Chapter 28

Sans did what everyone should do when encountering a powerful enemy: start with his strongest attack.

Gaster blasters on each side, Sans fired at Mettaton and Muffet. Both cried out in pain as they were hit. Undyne swore as she rushed to Sans's side, looking at Sans as if she wanted to call him out for being a show-off.

"Chara!" Sans shouted, knowing that the dead prince was around since Frisk wore the locket. "Run ahead of Frisk as you both leave the village! I don't know if the next person to show up will be on our side!"

Even if Chara couldn't stop anyone who wanted to hurt Frisk, he would at least be able to give her a warning if another monster after her soul was approaching.

"Who the hell is Chara?!" Undyne questioned, looking around for anyone she might have missed.

"It's a long story," Sans replied, hoping this would be the first and last time Undyne asked him about Chara.

"You ruined my dress!" Muffet shouted, emerging from the smoke. She was hit hard, but somehow the spider monster still stood firm on her feet. Sans may have used his strongest attack, but that didn't mean said attack was really all that strong when he had spent so long out of practice.

"I'll take care of the bug," Undyne said before charging towards the spider monster.

"You shall pay for upsetting my queen!" Mettaton shouted as he dropped from the sky, appearing even less damaged than Muffet.

Turning Mettaton blue, Sans used his telekinesis to throw the other monster across the village. Sans shifted his attention long enough to see Frisk running away. Now if the day didn't reset, Sans would consider this rescue mission a success.

By the time Sans returned his attention to the battle, Mettaton had already recovered. To Sans's surprise, Mettaton was staying airborne with jets in his feet and palms. Holding himself in a pixie pose as he hovered above the ground, Mettaton smiled.

"Eat explosives, darling!" Mettaton shouted before whipping his palm across Sans's direction and sending a load of small bombs his way.

Sans summoned a shield, protecting himself just in time. Fire burned all around, scorching the ground. When it subsided, Sans looked up to see Mettaton falling towards him, leg extended so that his heel would collide with the top of San's skull.

Although Sans tried to dodge the attack, he was a second too slow. The heel of Mettaton's boot hit the curve of Sans's forehead. The collision jerked Sans's head downwards, and he was hit with a wave of vertigo.

Seizing the opportunity, Mettaton dropped down and kicked out his leg. He swept San's feet from under him and laughed as the skeleton monster fell to the ground. Mettaton stood straight again and said, "You wear red, but you're protecting the human. You're not just a traitor. You're a traitor who refuses to admit that's exactly what he is."

"You don't know me!" Sans snapped, trying to look at Mettaton but not knowing where to focus since there were three monsters standing above him.

"Alphys's records told me enough." Mettaton smiled. "Tell me, do you bleed?"

Sans had a bone emerge from the ground, but since he couldn't see straight, his attack missed Mettaton by plenty.

"How I would love to know the secrets you keep," Mettaton said, leaning closer.

"Eat ashes!" Sans spat.

It was then Undyne flew over Sans and connected her feet with Mettaton's chest. The humanoid monster fell backwards. Looking down on him, Undyne said, "Take that, pretty boy."

Without wasting a second, Undyne picked Sans up and threw him over her shoulder as if he was a sack of potatoes. "Hold on!" she warned before jumping into the air. Heeding Undyne's advice, Sans clung to her for dear life as she jumped across the village, each leap covering great distances.

"We need to find the others," Undyne said, huffing.

"Hopefully they found Frisk," Sans replied, pathetically clinging to Undyne. The vertigo was passing, but Sans's head still hurt.

"Or she found them," Undyne added. "We don't know who else could be out there."

Frisk and Chara ran out of the village, the Temmie in Frisk's arms. When Chara shouted, "Tem to your right!" Frisk knew what he meant. Scooping up the monster, the two of them bolted to what they hoped was safety.

It was not.

Chara had ran ahead, so when Frisk saw him turn the corner to run back towards her, she knew she was in trouble.

"Stripes," Chara was saying, "you need to—"

"ROAR!"

"A moldbygg!" Chara exclaimed. Frisk halted just as a dark blue and green monster turned the corner and towered over them. The monster wiggled back and forth, its eye locked onto Frisk.

"What do I do?" Frisk asked, clutching the unconscious Temmie to her chest.

"Just don't touch him," Chara answered. "They don't like to be hugged."

As if I would want to hug it. The monster was covered in slime and smelt like a bait shop. Frisk took a small step back, giving the monster space.

"Lie down," Chara suggested. When Frisk rose her brow at him, he insisted, "Just do it, okay?"

Holding Temmie close, Frisk slowly sat on the floor and leaned backward until she rested on the ground. She stretched out her legs so she could see the monster.

Moldbygg tilted its head to the side before following suit. Lying down, the monster seemed content. It appeared far less threatening now, but Frisk's heart still beat at an erratic rate.

"It's okay," Chara said. It probably wasn't a minute later, but Frisk felt as if she had been lying on the ground, monster a few feet away, for hours. "Moldbygg is comfortable with your presence. He will let you go as long as you keep your distance."

What is even happening? Frisk slowly stood, and Moldbygg got up as well. However, it didn't mind Frisk too much as she walked around the monster, keeping a distance just as Chara told her to.

Frisk was about to state her disbelief that Chara had just helped her when someone screamed, "FRISK!"

"Mon!" Frisk gasped. Seeing how close Mon was getting and how fast she was moving, Frisk warned, "Mon, stop!"

The warning came too late.

Unable to stop herself, Mon tripped on her feet and slid towards Frisk and Moldbygg. The other monster was so startled bullets shot from its body. Moving quickly, Frisk dropped herself in front of Mon and kept her back towards Moldbygg.

Searing pain dotted Frisk's back. She cried out, forcing herself to stay upright and to not drop Temmie. When she turned around, she saw the Moldbygg running away.

"Frisk, are you all right?!" Mon sat upright. "I thought that monster was going to hurt you!"

"Well, it did." Frisk gritted her teeth, trying to not tell Mon that it was her own fault the other monster attacked.

"What happened?!" Undyne fell from the sky and dropped Sans to the ground. The skeleton monster plopped to the floor like a bag of flour, groaning but not moving. "You're bleeding!"

"A spooked Moldbygg, nothing more," Frisk said. Pushing herself to her feet, she bit her lower lip as she forced herself to move through the pain. "I'm okay. Really. It hurts, but nothing that will kill me."

"We need to get you to Alice." Mon checked Frisk's wounds. "Looks like something she can heal in an instant."

"Alice is here?" Frisk looked around. "Why are you all here?"

"To stop you from being stupid," Sans said, face still pressed into the ground.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fan-tibia-lous."

Frisk frowned as Undyne face palmed. "That was bad, even for you."

"Don't hate me because I'm too humerus for you."

"Is it too late to leave him for dead? Huh? Anyone?" Chara opened his arms and looked around.

"We need to find the others," Mon said.

"What about—" Frisk began, but Undyne waved her off.

"I don't think we need to worry too much right now. I beat up that spider queen pretty badly," she said. "Though now that they know we're on your side, we need to be extremely careful. After they lick their wounds, they're going to know what exactly they will be facing the next time they find you."

"So we should have enough time to get back, right?" Mon questioned. However, her question was lost when Frisk asked, "Get back where?"

"To The Island. Where else?" Sans answered as he got up. He wobbled on his feet but remained standing. "We left to look for you, and now that we found you, we're taking you back."

"Are you all right, My Heart?" Mettaton asked as he helped Muffet to her feet.

"Of course I'm not all right?!" Muffet snapped, pushing Mettaton away. She was covered in cuts and bruises, and she bled from her forehead. "That monster ripped my new dress."

"Is it really the dress you're upset about?"

Muffet sighed and answered, "No. We had the human, love. It was right there. How could we let it get away?"

"We weren't anticipating it to have help." Mettaton sighed. Seeing Muffet struggled to remain standing, he offered to help her remain upright. This time, she didn't push him back. "That was Sans and Undyne. In their own right, they are the most powerful monsters in all the Underground. Somehow, that human has brainwashed our fiercest Reds to protect it."

"Well this complicates things. How did my servants miss something as big as this?" Muffet interlaced her fingers with Mettaton's. "I'm so sorry I snapped at you! Oh, how could I be so thoughtless?"

"This whole human thing is stressing you out. I'm irritated as well. Don't fret too much, my love. I'm not upset."

Muffet wrapped all six of her arms around Mettaton and rested her cheek against his chest. "You are too good to me." For a minute, they held each other close.

Pulling away, Muffet declared, "You will get your show, and I will get my dancing doll. So, this is going to be a little harder than we first thought. Oh, well. This just means we have to make some . . . adjustments."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you later." Letting Mettaton carry her bridal style, Muffet and her lover flew out of the Temmie Village with Mettaton's jet boots and wings. "Right now, we need to find someplace with better service. I have a phone call I need to make."

"What, no!" Frisk shook her head. "I'm not going back to The Island!"

"Nonsense!" Undyne snorted. "You will get yourself killed if you wander around Underground alone."

Frisk clenched her teeth. "At least let me investigate the Core first."

"The Core?" Mon and Sans questioned.

"Look, the Core will be fine," Undyne insisted. "Asgore won't leave it unattended, not if it heating up is this dangerous. If you go to the Core, you will only be getting yourself into a very, very dangerous situation."

"But I have to keep going," Frisk insisted, her eyes burning. She would not cry. Not here, and not now.

"Look, punk," Undyne jabbed her finger so hard into Frisk's shoulder the human stumbled back a step, "did you really think by going on this dangerous mission, you would convince me to train you? Give me a break! All you have done is prove to me that you're too emotional and impulsive to make wise decisions. You have to think before you act or else you and others will get hurt. It seems you can't even do that."

"I wasn't trying to prove anything to you or anyone else!" Frisk snapped. All the monsters blinked at her. Chara did nothing more than tilt his head sideways.

"I'm doing it for me," Frisk admitted, a lump in her throat forming. "I need to prove to myself that your refusing to train me doesn't make me weak or worthless or less than. I need to prove to myself that I'm capable of protecting those I care about. Mom died because I ran away. Snowdin Two was destroyed because I ran away. I'm tired of running. I'm tired of hurting those around me. By going to the Core and facing whatever's there, I'm proving to myself that I can do this. I can make it through Underground. I can fight. The next time it comes down to it, I can protect those I love. But I can't believe I'm capable of it if all I ever do is hide when danger will ultimately find me anyway. I need this. Please, let me prove this to myself."

Undyne shook her head. "That's a pretty little speech, but it doesn't change anything. We need to get you back before someone else finds us."

"If you're going to drag me along," Frisk said, "you're going to have to do it with me kicking and screaming the whole way."

Sneering, Undyne asked, "What is it you're trying to accomplish, anyway?"

It was Sans who answered.

"She's trying to leave the Underground." When everyone looked at him, he elaborated, "Frisk wants to cross the barrier. She is trying to go back to the surface."

"Frisk?" Mon questioned, a wounded expression on her face.

Frisk chewed on her lower lip, not knowing what to say. She wasn't sure she even wanted to leave anymore. She didn't know what she wanted. Yet she still found herself saying, "All of you agree it's not safe for me Underground. Where else should I go but the surface?"

"Don't be an idiot," Undyne said.

"Too late," Chara snorted. Then, "Sorry. Reflex."

"The barrier is in King Asgore's castle," Undyne explained. "If you want to cross it, you will have to face him first. Trust me, punk, you wouldn't be able to stand a chance against him."

The lump in her throat was growing. Blinking back tears, Frisk looked at the monsters. All she could see was pity in their eyes. Then she looked at Chara. He nodded.

"Let's go, kid," Sans said, letting Frisk know that he was ready for this conversation to be over.

"No," Frisk replied, forcing the word out. The others thought she was weak. Chara believed she was strong-willed. Whatever game Chara was playing, it was still enough to hear someone believe in her. Frisk would let nobody, not even a relentless killer, stop her. For better or for worse, she was filled with determination.

"Excuse me?" Undyne questioned, looking down on Frisk. "Are you telling us no? After we risked our tails to save you from yourself?"

"That was your decision," Frisk replied, throwing Undyne's words back at her. "I'm going to the surface, and that's that. I won't let you or anyone else stop me."

This would have been the point for Frisk to push past the others and begin storming away. However, the monster she forgot she was holding started to stir. Waking up, Temmie blinked and looked around.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Who is everybody?"

"I, um," Frisk pointed back to the village. "I'm just going to take this Tem home first. Are the other monsters . . . ?"

"If they haven't chased after us, they must have fled," Undyne said, looking at Frisk with an expression the human couldn't read.

"There you are!" Alice exclaimed as she ran forward. Papyrus was not far behind.

"The Great Papyrus has arrived. Please, hold on to your tears of joy."

"Oh, Frisk," Alice gasped, "your back!"

"I'm fine," Frisk said, barely looking over her shoulder as she walked towards Tem Village. Her back still hurt, but she would survive it.

She didn't listen to anyone as she walked away. Only Chara followed. The monster she carried rested her chin on Frisk's arm and stayed silent.

"You're going to need to rest for the night," Chara eventually told her. "It would be foolish to keep walking with open wounds exposed like that."

"Why are you helping me?" Frisk asked. "Back with the Moldbygg . . . How did you know what to do? Why did you tell me instead of letting me figure it out for myself?"

"I knew what to do because I grew up Underground and met all kinds of monsters," Chara answered. "I told you what to do because I didn't want you to get hurt again."

"I'll just come back if I die. Sure, I hate dying, but it won't be the end."

"True. Maybe I just want to be the only one to kill you."

Frisk stopped walking and gave Chara the side eye. Then she sighed and said, "I don't know what I'm doing. I just agreed to fight King Asgore. I'm pretty sure that's the last thing I want to try, but how can I get to the barrier without meeting him?"

"You will figure something out," Chara said, but he didn't sound optimistic.

"Sure, I will." Frisk snorted. "I don't even know what I'm feeling at this point."

"You feel . . . something," Chara said. Pointing at the monster in Frisk's arms, he added, "You're filled with detemmienation."

In spite of herself, Frisk laughed. "Mark my words, Chara, one day I'm going to find some way to resurrect you and stab you."

"I don't know," Chara replied, grinning and walking alongside Frisk as she continued her trip back to the village. "I think I would like it."

Frisk shook her head. "I hate you, Chara."

"Hate you too, Stripes."

That would have been the end of it, except Frisk sneezed. Using her shoulder, Frisk wiped her nose. "I'm starting to feel a little stuffy."

When she said the words, Frisk realized what she just admitted. She looked at Chara, who blinked and exclaimed, "I was only joking when I said that you're allergic!"

Mew Mew flattened her ears against her skull. The Core was dark and eerie. It wasn't supposed to be, but it was. She shook off her fear. King Asgore sent her on a mission, and she would not fail this one.

Wiping her arm over her drenched forehead, Mew Mew silently cursed at how hot it was. Breathable, but still uncomfortable. It was why she and her men were dressed in shorts and T-shirts instead of their usual armor.

"Ozzy, Brisingr," she addressed her companions, "we need to split up."

"Uhhh," Ozzy said, "is that really a good idea? I'm pretty sure that's how people die in haunted houses."

"Nobody's going to die. This place is neither haunted nor a house." Mew Mew snorted. "Besides, we'll cover more ground this way. The Core is such a maze that if we all stick together, it will take us forever to find the main computer."

"But—"

"Silence!" Mew Mew shouted. "I am captain of the royal guard now. You will answer to me without questions asked. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes . . . yes, ma'am."

"Good." Mew Mew nodded. "Ozzy, take the east. Brisingr, the west. I'll head north."

After the three separated, Mew Mew clicked on her flashlight and searched the halls and rooms for the central office. The arrangement of the Core was altered so often a map was worthless. Even with the three of them, it could take hours to find what they were looking for.

"Nya, nya, nya," Mew Mew muttered under her breath. She didn't feel compelled to say that; she just liked the way it sounded. It helping to calm her nerves in this moment was also a plus.

Mew Mew frowned as she kept searching for minutes with no results. It was as she was about to contact her fellow guards that something caught her interest. On the ground in the corner was a pink flower hair piece.

Getting low to the ground, Mew Mew got a closer look at the item. Unlike everything else she had seen in the Core, it wasn't covered in dusk and cobwebs. It looked new.

Mew Mew furrowed her brows and pursed her lips. "But nobody who would wear such a thing has access here. Where would this come from? Wait!"

Slowly, she picked up the flower and inspected it closer. It wasn't new at all, but taken care of as it was well loved. Only one person Mew Mew knew wore these types of things and took such care of them.

"But you're dead," she whispered. She began looking around the room in search of the ghost she knew she would not find.

Her cell phone going off snapped Mew Mew out of the moment. Tucking the hair piece into her pocket, Mew Mew answered the phone and said, "What is it, Brisingr?"

"I found the computer," he replied. "I'll call Ozzy to let him know."

"Perfect." Mew Mew exhaled slowly. One problem solved.

"Do you need me to text you the coordinates or . . . ?"

"I can use the location services on your phone to find you. Stay where you are, and I will be there soon." Hanging up, Mew Mew took one last look around the room. It truly did appear as if nobody had been inside for months. It made no sense for her dead friend's flower pin to be there.

When Mew Mew found Brisingr in the computer room, she thanked him for locating it and got to work. The computer worked fine, but as Mew Mew tried to dig into the Core's network, she ran into a wall. Mew Mew tried every back door she could think of, but nothing worked. The confused monster pinched her brows together. She chewed on her lower lip so hard she tasted blood.

"Good news and bad news," she told Brisingr and the recently arrived Ozzy. "The good news is I know what's wrong with the Core."

Without being asked to explain, Mew Mew said, "Somehow someway someone hacked into the systems and made adjustments to how the Core operates. The mechanism to keep the Core at a constant temperature has been turned off."

"The bad news?" Ozzy questioned, his voice wavering.

Taking a deep breath to prepare herself to give the answer she didn't want to, Mew Mew replied, "I don't have access to those components of the Core. None of my passwords work, and every trick I tried to get around it have been met with failure. I can't fix it no matter how much I want to."

"Does this mean . . . ?"

"Not unless we can find someone who can get in." Even though she knew it wouldn't work, Mew Mew kept trying to find ways into the system. "Alphys died without an apprentice. I don't know who else but the royal scientist would have access to such a vital part of the Underground."

"What about King Asgore?"

"I don't see why he wouldn't, but I'm not very confident." Nonetheless, Mew Mew called King Asgore. After updating him on the situation, she asked, "Do you happen to know any passwords or anything else that can help me get into the system?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't," King Asgore answered. His concern was evident in his voice. "Can you think of any other way to fix it?"

"Maybe, but time is of the essence here. I could figure something out, but I can't promise that I will before things go boom." Mew Mew pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do you know if Alphys kept a record of any kind? Data logs, portfolios, a diary – something that just might help us out here?"

King Asgore hummed as he thought about it. "If Alphys kept any records, they should still be in her laboratory. Talk to Mettaton. He knew Alphys better than anyone. If anyone can help you right now, it's him."

"Thanks, I'll give him a call." Mew Mew hung up and looked at her men. "I'm sure from my end of the conversation, you figured out enough already."

They both nodded.

"Leave me alone for the moment." Mew Mew halfheartedly waved them off. "I shall call you when I'm ready for us to leave."

"But, the Core?" Brisingr questioned.

"There's nothing we can do about it today," Mew Mew replied, shoulders sagging. "Let's hope and dream we will figure something out soon, though."

After her men had walked out of the room, Mew Mew frowned. Try as she might, she couldn't figure out who could hack into the system and why they would do what they did. What would motivate anyone to try to kill everyone Underground like this?

Her phone's ringtone jolted Mew Mew back to reality. Looking at the caller ID, Mew Mew said as she answered, "Get out of my head, weirdo. I was just about to call you."

"Can't be to ask about the weather," Muffet replied. "Remember that human you failed to kill?"

"Don't remind me. How the hell did that thing survive deathlust?"

After her encounter with the human, Mew Mew was sure to have killed her. Finding the human's soul would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but Mew Mew knew Chara's also being out there would make the task of finding at least one human soul possible.

When Muffet told Mew Mew that King Asgore hired her to kill the human, Mew Mew laughed and told her what happened. Then Muffet's eyes confirmed that the human was indeed alive. Weak, but alive.

"It doesn't matter how it's still alive," Muffet said. "What matters is Sans and Undyne are protecting it."

"Wait," Mew Mew's ear twitched, "Undyne is protecting the human?! How did your eyes miss this?"

"I told them to keep me updated on the human's location, not who it interacted with. My own fault there. As for Undyne, the human must have brainwashed her or something. Regardless, Mettaton and I need your help."

"Speaking of Mettaton and help, I need his."

Silence, then, "Shall we discuss plans over tea and spider doughnuts?"

Twirling a lock of hair in her finger, Mew Mew smiled. "I think we shall."