Frisk warned them to be careful as they barreled into the room, but there wasn't anything inside. Confused, they went up to a little door off to the side, and pulled the handle.
Through that door, there was a little office, and in it, were both Dr. Alphys and his brother, sitting on the floor, both of them looking oddly calm. The pair looked up as the three of them nearly collapsed in relief.
Undyne marched over, probably so that she'd be able to glare at Sans more effectively. "How'd you get here so much faster than us?"
Alphys blinked up at her. "U-Undyne? W-what are y-you doing here?"
His intimidating friend crossed her arms. "These numbskulls said they hurt your feelings."
Frisk spoke up from beside him. "No, Undyne, it was just me."
Alphys blushed, and tried to pull her lab coat up around her face. "I-I, th-they… d-didn't… wh-why would a-any of y-you think that?"
It was no time to beat around the bush. Instead, he just kept his tone as gentle as possible. "IT'S FAIRLY OBVIOUS THAT YOU ARE HURTING. AND WE WERE SO DISTRACTED WITH EVERYTHING GOING ON, WE NEGLECTED TO INCLUDE YOU. I'M VERY SORRY."
Frisk walked up to her. "Dr. Alphys… I'm really sorry, too. And I need to tell you something."
The little human glanced awkwardly at him and Undyne, so he led his friend away to keep her distracted. Undyne deserved the truth as well, but he had a feeling that she'd react very poorly to it, and that wasn't something they needed right this second. He hoped she'd forgive him, as he tried to think of something, ANYTHING to keep her from looking over her shoulder at the others. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT YOU WEREN'T GOING TO LET ME INTO THE ROYAL GUARD?"
Well, that certainly did it. Her head whipped back around to face him as he clapped both gloves over his mouth.
An angry flush rose in her cheeks. "What… have you been talking to the human? That little…"
"FRISK DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING." He had her attention now, and he was going to have to follow through. Sans was still on the other side of the room, nodding in agreement with whatever Frisk was saying, and offering a few explanations of his own.
He sighed. "I OVERHEARD WHAT YOU SAID TO THEM JUST BEFORE THE COOKING LESSON."
She looked at him like he'd knocked her a few steps back, even though she stood her ground. "Papyrus… I…"
He rubbed his arm. "I'M NOT MAD. REALLY… I'M NOT…"
She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. "You're hurt. Papyrus… I'm so sorry. I was just… explaining to the kid why someone as talented as you wasn't already in the Royal Guard. I really do think you'd be great at it… except…"
"YOU THINK I'M TOO NICE. I APPRECIATE THAT, UNDYNE, I REALLY DO. BUT IS IT REALLY FAIR TO KEEP ME OUT OF THE ROYAL GUARD BECAUSE I AM OVERQUALIFIED?"
"Over…"
"ALSO…"
"Hold on a sec; you might be right… and I'll have to give your file a re-evaluation when I get back."
"BUT DIDN'T IT BURN IN THE FIRE WITH EVERYTHING ELSE?"
"Um… we're here for Alphys right now, right? I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings, but I'm going to have to explain better, later. Do you understand?"
Why was she treating him like a small child? It didn't matter. Their friendship was much stronger than this. The conversation could certainly wait. He only hoped that Frisk had gotten past all bad timeline bits.
The human was finishing up as they came back over. "So… I really am grateful to you for all the help you've given me. And I'd love to watch Mew Mew Kissie Cutie with you sometime."
Alphys rubbed the back of her neck. "I almost feel like I sh-should be m-mad at you. B-but how c-could I? If a-anyone knows about m-mistakes… it's m-me."
Sans shook his head with a chuckle. *you 'n everyone else on the planet, alph. heh… 'cept papyrus.
He rolled his eyes at his grinning brother.
"Is that what all of this is about? You're beating yourself up over some stupid little mistake? Come on, Alphys, Sans is right for once. You don't think I was just born able to kick butt like I can, do ya? It took a TON of effort and practice, and I didn't get here overnight. But it made me who I am today, and I wouldn't give that up. In fact, I'm PROUD of how much work it took to get me here."
"I-it's not qu-quite the same thing, U-Undyne. M-my mistakes… hurt m-monsters…"
He frowned. "ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE SAD CREATURES WE SAW ON OUR WAY HERE?"
She dipped her head in shame. "Y-yes."
His friend and brother exchanged a glance, but he simply stooped to face her a little better. "I'M SURE YOU DIDN'T MEAN TO. AND YOU OBVIOUSLY FEEL REALLY BAD ABOUT WHATEVER MISTAKE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. SANS IS RIGHT. WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES. SOMETIMES, REALLY, REALLY BIG ONES. BUT… YOU HAVE TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD, AND, YOU SHOULDN'T DO THAT ALONE. I'M SORRY THAT WE'VE BEEN TOO BUSY TO NOTICE YOUR PAIN SOONER,BUT KNOW THAT WE WERE TRYING TO HELP YOU, JUST AS MUCH AS ANYBODY, AND WE'RE HERE FOR YOU, NOW."
A tear spilled down her cheek, and he wiped it away gently. "Y-yeah… I think I g-get what you guys a-are saying… Th-thank you. A-all of you. I-it's been a l-long time since I felt l-like a-anyone c-cared about m-me."
There was a blur of motion, that knocked him backwards, and he found himself looking up as Undyne picked up the scientist, and squeezed her around the middle, arms pinned to her sides. "Of COURSE people care about ya, nerd! Now… enough with all this mushy crap… apparently these two boneheads think it's worth risking everything they hold dear to get this human to Asgore in one piece, and I've stood by in the sidelines long enough. So how's about it? You wanna come with?"
She set her back down, and as soon as Alphys got back some of the breath that had been squeezed out of her, she smiled at Frisk. "I-if you r-really want me to c-come."
Frisk gave a thumbs up. "Absolutely!"
"INDEED!"
*sure, alph.
"Then what are we waiting for! Let's get this show on the road!" Undyne turned, and started sprinting back through the lab.
He started to run after her, but Sans stopped him with a chuckle. *this way, bro. i know a shortcut, remember?
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
That stupid, stupid, idiot! What the heck was he doing? Did he REALLY think anything would change? How could he be so clueless?
Teach the human to be good… really? Really?
If only he knew… if only he wasn't too THICK to see the CURIOSITY in Frisk's eyes? This was just something NEW. The little maniac was probably already wondering what would happen if they'd sent someone else back.
That thought brought a little smile. That might be worth seeing. Undyne sent back would NEVER be stupid enough to trust the human. And Sans…
Wouldn't that just be fantastic? To watch Frisk work so hard for their something new to be getting DUNKED fresh out of the ruins, promises be hanged…
Promises… the ruins… that's right. To see either of those things, Frisk would have to get to them, first. The price was far to high. Watching Frisk die over and over wouldn't even be enjoyable after all the other genocide routes that would have to happen first.
Chara wiped angrily at a tear. Stupid skeleton. Seeing good in someone like that? What would it take? How many times would he have to see his precious brother's dust before he would finally be convinced that the human was only being nice because it was something NEW. They weren't bored. That was all. They hadn't CHANGED. They'd go back to the same old tricks just as soon as they were satisfied that they needed to kill to start seeing different reactions.
Well it wasn't going to happen. Let them pretend. Let them lie. Let them think they were changing anything. It was amusing. Watching their pathetic attempts… even that lazy comedian was pretending to buy into the lies. Was it easier then accepting the truth? Was he just thankful for the break? Was he really just willing to play along to ease his brother's mind? Useless.
If there was anyone in the underground that deserved to be killed, it was that comedian. That move… the one where he pretended to 'spare' only to kill trick… it had been ingenious. And then, came the realization that the 'lazy' skeleton could have stood there forever. Each reset, all he'd have to do would be that one, lazy trick, right at the start of the fight. Why bother to fight at all? Why would he ever give the human a chance to dodge? To try to REASON with them? UGH!
If it were just those skeletons… those stupid, ignorant skeletons, so set on trying to BEFRIEND their murderer, it would be easy to just sit back and watch.
But it wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair that Mom, and Dad, and Asrial would suffer for their stupidity.
Let them all play their stupid games for now. They were heading for a new ending all right. And no amount of KINDNESS, or MERCY, or FRIENDSHIP, would be enough to SAVE any of them.
It would finally be over.
The killing would stop.
They could all rest in peace.
A/N: Wow... I'm really falling behind in my updates... I feel really bad, because you've all been so supportive! Thank you SO much!
A big shoutout to Valgreen007 for the idea to go back to Chara's pov for a bit. I ran out of room it the last chapter, but it fit pretty well here, and was a lot of fun to write! Thanks again! = )
To 'I guest as much': Thank you! Things are probably going to continue down this more serious path as they get closer to their objective, but I'm sure they'll manage to find SOME way to lighten the mood... they always seem to! ; )
To 'Guest': I'm so glad you're enjoying the story!
As always, thanks so much for all your support! I will try not to take so long before I post again.