends, just like Undyne!" he smiled, me frowning at that.

"Even if it means that I die in the process?" I asked, Papyrus looking at me in confusion.

"Huh? Me, kill you? I'd never do such a thing!" Papyrus exclaimed.

"Well, sorry to say, but that's exactly what happens to any human that gets captured by the Royal Guard. They get captured, they get sent to Asgore, he executes them and takes their soul. It's happened 6 times before and if he does the same with me, he promised to destroy all of humanity," I said, Papyrus frowning and shaking his head at me.

"No! I refuse to believe that! Asgore is too nice to kill children like you!" Papyrus said angrily as he continued to attack me with bones and I had to jump over them some more, sometimes jumping through a small gap in between the bones.

"If you don't believe me, then maybe you'll believe his wife," I frowned as I then got on my phone and called up Toriel, her answering almost immediately.

"Huh? Mute? Is that you? What's the matter, child?" she asked. I frowned and put her on speaker.

"Can you tell my friend about Asgore's plan? Because he refuses to believe me. Who better to ask than the wife of Asgore?" I asked, Papyrus looking at me in confusion as she then started to speak.

"Asgore's plan was put into place shortly after the humans on the surface killed our son, Asriel. He planned to capture and kill any humans that were to fall into the Underground and, once he gathers 7 of their souls, he'll destroy the barrier and destroy all of humanity, leaving only monsters to rule the surface world," Toriel said, Papyrus looking at me with a sad look and hanging his head soon after.

"So it's the truth... and you say you are the former queen?" Papyrus asked.

"Uh... y-yes, I am," Toriel said.

"Then what is Asgore's nickname?"

"King Fluffybuns."

"Oof... yes, you are the former queen... dang... now I don't ever want to be in the Royal Guard... but then that means my friend status will remain stagnant..." Papyrus said with sadness as he then returned my soul to its normal red hue and I simply smiled at him.

"Well, my offer still stands, Papyrus. I'm willing to be your friend," I smiled at him, the skeleton gasping at that.

"R-Really? Really and truly?!" he asked, me nodding at that. "Wowie! We haven't even had our first date and I've already managed to hit the friend zone!" Papyrus smiled widely and I smiled as I heard Toriel on the other line giggling.

"Thanks, Tori, for backing me up," I smiled at her.

"You're welcome, Mute. Okay, I'm going to hang up now," Toriel smiled.

"Bye," I smirked as we then clicked off and Papyrus then smiled widely at me.

"Hey, before you go off to meet with the king, why not come with me to my place? We can have a date there if you wish," Papyrus smiled, me smirking at him. He was quite charming and he was pretty funny. It wouldn't hurt to give him some company for a bit.

"You got a deal, Papyrus, let's have a date at your place," I smiled at him. He then led me to his place, which was the last one in the line before it moved to the foggy area. I smirked as Papyrus led me into the house and I looked around, seeing it was quite cozy on the inside.

"Do you like it?" Papyrus asked.

"~Yes, I do this place looks very comfy...
So what do you say we get the date started, good buddy?~" I sung to him, Papyrus smirking at me as he led me to his room and he then smiled at me.

"Okay, let's begin the date!... Actually, I've never done this before... but don't worry! You can't spell 'prepared' without several letters from my name!" Papyrus smiled as he then pulled a book out of his pocket. "I snagged an official dating rule book from the library!" Papyrus smiled at me.

"Heh, sounds fun," I smiled at him.

"Let's see... step one, ask the person if they want to go on a date with you," Papyrus smiled as he then looked at me with a smile. "Mute, I want to go on a date with you!" he smiled.

"I'd love that, Papyrus," I giggled.

"Wowie! Then it's time for step two!... Step two, wear clothing for the occasion," Papyrus smiled as he then looked at me with a surprised look. "Wait a minute... that bandanna, that ribbon, that tutu, that glove and those shoes! You're wearing a whole lot of clothing! Could it be that you were hoping to go on a date with me this whole time?!" Papyrus asked in shock.

"Well, I just thought it'd make me look cute, just in case somebody did decide to ask me about dates and stuff," I smiled, being half truthful.

"OOOH! You're much better at this than I am! Your dating power is increasing!" Papyrus exclaimed as a blue meter appeared above his head and it filled up by a quarter. "But, that doesn't mean I'm beat! I, too, can wear clothing! In fact, I always keep my special clothes underneath my battle body clothes! Just give me one second!" Papyrus smiled as he rushed into his closet and closed the door. After a bit of shuffling, Papyrus exited the door and I saw he looked pretty cool. A baseball hat, a shirt that had the words 'Cool Guy' written on it, shoulder pads shaped like basketballs, and some pretty sweet shorts! "Well, what do you think?" Papyrus asked, me smirking at him.

"Super cool! You look awesome!" I smiled at him.

"NOOO! A genuine compliment!" he exclaimed, me smirking at how he was treating this like a game. His dating meter then increased some more and he then regained his composure. "Ahem. But, what you just said doesn't mean anything unless you can find the secret to my outfit!" Papyrus smiled. I smirked and looked around his body for a bit before I simply pointed at his hat.

"Methinks there's something under that hat," I smiled.

"Aha! Very clever, Mute!" Papyrus smiled as he showed that there was a gift box underneath his hat and on his head. "Go on, open it. A gift, just for you!" Papyrus smiled. I then opened it up and saw that, on the inside, it was a freshly made plate of spaghetti! And it looked... well, it looked delicious! "Do you happen to know what it..." Papyrus was about to say before I grabbed it and smiled at him.

"Boy, I can't wait to taste your spaghetti!" I smiled as I took a bite of it and my face scrunched up. But not because of it tasting bad. It was because... it was the best thing I'd ever tasted! My mouth watered at the stuff and I ate all of it in no time at all, Papyrus smiling at me widely.

"Wow, you must really like my spaghetti!" Papyrus smiled.

"Like it? I love it! It's the best thing I've ever tasted! MMM!" I smiled, me then coughing soon after and holding my throat. "Ow... dammit... I got a bit too excited there... my voice box again," I frowned as I had to whisper again.

"Oh dear... I'm sorry, Mute," Papyrus said with worry.

"No, it's not your fault. I just got too excited by how good the spaghetti tasted. No joke, your cooking skills are impressive. Maybe, instead of being in the Royal Guard, you could get a job as a chef?" I smiled, Papyrus's smile forming at that. "In fact, on the surface, we have entire restaurants dedicated to pasta dishes called Italian restaurants. I want to get everyone in the Underground to the surface in some way, and I think that, when that happens, you could open up a restaurant!" I smiled, Papyrus smirking and blushing at that.

"Really? Golly, my cooking is that good, huh? Well, if you're supporting me, Mute, then I will continue to hone my skills in the ways of cooking! Just you wait! One day, I shall become Master Chef Papyrus with the greatest restaurant in the world!" he smiled widely, me smirking at him.

"Agreed!" I smirked as I then looked at his clock and I gasped. "Crud! I need to get going to the castle!" I said after I looked at the clock. It was 1 pm!

"Say no more, my best friend! I shall escort you to the castle myself! And just in case we were to get separated, let us exchange phone numbers," Papyrus smiled, me nodding and doing just that. After that, we then left his house and proceeded down the path to the east and eventually, we came across a place that had a more darker look to it. "What say we solidify our friendship with a song, Mute?" Papyrus asked, me smirking at that.

"Sounds lovely," I smirked as we then started to sing his little diddy.

"~I can't believe it, I've made a friend!
Who is very good at singing and our date was very great!~" Papyrus sung the first verse.
"~My style and charm have won over a skeleton
Who's spaghetti is amazing, surely this must be fate!~" I smiled.
"~I'll tell Undyne, wait I probably shouldn't do that
She'll be mad, she might have, and then throw a cow!~" Papyrus sung as his phone suddenly started to ring. "Uh oh..."
"~I'm sorry, Mute, but that would be my phone ringing...
Yeah... that would be her... calling right now...~" Papyrus sung sadly and me smiling at him. "Uh, so sorry, but I have to take this. I'll be back... probably," he said as I then moved forward and I saw that Sans was standing at a sentry post and he looked at me with a smile.

"hey there, mute. how'd things go with my bro?" Sans smiled.

"They went great. Once I befriended him, we had a date and he found a new passion in life," I smirked, Sans's eye raising at that.

"what kind of passion?" Sans asked.

"His spaghetti? It was the absolute tastiest thing I've ever had in my mouth... I regret eating it as fast as I did," I said with a small trill that made me giggle silently.

"wow. i guess i never realized it because i tend to like bad-tasting stuff," Sans said, me smiling at that.

"Yeah... what do you eat?" I asked.

"mostly ketchup," Sans smirked, me gagging at that.

"S-Straight from the bottle? That sounds unsanitary," I frowned.

"see? anyways, i'm grateful for you being so nice to him... but i do have to ask you something..." Sans said as something then happened. The lights went out all around us except for me and Sans alone. "you ever heard of a talking flower?" Sans asked.

"Yeah, he's tried to kill me and he's been spying on me," I frowned, Sans sighing at that.

"so you met him already... and you know he's not an echo flower..." Sans sighed. "well, i wanted to say something. sometimes, papyrus tells me that a flower talks to him whenever he's on his own. giving him encouragement, advice... predictions... i don't know if it's that yellow flower or if someone's pranking him with echo flowers. just keep your eyes on the alert of anything screwy, kid. i worry for my bro at times, y'know?" Sans asked, me smiling at him.

"You have my word that I will do my best to protect your brother, Sans," I smiled at him.

"alright, good," he smirked as the lights then came on and I only then noticed something shocking. The whole time the lights were off, time had been stopped for everyone but me and Sans! "surprised?" he asked, me simply nodding at that. "if ya tell anyone about my secret powers that i just showed you..." he said as his eyes then turned black, just like when I first met him. "You're gonna have a bad time..." he growled, me shivering at that.

"Oof... I promise that too, then... I'd rather keep having a good time, thank you very much," I said with a shiver as I then saw that there was a new face with us. It was Monkid and they looked super excited.

"Hey, Monkid. What's got you hyper all of a sudden?" I smiled at them.

"Oh! Didn't ya hear? They said Undyne was in the area! I sneaked out of the house just to go see her! You want to come with me?" Monkid asked.

"Sounds interesting. You bet I'm in," I smiled at them as we then moved forward, me wondering just what I'd be in for if Undyne was part of the Royal Guard.