A flash of yellow burst out between Alphys's held up hands just as the barrel flashed, and she lowered it quickly to cover her chest as best as she could. It did intercept the birdshot above her heart - but barely. She still got hit in the chest, and she gasped, the pain like nothing she had ever felt before. She slammed back into the wall, the staff vanishing immediately, breathless for too long. She slid down the wall, then landed, hard, onto her side, choking. She reached up to try and staunch the flow, but she knew she was in trouble; her vision was blurring fast. She heard distant voices, and the moment she tried to blink into focus, she passed out.
When she came to, it was to agony, her breath harsh in her throat. She found it lucky she was waking up at all, and slowly, she rolled onto her front, gasping from the pain it brought her. She spat out a mouthful of blood, happy she didn't choke on it, and as her hearing slowly came back, she started crawling towards the one sound she heard the loudest: Basket screaming for her.
Panic flooded through her, and she dug her claws into the floor, dragging herself toward the screams while trying to remember to breathe. Her chest burned like the worst kind of burn, raw and throbbing, but she kept going, her teeth gritted against it. She had to reach Basket, had to protect her...
Her hand fell onto her phone, and she almost shoved it aside before she remembered she could use it. Pushing herself back onto her side with a groan, she pushed down on the screen slowly, making sure she pressed the right numbers, before she shut her eyes and listened, feeling already so tired...
"What's your emergency?"
"S-shot," Alphys gasped out. "I'm... shot... m-my d-daughter... m-my... d-d-daugh...t-ter..."
"Okay, ma'am, we have a trace on your phone and are sending emergency crews to your location. Ma'am, I need you to stay on the line until they get there." A pause. "Ma'am? Ma'am?!"
No answer. Alphys's eyes had closed, and she had fallen back onto her front, out cold.
It was on the way home that Undyne remembered to check her phone - unfortunately at the same time as she heard the sirens. Horror filled her as she read the message, then realised that those sirens weren't going away. She shoved past everyone and ran, as fast as she could, hoping the sirens would go past, would outpace her, or she would outpace them, anything but...
As soon as she got to the house, Undyne went right to the back like the text message said, hearing Basket's screams long before she opened the door. She ran to her daughter and pulled her close, then turned and went into the hallway, towards the front door-
-where she dropped to her knees, holding Basket close, her throat closing up.
Alphys was on her back, surrounded by paramedics and covered in blood. It was everywhere; on the floor, on her phone, even on the wall. As the paramedics worked, Alphys didn't respond or react, her face pale.
A paramedic then noticed Undyne and Basket and quickly went to Undyne's side, trying to usher her and Basket away. Undyne tried to ignore them, until they pulled her to her feet and then tried to pull her away. Then she screamed out and shrank away, holding Basket close and her free hand out and clawed. When they tried to get close to her, she fought them, shielding Basket with her body and screaming her wife's name.
Asgore and Toriel had finally caught up, and wordlessly they pushed past and helped with Undyne, Toriel pulling Basket into her arms gently and Asgore pulling Undyne into his. Undyne fought him, trying to get out of his grasp and back towards Alphys, her hand reaching back towards her even as Asgore pulled her into the backyard. She kept screaming and screaming, unable to stop - until she couldn't scream anymore.
Alphys survived the attack, thanks to both her quick thinking and her tough skin. The birdshot was bad, and did go deep and in myriad places, but they got all of it out before it could cause major damage, though it still did cause some. As a result of the extent of the injury, she was knocked out medically until she healed enough to be able to handle the pain from it. But she did survive.
Needless to say, this left Undyne a little unhinged. She refused to let Basket out of her sight, barely moving from Alphys's bedside, and never without Basket. She'd bring books and read them aloud, or sit there and sleep with Basket in her lap, or sometimes - when she was at her limit - she would either yell for Alphys to hurry up and heal, or beg her to, just so she could forgive Undyne for not being there.
Frisk felt terrible. If she'd been there, spent the day with Alphys instead of running errands, perhaps she could have changed something.
"Or, they would have killed you," Asriel answered angrily when she brought it up. "There are no 'should haves', Frisk. There are only 'what nows'."
It was a good point. Undyne was not coming back to the school while Alphys was in the hospital, which meant less protection for Nicky. And yet, that brought everyone to the crux of the matter to begin with: Why did they shoot Alphys at all?
But, they had to keep going. It was Undyne who said this, which surprised them, that night, before visiting hours ended at the hospital.
"It we stop now, if you give up now," she growled, her eye on Alphys as she slept, her arms around Basket as she played with Undyne's hair. "If you pull Nicky out of school, they win. And they can't win." She looked up at Frisk and said, her voice hollow, "They can't fucking win."
So, the next day, Nicky went back to school. She was provided another escort, this time Papyrus taking Undyne's place, though they couldn't get as many of Darian's friends this time around. It seemed doable, still, as the crowd was considerably smaller; the news had gotten out about Alphys, and none of her neighbours were pleased. Many of them were there to show their support - and to glare at anyone not there for the same reason.
According to sans, there were only two incidents the entire trip, which was surprising - and disconcerting, in a way. Did that mean they were done, or merely planning something else? None of the prospects were very good, if one truly thought about it.
Nicky, however, was thrilled. She was not told about Alphys - just that her aunt was sick and needed rest for a little bit - so she could focus on school completely, which meant her new friends. She ran away from her parents as soon as she could, finding her friends and getting lost with them with screams of joy from all three.
Asriel pulled Frisk close, hugging her tight, and she returned it. They had the same thought: they were lucky to have such a wonderful family at their side, something made even clear when Toriel immediately chased after Nicky and her friends, shouting, "Walk, please, children!"
Papyrus's shoulders sagged a little. "I HATE CLASS WITHOUT UNDYNE. SHE MAKES IT FUN. AND FUNNY."
sans put a hand on his shoulder. "i'll supply for her today. how's that sound, bro?"
Papyrus lit up at once. "REALLY? YOU'D DO THAT FOR ME?"
"it's not like it's the dentist," sans snorted, before pushing him towards the gym. "let's go before we're late."
"And you, Frisk?" Asgore asked her. "What's on the agenda today for you?" His voice was gentle, though a little strained.
"City Hall," she said, her voice hard. "I've quite a few issues to bring up. Namely, why are kids being shot at and they do nothing?"
Asriel took her hand. "Want me to come along, back you up?"
She shook her head, surprising him. "No. Stay here and protect Nicky, okay? After yesterday..." She shuddered. "Please."
"We both will," Asgore agreed, his hand on his son's shoulder. Asriel stood up straighter, looking braver, and she smiled, feeling relief at seeing them so confident.
"Okay," said Frisk. "Time to rattle some cages."