"Oh, so that's how you drive the car. Wow, I hadn't even thought about that! Color me surprised. Here I though you…"

MK leans in with his ear, "Yeah?"

"Nevermind."

MK smiles widely at Aofil's impressed expression. He shows it off again, and Aofil nods approvingly with an extended thumb, "Neat."

"Yooo! It took me a while," MK admits, "but once I figured it out I breezed through the tests. I'm just as good as anyone with hands, if not better," he lets himself brag, "it's why M hired me."

"The guests are too busy thinking about your driving that they spend less time contemplating the contract he gives them?" Aofil guesses cheekily, and judging by MK's sudden cough, they're pretty spot on with it.

MK clenches his teeth and breathes through them, "I can't really," he meets Aofil's raised eyebrow, "confirm that, you know?" MK points his tail up to the roof, "M is kinda listening and stuff."

"Really?" Aofil leans through the open car window, "Mettaton," they address the ceiling, "if you could be a dear and return my clothes to Alphys and Undyne's house that would be fantastic. Empty my pockets please before you wash them, too. Put them back afterwards!" Aofil adds, well aware what would happen if they didn't, "Please, and thank you."

The tail moves from the roof towards Aofil's chest, "I was gonna ask about that. These aren't the clothes you had when I dropped you off. Wait..." MK's eyes light up underneath his cap, "Yooo! You were part of the fashion show? Wow! So cool! With Undyne as well?"

"Maybe?" now it's Aofil's turn to clench their own teeth, "It's convoluted, you know? Mettaton and his plans. I don't really know what I did, or was supposed to do."

"You tell me!" MK chuckles, "Still, yooo, though. The human teacher and Undyne at the fashion show! Wait until Snow and Vul hears about it! Asriel and Frisk are gonna be jealous as well, I bet! Have you seen them yet, by the way?"

"Yeah," Aofil nods solemnly, averting their eyes for just a moment, "yeah, I have. They live just down the street, I stayed with them during the night. Had an interview with Toriel yesterday, and..."

Aofil's interrupted by the loudly leaking glee from MK. His lips and cheeks almost explode as he's doing his best, yet still failing, to contain his smile. Aofil leans back as to not be immediately deaf from the cloud of joy MK's about to produce.

"Yoooo!" the limousine honks as MK's tail whips onto the steering wheel. Further up the gravel path, Undyne and Alphys jump from the sudden sound. A spear flies with enough distance over the car to not put it or the people near it in danger, but close enough to take out the startled anger.

"So you are moving back!" bursts out of MK. He shoots his head out the car window, and almost hits Aofil square on the jaw. They manage to dodge the yellow and spiky head, but not with a lot to spare, "Awesome!"

"I'm," Aofil stops as they're washed over by the feeling that they're letting down MK. It's worse if they were to lie though, "not sure, MK."

His smiles dies off in an instant, and the shine in his eyes flees equally as quick. He looks down for a moment, but then returns up to Aofil, "Yoo, that's fine," Aofil can tell that's he's clearly lying, "but you'll think about it, right?"

"Yeah, I will. Like I said."

"I know..." spills out of MK.

"But I promise I'll give it a proper thinking over, MK."

MK leans his ear to his shoulder, "Sorry, gotta go. M needs me."

Aofil taps the roof of the car, "See you later, MK."

"You too!"

The limousine takes off screeching and flies around the corner with an unsafe amount of speed. Considering MK's driving technique though, Aofil's actually not worried. They don't usually give it much thought, but monster magic is really something else.

"I'll start the lunch then," Undyne yells from inside the kitchen as Aofil enters the front door. They hear her summon a spear. The tortured sound of a metal can being opened in every wrong way possible along with her pleased giggle worries Aofil a bit. She seems to enjoy it a bit too much.

"Spill your beans for me!"

Definitely too much.

A long spear stretches across the kitchen and punctures a can of crushed tomatoes, "Fruits to the slaughter!" and is hauled back leaking red juice all over the floor.

Definitely way too much.

Undyne leans into the door frame with a myriad of different stains on both her Mettaton branded apron and her face, "Aofil! You're still allergic to magic and stuff?"

Aofil looks to Alphys with panicked filled eyes, and then back to Undyne.

"Just so that I know what ingredients to use," she explains with a twirl of her wooden ladle. A piece of tomato flies of it and lands on the top of the frame. She scrapes it off with a small spear and throws it back onto the counter, "Don't want you going into shock like that Tem did."

"T-the one that jumped into the arms of the h-human delegation?" asks Alphys while offering to take Aofil's shoes.

"Yeah! Was almost as big as Onionsan when I finally managed to catch its face!" Undyne drags out her cheeks, "But anyway," she says, still with her chins stretched wide, "Aofil, your allergy?"

"Oh," trips out of Aofil's relieved tongue, "Yes," they nod, "still allergic."

Undyne flashes a smile, "Gotcha!" and returns to borderline swearing at the food she's preparing, "Who's ready for some mighty fine salmon?"

Aofil looks down to Alphys for confirmation that she heard the same thing. She seems a bit uneasy from the look, "It's v-very good, I promise. I've t-tripled insulated the kitchen, so you don't have to worry about the house burning up again."

"Was not what I was thinking about," Aofil informs.

"Oh," Alphys removes her hand from her mouth, "then what?"

Aofil nods towards the loud kitchen, "Her cooking fish."

Alphys doesn't seem understand to the problem, that it really is a problem, "W-what do you m-mean, Aofil?" and that's really enough of an answer for Aofil. If neither Alphys or Undyne finds a problem with it, why would Aofil?

"Nothing," they dismiss with a wave of their hand, "Just thinking out loud."

With a reserved hand Alphys motions towards a door further down the hallway, right next to the kitchen. She stares at it for a second or two, "S-shall we?" she asks quietly, as if it was the last thing she wanted to do.

Aofil forms a fist with their hand. The tendons in their arm push up against the fur. They're used to it by now, but it's gonna be relieving to not feel it. They nod with a serious hum, "Let's go."

Alphys holds the door open for Aofil. Before Aofil can enter, Undyne returns her head and ladle into view through the door frame, "While you're down there, Alphee," Undyne asks while reaching for something, "could you repair this?" she brings a broken whisk into view while gently waving it. Luckily she cleaned it, so no more excessive staining happens.

Alphys grabs the whip, "Sure," she smiles, "I was just s-showing Aofil around the house, but i-it shouldn't be a problem."

"Around the house?" Undyne's smile turns sinister, "Oh really?"

Aofil knows that smile well and good, and they decide to speak up before the idea takes root too much in her head, "Can't really work out in these clothes, Undyne."

"Oh I have plenty of spare clothing that you can use, whelp," Undyne spins the ladle in between her fingers, "The salmon needs to be alone in the oven for a while, so we got some time together, human. If earlier today was proof of your strength, then we got a long way to go."

"We'll see," answers Aofil, "depends."

"Ngah! This is gonna be awesome!"

Undyne returns once again to her cooking, her suppressed giggling slowly turning into full on cackling. Alphys and Aofil can still hear her well after they close the basement door.

The basement is filled with gadgets and small robots strewn out over the floor. The walls are covered half with blueprints and scribbles, and half with anime posters. Probably for inspiration, considering how the robots look.

Alphys invites Aofil to a chair, "I'll j-just get the instruments needed."

Aofil rolls up their arm, exposing the reason they've been feeling horrible all these years, "Thank you again, Alphys," and with a small smile they brush off some fabric stuck on the fur, "You've no idea how much this means for me."

Alphys moves around a couple of vials and bottles on a shelf, "Y-yeah," she replies as she finds a vial small enough. She sighs heavily, "I can imagine."

Her tone is rather distant.

She places the vials in a small machine to test if they fit. Satisfied that they do, she puts them in a stand and brings it to the table next to Aofil. She glances to the end of the basement, to a dusty cabinet. She whispers to herself to get a grip about it. She's doing it for a friend. This time it's different, this time she's doing it for good.

She sighs again, and heads over to it with heavy steps. Her tail makes a thick line in the dust leading up to the cabinet.

After fidgeting with the lock, and freezing as it clicks open, Alphys puts her hand on the handle. Her hand rests on the handle, unwilling to pull the cabinet open. A couple of mumbled word reaches Aofil's ears, but they're too weak for them to make out what she says. Alphys releases the handle and looks at her hand. After a moment she nods to herself, and wipes the dust off her hand on a nearby towel. She moves some robots around in a nearby pile until she finds one with a feather duster. They keyboard on it lights up as she presses a combination, and it jumps out of her hand shortly after spinning up.

A furious couple of seconds later the cabinet is left clean as new. Not a single speck of dust on it. The robot returns to Alphys, and she presses another combination on its keyboard. After deactivating the robot Alphys turns to Aofil, "S-so I d-don't cont-taminate the n-need-dles-s," she chuckles uncomfortably, "S-since y-you h-humans ar-re vuln-nerable to b-bacteria."

Aofil let's her have the excuse. It's not normal for her to stammer like this.

A visible swallow runs down her throat, "It's-s c-clean now, s-so I'l-ll g-go get them n-now."

"Alphys," Aofil stops her. They flex their fist again, "Sorry for forcing you through this."

Alphys nods absently, "It's-s f-fine. Don't-t w-worry, Aof-fil."

Aofil can tell that she's clearly lying.

Alphys takes some reassuring breathes as her hand weighs down on the handle. She opens it slowly, but it's not enough. Her exhales turn into gasps of dread, and her inhales turn into gulps of fear. The entire cabinet shakes with her, and a small glass container falls off a shelf and crashes next to her foot.

"I'm sor-r-rry," she whispers, "I'm s-so sor-r-y. I don't deser-rve being alive!"

She slams the cabinet door close, and stumbles backwards while clutching her head. She reaches her free arm for any form of support, but she doesn't find any. Without anything for her to lean on, Alphys falls over backwards with her glazed eyes glued to the cabinet.

Aofil manages to get their arms underneath her shoulders at the last second, "I gotcha," they whispers carefully as they almost throw their back out from catching her, "I gotcha," they repeat to make sure she knows she's safe. Her shaking eyes indicate the opposite, the furthest opposite. Her quivering lips struggle to form syllables. All that escapes her are suppressed whimpers and quiet apologies.

Aofil eases her down on the floor, and leans her up against a cupboard with the least amount of stuff on its counter just in case she flinches. They try to catch her eyes, but she looks straight through them.

"Y-you should've l-let me f-fall, Undyn-ne."

Aofil snaps their fingers right next to Alphys' eyes. She flinches, as Aofil predicted, and the back of her head knocks over a clock on the table. The clock pushes itself back up with an extending rod, and returns to its ticking.

"It's me," Aofil says, "Aofil."

Alphys blinks, and her breathing returns. She stares at Aofil dazed until she recognizes them. She nods hesitantly, "It-t's y-you, Aofil."

"Do you need me to get you some water, Alphys?"

Alphys rearranges her glasses on her nose with a very unstable hand, "N-no, It-t's f-fine."

Aofil doesn't accept that, "It's not fine, Alphys. Not with you looking like you've seen a ghost."

"M-Mettaton?" she asks perplexed, "W-why?"

That did her no good. Aofil curses themselves.

"Human expression, don't worry about it," they say with a warm smile, something she definitely need right now, "Sit down here for a while. I'll get you some water."

Aofil's not sure if they should really leave her alone like this. Looking around the basement there is a lot of things she could use to… No! Get that thought out!

A claw almost punctures Aofil's skin through ther shirt and jacket as Alphys grips Aofil in a panic, "D-don't t-tell Und-dyne! Please!"

Aofil grabs Alphys' arm in reflex. She lets go as quickly as she grabbed on, and looks at her hand, "N-no," she cries, "No. I p-promised h-her I w-would be st-trong. I p-promised Undyne. I promised her..."

Alphys voice trails off, and Aofil finds themselves having to carry her arm for her. They gently place it on her sobbing chest, and she nestles it under her chin.

"I-I'm n-not st-trong. I d-don't des-serve t-this. I d-don't deser-v-ve being here! Not after all I did."

She curls up into a pathetic yellow ball of tears and violent sobs. Her entire being rocks with every gasp for air, shaking the wall long cupboard to its foundation. Aofil is concerned that Undyne might notice from upstairs. They spend a good long while with their hand on her shoulder, comforting her as best as they can. Aofil doesn't say anything though, because they don't know what to say.

"I k-knew this would happen," Alphys finally speaks. Her voice is exhausted and strained, "I k-knew I would rem-member! I kn-new I w-would n-never be free of-f the s-sins I did. All t-the amalg-gamates I made. The h-humans I ext-tracted!"

She burrows her head into her tail and hands, "And know I-I'm doing it ag-gain! T-to a f-friend!"

"It's not the same though, Alphys. You're doing this to help me."

"I w-was doing it-t f-for the f-future of-f the m-monsters before, b-but l-look what I c-created. W-what if I d-do somet-thing w-worse t-to you? I shoul-ld've never have s-said y-yes to this. I c-can't do t-this, Aof-fil. I'm s-sorry."

"You promised me you'd help me."

"I p-promised Und-dyne I'd b-be stron-ng too."

No! No no no no no! They're too close! Aofil's too close!

"I'll die without this, Alphys!" Aofil roars. They expect Undyne to come rushing down any moment now, but it's the only way. They have to snap Alphys out of this, "I'll go mad! I'll lose myself to this! You have to help me!"

"A-Aofil..."

They grab both of Alphys' shoulders, "This is the only chance I have to live a normal life. To forget everything that happened. To finally leave this all behind me!"

Alphys' eyes meet Aofil's. Hard, sad, confused, anger, soft, dread. Hers is going through them all. She doesn't blink despite her eyes being filled to the brink with tears. Her quivering mouth calms down, and it slowly, but steadily, turns into a frown.

She lifts a shaking and angry finger, "Y-y-you!" and grabs Aofil's arm, "G-get of-f-f me!"

Aofil retracts their arms. What is going on?

On wobbly knees Alphys forces her self up. Her breathing turns into huffs through her nose. She casts a glance towards the cabinet, and her frown grows deeper, "Y-you!" she repeats with a snarl, "Y-you n-nev-ver even c-cons-sidered-d m-moving b-back!"

The question takes the air right out of Aofil.

Alphys teeth clap together despite her gritting them as hard as she can, "Y-you h-hate us-s, b-but y-you w-want to use us-s to f-fix y-your ar-rm, and t-then," she struggles for air, "and then you're just gonna abandon us again!"

"N-no," stammers Aofil. They've never seen Alphys this angry before. Her unstable posture and difficulty catching air shows that she's never been like this either.

"Y-yes!" Alphys stammers back, if it is to mock or not, Aofil can't tell, "You d-don't want-t to b-be rem-minded ab-bout t-the respons-sibility of y-your actions! You c-could've t-told me about-t t-this bef-fore you l-left us! You d-din't t-trust us-s, so y-you did-dn't s-say anyt-thing! Y-you're t-the r-reason y-you're feel-ling t-this w-way! You're t-the reason y-you're allerg-gic. N-not your a-arm!"

The color drains from Alphys as she forgets to breathe. She takes support against the cupboard while clutching her head and gasping for air. Aofil moves closer to help her, but she swats their fur covered arm away, "Al-ll y-your arm-m is doing i-is r-reminding y-you of us! Al-ll it does is r-remind y-you t-that y-you aband-doned us. T-that y-you w-wanted t-to believ-ve t-that y-your connec-ction w-with us w-was a lie! You l-lie to yours-self s-so that-t you d-don't h-have to c-come to f-face w-what you d-did t-to y-yours-self, Aof-fil! Y-your arm-m isn't a c-curse, it's a b-blessin-ng. T-the problem is t-that you d-don't w-want it to be a blessing! B-because that m-means t-that you c-can't l-lie to y-yourself anymore!"

She loses her grip on the cupboard and falls over. Aofil sees her fall, but they can't move a muscle. They stand still, seeing her barely catch herself on the cement floor. She breathes greedily, coughing away sawdust and metal carving with every inhale.

What did Aofil do if they're the cause for this act of hers? Can they even understand it?

After a long while of nothing but Alphys catching herself she finally musters enough strength to attempt to stand up. Aofil offers their help, and she accepts it.

"I'd like some water, Aof-fil," she asks while readjusting her glasses, "I'll b-be read-dy to take s-some samples once y-you g-get back."

"Alphys..."

"Just. Don't," she begs, "Only the water."

Aofil nods, and Alphys does in return.

"G-good," she whispers, "g-good," and releases Aofil's shoulder to stand on her own.

She halts Aofil once they take their first step, "A-actually," she turns her head from the cabinet door, "s-see if-f y-you can as-sk Undyne t-to show y-you where my s-snacks are. I c-could us-se them to t-test y-your all-lergy."

Aofil nods again, "Good idea," and heads up the stairs.

Alphys turns back to the cabinet door with a deep breath, "Y-yes," and opens it, "g-good idea."