Chapter Text
“Brick One this is Brick Two, I got eyes on movement on the mountain road, over.”
“Copy Brick Two, I see it. Looks like a semi truck. With green lightning coming out of the engine block. That’s a little weird. Brick Squadron to Captain Willis, we have eyes on a vehicle coming down the road from Mt. Ebott. Looks like a semi-truck with no trailer, over.”
“Copy Brick Squadron. What can you tell me? Over.”
“Hood is missing completely. There’s some sort of green lightning coming from the engine. What- Captain Willis it looks like the monster king is riding on the back of the truck, over.”
“The monster king? How can you tell? Over”
“He’s a big guy with big horns. And I watched a lot of weird internet videos about this town long before today happened, so I recognize him, over.”
“...understood. You said the truck was heading down from the mountain? Over.”
“That’s affirm captain, truck is heading down the road from the mountain to the town, over.”
“Copy that. I just heard on the monster party line setup that one of the local cops was calling from the Underground. Could be related. Brick Squadron, change course and provide escort, cover, and close air support for that truck just in case. We need answers. Over.”
“Copy Captain Willis. Brick Squadron, form up on me. We’re bodyguards.”
“Brick Two copy, moving.”
“Brick Three copy, getting into position.”
Beneath the trio of helicopters, Justin looked up out of the window of the truck cab and scratched his even-more-covered-with-stubble-than-normal chin.
“Not sure if we just got an escort or if they think we’re a threat.”
“Don’t think I can outrun them in this thing, especially with the engine on life support.” Jason glanced at the passenger seat for a second. “Doing alright there?”
“We’re good. Can’t promise it will still work after we get to town though.” Frisk reached up one hand to poke at the gash on their face. “I have to use more and more magic to keep it running.”
“Kind of feel bad for the owner, but them’s the breaks when you’re trying to stop the end of the world.” Jason shrugged. “Or whatever it was that just happened. Looks like the world is still here and so are we.”
“A lot of the stuff from riding shotgun in Asriel’s head is fuzzy but yeah, there was a lot saving the world stuff involved. That was pretty clear to me.” Justin turned to Officer Steve, who was staring intently at a handheld radio producing overlapping messages in police jargon from its speaker. “How about you, Steve?”
“Sorry man, that’s over and done and my whole attention is on the next problem in the pipeline.”
“Fair enough. Anything interesting on the horn? Been kinda busy playing lookout.”
“About what we expected. Half the town is blacked out. Water mains broken in three places they know of. Which is extra bad with the high water table and bad drainage. Gas lines are being turned off over the whole town while they look for leaks. And the stars are still there, so people are nervous about anything else coming through. But nobody is reporting Titans and I can’t see any through the windshield, so that particular problem might be solved now. Don’t want to jinx us of course.”
Justin looked out the window again at the helicopter gunships flying above and ahead of the truck.
“Yeah. Might be a little late for that.”
“Okay Mac, turn her on.”
The lights in the lobby flickered and turned up to full power one by one, while outside a massive engine could be heard revving up. Staff Sergeant Conroy held up the radio handset again.
“We’re good inside, lobby is all lit up.”
“Copy that boss. You want me to come back in or stay out to babysit the transport?”
“That’s a good question. Make extra sure the parking brake is on and then come back inside.”
“On it sir.”
Conroy looked down from the lobby light to see Papyrus the skeleton marching through the still doorless entrance.
“IT WOULD SEEM THAT OUR TITAN TROUBLES HAVE BEEN DEALT WITH! NYEH HEH HEH!”
“How do you figure?”
“I OBSERVED MULTIPLE CASES OF THE TITANS BEING ABSORBED INTO THE STARS AFTER THE WAVE OF RED LIGHT PERMEATED THE TOWN! ALAS I WAS ONLY ABLE TO CAPTURE ONE INSTANCE ON VIDEO BEFORE THE SITUATION RESOLVED ITSELF BUT I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT MY FATHER, THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ASTER, AS WELL AS THE EQUALLY BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS, WILL LEARN A GREAT DEAL FROM IT!”
The skeleton held up his phone and Conroy watched a somewhat-shaky image of an enormous being of light shrinking as light appeared to be drained off of it into a star that had formed in a parking lot, until the human figure at the core seemed to be dragged into the light as well, yelling in a language that Conroy did not recognize.
“Wow. Can’t help but notice there was a lot of stuff that didn’t get pulled into the star with the Titan guy. Cars, tree limbs, newspapers, other people.”
“INDEED THIS WOULD APPEAR TO BE A VITALLY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION!”
Papyrus suddenly looked up from his phone and Conroy turned around to see Gunther the bear monster rushing through the lobby, carrying some tools and papers on both arms.
“Sorry, sorry, we just got a call from the police station, there’s a truck coming down from the mountain and they want somebody from All Fine Labs to head to the town hall for some sort of meeting thing.”
“IN THAT CASE, I SHALL BE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU A RIDE! LET US PROCEED WITH ALL POSSIBLE HASTE!”
Conroy watched the skeleton and bear monsters jog outside, with the tall skeleton only pausing for a second to berate the shorter skeleton still sitting in a lawn chair on the sidewalk. Whatever they were saying to each other was rapidly drowned out as two soldiers in Rocketeer packs landed in the street and ran into the lobby, and Conroy waved to the rest of the soldiers under his command.
“Break time is over, men! We need fuel, ammo, and flares! Just because the Titans are gone doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet!”
The semi-truck rolled to a stop in front of the barricades in front of the town hall building, air brakes hissing and popping a few seconds before the engine died in a plume of smoke. From the trailer hitch, Asgore waved at a small crowd of monsters and humans, mostly the former, who had rushed toward the vehicle.
“Your Majesty! You’re okay!”
“-did we win? Did you stop the-”
“-happened to the-”
“-where is every-”
“Calm down, please! Keep calm. The crisis is averted, we-”
The king found himself drowned out by a small crowd of cheering monsters as the semi truck cab emptied.
“-we still have much to do, we have people in the Underground who must be moved, we have to assess and rebuild the damage, we-”
“Looks like the king is doing kingly things, I’m gonna go inside and see who’s in charge of rescue and relief.” Officer Steve pointed at the damaged but still intact building. “Maybe somebody can spare some wheels to head up the mountain and pick up everyone else.”
“Sounds good. I’ll look around, see if I can find a van or-”
“GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN YOUR MAJESTY! NOT THAT I DOUBTED THAT WE WOULD MEET AGAIN OF COURSE! NYEH HEH HEH!”
Justin and Steve turned to see a red sports car pull up next to the derelict semi truck and a bear and skeleton monster both hopped out.
“Papyrus, good to see you! How are things at All Fine Labs?”
“QUITE SATISFACTORY, THANK YOU! SANS DISPATCHED SEVERAL APPROACHING TITANS WITH A CASUAL FLIPPANCY WHICH I AM SURE IRRITATED THEM FAR MORE THAN THEIR ACTUAL DEFEAT, WHILE I RAN INTERFERENCE THROUGHOUT THE TOWN AS NEEDED AND APPROPRIATE! ON THAT TOPIC I TRUST THAT THE KERFUFFLE IN THE CORE HAS BEEN SATISFACTORILY RESOLVED?”
“It has indeed, though we are now scrambling to get everyone back from the Underground.” Asgore tapped one of the exhaust pipes, still crackling as it cooled down. “Wing Ding is too tired to Dimension Bridge anyone, and this vehicle doesn’t appear to be up to the task for another round trip.”
“THEN I SHALL FILL IN THE GAP IMMEDIATELY AND HEAD TO THE UNDERGROUND WITHOUT DELAY! IT SHOULD TAKE NO TIME AT ALL TO BRIDGE EVERYONE PROVIDED THE INTERFERENCE FROM THE CORE HAS ABATED!” Papyrus hopped back into his car and waved at everyone. “WE SHALL MEET AGAIN AND SHARE TALES OF OUR ADVENTURES WHEN EVERYONE HAS RETURNED HOME! ALSO THAT IS A BOLD AND DARING HAIR STYLE CHOICE FRISK!”
“Yeah, I might keep it, might not.” Frisk reached up to run their fingers through the uneven hair that remained after their improvised escape attempt. “We’ll see.”
Papyrus sped off with a screeching of tires that just added to the pandemonium of a town recently under siege, and Justin pointed a finger at some of the unfamiliar faces in military camouflage.
“Actually, new plan. I’ll come in with you guys and leave the transportation to Papyrus. That way nobody shoots me in the ass because they think I’m looting.”
“That is a reasonable precaution, and we can do more coordinating together than one at a time.” Asgore agreed as he moved toward the building entrance. “Still, I’m sure Papyrus can do a great deal based on enthusiasm alone.”
“He usually does. Oh. Almost forgot.” Frisk turned back toward the semi truck, held out their hand with the palm side up, and raised it. Inside the engine compartment, a machine that appeared to be fabricated from green light decoupled and detached from various engine components, floating up and rearranging its constituent parts until what looked like a mechanical dragon skull with ram horns was hovering over the truck.
As the skull floated over to Frisk, one of the nearby soldiers behind the barricades grabbed his radio.
“Uh. Command, be advised, there’s some sort of glowing skull thing outside the town hall building, over.”
“Stand by… is there a skeleton monster nearby? Over.”
“There was, but he drove off just now, over.”
“Understood. Is there a ten year old kid with messy hair nearby? Over.”
“...say again command?”
“Look for a ten year old human child with crazy hair, that’s Frisk Dreemurr, apparently that’s something they can do, over.”
“Uh.” The soldier found himself being stared at by a scarred and dirty but otherwise completely unfazed human child, a large monster with horns, and several other humans. “There is a kid that looks like that here. He’s looking right at me. Or she. Or whatever. Over.”
“Whatever is fine.” Frisk held up one hand and wiggled it back and forth in a manner commonly associated with uncertainty or ambiguity. “There’s a lot going on. My name is in fact Frisk Dreemurr, since they asked.”
“Oh. Alright then. Command, the kid says they’re Frisk Dreemurr, over.”
“Understood. Locals say they are friendly, dragon skull thing is non-threat, non-hostile. Do not engage, let them through, everyone wants to talk to them. Over.”
“Copy that command. Not sure I could stop them anyway,” the soldier added before nodding to Frisk and by extension the assembled group near them. “Sounds like the higher ups want to talk to you.”
“Works out great, we want to talk to them too.”
“Hold up kiddo.” Justin held up a hand. “I get the distinct feeling we lucked out here. Are you sure you want to bring… whatever that is in there with us?”
“Oh.” Frisk scratched their head. “Good point.”
With their other hand Frisk pointed at the magical construct and made several gestures as though pulling on parts of it; components detached and rotated and relocated into a new shape.
Specifically, the shape of a mechanical dragon skull with ram horns, wearing a proportionately sized pair of novelty glasses featuring a large nose and a handlebar mustache.
“...that’s not what I meant, but now I’m invested in seeing how this plays out.” Justin nodded to the king and gestured to the semi-intact doors to the city administration building. “Age before beauty.”
Asgore chuckled, and the group started walking up the steps. The disguised magical construct turned to face the soldier who had called his superiors earlier.
“YOU CANNOT SEE ME I AM IN DISGUISE” boomed an echoing metallic voice, and the skull zipped into the town hall building behind the rest of the group.
“How’re you holding up Toriel?”
Toriel looked up from the skeleton monster in her arms with a start.
“Oh. I am sorry Undyne, I was otherwise occupied just now. What did you say?”
“I was just asking how you were doing.” Undyne nodded at the monster child. “And how they’re doing, too.”
“...not well, but better than they were. When Chara was brought back we were able to prepare in advance and it still came as a shock to everyone involved. No one had that advantage today, least of all the children themselves.”
“Sounds about right.” Undyne looked around the scenic overlook at the other children, monsters, and humans. “Was actually thinking about that just now. You know how the news people went crazy after Chara got brought back?”
“I do remember, yes.”
“Well. We probably need a plan for how everyone is going to react to them, too.” Undyne pointed at Liz with one hand, then pointed the thumb of her other hand behind her where Toriel could see Cynthia talking to Sam and Andrew and the two bird monsters making various attempts to respond in kind.
The queen looked down at the child in her arms, who seemed to have either cried herself to sleep or simply just cried herself out, it was hard to tell with her skull buried in Toriel’s robe.
“You make an important point. I suspect that All Fine Labs should be our first stop, for various reasons but also including the need to verify that everything is alright with the children. Human hospitals would not be equipped to do so. From there, we will likely need to contact their families as soon as possible, even with everything damaged. This kind of news is too important to delay. I am… not certain what will follow that, but...” Toriel turned and looked over the overlook until she saw Asriel sitting next to Hal Greene on the edge of the cliff. “I do know how unexpected good news can be rejected.”
“…I was never a hundred percent clear on how Frisk explained the Chara thing to you guys first. How did they convince you? Or did you decide to take what they said at face value after the, uh, the situation with Asriel?”
“Chara used Red Magic to share their memories of the Underground, including events that Asriel was not present for. That seems like a great deal to ask for those who have had new monster bodies for less than a day.”
“Yeah, no kidding. Well… Frisk said they would help. This might be their biggest challenge yet.”
“Quite. At least Sam and Andrew were accepted right away.”
“Yeah.” Undyne turned to see that Patricia and Eric were talking and experimentally running their hands through the flames on Eric’s head that seemed to resemble hair. “And those two kids don’t have any problems talking, so maybe just sharing personal experiences with the parents will be enough. Biggest obstacles will be… yeah.”
“Somebody’s coming up the mountain!” Hal called from the cliff edge. “Looks like… Papyrus. Unless somebody took his car- nope, I can make him out now.”
Toriel looked away from Hal back to Undyne.
“Well, at least the first person to arrive is one we can depend on.”
“That’s true. Maybe we can… no, the car isn’t that big and with the top down it’s more cramped.” Undyne brought one hand up to her forehead, tapping the ground with one foot for a few seconds. “Okay… thinking strategic. We can’t move all the kids that way. Who do we move first then? Or who needs to be moved first? Dr. Aster is out like a light. McGraw isn’t much better after the Soul Link with Asriel, even if he can walk under his own power. Alphys might be needed at All Fine Labs. Hal could distract everyone in town who wasn’t already distracted.”
“Perhaps that would best serve us here? At least in the event of human media? It worked reasonably well the previous two times, outside of our house.”
“You’re right. Hal stays in case we need a distraction from the kids. Alphys can get some folks from the lab to come up with a van or panel truck maybe-”
“HELLO EVERYONE!”
“HEY PAPYRUS!” Undyne turned and sprinted toward her best friend, jumping over Chara and June in the process, half tackling the skeleton only to put him in a headlock and rub her fist over his skull. “WE SAVED THE WORLD! VICTORY NOOGIE!”
“ACK! IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES??”
“If not now, when?!” Undyne let Papyrus go and waved at the assorted people gathered at the overlook. “Seriously though it’s great to see you made it through in one piece. We did too, as you can see! In fact, we came out of this fight with negative casualties!”
“THAT IS QUITE AN ACHIEVEMENT, HOW DID YOU...” Papyrus trailed off as his eye sockets swept over everyone present; in addition to familiar faces both monster and human, there were several smaller monsters he did not recognize. A gloved hand came up, pointing at each one in turn as he counted. Eye sockets narrowed, then darted to Asriel, then to Chara, then to the dragon next to Chara, then to the two bird monsters next to Cynthia Thorton. Papyrus held up his hand again, index finger and thumb outstretched to match the small owl monster’s height, then spreading them apart to match the height of the taller maybe-an-eagle-maybe-a-falcon monster.
Eye sockets opened wide and glowing eyeballs almost seemed to pop out of them in surprise.
“WAIT, ARE THESE-?!”
“Don’t yell it from the mountain tops you goober! We need to get them to All Fine Labs so we can check on them, make sure everything is okay, and then talk to their families, and we need to do that without the news reporters going crazy like they did with Asriel and Chara.”
Papyrus nodded and held up an index finger in a gesture of inspiration or acknowledgment.
“I SEE! A CONFOUNDINGLY COMPLEX PUZZLE INDEED! WORRY NOT, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ON THE CASE! DOCTOR ALPHYS, WOULD YOU SAY THAT THE DIMENSIONAL MAGIC INTERFERENCE HAS DIMINISHED TO THE POINT WHERE BRIDGES WOULD BE STABLE FROM HERE TO ALL FINE LABS?”
“Oh, definitely. The only reason nobody was bridging already was because the only one with that kind of range and p-power was Dr. Aster, and he...” Alphys held out both hands to indicate where the skeleton scientist was lying down on the ground, skull resting on a makeshift pillow in the form of a rolled-up lab coat, occasionally making snoring sounds.
“THEN I BELIEVE I SHALL DO THE OLD SWITCHEROO! I DID NOT INTEND FOR THAT TO RHYME, IT JUST WORKED OUT LIKE THAT. IT’S BEEN A LONG DAY.” Papyrus walked over, crouched down, carefully picked up his father, and stood up again.
“Okay, class… today we’re gonna talk... about quarks.”
“Oh g-g-good, it’s not just me.”
“Quarks come in… six flavors. Charm and Strange. Up and Down. And Chocolate and Vani-”
Papyrus and Dr. Aster vanished in a flash of blue light, and Undyne, Alphys, and Toriel all shared a look.
“He picked up on that fast. Like, way faster than I expected. And he’s my best friend so that kind of threw me for a loop.”
“Papyrus is a genius,” Undyne heard Asriel call from the cliff edge. “People keep forgetting that.”
The overlook was silent for a few seconds, until the shrill sounds of a harmonica filled the air again.
“Wait, d-didn’t Justin throw your harmonica away?”
“This is my backup harmonica,” Hal stopped playing to reply. “Never leave home without it. And before anyone gets any ideas, I have backups for the back-”
With a flash of light, Papyrus reappeared sans his father, but instead, with Sans himself. The shorter skeleton brother looked around at the overlook, taking in the sights of the new monster children, and shook his head.
“when you said I wouldn’t believe you if you told me, you weren’t kidding around.”
“OF COURSE NOT, KIDDING AROUND IS ENTIRELY YOUR THING.”
“Yep. Okay, guess we’ll start bridging the kiddos back to the lab. And whoever wants or needs to go with… them.” Sans trailed off as his eye sockets met the eyes of a bird monster that was taller than the others.
Andrew stepped away from Cynthia and Sam for a second, stared at Sans for a moment, opened his beak, then closed it again, before finally just holding up both taloned hands and gesturing to his own body with an expectant look on his face.
Sans stared back, then shrugged and winked.
“I tell ya, it’s always something with this town.”
Andrew slowly turned to look out over the sprawl and skyline of Ebott’s Wake at the foot of the mountain, not yet completely backlit by the afternoon sun, and nodded in agreement.