PATCHWORK SOUL - NEW MEDIUM Chapter 33: of course we have to take a detour, an undertale fanfic

of course we have to take a detour what kinda trip do you think this is? chapter 33

Sprawling forests barely gave way even when small signs of habitation began to pop up along the road. A few houses here and there, a small market selling produce; an abandoned looking place with old machinery in front that looked as if it would never finish being built. The border area was sparse. Not a single human was out and about until the town was in sight.

As Mettaton talked a mile a minute with June about all things human media, Papyrus was pressed up against the window, watching the cars that had started to join them, fascinated. Undyne was pretty interested too, but it was more a force of habit. The farther they got from home, the more alert she got, taking in every little detail she could about the route and the environment. Sans was the opposite. He knew the road well. He dozed off periodically, every time he flickered back into the waking world bringing them a bit closer.

Trees thinned and more buildings sprung up along the road. The outline of the small harbour city started to show itself. A sign in blue with a white gull and a lighthouse painted on it welcomed them as they passed under a bridge and then the vastness of the ocean spread before them to the east, broken only by a bridge that crossed the water from the mainland to a peninsula at the town's other end. The rippling waves glittered under the sun and drew the monsters to it like magpies to a coin.

Mettaton squealed and pointed to a turn-off a little up ahead. "It looks like there's a park there, darling! Do you think maybe we could stop for a moment?"

"But you don't look human," June said a little shrilly.

"We don't need to get out," he said quickly.

"He's gonna try to get out," Undyne said.

"Not if it's compromising! Promise!" he assured them. "Just for a little look! I've never seen so much water in my life!"

"…I sort of feel the same, actually," Papyrus added with a hopeful look on his face.

June shot Sans a look. He shrugged. She acquiesced.

There was a parking lot just off the main road where there were humans out and about. Mettaton and Papyrus both pressed themselves close to the windows to look as they slowly drove by, even if the metallic monster had to smoosh himself into Undyne to do so. There were a couple adults and some very short kids in striped shirts as well, crossing the pavement to grass that then lead into sand towards the water.

"This is amazing," Mettaton breathed.

"Man, get off, would ya?" Undyne grumbled.

A small extra, unpaved road led down between some trees parallel to the water. June took that, and they found it lead to a more secluded spot on top of a stone retaining wall that looked out into the ocean. There was no beach here, but the view was nice. There was a set of benches and a table in the grass, paint faded and edges splintery. June parked in the vacant, gravelly spot

"Wait a second," she said. She got out and peeked around, and came back to her open door. "If… If you can cover yourselves a bit, I think you can take a look."

Papyrus immediately readjusted his baseball cap, put on his hood, and then pulled his scarf up over his face before jumping out of the car. "Oh wow! This wind!"

"Nice, right?" June asked with a smile.

"It smells interesting," he said. "Reminds me of you, Undyne!"

"Stop sniffin' me," she joked.

Mettaton snuck into the skeleton's vacant seat. He looked out, but didn't leave the car. Even so, he was beaming. "What do you think, Captain?! I would have thought you'd be all over this."

"I… remember it," she said, though she smiled faintly. "Yeah. It's nice."

"Remember it?" he asked.

"It's a long story," Sans said.

"Sans, come on!" Papyrus dashed around the side of the car and pulled him out. "Look at this! Isn't it amazing!"

"Sure is," he said.

"You don't sound very amazed. You've been here before, right?"

"…Yeah."

Papyrus sighed. He put Sans down on the bench and folded his arms tight. "I hope we can go to a place we both haven't seen at some point, brother."

"That'd be nice," he agreed tiredly.

"It's been a while. You should eat something."

Sans shrugged. Papyrus rolled his eyes and pulled a hot dog out of his bag. He passed it over and looked around cautiously, then stuck his thumb up. The short skeleton wasn't hungry in the least, but he figured Papyrus was right.

As Sans snacked, June took a seat on the bench and looked over the monsters with a sort of quiet disbelief on her face. She took a deep breath of the fresh sea air.

"This is so strange, isn't it?" she said quietly.

"Sure is," Sans said.

"So. Can I ask?" she said. "When we… When everyone could remember, how did all of this go over? Were you okay? Were we?"

"I was kinda surprised," Sans admitted. "It was pretty alright. Still freaked some of you guys out, but we didn't actually have any big problems."

"I still can't believe humans are so scared of us, though," Papyrus said. "We really are very friendly most of the time!"

"And you guys are the ones who can kill us super easy," Undyne added.

"Which they will very hopefully not do," Mettaton said with a nervous laugh.

"We explored a bit but we did keep to ourselves a lot," Sans said. "And our sister, bein' a human and all, that helped with the perception of stuff. King got a couple angry letters about it but sis would answer them and they stopped pretty quick."

Though June's brow was furrowed, she nodded. She looked over Undyne and Mettton again and she perked up a little. "Well. I think as long as we keep you under wraps for now, we'll be alright. I should probably call my brother first, though."

"Pfff, yeah, guess dumping a bunch of us on a normie is not gonna go over too well without an introduction, huh?" Undyne said.

"Exactly." She pulled out her phone and started up a call. She held up one finger as if to ask the monsters to wait.

"Hey," a nasally male voice answered.

"Hey, Ken, are you busy?" June asked.

"Wh…? Oh! Jeez. Not really, why?"

"I have some, ah… Friends. With me. I need to get them maybe some gear; helmets or something? Can you close up the store for thirty minutes? We're less than ten away."

"Close the…? Oh! Nah, I'm out with a cold today," the man, presumably June's brother, said. "But, uh, if you still got a key and they can pay, go in around the back and that's…" He sneezed very loudly. "Oof! Th-That's okay with me. Sorry, blow your ears out?"

"I'm okay," she said with a laugh.

"So. Are your friends gangsters?" he asked in jest.

"Nnnno, no, but, ah… It'd be better if there wasn't anyone else there," she said.

"She says as suspicious as possible," Sans teased.

June's face flushed. The skeleton went back to his hotdog.

"Right?!" The man on the other end of the phone agreed. "Who's that?"

She covered the receiver. "What do I say?"

"We're famous actors," Mettaton said at a whisper.

"A-Ah, they're, um…! Actors! Recognizable ones. Um. I'll tell you all about it later," she assured him.

"Oh? They in anything I've seen? That voice sounded familiar, now that I think about it…"

"I-I'm sure you have! They're in, um…" She scrunched up her face. "Fantasy, mostly?"

"Too many deets might trip you up," Sans said quietly.

"A-Anyway! Thanks so much, Ken, they're very grateful! Talk to you later, bye! Oh! And feel better!" She hung up quickly and sighed heavily. "I… am not very good at that."

Mettaton clapped. "I thought you did fabulously!" he said.

June rubbed her brow and huffed. She looked at the ocean absently for a few seconds and then stood up, clutching her phone tightly. "I guess we should get going."

"Ah! Right!" Papyrus swooped Sans up into his arms just as he finished his snack. "On our way! Can I drive?"

"Um. Maybe some other time," June said.

xXxXx

June took them off the large road along the oceanside and to a small, windowless grey shop on its own in a parking lot alongside a few others on the same road that looked very similar. A metal sign above the door said Gullport Gears and was accompanied by an image of a gull with flaming wings. A much smaller sign on the door said that the shop was closed.

She drove around back to a big, shuttered garage and a solid door, and parked there. After unlocking it, she hurried the mostly disguised monsters into the dark shop. Fumbling for only a moment, she flicked the light switch and they thunked on, scattering a fluorescent sheen across the room. The place was mostly grey and black, with a few streaks of red and orange in sharp lines painted on. The rest of it was hangers and shelves displaying all kinds of weatherproof clothing and much of the floor was occupied by motorcycles.

"My, is this a human store? How fascinating," Mettaton said, striding away to peer over the bikes. "Are they all like this?"

"N-No, this one just sells motorcycles," June said.

"Hm. I see. This is not my aesthetic at all."

"Really? Looks like that could be a cousin," Undyne joked as she wandered off.

"Hush, you!"

"Just don't touch anything too much," June said worriedly.

"Don't you worry, we will be very clean and we will definitely not touch everything in the store," Papyrus assured her as he bounced over to some jackets on the wall and began to rifle through them. "Saaans, do you need anything? Do I need anything?"

June looked down at the short skeleton, who was still pretty bundled up compared to the others. "I think he's okay."

"But I am not okay?" he asked worriedly.

"It's just it's not very…" She gestured up and down: Papyrus was in a brown jacket, his red scarf and boots, and a bright pink baseball cap, along with white pants that were bruised with dirt. "Cohesive."

"Oooh. I see. Well, I mean." He blushed. "I-I usually have someone to help out a little, you know!"

Sans perked up. "Oh yeah? Who?"

"I…! I don't remember, never mind. Come with me, you'll just have to be a stand in today!" he said, swooping his brother up in his magic.

June squeaked and stepped out of the way as Sans shrugged.

Undyne was at the other end of the store, closer to where Mettaton was peering at himself in the side mirror of one of the motorcycles as he posed in flashy black biker jacket. There were posters on the wall of more bikes or humans riding bikes from movies, probably. A dramatic black rider outracing a storm, a bike on its own trailing lightning behind; a more whimsical scene of two women driving down a mountain road. Undyne folded her arms. Something in the back of her mind felt muddled. What was she doing here? This was crazy, wasn't it? She frowned. Told herself it was important. It was definitely important. It was like an itch in her thoughts.

"You found anything you like?" June cautiously slid up to join her, her posture a little stiff. "Oh. You found my brother's collection. Between you and me, he hasn't even seen most of these."

Undyne nodded. June looked her over and gulped. She edged closer.

"So, um. Can I ask? How are you involved in this, exactly?" she asked.

"Bodyguard," she said.

"That can't be all."

Undyne snorted. "Nah, guess not. These missing kids, I don't really remember, but I feel like something's wrong without them. Plus…" Her brow furrowed. "This time thing."

"It's crazy, right?" June said quickly.

"Yeah, it's… not great." Her ears drooped. "I, uh, have a girlfriend who forgets we're a thing, y'know? So I'd like to get back to normal."

"Oh… That's… I'm sorry." June's mouth went thin and she folded her arms tight. "I, uh… Actually, in the time that's… different? I just left a relationship that wasn't really working. I sort of used the new job; moving to a new city to… you know, make it easier. So, imagine my surprise when I woke up a few days ago back in the same old house with my ex-girlfriend."

Undyne winced. "That's rough." Everything was such a mess. She shook her head. "She couldn't have known…"

"Hm? Who?"

"The kid. There's no way this was on purpose," she said, though her soul felt twisted in her chest. "She'll fix this."

"You have a lot of faith in this kid," June said.

"Mostly in Sans, I guess. He's so sure," she said. "I believe in him, weirdly enough. Kinda feel like… he might be the key to all this. But I, uh…" She grimaced. "I can… kinda feel… my memories goin' weird. I just keep reminding myself: no matter what I think, it's important. And I owe that bonehead, anyway. So. I guess even if I lose it, that'll keep me in check."

"Owe him? Something important?" June wondered.

"Oh. Yeah sure. Can never repay it," she said. "Well. With my life, maybe. That's about it."

"Wow. Serious stuff, huh?"

Undyne smiled sideways. "Just true, I guess." She took a step back and stretched. "Yo, Sans?!"

"What?" he called from somewhere.

"You got somewhere you can keep a list of stuff that won't get wrecked when time gets weird?"

"Maybe?" he said.

"Remind me to get a bike when this is all done, huh?"

"Pfff, okay."

They didn't stay much longer. Though Undyne still couldn't find a jacket that fit, they did manage to find one with big enough sleeves so Sans could at least swap them over for her. She also grabbed a blacked-out motorcycle helmet that made her look much less suspicious but not much less intimidating. Papyrus swapped his mismatched clothes for windproof stuff in white with grey and orange detailing. He also found a special face-mask that covered the nose and mouth meant to ward off wind and debris, and coincidentally was patterned like the teeth of an oni skeleton. Together, he, Mettaton, and Undyne looked like an unusual biker gang. They overpaid in gold and leftover sleeves hidden behind the counter.

June wanted to make one more stop before moving on— to a basic general store on a main street for some makeup for Mettaton. As the monsters waited for her in the car outside, Sans did as Undyne had asked. The only thing he could think of, however, was to text his sister's phone despite the system's protests that the number wasn't real. Didn't matter, he didn't believe it.

There was a stark loneliness in how empty his texts were. Universe couldn't even allow him to keep a simple hello.

Mettaton had shifted to the window seat, and was currently pressed up against it, human-watching with wide eyes and a big grin. "Ugh, I'm so glad I came along, look at all these humans out here! They're so cute!" He pointed at a girl with long hair, wearing a red dress under a long tan coat. "That outfit is stunning— oh, and that red! Someone remind me to duplicate it, alright?! Papyruuuss, darling, do you think I would look good with long hair like that?"

"I'm sure!" he assured him. "What about me?"

"Oh, absolutely."

Undyne snorted in amusement and then leaned up to peek into the front seat. Sans was already half asleep, nestled into his coat and scarf, his phone halfway falling out of his hand. She took it from him and put it in his pocket for him.

"Jeez, dude," she teased.

"What do you think, Sans, long hair?" Papyrus asked.

"You're good whatever you do, bro," he said groggily.

"Papyyrrusss, can you be a doll and take some photos. I must replicate that blue in a gorgeous gown," Mettaton cooed.

"Thought you said red," Undyne said.

"What?! I have no idea what you mean," he said.

Sans sunk down farther in the seat. Undyne's brow furrowed.

"Hey," she said. "You okay?"

He raised one shoulder halfheartedly. He slumped on the window, and the look in his eye said for sure that he was starting to drift. A dark shimmer shifted across his bones for just an instant and he winced. He cracked the door and slipped outside despite the others scrabbling to ask what he was doing. Undyne paused them, shoved on her helmet, and stepped out into the street.

It was surreal all of a sudden, boots scuffing on sidewalk, looking around at this overcast world of humans and cars. Shops felt like they were penning them in, but she drew only a passing look from the humans that were so much shorter than her. Sans was already across the street and down a ways, wandering towards an alleyway.

She darted across the road, chased by the beeping of cars, and walked briskly after him, wondering how he'd gotten so far down the street already. She followed him into the shadows, where garbage littered the ground and deconstructed chunks of wood lay haphazard against grimy brick walls.

"Hey, Sans!" she called.

Rounding a corner, she caught the skeleton. He had stopped right in front of a glowing, bright tear in time. She hesitated until she saw him reach out for it. She sprinted to him and snatched his hand, but as she whirled on him to demand what the hell he was thinking, she saw his eyes were black and leaking. Kneeling down, she grabbed his shoulders tight and stared him down.

"Hey!" she insisted. "Wake up!"

He tried to back away from her, but she held him tight and glowed her soul. Though it was invisible beneath her jacket, the sound was strong and pulled on his just enough to stall him. His shoulders slumped and his bones rattled, but the light came back to his eyes. He looked around quickly, clearly trying to assess where he was.

"Cap?" he asked cautiously.

"Duh. What happened?!" she asked. "You were like, sleep walking or some crap."

"Oh. Jeez. Sorry. Bad timing," he muttered.

"Is that normal?!" she demanded.

"Welp. Yes and no," he said. "Gettin' worse. Last time it happened, that purple kid yanked me outta a river."

"Did you see something?" she asked.

"Like, uhh… A black lake," he said quietly. "S'okay."

She straightened up and pointed at the tear in time. He tilted his head, brows raised.

"You were goin' for this," she said. "Is this supposed to be here? Did you know?"

"No," he said. "Guess dad did it at some point."

"You sure? It's not ripping or something?"

He shook his head. "You can tell by the shape. Star like that is cut on purpose. Somethin' wrong is more like a hole." He got a little closer, peering at it cautiously. He sighed and backed off. "Ah. Better not."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Welp, you wanna deal with me oozin' out my eyes a bit?" he asked.

"You already did that."

Sans snorted. He rubbed the back of his head. She put a big hand on his shoulder and nodded.

The short skeleton lightly brushed the light with his fingers. Though he braced, after a few seconds, he relaxed. "Ah. Nope. Nothin'."

"Oh yeah?" she asked.

"Welp. I mean. Feels like crap," he said, slowly pulling back. "But not like back home."

"So… Why did you come here?" she asked.

"Dunno."

Undyne rolled her eye and scoffed. "Gimme your best guess."

He shrugged. "Might be just… tryin' to find the kids, I dunno." He took out his phone and entered a note for himself. "Another thing to add to the pile, huh?"

"Try to warn me, huh?" she said.

"Do my best."

Papyrus was back at the car waiting for them, arms folded, somehow looking intimidating enough that people were crossing the street to avoid him.

"What happened?!" he demanded.

"Spaced. Sorry," Sans said.

"Are you okay?!"

"Inside," Undyne ordered.

Though Papyrus was probably pouting, he hopped into the back seat.

"Nice stroll?" Mettaton asked.

"Nope," Sans said, closing the door hard.

"Seriously, are you okay?!" Papyrus demanded as he pulled his face cover down. "You gave us a thorough spooking."

"Ah. Sorry," he said.

"Just nap, then," Undyne suggested.

He chuckled. His eyes were already closed. "Don't have to tell me twice."

When June came back with bags in hand, she was on the phone again with a cross look on her face. She was just hanging up when she got back in the driver's seat— the door closing roused the drowsy skeleton— and passed the makeup back to Mettaton. He traded her a small handful of gold for it.

"Oh, um. Thanks. So. Bad news," she said. "Historical artefacts that aren't out on display are in their archives. And they wouldn't say if they had a book or not. We need someone to let us in. I think I have enough credentials to get us a guest pass to the campus, but they're pretty protective of the archives."

"So we break in," Undyne said.

"Or we could try to convince someone to let us in. Instead of. You know. Breaking things," Papyrus suggested as he took off his gloves and opened a tube of concealer in June's colour.

"Who do I need to seduce?" Mettaton joked, holding still as Papyrus began to smear makeup on his face.

"We could steal a pass card. Pay a history student to borrow one," Sans said. His brow furrowed. "Actually, I know the systems okay. If we can get any pass, I can probably fudge some records."

"OOH! And I have top of the line computerized program thingies installed in here," Mettaton said proudly, tapping on his chest. "Just plug me in and that'll be fabulously simple. What do you think?"

"What, he can use you to hack into their stuff?" Undyne asked, brows raised.

"Well, of course! I may not be a big old clunky science computer but Alphie definitely installed all kinds of neat things in me. If you can hook me into the human UnderNet, that'll be easy, right?" He grinned. "Plus, think of all the human movies I'll be able to download while we're there!"

"That's, uhh…" Sans grinned sideways. "Actually. Not that bad of a plan."

"Hah! Bet you're glad I came along now, hmm?" he teased.

"I'm glad regardless," Papyrus said.

"Aaah, I know you are, darling, you're the nicest one," he said.

"So." Sans shot June a curious look. "You know anyone who went to U.A.?"

June thought for a moment. "Oh! Actually! A really good friend of mine," she said. "He doesn't live too far from here." She called her friend, but he didn't pick up.

They were on their way again. It really wasn't very far at all before they entered an unremarkable area of closely-packed bungalows. They stopped on the road in front of one and June ran up the unkempt yard past a tree and up the porch to a door. She knocked and waited. She pulled out her phone and called again and waited a few moments longer. Dejected, she came back, shaking her head.

"No good," she said. "He's not answering."

"Welp. Guess we're thieves," Sans said.

"Want me to bust into his house?" Undyne asked.

"No, no no no, that's not necessary," June said swiftly.

"I am good at picking locks!" Papyrus said. He smiled sheepishly when he received several bemused looks. "I had a lock puzzle when I was just a little Papyrus! I got very good at it!"

"It'd get undone, to be fair," Sans told the human.

"No, he's… No," she said. "It's fine, we'll figure something else out."

xXxXx

The CORE was rumbling. It was like the maelstrom of magic spiralling inside it somehow knew something was amiss. The pillar of energy reaching up through the mountain had more red in it than usual. Certainly dangerous to the average monster. To Gaster, it was nothing more than a little extra heat. He quite liked the thrum in the lower chamber in a nostalgic sort of way, despite everything. The magic in a spectrum of colour liked to coalesce in the holes in his palms. It reminded him of his daughter.

Alphys had barred him from the lab and from his DT reader. Insisted he take a break. That completely defeated the purpose of his son's sacrifice of time. And, it wasn't as if she could stop him from here unless she stood at the doorway banging pots together to the point of distraction. He'd had to sneak his computer out while she wasn't looking.

The NOCTURNE was affixed inside the control console, an intensely red loop of a key that was plunged right into the magic that made up the CORE's interior. Gaster drew out a red thread from it and looped it into a capsule attached to his computer. From there, he started priming it ahead of time to receive the new composition.

The skeleton got up from the fold-out chair he'd dragged along with him and stretched. His magic shimmered black with flecks of gold and blue in the air around him. He took a deep breath, letting a little extra energy flow between his bones. He flexed his magic, conjuring hundreds of black, twisted spears in the air around him— sharpening them, dulling them; letting them shatter back into sparkling shards. He stretched out magical duplicates of his hands until they loomed around the room before breaking them as well. He didn't feel too bad, all things considering.

Nerves struck him but, with a glow at his fingertips, he cut the universe in a small, star shaped gap. He wondered if, bolstered by this power, he might be able to see more than nothing. However, the second he dipped a finger in, he collapsed and black goo fell from his mouth and eyes.

He coughed and hacked, rattling, but forced himself back up onto his knees and wiped his face on his arm despite the sludge disappearing into nothingness on its own. Still a failure. He grabbed his recorder and turned it on.

"V-Void searching ph…" He coughed again, spluttering pitch, vanishing tar onto his hand. "Bloody hell. Void searching physically is a failure. Do not attempt. And don't forget not to attempt, please." He pinched the rip closed and rubbed his hands over his face. He grabbed a marker from his pocket and wrote the word VOID with a line through it on the back of his left hand.

He sat down on the stone and tried to catch his breath. He'd hoped it would be easier from here. No such luck. He rubbed his brow. With his daughter here, though it had hurt, it had been simple. His attunement to the empty, timeless space meant next to nothing out there without her.

He sluggishly went back to his computer. Strange, small warnings had been pinging him all day. Little energy shifts that were too fleeting to catch, and he wasn't sure he had time to begin with. He went back to work, though a headache was pressing in.

His composition was nearly done. A tracking spell that would be powered by pure determination. He hated how much of this was trial and error. Shifting notes, energy values, magic types. He felt like he was close.

The door at the other end of the chamber creaked; Gaster jumped upright worriedly. Toriel stood there, shielding her eyes from the orange light.

"Toriel?! What are you doing here?!" he called.

"Alphys said you were down here," she said. "Can I…? God, how can you stand this heat?!"

He reached out around her and called up his HAARM-blocker. "How on earth did Alphys know?"

The translucent magic encapsulated her in a protective shell and she let out a sigh of relief. "Her cameras, I assume," she said, crossing the stone walkway to him. "Thank you, but are you alright? You don't look good." She looked around and up at the pillar of magic at the CORE's centre. "Phew. It's been a while."

"What do you need?" he asked worriedly. "You don't feel odd in here, do you? The determination level is high but—"

"No, I'm perfectly fine," she said. "Please, don't let me interrupt. I wanted to check on you, mostly. And I have some… odd news."

He cautiously went back to his computer and his program, summoning his extra hands to keep working as he kept attention mostly on her. "Nothing too worrying, is it?"

"I was walking down the main street; I believe I saw something change before my eyes," she said as she sat down on the rock with him. She grabbed his arm and held his hand, her magic glowing in a light, healing flow. "Just something simple. The sign in front of town. The wording altered slightly." Nonetheless, she shuddered. "I know it's… nothing, really, but I felt sick looking at it."

"Don't downplay it. You've seen the world shift." His face flushed slightly. "I'm sorry this is quite selfish, but I'm glad you remember something. This is… a lonely job."

"It must be. And missing your children." She winced. "Our children, I suppose." She cracked a small smile. "How was that working out?"

He laughed tiredly. "It's new for me, but I thought it was going quite well, to be honest."

Toriel nodded. She put a hand on his brow, tilted her head thoughtfully, and then pulled away, satisfied. She took a grey notebook out of her pocket and flipped to one of the pages near the back where she'd already made some notes. It looked like a timeline. She'd also jotted down what she'd said about that sign, as well as about Undyne's eye, and a few other little shifts.

"I'm just trying to keep everything straight," she said.

"That's a good idea," he said.

"Lots to do, hm? By the way. Do phones not work in here?"

"They don't, but also I don't have one."

"Oh." She laughed. She watched his phantom hands working away at the computer for a moment. "Always the multitasker, hm?"

"Well, it's definitely helpful." He perked up. "I think I have it."

He stood up and stretched. He brought his computer back and held it in the air, leaning forward to look at the notes. "You may want to head out. I'm not sure if I can sustain the shield and cast at once, in the state I'm in."

"It's just a minor discomfort," she said, getting to her feet. She peered at the notes as well. "Ooh. A little complicated, hm?"

"It's to compensate for working through determination rather than normal magic." He took a step down the path to get a little space. "Alright."

He took a deep breath and let his magic swell around him. He hummed the notes and his soul bristled and let out a discordant burst. He grimaced and tried to force it to follow the melody, but it faltered and scratched the air, notes too sharp to match. The tension hurt his ribs and he had to stop, clutching a hand over his soul spot.

"Chuaigh cos," he said, his voice cracking. "Banjaxed." He tried again.

The magic swirled, sparks in the air jerking up and down, assembling in a waveform that was spiky and incorrect. It stopped and he faltered where he stood.

Toriel grabbed him and helped hold him steady. "No good, hm?"

"I… My soul, it's…" He grimaced. "I… didn't think it was that bad."

"Let me do it," she said.

His eyes glimmered. "Are you sure?"

She raised her brows at him. He nodded hurriedly.

"Thank you. It may be unpleasant."

"Oh, Gaster, as if I care," she teased. She gestured for him to back up and give her space and he did, leaving his computer in the air with her.

As Toriel took a moment to read the notes, another phantom hand hovered over her shoulder to observe. She nodded to herself and raised her paws, calling up melodic purple in each palm. Her soul sang and the energy buffeted her ears like a breeze. It seeped into the stone and through the hot air, and ribbons of glowing, undulating magic circled in an arc around her. Gaster clasped his hands together tightly, and the notes swelled. Sparks of red and pink flickered in Toriel's fur and along the spiralling magic and, the ground underneath her began to surge with crisp lines, forming an elaborate circle marked with the delta rune, a disk of the sun and moon, incomprehensible runes of a monster language long lost, and the notes of the song itself, weaving together seamlessly with Toriel's own resonance.

Gaster's eyes glowed and welled up with tears, steaming his glasses. He found himself beaming. His extra hands flittered around like birds, giving him a good view of every inch of it.

Toriel let out a long, calm breath in a stream of pink flame. It shifted to a vibrant red, and that determination seeped through every inch of colour she had projected, from her paws down to the circle of magic beneath her. She joined the magic in her hands together and held it lightly. What was left in the air burst into glittering dust and everything settled, leaving a humming, shining orb in her palm.

"I think that's it." Her voice was a little strained, but she wasn't out of breath. "Now where?"

Gaster rushed to the panel where the red NOCTURNE shone, and he beckoned to her. As she joined him, he pointed out the key and took her hand to guide her to it. She fitted it into the hole. It shimmered, and then absorbed into the red. Both of them leaned in, waiting silently; listening intently. It let out a soft pulse and its resonance shifted to accept the new one.

The skeleton deflated with a long, loud sigh, and then threw his arms around her as he burst out laughing. She chuckled and held him close, patting his head gently.

"You did it," she said.

"Thank you! Thank you…" He slumped and tried to get ahold of himself; pulling off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Did you see, you cast a full circle?"

"Did I?" she asked. "God, I haven't seen one of those in…? A very, very long time." She sat back and smiled. "Your composition was very good."

"Well I'm sure there's more efficient ways to—"

"Gaster. Shush," she said. She rolled her fingers over her thumbs as her magic sparkled gently through her fur. "Phew. Fully custom, right?"

"It was," he said.

"You told me, it was your mother who taught you, right?" she asked.

He nodded. "The basics. I lost her before I could learn much; I was very young." He sat back, leaning on his hands. "I'm mostly self-taught, which is why this takes me so bloody long, even after all this time."

"And yet, refined enough that it allowed for a proper circle." She shot him a smile. "So that spell, it's… a tracker, right?"

He nodded. "Once we can enter the hums of the kids, the NOCTURNE should be able to show us where they are," he said. "Thank you so much. I…" He sighed. "I'm still too weak."

"Your soul is off-key," she said sympathetically. "It's not as if there's nothing we can do, though."

"I just don't know that I have time," he said.

"Then, leave your spells to me," she said. She clicked her tongue. "And now, if you're finished, I could do without sitting on these rocks. They're still quite hot. And you could do with a rest."

xXxXx

They decided— or rather, Toriel insisted— that they should take a proper break this time. Grillby's was the obvious choice.

Snowdin was unusually bustling. The King was there, down main street near the Gyftmas tree. Toriel ducked back into the house, claiming she wanted to change, but Gaster knew better.

As she went up to her room, Gaster slowly paced the ground floor. The place was oddly silent. Stagnant. Wafting with an air of incongruence. The couch was laid out with a bunch of items that weren't usually there. Children's text books. An old striped shirt in green and yellow. Games, and books. A treasure chest filled with child-sized clothes, many of the shirts scribbled on in Papyrus's writing for some purpose. SKELETON 3. COOL KID. #1 PASTA ASSISTANT. CAPTAIN CHAOS.

Toriel came back in a purple sweater with white hems, brushing the fur on her ears as she walked down the stairs. "I was searching for clues," she said. "Those things… They're clearly used, aren't they? But they hardly have any scent on them at all." She traded her brush for one of the handheld game consoles and switched it on; there were save files registered in it. "I've never once seen Sans or Papyrus using this and yet…"

Gaster gently took it from her and entered the save file to see if he could parse any hints from it. The game file was called fartmaster. That wasn't helpful in the least.

"Are there more of them?" he asked.

"I checked through every one I could find," she said. "Two names that come up a few times are Disaster Blaster and Captain Chaos, but other than that…"

"That's on one of the shirts as well," he said.

Toriel nodded and her brow furrowed heavily. She snorted to herself and folded her arms. "I can't believe this," she grumbled in a low voice. Her fangs were showing.

"Hm?" Gaster closed the game and put it back down. "What's wrong?"

"I am the mother to two children I can't even remember." Her expression was twisting into one of disappointment and anger. Fur around her neck bristled. "How pathetic. I can't even… I…"

"Tori, please," Gaster said quickly, holding onto her arm. "Please, don't blame yourself, this is my fault."

"The longer this goes, the more vacant I feel," she growled. "I hope we solve this soon." She took a deep breath and her face softened. "I told Sans I'd start looking into those monsters with the black souls for him. Take some weight off. What do you think, might that help?"

"If that's something you want to take on, I'm sure it won't hurt. I have a sort of hodgepodge tracking machine in the lab that you can use," he said.

"…Better than doing nothing but tell the poor boy how bad I feel for him." She froze, her eyes going wide. "What…?! Oh, for god's sake."

"What?!" Gaster asked.

She pointed behind him, and he followed her finger. The couch hadn't always been brown, had it? It made him viscerally uncomfortable to look at.

"O-Oh."

Toriel huffed, pulled out her notebook, and added another entry as she shook her head. Suddenly, she froze. Her purple eyes glazed. Gaster shot her a worried look and he gently slipped her book and pen away from her.

"Tori?" he asked.

She blinked, hard, and then shook her head again. "Damn it."

"Must be serious," he teased gently. "What happened?"

"Just feeling a little drained," she said. "I don't suppose…?" She sighed. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Outside, Toriel walked with purpose, outpacing Gaster easily, and was halfway to Grillby's by the time he'd even got down the steps. She was thwarted right outside the bar's door, however, when Kid, ran up to her with a big smile. He almost tripped in the snow and she bent to catch him. He laughed and hopped back, regaining his footing like nothing had happened.

"Thanks!" he said. "We've been missing you at school, Miss Toriel! I was just wondering if everything's okay?"

"Oh. Hello, Kid. Well, to be honest," she said with a tepid smile, "my son is a little sick. So I've had to take some personal time, I'm afraid."

"Oh?! Who?!" he asked worriedly.

"Sans," she said.

"Oh, that short skeleton, right? Man, I'm sorry," he said.

"Pff, Kid, talking like you don't know." A larger, young adult lizard monster strolled up with a sympathetic smile on her face. "I hope he feels better soon. Is it something your daughter can't turn back?"

Toriel froze. Her fur stood on end. "Pardon?" She shot a look back at Gaster, and nodded for him to hurry up and join her

"Oh! Sorry, was it a secret?" she asked, lowering her voice.

"Flora, what're you talkin' about?" Kid said teasingly.

"What are you talking about?" she said with a laugh. "Your little human friend."

"Uhhh…" He stared at her blankly. "…Huh?"

"Stop teasing, you little dork," she said.

"I'm not!" Kid protested.

Gaster caught up and greeted them with a raised hand.

"Doctor Gaster! Was the, um, data helpful?" Flora asked.

"Very much so, thank you," he said.

Toriel held his shoulder to pause him. She put on a gentle smile.

"Flora, is it? Can we speak to you for a moment?" she asked.

"Hm?! Oh! Uh. Sure thing," she said. "Kid, why don't you go say hi to the King?"

"Hah! You don't have to shoo me away, sis, I'm not a total dummy," he said with a wink. He scampered off to where a group of other monsters had congregated around Asgore.

"Is there something wrong?" Flora asked.

"You remember… our daughter," Toriel said. "The human?"

"Yeeeah, why?" Flora asked.

Gaster's brows raised. "Oh! Of course…" he said under his breath.

"This'll sound awful, but do you recall her name?" Toriel asked.

The lizard stared at her blankly for a few seconds. She blushed. "Um… N-No. Sorry."

Toriel grimaced, but she nodded. "Thank you anyway, dear."

"Is there something going on?" Flora pushed. "…Kid's been acting weird. He was really worried about not hearing from his friends for a few days, and then suddenly stopped talking about it. He even had this red scarf he got from, um, Papyrus, I think? He would wear it all the time but suddenly it wasn't in the house and, when I mentioned it, he acted like he didn't know what I was talking about. Did they have a falling out or something?"

"Oh. Oh no. I mean, no, they didn't. It's just…" She didn't know how much to say. "I'll figure this out. Thank you, hun. We appreciate it."

Flora looked confused, but she nodded nonetheless. "Okay. Well. Either of you need me, give me a call." She smiled sideways. "Good luck with whatever's going on."

As the lizard left, Toriel turned to Gaster with a heavy, worried frown on her brow. She grabbed his arm. "I need you to tell me everything you know about the missing children."

"…Are you sure?" he asked, and he put his hands up when she shot him a skeptical glare. "It's just that…" He clenched his fingers together. "Some of the details will be very hard to hear. Which… is probably why Sans hasn't already told you the whole thing already. But if you're sure—"

"Very," she said.

She pushed her way into Grillby's but both monsters froze immediately as they saw the interior of the place was like a classy, metropolitan bar. Behind the counter, there was an elemental made of golden fire drying wine glasses. A neon sign on the wall behind her said Flambé's. Gaster and Toriel shared a wide-eyed look before doubling back out the door. Gaster rushed across the road to get a good look up at the sign. Just like inside. Flambé's.

"This is bad," he said.

"Yes it is." Toriel wrote in her notebook. "Oh, Sans is going to be so disappointed." She looked up quickly. "Why on earth is it like this?"

Before Gaster could postulate, both of them were grabbed and pulled to face a grinning Asgore.

"Howdy, you two!" he said brightly. Up close, his fur seemed a bit brighter than usual. "My, you look like you've just received quite a start! How are you?"

"Very busy," Toriel said curtly.

"Oh. With what?" he asked earnestly.

"The world might be falling apart, if you haven't noticed," she said.

"Is it that bad?" he asked worriedly.

She pointed up at the sign on the bar. He looked up and frowned curiously.

"Oh, that's interesting, when did this get here?" he wondered.

"I hope Grillby is alright," Gaster said quietly.

"Things are changing before our eyes, Asgore," Toriel said. "It didn't just arrive. Not to mention everything else…"

"The children?" he asked gently.

She dipped her head. Gaster folded his arms and his soul wavered audibly before he could do a thing to subvert it. Asgore's expression was overcome with sympathy and he grabbed the skeleton into his big, warm arms.

"I can't even imagine. Would you like to come get some sun with us?" Asgore asked. "Would that help?"

"I'm afraid we have a lot to work on, still," Gaster said apologetically.

"As I said," Toriel said, albeit more gently. "We are busy, Asgore."

The big King didn't seem put off. He squished the skeleton, smiled, and patted Toriel's shoulder warmly as he pulled away. He beckoned to the other monsters and called for them to come along. It was like a little parade as the group left down the snowy road. Toriel sighed and rubbed her face.

"What now?" she asked.

Gaster shrugged. He tepidly gestured to the bar. "Try Flambé's?"

xXxXx

Leaving the town of Gullport behind, the monsters and their human guide embarked on the long drive to Anthelion. It was the capital of the province they were in and had a large human population. It was also quite the tourist hub, apparently, mostly due to its unusual architecture style and that giant, ancient castle around the mountain it sat nestled against.

Sans took some time with the specialized phone attachment to check some maps of the place to make sure he was still familiar with it. Big city. Wasn't a hundred percent sure what to expect once they got there. He'd never been there in spring, and human towns actually changed somewhat frequently, at least compared to monster ones.

He also browsed some local forums. Found, to his surprise, a couple posts about the tears in time, caught in pictures, with people wondering what the hell they were, even though some people commented that they didn't see anything unusual in the photos at all. He saw a few pictures of humans sticking their hands through them, or writing about how they'd found one in a storage room in a grocery store, or in a parking lot, or underneath an overpass. A bunch of people, the ones who couldn't see, seemed to think it was all an elaborate hoax. Probably for the best, for now. He hadn't noticed any at all above ground on their first run, so they must've been more recent cuts Gaster had made.

About an hour into their travels, June got a call. She quickly shushed the chattering monsters in the back seat, nudged Sans to make sure he was awake, and answered through the screen on her dashboard.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey, what d'you need? You called, right?" A man's voice. Kind of gruff.

Sans sat up groggily. He could have sworn that was someone he'd heard before.

"Yes, um, where are you?" she asked.

"Arrow Valley, why?" The man sounded confused.

"Arrow Valley?! Why are you there?!" she asked.

"You in private?"

"Wh…? Um. Well, there's people in the car with me, but—"

"I'll call you back."

"Waaait, wait wait wait." June hurriedly pulled onto the shoulder of the road and stopped the car; a big truck rumbled past a little too close for comfort. "Boyd, wait, okay? What's going on?"

"Look, I'm tryin' to… find someone, okay?" he said. He sighed, frustrated. "I'm just trying to follow what that kid said she saw."

"Wh…What kid?" she said.

"You know, kid at the mountain? The psychic one or something? I told you, she gave me a lead on Ellie."

"Wait, what?!" Undyne barked. "You're that guy?!"

"You remember the kid?!" Papyrus yelped.

"Who the hell is that?!" the man asked in alarm.

"We're looking for that kid! From the mountain!" Papyrus said loudly. "You remember her?!"

"…Well, yeah, of course. Hard to forget a kid that starts glowing and… June, who is that?"

"A friend," she assured him. "It's… a long story. But, wait, you found Ellie?!"

"Found my ex-mother-in-law," he said. "…I'm not sure if she's seen me. Oh, shit, I think she… Look, I gotta go, what was it you needed?"

"Oh, we were just hoping… you might, um. Be able to get us into U.A."

"What? Why? Never mind, I can't, not until I'm done here."

"Who's Ellie?" Papyrus asked under his breath.

"I think it's his kid," Sans said.

"Wait, you're looking for a kid, too?" Papyrus asked shrilly. "Do you need any help?!"

"Whoa, do we have time?!" Undyne asked.

"What could we do?" Mettaton wondered worriedly.

"Wh…? Help?" Boyd sounded perplexed. "Oh, shit, she's following me, I gotta g—"

"Boyd, breathe," June said. "Tell us everything."

"Tell me who these guys are first," he said.

June shot Sans a worried look, but the skeleton stuck his thumb up. She nodded. "They're… They're monsters from the mountain. Mostly the family of that, um, psychic kid. They're trying to find an old monster artefact in Anthelion and we need to get into the archive at U.A. to look for it."

"Oh." Much of the tension left the man's voice. "Ah. Sorry I didn't get to meet you guys much, I just, uh, wasn't in a good headspace." He let out a deep sigh. "…The kid from the mountain, she hinted pretty hard it was my mother-in-law who has my daughter. So I tracked her here. I… I gotta find her house, but I think she recognized my car or somethin'. Shit."

"Oh my god. Okay. Hang on one second." June muted the call and turned in her seat to look at the others. "This is really serious, his daughter's been missing for years."

"That's why he wanted to go to the mountain to begin with, right?" Sans said.

June's face flushed. She nodded.

"And he remembers a lot, sounds like," Undyne said.

"Yeah, that was almost unaltered," Sans mused. Guy had a red soul himself, maybe.

"But we're going to go help him, right?" Papyrus asked.

"We certainly should, I think," Mettaton said. "I've written enough crime thriller dramas that I have a plan. We can provide a decoy for him so he can go find the child!"

"Swap it around," Undyne said. "Lady recognizes him. He can be the decoy and we can go find the kid."

"Oooh, that's even more interesting," Mettaton said.

"That… That actually might work, if we can find her house," June admitted. "…What do you guys think? A favour for a favour?"

Sans grimaced. "Might not be so easy," he said reluctantly. "It, uh, might not stick."

"But he's still suffering now," June said. "And… And if you want to go to U.A., he's our best shot without resorting to theft."

"He remembers a lot more than average," Undyne pointed out. "If things go back, it still might help. We can warn him. Or. I mean. We could help him again. It's not a big deal, right? Especially if humans'll know we're out when things go back to normal."

Papyrus clasped his hands together and looked at his brother with big eyes. After a moment more of thought, Sans smiled and shrugged.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. Not sayin' no," he said. "We're goin' if you're up for the drive. Just, uh, might need to warn him once we get there."

June's face broke into a wide grin. "Thank you, Sans." She went back to the call. "We're going to come give you a hand."

"…What? But you can't… Can you? Oh, hell, I dunno what's okay or not," Boyd said.

"She doesn't have custody, you do," June pointed out. "As long as Ellie goes with you, and we take this to the police afterwards, we have this, okay? We'll be there soon. Just keep tabs as best you can. You provide a distraction and we'll go to her house. Do you have the address?"

"Still working on it." He cursed low under his breath. "R-Right. Right. Meet you, uh… I'll text. Thank you."

The call disconnected and June pulled back onto the road, blowing out a sigh of relief. "Aaaand, now I missed a turn off. It's back to the south."

"So why he gotta go to the cops after?" Undyne asked. "He's just taking his own kid home."

"Things are… complicated," June said. "The police want to help, but it's… It's been a mess ever since Ellie went missing. They were supposed to have already checked if she was with these people."

"So, what, are they just garbage at their jobs?" she wondered.

"She might have been told to hide. I've seen things like this before." June flinched. "Who knows what those people told that poor girl."

"If she had a good dad, they would have had to lie to get her not to try to see him, is that what you mean?" Papyrus asked. "That's awful… I can't believe anyone would do that."

"I have trouble believing it sometimes, too, but I've seen people do worse than that to keep kids away from a good parent before." She smiled ruefully. "Some people are just… selfish."

"How long's it been?" Sans asked.

"Three years, I think?"

"…That's one of the worst things I've ever heard," Papyrus said. "Three whole years…" He shook his head and frowned with determination. "I'm sure we can help somehow!"

"Yes, I hope so," she said. "I really appreciate this."

"Don't sweat it," Undyne said.

"Mon cheri, since you have asked us, of course we'd agree," Mettaton said. "Now, how about we listen to some of my tracks on this leg of the drive, hm?" He stretched a leg up over Undyne and she shoved him off instantly.

June laughed. "Okay, okay," she said.

She set the music up to play and, as it started, shot Sans a look. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Sure. Why?" he said.

"Well, I mean, I know I'm not very familiar with skeleton faces, but you do look pretty tired."

"Heh. Sounds like you're familiar enough." He leaned back snugly in his seat. "S'okay."

"Thank you again."

He nodded. What chance was there he was going to turn down helping a missing kid get home? Even if it cost him a few decimal points. He added it to the list he sent into the void.