AN: A lot of you guys were looking forward to the group meeting Alphys! So, here you go!
"So, I mean, I can always go with Undyne to talk to the guards or something, if you want," Sans nervously suggested, trying to keep his smile on. "Let you two talk to Alphys. And all that. Heh." Frisk tugged at his sleeve, looking up at him with a pout. "..." A heavy sigh, Sans looking broken. "Fine, fine." Maybe he could hide behind Undyne... Looking satisfied, Frisk leaned against him, clinging to his hand. Toriel was only looking to them with a bit of a smirk, raising an eyebrow at Sans. "...That is not a reassuring look, Tori."
"Hmph." Undyne had caught up with them, looking irritated. "So, thinking on it, I probably shouldn't have told the guards that if I was ever defending a human I was mind-controlled, but it looks like you won't be getting past the guards... I'm sure Alphys will help, though! I'll double back to Snowdin to see if Papyrus has any ideas, too." WIth that, the monster was gone, and Sans was pouting, and...damn. So much for hiding behind her.
"Oh, I just think it's amusing, is all," Toriel commented to Sans. As she did so, Frisk seemed to be attempting to climb Mt. Sans.
"Oh? I mean, I know I'm a pretty funny guy, Tori, but exactly which part is amusing this time?" Sans was a bit amused and distracted by Frisk, finally snickering as he scooped her into his arms and pecked her on her cheek.
"Nooo! That's cheating!"
"That," the woman said with a chuckle.
"Well, just so happens that I am a mean old cheater, so you'll have to deal with it," Sans grinned, cuddling the girl close. "And for reference, it's not amusing. It's adorable. Honestly, Tori, I expected you at least to know the different." He was doomed as all fuck, he had at least admitted it to himself, at this point. That was progress!
"Yeah, you're really old. You're as old as... As..." Frisk paused, looking to be thinking very hard. "You're as old as dirt."
"Well now, that's just rude," Sans huffed, poking at the girl's sides. "I will have you know, that in monster terms, I am still a somewhat young adult! Probably! Aging is pretty different with us so, eh, it varies."
Giggling, Frisk scrambled until she was sitting on his shoulders. "How different?" Sans easily adjusted, the three continuing to the lab which wasn't too far away.
"Mm... I guess it depends on the monster. See, people like Tori, who work a bit more like humans, mature faster, and age slower. It's why she's still so beautiful." A pause, Sans and Toriel each blushing. "Anyways, after that is skeletons. We just take a long time to grow and age and stuff. So even though I've been around a while, I'm still kinda youngish. Think new parent age, or something."
"How old is Pap-Pap?" There was a pause, as if Sans was seriously considering it.
"...I don't actually know..." Sans' eyes slightly narrowed, as if thinking it over. "Eeh...around my age? Probably? I don't- There were a lot of Resets, kid."
"Okay. How old is Undyne?"
"Oh, um, she'd probably be about Alphys' age, now that I think about it, maybe a bit older? Ah, let's see, if that was then... They'd be like early twenties, as far as humans are considered."
"...Are they dating?" Frisk looked honestly curious, tilting her head down at Sans. Her answer came in the form of a snort of laughter from Sans, who looked like he was trying not to burst out laughing.
"Not really, but I'm sure they wish they were. They're kinda..." A considering pause. "They don't really talk things out that much. Especially emotion feeling type things."
Frisk nodded, looking as though she understood. "Like you." There was a pause, Sans glancing up at her. And maybe grinning a bit wider, because, yes. His.
"...You are a vicious child, you know."
"...Is that bad?" She looked a bit nervous as they walked into the lab, clinging to Sans' head.
"Nah, it can be a good thing. Like in your case, you're viciously DETERMINED. All about how you use it to your advantage, and all that." And oh, look at that, Toriel made a wonderful shield when trying to hide from scientists.
"Oh..." Frisk looked around as best she could, curling up on top of Sans as best she could. "It's dark."
"Kinda is, yeah," Sans nodded, looking around and, huh...quite a bit had changed, actually, from how he remembered it. While Toriel went to find a light switch, Sans paused at seeing a giant screen...showing them?
"...What is it?" Frisk looked around for a camera, pulling up Sans hood and trying to use it to hide.
"If I had to guess? A giant tv. A further guess? Something weird is up." Sans tried to hold back a laugh as Frisk very much failed at hiding behind his hood. Still adorable, though.
"Like what?" She instead only curled around his head as much as she could, looking tiny. It was at that point the lights flicked on, Sans looking over to see a familiar monster that looked very much like a lizard.
"Wha- Sans?" Alphys, the Royal Scientist, looked shocked to see the skeleton. "But- You swore you'd never come back- O. M. G! You have the human with you! Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh I never thought this would happen!" Frisk squeaked, scrunching down to hide behind Sans' head. She was just gonna hide here for forever. For forever forever. Sans only glanced to Toriel, a silent look of 'I'll let you handle this one.'
Toriel sighed, looking to Alphys. "Hello, I assume you're Alphys?"
"Oh- Ah, yes, hello, hi. Yes, nice to meet you- Do I know you?" The woman...looked slightly familiar - and remarkably like a monster similar to Asgore - but Alphys couldn't place ever meeting her before...
"No, I don't believe you do. I'm Toriel, this is Sans, and Frisk," she said, gesturing to the other two. Alphys waved nervously at Frisk, looking excited and muttering things under her breath and this was so exciting! The human on a mission to get back home and leave the Underground!
"...Alphys, please tell me you didn't do that creepy thing with the cameras-" Sans suddenly cut himself off, narrowing his eyes at the scientist. "...That camera I saw by the Ruins door is yours, isn't it?"
"...Noooo." A quiet cough from Alphys, Sans rolling his eyes.
"We heard you'd be able to help us get to the Core. Is that true?" Toriel gave a kind smile, tilting her head.
"Yes! That- Yes, that I can definitely do!" Alphys looked a mixture of nervous, excited, and embarrassed, movements and gestures a bit jerky and frantic. "Yes. Yes, the only problem would be..." A nervous giggle. "I may have made a robot and gave it special 'hunt and destroy all humans' feature?" The comment only caused Frisk to squeak and try to hide. Why did everyone want to kill her?!
Toriel narrowed her eyes, her hands on her hips. "And can you fix it?" And oh, look at that, Alphys looked slightly terrified and startled.
"Ye- Yes, yes, yeah, yup, totally, yes, I can so very much fix this. I just need-" There was the sound of a rumble around the lab, a smooth wall being broken down only for...a giant rectangle to roll in. The ridiculousness had Sans fighting to hide a snort of laughter. A quiet whine, and Frisk was trying to hide behind Sans.
"Ooh, Alphys, darling, that human is here, isn't she?" Alphys seemed a bit startled before she was recovering, stuttering only a little as she dramatically pointed at the robot.
"St-Stop right there, Mettaton! I- I won't let you hurt the human!"
"Oh, dear. You have Dr. Alphys on your side. How ever will I survive?" A pause, and Frisk was looking down at Sans with suspicion. Sans only glanced up, blinking at her a bit curiously. Far as he know, he hadn't done anything to earn suspicion. Probably. "Whatever am I going to do, now?" Frisk glanced up at Mettaton, then back down at Sans.
"Su-Surrender is your only op-option!" Alphys declared - somewhat bravely. Toriel looked unamused, raising her eyebrow.
"I give in to your power! For now, anyway. Now, a quiz!" Sans blinked at that, slowly giving a 'snerk' sound before speaking.
"So your big bad fight is gonna be a quiz? Are you gonna pick someone at 'random', then?"
"Let's go, then!" Frisk's soul appeared in front of her, causing her to whimper as four boxes appeared. "First! What's your prize for answering correctly?" From behind Mettaton, Alphys was holding up a notebook with the letter 'D More Questions' written on it. Frisk watched carefully, guiding her soul towards the option Alphys indicated. "Correct! Next question, what is the King's full name?"
At that, Toriel was politely taking the notebook from Alphys and writing something down, making sure the 'C' was clearly seen. Although under it she may have written 'Child Murderer', Sans holding back a snort through sheer force of will. Though she was confused, Frisk followed the guidance. "Clever! Enough about you though. Let's talk about me! What are robots such as my fine self made of?"
Alphys had taken back the book and scribbled 'B - Metal and Magic', Sans shifting so Frisk could have her soul reach the box. And, really, this was a mix between hilarious as all hell and very adorable. "That was too easy for you! Here's another easy one for you!" Mettaton began reciting off a long story problem, the timer counting down. "Two trains, Train A and Train B, simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7mph towards Station B, and Train B is moving at 253.5mph towards station A. If both trains departed at 10:00AM and it is now 10:08, how much longer until both trains pass each other?"
Sans was only quietly coughing 'D' under his breath and nudging Frisk towards the bottom right where the answer was. Frisk gave a quiet amused laugh, kissing his cheek as she moved towards the answer. "Wonderful! Astounding! Who could have counted on that? Next. How many flies are in this jar?"
It went on like that for the next few minutes, Frisk answering questions with the three monsters helping her out and nudging her to the answer it needed until it seemed to come to the final one. "Well, since Dr. Alphys has been unfairly helping you, maybe she can help with this question! Who does she have a crush on?"
Frisk paused, looking to Alphys thoughtfully. Alphys was a blushing mess of embarrassment, covering her face and looking horribly red. Sans was only shaking a tiny bit trying not to burst out laughing. A pause, and Frisk was nodding and moving her Soul towards A, saying her answer out loud. "Undyne. Definitely."
"Correct! Well, that's all the time we have! Bye, darlings!" Frisk's soul disappeared as Mettaton blasted off. Sans only looked over to Alphys, grinning.
"You know, you really should talk to her."
"Oh, like you're any better!" Toriel rose an eyebrow, clearing her throat. "Am I wrong though?" Alphys pouted, blush still on her face and really. Really. How had the human even known that- She was so secret and careful!
"A bit, yes."
Alphys' only response was to throw her hands up in frustration.
::
"Tori...are you sure you're alright?"
"Of course. Why would I not be?"
"Fur. Hotland. Lava literally everywhere," Sans gesture, careful to keep Frisk on his shoulders. He really didn't want her walking considering she looked to be a bit uncomfortable at all the heat.
"Sans, honestly. I'm fine. You don't need to worry, so much," Toriel waved it off, rolling her eyes.
"I don't worry," Sans huffed, looking a touch pouty. "I just state obvious facts- How much does Alphys update her status?" He had, at this point, taken over Frisk's phone and was reading the various updates and messages with a bit of amusement. Frisk only looked up at him and gave a shrug.
"I dunno." There was a shift from Sans, the skeleton typing back on the phone after signing in on his account. And maybe making some comments about 'unnamed people' and 'minding their own business'. He also might have entered into a snark war with Alphys but she had it coming.
'OMG! The old royal scientist just came here with the human! Humans are more important, obviously.'
'dudes. dudes. dudes. just visited a scientist today. yeah. just like I remember.'
'And what is THAT supposed to mean?!'
'oh hey. alphys. what's up. did you hear about that one scientist who's always digging around in the dump? crazy right?'
'Better than the one that up and quits out of nowhere, at least!'
'BETTER THAN YOUR FACE ALPHYS'
'Now, I'm not gonna name names, here, but some people need to just own up when they make a mistake. Not that they can fix it.'
While they were walking, there was suddenly a muttered few words from Sans in a language that not even Toriel could recognized. As well as slightly glowing eyes. 'oh? really? so, how's that old PROJECT of yours coming along, alphys? huh? did that ever work out?'
'Well, I'm DETERMINED to get it up and running!'
'YOUR THEORIES ARE SHODDY, SECOND-RATE, AND YOUR MATH NEVER ADDED UP PROPERLY!'
'HOW DARE YOU. YOU'RE A LAZY LIE-ABOUT THAT DOESN'T CONTRIBUTE TO ANYTHING AND JUST MAKES THINGS HARDER FOR EVERYONE!' Seeing the look on Sans' face, Toriel rose an eyebrow before taking out her own.
'Children. Enough. You are more immature than the literal child.' Sans only blushed and huffed, signing out and signing Frisk back in, looking huffy as he handed her phone back up to her.
"She started it."
"You're not wrong. Still, you should be able to let things lie." She paused, and gave a smirk. "At least until you see the other party in person." Sans only vaguely hummed, walking in silence for a moment before muttering quietly under his breath, just barely heard.
"I did try to fix it, you know." His eyes were on the ground, not looking at either of them. "I tried everything." A pause, and Toriel's hand was on his head in a comforting gesture.
"I know."
"Ah, alright, we're getting too dramatic. Let's save that for that crazy Mettaton Pap is obsessed with watching."
"Mettaton? I do not believe I'm familiar with such a thing. What is it?"
"The robot with the quiz show we had to go through? That's Mettaton." A quiet chuckle. "Kinda surprised by how consistent some things stay...but, yeah, don't be surprised if we run into him again. After all, I have a feeling these 'puzzles' are going to be slightly different."
"...How different?" Toriel was narrowing her eyes a bit, though she hadn't removed her hand. Sans gave another snicker, looking very amused - and in a much better mood - before he was taking Toriel's hand, kissing the palm, and bouncing off with Frisk still on his shoulders.
"I suppose we'll find out, won't we? Nothing too bad, though, I'm sure."
Pausing, Toriel stared after them before giving a small laugh. "No, most likely not."
