Looks like our adventure is starting to cook up on some action...

I hope you'll enjoy this particular chapter, although there's quite a lot of dialogue *sweatdrops*

Shamir: I'm sure your readers will love it just fine, Shock.

Let's get this thing started!


CHAPTER THREE: IN ACTAM VERITAS (THERE'S TRUTH IN ACTIONS)

[Alphys and Undyne's House, Waterfall]

"Sans?" Alphys called out the scientist skeleton, who seemed lost in thought, his pinpricks completely gone.

The skeleton didn't even hear the small lizard calling out to him, for he was worrying about the fate of the Underground, and what would happen should he fail utterly and horribly. But this was just one half of his feelings - the other half was more concerned on how to finish this faster. He was bored of working all day - and nights - on this blasted barrier, exhausting him to no end. He shook his head gravely and left out a sigh of despair, which Alphys wrongly interpreted as a sign of his discontent aimed at her.

"Sorry." she said as she laid back on the armchair that sat opposite of the sofa. "I didn't mean to intrude on your musings-" she said as she fiddled with her claws.

"nah, it's okay, alphys. i jus' thought that our hope is so close, yet so far from bein' achieved, that's all." Sans said as he relaxed his tensed bones and laid a bit more comfortably on the sofa.

"WORRY NOT, BROTHER! YOU HAVE ME AS YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT!" Papyrus said, looking at his brother with some concern.

And speaking of brothers, Alphys couldn't stop looking at a Mew-Mew clock she got for her birthday - courtesy of Undyne, who went out of the way to make sure her sister got what she wanted - and saw the clock's hands pointing at number 2. 'Where the hell could she be?! I know I precisely asked her to- Oh no.' Alphys sweatdropped a little, realization hitting her.

"alph. bucko?" Sans looked at the small lizard, whose eyes seemed transfixed on the curious pink watch hanging off the wall next to the kitchen. "you in here with me?"

"Yeah-" Alphys choked out, sweat still on her forehead. "I was thinking about Undyne."

"YES, WHERE IS UNDYNE? I WANTED TO SHOW HER MY IMPROVEMENTS WITH PASTA!" Papyrus asked, dusting off his tuxedo.

"I happen to have an idea." Alphys said as she shifted her gaze. "She's gone...somewhere important."

"oh? where to? the only places she hangs out are here and-" Sans's eyesockets darkened. "no way in hell."

"Yes way in hell," Alphys retorted grimly. "I hope she didn't do anything stupid..."

"let's just not think on that." Sans said, as he waved a hand lazily. "say, you've been working on what i asked you to, lately?"

"Yes, I have!" the yellow-colored lizard said, her glasses shining with excitement. "Your project does look promising enough in this state."

"ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT SCI-FI STUFF?" Papyrus asked, completely puzzled by what the two were talking.

"yeah paps, you'll be spaced out for a while." Sans beamed at his brother.

"SANS, YOUR INCESSANT PUN-MAKING IS DRIVING ME-"

"hindsane?" Sans retorted, his hands out in a comical fashion.

"UGH! I'LL GO PREPARE FOR MY NEXT TOUR! I EXPECT YOU TO BE HOME BEFORE MIDNIGHT! YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE ABOUT MY BEAUTY SLEEP." Papyrus said, in a dashing manner, before storming outside the two sisters' house.

"isn't he just hilarious?" the scientist skeleton said.

"You're gonna drive him mad one day, you know," Alphys said, as she laughed softly.

"nah, he's not getting mad at all - in fact he's really too cool to be mad." Sans said, a smirk playing on his bony face.

"Wish my sister was taking things coolly as he does..." Alphys said, a small frown forming on her snout.

[Sans and Papyrus' house, Snowdin]

Papyrus was still mad over the last puns his brother dished out, but nevertheless, he smiled deep down inside. 'MY BROTHER IS NEVER GOING TO LEAVE OUT THOSE PUNS...BUT I AM GRATEFUL THAT HE DOES SO. HE IS PROBABLY THE ONLY REASON I TRY TO BE BETTER EACH DAY- AND GLAMOROUS!' the tall, dashing skeleton thought as he walked inside the house, aiming to cook a bit of pasta for himself.

The house was awfully quiet without Sans' presence, that much was obvious. The thought of losing his brother one day sent a shiver down his spine - but he tried to remain the same optimistic, easy-going and fabulous skeleton his brother loved and cared about, as well as everyone in the Underground. It certainly wasn't easy, being the star everyone looked up to - but Papyrus felt that he carried a rather big burden on his shoulders.

He couldn't afford to let anyone see him weak or vulnerable, or worse, being dragged through a scandal in the Underground.

Papyrus stirred the pasta gently, while the fire was warming his bones and let his mind adrift as he remembered some vague, distant memories of his own - the very first time his brother gave him the microphone, for instance - and then, someone crossed his mind.

He missed seeing a certain human.

He missed seeing Patricia, the SOUL of Integrity.

[Esbon, Kansas, in the evening.]

The police inspector looked at Roger curiously, examining the young man head to top with his green eyes as if trying to create what policemen call a profile. Roger didn't like the scrutiny, but didn't object to it - he was getting tired, and Frisk was still in the car, watching everything that unfolded. The two officers finished writing the statements, and proceeded to examine the crime scene, when one of them called out Lt. Richards.

"Sir, someone tampered with the crime scene." officer Dmitri said, as he pointed out to a fresh footprint on the chestnut floor.

'Shit. Not my fault it was so ungodly dark in there.' Roger thought as sweat formed slowly on his forehead, while looking at the three policemen with curiosity.

"Whoever did this wasn't a careful planner," Lt. Richards said as a smile plastered on his face, "this robbery was sloppy, by all means."

"We'll document anything out of place, sir." officer Watkins replied, as she looked carefully in the shop with a bright flashlight.

"In the meantime, I get to call for two warrants." the lieutenant said as he briskly headed towards his car.

'Two? What the hell for? Simone isn't guilty with anything...' Roger thought in frustration as the two officers were still collecting evidence.

"Shit. Look at this, Watkins. This guy was toasted." officer Dmitri said, pointing out towards Sam's body.

"I feel sorry for the fella, he probably just went in at the wrong time." officer Watkins said.

"No surveillance cams, so we can't tell-" the slender Russian officer said.

"There are cams outside, though, maybe we should check those." the other officer said.

In the meantime, Roger took the liberty to check on Frisk, who was, at present, still puzzled by whatever was going on. The young researcher wasn't sure how to tell a child such a tragic tale, and the outcome of the investigation, until he settled in for a variant he thought it might work.

"Uh...Frisk. Sam told me he's going to hide for a while." Roger said, a small, sad frown on his face.

"Why?" was all Frisk could utter.

"He's hunted by bad men. Don't worry, he told me to watch over you while he's hiding." Roger said, smiling a little as he gently ruffled the child's hair.

"Oh. Okay." Frisk nodded as he hugged Roger.

"But why are those people here?" the small child asked, looking at the man in curiosity.

"They'll make sure Sam gets better protection." Roger said as he held the child tighter.

In the distance, Lt. Richards seemed pleased with something, and he approached Roger, Frisk and Simone, telling them that they will come at the station while Frisk will be placed under foster care. He then asked the two policemen to arrest both Roger and Simone. The first protested and considered it a violation of his rights, while Simone bickered about how unjust her arrest was, and the child was frozen with fear.

"Frisk! D-Don't worry, everything will be-"

[Feline Royal Guards HQ, Waterfall]

"Fine, if I'm an annoying cat, then that makes you a puffin fish!" Shamir said as he narrowed his eyes in expectation, shifting his right leg in the ground.

"Your puns are worse than Sans'," Undyne made a comeback, taking an attack position herself.

Rapier and dual swords clashed one against another, going back and forth in a duel of agility and wits. Undyne felt lucky with each dashing attack, while Shamir was keeping himself steady, avoiding at millimetric inches the threatening rapier that would've impaled him. The only damage he had were just a few scratches here and there on his fur, and holes in his white robes, while Undyne's burnt scales ached a bit and her clothes were torn in some places.

"How can you think yourself worthy of the Royal Guard if that's all you give?" Shamir said, his red eyes shining with steeling determination and fury.

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE MY POWER!" Undyne said as she began hurling wave after wave of spears, making Shamir dodge with a lot of difficulty, but he was still unimpressed at the display. He steadied his position and clasped his paws, gathering a ball of wind inside and waited. Undyne thought that Shamir looked really defenseless, and charged at him with a huge spear of water, while the jaguar waited until his opponent was close enough.

"YOU'RE DONE FOR NOW! NGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Undyne's warrior call was stopped by two jaw-like paws straightened out that shot a powerful blast of wind, kicking Undyne back in a blue wall that surrounded the building, making her spear just splash over the fearless jaguar, his fur a little wet after this.

'D-Damn h-him...he w-was waiting f-for my h-hit,' Undyne thought as she spat a bit of blood and dusted herself up, looking at the other end of the hall, where the yellow-furred captain of the Royal Guard waited.

Undyne had some determination of her own, so Shamir wasn't surprised to see this escalating to a different level - the teen fish monster's rage was boiling hot - and the expression on her face spelled pure insanity. She summoned armor for herself, and created a Japanese-like spear, which Shamir saw her coat with something watery, yet, greener than the usual water. Undyne proudly twirled her powerful spear at the - still- unfazed jaguar, while Shamir saw no other resort than closing his eyes, grinding the two Dual Sabers one with the other and soon enough, whirrs of electricity were dancing around the metal, lighting the jaguar's focused face.

"Well, that escalated quickly between the two," Parvos noted as he looked at the two fighters.

"This spells epicness," Ribras said as he looked at the fight with excitement.

Indeed, Undyne and Shamir didn't lose any second in dashing one towards another, eyes slitted and glinting with sheer rage. Spear clashed against dual swords, forcing them to be pushed apart, while Undyne twirled her spear in a swipe towards Shamir's face. The jaguar captain managed to crook his head to the right, barely avoiding the spear's tip angling inches from his left eye, while he aimed with the right sword at her left arm and managed to get a hit in.

Undyne gritted her teeth and kicked the jaguar in his chest, forcing him to fall back on his hind legs, barely catching his breath, but the fish monster didn't give him a chance to recover as she narrowed her eyes and aimed to impale the jaguar with all her fury. Ribras and Parvos looked in shock as she was decisively determined to kill Shamir, while the Royal Captain managed to avoid the fatal blow with a jump to the right.

'Ngh. She-she's strong, no doubt-ugh-about it...but it's gonna take more than that to outright kill me.' Shamir thought as he looked at the fish monster that darted straight for him and jumped in mid-air, hoping to catch him off defense, but the jaguar captain managed, with a deep, hurting breath to roar powerfully towards his attacker.

Undyne's attack walloped as she landed somewhere further from Shamir, her ears still hurting from that roar, while she couldn't help thinking that the riposte was strong enough to divert her from her path. 'Ugh, guy's pretty tough for a feline. He's probably been chosen for a good reason.'

Shamir managed to recover from his hurt chest, and began leaping towards Undyne, spinning his Dual Sabers as if they were slicers - to which Undyne bent just in time to avoid the two lightning blades - and see the jaguar landing on his hind legs safely.

"You are certainly something, if you aim so much to kill me, just to prove you belong with the Royal Guard." Shamir said, anger written on his face. "But I'm not just about to let you walk over me, you hear? There was a reason I constantly denied you."

"What's that reason, old cat? That I'm a fish and I am in huge danger to be eaten by a bunch of felines?" Undyne retorted, keeping her spear pointed at Shamir.

"I see so much potential in you, Undyne. You will become a valuable member of the Royal Guard one day, but you are still young! And you have a little sister to look after." Shamir said as he stopped the electrical charges on his blades, placing them in their sheats.

Undyne's face twitched, that insane smile still there, "YOU THINK I'M STILL A YOUNG MONSTER?!" she said as she threw the spear right into Shamir's right shoulder, impaling him to a wall.

"CAPTAIN!" the three feline Guards yelled as they saw their leader pinned to a wall, his eyes slowly closing due to the poison in the spear.

"You stupid brat," Parvos said as he threateningly glared at Undyne, holding out his dual daggers, "if our captain dies because of your rash actions...", he paused, closing his eyes, and then opening them to reveal a complete black iris and red slits, "I'll make sure you will die a most excruciating death."

"Rasha, go call for their Majesties...our captain needs help!"

Meanwhile, Alphys was extremely worried about Undyne, and asked Sans to teleport the two of them at the Royal Guards' headquarters. The skeleton was more than pleased to comply, so he asked her to hold on his hand, and in a flick of light, the two arrived just outside the headquarters. She was secretly hoping that Undyne didn't get herself into trouble, only to be greeted with a horrible scene before her eyes - Undyne, with her clothes teared up in various places, two large felines tending over another feline, and lots of burns and blood around the place.

"What THE HELL is going on in here?" Alphys asked, her face darkening a bit in fury.

'oh shit. that's shamir over there...' Sans thought, noticing the white, teared up robes from one side of the felines and his left eye began glowing with fury. "who dared to do this to my pal?" he said, gritting through his teeth while standing next to Shamir. "hold out there, buddy..."

"UNDYNE." Alphys managed to choke out, bottled up anger audible in her voice. "I thought you wouldn't break your promise to me! You swore to tone down your ambitions at entering the Royal Guard!"

"But-" Undyne tried to reason with her sister.

"No BUTS, Undyne. You promised. You know what happens when you break a promise you made to me, right?" the small lizard said as a hint of insanity was visible on her face, her glasses shining white.

"I-" Undyne trailed off, not even daring to look at Alphys.

"I understand you want to be a part of them, but you're going too far! You're going to hurt everyone if you keep going blindly with your actions!" Alphys said as she clenched her right claw.

Just as the two sisters were arguing, the Royal Dreemurrs arrived to look with horror at the damage before them. Toriel and Asgore rushed to heal the badly impaled captain, while both monarchs had a worried and angry expression on their snouts.

"Care to explain how this happened?" Toriel said, her eyes squinting at Ribras and Rasha, while focusing her healing magic over Shamir's wounded shoulder.

"The brat over there-", Rasha said as she pointed with her paw towards Undyne, "just outright duelled our captain, until she ended up impaling him like that..."

Toriel didn't need any other explanation, as she quietly asked Asgore to keep healing the wounded monster, while she darted straight towards Undyne.

"Do you begin to realize the consequence of your insolent action?"

[Wichita Police Headquarters, late evening.]

Lt. Drew Richards had a hard time getting out some answers from Roger - the latter has been subjected to numerous questions about the murder - mainly because, according to evidence collected by Watkins and Dmitri, he was pinpointed as the main suspect, while the researcher insisted on seeing the five feet eight inches tall man that walked in on the shop. One of the cameras was panning down the street, but the video feed was really bad, so nothing useful there, and the other cameras were too far to capture anything, while the latter cameras captured the sound of the murder, and then Roger on tape walking in the shop a few moments later.

"Look, pal. I've been researching you, and you have served the force well in your unofficial position. " lt. Richards said as he sat down on the table, across a tired and battered Roger.

"So, you're not gonna believe me, right?" Roger said, his eyes half-lidded and standing still as his hands were cuffed behind his back.

"I'm ready to take up your story, but sadly, you're the only guy we have right now." the inspector said as he looked through a worn dossier.

"Simone hasn't told you the truth yet?" Roger asked, dismay written all over his face.

"She did. She told us you snooped around the crime scene." the inspector said as he gently lit up a cigar.

"I did it for a friend. He took me in when I got my car busted, so I couldn't just-"

"How long you knew Sam for?" Richards asked, puffing a bit from his cigar.

"Just today I met him. But he was a nice, friendly chap, so I felt in his debt even-" Roger paused, "-even like that."

"So you didn't know him for too long, eh?" the well-built inspector said as he looked sternly at Roger. "For all I know, you could as well just steal his truck and kidnap the kid."

"What's going to happen to Frisk?" Roger asked, his eyes widened and a frown on his lips.

"Kid's going to be taken by the Social Services - maybe they'll find the child an orphanage, or a good enough family for them." the detective said as he puffed some more from the Kent cigar.

"No..." Roger said as his hands clasped in some fury, the cuffs clanking against the chair.

"Why are you so disappointed, huh?"

"I wanted to take the kid with me. But not like you so stupidly thought," Roger said, a tone of anger in his voice.

"Well, until we find evidence it wasn't you the killer...you're gonna stay a while in here. I'll not place Frisk just yet under the Social Services' care. I will look after the child until your release." Richards said as he extinguished the cigar.

"What gives me the guarantee I'll be out of here?" the young man before him said, gritting through his teeth.

"The one that truth will set you free."


A small Author's Note: If you noticed that reference to the SOUL of Integrity...well, let me fill a bit of info in here.

The SOUL of Integrity, in this particular Universe, was a teenage-close-to-adult human that fell in the Underground a long time ago, and reached up to Snowdin.

Papyrus, before he became star of the Underground, fell in love with this particular human. And for the remainder of her route, she seemed happy with Papyrus, that is until she got bored of the skeleton and decided to initiate a Genocide Route, putting Sans through a rather complicated situation - he had to kill the former lover of his brother. He never told Papyrus what happened.