Are you hiding something from us, Ambassador Chara?"
The question remained in Chara's brain long after the meeting with DeJean, the human detective, ended abruptly. Reports of fights between humans and monsters arrived at the Monster Embassy, just in time for the Ambassador to bail out from being further questioned. The human detective knew that was only a setback, and planned to further question her once the occasion presents itself.
Earlier, he scrutinized that university student long enough to make some battle plan. She looked a little on the edge and remained vulnerable after what she has been through. DeJean had not much time to lose, he discarded any diplomatic concerns and went straight to the point.
"Ambassador Chara, have you been aware of the presence of alien substances in the crime scene?"
Chara looked at the predator-like eyes of this human, he looked like he wanted to frame someone or something at all costs. She did her best to keep herself calm and collected.
"Not right away I am afraid, it only came to my attention after the local authorities sent us a report."
"I see, then are you familiar with a black substance we found near the alleged near-rape scene?"
" That is what the report said, but I have no further knowledge of that substance you're speaking of. "
DeJean remained firmly convinced the Monster Ambassador knew something about the unknown liquid they found. Chara was indeed looking away and shaking in her boots, hoping nothing would bring Frisk out in the open. She thought of ways to evade that question, and one immediately popped up as the next question came in.
"Would you like to let our personnel access your labs to investigate this black substance? We would appreciate your cooperation in catching whatever "saved" you and slammed the rapist into a wall ... or perhaps was it you since you possess monster genes as well?"
Before Chara could even speak, DeJean pursued his monologue about what could have saved Chara from being raped.
"Would you assume a human with monster genes, even though drugged and mistreated, would awaken some other form and turn on the rapist? I could be wrong, but some individuals of yours can move quickly from one place to another?"
The Fallen was tempted to take the blame, but on second thought, it would ruin much of the work done in the past five years. Humans and monsters had finally started cohabiting peacefully, and anything that could spark conflict would be disadvantageous to the Monster Kingdom. Chara reluctantly sticked to the first version she had in mind, hoping that would get them all out.
" I will speak to the Human government and ask our scientists whether they would look into it. You are well aware that our research facility runs on its own, and do not fully answer to my jurisdiction. "
DeJean knew beforehand that the Monster ambassador would use that "excuse" to not disclose any harmful information. He thus suspected Chara of hiding something, but could not get to the gist of it. Both interlocutors were cut off by the fighting outside, each running to their own to stop it.
Both Monster village and the human Capital city were a little rowdy, as random fights between monsters and humans started scarcely. Following the media coverage of the Prom incident, some humans deliberately went to taunt monsters.
"Hey ugly beast, do you want to assault students in a prom too?"
"Human, please do not believe what your people say, we no longer u-"
"You what?-" One angry man stood in a local bar, then went on and punched a tall, skinny snake monster.
His peers gathered around to protect him, causing the assaulter to back off for a bit. His table buddies tried to go next, but the police came in and evacuated the shop, questioning everyone inside about what happened.
Similar small-scale incidents happened all over the capital city, where some areas were now shared by humans and monsters. Most police reports blamed irresponsible behavior on angry citizens, who claimed that monsters are trash and should have remained underground. A few other occurrences involved monsters fighting back, and both humans and monsters were thus convicted for the night.
Bratty and Catty almost had their shop mugged by some human robbers, who thought they could take advantage of the chaos outside. Thankfully, friends of detective DeJean were not far away from the area. They were dispatched quickly and arrested the robbers, but haven't spoken a word to the monster victims.
" Man, you're like cold "
" Yeah, super cold "
" Keep your mouth shut if you don't want to get cuffed with them! "
One of the policemen yelled at the two coward monsters, who hid behind the counter. They waited until the human police left, then looked at each other for a while.
" Aren't we like, totally in a bad spot? "
" Yeah, totally ... should we leave town and work elsewhere? "
" We should, ASAP, things are getting hot in here "
" Hot like a hotdog !"
Back in Monster village, similar events were happening, besides that, the roles were reversed. Some pissed monsters wanted to break into the human houses and chase them, given how poorly they treated their peers in the Human Capital. The Collins, one of the few families that agreed to move and live alongside monsters, were barricading their house.
"Come out, humans, come out and tell us why are you so afraid of us !"
"Honey, do something, they're trying to break through the door"
"Go and hide downstairs, quick! Take the kids with you, I'll try to borrow some time."
Before one of the axe-wielding, fish monsters tried to finish off the sturdy wooden door, a spear went through the garden and got planted between their legs.
"YOU STOP RIGHT THERE! Citizen, you should be ashamed !"
The group of monsters assaulting the door turned their attention to their buddy, then to the spear thrower. Undyne, accompanied by some backup, tried to stop her kin from damaging Chara's - and the Kingdom's - reputation. While she dealt with most of the trouble-makers, some of them were getting back at the door, but two of them got tossed away by a blast.
"buddy, you should do better things than trying knock-knock jokes with an axe"
"SANS, LET ME STOP SOME OF THEM TOO !"
Papyrus sent a regular bone attack that made three rioters trip and fall miserably, while the last of them managed to slash the door open and enter.
"Drat ... Hands in the air you beast! I won't let you near my family !"
"Out of the way, human !"
The scarred bunny monster, hopped out after Mr. Collins fired his rifle, and was about to cut him down after dodging a few more shots. The man, now pretty much unarmed, closed his eyes and waited for the blade to end his life.
But it never came.
Something stopped the axe from reaching the human's chest, another small blade managed to parry the sizable axe of the bunny monster.
"Frisk, what are you -"
"Back off, we should not be fighting humans !"
The monster hesitated to hit Frisk, his drinking buddy but wasn't giving up on harming the human. He charged again and struck, but Frisk stopped his axe more than once.
"But they put our buddies in jail ... !"
Frisk could understand how desperate some monsters were, but he was getting tired of that quick resort to violence. He knew what would happen if the monster pushed him any further, the shadows crawling on his aching back.
"Along other humans ... now, back off"
The monster was now shaking in fear, terrorized by the "genocider" red eyes. The Collins family thanked Frisk and the Royal Guards for their arrival, while Asgore and Toriel urged immediate repairs. The monsters who broke the house were the ones tasked to fix it, as part of their sentence.
Arthur Manning, heir to the prestigious industrial family, had been sentenced to house arrest. The convict will also have to wear an electronic bracelet and consult a probation officer once every week.
After much lobbying, Alice Manning managed to lower her son's sentence to absurd proportions, although their house was now under constant watch from the local police. Still, a Manning accused of rape and drug use had a hard blow on the family's connections. Those who supported her now might not be eager to do so next time, or so she heard from all the people she had to talk to that day.
Jonathan Manning was reading the usual stock exchange news, frowning upon his loss in many actions affiliated with the family's trust. He slammed the table, spilling coffee on his favorite Pajamas as Alice turned around. She looked coldly at the man, then left for her room and stayed there for the remainder of the day.
Jonathan, after throwing his pants away in the laundry room, wore his professional attire. He suspended his usual activities, as he was assaulted by a horde of reporters. Avoiding any comments, he simply jumped into his car and was driven to the family holding office. Arthur, watching the scene from the window, fell back on his bed. He was extremely bored, bound to look at those pictures he had not ripped off yet.
Chara Dreemurr, mocking him from above, as he cursed the day he met her while taking more smuggled drugs.
Sabrina Patience, one of the two victims that day, is still hospitalized at the moment. Her fellow human state pupils did not mention any intent to pursue the Manning heir but remain worried about their friend's condition.
Chara's busy agenda kept her from seeing Sabrina so far, but she managed to delay a meeting for the first time in three weeks. Hurrying to the Grand Hospital on her own, she went by the side entrance, evading another press group. Chara looked for Sabrina's room under a false name, then went to see her immediately.
She met Valiant there, who looked extremely nervous at Sabrina's condition. He was accompanied by the rest of the gang, either in tears or in a heated discussion.
"Chara, finally! What took you that long to come ?"
"You've seen the news, Valiant ... that whole case was an ugly mess, took that long to deal with"
Elaine hugged Chara as usual, and Umeno wrote a note to the Fallen before handing it to her. Chara and Elaine wrote the note, both jolting at the content.
"A boy came by today, nurse said he looks like you"
Chara could tell who that was but went instead to try consoling Valiant, who was gripping the sheets in frustration.
"How did she end up in that state?"
"I am sorry."
"Shut up, Chara. It's no use ..."
" ... What did you just say?"
Both Chara and Valiant were on edge, as she forgot he liked the blonde and he omitted that Chara was the other victim. Pravda took care of reminding them about the facts, as both now remained silent.
"We should leave Valiant here so he keeps an eye on her," said Rahim, who asked Juicy whether he needed something to eat.
Chara left the room in a hurry, going by the same door she used. She was both embarrassed by her attitude and angry at the indelicacy of Valiant. Rummaging through her bag to find her ringing cell phone, she relaxed when she looked at the caller ID : "Goat Mom"
"Yes, Mother?"
"Are you alright my child?"
Chara pondered for a minute before answering the question, making Toriel quite anxious on the other end of the line.
"I'm tired, Mother ... I'm really, really tired of all of this ..."
"It's alright, Chara ... I understand how hard it is to lead a Kingdom, and I am glad you are the one doing it ..."
"I'm sorry ... for not opening up ... I ... I ... just wanted not to bother you with my pas-"
"Chara dear, you are old enough to know what to share and what not to. I understand how hard those things are to talk about but ... I'll always be for you ..."
"Thanks, Goat Mom"
Before Chara hangs up, Toriel told her about a boy in the local hospital. He was in pretty bad shape and kept muttering her name whenever he was a little conscious.
Chara's phone slipped out of her hand, as she processed the new information. Her SOUL ached badly, despite knowing there was no longer something she would do.
Frisk was probably dying again, and he might not make it this time.
Chara Dreemurr, Monster Ambassador and recently graduating from college, had been pleased there was any kind of punishment towards her assaulter. She publicly apologized for any incidents caused by monsters and urged human authorities to do the same.
DeJean was currently yelling in his superior's office, complaining about how powerless they were in solving the Prom case. John, Maxwell, and Lisa minded their own business, but could still hear the argument.
"This is preposterous, how come Monsters have no results about a liquid that is not human ?!"
"DeJean, you have bothered the monster authorities enough. You sent your people to their labs and interrupted three important meetings to question Ambassador Chara. There is also nothing you can do on the Manning front, no need to push this case any further !"
"Boss, hear me out ... There has to be something out there we are missing! We can't just keep muzzling ourselves for politics !"
"One more word, DeJean, one more word about this ... and you might get fired for good."
"F*** that, I'll show myself out"
DeJean slammed his badge and gun on the table, then stormed out of the office. His three aides would have loved to help, but there were intimidated by his bloodshot eyes. DeJean cleared his desk, took a cab home, and threw said box in a closet.
"If I cannot bring justice in blue, I might just throw the uniform and do it my way"