Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She had worked on many projects before. The Determination experiments. Attaching dimensional boxes to phones for easy access. Creating Kid’s visor, and building a body for Mettaton… and for Chara. But standing here, now, with the dessicated husk that had once held Chara’s soul on the table before her…well. Even after what had happened to the Amalgamates, at least they were still alive.

“Why?” Alphys muttered, trying to avoid looking at the blackened, twisted metal, even though such a task was impossible while she rummaged around within it, pulling out various charred circuits and wires from it and spreading them out across the table.

“Why did you explode? It doesn’t make sense!” She continued her rambling, attempting to keep her mind off what she was doing. “E-even if your core was pierced… there were failsafes to stop something like this from happening! Why didn’t they work?”

Searching within what had been Chara’s chest, her hand closed on a small box. She quickly unhooked it from the wires that had held it in place and put it on the table next to the rest of the things she had salvaged from the robot.

“There you are…l-let's see if you can tell me what happened…and if there’s anything left.”

She inspected the small black box, frowning as she noted that even that had not escaped the explosion unscathed. It sported two large dents, and a small crack down the middle that gave her a glimpse into the mess of wires and flashing lights inside.

She pulled a scanner from her lab coat, and hooked it up to the black box, her frown deepening at the amount of corrupted data being displayed on the screen.

“Come on, give me something…” She began scrolling through the scanner, trying to make sense of the bits of data that weren’t corrupted. Her frustration began to mount, as more and more unreadable text scrolled past, until she let out a cry and slammed her fist onto the table.

“D-damn it! You’re supposed to monitor the systems! This is all useless!”

In the wake of her outburst, she took in a few deep breaths, attempting to calm her nerves. The data had to be there… she just needed to figure out how to access it.

An idea came to her, and she turned her attention the the jumble of pieces that she had salvaged. She narrowed her eyes in concentration. Maybe…

A few minutes passed, then Alphys looked down at the messy tangle of wires and circuits that attached all the spare parts to the black box, and then to the computer. It wasn’t pretty, but it might be enough to get what she needed.

At the click of her mouse, various windows popped up on her screen, each one displaying it’s own set of incomplete data. Sensor readings, magic levels, internal systems, battery levels, each one providing a different piece to the puzzle.

Wait. Alphys narrowed her gaze on the readings. According to them, Chara’s battery had malfunctioned just a few days ago, keeping it from recharging. She checked the other data, and realized it must have been when she had gone through the Rift the first time. Alphys glared at the shimmering scar in the air on the other side of the room, before returning her attention to her work..

“How didn’t she notice that?” the reptile murmured searching through the data for clues. “She said she felt a little drained, but… she was running on virtually no energy! That’s more than a little-”

She cut herself off with a gasp. From that she could piece together, it had been… nearly two weeks since her battery had been anywhere near the level it should have been, even before the Rift had opened. If she was used to her battery being drained, she wouldn’t have noticed the malfunction. If her energy was low, that meant she must have been powering herself through her own magic. And if that was the case...

“Alphys?”

The scientist didn’t look up at her wife’s soft voice, she had lowered her her head into her hands and was shuddering as she fully realized what had happened. Even when she felt Undyne’s strong hands fall upon her shoulders, she didn’t raise her head.

“Did you find anything?” Undyne asked quietly, rubbing small circles into Alphys’ shoulders with her thumbs.

“She’s gone,” the yellow reptile whispered hoarsely. She felt Undyne’s grip tighten slightly, though not painfully so.

“You sure?” Undyne asked, still keeping her voice quiet. “I mean, Chara’s soul is different than anything else we’ve seen before, maybe…”

Undyne trailed off as Alphys shook her head slowly.

“If a non-corporeal being fuses with it’s body, they become part of the body,” Alphys explained, tears in her voice. “I-if the body is destroyed… so are they. E-even if she didn’t work like that, she’d been powering everything with her magic for…far too long. By the time she…” the scientist swallowed. “She died…there wouldn’t have been enough magic left to keep her alive. She’s gone.”

“Damn it.” Undyne’s voice was slightly shaky, and she pulled Alphys off her chair and into an embrace. The reptile just sagged into the hug, and made no move to return it.

“I-I had safeguards to stop something like this from happening,” Alphys explained, trying to wipe her eyes dry with the one hand that wasn’t pinned to her side by Undyne’s strong arms. “B-but, by the time her core was pierced, she wouldn’t have had enough battery power or magic left to activate any of them. And so she’s…” Alphys went silent and buried her face into Undyne’s tank top.

“T-this is all my fault! I should have-”

“Hey!” Undyne pulled back and lifted Alphys’s chin so that her tear-filled gaze met the piercing yellow stare of the fish woman.

“Don’t give me any of that! You did everything you could!”

“But if I’d checked up on her systems like I was going to, I could have stopped this!”

“Hey, you know Chara,” Undyne replied, managing a small grin. “She almost had me beat for stubbornness. And you would have given her the check-up if I hadn’t trashed the lab.”

“S-still! I should have-”

“What did I tell you about beating yourself up about this kind of stuff? Listen, you didn’t want Chara to die any more than anyone else did. You did your best. This is not. Your. Fault.”

Undyne pressed her lips to Alphys’s forehead, silencing the reptile. Then she glanced at the shimmering scar indicating the closed Rift, changing the subject in the hopes of diverting her wife’s self-deprecation.

“I still don’t like that this thing is down here. What if it opens again, and more of those things come through?”

“I’ll set up some defences later,” Alphys promised tiredly. “A-and maybe I’ll s-start using the main lab more often, but… it’s better to have it where we can monitor it.”

“I guess,” Undyne grumbled. “I don’t want you down here alone while it’s here though. I’m not risking you to this. And that includes when you have some idea in the middle of the night.”

“Does that mean you’ll come down with me that late?”

Undyne snorted.

“Hell no. It means I’ll get you to write it down, and then chain you to the bed to make sure you don’t go anywhere. Crazy nerd.”

Despite herself, Alphys let out a soft giggle through the trickling tears.

“S-sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry,” Undyne soothed, adjusting her grip on the reptile to make sure she was still comfortable. “You do that often enough. Come on, let’s go upstairs and watch some anime, okay?

“W-wait.” Undyne paused just as she was about to start walking and looked at Alphys in confusion. The reptile gave a loud sniff and wiped at her eyes one more time.

“I… I have to call Toriel,” Alphys managed to keep her voice mostly steady, only letting a slight waver in her tone get through. “I… I have to tell her…”

“I’ll do it.” Undyne stated firmly. “You don’t-”

“I do,” Alphys insisted. “I-it has to be me. But umm, could you… be with me when I do it?”

“Of course, love.” Undyne replied softly, placing Alphys down and kneeling so she remained at eye level with her, moving her hands so both of them grasped one of Alphys’s.

“You know I’m always there for you.”

“I see.” Toriel spoke into the phone, her voice barely above a whisper. “T-thank you for telling me.”

She barely heard Alphys’s apologies on the other end, absently hitting the button ending the call. She could feel her strength draining out of her, and she let her arm fall, the phone slipping out of her loose grasp and clattering to the hardwood floor of the dining room. She began to shake uncontrollably and her legs quickly gave out, causing her to collapse to her hands and knees as she started to cry.

She didn’t notice as Asgore poked his head in from the living room, stopping short when he saw his wife’s position. It wasn’t until he knelt at her side, an arm draped loosely across her back that she realized he was there, though that knowledge only made her cry all the harder.

“Tori…”

“She’s g-gone, Asgore.” The former queen barely managed to choke out the words. “We… we failed her again.”

Tears had begun running down Asgore’s face, but he did his best to keep his voice level and soothing for his wife’s sake.

“Tori… it’s not your fault.”

“We promised her!” Toriel wailed, her large, white-furred hands grasping at nothing. “We promised we would take care of her… and we failed her twice! “ As Toriel’s shudders became more violent, Asgore pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her, crushing her close to him. She did not resist, and her shaking eased a bit, though it did not stop entirely.

“Asgore…” Her voice was a moan, filled with nothing but grief and despair. “What is the point? Am I destined to remain here forever, watching my children die around me for eternity? Frisk… our baby… they will just be taken from us too.”

“They will not,” Asgore declared, rocking back and forth in an attempt to comfort his wife. “Toriel, I swear to you, I will die before I allow harm to come to our children again.”

“I do not wish more death, Asgore.” Toriel sniffed. “But I… I am so tired. We were never meant to live this long. I do not want to see everyone we know pass on before us again. I want to have our child, to watch her grow up into a beautiful woman, and then… I want to have peace.”

“I know,” Asgore whispered. “Just please, hold on, my love.”

“Mom? Dad?” Both Boss Monsters turned to look to Frisk, who had appeared in the doorway, his eyes rimmed with red and his face twisted in grief. His parents opened their arms to him and he ran to them, falling to his knees and wrapping his arms around them both as far as he could go.

From the living room, Kid rose from the couch and shakily made his way to the kitchen, avoiding the dining room and heading for the door leading outside. He had known that Alphys would call the family first once she knew, so he had stayed with them, hoping against hope…

But that didn’t matter now, did it? And he had already heard more than he needed too. He couldn’t stay here anymore, so he quietly exited the house and began shambling down the street in the vague direction of his home. His eyes were unfocused, and he barely paid attention to what was going on around him.

And, as it had been since Chara’s death, his eyes were dry.

Kid silently dragged his feet into his house, not bothering to take the effort to close the door behind him. As he reached the living room, Napstablook appeared in the center of the room, looking to his son in concern and cautiously floating over to him.

“Oh… you’re back… Um, I made some food, if you want…”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Oh…” Napstablook faded slightly for a moment, then rematerialized. “Umm, is there anything else you want? I can-”

“I want her back.” The words were soft, and Napstablook floated a little closer to Kid, stopping just within arm’s reach.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear-”

“I want her back!” Kid shouted, causing the little ghost to flinch back in alarm. Kid whirled around to face the wall and slammed his head against it as hard as he could.

“It’s not fair!” He continued bashing at the wall with his skull, each impact punctuating a word. “It’s! Not! Fair! It’s not… it’s…”

As quickly as the sudden burst of anger had come, it was gone, and Kid crumpled to the floor, twisting slightly as he fell so he was lying on his side, rather than on his face. His body began to shake uncontrollably, and finally, finally, the tears came. It was as if a dam had been broken, and wetness ran down his face in streams as he sobbed brokenly into the carpet.

Napstablook hesitated, not sure what he could do, but knowing that he couldn’t leave Kid alone like this. After a moment, he floated close to the boy, settling himself down right next to him.

“Why?” Kid choked out between sobs. “Why did she have to die? Why did she have to leave me?”

“Oh, Kid…”

“I… I love her, Dad! And it hurts so much and… and... “ The weeping reptile curled up on himself. “What do I do now? We were supposed to be together! It wasn’t supposed to be like this!”

Napstablook’s own eyes welled up in grief and sympathy, his soul wrenching in response to Kid’s distress. He had no words for him… what could he even say? So the ghost did the one thing he could.

He reached out with his magic, encompassing his son in a warm, soothing embrace. He did not stop the flow of magic until it completely enveloped Kid. Then he took a deep breath, and let his own emotions filter through, surrounding Kid in his sympathy, his acceptance, his love. He could not reassure him that everything would be alright, but he could at least show him that he would not be alone.

Long after Kid had stopped crying, they remained like that, father and son together on the floor. And not once did Napstablook relinquish his magic, no matter how long it took. He would always be there for Kid.

Chapter Text

Frisk closed his phone with a snap, then pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply in an attempt to calm himself down. How had Chara dealt with these guys? Ever since he’d re-taken his role as ambassador, he felt like he was completely swarmed in politicians and diplomats, each with their own agenda.

Not to mention that now, with the Beasts roaming around the countryside, things were less stable than ever before. There were many who were happy to call this proof of the “darker side of Monsters,” despite the fact that Monsters were the ones taking charge in eliminating those creatures before they could hurt anyone!

Frisk sat down on the couch with a weary sigh. He had to try and stay positive somehow. It was hard enough to keep his mother happy without him focusing on the gloom and doom. And with Toriel getting further along in her pregnancy, they couldn’t afford her emotions to affect the child’s birth. If they lost the baby… Frisk suppressed a shudder. No, he couldn’t even consider that.

He heard soft footsteps upstairs, heading towards the stairway and took a deep breath, forcing a smile onto his face. He had to stay strong for Mom. It shouldn’t be too hard, right? After all, he was used to hiding behind a smile.

The slightly forced grin quickly disappeared when the phone rang again though. He groaned and reluctantly reached for the object, pulling it up to his ear.

“Hello? Yes, this is Frisk…”

---

Kid took long strides down the sidewalk, a bouquet of roses clenched tightly in his teeth. His feet crunched on packed snow, his claws leaving little marks in it. Not that he was paying attention to such things.

He adjusted his shoulders to accommodate the weight of the satchel he wore, being careful not to adjust it too far for fear it would slide off his armless torso. He didn’t want to deal with that, especially since said satchel was heavier than usual.

A few minutes later, his visor vibrated softly. Kid glared in response. Who was trying to contact him now, of all times?

The reptile grumbled, but checked his interface, relieved to see that it had only been a text. From Frisk, apparently. Curious, he opened it.

-Hey, Kid. Your drama club teacher called me, said he couldn’t get into contact with you. You’re supposed to be over there right now.-

Kid gave a slightly frustrated sigh, then went about replying.

-Todays Wednesday-

-Yeah, so?- came the swift reply.

Kid waited for a moment, not slowing his pace. Finally Frisk sent another message.

-Oh, right. I can’t believe I forgot about that.-

-Me niether-

-Sorry, Kman. Look, I’ll talk to the guy, make sure he doesn’t get upset with yuo for missing today. I’m sure he’ll be understanding. -

The reptile smiled.

-thanks Frisk-

-Hey, Ive been talking to politicians all day. A Drama teacher’s gonna be a refreshing break. And uh, say hi to her for me, k?-

-K-

Kid shook his head and set his visor so that no one else would be able to call him, at least until this was over. He should have done that in the first place… but he had been preoccupied.

Snow started to fall gently from the sky, and the reptile shivered… though it wasn’t from the cold. He lowered his head to stare at the white sprinkling of snow around him, losing himself in memory.

Fortunately for him, he’d memorized this path in the last two months, and even with his thoughts occupied, he still made it to his destination without much trouble. His magic pulsed within him and he took a few shaky breaths to try and calm himself before he hesitantly looked up.

Before him was an iron fence, long metal bars stretching out of the ground, each sharpened into a spike. Other bars bent and twisted around the upright ones in intricate patterns. A little to his left was the entrance, which he headed to. It was the only part of the place not protected by fence. There wasn’t even a gate here.

Upon entering, Kid found himself looking over rows and rows of graves, some old, some new. All were fairly well maintained, though it was hard to tell with the fresh covering of snow.

He wasn’t interested in most of them though. His feet followed the familiar path through the grounds, until he came across one set slightly away from the rest. It was this one that he slowly seated himself at.

He didn’t look at the headstone. He didn’t need to. The words written upon it would forever be etched into his mind.

“Chara Dreemurr. Taken from us too soon.”

Kid’s memory of the funeral and the time before it was fuzzy at best. The most he remembered was that it had been a bright, sunny day, and he had been furious about it. How could the world just… go on like nothing had changed, while a piece of his soul was lowered into the ground?

Chara hadn’t left dust… and what was left of her chassis was still around, so they’d buried her in the Human fashion. Kid wondered if she’d have approved of the decision.

After a moment, he let out a sigh, and then leaned forward, gently placing the flowers on her grave.

“Hey…” he murmured. “I was afraid I was gonna be late today.” He checked the time on his interface. “Looks like I made it, though. Didn’t want to keep you waiting.”

He shifted himself into a more comfortable position, using his tail to keep himself upright.

“At least Dad and I managed to find more of those chocolate roses…” Kid’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Remember when I found those for the first time, and you thought I just got you fake flowers? Man, the look on your face…”

The reptile gave a quiet hum, his eyes narrowing in thought.

“Well, a lot’s happened since last week. Metta-” Kid stopped and corrected himself. “Uncle Mettaton came back out here. Apparently he finished the acting parts for his big movie really fast, and then flew down here in secret. He lives next door to us now.

“He comes over a lot. He dresses up funny to, so people don’t recognise him. He’s been trying to help out me and Dad.” The teen shrugged. “Dad seems to like having him around, so that’s cool.

“Sans left a couple days ago again. He’s gonna go hunt more of those…” clawed feet dug into the snow and dirt beneath it. “Things. With the Canine Unit. Apparently there’s a bunch of them up somewhere north of here.” Kid sighed. “Don’t worry… I didn’t ask to come along this time. I already know what he’d say.”

The boy looked up to the cloudy sky, watching snowflakes tumble lazily towards the ground, gently propelled by the light wind that had picked up.

“At least there haven’t been any more attacks here since last month. But even so… Undyne’s still got the curfew enforced, and there’s a lot more of her people around than I remember seeing before. I guess she’s just making sure that… that no one else gets hurt.

“What else? Well… I don’t think your mom has left the house since she took her maternity leave off from the school. That’s what Frisk said, anyways. I don’t really see him much either though. Apparently he’s really busy these days.”

Kid fell silent, closing his eyes and paying attention to the sensation of the flakes melting against his warm scales.

“You know…” he said at last. “I started looking into… some things. Monsters… don’t really have any stories about what happens after you die. I spent some time looking, and there’s nothing. But… Humans have a bunch of em. All different kinds, all different ways. I’ve been looking into it, and it’s… it’s pretty interesting.

“I know you’re not Human… but you’re not a Monster either, so… I thought I’d look and see. But most of them… I dunno. I figured you’d just find them boring. I couldn’t really find anything that really fit you, you know?

“But then… I found this one book. It was called “Norse Myths and Legends.” I read all the way through it, and it sounded just like you. Valhalla, where the warriors go to fight all day and feast all night. I think you’d fit in really well with the Valkyries.”

Kid opened his eyes and looked back up to the skies.

“Is that where you are?” he whispered, his voice beginning to tremble and treacherous tears filling his eyes. “Eating and drinking and living without a care in the world… while the rest of us are down here, and have to find a way to keep going on?”

He couldn’t do anything about the tears that started to trickle down his face, but he tried to get his wavering voice under control.

“I talked to Alphys,” he confessed. “She… she said it’s hard to say cause I’m a… a hybrid Monster, but I could live to be three hundred, maybe more. Do you understand what that feels like?” The reptile choked back a sob.

“T-three hundred years… and I barely got you for one. A-and now, I… I have to live the rest of my life w-without…”

His voice trailed off and he started crying freely, the heat of his scales the only thing keeping the drops from freezing onto him. He remained that way for a while, unaware of the world around him.

At last, he sniffed and blinked his eyes dry.

“It’s hard,” he confessed. “It’s really hard, but… I’m gonna keep trying.” He lowered his neck and rested his muzzle briefly on the locket he still wore around his neck.

“You wouldn’t want me to give up, would you? You’d want me to keep fighting. Keep going forward. So that’s what I’m gonna do.” He let out a small sigh that was almost a whimper.

“I love you, Chara.” he whispered. “I’m always gonna love you. I don’t know if there is an afterlife, or if Monsters can have one, but I’m gonna hope… I’m gonna hope that at the end of all this, I’ll get to see you again. That’s really… all I ask.” He managed a smile. “And if you are up there, feasting at Odin’s table… save a seat for me, okay?”

The Monster stood and finally looked at the polished, smooth headstone belonging to the love of his life for a moment. Then he turned and began walking away. He’d only gone a few steps however, when he stopped, a sudden realization hitting him. He let out a small laugh, though there was no humour in it.

“It’s funny how things repeat themselves, isn’t it? First I lost the family I had…” He began walking again, his final words a whisper barely audible, even to himself.

“And then the one I wanted.”

Chapter Text

Fading sunlight swept across the forest, tinting the snow pink and gold as the sun set behind the horizon. Snow-clad trees glistened, stirring softly in the light wind that caressed every bough as though it was a long lost lover, finally come home. A nightingale perched on the boughs of an oak tree, lifting it’s voice into song.

For a moment, all was peace and beauty.

Then, from the direction of the dense forest to the north, there was a sudden blast of noise, causing every bird for miles in any direction to take flight in panic. The sound was loud and untamed, but if one listened closely, it almost sounded like someone… barking?

“Borf!”

A blast of sonic energy emitted from Greater Dog’s maw, sending a cluster of smaller Beasts flying back. Some slammed into trees, shaking them hard enough that the snow resting atop their boughs dumped unceremoniously onto the nightmarish creatures. Others came to a stop on the ground, disoriented and hissing in protest.

“Greater!” Dogaressa commanded, blocking an attack centred on her husband and kicking the offending Beast away with a squeal. “Doggo needs assistance!”

The heavily armored dog barked his affirmative, then lumbered over to where Doggo was busy trying defend himself against two of the Human-sized Beasts that were pushing him back step by step. The black-and-white furred dog already sported a few nasty cuts and was breathing heavily under the assault.

Greater Dog leapt to his comrade’s defence, his golem armor battered and scratched already from the fight. Still, he seemed eager to plow into the attacking Beasts, diverting their attention from his friend.

Dogaressa’s eyes narrowed, and she quickly swept the scene around them, even as her axe sunk deep into one of the smaller Beasts, rending it to dust. Lesser Dog was energetically holding off several Beasts, nimbly dodging around the trees to avoid their attacks and yipping excitedly to keep their attention.

But this place was swarming with Beasts. Most of them were the smaller ones, sure, and there weren’t any of the really big ones, but even so. They were starting to get overwhelmed, and Sans… he was nowhere to be seen.

“Dogamy,” she murmured to her husband. “We can’t stay split up like this, we’re going to get overwhelmed.”

“You’re right,” her soulmate agreed, cutting down another Beast. “What are your orders, captain?”

“We’ll send out a couple of joint attacks, catch these Beasts off guard. Then, you take Doggo and Greater, and I’ll handle Lesser. Bring them back here, to the centre.”

“Understood.”

Both of the dogs took a paw off their weapons and clasped their hands together, allowing magic to flow forth. They knew each other’s strengths and limitations, and complemented them with their own.

“Now!”

Once, twice, three times they unleashed their magic attack, a spinning circle made up of heart-shaped energy. Each was fired in a different direction, momentarily slowing the Beasts swarming the rest of the Unit.

As soon as the last attack was finished, Dogaressa released her husband's hand and charged over to where Lesser Dog had been forced to resort to defending himself with his shield against the onslaught. Even though the supporting attack had impacted the Beasts assaulting him, he was beginning to tire and was slowly being pushed back.

His ears perked as Dogaressa charged in with a roar, swinging her weapon in a wide arc. She cleaved two of the smaller Beasts in twain, sending them to dust.

Lesser’s energy seemed renewed at her appearance, and he started fighting more on the offensive again, though he still seemed more inclined to hide behind his shield than usual.

Focusing on his energy, Dogaressa gritted her teeth. He had taken quite a beating already, he wasn’t going to be able to take much more.

“Lesser, come with me,” she ordered. “We’re falling back to the others.”

Her subordinate yipped in grateful agreement, and obeyed, stepping back and letting her take up the brunt of the Beasts rage. The creatures shrieked and clawed angrily at them, but the canines were able to slowly make their way backwards, keeping on the defensive while their enemies tried to break through.

“Dogamy!” Dogerassa called, dodging a swipe and blocking another Beast’s attempt to bite her with her axe.

“Here!” her husband called from behind, though she dared not take her eyes off her foes. “We’re coming for you, love! Just hold tight!”

There was a loud barking sound as Greater Dog voiced his agreement, and Dogaressa couldn’t help the smile the spread across her muzzle. They were such good people, her Unit. There was no-one else she’d rather have by her side in a fight.

In moments, the group was together again. Dogaressa felt her husband relax upon being at her side again. Now, the Unit fought together against the Beasts swarming the clearing.

But even so… they were still being overwhelmed.

Doggo yelped and sank to one knee as a claw tore across his chest. He was panting heavily now, and trying to keep from whimpering in pain. Once again, Greater Dog pulled him back into the centre of the circle, taking the next blow that had been meant for his friend and barking furiously at the attackers, the blast sending them staggering back.

But even Greater Dog’s armor was looking worse for wear, and each of the Unit sported their own wounds. They were beginning to slow down, and the Beasts seemed to recognize that, increasing their assault with howls and keening wails.

Suddenly, there was a huge beam of white light, and an entire group of Beasts crumbled to dust before they had time to even loose a cry. Bones shot out of the ground and from the air, impaling the survivors who died with angry shrieks. And just like that, the battle was over.

Dogaressa panted, trying to regain her composure while a ragged cheer rose from the rest at the timely arrival of their savior. However, once she was no longer gasping for air, she glared around, searching for Sans before spotting him in one of the trees, standing on a branch and leaning against the trunk.

“Where the hell were you?!” she demanded, resting her axe on her shoulder. “You were only supposed to be gone for a few minutes! We nearly got overwhelmed here!”

“Sorry, I got delayed,” Sans explained, teleporting out of the tree and appearing in front of the fuming canine. The others of the Unit had started backing away, but Dogaressa didn’t notice.

“You can teleport!” the woman pushed her hood off her head and glared at the small skeleton, her claws kneading the snow beneath her feet. “You couldn’t come back and check before now? Nothing can stop you from getting somewhere unless you want it to! What-”

“There’s another of the big ones.” Sans interrupted. His voice was low, but it stopped the angry Canine in her tracks.

“Another of the…”

Sans nodded grimly. “I didn’t see it myself. But even a swarm of Beasts can’t cause the destruction I’ve been seeing around here. It went straight through a campsite too. I spent the last half-hour getting survivors to the nearest town.”

Dogaressa deflated slightly.

“Oh.”

Sans gestured to the dust-strewn clearing.

“I didn’t realize there would be more Beasts around, they must have come in to fill the gaps after the big one left.” He focused his attention on the rest of the Unit, noting their wounds. “We can probably make it to a nicer clearing, there’s one just up ahead. Gonna need to rest for a bit after today, I think.”

Dogaressa nodded swiftly.

“Of course. We’re going to need to be at our full strength if we’re gonna take on one of the big ones.”

“Let’s just hope it’s not as bad as the one that attacked the city on day one,” Sans murmured while Greater Dog slung the wounded Doggo over his shoulders and the rest of the Unit got themselves ready to march again. “If it is, we’re gonna need backup.”

Dogaressa shuddered at the very idea, And Dogamy gave a low, comforting sound, coming up behind his wife and licking her ear.

“We’ll be fine, darling,” he murmured softly, and she sank back into him, grateful for his support. Lesser Dog yipped his agreement, plowing into the two for a hug. Dogaressa laughed quiety and let him in, giving a sigh of content.

The next several minutes were mostly quiet as the group trudged through the snow, taking comfort in each other’s presence in the battle’s aftermath. It wasn’t long until they reached the clearing Sans had talked about.

Upon reaching it, Lesser Dog promptly flopped himself down with a soft whine, burying his muzzle under the snow. Dogamy chuckled at the sight, reaching down to pat the canine’s armored shoulder for a moment.

“Don’t you want to take that armor off before you crash?”

The only answer was a tired yip, muffled by the snow. Dogaressa shook her head in amusement, then took a quick look around the clearing.

“Greater, could you clear out the snow on that side? I’d like somewhere relatively dry to sit on today.” She pointed in the direction she wanted, and Greater gave a quiet bark and lumbered over, his damaged armor squeaking and groaning in response to his movement.

“I’ll get what we need to get a fire going.” With that Sans vanished and the female Canine gave a half-hearted glare to where he had been.

“I can’t believe him,” she grumbled, going over to where Greater was setting Doggo down before getting to work.

“He’s certainly proven full of surprises.” Dogamy agreed, following close behind.

“I don’t like surprises.” the woman groused, kneeling beside Doggo and softening her gaze. “How are you feeling?”

Her subordinate grimaced and looked up to her.

“I'm holding together… I’d kill for a dog treat though.”

“We’ll get you one soon,” Dogaressa promised. “Just hold tight for now.” She raised her head and looked in Lesser’s direction. “Lesser, come over here, see what you can do about these wounds.”

The canine gave a pitiful whine but reluctantly complied. He slowly got up from the snow, shaking himself in an attempt to get rid of it before making his way over, leaving his sword and shield behind.

Dogaressa went to retrieve his equipment as her husband and Lesser got to work on their wounded comrade. Once again, the canine leader thanked her lucky stars that the two of them had shown at least some aptitude in healing magic.

----

“Look, I know I need you to move while I’m working on this, but could you not move the parts I’m fixing?”

Greater Dog gave a smug little yip at Doggo’s grumbling, rolling the shoulders of his golem armor while Doggo rested both paws on his chest. Magic seeped from the dog’s fingertips and into the metal.

Next to the crackling fire in the middle of the area that had been cleared out, Dogamy and Dogaressa snuggled close, wrapping their cloaks around each other to stay warm. Lesser Dog was lying nearby, curled up out of his armor next to the flames, his chest rising and falling gently with little breaths.

On the opposite side of them, Sans sat cross legged, staring silently into the fire. He hadn’t said a word since he’d gotten back.

“How’re the repairs coming, Doggo?” Dogamy asked, glancing up to the star-strewn sky above them for a moment before looking to where his friend worked. Doggo huffed, adjusting the position of the smoking dog treat in his mouth.

“Well, I ain’t exactly fully charged right now myself. At least I can keep him from squeaking whenever he moves, but I don’t think this thing’s gonna be able to survive another battle unless I can patch it up proper.”

“How long will that take?” Dogaressa’s voice was tinged in concern. “We need him on the front lines, Doggo.”

“Don’t think I don’t know that.” the husky grumbled. “It’ll take a day… maybe two to finish fixing up the armor. And that ain’t taking into account any extra enchantments you want on there.”

Dogaressa cursed under her breath. Dogamy gave a soft, sympathetic sound in response and hugged her a little tighter.

“Greater’s got powerful magic, even outside his armor,” Dogamy muttered.

“But not durability.” Dogaressa argued. “Face it, love. We can handle ourselves, but we need someone who can take the hits and keep attention off the rest of us. Especially against these things.”

“They do put up a lot more of a fight than the Humans we’ve been contracted against,” her husband agreed reluctantly.

Dogaressa sighed.

“Mercenary work has served us well, but we can’t afford to take chances. We still have a litter at home we need to come back to. It’s bad enough we’re out so much now with the Beasts… I feel like it’s been forever since we saw them last.”

Dogamy emitted a soft whine in agreement, closing his eyes and licking her between the ears gently.

“I wish Moonlight was here,” he murmured softly, and Dogaressa grunted quietly in agreement.

“Of all the times to go radio silent…”

“Still, at least we have Sans.” The male looked up to the skeleton, who didn’t appear to be listening, his sockets still glued on the flames. “At least with him around, we stand a chance even against the big ones.”

“Yeah…” Dogaressa still didn’t sound convinced, but she turned and nuzzled Dogamy’s neck affectionately. “I just hope all this gets finished soon. When all this is over, we’ll take some time off. Spend time with the pups, see our friends. The world can go on without us being rescue dogs for a while.”

“Hmm, thinking of retiring?” Dogamy teased, grinning widely. Dogaressa snorted.

“You know me better than that, love.”

“I don’t know, it could be a nice idea. Spend all day lounging around with the pups, maybe take them down to the lake and let the River Person ferry them around for a while… leave the two of us to our own devices…”

Dogaressa smacked him lightly at that.

“You’re such a dog.”

Dogamy pulled his head back and stared at her for a moment, blinking in confusion. Then they both burst into laughter, their bodies both shaking with merriment.

“Gods, I love you,” Dogamy managed once he could breathe again. He nuzzled his wife gently, who gratefully reciprocated. “How did I ever manage to be lucky enough to end up with you?”

“As I recall, I didn’t give you much of a choice,” the woman replied smugly.

“Ah yes… what were the first words you said to me? ‘You’re cute, let’s snuggle?’”

“And then I dragged you off.” Dogaressa chuckled at the memory. “What can I say? You’re cute when you’re confused.”

“What, I’m not normally?” Dogamy gave his wife an exaggerated hurt look.

“Hmmm,” Dogaressa smiled and licked at her husband's face. “Come on, cutie. We should get some sleep, we have a lot of things to figure out tomorrow.

-----

Long after the canines had fallen asleep, Sans remained, staring at the fire. Thinking, listening and above all…

Remembering.

Chapter Text

“I don’t understand it,” Dogamy murmured worriedly to his wife, surveying the carnage around them. “We’ve been trying to track this thing for two weeks, how does it keep eluding us?”

Dogaressa let out a low growl, stepping over to where a tree had been cracked near the base, leaving a torn stump with the length of the tree only partially attached to one side. She shoved her muzzle in close, sniffing at the splintered wood before pulling back with another frustrated growl.

“Any luck?” Sans asked appearing behind the two, his slippers crunching the snow beneath his feet into a fine powder.

“No, this is exactly the same as the other sites,” Dogamy reported, glancing over to the others. Doggo was sitting in the middle of the recently made clearing, his ears perked and on high alert. Greater Dog and Lesser Dog were attempting to tidy the area. Greater Dog dragged fallen trees and larger branches into a neat pile, barking excitedly at this oversized game of fetch. In the meantime, Lesser Dog was burying the animal corpses they had found under large piles of snow, his usual excitement tempered slightly by this more grim task.

“At least there weren’t any Human casualties this time,” Dogaressa muttered. “There were no signs it ate any of the animals though, just slaughtered them and moved on.

“No tracks moving to and from the site,” Sans murmured, rubbing his head. “Just an isolated patch of carnage… just like all the rest?”

The couple nodded, And Sans’s sockets narrowed, making his permanent smile seem more like a grimace.

“With the amount of destruction this thing has caused... we’re going to need to step up our game. Clearly, this isn’t your ordinary everyday Beast.”

“Agreed,” Dogamy said quietly, while Dogaressa gave Sans a suspicious glance.

“You have some ideas on that already don’t you?” she accused. Sans nodded slowly in response. “Then spit it out Sans, we need to have some idea of what we’re dealing with.”

Sans was silent for a few moments, and just as Dogaressa was about to to berate him again, he finally spoke.

“It could be something different than what we’ve fought so far. Something smarter, more cunning. Something that’s deliberately hiding it’s trail… maybe from us, or maybe it’s just cautious.”

“Doesn’t sound like the Beasts we’ve faced so far,” Dogamy mentioned, shifting his axe to his shoulder.

“No, it doesn’t.” Sans agreed. “But we don’t know enough about the world these things came from to say for sure. Who’s to say there aren’t smarter Beasts? Or maybe this thing is something different. Either way, we can’t discount that possibility altogether.”

The skeleton hesitated for a moment. “Though… I don’t think that’s the most likely scenario.”

“What do you mean?”

Sans pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Dogaressa, who unfolded it and took a look, her husband glancing over her shoulder.

“I’ve made a bit of a map,” Sans explained. “That shows all the places we’ve found these sites. What does it tell you?”

Dogaressa peered intently at the thing.

“It’s like… the sites are all in a… in a circle…”

“Around Mt. Ebott.” Dogamy realized. Sans nodded grimly.

“Are you suggesting what I think you are?” Dogaressa asked, looking up. “That there’s a Beast that’s made it’s lair on the mountain, and this area is… it’s territory?”

“But that still doesn’t explain why we haven’t been able to track it,” Dogamy pointed out. “None of the other Beasts have given us any trouble following them, and especially if this one is strong enough to cause this much damage, how does that make sense?”

“Walking is not the only way to get around.”

“You think this one can fly.” the female canine stated after a moment. Another nod from the skeleton.

“That means we’ve been searching in the wrong spots this whole time,” Dogamy groaned, putting a paw over his face.

“Not to mention it’s going to be that much more difficult to catch it,” Dogaressa added, her brow furrowed deeply. “And it can get away at any time.”

“My soul effect may have something to say about that,” Sans put in. “Besides, so far these Beasts haven’t shown much interest in running away. Might actually be to our advantage if it keeps to the skies.”

“What do you mean?” Dogaressa questioned.

“Keeps it up in the air where I can take it on from a distance, without you guys having to worry about it too much. If it’s anything like the one that attacked on that first day…” Sans trailed off into silence, his hands clenching in his pockets.

“We’re going to need reinforcements.” Dogaressa stated, stepping back and resting against the broken tree. “My team’s not equipped to handle something like this.”

“It took all the best fighters we have to take down that first Beast,” Dogamy added. “We may be capable, but we’re not on that level.”

“Humans and smaller Beasts we can handle,” the white-furred woman agreed. “Not those monstrosities.”

“Then we’ll just scout it out for now,” Sans decided. “Once we know exactly what we’re dealing with, I can get Undyne and maybe some others to come over and help deal with this thing. Sound good?”

Dogamy glanced to his wife, who nodded slowly.

“I think that’s acceptable… we’ll have to be careful though, I don’t want to end up provoking that thing.”

“Right.” Sans looked up to the sky, his sockets narrowing briefly. “We should still have a few hours of daylight left, we can make it to the foot of the mountain if we hurry.”

----

Evening shadows fell across the snow as the group trudged towards Mt Ebott. Even after all these years, it was strange to be heading back towards the place they had been trapped so long.

Dogaressa gave a soft grumble, shifting her cloak around her. Her husband looked to her with a soft whine of concern, and got a tired smile in response.

“Don’t worry about me, love. I just don’t like this.”

“Don’t like what, exactly?” Dogamy asked softly.

“Where do I start?” Dogaressa scoffed. “It’s been a month since we were home to see the pups, we’re going to attempt to “scout” something that could be the most dangerous thing we’ve come across, and to top it off, I’m pretty sure our,” her eyes narrowed. “Glorious leader, Is looking for an excuse to take the thing on himself.”

Dogamy made a concerned sound and pressed into his wife, licking her muzzle.

“You’re not happy about Sans taking charge of this mission, are you?” he asked softly.

“No,” she growled, glaring at the short skeleton where he walked slightly ahead of the rest of the group. “This is my Unit!”

“And we’re all still yours, dear,” Dogamy soothed. “But we need Sans for this. You know we wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn’t for him.”

“I get that he’s powerful, and technically our leader,” Dogaressa groused. “But he goes off without warning, leaves for hours at a time… he could be anywhere and he refuses to give us anything more than basic information! We’re lucky we even have any idea where to go most of the time! It’s like he’s trying to get all this done himself, and we’re just along for the ride!”

Dogamy, reached out a hand and gently petted his wife’s head through the hood of her cloak. She still grumbled, but he could feel her relax slightly under his touch.

“It’ll be alright, love. We just-”

Up ahead there was a sudden crack and the now too familiar sound of Beasts screeching. Instantly, the Unit was on high alert, swiftly drawing weapons and looking out in the direction the sounds had come from.

“Let’s go!” Sans called out, taking off after the screeches, the canines hot on his heels. They ran through the thinning trees, the sounds of battle quickly growing louder as they approached.

Finally, the source came into sight. A tall man, standing at perhaps six feet and dressed from head to toe in jet-black plate armor, was fighting a small group of the Human-sized Beasts. A long tail, grey and plated like an armadillo's smacked one of the Beasts away. Them, the tip glowed, firing a short volley of energy blasts at another creature.

Huge wings made of some kind of teal energy adorned him, and he was using them both to to strike back at the approaching Beasts and defend himself against their attacks. The fangs and claws of the Beasts had no obvious effect on the man’s wings, not that that kept them from trying.

He appeared to be holding his own, and the group of Beasts seemed to be fairly small. Even so, the Unit still spread out to make sure there weren’t any more hiding nearby, while Sans himself went to help him clean up the Beasts.

Between the two, they made short work of the creatures and the canines returned to find them standing amidst the snow, blood and dust, facing each other. The armored man inclined his head to the skeleton.

“My thanks. It has been a while since I’ve seen a friendly face. Who are you?”

“The name’s Sans,” the short skeleton began. “And these-”

He cut himself off in surprise as, upon hearing his name, the other swiftly knelt before the skeleton, bowing so low his forehead nearly touched his knee.

“Lord Sans,” he said reverently. “Forgive me, I did not realize it was you.”

Sans was silent, and the canines looked at each other in confusion. Finally, the skeleton asked,

“Lord Sans?”

“We all know of your title as Judge,” the man’s tail twitched as he rose. “You, Undyne and Toriel now lead Monsterkind. As such, you deserve our respect and fealty.”

“Who’s we?”

“The Shifters. My name is Vigil. I aided in finding Frisk when he was taken by Overwatch.”

“Right… I remember hearing about that,” Sans spoke slowly. “That was you, huh?”

Vigil nodded his confirmation and Sans continued.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I’ve been looking into information I received when the prince was captured,” Vigil explained. “Recently I began to hear… rumours of Monsters going savage. Attacking cities and killing people. I couldn’t believe it, so I came to see for myself what was going on, thinking it was an Overwatch ploy. However…”

He gestured to the clearing around them.

“I’ve never seen anything like this, but it is certainly beyond the capabilities of Overwatch. Lord Sans, what is going on here?”

“It’s a long story,” the skeleton began, looking in the direction of the mountain. “And we have places to be. You’re welcome to tag along if you want… if you stop calling me ‘Lord’.”

Vigil nodded, the red light that was the only thing visible behind his visor strengthening for a moment before dimming again.

“Lead on, then.”

----

“And that’s basically it,” Sans informed the Shifter, who was sitting across the fire they’d set up for the night. “We’ve been hunting these things for a while now, trying to clean up the last of them before they can do any more damage. We’re on the trail of one right now, actually.”

Vigil was quiet, seeming to process what he had been told. His wings had been retracted back into his body about an hour ago, and his tail lay in the snow, twitching slightly.

“That is quite the tale,” he said at last, glancing over to where Dogamy and Dogaressa were snuggled together, their phones out and both of them watching a video Papyrus had sent them of himself playing with their puppies. Content smiles adorned their muzzles, and for the moment, they were oblivious to their surroundings.

“Of course,” he continued, looking back to Sans. “I am at your disposal. You are right, these Beasts need to be stopped as quickly as possible.”

“You took all that in pretty quick,” Sans murmured, keeping his gaze locked on Vigil. “Woulda thought you’d be a little more incredulous about the whole ‘other dimension’ thing.”

The Shifter tilted his head slightly in confusion.

“Why would I disbelieve you? You have no reason to lie to me now. Besides, as Judge, it is my duty to obey you.”

Sans’s sockets narrowed, but he made no comment, instead reaching out a hand and scratching Greater Dog between the ears. The canine gave a contented sigh, curling up a little tighter in the lap of his golem armor.

“I am… sorry to hear of the princess’s death.” the Shifter spoke quietly, resting a hand on the the earth where the snow had melted from the heat of the fire. “She deserved a better end than that.”

“Yes.” Sans replied, his gaze drawn to the flames for a moment. “She did.”

“You mentioned before you were on the trail of another Beast?” Vigil asked after a moment.

“Yes,” Sans confirmed, looking back. “I think it’s made it’s lair somewhere up on the mountain. Might be a bird or something similar, given what we’ve learned about it so far. Might be a tough fight. We’ve not seen it, but the destruction it’s left behind has been worrisome.”

“Well, if it can take to the air, then I can fight it on it’s own terms. I can try and force it down to the ground, or at the least, distract it to give the rest of you a better chance at it.”

“I’ll admit, we can probably use the help. This thing won’t go down easy, and I’d rather take it down before it causes more harm.”

“I understand. Perhaps we can come up with a battle plan then?”

Dogaressa’s head raised slightly, and she narrowed her eyes at the two.

“If there’s going to be any planning, I’d better not be left out,” she all but growled. Sans let out a quiet chuckle.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Let’s see if we can figure out the best way to approach this, huh?”

Chapter Text

Greater Dog barked quietly, gesturing the all-clear with a gauntleted hand. Quickly, the rest of the Unit came out of the cover of the trees, keeping a wary eye on the sky as they did so. The morning sun was shining brightly down and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky… and no sign of the Beast either.

“I hope we can find it’s lair before it finds us,” Dogamy murmured to his wife who nodded silently in agreement. “I don’t like how open the mountain is this high.”

“Just keep your eyes open,” Dogaressa instructed the group as a whole, keeping a firm grip on her axe as she lead the way. The rest of her Unit spread out in formation behind her. “So long as Sans and Vigil play their parts, we shouldn’t have much to worry about.”

Lesser Dog let out a worried whine. Doggo gave his companion a gentle pat on the shoulder.

“Now, now, none of that,” he assured. “We’re all gonna be fine. ‘Sides, I set you up with that shiny new enchantment, didn’t I?”

Lesser let out a quiet, happy bark at the reminder, brandishing his weapon to show off the flames flickering along the blade. Doggo grinned.

“See what I mean? Nothing to worry about.”

“Focus,” Dogaressa warned as the group reached a steeper part of the mountainside and slowed to a halt. Dogaressa weighed her options. On the one hand, heading straight up the slope would make it difficult to fend off an attack should the Beast find them. On the other, there were a few trees and caves above that would provide decent cover, and the alternative would be looping around through more open slopes.

“We’ll keep going up,” she decided after a few moments. “But move quickly, I want to be in those trees asap.”

There were a few quiet barks, and the Unit began ascending the slope as a team, giving helping hands to each other and carefully navigating the loose earth and stones while simultaneously trying to remain aware of the sky above.

Suddenly, Greater Dog’s ears perked and he barked a warning. As one, the Unit whipped up their heads to see, even as a terrifying screech sounded from above.

A massive bird, covered in dark brown feathers was hurtling towards them. It was closing fast, it’s massive wings somehow almost silent, even to the canine’s ears. It’s talons were outstretched, wicked points gleaming in the sun, matching the bloodthirsty glint in it’s eye.

“Move move move!” Dogaressa shouted, raising a hand to fire a bolt of energy at the approaching Beast. “Greater, hit it! We need to slow it down!”

Her subordinate turned to focus on the creature, trying to get a firm grip on the ground beneath him before sending out as big a blast of sonic energy as he could muster.

It didn’t so much as slow down the Beast. If anything, it’s speed increased. Before the canines could react, it had swooped in and carried Doggo off, one talon gripping each shoulder.

“Doggo!” Dogamy shouted, firing a few bolts of magic after the beast. Dogaressa grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t waste time! Keep moving before that thing takes someone else!”

“But-”

“Move!” Dogaressa all but shoved her husband up the slope, moving as fast as she could on the terrain. The others came with her, though there were whines of concern and a few brief glances over to where their comrade had been carried away.

Far above the ground, Doggo struggled in the grip of the huge bird. He had dropped one of his daggers when he’d been snatched, but he still held on to the other one in his left hand.

The Beast’s talons sank painfully deep into his shoulders and it took all the husky had to avoid whimpering in pain. Gripping the dagger as firmly as he could manage, he jerked it upward to sink it into the bird’s leg, while simultaneously turning his head to bite at the other one.

The Beast gave a pained squawk at the attack, it’s talons loosening for a moment. Suddenly, the canine’s ears flattened as he realized how high up he must be. With his limited vision hampering him, all he could see was the bird carrying him.

He pulled back his head, releasing the Beast’s leg. Talons gripped him even tighter and the bird adjusted it’s hold on him, causing him to grunt in pain. He had to wait till it landed somewhere, otherwise he would be nothing more than a stain on the ground for the rest of the Unit to find.

Wait… he squinted as something else showed up in his vision. Something was moving towards him… and his captor was changing its course to head towards it as well. The shape was familiar, it looked like…

A few bolts of yellow energy fired past, two missing the beast but the others impacting it straight in the chest. Vigil rose to the same level as the bird, his teal wings flapping quickly to keep him in the air. More energy gathered in the tip of his tail as he prepared another volley.

The Beast gave a shrill, defiant screech at the intrusion and swooped towards the Shifter, its claws still gripping Doggo tightly.

Vigil just had time to let loose his magic attack before the beast was on him. Each bolt hit the Beast square in the chest, but there was little obvious effect. He dodged up, bringing his wings down in a powerful stroke to propel him just out of reach of the creature’s wickedly curved beak.

But the Beast was fast. Even as Vigil evaded it, it was already angling itself for another attack. Even with it’s talons still occupied, it quickly had Vigil on the defensive. It slashed and stabbed at him with it’s beak and battered against him with its wings.

It quickly became apparent that, while Vigil seemed to be able to at least avoid most of the Beast’s attacks, he was not proficient in this kind of aerial combat. He tried to swoop in close to strike at the Beast with his tail, but was knocked aside almost effortlessly by a few wingbeats. He narrowly managed to avoid the deadly beak striking his shoulder. Unfortunately, his wings made a much larger target.

The point of the beak punched right through the wing, causing it to fizzle and fade, and Vigil to begin to fall with a cry. The Beast shrieked in triumph, but before it could dive after him, it’s cry turned to one of pain.

Knowing Vigil was his only hope of getting down safely, Doggo sank his teeth and dagger into the talon holding one shoulder, growling loudly as he did so, and trying to ignore his ragged shoulders.

As if only just remembering the canine was there, the great bird released it’s grip on him, intending to let him plummet as Vigil was doing now. But Doggo clung to the Beast’s foot as hard as he could, using his other paw to grip onto it.

Doggo tried to pay attention to the movements of the air around him, tried to predict when the Beast’s other foot would strike at him next. But even with that, he couldn't do anything when the claws raked deeps gashes across his back.

Doggo cried out in pain, and felt his grip slipping. He tried to hold on… but the pain was too much for him. He slipped, and began to fall.

Far below where the canine had begun to drop, Vigil had only just managed to re-conjure his wing before hitting the ground. He looked back up to see the canine’s fall, as well where the great bird was holding position, it’s piercing gaze locked on him.

The Shifter couldn’t afford to hesitate. Mustering all the strength he could, he flew like an arrow towards his compatriot, while keeping an eye on the Beast to determine where it would strike from. His tail writhed and thrashed behind him, cutting through the air as though it had a life of its own.

As soon as Vigil had begun moving, the bird beat its wings once, then twice. It dived for him, talons outstretched, it’s head lowered and a triumphant cry tearing from it’s throat. It quickly passed Vigil’s target, blocking his intended path.

The armored man let his magic gather in his tail once again, hoping he’d be able to distract the Beast to get around it. But before he had a chance to fire, the Beast’s body was infused with a blue aura. The look in it’s eyes changed from triumph to confusion, and then it suddenly rocketed towards the ground with a squawk.

The bird flapped it’s wings impotently, but the sudden change of gravity on it’s body was too much. All it managed to do was slow it’s fall a little before it heavily impacted the stony ground.

A few feet away from where it had made its crash landing stood Sans. One slippered foot was on a raised stone, and he was leaning forward, one hand clenched in a fist. The left side of his face was lit up by a blue glow emanating from that socket.

“Well, you’re a big one, aren’t you?” he murmured, raising his hand and causing the Beast to cry out in pain as bones impaled it from below, even as the aura suffusing it dissipated. “That’s okay though, I’ve seen bigger.”

The bones were gone as quickly as they had come, and the Beast gathered it’s legs under it to lunge at the skeleton… who wasn’t there anymore. It whirled in time to see him standing a ways behind it, four Gaster blasters locked into place above him, their attack charging. A moment later, beams of pure white light fired out, engulfing the Beast.

But even after the attack ended, the huge avian still stood, though now it looked much worse for wear. It’s feathers were torn and scorched, even gone in some places, revealing charred and raw flesh beneath.

It squawked, and tried to take to the air, only to be slammed back down to the earth.

“Uh-uh, I don’t think so, buddy.” Sans prepared a volley of bones, which he hurled at the Beast that was still struggling to get up. “You’re stuck down here with me.”

The bones impacted the creature, sinking deep into it's flesh. But suddenly, it lunged at Sans, lashing out at him with it’s beak again. Sans didn't even teleport this time, just dodged out of the way, even faster than the Beast itself.

Even as it turned again, another attack impacted it from the other side. Dogamy and Dogaressa had arrived, standing on an outcropping some distance away. Their hands were clasped and they send out another ring of energy at the Beast, both growling in unison. The rest of the Unit stood around them in defensive formation, even Doggo, though he was in the back, trying to keep the trembling from his legs.

The bird tried to go after them, but suddenly found a wall of bones in it’s face, preventing access. It turned back to Sans frantically, and was greeted by another volley from his blasters.

Before it had a chance to recover from Sans’s attack, there was a whistling sound from above and Vigil crashed down on top of it, smashing it down to the ground just as easily as Sans’s soul effect had. The armored man managed to keep his balance on the Beast’s back, using its neck as a support while he lashed out with his tail, impaling it’s side deeply with the appendage.

The bird shrieked and flapped it’s wings, trying to crane its neck around so it could get rid of the Shifter. He hung on though, relentlessly attacking him from above.

The Beast was so focused on the Shifter keeping it down that it didn’t see Greater and Lesser Dog sprinting over, going around Sans’s bone structure to flank it from the sides. Lesser was the first to strike, barking to grab its attention and jumping in to swipe at one side, the enchantment on his weapon causing the Beast’s feathers to smoulder.

On the other side, Greater leapt in with his spear, viciously attacking it with the weapon. The beast screeched and lashed out with wings, talons and beak, but it’s attacks were quickly becoming weaker as blood and dust began to stain it’s body. Finally, it gave out a final shriek and crumbled in on itself. Vigil barely had time to leap off onto solid ground before it was nothing more than a pile of blood and dust on the ground.

“You guys alright?” Sans asked, coming down from his elevated position to check on them. The two canines looked to him with happy barks, Lesser Dog’s tail wagging vigorously in victory.

“I will live,” Vigil murmured, wiping his tail off on the ground.

The skeleton nodded, then looked over, seeing Dogamy and Dogaressa bringing Doggo over to them. The husky was leaning heavily against Dogamy, his tongue lolling slightly out of his mouth.

“I need a dog treat…” he managed. Dogamy chuckled at that.

“And you shall have one, as soon as you’ve been looked over, at least. You did good out there.”

Doggo snorted.

“Sure, sure. I was a real contribution to the group. I wouldn’t be anything but a contribution to the ground if it weren’t for Vigil there,” he gestured in the general direction of the Shifter.

“I’m only glad I managed to catch you in time,” he replied. “It was cutting it close with the Beast nearly sending me to the ground and-”

He stopped as Doggo waved a paw.

“Don’t tell me how close I came to dying,” he grunted. “Just accept the thanks and be done with it.”

Vigil inclined his head after a moment. “Apologies,” he murmured. “I’m glad you’re still with us.

“We’re all glad of that.” Dogaressa spoke up. Then she looked to Sans. “Sans, we’re going to need a place to rest for a while, and I don’t want to risk some other Beasts coming in while we’re not ready for them.”

“I’m with you,” Sans agreed. “Fortunately, Beasts tend to be pretty territorial, right? That one should have kept the rest away. And we’re not that far from the entrance to the Underground…”

The Unit stiffened as one at that.

“You want us… to go back there?” Dogaressa asked incredulously. Greater Dog let out a little whimper.

“Just saying it’s a convenient spot. We don’t actually have to go inside, if you don’t want.”

“He does have a point,” Dogamy murmured. Dogaressa growled quietly, but relented after a moment.

“Fine. Let’s go then. I want this over with as soon as possible.”

Chapter Text

Kid raced across the grassy field, dodging and weaving between the people clad in bright colors that were between him and his target. He was focused, dimly aware of the shouting and calling around him, without being distracted by it.

One, big and burly, stood in his way, his body tensed to intercept the reptile whichever way he went. Kid grimaced in concentration and feinted left, then dashed to the right. The other wasn’t fooled by his trick though, and he dove after him.

He wasn’t fast enough. Just as he thought he had the armless Monster, Kid turned on a burst of speed and shot ahead, ducking and dodging around the others until he came to his goal.

One of the others had it, but some fancy footwork and the dew-soaked grass gave Kid easy access to what he desired, and soon he was speeding down the field like a shot, intent on his final destination. Only one thing stood in his way now.

He concentrated, dodging the others who tried to intercept him, then sent out a mighty kick.

The ball flew like a rocket, too fast for the goalie in his way to properly block. It sank into the net and bounced back a little, rolling forward past the defeated Human.

Kid gave him an apologetic smile, then turned, registering the cheering of the crowd on the stadium and his teammates crowding around him.

He managed a grin at their praise, but quickly found a way to excuse himself and trotted away towards where his coach stood at the edge of the field by the stands.

The older Human smiled down at him, reaching out and slapping a hand across his shoulders.

“Good work out there today,” he praised. “You were focused on the ball. I told you you could do great at this if you really tried.”

“I guess…” Kid murmured. “It’s kinda fun. Do you need anything else from me?”

The Human’s expression saddened, his face becoming more drawn. He shook his head slowly.

“Me? No. But someone did want to talk to you before you go home.”

Kid cocked his head curiously and looked around, wondering who it could possibly be. His coach gestured towards the stands and he turned. His magic pulsed quietly within him when he saw Toriel, now obviously pregnant, just getting off the stands and coming towards him.

He swallowed nervously, then made his way towards her so they could meet at the halfway point. Toriel smiled softly as he approached, and they stopped a few feet away from each other.

“Ummm, yo, uh… hi,” Kid managed awkwardly, shuffling his feet slightly.

“Hello,” came the soft reply, and Kid noted that despite the usual warmth in Toriel’s voice, it still seemed a little more tired and a little more sad than he remembered it being. With her appearance, it was easy to forget how old Toriel really was, but something in her voice and the way she was holding herself made it more obvious now.

“Um, yo I… I haven’t seen you in a while…” The reptile said, scrambling for something to say.

“Yes, I have been getting a lot of that today.” The Boss Monster chuckled in amusement. She began walking slowly and carefully, and Kid followed her after a moment, his eyes continuously drawn to her distended belly.

“I thought it would be good for me to get another breath of fresh air,” she explained. “The baby will be due in a few weeks, and I don’t see myself leaving the house much for that time.”

“I guess not… you’ve been home most of the time for a few months now, right?”

“Yes.” Toriel’s gaze swept over the playing field and up the mountain they had been imprisoned under. “Asgore has been hassling me to step outside now that it is spring. And I know our garden has never looked as luscious as it does now.” She shook her head fondly. “Perhaps he has a point.”

“Yeah…” Kid’s voice trailed off, and he he studied the ground beneath his feet, so he he didn’t see the glance Toriel gave him.

“Your father and uncle are both worried about you.”

Kid jerked his head up, blinking wide eyes at the Boss Monster. “Wha?”

Toriel just kept her gaze trained on him, making no sound other than the swish of her robes from the wind and the brushing of the grass against her fur.

Kid sighed and looked away for several long moments. Finally he asked quietly;

“Does it… does it ever stop hurting?”

He looked back as he asked that, and saw Toriel’s face morph into a sympathetic expression.

“No,” she admitted. “Not really. It just… changes. Becomes a dull ache that you learn to live with. But it never truly vanishes.”

Kid thought about that for a moment, his brow furrowing in concentration. At last he replied;

“I… I think that’s okay.”

Toriel nodded slowly as he continued.

“If it went away… all the way… then I might forget. I’d rather have it be this than let that ever happen.”

Toriel nodded, slowing her pace to a standstill and placing her hand on the reptile’s shoulder.

“She loved you very much, you know.” Her other hand reached out to gently brush the locket Chara had given him before everything had gone wrong. Kid closed his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the contact, the memories it evoked, or both.

“I know,” his voice was barely a whisper, and he could hardly keep it from breaking. Toriel’s hand squeezed his shoulder a little tighter though she kept her short claws from digging into him.

“I want you to know… how much good you did. Chara was hurting in a lot of ways, and she didn’t allow anyone to help her. But you soothed her. Calmed her. Brought her peace.”

“It wasn’t enough,” Kid managed, tears trickling down the side of his face. He bowed his head. “I should have done more, I didn’t understand what was happening until… until it was too late.”

A hand cupped his chin, raising his face to look Toriel square in the eyes.

“Do not blame yourself.”

Kid shook his head in her hold.

“When it all happened… I was excited,” he choked out. “I thought we’d get to show off Undyne and Chara to the other guys.” he managed a bitter snort. “I mean, what did I have to worry about? Nothing could happen to them, they were invincible.”

Toriel stooped slightly and pulled the unresisting Kid into a gentle hug.

“That does not make it your fault.”

“I just… I can’t stop feeling like I could have done something. I could have..” his voice trailed off and he sniffed, changing the subject. “Do you ever think about them? The other world, I mean.”

Toriel sighed, and was quiet for a few moments, thinking on the question before answering.

“Yes,” she said at last, finally releasing the boy. “Every once in awhile.”

“Do you… do you blame them? For…”

Toriel shook her head, her long, floppy ear swinging slightly with the motion.

“No. They are not to blame for what happened. It is not as though they wished the Beasts to come upon us.”

Kid mulled that over for a moment, then asked,

“Do you think we’ll see them again someday?”

“Perhaps,” Toriel replied, unconsciously caressing her stomach. “The Rift is still there, and anything could happen. Maybe one day… but not soon, I do not think.”

Kid couldn’t think of anything to say to that, so he just nodded, looking away. Toriel placed her hand on his shoulder once more, and quietly murmured;

“You must remember to take care of yourself, Kid. You are what was most precious to her. Honor her memory by keeping yourself.”

Kid swallowed. “Y… yeah.” he looked up to her. “Can you tell me about… what she was like? When you first met her, I mean.”

Toriel gave a little start, then let a bittersweet smile cross her features.

“I suppose we have time for a few stories,” she began to walk again, and when next she spoke, Kid paid full attention to her words.

----

“And… there.” Doggo sat back on his haunches to admire his handiwork. “That looks better, should even perform better now. How’s it feel?”

Vigil rotated his wrist, clenching and unclenching the fingers of the black gauntlet he wore.

“It feels good. Seems… lighter somehow. Stronger.”

“And no bloody wonder,” the canine grunted, his ears twitching in agitation. “I can’t believe that hodge-podge of magical metal held on for as long as it did.”

Vigil shrugged. “I have not before heard of a Shifter who possessed enchanting magic. We had to make do with what materials we had.”

“I keep telling ya, enchantment ain’t like base magic.” Doggo pulled a dog treat from his back pocket and stuck it in his mouth. With his other hand, he pulled a match out from behind his ear and struck it on a nearby stone, using it to light his treat.

“‘S a skill,” he continued, waving the match to put it out. “Technically, any Monster could learn it. Like healing, it doesn’t really have anything to do with your base magic. Though I guess it’s easier to make enchantments related to your base…”

The shifter shook his head, his tail reflexively curling behind him.

“That is… a difficult concept to wrap my head around,” he admitted. “For as long as I can remember, our ability to shift and our base magics were the only ones Shifters could use. Perhaps it was different before, or the skills were lost over the centuries. Or maybe my kind never possessed such potential.”

“Maybe.” Doggo gave Vigil a critical look. “I still think you should try it a bit more. Can’t always have me around to patch up that suit of yours.”

“Under normal circumstances, it rarely comes to harm,” Vigil muttered, but reluctantly nodded. “You are correct, however. Perhaps, when this is over…”

Vigil trailed off as raised voices approached the camp, and he and Doggo looked to where the sound was coming from. Instinctively, Vigil stood, his tail twitching, but he stilled as Doggo grabbed him by the wrist, gently pulling him back down.

“Probably best you don’t get involved.”

A moment later, Dogamy and Dogaressa appeared from behind a tree. Dogaressa was walking at a brisk pace, her feet all but punching holes into the dirt while Dogamy hurried behind her.

“Love, please-” he tried.

“Enough is enough, Dogamy!” the woman growled, her eyes narrowed and her hand tightly clenched around her axe. “It’s been ten days since we so much as heard a rumour of a Beast! And three months since we were home!”

“Dogaressa-”

“Our pups grow quickly, Dogamy. We already spend so much away from home with our work. I don’t want to miss out on them while we have them, do you?”

“Of course not,” Dogamy attempted to soothe. “And we won't, I’m sure Sans-”

“Do not bring him into this,” Dogaressa warned, the softness that had edged into her tone when discussing her pups melting away to anger. “He will go after every rumour and every vague sense he gets like he’s punishing himself. Well, why do we have to be involved? He’s strong enough to go on his own, and if he gets into trouble he can just teleport. We’ve more than done our part.”

“He is our leader,” Dogamy pointed out warily.

“Then he should start acting like one!” Dogaressa snapped. She strode hotly up to where Vigil and Doggo were.

“Where is he?” she demanded, looking between the two.

“I have not seen Lord Sans in two hours.” Dogaressa’s glare deepened at the emphasis on lord.

“Oh really?” she all but snarled. “And did our glorious leader happen to mention where he was going?”

“‘Course not,” Doggo put in quickly, before Vigil could reply. “When does he?”

“I thought as much. In that case, keep everything close at hand. If he’s not back in an hour, we’re leaving.”

“Leaving? Are there not more Beasts that need to be hunted down?” Vigil asked, rising. He was a good head taller than Dogaressa and she glared up at him.

“Maybe there are. But my Unit needs rest and recuperation. We’re wasting our time searching for them manually, we should wait until we hear something.”

“The only way we’d hear anything is if someone was to get attacked,” Vigil responded quietly, shifting his stance to subtly loom over the canine a bit more. “Is that what you want?”

“Don’t test my patience now, Vigil,” Dogaressa warned, her fur bristling.

“Our duty-” the Shifter began angrily,

“My duty is to make sure my family and my Unit are safe and secure,” Dogaressa cut him off sharply. “That is my priority, above all else.”

“What’s going on here?” The two arguers turned to see Sans standing a few feet away, hands deep in his hoodie pockets as he stared intently at them.

“Sans!” Dogaressa turned and took a few strides towards him, her fur still bristled. Dogamy followed close behind.

“Sans, this has gone on long enough!” The canine came to a halt just in front of the skeleton who watched her silently. “We’ve been out here for three months hunting these things down!”

“She does have a point,” Dogamy put a hand on his wife’s shoulder, momentarily pausing her angry tirade. “It’s been awhile since we’ve so much as heard anything new about the Beasts. Maybe they’ll pop up again, but if they do, we should be fully rested and prepared to deal with them.”

“Is this the general consensus?” Sans asked after a moment, flicking his gaze to Doggo and Vigil, then Greater and Lesser Dog who had gathered around during the commotion.

Doggo nodded, while Greater tilted his head with a quizzical “Borf?” and Lesser came to stand beside his captain as his answer.

“While I do not appreciate everything that has been stated here, Lord Sans,” Vigil started.

“Please stop calling me that.”

“It may be for the best to do as they say. I know you have grown… weary over this hunt. Taking time to rest may be beneficial to you all. Though if you wish to stay, I too will remain to aid you.”

“What do you have planned if we stop now?” Sans asked.

“I will resume my previous mission.” Vigil stated, coiling his tail around his waist. “I am closer to finding Overwatch’s headquarters than ever before, I am sure of it. But again, I will defer to your judgement on this.”

Sans snorted quietly at Vigil’s choice of words, then let out a long sigh.

“Maybe you’re right,” he murmured. “Maybe it is time we went home.” He locked his gaze on Dogaressa. “But if we hear about more Beasts around…”

“As long as we have at least a few days at home,” Dogaressa replied warily, surprised at how quickly Sans seemed to fold. “I think we can manage. There shouldn’t be many of them left… if there are any at all.”

“Alright then.” Sans rolled his shoulders under his hoodie for a moment. “Get ready to go, then. Might as well get as far as we can today.”

“Then I, too, shall take my leave,” Vigil stated as the canines dispersed. He planted a fist on his chest and gave a small bow. “It has been an honor. Perhaps we shall meet again someday.”

“I get the feeling we will.” Sans stated. “Keep me posted on the situation with Overwatch, will you? If you find their base… well, I wouldn’t mind taking a crack at it myself.”

The light behind Vigil’s visor brightened.

“As you command.”

With that, the Shifter let his wings appear and he quickly took to the skies, expertly dodging the treetops in his flight. Sans watched him go for a moment, then turned back to the remainder of the group who had gathered on the other side of the camp, already ready to go.

“Alright then,” Sans began walking nonchalantly towards them. “Time to go home.”

Chapter Text

“There there,” Papyrus soothed, gently patting the sobbing man in his hold. “Go ahead, let everything out.”

He took a brief glance around his pub, momentarily considering using his preferred “group hug” tactic, but decided against it. This seemed like more of a personal thing for the big, leather bound biker who was currently holding onto him like his life depended on it. He might not quite be ready for the full experience just yet.

It took a few minutes, but the crying Human settled down and his grip loosened, allowing Papyrus to pull back and look into the man’s face, his green eyes and russet beard wet with tears. The skeleton gave an encouraging grin.

“There! Doesn’t that feel better?”

The biker, who Papyrus knew as Doran, sniffed, and quickly swiped at his eyes with the back of a heavy hand before giving a quick nod. Papyrus put a hand on his shoulder in response.

“But of course! You’ve been holding all that in for a very long time, my friend! But The Great Papyrus is a place where all your burdens may be brought to rest!” the skeleton’s expression switched to one of concern as he adjusted the brown apron he wore with his free hand. “But you should really go back home to your wife and daughter! I’m sure they’re very worried about you!”

Doran took another deep, shaky breath, calming his trembling body a little before nodding again.

“I… I think you’re right.”

“Of course! The great Papyrus is always correct! But you should take one of these with you!” he reached under the bar and pulled out something that looked like a small mint which he handed to the Human.

“This should clean you up a bit! You don’t want to smell like booze when you make your joyful reunion, do you?”

Doran accepted it, popping it into his mouth in one fluid motion. The large man then looked Papyrus straight in the socket.

“Papyrus…” he paused for a moment, searching for the words, but finally settled with a simple; “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome!” Papyrus pulled the Human in for another quick hug, then gave him a light push on the shoulder.

“Go on then! You can do it!”

Doran gave a sharp nod, and headed out with long strides, going around the bar and heading for the saloon doors. He slowed slightly as some of the occupants started clapping and calling encouragement, but quickly picked up his pace, right until he reached the exit. There, he paused and looked back.

Papyrus grinned and gave him an encouraging wave. “Remember, I believe in you!”

Doran smiled in response, then he was gone.

The skeleton gave a contented sigh, turning and pulling a glass off the shelf and starting to clean it with one of the cloths he always had in his apron pockets. He put his elbows on the bar as he did so and looking around his establishment happily.

“I still have no idea how you pull that off,” Bill, a skinny fireman sitting at one of the tables close to the bar with three other Humans called, shaking his head in disbelief. “I thought he was gonna try and start a bar fight for a few moments there.”

“Nonsense!” the skeleton exclaimed. “He just needed a bit of a Papyrus boost, that’s all! A boost I am more than willing to give!”

“You always see nice in everyone,” Sherry, Bill’s girlfriend laughed. “No matter who they are!”

“That is because everyone is nice!” the skeleton explained. “Just sometimes they don’t know that yet! That is why Papyrus is here to show the way!”

“You’re really one of a kind, Papyrus.”

Papyrus was about to reply to the bunny Monster who had spoken when suddenly, he felt a familiar presence. One he had not felt in a long time.

Everything else temporarily forgotten, he turned eagerly to the entrance to the pub. Sure enough, just a moment later, Sans stepped through.

“Brother!” Papyrus vaulted over the bar and raced to the shorter skeleton, kneeling down and wrapping his arms around him. “You haven’t called or texted in two days! I was worried about you!”

“Sorry about that Paps.” Sans returned the hug, patting his brother’s shirt-covered back gently. “Got hit by a storm on the way back, lost cell phone coverage for a bit there.”

“I haven’t seen you for three months!” Papyrus berated. “Did you really need to be gone that long?”

“We had some rough spots out there, Paps. If we have to go out again though, I promise not to take that long.”

“You might have to leave again?” Papyrus pulled back a little so he could look his brother skull-on. Sans nodded in response.

“Don’t know for certain yet. But I’m back for now. And I’ll be sticking around for a bit, so…”

“You had better,” Papyrus grumbled. “I worry about you when I’m not around to look after you, you know.”

“I know. Speaking of looking after, how about you set me up with a drink?”

“Do you even need to ask, brother?” Papyrus stood, striding quickly back to the bar, Sans just behind him. “What would you like?”

“The usual, I think.” Sans sat himself in one of the barstools, resting his elbows gently on the wooden surface and staring blankly into space.

“Coming right up!” Papyrus crouched down, checking the bottles he kept below the bar. After a moment, he pulled out a bottle of spiced rum and set it gently before his brother who grabbed it without looking, opened it, and proceeded to drain half its contents.

His mouth never moved. It never did, always fixed in it’s permanent smile. As the contents touched his teeth however, they dissolved into pure magical energy which slipped through the thin spaces between his teeth.

Sans put down the half empty bottle.

“Could’ya get another one ready for me?” he asked quietly.

Papyrus’s sockets narrowed in concern, but he did as he was bid. There was definitely something bothering Sans, but at least he hadn’t ordered what the regulars had dubbed the “Sans Special”, a mix of several potent alcohols that Sans had created for those really bad times.

“So, why don’t you tell me what’s been going on down here while I’ve been gone?” Sans asked, taking another long swig from his bottle.

“Well, I have been very busy! Lots of people come in this time of year,” Papyrus began, setting his brother’s next drink beside him. “I even hired a new bartender!”

“Oh?”

“Emerald, she’s a green fire elemental! She’s been doing a very good job, though she still has some difficulty opening up to the customers. Even so, I’m very pleased with her progress, and it gives me more time to visit my friends!”

“I see…” Sans pushed his first bottle away, and pulled up the second one. He didn’t drain this one right away though, seeming content to just hold onto it as he listened to his brother. “How’s Toriel?”

“I’m not actually sure,” Papyrus mused. “I haven’t seen her in quite a while. I don’t think she’s left home in the last week. Not that she was going out very much before, but. The baby is due any day now, so I think they’re getting ready for that. I haven’t really seen Asgore or Frisk in a while either…”

“It’ll be good for them to have their child,” Sans murmured quietly, uncorking the bottle and taking a small sip of the contents.

“I agree! And it will be good to have another little friend running around!” Papyrus pulled out another glass to clean, watching his brother nurse his drink. “Also, I have decided to go through the Rift to visit our friends on the other side!”

Sans nearly choked on his drink, barely managing to keep from spilling the bottle. He looked incredulously at the other skeleton.

“What!?!”

“Well, Lady Toriel says we should wait until they’re ready to come through again,” Papyrus explained, apparently oblivious to his brother’s reaction. “But it’s been a very long time! They must have forgotten, or perhaps something has happened over there!”

“No, Papyrus. You… you can’t.”

“Why not?” Papyrus looked in confusion at his brother. “Did something happen to the Rift again?”

“No…” Sans rubbed at his skull. “Paps, they’re not coming back. And we can’t go over there either.”

“Why?”

“It’s too dangerous. This Rift, the ability to access other worlds… this isn’t something that should exist. We don’t belong there, they don’t belong here. It’s as simple as that.”

“Well that’s just silly!” Papyrus exclaimed. “We were going to help them, remember? We can’t do that if we’re all the way over here!”

“Paps…”

“Trust me, brother, it’ll all work out! The great Papyrus is never wrong!”

“I told them not to come back.”

Papyrus stopped, and looked at Sans in confusion.

“What?”

“I told them.” Sans repeated quietly. “Their Frisk, anyways. I told them to never come back.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Chara died!” Sans looked up to his brother, his left eye blazing blue. “It wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for those creatures from the other side! Everything that happened that day confirmed that interdimensional travel should not be possible for a reason.”

“Sans, you can’t blame them for what happened,” Papyrus argued. “It wasn’t their fault!”

“I know,” Sans murmured, the blue in his eye fading as quickly as it had come. “Maybe I was too harsh with them. But that doesn’t change the fact; we need to keep the Rift closed off. I can’t…” he trailed off for a moment, then continued. “I can’t lose anyone else.”

“Sans-” Papyrus was cut off as his brother’s hand shot out and grabbed him by the wrist.

“Promise me,” Sans’s voice was filled with desperation. “Papyrus, please promise me you won’t ever go out there. Please… I can’t… I can’t lose you.”

Papyrus almost thought he heard Sans whisper “not again” but that didn’t make any sense, so he chose to ignore it. He looked into his brother’s pleading face, and relented.

“I still think you’re being very silly, Sans,” he informed his brother, putting his other hand atop the one clasping his wrist. “But if it’s that important to you, then I’ll stay here. At least until they come through again and prove how silly you’re being right now!”

The shorter skeleton breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Paps.”

Papyrus rubbed the top of his brother’s skull affectionately.

“That’s what big brothers are for, isn’t it?” Sans gave a quiet chuckle at that, then took another sip of his drink.

“Hey!” The brothers looked up, Sans turning on the stool to see Undyne striding in with a big grin on her face, still in her officer’s uniform. “What’s going on here, nerds?”

“Undyne,” Sans acknowledged, raising his drink at her. “How’re things on your front?

“You talking about the Beasts?” the fish-woman settled on the stool next to Sans. “No sign for the last month. Even before that it was just a couple minor incidents.” She flicked her eye at Papyrus for a moment. “So, uh… you finished your work out there then?”

Sans nodded, his grin turning grateful at Undyne’s tact around his brother.

“Maybe. We didn’t find any more trouble for the last couple weeks at least… and we were looking. Keep an eye out, but I don’t think we need to be on high alert all the time anymore at least.”

Undyne heaved a relieved sigh. “Good to hear. Maybe now Alphys can stop jumping at shadows all the time.” A fond smile played about her lips. “You think I’m protective, you should seen how she’s been about Alexander the past while.”

“I bet his adventurous nature doesn’t help that much.”

“Not really. Actually that reminds me, Alphys really needs a chance to get out of the house, and now that we’re not on red alert all the time I actually have some time to spare. I was thinking of taking her somewhere nice in a couple days, and I need someone to look after the squirt. Usually I’d just get Toriel and Asgore, but…”

“They’re busy with their own child,” Sans finished. Undyne nodded in response.

“Well, I think Sans should do it!” Papyrus cut in suddenly. Sans started and looked to his brother.

“Come again?”

“Well, you’ve been gone for quite a while! And I think it’s time to put all your new experiences calming down the Beasts to the test! If you can take care of little Alexander, then nothing can faze you!”

“I thought you would have been all over this, Pap. Something come up?” Undyne asked, shifting on her stool.

“Not at all! But I will always have time to spend around the little ones, it is past time Sans got his opportunity.” Papyrus tapped the bar for emphasis, grinning widely at the other two Monsters.

Undyne turned to look at Sans questioningly. After a moment, he shrugged.

“Why not? Can’t be harder than what I’ve been doing, right?”

“Don’t underestimate him,” Undyne warned, amusement in her tone. “But hey, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Just lock him in his crib if he gets out of hand. He can’t break out of that! Yet…”

As Undyne and Sans began planning, Papyrus felt a warm sensation wash over him from the familiar presence in the back of his mind.

Thank you, Papyrus.

Well, it was a good idea! The tall skeleton replied mentally. He certainly seems under a lot of pressure, and being around small ones always helps with pressure! Maybe this will help him understand that he’s wrong about the Rift!

He is stubborn, the warm voice chuckled. But in time, I believe he will come around.

I hope so! I am missing out on much great friend-making potential with the Rift closed! And I am worried about the tiny Frisk… they seemed to be in great need of more Papyrus affection!

Something anyone could use more of, the voice murmured. But you are right. They just need to be in a place where they can receive it.

Well, that place is certainly not on the other side! Worry not, Dad! I will make certain that they are safe and accepting of all the love and attention that the great Papyrus can muster!

From where he stood in the Place Between, Gaster smiled.

I know you will, Papyrus. I know you will.

Chapter Text

“Now,” Mettaton started. “You just need to put the casing back in place,”

“Right,” Felix replied, stooping a little, double checking the wires to make sure they were all right. After everyone had returned last night, most had gone home to rest and grieve from the incident. Frisk had come back stone silent from the rift, not making a single sound, not even to Rex, as they hurried home, and sealed themselves away.

“You know, repairs were not what I had in mind when I woke up this morning.” The cat shook his head. “Boss, you could go outside without getting damaged you know,” he said in a gruff, but somewhat joking manner.

“But then you wouldn’t get overtime pay,” Mettaton pointed out. “And then I still wouldn’t be calling you by your real name.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “I make one stupid mistake, and it tries to haunt me for the rest of my life…but yeah, at least there’s overtime for patching you back up. Even if you have to walk me through every step.”

“I’d ask Blooky, but…”

Felix’s ears drooped, he glanced to the bed beside them where the ghost slept. “…how are they?”

Mettaton sighed. “Better, but barely. Their magic is slowly replenishing, but if they do anything at all, they lose more than they gain. If they were a regular Monster, I could properly donate blue magic to them, but…”

“Ghost monsters can’t accept magic donations that aren’t purely of their own,” Felix clarified.

“You did read that book,” Mettaton observed.

“This beats flipping hamburgers; of course I read the book.”

Mettaton nodded. “But you’re right…Blooky has to regain the magic on their own…unless I can figure out how to reverse that weapon. It still has their magic in it, if I could reverse it…” Felix gave a hum to assure he heard as he slid the casing back into place, fastening it carefully back in. “Unfortunately,” the robot started. “That has to be put on the back burner.”

“Because of those beast monsters you mentioned on the phone briefly? You know, I still have no clue what’s going on.”

“When things settle, I promise to explain in detail,” Mettaton assured. “Let’s just say you certainly missed out on your vacation days.”

“Of course,” the feline muttered. “The time I choose to take a break is when something happens.”

“Well of course, Darling, how else was it going to go?”

“I would say ‘my way’, but that never happens.”

The robot shook his head. “Someday, this will all smooth out, Felix. It has to,” he reasoned.

“I call dibs on supporting actor in all your stuff then.”

Mettaton smirked. “You can’t take them all,” he chided jokingly.

“Watch me try—and I’m done.” The feline stepped back. “How…how is that?”

Mettaton turned, moving his one arm in a slow circle, and then he summoned his wings. They both came in fully, and he tested their movements. “Perfect,” he assured. “I think I’m back in good condition.”

The cat smiled as the robot’s wings vanished. “Now, downstairs,” the robot said, hurrying off. “We’ve got a little more work to do.”

Felix jerked, and then hurried after him, finding the robot already at the computer. “Got anything?” the feline asked as he approached. Mettaton had been scanning for something before he had even got to the lab to help with the repairs, and the robot had let it continue searching while they were working

Mettaton nodded. “Yes, the strange energy readings…there’s a faint trace in another area on the mountain.”

“Going to go check on it?” the cat guessed.

“Of course, I need to see if there’s…anything else still there.” Felix noticed a shudder in the robot, and his keen ears twitched at the faint clanking of metal on metal. Mettaton sighed, and stood. “Felix, I have two jobs for you while I’m gone.”

“And…what are those?” Felix asked.

“First: Napstablook,” Mettaton began to open something else on the computer. “If they wake up, there’s a plate of ghost sandwiches in the fridge that you can give them. However, if…their condition… deteriorates in any way, call me.”

“No problem, so long as the food isn’t on a ghost plate.”

Mettaton shook his head, knowing the cat was trying to distract him from Blooky’s condition. “The second thing…I’m running scans on that weapon. The computer should be able to handle things on its own, but if it stops or finishes…let me know. The sooner I can figure out how to reverse it, the better off Napstablook will be.”

“Relax, boss, I’ve got this,” the cat assured. “Basically, I just have to sit around and make sure nothing happens to the computer or your cousin.”

“Right…that should be everything—what?” he asked as an amused snort escaped the feline.

“Oh, nothing, you’re just fretting like a mother hen, that’s all. I didn’t even realize you could be like that until Frisk was…”

Mettaton sighed dramatically. “Yes, yes, it’s not my usual behavior, but with everything happening, it’s hard for me to stay calm and collected about all of this. That’s Grillby’s department.”

“That guy?” Felix asked with an amused smile, whiskers twitching. “He’s calm and collected about everything. Do you think the end of the world would even phase him?”

“Heck if I know,” Mettaton grumbled.

“Anyways, boss. Relax. I got this,” the feline assured. “Keep it up, and I’ll start recommending you for mother hen roles whenever you get back into show business.”

The robot rolled his eyes. “Oh for goodness sake, Felix…” Then, he started to head out the west door. “Try to keep everything in one piece until I get back.”

“Hey, between the two of us, I’m less likely to break things.”

“It makes me feel better if I say it though.”

Felix shook his head, a brief look of concern showing on his face, but it disappeared quickly. “How about you just come back in one piece again so that I don’t have to fix you?”

“Don’t you want overtime pay…?”

Felix gave a short laugh. “Yes, but not because you keep falling apart.” With that, he headed for the stairs, and Mettaton left. Felix cast one last glance at the retreating robot, his feline ears drooping. He knew there was more going on, but he was left out of the circle.

Mettaton took to the air the moment he left the Underground, wanting to find the source of where the Rift had opened up when it switched places. If it was the Abyss, then there was nothing to be done. But his readings were telling him otherwise, and that was causing him some worry.

If it wasn’t the Abyss that those Beasts originated from, then…where had the Rift opened up? Beast Monsters were always being hunted—especially after the ones that rampaged on the Human city about a year or so back.

Regardless, he headed straight for it, his mind going back to those on the other side of the rift, his eyes dimming. Their Chara…gone…gone because of an abomination from his side. However, he focused more on Alphys. She was so much like his own, and it worried him greatly.

His Alphys had contemplated the thought…the idea…to do something cowardly. He didn’t want to think that the other Alphys was the same, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t bear losing Alphys twice. Especially since the Alphys on that side had a son…

Alexander… Mettaton sighed softly. Would they have had such a child on their side, if things had gone right? Would they still have the chance to have him? Mettaton shook his head, his robotic mind giving him the hard truth. No. They wouldn’t ever have an Alexander running around, even if they did figure out how to fix things.

No, the best both worlds could do, was salvage the remains, and move on. In some ways, it seemed best to separate themselves. There was so much damage on this side, and from that one little visit, it had seeped into the other.

His thoughts went to his Frisk. They would be hurting the most, he knew. Yet, something bothered him. They had seemed…deathly pale when they had stepped out of the Rift. He had been more focused on Muffet at the time, and wasn’t able to pursue it, but… He sighed inwardly. His Frisk wore their heart on their sleeve, and more than once, he watched them get hurt because of that.

Mettaton made a mental note to check on them after this was all said and done—though his list of things to do was just getting longer and longer with how everything was going. Even if he dealt with the beasts, he had to contain the rift, keep researching the weapon and tend to the drained…and he had a feeling he’d have to help with Muffet as well.

Thankfully, Felix was kind enough to come in, and help with the ever increasing workload. He may be a robot, but Mettaton had his limits.

He paused in mid flight, hovering as his scanner beeped. An image appeared in front of his electronic vision, telling him that he was close. However, there was a dense forest below him, on the opposite side of the mountain from the city. He looked around, and sighed, reluctantly landing, his wings retracting into nonexistence.

The robot checked his readings. He was close, and he, at the very least, still had a connection in case something went wrong and he needed help. Mettaton looked up at the looming trees as he entered the woods, disliking how they blocked out the sun. He ignored it though, and pressed on, unaware of what he would soon find further in.

Within about five minutes, the robot went completely still, and silent, his eyes darting around. His scanners were picking up sounds from up ahead, and he didn’t like them. Slowly, he continued through the woods as the noises came increasingly louder. Mettaton stopped as he came upon a large, deep crevice.

The crevice, in width, could easily swallow a house. And as Mettaton glanced from side to side, he couldn’t even see the ends of it in length. When he looked down, it was too dark to figure out how deep the crevice penetrated into the mountain.

Instead, he took a rock, and dropped it into the black. He waited, focusing his sensors in the hopes that he could pick it up despite the rest of the commotion coming around. Several long moments later, he finally detected the impact. The crevice seemed to go deep into the mountain, but… Mettaton frowned, looking over maps of the mountain in his mind.

Rapid calculations were made, and he was able to conclude that the crevice thankfully didn’t connect to the Underground Kingdom—at least, not anymore. However…there was something down there. The robot peered down, activating his sensors further, using the sounds he heard to make a sloppy map in his mind.

Finally, when it formed, the robot nearly shorted out from shock as he stared down into the black. There were things moving down there…some were small, others…others were of terrifying size. He couldn’t see them, but he could hear them all moving, picking up grumbling growls and snarling roars.

Beast Monsters. This, was where the rift had opened. It had allowed entry from this crevice that was somehow full of Beasts. It didn’t make sense though. Yet, as he watched, he began to feel sick. When Beast monsters had no prey to chase, they were known to turn on one another, and that was what was currently happening.

Mettaton turned to the side, drawing an arm up to shelter his vision. “Oh gods…” He looked back, and then flinched, covering his face with a sickened moan. They were tearing each other apart down there, he just knew it. The image was disgusting, even if he was only picking it up on his radar.

Though, he focused on what was wrong with the image. Those Beast Monsters couldn’t have been that recent—they should have fallen down there prior to the war. As the only Beast Monsters after that had either been captured or killed by Humans, or were formed in the Underground.

Yet, the bottom of this crevice had to be covered in squirming Beasts; it just wasn’t adding up. Mettaton decided that since they weren’t climbing out anytime soon, that he could fly back and talk to a few others on what exactly to do with the crevice full of Beasts. He wasn’t about to go down there and try to kill them one by one…especially with those bigger ones that he detected.

As powerful as his cannon could get—it just didn’t amount to much with the larger Beasts. The robot whirled, running off, glad to leave the crevice behind, wishing to erase the image from his mind, but he couldn’t delete it just yet. Not until it was dealt with once and for all. He had to make sure those creatures were killed, so that there was never the chance of another coming out.

Mettaton would have just left them to kill each other…except if the Rift malfunctioned, and they weren’t finished down there…the events from before would repeat again, and he couldn’t let that happen.

He was swift with returning to the Underground, finding Gerson at the Royal’s home. “Gerson…?” he asked.

“There’s the walking calculator. Got the repairs done?”

Mettaton nodded, and looked around. “…is Frisk…?”

“Still in their room,” he replied. “Won’t even let Rex in…tried talking to them but…”

The robot sighed. “The moment Blooky is better, I’ll have them talk with Frisk…they have that way of helping with this kind of thing.”

“Agreed,” the turtle said as he drank tea at the table. “So…why did you come talk to me? It doesn’t sound like Frisk was the full reason for this.”

“Right…” Mettaton murmured. “Well…I tracked down where the Rift had opened…and…” He explained everything to the turtle, who nodded with concern as he listened. “But you see,” Mettaton said. “It doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t they have torn themselves apart ages ago?”

“Well, remember that big one?” Gerson said. “It might have been wedged in there. Too big for smaller things to kill it, but also made it impossible for them to get at each other to kill because there was just too many of them down there. Beasts don’t die from natural causes as far as we know, so they were basically just rotting there until they could move…when the rift opened…”

Mettaton sighed. “The big one got out, along with some others, and the rest could then get at each other. Though I’m worried about how they all got in there in the first place.”

“Who knows,” Gerson said with a helpless shrug. “What matters is that they’re down there and need to be put out of their misery.” His eyes narrowed. “And so that they can’t inflict more misery on others…”

Mettaton lowered his head, not saying anything for several moments as he tried to stop Chara’s death from playing in his memory. “…what should we do then?”

“They’re in a crevice not connected to the Underground, with quite a bit of solid rock between us and them…do what Grillby would do.”

“You’re…telling me to set them on fire?”

The turtle warily peered down the hallway to make sure they didn’t have any prying listeners. “Blow them to kingdom come,” Gerson said, sounding deadly serious. “Unless you want to go down there and fight them one by one…”

“Right…and I’ll keep quiet about this, don’t need the darling to know about it…”

“No…they don’t,” Gerson agreed quietly, and rose. “I’m going to see if I can sway them over with hot chocolate. Let me know how it goes…”

Mettaton nodded. “Will do, Gerson.”

“Good luck, Calculator.”

The robot paused in the archway, and sighed. “Sure thing, Fossil.”

The poking fun was still there, but there wasn’t as much amusement in it as usual. Mettaton quietly headed out, preparing himself for what he had to. He had to go back out there…and silence many lost souls. There was nothing else to be done, and he had to make sure that they didn’t ever get out.

Late that night, Felix jerked his head up to see Mettaton trudge in. “Boss?” he asked in concern. The robot slumped against the wall, and slowly slid down, tucking his legs in as he lowered his head. The feline silently approached. “…Mettaton…?”

“…I feel awful,” he muttered, before letting out a heavy sigh.

“…w…what’s wrong?” the cat asked. To see Mettaton at his emotional limit... Felix would never have imagined it was possible.

“Heh…tell me what’s right, darling. I saw someone die before my eyes because of a Beast Monster…and just now…I had to silence a crevice full of them before they could hurt others…”

The feline’s whiskers and ears twitched in alarm at the news. However, he sighed, and then slid down next to the robot, resting a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything; he didn’t trust his words for that yet. Mettaton was silent, but he appreciated the company.

And so they stayed, unaware that deep, deep down below them, things were stirring in the dark.

Chapter Text

Down, far, far below the kingdom, it moved through the waters. Red claws splashed through the shallows, sending up waves around it as it walked. Crimson eyes glowed harshly as the dragon looked about—it’s screen flickering to static, then morphing into the red, smiling face. The dragon might be unable to escape through the exit, but in this place… there were other things it could do.

They wouldn’t be trapped down here forever—they would break out eventually, and then…the dragon opened its maw, a broken laugh escaping it. They would find that little Frisk and make them give in.

They halted however, and then turned their head. They could feel it…a new soul coming into the Abyss. They smirked and began to move, their twin tails lashing about. The new soul coughed, getting up on all fours in the water, looking about in confusion.

The odd creature started to move around, not comprehending what had become of them. They turned their head, hearing something large coming their way. They stiffened as they saw the red eyes—and instantly turned tail, running as fast as they were able. However, they were small for a Monster, and thus, their strides didn’t carry them far.

It didn’t take long for the corruption to catch up, and then lunge down—only for something black to fly past it’s face. It grabbed the small Monster, and lunged away. The dragon reared back in rage as they got a face full of water, and then they turned to give chase. However, the black figure vanished—blending in all too well in the surrounding darkness.

The corruption growled, closing their eyes, numbing their other senses to focus on the fleeing souls…but they were gone. The dragon dug its claws in, and then reared its head back with an angry roar, smashing its tails into the water. “Run again and again!” the corruption called—their screen flickering to a look of pure rage. “You can’t hide from me forever, you little rebels!”

The dragon stomped around angrily. “Oh, let’s play a little game of hide and seek,” they spat. “But you can’t hide forever—I know your trick. You hide in a vision, cloaked from sight, but…” They gave a soft cackle. “Eventually, I’ll tear all the visions apart, and you’ll have nowhere to hide…what then, you little rebels?”

They unfurled their wings, stepping forth into the seemingly endless black. “What say we end your pathetic little stand? You don’t have a chance, and yet you resist even when it's futile. Honestly…” The screen morphed back into a smile. “Somehow, you little rebels fascinate me…but you’re a nuisance all the same, and I plan to eradicate the thorns in my side.”

With a huff, they reared their head up, growling a little. “You might have tossed me away for now,” they hissed. “But you can’t just hide your problems away forever, little Frisk. Either you come to me…or…”

The screen flicked to static, a more terrifying expression appearing upon it. “I’ll break free, and come to you, I promise.”

With that, the dragon moved on, looking for other souls to prey upon within the dark. The other two got away…for now, but the corruption had all the time in the world. Eventually, they would find the runaways—they were certain.

----

The newly arrived soul gave a grunt as a blinding light flashed over them. “Gods—what is going on!?” They looked up, pausing as they saw the rabbit guard holding him. “What in the…?”

01 glanced down, and his ears drooped. “Puzzler…?”

The odd creature looked up at him, tilting his head and squinting at the rabbit. “Do I know you?” He flicked his raccoon like tail, eyeing the guard.

“I’m 01—from the Royal Guard,” the rabbit reported. “Well—actually, I’m not sure if ‘01’ is official anymore. Someone else probably has the position.”

“Are you alright?” the rabbit looked up to see his partner approach. He paused as he saw the new Monster. “…another one saved, at least.”

Puzzler looked between them in confusion, quickly losing his patience. “All right, what’s going on here!?” he demanded. “Who are the two of you and—” He looked around—finding himself in a wide open field, the grass completely hiding the guards’ legs from sight. “Where the hell are we!?”

“…he doesn’t understand, does he?” the Monster dragon asked.

“No…” the rabbit replied sheepishly. “He’s only been here a few moments though…”

“Sir Puzzler,” 02 started. “I know you’re confused—I ask that you bear with us for a little while until we get you to our ‘camp’.”

“Bah…” the Monster growled in irritation, rubbing at his lone horn—the other long gone. “Not like I have a choice.”

“Sorry,” the rabbit apologized. “Just um…like, hang in there. My Bro and I have this all…um…”

“Mostly under control,” 02 replied, a hand resting on the hilt of his sword. “Let’s move along, we’ve got a bit of walking to do.”

With that, the two guards headed off through the grass, and the Puzzler could see smoke rising in the distance. The small Monster adjusted himself in the rabbit’s hold. “Part of the guard?” he muttered. “Hrrmph…”

“A few years ago,” the rabbit admitted. “We used to be stationed in Hotlands…”

The grumpy Monster shrugged, not recognizing them.

“02, were you able to…?” the rabbit started.

He nodded. “I found another place for us to go to when we split up,” he assured. “Our other friends managed to save a few others. Thankfully, the host of this vision has been the most generous.”

“Are we really that surprised, Bro? Like…think about it…”

There was a pause, and the rabbit sensed a sad smile. “…no…it doesn’t surprise me at all,” was the soft response.

“So, Bro…how do we explain this to him gently? He’s not like some of the others…”

“Bah, youngsters talking to me like I’m not here.”

“Straightforward—once we get to the village.”

“…we’re not drawing straws again, are we?” 01 questioned.

There was a pause, and the monster dragon suddenly started to laugh.

“Wh—what!?”

“But you had the most endearing look on your face when you drew the short one.”

“Well—I—um—Bro!”

Puzzler raised a brow at them, and then shook his head, settling in for the walk.

After what seemed like forever to the elder, a village emerged in the plains, and the Puzzler took note of Mt. Ebott in the distance. The two guards eventually made it to the main road that cut through the center of town. The buildings were old fashioned, made of wood or stone, and the road consisted of nothing but dirt.

Perhaps a medieval aged village, if one had to guess. 02 looked up. “Calida!? Emberno!?” he bellowed.

Blue flames peered out an upstairs window. “You’ve returned,” Calida observed. “And…” Her light dimmed. “…with a guest, I see. …I’ll inform Emberno.”

“Hey, like um…” 01’s ears twitched. “You wouldn’t happen to know where our host is at?”

“Where do you think?” Calida questioned.

“Oh…right. Guess he likes that spot, huh, Bro?”

The monster dragon made no comment, waiting on the elementals to emerge from their residence, and then, they headed further down through the village to a little garden. A garden of golden flowers, and sitting in them, making flower chains, was a little monster child. He turned, and smiled. “Howdy!” he called, waving.

The rabbit adjusted his hold on Puzzler and waved. “We’re back!”

The little one jumped up and out of the garden. “Look, I made you a flower crown! See?” Then, he paused, seeing Puzzler, and stepping back shyly. “Oh…” His smile faded a little. A Human, who had been beside him—flickered out of existence. “…another guest?”

01 nodded solemnly. “Can he stay awhile?”

The boy nodded. “Howdy, Mister.”

Puzzler gave a grunt of greeting. “Now can someone tell me what’s going on?” he demanded. “And put me down!” The rabbit guard consented, and the odd creature rose up fully. Despite running on all fours, he was much like the canines, easily altering to a bipedal stance. “Now, answers. Where am I? Go to sleep in my bed, wake up in the black—and then this place. What magic are you pulling on me?”

The little child darted behind 02, nervous of the loud elder.

“We’re not pulling any magic on you,” came a new voice, as Emberno finally approached. “Do you want us to sugar coat, or be straight about it?”

“Bah, just stop dawdling and give me your answer.”

Calida sighed. “Puzzler, when you went to sleep…to be perfectly clear. You didn’t wake up.”

He raised a brow. “Telling me I’m dreaming?” he growled in light annoyance.

“Not quite…”

01 fidgeted. “Um, like um, how should we say, uh…like…Bro?”

“Elder Puzzler,” 02 stated calmly, gently resting a hand on the child’s head. “You have passed on. You are where Monster souls go in death.”

The odd creature froze. “I’m what?”

“…deceased,” 02 reluctantly clarified, while the child covered his ears, expecting an explosion.

The monster looked around, frowning, and then huffed. “Well, guess it was about time. I was getting up there in years.”

01 visibly relaxed. “We’re…not going to have a breakdown?”

The old monster raised a brow. “Were you expecting it?”

The rabbit sheepishly tapped his fingers together. “Well…everyone else freaks out.”

“We have a daughter still!” Calida protested, while Emberno rested his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

“But,” Puzzler started. “If this is the afterlife…what was that thing that was chasing us?” he asked the rabbit.

“Look…uh…long story.”

“Let’s sit down,” the child Monster insisted softly. “I…I’ll go get some tea for everyone! I’ll be right back!” Calida and Emberno stayed a short distance from the others.

“We should keep an eye out for trouble,” Emberno replied, and then turned, dipping his head, before leaving with his wife.

As the little one ran off, Puzzler paused, watching them go…a sad look reaching him. “…bah. Life was cruel to cut that one short.”

“Indeed. T’was a shame,” 02 murmured.

“Anyways…how about you tell me what’s going on?”

And so the guards explained the tale—initially, they spoke of the fight with the living and the dead, and how that ended…then, the story continued.

“After 01 and I were dragged into the black—the dragon ignored us,” 02 continued. “That…gave us a chance to run.”

“Bah,” Puzzler grumbled as the child handed him some tea. “I thought you were Royal Guards.”

“Have you not seen the size of that thing!?” 01 exclaimed.

The Puzzler shrugged, taking a sip of the tea, pausing as he recognized it, and then shook his head. “And so?”

The other guard took a small tea cup from the child, stroking his head gently, before the little one opted to clamber into 01’s lap, looking up at the guards as they continued their story.

“We knew we had to hide,” 02 muttered. “We had to retreat, and think of what could be done. Facing that thing head on was not the answer…but…we didn’t have an alternative. So as we ran…we stumbled into a vision.”

“A what?”

“This is a vision,” the child explained. “They’re made for souls who…aren’t ready to go just yet.”

The rabbit bobbed his head. “We learned that the dragon can’t sense visiting souls. So while they can sense the host, they can’t sense us…”

“So you hide in visions while trying to do…what?”

“Build a rebellion,” 02 stated. “The dragon has been using the souls of Beast Monsters--destroying other visions in the process--and bending them to their will…if that thing was to ever escape here…it would bring a war upon those beyond.”

“But they’re dead souls,” Puzzler stated. “We shouldn’t have to worry, right?”

“This is a creature of a greater power than we can comprehend—give that creature time, and it will find a way to break free—and sustain the dead beyond the Abyss.”

“Sounds dandy…but how are you going to make an army?”

“We search for those willing to fight,” the monster dragon stated.

“Bro’s right,” the rabbit supplied. “We even, like, have a whole bunch, but, they totally stay in their own visions for safety. That way if the dragon finds one of them…”

“They find only one,” the monster dragon stated simply. “This is just the meeting area due to its vastness.”

The child dipped their head. “…I wish I could help, but…”

“Then help,” the Puzzler stated.

“But…I can’t…”

“And why not?” he asked, twitching his tail.

“…I’m just a kid.”

“Bah, you’re letting that weigh you down? Here of all places?” He shook his head. “Honestly, the new generations…”

“What…?” they asked nervously.

“These ‘visions’ are like dreams, are they not?”

“I…guess?”

“Then conjure whatever you need to make yourself powerful,” Puzzler suggested. “Use that brain of yours.”

The child frowned in concentration a moment, but then nodded in understanding.

“So,” Puzzler started. “Your big plan is to somehow use what visions remain in operation after the dragon shut most of them off as hiding spots until you find enough people to hopefully outmatch it, and take it down…”

02 dipped his head. “So long as we can separate the machine from the dragon, we should be able to achieve victory.”

“Then say,” Puzzler muttered. “How powerful are visions?”

“Depends on the person,” 01 replied. “This vision is very powerful, and then others…”

“Only have the bare minimum,” the other finished.

“So, say, we want something…we can just…imagine it?”

“Pretty much,” 01 assured. “That’s why we still have our weapons—our forms even.”

The Puzzler smirked. “Is that so…?” He chuckled slowly, before laughing out right.

“Mister…what’s so funny?” the child asked.

His smile softened, and for once, there was kindness in his features. “Little One, do you know who I am?”

“Not…really?”

“Back in the day, I used to make Puzzles—confusing pathways to lose Humans in. Now…here we are, where I can conjure just what I want…we may be smaller and weaker—and maybe our conjurations are limited to a degree, but…

“I’m free to conjure the items I need, and little one…there’s a reason I’m referred to as ‘Elder Puzzler’.”

“Cause you puzzled Monsters?”

He chuckled. “Catch on quick. Now, little one, the Elder Puzzler is ready to strike one last time. So you sit tight. Once we defeat that mean ole’ dragon…we’re going to help you onwards, you deserve that much.”

Chapter Text

Aardonyx sighed heavily as he stood before the decorated tree in Snowdin. “I can’t believe our child sometimes,” he muttered to Itemirus.

The dark scaled reptile nuzzled his chin. “Rex did what they thought was right,” she murmured. “They wanted to make sure their friend was all right.”

“They were already grounded,” the golden one grumbled.

“And now they’re more grounded,” Itemirus confirmed. “But you can’t keep them grounded forever.”

“How do you even ground things to this scale? They were missing overnight--no warning--”

“To be fair, they didn’t know they would be gone overnight...but I see your point.”

Itemirus giggled, nuzzling her husband. “So grumpy today,” she cooed.

Aardonyx shook his head. “It’s just getting...hard…”

Itemirus’s smile faded, and she nodded slowly. Just as the kingdom had gained their freedom...they lost their leaders, their scientist, their captain...even the two souls who livened up Snowdin. Not to mention two high ranking guards. And, due to the Humans, they were still mostly living in the mountain. And now...they had almost lost their new leaders too.

What should have been a big turnaround for the Monsters almost seemed like an early grave. Nothing was progressing...they were still living in their prison.

“We’ll pull through,” Itemirus started. “We managed for a thousand years down here--we can manage just a little longer…”

She nuzzled his shoulder this time, and with a quiet rumble, he nuzzled her head just before her cream colored spikes began.

“I know, I just--”

There was a crash--causing the two to jerk their head up. Then came an unsettling roar, causing all the Monsters in the town to freeze.

Up the ways, where the shop and inn were--a large mass of dark purple and gray fur crashed out the inn door. Rex’s parents froze--realizing there was a Beast. It was briefly on its hind legs, before dropping down on all fours. The back feet of it looked strong, with short claws. It might have had a short tail, but its ears were massively long and floppy, nearly going down half its back.

However, the loud sounds had caused another inhabitant to rush into the inn with a cry of alarm. The shopkeeper...and the shopkeeper was close enough to see. The dust on its maw.

Whether it was her sister’s dust, or the child--she didn’t know.

Nor did she have time to--for the Beast whirled---and sent her dust to the wind.

Monsters cried out, all rushing for safety--as the Beast turned, and rushed over, crashing down upon those that were closest.

----

Emberno sat on a small rise in the open land below the mountain, staring out at the endless world. He heard footsteps, but didn’t turn as his blue flamed wife slowly sat down beside him. For a while, neither said anything, until she finally turned her head. “Emberno…?” she asked softly.

The other elemental sighed. “We should have listened to Grillby,” he muttered.

“Didn’t we listen?” she replied, confusion entering her voice.

“Yes, but…it wasn’t enough, I don’t think. Not only that, but…he shouldn’t have had to hit us over the head to make us see that.” Emberno’s flames dimmed. “Fiona…”

“…it’s been a few years, Emberno. She’s not down here, so Grillby must be taking care of her.”

“Heh…course he is,” Emberno grumbled—albeit lovingly. “Had to be one hell of an Uncle for her…”

Calida huffed. “Guess he had to…”

“Someone had to make up for those shortcomings, I guess. I just…” His hands clenched at the grass beneath him, singeing them slightly. “I don’t think we left on the best of terms…”

“It could have been worse,” Calida pointed out.

His flames wavered. “True…just…” He gave a groan. “Dammit, why did she have to grow up so fast—and why were we so involved with the hunting?”

“We enjoyed the thrill of it,” Calida murmured. “…I suppose we should have cut back—we just never heard the complaints. And…honestly, Emberno…” She glanced to him. “If your brother’s patience had not already been frayed that day, do you think he would have snapped at us there?”

Emberno paused…and then shook his head. “No—we would never have gotten that had he been all right…”

“We were in the wrong, maybe,” Calida started. “However, he could have said something sooner. Sometimes, Emberno, your brother is a little too good at being polite.”

“Doesn’t want to interrupt what little time we spent with her, but at the same time…”

“Had he done so, we probably would have noticed the problem sooner.”

“We should have noticed a lot sooner on our own,” Emberno mumbled.

“But we didn’t,” Calida stated bluntly. “Look…we made our mistakes, and we didn’t live long enough to make up for them, but—we did have a few years to spend time with her, and once we knew, we didn’t waste it.”

Emberno nodded quietly. “….if we defeat this—should we wait, Calida?”

“…we’ll figure that out once we get to that,” she replied. “On one hand, I’d love to see her once more, talk to her again, and…figure out how she’s faring, but on the other hand…if we’re careful, we can live a long time, Emberno. Do you want to stay in a state of limbo for hundreds—if not thousands of years?”

He shrugged. “It might be worth it…”

“We never fully reconciled,” she reminded him.

“Which means it could be fully mended then,” he reasoned.

“Or we learn that there was no need for it,” she stated quietly. “…however, we’re going to be stuck here a good while…it gives us time to think about it.”

“We need an army,” Emberno muttered.

“We still have many sane monsters on our side,” she murmured. “Long lost warriors, former rulers…at this point, we’re nearing a hundred, are we not?”

“Not as easy to tell when we’re never in the same place at once.”

Calida’s flames crackled. “Like we can draw attention to the fact that we’re forming an army right under that thing’s nose…”

Emberno huffed. “We still need to figure out how to take that thing down.”

“The plant limbs we saw would be a good spot to start attacking—destroying the machine on top would probably be the best thing to do…”

“Problem is getting up to it,” Emberno muttered. “We don’t exactly have a lot of fliers.”

“But we have some,” she pointed out. “We attack the limbs, they attack the machines…”

“If we can keep ourselves on dry ground,” Emberno reminded her. “That water does hurt us.”

“It stings,” she muttered. “But it’s not killing us. We could just push through the pain it gives…”

“Or lure it onto that landmass the guards mentioned…”

She shrugged. “There’s advantages and disadvantages to fighting in the water, or on the ground. We do have some water loving monsters in on this, after all.”

“We could attack it from two fronts,” Emberno argued. “We attack from land, they attack in the water.”

“The guards mentioned that the ‘beach’ isn’t that wide, and that while there is a bigger area, it’s hard to get into if you don’t know what you’re doing down here.”

Emberno huffed. “You would think that after dying, things would be straight forward and simple.”

“They were…”

He shook his head in irritation. “Well, if we defeat this, we’ll be the best beast hunters.”

“Hunting beyond our graves, and taking down the ultimate beast in the process…” A soft laugh escaped her. “I’d love to see how you can top that.”

“Don’t tempt fate, Calida…”

“We’re dead, how can we tempt fate further?”

Emberno gave an odd sound. “Don’t tempt it, seriously.”

Calida’s flames crackled in amusement, before dimming. “…though I wouldn’t mind getting this part of being dead over with…I didn’t intend to have to fight that thing to have my right to peace.”

“Well, when life gives you lemons…”

“Then what do you do when death gives you an insane dragon to fight?”

“…make lemonade?”

Calida gave him a long look. “You can’t just finish your previous saying.”

“…worth a shot,” he muttered.

“I swear…”

“…kill it with fire?”

“…better.”

----

The child looked up from where he was making a flower crown as the Puzzler began working with odd contraptions that he had managed to conjure in the vision. The little one watched him, and then stood, leaving his crown with his human friend.

“…Mister?”

“Hm?” he grunted as he worked, rising fully on his hind legs to work on it.

“…why are you different?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, sliding something into place, and moving over to another spot.

“…you’re not sad,” the child murmured, and then tilted his head. “Why, Mister?”

Puzzler chuckled. “I’m old, I lived my time. And…I got to see the sun. I’m satisfied with my life. The others, however…” The merriment faded. “It got cut before they were ready. That’s why they’re not happy.”

“…you’re really not bothered by it…?”

Puzzler shook his head. “I’m more bothered by the fact there’s trouble in the afterlife.”

The child blinked. “But…” The boy paused. “What’re you doing?”

“Testing some puzzle designs that I had in my later years, but didn’t have the energy to make.”

“…it doesn’t look like a puzzle…”

“To clarify, it’s a trap that would spring in a puzzle,” he informed the little one.

“….I thought it looked weird…”

Puzzler gave a snort of amusement.

“What!?” the child exclaimed. “I thought a catapult looked weird for a puzzle, I didn’t get it!”

The strange monster laughed, slowly sliding down onto the ground. “If I wasn’t dead, you’d be killing me!”

The child drew up his shirt to hide his face, which only caused him even more amusement. Puzzler rolled over and rose up on all fours. It seemed standing upright was a formality, and he seemed far more comfortable with all four limbs on the ground.

“Say, you want to know help, correct?”

“Uh-huh…”

“Then how about helping me test this, hmm? This catapult is strong, but, we need to figure out how far it can launch things.”

“So…what do we need?”

“Something to send flying,” Puzzler replied with a smile.

“Oh, oh!” The child raised his hand excitedly. “I know, I know! A boulder!” And with that, a hefty sized rock materialized and landed in the catapult.

Puzzler chuckled. “Why don’t you let it loose then? Send it off!”

After showing the child how, he excitedly let the catapult release the boulder—sending it flying off a good distance, before landing with a thud. The monster child jumped excitedly. “Wow, look how far it went! Can we do it again, please, please, Mister?”

“Well, there are a few designs I’d like to try still…”

“YES!”

01 glanced over from the garden that he and the dragon guard sat at. “Do you think it’s a good idea for him to be letting…”

“No harm will come to the child,” 02 assured as he watched them. “Puzzler’s creations have always been flawless. Plus, the child can’t be harmed in here unless it is willed…”

The rabbit’s ears drooped briefly. “It’s going to be difficult…”

“Eventually, this one shall pass on,” 02 assured. “He has a lot of regrets, but I feel, he’ll find an escape in the end.”

The rabbit glanced to the human making flower chains. “…how are you so certain?”

“Because…I feel I can come to terms with this once we take down the dragon.”

01’s ears twitched. “Truly?”

The dragon guard nodded slowly. “I…know it wasn’t for you…or us,” he murmured. “However…we died protecting the kingdom—even if it was only to buy them time to react—we fulfilled our duty…and in a way, they accomplished taking down the human.”

“But…now that thing’s soul is down here…and…I’m not ready to let go.”

“I’ll wait,” 02 stated simply. “There are things to long for, but…I cannot move to the next thing alone.” 01 jerked his head up in surprise, and somehow, he sensed a smile from the dragon. “Worked together, died together—surely we can do a little more side by side, hm?”

The rabbit gave a shaky laugh. “I have no idea when I’d be ready to go…”

“I can…exist with that.”

“Even if it’s a thousand years?”

“That’s a long time to be stuck with me.”

The rabbit looked away, tapping his fingers together. “Wh—who said anything about that? I didn’t say anything about you…”

02 gave a bemused snort. “You’re endearing.”

“I’m no longer speaking with you!”

“For all of five minutes.”

“Not listening!”

The child paused in their work, as the Puzzler turned to the fuss. The young one smiled, and began to laugh. “They’re doing it again!”

Puzzler gave a knowing smirk, having quickly caught on to the dynamic between those two. “So I see. You want to go over there while I figure out what’s wrong with this?”

He nodded and then bounded over, laughing, and leaping onto the rabbit guard. “Come on!” he managed. “You don’t mean it! You gotta talk to him. Or he’ll be lonely….even if it’s hard to tell!”

“I’ll be deeply wounded,” was the idle reply.

The rabbit gave a half-hearted glare. “Oh, I felt every bit of pain in those words.”

“Devastated, even.”

“At least put some emotion into it!”

02 put an arm over his head. “It’ll be dreadful.”

“…I can’t believe you.”

The child simply snickered, sliding into the rabbit’s lap. “You two are silly!”

02 chuckled. “That’s all on him,” he assured.

The rabbit’s gaze narrowed. “You started this.”

“Did I?”

“Yes!”

The child giggled and looked up. “Puzzler said I could help…”

“If you want to,” 02 reminded.

“He’s a child!” 01 protested. “He needs to stay away from that thing—”

“But he can be far more than a child here,” the dragon reasoned.

“And I know what to be so I can fight!” the little boy exclaimed, clenching white furred fists as he did.

“No—he’s never been in a fight,” 01 weakly protested.

“Then we teach him,” 02 stated firmly.

The rabbit groaned. “…well…” His golden ears drooped forward. “What does it look like?”

“This…”

The rabbit jerked at the different voice, and then suddenly found himself looking up at a tall monster. The former child smiled—though it seemed more like a smirk as a finger traced a horn. “Well…”

“…wow.”

02 chuckled. “Intimidating, and yet, there’s a charm to it, don’t you think, friend? I could see him getting chased all along the kingdom.”

“Wha—no!” 01 exclaimed, jumping up abruptly. “He’s still just a child! I will beat them all off with a stick if we must!”

The strange monster tilted his head. “…you’re being weird again.”

“Shouldn’t that be normal now?” 02 teased. The former child laughed, while 01 shook his head in exasperation.

“You always choose to talk when I really shouldn’t let you,” the rabbit grumbled.

“I’m not that bad, am I?” the dragon rumbled as he drew close. “Surely, deep down, you do enjoy the teasing—” There was a grunt, and then an outright laugh as 01 pushed against the dragon’s helmet.

“Not another word while we’re in this vision, or I swear—”

“Don’t swear!” the former child insisted worriedly.

They all suddenly turned their heads as Puzzler burst out laughing, falling over as he did.

The rabbit stared at everyone around him, and completely drooped. “…this is my army.”

“Now, now, there are more members in other visions,” the dragon reminded.

“…this is the army I’m stuck with the most.”

“And you love us all.”

The rabbit sighed heavily.

02 shook his head. “Little one, go help Puzzler so that he doesn’t die twice over.” The former child nodded, and raced off, while he rested a hand on 01’s shoulder. “You know we’ll be serious when the time comes…”

“I know…”

“Relax, now,” the dragon murmured, trying to soothe the rabbit. “We will gain peace…even if we must generate some chaos first.”

Just as the rabbit was about to reply--they paused, and then both guards jerked their heads up, and 01 leapt to his feet, hand already on the hilt of his weapon. “...do you sense it?”

“I do,” the dragon confirmed. “...a cluster of souls.”

“...something’s happened,” 01 managed worriedly.

“We need to find them.”

And so they did…

And the shopkeeper learned...who’s dust it had been.

Chapter Text

Grillby had his head in his hands as he rested against the table in the Royal’s Home. Gerson stood next to him, quietly reading over some papers he had received, his expression somber. “It’s not your fault…”

“...they used to be frequent patrons of my tavern,” he mumbled. “But...while Fiona was managing it well enough…”

“She was tending to the one in the city when you were drained. Thus, it was closed, thus they didn’t go, thus there was less of a chance of anyone seeing the poor woman start to turn.” Gerson sighed. “Grillby, even if everything was normal, there’s no guarantee that you could have seen it--or have prevented it…”

The elemental was quiet, and Gerson paused. He seemed even smaller now, in his limited form, the light nearly non-existent in response to his emotions. “She killed her own daughter...her family...and then...that’s not all of it.”

Gerson looked further down the report, and stiffened, clenching the paper. “I…” He gave a shaky breath. “I’ll tell the Neck-Warmer. Come on, you should go home to your wife.”

“But--”

“You are in no condition to work with this. Let me handle it. I’m tired, not...mentally exhausted and at my wit’s end.”

Grillby sighed, slowly nodding. Gerson rested a hand on his shoulder. “Things will turn around, just hang in there.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about…”

“...I know…”

Gerson, despite how weary he was, made sure the elemental returned home safely. He was hesitant as he returned to the Royal’s home, but he soon spotted Frisk in the dining room, slowly picking away at some food Grillby had brought earlier.

“...Frisk,” Gerson called softly. “I...I have news…” The child looked up resignedly, as if immediately expecting bad news. “Last evening,” he managed--closing his fists tight. “The innkeeper of Snowdin turned.” Their little eyes widened, their hands reaching to their face.

“By the time anything could be done--her child and sister…” He shook his head. “And…” He looked to them. “Rex’s parents...she took Rex’s parents down with her…”

The little one’s eyes widened...and they refused to waste a single moment.

----

They stumbled as they made it to the porch, and then scrambled up on flailing limbs, practically slamming themselves into the wooden door. They knocked rapidly, heart pounding. Every moment they waited made them feel even sicker to the stomach. The door opened, and Frisk looked up to see a trembling, shell-shocked Cera.

The two looked each other. Not a word was spoken, and yet...she side-stepped, allowing Frisk entry. The fusion rushed in, finding Rex in the living room, staring forward--numb. The reptile raised their head. There seemed to be a question on the Monster’s lips...but Frisk’s mournful expression told them everything.

Frisk was still without their precious resets with their magic still dull...regardless of the potential consequences that could happen with their situation. Rex broke down--the only chance they had slipping away. Frisk jumped up beside them, throwing their arms around the reptile.. And burying their face into Rex’s shoulder.

They didn’t say anything… Rex had no need to say a thing...and Frisk had nothing to say. And that was how it was as the world moved on around them. The funeral was prepared--though Frisk’s memory of it was hazy. All they remembered was sitting next to their friend...as the reptile stared intensely forward.

Frisk felt concern as they noticed that, their heart wrenching, wondering what Rex was doing with their emotions. The young Monster seemed to be bottling them up...and Frisk couldn’t help but worry about their friend. So they stayed close, pressing against the young Monster’s side.

Frisk shut their eyes. And they still had nothing to say. For words wouldn’t fix this.

----

Mettaton was typing away on the lab computer, glancing to the weapon to the side as he did so. The machine was constantly scanning it, as the robot tried to decipher just how it worked. But, with it being of human origin, it was taking longer than it he had anticipated.

The door opened, and Mettaton heard Felix come in with a yawn. “Morning, Boss,” he managed. “You’re up early…or…did you even sleep at all?”

“No…” the robot mumbled as he stared at the screen.

“Uh…when was the last time you slept?”

“Good question…what was the day before we saved Frisk..?”

“…METTATON! You’re telling me you haven’t slept for nearly three months!?”

“Shh!” the robot hissed, pointing upstairs. “Blooky is still asleep,” he chided.

The cat came over, tossing his arms to the sides in frustration. “When the Hell are you going to sleep?” he quietly demanded.

“Well to be fair, I did get to rest for about eight hours on one of your vacation days.”

“That’s still a month and a half,” Felix practically snarled.

“I can’t afford to rest right now,” Mettaton said. “Besides, so long as I restore my battery, I can do this.”

“You need mental rest too!” the cat replied, twitching as he made one of his exaggerated expressions. His fingers quivered, as if he were about to show his claws. Mettaton frowned. This wasn’t like Felix.

“Not that I’m complaining, Darling, but when did you grow a backbone?”

“Since you started drowning yourself in work!” Felix quietly exclaimed, stomping a foot down. “And I thought; Oh, he’s fine, he knows how to take care of himself--but no! My Boss insists on running himself into the ground--when he has a bloody assistant all out of vacation days! Damn it, you hired me--use me to your advantage and get some sleep!”

“I will rest,” Mettaton assured. “Once we help Blooky, and get Chara and Alma back,”

Felix’s eyes narrowed. “And you’re scolding everyone else for not getting any sleep,” he hissed. “You are-”

“Because they’re heavily depleted of magic,” Mettaton countered. “They need the rest. I was only lightly drained, and recovered swiftly. I’ll be fine.”

Felix groaned, drawing a hand over his face. “Gods…” If this robot had an easy off switch like his old form, the feline would have contemplated turning him off so that he would sleep for a few hours. “Fine,” he snarled in irritation. But you know what? Let me stare at the screen, you go do…anything else.”

“…I’ll be upstairs,” the robot mumbled as he stood, unplugging the charger he was connected to. Despite that Felix knew he was at full battery, he didn’t seem to be his usual self. Hopefully, he would sneak in an hour or so offline to get some extra rest.

"Not that I'm going to be on him doing that," the feline muttered. His fur laid back... he hadn't even noticed it bristling. He felt tired too in the wake of his sudden outburst of anger, but it felt good to let all that out after his suspicions about his Boss's well being were confirmed... and multiplied.

With everyone else still recovering from their magic draining, Mettaton was left as the only able member at the head of things. Thankfully, he could go for a long time, but Felix knew that even he needed to rest eventually…but in the wake of their mounting problems, Felix worried he would work himself to death. And then what would they have left?

They had to figure out how this weapon worked so that they could quickly restore the ghost Monster, and they also had to find out where Reaper’s Harvest had taken Chara and Alma. Felix sighed, sitting down at the computer, watching the machine do its work.

Felix’s gaze went back to the weapon and he had to suppress a shudder. The Humans knew how to take away most of their magic… The scary part was that most would do so in a heartbeat. However, they weren’t like Humans. If their magic was taken, they were left weakened, or, in most cases, as it was shown…nearly dead.

Monsters needed their magic to survive, unlike the Humans, and the cat’s fur bristled at their selfishness and unwarranted fear.

----

It was nearly noon when the door opened. Felix drew back, leaning as far as he dared to see who was there. The glow told him before they even came into sight, and sure enough, Grillby came into view, adjusting his odd attire made from Muffet’s threads. It seemed he had been able to regain some of his form over the past month or so, though it wasn’t much.

Thankfully, he was at least around Muffet’s height at this point. Though, Felix noted that his flames were very dim…and it wasn’t because of his low magic. “Felix,” Grillby murmured. “Is Mettaton here?”

The orange feline nodded. “Upstairs with his cousin…are you alright?”

“I…am fine,” the elemental assured as he headed for the stairs. “It’s someone else I’m worried about.” With that, he was already gone. Felix paused, weighing his options, and then stood.

Upstairs, Mettaton sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the slumbering ghost. Even a month and half later, there was barely any magic recovered. The robot tapped his fingers nervously. At this rate, Napstablook would likely lose more magic than they would gain.

“…Mettaton…?” The robot turned to see the faint light of the elemental appear as he ascended the stairs, and took a few steps forward.

“Hello, Grillby,” the robot mumbled tiredly. “Is there anything you need…?”

The elemental looked ready to talk, but then he paused, his flames dimming greatly as a wave of uncertainty came. Instead, he looked to the ghost. “…how are they…?”

“Not much better,” Mettaton said, slowly clenching his fists as his form began to quiver. “That damn weapon. The only way to help Blooky right now is to get their own magic back, but I can’t do that unless I can figure out how to reverse that weapon’s effects, and it’s taking too long. I don’t know how long…”

“M…Mettaton…?” The robot jerked, cutting himself off, and Grillby approached as the ghost stirred, and seemed to sit up slightly as they yawned. “…what’s going on…?” they mumbled.

“…nothing to worry about, Blooky…” the robot said. “Grillby just came.”

“Oh…” The ghost looked tiredly over. “Hello…is there something the matter? You seemed worried…oh, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry…”

Grillby shook his head, pausing, but then decided to speak out. “It’s about Muffet. I’m…I’m worried about her. She…she hasn’t talked to me at all since the Rift. I’ve...I’ve been managing to get her to eat, and get some life out of her, but it’s getting worse--she’s eating less, and...and...I...I’m running out of options...” His flames started to move erratically, showing his underlying panic clearly.

Mettaton looked down, with Napstablook catching the slight creak of metal as the robot kept his hands clenched tight. “It…stands to reason,” the robot murmured. “Their Chara…” He sighed. “However, we have to do something, if not for her sake…”

“I don’t know what to do,” the elemental managed. “I can’t talk to her; she won’t respond to me, I’m not sure where to start helping her.” He knew he had to do something quick, or he could very well lose her and the unborn child.

“Um…” Napstablook mumbled. “…uh…”

The robot looked up. “What is it, Blooky?”

“Well…I…I’m not really sure…but…have you taken her anywhere…?” Napstablook mumbled.

Grillby blinked. “No, I…we’ve stayed in the home.”

“Oh, right, your magic is still drained…I’m sorry, but um…if you’re faring better…you should take her somewhere…like with Alma. That helped Alma, right? Maybe…maybe it’ll help her if you take her somewhere and talk to her when she’s listening.”

“Anything’s worth a shot right now,” Mettaton said as he motioned with his hand.

Grillby nodded, quietly thinking. “Right…” It made sense, and the answer was so obvious that he had gone over it in his panic. It was always something for Alma…he never thought he’d use the tactic on his wife. “T…thank you for your time,” the elemental managed. “I…I need to go…”

“Hurry,” the ghost insisted as the elemental darted off. Then, the ghost quietly glanced to their cousin. “Mettaton…” they mumbled.

The robot turned. “Yes…Blooky?”

Napstablook gave a sweet smile. “Don’t worry about me. If I rest, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry so much…okay…I don’t like worrying you.”

Mettaton looked to his cousin. Despite that smile, Mettaton wasn’t assured. However, he was an actor…and so he smiled back.

----

Grillby opened the door to his home, quietly coming in. There was some silence, before he heard the skittering of Cupcake, and sure enough, the creature came into sight. Grillby lightly patted his head, before moving further into the home, entering the bedroom. He found Muffet quietly laying there, absently playing with a strand of loose thread from the blanket.

“Muffet…” he called…but her blank stare didn’t focus, nor did she even raise her head. His flames dimmed, and then he approached, getting onto the bed, and then reaching out, taking one of her hands. “Muffet…” he murmured, his other hand combing through her loose, untended hair.

She blinked, and glanced to him silently. He sighed. “Muffet…we’re going to go somewhere. Come now, dear. I can’t carry you still. At least let Cupcake do so…” For once, he was extremely grateful for the creature’s size. Cupcake tilted his form in slight confusion, but then came over, deciding that if it could help Muffet, he’d gladly do it.

A minute of coaxing finally got her to perch herself on the creature. Cupcake held her easily, and then followed after the elemental. Grillby knew there were many potential places to go, but he knew one that would be perfect.

They left the Underground, and emerged outside. It was earlier than what Grillby wanted, but the sooner he got through to her, the better off they’d all be. So, he led Cupcake up the mountain, taking them higher and higher. It wasn’t that long of a walk, as Grillby had found the smoothest trail, and nearly half an hour later, they came to an area near the top where it was mostly flat, and even some grass grew there.

The elemental gently coaxed her off Cupcake. The creature watched, and then skittered away, seeming to understand that they would need their space. And so, he went off to explore nearby, ready to come back when needed.

Grillby held her hand tight, and gently led her over to an area near the edge, where they could see all of the slopes, the city…and off in the distance, the ocean.

He sat down with her, and for a bit, he didn’t say anything. Then, he looked to her, taking one of her hands in both of his. “Muffet, I need you to talk to me,” he murmured softly. “You remember what happened here, in this spot, do you not?”

She was quiet, but then slowly nodded. “Muffet, I promised…I promised I would be there for you, and I would protect you…” His flames suddenly darkened as they turned a reddish pink. “…and I did uphold that promise for children of our own,” he mumbled.

“Muffet…I’m a listener,” he managed. “I’m not the best talker. But I can’t listen, if you don’t talk to me…I want to help you, but I don’t know where to start when I am still unfit to go about on my own to help the others…”

Muffet was quiet, looking down. “Please,” the fire elemental managed. “Say something, at least…anything.”

“…she’s gone…” was the barely audible whisper. For a moment, he wasn’t even sure he heard it as his flames went perfectly still. “…we lost them…” Her faint voice quivered, and Grillby could hear her trying to stop herself from crying. “We were right there each time…and we couldn’t do anything!” she cried out, tears escaping despite her best efforts.

She covered her face, her form jerking as she cried. The elemental turned, getting on his knees so that he could raise himself up a bit more. “Shh…” he soothed, gently drawing her hands away, tears flowing freely from all five of her eyes.

He lowered her hands, and then reached back up, tenderly cupping her face, brushing his thumbs along her cheeks to rid her of her tears. There was a soft hiss as his flames met them, with little wisps of vapor coming off in response to the contact, but he ignored it. It was like receiving a static shock…he could handle it.

Grillby leaned forward, resting his head against hers. “I know…” he managed. “I know…” He seemed smaller again. “It hurts, I know that, dear, but…you need to overcome it. There’s nothing we can do for their Chara…but our Chara and Alma, they’re still out there.” His flames started to move again.

“As cruel and inhumane as Reaper’s Harvest is, they would die before letting harm could to Red Souls. What makes Chara and Alma special is what is keeping them alive. I assure you, we will find them, and the moment I do,” Grillby’s flames began to snap and crackle. “They’ll pay for every moment they’ve harmed them.”

“But—we don’t know where they are!” Muffet cried, heartbroken and desperate. Grillby’s flames dimmed further, before he took her hands again.

“We will find them,” he murmured to her. “But I need you to stay strong, Dear. If you stay as you are…I’m going to lose you.” He gave a shudder, and his voice began to waver, causing Muffet’s attention to lock onto him. “I’m going to lose both of you. Muffet, I can’t go through that. Not now… Please, for the love of the gods…”

Muffet’s eyes widened as little embers began to fall from his head. His equivalent of tears. “If not for yourself…then please, for my niece, for Chara and Alma…” One hand unconsciously rested on her stomach. “For our unborn child…” His flames seemed to retreat, and for a moment, he seemed smaller and much more vulnerable. More vulnerable than she had ever seen him, even when he’d been nearly extinguished..

“…for me…” he managed quietly. “I can’t lose you now, Muffet. Please…” Muffet stiffened as he continued, and for as long as she lived, she never did figure out if his next words had ever been meant for her ears. For it was spoken so softly that his flames nearly drowned them out.

“…you’re scaring me…” was the choked whisper.

She had jerked, staring at him. He was quivering, obviously worried, and she knew he had every right. Their children were missing, and she knew she hadn’t been faring well. And with how Monsters were connected to their emotions, she and the unborn child were at risk, especially when her magic had been drained.

“I—I’m sorry, Grillby,” she managed to choke out, a free set of hands coming around him. Automatically, he switched his hold, allowing her to draw him close as she hugged the elemental. “I’m just so scared—they’re out there alone—and we don’t know what is happening to them. W—we can’t find them, and w—we can’t even do anything for them right now. It’s horrible—”

Grillby briefly tightened his grip. “Muffet, Reaper’s Harvest is on the run. They don’t have time to do any harm to them. They’ll be fine. Right now, they need us to stay strong…I know it’s hard…but…we’ll find them. I promise. Even if I have to burn down a few buildings in the process…”

“B—but where do we even start looking?”

“I’m not sure—however,” he stated swiftly. “Napstablook is very good at detecting souls. If they can recover their magic, I’m sure we can find them sooner than we otherwise would.”

Muffet nodded shakily. “…I just…I just can’t stand this. Just…waiting for news. I want to do something—I hate being like this!”

Grillby sighed, understanding the feeling. “I know…” he mumbled, hating when he found himself repeating useless words. He wanted nothing more than to march off and somehow come back with their two little ghosts, but he was still helpless until he could fully recover. He had to think of something else… “Muffet…please bear with this a little longer…I will not allow you to disappear before I bring them back.”

“Th…then what do I do?” she managed.

Grillby’s flames brightened slightly. “Just stay strong for them, all right? They’re going to need you back on your feet when we bring them home…and our other little one depends on you to care for yourself.

“I know it isn’t much…it’s just taking care of ourselves…but at the moment, it’s all we can do. We can’t help this search, we can’t join a fray…but we can make sure there’s still something for them to return to once they’re found…”

She buried her face into his shoulder, silent for some time. “…I’m so sorry, Grillby…” she managed, her voice quivering. “It just hurts so much…” Her voice was tight, threatening to break. He raised his head up as she wiped away her own tears. “But…I…I’ll do it.” She pulled a smile, revealing her fangs…but it didn’t reach her eyes at all.

Grillby leaned close, his warmth coming forth. “We’ll pull through, Muffet…we just need to hold on a little longer…I know we can do this.”

Seeing that he was finally getting through, he reached forward, a hand coming behind her head. “I promise,” he said as he came closer. He felt her relax as they closed their eyes just before they kissed. It might have been brief…but it seemed to bring a bit more life back to the spider.

Chapter Text

Time was starting to slip by quietly for the secluded Monsters. Mettaton was outside, working on the finishing touches of a small building that he had constructed around the Rift. Due to its location, and the fact that his Humans had magic, Mettaton had started on it soon after the Beast Monsters had been dealt with.

It wasn’t anything fancy, as Mettaton was rushed, and his normal creativity was absent from his lack of powering down. As he shut the door to the metal building, he rested his head against it, closing his eyes briefly. He just wanted to rest.

“Mettaton?” a voice asked in surprise.

Mettaton jerked and turned to find Michael, and leaning on him, was a weary William. “What are you doing?” the younger Human asked in confusion.

The robot folded his arms, tiredly scanning them. “I should be asking you the same thing,” he replied. “Why are you two all the way up here?” He pointed at the red-eyed Human. “Especially you. You’ve been in emergency care for the past several months.”

“I’m faring much better now,” William assured. “The walk is just longer than I remember…”

“Cause you haven’t done it in ages,” Michael muttered.

“If you wanted to talk to us, you could have called us down,” Mettaton reasoned as he leaned against the building. “So why were you so inclined to come up here yourself?”

“A few reasons,” William replied as he opted to lean against a tree to give Michael a reprieve. “My scientists picked up a strange energy on the mountain a while back.”

“They wanted to come up here right away,” Michael added. “But Leader insisted on holding out unless it spiked again.”

“They’re suspicious as always,” Mettaton murmured. “Even when we’re sharing the same enemy…any word on that?”

Michael shook his head, while William looked up. “You seem to know a thing or two about whatever happened…and if I had to guess, you’re building this here because of it.”

“…yes,” he carefully replied. “I am.”

“Mind telling me?” William asked.

“…if I do, I’d prefer if you didn’t spread word,” Mettaton replied. “This is dangerous to Monsters and Humans.”

“All right,” William agreed. “But, if it’s that dangerous…”

There was a dull clanking as Mettaton knocked on the metal door. “Nothing short of a bomb is going to get through this,” he assured. “Not without me knowing. I’m not taking any chances.”

“But…what is it?” Michael asked.

“You’ll have to take my word,” Mettaton replied. “But…it’s a rift.”

“A…rift?” they asked in confusion.

“A…doorway to another world would be the best explanation.”

Seeing that he was only confusing them further, Mettaton went about explaining it the best that he could, answering questions, and explaining, though he left some crucial details out.

At the end of it, William nodded slowly. “…but if that ever opens,” he murmured. “You let me know.”

----

“But Daddy,” the pups whined to Dogamy. “What do you mean he can’t come?”

“Yeah!” Beowulf exclaimed. “He came last time!”

“Uh-huh!” Dogtanian folded her arms unhappily. “Why can’t he watch us!?”

“Because he can’t come,” Dogamy replied, his ears drooping.

“Then can’t we go to him?” Dogmatix whined.

“Please, Dad?” Lupus begged. “We like him…”

Canis looked up with a yawn, and then let her ears droop down as she pulled the puppy face out. “Daddy…want Pappy. I like him.”

“We all want Papyrus!” the other pups exclaimed.

“Children, if I could, I would most definitely ask him,” Dogamy managed, his stressed tone impossible to hide. He wanted so very much to please them…but the Rift was closed, and Papyrus was no longer in reach.

The pups didn’t understand that, and instead, kept insisting to find Papyrus again. Even though they had only met him once, he left a good impression—even on Canis, who usually hid away from strangers. It actually caught Dogamy by surprise that she was voicing an opinion on the matter…or anything, as she was usually quiet, never speaking unless needed.

They whimpered, begged, and pleaded, but there wasn’t anything that could be done. They didn’t understand the rift, and why it stopped their new best friend from visiting…nor could they comprehend why their father couldn’t somehow fix the issue. And the poor canine felt horrible that he couldn’t help.

Especially when even his littlest was upset about the thing…she was so quiet, never wanting anything, and now, when she did, and it was the one thing he couldn’t get.

“Pups,” Dogamy murmured, ignoring the unhappy and mostly unfounded accusations that were being flung at him. He knelt to their level, his expression soft. “Would I really deprive you of someone who could make all of you so happy?”

The pups grew quiet, staring at the ground. “I don’t like this anymore than you do. The pack is still stretched thin, and I would have appreciated his help. But…I can’t reach him anymore. I’m sorry, my little ones…if I could find a way to change it, I would.”

The pups whimpered and whined, while Canis looked up. His quiet small one, who was always content with someone holding her…the one who never made a fuss of any sort…had her eyes brimming with tears.

It was like a knife to the heart as he came forward. She whimpered at him. “…no more Pappy?”

He scooped her up, nuzzling her to get rid of her tears. “…no,” he admitted. “No more.”

“But I want him back…”

“I know you do, Dear…I know you do.”

However, his action brought the others to him as they clung and attempting to climb his legs, all five demanding his affections to make up for the loss of their new best friend.

----

That night, Dogaressa returned much later than usual. She yawned, pausing as she saw Dogamy still awake at the table, his head resting on it. He looked at her quietly with a soft sound. She tilted her head, raising a brow. “Dogamy?” she asked softly as she came over. “What’s going on?” She frowned. “The last time you gave me that look, it resulted in our troublemakers.”

Dogamy covered his face with a grumble. She couldn’t help a smile as she kissed his head, taking pleasure in lightly teasing him over his insistence on children to the point he had pleaded with her…though that was just because she was stringing him along to see how desperate he was…and it was entertaining to see what ways he would try to persuade her.

She pulled a chair around in order to sit beside him, quietly bringing an arm around him. “My teasing aside, what is so wrong that you’re giving me that look?”

“The pups liked that world’s Papyrus,” he mumbled. Dogaressa tilted her head. She didn’t understand the whole rift thing well, but she had gotten the general story from Dogamy, and so she knew the basics.

“They miss a stranger…”

“That’s not surprising for most of them,” Dogamy murmured. “They meet someone; they instantly claim them as a friend of sorts. The surprising part is…Canis wants him back too.”

Dogaressa paused. “Canis? …Canis.” She stared. “Her? She’s never liked anyone outside of the pack—not that quickly…Canis wants him back?”

Dogamy nodded. “…and she used that face that she almost never does, but…”

“It breaks your heart each time she does.”

He sighed. “Yes…”

Dogaressa licked his forehead. “I’m sorry, Dear, but…maybe something will turn around. You haven’t told me everything, Dogamy, so I don’t know why the rift has been sealed…but if things work out, then we’ll go track down that Papyrus. Because…someone who Canis has learned to like, and shows energy for…”

She breathed out. “I would very much like to meet that person.”

“He’s not much different from our own, though…”

“Yes, but our Papyrus can’t exactly come and fix this issue…” she replied.

“Sadly,” he agreed.

The woman nuzzled him quietly. “Cheer up, Dogamy. We’ll find a way to make them happy again.”

“I didn’t want them not happy in the first place though…”

“Yes, but we can’t always help that,” she replied. “And it’s good for them, in some ways. To learn that we’re not perfect.” She laughed softly. “Kids think their parents are invincible after all.” She reached forward, resting her finger on his muzzle, making him go cross-eyed briefly. “That’s why they still think you’re a wonderful trampoline.”

“They need to know they’re starting to weigh a little too much for that…”

She laughed. “You can tell them, but that’s not going to save you. Just sign your parents up for it. It’s not like they can get hurt.”

“Throwing everyone else ‘under the bus’, as the Humans would put it?”

“But of course,” she replied, licking his muzzle. “Now…let’s fix your moping so that we can cheer up the pups tomorrow.”

----

Months trickled by. Grillby sighed, adjusting his attire, and looked into the mirror quietly. At long last, he had been able to regain his form. His gaze went to his hand, where his wedding ring rested. The color seemed to change due to the flames, as his glow softened. Then, he stepped out of the bedroom, heading over to the living room where Muffet rested on the couch, leaning against Cupcake.

Thankfully, there was still a spot next to her to steal. As he sat down, she stirred, blinking two of her eyes open to look at him tiredly. “Grillby…?” she mumbled, raising a hand to rub at her eyes.

“Apologies,” he murmured as he drew an arm around her. “I didn’t mean to wake you…” He drew his other hand over her stomach habitually. “…has the little one been causing you trouble?”

Muffet covered her face, and he chuckled softly. Their little one wasn’t much of a kicker, but Muffet got hopelessly flustered whenever it happened—or even when it was mentioned. Grillby found it charming as he relaxed, closing his eyes.

For a bit, they just laid there, not even sharing a word. Then, she gave a little gasp, and Grillby felt something against his hand. He smiled as he opened his eyes. “They’re at it again,” he chuckled.

Muffet simply whined her embarrassment, and hid her face. Grillby’s flames dimmed to a soft glow as he pressed close. “Are you going to turn into a little fire Monster?” he teased.

“And who’s fault will that be?” she muttered.

“Mine.”

She spared a hand to lightly smack his shoulder.

“And I’ll have no regrets.”

“Cupcake, go eat him for me.”

The monster jerked his head up with a confused sound of surprise. He looked to the elemental, and then at Muffet, before letting out a pitiful whine at her. He wasn’t about to bite something on fire!

“Traitor,” she grumbled.

Grillby chuckled. “Poor you, you’ve been betrayed.”

“Indeed I have,” she stated, folding her arms. “By all three of you.”

“And we all still love you.”

He laughed as she tried to push him away. “Shoo!”

“But I’m comfortable…”

“No!” But he heard laughter. “Go away!”

“I think not,” he replied. “I want time with our currently stirring child too. Seeing as you hog them all the time.”

“Do I look like I have a choice in the matter!?”

“Mmm…no, but it’s fun to tease you about it.”

“Oh! You can be so…so…oh, there are no words for you when you are like this, you horrible, horrible, Sir!”

“If I’m horrible, why am I still labelled as Sir…?”

“Oh you just—” She paused.

He tilted his head. “…Muffet, dear?”

“…Grillby…”

“Yes…?”

“…uh…um…I think we’ll need a doctor.”

He paused. “Are you saying they’re…”

“Yes…” She looked timidly up at him. “…they’re coming.”

“…oh dear gods.”

The next hour was a chaotic rush of calling the others, and being instructed to come to the lab, as Mettaton had cleared up Alphys’s room for them. Dogamy was swift, bringing the Snowdrake doctor over as quickly as he could.

There was another hour of agonizing waiting for the others, who waited downstairs, aside from Grillby. Mettaton ended up being the one pacing back in forth in a frantic state, while Dogamy sat calmly at the desk, with Napstablook resting on his shoulders.

Eventually, Muffet’s pain filled cries subsided…only to be replaced by another’s. The three sighed their relief, and a few minutes later, the Snowdrake came down, smiling. “It went well, but please let them have some time to themselves first…”

----

Muffet looked down tiredly at the little one in her arms, while Grillby leaned forward, both staring in wonder at the little miracle she held. “…a little girl…” Muffet managed, smiling. The child was made entirely of flames, making their figure hard to distinguish.

Her flames were like Grillby’s, bits of red, orange, and yellow dancing among her. Her eyes were different, as they were three orbs of purple light. Like Muffet, she had more than one pair of arms, though, instead of six, she merely had four. However, each hand was grabby as she reached around, trying to hold onto something.

One hand found a free hand of Muffet’s. “…she’s warm to the touch,” Muffet murmured.

Grillby smiled as his daughter found his hand as well, her whole hand wrapping around a lone finger. “She’ll stay like that for her first few months, anyhow. After that, she’ll start being able to change her temperature…meaning you will have to be careful with handling her.”

“With you around, I’m not too worried,” Muffet assured.

Grillby’s flames crackled as he peered at their little one. “Now, Muffet…what name shall we give our little one?”

Muffet gave a hum. “I’ve had a general idea of what to think for with names…”

“It’s always ingredients with you, though,” he half teased. “Or bakery products.”

“And your family tends to have names related to or reminding you of ‘fire’,” she pointed out. “And yours is a way of cooking.”

“Huh…” Grillby shrugged, and looked down. “Well, she’s a perfect blend, don’t you think? Of spider and her element? Perhaps the name should be so as well…”

“Part your trait and part mine, hmm?” Muffet paused. “What kind of name would that be…”

Grillby thought it over. A term to blend their naming styles…where to start? “Rotisserie…”

Muffet paused. “Rotisserie?” she asked in confusion, frowning. “As a name?”

“Just a starting point,” Grillby assured quickly. “It’s a style of cooking, but also in the name of a few things…”

“Rotisserie…that one doesn’t work,” she murmured. “…oh!” She looked up, smiling with her little fangs gleaming. “…Rotisa. What do you think of Rotisa?”

Grillby smiled. “Well, it’ll definitely be a unique name.”

“Of course it would,” she grumbled. “Look where you were fishing around for the name,” she muttered. “In cooking, mind you.”

“What were you expecting?”

“Honestly, I have no idea anymore.” Grillby shook his head in amusement as Muffet held their daughter close…their little Rotisa. He drew his arms around both of them. It wasn’t perfect just yet, but for now, the hurt and the worries had been numbed by the new bundle of life they held.

Chapter Text

Frisk slowly opened the door to Snowdin’s Shop. It was dark… and it would probably stay like that. The fusion let the door creak shut behind them as they approached the counter. They had no true reason to be here, other than… other than to be alone, without the risk of anyone seeing them.

They weren’t seeking comfort this time.

Snowdin had been mostly empty for the past bit while people cleaned up the...aftermath of the attack. Which was what they wanted anyways.

Frisk clenched their fists, their whole body trembling, their tail writhing as the emotions all came crashing out. They slammed their fists down on the counter with a shriek, the wood unrelenting to their assault--but that didn’t matter.

“Why…?” they managed--their voice a harsh whisper. “Why…? Why, why, why, why, WHY!?” Their voice grew into a strangled cry with each and every utterance as they beat their hands against the wood.

The child dropped their head down harshly against the counter, ignoring the pain as tears streamed down their face. How much more could be taken from them? How much more until it was finally ‘enough’!?

Frisk ignored the bit of blood that dripped down their head as well as they battered their hands. Everything was falling apart, and Frisk had lost nearly all their supports, and those who were on their feet had too many other worries.

They let loose another wail, repeatedly slamming against the counter, the rate having quickened drastically. They were alone...they could break without any extra shame. The repeated thuds and crashes came at alarming speed--over and over--as if the child was trying to permanently mar themselves.

As if that somehow might atone for their shortcomings. “I--just--wanted--our happy--ENDING!” Just as swiftly, their legs gave out, and they slowly slid down, completely broken. They curled up on the floor, tucking their arms over their head as they shuddered. They were supposed to be able to fix this--to have the power to stop these things before they even happened.

But it was useless.

Their responsibilities, fear, guilt...regret… All of it was crashing down on the child, smothering them, and they simply couldn’t keep fighting it all alone.

But they wouldn’t dare share their burden on an already battered kingdom.

They couldn’t...and so they wept all alone, broken on the floor, unable to provide a thing. They felt that without the resets...they couldn’t provide anything. This was supposed to be a happy ending...but it was just getting worse.

They didn’t leave...crying until sleep finally claimed the fusion.

And it wasn’t until evening that white furred hands gently scooped them up.

---

Frisk closed their hands together, their eyes shut and their form Human once more. Sunlight came into the golden hall; casting harsh lights and shadows as they stood there expectantly. Slowly, they raised their head to see Sans standing before them.

He was silent at first, before raising his head. Frisk shivered as they saw the absence of light in his eyes…it was that glare that penetrated them, seeming to find every little secret they had within, exposing them, and ridiculing them for each and every one.

The small skeleton raised his hand, summoning a Gaster Blaster in cold silence. Frisk whimpered, taking a small step back, but in the end, they didn’t do anything in their defense. They didn’t fight…or struggle…they didn’t even try to run away.

They knew full well that if Sans really wanted to, killing them would be easy—the only issue was just having them stay dead, but in all honesty…with everything that had been happening to the child…their hold on the resets was slipping away.

If he wanted to do away with the one that disaster seemed to follow…then why not let him? Why fight it? He had said it himself…just give up. Frisk couldn’t see the point in struggling against their fate. They had brought enough pain and suffering to everyone, and this time—there was no way to fix what they had done.

“I…I’m sorry…” they stammered softly, their voice a weak protest to what he was about to do. All they ever wanted was…but with each and every day, the chance of it was slipping away. The maw of the creature began to open as Sans continued staring at them. Frisk lowered their head, adjusting their footing as they spread their arms wide.

He looked down, his skull becoming shadowed as he raised his hand fully, fingers ready to snap. Frisk shut their eyes, standing rigid as they waited for the sound, for the beast to fire, for their soul to shatter.

There was a snap of fingers, and the roar of the beast erupted—before being swiftly cut off. Frisk gasped, jerking their head up to see that the Gaster Blaster had vanished as Sans staggered, looking up at them in shock and concern, his pupils having returned to his eyes.

“B…buddy…?” he managed, his pupils darting around and taking in the situation.

Frisk looked up in confusion, unsure of what was going on.

The small skeleton rushed over to them, grabbing them firmly. “Frisk? What’s wrong? Talk to me, what’s going on?”

They were silent, staring at him as he looked them over worriedly to make sure they weren’t hurt. “…my Sans?” they asked.

“Huh?” he asked in bewilderment. “Only one Sans as far as I know, Bud.”

“…not a dream?”

Sans seemed to hold a genuine smile for a moment. “Nope, not a dream this time.” He pressed his skull against theirs. “Guess that took a number on us…but I’m up now.”

They shivered, and then, with a soft cry, they plowed forward, drawing their arms around him. “Sans!” they sobbed.

“Whoa!” He held them close as he fell back, managing to not end up flat on his back, as he sat with them in his hold. “Easy,” he soothed, patting their back. “It’s okay now,” he assured as they clung to him. “We’re all waking up…”

“Y—you’ve been g—gone,” they sobbed. “F—for so long, I th—thought you we—weren’t ev—ever coming back!” they wailed.

He stroked their hair, combing it with his fingers. “Sorry, Buddy, just…all the sudden, it just went black…how long has it been?”

“Months!” they cried. “It’s almost been a year!”

The skeleton winced. That couldn’t be good. “Uh, Buddy, are we still—?”

Frisk shook their head. “We’ve been rescued—but…but…” They shuddered. “Alma and Chara…Chara!” Just like that, they were reduced into a complete blubbering mess.

“Frisk!” Sans held them close, unsure of what to do. Having few options, he shifted his hold on them, practically cradling the child as he softly began to hum. It worked before, so why not now?

It took a while, but eventually, he calmed them down again. “Easy,” he soothed. “Here, let’s wait until we find the others before we sort out what happened. That way, we only have to go through this once.”

“O—okay,” the child hiccupped.

“There you go, Bud,” he managed softly. The skeleton stood, keeping them against his chest. “Let’s go find the others…” Frisk nodded, content with clinging to him. He smiled for a moment, but it faded as he moved, the Golden Corridor vanishing away as he did so.

Finding the others was of no issue—the real issue was them taking turns with Frisk when all the child wanted to do was hug them all and yell at them for being gone so long. Warm hugs were all around, with words of assurance—and some stammered apologies.

When that was mostly taken care of—as Frisk refused to let it be ‘completely’ taken care of—the group settled, and Frisk began to explain everything in greater detail. From the premise of their kidnapping, what happened in the rescue…they lighten the news briefly, mentioning the birth of Grillby’s and Muffet’s daughter.

They went quiet after that, hesitating on stating anything further. However, Sans seemed to be a step ahead as usual. “Buddy, that nightmare…” He looked at them in confusion—and perhaps with a little hurt as well. “What happened while we were gone?”

The child quietly looked away, even as Toriel scooped them up, nuzzling them. “My child?” she asked in concern. “Please, if there’s something troubling you…”

Frisk shook their head. Undyne gave a dead-pan glare. “You know, you’re a really horrible liar,” she stated bluntly.

“Undyne,” Asgore murmured.

“I have to say it,” Undyne countered firmly as she folded her arms. “Because if we don’t pressure the punk, they’re going to try to hold it all in and never tell us, and we know what happens when they don’t tell people things! It comes back and bites them, so dammit, Frisk! As your friends—as your family, you sure as heck better start telling us what’s going on!”

“Un—Undyne,” Alphys stammered, tapping her fingers nervously. “Th—that might be a tad…forceful?”

“Got any better ideas on making the punk spill instead of hurting themself?”

“Nyeh-heh…” Papyrus chuckled sheepishly. “Undyne does have a point there…”

“Come on, Buddy, talk to us,” Sans insisted as he came over. “Granted I came in last second to that nightmare—but I’m not dumb. Your nightmare…” He drifted off, trying to find the right words to use.

Frisk curled up, clenching fistfuls of Toriel’s robe as they bit their lip. “…the golden corridor…that attack…” They tensed. “That was the time I scared you, wasn’t it…?” Frisk jerked, realizing that Sans had interpreted it much differently.

Sans sighed, looking limp—more so than usual. “I know that was a bad scare, but…” He glanced up to them with a pained expression. “Just how bad was it really, Buddy?”

It hadn’t been that bad…in fact, Frisk had gotten over that fairly quickly. But…the other Sans had sent fear through them, and that had turned into a twisted nightmare. The other Sans despised them, and blamed them—they couldn’t help that it got into their dreams where their own Sans had to witness it.

Frisk didn’t want to say anything…but they couldn’t bear the thought of letting Sans assume that Frisk had been bottling up emotions because of his own actions. Frisk looked up quietly. “…not you…” they murmured.

Sans blinked. “Then…what…?” he asked hesitantly.

With that, the child surrendered, and carefully began explaining things. It took a while, as confusion would swiftly spring up when they tried to tell them what transpired. The end had most shell-shocked, but Frisk still hadn’t stated the last of it, the one little detail that only they had.

The small skeleton sighed. “…what did my counterpart end up doing?” he reluctantly asked.

Frisk lowered their head. “…don’t come back…”

Sans gently grabbed their chin, forcing them to look up. “What else did he do?”

These memories were not a part of the deal that the little Frisk had formed with their Gaster, and with Sans prying as he was, it didn’t take much for all of them to learn what transpired.

“S—Sans!” Papyrus exclaimed.

Undyne was fuming, while Asgore and Toriel seemed taken aback by what they had seen. Alphys hunkered down, covering her face, knowing how terrifying it had to be for Frisk to go through that.

“Oh, that’s it!” the fish Monster exclaimed. “Sans, I don’t care if that’s supposed to be you!”

“Undyne…” Sans mumbled.

“We are going through—”

“Undyne.”

“And we’re going to teach him not to mess with our punk!”

“Undyne!” Sans snapped as he stood abruptly, turning to face her. “No. We aren’t going to do that.”

“But—!”

“Undyne, it’s not going to change anything, even if we could. Do you really want to start something between dimensions?”

“He started it,” she muttered. “Blaming our Punk for the mess when they opened the Rift.”

“I don’t care who started what,” the small skeleton said. “No one’s finishing it. Besides, he made it clear not to come back. Do we really want to open that tear just to tell him to be nice to someone he isn’t going to see again anyways?”

Undyne huffed, folding her arms. “I still don’t like him,” she grumbled.

“Not asking you to like him,” Sans muttered. “I’m not happy about this either, but…” His pupils dimmed. “I can understand that a little—why he did that. Heck, if it were me instead of him…I would have been the same.”

“Sans…?” Papyrus questioned in concern.

The skeleton looked down at his hands, slowly opening and closing them. “Just…heh…our happy ending…damn it, I tried to keep it together for a month and I failed. He…he had his for years, and then we came in…and then it got all messed up from something on our side of this thing.”

He slowly drew a hand over his face. “We lost our happy ending, and I blamed the only source we have…heck, if my anger wasn’t in check…I might have lashed out at Alma, for letting that thing take control and killing others, not even trying to put up a fight…except, really, I’m not much different, now am I? When I give in just as easily…”

Papyrus frowned, and marched toward Sans as he continued. “He was angry, and upset, and we were the source. I would have been no different,” he muttered. “So there’s no point in treating it as if...” Sans gasped as he was suddenly yanked off his feet, with Papyrus looking to him sternly.

“Sans,” Papyrus started simply. “You are better than what you’re saying. Honestly, you’re painting the one Undyne’s mad at in a better light than you. Look…” He sighed, trying to figure out what to say. “Sans. Are children inherently bad?”

“What? No…”

“Are they to be blamed when something that was out of their control happens?”

“…no…”

“Then you would not have yelled at Frisk had you been him,” Papyrus murmured. “You are much better than you claim, brother. I wish you would open your eyes sometimes and notice that, you pile of lazy bones.”

“Sure you’re not just saying things?”

“Of course I’m sure,” Papyrus replied. “I wouldn’t say things like this just to say them. Where would be the honesty in that, Sans? To put it simply…maybe you won’t always make the right choice…maybe, once in awhile, your anger will get the best of you…but, in the end, you’ll try to do the right thing, and that’s what matters, isn’t it?”

“And my counterpart…?”

“I’m sure he was very distraught,” Papyrus replied, as Frisk squirmed free, insisting to the group that they should aid Papyrus, while the child themself would give them space. With that, Frisk slipped away into the black, while Papyrus continued. “He may not have been thinking straight, or just needed some way to let out his emotions, and Frisk was unluckily in his range. If it was all right to go, I would have insisted on returning to talk to him, and try to help him understand that it’s okay to be hurting—but not okay to take it out on just a little child.”

The tall skeleton drew his brother close. “Like you, he just needs someone to talk to, Sans…we can’t do that, but hopefully someone on his side will…now…don’t think you’re going anywhere. I’m not letting you leave until you feel as half as great as I, brother!”

Sans sighed…but his smile turned genuine as he hung limply in his brother’s hold. “Not like I can say no to that, Bro…”

“Nyeh—heh—heh! Exactly, brother!”

----

While the group focused on aiding Sans, Frisk wandered in the depths of their mind, subtley seeking out the other soul…now where was he? They paused as the black began to morph into a familiar room. There was the warble of a broken machine, and they turned to see him warping into existence.

“It’s good to see you again,” the Monster greeted calmly. “I’m sure we all apologize for our absence. And those new memories…fascinating. Apologies that I couldn’t seal any of the ones they were prying for, I was busy hiding a more obvious one away…”

“It’s fine,” they muttered. “It’s not like anything can be changed about that…so long as you keep it safe.”

“Our deal still stands,” he assured. “It just took some time to settle back into my…‘roost’, as it were.”

“Good…” the child muttered. “With everything else, that’s the last thing I need…”

“I’m telling you, you worry far too much about that secret. Do you really think it’ll change things?”

“Think? I know.”

“And how is that?” Gaster asked.

Frisk’s expression darkened as they looked down, their eyes shadowed by their hair. “That look, the other Sans gave me…I’ve seen it before…”

Gaster frowned in confusion. “While I admit I did not see everything during your run through the kingdom, the only time I saw him do that, was at the restaurant. That was one of intimidation…”

“No…” Frisk mumbled. “My Sans had that same look once.” They closed their fists tight, quivering a little. “I’ve seen that look of anger…of hatred.” They bit their lip, trying to keep their emotions reined in. “That was not the first time,” they muttered. “And that is why you must hide those secrets…because I know what happens if they find out…”

They were silent for a few moments. “If he finds out…”

Gaster sighed, folding his hands. “Perhaps I should have kept a closer eye on you at times. I seemed to have been unaware of these events that transpired.”

“You didn’t figure it out while protecting them?”

Gaster chuckled. “While I’m protecting them, it doesn’t mean I look at them directly. There’s just so much of ‘that’ secret, that I basically hide everything from ‘point A to point B’. If I know where it starts, and I know where it ends, then I have no need to peer at the middle. Though, I had honestly thought I knew the middle…maybe I should—”

“The fewer that know, the better,” Frisk insisted.

The skeleton sighed, shaking his head in light amusement. “Very well, child.”

“Why risk it?” they muttered to him. “That look is horrible…it penetrates you, and it breaks you. Our Sans only gave it to me once…” They looked up with crimson eyes. “And my secret will stay sealed so that it shall remain the last.”

Chapter Text

The fire elemental stirred at the quiet sounds reaching him. He raised his head, before rolling over, his hand searching the end table until he found his glasses. He sat up, adjusting them as his groggy mind finally put together his situation. Rotisa was whimpering in her crib. He rose, glancing to his wife, who was still sleeping due to the softness of the sound.

He hurried over, scooping the little child out of her crib with a hum. “Now what’s wrong, little Sweetheart?” he asked gently as he sat down with her. The elemental spider fussed and whimpered, little embers falling away from her eyes.

Habitually, he began to rock her, humming a little louder. His drowsy mind took him back to when Fiona was this age, and she had woken in a fuss when her parents were out. The tactic worked well on her, and…thankfully, Rotisa began to settle, eventually just snuggling into her father’s chest.

Grillby’s light dimmed softly as he looked down at the little one. His own little child… He leaned close, pressing his head against her own. “There…isn’t that better now, Rotisa?” He sighed softly. “Soon, my dear…we’ll have two siblings back to see you. I’m sure you’d love that…” The child gave a soft coo as he relaxed, closing his eyes again as sleep swiftly claimed him.

“…Dearie…?” a soft voice called. “It’s morning, Sir…” He felt a hand on his shoulder and something gently pressing the side of his head. “Are you going to wake up?” The tone was one of amusement.

His eyes slowly opened, and he turned to focus on his wife, who had tossed on a simple dress of an off white lavender. “Morning, Muffet…” he managed.

She smirked, a hand on her hip. “You could have woken me, you know. You didn’t have to stay up by yourself…”

He blinked, and looked down to realize that he was still holding the little one. Muffet gently slipped her arms around Rotisa, and drew her close. The baby stirred, and then pressed against her mother, mumbling softly. “You’re going to be hungry soon, won’t you little Dearie?”

Grillby smiled softly, glad that Rotisa could get Muffet’s mind off other things for a bit. He slowly rose, his flames dancing erratically on his form briefly. “I’ll make breakfast,” he offered as he opened the door, giving a quiet grunt as Cupcake shoved past to race into the kitchen.

Muffet snickered. “Cupcake,” she chided as she followed her husband. “Just because you’re hungry…”

“He’s certainly been energetic lately…” Grillby murmured as he started to work in the kitchen.

“I think the potential playmate in Rotisa has him all worked up,” Muffet replied with a giggle.

Grillby smiled. “I have a feeling that they’ll get along…”

Cupcake gave an excited bark as he gulped down some food that had been provided by the other spiders in their home. Muffet smiled, and then perked as Rotisa woke, before starting to whine. “Oh, Dearie…we’ll be in the living room, Grillby.”

The elemental laughed softly. “You need to tell me where you are in this quaint house of yours?”

She put her empty hands on her hips. “Oh, Sir…”

It was a couple of hours later that there was a knock at their door. Muffet looked up from the crib. “Seems we have visitors…”

“So we do…” As Grillby rose—Muffet placed a hand on his chest, rising up on tiptoes, and adjusted his shirt collar.

“There…”

He chuckled, and then moved past her, while she went back to their daughter who had been starting to stir. When Grillby opened the door, he found himself face to face with Dogamy. “Greetings…”

“Hey, Grillby, how’re things settling here?”

“Still alive…and doing much better,” he assured. “…what brings you here?”

“My brother actually…”

“Oh?” Grillby leaned to the side to see the Husky, and then paused, glancing down. On a harness, was another canine. He perked. “Is this his…?”

“Keller,” Doggo replied. “She’s my seeing eye dog.” He knelt, scratching her head. The canine was a German Shepherd, but, while she had the traditional black markings on her back, she had some additional marks on her face, and the rest of her pelt was a mix of a very pale gold and white—unlike the dark brown most of her breed had.

Dogamy grinned. “They got the training done, and I thought…it would be best to show Keller her extended family.”

Grillby perked, and shook his head. “Well, I…”

The canine snorted. “You’re part of the pack, like it or not.”

“I didn’t say I was displeased with this…revelation.”

Dogamy chuckled. “May we?”

“Just a moment—Muffet—”

“Right here,” she called as she entered the living room. “We should be fine; I can block Cupcake in the kitchen if he gets too excited.”

With that, the canines filed in, as Muffet took a seat on the couch, while Cupcake sat obediently in the kitchen. Keller came round the couch, sniffling at Grillby’s and Muffet’s legs, before taking notice of the child. She glanced over her shoulder at Doggo, and when there was no protest, she put her paws on the arm of the couch to prop herself up, looking down in confusion at the child.

The dog plopped her head down on the arm, whining in confusion, raising her paw toward the child, halting before touching. Rotisa looked up, and then reached at the new thing in her vision. Her flaming hand touched the dog’s paw, and on instinct, Keller yanked back in surprise.

She inspected her paw, emitting a whine, before touching the child again. Doggo chuckled. “I’ll have to teach her about elementals and actual fire…”

“You’re going to have to teach her quite a bit,” Dogamy confirmed. “Especially if she’s going to be living in the Underground.” The dog Monster came over, looking down at Rotisa as Keller backed off. “Such a dear. I wished I could have dropped by sooner.”

“Would you like to hold her, Sir?” Muffet asked.

Dogamy chuckled. “If you can trust me with such a responsibility…”

Grillby’s flames crackled. “Says the father who juggles five pups. I think we can trust you.”

With that, Dogamy sat down beside Muffet, who tenderly set Rotisa in his hold. Rotisa blinked in confusion at this transition, tilting her head as she squinted up at the canine. He chuckled, and lowered his head close. “Hello there, little fire pup.”

She reached up, grabbing an ear, and tugging on it gently with tiny fingers. Dogamy gave a rumble, leaning a little closer to let her do as she pleased. She gave a few more weak tugs, before simply petting him, mesmerized by the short fur, and then touching his nose—squeaking as a little hiss met her hearing while Dogamy yanked back on reflex.

Rotisa looked at her hand as a little steam came off it, more confused than harmed. “Noted—don’t nuzzle baby elementals…”

Grillby leaned down, looking her over while Muffet gave an uncertain sound. As she was a spider monster, she had to let Grillby figure out all the fire related things with Rotisa. He took her hand, inspecting it as the fire swiftly returned to normal. “I think you only surprised her…she doesn’t seem hurt…”

Dogamy sank a little in relief. “I’ll keep that in mind though…”

A bark took their attention to the kitchen entrance where Keller was sniffing at Cupcake. The Monster pet let the canine trot around, sniffing at him…before he gave Keller a lick in response. The canine went stock still in surprise as the creature panted quietly. Then, Cupcake dropped into a play stance. “…open the door,” Muffet started. Doggo managed to find it as Keller hesitantly responded, and then—both were on the move, diving out the door to have fun outside.

Muffet giggled. “Seems they might get along...once Keller starts feeling more comfortable around us Monsters.”

Grillby chuckled, and glanced to Dogamy, tilting his head in silent questioning…but Dogamy slowly shook his head. Nothing had been found…

---

The fusion sat outside on the ledge that overlooked the slopes of Ebott and the city below. Their ear fins twitched as they heard footsteps, and slowly, Gerson came over, sitting down beside them with a groan. An orange eye opened, glancing to the old monster, eyeing the nearly healed cracks that were still on his shell.

The souls within all felt grateful that Gerson was still with them, a magic drain like that would have been damaging on someone his age. “So…what’s brought all of you out here? You’ve been a little odd since you finally woke up…”

Their toes curled slightly as their tail fidgeted. The voice was soft as they spoke. “We’re worried…” was the quiet response. “Those of Reaper’s Harvest are still out there…they still have monster magic to use…and to take. And…Chara….” The voice quivered. “Our child…”

The ear fins lowered, the voice seeming to change slightly. “We’re going to find them,” they growled. “And I’m going to shove a pile of spears into them so that they have second thoughts about pulling something like this!”

Their tail curled onto their lap. “But…” The voice became soft and meek. “We still don’t know where to start looking…”

Gerson sighed. “I know it’s not lookin’ pretty right now,” he agreed. “Yet…Chara and Alma…they should still be around. Those Reapers aren’t going to waste red souls like those two…”

The child slouched back, their hands supporting them as they closed both eyes. Their tone changing again; as another spoke. Fortunately, Gerson had learned to pick up on the visual and audio cues. Often, when another monster was talking, their respective trait would become more noticeable—aside from Asgore.

And their voice would change—not dramatically—it was more as if Frisk was trying to impersonate who was speaking. A higher tone for Alphys, and then lower tones for Sans and Asgore. It was still very much the child’s voice—but it certainly helped the turtle discern who was talking a good amount of the time.

This tone was smooth…laid back…and a little low. Those mannerisms told Gerson that Sans was talking now. “That doesn’t solve the problem though…we can’t do anything as it stands—until we know where to go. Which we haven’t been able to figure out in over a year since the kidnapping.”

“Our best bet is for Napstablook…” Gerson started.

The tail twitched, the voice rising. “But they’re a drained ghost! Look how little magic they have right now! It could be another year before they can help us—Alphys…” The voice abruptly changed, the ear fins drooping as they drew their arms around themselves.

“Anything can happen by then…” the fusion mumbled—making it difficult for Gerson to figure out who was speaking as the fusion struggled to keep everyone together, with half of them sinking into their worries and fears…

Gerson sighed. “Surely other ghosts…”

They shook their head, keeping it down as their tail twitched. “Most of them have bodies by now…that causes their vision to weaken…Napstablook…they’re different…they’ve stayed outside a body, and I think…because of that—their ghost abilities simply grew in power…we can’t rely on another ghost…we can’t rely on anything…”

“…that’s not true!” the fusion suddenly proclaimed, their orange eye flaring as they raised their head up. “Napstablook may not be able to help right now—but that doesn’t mean we have nothing to rely on! Even if the other ghosts don’t have that scale of power—they can still see! We have canines who can track scents if we know what we’re looking for—human friends who know this city!”

The fusion even stood up, trying to confirm the point that was being made. “We might have hit rock bottom—but that means we have to pick ourselves up and continue forward—and I know that’s hard right now, when we feel like this. That we caused problems, or that we weren’t strong enough, or that this is all our fault…and that it’s okay to be upset, but we have to hold together! If we don’t pull together from this, we’re only going to fall apart! We have to stay firm!”

The fusion panted slightly, and the blue eye began to glow dimly. “…always the motivator, eh, Paps…?”

There was no verbal response as the fusion sat down again. “We want to continue,” was the response. “But we’re tired, Paps…tired, worried…and right now, barely enough magic to hold ourselves, let alone go off rescuing others…to…put it frankly…we’re useless right now…”

Gerson leaned forward, a hand tipping his hat down before he folded his arms, one leg lightly tapping the ledge as he sat there in silence for several long moments. The fusion had gone still…and so he spoke.

“All awake in there?” he asked. There was a nod. “All got your heads on your shoulders?”

The right eye flickered, causing the turtle to cast them a sideways glance as the fusion remained quiet, before biting their lip and giving a nod. “Then that’s all you need.” He reached over, grabbing the little one and dragging them onto his lap, resting his head between their horns as he tiredly stared off into the distance.

“It’s gotta be tough,” he muttered. “All of you were very powerful…and you had your freedom taken away, and now…your magic—which was the one thing you had intact that could make a difference, but…” A weary smile came to him. “Heh…look at me. My magic was sputtering out even before the draining, but…still kicking.”

“...you have the strength to make up for it,” the fusion muttered to the point Gerson had no idea who had even spoke.

“My last battle doesn’t agree with that statement,” Gerson replied. “I’m not the warrior I was—I don’t have my magic, and I’m losing my strength. Would you call me useless?”

The tail twitched and they turned slightly. “No!” was the quick protest. “Even if you can’t directly participate, you have so much experience—” Gerson shushed them gently.

“So do you,” Gerson replied. “Asgore and Toriel have centuries of that to take from…all of you have knowledge to aid—whether it’s the concept of tapping into other magics—fighting tactics, or a better understanding of how things work…you’re many minds working in unison. Even if you can’t use your magic…even if you can’t fight…heh…you’re a walking collection of experiences…not something I’d call useless now.”

The turtle sighed as he held them close. “It’s rough right now, I know…you’re worried about ‘em…”

The fusion nodded softly. “Chara…” was the tired response…he guessed from Toriel. “…we can’t lose them…”

“And we won’t,” he stated firmly. “We’re going to find them, we’re going to make sure they’re safe…and we’re going to put Reaper’s Harvest into the ground.” He habitually combed at their hair as he spoke. “We’re going to figure this all out…”

The fusion leaned into him, and nodded quietly… “Things are going to get better,” he murmured softly. “You’ll see…” One day…maybe this will all stop. Perhaps they can take out Reaper’s Harvest…end the Corruption…restore what had been lost…but Gerson wasn’t sure if he’d be around to see it all.

He didn’t have the heart to tell the fusion, but…he knew the draining had hindered him. Gerson’s long twilight might have been cut short by it. He didn’t know by how much, which was why he kept silent…but the truth of the matter remained.

The old warrior wouldn’t be around forever…he was losing his strength—his magic was sputtering out…eventually, all of it would give, and his dust would go to the wind. Until then, though…he would keep going for as long as he was able—because his kingdom needed him to keep going…

The Hammer of Justice was not ready to be laid to rest…not yet.

Chapter Text

Napstablook moaned softly, blinking tiredly. Where were…oh…right, still in the lab. The ghost sighed. It had been months since the draining incident, and Napstablook still had little to show for it. Ghosts couldn’t have magic donated to them due to being purely made of magic. They couldn’t accept magic that wasn’t their own.

In a way, ghost magic worked similar to ‘Type O’ blood for Humans. Napstablook could donate their magic to anyone, but it didn’t work the same way for the ghost. They paused, hearing some noise downstairs…was their cousin still working? Napstablook sighed. Who knew? It was hard to keep track of time.

There was a sudden exclamation from the robot below, causing Napstablook to jerk, and sit up. “Mettaton?” they called tiredly with a worried edge in their voice. “Is everything okay!?”

“Yes! Stay put, Blooky! Everything is fantastic!” …it sounded genuine, but he was an actor…

“No, you have to come up here,” the ghost stated. “What if you lost a limb again like that one time…?”

Mettaton shook his head. “I’ll be up in a minute!” he promised, looking at the scanner as he took the magic draining weapon. He glanced between the screen and the weapon as he opened it, carefully tweaking things, double-checking everything he did. He couldn’t afford to mess this up.

“Mettaton…?”

“Almost done!” he assured.

“…you better not be trying to put your arm back on…”

“Nothing of the sort.”

Finally, he was satisfied with the changes. He fiddled with the gauges, putting his hand in front of the muzzle. The robot clenched his teeth, and pulled the trigger, bracing himself for what could be a small magic drainage…however, while he felt a jolt, the robot smiled as he realized he had the result he wanted.

“Mettaton?”

“Coming!” the robot exclaimed in joy, racing up the stairs with a wide smile. Napstablook frowned, their form dim.

“What’s…going on?”

“Blooky—I reverse engineered the weapon!”

“That’s nice…?”

“Blooky, don’t you see?” he demanded. “Now that it’s reverse engineered—It can give the magic back—and it absorbed your magic!”

The ghost gasped. “You mean—”

“Oh, I do, Blooky Darling.”

They stared at the weapon, and then nodded. “Do it.”

Mettaton turned the gauge so that it would release the correct magic, aiming it at his cousin. He took a deep breath…and fired. Napstablook yelped in surprise as the magic hit them, and they shut their eyes…but it wasn’t like the draining. This was much more welcomed as their magic began to flow back into them.

The robot didn’t stop, not until the blue magic trapped within the draining weapon was depleted. He pulled back, watching as the ghost held still…and then fully formed. “Blooky…?” Mettaton questioned warily. “How…how do you feel…?”

“I…I feel…” The ghost suddenly flew about the room with a laugh. “I feel amazing!” They flew in tight circles around their cousin, spiraling higher and higher until they rested against his shoulder, hugging him. “Thank you…”

Mettaton dropped the weapon onto the bed and drew his arms around his cousin. “It’s so good to have you back, Darling…”

“…I’m sorry that it had to be complicated,” Napstablook murmured. “If I had a body…”

“But you don’t want a body. Besides, it worked out up until that point,” Mettaton stated firmly. “Now that we know such a thing exists—you can be careful about it…”

Napstablook nodded slowly, and drew back. “Can I go down into the city?” the ghost asked simply.

“What for?”

“Between us, we know I’m the better tracker,” Napstablook stated. “I want to find where Chara and Alma are…”

“I don’t know…”

“The moment I see the hideout, I’ll leave,” Napstablook assured. “I’ll even stay invisible. I know everyone wants to have at these Humans, so it’s only fair to get the group for this…”

Mettaton chuckled tiredly. “True…we all want a piece of those Humans…Just…Just promise me to be careful? I didn’t do this just to have you get drained again.”

“Oh, I promise, I’ll be careful,” the ghost assured.

“I’ll hold you to it,” Mettaton warned.

The ghost smiled, and slowly pulled back. “Oh, I know…but I’ll be careful…let the others know I’m okay now—Frisk would love to hear that…” Without another word, the ghost flew out of the lab, making a beeline for the city.

Mettaton smiled. He knew Napstablook was their best bet in tracking, and he knew his cousin could handle themself…though that didn’t stop him from worrying about the little ghost.

He connected to his cell phone, calling the fusion, and then chuckled as Frisk picked up. “Hello, Darling…yes, I have some news for you,” he stated as he moved out of the lab. “Oh no, I think I should tell you in person…where are you? …Ah, at Grillby’s and Muffet’s, should have known…”

When Mettaton finally got there, and was allowed in, he was only slightly surprised to see Gerson and Dogamy as well, with Gerson cradling the little flaming spider. Gerson chuckled, leaning his head close so that the child could see him. Rotisa blinked her three eyes at him…and then reached up, grabbing onto his beard.

The turtle chuckled. “What do you think you’re doing? You’ve got Grandpa’s beard? What are you going to do?” She seemed content with just holding it…though she did tug on it slightly. Luckily for Gerson, she was too small to make it hurt, and he just laughed at her efforts.

Dogamy chuckled. “She’s certainly a little grabber.” He glanced up to Mettaton. “So, what’s the news?” he asked as Grillby and Muffet glanced up. The robot went to speak—when his phone rang.

“Already?” Mettaton asked to himself as he automatically picked up. “Blooky?” he questioned, putting them on speaker.

“Oh…is this a good time?” the ghost asked, with Frisk’s eyes widening as they realized that the ghost had recovered.

“It’s fine. Go on, what is it?”

“I’ve been looking around and…I see an abnormal cluster of souls…”

“Blooky—this is why you didn’t get a body.” Mettaton grinned. “We needed you on at the start.”

“I’m sorry, if I wasn’t drained, I would have gladly helped…”

“Never mind that,” Mettaton replied. “Just tell us where you are, and then get some help from the Capital Building.”

“It’s a building south of the docks…here, I’ll take pictures of the surrounding area! Oh no…I should have thought of that before I called…oh dear…”

Within a few minutes, the other Monsters were looking at their cellphones to see a warehouse near the bay. Gerson squinted at Dogamy’s screen. “So how many souls is your cousin seeing?”

“…nearing a hundred?” Napstablook replied. “They’re clustered together in one room, and spread out in the others.”

Dogamy growled. “They’re storing the souls in one place with guards elsewhere.”

Frisk looked up. “Then we’re getting them out of storage.”

“Darling,” Mettaton warned.

“What?” It was hard to tell who was talking within the fusion. “We know what we’re up against, we’re aware of what the Humans can do to us. Everyone is awake now, we’re no longer helpless…”

“Neck Warmer’s got a point,” Gerson replied. “We’ve all just about recovered from the magic draining, and we need to find Chara and Alma. They know our detections don’t work well in a crowd, but there’s only so many places they can go right now—they’re probably there.”

Muffet suddenly stood. “What are we waiting for then? We need to go now—wha?” She turned as Grillby stood, holding her hand.

“I think not,” he stated. “You’re staying here. We almost lost you last time.”

“The same goes for you!”

“You need to stay here with Rotisa.”

“I could say the same thing,” she retorted, putting the rest of her arms on her hips.

“Muffet,” he stated simply with that tone that said not to argue.

She pouted, folding her arms briefly. “Hmph…fine.” Her free hands suddenly started adjusting his attire. “But, you have to promise me something, Grillby,” she stated simply.

“Yes…?” he asked.

She tugged on his tie to force his head down. “Do me a favor, and strangle some of them for me,” she finished, before stealing a kiss from him.

----

Napstablook looked up from their hiding spot by the bridge that went across the bay, sensing their cousin’s soul. Mettaton came swooping under the bridge, landing on the cement beneath, his wings closing up. “Any changes?”

“No,” Napstablook reported. “Michael called a moment ago. He’s with the others, and Jeremiah’s situated on a roof to get at any runaways.”

Mettaton nodded. “How would we like to start this then?”

“We agreed that I’d go in and wipe out the security network,” Napstablook stated. “I’ll cut out the power too, so…”

“How long do you need?”

“Once I’m in? Give me one minute.”

“Right. You go ahead, I’ll relay the news to the others.”

The ghost nodded, fading from sight as Mettaton got into communication with the rest of the group. Jeremiah adjusted his position on a high rooftop, managing his sniper rifle as he peered at the building through his scope.

Michael poked around a corner, watching the old warehouse, with Frisk, Gerson, Dogamy, and Grillby pressed close. “Get ready…” Jeremiah muttered through their communicators.

“Get set…” Mettaton murmured.

Sixty seconds passed. “Go!” Michael quietly exclaimed, and with that, the group surged forward. Frisk took them through a shortcut to get them to the doors, summoning yellow magic as they did, so that when they exited the shortcut, they were already sending a large burst of magic at it.

The door burst open, and Grillby’s flames went wild, already turning blue as he entered. The fire coated everything and white frown showed in his features. For now, the embers were just a scare tactic, unable to harm others—though that didn’t stop the group from being careful. Dogamy sniffed the air, and then vanished through a doorway, already tracking down a potential target.

Gerson and Frisk disappeared together, wanting to find the souls that were being held captive, where Michael trailed after Grillby warily. They heard the sound of shattering glass, and screams of alarm from up ahead. The two rushed forward to find that Mettaton had dropped through a skylight into a large room, swiftly activating his canon to take the Humans out.

Grillby turned, the blaze going white as he moved, tearing a door open—the knob melting slightly as he did so, and he entered the security room where a few Humans were trying to get the systems back up. The elemental grabbed one, his embers leaping to their clothing as he drew them close.

“Oh, I don’t think you’re going to be doing anything,” Grillby snarled as Michael slid past, grabbing a shell-shocked Human—taking them down swiftly. The robot then went to the machines to see if there was anything useful.

----

Dogamy crept along in the shadows, relying on his sense of smell to track down nearby enemies. One moment, the human was fine—the next—they had fangs sinking into their gun wielding hand, and a blade pressing against their throat a moment later.

Blue magic came around the human, and they were suddenly slammed against the wall. They slumped, before Napstablook poked their head out. “Oh, I’m sorry…it just looked easier that way…”

Dogamy simply smirked. “No, that’s fine. Knock out as many as you want.”

----

On the other side of the building, Gerson bashed a door handle with his hammer, busting the lock, and with some help from Frisk, they pried it open. The two stared in alarm at the sight of the shelves lining the room. It was like being in a library, except, in place of books, there were souls encased in jars akin to the ones Asgore used to have.

“They were still able to hide this many?” Gerson managed, staring in shock at the sheer amount. “Good freaking gods…forget a hundred, there’s more than that…”

Frisk went to a purple soul, and opened the case. “And they’re leaving,” the child murmured, but the source of those words were uncertain. Gerson nodded, and they began opening cases. The souls started flying out, deciding that they weren’t about to leave—not yet.

The fusion broke away from the turtle, running further in, eyes scanning the shelves—before stopping as Frisk saw two red souls, one dimmer than the other. Frisk gasped, and opened them. The two souls shot out, and instantly, forms covered them. Frisk clapped their hands, eyes lighting up as Chara and Alma formed.

The two ghosts looked down in surprise and confusion, before jerking to attention and darting off, sensing Grillby nearby. Frisk smiled, looking around—and then paused as they noticed another red soul. The heart was furiously ramming into the sides of its containment, but it wasn’t strong enough to even budge the jar.

Frisk frowned, clenching their fists and biting their lip, remembering how this group was responsible for the disappearance of red magic users, and this one had been stubborn enough to continue resisting, despite that there was no chance to get out. Using their blue magic, they drew the container down, contemplating on what to do as they took it into their hold.

----

Outside the room with the souls, Grillby stalked through the halls, ignoring the flurry of souls going past him. They weren’t the enemy, so why pay them any mind…until two red Human ghosts flew at him. Grillby gasped, his flames instantly going to normal as he caught them.

“Uncle Grillby!” Chara cried.

“Daddy!” Alma wailed.

Grillby drew them close, his magic keeping them against him as he shuddered. “You’re all right…” he managed. “Thank….thank the gods…you’re all right…” He looked around, and then began to move. “We’re getting you out of here!” He knew the others could handle themselves—the children were his priority!

----

It was then that there was crash on the far side of the room. Frisk ran toward it to find that Mettaton had made a hole in the wall with his canon. “Sorry, Darlings, but I’m not about to be sent to pieces by a turret,” he snarled as Napstablook flew in.

“Mettaton! Are you okay!?” they exclaimed.

“I’m fine, Blooky!” the robot assured as Frisk rushed over. Napstablook froze, eyes wide, before whipping around to stare at the fusion.

“Frisk,” they managed, their tone filled with concern. “...that soul, it’s…”

The child paused, and looked down at the soul in confusion, before filling with dread as they recognized it. They felt cold and numb, before finally jerking back to life. “I--I have to go!” they cried, whirling as they leapt for a doorway--vanishing into a shortcut with the red soul.