A/N: See end notes.
Chapter 38: The Second Determination Experiments.
Besides making friends with the townsfolk of Snowdin, not much had changed with Sans.
There was still the guilt that came with his past.
Ocassionally he'd walk through town to keep his mind off of it.
One particular day though, it was very snowy and windy.
Being mostly comprised of magic doesn't hinder a monster from being cold no matter how unplausible it might seem.
The weather was rough, most of his sight was obscured by the snow.
Nearly the entire area he was walking was covered in snow and there was ice everywhere.
He had no idea where he was even going and the cold weather had began weakening him significantly.
In the distance there was a figure that looked like his brother.
"papyrus?"
He ran up to them unintentionally running through puddles of cold water and piles of deep snow but the closer he got, the further the figure seemed to be.
At this point, he was so tired all he wanted to do was go to sleep.
'i can't though. i gotta keep going.'
All his efforts though were short-lived. His energy draining fast.
He tripped on a hole in the snow falling face forward.
'papyrus.'
"Hey, what's that?" a raspy voice asked.
"Oh my g-d, someone's trapped in the snow."
Sans felt someone brush the snow off of him.
A blurry figure hovered over him covered from head to toe in clothing.
"Are you alright, dear?"
Everything faded to black.
The next time, Sans woke up it was to the sound of snoring. He noticed that he was very toasty.
Thick blankets covered him.
'where am i?'
"I see you're finally awake."
Sans turned and saw a bunny monster seated at a chair next to his bedside.
"um, who are you?"
"Peri, my sister found you buried in the snow and took you to our place."
"where am i?"
"You're at my sister's inn in Snowdin."
Sans let out a sigh of relief.
"i see. so i made it then."
"Is there any reason you were heading to Snowdin?"
"i live here."
Peri's eyes widened.
"Really? I've never seen you around here before but then again I rarely leave my shop," Peri said. "So how long have you been staying in Snowdin. You don't look like you've been here for very long."
"hmm, don't know. maybe a couple of months. i've been stayin' here with my brother."
"Your brother?"
Her fingers on her left hand stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"Wait, your brother wouldn't happen to be that tall skeleton with the orange sweater would it?"
"that sounds like him."
"I see. He stopped by my shop several times to order some pasta he told me he was intending to fix it for him and his brother. I guess he was referring to you, huh?"
Sans frowned.
"So what's your name, hmm?"
"sans," he said. "well, while it was nice meeting you i really should be heading back."
"In that weather? You barely made it out there in one piece and that blizzard is still going. You should at least wait until the weather subsides."
"i can just teleport to him."
"In your condition? It'd be too risky."
Sans sighed.
"what if my brother worries about me."
"Even your brother doesn't seem like the type to walk in a storm. If you're really that worried I can call him if he has a cellphone."
"really?"
"Yeah."
"thanks a bunch."
"Do you have his phone number?" she asked handing the phone to Sans.
Sans inputted the number on the cellphone before bringing it to the side of his skull.
"HELLO?"
"papyrus?"
"BROTHER, IS THAT YOU?"
"yes."
"THANK GOODNESS. WHERE ARE YOU?"
"i'm staying with a nice lady at the inn. i'll be back home when the storm clears."
"CAN'T YOU JUST TELEPORT BACK?"
"the lady doesn't want me to risk it. she found me in the snow."
"SANS, YOU'RE TOO RECKLESS. I WAS REALLY WORRIED YOU KNOW."
"i know and i'm sorry."
"THAT'S ALRIGHT AS LONG AS YOU PROMISE NOT TO DO IT AGAIN."
"heh, i can't promise but i'll try my best not to worry you."
With that he hung up the phone before handing it to Peri.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask this but do you have a jacket?"
"a jacket?"
"It's just my sister said when she found you, you were only wearing that white turtleneck."
Sans shrugged.
"never needed a jacket so i didn't buy one."
"I see you must have come from the Capital then."
"actually i lived in hotland."
"Well if you're going to be staying here, I'd feel a little better if you had a jacket when you leave. Next time you're out in the cold you might not be so lucky."
Some time later the storm had passed.
Violet came inside.
"Peri, you're still up?"
"Yeah."
"Well I was going to say the storm has passed in case he wanted to go home."
"Well that's good," Peri said. "Sans, before you go there's something I want to give you. Follow me."
Sans followed Periwinkle outside and noticed that there was another door to his right attached to the same building.
They entered the door to the right.
"so you live in the same building as your sister?"
"Yeah, they're not directly attached though so I couldn't visit my sister from inside my shop. I'd have to leave."
Once they were inside, Peri headed in the back.
"Wait here, I'll be back."
Minutes later she returned with something blue and orange under her right arm.
Peri took the blue object from under her arm and unfolded it.
It was a blue jacket with a hoodie on the back.
"This is for you so you don't get cold."
She handed it to him.
"thanks."
"Try it on. I think you'll like it."
Sans put it on over his turtleneck.
"wow it has pockets too."
"And a zipper so you could zip it up to protect your clothes. I also got one for your brother. Hopefully this fits him. If it doesn't though feel free to return it and I can make him a larger one."
She handed him the orange coat.
"thanks a lot."
"Don't mention it. See you around dear."
The next week on Monday, Mettaton dropped by Alphys' lab.
"Oh you came."
"OF COURSE I DID."
"Did you come for your checkup?"
"OF COURSE DARLING."
"Good, I'm gonna have to shut it down in order to remove the battery but don't worry I'll turn it back on."
Mettaton let out a sigh of relief.
"Then I'll just leave this body and when I come back hopefully you'll be done."
"HAHA, OF COURSE."
Mettablook floated out of the body.
"Good luck, Alphys," she said.
The ghost headed out.
One when she left did Alphys let out a sigh of relief.
Once Mettablook got to the surface, she dropped by Kat and Ghost's home. Waiting patiently for one of them to appear. An old woman stepped outside to tend to her garden.
"Hello, can I help you?" she asked without looking up.
"Darling what happened to the people that lived here before you?"
"You mean those two guys with that little girl? They moved out a couple of months ago after their daughter got into an accident. Some jerk ran into her and she became paralysed from the waist down."
"Did they tell you where they moved?"
"Better than that, I could write down their address for you."
Mettablook followed the old lady inside her home. She was busy writing the address in her notebook before tearing it and giving it to her.
"Thank you for everything," Mettablook said.
"Don't mention it, deary."
Mettablook followed the address to the best of her ability asking around.
Finally she stumbled across the place.
Ghost was pushing a little girl with short blonde hair tied back with a red ribbon who was seated in a mobile chair with wheels.
"Will you be alright at school?" he asked.
There were walking to a yellow bus.
"I should be fine. I know what to do if they tease me at least," she said.
He kissed her cheek.
"Good luck, Dorothy."
'That's their daughter. My has she grown.'
Curious Mettablook turned invisible and floated onto the school bus. She spotted young humans occupying most of the seats.
Once Dorothy was on the bus, a man pushed her to the back.
Mettablook saw Kat had joined Ghost outside and both were gazing at the bus.
It seemed without the presence of her guardians the kids started acting obnoxious towards her.
Some kids had their feet out to trip the man pushing her wheelchair.
"Knock it off, Billy. You do something like that again, you'll be off this bus," the man snapped.
"I'd like to see you try."
Once Dorothy was situated on the bus they were off.
After the bus stopped at a couple more places to pick up more kids, everyone was dropped off outside a large extensive building.
Dorothy was one of the last kids to get off.
A woman waited nearby to push her wheelchair into the cafeteria.
After breakfast, she was pushed to her classroom.
Mettablook watched her, invisible to everyone around them.
When she finally arrived in the classroom the woman was gone and Dorothy was sitting in the wheelchair by herself.
Mettablook reappeared.
"Excuse me."
Dorothy turned.
"Who are you? If you're trying to scare me, it isn't funny," she snapped.
"Me? I'm Mettablook, darling."
"Prove it," she snapped.
Mettablook disappeared.
"What?"
Mettablook reappeared.
"Can humans do that?"
Dorothy chuckled.
"Are you really a ghost? That's so cool."
"I'm glad you think so darling. I bet you don't meet many ghosts who know how to rock n' roll?"
"Do you play the piano?"
Mettablook shook her head.
"Nothing so lame, dear. I play the guitar."
"Haha, that is cool."
"You know it's been a while since I've been to the surface," Mettablook said. "Last time I was here you were no smaller than a baby. I used to be good friends with your parents but I took a break to pursue my dreams. Do you have any dreams?"
Dorothy smiled.
"I want to join the basketball club. It just looks so much fun."
"Why don't you join then?" she asked.
The other kids don't think I have what it takes."
"Nonsense I've seen monster with much less decency some with no legs others with no arms. You're nothing special being reliant on that mobile chair of yours. You just need more confidence."
Just then she heard the door open.
"I'll see you later."
"W-Wait," Dorothy sputtered but Mettablook had already disappeared.
Most of the day, Mettablook had stayed on the surface observing Dorothy all through class until school was out.
Mettablook reappeared.
"There you are. I was looking for you during recess. Where were you?" She asked.
"It's not a good idea for monsters like me to show their appearance in front of humans."
"But I'm human," Dorothy snapped. "I'm sure you're one of many exceptions dearest but our kind isn't exactly a squeaky clean race of monsters."
"It can't be any worse than people here."
"Just trust me, you don't want to live there with them if you don't have to," Mettablook said. "For a human it's very dangerous."
"It can't be that bad," Dorothy said.
Mettablook looked at the sky, it looked like the sun was towards the middle.
"Darling, what time is it?"
"It's 3 o'clock."
"Oh my, it's getting late. I should go."
"Wait."
Mettablook fluttered away, forgetting to turn invisible.
Dorothy rolled up behind her in the wheelchair and followed her up to Mount Ebott. It happened to be located at Fourside park.
She saw her vanish into a cave near the top of the mountain.
"Hah," she spoke and headed up on her wheelchair.
Once she was at the cave's opening, she headed inside before the ground gave way.
"Noooo!" she screamed.
'I don't want to die. I want to live. Pleae let me live,' she thought.
Something hit her from behind before everything faded to black.
When she came to it was to the onslaught of pain to the back of her skull.
Dorothy attempted to crawl from under her wheelchair with her hands.
Eventually after gritting her teeth, she dislodged herself.
"Oh dear, are you alright?"
A tall white furry created looked at her with a frown on her face.
"I-I'm fine," she replied.
Her heart pumped erratically.
'Move legs. MOVE!'
"I'm Toriel. What's your name, dear?"
"Dorothy."
"Do you need a hand?" the monster asked, holding out a paw.
Dorothy hesitated for a moment, contemplating what to do before she took her hand.
"Can you walk?"
"No."
Toriel helped her up supporting her around the waist when she stumbled. She took out a plastic knife handing it to the girl.
"If you run into any trouble, I want you to use it to defend yourself alright?"
Dorothy nodded.
"It can get very dangerous around here and I want you to be safe if I'm not around."
Dorothy sighed.
It was as they were nearing the end of the ruins that Vegetoid had flung a large pumpkin straight at them.
Toriel conjured a fireball throwing it at the pumpkin causing it to split in half.
Vegetoid gulped upon seeing the goat monster.
"Were you just attacking this poor child?"
"Er...no, it was just a greeting."
Toriel snarled.
"Is that what you're calling it now?"
She conjured a fireball and tossed it in Vegetoid's direction. It just barely missed Vegetoid.
"Then consider that my welcome."
Vegetoid laughed nervously.
"Sorry."
Toriel huffed before they continued.
"Was that really a greeting?" Dorothy asked.
"Of course not," Toriel said. "A while back some monsters decided to write books about how our magic is used to greet other monsters. Asgore of course did nothing about it encouraging monsters to put it in practice. Of course a monster would never know that our magic targets the souls of humans since we've been down here so long. If it was tradition you can imagine why it would be unsafe for us to co-exist with humans."
"Who's this Asgore fella?" Dorothy asked.
"He's the king of the underground."
"Then why doesn't he stop them?"
"It's because King Asgore declared war on humanity."
"But why?"
"Well, I would not let it get you down. I will protect you."
It was as Mettablook had come in that she noticed Alphys playing with the parts of her body.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
Alphys bit her bottom lip.
"I'm just replacing some parts. I hope you're not mad at me. It should be fine after I replace the monitor."
The next day Asgore had dropped by with a large scroll.
"Hey Alphys, I dropped by to deliver the blueprints."
"Thanks."
Alphys took the scroll and opened it glancing at the strange symbols and lines coming from the heart drawn in the center.
"I became a little concerned after you arrived the other day. It must have been exhausting making that journey to the castle through the CORE. Did you know the lab has a shortcut?"
"Really?"
"It's not really a shortcut. It's the lab of the former royal scientist," Asgore said, clicking a button revealing that the door with the female monster on the tag wasn't a bathroom but an elevator.
The door slid to the right. Inside was a small purple room with a bunch of switches at the back.
One of the switches was worn while the other ones looked brand new.
"Strange," Asgore muttered. "This place isn't that old."
He clicked the worn button. The elevator stopped on the third floor.
The door opened.
Alphys had cried out in shock. The lamps were flickering, some cabinets had fallen down and papers were scattered everywhere.
"What happened?"
"I don't know. I had no idea this place had been ransacked," Asgore said.
"It's fine. I can always clean the clutter."
"Oh I have to show you the second floor."
Asgore clicked the second floor.
The next time the door opened Alphy saw the stone grey walls of Asgore's castle.
"Head to the left and go south and it leads to a shortcut to my quarters if you ever need to talk."
"Oh I do," Alphys said. "I finished the armor for that dog like you asked me to."
Asgore frowned and looked away.
"It's all for the best if his son ever decides to join. I'm afraid that dog I spoke about has fallen down."
Alphys' eyes widened.
"What?"
"Oh you don't probably remember. A human, the fifth human soul to die down here had a disease that plagued the entire underground. The former scientist however developed a cure. Unfortunately several monsters died before receiving the vaccine or after receiving it."
"That's terrible," Alphys said. "His son must be upset by his loss."
Asgore chuckled.
"I think he'll cheer up if you show him that armour you created."
"Do you really think so?"
"I know so. The funeral is next week if you want to come. I'll be there."
At around the same time this had been going on, Sans had received a bunch of mail in his mailbox.
'what's this?'
Most of them were electricity bills and bills for the rent.
"papyrus, what's this mtt?" He asked as he was going through the rest of the mail.
"OH IT'S SHORT FOR METTATON?"
"you don't mean that robot on tv do you?"
"HAHA THAT'S FUNNY, SANS!"
Sans grumbled.
There's no way he'd be able to pay that much with getting a lot of jobs under his belt. He wanted some words with this Mettaton.
Freedrake had been working nightly shifts at the theatre which had been built off the side of Mettaton's hotel. Moby with much pleading had got a position running a fancy restaurant and a comedy club.
Sans had dropped by the place much to Freedrake's surprise and ire.
'What's he doing here?'
The skeleton addressed Tootie at her desk in the lobby.
"Excuse me sir. Can I help you?"
"can i talk to the manager?"
"He's busy at the moment."
"When will he be back?" Sans asked.
His pupils were gone.
"Um sir, please calm down. I'll get them right away. Wait here," Tootie said, running frantically in the direction of the CORE.
Minutes later, Mettaton rolled in.
"TOOTIE, TOOTIE, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU INTERRUPTED ME ON SUCH SHORT NOTICE. COULDN'T IT HAVE WAITED AFTER WE FILMED THE MOVIE?"
"ahem," Sans coughed. "you're mettaton right?"
"WHY YES, DARLING."
"then would you mind answering a question?"
"LOOK GORGEOUS, I REALLY DON'T HAVE THE TIME."
"Make the time."
"HOW RUDE. NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I MET A MONSTER WITH SO LITTLE CLASS. YOU CAN'T SPEAK WITH ME THAT WAY. I WORK FOR THE KING."
Sans chuckled.
"no, you work under the royal scientist who happens to work for the king."
"YOU MAY BE RIGHT BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO TREAT ME THAT WAY," Mettaton said.
"since when were you the one running the shots, i don't recall the king giving you permission to charge the citizens to use energy from the CORE."
Mettaton wrapped their arms around Sans.
"THAT'S BUSINESS, DARLING. I'M TRYING TO INDUSTRIALIZE."
Sans snorted.
"i'll need three jobs to pay that bill. you're heartless."
"IS THAT ALL YOU WANTED TO SAY?"
Sans scoffed, summoning a gaster blaster.
A blast of energy fired out of it's mouth destroying the desk.
Mettaton's lights went out.
"YOU DESTROYED MY DESK," he said.
"that's business, bucko," Sans shrugged and headed out.
"Hey sir, do you want me to kick his a-s?" Tootie asked.
"NO, I HAVE OTHER WAYS OF GETTING MY REVENGE."
After work, Freedrake had gone home and headed to bed.
He saw Nicedrake was already relaxing. Everytime he had got home from work, she would always ask about his day but it was strange. She was silent.
"Nicedrake?" He shook his wife.
She didn't stir. He got up and shook her again.
"Hey wake up."
She didn't stir.
"Dad?"
Freedrake headed downstairs and saw his son .
"Snowy, where have you been?"
He shook his son.
"Dad? Is Mom alright she was very sick earlier."
Freedrake paled.
"Dad, what's wrong?"
"Your mother has fallen down."
As the days flew by, Dorothy was enjoying the peace and the solitude at Toriel's house.
One of the first things Toriel had insisted on teaching her was using magic to move her feet.
Many times she had struggled to control her magic.
"Oh dear," Toriel said, seeing Dorothy stumble to the ground once again.
Wind fluttered by her ears.
"I see that's why it's been so difficult. I imagine it would be hard to control so much magic."
"Magic? I haven't been doing anything but falling," Dorothy said.
"I have heard the wind. It emanates a large magic presence that could only be coming from you, dear."
"Can I really use magic?"
Toriel nodded.
"Problem is you have not learned to control it."
The following afternoon, Sans knocked on the door of the lab.
"Who is it?" Alphys spoke.
Sans walked in just as Alphys glanced at the blueprints.
"where did you get that?" Sans asked, glancing over her shoulder.
"S-Sans!"
He scrutinised the blueprints.
"i see."
"I got them from the king."
Sans glanced at the heart. Determination was on the diagram on a line towards the middle of the heart.
Other attributes pertaining to life energy and magic were also diagrammed.
"looks like I knew a lot of things about human souls?"
"Are you okay?" Alphys asked. "You sound upset."
"you had no right to borrow my things without asking me first," Sans said.
Alphys frowned.
"I'm sorry. I know how you must feel."
"no, you don't. you can't possibly know how it feels. i've lost everything."
"Really?" Alphys asked. "That's strange. You're right I don't think I've had the events happen quite like that. I don't think anyone has."
"see?"
"But neither have you. You still have your brother so you haven't lost everything."
Sans turned glancing at a picture frame on a desk nearby.
It was a picture of six yellow reptilian creatures. Two of them were small kids with no visible arms.
"this your family?" Sans asked.
Alphys glanced at the picture he was looking at.
"My parents, my mother's sister and her two kids. I haven't seen my parents for a while though. One day they just didn't come home."
"oh i had no idea," Sans said. "sorry i know i'm not the easiest person to talk to."
"You're telling me."
"i guess i deserved that."
Alphys chuckled.
"That's a little harsh. I don't think you're that bad at least you get along with your brother so you have to be doing something right."
Sans shrugged. "i guess so."
"Say wanna help me out. I've been trying to figure out how to detract the power of a human soul that contains the component needed to shatter the barrier. According to the diagram, it's the middle most part. It's said to cause human souls to persist after death."
"no, i'd help but i already know those blueprints won't lead you anywhere good."
"How do you know?"
"just trust me. it's a dead end."
"I think I'll do a little more research before coming to any conclusions."
"i guess nothing i say will convince you, huh?"
"Nope."
"well just don't say i didn't warn you."
" Oh Sans, is there a reason you came by the lab. You had to have some reason."
"your little robot seems to be charging monsters to use the energy from the CORE."
"Oh? You heard about that?"
"i got a whopping bill for 1000 g."
Alphys sighed.
"I'm so sorry. I could talk to him if you want me to but we're not exactly friends anymore."
She never knew when he'd leave or if it was gonna be permanent.
"no, it's alright. i'll just need to find another job. guess i'll be dragon along."
As Sans headed out he was knocked out cold. Smoky dragged him in shadows.
"Hey Bullo, is this the guy Mettaton was looking for?" he asked the green bull monster next to him.
"Well he is a skeleton wearing a blue hoodie."
"How stupid. I hate doing these lame underground jobs," Smoky said, dragging Sans along.
"What I wouldn't give to wipe that smug look off that disco rectangle."
Later that afternoon, Alphys dropped by the castle coming across a brilliant discovery. At around the same time, Toriel had been in the middle of a lesson with Dorothy when she received a knock on the door.
Quickly she opened the door. The four froggits she had met when Sam had fallen down were lined up holding something that looked like a corpse.
The second froggit was jumping restlessly.
She gasped.
"Oh my, you poor dears. What happened? Is she alright?" Toriel asked.
"That's just it. My mother hasn't woken up in days," the first froggit said. She assumed he was the eldest.
"What is your name, dear?"
"Lumpsy."
"Who are your siblings?"
"The jumpy one next to me is Leapy. Sushi is the one that looks like a fish. Shorty is the smallest and the youngest."
On closer inspection she noticed Sushi had a tail unlike the other froggits.
"I don't see your father around."
"He left us when we were just tadpoles at least that's what mom used to say," Leapy said with a sob. "Is our mother gonna be alright?"
Toriel frowned.
"I don't know," she said.
Suddenly a thought hit her.
"Wait, do you mean to tell me that the four of you have been keeping watch of the household by yourselves?"
All of the froggits save for the smallest one were silent.
"Yeah," Shorty said.
"Well I refuse to allow you to live by yourselves."
"What? No."
All the froggits groaned with exasperation.
"Well surely you don't want to live by yourselves. Who will provide you food and a place to sleep?"
Loox, a one-eyed monster snorted from behind them.
"Don't be so dramatic. Gee whiz some of us have bigger problems than you do."
"Oh alright. Fine we'll stay but the moment she's better we're leaving."
Toriel smiled.
"Would not have it any other way."
Loox was the next to come inside with the bodies of his mother and father.
She frowned.
"Did they fall down too?"
"Yeah," he said. "Whimsun's mother, Migosp's father, Vegetoid's mother."
"Oh dear."
As the froggits followed her back to her home, Toriel sighed.
How horrifying.
This tragedy was similar to one that had happened when the human had fallen down.
Could it have been the same illness? It was highly contagious yet she had somehow received the cure and none of the kids were affected.
Toriel sighed.
She hated it but she'd have to pay the king a visit.
"You four come with me."
Dorothy caught sight of the three froggits.
"Um Tori, what's going on?" Dorothy asked.
"Do not worry. Stay here, I will be back," she said.
Asgore during this time had been organizing the library by the colors.
Alphys had the habit of alphabetizing them by the first letter of the title but he always insisted on having it done a certain way. It just didn't feel right unless he did it that way.
"Asgore!" said the cold and collected voice of an angry woman.
Asgore headed down the stairs that he had been using before headin to the throne room.
Toriel was standing in the throne room tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Tori?"
"Don't 'Tori' me."
Asgore frowned.
"What is the matter?" He asked.
Monsters from the ruins dragged the unconscious bodies of their parents.
"They have been unconscious for days with no signs of ever waking up. Can you help them?"
Asgore sighed.
"It looks like they most definitely have fallen down. I am not sure if I can help them but I will see what I can do."
"I had thought as much."
"It is likely they will die soon. You should tell them before it is too late so they can say their final goodbyes."
Toriel sighed glaring at Asgore.
Of course he'd have her tell them. He was too much of a coward to do it himself.
Toriel left without a word.
She turned to the froggits.
"I am sorry but your mother might not wake up again. I wish I could have been more help."
Lumpsy clutched Leapy in a warm embrace.
"Don't worry, Leapy it'll be alright."
"We've been gone for a while will that girl be alright? You did leave her in the ruins by herself," Sushi asked.
"She should be fine."
Alphys ran into her as she entered the throne room.
He was quiet.
"What's going on?" She asked.
Asgore glanced down.
Alphys followed his eyes finally noticing the monsters on the ground.
"Eek."
Alphys took a step backwards.
"Don't worry. They're not dead yet."
"Who brought them here?" Alphys asked.
"My wife."
"You mean the queen?"
Asgore nodded.
"I-I didn't know you had a wife."
That wasn't the sound of her heart breaking at all.
"It has been a while since we last seen each other."
"Oh I see. I think I heard her talking with one of the froggits about taking care of some girl in the ruins."
"Really?" He asked, his eyes widening. "How interesting. You look like you wanted to tell me something."
Alphys chuckled.
"Oh I managed to isolate determination with the DT extractor. All we need are monster souls."
Asgore sighed clutching his forehead with the back of his palm. His eyes were sunken, he looked tired.
"We got plenty of those."
"You mean we're using them?"
"It is not so easy to get ahold of monster souls, Alphys," he said. "I will have someone bring them down to the lab later alright?"
"S-sure."
"Let me know your progress. I have to do some things."
As Alphys was heading back, she caught sight of a red box from the corner of her eye.
Was that always there?
Alphys walked towards the box and opened it. Inside was a yellow flower buried in a boot full of dirt.
Her mother had planted a garden outside their home, she remembered helping her with the garden.
The most important thing vital for a plant's survival was water and sunlight.
Quickly she headed back to water the plant.
Sans groaned as someone was slapping his face.
"He's awake," said a chilly voice.
Sans immediately tensed.
"TAKE IT EASY, WOULDN'T WANT TO HURT A POTENTIAL CO-WORKER WOULD YOU?"
Sans immediately recognised the voice.
'mettaton.'
He opened his left eye keeping it on the direction of the voice.
Choosing between having vision or access to magic to repel potential attackers, the latter was preferable.
Unfortunately in order to use it to it's maximum potential, it was better to minimize his magical output by closing his right eye an unfortunate necessity.
"I HAVE A PROPOSAL FOR YOU. I WANT YOU TO WORK FOR ME."
Sans snorted.
"never."
Sans struggled to get up but his hands and feet were tied with rope.
Mettaton chuckled.
"YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE ROOM TO TALK BEING TIED UP LIKE THIS, DARLING."
"what do you want?"
"IT'S SIMPLE," Mettaton said. "WORK FOR ME. I COULD USE SOMEONE WITH YOUR SENSE OF HUMOUR. IT BOOSTS MY COMPANY'S MORALE. LATELY EVERYONE HAS BEEN IN SUCH LOW SPIRITS."
"what do I get in return?"
"100 g."
"400," Sans said.
"150 g."
"300."
"250 AND YOU WORK IN THE NOON AND IN THE EVENING."
"Fine 250 g."
"DEAL," Mettaton said, shaking his hand. "UNTIE HIM, BOYS."
The two monsters proceeded to release him from his bindings.
"COME IN TOMORROW MORNING AND DON'T BE LATE, SANS."
Sans clinched his fist trying to contain his anger. One of the goons had been a little rough, yanking the rope off his hands leaving indentations on his wrists.
At the lab, Asgore had some monsters bring more of the fallen bodies to the first floor.
There was the fallen bodies of Nicedrake, Greatest Dog, Dogustine and Dogfucius.
Alphys recognised Dogtor from among the bunch.
"Dogtor's fallen down too?" Alphys asked. 'I don't how the underground will find another healer without him.'
Well that's what she was here for wasn't it?
She took a sample of the determination from the vial with her syringe and injected it into Dogtor and the other dog monsters.
'This has to work.'
The next day, Alphys dropped by Greatest Dog's funeral and met up with Greater Dog.
"I'm sorry about your father. I made this for him but I want you to have it," she said handing him the armor.
Greater Dog barked happily.
Asgore patted her on the shoulder.
"You did well, Alphys."
"I sure hope so."
Several days had gone by before the monsters from the ruins had reappeared in the king's throne room. Leading the monster horde was Lumpsy.
"Can I help you?" Asgore asked.
"I know you said that you don't know when they'll die but my mother always wanted to be buried with her box," Lumpsy said. "She said it was a prized possession she got from our father before they were bonded."
"Are all of you here for the bodies of your parents?"
"Well yeah," Loox said.
"I will inform Dr Alphys right away."
The king dropped by the lab later that same day noticing Alphys watering a yellow flower.
"What's the flower for?" Asgore asked.
"Um, er...I'm thinking of using it as a temporary vessel for the souls."
"I can give you more flowers if you like there are a lot of them here."
"Oh," Alphys said before she smiled. "Bring them by the lab whenever you have the time."
Asgore was about to leave when he turned to address Alphys.
"Some of the families dropped by earlier asking for the bodies of the ones who had fallen down."
"What'd you tell them?"
"What do you want me to tell them?" Asgore asked.
"I-I'm so close. I'm sure I'm on the verge of a breakthrough I just need more time," she said.
"I understand."
"Don't worry I'll give them the dust back for the funerals."
Several days had passed before Alphys got a knock on the front door.
Quickly she went to the door and answered it.
Doggo, Dogressa and Dogamy stood outside.
"(Hi, you're Dr Alphys right?)" Dogressa asked.
"Well yeah."
"Sorry to bother you but how's the progress coming along?" Doggo asked.
"Huh?"
"The king said you still had the bodies of our parents," he said.
"Yeah but they haven't turned to dust yet."
"What? Why?" Doggo said. "Once they've fallen down they should have turned to dust."
Sweat beaded down Alphy's face.
"i-i don't know," she said, her voice turning panicky. "i'm sorry."
"Wa-"
She slammed the door in their face.
The next day, Asgore dropped by the lab with the yellow flowers.
"Here's the flowers you asked for."
"thank you, asgore."
"I hope the task I've given you isn't too stressful. I know I can be a handful at times."
Alphys chuckled.
"handful? you're doing your best, your majesty."
"Oh. It's just I'm a little concerned. Some monsters dropped by asking about the fallen bodies. They were a little frantic when you closed them out," he said. "I hope you're not stressing yourself out."
"haha, i'm fine. don't worry about me."
"I'm glad."
Once he was gone, she allowed herself to panic.
'what do i do? what do i do?'
Several days passed when Alphys headed downstairs to one of the rooms off to the side to experiment on the flowers.
She had gathered the seeds for her experiment dropping determination on them before she attempted to pick them up.
The seeds became stuck to her fingers.
Whatever it was, it was still progress though she had no idea what this could mean? Why were the seeds sticking to her fingers?
She decided to inject the flower she had obtained from the box with determination. She'd have to keep an eye on it to see if it was any different than the seeds.
The bodies still hadn't faded to dust.
Weeks passed, the seeds had eventually grown to golden flowers but not much else. The other golden flower didn't have much of a change either.
'somethings gotta work.'
Every couple of days, Mettaton came by for maintenence.
Alphys had offered to upgrade his body giving them one with full functionality.
Lately though he looked uneasy.
"SO DARLING WHEN WILL MY NEW BODY BE READY?"
"soon mettaton, soon."
One particular day, Mettaton had rolled in from the lab elevator.
"ALPHYS, YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT HAPPENED."
"mettaton how did you get down here?"
"YOU WEREN'T ANSWERING YOUR DOOR SO I TOLD THE KING AND HE TOLD ME A SHORTCUT TO GET TO YOUR LAB. ANYWAYS HE DROPPED BY THE TV STATION EARLIER AND HE ASKED ME FOR A FAVOUR."
Alphys lit up in surprise.
"Really?"
"YEAH, HE SAID HE NEEDED TO RECORD SOME THINGS SO I LET HIM. HE'S BROADCASTING LIVE ON CHANNEL 3."
Alphys headed upstairs followed by Mettaton. She grabbed the remote and turned on the tv set up in the living room. Alphys turned the channel until she reached channel three.
On the television screen was King Asgore in the middle of giving a speech.
"...if you seen a human don't get near them if you must encounter them always have magic on standby. They are very dangerous."
"Oh no," said Alphys.
Asgore began to describe the appearance of a human on the television screen.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER, ALPHYS?"
"i just thought about something i just told the king that i overheard his wife keeping a little girl in the ruins. what if that girl was a-"
"HUMAN?"
'IT COULDN'T BE? COULD THAT GIRL HAVE FOLLOWED ME?'
"the king just said to use magic against any human that falls underground. that includes little kids," Alphys said, pacing restlessly.
"ALPHYS, YOU GOT TO DO SOMETHING."
"i don't know if it'll work though."
"PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU."
"alright, alright."
After mastering her magic, Dorothy was eager to explore the place certain she would be able to get along with the other monsters.
Luck however wasn't on her side. TV had become so mainstream everyone had been on the lookout for another human soul and Dorothy was no exception.
The four froggits from a couple of days ago had found her and used magic to shatter her soul and she was revived outside Toriel's home.
She knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Toriel asked.
"It's Dorothy."
"Dear, were you not going to play outside."
Dorothy shivered.
"Er maybe tomorrow."
The next day Alphys headed through the elevator to visit Asgore in his throne room.
He turned once he sensed Alphys behind him.
"Howdy, Alphys. Can I help you with something?"
"i saw you on tv yesterday," Alphys said.
"Yeah, lately I've been so stressed. I guessed from what you told me that another human was hiding the underground and I panicked and just said the first things that came to mind."
Alphys gaped.
"you can't mean that none of that was rehearsed. anyone who sees a human will attack it on sight whether it's an adult or child."
Asgore sighed.
"I know. I can't take it back though I don't like to go back on my word."
"I'll be amazed if the humans don't hate us after this."
"I know."
Meanwhile Alphys injected more determination into the fallen monster's souls that same evening.
Nothing happened.
Exhausted Alphys fell asleep resting her head on the side of Dogtor's bed.
The next morning she awoke to the sound of a groan from above.
"What happened? Where am I?"
"dogtor, you're awake," Alphys said. "how're you feeling? you all were very ill."
"Like a million bucks."
Alphys smiled.
"that's good."
Hours passed and just about everyone was awake.
"With everyone awake, we should be fine now right? Face it, you cured us," Dogtor said.
The next morning, Alphys dropped off the flowers and the human souls to King Asgore.
"I am guessing you are finished with these then?"
Alphys smiled.
"Yeah, I had thought the experiment would fail for sure but I think I figured out how to raise the dead."
Asgore's eyes widened.
"You mean they're awake?"
"Yeah."
Asgore beamed.
"Finally some good news."
"I'm going to call the families when I get back to the lab."
"Good, good."
The next morning, Alphys headed back down to the lab with a cup of coffee. When she looked up however she was horrified.
The fallen monsters that were once alive and animated had combined to make a grotesque abomination. There were three different creatures that consisted of remains from other monsters.
How could she return the bodies while they looked like this?
Panicky, Alphys headed back upstairs and picked up the phone before she called Asgore.
Eventually Asgore had met her down in the lab.
"Alphys, was there a reason you called me here?"
Alphys told Asgore everything.
"Oh dear, that is a problem."
"i don't know what to do."
"Well you could always return the bodies."
"what would they think about them though? i can't give them this."
"I can keep telling them lies if you think it'll make you feel better but Alphys, it may be better for you if you were just honest with them."
Alphys sighed.
"i know."
With that she headed back upstairs.
Once Alphys left the yellow flower that she had obtained from the box had began to speak.
"Hey."
"Oh howdy. Who are you?" Asgore asked.
"I'm Flowey."
"Are you a monster too?"
"You could say that."
"Well then pleased to meet you, Flowey," Asgore said. "I hope we can be good friends."
The days after Flowey observed Asgore looking for the anguish that he had grown accustomed to seeing on his face when he had something on his mind. Every day Asgore would confide in him and Flowey bided his time.
"Something bothering you.'
"I have a favour to ask. There is a human that is trapped in the ruins. Can you retrieve them for me? See they have something I want."
Flowey smiled.
"What do I get in return?"
"I'll give you anything you want within reason."
Flowey chuckled.
"Then howzabout I get them for you."
Flowey burrowed underground.
Late one afternoon after Toriel had sent her to the store that Dorothy spotted a television sitting in the shop. It was on a channel featuring Mettaton.
"HELLO DARLINGS, THIS IS METTATON HERE TO REPORT ON SOME LIVE ACTION NEWS. A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, ONE OF OUR REPORTERS STUMBLED ACROSS A VIDEO OF OUR KING TALKING TO A SHORT SKELETON."
The video began to play, Dorothy heard the exchange between them.
Quickly through the different timelines, she had discovered that the skeleton mentioned seemed to know things that he couldn't possibly have known.
One iteration, monsters had discovered she was underground. In another one she had left the ruins only for that skeleton Sans to kill her.
It seemed he had memory of that timeline because he knew she was here.
"Hey you."
Dorothy jolted, seeing the froggit behind the counter. It was Lumpsy.
"You're that human living with Toriel aren't you? Come back here."
Dorothy ran, saving her progress at a mouse hole before running further.
She continued until she was attacked with white pellets and then she fell through the cracked floors.
Toriel glanced at her watch at the crack of evening.
"Oh dear, she's running a little late."
She sat at the kitchen table feeling very uneasy.
A couple of hours passed before she left her home to look for her.
Eventually Toriel discovered her body at the bottom of the ruins.
"Coward!"
Sushi sputtered.
"Serves her right," said Leapy.
"Which one of you monsters did this?" Toriel asked coolly.
The air was chilly and her voice held a menacing air.
The monsters gulped immediately regretting everything.
"We're sorry."
"A sorry won't bring her back."
Toriel carried the corpse to her home and set her near the tree in the front of her house. Often Dorothy would play in the leaves during her spare time when she was alive. It was the perfect place to bury her body.
Now however wasn't the time, Toriel dropped by Asgore's castle the next morning.
"Asgore," she snarled with teary eyes. "how could you? I was happy and you took everything from me."
"Tori."
"Don't 'Tori' me. I won't ever let you near any more humans so long as I live I do not are if the underground suffers."
Flowey managed to sneak into the ruins while she was gone. He used magic to conjure a save point after retrieving the dead human with his vines delivering her corpse to the king.
"I see she's fallen then."
"Yeah. Hopelessness, death often feels like that doesn't it?"
"Yeah, but it passes with time."
"Well see ya."
As far as he was concerned, Flowey had bigger fish to fry. He headed back to the ruins and dropped by a mousehole banging on the wall.
He knew of the mouse kingdom that lived there.
"Hey stop, what are you doing to those mice?"
"Nothin," Flowey copied the voice of a spider.
"Who do you work for?" Flowey asked.
"Queen Muffet."
"But why? She's so nice to everyone."
"Wait."
One of the mice peered out of the hole.
"Excuse me. Is anyone out there?"
"Oh yes, it's just awful. These spiders came by with a large catapult and fired some stones at the wall. I tried to get them to stop but they ran away," Flowey said. "Oh dear."
After the creation of the CORE, the long time home of the spiders had been moved to the inner walls of the deepest depths of the place.
It was rumoured that if one looked hard enough you could see Queen Muffet's lair lurking in the darkness.
Every monster who came to visit was lucky to not be a part of some new confection for her shop.
Flowey grumbled, his plan to get the six human souls through cunning persuasion hadn't worked at all.
He saw some spiders near Muffet's abode.
Some mice dressed in tiny suits of armor holding the tiny stone swords crept up behind the spiders stabbing them from behind.
"What's going on?" A spider asked, finding their comrade on the ground turning to dust.
They turned and saw some mice running towards the queen's lair.
"STOP THEM! We got to protect the queen."
Red stood at Muffet's side.
"What's going on?"
"We're being attacked by the mice."
"Why?"
"Don't know."
"I've got to stop them."
Muffet chuckled.
"Go go my knight in shining armor."
Red blushed.
Most of the spiders gathered together in the confusion. One spider was knocked away.
"Master Red! You must leave this place before it gets too dangerous."
"No," she refused.
Red took out her rapier from it's holster and began to fight.
Flowey took advantage of the confusion knocking her out.
Of all the monsters she was one of the hardest to defeat, almost on par with Sans.
There was no befriending her if he killed Muffet though. The two were very close.
He dragged her into Waterfall leaving her by the dump.
A shadowy figure peered through the Waterfall where the trash came in.
"You..." Flowey muttered. "Stay away."
The figure opened it's mouth.
"Did you forget your promise?"
Flowey chuckled.
"Do you think I would help you, you old fool? You really are an idiot."
Flowey fired pellets sat them.
"See you on the flipside, Slimey trashbag."
The shadowy body liquified seeping through the floor.
End Notes: Red is in this story. She's not an OC that I created. She's from the fangame Undertale Red by Taxiderby. If you haven't played that game or even if you have played that game you're in for a treat.