Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alphys hid many secrets, too many for her liking. Anime and food similar to those of the humans were her best, albeit temporary, methods of escape, from all of the events she kept buried in the back of her mind; never completely fading away yet never being fully present to torment her. 

One of them was the true lab, hidden deep underground, with another secret inside: the amalgamates. Monsters that she brought back to life using Determination and melted into each other.

She tried her best to fix it, but there was nothing she could do.

Months passed, and the families kept sending letter after letter after letter. And she didn't know what to do.

So she lied again.

She lied that she would send them back home in a few weeks.

And week. After week. After week, she just kept lying.

She didn't even write response letters anymore, she just sent a pre-written response that always said the same thing. And it was for the better in regards to her psyche, not having to respond to every letter individually was a much needed break, she lied to reassure herself that maybe with time she would find a solution- but even her words rang empty to herself.

Time kept passing. And Asgore informed them that monsterkind was one step closer to freedom, since they had harvested the sixth human soul.

The way Asgore said this news filled each and every monster’s soul full with determination.

Determination…

…

Now that she thought of it… They have never experimented how determination affects humans. They only knew that humans can handle more Determination because of their physical bodies.

But what would happen if they injected more Determination into them?

Could this be the key to return the amalgamates to their original forms?

No, she can't just take the human corpse from the castle!

…

O-or could she?

…

Clover didn't know how much time had passed, but it couldn't have been more than a month.

When they gave their soul, he didn't really hope there would be anything, not even an afterlife for him. So it was weird when he first noticed that the first thing he could do after dying was think.

He didn't have anything to think about. He just wanted to sleep, to close his eyes. But he had no eyes. He tried to cover them with his hands. But he didn't have a body.

Of course, he was now in his own soul, although he didn't really know, he couldn't take a look at himself. Or could he?

…No, he couldn't.

‘What even am I?’ he thought, but couldn't really answer. The more he thought, the more the questions he asked himself.

At one point, he just stopped caring. Yeah, that probably was the best thing to do. Just don't care about yourself. You're dead now. There isn't much you can do anyways.

You can't walk, you can't talk, you can't sit, you can't see, you can't touch, you can't hear, you can't taste. You can't change.

You can't love. But you'll never feel sad again. You'll never feel safe again. Or sorry. You won't ever feel anything at all.

If Clover had a head he would shake it. ‘I can love, I love my friends!’ They were the whole reason he gave up his soul for monsterkind.

…

Clover thought of his friends. Of the family he found. He was never going to see them again, but there was nothing to regret either. He could rest.

‘I hope they are okay…’

At this moment Clover realized that he didn't know how much time had passed.

‘...I couldn't have been thinking for that long, could I?’

His mind got quietto remember how much time had passed.

He got quiet for too long.

…

Clover felt something. ‘That's new.’

He tried to concentrate on that specific sensation. ‘Why does it feel familiar?’

The more he concentrated the more he remembered. It was similar to the Underground's version of plastic. It was thick, not the cheap version for sure…

Until…

…

P A I N.

He totally remembered this, this was pain, he felt this every time he died.

It hurt every part of his non-existent body.

The pain increased. He wanted to yell, but he couldn't. A scream shot through his throat so powerful it breached the clouds and made its way to the heavens. Not a single decibel of sound left his mouth.

He wanted it to stop, but it didn't.

He tried to grab something, anything.

And he did.

Alphys looked speechless at how the human was grasping the body bag it was in, First they started convulsing and screeching violently. ‘H-has the D-d-d-determination injection brought them b-back to life?!’ She didn't know. “O-or c-could it be t-t-t-t-that the Determination is just affecting t-their muscles?’

Yeah, that had to be it. She didn't bring this human back to life, it was just their muscles. Human bodies would spontaneously do that after they fell defeated in battle, there were notes of all the previous royal scientists on the matter.

She tried to get closer to the body bag to confirm her thoughts, but her legs couldn't move. Was she afraid? Afraid of What? The human can't be alive, can they? Nothing she ever did turned out successful, why would this be an exception to the rule?

She tried to move again. Nothing. ‘C-c-cmon! M-move!’ She demanded her legs to move again, but nothing.

Alphys looked at the body bag again, it was still.

‘S-s-see? Nothing to worry about! T-t-the human is not alive!’ Finally her legs started moving forward. Step by step, she got closer and closer.

…

‘Wait…’ She stopped to analyze the bag. It wasn't completely still, there was a small portion of it that was getting sucked in and out near the area of where the head should be… no… no… no…‘I-i-i-is it breathing?!?!?!’

N-N-N-NO, IT CAN'T BE. I-i-i-it had to be their muscles! There's no way she had brought the human back!

~

Clover moved, ‘W-was moving always this hard?’ Every part of him felt like it was burning, but it wasn't something he couldn't stand, he had already been burned by Ceroba’s fire magic. He had adapted a little to that feeling.

He felt almost as if there was something pulling him, stopping Clover from moving freely… Was gravity affecting him? ‘Am I laying up?’ He tried sitting by himself.

A G O N Y… 

It was too much to bear, nothing in his time down the underground had made him feel this tormented, anguished, agonic.

His body got tense.

Something was horribly wrong. Could-

His train of thought froze.

His legs didn't answer.

The weight of the world fell onto him.

He fell. Literally.

A loud thud resonated through the rooms walls.

Alphys stood horrified, seeing how the bag tried to move vertically, only to fail and fall off the table it was in... 

…It worked?

…

IT WORKED.

‘OH NO.’

Chapter Text

Alphys placed her index and thumb fingers on the zipper of the body bag with all of the courage she could muster up, which to be honest, was little to none. She slowly began tugging the zipper down, just a quick peek, enough to confirm if the human cadaver had been brought back to life.

Z I P…

That was the first sound Clover heard before being blinded thanks to Doctor Alphys's gift; a bright shiny light aimed right at his eyes. It was… it was a flashlight! Clover wasn't dead… oh no… no, had their sacrifice been in vain?

After finally snapping out of this demoralizing train of thought and closing their eyes as hard as they would let them, Clover was able to see the face of a yellow lizard monster in a lab coat for just a moment. It was a face of… shock? Or horror? ‘Why are they looking at me like that?’ The cowboy quickly thought to themselves as their eyes attempted to block out the light.

They tried to lift up a hand to at least ease the stars spotting across their vision, but each movement brought another wave of agony. The most they could attempt was a slight tremble of their hand, which still hit hard against their seemingly sensitive skin. 

The last time they remembered being alive, it didn’t hurt nearly as much to do something so simple. The light soon dissipated, though their bloodshot eyes remained dilated. 

“C-Can you say anything?”

The yellow monster finally spoke. She had quite the squeaky voice, laced with fear and anxiety. Nothing quite like any of the monsters they had befriended during their time in the underground. The fear, they thought, was almost strange. Was this not what she wanted? Had she brought them back somehow? 

Why had she even brought them back? They had already gotten everything they needed from them; did they miss something when they gave away their soul? They had done so many good things; had they failed at the most crucial part of their odyssey?

They tried to voice their concerns (though at this point, they should've probably known better) and all that came out was a raspy exhale. It seemed even their vocals had been messed up during their decay. 

Alphys turned away, silently muttering to herself. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

It felt as if some vague part of them wanted to help her, yet it seemed so distant. Did their death somehow have an effect on their mental state? Or maybe…

hzz

That insecure thought resurfaced yet again, and they could only pray that the worst hadn’t come, and that their sacrifice hadn’t been for nothing. They willingly gave up their soul, purposefully putting themselves into the deep pit of death— it couldn’t have been for nothing. 

Clover wondered how much time had passed.

But at least the cold of the room he was in brought him some comfort, in the form of a reminder of the cold climate in…

~

Snowdin.

Dalv looked at the snow that fell from the underground ceiling. He still hadn't truly adapted to the wintry environment of Snowdin, so he wore his winter coat that kind of made him look like a marshmallow, (much to his blissful ignorance).

A gentle and calm breeze took him out of his thoughts, looking around, he saw his now new home out of the ruins, he had rebuilt it with the help of one of Clover’s friends, Martlet. Although she did everything when it came to cutting and assembling the wood, he helped with what he could, like holding a plank so that she could hammer the wood into place, or getting the planks to the roof, since Martlet didn't have the strength to get them up by herself.

It only took them a day to assemble his home, so he now had a place to sleep without having to feel the cold nights of Snowdin. He missed the days when he could still enjoy the old ruins in the company of his fellow monsters… Penilla, Sweet Corn, Decibat and even the noisy Rorrim. Or was that Crispy Scroll? Anyhow, despite living in self-exile being the reason for why he was there in the first place, he still remembered the old ruins fondly. At least his (now) friends had moved out with him.

But that wasn't really what he was thinking about. He actually was remembering something. Or rather someone.

Clover.

They were the whole reason he had gotten out of the ruins in the first place. He remembered the friendship he had made with them.

But they're gone.

Clover was dead.

But he couldn't let that thought bring him down. Clover had shown him that being stagnated in regrets and thinking about the past wasn't the way to live. 

Remembering memories was something that could be healthy, as long as they didn't let it cloud their minds. 

And now, more than ever, Dalv knew this fact. With a deep breath in and a deep breath out, Dalv was out of his thoughts. He couldn't be dwelling in sorrow all the time, at least that was what Penilla told him every time he started to let his pessimistic side get the upper hand.

Even more today, since he had to go to ‘work’. But could it really be called ‘work’ if he doesn't actually get paid? Well, if someone considered a honey coffee and a guaranteed breakfast in the morning a payment, then Dalv could consider himself compensated for his services. 

But Dalv wasn't ungrateful, quite the opposite actually. Ever since he got the chance to perform at the Honeydew Resort, he was deeply grateful to everyone that supported him. And the best way to repay their support was to give his best at everything he did. Sharp fangs, sharp horns and an even sharper mind— this had become Dalv’s mindset.

The rapid and increasing falling snow caught his immediate attention; it looked like another of those days. Snowdin, at least the bottom part of it, would have a very intensive snowfall some days — nothing dangerous, but it could be bothersome to be out during its duration. And by the looks of it, this was set to be another episode of “Oh wow it's so snowy in Snowdin gee I wonder why they named it that way”. 

Dalv got going his merry way, his steps leaving satisfying crunches in the vast frozen floor. His multi-layer clothing forced him to walk very stiffly, with almost no movement from his upper torso.

Anyone that saw him walking around could easily mistake him for an automated walking agglomeration of clothes. 

At this point, Dalv was already quite used to the place and its inhabitants. A pair of Frostermits happily greeted him as he passed by their favorite spot to shelter from snowfalls. Dalv awkwardly waved at them as much as his clothes allowed him, but no words left the vampire’s mouth. His shyness was still something that he had to overcome.

Dalv was trying to bond, or at least get acquainted, with everyone around, but for him that was more nerve-wracking than it was to perform in front of a full resort. But he was getting more confident in talking with the other monsters, it would take one step at a time, just…very small (and rigid) steps in his case. 

Thankfully, he could still see around all the old Ruins residents that left with him. This allowed him, from time to time, to see a familiar face, that would oftentimes serve to give him a very needed boost in confidence.

Penilla was living with him, company that he cherished every day. She was way better at taking the initiative than him; for a small monster, she was more of the owner of the house than Dalv himself. 

The other residents were more scattered around. 

Sweet Corn lived with Dalv and Penilla for a short period, but then she left after “finding my natural place” in a farm at the Dunes. Dalv and her would still exchange letters from time to time, and when he went to the Wild East to visit Ceroba, he would also stop to say hello to her. 

Flier and Rorrim were still living, somewhere, in lower Snowdin. After all, Dalv would often see them at the resort. He wasn't very close to them, so he still hadn't had the chance to get informed about their current life. One more thing on the ‘to do’ list. 

Crispy Scroll went to live in Hotland, he moved there to be closer to something called “anime conventions”. Dalv half the time had no clue what that hyper frenetic flamboyant scroll was talking about. What's an Evangelion? Regardless, he sometimes would show up to see some of Dalv’s performances and passionately clap and cheer whenever they finished. 

And Decibat was still in the Ruins, his excuse was to keep farming the crops there. But deep down Dalv knows that the bat just wanted to be all by himself. At least he was still able to go there and get corn; even though he left the Ruins, his corn diet was unchanged. 

Dalv’s might have left his old life behind, but it was hard to suddenly change old habits.

The chilling wild pushed the fallen snow into Dalv’s unprotected face. It did not really bother him, since his face was already practically frozen. But it was a good reminder to haste his pacing. As much as his myriad of vestments allowed him at least.

….

A closed mail post, an abandoned road by three former delinquents passed and a pile of snow piled on top of his head later, and Dalv was now right in front of the resort. Many other monsters were also heading inside. The promise of a warm interior and sweet drinks was more than appealing for anyone trying to avoid the forming blizzard.

Dalv took no delay in also heading inside. He was more than craving to get rid of some of the many pieces of clothing. How he was able to actually take the clothes out, when he was inside that self-inflicted warm prison, is actually one of the top secrets of the Underground. If you asked him how, he would in all likelihood be unable to explain for sure.

Upon entering, the atmosphere was very different from the one from outside. The cold gush of air sneaked inside as Dalv entered the building. But the coldness was quickly defeated by the warmth of the interior as soon as the door closed. The gossip of the monsters already inside found its way to Dalv’s ears. Quite the contrast with the cold and silent forest on his way there.

Many clients and residents that saw the stuffed vampire were quick to give out their greetings towards him. If the pile of clothing around him wasn’t a normal sight by now, chuckles would certainly fly around through the monsters. Well, not that some wouldn’t always chuckle at the sight of a purple multi layer marshmallow regardless. 

Dalv was already very much known by everyone, even if he didn’t feel it himself, a thing that could be easily noticed by his shy greetings. But he was a regular performer, and everyone always loved to listen and see him play at the resort.

He freed himself from his protective prison, which left anyone that saw it baffled, and approached the understaffed bear at the resort counter. 

“Hello Bea, sorry for the delay.” 

The pink bear almost let out a sound of relief upon hearing the sounds of salvation, or in other words, Dalv’s voice. She quickly finished what she was doing in the back of the counter and turned around. Her happiness mixed with stress was quite evident in her expressions.

“DALV! Oh thank god that you’re here.” She abruptly pointed to the stage without taking her eyes off the vampire. “Quick! Go there and distract them! My dad left just a bit before the blizzard began to get honey, and now I'm all alone with all this… this work!” She had such animosity in her voice that Dalv would even fear for the first customer that would try to cause any trouble. Dalv was used to lightning alright, but he was left thunderstruck at Bea’s sudden booming voice.

“So get performing, quickly! So some of them get distracted and don’t try to order anything. I’ll prepare a Honey coffee for you as soon as you finish!” Bea added with a smile while dispatching Dalv away with the wave of her left hand. Talk about bipolarity.

Dalv had no reason to object on the matter, so he got right to business. He made his way to the stage, and just by going there many monsters commenced calming themselves and lower their voices for the upcoming performance.

At the top of the stage his trusty piano awaited, Dalv took his seat in it as he did many times. He affectionately passed his hand over the overused keys just as if they were his children. 

After waiting for the noises of the public to fade and for the appropriate quiet atmosphere to settle, he began playing.

….

He played. But for Dalv, playing was more than just touching the piano to form melodies. Playing was a way to convey a deep conversation through the music itself. Playing was pouring his soul and passion into every second and every moment.

Dalv danced along the piano with his hands. Even the piano itself had no clue that it could compose and produce something so passionate like that.

For anyone watching, the one playing at that very moment couldn’t actually be the shy and modest vampire. It was easier to believe that Dalv was sent away and someone that looked just like him took his place at the piano.

Dalv was engulfed in his own performance, letting the music write itself as it went. And before he knew it, it was over.

……

For him it stopped so abruptly that it felt unnatural. But the round of applause directed to him made sure to let him know that was an amazing demonstration of music. 

Dalv awkwardly bowed and left the stage. He didn’t have any idea that he played through the duration of the blizzard. Many monsters began to leave the resort after his show. Many were talking about what they had just witnessed. Some others made sure to give their personal praises to the performer himself. A couple asked him if he used playback, which just left Dalv staring at them in an ambiguous manner. They couldn't tell if he was offended or trying to figure out what playback was.

Dalv’s responses to most of the praise were among the “That wasn’t nothing that special” type, which left many appraisers annoyed by the lack of awareness of the vampire, but that was just the way Dalv was, no point in trying to hammer the subject into him.

Being able to finally dodge the remaining ‘fans’, Dalv took a calming breath and went to his favorite seat in the resort, right in the balcony of the working bear.

“Wow, Dalv! You played so well today, what has gotten to you?” Bea couldn't help but voice her own compliments for Dalv. Every performance of the aspiring musician was great, but today he played with such an intensity that even she had to stop for a moment to contemplate his playing. Dalv was for her, a box full of surprises, and it was incredible to see him let himself go in stuff he loved to do.

“Oh, thank you Bea. My performance was very normal today, I believe.”

“Don’t try to use that attitude with me, Dalv. I see you play almost everyday, and I can say for sure that today was one of your best performances!” She said with an awkward smile. She barely had any confidence herself, so it was very amusing to anyone to see her trying to cheer Dalv up. The horned pianist could even swear he heard tables #3 and #4 whispering something about them.

“If you say so. Well, maybe today went better because I was feeling a little nostalgic.” Dalv’s expression got more down with this line of thought. Bea caught on this almost in the same second.

“Were you thinking about the Ruins?” Bea didn’t want to dive into this subject, since she feared that one day, Dalv would simply return to live there. But her experience with her melancholic friend was more than enough to know that the best course of action towards Dalv was to make him talk about his issues. 

“Not… exactly about the Ruins.” This response throwed Bea off completely of what she had in mind. If it was about the ‘human’, then the best way to act was just to comfort the modest vampire to the best of her ability.

And she had the perfect plan to do that.

“Here you go, Dalv.” Bea presented her friend with a just made cup of honey coffee. With extra nuts, just the way Dalv enjoyed it. Bea’s understanding smile made Dalv feel relieved. To say music and honey coffee were Dalv's personal comfort devices was an accurate description.

After all, no matter what, Dalv knew that he wasn’t the only one that missed the young human.

“Ah, thank you Bea!” Dalv expressed gratitude to the pink bear. His, now less troubled face made Bea feel proud of herself. It was good to help someone feel better, even if by just a small margin.

Dalv allowed his melancholic train of thought to get washed away by the sweet taste of the drink. He forced his mind to think about cheerful moments. But at the end, even his happy moments were drawn to Clover again.

He wished that the little human was still around. After all, Dalv never got the chance to actually show his performances to Clover. Or even worse, actually say his most sincere thanks for everything that Clover made Dalv do.

If it wasn’t for him, Dalv would still be in the ruins, mumbling about his past and regrets. Clover had freed him from the shackles of fear and hesitation. And now, Dalv was free, free to be happy, free to do what he wanted to do, free to go after all of the dreams he had shoved aside after deeming himself unworthy of pursuing them.

But… he wished to be able to show any achievements that he had collected, or wished to do so, to the little cowboy.

His mind wandered off in thoughts of illusion that he was certain would never come to be. But that couldn’t stop the vampire from daydreaming. 

A small smile found its way to Dalv’s face. While pondering, as he glanced into the warm liquid in the mug between his hands, he asked himself just loud enough for Bea to eavesdrop on him.

“What would Clover be doing if he was alive…?”.

…

Dalv had a gut feeling, one akin to that of nostalgia and reminiscence. 

“... Perhaps I should visit them?” he asked himself, thinking of his friends

in the Wild East. 

The vampire had visited them two days ago, but something inside of him told him to visit again. “... I guess it couldn't hurt to go there for a little while.”

Chapter Text

Alphys was used to failing, after all the story of her life was just one big failure after the other, with each one being covered by lies. Honestly speaking (which was a rarity for her nowadays), the fact that no one’s caught on to any of her crap baffles her. She was still processing how tricking Asgore into believing she made Mettaton actually worked instead of blowing up in her face like she thought it would.

In retrospect tricking Asgore wasn’t actually that hard given how trusting the big softy is, but lying to practically the entire underground about the amalgamates was ridiculous— even for her.

Given her track record, Alphys had little hope of actually succeeding in anything she did, and she certainly never expected for any of her experiments to succeed like this.

“O-Oh god, t-this is fine keep calm don't panic don’tfocusonthetotallyundeadhumaninyourlab” Alphys paced frantically around the room. Her heartbeat thundering in her chest, beads of sweat raced down her scales onto the floor. Coating the already moist area in even more moisture.

She knew what she would see once she turned her sight to the metallic operating table in the middle of the room, she knew that the human would most likely remain in shock, yet she still couldn't manage to muster up the courage to face them.

‘Are you okay? Do you feel hurt or strange in any way?’ Alphys thought to ask before reprimanding herself mentally. What type of questions were those?! Of course the human would feel uncomfortable, they had an autopsy performed on them a week ago (give or take) and they were just waking up from literal death!

And the autopsy… Well, it was something they would come to figure out sooner or later. They had a large scar ranging from their abdomen to their chest and the scar also happened to be filled with sutures, so any monster with knowledge of human medicine would just need to put two plus two together and… Hopefully, there shouldn't be many if not any in the Underground aside from the King himself.

Once the lizard monster finally turned to look at the person she had brought back from death's grasp, she noticed something strange. They weren't looking at her, or themselves, or looking around at their surroundings; they were simply staring at the wall in front of them, idly.

‘C'mon Alphys. Small talk 101, you read all about it. While you were watching anime and… Not paying the best of attention. T-that doesn't matter! You can do this…!’

Alphys took a step closer to the human, soft enough to not outright scare their SOUL out of them (well, it's not like they had one in the first place) but loud enough to make them aware of her walking.

She placed her hand over their shoulder very faintly, due to both the world of nerves inside her mind and the human’s fragile condition.

“H-hey… can you hear me? C-can you see me…?” Alphys asked, her voice laced with anxiety and not as much stuttering as she'd expected to have in this situation. 

The human opened their mouth slowly, the disbelief in their eyes and hesitancy visible from a mile away…

Clover wheezed in response, looking stunned and almost lost as they opened their mouth again, just to have more wheezing as a result of their efforts.

Clover didn't understand, Talking definitely wasn't this hard before. Something weird was happening to their body. Something just wasn't working like it should, but they didn't know what. ‘Just what's wrong with me?!’ His mind couldn't find an answer.

They looked at the yellow lizard. Was she trying to help him? He tried to think of an answer, but his mind was still blank.

Clover finally looked at his surroundings. It was dark, but not as dark as where he was before, he could see that there was a floor, walls, and a roof; that other place definitely didn't have any of that. Okay, so he wasn't in the void anymore, that was an answer.

Another question came to his mind, ‘If I'm not there, then where am I?’ He squinted his eyes, trying to remember a place that looked similar to where he was now. He heard the sound of a ventilation machine, could it be the Steamworks? No, the Steamworks were a lot brighter than this place thanks to that pink coolant, so Clover discarded that option. But now that he thought of it, that was his only option.

‘Great…’ He let out a frustrated sigh, but all that came out was another wheeze. This was not good.

“... Hello?” Clover had completely ignored for a moment the yellow lizard at his side. But he quickly noticed this and looked at her again. He wasn't that rude to just ignore someone. “Y-you can't talk?” Clover shook his head, “O-okay, so you c-cant talk. U-umm…” She thought about her next lining words for some seconds before lifting 3 fingers and then asking. “H-how many fingers am I holding–? N-no, w-w-wait, you can't answer. U-Umm” She anxiously thought of another question aside from that. “O-okay, I think I got it” She then lifted again the same three fingers. “A-am I holding up three fingers right now?" Clover nodded his head.

He didn't know the purpose of asking this question to him, but it looked like it was something important. So he just rolled with it.

“G-good!” A little smile curled up her lips, “C-can you m-move?” Clover tried to move his arm, but it hurt again, so he shook his head, “Okay. U-umm” She looked around nervously as if she was trying to find an answer in her surroundings. She didn't.

Seeing this, Clover tried to call her attention, but his throat complained, letting out just a raspy wheeze, which was heard by Alphys.

“Uh-umm-u-umm” She started anxiously walking in circles trying to think of something. “W-w-what a-a-am I supposed t-to do?!” She mumbled to herself until she then asked the human another question. “D-does anything h-hurt?” Alphys asked, before mentally begging ‘Please say no, please say no, please say no.’ 

Clover nodded. 

“O-okay,” Alphys smiled slightly, trying to appear calm, but totally freaking out internally ‘What do I do?!’ 

“U-uh, i-i, I’ll take you to a bed, y-yeah! Y-you can lay on one of the beds while I, u-uuuhhh.” She started stuttering again while she tried to put her words together. “F-follow me! O-oh, wait, r-right, y-you can't s-stand, c-c-can you?”

Clover had already tried moving, and that was a no-no. So he shook his head.

Alphys didn't know what to do (again). She couldn't just take the human and take him to bed! It was a human! They could attack her at any moment! Even though the human told her they couldn't move, it could be a trick the human was making her believe! Wait… Why is the human looking at her with that strange look?!

‘This is getting ridiculous.’ Clover thought to himself as he saw how the yellow monster kept muttering to herself over and over again. It was honestly kind of baffling, that lab coat spelt out D O C T O R in big flying (imaginary) letters, how could she not come up with a solution?

And that's when it hit Clover.

If something was wrong with him, all he had to do was to get in a FIGHT with Alphys. Sure, he would be taking a risk because in that state he wouldn't be able to dodge for his life or retaliate in any capacity, but the monster in front of him seemed too preoccupied with not having a nervous breakdown to actually attack him.

Maybe she could check on him mid-FIGHT and deduce what exactly was wrong? Clover meditated for a moment before coming to the conclusion that it was worth taking the risk.

Clover produced a feeling of frustration and resentment in the pit of their stomach for all of the times they had been unjustly attacked before their death, and he then tried to focus those emotions towards Alphys to initiate the encounter…

…

Nothing happened.

Why couldn't Clover start a duel with the yellow monster? He remembered skimming through a small paper which explained how to start a FIGHT back at Chujin's secret basement when Martlet wasn't looking, and he was sure their recalling of the contents of the document was correct.

To start a battle, Clover needed to generate strong emotions, preferably of negative connotation, and then direct them at a Monster, OR pick someone either in shock or with their guard down.

Clover seemed to be meeting at least two of these conditions, which meant he was either wrong or there was something else impeding them from engaging in combat.

‘Well… for starters, you need to be alive… and you need to be conscious… and you obviously need a SOUL…’

And that's when it all came crashing down; their eyes widened with realization and surprise.

If they were, by either some miracle or a giant science breakthrough, brought back to life without a soul… Would there be anyone in the Underground who could help them? Or not even just the Underground, would someone in the entire universe be able to fix their ailments?

… No, Clover had already made their way past adversity before, he couldn't let this (truthfully herculean) obstacle impede him from making the most of this new shot at life. If they had no soul anymore, in theory, they should be able to live with the rest of the monsters of the Underground, right?

But before he could continue to think about both the hindrances and new possibilities brought by this revival, there was a yellow monster to aid first. The first human to be reanimated after certain death couldn't allow themselves to be selfish, no sir!

Clover tried to talk again, sure, it hurt, but that couldn't be more important than helping the monster in front of him. So he kept trying, bottling up the constant need to scream thanks to the roughness of his throat.

Clover spoke “...D-...Do… Y-you… N…Eed… Hhhh-e…Lp…?” Dang, that hurt a lot. It was as if his throat were on fire, had little piranhas eating it inside out, and were being ground to a cinder block. All at the same time.

Needless to say, Alphys was astonished by this, it was the first time she had heard the human talk, not to mention that they asked if she needed help! Which, well, she did need help, but she was supposed to be helping them! Not the other way around!

But leaving that aside for a moment, talking seemed to hurt the human, not to say that they made an expression that could be only described with the word pain, over and over again. “... Y-you can talk…? T-that looks like it hurts a lot”

“O-... O-n… Ly… A-...Liiii-... itt… le-... B-b… it…” He lied. Alphys noticed this, but she didn't say anything about it.

‘Was this really a trick?’ She didn't know for sure, but the human’s body definitely wasn't in any good state to attack her. “D-do you want me to carry you?” The human did not respond, it looked like they wanted to say something, but the pain in their throat must have been too much for them to tank it.

Instead, they just extended their shaky hand to Alphys, she carefully took it, it was cold, almost freezing. She helped the human get into a standing position, which looked like it would crumble at any second.

She also offered to carry them again, but Clover shook his head. He was okay with the yellow lizard just showing him the way, it is not like they wanted her to overwork herself with someone she just met, they really couldn't allow themselves to be selfish.

They tried to place their feet on the ground, feeling their muscles and bones pulling and stretching after being still for so long. Every single movement was shaky and unsteady, and after a few tries the cowboy enthusiast managed to stabilize their steps. Nothing perfect of course, every stride forward was still lacking in the coordination department, if it wasn't for Alphys's helping hand Clover would have tripped on his first try.

‘... Okay, I think I remember more about that Small Talk101 now. Uh… okay, I think I got it.’ 

“So… uh. What's your name buddy?” Alphys asked, trying to distract herself from the uncanny feeling of coldness coming from the reanimated human's hand. 

A few moments of Clover staring at her went by until the realization finally dawned upon the lizard monster, causing her to develop a blush which became barely noticeable in the dimly lit room.

“S-sorry! I wasn't trying to ridicule you! I… it's just that- well- it's a force of habit!” she tried to defend herself, lying as she knew she didn't socialize as much as one would need in order to develop said practices.

Clover’s deadpan stare was all she needed to know that he wasn’t amused.

“Sorry, I'll work on your voice later f-fine? I…”

Alphys thought for a moment, trying to decide between using the word promise next or using something similar.

“I promise…”

She added yet another promise to the pile of promises she wasn't sure she could accomplish.

A few moments of awkward silence passed before she decided to break it.

“My name's Alphys, o-okay? I might not look like it, b-but I'm The Royal Scientist! O-or well… maybe the lab coat is a bit of a giveaway…”

‘Oh, so she's not a doctor…’ Clover thought as they half listened to her, still tasked with keeping a close eye on every step they took so they wouldn't fall. But in the back of their mind, a gear twisted as they listened to the monster's occupation. They could swear they had heard about her before, but some of their memories were still fuzzy.

“L-listen, we're going to… I- I mean, I'm going to go find something you can wear… meanwhile, stay here and don't move. Okay…?”

Alphys instructed, receiving a nod of approval from Clover before helping them to a nearby chair in what used to be the waiting room. Of course, no one but Alphys came down there anymore, so it wasn't properly maintained or cleaned for that matter.

And so, they waited, trying to avoid looking at their bare body knowing full well that the sight would be eye-catching for all of the wrong reasons. Nausea was the last thing they needed now considering how hard they had to try in order to walk normally…

A minute or two went by along with the sound of metal cabinets opening and shutting before quick, light footsteps headed back on their way; soon revealing a returning Alphys from the true lab's darkened corridors. She had some sort of light blue robe in her hands, one that would adapt well to Dalv's figure but would be a few sizes bigger than Clover's smaller frame.

“Here… I k-know, it's most likely not your size but… w-well. It's not like we have any kind of clothes tailored for humans… I- I’ll give you some room to change, o-okay? I… guess I'll be right here just t-to make sure nothing happens to you.” Alphys explained before turning around.

The sound of Clover's efforts to get up from the chair didn't go unnoticed by Alphys, but she didn't want to make them uncomfortable by turning around, so she simply let them fight their fight.

A minute later (or maybe even two), Alphys felt a small tug on the sleeve of her lab coat, turning around to see the human fully dressed. The fact that Alphys didn't have to see the large scar from their abdomen to their chest anymore was enough to make her thankful for not throwing those old robes out when she had the chance.

“Okay, you're looking sharp buddy. But, listen… I… don't know how to break this to you…”

Alphys initiated, sighing before taking a deep breath as she thought how exactly she should explain Clover's situation to them.

“You m-must- probably- you're… you're not feeling well, are you?”

A nod was received from the Cowboy aficionado.

“Well… I… you know… there is- was…! Was… a report about how you died. You remember how you… gave up your SOUL, don't you?”

Another nod took place in reply.

‘I can't tell them about the DT… or where it came from in the first place…’ Alphys told herself.

“I… I did s-something exp-experimental on you… u- using… uh… something special. And I brought you back to life!”

Alphys seemed to gain a bit of confidence at her last comment.

“But… n-now… this is the unpleasant part. Y-you… you don't have a soul. R-right now…! M-maybe one day the king will return it to you!”

Alphys tried to reassure Clover, not receiving anything at all as a reply. Just a stare. Not one of confusion, fear or despair, not even one of realization. It was a solemn face, one of acceptance and willingness.

“N… now, th-that is bad enough on its own b-but… I have a hypothesis. T-there isn't r-really a test I c-could run to deny or confirm it… b-but if my theory is right...”

Alphys's eyes betrayed her as she paused, her gaze trailing off to the side of Clover's eyes for a moment.

“Y-you shouldn't be able to use f-food or drinks t-to heal… l-listen, the food of the Underground interacts both with your SOUL and your body. It heals your SOUL and gives your organism the vitamins and nutrients it needs to properly function. B-but now…”

Clover connected the dots in their head before Alphys could continue talking, but as much as they would have enjoyed intercepting her, their throat was still far from being in condition to speak.

“Y-you’re going to need proper human treatment to mend any wounds you take, be them by magic or physical objects… a-and no one here is well acquainted with that. T-this is a very delicate situation… and that leads me to another topic.”

Clover nodded, they were starting to become a bit bored at the fact they couldn't do anything but nod.

“This is the first time a human has ever been revived. Or the first time this procedure has been tried altogether.”

Alphys's voice became solid, not a single stutter or double take present in her speech.

“Chances are, you'll be summoned by the king t-to be judged.” The uncertainty in her voice returned. “And… w-well, I know King Asgore. He'll probably let you live… since y-you don't have a SOUL anymore… there sh-should be no reason for him to reject you.”

Clover absentmindedly nodded, instead focusing on picturing the scenario Alphys described in their head. Would there be lawyers in red and blue shouting at each other and objecting? 

…

No, it'd probably be… well, they couldn't quite picture it. However, their attention quickly shifted back to Alphys once they noticed she had stopped talking.

“As I was saying… this is all mostly speculation, a-aside from the side effects of you being… Soulless, t-those are very likely real.” Alphys deadpanned with a crestfallen face.

“So, in the meantime, while we get news about what will happen, I'll help you heal! A-and before you realize it, you'll be back to running around as much as you'd like!” Alphys seemed to cheer up, Clover couldn't tell if she was trying to reassure them or if she was simply excited about the occurrences this would entail…

But Clover knew what they themselves felt. They had hope.

They had been brought back, even if significantly handicapped in some aspects. But they were back; they had a second chance at life, a new opportunity to live a life with friends who cared for them much unlike on the surface.

So even if the road would be hard to travel, there was hope…

Hope that in the end the same justice they decided to enact for Monsterkind, which led to their death, would be repaid.

“T… Th-tha… argh… tha-thank y- yough… m-mi… miss A-alp-... Alphys…”

Chapter Text

Warmth.

It was…nice. It had been a while since Clover felt anything close to it.

Even if their skin was almost freezing, it felt nice.

Alphys had left a little while ago, she said she was going to go wash their clothes since she didn't really have anything else for them to wear, aside from that light blue robe they were now wearing.

In the time after Alphys left the room, Clover could have sworn that they heard a noise similar to an elevator moving, but they hadn’t cared at the time, and instead decided to worry about it later.

But as much as Clover wanted to sit back and maybe take a little nap waiting for Alphys to return, he wasn't tired, which was an odd feeling for him. Just a few minutes ago he was struggling to walk to the point they had used a lot of their energy just to put on the robe that Alphys gave him.

So why wasn't he tired?

…

He tried to stand up from the chair in which he was sitting, every part of his body felt as heavy as lead.

Clover didn't understand, his body was definitely tired, and that usually meant that he was sleepy too.

So why?

Clover focused on the warmth he felt a minute ago, that felt better, way better than racking his brain trying to understand the awake yet tired state of their body.

He felt calm, so he closed his eyes…

It may have been a minute. It may have been an hour. Perhaps two hours? No, that's too much, how about an hour and a half? Yeah, that sounded better, but long story short, Clover didn't know how much time had passed since…well, now that he thought of it, everything.

‘What time is it?’ Clover asked himself as he opened his eyes, looking around the room searching for anything that would help him find the complicated answer to his simple question. But ultimately, the cowboy found nothing, not even a calendar. Which was a little odd for Clover, since he was pretty used to seeing those a lot on the surface.

‘Alright, well, I can't sit down here forever,’ Clover mused, with their hands placed on the armrests. Counting down, they got ready to give one last push.

In three…

two…

one...

‘Ok body, work with me here!’

His arms trembled as he tried to push up from the chair. It felt like there was a boulder on both of his shoulders, legs heavier than lead. Everything, their whole body just felt…off; they never were the most physically impressive person, sure. But they remember that it wasn't this hard to move before. 

With one last exertion of effort, they performed the herculean task of getting up from the chair. Truly, they were the pinnacle of human fitness. ‘Well done body, well done. At this rate, I’ll be on my way to the Olympics.' Heh, at least they still had their sense of humor™ — after all, what good was a deputy if they couldn’t brighten up the day?

Clover stood still. They could technically move, yes. But at the same time they wanted to be careful, they had just gotten up from the chair — they didn’t want to take a step only to fall face first onto the floor.

And this thought caused Clover to stare down at the floor. It seemed to be made out of a material reminiscent of porcelain due to its sleekness and how comfortable it was to the soles of their feet.

It was coated with dust for the most part, but that wasn't strange at all, since the laboratory itself seemed to be out of order…

Dust… Shivers ran down Clover's spine once the thought fully registered in their head. ‘Nah… it's just good ol’ dust. Nothin’ to lose sleep over…’ they reassured themselves.

Once the concept of a possible tragedy occurring on the very same floor Clover was standing on was (forcefully) kicked out of their head, they took a moment to have a look around the room.

There was nothing nearby they could hold onto for support, and in all fairness, it would've been too opportune for them if there had been a conveniently placed object™.

No, life had to change the saying from “don't kick a man who's down” to “suplex the practically-immobile-and-mute person closest to you.”

Of course, why would Clover even dare think otherwise? They spent all of their karma points (trademark pending) with just the fact that they were brought back alive! (Freeing the bear with the frozen tongue back in Snowdin had probably given them about 5 GAZILLION points now that they briefly thought about it.)

And well, in some way, justice had been served back to them. It had been paid back in the best way possible, and it didn't matter if the road to recovery was riddled with effort, they would push through it!

Of course, they'd much rather have crutches for support, but a pat on the shoulder from themselves was going to be all the support they were going to receive.

Slowly, they took one step…and then another. 

It didn’t hurt as bad as it used to. It was physically demanding, sure, but at least the pain was tolerable. Yet, every new step they took drained a bit more energy from their already depleted reserves. Great, they weren't in a world of hurt anymore, they just simply had the energy of a koala.

‘Easy does it, now. I gotta take this slow.’ With shaky legs and a resolve of steel, they made their way towards the door. Clover stopped at the doorway, taking a moment to catch their breath. Ha, Clover: one, spaghetti legs: zero. Take that world!

Opening the door, he was met with fog that went as far as the eye could see. It blanketed everything, and the ominous yet barely luminescent lighting above certainly didn’t help.

‘Well I'll be damned, Dalv would love it here!’ Clover quipped internally. Stepping out into what they assumed to be a hallway, they leaned against a wall for support. Well, support was probably the wrong word to use here — more like they placed their entire weight against the wall and hoped for the best. 

His slow trek went on for what felt like hours, occasionally stopping every so often to rest his legs. Turning a corner Clover was met with, you guessed it, another corridor!

‘Where's Ed when you need him?’ Clover thought back to the time Ed disrespectfully picked him up with one hand like a squeaky toy. Back then the mere thought of it would fill him with indignation, but now — now he wished that he had someone, anyone who could pick him up and carry him. His squeaks be damned!

Clover wondered how Dalv was doing. The last time they'd seen him, Penilla was helping him get settled back into Snowdin. They thought back to the time they spent in the Dark Ruins. The balloon in his closet, what was its name again…? Oh yeah, Pops. Its name was Pops.

Monsters could be weird. Actually, scratch that, monsters were definitely weird a lot of times, but still— Clover had a hard time believing most monsters made friends with balloons. So yeah, he's really glad that Dalv finally got out of his self-imposed exile.

Slow, labored steps echoed through the halls, and Clover found themself wishing they could get to hear some of Dalv’s music again.

It might have not been the best, but it wasn't half bad either. It would definitely be better than the sheer silence in this old creepy facility though, that was a no-brainer. The green-ish ceiling lights weren't doing much to combat the thick fog present in the air, and in fact contributing to the uncanny atmosphere of the place.

And Clover…they weren't sure if it was simple exhaustion, or maybe they were pushing themselves too far. Maybe their mind was playing tricks on them. Maybe this was some kind of special reflection that only occurred with this special kind of floor.

But why was there some sort of white-ish goop on the floor?

…

‘Why am I even worried about this outta all things? This place seems abandoned. It's oughta be some sorta trashy residue that's piled up with time. Jeez, I wonder why Alphys would even work here.’

After that brief chat with themselves, Clover continued walking. Oh boy, as soon as they saw a chair or a bed they were gonna rest like they had never slept a night in their life!

Clover's footsteps clicked against the floor as every new step they took left a footprint on the cold floor. ‘I need to get me some boots soon…’

While they were passing the strange fluid, something in the back of their head sounded like they were being called. They couldn't tell who, or what was calling, nor could they tell their intent or its requests.

“ဒီစာသားကို ဘာသာပြန်ရင် နှုတ်ခွန်းဆက်ပါတယ်။,” the white puddle in the floor audibly whispered.

‘What in tarnation?!’ Clover thought as they backpedaled, supporting themselves on the wall as they speed-walked as fast as they reasonably could. In the first step they took they were so careless they almost tripped, but they couldn't afford to beat themselves up about this.

This thing freaked them out. And they needed to get away from it. 

Now.

Clover walked and walked and walked, they didn't dare jog as they feared that they would overexert themselves and end up collapsing. They only noticed until just now that their heartbeat was much quicker than usual, and that was when they finally turned back.

The thing wasn't in their sight anymore. Actually, just where exactly were they? Not only did they NOT know the layout of this place (which was starting to feel like a maze), but they had gotten entirely disoriented during their one-sided chase.

They started looking around. But they were quickly obstructed by the imposing fog that surrounded them. ‘Darn it, I can't see a thing in here!’ Even the oldest trick in the book —squinting their eyes—didn't help.

After a little while, Clover decided that it was best to rest for a while. All that walking started to take its toll on them. So, after sitting down on the floor in the most comfortable way that they could, they slowly leaned their back on the wall behind them… hitting the back of their head with a metal fan in the process.

Clover screeched before covering their mouth with their hands. Crap, they made a lot of noise, and hearing how it echoed along all of the halls didn't help one bit. Needless to say, their throat still being in poor condition didn't help in the slightest.

They turned around, encountering a big square metal fan, it appeared like it was engraved in the wall. Clover, visibly confused, looked up. Above the fan was another, and another, and another. Was that whole wall made out of fans? It appeared so. Has it always been there? They weren't so sure of that, and the whole place already being like a maze from one of those jigsaw movies they once heard about didn't help much.

Although they were pretty lucky. Since for some reason that fan in particular did not have its protection grid on, and if that one fan had been turned on, then it would have completely split Clover’s head in two.

Clover made a mental note to remind themselves to be more careful than ever. Flowey wasn't here to...

…

‘Flowey…’

Clover didn't really know what to think of what the flower said to them in their final moments. But something about them just…didn't fit? It was weird, Flowey said how he could just reset and undo everything. But something in his tone made it sound like he had already done it before.

Clover trusted Flowey. But something in the way he acted was just…off… Clover couldn't really put their finger on it; the pieces just didn't fit. Something was missing about the flower that Clover didn't know.

Maybe it’d be better if they kept an eye on him.

Clover shook their head. Now wasn't the time for that, they needed to find…wait. What were they trying to find anyway? Clover thought for a moment. ‘Well, somethin’ like a bed would be nice.’

‘Although things would be a lot easier without this fog.’ Clover remarked internally, starting to stand up. ‘One… Two… Three!’ Their wobbly legs miraculously stood up. Another win for Clover! Let's go!

‘Now that I look at it…this place looks like some kind of ventilation room.’ It most certainly did, and the fans also looked like they had not been turned on in a while. ‘Maybe if I turn them on the fog will go away? …Well, I don't really have any other option, do I?’ 

Clover leaned their body against the wall (the one without the metallic fans), and began walking again. They looked around the fans, trying to find some kind of switch to turn them on. But ultimately found nothing. Slowly, they reached a wall. ‘No exit’ Clover thought a little frustrated. ‘Guess I'll have to try goin’ the other way.’

Before Clover started turning around, they noticed a red glow on the other wall. Curious, they approached it. After a while, they finally reached what seemed to be a switch. ‘This seems promisin’.’

Clover flipped the switch, and immediately after, all of the fans across the room started spinning like a record (baby right round right round). ‘Nailed it.’ They thought, proud of themselves.

After no more than thirty seconds. Half of the fog was gone, only leaving some kind of white particle floating on the ceiling. Clover didn't pay too much attention to that, it probably was some kind of paper or something, they saw a lot of those on the floor.

Clover began to walk slowly to the other side of the room, taking each step as carefully and firmly as they could. Not noticing that the “papers” on the ceiling started merging with each other. Clover heard what could only be described as a screech some kind of ghoul would make in a horror movie.

‘What the?!’ Clover practically whipped their head up, finding what seemed like the same white goop that they had seen before on the floor. But instead, it was floating in the air, and it was bigger than the other.

The goop fell down, spreading across the floor. Clover tried to run, but their body was too stunned to move. Moments later, the thing regrouped itself in the middle of the hallway, molding itself into an imitation of a dog with six legs. Where it should be a face there was a single orifice dripping some kind of dark liquid.

‘What in the hell?!’ Clover tried to step back at the sight of the creature, but ultimately tripped on their own foot, falling hard on the floor. This was a massive win for spaghetti legs. The thing slowly drew closer to them. Instead of making random noises like the other goop Clover saw, this one made distorted sounds mimicking the ones that a dog would make.

Clover tried to drag their body using their hands. But their muscles just gave up. Turning around, they saw the thing had drawn itself closer to them. When the dog-like creature finally reached them, Clover braced themselves for a battle…

But nothing happened.

Clover looked at the creature with confusion on their face. The creature also looked (or tried to look) as confused as Clover was. ‘W-what's goin’ on?’

Not a sound emanated from the obscure imitation of a snout the mythic creature could offer. All that Clover's ears could register was the sound of its white goop body-like substance falling down and hitting the floor just like the leaves of a tree in fall.

Clover tried to stand up, placing their left arm behind them to get whatever support they could, but their muscles were too tired to give them any more strength. Well, talk about pushing yourself too hard at the worst possible time.

‘There’s oughta be something I can do t’ get outta this…’ Clover thought, before a movement out of the corner of their eyes put them right back on alert. It was now as if the creature was trying to close the distance between the two, a bridge of sorts emanating from the body of the entity.

It crept even closer to Clover, a drop of the substance dripping and splashing on the ground every few seconds. The white residue that hit the ground immediately started crawling back to the body where all of the mass was accumulated.

‘Do something, dang it! C'mon c'mon!’ Clover told themselves before feeling a warm substance make contact with their cheek. They froze in place. It felt as if it was smooth, yet sandy at the same time, trying to get acquainted with the sensation of their skin but not knowing how to do so.

The mass slowly rose up and down Clover's cheek, causing them to break into a cold sweat as a shiver ran down their spine.

Every hair on their body shivered as it was standing up. They felt like, if it wanted to, its mass could completely engulf them.

And suddenly…

A sound almost like barking came out of the dog amalgamation, sounding as if it was distorted like an old radio would reproduce sound without any kind of maintenance. It eventually closed the gap without any kind of intimidating grip or discomforting sounds, simply breathing on/and caressing Clover’s cheek.

For some reason, Clover didn't feel scared. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, Clover did feel a little scared of the giant, white, candle wax-like imitation of a demonic dog that was pressed up against them (although that was something they should be freaking themselves out about). But something about this…dog(?) just seemed to scream “SAFE” to Clover. It was probably thanks to the similarities the monster had with a surface dog.

The dog seemed to notice that Clover was in an uncomfortable position, so the creature gave them some space so that they could settle themselves. Slowly, Clover rolled themselves to sit on the floor. Man, when they find a bed they will sleep like a corpse! … Actually… That would be very bad. Being given a second chance by Dr. Alphys, just to die again because of exhaustion? No siree! Clover, would rather…!

… 

Die…

Clover unwillingly started fidgeting with their thumb. It was still hard for them to internalize that they had died, sure, they willingly wanted to die, but the feeling of being dead–a SOUL felt… It didn't feel weird, but also not…? It probably felt weird because the whole thing was weird. Giving their soul to monsterkind was something that would probably be a thing in a fantasy book. But here they were.

They gave their soul so that monsterkind could be free one day… Being honest with themselves…they didn't want to be just a soul again. It felt like a lot of things, but pleasant wasn't one of them. Maybe if Clover stayed a little more time as a soul, they could have hated it. Nothing to do, nothing to see, nothing to distract themselves, aside from memories that made them feel a little worse each time they recalled them. They just wondered how their friends were…

But now that they were given a second chance, they could see their friends again!

…

Or they could screw it all up…

Again…

Clover was quickly taken out of their head by a warm, sandy, and yet smooth thing on their cheek. They looked to their right, seeing how the dog-like monster was slowly nuzzling its head on Clover’s face.

Clover noticed that they unwillingly hugged their legs, fidgeting with their elbows. They also noticed that they were trembling like they never had before. If Clover focused enough, they could have heard the cacophony that their body was making, the clanking of their joints, the ringing of their ears, the rattle of their jaw, the irregularity of their heart. The sobs of their voice.

But Clover didn't.

Clover saw that the monster on their side was worried for them, even if their melty form didn't really help them express it. Clover couldn't let themselves not want to help this monster, even if they wanted.

After a while of recomposing themselves, Clover slowly reached for the dog’s head. Barely moving their arm already hurt like hell, but they wouldn't let that stop them.

The amalgamate looked as the human clearly struggled to move. They seemed like they were trying to pet them…

Why…? To reassure them that they were alright? But that seemed to hurt the human a lot, that couldn't be alright… They were going to put themselves in pain just to pet them…?

Endogeny remembered pain. The pain of all of them…melting…on each other… It didn't feel nice… The human seemed to be in pain…like them…like her.

The monsters doubted what to do… Well, they could do that, but that was more of a cat thing… But Endogeny was a lot of things now, so it shouldn't matter.

They slowly approached the human’s hand, and calmly nuzzled the top of their head with their fleshy palm. It didn't feel like something any of them felt before. The human looked surprised, but went on with what they were doing, petting them. Endogeny felt nice, as if the human’s hand was made for petting them. Both of them passed the time like that, and none of them complained about it.

They looked at the human. It seemed like the human’s age was the equivalent of a pup. So little, and already feeling that kind of pain? Endogeny felt sad for the human pup. May the Angel bless them.

The human somehow noticed that they were looking at them. It was already pretty hard for Dr. Alphys to tell which way they were looking thanks to the giant hole on their face, so how did the human notice? Intuition. The human emitted some noises from their throat, but that seemed to hurt too. Dear Angel…

The human spoke some words. “H-…ho-…ow-…-dy…” Their voice was shaky and harsh. They wanted the human to stop hurting themselves. They nuzzled through their arm until they reached their shoulder. Then Endogeny embraced the human in a weird hug, but a hug nonetheless. The human looked surprised by that too.

But for some reason, they continued. “M-my… n-…na-…m-…-me…” Their name? They didn't really want to know their name, they wanted them to stop hurting themselves… But it seemed like the human wasn't going to change their mind on what to do… So, even if it helped them feel just a little better, they were going to stay by them, hearing them.

“I-…Is-s…” The human stayed quiet. They looked like they were remembering something. Their name maybe? They didn't remember their name? …Or did they? The look on the human’s face was… How was it called again? Someone read that word in the librarby one time… What was it? … It was nostalgic.

They both stayed quiet. If it wasn't because the human was hugging their own legs, Endogeny would have rested their head on their lap. “… C-…” The human started to say their name.

Clover saw how the dog monster looked at them, they wanted them to stop. Dang it, they only made this monster worry more for them, but they couldn't stop now could they?

“Clover.” He said.

Clover opened his eyes. He didn't even notice that he had closed them, but it didn't matter now. He said it so smoothly! Was his throat healing itself!? Before Clover could start another train of thought. The monster embraced him again. He was surprised, but did not complain. The monster was very warm.

He liked the warmth.

Chapter Text

Clover opened his eyes, and instantly felt fear.

It was all dark, so, so dark. He was back, back in that void. ‘WHY. WHY SO SOON?!’ Clover wanted to scream.

And so he did.

“DAMN IT!”

… Wait. What.

He could…? He could scream? That was… not possible, if it were possible, then Clover would have done that a long time ago in that void.

So then how could he…?

Clover looked around. He saw a little speck of light in the distance. “What in the–? Wait! I can talk!?” That was… also new… How odd. “I wonder…” Clover took a step forward. Then another. And another. Not even a little bit of strength was drained from him. Clover was now sprinting towards the light, it slowly became bigger and bigger.

After some glorious minutes of sprinting. Clover was almost in front of whatever that light was. It seemed to be some kind of written message. A little more sprinting and Clover was now able to read it perfectly.

“get dunked on.”

That's right. And we know that it isn't April 1 anymore.

The fools part is that we didn't post it on April Fools —@Grand_Spurinko 

It's also a surprise! We now have a new member for the roster! Say hi, Spurinko.

“(Grand_Spurinko says something here)”

“Haha, funnee joke.

“Hi! I’m the newcomer, and I’m here to edit these guy’s words because of my status as an unpaid intern.”

Clover, meanwhile, is confused by the fact that all these words are written out before them. Including what’s going on inside their grey matter. End of Loki Season 1, much?

“Anyways, I’m putting myself here in quotes because how the H-E-double hockey sticks are you supposed to know who’s speaking? I’ve probably also edited the other words that the other guys have here so that everything is slick and span.

“On that wise, I’m going to keep the color original for you guys so you don’t know if what you said is real or not guys muahahahwhaha-“

Spurinko was shoved back into the Editor Hole. Kris, Ralsei, and Susie paid their respects before moving on to speedrun Jevil. The “hole” became “full”.

‘Dang,’ Clover thought, ‘This Spurinko guy either sounds like the biggest loser or the biggest kiss-up. I sure do hope he doesn’t write any of my dialogue. It would make me seem the fool.’ He decided to continue reading…

Anyways, we also wanted to say that chapter 5 is on its way, we can't really say when it's going to come out (things have been very busy), but it is going to come out, trust.

“Spurinko again here, not really, these guys are just serial procrastinators, even more than me! I’m the only person who wrote in the doc in the last 3 weeks!”

Clover shook their head at this development. ‘Not doing your job? Who are these clowns?’

We also wanted to… Huh? What's this? … What's the punchline? … Uh… Uhm… Hold on let me think… Damn, I can't think of anything (Booo!) UHHHH… Skibidi toi-? (BANG! BANG! BANG!) Oh no, I'm dead.

Clover sees a final message at the bottom, he's very unsure if to read it, but ultimately does.

You thought that there would be a final message? Nope. You got dunked on again.

Clover just stood there. “Are these guys always clowns???”

Chujin appeared behind him, and put a Glock17C to the back of Clover’s head.

“Always has been.”

He pulled the trigger, only for a flag to shoot out with a flag that read “Bang!”

“Haha, see? April Fools!”

“Aren’t you like a raging racist?”

“Oh yeah.”

Chujin pistol whipped the child and went on his merry way. He missed his wife, Tails. He missed her a lot.

“Also, Link, have the others say something here too! It doesn’t just have to be me and you!”

…

“Actually, Nevermind, I just looked into the DM chat and you’re doing A Minecraft Movie brainrot, just submit the chapter already before it infects this place here too.”

Chapter Text

This is Martlet, former Royal Guard.

If you are reading this, I am no longer part of the Royal Guard. As such, I've been asked to take down the puzzles that I've made. It's going to take a while, so I left the door open.

P.S: I also started to take commissions!

P.P.S: If you want to contact me, send me a letter via the UGPS.

P.P.P.S: I just remembered that you probably won’t actually know where I am, so, uh, ask around for me!

P.P.P.P.S: I totally know where I live, I’m just better at giving out directions in person.

—Sincerely, Martlet.

Martlet stood in front of a puzzle in Snowdin. One of her own, and if she was being honest (if a little self-indulgent) , she was quite proud of it. The mechanism worked by deploying a ball of molten rock onto a ramp, one that could be adjusted by a small lever on a box. The ball would then be pushed in the right direction; onto an ice cube that would then melt into a container, opening a gate. It was a rather clever design in her eyes back then, though maybe with a few safety hazards.

Unfortunately , now, all it did was bring back painful memories. Just a bit ahead was where she had first encountered Clover. Angel above, the only feelings she had about that situation nowadays were regrets. What had brought her to even hurt a child in the first place? It was probably better that she was quitting the royal guard, so that no one else had to suffer because of her actions. 

Some part of it was her fault, despite how much she wanted to claim it as a misunderstanding . She had attacked them, dropped them in the Dunes, and left them with Ceroba in the Steamworks. She hadn’t done even nearly enough to stop them from taking their own life. 

A child. She had failed a child. Another one gone to save monsterkind. 

She was so useless.

She wanted to justify it so badly that it was Clover’s choice. They chose to do it, they wouldn’t take no for an answer. The look in their eyes had said it all.

They had looked at her with hope only a kid could have.

Just the memory of Clover’s face affected her, and before she knew it, she had fallen to the ground. Her lungs felt as though a wrathful hand were squeezing them , and her body refused her command, trembling, though not from the cold . She should have tried harder, she should have said something more reasonable, done something,  anything … and then maybe they would still be alive. 

Martlet had to struggle to regain control of herself. She wanted to be strong, not just for herself, but for Clover, too. ‘What would they say if they saw me like this…?’ With that mental rally, she began, step by step, to reclaim herself .

Breathe. 

The snow was cold under her feathers.

In.

But… w hat was she meant to do? It must have been for the greater good, but why did it hurt so much?

Out. 

Tears dripped down her face. This was too much, she knew she shouldn’t be breaking down like this. It was all too much, too fast, and everything she tried was not nearly enough. Even closing her eyes didn’t help, as all she could see was their face.

She was such a failure .

But once again, that nagging, yet persistent voice of reason returned: what was she doing, sitting in the snow, feeling sorry for herself? She could even imagine Clover’s voice.

‘Whaddya doin’...’

Partner? Yeah, partner.

‘Whaddya doin’, partner? Waiting until yer froz’n? That’s not how I remember ya!’

She smirked automatically, already bemused and self-reflecting that she was using his voice to pep herself up. It didn’t help to completely remove the gnawing hole inside her, but it did soften the edge of it somewhat.

Even if it was a dead kid’s voice.

“Ugghh,’ Martlet groaned, thumping her head against the wall. “Why is grieving so haaarrrdd…?” She sat for a moment in the quiet, managing to quell the panic attack, but the negative thoughts never truly went away.

After a moment, h er hand found a grip on the stone, and she tried to pull herself up with wobbly legs. She could do this. She couldn’t fail anymore. She had to help. At the very least, help herself.

She could at least manage this.

It just starts with taking down a simple puzzle, that's all. Then, she can move on. ‘ Little steps, Martlet, come on. ’

She grabbed the tarp, one bearing the Delta Rune symbol and her signature, and tore it down. She could probably make use of it somewhere else. The wood and levers would likely be harder to take down, as she had hammered them directly into the stone. 

…

Now that she thought about it, the design was … actually rather faulty. No guarantee that the ball would reach the ice.

No wonder Clover gave her a 1 out of 2 on the puzzles…

Martlet shook her head as she sighed to herself. ‘Dang it , Martlet, not now! Concentrate!’ She forced herself to keep working, slowly taking down the planks of wood from top to bottom, and just as she thought, they definitely were harder to take down, being almost practically welded into the rock. Just how much force did she use to hammer these?

She definitely would have liked some help, maybe Dalv would’ve been willing to lend a hand? He certainly had a surprising strength when they were building his house, he lifted six planks on his shoulders like it was nothing! Sure, maybe he was a little shy, but he really had nothing to worry about… Wait, no. She remembered that Dalv was going to perform at the Honeydew Resort . 

Which, she realized, would’ve started just as Martlet had begun dismantling the puzzle, and it would be kinda rude to enter and be like: “Hey Dalv, I know you are in the middle of a performance, but could you please help me with this puzzle?” And not to mention how embarrassed the vampire would feel after this. He didn't do well in big crowds…

“Yeeeah… It would be better if I don't ask him. At least not now,” Martlet said her thoughts out loud. “But for now I think a crowbar should do the trick.” As she spoke those words, she hopped down to the snowy ground level where her toolbox was , having anticipated that something like this could happen. Taking the tool, she flew up again to the wooden planks. She definitely should have brought a ladder, but the one she had was kinda broken , so that was a no-no. The work was , thankfully, going to be much easier than before , thanks to the crowbar, but it still was going to give her some unbearable post-strenuous-workout back pain. Ow.

…

Wait a minute. Why didn’t she just bring the toolbox up here…?

Martlet facepalmed. “Martlet, you birdbrain! Can you do anything right!?”

Many minutes passed , including one extra trip to bring the whole toolbox up , and she had finally taken down all the wooden planks off the rock. She was now half done disassembling the puzzle ; the only bad thing was that now she had to take down the mechanism. Martlet took a deep breath and released a heavy sigh. Needless to say, that was going to be a heck of a task. How had she even managed to incorporate that kind of mechanism inside the rock? !

Present-Martlet wanted to kick Past-Martlet in the shins and scold her for doing too much. Unfortunately, Present-Martlet wasn’t sure there was a way to mail oneself to their past version, so she settled for saying not very Guard-ly things under her breath. Good thing she was an ex-Guard, huh…?

Yeah, right.

“I really should have thought this through,” Martlet said as she stuck her wing into the rock. Some painful moments later, she pulled out some type of backup metal gear, but instead of being made of metal, it was made from wood. Oh, yeah , the old gear had malfunctioned and broke itself, so she had to improvise a replacement. Honestly, now that she thought of it, it was probably a good thing that she was dismantling these ; a few more uses and the whole mechanism could have broken down completely.

‘Where the heck was my head at when I was doing these?’ Martlet asked herself as she took out a spring. She looked at it with an incredulous expression. “What's this even doing here?! This puzzle doesn't need a spring to work!”

Where was her head when she did these? She would like to find it and screw it back on, please and thank you!

Martlet reached back inside the poor excuse of a puzzle, trying to grab anything that might’ve come loose. How did she think this was going to end when she decided to join the Guard? Did she think the Guard was going to be all sunshine and rainbows? What was supposed to be her thought process when she saw Clover for the first time? What was she thinking when she decided to just let Clover kill themse–?

CLUNK !

Martlet flinched as she felt her wing hit a gear. “OW!” Martlet squealed as she then quickly tried to get her wing out, but her feathers were stuck in the gears. “Ow ow ow ow ow ow!” She kept pulling her wing, until it finally got out, with the gear painfully tangled in between her feathers. Martlet breathed in, and then, “ FFFFFFFFF- !” 

———

Nearby, at the Honeydew resort, those outside looked up and frowned as screams of obscenities echoed through the forest.

—------

After walking to her former sentry station and remembering that she didn't work in the Royal Guard anymore, Martlet decided to take a little rest inside her house, (just for a little , she told herself ). Taking out her keys and almost dropping them , her hand very much still in pain , she opened the door and quickly entered before the cold breeze of S nowdin invaded her house. Not that the cold could bother her (one of the pros of having feathers), but she liked maintaining her home cozy and warm, anyway.

Her house wasn't that much organized, and it had gotten worse over time, though for Martlet, it might as well have been her preferred element. She approached her sofa and proceeded to fall face-first into it. The prophesied back pain was absolutely destroying her, in addition to the pain in her fingers and hand. After a minute of stretching and trying her hardest not to cry, she then practically welded her body into the sofa, forcing herself to try and not think about… Martlet sighed. “Clover…” She almost whispered as her expression slowly changed from tiredness to grief.

Saying that she missed them would be an immense understatement. To the point where she sometimes “saw” Clover in her peripheral vision . Of course, it wasn't actually them, and generally ended up just being some conveniently shaped pile of snow.

But sometimes, really rarely, she swore that she could hear them speak . Even from the few times Clover spoke to her when they were alive, Martlet knew it was them, she just knew… After all, why would a kid say “It's time to go” for no reason? 

Her stomach grumbled, taking her out of her mind. “ Mmmmmmmrrrgghh ,” s he mumbled into the pillows of her sofa. Martlet had to force herself to stand up and go to the kitchen to get something to eat. O pen ing her fridge, t here wasn't much, just some fruits, vegetables, a half-full carton of milk, a mayonnaise sandwich with a bite mark on it, a bag of bread, and a pair of corn ears on top of each other from Starlo and Dalv.

Cooking was out of the question. Not only did Martlet not have the required ingredients, but she also kinda sucked at cooking. She definitely was way better at cooking than Undyne — Martlet had once heard from another Royal Guard that the Captain almost burned her house down while cooking some eggs. She could eat the sandwich… but she didn't really feel like eating one, same with everything else .

‘Nothing to eat then…’ Martlet closed the fridge door, looking at it like a child would at a toy they couldn't get. “Welp, to the Honeydew resort it is!” she exclaimed, trying to instill in herself some positivity as she stood up and walked to the door. “Maybe I could see Dalv playing the organ there if I'm not too late!” Martlet said to herself as she left her house and flew off to her destination.

…s he was late. Dalv’s performance in the Honeydew resort ended 40 minutes ago.

Darn it.

She was also told by Bea that Dalv left the resort only a few minutes ago.

Darn it again.

To alleviate her mood, she decided to get some pancakes when her stomach grumbled again. At the very least, she wouldn’t let herself go hungry..

Martlet sat on an available table. Only a few feet away was the heater that she and Chujin made for the resort. She had already made up her mind about Chujin on that rooftop, his legacy was the good he did for monsterkind… but she was just repeating herself now, wasn't she?

Eventually, the pancakes were placed in front of her, and she started to dig in. They were as good as always, just with the right amount of syrup, and she swore she could never get enough of it. Martlet took another bite, and looked at the stage, the band with the triangle dude were playing some ambience tunes that helped keep the warm feeling of the resort, though it just reminded her that she still felt bad for not being able to see Dalv performing. She guessed that he played amazing like always , remembering that the first time that she got to see him play the organ, it was so good Martlet couldn't believe her ears. It was her first time ever hearing someone play an organ, so that made it even more incredible!

She didn't even notice that she was still eating.

She reached for her pancakes again, but she had already eaten them all. Martlet looked down at her now empty dish. ‘Was I that hungry!?’ She asked herself with her eyes as wide as plates. She could buy another one, it costs only 18 G after all, but… she wasn't broke, but she definitely had to be more thoughtful about what she bought. Then again, it only costs 18 G…

She ended up buying a coffee, since it costs 16 G . A whole 2 G less!

After quickly drinking her coffee (just as delicious as the pancakes), Martlet questioned herself what to do now. ‘I can't really doze off at my job since… well, I don't have a job,’ she thought to herself as her head twirled, searching for something to do aside from taking down her puzzles and feeling like wholesale garbage, but alas, she couldn't. Martlet looked down at the snow and sighed. “Puzzle it is, I guess.”

After some moments of stretching her wings, she flew out again to another of her puzzles. This one was a little less complicated : It consisted of three moving planks that interrupted the passing of a magma ball into an ice cube. You moved the planks from side to side using a lever and tilting it to the corresponding side where you wanted the planks to go. The goal of the puzzle was to let the magma ball melt the ice cube into water, which filled a container that opened the gate if the water reached a level above a marked line painted on it. Pretty simple…

That's if you don't count that it's out of the normal range of vision.

Also, sometimes the planks would just get stuck and not move, and because of this, the planks snapped in two when you tried to move them with the lever. In her defense, it was one of the first puzzles she had made in the Royal Guard.

But that didn't really matter now, she had to take it down. Then, she could move on. ‘ Little steps … Little steps …’

She landed on the top where the puzzle was, then she took one step forwards. Little did she know, a frozen rock was hidden below the snow. “WOAH!” she exclaimed as her boot slipped on the rock with ice frosting on it, narrowly turning so that she wouldn’t fall on her front and ultimately falling on her back… on more frozen rocks. “Oooowww…” Martlet rolled to her left in an attempt to get off the rocks, but also forgot that on her left was the not-so-huge drop from where her puzzle sat , so she was momentarily confused when she found she was floating for a moment, only to land on her right wing. “Ow!” At least this time, the snow was actually snow and not rocks , though It still sucked. At least, she didn’t have anything specific that could break… or was worth breaking, at least.

A fter a few minutes of just being down on the floor, Martlet stood up to finish what she came to do. ‘ Take down the puzzle, rest, then move on to the next one. It's easy, Martlet. ’

With a little blurry vision, she looked around to see if nobody saw her, that would have been so embarrassing! After re assuring herself that nothing saw her like that, she–

She saw Clover.

They were there.

And then they were gone.

Martlet blinked, trying desperately to clear away her vision before she would see anything else. The last thing she needed was her dark thoughts before she could begin to wander too much into them. That was… just her own mind messing with her.

She turned around to face the gate. It was closed, but no one actually came over here so… Wait, no, scratch that. She forgot about the D elta R ock and the blocked pathway to U pper S nowdin. Not to mention the entrance to the R uins, although nobody but Decibat sometimes entered that place anymore. Martlet was planning on leaving that closed to do less work, but then she would be falling back on her past habits of laziness, so that just wouldn’t do. Even if she wasn’t a Guard anymore, the people pleaser part of herself wasn’t going to just let a job like this remain half finished!

Martlet sighed, and with one wind-assisted leap over the gate, she found the machinery used to open it . She started dismantling the mechanism that kept it closed while trying to think of other things other than Clover, like how to ask Alphys about Kanako, though since she had left the Royal Guard it would definitely be harder to reach out to her. When she announced this to Starlo, Ceroba, and Dalv, she thought that Ceroba might get mad at her, but she was impressively understanding, just as the rest.

‘But why do I still feel so… cruddy? Is it because I didn’t do enough, or because there wasn’t much more I could do…?’

Click!

The lock that held the gate closed was now released . Seeing this, Martlet walked over to the gate; this was the most difficult thing to do , at least, for her, since she wasn’t exactly much in the upper core strength. Manually opening it was a hassle, her boots and the somewhat slippery ground didn't help much. She really had to wonder how she had managed to do this, did she forget that she had asked help and blocked it all out or something?! No one just carries a heavy gate out here!

After a minute of struggle, she got the gate to open. Now it was time to disassemble the puzzle… buuut, already tired from the exertion of opening the gate, she could technically take her time to rest a little, so that's what she did, she rested her back on the frame of the gate, and sat on the floor. Her mind wandered again, trying desperately to think about anything other than the kid that had fallen into her life. Things definitely looked like they were rough for Starlo and Ceroba, probably even worse for the cowpoke. Last time she saw him, he was fidgeting with his gloves and face, and she could have sworn that he had some bags under his eyes, but maybe it was because that day he never took off his hat… Which now that she thought of it, was kinda weird for him to do, after he and Ceroba explained to her about what happened with his whole cowboy persona, Starlo started taking off his hat when he was with friends, or when he was helping with the farm. Ceroba seemed to also have caught wind of this change in behavior, but whether she had a plan to rectify it was unknown to Martlet. Dalv probably didn't see anything wrong, he was still kind of an amateur on noticing stuff like that, but she'd talk to him about it later.

Martlet sighed again. If she continued down this line of thinking, she’d be back at square one. At this point, honestly, she’d prefer to be in a circle than the square at this point. “Welp! I think that's enough rest for now… ” She said as she stood up, and looked back at the gate, then she looked at the open door… People could just walk through that door without needing the other one open ed , except Insomnitot, but they almost never came to these parts so she guessed there wouldn't be any problems…

Just as soon as the thought came, she shook it out of her head immediately. ‘No! Get it together, Martlet! No more doing jobs halfway! New day, new you! C’mon!’

With newfound conviction, the bird threw herself at the other door, grunting and trying her hardest to open it just like its twin. Somehow, it felt easier, likely because of her rest, and before long, even Insomnitot could actually fit through. The bird was breathing hard and somehow sweating in the cold environment, but it was done. She took another few minutes of resting up to fly again.

Once she got over the door hurdle, and hopped up to the puzzle, she took her time being more cautious for any rocks with ice frosting on it. She took her time to analyze what remained and decide on where to start disassembling it… hm, probably a good idea to start by removing the metal . If any of that fell, that could seriously hurt someone! Even if, like, barely anyone was here, someone could step on it accidentally, or eventually, so Martlet got to it. She took out her… Wait, where was her hammer?

Oh… Right.

She had left it in her house, along with her toolbox and other carpentry gear . Martlet sighed, it wasn’t like she couldn’t fly all the way back here with it, but now she was going to have to not only go all the way back home, but then fly all the way back , having to stop to take breaks as she did so because of the weight of the toolbox itself. Did she mention that she still had a sore back? But she really didn't have another option, did she?

———

“Finally,” Martlet said as she landed a little ungracefully, the toolbox slung around her torso . She left it in front of the sign that explained how the puzzle worked, figuring she’d just leave it there so she wouldn’t have to bring it back down when she’d need to take the sign down too, and then she took her claw hammer, and went up to the puzzle. She used the claw part to take out the nails that held the metal and wood together. E very plank that was detached from the metal she left to the side to pick them up later after she finished up with the rest of the puzzle.

After detaching the wood from the metal and vice versa , Martlet now went to dismantle the mechanism inside of the poles that held up the now detached planks. It was composed out of wood gears, once again not the best option, though past Martlet probably justified it by saying that wood gears weigh ed less than metal ones… And she would be right (at least a little). Still, it wasn't the best option. Once again, not even mentioning the fact that they could snap and break far more easily… At this point, Martlet was wondering what possessed her to even try substituting wood for metal.

After pulling out some other gears and more stray springs , t he mechanism was now halfway dismantled, the only remains of a mechanism was in… the inside of the rock. Again. Martlet still felt some stinging in her wing. The spirit of procrastination took hold, leveraging her pain as an excuse to stop for a while, even though she had, honestly, only gotten the job half done.

“Just… just a few minutes,” she told herself.

After jumping back down in front of the puzzle, she sat down on the snow and used the rock wall behind her to rest her back. Sitting ramrod straight, she leaned her head back as a show of exhaustion, trying her best not to let this small moment of reprieve get the better of her. Thank the Angel for giving her feathers with extra fluff, few are the monsters who can just lie in the snow without freezing down to their metaphorical bones… 

Martlet looked around to see if anyone was there. Not a soul in sight.

Intrusive thoughts quickly arose. ‘Close your eyes ,’ they whispered deviously.

‘I… I really shouldn’t…’

‘ Nonsense! You’ve done so much work today! Take a rest! A long rest. ’

Her pre-existing tiredness was working against her, causing the bird to more or less subconsciously agree to her procrastination’s whims. She could… she could afford a 30-minute Power Nap, sure…

She cast another glance around just to make sure there truly wasn’t anyone around. Still none. ‘ Perfect, ’ Martlet thought to herself as she slowly closed her eyes. She was an expert at this.

As she closed her eyes, and her vision became blurry. Martlet noticed a light brown spot. It was small. As tall as a little kid.

Wait.

“C-Clover ! ?” Martlet shot to her senses in a flash, but as she did, the spot in her vision disappeared just as rapidly.

No. Clover was… They were gone… Martlet remembered that. This was just her mind playing with her, she knew that. And even if it was them, they wouldn't have their hat on. Martlet sent it down the river - She already used it for their funeral. This was just her own mind… again…

Martlet sighed. She collapsed back onto the wall, wincing at the ever-present back pain.

This was the first puzzle that Clover must have done after leaving the Dark Ruins… And now she was dismantling it. She knew that she had to move on. But… to do so was like ripping apart a cherished family photo. If only she had done better, if only she could do better… she knew she could , but would she, past this point?

The bird monster sighed again. If all this grief was going to follow her day after day after day, she at least wished it would hurry up already-

Martlet's attempted nap was disrupted by a large amount of snow that, just, randomly fell on her head? “What the–?!” She exclaimed as she quickly stood up, once again flaring up her back, but the snow stayed perfectly balanced on her head… and maybe she stood up a little too quickly.

“Oh, not this! ”

The forest of Snowdin had a… particular quirk. At random times, for little to no reason whatsoever, piles of snow would land on people’s heads. But not just your average “too much heavy snow on a tree branch” type of snow, no… this was the type of snow that created a random snow sculpture, be it as simple as a ball or cube, or as well constructed as a miniature snow house.

With a miniature snow family. In one miniature snow room.

Needless to say, whenever the forest wanted to give you a head sculpture, it gave you a head sculpture, and no one in the Underground knew why. It had been doing that for as long as anyone could remember, and not even Asgore himself was exempt from that rule. While most people didn’t much care for it, some welcomed it as an ‘initiation’ of sorts, and others still didn’t like the idea of cold, wet snow landing in their heads unexpectedly. Martlet never really experienced it much to have an opinion on it, but in this moment, the forest’s seeming fancy struck, and with everything the bird was going through, she decidedly found herself in the latter half of the category regarding it.

She shook herself like a dog - the indecency! - to get the snow off of her, fling it off of her… only for another pile to replace the one she had lost.

“Agh-! No-!”

Apparently, the forest decided to have a sense of humor today.

Each attempt to shake off the snow resulted in another snow pile, each growing more increasingly absurd than the last:

A dodecahedron.

Two pythons fighting.

A Speak-and-Spell.

A copy of Final Final Fantasy XXVII.

A PlayBOX 720. Physical stand sold separately.

Another PlayBOX 720, this time with a port for physical discs. Still no stand.

A British police call box.

A complete diorama scene showcasing a lone gunman facing off against a larger bird monster wearing armor.

…

…in hindsight, perhaps it was best she shook that off before she saw it…

Desperate to escape the cycle of snow sculptures, Martlet settled for running in a random direction in an attempt to escape her fate.

As anyone would expect , the clumsy and scatterbrained Martlet absolutely crashed into a tree. A full-on collision, and it did not sound good at all.

She staggered back from the tree she ran into, the shock from her collision shaking the tree from bottom to top. “O-oww…” she muttered, only to then realize her dreadful mistake as she looked up and-

Poof!

All the snow in the tree , along with a branch , fell on top of her. The branch landed with a heavy thud on the top of her noggin, and the bird swore that in the final seconds of her consciousness that she heard laughing from somewhere… high-pitched laughing.

———

“ . ..t? ”

What … What was that noise?

“ …et! Martlet!!”

After hearing some more noises that seemed to be some kind of shuffling, Martlet's hearing came back.

“M -M artlet! A-are you…? ”

W as that… Dalv?

She slowly opened her eyes, immediately noting that everything was full of snow. And said snow covered the majority of her torso. Oh , right, she crashed into a tree. That might have been a good reason for why she ended up like this-

“O-oh dear, this isn’t g-good, I think-“

“D-Dalv? What are you doing here?” She asked, her voice somewhat muffled by all the snow she was covered in. “ I t hought you were in your house ? ”

Dalv completely ignored the question, and gave out a quick sigh of relief , wiping his brow. He didn’t know the first thing about first-aid, and Martlet being awake meant he didn’t have to learn now .

“Martlet! Thank the Angel you're alright! Well, uhm, a re you alright?! I mean, you're completely covered in snow, that's not good. I-I mean - Wait, do you feel alright?! Nothing is hurting?” The purple vampire asked anxiously as his nerves almost took over. He wasn’t sure what he was saying or what he was supposed to ask. In some regards he was a worse rambler than even Martlet when he was being pushed to his breaking points… which weren’t exactly that hard to get to.

“No, actually. Let me just…” Martlet pushed herself upwards from the snow with a large ffuuf sound. “There! I’m alrigh- oh. Sorry!”

She had inadvertently covered the front of the vampire in snow with her “blast out of the snow with wind” maneuver. Thankfully, Dalv didn’t much mind, wiping the excess off of him and sighing in relief . After a moment of silence, Dalv decided to ask the blue bird a question. “Uhm… How did you get in there?”

“I… uhm… had a bad… fall ?” Martlet shrugged while giving the vampire an awkward smile. It wasn’t exactly the most believable thing in the world, but this was Dalv she was talking to, and the purple-skinned vampire’s social skills weren’t up to snuff.

“Ah, I see… I’d ask how it was, but, I think I already know…” He looked around for a quick moment. “Is… is that your puzzle that you were working on, back there?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah! Well, uh, I’m not ‘ working ’, working on it per se, but like, I’m un -working it actually, since I’m taking it apart so that people can move through, and it’s very hard work and all and I thought I’d take a nap and-“

Dalv meekly put up a hand to stop Martlet. “Yes, yes, I see.”

The two stood in awkward silence before realization came to Martlet. “Hey, you didn’t answer my question!”

“Oh, hm? What was it again?”

“Why are you out here? I would’ve thought you’d be going back to your home after you were done with your show.”

“Ah, well, see, about that…” Dalv droned, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “You see… I was a bit excited after playing… I rushed out before really looking where I was going and, uhm… I had gotten myself lost.”

“Oohhhh, yeahhh, I get that.” Martlet nodded along. “Cuz, like, the forest just kinda all looks the same from the ground. ‘Course, I get around because I can fly and all that and it’s easy to see landmarks.”

Then, of course, the bird monster realized who she was talking to.

“Ah- my bad, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean anything by that, uhm, it’s just that I’m a bird , and I fly , and-!”

“It-It’s fine, Martlet,” Dalv reassured her. “The truth is, I wasn’t really going back to my home, at least, not yet.”

“Oh.” Martlet blinked. “Well, where were you heading?”

“I was actually meaning to go to the ‘Wild East’.“

“Ahh, that makes sense.” Now thinking about it, she hadn’t gone over to the Wild East or the Dunes in a while…

“Yes… I figured I would try to go over there more often, seeing as it was a favorite thing of Clover’s-“

At the mention of the name, Martlet winced, and Dalv noticed.

“A-o-oh, m-my apologies, I… I didn’t-“

It was the blue bird’s turn to reassure her companion. “It’s okay… it’s okay, Dalv… everyone’s still kinda… dealing. Y’know?”

That was… one way of putting it. She admittedly hadn’t kept up much with Starlo and Ceroba since the funeral, and even based on what she knew of them, she was willing to bet whatever G she had left that they weren’t taking it much better than her.

“I-I know. I have been trying to socialize more and more often. I visited just two or so days ago, actually.” 

Well, that just made her feel worse for not visiting much at all!

“Oh… you’ve been there… more regularly?”

“…I have been trying… my organ plays have taken up much of my time and helped me to deal with Clover’s passing somewhat, but… I wanted to go to the Dunes and such to… make sure everyone else was alright, in my absence.”

“Dalv,” Martlet quietly said, placing a wing-hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to try and shoulder the burden of being everyone’s caretaker just because you haven’t met them in a bit. And it’s only been two days! I mean, heck, I’ve really only been out of my house to deal with these old puzzles!”

At the mention of puzzles from her own beak, Martlet frowned, then suddenly clasped her head with both hands. “Oh my GOSH!! I totally forgot the bridge puzzle too! Uuugghhhh!!”

Dalv looked at her, confused. “Bridge puzzle?”

“Ugh, yes,” Martlet bemoaned. “It’s this bridge with swinging boards that you're supposed to time correctly in order to get across. Oh, gosh, I forgot about that one! What was I thinking?! That’s such a massive hassle and safety hazard!! I gotta fix that-!”

“Uhm, Martlet? This puzzle wouldn’t happen to have a switch on one side, would it?”

It was Martlet’s turn to look confused. “Uh, yeah. It’s supposed to stop the boards for a minute so that people would cross and then it would unstick itself and the boards would start swinging again- gahh, that’s such a dumb idea! And there’s no safeguards for you if you fall! It’s just freezing water! I can’t believe I didn’t-!”

“Uhm,” Dalv interrupted again, “Martlet… that button froze into the ground.”

“…huh?”

“Yes… if it’s the bridge I think you’re talking about, that button has frozen into the ground. It’s just a normal bridge now, I believe.”

…oh. Wow. If Clover walked through that, that meant that they may have been the only person to solve it, since they had to have come through this way. The first, and last person to solve it, anyway… if walking along a path counted as a puzzle in the first place.

“Oh… okay. Well, I guess I’ll deal with that later then…” Then, she shook her head. “Wait, right, sorry- you said you needed to head to the Dunes?”

“Oh, yes. Direction would be most helpful! At least, out of the forest from where I am now. I’ve gone through it several times and I still find myself at different twists and turns.”

Martlet looked back to the gate she had opened… eh, it wasn’t like she absolutely had to remove everything now… people could move through, though very few people would ever likely come through here anyway.

“Here, tell you want, Dalv: since I honestly gotta go meet the others myself, how’s about I come with you? Companionship and all?”

At the prospect of traveling with a friend, Dalv’s face brightened considerably. “Oh, that would be wonderful!” But, then, he grew confused. “But, wouldn’t you be slowing yourself down? You are a flying bird monster, after all.”

“Oh, no, I honestly have done a whole lot of flying anyway, I could really use a break, I just need to get my tools back to my own home. So, here, you head back to Honeydew, I’ll drop off my tools, and I’ll walk with you there myself! I know the way, so, no risk of getting lost!”

“Oh, thank you very much, Martlet! That is very kind of you.”

“Ah, well,” Martlet bashfully said, “it’s just what being a friend is!”

“…yes. Yes it would be, wouldn’t it?”

‘ What a world would it be… ’

The bird monster sensed she had stepped on a landmine but wasn’t sure how to get off it safely, so she casually disengaged.

“Well, uh, hey! See you at the resort!”

She waved him a small goodbye wave and flew to pick up her tools.

…

Wait, hold on. She turned back from where she stood. As she suspected, Dalv was still standing where he was helplessly, and once she did, he looked to her, pleading with his eyes.

“Uh, just take the road here all the way down it, and you’ll come across the resort, ‘cuz, like, I think you already came down here before, because otherwise you would know already, or-“

“Th-thank you! I-I remember now, yes!” Dalv said, awkwardly, but grateful, starting at once down the path. Martlet watched him go, feeling both sad and hopeful.

With any luck, when she started to show him the way, and she made it back to the Wild East, maybe she wouldn’t be immediately thrown in jail again…

…only to then realize that Dalv would’ve known how Starlo and Ceroba were doing since he had been there. She smacked herself in the face.

“Oh, goshdangit Martlet, you scatterbrained bird! The one question you have and you don’t even ask it! Ugh!!”

Grumbling to herself, she slung her toolbox over herself and took to the skies. It would take another few trips and stops before her house, but at the very least, she could set about doing something right for a change.

Chapter Text

Alphys had never pondered the weight of her own shadow before. But as she walked through the dark halls, she felt its oppressive force beat down on her shoulders.

Once, a long time ago, she was overjoyed as the Royal Scientist to be able to walk these corridors. It was one part sucking up to Asgore, the other half pride that had found herself winding up here, but now…

‘Be careful what you wish for, eh, doc?’

Alphys had long since stopped trying to acknowledge the voice that echoed through these time-corroded hallways, not only because she thought it was pointless, but because it was right. Not that she liked that it was, but there wasn’t any real way she could counter its words.

‘Typical silent treatment. Well! Not like any other treatment of yours has gone any better!’

She found her fists reflexively clenching and opening, trying to work out her anger ballistically. Not that it mattered - her anger was a powder keg waiting to blow under the right circumstances. She was just lucky those were incredibly rare. Instead, she kept walking, kept marching. The funeral procession wasn’t getting any shorter.

The hallway stretched out the more she walked.

Alphys didn’t notice.

‘Yeesh, fine then. A cold shoulder from you, doc? Fine, fine… I see how it is. Just like how you always are .’

‘Ditching your best friend-!’

It was like the ground suddenly erupted beneath her, flipping her nearly head over heels, and she landed with a near-inaudible thump. She stood back up automatically, turning around to face an agitated Endogeny. They must've been lying there…

“Oh… you…”

The words that came out of her mouth were…impassioned. Monotone. She meant to convey her apology, but she couldn’t properly muster the words.

do you

Endogeny spasmed and growled in several different tones, their constantly melting and reforming body turning from pointed and spiky to smooth over and over again. It was like they couldn’t decide on a form to pick.

“I promise that I’m working on a solution,” the lizard recited, giving off no emotion. “I only ask for your patience.”

… What kind of answer was that?

Because there wasn’t any! What explanation could she give, anyway? She had stopped answering her mail for a reason.

Endogeny only growled louder in response. They knew she was lying, and they had had enough. The benefit of the doubt had been Alphys’ saving grace for the longest time, but today, it had officially run out.

The Amalgamate reared its faceless head back, and with a roar of a furious single purpose, charged the scientist.

For once in her life, Alphys was thankful she was a nervous wreck. Her legs gave out from under her out of fear, and she happened to dodge Endogeny as they bounced, sliding once they hit the ground and splattered against the wall.

Alphys started running away. And of course, that voice noticed

‘Running away again , eh? Just like you always do. ’

The hallway stretched even further than before.

She didn't notice.

As she ran, fog slowly started to obstruct her vision, until nothing but the dark silhouette of herself was visible within it. The sound of spinning fans became louder just as her legs started to get weary. Reclining herself on the wall, she kept walking.

And walking…

And walking…

And walking again…

‘This hallway is really long, huh doc?’

The voice decided to talk again, this time it made a point, but as she started to think about that, she came across a turn to the right. She didn't think much of it, the Lab was like a twisted maze after all.

‘Just as twisted as the things that you made, doc?’

As she kept walking, the noise of the fans with the clacks of her claws scratching the tiled floor was the only thing that could be heard. Until she saw what seemed to be a tall bird looming with its only eye in the distance. “Reaper Bird…” Alphys said with her monotone voice, calling the attention of the one-eyed amalgamate.

She walked closer to it, completely ignoring how its pupil became thinner and thinner the more it looked at her. She started feeling as if she had butterflies in her stomach, even though she already knew that she didn't have one.

She was now side by side with it. Its pupil was so thin that you couldn't see it at all. Alphys stopped and looked at it. “I'm working on a solution. Be patient.”

Again… She did it again…

Reaper Bird's body started vibrating. Its legs became larger, and its beak started spinning around its head as fast as a merry go round. It opened its mouths with a grotesque sound, and produced noises similar to a cackling, except you could hear portions of them , all of them , alongside it.

Its pupil grew back to its original size, this time it was surrounded by a dark ring that looked like teeth and vibrated alongside its body.

It looked at Alphys.

‘Here it comes~!’

A giant amount of small bumps started appearing on Reaper Bird's body, each and one of them slowly trying to detach from it, leaving clumps of white goop spattered on the floor. Alphys looked at this, it seemed as if they were melting again.

The bumps finally disconnected from Reaper Bird, turning into butterflies and starting to fly before they hit the floor. Several holes were left on its body because of this, from which Alphys could hear many yowls from them , until those holes closed with the same goop.

The butterflies started to fly unsteadily towards her, some even bumping into the ceiling with loud ‘THUD’s.

Alphys thought fast, and by fast I mean that she tripped on her own foot and slammed her body into the cold floor, miraculously avoiding all of the butterflies as they splattered against the wall. Alphys started running, a very lame version of running, but running anyways. She could hear Reaper Bird scream behind her, but she did not look back.

‘Oh, that's SO very typical of you!’

She kept running until she found an intersection that was divided in two. She didn't remember the lab being like this, but she couldn't care less about that. Alphys turned left, with Reaper Bird following from behind, dripping even more butterflies from its body. Alphys kept running, covering her ears and looking down at the floor, trying to nullify the screams from Reaper Bird.

At some point, she tripped with something, something white. Looking behind her, she saw one of the Memoryheads, still splattered through the floor thanks to the collision. It was looking at her with its many eyes. They were all angry, she could tell.

She had to apologize.

“Sorry.” Alphys said, with a voice that lacked any kind of empathy (almost sounding annoyed), and a face that missed any kind of emotion at all.

Memoryhead said something. “ମୁଁ ତୁମକୁ ଘୃଣା କରେ ମୁଁ ତୁମକୁ ଘୃଣା କରେ ମୁଁ ତୁମକୁ ଘୃଣା କରେ.” Alphys felt her phone uncontrollably buzzing something from her pocket. She heard a voice within the static, “I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU.” She almost dropped to her knees again, startled. But she deserved it, right?

Looking behind the Memoryhead, she saw how Reaper Bird was running at an alarming speed, with a cloud of butterflies surrounding it. Out of fear, Alphys quickly stood up, looking around she saw that she was in the ventilation hallway, she also saw a switch on the wall that would turn on the metal fans on the wall. Alphys remembered that amalgamates could be, and are, very light.

With almost no hesitation, she flicked on the switch, making the fans spin at their maximum speed. Sending all of the butterflies and the Memoryhead flying straight into the wall. Reaper Bird resited, using its claws to cling into the floor, but just as it passed in front of Memoryhead, Reaper Bird's claws resisted no more, letting the wind fling it straight into the wall at an alarming speed.

Reaper Bird and Memory head were both splattered together into a white goop that covered the walls and ceiling.

The crash was loud .

It must have alerted the others.

The power in the room suddenly went out, turning off the fans. Alphys stared horrified at how the white goop that now was Reaper Bird and Memoryhead slowly slid down to the floor in what felt like hours, (which probably were, taking into account how dense the goop was)… Then it started crawling, and Alphys just stared.

The white goop started bubbling as if it was boiling (of anger). It grew a pair of legs. It grew a torso. It grew three pairs of wings. It grew a Head. It grew an eye. It grew another eye… Soon, it had eyes everywhere .

There even was an eye in its eye.

Everything was melting…

It stared at Alphys.

It blinked.

It was alive.

And they were angry.

‘... WOW … You really screwed up this time, huh doc?’

Alphys almost had no time to duck down when something flew straight to her face, creating a triangle shaped hole in the wall. Without looking back, she ran again. She could hear them behind her, getting closer. But she couldnt look back, better said, she couldn't look at them . There was no way that they could go back to “normal”, not that their previous forms were that either, but at least they were more calm that way!

Alphys heard them say, “ଏଠାକୁ ଫେରି ଆସନ୍ତୁ।.” Her phone buzzed again, “GET BACK HERE.” Alphys didn't stop. She had to keep running, even if she didn't know why. As she ran, Alphys felt the air starting to vibrate. Angel , they were getting closer! She also noticed the sound of something hitting metal, with loud ‘CLANK’s and ‘PANG’s. It came from above.

She heard the sound of something breaking– no... TEARING APART the metal. The loudness  of noise almost made her fall to her knees, it was horrible. Then she heard another loud noise, this time it was similar to a ‘SPLAT’. It came from ahead of her. In an approximate 10 painful seconds of running, she found them again. Endogeny. She almost had the will to stop, but she didn't, running past them.

Endogeny seemed to not like that.

‘ Who would have known that leaving someone who's clearly in pain was actually a bad idea? Oh wait! You~ do! You just chose to ignore it!’

As Alphys kept running, she heard noises from behind her. It didn't sound like Endogeny, neither did it sound as if they were following her. She turned around, finding no one in sight. That was weird… She almost went to check, but she didn't want to risk another encounter with them.

She kept her pace for a minute, slowly losing momentum as her stamina went down. She found an intersection that was divided into two. She peeked to the right, finding the DT extractor, as well as a four pointed star in front of it. That was most likely Lemon Bread, they tend to shapeshift into that star for some reason, but she couldn't just walk right past them, could she?

Looking to the left, she saw a room full of beds.

“Kanako,” she said with a numb expression, unable to properly muster what she felt.

A single drop of sweat formed on her brow. She couldn't risk Kanako getting amalgamated like Reaper Bird, Endogeny, and that Memoryhead. After all, she was the only one that didn't melt with other monsters, she was the only lucky one.

But she also couldn't risk the other amalgamates. After Lemon Bread, there was Snowdrake's mother in the refrigerator room.

She blinked, and she was right in front of Lemon Bread, still shapeshifted as a four pointed star.

‘At least you have SOME decency! Yknow? Kids before adults, they say.’

Seeing this, Alphys questioned herself to turn back, but then she heard something. Them. They were approaching fast, with thuds reverbing through the walls, muffled cries and gurgles becoming angrier and angrier.

The receiver of her phone started buzzing again. Before it could muster anything else, she dropped it and quickly ran to the room with the video tapes.

Hiding in the corner, Alphys could hear how the noises produced by her phone woke up Lemon Bread, how it became angry as it recognized Alphys' smell on it, and finally how they reacted when they entered the room.

First there were roars, then she heard their voices again, she heard as if the previous roar was being drowned by some kind wet slime, and finally, she heard all of them. She heard them yowl.

She spent a solid hour waiting for them to go away, an hour where she only heard the droplets of the amalgamate fall into the floor and crawl back into them. A low, slow, and piercing sound. For an hour. Eventually, the dripping stopped, as Alphys heard what she supposed to be them crawling away, and then climbing into a vent. She quickly started running, not to the refrigerator room, but to the opposite side. She had to be quick. Considering how big Endogeny was, and how unstable their physical body must be after the fusion, the ventilation wouldn't hold them in for much time.

As she rapidly reached the place where the DT extractor room connected to the hallway, she heard the ventilation starting to make noises, definitely not a good sign.

Looking around, she saw a button with the image of two rectangles side by side, and two arrows pointing at each other on top of the two. Maybe she could close the door—.

The ventilation exploded.

And they fell behind her, in the extractor room.

With what could only be described as godspeed, Alphys punched the button right as they were halfway through the sliding mechanical doors. Thanks to Alphys, they closed in an instant, the middle of the two sliding doors was now stained with the white goo of the amalgamates. Alphys had to run, there was a button at the other side that could open the door, but it was going to take them a while, taking into account their current state.

As Alphys entered the room full of beds, she made sure not to get too close to any of them, it might alert Kanako more than she already was, and if she was out while they were in the room, that would be very bad.

‘Oh WOOOoooow~! Who would have known~? ’

… Shut. Up.

She slowly walked through the room, making sure that her claws made the least noise as possible as they grasped the floor tiles. She did not want to repeat herself on how disastrous it would be if Kanako melted with the other amalgamates, considering that she is a Boss Monster. She had the urge to look under one of the beds to see if Kanako was there, but a loud metallic thud made her change her mind. 

She finally reached the red door, swiftly opening and closing behind her. Looking back at the door she wondered if she should take out the red fuse to fully close the door. There was a chance that the two other Memoryhead were there, but considering that the last Memoryhead was out of there, there was a chance that neither of those two were in that room.

Worth a shot.

Drifting to the left, she found herself in another hallway, this one she was more familiarized with. The now moisturized tiles were proof of it, and the green panels with the entries were proof of it too. She didn't dare to see the hospital beds upon arriving, only focusing on getting the fuse out. Upon being in front of the red fuse, she precisely took it out in order to not break it.

For a second, Alphys stopped, maybe to consider her options, or maybe she had just realized that she had almost died more times than any monster ever had (well, aside from Asgore and Gerson who had been in the war, but those two didn't count), or maybe she was overwhelmed about everything, how was she supposed to explain THIS ? All those monsters… She covered her eyes with her hand, how was she supposed to explain this…? Undyne… She believed in her, but she didn't deserve it, not after this.

The room was silent, the humming of the ventilation was strangely quieter… She then heard what seemed to be footsteps? The amalgamates made splashing noises when walking, so who was that? Within the odd silence, Alphys heard, “So this is the Lab?” …

Oh no… 

no no NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.

That was Dogamy.

He looked around, his expression contorting into confusion, then rage, then grief. Every movement he made was another stabbing pain in Alphys’ gut. 

“What are you doing here?” Alphys asked with a voice that could be described as empty as she turned around and looked him dead in the eye.

Dogamy ignored her question. “What's this? What happened to my parents?” Alphys stood in place quietly, and before Dogamy could muster another word, Alphys approached him rapidly, making the dog monster take a few steps back. “W-What are you doing?”

Alphys didn't know what to do, what could she say?! What was she supposed to do?!?! She could feel how her joints rattled in an internal nervous attack. “… I'll explain outside…” What is she doing?! How is she supposed to explain this?! Dogamy is part of the Royal Guard! If she tells him what is happening down here, he will 1000% tell Undyne about this! Then everyone would know about the amalgamates, and the horrible things that she did to them!

She let go of whatever she had in her hand, making a clunking noise that resonated in the silence of the true lab as it hit the floor. With a stoic expression, Alphys guided Dogamy to the elevator from which he came, the one that led to the “lab”, you know, the one with posters of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie and bookshelves filled with manga.

The wait for the elevator to reach the facade of a lab in which she lived felt like an eternity. A minute and thirty seconds of nothing but the silent humming of the elevator. Dogamy wouldn't leave if she didn't give him answers, and dogaressa was always with him. If she forced them to leave, then they would tell Undyne about this, and then she would tell Asgore, then she would be doomed.

Noticing how the elevator started to slow its speed, Dogamy took a deep breath. With a high pitched ‘Ding!’ the elevator reached its destination. As the doors opened, Dogamy immediately stepped out, meeting with something Alphys hoped she would never see.

All of the amalgamates families were right in front of her. Looking at her. Judging her.

“I found her,” is what Dogamy said, looking at all of the other monsters, then he walked back to Dogaressa's side and took her hand.

Whispers spread throughout the crowd, ones that Alphys couldn’t just simply push away. 

“What is she doing?”

“We heard rumors, but it couldn’t have been this bad-”

“What is this? Is this what we signed up for?”

“Why would I have left them in the hands of someone as incompetent as her?”

No. This isn't happening.

‘Oh, but it is! ’

‘And then EVERYONE is going to know!’

Alphys' legs started shivering, her breaths got thinner, her mind went blank. With blurry vision, she looked around, trying to find a way to escape, the only thing that she saw was broken walls, and torn piles of paper scattered across the floor. It didn't take long for Alphys to realize what had happened. They had torn the place down, probably trying to make her get out from where she was hiding.

She almost flinched as a robotic body was thrown from upstairs to the floor in front of her, but she kept her stoic expression, not moving an inch. Looking at the now metal scrap at her feet, she recognized it as the body she was building for Mettaton. All that work, gone.

A few moments later, a lot of books fell from the same place, but those were not only her mangas, sometimes she could see some of her DVD's and VHS tapes. All of that, gone too.

The whispers from everyone became louder.

“These are cartoons…”

“I think I saw that one in the dump.”

“Is this what she has been doing all this time?!”

“W-where's my mom…?”

“*ribbit ribbit* (What was I thinking of leaving his life in her hands?)”

“Where is my daughter?!”

“I miss my dad…”

Alphys looked to her right, seeing how all of her desk was trashed too, though she should have already seen that coming. Her computer was smashed into two, showing the motherboard, damaged beyond repair. While her drawers had been brutally opened, with all of their contents scattered around.

Alphys looked at all of the monsters, she recognized some of them — aside from the Royal Guards — like Snowdrake, and a fox monster whose name she had at the tip of her tongue. All of them stared back at her, waiting for her to say something, to answer the questions she hadn't read in those letters. She had to say something.

Alphys said with a monotone voice, “What did you do?” Her eyes were hidden behind the reflection of her glasses, not like it mattered, since her face already lacked any kind of expression.

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Everyone now was blurting at her. Accusations, cries, questions, you name it.

‘Wow… Just, wow . You really overdid yourself this time doc.’

“Shut up.” She thought out loud.

Apparently everyone decided to shut up when she said that.

“… What did you just say?” A monster asked.

‘Oooohh, you made them maddddd. ’

She gritted her teeth, drowning that voice the best she could, so that it wouldn't make her go more mad than she already was. “I…”

All the monsters looked at her, waited for her to say anything .

Then everyone heard a buzzing sound. Looking around, a monster noticed it was their phone. “*ribbit?* (What the…?)” They took out their phone, still buzzing, and it only seemed to get louder for each second that passed. All of the monsters gathered to look at what was happening.

Alphys knew what that meant. And she saw in panic how she started hearing a voice through the receiver. “Syringe…” Alphys froze, unable to muster a word. “Determination syringe…” She heard behind her how the elevator started humming behind her, the sound slowly becoming softer, was it going down?

She heard the monsters whispering again.

“Syringe?”

“What does that mean?”

“*ribbit ribbit* (Why did my phone say that?)”

“Is this some kind of prank?”

Between the whispers, Alphys heard another thing. It was a bunch of quiet but strong sounding metal thuds. Then she heard something dripping on the floor.

“What the…? What is this white stuff?”

At a neck breaking speed she looked up, then she saw it. Above the gathered monsters, the ventilation system was dripping white goo from between the metal plates. As if Alphys looking at it were its cue. The metal started the bend under some kind of pressure, screws and bolts started to pop out at an immense speed.

Then it started to tear itself apart, making an awful screech as the metal classed with itself. She looked down, taking into note how oddly quiet the room was. She expected the monsters to have at least moved out of the way, but they all just stood silently, as if frozen in time, not even blinking anymore. They were all looking at her with wide opened eyes, completely ignoring whatever was happening in the ventilation, not even flinching as metal started to fall right next to them.

Then it happened. The ventilation exploded under the pressure of what seemed to be at least 2 tons of white goo. Instantly falling on top of all the monsters underneath and crushing them with a grotesque sound that had a fraction of a scream from all of them, before the amalgamate splattered them across all of the surfaces in the lab.

Alphys was now covered with the closest thing that monsters had to blood. She felt how it vibrated on her face, how it almost was as if it was screaming to her… Because it was, she heard every. single. one. of them. Screaming directly into her skin, her SOUL, her very being.

Even after 2 tons of goo fell on top of it, the phone that the monster had seemed to still be working. Through the speaker she heard, “... You hear that? … She's here… She has the syringe.”

Alphys heard how the elevator to the true lab opened behind her. Alphys didn't want to turn around, but her feet rotated anyways, just as if something obligated her to. In front of her, was a unique amalgamate. One that was her own amalgamate. One that had been left out ever since that day. A long, white, spoon looking amalgamate.

Kanako .

It was hard to tell her emotions since she didn't have any visible eyes, but Alphys just knew that if it could, her stare would melt iron. Seeing how she had some sort of limb sticking out of her body, she immediately noticed how she was holding a determination syringe in what Alphys assumed to be a hand.

Panicking, Alphys took a step back, trying to run away, but the splattered goo of the amalgamate took her by the feet, making her trip on her back. Looking at the elevator, she noticed how Kanako was not there, and quickly shook her head from left to right trying to find her, and in an instant, she was at her right, with the syringe positioned right on top of her, ready to inject.

She felt from within her skin how the other amalgamates cheered for Kanako as she lowered the syringe, pointing at Alphys' arm. The needle broke through her scales and into her skin, and using another arm, Kanako pressed the substance into Alphys' body, it quickly spreading to every part of her body.

‘Man oh man… You really , and I mean, REALLY screwed up this time!’

She felt how her body started gaining mass, her magic unable to sustain it. She felt how her body started to melt , her claws adhering to each other to never let go. How her body felt as it was boiling, it hurt so much . How she could feel everything , the air hitting her melted body and stinging like thousands of hot needles, the ground bashing her like hammers, and her own body shifting and cutting like millions of rusty saws.

Kanako only looked as the amalgamate came back together, how everyone saw at the blob that Alphys now was on the floor. Slowly, she joined the fun.

‘Welp! This is your life now, I hope you like it~.’

…

It hurt s… s  o… M  u     c       h…

…

———

*BEEP* BEEP* BEEP*

Alphys jolted from where she was sitting, gasping for air while clenching her chest.

It took her a whole 5 minutes, but she luckily caught her breath back. She was still hyperventilating a little, and by a little I mean a little less than before.

Putting her claws against her face, she tried to compose herself back. That was a dream. It didn't happen.

…

For a moment she thought that that voice would come and say something like, ‘But it might as well have!’ but it seems that it's taking a break for the moment. Alphys sighed, “What was I doing again?” Looking to her left, she saw a washing machine, it wasn't beeping anymore, but its light was still blinking.

Looking at this immediately brought a name to her mind. “Clover!” That's right, she had forgotten that she had an alive human child down in the true lab, how long had she been asleep?!

Without losing any more time, she clumsily took out the human clothes out of the washing machine, and quickly stumbled her way down to the elevator. On the way down she realized. “Ah shoot! I-I forgot to dry these!” She said looking down at the now clean but still wet clothes. “I-I think there's a dryer in the true lab… But it's old a-and it would take a while to dry these,” Alphys spoke to herself as the doors opened from side to side. “Ah! I don't have time to think about that! I-I have to find Clover!”

She made her way through the hallway to the lobby, from the lobby through the red door, and from the red door through another hallway, and then, she reached the room full of beds. She walked by the beds trying to reach another hallway, but just as she passed by, she noticed a lump in one of them. Alphys stopped on her tracks, looking at the lump. “That wasn't there before…” She whispered to herself. “Could it be that one of the amalgamates hid the yellow key again? But the lights on the lobby door were all turned on, so that can't be possible…”

Alphys walked to the bed with the lump on it, and as she came closer to it she noticed that the lump seemed to be moving up and down at a slow pace. It was breathing. “W-What the…?” Curious (and maybe a little scared) Alphys took the blanket on her hand, and veery slowly swiped it down.

The first thing she saw was… a pair of feet? “What.” She kept removing the blanket, finding little legs and a little bit of a blue robe. “Is this…?” She took the blanket all the way down, and there she saw them. “Clover?!” First she wondered what were they doing sleeping upside down in the bed, but then she wondered what were they doing in the bed . She thought that she had left them in that room that she hadn't given a name! How the heck did they get here!?

Looking around, she noticed some reminiscent of goo from one of the amalgamates, did Kanako do this? As if on cue, the forethought appeared a few beds in front of her, noticing the scientist, Kanako slid to where Alphys was. She spoke in a whisper, “ Hello… doctor alphys… ”

“H-Hi Kanako! W-What are you doing?” Alphys greeted her nervously.

Kanako looked down at Clover (or atleast Alphys thought she did). “ Is that… a human…? ”

Alphys couldn't lie to her. “Y-Yes, that's… a human.”

The scientist didn't know how Kanako would react to a human being next to her, taking into account her history with humans and the Snowdin incident, but tucking them back under the blankets definitively wasn't one of them. “ I saw doggy bringing them here and tucking them up… I don't really know why… but they seemed so peaceful, so much so that I didn't really believe them when they said that they were human… ”

Alphys looked at Clover. “I-Is that why you asked me if they were human?”

Kanako nodded(?). “ Yeah… ” The two of them stayed quiet for a while, with the raspy breathing of the human resonating across the room. Alphys didn't know what to say, luckily for her, Kanako did. “ What is… their name? ”

Alphys looked at Kanako. “It's…” She looked at the human whose name was… “Clover.”

“ Clover… That's a nice name…”

…

What they didn't know was that Clover had woken up just a while after Kanako tucked the blankets over him, and now he had only one question.

‘Kanako?’