I hope I've got my shenanigans in order - I've been practising a bit.
Anyway, it goes by saying things are not looking good - at least on the Surface.
The Underground is still safe - but time will slowly run out.
In the meantime, some of our lovely monsters have some time to spare before then.
Warning: There's some mention of gory stuff...but not in full detail, as I intend to stay true to the T rating.
Let's see what's up!
[Esbon, Kansas, a few minutes after the gunshots.]
Roger must've stood there for like five minutes, eyes widened in shock, trying to process just what happened - the woman before him was trembling in agitation, before she cast a curious glance at the old grey truck and saw him standing there, holding a young, but terrified child. She ran towards the truck, eyes filled with horror, and asked him something - but Roger was still too frozen to hear anything - that is until Frisk tugged with their full strength off the blue shirt, dissipating the cloud of darkness that filled the young man's mind for those brief minutes.
"Are you deaf?! A man got killed in my-my shop, and you stand here like an idiot!" the woman shouted at Roger, whose eyebrows arched in a frown.
"I am just as shocked as you are, miss," he choked up a reply, even if he didn't like the tone of this lady. "Frisk, here. Hold this solid Stick I found for you", Roger said as he tossed a strong oak stick he found in his journey to find Ebotton, "and please, wait here in the truck."
"Are you idiot? You're leaving this poor child alone like that?!" the terrified woman looked at Roger, a hint of fear in her voice.
"You're going to call the police, while I investigate the area. I'm a professional researcher and part-time sleuth," Roger said, trying to convince the woman to just leave already.
"Whatever. Anything to get myself away from-", the woman hesitated in her speech, "from all this horrible thing here."
Roger looked as the woman began running down the street, bumping into people here and there, and he reckoned she was far too nervous to think clearly, but at least she was gone, giving him full chance to find out what really happened in there. He didn't lie with his previous statement - various police departments did ask for his help, but with minor cases and never officially made him a professional, recognized sleuth. For them he was just junior researcher Roger Warforth and that was it - nothing more, nothing less.
In the meantime, Frisk looked with curious eyes as Roger began advancing with care towards the now broken door - they were still too young to grasp what was going on - but now they only relied on Roger for protection, and decided to follow his advice. They locked the truck as they saw Sam doing it, and waited patiently in the car, watching the tranquil street - well - as tranquil as it could've been at this hour, and the glorious purple-coated sky in the further distance.
Roger looked at the what was left of the broken door, but no vital clue left on it - the doorknob was completely busted, the frame was cracked as if a hurricane torn it apart, and the window was completely shattered, yet there was something that caught his attention. A few spots of dried blood on a few bits, which meant that the attacker must've hurt himself in the process - 'this could be useful,' was all Roger could think of. Inside, the twilight illuminated the wooden chestnut floor partially, yet the shadows completely engulfed the rest of the shop. 'Ugh, where was that lantern again-?' he thought as his hands were running up and down hastily through his pockets in the search for a small lantern he carried with him, until he realised that he lost it.
"Damn it all to hell, it's not here!" he could utter under his breath, as he advanced carefully inside the shop, looking for anything that could help out figure what happened.
"Roger!" a voice yelled at him from behind. "Roger? Where are you?"
"I'm a bit busy right now, Frisk!" Roger said to the small child, while he was worried about his next step.
"I found something in here, looks like - a lan-tern!" Frisk said, as he was spelling out the word.
'Oh, thank heavens, the lantern was in the truck,' Roger mentally thanked God above, 'but how am I gonna get it now?' he said as he found himself in a really bad predicament. 'I can't get Frisk, they are bound to see more than I want to -'
But just as he was mulling over the thought, the young clerkwoman returned to the damaged shop, seeing the child standing with a hand outside one of the truck's windows, and someone else she could not discern - she went to Frisk and picked up the lantern, kindly saying she'll just borrow it for a minute - and exhaled in relief as the flashlight's bulb illuminated the area where Roger was.
"I've called for the police, they should arrive in like, thirty minutes. We don't have any local police in here..." she said as she tossed the lantern to Roger. "Look around, maybe you'll find out who robbed my store."
"Yeah, sure, I will." Roger said as he felt a bit sure of his wits, with the lantern at hand, "And please, try to stay away from the scene."
"I hope you haven't touched anything, as per the crime book sayings, right?" the woman said, a rather fearful look still on her face.
"I may or may not have bumped into a few things, given the fact it was dark as hell in here," Roger scoffed. "By the way, name's Roger. I presume you must be Simone, right?"
"Yup, that's me." she said as she gently shook her head, ruffling her hands through her long hair. "Been doin' sales for as long as this hole of a town knows me, yet up until today, I was never robbed. Guess times have changed," she added, a pout forming on her face. "What's up with the kid, is he yours?"
"Frisk was under Sam's care until now, but yeah, they would be somehow mine." Roger said as he looked around the corners of the shop.
Now that he could see something before him, he noticed that the back shelves looked in complete disarray, and products of all brands were laying on the floor, bags completely ripped and contents spilled on the floor - candies, chips, chocolate, you name it - but his eyes widened and he froze a bit in shock as he noticed something else in that direction.
A pair of large feet were coming out of a pile of exploded chip bags, and a large pool of blood was soaking the products.
He didn't need to look more to know the shoes belonged to none other than Sam - he was indeed the victim of this heinous robbery - but somehow, the sleuth in him wanted more clues, more answers. He slowly uncovered the rest of Sam's lifeless body, and noticed two gunshots in the chest.
'Well, shit. He took the blow in force, the bullets must still be inside. There are burn marks at the entry wounds, so the shots were close enough...' Roger analyzed in short, and then shifted his attention towards the bruised knuckles of the old man.
'Least he didn't go down without a fight.' Roger noted as he left out a long sigh.
In the distance, both Simone and Roger could hear the wailing of the sirens, and Frisk, out of fear, hid in the space under the passenger's seat. Roger took the time to get out of the shop, careful not to tumble anything on the way, and thanked Simone for letting him in and examine the area.
"Before I go-," Roger said, hesitation in his voice, "did you see if the attacker uncovered his face, at any rate?"
"I'm afraid not," Simone said as she stared at the visibly disappointed man before her, "he kept that crazy mask of a clown until he busted out..."
"I noticed something else - some blood on the window bits. I hope the police will not miss that."
"Oh, so he did leave a trail after all! This sounds like a cheesy mystery novel to me," Simone said as a soft chuckle left her. "Anyway, want me to tell the police you've been here?"
"You could, but I doubt they would-" Roger trailed off as he saw a police car stopping nearby, accompanied by two others.
From the first police car, a seasoned police inspector descended, along with two officers - the police inspector looked like he'd seen many things at his life, while the two officers had a few years in training with the force - that was all Roger could note, anyway, until the police inspector stopped by and cast the blue-shirted man a long, curious look.
"What's going on here? We heard a desperate call coming from here, saying a man has died." the inspector said, with a gruff voice, and showed his I.D. "I'm Lt. Drew Richards, and these are my partners, officer Watkins and Dmitri."
"I could hear a woman's voice down the line - were you the caller, miss-" officer Watkins questioned Simone.
"Simone. And yes, it was me calling." the red-haired woman said, folding her arms.
"Mind tell us what's that on your skirt, miss Simone?" Lt. Richards noted, pointing towards her skirt.
"I-I dunno, m-maybe some ketchup? I-I tend to be quite messy handling my merch sometimes." Simone said, as if refuting the fact it might've been blood.
"What if I told you," the lieutenant said, "that the red stains on your skirt are actually too red to be anything like ketchup? Why are you denying there's blood on your clothes?"
"Sir, mind telling us where were you at the moment of the crime," officer Dmitri began questioning Roger.
"I-I was here, in the truck, with a small child. We were waiting for the man inside, only for him to be brutally killed by some guy dressed like a mercenary and with a clown's mask on him." Roger said, omitting the part where he investigated the crime scene.
"Hey, young one, you look familiar to me." Lt. Richards said, as he looked at Roger with curiosity, "but I can't place my finger on it."
[Meanwhile, in the Underground...]
"paps, are you sure we can do this? i haven't seen the underground for at least three days." Sans said, still a bit skeptical about hanging out with everyone, as per Papyrus' plan.
"RELAX, BROTHER. I WILL TAKE YOU TO A NICE PLACE FIRST!" the tall skeleton said, as his grin widened.
"better not be mtt resort, cause i can't really stand-up going there." Sans said, with a bigger grin on his face.
"SANS, IT WON'T BE NECESSARY FOR YOU TO STAND UP-" Papyrus paused for a moment, "UGH. I WALKED RIGHT INTO THIS ONE-", the tall skeleton facepalmed in frustration.
"come on, you're still smiling at it." the lab-coated skeleton said as he blinked with his left eye.
"SANS, STOP WITH YOUR PUNS FOR TODAY!" the famous underground skeleton, Papyrus, said in exasperation.
[Feline Royal Guard HQ, Waterfall]
"Press on, Parvos! Your stance is off," Shamir said as he boxed with the white leopard.
"What's the point, Captain, if we just fight-" Parvos was about to voice out a thought, when Shamir plopped a paw right into the leopard's right cheek.
"Well, that's the point of boxing, Parvos. To fight with bare paws if the situation is too desperate at some point!" the jaguar captain said as his eyes glistened with a steeling determination.
'I swear, sometimes he looks like a prancing jaguar cub that likes to brag about his skills,' Parvos deadpanned in his mind, while avoiding a well-placed swash aimed at him.
"Parvos, got something to say?" Shamir said as he looked at the soldier before him.
"N-no, Captain. Nothing at all." the white leopard said as he bowed courteously.
"Fine. That concludes your training for today-" Shamir said, when he was cut off by some noise outside the Royal Guard's Halls, 'what in the name of the Royal Dreemurrs is going on out there?' he thought as his ears twitched.
"NGAAAAH! Just let me see Captain Shamir, I want to talk to him!" Undyne said, bellowing rage in her voice.
"Get out of here, you brat! The Captain said loud and clear you are not yet ready-" Rasha, a creamy lioness, wearing green robes, said as she gritted her teeth.
"And on top of it, he specifically said that you shouldn't come back here on our grounds!" Ribras, a powerful lion with a white mane, wearing a darker variant of his wife's green robes, said as he placed his sharp spear in front of Undyne.
A set of loud pawprints could be heard in the distance, as well as sword-clanking, from the large hall of the Royal Guard's building - and to the two guarding felines, that meant one thing - Shamir was displeased, and neither wanted to be at the paws of said displeasure. The moment his large stature appeared from the darkness, the two guardians retreated in full shame as fast as they could, while Shamir's usual azure turned to a red glaring stare as he looked at the teen fish monster before him.
"While I do appreciate your determination, I remember I told you that you have to wait a little longer!" Shamir said, as he folded his paws.
"I don't have the patience to wait a little longer!" Undyne said as she manifested a blue spear and charged at the jaguar captain before her.
Before Shamir could even react, the spear left out a small tear under his left eye, enough to make it drip some blood, but the jaguar looked completely unfazed by the fish monster's bold attack. The other feline guards looked with shock as Undyne just - outright dared - to attack the captain of the Royal Guard, but Shamir wasn't paying attention to any of this.
"You don't want to wait, huh? Looks like you're just like the others," Shamir said as he took out his small daggers, "insisting that they get what they deserve. Well, I was ready to give you the open position, but since you're so defiant, means I have to beat up some sense into you. You'll not be acting ruthless under my watch."
"I want to see you try, old cat." Undyne smiled defiantly.
Undyne started hurling waves of blue spears towards the feline captain, which the latter avoided them with enough grace and parrying a few with his small daggers. Shamir wasn't going to leave this insubordination unpunished, so he replied with waves of lightning, that Undyne found a bit difficult to avoid - she got a few burns on her scales, but it was nothing she couldn't shrug off. The fish monster then summoned a large rapier and jumped in the air, aiming for the feline jaguar that stood there, as if waiting for her to charge - but when the rapier was about to touch Shamir's head, the courageous captain placed the two daggers in an X-shape, and grinded them one with the other, small ripples of electricity stemming out of them.
Undyne widened her eyes in shock at how easy could the jaguar monster parry this kind of an attack - and zap her in the process as well!
"Ugh, I back up my words - you're not an old cat. You're just an annoying cat!" Undyne said as she summoned waves after waves of spears, which Shamir found a little difficult to deflect with his shield of wind - a few of them zinged his white robes, leaving holes in the process.
'Tch. She fights really well- but it's usually the very self-certainty of the enemy that is their downfall - in most cases,' Shamir was thinking as he looked at the teen warrior before him. 'Nevertheless, I won't make it easy for her.'
[Alphys and Undyne's House, Waterfall]
Alphys was looking at her favorite anime, Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, when she heard a loud banging on the solid steel door and tumbled down the sofa with fear, throwing the remote and spilling her popcorn in the process. She was wearing her favourite pink pyjamas, and was wondering who could it be right now, in the middle of Mew Mew's adventure in subjugating the human race to her bidding, and left out a frustrated sigh.
"C-coming right down, p-please wait!" she said as she struggled to find a dressing gown to cover herself with, until she decided a purple one would do.
"knock-knock." Sans said.
"Who's there?" Alphys replied, a hint of frustration still on her face.
"theodore."
"Theodore who?"
"the door wasn't open, so I knocked!"
Alphys let out a small laughter, and opened the door, only to see Sans and his brother, Papyrus, standing before her. 'Wonder what Papyrus is up to...and where the hell is 'Dine? She's been out for at least one hour already...' Alphys was thinking as she looked at the two skeleton brothers before her.
"Come in, Sans, Papyrus!" Alphys greeted the two merrily.
"UGH, SANS, I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU'LL STOP WITH THE PUNS FOR TODAY!" Papyrus said, folding his arms.
"can't help it, bro...i'm too dip into them."
"Why would you dip-" Papyrus stared at his scientist brother, only for his mind to process the pun a while later.
'PLEASE DON'T TELL ME I JUST WALKED IN ON ANOTHER OF MY BROTHER'S PUNS...' the tall skeleton mentally deadpanned, while Alphys brought them some instant noodles and a bit of hot golden flower tea.
"So, what brings you two here, huh?" Alphys asked, trying to make some conversation.
"paps thought it would be nice for me to hang out with our friends," Sans said as he carefully ate some noodles from the bowl in front of him, "and the change of scenery is quite shocking", he said laying cozily on the blue couch Alphys and Undyne had in their small living room.
"Uh, have you found anything new yet?" Alphys asked about Sans' pet project.
"nah, not yet. but things are bound to change-", Sans said, pausing for a moment.
'yup, but only if the human returns. what happens if the human won't come back, huh?'
