Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.
Iterations
Search
The search had stretched on for weeks. They had searched through every tunnel in the Main Area. Branched out to the dead ends that each tunnel eventually met. With Sans' careful supervision and guidance, Papyrus had teleported them topside so they could search through the monitors in the scientist's former lab. Reviewing the footage only proved that she had never left the Outskirts. Every member of the New Guard was ordered to keep an eye and and ear out for information on the runaway as the patrolled. There was never anything to report.
The monsters of the Outskirts were beginning to notice. While Alphys had been able to keep a low profile before everything had gone downhill, the crisis placed much scrutiny onto the Royal Scientist position. They expected her to either have a hand in eradicating the human threat or improving the poor living conditions. The longer the Royal Scientist's tent remained empty and silent, the more the unease of the masses grew. The tentative questioning was quickly becoming more aggressive. Members of the New Guard were no longer able to patrol alone after the masses began to turn violent. Without the hope of improvement that the Royal Scientist could provide, many shifted their focus to the scavengers, which consisted of only the two skeleton brothers, to give them all what they needed. An impossible demand to meet. Angry throngs of monsters coming after them became the norm. In effect, Papyrus learned very quickly how to find shortcuts and duck into them, though he was still uncertain about navigating. Sans, on the other hand, was unable to recover his magic properly. He was still weak, having to call upon his magic often to defend himself. It was significantly slowing down his rate of recovery.
It was in these conditions that they finally found a potential lead. Undyne decided to look through the file on territories within the Outskirts, hoping that the information would give her some sort of clue. The folder stuck to the one beside it, sending the other folder's contents flying as she pulled it free.
The file was titled Condemned.
The trio stood in front of a wide tunnel that had been boarded up. Deemed unlivable by the Royal Scientist Dr. Alphys. While other territories branching off had also been declared unfit for the public upon examination, this particular tunnel was examined by the scientist with no listed team. Undyne carefully broke a whole big enough for them to slip through. The tunnel, like all the others before they had settled in, was pitch black. A glowing spear was conjured, illuminating the tunnel dimly. One look at one another to ensure they were all prepared and they continued into the darkness.
There was nothing but darkness and silence for a long while as they navigated the twists and turns of the cave. But now there was a dim glow that seemed to get brighter as they continued to move deeper into the tunnel. Soon, there was no need for the spear to provide light, though she kept it out protectively. Then, they could hear shuffling and groaning. They all tensed, anticipating the possibility of more of the infected. They traveled further and indistinguishable shadows were cast upon the cave wall. Upon this sight, Sans merely blinked, mildly surprised but now knowing what was coming. There was no danger here.
They turned the corner...
and they were suddenly in the company of masses of shifting gooey blobs. The amalgamates. Undyne stood tall and raised her spear, ready to defend. But before she could even move, one of the masses lunged at her. She found herself being affectionately nuzzled by an odd amorphous body. With a critical glance around at the other forms to ensure they were behaving non-threateningly, Undyne willed her spear to disappear. She stared down at the goopy pile in front of her that was still rubbing itself against her. She hesitantly raised her hand. The mass seemed to roll over before shoving its head directly into her palm.
"You're," she murmured uncertainly. "a... dog?"
"A DOG?" Papyrus repeated incredulously as he peered over her shoulder.
Sans could see the realization set in. She looked at him in askance and he nodded, confirming her suspicions. It was like a switch had been flipped, her whole body transitioning to a firm leader's stance. She picked up the giant amalgamate and plopped it down onto Papyrus, who struggled for a moment under the unexpected weight but remained standing. She marched up to another amalgamate and scrutinized it, attempting to figure out who made up its body. Plucking another one off the floor, Sans recognized it as being the amalgamate that included Snowdrake's mother, she shoved it into the shorter skeleton's arms. She tossed a long, bird-like one over her shoulder. As she reached for another, Sans intervened.
"undyne," he stated firmly as he placed the one in his arms back down. "they can walk, or fly, on their own."
She looked at him, eye wide and desperate.
"it may look bad, but they are fine. they aren't injured. you don't have to carry everyone." he reassured her.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, some tension leaving her frame. She put the amalgamate on her shoulder back down. "Right."
Another deep breath to calm herself and she was ready to address the amalgamates around her.
"Everyone, follow me!" she barked out before turning on her heel and beginning to lead them back to where the trio had entered.
As they came to the boarded up entrance, Undyne brought the whole wall down in a single, smooth kick. She turned to Papyrus.
"I need you to lead them to the Guard's tunnels. Tell them that they'll need to house them temporarily. We'll figure out more permanent settlements later. Take the long way around. Don't let the civilians see them yet. We need to prepare a statement to give to the public first."
"OF COURSE! COME ALONG BLOB-LIKE MONSTERS! I SHALL LEAD YOU TO THE BARRACKS OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS NEW GUARD! NYEH HEH HEH!"
Undyne and Sans watched the group leave until they turned a corner and were out of sight. He looked up at the warrior beside him. She had not moved.
"undyne?"
"Those are monsters, Sans," she murmured softly. "They should be with the rest of us."
He agreed. "what now?"
She looked over her shoulder back into the dark tunnel. "Alphys has to be somewhere in there."
"well, let's go find her then."
A/N: Hey, everyone. I am well-aware that this is so very, very late. All I can say is that life has been rough and I've been struggling to keep a roof over my head and food in my belly. Writing had to take a backseat. I realized that cutting creative writing (which is almost exclusively fanfiction for me, especially this one) out of my life in order to have more time to work has contributed to my motivation and happiness tanking. As such, I'm trying to find a balance where I can keep doing this. For my happiness and sanity, I will keep updating this story. I'm back and the updates will come at least once a month, though I will update whenever I can. Sorry for leaving y'all in such an awkward place in the story.
Some good news is that, as I know where the story is going, I sometimes have to write chapters out of order and, as such, have the next chapter pretty much complete as I did it out of order. Just need to edit it a bit for consistency's sake. Need to make sure it lines up with this chapter now that I've written it. It will be up tomorrow.
Undyne's having the roughest of times right now. Yikes. No Frisk this chapter and it's likely that she won't be in the next one either.
tldr: Life sucks and is a hindrance. Going to be updating more. New chapter scheduled to be up tomorrow.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time friendlies,
Dfsemina