Toby Fox owns Undertale and all associated characters.

The fire elemental stirred at the quiet sounds reaching him. He raised his head, before rolling over, his hand searching the end table until he found his glasses. He sat up, adjusting them as his groggy mind finally put together his situation. Rotisa was whimpering in her crib. He rose, glancing to his wife, who was still sleeping due to the softness of the sound.

He hurried over, scooping the little child out of her crib with a hum. "Now what's wrong, little Sweetheart?" he asked gently as he sat down with her. The elemental spider fussed and whimpered, little embers falling away from her eyes.

Habitually, he began to rock her, humming a little louder. His drowsy mind took him back to when Fiona was this age, and she had woken in a fuss when her parents were out. The tactic worked well on her, and…thankfully, Rotisa began to settle, eventually just snuggling into her father's chest.

Grillby's light dimmed softly as he looked down at the little one. His own little child… He leaned close, pressing his head against her own. "There…isn't that better now, Rotisa?" He sighed softly. "Soon, my dear…we'll have two siblings back to see you. I'm sure you'd love that…" The child gave a soft coo as he relaxed, closing his eyes again as sleep swiftly claimed him.

"…Dearie…?" a soft voice called. "It's morning, Sir…" He felt a hand on his shoulder and something gently pressing the side of his head. "Are you going to wake up?" The tone was one of amusement.

His eyes slowly opened, and he turned to focus on his wife, who had tossed on a simple dress of an off white lavender. "Morning, Muffet…" he managed.

She smirked, a hand on her hip. "You could have woken me, you know. You didn't have to stay up by yourself…"

He blinked, and looked down to realize that he was still holding the little one. Muffet gently slipped her arms around Rotisa, and drew her close. The baby stirred, and then pressed against her mother, mumbling softly. "You're going to be hungry soon, won't you little Dearie?"

Grillby smiled softly, glad that Rotisa could get Muffet's mind off other things for a bit. He slowly rose, his flames dancing erratically on his form briefly. "I'll make breakfast," he offered as he opened the door, giving a quiet grunt as Cupcake shoved past to race into the kitchen.

Muffet snickered. "Cupcake," she chided as she followed her husband. "Just because you're hungry…"

"He's certainly been energetic lately…" Grillby murmured as he started to work in the kitchen.

"I think the potential playmate in Rotisa has him all worked up," Muffet replied with a giggle.

Grillby smiled. "I have a feeling that they'll get along…"

Cupcake gave an excited bark as he gulped down some food that had been provided by the other spiders in their home. Muffet smiled, and then perked as Rotisa woke, before starting to whine. "Oh, Dearie…we'll be in the living room, Grillby."

The elemental laughed softly. "You need to tell me where you are in this quaint house of yours?"

She put her empty hands on her hips. "Oh, Sir…"

It was a couple of hours later that there was a knock at their door. Muffet looked up from the crib. "Seems we have visitors…"

"So we do…" As Grillby rose—Muffet placed a hand on his chest, rising up on tiptoes, and adjusted his shirt collar.

"There…"

He chuckled, and then moved past her, while she went back to their daughter who had been starting to stir. When Grillby opened the door, he found himself face to face with Dogamy. "Greetings…"

"Hey, Grillby, how're things settling here?"

"Still alive…and doing much better," he assured. "…what brings you here?"

"My brother actually…"

"Oh?" Grillby leaned to the side to see the Husky, and then paused, glancing down. On a harness, was another canine. He perked. "Is this his…?"

"Keller," Doggo replied. "She's my seeing eye dog." He knelt, scratching her head. The canine was a German Shepherd, but, while she had the traditional black markings on her back, she had some additional marks on her face, and the rest of her pelt was a mix of a very pale gold and white—unlike the dark brown most of her breed had.

Dogamy grinned. "They got the training done, and I thought…it would be best to show Keller her extended family."

Grillby perked, and shook his head. "Well, I…"

The canine snorted. "You're part of the pack, like it or not."

"I didn't say I was displeased with this…revelation."

Dogamy chuckled. "May we?"

"Just a moment—Muffet—"

"Right here," she called as she entered the living room. "We should be fine; I can block Cupcake in the kitchen if he gets too excited."

With that, the canines filed in, as Muffet took a seat on the couch, while Cupcake sat obediently in the kitchen. Keller came round the couch, sniffling at Grillby's and Muffet's legs, before taking notice of the child. She glanced over her shoulder at Doggo, and when there was no protest, she put her paws on the arm of the couch to prop herself up, looking down in confusion at the child.

The dog plopped her head down on the arm, whining in confusion, raising her paw toward the child, halting before touching. Rotisa looked up, and then reached at the new thing in her vision. Her flaming hand touched the dog's paw, and on instinct, Keller yanked back in surprise.

She inspected her paw, emitting a whine, before touching the child again. Doggo chuckled. "I'll have to teach her about elementals and actual fire…"

"You're going to have to teach her quite a bit," Dogamy confirmed. "Especially if she's going to be living in the Underground." The dog Monster came over, looking down at Rotisa as Keller backed off. "Such a dear. I wished I could have dropped by sooner."

"Would you like to hold her, Sir?" Muffet asked.

Dogamy chuckled. "If you can trust me with such a responsibility…"

Grillby's flames crackled. "Says the father who juggles five pups. I think we can trust you."

With that, Dogamy sat down beside Muffet, who tenderly set Rotisa in his hold. Rotisa blinked in confusion at this transition, tilting her head as she squinted up at the canine. He chuckled, and lowered his head close. "Hello there, little fire pup."

She reached up, grabbing an ear, and tugging on it gently with tiny fingers. Dogamy gave a rumble, leaning a little closer to let her do as she pleased. She gave a few more weak tugs, before simply petting him, mesmerized by the short fur, and then touching his nose—squeaking as a little hiss met her hearing while Dogamy yanked back on reflex.

Rotisa looked at her hand as a little steam came off it, more confused than harmed. "Noted—don't nuzzle baby elementals…"

Grillby leaned down, looking her over while Muffet gave an uncertain sound. As she was a spider monster, she had to let Grillby figure out all the fire related things with Rotisa. He took her hand, inspecting it as the fire swiftly returned to normal. "I think you only surprised her…she doesn't seem hurt…"

Dogamy sank a little in relief. "I'll keep that in mind though…"

A bark took their attention to the kitchen entrance where Keller was sniffing at Cupcake. The Monster pet let the canine trot around, sniffing at him…before he gave Keller a lick in response. The canine went stock still in surprise as the creature panted quietly. Then, Cupcake dropped into a play stance. "…open the door," Muffet started. Doggo managed to find it as Keller hesitantly responded, and then—both were on the move, diving out the door to have fun outside.

Muffet giggled. "Seems they might get along...once Keller starts feeling more comfortable around us Monsters."

Grillby chuckled, and glanced to Dogamy, tilting his head in silent questioning…but Dogamy slowly shook his head. Nothing had been found…

The fusion sat outside on the ledge that overlooked the slopes of Ebott and the city below. Their ear fins twitched as they heard footsteps, and slowly, Gerson came over, sitting down beside them with a groan. An orange eye opened, glancing to the old monster, eyeing the nearly healed cracks that were still on his shell.

The souls within all felt grateful that Gerson was still with them, a magic drain like that would have been damaging on someone his age. "So…what's brought all of you out here? You've been a little odd since you finally woke up…"

Their toes curled slightly as their tail fidgeted. The voice was soft as they spoke. "We're worried…" was the quiet response. "Those of Reaper's Harvest are still out there…they still have monster magic to use…and to take. And…Chara…." The voice quivered. "Our child…"

The ear fins lowered, the voice seeming to change slightly. "We're going to find them," they growled. "And I'm going to shove a pile of spears into them so that they have second thoughts about pulling something like this!"

Their tail curled onto their lap. "But…" The voice became soft and meek. "We still don't know where to start looking…"

Gerson sighed. "I know it's not lookin' pretty right now," he agreed. "Yet…Chara and Alma…they should still be around. Those Reapers aren't going to waste red souls like those two…"

The child slouched back, their hands supporting them as they closed both eyes. Their tone changing again; as another spoke. Fortunately, Gerson had learned to pick up on the visual and audio cues. Often, when another monster was talking, their respective trait would become more noticeable—aside from Asgore.

And their voice would change—not dramatically—it was more as if Frisk was trying to impersonate who was speaking. A higher tone for Alphys, and then lower tones for Sans and Asgore. It was still very much the child's voice—but it certainly helped the turtle discern who was talking a good amount of the time.

This tone was smooth…laid back…and a little low. Those mannerisms told Gerson that Sans was talking now. "That doesn't solve the problem though…we can't do anything as it stands—until we know where to go. Which we haven't been able to figure out in over a year since the kidnapping."

"Our best bet is for Napstablook…" Gerson started.

The tail twitched, the voice rising. "But they're a drained ghost! Look how little magic they have right now! It could be another year before they can help us—Alphys…" The voice abruptly changed, the ear fins drooping as they drew their arms around themselves.

"Anything can happen by then…" the fusion mumbled—making it difficult for Gerson to figure out who was speaking as the fusion struggled to keep everyone together, with half of them sinking into their worries and fears…

Gerson sighed. "Surely other ghosts…"

They shook their head, keeping it down as their tail twitched. "Most of them have bodies by now…that causes their vision to weaken…Napstablook…they're different…they've stayed outside a body, and I think…because of that—their ghost abilities simply grew in power…we can't rely on another ghost…we can't rely on anything…"

"…that's not true!" the fusion suddenly proclaimed, their orange eye flaring as they raised their head up. "Napstablook may not be able to help right now—but that doesn't mean we have nothing to rely on! Even if the other ghosts don't have that scale of power—they can still see! We have canines who can track scents if we know what we're looking for—human friends who know this city!"

The fusion even stood up, trying to confirm the point that was being made. "We might have hit rock bottom—but that means we have to pick ourselves up and continue forward—and I know that's hard right now, when we feel like this. That we caused problems, or that we weren't strong enough, or that this is all our fault…and that it's okay to be upset, but we have to hold together! If we don't pull together from this, we're only going to fall apart! We have to stay firm!"

The fusion panted slightly, and the blue eye began to glow dimly. "…always the motivator, eh, Paps…?"

There was no verbal response as the fusion sat down again. "We want to continue," was the response. "But we're tired, Paps…tired, worried…and right now, barely enough magic to hold ourselves, let alone go off rescuing others…to…put it frankly…we're useless right now…"

Gerson leaned forward, a hand tipping his hat down before he folded his arms, one leg lightly tapping the ledge as he sat there in silence for several long moments. The fusion had gone still…and so he spoke.

"All awake in there?" he asked. There was a nod. "All got your heads on your shoulders?"

The right eye flickered, causing the turtle to cast them a sideways glance as the fusion remained quiet, before biting their lip and giving a nod. "Then that's all you need." He reached over, grabbing the little one and dragging them onto his lap, resting his head between their horns as he tiredly stared off into the distance.

"It's gotta be tough," he muttered. "All of you were very powerful…and you had your freedom taken away, and now…your magic—which was the one thing you had intact that could make a difference, but…" A weary smile came to him. "Heh…look at me. My magic was sputtering out even before the draining, but…still kicking."

"...you have the strength to make up for it," the fusion muttered to the point Gerson had no idea who had even spoke.

"My last battle doesn't agree with that statement," Gerson replied. "I'm not the warrior I was—I don't have my magic, and I'm losing my strength. Would you call me useless?"

The tail twitched and they turned slightly. "No!" was the quick protest. "Even if you can't directly participate, you have so much experience—" Gerson shushed them gently.

"So do you," Gerson replied. "Asgore and Toriel have centuries of that to take from…all of you have knowledge to aid—whether it's the concept of tapping into other magics—fighting tactics, or a better understanding of how things work…you're many minds working in unison. Even if you can't use your magic…even if you can't fight…heh…you're a walking collection of experiences…not something I'd call useless now."

The turtle sighed as he held them close. "It's rough right now, I know…you're worried about 'em…"

The fusion nodded softly. "Chara…" was the tired response…he guessed from Toriel. "…we can't lose them…"

"And we won't," he stated firmly. "We're going to find them, we're going to make sure they're safe…and we're going to put Reaper's Harvest into the ground." He habitually combed at their hair as he spoke. "We're going to figure this all out…"

The fusion leaned into him, and nodded quietly… "Things are going to get better," he murmured softly. "You'll see…" One day…maybe this will all stop. Perhaps they can take out Reaper's Harvest…end the Corruption…restore what had been lost…but Gerson wasn't sure if he'd be around to see it all.

He didn't have the heart to tell the fusion, but…he knew the draining had hindered him. Gerson's long twilight might have been cut short by it. He didn't know by how much, which was why he kept silent…but the truth of the matter remained.

The old warrior wouldn't be around forever…he was losing his strength—his magic was sputtering out…eventually, all of it would give, and his dust would go to the wind. Until then, though…he would keep going for as long as he was able—because his kingdom needed him to keep going…

The Hammer of Justice was not ready to be laid to rest…not yet.