When Undyne showed up to New Solace wearing her full armour - save her helmet - only Nicky was surprised - and thrilled. She clapped the moment she saw Undyne, and Undyne scooped her right up and held her with a laugh.
"Auntie Undyne, you look weird!" Nicky said, poking the shoulders of her armour.
Undyne grinned wider. "Can't take any chances, today," she explained.
Nicky patted the front of her chest. "Me too!" She was already wearing her vest over her dress, though she had initially protested. Now, seeing Undyne in armour of her own, she felt better.
Asriel, Frisk and Asgore were still getting ready; Toriel had gone to the school early to prepare and make sure everything was in order. Asgore was on the phone with Darian, and Frisk was helping Asriel with his vest - only to switch places when it came to hers.
"Where's sans?" Undyne wondered. "If he's slacking off today, I swear..."
"He's not. He said he would 'be around'." Frisk sighed. "We have to trust him."
"We do?" Asriel asked darkly. He still wasn't sure he trusted sans, even after all of this time.
"Yes," Frisk snapped. She was tense, and it clearly showed. A few days before, the news finally got out about Nicky going to school, and now the entire city knew, too. She had hoped to keep it secret for a bit longer, but it hadn't worked, and now she was worried.
"Golly," Asgore was saying. "That many, Darian? I don't think we need that many." He paused, nodding, forgetting that Darian couldn't see him. "Of course. Yes. Please do. Thank you, Darian." He hung up with a smile. "Apparently, so many officers wanted to help that Darian got into a bit of trouble with his former boss."
Undyne laughed, but Frisk looked worried. "How much trouble?"
"He says they're threatening to take him back," Asgore laughed, which helped Frisk relax - just a little bit.
"Don't tell Mom," Asriel smirked. "She won't handle it well if she loses one of her most popular teachers."
Frisk tried to smile, but it didn't work too well. A feeling of nervousness coupled with dread filled her, and she asked, rather shakily. "Are we ready to go?"
Nicky slid down out of Undyne's arms and went over to Frisk's side, taking one of her hands, before she reached out and grabbed one of Asriel's. Standing between them, she nodded with a smile. Frisk stared at her, unable to help but envy how carefree Nicky seemed. "Ready, Mami!" Nicky agreed with a serious nod.
Asgore stood up taller, though he still smiled and Undyne held a thumb-up with a grin. Asriel looked over at her and smiled faintly, and she nodded in return.
"Okay, then. Let's go,' said Frisk finally - before she changed her mind.
They walked to school, finding the way busier than usual. It was very disconcerting, seeing neighbours and strangers alike watching them go by as if on parade. Asgore stood in the lead, Undyne at the rear, and Nicky remained between her parents. She chatted as they walked, noticing her audience but not reacting with anything less or more than curiously to it.
"Weird," said Nicky, glancing at them with a mix of shyness and confusion. "Why are they staring at us?"
"Because you're pretty new to them," Asriel admitted softly.
"I'm not new!" she protested. "I'm six! Basket is new!"
Undyne smirked at that. "You're still pretty new, kid."
Nicky tried to look back at her as she walked, stumbling a bit as a result. "But not as new as Basket!" she insisted.
"Okay." Undyne held her hands up in surrender. "You've got me there, okay?"
"Basket's green," Nicky concluded with a satisfied smile, before looking forward again. "What's my first class? How many teachers do I get?"
"Uh," Asriel paused, distracted for a moment. He thought he'd recognised someone, but decided it was either a neighbour, or one of Darian's cop friends filling out the crowd. "You only have one class to go to, Nicky."
Nicky frowned up at him. "But, Papi, in books and movies..."
"You don't get that kind of set-up until you're older," he explained, his eyes narrowing for a moment, but not at her. He was so sure he could place that person he saw, but again the name escaped him.
"Aw," Nicky complained.
Frisk was watching both the crowd and Asriel as they walked. She didn't like his expression, seeing both confusion and frustration there. She tried to follow his gaze, but whatever he saw either wasn't easily seen or already gone. She still didn't like it.
Undyne was quiet, now, too, her eye sharp and darting about. She met Frisk's gaze and nodded slightly; whatever it was, she could sense it, too. Very slowly, she raised her hand to pretend to scratch her cheek, carefully signalling to Frisk to look ahead. She did, trusting Undyne. Otherwise, why would she have asked her to come along?
"Ehmpa!" Nicky called, and Asgore looked back at her briefly with a smile. "Is Ehmma my teacher?"
"Yes. But you have to call her either 'Ma'am' or 'Headmistress', okay? You can't call her Ehmma."
She made a face at that, clearly having just confirmed something her parents had already told her and not liking it all the same.
For a moment, there was a lull in which they walked in silence. Nicky was distracted by everything around her, and so were her parents and family - just in a different way.
Very deliberately, Undyne held a hand up to her side and summoned a spear into it, holding it out very carefully as she walked. She waited, and could sense that whoever was following them had seen it and decided to fall back. She kept the spear out anyway, not willing to test it.
"Clear," she muttered to Frisk, who nodded, giving Nicky's hand a squeeze. "Keep going," she added, a glint in her eye. Frisk did so, but she was now bemused. She didn't hear, a ways back, the sound of rushing wind, feel the tug of magic, nor smell the slightly earthy scent of thrown bones - but Undyne did. And, judging by the way their ears would occasionally twitch backwards, so did Asriel and Asgore. But neither turned around or stopped, and when they looked to her, she grinned in reassurance.
This happened at least two more times, and each time it was handled the same way. By the time Undyne signalled a fourth, she was grinning so wide it was almost contagious.
"Kinda fun," she admitted softly, blushing a bit, and Frisk sighed at her, though she did manage to finally smile - just a little.
A fifth time, however, proved perhaps one too many. Undyne tensed, then turned back, before she shouted, "Asgore!" and began to run back. The moment she did, Asriel and Frisk closed in on Nicky to protect her with their actual bodies, while Asgore summoned his trident and held it forward, his eyes glinting.
Undyne skidded to a stop and held up her spear, finding it intercepted almost as soon as she did by another monster's magic. She swung down, neatly bisecting it, but she couldn't spot the source of it, though she knew she needed to - and soon. They were already so close to the school it was frustrating.
When one volley of magic veered too close to the Dreemurrs for Undyne's liking, she followed its direction and went in the opposite, hoping to catch whoever it was off-guard.
Nicky was silent, thought she held her parents' hands tight and she was shaking. Frisk and Asriel stayed close to her, making sure that Nicky was completely covered, and Nicky was now too scared to even protest, let alone move away.
"Left!" a low, familiar-yet-not voice called out, and without question they moved left, Undyne jerking back and calling up three more spears to cover her. Immediately another loose volley of magic fell towards them in heavy, misshapen orbs, and both Undyne and Asgore moved to defend the other three, carefully destroying the magic as best they could without leaving any residuals that could hurt anyone else.
Then, silence. Undyne and Asgore stood waiting, both sharing the same look of concentration - but no other attacked seemed to be coming.
"Go - go, now!" that same voice snapped, and Undyne signalled for them to do so - and quickly. Frisk pulled Nicky into her arms without hesitation and ran, Asriel right beside her. All Frisk could see now was the front door to the school, getting closer and closer and yet it seemed almost impossible to reach.
As they ran, Darian's friends started forward, a mix of human and monster, flanking the family quickly and bringing out their methods of defence, either physical or magical. Asgore got to the door first and was opening it even as Asriel, Frisk and Nicky caught up to him. Undyne covered them from the rear, still, but it seemed as if the attacks were either stopped for now - or being saved for later. Once everyone was safely inside, Undyne kicked the doors closed and locked them, almost angrily, as if the door were to blame. Frisk leaned against the closest wall, holding Nicky tightly to her and shutting her eyes. Nicky curled up close to her, her own eyes wide and her face tinged with fear. Asriel went to them and hugged them close, his eyes closing, too.
"I don't like that," Nicky admitted in a whisper, tearfully clinging to Frisk.
"I don't like it when he's right, either," Asriel agreed with a grumble, giving Nicky - then Frisk - a kiss. "I'm glad he's here, but mad he's right."
Toriel rushed up to them, giving them each tight hugs, checking them all over for injuries - even Undyne - as she did. "Everyone alright?"
"I didn't like that, Ehmma - uh - Headma'am," Nicky stammered, raising her head to look at Toriel. She was crying, but seeing Toriel appeared to revive her a bit.
"I don't blame you, kid," Undyne agreed, scowling at the door.
"Are the other students here safe, Tori?" Asgore asked, and she nodded. They had planned for Nicky to come late, after everyone else, to avoid as many people as possible. They hadn't anticipated anything like this - well, except maybe sans.
"Frisk?" She looked up at Toriel, her eyes wide, still holding Nicky to her. Gently, Toriel placed a hand on her shoulder. "Frisk, are you working here today?"
She hadn't planned to. She and Asriel had talked about it the night before, about how they didn't want to overwhelm Nicky on her first day with both of her parents there all the time. Asriel decided to be the one who stayed with Nicky, and Frisk had agreed, planning to do some errands Underground until lunch, where they would all meet back at the school and enjoy it together.
But when asked, Frisk immediately said, "Yes," before pausing. "Wait, no." She looked at Asriel. "Wait, what?"
Asriel smiled. "Yes," he agreed. When she started to protest - she knew how much this meant to him - he shook his head. "Yes, Frisk. It's okay." And it was. He was a little hurt that he'd miss some of Nicky's first interactions, but seeing Frisk so shocked upset him more, and if staying with Nicky was all it took to help her, then he was fine with it.
Still holding Nicky, Frisk hugged onto him tight, so tight that Nicky protested, trying to squirm away. "I'll be back at lunch, okay?" Asriel concluded.
"Please," she agreed.
"I'm gonna do a sweep," Undyne reported, before she left to do so.
Asgore was rubbing his eyes, trying to focus them, a part of him still running. "I'm getting too old for this, I think," he muttered.
"Once Undyne gets back, we'll begin our day," Toriel said calmly, though her eyes were narrowed. "Does that sound good, Nicky?"
She nodded, sliding down from Frisk finally and trying to now get out of the vest she wore. "Can I take this off, now? I don't like it."
Frisk knelt to her and did so, and Nicky practically leapt out of it, shedding it to grab Toriel's hand.
"Better?' Toriel asked her with a smile. When she nodded and returned the smile with a grin, her tears were now dry.
Undyne returned a moment later, looking suspicious but otherwise fine. When she got to them, she raised a thumbs-up and smiled. "All clear as far as I can see," she reported.
Toriel looked to her husband, children, and their child with a kind smile. "Time to start the day, then!" she said easily. "Ready, Nicky, dear?"
Nicky nodded, dancing a little on the spot in her now-returned excitement.
Frisk hugged Asriel, thanking him over and over, and he nodded, holding her close. The last thing he wanted was to overwhelm Nicky on her first day, after all. When Toriel again asked if they were ready, Frisk let go, and Asriel kissed her. "I'll see you back at lunch," he promised, and she nodded again. "Keep that on," she said back, pointing to his chest, before she went to Nicky's other side to walk with her to class.
When it was just the two of them (Asgore had also gone to start his daily chores), Undyne asked Asriel, "Are you okay?"
He shrugged one shoulder, for a moment unable to speak. Then he nodded, and she patted him on the back. "If you can, go meet up with Alphy before lunch," she suggested. "Have some company, so that you won't be lonely or whatever. It'll make her happy, too."
In the end, he did just that. But only after he made attempt to contact one person for some answers before he even left the school: Sans.