Ruintale

Chapter 3.

More of the unconventional AU.

I figured this would not be nearly as popular as Tyrantale, but, I still have yet to regret writing it.

Let's see where this takes us.


As Frisk and his new monster allies made their way further into Waterfall, Undyne suddenly stopped and look around.

"What's wrong, Undyne?" Papyrus asked.

"Shh," the fish woman hissed, raising her hand for silence, "Listen!"

Everyone remained completely still and silent as they listened for whatever Undyne was alerting them to, it was then they heard a scurring noise, followed by strange growling.

"Uh...what the hell was that?" Asriel prompted.

"Ah...ah crap...I forgot." Sans uttered.

He then turned to Asriel.

"So, you know how we were doing all those soul-based 'determination' experiments in the lab?" the skeleton voiced, "And how rule breakers were sent to lab to be test subjects?"

"Oh God," the goat teenager responded, "what did you guys do?"

"Well, we...ran some experiments on some monsters, using the extracted 'determination'," Sans explained, "but, nothing seemed to happen, so, we figured we hit a dead end and sent all the subjects home...however...some time later we got word that many of the test subjects started exhibiting...'strange' behavior."

There was a loud splash in the water nearby.

"And for reasons we have yet to determine the cause of," Sans continued, "some people who haven't undergone any experimentation have also been displaying the same strange behavior."

They heard something growling nearby.

"Let's just keep moving," Papyrus said tensely, "quickly now."

The lot started moving faster, until they came upon a path surrounded by large bodies of water, which they walked halfway down before they heard more splashing. It was then they saw what looked like pale gray-yellow tentacles rising out of the water.

"Stop, stop!" Undyne hissed.

They all stopped as something rose out of the water, an octopus-looking creature with big, bloodshot eyes and cracked lips, it looked quite sore.

"Nobody move single muscle." the fish woman whispered.

"Wha, wazza?" the tentacled creature babbled incoherently, "I cuhah swa I hu suhaaaah, is ay wuh theh?"

Frisk and co. remained motionless and said nothing, afraid to even breathe.

"Nuh?" the octopus monster mumbled, "Geh I wah juh heen thins."

With that, it disappeared beneath the water, tentacles and all, while the human boy and his monster companions looked on speechlessly.

"Poor Onionsan." Papyrus groaned.

"Was that a result of experimentation?" an appalled Asriel questioned.

"Uh, well..." Sans voiced, "Onionsan wasn't one of the monsters to get tested on, but, we...have a theory. We think that when some of the monster who were test subjects died, their dust kinda hung round, you know, like in the water or the air, and when other monsters came into contact with it, it might have...infected them. After all, the wrong kind of determination can have a...bizarre effect on monsters."

Asriel rubbed his face in disbelief.

"So, like," Frisk wondered, "determination makes monsters sick?"

"Depending on what the monster is determined to do." Undyne affirmed.

The lot hurried along through Waterfall, ducking the monster gawking at them, one, because they were surprised to see a human, and, two, because they were shocked to see Asriel himself. Along the way they passed other "infected" monsters, including some strange catlike things called "Temmies", a mermaid-horse creature called "Aaron", and a fish-like monster called "Shyren". All of them exhibited behavior similar to rabid wild animals, at least, that's what Frisk though, for he had seen his fair share of rabid strays on the street.

"They kinda looked like they had rabies," Frisk voiced, "wild and stray animals get it sometimes up on the surface."

"Oh yeah?" Asriel responded curiously.

"Yeah," the human boy continued, "I got in trouble with people numerous times, including my parents long ago, for giving food to strays, but, I couldn't help it, I felt bad for them. Especially in recent years, as now there seems to be more and more strays on the street, I can't tell if there's more of them or more homeless people."

The monsters looked on sympathetically, when suddenly, someone came tumbling out of the tall grass beside them, a tall, yellow, dinosaur-like monster, wearing a dark-gray hoodie.

"Oh," Undyne groaned, "dammit, Kid, you almost ran us over!"

"Sorry, Undyne;" the yellow monster replied, struggling to get back up, "a little help please?"

Without a second though, Frisk helped the strange creature to his feet.

"Ah, thanks," the monster said, "face-planting is almost impossible to avoid when you don't have arms."

His eyes widened when he looked at the group and he immediately got right up in Asriel's face.

"Your highness!" the armless monster uttered, "You're back!"

Then he looked at Frisk and gasped.

"And you found a human!?" he voiced, "Oh my God, when Queen Toriel finds out, she's gonna-"

"Nothing. Is Going. To happen. To Frisk!" the goat teenager interjected firmly.

There was a long awkward silence.

"Why don't we move along?" Papyrus offered.


The group kept moving, with the armless monster kid, who introduced himself simply as "Kid", deciding to tag along with them.

"So, you're going to see Queen Toriel because you wanna tell her that the surface is a bad place to live," Kid inquired, "and that she should leave the barrier up?

"Yep." Frisk stated.

"I don't know how well that's going to go over," Kid voiced, "freedom is the only thing everyone has been talking about for a long time."

"Well, with Chara's reign of torture," the human teenager replied, "you guys will have more freedom down here than you'll have on the surface."

As they walked along, Frisk suddenly noticed what looked like signs attached to the walls, prompting the curious human boy to get a closer look at them.

"Looks like he found the glyphs." Sans said.

The writing on the signs illuminated as Frisk approached them, the first thing he noticed was the words "humans" and "monsters".

"Are these about the human and monster war?" the human teen wondered.

"Uh, Frisk," Asriel voiced apprehensively, "I don't think you wanna read those."

His claim fell on deaf ears as the surface dweller skimmed the ancient glyphs, and while most of them contained information he already knew, a particular one really stood out to him:

"Love, hope, and compassion, this is what people say monster SOULS are made of, but, the absolute nature of the "SOUL" is unknown, after all, humans have proven their SOULs don't need these things to exist."

"Oh...I see." Frisk mumbled.

"Frisk...th-those were written a long time ago, all that information is centuries old," Asriel pressed sensitively, "most of it is pretty dated and not all considered accurate today."

The human boy stared at the signs.

"Well," he sighed, "they're not entirely wrong."

"To be fair, they said human souls 'don't need' those things to exist," Sans offered, "it doesn't say that the they're incapable of feeling those things."

"And, not all monsters are loving and compassionate," Monster Kid added, "some of them can be real jerks."

Frisk stared at the glyphs some more, until they all heard crazed yelling in the distance behind them, which prompted them to move on.


At the same time, at the royal castle, Dr. Alphys and some of the other lab workers, were huddled around the doorway leading into the throne room.

"Wow, not only has the queen not left the castle grounds in six years," Alphys voiced quietly, "but, as of recently, she hasn't seen or said a word to anyone in over a week."

"Yeah, lately it seems she simply spends all of her days sulking around the throne room or sleeping in her room." a gray dinosaur-esque lab assistant said.

"She gave up asking about Asriel long ago," another lab assistant added, "and she hasn't asked about a human in ages."

They all stared in again.

"Someone should try and talk to her." Alphys stated.

As soon as she said that, all of the assistants looked at her.

"Really?" she sighed, "What am I supposed to say?"

"Just pick some random thing," the gray dinosaur offered, "like...uh...an update on the virus situation."

"Update?" the yellow, lizard scientist responded, "The only update I have is that it's still spreading."

After she said that, the assistants urged her through the doorway.

Alphys warily entered the throne room, where a tall figure, clad in purple, was standing by the west wall, staring out the window.

"Uh...h-hello," she spoke meekly, "Queen Toriel.

The distinguished goat woman gave no response, her gaze remaining fixated on the window in front of her.

"Sorry to...bother you, I...hope I'm not interrupting anything," the lizard scientist said awkwardly, "but, I just...I thought I'd give you a report on that 'Determination Virus'. It, um...it looks like more monsters are catching it, most of the victims being from Waterfall."

When the queen failed to respond yet again, Alphys mustered what courage she could and walked right up to the goat woman's side. Standing right next to her, Alphys caught a glimpse of Queen Toriel's face, finding no expression, no clear emotion whatsoever.

"Your...Your Majesty?" the lizard woman spoke again, a little louder, though, due to her tenseness, her voice could not help but crack, "I guess you didn't hear me, I said that-"

"I heard you." the queen uttered curtly.

Alphys flinched at the unexpected response.

"Alphys, how many times have I told you, told everyone," Queen Toriel spoke, in a voice so cold and lifeless, it was like listening to an intelligent machine, "unless it is good news, I do not wish to hear any 'reports', I do not need to be told that things are getting worse, I can see it and hear it from here just fine. So, unless you have a follow up report that says you have found a way to fix the problem, any or our problems, then there is no point in speaking to me."

"I know, I'm sorry," the lizard woman replied, "it's just that...we're worried about you, boss, you haven't spoken to or seen anyone in days."

The goat queen sighed deeply.

"Does it really matter?" she expressed dismally, "What good would it do, there is nothing that anyone can say or do that could make everything better for me. What the monsters want, I cannot deliver and what I want...I cannot possibly get. There is...nothing down here, Alphys, not for me, not for anyone, absolutely nothing."

"Ah, I wouldn't say that," Alphys said mildly, "I mean, we still got the six human souls-"

"Two." Toriel interjected.

Alphys was caught off-guard by the queens utterance.

"What?" she responded, puzzled.

"Two, Alphys," the goat woman informed her, "we have only two human souls."

"What, but," the baffled lizard scientist replied, "Dad said that since that day, six humans have been through here."

Toriel turned away.

"Six humans have been through here," she affirmed, "and of those six I only managed to successfully harvest the soul of one of them, the other soul we have is...the one that...A-Asgore..."

"O-Oh," Alphys responded, "but...how come-"

"That is why I have become so reclusive," the queen continued, "why I refuse to communicate with anyone outside the castle; I have heard what they are saying, they all believe that freedom is just within our reach, that we will be out of here soon."

Alphys looked on sensitively.

"What will I do when that seventh human comes here, Alphys?" Toriel conveyed dejectedly, "The people will be expecting results, what will they say or do when nothing happens? How can I tell them that we are in fact nowhere near freedom, that their queen is a complete and utter failure!?"

"Uh...ah...Your Majesty..." Alphys sighed sympathetically, unsure of what to say.

"Alphys," the queen suddenly said, "I know...I know that there is a human here, underground."

The lizard scientist looked on, stunned.

"As I passed by the lab earlier," Toriel attested, "I heard the mentioning of a human making their way through the underground."

"Ah...and how much did you hear?" Alphys asked warily.

"I rushed back to the throne room as soon as I heard 'human'." the queen answered.

Alphys was uncertain of whether or not to be relieved that she had not heard about her son having resurfaced, though, she was sure that Dr. Gaster would be upset with her when he found out that the queen heard about the human.

"What do you want done?" she inquired.

Toriel turned to look at the young lizard woman with the most serious of expressions.

"Nothing, let the human come," the goat woman avowed, "let the chips fall where they may and when they get here, I will face them with dignity. Regardless of whatever happens, one thing I am certain of, when this confrontation is over, I will be Queen of the Monsters no longer."

Alphys recoiled in shock at the queen's words, the implications filling her with dread.

"Leave me," the monster queen ordered quietly, "there is nothing left to talk about."

Unable to find a reasonable response, Alphys turned and left the room, wracked with anxiety.

As soon as the lizard woman was gone, Queen Toriel pensively walked over to the other side of the room and looked up at the wall, from which hung a picture of her, her late husband, and her long estranged son.

"I am sorry, I know neither of you will forgive me and I will not ask you too," she voiced solemnly, "for I am taking the cowards way out, but, I think we all know that it is for the best, for I have nothing left to give."


Yay, third chapter done, I wanted to wait, but, I could no longer resist adding a scene from Queen Toriel's point of view.

I had to do something to space it out a bit, as I realize that it is progressing a little faster than it probably should be, but, odds are, if this goes over decently, just like Tyrantale, I do plan on making more fics centered in this AU.