Chapter 1: Composure
Summary:
In which Royal Knight Papyrus starts his day.
Chapter Text
Papyrus the skeleton, Royal Knight and future captain of the guard, awoke as on any other morning: instantly filled with determination to leap out of bed, seize the day, and be the best example of a Royal Guardsman the Mirror World had ever seen!
Today, though, that feeling quickly gave way to trepidation, seeing as this would be his last chance to…
…before…
Papyrus decided not to think about that, actually.
He normally rushed through his morning routine, but today he took his time with each task. Stretching, showering, brushing… He wasn’t nervous! He just…wanted to take time to make sure he was in top form for today! After all, with QUEEN TORIEL making the rounds, he needed it to be absolutely clear that everything was perfect, wonderful, and incredibly normal in his jurisdiction! Undyne always said that was for the best.
…which was part of what Papyrus was definitely not thinking about.
Sigh.
Having brushed every one of his bones to a sparkle, stretched to the point of unreason, and dressed in his finest suit of armor with added spikes and flame markings for extra coolness, Papyrus descended the stairs for breakfast. “NEVER START AN IMPORTANT DAY, WITHOUT A HEALTHY HELPING OF DINOSAUR EGGS!!”; these were truly words to live by (and also words he himself had spoken many times). However, a disturbing sight awaited him at the table: Sans.
The disturbing part, of course, was that he was awake before noon.
“heya.”
“…GOOD MORNING, SANS. DARE I ASK WHAT HAS YOU UP SO EARLY?”
Sans didn't turn to face his brother as he entered, apparently engrossed in the process of piling as many pieces of toast on his plate as possible.
“could ask you something similar, papyrus. what’s got you taking long enough that a lazybones like me beats ya to the table? usually you’re out the door by now, getting in an unscheduled patrol before practice.”
Papyrus began boiling the water for his oatmeal. If he could just finish up quickly, perhaps he could escape before too many shenanigans ensued—he was NOT in the mood for that.
“THAT’S NONE OF YOUR CONCERN, SANS.”
Two slices of toast popped out of the toaster, and Sans rose to retrieve and replace them.
“then i guess my schedule’s none of yours.”
“FAIR ENOUGH.”
Papyrus poured the oatmeal mix and boiling water into a bowl and carefully brought it to the table. Sans followed suit, adding to the growing pile before plopping down to admire it. Meanwhile, making sure not to spill, Papyrus slowly sat directly on the…carefully placed whoopee cushion.
Pbbbbbbbt.
Dead silence.
Sans sat there with the same idiotic grin he always wore.
After a moment of absolute stillness, Papyrus simply began his meal. It was best not to encourage Sans’ behavior this early in the day. He could boondoggle all he wanted out on patrol, but at least then he was OUT. Responding now would only tighten Papyrus’ already strict schedule.
Sans hadn’t expected to be ignored.
“uh…you doing okay there, papyrus?”
“I AM FINE, SANS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CARING QUESTION.”
“yeah, but i mean, you just, uh…”
“YES?”
“nevermind.”
“YES.”
Papyrus finished his breakfast in swift silence. After putting away his dishes, the taller skeleton passed his disappointed brother slouching in his chair, picking at his tower of toast.
“TO TURN YOUR OWN QUESTION AROUND, SANS…ARE YOU DOING ALL RIGHT YOURSELF?”
Sans straightened up the slightest bit.
“huh?”
Papyrus paused in the doorway, half turning.
“YOU LOOK A LITTLE…DEFLATED.”
Before Sans could register the full meaning of those parting words, Papyrus was out the door, “NYEHEHEH”-ing down the empty streets of the Old City.
Chapter 2: Boldness
Summary:
In which Papyrus solves a puzzle.
Chapter Text
The Old City was a strange piece of the Mirror World. On the other side, it was a bustling human metropolis full of life; here, a desolate husk populated mainly by sentries, delinquents, and the flickering half-appearances of human pedestrians and cars in every reflective surface.
…and, of course, the region’s officially assigned Royal Knight.
Papyrus rushed down the deserted boulevard, heading straight for Verdant Park. He was behind schedule; typically he would be walking and admiring the scenery instead of dashing at top speed and berating himself for his earlier hesitance. Why had he worried? Undyne was his friend! Everything would be fine!
He reached the park center just as the clock tower tolled. Seven o’clock. Exactly on time! Now for what he insisted was the best part of every day: being extra welcoming and helpful to everyone in the area for the three hours until training actually started.
Ah, here came someone now, evidently in dire need of good cheer! And good cheer Papyrus would provide in spades, for he was the Royal Knight of the people! An endless fountain of energy and joy, who could never be troubled by something as trivial as…
As…
Well, the conversation would be a lovely distraction, too.
“AH! HELLO, ER…”
Oh dear. He didn’t recall this monster’s name. They regarded him with the flat, hopeless stare characteristic of a minimum wage worker.
“Just call me Spiderpants. Everyone else does.”
Odd nickname for a cat monster.
“ALL RIGHT, SPIDERPANTS! HOW GOES YOUR DAY SO FAR?”
The monster rolled their dark-circled eyes.
“Fourth day working for that terrifying spider lady down the block and I already hate everything.”
…oh. Muffet typically had…difficult expectations of her employees. (Perhaps she had ordered a name change? She primarily employed spiders, after all…)
“OH DEAR. WHAT DID SHE DO?”
Papyrus had not known a smile could be so obviously sarcastic, but it seemed this cat monster was very skilled in the art of facial expression.
“Eh, nothing much. Just made my life a living hell.”
Oh dear. Papyrus was now certain: she HAD ordered this young monster’s name change.
“NEVER FEAR, CITIZEN! I, AS YOUR NOBLE PROTECTOR, SHALL DEFEND YOUR ‘GOOD NAME’ AND SPEAK TO HER ON YOUR BEHALF!”
This seemed to take Spiderpants by surprise.
“…uh. You’d do that?”
“OF COURSE! SUCH IS MY DUTY AS A ROYAL GUARDSMAN!”
“You…know the rumors about what she does to people who wrong her, right?”
Papyrus sighed. This again.
“THOSE RUMORS ARE BASELESS, AS YOUR CURRENT STATE OF ALIVENESS AND INTACTNESS PROVES. REGARDLESS, I HAPPEN TO BE ONE OF HER CLOSEST FRIENDS! I’M SURE THIS WILL ALL SORT ITSELF OUT.”
Spiderpants stared, as if trying to wrap their head around the charismatic skeleton guard and the intimidating spider queen being “close friends.” Eventually, they seemed to give up this apparently futile conundrum.
“…whatever, man. Your funeral.”
“SUCH AN OCCASION IS FAR LESS THREATENING TO A SKELETON! NYEH HEH HEH!”
With that, he set off for Muffet’s at a jaunty pace. Fellow guard Doggo was on a smoke break as Papyrus passed, meeting the skeleton’s loud “GOOD MORNING!” with a snort of annoyance. Papyrus tried not to take it personally; he knew Doggo well enough to tell that anyone else interrupting dog treat time would receive a snarl at the least, so this was relatively good!
Arriving at Muffet’s sidewalk cafe, Papyrus noticed a remarkably short line and an unusually irate hostess.
“Yes, hello, welcome to Muffet’s, may I take your—oh, well if it isn’t my favorite financial advisor, ahuhu~”
“IF IT ISN’T MY FAVORITE CULINARY ADVISOR! NYEH HEH HEH!”
Two of her eyes twitched at the mention of cooking. “Yes, well, you may prefer not to go spreading that little morsel of information around too much right now, ahu…hu.”
“WHAT? WHATEVER DO YOU MEAN, MUFFET? YOUR BAKING IS HELD IN THE HIGHEST REGARD ACROSS THE MIRROR WORLD!”
She grimaced.
“…was. Papyrus, this falls somewhat outside your purview as my esteemed and trusted financial advisor, but…”
Muffet picked up an evening edition of The Inverted Inquirer left on the counter by the last customer.
“How does a business recover from this?”
“…OH MY.”
Papyrus realized he must have missed last night’s issue because of other exhausting events. He would never have ignored or forgotten the front-page picture: a massive caricature of Muffet taking a bite out of a comically large and very distressed spider. The headline: “MADE WITH LV: MUFFET’S SECRET INGREDIENT REVEALED!”
Papyrus’ horror at the bad press quickly turned to perplexity.
“WAIT… ‘SECRET INGREDIENT’? BUT YOUR SIGN SAYS—”
“‘Made by spiders, for spiders, from spiders.’ And it always has~ But one article full of horror stories about how I ‘tear their legs off and stomp them into juice’—”
“WELL, YOU DO.”
“Yes, after they die! It’s my responsibility!”
Papyrus nodded supportively.
“THEN PERHAPS A GOOD FIRST STEP WOULD BE TO APPROACH THE NEWSPAPER AND EXPLAIN THE WHOLE…LIFE CYCLE THING.”
“I did. After I spent three hours last night trying to talk to someone important, they didn’t seem willing to buy the idea that it was biologically necessary for the perpetuation of our species. They DID, however, promise to run a correction in the morning stating that the spiders in my pastries died of natural causes~”
“AH. WELL, THAT’S…A BIT BETTER, ISN’T IT?”
“It certainly would be, wouldn’t it~ Now look at this morning’s edition.”
She pulled another copy out from behind the counter. This one's cover image somehow took up even more of the page than the last: a grainy photo of a human.
Papyrus stared. He had not been aware that anyone outside the guard knew about the human. “OH.”
“An ENTIRE SPECIAL EDITION on this human scare! I combed it FRONT TO BACK…well, had a few spiders comb it front to back, you know how it is…and not one mention of my bakery!”
“I, ER. UM. DID YOU–”
“Of course I called, but the line was busy! Or possibly clogged with cobwebs again, but I’m sure they’re getting hundreds of calls about this human. I can’t leave the shop, obviously, so I sent that worthless new hire over to the capital to visit their offices in person. It gets him out of my bakery, and if anyone deserves to have to wade through the crowd of frightened stripeless children doubtless surrounding the Inquirer ’s offices, it’s that waste of space~”
The mention of the new hire jarred Papyrus out of his state of disbelief. He had come here for a reason, and for once that reason went beyond Muffet’s delightful pastries.
“AH, THAT REMINDS ME. I ACTUALLY CAME HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT…SPIDERPANTS, WASN’T IT?”
The mention of the young monster’s name earned an altogether too vicious smile from Muffet.
“Oh, yes, that’s what they’re calling him now, isn’t it~ What did he do THIS time, hm?”
Oh, so the name hadn’t been her idea after all. Noted.
“IT’S NOT ABOUT WHAT HE DID SO MUCH AS–WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘THIS TIME’?”
Muffet laughed again in that uniquely creepy way of hers.
“Ahuhuhu, I never told you~ I only hired him at the start of the week…and his second day on the job, some alley girls convinced him to steal an ABSURD number of donuts from our stock. His pockets were absolutely overflowing, I don’t know what he was thinking~”
Papyrus blinked.
“I’M AMAZED YOU DIDN’T FIRE HIM ON THE SPOT.”
“Oh, you haven’t even heard the worst of it~ After one of the little ones told me what he was doing, I confronted him and the girls in the alley behind the store. My sudden appearance startled him enough that he dropped all the donuts he was holding in his arms; his next brilliant thought was to BEND OVER TO PICK THEM UP, and…well, he really should have invested in a belt before carrying that many donuts in his pockets~”
“…IF YOU’RE IMPLYING WHAT I THINK YOU ARE, I’M NOW MORE AMAZED HE DIDN’T QUIT HIMSELF.”
Muffet sighed.
“Yes, I suppose that’s why I haven’t fired him, either. Apparently his parents have been threatening to evict him if he doesn’t find a stable job, and apparently–in his own words–‘working for YOU of all people ended up being the best option.’ And the only way I could imagine him being MORE obnoxious is if he were blubbering like an idiot and begging me for his position back…”
Papyrus usually thought of conflicts like this as puzzles, and now felt he was nearing the best solution for everyone involved.
“IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE OTHER PROBLEMS WITH THIS EMPLOYEE.”
“Oh, don’t get me started~ His attitude toward the most basic culinary tasks like, for instance, kneading the spiders into the dough, grinding up the spider coffee, and so on…he performs well enough, but he never stops moaning about how much he hates the task. Especially since I’ve been working him extra hard to make up for the donuts he wasted, ahuhu~ I’d put him on register duty, but he just doesn’t have my passion for customer service, if you know what I–”
“Hey, b-BLABBERMOUTHS! There’s a l-LINE, if you didn’t n-NOTICE. I need a t-TOASTY DONUT to start my…my…”
A death glare from Muffet. The cantankerous volcano monster behind Papyrus fell silent.
…Papyrus had never been entirely sure what Muffet meant by “passion for customer service.”
Regardless! The puzzle was coming together.
“MUFFET, MY FRIEND…I THINK I HAVE THE BEGINNINGS OF A SOLUTION FOR YOU.”
He began to explain his idea…
Chapter 3: Honesty
Summary:
Papyrus receives a phone call.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Papyrus strode down the avenue once more, having quickly wrapped up the conversation and left Muffet with a potential fix for both her and her employee’s problems. Biting into a donut Muffet had insisted he buy, the greatest royal knight wondered whether Spiderpants would be pleased with the resulting arrangement… certainly he hoped the cat monster would find it preferable, if nothing else.
Papyrus continued his patrol of the populated portion of the city, greeting everyone with a smile and helping whomever he could. It was exhausting work; something about the Mirror World seemed to drain the hope out of monsters. Papyrus was feeling especially determined today, though–determined to make sure everyone knew it was business as usual.
No, the rumors of a human in the Underground were just that: unsubstantiated rumors. Yes, everything was fine, don’t worry! If anything dangerous were around, the guard would evacuate everyone and deal with the enemy posthaste.
The clock tower chimed nine o’clock just as Papyrus returned to the park center…only to exit once more shortly thereafter. Usually he would now stay here at his post so the residents would know where to find him, but today he had other matters to attend to. Anyone who found him absent would assume he was dealing with some OTHER Royal Guard business.
…which, well. He was.
As he set off toward home, his phone rang. A call from Undyne. Papyrus picked up before the second ring.
“GOOD MORNING, UNDYNE! WHAT CAN I–”
“Skip it, Papyrus. Have you seen the human?”
Undyne cut him off with atypical (but not unexpected) brusqueness. She clearly hadn't slept.
“ER…I’M SORRY, UNDYNE. ALSO, YOU LOOK–”
“I KNOW I look terrible," she growled, irritated. "Ignoring the fact that you somehow know that, I’ve been up all night looking for that little brat…”
“UNDYNE, YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!”
“Yeah? How long did YOU sleep last night?”
Papyrus hesitated.
“…TWO HOURS AND FOURTEEN MINUTES. STILL–”
Undyne’s grim expression momentarily changed to one of concern.
“Whoa, that’s even less than I thought.”
“WELL, YOU SEE, UNDYNE, THERE’S THIS HUMAN…”
She sighed.
“…yeah, guess I should’ve seen that one coming. Anyway, my point is, you’re one to talk. You used to pull all-nighters all the time.”
“YES, AND THEN I REALIZED IT WASN’T HEALTHY. IN FACT, I SEEM TO RECALL YOU BEING ONE OF THE PEOPLE TO TELL ME THAT.”
“I can’t sleep when there’s a human on the loose.”
“BUT–”
“ Enough. ”
Papyrus knew that look. Undyne wouldn’t be budging on this.
“FINE. WHAT DO YOU NEED, THEN?”
Undyne looked to the east, toward where Papyrus was stationed from her position.
“The eggheads at Asterisk say the lab security systems haven’t caught any sign of it, and those are top-notch. It’s definitely not in there. I’m over at Boom Mansion with 01 and 02 keeping watch over the grounds–it’ll definitely need to come this way if it’s after Toriel’s soul.”
“OR HER PROTECTION.”
She nodded.
“Right. We NEED to get this over and done with before she starts checking up on everyone and catches wind of this, because she WILL try to protect it, and then it’ll have her right where it wants her. So I need you to make sure it’s not hiding out somewhere in the city.”
“UNDYNE, I DON’T…” Papyrus trailed off.
“…what?”
Undyne’s stern gaze narrowed. She raised an eyebrow.
Papyrus steeled himself. He’d known this was coming, which was why he’d been mentally preparing himself for this confrontation all day.
(Well, more like mentally trying his mental hardest to keep himself from mentally thinking about it. Which was more or less the same thing, really.)
He couldn’t back down now, not when the human’s life might depend on it.
“UNDYNE, AS YOUR SUBORDINATE IN THE ROYAL GUARD, AS A LOYAL SERVANT OF INVERSIA…AND AS YOUR FRIEND…I’D LIKE TO REQUEST PERMISSION TO SPEAK FREELY.”
Papyrus’ sudden shift into a more formal tone caught Undyne off guard, but she kept her expression steady. Funny, Papyrus thought, how she could do that. Though the Mirror World had a relatively consistent temperature throughout, he now found he couldn’t keep his bones from rattling slightly, shivering as he walked through the town. Just a little further…
“…granted.”
“I’M NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE WAY YOU’RE HANDLING THIS, UNDYNE.”
“…not. Comfortable?”
“YOU’RE WORKING YOURSELF TO THE BONE, GOING BEHIND THE QUEEN’S BACK, TRYING TO SEARCH THE WHOLE MIRROR WORLD AT ONCE–AND FOR WHAT? IN CASE THIS HUMAN TURNS OUT TO BE LESS THAN MERCIFUL? I THINK WE BOTH KNOW WHAT YOU’RE PLANNING TO DO REGARDLESS OF THEIR LV.”
Undyne’s expression didn’t shift at first, but a cold fury crept into her voice as she spoke.
“I can’t believe you, Papyrus.”
“UNDYNE, PLEASE, JUST LISTEN–”
“We’ve been OVER this!" she snapped. "Six human souls, and the seventh is within our reach–the freedom of all of monsterkind depends on this. We can’t just let it slip out of our grasp just because it MIGHT not be a killer, not when it’s our only chance!”
“WE CAN TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN’T ESCAPE, WE DON’T HAVE TO–”
“And then what?! Let monsterkind languish for another thousand years, or however long it takes for a human to die?! Watch the older generations of monsters ‘cross over’ one by one, none of them ever having the chance to see a sun that isn’t just a pale reflection?!”
“UNDYNE, THEY’RE–”
“It’s a menace to the Underground. It has a DIRECT REASON to be after the Queen if it wants to go home!”
“HOW WOULD THEY EVEN KN–”
Undyne slammed her fist into the balcony railing.
“Papyrus, this isn’t a negotiation! It’s life or death!"
“YES! THEIR LIFE OR DEATH!”
“One human life over every monster life? Listen to yourself, Papyrus! Going to bat for this thing when you know the conse–”
“THEY HAVE A NAME , UNDYNE.”
The careful restraint in Papyrus’ voice before had been a slight surprise to Undyne, but at this her face momentarily flashed with concern, taken aback. Papyrus didn’t think she’d ever heard him this upset before. In fact, he was fairly certain he’d never BEEN this upset before. The call fell silent, and he stood for a moment, taking several deep breaths as the faint static from the phone hung in the air. Strictly speaking he didn’t breathe, but the exercise of acting it out helped him calm down enough to continue.
“I KNOW. I GET IT. YOU’RE DOING WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT, AND JUSTIFYING IT EVERY WAY YOU CAN. PRESUMING GUILT SO YOU CAN CALL IT JUSTICE. PRETENDING THE QUEEN IS AS NAIVE AS, AS YOU USED TO THINK I WAS. CATEGORIZING THE HUMAN AS A THING, AN OBSTACLE TO BE REMOVED, RATHER THAN A PERSON. BUT IT’S NOT RIGHT!”
“Papyrus, I just…”
“NO, YOU DON’T ‘JUST’ ANYTHING. YOU ALWAYS DO EVERYTHING ALL THE WAY, FROM COOKING NOODLES TO TRAINING GUARDS. AND THAT’S PART OF WHAT MAKES YOU GREAT! BUT…IT’S ALSO WHAT MAKES IT HARD FOR YOU TO KNOW WHEN TO STOP. WHEN TO…SHOW SOME MERCY.”
“But what about–”
“WE’VE SURVIVED IN THE MIRROR WORLD THIS LONG, UNDYNE. THIS HUMAN HAS DONE NOTHING TO DESERVE OUR ILL INTENT. PLEASE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE THE HERO THIS TIME.”
“…Papyrus.”
Papyrus opened his eyes, only now realizing he’d shut them tightly and stopped walking amid regurgitating his half-improvised half-agonized-over-while-laying-awake-in-bed-last-night speech. Ah, yes. He was nearly back at home. Just around the corner…
Undyne, meanwhile, stood at one end of the balcony atop Boom Mansion, one arm clenching the railing, the other holding her phone to her ear. Her face was unreadable. 01 and 02 kept watch at the other end of the balcony, diligently pretending not to be listening to Undyne’s side of the conversation.
“Y…YES, UNDYNE?”
“You said they have a name.”
“ER, YES. WHAT WAS IT…NAPSTER BLOCK? …NO, THAT CAN’T POSSIBLY BE RIGHT.”
“Uh-huh. So, I’m gonna need you to answer this next question very carefully.”
“I…ERM…”
Oh no. This was what he had been worried about.
“Papyrus. When and where did you learn the human’s name?”
And there it was. The inescapable question. One he couldn’t avoid, skirt around, or change the subject on. To keep the secret he so desperately wanted to keep, he would have to lie directly to his best friend…and Papyrus had known from the moment he conceived of this dreaded conversation that he could never bring himself to do such a thing.
And so the entire story came tumbling out. How he’d been on a late-night patrol when he ran across the human on their way out of the massive barrier surrounding the nearby forest. They’d already made their way past several of his puzzles…the photographer from the Inquirer must have caught sight of them beforehand.
He’d been about to call Undyne, the one person who could contact the reclusive queen, when she herself had called him to warn him that the experimental scanners the lab workers had installed at Guard HQ had detected a massive spike in Inversia’s net soulpower level.
Knowing he wouldn’t be able to contact Toriel now without Undyne guessing about the human, Papyrus had resolved to wait one day until the queen arrived in town on her usual rounds… hoping against hope that he could convince Undyne to stand down before the secret came out.
“All right. And where are they now? Are you with them?”
So much for that hope.
“UNDYNE, I CAN’T LET YOU DO THIS. PLEASE, JUST LET THE QUEEN TAKE THEM. SHE’S LOST ENOUGH CHILDREN ALREADY.”
Her face was a mask of calm determination. “Well, I’m not about to let her get attached to another one she’ll have to outlive one way or the other. You put them in your shed, right?”
“UNDYNE, PLEASE! YOU’RE BETTER THAN THIS! YOU–”
Undyne, already on her way down the front steps of the manor, grimaced–no, growled.
“No, Papyrus.” she said. “I’m not.”
She hung up, and Papyrus’ phone dropped out of his gloved hand, clattering to the concrete. Not because of the words on the other end, or at least not entirely.
Papyrus had reached his destination, and the door to the skeleton brothers’ guest room (or as Sans called it, the garage) lay wide open, swinging slightly despite the lack of a breeze.
The human was nowhere to be found.
Notes:
Yeah, Papyrus can inexplicably see across phone calls in this. This might be real based on some of the Undertale phone calls. Personally, I just enjoy Papyrus being randomly able to do things that make no sense but have some amount of basis in canon.
Chapter 4: Persistence
Summary:
A human alone...and then not so alone.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Carefully, keeping to the shadows and back alleys, Nestor Blake crept through this strange, broken reflection of Enstah City. It was eerie to see the streets so empty…but then, most things had seemed alien ever since following Meta and Maddy into the woods. That house of mirrors. The strange reflected forest. At last, that hairy old gardener—what was his name again?—had welcomed the three of them into his cabin. But that night…
Nestor shivered. Best not to dwell on that dark apparition. What mattered was what they’d said, which Nestor had confirmed with the old goat: as long as the trio remained in the mirror world, monsters would be after their souls.
Unless Nestor acted first.
It was a simple plan the mirror-bound spirit had laid out: first, confirm the details of monsterkind’s imprisonment with the cousins’ kindhearted host. Next, when he was least expecting it—Nestor had just learned of the danger outside, after all—slip out behind the gardener’s back through the woods’ protective barrier.
Two down, one to go, Nestor thought. Of course, the last step was the longest and most dangerous. Nestor had to reach “the queen” as quickly as possible without being captured or killed.
It still wasn’t clear to Nestor why the shadowy being had been so insistent that this (checks hand) “Toriel” was the only one in the Mirror World who could be trusted. At least they’d said Nestor would know her on sight. Said she “might look familiar”…
Nestor shuddered again, hoping this wasn’t one of those magical adventures that involved monstrous versions of real-life family members. Everyone related to the cousins who fit the title of “queen” was deceased, horrible, or back at the cabin, and Nestor was terrified of ghosts.
Phobia aside, Nestor’s interactions with the other monsters so far had gone surprisingly well. The frogs were cryptic but affable, the moths seemed good-natured if a little misguided, and that skeleton in particular had been especially friendly…in his own, strange way. Nestor had almost forgotten about the mission, so distracting were the skeleton’s puzzles and antics (and, weirdly, so comfortable was the dog bed in his shed). If all monsters were like this, maybe Nestor wouldn’t even need to—
Jerry.
Nestor stopped, suddenly faced by…what even was this? Other monsters had reminded Nestor of creatures from fantasy or nature, but this one just seemed to be a vague blob with papery skin and limbs like noodles. And now it was holding up…a selfie stick?
“Yo, what’s up duderinos, JerryTheJerry here. Just ran into some loser-dude I don’t recognize on the street, and you know me—I’m gonna show them a uniquely terrible time. But first, dudes, remember to DISlike and subscribe! ‘Cuz like my dude HiFlyve always says, the haters make me stronger. Now onto today’s ANTI-sponsor, where I tell you dudes about the brand of the day that SUCKS and you SHOULDN’T buy…”
Oh no.
This monster was a LIVESTREAMER.
Nestor considered running, but “Jerry the Jerry” had already started a “battle.” Based on my limited knowledge of monster customs, the child recalled, it would be INCREDIBLY rude to flee on the first turn.
Besides, maybe this is a bad first impression. This…“Jerry”…might still be a good person on the inside.
“… ‘family-owned business,’ ‘future of the species,’ wah wah blah BLAH. I hope that dumb spider-CRYBABY goes bankrupt AY-SAP. Then we won’t have to listen to her WHINATIONS anymore, am I right, dudes?…”
…very, very deep inside.
The monster finally finished its brutal teardown of a local small business and turned to Nestor.
“…whoa, dude, you’re still here? Dude, you MUST be a glutton for PUNISHMENT or something. Dude.” Jerry seemed genuinely surprised that Nestor hadn’t left during its long, rambling intro.
“I…I thought it was rude to run on the first turn?…”
The monster laughed. Based on the sound, Nestor surmised it was an equally painful experience for both of them. “Yeah, if you’re a SQUARE, but dude, that intro took me like FIVE. Guess I have to actually do something after the ads this time.”
Ah. Nestor still wasn’t sure how monsters defined these “turns.” It seemed to be one of those unspoken rules—like how everyone at home but Nestor had seemed to know exactly when talking at length about jazz history went from “adorable” to “kid, do you EVER shut up?”
Jerry snapped its fingers. “Hey. Hey. Dude. You’re not paying attention to me. That’s the incorrect response.”
Nestor snapped back to the present. “Sorry, I was…thinking.”
A disgusting sneer spread across the streamer’s face. “So that’s it, dude? You think I DON’T think? You think I’m STUPID just because I spend all my time PERFORMING for people on the INTERNET?”
Nestor, thoroughly confused by everything, did not respond. The monster took this as an invitation to continue.
“Well, NEWS FLASH, dude—you ain’t special, I have thoughts ALL THE TIME. Thoughts like…whoa, Jerry, you’re one COOL DUDE. And like…hey, this dude here’s cramping your STYLE, Jerry. Sounds to ME like some-dude-y’s cruising for a COLLEGE-TYPE lesson in Jerry-flavored BRUISING-A-TOLOGY, you know what I’m saying, dude?”
“Do…do you have most of your thoughts in the second person?” Why did I say that? Why am I engaging in this—
“SHUT IT, DUDE.” Nestor took an instinctive step back in response to the outburst as Jerry cracked its knuckles and continued.
“Duuuuude, you’re really asking for it. You’ve forced my HAND, dude. You’re gonna get the SUPER ULTRA SPECIAL JERRY DUDE-LUX deal.”
“Oh—oh god—”
Nestor braced for impact as Jerry… approached… took out a bag of chips, and… began crunching them with its mouth open?
“…what are you doing?”
“I’m, like, bothering you, dude.”
The monster took no care to swallow or cover its mouth as it talked, spraying little bits of saliva all over Nestor’s overalls.
“That’s…that’s it?”
Jerry took out a napkin and blew its nose loudly. “What, dude, you think I’m gonna KILL you? Can’t leverage you for VIEWS if you’re dead or whatever, dude.”
“I just…expected more, I guess.”
“Yeah? Well, if you know SO much more about INFLUENCERING than me, why don’t you, like, SUGGEST something, dude?” The monster rolled its eyes dramatically at the camera.
Nestor was taken aback by being asked for advice—enough that the detrimental consequences of improving Jerry’s technique didn’t register. “O-oh! Um, well…I guess since your whole brand seems to be about inconveniencing and annoying people…”
Jerry nodded sagely as it peeled a bulb of garlic like an orange. “That IS in fact my thing. You’re VERY perceptacious, dude.”
“Well, uh…I guess I was expecting you to do something a bit more impactful, like…shake me down for lunch money?”
The monster seemed to consider this concept as it gulped down the garlic skin and discarded the cloves. “The schoolyard BULLY angle, dude? You REALLY think my viewers will enjoy slash hate-share that?”
“Considering the other stuff you do…probably at least as much?”
It had dawned on Nestor that this might not be the most beneficial course of action, but it would be too embarrassing to back down now.
Having finished its snack, Jerry nodded. “Okay, dude. I think I got an idea that’s KINDA like yours, but WAY better.”
“Y…yeah?”
“You got a WALLET?”
“Y…yeah.”
“Okay. Lemme SEE it so I can make FUN of your GARBAGE TASTE in WALLETS, dude.”
Nestor, unsure how to react to this blatant attempt at deception, glanced into the camera.
“Hey! No breaking the FOURTH WALL, dude! Only the J-STER gets to do that!”
Nestor looked back at Jerry, about to apologize, and noticed the monster was now holding something.
“Heh, looking for something, DUDE?”
It was…a gold-patterned wallet with the letter “J” on it.
“That’s…not my wallet…”
“Oh, IS it, dude?”
Nestor reached into a pocket, and sure enough, pulled out a simple brown—
“YOINKERS!”
…Nestor groaned. I really shouldn’t have fallen for that.
“I…please give that back—”
Jerry was already posing for the camera with its ill-gotten gains. “BOOM! That’s how you do it, dudes! Let’s check out how much we’ve fleeced this MORONERD for!”
Ignoring Nestor’s frankly pathetic protests, the influencer-turned-con artist flipped the wallet open. “…uh. What the heck, dude?”
“…what?”
“Dude, why’s your wallet STUFFED with all this PAPER STUFF, dude? Where’s the GEE?”
Nestor froze. Ah. This monster…did not know Nestor was a human. And thus didn’t know what to make of the wallet’s meager yield of paper money.
“I…it’s…”
Jerry waved off Nestor's feeble attempts at deflection.
“Hold on, dude, lemme check the CHAT. I bet someone THERE knows what all your dumb CONSTRUCTION PAPER is worth, dude.”
“W-wait—”
Jerry opened the chat window in the streaming app on its phone, which was already overflowing with messages.
HiFlyve: DUDE LMAO ARE YOU SERIOUSLY NOT RECOGNIZING A HUMAN
not-tsundere-just-hate-you: i-it’s right behind you, you BAKA!!!!
(PINNED) (MOD) elderpuzzler193X: Don’t you young’un’s panic, I recognize where they’re at. Guard’s already on the way.
Jerry stared at the messages. Then at Nestor, who was trying and failing to look anything other than extremely guilty. Then it went back to its phone, opened a search engine, and started typing “what do humans look li—”
Nestor snatched the selfie stick out of Jerry’s hand, threw it in a random direction, and ran like heck. Barely catching a glimpse of the monster scrambling after its moneymaker, the child rushed through twisting and turning alleyways.
Run, run, the GUARD is coming, that can’t be anyone good—
Reaching something of a dead end, Nestor stopped just short of falling into the canal that ran through the city. The kid took a moment to breathe, thinking, At least there’s no one around…
“Well, howdy-do, y’hear!”
Ah. Thought too soon again.
From the glassy water before Nestor rose a gigantic, vaguely spherical squid monster, wearing the goofiest grin Nestor had seen. Even the skeleton brother’s constant look of self-important pride hadn’t come close.
“I…um…who are you?”
“I’m—I’m someone, y’hear!”
The creature’s smile dropped for a moment, replaced with an equally jarring expression of utter despair.
“I can’t get any more specific, ‘cause…I don’t have any friends to talk to, so I forgot my own name…”
As quickly as it had left, the squid’s smile (or was it an octopus?) returned in full force.
“B-but, hey! There’s a lesson to be learned, y’hear! Don’t let little details like…like being lonely enough to forget your own name…get you down!”
Looking at the lonely unidentified cephalopod, Nestor felt a strange mixture of pity and bemusement.
“I…guess I could help you think of one, if you want…”
A new yet similarly extreme expression of utter shock crossed the bulbous monster’s face.
“YOU’D DO THAT?”
The yet-unnamed monster’s eyes filled with tears of joy.
“Oh! Oh, I can feel it! The emotions are welling up, y’hear! This is gonna be a beautiful friendship, starting with the most beautiful name!”
What did I just commit to? Nestor wondered.
The creature which in another life might sport the name “Onion” shifted its expression again, giving rapt attention to the kid on the shore.
“So! Lay it on me, y’hear! What kind of name do y’think fits someone like me?”
Nestor pondered the question. “…sorry, I’ve…got kind of a mental block right now. When I look at you, all I can think about is…garlic.” Stupid Jerry…
The tears of joy returned. “GARLIC! The perfect name! Feels like it looks like me! Feels like it smells like me!”
“What? Wait, that wasn’t—”
“Garlic” zoomed right up to the edge of the canal. “Thanks s’much, y’hear! From the bottom of my Garlic-shaped SOUL…let it be known that for the rest of time, SOME KID and GARLIC are gonna be BEST OF FRIENDS!”
…Nestor decided it was best to just go with it. Though…that mention of a soul was a cold reminder of the mission at hand. A mission that…somewhat dampened the glow of this new friendship.
“SO, new friend…” The monster tilted its head inquisitively. Or was that its whole body? “…what can ol’ Garlic do for you, to repay this BIG FAVOR?”
Nestor sighed. “I…I need to go see the queen. As soon as possible.”
“QUEEN TORIEL?” Garlic seemed flabbergasted. “Hoooooo golly, that’s a tall order for lil’ old Garlic. I can’t get you to the FORTRESS, the water doesn’t go high enough…but I could give you a ride to the MANSION GROUNDS, which should getcha a fair share of the way there, y’hare!”
Nestor took a deep breath. It was time to get back to serious business. The child nodded assent.
“GREAT!”
The child was extremely non-seriously grabbed with a giant garlic-creature tentacle and hoisted by the arm atop said creature, subsequently forced to cling to a pointy protuberance up there in order to avoid slipping off.
“Here we go, y’hear! Hang on tight, little duderino!”
Nestor clung on for dear life as Garlic flew down the—
—er, sped down the—
…treaded steadily down the…?
Well, it certainly qualified as positive progress down the canal, at least.
Nestor paused significantly in that way one can only textually convey with a lone ellipsis in quotation marks.
“…”
“Something wrong, y’hear?”
“Oh, uh, nothing, it’s just…”
“Go on! I wanna make this the trip of your LIFE! You got ANY problem, just tell me, y’hear!”
Nestor did that thing again, only this time implying careful consideration.
“…”
“Y’hah?”
“Do you think you could…not call me ‘dude’ or anything dude-adjacent again? I think I’m…done with dude-ness. Just as a concept.”
“Sure thing, paleroony!”
“That’s…”
Nestor considered again.
“…better, honestly. Let’s go with that.”
Nestor floated calmly along the canal with their new friend. For the first time in a long while, they felt a deep sense of peace—peace with what they’d been through, with what they had to do, and with themself.
Notes:
tfw you get bothered so hard you realize you're trans (as if the narration carefully avoiding your pronouns wasn't indication enough)
Side note: Nestor's cousins are fully named Metatron and Madeleine Blake. They are siblings, and they act like it. They are also both transgender. I simply felt I should share that.
Also, if anyone gets the joke from reversing the name of the city, you get a cookie.
Chapter 5: Mercy
Summary:
Pursuit and confrontation.
Warning for canon-typical child death and suicide reference.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Undyne was not at peace with anything as she crashed through the front entrance of Boom Mansion. Of course, of COURSE they’d gotten past her somehow!
She’d been climbing out of the canal, trying to get over her headache from bumping into something large, friendly, and spherical halfway to the city, when 01 had radioed her with an urgent message: the human had just been sighted on the mansion grounds.
“Wh—how—” she’d sputtered, at a loss as to how they could’ve gotten there so quickly without the scientists at the lab noticing…unless…could Sans have smuggled them through, friendly as he was with that group?…
Investigating him would have to wait for later. For the time being, Undyne had barked orders for 01 and 02 to try to pin them down while keeping an eye out for the queen, then dove straight back into the water.
Thankfully, nothing on the way back had been as eager to ballistically introduce itself to her face, though her head was still pounding. Just one more thing on her plate, as if being sleep-deprived, increasingly frustrated, and endangering her job wasn’t enough. And of course there was Papyrus…
Undyne shoved all those concerns from her mind and focused on her goal, now that she’d arrived back at the mansion. The place had been a maze from the moment it appeared, probably built by some family of disgustingly rich humans on the Other Side… and the Queen had decided to make it a retirement gift for Gerson Boom, the previous guard captain.
The old coot had gleefully filled the house with all manner of tricks and traps, which became increasingly sinister as his… “retirement project” had progressed. Undyne didn’t know what had gotten a lifetime soldier like Gerson onto the subject of dark magic, but he’d done something drastic with it–the stuff permeated the grounds now, seeping from cracks in the earth and growing stronger near the mansion itself. Not a leaf had grown on the local trees in the past hundred years, and the grass had all disintegrated into an ashy substance that never seemed to disperse. Some compared it to snow. Undyne thought it most resembled dust.
Undyne shook her head. She was getting distracted again. As soon as she’d arrived she’d called 01 to stand guard by the exit towards the FORTRESS, leaving the front guard to…
“...captain.”
RG02, clad as ever in his black helmet with armor to match, entered and surveyed the wreckage of the front doors. Undyne ignored the implicit sass.
“02. You’re sure they’re still in the building?”
“...traps have them spooked. Moving slow…when not chased.”
“Alright. With 01 by the back door, they’re probably after another exit, right?”
“...mhm. …conflict avoidant.”
She flinched at that last comment. “We are NOT letting this one go.”
02’s helmet was impenetrable to light, but Undyne could sense the careful neutrality in his voice: “...didn’t even think about it. …just strategic.”
Undyne rubbed her forehead. Where had her helmet gone? Probably lost in the canal crash. She’d have to find it later. “Right. We shouldn’t have to worry about them escaping through the front or back as long as you two keep your guard up—they might still try to take one of you by surprise, but they won’t risk a direct confrontation.”
02 nodded ever so slightly. That guy…Usually Undyne could figure out what he was thinking, having known him for years, but currently she didn’t have the mental energy to try to read him. Gah, Papyrus had her second-guessing EVERYONE now!
“…you going in there? …alone?”
Undyne took a deep breath, in and out. “Yeah. In a chase like this, I’m the best option. They’re fast, and my spears have the longest range, and you two can’t maneuver easily to pull off a team attack—it needs to be me.”
“…understood.” Still unreadable. Whatever.
Undyne swept through the house, searching each room for signs of the human as she dodged familiar traps and plugged in long-memorized puzzle solutions. That set of tiles activated the trap door, this door’s password was… She knew this place like the back of her hand from countless training exercises, and no human would escape her here. No matter how slippery and stealthy they…
…
Was that…music?
Undyne paused outside the sitting room. (Gerson had refused to call it the “living” room; in his own words, “All of these rooms are for living in…or at least, appreciating that you’re still alive! Gotta take every chance for that at my age! Wahaha!”) The door was shut, but the faint sound that leaked through confirmed her suspicions: someone had activated the old phonograph, playing a piece of Gerson’s record collection. “Reflections on Blues and Grays,” wasn’t it?
The exhausted captain frowned, weary but no less wary. Could it be a trap? Would the human really be so careless as to give away their position like this? Undyne cracked open the door as quietly as possible, peering inside…
The sitting room was well equipped for its eponymous activity. Chairs and couches of every description littered its spacious interior, over half of which sported some manner of trick or trap. None of them were actually dangerous—the old coot had retained THAT much sense, at least—but Undyne had memorized the layout anyway. The mansion was all that remained of her predecessor after his passing; the least she could do was turn the complex terrain into the biggest home-field advantage possible.
…to say nothing of how every trap she studied made her feel like she remembered Gerson a little better. How he laughed, how he smiled, how he fought…
Undyne snapped back to reality. She’d gotten distracted again—tired or not, she couldn’t get wrapped up in the past and let this very present human slip through her fingers.
The human was making no effort to hide, pressed up against the small round table at the center of the room. The phonograph upon it seemed to fascinate them…was there some sort of human-hypnotizing magic in there that Gerson had kept secret? Undyne considered the possibility, then shook her head. Not his style. So…did they just like the music?
The guard captain gritted her teeth. Whatever the quality of their taste, this human had far more important qualities—their soul, for example, and their potential threat to the queen. Undyne nudged the door open, slowly, quietly…
Creeeeeeeeak.
She froze. The human, who had previously been nodding along to the tune, did the same. The record continued, unfazed.
The kid (that was a stripe on their shirt, right?) slowly turned their head to look behind them. They and Undyne locked a single wide eye each for a moment that felt like an eternity.
Undyne was the first to spring into motion, and the chase was on. The human was quick, quicker than even she had expected, rolling and leaping from room to room and always just out of reach. Still, there was no way they could escape for long; Undyne knew the mansion inside and out, and with a quick call to 02, she was able to herd them toward a dead end: the basement.
Whatever Gerson had done to this place, the basement had been ground zero. Half of the floor opposite the entrance had ripped away, revealing an endless abyss below.
Undyne had contemplated what lay down there more than once. Perhaps that was where Gerson had vanished to, in the end…or perhaps it had taken his life as the cost of delving too deep into the forbidden arts.
But whatever fate Gerson may have suffered here, another life was about to end in the same place.
Undyne crashed to the bottom of the basement steps, the planks groaning beneath her metal boots as she landed in a dramatic crouch. As she rose into a neutral stance, the human cowered at the edge of a pitch-black void.
She faced them dead-on and spoke, solemnly restraining her righteous anger.
“Seven.”
“Seven human souls, and our queen—Queen TORIEL LAFELN—will set us free.”
“Six.”
“That’s how many we have collected thus far.”
“Understand, human?”
“Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed.”
“This is your only chance at redemption.”
“Give up your soul…”
Undyne summoned a spear to her hands, pointed directly at the human’s chest.
“…or I’ll tear it from your body.”
The human’s entire body was shaking like a leaf. Fuhuhu…was THIS the last enemy monsterkind had to destroy before retaking reality? Pathetic.
It was so pathetic, Undyne kept her eye straight on their soft lavender soul. She didn’t need to see the look on their face. She couldn’t.
The human answered in a quiet, quivering voice that Undyne had to strain to hear.
“…I-I can’t.”
Something in their cadence took Undyne off guard, and she hesitated, trying to piece together what.
They continued.
“I…I know about the soul thing, b-but I can’t give you mine, because I’ve been told that this, Queen Toriel? That she’s…”
Undyne’s grip on her spear tightened.
“That she’s the only one who can be trusted to take it.”
The silence that followed was deafening, as Undyne finally understood what she’d heard in their voice. It hadn’t been foolish bravery in the face of certain death, or determination to escape the glassy tomb of monsterkind at the cost of their monarch’s life.
She finally raised her eye to their face. They were crying.
This human was determined to die.
The realization sent Undyne reeling. What was she doing? This was a human, she’d been TELLING them they deserved to die, and yet their agreement threw her into doubt?
She could easily say something cool like… “Well, you’ll have to trust me to get it to her,” step forward, and strike them down with one blow. She could be the hero; Toriel wouldn’t have to bear the burden of taking an innocent human life.
And yet…so innocent they were. Some hero Undyne was, holding a crying child at spearpoint. And after everything Papyrus had said…
Undyne stood stock-still for what felt like hours. The human remained in place, hands crossed over their heart, tears streaming down their face.
Finally, the armored monster convinced herself to move. She dispelled her spear and returned to her neutral position, taking a deep breath. In…and out.
“…human.”
They looked up at her with a teary face full of fear and confusion.
“I’ll take you to the queen, and we’ll…figure out where to go from there.”
She extended her gloved hand for them to take. They seemed uncertain, so she stepped closer.
They shied away, stepping onto more precarious—
Creeeeeeeeak—CRACK.
Undyne whirled around, her guilty conscience overlooking the basement’s lack of a door—and the direction of the sound.
“H-help!”
On instinct, Undyne turned back toward the panicked cry.
The remains of the wooden floor, worn away by years of rot on two sides of reality, had given way beneath the human’s feet—leaving them clinging to a surviving board above endless darkness.
“I—I’ve got you!” Undyne shouted, in a far different context than she’d hoped just minutes prior.
She lunged out, reaching for the human’s outstretched hand, but her heavy armor further stressed the boards—
“NO!”
…
Undyne lay half-stretched over empty air, having backflipped by reflex and immediately flung herself toward the edge again only to see the flailing child shrinking, fading into the ocean of black. Her arm remained outstretched, grasping for a human hand that she could have caught, if only…if she’d just been a little faster…
Metal footsteps clanked down the stairs.
“Undyne! Was that your voice?”
01…but something was wrong. He sounded hurried, omitting his usual filler words…
“I'm—I’m sorry, but I couldn’t…stop…did you…?”
Undyne didn’t respond. She couldn’t respond. What would she even say?
Another set of footsteps descended. Softer, slower…sorrowful.
They stopped, and there was a long silence…finally ended by a hollow sigh.
A voice full of grief with a tinge of disappointment plunged Undyne’s soul into cold, certain despair.
“Captain Undyne Atalans…it is with a heavy heart that I, Queen TORIEL LAFELN, place you under arrest for insubordination…first degree murder…”
The queen paused, as if still processing the scene.
“…and reckless destruction of a human soul.”
Undyne hadn’t noticed she’d been crying, but her tears were falling into the endless inky dark. As 01 and 02 hauled her catatonic form out of the pit and up the stairs, Undyne was just aware enough to note that as the queen recited Undyne’s rights, just for a moment, the expression of mourning was shared.
…but upon noticing Undyne’s tearful look, the queen wiped her own eyes, replacing the vulnerable look with a grim yet tear-streaked neutrality.
Undyne’s wavering consciousness finally gave in.
The world went black.
Notes:
You know how in Undertale Alphys makes ghost!Mettaton a robot body?
Well, about three years ago I had the thought that Napstablook in roleshift AUs (especially Underswap) should still be a ghost.
And I guess you can see I kind of extrapolated from there.
Chapter 6: Authority
Summary:
A monster called Kid has a field trip go from bad to worse.
Chapter Text
The bench of the old bus was missing a seat belt AND a cushion, making for a bumpy ride. But the discomfort was a moot point; Kidothy Mons, better known as Kid, was already having a bad day.
Their class was having ANOTHER field trip, for starters. It had been exciting the first time, but everyone had realized fairly quickly that Ms. Cross didn’t intend the trips to be educational. She just wanted an excuse to tell her students to “look around” and “learn through experience” at the park, or the museum, or the aquarium…the dump…wherever. Meanwhile, she would find somewhere to sit, smoke, and do her word puzzles.
Kid didn’t mind not having to listen to the teacher’s monotonous lectures, but if they were going to run around and do their own thing, they didn’t want to be stuck in one area with the other kids. They liked wandering because it let them get away from everything, not because they liked moving their legs!
To make matters worse, apparently today’s trip was to some old courthouse in the city, where they’d be sitting through a “trial.” SNORE. At least it’d be slightly more of a learning experience than usual, but if Kid had to learn they preferred to do so at school. In school there was a minimum distance between where they sat and—
A soft kssh as a tiny gray icicle shattered on one of their spikes.
The other kids.
“Hah-h-ha, got ‘em!”
“Yeah, n…nICE shot, Ice! Hey, Kid, why don’t you, m…make like macaroni and…and FREEZE?”
Kid shot a glare at the back seat, where the “Cool” Cidz always sat. The quote marks were part of the name, ostensibly to highlight the thematic pun. Kid thought it was especially appropriate given their personal opinion that these particular Cidz were not, in fact, very Cool at all.
Looking back had been a mistake, of course. Ice Cube, evidently the source of that bullet, reveled in attention.
“Hey, what’re you looking at? Looking for a hat-t-t? Well, d-don’t bother, I’m w-w-way too cool for those now!”
Ice Cube used to be all about hats, but when it noticed how many other Ice monsters ALSO loved hats, they decided to abandon the concept entirely in the name of nonconformity. Ironically, this kickstarted a new trend. Now, Kid couldn’t go anywhere without tripping over a couple of cubes sliding along and taking great pride in their hatlessness. The original Cube had yet to notice.
Kid sighed.
“Come on, guys. Don’t you have anything better to do?”
It was a dumb question to ask on a bus ride, and quickly received an equally dumb answer: a gray snowball to the face.
“Hey, don’t be so…COLD, we’re just trying to help you ch…ch…CHILL! Hahaha.”
Snowy’s puns, much like field trips, had been kind of fun until the novelty wore off. It didn’t help that the frosty drake’s main comedic strategy recently had been to mix puns with insults, since its friends got a kick out of casually harassing the rest of the class.
At least Chilly considered themself too cool for field trips. He didn’t talk much, but somehow his rare barbs hurt more than the other two’s insults combined.
Kid looked pleadingly across the aisle. Catti was there, reading as always. Something called “Darkest Dreams” this time, by… “Gerson Boom.” Whoever that was. Catti was probably Kid’s best friend in this class…mostly because she treated them with the same apathy she gave everyone else, rather than actively avoiding them for fear of the “Cool” Cidz. Unsurprisingly, she turned away toward the window.
The target’s silence didn’t seem to deter the hecklers in the back seat. “Oh-h-h, did someone get REJ-J-JECTED? That’s what happens when you forget-t-t—you don’t HAVE f-friends, spike!”
Kid found themself once again weighing the same options as they did every bus ride. If they started another fight, they’d DEFINITELY get suspended from school this time…but that would get them out of here, and would their parents even notice?
As usual, Kid split the difference between chickening out and getting kicked out. “Yo, seriously, would you guys knock it off? I don’t wanna get in trouble, but I’m not just gonna be your doormat. Quit it!”
Unfortunately, this seemed to be exactly the reaction they were seeking. “Ooh, so sca-a-ary. What’re you ‘gonna’ do, th-then? Have one of the f-f-friends you don’t have c-come beat us up? Or maybe you ‘wanna’ f-f-fight us y-yourself, huh?”
Kid tried once more to ignore them. They were never much good at that, but maybe if they just focused on the capital scenery outside the window…
“N…not gonna be that second one, Ice, r…remember? They’re h…h…h…”
Oh, not this again—
“ARMLESS! Hahaha!”
“None of you even HAS arms!” Kid snapped back—
The bus screeched to a stop, and the teacher’s flat voice drifted out of the haze at the front of the bus.
“Shut it children we’re here.”
The kids filed out with some semblance of civility, lapsing into a bored silence as the teacher started monologuing about the history of the courthouse and its architecture. She seemed to be making a bit more of an effort than usual as she led them up the marble steps; maybe it was the governmental nature of the building. Could be reminding her who paid her salary. Kid snickered at the cynical thought.
“Mx. Mons you have a question.”
Ah. Kid hadn’t meant to make an actual sound there.
The silence was deafening as they tried to come up with something to say…oh!
“Uh, I…was wondering what this ‘trial’ thing’s about? Like, who’s the criminal?”
Ms. Cross took a long drag on her cigarette. The courthouse was a “no smoking” zone, but they were still outside…and if past trips were any indication, no one would bother enforcing it inside, either.
After a long, smoky pause, she answered:
“I dunno.”
The class erupted in shouts of dismay for about half a second, then quieted down at the teacher’s glare. Ms. Cross’ name was appropriate for more reasons than her favored pastime; it was mostly for her perpetual bad mood. She would hand out detentions like candy on her worse days.
After a pause, she continued. “I noticed a headline this morning about some big trial today. I didn’t read the rest because I was busy throwing out the pages that don’t have puzzles but I figured there’d probably be some sorta lesson in it.”
Typical. At least this was slightly more transparency than the class usually got from her.
“Any other questions or should I get back to the highly fascinating history of eh screw it let’s just go.”
The class climbed the steps and entered the old courthouse through a pair of elaborately carved wooden doors. Kid knew a little about the connections between the Mirror World and regular-reality—just enough to wonder what it’d be like if the humans on the other side started remodeling this building in the middle of the trial.
Daydreams of Snowy and Ice Cube being surprised by spontaneous lack of floor were cut short, however, when Ms. Cross led the class into the audience section of one of the courtrooms. As they sat down, over on the defendant’s side was…
“Yo, is that Undyne?”
A murmur of surprise swept through the class at the sight of the guard captain, joining the chatter from the rest of the audience. Even Catti looked up from her book, raised an eyebrow, and returned to reading.
Kid was as excited as ever to see their idol. “Yo, it IS her! That’s Undyne! She’s just the coolest ever, right? I heard she saved, like, a WHOLE school bus from a sinkhole once! Though our bus would probably fall apart instead of trapping us. She’s so cool, and brave, and selfless, and…heroic, and…”
That joyful feeling was replaced with confusion as Kid’s mind caught up to the question everyone else had already reached.
“Wait, what’s she doing here?”
Undyne certainly looked out of place in the stuffy courtroom, which Kid had just noticed lacked air conditioning. Not that they minded; Kid, like most lizard monsters, thrived in the heat. Undyne, though, was clearly uncomfortable wearing full battle armor in the unseasonably warm courtroom.
That discomfort was probably exacerbated by the shady, suited character seated next to her. Kid didn’t recognize them, but they seemed to be talking a mile a minute in Undyne’s general direction. One might say it resembled a pep talk, but something about Undyne’s neutral stare forward and total lack of reaction to the bean-like monster made the phrase feel ill-fitting.
(If they’d been sitting a little closer, they might have been able to hear the words the little man was saying so rapidly. Right now, it was something along the lines of “…but, see, I’ve got a foolproof strategy, really knock their socks off, won’t know what hit ‘em—SURPRISE WITNESSES, or for the pros, “sup-wits,” each wackier and more surprising than the last…”)
Ms. Cross seemed at most mildly surprised to see Undyne, being far more interested in her companion—which is to say, she actually reacted to their presence. “…oh that’s Sal I remember him from high school he’s a public defender. Never thought I’d ever see Undyne of all folks let the slimy little moron within ten feet of her.”
The teacher blinked, as if processing the implications of all the facts combined. “Wait does this mean she’s—”
Kid sat up straight from their posture of intense contemplation. “Yo, wait, this all makes sense now!”
All eyes in the class turned to the enthusiastic young monster, who felt a little self-conscious but explained their theory. “If that public defender dude’s on trial for doing shady lawyer stuff, obviously he can’t represent himself, because then he might do more of that shady stuff. He’s still entitled to a fair defense, but also, it can’t be any of the other defenders, right? Because they might be in on it. So they got Undyne to do it! Or maybe she volunteered. She’s, like, ALL about justice!”
The general crowd’s chatter continued around them, but the class was dead quiet as they stared at Kid. Even Snowy and Ice glanced at each other but didn’t seem to know how to respond, which Kid took to mean they couldn’t think of any insults to fit the situation. In a way, they were right.
Eventually, the teacher broke the silence. “That’s. Certainly an interesting theory. We’ll see if that’s. If it pans out.”
The class turned back to the courtroom, mumbling to one another about other topics. Kid wondered why they were all so eager to change the—
“Hey.”
Kid jumped in surprise, then relaxed. Catti was just doing that thing again where she appeared suddenly behind you and said something. She was a little creepy that way.
Not looking up from her book, she continued.
“Thought I’d just say. Since no one else feels like it. There’s a much more obvious reason.”
“…reason for what? Kind of creeping me out, man. Like, more than usual.”
Catti sighed almost inaudibly. “You don’t want to see it. But, seems pretty clear. Undyne and a lawyer. Big important court case.”
“…”
Kid understood what she meant, and had initially thought of the same thing, but.
It couldn’t be, right?
Undyne would never do something bad enough to warrant a big trial like this. She was a hero! She always did the right thing!
…didn’t she?
This worrisome train of thought was cut short by Catti sighing again and pointing them back to the trial—particularly the sudden arrival of Queen Toriel. Kid stared, having only seen her in pictures before. Apparently she had once visited schools for special lessons, but as the years went by, she had become more and more withdrawn. And who could blame her, after the rumors of what a soul-hungry monster had done to her children?
Right now…she looked even more exhausted than in the pictures. Her slumped posture, her slow yet stately walk as she ascended to the judge's seat…
Kid couldn’t deny it. Whatever this trial was about, to get her to appear so publicly…it was big. And it was bad.
Maintaining an air of calm and poise, Toriel took her seat and picked up…Kid didn’t know what it was called, one of those little hammers judges use to make noise. She rapped it once on the desk before her, making a single sharp sound that resonated through the entire room. The crowd fell quiet as the queen began to speak.
“I, Queen TORIEL LAFELN, hereby call this trial to order.”
Her gaze turned from the gallery to the defendant’s seat.
“Defendant Undyne Atalans…”
Kid’s heart sank.
“You stand accused of insubordination, first degree murder, and reckless destruction of a human soul.”
M-MURDER?! Kid couldn’t process this. Undyne would NEVER attack an innocent person! Wouldn’t she? She- she was- it had to be a mistake or something, right? She was framed, or it was self-defense, or—or—
As Kid grappled with the accusations, the monsters around them were muttering again for a somewhat different reason. Of course most of them had heard by now that a human had been spotted, the last soul they needed to be free, and given the official peacekeeping purpose of the Royal Guard, the insubordination and murder charges made some sense…but what was this about the soul being destroyed?…
Toriel silenced the crowd again and continued.
“Captain Atalans. Having conferred with your designated lawyer, Sal Briefs…how do you plead?”
All eyes turned to Undyne and the smug, smiling defender. No sooner had he opened his mouth to say “Not guil—” than Undyne stood from her seat and said, “Guilty, your Majesty.”
The room erupted with a dozen different negative emotions—anger, despair, betrayal, dismay at being interrupted, everything in between—but was quickly silenced again by a firey glare from the queen. Kid would have been impressed by her ability to quiet the pandemonium without even using that little hammer, but all of their everything seemed to have gone numb and they weren’t currently responding to outside stimuli, please try again later.
The prosecutor, a small fire elemental in a snappy blue suit, was the first to speak up again.
“So, then, I guess we’ll be, uh, moving on to sentencing? If there’s no need for a trial. I’ll just go ahead and introduce mys—”
“No, Prosecutor, that won’t be necessary,” Toriel said, determinedly stoic but firm. The prosecutor fell back in shock at being so quickly rebuffed. “Given the closeness of this case to matters of national importance…and my personal knowledge of Captain Atalans…I determined that this response was likely and have already prepared a sentence.”
“B-but we still have to—”
“I am invoking my queenly right in this scenario, as per section 32b of our constitution. You recognize that section, correct?”
The fire elemental’s mouth hung open as he tried to think of a response. Having been thoroughly defeated, he closed it and sat down in disappointment.
Toriel paused, as if collecting her thoughts. Kid, gradually reacquainting themself with reality, was acutely aware of every eye, ear, and other sensory receptor in the room being trained on the queen—and based on the general smoldering feeling of anger radiating off everyone in the gallery EXCEPT Kid…they were hoping for a very specific result.
“Undyne Atalans…for your crimes, the legally prescribed punishment is execution.”
And there it was.
“However…you have shown not only full acknowledgment of your actions, but extreme remorse, and to deny your outstanding record from your years in the Royal Guard would be a disservice not only to you, but to the entire institution—even to the nation to which you have so faithfully devoted yourself.”
…what?
“As a result…I hereby sentence you to indefinite community service: to continue serving Inversia as captain of the Royal Guard…with one specific caveat.”
Undyne looked up at the queen in consternation. As the crowd began to murmur once more, Toriel pressed on, undeterred.
“Should another human arrive…no matter what they may do, what crimes they may commit…upon discovering them, you will NOT attack them, but escort them to the Fortress PERSONALLY. Fail to do so, and you will–” the crowd was in an uproar—“YOU WILL BE SENTENCED ONCE AGAIN FOR THESE SAME CRIMES, BY A LESS MERCIFUL JURY OF–”
But nobody could hear her anymore.
-
After an audience on the verge of riot was pushed out of the courtroom by the rest of the guard…the bus ride back home was uneventful. Quiet.
Everyone but Kid (and maybe Catti, she was always hard to read) seemed in utter shock at the queen’s sentence; the way they saw it, Kid knew, she was punishing the actions that extended monsterkind’s imprisonment by…leaving the criminal as head of the guard, and threatening her with death unless she extended that imprisonment even further.
Kid didn’t care about that. They’d never quite gotten other monsters’ obsession with the “real world,” but they totally understood why Toriel would like humans better than her own people. The speed with which the audience had turned on Undyne for all the wrong reasons…and how Undyne of all people had killed an innocent human…it terrified Kid. It was like the story of the Beast all over again, but the whole society was turning against itself instead of a single violent miscreant.
One of their classmates—some blue-feathered monster, Kid didn’t remember their name—piped up from the front of the bus as it bumped through the reflected city.
“Ms…Ms. Cross? The trial ended, er, without a trial, so…what are we supposed to have learned today?”
The teacher usually smoked even while she drove, but now…the area around the driver’s seat was oddly clear. She’d tossed her packs out the window as they’d pulled away from the courthouse, mumbling something about “what’s even the point.”
In response to the bluebird kid’s question, her posture seemed to tighten a bit as she took a deep breath, like she meant to take a drag on a cigarette she didn’t have. “I dunno kid. I guess that…”
She shook her head as the bus pulled into Kid’s stop.
“Heroes don’t exist.”
That last line seemed meant directly for Kid as they fled off the bus, leaving their schoolmates behind, not for home or the streets they’d usually love to run through—all they knew was they needed to be somewhere else, anywhere but here.
Chapter 7: Connection
Summary:
An ending, of sorts.
Chapter Text
“S-STAY CALM! PLEASE FORM AN ORDERLY QUEUE, AND YOUR GRIEVANCES WILL BE COMMUNICATED TO THE QUEEN IN THE ORDER THEY ARE RECEIVED!”
The unruly mob of monsters was a roiling sea of discontent, only held back from flooding the courthouse by a dam of blue bone attacks…and one skeleton on the roof, feeling more adrift by the minute.
Papyrus glanced from one end of the crowd to the other. It seemed like every species was represented, from outraged slimes to possessed airplanes to…was that the cat monster from the other day, selling donuts to the raging throng? Yes, it certainly seemed to be him—he caught Papyrus’ eye from the edge of the crowd, flashing a subtle, awkward thumbs up before returning to frantically hawking Muffet’s wares. Well, good to see that the “traveling salesmonster” idea seemed to be working out.
The skeletal guard-turned-bouncer had just caught himself thinking about maybe letting a few monsters in—surely they just wanted to talk—when the riotous mass suddenly fell quiet. Papyrus was briefly confused…until he realized they were all looking in the same direction. He turned and followed their gaze into the stony gray sky.
The queen was flying away.
It was unmistakably her. Those purple robes, the fire from her hands propelling her through the air…and she had made very certain the entire crowd saw her leave. The plume of smoke behind her trailed toward the mountaintop Fortress. If Papyrus had been a gambling skeleton, he would have bet fifty gold that Toriel had already ordered a lockdown…and if so, only she herself could authorize any entry.
(Papyrus, being a gambling skeleton on occasion, quickly called Doggo, who promptly picked up to reply: “No bet.”)
The monsters below, formerly bursting with such impassioned fury, now seemed defeated. Slowly they began to disperse. Papyrus dropped the bone barrier; no one was interested to speak to any of the monsters remaining in the courthouse.
No one except the worn-out skeleton on the roof, at any rate.
Papyrus returned into the building, heaving a perfunctory sigh of relief. Thankfully none of the flying monsters from the crowd had thought to pursue the queen, or to try to enter from the rooftop stairwell he now descended. Mob mentality was a powerful force, Papyrus noted, for better or for worse.
…well, maybe still mostly worse.
Papyrus emerged into the courtroom, which was thankfully nearly empty now; the audience had either left on their own or been pushed out the door before the protesting could reach full force, and that…COLORFUL little lawyer Sal was nowhere to be seen.
Only a few monsters remained: those two numbered Royal Guards were attempting to comfort a stone-faced Undyne. As Papyrus approached (and tried to remember the guards’ actual names—was it too awkward to ask now?), something unidentifiable changed in her expression for the briefest moment.
The rabbit-eared guard fell quiet at the sight of the skeleton, and the draconic one looked away. Papyrus ignored their odd reactions—he had more relevant matters to address with his best friend.
They…WERE still best friends, right?
…Papyrus decided to worry about that one later.
He stopped in front of his superior, resting both hands on the defendant’s table where she still sat.
“UNDYNE, THERE’S…THERE'S SOMETHING IMPORTANT I NEED TO TELL YOU. I—”
She raised her hand, cutting him off with a sigh.
“Papyrus. I need to talk to you privately. Can this wait until 01 and 02 are done?”
Hm. What could SHE have to tell HIM? Surely something good, right? It had to be. To think otherwise would be overly suspicious of him.
“O-OH! CERTAINLY, UNDYNE! JUST…WHENEVER YOU TWO ARE READY!”
The guards glanced at each other as the more talkative one spoke up.
“Actually, we were just, like, uh…leaving. Yeah. So…see ya.”
RGs 01 and 02 swiftly exited the courtroom, 02 slamming the door behind them. Papyrus stared after the pair, wondering whether he should be reading something into their demeanor…but soon turned back to Undyne.
“SO…ER, WHAT WAS IT YOU WANTED TO SAY?”
The guard captain closed her good eye and breathed deeply.
“…you go first.”
“…ALL RIGHT.”
Papyrus copied her actions, shutting his sockets and letting air whistle through his ribcage. It felt a little comforting.
“UNDYNE…I DIDN’T WANT TO TELL YOU UNTIL AFTER THE TRIAL, BUT…I WAS THE ONE WHO—WELL, NOT DECIDED, BUT I CAME UP WITH THE…CONCEPT, FOR YOUR SENTENCE.”
Both of their eyes were open now, but Undyne’s wouldn’t meet Papyrus’. When she finally spoke, it was barely above a whisper.
“…I know.”
Ah. Papyrus was…not as shocked as he somehow felt he should be.
“Y. YOU DO? OR. YOU DID?”
Undyne sighed again.
“It wasn’t that hard to figure out. She’d definitely consult you as my second in command, and that sentence had your name written all over it. ‘Community service’ …phrasing something like THIS like THAT is…ugh, sorry. Knowing you and her…I can guess how it went.”
And knowing Undyne, Papyrus should have guessed that. But he could compliment her deductive skills another time. For now, best to make sure they fully understood each other.
“SHE…SHE DIDN’T WANT YOU TO DIE OVER THIS. SHE WAS OPEN TO ANY OTHER SENTENCE WITH APPROPRIATE GRAVITY, AND…I HAD AN IDEA.”
Undyne nodded wearily. An awkward silence threatened to set in. Papyrus saw no option but to break it.
“UNDYNE…DO YOU—”
“I don’t hate you for this, Papyrus.”
“OH! THAT’S. GOOD TO HEAR, BUT DEFINITELY NOT WHAT I WAS ASKING.”
Undyne re-established eye contact, if only for a moment, to shoot Papyrus a skeptical look.
“...WELL, MAYBE I WAS THINKING IT. BUT THEN WHY—”
“Because I’m scared, okay?!”
That.
What?
Papyrus must have done a poor job concealing his surprise at Undyne's sudden outburst, because she quickly continued.
“I’m. Not afraid to die. I’ve long since accepted that if I ever do, it’ll be because of a human…I just didn’t expect it to be…like this. And while I don’t like the idea of people holding it against me, I’m not worried about what everyone will think of ME, either.”
“THEN…?”
“Papyrus…do you know why I wanted to have this conversation after 01 and 02 left?”
Oh.
“YOU DON’T MEAN…”
She nodded.
“They suspect something already, and…Papyrus, I’m scared of what’ll happen to YOU if this gets out.”
That…made a lot more sense, coming from Undyne.
“UNDYNE…WE’VE TALKED ABOUT THIS. YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ME.”
Undyne made a sound something like a laugh, but without any joy in it.
“I know THAT. Like, yeah, there’s a part of my mind wringing its hands about you being ripped to shreds, but intellectually I know you’re too tough for that.”
“THAT, AND I SPECIFICALLY PROMISED NOT TO JUST STAND THERE AND LET ANYONE KILL ME!”
Undyne rubbed her forehead. Did she have a headache? Papyrus made a note to maybe get her some aspirin. She seemed to do that a lot lately.
“...right. Still weirds me out that you felt the need to–sorry, getting off topic. Point is, you saw how people reacted to the queen. Hell, you were OUT there, you have a better idea than I do. And while I know you were able to hold them back just fine…I mean, you’ve been getting better at making friends with people, but–”
“UNDYNE.”
She stopped mid-ramble, meeting his gaze.
“ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE REASON YOU’RE SO BROKEN UP ABOUT THIS…”
Papyrus squinted, tilting his head.
“IS BECAUSE YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT MY SOCIAL STATUS??”
Undyne blinked. Papyrus could tell she wasn’t winking because good friends can tell the difference in each others’ facial expressions.
She was silent for a solid four seconds before answering.
“I…guess when you put it that way, it…”
She chuckled weakly.
“It sounds a little…”
She trailed off, laughing.
Laughing.
She was laughing!
Papyrus was uncertain on these things at the best of times, but he was FAIRLY certain that laughter was a sign of GOOD emotions. It was famously the best medicine, after all! Therefore, the fact that Undyne was laughing despite the incredibly awful day she’d had meant he was a GOOD friend! Papyrus mentally patted himself on the back as—
WAIT NO TEARS TEARS CRYING STOP ABORT EMERGENCY HUG POSSIBLY REQUIRED MENTAL NOTE TO REEVALUATE EMOTIONAL KNOWHOW LATER
Papyrus opened his arms wide just in time for Undyne to topple forward into them, barely saving the defendant’s table from being crushed by the full weight of her formal armor. Her body heaved over and over, wracked with sounds that were equal parts sob, scream, and snicker. Papyrus did some quick calculations and noted that the happy sounds were outnumbered two to one in that mixture, so he patted her back in a way he hoped was comforting.
Undyne’s deep, ragged breaths went in and out, faltering less as her overflowing emotions escaped in sound form. Papyrus could relate. He had some complex feelings to eject at the local soundproof Screaming Room after all this was over. For now, though, his feelings weren’t the important ones.
Undyne’s voice lowered until all that remained of her woeful sounds were quiet whispers. Papyrus could just barely make out the words.
“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to, I just…I’m…”
Papyrus sighed. Even now…
“YOU DON’T NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO ME, UNDYNE. I UNDERSTAND.”
Undyne coughed weakly. (…no, Undyne never did anything weakly. Or quietly. This was close, though.) Papyrus thought it was maybe supposed to be a laugh.
“I’m not…apologizing to you, Papyrus.”
Silence, but for her still-stuttered breathing.
“Well…maybe a little. I’m…I shouldn’t be putting all this on you, I’m…supposed to be better than that.”
Undyne started to pull away, but a gentle squeeze from Papyrus gave her pause. He could tell she still needed it.
“NO, UNDYNE,” Papyrus said, softly, “YOU’RE NOT.”
Undyne closed her eye and returned the hug. The pair stayed there in silence for a minute or two.
…until Papyrus broke it, feeling now was as good a time as any.
“…UNDYNE?”
She cracked her eye open.
“…yeah, Papyrus?”
“WE’RE…STILL BEST FRIENDS, RIGHT?”
Another chuckle. Papyrus somehow knew this one was genuine.
“Yeah…I don’t see how anything could change that at this point.”
“OKAY, GOOD. I JUST WANTED TO CHECK. LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU’RE READY TO MOVE ON.”
Undyne stared at the empty wall across the courtroom before answering.
“…give it a few more minutes. I think I’m almost there.”
“ALL RIGHT.”
And so they stayed.
Time didn’t stand still, and the future wouldn’t wait for them, but for now…
Well, neither of them had anything better to do.
MrMeh on Chapter 7 Wed 01 Jan 2025 09:39PM UTC
Comment Actions
JacketOfDiamonds on Chapter 7 Wed 01 Jan 2025 10:55PM UTC
Comment Actions